Dear Mr. Shepherd,
Oh my gosh!!  I wish I had seen this site several years ago!! My husband and I became foster parents in 1997, and fostered 33 children over the next two yrs. Our 33rd foster child came to us as an 8 wk old baby with a broken femur. After having taken him to Children's Medical Center in Dallas, TX, the doctor placed him in a spica cast giving me an 11-page print out of care instructions along with the same instructions having been given orally. I was instructed to cushion the spica cast with pillows to alleviate the pressure on the cast. I was also instructed to turn the baby from his tummy to his back every two to four hours to prevent pressure sores from developing under the cast. These instructions did not seem unreasonable to me, as I had cared for two other foster children with broken femurs and had been given the exact same care instructions. I even questioned the doctor's instructions due to the fact that the baby was only 8 weeks old. I expressed my concern about SIDS and he responded by telling me that he was more concerned with the comfort of the baby since this is such a painful break.

Three days later, my husband and I returned home with our 3 foster children after a daytime outing. We fed and bathed the children and put them to bed. My husband had put the baby to sleep in his bassinet on his tummy. Over the next several hours, we had both checked on the baby. Just short of the four hours, my husband was preparing a bottle for the baby, as I was going to feed him one last time before we retired for the evening. As I went to wake the baby, I was horrified to find him not breathing! I immediately screamed for my husband and he began performing CPR instantly while I called 911. The paramedics and doctors at the hospital were unable to revive him and he died. We were devastated!!

We notified CPS as soon as possible and of course were investigated. Within the month, they removed our two remaining foster children, one of which had been in our home for 11 months for the purpose of adoption. This was equally as painful as the death of the baby! CPS had gone from making a statement on the news that we were an exemplary foster home to totally turning their backs on us. We were in total shock when we found out that we were being charged with negligent homicide. And as we soon found out, we were totally on our own! The fact that we had a 100% clean record with CPS in two yrs made absolutely no difference to anyone.

For two people who had never even had a traffic ticket, this was completely devastating! In the blink of an eye it seemed we had gone from admired foster parents to horrible child killers! We were arrested and had to pay $5000 each for bail. Luckily my husband's best friend and his wife were nice enough to offer to post our bail. After numerous phone calls, we were losing hope of ever finding attorneys. We had been told that we would have to pay $15,000 each just to retain attorneys. Our last hope was to apply for two court appointed attorneys. Over the next 3 1/2 yrs we were the top news story, being accused of everything! We were also being sued by the biological parents. Needless to say, the news media had a field day. We were no longer innocent to be proven guilty, but now considered guilty trying to prove our innocence.

My attorney proved to be worthless. The first mistake we made was letting them talk us into giving up our rights for a trial by jury. (It's amazing how clear hindsight is.) My attorney rarely returned calls, always had a reason why she couldn't ask "this or that" in court, repeatedly yelled at me when I asked her questions and NEVER even subpoenaed our witnesses! Once in court, the woman couldn't even complete an entire sentence. She stammered and stuttered thru the entire two days of trial. She also told me, "it doesn't look good right now, but I don't know whether I should put you on the stand or not." At this point, she had done absolutely nothing to defend me in any way, shape or form. I then felt like I HAD to say SOMETHING to defend myself. Once on the witness stand, the judge proceeded to tell me that I SHOULD NOT HAVE FOLLOWED DOCTOR'S CARE INSTRUCTIONS!!!!!!!

Luckily my husband was acquitted. But due to the fact that I was the primary caregiver, I was convicted of negligent homicide (which is a felony) and given a 2 yr. prison sentence probated to 5 yrs probation. I thought the first 3 1/2 yrs after the baby's death had been totally devastating, but the last 4 since the trial haven't been any better. While I was ordered to pay $5000 in court fees and $72 per month in probation fees, I have not been able to find a job anywhere! I've since been diagnosed as PTSD and extremely depressed. Two yrs before the trial, I was diagnosed with Crohns. Needless to say, the stress from all of this has made dealing with the Crohns somewhat of a problem. Two yrs ago, I had a major Crohns flare that put me almost totally flat on my back for 5 months. I was dealing daily with severe vomiting, diarrhea, fever and diabetes (caused by the medications they were using to treat the Crohns). During that 5 months, I lost a total of 90 lbs. And still, all the probation officer worried about was that I find a job to keep making payments!! I finally sought treatment for the depression, as I felt that I could no longer cope with all the pressure.

My husband during this time (May 2003) had been laid off from his manufacturing job of 5 yrs. We also lost our house because of my inability to find work. He was denied jobs just because of the arrest, never mind the fact that he was acquitted. Once potential employers saw that he was arrested and charged with "negligent homicide," he would not longer be considered. He finally found full-time employment this past August 2005.

All this....just because we wanted more children and decided to foster and adopt. If we had known how much heartbreak we would have to suffer, we NEVER would have became foster parents. We loved "our kids" during that two years and miss them something awful. We found it a time of great joy. But also saw so much wrong with the "foster system." We also saw our first foster baby on the news after he had been murdered by his step father after CPS returned him to his family. While we found a great joy giving care to our 33 foster children, we're not sure that it was worth all the loss we're had to suffer because of it. We repeatedly warn anyone we meet who is considering becoming foster parents. We advise them to seek legal counsel BEFORE they become foster parents. It's so very sad knowing how desperate CPS is for foster homes and parents. I just hope one day that the good people who are willing to give of themselves to become foster parents can do so knowing that they're not at risk of going thru what we've had to endure. The worst of all....the ONLY thing we did was follow doctor's care instructions. And we THOUGHT that we WERE obligated  by law TO FOLLOW DOCTOR'S CARE INSTRUCTIONS.

Sue Claud


Leisaffairs@aol.com

Saturday, April 22, 2006 7:52 PM