DYFS Workers Face Grand Jury

A grand jury will be asked to decide whether state child welfare workers should face criminal charges for not doing something about four children allegedly starved by their adoptive parents, in Collingswood according to a published report.

The Star-Ledger of Newark reported in Thursday's editions that at least four Division of Youth and Family Services workers have received subpoenas to appear before a grand jury in Camden on Jan. 14.

In October, Raymond and Vanessa Jackson of Collingswood, N.J., were charged with aggravated assault and child endangerment for allegedly withholding food from their four adopted sons. The boys, ranging in age from 9 to 19, all weighed less than 45 pounds and stood shorter than 4 feet tall.

The case became a new stain for an already troubled DYFS because a caseworker had regularly checked on the family as it went through the process of adopting a 10-year-old girl.

In the aftermath of the charges against the Jacksons, nine DYFS workers were fired, and Camden County prosecutors said they would look into whether criminal charges should be brought against them.

No charges have yet been filed against the workers, but it appears tat is still a possibility, although a lawyer for some of the workers said they have not been told that they are targets of an investigation.

"We are concerned the action taken is highly politicized, and innocent people are being scapegoated for structural inadequacies within the DYFS system -- inadequate funding and mismanagement at the highest level of the office," attorney Alan Zegas told the newspaper.

A spokesman for the prosecutor's office said it is office policy not to discuss grand jury proceedings.

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