DSS summary of services for Zahra

[ynotdivein]

They don't always do their jobs. They don't always follow up. They don't always take the time.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/special_packages/inquirer/child_welfare/Girl_wasted_away_under_DHS_care.html
Child Welfare in Philadelphia
Girl wasted away under DHS care
City review of teen's neglect was key to ouster of leadership.
by John Sullivan, Ken Dilanian, Craig R. McCoy and Nancy Phillips

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/6894036.html
Houston's Child Protective Services too often fails to protect victims
Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle
March 2, 2010, 8:03PM

Just a few cases but there are many more where CPS did not do their job. And yes I agree that people should report suspected child abuse and people did call about Zahra. In the first link above CPS was supposed to visit twice a week and when the 14 year child died she weighed 46 pounds. CPS did not killl Zahra but they failed to protect her from being killed.

okie, ITA that the agency/system utterly and totally failed Zahra. The way CPS is run/funded in our day and age almost guarantee that they will fail to do what they are charged to do (and this is not to dishonor the brave and upright people who work for this agency and do their best with what little they have).

But for me the blame for not doing enough to prevent this will always begin with and end at the feet of Zahra's one blood relation here in the US: her father, Adam Baker. The first time he turned his head away from what surely must have been obvious and clear signs of abuse, he essentially condemned his little girl to the death she eventually met. The second time he turned his head away from obvious and clear signs that his new "wife" was not only abusing him, but Zahra as well, he signed her death warrant. I don't know what possibly could have distracted him enough that he did not notice 4 DSS visits, bruises, or the fact that he apparently hadn't seen his daughter for two weeks before reporting her missing--barring an exceptionally low IQ test for that man, I cannot see a way clear to absolve him of any crime.

CPS is a broken system and they share some culpability here. But Adam Baker is a neglectful father, and IMO, ultimately responsible for putting Zahra in harm's way and then utterly failing to protect her, defend her, uphold her dignity... OK I stop now. :banghead:

 

[Aedrys]

IMO, it appears as though DCF followed through on each and every complaint interviewing Elisa, Zahra and Adam. What more can DCF do if after interviewing everyone and it appears as though there is no abuse.

It's not DCF's fault that Zahra died, the blame is within the household of the adults caring for Zahra.

What people need to start doing is call the police FIRST when they see a child is being abused rather then DCF. Let the police come down and interview the family and then let the police get DCF involved.

If people can call the police when a spouse is being abused, or an animal, then they need to start calling the police when they feel a child is being abused.

I agree, but I just wanted to say I used to work for DHS in Oklahoma as a file room clerk, and sometimes, what I heard was that workers were more worried about following policy to the letter to cover DHS legally than actually checking out claims of abuse. It sounds to me like these claims were followed to the letter regarding policy, but not really investigated like they should have been. As long as they had their i's and t's dotted and crossed, that was good enough. And sadly, that is NOT good enough for our children in this country.

 

[Patty G]

I agree, but I just wanted to say I used to work for DHS in Oklahoma as a file room clerk, and sometimes, what I heard was that workers were more worried about following policy to the letter to cover DHS legally than actually checking out claims of abuse. It sounds to me like these claims were followed to the letter regarding policy, but not really investigated like they should have been. As long as they had their i's and t's dotted and crossed, that was good enough. And sadly, that is NOT good enough for our children in this country.

I never thought I would say this, but my son is now dating someone that works for DCF. I haven't met her yet, but she use to be a case worker and now holds another position. Eventually down the road I will meet her and then discuss in detail how the system works and fails. His GF is with DCF in Florida! :crazy:

 

[okiedokietoo]

okie, ITA that the agency/system utterly and totally failed Zahra. The way CPS is run/funded in our day and age almost guarantee that they will fail to do what they are charged to do (and this is not to dishonor the brave and upright people who work for this agency and do their best with what little they have).

But for me the blame for not doing enough to prevent this will always begin with and end at the feet of Zahra's one blood relation here in the US: her father, Adam Baker. The first time he turned his head away from what surely must have been obvious and clear signs of abuse, he essentially condemned his little girl to the death she eventually met. The second time he turned his head away from obvious and clear signs that his new "wife" was not only abusing him, but Zahra as well, he signed her death warrant. I don't know what possibly could have distracted him enough that he did not notice 4 DSS visits, bruises, or the fact that he apparently hadn't seen his daughter for two weeks before reporting her missing--barring an exceptionally low IQ test for that man, I cannot see a way clear to absolve him of any crime.

CPS is a broken system and they share some culpability here. But Adam Baker is a neglectful father, and IMO, ultimately responsible for putting Zahra in harm's way and then utterly failing to protect her, defend her, uphold her dignity... OK I stop now. :banghead:

I totally hear what you are saying and it is hard not to hold Adam responsible but I think that he just didn't see it, maybe didn't want to see it. I don't want to sound condescending, but, to me, Adam appears simple, gullible and naive. I can totally believe EB telling him something along the lines that Zahra had become shy, was starting to develop and for him not to walk in on her in her room. Maybe told him that Zahra had told her she didn't want him walking into her room anymore. To me, he seems like a person that went to work early, thought about nothing but work at work and came home late. And when he got home "honey bunny" told him all was wonderful, except Zahra got dizzy and fell in the bathroom. And his use of the word "puberty" on the 911 call, when he sort of laughed, to me was an embarrassed laugh. I don't think that word was ever a part of his vocabulary. Menstruation starts during puberty. I think EB told him that this was happening and to me, Adam seems like the type of person that wouldn't have known how to handle this nor what to say to his daughter. He would have left it to EB. So to me might explain why he never entered her bedroom, but just looked in on her from the door.
Totally speculating here but it makes sense to me.
I think EB manipulated and fooled Adam and and and CPS should have taken into account the other calls about EB and in the least put more effort into checking Zahra.

 

[marspiter]

I'm honestly not surprised by this. Of course I'm some what jaded with all levels of the justice system in Catawba county so take my opinions with a heavy dose of salt. Which is one of my main reasons for staying out of this particular case. The main problem with DSS is that the entire system is based on a reactionary stance instead of being proactive. Sadly in most cases tragedy has to happened before DSS does or can do the right thing. The other thing that makes it hard is that Zahra was not in school. Where teachers have to do mandatory reporting. To me that should have been an immediate red flag for DSS.

I don't blame DSS for what happened to Zahra but it is sad that the system that should have protected her failed her. The responsibility of what happened to Zahra falls directly on the step-mother and father. Yes Adam is not charged but it was his daughter and ultimately she was his responsibility.

(all mho)

 

[WhyaDuck?]

NC agencies questioned about handling Baker case

Published Tue, Feb 22, 2011 04:17 PM
Modified Tue, Feb 22, 2011 04:17 PM

By MITCH WEISS and TOM BREEN - Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Critics are questioning how social service agencies handled investigations of child abuse in the case of Zahra Baker, whose stepmother has been charged in the girl's death.

Kristie Pope founded The Zahra Project partly to get new laws passed based on the Australian girl's case. Pope says multiple reports of abuse in the Baker home should have sent up warning flags for investigators.

More:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/02/22/1007143/nc-agencies-questioned-about-handling.html

 

[tlcya]

I have never understood the practice of calling alleged abusers ahead of time to let them know when you plan on stopping by to investigate the home and the children. To me that just seems very counter productive. A home visit should allow investigators an opportunity to see the home as the child lives in it, not after a whirlwind of cleaning, laundering, bathing and trip to the grocery store, not to mention giving time for bruises to fade and children to be coached and threatened prior?

I will never understand that policy. I think home visits should be a surprise. How else are investigators to see what that home situation is really like? Not what the home looks like after its been prepped for a visit from authorities.

 

[WhyaDuck?]

I have never understood the practice of calling alleged abusers ahead of time to let them know when you plan on stopping by to investigate the home and the children. To me that just seems very counter productive. A home visit should allow investigators an opportunity to see the home as the child lives in it, not after a whirlwind of cleaning, laundering, bathing and trip to the grocery store, not to mention giving time for bruises to fade and children to be coached and threatened prior?

I will never understand that policy. I think home visits should be a surprise. How else are investigators to see what that home situation is really like? Not what the home looks like after its been prepped for a visit from authorities.

I agree, but I think it is often a safety precaution. Where I am from, social workers have been shot at for showing up unannounced.

 

[WhyaDuck?]

Zahra Baker Case To Be Reviewed By State

State law says that any time Social Services is involved with a family and that child dies within one year, there's an intensive review to see if the death could have been prevented. The investigation will begin locally with all the key players, including Zahra's schools, DSS offices, emergency responders and the district attorney. Their findings will then be passed on to a state review team.

Brett Loftis, executive director of the Council for Children's Rights, is part of the state review team. He said the process will likely center around how DSS handled the multiple reports of abuse before Zahra's death.

"This tragic case really highlights one of the big policy issues we focus on, which is the fact that each Department of Social Service has its own database, their own kind of electronic system, and they don't speak to each other," Loftis said.

More at:
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/26958934/detail.html

 

[Flakes]

It seems incomprehensible that Adam could fail to be concerned by multiple visits from the DSS; however, I have a few thoughts that complicate this for me.

I recall that on (one of) her facebook page that EB stated that people should mind their own business and not cause trouble for others, blah blah blah. Actually I recall there were similar comments at two points in time in roughly a 6 months period. I presumed that one occasion coincided with the time frame that AY suggests he reported EB to the DSS.

If we are to accept that the DSS, after multiple visits, determined there was no cause for concern, and this was conveyed to Adam, plus that he was told by EB that someone was out to get her, then we can perhaps begin to understand that he bought her innocence. This would be especially true if EB's children and Zahra didn't confirm the allegations to him.

It is quite true that some people abuse their spouse, but not their children (and vice versa, and sometimes they abuse both), so he may have believed EB wasn't abusing Zahra even though she was abusive towards himself.

I am mindful of an incident many years ago when I was at a friend's house. The police visited to interview him regarding an anonymous tip off for a brutal triple murder. The police asked a few questions and within half an hour had left the house quite satisfied that a vengeful business associate had made this allegation falsely. He was later told that this person had a history of making wild allegations against failed business deals and business partners. It was a real wake-up call for me! I knew 100% that he was innocent as I was with him and a group of other friends on the evening of the murders. There really are some twisted people out there who actually do make these calls to authorities as revenge. So could Adam have bought EB's explanation that someone had it out for her?

 

[raisincharlie]

Flakes, with all due respect, what I find incomprehensible is that after these DSS visits,, AB also finding out that AY was not a brother but an ex husband instead: AB could not bring himself to walk into to his daughter's room to even look at her beautiful little face, to pull up a blanket, to give her just a gentle peck on the cheek, or just to listen to her breathe.

Simply unforgivable.

No excuse, not even working long hours is acceptable. I still find myself trying to figure what triggered EB to write a ransom note on 9 October...

 

[Kimster]

. I still find myself trying to figure what triggered EB to write a ransom note on 9 October...

<respectfully snipped>

Didn't Zahra's biomom find out where she was about that time? Maybe that spurred EB into needing a plan? It's been awhile and I can't remember the details.

 

[raisincharlie]

<respectfully snipped>

Didn't Zahra's biomom find out where she was about that time? Maybe that spurred EB into needing a plan? It's been awhile and I can't remember the details.

I seem to recall reading the Emily found out where Zahra was on October 6th, but don't recall reading that there was any direct contact between Emily and AB or EB.

But back on topic, long hours and AB not knowing, by his own admission, on October 9, he was out in the yard working around the house and still supposedly didn't know Zahra was missing until EB ran out and told him. JMO, this makes zero sense and I for one find myself unable to believe any of his excuses.

 

[Flakes]

raisincharlie, the issue is, we don't actually know what AB was doing workwise, what days he worked, what days he was home, what his location was for work (home or off-site or away from Hickory), nor when he found out that AY was EB's ex (it may have been after Zahra went missing). We also have no detailed information on his evidence with regard to his seeing Zahra alive and well in the 2 weeks prior to her being reported missing (since he refuses to discuss owing to the ongoing investigation). But we do know that he states categorically that he did see her alive and well. So I don't see how we can come to conclusions without confirmed dates for these things. I think it's a waiting game for us on these details. Any theories we have prior to release of that information are simply theories based on hunches. It's fine to speculate to a degree, but we can't categorically state things that we have no proof of (such as he failed to check on her in bed for the full 2 weeks).

 

[tlcya]

If I recall, ED was working with through some sort of official channels over in Aus. to locate Zahra. A person claiming to be (and verified by the owner of the site - hinkmeter IIRC). ED had posted over there that she had finally been told Zahra and her father were in NC but had not been in contact with them as yet.

I recall us speculating when that first came out that perhaps ED's interest in locating Zahra had somehome prompted whatever happened that led to her death.

 

[marspiter]

NC DSS has been having a number of problems lately. Just recently a DSS office in Swain County NC was raided by the SBI.

http://www.wlos.com/shared/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wlos_vid_3971.shtml

Of course it wasn't that long ago that NC's SBI was investigated by the FBI for corruption, mishandling of evidence, and fabricating evidence.

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7616047

 

[Gecko100]

Hi I have been here forever but rarely post.
The reason I am posting now is because I worked in Child Protection for 20yrs in Australia.
People do fall through the system for a variety of reasons, but if you have a family denying that any abuse has taken place or lie about that abuse (the black eye), then there is not much evidence to take to a magistrate suggesting that the child has been the victim of abuse and should be removed. Social workers don't make the call that children should be removed, the magistrate does based on social work evidence.
I suspect (as I would have) that workers were not particularly fooled by this family, but in the absence of clear evidence that abuse has taken place, there is not much workers can do.
Such a horrible outcome.

 

[Gecko100]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that 'evidence' needs to be clear and proven. If there is evidence of bruising the child would be taken to a doctor or hospital for the bruising to be photographed and recorded, and admissions made either by the child or parent assists in decision making. If it is a very young child who cannot speak, it changes the threshold for risk, and we would be far more cautious.
If they had all admitted that Zarah got the black eye there would have likely been ongoing intervention. Police would have been part the assessment in circumstances were a child had a black eye. This is mainly because parents are likely to be charged for the assault.
Unfortunately workers can only act on what is presented to them. While there is a lower burden of reasonable doubt in the Children's court, courts don't accept 'possibilities' or 'likelihoods' unless there is evidence to back it up. I have also worked in the UK and the process was the same there too.
All notifications are subject to corroborating evidence from schools kindergartens etc. as it would strengthen the evidence.

 

[tlcya]

It seems incomprehensible that Adam could fail to be concerned by multiple visits from the DSS; however, I have a few thoughts that complicate this for me.

I recall that on (one of) her facebook page that EB stated that people should mind their own business and not cause trouble for others, blah blah blah. Actually I recall there were similar comments at two points in time in roughly a 6 months period. I presumed that one occasion coincided with the time frame that AY suggests he reported EB to the DSS.

If we are to accept that the DSS, after multiple visits, determined there was no cause for concern, and this was conveyed to Adam, plus that he was told by EB that someone was out to get her, then we can perhaps begin to understand that he bought her innocence. This would be especially true if EB's children and Zahra didn't confirm the allegations to him.

It is quite true that some people abuse their spouse, but not their children (and vice versa, and sometimes they abuse both), so he may have believed EB wasn't abusing Zahra even though she was abusive towards himself.

I am mindful of an incident many years ago when I was at a friend's house. The police visited to interview him regarding an anonymous tip off for a brutal triple murder. The police asked a few questions and within half an hour had left the house quite satisfied that a vengeful business associate had made this allegation falsely. He was later told that this person had a history of making wild allegations against failed business deals and business partners. It was a real wake-up call for me! I knew 100% that he was innocent as I was with him and a group of other friends on the evening of the murders. There really are some twisted people out there who actually do make these calls to authorities as revenge. So could Adam have bought EB's explanation that someone had it out for her?

I have been giving your thoughts on this serious consideration the past day or so. I do not know if this is practiced in Australia, but here in the US there are a certain small portion of the population that will use child services as a tool, sicking them on their enemies as a form of revenge. This misuse of the system is common with this small part of the population and weighs down already overworked investigators with "nuisence" calls that must be investigated.

IF EB regularly did this as a practice on others and AB was aware, when the CPS contacts started rolling in about his own home . . . Zhara denying abuse, EB denying abuse and then CPS declaring they found no cause and were closing the investigation. I could see where one could convince themself that it was just that.

I still find his lack of involvment in Zahra's daily life a huge failure on his part, especially in teh face of all these contacts with CPS but am willing to allow that he may have thought them revenge calls. What is glaring to me and so upsetting to me is his lack of follow through where Zahra is concerned. After such investigations, even once declared unfounded by CPS, any parent worth their salt would be more alert and watchful for signs that something was off at home. Especially when coupled with his own admission that EB was abusive and manipulative towards himself, a grown man.

That is what upsets me so much about AB. His apparent complete lack of concern of what this might mean. When women are abused we (society) tend to give them the benefit of the doubt in such instances. She was frightened, she couldn't see a way out, but we still hold them accountable in our own minds for failing to protect their children. With men who may be abused, we (society) tend not to make the same allowances or find it as understandable.

 

[Hickory Born]

Just re-read this report one more time. It states on July 13, 2010 at 6:18pm Catawba County Social Services made an unannounced visit to the house and spoke with AB, EB, & ZB. This was on a Tuesday and ADAM WAS HOME AT 6:18pm...which leads me to ponder his statement about always working late.

The two other visits to the Hickory Baker house were on July 22, 2010 and Aug. 5,2010 and CCSS state they obtained statements from all perons named. Both dates are on a Thursday, a work day. I wish they would have given the time of the visit.