CSB budget cuts 52 workers:
Social workers not on list, chief says
Kymberli Hagelberg, Akron Beacon Journal, Oct. 25, 2006.
Summit County Children Services Board on Tuesday approved a 2007 budget that calls for the layoff of 52 employees and a reduction in expenses that is projected to save about $2.1 million.
Board members William D. Evans, Richard Marsh, vice chairman Gerald O. Holland, Joe Morris and Mary Ann Freedman voted for the $52.1 million budget. GinaKaye Maddox voted no. Chief operating officer Katerina Papas said deciding on which cuts to make wasn't easy.
"Choices are difficult, especially when it means individual jobs . . . ," Papas said before the vote during the board's Resource Committee meeting. "Our most important choice is to serve the children."
Papas said the layoffs would not include any social workers and that existing vacancies for social workers would be filled. The board declined to give further details on specific positions to be eliminated.
Papas said employees on the layoff list will know their fate in about a month.
The agency's contract with its union employees requires a 30-day notice of pending layoffs. The ratio of union to management jobs to be cut was not disclosed.
The lack of detail in the budget was an initial concern for Morris, who voted in committee against recommending the budget.
"How do we know they're the right cuts when we can't see where they're coming from," he asked.
Morris ultimately voted for the budget after the group met in closed session. He left before the regular meeting ended and did not explain what changed his mind.
Marsh said that the number of children served by the agency had dropped while the number of employees has increased. He added that the agency needs to spend its money wisely as it looks to persuade an aging generation of county voters to pass a levy sometime next year.
Maddox, the only vote against the budget, called into question the timing of the layoffs.
"A more favorable option, that I would have been comfortable with, is letting the people keep working for a year. This would have ensured maximum care for the children for as long as possible," she said. "We could have worked the whole time to pass a levy in November (2007). When we came to people, we would have restored their trust and they would know (the levy) was an emergency.
"I think people would have rallied around that."
Operational cutsFinance director Gary Binns said the new budget also calls for operational cuts.The agency will no longer have satellite offices away from its South Akron headquarters, computers will be replaced every five years, a year later than normal, and travel and training expenses will be reduced.
The new budget will raise the agency's surplus from $19 million to $29 million at the end of 2007, when the current levy is set to expire. Without additional funding, Children Services will face a deficit of $196,000 in 2008.
Critics said the budget was pushed through too quickly and claims unrealistic savings."There needs to be a more deliberative process," County Councilman Pete Crossland, D-4, Akron, said after the meeting. "You don't pop out a budget on Monday and expect people to know enough to pass it on Tuesday."
Robin Schenault, president of the Communications Workers of America Local 4546, which represents agency employees, said the agency will spend $600,000 of its savings on unemployment compensation for laid-off workers.
"That comes right out of our budget since we're self-insured," Schenault said.
Possible union action
The union also would likely appeal the layoffs, in accordance with its contract.
"They'll be paying out legal fees in grievances," Schenault said. "The only person who'll make any money on this is Gary Johnson" -- the board's contracted labor attorney.
Schenault said the board's assurance that care of children would not be affected is unrealistic.
"The number of caseworkers won't be cut, but their workload will be much bigger," she said. "And that means they'll spend less time in the field with children, which is where they should be."
Mixed reaction
Board members got mixed messages from the audience during its public comments.
A foster parent said she believed the agency was doing a good job, but cautioned that arguments between the board and the community would make already vulnerable children feel less secure.
A local minister chastised the board for proposing layoffs at the same time it gave its acting executive director a $27,000 raise.
Board president Cindy S. Johnson was critical when an audience member shook his head at her ending comments.
"You can shake your head," Johnson said. "The easy decision would have been to keep spending."
Johnson said the agency has a good public image, despite a small number of critics.
"What we're finding is we're maintaining a positive image in the community as a whole," she said.
CSB will not ask voters to approve a levy in February as it had previously planned. Johnson said the board will instead decide at a later date whether to propose the issue at a special election in May, August or at the general election in November.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
'Lip service' in response to rallying and protests
CSB hears complaints from across the street -- expected cuts, potential layoffs protested
About 150 rally on eve of child-card agency meeting where cutbacks likely to be approved
Kymberli Hagelberg, Akron Beacon Journal, Oct. 24, 2006, Metro pg B1.
About 150 local residents, county child-care workers and community leaders attended a lunchtime rally Monday to voice their concerns about potential layoffs and budget cuts at Summit County Children Services.
The gathering was the latest in a series of protests from community groups who have criticized the agency for dismissing its former executive director, hiring outside legal and public relations help and giving the new agency chief a $27,000 raise to make her pay equal that of the dismissed agency chief.
The meeting drew speakers from Summit County Council, religious leaders, former agency workers and union officials.
Speakers shouted their comments through bullhorns at the rally across the street from the agency's South Akron headquarters.
Attendees objected to proposed cuts the agency has said it will make if a levy is not passed before the current one expires at the end of 2007.
When the levy expires, Children Services will have a $19 million surplus. Agency Finance Director Gary Binns has told the board it will face a $10 million to $12 million deficit by the end of 2008 without reductions in expenses.
Agency leaders have met in closed sessions to discuss potential layofffs, but have not been specific in public about the cutbacks.
However, a draft of the proposed budget, which is expected to be approved at tonight's meeting, calls for $823,000 in wage and benefit cuts.
"It doesn't look good," Rose Juriga, vice chairwoman of the group Coalition for the Children, said after the rally. "These cuts will hurt the care of kids and the mission of the agency. The budget is just a guillotine over the heads of the public to get a levy passed. There is no looming financial doomsday."
Katerina Papas, the CSB chief operating officer/acting executive director, was not at the agency yesterday afternoon and did not attend the rally. The agency released a written statement of support for the rally.
"We are gratified that so many individuals and groups share our goal of helping children," Papas said in the statement. "In fact, we are encouraged by the community's interest in helping us achieve our mission of serving the abused and neglected children of Summit County. We are faced with serious budget decisions, and we value the support and input of our employees and the community at large."
Juriga called the statement "sad. If she and the agency were so supportive, they would make themselves available for dialogue," she said. "Instead, they write a press release and otherwise turn a deaf ear."
Karen Leith, director of the interfaith group Call to Renewal, said the rally was held because the agency has refused numerous attempts to meet with the groups or to hold public hearings on the budget. "This was the only way we could lift our voices," Leith said.
County Council members held the agency's levy proposal off the November ballot because the group thought public support for the $33 million issue was unlikely. To make it on a special ballot in February, CSB would need to vote on its own budget tonight and have approval of the council no later than Nov. 27. Other special elections are possible in May and August.
Five county council members attended and spoke at the rally. Cazzell Smith, D-5, Akron, said the public would have a chance to have its say when the Children Services budget is presented to the council.
Nick Kostandaras, D-1, Richfield, said he would not support a budget that included layoffs and unfairly targeted union employees.
"The whole board should step down if is not up to doing its job, which is regaining public trust and operating in a way that is open to the public," Kostandaras said. "If they want to make financial cuts, they should start at the top."
The Children Services Board Resources Committee meets at 3 p.m. today to discuss details of the proposed budget, and will vote on the measure in its regular meeting at its full board meeting at 5:30 p.m. Both sessions at agency headquarters, 264 S. Arlington St., are open to the public.
About 150 rally on eve of child-card agency meeting where cutbacks likely to be approved
Kymberli Hagelberg, Akron Beacon Journal, Oct. 24, 2006, Metro pg B1.
About 150 local residents, county child-care workers and community leaders attended a lunchtime rally Monday to voice their concerns about potential layoffs and budget cuts at Summit County Children Services.
The gathering was the latest in a series of protests from community groups who have criticized the agency for dismissing its former executive director, hiring outside legal and public relations help and giving the new agency chief a $27,000 raise to make her pay equal that of the dismissed agency chief.
The meeting drew speakers from Summit County Council, religious leaders, former agency workers and union officials.
Speakers shouted their comments through bullhorns at the rally across the street from the agency's South Akron headquarters.
Attendees objected to proposed cuts the agency has said it will make if a levy is not passed before the current one expires at the end of 2007.
When the levy expires, Children Services will have a $19 million surplus. Agency Finance Director Gary Binns has told the board it will face a $10 million to $12 million deficit by the end of 2008 without reductions in expenses.
Agency leaders have met in closed sessions to discuss potential layofffs, but have not been specific in public about the cutbacks.
However, a draft of the proposed budget, which is expected to be approved at tonight's meeting, calls for $823,000 in wage and benefit cuts.
"It doesn't look good," Rose Juriga, vice chairwoman of the group Coalition for the Children, said after the rally. "These cuts will hurt the care of kids and the mission of the agency. The budget is just a guillotine over the heads of the public to get a levy passed. There is no looming financial doomsday."
Katerina Papas, the CSB chief operating officer/acting executive director, was not at the agency yesterday afternoon and did not attend the rally. The agency released a written statement of support for the rally.
"We are gratified that so many individuals and groups share our goal of helping children," Papas said in the statement. "In fact, we are encouraged by the community's interest in helping us achieve our mission of serving the abused and neglected children of Summit County. We are faced with serious budget decisions, and we value the support and input of our employees and the community at large."
Juriga called the statement "sad. If she and the agency were so supportive, they would make themselves available for dialogue," she said. "Instead, they write a press release and otherwise turn a deaf ear."
Karen Leith, director of the interfaith group Call to Renewal, said the rally was held because the agency has refused numerous attempts to meet with the groups or to hold public hearings on the budget. "This was the only way we could lift our voices," Leith said.
County Council members held the agency's levy proposal off the November ballot because the group thought public support for the $33 million issue was unlikely. To make it on a special ballot in February, CSB would need to vote on its own budget tonight and have approval of the council no later than Nov. 27. Other special elections are possible in May and August.
Five county council members attended and spoke at the rally. Cazzell Smith, D-5, Akron, said the public would have a chance to have its say when the Children Services budget is presented to the council.
Nick Kostandaras, D-1, Richfield, said he would not support a budget that included layoffs and unfairly targeted union employees.
"The whole board should step down if is not up to doing its job, which is regaining public trust and operating in a way that is open to the public," Kostandaras said. "If they want to make financial cuts, they should start at the top."
The Children Services Board Resources Committee meets at 3 p.m. today to discuss details of the proposed budget, and will vote on the measure in its regular meeting at its full board meeting at 5:30 p.m. Both sessions at agency headquarters, 264 S. Arlington St., are open to the public.
Advocates for abandoned, abused and neglected children
How to keep homeless children from becoming homeless adults: ProKids
Peter Bronson, Cincinnati Enquirer, Oct. 24, 2006, Editorial pg 7B
On a rainy Monday as I waited to turn left at Seventh and Elm, a 20-something guy in sagging, stained slacks swayed on the curb, then dipped and swayed across the street like a sailor on a pitching deck. I wondered: What career path gets you to high-mileage derelict before the age of 30?
Some of the answers can be found at a house on Kemper Lane, where the offices of ProKids are tucked into a quiet residential neighborhood. It's an unlikely place to find one of the last, best hopes for abandoned, abused and neglected kids. But there it is.
Cramped offices in former bedrooms are crowded with lawyers, counselors, volunteers, fund-raisers and supervisors who support more than 100 Court Appointed Special Advocates, who are guardian angels for kids lost in the system.
Some of those children are like the little boy in a ProKids video whose dream is to live with a real family and celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas again someday.
Or the one who had been shuffled around to so many foster homes he attended 10 schools by 10th grade.
They are taken from their families by the courts to protect them from child abuse, then "age out" of the system at 18 and have no safety net, no place to turn.
One day they're on medications, in therapy, living in a foster home, protected by the courts. The next day they're on the street.
"Two-thirds are unable to function," said ProKids Director Tracy Cook. "They're at great risk of homelessness and criminal activity."
It's easy to understand the passion of the ProKids team. Most of the children they see are victims of extreme abuse, casualties of the unseen wars behind front doors all over the city.
For 99 percent, abuse stops when they are assigned a CASA.
And while caseworkers at Child Protective Services each handle 20 children or far more, CASA volunteers handle only one or two.
They devote a few hours a week to phone or spend time with kids, to make sure they get therapy, get to school and get treated fairly in court.
About 1,100 children are in Hamilton County foster care. The lucky ones get help from ProKids. But 800 do not have CASAs.
Since the heartbreaking story of how Marcus Feisel was killed in foster care, volunteer training sessions have been standing room only, said Chris Santoro.
"After Marcus, we started getting inundated with calls," she said. They had more than 300 in August and September, compared with 200 for the rest of the year.
Callers are invited to a 45-minute "snapshot" session to learn how to donate or volunteer.
"We can't all be foster parents, but this is something we can do," said Santoro, who is herself a volunteer CASA.
ProKids tries to get children adopted, but many have problems. Only 77 were adopted in 2005.
Cook tells the story of one home where police made 17 domestic violence runs in two months. "I had this hope that my generation was going to do better, but the sad reality is that our generation is not doing better," she said.
People ask her if her job is depressing. "No. It's the most joyful thing in the world to help someone and leave the world a better place."
"This is something we can fix," said Ria Davidson, a public relations volunteer for ProKids. "It's doable."
She's right. Maybe someday abused kids won't wind up on the streets, drowning their pain in a bottle of something that is never as warm as a family.
How you can help
ProKids relies on donations from the United Way and other sources. Its biggest fund-raiser is an annual dinner and silent auction coming up Nov. 4.It costs $2,500 to support one child for a year.To donate or volunteer, call 513-487-6448.
Peter Bronson, Cincinnati Enquirer, Oct. 24, 2006, Editorial pg 7B
On a rainy Monday as I waited to turn left at Seventh and Elm, a 20-something guy in sagging, stained slacks swayed on the curb, then dipped and swayed across the street like a sailor on a pitching deck. I wondered: What career path gets you to high-mileage derelict before the age of 30?
Some of the answers can be found at a house on Kemper Lane, where the offices of ProKids are tucked into a quiet residential neighborhood. It's an unlikely place to find one of the last, best hopes for abandoned, abused and neglected kids. But there it is.
Cramped offices in former bedrooms are crowded with lawyers, counselors, volunteers, fund-raisers and supervisors who support more than 100 Court Appointed Special Advocates, who are guardian angels for kids lost in the system.
Some of those children are like the little boy in a ProKids video whose dream is to live with a real family and celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas again someday.
Or the one who had been shuffled around to so many foster homes he attended 10 schools by 10th grade.
They are taken from their families by the courts to protect them from child abuse, then "age out" of the system at 18 and have no safety net, no place to turn.
One day they're on medications, in therapy, living in a foster home, protected by the courts. The next day they're on the street.
"Two-thirds are unable to function," said ProKids Director Tracy Cook. "They're at great risk of homelessness and criminal activity."
It's easy to understand the passion of the ProKids team. Most of the children they see are victims of extreme abuse, casualties of the unseen wars behind front doors all over the city.
For 99 percent, abuse stops when they are assigned a CASA.
And while caseworkers at Child Protective Services each handle 20 children or far more, CASA volunteers handle only one or two.
They devote a few hours a week to phone or spend time with kids, to make sure they get therapy, get to school and get treated fairly in court.
About 1,100 children are in Hamilton County foster care. The lucky ones get help from ProKids. But 800 do not have CASAs.
Since the heartbreaking story of how Marcus Feisel was killed in foster care, volunteer training sessions have been standing room only, said Chris Santoro.
"After Marcus, we started getting inundated with calls," she said. They had more than 300 in August and September, compared with 200 for the rest of the year.
Callers are invited to a 45-minute "snapshot" session to learn how to donate or volunteer.
"We can't all be foster parents, but this is something we can do," said Santoro, who is herself a volunteer CASA.
ProKids tries to get children adopted, but many have problems. Only 77 were adopted in 2005.
Cook tells the story of one home where police made 17 domestic violence runs in two months. "I had this hope that my generation was going to do better, but the sad reality is that our generation is not doing better," she said.
People ask her if her job is depressing. "No. It's the most joyful thing in the world to help someone and leave the world a better place."
"This is something we can fix," said Ria Davidson, a public relations volunteer for ProKids. "It's doable."
She's right. Maybe someday abused kids won't wind up on the streets, drowning their pain in a bottle of something that is never as warm as a family.
How you can help
ProKids relies on donations from the United Way and other sources. Its biggest fund-raiser is an annual dinner and silent auction coming up Nov. 4.It costs $2,500 to support one child for a year.To donate or volunteer, call 513-487-6448.
Consider changes in state law and Ohio's child protection system
Result of Marcus probe due:
Investigation into boy's death
Candice Brooks, Hamilton Journal, Oct. 24, 2006, News pg. A2.
The results of a state investigation sparked by the death of 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel in foster care could be released this week, state officials said Monday.
Authorities said in late August the former Middletown developmentally disabled boy had not disappeared in an Anderson Township park as his foster parents earlier told police. Rather, he died locked in a closet as early as Aug. 6 while the Clermont County couple attended a family reunion in Kentucky, officials said.
The foster parents, Liz and David Carroll Jr., are in the Clermont County Jail, each on a $10.1 million bond after being charged with murder and other crimes.
Meanwhile, spectators and public officials in the tri-state are asking what child welfare agencies could have done to prevent Marcus' death. The Butler County Children Services Board was the primary agency responsible for keeping Marcus safe.
Lifeway for Youth got the Carrolls licensed as foster parents and selected the couple for Marcus' placement. Hamilton County Job and Family Services licensed the Carrolls as day care providers and would have been responsible to investigate allegations of abuse at the home.
The state Department of Job and Family Services' findings could mean changes at the three agencies reviewed, but even broader reforms to Ohio's child protection system.
Though the state conducts reviews in the aftermath of a child fatality, "this is on a bigger scale," said Dennis Evans, spokesman for the state office.
"It's an opportunity to look at all levels to ensure that the existing policies are sufficient or whether or not they need to be strengthened," Evans said. "It might require changes to state law."
Typically, a state review is limited to combing through paperwork to identify areas of noncompliance with state regulations, Evans said. Agencies are then expected to develop an corrective action plan within a given period or risk further sanctions.
However, such a limited scope may leave gaps overlooked. For example, a Lifeway for Youth caseworker visited the Carroll's home Aug. 10, but left without seeing Marcus or verifying his safety. However, the visit was made and, therefore, regulations were not broken, said Michael Berner, executive director of the private placement agency.
Whatever the findings by the state, Berner said Lifeway will and must respond to them.
Investigation into boy's death
Candice Brooks, Hamilton Journal, Oct. 24, 2006, News pg. A2.
The results of a state investigation sparked by the death of 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel in foster care could be released this week, state officials said Monday.
Authorities said in late August the former Middletown developmentally disabled boy had not disappeared in an Anderson Township park as his foster parents earlier told police. Rather, he died locked in a closet as early as Aug. 6 while the Clermont County couple attended a family reunion in Kentucky, officials said.
The foster parents, Liz and David Carroll Jr., are in the Clermont County Jail, each on a $10.1 million bond after being charged with murder and other crimes.
Meanwhile, spectators and public officials in the tri-state are asking what child welfare agencies could have done to prevent Marcus' death. The Butler County Children Services Board was the primary agency responsible for keeping Marcus safe.
Lifeway for Youth got the Carrolls licensed as foster parents and selected the couple for Marcus' placement. Hamilton County Job and Family Services licensed the Carrolls as day care providers and would have been responsible to investigate allegations of abuse at the home.
The state Department of Job and Family Services' findings could mean changes at the three agencies reviewed, but even broader reforms to Ohio's child protection system.
Though the state conducts reviews in the aftermath of a child fatality, "this is on a bigger scale," said Dennis Evans, spokesman for the state office.
"It's an opportunity to look at all levels to ensure that the existing policies are sufficient or whether or not they need to be strengthened," Evans said. "It might require changes to state law."
Typically, a state review is limited to combing through paperwork to identify areas of noncompliance with state regulations, Evans said. Agencies are then expected to develop an corrective action plan within a given period or risk further sanctions.
However, such a limited scope may leave gaps overlooked. For example, a Lifeway for Youth caseworker visited the Carroll's home Aug. 10, but left without seeing Marcus or verifying his safety. However, the visit was made and, therefore, regulations were not broken, said Michael Berner, executive director of the private placement agency.
Whatever the findings by the state, Berner said Lifeway will and must respond to them.
Insights into adoption, attachment, adjustment issues
At fair, learn how to cut stress in adoption
John Johnston, Cincinnati Enquirer online
Adoption can be a great way to build a family, but adoptive parents must understand that it's different from raising a birth child, Debbie Joy says.
She will discuss attachment and adjustment issues in her keynote address Saturday at the Celebrating Families Conference, held in conjunction with the Tristate Adoption Fair, at Vineyard Community Church in Springdale. Joy is a licensed professional clinical counselor in private practice in East Walnut Hills, and she specializes in adoption issues.
"You cannot move babies from family to family without creating trauma," Joy says. "And when you create trauma and don't manage it well, it (worsens)."
Such trauma happens in both infants and older children, she says.
"With older children, we can explain what's going on, read them stories, draw pictures. All the baby has is feelings. You pick them up, and they avert their eyes and stiffen and cry."
Generally, children are dealing with grief, separation and loss issues most intensely in the first year of a placement, she says. But it varies. "Some kids are more resilient, and they adapt quickly. Other kids are more sensitive, and they adapt more slowly."
Those issues might arise again at various stages of a child's development, Joy says. Going to kindergarten can stir up feelings of loss in an adopted child; the onset of adolescence can bring with it questions and concerns.
The good news is that such challenges can be managed. Adoption "is really a win-win situation," Joy says. "It's just we want people to understand the issues so they're not blindsided by things they thought would never happen."
John Johnston, Cincinnati Enquirer online
Adoption can be a great way to build a family, but adoptive parents must understand that it's different from raising a birth child, Debbie Joy says.
She will discuss attachment and adjustment issues in her keynote address Saturday at the Celebrating Families Conference, held in conjunction with the Tristate Adoption Fair, at Vineyard Community Church in Springdale. Joy is a licensed professional clinical counselor in private practice in East Walnut Hills, and she specializes in adoption issues.
"You cannot move babies from family to family without creating trauma," Joy says. "And when you create trauma and don't manage it well, it (worsens)."
Such trauma happens in both infants and older children, she says.
"With older children, we can explain what's going on, read them stories, draw pictures. All the baby has is feelings. You pick them up, and they avert their eyes and stiffen and cry."
Generally, children are dealing with grief, separation and loss issues most intensely in the first year of a placement, she says. But it varies. "Some kids are more resilient, and they adapt quickly. Other kids are more sensitive, and they adapt more slowly."
Those issues might arise again at various stages of a child's development, Joy says. Going to kindergarten can stir up feelings of loss in an adopted child; the onset of adolescence can bring with it questions and concerns.
The good news is that such challenges can be managed. Adoption "is really a win-win situation," Joy says. "It's just we want people to understand the issues so they're not blindsided by things they thought would never happen."
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Concern over cases dealing with child custody, abuse and neglect
Briscoe and Gill both advocate reforms
Alayna DeMartini, Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 22, 2006, News pg 5D.
Colleen H. Briscoe
Age: 54
Residence: 7582 S. Goodrich Square, New Albany
Party: Republican
Occupation: lawyer
Education: bachelor's degree, Miami University; law degree, Capital University
Experience: mayor of New Albany, 1996-2003; Village Council member, 2004-2006
Family: married, two children
Religion: Presbyterian
Elizabeth Gill
Age: 44
Residence: 90 E. Mithoff St., Columbus
Party: Democrat
Occupation: lawyer
Education: bachelor's degree, University of Cincinnati; law degree, Ohio State University
Experience: 18 years in private practice
Family: divorced
Religion: Roman Catholic
Frustration led Elizabeth Gill to enter the race for a judge's seat on the Franklin County Common Pleas Court's Domestic Division.
As she sees it, "Juvenile and domestic-relations court is becoming more a part of the problem than a part of the solution."
Cases -- especially those dealing with child custody, abuse and neglect -- take far too long to be resolved, she said. Backing her up is a recent Ohio Supreme Court review of the court that reached the same conclusion.
Colleen H. Briscoe, Gill's opponent, agrees that the organization of the court should be examined with the goal of improving case flow. Evaluating the need for additional judges, magistrates and courtroom space is a key step, she said.
Briscoe advocates the assignment of the same magistrate and judge to all cases involving the same family. That would enable the court to make the wisest decisions about the help the family needs and avoid duplication of services.
"Whenever you're dealing with families, you have to look at the big picture," she said. "You don't want to be assigning multiple programs when one is working."
Briscoe, a Republican, and Gill, a Democrat, are vying to succeed Judge Kay Lias, a Republican. The six-year term begins Jan. 1 and pays $116,100 annually.
After 18 years as a lawyer, Gill wants to be one of the decision-makers to help bring about change.
"As my dad used to say, you can have all the great ideas in the world, but if you're not willing to put yourself out for them, they don't matter," she said.
Gill said she would push for having elected judges decide cases in which parents could lose permanent custody of their children. Those cases now are handled by visiting judges, who work part time and have limited availability, thus prolonging cases. Meanwhile, the children might be in foster care, uncertain who will be raising them.
Other ways to speed up the resolution of cases include not allowing lawyers to be granted trial or hearing delays and discontinuing the practice of judges and magistrates scheduling multiple cases at the same time, Gill said. The "cattle call" approach results in lawyers and clients sometimes waiting for hours for cases to be heard, she said.
Gill said she wouldn't expect to make sweeping changes in the court in just one six-year term. But, she pointed out, "Change can start in one courtroom."
Briscoe, too, is in favor of staggering court hearings instead of scheduling several in the same time slot and using the first-come-first-served method.
One challenge to having hearings start on time is getting all the lawyers, guardians and social workers to converge, Briscoe said. That problem might be eased if lawyers and child-welfare workers were assigned to the same courtroom, she said.
Adopting a schedule for resolving each case soon after it's filed also would help move the cases along, Briscoe said. She said she would make herself available to attorneys to see how cases are progressing and increase the odds of resolving matters sooner.
Briscoe said her 25 years of experience as a former prosecutor, defense attorney and magistrate would make her an effective judge.
As she put it: "I have reached a point in my life that I can listen to people, even though at first blush I cannot agree with them. I can hear them out."
Alayna DeMartini, Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 22, 2006, News pg 5D.
Colleen H. Briscoe
Age: 54
Residence: 7582 S. Goodrich Square, New Albany
Party: Republican
Occupation: lawyer
Education: bachelor's degree, Miami University; law degree, Capital University
Experience: mayor of New Albany, 1996-2003; Village Council member, 2004-2006
Family: married, two children
Religion: Presbyterian
Elizabeth Gill
Age: 44
Residence: 90 E. Mithoff St., Columbus
Party: Democrat
Occupation: lawyer
Education: bachelor's degree, University of Cincinnati; law degree, Ohio State University
Experience: 18 years in private practice
Family: divorced
Religion: Roman Catholic
Frustration led Elizabeth Gill to enter the race for a judge's seat on the Franklin County Common Pleas Court's Domestic Division.
As she sees it, "Juvenile and domestic-relations court is becoming more a part of the problem than a part of the solution."
Cases -- especially those dealing with child custody, abuse and neglect -- take far too long to be resolved, she said. Backing her up is a recent Ohio Supreme Court review of the court that reached the same conclusion.
Colleen H. Briscoe, Gill's opponent, agrees that the organization of the court should be examined with the goal of improving case flow. Evaluating the need for additional judges, magistrates and courtroom space is a key step, she said.
Briscoe advocates the assignment of the same magistrate and judge to all cases involving the same family. That would enable the court to make the wisest decisions about the help the family needs and avoid duplication of services.
"Whenever you're dealing with families, you have to look at the big picture," she said. "You don't want to be assigning multiple programs when one is working."
Briscoe, a Republican, and Gill, a Democrat, are vying to succeed Judge Kay Lias, a Republican. The six-year term begins Jan. 1 and pays $116,100 annually.
After 18 years as a lawyer, Gill wants to be one of the decision-makers to help bring about change.
"As my dad used to say, you can have all the great ideas in the world, but if you're not willing to put yourself out for them, they don't matter," she said.
Gill said she would push for having elected judges decide cases in which parents could lose permanent custody of their children. Those cases now are handled by visiting judges, who work part time and have limited availability, thus prolonging cases. Meanwhile, the children might be in foster care, uncertain who will be raising them.
Other ways to speed up the resolution of cases include not allowing lawyers to be granted trial or hearing delays and discontinuing the practice of judges and magistrates scheduling multiple cases at the same time, Gill said. The "cattle call" approach results in lawyers and clients sometimes waiting for hours for cases to be heard, she said.
Gill said she wouldn't expect to make sweeping changes in the court in just one six-year term. But, she pointed out, "Change can start in one courtroom."
Briscoe, too, is in favor of staggering court hearings instead of scheduling several in the same time slot and using the first-come-first-served method.
One challenge to having hearings start on time is getting all the lawyers, guardians and social workers to converge, Briscoe said. That problem might be eased if lawyers and child-welfare workers were assigned to the same courtroom, she said.
Adopting a schedule for resolving each case soon after it's filed also would help move the cases along, Briscoe said. She said she would make herself available to attorneys to see how cases are progressing and increase the odds of resolving matters sooner.
Briscoe said her 25 years of experience as a former prosecutor, defense attorney and magistrate would make her an effective judge.
As she put it: "I have reached a point in my life that I can listen to people, even though at first blush I cannot agree with them. I can hear them out."
Monday, October 23, 2006
Sex is more than whether or not you get pregnant or catch a disease
Sex-ed program is a smart move
Regina Brett, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Oct. 22, 2006, Metro pg 1B.
Think B 4 U love."
"Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder."
"Love is worth waiting for."
"Control your urgin', stay a virgin."
"Pet your dog, not your date."
"Just say whoa."
That's the T-shirt version of abstinence education.
I haven't seen the official abstinence portion of the new sex-education curriculum being introduced in Cleveland schools, but I applaud the mayor, the county, the schools and the agencies that came together to get it going so quickly.
Teen pregnancy is one of the biggest causes of poverty. When a teen has a baby, two people, sometimes three, end up poor.
Cleveland city schools already offer sex education in some grades. The new curriculum will offer age-appropriate sex education from kindergarten through high school.
The new lesson plan is win-win for everybody. Both abstinence and contraception will be taught, which is the best approach.
You don't have to hand kids T-shirts that say "Virgin Territory" or "No Trespassing," which look more like welcome mats to those walking hormones we call teenagers.
You don't have to have kids sign virginity pledges that say "True Love Waits." But if it helps, go for it.
But we do have to teach abstinence. It's the only birth control that is 100 percent effective every time.
The pill, condoms and other birth-control methods will reduce teen pregnancy, but we should start off by acknowledging that the ideal is to wait until marriage to have sex. Even if their parents didn't. Even if their friends don't.
Why should teens delay sex?
So they won't get chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, HIV or AIDS.
They won't get pregnant and alter the course of their lives forever.
They won't have to choose between abortion, adoption or raising a child before they finish being one.
How long should they wait? Until marriage, if possible. Or until they're an adult in a committed relationship. At least until they're mature enough to talk to their parents about birth control and preventing disease.
The only problem with the new sex education is the same problem the old one had:
Participation is voluntary.
Why not make it mandatory?
Parents and kids shouldn't be allowed to opt out.
Teen sex isn't a private matter, not when it devastates society.
Sex education shouldn't be optional any more than multiplication tables or the periodic table.
All teens need to know that they can get pregnant the first time they have intercourse.
That they can get pregnant even if the guy pulls out. That they can get pregnant even if it's during their period. That they can get an STD even if they only had oral sex. That everyone is NOT doing it, contrary to what music, videos and movies suggest.
Sex education will also end sexual ignorance, which is killing the unborn at astronomical rates.
Abortion is a tragedy for everyone, the mother, the father, the life exterminated.
You want to get rid of abortion? Prevent unplanned pregnancies.
You do that by educating teens about condoms and other contraceptives.
You do that by teaching them that abstinence isn't the only choice, but it is the best one.
Regina Brett, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Oct. 22, 2006, Metro pg 1B.
Think B 4 U love."
"Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder."
"Love is worth waiting for."
"Control your urgin', stay a virgin."
"Pet your dog, not your date."
"Just say whoa."
That's the T-shirt version of abstinence education.
I haven't seen the official abstinence portion of the new sex-education curriculum being introduced in Cleveland schools, but I applaud the mayor, the county, the schools and the agencies that came together to get it going so quickly.
Teen pregnancy is one of the biggest causes of poverty. When a teen has a baby, two people, sometimes three, end up poor.
Cleveland city schools already offer sex education in some grades. The new curriculum will offer age-appropriate sex education from kindergarten through high school.
The new lesson plan is win-win for everybody. Both abstinence and contraception will be taught, which is the best approach.
You don't have to hand kids T-shirts that say "Virgin Territory" or "No Trespassing," which look more like welcome mats to those walking hormones we call teenagers.
You don't have to have kids sign virginity pledges that say "True Love Waits." But if it helps, go for it.
But we do have to teach abstinence. It's the only birth control that is 100 percent effective every time.
The pill, condoms and other birth-control methods will reduce teen pregnancy, but we should start off by acknowledging that the ideal is to wait until marriage to have sex. Even if their parents didn't. Even if their friends don't.
Why should teens delay sex?
So they won't get chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, HIV or AIDS.
They won't get pregnant and alter the course of their lives forever.
They won't have to choose between abortion, adoption or raising a child before they finish being one.
How long should they wait? Until marriage, if possible. Or until they're an adult in a committed relationship. At least until they're mature enough to talk to their parents about birth control and preventing disease.
The only problem with the new sex education is the same problem the old one had:
Participation is voluntary.
Why not make it mandatory?
Parents and kids shouldn't be allowed to opt out.
Teen sex isn't a private matter, not when it devastates society.
Sex education shouldn't be optional any more than multiplication tables or the periodic table.
All teens need to know that they can get pregnant the first time they have intercourse.
That they can get pregnant even if the guy pulls out. That they can get pregnant even if it's during their period. That they can get an STD even if they only had oral sex. That everyone is NOT doing it, contrary to what music, videos and movies suggest.
Sex education will also end sexual ignorance, which is killing the unborn at astronomical rates.
Abortion is a tragedy for everyone, the mother, the father, the life exterminated.
You want to get rid of abortion? Prevent unplanned pregnancies.
You do that by educating teens about condoms and other contraceptives.
You do that by teaching them that abstinence isn't the only choice, but it is the best one.
Limited access to mental health services
Mental health's coverage crisis:
Often, familes with mentally ill children must choose poverty
Peggy O'Farrell, Cincinnati Enquirer, Oct. 22, 2006, News pg 1A.
Yvetta Collins stood on the edge of a roof, convinced that jumping to her death was the only way to get her mentally ill daughter the help she needed.
Dozens of hospital stays had exhausted insurance benefits for 11-year-old Linzi. Collins made too much money to qualify for public help. She owed thousands of dollars to doctors and hospitals.
And she was sure she was about to lose her job with the University of Cincinnati Police Department because her daughter's illness took her away from work so often.
"I thought, 'If I take myself out, somebody will have to help Linzi,' " Collins says.
Collins didn't jump that night five years ago. She couldn't figure out how to ask God to forgive her.
But the solution she reached was almost as drastic. She quit her job and went on welfare so her daughter, who has bipolar disorder, would qualify for Medicaid.
Now, the state pays for Linzi Collins' care - more than $22,000 since last year.
Linzi is one of an estimated 430,000 people in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky who have a mental illness. Many of them - and their families - are frustrated and scared by a U.S. health insurance system that pays less to treat people who suffer from mental illness than it does to treat patients with physical ailments like arthritis and diabetes. Now, the system may be squeezing them more.
Ohio lawmakers are considering a plan that would require employers to cover at least nominal mental health costs, but a loophole would let employers opt out of that.
Anthem, the region's largest health insurer, is cutting reimbursements to psychologists and some therapists, a move that may make it harder for people to get mental-care help. All this is coming while patient loads are rising.
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center treated children with mental health needs for a total 29,000 patient days in the year that ended June 30 - a 66 percent increase from just three years before.
At the same time, the number of licensed psychiatrists in the region has dropped slightly, to 241 this year in Hamilton, Butler, Warren and Clermont counties.
Peter Mattson, 15, of Finneytown can swing from deep depression to irrational elation when his bipolar disorder is at its worst. His parents' health insurance covers the cost of 60 days in a hospital for Peter's mental illness - but that's the lifetime limit. Peter exhausted that coverage when he was 9.
"If you have cancer, that's caused by a defect in your body. You can't help that. You can't stop that. You can't prevent it yet," Peter says. "If you have a mental illness, we think that's caused by a defect in your body. But insurance companies cover cancer. You can get thousands and millions and millions of dollars for help with cancer. But there's nothing for mental illness. You can't help cancer and you can't help mental illness, so what's the big difference?"
Tough choices
Workers across the region are starting to pick among possible health plans for 2007, in the annual end-of-year exercise known as "open enrollment." Workers with family mental health issues are especially careful.
Thirty-eight states, including Kentucky, require insurers to provide at least some level of mental health coverage. But typically, plans limit payment for mental health care to a set number of therapy visits and hospital days.
Insurance might pay for an individual to have 30 mental health therapy visits a year while giving unlimited coverage for visits to a cardiologist or diabetes specialist.
Ohio does not even require health plans in the state to cover mental health, although most do.
A proposal in the legislature would require employers who offer insurance to cover at least $550 worth of costs a year to treat mental illness or drug or alcohol abuse. But employers could opt out of that coverage if they can show it would increase their costs by 1 percent.
Families of mentally ill children are often hit hardest, says Mike Sherbun, a psychologist and senior clinical director for psychiatry patient services at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.
Kids with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, for example, often need more intensive services, including hospitalization, than adults, and can quickly exhaust mental health coverage under their parents' health insurance plans. It's not uncommon for one parent to quit working to care for a child.
"You have to accept that if you have a child with any kind of chronic illness in the mental health area that you're going to be impoverished," Sherbun says.
Families can choose, like Collins, to give up jobs and private insurance and go on state assistance, or to give up custody of their children and let the state take over their care, Sherbun says. "That's a hell of a choice to have to make," he adds.
The National Institute on Mental Health estimates that one in five Americans has a diagnosable mental illness - which also is the No. 1 cause of disability.
A 1999 report from the U.S. Surgeon General found that a family needing $35,000 in medical costs to treat a physical illness would pay $1,500 and insurance would pick up the rest. A family with the same medical costs for mental health treatment would pay $12,000.
Mental health therapy can cost more than $100 an hour, hospitals can cost up to $1,000 a day, and prescriptions can run more than $100 a month.
Collins estimates that she owes $30,000 to $50,000 because of Linzi's illness, including a car loan she defaulted on because of medical bills.
Economical coverage?
Mental and physical health have been covered at different levels since managed care came into vogue in the 1980s. Insurers claim providers abused the system by submitting false bills. But advocates for the mentally ill maintain that too many people still see mental illness as a character or moral flaw, not a treatable illness.
In today's world, advocates say unequal coverage makes no sense.
"Mental illnesses are just as debilitating and just as treatable as any chronic illness," says Gary Goetz, vice president of operations for NorthKey Community Care, which serves 8,200 mentally ill people in Northern Kentucky.
He says it's frustrating that people with chronic mental illness can't get the help they need because it's out of their financial reach. Insurers and employers say requiring them to offer equal coverage is too expensive and could force some employers to drop insurance.
But studies show that equal coverage would increase most employers' costs by less than 4 percent, says Janice Bogner, a program officer for the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati.
Some employers would see increases of only 1 to 2 percent, says Sharron DiMario, president and executive director of the Employer Health Care Alliance, which represents employer health-care purchasers. That's a small increase, she says, but "it adds up to higher costs for employers, who already have been experiencing increases.
And where do some of these increases end up?
"They get passed along to consumers." Jim Mauro, executive director of NAMI of Ohio, an advocacy group for the mentally ill and their families, says consumers already pick up the tab for unreimbursed mental health treatment.
"The reality is we're paying for all of this anyway, with increasing costs for penal systems, ER visits, police intervention, all of those things that impact our entire society," Mauro says. "When you get people into treatment, you avoid all of these issues that we're going to pay for no matter what."
Out of reach
Families affected by mental illness say they're limited, too, by the availability of care. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, which covers 500,000 members in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, is cutting its reimbursements to psychologists by 20 percent on Nov. 1.
Reimbursements to other therapists, including licensed clinical social workers, also will be cut.
James Brush, a child psychologist in Monfort Heights, says the cuts will force him out of Anthem's network. That means his patients who are covered by Anthem will have to find new therapists if they want to stay "in network," where costs to them are cheapest.
But many therapists' offices already have long waiting lists.
Paul Beckman, vice president for health care management for Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield for Southern Ohio, says the cuts will bring area reimbursements in line with those paid to therapists in the rest of Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. The company now reimburses psychologists about $80 for a regular therapy session; that will drop to about $60.
For Collins, the issue of equal benefits is clear-cut. She had two other jobs after she left UC, but she had to leave each one to take care of Linzi. She also couldn't afford to keep working and pay for her daughter's treatment out-of-pocket. Before she stopped working, she made about $40,000 a year.
To cover Linzi's care, Collins estimates she'd need to earn more than $5,000 a month, or $60,000 a year. Some months, when Linzi needs hospitalization, her income would have to be $10,000 a month.
Collins was desperate when she stood on that rooftop on the UC campus and considered suicide as her only option for helping her daughter. Now she credits her faith with giving her the strength to keep caring for her daughter.
She knows some people will criticize her decision to go on welfare. She and Linzi, now 16, live in a subsidized apartment in North Avondale. Their income is $900 a month, including $80 a month in food stamps.
The situation isn't great, she says, but "we have a roof over our head. There was a time when I thought we'd be homeless. I thought we'd be down in a shelter."
BY THE NUMBERS
1 Mental illness' rank for causing disability in the U.S.
20 percent Americans diagnosed with mental illness
36 percent Ohioans who detect symptoms of mental illness in family, friends or co-workers
Sources: National Alliance on Mental Illness, Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati
Often, familes with mentally ill children must choose poverty
Peggy O'Farrell, Cincinnati Enquirer, Oct. 22, 2006, News pg 1A.
Yvetta Collins stood on the edge of a roof, convinced that jumping to her death was the only way to get her mentally ill daughter the help she needed.
Dozens of hospital stays had exhausted insurance benefits for 11-year-old Linzi. Collins made too much money to qualify for public help. She owed thousands of dollars to doctors and hospitals.
And she was sure she was about to lose her job with the University of Cincinnati Police Department because her daughter's illness took her away from work so often.
"I thought, 'If I take myself out, somebody will have to help Linzi,' " Collins says.
Collins didn't jump that night five years ago. She couldn't figure out how to ask God to forgive her.
But the solution she reached was almost as drastic. She quit her job and went on welfare so her daughter, who has bipolar disorder, would qualify for Medicaid.
Now, the state pays for Linzi Collins' care - more than $22,000 since last year.
Linzi is one of an estimated 430,000 people in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky who have a mental illness. Many of them - and their families - are frustrated and scared by a U.S. health insurance system that pays less to treat people who suffer from mental illness than it does to treat patients with physical ailments like arthritis and diabetes. Now, the system may be squeezing them more.
Ohio lawmakers are considering a plan that would require employers to cover at least nominal mental health costs, but a loophole would let employers opt out of that.
Anthem, the region's largest health insurer, is cutting reimbursements to psychologists and some therapists, a move that may make it harder for people to get mental-care help. All this is coming while patient loads are rising.
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center treated children with mental health needs for a total 29,000 patient days in the year that ended June 30 - a 66 percent increase from just three years before.
At the same time, the number of licensed psychiatrists in the region has dropped slightly, to 241 this year in Hamilton, Butler, Warren and Clermont counties.
Peter Mattson, 15, of Finneytown can swing from deep depression to irrational elation when his bipolar disorder is at its worst. His parents' health insurance covers the cost of 60 days in a hospital for Peter's mental illness - but that's the lifetime limit. Peter exhausted that coverage when he was 9.
"If you have cancer, that's caused by a defect in your body. You can't help that. You can't stop that. You can't prevent it yet," Peter says. "If you have a mental illness, we think that's caused by a defect in your body. But insurance companies cover cancer. You can get thousands and millions and millions of dollars for help with cancer. But there's nothing for mental illness. You can't help cancer and you can't help mental illness, so what's the big difference?"
Tough choices
Workers across the region are starting to pick among possible health plans for 2007, in the annual end-of-year exercise known as "open enrollment." Workers with family mental health issues are especially careful.
Thirty-eight states, including Kentucky, require insurers to provide at least some level of mental health coverage. But typically, plans limit payment for mental health care to a set number of therapy visits and hospital days.
Insurance might pay for an individual to have 30 mental health therapy visits a year while giving unlimited coverage for visits to a cardiologist or diabetes specialist.
Ohio does not even require health plans in the state to cover mental health, although most do.
A proposal in the legislature would require employers who offer insurance to cover at least $550 worth of costs a year to treat mental illness or drug or alcohol abuse. But employers could opt out of that coverage if they can show it would increase their costs by 1 percent.
Families of mentally ill children are often hit hardest, says Mike Sherbun, a psychologist and senior clinical director for psychiatry patient services at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.
Kids with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, for example, often need more intensive services, including hospitalization, than adults, and can quickly exhaust mental health coverage under their parents' health insurance plans. It's not uncommon for one parent to quit working to care for a child.
"You have to accept that if you have a child with any kind of chronic illness in the mental health area that you're going to be impoverished," Sherbun says.
Families can choose, like Collins, to give up jobs and private insurance and go on state assistance, or to give up custody of their children and let the state take over their care, Sherbun says. "That's a hell of a choice to have to make," he adds.
The National Institute on Mental Health estimates that one in five Americans has a diagnosable mental illness - which also is the No. 1 cause of disability.
A 1999 report from the U.S. Surgeon General found that a family needing $35,000 in medical costs to treat a physical illness would pay $1,500 and insurance would pick up the rest. A family with the same medical costs for mental health treatment would pay $12,000.
Mental health therapy can cost more than $100 an hour, hospitals can cost up to $1,000 a day, and prescriptions can run more than $100 a month.
Collins estimates that she owes $30,000 to $50,000 because of Linzi's illness, including a car loan she defaulted on because of medical bills.
Economical coverage?
Mental and physical health have been covered at different levels since managed care came into vogue in the 1980s. Insurers claim providers abused the system by submitting false bills. But advocates for the mentally ill maintain that too many people still see mental illness as a character or moral flaw, not a treatable illness.
In today's world, advocates say unequal coverage makes no sense.
"Mental illnesses are just as debilitating and just as treatable as any chronic illness," says Gary Goetz, vice president of operations for NorthKey Community Care, which serves 8,200 mentally ill people in Northern Kentucky.
He says it's frustrating that people with chronic mental illness can't get the help they need because it's out of their financial reach. Insurers and employers say requiring them to offer equal coverage is too expensive and could force some employers to drop insurance.
But studies show that equal coverage would increase most employers' costs by less than 4 percent, says Janice Bogner, a program officer for the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati.
Some employers would see increases of only 1 to 2 percent, says Sharron DiMario, president and executive director of the Employer Health Care Alliance, which represents employer health-care purchasers. That's a small increase, she says, but "it adds up to higher costs for employers, who already have been experiencing increases.
And where do some of these increases end up?
"They get passed along to consumers." Jim Mauro, executive director of NAMI of Ohio, an advocacy group for the mentally ill and their families, says consumers already pick up the tab for unreimbursed mental health treatment.
"The reality is we're paying for all of this anyway, with increasing costs for penal systems, ER visits, police intervention, all of those things that impact our entire society," Mauro says. "When you get people into treatment, you avoid all of these issues that we're going to pay for no matter what."
Out of reach
Families affected by mental illness say they're limited, too, by the availability of care. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, which covers 500,000 members in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, is cutting its reimbursements to psychologists by 20 percent on Nov. 1.
Reimbursements to other therapists, including licensed clinical social workers, also will be cut.
James Brush, a child psychologist in Monfort Heights, says the cuts will force him out of Anthem's network. That means his patients who are covered by Anthem will have to find new therapists if they want to stay "in network," where costs to them are cheapest.
But many therapists' offices already have long waiting lists.
Paul Beckman, vice president for health care management for Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield for Southern Ohio, says the cuts will bring area reimbursements in line with those paid to therapists in the rest of Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. The company now reimburses psychologists about $80 for a regular therapy session; that will drop to about $60.
For Collins, the issue of equal benefits is clear-cut. She had two other jobs after she left UC, but she had to leave each one to take care of Linzi. She also couldn't afford to keep working and pay for her daughter's treatment out-of-pocket. Before she stopped working, she made about $40,000 a year.
To cover Linzi's care, Collins estimates she'd need to earn more than $5,000 a month, or $60,000 a year. Some months, when Linzi needs hospitalization, her income would have to be $10,000 a month.
Collins was desperate when she stood on that rooftop on the UC campus and considered suicide as her only option for helping her daughter. Now she credits her faith with giving her the strength to keep caring for her daughter.
She knows some people will criticize her decision to go on welfare. She and Linzi, now 16, live in a subsidized apartment in North Avondale. Their income is $900 a month, including $80 a month in food stamps.
The situation isn't great, she says, but "we have a roof over our head. There was a time when I thought we'd be homeless. I thought we'd be down in a shelter."
BY THE NUMBERS
1 Mental illness' rank for causing disability in the U.S.
20 percent Americans diagnosed with mental illness
36 percent Ohioans who detect symptoms of mental illness in family, friends or co-workers
Sources: National Alliance on Mental Illness, Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati
Emails corroborate allegations against Jaysen Bell
Foster father abused of abuse:
Lifeway agency placed children in 'dream home'
William Weathers, Cincinnati Enquirer, Oct. 20, 2006, Metro pg. 1C.
AMELIA - A longtime Amelia foster father has been charged with sexually abusing two boys who were in his care. Jaysen W. Bell, 31, of the 1200 block of Beechwood Drive, was charged Wednesday in an eight-count indictment by a Clermont County grand jury.
Bell is charged with rape, three counts of sexual battery, gross imposition and three counts of sexual imposition.
The charges involve two boys - one from Warren County and one from Butler County - who were placed in the foster home by Lifeway for Youth, a private firm that handles foster cases under contract with child protection agencies, Amelia Police Chief Jeffrey Sucher said Thursday.
The charges cover offenses that, according to the indictment, occurred at Bell's residence from July 2003 through June 2006.
The investigation was under way during the August search for 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel and the subsequent murder indictment of his foster parents, David and Liz Carroll. They also were recruited by Lifeway, which came under severe criticism for inadequate screening of applicants.
A state investigation of Lifeway's performance is continuing. The state also is investigating how much caseworkers knew about the Carrolls' background and whether the children were being properly monitored.
Lifeway and Butler County children services officials have said they did nothing wrong and that the Carrolls duped everyone.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services is expected to release the results of its investigation next week.
Amelia police began an investigation in June after one of the boys - who was no longer in the Bell residence and is now in a permanent foster home - confided in a Goshen police officer who attends the same church, Sucher said.
"The boy had enough courage to come forward in June," said Amelia Officer Jeff Wood, who investigated the allegations.
The Goshen officer contacted Amelia police and an investigation began. It included the execution of a search warrant at the Bell residence, Sucher said. E-mails between Bell and the two boys found on a computer corroborated some of the boys' allegations, the police chief said. The other boy and three girls who were in the Bell residence as foster children were removed in June, Sucher said.
Butler County Children Services Board cooperated with the investigation, said Judy Stadler, director of intake.
"We certainly believed this had occurred and we were involved with police all along from the beginning," she said. The boy was among 10 Butler County foster children placed with the Bells since 2000. None was placed since 2005, Stadler said.
Lifeway agency placed children in 'dream home'
William Weathers, Cincinnati Enquirer, Oct. 20, 2006, Metro pg. 1C.
AMELIA - A longtime Amelia foster father has been charged with sexually abusing two boys who were in his care. Jaysen W. Bell, 31, of the 1200 block of Beechwood Drive, was charged Wednesday in an eight-count indictment by a Clermont County grand jury.
Bell is charged with rape, three counts of sexual battery, gross imposition and three counts of sexual imposition.
The charges involve two boys - one from Warren County and one from Butler County - who were placed in the foster home by Lifeway for Youth, a private firm that handles foster cases under contract with child protection agencies, Amelia Police Chief Jeffrey Sucher said Thursday.
The charges cover offenses that, according to the indictment, occurred at Bell's residence from July 2003 through June 2006.
The investigation was under way during the August search for 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel and the subsequent murder indictment of his foster parents, David and Liz Carroll. They also were recruited by Lifeway, which came under severe criticism for inadequate screening of applicants.
A state investigation of Lifeway's performance is continuing. The state also is investigating how much caseworkers knew about the Carrolls' background and whether the children were being properly monitored.
Lifeway and Butler County children services officials have said they did nothing wrong and that the Carrolls duped everyone.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services is expected to release the results of its investigation next week.
Amelia police began an investigation in June after one of the boys - who was no longer in the Bell residence and is now in a permanent foster home - confided in a Goshen police officer who attends the same church, Sucher said.
"The boy had enough courage to come forward in June," said Amelia Officer Jeff Wood, who investigated the allegations.
The Goshen officer contacted Amelia police and an investigation began. It included the execution of a search warrant at the Bell residence, Sucher said. E-mails between Bell and the two boys found on a computer corroborated some of the boys' allegations, the police chief said. The other boy and three girls who were in the Bell residence as foster children were removed in June, Sucher said.
Butler County Children Services Board cooperated with the investigation, said Judy Stadler, director of intake.
"We certainly believed this had occurred and we were involved with police all along from the beginning," she said. The boy was among 10 Butler County foster children placed with the Bells since 2000. None was placed since 2005, Stadler said.
Don't be too quick to defend youth minister or to call foster youth 'liars'
Foster dad's indictment shocks church:
Congregants defend former youth director charged with sexual abuse
Quan Truong, Cincinnati Enquirer, Oct. 21, 2006, Metro pg 9B.
TOWNSHIP - Members of the Goshen United Methodist Church were in shock when they learned the church's former youth director, Jaysen W. Bell, had been charged with sexually abusing two foster boys in his care.
"It was like the sun rising in the west instead of the east. It's the most idiotic thing I've ever heard of," said Sharon Hornsby, a church member and Bell's friend. "He's the nicest, most wonderful, professional man you'd ever meet."
Bell, 31, is accused of sexually abusing two foster boys - one from Warren County and one from Butler County - who lived with him in the 1200 block of Beechwood Drive from July 2003 through June 2006.
"Based on my knowledge of Jaysen, I would not suspect anything of this nature, whatsoever," the Rev. Johnny Phillips said. "Everything I ever heard about him was positive."
Before Bell worked in real estate in the Clermont County area, Phillips said, Bell had been employed as a youth director at the church from 1999 through 2001.
Church members have never received complaints about Bell or witnessed inappropriate behavior, Phillips said.
When Bell got married and started a family, he left the church for economic reasons, Hornsby said. She has known Bell for years and frequently spent time with him and his wife.
"I've seen him with his children. They all adored him," she said. "He had a lot of compassion for them and wanted to make a difference in their lives. Every kid I've talked to has said how good he was, giving them hope and structure to life."
A Clermont County grand jury indicted Bell on Wednesday. He has been charged with rape, three counts of sexual battery, gross imposition and three counts of sexual imposition. As of Friday night, Bell was still at large.
Hornsby said she believes Bell is innocent. "Those boys are absolutely, positively liars," she said. "Once those words are out, there's always someone who wants to believe the worst. He'll always be branded by these lies. I wish I could erase what those boys did."
In June, one of the boys - who was no longer under the Bells' care and is now in a permanent foster home - confided in a Goshen police officer at church. The officer contacted Amelia police and prompted the investigation.
The other boy and three girls who were under the Bells' care were removed, officials said. Bell has three young children of his own. More than 30 children have been placed in the Bells' care since they were licensed in 1999.
"Indictment is not a conviction, and no one is guilty until proven in a court of law," Phillips said. "We're just praying for Jaysen, for the young men involved and just hope this has some type of redeeming outcome for everyone involved."
Congregants defend former youth director charged with sexual abuse
Quan Truong, Cincinnati Enquirer, Oct. 21, 2006, Metro pg 9B.
TOWNSHIP - Members of the Goshen United Methodist Church were in shock when they learned the church's former youth director, Jaysen W. Bell, had been charged with sexually abusing two foster boys in his care.
"It was like the sun rising in the west instead of the east. It's the most idiotic thing I've ever heard of," said Sharon Hornsby, a church member and Bell's friend. "He's the nicest, most wonderful, professional man you'd ever meet."
Bell, 31, is accused of sexually abusing two foster boys - one from Warren County and one from Butler County - who lived with him in the 1200 block of Beechwood Drive from July 2003 through June 2006.
"Based on my knowledge of Jaysen, I would not suspect anything of this nature, whatsoever," the Rev. Johnny Phillips said. "Everything I ever heard about him was positive."
Before Bell worked in real estate in the Clermont County area, Phillips said, Bell had been employed as a youth director at the church from 1999 through 2001.
Church members have never received complaints about Bell or witnessed inappropriate behavior, Phillips said.
When Bell got married and started a family, he left the church for economic reasons, Hornsby said. She has known Bell for years and frequently spent time with him and his wife.
"I've seen him with his children. They all adored him," she said. "He had a lot of compassion for them and wanted to make a difference in their lives. Every kid I've talked to has said how good he was, giving them hope and structure to life."
A Clermont County grand jury indicted Bell on Wednesday. He has been charged with rape, three counts of sexual battery, gross imposition and three counts of sexual imposition. As of Friday night, Bell was still at large.
Hornsby said she believes Bell is innocent. "Those boys are absolutely, positively liars," she said. "Once those words are out, there's always someone who wants to believe the worst. He'll always be branded by these lies. I wish I could erase what those boys did."
In June, one of the boys - who was no longer under the Bells' care and is now in a permanent foster home - confided in a Goshen police officer at church. The officer contacted Amelia police and prompted the investigation.
The other boy and three girls who were under the Bells' care were removed, officials said. Bell has three young children of his own. More than 30 children have been placed in the Bells' care since they were licensed in 1999.
"Indictment is not a conviction, and no one is guilty until proven in a court of law," Phillips said. "We're just praying for Jaysen, for the young men involved and just hope this has some type of redeeming outcome for everyone involved."
An abusive father creates a modern-day Rapunzel scenario for his 8-year-old son
Man kept son in locked room, police say
Ron Ward, Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 13, 2006, News pg. 6A.
A father was arrested and charged with keeping his 9-year-old son locked in a bedroom for much of the past three years and watching his every move with surveillance cameras.
The home of Randall Warren Piercy, 41, was like a prison that had cameras in almost every room, with the father monitoring the boy on TV and computer screens, sheriff's Lt. Annie Smith said yesterday.
During the past three years, the boy did not attend school, receive medical attention or have contact with people outside the family, Smith said. Authorities said he was home-schooled but could not read children's books.
Relatives told police that the boy usually was allowed to use the bathroom only once a day because his father was teaching him to control his body.
Piercy was arrested Wednesday on charges that included aggravated child abuse. He was jailed on $1 million bail. Social workers took the boy from the home. Piercy said he was wrongly accused and is the victim of a vendetta by his in-laws. He told authorities he kept the boy in the room for his own good, Smith said.
The child's mother, Michelle Piercy, who was not immediately charged, said her son was not abused and that the cameras allowed her and her husband to make sure he did not hurt himself. She said the boy was hyperactive and was locked in his room at night to prevent him from going outside and getting hurt. "We are very protective," she said.
Police said they were investigating the mother's role.
According to a police report, Michelle Piercy allowed her husband to make all the decisions regarding the boy. The report said her husband let her see the boy only at certain times.
The arrest came after an investigator posing as a real-estate investor went to the home earlier this month with the boy's maternal grandfather, a real-estate broker.
The undercover officer found the boy in a locked room, sitting on a bed in his underwear. The room had a camera mounted on a wall, aimed at the child's bed, authorities said.
Randall Warren Piercy is charged with aggravated child abuse in the imprisonment of his 9-year-old son for three years.
Ron Ward, Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 13, 2006, News pg. 6A.
A father was arrested and charged with keeping his 9-year-old son locked in a bedroom for much of the past three years and watching his every move with surveillance cameras.
The home of Randall Warren Piercy, 41, was like a prison that had cameras in almost every room, with the father monitoring the boy on TV and computer screens, sheriff's Lt. Annie Smith said yesterday.
During the past three years, the boy did not attend school, receive medical attention or have contact with people outside the family, Smith said. Authorities said he was home-schooled but could not read children's books.
Relatives told police that the boy usually was allowed to use the bathroom only once a day because his father was teaching him to control his body.
Piercy was arrested Wednesday on charges that included aggravated child abuse. He was jailed on $1 million bail. Social workers took the boy from the home. Piercy said he was wrongly accused and is the victim of a vendetta by his in-laws. He told authorities he kept the boy in the room for his own good, Smith said.
The child's mother, Michelle Piercy, who was not immediately charged, said her son was not abused and that the cameras allowed her and her husband to make sure he did not hurt himself. She said the boy was hyperactive and was locked in his room at night to prevent him from going outside and getting hurt. "We are very protective," she said.
Police said they were investigating the mother's role.
According to a police report, Michelle Piercy allowed her husband to make all the decisions regarding the boy. The report said her husband let her see the boy only at certain times.
The arrest came after an investigator posing as a real-estate investor went to the home earlier this month with the boy's maternal grandfather, a real-estate broker.
The undercover officer found the boy in a locked room, sitting on a bed in his underwear. The room had a camera mounted on a wall, aimed at the child's bed, authorities said.
Randall Warren Piercy is charged with aggravated child abuse in the imprisonment of his 9-year-old son for three years.
Retirement of a true hero
Commentary: Lifetime of crusading for poor comes to close
Mike Harden, Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 22, 2006, News pg 1C.
Her family winked at child-labor laws when they put 9-year-old Judy Stattmiller behind the counter of their butcher shop at Central Market.
Stattmiller recalled the trepidation of entering the now-vanished Columbus landmark: "When you walked in the Central Market building early, and it was empty, the first thing you did was scream real loud to scatter the rats. The rats were everywhere in that building."
No stranger to the troubled souls the city harbored, she learned early to slalom by the drunks who wandered Main Street's skid row between the movie house and her home.
She didn't need her faith to know the truth of Christ's reminder of the omnipresence of the poor. "In those days, everybody around you was poor," she recalled of growing up in a home where her father worked three jobs.
She was 19 when she signed on as a volunteer at St. Stephen's, a South Side settlement house. Now, after more than a half-century with the organization, she is preparing to retire as its executive director.
Renea Williams, Stattmiller's director of development after several years as emergency-services social worker, needed but one word to describe the legacy her boss leaves behind: compassion.
"The staff has to tell her all the time to look out for herself. She's good for picking up hitchhikers or people on the street who look disheveled and lost. She'll feed them, get them back together and send them on their way."
Stattmiller concedes that her attempts to help people on the street have not always been universally applauded. "I've been threatened by pimps," she said, smiling. "One came into the center after me. Those were the days of velvet suits and Cadillac El Dorados. This one was upset with me for talking to his girls about getting jobs and going back to school. He wanted them on the street."
She has been witness to everything from FDR and the Great Depression to LBJ and the Great Society. During the in-your-face days of crossed bandoliers and berets, she stood toe-to-toe with Black Panther wannabes.
She got called "honky" and "whitey" and everything in the world but Judy. Although she had siblings at the barricades in the tumultuous late '60s and early '70s, she knew that even a protest army moves on its belly. Accordingly, at the Poor People's March on Washington, she was in the mess tent cooking for the troops.
She worries about what she sees around her today.
"In the past," she said, "we had dozens of dropouts. Now, we have hundreds. We had hundreds of delinquents; now, we have thousands. When you've got to carry three jobs as a single mother, there's no time for nurturing or supervision.
"We're raising more children without nurturing. The crime rate will grow. Prisons will grow.
"That's what welfare reform has given us. They've got low-paying jobs and no health insurance, so they are where they were or worse off than they were with welfare.
"People are poorer now. There is a much bigger gap between the rich and the poor. But I think we will have a revival of benevolent and charitable people going into public office, though that is not the trend right now."
Williams said of her departing boss, "She constantly reminds us that, if it wasn't for the grace of God, it could be us on the other side of the window receiving services."
Judy Stattmiller has been a fixture at St. Stephen's, a South Side settlement house, since age 19. Stattmiller, shown with the center's preschoolers, is retiring as executive director.
Mike Harden, Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 22, 2006, News pg 1C.
Her family winked at child-labor laws when they put 9-year-old Judy Stattmiller behind the counter of their butcher shop at Central Market.
Stattmiller recalled the trepidation of entering the now-vanished Columbus landmark: "When you walked in the Central Market building early, and it was empty, the first thing you did was scream real loud to scatter the rats. The rats were everywhere in that building."
No stranger to the troubled souls the city harbored, she learned early to slalom by the drunks who wandered Main Street's skid row between the movie house and her home.
She didn't need her faith to know the truth of Christ's reminder of the omnipresence of the poor. "In those days, everybody around you was poor," she recalled of growing up in a home where her father worked three jobs.
She was 19 when she signed on as a volunteer at St. Stephen's, a South Side settlement house. Now, after more than a half-century with the organization, she is preparing to retire as its executive director.
Renea Williams, Stattmiller's director of development after several years as emergency-services social worker, needed but one word to describe the legacy her boss leaves behind: compassion.
"The staff has to tell her all the time to look out for herself. She's good for picking up hitchhikers or people on the street who look disheveled and lost. She'll feed them, get them back together and send them on their way."
Stattmiller concedes that her attempts to help people on the street have not always been universally applauded. "I've been threatened by pimps," she said, smiling. "One came into the center after me. Those were the days of velvet suits and Cadillac El Dorados. This one was upset with me for talking to his girls about getting jobs and going back to school. He wanted them on the street."
She has been witness to everything from FDR and the Great Depression to LBJ and the Great Society. During the in-your-face days of crossed bandoliers and berets, she stood toe-to-toe with Black Panther wannabes.
She got called "honky" and "whitey" and everything in the world but Judy. Although she had siblings at the barricades in the tumultuous late '60s and early '70s, she knew that even a protest army moves on its belly. Accordingly, at the Poor People's March on Washington, she was in the mess tent cooking for the troops.
She worries about what she sees around her today.
"In the past," she said, "we had dozens of dropouts. Now, we have hundreds. We had hundreds of delinquents; now, we have thousands. When you've got to carry three jobs as a single mother, there's no time for nurturing or supervision.
"We're raising more children without nurturing. The crime rate will grow. Prisons will grow.
"That's what welfare reform has given us. They've got low-paying jobs and no health insurance, so they are where they were or worse off than they were with welfare.
"People are poorer now. There is a much bigger gap between the rich and the poor. But I think we will have a revival of benevolent and charitable people going into public office, though that is not the trend right now."
Williams said of her departing boss, "She constantly reminds us that, if it wasn't for the grace of God, it could be us on the other side of the window receiving services."
Judy Stattmiller has been a fixture at St. Stephen's, a South Side settlement house, since age 19. Stattmiller, shown with the center's preschoolers, is retiring as executive director.
Would they rather the child be cross-examined?
CHILD ADVOCATES' TESTIMONY ON TRIAL
Justices to rule on social workers speaking for kids
Kevin Mayhood, Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 10, 2006, News pg 1D.
A social worker at the Center for Child and Family Advocacy coaxed the 10 year-old girl to tell her what happened and who did it. The girl told Kerri Marshall that Shawn W. Martin told her to pull down her pants or he'd punch her. Then he touched and licked her private parts.
The girl didn't know that a Columbus police investigator, a nurse practitioner, a mental-health advocate and a caseworker from Franklin County Children Services were watching the interview on closed-circuit television.
The adults used her statements to do their jobs: Investigate the crime, treat the child and investigate the family situation. Marshall later told a jury what the child had said and helped convict Martin of four counts of rape, sparing the girl from testifying.
Rarely is one person permitted to testify about what another person said, but this fits an exception to Ohio's hearsay law, center officials say.
Defense attorneys say the center, which opened last year at Children's Hospital, is walking a fine line at best and abusing the rights of the accused at worst.
Twice this year, the Franklin County Court of Appeals has ruled that social workers' testimony is allowed in such cases because the questions were asked for medical purposes, not law enforcement.
Last Wednesday, the Ohio Supreme Court agreed to decide if the medical exception is enough.
The high court will hear a case from the Hancock County Court of Appeals, which ruled differently from the appeals courts in Franklin, Cuyahoga, Erie and Trumbull counties. In the Hancock case, the court ruled that a social worker's testimony used to convict Dennis D. Muttart of rape should not have been allowed.
The court said a state precedent required the trial judge to first hold a hearing to determine if the little girl was competent when she talked to the social worker. Competent means the child could understand the difference between imagination and reality and remember and be able to tell facts.
The technique used at the center blurs the lines, said Martin's appeals attorney, W. Joseph Edwards. "Whether the victim is injured or not, whether the incident took place a year ago or two years ago, they take the child to the center, and the social worker there is conducting an interview just like a police officer would," he said.
Edwards lauds the center's efforts but said that allowing the social worker, who is trained to testify, to repeat the victim's statements at trial is "a way around the evidence rules," which generally require that the accused be permitted to question their accusers.
Other centers created the technique, which has been approved by courts in other states and other parts of Ohio, said Yvette McGee Brown, a former juvenile-court judge who heads the Columbus center.
"We're not stepping over the line. We're asking questions to get the best care for that child."
Medical staff members need to know what happened so they can respond with proper treatment and tests, whether the abuse occurred an hour or a year ago, she said.
The police and other agents watch the interview from afar for two reasons. The child is spared the trauma of retelling the story to each individual.
And courts have ruled that, when a police officer is present, the social worker's testimony is barred because the child may have understood that her answers might be used to arrest the abuser.
If charges do result, which happens in about 10 percent of the hundreds of cases a year at the center, a digital recording of the interview is available to the defense.
"We want to be as transparent as possible," McGee Brown said.
The tapes have resulted in some guilty pleas, prosecutors said. If a trial is held, the social worker's testimony can spare the victim from facing the abuser and "being whip-sawed under cross-examination in court," McGee Brown said.
Jonathan Tyack represented John V. Edinger, who was convicted of rape and gross sexual imposition of a 2-year-old girl in Franklin County. Tyack thinks the competency hearing should be required before a social worker can testify.
"It seems unfair that a child is going to make an accusation to a social worker one time, and the social worker comes to court to testify and the testimony is used to convict when there are no other checks," Tyack said.
The girl didn't testify against Edinger, but the social worker provided corroboration the crimes had occurred. As is often the case in sex crimes, there was no physical evidence.
Sharon Davies, who teaches evidence and criminal law at Ohio State University, said the center appears to be on the right side of a fine line. She said the exception for medical purposes "already implicitly assumes that those talking to their doctors are competent."
"The person seeking treatment or a diagnosis knows what happened ... and is probably the most competent person to be making those kinds of statements to a medical professional."
Further, she said the exception fits a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows such testimony if the victim does not know the statement would likely be used in court.
"It's hard to believe a child could make that connection," she said, "especially the very young."
Justices to rule on social workers speaking for kids
Kevin Mayhood, Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 10, 2006, News pg 1D.
A social worker at the Center for Child and Family Advocacy coaxed the 10 year-old girl to tell her what happened and who did it. The girl told Kerri Marshall that Shawn W. Martin told her to pull down her pants or he'd punch her. Then he touched and licked her private parts.
The girl didn't know that a Columbus police investigator, a nurse practitioner, a mental-health advocate and a caseworker from Franklin County Children Services were watching the interview on closed-circuit television.
The adults used her statements to do their jobs: Investigate the crime, treat the child and investigate the family situation. Marshall later told a jury what the child had said and helped convict Martin of four counts of rape, sparing the girl from testifying.
Rarely is one person permitted to testify about what another person said, but this fits an exception to Ohio's hearsay law, center officials say.
Defense attorneys say the center, which opened last year at Children's Hospital, is walking a fine line at best and abusing the rights of the accused at worst.
Twice this year, the Franklin County Court of Appeals has ruled that social workers' testimony is allowed in such cases because the questions were asked for medical purposes, not law enforcement.
Last Wednesday, the Ohio Supreme Court agreed to decide if the medical exception is enough.
The high court will hear a case from the Hancock County Court of Appeals, which ruled differently from the appeals courts in Franklin, Cuyahoga, Erie and Trumbull counties. In the Hancock case, the court ruled that a social worker's testimony used to convict Dennis D. Muttart of rape should not have been allowed.
The court said a state precedent required the trial judge to first hold a hearing to determine if the little girl was competent when she talked to the social worker. Competent means the child could understand the difference between imagination and reality and remember and be able to tell facts.
The technique used at the center blurs the lines, said Martin's appeals attorney, W. Joseph Edwards. "Whether the victim is injured or not, whether the incident took place a year ago or two years ago, they take the child to the center, and the social worker there is conducting an interview just like a police officer would," he said.
Edwards lauds the center's efforts but said that allowing the social worker, who is trained to testify, to repeat the victim's statements at trial is "a way around the evidence rules," which generally require that the accused be permitted to question their accusers.
Other centers created the technique, which has been approved by courts in other states and other parts of Ohio, said Yvette McGee Brown, a former juvenile-court judge who heads the Columbus center.
"We're not stepping over the line. We're asking questions to get the best care for that child."
Medical staff members need to know what happened so they can respond with proper treatment and tests, whether the abuse occurred an hour or a year ago, she said.
The police and other agents watch the interview from afar for two reasons. The child is spared the trauma of retelling the story to each individual.
And courts have ruled that, when a police officer is present, the social worker's testimony is barred because the child may have understood that her answers might be used to arrest the abuser.
If charges do result, which happens in about 10 percent of the hundreds of cases a year at the center, a digital recording of the interview is available to the defense.
"We want to be as transparent as possible," McGee Brown said.
The tapes have resulted in some guilty pleas, prosecutors said. If a trial is held, the social worker's testimony can spare the victim from facing the abuser and "being whip-sawed under cross-examination in court," McGee Brown said.
Jonathan Tyack represented John V. Edinger, who was convicted of rape and gross sexual imposition of a 2-year-old girl in Franklin County. Tyack thinks the competency hearing should be required before a social worker can testify.
"It seems unfair that a child is going to make an accusation to a social worker one time, and the social worker comes to court to testify and the testimony is used to convict when there are no other checks," Tyack said.
The girl didn't testify against Edinger, but the social worker provided corroboration the crimes had occurred. As is often the case in sex crimes, there was no physical evidence.
Sharon Davies, who teaches evidence and criminal law at Ohio State University, said the center appears to be on the right side of a fine line. She said the exception for medical purposes "already implicitly assumes that those talking to their doctors are competent."
"The person seeking treatment or a diagnosis knows what happened ... and is probably the most competent person to be making those kinds of statements to a medical professional."
Further, she said the exception fits a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows such testimony if the victim does not know the statement would likely be used in court.
"It's hard to believe a child could make that connection," she said, "especially the very young."
Murdering social worker won't disprove child neglect
Couple charged in beating death of social worker
Jim Suhr, Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 21, 2006.
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. -- Murder warrants were issued yesterday in Kentucky for a couple accused of kidnapping the woman's 9-month-old son from a social worker who was later found dead, authorities said.
Renee Terrell and her boyfriend, Christopher Wayne Luttrell, were charged yesterday with fleeing Kentucky to avoid prosecution, which is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.
Terrell, 33, and Luttrell, 23, are suspects in the death of social worker Boni Frederick, 67, said police Sgt. John Nevels, of Henderson, Ky.
They will be formally charged with murder after being returned to Kentucky, Nevels said.
They likely will be moved to Kentucky next week, said Ron Adams, a police detective in Henderson. They are accused of kidnapping Terrell's son, Saige, on Monday from Frederick, who had taken the boy to Terrell's home in Henderson for a visit.
The baby had been removed from Terrell's custody when he was 13 days old because of neglect, police said. Frederick was found beaten to death at the house later that day, and the baby, his mother and Frederick's station wagon were gone, authorities said.
FBI agents arrested the couple on Thursday near Godfrey, about 30 miles north of St. Louis. Nevels said they were caught hiding in a camper after their car apparently broke down.
A doctor said the infant was in good health. He is being cared for by Illinois social workers until he can be returned to Kentucky, authorities said.
Jim Suhr, Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 21, 2006.
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. -- Murder warrants were issued yesterday in Kentucky for a couple accused of kidnapping the woman's 9-month-old son from a social worker who was later found dead, authorities said.
Renee Terrell and her boyfriend, Christopher Wayne Luttrell, were charged yesterday with fleeing Kentucky to avoid prosecution, which is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.
Terrell, 33, and Luttrell, 23, are suspects in the death of social worker Boni Frederick, 67, said police Sgt. John Nevels, of Henderson, Ky.
They will be formally charged with murder after being returned to Kentucky, Nevels said.
They likely will be moved to Kentucky next week, said Ron Adams, a police detective in Henderson. They are accused of kidnapping Terrell's son, Saige, on Monday from Frederick, who had taken the boy to Terrell's home in Henderson for a visit.
The baby had been removed from Terrell's custody when he was 13 days old because of neglect, police said. Frederick was found beaten to death at the house later that day, and the baby, his mother and Frederick's station wagon were gone, authorities said.
FBI agents arrested the couple on Thursday near Godfrey, about 30 miles north of St. Louis. Nevels said they were caught hiding in a camper after their car apparently broke down.
A doctor said the infant was in good health. He is being cared for by Illinois social workers until he can be returned to Kentucky, authorities said.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Seven silent witnesses to child abuse
Leaving baby a gesture of love
Regina Brett, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Oct. 20, 2006, Metro pg. B1.
The TV news summed up the story in two words:BABY ABANDONED.
What kind of mother would leave her newborn at a hospital?
One who loves it.
That mother did the right thing, but you might not have known it watching the news.
The mother used Ohio's safe haven law and legally surrendered her newborn to Wooster Community Hospital. The 6 o'clock news made it seem shameful. The reporter interviewed a local mom who couldn't understand how a mother could do such a thing.
What kind of mother abandons a baby to a hospital?
One who deserves our support, not our shame. She gave that baby a chance.
It's sad that little one won't know its biological parents. But there's something much worse. We saw that unfold last week in a Summit County courtroom.
Teannia Coday should never have taken her twins home.
The troubled 17-year-old gave birth to premature twin girls at Akron General Hospital on May 31, 2005. Natalie, all 3.7 pounds of her, was then treated at Akron Children's Hospital.
After that, Natalie went home to hell. The only mercy was that it lasted only five months.
Natalie was strangled, beaten and starved. When she died Oct. 29, she weighed 8 pounds.
You know how babies have dimples and endless folds of fat? At 5 months old, Natalie had no fat on her. Just skin stuck to bones. Broken bones.
Teannia and/or her boyfriend, David Hatcher, beat Natalie to death. Natalie had friction burns around her neck. Lacerations on her liver, lungs and diaphragm. The sac around her little heart was torn.
Torn.
She had 14 broken ribs and a broken collarbone. Some bones were healing - they had been broken that long.
Akron police and the Summit County Children Services Board had been contacted often about the twins. When someone called to say that Teannia shook the baby, CSB took the twins to the hospital. Doctors found Natalie had an old collarbone fracture.
CSB knew Teannia from an earlier pregnancy, when she was suicidal and punched herself into a miscarriage.
On Sept. 25 last year, Akron police took the twins. CSB placed them with Teannia's mother. Then Teannia moved in with her.
After Natalie died, Detective Crystal Bowen-Carter interviewed relatives and friends. They told her they saw Teannia throw one baby on the couch. Saw her muffle the twins' cries. Saw her spank them. Saw bruises on the babies. Heard her call them bitches.
How many adults knew Natalie was being abused?
"Seven," the detective told me. "Nobody said anything."
That's not including professionals who should have seen signs of abuse. Natalie had been to see doctors several times.
Last week, Summit County Common Pleas Judge Jane Bond asked whether anyone in the courtroom would speak on Natalie's behalf. No one did.
So the judge did. She gave Teannia 22 years in prison. David got 13.
The other baby, Kanessa, is in foster care. She had eight broken ribs and marks around her neck.
So what kind of mother leaves her newborn at a hospital?
The kind little Natalie would have dreamed of, had her short life not been one long nightmare.
Regina Brett, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Oct. 20, 2006, Metro pg. B1.
The TV news summed up the story in two words:BABY ABANDONED.
What kind of mother would leave her newborn at a hospital?
One who loves it.
That mother did the right thing, but you might not have known it watching the news.
The mother used Ohio's safe haven law and legally surrendered her newborn to Wooster Community Hospital. The 6 o'clock news made it seem shameful. The reporter interviewed a local mom who couldn't understand how a mother could do such a thing.
What kind of mother abandons a baby to a hospital?
One who deserves our support, not our shame. She gave that baby a chance.
It's sad that little one won't know its biological parents. But there's something much worse. We saw that unfold last week in a Summit County courtroom.
Teannia Coday should never have taken her twins home.
The troubled 17-year-old gave birth to premature twin girls at Akron General Hospital on May 31, 2005. Natalie, all 3.7 pounds of her, was then treated at Akron Children's Hospital.
After that, Natalie went home to hell. The only mercy was that it lasted only five months.
Natalie was strangled, beaten and starved. When she died Oct. 29, she weighed 8 pounds.
You know how babies have dimples and endless folds of fat? At 5 months old, Natalie had no fat on her. Just skin stuck to bones. Broken bones.
Teannia and/or her boyfriend, David Hatcher, beat Natalie to death. Natalie had friction burns around her neck. Lacerations on her liver, lungs and diaphragm. The sac around her little heart was torn.
Torn.
She had 14 broken ribs and a broken collarbone. Some bones were healing - they had been broken that long.
Akron police and the Summit County Children Services Board had been contacted often about the twins. When someone called to say that Teannia shook the baby, CSB took the twins to the hospital. Doctors found Natalie had an old collarbone fracture.
CSB knew Teannia from an earlier pregnancy, when she was suicidal and punched herself into a miscarriage.
On Sept. 25 last year, Akron police took the twins. CSB placed them with Teannia's mother. Then Teannia moved in with her.
After Natalie died, Detective Crystal Bowen-Carter interviewed relatives and friends. They told her they saw Teannia throw one baby on the couch. Saw her muffle the twins' cries. Saw her spank them. Saw bruises on the babies. Heard her call them bitches.
How many adults knew Natalie was being abused?
"Seven," the detective told me. "Nobody said anything."
That's not including professionals who should have seen signs of abuse. Natalie had been to see doctors several times.
Last week, Summit County Common Pleas Judge Jane Bond asked whether anyone in the courtroom would speak on Natalie's behalf. No one did.
So the judge did. She gave Teannia 22 years in prison. David got 13.
The other baby, Kanessa, is in foster care. She had eight broken ribs and marks around her neck.
So what kind of mother leaves her newborn at a hospital?
The kind little Natalie would have dreamed of, had her short life not been one long nightmare.
Friday, October 20, 2006
National agency report is biased by their extremism
Editorial: Report slamming Children Services oversimplifies a complex problem
Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 19, 2006 , pg. 18A.
Franklin County taxpayers needn't conclude that the county's child-welfare agency is doing a bad job, based solely on a report released last week by a national advocacy group.
The National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, which is single-mindedly critical of separating children from parents accused of neglect or abuse, has declared Franklin County "Ohio's capital of poor child-welfare practice."
That's because the group's research showed that, in 2005, Franklin County Children Services removed a greater percentage of poor children from their homes than any other county did.
The number of children ordered removed from their homes in Franklin County equaled 8 percent of the population of poor children in the county, compared with 6 percent in Summit County and 2 percent in Cuyahoga and Hamilton counties.
Declared the coalition's executive director, Richard Wexler, "The policy of Franklin County Children Services can be boiled down to a single sentence: Take the child and run."
Actually, it can't. Not by a long shot.
Franklin County has been working for years to put fewer children in foster care. Since 2003, the county agency has returned more children to their families per month than it has taken in. Like most such agencies, it espouses the belief that children should be kept with their families when possible.
But the unfortunate truth is that far too many children can't safely be left with their parents, at least not until serious problems are resolved.
Making that call -- whether to profoundly disrupt a child's life by removing him from his parents or risk his life by leaving him with parents who have proved to be abusive or neglectful -- is the
central, most wrenching duty child-welfare agencies face.
It's a thankless task, likely to occasionally produce devastating mistakes in both directions -- needlessly damaging families by temporarily breaking them up, or seeing children hurt or killed by parents.
If Franklin County is erring on the side of caution, other counties might be better off doing the same.
Moreover, Franklin County differs from the rest of the state in ways that could affect child-removal numbers.
Most important, a significant percentage of children in Franklin County's custody aren't from abuse or neglect cases but are minors who have been judged unruly or delinquent and, thus, removed from their homes by juvenile courts. Many smaller counties around the state send
such youths to Franklin County, so Franklin has more than its share of such cases.
Wexler said he wasn't sure whether his group's report took that into account.
What is sure is that children-service agencies across the state have one of the hardest jobs in government.
Because young lives are at stake, all such agencies should be closely monitored and challenged to improve their performance. Their mistakes can have heartbreaking consequences. Franklin County Children Services, along with its critics and supporters, should carefully review the national coalition's report.
But simplistic finger-pointing doesn't tell the whole story and won't help get the job done better.
Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 19, 2006 , pg. 18A.
Franklin County taxpayers needn't conclude that the county's child-welfare agency is doing a bad job, based solely on a report released last week by a national advocacy group.
The National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, which is single-mindedly critical of separating children from parents accused of neglect or abuse, has declared Franklin County "Ohio's capital of poor child-welfare practice."
That's because the group's research showed that, in 2005, Franklin County Children Services removed a greater percentage of poor children from their homes than any other county did.
The number of children ordered removed from their homes in Franklin County equaled 8 percent of the population of poor children in the county, compared with 6 percent in Summit County and 2 percent in Cuyahoga and Hamilton counties.
Declared the coalition's executive director, Richard Wexler, "The policy of Franklin County Children Services can be boiled down to a single sentence: Take the child and run."
Actually, it can't. Not by a long shot.
Franklin County has been working for years to put fewer children in foster care. Since 2003, the county agency has returned more children to their families per month than it has taken in. Like most such agencies, it espouses the belief that children should be kept with their families when possible.
But the unfortunate truth is that far too many children can't safely be left with their parents, at least not until serious problems are resolved.
Making that call -- whether to profoundly disrupt a child's life by removing him from his parents or risk his life by leaving him with parents who have proved to be abusive or neglectful -- is the
central, most wrenching duty child-welfare agencies face.
It's a thankless task, likely to occasionally produce devastating mistakes in both directions -- needlessly damaging families by temporarily breaking them up, or seeing children hurt or killed by parents.
If Franklin County is erring on the side of caution, other counties might be better off doing the same.
Moreover, Franklin County differs from the rest of the state in ways that could affect child-removal numbers.
Most important, a significant percentage of children in Franklin County's custody aren't from abuse or neglect cases but are minors who have been judged unruly or delinquent and, thus, removed from their homes by juvenile courts. Many smaller counties around the state send
such youths to Franklin County, so Franklin has more than its share of such cases.
Wexler said he wasn't sure whether his group's report took that into account.
What is sure is that children-service agencies across the state have one of the hardest jobs in government.
Because young lives are at stake, all such agencies should be closely monitored and challenged to improve their performance. Their mistakes can have heartbreaking consequences. Franklin County Children Services, along with its critics and supporters, should carefully review the national coalition's report.
But simplistic finger-pointing doesn't tell the whole story and won't help get the job done better.
Social worker murdered; child kidnapped
State caseworkers offered counseling
Cincinnati Enquirer, Oct. 18, 2006, Metro pg. 1B.
HENDERSON -Top state social service officials say their immediate concern is the safe return of a 10-month-old boy allegedly abducted from the Henderson home where a state worker was slain Monday.
"Our focus has to be on working to get the infant back safely," Tom Emberton Jr., state social service commissioner, said Tuesday.
Emberton said he is visiting the Western Kentucky region where slain social service worker Boni Frederick, 67, was killed after she took the baby to what was supposed to be a supervised visit with his mother.
An Amber Alert has been issued for the mother, Renee Terrell, charged with kidnapping her son, Saige Terrell. Police also are seeking Terrell's boyfriend, Christopher Luttrell.
Emberton said he spent Tuesday meeting with social workers in Union and Henderson County where Frederick, a 15-year social service aide, had worked. Workers are distraught and Emberton said he attempted to console them.
The state has made emergency counseling available for workers.
He also visited with the foster parents who had cared for Saige since birth, Emberton said.
"They are devastated," Emberton said.
Emberton and other officials with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services Monday declined to provide details about why the child had been removed from his mother, citing confidentiality and the police investigation into Frederick's death.
The last social worker killed on the job was Paul T. Grannis, 35, who was fatally shot in 1987 in Fleming County while working on a child protection case.
Social workers and others say Frederick's death underscores the danger of the job where workers often are confronted by violent and angry adults as they seek to protect children.
"We knew it was only a matter of time," Patricia Pregliasco, a social worker with the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said Tuesday. "We hoped and prayed this wasn't going to happen."
Social workers for the past year have been increasingly vocal about their growing caseloads and lack of adequate resources to do their jobs. State officials are reorganizing the child welfare system to try to help but said they have no additional money for more workers and support staff.
"We're concerned about our safety," said Tricia Mack, also a social worker in Jefferson County. "We go out and there's a lot of times clients make threats."
Mack and Pregliasco said social workers often go alone to homes.
Family Court judges say their caseload of abused and neglected children is growing and the child welfare system simply doesn't have resources to meet the needs.
"We're hemorrhaging cases," said Jefferson Family Court Judge Patricia Walker FitzGerald.
Dr. James J. Clark, a social work professor at the University of Kentucky, said that Kentucky - like most states - doesn't have sufficient resources to handle the increasingly complex cases of child abuse and neglect.
"I think it's pretty clear that child welfare is pretty under resourced everywhere in the United States," he said. "It's just not a priority area for a lot of state governments."
Emberton and Mark D. Birdwhistell, secretary of health and family services, said Monday that they will review the situation and recommend changes -including asking lawmakers for more money if necessary.
"All options are on the table," Birdwhistell said.
Pregliasco said Kentucky needs to do more to protect workers and families they serve.
"It is a dangerous job," she said. "You go into these homes not knowing what's behind those doors."
Cincinnati Enquirer, Oct. 18, 2006, Metro pg. 1B.
HENDERSON -Top state social service officials say their immediate concern is the safe return of a 10-month-old boy allegedly abducted from the Henderson home where a state worker was slain Monday.
"Our focus has to be on working to get the infant back safely," Tom Emberton Jr., state social service commissioner, said Tuesday.
Emberton said he is visiting the Western Kentucky region where slain social service worker Boni Frederick, 67, was killed after she took the baby to what was supposed to be a supervised visit with his mother.
An Amber Alert has been issued for the mother, Renee Terrell, charged with kidnapping her son, Saige Terrell. Police also are seeking Terrell's boyfriend, Christopher Luttrell.
Emberton said he spent Tuesday meeting with social workers in Union and Henderson County where Frederick, a 15-year social service aide, had worked. Workers are distraught and Emberton said he attempted to console them.
The state has made emergency counseling available for workers.
He also visited with the foster parents who had cared for Saige since birth, Emberton said.
"They are devastated," Emberton said.
Emberton and other officials with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services Monday declined to provide details about why the child had been removed from his mother, citing confidentiality and the police investigation into Frederick's death.
The last social worker killed on the job was Paul T. Grannis, 35, who was fatally shot in 1987 in Fleming County while working on a child protection case.
Social workers and others say Frederick's death underscores the danger of the job where workers often are confronted by violent and angry adults as they seek to protect children.
"We knew it was only a matter of time," Patricia Pregliasco, a social worker with the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said Tuesday. "We hoped and prayed this wasn't going to happen."
Social workers for the past year have been increasingly vocal about their growing caseloads and lack of adequate resources to do their jobs. State officials are reorganizing the child welfare system to try to help but said they have no additional money for more workers and support staff.
"We're concerned about our safety," said Tricia Mack, also a social worker in Jefferson County. "We go out and there's a lot of times clients make threats."
Mack and Pregliasco said social workers often go alone to homes.
Family Court judges say their caseload of abused and neglected children is growing and the child welfare system simply doesn't have resources to meet the needs.
"We're hemorrhaging cases," said Jefferson Family Court Judge Patricia Walker FitzGerald.
Dr. James J. Clark, a social work professor at the University of Kentucky, said that Kentucky - like most states - doesn't have sufficient resources to handle the increasingly complex cases of child abuse and neglect.
"I think it's pretty clear that child welfare is pretty under resourced everywhere in the United States," he said. "It's just not a priority area for a lot of state governments."
Emberton and Mark D. Birdwhistell, secretary of health and family services, said Monday that they will review the situation and recommend changes -including asking lawmakers for more money if necessary.
"All options are on the table," Birdwhistell said.
Pregliasco said Kentucky needs to do more to protect workers and families they serve.
"It is a dangerous job," she said. "You go into these homes not knowing what's behind those doors."
Progress of Butler County childrens services task force
Children Services task force looks at what questions to ask
Candice Brooks, Hamilton Journal News, Oct. 17, 2006, News pg A2.
The Butler County Children Services Task Force -- charged with investigating the agency that had a foster child die in August under its watch -- is not only deciding what questions to ask in interviews and surveys, but how to ask them to get the best results.
Some say the panel should find the problems in the CSB to root them out. Others want a more solution-oriented approach.John Steinbach, with JP Consultants in Fort Wayne, Ind., spoke at the group's meeting Monday night about the "appreciative inquiry approach."
The questioning approach aims to get respondents to think beyond the negative qualities to describe favorable experiences and how a better agency would look and act. It typically makes respondents more comfortable and trusting, he said.
"Why should I go in and ask these people when they are at their worst?" Steinbach asked. "At the end of it, you might not have an idea of where you want to be -- just a list of insurmountable problems."
CSB ombudsman Bill Morrison supported the approach because instead of the CSB being on the defensive, he said it could focus on building a better system.
Others feel strongly that problems will get glossed over if they are not asked about directly.
"You are going to hear a lot of fluff and whitewash and it's not going to change anything," said Hall Thompson, a former CSB chairman and investigated parent.
Fairfield Mayor Ron D'Epifanio said he's not on the task force to find the good in the agency.
"I don't care whose foot gets stepped on," D'Epifanio said. "I want to know what's caused some of the problems we've had."
However, Steinbach and other board members said the task force will need to take a comprehensive look at the agency to develop a blueprint for the ideal system.
If the public body opts for some private questioning, Steinbach would conduct one-on-one interviews with parents, caseworkers, foster children and others connected to the system. However, the task force may also hire Fountain Works, a firm that performs customer satisfaction surveys for Procter & Gamble, to develop an online and mail-in anonymous survey.
Candice Brooks, Hamilton Journal News, Oct. 17, 2006, News pg A2.
The Butler County Children Services Task Force -- charged with investigating the agency that had a foster child die in August under its watch -- is not only deciding what questions to ask in interviews and surveys, but how to ask them to get the best results.
Some say the panel should find the problems in the CSB to root them out. Others want a more solution-oriented approach.John Steinbach, with JP Consultants in Fort Wayne, Ind., spoke at the group's meeting Monday night about the "appreciative inquiry approach."
The questioning approach aims to get respondents to think beyond the negative qualities to describe favorable experiences and how a better agency would look and act. It typically makes respondents more comfortable and trusting, he said.
"Why should I go in and ask these people when they are at their worst?" Steinbach asked. "At the end of it, you might not have an idea of where you want to be -- just a list of insurmountable problems."
CSB ombudsman Bill Morrison supported the approach because instead of the CSB being on the defensive, he said it could focus on building a better system.
Others feel strongly that problems will get glossed over if they are not asked about directly.
"You are going to hear a lot of fluff and whitewash and it's not going to change anything," said Hall Thompson, a former CSB chairman and investigated parent.
Fairfield Mayor Ron D'Epifanio said he's not on the task force to find the good in the agency.
"I don't care whose foot gets stepped on," D'Epifanio said. "I want to know what's caused some of the problems we've had."
However, Steinbach and other board members said the task force will need to take a comprehensive look at the agency to develop a blueprint for the ideal system.
If the public body opts for some private questioning, Steinbach would conduct one-on-one interviews with parents, caseworkers, foster children and others connected to the system. However, the task force may also hire Fountain Works, a firm that performs customer satisfaction surveys for Procter & Gamble, to develop an online and mail-in anonymous survey.
How is all this affecting Marcus' siblings?
Trevino custody case is delayed indefinitely
Dave Greber, Hamilton Journal News, Oct. 17, 2006, News pg. A2.
The case of Donna Trevino, the Middletown mother of Marcus Fiesel who is fighting for custody of her two other children, has been delayed indefinitely, pending the return of her attorney from maternity leave.
In response to attorney Jennifer Coatney's maternity leave, Butler County Juvenile Court Administrator Rob Clevenger said Monday: "At this point, we'll wait."The court has not been given a date for Coatney's return but Clevenger said the court will continue to try to determine one.
Trevino is the birth mother of Marcus, the 3-year-old developmentally disabled boy who died while he was in foster care.
Marcus was killed in early August when his foster parents allegedly locked him in a closet of their house in Clermont County's Union Township for two days wrapped in a blanket bound with tape.
Trevino, who lost custody of all three of her children in April after Marcus was found wandering the streets, is fighting for her other two children, ages 1 and 10.
Since the custody case began, Trevino and Butler County Children Services, which has legal guardianship of the woman's children, have attempted to keep the public out of the proceedings.
Both parties filed motions to close the custody disposition hearing and additional motions to close the closure hearings.
A juvenile court magistrate overruled the motion to close the closure hearings.
The closure hearing, which will be scheduled with Coatney's office, will decide whether to open the disposition hearing to the public.
Dave Greber, Hamilton Journal News, Oct. 17, 2006, News pg. A2.
The case of Donna Trevino, the Middletown mother of Marcus Fiesel who is fighting for custody of her two other children, has been delayed indefinitely, pending the return of her attorney from maternity leave.
In response to attorney Jennifer Coatney's maternity leave, Butler County Juvenile Court Administrator Rob Clevenger said Monday: "At this point, we'll wait."The court has not been given a date for Coatney's return but Clevenger said the court will continue to try to determine one.
Trevino is the birth mother of Marcus, the 3-year-old developmentally disabled boy who died while he was in foster care.
Marcus was killed in early August when his foster parents allegedly locked him in a closet of their house in Clermont County's Union Township for two days wrapped in a blanket bound with tape.
Trevino, who lost custody of all three of her children in April after Marcus was found wandering the streets, is fighting for her other two children, ages 1 and 10.
Since the custody case began, Trevino and Butler County Children Services, which has legal guardianship of the woman's children, have attempted to keep the public out of the proceedings.
Both parties filed motions to close the custody disposition hearing and additional motions to close the closure hearings.
A juvenile court magistrate overruled the motion to close the closure hearings.
The closure hearing, which will be scheduled with Coatney's office, will decide whether to open the disposition hearing to the public.
Social worker slain in the line of duty
Editorial: The line of duty in social work
Cincinnati Enquirer, Oct. 18, 2006, pg. 8B
When foster child Marcus Feisel was killed in August, there was great outrage that the state of Ohio hadn't taken better care of him. Why, it was asked, weren't social workers from Butler County or the contract agency, Lifeway for Youth, more aggressive in investigating the 3-year-old child's foster parents and living conditions?
Another side of such a story played out in Henderson, Ky., over the weekend. Boni Frederick, 67, a social worker with the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, had taken a child for a supervised visit with his non-custodial parent Friday. Frederick was found dead in the parent's home Monday afternoon. The child, his mother and the mother's boyfriend were missing, believed to have fled in Frederick's car.
"Ms. Frederick worked as a public servant for 15 years looking out for the best interest of Kentucky's children and families," Gov. Ernie Fletcher eulogized. She died, he said, "in the line of duty."
It's a line of duty we don't always appreciate very much. Children's services social workers are sent to intervene with people who often are in states of high emotional crisis. They deal with people accused of neglecting or abusing their children, with people who know the social worker's report can result in the loss of their children.
Ask any police officer and you will hear stories about the volatility and potential danger of domestic calls. Social workers have to enter those same arenas, and they do it without guns, uniforms or the power to arrest, and often without any backup.
Children's services workers in most jurisdictions have too many cases and too little funding. When they make mistakes because of a misjudgment, or because they are overworked or undermotivated, or because they just can't face up to the scenes that often confront them, the results can be tragic and the blame unforgiving.
One of Boni Fredrick's cases was 10-month-old Saige Terrell. We don't know why the state had custody of the child, but on Friday Frederick was taking the baby to visit his mother, Renee Terrell. That was the last time she was seen alive. Police have issued an Amber Alert for the child and filed a kidnapping charge against the mother, who is believed to have taken Saige and fled with her boyfriend, Christopher Luttrell. They remained at large Tuesday.
Frederick's death will have an impact on every child welfare worker who hears about it. They all have had difficult cases. Most who have been in the field for any length of time have been threatened by clients.
There is nothing unique to Kentucky about this case.
"I think it's pretty clear that child welfare is pretty under-resourced everywhere in the United States," Dr. James J. Clark, social work professor at the University of Kentucky, told the Louisville Courier Journal. "It's just not a priority area for a lot of state governments."
We have to start making it a priority. The extremes of Marcus Feisel and Boni Frederick cannot be our only choices.
Cincinnati Enquirer, Oct. 18, 2006, pg. 8B
When foster child Marcus Feisel was killed in August, there was great outrage that the state of Ohio hadn't taken better care of him. Why, it was asked, weren't social workers from Butler County or the contract agency, Lifeway for Youth, more aggressive in investigating the 3-year-old child's foster parents and living conditions?
Another side of such a story played out in Henderson, Ky., over the weekend. Boni Frederick, 67, a social worker with the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, had taken a child for a supervised visit with his non-custodial parent Friday. Frederick was found dead in the parent's home Monday afternoon. The child, his mother and the mother's boyfriend were missing, believed to have fled in Frederick's car.
"Ms. Frederick worked as a public servant for 15 years looking out for the best interest of Kentucky's children and families," Gov. Ernie Fletcher eulogized. She died, he said, "in the line of duty."
It's a line of duty we don't always appreciate very much. Children's services social workers are sent to intervene with people who often are in states of high emotional crisis. They deal with people accused of neglecting or abusing their children, with people who know the social worker's report can result in the loss of their children.
Ask any police officer and you will hear stories about the volatility and potential danger of domestic calls. Social workers have to enter those same arenas, and they do it without guns, uniforms or the power to arrest, and often without any backup.
Children's services workers in most jurisdictions have too many cases and too little funding. When they make mistakes because of a misjudgment, or because they are overworked or undermotivated, or because they just can't face up to the scenes that often confront them, the results can be tragic and the blame unforgiving.
One of Boni Fredrick's cases was 10-month-old Saige Terrell. We don't know why the state had custody of the child, but on Friday Frederick was taking the baby to visit his mother, Renee Terrell. That was the last time she was seen alive. Police have issued an Amber Alert for the child and filed a kidnapping charge against the mother, who is believed to have taken Saige and fled with her boyfriend, Christopher Luttrell. They remained at large Tuesday.
Frederick's death will have an impact on every child welfare worker who hears about it. They all have had difficult cases. Most who have been in the field for any length of time have been threatened by clients.
There is nothing unique to Kentucky about this case.
"I think it's pretty clear that child welfare is pretty under-resourced everywhere in the United States," Dr. James J. Clark, social work professor at the University of Kentucky, told the Louisville Courier Journal. "It's just not a priority area for a lot of state governments."
We have to start making it a priority. The extremes of Marcus Feisel and Boni Frederick cannot be our only choices.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Why weren't the twins removed before it was too late?
Teen couple go to prison for death of baby
Mom gets 22 years, her boyfriend 13
Karen Farkas, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Oct. 14, 2006
Natalie Coday's short life was filled with brutal beatings and abuse by her teen mother and her mother's boyfriend. The 4-month-old girl died almost a year ago.
On Friday, as friends and family wept in the courtroom, Teannia Coday was sentenced to 22 years in prison. Boyfriend David Hatcher was sentenced to 13.
Hatcher, 17, stared at the floor and Coday, 18, heaved with sobs as Summit County Common Pleas Judge Jane Bond said she could not understand how any responsible adult who came in contact with the teens did not see the danger Natalie and her sister, Kanessa, faced.
"These two young people, who were never parented themselves, could not assume the responsibility to care for two special-needs children," Bond said. "Anyone looking clearly at the facts would have seen the tragedy coming."
But the teens bear primary responsibility, she said."Whether young, immature and with serious social and psychological problems, they certainly knew right from wrong and how vulnerable the children in their care were," she said.
Hatcher simply said he was sorry. Coday acknowledged that she was not perfect.
"I wish I could rewind time and redo everything," she said. "I have made my life terrible. I lost two daughters in one day."
A family member is caring for Kanessa.The twins were born prematurely. They and Coday moved often, staying with friends and family.
Police, hospital workers and Summit County Children Services officials contacted the couple several times after receiving calls about the welfare of the twins, including claims that Coday shook one and struck them, prosecutors said.
Coday denied the allegations, and no action was taken.
Hatcher, who was not the father of the children, took care of them as if he were, his lawyer, Andrew Kinder, told Bond.
On Oct. 29, Coday, the twins and Hatcher were living in a small room in the basement of her grandmother's home on Johnland Avenue in Akron. Coday and Hatcher called police to say Natalie was not breathing in her crib.
Police and paramedics found a severely beaten infant with a large bruise on her forehead, a gash under her eye and friction burn marks around her neck, which looked like strangulation marks, according to their testimony at a juvenile court hearing. She was also malnourished.
Doctors and the Summit County Medical Examiner's office found numerous broken ribs and old fractures. Her lungs and liver were torn and she was bleeding internally.
Kanessa also had old fractures to her ribs, and doctors saw red marks around her neck that day.
Hatcher was arrested Dec. 1 after he admitted that he injured Natalie. He said he was overwhelmed by trying to care for the girls. Coday was charged on Jan. 20.
They pleaded guilty last month to involuntary manslaughter, felonious assault and endangering children. Coday also pleaded guilty to permitting child abuse.
Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Connie Lewandowski said Friday it is not known who struck the fatal blows, but officials believe Coday was primarily responsible.
Prosecutors said Coday, who had psychiatric problems, was often violent with her twin daughters and her boyfriend, David Hatcher. They said she went trick-or-treating hours after the death of her daughter.
Teannia Coday's best friend, Brittany Wright, and her mother, Laura Wright, watch as Coday is sentenced to 22 years in prison for killing her 4-month-old daughter and injuring her other daughter. Laura Wright said earlier that Coday, who stayed in her home several weeks, was a good mother. She blamed Coday's boyfriend, David Hatcher, for Natalie Coday's death. "Her crime was not knowing what he was doing to them," she said.
Teannia Coday, with her lawyer, Annette Powers, did not speak or look at boyfriend David Hatcher, with his lawyer, Andrew Kinder, during their sentencing hearing Friday. Each lawyer blamed the other's client for Natalie Coday's death.
Mom gets 22 years, her boyfriend 13
Karen Farkas, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Oct. 14, 2006
Natalie Coday's short life was filled with brutal beatings and abuse by her teen mother and her mother's boyfriend. The 4-month-old girl died almost a year ago.
On Friday, as friends and family wept in the courtroom, Teannia Coday was sentenced to 22 years in prison. Boyfriend David Hatcher was sentenced to 13.
Hatcher, 17, stared at the floor and Coday, 18, heaved with sobs as Summit County Common Pleas Judge Jane Bond said she could not understand how any responsible adult who came in contact with the teens did not see the danger Natalie and her sister, Kanessa, faced.
"These two young people, who were never parented themselves, could not assume the responsibility to care for two special-needs children," Bond said. "Anyone looking clearly at the facts would have seen the tragedy coming."
But the teens bear primary responsibility, she said."Whether young, immature and with serious social and psychological problems, they certainly knew right from wrong and how vulnerable the children in their care were," she said.
Hatcher simply said he was sorry. Coday acknowledged that she was not perfect.
"I wish I could rewind time and redo everything," she said. "I have made my life terrible. I lost two daughters in one day."
A family member is caring for Kanessa.The twins were born prematurely. They and Coday moved often, staying with friends and family.
Police, hospital workers and Summit County Children Services officials contacted the couple several times after receiving calls about the welfare of the twins, including claims that Coday shook one and struck them, prosecutors said.
Coday denied the allegations, and no action was taken.
Hatcher, who was not the father of the children, took care of them as if he were, his lawyer, Andrew Kinder, told Bond.
On Oct. 29, Coday, the twins and Hatcher were living in a small room in the basement of her grandmother's home on Johnland Avenue in Akron. Coday and Hatcher called police to say Natalie was not breathing in her crib.
Police and paramedics found a severely beaten infant with a large bruise on her forehead, a gash under her eye and friction burn marks around her neck, which looked like strangulation marks, according to their testimony at a juvenile court hearing. She was also malnourished.
Doctors and the Summit County Medical Examiner's office found numerous broken ribs and old fractures. Her lungs and liver were torn and she was bleeding internally.
Kanessa also had old fractures to her ribs, and doctors saw red marks around her neck that day.
Hatcher was arrested Dec. 1 after he admitted that he injured Natalie. He said he was overwhelmed by trying to care for the girls. Coday was charged on Jan. 20.
They pleaded guilty last month to involuntary manslaughter, felonious assault and endangering children. Coday also pleaded guilty to permitting child abuse.
Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Connie Lewandowski said Friday it is not known who struck the fatal blows, but officials believe Coday was primarily responsible.
Prosecutors said Coday, who had psychiatric problems, was often violent with her twin daughters and her boyfriend, David Hatcher. They said she went trick-or-treating hours after the death of her daughter.
Teannia Coday's best friend, Brittany Wright, and her mother, Laura Wright, watch as Coday is sentenced to 22 years in prison for killing her 4-month-old daughter and injuring her other daughter. Laura Wright said earlier that Coday, who stayed in her home several weeks, was a good mother. She blamed Coday's boyfriend, David Hatcher, for Natalie Coday's death. "Her crime was not knowing what he was doing to them," she said.
Teannia Coday, with her lawyer, Annette Powers, did not speak or look at boyfriend David Hatcher, with his lawyer, Andrew Kinder, during their sentencing hearing Friday. Each lawyer blamed the other's client for Natalie Coday's death.
A rather bitter diatribe
No confidence in CSB
Akron Beacon Journal, Oct. 15, 2006
It is, indeed, deeply disconcerting that Katerina Papas would be insensitive enough to drive a high-end SUV to work every day in one of Akron's poorest neighborhoods ("CSB boss pursues law and order," Beacon Journal, Oct. 8).
Instead, Papas -- and the most vulnerable children in Summit County -- would be far better served if she were to invest some of that money in a top-of-the-line hearing aid.
You see, during the 1980s, I earned bachelor's and master's degrees from one of the most highly regarded social-work programs in the country. Since then, I have worked with children and families in Akron, Canton, Cleveland and Columbus.
And what did all that education and job experience teach me? That any relationship succeeds or fails dependent on the involved parties' ability to listen well and attentively to one another, while also speaking in an honest and forthright manner.
Sadly and obviously, though, Papas, President Cindy Johnson and the other Summit County Children Services Board trustees have failed to demonstrate for far too long either of these essential abilities. Their tin ears and clandestine practices have no place in a publicly funded child welfare agency.
Given all their incompetence, unprofessionalism and galling arrogance, a levy surely would have never passed in November -- just as surely as any public vote of confidence in Papas, Johnson, et al. would never have.
Written by Elizabeth Raines, Cuyahoga Falls
Akron Beacon Journal, Oct. 15, 2006
It is, indeed, deeply disconcerting that Katerina Papas would be insensitive enough to drive a high-end SUV to work every day in one of Akron's poorest neighborhoods ("CSB boss pursues law and order," Beacon Journal, Oct. 8).
Instead, Papas -- and the most vulnerable children in Summit County -- would be far better served if she were to invest some of that money in a top-of-the-line hearing aid.
You see, during the 1980s, I earned bachelor's and master's degrees from one of the most highly regarded social-work programs in the country. Since then, I have worked with children and families in Akron, Canton, Cleveland and Columbus.
And what did all that education and job experience teach me? That any relationship succeeds or fails dependent on the involved parties' ability to listen well and attentively to one another, while also speaking in an honest and forthright manner.
Sadly and obviously, though, Papas, President Cindy Johnson and the other Summit County Children Services Board trustees have failed to demonstrate for far too long either of these essential abilities. Their tin ears and clandestine practices have no place in a publicly funded child welfare agency.
Given all their incompetence, unprofessionalism and galling arrogance, a levy surely would have never passed in November -- just as surely as any public vote of confidence in Papas, Johnson, et al. would never have.
Written by Elizabeth Raines, Cuyahoga Falls
Adopting overseas, rather than from the U.S.
Adoption: Should Westerners take African kids?
Celean Jacobson, Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 17, 2006, Life pg. 1B.
Madonna's steps to adopt a Malawian boy (the 1-year-old was flown yesterday to London, where the singer has a home) have focused attention on foreign adoptions in Africa -- and raised questions about whether it's in an African child's best interest to be spirited away to the West.
"Are celebrities doing it for the right reasons and not to make a statement?" asked Pam Wilson of the Johannesburg Child Welfare Society.
Comments on talk radio across the region have been more pointed, with callers accusing the pop-music star of going on a "shopping expedition."
The Malawi High Court granted preliminary custody to Madonna and her film-director husband Guy Ritchie on Thursday, even though the law requires would-be parents to live in the country for a year while social welfare officers investigate their ability to care for a child.
Yesterday, human rights groups asked Malawi's courts to review the ruling, saying they want to ensure child protection regulations were not swept aside to benefit a pop star who has been generous to the country.
Wealthy foreigners have adopted children from poorer nations -- Cambodia, Ethiopia, Romania -- for decades.
Angelina Jolie adopted son Maddox from Cambodia and daughter Zahara from Ethiopia.
Mia Farrow, the mother of 14, began adopting children from poor countries in 1973, beginning with an orphan from the Vietnam War.
Children from developing countries, Wilson said, will always be in demand.
"There is a shortage of healthy babies in the First World, particularly now when there is no longer such a stigma to being a single parent, and there are few babies in the system."
Adoptions of orphans from abroad have been increasing steadily in the United States -- to more than 22,000 in 2004. Russia, China and Guatemala have been the main sources of these children; only a few hundred a year have come from Africa.
By 2010, the United Nations estimates, 18 million African children will have lost a parent to AIDS. Already, more than 43 million orphans inhabit the world's poorest continent.
In Africa, orphans usually are absorbed into extended families, but AIDS has affected many of the people who might have traditionally provided support. Many of those millions who have lost parents to AIDS or other causes are cared for by orphanages -- or find themselves living on the streets.
International adoptions are not "an easy option," said Jackie Schoeman, executive director of Cotlands, a South African organization that cares for children affected by HIV.
"For us, first prize is to place the kids locally or even regionally. If the only other option is for them to be in a long-term institution, then we would consider international adoption."
International adoption, she said, has its advantages.
One of the children for whom her organization cares was recently adopted by parents in the United States and now can receive medical care unavailable in South Africa.
Yet Schoeman and others worry about the long-term effects of such a big move on a child, particularly in the development of cultural and individual identities.
"We don't really know enough about what a black child growing up in Finland is going to feel," she said. "I don't think it would be an alien culture because they would have grown up exposed to it. But will they have felt better staying at home?"
At the heart of the matter is the motivation of people wanting to adopt orphans from troubled countries, especially HIV-positive children.
"Sometimes the response is emotional," Schoeman said. "They just want to help without understanding the long-term implications."
Some advocacy groups in the United States say Americans seeking to adopt should turn first to children in the U.S. foster-care system.
Yet Adam Pertman, executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute in New York, says both domestic and overseas adoptions are growing, and should be encouraged.
As for celebrities adopting poor children from Africa, Pertman said, criticism or cynicism is unfair.
"They're doing what more Americans all over the country are doing -- adopting children," he said. "More Americans are adopting from abroad, more are adopting from Africa. . . . They (the celebrities) just happen to be getting the attention."
Celean Jacobson, Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 17, 2006, Life pg. 1B.
Madonna's steps to adopt a Malawian boy (the 1-year-old was flown yesterday to London, where the singer has a home) have focused attention on foreign adoptions in Africa -- and raised questions about whether it's in an African child's best interest to be spirited away to the West.
"Are celebrities doing it for the right reasons and not to make a statement?" asked Pam Wilson of the Johannesburg Child Welfare Society.
Comments on talk radio across the region have been more pointed, with callers accusing the pop-music star of going on a "shopping expedition."
The Malawi High Court granted preliminary custody to Madonna and her film-director husband Guy Ritchie on Thursday, even though the law requires would-be parents to live in the country for a year while social welfare officers investigate their ability to care for a child.
Yesterday, human rights groups asked Malawi's courts to review the ruling, saying they want to ensure child protection regulations were not swept aside to benefit a pop star who has been generous to the country.
Wealthy foreigners have adopted children from poorer nations -- Cambodia, Ethiopia, Romania -- for decades.
Angelina Jolie adopted son Maddox from Cambodia and daughter Zahara from Ethiopia.
Mia Farrow, the mother of 14, began adopting children from poor countries in 1973, beginning with an orphan from the Vietnam War.
Children from developing countries, Wilson said, will always be in demand.
"There is a shortage of healthy babies in the First World, particularly now when there is no longer such a stigma to being a single parent, and there are few babies in the system."
Adoptions of orphans from abroad have been increasing steadily in the United States -- to more than 22,000 in 2004. Russia, China and Guatemala have been the main sources of these children; only a few hundred a year have come from Africa.
By 2010, the United Nations estimates, 18 million African children will have lost a parent to AIDS. Already, more than 43 million orphans inhabit the world's poorest continent.
In Africa, orphans usually are absorbed into extended families, but AIDS has affected many of the people who might have traditionally provided support. Many of those millions who have lost parents to AIDS or other causes are cared for by orphanages -- or find themselves living on the streets.
International adoptions are not "an easy option," said Jackie Schoeman, executive director of Cotlands, a South African organization that cares for children affected by HIV.
"For us, first prize is to place the kids locally or even regionally. If the only other option is for them to be in a long-term institution, then we would consider international adoption."
International adoption, she said, has its advantages.
One of the children for whom her organization cares was recently adopted by parents in the United States and now can receive medical care unavailable in South Africa.
Yet Schoeman and others worry about the long-term effects of such a big move on a child, particularly in the development of cultural and individual identities.
"We don't really know enough about what a black child growing up in Finland is going to feel," she said. "I don't think it would be an alien culture because they would have grown up exposed to it. But will they have felt better staying at home?"
At the heart of the matter is the motivation of people wanting to adopt orphans from troubled countries, especially HIV-positive children.
"Sometimes the response is emotional," Schoeman said. "They just want to help without understanding the long-term implications."
Some advocacy groups in the United States say Americans seeking to adopt should turn first to children in the U.S. foster-care system.
Yet Adam Pertman, executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute in New York, says both domestic and overseas adoptions are growing, and should be encouraged.
As for celebrities adopting poor children from Africa, Pertman said, criticism or cynicism is unfair.
"They're doing what more Americans all over the country are doing -- adopting children," he said. "More Americans are adopting from abroad, more are adopting from Africa. . . . They (the celebrities) just happen to be getting the attention."
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Feeling sorry doesn't undo the damage
Woman pleades guilty to raping underage cousin
Mom faces five to 25 years, foresees her "ministry" in prison
Bruce Cadwallader, Columbus Dispatch, April 26, 2006, News pg. 2D.
A woman convicted of child endangering in 1995 for leaving her baby in a trash can was convicted yesterday of raping a underage cousin -- the act that produced the infant girl she abandoned.
Twyana Davis considers her upcoming prison sentence a "call to ministry."
"It's already started in the holding cell," Davis, 30, said during a jailhouse interview yesterday, an hour after she pleaded guilty to the charge. "My message will always be, 'Everything happens for a reason.' "
A Franklin County judge didn't interrupt her spiritual work when, over the objections of her attorney, he ordered Davis sent immediately to jail, where she will sit until she is sentenced July 17.
She will be sentenced to five to 25 years.
"She's facing mandatory prison time; we might as well start it now," Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Holbrook said to Davis and her attorney, Byron L. Potts. "She's provided five to 10 years of inaccurate information to our probation department, and I want her accessible to them."
Davis admitted to a caseworker in January that her daughter, Danielle, whom she abandoned after birth, was the result of a sexual relationship with a 12-year-old boy. She was 19 at the time. Previously, Davis said she became pregnant after being raped.
After tests showed the DNA of the cousin, who was in prison, matched that of the child, Davis faced being indicted for rape.
Instead, she agreed to dispense with a grand-jury proceeding and pleaded guilty to one count of rape. She will serve at least three years before she is eligible for parole.
Relatives of Davis, who lived at 3695 Heath Trace in Canal Winchester, said they are prepared to take custody of Danielle. Davis regained custody of the child in 2000. However, Franklin County Children Services employees were in the courtroom and were expected to decide where the 10-year-old girl will live.
Davis has a previous conviction for child endangering for putting the newborn in a trash bin on Nov. 21, 1995. A passer-by heard the baby and notified authorities, who found her wrapped in clothing and plastic bags.
Davis avoided prison time when prosecutors agreed to dismiss attempted-murder charges. She maintained the lie about being raped for 10 years.
"My client came forward on her own and made an admission. She has totally cooperated and she is not a flight risk," Potts said in requesting that Davis be released on bail until her sentencing. Holbrook denied bail.
Davis pleaded guilty to having sex with Roosevelt Johnson in February 1995, while she and Johnson shared a house on Sidney Street on the North Side with other relatives. Assistant County Prosecutor Dan Hawkins said the relationship was unknown to family members for two years.
Johnson, now 23, is serving prison time for choking and raping a 38-year-old woman at gunpoint.
While Johnson sat in prison, Davis wrote a book about her experiences, Sacred Womb, and appeared on TV shows, such as 20/20 and Oprah. She formed a nonprofit organization, Second Chance of Life, which focused on preventing teen pregnancies and offering choices for expectant mothers.
Potts said the organization has been dissolved.
In January, Davis came to grips with the pangs of guilt.
"I was tired of not living up to my own standards. It's something I had to do," Davis said. "Society may condemn, but God knows what's in my heart."
Mom faces five to 25 years, foresees her "ministry" in prison
Bruce Cadwallader, Columbus Dispatch, April 26, 2006, News pg. 2D.
A woman convicted of child endangering in 1995 for leaving her baby in a trash can was convicted yesterday of raping a underage cousin -- the act that produced the infant girl she abandoned.
Twyana Davis considers her upcoming prison sentence a "call to ministry."
"It's already started in the holding cell," Davis, 30, said during a jailhouse interview yesterday, an hour after she pleaded guilty to the charge. "My message will always be, 'Everything happens for a reason.' "
A Franklin County judge didn't interrupt her spiritual work when, over the objections of her attorney, he ordered Davis sent immediately to jail, where she will sit until she is sentenced July 17.
She will be sentenced to five to 25 years.
"She's facing mandatory prison time; we might as well start it now," Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Holbrook said to Davis and her attorney, Byron L. Potts. "She's provided five to 10 years of inaccurate information to our probation department, and I want her accessible to them."
Davis admitted to a caseworker in January that her daughter, Danielle, whom she abandoned after birth, was the result of a sexual relationship with a 12-year-old boy. She was 19 at the time. Previously, Davis said she became pregnant after being raped.
After tests showed the DNA of the cousin, who was in prison, matched that of the child, Davis faced being indicted for rape.
Instead, she agreed to dispense with a grand-jury proceeding and pleaded guilty to one count of rape. She will serve at least three years before she is eligible for parole.
Relatives of Davis, who lived at 3695 Heath Trace in Canal Winchester, said they are prepared to take custody of Danielle. Davis regained custody of the child in 2000. However, Franklin County Children Services employees were in the courtroom and were expected to decide where the 10-year-old girl will live.
Davis has a previous conviction for child endangering for putting the newborn in a trash bin on Nov. 21, 1995. A passer-by heard the baby and notified authorities, who found her wrapped in clothing and plastic bags.
Davis avoided prison time when prosecutors agreed to dismiss attempted-murder charges. She maintained the lie about being raped for 10 years.
"My client came forward on her own and made an admission. She has totally cooperated and she is not a flight risk," Potts said in requesting that Davis be released on bail until her sentencing. Holbrook denied bail.
Davis pleaded guilty to having sex with Roosevelt Johnson in February 1995, while she and Johnson shared a house on Sidney Street on the North Side with other relatives. Assistant County Prosecutor Dan Hawkins said the relationship was unknown to family members for two years.
Johnson, now 23, is serving prison time for choking and raping a 38-year-old woman at gunpoint.
While Johnson sat in prison, Davis wrote a book about her experiences, Sacred Womb, and appeared on TV shows, such as 20/20 and Oprah. She formed a nonprofit organization, Second Chance of Life, which focused on preventing teen pregnancies and offering choices for expectant mothers.
Potts said the organization has been dissolved.
In January, Davis came to grips with the pangs of guilt.
"I was tired of not living up to my own standards. It's something I had to do," Davis said. "Society may condemn, but God knows what's in my heart."
Twyana Davis' web of deception
Woman gets 10 years for 1995 rape of 12-year-old
Bruce Cadwallader, Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 11, 2006, News pg 3B.
Twyana Davis stood before a judge yesterday and, for the second time in her life, apologized for a crime. This time, instead of probation, she was sent to prison.
The lie she had lived with for 10 years, about who fathered her child, resulted in a 10-year prison sentence for rape for Davis.
The 30-year-old Davis pleaded guilty this year to a sexual relationship with a 12-year-old cousin in 1995 that resulted in the birth of her daughter.
For years, Davis had said she was raped at a party. She wrote a book about her experience with an unwanted pregnancy. She also formed a foundation to help expectant mothers deal with childbearing, appeared on television and helped change a law that allows mothers of unwanted children to drop them off at certain locations without fear of prosecution.
Davis became a public figure in November 1995 when she left her newborn daughter in a trash bin at Ohio Dominican College, where she was a student. The baby survived. Davis was convicted of child endangering in Franklin County Common Pleas Court and put on probation. She later regained custody of her daughter.
Yesterday, a different judge said Davis "manipulated the system" to her advantage after engaging in illegal sex with a minor. Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Holbrook labeled her a sexual predator and sentenced her to 10 to 25 years in prison, with 10 years of actual incarceration.
The law has since been changed so that the rape of someone younger than 13 carries a life prison term.
Holbrook also levied a $10,000 fine for the costs of prosecuting Davis twice.
"Throughout this matter, there have been a series of manipulations," he said. "I have to look at protecting society."
Davis told the judge she can't change the past.
"The only thing I can do is continue to better myself in the future," she said. "With all respect to you, there is a judge we all have to stand before someday."
Upon her release from prison, Davis must notify authorities of her home address for the rest of her life.
Assistant County Prosecutor Daniel Hawkins said that during a sentencing investigation Davis admitted to sexual acts with other children, but Columbus police could not verify what she said.
Defense attorney Byron Potts said Davis voluntarily admitted to the relationship to clear her conscience and that the sex, although illegal, was consensual. He said Davis had acted out because of her poor upbringing and abuse as a child.
Bruce Cadwallader, Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 11, 2006, News pg 3B.
Twyana Davis stood before a judge yesterday and, for the second time in her life, apologized for a crime. This time, instead of probation, she was sent to prison.
The lie she had lived with for 10 years, about who fathered her child, resulted in a 10-year prison sentence for rape for Davis.
The 30-year-old Davis pleaded guilty this year to a sexual relationship with a 12-year-old cousin in 1995 that resulted in the birth of her daughter.
For years, Davis had said she was raped at a party. She wrote a book about her experience with an unwanted pregnancy. She also formed a foundation to help expectant mothers deal with childbearing, appeared on television and helped change a law that allows mothers of unwanted children to drop them off at certain locations without fear of prosecution.
Davis became a public figure in November 1995 when she left her newborn daughter in a trash bin at Ohio Dominican College, where she was a student. The baby survived. Davis was convicted of child endangering in Franklin County Common Pleas Court and put on probation. She later regained custody of her daughter.
Yesterday, a different judge said Davis "manipulated the system" to her advantage after engaging in illegal sex with a minor. Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Holbrook labeled her a sexual predator and sentenced her to 10 to 25 years in prison, with 10 years of actual incarceration.
The law has since been changed so that the rape of someone younger than 13 carries a life prison term.
Holbrook also levied a $10,000 fine for the costs of prosecuting Davis twice.
"Throughout this matter, there have been a series of manipulations," he said. "I have to look at protecting society."
Davis told the judge she can't change the past.
"The only thing I can do is continue to better myself in the future," she said. "With all respect to you, there is a judge we all have to stand before someday."
Upon her release from prison, Davis must notify authorities of her home address for the rest of her life.
Assistant County Prosecutor Daniel Hawkins said that during a sentencing investigation Davis admitted to sexual acts with other children, but Columbus police could not verify what she said.
Defense attorney Byron Potts said Davis voluntarily admitted to the relationship to clear her conscience and that the sex, although illegal, was consensual. He said Davis had acted out because of her poor upbringing and abuse as a child.
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