A state child welfare caseworker and supervisor have been fired following the death of a 2-year-old foster child in state custody, said a person with direct knowledge of the dismissal Wednesday.
State officials confirmed that caseworker Samantha White and supervisor Tamara Warner were fired on Dec. 2 because of policy violations. Those included problems with a background check on the woman caring for the girl in foster care. That woman, Jennifer Rosenbaum, is now charged with murder in the Nov. 17 death of little Laila Marie Daniel.
The state Division of Family and Children Services has struggled for years to straighten out problems with its handling of foster care children and families in crisis. The high-profile deaths of several children have highlighted issues such as lax oversight, poor training and understaffing.
Also on Wednesday, two of the girl’s relatives expressed objections to DFCS’ handling of the child’s case. Kim Smith, the girl’s great-aunt, said if DFCS had properly watched over Laila, she would be alive.
“I feel DFCS failed Laila,” Smith said. She added, “If the caseworker saw her on an ongoing basis, she would have obviously seen the weight loss and questioned the bruises.”
Henry County police arrested Jennifer Rosenbaum last week and charged her with murder and child abuse. Her husband, Joseph, was charged with two counts of child abuse. Authorities say the couple also abused Laila's 4-year-old sister.
The Rosenbaums’ attorney, Corinne Mull, said the Rosenbaums never abused either girl. Mull said that Laila died after an incident in which she had been choking on some chicken. Mull said that the force of Rosenbaum’s compressions while performing the Heimlich maneuver and CPR may have damaged the child’s pancreas.
The arrest warrant says damage to the pancreas was a major factor in the child’s death, but it asserts that Rosenbaum had hit the child “with such force the child’s pancreas was transected.”
Mull explained the children’s other injuries as either occurring before the girls came to the Rosenbaums, or the result of the usual bumps and bruises of childhood.
Laila’s family members are struggling with her death and the circumstances surrounding it. Two relatives said there were signs that they now realize were indications that the child was being abused.
When The Atlanta Journal-Constitution contacted DFCS on Wednesday with information on the firings, agency spokeswoman Ashley Fielding responded with an email saying the two women were employed by the Henry County office of DFCS.
“They are no longer with the agency. Both were separated on December 2,” Fielding added. She said they left because of “failure to follow policy.”
For starters, when DFCS places a foster child with a person, the agency is supposed to check whether the person has a criminal history or any accusations against them of child abuse or neglect. The agency also inspects the home to make sure it’s a safe environment.
“We followed the standard background check, but it was not conducted as thoroughly as it was defined in policy,” Fielding said. She said the caseworker failed to screen Rosenbaum’s maiden name when determining whether she had a history of accusations of child abuse or neglect. Rosenbaum had no such history, Fielding said, so the check “would not have had an impact on the placement decision.”
There were other policy violations as well, Fielding said. The agency expects to discuss those when the case file is made public. Fielding said state law precludes the agency from discussing a case until the file is made public. The AJC has submitted an open records request to obtain those records and expects a response within the coming days.
The AJC was unable to reach the caseworker and supervisor by phone Wednesday evening.
State Child Advocate Ashley Willcott said while extra budget money has helped improve DFCS, some local offices remain in crisis.
Smith, Laila’s great-aunt, said DFCS removed Laila and her 4-year-old sister from their mother’s home around April. The mother had “addiction issues,” she said. The children were in two foster homes before coming to live with the Rosenbaums in mid-June.
By September, Smith started seeing bruises on Laila’s face. One time, Rosenbaum tried to explain a black eye, saying the child had gotten into a fight in day care. A few weeks later, Smith saw bruises under both of Laila’s eyes. Rosenbaum said the girl had tripped and fallen on a toy, hitting her head, Smith recalled.
Smith also noticed the child had started losing weight. According to the warrant, Jennifer Rosenbaum failed “to feed the child in quantities necessary to sustain an adequate body weight.”
In mid-October, Laila received a broken leg, Smith said, which Rosenbaum said had occurred during gymnastics.
“The little warning signs were there,” said Smith, who lives in Hampton.
She praised the firing of the two workers, but feels more needs to be done to fix DFCS.
Laila’s grandmother, Gina Banks, said she feels guilty for not doing more to recognize and address the signs of trouble.
“I’m in a major depression now,” Banks said.
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