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.