A Snapshot of Pennsylvania’s Broken CPS System

This story starts with great-grandmother Mary Harper who “worked in nursing homes, and in the 1980s and 1990s was a Dauphin County foster parent.

She stopped fostering, she said, because her own family needed help.

Ashley [Mary’s granddaughter], then 14, and the infant Zimare were formally placed in Harper’s custody by York County, and the case was transferred to Dauphin County, in 2003.”

“In 2006, when Ashley turned 18, she moved out. Harper kept Zimare until Ashley and her mother challenged for custody. Zimare lived with his mother for two years, but Harper said [Ashley] Greene routinely dropped him at her house for extended periods of time.

In 2009, there was a knock at Harper’s door. A social worker, with Zimare and his brother, Azmare, in tow, stood there. Greene was being investigated in the death of her infant. Would Harper take the boys?

While Azmare eventually went to other family members, Zimare stayed with Harper, where everyone agreed he was happiest.

She wasn’t sure where she stood in terms of being formally considered Zimare’s guardian, though paper work shows her acknowledging a safety plan for Zimare drafted by the county in 2009.

Harper said she followed that plan, which included no unsupervised contact with Greene, until she was told the case had been closed and charges against Greene were dismissed.”

Zimare and Azmare apparently went back to living with Ashley sometime in 2009 after the charges were dropped.

Valentine’s Day 2010

“On Valentine’s Day this year, Greene called her grandmother. She’d just had twin girls. Would Harper let Zimare come to her home for a while?

Harper was conflicted, but thought being with his mother and siblings might help Zimare address his abandonment issues.

Three days later, Harper received a frantic phone call.

Greene was being arrested on suspicion of child abuse. Zimare had come to school with a mark on his cheek. He told school officials his mother had slashed him with a knife as she tried to give him his medication.

Harper and several family members converged on the school, where Greene was arrested as Zimare and Azmare watched. After social workers huddled in the school, Harper said she was told she would not be getting either boy that day.

At a hearing following the incident, a judge ordered all of Greene’s children into foster care, including the breast-feeding infants that had been taken in by Greene’s mother, Hope Orr.

Harper said Orr was willing to take in the twins and Greene’s other two daughters. Harper was willing to take Zimare and Azmare — and she still is. Another female relative also offered to care for some of the children. ”

Even though Mary Harper had previously been a foster parent, she was not up to date on requirements to be a foster parent as her home and background had not be re-checked at the time. This was not done until Mid-April 2010.

Multiple Foster Homes

“Zimare was pushed through a series of three foster homes in three days, Harper said.

The boy was sent to a new school at the third home. He told people he would not stand for kids bullying him the way they did at his former school, and Harper said school officials interpreted that as a threat.

When her great-grandson was removed from the third foster home, he began screaming: “Call my Grandmom! Call my Grandmom!”
This was interpreted as a mental health breakdown.

Institutionalization and Lack of Guardian ad Litem

“He was sent to Devereux, a mental health hospital near Philadelphia that serves children and adolescents “whose behavior is so significantly dangerous that they are unable to function and behave safely at home, community and/or a school setting.”

Azmare, 5, was also institutionalized. He was sent to a facility in Allentown. Harper said she does not know where he is.

It took weeks for Harper to locate Zimare. A friend drove her four hours roundtrip so she could be there at every visiting day.

“I went to visit him, and he said ‘Grandmom, when I get out of here, I won’t do anything to get back. I won’t talk loud. I’ll only talk when people talk to me. I won’t laugh loud.’ ”

Harper wept in frustration.

While Zimare was institutionalized, Harper talked to officials at CYS.

Harper said none of them told her that children in foster care have the right to their own attorney or a guardian. The guardian acts as an independent voice for the child in court proceedings.

When asked whether Zimare or Harper was offered information about a guardian, county officials pointed back to laws that state a child should be appointed one. Beyond that, they could not comment on this case. ”

Release from Institution and Foster Parent’s Record

“In early April, Zimare was released from Devereux to a foster family in Harrisburg. A check of court records revealed his foster mother had been cited for harassment, but the charges were dismissed.

The law only requires criminal background checks on foster parents and any adults living in the household. It makes no mention of adults living outside the home who are frequent visitors.

The foster mother’s boyfriend, who is there frequently, according to Zimare, has aggravated-assault and drug convictions. ”

Road to Re-Gaining Kinship Care

“A glimmer of hope appeared in late April, when caseworkers viewed court records related to Zimare’s history — records Harper told them about at the start of the case.
Workers told Harper that if she provided a copy of the 2003 court order granting her custody, they would have Zimare back home in a few days.

The document was provided, but Harper was then told she would have to wait for a hearing with a judge.

What’s more galling, Harper said, is that she has repeatedly been asked by the foster mother — with the caseworker’s knowledge — to watch Zimare while the woman worked.

Two days before Easter, Harper got a call. Would she want to keep the boy over the holiday? His foster mother had “family” events and he was not included.

“I’m good enough to baby-sit, but not enough to keep my own child?” Harper asked.

While she cherishes every moment with Zimare, the constant reunions and separations are hard on them both.

“He gets a faraway look in his eyes, and I ask him what’s wrong,” Harper said. “He tells me ‘Grandmom, how many times do I have to tell you I’m scared to go back there.’”

Due to the “dangerous” label he now carries, Zimare attends a specialized program in Harrisburg with minimal schooling and intensive therapy.

Harper fears the progress he made under her care, both academically and emotionally, has been compromised.

Despite it all, Zimare played, ate and laughed with his grandmother on Easter weekend. He dyed eggs, took part in a community Easter egg hunt and had Easter dinner at a buffet with his grandmother.

“I’ve been with this boy all his life, and I’ve never seen that part of him they say is dangerous,” she said. “And then they’re coming back on me, telling people he hurt me. He never! He’s a wonderful child. He jumps on the bed, and they say he needs to learn not to. He laughs at things that aren’t funny. Well, what child doesn’t?”

It’s as if the boy is being punished for being abused, she said, and she’s being punished for wanting to stop it. ”

Harper “was the one who sought out a psychologist and got him to appointments.

Knowing she won’t live forever, Harper also has a plan in place for Zimare’s future. Were she to get custody, she said, she would appoint another family member, with a stable job and home, as Zimare’s guardian.

Evaluations conducted by the Central Dauphin School District  show Harper doing a good job as Zimare’s guardian. She has been meeting deadlines, attending meetings and signing him up for enrichment activities.

The evaluations show no dangerous or abusive behavior by Zimare to her, himself or others. The most serious outburst, as noted in a 2009 school report, described Zimare locking himself in his bedroom and kicking a door frame.

Even that report said Zimare was “easily redirected and cooperative.”

Swatara Township great-grandmother fights Dauphin County for her great-grandson
[The Patriot News 5/17/11 by Laura Brenckle]

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