November 21, 2009
What's Inside:
Infant death case causes analysis
Social services were to remove children
Social services were to remove children
The Missouri Department of Social Services did recommend removal of the Rathman children from their parents’ house after all — the day following Donald Rathman’s death from head trauma.
DSS’s Children’s Division investigates reports of child abuse, then makes its recommendations. But only the juvenile system or law enforcement officials have the authority to remove children from their homes, barring an emergency removal, according to Arleasha Mays, the DSS’s assistant communications director.
On Wednesday, Linda Meyer, the chief juvenile officer in Buchanan County, told the News-Press her office didn’t receive a request for removal until Oct 9. The request was for the removal of two older children in the Rathman home.
“That’s the extent to what we have dealt with them,” Ms. Meyer said.
Donald, the 7-week-old boy of Angela and Ronny Rathman, died Thursday, Oct. 8.
Mr. Rathman, 52, was arrested last Thursday and charged with second-degree murder. According to court documents, the victim’s father allegedly struck the
infant’s head multiple times and knocked it into a table. Ms. Rathman was arrested Sept. 9 and charged with felony child abuse of Donald, but Ms. Meyer said her office didn’t receive a removal recommendation from the Children’s Division after that first incident.
Ms. Meyer added that the 11- and 9-year-old boys who also lived in the home now are in protective custody.
According to DSS’s annual reports on abuse, Buchanan County only had one substantiated child fatality due to child abuse or neglect from 1997-2003. From 2004-2008, seven county children died due to substantiated cases of abuse or neglect. If Donald’s death did indeed result from abuse or neglect, that would mean at least one child has died from those causes in the county for six straight years.
It’s a disturbing trend that should grab the attention of state legislators when the new legislative session starts in January.
State Sen. Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, helped pass legislation following the death in 2002 of 2-year-old Dominic James in Springfield, Mo. The bill overhauled Missouri procedures in child abuse cases, particularly in the area of foster parents.
In the wake of another infant death in Buchanan County, Mr. Shields said he would go back over that bill, question the Children’s Division and determine what has caused the spike in deaths. In cases with prior abuse, why wasn’t the child removed from the home? Is this a series of bad events or a larger flaw in the system?
“Those will be questions I will ask,” he said.
Sen. Norma Champion, who chairs the state’s Aging, Families, Mental & Public Health Committee, told the News-Press the issue requires a delicate balance of personal freedom and safety.
“People are very, very concerned that we don’t have a government body come in and tell people how to handle their children and snap them out of their homes for no good reason,” she said. “(But) we have the responsibility to make sure they are protected.”
Ms. Champion said she welcomed bills that could address the issue without unduly encroaching on people’s freedom, but the senator from Springfield confided she believes the Children’s Division, the juvenile courts and law enforcement officials have the legislative tools in place to effectively do their jobs in regard to child abuse.
And if that’s the case, the problem could be systemic — a matter of philosophy or approach.
“You have to stand back and say, ‘Wasn’t this predictable and shouldn’t we have been more aggressive in pursuing some other type of placement?’” said Dwight Scroggins, Buchanan County’s prosecutor who will handle the Ronny Rathman case. “That’s no reference on anything we have pending, (but) ... that family reunification philosophy driving (the Children’s Division’s) responses sometimes puts children at a greater risk.”
R.J. Cooper can be reached
at rjcooper@npgco.com.
This story has 16 comments. Click here to join in on the discussion.
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ONCE again,,,a little to late for this poor little boy...and isnt this the song and dance we always get from DFS and the courts..we WERE in the process of doing something about the issue...As a mandated reporter, I have worked closely with DFS and they are always a little to late, do nothing or have some other excuse AFTER a child is hurt or killed..how very sad.
Since you work so closely with DFS, noneya, you probably know they became the "Children's Division" about five years ago.
i don't give a damn whether its dfs,or childrens division. one of gods little children is dead and everyone is pointing fingers,disgusting. sad thats the society we live in today.
i will never understand how someone can harm such an innocent life.
have been on my soap box for four years about the problems with DSS and the Juvenile office. I have the notes, depositions and anything else you may need to investigate and finally get something done. I was afraid another child would die. The prosecutor, DSS, Juvenile office, CASA, and the GAL all have issues with the way caden's case was handled, as well as this one i am sure. the Juvenile court on the recommendation of the above entities gave caden's brother to his father, after they were told he had a drug problem, mr. blanton currently has 3 charges of possession with the intent to distribute manufacture. should they be charged with child endangerment. they were bent on not allowing shane to go back to the only home he had ever known. luckily mr. blanton basically gave shane to us about this time last year, and didn't fight the custody issue. shane spent at least 6 months living in different motels, no clean clothes to go to school etc. we filed for custody as soon as we were able to, and put in that filing that we were afraid for shane's safety, but because false accusations have been used in the past, nothing was done. HOw many children have to be truly abused, mistreated and die before something is done.
i am sure the families of abused, and dead children could care less what name our office is called dad77...abuse and death cannot be called any other name...maybe useless should be a new name...
noneya - how true, useless is a good word.
What does it take to get the DSS to actually do something. I've tried & tried but have been unsuccessful.
email me penelope, let me know what the issue is and i will try and help.
i am going to start a web site for this purpose. Caden's Voice, I am hoping it will be up by the weekend.
Seems to me I've heard more about how the "Useless Office" meddling in people's lives where they're NOT needed, but totally ignore situations such as Caden and this poor little baby!! Does anyone else wonder how those people in the "Useless Office" can sleep at night???
i wonder how they sleep, how the new juvenile director sleeps, how the casa worker sleeps and the gal, and let's not forget the prosecutor's office who believe me has a bigger influence with these offices than you think.
sad sad sad.
Children' Division specifically child abuse, MUST investigate within 24 hours all child abuse claims...BUT if the caller wont leave their name, doesn't have enough information so they can find the child, or the situation is bad, but there is no real abuse, as defined by law, then they cannot even take the call. THAT is one problem. Then they call the family before they show up, so the guilty parties get a chance to cover up any goings on. THAT is the second problem. Families who KNOW abuse is going on turn a deaf ear and blind eye, so no witnesses and kids can't remember or are too scared so they make bad witnesses in most cases, THAT is a third problem. And the last is it is up to the interpretation of the investigating child worker, who is so over worked. Then as said on TV, Children's Div can only recommend removal. They CANNOT remove ANY kids. Only a police officer or the Juv Office can remove kids and hello, they have to have a judge sign court orders for that. Like ANY government agency, it is a LOT of red tape. KNOWING someone is abusing a child and PROVING it are sadly 2 different things. The system is full of flaws. Not all, but MOST workers I have met, do the very best job they can, for little money, less thanks and with broken hearts. Each part tries to do the best they can. Also remember MISSOURI law states that reunification must be the plan. In the end, the system is still working to keep the family together. Read about it and then you will see, they are losing before they ever started in some cases. The best defense is that family member who will step up to the plate and intervene legally by telling dates, names, places and testify in court. That said, I believe one flaw is that if a woman or man is found unfit to have one child, ALL children should be automatically removed. That law should be modified. IF one child is removed, ALL children should be removed. That would also motivate the parents to get their act together faster.
teeter59, that isn't true, they have the authority to file a petition to remove a child on their own, so i don'tknow where u got ur information. also, they don't always work for re-unification, you are right they are underpaid, and the state needs to come up with more money and more resources, but nothing will help if the worker is just lazy
They took the job knowing the pay just like every one else who takes a job most people are underpaid but are still expected to do thier job!
rxyrch
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