Failure to Protect
A FRONTLINE- Documentary (2 x 60 min.)

 

  What is the proper balance between saving a child and destroying a family? In a two-part series, "Failure to Protect," FRONTLINE probes the complexities and difficulties in trying to answer that question through a remarkable behind-the-scenes look at Maine's child protective services.  

The Taking of Logan Marr

In January 2001, five-year-old Logan Marr was found dead in the basement of her foster mother’s home in Chelsea, Maine.  The foster mother, Sally Schofield, was a highly respected former caseworker for Maine’s Department of Human Services.  FRONTLINE examines the girl’s short, troubled life and asks a series of tough questions:  Why was a little girl who had never been abused taken from her birth mother?  Was her mother given a real opportunity to regain custody?  And did the state miss significant clues that she was in danger?  Through extensive interviews with key figures involved in the case—including exclusive access to Schofield herself—FRONTLINE rewinds the story to look closely at the events that led up to Logan’s death.

The Caseworker Files

The removal of a child from an abusive or neglectful parent is one of the most drastic actions a government undertakes; and yet it does so with little or no public scrutiny.  In 2001, the state of Maine gave FRONTLINE unprecedented access to observe the daily lives of its child protection caseworkers, with whom the decision to remove children begins.  In a companion presentation to “Failure to Protect: The Taking of Logan Marr,” FRONTLINE cameras follow a small set of caseworkers in one office as they interact with families and each other, dealing with the excruciating dilemmas and heartbreaking choices that confront them every day.