Found Deceased KS - Lucas Hernandez, 5, Wichita, 17 Feb 2018 #34

[Jewels53]

Thanks for posting this. I tried yesterday from my phone and was unsuccessful. I'm afraid that with Colyer going out, progress will stall out even more.

That said, it would be interesting to see where KS measures up against other states in meeting this criteria.

There were also some positives in the article:

Department spokeswoman Taylor Forrest said in a statement that the agency has implemented several projects to improve its service to children and families.

The agency did meet some standards, such as a finding that 6.4 percent of the children who had been mistreated were mistreated again, below the standard of 9.1 percent.

About 4,200 children were placed into foster care last year in Kansas, with 3,800 leaving foster care during that time. At the end of June, nearly 7,600 children were in foster care in Kansas.

Since Gina Meier-Hummel replaced Phyllis Gilmore as secretary in December 2017, the department has made several other leadership and policy changes.

Forrest said DCF will begin using a new system with real-time data in January to be more efficient at finding foster homes for children. To improve overall performance, the agency has begun “rapid permanency reviews,” in which case managers and supervisors participate in reviews and must take steps to improve.

The agency also is testing a new program called Icebreakers, which is intended to facilitate conversations between birth parents and foster parents within 10 days of a long-term foster care placement. The program will be implemented statewide in 2019.

DCF is shifting its focus to the entire family rather than individual children to “change the culture around non-abuse and neglect assignments,” Forrest said.

They need to hurry up and implement these programs for anymore children die. We have lost so many already, especially the last couple of years. imo

 

[SassynOz]

I’m not at the end of this thread yet but I wanted to put in a little advice for other families going through similar situations. That is knowing something is not right in the home and knowing that a child being there is or will be abused.

We were in that situation as I’ve shared before. Evans case put me on high alert scared me, then when Lucas’s followed so closely it caused my husband and I to “ pull the trigger “ so to speak. We knew it was a matter of time before our grandson would be the next Evan the next Lucas. We also knew the system was broke and everytime cps did show up to my daughters house it was after a drug issue happened or a DV incident went down. Or they did go because people knew she had children and was in a bad situation. Problem was no children we’re ever present when things went down. The welfare check went through as fine because the home WAS unfit for a child to BE there the mother WAS under the influence but that’s not illegal if her kids aren’t there.
The house can be proven unsafe for children to be present in but if the kids aren’t there they can’t open a case unless they can prove the kids had been there. I know CPS had been there all those times because I would have a worker show up later at my home to verify if her child was in fact with me. Had been with me. He had been the other child had been with his dad. But it was a constant worry about her taking him back. She threatened it daily. I finally flat out contacted a cps worker i knew from when my other child was under there care while she was at school not at home. I told her the situation she was aware of it somewhat because she had been out there on a call. But she said that they only get notified of the calls the state call line decide to even push forward. Most of the times they quickly visit a home is after a police report is made which the police state they saw no children present but the party DOES have children. Mostly the concern was for the younger one since a quick name search showed she was the only legal parent and no other party had custody of him. Unlike the older child. So the case worker said we were playing with fire because she will continue to threaten to take him and we don’t know when she’s going to snap and do so. They also were having a huge local crime ring of finding photos of children’s private parts on men they arrested for various crimes. The photos were being exchanged for drugs rather then money. The drug problem is so bad here that many mothers are resorting to taking these photos. The feel it’s no big deal the child’s face isn’t shown they rationalize it as being ok in there non sober minds. But often this turns into actual sexual abuse so they’ve got a entire task force in our small city just working to identify the children in these photos.

They have copies at all pediatrician offices other places where a outsider would be in a position to see that part of a child. But they rarely identify them until something finally happens and they remove a child.

She said we couldn’t just keep on keeping him without having legal rights. He would be starting school etc (preschool is at 3 here) we would need legal docs. She said we could either return him and wait and hope they visited soon again but she confessed the system isn’t working and she herself wouldn’t wait cps to become involved if it was her family. They might get there to late plus you have a child totally undamaged by his mothers actions. He wouldn’t be in that same condition if we gave him back. However she said we would most likely be able to get him legally that way. Once they caught up with her he would be a CINC then we could get him without paying legal fees and we would get money to care for him monthly. But she strongly adviced us to obtain legal counsel and ask the judge to rule him a CINC. We could do all that without even him ever being in state care. Mom was not under cps watch since they never opened a case she was doing everything right since she didn’t have him present when anything did happen.
I had no idea you could just file something like this without state involvement and proceed to obtain custody of someone else’s child in that matter until she told me we could. He was left with us his mom uses drugs , we think she’s unfit. They have to at least hear our case she had zero doubt we would win. However doing it that way could get costly if she fought it.
We didn’t do it for awhile but when Lucas case hit thAt was it we actually got a small loan just in case it got costly and hired a lawyer that she recommended within 2 days of Lucas going missing. Something about his picture just stole my heart.

I never thought it would work as smoothly as it did. I feared the very worst. But by mid March we had the final guardian ship orders. He was spared thank god. I know I owe it to Lucas though. I wish more people were aware about what you actually can In your state. Thankfully in Kansas you don’t need to wait for the state to determine this. But i found nothing when looking things up that gave me much hope that there was any other way. So family’s can’t blame them selfs there’s little you can do unless someone actually tells you. It’s not so easy to just keep a child away from a abusive parent even if you are the other parent. My SIL tried that and it got him a arrest warrent issued he was the legal parent custodial parent but she still had rights had visitation. He could not prevent that he tried. Yes you can refuse based on fear of abuse etc. but you can be placed in jail possibly causing the child to be placed with that parent full time while you PROVE it. I know they have statements on the books saying you have the right to do so. But it’s not that easy. You have to first file it needs to happen not just withhold the kid we found that out the hard way. It took a couple hours with his lawyer for the Dad to understand how backwards this all is.

The other thing is that as guardians of our grandchild we can not leave him in the care of another person who has been declared unfit to care for any other child. So there is kinda sorta that law. Which in our case would mean that if we let her have him since now she’s declared unfit then if something happens while he’s with her , we would get charged with child neglect but his mother would not. She’s already proven unfit. But the law didn’t apply to my other grandchild because the child resides in another county his custody case and visitation was filed in that county. We reside 20 min away they are just over the county line. So it didn’t help his dad’s case.

But we can’t point fingers at other members of the family. Unless you are in those shoes it’s not that easy. Any of them could of been charged with kidnapping and then lose other children in thier care. That’s not going to help Lucas. But my advice is find out what YOU can do in your state. You can help a child without counting on cps. It’s just finding out how.

Our little guy just turned 3 and is a happy healthy little boy thriving in preschool. Which Grandma cried the entire day leaving him. I also cried because I didn’t think he would even of made it to age 3. Thank you Lucas. I’m so sorry your short life wasn’t happy and care free.

 

[AlwaysHopeToHelp]

She mentioned a lot of cleaning of the ‘back bonus room’ and that’s where she was found... that room would be my bet.

Exactly what my thoughts have been all along! It makes sense to me that a lazy person (as she has been described) wouldn’t deep clean a room unless she had a reason. And I’m beginning to think that since she blamed Lucas for ruining her life (internally I believe she did), she offed herself there in the room that the actions took place that led up to that moment.

 

[castilloisno1]

I miss everyone on this thread. I felt like we grew together as a family as we came each day here to talk about Lucas. Everyone seemed to treat each other with such respect. Lucas is still our hero.

 

[lorelei2017]

I miss everyone on this thread. I felt like we grew together as a family as we came each day here to talk about Lucas. Everyone seemed to treat each other with such respect. Lucas is still our hero.

A wonderful family came to be here, Lucas seemed to be bringing love to so many. We must love on him every day still and each other. This is an awe inspiring place of community

 

[missHardy]

I miss crowd from this thread also, wonderfull people gathered here, just a nother indication of how powerful and special Lucas is..
(I refuse to write was, cause I firmly belive he is happy, safe and loved in haven)

 

[HayLouise]

I miss everyone on this thread. I felt like we grew together as a family as we came each day here to talk about Lucas. Everyone seemed to treat each other with such respect. Lucas is still our hero.

Couldn't agree more <3

Thinking of you Lucas; always.

 

[Mama3boys]

That sweet baby Lucas was so important to us all, I don't know really where to go from there except stay vigil. I think about him everyday and if I can ever help another child, I will and I will do it thinking of Lucas the whole way. I think he smiles at us everyday from the heavens above, he's proud of what everyone is doing to help save another innocent child. My heart is always with his family, who would give anything to have their baby back.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

I you little Lucas, you and your little button-up shirt. You brought so many of us together in a special bond that I think will remain forever.

 

[ZoriahNZ]

Thank you SassynOz for sharing your experience with us and increasing awareness on what can happen in your situation. A lot of people seem to think you can just take a child away/or withhold access from the legal parent or custodial guardian and there won't be legal repercussions for that. Even if that person's a confirmed drug addict or mentally unstable, there are laws and regulations which still have to be followed. Thank goodness, however, that you got some good advice as to what you could still do to protect your grandson. I'm so thrilled that you can give him the safety and nurturing love that every little one deserves.

We might not have been able to help Lucas in time, but your story may help someone else who feels uncertain whether to proceed or who doesn't know there may be other legal options to explore (rather than just waiting on CPS) when it comes to gaining custody of an endangered child.

 

[perfectingpink]

Discrepancy arises over how teacher handled abuse concerns about Lucas Hernandez

[....]

The Wichita school district now says that Lucas Hernandez’s teacher twice reported to the state suspicion that he was being abused or neglected within a few months before he died.

[....]

The teacher says she made the reports on a computer at work and sent them anonymously online to the Department for Children and Families on Oct. 19 and Jan. 22, said school district spokeswoman Wendy Johnson.

[....]

If a mandated reporter successfully sends an online report to DCF, he or she gets a reply message with an “event number” showing that the report has been received by DCF. The verification message returns to the email address manually entered into the web report system.

Whether Lucas’ pre-kindergarten teacher at Beech Elementary got such a message isn’t clear. The Eagle has asked the school district for any verification that the teacher filed reports but hasn’t received any. The district said it is relying on the teacher’s account of how she reported.

What’s also not clear is how the teacher reported to DCF anonymously. There is no way to anonymously report online on the DCF web page, according to the agency. The DCF page directs mandatory reporters to a form designated for them, which requires the reporters to give their names.

[....]

 

[NervousNellie]

Discrepancy arises over how teacher handled abuse concerns about Lucas Hernandez

[....]

The Wichita school district now says that Lucas Hernandez’s teacher twice reported to the state suspicion that he was being abused or neglected within a few months before he died.

[....]

The teacher says she made the reports on a computer at work and sent them anonymously online to the Department for Children and Families on Oct. 19 and Jan. 22, said school district spokeswoman Wendy Johnson.

[....]

If a mandated reporter successfully sends an online report to DCF, he or she gets a reply message with an “event number” showing that the report has been received by DCF. The verification message returns to the email address manually entered into the web report system.

Whether Lucas’ pre-kindergarten teacher at Beech Elementary got such a message isn’t clear. The Eagle has asked the school district for any verification that the teacher filed reports but hasn’t received any. The district said it is relying on the teacher’s account of how she reported.

What’s also not clear is how the teacher reported to DCF anonymously. There is no way to anonymously report online on the DCF web page, according to the agency. The DCF page directs mandatory reporters to a form designated for them, which requires the reporters to give their names.

[....]

Thanks for sharing this perfectingpink! Lucas has been even more on my mind than usual since yesterday. The defendant in the Laura Wallen case completed suicide yesterday morning, shortly before the third day of jury selection was to begin. The State's Attorney for Montgomery County held a lengthy press conference within hours, at which they released all(?) the evidence they were planning to present at trial. I kept thinking that I would love for that to happen in Lucas' case. the SA got into the nitty gritty, though at one point he admitted that it would be impossible to catalog all the lies the defendant told to various people. (Sound familiar?) There are links to the press conference on the last page(s) of Laura's thread if anyone is interested. That press conference absolutely provided some closure that I don't think Lucas' case will ever have.

Laura Wallen thread: MD - Laura Wallen, 31, pregnant, Olney, 3 Sept 2017 #2 *Suspect found Dead during Trial*

 

[whatsnext]

Thinking alot about Lucas today, his was the first case I followed almost from the beginning. I was so disappointed that there were no consequences for some people who knew what Emily did to him. Especially the one person who should have done absolutely everything to protect his child.
My heart is especially with Jamie, who must have felt horribly powerless in the months before Lucas went "missing". And of course with the other family members who reported their suspicions to CPS.

I will always remember Lucas and his WS team

 

[FindLucasAllen]

I know Lucas's thread has dwindled down... and that's ok. I believe Lucas is working hard in spirit to help find other missing children around the globe.

There's another case that needs WS' s help. I truly believe that WS helped keep Lucas in the spotlight so that he could be brought home.

Deceased/Not Found - VA - Arieanna Day, 3 mos, Roanoke, 12 September 2018 *Arrest*

Three month old Arieanna Day also has a WS thread, but hers is going cold too soon. We need to help bring this sweet baby home <3

 

[flute4peace]

I know Lucas's thread has dwindled down... and that's ok. I believe Lucas is working hard in spirit to help find other missing children around the globe.

There's another case that needs WS' s help. I truly believe that WS helped keep Lucas in the spotlight so that he could be brought home.

Deceased/Not Found - VA - Arieanna Day, 3 mos, Roanoke, 12 September 2018 *Arrest*

Three month old Arieanna Day also has a WS thread, but hers is going cold too soon. We need to help bring this sweet baby home <3

You, my dear, are a class act. Much love to you!!

 

[Steelslady]

I know Lucas's thread has dwindled down... and that's ok. I believe Lucas is working hard in spirit to help find other missing children around the globe.

There's another case that needs WS' s help. I truly believe that WS helped keep Lucas in the spotlight so that he could be brought home.

Deceased/Not Found - VA - Arieanna Day, 3 mos, Roanoke, 12 September 2018 *Arrest*

Three month old Arieanna Day also has a WS thread, but hers is going cold too soon. We need to help bring this sweet baby home <3

I think of you often and I hope you and your family are doing ok. I still am in such shock at what happened to darling Lucas. I think of him daily, and every time I see anything Batman, green sneakers, or the name Lucas, it reminds me of his adorable little face.

 

[lorelei2017]

I know Lucas's thread has dwindled down... and that's ok. I believe Lucas is working hard in spirit to help find other missing children around the globe.

There's another case that needs WS' s help. I truly believe that WS helped keep Lucas in the spotlight so that he could be brought home.

Deceased/Not Found - VA - Arieanna Day, 3 mos, Roanoke, 12 September 2018 *Arrest*

Three month old Arieanna Day also has a WS thread, but hers is going cold too soon. We need to help bring this sweet baby home <3

We will never forget sweet Lucas or you! He has our hearts forever, as do you. The grace you show is a gold standard I will always try to live up to. Lucas has made the world a better place and his legacy is far reaching. I will always carry his sweet smile with me, a d never stop being a voice for those who cannot speak. No matter how sad or hard it is, to carry on for Lucas.

 

[HayLouise]

Sending love @FindLucasAllen to you and your family.

This little boy really had a big impact on my life and I didn’t even have the privilege of knowing him.

 

[papixee]

I am still thinking of you every day Lucas. I hope your new heavenly life is filled with magic and joy. Rest in Peace beautiful boy. You are in my heart forever.

 

[Steelslady]

I'll never forget you, Lucas.