DHS admits mistakes in girl’s death
The Oklahoma Department of Human Services made policy changes and disciplined five employees after a 10-year-old girl died in April from an asthma attack, records show.
Another employee quit before discipline could be imposed.
“Clearly we can, must and will keep improving,” DHS Director Ed Lake told The Oklahoman in a written statement about the case last week.
The girl, Sha’Quality Cox, of Oklahoma City, died April 28 at a hospital after having an asthma attack at her aunt’s apartment.
She and her siblings had been staying with the aunt, records show. DHS at the time was working to get services to help their mother, an admitted meth user. The mother had been accused of neglecting Sha’Quality’s medical needs repeatedly since 2012.
An internal investigation into the death determined Sha’Quality stopped breathing at the aunt’s apartment “and became pulseless.” The girl did not have her routine asthma medications at her aunt’s home and also did not have a prescribed maintenance inhaler to prevent airway inflammation.
The investigation found DHS child welfare specialists never consulted with physicians who had treated Sha’Quality in the past, never tried to get her medical records, did not check to see if she had asthma medication at her aunt’s home and did not check to see if she had an inhaler at school.
The DHS child welfare specialist who looked into the accusations of neglect was criticized for never seeking guidance from a DHS nurse. The specialist admitted she had sought guidance in
the past on other cases “for things like diaper rashes at day care,” according to disciplinary records.
“No one who works for DHS intends for a child to be hurt or worse, but the results of our investigation indicate this was essentially a case of staff not seeing the forest for the trees,” the DHS director said.
“While workers were making numerous required monitoring visits with the family and providing services, more focused efforts could have been made to address the main safety concerns that caused the family to come to our attention in the first place — Sha’Quality’s asthma and the mother’s inability to consistently ensure adequate care for that problem,” Lake said.
“We are performing much better in all areas of child welfare so it was disheartening and discouraging to me to see these lapses occur in this one case,” he said.
Fired in August for misconduct and unsatisfactory performance on the case was Peace Obeta, a child welfare specialist who had worked at DHS for two years. Obeta could not be reached for comment.
Suspended in August for five days without pay for unacceptable conduct in the case was Kathy B. Taylor, a DHS child welfare specialist since Feb. 15, 2011.
Three other employees received written reprimands and one employee resigned before DHS could issue its anticipated written reprimand, DHS said.
Policies changed
Because of the death, child welfare specialists are now required to consult a DHS nurse “on all cases involving allegations of failure to obtain medical attention.”
DHS child welfare workers also must contact the primary care physician of a child reported to have a chronic or acute medical condition and must “obtain all medical records necessary to adequately assess” a child’s safety.
“The lessons we have learned as a consequence of this investigation and this case have pointed to gaps in our policies and guidance to staff,” said Jami Ledoux, the director of DHS child welfare services. “We have identified those areas that are being strengthened to improve the protection and well-being of children with special medical needs or disabilities.”
She also said DHS officials have “confidence in our child welfare workforce” but know that “tragedies may occur despite our best efforts.”
Sha’Quality’s father, Bobby Cox Jr., of Oklahoma City, said he is planning on suing DHS over the mistakes.
“They messed up,” he said. “To die like that, for nothing, when they could have prevented it . ... Somebody’s got to take blame for this. ... The aide should have been taking care of business as far as making sure Sha’Quality had her medication.”
He also criticized DHS for allowing Sha’Quality to stay with her mother’s sister. “She’s not mature enough,” he said. “She’s a kid herself . ... She wasn’t responsible enough.”
He said he was unable to care for Sha’Quality himself at the time because he was recovering from major surgery for cancer. He said DHS should have asked his sisters to care for her.
“My sisters were willing,” he said.
Sha’Quality’s mother, Kyeisha Sample, 31, could not be located for comment. A judge last week issued a warrant for her arrest for allegedly failing to pay restitution on a 2012 identity theft case.
Sha’Quality was not in DHS custody when she died, and her case did not attract any media attention at the time. The Oklahoman learned of the tragedy in June from a source who provided an internal DHS email.
“I am appalled and disgusted,” Lake wrote in the May 12 email. “Gang, we cannot have this happening (and recurring). If we can’t see and then zero in on clearly identified safety risks like this one, how in the world are we going to figure out what to do in the more nuanced and difficult cases?”
Oklahoma City police investigated the death but no charges were filed.