How Could You? Hall of Shame-Daphne Jackson 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 Houston, Texas, an unnamed 15 year old foster girl [At least give her name! ] was “killed Sunday morning [April 2, 2017 ]after she strayed into the road and was hit by a van in northwest Harris County.”

“She and another girl, who was injured in the wreck, fled a Houston-area CPS office and ended up with a group of teens miles away on Veterans Memorial.

The incident marks the first time a child has died while staying at a CPS office due to a lack of available foster placements.

Tragedy struck just before 3 a.m., when a group of teens was walking along the 111200 block of Veterans Memorial in an area without sidewalks. It’s not clear how the girls in CPS  met up with the other teens, or when exactly they fled the facility just over three miles away on Northpoint.

As the group headed down the roadway, a driver of a white Astro van traveling southbound saw the teens, but still crashed into the 15-year-old after she edged out into the roadway, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. The victim died in a nearby parking lot where she had been moved to get medical attention.

The other foster teen ended up with an arm injury and was taken to the hospital. She has since been released and is back in CPS care.

Neither of the victims was immediately identified and authorities did not provide information about how or when they escaped.

“One thing to keep in mind is children and young adults who are in foster care, they’re not in jail, they’re not detention facilities,” said CPS spokesman Patrick Crimmins. “But in terms of the exact circumstances, how they were able to leave the office and when the caseworkers found out is yet to be determined.”

Both of the teens were children without permanent placements, Crimmins said.

“They ought to be in a placement, but sometimes we just don’t have placements,” he added.

The death comes even as the Legislature has begun discussing solutions to make the beleaguered child protective system safer for neglected kids.

Last month, lawmakers in Austin moved forward a series of measures aimed at fixing long-running problems that have left children unchecked for months and, in some cases, sleeping in state offices.

CPS improvements have been on the radar of legislative leaders since it was revealed last year that state workers were failing to see thousands of children named in abuse and neglect cases.

In December, lawmakers approved more than $150 million in emergency funding to hire at least 800 new CPS workers and provide $12,000-a-year pay hikes in an effort to reduce turnover.

All the while, the system has been under the intense scrutiny of a federal judge overseeing a long-running class action suit on behalf of the more than 12,000 children in permanent state care.

In Sunday’s tragedy, it’s not clear what role the teens’ lack of placement played in their decision to leave.

After the crash, the van driver stopped and answered questioned and was released without charges, but the case is still being investigated by the sheriff’s Traffic Enforcement Division.

“It’s just an unbelievably tragic situation and we’re working with law enforcement on the investigation,” Crimmins said.”

Runaway foster teen killed while walking along roadway in NW Harris County [Houston Chronicle 4/2/17 by Keri Blakinger]

“The girl, 15, who had been staying in a Child Protective Services office in Houston, was hit and killed by a minivan on Sunday morning, according to a report from the Dallas Morning News. Another girl, 17, was injured in the incident but released from medical care. The two had been reportedly missing from the office for more than 10 hours and were walking on the side of the road. The 17-year-old had already run away from two different CPS offices within three days before the accident.”

Houston foster child death spurs concerns over placement shortages [The Texas Tribune 4/3/17 by Marissa Evans]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update: Thanks to commenter Diana for identifying Daphne Jackson!

“The teen girl who was struck and killed by a van early Sunday after escaping CPS care has been identified as a child who was listed as missing last year.

Daphne Jackson, 15, had been included on local and national missing child alerts after disappearing last August. According to Houston police, she was “recovered” in October.

Sunday’s incident marked the first time a child has died while staying in a CPS office because of the lack of available foster care placements. The death also highlighted the severe capacity shortage for foster children, particularly older children with serious medical, emotional, psychological or behavioral challenges.

Daphne and another girl left a CPS facility on Northpoint Drive in northwest Harris County where they were bunking overnight and eventually met up with other teens.

Around 3 a.m. Sunday, the group was walking in an area without sidewalks in the 111200 block of Veterans Memorial Drive when Jackson strayed into the road.

The driver of a white van traveling southbound saw the teens, but still slammed into the 15-year-old as she edged into the road, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

Daphne died in a nearby parking lot. The other girl, a 17-year-old whose name has not been released, sustained an arm injury. She was treated at a nearby hospital and returned to CPS care.

The van driver was questioned, then released without charges. The case remains under investigation by the sheriff’s traffic enforcement division.

At the time, both girls were considered “children without placement” – which meant that they ended up supervised by caseworkers in a state office.”

CPS teen killed Sunday has been identified [Houston Chronicle 3/5/17 by Cindy George]