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It's happened again

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Sat, 2008-05-24 17:40 - Niels

When late February we started our Abuse Cases section, I had foreseen we could only show the tip of an iceberg, but I hadn't foreseen the size of that tip. Since the incarnation of that section the list of cases has grown with the following recent cases:

It's a sick world we live in. And now there is this:

from: djournal.com

Death of 2-year-old called a homicide in Union County

5/21/2008 6:16:54 AM
BY DANZA JOHNSON
Daily Journal

NEW ALBANY - What was thought to be an extreme case of neglect leading to a child's death has been ruled a homicide.

Union County Sheriff Tommy Wilhite said Tuesday that a preliminary autopsy report for a 2-year-old who died in a Memphis hospital Sunday night proved that the child's death was not an accident.

Ramone and Janet Barreto, the child's adoptive parents, were initially charged with two counts of child neglect and with the new information could be charged with a more severe crime, Wilhite said.

"The report did rule the child's death as homicide," said Wilhite. "We're still investigating the crime, so no new charges have been given at this time. There is still a lot we have to look at.

The 2-year-old was one of nine adopted children ranging from ages 2 to 17 living at the home at 824 County Road 87 near New Albany. The other eight children are in custody of the Department of Human Services on Tuesday. No signs of abuse were found with the other children.

Nearly all the children were Guatemalan, according to Wilhite. The ones who aren't Guatemalan aren't American, but their nationalities are unclear.

Deputies also are still investigating a puppy breeding operation on the property, which they discovered while looking into child-abuse reports after the 2-year-old was taken to the hospital.

Nearly 200 dogs, 25 cats and a duck were found crammed into 67 cages behind the home. Wilhite said the dogs were bred to sell puppies.

The Tupelo-Lee Humane Society was granted custody of the animals. Its staff and volunteers are keeping them fed and hydrated on the site until a clean, off-site location can be found.

At that point, each pet will receive a veterinary exam, medical care, grooming, vaccinations and spay or neuter operations. They will be adopted out to the public after that point.

"These animals are all going to need to be sedated or anesthesized and shaved entirely," said Mississippi State University School of Veterinary Medicine Professor Phil Bushby, one of the two veterinarians dispatched to the house Tuesday.

About the only good news was that the animals apparently had been well fed, said veterinarian Sonya Bryan from Tupelo's All-Animal Hospital.

Otherwise, the situation was bleak.

"As far as the overall condition," she said, "I've never seen anything like it."

Daily Journal reporter Emily Le Coz contributed to this story.

More on the Enna Isabel Barreto can be found here.

In the mean time several cases from the past were in the news during the same period:

Adoptees dying at the hands of their adopters may be rare according experts, news about the subject is much less rare.

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Comments

Sat, 2008-05-24 21:17 — Kerry

Sights, unseen

The 2-year-old was one of nine adopted children ranging from ages 2 to 17 living at the home at 824 County Road 87 near New Albany. The other eight children are in custody of the Department of Human Services on Tuesday. No signs of abuse were found with the other children.

I believe living in a house where one member is being abused is at best,  a hostile living environment, one that makes "home" a very uncomfortable place to find comfort.  It's also the very reason why so many children are placed in CPS hands to begin with, (making adoption possible for so many!)

What effects does domestic violence have on a child-witness?

Witnessing domestic violence puts children at risk for:

    • Fearful, aggressive, inhibited or antisocial behaviors
    • Aggression, depression, anxiety and temperament problems
    • Decreased empathy for others
    • Lowered interpersonal, verbal cognitive and motor skills
    • Lowered self-esteem
  • Preschool-age children are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of exposure to violence1
  • 90% of children living in homes where domestic violence occurs are aware of that violence (National Women's Violence Prevention Project)
  • More than half of all domestic violence restraining orders issued in Massachusetts note the presence of a child in the home (Massachusetts Office of the Commissioner of Probation)
  • Witnessing domestic violence is now recognized as a significant predictor of juvenile delinquency and adult criminal behavior by males.
  • Some research has shown that boys who witness violence in their homes tend to become more abusive adults; girls who witness violence in their homes are at greater risk for becoming a victim of domestic violence.1
  • Child witnesses to domestic violence (both boys and girls) may believe violence is an appropriate means of resolving conflict and an integral part of a close relationship.  http://www.mass.gov/da/norfolk/childwitnessdomesticviolence.html  

Is it safe to say those other adopted children were not harmed by their adoptive parents?  I think not.

It's also ironic how, in New York State, they have their own version of a Violence Prevention Project:

The Family Violence Prevention Project (FVPP) was created through a collaboration amongst the Urban Justice Center’s Family Violence Project (UJC/FVP) and the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS). The Columbia University School of Social Work (CUSSW) has worked with us to performed evaluation and research on the program since its inception. In the late 1980’s child fatality reports from NYC as well as around the country were revealing that as many as 70% of murdered children were killed by battering husbands and boyfriends. This trend, the murder of Lisa Steinberg, along with evidence from domestic violence programs in NYC, created the impetus for the development of a collaborative program. The FVPP has existed ever since and has grown into a highly regarded program both locally and nationally. Through this collaboration, the FVPP provides a comprehensive strategy which will assist ACS, its direct operations and contracted agencies in the identification and treatment of families in which these problems co-exist.

http://www.cwla.org/conferences/2007teleconference071106handout2.pdf 

Lisa Steinberg was an adoptee, too.

So much for finding comfort behind the progress these programs are providing, all to protect innocent children. (?!?)

Sat, 2008-05-24 22:25 — Niels

What to do with CPS?

Over the last few days I've added a lot of material about the Lisa Steinberg case, mainly articles of the New York Times, which has more articles on that case than I'd like to add.

In your response you already hint to the role and the functioning of CPS, so I'd like to get into that a little further. We've seen the operations in Texas with the FLDS case. we have talked about the role of CPS in the lives of incarcerated mothers; we discussed the failings of the CPS organizations; we've seen impact of adoption bonuses on the functioning of CPS; could have learned the situation outside the US is not all that much better; and we have posted about negligence of CPS agencies.

Given so much is wrong with the organizations that form CPS and the laws involved, what do you think needs to be done to get to CPS working, or can we do without such a system.

Sun, 2008-05-25 02:53 — Kerry

"Abuse is a health-care problem"

First, let's look at how Child and Senior placement services reflect one another, because I believe child abuse and neglect will ultimately lead to the abuse and neglect of the elderly.  "Pay-Back" seems to work that way.

Today, 46 states have specific elder mistreatment reporting laws. The other states have Adult Protective Service laws, which require reporting abuse or neglect of anyone over age 18 - basically dependent developmentally disabled, mentally ill and elderly people. Then when Dr. Louis Sullivan served as surgeon general (1989 – 1993), he declared that elder abuse is a health care problem, not just a law-and-order issue. This took us from a strictly apprehension and conviction mindset to one in which nurses, physicians and social workers help provide care-planning for older people and assist families to meet the care needs of their older relatives. 

 http://www.tiaa-cref.org/administrators/pdf/admin_library/C35897.pdf

Perhaps CPS could benefit from a complete over-haul, adding RN's to programs that place Family Preservation as it's core priority.   Who better to help assist and assess long-term health issues that relate to the mother-child bond and family dynamics than RN's trained and certified in maternal-child standards of health-care?

For instance, in the state of Texas, it's the social worker who acts as the health-legal liason.  "If the [social]caseworker determines, after making a good faith effort, that a physician is unavailable to provide the medical report, [for the adult to be placed in Protective Services] the petition may include:

  ·  an assessment of the client’s health status performed by a registered nurse, physician’s assistant, or advanced practice nurse not employed by the department; or

  ·  an assessment of the client’s psychological status performed by a licensed psychologist or master social worker not employed by the department and who has training and expertise in issues related to abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

5211.1 Assessment by a Registered Nurse

APS-IH / September 2005

A registered nurse may perform a nursing assessment of the client’s health status. If a registered nurse, based on his or her professional nursing judgment, determines that the client is likely to be suffering from abuse, neglect, or exploitation that may present a threat to the client’s life or physical safety, the registered nurse reports that assessment to a physician. After the registered nurse reports the assessment, the physician signs a written opinion stating whether:

  ·  the client is reported to be suffering from abuse, neglect, or exploitation that may present a threat to the person’s life or physical safety; and

  ·  the issuance of an emergency order authorizing protective services without the client’s consent is necessary under the circumstances.

The physician may use the registered nurse’s assessment of the client’s health status as the basis of his or her professional opinion.

If possible, the caseworker should give the nurse the following information before he or she visits the client:

  ·  the name of the physician to whom the health report should be submitted;

  ·  the physician’s contact information;

  ·  instructions for completing the report; and

  ·  how and when the report should be delivered to the physician. http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Handbooks/APS/Files/APS_pg_5200.asp

Ideally, I believe Family Services would be for the entire family, like a quality, comprehensive health-care system that provides help and services to those with the strongest, special needs in care.  Consistency and unity are key, as simple logic dictates:  the more gaps and breaks a system has, the easier it is to weaken and fail. 

Of course, I believe the real culprit behind so much failure is not found in the number of caring people willing/wanting to help others, as much as there are far too many in the current system working towards their own personal gains and desires.  Profiting from the misery and neglect of others in a very desperate, vulnerable situation is a very dangerous work ethic, one that MUST be stopped, especially when it comes to the health and safety of families with children.  The simple truth is, there are consequences to bad-behavior.   I have seen first-hand what elder-abuse looks like.  It's tragic to see the break-down, and it confirmed my belief that a child remembers pain, and isn't afaid to walk away from the source once that child becomes an independent adult.  It was my own personal experiences with this dynamic that made me ask, "What parent really wants to risk abuse or abandonment when they become frail and scared?"  You'd be amazed how many parents, on their death bead cry, "I'm so sorry!"  You'd be amazed how many parents die scared, afraid and alone.  You'd be amazed how many children believe, "they got what they deserved; they earned it".