How Could You? Hall of Shame-Jayden Matthew Villarreal case-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.

From San Antonio, Texas, 10-month old foster child Jayden Matthew Villarreal died on July 9, 2012. Jayden and his 5 siblings had been placed in 6 separate foster homes last fall.

The two reports that we have found so far conflict on whether Jayden was in a therapeutic foster home due to having drugs in his system last October when he was removed from his mother’s care.

KENS 5 says “Monika Villarreal saw her son last Monday [July 2, 2012] and was scheduled  to visit him this Wednesday [July 11, 2012].”
“Villarreal was placed on a safety plan last October. Her children were removed following Jayden’s birth. Traces of two drugs were found in his system.

Villarreal said she has been clean for one year and three months and wants her remaining five children home as soon as possible.

“We’ve done everything, everything they have asked, and still they’re putting obstacles in front of us, keeping us from our kids,” said Villarreal. “I need my kids as much as they need me.”

An autopsy is pending.”

KSAT says as of today, “Monika Villarreal still has not seen her son, Jayden Matthew Villarreal, since learning of his death on Monday.

“They gave me no explanation on why I can’t see him,” she said.” [Her rights have not been terminated! This is cruel!]

“Jayden had medical conditions but his mother said he was not in a medical foster home on Sunday when he was taken to North East Methodist Hospital after his foster mom found him unresponsive at home. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital about 11:30 p.m. and passed away at 12:41 a.m.

Villarreal did not learn of his death until 9 a.m. Monday.

“When I opened the door I saw two officers and I was like, ‘This is serious,'” said Villarreal. “My caseworker asked me to sit down and she just told me, ‘Jayden passed away.’ They didn’t call me from the hospital, they didn’t let me go see him at the hospital.”

A CPS spokesperson said they were first informed of Jayden’s passing at 1:34 a.m., and the information reached a supervisor about 4 a.m. Attempts to reach Villarreal didn’t begin until 8 a.m.

“They come out in the middle of the night to bother you. They come out in the middle of the night to take your children away,” said Villarreal. “I don’t know why they wouldn’t have done it to let me know about my son.”

Villarreal spent most of Tuesday afternoon visiting various funeral homes to make arrangements for her son. Arrangements made more difficult because of the family’s financial situation.

“We’ve had to go to three different funeral homes to try to find something that fits in that price range,” she said.

She and her husband have a court date in August to win back custody of their five other children. But for now, her focus remains on Jayden and her questions surrounding his death.

“They can’t answer why my son’s not here anymore,” she said. “I want to know why wasn’t I told sooner? Why couldn’t I have been there?”

Donations for funeral costs can be made in either Jayden’s name or his parents, Miguel and Monika Villarreal, by calling a Wells Fargo branch. The family is still working on funeral arrangements.”

Mom seeks answers after infant son dies in CPS foster care

[KENS 5 7/9/12 by Jamie Muñoz]

Woman learns of son’s death 9 hours later

[KSAT  7/11/12 by Charles Gonzalez]

REFORM Puzzle Pieces

 From disallowing the biological parent to visit the child to placing the children in 6 separate homes, Texas needs a foster care cleanup! Since no information has been disclosed yet on the foster parents, it is too early to tell whether homestudy issues were also part of the problem.