DCF chief Roche quits amid mounting pressure
After resisting calls for months for her removal, Department of Children and Families Commissioner Olga Roche resigned Tuesday morning in the wake of new evidence suggesting systematic failures in her agency may have jeopardized the safety of two more children.
Gov. Deval Patrick, who had until now stood by Roche during the firestorm over the death of a Fitchburg toddler under DCF’s watch, accepted Roche’s resignation, yet insisted the long-time social worker was capable of doing the job but had lost the public’s trust.
Patrick turned to Erin Devaney to lead the agency out of turmoil. She is a long-time state transportation official who is new to the child welfare department, but whom the governor believes has the management experience in large state bureaucracies to effectively lead DCF.
Roche's resignation came less than 24 hours after House Speaker Robert DeLeo emphatically called for her removal, touching off a wave of similar calls from high-ranking elected officials for Patrick to fire the commissioner after two new infant deaths, one of them in Grafton, were linked over the weekend to failures of the department.
Other lawmakers had for months been calling for Roche to step down.
Roche’s resignation was announced this morning by Health and Human Services secretary John Polanowicz. “It is not possible for the agency to move forward in this environment with her at the helm,” he said at a press conference. “The agency needs a leader who will be given a fair chance to do (its) critical work.”
“DCF has one of the toughest assignments imaginable, every single day,” Patrick added at the press conference. ““For DCF to move on … there must be accountability for the tragedies.”
But Patrick, noting his “sadness” in announcing Roche’s resignation, said Roche “can no longer command the trust of the public or the confidence of her line staff.”
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