Sunday, November 30, 2008

No Reply At All

Denise Revels Robinson is the director of the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare. She is supposed to be the one that is ultimately responsible for what happens in the child welfare system in Milwaukee County. This includes the recent death of Christopher L. Thomas, Jr., who was killed by his aunt/foster mother while he was in her care. She also put his sister through gruesome torture as well.

I've written about her before and stated that I thought she should be fired:

The first thing that should be done is to fire Denise Revels Robinson. She is a bureaucrat through and through. After every child's death, she would make the same statement to the effect of "We'll look into it and make the necessary corrections so that it will never happen again." That appeases the public until the next time a foster child dies. The the cycle starts all over.

Now, Crocker Stephenson, the reporter from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is having problems with her as well:
Denise Revels Robinson is the director of the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare, the agency responsible for placing and monitoring Christopher and his sister in the home where she suffered and he died.

I've never had the pleasure of talking to Robinson. Not for lack of trying.

A public servant whose salary is paid by you and me, she has yet to see fit to return our calls.

That ticks me off.

[...]

I do not understand how the director of the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare can have a baby beaten to death and a toddler tortured and not feel an obligation to appear in public to express her pain, to extend her condolences, to explain what happened and what she is going to do about it.

Revels Robinson is failing to do every aspect of her job. She is not being held accountable for anything. That is why I am concerned that those fine people that are planning on holding a protest regarding Christopher's death are wasting their time. After ten years of not doing her job, despite numerous deaths under her watch, she still seems present no indication that she is about to take any responsibility that is supposed to come with the job.

The time has come to hold her boss, Reggie Bicha, Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, accountable to his duties. He is the one that not only has to give us the answers that Revels Robinson won't, but also answer what he is going to do with his employee, that is willfully refusing to do her job.

3 comments:

  1. Capper:

    I thought I read in the JS that there was some kind of vague state law that prohibits them from commenting publicly about internal matters which tragically this ends up being.

    Have you heard anything like that?

    I am gonna try and find the article in between shoveling bouts....

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  2. And I found what I was looking for...

    "The Milwaukee County Child Abuse Review Team, which is independent of state agencies, will combine efforts with those within the state system that are conducting an internal investigation. The result of that investigation is expected to be completed by the time another group, the Milwaukee Child Welfare Partnership Council's executive committee, meets in January, Behroozi said.

    The Partnership Council advises the state regarding child welfare services in Milwaukee County. Its quarterly meetings are open to the public, but under state privacy laws, the results of the investigation will not be made public, Behroozi said.

    "The law is the state of the law as it is," he said."

    So the translation is nobody gets fired and the public gets to know nothing.

    What a shitty ass system.

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  3. I agree, the system is f-ed up, big time. I think that they are taking that law and selectively interpreting it for their own purposes, just like hospitals do with HIPAA.

    I do remember other cases where they were much more forthcoming with information and the consequences given to employees.

    Given my past experiences from when I worked there, they are busy finding a way to let someone take the rap, and take the focus off of themselves and all of their systematic problems.

    ReplyDelete