DFACS acknowledges 'errors' in another case

ATLANTA - State officials acknowledged Monday that the Division of Family and Children Services did not closely monitor the case of a 13-year girl found dead in a Cherokee County home last week. <br> <br> Authorities said Rhiannon Gilmore, who suffered from cerebral palsy, was dead for several days. Her 11-year-old sister discovered the body at their home in Canton. The skeletal remains of a dog also were found in the yard. <br> <br> Their mother, Stephanie Gilmore, 33, remains in jail on child and animal cruelty charges. Gilmore&#39;s boyfriend, Trent Day, 30, was charged with concealing a death, cruelty to animals and tampering with evidence. <br> <br> DFACS officials met Monday to review the case, initially brought to the agency&#39;s attention in 1994. State child welfare workers said they didn&#39;t thoroughly monitor the situation at the home, nor did they follow up complaints from neighbors. <br> <br> Wilfred Hamm, head of social services for DFACS, said at least five workers violated policy and could face disciplinary action. <br> <br> ``We are diminished by the death of any child that we have touched,&#39;&#39; he said. ``We should have done more.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> For instance, workers failed to run a criminal check on Day, who had been arrested more than a dozen times on charges including child abandonment and marijuana possession. <br> <br> Gilmore&#39;s 11-year-old daughter and her son have been taken into state custody, officials said. <br> <br> The case mirrors circumstances surrounding the death of Alexis Headspeth, a 3-year-old girl taken off life support earlier this month after being hospitalized with head injuries. <br> <br> Family members and neighbors in East Point said they repeatedly told DFACS they believed the girl and her siblings were being mistreated at the home of their maternal grandmother, who took Alexis to the hospital saying she had almost drowned in the bathtub. <br> <br> Five days before that Beverly Headspeth told a state caseworker her concern: Her 11-year-old son was beating the younger children in her house. <br> <br> DFACS officials said the agency also made mistakes during its three-year history with the Headspeth children.

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