Samuel Chambers resigned Monday as head of Baltimore City?s social services department amid an investigation into the death of a 2-year-old child allegedly given a fatal dose of methadone by her mother while under supervision of the state.
“This was voluntary; no one was forced,” said Norris West, a spokesman for the department.
Chambers had led the department since 2004.
Sterling Clifford, spokesman for Mayor Sheila Dixon, praised Chambers? leadership of the department.
“Sam was a really committed administrator for social services,” Clifford said. “He cared deeply for the city and made a difference.”
The acting director will be Winifred Wilson, who has been in charge of retooling the state agency efforts in Baltimore under a program called “ReBuild.”
A national search will be conducted for a permanent replacement.
Gov. Martin O?Malley said Thursday that state officials are investigating how Child Protective Services allowed a Baltimore mother with substantiated cases of neglect and child abuse to keep a 2-year-old baby in her roach-infested home.
Vernice Harris, 30, was charged Dec. 22 with the first-degree murder of her daughter, Bryanna, after a medical examiner?s report showed that “a substantial amount” of methadone, coupled with blunt-force trauma to the abdomen, caused the child?s death.
“Witnesses supplied taped statements that Vernice Harris would beat Bryanna Ashley Harris all the time for no reason other than asking for food or to be held,” homicide Detective Irvin Bradley wrote in his report. “They also stated that when Vernice Harris had her drug-addicted friends over, she didn?t have time for the child.”
Medics rushed Bryanna from the 1700 block of East 25th Street at 3:30 a.m. June 5, 2007, after Harris called 911 because her daughter wasn?t breathing.
Bryanna was dressed in pink sweat pants, a white top and a plastic diaper at the time of her death.
Examiner Staff Writer Luke Broadwater contributed to this article.
