More Missouri babies die as laws, oversight lag

BY NANCY CAMBRIA

After their first child was born prematurely and died, Lily Rieger's parents wanted to be as cautious as possible with their second baby girl.

Lily's parents checked out 11 child care facilities, six of them licensed.

The centers felt too antiseptic and institutional. So they focused on home day care providers and interviewed five.

They went with Jennifer Winkler of Eureka. She was warm and friendly and had two young children. She didn't have a child care license, but that didn't seem to be important in a home day care. The parents felt further assured because two St. Louis County police officers sent their children to her house for care. "They looked like a normal, typical family," said Lily's father, Bill Weishaar, of their decision to hire Winkler. "But nobody ever told me you take a great risk in putting a baby in somebody's hands when there is no second adult around."

Last year, Lily's parents joined a growing list of those whose young children died from violence or preventable accidents in Missouri's vast array of unregulated home day cares.

In October, the Post-Dispatch profiled more than 40 deaths from 2007 through 2010, pointing to what many child advocates now regard as one of the greatest safety issues facing children in the state: lax standards and oversight of home day cares.

Now, state records show that even as momentum to address the problem builds among legislators and prosecutors, the deaths continue. Preliminary statistics for the first seven months of 2011 indicate Lily was one of at least nine children to die last year in child care for reasons not clearly linked to an illness.

On July 29, Lily's father dropped off his happy 13-month-old with Winkler. Lily was airlifted that afternoon to Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center in need of emergency surgery to control swelling and bleeding in her brain. She was taken off life support two days later.

Though doctors never told the parents they suspected Lily had been shaken, her mother, Kara Rieger, said they didn't have to. Doctors explained that Lily's brain had been torn from the tissue that anchored it to her skull, causing it to slosh from side to side.

Winkler, who is in jail awaiting trial, has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder and fatal abuse of a child. Her attorney could not be reached for comment.

A CALL TO ACTION

The nine deaths reported in child care in 2011 are an incomplete tally. The state's child fatality review system may not have a final report until next year.

But the latest deaths continue a pattern the Post-Dispatch uncovered in a six-month investigation last year. Seven of the nine reported deaths in 2011 were in unlicensed home day cares, where caregivers are not required to have any training, need not adhere to safety standards and have little or no oversight.

The Post-Dispatch previously reported that 41 of 45 deaths in child care in the prior four years occurred in unlicensed home day cares. The newspaper's investigation showed Missouri has some of the weakest child care regulations in the nation, allowing the bulk of Missouri children to enroll in unregulated day cares.

In the most egregious cases, the investigation found children died in day cares where providers repeatedly defied enrollment laws. In one of those fatality cases, a provider was attempting to care for eight children under the age of 2.

After years of inaction on legislation seeking to deter deaths in child care, this year may be different.

"It's starting to generate more discussion among the constituencies that drive what we do," said Sen. Scott Rupp, R-Wentzville, the 2012 Senate sponsor of Nathan's Law and Sam Pratt's Law — two child care safety bills that have languished in past sessions. "I've had the president of the Senate ask if someone was dealing with this, and we said we were."

In a final report released this month, the new bipartisan House Interim Committee on Strengthening Missouri Families also recommended to House Speaker Steven Tilley the passage of Sam Pratt's Law and Nathan's Law in light of testimony that cited the Post-Dispatch investigation.

Those bills aim to tighten enrollment limits in unlicensed day cares, increase fines for rogue providers and give the state power to shutter unlicensed day cares that may be dangerous.

A St. Louis consortium of five child welfare and day care agencies has declared day care safety a top agenda item.

"Protecting the lives of kids is essentially the bottom line, and the state of Missouri needs to be compelled to ensure the basic safety and well-being of kids in child care," said Richard Patton, director of Vision for Children at Risk, the umbrella agency for the coalition. Patton said the Missouri Children's Leadership Council, a statewide coalition of child service agencies, also had made child care safety a top agenda issue this year.

SIMILAR ACCIDENTS

The latest deaths also point to an ongoing crisis centered on sleep safety in unlicensed care.

The Post-Dispatch investigation found that more than three-fourths of the deaths from 2007 through 2010 were sleep-related, most often in unregulated care where children were put down for a nap in unsafe conditions. Similarly, four of five suspected accidental suffocations last year occurred in unregulated homes.

Among them was Jordan Brooks, 4 months. He slept overnight at his unlicensed care providers' home in Ferguson in February because of inclement weather. Police and medical examiner records show that on Feb. 1, about 1:30 a.m., Jordan was placed on his abdomen on a couch by one of the caregivers.

Safe sleep experts say babies should always be placed in a crib on their backs for sleep.

The caregiver then fell asleep on the sofa with the baby. When the caregiver awoke three hours later, Jordan was not breathing. An official with the St. Louis County Medical Examiner's Office said the man rolled onto Jordan in his sleep, causing the baby to suffocate.

"I had no idea they weren't using a crib, and I definitely didn't know they were co-sleeping with him," said Jordan's mother, Ashley Brooks. She said she felt as if her son's death had been ignored.

Because reports on most deaths in unlicensed child care remain sealed from the public, parents seeking child care cannot find out whether a child has died in a specific provider's care.

Police records indicate Jordan's caregivers were investigated afterward by state regulators for possibly caring for too many children without a required license. But because no rule violation was found, the regulatory file was sealed. Under state law, unsubstantiated investigations of rule violations are not open to the public.

Brooks said the couple continued to run an unlicensed day care out of their home. They are still not subject to inspections or state safety standards.

MORE PUNISHMENT

The 2011 child care deaths — like those from prior years — show that the most dangerous day cares for children are homes in which providers defy rules by caring for too many children. Those rules require a license when caregivers care for more than four children who are not related to them.

The Post-Dispatch investigation found that prosecutors rarely charged providers operating without a license with a crime, even after a child died in their care, because the punishment was so lenient. State law currently allows a maximum $200 fine for a crime that's classified on the same level as a traffic ticket.

But in 2011, with increased scrutiny on illegal day cares, at least two such deaths led to criminal charges.

In one case, caregiver Cherie Kohenskey of Troy, Mo., was charged with second-degree involuntary manslaughter — the first time a serious felony charge has been brought against a provider in Missouri regarding an accidental sleep suffocation. The charges carry a maximum four-year jail term and $5,000 fine.

Parent Jody Haggard said Kohenskey assured her she would watch only four children for pay on July 21 when Haggard dropped her infant off at the home day care. Haggard's son, Levi, 2 months, suffocated later that day after being put down for a nap on his abdomen in an adult bed. State documents allege the caregiver was watching eight children unrelated to her, as well as two of her own.

Lincoln County Prosecutor Leah Askey said she didn't want to charge Kohenskey, but a grand jury did.

"The parents lost their infant son who was otherwise healthy because the day care provider had too many children in her care and wasn't adequately able to provide supervision," she said. "I certainly don't think she was malicious, but at the same time I do believe that child's life was lost and it didn't have to be."

Kohenskey pleaded not guilty. Her attorney declined to comment on the case, which is still pending.

In another case, caregiver Michelle Brown was charged with false impersonation, after Macie Barton, 3 months, died in her home day care in Lee's Summit. The day Macie died, police and regulators documented six children, all under 2, in Brown's home. Court and regulatory documents also suggest Brown lied to police and parents about being licensed.

Brown could not be reached through her attorney. She pleaded guilty in September and was given two years' unsupervised probation.

The official cause of Macie's death was pneumonia, yet she had been to the pediatrician that morning for a follow-up on an ear infection and there were no health concerns. Experts in sleep deaths have said that traces of pneumonia in the lungs too often lead pathologists to rule the illness a cause of death when accidental suffocation is probably the cause. Macie died while napping for a long period in a swing, a sleep practice that experts in infant sleep death consider hazardous.

Barton said she was pleased that Brown must now serve two years of probation. But she's offended by the other part of the sentence: a $10 fine.

"Ten dollars, seriously? What's the point of even fining her then?" she said. "That is extremely insulting to me."

TRAGEDY INTO LIGHT

Lily Rieger's parents are waiting for justice for their daughter.

They think that Lily would be alive today had her caregiver received mandatory training that included information on the dangers of shaking a baby.

The parents said they came forward about Lily to remind others that much of what happens in unregulated home child care is seen only by the eyes of very young children.

Even after Winkler was formally charged and the death was reported in the media, Winkler was described by police as a "baby sitter," and not a day care provider. Weishaar said parents should know Winkler cared for at least three other children part time, in addition to her two young children.

But in Missouri, the distinction between who is an occasional baby sitter and who is a regular, home-based child care provider is often difficult to determine in state records, even in cases in which a crime against a child may have taken place.

There are no public files on Winkler with child care regulators. Under state law, Winkler was not required to register her child care with the state.

So it has fallen to Lily's parents to let the public know.

Source http://www.stltoday.com/news/special-reports/daycares/more-missouri-babies-die-as-laws-oversight-lag/article_086e3cb5-1d44-5512-a038-4d4c2ff70eed.html

Feud puts court cases on hold - Nevada

By Jeff German

Fallout from a budding romantic relationship between a former prosecutor and Family Court Judge Steven Jones is now causing delays in child abuse and neglect cases.

And a longtime child advocate is blaming the judge for the disruptions and calling for his removal from hearing all child welfare cases.

The disruptions are the result of a rift between District Attorney David Roger and Jones over the judge's relationship with Lisa Willardson, who as a prosecutor made regular court appearances before Jones. Roger fired Willardson, a deputy in the district attorney's child welfare unit, on Tuesday. She insisted Thursday that she never made appearances before Jones while in a relationship with him.

Jones, 53, last week issued an order banning from his courtroom the two prosecutors in the unit who exposed his courtship of Willardson, creating confusion within the district attorney's office on how to move forward with abuse and neglect cases.

"He should know better," said Donna Coleman, co-founder and former member of the nonprofit Children's Advocacy Alliance. "There are children in foster care waiting to go home for Christmas, and they have to deal with this nonsense.

"The No. 1 priority should be the children, and I am very disgusted by the posturing and game-playing that is going on down there. It's a waste of time. It's a waste of money and, more than anything, they're victimizing children who have already been victimized."

Coleman, who ends a two-year term at the end of the month as a member of the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission, said she will file a complaint against Jones with the panel if he is not removed from all child welfare cases.

Chief District Judge Jennifer Togliatti, who has authority to reassign Jones at Family Court, declined to comment Thursday.

Togliatti is presiding over a hearing Tuesday on a motion by Roger to disqualify Jones from a child welfare case because of his "personal bias" against Roger's two whistle-blowing deputies. The court filing amounts to a test case on whether Jones has compromised his ability to make decisions on child welfare matters involving the district attorney's office.

Jones is preparing his written response. He did not return phone calls Thursday.

Roger filed the motion this week after Jones issued the courtroom ban on the two deputy district attorneys, Michelle Edwards and Janne Hanrahan. In his order, Jones cited the "inappropriate and unprofessional behavior" of the two deputies.

Edwards and Hanrahan had provided supervisors with a clandestine photo taken of Willardson and Jones appearing cozy with each other at a public function.

Concerns were subsequently raised within the district attorney's office that the relationship invited a professional conflict of interest for both Willardson and Jones, and Willardson was removed before her firing from handling child abuse and neglect cases in front of Jones.

Willardson said in an email Thursday that the allegations in Roger's court papers are "factually incorrect" and read like a "story from the Enquirer."

She contends she was removed from the child welfare unit before she struck up a relationship with Jones.

"The district attorney's office simply does not want to address the real issue that two of their deputy district attorneys drank way too much alcohol, took a photograph of a District Court judge's crotch and hand, disseminated it around the courthouse and manufactured a relationship in order to downplay the disgraceful behavior of their deputies," Willardson said.

Jones also said earlier this week that "falsehoods" were being spread about him.

On Thursday, the fallout over the relationship caused delays in 34 child abuse and neglect cases being heard by Brigid Duffy, a Family Court hearing master who works under Jones' supervision.

When Edwards showed up to handle the cases, Duffy said that under Jones' order, Edwards was prohibited from practicing before her. Duffy read a statement in each case explaining the ban.

Roger's office did not send a prosecutor to take Edwards' place, forcing Duffy to continue the cases. Some were delayed a week and others two weeks.

"This is additional evidence that Judge Jones is abusing his power," Roger said after learning of the delays. "Some entity is going to have to step in and rein him in."

Earlier this week, Roger called Jones a "bully" who was trying to ruin the careers of Edwards and Hanrahan. Jones said he was troubled that Roger was "condoning" the "inappropriate and unprofessional" behavior of his deputies.

Source http://www.lvrj.com/news/feud-puts-court-cases-on-hold-135721003.html?ref=003

Woman sues DYFS after her adopted child was allegedly sexually, physically abused under institution's watch - New Jersey

By Megan DeMarco/Statehouse Bureau

TRENTON — While under the care of the state’s child protection agency, a Monmouth county baby was burned, beaten, and sexually abused, then ignored as doctor after doctor recommended therapy for anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, a lawyer for her adopted mother says.

Three different caseworkers at the state’s Division of Youth and Family Services could have stopped the abuse several times, attorney David Mazie contends, but none did.

Now the girl is 13, and her adopted mother is suing the state Division of Youth and Family Services and three caseworkers for damages in a trial that kicked off Monday with impassioned opening arguments in Trenton.

Child advocates say it is rare for civil cases against DYFS to reach a full trial, where the actions of caseworkers in charge of protecting children can be put on full display.

The case also comes amid an ongoing overhaul of the child welfare system that was in its early stage when the allegations were first raised.

Some child welfare advocates say the case indicates problems that exist in DYFS to this day, but others say reports of a federal monitor appointed in 2003 show the child protection system is improving. The state has spent more than $1 billion on the reforms.

"To the extent that there is any good news in all this it is only that this case is part of the legacy of DYFS’ failed past," said Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform. He added the federal monitor’s reports show, "this is a much better agency now than it was before, and such tragedies are a lot less likely."

Richard Gelles, a dean at the University of Pennsylvania who provided expert testimony for the woman suing DYFS, said the case exposes "a severe systemic dysfunction" that still exists, noting that some of those who handled the girl’s case continued to work for the division. One of the three caseworkers named in the case worked for the Department of Children and Families as of Sept. 30, according to public payroll records.

During opening arguments, Mazie outlined alleged negligence by DYFS from 2000 to 2005, when the girl, identified as S.A., was placed with the woman who would adopt her.

"They failed in this case, they failed miserably. They turned a blind eye on this child," Mazie said. "This is going to be with her for the rest of her life."

As a 2-year-old, she was given to her biological father in 2000, without proper vetting, Mazie said. While in his care and under DYFS supervision, the toddler suffered sexual and physical abuse.

She was brought to the emergency room twice, and a neighbor reported she had burns on her body and a belt mark on her chest, the attorney said. She was removed when the father’s girlfriend reported she was bound, beaten and hanging from a hook in the wall, he added.

Mazie said after she was removed from the home, doctors recommended therapy for post traumatic stress disorder. It took DYFS two years to provide it, and escalated the girl’s anxiety by allowing visits with her father, he said.

He added that a caseworker was supposed to visit with the girl once a month, but there were several months when no one appeared at the home, or checked on her in foster care.

Elliott Abrutyn, a lawyer hired by the state to represent DYFS, said children under the state’s care also have a legal guardian independent of DYFS, and often the caseworkers were following court orders.

"What happened to (her) of course is tragic," he said, telling the jury that it was "paramount" to understand DYFS caseworkers "were always absolutely looking out for the best interest of the child."

Abrutyn said doctors who treated the baby when she was brought into the emergency room could have reported suspected abuse to DYFS, and did not.

"Whatever our clients did, they did in good faith," he said.

Lauren Kidd, a spokeswoman for DYFS, said the division does not comment on pending litigation.

The adopted mother, identified only as L.A., is seeking monetary damages to assist in the care of her daughter. The case is expected to last two to three weeks.

Source http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/12/woman_sues_dyfs_after_her_adop.html

Report - More Indiana Children Die From Abuse, Neglect, Report Says

Child Advocates Chide Backslide In Children's Services

INDIANAPOLIS -- Federal statistics show that Indiana has one of the highest rates of child abuse and neglect in the nation, though Department of Child Services officials claim their statistics show progress.

Recent cases of child abuse deaths are indicative of how some Indiana children fall through the cracks, and federal reports obtained by Call 6 Investigator Joanna Massee are counter to DCS claims that the child welfare system is improving.

Some child advocates said they've seen some progress recently, but others said they are gravely concerned about recent abuse and neglect deaths and what they consider backsliding services.

Deaths Of Children Spur Concern

The cases of Devin Parsons and Christian Choate highlight what many consider to be the failings of DCS.

Greensburg police found Parsons, 12, fatally beaten in June. His mother, Tasha Parsons, and her boyfriend, Waldo Jones, were subsequently charged with murder.

Randy Parsons, Devin's great-uncle, said he wasn't aware of the extent of abuse that police said went on in the boy's home.

"You just never expect anything like that," Parsons said, adding that he didn't realize a DCS employee visited the boy's home days before his death. "I think the job wasn't finished."

Christian Choate, 13, also had a long history with DCS before his death earlier this year. According to the agency's records, Christian lived in a cage and received regular beatings during the last months of his life.

In May, investigators pulled Christian's body from a shallow grave in Gary. His father, Riley Choate, and his stepmother, Kimberly Kubina, were charged with murder.

Records obtained by the Call 6 Investigators showed that the families of both children had a long history with DCS.

DCS Director James Payne said he thinks his agency is better at protecting children than ever before, and he cautioned against using child fatalities as a measuring stick.

" First of all, nobody in the system looks at fatalities as a measure of whether or not the system itself is doing a good job in helping protect children," Payne said. "Often the fatalities occur without any contact before. Often they happen in circumstances that were unpredictable."

Child Welfare Tracking Systems Inconsistent

Nationwide, child safety workers criticized an inconsistent tracking system for child deaths.

Because federal and state reports cover different time periods, the numbers don't match, and that means the number of deaths can look like it's going up in one report and down in another.

For example, the most recent Child Maltreatment Report released by the Department of Health and Human Services showed an increase in the number of child deaths from 2008 to 2009. The federal government counted 34 deaths in 2008 and 50 deaths in 2009. The federal year runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.

The state's most recent Child Abuse and Neglect Report of Child Fatalities showed a decrease in the number of child deaths from 2008 to 2009. The state government counted 46 deaths in 2008 and 38 deaths in 2009. The state year runs from July 1 through June 30.

Payne said a better way to evaluate the system is to look at statistics, such as fewer children being placed in residential treatment.

"The system is much better now," Payne said.

DCS is focused on helping children thrive in the home because taking them out is very traumatic, Payne said.

But the cases that involved Devin and Christian indicate that leaving abused and neglected children in a home can also be devastating.

Child Advocates' Opinion Mixed

Privately, leading child advocates and service providers told Massee they disagree with Payne’s claims that the system is improving. Publicly, they choose their words carefully if they say anything at all, fearing retaliation.

Massee asked Payne if the culture at DCS discourages criticism within the agency.

"I suspect there is at some level," but not at the executive level, Payne responded.

David Sklar, who leads the Children’s Coalition of Indiana, an organization that works to support and lobby for children and families, said child advocates and service providers fear retaliation for voicing concerns about DCS.

"They're afraid to advocate for those clients because they're afraid that the state might look somewhere else to provide those contracts," Sklar said.

Sklar added that advocates are also concerned that the state is spending fewer dollars on therapeutic services that help address and prevent child abuse and neglect.

"We are starting to see a backslide," he said.

Last year, DCS gave back nearly $104 million to the state general fund, money that could have been used for children. Payne said the agency did not need the cash.

When Massee asked Payne about these spending decisions, he granted RTV6 unprecedented access to the agency, adamant that his system is working.

During a roundtable discussion with DCS employees, Massee asked case workers about the difficulties they face on the job.

Supervisor Melissa Clark said she has seen positive changes during her 17 years with DCS, but she also said the work comes with challenges.

"It can be a life and death decision that we're making," Clark said. "We do see some turnover. It is a stressful job. It's emotional. We deal with the crying child that's being removed from their parent."

Denise Brightman said she has spent 21 years working with families and worries about making a mistake "every day."

While workers such as Brightman and Clark can only control the cases assigned to them, State Rep. Bill Crawford, D-Indianapolis, said he is concerned with decisions being made at the top.

Crawford criticized the state’s decision to spend less on services for abused and neglected children in need.

"There are too many child advocates from around the state of Indiana who are crying foul," Crawford said.

Child advocates said the unspent funds could be used for services such as counseling for young abuse victims, clothing and food for foster kids and toward other services for families, such as those in which Christian and Devin once belonged.

Speaking privately, one leading child advocate told Massee, "This needs to be a call to action. The system will succeed when the private sector and public sector work together."

Source http://www.theindychannel.com/news/29636918/detail.html