KAYDEN BRANHAM - 20 Months - Wayne County - KY
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KAYDEN BRANHAM - 20 Months - Wayne County - KY
by kiwimom on Wed Dec 08, 2010 3:26 pm
I'm putting this here in the murdered thread because IMO it may as well be murder by our whole pathetic society who failed this child. It should never have happened. That baby should have been taken into care and adopted when born. A 14 year old with no decent family to even raise her properly should NEVER have been allowed to keep that baby. 
State did not do internal review of toddler's death
State social workers did not do a required internal review of the death of a 20-month-old Wayne County boy who drank drain cleaner in May 2009. State law requires the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to conduct such a review of any case where child abuse or neglect has resulted in a child fatality or near fatality and the cabinet had prior involvement with the child or family.The cabinet had been involved with the boy, Kayden Branham, and his 14-year-old mother, Alisha Branham, before his death. Both had been in foster care, family members said, and social workers were monitoring the well-being of both at the time of Kayden's death.
The cabinet substantiated that neglect was involved in the child's death, because Alisha Branham's parents had let her live at a trailer where people made methamphetamine, according to a report the cabinet released this week after being sued by the Lexington Herald-Leader and the Courier-Journal.The drain cleaner, which Kayden found in a cup at the trailer, can be used in making meth.A cabinet spokeswoman did not answer questions Wednesday about why cabinet employees did not perform the review.The internal review is important to help the cabinet identify any areas that need improvement in order to prevent other deaths, or any need for training for cabinet staff employees."The internal reviews assign responsibility to staff members and supervisors and administrators, said David Richart, executive director of the Louisville-based National Institute on Children, Youth and Families. "It shows where the system had broken down with respect to protecting children" Mark Stanziano, a Somerset attorney who represents Bryan Daniels, Kayden's father, in the criminal case that resulted from the toddler's death, said he saw no reason the cabinet could not have done the fatality review.District Judge Michael Lawson issued an order Sept. 1, 2009, barring anyone except mental-health professionals and Alisha Branham's defense attorneys from talking to her about Kayden's death.However, that was three months after the toddler died. The fatality review presumably could have been done before then, Stanziano said.A blank copy of the child-fatality review form provided to the Lexington Herald-Leader on Wednesday does not indicate that it would have been necessary to talk to Alisha Branham in order to do the internal review.Richart said the district-court order in Wayne County should not have precluded the cabinet from conducting the fatality review."The gag order does not restrain them at all from doing a fatality review and it makes me feel they are trying to hide something, they are trying to use the judge's order to hide something," said Richart.In addition, Circuit Judge Vernon Miniard issued an order Oct. 14, 2009, that barred enforcement of the lower-court gag order.That would have cleared the way for the review if in fact the lower-court order had been an impediment, Stanziano said.Stanziano, who has seen documents from the state's file on Kayden, said an independent review of the file would likely conclude that social workers didn't do enough to protect the child. There were indications of problems with the child's living situation before he died.Among other things, his grandmother, Melissa Branham, with whom Kayden and his mother were staying, failed several times to show up for drug tests requested by social workers, Stanziano said.Despite that, Kayden and his mother continued living with Melissa Branham until moving to a trailer owned by Alisha Branham's father, Larry Branham, who was divorced from her mother."They left the child at risk," Stanziano said of caseworkers.Alisha Branham later said she moved to her father's trailer about a month before Kayden died because there was no food, water or electricity where she'd been staying with her mother.The cabinet also is required to compile a summary of the investigation, including information from other agencies that may have been involved in the case.The Herald-Leader sued to get access to the state's files on Kayden Branham, who also was known as Kayden Daniels, and his mother.Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd ruled the newspapers were entitled to see the records.So far, the cabinet has turned over only a 13-page report produced after the toddler's death. That was not the internal review.On Tuesday, Shepherd ordered the cabinet to provide him with its files on Kayden and Alisha Branham — and to give the newspapers an index of those records — so that a decision can be made on what records the agency will have to release.
Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2010/12/08/1558403/state-did-not-do-internal-review.html#ixzz17ZruFWDh
State did not do internal review of toddler's death
State social workers did not do a required internal review of the death of a 20-month-old Wayne County boy who drank drain cleaner in May 2009. State law requires the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to conduct such a review of any case where child abuse or neglect has resulted in a child fatality or near fatality and the cabinet had prior involvement with the child or family.The cabinet had been involved with the boy, Kayden Branham, and his 14-year-old mother, Alisha Branham, before his death. Both had been in foster care, family members said, and social workers were monitoring the well-being of both at the time of Kayden's death.
The cabinet substantiated that neglect was involved in the child's death, because Alisha Branham's parents had let her live at a trailer where people made methamphetamine, according to a report the cabinet released this week after being sued by the Lexington Herald-Leader and the Courier-Journal.The drain cleaner, which Kayden found in a cup at the trailer, can be used in making meth.A cabinet spokeswoman did not answer questions Wednesday about why cabinet employees did not perform the review.The internal review is important to help the cabinet identify any areas that need improvement in order to prevent other deaths, or any need for training for cabinet staff employees."The internal reviews assign responsibility to staff members and supervisors and administrators, said David Richart, executive director of the Louisville-based National Institute on Children, Youth and Families. "It shows where the system had broken down with respect to protecting children" Mark Stanziano, a Somerset attorney who represents Bryan Daniels, Kayden's father, in the criminal case that resulted from the toddler's death, said he saw no reason the cabinet could not have done the fatality review.District Judge Michael Lawson issued an order Sept. 1, 2009, barring anyone except mental-health professionals and Alisha Branham's defense attorneys from talking to her about Kayden's death.However, that was three months after the toddler died. The fatality review presumably could have been done before then, Stanziano said.A blank copy of the child-fatality review form provided to the Lexington Herald-Leader on Wednesday does not indicate that it would have been necessary to talk to Alisha Branham in order to do the internal review.Richart said the district-court order in Wayne County should not have precluded the cabinet from conducting the fatality review."The gag order does not restrain them at all from doing a fatality review and it makes me feel they are trying to hide something, they are trying to use the judge's order to hide something," said Richart.In addition, Circuit Judge Vernon Miniard issued an order Oct. 14, 2009, that barred enforcement of the lower-court gag order.That would have cleared the way for the review if in fact the lower-court order had been an impediment, Stanziano said.Stanziano, who has seen documents from the state's file on Kayden, said an independent review of the file would likely conclude that social workers didn't do enough to protect the child. There were indications of problems with the child's living situation before he died.Among other things, his grandmother, Melissa Branham, with whom Kayden and his mother were staying, failed several times to show up for drug tests requested by social workers, Stanziano said.Despite that, Kayden and his mother continued living with Melissa Branham until moving to a trailer owned by Alisha Branham's father, Larry Branham, who was divorced from her mother."They left the child at risk," Stanziano said of caseworkers.Alisha Branham later said she moved to her father's trailer about a month before Kayden died because there was no food, water or electricity where she'd been staying with her mother.The cabinet also is required to compile a summary of the investigation, including information from other agencies that may have been involved in the case.The Herald-Leader sued to get access to the state's files on Kayden Branham, who also was known as Kayden Daniels, and his mother.Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd ruled the newspapers were entitled to see the records.So far, the cabinet has turned over only a 13-page report produced after the toddler's death. That was not the internal review.On Tuesday, Shepherd ordered the cabinet to provide him with its files on Kayden and Alisha Branham — and to give the newspapers an index of those records — so that a decision can be made on what records the agency will have to release.
Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2010/12/08/1558403/state-did-not-do-internal-review.html#ixzz17ZruFWDh
kiwimom- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
Re: KAYDEN BRANHAM - 20 Months - Wayne County - KY
by kiwimom on Wed Dec 08, 2010 3:28 pm
FRANKFORT. (AP) - The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services has released some details about the life of a toddler who died from drinking drain cleaner.
Twenty-month-old Kayden Branham and his 14-year-old mother were living in a Wayne County trailer where methamphetamine was made because the place they had been staying didn't have food, water or electricity, according to a state file obtained by the Lexington Herald-Leader and The Courier-Journal.
The cabinet released the redacted records on Monday to the newspapers, which sought information about the cabinet's contact with the mother and her son before his death on May 30, 2009.
A circuit judge had said in a previous ruling that the boy and his mother had been placed under the supervision of the state system for abused and neglected children.
The mother's name was released in the court records, but it is AP policy not to name juveniles charged with crimes.
Both newspapers argued Tuesday before Franklin Circuit Court Phillip Shepherd that more details should be released and he ordered the Cabinet to turn all documents related to the case over to his office by Wednesday morning. Shepherd will decide what documents will be made public.
According to the information released, the mother took the child to stay at the Wayne County trailer because she wanted "to do better by my baby by being able to give him a bath and cold milk."
Although her previous address was redacted, the girl's grandmother, Linda Anderson, said that they had previously lived with the girl's mother.
Anderson told the Lexington Herald-Leader that the teen had asked a caseworker to place her and her son at a different location. She said the young mother took the boy to the trailer in Wayne County because she had no other place to go.
The state report says the teen had an "extensive involvement" with the cabinet. It did not give details, but said the family history included risk factors of poverty, chaotic living situations, domestic violence, substance abuse and mental health problems. The report said the teen didn't have real parental guidance and followed her own rules.
The file says the mother knew people made meth at the trailer, but she tried to clean up afterward to keep her son from being exposed. "I knowed Kayden shouldn't be around meth," she said. "That's why we always took him to stay with somebody else when they cooked."
Branham said she didn't see a coffee cup containing Liquid Fire sitting on a table. When her son drank from the cup, Branham said she heard him say "uh" and heard the cup hit the floor. "He was holding his mouth and his lips was swelling."
She said she and the child's father, 19-year-old Bryan Daniels, rushed him to the hospital, but he only got worse.
Hospital records say the child died from chemical burns and poisoning.
Five people, including the teen mother and Daniels, were charged with offenses stemming from the toddler's death. All the adults have pleaded not guilty. The mother's case is confidential because it was handled in juvenile court.
---
Information from: Lexington Herald-Leader, http://www.kentucky.com
Information from: The Courier-Journal, http://www.courier-journal.com
Twenty-month-old Kayden Branham and his 14-year-old mother were living in a Wayne County trailer where methamphetamine was made because the place they had been staying didn't have food, water or electricity, according to a state file obtained by the Lexington Herald-Leader and The Courier-Journal.
The cabinet released the redacted records on Monday to the newspapers, which sought information about the cabinet's contact with the mother and her son before his death on May 30, 2009.
A circuit judge had said in a previous ruling that the boy and his mother had been placed under the supervision of the state system for abused and neglected children.
The mother's name was released in the court records, but it is AP policy not to name juveniles charged with crimes.
Both newspapers argued Tuesday before Franklin Circuit Court Phillip Shepherd that more details should be released and he ordered the Cabinet to turn all documents related to the case over to his office by Wednesday morning. Shepherd will decide what documents will be made public.
According to the information released, the mother took the child to stay at the Wayne County trailer because she wanted "to do better by my baby by being able to give him a bath and cold milk."
Although her previous address was redacted, the girl's grandmother, Linda Anderson, said that they had previously lived with the girl's mother.
Anderson told the Lexington Herald-Leader that the teen had asked a caseworker to place her and her son at a different location. She said the young mother took the boy to the trailer in Wayne County because she had no other place to go.
The state report says the teen had an "extensive involvement" with the cabinet. It did not give details, but said the family history included risk factors of poverty, chaotic living situations, domestic violence, substance abuse and mental health problems. The report said the teen didn't have real parental guidance and followed her own rules.
The file says the mother knew people made meth at the trailer, but she tried to clean up afterward to keep her son from being exposed. "I knowed Kayden shouldn't be around meth," she said. "That's why we always took him to stay with somebody else when they cooked."
Branham said she didn't see a coffee cup containing Liquid Fire sitting on a table. When her son drank from the cup, Branham said she heard him say "uh" and heard the cup hit the floor. "He was holding his mouth and his lips was swelling."
She said she and the child's father, 19-year-old Bryan Daniels, rushed him to the hospital, but he only got worse.
Hospital records say the child died from chemical burns and poisoning.
Five people, including the teen mother and Daniels, were charged with offenses stemming from the toddler's death. All the adults have pleaded not guilty. The mother's case is confidential because it was handled in juvenile court.
---
Information from: Lexington Herald-Leader, http://www.kentucky.com
Information from: The Courier-Journal, http://www.courier-journal.com
kiwimom- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
Re: KAYDEN BRANHAM - 20 Months - Wayne County - KY
by kiwimom on Sun Dec 12, 2010 12:22 pm
Transparency prevails
Judge opens child death record
It took a tragedy; but at long last, some light is falling on a bureaucracy that for too long has hidden from public accountability when children in its care die.Kudos to the Beshear administration for deciding not to appeal a May ruling that requires disclosure of state records related to the death of Kayden Branham and to any child who dies because of abuse or neglect. Kayden was 20 months old in 2009 when he drank a toxic chemical in a meth lab in Wayne County where he and his 14-year-old mother had been living. Both children had been in foster care.The Cabinet for Health and Family Services, which has had a blanket policy of refusing all disclosure in child abuse and neglect cases, might have wanted to avoid enshrining Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd's strong Open Records ruling in a higher-court decision. Whatever the motive, any glimmer of transparency is welcome and overdue.
From what we learned last week, though, the institutional instinct to shut out public scrutiny will not change easily. The cabinet entirely missed the point of Shepherd's ruling by releasing only a 13-page report on the child's death. The public interest is in knowing what the cabinet did or did not do before the child died, when the tragedy might have been prevented.At the request of the Herald-Leader and The Courier-Journal, Shepherd ordered the entire record turned over. The judge is studying the documents to decide what information can be legitimately withheld, for example, to protect the privacy of other family members.Also last week, we learned that the cabinet failed to do the internal review required by law when a child who has been in state care dies. A cabinet lawyer said the "broad nature" of a Wayne County judge's gag order precluded the internal review. But the gag was in effect for less than two months, and the cabinet could have reviewed its own actions without questioning anyone covered by the order. Again, we see an institutional resistance not just to public scrutiny but also to self-examination.Kentuckians need to know why a teen mother had to choose between living with her toddler in a home that had no food, water and electricity or a home where methamphetamine was manufactured. We need to know how government agencies performed. We need to know because other children and families are being crushed under the strains of addiction, dysfunction and poverty. If the state is failing them, we need to know how and where, so the child-protection system can be strengthened. Such disclosures might be embarrassing to some state employees. But the law does not allow state agencies to hide their mistakes by withholding public records.As Shepherd wrote in May, "The loss of life here may have been a tragic accident that was unavoidable even if the child welfare system had worked perfectly. Or it may have been the result of a systemic failure on the part of the cabinet that needs to be corrected. "Either way, the public has a right to know the facts and to make its own judgment. Without public scrutiny of the events in question, there can be no real accountability."And without strong leadership from the administration (and failing that, the legislature) the bureaucratic and human impulse will be to hide from accountability.
Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2010/12/12/1563569/transparency-prevails.html#ixzz17wVdoD7F
Judge opens child death record
It took a tragedy; but at long last, some light is falling on a bureaucracy that for too long has hidden from public accountability when children in its care die.Kudos to the Beshear administration for deciding not to appeal a May ruling that requires disclosure of state records related to the death of Kayden Branham and to any child who dies because of abuse or neglect. Kayden was 20 months old in 2009 when he drank a toxic chemical in a meth lab in Wayne County where he and his 14-year-old mother had been living. Both children had been in foster care.The Cabinet for Health and Family Services, which has had a blanket policy of refusing all disclosure in child abuse and neglect cases, might have wanted to avoid enshrining Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd's strong Open Records ruling in a higher-court decision. Whatever the motive, any glimmer of transparency is welcome and overdue.
From what we learned last week, though, the institutional instinct to shut out public scrutiny will not change easily. The cabinet entirely missed the point of Shepherd's ruling by releasing only a 13-page report on the child's death. The public interest is in knowing what the cabinet did or did not do before the child died, when the tragedy might have been prevented.At the request of the Herald-Leader and The Courier-Journal, Shepherd ordered the entire record turned over. The judge is studying the documents to decide what information can be legitimately withheld, for example, to protect the privacy of other family members.Also last week, we learned that the cabinet failed to do the internal review required by law when a child who has been in state care dies. A cabinet lawyer said the "broad nature" of a Wayne County judge's gag order precluded the internal review. But the gag was in effect for less than two months, and the cabinet could have reviewed its own actions without questioning anyone covered by the order. Again, we see an institutional resistance not just to public scrutiny but also to self-examination.Kentuckians need to know why a teen mother had to choose between living with her toddler in a home that had no food, water and electricity or a home where methamphetamine was manufactured. We need to know how government agencies performed. We need to know because other children and families are being crushed under the strains of addiction, dysfunction and poverty. If the state is failing them, we need to know how and where, so the child-protection system can be strengthened. Such disclosures might be embarrassing to some state employees. But the law does not allow state agencies to hide their mistakes by withholding public records.As Shepherd wrote in May, "The loss of life here may have been a tragic accident that was unavoidable even if the child welfare system had worked perfectly. Or it may have been the result of a systemic failure on the part of the cabinet that needs to be corrected. "Either way, the public has a right to know the facts and to make its own judgment. Without public scrutiny of the events in question, there can be no real accountability."And without strong leadership from the administration (and failing that, the legislature) the bureaucratic and human impulse will be to hide from accountability.
Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2010/12/12/1563569/transparency-prevails.html#ixzz17wVdoD7F
kiwimom- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
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