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story in the West Virginia State Journal of the death of a 5-day-old infant highlights many problems with the state's Department of Health and Human Resources.
I don't have a lot to say about it. The situation is just unspeakably sad.
Details on the jump.
"I am afraid we cannot adequately protect children," said Margaret Waybright, commissioner for the Bureau of Children and Families, which includes Child and Adult Protective Services.
Waybright said she believes the child protective services system is in a crisis -- crippled by huge employee turnover and limited on-the-job experience. She said the statewide turnover rate is 25 percent. An average of 37 percent of the caseworkers that do stay on the job have less than one year of experience. And the problem isn't limited to caseworkers. About 35 percent of the supervisors have less than one year on the job.
But it's Jonathan Coffman's case that may illustrate the problems within CPS better than any statistic.
He was born Dec. 10 at Raleigh General Hospital to Sherry Coffman, a 26-year-old Stanaford woman who had a cognitive impairment that left her with an IQ of about 55.
Last summer, the gas company, Allegheny Energy, cut off gas to the home where Sherry Coffman lived with her now 4-year-old daughter because the bill hadn't been paid. The gas remained off even as the weather turned colder. So Sherry Coffman heated her home with portable, electric ceramic heaters, stuffed the home's broken windows with plastic bags and towels. She warmed water for cooking and bathing in a microwave.
Lt. Steve Tanner with the Raleigh County Sheriff's Department said Child and Adult Protective Services was familiar with Sherry Coffman and her family. Neighbors said they called the state after seeing Sherry's daughter toddling down the street and behind a garbage truck. Tanner said some called because they were concerned about the home's condition. Doctors at the hospital called DHHR before releasing Sherry Coffman and her new baby because they were worried whether the mother could properly care for her son.
But Sherry Coffman was often uncooperative with DHHR and did not want their help, Tanner said.
The night before Jonathan Coffman died, Sherry Coffman put her baby to sleep like she always did, careful to not cover his face and keeping the blanket at chest level. When Sherry Coffman tried to feed her baby the next day, she couldn't wake him up. Jonathan Coffman was taken to a hospital but died several hours later from hypothermia.
There's a lot that is wrong with America. Babies should not be freezing to death in their homes.
Turnover in the case worker positions, which begin at $21,000 a year, means that experienced people are lost and the state has trouble attracting qualified replacements.
A few years ago, the state added several more caseworker positions, plus it started hiring paraprofessional human service aids to help caseworkers handle some of their day-to-day responsibilities. Waybright said that has helped, but turnover still is a big problem.
"We have more staffing positions, better training and a nationally recognized computer system," she said. "We have all of the tools in place; we just don't have the (people)."
Tanner said his investigation could not pinpoint blame for Jonathan Coffman's death on any one individual or one bad decision. He said the system just didn't work, and Sherry Coffman and her family got lost in the shuffle.
Hausch said that's a frightening thought.
"Maybe everything did go right," she said. "Isn't that frightening? Because if that is the case, it is truly a crisis that needs looked at. What is wrong with how this system is structured that everyone did their job and still a baby died? I don't have the answers. I just have a lot of concerns."