CHILD PROTECTION: YET ANOTHER CASE OF OFFICIAL NEGLIGENCE

These cases never stop coming. This one is from California. A child is dead but none of those responsible for protecting her will suffer any significant penalty

Before 12-year-old Daelynn Foreman was found dead weighing 23 pounds this summer, Child Protective Services officials had received seven reports warning that she was either severely or generally neglected, according to documents released to The Bee under the California Public Records Act. A Sacramento CPS worker visited the Orangevale family about 10 weeks before Daelynn, who had cerebral palsy, was found dead with open sores so deep they exposed her bones. That May 19, 2006, visit came after CPS had substantiated a case of "general neglect," the documents show, but Daelynn was never removed from the care of her mother, 33-year-old Brandy Foreman. The girl was found starved to death July 31 in her bed, wearing pink pajamas with black and white sheep.

Foreman was charged last month with homicide, neglect and methamphetamine sales. Her 5-year-old son was unharmed, according to law enforcement authorities, and was placed in the care of his father.

CPS officials have refused to discuss details of the case, citing privacy laws. Court records show CPS contacted Foreman twice about Daelynn. But documents released to The Bee by the state Department of Social Services outline seven separate reports, and two cases that were substantiated.

Lynn Frank, director of Sacramento's Department of Health and Human Services, oversees CPS. She said Monday that Foreman had deceived all the agencies involved with her daughter. "She was just very believable when she talked to staff about this case," Frank said. Since Daelynn's death, Frank said, an investigation resulted in "personnel actions." She would not elaborate.

The case has sparked outrage, particularly at the Sacramento-based Child Advocacy Institute, which lobbies for stronger protections for at-risk children. "Every man or woman who has ever held a child in their arms should be red-faced and screaming with rage," said Ed Howard, senior counsel for the group. "I want to know what has happened to this child. "Once CPS is involved, that child legally and morally becomes my responsibility and that of every other citizen of Sacramento County and California."

The first allegation of neglect was leveled Feb. 23, 2002, when Daelynn was 7. The next three complaints in 2002 and 2003 alleged severe neglect -- inaction that can endanger the health of a child. Other complaints alleged general neglect, such as having a dirty home or leaving a young child home alone. Of the seven cases reported to CPS, six were made in Sacramento County and one was made to Placer County. The fourth and seventh allegations of neglect -- Aug. 20, 2003, and April 7, 2006 -- were substantiated by social workers.

CPS officials did not comment on what action -- if any -- was taken in those instances. All other reports were determined by CPS workers to be unfounded or inconclusive, according to the documents released by the state. Previously released court documents say CPS had been involved in Daelynn's case twice, including an April 2005 threat to force Foreman to take the child to a medical appointment. The threat worked. Daelynn received her last medical care 15 months before her death, a 10-year-old weighing 46 pounds.

The court document, a request for an arrest warrant prepared by Sacramento County Sheriff's Detective Brian Shortz, also says Daelynn's visiting in-home teacher noticed her becoming quite thin and called CPS in April 2006. That call prompted the final two visits CPS made before the child died.

Daelynn's death came as a shock to Marta Brewer, the girl's step-grandmother, who now lives in Idaho. Brewer's son married Foreman when Daelynn was a young child and later had a son with Foreman. Brewer said she regularly saw Daelynn from 2000 to 2002, when she was a chubby girl with reddish-blond hair tied up in a ponytail. She said Daelynn could not walk, but scooted quickly around the house on her rear. She did not appear to understand everything around her, but enjoyed watching "Barney." "I know when my son would come home from work, she would get all excited when he got there," Brewer said. "She knew who he was."

Brewer recalls Foreman taking good care of Daelynn. But things began to change after 2002, Brewer said, and she began to see drug paraphernalia in Foreman's home. Brewer said that her son divorced Foreman and that when Brewer went to pick up her grandson for visits, Foreman would not allow her in the house. The boy, who is now 5, would frequently need medical care, have diaper rash and appear sleep-deprived, Brewer said. "We knew something was wrong there," Brewer said. Brewer said she was shocked to learn that the once-plump little girl had wasted away.

Frank, who oversees CPS, said the case has resulted in numerous policy changes, including a requirement that social workers assessing the care of a medically fragile child be accompanied by a county nurse. Also, social workers received training from a pediatrician in watching out for children with special needs. "I'm really heartbroken about what she had to endure," Frank said. "It's my worst nightmare and I do not want this to happen again."

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