DSS THREATENS TO DESTROY FAMILY INJURED BY CAR CRASH

 

Noblely Lawson

 

http://angiemedia.com/?p=4130

On July 6, 2009, one year old baby girl Noblely Lawson was hit by a car in Charlotte, North Carolina. The driver of the car lost control, claiming that something was in his eye. The car jumped the curb and crossed a sidewalk, slamming into the stroller in which the baby was being walked by her parents, Shane Lawson and Summer Brown. The car struck both her parents, too.

This is a very good article, to read the rest, visit the link above….

IN DEATH, BROWARD FATHER MAY BECOME DAD AGAIN

 

A Broward father lost all rights to his daughter after being declared an unfit dad. Now he is dead, and a court is reconsidering whether to restore his parental rights.

 

BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER

cmarbin@MiamiHerald.com

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/5min/story/1160243.html

In life, he was a lousy father.

His love for the crack pipe was mightier than the love for his children, a Broward judge decided, and ended his parental rights to his pre-teen daughter.

But before his appeal of the judge’s order was final, the father known in court records as C.A. died after being struck by a car.

And now, an appeals court is wondering: Perhaps the little girl should keep her father, after all.

In a case believed to be a first in Florida, the Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach has ordered Broward Circuit Judge John Frusciante to reconsider his order ending C.A.’s rights as a father. Perhaps, the court says, it is in the girl’s “best interests” to retain a relationship with C.A. now that he is dead.

At stake: perhaps a large sum of money. If the girl — who is not named in the appeals court decision — has no legal ties to her father, she would have no right to claim any proceeds from a wrongful-death lawsuit that may be filed by her father’s estate, the opinion says.

In a nod to state child welfare administrators who asked the appeals court to reconsider the case in light of C.A.’s death, the three-judge appeals panel wrote that “even if the final judgment [severing C.A.'s rights was] soundly based and affirmed, it may not now be in the best interests of the child to do so.”

Child welfare legal experts, including Frusciante, say the ruling appears to be the first time a Florida judge has been asked to restore a parent’s rights after death.

“Obviously, this case presents challenges that we haven’t dealt with yet,” Frusciante said.

Said Paolo Annino, director of the Public Interest Law Center at Florida State University: “I have never seen either the Department of Health & Rehabilitative Services, or its successor, the Department of Children & Families, terminate parental rights and then reverse themselves.”

Certainly not after a parent has died, Annino added.

“We want to do what is in the best interests of children,” said Mary Cagle, DCF’s top child welfare attorney. “When the father died, we stepped back to see what was in the best interests of these children.”

Attorneys for C.A. at the Regional Counsel office in West Palm Beach did not reply to several calls for comment.

C.A. and his wife had two children, a now-13-year-old girl and her 16-year-old brother, sources with knowledge of the case told The Miami Herald. The two children had remained in state care for a long time as child welfare administrators tried to help their parents beat their cocaine addictions — a quest that ultimately proved futile.

One of the children had even tested positive for cocaine, a source said.

After a hearing, C.A.’s wife lost custody of the daughter forever, a decision that was affirmed on appeal. C.A. appealed separately, and his case was still pending when he was hit by a car when walking near a highway in Broward.

A source familiar with the case said Frusciante severed C.A.’s ties to the girl because, at the time, she was living with foster parents who wished to eventually adopt her. But the court did not terminate the dad’s rights over the older brother, who was living in a group home with little hope he would be adopted.

That meant the brother would be entitled to inherit any proceeds from a wrongful-death suit, but his sister would not. The opinion — written by Judge Gary M. Farmer and signed by judges Fred A. Hazouri and Cory J. Ciklin — provides no names or other information regarding the children and their birth mother.

It was the Department of Children & Families that first suggested C.A.’s daughter might be better off retaining a legal tie to her father, said Cagle, and, given the circumstances of C.A.’s death, had suggested the man’s estate hire a lawyer to pursue a wrongful death claim.

“When the father died, people said, `Wow, this kid could be disenfranchised from any money that might result.’ How can we get before the Court of Appeals and find a way to not make that happen?”

The appeals court’s July 22 opinion suggested state law and legal precedent had little to offer to decide such a question.

To settle the issue, the appeals court panel sought advice from “other legal contexts,” such as divorce cases and criminal law.

They concluded: “Neitherthe criminal nor [divorce] rule is an exact fit for this . . .case.”

“We must not forget that the overriding concern in [cases involving the termination of a parent's rights] is for the best interests of the child, not the parents,” the opinion states. “The state initiates [termination] proceedings, not to punish parents who fail to met their obligations to the child, but to protect the child and her interests.”

“The state’s interest in vindicating judgments presumed correct must give way to that paramount concern, the best interests of the child.”

2 KIDS FOUND IN TRASH BIN NOW IN FOSTER CARE

 

Employees arriving for work hear crying, check trash cans behind business, find children

 

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/crime/2-kids-found-in-trash-bin-now-in-foster-care-222717.html

By Lucas Sullivan and James Cummings, Staff Writers

DAYTON — Two young children found in a trash bin behind a local business have been taken away from their mother by Montgomery County Children’s Services and put in foster care.

Ashonti Johnson, 23 months old, and her 8-month-old brother Tommie Johnson III were found about 8:30 a.m. Monday, July 27, by an electrician arriving for work.

They had been in the heavy-duty, green plastic bin for as long as 13 hours, Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl said.

The empty but dirty bin was sitting in the sun at 902 E. Second St. [MAP]

About an hour after the children were found, Ashonti’s father, Tommie Lee Johnson Jr., 39, confessed to dumping them in the trash bin, Sgt. Tom Flanders said.

Baron Bates, 23, of Beavercreek, said he heard Ashonti crying, opened the lid of the trash bin and found the children covered in stinky mud and soaking wet from sweat.

“(Ashonti) was crying and reached out and I couldn’t believe it,” Bates said.

Bates and his boss Dale Felty gave the kids water and Little Debbie treats until paramedics arrived.

The lack of airflow, combined with sunlight quickly turned the 4-foot-tall bin into a virtual oven, Flanders said.

Detectives said the children had literally “hours” to live.

The children’s mother, Alisha Whitehead, 27, said Johnson tried to choke her during a fight and then took the children from their home about 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

Whitehead said Johnson, her boyfriend, had consumed six 40-ounce bottles of beer and some of her prescription medication before leaving with the kids. He was not going to let her have them, she said.

“I never knew he would do something like this,” Whitehead said.

Police did not issue an Amber Alert because there was no evidence the children had been abducted or harmed, Flanders said.

Johnson Jr. said he dumped his biological daughter and her infant brother in a trash bin because he wanted them to go to “a better place.”

A handcuffed Johnson then said he had a lapse “in judgment” as he was led to Montgomery County Jail about 10:30 a.m. Monday.

Johnson had just confessed to police after 12 hours of interrogation that he dumped his 23-month-old daughter, Ashonti Johnson, and her 8-month-old brother, Tommie Johnson III, in an empty city-issued bin, officials said.

Two electricians found the children soaked in mud inside the 4-foot bin behind Felty Electric, 902 E. Second St.

Police believe the children were in the bin the entire 12 hours Johnson was being questioned.

Johnson, who is not the biological father of the infant, first said he took the children from their mother’s house, in the 400 block of N. Cherrywood Ave., about 7:30 p.m.

Whitehead, 27, said Monday “friends” threw Johnson out of her house.

Johnson reportedly said he walked with them to a baby sitter’s house and returned to Whitehead’s place without the children.

That turned out to be the first of many bogus stories Johnson told Sunday night and into Monday morning, Flanders said.

Establishing a “bull’s-eye”

Dayton police, along with area law-enforcement agencies, combed East Dayton all night, while detectives continued to question Tommie L. Johnson Jr. at police headquarters.

U.S. Marshals offered their services in the search, along with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

“We were going door-to-door, after establishing a bull’s-eye (the center of the search) and branched out,” Lt. Patrick Welsh said. “We put out a broadcast to all local law-enforcement groups and gave a description of the children.”

Welsh said the children’s mother could not provide a picture of the children, making the search more difficult.

Despite many discussions about issuing an Amber Alert, none was issued.

“Right away there was a discussion about issuing an Amber Alert,” Welsh said. “It isn’t ‘are we OK with not issuing an Amber Alert.’ We didn’t meet the criteria to issue one.”

Johnson was arrested at 1:52 a.m. on felony charges of domestic violence, child endangering and inducing panic, according to jail records.

In handcuffs, Johnson still refused to tell a detective the whereabouts of the children.

Flanders said since the children were found hours later inside a sun-baked trash bin turned plastic oven, he will push “more serious charges” against Johnson.

Flanders is expected to meet with Montgomery County Prosecutor’s today.

On again, off again

Alisha Whitehead described her relationship with Tommie L. Johnson Jr. as on-again, off-again.

Police said the couple are boyfriend and girlfriend involved in a relationship plagued by alcohol and drugs.

Johnson has a 2004 conviction for domestic violence and numerous convictions for public intoxication and disorderly conduct.

Montgomery County Jail records show he has been arrested eight times since 2003.

County court records show Whitehead has no criminal record.

Montgomery County Children’s Services has a previous case involving Whitehead.

In 2005, two other daughters, now 4 and 5, were removed from her custody and placed with a relative, spokeswoman Ann Stevens said.

Stevens would not elaborate on that investigation.

Stevens said caseworkers will try to place Ashonti and Tommie Johnson III in the care of a relative, but if a suitable home is not found, they will remain in foster care.

COPS AND CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ABUSE CHILDREN WHEN THEY TAKE THEM FROM INNOCENT PARENTS

Cops & Child Protective Services abuse children when they take them from innocent parents

 

http://www.examiner.com/x-14537-Albany-CPS-and-Family-Court-Examiner~y2009m7d27-Cops–Child-Protective-Services-abuse-children-when-they-take-them-from-innocent-parents

July 27, 8:27 AM

I have often argued that Child Protective Services and the police are guilty of abusing children. I don’t mean they are guilty of abuse went they take children from homes where the parents have sexually and physically abused them, or where children have been neglected through starvation and the like. What I mean is that when children are taken from innocent parents, which happens a lot more than the public realizes, they are often abused.

I will be writing some more about this in the coming weeks. Today, however, I wanted to focus on how Child Protective Services and the police traumatize children during the removal process. Can you imagine being four years old or eight years old or even a teenager, and a number of cops and/or Child Protective Services investigators show up at your house. Your parents have done nothing wrong. They have never hurt or neglected you. Yet here is a big cop with a gun, handcuffs and a taser. You start crying. Your mother or father naturally get upset because you are being taken. The cops then threaten your parents. Finally, the cops drag you to the police car, kicking and screaming.

What does that do to a child’s psyche? How long does that stay in a child’s mind? What does it teach children about cops and social workers?

This does not just happen to children during child removal processes. In Amsterdam, New York, the police went on a drug raid, broke the door of a house down, terrorized the mother and her children, and then they found out they had the wrong house. The woman sued the city and won. No doubt she had to use some of the money to get therapy for her children.

In Schenectady, New York, the police were looking for a young marijuana dealer. They thought he was in an apartment, so they busted in, handcuffed children, shot the family dog even though it was so scared it was peeing on the floor, and the person they were looking for was not even in the house. I can imagine what that did to those children.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a thousand pictures. Here are just a few videos which show children being taken from their parents and what effect it has on the parents and children.

The first video is a recent one from April 2009. I am not sure why the cops are taking the kids in this one, but it is obvious they don’t want to go.

To see the rest of this story and the videos click the following link:

http://www.examiner.com/x-14537-Albany-CPS-and-Family-Court-Examiner~y2009m7d27-Cops–Child-Protective-Services-abuse-children-when-they-take-them-from-innocent-parents

N.J. LIMITS DISCLOSURE ON DEATHS OF CHILDREN

 

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-14/1248657313128620.xml&coll=1

Monday, July 27, 2009

STAR-LEDGER STAFF

It took the death of 7-year-old Faheem Williams six years ago to convince state leaders the Division of Youth and Family Services was failing to protect the thousands of children under its care.

Already horrified when Newark police found the boy’s battered and mummified body hidden in a relative’s closet, they were motivated to action by what was revealed next: DYFS had lost track of Faheem’s family, then gave up looking without investigating a complaint alleging he and his brothers had been scalded and beaten.

Then-Gov. James E. McGreevey promised “to end DYFS as we know it,” and with the Legislature’s support, embarked on what has become a $1″Â??lion-plus, court-supervised overhaul of the child welfare system overseen by a federal monitor.

Now leaders at the agencies most responsible for New Jersey’s child-protection agency say the state no longer will publicly disclose the details of DYFS’ prior actions when a child it has supervised dies from abuse or neglect.

The decision signals a change in policy after the state issued annual reports detailing what happened in each child-death case for the last six years. Instead, the state will issue reports focusing on trends it has found.

State officials say reporting individual cases is not a useful way to assess how the child-welfare system is working and publicizing details could hurt victims’ families. They say with a federal monitor overseeing child welfare reform, there is enough oversight.

“We have a monitor who has access to everything surrounding anything that goes on in this department,” said Kimberly Ricketts, commissioner of the Department of Children and Families, which is in charge of DYFS. “This is a very different system now, where on a regular basis we are looking at how decisions are made.”

Child advocates, however, say they fear that without the names and detailed histories of the slain children’s involvement with the state, DYFS can avoid public scrutiny.

“Public information and accountability are critically important for kids,” said Cecilia Zalkind, executive director of the Association for Children and Families of New Jersey. “This is a system that has had extraordinary investment and an appropriate investment, and part of maintaining that investment is making sure the public is aware” of how the agency is functioning.

The Office of the Child Advocate — an independent agency created to assess DYFS’ effectiveness after the Faheem Williams case — focused much of its attention from 2003 to 2008 on generating reports about the 34 children who died from abuse or neglect.

It acquired otherwise confidential records, conducted interviews, assessed how the state performed and recommended how the system could improve.

Under the new plan, the Department of Children and Families and the Child Advocate are collaborating on a report with a little-known panel that has long-studied New Jersey child-death trends. State law prohibits the panel — the Child Fatality and Near-Fatality Review Board — from referring to children by name or citing specific cases in its annual reports.

The first joint report will be released within a month, panel chairman Anthony D’Urso said. The collaboration “will raise the profile attached to child fatalities,” D’Urso said, because “what we are seeing will be agreed upon by multiple sources.” He vowed the report will make meaningful recommendations based on statistics and trends detected in confidential reviews.

The Child Advocate has been under the Public Advocate’s office since last year, when Child Advocate E. Susan Hodgson resigned and Gov. Jon Corzine did not replace her.

Deputy Public Advocate Jo Astrid Glading said having the Child Advocate and the board review the same cases “is not an efficient way to advance meaningful progress.”

“We’re working closely with the chairman to bring a laser-like focus to case practice issues that are warranted,” she said.

Ricketts said the decision also was made “out of respect for surviving family members,” to spare them from reading about a public analysis of a child’s death.

“Just because the gruesome details are not in the paper doesn’t mean we are not being held accountable,” she said.

Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver (D-Essex), who chairs the Human Services Committee, said she had no idea the reporting system was changing, and at first blush, she doesn’t like it.

“Is this the direction they want to go in? Public policy and government should be attempting to be more transparent,” said Oliver, who may sponsor a bill to ensure disclosure.

Under state law, the department must disclose the names of children who died of child abuse, their dates of birth and death, and whether their families have ever been under DYFS’ supervision. If so, the department must disclose how many times DYFS investigated a family, whether it substantiated any complaints and which services the state provided to help reunite the family.

The Child Advocate reports, however, provided more details than required by law. Sometimes they highlighted recurring problems and prompted policy changes.

A 2005 report examining the choking death of a 6-month-old boy left unsupervised with a bottle urged DYFS to better educate its workers about the services they can offer to families in crisis — a recurring problem found in other cases.

Before the baby’s death, his father acknowledged he had a drug addiction, but when he asked for help paying for treatment, the caseworker said there was no money available. Oliver said she anticipated a similar public review of DYFS’ involvement with Jamarr Cruz, a 9-year-old Camden boy police say was murdered March 31 by Vincent Williams, his mother’s live-in boyfriend, who was convicted of abusing him in 2007.

Oliver wants to know whether DYFS made the right call in closing the case four months before Jamarr died. Last fall, Williams was accused of “using excessive force to discipline” the boy, but investigators called the complaint “unfounded.”

“It’s clear to me what I read in the media, missteps were taken in that case,” Oliver said.

Jamarr Cruz’s paternal grandfather, Robert McGee Sr., said he has mixed feelings about the reporting changes.

He said reading about Jamarr in the press is tough, and he wishes close relatives had a say in what the state discloses about the child welfare system’s role in children’s lives. But he is angry his family has been denied access to information about what happened to Jamarr in the months leading up to his death.

“To say this is not an issue to be discussed I think is a coward way out. There were flaws in the system,” McGee said.

Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, said focusing on child-fatality cases sometimes prompts systems to overreact and needlessly remove children from their families. “But you don’t solve that by providing even less information,” Wexler said.

He said some states allow agencies like DYFS “to speak freely about individual cases under a wide range of circumstances.”

“You can’t fix a government system with one designated government watchdog, be it the Office of the Child Advocate or a review board,” he said. “We all have to be the watchdogs, so we all have to have the information.”

Susan K. Livio may be reached at (609) 989-0802 or slivio@starledger.com

 

COYLE AND MUNOZ: DYFS’ RETREAT FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE IS STEP BACKWARD FOR CHILD WELFARE

 

By ARep

COYLE AND MUNOZ: DYFS’ RETREAT FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE IS STEP BACKWARD FOR CHILD WELFARE

CORZINE ADMINISTRATION WILL NO LONGER ISSUE INDIVIDUAL CASE REPORTS DETAILING WHY A CHILD DIED UNDER DYFS SUPERVISION

http://www.politickernj.com/arep/31795/coyle-and-munoz-dyfs-retreat-public-disclosure-step-backward-child-welfare

A new Corzine administration policy to stop compiling detailed reports on every child who dies under supervision of the state’s Division of Youth and Family Services threatens to remove the public pressure to reform the state’s child protection agencies, Assembly Human Services Committee members Denise Coyle and Nancy Munoz said today.

“New Jersey has had horrific losses of children who were supposed to be protected by the state, but now these officials want to disassociate themselves from these tragedies by issuing sanitized, impersonal, statistical reports instead of the detailed accounts to show the public what has gone wrong and how things will be improved in the future,” Coyle, R-Somerset and Morris, said. “State officials are taking a self-serving and cowardly step back from public accountability that will keep the public under-informed without making children any safer.”

In March, police said a 9-year-old boy was murdered by his mother’s live-in boyfriend who was convicted of abusing him in 2007. In the fall, DYFS closed a case in which the boyfriend was accused of “using excessive force to discipline” the boy. It was deemed unfounded.

“We should not step away from full and detailed disclosure – our goal should be to attain greater transparency in reports that involve the abuse and death of New Jersey’s children. These reports should not be sanitized.” Munoz, R-Union, Morris, Somerset and Essex, said. “I hope to work with Human Services Committee Chairwoman Assemblywoman Shelia Oliver to draft legislation that will ensure full disclosure. The victim’s families and the public have the right to know what measures our state agencies have taken to protect these children.”

AREP can be reached via email at ARepOffice@njleg.org

GRANDPARENTS SIDESTEP DHS IN BID TO PROTECT GIRL

 

By JENNIFER JACOBS • jejacobs@dmreg.com • July 27, 2009

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090727/NEWS/907270321/-1/SPORTS12

Story City, Ia. – Three-year-olds Hailey Byers and Spencer Corson lived as brother and sister in a blended family – until Spencer was killed by what authorities say was violent child abuse.

A year later, Spencer’s homicide remains unsolved, and Hailey’s future hangs in the air: Will she end up back in the same home where Spencer was killed?

“To tell you the truth, we will never give her back,” said Hailey’s paternal grandfather, Bill Byers. “If we did, I know within a couple months she would be dead, and it would look like an accident just like the last one.”

Bill and Ann Byers are Hailey’s guardians – temporarily. Hailey’s father, Casey Byers, 22, asked his parents to agree to a promise before he was killed in action in Iraq: Keep my daughter safe. She was 5 months old when he died in June 2005.

The grandparents have taken unusual steps to try to keep their vow, including sidestepping the Iowa Department of Human Services when they believed child-abuse investigators weren’t doing enough.

DHS is charged under state and federal law with protecting children from abuse. Yet several high-profile child deaths and serious injuries have stirred debate over whether the agency is doing too much or too little to remove at-risk children. The most recent victim: Ethan Neiderbach, a Des Moines infant who was born with marijuana in his system and who suffered a broken arm before he was taken to the emergency room earlier this month with life-threatening injuries.

Custody hearings for Hailey have been postponed indefinitely pending a breakthrough in Spencer’s homicide case. Yet Hailey’s mother, Amanda Porter of Story City, is seeking Hailey’s return to her home.

Porter was the caretaker for Spencer, the son of her live-in boyfriend, when the child was hospitalized for a concussion in April 2008, and again for malnutrition in May 2008. She was also his caretaker in the hours before the unexplained head injury that killed him in June 2008. She has denied all wrongdoing.

But the death was ruled a homicide by a medical examiner, and the investigation is ongoing, Story County Attorney Stephen Holmes said.

Holmes said he couldn’t comment on Spencer’s case beyond saying child death cases can be tricky to solve.

“It’s very difficult when you have an injury that’s even a few days old to know or to even opine that those are crimes,” he said. “Crimes that are committed out of the sight of public rely on circumstantial evidence because you don’t have a witness, and those can be very difficult because you have to essentially reconstruct what happens.”

Since 2000, 64 deaths of children ages 6 and younger were ruled homicides in Iowa, according to the state medical examiner’s office. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation currently has seven unresolved child homicides dating to 2000. Of the seven, three are from 2009 and will likely be resolved, a DCI spokeswoman said last month.

Grandparents ask judge for emergency custody

Spencer was born with genetic abnormalities, including a cleft palate that required use of a feeding tube, relatives said. He was mentally delayed and couldn’t speak in sentences. He knew some sign language. He ran and played, stacked Lego bricks, did puzzles, was captivated by Elmo, and loved spaghetti and strawberries.

Hailey and Spencer began living as brother and sister when Porter, who is Hailey’s mother, and Stuart Corson, who is Spencer’s father, moved in together in July 2007. Both adults have criminal records, court records show. DHS has been involved with their household at various times, but no children have been removed, DHS records show.

Ann and Bill Byers didn’t think child-abuse investigators were doing enough about their suspicions that their granddaughter, Hailey, was in danger of abuse in fall 2007, when she was 2.

Knowing grandparents have no child custody rights in Iowa, they took a long shot – they went directly to a district court judge, working independently of DHS. DHS works almost exclusively within the juvenile court.

“We asked for (DHS workers’) help, and they refused,” said Ann Byers, a retired 27-year social worker. “They stated that we would have to wait to see what the judge’s decision was, and only at that time would they re-evaluate if service or their cooperation were needed.”

A Story County judge signed a court order granting emergency custody in September 2007 after the Byerses’ lawyer, Angela Campbell of Des Moines, presented troubling evidence the Byerses had documented.

When Bill Byers and a Nevada police officer knocked at Porter’s door with the court order to pick up Hailey, the girl appeared with a bruise circling one eye. Porter said Hailey fell and hit a table.

A month later, a DHS report concluded that Porter’s home in Story City was safe. Porter used that report as evidence in a hearing in April 2008, and the district court ordered Hailey, then 3, be returned to Porter. But the judge gave Ann and Bill Byers visitation on the first five days of each month and ordered DHS to grant them access to any records on “Amanda (Porter) and/or Hailey.”

Spencer dies 3 days before DHS hearing

Two months later, the other toddler in Porter’s care, Spencer, was dead.

A state medical examiner found that the death was a homicide, caused by “abusive head trauma” and “assault by another.”

Spencer and Porter were at the Nevada home of Deb Smith, Porter’s mother, on June 23 when paramedics dispatched by a 911 call found him unresponsive, records show. Spencer was flown by helicopter to Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, but he was brain dead, according to his family. He was taken off life support the next day.

Ann and Bill Byers didn’t know that the little boy living with their granddaughter had died until Bill pulled up the MySpace page of Stuart Corson, Spencer’s father, and read: “My little guy is gone forever.”

DHS staff didn’t mention the death to the Byerses, they said. The Byerses acknowledge they were not related to Spencer, but pointed out that they had part-time custody of a girl the same age living in the same household.

Nor did DHS tell the grandparents that the death launched a child-abuse investigation into Porter and Corson’s home, or that there had been other abuse investigations in the months before Spencer was killed. DHS was looking into a severe concussion that Spencer sustained in May 2008, when he was flown by helicopter from Ames to Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines; the second time was for malnutrition, records show.

DHS workers didn’t interview the Byerses during any of the investigations into abuse against Spencer, even though his caretaker, Porter, had lived with them for a year and a half, and they’d made past reports about their concerns about her treatment of Hailey.

The Byerses say DHS gave their lawyer copies of Spencer’s medical records, but never complied with the court order regarding release of documents when they asked for DHS reports on investigations into other problems in Hailey’s home. DHS officials maintain they complied with the court order, a spokesman said.

Unbeknownst to the Byerses, a hearing was scheduled for late June 2008 to consider declaring Spencer a child in need of assistance, a status that gives the state more control over a child’s welfare.

Spencer died three days before the hearing.

Byerses say others told DHS of suspicions, too

Stunned by Spencer’s death and worried about Hailey’s safety, the Byerses called authorities. Nevada Police Chief Mike Tupper and DHS child protective worker Jennifer Welton would say little except that the death was under investigation, according to the Byerses.

At the hospital, medical staff observed bruises and a bump on Spencer’s head, a DHS report states. Porter and Corson told DHS “that two days ago he ran into the computer desk in the kitchen,” the report says. “It was reported that the child has a seizure disorder of some sort, but the family had very little information. It was reported that the child had five seizures today and was very sleepy.” They did not seek treatment for the seizures, the DHS report states.

The report, written by Welton, continues: “The bruising appeared inconsistent. … The parents showed very little emotion/reaction. It is not likely that the child will survive.”

During the death investigation, DHS didn’t place Hailey with the Byerses, who by that time had sold their home in Schleswig and had moved to Texas. Instead, DHS placed Hailey with her maternal grandmother, Smith.

The Byerses believe that violated the court order that gave them guardianship when Hailey wasn’t with her mother.

Nine days after Spencer’s death, Bill Byers did an Internet search and found a news report that quoted Spencer’s maternal grandmother, Dianna Rivera-Belle of Ames, saying she had previously reported suspicions of abuse to DHS.

“We realized we weren’t the only ones saying, ‘Help,’ ” said Bill Byers, a former Iowa corrections officer.

Bill Byers called the police chief again. Tupper told him the comments were the result of “disgruntled relatives,” according to Bill Byers. Tupper said tests were being done and that they’d take four to six weeks.

The Byerses, frantic now, called their lawyer, who went before Story County Judge William Pattinson the same day. Pattinson ruled “there is some legitimate concern” Hailey would be in danger at her mother’s home, and ordered temporary custody of Hailey to the Byerses.

Porter has another baby; death still unresolved

Two weeks after Spencer was killed, Porter gave birth to a daughter.

DHS arranged for Erika Corson, now a year old, to live with her paternal grandmother, Tina Meldrem, whose mobile home in Story City is just a few doors down from Porter and Corson’s trailer.

“We’re down there all the time,” Porter said in a short interview last month as she mowed her lawn.

Stuart Corson, who is Erika’s father, has been grieving deeply for his son, said Corson’s mother.

“He loved that boy like nobody’s business, and it’s killing him,” Meldrem said.

Meldrem believes Ann and Bill Byers exaggerated their reports of possible child abuse. “They are unreal on what they’ve said,” she said. “The thing with the Byerses, they started the custody thing a long time ago because their son died in Iraq. They’re trying to live their life through their granddaughter.”

Meldrem defended Porter.

“There’s no one in my family that believes it was Amanda,” Meldrem said. “I’ve never heard Amanda raise her voice to any of the kids, let alone hitting them.”

However, Porter’s mother, Smith, told DHS a slightly different story.

“Deb stated that Amanda yells when she is stressed and she knows that right now they are having some financial difficulty and her pregnancy is difficult,” stated a report from June 2008, shortly after Spencer’s death.

In one court order, Story County Judge Dale Ruigh wrote: “No doubt exists that (Hailey) is presently safe in her grandparents’ care. … The court cannot determine if she will be safe in the care of her mother, despite the best efforts of third parties visiting her home.”

Today, after months of play therapy, Bill Byers said of his granddaughter, “She’s pretty content that she’s safe. She’s happy, she sings, she’s a normal little kid again.”

Porter and Corson hope to get Hailey back soon, Meldrem said.

“She’s never met her little sister,” Meldrem said, referring to Erika. As for Porter and Corson, she said: “They’re just as wonderful around her as they were around Spencer and Hailey.”

 

Timeline

 

2003: Amanda Porter Is convicted of felony kidnapping/child stealing in Woodbury County.

2007: Stuart Corson Is charged with first-offense OWI and, later that year, fourth-degree theft.

JAN. 16, 2005: Hailey Byers is born to Amanda Porter and Casey Byers.

MAY 2, 2005: Spencer Corson is born to Jessica Rivera and Stuart Corson.

JUNE 11, 2005: Byers is killed in Iraq.

JANUARY 2006: Porter asks Casey Byers’ parents, Ann and Bill Byers of Schleswig, if they can take in Hailey. The Byerses learn she has not been to a doctor and needs all her immunizations. Porter moves in soon after.

JUNE 2006: Iowa Department of Human Services investigators document a child abuse finding against Spencer’s mother, Rivera, after she fails to provide 1-year-old Spencer with adequate food. She later gives full custody to Corson.

OCTOBER 2006: Ann and Bill Byers sell their house, buy a recreational vehicle, and take Hailey and Porter with them to winter in Texas.

JUNE 2007: The Byerses, living in a cabin in Nebraska, decide to winter in Texas again. After giving shelter to an unemployed Porter for a year and a half, they offer to buy her and Hailey a house in the Midwest, but tell Porter she’ll need to get a job. Porter moves out.

JULY 2007: The Byerses keep in contact with Porter, who grants visits with Hailey. Three times they take the 2-year-old to the hospital for abscesses due to prolonged contact with wet, soiled diapers. The first time, Hailey requires an IV.

LATE JULY 2007: Porter meets Corson of Story City and moves in with him and his 2-year-old son, Spencer.

SEPTEMBER 2007: The Byerses initiate a welfare check with Nevada police to see if Hailey is healthy. A certified letter to Porter’s address is returned undelivered. The Byerses seek emergency custody. Their lawyer presents Judge Dale Ruigh with the Byers’ documentation of perceived neglect and abuse. Armed with Ruigh’s court order for custody, the Byerses find Hailey, who has a black eye. Porter says she fell and hit a table, relatives say.

LATE SEPTEMBER 2007: Hailey is no longer toilet trained and shows other behavior problems, the Byerses say. A medical exam shows no physical evidence of sexual abuse, they say.

APRIL 7, 2008: A DHS report says that Porter’s home is safe, and Judge William Ostlund transfers back custody of Hailey. But he gives the Byerses visitation, court records show.

APRIL 16, 2008: Spencer suffers a concussion and is flown by helicopter from Ames to Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines. DHS concludes an unknown person failed to provide Spencer with proper supervision and calls the child abuse allegation founded, a DHS report states. The Byerses are not told. Safety services through Youth and Shelter Services in Ames begin.

MAY 1, 2008: Ann and Bill Byers pick up Hailey for their first court-ordered five-day visitation and take her to their Nebraska cabin. She is unusually quiet and inactive, they write in their journal. On the trip back to Ames, they say she cried and said she didn’t want to go home.

MAY 28, 2008: Spencer, 3, is hospitalized for five days for malnutrition. Another abuse investigation begins, and a child-in-need-of-assistance hearing is set. Neither Corson nor Rivera shows up for the hearing, so it is moved to June 27, 2008.

JUNE 23, 2008: Spencer, unresponsive due to a head injury, is again life-flighted. A DHS child abuse investigation begins.

JUNE 24, 2008: Spencer dies at 12:30 p.m.

JUNE 27, 2008: Bill Byers learns of Spencer’s death from Corson’s MySpace page.

JULY 1, 2008: The Byerses pick up Hailey for their five-day visitation. Porter isn’t there, but Corson hands over the girl.

JULY 3, 2008: Judge William Pattinson rules “there is some legitimate concern” Hailey would be in danger if she’s returned to her mother’s home, and orders Hailey to temporarily remain with the Byerses.

JULY 12, 2008: Porter gives birth to Erika Corson. Two days later, DHS decides there’s no basis to request that a judge remove the baby at that time, a DHS report states.

JULY 22, 2008: DHS worker Jennifer Welton can’t confirm abuse in connection with Spencer’s death and “no person is named responsible,” according to her report, signed by her supervisor, Kathy Doyle of the Ames office.

AUG. 11, 2008: Judge Gary McMinimee orders that Hailey be returned to Porter, but postpones the effective date.

SEPT. 26, 2008: Judge Dale Ruigh orders that Ann and Bill Byers keep custody of Hailey until a guardianship trial takes place, court records show. The trial has been postponed indefinitely.

OCTOBER 2008: An autopsy by Polk County Medical Examiner Greg Schmunk concludes Spencer’s death was caused by “abusive head injury” during an “assault by another.”

TODAY: No charges have been filed in connection with Spencer’s death. Hailey remains with the Byerses, who now live in Texas.

SHYLAE CASE REVEALS CRACKS;

Shylae case reveals cracks; system that aids in adoptions could lack in follow up

 

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2009/07/shylae_case_reveals_cracks_sys.html

by Shannon Murphy | The Flint Journal

Monday July 27, 2009, 9:02 AM

Every month for three years, child protective services visited Valerie Leslie’s Flint home, met with her two foster children and helped with any issues.

Then Leslie adopted the two girls — one of whom has several mental health issues — and any help she was getting seemed to abruptly stop.

“I don’t need to be governed by (the Department of Human Services),” Leslie said. “But they won’t work with you anymore. There is so much red tape it’s hard to get help now.”

Some experts say that may be exactly what happened to a Flint mother accused of starving her adoptive daughter to death and then putting her body in a Vienna Township storage unit.

Lorrie Thomas is expected back in court Sept. 2 for a preliminary examination in the death of 9-year-old Shylae Thomas.

Thomas took in Shylae, who also was her niece, shortly after her biological mother lost custody in 2001. She adopted Shylae, who was quadriplegic, and her sister in 2003.

Shylae, who relied on a feeding tube to eat, weighed only 33 pounds when she was found April 22, according to the Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office.

Her attorney, Mark Clement, does not deny that Thomas panicked when Shylae died and put her body in the storage unit. He does, however, maintain that Thomas is innocent of murder.

Clement said Thomas told him she didn’t call police when Shylae died.

“She said, ‘I got other kids and I didn’t know what they were going to do. I didn’t know what to do, and I thought I would end up right where I am today if I called the police,’ ” Clement said. “That’s a far cry from systematically starving someone to death over months and years.”

Clement said Thomas isn’t blaming DHS or other agencies for Shylae’s death but has said it was hard to get help.

“She wanted help,” said Clement, who added Thomas was trying to get a wheelchair lift to transport Shylae in her van. “It fell on deaf ears.”

Others say Thomas most likely was overwhelmed; she had seven children of her own, including Shylae, plus two grandchildren from her 15-year-old daughter.

“Had she received services, or even reached out to churches or families … I’ve got to think there probably would have been a different outcome,” said Jonquil Bertschi, executive director of the Consortium on Child Abuse and Neglect in Genesee County. “My understanding is everyone thought she was a great parent until she was overwhelmed.”

The state Department of Human Services has strict guidelines in place for checking up on children who are in the foster care system. DHS employees are supposed to see the children at least once a month, both at home and at school.

They also have to maintain contact with anyone else providing services to the child, such as a therapist, said Stacie Bowens, director of DHS’s child welfare bureau in Genesee County.

“The foster care worker works intimately with that child and family,” she said.

Parents looking to adopt through DHS have to go through rigorous background checks, criminal history checks and home studies, as well as visits with the child.

But once an adoption is finalized, DHS is pretty much out of the picture. They can still be called for help if there are issues, but they no longer visit the family or automatically set up resources.

“We need a change in legislation and staffing changes and such (to continue services after adoption),” Bowens said.

And for most adoptive families, oversight by DHS is not necessarily wanted.

Bertschi, who is an adoptive parent, went through a private agency and had contact with a caseworker for about two years after the adoption was finalized.

“That was helpful as a parent and certainly helpful for the kids,” she said. “It’s not your biological child, so there can be issues. But it’s not something that needs to continue forever.”

But for those with special needs children, the debate isn’t so simple.

For Leslie, whose 15-year-old adoptive daughter has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and depression, she would like to see help from DHS continue even after an adoption is finalized. She receives an adoption subsidy from the state for her daughter, but has trouble getting help, she said. Her daughter has run away several times and now is in a residential home with the state and court proceedings are under way for neglect.

“Something is not working,” Leslie said. “What do I do? I need them to make it easier for me to access these resources.”