Oops, says the Cincy Post

FOSTER CARE PENALTIES
Cincinnati Post, The (OH)December 6, 2006

Public Children Services Association of Ohio supports increasing the penalties for parents who intentionally harm or kill their foster children but not the death penalty, said Crystal Ward Allen, executive director of the group.In a story Monday about proposed changes in the foster care system, the Associated Press reported erroneously that the group would recommend to lawmakers that the death penalty automatically be possible for foster parents who kill children in their care.

Gravelles lost custody of 11 children in March 2006

Neighbor testifies against Gravelle

Puente, Mark. Cleveland Plain Dealer, Dec. 6, 2006.

Norwalk - Michael Gravelle said he could quit working and earn a living by adopting special-needs children, his neighbor testified Tuesday.

The neighbor, Tom Hall, testified Gravelle told him years ago about a plan to create an orphanage, and that being a foster parent paid well.

"He was probably going to quit his job and build an orphanage and get all the children he could," Hall testified.

Hall was not surprised when Gravelle built an addition to his home to house the children.

"Wow, he did what he said he was going to do," Hall said.

Gravelle and his wife, Sharen, are on trial in Huron County Common Pleas Court, each charged with 16 counts of felony child endangering and eight misdemeanor child endangering charges.

Prosecutors accuse the couple of keeping some of their 11 children in so-called cages.

The couple said they built wood and wire enclosures around some of the beds to protect the children from their own destructive behavior.

Hall also told the jury he saw Gravelle hose down one of the children outside in 20-degree weather, and speculated that it was because the child wet his bed.

He did not report the incident to authorities, he said.

Hall testified he got along well with the Gravelles and didn't fault them for adopting many children.

"It's great if you can handle it," he said.

The Gravelles have denied mistreating their children, who were ages 1 to 15 when officials removed them from the Gravelles' home in September 2005.

Lori Oney, another neighbor, testified that Sharen Gravelle used a "sawed-off broomstick" to beat some of her children in 2001.

During cross-examination, Oney told defense attorney Ken Myers that she notified county social workers in 2001 and 2002 about abuse allegations and the cages. She did not know whether any investigation took place as a result.

"Sharen came to my house and yelled at me for it," Oney said. "She told me not to come back."

The 11 children have been in foster care and are awaiting adoption. The Gravelles lost custody in March.

The trial will resume today.

Avondale Holiday Fund for foster children

Fund helps fulfill wish lists for Avondale youths

Smith, G.I. Times Recorder, Dec. 4, 2006.

ZANESVILLE -- A 15-year-old boy isn't going to spend Christmas with his family at home again this year.

It's been nearly three years since he's lived at home with his family. Foster care and Avondale Youth Center have become his surrogate homes since he's entered his teen years.

"When I first got (to Avondale) I felt worried about what was going to happen to me, where I was going to end up," the boy said. "I'm more comfortable with things now. I know how the program works and stuff."

The Times Recorder chose not to identify the boy interviewed in this article to protect his privacy. The director of Avondale Youth Center confirmed that the boy was a resident at the home.

This is either a great or a very bad time of year for children at Avondale Youth Center. The center houses troubled children who range in age of 10 to 17. It houses 12 boys and 10 girls at any given time and is part of Muskingum County Children Services.

During the holidays, the children are either counting down the days until they can spend Christmas at the center with their families or they're feeling bad because they know that any holiday family reunion isn't possible.

"The holidays become more and more traumatic for the kids who know he or she doesn't have (a warm, welcoming family) to go to," said Gerald Brandt, director at Avondale.

Because so many children are housed at Avondale, Brandt said it's necessary to keep a fund available to purchase the incidental and special items that every child needs during their development. That fund -- the Avondale Holiday Fund -- helps purchase holiday wish lists for the children, prom dresses, special educational tools and other things that most children rely on their parents to buy for them.

"We purchase things that would be more difficult to get if we had to go through the budget process," Brandt said. "Prom dresses, boutonnieres, a learning program that an individual child needs that would augment what the school is doing with the child. ... This allows us to do something very, very quickly."

The 15-year-old boy spent Christmas at Avondale in the past.

"I got exactly what I asked for," the boy said. "This year, I'm looking forward to seeing my family coming here and visiting me."

The boy has five sisters and one brother. His immediate goal is to eventually live with his older brother, who is currently serving in the U.S. Marine Corps.

"I want to join the Marines when I turn 18," he said. "After that, I'm going to college."

The boy wants to study law and become a lawyer.

Brandt said the fund is designed to last the entire year.

"Kids are kids," Brandt said. "When they need something, they need it five minutes before they ask for it. (Using the fund when it's needed) is a way of showing kids who are not used to adults responding that adults do care and that they really want to help... It helps establish a relationship."

Has Lifeway been singled out unfairly?

Lifeway's exec: Agency singled out after death
MacLaughlin, Sheila. Cincinnati Enquirer, Dec. 3, 2006.

State deciding operation's future
The executive director and founder of the embattled foster care company that placed Marcus Fiesel with his accused killers said his company provides quality foster care, even as the state decides whether it will be in business past mid-January.

In an exclusive interview with The Enquirer in the wake of a scathing state review last week of Lifeway for Youth's actions in Marcus' deadly placement with Liz and David Carroll Jr., Michael Berner touched on the state's criticisms.

He implied he felt Lifeway was singled out by the state, but wouldn't elaborate. "Lifeway is taking the brunt of this situation. I think that speaks a world.

"There have been several deaths of children in the foster care system in Ohio. People do bad things and these situations are looked at, or should be, and we learn and go on.

"This one has been handled with special interest, and it's been handled differently. This case has been given a lot more attention than any other death in the system over the years."

Berner disputed the state's contention that Lifeway foster parents weren't getting the proper training.

The state requires 36 hours of training for therapeutic foster homes and a set curriculum before parents can be certified and take any children.

The state review found that while Lifeway's program was supposed to include four-hour sessions, the Lifeway trainer was finished 90 minutes early each night.

"Everybody's been through the classes and trained to the content that was required," Berner said. "I did not authorize that. Our trainer's been doing that. When I found out. . . that was corrected."

While class material was covered in 2½ hours, the trainer stayed 90 minutes more to answer questions and offer parents more personalized attention, Berner said.

"It's not like she closed her book and ran out of the building. She delivered her content and stayed for the duration of those classes," he said. "Those content areas were delivered in every case."

Berner said he continues to cooperate with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, which is auditing his agency's operation as part of the process to recertify Lifeway's foster-care license.

"We're just taking care of business. I don't know what else we can do. We will cooperate with the auditors. We're professionals. I don't have any sour grapes here. I'm not here to complain or disparage anyone else that's in this fray," he said.

Since the state review was released Monday, Berner said he's been barraged with calls from juvenile court judges, county commissioners, state legislators and county children services officials.

"They want the facts. They are processing this," Berner said.

Because of Marcus' death, the state made more than four dozen recommendations to tighten the screening requirements and other measures to weed out bad foster parents and make sure children are safe.

Berner said he doesn't have a problem with that.

"Everybody in foster care is talking about this right now. What is the most we can do right now? What level of screening has to be done?" he said.

"We'll have to see how things go in the next year or two, and I'm sure the whole system will be tweaked. I don't think we'll come up with something in the next two months that will be the perfect system and solve all the problems."

Caseworkers shouldn't have 70 kids in their caseloads

Marcus' death snarling foster care:

Lifeway's fall leaves void in local parent network

McLaughlin, Sheila and Eileen Kelley. Cincinnati Enquirer, Dec. 3, 2006.

The 7-month-old baby tested positive for cocaine at birth. Still, she was considered normal and healthy.

An African-American infant from Cincinnati, she should have been easy to place in foster care, like many other children without emotional and physical issues. Eager, loving foster parents usually snap up those kids.

That's changed in the four months since 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel died and his foster parents, Liz and David Carroll Jr., were charged with killing him.

Many county child-protection agencies stopped using Lifeway for Youth, the private company that placed Marcus with the Carrolls, for foster care.

The company's fall from grace created a shortage of available foster homes, forcing counties here to ship children well beyond Greater Cincinnati.

The infant girl wound up in Greenfield, a small town in northeastern Highland County, more than 80 miles from Cincinnati.

Other children are being shipped to Dayton, Hillsboro and Sabina, about an hour's drive away in Clinton County.

"It's always been a problem because we need foster parents. But it's more of a problem now because of Lifeway," said Brian Gregg, a Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services spokesman. The agency was one of Lifeway's top clients.

"Now, we're going pretty far with the kids. Before, we overwhelmingly placed them in the Hamilton County area," Gregg said.

The impact of Marcus' death on foster care goes beyond Lifeway.

Caseworkers are being asked to do more to safeguard children. For some counties, such as Butler, that comes without more staff, something some advocates say is needed to do the job right.

"The caseloads are pretty high," said Rebecca Palmer, a union president for Butler County social workers.

Palmer said Marcus' death prompted new orders that caseworkers visit all Butler County foster children at least once a month and also see both biological parents each month.

For many workers, that means crisscrossing not only Greater Cincinnati, but traveling much farther away to where the children are now being placed. "That gets overwhelming if you've got 70 kids in your caseloads."

Compounding the Butler problem is a lack of caseworkers.
Palmer said eight caseworkers have quit since Marcus' death. "You'll find with caseworkers that this job can be really sad and awful," she said. "And sometimes, you just have to become numb to it. You really have to or you cannot do your job anymore."

From another angle, Lifeway foster parents are left with empty beds. Some want to switch to other agencies, but the agencies won't take them.

"We've told them we need to play this out with the state and the counties and see what happens," said Jim Mason, chief executive officer and president of Beech Acres. The 157-year-old organization is one of the few that serve the same types of serious cases that Lifeway does.

"We're not inclined to be involved in the dwindling of another agency's program. But we hope whatever happens, the state will make plans to preserve the homes one way or another," Mason said. "The system needs the capacity."

Finding good foster homes is not easy.
"We never have enough foster families," said Denise Winkler, a Butler County Children Services Board spokeswoman.

Alcohol and drug abuse, domestic violence and untreated mental illness tend to be the three big reasons children are taken away from their parents and put in foster care.

"Our children coming into care have more serious issues that require more services and higher levels of care," Winkler said.

Lifeway facing closure?
Lifeway has taken the brunt of criticism over Marcus' death in August.

The New Carlisle (about 70 miles north of Cincinnati) company now faces possible closure in Ohio after a state investigation revealed it fudged training hours the Carrolls were supposed to receive and didn't adequately check the couple's background before certifying them to become foster parents.

The Carrolls, the state concluded, never should have been given the OK by Lifeway to get a state license.

After Marcus' death, county child protection agencies in Hamilton, Butler, Clermont and Warren froze foster-care placements with Lifeway although they kept the children already placed with Lifeway in those homes. Other counties around the state have done the same.

Lifeway, licensed to operate in five other states, including Kentucky, has 523 foster homes in Ohio. Only 475 children are currently placed in them, state officials said. A Lifeway Web site said 600 children were in Lifeway homes.

The numbers underscore the effect of Marcus' death on Lifeway.

Two of Lifeway's largest clients are Hamilton and Butler counties. They have about 220 kids still with Lifeway.

Franklin County currently tops the list of Lifeway clients with 198 children placed in the agency's homes.

Franklin continues to place new children with Lifeway in the Columbus area but has decided not to send any more to Lifeway homes in the Greater Cincinnati area because of questions that arose after Marcus' death.

"What's difficult is finding placement for children with more severe issues. Those are the ones that are being placed somewhere further from home," said Winkler of Butler County.

The agency, which averages 30 new children in foster care each month, has 149 children with foster parents from private agencies. Two-thirds of them are in Lifeway homes, she said.

Hamilton County's Gregg said the freeze on Lifeway has created a competition among counties to find homes through the other private agencies. Counties also certify their own foster homes, which are closer and typically take in kids who don't have psychological or physical problems.

The Lifeway ban has jammed Hamilton County's foster homes "to the seams," and Gregg said his agency has trouble finding homes for "traditional" foster children - those who are considered normal.

Organizations such as Beech Acres, which has 50 therapeutic or treatment foster homes, typically reject the normal kids.

"We can't place kids in homes where they might be at risk when we are maxed out with therapeutic kids," Beech Acres' Mason said. "If you have a 13-year-old sex offender, you can't place a 2-year-old kid in that home."

Lighthouse Youth Services is doing what it can to make up for the lack of available foster homes. The network has about 70 licensed foster homes and generally only accepts children with the most difficult emotional and behavioral problems.

Bonita Campbell, the company's director of foster care, said it might have to begin recruiting foster families to help the area cope with the lack of homes since Marcus' death.

"We are pretty saturated," Campbell said.

Lifeway cuts staff
Michael Berner, Lifeway's executive director, said fallout from Marcus' death forced him to cut staff and other costs to survive. Some employees have quit.

Some foster families, he said, are aggressively being recruited by other private agencies, raising Berner's ire. He called the practice unethical.

"There is a lot of unethical behavior down there. We're disappointed how some of our colleagues have reacted to this. I like to think I wouldn't do it if I was in the same position," Berner said.

The state pays the agency a daily stipend of about $60 per child in its care. Lifeway keeps a little over half of that money for administrative costs; the rest goes to the foster parents.

Berner said the company he started in 1994 was "struggling to survive" and he defended it.

"Lifeway was caught holding the ball, and probably if any other agency in the state would have been caught with the same ball in their hands, it would have been 10 times as ugly with some agencies and twice as bad as almost all," he said.

"We've been victimized. We know that. There's nothing we can do except stay focused on kids we do have. If we can save the program, we don't know."

Court case gets ugly

'Caged kids'' home bothered visitor
Sielicki, Jim. Toledo Blade, Dec. 2, 2006.

NORWALK, Ohio - A witness in the child abuse trial of Sharen and Michael Gravelle testified yesterday that Mrs. Gravelle called her adopted children "monkeys" and said they needed tough discipline.

Carlyle Smith, a part-time employee of Comfort Keepers, testified he visited the Gravelles' home in October, 2003, to meet with the family because he was considering a job as a part-time caregiver in the home.

He said early in the interview that the Gravelles told him he was not to go upstairs, where the children slept.

He also testified that Mrs. Gravelle referred to the children, who are black, as "monkeys" in the presence of the children during his interview. The Gravelles are white, and the jury of 10 men and six women is white.

"You'll have to watch this little monkey because he'll try to steal you blind," Mr. Smith said Mrs. Gravelle told him.

He said she also pointed to a little girl nearby and warned him not to let her climb in his lap, because "she'll get sexual."

During the interview, Mr. Smith said Mr. Gravelle took him to a building at the rear of the property that Mr. Gravelle said they used as a chapel. During that time, Mr. Smith said he discussed his Christian values and talked about his other jobs coaching high school football and basketball teams.

"He looked me in the eye and he told me ... 'I consider myself to be Moses,' " Mr. Smith testified, saying Mr. Gravelle made references to "leading little children."

During cross-examination, Mr. Smith said he did not anticipate having a problem handling 11 small children, and he pointed to his career coaching up to 30 football players.

He told defense lawyer Kenneth Myers he was offended by Mrs. Gravelle's calling the children monkeys. "I thought it was an insensitive thing to say," Mr. Smith said. "I don't think you should call a kid a monkey, especially kids who are black."

Mr. Smith, who said he was supposed to visit with the Gravelles for four hours during the get-acquainted session, decided early that he would not take the position.

"At that point I was looking at the clock and hoping to get out of there real quick," he said.He said he left the Gravelles' property soon after and didn't take the job.

Mr. Smith testified he did not inform police or social workers about the encounter with the Gravelles, but did tell his supervisor at Comfort Keepers, who called Huron County's Job and Family Services office.

Mr. Smith testified that he and his boss met with county social workers about a week later to tell them about his observations about the Gravelles, but he never heard back from anyone at the county for two years - until shortly after 11 adopted children were removed from the home by law-enforcement officials.

During cross-examination, defense lawyer Richard Drucker tore into Mr. Smith's testimony, drawing out of him details of his varied coaching positions, his part-time position with Comfort Keepers that lasted less than a year, and his current, but longtime job as a weekend musician.

"You're asking the jury to believe what you're saying?" Mr. Drucker shouted. Judge Earl McGimpsey ordered him to stop "badgering" the witness.

Suzanne Sidell, a social worker for the Huron County Department of Jobs and Family Services, testified that she was at the meeting with Mr. Smith and agency workers, including its administrator, David Broehl, and Stephanie Alexander.

Ms. Sidell works in the foster-care unit and took notes of the Oct. 28, 2003, meeting with Mr. Smith, who outlined his concerns about the Gravelles.

The prosecutor asked Ms. Sidell if she was aware if the agency acted on Mr. Smith's concerns.

"No," she said.During cross-examination, she told Mr. Myers that she did not believe that what Mr. Smith described constituted child abuse.

"I didn't take it that way," she said.

Earlier in the day, Huron County Sheriff Richard Sutherland testified about conducting a search of the Gravelles' home on Sept. 9, 2005.

He described a strong smell of urine, small cages, and deplorable sanitation, which he said led his deputies to decide that removing the children from the home was the best course of action.

He testified that the wood and wire cages did not appear to be large enough for some of the older children to sleep in. The sheriff said he would not call the cages beds: "That's where they slept."

The Gravelles are on trial in Huron County Common Pleas Court on 24 counts each of endangering their children and putting their safety at risk.

"In my 37 years in law enforcement, I have never, ever seen anything that compares to this type of child neglect, child endangering," Sheriff Sutherland said.

Jenna Gravelle, a biological daughter of the parents on trial, was to have taken the stand as a prosecution witness, but she did not testify.

Instead, the defense attorneys and Prosecutor Russ Leffler agreed to a "stipulation" approved by the judge that allowed elements of a telephone call between Ms. Gravelle and her father to be entered into the record without requiring her to testify in court.

The stipulation read to the jury described a phone call Ms. Gravelle got from her father in which he told her that Mrs. Gravelle had beaten the children with a strap and with wood. Later, Mr. Myers explained that the stipulation was agreed to as a way to enter certain facts into the record and avoid having Ms. Gravelle testify.

Ms. Gravelle had testified in the Juvenile Court hearing that led to the Gravelles losing permanent custody. In that hearing, she testified that her father sexually abused her.

Since when are cages considered a parenting style?

Cages humiliated kids, expert says
Child-endangering trial to resume Tuesday
Columbus Dispatch, Dec. 9, 2006, News pg. C1.

NORWALK, Ohio -- A couple accused of child endangering caused their 11 adopted children significant humiliation and stress by forcing some of them to sleep in wood and wire cages, a psychologist testified yesterday during the couple's trial.

William Benninger, a state-licensed psychologist, also testified that having one boy sleep in the bathtub to stop his bed-wetting was ineffective and unwarranted.

Michael and Sharen Gravelle are charged with 16 counts of felony child endangering and eight misdemeanor child-endangering counts. If convicted, they could face one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each felony count.

The Gravelles say they built enclosures to stop night wanderings and to protect the special-needs children from themselves and one another. They deny abusing the children.

Benninger's testimony came at the end of the second week of the trial, which is to resume Tuesday.

The Gravelles' children ranged in age from 1 to 14 when authorities removed them in September 2005 from the home in rural Wakeman, about 60 miles west of Cleveland. The Gravelles lost custody in March, and the children are in foster care.

As he testified last year in the custody case, Benninger said the cages could have worsened the children's behavioral problems.

Doctors have diagnosed some of the children as having various disorders, including one that caused them to eat nonfood items.

But David Broehl, administrator of Huron County Department of Job and Family Services, testified that the 11 children were fairly normal after testing and counseling after their removal from the Gravelle home.

Broehl visited the Gravelles in August 2003 and February 2004. The second visit came after Carlyle Smith, a potential respite care worker for the couple, accused the Gravelles, who are white, of being racist and of calling their adopted black children "monkeys."

He testified that Smith did not mention cages.

Broehl and Brian Lindsey, supervisor the department's investigation unit, determined there was no reason to open an investigation of the Gravelles.

Broehl agreed with defense attorney Richard Drucker that the Gravelles' actions could be considered a parenting style, not abuse. - BULLSHIT

He testified that he became aware of the cages in August 2005 after social worker Jo Johnson received a tip.

Six of the Gravelles' adopted children testified this week, at some points moving jurors to tears as they expressed sadness for missing the only family they've known. The Gravelles also cried when an adopted daughter testified that she missed her parents.

Troy Smith's experience in foster care

IN SIGHT OF THE SUMMIT Troy Smith's path from troubled child to Heisman Trophy favorite
Friday, December 8, 2006 NEWS 01A
By Ken Gordon THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

The 9-year-old boy lingers on a Cleveland football field after a game, sobbing. No one is there to pick him up. No one had been there to cheer him on.

Fast forward a few years: The 16-year-old, a promising high-school quarterback, sits in a heap on his coach's office floor, frustrated at the direction his life is heading.

Fast forward again: The sometimes-volatile child of instability has become the calm, smooth leader who piloted the Ohio State football team to a 12-0 record and a berth in the national championship game.

The child who had no one to cheer for him is now cheered by hundreds of thousands of people -- especially as he heads to New York, where on Saturday he is expected to win the Heisman Trophy, awarded each year to the nation's best college football player.

As a boy, Troy Smith was at times bitter and angry, never really knowing his father and enduring a four-year separation from his mother. As a teen, he felt alone and betrayed by private-school coaches. As a young college student, he could be edgy and outspoken, his enormous potential threatened by immaturity.

His road to the top was filled with obstacles, but also with a few people who helped him along the way.

Foster-parent support
Practice was over, and the boy had no place to go. Tracy Smith had serious problems in her life and was unable to care for her kids, 13-year-old Brittany and her younger brother, 9-year-old Troy.

Troy's coach on the Glenville A's, of the Cleveland municipal league, stepped in.

"He was a very personable, likable kid who I suspected was having problems at home," Irvin White said. "I took him home with me."

White called the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services and learned that the agency was aware of the problems. Brittany went to live with an aunt, but Troy was headed for foster care.

That's when White and his wife, Diane, agreed to become Troy's foster parents. Nurturing was their nature. They had four children of their own, ages 12 to 26 at the time. And Mr. White's mother had taken in more than 250 babies in what then was called an infant-care home.

Thus began four years of much-needed stability in Troy's life. He shared a bedroom with Irvin III, 12, the Whites' only child living at home.

"He fit into the family like that," Mr. White said, sitting at the dining-room table in his and Diane's modest home in Bedford, just east of Cleveland.

Then as now, the Whites operate a drapery and blinds business out of their basement. "Troy used to help me fold drapes," Mrs. White said.

Mr. White, 57, is full of energy and laughter. He recognized Troy's budding talent as a quarterback and was adamant that he be trained at the position rather than being switched to something else.

Smith has fond memories of those years.

"It was difficult because I didn't have my biological mother, but it was actually a good time, because (the Whites) instilled some things in me that I hadn't gone through yet," he said. "They were great parents."

Even so, his situation wore on him. It affected his personality and his relationships with others. Young Troy developed a nasty temper.

"He'd get angry when he couldn't get his way or angry when he couldn't control the situation," Mr. White said. Sometimes it showed during football games. "I used to go out to the huddle sometimes: 'Troy, chill man, please,' and he'd put that lip out and get up in that lineman's face and say, 'You better not let that man through again!' Or if somebody dropped his pass, he'd go, 'Why did you drop my pass?' "

Out of respect for his mother, neither Smith nor the Whites wished to detail the personal turmoil that caused her to give up her children, and she did not respond to repeated interview requests. Court records show that Tracy Smith was twice convicted of drug abuse and served time in the mid-1990s.

"She just got messed up on some stuff," Mr. White said.

He told the story of one Christmas Eve when he had Troy buy his mother a watch as a gift. When they went to deliver it, "We couldn't find her," Mr. White said. "We looked all night until about 9 o'clock. Troy looked at me and he said, 'Do you think Mrs. White would want the watch?' "

Eventually, however, Tracy Smith pulled her life together and regained custody of her children. Troy was 13 when the time came to go back home.

It was not easy on the Whites or Troy.

"The last thing me and my wife wanted to do was give up Troy," Mr. White said. "We were in love with the boy. And Troy sat in our house and boo-hoo cried -- me crying, my wife crying, while Tracy is downstairs and we have to deliver him back to Tracy."

He stopped at the thought, choking up.

"It was hard. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do in my whole life, because we'd been with him for four years," he said.

At the same time, it was a triumphant ending to Tracy's struggles.

"I had never seen a person so determined to completely change her life, and she did," Mr. White said.

Despite the painful separation, Mrs. White is proud of Smith's mother.

"I give her all the props in the world," Mrs. White said. "Things happened, but she loved her kids and everything, even when she was having problems. For what she went through and came out of, that lady is my hero."

Old friends at Glenville
The teenager sat on the floor of Ted Ginn Sr.'s office, frustrated and angry and confused.
Troy Smith was 16. He'd been reunited with his mother three years earlier, but it hadn't gone smoothly. First, he had to adjust to being back home.

"I was so bitter about her being away," Smith said. "I was still a baby, and I still wanted my mother and she wasn't there. But through our growth as family members, we got through it. We talked a lot, and she always let us know that it's OK for us to explain and tell her exactly how we feel."

The Whites had sent several of their own children to a private school. With their encouragement, Smith went to St. Edward High School in Lakewood for his sophomore and junior years.

There, he said, he often felt isolated as a black student on a mostly white campus. The coaches moved him from quarterback to receiver and other positions.

Eventually, he began to feel more like a commodity than a person.

"I think it just came from people who saw me for one thing, and that was a football player or a basketball player," Smith said. "And they just tried to use me, as opposed to grooming me."
He was suspended from playing sports at St. Edward after elbowing an opposing player on the basketball court during his junior season. Smith said the player taunted him with racial slurs.

Troy transferred to Glenville High School, in his old neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland, where Ginn was building a program and serving as a positive influence for kids facing drugs and strife.

The two had known each other for years. Ginn was the father of Smith's old municipal-league pal, Ted Ginn Jr. But now the elder Ginn had a chance to turn Smith's bitterness and anger into something positive.

It began on that difficult day in Ginn's office.

"I guess it was (the fact that I had been) lied to for so long," Smith said. "When I say being lied to, I was led astray. I was always told that I was better than what I really was. Once I got to Glenville, there were kids that could run faster than me, that could jump higher than me, that were far beyond me. And so I used to think like I was the best of the best, and it was nowhere near like that.

"I was young and I didn't know, and I was ticked about life because I didn't think a lot of things were fair, but I didn't have an understanding of what life was really about then."

That came with time, much of it spent around Ginn. The veteran coach, now 51, has a cluttered basement office where he recently managed to find time to talk about Smith, at the same time as he showed film of his players to a college recruiter, gulped down shrimp fried rice and root beer and ignored the constant ringing of his cell and office phones.

Ginn does not have a college degree and is not a teacher. He is a blue-collar man who, on this particular day, was Officer 49, wearing his school-district security guard uniform.

He is what Troy Smith needed: down-to-earth, straight-talking and sincere.

"I'm different to him, because he knows I'm going to be like this and I'm not going to fake him out," Ginn said. "He needed somebody he trusted and cared about that's not going to trick him or tell him nothing wrong, and that's me.

"That's something he had to learn from me, because so many people have been in his life, telling him this, telling him that. Everyone wanted something from him, as a player or whatever. There's nothing that I could've gotten from Troy. All I wanted was the best for him."

The two developed a strong bond, to the point that they now consider themselves father and son. Smith's biological father, Kenneth Delaney, never has been part of his son's life.

"Sacrifice and humility, those are two things to me that exemplify the man," Smith said of Ginn. "He was willing to sacrifice everything around him for somebody else's kid."

And Ginn had good reason.

"Troy is the type of kid, if you get in on the trust side, you're in. Once you get in, I think he loves so hard that he almost smothers you. He doesn't have a temperature gauge. It's either all the way or nothing."

Drawn to OSU
OSU coach Jim Tressel had been taken by Smith's passion and spirit from the time he offered him a scholarship in the summer before his senior year at Glenville.

Tressel warned Smith that the Buckeyes already had a commitment from quarterback Justin Zwick, a star recruit from Massillon, and that Smith might not play much at first. His position was listed as "athlete" by the university on signing day.

"He loved to compete, so that's when I fell in love with him," Tressel said. "But my biggest test was when I said to him that first fall, 'You may not get to play much quarterback, I'm going to be honest with you.'

"And he said, 'What's most important to me is being at Ohio State.' That told me what this guy is made of. I didn't really need to delve into his background or anyone else's opinion about him."

Smith and Tressel seem like something of an odd couple. Smith is fiery and emotional. Tressel isn't. The coach certainly gritted his teeth early in Smith's tenure, especially when the latter spoke out about a lack of playing time and his not being allowed to scramble in the 2004 spring game.

From the time he arrived at OSU, Smith had been hugely popular with his teammates. But he hadn't yet grasped what it meant to be in a high-profile position.

"I worked on Troy a lot," Ginn Sr. said. "If you're going to be the quarterback at Ohio State, there's a certain image you have to have. You can't be over in a corner laughing and grinning."

Eventually, Tressel's way won out. Five years under the coach have served as something of a finishing school for Smith, who has always been good at learning from others.

"He'll absorb people's knowledge and spend time with people he needs to be around to make him better," said Rod Smith, a former OSU player who is no relation to Troy but is Diane White's son by an earlier marriage. "He and Tressel right now understand each other and have a great relationship."

Smith said Tressel has taught him a lot about how he presents himself. In interviews, he unfailingly deflects praise and credits teammates, coaches and even the school's academic counselors for his success.

Tressel "has really added more of a sense of being humble," Smith said. "It's not what you say, it's how you say it. It's not what you do, it's how you treat people that, in essence, is everything.
"You have to learn that there's a time and place for everything. Some of the things that you might want to say are not going to be as beneficial as just shutting your mouth."

That was perhaps never more apparent than in December 2004, when the young man sat chastened and worried, wondering what he would hear from the coach who held his career in his hands.

Smith had just admitted to accepting $500 from an Ohio State booster and learned that he would be suspended for two games, the 2004 Alamo Bowl and the 2005 season opener. At 20 years old, he had shown tremendous promise in his first real playing time at OSU, but now he had jeopardized that.

Smith remembers what Tressel told him in that meeting.

"It was a blunt thing," he said. "It was an understanding that, 'We want you to be the quarterback, and you're either going to step up and be the leader or not.' And I totally, totally respect him for that. I mean, how much more real could you want?"

In Tressel's understated way, it was an ultimatum.

"We needed to make it clear that we were going to ask for reinstatement" from the NCAA, Tressel said, "and we wanted him to be fully aware that if we had another error, there probably wouldn't be an opportunity to ask for another reinstatement. So don't make us all look dumb."

Once back from the suspension, Smith got serious about becoming the best quarterback he could be. He spent more time in the film room, often bugging Tressel and assistant coaches to sit with him for extra study sessions.

Ginn Sr. thinks the suspension also was when Smith stopped thinking only of himself and started to realize how his actions affected others.

"I think it woke him up," Ginn said. "He let his teammates down. I think that helped him. He saw how valuable he was, and that helped him to realize that, 'There's some things I need to change, because people are depending on me.' "

Triumphant home finale
Much has happened to Troy Smith since that day two years ago, most of it good. He graduated with a degree in communications in June and has continued to take classes to remain eligible for football.

Everything culminated on Nov. 18, Senior Day, Smith's final home game.

The 22-year-old, who 13 years earlier had stood alone and sobbing on a Cleveland football field, soaked up the thunderous cheers of more than 105,000 fans in Ohio Stadium.

He ran across the field, stopped and embraced Tressel, and then continued to where his mother, his sister and Ginn Sr. awaited. The four shared a long group hug, during which, Ginn recalled, Smith said, "Y'all aren't going to make me cry. I've got a ballgame.' "

And what a ballgame he had. Smith threw four touchdown passes to help beat No. 2 Michigan and send the Buckeyes to the national title game on Jan. 8 in Glendale, Ariz. It was OSU's 19th straight victory, all with Smith at the helm. He now is 25-2 as a starter.

Smith shared that pregame moment with those closest to him, just as he plans to share this weekend's Heisman ceremony.

"Seeing my mother's face, getting a chance to take her to New York, somewhere she's never been and I've never been, we're both going to enjoy it tremendously," he said. "With my family around me, I'll definitely think about some things I've been through with them."

He'll think about the tears and boyhood pain, the teenage angst, the hard lessons and growing up in college. But he won't regret any of it.

"To tell you the truth, there's not a situation I've been through that I'm not grateful for," Smith said, "because it had to happen to make me who I am."

Caption: Irvin White was Troy Smith's foster father from the time the OSU quarterback was 9 to 12 years old. White stands in his suburban Cleveland home with photos and trophies of his kids, including Smith.

Three children testify that Gravelles pushed girl's head down toilet

Girl's testimony brings couple, jurors to tears
'Caged' kids express range of emotions
Milicia, Joe. Columbus Dispatch, Dec. 8, 2006, News pg. 7D.

NORWALK, Ohio-- A couple of jurors shed tears and at times smiled adoringly during the testimony of children whose adoptive parents are accused of making some of them sleep in cages.

Six of the 11 children testified in the trial, including four yesterday. They expressed anger with Michael and Sharen Gravelle and sadness for having been removed from their custody.

One girl exchanged a smile with her mother, seated at the defense table, while attorneys argued matters of law with the judge.

Two boys barely looked at their parents, except to identify them for the prosecutor.

The Gravelles are charged with 16 counts of felony child endangering and eight misdemeanor child-endangering charges. If convicted, they could get one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each felony count.

The children ranged in age from 1 to 14 when authorities removed them in September 2005 from the home in rural Wakeman, about 60 miles west of Cleveland.

The youngsters were placed in foster care last fall, and the couple lost custody in March.
The Gravelles and a couple of jurors cried when an adopted daughter testified that she missed her parents and still loved them.

"Would you like to give (your mom and dad) a hug?" defense attorney Ken Myers asked.

"Yes."

Myers sought permission from Huron County Common Pleas Judge Earl R. McGimpsey. Prosecutor Russell Leffler objected, and the judge did not allow them to hug.

Leffler asked one boy where he slept while living with the Gravelles.

"In a cage," he said.

On cross-examination, the boy was asked who told him it was a cage. He said he didn't know.

"I didn't know I was in a cage," he said.

The Gravelles say they built enclosures, which the children called boxes, to protect the children from themselves and one another. They deny abusing them.

Asked by Myers whether he roamed the house at night with his brothers, the boy said he didn't and blamed another brother, causing several jurors to grin knowingly.

Several of the children described a wood paddle that the children were struck with when they misbehaved.

Another boy, who sat with his hands behind his back, said he was sent to his cage as punishment and other times for no reason. He said his father would hit him with a paddle if he got out.

He was the third child to testify that a girl who had Down syndrome had her head forced in the toilet by the Gravelles.

Child confined to cage for weeks at a time

First child to testify says he spent weeks in 'cage'
Boy describes life with adoptive parents
Milicia, Joe. Columbus Dispatch, Dec. 7, 2006, News pg. D6.

NORWALK, Ohio-- A boy who had been adopted by a couple on trial for caging some of their children testified yesterday that he did not like the cage he slept in because it was small and hot. He also admitted to being a violent child who threw things.

The boy, the first of several of the adopted children expected to testify in the trial of Michael and Sharen Gravelle, told the jury that he was sent to a cage for weeks at a time as punishment.

"Mine was really small. In the summertime it was really hot in there. We said we liked them because it made us safe. But we really didn't like them. We said it to make them (the Gravelles) happy," the boy testified.

The Gravelles are charged with 16 felony and eight misdemeanor counts of child endangering. If convicted, they face one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each felony count.

They deny abusing the 11 adopted, special-needs children in their care and have said that they had to keep some of the youngsters in enclosed beds to protect them. The children suffered from problems such as fetal alcohol syndrome and a disorder that involves compulsive eating of nonfood items.

The children were from 1 to 14 years old when authorities took them in September 2005 from the home in rural Wakeman. The youngsters were placed in foster care last fall, and the couple lost custody in March.

The court has prohibited reporters from using the children's names or ages.

Under questioning by defense lawyers, the boy calmly acknowledged that he was an angry child who would have fits.

"They would sit on me until I calmed down," he said of the Gravelles.

He also said he held one of his brothers out of a second-story window and urinated out of a window, onto a wall and a heating grate. But he said he felt safe and secure in the home and slept well once he got used to his enclosed bed.

Defense lawyer Ken Myers noted that, a year ago during a custody hearing, the same boy said he didn't think the enclosed beds abused him and others. Myers asked what the boy thinks now.

After a pause, the boy said, "I believe they do."

He added that he didn't think of the wood and wire enclosures as cages until he saw a story about it on the television news.

Eric Fenner, new director of Franklin Co. Children Services

Children services promotes one of its own to top job
Agency's new director started his career there 28 years ago as a part-time aide
Pyle, Encaracion. Columbus Dispatch, News pg D5.

Eric Fenner has one primary goal as he prepares to take over Franklin County Children Services next year: Keep as many troubled children with their families and in their communities as possible.

At a special meeting Sunday, the Children Services board unanimously selected Fenner, the agency's deputy executive director, to replace John Saros, who is leaving.

"Working with families and children is all I've ever wanted to do," said Fenner, 51, of Westerville. "I started my career as a weekend case aide at Franklin County Children Services, and I never dreamed I'd someday land the agency's most important job."

Fenner will start Feb. 1, as long as both sides reach an agreement on his salary and benefits. He currently is paid about $112,000 a year. Saros, who has led the agency for 12 years, makes $131,726.

Fenner would oversee 735 employees and a $168 million budget. The agency serves more than 29,000 abused, neglected and delinquent children each year.

Saros, 63, told the board in January he was leaving the agency so he could fight for children in other ways. "On the one hand, my sense of loss is huge," Saros said. "On the other, my sense of excitement about the future is just as huge."

He called Fenner a "young, bright, knowledgeable" leader.

Board members called Fenner the right leader at the right time.

"We looked at candidates from New York, California and dozens of locations in between, but we also remembered that it's often important not to look past the talent in one's own backyard," said Kent Markus, board chairman.

Fenner is the first in-house candidate to win the appointment and will become Children Services' first black director.

Fenner has worked at Children Services twice in his 28-year career. He started by transporting children to appointments during his senior year at Ohio Dominican College in 1977.

Over the next 11 years, he worked as a case worker, investigated abuse claims, worked with disturbed teenage boys at Franklin Village and coordinated counseling and other groups for kids.
He left the agency in 1988 and worked at the Franklin County Department of Human Services, the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas and the Ohio Youth Advocate Program, a private foster-care agency. He returned to Children Services in 2001 and became deputy executive director in 2004.

"I am aware of the challenges facing our agency ... keeping more children with their families, improving community relations, negotiating a new union contract in 2008 and conducting a successful levy campaign in 2009," Fenner said. "But I'm mindful of the responsibility."

His wife, Lynn, is an administrator at Ohio Youth Advocate Program. They have been married for 15 years. She will leave her job next year to avoid any conflicts of interest.

They have two sons and a daughter.

Eric Fenner will oversee 735 employees and a budget of $168 million. The agency serves more than 29,000 kids annually.

Increased penalties for foster parents who harm children in their care

Child-welfare chiefs want stiffer penalty for parents who kill
Pyle, Encarnacion. Columbus Dispatch, Dec. 2, 2005, News pg A1.

Correction: CORRECTION PUBLISHED DECEMBER 5, 2006 -- * The Public Children Services Association of Ohio is working on a proposal to ask the legislature to increase penalties for foster parents who intentionally or recklessly harm or kill a child in their care. The plan would not ask for the death penalty, as reported in a story on Page A1 of Saturday's Dispatch.

The state's child-welfare directors want Ohio lawmakers to automatically make it possible for foster parents who kill a child in their care to be sentenced to death.

Although Franklin County Children Services has never had such a case go to court, Director John Saros is among those leading the charge based on the recent death of a 3-year-old developmentally disabled boy in Clermont County.

"There is nothing more egregious than for a person who has come forward saying, 'You can trust me,' to turn around and kill a defenseless child who has been removed from their home because of abuse, neglect or another troubling circumstance," Saros said. "I view it as an aggravating circumstance that shouldn't be treated any differently than someone who murders a police officer or firefighter."

That and other proposals for reform will be delivered to the legislature soon, officials said.
Saros said Children Services also will be checking up on the 1,570 foster children it has in private care after a state report blasted Lifeway for Youth, the New Carlisle group charged to care for Marcus Fiesel.

In its report, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services faulted Lifeway, which has 523 foster homes in Ohio and operates in six states, for not watching carefully over the Middletown boy.

Marcus died in August after being left alone in a closet for two days, wrapped in a blanket and packing tape, while his foster parents went to a family reunion in Kentucky.

Liz and David Carroll Jr. have been charged with murder, kidnapping, felonious assault and child endangering.

The state report cites Lifeway for 15 violations, including failing to conduct a complete home study, not visiting the home frequently enough, allowing a relative to serve as a reference, lying about the amount of training the couple received and overbilling the state for training.

Lifeway Executive Director Michael Berner did not return phone calls yesterday.

Children Services stopped sending youths to Lifeway's Cincinnati office after Marcus' death and sent caseworkers to visit the more 200 children who the Franklin County agency had in Lifeway homes at the time. The agency has sent 372 children to Lifeway so far this year; 198 remain in the group's care, Saros said.

Instead of limiting its scrutiny to Lifeway, Children Services will examine all of its 42 private foster-care companies as a precaution.

Children Services will ask the private groups in a few weeks for electronic copies of criminal checks, details of parents' backgrounds, home studies, licenses, references and other materials for all the foster parents caring for Franklin County children. Private agencies place 81 percent of the agency's foster children.

Although the effort will stretch Children Services' capabilities and funding, it is necessary, Saros said.

"Ninety-nine of our foster parents are wonderful, caring people worthy of our trust," he said. "But then you have the people who are duplicitous and are willing to lie and misrepresent themselves who will always be difficult to catch."

Several providers yesterday said they understand the need for additional inspection.

"When something as incredibly terrible as this happens and you're in the people's business, you do everything possible to prevent further deaths," said Nicholas Rees, Buckeye Ranch's vice president of development.

Others said they hoped the increased scrutiny will be short-term.

"I really understand Children Services' need for this," said Robert J. Marx, executive director of the Rosemont Center. "But I really worry that if you ask for every home study, training record and piece of paper in a foster parent's file, no one will have time to do anything else."

Sometimes, he said, "bad people will do bad things," no matter the safeguards.

State officials said they applaud efforts by individual child-welfare agencies to protect the children in their care.

But the state is focused on getting the 54 recommendations in its report adopted, said Dennis Evans, spokesman for the Department of Job and Family Services. The reforms include toughening foster-care licensing and screening standards.

The agency also is reviewing Lifeway's operation to decide whether to recertify the group when its license expires Jan. 18. The Public Children Services Association of Ohio, which represents the state's child-welfare agencies, is drafting the death-penalty proposal and three other foster-care measures directors say are needed:
* Matching children who have severe emotional, mental and physical disabilities with people trained to care for their needs.
* Creating a new category of foster-care providers to make it easier for people who want to help a particular child or siblings.
* Changing how funding works so that agencies also would be paid for helping families keep their children, instead of simply providing funding for foster care.

The association's executive director, Crystal Ward Allen, supports the state proposals but said she worries they could have a chilling effect.

"Becoming a foster parent is already a daunting process, and we're about to make it even more daunting," she said.

"We need to better support foster parents, not overload them."

What about accidental death?

Officials ask for death penalty
Cincinnati Post, December 4, 2006, News pg A2.

The state's child welfare directors want lawmakers to make it automatically possible for foster parents to receive the death sentence if convicted of killing children placed in their care.

The proposal was prompted by the case of 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel of Middletown, who authorities claim died at the hands of his foster parents, Liz and David Carroll Jr. of Clermont County. Both have been charged with killing Marcus.

"There is nothing more egregious than for a person who has come forward saying, 'You can trust me,' to turn around and kill a defenseless child who has been removed from their home because of abuse, neglect or another troubling circumstance," Franklin County Children's Services director John Saros said. "I view it as an aggravating circumstance that shouldn't be treated any differently than someone who murders a police officer or firefighter."

The Public Children Services Association of Ohio, a private group that represents the state's child welfare agencies, plans to deliver the death penalty recommendation and other suggested reforms to the state Legislature soon for lawmakers' consideration.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services also is taking a close look at state policies after the death of Marcus, who was developmentally disabled, in August. The department has made 54 recommendations, including toughening foster care licensing and screening standards.

The Carrolls are accused of binding Marcus with a blanket and packing tape, then leaving in him in a closet in their Union Township home for two days while they attended a family reunion in Kentucky. Marcus was dead when the couple returned, authorities said.

The state's report following the death cites problems with Lifeway for Youth of New Carlisle, the private agency that recommended the Carrolls, alleging the home study and follow-up visits were inadequate and that the agency didn't check references.

Most placement providers said they understand the need for changes in the wake of Marcus' death. But the stricter guidelines could lead to gridlock at some agencies, said Robert Marx, executive director of the Rosemont Center, a private agency that places foster children.

"I really understand Children Services' need for this," Marx said. "But I really worry that if you ask for every home study, training record and piece of paper in a foster parent's file, no one will have time to do anything else."

Along with the death penalty recommendation, the Public Children Services Association of Ohio's proposals include matching children with emotional and physical disabilities with trained caretakers and changing how foster care funding works so that agencies still receive money for helping keep families together, rather than removing children.

What the heck is a "gold standard" of care for children?

CSB plan to slash 51 jobs remains
Board says spending must be cut, declines vote on$4 million loan
Hagelberg, Kymberli, Akron Beacon Journal, Nov. 29, 2006, Metro pg A1.

Despite an offer of a $4 million loan, delivered in person by three Summit County Council members, the Children Services Board remains committed to plans to cut 51 jobs next year.At CSB's meeting Tuesday, board President Cindy S. Johnson called the layoffs and other budget cuts "part of a long-term strategy of responsible planning and fiscal efficiency."

Johnson said the agency must reduce spending to scale back tax-levy requests from an aging and overburdened tax base.

At least 40 workers would be laid off. Other positions would not be filled.

Saving jobs was the reason county council members gave for authorizing the loan earlier this week.

On Tuesday, council members Pete Crossland, D-Akron, Paula Prentice, D-Green and Louise Heydorn, R-Silver Lake, tried to convince the CSB members to take the loan and keep the employees.

Layoffs during the holidays would breed poor relations with union employees and would likely kill a future levy, Heydorn said. "Do everything you can to give voters a reason to say yes."

County council must approve placing CSB levies on the ballot.

After the meeting, Heydorn said the money could be available immediately. "They could have it tomorrow if they would ask, but they're going to say no."

Johnson said the board would continue to talk to council about plans for a possible levy try next year but declined to vote on the loan.

Agency Chief Operating Officer/Interim Executive Director Katerina Papas said plans for the layoffs, which would not occur until after the first of the year, remain in place.

"The board has approved the budget, and I have not heard of any changes," she said.

Papas supported Johnson's call for budget cuts, saying Summit was spending more for children services than similar Ohio counties.

She released documents showing that Summit outspent child welfare agencies in Lucas and Montgomery counties by $6 million to $10 million in 2005. Summit also employed about 100 more workers.

Papas argued that the new budget would save money while maintaining a "gold standard" of care for children.

Children Services officials have said no caseworkers will be laid off and more will be added.

Councilwoman Prentice questioned whether the quality of care would be maintained, noting Children Services officials have never specified which employees will lose their jobs.

"There is no data. No study," Prentice said. "They haven't even said which jobs will go, whether they'll cut direct care workers or 15 attorneys and public relations people."

Both Prentice and Heydorn are school administrators who have worked with Children Services for decades.

"In the schools, we had to learn to cut the fluff," Prentice said.

Board members M. Beth Curley and Ginakaye Maddox signaled their opposition to the layoffs by voting against a budget-related resolution required by the state.

Curley voiced concern that a new executive director, expected to be hired next year, might have different ideas about which jobs are expendable. "Will they agree with your decisions, or will they have a better plan?" Curley asked.

Robin Schenault, president of Communications Workers of America Local 4546, said agency officials might be using incomplete data in comparing Summit to Montgomery and Lucas counties.

"We know they have about the same population, but I would like to see whether those agencies have more or less referrals than we do," Schenault said. "Those counties might have more employees who care for children and fewer administrators."

A caseworker, who asked not to be named, protested plans to eliminate the kitchen, which caters outside events and serves far fewer children since the residential unit closed.

"What that means is that the people who make sure the children we take from dangerous situations at 4 a.m. will be fed from a vending machine -- if I remember to bring change," the caseworker said.

The caseworker also protested the possible layoff of case aides, who provide support to social workers, saying the elimination of case aides will mean caseworkers will be forced to juggle caring for children while they are talking to police about a child's abuse or neglect. "Those kids don't need the extra trauma and rejection."

Someone in Mansfield is angry

Why shouldn't someone be at fault?
Mansfield News Journal, Dec. 1, 2006.

The issue: Ohio Department of Job and Family Services issues report on the killing of a foster child.

Our opinion: Instead of avoiding blame game, the agency should determine where responsibility lies.

"This is not an attempt to cast blame," Barbara Riley, head of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, said of her agency's 34-page report on the care and subsequent killing of 3- year-old foster child Marcus Fiesel.

That's for sure. Rather than cast blame, the report obscures the responsibility for what happened to this helpless child in southwest Ohio.

Marcus, developmentally disabled, was taken from his biological mother by the Butler County Children's Services Board last April because he was neglected.

The county then placed him in the care of a contract agency, Lifeway for Youth, which was paid to find a foster home where Marcus would be safe and well-cared for.

Instead, Lifeway placed him in a home where he was tied up in an overheated closet and left to die. Foster parents David and Liz Carroll are awaiting trial for murder.

But Riley doesn't want to cast blame.

Why not?

Her agency's report makes no assessment of whether taking Marcus from his biological mother was the right course of action. In fact, it spends only three paragraphs of the 34-page report talking about Butler County's actions.

Much of the rest of the report is a bulleted listing of Lifeway's bureaucratic deficiencies. Such as: "Lifeway for Youth overreported the number of foster caregiver training hours the agency provided. Consequently, the Lifeway for Youth recommended the foster parents for certification prior to providing them with the required amount of pre-service training."

Do Riley and her bureaucracy really think Marcus Fiesel was rolled up in a blanket, bound with packing tape and left in a closet over a weekend because the Carrolls, who had several children of their own, hadn't received adequate training?

The people who killed Marcus didn't lack training. They lacked conscience.

Lifeway's failings cannot be overlooked. But Riley and her agency should also be asking how and why the government contracts out its responsibilities to such outfits in the first place.

When she says there should be no attempt to cast blame, she is saying there is no way to ensure such a thing does not happen again.

If you can't supervise 11 children without cages, then don't take them in

'It just didn't look right'
Trial witness: Cages used for discipline
Kropko, M. R. Cincinnati Post, Dec. 2, 2006, News pg A1.

NORWALK, Ohio -- A mother accused of caging some of her 11 adopted, special-needs children sent one child to a cage for the night for asking to use the bathroom before scheduled times, a witness testified Friday.

"I was hoping to get out of there real quick," said Carlyle Smith, 54, of Norwalk, who was working for a company that provides baby sitters and visited the home of Sharen and Michael Gravelle in October 2003.

While on a four-hour visit to size up their home, Smith said a boy asked at mid-afternoon to use the bathroom and was told by an angry Sharen Gravelle that it wasn't his scheduled time.

"She told him to go to his cage until morning," Smith said.

Smith testified that he met with Michael Gravelle after that at the small chapel on their property and Gravelle told him, "I consider myself to be Moses."

The Gravelles are charged with 16 counts of felony child endangering and eight misdemeanor child endangering charges. If convicted, they face one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each felony count.

Huron County Sheriff Dick Sutherland testified that he went to the Gravelle house Sept. 9, 2005, to investigate a report of children in cages and promptly concluded, "It just didn't look right."

"I had never seen anything that compares to this kind of child neglect, child endangering," the sheriff testified. "The first thing that grabbed my attention was the smell of urine."

"We observed several enclosures, cages, and we assumed the children had been sleeping there," he said. Sutherland described what he saw as "wood-framed enclosures with rabbit wire and they were painted." The cages had linens and some had mattresses, Sutherland said.

The Gravelles deny that they abused the children and have said they had to keep their youngsters in enclosed beds to protect them. The children suffered from problems such as fetal alcohol syndrome and a disorder that involves eating nonfood items.

The children ranged in age from 1 to 14 when authorities removed them in September 2005 from the Gravelle home in rural Wakeman, about 60 miles west of Cleveland. The youngsters were placed in foster care last fall and the couple lost custody in March.

Boldness and vision required to improve foster system

Butler Co. demands changes:
Stricter requirements urged for foster parents
Baker, Jennifer. Cincinnati Enquirer, Dec. 1, 2006. Metro pg B1.

HAMILTON - Slamming a state report released this week that reviewed Marcus Fiesel's deadly foster-care placement, Butler County Commissioner Mike Fox called Thursday for most of the report's recommendations to be implemented locally.

"I don't want to wait for the state. Most of their recommendations do not need a change of law," Fox said. "In fact, many of them do not need any state action at all. They can be adopted as policies and practices by the local agency.

"Let's be the leader and get it done," he said.

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

Details of Marcus' placement and other aspects of the case were not included in the report, which Fox criticized for its secrecy.

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

The report contained 58 recommendations. Fox said about 40 of them can be adopted locally.

They include:

-Require Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation and FBI criminal checks for all foster care applicants.

-Require a minimum of three face-to-face interviews with prospective foster parents in the applicants' home and individual interviews with each household member before completing the certification process.

-Maintain documentation of applicants' attendance at training sessions by requiring them to sign in and out on a dated sheet.

-Require private agencies that contract to place children in foster care to notify the county of any criminal offense brought against the foster parent or any resident of the home.

The other two commissioners, Greg Jolivette and Chuck Furmon, agreed to pass Fox's proposal along to Butler County Children Services, which will review the recommendations and report back on which ones it can implement.

The agency also is expected to estimate how much it would cost to make the changes.

Jolivette suggested Fox's proposal also be reviewed by the state.

Some recommendations can be made free or at minimal cost with the stroke of a pen, Fox said, such as requiring foster parents to provide proof of car, homeowner or renter's insurance.

Butler County has already instituted some stricter requirements.

FBI criminal checks for everyone - a change not mirrored in the state's recommendations - are already required.

"To the (Children's Services) board's credit, some of these things they already are moving on," said Bruce Jewett, director of Butler County's Department of Job and Family Services.

That includes looking into the Ohio State Attorney General's Office's database that tracks offenses of those who hold concealed-carry permits to see if it could also be used to track offenses of foster parents, he said.

Denise Winkler, spokesperson for Butler County Children Services, said the agency will respond to Fox's proposals in a timely manner.

"We really are trying," she said. "The state report offers recommendations that counties can do. We are already looking at those."

Jann Heffner, executive director of Butler County Children Services, also plans to attend a meeting next week in Columbus of the Public Children Services Association of Ohio, Winkler said. That organization is looking at how to help enact reforms statewide and locally, she said.

"Butler County Children Services supports all the recommendations in the state report without reservation," Winkler said

On Monday, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services issued the report that called for stricter licensing requirements, better monitoring of foster children and increased state oversight of private agencies.

The report concluded that Lifeway for Youth, a private agency that contracted with Butler County to place foster children, shouldn't have allowed the Carrolls to be foster parents because they weren't qualified or trained.

Fox said he is disappointed by the secrecy still surrounding Marcus' death and the people responsible for placing him.

"In the face of hundreds of thousands of Ohio residents who were repulsed by the horror and brutality of the tragedy, the public cry for bold action fell on deaf ears," Fox said in a prepared statement made public prior to Thursday's meeting. "People wanted details of how it happened - they got secrecy. They wanted bold and meaningful ideas to protect other children from similar fates - they got bureaucratic gobbledygook.

"The 8,000-word report that bore his name mentioned the name 'Marcus Fiesel' only two times - in the report title page and the preface. Of the 117 paragraphs contained in the report, only five paragraphs in the 33-page report mentioned Butler County, the county responsible for his care and well being."

Fox also rapped the state in comments during the commission meeting. "The (state) report's failing is in its lack of vision," he said. "People are looking for someone to provide leadership to make significant improvements in the system, not tinker at the edges. The report did not touch on any subject that was the least bit controversial. There was no boldness in the report."

The state exonerated Butler County Children Services of any missteps in the 3-year-old boy's placement with the Carrolls.

Next time, Wexler, read the file

YO U R L E T T E R S
Dayton Daily News, December 1, 2006.

Every foster-care situation different
Re "Expert says Marcus Fiesel shouldn't have left natural mother," Nov. 15:

My gratitude for the attention and support that the Ohio foster care system is receiving is mixed with a deep level of concern that the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, and particularly Richard Wexler, seem biased in favor of returning a child to his or her family, in all situations.

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

How can Wexler claim that Marcus would still be alive if he remained with his mother, when she was planning to give him up anyway? Perhaps, if Wexler had read Marcus' case file, he would know that Donna Trevino was housing her children in a flea-ridden home and that Marcus often wandered off unsupervised.

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

-Lisa Dickson, Westerville

ODJFS releases report on Feisel investigation
People's Defender, West Union, OH, Dec. 1, 2006.

The Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services (ODJFS) released a 34-page report on Monday about their investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of three-year-old Marcus Feisel in Clermont County, allegedly as a result of the actions of his foster parents.

As a result, state Senator Tom Niehaus, 14th District, and Ohio House Representative Jeff Wagner, from Seneca County, have called a meeting to determine what legislative actions need to be taken to address the issues raised by the findings.

The two Congressmen worked together earlier in the year to pass legislation concerning adoption and foster care.

"As you know from our approach on SB 238 and HB 529, Jeff and I believe in a reasoned, open approach to address these issues," Niehaus wrote in a letter to the participants who were involved in the process of developing the earlier legislation. "We want to avoid the temptation of a 'knee-jerk reaction' to this emotional issue."

"It is our intention to follow the model we used successfully earlier this year," Niehaus continued.

The purpose of the meeting, according to Niehaus, is to determine if any immediate legislative action is necessary and to outline a process to begin working on recommendations for inclusion in legislation to be introduced in the next General Assembly.

In the investigation by ODJFS, the activities of four agencies associated with the Feisel case were reviewed. Those agencies were Butler County Children's Services Board, Lifeway for Youth foster care network, Clermont County Department of Job and Family Services, and the Foster Care Licensing Section of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services' Office for Children and Families.

The following case findings were summarized in the ODJFS report:
• The Butler County CSB was responsible for the April 22, 2006 investigation of alleged abuse/neglect of the child and his siblings, the subsequent placement of those children and the Sept. 15, 2006 child abuse/neglect investigation related to the child's alleged death. This review found that the agency managed its ongoing work with the family and completed its April 22, 2006 abuse/neglect investigation in compliance with state requirements.

• Lifeway for Youth failed to meet certain state requirements and inappropriately recommended that the foster parents be certified as treatment foster caregivers. By not meeting the state requirements, Lifeway's involvement was determined to have the following shortcomings: the homestudy authored by Lifeway staff did not contain certain required information; the (foster parent) applicants improperly provided one personal reference who was a relative, and Lifeway did not contact any of the references; Lifeway over-reported the number of foster caregiver training hours the agency provided and recommended the foster parents for certification prior to providing them with the required amount of pre-service training; and Lifeway's record did not document that the foster parents met the experience, education and training requirements necessary to be certified as treatment foster caregivers.

The ODJFS report also stated that Lifeway for Youth violated the following regulations associated with the provision of specialized foster care: a plan for regularly scheduled respite care was not developed; treatment team meetings were held only on an "as needed" basis; there was no documentation that Lifeway provided the foster parents with a handbook and /or copies of agency policies on or before the date they were certified to operate a treatment foster home; visits conducted by the agency did not meet required frequency; neither the child's treatment plan nor the plan updates were co-signed by the case manager's supervisor as required; and the clinical treatment team supervisor lacked a professional license as required.

In addition, Lifeway for Youth did not ensure the foster parents maintained complete and current notes regarding the child; Lifeway did not investigate the foster parents' failure to report an alleged injury of the child in accordance with established time frames; Lifeway submitted reimbursement claims for hours of training greater than the agency actually conducted; the board of Lifeway did not assure the agency's compliance with state requirements governing child care agencies and foster care prescribed by administrative rule.

The report further stated that Lifeway violated the child's rights to: receive appropriate and reasonable adult guidance, support and supervision; be free from physical abuse and inhumane treatment; and live in clean, safe surroundings.

Clermont County DJFS complied with all applicable state requirements in regard to its investigation of the alleged child abuse/neglect allegations.The review of Clermont County DJFS procedures to certify the foster mother as a professional Type B family child care provider identified six issues of non-compliance.

The Foster Care Licensing Section of ODJFS, Office for Children and Families completed its recertification and monitoring activities of Lifeway for Youth, with two exceptions of providing slightly less than 120 days required notice for requesting records for review. Foster Care Licensing Section specialists made on-site visits to a small number of Lifeway foster homes during each recertification study although not currently required by state codes.

In its conclusion, the ODJFS stated that "The death of any child is tragic; to die under circumstances alleged in this case is only more so. When a child is placed under agency custody for out of home placement, the child's right to be safe and free from maltreatment is an expectation entrusted to those charged with their care. This case beckons reform of Ohio's system to better serve all foster children."

Changes will require adequate funding

Foster care change coming
State representatives to meet in response to reportBy RAE WILSONStaff writer

COLUMBUS - State Senator Tom Niehaus and House Representative Jeff Wagner are currently looking to work on Senate Bill 238 and House Bill 529, which deal with changes in how Ohio will monitor foster care agencies.

Since Marcus Fiesel, 3, died in foster care, representatives have worked on legislation that they hope will make it harder for a child to be harmed while in foster care. Niehaus and Wagner are planning a meeting to be held Wednesday, Dec. 6, in Columbus.

According to Niehaus, the purpose of the meeting is two-fold. First-to determine if any immediate legislative action will be taken, and second-to outline a process to begin working on recommendations for inclusions in legislation to be introduced in the 127th General Assembly. Senate Bill 238, proposed by the House Health Committee, and The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, is known as the "Child Welfare Update Bill."

The bill requires that prospective adoptive parents complete specific training as part of the home study, prior to a child being placed in the home. The bill has three provisions, first-to reauthorize the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, second-to implement a statewide automated child welfare information system, and third-to clean up outdated language.

House Bill 529 requires a prospective adoptive parent or foster care giver to complete a form stating whether a person with whom the person previously resided or currently resides has ever been the subject of any of several actions regarding the safety and health of a child.

The meeting was planned in response to a 34-page report provided by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services on Nov. 27, which criticized the organization Lifeway For Youth and made recommendations for changes in foster care.

Lifeway oversaw the Fiesel case and made several mistakes according to the report, like allowing foster parents Liz and David Carroll to remain foster parents without checking the one improperly provided reference. Lifeway also violated other rules such as not visiting as frequently as required and using a clinical treatment team supervisor who lacked the professional license required.

Currently the state licenses around 10,000 foster homes and about half of children in foster care are placed in private agencies. Lifeway may not be able to remain in operation in Ohio, and is currently seeking recertification and should finish the process by the end of January 2007.

Highlights of the report that will be studied include:
• Amend state law to require some annual background checks for foster care givers to include local law enforcement agencies.
• Amend state law to require a minimum of three face-to-face interviews in the applicants' home by the agency recommending prospective foster parents and complete individual interviews with each member of the household before certifying the foster parents.
• Increase training for foster parents.
• Require agencies to have monthly visits with the child and care giver in the foster home.
• Have the agency conduct unannounced visits with the care giver at least once every six months within the home or residential setting.

Changes made in the way that the state handles foster care will most likely cost money, and many are looking to the new governor to support new programs.

"We will be extending a special invitation to Governor- elect Ted Strickland's staff inasmuch as they will be forming their policy initiatives as we begin this process," said Niehaus in a letter to participants of the HB529/SB238 process.

Don't call it 'love'

Foster Child Says Couple Beat Youngsters In Their Care
www.nbc4i.com

NORWALK, Ohio -- A foster child who spent time with an Ohio couple accused of caging some of their adoptive children testified Wednesday that the couple beat youngsters in their care.

The 13-year-old girl from Canton was on the witness stand in day two of the trial of Michael and Sharen Gravelle, accused of caging some of their 11 adopted, special-needs children in enclosures made of wood and chicken wire and rigged with alarms.

They are charged with 16 counts of felony child endangering and eight misdemeanor child endangering charges. If convicted, they face one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each felony count.

The girl testified that when she was 7, she spent time with the Gravelles and saw children who got in trouble sent "out to the barn to get whoopings."

The girl, who was not adopted by the Gravelles, also said there was an alarm on her door but she was never told why it was there. She also testified that she was in the house when a boy was allegedly forced to sleep in a bathroom for 81 days and said she had to scrub the shower after someone used it.

The Gravelles deny that they abused children in their care and have said they had to keep their adoptive youngsters in enclosed beds to protect them. They said the children suffered from problems such as fetal alcohol syndrome and a disorder that involves eating nonfood items.
Under cross examination, defense attorney Ken Myers asked the girl if she remember much about the time she spent in the Gravelle home. The girl said she did not.

The children ranged in age from 1 to 14 when authorities removed them in September 2005 from the Gravelle home in rural Wakeman, about 60 miles west of Cleveland, after a social worker found the cage-like enclosures over beds. The youngsters were placed in foster care last fall and the couple lost custody in March.

The social worker, Jo Johnson, was the first witness in the case and finished testifying Wednesday.

Myers said the couple are guilty only of loving the children.

Huron County prosecutor Russell Leffler said some of the adoptive children may testify this week.