Foster-Farming: 11 foster children found in cages in Ohio.

[elehhhhna]

Sept. 13, 2005, 7:58AM

11 children found caged in Ohio home
Associated Press

WAKEMAN, Ohio — Sheriff's deputies removed 11 children from a home where they were locked in cages less than 3 1/2 feet high, authorities said.


The children's adoptive and foster parents, Mike and Sharen Gravelle, denied that they'd abused or neglected the children during a custody hearing Monday in Huron County. No charges had been filed as of Monday night.

.. The cages were stacked in bedrooms on the second floor of their house, said prosecutor Russell Leffler, who was reviewing the case.

...Some of the cages were rigged with alarms, Sommers said; others had heavy furniture blocking their doors. The children didn't have blankets or pillows.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3351503

[ET Awful]

1. We didn't neglect or abuse them, we just locked them in stacked cages

like lab rats with no bedding materials.

Sick bastards.

[fishwax]

33. sick bastards indeed

:puke:

[bleedingheart]

2. those people are sick...locking up autistic and FAS kids

edit: removed info about a separate case mentioned in article...

However locking up children in cages is still disgusting!

[FreedomAngel82]

8. My God...

I just can't even find the words. :cry: And then they have the right to claim they didn't abuse them? Hello!!!

[Southpaw Bookworm]

10. In their eyes, they probably don't believe that

They were just following James Dobson's biblically mandated advice about not letting children take advantage of you by beating them and controlling them at every turn. These folks just went a little far.

Praise Jeebus.

[ET Awful]

11. The 17 year-old/49 lb was a different case. n/t

[bleedingheart]

14. sorry...read it too fast...

didn't let the caffeine settle in...

[ET Awful]

16. No problem, both cases are pretty damned disgusting, but

just wanted to make sure that they didn't get confused.

[whistle]

3. Uhmmm, that is definitely 19th century conservative ideas of...

....caring for homeless and orphaned children.

[BrklynLiberal]

4. There are no words that could voice my thoughts...

[justiceischeap]

5. Wow, it's a foster mill

That's pretty much the life of dogs in puppy mills.

[Callalily]

6. This is truly heartbreaking.

My question though, how could this possible have gone on for so long. One young boy in a cage for three years! Apparently the home inspections have failed miserably. My heart goes out to these children.

[blm]

7. Gee...how do you think they voted?

.

[FreedomAngel82]

9. Why does that matter?

That doesn't matter. Who gives a damn? Are you trying to say all republicans treat their children that way? Well you're wrong. My parents were/are republicans and I grew up fine. Sure, we had our fights but this is just ridiculous. How do you know they don't vote democratic or by canidate? :eyes:

[blm]

20. Of course not - But, people with strict restraining methods for children

do tend to have fundamentalist mindsets.

And most fundamentalist mindsets do vote Republican.

I know quite a bit about this. My mother was a very strict, abusive fundamentalist catholic who went to her grave never knowing that her group, like many fundie groups, was actually a political movement initiated by RevMoon and his political allies like Poppy Bush and religious leader allies like Tim LaHaye back in the 70s.

[SmokingJacket]

15. Considering they were probably fostering for the money, not because

they care about children, and Democrats are more likely to support better funding for foster parents... they might well vote Dem.

Frankly.... people nutty enough to think it's okay to keep children in cages probably don't have it together enough to vote at all.

[blm]

38. That could very well be true.

And jusrt as plausible as my own conclusion of what lies beneath.

[msrbly]

18. Why would politics have anything to do with this?

Many people's lives don't revolve around left and right, liberal and conservative, blue and red. Get a grip. If these people are guilty of these horrendous acts (and I suspect they are) then they are very depraved people and politics has nothing to do with this.

[blm]

21. You are welcome to read my reply above. Fundie mindsets GENERALLY

promote some type of restraining of children. And the current fundie trend of the last 40 years has been cultivated for specific political goals.

Sure, it's not certain about their politics....but, it's a good guess.

[msrbly]

22. Be careful with the word "generally"

I think the only statement you can apply to republicans is that they "generally" vote for republicans. Other than that there is no "generally."

[blm]

23. I believe that fundamentalists DO generally vote Republican and that

the polling stats taken on that demographic do bear that out.

[woo me with science]

35. oh please.

Look over DU. You will find people just as rigidly ensconced in fundentalist belief systems as any Republican. There are those who will argue that catching and eating fish is cruel and that vegan diets are necessary, or who believe fervently in astrology or tarot cards to guide their life decisions. You will find people here as rigid and knee-jerk in their hostility toward any religion as any fundamentalist Christian is in defense of his/her extreme literal interpretations of scripture. You will also find people who espouse rigid beliefs in past lives, repressed memories, homeopathy, and a number of other questionable belief systems, who likely introduce their children to them. Closed-minded, "fundamentalist" thinking comes in many stripes and is not limited to the Republican party. Nor is child abuse, as a review of the records of any branch of Child Protective Services will confirm. In fact, I would say that your willingness to leap in with a political statement here, knowing absolutely nothing about this family beyond what is in the article, betrays a somewhat "fundamentalist" quality to your own political belief system.

[blm]

37. This is a political discussion forum. And my beliefs are at least rooted

in statistics regarding fundamentalists, their child-rearing tenets, and their political tendencies.

It is also rooted in personal experience with the above.

[SmokingJacket]

12. Why were ELEVEN special needs kids placed with them in the

first place?? Sheesh -- average parents would be stretched to the limits with two autistic kids.

[mccoyn]

28. More adoptess than willing adopters? -nt

[shrike]

34. A basic problem with the foster care system

Too few homes -- good or bad -- to go around.

Some people, even a few on DU, seem to think there are people lining up to take advantage of this proverbial gold mine -- take in kids, get money.

There are indeed heartless souls who take advantage of the system in this manner. But there are much easier ways to make a buck, and so foster care does not attract as many gold-diggers as one might think.

Then there are the folks who mean well, but have no idea what they're getting into. My parents fostered. They were good people, with a stable home and lots of love, but it was not easy, even for them.

There are cases where children are taken away from their natural parents for no good reason. This is, of course, deplorable. Other kids, though, are taken away because it is literally a life or death situation. You would not believe what some "real" parents will do to their kids. Of course, then they go into a system full of red tape, with social workers who are overworked and underpaid. The kids have to go somewhere, so they go -- somewhere.

I don't know what went on in Ohio, though, but it sounds absolutely bizarre. And tragic. All these children, set adrift in the system and they end up here. One has to wonder what happened to them along the way.

[SmokingJacket]

39. I suppose my question was rhetorical, because if there were

plenty of homes for these children to go to, obviously they would be there. But putting eleven kids who could ALL use one-on-one attention into a single home is absurd and wrong... and it shows how desperately we need to make child welfare a priority in this country.

I think foster parents are saints. There simply aren't enough of them. In this case, a group home staffed with professionals would have been preferable to what happened... though ideally, there'd be enough families to take in one or two kids at a time.

If I were Queen of the USA, I'd make fixing the foster care system a number one priority (though I know it's a state thing). It's shameful that the social workers had so many cases they couldn't even peek into the kids' room to see how they slept...

[shrike]

40. Think you're right about the group home

Can't imagine putting autistic children in a "conventional" foster situation. Sad thing is, somebody somewhere probably thought it was a good idea.

[woo me with science]

36. gotta agree here nt

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

13. WTF???? Please read from the article

The Gravelles said a psychiatrist recommended they make the children — ages 1 to 14, with conditions that included autism and fetal alcohol syndrome — sleep in the cages at night. The cages were stacked in bedrooms on the second floor of their house, said prosecutor Russell Leffler, who was reviewing the case.

[Blue Diadem]

17. I was just going to bring that up

If it's true, the psychiatrist should also be held responsible.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

19. Without a doubt! nt

[Southpaw Bookworm]

24. How much you want to bet

The individual in question isn't a licensed psychiatrist or psychologist, but a faith-based "counselor" with a couple "Controlling Children Jesus's Way" classes at Bob Jones?

[elehhhhna]

26. bank on it--there was a church in southern il that used crates in their

"nursery"--no supervision--while conducting several-hour services.

"the kids are safe there"

[Blue Diadem]

29. Wouldn't surprise me

I just hope these children are able to get decent homes with people who take time for each one. If they are all special needs, 11 is too many for any family. I question what kind of system would match and allow that many special needs children with one family.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

27. Exactly. Revoke the psychiatrist's licence and degree.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

30. And if this is true, file criminal charges for endangering the welfare

of minors, etc.

[Modem Butterfly]

25. Apparently, it makes their meat more tender...

:evilgrin:

[elehhhhna]

32. that's a very sick remark

i like that in a person! lol

[DemonFighterLives]

31. Sick people

and then some. Lock them up for 3 years and see how good it feels.