Columnist Sandy Thompson: Teen’s Child Haven stay concerns relatives

Sandy Thompson

Friday, May 17, 2002 | 4:10 a.m.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH'S education platform slogan of "No Child Left Behind" should be the guiding principle of all child welfare agencies.

It would be a particularly good "mission statement" for the new child welfare system being designed by Clark County. It also would keep the focus where it needs to be -- on the child. Too often the emphasis is on how to handle massive caseloads rather than addressing the needs of an individual child. One size does not fit all in an effective child welfare system.

Take the case of 15-year-old Jeannie (the names in this case have been changed to protect the girl's identity). She is one of six siblings taken from their home in February because of their mother's drug abuse and suicide threat.

The children, who have different fathers, were placed in Child Haven. A brother went to live with relatives in California, and a sister later went to live with her father. The other four stayed at Child Haven until recently when they were placed in foster care.

Sounds like the system worked? Yes and no, say relatives who have been trying to get the children, especially Jeannie, out of the system and into their homes. They are glad that the system protected the children, but wonder why they weren't placed with friends or relatives. Generally, when children are taken from their parents, caseworkers look to place them with relatives first.

Jeannie is described as an "awesome" girl with a great personality. Sarah, the mother of Jeannie's best friend, wanted the girl to live with her during this tumultuous time to keep her life as normal as possible. She had been living with Sarah's family for a few weeks because Jeannie's mother had turned over guardianship of the teen to Sarah in a signed, notarized statement. That didn't mean anything.

So instead of going to a regular home with folks she knew and cared about, Jeannie was in Child Haven "with girls who were on drugs, who smoked and had babies," Sarah said. She was concerned that Jeannie would "turn the wrong way" there.

At Child Haven, Sarah said, Jeannie had to earn the right to wear her own clothes to high school. At first, children must wear clothes provided by the facility. Sarah said Jeannie had to wear pants that were too short.

In the meantime, Sarah was doing everything she could for Jeannie's mother -- driving her to court appearances and for drug testing -- and communicating with caseworkers so Sarah could bring Jeannie home. Jeannie's grandmother and aunt in California also wanted to take Jeannie, which would have been preferable, Sarah said, to Child Haven. All, however, wanted Jeannie to finish high school in Las Vegas and thought she should stay with Sarah.

Sarah was told by a caseworker that Jeannie is "very theatrical." "What do you expect?" Sarah replied. "You just ripped her from our house and away from her things."

Jeannie's grandmother said they had to badger caseworkers to allow the teen to continue attending her high school, which she worked hard to get into.

The grandmother is applying for guardianship. She said the process takes a lot of time, especially since two states are involved. She hopes it will work out to Jeannie's benefit.

In the meantime, Jeannie's frustrated, the grandmother said, but she's a "good kid and is handling it."

Sarah and the grandmother are frustrated, too. They also question why Jeannie was in Child Haven for a few months when preferable alternative placements were available that were less costly and, more importantly, not traumatic.

Sounds like a good question to me.