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http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/j ... _headlines
File lays out states' deal on Kalab, says Indiana child welfare chief
By Libby Keeling (Contact)
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Nearly three months after Kalab Lay's death — allegedly from a savage beating delivered by his parents, the Indiana Department of Child Services has released a roughly 3,000-page file on its investigation.
"I've tried to look at this every way I can to see what can we do, what should we have done, and I come to the conclusion that the sending state has the primary responsibility here," said Jim Payne, director of the Indiana department at a news conference Tuesday at the local DCS office.
Indiana is considered the receiving state because an Illinois judge ordered Kalab and his twin sister, who spent the majority of their lives in foster care, be returned to their parents, who had moved to Evansville.
The interstate compact requires a home study be conducted by the receiving state before out-of-state children are placed within its boundaries.
The twins were moved to Evansville in January, against the recommendation of Indiana, which previously had denied two Illinois requests to allow the children to move to Evansville.
"In other words, twice Illinois asked us to do the home study before placement would occur, and we denied it. The next time, however, they made the placement first and then asked for the home study," Payne said. "We've not been able to get all the answers from Illinois on why they did that."
Indiana denied requests for an interstate compact for several reasons, Payne said, including the extensive criminal history of the father, the criminal conviction of both parents on methamphetamine charges and the fact that Kalab was removed from his parents' care at 2 months of age, so bonding or attachment with his biological parents had not occurred.
Kalab, 3, died April 1, about two weeks after Indiana for a third time denied an Illinois request for an interstate compact.
"We were waiting for them to come and take that child back home as required by the ICPC. ..." Payne said.
"We did not follow that up because our practice and the practice of most states is to then make arrangements to do that. In other words, they follow the ICPC."
Kalab's parents, Amanda Brooks Lay and her husband, Terry Lay, are being held at the Vanderburgh County Jail. They face murder charges in his death and also charges related to the alleged abuse of his twin sister.
Family case managers, quoted in the Department of Child Services investigation file, questioned whether the interstate compact policy regarding children being placed in Indiana against its recommendation should be changed and whether a policy regarding follow-up on such placements be developed to ensure the children are returned to the sending state.
Payne said existing interstate compact regulations provide no avenue for enforcement.
According to federal law, Payne said, children in foster care should be placed in permanent homes after 12 but no more than 14 months.
Indiana Department of Child Services is striving for transparency and appreciates the community's interest in child protection, child safety and Kalab's case.
"It's tragic, and this is just awful and, I mean, you do this enough and you can do two things. It can tear you up every time or you can get calloused and we're not calloused," Payne said.
"That's why we're here," he said.
Documents in Kalab's file shed light on the child's life from case workers, medical personnel and court officials. The lengthy, detailed file includes reports from hospital visits dating back to his birth on May 10, 2003.
But documentation of a family history of drug use and neglect goes back decades further, to when his mother was a child and allegations of abuse and neglect were investigated against her parents.
The files include Terry Lay's extensive criminal history and court documents in Illinois that begin the night when Kalab and his siblings were removed from their parents' home after police had discovered a methamphetamine lab inside.
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Why are Kalab Lay's files public record?
In 2004, state Rep. Dennis Avery, D-Evansville, pushed for passage of House Bill 1194, which brought change to the way the Indiana child protection system operates after the death of a child.
While much that takes place regarding child protection and custody is kept out of the public arena, this bill required public disclosure of information relevant to establishing the facts and circumstances concerning the death or near fatality of a child that is determined to be the result of abuse, abandonment or neglect.
It required that such cases become public record, but that the records would be redacted to protect the identify of any surviving children involved.
To obtain Kalab Lay's file, the Courier & Press submitted formal requests to the local juvenile court judge and to Indiana Department of Child Services officials.
Once Kalab's death was determined to be a fatality because of neglect or abuse, child welfare officials began the process of gathering and redacting thousands of pages of paperwork documenting Kalab's life in the system.
Illinois is considered the sending state, under the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children, because the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services had jurisdiction over Kalab and several of his siblings. Kendall Marlowe, spokesman for Illinois Department of Child Services, declined to comment on the release of file.
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Interstate compact for placement of children
Moderators: family_man, LindaJM
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http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/j ... _headlines
Compact stalled state aid to Kalab
Interstate pact lacks muscle
By Kate Braser (Contact)
Saturday, June 28, 2008
The alleged beating death of 3-year-old Kalab Lay has exposed a gray area in how states communicate and respond to child placements that cross state borders.
Indiana Department of Child Services officials have faulted Illinois for Kalab's death, but acknowledged they knew 3-year-old Kalab and his twin were living with their parents here, even though local caseworkers repeatedly had denied an Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children.
An interstate compact requires caseworkers in the receiving state to do a home study before children can be moved from another state into the local jurisdiction.
A Saline County (Ill.) Circuit Court judge had ordered the twins be moved to Evansville on Jan. 3, despite Indiana's previous denial of two Illinois requests to allow the children to move to Evansville to live with their parents, Terry Lay and Amanda Brooks Lay.
In a letter mailed on March 14 by Indiana case manager Lori Barth and her supervisor, David Straw, Barth said Indiana was denying for a third time the placement of the twins, and she requested that Illinois remove them from the Lays' Evansville home.
Indiana Department of Child Services officials have said they still were waiting for Illinois to remove the children from the home when Kalab died.
Kalab's situation prompts the question: Why didn't Indiana authorities just remove the children themselves?
According to Susan Tielking, communications director for the Indiana Department of Child Services, Indiana officials could not remove the children without an allegation or suspicion of abuse or neglect.
"If there is no concern with the home, we would not have the ability to remove," she said. "Just the denial of the ICPC and the fact that we knew the kids were sent here anyway was not enough for us to remove the children."
Tielking said Indiana officials now are looking at revising the compact policies.
"We are looking at who we might notify if we are aware children are moved to a home where an ICPC was denied, and what should happen and if there can legally be actions by our department," she said. "We are also looking at what to do about children already living in a home where an ICPC was denied. ..."
In her March 18 home study report, Barth said that Amanda Brooks Lay had canceled three scheduled home study appointments with her between Feb. 20 and March 3.
A home study finally was conducted on March 4. Terry Lay was at work, and Brooks Lay was home with Kalab and five of his siblings.
Barth said the home met "minimal standards of living," and that the children were appropriately dressed and clean, and there was food in the house.
The children appeared to be happy and healthy during the visit. Kalab watched television and told the caseworker that he "wants to stay with his parents."
Despite those observations, Barth wrote that she told Brooks Lay the placement would be denied because of Terry Lays' lengthy criminal history, and because both parents had failed to comply with required criminal history checks.
"Amanda informed this family case manager that 'It doesn't matter because the judge has already ordered the children to be placed back in the home in June 2008 according to my caseworker,'" Barth wrote.
Rep. Dennis Avery said a bill that is supposed to go into effect Tuesday might have helped in Kalab's case.
House Bill 1290 brings a flurry of changes to the state's child welfare laws, including extending foster care from age 18 to 21. But it also should strengthen the Interstate Compact for Placement of Children.
A provision in the bill would allow two states that disagree on an interstate compact to take it to court.
But Tielking said 35 states have to approve the interstate compact provision before it goes into effect. Only 12 states are on board so far, according to the Washington, D.C.,-based Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children.
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http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/j ... _headlines
Compact stalled state aid to Kalab
Interstate pact lacks muscle
By Kate Braser (Contact)
Saturday, June 28, 2008
The alleged beating death of 3-year-old Kalab Lay has exposed a gray area in how states communicate and respond to child placements that cross state borders.
Indiana Department of Child Services officials have faulted Illinois for Kalab's death, but acknowledged they knew 3-year-old Kalab and his twin were living with their parents here, even though local caseworkers repeatedly had denied an Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children.
An interstate compact requires caseworkers in the receiving state to do a home study before children can be moved from another state into the local jurisdiction.
A Saline County (Ill.) Circuit Court judge had ordered the twins be moved to Evansville on Jan. 3, despite Indiana's previous denial of two Illinois requests to allow the children to move to Evansville to live with their parents, Terry Lay and Amanda Brooks Lay.
In a letter mailed on March 14 by Indiana case manager Lori Barth and her supervisor, David Straw, Barth said Indiana was denying for a third time the placement of the twins, and she requested that Illinois remove them from the Lays' Evansville home.
Indiana Department of Child Services officials have said they still were waiting for Illinois to remove the children from the home when Kalab died.
Kalab's situation prompts the question: Why didn't Indiana authorities just remove the children themselves?
According to Susan Tielking, communications director for the Indiana Department of Child Services, Indiana officials could not remove the children without an allegation or suspicion of abuse or neglect.
"If there is no concern with the home, we would not have the ability to remove," she said. "Just the denial of the ICPC and the fact that we knew the kids were sent here anyway was not enough for us to remove the children."
Tielking said Indiana officials now are looking at revising the compact policies.
"We are looking at who we might notify if we are aware children are moved to a home where an ICPC was denied, and what should happen and if there can legally be actions by our department," she said. "We are also looking at what to do about children already living in a home where an ICPC was denied. ..."
In her March 18 home study report, Barth said that Amanda Brooks Lay had canceled three scheduled home study appointments with her between Feb. 20 and March 3.
A home study finally was conducted on March 4. Terry Lay was at work, and Brooks Lay was home with Kalab and five of his siblings.
Barth said the home met "minimal standards of living," and that the children were appropriately dressed and clean, and there was food in the house.
The children appeared to be happy and healthy during the visit. Kalab watched television and told the caseworker that he "wants to stay with his parents."
Despite those observations, Barth wrote that she told Brooks Lay the placement would be denied because of Terry Lays' lengthy criminal history, and because both parents had failed to comply with required criminal history checks.
"Amanda informed this family case manager that 'It doesn't matter because the judge has already ordered the children to be placed back in the home in June 2008 according to my caseworker,'" Barth wrote.
Rep. Dennis Avery said a bill that is supposed to go into effect Tuesday might have helped in Kalab's case.
House Bill 1290 brings a flurry of changes to the state's child welfare laws, including extending foster care from age 18 to 21. But it also should strengthen the Interstate Compact for Placement of Children.
A provision in the bill would allow two states that disagree on an interstate compact to take it to court.
But Tielking said 35 states have to approve the interstate compact provision before it goes into effect. Only 12 states are on board so far, according to the Washington, D.C.,-based Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children.
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