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DHS Conducts Child Death Review for Jersey Bridgeman

By: Rebecca Jeffrey
Updated: November 26, 2012
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Family members we spoke with tell us nearly one year ago Jersey Bridgeman was found chained to a dresser.

Her father and stepmother are now both in prison for that crime.

Since then the Arkansas Department of Human Services and the Benton County Child Advocacy Center (CAC) have kept an eye on the family.

Especially Andrew Lentz who worked with Jersey personally through the CAC.

"Sometimes you get kids that you see that just stick with you and I know for me personally, Jersey was one of those kids," Lentz said.

During their time together, it was her willingness to put others first that really stuck with him.

"She was going to grab some snacks but before she grabbed one for herself, I remember this distinctly, she grabbed a couple snacks for some of the other kids that she was here with and she made sure those kids got something to eat even before she got something to eat, and I don't know when the last time she had eaten was."

But did she fall through the cracks since last year? As the criminal investigation continues details are scarce. But DHS is conducting its own internal review.

"We do a child death review and that means we actually call in the case workers, we call in the investigators and we take it piece by piece to review it and see if there are issues," Amy Webb, the Director of Communications for DHS said.

Now that an arrest has been made, more information will become available, but for DHS a weight may still be on their shoulders.

"Ultimately we feel responsible for these kids and we love these kids and we want them to be safe and so we want to do everything we can not only on the front end but on the back end as well," Webb said.

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