Deal seen in death of boy, 4, in foster care

Patricia Wen

Boston Globe

A foster care agency has agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to settle a wrongful-death case filed by the parents of Dontel Jeffers, a state official said.

The state Department of Social Services, which was also named in the case, did not have to pay any money to the family of the 4-year-old boy, said its spokeswoman, Denise Monteiro. She said in an interview that Massachusetts Mentor is the only party that had to pay, as far as she knew.

Officials at Massachusetts Mentor declined to confirm or deny any settlement of the case. Court records indicate that motions to settle the case were filed in late August after months of negotiations and that a settlement was approved last week by Suffolk County Probate and Family Court Judge John Smoot. On Thursday, the records in the case were impounded by the clerk, as ordered earlier by the judge.

Jeffers died March 6, 2005, after being beaten during 11 days he spent with a foster mother hired by Massachusetts Mentor, police said. A murder case is pending against the foster mother, Corinne Stephen of Dorchester. In a statement, Paul Cataldo, state director of Massachusetts Mentor, said company officials were ``devastated" to hear of the boy's death, and that the tragic outcome should not obscure their 26 years of high quality foster care work.

Within two months of the boy's death, his parents, Christal Claiborne and Elary Jeffers, who were not married and were estranged, filed competing claims to be administrator of their dead son's estate. The boy had no assets, but each wanted the right to file a wrongful-death suit and make key legal decisions in the case. The parents accused each other of being an unfit parent with no right to pursue legal claims on behalf of Dontel.

In July 2005, the judge ultimately assigned a third party, Dedham attorney Carol Kimball, to act as the special administrator, court records show. Dontel's parents, their lawyers, Kimball, and the judge could not be reached for comment.

Massachusetts Mentor, part of a national for-profit human services company, has come under intense scrutiny in local child-welfare circles because of its role in the Jeffers case and involvement in a recent controversial bill.

Many child advocates were outraged to learn that Massachusetts Mentor lobbied to win passage this summer of a provision that financially benefited the company, but also had the potential for sweeping changes in the world of public and private adoptions. The new law passed without public debate in late August, and was attached to a transportation bill.

The new law allowed for-profit companies to directly handle foster-care placements and adoptions for the first time in the state, without having to form a partnership with a nonprofit. The state has long had a tradition of allowing only state agencies or nonprofits to handle child-welfare work.

Massachusetts Mentor had worked with a Newton-based nonprofit children's group in placing Jeffers with a foster mother. Massachusetts Mentor officials defended the bill as a follow-up to a federal law, passed last year, allowing certain for-profit foster care agencies to receive direct federal reimbursement.

Because the new state law allows for-profit adoption agencies to operate in the state, as well, many adoption advocacy groups are moving to have the new law rescinded. DSS Commissioner Harry Spence said he never realized the law included adoption agencies and will review his support of the new law.

Patricia Wen can be reached at wen@globe.com.