A state investigation into the starvation of 7-year-old Chandler Grafner criticized county child protection agencies for slowly and poorly investigating abuse allegations and the guardians charged in his May 6 death.

The Denver Department of Human Services was criticized for dismissing as "unfounded" a kindergarten teacher's warnings and January police reports that the boy's neck and ear were bruised, according to the report issued today by the Colorado Department of Human Services Child Fatality Review Team.

Chandler told the teacher his guardian, Jon Phillips, had smacked him around in the shower and then kept him out of school because of the injuries.

Phillips and his common-law wife, Sarah Berry, have been charged with first-degree murder.

Phillips was Chandler's legal guardian and was given custody of the boy by a Jefferson County magistrate in January after the county removed him from his mother's care.

Tina Grafner, the boys' mother, had several run-ins with the law and was cited twice for child abuse before she had her children taken from her.

The state review said a Denver DHS emergency caseworker described the bruising as "less severe" than a Denver police officer who photographed the child's injuries.

The state team said, given the credibility of school and police abuse reporters, Denver DHS should have concluded the evidence was "inconclusive" or "founded."

The report said proper tracking of the boy's welfare got lost between the two counties, which failed to communicate with each other.

The Jefferson County Department of Human Services initially had oversight after he was removed from his mother's home there. But he was later ordered to live with Phillips in Denver.

The shower slapping incident was reported by the teacher Jan. 17 to Jeffco DHS, the state review said.

It criticized Jeffco for failing to have a caseworker examine the boy within 24 hours of the report, as mandated by state law.

Yet, Phillips, who had fathered another child with Chandler's mother, had been awarded "full parental responsibilities" for the boy by Jefferson County Magistrate Judge K.J. Moore on Jan. 11.

So, on Jan. 18, Jeffco DHS referred the slapping investigation to a Denver Child Abuse Hotline, because the boy lived with Phillips in Denver.

But Denver was repeatedly unable to contact the family and Denver police were unable to track down Chandler and his younger half-brother until four days after the abuse report.

The review said Denver child welfare officials were thwarted in getting up to speed on the boy's case, because Jeffco DHS "did not communicate critical information to Denver" by failing to update case information in a statewide database.

The report said Jeffco DHS failed to do a more "comprehensive assessment" of Phillips and Berry, who often were unable to meet with a caseworker studying the couple's home to determine if it was a suitable place for Chandler to live.

The Denver County Coroner's Office officially labeled his death a homicide caused by intentional dehydration and starvation. His 3-foot, 10-inch body weighed only 34 pounds when he died. His rib cage was so prominent that individual ribs were showing.

The counties have a 45-day deadline to file a plan to correct problems with the state — or challenge the review findings.

gathrighta@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5486