Attorneys of foster child sue Oregon for $1.6 million, say DHS failed to notice abuse

Attorneys of foster child sue Oregon for $1.6 million, say DHS failed to notice abuse
By Aimee Green, The Oregonian
October 21, 2009, 8:35PM
Attorneys for a 3-year-old foster child who was rushed to the hospital with bleeding near his brain and a dangerously low body temperature are suing Oregon for $1.6 million, claiming that a state child-welfare worker failed to notice signs the boy was being beaten in his foster home.

The boy, who is described only by his initials, B.C., in the suit, suffered life-threatening injuries while in the care of Keith and Nelly Burr in November 2008. He had lived in the Cottage Grove home for five months, and the Burrs were planning to adopt the boy, according to the suit.

His older sister, who also lived in the home, told authorities that the Burrs disciplined her little brother by hitting him with spoons and forcing him into cold showers. She said they also duct-taped his hands to his bed at night.

Hospital workers found bruises in various stages of healing all over the boy's body, including on his forehead, back, ankle, knees, thighs, buttocks and penis, according to the suit. Portland attorney Erin Olson, who is representing the interests of the boy along with attorney Nikki Robbins, said the Burrs have moved and left no forwarding address. The Oregonian was unable to reach the couple.

The Burrs have not been charged with a crime. The Lane County Sheriff's Office investigated the incident and still considers the case active. But Detective Randy Fenley said it's not likely criminal charges will be filed in the foreseeable future unless new evidence surfaces.

According to the suit, the Burrs brought the boy to the emergency room of a Cottage Grove hospital in November with a traumatic brain injury, intracranial bleeding, a lacerated spleen and bruising. He was cold to the touch. The injuries were so serious that the boy was flown by Life Flight Network helicopter to OHSU in Portland.

The Burrs reportedly told authorities that the boy fell into a bucket of water they were using to mop the floors.

"They had a variety of excuses for why he showed up to the ER with a body temperature of 93 degrees and a traumatic brain injury," Olson said. "None of them were consistent with his injuries."

A normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees. At 93 degrees, the boy was suffering from hypothermia.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court. It faults the Department of Human Services' caseworker assigned to the case, for allegedly failing to protect the boy despite information that he might be the victim of abuse. The Burrs reportedly told authorities that they informed their caseworker about bruises on the boy, but the caseworker failed to document the bruising or investigate the cause.

Tony Green, a spokesman for the state Department of Justice, declined to comment because of the pending litigation.

DHS didn't write critical-incident reports assessing what led to the boy's injuries and whether the agency could have done anything to protect him from harm. Such reports have been required since 2004, when two high-profile abuse cases involving children under state supervision spurred public outrage. One involved 5-year-old Jordan Knapp, who at 28 pounds was found starving and unconscious in her foster home, and 14-month-old Ashton Parris, who died from a cracked skull shortly after the state returned him to his parents.

The reports also are supposed to be done in cases where a child under DHS' watch dies or is seriously injured because of abuse or neglect. The first report is to be completed 30 days after the incident, and a second, more detailed analysis is to be done within 60 days. They're designed to inform the public how DHS is learning from lapses in its system.

An analysis by The Oregonian in 2008 found that there has been a pattern of long delays in releasing reports. So far this year, three children have died under DHS' watch, according to its Web site, but the agency has yet to release critical-incident reports about any of those deaths, although the oldest happened more than nine months ago.

It's unclear why the child-welfare agency didn't produce critical-incident reviews of B.C.'s case. DHS spokesman Gene Evans said supervisors at the department were trying to find out whether they considered the case serious enough to study in a report, and if so, why they didn't.

The suit also lists as defendants the boy's caseworker, her supervisor and the Burrs.

Olson said the boy, now 4, has been placed with new foster parents who would like to adopt him and his sister.

The boy is developmentally delayed, but it's unclear if that's because of the traumatic brain injury he suffered, Olson said. He also has behavioral problems, but his new foster parents take him to therapy and have found healthy ways, such as tae kwon do, for him to let out his frustrations.

"He's certainly having some continuing problems, but his parents are troupers, I have to say," Olson said.

Any money won from the lawsuit will be put into a fund for the boy's care.

-- Aimee Green

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/attorneys_of_4-year-old_foster.html