Again, Mainers are faced with the all too familiar case of a child being killed in their home after DHHS had been notified by a mandated reporter of the suspected abuse of a minor. In October 2022 DHHS found no child abuse had occurred. Just two months later, on Christmas morning the girl was found dead. 3- year-old Makinzlee Handrahan died resulting from “non-accidental blunt force trauma with internal head and abdomen injuries.” She suffered bruises on the top and back of her head with large clumps of hair pulled out of her head along with severe rug burns on her face. Her body had several lacerations, contusions, internal hemorrhaging along with many more injuries. Live-in boyfriend, Tyler Witham-Jordan, has been charged with depraved indifference murder.
“Why didn’t DHHS implement extraordinary surveillance procedures of the home knowing that a known drug user not only lived there, but was the caretaker of the children who lived there as well?,” asked Bill Diamond, Walk a Mile in Their Shoes founder.
Walk a Mile in Their Shoes believes it’s incumbent on Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services to be transparent about their culpability in continually failing to protect Maine’s children from abuse and death. The department’s immediate initiative should be to make the public aware of shortcomings in Maine’s child protective system, where specific failures and missed opportunities leading to tragedy have occurred and explain how these apparent issues are being addressed today. Currently, they are overusing the excuse of confidentiality.
“Efforts should be made on their part to bring up-to-date information to Maine’s Government Oversight Committee as they are engaged in an ongoing investigation into child deaths where the victims had DHHS involvement.,” said Diamond.
The organization encourages other child welfare advocates to ask questions. Given the long timeframe between when Makinzlee died and Witham-Jordan being charged almost 10 months later, what are DHHS’s internal findings about their mishandling of this case and what steps have been taken to assure this does not happen again?