PBS show to cover Marr case Child’s death focus of ‘Frontline’ episode

PORTLAND – The makers of an hourlong PBS documentary on the killing of a 5-year-old girl at her foster home in Chelsea say they hope the show will trigger a national dialogue on the child welfare system.

“Failure to Protect: The Taking of Logan Marr” will air Jan. 30 as part of the network’s investigative “Frontline” series.

On Feb. 6, “Frontline” will show a companion film called “Failure to Protect: The Caseworker Files.” In that film, the makers of the Marr film followed four Maine caseworkers from the Department of Human Services in Bangor for four months, documenting their daily challenges in trying to protect children and keep families together. That one-hour film will be followed by an hourlong panel discussion on child welfare policies.

“We were interested in doing something on child welfare and we had heard about Logan Marr. We knew that case had caused an enormous amount of self-examination in Maine,” said Rachel Dretzin, who produced both films along with her husband, Barak Goodman. “We wanted to focus on one state, which had a good reputation for child welfare, and which was small enough for us to get our hands around.”

Logan’s death caused a re-examination of child welfare policies, including procedures for removing children from their parents. Her foster mother, former DHS caseworker Sally Ann Schofield, was found guilty of killing Logan by binding and gagging her with duct tape. In September, Schofield was sentenced to 20 years for manslaughter.

Dretzin praised DHS for giving her crew liberal access to the department and its caseworkers.

She says that by making a film following DHS caseworkers, she and her husband hope to balance the emotional impact that the little girl’s tragic story is likely to have on viewers.

DHS spokesperson Newell Augur says that access was granted to the film crew so that people could have a look at what caseworkers really do.

“The more people know about how child and family services works, and the many challenges caseworkers face, the better for everyone,” Augur said.

Logan and her sister, Bailey, were taken from their mother, Christy Reposa, after the DHS claimed she provided an “unsafe lifestyle” by doing things such as placing them in proximity of accused sex offenders. Reposa has denied that.

The girls were placed in the foster care of Schofield in September 2000. On Jan. 31, 2001, Logan was found dead in the basement of Schofield’s home.