Advocates criticize removal of foster child from home near Tar Creek

Friday, February 27th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

PICHER, Okla. (AP) _ Child advocates say state officials' decision to remove a 3-year-old boy from his foster parents in the Tar Creek Superfund site could be more harmful to the child than the health concerns that spurred the decision.

Claudette Selph, executive director of the Parent Child Center in Tulsa, said she understood Gov. Brad Henry's health concerns for the foster child living near a site polluted by decades of lead and zinc mining.

But, Selph said, attachment issues between foster children and their foster parents are a priority that should be weighed against all factors in the decision to move a child.

The boy, whose name was withheld due to privacy laws, was removed Wednesday from the Picher home of Rickey and Nina Martin. Picher and neighboring Cardin are at ground zero of the northeast Oklahoma site, which has been rated as the worst Superfund site in the country.

``Imagine a child already victimized being placed in a loving foster home and then being removed and what kind of terror that can bring,'' Selph said. ``The child is not old enough to understand what is happening and is left with fears that he or she cannot verbalize.''

Selph said Oklahoma has a shortage of foster parents and needs as many qualified parents as possible to take in abused, neglected or abandoned children.

``I feel sure the governor believes he is doing what is in the best interest of the child, but you just don't take a child from his family if you don't have to or without considering all factors,'' Selph said.

Henry's office said scientific data that shows children 6 years old and younger can suffer from learning disabilities and potential physiological damage if they are exposed to high concentrations of lead and other heavy metals.

``This is all about the health issues and no reflection on the family,'' said Paul Sund, spokesman for Henry. ``We applaud the family for participating and being foster parents. We don't have enough foster parents. This was a health concern based on the research that we know.''

Sund said the governor's decision to step in and ask the DHS to move out the child was based on ``a totality of the issues at Tar Creek.''

``The governor believed something should be done based on the science and the compelling evidence that a real health issue exists for small children in Tar Creek,'' Sund said.

Department of Human Services officials said five other foster families live in the area, but none have children under age 6. Henry has ordered no more foster children under age 6 be placed in the Picher-Cardin area.

Thousands of foster children are taken in by foster families each year in Oklahoma. Some stay only a few days while others stay longer and can be adopted. The Martins, who had cared for the toddler for a year, said they planned to adopt the child.

Barbara Findeiss, executive director of the Child Abuse Network Inc., said the safety of foster children ``is paramount but you have to balance that with attachment issues.''

``You do not want a child in an unsafe environment,'' Findeiss said, ``but you don't want to traumatize the child with the move either.''