the criminal case against Jason Strickland. If Poutre died, the state could bring murder charges against Strickland. But if she lived, even in a vegetative state, the charges brought against Strickland were significantly less severe. Many perceived the actions of Strickland to be an attempt at evading homicide charges. On January 17, 2006, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of the Department of Social Services that life support could be removed. On January 18, 2006, Poutre's biological mother indicated Haleigh was responding to her. As physicians were preparing to remove life support, Poutre regained consciousness. In the presence of Harry Spence, social workers asked Poutre to identify a series of items in front of her and she successfully completed the task. The order to remove life support was cancelled. A number of Right to Life groups involved themselves with Poutre's case. They noted parallels between this case and the high profile Terri Schiavo case which had ended in her death earlier that year. Schiavo's family, who runs the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation Center for Health Care Ethics Inc., contacted Mitt Romney regarding the Poutre case. Schiavo's father, Bob Schindler Sr., commented that there have been many similar cases and his foundation's goal is "essentially to guard against this rush to judgment." Policy changes in response to the case The Department of Social Services faced harsh criticism for their role in the case. On June 14, 2006, a legislative oversight committee determined that Department of Social Services was at fault for failing to protect Poutre. Department of Social Services officials have acknowledged that they missed signs of abuse before she was brought to the hospital in September. The Department of Social Services received at least twelve reports of abuse or neglect of Poutre between 2001 and 2005. The department had been working with the Strickland family since 1998. The panel recommended a number of changes, including the creation of an audit bureau to review cases, an increase of educational requirements for social workers, and a revamping of abuse reporting systems. In March 2006, Governor Mitt Romney appointed a panel of specialists to evaluate the case. "Haleigh's case highlights a frightening confluence of a health care system ignorant of abuse and a child protective system ignorant of medicine," they said. The panel also said current Department of Social Services procedures are "substantially insufficient" in their ability to make decisions regarding