GUILTY OK - Serenity Deal, 5, beaten to death, Oklahoma City, 4 June 2011

[Cracka*Jaxx]

I think I can now say I will put OK's DHS up against any other similar outfit in America at being the level worst.

This case was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Is it just me, or does it seem like an awful lot of these child abuse cases happen in OK?

 

[Salem]

I think I can now say I will put OK's DHS up against any other similar outfit in America at being the level worst.

This case was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I think Florida is pretty much even with OK. I'd post links but I'm too sad and tired to go find them

Salem

 

[Caligram]

I first learned of this senseless death from a post on The Hinky Meter. This child was blessed with a beautiful name and cursed with two evil parents. Two DHS workers removed a beautiful happy child from a loving home provided by her grandparents, and placed her in a foster home. They then searched for the father, previously absent from this child’s life. He was identified by the state through DNA testing. They ignored the shocking photos and reports of Serenity returning from a visits to her father with two black eyes and other bruises. There were two DSW employees, hopefully former employees by now, who forced this child out of a foster home and into the hands of her father, despite pleas and protests from the child and others.
Why? What did those two DSW workers have to gain from this. Were they in a contest to see how many children they could "re-unite" with a parent. Well, congratulations you two people ~ the state should charge both of you with child endangerment. From what I read, Donald Wheeler, the DHS worker who fought to keep Serenity from her father due to concerns for her safety, was found dead and may have committed suicide. May have?
Poor little child ~ she lived a life of hell her last month on earth , before she escaped to heaven.
RIP Sweet Serenity.

MOO

 

[wfgodot]

OSBI opens criminal probe into DHS action

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has agreed to conduct a criminal inquiry into a state agency's handling of the placement of a young girl who subsequently died from a beating.

Pottawatomie County District Attorney Richard Smothermon requested the investigation. He has been sharply critical of the state Department of Human Services and alleges information was withheld from his office.
---
[Sean Devon Brooks's] ex-girlfriend, Amanda Mallory, told Oklahoma City police she considered him too violent to be around their two daughters and son.

Mallory told police a DHS worker came to her house after Brooks' arrest.

“Amanda said after the worker left she thought it was strange that they had only contacted her after the fact of all that had happened and they didn't ask her in the beginning what type of relationship he had had with his kids. Amanda said she would have told them because of the violence in their past she didn't really let him around her kids,” police reported.
---

much more at Sunday Oklahoman link above

 

[Peazzzer]

This just kills me, I think that every worker ought to be charged with complicity or conspiracy of whatever the parent or foster parents are charged with, stripped of thier wages and retirement. Maybe that would get these numbskulls to care more. If that harsh or stupid, think of the child that paid the ultimate price. . . When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace. Jimi Hendrix

 

[CHICANA]

One starts by electing officials with social concerns who will fund fully programs of protection and betterment.

IMO, lack of funding wasn't the issue in this case. It was a complete lack of common sense.

 

[wfgodot]

IMO, lack of funding wasn't the issue in this case. It was a complete lack of common sense.

Low salaries will fail to draw high-quality employees. This is true in any case.

 

[CHICANA]

Low salaries will fail to draw high-quality employees. This is true in any case.

This case should have been easy for even a "lower quality" employee.

 

[wfgodot]

This case should have been easy for even a "lower quality" employee.

Agreed.

 

[wfgodot]

Oklahoma DHS governing board refuses special meeting on Serenity Deal death

The governing board of the state's child-welfare agency has refused repeated requests to hold special meetings on the high-profile deaths of children in its care.

Steven Dow, of Tulsa, called for the special meetings. He is one of nine commissioners who oversee the state Department of Human Services.

He told The Oklahoman, “My calls for greater accountability and interest by the commission in even asking questions are met with a deafening silence. … I basically have gotten no response from most of the commissioners.”

Dow asked for special meetings after the 2010 death of Aja Johnson, 7, and the June death of Serenity Deal, 5.

He brought up five other children's deaths in one of his requests for a meeting about Serenity.

“Not once has the Commission discussed any of these horrific situations nor attempted to understand how our agency failed these children. Not once,” he wrote in an email to other commissioners.
---

the rest of the story at Sunday Oklahoman link above

 

[LCoastMom]

Another DHS worker fired for Serenity Deal death <<snipped>>

Another Department of Human Services worker involved in the case that resulted in the death of Serenity Deal has been fired. Randy Lack, the principal caseworker in the Deal case, was served with a final termination notice from DHS Tuesday.

The notice details 67 allegations of policy violations.

http://www.kfor.com/news/local/kfor-another-dhs-worker-fired-for-serenity-deal-death-20110920,0,1196584.story

Another case of closing the gate after the horse has fled - where was his supervisor while he collected 67 policy violations???

Notice of discharge at link:

http://media.trb.com/media/acrobat/2011-09/327289360-20144802.pdf

 

[CHICANA]

Another DHS worker fired for Serenity Deal death <<snipped>>

Another Department of Human Services worker involved in the case that resulted in the death of Serenity Deal has been fired. Randy Lack, the principal caseworker in the Deal case, was served with a final termination notice from DHS Tuesday.

The notice details 67 allegations of policy violations.

http://www.kfor.com/news/local/kfor-another-dhs-worker-fired-for-serenity-deal-death-20110920,0,1196584.story

Another case of closing the gate after the horse has fled - where was his supervisor while he collected 67 policy violations???

Wasn't the caseworker in the Barahona case given numerous final notices from DHS before Nubia was murdered ?

 

[LCoastMom]

Wasn't the caseworker in the Barahona case given numerous final notices from DHS before Nubia was murdered ?

Yep - when is FINAL notice just another warning? In FL DCS...

 

[UdbCrzy2]

This is happening too often, we need a revamp of this flawed system.

 

[peeples]

http://www.koco.com/r/29315406/detail.html

Commissioners overseeing the Oklahoma Department of Human Services created a new review committee on Tuesday.

Read more: http://www.koco.com/news/29315406/detail.html#ixzz1ZC6cFfBa

 

[SondraK]

Just this once, Oklahoma got it right. :rocker:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/arti...cleid=20111204_11_A26_CUTLIN163099&rss_lnk=12


RIP Serenity

 

[wfgodot]

Imprisoned mother of girl, 5, beaten to death by father sues state
for $3 million 'as workers should have known she was at risk' (Daily Mail)

The mother of a five-year-old girl who was beaten to death by her father just a month after she was placed in his care is suing the Oklahoma Department of Human Services for $3 million.

Samantha Deal, whose daughter Serenity died in June 2011, said the state's negligence led to the girl's 'untimely passing' and is demanding $1 million for each of her two daughters and herself.

The mother is herself in prison after being sentenced to 15 years for molesting a young boy.
---

more, with pictures, at link above and below

Murdered Oklahoma girl's mother files $3 million claim against state (Daily Oklahoman)

---
Serenity's grandparents, Chuck and Annette Deal, of Chandler, have made a separate claim against the state over the girl's death, their attorney, Joe Vorndran, said. Serenity stayed with them for a while before being put into foster homes.

The grandparents' claim may have been misplaced. The grandparents' attorney said he has proof the state accepted it. State officials said Thursday they have not received it yet.
---

 

[tlcya]

I am sorry. This lawsuit just pizzes me off. If mom had been minding her own Ps and Qs she would not have been incarcerated and CPS would not have been placing Serenity with the monster who took her life.

I believe CPS erred and erred big. But the whole thing started when this loving mom [sarcasm] was out molesting a 10 year old boy! I think CPS needs a total overhaul, I am sorely disappointed in the manner in which it let Serenity down. That said, this mother has no right IMO to sue when her daughter was in their care due to her own criminal acts against another child.

The ONLY victim here IMO is Serenity. and I'll be damned if I support mom in her bid for a paycheck off her daughter's suffering. Sorry.

 

[Woodland]

Seems to me the good news might be, one has to go to court with clean hands so to speak in order to have a chance at winning a case. Doesn't seem to be the case here, so mom just might be running up a huge legal bill that hopefully she can take care of. Jmo.

 

[jjenny]

Another example of "reunification" at work. Do CPS employees get prizes or salary bonuses for placing these children with the bio parents, regardless of how fit or unfit these parents are?