TaJanay Bailey Case: No Records Today

[The records were released late Thursday.  Please see the new posts (to the right) for my take on them.  I'll post a link from this story as soon as I can]

In a surprise announcement, the Judge in the TaJanay Bailey case is reporting the DCS file will not be ready for release today.  She is hoping it can be released tomorrow.  She said complying with state and federal laws regarding removing names from the file is taking longer than anticipated.

From the Indy Star:

“On Friday, she immediately released the juvenile court’s own records, which numbered fewer than 200 pages. The Indianapolis Star and WXIN (Channel 59) requested the documents.

The court’s records were silent on developments in the last three months or so of TaJanay’s life. The DCS case file is expected to shed more light on decisions that led the agency and others to return the girl to her mother’s home less than a month before she died.”

The full story is here.

Update:  In an updated story (linked above) the Judge has stated the records will not be released until Thursday.

An update on the tragedy is here.

Brizzi Disses DCS, Gov. Rumored Not Happy

The Blogmeister was not going to post on this story from yesterday, but then the rumor mill started churning….plus it’s a little slow today.

In an article from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette yesterday;

“Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi stopped short Friday of saying Department of Child Services staff acted criminally but said foster parents of other children have contacted his office to complain that the state agency, despite extensive reforms, continues to place youngsters in danger.”

This was in response to the death last week of TaJanay Bailey.

“Brizzi, speaking to reporters after a court hearing for the girl’s mother and her boyfriend, said he did not want to condemn state workers who “are trying to do their best with limited resources.”

“My hope is that a little girl’s death isn’t meaningless. We can’t bring her back. We can put these two individuals away for the rest of their lives,” Brizzi said. “But if it doesn’t actually change the system, if it doesn’t make it better, if it doesn’t fill in the gaps, then we’re not doing our job.”

“DCS spokeswoman Susan Tielking… said it was premature to make conclusions, but the agency still was implementing the reforms Daniels ordered when he took office in January 2005.”

Over the weekend, Gov. Mitch Daniels is rumored to have expressed his displeasure with Brizzi.  From the Taking Down Words blog;

“His Mitchiness, in front of a crowd of Republicans at an event over the weekend, allegedly ripped into Brizzi, ostensibly for not towing the company line.”

Read the whole post here.

The Blogmeister finds it interesting the Governor’s office and DCS didn’t mention it “was implementing the reforms Daniels ordered” when they accepted an award for their reforms, the same day TaJanay died.