A West Side woman charged with neglecting her nine children told child-welfare officials that she got high on drugs and was arrested for prostitution after leaving the youngsters in the care of their paraplegic grandmother, sources said Friday.
The admissions by the woman, who has been enrolled in several drug treatment programs, contributed to the decision by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to seek temporary custody of the children, sources said.
DCFS officials took them into protective custody Thursday after a caseworker found the youngsters with their grandmother in an unkempt apartment at 920 N. Lawler Ave.
On Friday, the children, the youngest six weeks old, were living in non-relative foster homes, DCFS spokeswoman Martha Allen said.
According to Allen, the agency has an extensive history of providing services to the mother, Renee Holden, 31, who has been charged with nine criminal counts of misdemeanor neglect. She has been charged by DCFS in a civil complaint with providing the youngsters with inadequate shelter and food, as well as failing to provide adequate supervision.
In late 1990, when Holden had six children and was pregnant with her seventh, DCFS took custody of the youngsters due to what the agency described as dangerous living conditions.
She regained custody about six months later after attending drug counseling and parenting classes, court records show. DCFS also arranged for a new hot water heater, stove and refrigerator to be installed in her apartment, as well as having the walls patched.
The court records also show a housekeeper was assigned to assist Holden.
However, Allen said, Holden continued to have problems, requiring DCFS to provide additional help, including purchasing five beds for the family, in-home parenting counseling, homemaking assistance and drug treatment.
“We provided a great many services to this family in an attempt to heal them and keep them together,” Allen said. “But when all that fails, then we have to look to other ways of protecting the children and to provide a safe environment for them.”
Cook County Public Guardian Patrick Murphy said he was offended by DCFS officials initially characterizing Holden’s problems as being linked to poverty.
“Their philosophy concerning poverty is an insult to the vast majority of women on welfare who do an outstanding job of raising their children under bleak circumstances,” Murphy said. “And these women do not abuse or neglect their children.”
