Kowal was asked by the state secretary of Health and Human Services to review DSS's handling of the ''Mikey" case, the controversial removal of a boy from the foster home where he had lived for eight years.
Kowal decided that although the foster family was treated poorly by DSS, that mistake could not be rectified by committing another one and removing the boy from his new home.
Kowal was a child welfare specialist with the State Division of Child Guardianship and legislative staff director of the House Committee on Human Services and Elder Affairs before she became affiliated with the MSPCC.