RI - Zah-Nae, 9, handicapped with cerebral palsy, dies from cruelty/filthy home, Warwick, 3 Jan 2019

Handicapped 9-Year-Old Dies In Filthy Home, Mother Jailed

 

I hope I posted this correctly. I didn’t NOT want to post it and I figured one of the mods here would clean up the format if it’s incorrect. This is a very sad situation.

 

Mother held on bail at arraignment in death of 9-year-old Warwick girl

 

DCYF head to address questions surrounding death of 9-year-old girl in Warwick

 

This child is one of eight adopted children with special needs in her care.

 

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-st...s-release-details-in-death-of-9-year-old-girl

 

From this article:

The boy the mentioned is 15 and has Asperger’s. He was doing the "caring" for these kids, not this adoptive mom. I'm glad he was there to help them. It's unfortunate though because he will probably carry guilt at the death.

 

https://www.wpri.com/news/local-new...n-death-of-9-year-old-warwick-girl/1701083987

 

I feel terrible for that boy. He should have never been placed with such a heavy burden.

 

DCYF Employee placed on leave.

DCYF employee placed on leave after child's death; director promises full investigation

 

Piccola said she knew of no other case in the state where a single person was allowed to care for eight special-needs children. BBM

 

Mother held on bail at arraignment in death of 9-year-old Warwick girl

Rothgeb, who officials say was investigated months ago by child welfare officials for improper child supervision, cared for the children alone. BBM

 

RI Woman Accused of Neglecting 9-Year-Old After Girl's Death

 

Woman charged with cruelty, neglect in connection with death of 9-year-old girl

I was hoping she didn’t post bail!

As she did not post bail, she was remanded to the ACI. BBM

 

This story is not one that surprises me unfortunately. Families who are willing to take in children with special needs is minimal, let alone those willing to adopt permanently. People have been known to use fostering/adopting special needs children as a business because of all of the state services that are at their disposal. As a parent of a 9 year old with severe cerebral palsy (more severe than Zah-nae) I can vouch for the fact that caregiver burnout is real. I'm not making excuses for this woman by bringing up caregiver burnout, but she should have never been allowed to adopt that many children with special needs. She was selfish and didn't reach out to any of the resources she had for help, instead relied on a 15 year old child with Aspergers to fill her role while she recovered?!!! Zah-nae's tragic death was a failure on the shoulders of many people and I'm glad that RI DCYF is acknowledging and hopefully will hold those who didn't step in responsible.

 

Updated info from DCYF

DCYF Director: 'We Want Answers' On How System Failed Young Girl

 

I live in the next state over and it is all over the news constantly.

People want a homicide charge brought against this woman.

 

Not really any new info, but the case is getting more widespread attention, including this article:

The next ‘House of Horrors’? Mom of 8 adopted special needs children jailed after young disabled girl found dead in filthy bathtub

I wish I knew what happened to the pets as well. I have owned a Bull Mastiff and I can’t fathom residing with one and 8 children.

 

Coroner rules disabled 17-year-old accidentally drowned in bathtub

This same thing happened to a large family that adopted special needs kids a few years ago. The house and kids were clean so it was ruled an accident. This disabled 17 year old was also found by a sibling. These large families do get very overwhelmed and burned out with caregiving.

The problem starts with large families being approved to adopt more and more kids. There is a term for this that compares some of these families to animal hoarders.