D.C. leaders are looking into whether proper procedures were followed in the adoption of three children by Renee Bowman, the mother accused of abusing one of them and who allegedly told police she stored the bodies of the other two girls in a freezer.

Officials at the D.C. Child and Family Services agency reportedly spent the entire day in meetings related to the case.

Mayor Adrian Fenty said the investigation is ongoing.

"The child welfare system at the time had a number of different things that were supposed to have been done, that they did. Whether they did everything, that's probably too early to say," Fenty said.

The Board of Child Care, the private company which performed the background check on Bowman, has an office in Southeast D.C. No one returned phone calls seeking comment on the matter on Tuesday.

A D.C. court approved the adoptions and D.C. forwarded Bowman $2,400 a month in federal monies for parents who adopt children with special needs.

The general counsel for D.C. Child and Family Services said Tuesday there were no follow-up requirements for Bowman to keep receiving the money after the adoptions went through. But the agency's requirements specifically indicate there must be proof the children are registered in school for the payments to continue. Clarification for the apparent discrepancy was not immediately available.

Meantime, the investigation has dredged up memories of Banita Jacks, the mother who in January was found living with the decomposed bodies of her four children. Their deaths were ruled homicides and Jacks has been charged.

"When it is going to stop the out there killing these kids like this I don't understand," said one D.C. resident.

"I'm baffled. I'm at a loss for what happened, I'm saddened," added another D.C. resident.

Yet as more people demand stricter adoption standards, local advocates for adoption worry it could have a perverse effect on children still waiting for a home.

"I have heard some people talking about 'we need to do more of those checks', and I worry that if we start adding more and more things that people need to do to be approved to adopt, that it may drive people away or deter them from even starting the process," said Susan Punett, an advocate with Kidsave.

Punett said there are adequate regulations in place now.