Special2bme
January 22nd, 2009, 08:19 PM
LAKE COUNTY, Fla. -- Late Thursday afternoon, Florida's Department of Children and Families admitted it failed to protect a 15-month-old Tavares boy before he died. Two DCF workers have now been fired over little Blake Rupe's death.
In August, DCF closed the case and said Blake Rupe was in a loving and safe home. He died four months later and now the agency is making a rare apology.
Tavares police say Blake Rupe was abused inside an apartment on Osceola Avenue. Last month, he died from blunt force trauma.
The Department of Children and Families is calling the incident a series of failures and the toddler lost his life because of them.
DCF spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner said the agency originally opened up a case on Rupe's family in January 2008 after someone reported he was being abused, and then the breakdown happened.
Hoeppner said, from January to August, a case worker waited ten days to check up on the boy after another report of abuse, incomplete reports were done and even some critical court documents were not filed.
No one has been charged yet, but Tavares police said they have obvious suspects.
http://www.wftv.com/news/18542250/detail.html
http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo35/Special2bme/44653778.jpgIn August, the Department of Children and Families told Emmalee Fore that she was providing a "loving and safe" home for her two children.
Four months later, her son was dead. Lake County's medical examiner found that 15-month-old Blake Rupe died from "blunt-force trauma" and declared his death a homicide.
His bones -- two ribs, a collarbone, both arms and a thigh -- were broken before his death, doctors found. Police are investigating but have not identified any suspects or made an arrest.
Now, DCF has released reports on its handling of the case, and its officials admit that it failed to ensure Blake's safety in several key instances.
A caseworker waited 10 days to inspect Blake's bruises, a critical court petition wasn't filed, a DCF investigator gave prosecutors incomplete information and a mandatory report about the family's stability wasn't filed before an abuse case was closed.
As a result, a case worker and her supervisor were fired and two other employees were put on leave. But DCF insists the problems with Blake's case were insolated and not indicative of systemwide failures.
"What is so devastating about this case is that sometimes we never have the chance to intervene," said Carrie Hoeppner, a spokeswoman for DCF. "We had eight months with this family."
The agency first opened a child-abuse case in January 2008 when the family, including Fore's boyfriend, David Tatara, 27, lived in Kissimmee and took Blake to the hospital with a mouth injury. Doctors at Osceola Regional Medical Center said someone likely shoved a pacifier or bottle into his mouth.
Fore, 21, blamed her older daughter, saying she poked Blake. She also said the boy had hurt himself while learning to crawl. Fore agreed to put both children in day care, take parenting classes and receive unannounced visits from a caseworker.
After that, according to DCF, management of the case went awry:
Tatara called the caseworker in April and said Blake had bruises on his face after getting hurt at day care. The bruises were healed by the time the caseworker checked on Blake -- 10 days later. "That delay was just not acceptable," said John Cooper, acting assistant secretary of DCF and its regional director for Central Florida.
Blake's case was deemed at "high-risk" in May, prompting a DCF lawyer to draft a petition asking a judge to oversee Blake's case. The judge would have added an extra level of supervision to the case, including deciding whether his case should be closed. The petition was drafted but never filed. No one knows why.
The Kissimmee Police Department in June recommended that the State Attorney's Office file a child-neglect charge against Fore because of Blake's mouth injury in January. Prosecutors declined a month later, saying in a letter that "DCF is providing services and does not recommend prosecution as they believe that the injury was accidental."
Prosecutors based their decision on bad information, the agency found. They talked to a DCF investigator who told them about the Blake's alleged injuries from the day care in April. The investigator should have told prosecutors about the mouth injury in January.
A new caseworker visited the family twice in August and closed the case. She and her supervisor sent Fore a letter saying, "your children have been in a loving and safe environment during your involvement with the Department of Children and Families." No one wrote the required report explaining why the family was considered stable. Then the family moved to Tavares.
Emergency workers rushed Blake to the hospital after the Tavares Police Department received a report Dec. 15 that he wasn't breathing. Tatara was watching Blake and his 2-year-old sister. Fore wasn't home. Tatara said he found Blake on the tiled floor under his playpen, and that the toddler had climbed out of the playpen in the past.
Two days later, Blake died at Orlando Regional Medical Center. His sister was placed in foster care, and doctors later found that she had three partially healed fractures in her left arm.
Senia Jorge, who waited 10 days to inspect Blake's injuries in April, and her supervisor, Joel Colon, were fired. Noelle Prosper, Blake's caseworker after Jorge, and Brenda Caster, Prosper's supervisor, were placed on administrative leave, but have since returned to work. Meanwhile, DCF's lawyers are developing a tracking system that will help them follow-up on cases.
Tavares Police Chief Stoney Lubins said that Blake's homicide case is his agency's "number one priority." "This case obviously has a tremendous history to it," Lubins said. "I want to make sure we have all of our ducks in a row."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/orl-bk-dcf-mistakes-child-homicide-012209,0,5331305.story
In August, DCF closed the case and said Blake Rupe was in a loving and safe home. He died four months later and now the agency is making a rare apology.
Tavares police say Blake Rupe was abused inside an apartment on Osceola Avenue. Last month, he died from blunt force trauma.
The Department of Children and Families is calling the incident a series of failures and the toddler lost his life because of them.
DCF spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner said the agency originally opened up a case on Rupe's family in January 2008 after someone reported he was being abused, and then the breakdown happened.
Hoeppner said, from January to August, a case worker waited ten days to check up on the boy after another report of abuse, incomplete reports were done and even some critical court documents were not filed.
No one has been charged yet, but Tavares police said they have obvious suspects.
http://www.wftv.com/news/18542250/detail.html
http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo35/Special2bme/44653778.jpgIn August, the Department of Children and Families told Emmalee Fore that she was providing a "loving and safe" home for her two children.
Four months later, her son was dead. Lake County's medical examiner found that 15-month-old Blake Rupe died from "blunt-force trauma" and declared his death a homicide.
His bones -- two ribs, a collarbone, both arms and a thigh -- were broken before his death, doctors found. Police are investigating but have not identified any suspects or made an arrest.
Now, DCF has released reports on its handling of the case, and its officials admit that it failed to ensure Blake's safety in several key instances.
A caseworker waited 10 days to inspect Blake's bruises, a critical court petition wasn't filed, a DCF investigator gave prosecutors incomplete information and a mandatory report about the family's stability wasn't filed before an abuse case was closed.
As a result, a case worker and her supervisor were fired and two other employees were put on leave. But DCF insists the problems with Blake's case were insolated and not indicative of systemwide failures.
"What is so devastating about this case is that sometimes we never have the chance to intervene," said Carrie Hoeppner, a spokeswoman for DCF. "We had eight months with this family."
The agency first opened a child-abuse case in January 2008 when the family, including Fore's boyfriend, David Tatara, 27, lived in Kissimmee and took Blake to the hospital with a mouth injury. Doctors at Osceola Regional Medical Center said someone likely shoved a pacifier or bottle into his mouth.
Fore, 21, blamed her older daughter, saying she poked Blake. She also said the boy had hurt himself while learning to crawl. Fore agreed to put both children in day care, take parenting classes and receive unannounced visits from a caseworker.
After that, according to DCF, management of the case went awry:
Tatara called the caseworker in April and said Blake had bruises on his face after getting hurt at day care. The bruises were healed by the time the caseworker checked on Blake -- 10 days later. "That delay was just not acceptable," said John Cooper, acting assistant secretary of DCF and its regional director for Central Florida.
Blake's case was deemed at "high-risk" in May, prompting a DCF lawyer to draft a petition asking a judge to oversee Blake's case. The judge would have added an extra level of supervision to the case, including deciding whether his case should be closed. The petition was drafted but never filed. No one knows why.
The Kissimmee Police Department in June recommended that the State Attorney's Office file a child-neglect charge against Fore because of Blake's mouth injury in January. Prosecutors declined a month later, saying in a letter that "DCF is providing services and does not recommend prosecution as they believe that the injury was accidental."
Prosecutors based their decision on bad information, the agency found. They talked to a DCF investigator who told them about the Blake's alleged injuries from the day care in April. The investigator should have told prosecutors about the mouth injury in January.
A new caseworker visited the family twice in August and closed the case. She and her supervisor sent Fore a letter saying, "your children have been in a loving and safe environment during your involvement with the Department of Children and Families." No one wrote the required report explaining why the family was considered stable. Then the family moved to Tavares.
Emergency workers rushed Blake to the hospital after the Tavares Police Department received a report Dec. 15 that he wasn't breathing. Tatara was watching Blake and his 2-year-old sister. Fore wasn't home. Tatara said he found Blake on the tiled floor under his playpen, and that the toddler had climbed out of the playpen in the past.
Two days later, Blake died at Orlando Regional Medical Center. His sister was placed in foster care, and doctors later found that she had three partially healed fractures in her left arm.
Senia Jorge, who waited 10 days to inspect Blake's injuries in April, and her supervisor, Joel Colon, were fired. Noelle Prosper, Blake's caseworker after Jorge, and Brenda Caster, Prosper's supervisor, were placed on administrative leave, but have since returned to work. Meanwhile, DCF's lawyers are developing a tracking system that will help them follow-up on cases.
Tavares Police Chief Stoney Lubins said that Blake's homicide case is his agency's "number one priority." "This case obviously has a tremendous history to it," Lubins said. "I want to make sure we have all of our ducks in a row."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/orl-bk-dcf-mistakes-child-homicide-012209,0,5331305.story