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The Jason Huff Story

This story illustrates how gender bias hurts, and sometimes kills, children. It also shows how judges who practice gender bias are rewarded by the system.  Relate this to what you have read under the heading ASociety=s Most Urgent Problem.@

I reproduce this in accordance with the Fair Use Exception of 17 USC 107:

 

WOULD JASON HUFF BE ALIVE IF AGENCY HEEDED WARNING?

   Lancaster County Children=s Service is Faulted by Some for Custody Decision.

Three year old Jason Lee Huff of Elizabethtown dies on Oct. 3, 1981.  Charles

Edward Flowers Jr., his mother=s 30 year's old boyfriend, was convicted last month of third degree murder in the boy=s death. Since the trial, questions had arisen about Jason=s custody and whether the boy=s life could have been spared if matters had been handled differently.

                                                                            by Janet Kelley

                                                                            New Era Staff Writer

          

           They told the Lancaster agency the little boy was being beaten and abused.

           They had hospital records to show how Jason Huff=s throat had been burned when his mother and boyfriend poured hot coffee into his mouth.

           They warned the agency Jason Huff would die if something wasn=t done.

           And they were right. Friends and relatives say 3-year o1d Jason=s life could have been

saved if only the Lancaster County Children and Youth Social Service Agency had heeded their

repeated warnings that the child was in danger.

            Those friends and relatives were backed up by another children=s service agency,

in Luzerne County. It made a study of Jason=s situation and strongly recommended that Jason be sent to live with his father, away from his mother and her boyfriend.  And the attorney for Jason=s father, Robert Shumack, went even further. After repeated unsuccessful attempts to get Jason out of his mother=s custody and away from her boyfriend Shumack charged the Lancaster. County agency with incompetence.

           After Jason was killed Shumack wrote to the Lancaster agency: AYour agency, as I told you then and I am telling you now, doesn=t know anything about child care and if I were you people I would all resign.

            AI trust this letter will help your conscience continue the lousy work your office has been performing for years.@

            Why was Jason Huff allowed to live with his mother and her boyfriend despite the warnings and evidence of abuse?

            Why did the Lancaster County Agency, after investigating the abuse and the warnings, decide it would be better for Jason to stay in the mother-boyfriend home rather than move in with his father or grandparents?

            Asked these and other questions by the New Era, agency officials declined to answer. They said state IHWS about confidentiality prevented them from discussing the case.

            However, from attorneys, court records and other sources, the New Era has learned:

            - The county agency thought that counseling of Jason=s mother and boyfriend would stop the child abuse.

            - The county agency felt moving Jason to the home of his grandparents or father would not work, in the long run.  The boy, the agency felt, sooner or later would have to be returned to his mother.

            The attorney for the county children=s services agency, David E. Alspach, admits the agency recommended that Jason stay in his mother=s custody after his parents= divorce. Despite the knowledge that Jason had been abused, the agency believed the situation could be closely supervised Aand it would be best for Jason to stay with his mother,@ he said.

            After one episode of abuse B the forced drinking of hot coffee B had sent Jason to Lancaster General Hospital, the county agency did take Jason out of his mother=s home. The tot was placed temporarily in a foster home.

            But the county agency, convinced that counseling was making changes in the attitude of Jason=s mother and boyfriend, later reversed itself.  The Lancaster County Court, following the recommendation of the Lancaster children=s agency and a team of lawyers, concluded that the child should live with his mother.

            AShe underwent counseling,@ the agency said.  If things didn=t work out, they would simply take Jason out of the home again.  Seven months after Jason was released from the agency=s care to his mother, he was dead.

            Friends of Jason, relatives and others say the agency=s decision cost Jason his life. And although a trial has been held to place blame for Jason=s death, they say more investigation is needed. They firmly believe something is wrong with the system that permitted Jason to stay in a home were he was mistreated.

                 * * *  

                   Biddy Helton of Elizabethtown, was one of those who feared  for Jason=s life, and she voiced  her warnings to the county agency.

             It was the summer of 1979 when Darlene Huff, separated, and the mother of Jason, then one and one‑half  years old, moved with Charles AEd@ Flowers into the home of  Biddy and Benjamin Helton.

             From the beginning, it was  obvious that Darlene=s little boy was not well liked by her boyfriend, Mrs. Helton says.

             For the two months the families lived together while Flowers and Helton worked at an Elizabethtown shoe factory, Mrs. Helton says there was almost constant physical and mental abuse of the Huff child by Flowers.

             Mrs. Helton said she called  the Lancaster County Children and Youth Social Service Agency.  A representative contacted Mrs. Huff, but nothing changed, Mrs. Helton said.

             Flowers= mistreatment of the child was a constant source of arguments between the families, according to Mrs. Helton. But when anyone would intervene on Jason=s behalf, Jason would be punished, she added.

             AIf we defied Ed, Jason was hit for it.  He suffered in the end,@  says Mrs. Helton.

             On one occasion, Mrs. Helton was downstairs with Darlene Huff when she heard Jason screaming  from the upstairs bathroom.

            AI said to Darlene, >What is he doing to that child now?=@  She said he (Jason) has to get used to the water, Mrs. Helton recalled.

             It seems that Jason was deathly afraid of water, Mrs. Helton said.  And Ed made him  stand in a shower with his hands behind his back looking face up into the water, for 45 minutes.

            AI called the children=s bureau and said he=s in danger but they never did anything about it.@

             Once on a group outing, Mrs. Helton recalled, a friendly clerk offered to give Jason an  ice cream cone because she said he had such a pretty smile.

             AEd grabbed the child and said no, he couldn=t have any because he was being punished.  You know, only one tear fell from that child=s face...because the more he cried the worse it got.@

             Several times during their stay, Mrs. Helton said, she pleaded with Darlene Huff to allow  Jason to live with them  After a final argument over the child and money, Flowers and Mrs. Huff took Jason and moved  elsewhere, into a trailer, Mrs. Helton said.

             AI told her that if she kept living with Ed, Jason wouldn=t live to see 5 B and I was right.@

             * * *

             In the fall of 1979 Jason was admitted to Lancaster General Hospital.

             The county children=s agency was called in, and it took action.

             In a petition dated Oct. 1 1979, the local agency requested temporary custody of Jason, citing Jason=s condition at the hospital as the main reason for the request.

             AOn Sept. 28, 1979,@ the agency wrote, AJason was admitted to Lancaster General Hospital with second degree burns of the upper lip, burns of the tongue, gums and epiglotis, and burns of mixed thickness of the hard and soft palate.

            Mrs. Huff and her paramour, Ed Flowers, admitted to being responsible for the injuries. Mrs. Huff=s explanation was that Jason was whining so Ed told her to give him a sip of hot coffee, which she did.  Ed then gave him a large sip. Both stated they were aware he would be burned, but not to that extent.

            At that point, the county agency began to consider another home for Jason.  Both the tot=s father and grandparents had made repeated requests to be given custody of the little boy.  The agency asked for custody of Jason until home evaluations could be completed on the father, living in Hazleton, and the maternal grandmother, who lives in Lehigh County.

            While the father gave his permission, the agency wrote, the mother refused to sign a voluntary agreement to have Jason temporarily placed in a foster home.

            However, Mrs. Huff did agree to obtain counseling as a means toward having her son returned to her, the agency wrote.

            ADarlene Huff and paramour Ed Flowers,@ the agency noted in its petition to the court, Aremoved baby from hospital against medical advice.@

            For the following eight months the parents, grandparents, social workers and their lawyers fought for Jason in Lancaster County Court. AHer (Darlene=s) parents were trying to get him, and they said that they=d split custody with me,@  Jason=s father, Larry Huff, recalls.

            A..My Mom said she could keep Jason during the day while I worked. But the courts said no.@ Home evaluation reports were conducted at the request of the Lancaster County Children and Youth Social Services Agency in October 1979.

            The report submitted by the Children and Youth Services center in Hazleton, dated December 1979, recommended Larry Huff=s home for Jason.

            AThis family appears to be stable and capable of providing adequate care for Jason,@ Roni McDowell, human services planner, wrote in the evaluation:

               AMr. Huff expressed what appeared to be a sincere desire to care for his son.@

               A welder and factory worker, Larry Huff remarried after his divorce from Darlene. He and his second wife, Maggie, live in a ranch style home in the Hazleton suburb with her two children and Huff=s son from a previous relationship.

               Huff says he was told the Lancaster Agency rejected the favorable Luzerne County evaluation because it was prepared by an agency outside of Lancaster.

               A spokesman for the Lancaster agency says that is highly unlikely.

               AThe house I put together was a very nice home@ Huff argues.  ALook around, do these kids look abused?@  he said pointing to a parade of little children running through the back screen door to raid the refrigerator.

               AThe courts were on her side.  They said Jason was too young to be taken from his mother.@

              I tried three times--three times I went down to court with her parents to get custody of Jason and they never let us speak.@

               Huff said he finally became frustrated and could not afford to continue traveling to Lancaster for the legal battle.

               On May 22, 1980, Huff through his attorney Shumack, informed Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter that he was not interested in pursuing the case further but did want visiting rights to Jason.

               One week later, the Lancaster children=s agency was authorized  by the courts to gradually Areturn custody of Jason Huff to his natural mother, Darlene Huff.@

                *   *   *

               Although officials in the Lancaster agency refuse to discuss the reasons for their decision concerning Jason, an explanation is contained in a letter that was sent to Larry Huff=s attorney, Shumack (who has since died).

               The letter is dated May 13,1980, and was signed by the agency=s attorney, Alspach.  He wrote:

               We do not expect to hear anything detrimental or very damaging to Mr. and Mrs. Huff, Jason=s grandparents.

               If we were all looking for a short term placement, we don=t think anyone would have a problem placing Jason with them.

               Being realistic, we do not believe that Jason would always be with his grandparents and, at some point, he would return to Darlene and he would not know her. There are also legal burdens which must be overcome by the grandparents.

               AMr. Huff=s (Jason=s father) involvement with Jason has been minimal and we question seriously his attachment to Jason. While Darlene and Ed=s situation certainly is not ideal, we think it is rather remarkable what changes they have made in their lives anticipating that Jason would be returned to them.

            ABecause of the delays in resolving this matter, enough time has expired that the agency is willing to view these changes as real rather than cosmetic changes.

            AIf we were asked to make a recommendation today, it would be that Jason be gradually returned to the custody of his mother and that the placement be closely supervised to prevent or resolve any problems that might occur.

            AIf Darlene and Ed=s rehabilitation is not real, we would have the opportunity to find out and other arrangements could be made.

            Alspach also sent a copy of this letter to Jason=s court-appointed attorney Jean Kohr, who has since died, acted as Jason legal representative during the custody disputes.

            Alspach said that the attorney for a child in such situations makes recommendations to the court independently of the parents, social service agency, or anyone else involved.  The attorney=s recommendation is based solely on the best interest of the child.

            Court officials say they believe Mrs. Kohr was in full agreement with the decision to return Jason from foster care into his mother=s care.

            Despite the involvement by Mrs. Kohr, the key factor in Jason=s return to his mother seems to have been the recommendation of the county children=s agency.

            Steve Sohonyay, executive director of the agency, told the New Era he could not comment on the Huff case, being forbidden by law to discuss any case. We are not allowed by law to confirm or deny that we even know the family.@

            He cited Pennsylvania Act 124, which states that Aany information obtained...concerning the alleged instances of child abuse in the possession of the department ... shall be confidential.@

             Furthermore, A...any person who wilfully releases . . . any data and information ...shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.@

             Attorney Alspach said one reason for the secrecy is to encourage other people involved in child abuse cases to report the incident without fear of recrimination.  In Jason=s case, Alspach says, the local agency followed tried-and-true procedures in returning Jason to his mother.

             The rules call for a gradual return of a child to a natural parent, after he has been placed in  a foster home, Alspach said this is done slowly, over a period of time and under the supervision of the social Service agency.

            With a caseworker at his side, Jason was allowed to visit his mother periodically. The length of visits increased with each meeting, he said, such as one hour, then several hours, then a day then a weekend visit, until the supervisors felt both parent and child were ready for the move.

            In Lancaster County, parents in child abuse cases generally undergo counseling as well, Alspach said.

            On Feb. 13, 1981, according to a court document signed by Judge Wilson Bucher, Jason Huff was officially released from the care, custody and control of the Lancaster Children and Youth Social Service agency and released into the custody of Darlene Huff.

* * *

Less than eight months later on Oct. 1,1961, an ambulance was called to 11 S. Market St.

Elizabethtown, the apartment Darlene Huff and Flowers shared.

            Jason had fallen from his crib around 11 a.m., they told police and had collapsed into a coma. The child was rushed to Hershey Medical Center, where he died two days later B one month shy of his fourth birthday.

            The doctor who operated on him said Jason died of Amassive brain damage@ caused by a blow to the head, not from a  fall.

            Flowers was arrested on Feb. 2,1981 and was charged with the murder of Jason Huff.

            In less than two hours on July 15, a Lancaster County Jury of seven women and five men found Flowers guilty of third degree murder.

           * * *

            Larry Huff, Jason=s father. says he never knew the full extent of abuse Jason suffered until the court testimony appeared in newspaper articles.

            Huff is now bitter and angry  AThere=s something wrong there, he says, and re-reads the scathing, accusing letter his attorney, Shumack, wrote to the Lancaster agency.

             AThey should read it every day and whenever they investigate a child abuse case,@ he said. AIf that would stop one more child from going through what Jason went through, it would be worth it.@

               From: the Lancaster New Era, Aug 23, 1982

 

(The courts haven=t changed much since then. However, Judge Ronald Buckwalter is no longer with us. He now sits on the U.S. Eastern District Court in Philadelphia. Sadly, gender bias in the judiciary is richly rewarded by an indifferent society.