Imani Jennings, A tragic story
By bellamommy
@bellamommy (192)
United States
November 28, 2008 1:01pm CST
I'm from Central New York, and twice this year, The Department of Social Services has failed to follow up on abuse/neglect claims. In both of those situations, an innocent child has died.
Most recently, 20 month old Imani Jennings of Syracuse was beaten to death by her mother's 15 year old boyfriend, after a toilet training accident. The couple then admitted to beating her many times in the past, and leaving her alone all day while they attended school. She was given a plate of chicken nuggets and a glass of milk to feed her all day. The girlfriend, who is 18, is pregnant again.
Several months ago, a little girl named Erin Maxwell was murdered by her stepbrother. After her death, it was found that she lived in deplorable conditions, including piles of garbage blocking the door, and cat feces everywhere. DSS had investigated earlier, and had found that her living conditions were acceptable. How could that be called acceptable?
This seems to be an on going problem,not just in my area, but in other areas too. Someone must protect our little angels.
1 person likes this
4 responses
@ladybug565 (2216)
• United States
29 Nov 08
It is truely heartbreaking. Unfortunatly it happens often and of course DSS workers are not held accountable because they are so busy but reports and abused children just get lost or forgotten or checked on once with no follow up.
@bellamommy (192)
• United States
29 Nov 08
Yes, it does happen way too much. I beleive the parents have been arrested, but the boyfriend will only be charged as a minor. That means at 18, his record will be clean. To me, that is no kind of justice. As for the baby she is currently carrying, they need to find a family to adopt that baby before it gets killed too.
@ladybug565 (2216)
• United States
30 Nov 08
I pray that they do. My Aunt worked for social services as a preventative worker and she liked it because she was able to help many families however she was heartbroken with the ones she couldnt. It was a really hard job and I think much harder because she sometimes felt emotionally connected.
@LetterWriter (58)
• Philippines
30 Nov 08
This is just so sad.. I can't really imagine how some people can hurt young children, but it does happen. In my country, there are a lot of child abuse cases too. You can see a lot of street children wandering the streets even at night, begging for money. Seeing these children always makes me wonder why do their parents have to bear a child if they are not capable of taking care of them. And it's ironic that in the slum areas, you can see families with more than one child.
Children are said to be the future, but what kind of future do these children have if they continue to be living like this? That is, if they can still witness their future... :(
@mamalovestoread (692)
• Canada
28 Nov 08
I so agree with you! there are so many cases where children that are being negleted or beat up on are let slip threw the systm. And then there are others that are not doing anything wrong like myself and we have dss on my back every day just because i asked for respite care for my son who requires 24/7 watch. Now they are trying to tell me how to raise my kids. I have never evr hit one of my children and they want me to take parenting courses? Whats up with that. I made a report of a person that i knew whos son was witnessing his father beat up his mother alot and the child was hit twice that i know of. And guess what they never did anything! How pathetic is that?
@brandypelland (586)
• United States
28 Nov 08
This is SAD ! Stuff like this happens all the time! and as public people we can do nothing but report what we see! I think the case workers and judges need to be held relable for the deaths! they didnt do all they could or these angles would still be alive! god bless them they are now with god!
