How Could You? Hall of Shame – Canada -Delonna Sullivan case-Child Death UPDATED and Lawsuit

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, a baby placed into foster care died after only spending one week with the foster parents.

The mother says that “two social workers showed up at her door on April 5 with an apprehension order for her roommate’s children.

He says she was shocked when they announced they’d be taking her daughter as well.

“There was no apprehension order for this child, and no emergency or threat to her,” said McConnell.

“The child was visibly happy, and healthy, and they took her anyway.”

The baby girl was placed in a foster home in southeast Edmonton and McConnell says by April 11, she was dead.

“As soon as she was taken, her mother and grandmother fought to see her and to get her back. They were finally granted a visit with the child, and noticed she had marks on her head, and had diarrhea.

They asked the foster mother to take her to the hospital, and the woman refused,” he said.

He says he suspects the baby had severe dehydration, but the family won’t find out for sure until an autopsy can be completed.”

“McConnell also claims authorities neglected to inform the mother of her infant’s death for several hours.

“From what I know, the child died at 4 p.m., and the mother wasn’t notified until 10 p.m.,” he said, noting the mother has barely slept since that night. “She went to the morgue and picked up her baby, who was dead, and held her.”

In court documents that appeared days after the seizure, it is alleged that the mother appears to suffer from alcohol addiction, said McConnell.

“There was a vague affidavit that appeared after the seizure that claimed there might be an alcohol problem,” said McConnell. “This mother is not an alcoholic. That’s appalling that someone swore to an affidavit after meeting the mother and being in the home for only 15 minutes to half an hour.”

The Whitecourt-based lawyer first plans to secure counselling for his two clients, who he describes as shaken and devastated.

He then hopes to bring them justice in the wake of this tragedy, he said.

“Everyone involved is to blame, except the doctors. Even RCMP are culpable, and the foster mother is to blame as well,” said McConnell.

“There will be a lawsuit and the best outcome would be to have those people who are to blame get up on the stand and answer to this.””

Child Placed in Foster Care Dies
[Edmonton Sun 6/1/11 by Angelique Rodrigues]

Update: “Two social workers and an RCMP officer arrived at her door April 5 to apprehend two of her roommate’s children. While there, one of the social workers determined the baby of McConnell’s client also needed to be removed from the home because the mother “appears to suffer from an alcohol addiction,” says an affidavit.

The affidavit was signed April 7 by the social worker, two days after the child was apprehended from her Warburg home, 60 kilometres west of Leduc.

“The infant has been subjected to disharmony in the home and the child is left with inexperienced babysitters,” reads the affidavit. A health inspector needs to look at the home, the document says. An assessment also should be done to “determine the existence of any mental health disorder which may impact (the mother’s) ability to parent.” The social worker applied for a six-month guardianship order for the infant.

“The child(ren) needs intervention,” the affidavit says in a more general statement. “To protect the child(ren)’s survival, security or development, the child(ren) cannot remain with the guardian.”

McConnell said the “social worker has the power to do that but they are supposed to have good reason. There was no reason.”

McConnell said the mother is not an alcoholic. ”

“He said the mother had a one-hour visit with the child April 8, during which she noticed her daughter had diarrhea and dried feces on her bum. She suspected dehydration. The mother was no longer breastfeeding. When she asked the foster worker to take the child to hospital, the foster worker said she would do so if the baby wasn’t better by Monday, McConnell said.”

“The medical examiner’s office has performed an autopsy. It is mandated to do so on any child who dies while in government custody. Results from genetic tests and blood or tissue samples take five to six months to help determine the cause and manner of death, the office said.

McConnell said he plans to file a lawsuit within 30 days against the social worker, the RCMP, the foster home and the province.”
Lawyer questions death of Warburg baby in foster care
[Edmonton Journal 6/1/11 by Jodie Sinnema]

Update 2: ” The mother of a baby who died in Alberta foster care says she’ll defy the law if that’s what it takes to get her story heard.

The 28-year-old woman said Tuesday she is posting the family’s names and photos on the Internet, despite the possibility she could face charges.

Alberta law prohibits the publishing of the names of children and guardians in child protection cases, but the mother said she is willing to go to jail for her cause.”

“She said photos and a story written from her daughter’s point-of-view will be posted on her Facebook page or another website. The trouble, she admitted, is people will not know how to find it if the media can’t also publish their names.

“I think it should be the parent’s right. It’s my daughter, nobody else’s. I should be able to say where her picture goes and where it can’t.”

McConnell said the purpose of the law is to protect the best interests of the child.

“The child is dead,” he said. “And the only other person would be the mother, and the mother wants that out there.”

John Tuckwell, a spokesman with Alberta Children and Youth Services, said it’s up to justice officials to decide if charges should be laid.

McConnell said he also plans to file a lawsuit in a few weeks against the province and the social workers in order to get more information on the death.

It will be another five months before there is a final autopsy report into why the baby died, he said.

On a supervised visit, the mother noted her baby had diarrhea and red marks on her face and was likely dehydrated. She asked the child be taken to hospital, but the foster caregiver decided to wait a few days to assess the symptoms.”

Mother of baby who died in foster care goes public on Internet but may face jail
[The Canadian Press 6/8/11 by Chris Purdy]

Update 3: “The biological mother of a four-month-old child who died in foster care in April says she’ll likely have to sue the province to get answers to what happened to her daughter.

And critics say the case highlights Alberta’s secretive — ‘cover your mistakes’ — system of investigating deaths of children in foster care.

“I’m angry and I’m frustrated… at least if there was an external investigation done, at least then people could actually find out what’s going on and what happened and get some kind of answers,” said the Warburg mother who can’t be identified because of a provincial law banning the publication of the identity of children in foster care.”

Previous Deaths in Care

“Six children died while in provincial care last year.

Critics argue Children and Youth Service’s internal reviews of deaths of children in provincial care leave many questions unanswered.

The government says its in-house investigations “promote continuous improvement and learning opportunities,” while protecting the privacy of children and the families involved.

A public fatality inquiry is required by law into all suspicious deaths of children in provincial care.
But the head of Edmonton’s Metis Child Family Services Society disputes the utility and transparency of internal reviews.

Donald Langford has sat on three internal reviews in the last decade.

“I do think, you know, the first reaction is to cover your ass,” he said.

“I thought there was often maybe a hesitancy or unwillingness to point out responsibility or a lack of responsibility and sometimes to point out inconsistencies in case management practices or maybe a bit of a lack of, say, proper work ethic. I found a lot of that stuff was overlooked,” added Langford.

In British Columbia, the arms-length Representative for Children and Youth receives immediate notification of serious injury or death of children in provincial care.”

Foster child death probes too secretive, critics say
[CBC 7/11/11]

Update 4: The judge finally allows the child’s name to be published after her mother risked going to jail by outing herself on the internet. Her daughter’s name was Delonna Sullivan. A photo is available at the link below.

“”The community and citizens of Edmonton and Alberta have substantial interest in the welfare of all children in this province,” he said.

The order was sought by Delonna’s mother, Jamie Sullivan. Sullivan first went public with the story of her daughter’s death in June, but Alberta’s notoriously restrictive Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act prohibited the media from identifying her or her daughter.”

“”She’s my little angel. I mean I should be able to say her name and show her picture to anybody and to have somebody tell me that I can’t, really made me angry,” she said outside the courthouse.

“How can you tell me that I can’t show her picture to people. People can’t see that — how healthy she was, how happy she was. Why does that have to be hidden?”

“The provincial government says Delonna’s death is under investigation. Autopsy results are expected by the end of the month.

Sullivan’s lawyer, Larry McConnell, called the ruling a landmark decision that can be used by mothers in similar circumstances.” [Let’s hope it never has to be used again!]

Alberta judge allows ID of baby who died in care
[CBC 10/13/11]

Update 5: “Apr. 11 marked the one-year anniversary of four-month old Delonna Sullivan’s death while in foster care.

More than a year later, Delonna’s mother and close relatives are continuing their efforts to get their voices heard in hopes of bringing change to the province’s foster care system.

Marilyn Koren, Delonna’s grandmother, along with her daughter Jamie Sullivan, Delonna’s mother, were two of the advocates present at the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton on Apr. 11 in commemoration of the one-year anniversary of Delonna’s death.

“Today we still have no answers as to what happened to Delonna,” explained Koren.

To get Delonna’s name released to the public, Sullivan went to court to get the publication ban lifted and continues to fight for more transparency regarding foster care in Alberta.

According to Koren, two social workers from Leduc along with a Leduc RCMP officer arrived at Sullivan’s house with an apprehension order for the children of Sullivan’s roommate on Apr. 5, 2011.

Delonna was also taken from the house by the social workers and RCMP, but without an apprehension order, said Koren.

“There was never an apprehension order that was filed or a complaint against my daughter. I went out to my daughter’s place and we pleaded to the RCMP that we could take Delonna, but they flat out refused,” explained Koren.

But an affidavit signed by a social worker two days later on Apr. 7, 2011 claimed the child needed to be removed because “the infant has been subjected to disharmony in the home and the child is left with inexperienced babysitters” and her mother “appears to suffer from an alcohol addiction.”

Koren said the reason the social workers refused to allow her to take custody of Delonna was because of a previous involvement with social services.

“When Jamie was six years old, her father abused her and I called the police on him. Seven or eight months later we reconciled, but a year and a half later there was an isolated incident where he abused her again. They ended up apprehending her and she was stuck in a group home for six days,” explained Koren.

“That was their reasoning as to why they didn’t allow me to take Delonna.”

On Apr. 8, 2011 Koren and Sullivan visited Delonna at the foster parent’s house and were distressed by what they saw. Koren claims Delonna had severe diaper rash and feces on her due to three straight days of diarrhea.

“I asked [the foster parent] how long she had diarrhea. When we saw her on Friday she had diarrhea for three days. And I asked if she had taken her to a doctor and [the foster parent] said ‘no, if she’s not better by Monday I’ll make an appointment.’ Monday she died. She let that baby lay there and suffer for five days without taking her for any sort of medical attention,” remembered Koren.

On Apr. 11 around 2 p.m. Delonna was taken to the hospital and at 4 p.m. she was pronounced dead. Sullivan wasn’t notified of her daughter’s death until 10 p.m. that evening.

Recently, the Alberta government released the full number of children who died while in provincial care.

The government reported — between Apr. 1, 2011 and Mar. 31 — 10 children died while in care. 13 died the year earlier. Children who died due to illness while in care were included in those numbers.

The cause of the death for the 10 children were:
Five children died due to medical conditions
One youth died due to head trauma (sustained at a house party)
One child died due to homicide
The cause of death for one of the children is undetermined (according to the Medical Examiner’s report)
The cause of death for the remaining two children is pending

Delonna is included in the 10 deaths last year, but it is unknown what her official cause of death is.

“We can’t comment on any of the specifics,” said Roxanne Dube Coelho, spokesperson for Alberta Human Services.

In the past, Alberta Human Services only reported deaths that occurred due to a serious injury or homicide. Under that system, the department reported two confirmed deaths last year, and six deaths the year before. There are about 8,700 children in care in Alberta at any one time.

The new reporting system was created to increase transparency and public accountability.

“It will provide more context for Albertans so they can really see it’s not just a statistic and there is a story behind it as well,” explained Dube Coelho.

At the end of June or early July, Alberta Health Services is going to release their annual report with information on the number of deaths for all children in care, regardless of cause of death.”

Family continues to fight for answers surrounding foster care death
[The Leduc Rep 4/20/12 by Bobby Roy]

Update 6:“The grandmother of an Alberta child who died in foster care brought her three-province protest to Saskatoon.

Bereaved grandma targets foster care practices

[The Star Phoenix 6/4/13 by Jonathan Charlton]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update 7:”A fatality inquiry looking into the death of an infant girl in foster care has heard conflicting accounts of how she was removed from her home in the first place.

Delonna Sullivan was removed from her mother in April 2011 by a rare emergency order, which meant the four-month-old could be placed in provincial care without a judge’s order. The girl was placed with a foster mother. Six days later, she was found dead in her playpen.

Tuesday, RCMP Constable Bryan Brooks testified that he and a social worker spent only a couple hours in the home of Jamie Sullivan before removing her daughter.

That doesn’t match what the social worker told the inquiry on Monday: she said she spent an entire day investigating Sullivan’s home before taking the girl.

An emergency order is only used if a child is thought to be in “imminent danger.” The social worker said the house was messy and poorly maintained. She also had concerns about possible drug and alcohol abuse by Delonna’s mother.

Sullivan denied the allegations, saying that Delonna was in no danger.

Monday heard testimony from the support worker who dealt with the foster mother who took in Delonna. He testified that the girl had to sleep in the playpen because the home lacked a crib, although he was assured this was a temporary issue.

At one point, she was left in the playpen for five hours without anyone checking on her.

The worker admitted that he did not visit the home, nor see the playpen, either before placing Delonna in the home or after she had arrived.

Policies were not followed, mother claims

The fatality inquiry is scheduled to run for the rest of the week and will hear from 11 witnesses, including RCMP and the foster mother. Afterwards, Judge Steven Bilodeau will pen a report that may include recommendations on how to prevent similar deaths in the future.

However, Sullivan is skeptical the inquiry will do anything to stop other children from dying.

“It’s to create policies and procedures to protect children, but the policies and procedures were all already in place but none of them were followed,” she said.

“What are they going to do, make more policies they’re not going to follow?”

Marilyn Koren, the girl’s grandmother, echoed the statements. She said there needs to be more accountability for social workers in the province.

“There’s absolutely no repercussions or consequences for front-line workers or foster parents to follow those policies, unless it suits their own purpose to protect their own butts, not to protect the children,” she said.

‘No more dying’

To coincide with the start of the inquiry, a candlelight vigil was held to protest the deaths of the children in Alberta’s foster care system.

Participants placed hundreds of small teddy bears on the steps of the legislature last night, each one representing a child that has died in Alberta’s care system in recent decades. Many of them, like Betty Whiteman, have children who have been affected by the system.

Whiteman is currently fighting to get custody of her grandson. The boy was taken into government care three years ago, when his mother was dealing with substance abuse. Now, her daughter is sober and both are concerned about his safety in the system.

“It’s scary. I just want to bring him home,” she said.

Thirty-one children died while in care or receiving government services between April 2014 and March of this year — a 25 per cent increase since the year before.

Whiteman said drastic changes are needed to the foster care system.

“I hope it helps a lot of other little children, because we don’t want no more dying.””

Delonna Sullivan inquiry: conflicting accounts from RCMP, social worker [CBC 6/23/15]

Update 8: “A fatality inquiry heard contradictory testimony about whether Delonna Sullivan’s foster mother was using a baby monitor the day in spring 2011 the four-month-old baby died.

Placement resource investigative unit assessor Carol Attrux testified Thursday that after Delonna’s death, foster mother Michelle Hirsekorn told her she did not have a baby monitor.

Attrux was investigating allegations of neglect against Hirsekorn made by social services.

On Tuesday, Hirsekorn testified she had a baby monitor that she listened to throughout the day of the baby’s death. She said she heard Delonna stir about 2 p.m., but after listening to the monitor for a while, the noise quieted and she thought Delonna had gone back to sleep.

She said she put Delonna down for a nap around 9 a.m. and did not check on her until about 3:15 p.m., when she discovered the infant wasn’t breathing. The baby was taken to hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

When lawyer Larry McConnell, representing Delonna’s mother Jamie Sullivan, told Attrux that Hirsekorn testified at the inquiry she was using a monitor, Attrux said she was “surprised.”

Attrux said she questioned Hirsekorn about why she didn’t physically check on Delonna in the hours leading up to her death. Attrux said she was satisfied with Hirsekorn’s explanation that the baby hadn’t been sleeping more than a couple hours at night and that she finally thought the infant was having sleep. Her report found there was no neglect of Delonna by her foster mother, though Hirsekorn was given recommendations to help improve her caregiving abilities as a foster parent.

Testimony from witnesses and closing statements for the fatality inquiry wrapped up Thursday afternoon. Provincial court Judge Steven Bilodeau will prepare a report based on what he heard during the inquiry. He may also make recommendations, but cannot lay blame for Delonna’s death.

Sullivan said after hearing from all the witnesses, she wasn’t satisfied with what she heard. She said she doesn’t have faith that new policies or regulations would be followed. She blames her daughter’s death on failure to follow existing rules.

“Every system failed my daughter,” she said.

She hopes for the introduction of measures that would hold social workers and foster parents accountable, as well as a requirement that all conversations between caseworkers and parents be recorded during child welfare investigations.

Early in the inquiry, caseworker Gloria Mapplebeck testified Delonna was apprehended into foster care without a court order because of concerns about alcohol abuse, domestic violence and lack of proper supervision.

Mapplebeck’s supervisor, Steve Koziol, also testified and said Delonna wasn’t put into the custody of her grandmother, Marilyn Koren, because of Koren’s own history with child and youth services and history of drinking.

Sullivan maintained allegations about her and her mother were unfounded.

She said children should only be apprehended from their parents if there is clear proof the child is in imminent danger.

“Move me to a new location, supervise me, but you don’t have to take my daughter,” Sullivan said.”

Delonna Sullivan’s foster mother told investigator she didn’t use baby monitor the day the child died[Edmonton Jornal 6/25/15 by Paige Parsons]

Update 8: Her foster mother was cleared!“A judge says an Edmonton foster mother did nothing that contributed to the death of a baby in her care four years ago.

Four-month-old Delonna Sullivan was found unresponsive in a bassinet on April 11, 2011, six days after social workers placed her in the foster home.

An autopsy found the infant was healthy and the cause of her death was listed as unexplained.

Provincial court Judge Steven Bilodeau made no recommendations in his fatality inquiry report.

He says the baby had been sleeping in a safe manner and was being properly supervised.

The foster mother testified she had checked on the baby several times and was listening on a monitor.

“In conclusion, this otherwise healthy baby died for an unexplained reason as have other babies all over the world for many, many years,” wrote the judge.

“It is a medical mystery why this happens. She happened to be in the good care of a foster parent at the time this occurred.”

Over the last nine years in Alberta, 166 of 1,048 deaths of children under the age of one have been unexplained or classified as sudden infant death syndrome or sudden unexplained death in infancy, said the report.

Jamie Sullivan went to court a few months after the death of her daughter and convinced a judge to lift an automatic publication ban on the child’s identity. The mother argued she wanted the world to know about Delonna’s death.

The Alberta government has since made changes that allow the publication of names and photos of children who have died in government care, although families can apply to block publication.”

Delonna Sullivan inquiry: Edmonton foster mother cleared after baby’s death [CBC 8/10/15 by The Canadian Press]

Update 9:“A Warburg family is continuing to press a civil suit against the province after a judge recently said an Edmonton foster mother did nothing to contribute to the death of four-month-old Delonna Sullivan while the child was in her care.

Marilyn Koren, Delonna’s grandmother, rejected Provincial court Judge Steven Bilodeau’s recent conclusion in Delonna’s fatal inquiry report that the infant was otherwise healthy and her death, which occurred on April 11, 2011, was a “medical mystery”.

Family pursuing civil suit over infant who died in foster care [Leducrep.com 8/19/15 by Mark Wierzbicki]