Good parents only in AZ (part 5)

If CPS looks into a case, the child still stays with the possible abuser.

Mesa child dies; family on CPS list
Boy, 2, covered with bruises
Karina Bland
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 20, 2003 12:00 AM

Two-year-old Charles Joseph Young died Sunday in Mesa, his body covered with so many bruises that emergency workers stopped counting at 30.

For more than a decade, sources said, the toddler's family has been under the scrutiny of Child Protective Services with as many as eight substantiated reports of neglect, sexual and physical abuse. An investigation was ongoing at the time of C.J.'s death.

No arrests have been made, said Mesa Police Detective Tim Gaffney, pending the results of an autopsy scheduled for today.

CPS officials could not comment on the case because of confidentiality laws. CPS records of dead children become public only if the death resulted from abuse or neglect. Because C.J.'s cause of death is not yet determined, his file remains sealed.

"Like any person, we are horrified and angered to hear that a child has died violently," said Liz Barker, spokeswoman for the Department of Economic Security, which oversees CPS.

She said that the agency reviews all cases involving one of their charges to determine if the agency was at fault and to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.

Safety of kids first

But Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley said the case raises more questions about CPS, and repeated his plea that the safety of children, not keeping families together, be the first priority of agency caseworkers.

"Why are we still seeing this?" he asked. "We have to stop the kids from dying."

Romley wants CPS to become a stand-alone agency, separate from DES. In a March report, he suggested parents be held accountable for hurting or neglecting their children and, when appropriate, face prosecution.

Gov. Janet Napolitano said Tuesday that she has asked CPS officials for a report on the case.

On Sunday about 10:30 a.m., paramedics were called to the Mesa apartment at North Country Club Drive where the toddler lived with his mother, her boyfriend and three brothers.

C.J. was not breathing; his body cold and bruised across his eyes, ears, legs and stomach. His sheets were covered in vomit.

He was taken to Desert Samaritan Hospital where he was pronounced dead. All hospital staff could do was call a pastor to pray over the boy.

His mother, Danielle Young, 34, of Mesa, has five children, all of them boys. A 10-year-old was removed from her care in June and placed in a group home.

The most recent CPS report in July was about a 4-year-old who had bruising on his face. C.J. was not the subject of any of the CPS reports.

Father still at large

Tempe police are looking for the children's father, William Young, 33, in a 2002 molestation case that has been forwarded to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. Tempe police Sgt. Dan Masters said officers believe he has fled the state.

Ursula Price, who knows the Young family, said C.J. was an adorable boy, chubby with brown hair and eyes. He laughed often and was very loving: "No matter who reached for him, he would go to them."

Both Young and her boyfriend, Todd Stockon, 32, are hearing impaired. None of the children has hearing problems.

They are now in the care of CPS. Young and Stockon declined a request for an interview.

CPS' tumultuous years

It has been a tumultuous two years for CPS, which has been accused of failing to protect children after the 2001 deaths of Liana Sandoval, a toddler who was beaten to death, and Anndreah Robertson, who died of exposure to crack cocaine at 10 days old.

In June, 7-year-old Isaac Loubriel was found half-starved in a filthy closet in his parents' Phoenix apartment. Like C.J., all three children's families had prior contact with CPS.

A commission appointed in January by the governor to study ways to reform CPS recently finished its work, issuing 25 recommendations. Public forums are being held statewide on the report.

All the talk about reform, prevention programs and caseworker training means nothing if children aren't safe, Romley said.

"This doesn't require training," he said. "This requires somebody who cares."

Carol Kamin, director of Children's Action Alliance and a member of the governor's CPS commission, agreed, saying, "It's time to stop and to figure out how to help kids today."

Her group has advocated for improved wages, training and manageable workloads for caseworkers, among other things.

She said, "You can't go and point fingers until you fix the system, a system we've been saying is in desperate need of reform."