Key data missed in death of boy, 3: CPS "Saw" nothing?

Key data missed in death of boy, 3
Agency didn’t have suspect’s correct name

By Erin Gillespie

Originally posted on June 15, 2007

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs..../70614069/1075

When 3-year-old Zahid Jones was pronounced dead at Cape Coral Hospital
on May 29, his arms, legs and stomach were covered with bruises and his
head had a bump, according to state records released Thursday.

The Department of Children and Families investigated Zahid’s family at
least four times on allegations of abuse and drug activity before he
died, DCF records show.

The documents also reveal that the boy’s mother, Nicole Brewington,
allowed her boyfriend, Kashon Scott, who is charged with Zahid’s death,
to stay with the family despite a court ruling barring him from doing so.

Although DCF investigators and caseworkers followed up with the family,
the agency said it made at least one mistake: Background checks on Scott
weren’t done correctly until after Zahid’s death.

On May 30, a DCF investigator said the spelling of Scott’s name and his
date of birth were wrong on past criminal background inquiries. An April
6 background check has the wrong date of birth, and no records came back
to DCF.

At the hospital, case manager Cynthia Santiago Morant met Brewington and
Scott.
“Prior to today, I had not known the name or face of Kashon Scott,” her
report said.

Harry Propper, DCF’s local operations manager, said he didn’t know why
the background information wasn’t found even though DCF and the Lee
County Sheriff’s Office had been looking into Scott’s background.

Saw nothing

Scott is charged with aggravated child abuse and homicide. No charges
have been filed against Brewington, but the state attorney’s office said
Thursday they haven’t received all the case information and will be
examining it further.

The Children’s Network, which contracts case management services with
DCF, said a thorough review of case files showed proper procedures were
followed in Zahid’s case.

“We can put all the services in the home, we can monitor the family, we
can go above and beyond, but if the primary caregiver who’s in charge of
the child puts the child in harm’s way, we can’t be there 24 hours a
day,” said Aimee McLaughlin, Children’s Network spokeswoman.

Brewington said she never hurt Zahid and her two other children — a
12-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy — and never saw Scott hurt them,
either.

“I was not abusive to my kids,” Brewington, 32, said Wednesday. “He was
nice to my kids. If I knew he was abusing my kids, I wouldn’t have let
him around my kids.”

But Brewington, in sworn statements to law enforcement, said Scott was
abusive to the children, according to the DCF documents that say she let
Scott stay at the house the weekend Zahid died and did not intervene
when Scott punched and hit Zahid.

Brewington said she never saw anything.

Many investigations

Zahid’s family had a history with DCF and police, records show.

• On Dec. 4, 2006, DCF intervened after a caller alleged that Zahid had
bruises over his body and wasn’t being fed properly. The boy said his
mother hit him with a shoe.
That report was closed in February after visits with the children showed
no bruises and plenty of food in the house.

• But on Feb. 6, another report alleged that Zahid was beaten and that
Scott and Brewington were on drugs.

During an interview that day at the children’s school, a staffer told an
investigator that Brewington had told her not to speak with DCF. A
teacher, however, said she saw Brewington hit her children and had told
previous investigators about it.

When the investigator spoke with the children three days later, Feb. 9,
Zahid had no bruises or marks. The boy did say “Shon” hit him in the
stomach, neck and chest with tennis and dress shoes, a boot and a belt.
He said his siblings and mother were there at the time.

The case was closed with verified findings of substance misuse because
the children were home when Scott allegedly sold drugs to a police
informant the week of March 1.

On March 3, DCF took custody of Zahid and his two siblings because of
the drug use.

• At a shelter review hearing April 4, Judge James Seals returned the
children to Brewington on the condition that she not allow Scott to
watch them alone or to live in the house.

• On April 5, Brewington called police to report that Scott was in her
home and hit her. She was four months pregnant with his child at the
time. She refused to press charges, according to the state attorney’s
office.

A DCF home visit that day showed the children had no marks or bruises,
as did visits on March 19 and 30 and April 13.

A final visit

Santiago Morant went to the family’s house May 25. The caseworker’s
report says there were no signs that Scott lived there.

“Zahid was playing and smiling. He was not verbal but hung around while
I talked to the family,” the report reads.

Brewington was cooking dinner, and none of the children had bruises or
marks.
A sibling told the caseworker that no one else lived in the home with
them, although the report reads, “Both ... are not forthcoming in
conversation and seem guarded.”

After Zahid’s death, his siblings told investigators that Scott hit them
multiple times and that they were afraid of him.

During counseling after Zahid’s death, his sister said the 3-year-old
had come into her room the night before he died, and then Scott hit him.

“She stated that he grabbed Zahid and body slammed him and made him
leave the room,” DCF reports state.

While on the way to their foster home after their brother’s death, the
report reads, “Both children discussed the death of their brother.
(They) stated that ‘his mother should have stopped (Scott) from killing
his brother.’”



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

Dr. Shirley O'Brien, of the University of Arizona, notes that it has
been estimated up to 600,000 children are used by the 'kiddie porn'
industry" in the United States every year. Isn’t it entirely possible
that the huge demand for children to be used in child porn and exploited
by pedophiles is supplied from our nations foster care system?

http://www.lovestarrecords.com/earth..._Speeches.html

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

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...