An article from January 26, 2017 details how a 4 year-old in foster care was accidentally dropped off at the wrong house in Tampa, Florida by a child welfare program day care worker. Despite being a somewhat innocent mistake of putting the wrong address into his GPS, the worker left the child without verifying it was the child's foster home. The child was dropped off just before 8 pm. A Facebook post from the Yates family had reached the girl's biological mother, and around 11:45 pm, the foster parents arrived to pick up the child in their pajamas. The most interesting aspects of this article are the ways the child's behavior, foster family's reaction, and the day care worker hired by child welfare embody some of the negative stereotypes of those in the child welfare system. For example, the child immediately ran into the unfamiliar home upon being dropped off by the worker. The Yates family fed her, their children played with the girl, and when questioned by the police, the girl "buried her head into Yates' chest." While the child was lucky to be dropped off into a warm and loving home, her lack of healthy attachment created serious risk. The response from the girl's foster parents is also not an encouraging sign. The family had been sleeping like normal, apparently unaware that the child was missing. Although the child care center has since implemented retraining for employees and fired the worker who dropped the child at the wrong home without question, the impression this article leaves on the general public reinforces the negative stereotypes about child welfare. While this article was about a specific incident, it highlights some of the difficulties faced by the child welfare system.
O'Donnell, C. (2017, January 26). Driver for child welfare program leaves girl, 4, at the wrong Tampa home. Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved from http://www.tampabay.com/news/driver-for-child-welfare-program-leaves-girl-4-at-the-wrong-tampa-home/2311064
As someone who currently is working the foster care system I am so surprised by this article. I could never imagine personally making an error of this magnitude. I see your point about the child's connection with the "strangers" it does seem strange that this child was so quick to attach. Were you able to find anywhere if this child had been placed in multiple homes?
ReplyDeleteI also think its interesting there was no mention of a violation toward the foster parents for not noticing the child was missing.
Karyn,
ReplyDeleteI agree - there are many crazy parts to this story! How could someone just drop a child off and let them run inside without verifying any information? Luckily, like this article states, the girl was left in a loving home instead of an unsafe one (and it sounds like there were many of those around the area, too).
I find it interesting that she took to Yates, a stranger, but didn't want to go home with her foster parents. I'd be curious to know about her home life at her foster placement. If they weren't even aware she was missing, what else is going on in that home?
On a positive note, this story did have a happy ending. However, I agree, it does reinforce some negative stereotypes about CPS and the child welfare system.