Posted on 01/08/2003 3:58:48 AM PST by chance33_98
Edgar case raises questions about Kansas adoption system
By GRACE HOBSON
The Kansas City Star
The Kansas officials who gave a boy named Brian to Neil and Christy Edgar for adoption in 2000 had policies to make sure his new parents would provide a loving home.
But whether any of the state's policies were followed has not been disclosed. Kansas law, unlike Missouri's, shields such case files from public view -- even after a child has died.
Nine-year-old Brian Edgar's death has left some people frustrated that a public accounting of the case is not forthcoming, and it has raised questions about Kansas' transition to a privatized foster care and adoption system.
"I don't know whose confidentiality they are protecting," said Deann Lovell, former president of Foster Children of Johnson County. "The child is dead. ...All they're doing is protecting themselves. We as the taxpayers have the right to know who's not doing their job."
Kansas officials said they, too, were frustrated by the state's public information blackout. The state will hold staffers accountable for any lapses -- if there were any -- in the case, said Roberta Sue McKenna, Kansas' assistant director for foster care and adoption.
"I want the next child we take into custody to benefit from the pain this little boy experienced," said McKenna, the state's top adoption official. "I'm absolutely and totally committed to that."
Last week Neil and Christy Edgar and an acquaintance, Chasity L. Boyd, were charged with first-degree murder in Brian's death. Prosecutors said the boy suffocated after he was gagged and his mouth was taped shut.
McKenna said she and other officials at the state's Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services would review its records of Brian's adoption.
The records should show whether the state's policies were followed. They call for social workers to study the prospective adoptive home and visit the family monthly once a child has been placed there; for investigators to check the parents' backgrounds; and for social workers to scrutinize the parents' attitudes about discipline and child-rearing in training classes.
Even critics of Kansas' privatized child-welfare system say Brian's case is a rare exception and agree that most children who are placed in foster care or adopted through the state are safe.
One percent or less of foster children are found to be abused when in state care, according to reports from state monitors.
Two or three suspicious deaths have occurred in Kansas' foster care system in the past 10 years, but no charges have been filed, McKenna said. Among children who have been adopted from the state's foster care system, Brian is the second to die in at least 10 years. The previous case occurred in 1995 in Wichita.
McKenna, however, cautioned that no system was fail-safe. Social workers make critical decisions about vulnerable children every day, under pressure to work fast so that a child does not linger in a troubled home or miss an opportunity to get adopted.
"There are no crystal balls," McKenna said.
The Kansas Child Death Review Board, which examines the death of every child younger than 18 in the state, will conduct an in-depth review of the Edgar case. The board, led by a representative of the Kansas attorney general's office, comprises a pediatrician, state officials, child advocates, an investigator, a prosecutor, an educator, a forensic pathologist and a coroner.
The board's annual report, which will be released late this year, will offer recommendations stemming from any problems found in the Edgar case. As required by Kansas confidentiality laws, the board will not specifically mention Brian or refer to his case by name, McKenna said.
McKenna said she could not talk about the Edgar case specifically, because under Kansas law foster care and adoption records were closed.
She said, however, the state infrequently allowed those who strongly believed in corporal punishment to adopt a child.
Also, had social workers known that the Edgars planned to homeschool Brian, that would have raised another flag. An adoption by homeschooling parents would not have been allowed unless a top official approved it, McKenna said. State officials want foster and adoptive children to have regular contact with adults outside their families, she said.
"It would have been a big deal," McKenna said of the Edgars' decision to homeschool Brian.
The state has had more layers of oversight on cases since private agencies began overseeing adoption in 1996, McKenna said. Now, the contractors' social workers and state social workers are involved in the cases, she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...
"It would have been a big deal," McKenna said of the Edgars' decision to homeschool Brian.
HMMMMMMMMM
As far as home schooling goes, I note the total lack of statistics tha show home schoolers are "evil." This ranks right up with demonizing people who keep firearms in the home.
Fools. They must really think homeschooling is all about locking a kid up in a closet. Homeschooled kids spend more time interacting with a wider range of age groups than PS kids do and the adults in their lives are not all authoritarian NEA-bots. Homeschooling exposes children to a healthier notion of 'community'.
A lot of parents are frightened with the Ritalin and Prozac approach to education that is being pushed by the schools. Another contention is the lack of discipline and political thought that is being promoted. Almost every area is getting organized to form joint programs and getting homeschoolers to gather together for social and educational endeavors.
Please note that this Edgars case is an aberration and not the norm for Christian homeschooling parents.
Semper Fi
Indeed. He must have been one of those liberal home schoolers, because he sure as hell was not a conservative.
Hmmmm dittoes.
It's my personal experience that homeschooled children are more mature, well-balanced, educated and content than their peers.
Good question. I suppose they could 'review' it - but chances are the minute you pulled them from school you would be getting a call. Most likely there are stat regs stating you have to get permission first.
One percent or less of foster children are found to be abused when in state care, according to reports from state monitors.
Safe? I guess it all depends on how you define "safe." If you ask the kids themselves, they don't feel safe.
Interesting about the homeschooling. They let gays adopt you know? My neice (lesbian) had 2 foster kids and was going to adopt one (that she only had for one month) when she shot herself with her policewoman girlfriend's (also approved by the state) gun.
But I would be unfit, apparently. Nice.
My 16 year-old home-schooled son just chaired his first board meeting of the local amateur radio club last night. The club has over 80 adult members. My son was elected President of the club after serving for two years on the Board of Directors. He was elected to the board at age 13. He's also a senior in high school.
What a fine example of pure government ignorance. Strange, most people who interact with homeschooling children are impressed with how well "socialized" they are. This is true for my children. I've always credited it, at least in part, by the fact that they have opportunities to have regular contact with adults (actually persons of all ages) outside our family.
Apparently the state is unaware that children in goverment schools are placed in a classroom with agemates and one, perhaps two, adults for the majority of day.
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