Charity Bailey Appealling Release of Records

As most will recall, Charity Bailey, along with Lawrence Green, is accused of beating her daughter, Tajanay Bailey to death back in November.  The case shook the Department of Family Services to it’s core, mostly because Juvenile Court Judge Marilyn Moores ordered the release of records pertaining, not just to TaJanay, but older records of Charity Bailey.  Now, according to the Indianapolis Star, Charity Bailey is appealing that, as well as other decisions, made by Moore.

An attorney representing the mother of TaJanay Bailey has notified the court she will appeal two court decisions releasing juvenile records in the case.

On Jan. 3, juvenile court Judge Marilyn Moores granted The Indianapolis Star’s request to release records in the earlier of two child-welfare cases involving TaJanay. The judge also released the juvenile records of the girl’s mother, Charity Bailey.

TaJanay, 3, died Nov. 27 of apparent abuse. Bailey and her boyfriend, Lawrence Green, both 20, face murder and neglect charges.

Attorney Frances L. Ashton filed a notice last week that Bailey would ask the Indiana Court of Appeals to review Moores’ decision. She also notified the court that she would appeal a Jan. 11 decision by Moores granting The Star’s request for a transcript of the last court hearing before TaJanay’s death.

We’re from the Government and We’re Here to Help

Here is another in a long list of articles about the opening of the prosecutor’s moble office at Phoenix apartments in Indianapolis.  While the Blogmeister has supported the prosecutor’s office in their efforts to DO SOMETHING at the troubled site, it is unfortunate the Indianapolis Star continues to rerun the same news with different quotes, especially when we still don’t know who made the decision to return 3 year old TaJanay Bailey to her mother, who allegedly killed her at the site.

Regardless, here is a part of the story, which made the Blogmeister chuckle:

“I can’t force them to take advantage of these services, but I can sure encourage them,” Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said, standing in front of the portable office.

Soon after, Erica Andrews answered her door to find Brizzi and Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard standing in the stairwell. They gave her the first edition of a planned weekly newsletter, “Phoenix Rising,” that lists services offered in the trailer each weekday during business hours.

Andrews, 24, said later that she probably won’t have a reason to visit. But she appreciated the efforts from the prosecutor’s office, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and other organizations.

CASA Rocks!

Yesterday’s South Bend Tribune carried this story about CASAs/GALs.  For those unaware, CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates and GAL means Guardian Ad Litem.  These are legal terms for volunteers (generally) appointed to represent the interests of children in abuse, neglect, and domestic relations cases.  Most recently a GAL was in the news when she attempted to have TaJanay Bailey removed from her mother’s home against the wishes of the Department of Child Services.  TaJanay was allegedly killed by her mother the day of the hearing.

The Blogmeister has had the pleasure of serving on the board of Northeastern Indiana CASA for the last few years.  It’s a good not for profit organization totally devoted to the needs and representation of children in the court system.  Aside from a few paid staff to run the organization, it is completely staffed by volunteers and funded by private and United Way donations, as well as some funding from county courts.  As such, they are always looking for volunteers and other forms of support.

Check out the story, and if so moved, contact your local CASA/GAL office and inquire how you can help!

Tajanay Bailey Court Hearing Recording Released

According to today’s Indianapolis Star, Marion County Juvenile Court officials released the recording of the last hearing in the Tajanay Bailey case.  A complete overview of the recording is provided by the Star.  However, of most importance is this part;

[Magistrate Scott] Stowers’ questions focused mostly on the process of the case. At the end, he approved the DCS plan to initiate unsupervised visits with approval from the counselor and the advocate.

Read that closely… “he approved the DCS plan to initiate unsupervised visits with the approval from the counselor and the advocate.”  In the Blogmeister’s experience, it is not unusual for a Judge, or Magistrate in this case, to approve certain things, pending approval of counselors and advocates.  The reason for this is these people often know the case the best, have a great deal of contact with the family, and, in the counselor’s case, have more training and expertise on family issues than anyone else involved.  So, no problem there (except, again in my experience, DCS hates this because they feel their paying for the case, so they should get to say).  However, his order was to initiate unsupervised visits pending approval, not initiate reunification. 

At the core of this case, and yet to be determined, if ever, is who made the decision to go beyond the Court’s mandate and reunify this family.  The Blogmeister’s guess…someone at DCS.  Why you ask?  They had the most to gain by reunifying the family.  They would save foster-care and treatment money and it would fit with their internal provisions to reunify the family within eighteen months.  It is also interesting the advocate and the counselor, remember the two people who the Judge pended his order for their approval, were seeking court intervention to get her back into foster care.  That hearing was scheduled for the day she died.

Now maybe DCS didn’t take it upon themselves to reunify this family.  Maybe it was a “team” decision, maybe aliens came and did it.  The fact is we don’t know.  Until we know who made this decision, can we expect any real changes at DCS?  Further, doesn’t the court now have standing to, on it’s own motion, conduct a hearing to find out how this family was reunified despite it’s own order to the contrary.  I’m no lawyer, but that sounds a lot like contempt of court to me.

Charity Bailey’s Records Released: Police @ Phoenix

Last week Charity Bailey’s records were released from the Marion County Juvenile court.  According to the Indianapolis Star:

The 20-year-old Indianapolis woman now sits in a jail cell, accused along with her live-in boyfriend of killing her 3-year-old daughter, TaJanay, in November.

Bailey’s alleged role in TaJanay’s death is the latest twist in a troubled life detailed in an unusual release of juvenile delinquency records Friday.

Those records reveal a childhood fraught with drugs, sexual abuse and family discord — and a long list of interventions that failed to turn around her life.

The article is really long and almost…almost…makes one feel sorry for her.  It’s a good example of what we in the therapy world call transgenerational issues.  Simply put, the term means issues that travel from on generation to the next.  It’s not an excuse for behavior, because every adult can change their circumstances, but an explanation for how these things happen.

On a related note, the Indy Star has another story about the police and prosecutor opening offices in the Phoenix apartment complex where Tajanay died.

Police, Open for Business at Phoenix

WTHR and the Indy Star are both carrying stories about the Indianapolis Police Department opening a “command center” at the Phoenix Apartments.

From the Indy Star:

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department announced Wednesday it will soon open a command center within the Phoenix Apartments, the Northeast-side complex where a 3-year-old’s recent death drew attention to its chronic poverty and crime problems.

…

Sheriff Frank Anderson, in announcing IMPD’s plans, called the apartment complex “a microcosm of all the problems facing our city: drugs, crime, unemployment, undereducation, hunger and poverty.”

The command center, he said, will help the department step up its efforts to increase patrols and build relationships between police officers and the complex’s residents.

…

The Phoenix’s Edgemere Court, where TaJanay was living with her mother and Green, is the site of more violent crimes than any residential block in the city. A recent Indianapolis Housing Agency study found 421 crime reports in the past 18 months.

As the reader will recall, Phoenix Apartments was the location where 3 year old TaJanay Bailey died, allegedly at the hands of her mother, Charity Bailey, and her boyfriend, Terence Green.  Carl Brizzi, Marion County Prosecutor also announced plans to open a mobile office there as well.

Gov. Daniels Interviewed by WTHR

Governor Daniels was interviewed by WTHR yesterday.  He says he had a good year, despite the property tax mess.  He also discusses jobs, the economy and a few other issues.  On the TaJanay Bailey incident, he says;

Rader: I know it just dawned on me during your last election you talked about the need to keep the kids safe. You have had a sad situation with FSSA recently, but overall, do you feel like you have improved that?

Daniels: Yes but don’t take it from me.  We have won national awards.  Two or three of them now from the experts who look at all fifty states for not merely having a better system of protecting kids but one of the best around.  We are not done but by about June we will have doubled the number of case workers and cut the number of cases per worker dramatically  from the worst in America to among the best ratios, new training and the rest.  Zero is still the goal.  Zero injuries and zero fatalities and anyone that happens is a reminder that this quest for excellence never ends and nothing is more important than protecting the most vulnerable Hoosiers around meaning our little ones.

Really, nothing new here, but an interesting read none the less.

The whole interview is here.

CHINS Committee Formed in Marion Co.

The Indianapolis Star carried this story about Judge Marlyn Moores forming a committee to look at ways the Marion County Juvenile Court can assure tragedies, such as the one involving TaJanay Bailey, do not occur.  It is worth a read.  However, we still do not know why TaJanay was placed back in her mother’s home.  Until that issue is resolved, the Blogmeister fears more tragedies will happen.  Further, there is no way to assure something such as this will ever occur, it is part of the landscape.  What needs to happen, in the Blogmeister’s opinion, is the freedom for every participant to express their view, regardless of agency policy, or any other outside influence.  All participants must focus on “what is in the best interest of the child”, the legal reasoning to make changes in a placement, without fear of being over-ruled by supervisors, or going against an agency’s policy.

Phoenix Makes Deal

The troubled apartment complex in Indianapolis were 3 year old TaJanay Bailey died, allegedly at the hands of her mother and her mother’s boyfriend, will repay some money and offer some new services.

The company that owns the Phoenix Apartments will weed out felons living illicitly in the crime-ridden complex and provide life-skills counselors for welfare tenants under a sweeping agreement negotiated Friday with public officials in Indianapolis.

Connecticut-based RCM Phoenix Partners’ deal with the Marion County prosecutor’s office and Indianapolis Housing Agency, set to take effect Wednesday, is part of a push by public officials to stamp out crime in and around the Phoenix.

…

The Indianapolis Housing Agency investigated RCM Phoenix, finding the landlord had breached Section 8 rules. It had not disclosed its ownership of the property for more than a year and had leased Section 8 apartments to unqualified tenants.

The Housing Agency filed an administrative notice Dec. 5, demanding that the landlord return $318,000 in federal welfare rent payments. That led to negotiations this week with RCM Phoenix attorneys, culminating in Friday’s agreement.

The deal shows RCM Phoenix agreed to return $141,749 on apartments it rented out under the program managed by the Housing Agency. It was not clear why the settlement was lower than what the agency asked for.

…

According to the agreement, RCM Phoenix will take on a range of obligations. They include:

The landlord will provide an apartment in a prominent location for two Family Self Sufficiency Center counselors, whose salaries will be funded for up to six months by RCM Phoenix.

RCM Phoenix will pay up to $45,000 in salaries for the pair, while public officials will seek permanent funding. Counselors would advise tenants on finding work, training and health care and on dealing with emergencies.

The landlord will pay for a trailer on the premises to house the deputy prosecutor, and, if requested, provide an apartment for the prosecutor to use as an office.

RCM Phoenix will gather all tenants for a meeting to explain the “one-strike rule.” This means tenants convicted of a felony will be evicted from welfare rentals.

The landlord also will take steps to screen current tenants and evict felons.

…

Social service agencies welcomed RCM Phoenix’s decision to accept the agreement. The deal maintained the firm’s status as a Section 8 landlord at a time when poor families and shelters cannot easily find enough subsidized housing.

“It is horrific when marginalized families are caught in the middle of things,” said Bill Bickell, director of Holy Family Shelter and Holy Family Transitional Housing, which steers families to long-term Section 8 residences. “There isn’t enough (Section 8 housing) in the city as it is.”

The entire story is here.

Carl Brizzi Opens Office At Phoenix

When I first read this story, the jaded part of me thought this is a stunt to “show” constituents Carl Brizzi was “trying to do something” and this will last about six months before the publicity is over and he’ll pull up stakes and move on to the next high profile publicity stunt.  Actually, that was not my first thought.  My first thought was lets start a poll to see how long this “office” is around before it is stolen.  Then, as I pondered it a little more I thought, well what else can Brizzi do?  He can’t order the police, or anyone else, to do something.  All he can do about the mess at Phoenix apartments is what he can control.  The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea.  Here we have someone who said something needed to be done, and he is doing what he can.   

From this story in the Indy Star: 

Brizzi said a 500-square-foot portable office will be installed in the middle of the complex, taking his office’s community prosecution unit to the micro-level. Prosecutors, investigators and staff members will take turns working at the Phoenix on cases including child support, domestic violence and the screening of criminal charges.

For those who have not  followed the story, Phoenix apartments is an apartment complex in Indianapolis known for high crime, domestic disputes, and sadly, the place where three year old Tajanay Bailey died, allegedly at the hands of her mother and her mother’s boyfriend.

If everyone in a position of authority were to do “what they could”, the mess at Phoenix would be cleared up in about a week.  Other politicians should take note of what Brizzi is doing here and follow his lead.  He is to be congratulated for his efforts.