What has become apparent above everything else is that this child was failed by her local network of safety nets. Through a series of circumstances, she became lost in the system, and she tragically lost her life. As Legislators, we have an obligation to protect our most vulnerable citizens, especially our children.
This case has highlighted that our current system of checks and balances has cracks. To that end, we will work with the Governor’s Office, the Department of Education, the Department of Human Services, and the State Police to discuss ways that we, legislatively, can improve our regulations related to homeschooled children to ensure that no children suffer this same outcome.
We encourage our colleagues in the House of Delegates to sit down with us as we start working toward these plans. We must act quickly to ensure that something of this magnitude doesn’t happen again.”