The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) has reversed its initial position to release information related to an investigation into how 29 complaints could have been made regarding the alleged maltreatment of a then 15-year-old male without DHS taking some action to remove him from the situation.
DHS now says there will be no report released outlining the findings of the review that was done into the handling of the boy’s case and that any problems detected will be “handled internally.”
Those who have been involved in the case agree that the system, including DHS, totally failed the teen. He was reported to have been locked in a bathroom for days at a time — naked and unfed.
PROSECUTOR HOLDS MEETING WITH DHS OFFICIALS
Prosecutor David Ethredge met with the then head of DHS, Kristi Putman, and the agency’s chief attorney earlier this year to ask questions about how the almost 30 complaints were handled and why the teen’s situation did not come to light much earlier as a result of the numerous reports.
Following the meeting, Ethredge told KTLO, Classic Hits and the Boot News that Putman admitted her agency had not met its responsibilities to the teen victim and that the “ball had been dropped, badly dropped.”
The DHS officials promised Ethredge a report on what happened, how it happened and what would be done to address any system failures so that the Mountain Home teen’s experience would be less likely to be repeated.
The agency officials pledged to review the abuse reports and see how they were handled and why decisions were made to close all of them as unsubstantiated.
Since the meeting with Ethredge, Putman has resigned her position and moved back to Kentucky. In mid-June, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced that DHS Deputy Secretary Janet Mann would take Putman’s job.
After the leadership change, a DHS spokesman told KTLO that Putman’s departure would not delay completion of the report that was to be submitted to Ethredge.
Ethredge said at one point that if it appeared to him that the information DHS had said it would provide rose to a level where criminal charges might be brought, he would ask the Arkansas State Police to enter the case.
Initially, it was expected the report would be available to the public in redacted or summary form to protect the identity of juveniles and others mentioned in the abuse reports.
This week, however, Gavin Lesnick, a spokesman for DHS, said in an e-mail to KTLO that the agency had completed its review but, “we have determined that details cannot be released publicly as initially intended due to the sensitive child maltreatment investigative information it concerns. Arkansas law requires this information to be confidential.”
In its response, the agency did not demonstrate a willingness to even entertain the idea of a summary of its findings minus names and other identifying information.
Ethredge said he received a call from the department’s chief attorney Tuesday. The lawyer told Ethredge that KTLO had reached out to the agency regarding a timeline for the release of the report and he wanted Ethredge to know there would be no report issued.
The attorney told Ethredge that the problem of no action being taken on the 29 abuse reports was “being handled internally.”
NOT HAPPY WITH AGENCY DECISION
Ethredge said Wednesday of last week he was very unhappy with the change in direction the agency had taken.
He said the decision left many unanswered questions as to what DHS intended to do to correct any defects found during the agency’s review of the case.
The prosecutor said that a summary of the findings with no names listed “would certainly have helped.”
The matter is not closed, Ethredge emphasized. He told KTLO that, if necessary, “we will bring (DHS officials) up here, question them on the issues related to this case and generate a report of our own.”
MANY ABUSE REPORTS MADE
After the maltreatment came to light, it was discovered alleged abuse cases had been opened on the teen since 2013. The cases were based on reports that came to the Child Abuse Hotline managed by DHS.
The reports were alleged to have dealt with such matters as maltreatment, inadequate supervision, failure to provide food and other essential needs, extreme or repeated cruelty and failure to protect.
The information was said to have been provided by mandated reporters and anonymous sources.
Mandated reporters are those who are required by law to report instances of child abuse and include teachers, social workers, health care professionals, law enforcement personnel and coaches.
Earlier this year, members of the state General Assembly questioned the criteria used to screen calls to the Child Abuse Hotline. It was found that only about 55 percent of reports made to the hotline between January and March this year were approved for an actual investigation. It does not appear that any of the reports in the Mountain Home teen’s case reached that level.
It has also been pointed out that the way some children are treated in the system almost guarantees a poor outcome.
In a report dealing with the death of a 10-year-old foster child in Arkansas, it was noted that 10 different caseworkers were assigned to the child over time and repeated reports of abuse and neglect were not substantiated by the agency.
The legislators heard that Arkansas residents have complained for years that investigations into childcare cases “were not being properly or timely conducted due to a shortage of investigative workers.”
CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT
In July 1991, after attempts at negotiating with state officials stalled, a class action lawsuit was filed by ten plaintiff children in federal district court against the governor and the director of DHS.
The lead plaintiff in the suit was a 16-year-old female who in her first four years in DHS custody had been shuttled between 40 different placements — many with foster parents who were unable to care for her epilepsy and mental health needs.
Another plaintiff’s case plan developed by DHS called for a then 13-year-old boy to be placed with his father who had been convicted of sexually molesting the child.
The lawsuit highlighted a range of system-wide problems, including a failure to investigate reports of child abuse or neglect, failure to conduct case planning, failure to make reasonable efforts to prevent a child’s placement in foster care initially, hiring inexperienced caseworkers with unreasonably high caseloads and little to no training and supervision.
In a 2021 report, DHS itself termed the Arkansas foster care system as being “in crisis,” with a lack of placement options for abused and neglected children and inadequate prevention programs.
THE MOUNTAIN HOME CASE
According to the probable cause affidavit in the felony child abuse cases of 41-year-old Daniel Wright and 42-year-old Jaclyn Barnett charged with mistreating the 15-year-old male, it was in January last year when the family moved into the apartment where the boy’s situation was finally brought to light.
Downstairs neighbors began to report hearing noises coming from the upstairs apartment where Wright and Barnett lived. The neighbors said they reported the noises to management several times.
The apartment managers claim they notified Wright and Barnett about the complaints, but the noises continued.
In October last year, police were notified about the noises and Wright was contacted at his work.
During the telephone call, Wright is said to have claimed that the 15-year-old boy who lived in the apartment was with him at work.
Records do not show that any effort was made to go to Wright’s workplace to see the boy face-to-face in order to prove or disprove Wright’s claim.
There were two other children in the house and investigators speculated they may have been coached by Wright and Barnett not to talk to anyone outside the family about the 15-year-old or his substandard living conditions.
On November 2 last year, police returned to the apartment complex to investigate a report that audible cries for help were coming from an upstairs unit.
ABUSE COMES TO LIGHT
It was at this point that the boy’s maltreatment was finally brought to light.
Officers met with the occupants of the downstairs apartment and were taken to the master bedroom where a male could be heard speaking to the tenants from the apartment upstairs.
He said he was locked in the bathroom.
Police headed to the upstairs apartment and were met by two juveniles, ages 10 and 11. Wright and Barnett were both reported to be at work. Wright was employed at a furniture rental business and Barnett at a used car lot.
As the investigation continued, police went to the master bedroom of the upstairs unit and saw a red “ratchet strap” attached to the bedpost and to the door leading into the master bath.
When the strap was released and the door opened, officers found a naked 15-year-old male. He told them he had been locked in the bathroom the day before and not allowed out since.
Officers saw no clothing in the bathroom. The boy said he slept naked because he had once stuffed clothing into a vent to stop cold air from coming into the room. According to investigative reports, the lack of clothing appeared that it might be a form of punishment for clogging the vent.
Police reported the teen was embarrassed to come out of the bathroom because he was nude.
Even though the two juveniles who met police at the front door had initially feigned ignorance about a person being locked in the bathroom, they did speak to officers after the victim had been discovered.
The two juveniles said they slept in bunkbeds and the 15-year-old male slept on a pallet in the bathroom. They said there was no bedroom in the apartment for the boy.
Wright and Barnett indicated that the 15-year-old might have been locked in the bathroom by the other children while playing. Investigator had the children attempt to manipulate the ratchet strap but they were unable to do so.
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS NOT TOTALLY CLEAR
The teenage victim referred to Wright as his stepfather and to Barnett as his mother. She is actually his paternal aunt and legal guardian.
There are court records regarding guardianship for two boys listing Jaclyn M.Barnett as the person making the petition.
In other court documents Barnett is listed as Wright’s fiancé.
In an annual guardianship report submitted by Barnett’s attorney several years ago, one of the boys was said to be attending a kindergarten where he received counseling, occupational, speech and physical therapy to address his needs.”
In the report that guardians are required to submit, Barnett said one of the boys received $733 a month in Social Security benefits.
Wright and Barnett are each charged with 112 counts of first-degree false imprisonment, endangering the welfare of a minor and permitting child abuse. They have opted to take their case to trial.
The jury trial for Wright and Barnett is set for the week of 11-10-25 in Baxter County Circuit Court/Criminal Division. They are both now free on $50,000 bond.
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