Posted on 03/04/2004 8:24:26 PM PST by tutstar
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- The Florida Department of Children and Families cares for thousands of children who can't go home. But hidden in the DCF files are signs of a disturbing trend.
This is the story of a little girl who really didn't have a chance in life. We're protecting her identity, but feel you need to hear her story. We'll call her Katie. She could be the poster child for the statement "You can't pick your parents."
Amber Christopher knows why her daughter was taken from her by DCF. "I wasn't providing a safe environment for her at all." Katie was put in a foster home. The system would have worked if the story had ended here.
"DCF should have never put her in that home," says Christopher. Katie, the victim of a bad mother, was now about to become a victim again.
According to documents obtained during a First Coast News investigation, Katie was put in a home with seven children, two more than the state allows. But foster homes are hard to come by and everything seemed okay until several notes appeared in Katie's DCF file.
"May 1st: 5 year old Katie is masturbating during nap time. A therapist is called and the foster family says Katie may have learned this from another child.
Attorney Helen Sporr says, "The child is starting to show signs of sexual abuse the way she's acting out, they're noting it at day care."
Sporr is now the attorney for Katie. She fights for children like Katie who she says have their stories lost in the files of the DCF.
Eight days later, another DCF note: Foster mom says there is more masturbation. And by June 18th: Katie tells a therapist another child is touching her at night.
Sporr says it's confirmed in a counseling session. "It's confirmed again and again and again. Everyone around her knows, the foster parents, the caseworker knows it. Everyone knows it and nothing has been done."
Katie is still living with her suspected abuser, another foster child.
Wayne Cissel is with the Department of Children and Families. He says removing children from foster homes sounds like an easy solution.
"It would separate two children involved in sexual activity but where does that child go?"
He says there is no risk assessment that gives a level of immediacy that would automatically cause you to remove a child. Cissel cannot talk specifically about Katie's case. But he can talk about a trend he's seeing with foster children molesting other foster children.
"The rates of child sexual abuse have exploded to the extent that we need to be looking at what we can do to minimize the risk and change behavior."
The bottom line, there are not enough foster parents. Not enough foster home. The kids sometimes have to stay with the people who are abusing them. "Moving children immediately is not always the best result."
More DCF notes in Katie's files: July 8th it says the recent report of child on child molestation has affected Katie in that she has been and continues to do inappropriate touches on other small children in the home.
Then on August 14th: It says Katie needs additional therapy. The caseworker says there is inappropriate supervision between Katie and the child who molested her.
The attorney representing Katie says she's files a case against DCF for negligence.
Isn't that a little young. Maybe girls are different, BUT I couldn't masturbate until I was about 13. Since the child molestation cases of the 80s and 90s I've always questioned the data of these supposed child advocates. That one in Edenton, NC was just outrageous.
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