HAUPPAUGE, NY — Officials in suburban New York City said Thursday they are making changes to child protective services in response to the 2020 death of an 8-year-old boy whose police officer father forced him to sleep overnight on the concrete floor. a frozen garage.

Suffolk County Social Services Commissioner John Imhof, who took over in May, said a number of changes are aimed at strengthening the process of removing a child from a family.

He told a new conference in Hauppauge that child protective services officials no longer receive identifying information, such as a parent’s occupation, in cases where a child may be removed from a home.

Imhof said the state-mandated “blind removal” process in 2020 is meant to eliminate the kind of biases that likely allowed Michael Valva, then a New York City police officer, to keep custody of his son , despite nearly a dozen separate reports. accusing abuse.

“We all have unconscious stereotypes,” Imhof said.

Officials said other changes in the works include hiring more child protective services workers to reduce caseloads, raising wages and offering workers mental health treatment.

The efforts followed an April report by a special grand jury investigating the department’s handling of the case.

Valva and his then-fiancee, Angela Pollina, were convicted of second-degree murder and child endangerment charges in 2022. Both are serving sentences ranging from 25 years to life in prison.

The son, Thomas Valva, died in January 2020, the day after sleeping in the garage of the family’s Long Island home in temperatures that dropped below 20 degrees (minus 6 Celsius).

A medical examiner ruled the boy’s death a homicide and found hypothermia to be a major contributing factor.

Prosecutors said Thomas Valva and his 10-year-old brother spent 16 straight hours in the frozen garage, leading to the 8-year-old’s death.

They also said Michael Valva did nothing to help him as the boy died in front of him and then lied to police and first responders.