GUILTY PA - Danieal Kelly, 14, disabled, starved to death, Philadelphia, 4 Aug 2006

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White Rain

White Rain

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How horrific and cruel. I'm glad to see the social workers charged too.

PHILADELPHIA — Four social workers were among nine people charged Thursday in the death of a disabled 14-year-old girl who authorities say wasted away from neglect before dying at 42 pounds.
Danieal Kelly's mother was charged with murder; counts against other defendants range from involuntary manslaughter to perjury. District Attorney Lynne Abraham said any of the nine could have foreseen the horrific fate of Danieal, whose emaciated body was found in her mother's squalid house covered with bone-deep, maggot-infested bedsores in August 2006.
Abraham had scathing words for the city's Department of Human Services, calling its handling of the case "callous, indifferent, unconscionable" — and all too familiar.
"Danieal did not fall through the cracks," she said. "It was a failure of institutional inclination. Saving Danieal was just too much trouble."
more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,395643,00.html
 
Oh, White Rain, what a sad story. This poor little angel.

Family members neglected her. Friends of the family looked the other way while it was going on. Social Service caseworkers falsified documents about her case to cover their butts.

Wonderful though that they are going after so many that were involved in this child's abuse, neglect and death.
 
It's about time they start charging social workers and case workers involved in such cases!
I know some really excellent case workers who will go out on a limb for people; then there are others who are lumps on logs and do nothing.
My prayers for that poor girl, she is in a better place now..
 
Here's what I find to be the scariest part:

From the link
Abraham said that although at least 55 children have died under the agency's watch, it has given only "lip service to halfhearted corrective action."

"You can't continue to bury these children and say things are getting better when they're not," she said.
Click to expand...
 
This might be the wakeup call that community and organisation needs.
 
How do people who know this and others cases like it are going on ,just go on living their daily lives doing nothing about it. Everyone involved, including the friends of the "mother". How do they just walk around and not care. Not do anything to help as it goes on and on? I can't understand.

It's like so many people have become like the "pod people" on the old fifties movie " The Body Snatchers". No human feelings. No emotions.

The part about the "mother" keeping the little girl's brother from calling an ambulance for his sister was especially heart breaking. The poor little boy trying to help his sister. He's the only one who cared.
 
montana_16 said:
How do people who know this and others cases like it are going on ,just go on living their daily lives doing nothing about it. Everyone involved, including the friends of the "mother". How do they just walk around and not care. Not do anything to help as it goes on and on? I can't understand.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately there's many reasons, montana. Sometimes there's a so called code of ethics as in minding your own business. Some people would see it as snitching. I'm just speculating here, but socio economics often plays a role.

Absolutely I am not saying that all people of a lower socio economic background would allow a child to suffer like this poor child, but I can see it happening when some people's daily lives have enough chaos and suffering without worrying about others.

Ultimately DHS of course again dropped the ball and more. Once again here they will try and rebuild. Our Mayor gave a speech saying if you can't be 100% commited then we don't want you in this government job. It's horrible to say but I don't know if that will help up the road. The saddest part of all is this little girl suffered like she did and it's too late for her.
 
I was reading Mayor Nutter's comments on this and I have to say I have never seen him make comments like this. He's pissed!

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20080805_7_more_at_DHS_suspended.html

"I read the grand jury report not just as the mayor of this city but also as the father of a daughter," Nutter said.
"It is appalling. It is outrageous. And I am heartbroken by what has happened here."
He added, "I am fully, thoroughly and completely pissed off about what has happened here . . . When I think of my own daughter and if she were in someone else's care and [city workers] performed the way some of these individuals did, I would kick their *advertiser censored* myself."
 
As if the starvation death of your child isn't bad enough as she lay with bed sores through to the bone in a sweltering room as a parent suing the agency that also failed your child is a top priority. Right?

Especially when you are the father that gave your child her name, but hadn't seen her in two years. I had read that in another article today.

How does this work?



http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=6322915
 
Trial opens for social workers in death of Danieal Kelly


Four former employees of a city-funded social-service agency will go on trial in federal court today on charges stemming from the death of Danieal Kelly, the 14-year-old with cerebral palsy who died in 2006 of starvation at her mother's apartment.

The now-defunct agency was supposed to provide care for the teen and other at-risk children with federal funds funneled through the city's Department of Human Services. But federal prosecutors charge that Michal Kamuvaka, who ran MultiEthnic Behavioral Health Inc., instead billed the city for services it never provided - including home visits that never happened - purportedly to care for the girl.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/2...social_workers_in_death_of_Danieal_Kelly.html
 
I hope the pigs are charged with accessory to murder!!!

I can't say what I really hope!

Salem
 
let's pray this is justified, & ensure these people pay their dues.

absolutely disgusting.
 
I can think of a few other jurisdictions that had better be watching this outcome very very closely....
 
Come on, come on, set the precedent, set the precedent. Just set the dam precedent so we can start limiting the negligence and prosecuting those that won't admit that they are too burned out or overworked or apathetic to do the job.

ETA: Or too greedy, or evil...or insert your favorite adjective here.
 
One of my dearest and sweetest friends found out about this case and posted about it on her facebook page.

She is angry and heartbroken and I don't blame her. She asked me when this is going to stop and I don't know what to tell her.

When is this going to stop? Not in our lifetime I am afraid.

At least child abuse is down. That's something but one case is too many.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=9730224

And L.A. County is no longer going to strive to reunite the family. Why in the name of God a court wouldn't put what is best for the child above the parent in the first place is beyond me.

These beautiful babies deserve a decent life.
 
Tricia said:
One of my dearest and sweetest friends found out about this case and posted about it on her facebook page.

She is angry and heartbroken and I don't blame her. She asked me when this is going to stop and I don't know what to tell her.

When is this going to stop? Not in our lifetime I am afraid.

At least child abuse is down. That's something but one case is too many.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=9730224

And L.A. County is no longer going to strive to reunite the family. Why in the name of God a court wouldn't put what is best for the child above the parent in the first place is beyond me.

These beautiful babies deserve a decent life.
Click to expand...


IMO The number one problem with child protection agency's, the way I see it...is confidentiality! It's too often misused to bury mistakes as opposed to protect the child. If family court were made public in CPS cases, there would be far more accountability.


And the whole "best interest of the child" is a load of crap too. CPS, DHS, or whatever it's called in each state has far too much authority and not enough accountability. individual case workers have the authority to pretty much do whatever they please and they and their supervisors stick together like velcro.

I've seen the very worst social workers actually promoted instead of being fired, when they clearly should have been fired.
 
Linda - I agree with all of that, except making the cases public. As a child of the foster care system, I could never condone the kind of pain that would cause.
 
not_my_kids said:
Linda - I agree with all of that, except making the cases public. As a child of the foster care system, I could never condone the kind of pain that would cause.
Click to expand...

I understand, really I do. IMO It's kind of like being a sexual assault victim. There should be ZERO shame, yet for some reason there still is for many. There should be any shame....the shame should lay firmly at the feet at those that FAILED to do their job, the adults that failed as parents, the neighbors that said & did nothing, the social worker that didn't bother to show up, etc...

If the public really knew what went on in the lives of thousands and thousands of children in this county, perhaps more good people would step up to the plate, maybe the laws on child abuse would get stiffer, maybe, just maybe, people would get half as sick to death as I am over it.

I just think children in the foster care system would get better treatment and care if people were watching. Too many times foster parents and biological parents abuse and injure children and NEVER have to answer for it. Sure parents may lose custody of their children, but while the child looses everything they have ever known, parents are free to skip away if they chose. The worst that usually happens to a abusive foster parent is they get their licence yank. Big deal!
 
"Nobody wanted this child to die" screamed the headlines in our newspapers.

Then we had to look at them all going in for the trial. One woman stopped to actually answer questions for reporters and every answer was "I can not comment without my attorney".

Are you kidding me? They started the cover up as soon as they found out this sweet, beautiful child had died. I've taken to switching the channel when I see them marching out of court for lunch.
 
not_my_kids said:
Linda - I agree with all of that, except making the cases public. As a child of the foster care system, I could never condone the kind of pain that would cause.
Click to expand...

I agree that the details of the cases should not be public but I do think there should be some sort of watch group, made up of appropriate types of professionals bound by confidentiality. But someone that has the authority to look at a case before the child is dead and the records are evidence. Someone that a concerned relative can go to when they have called CPS and nothing is happening. The system is broken but I don't think having the details of every victim's homelife in the public eye is the answer. I agree that there should be no shame in it but I also believe it is my decision as an adult what I choose to share about the details of my abuse and with whom I want to share it.

And the cynical side of me says it wouldn't do any good. There are more than enough details of these crimes in the news everyday and rather than outrage and change the general public seems to become more numb to it everyday. And part of me sees dollar signs in the move to prosecute cps workers for negligence followed by damages while we ignore the parental responsibility of women who allow their boyfriend du jour to beat, torture and rape their kids. Can't sue mom for damages though so there will be no one motivated by dollars to pursue them.

CPS workers who fail at their jobs should be held responsible no doubt, but it is still ignoring the core issue. moo
 
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