NC - Dorian Harper & Wanda Larson for abuse of foster child, Monroe, 2013

[mikeysmommom]

BBM

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question and I've not understood, but if children who are not part of the foster system are not under DSS supervision, then how could continual reporting jeopardize the mother's visitation? I thought DSS claimed they didn't monitor legal guardianships? So how could DSS be "allowing" or "disallowing" the mother's visitation if they aren't responsible once the kid is outside the foster system? Have I misread?

I wonder if the state ever audited the homeschooling records (as they are entitled to do). Personally, I think it needs stricter oversight. MMO

They have all the control , I know because of calling them and seeing for myself how they operate! Our grandchild told how mommys new BF took naked pics of them,When CPS still allowed mom to disregard parenting plans stating she had to not expose the kids to him until investigation was over and we gave them proof he was still living there they did nothing.Our police chief (different county then where abuse took place)was very upset and explained that if it were up to him both would have been behind bars but once CPS steps in nothing can be done and they have 0% over sight!

 

[tlcya]

Well I do not know about NC but here, you cannot become someone's legal and permanent or even temporary guardian without a court review and approval process filed through the probate or family court [depending on age of ward].

You can sign documents stating people are legally authorized to seek medical treatment etc for your child (as in for extended stays with relatives, friends, anticipated long parental absences, but to be considered by the state and its social services agency as someone's LEGAL guardian, you have to do so through a court of law).

I am no lawyer, but I feel pretty sure about this.

This is friggin frightening - I really am concerned the more we learn the more outraged I will be.

Something is seriously messed up with the existing system of CPS (DSS) in the state of NC. MO strongly held O

 

[scmom]

DSS visits kids in foster care at least four times a year, but DSS does not make those same home visits once kids are adopted or under guardianship, like the 11-year-old.

http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/Union-Co-SO-We-received-reports-of-child-abuse-neglect-232737551.html

 

[tlcya]

Exactly but what is being meant by guardianship? Is this a lack of clarity in teh law that is being used by folks in the know to make kids disappear into the grey area between DSS supervision and permanent disposition of their situations?

I read DSS policy to be be referring to LEGAL guardianship, which confers it took place through a legal process. Documents, things signed, notarized, etc. Children are not chattel and they have rights.

Unless there was an actual guardianship in place for these formerly titled "foster" kids, and the court system, etc dropped the ball on monitoring or poor mothers who could not seek and fund legal advice were not informed of their rights to insist on advocacy for their children.

 

[tlcya]

I do not like this case one bit. It distrubs me more and more the more I think about it.

How many children are in whatever bizarre grey area that these children appear to be?? How many of those are in harm's way RIGHT now?

 

[scmom]

I think the DOJ needs to look into North Carolina's DHHS again.
http://www.wwaytv3.com/state_dhhs_under_federal_investigation/11/2010

 

[The Cheese]

Demonstrators were demanding answers about who is protecting children in Union County. They gathered outside the courthouse Wednesday morning.

They said the case of this couple arrested after a boy was found handcuffed with a dead chicken around his neck is proof that something is very wrong with the system.

snipped

And many are asking how did it start? How did Dorian Harper and Wanda Sue Larson gain guardianship of the 11-year-old boy?.

His biological mother, Maria said the boy was taken from her sister's home eight years ago in Gaston County with his two cousins, due to abuse.

"They kept all the kids together," said Maria, "I never bothered them about it because they were together. He wasn't alone."

She said over time the cousins were adopted by Larson and Harper.

"They wanted to terminate my parental rights with me, the judge refused," said Maria, "So, then they gave her guardianship."

snipped

"I don't really blame her for the handcuffing to the rail. I don't hold that against her because I don't know if she knew about it," said Maria.

Wanda Sue Larson's oldest adoptive son, Michael agreed. He doesn't know if his mom knew what Dorian Harper was doing.

"Dorian's methods of punishment was extreme. I don't condone it. I do not agree with it," said Michael Harper-Larson, "I can see a reason behind it, but it doesn't make it right."

snipped

"The punishments he received were extreme because his behavior was extreme," said Harper-Larson.

Harper-Larson said he does know the children are all together in another county.


http://www.wbtv.com/story/24027522/...er&utm_content=bufferbe9a3&utm_medium=twitter

 

[tlcya]

Promptly sits on hands and leaves this thread pronto.

 

[AnaTeresa]

I do not like this case one bit. It distrubs me more and more the more I think about it.

How many children are in whatever bizarre grey area that these children appear to be?? How many of those are in harm's way RIGHT now?

More than you think - I read an extremely disturbing expose recently about how easy it is to pass off children to others without any real legal work. Some of the stories of the poor adopted kids who were continually rehomed made me cry. I will find the link when I am in front of a computer and post the link. Our system is very broken.

 

[ArianeEmory]

(Just me or is WS really broken again the last few days?)

 

[Boodles]

I think the DOJ needs to look into North Carolina's DHHS again.
http://www.wwaytv3.com/state_dhhs_under_federal_investigation/11/2010

The NC DHHS is a complete train wreck from top to bottom. And the current administration is not going to put any focus on making it better. I could write a book about it, but won't. On the bright side, our state auditor is all over them right now (on other issues, not CPS), and she is currently my hero for doing so. (And I hope she has her own security detail.)

Of course not everyone is evil like Larson appears to be. But in NC, when you assess the pros and cons of calling CPS about a child, and the cons outweigh the pros, that's a sad statement indeed.

 

[nightwatch]

Exactly but what is being meant by guardianship? Is this a lack of clarity in teh law that is being used by folks in the know to make kids disappear into the grey area between DSS supervision and permanent disposition of their situations?

I read DSS policy to be be referring to LEGAL guardianship, which confers it took place through a legal process. Documents, things signed, notarized, etc. Children are not chattel and they have rights.

Unless there was an actual guardianship in place for these formerly titled "foster" kids, and the court system, etc dropped the ball on monitoring or poor mothers who could not seek and fund legal advice were not informed of their rights to insist on advocacy for their children.

I read through this thread again to see if I missed anything. In post #93 there is a mention where wsl sued birth mom for child support, judge awarded $55. per mo. if that is true then the courts have been involved with the guardianship and order of support for this little boy. Jtol

Ciao

 

[The Cheese]

On Dec. 21, 2012, the boy was the subject of a 911 call after he turned up at a neighbor’s house begging for food and saying he didn’t know where he lived.

A deputy, who had visited the Larson/Harper home on a 911 call a year earlier, returned the boy to their custody. But that night, the deputy filed a complaint with DSS, Union County Sheriff Eddie Cathey said Wednesday.

The response from the DSS investigator came back Dec. 27. The deputy’s complaint “does not meet statutory definition of abuse, neglect or dependency,” the investigator concluded, and a fuller review was not warranted.

At the time of her arrest, Larson was an investigative supervisor for DSS with a staff of five. Her professional relationship with the DSS worker who handled the 2012 complaint at her home was not clear Wednesday.

Richard Matens, executive director of the county’s human services department, which oversees DSS, said the investigator followed “all state protocols” in the complaint involving Larson.

The initial screening of any child protective services case is handled by the county, Matens said. If that review determines a need for further investigation – and it would be a conflict of interest for the county to handle that claim – the case is sent to another county, he said.

Matens said he could not comment further on specifics about the December case.

A child-protection legal expert in Charlotte says that with Larson involved, Union DSS should have taken more steps in 2012 to distance itself from the appearance of a conflict of interest.

“If they screened it or investigated it themselves, that would be a big conflict,” said Robert McCarter, managing attorney for the Council of Children’s Rights in Charlotte.

McCarter, the onetime attorney for Mecklenburg’s DSS, said if his former agency “were to learn of a situation involving one of their supervisors, then Gaston or Iredell or some other county would come here to do the screening and the investigation. Then you’d have some protection against an open conflict.”

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/20...ier-complaint.html#.Uo2GH8SsjvY#storylink=cpy

 

[CHERIE.T]

I can almost guaranty that this poor child is down in records that he has mental issues and needs to be medicated.That is how child abusers cover up their abuse of children who dare to speak out to anyone of the abuse inflicted upon them. My grandson spoke out about abuse we involved CPS,her and her boyfriend turned it around on the child.Mother lied to Dr's saying fathers side almost everyone is bi polar which is a lie, but she was believed and he is on adderall twice a day to keep him easy to manipulate and quite.My son has been fighting this for years.Funny when he comes to my son on his weekends his mom sends no pills and he acts fine.Abusers find ways to hide what they do and what better way then under saying mental illness.The only one mentally Ill IMO are the abusers!

ETA My grandson after telling us and us getting CPS(DYFS) involved the mom immediately cut off our whole family.My grandson did act out but because he did not understand why when I told him to tell the truth no one helped him, even though we all tried.My son had to fight like crazy in family court because she refused to let him or anyone see him for months.He was 4 and of course he acted out because he was very confused and also mad at his mom for not believing him ,she also screamed at him why was he making trouble and destroying her life, which he replied I am not lying mommy you are!!!! and being ripped away from those he knows loves him and tried to get help for him and his older sis.

:seeya: thank you for sharing that with us. I'm sorry you and your loved ones have dealt with such....hugs!

 

[AnaTeresa]

More than you think - I read an extremely disturbing expose recently about how easy it is to pass off children to others without any real legal work. Some of the stories of the poor adopted kids who were continually rehomed made me cry. I will find the link when I am in front of a computer and post the link. Our system is very broken.

Found it! It's a four part series from Rueters and highly disturbing. It's the first thing I thought of as facts started to come out in this case.

http://www.reuters.com/investigates/adoption/#article/part1

 

[forthelost]

What gets me the most in that Reuters story is the parents who admit the child they adopted is well-behaved and nice; they just don't like the kid.

 

[Deleted member 96356]

So many thoughts and questions right now (many of which involve four letter words), but briefly:

- the house was a hoarder situation, not to mention 90 animals, and even exterior photos show there's something wrong; so how is it that nothing was done (other than the one police officer who tried to get help)

- if the officer's complaint didn't meet the criteria, I'd like to know what the criteria is; reminds me of the call I made about our neighbor's dog - a short-coated dog shivering and crying outside in the freezing wind with no shelter was not a valid complaint so long as he had access to food and water; I guess so long as this kid had dead chickens to put around his neck it met the minimum requirements in that county

- this is exactly why IMO it's b.s. that homeschools are not subject to inspection :twocents:

- thank you (upthread) for the info on temporary guardianship; my money is that we'll find out things were not done by the book, or even close to the book, and Larson knew how to weasel the system and had colleagues who fully enabled it; and I'd like to know how that child support was accounted for, must have gone toward handcuffs

- my jaw has not yet come up off the floor after reading "Dorian's methods of punishment was extreme. I don't condone it. I do not agree with it," said Michael Harper-Larson, "I can see a reason behind it, but it doesn't make it right." ; excuse me but he can see a reason behind it? I would like to know exactly what reason a child could possibly give to have this enacted upon him; ooohhh he was destructive of property GMAFB

So now it was the husband, not the wife, who was the abuser. Sounds like the finger-pointing has begun. Let's hope these two losers talk and talk themselves into a corner while trying to shift blame on the other person. "But *I* didn't handcuff him to the railroad tie when he didn't do his homework fast enough, I just *saw* him handcuffed! That makes it okay! Call me for all your DSS needs, I'm a real pro!"

:banghead:

Thank you to those who are keeping us updated with latest articles and info. It's like a maze of changing information.

(Mikeysmommom, I'm so sorry to hear of what you and your family went through)

 

[Deleted member 96356]

Found it! It's a four part series from Rueters and highly disturbing. It's the first thing I thought of as facts started to come out in this case.

http://www.reuters.com/investigates/adoption/#article/part1

Thank you!!! (and how horrifying)

From the article: Children can be sent to new families quickly through a basic "power of attorney" document – a notarized statement declaring the child to be in the care of another adult.

Something tells me Larson's "legal guardianship" was the equivalent of a notarized form printed off NOLO, and the mother had no idea of her true rights. Just a hunch. And you know, if the court made it too easy for Larson to obtain these kids, maybe they thought they were doing something good. Expediency for the child's sake versus extended red tape.

*SIGH*

 

[Norwegian]

Found it! It's a four part series from Rueters and highly disturbing. It's the first thing I thought of as facts started to come out in this case.

http://www.reuters.com/investigates/adoption/#article/part1

Thanks for posting this.

I read the whole article earlier today. Took some hours. Extremely disturbing.

With more and more cases involving adopted kids I think it would be nice to have a "directory" thread with links to different cases and medialinks.

 

[The Cheese]

officials released a new statement Thursday regarding DSS supervisor Wanda Larson and Dorian Harper.

Union County says despite various reports, the reason any suspected abuse went unnoticed is because none of the children in the couple’s care were listed as foster children.

snipped

Union County shares the community’s deep concern regarding the recent events pertaining to Dorian Harper and Wanda Larson and the children who were residing in their home.

Consequently, we want to ensure that the information that is communicated with the public is accurate. The article in the November 20, 2013 Enquirer Journal contained numerous inaccuracies that Union County must correct. No child in the Harper-Larson house was in foster care at the time of the arrest of Mr. Harper or Mrs. Larson: Four of the children had been adopted and the fifth had been placed in guardianship in the home.

As the State Division of Social Services statement dated November 19, 2013 indicates: “Dorian Harper and Wanda Larson are not currently licensed foster parents in North Carolina. The Harper/Larson foster home license expired in December 2010. There have been no foster children living in the home since May 2009.”

The statement from the State Division of Social Services further indicated: “Based on state law regarding adoption of foster children, once a decree of adoption is entered, the adoptive parents are not subject to any additional oversight by DSS unless it is requested by the parents.”

Union County DSS supervised the family foster home from December 1, 1998 through September 17, 2003 prior to Ms. Lawson’s employment. Gaston County DSS supervised the family foster home from 9/18/03 through 12/1/10. It is also important to note that according to State records, “No adverse licensing actions occurred during the licensure period.”

In terms of the December 2012 report mentioned in the article, the matter was evaluated and it has been determined that Mrs. Kawyn acted according to State procedures in reviewing that particular case.

As the inquiry continues, the County will continue to be transparent and keep officials and the public informed while working to protect the children and families that DSS serves. We are committed to finding a solution and setting procedures in an effort to prevent incidents like this from occurring in the future.

Sincerely,
Cynthia A. Coto
County Manager

http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/Union-Co-comments-on-alleged-child-abuse-case-232863551.html