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twitterA failure of the system
Clark County’s DA says some children need a separate lawyer from his office. Sometimes even that isn’t enough.
Sam Morris
Debbie Matthews stands by a memorial for her granddaughter, Chrissa Matthews, on Wednesday at her karate studio. Chrissa, not quite 2, died in a back yard pool while under the guardianship of her grandmother. But she was being cared for by her mother, whose children had been removed and returned by county authorities.
Friday, Sept. 4, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Chrissa Matthews' case highlights a dispute between state lawmakers and District Attorney David Roger.
Sheri Elizabeth Badosky
Sun Archives
- AG enters lawmakers' standoff with DA over child welfare (9-1-2009)
- Legislators' peeve holds up money for child welfare (8-18-2009)
- Gains in child protection threatened (5-7-2009)
- Bill that called for more lawyers for children might be dead (4-29-2009)
- Deadlines and dead ends (4-26-2009)
- Panel deadlocks on cuts that would trim child abuse investigations (4-24-2009)
- County Commission chairman rejecting child welfare cuts (11-19-2008)
- Struggling to protect our young (5-16-2003)
- County prepares to take foster care reins (7-6-2001)
Sun Coverage
Beyond the Sun
Carson City — Chrissa Matthews was found by her mother in the back yard pool this summer, just a few days shy of her second birthday.
The mother, Sheri Badosky, initially told police she had been inside the house smoking and watching Chrissa and her 5-year-old brother Andrew, who is blind and developmentally disabled, through the window, according to the warrant for her arrest. Later in the interview with police, Badosky, 24, said she was in the bathroom — it couldn’t have been for more than 2 minutes.
A doctor who examined Chrissa after she died on July 1 said she had been under water for 10 minutes, maybe more.
Badosky was arrested in August on charges of child abuse and neglect with substantial bodily harm.
But Chrissa’s death is, in part, the result of a county system that failed to protect her, and placed her under the watch of a mother with a history of neglect, according to Clark County District Attorney David Roger and Chrissa’s paternal grandmother, Debbie Matthews.
Clark County’s Family Services Department had investigated 10 incidents involving Badosky, including child abuse and neglect, since 2005, the year Badosky and her mother arrived in Las Vegas from Florida.
Despite Badosky’s track record, a family court hearing officer sided with Family Services’ recommendation and in September 2008 granted joint guardianship of Chrissa to her grandparents — the paternal grandmother and grandfather and maternal grandmother — and stopped county supervision of the family.
Andrew, who has a different father, was placed under the guardianship of the maternal grandmother, Susan Badosky.
Because Sheri Badosky lived with Susan Badosky, the decision meant Sheri would be left alone to supervise both children while Susan worked at her casino job.
“This is an example where the Department of Family Services got it wrong and a child died because of their decision,” said Roger, who is at loggerheads with the department over how such cases should be handled.
Matthews, 48, has mixed feelings about the charges against Badosky.
“It won’t change anything,” she said. “I don’t blame her, I blame the system wholeheartedly. This is senseless on so many levels.”
Matthews said child protective service workers had full knowledge that Sheri Badosky would be left alone to watch the kids while Susan was at work.
“We asked if Sheri still has to be supervised when she’s with the kids,” said Matthews, a former supervisor for the state welfare department. The caseworker “looked at us and said, ‘We’re now out of it.’ ”
Susan Badosky did not return calls for comment. Sheri Badosky, who is in Florida, where she faces extradition, could not be reached for comment.
It’s unclear why the Family Services Department ended its oversight of the children’s care.
Roger, the district attorney, said his office opposed the guardianship plan and favored Chrissa’s adoption by Matthews and her husband, Robert Matthews.
Debbie Matthews agreed the district attorney’s office advocated for the adoption.
But Tom Morton, director of the Clark County Family Services Department, reviewed video of the July 2008 hearing and said the deputy district attorney raised some concerns that the guardianship wasn’t a permanent solution, but did not question the safety of Susan Badosky’s home or that Sheri Badosky would be watching the children.
If the district attorney’s office truly opposed the guardianship, it could have appealed the case, Morton said. “That would be the next legal step if the DA were vigorously opposed to the guardianship.”
Despite assurances that video of the hearing would be provided to the Sun, Clark County Family Court did not make it available Thursday.
•••
The state and Clark County district attorney are battling over how Roger’s office handles child welfare cases.
The office occasionally sends two attorneys to hearings. One represents the Family Services Department and, in cases in which the district attorney disagrees with the department’s recommendations, another represents what Roger calls the “public interest.”
This arrangement provides a vital check on the department, another set of eyes on an agency with a troubled past, according to Roger.
State lawmakers disagree, saying the two-attorney system is confusing to judges and sends a mixed message about what’s best for the child.
In Chrissa’s case, the DA’s office sent an attorney to represent what Roger calls the public interest, but not one to represent the department. Roger said this case is one in which his office argued against a department recommendation that led to a child’s death.
“If Tom Morton were to have his way, the DA’s prosecutors would merely be mouthpieces for him,” Roger said.
Morton disagreed. Other counties, in Nevada and across the country, have systems to resolve disputes between caseworkers and attorneys before they’re taken before a judge. He said his office has submitted a plan to the district attorney calling for disputes among lower level staff members to be resolved by their supervisors so caseworkers and attorneys can agree on a recommendation.
Plus, he said, there was no real dispute between the caseworkers and attorney at the July hearing on Chrissa’s case.
His department is doing an internal review of the case, a process the department follows when children die after they have had contact with the system. Morton acknowledged that because Chrissa was not under his department’s direct watch when she died, the review has not been a high priority.
Morton said he did not know whether the department knew that Sheri was living with her mother, or that she would be regularly watching the children alone.
“Hindsight is always interesting. Looking back, a lot of things seem significant,” he said. “You’ve seen a thousand cases that look the same and don’t have bad outcomes ...
“A lot of people were involved in the decision-making. The court made a decision based on the evidence. This is not a case where DFS ran off and made a decision on its own.”
Morton took over the department in late 2006, after a scathing outside report pointed out glaring holes in the child welfare system. The county has made improvements in many areas, such as response times to child abuse claims and how often most kids are checked on.
There remains room for improvement, Morton said. But Clark County has significantly fewer staff and training resources than other jurisdictions, he added.
•••
Debbie Matthews, Chrissa’s paternal grandmother, attended the July 2008 hearing believing it would focus on the grandparents’ adoption of Chrissa. Her son, Robert “Junior” Matthews, had agreed to give up his parental rights.
Matthews said Susan Badosky, Chrissa’s other grandmother, was a capable parent, but wrongly believed that Sheri Badosky could care for the kids.
The department had taken the kids from Sheri before because of neglect. They were returned after Sheri completed a county-mandated plan, Matthews said.
(Andrew is currently in foster care, according to Morton and Matthews.)
Matthews was so concerned about the welfare of her granddaughter that in November she went to an attorney to ask about trying to adopt Chrissa on her own. She was told it would involve a $20,000 court fight. “That was money we didn’t have,” she said.
She also worried that the Badoskys might flee, taking the kids, if she attempted to adopt Chrissa.
So Matthews waited for the hearing, scheduled for next week, when the guardianship agreement was to be reviewed.
In the meantime, Chrissa spent most weekdays with the Matthewses. On weekends, she was with Susan Badosky. Two days a week, when the Matthewses had to work, they would drop Chrissa off for Sheri to watch.
Matthews kept a diary of incidents involving Sheri in preparation for the hearing, when she hoped to again push to adopt Chrissa.
“I wanted enough ammunition to go in, based on my diary and time line, to get full custody of Chrissa,” Matthews said. “I was so positive Sheri would screw up again. I didn’t think it would cost my baby her life.”
Discussion: 18 comments so far…
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What where they thinking? she killed that sweet Baby
david roger is a failure...
david roger is a complete and total failure...
hey davie boy...
want to impress me?...
put the hepatitis criminals behind boys...
are not those criminals still enjoying their freedom???
can not they play golf today???
can not they go partying tonight???
hmmm???
what the hell is going on with them davie???
have they laughed out loud straight to your face yet???
thgey have got to be laughing at you davie!!!
Hey all. Today (September 4) on "Face to Face with Jon Ralston", we are talking about the state of the child welfare system with a child advocate. That's at 5:30pm, 6:30pm and 8pm on Las Vegas ONE, Cox Cable Channel 19.
in my brilliant post above...
the total and complete failure known as david roger...
needs to put the hepatitis criminals behind bars...
not behind boys...
oops...
got that davie boy...
how are those cases going???
they are going right???
like i said...
david roger is a total and complete failure!!!
the department of family services supplied information to the judge that helped him or her make that decision. obviously, sheri was not a fit mother to watch the kids and with her being so risky they did not use enough common sense to realize that the children were in danger whenever sheri's mother went to work....
Too bad they are not held accountable for their stupid decisions!
I am very sorry for their loss!
I miss you Chrissa
Why do news reporters protect to names of the government employees, whose decisions have led to these types of tragedies? Who was the "family court hearing officer"??? Who was the "deputy district attorney raised some concerns" that failed to make his case, because they were just doing there practice attorney just out of law school or weren't competent to practice outside of government. They should be prosecuted along with the mother and grandmother and who was the scum lawyer that represented the mother. The entire system is broken, even reporter David McGrath Schwartz for withholding the names of the truly responsible for allowing this to happen.
Chrissa, bless you. Your life is going to make a difference for other children. I am sorry changes come at such a high price.
What a convenient way to relinquish your responsibility as a parent. What's the difference between this monster and the one that smothered her newborn baby? NOTHING, they both facilitated in the suffocation and ultimate death of these poor helpless babies.These sub humans with the lack of standards or compassion should be dealt with in the same manor in which they inflicted on there victims!
this is how the DA's office runs - not very well. this past May my husband was the victim of a violent crime. he was riding his scooter down the street (to the right side of the right lane as to not impeed traffic) when a man hit him in the face with a billy club. my husband was knocked off his scooter, was unconscious for about 6 minutes, a broken eye socket & 2 broken bones in face along with numerous deep abrasions on his face, arms and legs. spent a night in tramma and even now not fully recovered from the bad concussion. so far a $23,000 medical bill. the police came, went looking for the man and found him - he ran but they got him and arrested him. he still had the billy club on him - so he ended up with 2 felony's - assualt with a deadly weapon & carrying a deadly weapon. the DA's office hasn't decided if they are going to charge this man or not... it angers us that nothing is being done to punish this person. my husband has suffered due to his actions and our new scooter doesn't run now - that was his only means of transportation. i have paid by having to take care of my husband for weeks when he couldn't get out of bed & with lots of worry and stress over his condition. we have to pay to get our scooter fixed. but nothing for this bad man who caused all these problems for us. whats that all about, i just don't understand it. like i said this happened in May 09' and still no decisions have been made regarding charging this person. we feel if they don't charge him, he will hurt someone else, he came real close to killing my husband - maybe next time he attacks someone he just may kill them. this person needs to pay for this, he needs to do some time in jail, but we don't have much faith in that happening. just another example of how well the system is working for its good citizens...
spock -- your logic is grossly flawed when you can't see the difference between what appears to be an accident and the other appears to be a deliberate act.
History of neglect including child abuse since 2005.Now being charged with child abuse and neglect with substantial bodily harm,Then skips town.My logic might be flawed but I see a pattern here!If that had been my child, This person would never have to worry about seeing another child again!
Killer B - if you are who I suspect I realize you wish it was an accident. Sheri is a drug addict - she never once passed the drug test given to her by Family Court Services, she is a habitual liar. Bring the different stories she told the police to 3 at this point (based on their records) add another one to what she told me when she called to let the Matthews know Chrissa had been found at the bottom of the pool and was being transported by ambulance. Add to that her complete and utter regret of her actions, having her son placed into CPS Protective Custody, and running with her family claiming "we have no idea where she went". That is abandonment, Sherri cared less about her kids than a stranger would have. Sherri was all about the attention she could get, whether she could screw, do drugs, and party. Her mom tried to force her into being a mom. Both Susan (Sheri's mom) and Sherri should both be in jail. They may not have literally held Chrissa's head under the water, but the tragic consequences of their selfish actions are the same as intentional murder in my book.
stillcrying -- who do you "suspect" I am? And how does that have anything at all to do with my single previous post?
The system failed???!! Debbie dropped Chrissa off with the mother and now the system failed? Debbie seems like and angry woman who is looking to collect $$$$ on the death of her grand baby!How disgusting ! From what I know, The badosky family did not have 10 cps cases against them. They must have been adding the 3 cps charges that Robert matthews Jr had against him. But I dont see that mentioned any where. Please stop making up additional lies about Sheri. You are obviously friends of the matthews. You should not be making up false stories about the Badosky family. Im sure that the matthews dirty laundry will air somewhere eventually.....Chrissas death was a tragic accident and its a shame that the family is made to look like monsters.The other family needs to stop putting blame on every one else and start looking at themselves .
WOW, Put this thing to sleep before someone else becomes a victim! Stillcrying,most people like myself can only go by the news artical as opposed to the first hand account we get (after the fact)from a post like yours.Take care my friend.
CPS recently fired CPS caseworkers for falsifying court documents. Custodial judges rely upon those falsified documents. Sun, can you interview Thomas Morton and get his comments? We are the moms of abused children and CPS remains non-responsive to us. This has been ongoing for over two years. Our class actions in the federal courts are being ordered settled by the judges. Clark County liability carriers are paying out. YOUR RIGHT!