Back to Some Homestudy Basics: Safety Matters

There is no standard training for social workers who do homestudies. There are small checklists, but critical thinking and assessment of how the family lives or whether they can take on the child is sorely lacking. There have been three stories in the past week that highlight that even those basic safety checklists are not being followed or followed up on or are being challenged by entitled PAPs who are whining more than ever.

Some safety rules may seem ridiculous, but you can bet that they are there because some dimwitted foster or adoptive parent managed to have a child injured in their care because of it. This is part of the bureaucratic process. It is not a personal reflection on you. Sadly, it is probably a reflection on how many times the agency has been sued because of injuries of kids placed.

These stories, though, are about common-sense safety rules.

Story One: Foster Kids Not Using Seatbelts

This first story is tragic. 9 News says what lead to this tragedy started in 2007 when ” the school district voted to not support [Howard and Melody] Mitchell’s group home application where he lived in Kit Carson. The school district voted no after two public hearings where some community members voiced concern about potentially-troubled kids going to Kit Carson schools with about 110 other children – ages kindergarten through 12 grades – according to superintendent Gerald Keefe.

Keefe says the district did not figure out how much extra money the troubled kids might cost the district.

“The board exercised its right to hear testimony and declined to issue a letter of support at the time,” Keefe said.

Keefe said the Colorado Department of Human Services gave the district a list of guidelines for this kind of group home. Those guidelines included a range of possible histories the community could expect. Those ranged from kids with misdemeanor histories to kids with a violent past.

As many as eight of Mitchell’s children with possibly violent histories may have gone to the school, according to Keefe.

Mitchell was required to seek the support of the school district during his group-home application with the state. He was seeking to get a license to take care of up to 15 children from homes for adopted and foster kids.

Even though the school board voted to not issue a letter of support for his group home, Mitchell could have still enrolled his children in Kit Carson School under Colorado’s Open Enrollment Law, which allows parents to put their children in the school of their choice. ”

So, they enrolled their 11 foster and adopted children in a public school in Eads and drove a passenger van back and forth every day for the 40-mile roundtrip but seat belt safety was not part of that commute.

“On Thursday morning, those decisions contributed to disaster as the van Howard Mitchell was driving on that daily trek crashed into the back of a semitrailer truck, killing him and five of the children while injuring seven others.

“They kept that highway hot, going and coming, coming and going,” said Marylyn White, Melody’s mother, who spent almost every day with the children. “They worked well together, and I can’t tell you how many miles they traveled for these kids.”

On Friday, the investigation continued into the wreck, which occurred in a construction zone on U.S. 287, about 2 miles south of Kit Carson. The surviving seven children remained in three hospitals.

Only two of the children wore seatbelts- only the 3 year old and 14 year old were restrained though the van had seat belts available for all of them according to the Denver Post.

The children who died as Austyn Ackinson, 11; Tony Mitchell, 4; Tayla Mitchell, 10; Andy Dawson, 13, and Jeremy Franks, 17. Weber said Mitchell had adopted Tony and Tayla, biological siblings. The others were foster children.

Sources: Kids killed in crash were driving to another school
[9 News 10/14/11]

Family of foster kids, dad killed in accident release state
[9 News 10/15/11 by Lori Obert]

Kit Carson School couldn’t accommodate family’s special needs
[The Denver Post 10/15/11 by Jordan Steffen]

Five Children, Adult Dead in Colorado Tractor-Trailer Crash
[Fox News 10/13/11 by associated Press]

Cellphone Use Ruled out in CO Crash That Killed 6
[ABC News 10/14/11 by Associated Press/ P. Solomon Banda]

Superintendent: ‘We’re all in agony,’ over van crash
[9 News 10/14/11 by Deborah Shreman]

Story Two: Families Allowed to Adopt Multiple Special Needs Children When Basic Transportation Needs Not in Place

Mansfield family grows with adoption of 5 special needs children
[WFAA 10/14/11]

The subject of adopting multiple special needs children at once will be in its own post soon. Today, we will concentrate merely on the basic safety needs.

“The Mansfield couple, who have two biological children, have adopted five special needs children from Russia.

Last year, the Burmans adopted triplets – Owen, Hudson and Evelyn – all with Down syndrome. In March, they added Reagan, who has spina bifida, to the family and Carrington, who also has Down syndrome and was near death when they brought her home.”

“A big challenge for the Burman family right now is finding a wheelchair van that is big enough for everybody.”

That is a “challenge” that should have been covered PRIOR to adopting. How can a homestudy be approved when basics are not in place?

Story Three: Entitled Prospective Parents Whining About Homestudy Checks

We thought we were the perfect choice for adoptive parents – but we didn’t even get past the first hurdle
[Daily Mirror 10/18/11 by Cherry Miller]

“In December last year the couple applied to their local authority to adopt a child and in February they were forced to go on an intensive group course to assess their ¬suitability as parents.

Then a social worker visited their normal, immaculately kept home to decide if it was a “suitable ¬environment” for a child.”

Oh, the humanity! Give me a break! Coursework and inspection of the house are a given for a homestudy.

““It’s obviously ¬important to know a child will be safe, but the authorities are so worried about children ¬hurting themselves they go over the top. You are told to do things like bolt the TV to the wall to ensure it doesn’t fall on them.

“You are also given advice like not having roller blinds in your kitchen in case a child chokes on the cord.”

Yes, that is basic safety. Sadly, children get strangled every year by blind cords. Maybe they can be sassy to this couple from Chicago whose 3 year old died that way in June 2011 .


Rally had a patient in the pediatric ICU who suffered a severe head injury due to a TV falling on him because it was not fastened to anything. Maybe they wouldn’t be so sassy if they saw one of their kids with a shunt sticking out of his head to relieve the pressure on his brain.

“The couple were also stunned to discover that their business ¬credentials were under scrutiny. Ian and Shari set up gift website ¬Dieselfrog.com 18 months earlier – but were told that because the business was so young it could go against their application.”

Yes, stable income matters. Just because you have lived a certain amount of time and you think you are so great, doesn’t automatically make you qualified to adopt. Get over yourself.

The second story in this article is a giant . “Alex Bemrose, 49, and husband Dominic, 36, from Middlesex, are also critical of the UK adoption system. They came up against so many barriers that they were forced to spend £30,0000 adopting son Jose, now four, from Guatemala.”

They were FORCED to pay 30,000 POUNDS!

“The UK adoption system is so hypocritical because the same local authority, which turned us down to adopt a child from the UK approved us to adopt one from Guatemala and in 2008 we brought Jose home”

I think that says a lot more things than hypocrisy. It speaks to the integrity of international adoptions as a whole, immigration and Guatemala specifically.

REFORM Puzzle Piece