Girl, two, survives three-week home alone ordeal

[emad]

Associated Press in Jacksonville
Saturday November 13, 2004
The Guardian

It is not the most nutritious diet for a toddler: dried pasta, ketchup and jelly - all washed down with water from the lavatory.

But for one two-year-old girl, it was a combination that kept her alive for almost three weeks after her jailed mother left her alone in a flat in Florida.

Dakeysha Lee, 23, was sentenced to 18 months' probation yesterday after pleading no contest in connection with the episode in September 2003 in which she served time for assault and theft without making provisions for her daughter, Breanna.

The abandoned girl passed the time at home alone watching television, raiding the pantry and refrigerator. Police said she may have drunk water from the lavatory to survive.
More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1350522,00.html

[JAbuchan08]

1. I'm not surprised - this is the state that LOST

a girl who was supposed to be in the custody of social services. Of course the mother should have made arrangements, but you would think the state would have a clue as well.

[Dogmudgeon]

2. Mom was in jail. Where was Child Services?

In theory, this is the first thing corrections supervisors deal with in the case of women in lock-up -- "Do you have any kids? Were you able to make any arrangements?"

Of course, this is Florida, the flaccid willy of that moral clan that is the Red States.

--bkl

[Cheswick2.0]

10. this is Jacksonville, they don't need child services... churches take care

of all their needs. </sarcasm>

[rman]

3. the system is so compasionate,

leaving no child behind.

[DavidDvorkin]

4. No one here blames the mother at all?

The state may well have been horribly remiss, but did the mother speak up? Did she tell the authorities about her daughter?

[Heidi]

6. I don't know if "blame" is the right word . . .

I live under very similar circumstances until I was adopted at 6 years old and my biological mother's parental rights were terminated. I remember giving my little sister a glass of warm water to drink because her stomach hurt from being hungry. But I'm in my 40s now, and I don't know that "blame" is the right word to describe my feelings toward my natural mother, and the mother in this news item.

[wellstone dem]

15. Thanks for sharing this

I adopted my daughter when she was 9, she had been in foster care for at least half her life. She too, now almost 17, doesn't "blame" her mother. But tells me her life is better now. There are far too few facts here to assign blame to anyone.

[pinerow]

7. it is not politically correct to assign blame to the mother...it's all

the states fault.

[Dogmudgeon]

9. At least not on the basis of a short newspaper story

The State is at fault in family matters far more often than is comfortable to believe. Their family programs, especially in places like Florida, are terribly under-funded and under-staffed.

--bkl

[Dogmudgeon]

8. The mother may well have spoken up

We just don't know for sure.

Do you think corrections workers are going to admit that they ignored her?

Certainly, she was far from an ideal mother, but we don't know the extent of her culpability.

--bkl

[Cheswick2.0]

11. why do you ask?

It is already obvious that the mother is a mess.

[politicat]

14. I had a kid in therapy who had something similar happen when she was 4

Her mother was picked up and no bail was set and she was sent to jail for pre-trial. The mother told anyone and everyone she could that her 4 year old was at home, but no one paid any attention. (Mom had left girl with neighbor for the 15 min it was supposed to take to run to store, but IIRC, got pulled over for a traffic violation and arrested for something else; it's been a while. It was AZ - breathing is sometimes a criminal offense if you're not white and Mormon in certain parts of AZ.)

My client was at home alone for 10 days before her mother was released. (No near family.) I had my client's CPS file - a report was made, but no one ever came to investigate. My client lived on poptarts, dry cereal, fruit and veggies and the milk and stuff in the fridge. By the time CPS did show up, my client's mom was home and things were back to semi-normal.

Sometimes it IS the state's fault. I don't know the particulars of the case here, but if CPS is understaffed, they may have known but not been able to do anything. So I'm just saying....

Pcat

[Komrade _azul]

16. Sad as h*ll when it happens..

[LiberalFighter]

5. What is going to be sad...

is that the state will give the woman custody again. It never fails.

[Zero Gravitas]

12. Faith Based Child Care

Why have commie protective services in Jesus W. Bush's Amerika? IF the LORD-UH wanted to take that chid "home" He would have, but instead he must have a Plan for her on Earth and by a MIRACLE let her survive. Praise Jeebus. :eyes:

[bleedingheart]

13. The mother was probably parented as poorly as she parents her

child.

Sadly people learn from experience.

The mother is to blame for not speaking up about the welfare of her child.

[anakie]

17. not the state's or the churches problem

the girl is out of the womb so no intervention required