N.J.’s child welfare system stopped investigating child-on-child sexual abuse cases, watchdog says
The state’s child welfare agency declined to investigate more than 100 reports of child-on-child sexual assaults and other “inappropriate sexual activity” in 2021, according to a report by the Office of the State Comptroller Wednesday that accuses the Murphy administration of not following the law and its own policies.
Officials at the state Department of Children and Families — backed by the leader of a prominent child advocacy organization — say the comptroller report is missing important context. The state is trying to reduce the instances in which it investigates families in what is often an invasive, traumatizing experience. If the allegations involve a child perpetrator, the agency refers these cases to the children’s mental health system so they both can receive treatment.