2 'caged' children testify about alleged abuses

[Judi Lynn]

Article published Thursday, December 7, 2006
2 'caged' children testify about alleged abuses
Boy says he was forced to sleep in bathtub for 81 days


By JIM SIELICKI
BLADE STAFF WRITER

NORWALK, Ohio - Two of the 11 adopted children removed from the home of Michael and Sheren Gravelle, who are on trial for child abuse, testified yesterday about their life in a house of punishment and humiliation.

A 14-year-old boy testified that he was forced to sleep in a bathtub for 81 days with two sheets and sometimes a blanket. He said he was forced to stay in the tub because of his bed-wetting problem.

He testified that another time he was punished by being forced to stay in "his box" for a month and a half, except when he had to use the bathroom.

"Mine was really small. In the summertime it was really hot in there. We said we liked them because it made us safe. But we really didn't like them. We said it to make them happy," the boy testified.
(snip/...)

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061207/NEWS02/612070349



Adopted Children Take the Stand In Caged Kids Trial

Watch Video
Reported by Tanisha Mallett

Heart-wrenching testimony was heard from a teen in the Huron County caged children case.

Wednesday, jurors got to hear first hand what Michael and Sharen Gravelle are accused of doing to their foster children.

The first of five children who are supposed to testify spent nearly four hours on the stand. It was testimony many had waited for and he had a lot to say.

The oldest of the Gravelles' 11 adopted children testified his parents forced him to sleep in a tub because he wet the bed.

The 14-year-old, who 10TV is not identifying, says, "As soon as I went home, I went straight to the bathroom. Most of my meals were in the bathroom. Every once in a while I'd get to have a meal at the dinner table."

The boy came to live with the Gravelles when he was four. He testified that his biological sister, who also lived with the Gravelles, has Down Syndrome and endured rough treatment.

"She would drink water a lot and so they would get mad and they would say, 'You like water so much, here.' And they would stick her head in the toilet," he says.
(snip/...)

http://www.onnnews.com/?sec=home&story=sites/10tv/content/pool/200612/1418021182.html

[Christa]

1. Sweet Jesus

Where were the social workers?

Do foster parents get paid for fostering?

[Judi Lynn]

4. I took a very quick look, and got an incomplete but simple answer:

The Cost of Raising a Child
Compared to
Foster Care Maintenance Payments
Foster families who care for children in the custody of a state receive payment that is intended to cover ordinary living expenses for the child. This generally includes room and board, daily supervision, and a personal allowance. It may also include a variety of other expenses for which some states or counties provide supplemental funds, including clothing, child care, incidentals such as hair care, liability insurance, recreational activities, respite care, school supplies, and travel for visits with birth families and medical appointments. Therefore, it can be misleading to compare the stipends paid by any two states, since one may expect foster parents to cover many more expenses without a supplement.

In addition, the cost of caring for a child varies considerably in various parts of the country. The U.S. Department of Agriculture publishes a yearly report, Expenditures on Children by Families, that provides separate costs for four different urban regions and one for rural areas. The report also indicates amounts spent by families in three different income ranges on children in six age groupings. Shown in the chart below are estimated monthly expenditures for 2000 on a child by two-parent households in the five geographic areas. Each shows total spent by families whose before-tax income is in the range of $38,300 to $64,500 for children in three age groupings. For details, see the full report.
(snip/...)

Chart by state, arranged by age groupings, provided.....

http://www.nfpainc.org/ref/expenditures.cfm?page=5

[shrike]

11. I realize there are some predatory foster parents

But please understand that there are not enough foster parents to go around. Especially good ones. Contrary to what some may think, con artists aren't lining up to do this. Must be easier to make money doing other things.

The safety net for kids sucks. My folks used to be foster parents, and I have a friend who used to be a social worker. Most kids who go into foster care are on the margin, anyway. Most aren't simply plucked from a home because they are poor. Give you an (extreme) example: in my area, a group of kids were separated from their mother permanently because she forced them to do sex acts with her boyfriend while other adults watched. All for money.

But then, the system set up to receive troubled kids usually sucks. Individuals in it do their best, but it's tough to work against a rising tide. My friend the ex-social worker said that keeping a bio family together was always the ultimate goal -- because, if nothing else, where else will the kids go, unless you find a relative to take them.

[Judi Lynn]

12. Some kids seem lucky to be able to make it to adulthood in one piece!

What a shame hyperactive, busy-body right-wing idiots can't refocus and try to help raise the living children who are already here.

[troubleinwinter]

6. According to the reports,

they were not foster children, they had been adopted. I don't beleive social workers are involved after adoption.

Still, you wonder how the hell they managed to adopt them.

Also, there is no money paid to the families after adoption.

[Judi Lynn]

7. I found an older article referring to the kids as "foster children"

'CAGED KIDS' PARENTS ON TRIAL
2 ex-foster children describe punishments

Article published Thursday, November 30, 2006
By JIM SIELICKI
BLADE STAFF WRITER


NORWALK, Ohio - Two former foster children of Michael and Sharen Gravelle testified yesterday that Mr. Gravelle would punish them by taking them "out to the barn" for a "whopping" by hitting them with sticks, switches, and, in one case, a wooden 2-by-4.

The brother and sister left the home seven years ago. They are not among the Gravelles' 11 adopted children who were removed from the home on Sept. 9, 2005, after child-care workers and sheriff's deputies found cages in the home where children were being kept.

The Gravelles are charged with 24 counts of risking the health and safety of some of their children. The couple, who are being tried in Huron County Common Pleas Court, have pleaded not guilty.

The girl said Mr. Gravelle would take her to the barn and punish her for "simple stuff."

Her brother, 11, said he was beaten by Mr. Gravelle with a 5-foot-long 2-by-4 piece of wood. He said he always addressed the couple as Mr. Gravelle and Mrs. Gravelle. The girl said she called them Mom and Dad.
(snip/...)

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061130/NEWS02/611300390/-1/NEWS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They are lucky they have been rescued so very late. Hope something can be done for them.

[mongo]

10. In Ohio you continue to receive a stipend after you adopt your

children -- or at least special needs children.

[troubleinwinter]

14. I hadn't known that.

Nor that they had been foster children.

It's just so heartbreaking, sick and horrid.

No words.

[tblue37]

15. The two older ones who had already left home

are referred to as foster kids. The younger ones are referred to as adopted, even in the article that identifies the two foster kids.

[mongo]

17. Agreed

This couple need to be put in a cage for a very long time.

[mongo]

8. Yes

and in Ohio, if you adopt your foster kids you still get the stipend.

[Phx_Dem]

20. .

http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/nrcfcpp/downloads/foster-care-maintenance-payments.pdf

[boobooday]

22. Yes, foster families are paid

It isn't a lot. We had a foster son (now our adopted son). I was surprised at how little supervision there was when we were foster parenting. They never even asked our son how he was being treated -- they were just thrilled to have him off their hands.

The social workers in this country are overworked and underpaid. Most of them try the best they can, but can't keep up with their caseloads. They have so many new cases every day, it is almost impossible to keep up with the children who have already been placed. Volunteers who work in programs as advocates for the children are busy mediating and investigating situations with the biological parents.

It's hard to believe these people were allowed to adopt ELEVEN children, and no social worker or adoption judge asked them how they were being treated.

[Sequoia]

2. What level of hell do they belong?

[auntAgonist]

5. there is no hell

deep enough or HOT enough for these two and everyone involved.

I fostered children in Ontario Canada and Family & Children's services were always checking up on the children and us. As it should be.

:cry: I hope these kids can find healing and love ... soon.

aA

[ThomCat]

3. You have to wonder how they could get away with this

for so many years. Where the hell were the social workers? Wasn't anyone else looking out for these kids?
Damn.
x(

[Finder]

9. The usual fundie upbringing...uck...

From the article:

While in the wire-and-wooden cage built by the Gravelles he was ordered to write out the Book of Deuteronomy in The Bible in long-hand.

Huron County Prosecutor Russ Leffler asked the boy if that was his favorite book in the Bible.

"No, it was just the longest book in the Bible," the boy testified.

[RubyDuby in GA]

13. Those poor children. They will be f-ed up for life.

There really is no hell hot enough or no punishment strong enough for someone who harms children.

[madmusic]

16. No words...

A scream might do.

[ret5hd]

18. Well, at least the state didn't put them with smokers!

[dddem]

19. or gays

[pink-o]

23. Exactly!

...one of the reasons I hate the fundies with every agnostic bone in my body...

Better to give a child to a traditional married couple who tortures and abuses them as opposed to a loving gay household where they'll grow up with REAL morals--ie, as long as there's love in one's heart, anything is possible.

Whatever liberal sensibilites I have go straight out the window when it comes to people hurting children. They should all be fried.

[Irreverend IX]

21. If you really want to be disturbed...

Take a look at this, part of the AOL search log that was inadvertently leaked a while ago. Seems some foster parents don't have the purest of motives.