MEMPHIS, Tenn. — New details continue to come to light in the death of four-year-old Sequoia Samuels, and Wednesday, it was revealed a DCS petition that could have prevented her death was denied by the Shelby County Juvenile Court.
The juvenile court confirmed to ABC24 Wednesday that the Department of Children's Services (DCS) filed a neglect petition involving Sequoia Samuels in February of 2022, and it was dismissed by the court in July of the same year.
Once a petition is filed by DCS, it is up to the court it’s filed with to make the call on what to do with an alleged abused and neglected child. Generally speaking, DCS can provide suggestions to the court when it comes to petitions to remove custody, but the court does not always agree.
The Shelby County Juvenile Court did not tell us why the petition was dismissed.
DCS commissioner Margie Quin gave a six-month update to a Senate Committee today. She didn’t specifically discuss Samuels’ case but expressed the efforts to drive down case worker vacancies and quicken placement for allegedly neglected children.
Lawmakers in Nashville asked DCS Commissioner Quin what can be done to help with the agency’s oversight.
“We used to have a select oversight committee and we do not anymore. It was before you came on and I didn’t know if that might be helpful,” Senator Sara Kyle (D-Memphis) said.
As of May 31, 2023, the Tennessee child abuse hotline handled approximately 44,170 calls. That’s nearly two thousand more calls this year than last year’s 41,611 calls at the same time last year.
Quin says social worker vacancies that could possibly help tackle these claims are down compared to previous years but there’s still a need.
It’s a need, Dr. Deborah Lowen, DCS Deputy commissioner of child health said is pressing.
“Not just in the state of Tennessee but all over the country and the world, the numbers are a vast underestimate of the actual child abuse that occurs because most child abuse is hidden,” Lowen said.
But people can uncover the signs.
“Obsessively scared of their parent or a caregiver, very very careful to the right thing always, panicked if they do the wrong thing,” Lowen said.
Other advocates say there is no clear-cut formula for identifying someone that might be abused but signs also include abnormal or obsessive bruising and withdrawal from friends or usual activities
“Unfortunately, there’s no surefire way of knowing. It’s not like it’s a blinking neon saying, ‘child in danger here,” Alex Barton with Youth Villages said.
DCS also says along with working to increase social workers' starting pay, they have capped the caseload to 10 cases per year for all first-year case managers.