The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court on Tuesday broke with more than two decades of precedent to order the release of 975 pages showing how the 6-year-old was placed with parents now accused of killing her.

Some boys tried to warn about what was happening, but their reports were discounted or ignored.

John Teixeira answered a desperate need for the state: Where to put boys no one else would take. He’d eventually take in almost 60. But there would be a cost.

When Civil Beat sought exhibits in the trial of an abusive Hawaiʻi foster dad, the Attorney General’s Office intervened to prevent “family trauma” from becoming public. It already had.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that the workers were not protected by the principle of qualified immunity in the 2019 incident.

Following Civil Beat’s inquiries about the issue, the Department of Human Services is launching a task force to explore solutions.

The legislative session was punctuated by an arrest in yet another child death, but lawmakers did not act on recommendations of a child welfare task force .

A federal law requires states to release information about how they handled child maltreatment cases ending in deaths. Hawaiʻi’s reports raise more questions than they answer.

The Hawaiʻi Department of Human Services reported that it had been unable to confirm maltreatment reports of another child in the household before Sarai Perez-Rivera died of starvation and dehydration in June.

Janae Perez and Ashleigh Utley were arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder and several other charges.