VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Foster parents in Virginia have put state social workers in the hot seat after the death of one child and the removal of another child from their home.
Ben and Sarah FitzPatrick say a baby they took care of for seven months died because Children’s Services failed to monitor the conditions of the home to which he was moved.
Baby Braxton was transferred from the FitzPatricks to another foster mother, where he endured abuse that killed him.
The FitzPatricks blamed social workers for missing tell-tale signs of abuse and called WTKR-TV in Virginia Beach to investigate.
After the WTKR-TV report aired, Virginia Beach Human Services Director Robert Morin issued an apology and conceded social workers missed signs of abuse and did not do a good job of protecting Braxton. He put in place new policies and asked for a state review.
Then the FitzPatricks left the Virginia Beach system to become foster parents in Norfolk. But on Monday, barely a week after the FitzPatricks went public, a pair of Norfolk social workers visited Sarah to announce they would take away the couple’s remaining foster child.
Sarah says they told her: “Because their foster baby is black, the child would be better off with black foster parents.” Sarah says in the five months they’ve cared for the child, no one ever mentioned that and believes the decision is motivated by malice for the investigative report. Click here for the complete story and the concerns expressed by the Norfolk city social workers over the couple’s television appearance on WTKR-TV- Newschannel 3.