Here's an interesting article about the Department of Social Services and a program called Mentor, which places children in homes they select as being 'most appropriate' for the care and protection of each child they get custody of:

http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=72058

It appears that a four year old little boy, with parents that could not care for him but with biological relatives who were willing to take in the young child until either parent got their lives in order, was ripped from a caring and concerned family and tossed into the foster care system. The little guy had only been at that 'most appropriate' foster home less than two weeks before he was dead. His death is being investigated, as his body was covered in bruises. Cause of death appears to be that his heart just... stopped. His name is Dontel. Remember his name, Dontel Jeffers. Remember him as the Department of Social Services and the Mentor program attempt to justify their actions as agencies that "only want what is best for a child."

The relatives who wanted to care for Dontel were allowed to see him while he was in a previous foster home, right prior to the Mentor placement into the 'appropriate' home where he not so appropriately dropped dead. The biological family had visited Dontel for the past three months at the previous foster home two or three times a week, and had verbalized numerous times that they would take in Dontel for his care and protection. Once the Mentor program placed Dontel into the new and 'appropriate' home, the family members were not told where Dontel was, where he lived, and visiting rights abruptly ceased. I'm sure this had a devastating effect on Dontel, but not to worry... the Department of Social Services and Mentor program work in conjunction with trained therapists I'm sure they planned to have young Dontel meet with, and I'm sure any behavior patterns that could have be deemed as depression would have then been quickly medicated, if this young child wasn't already being strung up with pills. A stunning amount of children in foster care are given a trendy diagnosis and then medicated because it then places the child in the category of 'special needs'. Special needs children get a lot more federal and state funding than do other children in the foster care system.

You may be thinking right now that the Department of Social Services and the Mentor program had good reason to not allow Dontel's biological family take over custody of Dontel. But the sad truth is that in some cases there is no just cause, there is no due process, and the families that are poor or just not aware of their rights are bulldozed by a system that is intent on making quotas. When a young boy like Dontel comes along and the family is absolutely cooperative, they will only find themselves pawns in a systematic game of 'what is best for the child'. False assumptions, glaring biases, and morality judgments are enough for the Department of Social Services and the Mentor program to retain custody of children that family members are more than willing to care for. Family members are ignored, given the voice-mail-shuffle, and often left to wonder why these agencies, which strictly state on their website a desire to keep families united and that they will seek out relatives and foster care will only be used as an option IF there are no relatives willing to take in the child, would rather a child move foster home to foster home, creating more instability in the child's life, rather than allowing a family who shows genuine interest and cooperation to obtain custody of the child. As sad as this is, often the reason is based upon flawed and calculated hearsay.

Dontel is only one of the children statewide that will die in custody of the state with relatives who are trying their best to cooperate and more than willing to assist in the care and protection of the child... some of these families would be willing to care and protect the children with no help from state and federal funding. It appears that all the state and federal funding in the world didn't keep Dontel safe and protected. It's a fair assumption that death is not in the best interest of a child. Much more safer an assumption than Dontel's relatives were given as to their own abilities to care for and protect this four year old little boy.

Related links:

http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=72176

in this article, Dontel's heart stopping may be explained by the possibility he was bound and beaten to death.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/03/08/childs_death_in_foster_care_probed/

The extended family of this little boy were trying to obtain custody of him since last May.

It's a sad testament to our tax-paid system when the system itself doesn't follow its own proposed course of care and protection by allowing relatives to be the first choice investigated when parents themselves aren't able to care for their children. There has been more than ample time from May of 2004 to March of 2005 for either agency involved in Dontel's death to have cleared Dontel's relatives for custody of Dontel. Obviously, their methods of investigating the safety of Mentor homes and clearing them is a little more lenient.