I am calling on New York State to change a law that currently allows Child Protective Services to keep critical information confidential from the police -- even when a child's life could be in danger. If CPS had released needed information to the police, my 5-year-old grandson Kenneth might still be alive.

Family Court Judges decide where children like my 5-year-old grandson Kenneth White who need protective services should live. For the children's safety, information about them is supposed to be kept confidential.

But in his case, Kenneth should never have been approved to live with a mentally ill aunt in a trailer that was later condemned for being "unfit for human occupancy". When his cousin called 9-1-1 with a crazy story about Kenneth being abducted by armed men, the police should have been able to easily get information from CPS about the history of abuse in the trailer and his family.

However, because CPS wouldn't release any information about Kenneth, the police spent the day conducting an Amber Alert and had to wait hours before getting a warrant to search the trailer where he lived. That night, Kenneth was found beaten and strangled outside his trailer. The cousin who called 9-1-1 is charged with his murder.

Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple is also calling for this change. I want CPS and Family Courts to share information with the police when a child's life depends on it. This change in the law would make that possible.