It takes a village to burn a baby.

It takes a village to burn a baby
By LakeExpo.com

http://lakeexpo.com/articles/2007/10/16/top_news/06.txt

Tuesday, October 16, 2007 9:56 AM CDT
Six-month-old Wayne Anderson Jr. was wrapped in a blanket and burned on
July 11, 2007. Baby Wayne laid in excruciating pain in a hospital until
his death on July 31. His mother, Christina White, has been charged with
his murder.
It is with a heavy heart we investigate the death of a child. Compelled
to find the truth surrounding Wayne Anderson Jr.'s horrific passing, we
have jumped repeatedly into the murky waters of the Missouri Department
of Social Services Children's Division and Missouri Juvenile Court System.

It is our hope a critical evaluation of Baby Wayne's end will prompt
with vigor officials and politicians to turn the most cruel child death
in our area's recent history into a catalyst for change. Only these
officials, elected and appointed by Missourians to act on their behalf,
are powerful enough to rip information from the tight grip of the
Department of Social Services fast enough to hold the appropriate
parties accountable for their actions and inactions.

In this case, the tentacles of blame, cover-up, questionable ethical
practice and moral accountability stretch across a community far more
vast than the tiny City of Iberia, Mo., and way beyond the vile acts of
a deranged mother.

Baby Wayne was first taken into emergency custody by the Iberia Police
on the evening of June 23, 18 days before the six-month-old was wrapped
in a blanket and set on fire, allegedly by his mother.

Police called in the incident to the Department of Social Services
Children’s Division Hotline, took Wayne and one of his older sisters to
Lake Regional Hospital and were met by an on-call investigator.


The following five facts about the night of June 23 have been derived
from official reports, verified by Children’s Division and are
considered by us to be undisputed:

1. Iberia Police took emergency custody of two of Christina White's
three children. One of those children was Wayne Anderson Jr.

2. The Children’s Division investigator believed Christina White
knowingly allowed Wayne Anderson Jr. and one of his older sisters to be
left in an unsafe and unsanitary environment at her parents' home, which
included drugs, rotting food, pet feces, and other unmentionables.

3. One police officer verbally opposed allowing the kids to be released
to their mother’s custody because he believed Christina White's
residence to be unfit.

4. Christina White had recently moved from Illinois.

5. Wayne's older sister, also taken into emergency custody, had been
placed into the custody of Christina White's parents by the Illinois
Department of Children and Family Services.

Ultimately, the Children’s Division investigator and her supervisor
agreed on a recommendation to hold the children in a temporary foster
home until they could further investigate the suitability of Christina
White and her residence.

However, custody of a child is not the decision of the Children’s
Division in the State of Missouri. It’s the Children’s Division’s job to
investigate and make a recommendation to juvenile officers with the
Juvenile Court.

At the exact moment police took emergency custody in Iberia, the
children immediately became the responsibility and under the
jurisdiction of the 26th Judicial Court.

In the gray area that precedes official reports, the chief juvenile
officer of the 26th Judicial was the decision maker concerning the
custody of Baby Wayne and his sister on the evening of June 23.

Despite pleas from police and a recommendation from Children’s
Division’s investigator that Wayne and his sister be placed in temporary
foster care, the chief juvenile officer gave custody of the children
back to Christina White, sight unseen. In making that decision, the
chief juvenile officer knowingly placed a child into Christina White's
care that had been taken from her custody by the Illinois Department of
Children and Family Services (DCFS).

After June 23, there was no further communication between Children’s
Division and the 26th Juvenile Court about the White case until Baby
Wayne was viciously burned on July 11.

Children’s Division's investigator continued to be connected to the
White case, inspecting Christina’s temporary residence, driving her
around and checking in on the kids. In fact, she was in the home where
Baby Wayne was set on fire the day before the burning.

For whatever reason, the investigator never picked up the telephone to
contact the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS),
knowing Christina had recently moved from Illinois and that one of her
children had not been in her custody.

When we interviewed the Children’s Division months after Baby Wayne's
death, a spokesperson said it would not have been prudent for the
investigator to contact Illinois DCFS between June 23 and July 11.

That spokesperson further stated that no one indicated on June 23 that
Christina White had a child abuse history.

However, the investigator's report from the night of June 23 says, "I
informed Christina and Wayne Sr. it was concerning they found it
acceptable to leave Wayne Jr. at their parents' residence in the
condition it was in.... I further explained they could be charged with
Failure to Protect because they left Wayne Jr. in an unhealthy and
unsanitary environment.�

No phone call to Illinois DCFS.

The next day, June 24, the lead investigator would determine the garage
in which Christina and the children had been living for months to be
unacceptable.

Still, no phone call to Illinois DCFS.

On Monday, June 25, the lead investigator received a report from the
Iberia Police Department that stated the following in reference to the
night of June 23: "The mother of the two young children (Christina
White) arrived on scene and when asked why the children were here... she
advised that the state of Illinois had taken custody of the
four-year-old daughter and given it to her mother."

Still, no phone call to Illinois DCFS.

If anyone from the Children's Division or juvenile court contacted
Illinois DCFS at any time, they would have received a copy of a letter
issued to Christina White by Illinois DCFS on Feb. 20, 2007, which
states: "You were previously notified by a Child Protection Investigator
that the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) was
investigating a report of child abuse or neglect. After thorough
investigation, DCFS has determined that you have abused or neglected a
child. The department has indicated you for Substantial Risk of
Physical/Environmental Injurious to Health and Welfare by Neglect. An
indicated finding means that DCFS' investigation found credible evidence
of child abuse/neglect."

This letter from Illinois DCFS could have only been written in reference
to Baby Wayne and/or one older sister. Neither child had yet been taken
from Christina White's custody.

When Christina White learned of this letter, she fled to Missouri.

If an investigator from Missouri had called Illinois during the week of
June 25 and received this letter by fax through the Missouri-Illinois
Interstate Compact, the investigator would have had ample time to bring
it to the attention of the chief juvenile officer of the 26th Judicial
Court before Baby Wayne was burned on July 11.

It can only be speculated that the new information, compounded by the
Children’s Division recommendation and emergency action by police, would
have prompted the chief juvenile officer to take immediate custody of
Wayne Jr. and both sisters until the case could be heard by a judge.

Based on this argument, one may be inclined to believe Baby Wayne's
death could have been prevented if it had not been for the failure of
the lead investigator.

That would be simple. Us “headhunters� would get a scapegoat and allow
Children's Division and juvenile court to escape unscathed. It could be
a tight little package if not for the fact that at least a dozen
tax-paid state workers had partial or full knowledge of the events of
June 23.

None of them acted, no one followed up. No one suggested the Children's
Division investigator call Illinois DCFS.

If the Children's Division investigator was too inept to investigate, we
contend it is the fault of the supervisors that hired, then failed to
train her.

But train her to do what?

Missouri CD does not have a policy to instruct investigators as to when
they should contact another state to request information, according to a
CD spokesperson.

This is a major oversight on the part of the Director of the Department
of Social Services. Anyone that has worked in that field for a week
knows child abusers have made common practice of jumping from
state-to-state to escape social workers and prosecution. The failure to
address this issue in writing hangs at the top.

Without proper policy or training, investigators and juvenile officers
must constantly move beyond state policy. They must have common sense
and do what’s right. They have to look at each defenseless child as more
than just another lost cause, a body to move from the hospital to court
and back again.

What concerns us the most about the Baby Wayne investigation is that the
chief juvenile officer and every spokesperson at the Department of
Social Services seem convinced the system did not fail. They are
convinced their workers did a good job.

"Everyone did everything they could, but a bad thing still happened,"
the chief juvenile officer says.

"We just can't predict human behavior," says a spokesperson for CD.

It is because of this pathological denial that there can be no
improvement. There is no mea culpa. There is no concession that judgment
may have been poor. No decisions could have been different, they say.
There are no signs managers empowered to change a system wrought with
failure are moving to change anything.

It is because of this denial and apathy that heads must roll.

Related Story

Christina White pleads not guilty; Defense attorney slams Children's
Division







CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NSA / CIA
WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....

CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.

every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com

Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS

*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*

Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5

Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.


CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...


BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...