Just over one month after an 8-year-old girl is abducted from a Northside Walmart and killed, the Department of Children and Families is opening a new look at their lengthy intervention with that girl’s family.
WOVK has obtained five investigative reports filed by DCF between January 10, 2006, and May, 16, 2012 concerning the safety of Cherish Perrywinkle. Often, investigations conducted by DCF are not released because of strict confidentiality restrictions, however, DCF Spokesman John Harrell says certain investigations- like the one in to Cherish’s death, allow them more liberty to release information. He says in a death that involves neglect or abuse, such as what police say Cherish suffered at the hands of her alleged killed Donald Smith, DCF tries to make their processes as transparent as possible.
“We take all allegations seriously, but what comes next is we need to look at evidence,” he says.
Most of the investigations did not yield enough evidence to support further action by investigators beyond a referral, although there were in fact some concerns raised.
The first two incidents were ultimately determined to not be supported by physical evidence. One dealt with Rayne Perrywinkle’s consistent problem showing up on time to receive Cherish when she was dropped off from day care. The second followed up on allegations that Rayne shook Cherish “forcefully” because Cherish was crying.
The third incident, dated February 16, 2009, is when investigators started expressing some serious concerns. While investigating allegations that Cherish’s biological father had spanked her and hit her so hard it left marks, they did not determine there was actual physical injury, but found “some indicator” of “threatened harm”.
“You’ve got concerns regarding the parent, you’ve got concerns that maybe the parent needs to be going through some counseling, maybe some therapy,” says Harrell.
The report does indicate that services were offered in the form of referrals to Rayne on parenting and budgeting. She was, at the time, also using several other services offered through the state, including mental health services. Because both Rayne and Billy Jarreau, Cherish’s father, were cooperative with investigators and seemed protective of the children, however, Harrell says DCF determined that was the appropriate course of action for the time being.
After an investigation in to the mental state of Rayne in May 2009 over concerns she tried to commit suicide, DCF found no immediate harm to Cherish, although again “threatened harm” was present. The threat was not immediate on Cherish, despite Rayne admitting to throwing a plate at another child in the home. The report indicates DCF believed Rayne needed further mental evaluation, and Harrell says Rayne followed through on that.
I asked Harrell whether there was concern over the children’s safety given Rayne has twice been referred for mental health services within just a few months. He says millions of parents struggle with mental health, but for DCF it boils down to whether that affects the person’s ability to provide for the children.
“If the evidence does not rise to that level, we’ve gotta get the family involved in services to prevent that,” he says.
I also asked, in retrospect, whether he believed the case was handled appropriately now that this full review is put together. Harrell says DCF is confident there was a “thorough” investigation, but they are always willing to take a second look at cases.
“Wherever we can learn lessons, wherever we can improve, we’re going to,” he says.
He would not comment, however, on what- if any- lessons he thinks the department can take out of this specific series of investigations.
The final investigation by DCF was in May 2012 and concerned possible domestic violence, but ultimately, DCF again found no substantial support for the allegations, nor concerns that it ever involved children.
Harrell says it’s always a difficult decision on if/when to remove a child to protective services. At the base level, DCF looks at whether there is a pattern of threats to a child’s safety and whether their needs are met. While there were several concerns through these investigations, he says ultimately no such pattern surfaced.
He says they are not closing the door on a future investigation, but while DCF is concerned about making sure their procedures work properly and the people staffed to do the job get the whole job done, you can help in your community. Harrell says if you suspect abuse- whether it’s something you’ve witnessed or something you believe may be happening with friends, family or otherwise- you should call the abuse hotline at 1-800-962-2873.