Locals react to foster child who died while locked in closet
News Journal (Mansfield, OH)
August 30, 2006
Linda Martz
MANSFIELD -- Richland County foster parents said they were appalled to learn that a 3-year-old developmentally delayed boy died in Cincinnati allegedly after his foster parents left him locked in a closet while they attended a family reunion in Kentucky.
Liz and David Carroll Jr. were indicted by a Hamilton County grand jury Monday on charges of involuntary manslaughter and two charges of child endangering.
Authorities believe the child, left in a crib in a small closet with no food or water, just an electric fan, died Aug. 4 or 5 after temperatures rose to dangerous levels.
Deanna Livingston, of Mansfield, a 2006 Richland County nominee along with her husband Dave for Foster Family of the Year, said she can't see many mitigating circumstances, even if the couple was ignorant of how to work with a handicapped child.
"I'm sorry, but I can't understand somebody that would lock a child in a closet. To me, that's evil. You can't even think that way," she said. "I thought probably that's happened many times in that family, and they've just now gotten caught."
In Richland County, respite care for foster parents who temporarily need to arrange for someone else to take care of a child can be provided by other foster families -- either by calling children services or another foster family, she said.
And "tons of classes" are offered to foster parents on how to improve their skills in dealing with issues that come up with special needs children, Livingston said.
"You don't take a kid if you don't know how to work with them," she said.
Livingston and her husband regard foster parenting as important work. "If we can't take the children (to something) we usually don't go," she said.
Barbara Scott, a foster mother from Lexington who has had 61 children placed in her home, often on an emergency basis, said she believes that children service agencies need to work particularly closely with foster parents who take in special-needs children, to provide help and
support when challenging issues come up.
Many people enter into foster parenting believing that if they give love and a stable home, the children will thrive, Scott said. They don't realize some children need intensive levels of help and attention, she added.
Scott said she'd be cautious of judging others before she knows why something occurred. But the Cincinnati couple may not have realized, going in, how difficult it might be to deal with issues that come up with a child with severe developmental delays, she said.
"Obviously, it's disgusting that they did what they did -- and didn't just call somebody and say 'This is too much for us to handle," she said. "It's very obvious that they were overwhelmed."
Scott said she hopes the Cincinnati child's death won't put an unfair black mark on other foster parents who don't get enough credit for the positive work they do.
"There isn't a lot of positive portrayal of foster parents," she said. And despite public perception, "the money doesn't begin to cover the needs."
Melissa Gray, 18, "aged out" of the foster care system this year, but is still getting help from Richland County Children Services on her goal of going to college to get a degree in counseling.
Gray stayed in eight foster homes. While some of her former foster parents clashed with her over issues of control, she said she couldn't see anything nearly as bad as the Cincinnati incident happening with any family she lived with.
It could be that the Carrolls weren't equipped to take care of a special needs child, or "didn't have the patience" to deal with a challenging 3-year-old, she said.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Responsibility cannot be outsourced
Our opinion: We all share the blame for a child's death
News Journal (Mansfield, OH)
August 30, 2006
The entire community failed this child
Back in April, little Marcus Fiesel was found wandering the streets of Middletown. An investigation of the family home found he was poorly cared for, little food in the house and walls
and furniture smeared with feces. Children's Services got a court order to take custody and placed him in a foster home.
The 3-year-old boy would have been better off had he been left playing in traffic. Marcus was allegedly bound and left in a hot closet for two days in early August while his foster parents, Liz and David Carroll, the people being paid to care for him, attended a family reunion in Kentucky.
The Carrolls are charged with involuntary manslaughter. Investigators believe Marcus was dead when the Carrolls returned to their Clermont County home and that David Carroll then incinerated the body.
What happened to this child provokes a seething outrage. He was the community's responsibility. The community took him from his mother because she wasn't fit. Instead of seeing he was properly cared for, the community passed him on to a contract agency, Lifeway for Youth, which promised to find him a good home, for a daily fee.
It's difficult to imagine a more inappropriate setting for any child, let alone one with Marcus' special needs. In June, David Carroll was accused of domestic violence. He brought a woman described as his girlfriend to live in the house.
The couple had four children of their own, another foster child and other children for whom they provided daycare.
According to accounts, David Carroll didn't like having so many children around. Neither he nor his wife held outside jobs. The family apparently lived on money received from day-care clients and foster care fees, which in the case of Marcus amounted to about $33 per day.
Marcus came to the public's attention Aug. 15, the day Liz Carroll reported him missing in what investigators say was an elaborate set of lies. Liz Carroll had said she had Marcus and three other children with her at a park when she passed out from a heart condition, and that Marcus disappeared in the confusion of her being taken to the hospital by ambulance.
Investigators now believe that by the time Liz Carroll started telling her story, Marcus had probably been dead for at least nine days. But truth be told, he had gone missing from those responsible for his well-being months earlier.
How did the Carrolls ever get approved to be foster parents? What kind of oversight did Butler County exercise over Lifeway to ensure the agency adhered to proper standards? How could caseworkers from Lifeway and the county, who supposedly visited the home, not be concerned about how many children were in the house, about how many adults lived there, about how none of the adults seemed to be employed?
The Carrolls are charged with Marcus' death. Lifeway has lost its contract with Butler County and other agencies.
But the responsibility for what happens to children like Marcus ultimately rests with us -- the community. The responsibility for this cannot be outsourced. This was a helpless child in desperate need of care and we failed him.
News Journal (Mansfield, OH)
August 30, 2006
The entire community failed this child
Back in April, little Marcus Fiesel was found wandering the streets of Middletown. An investigation of the family home found he was poorly cared for, little food in the house and walls
and furniture smeared with feces. Children's Services got a court order to take custody and placed him in a foster home.
The 3-year-old boy would have been better off had he been left playing in traffic. Marcus was allegedly bound and left in a hot closet for two days in early August while his foster parents, Liz and David Carroll, the people being paid to care for him, attended a family reunion in Kentucky.
The Carrolls are charged with involuntary manslaughter. Investigators believe Marcus was dead when the Carrolls returned to their Clermont County home and that David Carroll then incinerated the body.
What happened to this child provokes a seething outrage. He was the community's responsibility. The community took him from his mother because she wasn't fit. Instead of seeing he was properly cared for, the community passed him on to a contract agency, Lifeway for Youth, which promised to find him a good home, for a daily fee.
It's difficult to imagine a more inappropriate setting for any child, let alone one with Marcus' special needs. In June, David Carroll was accused of domestic violence. He brought a woman described as his girlfriend to live in the house.
The couple had four children of their own, another foster child and other children for whom they provided daycare.
According to accounts, David Carroll didn't like having so many children around. Neither he nor his wife held outside jobs. The family apparently lived on money received from day-care clients and foster care fees, which in the case of Marcus amounted to about $33 per day.
Marcus came to the public's attention Aug. 15, the day Liz Carroll reported him missing in what investigators say was an elaborate set of lies. Liz Carroll had said she had Marcus and three other children with her at a park when she passed out from a heart condition, and that Marcus disappeared in the confusion of her being taken to the hospital by ambulance.
Investigators now believe that by the time Liz Carroll started telling her story, Marcus had probably been dead for at least nine days. But truth be told, he had gone missing from those responsible for his well-being months earlier.
How did the Carrolls ever get approved to be foster parents? What kind of oversight did Butler County exercise over Lifeway to ensure the agency adhered to proper standards? How could caseworkers from Lifeway and the county, who supposedly visited the home, not be concerned about how many children were in the house, about how many adults lived there, about how none of the adults seemed to be employed?
The Carrolls are charged with Marcus' death. Lifeway has lost its contract with Butler County and other agencies.
But the responsibility for what happens to children like Marcus ultimately rests with us -- the community. The responsibility for this cannot be outsourced. This was a helpless child in desperate need of care and we failed him.
Newspaper has history of speaking out for foster youth
THE DEATH OF A CHILD
Cincinnati Post, The (OH)
August 30, 2006
What happened to 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel was an outrage. His death, the manner of his death, violates one of the fundamental conventions any respectable society holds about how children ought to be treated.
He was taken from his natural mother this spring by child welfare officials who had opened an investigation after the boy was found wandering the streets of Middletown. Police reported that feces were smeared on the walls and carpet of the autistic boy's bedroom, and that when he was taken away his mother told them, "He's your problem now.''
In May, Butler County officials contracted with a nonprofit social service agency to place Marcus in a foster home in Clermont County's Union Township. Now, those foster parents stand accused of killing him.
The details of what happened to this child are what separate it from so many other, equally terrible crimes against children.
Police said Marcus' foster parents wrapped him in a blanket with his arms behind him and taped it tight, then left him in a closet for two solid days while they went off to a family reunion in Kentucky. When they returned and found him dead, police say, they took him to a farm in Brown County, Ohio, and after several tries burned his body. Then they concocted a cruel lie -- that he had wandered off or been abducted during an outing to an Anderson Township park -- to explain his absence.
Other details that have begun to emerge in published accounts raise disturbing questions about Marcus' care, including the propriety of his placement in the first place and the adequacy of followup checks on his welfare. But the real tragedy is that this kind of child abuse, this kind of neglect, this kind of institutional failure to protect all our children, is so common.
Marcus' story is different only in its gruesome details from hundreds of others that are reported every year, in every state.
Nearly 20 years ago this newspaper won state and national awards for exposing problems in Ohio's foster care system. We told stories then about an 18-month-old child starved to death in her own home, about a 3-year-old girl who died of gangrene after being beaten repeatedly for resisting potty training, about a 2-year-old boy beaten to death for wetting his pants and urinating on a bathroom floor.
We can only hope that Marcus Fiesel's death will trigger responses that improve conditions for children, at least for a while. Surely child protection agencies will tighten their procedures, take a harder look at prospective foster parents; maybe they will be more aggressive about removing children from environments believed to be dangerous.
But no child protection system is going to work perfectly. Under the one we have now, for example, there never seem to be enough foster homes. We could, perhaps, return to building orphanages, maybe call them by prettier names. But abuses occurred in such institutions in the past, and in such an approach society would be giving up the chance of a child's more normal development in a loving home.
The greatest protection any child can have, of course, is caring, responsible parents. But the plain, ugly fact is that some parents are not responsible.
So we're left, in the wake of Marcus' death, to condemn those who caused it, to applaud the work of the law enforcement officials who appear to have solved the mystery of his purported disappearance, and to add our voice to the thanks to those in the community who searched for a boy they believed was lost.
May that communal act of trying to help a lost child continue, in other venues. It's too late to help Marcus. But maybe, if we all try a little harder, we can help save some other endangered child one of these days.
Cincinnati Post, The (OH)
August 30, 2006
What happened to 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel was an outrage. His death, the manner of his death, violates one of the fundamental conventions any respectable society holds about how children ought to be treated.
He was taken from his natural mother this spring by child welfare officials who had opened an investigation after the boy was found wandering the streets of Middletown. Police reported that feces were smeared on the walls and carpet of the autistic boy's bedroom, and that when he was taken away his mother told them, "He's your problem now.''
In May, Butler County officials contracted with a nonprofit social service agency to place Marcus in a foster home in Clermont County's Union Township. Now, those foster parents stand accused of killing him.
The details of what happened to this child are what separate it from so many other, equally terrible crimes against children.
Police said Marcus' foster parents wrapped him in a blanket with his arms behind him and taped it tight, then left him in a closet for two solid days while they went off to a family reunion in Kentucky. When they returned and found him dead, police say, they took him to a farm in Brown County, Ohio, and after several tries burned his body. Then they concocted a cruel lie -- that he had wandered off or been abducted during an outing to an Anderson Township park -- to explain his absence.
Other details that have begun to emerge in published accounts raise disturbing questions about Marcus' care, including the propriety of his placement in the first place and the adequacy of followup checks on his welfare. But the real tragedy is that this kind of child abuse, this kind of neglect, this kind of institutional failure to protect all our children, is so common.
Marcus' story is different only in its gruesome details from hundreds of others that are reported every year, in every state.
Nearly 20 years ago this newspaper won state and national awards for exposing problems in Ohio's foster care system. We told stories then about an 18-month-old child starved to death in her own home, about a 3-year-old girl who died of gangrene after being beaten repeatedly for resisting potty training, about a 2-year-old boy beaten to death for wetting his pants and urinating on a bathroom floor.
We can only hope that Marcus Fiesel's death will trigger responses that improve conditions for children, at least for a while. Surely child protection agencies will tighten their procedures, take a harder look at prospective foster parents; maybe they will be more aggressive about removing children from environments believed to be dangerous.
But no child protection system is going to work perfectly. Under the one we have now, for example, there never seem to be enough foster homes. We could, perhaps, return to building orphanages, maybe call them by prettier names. But abuses occurred in such institutions in the past, and in such an approach society would be giving up the chance of a child's more normal development in a loving home.
The greatest protection any child can have, of course, is caring, responsible parents. But the plain, ugly fact is that some parents are not responsible.
So we're left, in the wake of Marcus' death, to condemn those who caused it, to applaud the work of the law enforcement officials who appear to have solved the mystery of his purported disappearance, and to add our voice to the thanks to those in the community who searched for a boy they believed was lost.
May that communal act of trying to help a lost child continue, in other venues. It's too late to help Marcus. But maybe, if we all try a little harder, we can help save some other endangered child one of these days.
No excuse for murdering foster child
'It was murder,' Deters says
Cincinnati Post, The (OH)
August 30, 2006
Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters says he is confident foster parents Liz and David Carroll will be convicted of murdering a 3-year-old developmentally disabled boy who was in their care.
Deters said the boy, Marcus Fiesel, was restrained with packing tape, rolled up in a blanket and left for two days in a closet while the Carrolls attended a family reunion.
"I don't know how you could leave a child in that condition for that long and believe he was going to be alive," the prosecutor said.
"I'm saying it was murder. I'm confident of a successful murder prosecution. Our goal, quite frankly, is to have these two individuals locked up as long as possible."
When the Carrolls were arrested Monday, the most serious charge against them was involuntary manslaughter. Deters said he understood that was of concern to the public.
"The reason for that charge was simply to hold them and to seize (their other) children from them," he said.
"They will not be facing involuntary manslaughter charges. They're going to be facing murder charges. They are inevitable. It's going to happen."
The Carrolls are accused of putting Marcus into a closet of their rented house in Clermont County's Union Township when they left Aug. 4 to attend a family reunion in Kentucky.
"Marcus was wrapped in a blanket in wrapping tape -- clear packing tape -- with his arms behind him," said Deters. "It wasn't the first time he had been wrapped. We think it was the first time he was put in a closet. He was wrapped like a cocoon."
Deters said Amy Baker, a woman who lived with the Carrolls, was cooperating with authorities in the case.
"The ultimate decision on whether or not she (Baker) faces charges depends on whether or not she ever hurt Marcus," the prosecutor said. "We'll just see where the evidence leads us. If she continues to cooperate and did not hurt the child, she will not be charged."
On Aug. 15, nine days after authorities believe the Carrolls returned home from the family reunion to find Marcus dead in the closet, Liz Carroll told police that she had taken him to Juilfs Park in Anderson Township, had passed out from a health problem and awakened to find Marcus missing.
Police, along with hundreds of civilian volunteers, searched the park and adjacent areas for several days in vain. A week after the alleged disappearance, Liz Carroll called a news conference and urged people to continue to look for the boy.
The public pleas for help came after Marcus' body had been taken to Brown County and burned, said Deters. Police have recovered what Deters described as "material" from Brown County and taken it to the Hamilton County coroner's office for DNA testing to determine if it's from Marcus' body.
The Boone County Water Rescue Squad was searching the Ohio River at Aberdeen Tuesday night with a special type of sonar as part of the effort to recover Marcus' remains.
"They (the Carrolls) were committed to covering this crime up," the prosecutor said. "They went back repeatedly to burn the body. They went back two or three times."
The prosecutor said the story that Marcus went missing from Juilfs Park was one of two plans hatched by the Carrolls to explain the boy's absence.
"The other plan was to take the kids to Kings Island and all of a sudden Marcus was gone," said Deters. "This was well thought-out. They had a lot of time to do this."
A Hamilton County grand jury on Monday indicted the Carrolls on charges of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment, and David Carroll was charged with gross abuse of a corpse.
On Tuesday, a grand jury indicted the couple on charges of making false alarms and inducing panic for alleging Marcus had gone missing and causing the park to be evacuated.
Liz Carroll was also indicted for perjury in connection with her testimony Monday before a grand jury.
Deters, asked what Liz Carroll lied about, said, "Everything. We could have had 100 counts of perjury. And I think perjury is probably going to be the least of her worries when this is all over."
The Carrolls were scheduled to be arraigned today and Deters said he expected the couple to plead not guilty.
The prosecutor said ever since Marcus' purported disappearance two weeks ago, the Carrolls and Baker "have constantly been deceptive and lied" until Baker recently began cooperating with authorities.
"This is one of those cases where we literally had to rely on somebody," said Deters. Asked why Baker finally began cooperating, the prosecutor said, "There are systems in our legal process that if you lie, you are going to prison."
Because both Clermont and Hamilton counties are involved in the case, Deters said he plans to meet later this week with Clermont County Prosecutor Don White to decide where the Carrolls will be tried and what the charges ultimately will be.
"It is the opinion of this office and the Clermont County prosecutor's office that at the very least these two individuals should be charged with murder," said Deters.
The prosecutor said he believes the Carrolls, who made their living from foster care and day care, were ill-equipped to provide a home for a developmentally disabled child like Marcus.
"I think that Marcus had special needs that these people had no training in, that they accumulated as many foster kids and day care kids as possible to maximize how much money they made," said Deters.
Three months ago, Butler County Children Services contracted with Lifeway for Youth, a Sharonville nonprofit social service agency, to place Marcus with the Carrolls.
"It's a serious understatement that they dropped the ball," Deters said of the foster care agency. "You have a kid like this, you need to make unannounced visits to the house, insist on seeing him, see how many kids are in the house, how you're able to control that situation, and they didn't.
"If any good comes from this horrible tragedy, I hope there is a serious review of the foster care program in this country."
As for what the Carrolls are alleged to have done to Marcus, Deters said it may simply come down to one word -- evil.
"Every normal person wants to find an excuse for this," he said. "Sometimes people are just evil. I've got to tell you, that's just a fact. You don't want to think that way, but it is a fact.
"You want to think they've got mental problems, they're on drugs, there's some reason for this behavior. But they're just bad people."
Cincinnati Post, The (OH)
August 30, 2006
Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters says he is confident foster parents Liz and David Carroll will be convicted of murdering a 3-year-old developmentally disabled boy who was in their care.
Deters said the boy, Marcus Fiesel, was restrained with packing tape, rolled up in a blanket and left for two days in a closet while the Carrolls attended a family reunion.
"I don't know how you could leave a child in that condition for that long and believe he was going to be alive," the prosecutor said.
"I'm saying it was murder. I'm confident of a successful murder prosecution. Our goal, quite frankly, is to have these two individuals locked up as long as possible."
When the Carrolls were arrested Monday, the most serious charge against them was involuntary manslaughter. Deters said he understood that was of concern to the public.
"The reason for that charge was simply to hold them and to seize (their other) children from them," he said.
"They will not be facing involuntary manslaughter charges. They're going to be facing murder charges. They are inevitable. It's going to happen."
The Carrolls are accused of putting Marcus into a closet of their rented house in Clermont County's Union Township when they left Aug. 4 to attend a family reunion in Kentucky.
"Marcus was wrapped in a blanket in wrapping tape -- clear packing tape -- with his arms behind him," said Deters. "It wasn't the first time he had been wrapped. We think it was the first time he was put in a closet. He was wrapped like a cocoon."
Deters said Amy Baker, a woman who lived with the Carrolls, was cooperating with authorities in the case.
"The ultimate decision on whether or not she (Baker) faces charges depends on whether or not she ever hurt Marcus," the prosecutor said. "We'll just see where the evidence leads us. If she continues to cooperate and did not hurt the child, she will not be charged."
On Aug. 15, nine days after authorities believe the Carrolls returned home from the family reunion to find Marcus dead in the closet, Liz Carroll told police that she had taken him to Juilfs Park in Anderson Township, had passed out from a health problem and awakened to find Marcus missing.
Police, along with hundreds of civilian volunteers, searched the park and adjacent areas for several days in vain. A week after the alleged disappearance, Liz Carroll called a news conference and urged people to continue to look for the boy.
The public pleas for help came after Marcus' body had been taken to Brown County and burned, said Deters. Police have recovered what Deters described as "material" from Brown County and taken it to the Hamilton County coroner's office for DNA testing to determine if it's from Marcus' body.
The Boone County Water Rescue Squad was searching the Ohio River at Aberdeen Tuesday night with a special type of sonar as part of the effort to recover Marcus' remains.
"They (the Carrolls) were committed to covering this crime up," the prosecutor said. "They went back repeatedly to burn the body. They went back two or three times."
The prosecutor said the story that Marcus went missing from Juilfs Park was one of two plans hatched by the Carrolls to explain the boy's absence.
"The other plan was to take the kids to Kings Island and all of a sudden Marcus was gone," said Deters. "This was well thought-out. They had a lot of time to do this."
A Hamilton County grand jury on Monday indicted the Carrolls on charges of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment, and David Carroll was charged with gross abuse of a corpse.
On Tuesday, a grand jury indicted the couple on charges of making false alarms and inducing panic for alleging Marcus had gone missing and causing the park to be evacuated.
Liz Carroll was also indicted for perjury in connection with her testimony Monday before a grand jury.
Deters, asked what Liz Carroll lied about, said, "Everything. We could have had 100 counts of perjury. And I think perjury is probably going to be the least of her worries when this is all over."
The Carrolls were scheduled to be arraigned today and Deters said he expected the couple to plead not guilty.
The prosecutor said ever since Marcus' purported disappearance two weeks ago, the Carrolls and Baker "have constantly been deceptive and lied" until Baker recently began cooperating with authorities.
"This is one of those cases where we literally had to rely on somebody," said Deters. Asked why Baker finally began cooperating, the prosecutor said, "There are systems in our legal process that if you lie, you are going to prison."
Because both Clermont and Hamilton counties are involved in the case, Deters said he plans to meet later this week with Clermont County Prosecutor Don White to decide where the Carrolls will be tried and what the charges ultimately will be.
"It is the opinion of this office and the Clermont County prosecutor's office that at the very least these two individuals should be charged with murder," said Deters.
The prosecutor said he believes the Carrolls, who made their living from foster care and day care, were ill-equipped to provide a home for a developmentally disabled child like Marcus.
"I think that Marcus had special needs that these people had no training in, that they accumulated as many foster kids and day care kids as possible to maximize how much money they made," said Deters.
Three months ago, Butler County Children Services contracted with Lifeway for Youth, a Sharonville nonprofit social service agency, to place Marcus with the Carrolls.
"It's a serious understatement that they dropped the ball," Deters said of the foster care agency. "You have a kid like this, you need to make unannounced visits to the house, insist on seeing him, see how many kids are in the house, how you're able to control that situation, and they didn't.
"If any good comes from this horrible tragedy, I hope there is a serious review of the foster care program in this country."
As for what the Carrolls are alleged to have done to Marcus, Deters said it may simply come down to one word -- evil.
"Every normal person wants to find an excuse for this," he said. "Sometimes people are just evil. I've got to tell you, that's just a fact. You don't want to think that way, but it is a fact.
"You want to think they've got mental problems, they're on drugs, there's some reason for this behavior. But they're just bad people."
Response from Lifeway director
Lifeway Director: 'Nothing else we could have done' - but death may spark changes.
Cincinnati Post, The (OH)
August 30, 2006
Author: Candice Brooks, Hamilton JournalNews
Lifeway for Youth said all it can do is rely on the foster parents to report truthful information about themselves.
The state said it relies on the agency's recommendation for licensing foster parents.
That's a lot of trust in people -- such as Liz and David Carroll Jr., whom Lifeway now calls "duplicitous."
The Carrolls are charged with leaving their 3-year-old foster child, Marcus Fiesel, locked up in a closet to die and burning his body to cover their tracks.
The Carrolls had domestic violence issues, and there have been reports that David Carroll might have a bipolar disorder. And Amy Baker, described by some sources as his girlfriend, was living with the couple at the time Marcus died.
"They were living a duplicitous life," said Michael Berner, executive director of Lifeway, with which Butler County Children Services contracted in April to take care of Marcus after he was removed from his mother's home in Middletown.
"They were projecting one thing in public and a very different thing in private."
The couple never told Lifeway about a June domestic violence charge that Liz Carroll later dropped or about any medical conditions like the heart problem she claimed caused her to pass out and lose track of Marcus in an Anderson Township park on Aug. 15, Berner said.
"The domestic violence charge would have had to be reported to us by Mr. or Mrs. Carroll," Berner said.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, which licenses foster care families and provider agencies, was at the mercy of Lifeway's information.
"We license foster homes based on the recommendation of the placement agency," said Dennis Evans, an agency spokesman. "We make sure (the application) is complete, but we do rely on the agency to have followed all of the requirements."
The couple's alleged medical problems would not have shown up in the general physical exam foster parents are required to complete before becoming licensed, Berner said.
"The physical form signed by a physician confirms that they are in adequate health to do foster care," Berner said. "It really doesn't amount to much more than that -- a general health check-up."
Since Marcus was placed with the Carrolls, Lifeway made 25 visits and no concerns emerged, he said.
"They came to us as certified day-care providers," Berner said. "They lived in a respectable home -- a clean and attractive home in a middle-class neighborhood. There is nothing else we could have done to know that this was going to happen."
But state Sen. Gary Cates, R-West Chester Township, doesn't buy that.
He has called for a state investigation of Marcus' death and the agencies responsible for his care.
Before recommending potential changes in law, Cates said he will wait the six to eight weeks the state is estimating it will take to complete the investigation.
Action needs to happen locally because the state's action has been limited and Children Services has made only "marginal progress" on reforms, said Butler County Commissioner Michael Fox, a longtime critic of that agency.
Fox said he plans to call for a top-down evaluation of the agency, its contractors, and the handling of Marcus' case.
He said Children Services needs to take back the responsibility of visiting foster homes monthly, rather than contracting that responsibility as it did with Lifeway.
Berner said Marcus' death might be the catalyst for statewide changes, but the system will never be perfect because people aren't.
"It's unfair to try to blame the system or Lifeway," Berner said. "Sometimes people do bad things. I don't know what people are looking for here. I just don't understand this mentality that a system is going to be fail safe."
What could help is more foster homes in Butler County, said Dawn Grady, community relations director for Children Services.
"We desperately need foster homes up here," Grady said. "We want to keep our kids close to home, in their communities and minimize the disruption."
There were 112 Butler County foster homes while there were 401 children in the county's care as of July 31, Grady said.
About 87 children were placed in county homes, while 257 children were in private foster care networks like Lifeway, she said.
At the end of July, Lifeway had 116 Butler County children in its supervision, Grady said. Since Marcus was reported missing, the county has removed 11 children from Lifeway placements as of Monday. It also suspended placements at Lifeway on Aug. 18 and is checking all remaining placements.
The agency also will pay for Marcus' funeral, but arrangements are not complete.
"We do that for any child that dies in our care," Grady said.
Cincinnati Post, The (OH)
August 30, 2006
Author: Candice Brooks, Hamilton JournalNews
Lifeway for Youth said all it can do is rely on the foster parents to report truthful information about themselves.
The state said it relies on the agency's recommendation for licensing foster parents.
That's a lot of trust in people -- such as Liz and David Carroll Jr., whom Lifeway now calls "duplicitous."
The Carrolls are charged with leaving their 3-year-old foster child, Marcus Fiesel, locked up in a closet to die and burning his body to cover their tracks.
The Carrolls had domestic violence issues, and there have been reports that David Carroll might have a bipolar disorder. And Amy Baker, described by some sources as his girlfriend, was living with the couple at the time Marcus died.
"They were living a duplicitous life," said Michael Berner, executive director of Lifeway, with which Butler County Children Services contracted in April to take care of Marcus after he was removed from his mother's home in Middletown.
"They were projecting one thing in public and a very different thing in private."
The couple never told Lifeway about a June domestic violence charge that Liz Carroll later dropped or about any medical conditions like the heart problem she claimed caused her to pass out and lose track of Marcus in an Anderson Township park on Aug. 15, Berner said.
"The domestic violence charge would have had to be reported to us by Mr. or Mrs. Carroll," Berner said.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, which licenses foster care families and provider agencies, was at the mercy of Lifeway's information.
"We license foster homes based on the recommendation of the placement agency," said Dennis Evans, an agency spokesman. "We make sure (the application) is complete, but we do rely on the agency to have followed all of the requirements."
The couple's alleged medical problems would not have shown up in the general physical exam foster parents are required to complete before becoming licensed, Berner said.
"The physical form signed by a physician confirms that they are in adequate health to do foster care," Berner said. "It really doesn't amount to much more than that -- a general health check-up."
Since Marcus was placed with the Carrolls, Lifeway made 25 visits and no concerns emerged, he said.
"They came to us as certified day-care providers," Berner said. "They lived in a respectable home -- a clean and attractive home in a middle-class neighborhood. There is nothing else we could have done to know that this was going to happen."
But state Sen. Gary Cates, R-West Chester Township, doesn't buy that.
He has called for a state investigation of Marcus' death and the agencies responsible for his care.
Before recommending potential changes in law, Cates said he will wait the six to eight weeks the state is estimating it will take to complete the investigation.
Action needs to happen locally because the state's action has been limited and Children Services has made only "marginal progress" on reforms, said Butler County Commissioner Michael Fox, a longtime critic of that agency.
Fox said he plans to call for a top-down evaluation of the agency, its contractors, and the handling of Marcus' case.
He said Children Services needs to take back the responsibility of visiting foster homes monthly, rather than contracting that responsibility as it did with Lifeway.
Berner said Marcus' death might be the catalyst for statewide changes, but the system will never be perfect because people aren't.
"It's unfair to try to blame the system or Lifeway," Berner said. "Sometimes people do bad things. I don't know what people are looking for here. I just don't understand this mentality that a system is going to be fail safe."
What could help is more foster homes in Butler County, said Dawn Grady, community relations director for Children Services.
"We desperately need foster homes up here," Grady said. "We want to keep our kids close to home, in their communities and minimize the disruption."
There were 112 Butler County foster homes while there were 401 children in the county's care as of July 31, Grady said.
About 87 children were placed in county homes, while 257 children were in private foster care networks like Lifeway, she said.
At the end of July, Lifeway had 116 Butler County children in its supervision, Grady said. Since Marcus was reported missing, the county has removed 11 children from Lifeway placements as of Monday. It also suspended placements at Lifeway on Aug. 18 and is checking all remaining placements.
The agency also will pay for Marcus' funeral, but arrangements are not complete.
"We do that for any child that dies in our care," Grady said.
Scathing editorials
This reflects real pain for disabled among us
Cincinnati Enquirer, The (OH)
August 30, 2006
What you say: Marcus Fiesel
Nobody should be surprised by the tragic life and death of Marcus Fiesel. For all the claims that our schools put all the focus on kids with disabilities and our government is overspending on the disabled, this child is the reality. Even disabled individuals with loving families will have to depend on outside caregivers at some point.
The oversight and support necessary to protect people with disabilities doesn't exist. The few advocacy groups that do help individuals are overwhelmed by requests for help. Sadly, the only time society shows an interest is when it's too late to do anything.
Carol Leach
Montgomery
Borgman cartoon captured essence
I agree with Jim Borgman's Aug. 29 cartoon that there is a special place in hell for child abusers, just as there is a special place in heaven for the innocent and defenseless whose entire short lives are a continuous cycle of violence, neglect and abuse.
God has blessed little Marcus, and we can all take comfort in knowing that he is now happy in a beautiful, safe and pain-free place. As for Liz and David Carroll, they are on their own, for there is no mercy for those with no soul.
Kathy Newton
Hebron
Investigate how placement happened
Now that we know that Marcus Fiesel is dead and allegedly murdered by his foster parents, I hope that Lifeway for Youth is subjected to an intense investigation, particularly concerning the procedures for placing a child into a foster home.
The Carrolls never should have been allowed to care for children simply because of her physical and his mental impairment, and the specialized care that Marcus required. Now Marcus has paid for Lifeway for Youth's incompetence with his life. A
t the very least, Lifeway for Youth's state license should be suspended until an investigation is completed, and either higher standards are in place or the facility is shut down.
Debby Perkins
Blue Ash
We might want to rethink orphanages
My God, what awful lives so many abandoned children live. Why has our society told women and men it is OK to have children without being able to take care of them? In the past, orphanages took care of abandoned children. Why don't we re-establish orphanages, since there seems to be a lack of qualified families available to take on the care of the huge number of abandoned children?
Janet Lockwood
Peach Grove
Turn attention to explaining to kids
One child, Marcus Fiesel, is dead. As a community we need to turn our attention to the other children, for those who rode their bikes through my Anderson Township neighborhood passing out leaflets and asking me if I had seen him, for those who held their parents' hands as they searched woods, backyards and garbage cans, and for those who lit candles to remember a child they had never met.
As adults, we must help them deal with their grief, their bewilderment, their loss of innocence in the face of evil. And, if we are big enough, we must teach them to forgive.
Elizabeth Bookser Barkley
Anderson Township
Cincinnati Enquirer, The (OH)
August 30, 2006
What you say: Marcus Fiesel
Nobody should be surprised by the tragic life and death of Marcus Fiesel. For all the claims that our schools put all the focus on kids with disabilities and our government is overspending on the disabled, this child is the reality. Even disabled individuals with loving families will have to depend on outside caregivers at some point.
The oversight and support necessary to protect people with disabilities doesn't exist. The few advocacy groups that do help individuals are overwhelmed by requests for help. Sadly, the only time society shows an interest is when it's too late to do anything.
Carol Leach
Montgomery
Borgman cartoon captured essence
I agree with Jim Borgman's Aug. 29 cartoon that there is a special place in hell for child abusers, just as there is a special place in heaven for the innocent and defenseless whose entire short lives are a continuous cycle of violence, neglect and abuse.
God has blessed little Marcus, and we can all take comfort in knowing that he is now happy in a beautiful, safe and pain-free place. As for Liz and David Carroll, they are on their own, for there is no mercy for those with no soul.
Kathy Newton
Hebron
Investigate how placement happened
Now that we know that Marcus Fiesel is dead and allegedly murdered by his foster parents, I hope that Lifeway for Youth is subjected to an intense investigation, particularly concerning the procedures for placing a child into a foster home.
The Carrolls never should have been allowed to care for children simply because of her physical and his mental impairment, and the specialized care that Marcus required. Now Marcus has paid for Lifeway for Youth's incompetence with his life. A
t the very least, Lifeway for Youth's state license should be suspended until an investigation is completed, and either higher standards are in place or the facility is shut down.
Debby Perkins
Blue Ash
We might want to rethink orphanages
My God, what awful lives so many abandoned children live. Why has our society told women and men it is OK to have children without being able to take care of them? In the past, orphanages took care of abandoned children. Why don't we re-establish orphanages, since there seems to be a lack of qualified families available to take on the care of the huge number of abandoned children?
Janet Lockwood
Peach Grove
Turn attention to explaining to kids
One child, Marcus Fiesel, is dead. As a community we need to turn our attention to the other children, for those who rode their bikes through my Anderson Township neighborhood passing out leaflets and asking me if I had seen him, for those who held their parents' hands as they searched woods, backyards and garbage cans, and for those who lit candles to remember a child they had never met.
As adults, we must help them deal with their grief, their bewilderment, their loss of innocence in the face of evil. And, if we are big enough, we must teach them to forgive.
Elizabeth Bookser Barkley
Anderson Township
Foster parents guilty of violence, fraud
Carrolls' children in foster care
Cincinnati Enquirer, The (OH)
August 30, 2006
Barrett J. Brunsman Enquirer staff writer
Investigators tell juvenile court of violence, fraud
BATAVIA - Liz and David Carroll Jr., charged in the death of 3-year-old foster child Marcus Fiesel, beat their four other children with belts and defrauded taxpayers out of thousands of dollars, according to affidavits filed Tuesday in Clermont County Juvenile Court.
A judge ordered the children who shared a Union Township home with Marcus to be placed in foster care after an emergency custody hearing.
"During recent interviews with the children they have stated that their mom and dad get 'really mad' and hit them with belts and their hands," according to the affidavits submitted by investigators for Clermont County Children's Protective Services.
The Carrolls are being held in the Hamilton County Justice Center.
The affidavits were submitted by Tammie Armstrong and Susan Grabowski, supervisors of investigations for Children's Protective Services.
Each woman swore in court that, to the best of her knowledge, the allegations in the complaints against the Carrolls were true.
It wasn't until Marcus' disappearance that the agency became aware that David Carroll Jr. had been arrested on a domestic-violence charge in June, a little more than a month after Marcus was placed in the home by a Butler County agency, according to the documents.
That charge, filed with Union Township Police on June 18, said Liz Carroll reported he pushed her into a door and a pool table.
According to the documents filed Tuesday, David Carroll threw a knife that broke a microwave oven and "punched holes in the walls of their rental home."
"When the police were called, Mr. Carroll ran upstairs and said he would hang himself if he were to be arrested.
"This all occurred in the presence of their children."
The documents also say:
David Carroll "reportedly suffers from bipolar disorder and has explosive outbursts toward and in the presence of the children."
The children "state that their dad held a knife to their mom's throat, threatening to cut her, punched holes in the walls and yelled at them when police came to their home."
Liz and David Carroll "have consistently failed to accurately report the number of persons living in their home (to the Clermont County Department of Job and Family Services), thus falsely receiving thousands of dollars from the government."
Neither Liz nor David Carroll has stable employment, and they have lived in at least 10 places since 1998. "(They) rely on government assistance, day-care and foster-care reimbursements to support their household."
The Income Maintenance Department of the Clermont County Department of Job and Family Services "began gathering all available information regarding this family" after Marcus disappeared, according to the court documents.
Anne Arbaugh, deputy director of Children's Protective Services, said after the hearing that the children were taken into custody and placed in foster care on Monday, the same day their parents were indicted in connection with the death of Marcus.
After the Carrolls claimed Aug. 15 that Marcus was missing from an Anderson Township park, Children's Protective Services launched an investigation of the family.
Juvenile Court Judge Stephanie Wyler on Tuesday granted the agency's request that Calvin Carroll, 7; Dallas Carroll, 5; Bryce Carroll, 2; and Kaylan Adams, 8, be placed in the custody of the Clermont County Department of Job and Family Services until a formal custody hearing Sept. 18.
David Carroll is the father of Kaylan Adams. While Liz Carroll is not her mother, she had custody of Kaylan, Arbaugh said.
Kaylan's birth mother, who lives outside Ohio, was notified about Tuesday's hearing, and will be informed about September's hearing, Arbaugh said.
While some relatives of the Carrolls were at the Tuesday hearing, they didn't testify.
Before any relatives could take custody of the children, a background check on members of the household would have to be made, Arbaugh said.
Citing confidentiality requirements, Arbaugh said she couldn't discuss specifics of the investigation of the Carrolls.
In general, Arbaugh said, "as soon as we get a report that there's some risk of abuse or neglect of children that live in Clermont County, we immediately begin an investigation that day. We interview all of the children residing in a home. We do that in conjunction with law enforcement."
E-mail bbrunsman@enquirer. com
Cincinnati Enquirer, The (OH)
August 30, 2006
Barrett J. Brunsman Enquirer staff writer
Investigators tell juvenile court of violence, fraud
BATAVIA - Liz and David Carroll Jr., charged in the death of 3-year-old foster child Marcus Fiesel, beat their four other children with belts and defrauded taxpayers out of thousands of dollars, according to affidavits filed Tuesday in Clermont County Juvenile Court.
A judge ordered the children who shared a Union Township home with Marcus to be placed in foster care after an emergency custody hearing.
"During recent interviews with the children they have stated that their mom and dad get 'really mad' and hit them with belts and their hands," according to the affidavits submitted by investigators for Clermont County Children's Protective Services.
The Carrolls are being held in the Hamilton County Justice Center.
The affidavits were submitted by Tammie Armstrong and Susan Grabowski, supervisors of investigations for Children's Protective Services.
Each woman swore in court that, to the best of her knowledge, the allegations in the complaints against the Carrolls were true.
It wasn't until Marcus' disappearance that the agency became aware that David Carroll Jr. had been arrested on a domestic-violence charge in June, a little more than a month after Marcus was placed in the home by a Butler County agency, according to the documents.
That charge, filed with Union Township Police on June 18, said Liz Carroll reported he pushed her into a door and a pool table.
According to the documents filed Tuesday, David Carroll threw a knife that broke a microwave oven and "punched holes in the walls of their rental home."
"When the police were called, Mr. Carroll ran upstairs and said he would hang himself if he were to be arrested.
"This all occurred in the presence of their children."
The documents also say:
David Carroll "reportedly suffers from bipolar disorder and has explosive outbursts toward and in the presence of the children."
The children "state that their dad held a knife to their mom's throat, threatening to cut her, punched holes in the walls and yelled at them when police came to their home."
Liz and David Carroll "have consistently failed to accurately report the number of persons living in their home (to the Clermont County Department of Job and Family Services), thus falsely receiving thousands of dollars from the government."
Neither Liz nor David Carroll has stable employment, and they have lived in at least 10 places since 1998. "(They) rely on government assistance, day-care and foster-care reimbursements to support their household."
The Income Maintenance Department of the Clermont County Department of Job and Family Services "began gathering all available information regarding this family" after Marcus disappeared, according to the court documents.
Anne Arbaugh, deputy director of Children's Protective Services, said after the hearing that the children were taken into custody and placed in foster care on Monday, the same day their parents were indicted in connection with the death of Marcus.
After the Carrolls claimed Aug. 15 that Marcus was missing from an Anderson Township park, Children's Protective Services launched an investigation of the family.
Juvenile Court Judge Stephanie Wyler on Tuesday granted the agency's request that Calvin Carroll, 7; Dallas Carroll, 5; Bryce Carroll, 2; and Kaylan Adams, 8, be placed in the custody of the Clermont County Department of Job and Family Services until a formal custody hearing Sept. 18.
David Carroll is the father of Kaylan Adams. While Liz Carroll is not her mother, she had custody of Kaylan, Arbaugh said.
Kaylan's birth mother, who lives outside Ohio, was notified about Tuesday's hearing, and will be informed about September's hearing, Arbaugh said.
While some relatives of the Carrolls were at the Tuesday hearing, they didn't testify.
Before any relatives could take custody of the children, a background check on members of the household would have to be made, Arbaugh said.
Citing confidentiality requirements, Arbaugh said she couldn't discuss specifics of the investigation of the Carrolls.
In general, Arbaugh said, "as soon as we get a report that there's some risk of abuse or neglect of children that live in Clermont County, we immediately begin an investigation that day. We interview all of the children residing in a home. We do that in conjunction with law enforcement."
E-mail bbrunsman@enquirer. com
Ashes in chimney or Ohio river?
'FAR BETTER OFF WITH GOD . . . '
Cincinnati Enquirer, The (OH)
August 30, 2006
Author: Sharon Coolidge Enquirer staff writer
It wasn't first time foster parents bound boy, Deters says
David and Liz Carroll pinned their 3-year-old foster son's arms behind his back, covered him in a blanket and then wrapped him with packing tape like a mummy, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said Tuesday.
Only the toddler's head was exposed, he said.
Then, as Marcus Fiesel cried out in fear, the Union Township couple turned on a fan, shut the door to the 5-by-7-foot closet, walked down the stairs and left the house for a day-and-a-half to attend a family reunion in Kentucky, Deters said.
Marcus was dead by the time they got home early in the morning of Aug. 6. "He was wrapped like a cocoon," Deters said, choking up.
That wasn't the first time the Carrolls left Marcus trussed up like that, Deters said. He said similar bindings had happened before, but this was the first time the boy had been left in a closet.
"I don't know how you could leave a child in that condition for that long and believe he would be alive."
A Hamilton County grand jury Monday indicted the Carrolls on charges of involuntary manslaughter and two charges each of child endangering.
David Carroll, 29, was indicted on an additional charge of gross abuse of a corpse.
The grand jury Tuesday added two charges of inducing panic and a charge of making false alarms against the Carrolls, and indicted Liz Carroll, 30, on two charges of perjury.
More charges likely
Deters said he and Clermont County Prosecutor Don White have heard the public concern that the involuntary manslaughter charge is too lenient.
"The reason for that charge was to simply hold them and seize the children," Deters said.
The Clermont County Department of Job and Family Services took the Carrolls' four children away Monday.
"It is the opinion of this office and the Clermont County Prosecutor's Office that these two individuals should be charged with murder," Deters said. He also did not rule out the death penalty.
Deters and White will meet later this week to determine what charges should be brought to a grand jury for consideration.
"Our goal is to have these individuals locked up as long as possible," Deters said.
Deters said the new charges were warranted. The false-alarms charge said that in the past two weeks, the Carrolls' false reports about Marcus' disappearance cost law enforcement more than $5,000.
Deters said the actual cost is many times that.
The inducing-panic charge alleges that the Carrolls made false alarms that "caused serious public inconvenience or alarm."
Liz Carroll's perjury charges stem from two lies to the grand jury Monday, according to records.
When asked whether Marcus was dead or alive, Liz Carroll said she didn't know, Deters said.
She told grand jurors the same story she told the community, Deters said. "Both were lies," he said.
Arraignments today
The Carrolls will be arraigned at 2 p.m. today before Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Patrick Dinkelacker. They are being held in the Hamilton County Justice Center.
Thousands of people searched for Marcus during the past two weeks after Liz Carroll told authorities that, Aug. 15, she fainted from a heart condition while at Juilfs Park in Anderson Township and Marcus wandered off.
She tearfully begged the public to help her find Marcus, even holding a news conference in the same clothing she wore that day. She claimed she wore the clothes in the hope of triggering the memory of someone who saw Marcus that day.
Her performance was a charade, Deters said.
In fact, Marcus' disappearance in Juilfs Park was one of two plans the couple hatched, Deters said. He said the couple also considered going to Kings Island and saying Marcus wandered off.
Deters said he doubts that Liz Carroll really fainted that day. Marcus had an appointment with social services less than an hour later, and the couple had already turned away a caseworker wanting to check up on the boy Aug. 10.
"It was planned out the whole time, hence the charges today."
Girlfriend key witness
Amy Baker, the girlfriend of both Carrolls, is a key witness against the couple and led investigators Monday night to an old stone chimney in Brown County, where she said David Carroll Jr. burned Marcus' body.
"He went back repeatedly to burn the body," Deters said.
Baker has not been charged in connection with the boy's disappearance.
"She has been cooperating," Deters said. "This is one of those cases where we literally had to rely on somebody."
The decision about whether she'll be charged depends on whether she harmed Marcus, Deters said.
Hamilton County Sheriff's Office investigators and criminologists from the Hamilton County Coroner's Office collected material from the chimney, Deters said. DNA testing is being done at the coroner's office.
Anthropologists also have been called in to help determine whether ashes taken from the chimney are the remains of Marcus.
Investigators think that what wasn't burned was tossed into the Ohio River. They searched the river Tuesday near Aberdeen.
"The recovery process is ongoing," Deters said.
Who dropped ball?
Deters said Marcus' death could have been avoided if child protection service agencies did their jobs.
"I think that Marcus had special needs that these people had no training in," Deters said. "They accumulated as many foster kids and day-care kids to maximize how much money they made."
Liz Carroll told The Enquirer that the couple was paid $2,500 a month for day care, $1,000 a month for Marcus and got additional help for nutrition.
"Whoever placed Marcus, it is a serious understatement to say they dropped the ball," Deters said. "They should have made unannounced visits and insisted on seeing him, and they didn't."
Lifeway for Youth is the agency that placed Marcus with the Carrolls, and that agency is currently being investigated by the state.
"I hope if any good comes out of this horrible tragedy, I hope there is a serious review of the foster care program," Deters said. "The vast majority of foster parents are saints, doing it for the love of children. I don't think that was the motivation of the Carrolls."
Butler County Children Services Board officials said the agency will pay Marcus' funeral expenses and make arrangements for services according to the wishes of Donna Trevino, Marcus' birth mother.
Children Services took Marcus from Trevino after he was found wandering in the street in April.
Trevino's pastor at Healing Word of God Assembly in Liberty Township said that when he saw Trevino on Monday, soon after, she learned the gruesome details of her son's death and was distraught.
The Rev. Don Shepherd said he counseled Trevino and told her that Marcus was surely was with God.
"I said he was far better off with God than the unsafe world he was in," Shepherd said.
Staff writers Eileen Kelley and Sheila McLaughlin contributed to this report.E-mail scoolidge
@enquirer.com.
Cincinnati Enquirer, The (OH)
August 30, 2006
Author: Sharon Coolidge Enquirer staff writer
It wasn't first time foster parents bound boy, Deters says
David and Liz Carroll pinned their 3-year-old foster son's arms behind his back, covered him in a blanket and then wrapped him with packing tape like a mummy, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said Tuesday.
Only the toddler's head was exposed, he said.
Then, as Marcus Fiesel cried out in fear, the Union Township couple turned on a fan, shut the door to the 5-by-7-foot closet, walked down the stairs and left the house for a day-and-a-half to attend a family reunion in Kentucky, Deters said.
Marcus was dead by the time they got home early in the morning of Aug. 6. "He was wrapped like a cocoon," Deters said, choking up.
That wasn't the first time the Carrolls left Marcus trussed up like that, Deters said. He said similar bindings had happened before, but this was the first time the boy had been left in a closet.
"I don't know how you could leave a child in that condition for that long and believe he would be alive."
A Hamilton County grand jury Monday indicted the Carrolls on charges of involuntary manslaughter and two charges each of child endangering.
David Carroll, 29, was indicted on an additional charge of gross abuse of a corpse.
The grand jury Tuesday added two charges of inducing panic and a charge of making false alarms against the Carrolls, and indicted Liz Carroll, 30, on two charges of perjury.
More charges likely
Deters said he and Clermont County Prosecutor Don White have heard the public concern that the involuntary manslaughter charge is too lenient.
"The reason for that charge was to simply hold them and seize the children," Deters said.
The Clermont County Department of Job and Family Services took the Carrolls' four children away Monday.
"It is the opinion of this office and the Clermont County Prosecutor's Office that these two individuals should be charged with murder," Deters said. He also did not rule out the death penalty.
Deters and White will meet later this week to determine what charges should be brought to a grand jury for consideration.
"Our goal is to have these individuals locked up as long as possible," Deters said.
Deters said the new charges were warranted. The false-alarms charge said that in the past two weeks, the Carrolls' false reports about Marcus' disappearance cost law enforcement more than $5,000.
Deters said the actual cost is many times that.
The inducing-panic charge alleges that the Carrolls made false alarms that "caused serious public inconvenience or alarm."
Liz Carroll's perjury charges stem from two lies to the grand jury Monday, according to records.
When asked whether Marcus was dead or alive, Liz Carroll said she didn't know, Deters said.
She told grand jurors the same story she told the community, Deters said. "Both were lies," he said.
Arraignments today
The Carrolls will be arraigned at 2 p.m. today before Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Patrick Dinkelacker. They are being held in the Hamilton County Justice Center.
Thousands of people searched for Marcus during the past two weeks after Liz Carroll told authorities that, Aug. 15, she fainted from a heart condition while at Juilfs Park in Anderson Township and Marcus wandered off.
She tearfully begged the public to help her find Marcus, even holding a news conference in the same clothing she wore that day. She claimed she wore the clothes in the hope of triggering the memory of someone who saw Marcus that day.
Her performance was a charade, Deters said.
In fact, Marcus' disappearance in Juilfs Park was one of two plans the couple hatched, Deters said. He said the couple also considered going to Kings Island and saying Marcus wandered off.
Deters said he doubts that Liz Carroll really fainted that day. Marcus had an appointment with social services less than an hour later, and the couple had already turned away a caseworker wanting to check up on the boy Aug. 10.
"It was planned out the whole time, hence the charges today."
Girlfriend key witness
Amy Baker, the girlfriend of both Carrolls, is a key witness against the couple and led investigators Monday night to an old stone chimney in Brown County, where she said David Carroll Jr. burned Marcus' body.
"He went back repeatedly to burn the body," Deters said.
Baker has not been charged in connection with the boy's disappearance.
"She has been cooperating," Deters said. "This is one of those cases where we literally had to rely on somebody."
The decision about whether she'll be charged depends on whether she harmed Marcus, Deters said.
Hamilton County Sheriff's Office investigators and criminologists from the Hamilton County Coroner's Office collected material from the chimney, Deters said. DNA testing is being done at the coroner's office.
Anthropologists also have been called in to help determine whether ashes taken from the chimney are the remains of Marcus.
Investigators think that what wasn't burned was tossed into the Ohio River. They searched the river Tuesday near Aberdeen.
"The recovery process is ongoing," Deters said.
Who dropped ball?
Deters said Marcus' death could have been avoided if child protection service agencies did their jobs.
"I think that Marcus had special needs that these people had no training in," Deters said. "They accumulated as many foster kids and day-care kids to maximize how much money they made."
Liz Carroll told The Enquirer that the couple was paid $2,500 a month for day care, $1,000 a month for Marcus and got additional help for nutrition.
"Whoever placed Marcus, it is a serious understatement to say they dropped the ball," Deters said. "They should have made unannounced visits and insisted on seeing him, and they didn't."
Lifeway for Youth is the agency that placed Marcus with the Carrolls, and that agency is currently being investigated by the state.
"I hope if any good comes out of this horrible tragedy, I hope there is a serious review of the foster care program," Deters said. "The vast majority of foster parents are saints, doing it for the love of children. I don't think that was the motivation of the Carrolls."
Butler County Children Services Board officials said the agency will pay Marcus' funeral expenses and make arrangements for services according to the wishes of Donna Trevino, Marcus' birth mother.
Children Services took Marcus from Trevino after he was found wandering in the street in April.
Trevino's pastor at Healing Word of God Assembly in Liberty Township said that when he saw Trevino on Monday, soon after, she learned the gruesome details of her son's death and was distraught.
The Rev. Don Shepherd said he counseled Trevino and told her that Marcus was surely was with God.
"I said he was far better off with God than the unsafe world he was in," Shepherd said.
Staff writers Eileen Kelley and Sheila McLaughlin contributed to this report.E-mail scoolidge
@enquirer.com.
How did private agencies fail Marcus?
Family Services chief orders Marcus probe
Cincinnati Enquirer, The (OH)
August 30, 2006
Author: Sheila McLaughlin Enquirer staff writer
The leader of the state's child welfare system ordered a three-way probe Tuesday into how 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel ended up dead while in foster care, saying she was "infuriated" by what happened to the boy.
Barb Riley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, said she wants to know how the private placement agency Lifeway for Youth, Butler County Children Services and her own department failed the boy.
"Each of those three fingers of the system has a responsibility. Wherever that fell apart, whether it was a failure of the individual agency or a failure of the system, we need to fix it," Riley said.
She expects a preliminary report involving Lifeway's role and that of Butler County in six to eight weeks.
After that, the state will decide what rules, regulations or laws need to be changed to prevent a tragedy from happening to kids in foster care.
Riley doesn't expect private placement agencies, such as Lifeway, to be cut out of the system altogether, because they provide 50 percent of the foster homes for abused and neglected children.
One thing that will be looked at, she said, is how much information the state should have on the foster families it licenses. Now it issues licenses without ever seeing the information.
Private agencies and counties certify the families for foster care - making sure home studies and background checks are done - then recommend them to the state.
Riley said her department issues a foster care license without reviewing that information because it is kept in the local agency's file. State inspectors sample the files when they conduct annual inspections or when there is a complaint.
How much anyone knew about Liz and David Carroll Jr. has become a critical issue since details of the family's lifestyle, an incident of domestic violence and David Carroll's possible bipolar condition surfaced in the two weeks since Liz Carroll reported the mentally disabled boy missing.
The Carrolls were arrested Monday on involuntary manslaughter and child-endangering charges in Marcus' death.
Authorities said the boy died after the Carrolls left him for about two days in a closet while they attended a family reunion in Kentucky.
Butler County had contracted with Lifeway for Youth to place Marcus with the Carrolls.
Prosecutors said Tuesday they'll seek elevated homicide charges after saying Marcus was wrapped in a blanket bound with packing tape and his arms pulled behind his back. He was dead when the couple returned home Aug. 6.
David Carroll then burned Marcus' body at a remote site in Brown County and might have thrown some remains in the Ohio River, authorities say.
Marcus' death has spurred an outcry from state and local legislators since Monday, calling for changes in the foster-care system. Butler County Commissioner Mike Fox has asked for county caseworkers to take over visits of the county's foster children instead of leaving them up to caseworkers from private agencies.
Ohio Sen. Gary Cates, of West Chester, also has called for a thorough investigation into Marcus' placement and said he would sponsor any legislative changes that need to be made.
Officials at the Butler County children services agency said they welcome Riley's investigation.
Lifeway's executive director Mike Berner didn't return calls this week, but said earlier that he expected it.
E-mail smclaughlin@enquirer.com
CAPTION: Photos by Glenn Hartong/The Enquirer CAPTION: This bear is among the flowers, notes and stuffed animals at David and Liz Carroll's house in Union CAPTION: Township, Clermont County. Authorities say the couple bound their foster son Marcus Fiesel, 3, and CAPTION: left him in a closet where he died. CAPTION: A vase of flowers sits on a rock at the base of an old chimney in Brown County where authorities say CAPTION: David Carroll burned the body of his foster son Marcus Fiesel. He may also have thrown some CAPTION: remains into the Ohio River.
Cincinnati Enquirer, The (OH)
August 30, 2006
Author: Sheila McLaughlin Enquirer staff writer
The leader of the state's child welfare system ordered a three-way probe Tuesday into how 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel ended up dead while in foster care, saying she was "infuriated" by what happened to the boy.
Barb Riley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, said she wants to know how the private placement agency Lifeway for Youth, Butler County Children Services and her own department failed the boy.
"Each of those three fingers of the system has a responsibility. Wherever that fell apart, whether it was a failure of the individual agency or a failure of the system, we need to fix it," Riley said.
She expects a preliminary report involving Lifeway's role and that of Butler County in six to eight weeks.
After that, the state will decide what rules, regulations or laws need to be changed to prevent a tragedy from happening to kids in foster care.
Riley doesn't expect private placement agencies, such as Lifeway, to be cut out of the system altogether, because they provide 50 percent of the foster homes for abused and neglected children.
One thing that will be looked at, she said, is how much information the state should have on the foster families it licenses. Now it issues licenses without ever seeing the information.
Private agencies and counties certify the families for foster care - making sure home studies and background checks are done - then recommend them to the state.
Riley said her department issues a foster care license without reviewing that information because it is kept in the local agency's file. State inspectors sample the files when they conduct annual inspections or when there is a complaint.
How much anyone knew about Liz and David Carroll Jr. has become a critical issue since details of the family's lifestyle, an incident of domestic violence and David Carroll's possible bipolar condition surfaced in the two weeks since Liz Carroll reported the mentally disabled boy missing.
The Carrolls were arrested Monday on involuntary manslaughter and child-endangering charges in Marcus' death.
Authorities said the boy died after the Carrolls left him for about two days in a closet while they attended a family reunion in Kentucky.
Butler County had contracted with Lifeway for Youth to place Marcus with the Carrolls.
Prosecutors said Tuesday they'll seek elevated homicide charges after saying Marcus was wrapped in a blanket bound with packing tape and his arms pulled behind his back. He was dead when the couple returned home Aug. 6.
David Carroll then burned Marcus' body at a remote site in Brown County and might have thrown some remains in the Ohio River, authorities say.
Marcus' death has spurred an outcry from state and local legislators since Monday, calling for changes in the foster-care system. Butler County Commissioner Mike Fox has asked for county caseworkers to take over visits of the county's foster children instead of leaving them up to caseworkers from private agencies.
Ohio Sen. Gary Cates, of West Chester, also has called for a thorough investigation into Marcus' placement and said he would sponsor any legislative changes that need to be made.
Officials at the Butler County children services agency said they welcome Riley's investigation.
Lifeway's executive director Mike Berner didn't return calls this week, but said earlier that he expected it.
E-mail smclaughlin@enquirer.com
CAPTION: Photos by Glenn Hartong/The Enquirer CAPTION: This bear is among the flowers, notes and stuffed animals at David and Liz Carroll's house in Union CAPTION: Township, Clermont County. Authorities say the couple bound their foster son Marcus Fiesel, 3, and CAPTION: left him in a closet where he died. CAPTION: A vase of flowers sits on a rock at the base of an old chimney in Brown County where authorities say CAPTION: David Carroll burned the body of his foster son Marcus Fiesel. He may also have thrown some CAPTION: remains into the Ohio River.
Deadly cover up
FOSTER PARENTS
COUPLE ACCUSED OF LEAVING BOY, 3, THEN HIDING DEATH
Columbus Dispatch, Tuesday, August 29, 2006 NEWS 01D
By Dan Sewell
The foster parents of a 3-year-old developmentally disabled boy were charged yesterday with causing his death, nearly two weeks after the foster mother's report that the child disappeared triggered a massive search.
Liz and David Carroll left Marcus Fiesel in a closet when they went to a family reunion in Kentucky on Aug. 4, authorities said. They returned to find him dead two days later -- nine days before reporting him missing -- authorities said. Mr. Carroll has been charged with burning his body.
A Hamilton County grand jury indicted the Carrolls on charges of involuntary manslaughter and endangering children, and Mr. Carroll was charged with gross abuse of a corpse.
Mrs. Carroll had said the boy apparently wandered off after she passed out in a suburban Cincinnati park because of a heart condition.
Throngs of volunteers poured out to help in the search.
"They let thousands of people look for this little boy, knowing he was long dead," Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said. He said the Carrolls took time to plan a story before reporting Marcus missing.
A week after making her report, Mrs. Carroll made a public plea for help in the search, calling herself "an excellent mother" and professing her love for the boy.
Authorities were searching yesterday in rural Brown County for his remains, Deters said. He declined to discuss other details of the investigation.
"You would not treat your dog like this," Deters said.
Authorities said the child was left in the couple's Clermont County home; he was reported missing from a park in Hamilton County. Deters said more charges are possible.
"We'll wait to see where the investigation leads us," he said.
The Carrolls were arrested separately and jailed yesterday, he said. A message seeking information on their court appearances and legal representation was left last night with the Hamilton County sheriff's office.
The search, using helicopters and sophisticated equipment, initially focused on a 5-square-mile area of Juilfs Park in Anderson Township. It was expanded to other nearby wooded areas and waterways with searchers combing the areas at least five times, according to the Hamilton County sheriff's office.
As time went on, authorities expressed concern that the search was going to end badly. Police also openly questioned why no witnesses reported seeing Marcus in the park.
"The first reaction is one of absolute shock and just utter disappointment," said Fred Buop, who worked in the search effort as battalion chief with the Anderson Township Fire Department. "Even though we had hoped for the best, we had planned for the worst."
Mrs. Carroll, 30, said she was unconscious for about 10 minutes. When she came to, there were three toddlers nearby, but she said she told people that she had four children.
The other children, her 2-year-old son Bryce, 1-year-old foster child Bradley and a 1-year-old child Mrs. Carroll was baby-sitting were safe.
Mr. Carroll said Marcus had the mental ability of a child 12 to 18 months old. The boy joined the family about four months ago and had a history of wandering off, Mr. Carroll said.
The search was called off Aug. 19, but authorities said they were following leads. A local businessman put up a $10,000 reward for information leading to the child or to anyone responsible for his disappearance.
Authorities had said they searched the foster parents' home and property. Mrs. Carroll was released from the hospital a few days after Marcus was reported missing, and the sheriff's office said the family had moved.
The Carrolls had expressed frustration last week about increasing scrutiny of their story and background, which included a recent domestic violence charge against Mr. Carroll that was dismissed. They gave a TV interview in which Mrs. Carroll tearfully repeated her appeal for help.
"We are extremely saddened and outraged about the untimely death of Marcus Fiesel," Jann Heffner, executive director of Butler County Children's Services, said in a news release. "Marcus was a wonderful child. ... His death has devastated our entire agency."
The county agency contracted with Lifeway for Youth, a private organization that provides training for foster parents and placement for abused and neglected children.
COUPLE ACCUSED OF LEAVING BOY, 3, THEN HIDING DEATH
Columbus Dispatch, Tuesday, August 29, 2006 NEWS 01D
By Dan Sewell
The foster parents of a 3-year-old developmentally disabled boy were charged yesterday with causing his death, nearly two weeks after the foster mother's report that the child disappeared triggered a massive search.
Liz and David Carroll left Marcus Fiesel in a closet when they went to a family reunion in Kentucky on Aug. 4, authorities said. They returned to find him dead two days later -- nine days before reporting him missing -- authorities said. Mr. Carroll has been charged with burning his body.
A Hamilton County grand jury indicted the Carrolls on charges of involuntary manslaughter and endangering children, and Mr. Carroll was charged with gross abuse of a corpse.
Mrs. Carroll had said the boy apparently wandered off after she passed out in a suburban Cincinnati park because of a heart condition.
Throngs of volunteers poured out to help in the search.
"They let thousands of people look for this little boy, knowing he was long dead," Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said. He said the Carrolls took time to plan a story before reporting Marcus missing.
A week after making her report, Mrs. Carroll made a public plea for help in the search, calling herself "an excellent mother" and professing her love for the boy.
Authorities were searching yesterday in rural Brown County for his remains, Deters said. He declined to discuss other details of the investigation.
"You would not treat your dog like this," Deters said.
Authorities said the child was left in the couple's Clermont County home; he was reported missing from a park in Hamilton County. Deters said more charges are possible.
"We'll wait to see where the investigation leads us," he said.
The Carrolls were arrested separately and jailed yesterday, he said. A message seeking information on their court appearances and legal representation was left last night with the Hamilton County sheriff's office.
The search, using helicopters and sophisticated equipment, initially focused on a 5-square-mile area of Juilfs Park in Anderson Township. It was expanded to other nearby wooded areas and waterways with searchers combing the areas at least five times, according to the Hamilton County sheriff's office.
As time went on, authorities expressed concern that the search was going to end badly. Police also openly questioned why no witnesses reported seeing Marcus in the park.
"The first reaction is one of absolute shock and just utter disappointment," said Fred Buop, who worked in the search effort as battalion chief with the Anderson Township Fire Department. "Even though we had hoped for the best, we had planned for the worst."
Mrs. Carroll, 30, said she was unconscious for about 10 minutes. When she came to, there were three toddlers nearby, but she said she told people that she had four children.
The other children, her 2-year-old son Bryce, 1-year-old foster child Bradley and a 1-year-old child Mrs. Carroll was baby-sitting were safe.
Mr. Carroll said Marcus had the mental ability of a child 12 to 18 months old. The boy joined the family about four months ago and had a history of wandering off, Mr. Carroll said.
The search was called off Aug. 19, but authorities said they were following leads. A local businessman put up a $10,000 reward for information leading to the child or to anyone responsible for his disappearance.
Authorities had said they searched the foster parents' home and property. Mrs. Carroll was released from the hospital a few days after Marcus was reported missing, and the sheriff's office said the family had moved.
The Carrolls had expressed frustration last week about increasing scrutiny of their story and background, which included a recent domestic violence charge against Mr. Carroll that was dismissed. They gave a TV interview in which Mrs. Carroll tearfully repeated her appeal for help.
"We are extremely saddened and outraged about the untimely death of Marcus Fiesel," Jann Heffner, executive director of Butler County Children's Services, said in a news release. "Marcus was a wonderful child. ... His death has devastated our entire agency."
The county agency contracted with Lifeway for Youth, a private organization that provides training for foster parents and placement for abused and neglected children.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
They left him there to die
Prosecutor: Tape-wrapped boy left in closet to die
CNN, Aug. 30, 2006.
CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) -- The foster parents of a disabled 3-year-old boy wrapped him like a cocoon and left him for two days in a closet, where he died while they attended a family reunion, a prosecutor said.
The couple made several attempts to burn Marcus Fiesel's body and concocted an elaborate sham to cover up the boy's death, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said Tuesday.
"Marcus was wrapped in a blanket and wrapped in tape with his arms behind him -- and this was not the first time," Deters said in announcing additional indictments against Liz and David Carroll Jr.
A grand jury indicted the couple Monday on charges of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment, and David Carroll, 35, on a charge of gross abuse of a corpse.
Tuesday's indictments included two counts each of inducing panic and one count each of making false alarms. Liz Carroll, 30, also was indicted on two counts of perjury for her testimony Monday to a grand jury, Deters said.
The Carrolls are scheduled for arraignment Wednesday; they remain jailed and information on their attorneys wasn't available.
Deters said the Carrolls left Marcus in the closet on August 4 when they went to a family reunion in Kentucky, and the boy was dead when they returned two days later.
A week later, Liz Carroll claimed Marcus wandered away from her at a suburban park, authorities said. Hundreds of volunteers joined authorities in the search for several days.
Authorities called off the official search on August 19. Liz Carroll pleaded for help finding Marcus at a news conference August 22 -- about the same time she and her husband were disposing of his body in a remote area of Brown County, Deters said.
"They went back repeatedly to burn his body -- two or three times," Deters said.
Authorities believe they have found the place where the body was burned, and they have brought back bags of evidence from the scene, Deters said.
He said the material will undergo DNA testing.
CNN, Aug. 30, 2006.
CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) -- The foster parents of a disabled 3-year-old boy wrapped him like a cocoon and left him for two days in a closet, where he died while they attended a family reunion, a prosecutor said.
The couple made several attempts to burn Marcus Fiesel's body and concocted an elaborate sham to cover up the boy's death, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said Tuesday.
"Marcus was wrapped in a blanket and wrapped in tape with his arms behind him -- and this was not the first time," Deters said in announcing additional indictments against Liz and David Carroll Jr.
A grand jury indicted the couple Monday on charges of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment, and David Carroll, 35, on a charge of gross abuse of a corpse.
Tuesday's indictments included two counts each of inducing panic and one count each of making false alarms. Liz Carroll, 30, also was indicted on two counts of perjury for her testimony Monday to a grand jury, Deters said.
The Carrolls are scheduled for arraignment Wednesday; they remain jailed and information on their attorneys wasn't available.
Deters said the Carrolls left Marcus in the closet on August 4 when they went to a family reunion in Kentucky, and the boy was dead when they returned two days later.
A week later, Liz Carroll claimed Marcus wandered away from her at a suburban park, authorities said. Hundreds of volunteers joined authorities in the search for several days.
Authorities called off the official search on August 19. Liz Carroll pleaded for help finding Marcus at a news conference August 22 -- about the same time she and her husband were disposing of his body in a remote area of Brown County, Deters said.
"They went back repeatedly to burn his body -- two or three times," Deters said.
Authorities believe they have found the place where the body was burned, and they have brought back bags of evidence from the scene, Deters said.
He said the material will undergo DNA testing.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Foster father seems suspicious
Scrutiny follows foster parents
Cincinnati Enquirer. News, pg. 1A
Eileen Kelley and Quan Truong Enquirer staff writers
Date: August 27, 2006
Questions intensify amid search for missing boy
CLERMONT COUNTY
Cherise Adkins stood in line at a Speedway when the conversation about Marcus Fiesel started.
"The foster dad must have done it; a little boy just cannot vanish."
"That's my family," Adkins blurted out, hoping the conversation would stop.
It didn't. The conversation got heated.
Adkins said she wasn't trying to defend her family, she just wanted the speculation to stop.
The scene wasn't unique.
Across Greater Cincinnati, debate about what happened to 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel continues to build the longer the child is missing.
Marcus disappeared Aug. 15, according to his foster mother, who told police she passed out from a heart condition and when she revived in the ambulance Marcus was gone.
Since he vanished, foster parents David and Liz Carroll as well as a live-in girlfriend, Amy Baker, have come under increasing scrutiny.
At the time of the Speedway incident, Adkins didn't know what to say.
Now, after 13 days of soul-searching, Adkins said she wants to talk about Marcus' foster father David Carroll Jr.
Through an unusual mix of marriages, relations and divorces, David Carroll Jr. is both Adkins' stepbrother and a second cousin. The truth is thicker than blood, she said.
The picture Adkins, other friends, family and court records paint is not flattering.
David Carroll Jr., 29, isn't a poster boy for foster dads. He hasn't held a regular job in about three years. He fathered three children by three women - two of whom are sisters - within a month of each other eight years ago. He moved his girlfriend into his rental house with his wife, Liz, 30.
"Where are the morals?" asked Adkins, 27. "Would you care to send your kids to a wife, a husband and a girlfriend?"
Family members and friends say that side of David Carroll Jr. must not have surfaced when he and Liz Carroll started taking care of children. They also question how thorough the background checks are when they allow people like the Carrolls to raise vulnerable children at taxpayers' expense.
David Carroll Jr. was charged with domestic violence in June, a little more than a month after Marcus was placed in his home. The complaint filed with Union Township Police on June 18 said Liz Carroll reported he pushed her into a door and a pool table. The next day she received a temporary protection order against him.
The case was mediated and the charges dismissed although he had to pay fines. He had no criminal record when the couple's license was renewed in January.
The Carrolls failed to report the arrest to their caseworker with Lifeway for Youth, the agency that placed Marcus with the Carrolls. The state requires families to report any arrests within 24 hours.
Friends and family say David Carroll Jr. didn't care for Marcus and told people about it. Marcus, they say, needed Liz Carroll and Amy Baker's constant attention, and that made David Carroll Jr. feel left out and upset.
A few months ago, David Carroll Jr. left his wife and told friends he wasn't sure the life he had with her rearing foster children was what he wanted.
"He said he was tired," said Cynthia Smith, who has been friends with the couple about four years. "He didn't know if he liked coming home and being around kids all day."
David Carroll Jr. brought Baker with him when he moved back into the house.
Baker denies being his live-in girlfriend. "I've stayed a night or two, but I don't live there," she said.
Friends and relatives say that's not true. As for Liz Carroll, no one denies she is loving and patient with children. However, some friends and relatives question her recent behavior.
Efforts to reach David and Liz Carroll were unsuccessful.
Retracing steps
On Aug. 15, television stations broke into regularly scheduled programs mid-afternoon to announce the "critical missing" case of Marcus. The boy's foster mother said she took four children to Juilfs Park in Anderson Township and passed out from a heart condition.
When she regained consciousness, just three of the children were nearby: a child she had with David Carroll Jr., a foster child since removed from the house and a toddler girl they were baby-sitting.
Marcus, who was removed from a filthy home in Middletown in early May, was wandering around the park, many thought. Searchers by the hundreds fanned the 28 acres and surrounding neighborhoods. The dogs found no trace of Marcus.
Neither did anyone else.
"I was sick to my stomach, shaking all over. I was hurt. I could feel the pain in my heart knowing I wasn't getting there fast enough," Adkins said of the drive to the park.
But something else wasn't sitting well with Adkins.
At the park, Adkins approached David Carroll Jr.
"I thought, 'We're gonna find this baby.' And then I hugged Davey and looked at my brother-in-law and said, 'Something's just not right.' Davey had no emotion; no fear."
As the search went on, Adkins said, she heard David Carroll Jr. blurt out, "I'm going to prison."
Adkins said she has talked to investigators about the case.
Other relatives also have been interviewed.
Inconsistent comments
Investigators with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office have not named a suspect in the case. They also refuse to talk about who has taken a lie-detector test.
Liz Carroll initially told the media her husband took and passed the test.
On Tuesday, Carroll's story changed.
"They told him he failed," Liz Carroll said during a 40-minute press conference.
Since Marcus' disappearance, Liz Carroll's comments have been inconsistent. She's changed her comments about whether her husband passed a lie-detector test, when a case worker last saw Marcus and when she first learned he was missing. "How can they come out in public and say as many lies as they did? How can you lie so many times in one public viewing? It's bogus," Adkins said.
The Carrolls have moved out of a middle-class neighborhood rental home in Clermont's Union Township. It is not clear where they are living.
They have lost - at least for the time being - their licenses to provide day-care and foster care.
Liz Carroll told The Enquirer last week that she made more than $3,000 a month tending to children.
Relatives say David Carroll Jr. worked at a Rent-A-Center in Clermont County a few years ago and may have held a job for about a week sometime this year. He has pursued a futile quest to get on Social Security disability for mental instability, his relatives say.
Emotional toll
Adkins said the search for Marcus has taken an emotional and physical toll on the family.
Dave Carroll Sr. and his wife Joyce, Adkins' mother, both cry often over the loss of a child and the pressure on the family. Joyce Carroll is David Carroll Jr.'s aunt.
"My mom, she don't sleep. She's a mess. She took the TV out on the front porch and the radio is outside. She waits and cries and waits," Adkins said.
Dave Carroll Sr., she said, is having a difficult time at work with the U.S. Post Office with many mistakenly accusing him of covering for his son.
"He's so depressed he won't even leave his bedroom when he comes home," Adkins said.
Adkins said she only came forward with her doubts after several discussions with Dave Carroll Sr. "I'm risking a lot and I am risking the relationship that my children will have with their (family). But there's a baby's life. There's Marcus," Adkins said.
"I pray and I hope they didn't do nothing. I wish there was breaking news that he was found in Alaska or something. But nothing they are saying is adding up," she said.
"I don't believe that he was in the park," Adkins said of Marcus. "I want him to be alive. I don't want to believe one of my family members or someone I know could do something like this. I want him to be alive. I want him to have a life; to live. But it has been just too many days."
E-mail ekelley@enquirer.com and qtruong@enquirer.com
Where to call
Anyone with information about Marcus Fiesel is asked to call 911. Or to report anonymously, call Crime Stoppers at 513-352-3040. A $10,000 reward has been offered. To pass along information: Call The Enquirer's tip line at 513-768-8651 or e-mail localnews@enquirer.com
Cincinnati Enquirer. News, pg. 1A
Eileen Kelley and Quan Truong Enquirer staff writers
Date: August 27, 2006
Questions intensify amid search for missing boy
CLERMONT COUNTY
Cherise Adkins stood in line at a Speedway when the conversation about Marcus Fiesel started.
"The foster dad must have done it; a little boy just cannot vanish."
"That's my family," Adkins blurted out, hoping the conversation would stop.
It didn't. The conversation got heated.
Adkins said she wasn't trying to defend her family, she just wanted the speculation to stop.
The scene wasn't unique.
Across Greater Cincinnati, debate about what happened to 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel continues to build the longer the child is missing.
Marcus disappeared Aug. 15, according to his foster mother, who told police she passed out from a heart condition and when she revived in the ambulance Marcus was gone.
Since he vanished, foster parents David and Liz Carroll as well as a live-in girlfriend, Amy Baker, have come under increasing scrutiny.
At the time of the Speedway incident, Adkins didn't know what to say.
Now, after 13 days of soul-searching, Adkins said she wants to talk about Marcus' foster father David Carroll Jr.
Through an unusual mix of marriages, relations and divorces, David Carroll Jr. is both Adkins' stepbrother and a second cousin. The truth is thicker than blood, she said.
The picture Adkins, other friends, family and court records paint is not flattering.
David Carroll Jr., 29, isn't a poster boy for foster dads. He hasn't held a regular job in about three years. He fathered three children by three women - two of whom are sisters - within a month of each other eight years ago. He moved his girlfriend into his rental house with his wife, Liz, 30.
"Where are the morals?" asked Adkins, 27. "Would you care to send your kids to a wife, a husband and a girlfriend?"
Family members and friends say that side of David Carroll Jr. must not have surfaced when he and Liz Carroll started taking care of children. They also question how thorough the background checks are when they allow people like the Carrolls to raise vulnerable children at taxpayers' expense.
David Carroll Jr. was charged with domestic violence in June, a little more than a month after Marcus was placed in his home. The complaint filed with Union Township Police on June 18 said Liz Carroll reported he pushed her into a door and a pool table. The next day she received a temporary protection order against him.
The case was mediated and the charges dismissed although he had to pay fines. He had no criminal record when the couple's license was renewed in January.
The Carrolls failed to report the arrest to their caseworker with Lifeway for Youth, the agency that placed Marcus with the Carrolls. The state requires families to report any arrests within 24 hours.
Friends and family say David Carroll Jr. didn't care for Marcus and told people about it. Marcus, they say, needed Liz Carroll and Amy Baker's constant attention, and that made David Carroll Jr. feel left out and upset.
A few months ago, David Carroll Jr. left his wife and told friends he wasn't sure the life he had with her rearing foster children was what he wanted.
"He said he was tired," said Cynthia Smith, who has been friends with the couple about four years. "He didn't know if he liked coming home and being around kids all day."
David Carroll Jr. brought Baker with him when he moved back into the house.
Baker denies being his live-in girlfriend. "I've stayed a night or two, but I don't live there," she said.
Friends and relatives say that's not true. As for Liz Carroll, no one denies she is loving and patient with children. However, some friends and relatives question her recent behavior.
Efforts to reach David and Liz Carroll were unsuccessful.
Retracing steps
On Aug. 15, television stations broke into regularly scheduled programs mid-afternoon to announce the "critical missing" case of Marcus. The boy's foster mother said she took four children to Juilfs Park in Anderson Township and passed out from a heart condition.
When she regained consciousness, just three of the children were nearby: a child she had with David Carroll Jr., a foster child since removed from the house and a toddler girl they were baby-sitting.
Marcus, who was removed from a filthy home in Middletown in early May, was wandering around the park, many thought. Searchers by the hundreds fanned the 28 acres and surrounding neighborhoods. The dogs found no trace of Marcus.
Neither did anyone else.
"I was sick to my stomach, shaking all over. I was hurt. I could feel the pain in my heart knowing I wasn't getting there fast enough," Adkins said of the drive to the park.
But something else wasn't sitting well with Adkins.
At the park, Adkins approached David Carroll Jr.
"I thought, 'We're gonna find this baby.' And then I hugged Davey and looked at my brother-in-law and said, 'Something's just not right.' Davey had no emotion; no fear."
As the search went on, Adkins said, she heard David Carroll Jr. blurt out, "I'm going to prison."
Adkins said she has talked to investigators about the case.
Other relatives also have been interviewed.
Inconsistent comments
Investigators with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office have not named a suspect in the case. They also refuse to talk about who has taken a lie-detector test.
Liz Carroll initially told the media her husband took and passed the test.
On Tuesday, Carroll's story changed.
"They told him he failed," Liz Carroll said during a 40-minute press conference.
Since Marcus' disappearance, Liz Carroll's comments have been inconsistent. She's changed her comments about whether her husband passed a lie-detector test, when a case worker last saw Marcus and when she first learned he was missing. "How can they come out in public and say as many lies as they did? How can you lie so many times in one public viewing? It's bogus," Adkins said.
The Carrolls have moved out of a middle-class neighborhood rental home in Clermont's Union Township. It is not clear where they are living.
They have lost - at least for the time being - their licenses to provide day-care and foster care.
Liz Carroll told The Enquirer last week that she made more than $3,000 a month tending to children.
Relatives say David Carroll Jr. worked at a Rent-A-Center in Clermont County a few years ago and may have held a job for about a week sometime this year. He has pursued a futile quest to get on Social Security disability for mental instability, his relatives say.
Emotional toll
Adkins said the search for Marcus has taken an emotional and physical toll on the family.
Dave Carroll Sr. and his wife Joyce, Adkins' mother, both cry often over the loss of a child and the pressure on the family. Joyce Carroll is David Carroll Jr.'s aunt.
"My mom, she don't sleep. She's a mess. She took the TV out on the front porch and the radio is outside. She waits and cries and waits," Adkins said.
Dave Carroll Sr., she said, is having a difficult time at work with the U.S. Post Office with many mistakenly accusing him of covering for his son.
"He's so depressed he won't even leave his bedroom when he comes home," Adkins said.
Adkins said she only came forward with her doubts after several discussions with Dave Carroll Sr. "I'm risking a lot and I am risking the relationship that my children will have with their (family). But there's a baby's life. There's Marcus," Adkins said.
"I pray and I hope they didn't do nothing. I wish there was breaking news that he was found in Alaska or something. But nothing they are saying is adding up," she said.
"I don't believe that he was in the park," Adkins said of Marcus. "I want him to be alive. I don't want to believe one of my family members or someone I know could do something like this. I want him to be alive. I want him to have a life; to live. But it has been just too many days."
E-mail ekelley@enquirer.com and qtruong@enquirer.com
Where to call
Anyone with information about Marcus Fiesel is asked to call 911. Or to report anonymously, call Crime Stoppers at 513-352-3040. A $10,000 reward has been offered. To pass along information: Call The Enquirer's tip line at 513-768-8651 or e-mail localnews@enquirer.com
Mother stood by and let abuse happen
Columbus Mother to Serve Jail Time for Ignoring Child Abuse
Columbus Dispatch BRIEFS
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
NEWS 04D
A mother who stood by while terrible things happened to her children will spend the next five Christmases in jail, a Franklin County judge said yesterday.
Shelly Caudill, 30, who has lost custody of her children, will serve from Dec. 22-26. She also was placed on probation for five years, Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Holbrook said.
In June, Caudill pleaded guilty to three counts of permitting child abuse. Her husband, Jeffrey Caudill, 26, was sent to prison for 10 years and fined $10,000 for abusing his stepchildren.
Prosecutors sought plea deals in the felony cases so the children, a 13-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl, would not have to testify. The abuse began about five years ago in Columbus, but the children are now in foster care in Licking County.
Although Franklin County Children Services investigated complaints against the family in 1997, 2002 and 2003, the extent of the abuse was not discovered until April 2004 after the family moved to Pataskala.
Investigators said Mr. Caudill punished the children by securing them to the floor with duct tape, using a stapler on their feet, striking them with various objects and shooting at them with a BB gun.
Both children made numerous trips to hospital emergency rooms, Assistant County Prosecutor Nicole Scozzie said.
Columbus Dispatch BRIEFS
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
NEWS 04D
A mother who stood by while terrible things happened to her children will spend the next five Christmases in jail, a Franklin County judge said yesterday.
Shelly Caudill, 30, who has lost custody of her children, will serve from Dec. 22-26. She also was placed on probation for five years, Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Holbrook said.
In June, Caudill pleaded guilty to three counts of permitting child abuse. Her husband, Jeffrey Caudill, 26, was sent to prison for 10 years and fined $10,000 for abusing his stepchildren.
Prosecutors sought plea deals in the felony cases so the children, a 13-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl, would not have to testify. The abuse began about five years ago in Columbus, but the children are now in foster care in Licking County.
Although Franklin County Children Services investigated complaints against the family in 1997, 2002 and 2003, the extent of the abuse was not discovered until April 2004 after the family moved to Pataskala.
Investigators said Mr. Caudill punished the children by securing them to the floor with duct tape, using a stapler on their feet, striking them with various objects and shooting at them with a BB gun.
Both children made numerous trips to hospital emergency rooms, Assistant County Prosecutor Nicole Scozzie said.
New computer system for Ohio caseworkers
State testing updated system for child-welfare casework
Columbus Dispatch BRIEFS
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
NEWS 05D
The state is rolling out a new computer system for child-welfare caseworkers that should ease management of adoption, foster care and child-protection cases.
The Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System is being tested in Muskingum County. After a 90-day pilot, the rest of Ohio's 88 counties will move onto the system with statewide implementation planned for next July.
Caseworkers will be able to access the new system anywhere there is Internet access, with new case information updated immediately. The system also will issue alerts and reminders to assist in day-to-day management.
Currently, the six largest counties, including Franklin, operate their own systems with information collected through the day uploaded to a state computer each night.
Other counties have been connecting to a 20-year-old state system with access during certain hours.
Dynamics Research Corporation, headquartered in Massachusetts, developed and is implementing the new system under a five-year, $35 million contract that runs through 2008.
Columbus Dispatch BRIEFS
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
NEWS 05D
The state is rolling out a new computer system for child-welfare caseworkers that should ease management of adoption, foster care and child-protection cases.
The Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System is being tested in Muskingum County. After a 90-day pilot, the rest of Ohio's 88 counties will move onto the system with statewide implementation planned for next July.
Caseworkers will be able to access the new system anywhere there is Internet access, with new case information updated immediately. The system also will issue alerts and reminders to assist in day-to-day management.
Currently, the six largest counties, including Franklin, operate their own systems with information collected through the day uploaded to a state computer each night.
Other counties have been connecting to a 20-year-old state system with access during certain hours.
Dynamics Research Corporation, headquartered in Massachusetts, developed and is implementing the new system under a five-year, $35 million contract that runs through 2008.
Monday, August 28, 2006
"It's fun to have money again!"
ADAMH BOARD EXPANDING SERVICES
$2.7 million from levy to help most-underserved
Wednesday, August 23, 2006 NEWS 01C
By Encarnacion Pyle THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
After years of cuts, the Franklin County ADAMH board will spend nearly $2.7 million next year on new programs to reach seniors overwhelmed by loneliness, refugees tormented by memories of war and severely mentally ill teens aging out of foster care.
The board's trustees voted unanimously last night to spend 4 percent of its new levy money on 20 programs to provide addiction and mental-health services to the county's most-underserved populations. Altogether, the agency's providers hope to reach more than 10,500 new clients.
"It's fun to have money again," said Jonathan Sadler, a trustee for the Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board.
But even with the new levy, ADAMH won't have enough money to serve everyone in need, Chief Executive Officer David A. Royer said.
"As fast as the community is growing, we'll always be behind the curve," Royer said.
Last November, county voters approved a 10-year, 2.2-mill levy that will generate nearly $65 million a year for the board, beginning next year.
It is the same millage that voters approved for the current levy, which expires in December. But because state law rolls back millage as property values rise, the existing levy will raise only about $44 million this year.
The new levy will provide 46 percent of the agency's 2007 revenue, with the remainder of the board's money coming from the state and federal governments, including reimbursements for Medicaid.
A majority of the new money will be used to maintain services, but ADAMH hopes to invest $66 million over the levy's 10-year life in additional treatment, $6.5 million in new prevention services and $800,000 to build 250 apartments for people.
Every year, 250,000 county residents -- an estimated one in four people -- suffer from a treatable addiction or mental illness.
Of the nearly $2.7 million to be spent on new ventures, half will go toward nine treatment programs.
Southeast Inc. will receive the most money: $200,000 to serve people who cycle in and out of court, jail and the mental-health system and $100,000 for combat veterans, disaster survivors, refugees and other trauma survivors.
The program will target people such as the Lima Company Marines, based in Columbus, who saw some of the heaviest fighting in Iraq and took the most casualties, said Sandra Stephenson, Southeast's executive director.
Maryhaven will receive $125,000 to help 94 central Ohioans each year through their physical withdrawal from alcohol and other drugs so they can seek treatment, and $125,000 to expand services to individuals addicted to heroin and other opiates.
Netcare, the county's 24-hour emergency mental-health center, Children's Hospital Behavioral Health and Ohio State University will use $225,000 to help as many as 2,000 youngsters at risk of harming others or committing suicide.
"One in five youth have a mental disorder and are at risk of suicide, violence, accidental injury and substance abuse," said Allen Mosser, Netcare's president and chief executive officer.
Counseling and medication help.
"But of all the children evaluated, two-thirds don't ever make it to treatment," said Kim Davis, an administrative director at Children's Hospital.
North Central Mental Health Services and Franklin County Children Services will team up to help kids who become too old for foster care and who are at risk of falling through the cracks. The groups will receive $200,000 from ADAMH and $250,000 in federal foster-care funds.
"Due to lack of support, many kids may turn to unhealthy relationships, drugs and alcohol or experience isolation," said Eric Fenner, Children Services' deputy director.
A little more than a fourth of the money will be used on prevention programs targeting children and senior citizens, including poor blacks suffering from arthritis, diabetes and other medical problems.
An additional $550,000 will go to the Columbus Area Inc. mental-health association to create a client-run drop-in center, and Maryhaven will receive $75,000 to develop a training institute for mental-health and substance-abuse counselors.
ADAMH also plans to spend $825,000 on five future projects that are being fine-tuned, including providing mental-health services for Latinos at a new West Side clinic and expanding psychiatric services at OSU.
In addition, the board will set aside $450,000 to fund innovative programs as they arise.
epyle@dispatch.com
$2.7 million from levy to help most-underserved
Wednesday, August 23, 2006 NEWS 01C
By Encarnacion Pyle THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
After years of cuts, the Franklin County ADAMH board will spend nearly $2.7 million next year on new programs to reach seniors overwhelmed by loneliness, refugees tormented by memories of war and severely mentally ill teens aging out of foster care.
The board's trustees voted unanimously last night to spend 4 percent of its new levy money on 20 programs to provide addiction and mental-health services to the county's most-underserved populations. Altogether, the agency's providers hope to reach more than 10,500 new clients.
"It's fun to have money again," said Jonathan Sadler, a trustee for the Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board.
But even with the new levy, ADAMH won't have enough money to serve everyone in need, Chief Executive Officer David A. Royer said.
"As fast as the community is growing, we'll always be behind the curve," Royer said.
Last November, county voters approved a 10-year, 2.2-mill levy that will generate nearly $65 million a year for the board, beginning next year.
It is the same millage that voters approved for the current levy, which expires in December. But because state law rolls back millage as property values rise, the existing levy will raise only about $44 million this year.
The new levy will provide 46 percent of the agency's 2007 revenue, with the remainder of the board's money coming from the state and federal governments, including reimbursements for Medicaid.
A majority of the new money will be used to maintain services, but ADAMH hopes to invest $66 million over the levy's 10-year life in additional treatment, $6.5 million in new prevention services and $800,000 to build 250 apartments for people.
Every year, 250,000 county residents -- an estimated one in four people -- suffer from a treatable addiction or mental illness.
Of the nearly $2.7 million to be spent on new ventures, half will go toward nine treatment programs.
Southeast Inc. will receive the most money: $200,000 to serve people who cycle in and out of court, jail and the mental-health system and $100,000 for combat veterans, disaster survivors, refugees and other trauma survivors.
The program will target people such as the Lima Company Marines, based in Columbus, who saw some of the heaviest fighting in Iraq and took the most casualties, said Sandra Stephenson, Southeast's executive director.
Maryhaven will receive $125,000 to help 94 central Ohioans each year through their physical withdrawal from alcohol and other drugs so they can seek treatment, and $125,000 to expand services to individuals addicted to heroin and other opiates.
Netcare, the county's 24-hour emergency mental-health center, Children's Hospital Behavioral Health and Ohio State University will use $225,000 to help as many as 2,000 youngsters at risk of harming others or committing suicide.
"One in five youth have a mental disorder and are at risk of suicide, violence, accidental injury and substance abuse," said Allen Mosser, Netcare's president and chief executive officer.
Counseling and medication help.
"But of all the children evaluated, two-thirds don't ever make it to treatment," said Kim Davis, an administrative director at Children's Hospital.
North Central Mental Health Services and Franklin County Children Services will team up to help kids who become too old for foster care and who are at risk of falling through the cracks. The groups will receive $200,000 from ADAMH and $250,000 in federal foster-care funds.
"Due to lack of support, many kids may turn to unhealthy relationships, drugs and alcohol or experience isolation," said Eric Fenner, Children Services' deputy director.
A little more than a fourth of the money will be used on prevention programs targeting children and senior citizens, including poor blacks suffering from arthritis, diabetes and other medical problems.
An additional $550,000 will go to the Columbus Area Inc. mental-health association to create a client-run drop-in center, and Maryhaven will receive $75,000 to develop a training institute for mental-health and substance-abuse counselors.
ADAMH also plans to spend $825,000 on five future projects that are being fine-tuned, including providing mental-health services for Latinos at a new West Side clinic and expanding psychiatric services at OSU.
In addition, the board will set aside $450,000 to fund innovative programs as they arise.
epyle@dispatch.com
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Why not reconsider group homes in the interim?
Focus on improving foster care
Editorial from the Cincinnati Enquirer. Opinion.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
In Washington state, foster parents are unionizing.
In Pennsylvania, child welfare departments have found success recruiting more foster families by using other foster parents to broadcast the need.
Other states have developed Web sites especially for children in foster care, allowing them to share concerns, be informed about their rights and build their own support system.
While this community deals with the case of 3-year-old Marcus Feisel, a foster child with autism reported missing 12 days ago, it can join in the national search for ways to improve the foster care system.
The gaping need in foster care is simply finding qualified families to take on the role. Nationally, in 2004 there were 170,000 licensed homes - and more than 500,000 children needing foster care.
Experts say increasing the number of safe, welcoming homes is the best way to take pressure off the entire system.
As Pennsylvania has found, child welfare departments may not be the best "pitch men" for widening the pool. Experts say foster families, religious organizations and community agencies can be better at identifying good prospective families, inviting them to consider the role and supporting them if they undertake it.
Regulatory reforms are necessary for foster care improvement - continuing a long effort to tighten up the oversight process, for example. But more rules are not enough.
Eliminating the stigma around foster families is a critical, if underexamined issue. "Often schools, neighborhoods and other groups are not welcoming or supportive," said Dianne Kocer, program manager for the National Foster Parent Association. "There are situations where families decide to foster care and neighbors distrust them - they don't want their kids exposed to kids who come from a difficult environment."
Instead, communities can rally around traumatized children, informally and formally offering support to foster families, making them aware of community resources, considering their needs in school policies and practices, structuring youth programs and family events to fit their family dynamics.
Foster care advocates say states must provide more training and support for foster families, especially because now half of all foster children have chronic medical problems and all have been traumatized by the issues that placed them in care.
If more quality caregivers came into the pool, states may be able to consider limiting the number of foster children families can assume, and recruiting a wider group of parents with educational or health care expertise to deal with children with serious disabilities.
Marcus Fiesel's case has given our community a reason to look at these issues. Let us not wait for more tragedies to give them the attention they deserve.
Editorial from the Cincinnati Enquirer. Opinion.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
In Washington state, foster parents are unionizing.
In Pennsylvania, child welfare departments have found success recruiting more foster families by using other foster parents to broadcast the need.
Other states have developed Web sites especially for children in foster care, allowing them to share concerns, be informed about their rights and build their own support system.
While this community deals with the case of 3-year-old Marcus Feisel, a foster child with autism reported missing 12 days ago, it can join in the national search for ways to improve the foster care system.
The gaping need in foster care is simply finding qualified families to take on the role. Nationally, in 2004 there were 170,000 licensed homes - and more than 500,000 children needing foster care.
Experts say increasing the number of safe, welcoming homes is the best way to take pressure off the entire system.
As Pennsylvania has found, child welfare departments may not be the best "pitch men" for widening the pool. Experts say foster families, religious organizations and community agencies can be better at identifying good prospective families, inviting them to consider the role and supporting them if they undertake it.
Regulatory reforms are necessary for foster care improvement - continuing a long effort to tighten up the oversight process, for example. But more rules are not enough.
Eliminating the stigma around foster families is a critical, if underexamined issue. "Often schools, neighborhoods and other groups are not welcoming or supportive," said Dianne Kocer, program manager for the National Foster Parent Association. "There are situations where families decide to foster care and neighbors distrust them - they don't want their kids exposed to kids who come from a difficult environment."
Instead, communities can rally around traumatized children, informally and formally offering support to foster families, making them aware of community resources, considering their needs in school policies and practices, structuring youth programs and family events to fit their family dynamics.
Foster care advocates say states must provide more training and support for foster families, especially because now half of all foster children have chronic medical problems and all have been traumatized by the issues that placed them in care.
If more quality caregivers came into the pool, states may be able to consider limiting the number of foster children families can assume, and recruiting a wider group of parents with educational or health care expertise to deal with children with serious disabilities.
Marcus Fiesel's case has given our community a reason to look at these issues. Let us not wait for more tragedies to give them the attention they deserve.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Butler County foster care under scrutiny
Butler Co. checking agency's placements
Cincinnati Enquirer, The (OH)
August 22, 2006
Author: Sheila McLaughlin Enquirer staff writer
The mysterious disappearance of 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel last week has prompted an investigation into the safety of 116 other foster children placed through the same private agency.
State officials also are questioning how much Lifeway for Youth caseworkers knew about Marcus Fiesel's foster parents and whether he should have been placed with the Clermont County family.
Butler County Children Services officials since Friday have removed eight foster children placed in homes by Lifeway for Youth, the non-profit organization that sent Marcus Fiesel to live with David and Liz Carroll in Clermont's Union Township.
The boy, who was diagnosed with a range of developmental problems, has been missing a week since Liz Carroll reported that he disappeared from Juilfs Park in Anderson Township when she passed out from a heart condition. A second Butler County foster child placed with the Carrolls was taken out of their home after Marcus disappeared, Butler County Children Services officials said.
Police had no new leads to Marcus' whereabouts Monday but have said the Carrolls are not suspects. The family left its rented Union Township home Saturday, Liz Carroll said, to avoid surveillance by television crews.
County caseworkers began visiting each home and double-checking placements through Lifeway on Friday, said Dawn Grady, the county agency's spokeswoman. The process is expected to take two weeks. Butler County contracts with Lifeway to provide training for foster parents, place abused and neglected children and monitor them with caseworkers.
Lifeway is responsible for more than a quarter of Butler County's 401 foster children.
"It's only a precaution. This is a pretty big hiccup because a child is gone and has been missing for all that time," Grady said.
"It doesn't mean we have stopped working with Lifeway or have lost confidence in Lifeway or have lost confidence in Lifeway (foster) homes. We are not actually going in and snatching children out of the homes. It's just standard protocol for us to check."
Grady wouldn't disclose exactly why the eight children were taken out of their foster homes. They were placed in temporary care "until we can get things straightened out," she said.
Marcus' 10-year-old brother, Michael, and 1-year-old sister, Peaches, were among them.
Victor and Connie Delomas said Lifeway took the children out of their Green Township home in Hamilton County on Wednesday, a day after Marcus disappeared.
Victor Delomas said a caseworker told him the removal was temporary because he had been charged Aug. 14 with drunken driving in Owenton, Ky., when the two children were with him on a trip home from Lake Cumberland.
According to state rules, a foster parent must report any arrests to a caseworker within 24 hours. Delomas said he did. He has contested the traffic charge. He's frustrated.
"I'm getting one story from Butler County. I'm getting another story from Lifeway. I'm stuck in the middle, and all I want to know is what's going on," Delomas said Monday.
Victor Delomas said Lifeway visited their home weekly since they took in Marcus' sister and brother in April.
Aside from foster-parent fees, Liz and David Carroll supported themselves as day-care providers for social-service clients from Clermont and Brown counties, Liz said Monday, but Clermont took away her license after Marcus disappeared.
The couple had been receiving $3,300 a month for day-care and food, she said. They received an additional $1,000 a month for fostering Marcus because of his special needs.
State foster care licensing officials plan to review Lifeway's operation to determine what caseworkers knew about David Carroll's arrest on a domestic violence charge in June, a month after Lifeway placed Marcus with the family.
Liz Carroll said the family did not report the incident - which she said stemmed from her husband's bipolar disorder - because the charge was dismissed.
State officials also want to know if caseworkers were aware of the extent of Liz Carroll's medical condition, state spokesman Dennis Evans said. Monday, she told The Enquirer that Lifeway knew about the couple's medical history and that both underwent medical exams before they were licensed.
By law, David Carroll was obligated to tell a Lifeway caseworker about the June 18 domestic violence charge - an offense that, if he had been convicted, would have stripped him of his foster care license, Evans said. A caseworker can then decide if the circumstances merit taking the child from the home immediately.
The charge against Carroll was dismissed after the couple attended a mediation session through the prosecutor's office because Liz Carroll wanted the charges dropped.
Grady said county caseworkers rely on parents to disclose negative information to Lifeway.
Cincinnati Enquirer, The (OH)
August 22, 2006
Author: Sheila McLaughlin Enquirer staff writer
The mysterious disappearance of 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel last week has prompted an investigation into the safety of 116 other foster children placed through the same private agency.
State officials also are questioning how much Lifeway for Youth caseworkers knew about Marcus Fiesel's foster parents and whether he should have been placed with the Clermont County family.
Butler County Children Services officials since Friday have removed eight foster children placed in homes by Lifeway for Youth, the non-profit organization that sent Marcus Fiesel to live with David and Liz Carroll in Clermont's Union Township.
The boy, who was diagnosed with a range of developmental problems, has been missing a week since Liz Carroll reported that he disappeared from Juilfs Park in Anderson Township when she passed out from a heart condition. A second Butler County foster child placed with the Carrolls was taken out of their home after Marcus disappeared, Butler County Children Services officials said.
Police had no new leads to Marcus' whereabouts Monday but have said the Carrolls are not suspects. The family left its rented Union Township home Saturday, Liz Carroll said, to avoid surveillance by television crews.
County caseworkers began visiting each home and double-checking placements through Lifeway on Friday, said Dawn Grady, the county agency's spokeswoman. The process is expected to take two weeks. Butler County contracts with Lifeway to provide training for foster parents, place abused and neglected children and monitor them with caseworkers.
Lifeway is responsible for more than a quarter of Butler County's 401 foster children.
"It's only a precaution. This is a pretty big hiccup because a child is gone and has been missing for all that time," Grady said.
"It doesn't mean we have stopped working with Lifeway or have lost confidence in Lifeway or have lost confidence in Lifeway (foster) homes. We are not actually going in and snatching children out of the homes. It's just standard protocol for us to check."
Grady wouldn't disclose exactly why the eight children were taken out of their foster homes. They were placed in temporary care "until we can get things straightened out," she said.
Marcus' 10-year-old brother, Michael, and 1-year-old sister, Peaches, were among them.
Victor and Connie Delomas said Lifeway took the children out of their Green Township home in Hamilton County on Wednesday, a day after Marcus disappeared.
Victor Delomas said a caseworker told him the removal was temporary because he had been charged Aug. 14 with drunken driving in Owenton, Ky., when the two children were with him on a trip home from Lake Cumberland.
According to state rules, a foster parent must report any arrests to a caseworker within 24 hours. Delomas said he did. He has contested the traffic charge. He's frustrated.
"I'm getting one story from Butler County. I'm getting another story from Lifeway. I'm stuck in the middle, and all I want to know is what's going on," Delomas said Monday.
Victor Delomas said Lifeway visited their home weekly since they took in Marcus' sister and brother in April.
Aside from foster-parent fees, Liz and David Carroll supported themselves as day-care providers for social-service clients from Clermont and Brown counties, Liz said Monday, but Clermont took away her license after Marcus disappeared.
The couple had been receiving $3,300 a month for day-care and food, she said. They received an additional $1,000 a month for fostering Marcus because of his special needs.
State foster care licensing officials plan to review Lifeway's operation to determine what caseworkers knew about David Carroll's arrest on a domestic violence charge in June, a month after Lifeway placed Marcus with the family.
Liz Carroll said the family did not report the incident - which she said stemmed from her husband's bipolar disorder - because the charge was dismissed.
State officials also want to know if caseworkers were aware of the extent of Liz Carroll's medical condition, state spokesman Dennis Evans said. Monday, she told The Enquirer that Lifeway knew about the couple's medical history and that both underwent medical exams before they were licensed.
By law, David Carroll was obligated to tell a Lifeway caseworker about the June 18 domestic violence charge - an offense that, if he had been convicted, would have stripped him of his foster care license, Evans said. A caseworker can then decide if the circumstances merit taking the child from the home immediately.
The charge against Carroll was dismissed after the couple attended a mediation session through the prosecutor's office because Liz Carroll wanted the charges dropped.
Grady said county caseworkers rely on parents to disclose negative information to Lifeway.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Ohio foster youth aging out of care
Young adults must find way after foster care
'Aging out' of surrogate system brings challenges for at-risk group
Plain Dealer Cleveland, OH)August 20, 2006
Barb Galbincea; Plain Dealer Reporter
Every year, about 20,000 youngsters across the country "age out" of foster care, the surrogate system that looks after children removed from their families, usually because of abuse or neglect. Too old for the system, are they ready to be on their own?
Studies show that such young adults are at greater risk than their peers of being homeless, unemployed or involved with the criminal justice system.
With some exceptions, Ohioans can remain in foster care only until they turn 18 or graduate from high school.The lucky ones leave having forged enduring bonds with foster parents or other adults. The not-so-lucky have no such safety net.
"Do I worry? Yes. But I try not to think about it, to stay in the present," said a teenager whom officials didn't want identified but who faces the prospect of leaving Cuyahoga County's care.
There's reason to be concerned, according to researchers:
A University of Chicago study tracking mostly 19-year-olds found that a third of those no longer in foster care reported having been arrested in the preceding year or two, and 23.7 percent said they had spent at least a night in jail.
The same study, published last year, found that about 14 percent of those young adults had been homeless at some point since leaving foster care.
Almost 37 percent said they were neither employed nor in school.
Ohio does not track what happens to former foster kids, but the ongoing Chicago study is centered in the Midwest – following young adults in Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin as they left foster care.
Based on initial interviews with 736 youngsters when they were in custody, and 603 in a second round of interviews, the findings suggest the pitfalls noted in other studies.
Mark Courtney, director of the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago and one of the study's authors, said public policy often fails the nation's foster children, making them vulnerable by leaving them on their own too early.
"The strongest predictor of success in making the transition to adulthood is the ability to rely on your family," he said.
Yet, kids in foster care often are removed from their troubled families as adolescents, giving them enough time to absorb the household's problems, but seriously disrupting their relationships, said Courtney."We took them away from their families with the idea that we are their societal parents. But then we decide, at 18 or 19 we're going to say, 'You're on your own,' " he said.
If an average person saw a parent able, but unwilling, to provide for a young adult child in need, Courtney said, "we would find that parent irresponsible and subject them to public ridicule. But that's exactly what we're doing."
He contends that such young people should continue to get child welfare services until they're at least 21.
Jim McCafferty, director of the county's Department of Children & Family Services, is all too familiar with challenges facing about 200 youngsters who age out of Cuyahoga County custody each year.
That's why the county staff tries to prepare kids for independence by assessing their individual needs – from housing and employment to education – and then matching teens with services that can help.
Ninety-one young people now are part of the College Bound program, which encourages them to continue their education post-custody by giving them the $20 a day that foster parents are paid.
McCafferty also hopes to pair more young people with adult mentors and the county has a youth advisory council so the kids themselves can weigh in about what they need.
At Adoption Network Cleveland, teenagers can talk openly about foster care and their future during meetings of Get Real.
At the close of one recent group session, a gregarious 16-year-old shared his story: His mom died while he was in county custody. A few weeks later, so did the grandmother who once cared for him. He and his 15-year-old sister are still in separate homes.
Get Real includes adult role models, former foster kids themselves, there to demonstrate that despite the obstacles, teens aren't doomed.
"If I can make it, as rebellious as I was, so can they," says Clevelander Tish Kelley, who was in foster care from age 9 until she grew out of the system.
Dennis Braziel, vice president of clinical services at Applewood Centers – one of the area agencies that teach independent living skills – said the program includes lessons on how to look for a job, budgeting, the importance of being on time and even hygiene.
In addition, each youngster gets what Braziel calls a personal tool box, with important documents like a birth certificate, Social Security card, state ID or driver's license and library and voter registration cards.
Tony Moses, youth resource manager for Applewood, said that besides helping young people find jobs or continue in school, he makes sure they understand the bus system and takes them downtown to places like the federal building, where he talks about the notion of income tax by pointing out the IRS office.
"You can't take anything for granted," he said.
'Aging out' of surrogate system brings challenges for at-risk group
Plain Dealer Cleveland, OH)August 20, 2006
Barb Galbincea; Plain Dealer Reporter
Every year, about 20,000 youngsters across the country "age out" of foster care, the surrogate system that looks after children removed from their families, usually because of abuse or neglect. Too old for the system, are they ready to be on their own?
Studies show that such young adults are at greater risk than their peers of being homeless, unemployed or involved with the criminal justice system.
With some exceptions, Ohioans can remain in foster care only until they turn 18 or graduate from high school.The lucky ones leave having forged enduring bonds with foster parents or other adults. The not-so-lucky have no such safety net.
"Do I worry? Yes. But I try not to think about it, to stay in the present," said a teenager whom officials didn't want identified but who faces the prospect of leaving Cuyahoga County's care.
There's reason to be concerned, according to researchers:
A University of Chicago study tracking mostly 19-year-olds found that a third of those no longer in foster care reported having been arrested in the preceding year or two, and 23.7 percent said they had spent at least a night in jail.
The same study, published last year, found that about 14 percent of those young adults had been homeless at some point since leaving foster care.
Almost 37 percent said they were neither employed nor in school.
Ohio does not track what happens to former foster kids, but the ongoing Chicago study is centered in the Midwest – following young adults in Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin as they left foster care.
Based on initial interviews with 736 youngsters when they were in custody, and 603 in a second round of interviews, the findings suggest the pitfalls noted in other studies.
Mark Courtney, director of the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago and one of the study's authors, said public policy often fails the nation's foster children, making them vulnerable by leaving them on their own too early.
"The strongest predictor of success in making the transition to adulthood is the ability to rely on your family," he said.
Yet, kids in foster care often are removed from their troubled families as adolescents, giving them enough time to absorb the household's problems, but seriously disrupting their relationships, said Courtney."We took them away from their families with the idea that we are their societal parents. But then we decide, at 18 or 19 we're going to say, 'You're on your own,' " he said.
If an average person saw a parent able, but unwilling, to provide for a young adult child in need, Courtney said, "we would find that parent irresponsible and subject them to public ridicule. But that's exactly what we're doing."
He contends that such young people should continue to get child welfare services until they're at least 21.
Jim McCafferty, director of the county's Department of Children & Family Services, is all too familiar with challenges facing about 200 youngsters who age out of Cuyahoga County custody each year.
That's why the county staff tries to prepare kids for independence by assessing their individual needs – from housing and employment to education – and then matching teens with services that can help.
Ninety-one young people now are part of the College Bound program, which encourages them to continue their education post-custody by giving them the $20 a day that foster parents are paid.
McCafferty also hopes to pair more young people with adult mentors and the county has a youth advisory council so the kids themselves can weigh in about what they need.
At Adoption Network Cleveland, teenagers can talk openly about foster care and their future during meetings of Get Real.
At the close of one recent group session, a gregarious 16-year-old shared his story: His mom died while he was in county custody. A few weeks later, so did the grandmother who once cared for him. He and his 15-year-old sister are still in separate homes.
Get Real includes adult role models, former foster kids themselves, there to demonstrate that despite the obstacles, teens aren't doomed.
"If I can make it, as rebellious as I was, so can they," says Clevelander Tish Kelley, who was in foster care from age 9 until she grew out of the system.
Dennis Braziel, vice president of clinical services at Applewood Centers – one of the area agencies that teach independent living skills – said the program includes lessons on how to look for a job, budgeting, the importance of being on time and even hygiene.
In addition, each youngster gets what Braziel calls a personal tool box, with important documents like a birth certificate, Social Security card, state ID or driver's license and library and voter registration cards.
Tony Moses, youth resource manager for Applewood, said that besides helping young people find jobs or continue in school, he makes sure they understand the bus system and takes them downtown to places like the federal building, where he talks about the notion of income tax by pointing out the IRS office.
"You can't take anything for granted," he said.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Buckeye Ranch & use of restraints
CRISIS INTERVENTION TRAINING TAKING CHARGE OF CLASSROOM
Teachers learn how to manage children with emotional, behavioral problems
Tuesday, August 22, 2006 NEWS 01D
By Jennifer Smith Richards THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
In a matter of seconds, the teachers took Kayla Bolitho down. They rolled her onto her belly and, to keep her from flailing, secured her legs and upper body.
Gently, of course.
"I'm low enough that she can't kick me, but I'm not putting pressure on her leg," explained Mary Roach as she stretched across Bolitho's legs.
Normally, the move would be used to control children before they could hurt themselves or others.
But Bolitho, who teaches autistic children at Haugland Learning Center in Columbus, was just playing a role as she and other central Ohio educators learned how to handle a child in crisis.
The educators who were at Buckeye Ranch recently hope they won't need to restrain anyone. It is a last resort.
But more children are coming to school with severe emotional and behavioral problems, so more teachers are asking for training about what to do when a student loses control. South-Western schools send special-education teachers to crisis-intervention training at Buckeye Ranch each year.
"(Our students) tend to have learned very limited coping skills. They tend to have crises more often than the average student does," said Peggy Snow, principal at South-Western's Kingston School, which serves emotionally disturbed children. "Classroom teachers need this."
Other districts -- Columbus, Dublin, Westerville and Worthington among them -- say their teachers are getting training to handle difficult kids, too.
"We're doing all kinds of crisis training," said Columbus Superintendent Gene Harris. Children are learning misbehavior at home, she said, "and it's showing up in our classrooms."
Even in regular classrooms, teachers report a rise in angry children. School districts, by law, must try to teach special-needs students in regular classrooms. So those teachers, too, must learn to cope.
The question of how -- and when -- to restrain children has come up in central Ohio.
During the 2004-05 school year, a 7-year-old girl was restrained repeatedly at Worthington Estates Elementary. Her mother complained to the Ohio Department of Education, which concluded that the basket hold used was "potentially life-threatening" because it can restrict a child's breathing.
"Most teachers around the United States get no training in the area of behavior management in their college training," said Thomas McIntyre, an expert on behavior management at Hunter College of the City University of New York.
They should learn how to reward good behavior because "punishment and penalties do not teach," he said. "If the punishment is harsh enough, kids will fall into line. But it doesn't teach them a replacement behavior -- what they ought to be doing."
Ohio State University requires people in its teacher-training program to take a behavior-management course. But the state doesn't mandate that every teacher be trained in how to handle upset and potentially dangerous kids.
Columbus Public Schools just adopted a districtwide strategy that teaches children the correct way to behave rather than using punishment alone. Teachers started training this summer through a district program.
At the Buckeye Ranch, teachers already had learned how to help calm upset children without restraining them. Teachers can help students control their emotions, sometimes by going to a "time out" or quiet place. In some schools, teachers encourage kids to release energy by exercising.
Another technique: Get other children out of the room. They'll be safer, and the out-of-control child no longer has a crowd to play to.
"A lot of times, if you remove the audience, you won't need to restrain," said Lance McGarr, a crisis-intervention instructor at the ranch.
jsmithrichards@dispatch.com
Caption: ERIC ALBRECHT / DISPATCHElizabeth Goff, left, and Katie Bliss, kneeling center, practice a restraint move on Jane Snow, lying face down and portraying a disruptive student, as they listen to instructor Mary Roach, right, staff-development coordinator at Buckeye Ranch, at the Licking County Educational Service Center.
Teachers learn how to manage children with emotional, behavioral problems
Tuesday, August 22, 2006 NEWS 01D
By Jennifer Smith Richards THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
In a matter of seconds, the teachers took Kayla Bolitho down. They rolled her onto her belly and, to keep her from flailing, secured her legs and upper body.
Gently, of course.
"I'm low enough that she can't kick me, but I'm not putting pressure on her leg," explained Mary Roach as she stretched across Bolitho's legs.
Normally, the move would be used to control children before they could hurt themselves or others.
But Bolitho, who teaches autistic children at Haugland Learning Center in Columbus, was just playing a role as she and other central Ohio educators learned how to handle a child in crisis.
The educators who were at Buckeye Ranch recently hope they won't need to restrain anyone. It is a last resort.
But more children are coming to school with severe emotional and behavioral problems, so more teachers are asking for training about what to do when a student loses control. South-Western schools send special-education teachers to crisis-intervention training at Buckeye Ranch each year.
"(Our students) tend to have learned very limited coping skills. They tend to have crises more often than the average student does," said Peggy Snow, principal at South-Western's Kingston School, which serves emotionally disturbed children. "Classroom teachers need this."
Other districts -- Columbus, Dublin, Westerville and Worthington among them -- say their teachers are getting training to handle difficult kids, too.
"We're doing all kinds of crisis training," said Columbus Superintendent Gene Harris. Children are learning misbehavior at home, she said, "and it's showing up in our classrooms."
Even in regular classrooms, teachers report a rise in angry children. School districts, by law, must try to teach special-needs students in regular classrooms. So those teachers, too, must learn to cope.
The question of how -- and when -- to restrain children has come up in central Ohio.
During the 2004-05 school year, a 7-year-old girl was restrained repeatedly at Worthington Estates Elementary. Her mother complained to the Ohio Department of Education, which concluded that the basket hold used was "potentially life-threatening" because it can restrict a child's breathing.
"Most teachers around the United States get no training in the area of behavior management in their college training," said Thomas McIntyre, an expert on behavior management at Hunter College of the City University of New York.
They should learn how to reward good behavior because "punishment and penalties do not teach," he said. "If the punishment is harsh enough, kids will fall into line. But it doesn't teach them a replacement behavior -- what they ought to be doing."
Ohio State University requires people in its teacher-training program to take a behavior-management course. But the state doesn't mandate that every teacher be trained in how to handle upset and potentially dangerous kids.
Columbus Public Schools just adopted a districtwide strategy that teaches children the correct way to behave rather than using punishment alone. Teachers started training this summer through a district program.
At the Buckeye Ranch, teachers already had learned how to help calm upset children without restraining them. Teachers can help students control their emotions, sometimes by going to a "time out" or quiet place. In some schools, teachers encourage kids to release energy by exercising.
Another technique: Get other children out of the room. They'll be safer, and the out-of-control child no longer has a crowd to play to.
"A lot of times, if you remove the audience, you won't need to restrain," said Lance McGarr, a crisis-intervention instructor at the ranch.
jsmithrichards@dispatch.com
Caption: ERIC ALBRECHT / DISPATCHElizabeth Goff, left, and Katie Bliss, kneeling center, practice a restraint move on Jane Snow, lying face down and portraying a disruptive student, as they listen to instructor Mary Roach, right, staff-development coordinator at Buckeye Ranch, at the Licking County Educational Service Center.
If this isn't abuse, what is?
PAIR PLEADS NOT GUILTY IN ABUSE OF KIDS
Charges involve five adopted children
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
NEWS 03B
By Dana Wilson
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
With a roomful of church supporters looking on, a Clark County couple charged in the abuse of their five adopted children denied the crime yesterday in court.
James E. Ferguson, 46, and Vonda L. Ferguson, 43, both of Springfield, sat quietly as their attorneys entered not guilty pleas in Union County Common Pleas Court.
The Fergusons, formerly of Marysville, were indicted Aug. 4 by a grand jury.
Prosecutors say the children, now ages 6 to 16, were abused between July 2000 and November 2004, when the three boys and two girls were removed from custody.
Some of the charges accuse the Fergusons of injuring the children while torturing, cruelly abusing and confining them.
The abuse occurred in both Clark and Union counties and came to light through a complaint made to the Union County Department of Job and Family Services, Prosecutor David Phillips said yesterday. Phillips declined to say who made the referral.
Mr. Ferguson faces 20 counts of child endangering, five of permitting child abuse and five of felonious assault.
Mrs. Ferguson faces 20 counts of child endangering, five of permitting child abuse, six of felonious assault and two of rape.
Because the case sat dormant for some time, the indictments came as somewhat of a surprise to the Fergusons, said Kerry Donahue, Mr. Ferguson's attorney.
"It's obviously been a difficult thing for them," Donahue said. "I think their religion and their faith is helping them through what really is a tough couple of years."
Donahue yesterday filed motions challenging the validity of his client's indictment and requesting a change of venue.
Judge Richard Parrott found the indictment to be sufficient and deferred ruling on the change of venue request until later.
The charges against the Fergusons left Jim Sallee in disbelief. The associate minister of the Church of God in Springfield has known the couple for 15 years and attended yesterday's hearing with more than a dozen other church members "out of concern," he said.
Sallee recalled the Fergusons' adopted children as "quiet, well-behaved and mannered" at church.
That description differs from the picture Mr. Ferguson painted of the children's behavior at home.
During an interview with Union County sheriff's detectives on April 18, 2005, Mr. Ferguson admitted to using a 2-inch belt to discipline five of his six adopted children, court records show. Two of them were whipped on their buttocks until they bled.
The punishment, which Mr. Ferguson described as a "daily activity, but not on the same child," left the children with welts and bruises.
Mr. Ferguson also described using a wooden paddle wrapped with duct tape. Other punishments included dangling two of the children by their ankles over the edge of a stairway banister, kicking one child and putting a soiled washrag in another child's mouth, court records show.
Donahue said Mr. Ferguson and his wife agreed to adopt the children "knowing they had some issues and problems."
"He was willing to do this out of the goodness of his heart," Donahue said.
dwilson@dispatch.com
Caption: James Ferguson and his wife, Vonda, of Springfield, were both arraigned on multiple counts of child endangering and permitting child abuse.
Charges involve five adopted children
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
NEWS 03B
By Dana Wilson
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
With a roomful of church supporters looking on, a Clark County couple charged in the abuse of their five adopted children denied the crime yesterday in court.
James E. Ferguson, 46, and Vonda L. Ferguson, 43, both of Springfield, sat quietly as their attorneys entered not guilty pleas in Union County Common Pleas Court.
The Fergusons, formerly of Marysville, were indicted Aug. 4 by a grand jury.
Prosecutors say the children, now ages 6 to 16, were abused between July 2000 and November 2004, when the three boys and two girls were removed from custody.
Some of the charges accuse the Fergusons of injuring the children while torturing, cruelly abusing and confining them.
The abuse occurred in both Clark and Union counties and came to light through a complaint made to the Union County Department of Job and Family Services, Prosecutor David Phillips said yesterday. Phillips declined to say who made the referral.
Mr. Ferguson faces 20 counts of child endangering, five of permitting child abuse and five of felonious assault.
Mrs. Ferguson faces 20 counts of child endangering, five of permitting child abuse, six of felonious assault and two of rape.
Because the case sat dormant for some time, the indictments came as somewhat of a surprise to the Fergusons, said Kerry Donahue, Mr. Ferguson's attorney.
"It's obviously been a difficult thing for them," Donahue said. "I think their religion and their faith is helping them through what really is a tough couple of years."
Donahue yesterday filed motions challenging the validity of his client's indictment and requesting a change of venue.
Judge Richard Parrott found the indictment to be sufficient and deferred ruling on the change of venue request until later.
The charges against the Fergusons left Jim Sallee in disbelief. The associate minister of the Church of God in Springfield has known the couple for 15 years and attended yesterday's hearing with more than a dozen other church members "out of concern," he said.
Sallee recalled the Fergusons' adopted children as "quiet, well-behaved and mannered" at church.
That description differs from the picture Mr. Ferguson painted of the children's behavior at home.
During an interview with Union County sheriff's detectives on April 18, 2005, Mr. Ferguson admitted to using a 2-inch belt to discipline five of his six adopted children, court records show. Two of them were whipped on their buttocks until they bled.
The punishment, which Mr. Ferguson described as a "daily activity, but not on the same child," left the children with welts and bruises.
Mr. Ferguson also described using a wooden paddle wrapped with duct tape. Other punishments included dangling two of the children by their ankles over the edge of a stairway banister, kicking one child and putting a soiled washrag in another child's mouth, court records show.
Donahue said Mr. Ferguson and his wife agreed to adopt the children "knowing they had some issues and problems."
"He was willing to do this out of the goodness of his heart," Donahue said.
dwilson@dispatch.com
Caption: James Ferguson and his wife, Vonda, of Springfield, were both arraigned on multiple counts of child endangering and permitting child abuse.
3-year-old foster child still missing
SEARCH ENDED; BOY STILL MISSING
Sunday, August 20, 2006 NEWS 09B
Associated Press
The official search for a missing 3-year-old developmentally disabled boy has been called off after days of searching that included a helicopter, dive teams and hundreds of volunteers, a fire official said.
Authorities will continue to investigate the disappearance of Marcus Fiesel by following up on any leads that arise, said Fred Buop, battalion chief of the Anderson Township fire department. Some scattered volunteers continued looking yesterday, despite authorities ending their search late Friday night.
"We are absolutely just flabbergasted. We have no idea what could've happened at this point," Buop said.
The child apparently wandered away from his foster mother, Liz Carroll, after she passed out because of a heart condition Tuesday afternoon in a suburban park.
The 5-square-mile search area had been combed at least five times, Buop said. That included the park as well as surrounding residential and wooded areas.
"This kid literally vanished -- no evidence, no leads, nothing," Buop said.
Authorities believe that Carroll, 30, of Union Township, was unconscious for about 10 minutes. When she came to, there were three toddlers nearby, but Carroll told people trying to help her that she had four children. The other children were safe.
Carroll's husband, David Carroll, has said Marcus has the mental ability of a child 12 to 18 months old. Marcus joined the family about four months ago and has a history of wandering off, he said.
The child once left the home of his biological parents in the middle of the night and did the same thing while living with other foster parents.
Authorities said they searched the foster parents' home.
Sunday, August 20, 2006 NEWS 09B
Associated Press
The official search for a missing 3-year-old developmentally disabled boy has been called off after days of searching that included a helicopter, dive teams and hundreds of volunteers, a fire official said.
Authorities will continue to investigate the disappearance of Marcus Fiesel by following up on any leads that arise, said Fred Buop, battalion chief of the Anderson Township fire department. Some scattered volunteers continued looking yesterday, despite authorities ending their search late Friday night.
"We are absolutely just flabbergasted. We have no idea what could've happened at this point," Buop said.
The child apparently wandered away from his foster mother, Liz Carroll, after she passed out because of a heart condition Tuesday afternoon in a suburban park.
The 5-square-mile search area had been combed at least five times, Buop said. That included the park as well as surrounding residential and wooded areas.
"This kid literally vanished -- no evidence, no leads, nothing," Buop said.
Authorities believe that Carroll, 30, of Union Township, was unconscious for about 10 minutes. When she came to, there were three toddlers nearby, but Carroll told people trying to help her that she had four children. The other children were safe.
Carroll's husband, David Carroll, has said Marcus has the mental ability of a child 12 to 18 months old. Marcus joined the family about four months ago and has a history of wandering off, he said.
The child once left the home of his biological parents in the middle of the night and did the same thing while living with other foster parents.
Authorities said they searched the foster parents' home.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Adoption Network Cleveland
Young adults must find way after foster care
'Aging out' of surrogate system brings challenges for at-risk group
Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH)August 20, 2006
Barb Galbincea; Plain Dealer Reporter
Every year, about 20,000 youngsters across the country "age out" of foster care, the surrogate system that looks after children removed from their families, usually because of abuse or neglect.
Too old for the system, are they ready to be on their own?
Studies show that such young adults are at greater risk than their peers of being homeless, unemployed or involved with the criminal justice system.
With some exceptions, Ohioans can remain in foster care only until they turn 18 or graduate from high school.The lucky ones leave having forged enduring bonds with foster parents or other adults. The not-so-lucky have no such safety net.
"Do I worry? Yes. But I try not to think about it, to stay in the present," said a teenager whom officials didn't want identified but who faces the prospect of leaving Cuyahoga County's care.
There's reason to be concerned, according to researchers:
A University of Chicago study tracking mostly 19-year-olds found that a third of those no longer in foster care reported having been arrested in the preceding year or two, and 23.7 percent said they had spent at least a night in jail.
The same study, published last year, found that about 14 percent of those young adults had been homeless at some point since leaving foster care.
Almost 37 percent said they were neither employed nor in school.
Ohio does not track what happens to former foster kids, but the ongoing Chicago study is centered in the Midwest – following young adults in Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin as they left foster care. Based on initial interviews with 736 youngsters when they were in custody, and 603 in a second round of interviews, the findings suggest the pitfalls noted in other studies.
Mark Courtney, director of the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago and one of the study's authors, said public policy often fails the nation's foster children, making them vulnerable by leaving them on their own too early.
"The strongest predictor of success in making the transition to adulthood is the ability to rely on your family," he said.Yet, kids in foster care often are removed from their troubled families as adolescents, giving them enough time to absorb the household's problems, but seriously disrupting their relationships, said Courtney.
"We took them away from their families with the idea that we are their societal parents. But then we decide, at 18 or 19 we're going to say, 'You're on your own,' " he said.
If an average person saw a parent able, but unwilling, to provide for a young adult child in need, Courtney said, "we would find that parent irresponsible and subject them to public ridicule. But that's exactly what we're doing."
He contends that such young people should continue to get child welfare services until they're at least 21.
Jim McCafferty, director of the county's Department of Children & Family Services, is all too familiar with challenges facing about 200 youngsters who age out of Cuyahoga County custody each year.
That's why the county staff tries to prepare kids for independence by assessing their individual needs – from housing and employment to education – and then matching teens with services that can help.
Ninety-one young people now are part of the College Bound program, which encourages them to continue their education post-custody by giving them the $20 a day that foster parents are paid. McCafferty also hopes to pair more young people with adult mentors and the county has a youth advisory council so the kids themselves can weigh in about what they need.
At Adoption Network Cleveland, teenagers can talk openly about foster care and their future during meetings of Get Real.
At the close of one recent group session, a gregarious 16-year-old shared his story: His mom died while he was in county custody. A few weeks later, so did the grandmother who once cared for him. He and his 15-year-old sister are still in separate homes.Get Real includes adult role models, former foster kids themselves, there to demonstrate that despite the obstacles, teens aren't doomed.
"If I can make it, as rebellious as I was, so can they," says Clevelander Tish Kelley, who was in foster care from age 9 until she grew out of the system.
Dennis Braziel, vice president of clinical services at Applewood Centers – one of the area agencies that teach independent living skills – said the program includes lessons on how to look for a job, budgeting, the importance of being on time and even hygiene.
In addition, each youngster gets what Braziel calls a personal tool box, with important documents like a birth certificate, Social Security card, state ID or driver's license and library and voter registration cards.
Tony Moses, youth resource manager for Applewood, said that besides helping young people find jobs or continue in school, he makes sure they understand the bus system and takes them downtown to places like the federal building, where he talks about the notion of income tax by pointing out the IRS office.
"You can't take anything for granted," he said.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: bgalbincea@plaind.com
'Aging out' of surrogate system brings challenges for at-risk group
Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH)August 20, 2006
Barb Galbincea; Plain Dealer Reporter
Every year, about 20,000 youngsters across the country "age out" of foster care, the surrogate system that looks after children removed from their families, usually because of abuse or neglect.
Too old for the system, are they ready to be on their own?
Studies show that such young adults are at greater risk than their peers of being homeless, unemployed or involved with the criminal justice system.
With some exceptions, Ohioans can remain in foster care only until they turn 18 or graduate from high school.The lucky ones leave having forged enduring bonds with foster parents or other adults. The not-so-lucky have no such safety net.
"Do I worry? Yes. But I try not to think about it, to stay in the present," said a teenager whom officials didn't want identified but who faces the prospect of leaving Cuyahoga County's care.
There's reason to be concerned, according to researchers:
A University of Chicago study tracking mostly 19-year-olds found that a third of those no longer in foster care reported having been arrested in the preceding year or two, and 23.7 percent said they had spent at least a night in jail.
The same study, published last year, found that about 14 percent of those young adults had been homeless at some point since leaving foster care.
Almost 37 percent said they were neither employed nor in school.
Ohio does not track what happens to former foster kids, but the ongoing Chicago study is centered in the Midwest – following young adults in Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin as they left foster care. Based on initial interviews with 736 youngsters when they were in custody, and 603 in a second round of interviews, the findings suggest the pitfalls noted in other studies.
Mark Courtney, director of the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago and one of the study's authors, said public policy often fails the nation's foster children, making them vulnerable by leaving them on their own too early.
"The strongest predictor of success in making the transition to adulthood is the ability to rely on your family," he said.Yet, kids in foster care often are removed from their troubled families as adolescents, giving them enough time to absorb the household's problems, but seriously disrupting their relationships, said Courtney.
"We took them away from their families with the idea that we are their societal parents. But then we decide, at 18 or 19 we're going to say, 'You're on your own,' " he said.
If an average person saw a parent able, but unwilling, to provide for a young adult child in need, Courtney said, "we would find that parent irresponsible and subject them to public ridicule. But that's exactly what we're doing."
He contends that such young people should continue to get child welfare services until they're at least 21.
Jim McCafferty, director of the county's Department of Children & Family Services, is all too familiar with challenges facing about 200 youngsters who age out of Cuyahoga County custody each year.
That's why the county staff tries to prepare kids for independence by assessing their individual needs – from housing and employment to education – and then matching teens with services that can help.
Ninety-one young people now are part of the College Bound program, which encourages them to continue their education post-custody by giving them the $20 a day that foster parents are paid. McCafferty also hopes to pair more young people with adult mentors and the county has a youth advisory council so the kids themselves can weigh in about what they need.
At Adoption Network Cleveland, teenagers can talk openly about foster care and their future during meetings of Get Real.
At the close of one recent group session, a gregarious 16-year-old shared his story: His mom died while he was in county custody. A few weeks later, so did the grandmother who once cared for him. He and his 15-year-old sister are still in separate homes.Get Real includes adult role models, former foster kids themselves, there to demonstrate that despite the obstacles, teens aren't doomed.
"If I can make it, as rebellious as I was, so can they," says Clevelander Tish Kelley, who was in foster care from age 9 until she grew out of the system.
Dennis Braziel, vice president of clinical services at Applewood Centers – one of the area agencies that teach independent living skills – said the program includes lessons on how to look for a job, budgeting, the importance of being on time and even hygiene.
In addition, each youngster gets what Braziel calls a personal tool box, with important documents like a birth certificate, Social Security card, state ID or driver's license and library and voter registration cards.
Tony Moses, youth resource manager for Applewood, said that besides helping young people find jobs or continue in school, he makes sure they understand the bus system and takes them downtown to places like the federal building, where he talks about the notion of income tax by pointing out the IRS office.
"You can't take anything for granted," he said.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: bgalbincea@plaind.com
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