Abusive Foster Homes

by Fatherofeight | More from this Blogger

13 Jan 2007 11:47 PM

Last November, Mesa Family Services, a company that licensed and operated foster homes in the Dallas area, lost its permit because two children had died violently in separate incidents in their homes in the last four years. A company called Therapeutic Family Life took over one hundred of their homes. Apparently, there was little improvement in supervision and conditions.

A five year old girl has been violently murdered in one of those homes and her foster mother has been arrested. Apparently, her teenaged son, who has been arrested for murder, had been beating the little girl and her siblings. Police report that the 15 year old boy had repeatedly picked the girl up and violently thrown her down. The child had brain and skull injuries as well as internal bleeding and bruising over her torso.

The foster mother was not at home to supervise what had been going on. When she discovered the badly beaten girl, she first took the blanket that she had been beaten on to a laundromat and washed it. Then, over three hours later, she took the girl to the hospital. Medical personnel have stated that the girl would have survived had she been taken to the hospital in a timely manner.

A few months ago, the same girl and one of her sisters, were taken to the hospital after they had been seriously beaten in the same home. The foster mother and each of the girls told authorities that the girls had gotten into a fight and inflicted the injuries on each other. CPS took the girls out of the home, but Therapeutic Family Life returned them to the same home a week later.

CPS has now inspected all of the homes managed by Therapeutic and taken fifteen children out of those homes, citing that some of the homes lacked proper supervision and some were not safe. They have also discovered that some of the new foster parents had criminal records. Over two hundred children are still in homes that they manage.

These children have been taken from their own homes because of serious abuse and / or neglect. The foster homes that were provided for their well being were just as bad, or worse, than the homes that they were removed from. These children have not had a chance.

Also in Dallas, the woman who birthed a nine pound boy who was later found dead in a dumpster has been charged with capital murder. If found guilty, she could be sentenced to death or given a 99 year sentence. The newborn had received brain trauma and could have been suffocated. In Texas, it is legal to abandon an uninjured baby up to sixty days old at fire stations, police stations, or hospitals. Why didn't she just do that?

When will all this violence against our nation's children end?

Related Blogs:

Child Neglect: A Growing National Problem

Rescue a Child

Going Back to Hades

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Linda Hansen (1796) 14 Jan 2007 08:10 AM

It is beyond sad that the system cannot determine a good home from an abusive home. It is horrifying that they allow a "business" to place children in an unsafe home to be abused and murdered. Artcraft

Fatherofeight (2475) 14 Jan 2007 09:25 AM

To think that our children could have been sent to one of those homes. The real problem is that not enough good people feel like they can keep these children. The system is desparate and so substandard homes have to be used. It is very, very sad. You are right, Artcraft, it is actually beyond sad.

rsbg (501) 14 Jan 2007 11:31 AM

We live near Dallas, and I have been following these two stories quite a bit. They horrify me, and they scare me. How many more kids have to die before something is done? These poor kids have been through enough!!!!!! I understand there are false accusations out there, I just wish there was some way of knowing the truth between the false accusations and abuse.

Fatherofeight (2475) 14 Jan 2007 01:35 PM

For many of these kids it has been out of the frying pan and in to the fire. They are obviously desparate for foster homes. And that is a reflection of how many children are in abusive homes. It is a real crisis. Thanks for your comments.

Crickett (272) 14 Jan 2007 04:20 PM

My thought is what can we do to encourage more good families to consider foster care and adoption? This blog is a step, and I've seen some commercials and billboards but more needs to be done. There are still so many great families that wouldn't consider fostering/adopting, perhaps because they haven't been exposed to it enough in their community or don't know the desperate need.

I say all that and I am neither currently fostering or adopting- but I plan to in the future. For me and my husband it seems an obvious choice!!

~Crickett

Fatherofeight (2475) 14 Jan 2007 04:32 PM

That is a start, Cricket. There are some realy good ads on the tv that I am hopeful about, also a gallery of photos and bios of children eligible to be adopted.