Burlington Free Press journalists have an impact on our communities
In June, the Burlington Free Press published a four-part series by reporter April Barton about problems with Vermont’s Child Protection Registry, regarding a record of child abuse instances maintained by the Department for Children and Families.
The registry and the department had been criticized for using the registry and an administrative process that avoids the court system and unfairly accuses parents of child abuse, causing them to lose job opportunities and their children without adequate means for contesting the designation, which lasts a lifetime.
Barton’s series is just one example of the impactful journalism we strive for at the Burlington Free Press.
Barton spent months reviewing thousands of documents and coaxing parents – fearful of retaliation by the department that could threaten custody of their children – to speak on the record.
Her efforts paid off with a series that untangled the arcane maze that parents must navigate when even threatened by being placed on the registry, and put a face to those who suffer under an imperfect system.
Following the Free Press story, Commissioner Chris Winters of Vermont's Department for Children and Families convened a work group of DCF workers and child advocates to evaluate the Child Protection Registry.
The four-part series, in its entirety, is here:
Critical errors on the list:Child abuse or parenting 'in today’s complex world'? Some say Vermont DCF gets it wrong
Putting a spotlight on an emerging drug threat
In September, Dan D’Ambrosio wrote about xylazine, known on the streets as tranq, “a large animal tranquilizer,” as D’Ambrosio wrote, “being mixed into Burlington's illicit drug supply, along with fentanyl and other substances.”
The story included Vermont Sen. Peter Welch's effort to work with Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas to pass a bill “aimed at developing an antidote, and directing the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop new tests to detect the drug in patients.”
In a statement following the signing of the bill by President Joe Biden in December, Welch concluded, “The Burlington Free Press put the spotlight on Tranq and Sen. Welch’s bill in their September 2023 piece: 'It came out of nowhere': Xylazine makes Vermont street drugs more dangerous and deadly.”
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Aki Soga is the editor of the Burlington Free Press. Contact him at asgoa@freepressmedia.com.