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Message To Children Protective Services
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State cannot say how many foster children die each year!
"The state doesn't track these incidents no one really knows how many children have died or were seriously injured while they were in the state foster-care system. What is easier to document are the thousands of children who didn't get the attention or treatment they needed and were left struggling in the system for years. " Eric Thompson of Children's Rights
Problems in fatal child abuse case
Reviews find flaws in how counties handled mistreatment reports
Half of the 10 fatal child abuse cases since 2004 involved problems with the way county social services agencies handled earlier reports of mistreatment, a state review found.
The state Department of Human Services investigates deaths of every child who has been the subject of a child abuse report within five years of death.
Problems cited by state officials ranged from the simple - a lapse in documentation in the death of a 2 1/2-year-old toddler in Denver - to a series of missteps and miscommunications by Morgan County workers before a 1 1/2-year-old child died.
Now, the department will do a similar review of how social workers in Denver and Jefferson County handled referrals involving 7- year-old Chandler Grafner before his death.
Chandler died of starvation and cardiac arrest on May 6. He weighed only 30 pounds. His guardian Jon Phillips, 26, and Sarah Berry, 21, have been charged in Denver with first-degree murder.
The state review was ordered because there had been contact between the guardian and social services before Chandler's death.
"It's another set of eyes to continually improve what we do because we're talking about cases that ended in the worst possible outcome," said department spokeswoman Liz McDonough. "How can we learn?"
The 10 cases involved child abuse deaths that occurred between March 2004 and February 2006. In five of the cases, the reviews found no fault with social services agencies' handling of abuse allegations.
However, the reviews noted problems in the other five. They were:
The Aug. 12, 2004, death of 1 1/2-year-old Halie Wiley in Morgan County. The state report does not include whether anyone was charged in the death but notes bruises found on her body when she died.
Social services workers concluded that two prior referrals were unfounded and closed their investigations even though a doctor had expressed concerns about bruises after the first referral and Fort Morgan police made the second referral. The report found one worker did not disclose that new bruises were found on the child, that a doctor did not promptly report his concerns and that another caseworker was assigned to the second complaint not knowing about the first one.
The March 26, 2004, death of 1 1/2-year-old Genevieve Curtis in Weld County. The mother's live-in boyfriend, Thomas Stewart, was sentenced to 48 years in prison for child abuse resulting in death.
Social services had investigated three complaints of abuse against Genevieve in the 16 months before her death, including one in which the boyfriend refused to let the worker into the house. She was rushed to the hospital the next day and died four days later.
The report noted that staffers needed more training in assessing safe home issues, that the agency delayed initiating an investigation into one of the complaints and the remedial plan put in place for another complaint was not timely nor had enough safeguards to ensure the abuse by the boyfriend would not continue.
The Oct. 19, 2005, death of 2-year-old Brandon Titchenor in Arapahoe County. Brandon died of head trauma, and his father, Stephen, was sentenced to 32 years in prison for child abuse resulting in death.
County officials investigated three earlier reports about the home, two involving domestic violence by the father and one involving the stability of the mother.
The state report said the referrals were handled in a timely fashion and according to state criteria. However, it noted that the caseworker handling the last referral was not aware of the two prior domestic violence cases when that worker concluded the last referral was unfounded.
The Feb. 3, 2006, death of 4-month-old Katrina Rivera in Mesa County. The outcome of the case is not included in the report. The infant was found dead in a house containing drug paraphernalia.
She died of asphyxiation after someone rolled over on her on a bed. The report said there were two referrals involving the family, one concerning the mother's admitted use of cocaine and marijuana during her pregnancy and a domestic violence case two years before the infant was born.
The report noted that the two referrals were handled in a timely fashion, but the report recommended the county review cases involving infants returned to homes involving drug use.
The July 2, 2005, death of 2 1/2-year-old Zoey Espinoza in Denver. The report found that social services workers in Denver acted properly but noted that an earlier report by a hospital social worker of injuries to the toddler did not "spell out clearly the hospital's level of concern regarding the injuries."
It said the department should have followed up on the hospital report.
The outcome of the case was not included in the report.
What's next
Upcoming events involving 7-year-old Chandler Grafner's death:
Today: Private family funeral for the boy.
End of May: Denver Human Services plans to finish its investigation into prior referrals of abuse involving Chandler and turn the results over to the Colorado Human Services Department. The report will not be made public.
Sometime this summer: Within 30 to 45 days after receiving the Denver report, the state department will finish its review of how Chandler's case was handled. It will be made public.
July 11: A preliminary hearing in Denver County Court will be held for Jon Phillips, 26, and Sarah Berry, 21, on murder charges.
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In Loving Memory Of Children Who Didn't Have to Die - 2004
We don't have to go halfway around the world to find wrongs to right or people in need. There are plenty of evildoers right here at home.
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January-February-March-April
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Juli-Anna Mooers
2-year-old
2004
Canada
Diamond Alexander-White
2-year-old
2004
San Angelo, Texas
Victor Reyes
11-year-old
2004
Bakersfield,California
Tricia Reyes
12-year-old
2004
Bakersfield,California
January
Foster Boy
12-year-old
January 2004
Kowanyama,Australia
February
Justin Johnson Jr.
7-month-old
February 4,2004
Madison Township,Ohio
Jatavius McKillion
18-month-old
February 6, 2004
Milwaukee,Wisconsin
Miericole Romero
3-month-old
February 8, 2004
San Diego,California
Allyceea Ennis
4-year-old
February 14,2004
Thunder Bay,Canada
Ebony Smith
4-month-old
February 14,2004
Conway, South Carolina
Shaun Paul Bolton
14-year-old
February 19, 2004
Emery County ,Utah
March
Alex Quevedo
8-month-old
March 3, 2004
Aurora,Illinois
Eduardo Calzada
4-month-old
March 8, 2004
Bakersfield,California
Devon Shackleford
2-year-old
March 11,2004
Mesa,Arizona
Zion Nicholas
4-year-old
March 23, 2004
Paterson, New Jersey
Genevieve Curtis
16-month-old
March 26, 2004
Weld County, Colorado
Kedar Norris
5-year-old
March 29, 2004
Asbury Park, New Jersey
April
Felix Chen
6-year-old
April 1,2004
Bloomington, Indiana
Daniel Bowie
4-month-old
April 4, 2004
Aurora,Illinois
LaKeysha Tharp
6-month-old
April 7,2004
Irmo,South Carolina
Juli-Anna St. Peter
2-year-old
April 13, 2004
Canterbury,Canada
Tyler Vanpopering
6-month-old
April 14,2004
Toledo,Ohio
Samantha Stewart
3-year-old
April 15, 2004
Canton,Mississippi
Gareth Myatt
15-year-old
April 19,2004
Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre
Northamptonshire,UK
Nur Iszyani
Amylia Ahmad
Iskandar
2-year-old
April 26, 2004
Sungai Buloh
Malaysia
Lura DeVine
20-month-old
April 28,2004
Fresno,California
Vanessa Ingram
newborn
April 28, 2004
Venice,Illinois
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May - June -July - August
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May
Emily Hermance
12-year-old
May 2, 2004
Clarence ,New York
Brittany Legler
15-year-old
May 9, 2004
Millcreek
Pennsylvania
Christopher Patric
4-year-old
May 11, 2004
San Diego,California
Angel Hope Herrera
3-year-old
May 18, 2004
Miami,Florida
Elizabeth Rose Edwards
9-month-old
June 30, 2004
Adelaide,Australia
June
Christian Reifler
2-year-old
June 2004
Omaha, NE
Shane Poling Jr
2-year-old
June 2, 2004
Port Charlotte,Florida
Belvina Hopkins
3-month-old
June 3, 2004
San Diego,California
Risa Bejarano
18-year-old
June 6, 2004
Los Angeles,California
Ikyria Jasmine Williams
3-week-old
June 6, 2004
Decatur,Illinois
Sean Campbell
7-year-old
June 13,2004
Fairfax County,Virginia
Cheyenne Delp
6-year-old
June 26, 2004
McMinnville, Tennessee
July
Kyle Fisher
2-year-old
July 2004
Hartlepool, United Kingdom
Tony L Armentrout Jr
2-year-old
July 14, 2004
Shrewsbury,Pennsylvania
Patsy Desmarais
4-year-old
July 15, 2004
Winnipeg-Manitoba
Canada
Christopher David Thomas
3-year-old
July 19, 2004
Sacramento,California
August
Adam Rickwood
14-year-old
August 2004
County Durham,UK
Jordan McGann
18-month-old
August 7,2004
Birmingham, West Midlands,UK
Christian Edward Martinez
16-month-old
August 8, 2004
Warner Robins, Georgia
Denia Meza
14-year-old
August 9,2004
Rock Hill,South Carolina
Denise Meza
8-year-old
August 9,2004
Rock Hill,South Carolina
Jayro Meza
5-year-old
August 9,2004
Rock Hill,South Carolina
Halie Wiley
16-month-old
August 12,2004
Fort Morgan ,Colorado
9-month-old
August 18,2004
Coventry,UK
Jmeir White
14-month-old
August 22,2004
Asbury Park, New Jersey
Joshua Jeffrey Eberle-Martinson
5-year-old
August 29,2004
Chandler,Arizona
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Sept - Oct - Nov - Dec
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September
Matthew Meyer
14-year-old
September 2004
Groveton,Texas
Marcus Lee
3-year-old
September 10,2004
Brooklyn,New York
Shirley A. Arciszewski
12-year-old
September 11,2004
Charlotte,North Carolina
October
Jalien Commissiong
5-year-old
October 2004
Raleigh,N.C
Elizjah Lyden-Baker
1-month-old
October, 2004
Adelaide,Australia
Miakailah Renee Franklin
2-year-old
October 1, 2004
Riverbank,California
Dylan James George
2-year-old
October 4,2004
Fremont,California
Jacqueline Mae Cooper
13-month-old
October 6,2004
Akron,Ohio
Shane Collins
2-year-old
October 11, 2004
Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Connre Dixon
11-year-old
October 18,2004
Ridgefield Township,Ohio
Bray Metius
8-month-old
October 21, 2004
Brisbane,Australia
Thomas "T.J." Wright
3-year-old
October 31,2004
Providence,Illinois
November
Aarone Thompson
6-year-old
November 2004
Aurora, Colorado
Jonathan King
13-year-old
November 2004
Murrayville, Georgia
Lois Lazenby
2-year-old
November 2004
Caerphilly, Southern Wales,UK
Roberto Reyes
15-year-old
November 3,2004
Thayer Learning Center
Missouri
Justice Robinson
16-month-old
November 11,2004
Kent, Washington
Raiden Robinson
6-week-old
November 11,2004
Kent, Washington
Desarie Elizabeth Saravia
5-year-old
November 12,2004
Los Angeles ,California
Angel Cartagena
2-month-old
November 15,2004
Hightstown,New Jersey
Donald Wayne Lechner
6-month-old
November 19, 2004
North Point, Maryland
Anna Rebecca Mancusso
18-month old
November 20, 2004
Clarksville,Tennessee
Egypt Phillips
3-year-old
November 21,2004
Coxsackie,New York
Christopher Henry Cryderman
4-month-old
November 22,2004
Springfield,Missouri
Maggie Schlosser
11-month-old
November 22, 2004
Cristian Liz
3-week-old
November 29,2004
Queens,New York
December
Daisy Marie Perales
5-year-old
December 1, 2004
San Antonio,Texas
Kai Gadison
4-year-old
December 13, 2004
Orlando,Florida
Aundrea Hunter
3-month-old
December 15, 2004
Asheville,North Carolina
Phoenix Cody Parrish
4-month old
December 15, 2004
Dothan, Alabama
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Money, Child Protective Services, and Greed
We all hear the horror stories involving Child Protective Services but believe it will never happen to us. Maybe we like to believe that those horror stories are the exception to the rule. Maybe we like to think that the media is sensationalizing the facts for ratings and profit, after all, that is what the media does. Maybe we think that we are doing everything right and will never have to deal with the system.
The reality is that states and counties receive $30,000 for each child removed from the home and put into the system. Those funds go up to between $40,000 and $150,000 if the child has special needs. If you think that kind of money doesn't breed corruption, think again. In March 2003 the city of San Francisco had 75,000 children in their system. 75,000 children at $30,000 each (that is assuming none of them were handicapped) is $2,250,000,000! Foster families receive between $3,000 and $8300 a year for fostering a child depending on the state. That is a nice little profit being made even after you account for salaries and other overhead. It would be interesting to know where several million dollars each year is going.
The Department of Child Protective Services is a relatively new department of the government. In 1974 the first child abuse case went before the courts. There were no child abuse laws at that time so the case was taken up by the Human Society of the United States. It was after that case that the first child abuse laws were written and the Department of Child Protective Services was put together. It wasn't long before around 500,000 children were placed into the system with nothing in place to either return the children to their parents to find permanent homes for them. I remember attending elementary school with several children who lived in an orphanage where these children were put and forgotten about by the system.
Like most government agencies, CPS has evolved over the years and undergone reform to prevent abuse of the system as well as to make things run smoother and more effectively. However, it seems that the more rules that are put in place the more loopholes there are for corruption.
In 1997 the Adoption and Safe Families Act was put into place by the 105th Congress of the United States. The Adoption and Safe Families Act states:
· Reasonable efforts shall be made to preserve and reunify families unless the parent(s) have committed murder or voluntary manslaughter; aided, abetted, attempted, conspired or solicited to commit murder or voluntary manslaughter; committed a felony assault that resulted in serious bodily injury of the child or another child of the parent; the parental rights of the parent to a sibling have been terminated involuntarily
· If a child is not to be returned to the parents that a permanency hearing will take place within 30 days and that finalization of the placement, either with a legal guardian or by adoption, will be handled in a expeditious fashion as well as the details of how this will be done.
· How much money is to be given by the Federal Government to carry out the bill including incentive payments for the adoption of children in the system.
Yes, incentive payments for the adoption of children in the system. How this works is that a base line number of adoptions has to happen by each state or they risk loosing money. I understand the thought pattern behind the push to adopt out children permanently placed in the system. However, providing monetary incentives opens a lot of doors for the abuse of power. The base line number of adoptions of each state was determined individually. The number of adoptions for the years 1995, 1996 and 1997 were added up and the average taken. Each state was given their number. For each adoption that takes place over that number the state gets $4000. An additional $2000 is given for each special needs child.
Where does all this money go? I wish I had the answer there. Every child that gets put into the system is automatically enrolled in Medicaid. That crosses medical care off the list of what that money pays for. Foster families get a stipend each month for each foster child they take care of to help cover food, clothes and other basic needs. That monthly payment is only a small fraction of that $30,000 given to the state.
From my personal experience I can tell you that none of that money goes into helping the families who have been torn apart. In fact, the social worker that showed up on my door step was driving a BMW. Apparently social workers do get paid that much. So much for horrible hours, horrible pay and it being a thankless job that has a high turn over rate. I will say that being a social worker takes a certain type of person and not everyone is cut out for the job.
Forget wanting to help families. Forget wanting to protect children. Maybe that is why people originally go into social work. To be successful at you have to have a sadistic side of you that enjoys watching people suffer, that way you don't get emotionally attached and you do what you have to do.
Don't believe me? Don't think the system is abused? Consider for a moment that every report that is made to Child Protective Services, regardless of the validity of the claim, has to be investigated or the state risks loosing federal monies that are tied to Social Security. This means that if you get into a fight with your neighbor, your mother-in-law, or a friend they can pick up the phone and call in a false report in retaliation and you will have a social worker show up on your doorstep.
If everything isn't picture perfect when that social worker arrives, a case is formed. It could be anything such as the garbage hasn't been taken out that day, there are dirty dishes in the sink or your kids haven't had a bath yet that day. These people are there to judge your parenting and if they show up on that off day they aren't going to believe you that it's not normally like that.
I have also learned first hand that if someone makes a false call and makes the story outrageous enough that there will be no investigation and your kids will be taken on the spot, and the social worker doesn't have to be professional about it. They are allowed to yell at you, make snap judgments without asking questions, make you stand in the rain for three hours as well as ask questions that are a violation of your personal rights.
The social worker involved in our case also did nothing to help us out. Her idea of help was coming back a week later with a zoning inspector and having the house we were living in condemned making us homeless. This was after she was ordered by the court to return our kids and pay for temporary housing until we could get moved. When we went back to court and she was questioned on this her argument was "We are not in the habit of putting up homeless families."
She violated court order after court order and the judge did not do much about it, beyond not letting her get her way of terminating our parental rights and putting the children in state care. I know that the numbers were adding up in her head. I have seven children. Some of them are considered special needs. If she could get them adopted out there would be a nice bonus of $28,000 minimum.
After a month and a half we did get our kids back, but not after our visitation awarded by the court was blocked for a week and a half, our oldest was put in an unapproved foster home (the woman was licensed to take care of relatives only) and been sexually assaulted and our other children spent just over a month sick because the group home they were put in were very lax about the special diets they had to be on for health reasons.
Nothing was put in place for the emotional and mental well-being of my children. There is no counseling that is automatically given to children in the system to help cope with being separated from their parents. Maybe it is because it is assumed that every child removed from their home and taken away from their parents will be relieved because the state has rules, regulations and procedures in place to prevent errors from happening. Forget that the system is set up with monetary incentives at every corner that those motivated by greed.
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We urge legislators to take a closer look at funding child protection issues and authorities to use wisdom in investigating abuse cases.
Is there someone to speak for children so that their unfinished lives do not slip silently away ?
If hundreds and hundreds of predictably and preventably dead children is not enough to inspire action, what is ? If you choose not to act, who will ? If not now, when ?
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