Canadian Couple Sues Florida Foster Care Agency UPDATED
Each year Canadians adopt children from the US foster care system. This couple is suing Family Support Services of North Florida because they did not disclose that “their two children were physically, sexually and mentally abused while in foster care.”
The siblings, ages 6 and 8 were in 4 foster homes. They “suffered disturbing abuse ranging from being yelled at or beaten, being denied food and being forced to commit sex acts with adults or one another, the couple said their adopted children told them.”
“The family said they will never give the children back, but they believe the state should pay more for the children’s medical and psychiatric care. The parents already receive $900 a month from the state, but they said the bills are much more, and that’s why they are suing.”
“The Department of Children and Families said the allegations are a concern if they are true. DCF said the family has not been cooperative and only made the claims when seeking more money.
DCF said it has notified the abuse hotline, the state attorney’s office and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office about the accusations. ”
The parents say that the boy “punches his nanny” and the girl “threatens to kill her adoptive mother.”
The Children’s History
“The children were taken from their birth mother in early 2005 and placed in Annette S. Smith’s foster home for 19 months. The lawsuit says they were repeatedly physically and sexually abused and made to eat feces, urine and soap.
They were removed from there in October 2006 after another child in the home told police his “foster mother hit me with a belt,” according to Smith’s Nov. 29, 2006, arrest report.”
“Smith was later found guilty of child abuse against the 4-year-old boy, according to court records.
The children then spent six months in a second foster home, five more in a failed adoption to a Virginia couple and were sent to two more foster homes in Nassau County.”
What Happened After Learning of the Abuse
“Only after it was finalized in August 2009 did the children start telling parents and therapists what they had been through.
“They withdrew and then acted out with very bizarre sexual behavior,” Dolan said. “… That’s when the details of their abuse really began to emerge. It was like a waterfall. Once it started flowing, it wouldn’t stop.”
Two police information reports were filed in mid- to late 2010 regarding the allegations of abuse revealed by the children after adoption. Nothing further was done by the state, Cabrey said.”
DCF lets loose again! “Harrell said the agency is very concerned about these allegations and whether they are accurate.
“The family has not cooperated with our requests for information,” Harrell said. “These allegations were not reported to us until years later, and they accompanied a request for an increased adoption subsidy.”
So let me get this straight, there is a previous foster mother who was convicted of child abuse on one of the children, the children suffered a failed adoption in another state, and DCF still can’t believe that these allegations could be accurate because the private foster agency waited to report the allegations! Perhaps they have already forgotten about the Barahona case?
[The Florida-Times Union 3/30/11 by Dan Scanlon]
Update 2: More allegations of abuse that occurred in the foster care home were revealed. “According to Smith’s court and arrest records, a young foster boy in her care in 2005 was seen with a bloody nose as he got into a day care van. He told the driver that Smith hit him for not putting his shoes on.”
“That same driver said that on many occasions, the boy, along with his siblings, would get in the van and sit on the floor, saying they weren’t allowed to sit on the seats, according to the records.”
“According to the court and arrest records, another day care worker noticed bruising on the boy’s back, and when asked about it, he said, “My foster mother hit me with a belt.”
Witnesses reported that the boy and his siblings went to the day care on many occasions unkempt and having a foul odor, according to the records.
Smith was placed on a year of probation, and her foster care license was revoked.”
Foster Mother in Lawsuit was Arrested
[News 4 Jax 3/31/11]
Update 3: “Annette Smith was licensed as a day care operator in 2001 and as a foster parent in 2004.
“The fact she was a foster parent is mystery number one,” said attorney Brian Cabrey.
Smith was convicted of child abuse more than a decade before she opened a day care and was approved as a foster parent. “The irony is she lost her own children and was convicted of child abuse on her own children back in 1991, here in Jacksonville,” said Cabrey, who recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of two foster children once in Smith’s care.”
“The allegations are graphic. According to the lawsuit, the children were urinated on, forced to eat feces, and not allowed to eat, drink or wear clothes.
“It’s some of the worst sexual abuse I’ve ever seen,” said Cabrey.
The children have been adopted by a family in Canada, have around the clock care and are in therapy.”
“Court records show Smith got probation for her 1991 child abuse case.
In 2006, her foster home was closed because she was arrested again for child abuse involving a foster child. Once again, she got probation.
“She was convicted of child abuse. Her own children were removed. That’s a no-brainer,” said Cabrey. “There’s no way she should have been licensed and approved as a foster parent or day care operator.”
The Department of Children and Families said this afternoon, it did do a background check on Smith and no disqualifiers were found for the day-care license.
As for the foster parent approval, DCF said it still checking on that. “It’s all out there. It’s all public record. How that was missed….again baffling,” said Cabrey.
First Coast News has requested Smith’s records with the department and DCF said it is working on providing that information.”
DCF Gives Day-Care License, Foster Parent Approval to Woman with Child Abuse Past
[First Coast News 5/25/11 by Jackelyn Barnard]
Update 4: About those background checks on the foster mother Annette Smith… “A background check the Department of Children and Families did on one Jacksonville woman before it issued her licenses to operate a day care and be a foster parent did not reveal her abusive past, according to new DCF records. ”
“DCF gave Annette Smith a license to operate a day care in 2001 and one to be a foster parent in 2004. But Smith was convicted of child abuse in 1991, which according to DCF’s foster care checklist is a disqualifier.
Showing complete failure in the system….“Records show DCF and Family Support Services (FSS), the agency it hired to monitor Smith, noted Smith’s abusive past in 2006 when she was arrested and later convicted of abusing a foster child.
New Records Released in Case of Foster Parent Licensed Despite Abusive Past
[First Coast News 6/7/11]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
I antoinette smith are the mother of those two abused kids witch was wrongfully taken from me in 2004 my son grandmother took her grandson to stay the weekend with her she came to me two days later saying get her grandson i asked her where is my son she say dcf took him well weeks later i got him back and was orderd to stay at my aunts home well just so happen i stayed with my sister for about two weeks because of my aunt boyfriend drug addiction i did not want my kids around that so we stayed at my sister home and prior to staying there tiffany witon came with two police officers and took my kids not letting me explain why i wsd there i never missed a court date they gave me a case plan i could not complete i lived in Fernandina beach they put my case plan in Jacksonville i had no way of getting here after keep calling her several times she never returned any phone calls to me after several court dates she lied in court the lawyer i had wss no help the state was no help they didnt let me know that they were suppose to help me witch they didn’t in no type of way my lack of education and not able to read well they told me they were terminating my parental rights i was explain it will be for a little while i never neglected my children i love them unconditionally and im hurt to here what happend to my kids dcf has failed my kids they could have been with me the birth mother i would have never hurt my childern yall dcf wokers tell the truth behind yall iffal ways the truth will be revealed behind yall and just know i want rest until god punish every one whi caused this misery for my two kids jurnee and narek mom love u always and i never negect u the state trying to make this awful situation sound good i want my kids back god gave them to me not that awful state dvf