How Could You? Hall of Shame-Anthony L. Puscavage case-Child Death and Lawsuit UPDATED

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  Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, “on Jan. 8, 2015, [foster child , 21-month-old ]Anthony [Puscavage] sustained a head injury and suffered from a large scrape on the back of his head, the complaint says. Two days later, Wilkes found Anthony unresponsive on a couch and called medics, who found the child with a blown pupil and barely breathing, the lawsuit says.

Medics brought Anthony to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, where doctors learned he suffered from bleeding in his brain, according to the complaint. Anthony died in surgery the same day.”

“The parents of a toddler whose death resulted in Luzerne County Children and Youth Services’ license being downgraded last year have filed a federal lawsuit alleging their boy died because incompetent caseworkers placed him in mortal danger.

The lawsuit, brought by Wilkes-Barre residents Nichole Puscavage and Anthony Cook on behalf of their son, 21-month-old Anthony L. Puscavage, names Luzerne County Children and Youth Services as well as the county itself as defendants.

The county, the complaint alleges, carelessly and recklessly disregarded the well-being of the child due its “sheer incompetence” coupled with a lack of follow-through and accountability.

“They want the public to believe that their highest priority is to protect children from injury and harm,” says the complaint, filed by Wilkes-Barre attorney Jonathan S. Comitz. “Unfortunately for the plaintiffs, and in particular young Anthony, this ‘value’ system served as the worst form of hypocrisy.”

The lawsuit seeks to force children and youth services to “fundamentally change the way in which they operate” by creating new policies and safeguards to prevent a similar tragedy, as well as the maximum amount of damages allowed by law.

Solicitor Vito DeLuca said the county had not been served papers in the suit as of Monday afternoon. When the county is served, DeLuca said he will notify county council and forward the lawsuit to the county’s insurance provider to prepare a defense.

According to the complaint, Anthony was removed from his parents’ care on Sept. 13, 2014, and placed with relatives, purportedly because their heat had been shut off. But in placing the child with a relative of Cook’s, children and youth failed to adequately evaluate the boy’s safety — including to conduct background checks called for in the agency’s own regulations, the complaint alleges.

As a result, the county didn’t realize the relative, who is not identified in court documents, has a “long prior history” including reports of child abuse and the fact that she lost custody of her own children to children and youth services, the complaint says.

The complaint alleges that “even a cursory review” would have turned up that information, yet the agency went forward with the placement and implemented a family service plan without consulting the parents.

In November 2014, the agency removed Anthony and placed him with Nichole’s mother, again without conducting any background checks, according to the lawsuit.

She, too, had an “extensive history” with child services and previously lost custody of her own children, the complaint says.

For the final months of his life, Anthony lived with his maternal grandmother, Brenda Wilkes, and her husband in Plymouth.”

“According to the lawsuit, an autopsy revealed a number of cuts and bruises in various stages of healing, as well as a history of poor feeding. The brain bleeding was the result of “traumatic abuse over time,” the complaint alleges.

According to a state report on Puscavage’s death, Wilkes “provided two explanations for the child’s injuries; he fell from the couch and he bangs his head when he has temper tantrums. According to the medical professionals who treated Anthony on the day of the incident, neither explanation of plausible …” The sentence continues, but the rest is redacted.

The case never resulted in criminal charges, with the death eventually ruled accidental. But it was a major factor in a state Department of Human Services decision to downgrade children and youth services’ license to operate to provisional status last year.

In response, the county submitted a corrective action plan, with the agency’s advisory board voting to create a committee that will investigate concerns levied by state regulators and address a staffing crisis that is cited as a reason behind operational and morale problems at the agency.”

Parents sue county over child’s death [Citizen’s Voice 1/12/16 by James Halpin]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update: “Luzerne County Children and Youth Services is involved in a “desperate attempt to obstruct and complicate” the relationship between the parents of a child who died after being placed in foster care and the attorney now suing the county on their behalf, according to documents filed in court Thursday.

Wilkes-Barre residents Nichole Puscavage and Anthony Cook filed suit against the agency in January 2016, accusing caseworkers of “sheer incompetence” for placing 21-month-old Anthony L. Puscavage into a Plymouth home where he died after sustaining a head injury in January 2015.

The lawsuit alleges the agency failed to perform even a “cursory review” before placing the boy with Puscavage’s mother and stepfather, Brenda and Kenneth Wilkes.

Brenda Wilkes, the plaintiffs allege, has an “extensive history” with child services and previously lost custody of her own children.

County officials have denied wrongdoing and are fighting the lawsuit.

They have since filed to appoint guardians to represent the plaintiffs, arguing that Cook is “significantly cognitively impaired” and that Nichole Puscavage, while maintaining custody of another child, does not have a permanent home and “continues not to act in her own best interests.”

In a response filed Thursday, Wilkes-Barre attorney Jonathan S. Comitz says the effort to “place a wedge between client and counsel is highly unprecedented and borderline unscrupulous.” Such a move is permissible only in cases with unrepresented parties, and Cook and Nichole Puscavage have representation, he argued.

Comitz challenges the allegation that the parents have shown themselves unable to care for themselves or their children without government supervision.

“Naturally, CYS is going to argue this point since that is their sole defense in the case,” Comitz wrote. “The same requisite ‘agency intervention’ cited by CYS is the same conduct that led directly to the death of (Anthony) and the degraded licensure. But for the ‘agency intervention,’ (Anthony) would still be alive.”

Anthony’s death was a major factor in the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services downgrading of the agency’s license to provisional status last year, citing shoddy background checks conducted in the case. A report by the department’s Office of Children, Youth and Families said adequate checks would have revealed Brenda Wilkes “had a long prior history with children and youth, including placement of her children, child abuse and termination of her parental rights.”

A state report on Anthony’s death indicated Brenda Wilkes gave differing stories about his head injury, alternately saying the child fell from the couch or banged his head during a temper tantrum.

The death was eventually ruled accidental.”

Agency faces lawsuit over death of child in foster care[Standard Speaker 1/2/17 by James Halpin]

Update 2:”Luzerne County officials settled a federal lawsuit with the parents of a child who died after being placed in foster care for more than a half-million dollars, according to a stipulation released Thursday.

Luzerne County Children and Youth Services and parents Nichole Puscavage and Anthony Cook settled the lawsuit for $550,000, of which the child services insurance carrier paid $450,000 and the insurance carrier for Luzerne County paid $100,000, according to the filing.

The parents reached the settlement with county officials in March 2017, but agreed to keep details of the settlement confidential.

The Citizens’ Voice, a Times-Shamrock newspaper, filed a Right-to-Know request seeking terms of the settlement, which county officials denied. Last June, the newspaper filed a motion asking U.S. District Judge Richard P. Conaboy to unseal the documents, with newspaper attorney Michael F. Cosgrove arguing they are a public record that should not have been sealed.

The county initially opposed the motion to unseal the settlement for a reason its attorneys argued was itself confidential.

In November, Conaboy directed the attorneys to confer about the motion to unseal, and county officials subsequently agreed to release terms of the settlement in the stipulation released Thursday.

The parents filed the lawsuit over the death of 21-month-old Anthony L. Puscavage, who died after caseworkers removed him and his brother from the family home in November 2014 because it did not have heat and the family was facing eviction.

Caseworkers then placed Anthony into the Plymouth home of a relative who “had a long prior history” of child abuse, according to state officials. Anthony died of blood clots in his brain after injuring his head in January 2015 in what was ruled an accidental death.”

Settlement with parents of child who died in foster care revealed

[Citizens Voice 2/2/18 by James Halpin]