DARLENE ARMSTRONG - 16 yo/ Accused: Mother; Rosetta Harris - Chicago IL

DCFS took 4 months to find 23-pound teen girl
Documents show endangerment case was botched from start — 'There's no excuse for this,' agency spokesman says

By Christy Gutowski, Chicago Tribune reporter
12:05 a.m. CDT, June 8, 2012

When teenager Darlene Armstrong arrived at the emergency room curled on a stretcher, she weighed a skeletal 23 pounds.

In serious condition, the 16-year-old had cerebral palsy and couldn't walk or talk, but the stunned medical staff also focused on her shriveled 3-foot-10-inch frame, her sunken cheeks and protruding ribs.

The doctors at Comer Children's Hospital at the University of Chicago agreed the girl had been starved for some time.

"Darlene has suffered from severe, long-standing, life-threatening malnutrition/starvation combined with unacceptable medical neglect," a hospital record said of the March incident.

It's now clear that the severely disabled teen could have gotten crucial help four months earlier if an investigator and her supervisors at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services had done their jobs properly, the Tribune has learned.

The agency had gotten a Nov. 17 hotline call that Darlene wasn't being fed — an urgent matter under DCFS rules — but the investigator repeatedly walked away from the family's South Side home without seeing Darlene and without enlisting other resources, records show.

It wasn't until her fourth visit in March that she heard whimpering, confronted the mother and called 911.

The case underscores continued problems at DCFS as it deals with high child-abuse and neglect caseloads. In recent months, the newspaper also has examined troubling child deaths and the agency's failure to inspect many day-care facilities as required — issues that have raised new questions about whether a system designed to save children is failing them.

Documents obtained by the Tribune indicate Darlene Armstrong's case was mishandled from the beginning:

•Although the investigator went to the home within the required 24-hour hotline-response period, she failed to follow other procedures to help workers locate the child. Nor did she return each day as required until that happened.

•Before Darlene was rescued, there is no evidence the worker looked up the family's history with DCFS as required. If she had done so, the investigator would have realized the agency took protective custody of Darlene years earlier due to the same allegations of medical neglect and malnourishment.

•A supervisor failed to alert two later shifts, as required, to continue looking for Darlene on the first day the investigator didn't make contact. The supervisor and her manager also improperly granted extensions beyond the initial 60-day period set to resolve such cases, despite minimal effort to find the girl.

DCFS acknowledges serious mistakes were made.

"An investigation this badly neglected is a failure of supervision and management," said Kendall Marlowe, agency spokesman. "We are taking appropriate actions to right that ship and ensure this organization places the proper priority on child safety."

DCFS investigators have struggled to keep up with high caseloads during repeated budget cuts. More than 60 percent of the agency's 457 active investigators have been assigned more work than allowed under a federal consent decree, according to DCFS data.

As a result, the percentage of investigations still pending after the 60-day deadline has risen sharply.

The caseload for the investigator handling Darlene's case also was higher than permitted, but the response to the hotline call exposes a systematic breakdown of procedures, officials said.

The investigator and her supervisors face possible disciplinary action, officials said. The Tribune is not naming them because no formal action has been taken against them.

Meanwhile, Darlene is now improving at La Rabida Children's Hospital and eventually will go to a nursing facility for long-term care, officials say.

Read More: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/children/ct-met-dcfs-starved-girl-20120606,0,4445001,full.story

This poor girl.

People need to lose their jobs over this travesty.

CP is a devastating medical condition. Its effects vary from mild to severe. It is obvious that this "mother" wanted nothing to do with this child anymore. There were and are other options and yet she felt it was better that the child died.
The really sad part is, I have known severely afflicted CP kids and young adults who are very happy and take part in many activities.
I say there should be immediate and constant involvement of DCFS right from the start. The caregiver needs support and counseling from day one and she did not seek any medical or societal support. There's a special place in hell for people like this...I hope.

I too hope that the DCF employees along with the disgusting mother are prosecuted and serve a lot of time. I know that probably won't happen but it should. Darlene's mother is a monster...not a mother. I can't imagine a 16 year old weighing only 23 lbs. That's about what my 18 mo. grandson weighs!!! Unbelievable. I hope Darlene recuperates and ends up in a loving and caring home.

My niece has mild CP. It effects the left side of her body but not her mind. She's incredilby intellegent. But regardless of the severity, 16 years old and 23 lbs? I know she was smalll (probably due to years of malnutrition) but still... both of my babies weight more at 1 year! Makes me sick and how those social workers can walk away from that and live with themselves is beyond me. If you're burnt out, then quit. Do fail. The stakes are too high to fail.