Sen. Rogers with Governor Daniels signing Erin's Law.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, promoting awareness of child sexual abuse, physical abuse and neglect. The month is dedicated to educating the public, building  community support and strengthening public awareness activities and programs.

Numerous organizations join together this month to spread the word on this serious issue and to encourage more people to join in the fight against child abuse. For more information on work being done across the country and how you might get involved, visit the Child Welfare Information Gateway page.

Indiana Senate Democrats work especially hard on behalf of children and their safety. This legislative session, there were a number of initiatives proposed and approved by the General Assembly to strengthen child safety measures in the state. However, there is still much work to be done.

An amendment offered by Sen. Taylor to House Bill 1136 would have standardized basic health and safety requirements for all child care facilities in the state, including those privately run by a church or other organization, such as child care ministries. Language in the amendment would have required that all facilities comply with state standards in order to receive funding under the federal Child Care and Development Fund voucher program. The amendment, which gained some bi-partisan support was ultimately struck down largely along party lines.

Sen. Simpson introduced  Senate Resolution 47 to study the wrap-around services provided by the Department of Child Services (DCS) to families who have children with serious emotional disturbances. Throughout the process, children are counseled within their family units to build relationships and keep family members together. Wrap-around services have been shown to reduce the recurrence of abuse and help families, through individualized care, keep multi-problem youth in their homes with families as opposed to an institutionalized setting.

The resolution included the study of how families are determined eligible for wrap-around services, the breadth of services available to families involved in DCS proceedings,  the follow-up provided by  staff to determine whether services were provided and the adequacy of those services, and the communication between family court and DCS to collaborate on families’ involvement in each entity.

Senate Bill 348,  authored by Sen. Broden, would have required DCS to provide adoption subsidies for children with special needs whose adoptive parents are eligible to receive support from the adoption assistance account. This would have expanded current law, which allows adoption subsidy agreements only for children who are wards of DCS at the time the adoption petition is filed.  Despite strong Democratic support, the bill did not move through the process for final approval.

The governor has signed into law Sen. Rogers’ SEA 267, also  known as “Erin’s Law,” which will use educational resources to help inform students and protect them from sexual abuse. The new law will provide a platform to educate teachers and school personnel about how to identify and report suspected abuse of students, and also teach students how to respond in these types of situations. The Indiana Department of Education (DOE) will be required to work with the DCS and other organizations that specialize in child abuse to provide resources to help teachers and school personnel become better equipped to handle cases of child sexual abuse. The DOE will also be required to develop model education materials, response policies and reporting procedures for Indiana schools for grade two through grade five.

The legislature will take an in-depth look at DCS this summer during the interim study committee process. Senate Enrolled Act 286 passed the General Assembly with the intention to study the effects of recent changes to the department and the centralized 1-800 hotline out of Indianapolis which has drawn media attention over numerous constituent complaints.

For more information on Interim Study Committees click here. To contact your legislator with input on issues affecting child abuse prevention, call the Senate at 1.800.382.9467 or the House of Representatives at 1.800.382.9842.

Click the arrow below to hear the full interview with John Gregg. Runs 51 Minutes ©2012 WTLC/Radio One.

Police investigators believe Christian Choate was buried in 2009, after he died following years of physical abuse that included being kept in a wire dog cage. Christian’s father, Riley Choate, and step-mother, Kimberly Kubina, have been charged with murder, battery and neglect charges in connection with the boy’s death.

The state Department of Child Services, citing privacy laws, would not confirm whether there had been prior allegations of abuse or intervention by the state.

“As a result of the tragic death of Christian Choate, the Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) has initiated an expedited examination of this case,” said the DCS release issued this afternoon.

Police and relatives have said the family, which included as many as 10 children, nieces and nephews of Choate and Kubina, had been investigated by child welfare authorities during the years prior to Christian’s abuse.

One neighbor said she twice called child welfare authorities in the spring and summer of 2008, a period when Christian’s older sister and other children who lived with the family in the single-wide trailer told police the boy was subject to daily beatings and was isolated in the cage. Court records show he died in the spring of 2009, a day or so after his step siblings said they saw Riley Choate and Christian’s then 15-year-old sister allegedly strike the boy in the head.

“The objective of this review is to understand the events of this case, evaluate the actions taken within the child welfare system and other systems as necessary,” the DCS release said.

DCS officials received a case file this week and a management review team has started “a detailed examination” of the records, the release states.

“While this will be a complete review of the circumstances that ultimately led to Christian’s death, DCS will provide an open and transparent view of any Agency actions in this case,” the release states.

© Sun-Times Media Wire Chicago Sun-Times 2011. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

Drink: None (seriously)

Clouds in sky: None

I won’t make a habit of posting stories that don’t involve booze, but this one seems relevant. Went home at lunch to let the dogs out. The inside of our backyard fence is lined with shrubs, so it’s pretty private. In order to save time and encourage our male dog to hurry up and go, I’ll often repurpose one of the shrubs (or a tree) as an outdoor urinal. So there I am, unleashing three or four cups of bad office coffee and water-cooler Ozarka on an unsuspecting cedar. Just as I’m about to zip up, I happen to glance toward the neighbor’s house. A late 30s couple with four little kids lives there. For some reason, the dad and two older daughters (approx 5 and 7 years old) just happened to be on their roof sharing both a bird’s eye view of the evacuation and a horrified expression. 

I’d say the chances are pretty good that for at least one of those girls, I’ll be the answer to the inevitable “When did you first see a grown man naked?” question.

The chances are equally good that that same girl will adopt an alternative lifestyle.

Each of Mark McGaha’s children have been declared a Child in Need of Services (CHINS) by an Indiana Circuit Court at the behest of the Department of Child Services. I can’t opine on whether they should be CHINS or not, or whether they should be in foster care.

As a lawyer I used to handle occasional CHINS cases in Indiana, usually representing the interests of one or both parents. One of my longest-running cases was a CHINS case involving what I called the family tree that didn’t fork. So I’m not denying that there can be situations whether the State needs to step in.

Unless there have been significant changes in my absence, like all buraucrats, DCS workers range from good to bad. If McGaha’s allegations are true, then there are some in Fountain County who are very bad. One thing that concerns me is that there is no mention of McGaha’s lawyer. He needs one. If he is doing this on his own, sadly he is fighting at a severe disadvantage.

This may be why the Fountain County Circuit Court judge got away with an outrageous unconstitutional act. She issued a restraining order preventing WXIN in Indianapolis from showing McGaha’s face or even allowing him to make his complaints against DCS. As one of my old law professors commented to the Indianapolis Star, “I don’t know what’s more outrageous: the judge ordering this and not knowing it violates the Constitution, or knowing and still issuing the injunction.” He described this as bordering on judicial misconduct. “Quite simply, a judge does not have the authority to stop the press from publishing or airing a story. Any person has a right to contact the press and say a public agency is not treating them right.”

Because of the inherent power of the bureaucracy, the press is one of the only checks upon it. That is why it is so important that access to the press not be denied. The greater the power, the more important the power to question it and challenge it. The more important that it stay on the straight and narrow. Otherwise rights get trampled upon. Otherwise democracy is meaningless.

A report released Tuesday by Prevent Child Abuse America and Kids Are Waiting, a project of the Pew Charitable Trusts, calls for more emphasis and spending on programs that prevent child abuse and neglect. It calls for policy changes to:

• Ensure a sufficient, flexible and reliable federal resource to help continue services needed by at-risk children and families.

• Reward states for safely reducing the number of children in foster care and achieving all forms of permanence.

• Make all abused and neglected children eligible for federal foster care support.

From the Story:

The bill would allow children in foster care to request visits if it is in their best interests. It also would allow a special advocate to be appointed to represent the child. If the Department of Child Services denies a visit request, the child or advocate could petition a juvenile court to intervene.

…

The Indiana Department of Child Services encourages sibling visits when possible and is always looking for foster homes and adoptive parents willing to take in several children from the same family, spokeswoman Susan Tielking said.

The bill was introduced by Sen. Mike Delph (R-Carmel). 

Here is the official summary of the bill:

Foster care sibling visitation. Requires the department of child services (DCS) to promote sibling visitation for every child who receives foster care. Allows a sibling to request sibling visitation if one of the siblings is receiving foster care. Requires DCS to allow sibling visitation if it is in the best interests of the child receiving foster care. Provides that if DCS denies a request for sibling visitation, an individual may petition a juvenile court for sibling visitation. Requires a court to grant sibling visitation if the court determines sibling visitation is in the best interests of the child who receives foster care. Permits a court to appoint a guardian ad litem or a court appointed special advocate if a child requesting sibling visitation is receiving foster care. Provides that a guardian ad litem or court appointed special advocate appointed in a sibling visitation case is immune from civil liability, except for gross misconduct. (The introduced version of this bill was prepared by the interim study committee on missing children.)

[Magistrate Scott] Stowers’ questions focused mostly on the process of the case. At the end, he approved the DCS plan to initiate unsupervised visits with approval from the counselor and the advocate.

Read that closely… “he approved the DCS plan to initiate unsupervised visits with the approval from the counselor and the advocate.”  In the Blogmeister’s experience, it is not unusual for a Judge, or Magistrate in this case, to approve certain things, pending approval of counselors and advocates.  The reason for this is these people often know the case the best, have a great deal of contact with the family, and, in the counselor’s case, have more training and expertise on family issues than anyone else involved.  So, no problem there (except, again in my experience, DCS hates this because they feel their paying for the case, so they should get to say).  However, his order was to initiate unsupervised visits pending approval, not initiate reunification. 

At the core of this case, and yet to be determined, if ever, is who made the decision to go beyond the Court’s mandate and reunify this family.  The Blogmeister’s guess…someone at DCS.  Why you ask?  They had the most to gain by reunifying the family.  They would save foster-care and treatment money and it would fit with their internal provisions to reunify the family within eighteen months.  It is also interesting the advocate and the counselor, remember the two people who the Judge pended his order for their approval, were seeking court intervention to get her back into foster care.  That hearing was scheduled for the day she died.

Now maybe DCS didn’t take it upon themselves to reunify this family.  Maybe it was a “team” decision, maybe aliens came and did it.  The fact is we don’t know.  Until we know who made this decision, can we expect any real changes at DCS?  Further, doesn’t the court now have standing to, on it’s own motion, conduct a hearing to find out how this family was reunified despite it’s own order to the contrary.  I’m no lawyer, but that sounds a lot like contempt of court to me.

Unfortunately, the errors and omissions which led to the death of Tajanay Bailey’s death appear not to be an isolated case. A 3-month-old infant is recovering from injuries consistent with shaken baby syndrome after DCS agreed with a juvenile court judge in Muncie to return the child, who DCS had earlier taken into protective custody, back into the home. DCS had removed the child after the mother violently stabbed the father in the home on November 10 during a domestic dispute. The father has been criminally charged in connection with injuries sustained by the infant just last week. He claimed he accidentally injured the child when he accidentally fell on him. The Muncie Star-Press reports:

A safety plan and orders for extensive counseling were in place when a local juvenile court judge returned a 3-month-old infant to the custody of his parents last month.

The child, Jawaun Henley, was listed in fair condition Monday at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, suffering from injuries authorities say are consistent with shaken baby syndrome.

Meanwhile, the baby’s father, Curtis L. Henley, 35, continued to be held without bond in the Delaware County jail, preliminarily charged with aggravated battery, neglect of a dependent and obstruction of justice. Henley, arrested last Friday, told authorities he shook his son after accidentally falling on him. During a Monday interview, Delaware County Juvenile Court Judge Brian Pierce said protections were in place when he ordered the return of Jawaun Henley to his parents — Melissa A. Overbay, 21, and Henley — in the wake of a Nov. 10 domestic dispute that allegedly saw the mother stab the father.

And Pierce said the Indiana Department of Child Services did not object to the placement, agreeing with the safety plan and intensive in-home counseling services to be provided by Meridian Services three days a week.

The judge, who has been on the juvenile bench since last spring, wanted to clarify reports that DCS raised concerns about placing the infant back in a home where Overbay was accused of stabbing Henley. Formal charges have not been filed in connection with the Nov. 10 incident.

A doctor at Riley Hospital for Children, Robert Hibbard, advised the injuries to the Henley infant’s brain and ribs were “non-accidental,” according to a probable cause affidavit that led to Curtis Henley’s arrest.

The elder Henley has denied intentionally hurting his son. A preliminary hearing in his case is set for Wednesday.

Citing the confidentiality of juvenile court records, Pierce would not release a transcript of the Henley hearing without a petition and court order. And he would not discuss details of the safety plan or counseling.

DCS officials also declined to say what they did to protect the Henley infant, citing the same confidentiality rules.

“We cannot discuss specific cases,” said DCS spokesman Susan Tielking.

Delaware County Prosecutor Mark McKinney last week called the case “the worst-case scenario of everybody’s nightmare.”

WTHR‘s Rich van Wyk also reported on this case on this evening’s news broadcast. His report indicated doctors at Riley Hospital had determined that the child had also suffered broken ribs from an earlier injury, which have subsequently healed. He says the father nearly bled to death from the November stabbing committed by his wife, but he declined to press charges against her.

Yesterday, the South Bend Tribune, in an editorial, had this to say on the TaJanay Bailey case regarding the sharing of information between DCS and Law Enforcement:

This effort to better share information among those who serve as the last line of defense for vulnerable children is a step in that direction.

Yep, it’s a step, but a small one.  Not to mention a possible breach of confidentiality and it does not address the real issues in the system.

Also yesterday, the South Bend Tribune had this to say in another editorial:

It also was a heartbreaking example of the need for child protective agencies to trust and act on the judgment of those in the field, who are responding to what they are seeing.

The necessity for at least one change seems apparent: A DCS supervisor’s policy- based judgment should not trump the opinions of two or three feet-on-the-ground team members.

But then those perspectives must be respected. The people who are compelled by what they see to call for action must have the authority to do so, without contradiction or retribution. If they err on the side of caution from time to time, so be it.

This editorial is more to the point of what needs to change in the DCS system, and I couldn’t have said it better myself.  If you are going to have a team concept, take it all the way and don’t just pay it lip service.  Too bad this tragedy had to occur for the agency to learn that lesson.

Moving on.  Today the Indy Star and WTHR were in court attempting to get more records on the case.  From the Indy Star story:

After TaJanay’s Nov. 27 death, Judge Marilyn Moores granted public access to the 3-year-old Indianapolis girl’s juvenile court file documenting her most recent Child in Need of Services case, which began in May 2006. Moores also has released about 1,500 pages from her state Department of Child Services case file.

On the table now is whether to release juvenile court records from a 2004 child-welfare case involving TaJanay; a similar case involving her 7-month-old brother, Lawrence Green Jr.; and the juvenile criminal record of her mother, Charity Bailey. Moores said she would rule soon.

The judge expects to release more records from TaJanay’s DCS case file on Wednesday, much of it from the earlier case that started in 2004 shortly after TaJanay’s birth.

Separately, The Star has asked Moores for a transcript of the last court hearing before TaJanay died, on Aug. 30 before Magistrate Scott Stowers. At that hearing, Stowers gave approval to DCS to move forward with a plan for unsupervised visits, which led to the start Oct. 31 of a 30-day trial reunification.

The Star’s attorney, Jan Carroll, argued the documents will help shed light on whether the child-welfare system could have done something to prevent TaJanay’s death. Public defenders objected to the document releases, arguing they violated Bailey’s right to privacy and could harm her defense in the criminal case. They also said the files for TaJanay’s brother, who is in a foster home, should remain confidential because he is still alive.

The Blogmeister completely supports the Star and WTHR in this effort.  While most questions have been answered, the ultimate one, why she was placed with her mother on August 30 remains unanswered.  It would ultimately benefit the citizens of the state to see how these decisions are made and demand, if needed, changes so this never happens again.

Breaking story from the Indy Star.  The entire article is included below:

A review of the TaJanay Bailey case by the state Department of Child Services cites errors in judgment and information gaps as shortcomings in the weeks before the girl died of abuse in her mother’s home.

But there was no negligence on the part of DCS workers or others involved in the 3-year-old girl’s child protective case, DCS Director James Payne said this afternoon. TaJanay died Nov. 27, a few weeks after DCS returned her home.

“No disciplinary action will be taken in this case,” Payne said.

During the internal investigation, DCS staff went page by page through TaJanay’s voluminous case file and interviewed DCS workers and others involved to evaluate the department’s handling of the case.

TaJanay was returned Oct. 31 to her mother, Charity Bailey, and Bailey’s live-in boyfriend, Lawrence Green, for a 30-day trial reunification. She had been in foster care after allegations of abuse and neglect surfaced in May 2006.

Charity Bailey and Green, both 20, face murder and neglect charges in Marion Superior Court.

A Marion County juvenile court judge ordered TaJanay’s DCS case file and court records released after her death. They show that in November, there was disagreement among case workers and social workers over whether to keep TaJanay and her 6-month-old brother, Lawrence Green Jr., in the home.

But Payne again said that none of those concerns involved imminent danger to the children, which is necessary for removal without a judge’s order.

An advocate and a counselor had planned to ask a magistrate to remove the children from the home at a court hearing scheduled later the day TaJanay died.

Here are the recomendations from the report:

The state Department of Child Services released a report Friday listing recomendations for improvement. Among them:

• expand domestic violence training for DCS staff and improving their ability to assess its impact on a family;

• improve communication with law enforcement and prosecutors when families run into problems;

• coordinate and communicate better with foster parents and court-appointed child advocates;

• draw more family members and family supporters into periodic team meetings about the case;

• and more closely scrutinize interaction between a parent and child after they have been returned home.

Of course this is the state’s report.  Real negligence can only be determined by a court, and I’m willing to bet we’ll be hearing about some filings in the near future.

This communication plan is in reaction to the death of Tajanay Bailey who was reunited with her mother, Charity Bailey, and her boyfriend, Lawrence Green.  Approximately three weeks after the reunification she was allegedly killed by them.  Reportedly, Indianapolis police were called to the apartment two weeks prior to her death for a domestic dispute, but did not know Tajanay was involved with DCS.  No one is saying police contact with DCS would have made any difference in the case.

As I pointed out in the prior post, confidentiality questions remain regarding this new procedure.  In addition, it appears to the Blogmeister the real issues surrounding who is responsible for the tragedy continue to be overshadowed by these side issues.   All that aside, this is probably a good idea, if the confidentiality issue can be worked out, so maybe, just maybe, DCS supervisors will listen to caseworkers, therapists, and others involved in the case and not place children in dangerous situations.

Full text versions of the stories may be found here and here.

Dateline Indianapolis.  In a story in the Indianapolis Star, Judge Marilyn Moores is reported as wanting to convene a meeting to discuss “communication gaps” between police and Department of Child Services staff in the TaJanay Bailey case.  Apparently, she wants a free flow of information between the two departments.  

“Police currently have no way of knowing whether children at homes where they respond to calls are involved with the Department of Child Services and need special attention.”

In the aftermath of the 3-year-old’s Nov. 27 death, officials have learned of two instances when an exchange of information between agencies might have resulted in her removal from the home where prosecutors say she was tortured and killed. 

Um yeah, not really.  What really would have helped is if a DCS Supervisor who never met the child or the family, would have listened to the people directly involved with the case and not “minimized” their concerns…but thats another issue for another time. 

 Similarly, DCS Director James W. Payne said that if his agency had known about the Nov. 10 case, that information might have changed the agency’s stance about leaving TaJanay and her 6-month-old half brother, Lawrence Green Jr., with the couple.

Might?  Come’on Mr. Payne, you know your person (the supervisor) screwed up. Please stop trying to dilute the blame.  There was more than enough reason to remove the child even without knowing the police were called twice.

Moores thinks part of the solution may be close at hand. By using a mechanism that already exists in the county’s emergency response computer system, she said, it could be possible to alert police when a family has an open child welfare case.

The system used by the Metropolitan Emergency Communications Agency allows for special messages to be stored by address and called up whenever authorities are sent there.

That is used now to alert police or fire units about hazards at certain addresses, Moores said, so why not allow DCS to store messages in the computer asking officers to contact a family’s case manager after any police run to the home?

Moores learned about the possibility Friday from her nephew, an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer, the judge said. In her mind, she said, only the logistics remain to be worked out.

Yeah, sounds simple, no so much.  First, there are questions about the family’s confidentiality, which the Blogmeister believes is protected by the Indiana Code.  There would need to be changes there first.  Second, what about “informal” cases, where the family has voluntarily agreed to engage in services and have not been ordered by a court?  Would their confidentiality be jeopardized as well?  Wouldn’t that cause more people not to voluntarily seek services?  Third, ever try to call a DCS caseworker?  Unless you like talking to voice-mail and waiting 2 weeks for a callback, don’t bother.  So, it’s a tad bit more involved than simple “logistics”.  Besides, this was a very minor wrinkle in an already screwed up case. 

So Friday afternoon, Moores fired off an e-mail inviting key police and DCS officials to meet with her Monday. Within an hour, several told the judge they would be there or send representatives.

…

It will be a big job, though Moores said the system might be used only for high-risk cases.

Which apparently TanJanay’s wouldn’t have been classified as, since she was back at home and DCS wanted to terminate the case.

DCS spokeswoman Susan Tielking applauds any move to improve communications.

Of course she does, it takes the focus off the supervisor at DCS who is really responsible for this. 

Tielking said she expects the agency’s review of TaJanay’s case to lead to a call for better information-sharing, both inside and outside the child welfare system.

And not address any of the real issues…that one person in a position of authority can think they know best, despite what at least three other people are telling them, and cause harm to a child.

Payne added that [Carl] Brizzi [Marion County Prosecutor] appears to be correct about the agency’s failure to make a report to police after the May 2006 incident in which a doctor found TaJanay had been abused.

Hmm, another mistake, imagine that. 

The Blogmeister really, really, really does not enjoy pointing these things out.  DCS just makes it so easy.  Please, everyone address the problems and stop skirting around them with side issues.  Long story short, the Supervisor messed up.  Send a message to other employees of DCS…you screw up and a kid gets killed, your fired.  FSSA does that with people who steal a few thousand dollars, isn’t this a little inconsistent…Steal, your gone, make a bad call instead of playing it safe and protecting the child, you keep your job, your insurance, and we’ll protect you, by the way, take a few days off too.

The Governor made the following comments at a regularly scheduled press conference on Friday.  The remarks were reported in a story from the Indianapolis Star.

“Gov. Mitch Daniels said someone made the wrong call in the TaJanay Bailey case but that he didn’t know whether anyone should lose their job over the girl’s death.

“The system was very active on behalf of this little girl, and yet someone with the best of intentions — someone who has given a career to the protection of children — finally had to make a call and made the wrong one,” Daniels said Friday at his regularly scheduled meeting with reporters.

Daniels’ press secretary, Jane Jankowski, said the governor wasn’t referring to one particular person.

She also said Daniels had not spoken to any Department of Child Services officials about the case.

“The governor’s role is to build a better-funded, better-operated child services organization. He’s had no direct conversations with DCS about this or any other case,” said Jankowski.

Asked whether anyone should be fired over the case, Daniels responded: “I don’t know the answer to that,” adding that DCS still is working on its internal investigation surrounding TaJanay’s death.

The governor said he still had confidence in DCS Director James W. Payne, a judge he hand-picked for the job.”

 The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette is reporting the press conference somewhat differently.

INDIANAPOLIS – Gov. Mitch Daniels said Friday that state child welfare workers clearly made the wrong call in the case of a 3-year-old girl beaten to death while under state supervision, declaring it a “tragic error in judgment.”

“Human judgment will always enter in, and I guess we will always have to accept that occasionally mistakes like this will be made.”

…”after a lot of discussions someone made a tragic error in judgment and whoever made that error is probably the most heartbroken person around right now,” he said.

Most of these issues have already been addressed by the Blogmeister.  Please see those older posts by searching for “Tajanay Bailey” in the upper right hand corner.

The housing authority “wants Connecticut-based RCM Phoenix Partners to return more than $300,000 in federal welfare rent payments for failing to evict unruly tenants and disclose business problems in other cities.”

“Phoenix Apartments, the Northeast side complex that includes the residential block with the most violent crime in the city, was being scrutinized by the agency before TaJanay’s death last week.”

But they still allowed people to live there.  Nice. 

An agency study shows police have received 421 crime reports from residents of the Phoenix Apartments in the past 18 months.

Police say it’s a haven for wanted criminals and stolen cars. Bullets holes have been visible on exterior walls, and residents describe units with mice and cockroaches and frequent plumbing problems.

…

Among the 421 crime reports at the Phoenix compiled by the Housing Agency are 26 assaults, three with a gun, along with 18 burglaries, 10 drug investigations, 26 vandalism reports and 61 warrant arrests.

In recent years, the Housing Agency has taken administrative actions against about 55 landlords, Myers said. Of those, half have returned the federal welfare rent payments, a quarter have been prosecuted for criminal acts and the remainder dropped out as welfare landlords.

There is a great story here with extensive background and photos.   The Blogmeister can’t understand how the Housing Authority could allow anyone to live there after seeing these photos.

Still, he continues to defend his reforms “to add caseworkers and training to DCS”.   Reporting the reforms have “made a difference, pointing out that there were eight visits to Tajanay’s home in the last three weeks of her life.”  Further, “This [the tragedy] was not from a lack of effort or attention, which used to be the case in Indiana…Children would go months without anyone looking in on them.”

“The system is dramatically better, provably better, recognized nationally now as better, but it still made a tragic mistake here.”

 The Blogmeister understands the need for the Governor to spin this in the best possible light, but look at the facts.  The 8 visits were by outside contractors, not DCS employees. Even after the contractors brought the living/coping conditions to the attention of DCS, the agency refused to remove TaJanay from the home. 

Home-based therapists have contracted with DCS since 1994, not just since the Daniels administration. 

While it is more than likely true children would go months without their caseworker looking in on them,  the Blogmeister did not see anything in the record indicating the caseworker looked in on TaJanay. 

Finally, the Blogmeister has already taken issue with the “recognition” the Governor’s program of reform has received in this prior post.

The Blogmeister continues to support the Governor’s reforms.  However, they do not go far enough and are superficial.  If the Governor wants to truly reform DCS, system wide and systematic changes need to take place in every area of the agency.  Whats that old saying about putting lipstick on a pig, it’s still a…well you get the idea.

Background from the Star:

“DCS had taken the bruised and sickly girl from her mother’s care in May 2006 after a former foster mother took her to the emergency room. Unemployment, drug abuse and domestic abuse had given social workers involved in the case reason for pause during the next year.

By late summer 2007, the documents show that social workers all thought Bailey and Green were making inroads and trying to bond with the children. Green had completed a parenting course and was enrolled in drug education classes, and both had jobs.

They returned TaJanay and her brother, Lawrence Green Jr., home for a 30-day trial visit Oct. 31.

But after the children came home, the couple’s failure to hold jobs, lack of a family support network and a failed drug test by Charity Bailey triggered a rift among the social workers, according to the newly released records and interviews this week. 

The first sign of concern appears in a Nov. 9 e-mail in which case manager Tara Hayes documented a phone call the day before from guardian ad litem Carolyn Thurston, the court-appointed advocate for TaJanay. Thurston asked for a team meeting to discuss the children’s placement.

From what the Blogmeister is able to determine from what he has seen of the records;

On 11/9/07, members of the team working the case expressed frustration the DCS case manager did not inform them of the reunification of the family and “they [case managers] typically do not” inform the other members of the team.”  These emails appear to be between Thurston and home based therapist, Kelly Kochell regarding Hayes.

The Blogmeister can see how this would happen, based on his work with DCS  in the past.  As a contractual provider, it is not unusual to be frustrated with a lack of information from the DCS caseworkers.  There does not appear to be any rule or DCS policy stating providers be made aware of changes in a case.  If there is, it is not followed.  Much of the time, it depends on the working relationship and rapport one has with the caseworker, as to how much information the provider will receive.  This is a constant source of frustration with outside providers. 

Back to the documents:

In an undated email, the home-based therapist advised DCS of Lawrence Green and Charity Bailey’s “inability to provide for their [the family's] most basic needs” and she recommended the children be removed “as soon as possible”.

In the Star article this morning it states;

In discussing the case Thursday, [DCS Director James W.] Payne said the e-mails did not convey an “imminent danger,” which would be necessary for DCS and police to remove the child without a court order. The normal course would be to raise those issues at the next court hearing, which was set for Nov. 27.

How a parent’s “inability to provide for their [the family's] most basic needs” is not “imminent danger” is beyond the Blogmeister, but back to the records:

Casemanager  Hayes, on 11/19/07, writes, “I don’t think this is working having the kids in the home.  There are major concerns.” She also discusses how good the foster mother is and may be a good permanent placement for the children.

Again, on 11/19/07 casemanager Hayes, emailed the team working on the case and stated, “DCS has decided not to put in an affidavit for the courts to remove the children as of yet.”  She appears aware of the concerns from other members of the team as she states, “Please know your concerns have been noted and are discussed in the court notes for the upcoming hearing”.  She further states, “thank you for being so patient with me.”  In a response about 40 minutes later, someone, probably Thurston, the Guardian ad litem, emails back and states, “I predict if DCS does not step forward with removal our agency will petition the court to order DCS to do such.”

From the Blogmeister’s knowledge of the system, outside providers can only make recommendations to DCS about what they think should happen in a case.  It is solely up to DCS and the courts to remove a child.  If one reads between the lines, the home-based therapist was screaming for this child to be removed.  In addition,  to tell the case manager another agency will petition the courts for an order to have DCS remove the child is VERY SERIOUS.  It implies DCS is either negligently not doing their job, or there is something else going on inhibiting DCS from doing their job.   The person who wrote that was VERY brave, putting their personal reputation on the line, and was doing the right thing.

Further, the case manager worded her email on 11/19/07 very carefully when she stated, “DCS has decided not to put in an affidavit for the courts to remove the children as of yet.”  Notice, she did not use the word “I”, nor did she identify a person.  It appears she took this to her supervisor who told her the children would not be removed.  It also appears she had some sympathy for other members of the team when she stated, “Please know your concerns have been noted and are discussed in the court notes for the upcoming hearing”.  This gives the case manager an out if the courts decide to remove the child at the hearing, without the case worker getting blamed by her superiors.  One may wonder why the case manger had to ask her superiors if she could remove the child.  Actually, this is standard procedure because if a child is removed, DCS needs to find a place for them.  Again, why is this a problem?  DCS had a foster parent waiting in the wings who, by all accounts, wanted TaJanay.  The reason is all foster parents are paid.  By who you ask?  Well, DCS.  The case manager had to ask to remove the child because it would involve expense to DCS.

Again, back to the records;

On 11/21/07 the home-based therapist attended a meeting with the members of the team and the parents to discuss the case.  The therapist notes the parents did not bring the children, “because she was afraid they would be taken away” from them.  Additionally, she reports, “The DCS supervisor tended to minimize my concerns” and the DCS Supervisor stated “there was no reason to hold the case from closing”.

From the Star:

Cynthia Booth, executive director of Child Advocates, which employs Thurston, said that until mid-November, “the case had been a wonderful example of teaming and collaboration.”

But as differences of opinion came into play that month, she said, the old mentality that DCS knows best and should make all of the decisions seemed to trump the new approach.

“I am a supporter of this reform, and I want it to work,” Booth said. “But it has to be implemented in the spirit of inclusion.

“In this case, I don’t think that was the situation — and the worst thing that could have happened did.”

The next note from the home-based therapist describes getting a telephone call from Charity Bailey informing her of TaJanay’s death.

In a final email, The home-based therapist writes to Hayes and states she did not know there were domestic disturbance calls to the police in the two weeks prior to Tajanay’s death, until she learned of them from the media.  She asks in an email, “why did we not know about that…?” and if she had known, she would have “insisted the children [be] removed”.

 This is the first time anyone has heard DCS was pushing to close the case.  This is VERY interesting.  It also speaks to why someone wanted the family reunited quickly.  If the family was not reunited, either DCS would have to terminate the mother’s rights, and/or continue to work with her and provide services.  Both of those cost money.  In addition, this case had drug on for approximately 17 months, by the time TaJanay died.  It has been the Blogmeister’s experience that DCS wants their cases resolved in approximately 18 months.  In fact, under Indiana Law, a child must be in foster care for 15 months of the last 22 months to initiate a termination of parental rights hearing in the courts.  So,  the logical question is, if DCS has that, why not just terminate the mother’s rights?  In addition to the costs mentioned above, DCS, again in the Blogmeister’s opinion, sees a permanent removal as a failure for their statistics.  When one adds this to the cost and the time-line, one can see why DCS was pushing for a termination to the case. 

To some, this will seem like a pretty superficial reason to chance a child dying.  However, the general public has no idea the pressure caseworkers and supervisors are put under to “make the numbers”.  It is not out of the realm of the Blogmeister’s experience that the above scenario could very well happen.  Still, please remember the conclusions drawn are based on the Blogmeister’s experience and what he is reading in the released documents. 

 Comments by Payne appear to confirm this.  In the Star story he states, “

“I will defend my staff in their judgment, because it’s our job then to figure out how we can improve that judgment,” Payne said. “My review of this case does not cause me to conclude that there was either malfeasance or misfeasance, nor was there neglect.”  Of course he is going to say this, becasue if the Supervisor was following the 18th month guideline, and feeling pressure to do so, it is a system problem and he cannot blame her for an error in judgment.  Think about it.  If one works for a company and makes an error in judgement and someone dies, they’re fired, as they should be.  If they are following policy and someone dies, well, they can hardly be blamed by that system.

Of paramount importance to this case will be why DCS wanted this case closed so quickly.  A resolution to that question will lead to answers about why DCS did not remove the child as the home-based therapist recommended.

You may review the available released documents here.

The Blogmeister will continue to review and revise this post as more news becomes available today.

In an article from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette yesterday;

“Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi stopped short Friday of saying Department of Child Services staff acted criminally but said foster parents of other children have contacted his office to complain that the state agency, despite extensive reforms, continues to place youngsters in danger.”

This was in response to the death last week of TaJanay Bailey.

“Brizzi, speaking to reporters after a court hearing for the girl’s mother and her boyfriend, said he did not want to condemn state workers who “are trying to do their best with limited resources.”

“My hope is that a little girl’s death isn’t meaningless. We can’t bring her back. We can put these two individuals away for the rest of their lives,” Brizzi said. “But if it doesn’t actually change the system, if it doesn’t make it better, if it doesn’t fill in the gaps, then we’re not doing our job.”

“DCS spokeswoman Susan Tielking… said it was premature to make conclusions, but the agency still was implementing the reforms Daniels ordered when he took office in January 2005.”

Over the weekend, Gov. Mitch Daniels is rumored to have expressed his displeasure with Brizzi.  From the Taking Down Words blog;

“His Mitchiness, in front of a crowd of Republicans at an event over the weekend, allegedly ripped into Brizzi, ostensibly for not towing the company line.”

Read the whole post here.

The Blogmeister finds it interesting the Governor’s office and DCS didn’t mention it “was implementing the reforms Daniels ordered” when they accepted an award for their reforms, the same day TaJanay died.

The Blogmeister has worked in Mental Health and with the Department of Child Services (in it’s various incarnations) for over 15 years.  Still, reading about cases such as this makes him physically ill.

From a story in the Indianapolis Star:

“Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi wants to know why the state Department of Child Services did not notify police after a caseworker determined TaJanay Bailey was physically abused in 2006.

A hospital emergency room visit documented bruises on the toddler’s body after a May 2006 visit with her mother, Charity Bailey, and Bailey’s boyfriend, Lawrence Green.

Bailey and Green now face charges of murder and neglect in the death of the 3-year-old Tuesday.

Brizzi said the abuse was among the worst he’d seen in a criminal case, and he planned to try the case himself. He said prosecutors could use the victim’s age and the use of torture as statutory aggravators when they press for a life sentence.

About 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, Bailey woke TaJanay and saw she “had boo-booed and peed herself,” Bailey told police. She said she took the girl to the bathroom to clean her off, the affidavit says, and Green then began “whipping TaJanay with his black leather belt.”

In his statement, Green told police he did hit the girl, but Bailey was already screaming at her and striking her, too. Bailey hit the girl in the head with her knee, knocking TaJanay’s head against the wall, Green told police.  Police called to investigate TaJanay’s death were appalled at the condition of the apartment, in the 4100 block of Edgemere Court.

Police say Bailey and Green abused TaJanay over the past two weeks, including hanging her on a coat hook by her T-shirt, beating her with a belt and knocking her in the chest for wetting her pants. While hanging from the hook, the girl’s shirt left marks under her arms and on the back of her neck, said a probable cause affidavit that Brizzi filed Wednesday.

James W. Payne, director of the state Department of Child Services, said Wednesday that he is prohibited by law from talking about specifics of the case, including whether police were notified.  But he pledged an aggressive review of the way TaJanay’s case was handled to determine whether the agency or its workers did anything wrong, and what could be done to prevent similar tragedies.

At this point, he said, nothing indicates a system breakdown or individual misconduct contributing to the death. He said the review will take about two weeks.  “These tragic events will, unfortunately, occur,” he said. “We know we can’t protect and prevent everything.”

Brizzi said his office had not been able to find a police report resulting from the 2006 hospital visit. The injuries should have prompted a police investigation because even the doctor noted physical abuse, he said.

“Someone from the government . . . went in and said it was OK for her to return to the home,” he said. “I’m not sure where the blame lies, but we have a dead 3-year-old little girl.”

The article goes on to give a history of the case, and discusses the troubling history of TaJanay’s mother, Charity Bailey.  The Blogmeister is sure what will happen in this case is what happens everytime some tragic incident such as this occurs.  Politicians will vie for airtime discussing who is to blame,  there will be a high profile trial, people will be fired, paperwork will be changed.  More than likely, Mr. Payne is correct, there was not a system breakdown…but what Mr. Payne, politicians, and the public need to realize is the system itself, while adequate for most cases, is broken when it comes to severe cases such as this.  While the increased numbers of caseworkers is a good start, the DCS needs to hire trained caseworkers (they currently do not need to have any college education).  Then, they need to change the focus from educating abusive parents, to making them serve consequences for their actions AND treating them (utilizing licensed professionals).  Finally, there needs to be a process where there is a recognition, earlier in the process, that a parent may not ever recover from their abusive tendencies and a procedure to permanently remove the child from their care.   Someone will get blamed for this, but in the blogmeister’s opinion, it is a flawed system that is truly to blame.

This post is updated here , here, and here.

 From the Associated Press, via the South Bend Tribune, comes notice of an award bestowed upon Governor Mitch Daniels by the  Annie E. Casey Foundation for “improving the lives of children.”  Specifically, the “creation of the Department of Child Services shortly after taking office in 2005″.

“Since then, with the support of the General Assembly, the department has added more than 800 family case managers to protect vulnerable children and expanded case worker training”. 

“Daniels appointed James Payne, formerly a Marion County juvenile court judge, to head the new agency, whose duties formerly were part of the Family and Social Services Administration”.

“‘Indiana is beginning to emerge as a national leader in helping to safeguard children, and assure children can grow and thrive in loving, permanent families,” said Tracey Feild, director of consulting engagements at the Baltimore-based foundation.”

You can also view the press release here.

The Blogmeister is confused.  How does that square up with the post from yesterday and the Indy Star story of the same date?  What makes matters worse is the data used in the Star story is from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which is the same foundation who gave the Governor the award.  The Blogmeister went to the foundation site, massaged, crunched, and attempted to beat the numbers into submission, but cannot figure out how 11th worst is an improvement from previous years.  The Blogmeister fully admits he may not be the worlds best statistician, but he did have 3 graduate level statistics courses (all A’s, btw).  If someone, perhaps with a Ph.D., could figure this out, the Blogmeister would be most appreciative.

Further, the Blogmeister knows people in the Department of Child Services who felt, at the time the Department was created, it  was nothing more than a new job for Judge Payne, new stationary, and new forms to fill out.  Perhaps the Blogmeister’s anecdotal evidence is in error, but the confusion remains.  Again, If someone could clear this up, he would be most appreciative.

UPDATE:  This tragic story just in–enough said.