Child Neglect

For the second time in a week, social workers in the Department of Human Services are threatening not to handle neglect cases. Thirty workers in the Children and Youth Agency notified their bosses yesterday that they will refuse to handle more than the state-mandated maximum of 30 cases each, effective today. When workers carry high caseloads, "the children that we purport to adequately service are at risk," said Rita S. Urwitz, the workers' union shop steward, in a letter to Deputy DHS Commissioner Rose Hake.

A Gloucester County man was sentenced Friday to 18 months in New Jersey state prison after pleading guilty to the abuse or neglect of a child, authorities said. Frank H. Lindeborn, 29, of Westville, told investigators he was asleep in his apartment when his 5-year-old daughter was found walking alone on Broadway at 4 a.m. Aug. 30, 2011. At the sentencing, Superior Court Judge Walter L. Marshall Jr. said he took into account that Lindeborn had previously been convicted of theft and unlawful possession of a weapon.

A Lansdale mother of three was arrested and charged with child endangerment last Sunday after two of her children, aged five and eight, wandered into a Kulpsville restaurant, hungry and begging for a drink.On Wednesday, the woman was arrested again and taken into custody in connection with a hit-and-run accident Monday in Lansdale. She was being held in the Montgomery County prison on $25,000 bail, on DUI and other charges. Towamencin Township Police Chief Paul T. Dickinson said officers responded to Pudges Restaurant at 1555 Sumneytown Pike when staffers called in to report the two lost children.

Beginning today, the Department of Human Services will impose stricter criteria for accepting child neglect cases. Under the department's new criteria, some cases formerly accepted for investigation and possible handling by department social workers will be referred elsewhere, including the city's fuel emergency hot line and the Office of Mental Health/Mental Retardation. Department officials hope the new criteria will halt the spiraling increase in the number of neglect cases DHS workers are asked to investigate and handle.

NEWARK, Del. - New Castle County Police have charged an unlicensed day-care operator after officers say they found 3-year-old twins in a closet. Authorities went to a Newark apartment Thursday afternoon after receiving a report of possible child neglect. Police say no one answered the door at the apartment and a maintenance worker let officers in. Officials say officers saw a chair wedged in a hallway between a closet door and a bathroom door. Police say officers opened the door and found the twins sleeping on pillows and blankets on the floor.

A Philadelphia couple were scheduled to be arraigned today in a Williamsburg, Va., court in connection with the tossing of their 4-month-old daughter into the path of a monorail at the Busch Gardens amusement park. The train stopped in time, but the child suffered head injuries after hitting the track. The mother, Valerie Hayward, 19, of the first block of North 50th Street, faces charges of maiming and child neglect, crimes that carry maximum sentences of 20 years in prison.

Less serious complaints of child neglect may soon get more prompt attention from the Department of Human Services if union leaders approve a tentative agreement between social workers and the city. Union steward Khary Atif said his bargaining unit had reached an agreement with the city that would slightly increase worker's case loads, and require the city to hire more social workers if too many cases pour in. A nearly two-year dispute over case loads for social workers in DHS' intake unit has created a backlog of nearly 300 complaints, which are supposed to be investigated in five days but have gone untended for as long as five weeks.

By the time the little girl reached the hospital emergency room - nearly three days after being raped by her mother's boyfriend outside a Bucks County bar - she had almost bled to death. Yesterday the boyfriend, a Quakertown area man, was sent to state prison for 12 to 24 years for the crime. The judge, Edward G. Biester Jr., called the 1990 crime against the then 3- year-old girl one of the worst cases of sexual abuse he had encountered. "It is almost impossible for me to understand how one adult human being could do so loathsome a thing to a small child in his care," Biester said in sentencing Brian W. Hendrickson.

Social workers and the city's Department of Human Services have settled a dispute on caseloads that should resolve a 400-case backlog in the investigation of child neglect cases. "I'm very relieved," said DHS Commissioner Joan Reeves yesterday, after workers in the departments intake unit approved the compromise agreement by a 73-8 vote. The backlog did not involve reports of physical abuse, which are investigated promptly. At issue was how many reports of child neglect intake workers could be assigned.

NEWARK, Del. - New Castle County Police have charged an unlicensed day-care operator after officers say they found 3-year-old twins in a closet. Authorities went to a Newark apartment Thursday afternoon after receiving a report of possible child neglect. Police say no one answered the door at the apartment and a maintenance worker let officers in. Officials say officers saw a chair wedged in a hallway between a closet door and a bathroom door. Police say officers opened the door and found the twins sleeping on pillows and blankets on the floor.

PHOENIX - The mystery surrounding the whereabouts of a sick girl with leukemia deepened Wednesday after her father said his 11-year-old daughter is being treated in Mexico and authorities considered bringing child neglect charges against the family. Phoenix police have been looking for Emily since surveillance video one week ago showed the girl's mother walking her out of Phoenix Children's Hospital a day before the child was set to be released. Authorities are searching for the girl in Arizona, California and Mexico, where the family has relatives, as doctors say she could contract a potentially deadly infection if not returned for treatment.

A Gloucester County man was sentenced Friday to 18 months in New Jersey state prison after pleading guilty to the abuse or neglect of a child, authorities said. Frank H. Lindeborn, 29, of Westville, told investigators he was asleep in his apartment when his 5-year-old daughter was found walking alone on Broadway at 4 a.m. Aug. 30, 2011. At the sentencing, Superior Court Judge Walter L. Marshall Jr. said he took into account that Lindeborn had previously been convicted of theft and unlawful possession of a weapon.

When jury selection starts Tuesday in tiny Bellefonte, Centre County, former football coach Jerry Sandusky won't be the only one on trial. Pennsylvania State University, a world-class center of teaching and learning, an economic behemoth of spending and hiring, and a place where Sandusky allegedly committed terrible crimes against children, faces its own judgment - in the court of public opinion. The trial promises to bring fresh scrutiny to the issues of what university officials knew, when they knew it, and how they responded.

MILWAUKEE - When the malnourished 15-year-old awoke each morning, she could hear her family eating and getting ready for the day. If she felt especially brave or desperate, she would call to her stepmother and beg for food, but usually she just went back to bed and hoped her hunger pangs went away. The girl was 70 pounds when she was rescued. She told investigators at the hospital that most of the food she ate was scraps she found on the floor or in the garbage. She had spent most of five years in the basement of her family's Madison home, where she was beaten and sexually assaulted.

A Lansdale mother of three was arrested and charged with child endangerment last Sunday after two of her children, aged five and eight, wandered into a Kulpsville restaurant, hungry and begging for a drink.On Wednesday, the woman was arrested again and taken into custody in connection with a hit-and-run accident Monday in Lansdale. She was being held in the Montgomery County prison on $25,000 bail, on DUI and other charges. Towamencin Township Police Chief Paul T. Dickinson said officers responded to Pudges Restaurant at 1555 Sumneytown Pike when staffers called in to report the two lost children.

Not a fan of Opinion section changes Regarding your new Opinion section, is this the new "fair and balanced" Inquirer? I want The Inquirer to take a position and stand by it. Most of the time I agree; sometimes I don't, but I value the thought that goes into your editorial position on important issues. This new equal-time style dilutes the paper's influence on public issues. Broadcast media seem to have to manufacture controversy by trotting out opposing opinions for every discussion.

Profits and parenting are on a collision course at Parx Casino. Becoming the quintessential "neighborhood casino" has given Parx the dubious distinction of being the only gambling hall in Pennsylvania where adults have been caught leaving children in vehicles parked outside while they gambled inside. The increasingly tense clash of parental responsibility and casino accountability could be taken up Aug. 18 before the state Gaming Control Board in Harrisburg. Thus far, no fines have been levied on Parx because of recurring incidents of child neglect by its patrons.

Support Nutter's effort to control handguns For far too long the gun-violence epidemic has raged out of control in Philadelphia. Thank you, Mayor Nutter, for having the courage to stand up to the National Rifle Association and the members of our spineless General Assembly, who never fail to pander to a powerful few instead of working for the common good ("Nutter defiantly signs five gun laws," April 11). I urge all Pennsylvanians to support Mayor Nutter and the Philadelphia City Council in their efforts to reduce gun violence before more families are put through the pain of losing a loved one. Only by taking a stand and demanding commonsense gun laws will we be able to walk safely in our streets, send our children to school without worry, and attract new business opportunities to the city.