Good parents only in AZ (part 1)
There have been several incidents like this, but this is the most recent. After several other incidents like this, Arizona department of Child Protective Services (CPS) was supposed to reform. Apparently that is still "in development". And while we wait for an effective CPS, another little girl dies.
I do not want children....period. I've asked since I was 16 if there was something that could be done for a permanent solution. Now that I'll hit the big 3-0 in March, perhaps they'll start taking me seriously. I guess I never thought I'd have the energy to raise a child, and/or didn't want that responsibility. So part of me feels that CPS doesn't have enough power - bad parents should never be made parents again (take that liberals!) The article below is a classic example in which CPS doesn't have much power to do anything, and the mother should never have children again. Courtsey of Arizona Republic:
Here we go again: The brief life of a girl named Haley
Oct. 5, 2005 12:00 AM
The 911 call came from a day-care center. An "extremely intoxicated" mother had just picked up her children. By the time police caught up with her, she'd already been in a minor accident. Police said she was too drunk to stand.
Child Protective Services took the three kids right out of the van that day. One year later, that van would become a coffin for the youngest of the three.
John Gray drops his head into his hands, wondering why no one would listen. Over and over, he says, he and others called CPS, warning that his children were in danger.
In the end, though, it made no difference. Four-year-old Haley Gray died Sept. 14, four days after being left to wander her apartment complex while her mother slept off the effects of a late night.
"I made so many allegations to them," John Gray said. "They wouldn't even investigate. They blew me off."
CPS spokeswoman Liz Barker says the agency received only two reports of neglect before Haley's death, though she adds, "CPS did receive occasional calls from different sources that did not meet the statutory criteria for a report."
The child's mother, Celene Gray, declined to talk, other than to note that her ex-husband went to prison for stalking her.
"He's a very sick man," she said.
From the here-we-go-again department comes the sad story of Haley Gray and the system that couldn't save her.
For years, John says he has been concerned that his ex-wife's addictions to alcohol and drugs caused her to neglect their three children. Twice, he says, they were taken from her in Florida. So zealous was he, John says, that Celene got a restraining order against him and he went to prison when he violated it. Last year, mother and children came to Arizona and he followed.
According to Glendale police, Celene was arrested for felony DUI on Sept. 23, 2004. Police got a call at 4:30 p.m., as Celene was leaving the day-care center with her kids. Police found her two blocks away, so drunk she couldn't stand. "I had to physically hold her up due to her not being able to keep her balance," the arresting officer wrote.
Celene's blood-alcohol level was .262, police said. CPS took the children that day. Four months later, a Superior Court judge returned them to their mother.
"The court, after receiving information from CPS and treatment and services providers working with the family, decided the children could return home," Barker said.
The case was closed in July, and in August, Celene was again reported, Barker said. But CPS dismissed the complaint. By mid-September, Haley was dead.
She and her brothers, ages 7 and 5, had spent Sept. 9 with their father. Celene, a stripper at a Tempe club, would later tell police that she drank vodka until 3 a.m. She got the kids at 11:30 a.m. and returned to their Scottsdale apartment, where she eventually fell asleep. At 4:30 p.m., a maintenance worker, sent to check on the open front door, awakened her.
Police found Haley just after 6 p.m., lying on the floor inside her mother's van, unconscious and gasping for air. John thinks she'd gone to retrieve the little makeup kit he'd bought her the day before. Four days after she was found, Haley was taken off life support.
Now, Celene, already awaiting trial for felony DUI, waits to see if she'll face charges in Haley's death. Three hours after Haley was found, Celene was still a .044.
John, meanwhile, has his sons now and hopes to raise them, though that'll be up to the system that couldn't save their sister.
As for us, well, we're left with the same old questions. And as usual, no answers.
The mother most definately should be charged with negligent homicide.
I do not want children....period. I've asked since I was 16 if there was something that could be done for a permanent solution. Now that I'll hit the big 3-0 in March, perhaps they'll start taking me seriously. I guess I never thought I'd have the energy to raise a child, and/or didn't want that responsibility. So part of me feels that CPS doesn't have enough power - bad parents should never be made parents again (take that liberals!) The article below is a classic example in which CPS doesn't have much power to do anything, and the mother should never have children again. Courtsey of Arizona Republic:
Here we go again: The brief life of a girl named Haley
Oct. 5, 2005 12:00 AM
The 911 call came from a day-care center. An "extremely intoxicated" mother had just picked up her children. By the time police caught up with her, she'd already been in a minor accident. Police said she was too drunk to stand.
Child Protective Services took the three kids right out of the van that day. One year later, that van would become a coffin for the youngest of the three.
John Gray drops his head into his hands, wondering why no one would listen. Over and over, he says, he and others called CPS, warning that his children were in danger.
In the end, though, it made no difference. Four-year-old Haley Gray died Sept. 14, four days after being left to wander her apartment complex while her mother slept off the effects of a late night.
"I made so many allegations to them," John Gray said. "They wouldn't even investigate. They blew me off."
CPS spokeswoman Liz Barker says the agency received only two reports of neglect before Haley's death, though she adds, "CPS did receive occasional calls from different sources that did not meet the statutory criteria for a report."
The child's mother, Celene Gray, declined to talk, other than to note that her ex-husband went to prison for stalking her.
"He's a very sick man," she said.
From the here-we-go-again department comes the sad story of Haley Gray and the system that couldn't save her.
For years, John says he has been concerned that his ex-wife's addictions to alcohol and drugs caused her to neglect their three children. Twice, he says, they were taken from her in Florida. So zealous was he, John says, that Celene got a restraining order against him and he went to prison when he violated it. Last year, mother and children came to Arizona and he followed.
According to Glendale police, Celene was arrested for felony DUI on Sept. 23, 2004. Police got a call at 4:30 p.m., as Celene was leaving the day-care center with her kids. Police found her two blocks away, so drunk she couldn't stand. "I had to physically hold her up due to her not being able to keep her balance," the arresting officer wrote.
Celene's blood-alcohol level was .262, police said. CPS took the children that day. Four months later, a Superior Court judge returned them to their mother.
"The court, after receiving information from CPS and treatment and services providers working with the family, decided the children could return home," Barker said.
The case was closed in July, and in August, Celene was again reported, Barker said. But CPS dismissed the complaint. By mid-September, Haley was dead.
She and her brothers, ages 7 and 5, had spent Sept. 9 with their father. Celene, a stripper at a Tempe club, would later tell police that she drank vodka until 3 a.m. She got the kids at 11:30 a.m. and returned to their Scottsdale apartment, where she eventually fell asleep. At 4:30 p.m., a maintenance worker, sent to check on the open front door, awakened her.
Police found Haley just after 6 p.m., lying on the floor inside her mother's van, unconscious and gasping for air. John thinks she'd gone to retrieve the little makeup kit he'd bought her the day before. Four days after she was found, Haley was taken off life support.
Now, Celene, already awaiting trial for felony DUI, waits to see if she'll face charges in Haley's death. Three hours after Haley was found, Celene was still a .044.
John, meanwhile, has his sons now and hopes to raise them, though that'll be up to the system that couldn't save their sister.
As for us, well, we're left with the same old questions. And as usual, no answers.
The mother most definately should be charged with negligent homicide.
posted by Jenn @ 09:11
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