SALT LAKE CITY — A 12-year-old boy’s death is now driving change at Utah’s Capitol.
Gavin Peterson’s story has inspired a bill giving authorities a new power to check on kids in danger. Senate Minority Leader, Luz Escamilla said Senate Bill 124 has been nearly two years in the making. In cases like Gavin Peterson’s, she said this bill could be the difference between life and death.
"DCFS interacted with Gavin between 2013 and 2024. There were multiple reports. There were concerns. There were red flags, and yet for a year, the last year of his life, DCFS was unable to get eyes on him,” Senate Minority Leader Escamilla said in the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday.
The goal of this bill is to create an investigative warrant that allows a court, not DCFS alone, to authorize limited access to a child when there is credible evidence-based concern of serious harm, access to the child has been denied, and removal is not yet warranted.
A bill like this is something child advocate Sabrina Tracy has been hoping for since Gavin’s death.
“He was back there suffering when we could have had the right warrant in place, got in there, found him, and potentially save his life instead of having the morgue come pick him up,” said Tracy.
Over the past two years, she said their advocacy has focused on a change related to the warrant process.
The sponsor said the bill is not a removal tool, but when there is a credible threat to a child - it allows a caseworker and officer to physically verify a child’s safety.
“Even with years of reports of abuse, there was no legal tool for DCFS to compel access to physically see him in the final year of his life. This is not just a loophole. This is a failure of the state of Utah. We failed Gavin, for one entire year, no one saw him. We can only imagine what he endured,” Escamilla added.
Public comment at the committee meeting also included opposition.
“I do have concerns about parts of this bill because I do feel like DCFS has such a great deal of power already…” Dalane England with Utah Eagle Forum said in the meeting. "I do think this particular bill, the way that it is written does cross the line of family integrity and it can be used against people with a false accusation.”
Those in favor still feel this bill offers a solution to child abuse cases, like Gavin's.
“It’s sad it took his life, and that will never be ok for me but I also want him to look down here with his little wings and say wow I made a foot print, maybe not the one I wanted but I don’t want others to suffer the way I did,” Tracy said.
While she wants people to remember Gavin for being filled with color and imagination, she said her heart feels bigger because he will also be remembered for making an impactful change in Utah.
