"I'm a pediatrician, and I was incredibly sad and pretty determined that the information in that report makes a difference in the lives of children in Philadelphia going forward," Schwarz said.
The grand jury report accuses the Department of Human Services of gross negligence in the death of Danieal Kelly and charges nine people, including her parents. Paris was not charged, but was singled out for criticism for telling the medical examiner to keep quiet about the case.
Calls to Paris yesterday were not returned.
Yesterday's development came nearly two years after The Inquirer published investigative articles that detailed the deaths of children under DHS supervision. After the reports appeared, then-Mayor John F. Street appointed a blue-ribbon panel to overhaul the agency.
Yesterday, DHS Commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose said the department was finalizing plans on how to conduct an investigation into the roles of other employees named in the report but not charged.
"This is a top-to-bottom look at what needs to change," Ambrose said in an interview.
She said she was prepared to make those plans public on Monday and that they would involve an extensive investigation. As of yesterday, no one else had been suspended, she said.
Danieal Kelly, who had cerebral palsy, starved to death in full view of her family, DHS social workers and employees for an outside contractor, MultiEthnic Behavioral Health Inc.
Of the nine defendants - including two DHS social workers, Laura Sommerer, 33, and Dana Poindexter, 51; two employees for a contractor; and three friends of the mother - only one remained at large yesterday.
A warrant is out for the arrest of Diamond Brantley, 22, a family friend, who is accused of lying before the grand jury.
