Ohio Parents Of Baby, Who Died In Foster Care, Want Answers

The parents of the baby who died in foster care expressed their frustration with the Athens County Children Service in Ohio, NBC4 reported. Lindsay Householder had a baby boy, a child she named Logan, on December 19.

The mother said she didn’t know she was pregnant and delivered her baby at home. Once they arrived at the hospital, it soon became clear CPS would take custody of her newborn. Lindsay and the baby’s father, William Dollison, figured it might take some time to get their child back, but soon enough, they would have custody of their son again.

Lindsay Didn’t Know She Was Pregnant

“We went to the hospital. We got there by squad. Everything was fine with Logan,” Householder said. “They ran all kinds of tests, made sure everything was fine with both of us, and the next day CPS came in and took him.”

Logan went to the doctor for a weight check on January 5, and the doctor wasn’t concerned about his weight. The foster parents didn’t tell the parents about the doctor appointment, despite agreeing to letting them tag along.

The next day, Logan’s health declined. They had a scheduled visitation, which was canceled, because their baby wasn’t eating and his caretaker needed to take him to the doctor.

Logan’s Health Declined Quickly

The parents asked if they could go to the appointment instead of their visitation, but the foster mother told them that would need to be approved by the infant’s social worker.

Logan’s doctor admitted him into the hospital and within hours, they transferred him to the intensive care unit. Householder said at nearly midnight, the foster mother texted her Logan’s condition was grave.

“At midnight, she finally texted me back and said that his heart had stopped and they couldn’t get it back,” Householder said.

Logan Dollison died on January 7. He was a few days shy of three weeks old.

The parents tried to make final arrangements for their son, but the state wouldn’t allow them to view their son until one day before his funeral.

No Accountability From The State

Otis Crockron, director of Athens County Children Services, released a statement about Logan’s death and the allegation that the foster mother delivered the news of their child’s death via text message.

“We take a situation where there’s a child fatality seriously. We would reach out directly to the mother and we would never notify via text, but I cannot speak for the foster parent or what the mother shared…. That should never happen, to learn about it over text,” he said. “We would spend a lot of time to make sure that the mother had what she needed. I can tell you that we’ve been open and available to the mother and would do anything we could to help in this situation.”

The parents can’t shake the anger they feel about the situation. They pointed out if the roles were reversed and Logan died in their custody, they would be arrested immediately.

If it was me,” Dollison said. “I’d be behind bars right now until I could prove my innocence. I’d be behind bars. It wouldn’t matter what it is… if he was in our custody. That’s how it would have been. But for them, they still get to walk the street.”

Dollison and Householder are currently going through the process of getting their other children out of foster care. It's clear the state failed at keeping the baby safe. Hopefully, the parents will get the answers about his death, so they can move forward.

The Athens County Sheriff’s office said they are still investigating Logan’s death. Don't forget to click the subscribe button to read more of my stories.

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Originally published on Medium