Mother angry after her son dies in foster

SeattlePI ^ | 12/18/02 | Associated Press

[ladysusan]

SALEM, Ore. -- The biological mother of the toddler who vanished this weekend and was later found dead in a nearby creek attacked the state's child protective system in a statement issued Monday.

Rebecca Adams, 25, of Keizer said she is concerned about the safety of her 4-year-old daughter, who is living with the same foster family that cared for the toddler.

"Am I going to lose another child to this family or to the system?" Adams, 25, said. "My children were supposed to be in a safe family in a safe home. This was never supposed to happen."

Neither police nor social-service professionals would release the foster parents' names Monday, citing confidentiality.

But police said yesterday that an autopsy showed drowning was the cause of death for 2-year-old Travis Adams.

"There was no indication of other injuries and no indication of foul play," Salem police Lt. Bill Kohlmeyer said.

"It appears he wandered away from the home and fell into the creek, which was swollen by heavy rains, and he was swept downstream," Kohlmeyer said.

The case will be reviewed by the Marion County District Attorney's Office after all reports are received, he said.

Four more foster children remain at the home, including Travis' sister. There are no plans to move them, said Patricia Feeny of the state Department of Human Services.

[ladysusan]

Right. The kid is neglected and wanders away, falls into a creek and drowns, but there is no plan to move the other children out of the foster home.

[f.Christian]

Parents in... jail(link)---foster care!

[mbynack]

Why was the kid in foster care to begin with? Neither family is going to win "parent of the year" awards.

[ladysusan]

Well, I don't know why the kid was in foster care. I do know that in some states, the foster care system removes children and it is only later determined that there was no cause. There was just an article I posted here on CPS in Missouri, for instance, that stated "Drawing upon data submitted to the federal government by the Division of Family Services (DFS), CPS Watch has found that a whopping 77% of the children placed in foster care during 2000 were taken from homes where investigators had determined allegations of child abuse or neglect were unsubstantiated. " The article is titled , "Children Being Taken From Parents State Finds Innocent, CPS Watch Reports" I posted it on November 19, 2002. If I knew how to do a link to the article, I would.

Why are they doing it? For the money. Missouri receives over a $1,000.00 per month in federal Title IV-E funds per child it places into foster care.


I would never presume guilt or culpability on the parents' part where CPS is involved. Foster care is a for profit business much as adoption is a for profit industry. I'd want to hear more about the facts of the case before I came to any conclusion. It's entirey possible that this mother is completely innocent.

The FACT remains: the child died from negligence while in foster care.

[mbynack]

I imagine that being a social worker is pretty thankless. If you take a child away from a parent because someone alleged abuse you get dragged over the coals. If you leave the child with the parents and the child IS being abused you're raked over the coals. No matter what you do you're going to make someone angry. Most of these folks are doing the best they can for the kids.

As for the $1000 per child, I bet it doesn't come close to covering the actual cost of the investigations and administration of each case.

[ladysusan]

Plenty of jobs are thankless, including being a nurse/teacher/staff member of any sort/ retail worker/ police or fire man. So what? No one is holding gun to their head. They do this voluntarily.

Here is an excerpt from the article on Missouri that I cited:

"Researchers for the report concluded that DFS is likely removing non-victim children to collect federal money. According to the report, DFS receives $1,091.62 per month per child in foster care from federal Title IV-E funds.

"As soon as I take a kid out of a home, I begin to earn federal money for the cost of caring for that child," said Gary Stangler, who resigned as Director of Missouri's Department of Social Services. "All of the federal incentives are in the institutional side."


Does that sound like state social workers are thanklessly trying to help chidren in need, or thanklessly helping themselves to federal funding?

Honestly, we ned to open our eyes and examine our own assumptions about our child welfare system in this country. From CPS to foster care to adoption, the system stinks. It's not about child welfare, it's about MONEY. Lots and lots of MONEY.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Neither family is going to win "parent of the year" awards.

Home-schooling is considered grounds for the state to snatch a child in some jurisdictions, and home-schooling parents are some of the finest parents around.

You have far too much faith in the state.

[mbynack]

The case workers don't ever see any of this money. They're salaried and don't make any extra money for putting kids in foster care. You make it sound like they run around the streets grabbing kids to collect a bounty.

About 15 years ago a friend of mine went to work for child welfare. The requirements were a graduate degree and it paid less than $20,000 a year. The folks I know that do this type of work aren't in it for the money.

[paul51]

A two year old wanders away and the authorities aren't concerned because there is no evidence of foul play or other injuries? Great

[AppyPappy]

The foster family has probably already asked if their money will be cut in half now.

[ladysusan]

The one getting the "bounty" is the agency they work for.
The socialists, er, I mean social wreckers, er, I mean social workers draw a paycheck. They know what it is they do, but they do it anyway. It's how they make their living. They are the agents by which the state exploits families and childdren.


They know in great detail the harm that they do.

[ladysusan]

No doubt.

And the state protects their identity!

Yet the bereaved mother is known now as a woman who lost her kids to CPS. Nothing is said about how that happened. The family is presumed guilty by virtue of the actions of a poorly paid government worker with a questionable agenda.

[ladysusan]

Paul,
The "authorities" are the ones who removed the kid in the first place. It doesn't say why. The "authorities" are simply covering their hineys until all this blows over.

[ladysusan]

She does indeed. Oregon has a history of this to start with, and now this.

[mbynack]

Unfortunately it's cases like this that make the papers and not all of ones where kids were taken out of abusive or dangerous situations and placed in good foster homes.

I'm sure that there are bad examples out there, but most foster parents aren't doing this for the $200 a month they get from the state and most social workers and sadistic bastards that enjoy taking kids from their parents.

There needs to be some safety net to protect kids from abusive parents and this is what's evolved. If it's not working how about proposing a better system. I'm not being sarcastic, if you have ideas how about sharing them and maybe we can fix some of the problems instead of pointing fingers and complaining.

[mbynack]

Para 2 should read "most social workers aren't sadistic bastards that enjoy taking kids from their parents."

[ladysusan]

I think that making social workers and their bossses accountable in the courts is a good start.

[BADROTOFINGER]

"Am I going to lose another child to this family or to the system?" Adams, 25, said. "My children were supposed to be in a safe family in a safe home. This was never supposed to happen."

Drama queen b!!ch. Her kids were supposed to be in a safe family home? What was wrong with your home, Ms. Adams? Hmmmmm?...JFK

[ladysusan]

Her kid died in state care. He died due to the negligence of a state employee- a foster parent.
Case closed.

[BADROTOFINGER]

My point exactly. She is ultimately to blame, and comes up a victim...JFK