Broken Three Times: A Story of Child Abuse in America

161 Pages·2016·4.01 MB·English

by  Joan Kaufman

Broken Three Times

Broken Three Times
A STORY OF CHILD ABUSE IN AMERICA
Joan Kaufman, Ph.D.
1
1
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Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
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© Oxford University Press 2016
First Edition published in 2016
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You must not circulate this work in any other form
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kaufman, Joan.
Broken three times : a story of child abuse in America / Joan Kaufman.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–19–939915–4 (hardback)
1. Child welfare—United States—Case studies. I. Title.
HV741.K378 2016
362.760973—dc23
2015033656
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed by Sheridan, USA
This book is dedicated to the three individuals portrayed in this story, and
the countless others like them whose story never gets told. I am grateful to
the individuals depicted as Maria, Samya, and Sylar in this book for their
courage in allowing me to put in writing what they long to forget. Fifty
percent of the profits from this book will go to the three of them; I hope it is
enough to make an iota of a difference in their lives.

CONTENTS
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xv
1. 1975—The Snoopy Snow Cone Machine 1
2. 2000—The First Investigation 7
3. 2001—The Second Investigation 13
4. After the Children’s First Placement 25
(2 Days in Out-of-Home Care)
5. The Children’s Second Placement 37
(3 Days in Out-of-Home Care)
6. Living with the Olsens 45
(59 Days in Out-of-Home Care)
7. Five Placements in Five Weeks 59
(291 Days in Out-of-Home Care)
8. Looking for a Home without a Dog that Bites 71
(399 Days in Out-of-Home Care)
9. An Inch from Death 79
(448 Days in Out-of-Home Care)
10. Without a Family 89
(571 Days in Out-of-Home Care)
11. No More Goody Two Shoes 99
(1,148 Days in Out-of-Home Care)
12. Turning Eighteen 111
(1,614 Days in Out-of-Home Care)
13. Epilogue 119
14. Broken Three Times: Lessons Learned 123
References 129
Index 139

PREFACE
Fucked up.
Those are the words Samya uses to describe the child welfare system that
served as her legal guardian from age 12 to 17.
Broken is the term I prefer. Or the term I used to prefer up until the last
few years when the child welfare system in Connecticut and many places
nationwide began a series of innovative reforms that are making Samya and
her family’s story a thing of the past. Budget cuts have decimated the child
welfare system in several other states though, so broken is still a term that
unfortunately applies in far too many jurisdictions.
I met Samya, her brother, and mother when I was conducting a study to
evaluate an intervention developed for children removed from their parents’
care due to allegations of abuse or neglect. Samya and her brother also partici-
pated in two other research studies I conducted, including a study of genetic
and environmental modifiers of depression in maltreated children, and a brain
imaging study for children with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
This book is a biographical, narrative nonfiction retelling of this family’s
saga. It was written after reviewing our research files, multiple psychiatric hos-
pitalization reports, and almost 1,800 pages of child welfare records. I visited
many of the places Samya and her family lived over the years, and conducted
numerous interviews with Samya, her brother, mother, former foster parents,
therapists, and mentors. The facts are real, and some of the dialogue has been
extracted directly from the case record. Some scene and setting details, how-
ever, were added to keep the story engaging.
This book also provides brief policy analyses and practice updates, with
various incidents of the family’s story providing a launching point for discuss-
ing emerging trends. It also includes a discussion of advances in neurosci-
ence and genetics relevant for understanding risk and promoting resilience in
maltreated children. The book provides an understanding of the complexity
of the issues involved with child welfare, ideas about concrete steps to take to
improve practice, gaps in our knowledge, and a deepening appreciation of the
value of incorporating broad perspectives into this work—from neurobiology
to social policy.
To protect the family’s confidentiality, the names of all the characters in
this book have been changed, as have the names of the cities and towns. Samya
is not the real name of the girl in this story. It is a name of Arabic origin that
means “on high, exalted,” and it is the name the real girl in this story chose for ix