Workers fired over handling of family care
WASHINGTON (AP) - January 14, 2008 The decomposing bodies of the girls - ages 5 to 17 - were found
Wednesday when deputy U.S. marshals served an eviction notice at
the apartment. Their mother has been charged with murder.
A social worker at the school where the oldest girl was a
student, Kathy Lopes, tried twice in April to raise concerns about
the family.
At a news conference Monday, Fenty played tapes of two calls
Lopes made after the girl, Brittany Jacks, stopped going to school.
The social worker describes visiting the house, but not being let
in by the mother, Banita Jacks.
Lopes said Jacks told her she did not want Brittany going to
school because she was afraid the girl would run away. Lopes
reported seeing two or three younger children who also were not in
school.
In a follow-up call, she expresses frustration at being
transferred among several departments.
"It appears the mother is suffering from some mental illness
and is holding all the children hostage," Lopes says on the tape.
Jacks told investigators the children were possessed by demons
and died in their sleep.
The six employees being fired work for the District of
Columbia's Child and Family Services Agency. More workers could
lose their jobs as an investigation continues, Fenty said.
Fenty praised Lopes, who works at the Booker T. Washington
Public Charter School.
"Unfortunately, she stands out really because so many other
people didn't do their job in the way they're supposed to," Fenty
said. "The sense of urgency that she showed should be shown in
every case and every call that comes through our hot line."
Lopes' call was not the first time someone had tried to alert
city officials about the family's situation.
In July 2006, a nurse who had been treating the father of Jacks'
youngest two daughters contacted the Child and Family Services hot
line to report the family was living in a van and that both parents
were struggling with substance abuse, officials said. The nurse
couldn't provide an address for the family so social workers did
not follow up.
Authorities have said the girls died at least 15 days before
they were found. Jacks' statement to police indicated they had been
dead for months. The medical examiner's office has said there is
evidence that Brittany was stabbed and that Tatianna Jacks, 11;
N'Kiah Fogle, 6; and Aja Fogle, 5, had other signs of trauma.