CO's Scandal-Plagued Child Welfare System Targeted for Overhaul

Children died in the system, despite family being available

Gov. John Hickenlooper on Wednesday revealed sweeping reforms to the state's child welfare system, including a multi-part plan that will include a statewide hotline for reporting child abuse and neglect, new training on how to assess those reports and a study of workload or caseloads within the department.

The reforms follow an eight-day series published by the Denver Post in November. The series found that 72 of the 175 children who have died of abuse and neglect in Colorado in the last six years had families or caregivers known to child protection workers before they died.