When you rush a foster parent’s license through the system, there is great potential for harm. We are Robert and Kathleen Raskin of Las Vegas, and we are dedicated to raising awareness of the damage our corrupt child protection agencies are doing to vulnerable children who are caught in the system. In New Hampshire the DCYF has recently settled a second lawsuit on behalf of a foster child who was abused when they failed to take the time to make sure a foster parent wasn’t a predator. This is unconscionable, and it’s time for us all to take a stand.
Tragically, in the more recent of the two cases, it was a 22-month-old boy who paid the price for this agency’s incompetency. He suffered a traumatic brain injury after his mother’s reports that he was being abused in foster care were ignored. There were red flags waving everywhere, as is so often the case, and once again a foster home was approved after an inept investigation. When this happens, children suffer, but these agencies are often more about meeting quotas than protecting kids.
The Spaulding Youth Center in Northfield, New Hampshire, ignored proper procedures and placed the toddler and his newborn sister in a home where another baby had already died while in their care. The police were also notified of abuse, and they did nothing. The foster family had personal problems, but they were entrusted with vulnerable babies anyway, and one of them has paid the ultimate price. The lawsuit implicated the state as well, and they have paid $475,000 to settle.
The toddler’s mother only lost custody temporarily, but now the child has lost his ability to enjoy a normal life permanently. No lawsuit settlement can make up for that. Today the child is five, and he is suffering developmental delays, aggressive behavior, and cerebral palsy. Our hearts go out to this boy and his family. They are going to have a long, difficult, and costly road ahead of them because the child’s medical and educational needs will be so complex. And to think, it all could have been avoided if state agencies did their jobs.