By Paul Daquilante • Staff Writer • 

Infant's death triggers DHS lawsuit

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Comments

leo

The missing information about this horrible situation is: who is Timothy J. Wood who claims to be the girl's representative in the lawsuit.
Certainly not anyone an infant would appoint.
Hoping not someone trying to take advantage of the situation for his own benefit.

GrizzlyWildcat

Only in America does parental neglect and addiction result in a trial lawyer suing a government agency for $2 million dollars. This will do nothing to help the Meth problem, the overworked and underfunded DHS workers, or those most affected by this tragedy.
This will only transfer taxpayer money directly into a lawyer's pocket, further strain our already stressed public social support systems, and unjustly reward a family for one members fatal negligence and addiction.

Lulu

"The overworked and underfunded DHS workers" must go. Out with the entire bloated bureaucratic system. Pry their hineys off their chairs and let them work around inanimate objects that can't feel the pain of torture, starvation or sex with dear ol' mom's boyfriend and his twitching meth pals.

tagup

Are you advocating that DHS be eliminated because of poor oversight by a few caseworkers?....So having no agency to provide oversight is an improvement?

Megmaa

Tread lightly on subjected opinions of DHS. While I agree with the totality of DHS not being a superhero. The "bad stepmother" of our nations children is a making of our own. The rules and policies are what need to be changed in order for law enforcement and DHS to be more effective. There are not enough foster families, there are not enough treatment facilities, and there is not enough support from the community at large because we get caught up in the "morale darkness" that we bestow upon the parents that ultimately results in children following the same cycle. Sit in court for a few hours. You will learn so much about what the "law" can and cannot do, and how attorneys and caseworkers leave courtrooms everyday with broken hearts.

Paul Daquilante

leo . . .

Good point, and here is the answer to your question, according to Salem attorney David Kramer, who filed the law suit.

Paul Daquilante / reporter

Mr. Wood is a retired attorney who last worked as the Chief Trial Counsel for the Oregon Department of Justice. He is a volunteer personal representative, that is, he has no financial incentive in this matter. He offers his services in select cases where children are allegedly abused or neglected, where the state systems designed to protect children apparently failed in some substantial respect, and where that failure was a cause of a significant injury or death. He offers his services only where a child’s immediate family also appears to be at fault, or it appears that the parents – often due to past or present histories of substance abuse and criminal convictions – may not be suitable to protect the legal rights of the injured or surviving children. The Probate Court decides whether or not a person is a suitable guardian ad litem or a suitable personal representative.

Mr. Wood’s goal in this particular case is to preserve and investigate the pending claims against the Department of Human Services and, if funds are recovered, to ask the Probate Court to put those funds in a professionally managed trust for the benefit of the surviving children, only. Mr. Wood hopes that his efforts may help bring transparency to cases like this and may provide the State with an additional incentive to make much needed improvements. He hopes that money put in trust for the benefit of surviving children will help those kids escape the seemingly endless cycle of abuse and neglect.

Lulu

"Poor oversight by a few caseworkers"? Let us count all the dead and ruined children ignored or overlooked by the DHS. In a recent study of 101 Oregon incidents, caseworkers determined 47 of those children were safe in homes when they actually lived in danger. Those deadwood civil servants have no hearts to break.

tagup

So back to my question....is having no agency oversight an improvement?
No need to respond....the answer is obvious..

Lulu

You are, again, so wrong, tagup. We need an agency where people do their jobs and are held accountable.

tagup

I think, if you were honest, you could admit that the agency exists for a reason.......The logic of scrapping the entire department because it's not perfect is flawed.....I m certain if you were open minded, you would find children/families that have been helped by DHS......

Lulu

Government rarely does an acceptable job in any of its monopolies. People in the private sector would be axed for accomplishing so little while taking the longest time doing it.

tagup

C’mon Lulu —A monopoly?? What private sector business would do what DHS does?......not much profit to be made from that clientele......DHS is there because no one else would do the work.....

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