BRAXTON TAYLOR - 9 Months/ Convicted: Kathleen Ganiere - Virginia Beach VA

VIRGINIA BEACH – A Virginia Beach woman was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Wednesday for the death of her foster child.


Kathleen Ganiere pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the February 2010 death of nine-month-old Braxton M. Taylor.

Authorities said the little boy died from shaken baby syndrome.

Ganiere was originally charged with second-degree murder, child cruelty/neglect/abuse and child cruelty/neglect/abuse/reckless.
http://www.wvec.com/my-city/vabeach/Va-Beach-woman-to-be-sentenced-for-death-of-foster-son-133068593.html

Backlash against couple who exposed baby Braxton abuse

7:05 p.m. EST, February 13, 2012


Virginia Beach, Va - For seven months, foster parents Ben and Sarah FitzPatrick gave baby Braxton
a loving home. But when he was transferred to another foster mother, he
endured abuse that killed him.

The FitzPatricks blamed Beach social workers for missing tell-tale signs of abuse, and when no one
would listen to them, they turned to NewsChannel 3.

“We had to do something to make a change, and there was nothing else we could do but contact you,” says Sarah.

The ensuing NewsChannel 3 investigation ended with an apology from Virginia Beach Human Services
Director Robert Morin. He conceded social workers missed signs of abuse, and did not do a good job of protecting Braxton. He put in place new policies and asked for a state review.

By then, the FitzPatricks left the Virginia Beach system to become foster parents in Norfolk.
But on Monday, barely a week after the FitzPatricks went public, a pair of Norfolk social workers visited Sarah to announce they would take away the couple's remaining foster child.

Sarah says here is what they told her: Because their foster baby is black, the child would be better off with black foster parents. Sarah says in the five months they've cared for the child, no one ever mentioned that. It just came up today.

But a week ago, as the NewsChannel 3 investigation was set to air, The FitzPatricks got an email from their Norfolk social worker: "Your appearance...on tonight`s news has caused some concern here. I
want to talk to you about what is in your interview so that we can be prepared for any calls we may get... We are anxious about what is to come."

And over the weekend, Norfolk's check to the FitzPatricks, the money used to care for the foster baby, bounced.

A bank email said there was "insufficient funds."

The FitzPatricks went public to make foster children safer. And now, they believe, that has cost them another child.

http://www.wtkr.com/news/wtkr-backlash-against-couple-who-exposed-baby-braxton-abuse-20120213,0,7640976.story

White Couple Told Black Foster Child Belongs With Black Family

February 17, 2012


WKTR

A white Norfolk, Va., couple is fighting the state after officials threatened to take their black foster child away, according to WKTR.

Foster parents Ben and Sarah FitzPatrick claim that Norfolk social workers are retaliating against the couple because the FitzPatricks blew the whistle about a baby they were caring for in Virginia Beach. Social
workers transferred the child to another home, where he was eventually murdered. The FitzPatricks claim that social workers missed warning signs.

After the FitzPatricks went to News Channel 3 with their story, they received an apology from the agency's director, who admitted that it hadn't done enough and would conduct a public review. Right after that, the FitzPatricks claim, they received an email from a social worker saying, "Your appearance on tonight's news has caused some concern here. I want to talk to you about what is in your interview so that we can be prepared for any calls we may get. We are anxious about what is to come."

But when social workers arrived at her home, the FitzPatricks claim, they weren't there to speak about the comments but about their belief that the black child they were currently caring for would be better off with a black family.

Sarah said that line of thinking is against the law, and she is right. The federal Multiethnic Placement Act says "agencies can no longer routinely assume that placing children with parents of the same
race is in the best interests of a child."

The city has now said its reasoning for wanting to take the couple's child away is confidential, but the Norfolk human-services director said that race could be a factor. "We do have to consider the will of the
biological parent," said Stephen Hawks.

http://www.theroot.com/white-parents-black-foster-child

It's bad enough that state workers do such a piss poor job, but to punish a couple who is trying to help children is beyond the pale.