DEL.ICIO.USCase shook up Georgia's child welfare system
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/30/08
One of the state's most explosive child-welfare cases has ended with a Fulton County mother pleading guilty to killing her 2-year-old daughter and receiving a sentence of life in prison.
The murder of Nateyonna Banks in late 2006 set off a chain reaction that shook up the state child welfare system.
 Family photo | ||
| Nateyonna Banks | ||
 Fulton County Jail | ||
| Shandrell Banks | ||
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It exposed widespread problems in the Fulton County child welfare office, prompting the ouster of the county director. It touched off a battle between the state child advocate and the human resources chief, which ended when the governor removed the child advocate.
"It set in motion a domino effect that took out a lot of people," said Normer Adams, head of the private, nonprofit Georgia Association of Homes and Services for Children.
On Thursday, Shandrell Banks, 30, pleaded guilty to 12 charges, including malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery and cruelty to children.
Her daughter's death occurred at a time when the state Division of Family and Children Services was trying to keep more children with their families rather than put them into foster care. But Fulton DFCS workers placed Nateyonna with her mother despite the woman's history of emotional problems and drug use.
The Fulton County medical examiner determined that Nateyonna died Nov. 9, 2006, of blunt-force trauma to the head and that the child showed other signs of abuse.
The case prompted an audit from State Child Advocate Dee Simms, who concluded that the Fulton office was leaving abused children in homes without appropriate follow-up, placing children with people who had not been screened properly and laboring under a backlog of 300 cases.
The Fulton director was removed after Simms' audit revealed a worker exodus that had been prompted, some employees said, by the director's imperious management style.
State Human Resources Director B.J. Walker lashed out at the audit report as overblown, and the clash ended with the ouster of the child advocate.
State DFCS Director Mary Dean Harvey also came under criticism for not taking stronger action to fix the Fulton office. She resigned in March.
Adams said the Fulton agency has taken steps to improve the handling of child welfare cases.
In a separate case, Atlanta police arrested a teenage mother and her boyfriend early Thursday on charges the couple killed her 16-month-old daughter. The death came days after Fulton DFCS opened a case on the family as a result of injuries to the girl. But rather than remove the child from the home, DFCS officials left the child with the family.
At a news conference Friday, Fulton DFCS Director Dannette Smith said her department was doing everything it can to minimize the chances of children under its watch being hurt.
Staff writer Tim Eberly contributed to this report.
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