Ankf00
10-27-03, 08:38 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/27/nyregion/27JERS.html
New Jersey Couple Held in Abuse; One Son, 19, Weighed 45 Pounds
By LYDIA POLGREEN and ROBERT F. WORTH
Published: October 27, 2003
COLLINGSWOOD, N.J., Oct. 26 — The parents of four boys adopted from New Jersey's troubled foster care system were arrested Friday, two weeks after the police found that the children, ages 9 to 19, had been starved to the point that none of them weighed more than 50 pounds, according to the Camden County prosecutor.
The boys were so badly malnourished that their shriveled bodies gave no hint of their ages, investigators said. At 19, the oldest was 4 feet tall and weighed 45 pounds. The police initially thought he was just 10 years old. The boys' condition was discovered when a neighbor called the police because the 19-year-old, Bruce, was looking for food in the neighbor's trash at 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 10, according to the county prosecutor, Vincent P. Sarubbi. The boys were removed from the home later that day.
The boys had been locked out of the kitchen of the house in this blue-collar Philadelphia suburb and were fed a diet of pancake batter, peanut butter and breakfast cereal. They ate wallboard and insulation to sate their hunger, investigators said.
A caseworker from the Division of Youth and Family Services, the state agency that oversees the foster care system, had visited the house at 318 White Horse Pike 38 times in the past 2 years, investigators said. The parents, Raymond Jackson, 50, and his wife, Vanessa, 48, rented the house, which passed a safety assessment by the caseworker and her supervisor in June.
"This is the most horrible case we have ever encountered in our child abuse unit," said Mr. Sarubbi, who charged the parents with aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of their children. "It has been impossible for me to rationalize how parents could treat children this way." Mr. Sarubbi announced the arrests at a news conference on Saturday.
The case is the latest in a series of discoveries revealing the collapse of New Jersey's child welfare system, which left the youngsters it was charged with protecting vulnerable to abuse and neglect in troubled homes with little oversight.
To settle a lawsuit over the failures of its foster care system, the state agreed in June to hand oversight of the agency to a five-member panel of child welfare experts. Last month, Gov. James E. McGreevey appointed an independent child advocate to protect the rights of children.
The advocate, Kevin M. Ryan, said Sunday that this latest case revealed the magnitude of the agency's problems. "The question that has to be penetrated is, how did 38 visits over 2 years not rescue these children from slow torture and starvation?" Mr. Ryan said in an interview. "I am completely baffled at this point at how a failure of this magnitude could happen."
He contrasted this case with the one that ultimately led to the call for major reform of the social service agency, the death of a 7-year-old boy in Newark named Faheem Williams, who was found hidden in the basement of a duplex where his cousin was supposed to be taking care of him. An investigation later revealed that Faheem's case had been closed prematurely despite serious allegations of abuse.
Of the Jackson case, Mr. Ryan said, "Here we had a caseworker who was going into this house and seeing these children," adding "It was not a failure of interaction."
The caseworker, whom officials would not identify, resigned from the agency as the conditions at the Jackson home came to light, said Gwendolyn L. Harris, the commissioner of the state Department of Human Services, which oversees the Division of Youth and Family Services. Agency officials described her as experienced, and Ms. Harris said the agency would review other cases she handled.
At least 8 and as many as 10 employees of the Division of Youth and Family Services, including managers and supervisors, face suspension and some could be fired depending on the outcome of the department's investigation into the Jackson case, she said.
Also living in the Jackson house were two girls, ages 5 and 12, whom the couple had also adopted from the foster care system; a foster daughter, 10, whom they were planning to adopt; and two of the couple's adult biological children — a son and a daughter, Mr. Sarubbi said. None of the children other than the four boys appeared to be malnourished, Mr. Sarubbi said. The family had received a total of as much as $28,000 a year from the state to take care of the adopted children and their foster daughter, investigators said. That stipend was reduced when the oldest boy turned 18.
:saywhat: :saywhat: :saywhat:
how the hell is a civil servant allowed to "resign" instead of be "arrested" in a case like that?
New Jersey Couple Held in Abuse; One Son, 19, Weighed 45 Pounds
By LYDIA POLGREEN and ROBERT F. WORTH
Published: October 27, 2003
COLLINGSWOOD, N.J., Oct. 26 — The parents of four boys adopted from New Jersey's troubled foster care system were arrested Friday, two weeks after the police found that the children, ages 9 to 19, had been starved to the point that none of them weighed more than 50 pounds, according to the Camden County prosecutor.
The boys were so badly malnourished that their shriveled bodies gave no hint of their ages, investigators said. At 19, the oldest was 4 feet tall and weighed 45 pounds. The police initially thought he was just 10 years old. The boys' condition was discovered when a neighbor called the police because the 19-year-old, Bruce, was looking for food in the neighbor's trash at 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 10, according to the county prosecutor, Vincent P. Sarubbi. The boys were removed from the home later that day.
The boys had been locked out of the kitchen of the house in this blue-collar Philadelphia suburb and were fed a diet of pancake batter, peanut butter and breakfast cereal. They ate wallboard and insulation to sate their hunger, investigators said.
A caseworker from the Division of Youth and Family Services, the state agency that oversees the foster care system, had visited the house at 318 White Horse Pike 38 times in the past 2 years, investigators said. The parents, Raymond Jackson, 50, and his wife, Vanessa, 48, rented the house, which passed a safety assessment by the caseworker and her supervisor in June.
"This is the most horrible case we have ever encountered in our child abuse unit," said Mr. Sarubbi, who charged the parents with aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of their children. "It has been impossible for me to rationalize how parents could treat children this way." Mr. Sarubbi announced the arrests at a news conference on Saturday.
The case is the latest in a series of discoveries revealing the collapse of New Jersey's child welfare system, which left the youngsters it was charged with protecting vulnerable to abuse and neglect in troubled homes with little oversight.
To settle a lawsuit over the failures of its foster care system, the state agreed in June to hand oversight of the agency to a five-member panel of child welfare experts. Last month, Gov. James E. McGreevey appointed an independent child advocate to protect the rights of children.
The advocate, Kevin M. Ryan, said Sunday that this latest case revealed the magnitude of the agency's problems. "The question that has to be penetrated is, how did 38 visits over 2 years not rescue these children from slow torture and starvation?" Mr. Ryan said in an interview. "I am completely baffled at this point at how a failure of this magnitude could happen."
He contrasted this case with the one that ultimately led to the call for major reform of the social service agency, the death of a 7-year-old boy in Newark named Faheem Williams, who was found hidden in the basement of a duplex where his cousin was supposed to be taking care of him. An investigation later revealed that Faheem's case had been closed prematurely despite serious allegations of abuse.
Of the Jackson case, Mr. Ryan said, "Here we had a caseworker who was going into this house and seeing these children," adding "It was not a failure of interaction."
The caseworker, whom officials would not identify, resigned from the agency as the conditions at the Jackson home came to light, said Gwendolyn L. Harris, the commissioner of the state Department of Human Services, which oversees the Division of Youth and Family Services. Agency officials described her as experienced, and Ms. Harris said the agency would review other cases she handled.
At least 8 and as many as 10 employees of the Division of Youth and Family Services, including managers and supervisors, face suspension and some could be fired depending on the outcome of the department's investigation into the Jackson case, she said.
Also living in the Jackson house were two girls, ages 5 and 12, whom the couple had also adopted from the foster care system; a foster daughter, 10, whom they were planning to adopt; and two of the couple's adult biological children — a son and a daughter, Mr. Sarubbi said. None of the children other than the four boys appeared to be malnourished, Mr. Sarubbi said. The family had received a total of as much as $28,000 a year from the state to take care of the adopted children and their foster daughter, investigators said. That stipend was reduced when the oldest boy turned 18.
:saywhat: :saywhat: :saywhat:
how the hell is a civil servant allowed to "resign" instead of be "arrested" in a case like that?