DENVER -- A governor's committee report called for sweeping changes to the welfare and child protection systems, recommending the state take over major aspects of human services in Colorado.

The Governor's Welfare Action Committee was set up after a series of CALL7 investigations highlighted problems with the way the Denver Department of Human Services protected children.

“There is little or no accountability in this system because the responsibility is so shared and nobody -- not even the legislature -- really understands how things happen or don't happen," said Shari Shink, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Children's Law Center and a member of the action committee.

The system is so fragmented that it didn't protect Chandler Grafner, who starved in a closet after caregivers did not feed him. Various counties did not communicate and there was no follow up to complaints from Chandler's school, the CALL7 investigation found. There were five other children under DDHS care who died.

The report recommends a state ombudsman to independently follow up on cases if someone complains about a caseworker's actions in a case.

Colorado Department of Human Services executive director Karen Beye, who chaired the action committee, said the recommendation for a state ombudsman is key to insuring the safety of children and the accountability of county caseworkers and their supervisors.

"The ombudsman I think is something that if people don't feel their calls have been responded to or they are concerned about an issue or they are concerned about an action that has been taken, they need to have a place where they feel they can call and express their concerns," Beye said.

The report also recommended a centralized state hotline for child welfare cases.

"Depending on where you live in the state, if you refer a case to the county department it may or may not be accepted for investigation," Beye said. "So (we're) looking for greater consistency to assure that your access to services or investigation doesn't depend on where you live."

The report also recommends a fully funded state academy for caseworkers.

"All new workers must be trained," Beye said. "They must show competency."

But in an economic downturn, with a state budget deep in the red, it will be tough to get the money needed to protect children.

"Social services has a dramatically under resourced system," Shink said. “In fairness to them, if we as a community want their vigilance, if we want them to have supervision that is from knowledgably trained supervisors and if we want them to respond in a sense of urgency” there needs to be more money.

The report comes at a time when CALL7 investigators uncovered two more deaths of children who were or arguably should have been under the protection of DDHS.

Angel DeHerrera and his sister were left in a Colorado Springs foster home where health and safety complaints resulted in the removal of a teen mother and her baby who were also under DDHS care. Angel died 36 hours after the teen and the baby were removed.

Destiny Lewis, who was born premature, was allowed to go home with her mother who had cognitive and emotional problems. Hospital officials repeatedly called DDHS, saying they feared Destiny's mother could not care for her, but DDHS workers determined the child was safe. Destiny died hours after going home when the oxygen tubes fell out of her nose.

After the most recent CALL7 investigations that aired this week, Beye said the state will review Destiny's death.

The Colorado Springs District Attorney office, saying it did not know facts uncovered in the 7NEWS investigation, also reopened the death investigation into Angel's death.

The state department of human services is also conducting a fatality review in the DeHerrera case.