Privacy concerns delay report release

The state is investigating how the child's care in the home was monitored.
CINCINNATI (AP) -- A state report on how a developmentally disabled child was placed with foster parents later accused of killing him is being delayed while officials debate information that could be censored.
The state began reviewing the case of 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel in August, soon after police arrested Liz and David Carroll Jr. and charged them with murder, kidnapping, felonious assault and child endangering.
"There are things that fall under protected information when it comes to child welfare," said Dennis Evans, a spokesman with the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services.
The department typically refuses to release information on case workers, medical information and the names of foster children and foster parents.
The report, at least what's made public, is due out the week of Nov. 27, a month behind schedule.
The Carrolls are accused of wrapping Marcus in a blanket and packing tape and leaving him in a closet for two days while they went to a family reunion in Kentucky. The boy was dead when they returned, authorities said. A third adult who lived in their Clermont County home has been cooperating with investigators.
Reported boy missing
The couple had reported Marcus missing Aug. 15 and said he had disappeared from a public park. Hundreds of people joined a search for the child. The Carrolls, who have pleaded not guilty, were arrested in Hamilton County on Aug. 28.
The Carrolls, certified to be foster parents through Lifeway for Youth, a private agency that handles foster child placements for a number of counties, lied about their backgrounds and didn't report a domestic violence charge against David Carroll as required, the agency has said. That charge was dismissed.
The state is investigating how the agency monitored Marcus' safety in the home. Also under review is Clermont County Children Services, which paid Liz Carroll to provide day-care services.
The report is expected to recommend ways to tighten foster care regulations and suggest changes in state law.
What advocates want
Child welfare advocates said Ohio needs tougher standards for foster parents, including mandatory credit checks and harsher penalties for licensed foster parents who harm foster kids.
State law should require county social workers to visit every foster child -- even those overseen by private agencies -- at least once a month, they say.
"Right now, that is the usual practice but it's not required practice," said Crystal Allen, executive director of the Public Children's Services Association of Ohio, which lobbies on behalf of child protection departments in each of the state's 88 counties.
State Sen. Tom Niehaus, R-New Richmond, who sponsored a bill that created a domestic violence task force, said he wants to see the results of the state's investigation into Marcus' death before looking at new legislation.
He said his goal is to improve conditions for foster parents and encourage more families to accept foster children.
"We're trying to make sure first of all that we're protecting the children," he said. "But you don't want to go too far in terms of intruding on the privacy of individuals. We don't want to make it so difficult that people say, 'No, we're not interested."'