Applewood Centers' support services for foster families

Agency help makes foster parenting, adoption easier for Heights woman
Kavanaugh, Molly. Cleveland Plain Dealer, Nov. 29, 2006.

Holiday Spirit is an effort of Plain Dealer Charities that helps human-service agencies during the holiday season.

Name: Avis Judge
Situation: Judge has been a foster parent with Applewood Centers for a dozen years. The Cleveland Heights woman, who has a 34-year-old biological son, has adopted four children. "There are so many kids out there who need good families," she said.

How Applewood Centers has helped: The agency offers a variety of health care and social services for children and their families. "They're great," Judge said. "They help us with transportation to counseling and with the adoption paper work. I can call the supervisor at any time."

What the future holds: Judge is adopting an 11-year-old boy and hopes to adopt a 10-year-old boy. "I wish I could help more. I would do foster care for the next 20 years if I could," she said.

To help: For more information about Applewood Centers, call (216) 459-9827 or go to www.applewoodcenters.org

Why allow them to adopt 11 special needs children?

'Caged kids' trial to start this morning in Huron Co.
Adoptive parents accused of abusing their 11 children
Sielicki, Jim. Toledo Blade, Nov. 28, 2006.

NORWALK, Ohio - Nearly 100 witnesses have been put on notice that they may be called to testify in the Huron County trial of parents charged with abusing their 11 adopted children by forcing them to sleep in cages.

The trial of Sharen and Michael Gravelle is to begin this morning with opening statements.The couple were indicted this year on 30 counts related to child abuse, although five counts were later dismissed.Russ Leffler, Huron County prosecutor, has submitted a list of 47 witnesses he expects to call to the stand during the trial. Some of his projected witnesses testified in the Gravelles' custody hearing this year.

The Gravelles were ordered to surrender the children, who have since been placed in foster care, after a hearing late last year.The prosecution plans to call six of the Gravelle's adopted children to testify, although Judge Earl McGimpsey has disallowed naming the children during earlier hearings.

The Gravelle's biological daughter, Jenna Gravelle, testified in the juvenile hearing that Mr. Gravelle sexually abused her when she was a child.

The 31-year-old woman testified that she recalled several instances in which Mr. Gravelle, 57, inappropriately touched her while they lived in Ohio's Lorain County, though she said she could not remember exactly when the incidents occurred or how old she was.

Jo Johnson, an investigator for the Huron County Department of Job and Family Services who removed the children from the Gravelle home, testified in the juvenile case that she was concerned about some of the couple's behavior during court-ordered supervised visits with the youngsters.

Mr. Leffler has placed her on his list of witnesses to buttress his argument that the parents abused their adopted children, who were ages 1 through11 at the time of their removal from the Gravelle's Clarksfield Township home.

Ms. Johnson reported her concerns to the sheriff's office, which obtained a search warrant.Defense attorneys Kenneth Myers and Peter Drucker have argued that the warrant, sought by sheriff's Lt. Randall Sommers and signed by Norwalk Municipal Court Judge John S. Ridge, was based only on a statement by Ms. Johnson.

Lieutenant Sommers also is on the prosecutor's witness list.

Ms. Johnson testified during the December hearing that the agency received a report in 2003 that the couple were caging their children, but had been unable to verify the information at that time.

Ms. Johnson said two of her colleagues visited the Gravelle home in 2003, but were not allowed to see the children's bedrooms upstairs. She added that a full investigation was not done after the visit in 2003.

The agency received another complaint about the children's sleeping arrangements in August, 2005, and Ms. Johnson visited the Gravelle home on Sept. 9.Less than four hours later, Ms. Johnson returned to the home with sheriff's deputies who had a search warrant.

The Gravelles and Elaine Thompson, an Elyria therapist who counseled the children in the home, were indicted on Feb. 14 on 30 counts related to allegations of mistreatment.

Ms. Thompson, a licensed independent social worker from Lorain County, faces her own trial after the conclusion of the Gravelles' case. The prosecutor indicated that he intends to call her as a witness in the Gravelle trial. She faces multiple charges of aiding and abetting child endangerment and failure to report abuse or neglect for her involvement in the Gravelle situation.

Ms. Thompson said that before the parents built the cages, some of the children repeatedly tore up mattresses, ate parts of them, and urinated on the remains. Some of the youngsters suffered brain damage because their birth mothers drank during pregnancy, and five of the children were diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder.

Mr. Myers and Mr. Drucker have submitted the names of 52 people they intend to call as witnesses.

Both sides share some common witnesses, although each side is allowed to cross-examine people who are on the witness stand.

10,000 children in Ohio foster care system

State: Reform foster system
Sewell, Dan. Cincinnati Post, Nov. 28, 2006.

More thorough investigation and better communication among agencies could have prevented the placement of a 3-year-old developmentally disabled boy with the foster parents now accused of killing him, according to a state report released Monday.

"The death of any child is tragic; to die under circumstances alleged in this case is only more so," said the report from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. "This case beckons reform of Ohio's system to better serve all foster children."

Liz and David Carroll Jr. are accused of leaving Marcus Fiesel alone in a closet for two days, wrapped in a blanket and packing tape. Authorities say the boy was dead when they returned to their home in Clermont County from a family reunion in Kentucky Aug. 6.The couple reported the boy missing Aug. 15, triggering a massive search for the child who supposedly had wandered off in Juilfs Park in Anderson Township. The Carrolls were arrested Aug. 28 and have pleaded not guilty to murder charges.

The report, which says the Carrolls were unqualified to care for the boy, details problems in handling his case and the private agency that recommended the Carrolls. It also makes a broad range of recommendations that include increased training and widened background checks for foster parents.

"We cannot create a fail-safe system, but I believe we can create a better system," said Barbara Riley, director of the state department.

About 10,000 children are in foster care in Ohio.

Richard Wexler, executive director of the Virginia-based National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, said authorities should do more to keep children with their birth parents.

"They want to add more requirements, when they're not following the existing requirements," Wexler said. "All this tinkering is sound and fury that ignores the elephant in the room."

The Carrolls were certified to be foster parents through Lifeway for Youth, a private agency that handles placements for a number of counties. Lifeway officials have said the Carrolls misled them about their backgrounds.

The state report alleges more than a dozen failures by the agency, saying the home study and follow-up visits were inadequate, that the agency didn't check references on the Carrolls and that the agency overbilled the state for training reimbursements.

The state department is reviewing Lifeway for Youth operations across the state to decide whether to re-certify the agency, and also will scrutinize the agency's billing claims, according to the report.

Officials at Lifeway, which has 523 homes, more than 300 of them in southwest Ohio, declined comment Monday on advice of the agency's attorneys.

The state report recommends increased training of foster parent applicants and those who assess them, thorough background checks that would include credit and residence histories, drug testing of applicants, data-sharing among agencies, courts and law enforcement, and increased state staffing for foster-care oversight.

The report found that Butler County Children Services complied with state requirements in its handling of the boy, removed from his birth mother in Middletown in April. The county has appointed an independent task force to probe the agency.

The state report says Clermont County Children's Services didn't make sure Liz Carroll had completed training in the time required and didn't check all her references. Tim McCartney, director of the county's department of Job and Family Services, said Monday that additional references were checked when two original references couldn't be reached.

McCartney said Clermont County took action in September that include checking a court information system for any offenses involving foster-home adults and doubling the number of annual home inspections from two to four, three of them unannounced.

Authorities have said the Carrolls had had financial problems and also failed to report a domestic violence charge in June against David Carroll that was dropped later but could have led to more investigation of the family.

State lawmakers have said the report will help in developing reform legislation.

Lawmakers will need to walk a fine line to write "adequate, but not overly burdensome" fostering licensing standards, said state Sen. Gary Cates, R-West Chester Township.

A work group will begin meeting next week and legislation could be introduced in early next year, he said."The legacy of Marcus Fiesel is we will have stronger laws that will protect other children in the state," Cates said.

A cage by any other name

Kids not in 'cages,' attorney says

Cincinnati Post, Nov. 28, 2006

Discipline and parenting techniques will be a key issue in the trial of adoptive parents accused of locking some of their 11 special-needs children in cages, a defense attorney said.

Michael Gravelle, 57, and Sharen Gravelle, 58, who deny mistreating the children, are charged with 16 counts of felony child endangering and eight misdemeanor child endangering charges. Opening statements in their trial were scheduled for today.

Sharen Gravelle's attorney, Ken Myers, blames the Huron County sheriff's office for inflaming the media and the public by saying the children were held in cages. Myers said the children slept in the structures, which he prefers to call enclosed beds, but were never put there for punishment.

"It raised this specter of incredible cruelty," Myers said. "I've been working to dispel that image, but it's been difficult. That image has taken root, and it's been very difficult to undo that. They did a great job of misleading the public."

The children ranged in age from 1 to 14 when authorities removed them in September 2005 from the Gravelles' home in rural Wakeman about 60 miles west of Cleveland. The youngsters were placed in foster care last fall after a county social worker likened the wood and chicken-wire enclosures to cages in a kennel.

The couple, which lost custody in March, has repeatedly said the enclosures were necessary to keep the children from harming themselves or one another. The children have problems such as fetal alcohol syndrome and a disorder that involves eating nonfood items.

Sheriff Dick Sutherland said the children were kept in the cages at night and were confined there as punishment during the day.

The Gravelles, who acknowledge spanking the children, are also accused by the prosecution of leaving the children outside in the cold, hosing the children down and forcing one boy to live in the bathroom for nearly three months. They deny those allegations, Myers said.

If convicted, they face one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each felony count.

Easier to blame the caseworkers than the agencies

Franklin County Children Services caseworker turnover hurts agency, families, kids. Loss of employees remains a concern after last year's strike
Pyle, Encarnacion. Columbus Dispatch, November 20, 2006, News pg B1.

A year after a strike that officials say left animosity and hard feelings on both sides, Franklin County Children Services officials are raising new concerns about the agency's trouble holding on to child-welfare workers.

Fifty-one people -- about 15 percent of Children Services caseworkers -- left last year, many after a 19-day strike that agency Director John Saros called divisive. Although turnover has slowed this year -- 35 workers had left through October -- officials have repeatedly raised the issue at the agency's monthly board meetings.

"There's never been a time when caseworker turnover has really settled," Saros said. "Whether people were unhappy with management, the union or both, the strike was especially troubling for us."

Turnover is a national problem affecting child-welfare agencies, which work with families dealing with abuse, neglect and other problems. On average, child-welfare agencies deal with about 20 percent turnover each year.

"No issue has a greater effect on the capacity of the child-welfare system to serve at-risk and vulnerable children and families than the shortage of a competent, stable work force," said John Sciamanna, a senior government-affairs associate at the Child Welfare League of America in Washington.

By quitting their jobs, caseworkers can compound youths' feelings of insignificance and rejection, said Joan Zlotnik, executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research in Washington.

Miscommunication and mistakes can occur when a child's case is handed off, she said. And remaining caseworkers often can't meet as frequently with their clients, making it more difficult to detect signs of abuse or neglect.

"It lowers morale, reduces efficiency and eats up time and money as agencies seek, hire and train new employees," she said.

Franklin County caseworkers check children's safety and well-being through home visits; make sure families receive counseling, parenting classes or other essential services; and help with other problems that develop. They must have a college degree in social work or a related field, such as psychology or sociology. About 81 percent of caseworkers are women, 60 percent are white and most are in their 20s.

Turnover has ebbed and flowed through the years.

In 2003, Children Services lost 57 caseworkers, including a quarter of the social workers in its intake and investigation unit and two regional offices. A year later, 28 left, dropping the turnover rate to 8 percent.

National research has found that workers with a professional commitment to their job, previous work experience and appropriate education are more likely to stay.

The Franklin County agency retooled its exit interviews 18 months ago in an effort to understand why people leave, said Heather Saling, its human-resources director.

Personal reasons, retirement, pending discipline, workload and the work environment are the most common reasons.

The agency also is working to improve training.

A partnership with seven universities, including Ohio State, is designed to lure students into the child-welfare field and give them a realistic glimpse of the job to ensure it's what they want.

Students in the partnership take the same core classes that are taught to newly hired caseworkers before completing a minimum one-year internship. Students who secure a job with a child-welfare agency after graduation receive a $5,000 stipend.

"I wish all my students could take advantage of this program," said Denise Bronson, an associate professor at OSU's College of Social Work. "They really hit the ground running."

The agency has a 30-day training program that teaches new workers how to build relationships with families; identify abuse, neglect and dependency; engage families in creating case plans; and recognize the traumatic effects of separation on children.

Agency administrators and union representatives have been meeting for several months to discuss ways to alleviate stress, attract new workers and reduce caseloads. Most Children Services caseworkers juggle 18 to 22 cases at a time; the recommended standard is 15.

"Our caseworkers can make more money and be safer sitting at a desk at some private agency," said Beth Earl, president of the Professionals Guild of Ohio and a longtime social worker at Children Services. "But the children need protection and the job is rewarding, so we need to come up with ways to keep our seasoned, educated workers."

Caption: Fred Squillante Dispatch photosMissy Null, right, talks with Gloria Fosnaugh, of South Linden, about Fosnaugh's 14-year-old grandson, John. A five-year veteran of the agency, Null has worked to reassure Fosnaugh that she's doing good work raising John, who is mentally retarded.

Fosnaugh says she worries about John's well-being because she says his parents "just aren't there for him."

Taxpayers must fund repayment of $150 million to children's services fund

Hamilton County must pay for audit
Columbus Dispatch, November 25, 2006, News pg. D5.

CINCINNATI -- Hamilton County officials are unhappy that county taxpayers will have to foot the bill for a $300,000 state review of the county's job and family services department.

The report from the Ohio auditor's office in September accused the Hamilton County agency of improperly documenting the spending of tens of millions of dollars.

"It's like asking the guy on Death Row to buy his own rope," said county administrator Patrick Thompson.

Ohio Auditor Betty D. Montgomery's office concluded that the Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services, which handles child welfare and job services, must restore about $150 million in improperly documented spending to a fund that serves children.

Montgomery's report came less than a week after a separate audit report by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services that questioned $1.7 billion in spending by the county agency and said the agency must repay at least $223 million for money spent improperly.

That audit, covering fiscal years 2002 through 2004, said that federal, state and levy income were so badly commingled that they were virtually unauditable.

County officials have contended that they did nothing wrong and that the state and local funds in question were spent properly and money intended for children and the poor was spent only on them. The county has hired accountants to fight the audit's findings.

Montgomery's audit questioned more than $37 million of spending among the county agency's various funds. The audit, covering July 1, 2000, through June 30, 2004, identified nine citations for noncompliance and detailed specific amounts that must be repaid among the agency's funds.

Those funds included public assistance, children services, child support and a general fund.

The required transfers among the funds would result in a net repayment of about $150 million to the children services fund.

Agency knew about cages, but did nothing

Trial under way in caged-kids case
Attorneys battle over enclosures' purpose, effect on adopted children
Milicia, Joe. Columbus Dispatch, Nov. 29, 2006, pg B5.

A couple on trial for putting some of their 11 adopted, special-needs children in cages are guilty only of loving them, a defense attorney said yesterday in court.

"Eleven is a strain, a huge strain, but they did it for the right reason," said Ken Myers, attorney for Sharen Gravelle.

Gravelle and her husband, Michael Gravelle, are charged with 16 counts of felony child endangering and eight misdemeanor child-endangering charges.

The children ranged in age from 1 to 14 when authorities removed them in September 2005 from the Gravelles' home in Wakeman, about 60 miles west of Cleveland. The youngsters were placed in foster care last fall.

The couple, who lost custody in March, have said the enclosures, equipped with alarms, were necessary to keep the children from harming themselves or one another. The children have problems such as fetal alcohol syndrome and a disorder that involves eating nonfood items.

Huron County Prosecutor Russell Leffler told jurors not to get hung up on semantics.

"It's about chicken wire and wooden boards, being literally cooped up, hotter than blazes in summer, an amazingly shrill alarm and little fingers trying to tear wire," Leffler said.

Leffler described punishments that the children allegedly received, including being confined to the cages and having their heads dunked in a toilet.

Myers said the enclosed beds were necessary to protect the children from getting into trouble at night.

Social worker Jo Johnson testified that she visited the Gravelles' home Sept. 9, 2005, after receiving a tip about the cages. She saw no physical signs of abuse on the children, but determined that the cages constituted abuse.

A photo of eight of the children was taken before they were removed that day. It shows a couple of them smiling; all are dressed appropriately. Most were playing outside when Johnson toured the house. One boy rode a bike.

Michael Gravelle's attorney, Richard Drucker, asked Johnson: "Was he in chains when he was riding on that bike?"

Johnson answered, "No."

She said she noticed a strong urine odor where the children slept and saw one girl in a room with a door made of wooden slats.

Johnson described photos of the cages, including one cage that had some wooden patchwork done by Michael Gravelle.

"When the children tried to get out, he put the wood slabs up so they could not get out," Johnson said.

She testified that there was little bedding inside the cages. Drucker again showed jurors the photo of the children, who were standing in front of sheets hanging on a clothes line. Defense attorneys said there was no bedding in the enclosures because it was laundry day.

Myers told jurors that the children were in poor shape when the Gravelles adopted them and that Huron County knew about the cages for years but did nothing.

Myers has said Huron County authorities have fueled media bias in the case by calling the structures cages instead of enclosed beds.

Leffler told jurors that he would show that Michael Gravelle once said there was good money in adopting special-needs children and that he thought about opening an orphanage, saying he was Moses.

Leffler said the children have improved since being removed from the Gravelle home. Myers said they still have behavioral problems.

The Gravelles also are accused of leaving the children outside in the cold, hosing them down and forcing one boy to live in the bathroom for nearly three months.

The Gravelles deny those allegations.

If convicted, they could get one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each felony count.

Michael and Sharen Gravelle are charged with 16 felony counts and eight misdemeanor counts of child endangering.

FCAA postcard: It's not my fault I'm not in school

Getting kids to class
Nesbitt, Jennifer. Newark Advocate, Nov. 26, 2006.

NEWARK -- Newark Truancy Officer Brooke Wolfe starts her day in the small office at Wilson Middle School occupied by the attendance staff.

But once the middle school attendance reports are faxed in, she's up and running for the day,visiting students at school who have problems with attendance or tardiness and visiting homes to talk to parents whose kids should be in school but aren't.

Wolfe is one of Newark City Schools' three truancy officers. She covers excessive absences inthe middle schools, while Attendance Supervisor Bobbi Nash covers the elementary schools andOfficer Jerry Martin covers the high school.

Their job is to intervene when students miss too much school and to file truancy charges against the students or their parents when absences go too far.

"We do have parents that actually go to jail," Wolfe said.

The hope of the truancy officers, however, is to stop the problem of chronic absenteeism before it gets to that point.

A recent school day for Wolfe, like most other days, meant visiting students at the three middle schools and knocking on the doors of students who were not in school that day after habitually being absent.

Starting at Lincoln Middle School, Wolfe spoke with one student who became so combative thatNewark police had to be called.

Another girl confided in Wolfe she was miserable in her home life and had been cutting her arms and attempting suicide.

Wolfe said the two students' different reactions chronicled what she generally sees: Students either shut down and refuse to talk to her or they open up.

"There are some kids who really open and, when they do, you just really want to reach out to them as much as you can," Wolfe said. "And the ones that put on the bulletproof vest, you really could help them if they would let their guard down."

After talking to nearly 10 students, both ones whom she had documented as having attendance problems and ones whom the school secretaries recommended, Wolfe was off to make home visits.

This meant hunting down addresses across Newark and knocking on doors to talk face-to-facewith parents.

"We go into these homes completely blind to what's behind the door," Wolfe said.

Knocking on doors that particular day, she found students who were questionably sick, houses so dirty they could be smelled from the doorway and foster parents whose absent ward had beenmissing for days.

Often, the conditions the officers encounter when they visit homes explains why students aren't in school, Wolfe said.

"What we see is really hard -- kids with no electricity, and their parents are on drugs. It's no wonder they're not in school," Wolfe said. "They're just trying to survive."

In those cases, Wolfe said her job can go beyond just talking to parents and students.

For students who miss school for lice, the officers occasionally will do the lice treatments that parents won't.

At the beginning of this school year, Wolfe took one girl shopping to buy clothes and shoes because her parents said she missed the first two weeks of school because she had none.

"Those things are what's really hard," Wolfe said.

But those things do make a difference, the officers said. Last year, out of the 1,119 students referred to the office, nine parents and 37 students had charges filed against them.

Nash said often the success comes from talking to parents who have had problems getting students to school but get them straightened out.

In one case, Nash said a fifth-grader who missed so many days of school last year that charges were filed has missed only a half day of school this year, and his mother has noticed the success.

"He's so much more connected with what's going on at school ... he's healthy and happy," Nash said.

Martin said it's those cases that make the often-difficult jobs of the truancy officers worthwhile.

"If we can improve one person out of 10, it makes us feel like we made a difference," Martin said.

When students don't want to go to school no matter what, Wolfe said the job of the truancy officer is often the easier one.

"We only have to get them to school," Wolfe said. "They actually have to make them learn."

Confidentiality issues cloud investigation

State slams foster-care agency
McLaughlin, Sheila and Eileen Kelley. Cincinnati Enquirer, Nov. 28, 2006.

Report suggests tougher licensing rules
A private agency took the brunt of the criticism Monday in a state report that reviewed Marcus Fiesel's deadly foster-care placement with Liz and David Carroll and called for stricter licensing requirements, better monitoring of foster children and increased state oversight of private agencies.

Lifeway for Youth shouldn't have allowed the Carrolls to be foster parents because they weren't qualified or trained, the report by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services concluded.

Butler County Commissioner Mike Fox said he was impressed by the state examination, but also disappointed by the secrecy still surrounding Marcus' death and the people responsible for placing him.

"The only thing in this report that relates to Marcus Fiesel is the cover. We don't know any more about Marcus Fiesel today than we did before this report was issued," Fox said. "That illustrates one of the most glaring problems in the system. That's the secrecy."

The report identified problems in the child-welfare system and made about four dozen recommendations, many that can't be accomplished without a big infusion of staff and money.

Details of Marcus' placement and other aspects of the case were not included in the report."This is not an attempt to cast blame," said Barbara Riley, the head of the department. "This was a really horrific case and we need to understand why it happened."

The 34-page report reviews state laws and makes recommendations to strengthen them.

Riley said she wasn't sure whether Lifeway, which has licenses to operate in four other states, including Kentucky, will be allowed to remain in business in Ohio. Local counties continue to avoid placing children with Lifeway, as they have since Marcus' death.

Lifeway is seeking recertification and is in the middle of that process, which concludes Jan. 18.

"We are much more interested in how they do business across the board and not exclusively what they did with this case," Riley said.

Lifeway executive director Mike Berner did not return a phone call. A woman who answered the phone at the company's New Carlisle headquarters said no one would comment Monday because they wanted to talk to their attorney first.

The state exonerated Butler County Children Services of any missteps in the 3-year-old boy's placement with the Carrolls for three months until his death in early August, when he was bound and left in a closet while the Carrolls spent two days at a family reunion in Kentucky.

The developmentally delayed Middletown boy was dead when the Carrolls returned and his body was burned to hide the evidence, police said.

Butler County took custody of Marcus in April after removing him from his mother Donna Trevino's Middletown home when he was found wandering in the street. The county contracted with Lifeway to find Marcus a foster home.

The Carrolls, who also provided day care for low-income families in Clermont County, are now jailed on murder charges and other offenses.

"This report shows that we did our job. We take no solace in this because we still grieve for Marcus," said Jann Heffner, executive director of the Butler County agency. "But we will go forward with the other hundreds of children and their families and we will make sure that we've learned."

Butler County has already instituted stricter requirements for foster parents, including FBI criminal checks for everyone - a change not mirrored in the state's recommendations.

Clermont County Department of Job and Family Services didn't escape criticism from the state, which cited the agency for six violations involving Liz Carroll's day-care certification.

Officials at that agency characterized the infractions as minor, saying many involved paperwork.

Riley said she didn't know what the extra staff and tougher standards would cost, where the money would come from, or how much staff she would have to hire to keep a closer eye on private agency placements and operations.

For instance, when the state recertifies a private agency, it reviews two to three homes at length - a snapshot that might not provide a realistic picture. The state would need more money and staff to review more homes, Riley said.

Still, the state report pointed out that the Department of Jobs and Family Services already struggles to monitor private agencies, saying it has been able to complete only one of two required inspections at each since 2005 because of increased federal mandates for placements of ethnic children.

Riley said Ohio has a history of cutting resources, and county agencies are not flush with resources.

At least one legislator was confident Monday some extra money would be made available.

"With the incoming Strickland administration, I think you are going to find a lot of support in the executive branch and the legislature to do what's right for Ohio's children," said state Sen. Gary Cates, R-West Chester.

Cates and other legislators will meet in Columbus on Monday in a working group created by state Sen. Tom Niehaus, R-New Richmond, to start planning changes in the law.

Proposals could be introduced as early as January, Cates said, and the state report helped define what needs to be done.

In spite of the apparent failures of Lifeway, Riley said there is no consideration for doing away with the large role that private agencies play within the state.

The state licenses 10,000 foster homes. About half of the children in the foster-care system are placed through private agencies such as Lifeway.

Although oversight is still be done by the county agencies, the majority of the work - recruiting, recommendations for licensing and background checks, falls to the private agencies.

Ohio is one of 11 states in which the business of foster care is generally left to the counties and not state oversight.Riley also said changes to that system are not being considered.

Regardless of the recommendations and changes made, the foster-care system will not be perfect, Riley said. "We cannot create a fail-safe system, but I believe we can make a better system," she said.

Fox, who has pushed for local reform and openness in the child welfare system, said he was impressed that the state took a look inward in its report.

But he didn't think it looked deep enough. It failed to provide specific details of Butler County and Lifeway's handling of Marcus' case, nor did it include any documentation, Fox said.

Report's criticisms of Lifeway for Youth
A six-member team of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services' Offices for Children and Families and Family Stability reviewed the Marcus Fiesel case and severely criticized Lifeway for Youth for handling the 3-year-old boy's placement with Liz and David Carroll Jr., the foster parents accused of killing him.

According to the review, Lifeway failed to meet state requirements and inappropriately recommended that the foster parents be certified to be foster parents.

In addition:The Lifeway home study did not contain required information regarding the Carrolls' marriage and relationship, their medical conditions, David Carroll Jr.'s children, the Carrolls' attitudes regarding discipline, complete work histories and the child-care program the Carrolls ran from their Union Township home. The study also did not contain a summary of the Carrolls' suitability to be foster parents.

The Carrolls improperly provided one personal reference who was a relative, and Lifeway did not check any references.

Lifeway over-reported the training hours it provided. Consequently, Lifeway recommended the Carrolls for certification before providing them with the required training.Lifeway records did not document the Carrolls had the experience, education and training necessary to be foster parents.

Lifeway also violated the following regulations:
A plan for regularly scheduled respite care was not developed.
Treatment team meetings were held only on an as-needed basis.
There was no documentation that Lifeway provided the Carrolls with a handbook and/or copies of agency policies on or before the date they were certified to be foster parents.
Visits conducted by the agency were not as frequent as required.
Neither Marcus' treatment plan nor the plan updates were co-signed by the case manager's supervisor as required.
The clinical treatment team supervisor lacked a professional license as required.
Lifeway did not make sure the Carrolls maintained complete and current notes regarding the child.
Lifeway did not investigate the Carrolls' failure to report the alleged injury of the child in the required time period.

Other violations included:
Lifeway submitted reimbursement claims for more hours of training than it provided.
Lifeway board did not assure the agency's compliance with state requirements governing child-care agencies and foster care.

Lifeway also violated Marcus' rights to:
Receive appropriate and reasonable adult guidance, support and supervision.
Be free from physical abuse and inhumane treatment.
Live in clean, safe surroundings.

Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Office for Children and Families report, Nov. 27.

Suggested changes in foster care
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services' Office for Children and Families made the following recommendations Monday in light of the death of 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel:

Amend state law to require some annual background checks for foster caregivers to include local law-enforcement agencies. Credit checks, residential histories, income verification and drug testing would be done before certification and then again during the re-certification process.

Expand the required criminal background checks for foster parents who were certified before Oct. 29, 1993. An earlier law grandfathered such parents from what is currently on the books.

Amend state law to require a minimum of three face-to-face interviews in the applicants' home by the agency recommending prospective foster parents and complete individual interviews with each member of the household before certifying the foster parents.

Increase training for foster parents.

Expand the list of offenses prohibiting an applicant from being certified as a foster caregiver to include permitting child abuse, driving while under the influence, cruelty to animals, ethnic intimidation, fraud and embezzlement.

Require agencies to have monthly visits with the child and the caregiver in the foster home.

Require county agency to have face-to-face contact with the home or residential setting.

Have the agency conduct unannounced visits with the caregiver at least once every six months within the home or residential setting.

Allow for harsher criminal charges when a certified foster caregiver harms a child.Require the private agency to report all critical incidents involving foster care children to the county agency.

Private agency would also have to notify the county agency of any person who resides in the foster caregiver's home more than two weeks.

Private agency would have to immediately notify the county agency of any criminal offense brought against the foster caregiver or any resident of the home.

The report recommends the state Office for Children and Families:
Explore electronically accessing criminal background check.
Require identification of all physicians treating all members of the household.

Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Office for Children and Families report on death of Marcus Fiesel, Nov. 27

How the case unfolded
Aug. 3: Marcus Fiesel's social worker visits Liz and David Carroll Jr. and sees the 3-year-old Middletown boy for the last time.
Aug. 4: The Carrolls leave Marcus "restrained" in a closet in their Union Township, Clermont County, home, and go to a family reunion in Williamstown, Ky., officials say.
Aug. 6: Carrolls return home to find Marcus dead. David Carroll Jr. takes the child's body to Brown County and burns it, according to Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters.
Aug. 10: Marcus' social worker arrives at the Carroll home but is told he is sick. Social worker leaves without seeing Marcus.
Aug. 15: Hamilton County dispatcher receives a 911 call reporting a woman unconscious in Juilfs Park in Anderson Township, with three small children nearby. Liz Carroll is taken to Mercy Anderson Hospital. David Carroll Jr. arrives and tells authorities Marcus is missing. An alert about Marcus goes out in Anderson Township.
Aug. 16: Hundreds of volunteers join the search. Police search Carroll home and remove some items. Search is called off at 8 p.m.
Aug. 19: The Carrolls move from their Union Township house.Aug. 20: Butler County authorities launch a review of cases handled by Lifeway for Youth, the agency that recruited and trained the Carrolls and placed Marcus with them.
Aug. 21: Liz Carroll says her Clermont County day-care certificate was taken away.
Aug. 22: Police say Liz Carroll reported that a Lifeway caseworker saw Marcus Aug. 10. She describes adults she saw in the park. She says her husband failed a lie-detector test. She calls Marcus "my son. I know 100 percent he was at the park with me - and my husband, myself, nobody harmed him."
Aug. 23: Police release more photos of Marcus. Clermont, Hamilton, Butler and Warren counties halt placements through Lifeway and remove some clients from Lifeway-trained foster parents.
Aug. 24: Butler County officials reveal that the caseworker who was supposed to see Marcus Aug. 10 was turned away.
Aug. 25: Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis says he doubts Marcus is alive.
Aug. 28: Liz Carroll and Amy Baker, a live-in girlfriend, are called before a Hamilton County grand jury. The Carrolls are each indicted on one count of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of child endangering. David Carroll Jr. also faces one charge of abuse of a corpse. They are arrested.
Sept. 6: Liz and David Carroll Jr. plead not guilty to murder charges in Clermont County.
Oct. 6: Clermont County prosecutors say the Carrolls routinely tied up Marcus with tape and blanket.
Nov. 15: A Clermont County judge grants a request by the Carrolls that the Juvenile Court case on the custody of their four children be delayed until after the couple are tried on murder charges.
Nov. 17: Tougher standards for foster parents top a legislative wish list prompted by the death of Marcus.
Nov. 27: Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Office for Children and Families blames Lifeway for Youth for violations of state standards.

Sources: Butler County, Clermont County, Hamilton County prosecutors; children's services advocates; and Enquirer research.

To read the full report on Lifeway's handling of the Marcus Fiesel case, go to Cincinnati.Com.Keyword: MarcusThe EnquirerClermont County review and response

Link to view foster care investigation report online

Report due: Why did Marcus die?
Brooks, Candace. Hamilton Journal News, Nov. 27, 2006.

The results of a state investigation sparked by the death of 3-year-old foster child Marcus Fiesel are slated for release today after more than a month's delay.

The state began the investigation into Butler and Clermont counties' children services, as well as the private foster care agency Lifeway for Youth, after the developmentally disabled Middletown boy died allegedly at the hands of foster parents Liz and David Carroll Jr.

The Carrolls are both charged with murder. They are each being held in the Hamilton County Justice Center on $10.1 million bonds.

Prosecutors say Marcus had been dead for nearly two weeks when the Carrolls reported the child missing Aug. 15 from Juilfs Park in Anderson Township, sparking a massive four-day search.

Prosecutors claim Marcus died in a closet in the Carrolls' home in Clermont County's Union Township after he was left rolled up in a blanket and bound with tape Aug. 4 while they left for two days to attend a family reunion in Kentucky. David Carroll later took the boy's body to Brown County and burned it, prosecutors charge.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services was expected to release a report in late October that detailed an investigation into Marcus' death and made recommendations to strengthen foster care regulations.

However, Barbara Riley, the agency's director, said additional time was needed to ensure the accuracy of information and analyze issues pertinent to the Carrolls' ongoing criminal prosecution.

The investigation is a special review because it will not only consider the circumstances of Marcus' case, but "on a bigger scale" evaluate the state's child protection system to identify necessary changes in law, ODJFS spokesman Dennis Evans said.

As a child removed from a Butler County home, Marcus' safety and case management was the primary responsibility of the Butler County Children Services Board.

Lifeway for Youth helped the Carrolls become licensed as foster parents with its agency, selected the couple for Marcus' placement, and visited the home weekly.Clermont 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 report, state officials said, is scheduled to be available after 11 a.m., and can be viewed online at http://jfs.ohio.gov/ocf/Fiesel_review_report_20061127.pdf

Over a dozen failures by Lifeway agency

Foster child's death leads state to spell out stricter oversight
Sewell, Dan. Columbus Dispatch, Nov. 28, 2006, News pg D5.

Checking out foster parents
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services report released yesterday recommends broadening background checks for foster-parent applicants to include:
* Local law enforcement (in addition to current checks by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, and in some cases the FBI)
* Drug testing
* Credit checks
* Residence history
* Income verification by its source
* Bureau of Motor Vehicles
* Property-liability insurance
* Car insurance

More thorough investigation and better communication among agencies could have prevented the placement of a 3-year-old developmentally disabled boy with the foster parents accused of killing him, according to a state report released yesterday.

"The death of any child is tragic; to die under circumstances alleged in this case is only more so," according to the report by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. "This case beckons reform of Ohio's system to better serve all foster children."

Liz and David Carroll Jr. are accused of leaving Marcus Fiesel alone in a closet for two days, wrapped in a blanket and packing tape. Authorities say the boy was dead when they returned to their home in Clermont County from a family reunion in Kentucky.

The couple reported the boy missing Aug. 15, triggering a massive search for the child who supposedly had wandered off in a public park. The Carrolls were arrested Aug. 28 and pleaded not guilty to murder charges.

The report, which says the Carrolls were unqualified to care for the boy, details problems in handling his case and with the private agency that recommended the Carrolls. It also makes a broad range of recommendations that include increased training and widened background checks for foster parents.

"We cannot create a fail-safe system, but I believe we can create a better system," said Barbara Riley, director of the state department.

State lawmakers have said the report will help in developing reform legislation.
About 10,000 children are in foster care in Ohio.

The Carrolls were certified to be foster parents through Lifeway for Youth, a private agency that handles placements for a number of counties. Lifeway officials have said the Carrolls misled them about their backgrounds.

The state report alleges more than a dozen failures by the agency, saying its home study and follow-up visits were inadequate, it didn't check references on the Carrolls and it overbilled the state for training reimbursements.

The state department is reviewing Lifeway for Youth operations across the state to decide whether to recertify the agency and also will scrutinize the agency's billing claims, the report states.

A message seeking comment was left yesterday for Michael Berner, executive director of the agency based in Sharonville, Ohio. Lifeway has been certified in Ohio since 1994.

The report recommends increased training of foster-parent applicants and those who assess them; more-thorough background checks; drug testing of applicants; data-sharing among agencies, courts and law enforcement; and increased state staffing for foster-care oversight.

The report found that Butler County Children Services complied with state requirements in its handling of the boy, removed from his birth mother in Middletown in April. The county has appointed an independent task force to investigate the agency.

The state report says Clermont County Children Services didn't make sure Liz Carroll completed training in the time required and didn't check all her references.

Tim McCartney, director of the county's department of Job and Family Services, said yesterday that additional references were checked when two original references couldn't be reached.

Butler Co. needs to know about Child Haven in NV

Plan to create temporary housing for abused children draws fire ; Critics say 'receiving centers' turn into orphanages that are mentally and socially detrimental to kids.
Candice Brooks Higgins Staff Writer. Dayton Daily News. Dayton, Ohio:Nov 22, 2006. p. A10.

San Diego County Detective Victoria Reden, who exposed a sex abuse cover-up by Butler County Children Services in 2000, conducted a week-long review of the agency after the death of 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel of Middletown.

Receiving centers sound attractive on the surface, but in practice they become something far different than envisioned, said Carol Shauffer, executive director of the San Franciscobased Youth Law Center, a public interest law firm that represents children in foster care and the juvenile justice system.

HAMILTON -- A California detective's recommendation to create a temporary housing facility for abused children until they can be matched with foster parents is drawing protests from national child advocates.

These "receiving centers" become nothing more than orphanages where children -- even infants -- stay for weeks or months to their mental and sociological detriment, two national groups said.
San Diego County Detective Victoria Reden, who exposed a sex abuse cover-up by Butler County Children Services in 2000, conducted a week-long review of the agency after the death of 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel of Middletown.

Among her nearly two dozen recommendations was to build a 20-bed receiving center similar to the 170-bed Polinsky Center her county uses. The average stay is 10 to 14 days, Reden wrote in her report, which was released Tuesday.

Butler County Commissioner Michael Fox, intricately involved in the CSB's reform over the years, supported the idea wholeheartedly.

"It allows you to do the right evaluations, be thoughtful and take the time you need to find the right placement," Fox said. "We don't have that capacity right now."

Butler County doesn't have the capacity because it removes too many children, said Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Children Protection Reform.

"The act of placing a child in a parking place shelter is abusive in itself," said Wexler, who visited the county last week to push 23 reforms of his own to county leaders.

"Any system that doesn't take away too many children doesn't need a receiving center because they already have enough good foster homes to place a child right away." =BULLSHIT

Receiving centers sound attractive on the surface, but in practice they become something far different than envisioned, said Carol Shauffer, executive director of the San Franciscobased Youth Law Center, a public interest law firm that represents children in foster care and the juvenile justice system.

"They wind up being a warehouse for kids that are difficult to place for some reason," Shauffer said. "It's not going to solve the problem by creating another."

Mother accused of microwaving her child

Mom charged with baby's microwave death
Dayton Daily News, Nov. 28, 2006.

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- A mother was arrested on suspicion of murdering her newborn daughter by microwaving the baby in an oven.

China Arnold, 26, was jailed Monday on a charge of aggravated murder, more than a year after she brought her dead month-old baby to a hospital. Bail was set Tuesday at $1 million.

"We have reason to believe, and we have some forensic evidence that is consistent with our belief, that a microwave oven was used in this death," said Ken Betz, director of the Montgomery County coroner's office.

He said the evidence included high-heat internal injuries and the absence of external burn marks on the baby, Paris Talley.

Arnold was arrested soon after the baby's death in August 2005, then was released while authorities investigated further. Betz said the case was difficult because "there is not a lot of scientific research and data on the effect of microwaves on human beings."

The death was ruled a homicide caused by hyperthermia, or high body temperature. The absence of external burns ruled out an open flame, scalding water or a heating pad as the cause, Betz said.

Arnold's lawyer, Jon Paul Rion, said his client had nothing to do with her child's death and was stunned when investigators told her that a microwave might have been involved.

"China -- as a mother and a person -- was horrified that such an act could occur," Rion said.
The night before the baby was taken to the hospital, Arnold and the child's father went out for a short time and left Paris with a baby sitter, Rion said. The mother didn't sense anything out of the ordinary until the next morning, when the child was found unconscious, Rion said.
Arnold has three other children.

In 2000, a Virginia woman was sentenced to five years in prison for killing her month-old son in a microwave oven. Elizabeth Renee Otte claimed she had no memory of cramming her son in the microwave and turning on the appliance in 1999.

Experts said that Otte suffered from epilepsy and that her seizures were followed by blackouts.

What would the short term shelter be like for the children?

Foster care reforms advised:
Butler Co. gets list of how it can improve services
McLaughlin, Sheila. Cincinnat Enquirer, Nov. 23, 2006, Metro pg C1.

HAMILTON - Butler County Children Services needs to do more in-depth investigations, involve police in every case, conduct better background checks of foster parents and track domestic violence cases.

Those were among more than a dozen recommendations offered in a newly released report by Detective Victoria Reden, who was hired by an independent task force to review the county agency after the August death of Marcus Fiesel in foster care.

"Unfortunately, I believe that cross reporting all instances of domestic violence would have saved the life of Marcus Fiesel," Reden wrote, echoing what other officials have said.

If the arrest of Marcus' foster father on domestic violence charges had been automatically reported to Children Services, the child would have been removed from the home and probably be alive today, she said.

Foster parents Liz and David Carroll Jr. are jailed on murder and other charges in Marcus' death. Police said they bound the developmentally delayed 3-year-old with blankets and strapping tape and left him in a closet while they left town for two days. The boy was dead when they returned.

David Carroll was charged with domestic violence on his wife in June, a month after Marcus was placed in their care. He was required to report it to the private agency that licensed him as a foster parent, but didn't.

The charge would have disqualified David Carroll as a foster parent and triggered Marcus' removal from the Carroll home.

Reden spent a week in Butler County last month randomly sampling case files, looking at policies and procedures, interviewing caseworkers and reviewing how they do their job.

The task force, appointed by county commissioners, will consider Reden's report in making overall recommendations on how to improve child welfare.

Reden suggests:
-A requirement that police report all domestic violence incidents to Children Services.

-A requirement that Children Services caseworkers report all complaints of child abuse and neglect so police can determine if a criminal investigation is warranted.

Setting up a national crime computer at Children Services and assigning a sheriff's deputy to run national background checks on all foster parent applicants, as well as everyone involved in child protection and welfare.

In-depth investigation into a child's family members or caretakers to evaluate risk. Reden said it appeared that caseworkers look only into information that is given to them.

-Expanding the home study of foster parents and verifying all information, including past employment and residency.

-Photographing all rooms of the home.

-Interviewing everyone living in the home individually, including foster children over age 4.

-Conducting after-hours inspections of foster homes and residences of parents under investigation to provide an extra layer of protection for children.

-Random visits and in-depth interviews with children in placement.

-Opening agency records to parents whose children have been removed.

-Making the ombudsman's job independent of the Children Services agency. The ombudsman reviews complaints about the agency's handling of specific cases. The ombudsman now answers to the Children Services executive director and board.

-Providing earlier legal representation to parents and expanding the number of attorneys who represent children after they are removed.

-Taping all interviews and telephone calls at the agency.

Reden also suggested opening a short-term shelter for up to 20 children who were removed from their homes while police and caseworkers finish their investigations into child abuse or neglect.

The shelter also would provide additional time to check out the background of a prospective foster parent, she said.

Reden was paid $3,178 plus travel expenses for her study and recommendations.

Dan Hare, chairman of the task force, said he'd like to explore the possibility of opening such a center in Butler County.

"What intrigues me about that is it's not long-term. It's not intended to be long-term," Hare said. "Now we get on the phone at 2 in the morning and start calling foster parents."

The task force initially thought its report to county commissioners would be finished by Jan. 15, but Hare said it will take longer.

Jann Heffner, executive director of Children Services, is scheduled to appear before the task force next Wednesday for an interview. She could not be reached for comment on Reden's report. Heffner has implemented stricter requirements for foster parents since Marcus' death.

Commissioner Mike Fox, who has been pushing for child welfare reform for years, liked what he saw in Reden's report.

"The most important thing she's saying in this report is the system needs to be more information friendly. The investigative process needs to be more active and aggressive," Fox said. "Every one of those recommendations is something that every agency in the state should adopt."

Better communication to avoid future child deaths in foster care

Fixes sought to close gaps in foster care.
McGurk, Margaret. Cincinnati Enquirer, Nov. 19, 2006, News pg A1.

Tougher standards for foster parents top a legislative wish list prompted by the death of 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel.

Mandatory credit checks, direct reference checks and harsher penalties for licensed foster parents who harm foster kids are among the laws child-welfare advocates hope the new Ohio General Assembly will pass when it convenes next year.

Marcus, a child with disabilities from Middletown, died in the Clermont County home of his foster parents, David and Liz Carroll, in early August, prosecutors say, because the couple tied him up, locked him in a closet, then left town for two days.

In addition to murder charges, the couple also face charges of staging the boy's disappearance as a kidnapping, which sparked an intense search that involved thousands of people.

The Carrolls - recruited, trained and licensed by Lifeway for Youth, a private agency working under contract for Butler County - got into the foster system through multiple deceptions that highlight glaring weaknesses in the foster-care screening process.

Those gaps need to be filled, said Crystal Allen, executive director of the Public Children's Services Association of Ohio, which lobbies on behalf of child-protection departments in each of the state's 88 counties.

For instance, she said, credit checks should be routine. "One of the things we have recognized - and primarily through The Enquirer's work - is that we probably need to improve our oversight around financial stability. We don't want families that have a history of bankruptcies and fraudulent activities, that kind of thing."

The Carrolls concealed a bankruptcy, lied about owning their rented home, and misrepresented David Carroll's employment record when they sought their license.

"When we saw that, a number of us were kind of surprised that our process didn't already address more intense scrutiny of financial history," Allen said. "It was a good learning piece for us."

Marcus' case also turned the spotlight on the lack of communication between child-protection authorities and police agencies. Butler County officials did not know until it was reported in The Enquirer that Union Township police had been called to the Carrolls' home on a domestic violence complaint several weeks after Marcus was placed in their care.

"Everybody I talk to, no matter who they are, believes we have to get a better mechanism to share information back and forth between law enforcement and the child-welfare agencies," Allen said.

She said police, prosecutors and county court clerks will need to cooperate to create a workable system across the state. She said she expects the newly created state Task Force on Domestic Violence to address such cross-jurisdiction issues when it starts work in the new session.

Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Greg Hartmann already is developing a system to cross-reference criminal and foster-care records within the county.

Allen said there are other provisions the child-services group hopes to see added to state law:
-Require direct verification of character references and medical reports, both of which were incomplete or misleading in the Carrolls' case. "We need to get it directly from the source, and not have it passed through the family we're assessing," she said.

-Coordinate rules for double certification in child care and foster care. The Carrolls provided day care for several children in addition to their own four children and three children of live-in girlfriend Amy Baker, plus their foster children.

-A legal requirement that county social workers see every foster child - even those overseen by private agencies - at least once a month. "We should absolutely be taking the responsibility to see the kids we have custody of once a month, regardless of where we place them," she said. "Right now, that is the usual practice but it's not required practice."

-Adopt strict criminal penalties for foster parents who abuse children in their care. "The prosecutors have done very well in finding charges they can pursue, but I've heard a lot of discussions to say we need enhanced penalties for such a heinous crime," she said.

Allen also said counties have limited authority to take away foster parents' licenses, and that few such actions survive the laborious state appeals process.

Gov.-elect Ted Strickland said in an op-ed column for The Enquirer after Marcus' death that "agencies should have greater flexibility in revoking licensing," one of several issues he mentioned that parallel the agenda described by Allen.

Strickland, who takes office in January, said he intends to lay some groundwork before entertaining new reform proposals.

"What we're trying to put together is a top-to-bottom review of all the agencies of state government as a part of our transition efforts," he said. "I want to know exactly what is before suggesting what ought to be."

Allen said she believes reform will require close cooperation among police, prosecutors and juvenile court officials along with mental health and child-services departments.

"This is a piece that can't just be made up by the child-welfare system. Everybody needs to sit down together," she said.

Strickland also feels juvenile judges need to be involved in the reforms.

"My experience as a congressman, representing multiple counties in a rural district, is that juvenile judges are among the most knowledgeable about what's happening to children in our communities. In many important ways, each of these constituent groups - and I might add education - have a vital part to play."

Sen. Tom Niehaus, R-New Richmond, who sponsored the bill that created the domestic violence task force, said he wants to see the results of the state's investigation into Marcus' death before looking at new legislation.

He said his goal is to improve conditions for foster parents and encourage more families to accept foster children.

"We're trying to make sure first of all that we're protecting the children," he said. "But you don't want to go too far in terms of intruding on the privacy of individuals. We don't want to make it so difficult that people say, 'No, we're not interested.' "

Tom Hayes, former head of the ODJFS who was hired to help Butler County cope with the fallout from Marcus' death, said confidentiality issues make some potential reforms problematic.

"You have so many different confidentialities," Hayes said. "You can't discuss what some person's mental health issues are. You have confidentiality if a person is getting drug or alcohol treatment. In some of the cases, one part of the human services delivery system basically disables another part from doing their work. We have to get past that."

Hayes said that Cuyahoga County, where he once served as commissioner, requires applicants for county services to sign releases allowing service providers to share information.

Letter to the editor about Wexler

Cincinnati Enquirer, Nov. 20, 2006, Editorial pg. B6.

NO ABSOLUTES IN FOSTER CARE DEBATE
Regarding the article "Reformer debunks foster care" (Nov. 15): My gratitude for the attention and support that Ohio foster care situation is receiving is mixed with a deep level of concern that the NCCPR, and particularly Richard Wexler, seem biased in favor of returning a child to his/her family, in any and all situations.

As a former foster child and current advocate for people in and from foster care, I am troubled by ultimatums when individual situations can be so diverse. It troubles me to hear that foster youth should "always" be placed back with their biological families. Or that custody should "never" be severed.

How can Wexler claim that Marcus would still be alive if he remained with his mother, when she was planning to give him up? If Wexler had read Marcus' case file, he would know that Donna was housing her children in a feces/flea-ridden home, that she was not providing them with enough food and that Marcus often wandered off unsupervised.

This type of extremism is dangerous. It can lead to child deaths, the perpetuation of sexual abuse and other horrors.

-Lisa Dickson, Ohio

Extended deadline for state review of foster care

Report delayed to determine what to reveal.
McLaughlin, Sheila, Cincinnati Enquirer.

The state report on the handling of Marcus Fiesel's deadly foster care placement is due out the week of Nov. 27 - a month behind schedule.

The public also shouldn't expect it to include too many specifics about the case because it is being censored.

The report has been delayed while attorneys for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services assess what information will be made public.

"There are things that fall under protected information when it comes to child welfare," department spokesman Dennis Evans said. He said the department faces the challenge of making sense of the report when the information is taken out of it.

The state began reviewing Marcus' placement in late August almost immediately after police arrested foster parents Liz and David Carroll, of Clermont County, and charged them with the 3-year-old's death.

Police say the Carrolls bound the developmentally delayed Middletown boy, put him in a closet and left town for two days to attend a family reunion. Marcus was dead when the couple returned Aug. 6, and his body was burned at an abandoned farmhouse in rural Brown County, authorities allege.

The Carrolls, certified to be foster parents through Lifeway for Youth, a private agency that handles foster-child placements for a number of counties, lied about their criminal backgrounds. They also failed to disclose other information, such as David Carroll's arrest in June for domestic violence, a case that could have caused Marcus' removal from their home.

The state review will examine whether Butler County Children Services and Lifeway For Youth had properly checked out the couple's background and monitored Marcus' safety in the home.
Liz Carroll also was paid to provide day-care services through Clermont County Children Services, so that agency's actions also were reviewed by the state.

The report, first targeted for release Oct. 23, also will recommend ways to tighten foster-care regulations and suggest changes in state law.

Evans refused to say what information would be missing from the report. The department typically refuses to make public the names of foster children, foster parents, medical information, or anything else in the case file, including caseworkers.

The state agency recently rejected The Enquirer's requests for names and addresses of all foster parents in the state, as well as the foster-parent application for a Clermont County real-estate agent who is charged with sexually abusing foster sons from Butler and Warren counties.

The state, however, provided The Enquirer with a similar licensing application for the Carrolls.
Marcus had lived at the Carrolls' Clermont County home since May - a month after he was found wandering on a busy street in Middletown and removed from his mother's care.

Butler County Children Services contracted with Lifeway for Youth to find a home for Marcus because the private agency is known for placing children with serious physical or psychological problems.

Evans defended the lateness of the report, which is taking a month more than a case last year involving 11 adopted children in Huron County who were forced to sleep in cages.

By comparison, a different state agency, the Ohio Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, this year released a report in three weeks after a mentally retarded man was arrested for a killing at Fairfield Center in Butler County.

"We'll release it when it's ready to be released," Evans said, adding that it couldn't be done this week because a lot of staff was off for the Thanksgiving holiday.

"The issue is taking the opportunity to identify what systemic changes need to be made. Taking the time to thoughtfully do that is more important than rushing to a particular date."

Money an obstacle to foster care improvements

Calls for foster-care reform not new
But cost is an obstacle
McGurk, Margaret. Cincinnati Enquirer.

Public outrage about the death of Marcus Fiesel is not the first time the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services and the General Assembly has faced calls for reform.

In 2003, then-Ohio auditor Jim Petro issued recommendations to tighten oversight of foster families and the private agencies that often deal with them for public authorities.

While several Petro suggestions were adopted - most involving stricter business standards for the private agencies - Jobs and Family Services passed on others.

The reason most often cited involved costs.

For instance, Petro urged that the state take over licensing of foster homes, a process now commonly left to the private agencies.

Petro's report said that presents a conflict of interest because the agencies can benefit financially from every home they certify.

Department Director Barbara Riley said that job would require hiring many more state workers. "It is a topic of considerable fiscal impact."

After an earlier performance audit in 2000, she said, the department asked lawmakers for money to expand the staff, but the plan died. "It never saw the light of day," she said.

"Personally, I believe we need to examine that whole licensing and monitoring function and make some strong recommendations."

She said the same limits on money and staff made it impossible to fully enact other recommendations in the Petro report, including universal reviews of all foster parent applications and personal visits by state inspectors to every foster home.

Ohio's tradition of local control of human services, Riley said, explains why the department did not adopt other recommendations, such as setting minimum requirements for temporary-care providers and taking over investigation of complaints. Both functions are governed by the contracts between counties and private agencies, she said.

Tom Hayes, who headed the department at the time of the Petro report, said that under state law the department's chief role is as an intermediary in dispensing federal foster care assistance to the counties.

Ohio counties have limited authority to revoke foster parents' license

Fixes sought for foster care:
Tougher laws, oversight urged after Marcus' death
McGurk, Margaret, Cincinnati Enquirer, Nov. 19, 2006.

Tougher standards for foster parents top a legislative wish list prompted by the death of 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel.

Mandatory credit checks, direct reference checks and harsher penalties for licensed foster parents who harm foster kids are among the laws child-welfare advocates hope the new Ohio General Assembly will pass when it convenes next year.

Marcus, a child with disabilities from Middletown, died in the Clermont County home of his foster parents, David and Liz Carroll, in early August, prosecutors say, because the couple tied him up, locked him in a closet, then left town for two days.

In addition to murder charges, the couple also face charges of staging the boy's disappearance as a kidnapping, which sparked an intense search that involved thousands of people.

The Carrolls - recruited, trained and licensed by Lifeway for Youth, a private agency working under contract for Butler County - got into the foster system through multiple deceptions that highlight glaring weaknesses in the foster-care screening process.

Those gaps need to be filled, said Crystal Allen, executive director of the Public Children's Services Association of Ohio, which lobbies on behalf of child-protection departments in each of the state's 88 counties.

For instance, she said, credit checks should be routine.

"One of the things we have recognized - and primarily through The Enquirer's work - is that we probably need to improve our oversight around financial stability. ... We don't want families that have a history of bankruptcies and fraudulent activities, that kind of thing."

The Carrolls concealed a bankruptcy, lied about owning their rented home, and misrepresented David Carroll's employment record when they sought their license.

"When we saw that, a number of us were kind of surprised that our process didn't already address more intense scrutiny of financial history," Allen said. "It was a good learning piece for us."

Marcus' case also turned the spotlight on the lack of communication between child-protection authorities and police agencies.

Butler County officials did not know until it was reported in The Enquirer that Union Township police had been called to the Carrolls' home on a domestic violence complaint several weeks after Marcus was placed in their care.

"Everybody I talk to, no matter who they are, believes we have to get a better mechanism to share information back and forth between law enforcement and the child-welfare agencies," Allen said.

She said police, prosecutors and county court clerks will need to cooperate to create a workable system across the state. She said she expects the newly created state Task Force on Domestic Violence to address such cross-jurisdiction issues when it starts work in the new session.
Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Greg Hartmann already is developing a system to cross-reference criminal and foster-care records within the county.

Allen said there are other provisions the child-services group hopes to see added to state law:
Require direct verification of character references and medical reports, both of which were incomplete or misleading in the Carrolls' case. "We need to get it directly from the source, and not have it passed through the family we're assessing," she said.

Coordinate rules for double certification in child care and foster care. The Carrolls provided day care for several children in addition to their own four children and three children of live-in girlfriend Amy Baker, plus their foster children.

A legal requirement that county social workers see every foster child - even those overseen by private agencies - at least once a month. "We should absolutely be taking the responsibility to see the kids we have custody of once a month, regardless of where we place them," she said. "Right now, that is the usual practice but it's not required practice."

Adopt strict criminal penalties for foster parents who abuse children in their care. "The prosecutors have done very well in finding charges they can pursue, but I've heard a lot of discussions to say we need enhanced penalties for such a heinous crime," she said.

Allen also said counties have limited authority to take away foster parents' licenses, and that few such actions survive the laborious state appeals process.

Gov.-elect Ted Strickland said in an op-ed column for The Enquirer after Marcus' death that "agencies should have greater flexibility in revoking licensing," one of several issues he mentioned that parallel the agenda described by Allen.

Strickland, who takes office in January, said he intends to lay some groundwork before entertaining new reform proposals.

"What we're trying to put together is a top-to-bottom review of all the agencies of state government as a part of our transition efforts," he said. "I want to know exactly what is before suggesting what ought to be."

Allen said she believes reform will require close cooperation among police, prosecutors and juvenile court officials along with mental health and child-services departments. "This is a piece that can't just be made up by the child-welfare system. Everybody needs to sit down together," she said.

Strickland also feels juvenile judges need to be involved in the reforms.

"My experience as a congressman, representing multiple counties in a rural district, is that juvenile judges are among the most knowledgeable about what's happening to children in our communities. ... In many important ways, each of these constituent groups - and I might add education - have a vital part to play."

Sen. Tom Niehaus, R-New Richmond, who sponsored the bill that created the domestic violence task force, said he wants to see the results of the state's investigation into Marcus' death before looking at new legislation.

He said his goal is to improve conditions for foster parents and encourage more families to accept foster children.

"We're trying to make sure first of all that we're protecting the children," he said. "But you don't want to go too far in terms of intruding on the privacy of individuals. We don't want to make it so difficult that people say, 'No, we're not interested.' "

Tom Hayes, former head of the ODJFS who was hired to help Butler County cope with the fallout from Marcus' death, said confidentiality issues make some potential reforms problematic.
"You have so many different confidentialities," Hayes said. "You can't discuss what some person's mental health issues are. You have confidentiality if a person is getting drug or alcohol treatment. In some of the cases, one part of the human services delivery system basically disables another part from doing their work. We have to get past that."

Hayes said that Cuyahoga County, where he once served as commissioner, requires applicants for county services to sign releases allowing service providers to share information.

Caseworker turnover in Franklin County

FRANKLIN COUNTY CHILDREN SERVICES
Caseworker turnover hurts agency, families, kids
Loss of employees remains a concern after last year’s strike
Encarnacion Pyle, Columbus Dispatch, Nov. 20, 2006.

Fosnaugh says she worries about John’s well-being because she says his parents "just aren’t there for him."

Missy Null, right, talks with Gloria Fosnaugh, of South Linden, about Fosnaugh’s 14-year-old grandson, John. A five-year veteran of the agency, Null has worked to reassure Fosnaugh that she’s doing good work raising John, who is mentally retarded.

Ayear after a strike that officials say left animosity and hard feelings on both sides, Franklin County Children Services officials are raising new concerns about the agency’s trouble holding on to childwelfare workers.

Fifty-one people — about 15 percent of Children Services caseworkers — left last year, many after a 19-day strike that agency Director John Saros called divisive. Although turnover has slowed this year — 35 workers had left through October — officials have repeatedly raised the issue at the agency’s monthly board meetings.

"There’s never been a time when caseworker turnover has really settled," Saros said. "Whether people were unhappy with management, the union or both, the strike was especially troubling for us."

Turnover is a national problem affecting child welfare agencies, which work with families dealing with abuse, neglect and other problems. On average, child welfare agencies deal with about 20 percent turnover each year.

"No issue has a greater effect on the capacity of the child-welfare system to serve at-risk and vulnerable children and families than the shortage of a competent, stable work force," said John Sciamanna, a senior government-affairs associate at the Child Welfare League of America in Washington.

By quitting their jobs, caseworkers can compound youths’ feelings of insignificance and rejection, said Joan Zlotnik, executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research in Washington.

Miscommunication and mistakes can occur when a child’s case is handed off, she said. And remaining caseworkers often can’t meet as frequently with their clients, making it more difficult to detect signs of abuse or neglect.

"It lowers morale, reduces efficiency and eats up time and money as agencies seek, hire and train new employees," she said.

Franklin County caseworkers check children’s safety and well-being through home visits; make sure families receive counseling, parenting classes or other essential services; and help with other problems that develop. They must have a college degree in social work or a related field, such as psychology or sociology. About 81 percent of caseworkers are women, 60 percent are white and most are in their 20s.

Turnover has ebbed and flowed through the years.
In 2003, Children Services lost 57 caseworkers, including a quarter of the social workers in its intake and investigation unit and two regional offices. A year later, 28 left, dropping the turnover rate to 8 percent.

National research has found that workers with a professional commitment to their job, previous work experience and appropriate education are more likely to stay.

The Franklin County agency retooled its exit interviews 18 months ago in an effort to understand why people leave, said Heather Saling, its humanresources director.

Personal reasons, retirement, pending discipline, workload and the work environment are the most common reasons.

The agency also is working to improve training.
A partnership with seven universities, including Ohio State, is designed to lure students into the child-welfare field and give them a realistic glimpse of the job to ensure it’s what they want. Students in the partnership take the same core classes that are taught to newly hired caseworkers before completing a minimum one-year internship. Students who secure a job with a child-welfare agency after graduation receive a $5,000 stipend.

"I wish all my students could take advantage of this program," said Denise Bronson, an associate professor at OSU’s College of Social Work. "They really hit the ground running."

The agency has a 30-day training program that teaches new workers how to build relationships with families; identify abuse, neglect and dependency; engage families in creating case plans; and recognize the traumatic effects of separation on children.

Agency administrators and union representatives have been meeting for several months to discuss ways to alleviate stress, attract new workers and reduce caseloads. Most Children Services caseworkers juggle 18 to 22 cases at a time; the recommended standard is 15.

"Our caseworkers can make more money and be safer sitting at a desk at some private agency," said Beth Earl, president of the Professionals Guild of Ohio and a longtime social worker at Children Services. "But the children need protection and the job is rewarding, so we need to come up with ways to keep our seasoned, educated workers."

Tim Holland's tears won't reduce his sentence

Holland gets up to 60 years for death of his son
Karen Bouffard, Detroit News, Nov. 16, 2006, Metro section.

LANSING -- Tim Holland sobbed uncontrollably and told a judge "my life is over" when he was sentenced this morning to 30 to 60 years in prison for the second-degree murder in the July 2005 death of his adopted son Ricky.Ingham County Circuit Judge Paula Manderfield exceeded sentencing guidelines that called for a maximum of 22 years in prison. Prosecutors said the sentence was more than they expected because conceivably Holland could have been eligible for parole in 15 years under the guidelines.

Manderfield's voice cracked and she momentarily lost her composure as she spoke to the Williamston man who pleaded guilty in September and testified last month during the trial of his wife Lisa. She faces life in prison after being convicted of murder and child abuse in late October.
"You knew what was going on," Manderfield said.

"You knew how Ricky was being mistreated and abused in that household. You knew exactly what was going on and you could have saved Ricky Holland's life. You said, 'I was trying to protect (my) family,' but you did not protect Ricky. Wasn't he part of your family too?"

Holland wept inconsolably when he addressed the court.

"What I did was wrong," he said. "I failed my son. I failed as a father and I failed as a human being."

"That choice will haunt me the rest of my life. My life is over. My honor has been waylaid. My reputation is gone and most importantly my children are no longer with me. My actions and what I did will be a (cross) to bear and bear them I will."

State workers took custody of the Hollands' remaining children after Tim Holland led authorities to the body of Ricky Holland this January in an Ingham County swamp. Initially, the couple told police the 7-year-old ran away in July 2005, prompting a massive manhunt.

During last month's trial, Tim Holland said Lisa struck the boy with a tack hammer after years of abuse and allowed him to linger and suffer until he died several days later.