BALTIMORE — It's been two months since a foster teen was found dead in a hotel room and since then, drastic changes have been made to the state system.
At the time of Kanaiyah Ward’s death, 18 minors were also living in hotels. As of Monday, that number is now just one according to DHS, a week shy of its self-imposed deadline to re-locate them.
It’s an achievement long pushed since 2022 by the Moore-Miller Administration, according to the Department of Human Services.
But some advocates wonder if the recent changes were rash.
Report reveals more details behind foster teen's death; State significantly reduces hotel placements
“If a child dies in the foster system, people want to see action immediately. And I think going into the audit [hearing] the secretary had to do something to say we're solving this problem, so he issued the directive,” Center for Families, Children and the Courts faculty director Shanta Trivedi said. “Had the agency been transparent about the steps they'd taken prior to the audit, it might have felt less so.”
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Newly released 911 audio and a corresponding police report obtained by WMAR-2 News show a one-on-one caregiver had trouble waking the 16-year-old up for school the morning of September 22 when she overdosed on the active ingredient found in Benadryl.
The unidentified caller told the dispatch around 10:50 am quote:
“I have no idea what happened. I’m a one-on-one for a client and I went to wake her up for school and you know she didn't wake up and — which is normal, she don’t like to go to school.”
The chaperone told dispatch that she had checked on Ward around 5:45 a.m., then again around 8 a.m. A final check at 10:30 a.m., according to the report, the chaperone placed a finger under the teen’s nose and found that she was not breathing.
Dispatcher:
“Is she breathing?"
Caregiver:
“No"
Dispatcher:
“She's not breathing?"
Caregiver:
“No... and she's cold."
Dispatcher:
“Okay she's cold? Can you do CPR? Are you willing to do CPR?”
Caregiver:
“I don't know how to.”
Police labeled it a “questionable death”, later closing the case after the Office of the Medical Examiner ruled her death a suicide.
Investigators noted medication bottles, as well as prior scars showing self-harm.
Ward’s family’s attorney told WMAR-2 News the teen suffered from mental health issues, and the family lacked the resources to address them.
“I immediately wondered what services they needed that they weren't able to get without putting their child in the foster system and why we aren't focusing on that as a fix,” Trivedi said. “It was simply that they couldn't get the care that they needed. And that's a tragedy.”
Trivedi also worries that while DHS Secretary Rafael Lopez says that all the children removed from hotels have been put into “appropriate” placements, that that may not be the case. DHS has not disclosed this information, often citing privacy law related to children under its care.
“I think given everything that's happened, the public would feel a lot better if there was more transparency from DHS,” she said.
DHS reports its investigation into Ward’s case is still ongoing. It ended referrals to Fenwick Behavioral Services two days after Ward’s death, but has not directly confirmed if the organization was responsible for coordinating Ward’s supervision.