Children in limbo as Lifeway fights to retain its license

Foster agency will fight license revocation: Lifeway's appeal was temporarily lost in the shuffle, but time stamp proves it was filed before deadline.
Brooks-Higgins, Candice. Dayton Daily News, March 21, 2007, pg. A9.

HAMILTON — Never mind what state officials said Monday. The private agency that recommended the foster parents later convicted in the murder of 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel of Middletown is not going out without a fight.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services moved two months ago to revoke the license of New Carlisle-based Lifeway for Youth.

Although the department reported Monday that Lifeway did not file an appeal in time, a courier delivered to the ODJFS' internal legal department the notice of appeal time-stamped at 2:42 p.m. Monday — well before the deadline, ODJFS spokesman Dennis Evans said Tuesday.

E-mail problems were the cause of the confusion. The state department's administration did not receive messages from the legal department, Evans said.

"Nobody had this yesterday afternoon," he said, referring the appeal letter Lifeway's attorneys sent.

Lifeway, which started in Ohio 12 years ago and operates in five other states, "intends to vigorously oppose the state's action," according to a statement from Lifeway Executive Director and Founder Michael Berner.

The next step is to set a hearing date with an ODJFS hearing officer, said Evans, who noted Lifeway may continue operating during the appeal.

The futures of more than 400 Ohio foster children living in more than 300 Lifeway homes and about 100 Lifeway employees are at risk, Berner said. The children are in limbo as their foster parents may need to get their foster licenses transferred to allow the children to remain in their homes.

ODJFS decided to revoke the agency's license in January, after its review of the case involving Marcus and other cases resulted in 147 citations against the private agency.

Butler County Children Services contracted Lifeway to place Marcus with the Carrolls, who last month were convicted of murder in his death.