Foster mom jailed in death; W.V. woman booked after tot dies of injuries
By Pat Reavy and Jennifer Dobner
Deseret Morning News
WEST VALLEY CITY — A foster mother who had an 18-month-old boy die while in her care was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail Friday for investigation of criminal homicide and child abuse.
Jeannette Gomez, 30, was arrested after detectives interviewed her late Thursday night.
Salt Lake County prosecutors were reviewing the case with police Friday afternoon. If charges are filed, it likely will be Monday, Deputy District Attorney Kent Morgan said.
The boy was pronounced dead Thursday morning at Primary Children's Medical Center. Police were called to the foster house near 3400 South and 6400 West the night before. Gomez told police the boy had fallen out of his crib, West Valley Police Capt. Craig Black said.
The State Medical Examiner's Office has conducted an autopsy, but the results will not be known until the final report is completed, he said. On Friday, Black would only say that the boy did have some visible injuries.
Division of Child and Family Services executive director Richard Anderson said he could not remember the last time a child died in foster care in Utah. The division has a fatality review board that meets monthly to evaluate the deaths of any children who have received recent services from DCFS.
Of the approximately 2,800 children who move in and out of DCFS custody each year, a very small percentage are victims of abuse or neglect while in foster care, Anderson said. Federal child welfare guidelines assume that some children will suffer abuse and have set an "acceptability" threshold of .57 percent of the total foster care population, Anderson explained. Statistically, Utah consistently falls well below that standard, he said.
Anderson said DCFS staff is devastated by the death of the 18-month-old boy.
The boy and his 5-year-old sister were originally placed in DCFS custody — and the Gomez home — last February, DCFS spokeswoman Carol Sisco said. A short time later the children, who are members of the Ute Tribe, were moved to the Uinta Basin because the tribe sought their custody. The pair were later returned to the Salt Lake Valley and to DCFS so that their biological mother could visit them, Sisco said. They were again placed with the Gomez family.
The couple's West Valley neighbors said Friday they had little interaction with the family. The family had only lived in the neighborhood since sometime last summer and were rarely seen outside, said Karen Frame, who lives across the street. Some said that they had seen the couple's two biological children in the yard with their father but were unaware that any other children were in the home.
According to the foster mom's statement to police, her husband was away from home on Wednesday night when the boy was injured, Black said. The boy's sister and her own children were asleep.
The girl, who has been placed in state custody, has since been medically evaluated but showed no signs of injury or abuse, said Sisco.
DCFS has taken temporary custody of the Gomez children and placed them in shelter care with some of the couple's relatives. Case workers will now conduct an investigation to determine if the children should be returned to their father's care, Anderson said.
The agency's Office of Licensing granted the couple a foster care license in October 2002, and per that license they were eligible to have as many as four foster children in their home simultaneously.
Licensing director Ken Stettler said the boy and his sister were the first two children to be placed with the couple. No complaints had been made about the couple.
Foster parents go through hours of training and a criminal background check before a license is granted. The potential foster parent could have certain infractions or misdemeanors on their record and still have a license granted, Stettler said. He noted, however, that both Gomez and her husband were completely clean.
About 20 to 30 percent of those who apply to be foster parents are rejected, Stettler said.