Advocates blame dysfunctional system
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STAFF WRITER
October 28, 2003
Child advocates expressed outrage and disbelief yesterday over the discovery of four adopted boys found starving in their New Jersey home, blaming an overwhelmed system with improperly trained employees who practiced "drive-by" social work.
"It's one of the most horrible cases I have ever heard," said Gail Nayowith, executive director of the Citizens' Committee for Children of New York, an advocacy group. "It reinforces the fact that this is an agency with systemic problems. Did anyone check the children's medical records?" The parents apparently had told acquaintances that the boys had an eating disorder. "Were there follow-ups with the pediatrician? Were those boys ever interviewed alone?"
"It seems this was a case of malicious intent," Nayowith added, "and when there is malicious intent, there is no law to protect the child."
On Friday, New Jersey police arrested Vanessa Jackson, 48, and Raymond Jackson, 50, of Collingswood, after officials found four adopted boys in their care were so emaciated that none of them weighed more than 50 pounds. The oldest, Bruce, 19, was 4 feet tall and weighed 45 pounds. The state is considering criminal charges against the caseworker who visited the home at least 38 times.
"The overwhelmed caseworker probably didn't have the time to check on every child in that house and was practicing what is called 'drive-by' social work," said Richard Wexler, director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform.
Although experts admit that such neglect can happen in any state, experts say it is now less likely to happen in New York City because of the dramatic reforms put in place after the beating death of 6-year-old Elisa Izquierdo by her mother in 1995.
After the public outcry over Elisa, Nicholas Scoppetta took control of the city Administration for Children's Services and was given $600 million in new funding to remake the agency. In addition, a court-ordered Child Welfare Advisory Panel was created to oversee reforms in the system.
Officials also changed their mission from placing children in foster homes to preserving families. That eased the pressure to use substandard foster homes and gave workers more time to investigate each case.
Since then, the agency has reduced caseloads for caseworkers from an average of 26 cases per worker in 1996 to 11 in 2002. And the foster care population has dropped from a high of 41,000 in 1996 to 26,000 in 2002.
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.
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