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Texas, Four Feet Under: Failing our children: Gravedigger Andy Campagets angry when he has to open the ground for a child who died because ofabuse or neglect.
Four Feet Under: Failing our children
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/met....8fc59630.html Web Posted: 07/22/2007 03:01 AM CDT Nancy Martinez Express-News Gravedigger Andy Campa gets angry when he has to open the ground for a child who died because of abuse or neglect. Campa, a quiet man whose curly hair falls to his shoulders, works at Mission Burial Park South. This spring he dug a single grave in one of the cemetery's Baby Land sections for 14-month-old Sariyah Garcia and 4-month-old Sebastian Lopez, whose remains had been found wrapped in trash bags beneath a West Side triplex. The discovery of the children's bodies, which has led to two capital murder charges against their 19-year-old mother, Valerie Lopez, and a charge of injury by omission against her boyfriend, was the latest flash point in an ongoing crisis: Despite attempts to reform Child Protective Services, Texas is failing its children. Last fiscal year was the deadliest ever in Texas. In Bexar County, the deadliest was the previous fiscal year (September 2004 through August 2005), when a record 18 children died of abuse or neglect. The record was followed by 14 Bexar County deaths in fiscal 2006, according to CPS' count, which goes by fiscal year. But the accuracy of numbers released by the agency is thrown in doubt by a key omission. Its list for that year excludes at least two deaths that even CPS acknowledges were abuse — the fatal shootings of two siblings by their mother, Lani Carr Like many children on the list, Carr's kids died on the state's watch; CPS previously had investigated the mother on allegations of abuse. But though child abuse is on the rise and is widely viewed as one of society's most reprehensible crimes, the scope and causes of the problem remain little understood. That's partly because CPS records are confidential, making it almost impossible even to ascertain the names of children who die. It's also because of the initial uncertainties about cause of death, which are common in such cases. The result: relatively few headlines and little public scrutiny of a growing crisis. What did the children who died have in common? What prevailing factors were to blame? What measures might have saved them and might still save others? Answers are hard to come by. No agency, public or private, is responsible for analyzing abuse and neglect deaths only and discerning patterns or trends. And an all-volunteer child-fatality review team charged with reviewing all child deaths is woefully behind. Thanks to the crash of an antiquated computer system, its latest report was in 2003. Even if there were reports for the past three years, nothing besides a statistical overview of their contents would be public under the state's confidentiality laws. So the San Antonio Express-News spent 10 months compiling and examining information on a year's worth of abuse- and neglect-related deaths in Bexar County last fiscal year, the one in which CPS counted 14. CPS' records for that 12-month period ending Aug. 31, 2006, reveal a fatality rate in Bexar County that ranks third among the state's larger counties and is much higher than the national average. A review of police and autopsy records and interviews with sources and dozens of family members and child protection officials reveal common threads among the cases: Most victims were younger than 5, and many were babies. Most of the parents were in their early 20s. Most lived in poverty, with some residing within blocks of each other in predominately poor neighborhoods. CPS previously had investigated eight of the children's families on allegations of abuse or neglect; in fact, two had been placed in foster care. At least 10 of the children who died were children of unplanned pregnancies — the most notable and chilling exception being the baby Devon Arlene Vega brought into the world so she could replace another child CPS had removed from her care. Blame at many levels Vega pleaded guilty June 22 to beating to death her son David Lee Graves III. Vega alone will be punished; she was sentenced to 40 years with parole eligibility in 20. But, as in most child deaths, there is blame enough to go around, child advocates say. Criticism, sometimes wrapped in sympathy, is often directed at CPS. "The system is like a battered spouse," said District Judge Peter Sakai, who has 18 years of judicial experience, including associate judge in children's court from 1995-2005. "Whatever you want, they'll do. (But) there's no innovation, there's no spirit." Children's court Judge Richard Garcia said staff turnover is one of CPS' biggest challenges. "The problem is always that there's never enough caseworkers. But there's never going to be enough. They're doing the best they can, working their tails off. But it's like waves. It just keeps coming," Garcia said. "They've got to change the way they do things." In the deaths of the Sariyah and Sebastian, police shared the brunt of public outrage. An officer failed to remove the children from Lopez's home after seeing a cell phone video Nov. 10 that showed a wide red bruise on Sariyah's face. The officer referred the case to CPS, which, despite repeated attempts, was unable to locate Lopez before the children were found dead. In response, CPS and Police Chief William McManus earlier this month agreed to house CPS special investigators in each of the city's six police substations. Still, some child advocates say, the problem is as much societal as systemic and begs preventive measures, such as help with housing and day care. Some who love their children feel haunted the rest of their lives by a single moment of inattention or bad judgment. Lynda Bishop says she'll never forget the night of Sept. 17, 2005, when she found her 2-month-old daughter, Abigail, dead. After a night out, she and her live-in boyfriend returned home to find Bishop's 11-year-old daughter, whom Bishop had entrusted to watch five children, asleep on the couch. "Where is Abigail?" she asked her daughter. "Where is she?" That's when Bishop saw Abigail caught between the couch cushions, under Bishop's older daughter. Screaming, she pulled the body out. "It was too late," Bishop said. "She was blue." CPS ruled negligence in the baby's death because Bishop had left the children alone. The case fits with some of the prevailing patterns found among last year's 14 Bexar County deaths. Eleven of the children lived in ZIP codes with the highest concentrations of confirmed victims of child abuse and neglect, juvenile probation, Medicaid births, single-mother births, premature births and teen-mother births, according to data from the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. Most of the families could not afford children. Medicaid paid for the births of 12 of the 14 children. And the majority of families could not pay for the child's funeral or gravestone. Ron Morales, a social worker since 1973 who grew up on the city's West Side, said poverty is clearly a factor in child abuse deaths. "We have some very strong, good families on the West Side," said Morales, who has been spearheading a new program to prevent child abuse and neglect. "But for some of our families, when troubles start piling up, they feel like they're at risk for losing their job, they have marital issues and then a child gets sick and they can't afford the medication. The car breaks down and they already can't afford the light bill. These are real issues people deal with every day here. They begin losing faith and their ability to cope." By those standards, Bexar County kids in particular would seem at a disadvantage. Compared with children in Dallas and Harris counties, children here are more likely to live in poverty. Bexar County children also are less likely to get state health coverage through the Children's Health Insurance Program, according to the Center for Public Policy Priorities, an Austin-based policy research group. "The root causes of child abuse and child neglect are well-known: Poverty, substance abuse, individuals who are very young when they become parents, unemployment and financial stressors," said Jeannie Coale, an administrator with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services who is based in Austin. More than 60 percent of child removals in Texas occur in families with annual incomes of about $10,000 or less. CPS' treatment of minority children and families has been criticized, though not specifically in Bexar County. When the agency investigates complaints of abuse, it is more likely to remove children from African American families than from Hispanic and white families, according to a state study last year. To reduce the disparity CPS, among other actions, is giving new caseworkers anti-racism training. Experts warn not to paint all impoverished people with the same broad brush. Dr. Harry Wilson, who has testified as an expert witness in more than 100 child murder cases, including Andrea Yates' trial, said child abuse deaths happen when people lose control. "Deaths happen regardless of a person's background or social status," said Wilson, a pediatric pathologist in El Paso. Review team Still, discerning meaningful patterns among child deaths is helpful. That's what a group of 41 Bexar County volunteers is charged with doing. The group — a CPS director, doctors, nurses, law enforcement, a paramedic, a school principal and various child advocates — meets on the first Thursday of every month to review all unnatural child deaths, not just those thought to be caused by abuse or negligence. Collecting data is a big step in preventing child deaths, Vickie Ernst, co-chairwoman of the group, said. By law, the Bexar County Child Fatality Review Team is required to compile and release statistical information, such as cause and other social factors about deaths the team reviews. Ernst said the team looks closely not only at how the death happened, but how agencies responded to the child before and after the death. "What we're looking at is how we can improve and how can we try to make an impact in what happened," Ernst said. "We check to see if there is a need to educate medical professionals or parents." Whether word actually gets to them is anyone's guess. Ernst said members take the information back to their agencies. But the team does not issue public reports or recommendations based on its findings. As with CPS, anything more than statistics, including victims' names, is confidential. In fact, any public assessment of child deaths or of CPS' performance involves some degree of guesswork because the agency operates under a veil of secrecy that doesn't exist in many other states. In those states when a child dies, his or her child welfare records are opened to the public. Some states go so far as releasing names and details of the deaths on their Web sites. But in Texas, even information about the child's identity is, by law, permanently sealed. So some children die silently, offering up no lessons that might save another. State Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, sought to shed more light on child abuse with a bill in the last session requiring disclosure of the entire case file after a death, except for the child's name. The legislation failed. Responding to the proposal, CPS noted that "the federal government may find the bill violates federal child welfare confidentiality requirements which could result in a loss of federal funds." But federal authorities who administer federal funds to child agencies say CPS' release of the records in any form would not result in a loss of money because federal law actually encourages the release of records. Wendell Teltow, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Texas, a nonprofit based in Austin, believes that when a child dies, confidentiality of the CPS records should cease. "I understand the reason for confidentiality — it's to protect the child. But in the case of a death, it should be different," Teltow said. The reasons to release more information about child abuse and neglect deaths are clear, Teltow says. "The public needs to know," he said. "They hear about these horrible murders like the Andrea Yates case and others and they think that deaths are caused by horrible people. "But most of the time, the deaths aren't by horrible people." A system in peril When the death of a child is especially horrible and does make headline news — as it did with Jovonie Ochoa, who was starved to death and died on Christmas Day 2003, and Diamond Alexander, who was fatally beaten in 2004 — the public's outrage is usually directed at those suspected of killing the child and sometimes at the relatives and friends who, though there were danger signs, failed to report the abuse. Frustration with CPS is a constant. Politicians and child experts are quick to blame what they describe as a failed agency, overburdened with impossible caseloads that cause high turnover, poor investigations and failure to remove or otherwise protect at-risk children. That CPS often is familiar with and earlier investigated homes where children end up dying is cause for especially heated debate. Mary Walker, spokeswoman for the CPS San Antonio region, says CPS' culpability isn't always as cut-and-dried as portrayed by critics. "From one CPS investigation of a family to the next, the dynamics of the family often change. Some of the people living in the home may not have been a part of the household when CPS was previously involved. This happens often with live-in boyfriends," she said. "CPS also sees cases of children living in one home with one set of family members who, months later, are turned over to other family members without our knowledge. CPS also see cases of a child who was unblemished one day and dead days later." Scrutiny of CPS isn't new; the department itself has pointed out its flaws. In 1998 the agency published a report that focused on child abuse and neglect deaths, mainly acknowledging the first large spike in child abuse fatalities — from 103 deaths in fiscal 1997 to 176 in fiscal 1998. Since then, the number has surpassed that spike and soared. A 2004 report by the CPS inspector general came down hard on the department, citing deep, systemic problems and calling CPS' child death investigations a convoluted process with minimal accountability. Brian Flood, the inspector general, recommended long-term monitoring by an outside agency. Though court orders around the country have forced some child welfare agencies to submit to independent oversight, Texas has not adopted Flood's recommendation. An expansive legislative reform of CPS, a $248 million effort that went into effect two years ago, resulted in new ways of assessing the risk of a child being hurt, thousands of additional staffers and a small caseload reduction for caseworkers. But problems persist. Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform based in Alexandria, Va., said too many Texas children are being removed when their families should instead be rehabilitated. Referring to the impact of reform, Wexler asked rhetorically: "Have the children stopped dying?" Child abuse and neglect deaths reached 227 last fiscal year, the highest since records were first published in 1997. Harris County, the state's most populous, had the highest rate, 3.85 per 100,000 children. Travis County had the second-highest rate, 3.68. Bexar County ranked third, with 3.31. In contrast, the national death rate was 1.96 deaths per 100,000 children in 2005, the latest year for which statistics were available, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. When the Texas Legislature in 2005 passed the $248 million reform bill that beefed up investigations, it did very little to prevent child abuse. A major part of the reform, privatizing some CPS services, was dropped this session. Instead, lawmakers funded more caseworkers to deal with the thousands of child removals. Now, inexperienced, overburdened CPS caseworkers are dealing with more children than they can find foster homes for. The number of children in state custody has risen from 35,000 in fiscal 2004 to 46,000 children in fiscal 2006. Locally, District Judge Andy Mireles said Bexar County courts held a record 8,234 hearings last fiscal year — 803 of which were for new removals. With no place to put the children removed from their families, some have had to spent nights in CPS buildings and motels. Wexler said the overwhelmed caseworkers represent a system in peril. He said child fatalities often cause caseworkers to overcompensate by removing more children and flooding an already crowded system. "You stop taking away so many children needlessly and workers would have the time to find those who need to be removed," he said. "If Texas keeps doing what they're doing, more children will end up dead." Even critics of CPS say the agency might be facing an impossible task. "When you look at the size of the department against the child population — given that over half of those children live in homes that are economically disadvantaged — you begin to see that CPS' response is going to be a limited one, and to some extent, a random one," said Scott McCown, a former district judge who is now executive director for the Center for Public Policy Priorities, a nonprofit advocacy group in Austin. Too often that leaves children at risk. Buried side by side So many infants are buried at Mission Burial Park South that three corners of the cemetery are called Baby Land. The little graves are too close for a backhoe. Instead, three men dig manually as a team, each standing on the broad edge of his shovel until the blade sinks into the earth. Digging a grave this way, which takes about two hours, is a backbreaking job — and a heartbreaking one. Some of the children buried here died because of abuse or neglect. Andy Campa knows which ones. The days he buries them are especially hard. When Campa readied graves for Sariyah and Sebastian, he used a backhoe because the hole was bigger than usual; the siblings were buried together in an adult-size grave. The process started with a spray-painted red X on the ground. A backhoe excavates two loads of dirt. One man running the backhoe takes 10 minutes to dig a grave. It was Brett Hensley, Campa's supervisor, who decided the tiny bodies of Sariyah and Sebastian should be buried in the single grave. He couldn't fathom asking the family to choose which body to lower first. Campa dug the grave two days before the funeral, wondering as he worked why CPS didn't intervene in time to save the children. Hensley watched Campa work under a gray sky. His staff had cut a wooden slab and painted it white. On the slab the two caskets would be lowered side by side into the grave. Saddened by the thought of crowding the babies, Hensley would make sure the caskets didn't touch. "To give them," he said, "a little breathing room." CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NSA / CIA WIRETAPPING PROGRAM.... CPS Does not protect children... It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even killed at the hands of Child Protective Services. every parent should read this .pdf from connecticut dcf watch... http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US These numbers come from The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN) Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS *Perpetrators of Maltreatment* Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59 Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13 Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241 Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12 Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5 CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING HUNDREDS OF INNOCENT FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON... BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION... |
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