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Bureaucracy scrutinized after abused boy's death

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Bureaucracy scrutinized after abused boy's death

Nov. 18, 2008

Crocker Stephenson

the Journal Sentinel

Today, Milwaukee buries 13-month-old Christopher L. Thomas Jr.

His donated casket needs only to be large enough to hold the remains of the 29-inch boy police say was beaten to death by his foster mother last week.

Many readers have written the Journal Sentinel to say they plan to attend the boy's funeral, which was to begin at 9 a.m. at the Serenity Funeral Home, 4217 W. Fond du Lac Ave.

Their motivations range from grief to rage.

One of those planning to attend is Becky Welk, the former foster mother, now adoptive mother, of a 6-year-old girl.

Raven was 6 months old when she came to Welk's home. She had seven broken ribs and others that had healed, untreated, Welk said. Her toenails had been pulled out. She had a skull fracture, bleeding behind her eyes, a dislocated shoulder and a broken femur. She was malnourished and sleep-deprived.

Welk said the day Raven's doctor explained to her the extent of the child's injuries, she left the hospital with the world spinning around her.

Within weeks, Welk said, the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare informed her that the agency intended to reunite the child with her birth parents.

"I told them, 'I'm not letting her go back there,' " Welk said. She and her husband decided to adopt Raven.

The agency told her it was the policy to reunite children with their biological family and set up supervised visits with the birth mother. Soon after, Welk said, the bureau told her it was too busy to provide the supervision and asked if Welk would do it, at her home.

The visits were tense and filled with clashes, Welk said. Raven called Welk "Mamma," which hurt and infuriated the child's birth mother.

"It was horrid," Welk said.

Welk continued to push for adoption.

The bureau resisted, she said.

In March 2003, Raven's mother called Welk and told her she could keep Raven. The mother's family had convinced her that adoption would be in the girl's best interest.

It was finalized that fall.

Welk is critical of the bureau.

She said they were unable to provide counseling for Raven or guidance for her as the foster mother of a severely abused child.

When the birth mother later began showing up unannounced at the Welks' home after the adoption, Welk said, the bureau told her to get a restraining order. Welk has moved twice and changed jobs once to get away from the birth mother. She said she will continue to do whatever is in her power to protect her child.

"She's doing fantastic," Welk said.

"She is everything a parent could hope for."

Welk said Tuesday that she has been trying to organize other foster and adoptive parents to join her today in protest outside Serenity Funeral Home. But if she's the only protester there, she said, so be it.

She said she fears that once Christopher is buried and media attention drifts away, his violent death will fade from the public's memory, and the child welfare system responsible for placing him and his 2-year-old sister in a home where police say they were tortured, will never be held accountable.

Crystal Keith, 24, the children's foster mother and aunt, is charged with first-degree reckless homicide and with child abuse.

She had the children since June, after they were taken from foster families in West Allis and Germantown. One of the foster families said it had tried to adopt Christopher. As for the system, it will be held accountable, Cyrus Behroozi, administrator for the Division of Safety and Permanence at the state Department of Children and Families, said Tuesday, though mistakes that may have occurred in Christopher's case are unlikely to ever get public scrutiny. The Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare is part of the department.

The Milwaukee County Child Abuse Review Team, which is independent of state agencies, will combine efforts with those within the state system that are conducting an internal investigation. The result of that investigation is expected to be completed by the time another group, the Milwaukee Child Welfare Partnership Council's executive committee, meets in January, Behroozi said.

The Partnership Council advises the state regarding child welfare services in Milwaukee County. Its quarterly meetings are open to the public, but under state privacy laws, the results of the investigation will not be made public, Behroozi said.

"The law is the state of the law as it is," he said.

Behroozi said he recognizes that the bureaucracy that has encased Christopher's death seems cold-hearted.

"The death of Christopher L. Thomas is a terrible tragedy," he said.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Christopher's family and with all of those people he touched during his life," he said. "As moms and dads, aunts and uncles, grandfathers and grandmothers, we can only imagine the pain and loss the family will feel during the funeral and throughout the grieving process."

2008 Nov 18