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.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Monday, November 20, 2006
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."
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."
Sunday, November 19, 2006
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.
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.
Proposed statewide requirements
Advocate dismisses tighter foster care
McLaughlin, Sheila, Cincinnati Enquirer.
HAMILTON – Butler County officials are missing the point if they think tightening foster-care licensing standards and better screening will prevent another child from dying in foster care, a children’s advocate said today.
“Almost everyone is ignoring the elephant in the room – the needless removal of thousands of children of thousands of children throughout Ohio. The only way to fix foster care is to have less of it,” said Richard Wexler, executive director of the national Coalition for Child Protection Reform.
Wexler is in Greater Cincinnati this week to sell his ideas to county officials in the region. He offered 23 recommendations for Ohio and Butler County, focusing on changes to reduce the removal of abused and neglected children from their families.
Among the recommendations were:
-- Increased state funding to counties to set up programming to help people be better parents.
-- Pairing families with a single caseworker for up to six weeks to counsel them on parenting and teach skills such as proper housekeeping.
--- Establishment of a competitive system for private foster-care placement companies to reward them for getting the children back home or adopted.
--- Creation of a review board of caseworkers and supervisors to look every request to remove a child to avoid needless removals.
--- The use of outside experts to examine Butler County’s policies and practices, recommend reforms and stay to see the job through.
Wexler went so far as to say that Marcus Fiesel should not have been taken away from his mother, Donna Trevino.
The 3-year-old Middletown boy’s death in August ignited an outcry for child welfare reform in Butler County. Marcus’ foster parents, Liz and David Carroll, are jailed on murder charges, accused of binding the developmentally delayed boy in a blanket with strapping tape and leaving him in a closet while they left town for two days to attend a family reunion. Marcus had been placed at the Carrolls' Clermont County home through the private foster care placement agency, Lifeway For Youth.
A report on the state’s investigation into the involvement of Lifeway and Butler and Clermont counties in Marcus’ placement with the Carrolls is expected to be released in coming weeks.
“From all available evidence, Marcus Fiesel never needed to be taken from his mother Donna Trevino,” Wexler said.“Donna Trevino had real problems. Doing nothing was not an option either. But in thousands of similar cases, children have been kept safely with their parents. In fact, the track record for safety for real family preservation programs is far better than foster care.”
That comment didn’t sit well with the Rev. Johnny Wade Sloan, the chairman of Butler County’s Children Services Board. He sat in on Wexler’s press conference and said he agreed with many of Wexler’s suggestion, but not that point.
Wexler wasn’t privy to the county files that Sloan had reviewed on Marcus’ case. Those files have not been made public, despite numerous requests from the media, because they are being used by prosecutors in the cases against the Carrolls.
“The reality is Marcus Fiesel should have been removed, in my opinion, and he should have been placed in a foster home,” Sloan said. “It is tragic that the system allowed psychopaths and criminals like the Carrolls to be a part of the system. That’s the real tragedy."
Wexler said part of Butler County’s problem is that officials failed to follow through with reform in 2000, which was driven by a sex abuse cover-up involving a foster father and criticism that children were needlessly being removed from their homes.Wexler’s analysis of the rate at which Butler County removes children from their homes puts it at sixth in the state. He noted that of number of removals in Butler County dipped slightly in 2000 and 2003, but, for the most part, has remained consistent. The county removed 334 children from their homes in 2005, and removals have jumped since Marcus’ death in what Wexler calls “foster-care panic.”
Sloan wasn’t on the board for the 2000 reforms, but said 75 percent of them were made.He conceded there have been problems with making changes in Butler County.
“In a 40-month period, there were 40 different board members, four different chairmen, three different directors and four different ombudsmen,” he said.“When you have that much transition and instability, you lose continuity and then the reforms fall through the cracks.”
Marcuss death in early August prompted several changes at Butler County Children Services Board as well as recommendations to the state for improvement.
They require:
--- Private networks, such as Lifeway For Youth, to provide more in depth information on foster homes.
--- Foster homes to verify income every six months to prove that foster care money isn’t their only income.
--- Nationwide criminal background checks must be completed on all adults in network and county foster homes initially, in addition to local and county sheriff checks. Local and county sheriff checks will then be done quarterly. The state now requires FBI checks only for adults who have not lived in Ohio for five years.
--- Monthly visits from county caseworkers in the foster home for all children in care. Previously, caseworkers were required to visit the child in the home once every six months, but monthly in other settings, such as the county’s visitation center.
--- A collaboration with local service providers to establish “specialty” foster homes where parents would receive better training to manage children with severe behavioral disabilities such as autism, schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder and fetal alcohol syndrome.
Butler County Children Services has asked the state to require:
--- A minimum three interviews with potential foster instead of one before licensing.
--- Foster parents to register with their police departments so officers can notify children services if the parent is arrested.
--- A computer link between foster parent and day care provider information so children services can check for potential problems or state investigations.
-- Foster parents to have their status noted on their driver’s license, triggering notification of arrests to child welfare departments.
--- Changing state guidelines to require monthly visits of children in foster home.
--- Publishing weekly lists of foster-care providers that are being investigated.
McLaughlin, Sheila, Cincinnati Enquirer.
HAMILTON – Butler County officials are missing the point if they think tightening foster-care licensing standards and better screening will prevent another child from dying in foster care, a children’s advocate said today.
“Almost everyone is ignoring the elephant in the room – the needless removal of thousands of children of thousands of children throughout Ohio. The only way to fix foster care is to have less of it,” said Richard Wexler, executive director of the national Coalition for Child Protection Reform.
Wexler is in Greater Cincinnati this week to sell his ideas to county officials in the region. He offered 23 recommendations for Ohio and Butler County, focusing on changes to reduce the removal of abused and neglected children from their families.
Among the recommendations were:
-- Increased state funding to counties to set up programming to help people be better parents.
-- Pairing families with a single caseworker for up to six weeks to counsel them on parenting and teach skills such as proper housekeeping.
--- Establishment of a competitive system for private foster-care placement companies to reward them for getting the children back home or adopted.
--- Creation of a review board of caseworkers and supervisors to look every request to remove a child to avoid needless removals.
--- The use of outside experts to examine Butler County’s policies and practices, recommend reforms and stay to see the job through.
Wexler went so far as to say that Marcus Fiesel should not have been taken away from his mother, Donna Trevino.
The 3-year-old Middletown boy’s death in August ignited an outcry for child welfare reform in Butler County. Marcus’ foster parents, Liz and David Carroll, are jailed on murder charges, accused of binding the developmentally delayed boy in a blanket with strapping tape and leaving him in a closet while they left town for two days to attend a family reunion. Marcus had been placed at the Carrolls' Clermont County home through the private foster care placement agency, Lifeway For Youth.
A report on the state’s investigation into the involvement of Lifeway and Butler and Clermont counties in Marcus’ placement with the Carrolls is expected to be released in coming weeks.
“From all available evidence, Marcus Fiesel never needed to be taken from his mother Donna Trevino,” Wexler said.“Donna Trevino had real problems. Doing nothing was not an option either. But in thousands of similar cases, children have been kept safely with their parents. In fact, the track record for safety for real family preservation programs is far better than foster care.”
That comment didn’t sit well with the Rev. Johnny Wade Sloan, the chairman of Butler County’s Children Services Board. He sat in on Wexler’s press conference and said he agreed with many of Wexler’s suggestion, but not that point.
Wexler wasn’t privy to the county files that Sloan had reviewed on Marcus’ case. Those files have not been made public, despite numerous requests from the media, because they are being used by prosecutors in the cases against the Carrolls.
“The reality is Marcus Fiesel should have been removed, in my opinion, and he should have been placed in a foster home,” Sloan said. “It is tragic that the system allowed psychopaths and criminals like the Carrolls to be a part of the system. That’s the real tragedy."
Wexler said part of Butler County’s problem is that officials failed to follow through with reform in 2000, which was driven by a sex abuse cover-up involving a foster father and criticism that children were needlessly being removed from their homes.Wexler’s analysis of the rate at which Butler County removes children from their homes puts it at sixth in the state. He noted that of number of removals in Butler County dipped slightly in 2000 and 2003, but, for the most part, has remained consistent. The county removed 334 children from their homes in 2005, and removals have jumped since Marcus’ death in what Wexler calls “foster-care panic.”
Sloan wasn’t on the board for the 2000 reforms, but said 75 percent of them were made.He conceded there have been problems with making changes in Butler County.
“In a 40-month period, there were 40 different board members, four different chairmen, three different directors and four different ombudsmen,” he said.“When you have that much transition and instability, you lose continuity and then the reforms fall through the cracks.”
Marcuss death in early August prompted several changes at Butler County Children Services Board as well as recommendations to the state for improvement.
They require:
--- Private networks, such as Lifeway For Youth, to provide more in depth information on foster homes.
--- Foster homes to verify income every six months to prove that foster care money isn’t their only income.
--- Nationwide criminal background checks must be completed on all adults in network and county foster homes initially, in addition to local and county sheriff checks. Local and county sheriff checks will then be done quarterly. The state now requires FBI checks only for adults who have not lived in Ohio for five years.
--- Monthly visits from county caseworkers in the foster home for all children in care. Previously, caseworkers were required to visit the child in the home once every six months, but monthly in other settings, such as the county’s visitation center.
--- A collaboration with local service providers to establish “specialty” foster homes where parents would receive better training to manage children with severe behavioral disabilities such as autism, schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder and fetal alcohol syndrome.
Butler County Children Services has asked the state to require:
--- A minimum three interviews with potential foster instead of one before licensing.
--- Foster parents to register with their police departments so officers can notify children services if the parent is arrested.
--- A computer link between foster parent and day care provider information so children services can check for potential problems or state investigations.
-- Foster parents to have their status noted on their driver’s license, triggering notification of arrests to child welfare departments.
--- Changing state guidelines to require monthly visits of children in foster home.
--- Publishing weekly lists of foster-care providers that are being investigated.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Siblings ending up in custodial roles
Family affair - Sisters raise St. V-M football player
Morgan, David Lee, Jr. Akron Beacon Journal, Nov. 16, 2006
St. Vincent-St. Mary football player Chris House walked across the artificial turf at Green Street Stadium.
It was Senior Night, Week 9 of his final high school season. Two of the three most important people in his life were at his side. They're three women who love him and who taught him what it means to be a man when their parents couldn't be there to raise him -- or even to watch his first organized football game.
The women -- sisters -- shared Chris' loss when their mother, Betsy House, died of cancer in January 1995 and when the disease claimed their father, Bill, in July 1996.
The family's oldest child, Jennifer, then 24, took custody of the siblings, Becky, 16; Maggie, 12; and Chris, 7.
"I would have to say, for a few years, I think I was just on automatic pilot, and all I did was focus on the kids because I didn't have to think about me or how I felt about losing Mom and Dad or anything," said Jennifer, a legal assistant at the law firm of Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin.
"As the kids got older and stopped needing me as much, I had a really hard time. It wasn't until several years after my mom and dad died that it all hit me, and I pretty much fell apart. The three of them got together and took care of me for a while."
Jennifer said that when her mom passed away, her dad started getting things in place so that a relative could take care of the family if something happened to him.
The unthinkable happened barely a year later.
After being diagnosed with cancer, Bill House was told he didn't have much time to live.
Jennifer knew what she had to do: keep her family together. She was attending the University of Akron and had never lived away from her family.
"I told my dad I really wanted to take custody of Chris and the girls," Jennifer said. "He had a really hard time with that because he felt that no parent should leave this kind of responsibility to one of his children. I told him if he didn't, he would make my life worse."
'Two peas in a pod'
The special bond the siblings had formed grew stronger.
"Chris and I were very close when he was younger," said Becky, now 26 and a nurse at Barberton Citizens Hospital. "I took more of the mother role over Chris. I think I still do. I worry about him.
"When I went to Ohio State for two years, I still remember when they dropped me off. Chris was hanging out of the van crying, 'Don't leave! Don't leave!' Chris and I were very, very close."
Maggie chimed in: "Two peas in a pod."
"Yeah, they would sit on the porch and have late-night talks," Jennifer added, sounding like a proud mother.
Chris didn't hesitate when asked if he ever felt like he needed another "guy" around the house. "Of course not," he said with conviction.
Jennifer did admit it was tough trying to raise Chris -- and to understand a male point of view -- as he got older.
"It's not that he is a boy, but his personality and approach to things are so different than the girls' and not in a bad way," Jennifer said. "The older he gets, the more apparent the differences in how he approaches things and how he does things are, and sometimes we are good at adjusting our way of thinking to realize that."
Maggie, now 21, said she feels close to Chris mainly because she's nearest to him in age. Like her older sisters, Maggie graduated from St. V-M (2003).
She is in her third year in the nursing program at Kent State University and is a nurse's assistant at Akron General Medical Center.
"Chris and I were always close, and we'll always be referred to as 'the kids' because we were always the kids when my parents were alive," said Maggie, who made it to Chris' Senior Night later in the evening.
"I think as I get older, I feel more responsibility toward him, more of a mother, like Jen and Becky do. Before, he was just my little brother."
Love of athletics
Chris has been involved in sports constantly since a very young age.
"He has played everything -- soccer, baseball, football, basketball -- you name it, and we have always gone to the games," Jennifer said. "
And even when the girls were younger, it was just the family thing to do.
"You always go to the game, but I have to say with Chris in high school football, the older he got, the more excited I got watching him because we have watched how hard he has worked over the years."
Chris wasn't a starter on this season's 4-6 Irish team. He got limited playing time but was determined to finish his senior year on the team.
He said his interaction with his neighborhood friends somewhat helped him bond with male figures because he was, and still is, the only male living in a household with three women.
"Our neighborhood, for one, was really close," Chris said about growing up in the North Hill section of Akron. "There were a lot of kids on our street, so I had a lot of friends and we played football and all kinds of sports all the time."
Family responsibilities
Jennifer and her siblings said that after their parents' deaths, people occasionally formed misconceptions about her family.
"I'm sure some people thought this was going to be a party house, and that wasn't the case at all," Jennifer said. "Don't get me wrong, even when the kids were younger, we each filled a different role as far as what it takes to run a family. Becky is my cleaner/organizer. I mean at 16, Becky would change everyone's winter clothes to summer clothes."
(Just as Jennifer was describing how responsible Becky always has been, Becky was cleaning everyone's dishes from the kitchen table after dinner.)
"When I would come home from a date and mom and dad were still sleeping, there would be a note from Becky that said, 'Jen, please make sure all the windows and doors are locked.' "
Added Maggie: "I remember Becky crying the entire night Jen turned 21 because she thought Jen was going to drink."
"See, Maggie is my comic relief," Jennifer added.
Then Chris said, jokingly, "And I'm her sunshine."
Jennifer responded, "Yeah, Chris is my gentle soul."
Caring for each other
What makes this atypical family so special is how it came together in the face of tragedy to become so strong, loving and caring for one another.
"Maybe when you stop and look at what we've been through and where we are, you might say it was amazing, but we have never thought about it any other way than just we were going to take care of one another," Becky said.
Jennifer commented: "As the kids get older and they start achieving their own accomplishments as individuals and adults, like graduating from high school, college, then getting jobs, I am like, 'Wow, I guess we did do a good job.' Because everyone's life is on a steady course forward.
"I guess as they get older, I look at the three of them and say not only did they survive losing mom and dad, but they survived me and they have gone on to achieve great things and be good people."
Proud family
Jennifer recalled the waves of emotion as she, Chris and Becky walked across the field and heard his name announced over the public address system during the Senior Night festivities.
"It was a very bittersweet night for all of us," Jennifer said. "As we walked out on the field and heard 'Christopher House, son of the late Bill and Betsy' we all paused for a moment."
Chris played on the kickoff and punt teams that night and made the most of the last home game of his high school football career."
As I watched Chris, whether running a play or standing on the sideline, I realized that this was the last time I would be watching him play at St. V," Jennifer said. "As the lump in my throat formed, I couldn't help but think of how much he had grown, physically and emotionally, compared to the first time I watched him play at St. V. I was proud of him and for him. As with all of the kids, I knew Mom and Dad would be proud."
Morgan, David Lee, Jr. Akron Beacon Journal, Nov. 16, 2006
St. Vincent-St. Mary football player Chris House walked across the artificial turf at Green Street Stadium.
It was Senior Night, Week 9 of his final high school season. Two of the three most important people in his life were at his side. They're three women who love him and who taught him what it means to be a man when their parents couldn't be there to raise him -- or even to watch his first organized football game.
The women -- sisters -- shared Chris' loss when their mother, Betsy House, died of cancer in January 1995 and when the disease claimed their father, Bill, in July 1996.
The family's oldest child, Jennifer, then 24, took custody of the siblings, Becky, 16; Maggie, 12; and Chris, 7.
"I would have to say, for a few years, I think I was just on automatic pilot, and all I did was focus on the kids because I didn't have to think about me or how I felt about losing Mom and Dad or anything," said Jennifer, a legal assistant at the law firm of Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin.
"As the kids got older and stopped needing me as much, I had a really hard time. It wasn't until several years after my mom and dad died that it all hit me, and I pretty much fell apart. The three of them got together and took care of me for a while."
Jennifer said that when her mom passed away, her dad started getting things in place so that a relative could take care of the family if something happened to him.
The unthinkable happened barely a year later.
After being diagnosed with cancer, Bill House was told he didn't have much time to live.
Jennifer knew what she had to do: keep her family together. She was attending the University of Akron and had never lived away from her family.
"I told my dad I really wanted to take custody of Chris and the girls," Jennifer said. "He had a really hard time with that because he felt that no parent should leave this kind of responsibility to one of his children. I told him if he didn't, he would make my life worse."
'Two peas in a pod'
The special bond the siblings had formed grew stronger.
"Chris and I were very close when he was younger," said Becky, now 26 and a nurse at Barberton Citizens Hospital. "I took more of the mother role over Chris. I think I still do. I worry about him.
"When I went to Ohio State for two years, I still remember when they dropped me off. Chris was hanging out of the van crying, 'Don't leave! Don't leave!' Chris and I were very, very close."
Maggie chimed in: "Two peas in a pod."
"Yeah, they would sit on the porch and have late-night talks," Jennifer added, sounding like a proud mother.
Chris didn't hesitate when asked if he ever felt like he needed another "guy" around the house. "Of course not," he said with conviction.
Jennifer did admit it was tough trying to raise Chris -- and to understand a male point of view -- as he got older.
"It's not that he is a boy, but his personality and approach to things are so different than the girls' and not in a bad way," Jennifer said. "The older he gets, the more apparent the differences in how he approaches things and how he does things are, and sometimes we are good at adjusting our way of thinking to realize that."
Maggie, now 21, said she feels close to Chris mainly because she's nearest to him in age. Like her older sisters, Maggie graduated from St. V-M (2003).
She is in her third year in the nursing program at Kent State University and is a nurse's assistant at Akron General Medical Center.
"Chris and I were always close, and we'll always be referred to as 'the kids' because we were always the kids when my parents were alive," said Maggie, who made it to Chris' Senior Night later in the evening.
"I think as I get older, I feel more responsibility toward him, more of a mother, like Jen and Becky do. Before, he was just my little brother."
Love of athletics
Chris has been involved in sports constantly since a very young age.
"He has played everything -- soccer, baseball, football, basketball -- you name it, and we have always gone to the games," Jennifer said. "
And even when the girls were younger, it was just the family thing to do.
"You always go to the game, but I have to say with Chris in high school football, the older he got, the more excited I got watching him because we have watched how hard he has worked over the years."
Chris wasn't a starter on this season's 4-6 Irish team. He got limited playing time but was determined to finish his senior year on the team.
He said his interaction with his neighborhood friends somewhat helped him bond with male figures because he was, and still is, the only male living in a household with three women.
"Our neighborhood, for one, was really close," Chris said about growing up in the North Hill section of Akron. "There were a lot of kids on our street, so I had a lot of friends and we played football and all kinds of sports all the time."
Family responsibilities
Jennifer and her siblings said that after their parents' deaths, people occasionally formed misconceptions about her family.
"I'm sure some people thought this was going to be a party house, and that wasn't the case at all," Jennifer said. "Don't get me wrong, even when the kids were younger, we each filled a different role as far as what it takes to run a family. Becky is my cleaner/organizer. I mean at 16, Becky would change everyone's winter clothes to summer clothes."
(Just as Jennifer was describing how responsible Becky always has been, Becky was cleaning everyone's dishes from the kitchen table after dinner.)
"When I would come home from a date and mom and dad were still sleeping, there would be a note from Becky that said, 'Jen, please make sure all the windows and doors are locked.' "
Added Maggie: "I remember Becky crying the entire night Jen turned 21 because she thought Jen was going to drink."
"See, Maggie is my comic relief," Jennifer added.
Then Chris said, jokingly, "And I'm her sunshine."
Jennifer responded, "Yeah, Chris is my gentle soul."
Caring for each other
What makes this atypical family so special is how it came together in the face of tragedy to become so strong, loving and caring for one another.
"Maybe when you stop and look at what we've been through and where we are, you might say it was amazing, but we have never thought about it any other way than just we were going to take care of one another," Becky said.
Jennifer commented: "As the kids get older and they start achieving their own accomplishments as individuals and adults, like graduating from high school, college, then getting jobs, I am like, 'Wow, I guess we did do a good job.' Because everyone's life is on a steady course forward.
"I guess as they get older, I look at the three of them and say not only did they survive losing mom and dad, but they survived me and they have gone on to achieve great things and be good people."
Proud family
Jennifer recalled the waves of emotion as she, Chris and Becky walked across the field and heard his name announced over the public address system during the Senior Night festivities.
"It was a very bittersweet night for all of us," Jennifer said. "As we walked out on the field and heard 'Christopher House, son of the late Bill and Betsy' we all paused for a moment."
Chris played on the kickoff and punt teams that night and made the most of the last home game of his high school football career."
As I watched Chris, whether running a play or standing on the sideline, I realized that this was the last time I would be watching him play at St. V," Jennifer said. "As the lump in my throat formed, I couldn't help but think of how much he had grown, physically and emotionally, compared to the first time I watched him play at St. V. I was proud of him and for him. As with all of the kids, I knew Mom and Dad would be proud."
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Liz Carroll tries to avoid responsibility for her actions
Foster mother will be evaluated.
Greber, Dave. Middletown Journal. Cincinnati Post, Nov. 15, 2006, News pgA4.
The attorney for the foster mother accused of killing her 3-year-old foster son at her home in August has filed a motion suggesting that she is incompetent to stand trial in Clermont County on murder and other charges.
The motion Adam Bleile filed last week on behalf of Liz Carroll was similar to one he filed a week earlier in Hamilton County. Bleile contends that Carroll cannot understand the court proceedings or assist in her own defense.
Carroll and her husband, David Carroll Jr., are accused of murder in Clermont County. Police said they left Marcus Fiesel, their autistic foster child, in a closet Aug. 4 bound in a blanket and packing tape. When they returned from a trip to Kentucky, he was dead.
In Hamilton County, the couple are charged with perjury, inducing panic and filing false police reports.
Police said the two concocted a story that the boy had wandered off or been abducted, which prompted four days of frantic searching by hundreds of volunteers and police in and around Juilfs Park in Anderson Township.
Marcus had already been dead for two weeks at that point, authorities said.
A ruling in Hamilton County on Liz Carrolls' competence isn't expected until early December. She will be evaluated by doctors in Clermont County during the next month.
By law, courts have 30 days during which a recommendation on competency can be made.
A hearing on the issue in Clermont County likely will be set for mid-December, according to court records.
In addition to murder, the charges the Carrolls face in Clermont County are kidnapping and child endangerment. Prosecutors allege David Carroll took the boy's body and burned it in a Brown County chimney.
The trials in Hamilton County will not take place until the completion of their Clermont County trials, set for Jan. 22 for Liz Carroll and Feb. 28 for David Carroll.
Greber, Dave. Middletown Journal. Cincinnati Post, Nov. 15, 2006, News pgA4.
The attorney for the foster mother accused of killing her 3-year-old foster son at her home in August has filed a motion suggesting that she is incompetent to stand trial in Clermont County on murder and other charges.
The motion Adam Bleile filed last week on behalf of Liz Carroll was similar to one he filed a week earlier in Hamilton County. Bleile contends that Carroll cannot understand the court proceedings or assist in her own defense.
Carroll and her husband, David Carroll Jr., are accused of murder in Clermont County. Police said they left Marcus Fiesel, their autistic foster child, in a closet Aug. 4 bound in a blanket and packing tape. When they returned from a trip to Kentucky, he was dead.
In Hamilton County, the couple are charged with perjury, inducing panic and filing false police reports.
Police said the two concocted a story that the boy had wandered off or been abducted, which prompted four days of frantic searching by hundreds of volunteers and police in and around Juilfs Park in Anderson Township.
Marcus had already been dead for two weeks at that point, authorities said.
A ruling in Hamilton County on Liz Carrolls' competence isn't expected until early December. She will be evaluated by doctors in Clermont County during the next month.
By law, courts have 30 days during which a recommendation on competency can be made.
A hearing on the issue in Clermont County likely will be set for mid-December, according to court records.
In addition to murder, the charges the Carrolls face in Clermont County are kidnapping and child endangerment. Prosecutors allege David Carroll took the boy's body and burned it in a Brown County chimney.
The trials in Hamilton County will not take place until the completion of their Clermont County trials, set for Jan. 22 for Liz Carroll and Feb. 28 for David Carroll.
Over 30 children had been placed in accused child-molester's home
State declines to make record of accused parent public.
McLaughlin, Sheila, Cincinnati Enquirer, Nov. 15, 2006, Metro pg5B.
The state readily handed out the foster care application of a couple jailed in the death of Marcus Fiesel.
But it wants to keep the same information secret for a 31-year-old Clermont County real estate agent accused of sexually molesting two foster sons.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services on Tuesday refused The Enquirer's request for the foster care application for Jaysen Bell, who was indicted last month on charges of rape, sexual battery, gross sexual imposition and sexual imposition.
Enquirer managing editor Hollis Towns said the newspaper will challenge the decision.
"Public interest in how Ohio counties handle foster care placement and their selection of foster parents is high," he said. "This is even more critical in light of the death of Marcus Fiesel and another foster parent being charged with sexual abuse. The public has a right to know what these applications say. Keeping the process in the dark helps no one."
The state gave several reasons for not releasing the documents, which include references, information about jobs and income, names of people who live in the home, and whether criminal background checks were done.
Dennis Evans, spokesman for the state department, said Bell's records were considered part of the agency's "enforcement" investigation and were not considered public records.
The Carrolls' records were released because the couple were jailed on murder charges.
The media already reported much of the information before the application was made public, Evans said.
The Enquirer's attorney, Jack Greiner, said Ohio public records law excludes some records from release, but Bell's foster care application doesn't qualify as an exempted record.
"To try to classify that as a confidential law enforcement investigatory record, there is no basis for it. When that was filled out, there was absolutely no criminal investigation. It was not completed in any way as part of a criminal investigation," Greiner said.
Bell is free on $100,000 bail. More than 30 foster boys and girls have been placed in Bell's home since it was licensed in 1999, authorities said.
Evans said the state agency "generally" doesn't release the names and addresses or any other records about specific foster parents.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services recently refused to supply The Enquirer with names and addresses of all foster parents in the state.
"This is partly because release of foster care applications, filled with very private information concerning a family, would likely have a chilling effect on persons who might otherwise seek to become foster parents," he said.
That would undermine the state's efforts in recruiting foster parents, he said, and could endanger foster parents, the children placed with them and other members of the household.
Greiner said that's not a valid reason to deny Bell's records.
"For an agency to decide just generally they better not turn this public record over because it may have a chilling effect down the road, they have no right to make a decision like that," Greiner said.
"The legislature passed the open records statute. It doesn't allow for agencies to make policy decisions about what should and shouldn't be released, for obvious reasons."
McLaughlin, Sheila, Cincinnati Enquirer, Nov. 15, 2006, Metro pg5B.
The state readily handed out the foster care application of a couple jailed in the death of Marcus Fiesel.
But it wants to keep the same information secret for a 31-year-old Clermont County real estate agent accused of sexually molesting two foster sons.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services on Tuesday refused The Enquirer's request for the foster care application for Jaysen Bell, who was indicted last month on charges of rape, sexual battery, gross sexual imposition and sexual imposition.
Enquirer managing editor Hollis Towns said the newspaper will challenge the decision.
"Public interest in how Ohio counties handle foster care placement and their selection of foster parents is high," he said. "This is even more critical in light of the death of Marcus Fiesel and another foster parent being charged with sexual abuse. The public has a right to know what these applications say. Keeping the process in the dark helps no one."
The state gave several reasons for not releasing the documents, which include references, information about jobs and income, names of people who live in the home, and whether criminal background checks were done.
Dennis Evans, spokesman for the state department, said Bell's records were considered part of the agency's "enforcement" investigation and were not considered public records.
The Carrolls' records were released because the couple were jailed on murder charges.
The media already reported much of the information before the application was made public, Evans said.
The Enquirer's attorney, Jack Greiner, said Ohio public records law excludes some records from release, but Bell's foster care application doesn't qualify as an exempted record.
"To try to classify that as a confidential law enforcement investigatory record, there is no basis for it. When that was filled out, there was absolutely no criminal investigation. It was not completed in any way as part of a criminal investigation," Greiner said.
Bell is free on $100,000 bail. More than 30 foster boys and girls have been placed in Bell's home since it was licensed in 1999, authorities said.
Evans said the state agency "generally" doesn't release the names and addresses or any other records about specific foster parents.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services recently refused to supply The Enquirer with names and addresses of all foster parents in the state.
"This is partly because release of foster care applications, filled with very private information concerning a family, would likely have a chilling effect on persons who might otherwise seek to become foster parents," he said.
That would undermine the state's efforts in recruiting foster parents, he said, and could endanger foster parents, the children placed with them and other members of the household.
Greiner said that's not a valid reason to deny Bell's records.
"For an agency to decide just generally they better not turn this public record over because it may have a chilling effect down the road, they have no right to make a decision like that," Greiner said.
"The legislature passed the open records statute. It doesn't allow for agencies to make policy decisions about what should and shouldn't be released, for obvious reasons."
Not every child should be returned back home
Agency disclaims liability in case of unremoved child.
McLaughlin, Sheila, Cincinnati Enquirer, Nov. 15, 2006, Metro pgB1.
HAMILTON - Lawyers for the Butler County Children Services Board argued Tuesday to get the agency out of a lawsuit involving the fiery death of an infant after caseworkers left him home with his mentally unstable mother.
The hearing in Common Pleas Court came just hours after a national children's advocate slammed the agency in a press conference for taking Marcus Fiesel away from his mother to die in foster care.
The two cases underscore the conflicts involved in child protection cases, the Butler County agency's chairman said.
"It seems like we swing from one ditch to the other," the Rev. Johnny Wade Sloan said. "There's this constant contradiction. "
If a child dies at the hands of the parents, (people say) the children services should have took the child out. If the child dies at the hands of the foster parents, then we should have never taken the child out," Sloan said.
Justin Johnson Jr. was 7 months old when his mother, Aimee Leonard, became enraged on Feb. 4, 2004, following a telephone argument with the boy's father.
Leonard, 31, is serving seven years in prison for setting her Madison Township trailer on fire and leaving Justin behind to die.
The baby's father, Justin Johnson Sr., sued Children Services and two caseworkers, saying they were reckless because they knew Leonard's history but didn't remove him from her Germantown Road home despite complaints she mistreated Justin.
The wrongful death suit seeks in excess of $25,000 in compensatory damages from Children Services, Victoria Baldrick and Karen Johnson-Jordan.
Baldrick, a caseworker, was fired following Justin's death. Johnson-Jordan, her supervisor, was demoted.
The agency's lawyer, Jack McGowan, said the women and Children Services Board can't be sued because they have immunity from litigation under the law.
He contended the women handled the case properly.
But even if they didn't, they and the agency can't be held responsible because of a 2001 Ohio Supreme Court decision that caseworkers can't be held liable for failing to investigate a case, McGowan said.
Johnson argued that decision applied to cases of negligence, not recklessness as he has alleged.
"We have unrefutable evidence of what these caseworkers knew," Johnson's attorney Chris Pagan said. "They knew about her awful behaviors, her propensity for violent behaviors, her lack of insight. The psychologists, the service providers, say this woman is a train wreck. She's impulsive, she's not been safe with children. They knew what the risk was and they disregarded it."
Leonard's first son was taken away from her temporarily in 1994 after she exploded in a tantrum, throwing a Christmas tree through the apartment window.
Butler County Children Services took permanent custody after she was incarcerated for molesting a 12-year-old boy.
Five years later, the agency removed Leonard's 5-month-old daughter when doctors determined the girl was failing to thrive because Leonard was not feeding her properly. The child was placed in shared custody of her father and Leonard's sister.
Leonard also had been convicted of domestic violence in 2003 for throwing a pot of coffee on Johnson. She was charged with disorderly conduct just after Justin's November 2003 birth for slapping Johnson in the face and refusing to comply with police orders to calm down.
An internal agency memo criticized Baldrick and Jordan-Johnson, who had dealt with Leonard's previous problems, recommending both for disciplinary action and saying their actions fell short.
"The supervisor assigned to this case had prior, first-hand knowledge about this family and the high-risk factors attached to this family, yet she approved the case to be closed 'with no concerns,' " said Michelle Money, who was then a manager in the family advocacy department.
McGowan, in a brief filed with the court, said he found the lawsuit ironic and placed some of the blame on Johnson.
"Mr. Johnson has taken the proverbial second guess and tried to convert it into a cause of action," McGowan wrote. "This is particularly ironic since he precipitated Aimee Leonard's rage by his evening telephone antagonism which led to the fire."
Johnson was not in court Tuesday.
McLaughlin, Sheila, Cincinnati Enquirer, Nov. 15, 2006, Metro pgB1.
HAMILTON - Lawyers for the Butler County Children Services Board argued Tuesday to get the agency out of a lawsuit involving the fiery death of an infant after caseworkers left him home with his mentally unstable mother.
The hearing in Common Pleas Court came just hours after a national children's advocate slammed the agency in a press conference for taking Marcus Fiesel away from his mother to die in foster care.
The two cases underscore the conflicts involved in child protection cases, the Butler County agency's chairman said.
"It seems like we swing from one ditch to the other," the Rev. Johnny Wade Sloan said. "There's this constant contradiction. "
If a child dies at the hands of the parents, (people say) the children services should have took the child out. If the child dies at the hands of the foster parents, then we should have never taken the child out," Sloan said.
Justin Johnson Jr. was 7 months old when his mother, Aimee Leonard, became enraged on Feb. 4, 2004, following a telephone argument with the boy's father.
Leonard, 31, is serving seven years in prison for setting her Madison Township trailer on fire and leaving Justin behind to die.
The baby's father, Justin Johnson Sr., sued Children Services and two caseworkers, saying they were reckless because they knew Leonard's history but didn't remove him from her Germantown Road home despite complaints she mistreated Justin.
The wrongful death suit seeks in excess of $25,000 in compensatory damages from Children Services, Victoria Baldrick and Karen Johnson-Jordan.
Baldrick, a caseworker, was fired following Justin's death. Johnson-Jordan, her supervisor, was demoted.
The agency's lawyer, Jack McGowan, said the women and Children Services Board can't be sued because they have immunity from litigation under the law.
He contended the women handled the case properly.
But even if they didn't, they and the agency can't be held responsible because of a 2001 Ohio Supreme Court decision that caseworkers can't be held liable for failing to investigate a case, McGowan said.
Johnson argued that decision applied to cases of negligence, not recklessness as he has alleged.
"We have unrefutable evidence of what these caseworkers knew," Johnson's attorney Chris Pagan said. "They knew about her awful behaviors, her propensity for violent behaviors, her lack of insight. The psychologists, the service providers, say this woman is a train wreck. She's impulsive, she's not been safe with children. They knew what the risk was and they disregarded it."
Leonard's first son was taken away from her temporarily in 1994 after she exploded in a tantrum, throwing a Christmas tree through the apartment window.
Butler County Children Services took permanent custody after she was incarcerated for molesting a 12-year-old boy.
Five years later, the agency removed Leonard's 5-month-old daughter when doctors determined the girl was failing to thrive because Leonard was not feeding her properly. The child was placed in shared custody of her father and Leonard's sister.
Leonard also had been convicted of domestic violence in 2003 for throwing a pot of coffee on Johnson. She was charged with disorderly conduct just after Justin's November 2003 birth for slapping Johnson in the face and refusing to comply with police orders to calm down.
An internal agency memo criticized Baldrick and Jordan-Johnson, who had dealt with Leonard's previous problems, recommending both for disciplinary action and saying their actions fell short.
"The supervisor assigned to this case had prior, first-hand knowledge about this family and the high-risk factors attached to this family, yet she approved the case to be closed 'with no concerns,' " said Michelle Money, who was then a manager in the family advocacy department.
McGowan, in a brief filed with the court, said he found the lawsuit ironic and placed some of the blame on Johnson.
"Mr. Johnson has taken the proverbial second guess and tried to convert it into a cause of action," McGowan wrote. "This is particularly ironic since he precipitated Aimee Leonard's rage by his evening telephone antagonism which led to the fire."
Johnson was not in court Tuesday.
I disagree with Wexler re: returning Marcus to his mother
Reformer debunks foster care:
Child-protection advocate would use other methods, stop home removals.
McLaughlin, Sheila. Cincinnati Enquirer, Nov. 15, 2006, Metro pgB1.
HAMILTON - Butler County officials are missing the point if they think tightening foster-care licensing standards and better screening will prevent another child from dying in foster care, a children's advocate said Tuesday.
"Almost everyone is ignoring the elephant in the room - the needless removal of thousands of children throughout Ohio. The only way to fix foster care is to have less of it," said Richard Wexler, executive director of the national Coalition for Child Protection Reform.
Wexler is in Greater Cincinnati this week to sell his ideas to county officials in the region. He offered 23 recommendations for Ohio and Butler County, focusing on changes to reduce the removal of abused and neglected children from their families.
Some recommendations:
-Increased state funding to counties to set up programming to help people be better parents. -Pairing families with a single caseworker for up to six weeks to counsel them on parenting and teach skills such as proper housekeeping.
-Establishment of a competitive system for private foster-care placement companies to reward them for getting the children back home or adopted.
-Creation of a review board of caseworkers and supervisors to look at every request to remove a child to avoid needless removals.
-The use of outside experts to examine Butler County's policies and practices, recommend reforms and stay to see the job through.
Wexler said Marcus Fiesel should not have been taken away from his mother, Donna Trevino.
The 3-year-old Middletown boy's death in August ignited an outcry for child welfare reform in Butler County. Marcus' foster parents, Liz and David Carroll, are jailed on murder charges, accused of binding the developmentally delayed boy in a blanket with strapping tape and leaving him in a closet while they left town for two days to attend a family reunion. Marcus had been placed at the Carrolls' Clermont County home through the private foster-care placement agency, Lifeway For Youth.
A report on the state's investigation into the involvement of Lifeway and Butler and Clermont counties in Marcus' placement with the Carrolls is expected to be released in coming weeks.
"From all available evidence, Marcus Fiesel never needed to be taken from his mother Donna Trevino," Wexler said. "Donna Trevino had real problems. Doing nothing was not an option either. But in thousands of similar cases, children have been kept safely with their parents. In fact, the track record for safety for real family preservation programs is far better than foster care."
That comment didn't sit well with the Rev. Johnny Wade Sloan, the chairman of Butler County's Children Services Board.
He sat in on Wexler's press conference and said he agreed with many of Wexler's suggestion, but not that point. Wexler wasn't privy to the county files that Sloan had reviewed on Marcus' case.
"The reality is Marcus Fiesel should have been removed, in my opinion, and he should have been placed in a foster home," Sloan said. "It is tragic that the system allowed psychopaths and criminals like the Carrolls to be a part of the system. That's the real tragedy."
Wexler said part of Butler County's problem is that officials failed to follow through with reform in 2000, which was driven by a sex abuse cover-up involving a foster father and criticism that children were needlessly being removed from their homes.
Wexler's analysis of the rate at which Butler County removes children from their homes puts it at sixth in the state. He noted the number of removals in Butler County dipped slightly in 2000 and 2003, but, for the most part, has remained consistent.
The county removed 334 children from their homes in 2005, and removals have jumped since Marcus' death in what Wexler calls "foster-care panic."
Sloan wasn't on the board for the 2000 reforms, but said 75 percent of them were made. He conceded there have been problems with making changes in Butler County.
"In a 40-month period, there were 40 different board members, four different chairmen, three different directors and four different ombudsmen," he said. "When you have that much transition and instability, you lose continuity and then the reforms fall through the cracks."
Child-protection advocate would use other methods, stop home removals.
McLaughlin, Sheila. Cincinnati Enquirer, Nov. 15, 2006, Metro pgB1.
HAMILTON - Butler County officials are missing the point if they think tightening foster-care licensing standards and better screening will prevent another child from dying in foster care, a children's advocate said Tuesday.
"Almost everyone is ignoring the elephant in the room - the needless removal of thousands of children throughout Ohio. The only way to fix foster care is to have less of it," said Richard Wexler, executive director of the national Coalition for Child Protection Reform.
Wexler is in Greater Cincinnati this week to sell his ideas to county officials in the region. He offered 23 recommendations for Ohio and Butler County, focusing on changes to reduce the removal of abused and neglected children from their families.
Some recommendations:
-Increased state funding to counties to set up programming to help people be better parents. -Pairing families with a single caseworker for up to six weeks to counsel them on parenting and teach skills such as proper housekeeping.
-Establishment of a competitive system for private foster-care placement companies to reward them for getting the children back home or adopted.
-Creation of a review board of caseworkers and supervisors to look at every request to remove a child to avoid needless removals.
-The use of outside experts to examine Butler County's policies and practices, recommend reforms and stay to see the job through.
Wexler said Marcus Fiesel should not have been taken away from his mother, Donna Trevino.
The 3-year-old Middletown boy's death in August ignited an outcry for child welfare reform in Butler County. Marcus' foster parents, Liz and David Carroll, are jailed on murder charges, accused of binding the developmentally delayed boy in a blanket with strapping tape and leaving him in a closet while they left town for two days to attend a family reunion. Marcus had been placed at the Carrolls' Clermont County home through the private foster-care placement agency, Lifeway For Youth.
A report on the state's investigation into the involvement of Lifeway and Butler and Clermont counties in Marcus' placement with the Carrolls is expected to be released in coming weeks.
"From all available evidence, Marcus Fiesel never needed to be taken from his mother Donna Trevino," Wexler said. "Donna Trevino had real problems. Doing nothing was not an option either. But in thousands of similar cases, children have been kept safely with their parents. In fact, the track record for safety for real family preservation programs is far better than foster care."
That comment didn't sit well with the Rev. Johnny Wade Sloan, the chairman of Butler County's Children Services Board.
He sat in on Wexler's press conference and said he agreed with many of Wexler's suggestion, but not that point. Wexler wasn't privy to the county files that Sloan had reviewed on Marcus' case.
"The reality is Marcus Fiesel should have been removed, in my opinion, and he should have been placed in a foster home," Sloan said. "It is tragic that the system allowed psychopaths and criminals like the Carrolls to be a part of the system. That's the real tragedy."
Wexler said part of Butler County's problem is that officials failed to follow through with reform in 2000, which was driven by a sex abuse cover-up involving a foster father and criticism that children were needlessly being removed from their homes.
Wexler's analysis of the rate at which Butler County removes children from their homes puts it at sixth in the state. He noted the number of removals in Butler County dipped slightly in 2000 and 2003, but, for the most part, has remained consistent.
The county removed 334 children from their homes in 2005, and removals have jumped since Marcus' death in what Wexler calls "foster-care panic."
Sloan wasn't on the board for the 2000 reforms, but said 75 percent of them were made. He conceded there have been problems with making changes in Butler County.
"In a 40-month period, there were 40 different board members, four different chairmen, three different directors and four different ombudsmen," he said. "When you have that much transition and instability, you lose continuity and then the reforms fall through the cracks."
Difficulty for jury to remain impartial about caging children
Caged children case begins.
Milicia, Joe. Cincinnati Post, Nov. 15, 2006, News pA4.
All of the potential jurors had heard the story of the couple accused of making some of their 11 adopted special needs children sleep in cages.
Those who said they could remain impartial stayed in the jury pool Tuesday in the trial of parents Michael and Sharen Gravelle, who are charged with 16 counts of felony child endangering.
Because of the heavy media coverage of the Gravelles' case, the process of selecting a jury in Huron County Common Pleas Court could take until next week, with 100 potential jurors to be questioned individually.
Of the first 21 jurors interviewed, 11 were excused, some because they stated the Gravelles adopted too many children or because they had a negative opinion of the cages.
"Why should they be put in cages? A kid is not an animal," said a male juror.
The Gravelles have denied mistreating their 11 children, who were ages 1 to 15 at the time of the alleged endangering. The youngsters were placed in foster care last fall after a county social worker likened the wood and chicken-wire enclosures in the Gravelle home to kennels.
"That many kids, I don't see honestly how you could take care of them," another male juror said. "I would have to say I couldn't be impartial because of that."
One man was asked by defense attorney Ken Myers if the word "cages" created a negative image in his mind or would bias him. "No, sir, I know you have to hear the facts," he said.
Myers, who represents Sharen Gravelle, said he is seeking "a jury that is willing to set aside some of the things that they've heard."
Milicia, Joe. Cincinnati Post, Nov. 15, 2006, News pA4.
All of the potential jurors had heard the story of the couple accused of making some of their 11 adopted special needs children sleep in cages.
Those who said they could remain impartial stayed in the jury pool Tuesday in the trial of parents Michael and Sharen Gravelle, who are charged with 16 counts of felony child endangering.
Because of the heavy media coverage of the Gravelles' case, the process of selecting a jury in Huron County Common Pleas Court could take until next week, with 100 potential jurors to be questioned individually.
Of the first 21 jurors interviewed, 11 were excused, some because they stated the Gravelles adopted too many children or because they had a negative opinion of the cages.
"Why should they be put in cages? A kid is not an animal," said a male juror.
The Gravelles have denied mistreating their 11 children, who were ages 1 to 15 at the time of the alleged endangering. The youngsters were placed in foster care last fall after a county social worker likened the wood and chicken-wire enclosures in the Gravelle home to kennels.
"That many kids, I don't see honestly how you could take care of them," another male juror said. "I would have to say I couldn't be impartial because of that."
One man was asked by defense attorney Ken Myers if the word "cages" created a negative image in his mind or would bias him. "No, sir, I know you have to hear the facts," he said.
Myers, who represents Sharen Gravelle, said he is seeking "a jury that is willing to set aside some of the things that they've heard."
Private agencies have conflict of interest, Wexler says
Critic has advice on fostering;
Officials say they're willing to listen
McLaughlin, Sheila. Cincinnati Enquirer, Nov. 14, 2006, Metro pB1.
HAMILTON - Butler County is too quick to snatch poor children from their parents, the head of a national organization pushing for foster-care reform charged Monday.
That practice - ranking Butler County sixth among Ohio's larger counties for the rate at which it removed poor kids in 2005 - is at the heart of why Marcus Fiesel wound up dead in foster care, said Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform.
Wexler will be in Hamilton today to release 23 recommendations to reform the child welfare system in Butler County, and the state and federal levels. He'll also speak before an independent task force that county commissioners created to overhaul the local children services agency.
Wexler's study ranked Clermont County worse - in third place.
He said he is taking a stand in Butler County because he's tried to help solve problems there before. He was involved in suggesting reforms in Butler County in 2000 after a sex abuse coverup involving a foster father and complaints that child welfare officials made it almost impossible for parents to get their children back.
"We're going to talk about that and the lessons that were learned but then forgotten and need to be learned again," he said.
Jann Heffner, executive director of Butler County Children Services, said Wexler's ranking of her agency is unfair. But she's open to listening to what he has to say.
"I don't know of anybody else who has ever looked at it that way. People who are in poverty have issues, of course. But, there are other children that come out of other homes as well. There are a lot of drug, alcohol and mental health issues," Heffner said.
Butler County ranked in the middle in the percentage of children who were abused again after returning home and those who wound up back in foster care.
Wexler criticized the overall child welfare system for being driven by financial incentives that pay to keep kids away from their homes, and for not offering enough services to help poor families solve housing and other issues that often result in their children being removed for neglect.
Federal money earmarked for foster care can't be spent on anything else, Wexler said.
About a dozen Ohio counties were granted waivers in 1998 to use federal foster-care money for prevention and other programs. Heffner, who was hired three years ago, said she has tried unsuccessfully to get Butler County into the test program.
Ohio's use of private foster-care placement agencies presents another set of problems, Wexler said.
"The way it works now, typically, most counties will pay agencies such as Lifeway for every day they hold a child in foster care. That's a system built on a conflict of interest," Wexler said.
Marcus, a developmentally delayed 3-year-old, was placed in a foster home through Lifeway for Youth, a private agency based in New Carlisle. The placement was approved by Butler County Children Services Board, which contracts with Lifeway. Police say the Middletown boy died in August when he was bound in a blanket with strapping tape and left in a closet while his foster parents, David and Liz Carroll, left town for two days. Marcus had lived with the Carrolls for three months. The Clermont County couple is jailed on murder charges and other offenses. Marcus' mother, Donna Trevino, since has sued the county and Lifeway, among others, for $5 million over the death of her son.
She is trying to regain custody of another son and daughter, but was planning to give up custody of Marcus. Butler County Children Services removed the children from Trevino's home in April after Marcus was found wandering the streets at night. Back at Trevino's home, police said they found deplorable living conditions.
Child removals
The National Coalition of Child Protection Reform in Alexandria, Va., recently analyzed how often Ohio counties removed poor children from their parents' homes on allegations of abuse and neglect.
The study compares state-provided figures on the number of children taken from parents during 2005 to a 2000 Census estimate of children living in poverty.
The coalition ranked only counties with at least 2,000 poor children. Forty counties were included in the rankings. Results show the number of removals per 1,000 poor children.
Here's how children's services agencies in Greater Cincinnati measure up:
County rate (out of 40)
1. Franklin 76
2. Summit 57
3. Clermont 50.7
4. Stark 44.2
5. Licking 42.2
6. Butler 41.6
13. Warren 32.9
31. Hamilton 17.1
Officials say they're willing to listen
McLaughlin, Sheila. Cincinnati Enquirer, Nov. 14, 2006, Metro pB1.
HAMILTON - Butler County is too quick to snatch poor children from their parents, the head of a national organization pushing for foster-care reform charged Monday.
That practice - ranking Butler County sixth among Ohio's larger counties for the rate at which it removed poor kids in 2005 - is at the heart of why Marcus Fiesel wound up dead in foster care, said Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform.
Wexler will be in Hamilton today to release 23 recommendations to reform the child welfare system in Butler County, and the state and federal levels. He'll also speak before an independent task force that county commissioners created to overhaul the local children services agency.
Wexler's study ranked Clermont County worse - in third place.
He said he is taking a stand in Butler County because he's tried to help solve problems there before. He was involved in suggesting reforms in Butler County in 2000 after a sex abuse coverup involving a foster father and complaints that child welfare officials made it almost impossible for parents to get their children back.
"We're going to talk about that and the lessons that were learned but then forgotten and need to be learned again," he said.
Jann Heffner, executive director of Butler County Children Services, said Wexler's ranking of her agency is unfair. But she's open to listening to what he has to say.
"I don't know of anybody else who has ever looked at it that way. People who are in poverty have issues, of course. But, there are other children that come out of other homes as well. There are a lot of drug, alcohol and mental health issues," Heffner said.
Butler County ranked in the middle in the percentage of children who were abused again after returning home and those who wound up back in foster care.
Wexler criticized the overall child welfare system for being driven by financial incentives that pay to keep kids away from their homes, and for not offering enough services to help poor families solve housing and other issues that often result in their children being removed for neglect.
Federal money earmarked for foster care can't be spent on anything else, Wexler said.
About a dozen Ohio counties were granted waivers in 1998 to use federal foster-care money for prevention and other programs. Heffner, who was hired three years ago, said she has tried unsuccessfully to get Butler County into the test program.
Ohio's use of private foster-care placement agencies presents another set of problems, Wexler said.
"The way it works now, typically, most counties will pay agencies such as Lifeway for every day they hold a child in foster care. That's a system built on a conflict of interest," Wexler said.
Marcus, a developmentally delayed 3-year-old, was placed in a foster home through Lifeway for Youth, a private agency based in New Carlisle. The placement was approved by Butler County Children Services Board, which contracts with Lifeway. Police say the Middletown boy died in August when he was bound in a blanket with strapping tape and left in a closet while his foster parents, David and Liz Carroll, left town for two days. Marcus had lived with the Carrolls for three months. The Clermont County couple is jailed on murder charges and other offenses. Marcus' mother, Donna Trevino, since has sued the county and Lifeway, among others, for $5 million over the death of her son.
She is trying to regain custody of another son and daughter, but was planning to give up custody of Marcus. Butler County Children Services removed the children from Trevino's home in April after Marcus was found wandering the streets at night. Back at Trevino's home, police said they found deplorable living conditions.
Child removals
The National Coalition of Child Protection Reform in Alexandria, Va., recently analyzed how often Ohio counties removed poor children from their parents' homes on allegations of abuse and neglect.
The study compares state-provided figures on the number of children taken from parents during 2005 to a 2000 Census estimate of children living in poverty.
The coalition ranked only counties with at least 2,000 poor children. Forty counties were included in the rankings. Results show the number of removals per 1,000 poor children.
Here's how children's services agencies in Greater Cincinnati measure up:
County rate (out of 40)
1. Franklin 76
2. Summit 57
3. Clermont 50.7
4. Stark 44.2
5. Licking 42.2
6. Butler 41.6
13. Warren 32.9
31. Hamilton 17.1
Wexler is a bit of an extremist; thinks all children should stay home
Expert says Marcus Fiesel shouldn't have left natural mother.
Dayton Daily News, Nov. 15, 2006, Local pA8.
HAMILTON — If Marcus Fiesel was left with his natural mother and she was given the services she needed, the 3-yearold Middletown boy might still be alive, a national advocate for child welfare reform said Tuesday.
Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, visited Hamilton to present his 23 recommendations to reform Butler County Children Services.
"(Natural mother Donna Trevino) has real problems, but there is not a shred of evidence that she didn't love Marcus," Wexler said. "He did not need to be taken out of Donna Trevino's home."
Authorities in Hamilton and Clermont County said Marcus died in August, locked in a closet for nearly two days by foster parents Liz and David Carroll Jr.
The Rev. Johnny Wade Sloan, children services board chairman, said Wexler didn't see Marcus' case file. "Marcus Fiesel should have been removed, in my opinion, and he should have been placed in a foster home," Sloan said.
Wexler said better screening and stricter licensing standards won't necessarily solve the problem. "You don't have too few foster parents, you have too many foster children," he said.
Wexler's recommendations to the county and Ohio included creating a child removal review team and ending payments to private foster care agencies for each day a child is in their care as an incentive to keep children in limbo.
Visit www.nccpr.org/reports/secondchance.pdf to read Wexler's 76-page report.
Dayton Daily News, Nov. 15, 2006, Local pA8.
HAMILTON — If Marcus Fiesel was left with his natural mother and she was given the services she needed, the 3-yearold Middletown boy might still be alive, a national advocate for child welfare reform said Tuesday.
Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, visited Hamilton to present his 23 recommendations to reform Butler County Children Services.
"(Natural mother Donna Trevino) has real problems, but there is not a shred of evidence that she didn't love Marcus," Wexler said. "He did not need to be taken out of Donna Trevino's home."
Authorities in Hamilton and Clermont County said Marcus died in August, locked in a closet for nearly two days by foster parents Liz and David Carroll Jr.
The Rev. Johnny Wade Sloan, children services board chairman, said Wexler didn't see Marcus' case file. "Marcus Fiesel should have been removed, in my opinion, and he should have been placed in a foster home," Sloan said.
Wexler said better screening and stricter licensing standards won't necessarily solve the problem. "You don't have too few foster parents, you have too many foster children," he said.
Wexler's recommendations to the county and Ohio included creating a child removal review team and ending payments to private foster care agencies for each day a child is in their care as an incentive to keep children in limbo.
Visit www.nccpr.org/reports/secondchance.pdf to read Wexler's 76-page report.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Proposed layoffs at Children Services affect level of confidence, morale
Children Services officials say no to loan; council questions whether 40 workers actually expendable.
Hagelberg, Kymberli, Akron Beacon Journal, Nov. 7, 2006.
Summit County Children Services officials Monday said thanks, but no thanks to County Council's offer of a $4 million loan to avoid planned layoffs.
Children Services Board President Cindy S. Johnson told council members that the money wasn't needed because the agency had discovered 40 jobs that are expendable.
"Are you telling me that if the levy had passed (today) you would still be laying off 40 people?" asked Councilman Nick Kostandaras, D-Richfield.
"Yes," Johnson replied.
The question posed to Johnson was part of a lengthy, sometimes heated exchange between Children Services officials and County Council members who oppose the agency's plan to cut the staff by about 12 percent, mainly in its clerical, kitchen and support staffs.
To avoid the job losses, council members a week ago offered a loan from the county's rainy day fund to allow time for the agency to pass a levy in 2007 before its current funding expires.At its committee meeting Monday, council members voted to recommend the issue for a second reading.
The address to council, which included remarks by Johnson, Social Services Director Deb Forkas and Chief Operating Officer/Acting Executive Director Katerina Papas, was the second time in the day the agency made its case for the bottom line.
At an earlier press conference, Johnson said the loan was appreciated but not needed.
"We felt that such a loan would encourage unnecessary spending," she said. "It could also result in an increase to our levy request, which is contrary to our promise to the taxpayers."
The agency last month adopted a $52 million budget that includes layoffs and expense cuts that will increase its financial surplus from $19 million to $29 million.
If a new levy isn't passed in 2007, Finance Director Gary Binns said the agency will be about $12 million short in 2008.
"In addition, (the loan) delays the inevitable," Johnson said, "but does not guarantee a levy passage."
At the committee meeting, council members quizzed Johnson and Papas about specific details of the agency's work force and were unsatisfied with the answers.
They wanted to know facts from how many people were hired, have left or retired in the last year to how many employees might retire within a year.
"Come on, nobody knows?" Councilman Tim Crawford, D-Norton, asked when Papas and Johnson said they could get him the numbers later.
"You're telling me you're going to lay off 40 people and you don't know," Crawford said. "This is Management 101, folks."
Papas' plans for the agency's kitchen, which will close to save $200,000 a year and cut three jobs, drew surprise from council President Clair Dickinson.
Papas told Dickinson the kitchen has been catering meetings for the agency board, outside county agencies and community groups since Children Services stopped housing children more than two years ago.
"These people come in every day and cook food?" Dickinson asked Papas. "Who do they cook it for?"
"I don't know," Papas said. "I know what they do. . . . It was not my choice to keep them all that time."
"Seems to me you could have phased them out the day you took over," Dickinson said.
Children Services planned to reduce its staff through attrition over three years. The cutbacks are said to include every department, but no specific details have been released.
The agency employs 456 employees: 331 are members of a union and 125 are classified as management. Of that number, Papas said the cuts represent 58 percent union and 42 percent nonunion employees.
"Summit County Children Services is doing what any responsible person would do," Johnson told the council. "We are reducing our budget and living within our means."
When asked by Pete Crossland, D-Akron, whether she had "100 percent support," Johnson would not say she was speaking on behalf of the entire board in rejecting the money.
No vote was taken on the issue, Johnson said.
Councilman Mike Callahan, R-at-large, offered: "Just to cut through the rhetoric, are you standing here and saying that you don't want this money? You don't need this money? And you won't use it if we pass the resolution?"
Not satisfied with Johnson's responses, Callahan said, "Are you saying you don't intend to answer?"
Johnson replied: "I'm saying it would probably be more appropriate to answer you when council passes the resolution."
Robin Schenault, president of Communications Workers of America Local 4546, said the cuts are about killing the union.
"I want to thank Nick Kostandaras for calling this what it is," she said. "It's union busting."
She said the board and Papas are uninformed and uninvolved.
"If the board examined its own conduct, it would understand why the public has no confidence in it, and why the staff has no confidence," she said.
Council members could vote as early as Monday on the loan.Papas said employees affected by the layoffs will be notified within the next two weeks.
Memo:
THE ISSUE: Summit County Children Services Board announces that it will refuse a $4 million county loan to prevent the layoff of about 12 percent of its staff.
WHAT HAPPENED: In October, CSB approved a budget that included 51 layoffs and other cuts just in case a levy is not passed before current funding runs out in 2007.
WHAT'S NEXT: Those employees who are on the layoff list will be notified within two weeks.
Hagelberg, Kymberli, Akron Beacon Journal, Nov. 7, 2006.
Summit County Children Services officials Monday said thanks, but no thanks to County Council's offer of a $4 million loan to avoid planned layoffs.
Children Services Board President Cindy S. Johnson told council members that the money wasn't needed because the agency had discovered 40 jobs that are expendable.
"Are you telling me that if the levy had passed (today) you would still be laying off 40 people?" asked Councilman Nick Kostandaras, D-Richfield.
"Yes," Johnson replied.
The question posed to Johnson was part of a lengthy, sometimes heated exchange between Children Services officials and County Council members who oppose the agency's plan to cut the staff by about 12 percent, mainly in its clerical, kitchen and support staffs.
To avoid the job losses, council members a week ago offered a loan from the county's rainy day fund to allow time for the agency to pass a levy in 2007 before its current funding expires.At its committee meeting Monday, council members voted to recommend the issue for a second reading.
The address to council, which included remarks by Johnson, Social Services Director Deb Forkas and Chief Operating Officer/Acting Executive Director Katerina Papas, was the second time in the day the agency made its case for the bottom line.
At an earlier press conference, Johnson said the loan was appreciated but not needed.
"We felt that such a loan would encourage unnecessary spending," she said. "It could also result in an increase to our levy request, which is contrary to our promise to the taxpayers."
The agency last month adopted a $52 million budget that includes layoffs and expense cuts that will increase its financial surplus from $19 million to $29 million.
If a new levy isn't passed in 2007, Finance Director Gary Binns said the agency will be about $12 million short in 2008.
"In addition, (the loan) delays the inevitable," Johnson said, "but does not guarantee a levy passage."
At the committee meeting, council members quizzed Johnson and Papas about specific details of the agency's work force and were unsatisfied with the answers.
They wanted to know facts from how many people were hired, have left or retired in the last year to how many employees might retire within a year.
"Come on, nobody knows?" Councilman Tim Crawford, D-Norton, asked when Papas and Johnson said they could get him the numbers later.
"You're telling me you're going to lay off 40 people and you don't know," Crawford said. "This is Management 101, folks."
Papas' plans for the agency's kitchen, which will close to save $200,000 a year and cut three jobs, drew surprise from council President Clair Dickinson.
Papas told Dickinson the kitchen has been catering meetings for the agency board, outside county agencies and community groups since Children Services stopped housing children more than two years ago.
"These people come in every day and cook food?" Dickinson asked Papas. "Who do they cook it for?"
"I don't know," Papas said. "I know what they do. . . . It was not my choice to keep them all that time."
"Seems to me you could have phased them out the day you took over," Dickinson said.
Children Services planned to reduce its staff through attrition over three years. The cutbacks are said to include every department, but no specific details have been released.
The agency employs 456 employees: 331 are members of a union and 125 are classified as management. Of that number, Papas said the cuts represent 58 percent union and 42 percent nonunion employees.
"Summit County Children Services is doing what any responsible person would do," Johnson told the council. "We are reducing our budget and living within our means."
When asked by Pete Crossland, D-Akron, whether she had "100 percent support," Johnson would not say she was speaking on behalf of the entire board in rejecting the money.
No vote was taken on the issue, Johnson said.
Councilman Mike Callahan, R-at-large, offered: "Just to cut through the rhetoric, are you standing here and saying that you don't want this money? You don't need this money? And you won't use it if we pass the resolution?"
Not satisfied with Johnson's responses, Callahan said, "Are you saying you don't intend to answer?"
Johnson replied: "I'm saying it would probably be more appropriate to answer you when council passes the resolution."
Robin Schenault, president of Communications Workers of America Local 4546, said the cuts are about killing the union.
"I want to thank Nick Kostandaras for calling this what it is," she said. "It's union busting."
She said the board and Papas are uninformed and uninvolved.
"If the board examined its own conduct, it would understand why the public has no confidence in it, and why the staff has no confidence," she said.
Council members could vote as early as Monday on the loan.Papas said employees affected by the layoffs will be notified within the next two weeks.
Memo:
THE ISSUE: Summit County Children Services Board announces that it will refuse a $4 million county loan to prevent the layoff of about 12 percent of its staff.
WHAT HAPPENED: In October, CSB approved a budget that included 51 layoffs and other cuts just in case a levy is not passed before current funding runs out in 2007.
WHAT'S NEXT: Those employees who are on the layoff list will be notified within two weeks.
Cuyahoga foster care levy is approved
Health, human services levy wins
Coyne, John. Cleveland Plain Dealer, Nov. 8, 2006.
Cuyahoga County residents approved a replacement tax to raise more money for health and human services.
The tax will raise an additional $27.3 million a year to help pay for MetroHealth Medical Center, foster care, adoption, home health care and other human and social services.
Voters also approved countywide tax issues in Lake, Medina and Summit counties to pay for a variety of social services, recreation and other needs.
In Portage County, voters approved a tax renewal that would pay for operations at the county's Mental Health and Recovery Board.
Coyne, John. Cleveland Plain Dealer, Nov. 8, 2006.
Cuyahoga County residents approved a replacement tax to raise more money for health and human services.
The tax will raise an additional $27.3 million a year to help pay for MetroHealth Medical Center, foster care, adoption, home health care and other human and social services.
Voters also approved countywide tax issues in Lake, Medina and Summit counties to pay for a variety of social services, recreation and other needs.
In Portage County, voters approved a tax renewal that would pay for operations at the county's Mental Health and Recovery Board.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Only 46% of disabled children live in two-parent homes
Single women predominate in caring for disabled kids.
Lillard, Margaret. Cincinnati Post, Nov. 3, 2006.
Children with disabilities are more likely to live with a single woman -- whether she is a mother, grandmother or a female foster parent -- than other children, according to a study.
The findings by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill indicate that organizations aimed at helping disabled children must also consider the particular problems faced by the single women who often care for them, said Philip Cohen, an associate professor of sociology at the university.
"In the patchwork of arrangements to care for children with disabilities, we have to realize that the system is also dealing with issues of gender equity," Cohen said.
The study, conducted by Cohen and his former student Miruna Petrescu-Prahova, now a doctoral student at the University of California, Irvine, was published in the quarterly Journal of Marriage and Family.
The study examined 2000 Census data on 2.3 million children ages 5 to 15.
More than 130,000 were reported to have mental disabilities, physical disabilities, or both.
It found that while 62 percent of children without disabilities live with a married, biological parent in a two-parent home, only 46 percent of disabled children do.
Single mothers care for 17 percent of children without disabilities, but for 24.5 percent of those who are disabled. Fewer than 5 percent of disabled children live with a single father, about the same percentage of non-disabled children living with fathers.
In homes where no biological parent is present, Cohen said disabled children were more than twice as likely to be cared for by a single woman than were children without a disability.
Lillard, Margaret. Cincinnati Post, Nov. 3, 2006.
Children with disabilities are more likely to live with a single woman -- whether she is a mother, grandmother or a female foster parent -- than other children, according to a study.
The findings by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill indicate that organizations aimed at helping disabled children must also consider the particular problems faced by the single women who often care for them, said Philip Cohen, an associate professor of sociology at the university.
"In the patchwork of arrangements to care for children with disabilities, we have to realize that the system is also dealing with issues of gender equity," Cohen said.
The study, conducted by Cohen and his former student Miruna Petrescu-Prahova, now a doctoral student at the University of California, Irvine, was published in the quarterly Journal of Marriage and Family.
The study examined 2000 Census data on 2.3 million children ages 5 to 15.
More than 130,000 were reported to have mental disabilities, physical disabilities, or both.
It found that while 62 percent of children without disabilities live with a married, biological parent in a two-parent home, only 46 percent of disabled children do.
Single mothers care for 17 percent of children without disabilities, but for 24.5 percent of those who are disabled. Fewer than 5 percent of disabled children live with a single father, about the same percentage of non-disabled children living with fathers.
In homes where no biological parent is present, Cohen said disabled children were more than twice as likely to be cared for by a single woman than were children without a disability.
Over 3,000 Ohio children are available for adoption
Skate party to raise adoption awareness:
Children Services to host event
Marion Star, November 5, 2006.
MARION -- In honor of National Adoption Awareness Month, Marion County Children Services is working to raise awareness of foster children who are waiting for permanent, loving families.
Children Services will host a free skating party 4:30-6:30 p.m. Saturday at Rollerama Skate Center, located behind Mallard Square at 1683 Marion-Mount Gilead Road.
This "Adoption Month Celebration" is for all families who have adopted and would-be parents who are considering adopting a child. Local foster families are also invited to attend.
Free admission, skate rental, pizza and drinks will be provided, and there will be door prizes, special skates, and recognition of families who have adopted.
Information on children who need adoptive homes, both here in Marion and from surrounding counties, will be available as well.
Today, there are more than 500,000 foster care children in the United States and 118,000 of them are available for adoption. That figure includes more than 3,000 children in Ohio, and five right here in Marion County.
"While we celebrate all forms of adoption as a wonderful way to create or extend families, we use Adoption Awareness Month to draw attention to a very special group of children who desperately need families," stated Children Services' Executive Director F. Eric Bush in a press release.
"Children in foster care who need adoptive homes are truly America's waiting children. They needa forever family to call their own."
"In our community, there are five children waiting for adoptive homes," Bush added. "We believe that every child deserves a permanent home and encourage families to open their hearts to the idea of foster care adoption."
Marion County Children Services is a nationally accredited child protective services agency that leads the community in the prevention, identification and protection of abused and neglected children.
Children Services coordinates intervention and support services in partnership with families andother community resources, working together to assure that Marion County children are safe and have permanent and stable homes.
For more information on adopting a waiting child in Marion County, call Marion County Children Services at 740-389-2317 or visit online at www.marionkids.com
Children Services to host event
Marion Star, November 5, 2006.
MARION -- In honor of National Adoption Awareness Month, Marion County Children Services is working to raise awareness of foster children who are waiting for permanent, loving families.
Children Services will host a free skating party 4:30-6:30 p.m. Saturday at Rollerama Skate Center, located behind Mallard Square at 1683 Marion-Mount Gilead Road.
This "Adoption Month Celebration" is for all families who have adopted and would-be parents who are considering adopting a child. Local foster families are also invited to attend.
Free admission, skate rental, pizza and drinks will be provided, and there will be door prizes, special skates, and recognition of families who have adopted.
Information on children who need adoptive homes, both here in Marion and from surrounding counties, will be available as well.
Today, there are more than 500,000 foster care children in the United States and 118,000 of them are available for adoption. That figure includes more than 3,000 children in Ohio, and five right here in Marion County.
"While we celebrate all forms of adoption as a wonderful way to create or extend families, we use Adoption Awareness Month to draw attention to a very special group of children who desperately need families," stated Children Services' Executive Director F. Eric Bush in a press release.
"Children in foster care who need adoptive homes are truly America's waiting children. They needa forever family to call their own."
"In our community, there are five children waiting for adoptive homes," Bush added. "We believe that every child deserves a permanent home and encourage families to open their hearts to the idea of foster care adoption."
Marion County Children Services is a nationally accredited child protective services agency that leads the community in the prevention, identification and protection of abused and neglected children.
Children Services coordinates intervention and support services in partnership with families andother community resources, working together to assure that Marion County children are safe and have permanent and stable homes.
For more information on adopting a waiting child in Marion County, call Marion County Children Services at 740-389-2317 or visit online at www.marionkids.com
Friday, November 03, 2006
What do you think?
Accused foster father asks to visit kids
Barrett J. Brunsman and Cindy Kranz, Cincinnati Enquirer, Nov. 2, 2006, Metro pg 3C.
A Clermont County man charged with molesting two of his foster sons asked a judge Wednesday to allow him to be with his biological children without supervision.
The foster children have been removed from the home of Jaysen W. Bell, 31. His own kids have been staying with a grandmother so Bell wouldn't violate the conditions of his bond, which prohibits unsupervised contact with juveniles, his attorney said.
Bell appeared Wednesday in Clermont County Court of Common Pleas. Judge Robert P. Ringland held a pretrial conference in his chambers.
Bell's attorney, Jon Paul Rion, said that a hearing had been scheduled for Monday, during which Ringland is expected to rule on Bell's request that he be allowed unsupervised contact with his children and that the real-estate salesman be allowed to travel to Minnesota and Kentucky on business.
Bell, who is free on $100,000 bond, faces charges of rape, sexual battery, gross sexual imposition and sexual imposition.
Police in Amelia began investigating allegations of abuse in June. Bell and his wife, Jessica, bought their house in the Quail Creek subdivision for $151,900 in November 2003. Amelia Police said the allegations date to 2003.
Bell also bought a $306,000 house on Beechwood Place in Batavia Township's Braxton Parke subdivision in March.
Bell declared bankruptcy in Minnesota in 1998, according to court records. He worked as youth director of Goshen United Methodist Church from 1999 to 2001.
In September 1999, he was hired as a cafeteria monitor at Goshen Middle School, which at the time was called Spaulding Middle School.
"He worked for us until January of 2000, and he resigned from us to spend more time as a Methodist youth minister, which is right next door to our school," said Charlene Thomas, superintendent of Goshen schools.
Bell worked two hours a day at the school, she said. "There was nothing in his file of any kind of inappropriate behavior," Thomas said. "There was never any reprimand."
The Bells had more than 30 foster children placed in their home, police said. The couple have three children of their own, neighbors said.
The charges involve a boy from Warren County and another from Butler County, both of whom were placed in the Bell home by Lifeway for Youth, the agency that placed foster child Marcus Fiesel with Liz and David J. Carroll Jr. The Union Township couple, who have been charged with murder in the death of 3-year-old Marcus, remain jailed in lieu of $10.1 million bail apiece.
Bell, who has pleaded not guilty, turned himself in to the Clermont County sheriff's office Oct. 25 and made bail that day.
"We're waiting to hear what the allegations are so that we can effectively challenge them," Rion said. "We are going to fight this case. His wife is here (in court) and still supporting him and wants him to be with his own children. He is presumed to be innocent."
Barrett J. Brunsman and Cindy Kranz, Cincinnati Enquirer, Nov. 2, 2006, Metro pg 3C.
A Clermont County man charged with molesting two of his foster sons asked a judge Wednesday to allow him to be with his biological children without supervision.
The foster children have been removed from the home of Jaysen W. Bell, 31. His own kids have been staying with a grandmother so Bell wouldn't violate the conditions of his bond, which prohibits unsupervised contact with juveniles, his attorney said.
Bell appeared Wednesday in Clermont County Court of Common Pleas. Judge Robert P. Ringland held a pretrial conference in his chambers.
Bell's attorney, Jon Paul Rion, said that a hearing had been scheduled for Monday, during which Ringland is expected to rule on Bell's request that he be allowed unsupervised contact with his children and that the real-estate salesman be allowed to travel to Minnesota and Kentucky on business.
Bell, who is free on $100,000 bond, faces charges of rape, sexual battery, gross sexual imposition and sexual imposition.
Police in Amelia began investigating allegations of abuse in June. Bell and his wife, Jessica, bought their house in the Quail Creek subdivision for $151,900 in November 2003. Amelia Police said the allegations date to 2003.
Bell also bought a $306,000 house on Beechwood Place in Batavia Township's Braxton Parke subdivision in March.
Bell declared bankruptcy in Minnesota in 1998, according to court records. He worked as youth director of Goshen United Methodist Church from 1999 to 2001.
In September 1999, he was hired as a cafeteria monitor at Goshen Middle School, which at the time was called Spaulding Middle School.
"He worked for us until January of 2000, and he resigned from us to spend more time as a Methodist youth minister, which is right next door to our school," said Charlene Thomas, superintendent of Goshen schools.
Bell worked two hours a day at the school, she said. "There was nothing in his file of any kind of inappropriate behavior," Thomas said. "There was never any reprimand."
The Bells had more than 30 foster children placed in their home, police said. The couple have three children of their own, neighbors said.
The charges involve a boy from Warren County and another from Butler County, both of whom were placed in the Bell home by Lifeway for Youth, the agency that placed foster child Marcus Fiesel with Liz and David J. Carroll Jr. The Union Township couple, who have been charged with murder in the death of 3-year-old Marcus, remain jailed in lieu of $10.1 million bail apiece.
Bell, who has pleaded not guilty, turned himself in to the Clermont County sheriff's office Oct. 25 and made bail that day.
"We're waiting to hear what the allegations are so that we can effectively challenge them," Rion said. "We are going to fight this case. His wife is here (in court) and still supporting him and wants him to be with his own children. He is presumed to be innocent."
Carrolls trying to plead insanity
Two accused in boy's death cite mental states - Foster dad says bipolar disorder taints statements to police; mom's defense says she is incompetent for trial.
Dave Greber, Dayton Daily News, Nox. 1, 2006, Local pg. A4
CINCINNATI — Attorneys for the foster parents accused of killing 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel tried to make their mental states an issue Tuesday.
Defense counsel for David Carroll Jr. — the Union Twp. man who, along with his wife, Liz, is charged with murder and other felonies stemming from the developmentally disabled child's death — argued in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court that statements he made to authorities and the results of a lie detector test Aug. 15-16 were tainted by his bipolar disorder and a prescription medicine used to treat epilepsy, mania and migraines.
Meanwhile, the attorney for Liz Carroll filed court papers declaring her incompetent for trial. The court has 30 days to examine her mental state.
Prosecutors have said the boy was dead for nearly two weeks when the Carrolls reported him missing from a Hamilton County park on Aug. 15, sparking a massive four-day search.
The Carrolls are charged in Hamilton County with perjury, making false alarms and inducing panic.Following Marcus' disappearance, David Carroll, 29, agreed to a lie detector test administered by Hamilton County sheriff's deputies.
Of the 15 questions asked, four tipped off investigators. According to court records and testimony Tuesday, Carroll lied when he answered "no" when asked:
• "Did you have anything to do with Marcus' disappearance?"
• "Do you suspect someone of harming Marcus?"
• "Do you know who had anything to do with Marcus' disappearance?"
• "Did you harm Marcus?"
"He said he didn't know why the tests came back like that," said Steven Minnich, a sheriff's investigator.
David Carroll's attorneys told Judge Patrick Dinkelacker their client was not given the chance Aug. 15 and 16 to leave during interviews, which lasted up to eight hours. They said his medication could have negatively affected a voice stress test.
Clermont County Assistant Prosecutor Daniel Breyer said David Carroll had no trouble requesting an attorney during questioning in that county on Aug. 28.
The Carrolls are charged in Clermont County with murder and several other felonies stemming from Marcus' death in August.
"His being bipolar and being on Depakote did not interfere with his asking to (enact) his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights," Breyer said.
Dinkelacker is expected to decide Monday whether to admit David Carroll's statements at trial and whether the Hamilton County case will be tried outside the county.
Dave Greber, Dayton Daily News, Nox. 1, 2006, Local pg. A4
CINCINNATI — Attorneys for the foster parents accused of killing 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel tried to make their mental states an issue Tuesday.
Defense counsel for David Carroll Jr. — the Union Twp. man who, along with his wife, Liz, is charged with murder and other felonies stemming from the developmentally disabled child's death — argued in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court that statements he made to authorities and the results of a lie detector test Aug. 15-16 were tainted by his bipolar disorder and a prescription medicine used to treat epilepsy, mania and migraines.
Meanwhile, the attorney for Liz Carroll filed court papers declaring her incompetent for trial. The court has 30 days to examine her mental state.
Prosecutors have said the boy was dead for nearly two weeks when the Carrolls reported him missing from a Hamilton County park on Aug. 15, sparking a massive four-day search.
The Carrolls are charged in Hamilton County with perjury, making false alarms and inducing panic.Following Marcus' disappearance, David Carroll, 29, agreed to a lie detector test administered by Hamilton County sheriff's deputies.
Of the 15 questions asked, four tipped off investigators. According to court records and testimony Tuesday, Carroll lied when he answered "no" when asked:
• "Did you have anything to do with Marcus' disappearance?"
• "Do you suspect someone of harming Marcus?"
• "Do you know who had anything to do with Marcus' disappearance?"
• "Did you harm Marcus?"
"He said he didn't know why the tests came back like that," said Steven Minnich, a sheriff's investigator.
David Carroll's attorneys told Judge Patrick Dinkelacker their client was not given the chance Aug. 15 and 16 to leave during interviews, which lasted up to eight hours. They said his medication could have negatively affected a voice stress test.
Clermont County Assistant Prosecutor Daniel Breyer said David Carroll had no trouble requesting an attorney during questioning in that county on Aug. 28.
The Carrolls are charged in Clermont County with murder and several other felonies stemming from Marcus' death in August.
"His being bipolar and being on Depakote did not interfere with his asking to (enact) his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights," Breyer said.
Dinkelacker is expected to decide Monday whether to admit David Carroll's statements at trial and whether the Hamilton County case will be tried outside the county.
Reality House is a step in the right direction to assist with transition from foster care
Group home a training ground for life after foster care
Fairfield County puts 4 young adults together to learn to live independently
Mary Beth Lane, Columbus Dispatch, Nov. 2, 2006, News D7.
Cameras monitor the four residents who live in the Reality House, a large white home with red shutters.
But this is real life, not the reel life of television entertainment. These foster children are in the custody of Fairfield County Children Services.
Rather than live with foster parents, three guys and a girl are living in this four-bedroom, three-bathroom house to learn and practice the skills they will need when they are out on their own.
Children Services staff members are based at the house around the clock to supervise, and the young adults do the rest.
They shop for groceries once a week. They cook, clean, do laundry and mow the lawn between school, homework and part-time jobs.
Sometimes they bicker.
"We get in arguments over the dishes and not wiping down the counters, basic things like that," said 17-year-old Sheila Ashley South.
They are the first group to live in the Reality House, which stands for Realistic Employment And Living Independently Training for Youth.
Ohio law requires counties to supply independent-living services, including training and classes, to youth in foster care who are 16 to 18 years old.
The idea is to give the teens, some of whom might have moved repeatedly among foster homes, a helping hand with learning how to live and work successfully as adults.
Individual counties decide how to meet the state law. For Fairfield County, putting teenagers in their own house temporarily has emerged as an experiment worth trying.
Other counties across Ohio are using similar residential settings to prepare teens for life after foster care, said Gayle Channing Tenenbaum, a lobbyist for the Public Children Services Association of Ohio.
Statewide, 1,233 youth left the foster-care system last year, Tenenbaum said.
She praised the training: "Absolutely, we owe it to these young people to help them have the supports they need as they enter adulthood."
The state legislature dedicated $5 million in federal welfare money to independent-living programs statewide in the fiscal year ending June 30, Tenenbaum said.
From that pool, Heather O'Keefe, independent-living supervisor with Fairfield County's Children Services, drew a $210,000 grant. She supplemented it with nearly $50,000 in private funding from the Fairfield County Foundation to pay for the first year.
O'Keefe found a suitable house along Baltimore Road, north of downtown Lancaster, and rented it. South and 18-year-old Brent Disbennet, both high-school seniors in the Lancaster district, moved in at summer's end. Two more young men moved in last month.
The house is limited to four residents, O'Keefe said, because any more would make it a group home subject to different government regulations.
Besides the four who live there, as many as 50 more are expected to attend the life-skills classes that will be offered each Saturday in the training center that O'Keefe set up in the finished basement.
The classes include topics such as budgeting, paying bills, completing income-tax returns and registering to vote.
All together, seven staff workers are assigned to the project. At least one is always on hand at the house, monitoring the cameras, helping the residents with schoolwork and performing other duties.
The young adults agreed to certain house rules before they moved in. They promised to stay in school; get jobs; keep up the house; and not drink, use illegal drugs or have sex with their housemates.
So far, so good, O'Keefe said one afternoon last week as the four residents surged in and out of the house. South, who works part-time at a Wendy's, was off to an orthodontist appointment. Disbennet climbed into the 1985 Ford pickup he is restoring and headed for his after-school job in construction.
Disbennet joked that they get along well because their schedules are so varied. "We're like never here."
Even so, they occasionally sit down to dinner together or watch a movie. They also throw darts and play Hacky Sack.
Bob Sheumaker didn't want to live in the house at first, he said while sitting by himself in the living room and strumming a guitar. The 18-year-old is studying law enforcement at Eastland Career Center and hopes to become a police officer.
He was happy with his foster family in the Fairfield County village of Stoutsville and his part-time job at a KFC in neighboring Circleville, he said. Children Services made him move to the house, he said, so he could learn how to live on his own. He has applied for a part-time job at Lowe's.
"I said I'll make the best of it, and I kind of like it now," said Sheumaker, who grew up an only child before being put in foster care when he was 13.
At the house, he said, "it's like living with brothers and sisters."
Brent Disbennet,18, left, Sheila Ashley South,17, and Bob Sheumaker,18, live in the Reality House in Lancaster, where they are learning to juggle adult responsibilities.
Fairfield County puts 4 young adults together to learn to live independently
Mary Beth Lane, Columbus Dispatch, Nov. 2, 2006, News D7.
Cameras monitor the four residents who live in the Reality House, a large white home with red shutters.
But this is real life, not the reel life of television entertainment. These foster children are in the custody of Fairfield County Children Services.
Rather than live with foster parents, three guys and a girl are living in this four-bedroom, three-bathroom house to learn and practice the skills they will need when they are out on their own.
Children Services staff members are based at the house around the clock to supervise, and the young adults do the rest.
They shop for groceries once a week. They cook, clean, do laundry and mow the lawn between school, homework and part-time jobs.
Sometimes they bicker.
"We get in arguments over the dishes and not wiping down the counters, basic things like that," said 17-year-old Sheila Ashley South.
They are the first group to live in the Reality House, which stands for Realistic Employment And Living Independently Training for Youth.
Ohio law requires counties to supply independent-living services, including training and classes, to youth in foster care who are 16 to 18 years old.
The idea is to give the teens, some of whom might have moved repeatedly among foster homes, a helping hand with learning how to live and work successfully as adults.
Individual counties decide how to meet the state law. For Fairfield County, putting teenagers in their own house temporarily has emerged as an experiment worth trying.
Other counties across Ohio are using similar residential settings to prepare teens for life after foster care, said Gayle Channing Tenenbaum, a lobbyist for the Public Children Services Association of Ohio.
Statewide, 1,233 youth left the foster-care system last year, Tenenbaum said.
She praised the training: "Absolutely, we owe it to these young people to help them have the supports they need as they enter adulthood."
The state legislature dedicated $5 million in federal welfare money to independent-living programs statewide in the fiscal year ending June 30, Tenenbaum said.
From that pool, Heather O'Keefe, independent-living supervisor with Fairfield County's Children Services, drew a $210,000 grant. She supplemented it with nearly $50,000 in private funding from the Fairfield County Foundation to pay for the first year.
O'Keefe found a suitable house along Baltimore Road, north of downtown Lancaster, and rented it. South and 18-year-old Brent Disbennet, both high-school seniors in the Lancaster district, moved in at summer's end. Two more young men moved in last month.
The house is limited to four residents, O'Keefe said, because any more would make it a group home subject to different government regulations.
Besides the four who live there, as many as 50 more are expected to attend the life-skills classes that will be offered each Saturday in the training center that O'Keefe set up in the finished basement.
The classes include topics such as budgeting, paying bills, completing income-tax returns and registering to vote.
All together, seven staff workers are assigned to the project. At least one is always on hand at the house, monitoring the cameras, helping the residents with schoolwork and performing other duties.
The young adults agreed to certain house rules before they moved in. They promised to stay in school; get jobs; keep up the house; and not drink, use illegal drugs or have sex with their housemates.
So far, so good, O'Keefe said one afternoon last week as the four residents surged in and out of the house. South, who works part-time at a Wendy's, was off to an orthodontist appointment. Disbennet climbed into the 1985 Ford pickup he is restoring and headed for his after-school job in construction.
Disbennet joked that they get along well because their schedules are so varied. "We're like never here."
Even so, they occasionally sit down to dinner together or watch a movie. They also throw darts and play Hacky Sack.
Bob Sheumaker didn't want to live in the house at first, he said while sitting by himself in the living room and strumming a guitar. The 18-year-old is studying law enforcement at Eastland Career Center and hopes to become a police officer.
He was happy with his foster family in the Fairfield County village of Stoutsville and his part-time job at a KFC in neighboring Circleville, he said. Children Services made him move to the house, he said, so he could learn how to live on his own. He has applied for a part-time job at Lowe's.
"I said I'll make the best of it, and I kind of like it now," said Sheumaker, who grew up an only child before being put in foster care when he was 13.
At the house, he said, "it's like living with brothers and sisters."
Brent Disbennet,18, left, Sheila Ashley South,17, and Bob Sheumaker,18, live in the Reality House in Lancaster, where they are learning to juggle adult responsibilities.
Unfortunate that statute of limitations has expired
Judge tosses perjury charges against parents of 'caged' kids
Connie Mabin, Columbus Dispatch, Nov. 2, 2006, News pg 9D.
Some of the criminal charges filed against a couple accused of locking some of their adopted special-needs children in cages were dismissed yesterday.
Huron County Common Pleas Judge Earl R. McGimpsey threw out a felony perjury charge and four misdemeanor falsification charges, saying in a written ruling that the crimes were alleged to have taken place too long ago. A misdemeanor count of falsification and several counts of felony child endangering remained against Michael and Sharen Gravelle, who are scheduled to go on trial Nov. 14.
In an indictment in February, the Gravelles were accused of lying under oath, perjury and falsifying documents used to adopt the children and receive government subsidies.
Prosecutors claimed that the couple, between 1997 and 2005, lied to government officials and on sworn statements given in relation to the inspection of the Gravelles' home by social workers for the couple's first adoption. That statement was used to help the couple secure approval of five subsequent adoptions.
McGimpsey said the indictment came after the expiration of the statute of limitations, which ranges from two years to six years on the various charges.
In his ruling, the judge warned prosecutors that they would have to prove that the remaining count of falsification involving statements the Gravelles made to Huron and Cuyahoga County adoption officials occurred within the two-year timeframe; otherwise, the couple would be acquitted on that charge.
"This is very, very good news. It's very significant," said Ken Myers, the Gravelles' attorney. "This in a very positive way reduces the charges we are going to have to defend."
The Gravelles have denied mistreating the children, who were 1 to 15 years old at the time. The youngsters were placed in foster care last fall after a county social worker likened the wood and chicken-wire cages to kennels.
The couple have said the enclosures were necessary to keep the children from harming themselves and one another. The children have problems such as fetal alcohol syndrome and a disorder that involves eating nonfood items.
Huron County Prosecutor Russ Leffler said he plans to file a motion asking the judge to reconsider his ruling.
"I think that he's made an obvious error," Leffler said, adding that he thinks the falsification charges thrown out come under the state's fraud law that does not fall under the statute of limitations.
"If it (the ruling) stands it will simplify the trial because we'll only be able to try the child endangering, not how the Gravelles got the children," Leffler said.
If convicted, the Gravelles could get one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each of the 16 counts of felony child endangering.
Connie Mabin, Columbus Dispatch, Nov. 2, 2006, News pg 9D.
Some of the criminal charges filed against a couple accused of locking some of their adopted special-needs children in cages were dismissed yesterday.
Huron County Common Pleas Judge Earl R. McGimpsey threw out a felony perjury charge and four misdemeanor falsification charges, saying in a written ruling that the crimes were alleged to have taken place too long ago. A misdemeanor count of falsification and several counts of felony child endangering remained against Michael and Sharen Gravelle, who are scheduled to go on trial Nov. 14.
In an indictment in February, the Gravelles were accused of lying under oath, perjury and falsifying documents used to adopt the children and receive government subsidies.
Prosecutors claimed that the couple, between 1997 and 2005, lied to government officials and on sworn statements given in relation to the inspection of the Gravelles' home by social workers for the couple's first adoption. That statement was used to help the couple secure approval of five subsequent adoptions.
McGimpsey said the indictment came after the expiration of the statute of limitations, which ranges from two years to six years on the various charges.
In his ruling, the judge warned prosecutors that they would have to prove that the remaining count of falsification involving statements the Gravelles made to Huron and Cuyahoga County adoption officials occurred within the two-year timeframe; otherwise, the couple would be acquitted on that charge.
"This is very, very good news. It's very significant," said Ken Myers, the Gravelles' attorney. "This in a very positive way reduces the charges we are going to have to defend."
The Gravelles have denied mistreating the children, who were 1 to 15 years old at the time. The youngsters were placed in foster care last fall after a county social worker likened the wood and chicken-wire cages to kennels.
The couple have said the enclosures were necessary to keep the children from harming themselves and one another. The children have problems such as fetal alcohol syndrome and a disorder that involves eating nonfood items.
Huron County Prosecutor Russ Leffler said he plans to file a motion asking the judge to reconsider his ruling.
"I think that he's made an obvious error," Leffler said, adding that he thinks the falsification charges thrown out come under the state's fraud law that does not fall under the statute of limitations.
"If it (the ruling) stands it will simplify the trial because we'll only be able to try the child endangering, not how the Gravelles got the children," Leffler said.
If convicted, the Gravelles could get one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each of the 16 counts of felony child endangering.
Difficult for foster youth to form healthy, permanent attachments
Family separation
Young lives left in limbo as abuse cases stall
Alayna DeMartini, Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 30, 2006, News pg 1A.
A few months can feel like a year to a child who has moved in with a relative or foster family because his parent is accused of abuse or neglect.
Then add another year or more before the case is settled or goes to trial. The child remains in limbo, not knowing whether he'll return home or be adopted.
In such cases, the children "don't know who they are," said child-welfare advocate Crystal Allen.
They wonder, "Am I the daughter of my former mom or am I going to be the daughter of my foster mom?" Allen said. "It's very, very disruptive."
Allen knows how painful the wait can be. She is director of the Public Children Services Association of Ohio, which represents the state's child-welfare agencies.
Despite a 1989 state law requiring that abuse and neglect cases be resolved within three months, one-third of the Franklin County cases take longer than that, according to Domestic Relations/Juvenile Court statistics. Some take years.
About 3,500 cases of alleged abuse or neglect are filed every year in Franklin County.
In July, an Ohio Supreme Court evaluation cited the Franklin County court's delays in resolving abuse and neglect cases.
Long delays in Franklin and other counties have put Ohio at risk of losing $5 million in federal funds for foster-care placements if it doesn't improve the handling of abuse and neglect cases, said Jon Allen, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
The next federal review, in 2008, will determine how effectively Ohio has dealt with abused and neglected children, foster-care placements and adoption.
Counties such as Franklin and Cuyahoga have been able to skirt the three-month deadline imposed by the legislature by dismissing cases, then refiling them, court officials said.
"We're saying faster is not always better, but slower is almost always worse," said Steve Hanson, who's coordinating the Supreme Court's effort to improve case flow statewide.
Delays can be as hard on parents as on children.
Terri Lynn Thomas, of the Near East Side, now sees her 16-year-old daughter a few times a week, but the teen still can't move back in, she said.
By court order, Mercedes was moved to her father's house in February after mother and daughter had a fight. Teeth marks were left on Mercedes' hand, which her mother said happened when Mercedes hit her in the mouth.
In July, Thomas pleaded guilty to attempted domestic violence, a misdemeanor, but her case has dragged on in Domestic Relations/Juvenile Court. No trial date has been set, and the next hearing is in November.
Thomas wants to improve her relationship with her daughter and has attended parenting classes and counseling since February, she said.
"I want her to come home. I would like to have my family complete again," Thomas said.
If a magistrate determines that her daughter was abused, the system will have worked by removing the teen from a dangerous situation, said Alex Pomerants, Thomas' attorney. But if not, she will have perhaps needlessly lost several months with her daughter, he said.
Franklin County court officials said delays are sometimes beyond their control. Dockets are so full that finding a court date agreeable to all attorneys can be difficult. When a charge of abuse or neglect is filed, the child's biological parents must be notified, but locating them can be a challenge.
Even after a case is resolved at trial, the decision can be appealed, which can take a year or more.
Slow-moving cases are found across the country, said Susan Badeau, deputy director of the national Pew Commission on Children and Foster Care, which has recommended reforms.
Priority often goes to dealing with juvenile-crime cases, Badeau said, and "too often, the abuse and neglect cases are seen as the bottom of the pile."
In Franklin County, court magistrates now are required to set aside two days a week to handle abuse and neglect cases, instead of working those hearings around juvenile-crime cases.
Children Services workers now turn over paperwork, such as interviews and reports, to defense attorneys right away instead of waiting for a formal request to be made.
Delays aren't always bad for a family, said Susan Burnside-Kelly, a Columbus attorney who often handles cases involving child abuse or neglect. Time can give parents a chance to learn through parenting classes or substance-abuse treatment.
"You just can't get some people to fix their lives in three months," Burnside-Kelly said.
She cited the case of a Whitehall woman who was raising her son in a home where she frequently got into physical fights with her mate, a man with bipolar disorder.
When the woman started drug treatment, the child was allowed to go home; but after more fights, the child returned to foster care. The cycle continued. The woman had two more children, both born with cocaine and marijuana in their blood. Each was placed in foster care, as was the older boy, whom Burnside-Kelly represented.
"It wasn't the system keeping the kids away from the parents," she said. "There wasn't anything else that could have been done."
Young lives left in limbo as abuse cases stall
Alayna DeMartini, Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 30, 2006, News pg 1A.
A few months can feel like a year to a child who has moved in with a relative or foster family because his parent is accused of abuse or neglect.
Then add another year or more before the case is settled or goes to trial. The child remains in limbo, not knowing whether he'll return home or be adopted.
In such cases, the children "don't know who they are," said child-welfare advocate Crystal Allen.
They wonder, "Am I the daughter of my former mom or am I going to be the daughter of my foster mom?" Allen said. "It's very, very disruptive."
Allen knows how painful the wait can be. She is director of the Public Children Services Association of Ohio, which represents the state's child-welfare agencies.
Despite a 1989 state law requiring that abuse and neglect cases be resolved within three months, one-third of the Franklin County cases take longer than that, according to Domestic Relations/Juvenile Court statistics. Some take years.
About 3,500 cases of alleged abuse or neglect are filed every year in Franklin County.
In July, an Ohio Supreme Court evaluation cited the Franklin County court's delays in resolving abuse and neglect cases.
Long delays in Franklin and other counties have put Ohio at risk of losing $5 million in federal funds for foster-care placements if it doesn't improve the handling of abuse and neglect cases, said Jon Allen, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
The next federal review, in 2008, will determine how effectively Ohio has dealt with abused and neglected children, foster-care placements and adoption.
Counties such as Franklin and Cuyahoga have been able to skirt the three-month deadline imposed by the legislature by dismissing cases, then refiling them, court officials said.
"We're saying faster is not always better, but slower is almost always worse," said Steve Hanson, who's coordinating the Supreme Court's effort to improve case flow statewide.
Delays can be as hard on parents as on children.
Terri Lynn Thomas, of the Near East Side, now sees her 16-year-old daughter a few times a week, but the teen still can't move back in, she said.
By court order, Mercedes was moved to her father's house in February after mother and daughter had a fight. Teeth marks were left on Mercedes' hand, which her mother said happened when Mercedes hit her in the mouth.
In July, Thomas pleaded guilty to attempted domestic violence, a misdemeanor, but her case has dragged on in Domestic Relations/Juvenile Court. No trial date has been set, and the next hearing is in November.
Thomas wants to improve her relationship with her daughter and has attended parenting classes and counseling since February, she said.
"I want her to come home. I would like to have my family complete again," Thomas said.
If a magistrate determines that her daughter was abused, the system will have worked by removing the teen from a dangerous situation, said Alex Pomerants, Thomas' attorney. But if not, she will have perhaps needlessly lost several months with her daughter, he said.
Franklin County court officials said delays are sometimes beyond their control. Dockets are so full that finding a court date agreeable to all attorneys can be difficult. When a charge of abuse or neglect is filed, the child's biological parents must be notified, but locating them can be a challenge.
Even after a case is resolved at trial, the decision can be appealed, which can take a year or more.
Slow-moving cases are found across the country, said Susan Badeau, deputy director of the national Pew Commission on Children and Foster Care, which has recommended reforms.
Priority often goes to dealing with juvenile-crime cases, Badeau said, and "too often, the abuse and neglect cases are seen as the bottom of the pile."
In Franklin County, court magistrates now are required to set aside two days a week to handle abuse and neglect cases, instead of working those hearings around juvenile-crime cases.
Children Services workers now turn over paperwork, such as interviews and reports, to defense attorneys right away instead of waiting for a formal request to be made.
Delays aren't always bad for a family, said Susan Burnside-Kelly, a Columbus attorney who often handles cases involving child abuse or neglect. Time can give parents a chance to learn through parenting classes or substance-abuse treatment.
"You just can't get some people to fix their lives in three months," Burnside-Kelly said.
She cited the case of a Whitehall woman who was raising her son in a home where she frequently got into physical fights with her mate, a man with bipolar disorder.
When the woman started drug treatment, the child was allowed to go home; but after more fights, the child returned to foster care. The cycle continued. The woman had two more children, both born with cocaine and marijuana in their blood. Each was placed in foster care, as was the older boy, whom Burnside-Kelly represented.
"It wasn't the system keeping the kids away from the parents," she said. "There wasn't anything else that could have been done."
One young man turns his life around
Maryhaven extends reach
$1 million project will expand services for troubled youths
Encarnacion Pyle, Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 30, 2006, News pg B1.
Growing up, Shaindo Pirtle never really knew his father, didn't feel nurtured by his mother and was bounced from relatives to group homes.
To escape his troubles, he sucked in his emotions, started smoking marijuana and "ripping and running the streets" -- robbing and selling drugs.
Fearing Pirtle was headed to jail or worse, a Franklin County Children Services caseworker sent the teenager to Maryhaven to face his addictions and discover his talents.
Today, the 18-year-old is finishing his senior year at Groveport Madison High School, singing in the choir and mapping a future that includes going to barber school, getting a doctorate at Ohio State University and helping other lost souls.
"I want to help youths, broken families and make everyone I encounter feel good about themselves, inside and out," Pirtle said.
Bolstered by success stories such as Pirtle's, Maryhaven has raised more than $1 million to expand and improve services to children and teenagers who have alcohol, drug or mental-health problems.
Demand for these services, especially for children in foster care, has skyrocketed in recent years, with as many as 6,300 going untreated each year, according to a 2002 report by the Franklin County Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board.
"The good news is we, as a society, are intervening earlier, making better diagnoses and referring sick children to mental-health services," said Paul H. Coleman, Maryhaven's president and chief executive officer.
"The bad news is there will always be more kids in need than available beds."
In 2001, Franklin County ADAMH's network of 42 mental-health and substance-abuse agencies served 9,200 children. Last year the agencies helped more than 11,000 youngsters, said David A. Royer, ADAMH's chief executive officer.
Maryhaven started providing inpatient treatment to teens hooked on alcohol and drugs when it opened a 16-bed unit in 1982. The treatment center expanded to 40 beds -- 25 for boys, 15 for girls -- in 2003 to help Franklin County Children Services keep children with severe behavioral, emotional and mental-health problems in the county.
Maryhaven also added counseling and other mental-health services. Sixty-six percent of children in the program suffer from a mental illness such as bipolar disorder or depression in addition to being addicted to alcohol, marijuana or prescription drugs, Coleman said.
"Maryhaven has always been known for their substance-abuse services," said Eric Fenner, Children Services' deputy director. "The fact that they've gone out and gotten accredited to provide mental-health treatment shows their commitment to restoring families."
Fenner said Children Services has always tried to link children and their families to counseling, parenting classes and other services from their homes.
But advocates have criticized the agency for removing too many children from families, not looking for alternatives to foster care and sending children out of county and to other states too often.
"In 2002, Children Services sent 466 adolescents to residential care outside of Franklin County," Coleman said. "By 2004, the agency had cut the number down to 265, helping families who didn't have the means to travel extensively, up to Akron or down to Athens, to see their children for a visit."
Fenner said having more and better services for children at Maryhaven also has "helped us return kids home more quickly."
Studies have found that children in foster care who are allowed to maintain a relationship with their parents are generally happier and more likely to be returned to their homes.
Teens at Maryhaven stay an average of 89 days. That's less than the 112-day length of stay for a program in Milwaukee that's often cited by the federal government as an example of a project that is doing things right.
Maryhaven is adding 20 adolescent beds, which will allow the center to serve 90 more teens a year. It also is adding 2,200 square feet of group therapy and other treatment rooms, creating a state-of-the-art math and science room and building outdoor recreational facilities for both boys and girls.
Space is so cramped at Maryhaven's main campus at 1791 Alum Creek Dr. on the South Side, the center had to move its weekend intervention program for intoxicated motorists to a hotel and its adolescent and adult outpatient services to a Downtown building, Coleman said.
Work already has started on the improvements and is expected to be complete by the end of next year.
Speaking to the boys on the unit last week, Pirtle offered this message of encouragement: "Do what you gotta do to go where you want to go without simply accepting the bare essentials," he said.
"Maryhaven is a stepping stone to your dreams."
Pirtle, 18, speaks to a group of young men in a treatment program at Maryhaven. Pirtle spoke about conquering his addictions.
$1 million project will expand services for troubled youths
Encarnacion Pyle, Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 30, 2006, News pg B1.
Growing up, Shaindo Pirtle never really knew his father, didn't feel nurtured by his mother and was bounced from relatives to group homes.
To escape his troubles, he sucked in his emotions, started smoking marijuana and "ripping and running the streets" -- robbing and selling drugs.
Fearing Pirtle was headed to jail or worse, a Franklin County Children Services caseworker sent the teenager to Maryhaven to face his addictions and discover his talents.
Today, the 18-year-old is finishing his senior year at Groveport Madison High School, singing in the choir and mapping a future that includes going to barber school, getting a doctorate at Ohio State University and helping other lost souls.
"I want to help youths, broken families and make everyone I encounter feel good about themselves, inside and out," Pirtle said.
Bolstered by success stories such as Pirtle's, Maryhaven has raised more than $1 million to expand and improve services to children and teenagers who have alcohol, drug or mental-health problems.
Demand for these services, especially for children in foster care, has skyrocketed in recent years, with as many as 6,300 going untreated each year, according to a 2002 report by the Franklin County Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board.
"The good news is we, as a society, are intervening earlier, making better diagnoses and referring sick children to mental-health services," said Paul H. Coleman, Maryhaven's president and chief executive officer.
"The bad news is there will always be more kids in need than available beds."
In 2001, Franklin County ADAMH's network of 42 mental-health and substance-abuse agencies served 9,200 children. Last year the agencies helped more than 11,000 youngsters, said David A. Royer, ADAMH's chief executive officer.
Maryhaven started providing inpatient treatment to teens hooked on alcohol and drugs when it opened a 16-bed unit in 1982. The treatment center expanded to 40 beds -- 25 for boys, 15 for girls -- in 2003 to help Franklin County Children Services keep children with severe behavioral, emotional and mental-health problems in the county.
Maryhaven also added counseling and other mental-health services. Sixty-six percent of children in the program suffer from a mental illness such as bipolar disorder or depression in addition to being addicted to alcohol, marijuana or prescription drugs, Coleman said.
"Maryhaven has always been known for their substance-abuse services," said Eric Fenner, Children Services' deputy director. "The fact that they've gone out and gotten accredited to provide mental-health treatment shows their commitment to restoring families."
Fenner said Children Services has always tried to link children and their families to counseling, parenting classes and other services from their homes.
But advocates have criticized the agency for removing too many children from families, not looking for alternatives to foster care and sending children out of county and to other states too often.
"In 2002, Children Services sent 466 adolescents to residential care outside of Franklin County," Coleman said. "By 2004, the agency had cut the number down to 265, helping families who didn't have the means to travel extensively, up to Akron or down to Athens, to see their children for a visit."
Fenner said having more and better services for children at Maryhaven also has "helped us return kids home more quickly."
Studies have found that children in foster care who are allowed to maintain a relationship with their parents are generally happier and more likely to be returned to their homes.
Teens at Maryhaven stay an average of 89 days. That's less than the 112-day length of stay for a program in Milwaukee that's often cited by the federal government as an example of a project that is doing things right.
Maryhaven is adding 20 adolescent beds, which will allow the center to serve 90 more teens a year. It also is adding 2,200 square feet of group therapy and other treatment rooms, creating a state-of-the-art math and science room and building outdoor recreational facilities for both boys and girls.
Space is so cramped at Maryhaven's main campus at 1791 Alum Creek Dr. on the South Side, the center had to move its weekend intervention program for intoxicated motorists to a hotel and its adolescent and adult outpatient services to a Downtown building, Coleman said.
Work already has started on the improvements and is expected to be complete by the end of next year.
Speaking to the boys on the unit last week, Pirtle offered this message of encouragement: "Do what you gotta do to go where you want to go without simply accepting the bare essentials," he said.
"Maryhaven is a stepping stone to your dreams."
Pirtle, 18, speaks to a group of young men in a treatment program at Maryhaven. Pirtle spoke about conquering his addictions.
Racial inequity in American foster care system
Child welfare hurting blacks
National study finds children taken from homes disproportionately; county says there's no disparity
Encarnacion Pyle, Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 29, 2006, News pg C1.
Correction: CORRECTION PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 1, 2006 - The number of black children in the care of Franklin County Children Services is disproportionately high, but the agency's caseworkers visit them as often as they do white children in the agency's care. Because of an editor's error, a secondary headline mischaracterized the situation described in a story on Page C1 of Sunday's Metro & State section.
Racial inequity
* Although black children make up about 15 percent of all children in the nation, they account for nearly 37 percent of the 500,000 in foster care.
* In Ohio, blacks make up 42 percent of children in temporary care and 52 percent of those in permanent custody who will never return home.
* Franklin County's numbers are higher at nearly 55 percent, and Cuyahoga County has among the worst overrepresentations of black children in foster care with 70 percent.
* Although race is often a disturbing topic, child-welfare advocates are talking more about it and its impact on the nation's most-vulnerable children. They're also building strategies to reduce racial disparities and cut the number of children being referred to children services because of poverty. There is a higher proportion of black children in the nation's child-welfare system than white, and they suffer worse consequences, according to a new study.
"We know that children who currently are or have been in the child-welfare system are at an increased risk of dropping out of school, suffering serious mental-health problems, going to juvenile detention or prison, abusing drugs and alcohol -- outcomes that ultimately translate into significant costs to American taxpayers," said Khatib A.F. Waheed, spokesman for the Washington-based Casey-CSSP Alliance for Racial Equity, which issued the study last week
Nationwide, nearly 37 percent of the children in foster care are black, although only 15 percent of children nationwide are black.
In Ohio, 42 percent of kids in temporary care are black. In Franklin County, it's nearly 55 percent.
Advocates have long voiced concerns about the disproportionate number of black youths in the child-welfare system, but they've had a difficult time figuring out why it happens and what to do about it.
"People need to be aware that there is a significant difference between a child being abused or neglected, being raised by a poor family or in a way that is culturally, religiously or any other way different than their neighbors," said John Saros, director of Franklin County Children Services.
The agency has a committee that has studied race issues for several years and more recently created an internal group to study disparity issues. The group was created after the Columbus chapter of the NAACP filed a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department last year.
Children Services also passed a detailed plan last month to reduce the number of black children in foster care by hiring more-diverse workers and helping more families care for their children in their own homes.
Still, the agency has to improve the quality of care provided to black children put into foster homes, said Noel Williams, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Columbus.
"John Saros likes to talk about how he is reunifying more children with their families each month than placing into care," she said. "But quality is as important as quantity."
Williams said she is dealing with a case in which a troubled teenage girl was placed in a home with a woman who Children Services was investigating for how she raised her own children.
"The standard of care is substandard," she said.
The Casey study found that despite no differences in the rates of child abuse and neglect between races, black families are more frequently the subject of abuse and neglect reports, and their children are removed from their homes more often.
Once in foster care, according to the data, black children typically receive fewer visits from caseworkers and less mental-health services than white children.
In addition, black children typically stay in foster care longer and are adopted at a lower rate than white children.
Franklin County follows most of these trends, except a review of caseworker visits with their children showed no difference between the races.
For example, in September, 95 percent of both black and white children were seen by their caseworker at least once, Saros said. The agency doesn't track mental-health services by race.
"We're treating kids pretty equally," Saros said.
The numbers in this study and others, however, speak for themselves, said Crystal Ward Allen, executive director of the Public Children Services Association of Ohio.
She said a Case Western Reserve University study found that black children who live in poor, inner-city neighborhoods are referred to a child-welfare agency more often at several points in their lives, including at birth and when they enter preschool and kindergarten.
Allen said that although child-welfare agencies nationwide shouldn't discourage people from reporting suspected cases of child abuse and neglect, they should better educate the public about signs of abuse and the places to refer families that might have been targeted only because they are poor.
"The safety of the child must be a priority," said Robert B. Hill, author of the report and a senior researcher for Westat, a Washington research company.
"When families are struck with a crisis, there must be immediate interventions. However, it is equally important for children and families to get the support they need to prevent children from entering or returning to care outside of their homes."
National study finds children taken from homes disproportionately; county says there's no disparity
Encarnacion Pyle, Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 29, 2006, News pg C1.
Correction: CORRECTION PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 1, 2006 - The number of black children in the care of Franklin County Children Services is disproportionately high, but the agency's caseworkers visit them as often as they do white children in the agency's care. Because of an editor's error, a secondary headline mischaracterized the situation described in a story on Page C1 of Sunday's Metro & State section.
Racial inequity
* Although black children make up about 15 percent of all children in the nation, they account for nearly 37 percent of the 500,000 in foster care.
* In Ohio, blacks make up 42 percent of children in temporary care and 52 percent of those in permanent custody who will never return home.
* Franklin County's numbers are higher at nearly 55 percent, and Cuyahoga County has among the worst overrepresentations of black children in foster care with 70 percent.
* Although race is often a disturbing topic, child-welfare advocates are talking more about it and its impact on the nation's most-vulnerable children. They're also building strategies to reduce racial disparities and cut the number of children being referred to children services because of poverty. There is a higher proportion of black children in the nation's child-welfare system than white, and they suffer worse consequences, according to a new study.
"We know that children who currently are or have been in the child-welfare system are at an increased risk of dropping out of school, suffering serious mental-health problems, going to juvenile detention or prison, abusing drugs and alcohol -- outcomes that ultimately translate into significant costs to American taxpayers," said Khatib A.F. Waheed, spokesman for the Washington-based Casey-CSSP Alliance for Racial Equity, which issued the study last week
Nationwide, nearly 37 percent of the children in foster care are black, although only 15 percent of children nationwide are black.
In Ohio, 42 percent of kids in temporary care are black. In Franklin County, it's nearly 55 percent.
Advocates have long voiced concerns about the disproportionate number of black youths in the child-welfare system, but they've had a difficult time figuring out why it happens and what to do about it.
"People need to be aware that there is a significant difference between a child being abused or neglected, being raised by a poor family or in a way that is culturally, religiously or any other way different than their neighbors," said John Saros, director of Franklin County Children Services.
The agency has a committee that has studied race issues for several years and more recently created an internal group to study disparity issues. The group was created after the Columbus chapter of the NAACP filed a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department last year.
Children Services also passed a detailed plan last month to reduce the number of black children in foster care by hiring more-diverse workers and helping more families care for their children in their own homes.
Still, the agency has to improve the quality of care provided to black children put into foster homes, said Noel Williams, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Columbus.
"John Saros likes to talk about how he is reunifying more children with their families each month than placing into care," she said. "But quality is as important as quantity."
Williams said she is dealing with a case in which a troubled teenage girl was placed in a home with a woman who Children Services was investigating for how she raised her own children.
"The standard of care is substandard," she said.
The Casey study found that despite no differences in the rates of child abuse and neglect between races, black families are more frequently the subject of abuse and neglect reports, and their children are removed from their homes more often.
Once in foster care, according to the data, black children typically receive fewer visits from caseworkers and less mental-health services than white children.
In addition, black children typically stay in foster care longer and are adopted at a lower rate than white children.
Franklin County follows most of these trends, except a review of caseworker visits with their children showed no difference between the races.
For example, in September, 95 percent of both black and white children were seen by their caseworker at least once, Saros said. The agency doesn't track mental-health services by race.
"We're treating kids pretty equally," Saros said.
The numbers in this study and others, however, speak for themselves, said Crystal Ward Allen, executive director of the Public Children Services Association of Ohio.
She said a Case Western Reserve University study found that black children who live in poor, inner-city neighborhoods are referred to a child-welfare agency more often at several points in their lives, including at birth and when they enter preschool and kindergarten.
Allen said that although child-welfare agencies nationwide shouldn't discourage people from reporting suspected cases of child abuse and neglect, they should better educate the public about signs of abuse and the places to refer families that might have been targeted only because they are poor.
"The safety of the child must be a priority," said Robert B. Hill, author of the report and a senior researcher for Westat, a Washington research company.
"When families are struck with a crisis, there must be immediate interventions. However, it is equally important for children and families to get the support they need to prevent children from entering or returning to care outside of their homes."
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