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

[CarmelEyesD]

Well, I don't think she should win a lawsuit. If she had been a mother, the child would not have been placed with the dad.

 

[BrownRice]

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?

Your comment does have a vein of truth. My family has looked at the foster-adoption program (becoming a foster parent with the intent to adopt) and you MUST go into with the goal of reunification of the child with his/her bio parents. If you go into it with the stated desire of adoption you can't do it. Their #1 goal is reunification. I get it in "normal" situations, but there are many more non-normal situations than not. As a result, I can't do it (I don't have it in me to love/nurture a child and then send him/her back to a horrible environment; I just can't do it.)

In this case, I think the social workers/admin should receive criminal charges. Looking at the picture of this broken little girl (at the Daily Mail link) when she was first removed from her dad is sickening. Who in their right mind would put a child back with him?

 

[Soulmagent]

Well, I don't think she should win a lawsuit. If she had been a mother, the child would not have been placed with the dad.

I dont think she should receive a penny ever.

I Hope her victim will sue her for the 3 million. I hope his parents have people on that already.

 

[the seeker]

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

Yep. I think it's more than that too. I have 15 years LE experience and recently got my BS in Psychology. I tried for a YEAR to get a job as a child welfare worker( I wanted to make a difference). I also am a former foster parent and adopted 3 kids from the system...yet I was continuously passed over for others who "have more experience" or are "already state workers in another agency". Seems to me they dont really want people who know how to investigate and are highly trained in that area.Seems like they just want to take substandard so when something goes wrong based on a decision a higher up had made then they have their scapegoats who may not know any better and don't have the proper investigative skill. Makes me sick.

 

[the seeker]

Your comment does have a vein of truth. My family has looked at the foster-adoption program (becoming a foster parent with the intent to adopt) and you MUST go into with the goal of reunification of the child with his/her bio parents. If you go into it with the stated desire of adoption you can't do it. Their #1 goal is reunification. I get it in "normal" situations, but there are many more non-normal situations than not. As a result, I can't do it (I don't have it in me to love/nurture a child and then send him/her back to a horrible environment; I just can't do it.)

In this case, I think the social workers/admin should receive criminal charges. Looking at the picture of this broken little girl (at the Daily Mail link) when she was first removed from her dad is sickening. Who in their right mind would put a child back with him?

This actually depends on the state you are in. In Oregon the rule is SUPPOSED to be that you cannot go into foster care if your goal is adoption. If you want to adopt you get registered (certified) for adoption and you wait for a match up with a child who is "legally free". Once matched, the child is placed in your home and you are pretty much foster parents until the adoption is finalized.

However, it differs from county to county on whether or not that rule is followed.

The reasoning behind this rule is because often times a child will be reunified or a relative will be found that wants the child and then the foster family and the child may get their hearts broken....because reunification is the goal if it is safe for the child, And....this is where it often goes wrong.

Like I said though each state is different.

 

[jjenny]

Your comment does have a vein of truth. My family has looked at the foster-adoption program (becoming a foster parent with the intent to adopt) and you MUST go into with the goal of reunification of the child with his/her bio parents. If you go into it with the stated desire of adoption you can't do it. Their #1 goal is reunification. I get it in "normal" situations, but there are many more non-normal situations than not. As a result, I can't do it (I don't have it in me to love/nurture a child and then send him/her back to a horrible environment; I just can't do it.)

In this case, I think the social workers/admin should receive criminal charges. Looking at the picture of this broken little girl (at the Daily Mail link) when she was first removed from her dad is sickening. Who in their right mind would put a child back with him?

We have quite a few threads on children that were re-unified by CPS and ended up dead (and a few where the children were eventually rescued after years of abuse).
Seems like in a lot of these cases common sense goes out of the window (as many of these parents don't appear to be capable of caring for a pet rock), as long as CPS can achieve its goal of re-unification.

 

[wfgodot]

Oklahoma DHS sued over Serenity Deal's murder. (Daily Oklahoman)

 

[LCoastMom]

From wfgodot's link ^^^^, re the fired DHS case workers:

"The two fired DHS workers pleaded no contest last November to a misdemeanor charge of suppressing evidence in Serenity's case. Both were put on probation for a year."

They suppressed evidence (that horrifying photo taken after the 2nd overnight visit). They were accused of maliciously keeping evidence from the judge when they recommended the girl be placed with her father.

They each received 1 year of probation? A child died because of their actions. :banghead: :banghead:

 

[Donamena]

From wfgodot's link ^^^^, re the fired DHS case workers:

"The two fired DHS workers pleaded no contest last November to a misdemeanor charge of suppressing evidence in Serenity's case. Both were put on probation for a year."

They suppressed evidence (that horrifying photo taken after the 2nd overnight visit). They were accused of maliciously keeping evidence from the judge when they recommended the girl be placed with her father.

They each received 1 year of probation? A child died because of their actions. :banghead: :banghead:

Were they social workers with a license? If so, it should be taken away. Is there no statute there for reckless endangerment of a life? Why can't they go to jail???

 

[wfgodot]

Just as Jack Nicholson as Jake Gittes in that great movie is told "Forget it, Jake; it's Chinatown," so, to, in Oklahoma - it's a completely different ball of wax here, it seems, regarding basic things like social services: sometimes one tells oneself, Forget it; you're in Oklahoma now.

A sad state of affairs, this one.

 

[wfgodot]

Daily Oklahoman:

Judge rules in favor of Oklahoma Department
of Human Services in wrongful-death lawsuit

 

[wendybtn]

ABSOLUTELY!! People support politicians who say they will cut back on funding for state programs because they immediately think of the stereotypical lazy welfare recipient. They get tunnel vision and then are the first to scream at the top of their lungs when these at-risk children end up damaged or dead.

I also think whenever any legislature (state or federal) hears "budget cuts," they immediately make sure fire, emergency services, police, and workers in departments that really work with the public face-to-face are the first cut. Not state issued vehicles, low level legislative staffers, offices that can do their work online with less workers now never get permanent cuts. Just major public safety jobs. Why, I have no idea, but that is what happens every time. IMHO

 

[Boomeroreo]

That's what I'm talking about. Something strange is going on! Children services, the whole court system and these parents are allowed to have their child(ren) back after abuse?? I roughly see alot on facebook, this woman posts of this type all the time on there. That a relative or grandmother of Kate who went missing was I believe 5 months old and the boyfriend or father said he killed her, but can't remember what or where he laid her to rest.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Murdered girl's grandparents accept $475,000 to end their case against Oklahoma Department of Human Services

http://newsok.com/murdered-girls-grandparents-accept-475000-to-end-their-case-against-oklahoma-department-of-human-services/article/5582054

A murdered girl's grandparents have settled their wrongful-death lawsuit against the Oklahoma Department of Human Services for $475,000.

The brutal 2011 death of Serenity Deal sparked widespread public outrage toward DHS. Her maternal grandparents sued in 2013 on behalf of her estate.

Serenity's father, Sean Devon Brooks, beat her to death in June 2011, less than a month after she began living with him full time at his Oklahoma City apartment. The former motel clerk pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

Serenity's mother is now in prison, serving a 15-year sentence for a sex offense involving a boy.