Two Florida children who should have been placed with their South Carolina relatives in 2007 were instead returned to their mother, a mentally-ill exotic dancer and “escort” with a history of alcoholism, drug abuse, violent behavior and a rap sheet a mile long – a woman who within months illegally tried to leave the state with the children and who just days ago was arrested yet again.
How did this happen?
It’s a classic case of “bureaucratic breakdown …”
The story of four-year-old Ashleigh Rodriguez and her two-year-old brother, Aiden, is one that the administration of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist probably doesn’t want you to hear, although ironically it was a suggestion by one of his “child protection” bureaucrats that eventually brought it to our attention.
It’s a story of seedy solicitation and pornographic web pages, of high-speed car chases (with children in tow) and drug busts. In short, it’s one of those gripping, Dateline NBC-style narratives that’s only off of the national media’s radar because neither of the children involved has died – at least not yet.
But most importantly – it’s the story of a colossal, ongoing bureaucratic and judicial failure, one which managed to let these children slip through the cracks as a seemingly well-designed system time and time again refused to follow its own rules.
You’ll want to stick around for this one, we promise …
By Todd June 19, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Sic. We have a battalion of social workers right here in South Carolina who stupidly believe that ALL children are best served being raised (abused) by their biological parents rather than being placed with families that can actually nurture a child. Florida does not have a lock on this exhaust-all-methods-to-keep-the-family-together idiocy. Our SC DSS may be – and is probably – a party to this stupid Florida move. Out of state, out of mind, off our payroll. This is going to be interesting. Thank you for posting this story.
By Earl Capps June 20, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Why look to Florida? If you’re looking for bad stories about inept social workers breaking up families and getting kids killed, SCDSS has plenty of stories for you to ponder. I’ve had more than a few things to say about it, and the best (or worst) is yet to come!
By Charles June 21, 2009 at 4:18 pm
You guys amaze me. The party of small government is in favor of tighter government supervision of the rearing of children by their parents. Do you even understand the implications of increasing government involvement in how parents raise their children? Yes, some children slip through the cracks, but that is a cost we must occasionally pay if we do not want the government involved in the lives of every parent. We must have a strong presumption in favor of biological parents retaining and rearing their children free of government supervision.
This is a bad story, and there are many hundreds more, some worse. But acting emotionally in the face of bad facts makes bad law. The government cannot protect every child from abuse without supervision of every family. All and all governments have done a reasonable job of curbing abuse and neglect of children. The percentage of children suffering from abuse and neglect is significantly below where it was 50 years ago, when a parent could almost beat his child to death without government involvement.
By Toyota Kawaski June 22, 2009 at 9:14 am
I like the metally-ill exotic dancer part that is great!
By Toyota Kawaski June 22, 2009 at 9:15 am
mentally that is