Child Abuse Victim’s Legacy Is Tide of Bills

Almost from the moment of Lance Helms’ birth at UCLA Medical Center in 1992, Los Angeles County officials questioned his parents’ competence to raise the boy.

Worried about what they saw as the parents’ long history of drug abuse, authorities quickly directed that Lance live with his aunt, where he remained for much of his short life. With the backing of county officials, she ultimately sought to adopt the toddler.

But the county’s Dependency Court--seeking family reunification--intervened and ordered Lance to live with his father. Less than a year later, in the spring of 1995, the sandy-haired, 2 1/2-year-old North Hollywood boy was beaten to death by his father’s live-in girlfriend.

Now, a year later, the tragic life and painful death of Lance Helms has touched a nerve in the Capitol, igniting an emotional rush to overhaul California’s child welfare system with profound implications for how government will handle abused children in the future.

Underlying the debate is the tension between those who believe the safety of children like Lance Helms should be uppermost in the minds of authorities versus those who contend that the sanctity of the family demands minimal government interference.

Using the deaths of Lance Helms and other youngsters as a rallying cry, an increasing number of lawmakers are pushing to make it easier for authorities to remove children from homes of abusive parents and, in some instances, to free them much more quickly for adoption.

About a dozen measures are moving through the Legislature, including several that are scheduled to be heard Wednesday in a state Senate Judiciary subcommittee.

The proposals range in scope from a narrowly focused bill by Sen. Newton R. Russell (R-Glendale) intended to deny custody to parents who dump babies in trash cans to a broadly crafted measure by Sen. Hilda Solis (D-El Monte) designed to establish child safety and protection as the cornerstone of the state’s child welfare system.

“In the aftermath of the brutal murder of little Lance Helms, we need to do more to protect children and provide them with the type of environment . . . [and] support that will prevent these type of killings,” said Sen. Richard G. Polanco (D-Los Angeles) at a recent hearing by his subcommittee on crimes against children.

Polanco has introduced a package of bills that would establish a new, independent state agency to intervene in especially nettlesome abuse cases; improve Juvenile Court judges’ education on the nature and treatment of abuse and neglect; require the state to collect information on deaths of children; and expand access to the state’s Child Abuse Index kept by the Department of Justice.

Although the measures have met little public opposition, they have been hotly debated in behind-the-scenes negotiations among social workers, adoption experts, judges and other law enforcement officials responsible for the welfare of children.

What will happen in the coming months is unclear, especially since Gov. Pete Wilson’s administration still is reviewing the legislation. But some shift in policy is likely to emerge, possibly in concert with a Wilson-sponsored proposal by Assemblyman Brett Granlund (R-Yucaipa) to give judges the option of speeding up adoptions for toddlers in abuse cases.

“From the state’s point of view, we’re not going to put the goal of reunifying a family above the life of a child,” said Lisa Kalustian, a spokeswoman for the state Health and Welfare Agency.

Some child welfare lobbyists and lawmakers urge caution in revamping the system. They say the Legislature needs to move gingerly, especially when tailoring changes to fit such high-profile cases as that of Lance Helms.

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Others question the need for a new government agency--as proposed by Polanco--to get involved in abuse cases. “We’re concerned about putting another layer of bureaucracy on a bureaucracy that’s not working,” said Kate Burke, executive director of the California Adoption Alliance.

Assemblyman David Knowles (R-Placerville), an influential voice on child welfare issues among GOP lawmakers, said any changes need to be weighed carefully.

Knowles said he doesn’t want the laws on family reunification to be toughened merely to “remove children for a spanking that went too far and that can be corrected.” But on the other hand, the lawmaker said, he doesn’t want to force judges “to give CPR to a family that is so dysfunctional that it might as well be declared to be dead.”

Assemblyman Phillip Isenberg (D-Sacramento), who last year chaired the Assembly Judiciary Committee during hearings on the issue, said the central challenge facing lawmakers is to find the proper balance between the rights of parents and children.

In recent years, he said, “we’ve flipped back and forth almost willy-nilly based on what the latest sensational case is. . . . The Legislature is almost schizophrenic [on the issue] at the present time, and I believe the society is.”

Reflecting a shift in federal law, the current California system was established in the early 1980s in the aftermath of mounting concern about the number of children in long-term foster care. At that time, the state gave top priority to keeping troubled families intact.

Meanwhile, reports of child abuse and neglect have risen sharply over the past decade. Between 1985 and 1994, reports of abuse in California grew from 296,000 a year to 690,000, or a 133% jump, according to a report by the legislative analyst’s office.

In Los Angeles County, child protection officials responded to about 180,000 allegations of abuse last year--of which 138,000 resulted in home visits--and sought to oversee about 17,000 children, according to Peter Digre, director of the county Department of Children and Family Services. In Orange County, 34,500 cases of abuse were reported and in Ventura County almost 14,000 were reported, according to state figures.

Digre calls the current family reunification system “terribly flawed.” At a recent hearing of Polanco’s subcommittee, Digre testified that the system rests on a questionable premise: that after a few months of counseling and other services, troubled adults can alter lifelong patterns of violence and drug abuse to gain and keep custody of their small children.

“It [the current law] doesn’t lead to a finding of safety for the child,” Digre said, but rather to a determination that the parent has complied with a court-approved reunification scheme that might include drug testing and parenting classes.

In a telephone interview last week, Digre said that in most cases reunification programs help families but that 10% of the time they fail badly, usually when parents have histories of violence or untreated drug and alcohol addictions.

Indeed, balancing rights of parents and children is complicated by the issue of drug abuse. According to a 1995 report by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, the desire to keep families intact has collided with a drug epidemic “that child welfare workers estimate is responsible for 70% to 90% of all abuse and neglect cases where a child is removed from the home.”

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Asked at Polanco’s hearing about the Lance Helms matter, Digre acknowledged that his department should have done more during confidential proceedings in Dependency Court to keep the boy out of his father’s home. The court deals exclusively with child welfare and custody cases.

“I really think the department should have been much more courageous and much more vigorous in fighting a legal guerrilla warfare to challenge this case at every one of the eight hearings at which we lost.”

Underscoring the importance of the case, Polanco’s panel has held two spirited hearings zeroing in on what happened to Lance Helms after he was born to David Helms and Karina Fuchs, who was addicted to heroin. The legislative inquiry began shortly after David Helms’ girlfriend, Eve Wingfield, was sentenced to 10 years in state prison for beating the child to death.

Waving a stack of documents from the case at the second hearing, Sen. Daniel E. Boatwright (D-Concord) declared that “the system failed Lance Helms.”

Turning to David Helms, who was called to testify, Boatwright glared: “As far as I’m concerned, you are a scum bum. . . . There’s a baby dead because of you.”

Shot back Helms, who spent several years seeking custody of his son: “Not because of me.”

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Proposals on Child Welfare

About a dozen proposals to revise the state’s child welfare laws are being considered by the California Legislature. Some of the more important bills:

ASSEMBLY BILLS

* AB 1524 by Assemblyman Brett Granlund (R-Yucaipa): Sponsored by the Wilson administration, the bill is intended to speed up the adoption of infants and toddlers from abusive homes. Status: Passed Assembly and in Senate Judiciary Committee.

* AB 2608 by Assemblyman Jim Morrissey (R-Santa Ana): After the second proven case of abuse, a judge would have the option of ceasing all efforts to keep the family intact. Status: Passed Assembly and in Senate Judiciary Committee

* AB 2647 by Assemblywoman Sheila J. Kuehl (D-Santa Monica): Would ensure that child dependency courts have authority to fully protect children, including removing a violent parent or other adult from a household. Status: Passed Assembly and in Senate Judiciary Committee.

* AB 2679 by Assemblyman Louis Caldera (D-Los Angeles): Allows judges to cut parental rights in a number of specific circumstances, such as a parent having a violent felony conviction or a history of extensive drug or alcohol abuse. Status: Passed Assembly and in Senate Judiciary Committee.

SENATE BILLS

* SB 1810 by Sen. Richard G. Polanco (D-Los Angeles): Creates the Office of Children’s Guardian, an independent, nonpartisan state agency with authority to intervene on behalf of children in dependency court cases. Status: In Senate Judiciary Committee.

* SB 1811 by Polanco: Requires the state Judicial Council to develop child abuse education and training standards for Juvenile Court judges and prohibits judges from hearing child dependency cases unless they have taken the classes. Status: Passed Senate and in Assembly Judiciary Committee.

* SB 1812 by Polanco: Expands access to state’s child abuse registry and provides for collection of data on the deaths of children. Status: In Senate Judiciary Committee.

* SB 1516 by Sen. Hilda Solis (D-El Monte): Spells out that children who are dependents of the Juvenile Court shall only be returned to their parents or guardians when safe. Status: Passed Senate and in Assembly Judiciary Committee

* SB 1982 by Sen. Newton R. Russell (R-Glendale): Makes it tougher for parents who dump babies in trash cans or abandon them to regain custody. Status: Passed Senate and Assembly Judiciary Committee. Pending on the Assembly floor.

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Reports of Abuse

The California Legislature is considering changes to the state’s child welfare laws. Here is the number of reported child abuse cases in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties:

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DATE STATEWIDE LOS ANGELES ORANGE VENTURA *1990 553,782 109,332 28,422 10,317 *1991 571,214 119,136 31,772 12,031 *1992 615,602 134,248 33,356 13,700 *1993 660,942 166,613 33,325 15,092 *1994 664,294 164,716 38,758 14,175 *1995 690,005 180,586 34,541 13,913

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Source: California Department of Social Services