The state child abuse investigators who seized four young siblings from their grandparents a day after the family lost another child in a suspected homicide were doing their duty, a Lee County-based circuit judge said Wednesday.
Circuit Judge James H. Seals, in an e-mail obtained by the Sun Wednesday, said investigators from the Department of Children and Families are required by law to respond to abuse and neglect complaints phoned in to a state hotline.
Investigators are also required to have "face to face contact" with the children in question. But Saul and Doreen Vanderwoude, the children's grandparents, denied them access to the children, Seals wrote.
The judge sent his e-mail to a dozen people on a "court-media committee." The committee, which works to foster programs to help troubled juveniles, includes members from the media, child welfare and judicial professions.
The case illustrates "DCF's plight of 'damned if you do and damned if you don't,'" wrote Seals.
His comments came three days after the body of Coralrose Fullwood, 6, was found in a wooded area within two blocks of her North Port home. Coralrose had shared the home with four of her six siblings and her parents, Dale and Ellen-Beth Fullwood.
The family had moved to the home from Cape Coral two months ago.
The DCF investigators had become concerned that Coralrose's surviving siblings, aged 4, 8, 10 and 12, might be "in danger" if they continued to reside with their parents.
In a so-called "shelter hearing" held Tuesday in Sarasota, DCF and North Port police officials testified that the Fullwoods' North Port home was filthy, littered with feces and infested with cockroaches.
Kim Poke, a DCF mental health counselor and investigative court specialist, testified that the DCF moved to take the children to investigate "past and current injuries."
The Fullwoods, however, had relocated the children Monday to their grandparents' house in Fort Myers.
When DCF officials arrived at the grandparents' house to interview the children, a legal dispute followed. Saul Sanderwoude said he contacted his attorney, who advised him that a court order would be required for DCF to talk to the children.
The DCF investigators waited in their van and deputies were summoned.
Meanwhile, news reporters who happened to contact Saul Sanderwoude at the time heard of his anguish over the DCF's pending action. Before long, TV news crews were on the scene to capture the emotions of family members as the DCF investigators drove off with the children.
Sarasota-based Circuit Court Judge Rick DeFuria ruled later Tuesday the children would be returned to the guardianship of their grandparents, but not to their parents.
DeFuria ordered the family to create a plan to clean the parents' home.
"You are all family," he said, addressing the 14 individuals gathered at the hearing. "Help each other out; help them clean."
Seals wrote in his e-mail that his comments about the case were given to the media to foster a "clearer understanding, I hope, of why DCF had to appear as though they were home-wreckers.
"The grandparents provided good photo ops to the media and inflammatory statements for broadcast and print, and I'm not blaming the media for covering it," Seals wrote. "But those photo ops and inflammatory comments came your way compliments of the parents and grandparents, not DCF."
Seals said DCF is required by law to respond to child abuse hotline calls. The DCF is also obligated to obtain court orders to enter homes with law enforcement officers to determine the safety of the child, he said.
Seals granted the order in the Fullwood case, calling it "a no-brainer."
"DCF does not have to present the judge with evidence that the children were actually being harmed," he said. "The only showing required was that they were denied access to the children."
Had the DCF turned away from such a duty, and had the children subsequently been harmed, DCF would have been crucified, Seals said.
The court-media committee members include representatives from Gannett, the News-Press, the Bonita News, Camelot Care, ABC-7, Florida Gulf Coast University and the DCF.
Seals asked in his e-mail that he not be named as the source of the information about the DCF's actions.
Seals could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Saul Vanderwoude, contacted by phone Wednesday, declined comment, citing the advice of the family's attorney, John Coleman.
The DCF is prohibited by law from discussing details in ongoing abuse or neglect investigations, said Kelly Kelley, a supervisor over DCF child protection investigations.
Anyone, from police officers to neighbors, can report child abuse or neglect by calling the DCF's hotline at 1-800-96ABUSE.
Kelley said DCF investigators typically don't decide to seize children from their families until they visit the home and observe indications that children are in danger. The indications can include visible bruises, intoxicated parents or deplorable living conditions.
But the fact that children reside in a dirty house does not necessarily mandate their removal, Kelley said. Investigators also consider whether the children are so young that they're likely to be crawling in unsanitary conditions or to be vulnerable to rodent and insect bites, she said.
Investigators also consider the prior history of the parents.
If removal appears appropriate, investigators discuss the case with their supervisors and lawyers.
More often, investigators work to refer parents to programs to help them become better parents.
If investigators are denied access to children in an abuse investigation, "obviously, that's going to elevate concern," Kelley said.
The city of North Port has never had to respond to the Fullwoods' North Port home, located in the 2700 block of Calabash Street, prior to the 9-1-1 call reporting Coralrose missing last Sunday morning, according to a North Port Police detective.
However, Cape Coral Police responded more than a dozen times to the family's previous home there for code violations and other complaints. The family lived in the 400 block of 43rd Lane until moving to North Port two months ago.
http://www.sun-herald.com/NewsArchive2/092109/tp1ch6.htm?date=092109&story=tp1ch6.htm
