Critics say signs were there in kids' deaths

Jeffco agency defends actions in Grafner case

Myung Oak Kim, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 27, 2007 at midnight

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The recent deaths of 3-year-old Niveah Gallegos and 7-year-old Chandler Grafner have one disturbing thing in common.

Child welfare agencies were aware of strong indications of abuse with both children and did not take aggressive protective action.

Doctors told social workers in July 2006 that 23-month-old Niveah Gallegos had been sexually penetrated, causing bleeding in the diaper, according to a Denver's 7 report. The mother denied that her boyfriend, a registered sex offender, had abused the girl.

In what is known as a voluntary case, Denver Department of Human Services allowed the girl to stay with her mother as long as she kept away from the boyfriend. DHS closed the case five months later, Channel 7 reports. The boyfriend, Angel Montoya, 22, was arrested Monday on suspicion of killing the girl Friday and leaving her body in a ravine.

Denver DHS spokeswoman Benilda Samuels said she could not comment.

In Chandler's case, the boy's school reported to authorities in January that he had bruises on his neck and ear, allegedly caused by his stepfather, Jon Phillips. When Chandler's own story about the bruises changed three days later - matching Phillips' claim that he had slipped in the shower - DHS dismissed the report.

In April, the school reported that Chandler had not been in school for five weeks. DHS dismissed that report, too.

On May 6, 19 days later, police found Chandler's emaciated body in Phillips' south Denver home. Phillips, 27, and his common-law-wife, Sarah Berry, 22, have been charged with murder, accused of locking the boy in the closet and starving him.

Both cases are drawing sharp criticism from some child welfare experts, who say the breakdowns in the DHS response are all too common.

Judge Dana Wakefield, who served in Denver Juvenile Court for 27 years before retiring last month, said if Denver's 7 information is correct, the response by Denver DHS is "not only a puzzle, but borderline an outrage, and certainly a serious misjudgment."

Wakefield called the problems with the two recent cases "a very concerning trend."

"The failure to aggressively investigate and to make good judgments as to how to respond to these reports raises very serious concerns about the department's ability to protect defenseless children."

Case called not unusual

Mahna Salter, a guardian ad litem in Jefferson County who represents children in abuse and neglect court cases, said the way case workers handled Chandler Grafner is not unusual.

"It's typical that there's a rush to conclusion and that things that are court-ordered to protect the children are ignored," she said.

Officials at Denver DHS said they cannot, by law, comment on the two cases.

Roxane White, manager of Denver DHS, declined to be interviewed about overall concerns about child welfare services, according to spokeswoman Benilda Samuels.

"We feel like we're now in this mode of strengthening our practice and we want to be able to focus on that," Samuels said.

Karen Beye, executive director of the state Department of Human Services, which oversees the county agencies, declined to be interviewed.

Last month, the state released a review of DHS' handling of Chandler Grafner that acknowledged that caseworkers showed poor judgment and violated six regulations. Officials in the counties involved said they already have instituted stricter rules, and plan more improvements. Counties must submit a corrective plan to the state next month.

Chandler had a lengthy history with child welfare agencies, dating back to when he was 4.

At the time, he was living with his mother, Christina Grafner, and Phillips in Englewood. The first report to Arapahoe County DHS indicated that Chandler feared Phillips and was not potty trained. Caseworkers investigated and labeled the report unfounded.

In September 2005, Chandler and another boy were found walking without an adult on a busy Arapahoe County street. Police charged Grafner with child abuse and she served a year's probation, according to the state review.

In April 2006, authorities took Chandler and his younger brother away from Grafner after she was arrested in Jefferson County during a traffic stop and police said the boys were neglected.

Jeffco caseworkers initially placed the boy with their maternal grandmother, Sandra Younger, of Centennial. But she lost custody because she had no driver's license, allegedly allowed the mother to see the children (which Younger denies) and had a roommate with a criminal record, the state review said.

During the course of a court procedure known as a dependency and neglect action, caseworkers recommended that custody be given to Phillips, the biological father of the younger boy. Phillips, who dated Grafner for years, was considered Chandler's "psychological" father. The guardian ad litem assigned to Chandler's case agreed.

The court gave the boys to Phillips and Berry in May 2006 and ordered Phillips to follow numerous requirements, including getting mental health counseling for Chandler and his brother, which he didn't do.

Maternal relatives withdrew their support of Phillips after he cut off their contact with the boys.

One caseworker made five monthly visits to Phillips' apartment. Another caseworker, charged with doing a placement evaluation, met with Phillips once but could not contact him or Berry for months. She nevertheless ended the study and approved the placement.

Given permanent custody

On Jan. 11, the court awarded Phillips and Berry permanent custody, and DHS closed its case. At that hearing, a caseworker described the children as "really thriving in their current placement."

Six days later, Chandler's school reported to Denver DHS that the boy had bruises on his ear and neck. That report was dismissed. So was the April report about the boy's five-week absence from school.

Chandler was put into the closet May 4 as punishment for taking food from the kitchen, his brother later told police. He was dead when Phillips took him out two days later.

Wakefield said caseworkers ignored numerous red flags. He said the most critical mistakes were the dismissals of the school reports in Denver.

Wakefield said Chandler's school absence alone was enough reason under law to take the family to court. The boy's three-year DHS history was even more cause for drastic action, he said.

If DHS had filed a court action, caseworkers and others would have gone to the home and seen the boy's frail health.

"We couldn't have saved him from being beaten to death, but he sure couldn't have been starved to death," Wakefield said.

"The failure of a supervisor at DHS to initiate an investigation is the single most critical stage of this entire scenario, and yet was only mentioned in passing as part of the chronology in the Child Fatality Review report."

David Littman, a family law attorney with more than 25 years' experience with child welfare cases, said a person who starves a child to death exhibits mental illness and anti-social behavior long before the crime.

If Jefferson County caseworkers had not cut short their studies of Phillips, they could have uncovered warning signs, Littman said.

It's understandable that social services places children with relatives or other people they know - as was the case with Phillips, Littman said.

"But when that someone they know isn't properly supervised or checked as to what his or her issues are, I think (child welfare) departments have some level of liability."

Jefferson County DHS officials defend their handling of the case.

"We feel like there was really good casework done in this," said spokeswoman Lynnae Flora.

"There were many times when (Phillips) was calling us unsolicited. We did not see any red flags that would have led us to believe that this child would not be healthy and not in a safe environment."

Litany of poor decisions

The Colorado Department of Human Services investigated how counties handled Chandler Grafner's case before his death. It said caseworkers violated regulations and made poor decisions in the following ways:

• Jefferson County recommended that Jon Phillips get custody even though he didn't comply with court orders, such as getting the boy counseling.

• Jeffco caseworkers did not look for other relatives who could have taken Chandler.

• Jeffco failed to put critical information about the boy's case in a computer database, so when Denver DHS got a report of alleged abuse by Phillips, officials didn't know the boy's history and incorrectly thought Jeffco was supervising the boy.

• Jeffco did not make contact with Chandler within 24 hours after his school reported injuries he had suffered.

• Denver inappropriately dismissed a January report by school officials that Chandler was allegedly hurt by Phillips.

kimm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2361

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