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DCF accuses woman of neglect
DCF accuses woman of neglect
Associated Press August 22, 2003 SIMSBURY, Conn. -- A woman who took in a 17-year-old girl and terminated her guardianship when the juvenile became out of control is being accused of neglect by the state's child welfare agency. Carol Coburn, 42, of Tariffville, was scheduled to appear in New Britain juvenile court Friday to continue her defense. Coburn, the executive director of the Coalition to Strengthen the Sheldon/Charter Oak neighborhood, met the girl at a neighborhood event. She ran into her again five months later, and decided to take her in when she found out she was about to be placed in state custody. "I was immediately impressed," she told The Hartford Courant. "She was pleasant, funny, bright and made direct eye contact." When Coburn took her in, the pair went to the library. And church. They went biking, adopted a dog and liked taking long walks. Coburn taught the teen to ski. But last spring, the juvenile had to be transferred to an alternative school when she had problems at Simsbury High School. Coburn said the girl had become disruptive and rebellious at home, and sometimes threatened her. The police were called several times. In May, five of the girls friends had broken into her home. The girl ran away, and Coburn called the police. Then, she went to Simsbury Probate Court to terminate her guardianship because she said she could no longer ensure her own or the girl's safety. After the girl was found, she underwent a mental health evaluation at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford. Coburn was asked to pick the girl up from the hospital, but resisted. "I would not sign her out and send her to her death," she said. DCF eventually relented and picked the girl up after calls from a hospital social worker, Coburn and a probate judge. The next day, Coburn was charged by the agency with neglect. DCF spokeswoman and program supervisor Maribel Vazquez said the agency had no choice, because it needed something to present to a judge to justify taking custody. "We would have to file a neglect petition for us to be able to place her," Vazquez said. "If we are going to keep a child under our care and provide services, we need to do that. ... It's a Catch-22." Coburn said no one warned her she could be accused of neglect. She was never charged criminally, but is appealing the agency's allegations. "People tell me I'm a hero," she said. "But I don't know what good it did. All I did was buy her some time." |
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