http://www.register-herald.com/articles/2004/12/20/news/bbaby21.txt
Detective: DHHR 'lied' in baby case
By Jessica Farrish/Register-Herald Reporter
Raleigh County Department of Health and Human Resources officials
"lied" to police last week about providing heat and supervised
shelter to a mentally handicapped woman whose five-day-old son froze to death
in his home, authorities said Monday.
"What they did was prevent us from getting (the mother) help on
Friday," charged Lt. Steve Tanner of the Raleigh Sheriff's department.
"They assured and promised us she was in a shelter and her gas had been
turned back on.
"That's a lie. There is no other way to say it."
Tanner said community churches, businesses, law enforcement, non-profit
organizations and individuals began pulling together Saturday to help the
mother, 28-year-old Sherry Coffman of Stanaford, get
shelter and counseling.
Although DHHR officials, including
Tanner said that he sent a deputy to Coffman's residence Saturday, and the
deputy verified that the residence did not have gas service and that Coffman
was alone.
Although other media outlets reported that Coffman's residence was receiving
heat Friday, Coffman and her mother, Nora Jean Phillips, told The
Register-Herald that "gas company" officials were still waiting on
DHHR approval to resume service to Coffman's home.
Tanner said Coffman awoke around six a.m. last Wednesday and called her
mother when she discovered that her newborn infant was
"unresponsive."
Phillips notified Coffman's neighbor, Trudy Wardensky,
who called 911 and performed CPR on the baby.
The baby revived briefly but later died at
Coffman -- the mother of a nearly-three-year-old girl who is now in state
custody and staying with relatives -- told The Register-Herald she had been
using three electric heaters for warmth this fall and that DHHR had promised
her when she was pregnant that heat would be delivered to her home.
Phillips said that a DHHR worker stated on Dec. 9 -- the day Coffman gave
birth -- that the heat would "be on" before Coffman brought the baby
home.
Tanner said DHHR officials told him Friday that gas was being delivered to
the residence, that Coffman was in a "warm, safe place" and that the
2-year-old was in CPS custody.
An investigation into the case revealed that DHHR had fallen $1,100 dollars
behind in paying Allegheny Power for Coffman's heating bills, and Coffman's
heat had not been delivered in about a year, Tanner said.
He added that her furnace had also been "red-tagged" as unsafe by
Allegheny workers, who could not deliver heat to Coffman's residence for that
reason.
Tanner added that Coffman's water pipes had burst due to the cold weather,
and there was "exposed wiring" in her house.
According to Phillips, Coffman had not had hot water since June and had been
heating water using a microwave.
"(The heat had been turned off) a year before and everybody was aware
of it," charged Tanner. "This was not something done in inclement
weather. The case workers were aware of it."
Tanner said caseworkers told him "they hadn't gotten to it yet"
when he asked them why Coffman did not have heat for a year.
"I don't care how busy you are," he said. "There's no excuse
for it."
Officials said despite her handicap status, Coffman was a "dear and
loving mother" who did not intentionally put her children in danger.
"It seems to me that DHHR procedures are no longer in line with their
goals (of helping someone)," said Tanner. "The problem as I see it is
they are too tied up with paperwork to help people."
He said the situation contained "atrocity after atrocity."
DHHR spokesman John Law stated that under DHHR policy, he is unable to
comment specifically on services delivered to clients.
He added that any statement from a DHHR agent other than
those in his office are not official DHHR statements.
The chief detective added that he was encouraged by the number of people who
have offered support and help for Coffman.
Wardensky provided CPR to the baby, he said.
Area churches have raised $500 to help offset the cost of the overdue gas
bill, he stated.
"Sheriff Danny Moore offered to pay for a hotel room for her out of his
pocket," said Tanner. "Meadows Heating out of Cool Ridge heard about
it and got their distributors to agree to give them a floor furnace.
"They're putting it in," he added.
Although the Women's
WRC has been providing food, shelter and grief counseling to the mother, who
is mourning the death of her son and separation from her daughter, Tanner said.
"(WRC) could've said, 'We don't have the funding available,'" he
remarked. "When they go beyond what they're supposed to do ... and they
have no reason other than they are compassionate, decent people, they're
heroes."
-- E-mail: