What began as a truancy report on a homeschooling family ended up with a fourteen year old girl taken into custody and placed in a children’s home. Not in Germany, but in Wichita, Kansas.
Bambi Baker-Hazen contends her daughter has been abused in the state’s child welfare system since authorities took the girl in a case that began with a mistaken truancy report. wibw.com
Now I’m still thinking there is a lot between “what began as” and the mother’s arrest on Friday after she refused to testify as to the whereabouts of her daughter who ran away from the children’s home in October. The first story I found was rather sketchy, but thankfully Tammy of Just Enough and Nothing More was still up when I posted it to Twitter and found another article with a bit more information.
The Kansas City Star had a key piece of information I was curious about:
Ashton ended up at the children’s home after a middle school that mistakenly had her on its rolls reported her as truant, even though her mother’s home was properly registered as a home school. Baker-Hazen has since enrolled her other three children in public schools. KansasCity.com
And that really does appear to be where the case began. The Star uses the case to highlight accusations that Sedgwick County is the “child removal capital of America,” which may be entirely accurate. But what social workers found besides a properly registered homeschool is interesting and quite relevant.
Their problems escalated while the mother was out of town seeking substance abuse treatment and mental care services, claiming in her testimony that she was unaware of the state’s involvement.
Ashton was placed with Baker, her biological father, but police picked her up and put her in the children’s home when Ashton ran away from her father to go back to her mother. USA Today
I don’t know what the time frame is, but it appears that officials went to check on a truancy report and found a fourteen year old girl home alone while her mother was in another town seeking treatment. I commend the mother for seeking help, but depending on how long Ashton was alone, I can see why some level of involvement was considered warranted. And if Ashton is used to this kind of freedom, it is understandable why she might have run from both her father and the children’s home:
But in court Friday, Henderson [the judge in the case] noted that the girl was out at 3 a.m. and had admitted to drinking alcohol. USA Today
Curious where the other three children were and why the case only involves Ashton. But they are all enrolled in public school, now. The mom also claims she is protecting her child by not disclosing her whereabouts.
Baker-Hazen told Sedgwick County Juvenile Court Judge Tim Henderson that when she tried to return Ashton to the home, the girl threatened to jump out of the car. She said Ashton had lost a lot of weight and had burns on her arms allegedly inflicted by other children at the home. USAToday
Without documentation, that allegation won’t get very far. With documentation, it might get Ashton into another child care facility while the Wichita Children’s Home is investigated. Either way, I cannot imagine what I would do in that situation.
Did the state act too quickly?
It is perhaps a little too easy to side with the famliy or the state in these kinds of cases with only the small amount of information which is released to and reported by the press. But Sedgwick County does seem to have some issues.
Her allegations aren’t unusual in Sedgwick County. While the state agency says it complies with all federal rules, the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform claims that the department is evading requirements that reasonable efforts be made to keep children out of foster care and that it is underreporting cases to a central federal database. Critics contend officials in Sedgwick County are overreacting to some high-profile child abuse cases, such as a 2006 one involving two Wichita children allegedly starved, beaten and tortured by their father and stepmother. Kansas City Star, emphasis mine
We had a similar case here in Nebraska while I worked with the foster system. A child was found starved to death after multiple reports to CPS and no action. The “reform” consisted of following every single call, anonymous or otherwise, with a home visit. And our small agency was suddenly flooded with referrals for emergency placements because the modus operandi suddenly seemed to be to remove children, then investigate.
Advocacy groups and angry parents have pointed to comments from the head of the state agency, Don Jordan, who indicated in March that his case workers felt pressured by the Sedgwick County district attorney’s office to include false information in court documents to ensure children are removed from homes. Jordan has since retracted that statement and the district attorney’s office denies the allegation, but a complaint from local family advocacy group Citizens for Change Inc. led to an audit of the state agency by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Ibid., emphasis mine
That is a truly frightening state of affairs. This may not be the case to highlight those concerns, but it is certainly a discussion that appears very needed in Sedgwick County and the state of Kansas.
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Thanks Dana for a very informed piece with and an objective view.
In the past, I have asked a friend of mine who is a social worker for advice on the legal age a child can cross the street, walk to school and etc. She responded that there ISN’T one but things are decided on a case-by-case basis.
I have an autistic 8-year-old who CANNOT be left at storytime at the library while I am in another section of our small library looking at books… you know, where I could see him if I walked to the end of the aisle? Too much for him.
Then again, I have a very responsible 15-year-old taking a college-level class at the local public school. I’ve allowed him unlimited internet freedom (with occasional checking), which he uses to surf Pokemon websites and play games. I have left him alone at home for several hours at a time since he was 8.
This child, for the last two summers, had to deal with ALL his younger siblings and take care of the house for a month because I had surgery and bedrest. Yes, I was there physically. But couldn’t lift a child or help with dishes, etc.
I couldn’t drive or do a helpful thing for a month.
I think, using a balanced approach, it really depends on the child, don’t you think? She may well have been *just fine* for a little sabbatical there, or perhaps not. I’d tend to err on the side of parents whenever remotely possible. MOST parents, even “bad” ones, truly love their kids and just need a little help.
Couldn’t they have helped this family instead of jumping straight to removal? Just wondering aloud here.
Thank you, Dana, for this post. :]
OTOH, since it sounds like before all this intervention even started, the mom was mentally ill and drug-dependent while left to raise several children alone (without dad in the home) I’d tend to err on the side of what’s love got to do with it? Mentally unstable, drug-dependent individuals can’t take care of themselves properly (even if they love themselves) so they need to get that help for themselves first, which it does sound like the mom was finally doing for herself, so good — but not yet to the point of being able to care for the kids. And btw, putting them in school doesn’t change the home stability situation, how odd that they’re just dismissed in the story once they’re in school, as if that solves their need for parenting!
Mrs. C., You said, Couldn’t they have helped this family instead of jumping straight to removal? Just wondering aloud here.
That seems a possibility, especially since the father is in the picture. It is so hard to really know in these cases. NE is statistically pretty quick to remove kids and also slow to return them. There are a lot of stages in between no involvement and removal, but it appears that there may have been supervision issues that prompted the original case. We have intensive family preservation here, which involves intensive family therapy, regular home visits and parenting classes. I don’t know what is available there, but it seems like something that might have been a possibility.
How long a child can be left alone should be decided on a case by case basis, but not knowing this child and how long she was left for, I’m not convinced that the social workers didn’t err on the side of family.
JJ Ross, I don’t like to judge from here whether her substance abuse issues and mental health issues are such that she cannot care for her children. It is a plus that she was seeking treatment, and I wish it were clearer if she was gone for a few hours for outpatient treatment in Wichita (or wherever) or if she was gone for a few days. Then it would be much easier for me to decide whether or not I thought any due care was taken in the case.
And I agree. I’d like to know more about the other children. It always seemed strange to me to have a child removed on pretty serious charges and have siblings remain at home. It is pretty common, however. Perhaps the younger children were being supervised elsewhere when the social workers showed up.
So many questions.
I would like to clear up a few things with the people posting on here. First off the child or children were not left alone, they were in the care of Bambi’s husband, the father of her two youngest children. And second the father of Ashton Baker is a dead beat dad who owes 10,000 dollars in child support, I am sure he is hoping he will not have to pay this if the child is in states care. The child and her older sister ran from Dad’s home because they are scared of him and they live with Mom, they were visiting Dad, Mom has primary custody. Also Mom had lost 6 family members to death within a 6 month period and life overwhelmed her so she took it upon herself to get treatment and she did, the courts of course obtained this information illegally. We all know that what you read in the news or hear on the news isn’t always the whole picture, I personally got involved with Bambi’s case after I have seen the clear violations of law and violations of the constitution. Bambi isn’t a drug user she went for alcohol treatment. So does this mean that every child who’s parent drinks should have their children taken away? Or that a child experimented with alcohol themselves and stayed out past curfew? No, there are no perfect parents and there are no perfect children, the child abuse laws are meant to protect kids not raise them.
When the children ran from Dad’s house back to Mom’s where the stepdad was, the real dad called the child in as a runaway, hmmmm how could she be a runaway when she was at home?
When mom returned and found out that dad called the child in as a runaway she called the east side patrol and canceled the report but then the Social Worker told the police NOT TO CANCEL THE REPORT. If you could the paperwork that I have seen you would understand this case more, I have met all of her children they are great kids and they love their mom, no abuse, no neglect just abuse of power by a cop who illegally handcuffed a 13 year old child and questioned her without any miranda rights warning, In Kansas the supreme court ruled that a child under the age of 14 can’t be interrogated without the parent present or without an attorney, this all stems from a bad interrogation by the police on the B.M.B case.
I am a child advocate who has been speaking out on behalf of children who do not get protected from abuse and now I am also speaking out for parents who have had their rights and their childrens rights violated bye the state, county and city.
We live in America, and we have rights and as long as there is no abuse or neglect in the home of a child/children, the state should not be allowed to take your children.
Bambi has every bit of documentation to back up all her allegations against the Wichita Children’s Home and against the Juvenile Courts and the Wichita Police Department “EMCU”.
The detective involved in this case should be fired, he has harassed and threatened this family, this child never ran away from home before.
Sedgwick County that won’t admit to a mistake instead they will falsely present evidence to the courts and they will continue to cover-up the violations of law.
Bambi’s story is just one of the many families who have been victimized by government officials, but I truly believe it will be her standing up for her daughters rights that will make a change in sedgwick county and the state of Kansas.
Thanks for letting me speak out on behalf of Bambi.
Oh I forgot to mention that the stepfather of Ashton is the one who has carried health insurance, housed, fed, clothed, loved and cared for her than her own father.
When they removed Ashton, the little children were so terrified that they too were going to be taken, they wouldn’t sleep in their own beds anymore, the 6 year old starting wetting the bed, what a nice thing to do to children. The states they traumatize the whole family not just the ones they take into custody.
This case is only about the abuse of power, that’s all. There are so many cases here in Wichita that I know of where the children are actually being abused and no one will save them, no where to go. This place is a disgrace to children.
I have never in my life been affected by such a corrupt system, but I can tell you I will not sit by and watch them continue to destroy innocent families and most of all innocent children.
I have contacted many of our State Reps and Senators, I will do what I can to make sure this doesn’t happen to another family.
It’s hard to take the rest of a testimonial seriously when it contains a xlearly contradictory statement such as,:
“Bambi isn’t a drug user, she went for alcohol treatment.”
There are parents who are not doing a good job parenting in every walk… whether it be private, public, or home schools. It is sad that the media blasts these cases that have to do with a parent who has at one time homeschooled their kids – and are silent on other cases where children are neglected even after CPS is aware of the situation.
It just shows that we all need to be ever vigilant of what is going on so we can speak up before it is too late for the kids and for our rights as parents. We certainly don’t want to have a flawed system getting worse because the “changes” needed are left to those who are in charge of it now – without our input!
Thankfully, no one at this point seems to be making an issue of the fact this was a homeschooling family. In fact, in the first two reports I read, they seemed to be using that to further make the point that the state was out of line, removing a child over truancy issues after a school’s mistake.
There appears to be more to the story than that, but at this point, I haven’t seen anything condemning homeschooling. And the education status is relevant at least since that is what brought the state into the family in the first place.
Donna, thank you for sharing the additional information. You asked, how could she be a runaway when she was at home?
If custody was given to the father, in the state’s eyes that is her home and it doesn’t matter where she runs to, she will be considered a runaway if he reports it thus. It is the same when a child runs from a foster or group home back to the biological family’s home. They are a runaway because they ran away from those who have legal custody.
If she has all the documentation, then I hope Bambi pursues this until justice is served. These things are impossible to judge solely on what is in the paper, and abuse of power is a serious charge.
I also hope she has a good support system in place. I’m certain this is a tremendous stress on her and her family and I hope she has the support to do follow whatever the best course of action is.
Thanks to all for sharing their experiences and makes us to gain enough knowledge as well..
I was put through this myself. They forced my husband to get mental warrents on me because he was reporting me to be doing things I wasn’t doing. To make a long story short he had a girlfriend and he wanted me out of the house so he could be with her. So they would come and wake me out of a sound sleep and take me in handcuffs to jail.
They don’t want people to have a normal life. If they did that they’d be out of a job and they like to create situations to make it more viable for them to offer “services”. Their caseloads are not full because of the prevelance of abuse and neglect cases, they’re full because they make up anything to get you hooked up with them.
Click on my blog to see the full story of how they ruined our chances of raising our family the way we saw fit. Yes we had problems but we weren’t the monsters they tried to make us out to be.
We were put through hell by these people in Kentucky and I’m seeing even worse abuses here.
I’m glad my kids are grown but I worry about my grandchildren now.