|
What did CPS do for abused kids?
Let caseworker date dad
May 12, 2007
She was supposed to be the last
line of protection for three kids who had long been terrorized and
beaten by their father. She was supposed to be the one person in
this world who would look out for them when no one else gave a damn.
She was, after all, a case manager
with Child Protective Services, the official assigned by the state
of Arizona to watch over these three Tucson children and keep them
safe.
Instead, confidential documents
suggest that Amy Gile actually helped an abusive father hang onto
his kids, and later ignored the oldest child's plea for help. By
then, she had become the abusive father's girlfriend. advertisement
So what, you might ask, did CPS do
about it when one of the children showed up at day care in 2004
covered with welts and the story of Gile's romantic relationship
became known?
Nothing.
"An investigation was conducted by
our human resources staff," said CPS spokeswoman Liz Barker Alvarez.
"We found no merit to the allegations because any alleged
relationship between the parties involved in the complaint occurred
over one year after his initial involvement with CPS ended."
Alvarez said that the agency found
no evidence that Gile failed to report abuse.
Even if that's true - and the
records suggest it may not be - I've got to wonder what goes on in
an agency that permits its caseworkers to date their assigned
child's abusers as long as they first get a judge to close the case?
And how it is that this worker, now a supervisor, can still be
overseeing cases when the report suggests she took no action when
told of continued abuse?
While the CPS brass is apparently
unfazed, the case has infuriated caseworkers familiar with the
situation, and a state legislator is adding it to the list a House
committee plans to investigate this summer. As he should. CPS for
too long has been able to operate out of public sight, aided by
state laws that render virtually everything the agency does a secret
in the name of protecting children.
Rep. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, says
CPS shouldn't be allowed to brush off such outrages because the law
allows the agency to hide from prying eyes.
"Every other government agency has
scrutiny over it," he said. "They are not protected by the kinds of
protections that CPS has. And I believe that when you have those
kind of protections in place, you're ripe for abuse."
Gile didn't return a call for
comment but claimed in the records that she did nothing wrong and
that the children lied.
According to the CPS records, which
date from the 2004 incident reported by the day-care center, the
father admitted having an extensive history of assault, theft and
drug use that landed him behind bars in California and Arizona. (The
Arizona Republic is not publishing his name to protect the identity
of the children.)
CPS reports on the family date to
1995 when the father punched his year-old daughter in the face. A
later report suggested he picked up each of his young children by
their faces during a family fight.
In 2000, the children were put into
foster care because they were dirty, appeared to be malnourished and
were going to neighbors asking for food.
The caseworker assigned the task of
reuniting the kids with their father (the mother by then had been
sent to prison for 10 years) was Gile.
In February 2001, the father was
arrested for disorderly conduct and weapons violations. According to
the records, his case manager supported his request for work
furlough instead of straight jail so that he could continue working
to get his kids back.
In April 2002, the children were
returned to the father, though CPS retained legal custody. Four
months later, the daughter showed up at her elementary school with
bruises and swelling on her face. She told a counselor her father
had hit her and told Tucson police that he hits all the kids with a
belt. No criminal charges were brought.
"The city court prosecutor declined
to issue charges against the father, saying it was in the 'best
interests of the children and their overall family preservation,' "
the CPS records say.
A CPS investigator, however,
substantiated the abuse, though Gile would later say she believed
the girl had lied. Just six weeks after the incident, the father was
given legal custody, and CPS closed the case. While a judge would
have had to approve the plan, CPS workers tell me that judges rely
heavily on the case manager's input and that it would be rare for
such a thing to happen without the case manager's OK.
Some are shocked that Gile didn't
immediately yank the kids from the house after the father slugged
his daughter. "I would have absolutely taken them out and probably
said we're done with this person," one worker told me.
Too bad that didn't happen.
Two years later, in December 2004,
the youngest of the three arrived at day care with nine or 10 bright
red welts on his hip and leg along with a partial handprint on his
hip. The boy told CPS, "My daddy whupped me." He told police that
his father "made him lie on the bed with his hands clasped behind
his back when he was hit with the belt," the CPS report says. This,
for jumping on the bed.
Can you imagine the investigator's
reaction when the child continued, saying that his dad "has a
girlfriend and her name is Amy"?
Gile told the investigator that her
"romantic relationship" with the father began in February 2004, 16
months after her CPS involvement with the family ended. But the
daughter told authorities Gile had been her father's girlfriend for
about two years, adding that the kids go to her house "almost every
day."
"Amy works for CPS," the girl was
quoted as saying. "She was our caseworker. She and Dad started
dating then. It was right after the other case closed, they started
dating. My dad met her at a park and brought her flowers and they've
been dating ever since."
The three children told authorities
that their father beats them with a belt and punishes them in a
number of other ways, including grabbing them by the throat and
pushing them against the wall. He also regularly swears at them and
calls them "the baddest kids ever." The oldest child said he twice
hit her with a belt while at Gile's house and that Gile "has spanked
her brothers with a hairbrush when they 'pee in their pants.' "
The girl said she told Gile about
the abuse once. " 'I told her I'm scared of my dad because he hits
us,' " the investigator reported. "(The girl) said the girlfriend
told her, 'It's alright, he just gets really mad' and that she
looked 'scared' about what (the girl) had said."
Gile told the investigator that
that conversation never happened and that she was unaware of any
abuse, though she acknowledged that her boyfriend swears at his kids
and forces the boys to wash their underwear in the toilet if they
wet the bed.
"Ms. Gile denied ever seeing the
father discipline the children and denied that she disciplines the
children," the investigator wrote. "When this investigator said that
the children are afraid to go home, Ms. Gile said she didn't
understand why."
It was pretty clear to some people.
CPS records indicate the daughter
was suffering from emotional abuse due to "maltreatment" by the
father over a significant period of time. The preschooler showed
signs of post traumatic stress disorder.
The investigator, in her report,
called them "the most terrified children this investigator has
interviewed."
She noted "significant physical
abuse and psychological damage," adding that she believes the abuse
was occurring even before the dismissal of the prior case that Gile
oversaw. She singled out the oldest child, noting that she had
repeatedly tried to tell people what was going on.
"Mostly recently, she has confided
in the father's girlfriend," the investigator wrote. "Despite what
are remarkable and heroic attempts by a child to get the attention
of adults, nothing has been done to protect these children from the
father."
The father pleaded guilty in 2005
to child abuse and was sentenced to three years of probation. CPS
cleared Gile of any wrongdoing, apparently believing Gile's story
over the investigator's report.
Alvarez won't say what happened to
the kids but there are reports that they now are back with their
father.
And Gile, the woman who didn't know
why the kids would be scared to go home, is now a supervisor who
oversees child-abuse cases.
Reach Roberts at (602) 444-8635.
Read her blog at robertsblog.azcentral.com.
|
