Blogs by Deborah K. Frontiera
Fighting CPS
3/12/2012 8:35:04 AM
The purpose of this blog is to provide updates on some of the cases I reported in my book (Fighting CPS: Guilty Until Proven Innocent of Child Protective Services Charges ISBN 9-780-9800061-6-2) that had not been resolved when the book went to press, and to report other cases where CPS is not working up to par. I’d also like to hear about cases in which Child Protective Services did the right thing so those cases can serve as examples of what should be done. Occasionally, I will report helpful tips and web sites with advice on fighting CPS.
To comment on this blog, or to tell your story, email Deborah Frontiera at frontiera.fightingcps.deborah.gmail.com
This blog will post new material every other week, instead of every week. Look for the next post Mar. 26, 2012
Nobody Has a Chrystal Ball, but CPS Still Dropped this Ball
The following drastic case of child abuse appeared in the Houston Chronicle Feb. 26, 2012, Section B pages 1 and 3. Once again, Child Protective Services—this time in Liberty County, TX, had indications of possible abuse, failed to act and left children in an unhealthy and dangerous situation.
The report says that neither neighbors nor the police (who had been to this home on more than one occasion for domestic violence) had any idea that eleven children lived there crammed into one room and usually tied to their beds. On one particular day, the only indication of any children was a skateboard in the yard. Neighbors said that lots of adults came and went constantly, mostly at night, but they had no idea that ten adults also lived in the small house—two of them had lengthy criminal records—one was a registered sex offender.
Tanda and Odice Smith owned the house and the report states that all the children there were her grandchildren. She apparently took great pains to hide them—all windows were covered, no toys in sight, etc. None of the children were enrolled in school. Of the three older children who were old enough to talk, an eight-year-old said he had never been to school and an eleven-year-old said he had not been to school since third grade. A five-year-old blind, autistic girl was “dazed” when CPS caseworkers finally removed the children from the home. The eight and eleven year old told how they were tied to the bed whenever they slept and sometimes during the day, too. They denied being sexually abused, but the oldest boy had a black eye, missing tooth, and finger marks on his forearms when taken into custody. The refrigerator had no food except for two loaves of bread in the freezer, and nothing appropriate for the various infants there.
Tanda Smith told investigators that she had had six of her biological children removed from her care on two occasions in the 1980s when she lived in Michigan. (The paper stated that Michigan officials were contacted but had not replied with details.) When she came to Texas, she had one infant with her and gave birth to “six or seven more.” Four daughters and two sons ranging form age 16 to 34 list the house as their residence. CPS had been called out to investigate in 2005 and 2009, but not action was taken. The story states that when Patrick Cummins, spokesperson for CPS in that county, was asked exactly how many times the agency had been called out and what had happened to the reports, he said, “We’re still sorting things out,” and would not discuss the case further.
It makes me wonder. . . again.
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