GUILTY OK - Serenity Deal, 5, beaten to death, Oklahoma City, 4 June 2011

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Girl placed with Oklahoma City father despite reports of black eyes and bruised body (Daily Oklahoman)

A 5-year-old girl returned from visits with her father with black eyes and a bruised body, but child welfare workers pushed for the man to have permanent custody of his daughter, according to a report by the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth.

Serenity Anne Deal died of a severe head injury less than a month after she moved in with her father, Sean Devon Brooks, 31. He is charged with first-degree murder in Oklahoma County District Court in connection with her death
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On Jan. 4, DHS received a report that Serenity had suffered black eye, a cut on her forehead and bruise on her chest after a visit with Brooks.

Brooks claimed Serenity's injuries were from her running into a door.
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much more of this horrific story at Daily Oklahoman link above; more on the case at link below

Family members mourn Oklahoma City beating victim, 5 (Daily Oklahoman)
 
I think I can now say I will put OK's DHS up against any other similar outfit in America at being the level worst.

This case was the straw that broke the camel's back.
 
Something is very wrong with the system set up to protect our children. I know that social services programs are way underfunded and understaffed and case loads are so overloaded, but where is the common sense in all this? I really don't blame the caseworkers in alot of these cases, I want to put some blame on the families and extended families, but also on the system in place that is supposed to protect these babies. Somehow this needs to be worked out so that the resources and funding is there to take care of these issues. Wish I knew where to start.
 
One starts by electing officials with social concerns who will fund fully programs of protection and betterment.
 
One starts by electing officials with social concerns who will fund fully programs of protection and betterment.

ABSOLUTELY!! People support politicians who say they will cut back on funding for state programs because they immediately think of the stereotypical lazy welfare recipient. They get tunnel vision and then are the first to scream at the top of their lungs when these at-risk children end up damaged or dead.
 
Oklahoma Department of Human Services workers suspended over death of child (Daily Oklahoman)
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The DHS employees on leave from their jobs are Wes Priest and Jennifer Shawn, both level 4 child welfare specialists, and Randy Lack and Donald Wheeler, both level 3 child welfare specialists.

Level 4s are supervisors, and level 3s are lead workers.
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Deaths raise questions about DHS approach
Serenity is the fourth child in the last 9 years that has died after having been under the supervision of DHS in Lincoln and Pottawatomie counties.

Melissa Ellison, 5, of Prague, was beaten to death in 2002 by her father and dumped near Meeker.

Kelsey Smith-Briggs, 3, of Meeker, died of blunt force trauma in 2005 after being returned to her mother.

Aja Johnson, 7, of Davenport, was kidnapped and killed in March 2010 by her stepfather.
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much more at Oklahoman link above
 
So sad. RIP. Is the whole system broken? Is everyone just passing the buck on these things?
 
DHS Worker Connected To Two Toddler Death Cases Dies
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Police say a family friend found Donald Wheeler's body near a baseball camp in Chandler.

Wheeler was under investigation at the time of his death for apparently not following policy in the Serenity Deal case which may have prevented the five-year-old's murder. He also faced criticism over his role in the Kelsey Smith Briggs case. Kelsey died as a result of child abuse several years ago.
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Police said it appears to be a suicide but they are still investigating the death.
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more at news9.com link above
 
Lengthy article; read and be disgusted how the powers that be ignored advice and made another fatal OK DHS error. A child welfare worker (see post above) killed himself after this child's death; he was one who recommended Serenity NOT be placed with the father, in whose care she later allegedly sustained fatal injuries:

Caseworker, foster mom warned DHS before Oklahoma girl's death

A child welfare worker and foster mother tried relentlessly to warn others to slow down placing 5-year-old Serenity Anne Deal with her father before she was killed, The Oklahoman has learned.

Child welfare worker Donald Wheeler killed himself during the investigation of the girl's death. Wheeler, his supervisor and the foster mother, Donna Linn, of Chandler, all warned officials with the Department of Human Services that the 5-year-old suffered while visiting Sean Devon Brooks and expressed concerns about placing her with Brooks permanently, according to emails, logs and other documentation obtained by The Oklahoman.

Wheeler shared the concerns with Jennifer Shawn, a DHS supervisor in Pottawatomie County, in an email March 17.
Shawn and Randy Lack, who worked for Shawn and was the primary caseworker, were in the process of being fired last week.
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Wheeler, 64, of Chandler had worked for DHS since 1981. Co-workers say he was a staunch advocate for children and was almost obsessive about documenting every turn in a case.

He made photograph collages of each child and included them in his file. He passed copies of those collages on to judges, prosecutors and others working with the child to drive home the idea they weren't just a case, but a living, breathing person, Priest said.

Wheeler killed himself July 13, two days after investigators from the Office of Inspector General questioned him at his home.
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much, much more at Sunday Oklahoman link above
 
Wait.........if Donald Wheeler urged that she NOT go to the father then why was he suspended?
 
DA decries DHS report in Serenity Deal's death
SHAWNEE — Child welfare workers purposely withheld vital information in the Serenity Deal case from prosecutors and a judge, or otherwise a different decision would have been made about sending her to live with her father, Pottawatomie County District Attorney Richard Smothermon said.
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Smothermon said the report was incomplete, intentionally misleading and a deliberate attempt by DHS officials to shift blame from the agency.
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More at Daily Oklahoman link above.
 
Rest in peace, Serenity Anne Deal.

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This is what happens when an agency is given so much power and zero oversight.

Confidentiality isn't to protect the child, it's used as a means for DHS to cover their own butts.
 
One starts by electing officials with social concerns who will fund fully programs of protection and betterment.

Ditto.

ABSOLUTELY!! People support politicians who say they will cut back on funding for state programs because they immediately think of the stereotypical lazy welfare recipient. They get tunnel vision and then are the first to scream at the top of their lungs when these at-risk children end up damaged or dead.

Ditto.

But to be fair, it appears that Serenity's murder was not due to an overtaxed DHS. Two counties and four workers were on her case. It had more to do with a couple of power hungry social workers who, for whatever reason, decided to override the very valid and serious concerns of two other workers and the child's foster mother, because they were charmed by Brooks and thought there was bias against him.

This isn't about bias, Mr. Lack and Ms. Shawn. It's about the welfare of a tiny child, who you were supposed to protect and who you failed miserably, even going so far as to lie to prosecutors and the court to hide what you were doing to this baby. What you did was evil and you are almost as bad as Sean Brooks. I do not get this at all.
 
I am glad this case got some public exposure but I wish it was more.
 
Someone in the DHS who did this should also face charges big time!
 

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