How Could You? Hall of Shame-Lillianna Burt case-Child Death 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 Providence, Rhode Island, foster parents of 6-month-old Lillianna Burt “found her unresponsive with a blanket covering her head around 6:35 a.m. on Dec. 16 [2015] at their Veazie Street home.

She was pronounced dead less than an hour later at Hasbro Children’s Hospital. A cause of death hasn’t been determined.

DCYF officials say Burt was placed in the home on Sept. 20. The residence was never licensed between then and the day she died.

An Executive Office of Health and Human Services spokesman says the foster family included a relative of Burt’s and the home was in the process of obtaining a license.”

“The state Department of Children, Youth and Families is investigating”it.

Police: Baby died at unlicensed foster home in December [Turn to 10 1/22/16 by AP]

“An infant in state care died in an unlicensed foster home last month.

According to a report from the Providence Police Department, 6-month-old Lillianna Burt was found unresponsive with a blanket over her head at 6:35 a.m. on Dec. 16. Her foster mother, 25-year-old Ashley Chagnon, called 911 from a Providence home on Veazie Street while her foster father, 36-year-old Elmouatamid Abdullah, performed CPR.

The child was pronounced dead less than an hour later at Hasbro Children’s Hospital.

The state Department of Children, Youth and Families, which is responsible for children in state care, said the child had been placed in the foster home on Sept. 20, but the home was never licensed between then and the day the child died.

Michael Raia, a spokesman for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, said the foster family included a relative of the child and was “in the process of being licensed by our licensing division.” The DCYF would not provide an explanation of how the child and foster family were related as the “circumstances surrounding the death remain under investigation.”

The child was in the home because state law allows a child to immediately be placed with a relative foster family “after the department has conducted a DCYF background check … and a statewide criminal record background check,” which were completed on Sept. 20. State law then allows the child to remain in the unlicensed home for up to six months.

Denis Riel, a senior adviser to Chief Strategy Officer Jamia McDonald, said a child protective investigator from the DCYF has been assigned to the case and has not yet made any determinations regarding abuse or neglect. The child had special medical needs, though the DCYF would not specify what they were.

According to the police report, Kerry Burke, an investigator for the Office of the State Medical Examiners, was called to the scene to do a “reenactment of the events that took place that morning.” Joseph Wendelken, a spokesman for the state Department of Health, said the office has not yet determined a cause of death.

Regina Costa, the state’s child advocate, said she is not investigating and will review the case with the DCYF.

The child advocate heads the independent office responsible for protecting the legal rights and interests of children in state care. The office lists those rights as the “right to appropriate placement, health care and education, and to be treated with dignity and respect.”

The office can — but is not required to — initiate formal investigations into the death of any child with a connection to the DCYF and issue public reports with recommendations for reforms.

The police report states Abdullah, the foster father, saw the infant alert at 2:30 a.m. on Dec. 16 when he changed her diaper and fed her. Four hours later, she was found “lifeless and limp and had blue lips,” according to police.

Abdullah and Chagnon have three daughters — ages 5, 2 and 9 months — who live with them. Neither Abdullah nor Chagnon could be reached.

Asked if the DCYF had received any complaints about the foster family, Riel said the agency will not release such information. Raia said the DCYF has also convened an “internal review board” for the case as the result of a new draft policy that aligns with national standards for reviews of child fatalities and near fatalities. That board is scheduled to review its findings with the Office of the Child Advocate next week.

Including Burt, four children died in state care in 2015.

Governor Raimondo announced last year that she will not reappoint Costa, whose term will expire March 31. Three candidates to replace Costa have been sent to the governor from a search committee.

It’s not clear whether Costa will continue in state government. According to the state treasurer’s office, Costa is not eligible to collect her full pension benefit unless she is employed by the state into 2018.”
6-month-old dies in R.I. foster home [Providence Journal 1/21/16 by Jennifer Bogdan]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update: “State health officials say a 6-month-old girl who died in an unlicensed foster home in Providence was asphyxiated in an unsafe sleeping environment.
The Providence Journal reports (http://bit.ly/22Wd09o ) an autopsy determined that Lillianna Burt’s cause of death was “asphyxia due to an unsafe sleeping environment and prone position.”

Prone position is a sleeping position in which an infant is placed face down on his or her stomach.
Burt’s foster parents found her unresponsive with a blanket covering her head the morning of Dec. 16 at their home. She was pronounced dead at Hasbro Children’s Hospital.
The state Department of Children Youth and Families say Burt was placed in the home in September. The residence was still awaiting a license as a foster home.”

Officials: Baby died from asphyxia in unlicensed foster home [Clay Center The Dispatch 3/29/16 by AP]