Published: May 06, 2008 07:45 am         

CASA director says system failing the children

CLAREMORE, Okla. — “I will tell you, and I hope I’m wrong, that I don’t think this is the last of it,” said Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Program Director Angela Henderson. “If things do not change with DHS in Rogers County, we could potentially see more child deaths."

She said the criteria being used to maintain children in their homes is not clear, something she attributed to inexperienced caseworkers.

Child abuse was indicated in at least one of last week’s deaths.

Christopher Barnard, a 4-year-old Claremore child, apparently died Monday from “blunt force trauma to the abdomen,” according to the Medical Examiner.

Stepfather Steve Wayne Lockler, Jr. has been arrested in that case.

The cause of a second child’s death is less clear, and Henderson warns against jumping to conclusions.

“None of us can speculate about how this child died until the Medical Examiner reports back,” said Henderson.

Marshall Card of Chelsea apparently died in his sleep just days before his second birthday. Ruled a “suspicious” death, Card’s siblings have been removed from the home, pending the outcome of the investigation.

The mother, Patricia Folk, was arrested Friday on drug possession charges.

“The law is clear, when you have this type of history with a family and you add a child’s death on top of it, removing the other children from that home while the investigation is going on in that case is appropriate,” said Henderson. “I’m confident that law enforcement and the judiciary have done their jobs in protecting the other children.

“A complete investigation may reveal that suspicions are unfounded,” said Henderson. “But there are significant issues with this family, both past and present. Sometimes you have to act first and ask questions later. I will not apologize for that.”

At this point, Henderson is concerned with the bigger issue of problems in Rogers County’s child welfare system. For Henderson, that begins with looking at her own organization to make sure CASA is in order.

CASA is an all-volunteer agency of advocates working on behalf of children with the court system. Currently, Henderson said her staff is doing triage, prioritizing and looking at cases staffed in-house.

“We’re asking, ‘Is this child safe right now, today, in the current environment?’ I believe they are, but we just had a situation last week regarding a child in reunification with the mother.”

Henderson is talking about a case unrelated to either of the recent deaths, but it illustrates part of the problem with the system.

A boy who had been reunited with his mother showed up with bruising, scratches, rug burns, and lacerations,” according to Henderson.

CASAs are not trained to “diagnose Battered Child Syndrome,” said Henderson. But they are trained to “listen to the child about what’s happening in their home environments.”

What children tell CASA volunteers, plus injuries, alerts CASAs to potential child endangerment.

“In this particular instance, we were well within our right to be concerned,” said Henderson of the boy who had been reunited with his mother. “An individual involved with assault and battery and with a domestic abuse background had been brought into the home by the mother.”

Henderson said that 75-80 percent of child welfare problems are substance-abuse issues in the home.

“It’s pervasive. Children are victims of their parents’ addiction.”

In these cases, children are often neglected rather than being physically or sexually abuse.

“I want people to get help for their drug addiction,” said Henderson. But it is her job to put child welfare first.

“I represent a faceless, voiceless person who has few rights and who this society basically treats as a piece of property,” said Henderson. “Do children have rights in this society? I believe children have a right to live in a safe environment. As a child advocate, I feel it’s incumbent upon the child welfare system to protect children first and foremost.”



Joy Hampton writes for the Claremore (Okla.) Progress.