A’zella Ortiz was four years old, starving, bruised, and unseen when Massachusetts DCF closed her “intact family” case after 114 days without laying eyes on her or her siblings. Less than a year later she was dead on a hospital gurney and her brother and sister were found broken beside her. This article exposes how a system that calls itself child protection chose paperwork, denial, and closure over keeping three children alive.

Police found Jacqueline Torres-Garcia in a plastic tote behind an abandoned New Britain house in 2025. Records show DCF closed a case months earlier after a video check. The story tracks the school withdrawal, the missed in-person visit, and the custody decisions that left no neutral eyes on her.

Fifteen-year-old Christian Williams had Type 1 diabetes and was in Arizona DCS custody at a Catalyst group home in Mesa. Emails warned that missed insulin “will result in his death.” A DCS-contracted worker asked for a nurse. An emergency team met. Nothing changed. On July 7, 2024, staff framed a medical crisis as misbehavior and delayed 911. Christian died three days later of diabetic ketoacidosis. Licensing took no action. This investigation follows each warning, each decision, and the policies that should have protected him.