How Could You? Hall of Shame-CPS caseworker Rotchana Madera 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 Denver, Colorado, a former Denver child protection worker,Rotchana Madera,27, “falsified records to make it look like she had checked on a newborn baby later beaten to death even though she did nothing to protect the infant, the district attorney’s office said Wednesday.

The caseworker, who quit her job the same day the baby died, is accused of entering false reports in the state child welfare computer system.”

“Rotchana Madera, 27, allegedly lied about visiting the baby at the hospital shortly after she was born and tested positive for marijuana, and about visiting the family home where infant Natalee Skinner-Hurst was severely beaten when she was 2 months old. The baby girl died July 31, four days after she was beaten.

The infant’s mother, 21-year-old Kelsy Newell-Skinner, faces charges of child abuse and murder.

The former caseworker was charged with forgery, tampering with physical evidence and official misconduct by Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey.

The rare prosecution of a child protection caseworker has raised more questions about workload and systemic problems within the child welfare system. Madera was juggling 25 cases — about twice as many as co-workers — when she was assigned to look into a child abuse complaint involving the baby’s family, which included four other children.

Denver Human Services reviewed all other cases handled by Madera after she resigned, communications director Julie Smith said. The agency also has reinforced efforts by supervisors to keep closer watch on caseworkers to make sure they are not overwhelmed, she said.

“We all get hurried sometimes, but that is never an excuse to not follow law,” Smith said. “We know that the overwhelming majority of our workers really do great work. We do have to hold people accountable because we are responsible for protecting the most vulnerable among us.”

Neither Denver Human Services nor the district attorney’s office could recall any other case in which a Denver child protection worker was charged with falsifying work. “Thankfully, this is a rare set of circumstances,” said district attorney’s spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough.

False information

Madera is accused of accessing the state child welfare computer system numerous times after baby Natalee was beaten and hospitalized — about three weeks after she had recommended there was no need for further investigation of the family and the county should close the case.

The caseworker reported that she visited Natalee twice in the hospital after she was born, yet hospital staffers said she never visited the newborn. Hospital staffers had told child welfare authorities that Natalee’s mother had given birth with drugs in her system.

Madera also wrote that she received a voice message from the hospital staff informing her the newborn had tested negative for substances at birth. Yet in truth, the baby had tested positive for marijuana and the hospital worker was on vacation on one of the days Madera said the calls had occurred, according to an arrest affidavit.

Another entry by Madera says she inspected the home when both parents were there and found it clean with plenty of food. She wrote that there were no bruises or marks on the children and no signs of abuse or neglect. Yet the baby’s family members said Madera never visited the home, nor did she call.

Notes in shredder?

Madera did little to investigate the case and recommended closing it in early July, about three weeks before the baby was beaten, according to the affidavit. Her supervisor declined to close the case because the paperwork was incomplete, including missing notes about interviews with the baby’s father.

After the baby was beaten and hospitalized, the supervisor asked Madera why she had not documented interviews in the computer system as she had been asked to do weeks earlier. Madera said her notes were in the office shredder. But when the supervisor had the shredder opened, it contained no notes.

Denver Human Services officials asked the state’s child welfare watchdog in September to look into the abuse case after their internal review uncovered problems. Normally, requests for independent reviews come from the public, not the county child welfare department being investigated.

Besides concerns raised by the hospital after Natalee’s birth in May, child welfare authorities also were asked to check on the family in June by a Longmont teacher. Allegations included that the mother had slammed one of the other children’s heads into a bathtub.

In the hours before the baby’s death, in July, her mother sent text messages to an ex-boyfriend — who is father to three of her children — that said her baby had been injured and asked him to come over. One text from Newell-Skinner said she “must have been very drunk last night because she just woke up and the baby has been beaten,” according to Newell-Skinner’s arrest affidavit. The ex-boyfriend called Newell-Skinner’s mother, who took the baby to a hospital.

Doctors at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora called police the night Natalee was brought in with severe bruising on her head, a swollen left eye, fractured ribs and a bite mark on her thigh.

Madera was released from custody on $5,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 5. She could not be reached for comment. She worked at Denver Human Services about one year.”

Denver caseworker charged with falsifying records in fatality case[Denver Post 1/22/15 by Jennifer Brown]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update: “A former Denver Human Services caseworker accused of falsifying reports in the case of a 2-month-old girl who was hospitalized with skull fractures and later died has pleaded guilty.

The Denver District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday that 27-year-old Rotchana Madera pleaded guilty last week to forgery and official misconduct. She was given a two-year deferred sentence on the forgery count and two concurrent years of probation for the misconduct count.

Madera was accused of entering false information in the official case tracking system about her work on an assigned case last year.

Colorado Child Protection Ombudsman Dennis Goodwin has said there was no record that Madera did a house visit or saw the victim as she indicated in her reports. Investigators say she was behind in her work.”

Former Denver caseworker sentenced for misconduct [9 News 5/27/15 by Associated Press]