How Could You? Hall of Shame-Nine Illinois DCFS cases-Child Death

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.

The Illinois DCFS child death and abuse report, January 1, 2012 lists nine cases from 2011 that we do not have in our archive involving children in state care. Eight are deaths and one was a severe abuse case.  See the full report here.

None of the cases have names. 2010 cases will be noted for a future project.

Case 1, page 31 of pdf, Death and Serious Injury Investigation 7: “Allegation: An 11 day-old infant died as a result of accidental suffocation due to co-sleeping. The infant’s mother was a Department ward with three other children, ages 3, 2 and 1 year.

Investigation: “The mother had become involved with the Department when she was taken into custody at age six after an indicated report of neglect. Throughout her involvement with the Department, the mother exhibited inconsistent, volatile behavior and an inability to comply with services. She moved through numerous placements and was frequently on run as a teenager, often times taking her children with her during periods of unstable or inadequate housing. She abused illicit substances and often neglected her responsibilities as a parent in order to engage in high-risk behavior. Her relationships often presented issues of domestic violence and, in addition to her four pregnancies prior to turning 19 years-old, she had a history of sexually transmitted diseases and poor prenatal care.

When the teen mother had her first child, she and her family already presented a complicated, high-risk situation, so her case was referred to a private agency with a specialized foster care program. The case was assigned to a new caseworker who had only recently entered the professional child welfare field. Although the private agency program was designed to provide specialized services to wards, throughout their handling of the case, the caseworker and her supervisor demonstrated a lack of understanding of or familiarity with available services to pregnant and parenting teens.

Neither the caseworker nor her supervisor adhered to Department Procedure 302 Appendix J, which addresses the needs and requirements of providing guidance and support for pregnant and parenting teens. The caseworker and her supervisor did not secure necessary educational support for the mother, who had not finished high school. Although the workers frequently attempted to engage the mother in General Education Development (GED) classes, she did not follow through and alternative options were not pursued.

The workers also failed to adequately address family planning issues and options with the mother, preventing her from making fully informed decisions. During their involvement with the mother, the workers did not recognize the mother’s ongoing ambivalence towards parenting as a significant risk factor to the safety of her children. Repeatedly, the mother’s periodic commitments to make a greater effort were interpreted as advances rather than the beginning of another cycle of incomplete tasks.

The workers also focused on the mother in relation to her oldest child while neglecting to adequately consider the safety of the mother’s two younger children, who were not wards of the Department. After learning the mother had become pregnant for the third time, the workers completed an Unusual Incident Report (UIR) seeking assistance in obtaining additional services for the family. At the time, the Department position of Teen Parent Coordinator was vacant and an administrator temporarily assigned to the post received the request.

The administrator provided an inadequate and generalized response that there were no specialty Pregnant and Parenting Teen (PPT) programs in their county and referred them to a Department website for general information. An OIG investigators’ review of available resources in the area identified several programs for pregnant and parenting youth, one of which works specifically with young mothers with multiple children, located near where the mother lived.

Eleven days after the mother’s fourth child was born, the mother awoke on the couch where she was sleeping with the infant and found him unresponsive. The infant could not be revived and was pronounced dead at a local hospital. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be suffocation as a result of co-sleeping and the mother was indicated for death by neglect.”

Case 2, page 34 of pdf, Death and Serious Injury Investigation 8:”Allegation: A 19 month-old boy died as a result of severe physical abuse inflicted by his mother’s boyfriend. The boy’s mother was a Department ward who lived with her son in a Transitional Living Program (TLP) at the time of his death.

Investigation: ” The mother had been a ward since she was two years-old when she was removed from her family in response to the severe physical abuse suffered by her then four month-old brother.

While placed in the home of her maternal grandmother, the mother was the victim of sexual abuse perpetrated by an older male relative beginning when she was nine years-old. At age 13, she was hospitalized after verbalizing suicidal thoughts and reported having flashbacks of her abuse. She was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and was prescribed psychotropic medication to manage her behavior.

A diagnosis of mood disorder was added the following year. Over the next few years she moved through numerous placements and demonstrated sporadic compliance with services, punctuated with episodes of erratic behavior. She was known to use marijuana and was injured at age 16 when a paramour struck her in the head with a piece of wood. She was often resistant to the efforts of child welfare workers to transfer or stabilize her placements and at one point went on run for four months when she did not agree with a decision to move her from a relative’s house to a traditional foster home.

At age 17, the mother arrived at an emergency shelter and disclosed she was five months pregnant and was continuing to use marijuana. The mother identified the father but said she was no longer involved in a relationship with him.

She was enrolled in the Department’s Teen Parent Services Network (TPSN) and a Child And Youth Investment Team (CAYIT) meeting was conducted to consider placement options. It was determined the mother should be placed in a Transitional Living Program (TLP) and it was recommended she complete a substance abuse evaluation, attend individual therapy and receive mentoring services.

Following the meeting, the mother tested positive for marijuana and ran away for 10 days. Upon her return the mother moved into the TLP and four months later she gave birth to her son. Throughout the time she resided in the placement the mother’s attendance at required meetings and sessions fluctuated.

Although she demonstrated an increased willingness to engage in services during the year after her son was born, she remained inconsistent in her participation. Workers documented numerous missed classes and counseling sessions and expressed frustration with the mother’s lack of follow through with tasks. Over time the mother’s commitment worsened and workers began expressing concerns about her care for her son. The mother eventually told staff she wanted to leave the TLP and enter a self-selected placement with her boyfriend.

After fifteen months of residing in the TLP the mother’s behavior began to deteriorate significantly. At a staffing called to address her frequent absences from the placement, the mother informed workers she was pregnant and had dropped out of school. The mother stated the TLP was too restrictive and expressed her desire to live with her family where she could enjoy more freedom. The mother agreed to remain in the program but continued to leave without permission on a consistent basis.

The mother ultimately decided to terminate her pregnancy and soon afterward ceased participating with TLP services altogether. In an interview with OIG investigators, the caseworker’s supervisor described the mother’s attitude as being ambivalent at another staffing held in an attempt to reengage her with services.

The supervisor stated the TLP was unable to provide effective services to the mother because of her frequent absences and that in retrospect, the case might have been better handled being transferred back to TPSN to provide services to the mother in her community. In her interview with OIG investigators, the caseworker stated she and other workers were concerned about the influence the boyfriend was having on her and that both he and the mother were unwilling to provide any identifying information about him.

Although the mother maintained contact with her son’s father and took the boy for visits with him, the father was never approached or engaged by workers involved with the mother’s case. The result of the staffing was an agreement to pursue placing the mother and her son in the home of her maternal aunt, where the mother said she and her son stayed when not at the TLP. Workers’ efforts to complete an assessment of the home were hindered by the aunt’s failure to make herself available to meet with workers.

Meanwhile, the mother continued to be absent from the TLP and did not maintain communication with staff. One week after a home visit was finally performed, the mother told the supervisor she wanted to return to the TLP.

When the mother made a subsequent visit to the TLP one week later to discuss her possible readmission she brought her son with her. It was the first time the caseworker had seen the boy in eight weeks. One week later, the mother arrived at the TLP seeking documents she needed for an Administrative Case Review (ACR) being held later that day. The mother told the caseworker that her son would not be present at the ACR because he had traveled out of state with his father and his family.

The caseworker had never met the boy’s father and had no information regarding how to contact him or his family. The mother told her she would provide the father’s contact information at a later time. Ultimately, the ACR was conducted without the mother because the worker agreed to begin the ACR at an earlier hour believing that the mother would not return. The mother did return but the ACR had already concluded.

One week after the ACR, and two weeks after the caseworker had last seen the boy, he was brought to a medical office by the mother and her boyfriend. The office receptionist observed the boy to be unresponsive and cold to the touch and called 911. The boy was transported to a hospital emergency room and was pronounced dead on arrival. His internal body temperature was 89 degrees, indicating he had been dead for several hours prior to being brought to the clinic.

Both the mother and her boyfriend were arrested at the hospital and charged with murder and endangering the life and health of a child. The boyfriend admitted to police he had struck the boy repeatedly and thrown him around the room after he continued to cry while the boyfriend was trying to sleep. The mother told police that one week earlier the boy had been badly burned on his legs by scalding water while in the care of the boyfriend. The mother stated she hid the boy’s burns and attempted to treat them herself because she feared the Department would take her son into custody if his injuries came to light.

The mother acknowledged the boy had never traveled out of state with his father and that she had concocted the story in order to explain his absence from her appointments with involved workers. A subsequent child protection investigation indicated both the mother and her boyfriend for death by abuse, head injuries, internal injuries, burns and cuts, welts and bruises. The mother was later convicted of endangering a child causing death and sentenced to three years in prison. The boyfriend is currently awaiting trial. ”

Cases 3 and 4, page 37 of pdf, Death and Serious Injury Investigation 9: “Allegation:
A three year-old boy died as a result of a stroke caused by a blood clot in his brain. The boy was a Department ward living in a traditional foster home placement at the time of his death. ”

A second case is woven into this one of a 4-year-old girl who suffered physical abuse from same foster parent. There is no explanation for why these two cases are listed as one case. Details of the girl’s case follow the boy’s case.

“Investigation:
The boy became a ward of the Department four months before his death after police encountered him and his mother at a train station. The mother was behaving erratically and verbalized paranoid delusions when speaking with the officers. The mother was transported to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation and the boy was taken into protective custody. After remaining in one placement for three weeks, the boy was transferred to the home of a non-relative foster mother. Prior to placing the boy in the new home, staff from the private agency handling the case advised the foster mother the boy had special needs and exhibited developmental delays.

Cause of death: Gunshot wound to the head

Perpetrator: Unknown

Reason For Review: Deceased was a ward

Action Taken: Investigatory review of records

Narrative : Eighteen-year-old ward was walking down the street around 7:00 p.m. on his way to play basketball when he was shot in the head. He was discovered by a passerby lying on the ground, unresponsive. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. A police investigation of the teen’s murder remains unsolved but open.

Prior History: The young man had been a ward of the Department since he was 2 years old. His mother lost all nine of her children to DCFS because of her substance abuse and resulting neglect of her children. The ward had been through numerous placements, including homes of relatives and potential adoptive homes. In 2009 his permanency goal was changed to independence and he was placed in a transitional living program where he was still living at the time of his death. The ward had a daughter who was born in June 2010. He was working and participating in services at the time of his death. ”

Case 6, page 71 of pdf, child no. 30: DOB 7/10 DOD 1/11

” Age at death: 5 months

Substance exposed: No

Cause of death: Undetermined

Reason For Review: Unfounded child protection investigation within a year of child’s death and closed extended family support services case within a year of child’s death

Action Taken: Investigatory review of records

Narrative: Five-month-old baby boy was found unresponsive by his 46-year-old maternal grandfather. The grandfather reported laying the baby on an adult bed and leaving for work. When he returned a couple of hours later, the baby was not on the bed and he assumed another family member had taken the baby and he returned to work. Later he discovered the baby face down and unresponsive in a pile of clothes beside the bed. He placed the baby on the floor of his van and went in search of the baby’s mother and grandmother who then took the infant to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Prior History: In August 2010 a police officer called the hotline to report that the 17-year-old mother had left the family home without her child and her whereabouts were unknown. The officer voiced concern about the newborn’s safety in the family’s apartment because the home was excessively cluttered with stacks of various items suggesting family members were hoarders. The report was investigated and unfounded because the family cleared and cleaned the apartment and the mother had written a care plan for her child to remain with the maternal grandparents. The case was referred for Extended Family Support Services to assist the grandmother in obtaining guardianship of the child. The maternal grandmother was awarded guardianship of the child the day before his death.”

Case 7, page 71-72 of pdf, child No. 31: DOB 9/10 DOD 1/11

“ Age at death: 3-1/2 months

Substance exposed: Yes, opiates (prescribed to mother)

Cause of death: Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI)

Reason For Review: Child was a ward

Action Taken: Full investigation pending

Narrative: Three-and-a-half-month-old infant was found unresponsive in a crib at the home of his unlicensed babysitter.

Prior History: The infant and his two sisters entered foster care two days after his birth. The infant was born exposed to opiates and his 27-year-old mother tested positive for opiates and benzodiazepines. Four months earlier, the mother had been indicated for substantial risk of physical injury to her 3 and 6-year-old daughters based on her prescription drug abuse and an intact family case had been opened. When the children were taken into custody, a foster home could not be identified for all three children so the two sisters were placed together in one home and the infant was placed alone in a newly licensed foster home. The foster mother, who was single and worked full-time, placed the infant in daycare with an unlicensed babysitter. When the baby died, the Department learned that the woman had been caring for more than three children in violation of the Child Care Act and a licensing complaint investigation was conducted because of the violation. In addition, the infant’s worker was disciplined for her failure to follow proper procedures for the baby to be cared for in an unlicensed day care home.”
Case 8, page 86-87 of pdf, Child No. 68 DOB 6/11 DOD 6/11

” Age at death: 6 days

Substance exposed: No, however, the mother has a history of substance abuse

Cause of death: Suffocation

Reason For Review: Child was a ward

Action Taken: Investigatory review of records

Narrative: Six-day-old ward was found unresponsive when his 27-year-old aunt awoke with the baby face down on her lap. The aunt had been sitting in an upright position and had placed the baby face down in a horizontal position on her lap to sleep. The aunt also fell asleep. The aunt called 911 and emergency personnel took the baby to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. The baby was placed with his aunt upon his release from the hospital because of his mother’s history with DCFS.

Prior History: The family has been involved with the Department since 1994. The mother was 15 years old when she gave birth to her first child in 1988. The deceased was the 38-year-old mother’s tenth child. The mother has a history of drug addiction and does not have any of her children in her care. Six of the ten children have been adopted; one child is in the guardianship of a relative; one child is in foster care with a relative; and two children are deceased. ”

Case 9, page 100 of pdf, Child No. 103 DOB 4/93 DOD 2/11

” Age at death: 17 years

Substance exposed: No

Cause of death: Seizure disorder

Reason For Review: Child of a ward

Action Taken: Full investigation pending

Narrative: Seventeen-year-old ward was found unresponsive in the morning in his hospital room. He had been in a psychiatric unit of the hospital for a little over a month. The ward had a history of seizures, but he was taken off his seizure medication while hospitalized.

Prior History: The ward’s mother has a history with DCFS dating to 1989 when she gave birth to her third child. Medical personnel were concerned about the 39-year-old mother’s ability to care for the child. Following an investigation, all three of the mother’s children were placed in foster care. When the deceased was born he also entered foster care. One of the siblings has aged out of DCFS care; a second sibling was adopted; and the third is in an independent living program.”

REFORM Puzzle Piece