Crystal Taylor has had two children with David Erickson.

“Had” being the operative word.

David Erickson swings with his 16-week-old daughter Chyanne at Powell Park near his La Crosse home Thursday as a supervised visitation monitor from Coulee Youth Center watches them. Erickson, whose ability to parent is in question by La Crosse County Human Services, visits Chyanne for about 7 hours a week and his 15-month old-son Jesse James for 4 hours a week always under supervision. PETER THOMSON photo

“They took Jesse when he was born,” said Taylor, 31, “and they took Chyanne when she was born.”

“They” — the La Crosse County Department of Human Services — got involved when Taylor threatened suicide while pregnant with Jesse James, born in December 2005.

Taylor’s IQ is between 69 and 71, well below average, according to county records. Growing up in La Crosse and Sparta, she has a long history of hospitalizations for psychiatric problems. Her current diagnosis is depressive disorder and borderline personality disorder.

More than two dozen times a year, a La Crosse County judge decides to legally sever the bond between parents and children.

Taylor and Erickson don’t want to become part of that statistic. They plan to fight to regain custody of Jesse James, 15 months old, and Chyanne, only 4 months old. Both now are in foster care.

But time is running out.

A hearing is set for April 17 on whether to begin terminating their parental rights to Jesse James. Another hearing in late May will determine if Chyanne is a child in need of protection.

“I’ve been doing everything I’m supposed to be doing,” said Erickson, who doesn’t understand why the county wants to put the children up for adoption.

“They took them because of our mental health issues and the disabilities,” said Taylor. “I don’t think that’s right.”

County officials said terminating parental rights is the last thing they want to do. But under state law, the county must pursue adoption for children in foster care if the parents aren’t able to provide a safe environment after 15 months.

“The idea is that we can’t have kids drifting in foster care forever,” said County Corporation Counsel Bill Shepherd, who handled child protection cases for two decades.

Taylor and Erickson are not married and live in separate units of the same South La Crosse apartment building. They see Jesse James and Chyanne several times a week in supervised visits, during which county social workers document everything that happens — every bottle fed, every toy played with, every diaper changed.

The world of child protective services is shrouded in confidentiality to protect the privacy of parents and children. Unlike other court proceedings, records are confidential and courtrooms are closed to the public.

Erickson and Taylor signed waivers authorizing county officials to release their records to the Tribune and talk about the case.

Those records raise many questions. Erickson disputes their accuracy, and recently convinced the county to videotape visits with the children.

Erickson came from an abusive home situation in Viroqua, Wis.; he and his siblings were placed in foster care in 1995. At 18, he was sent to Winnebago Mental Health Institute for two years, and has lived in group homes.

His file lists him as having “borderline intellectual functioning.”

Erickson disputes that, and said a doctor told him he was intelligent but needed Ritalin “for concentration. I know a lot, but I don’t always stay focused.”

He said he now is not on any medications, per doctor’s recommendation.

Erickson has had trouble with the law as well, though he contends he was “set up” by police.

He was charged with several crimes in 2002, including arson, after being accused of starting a fire in a Dumpster. He pleaded guilty/no contest to one count and was placed on five years probation. Two years later, he pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer, and got more probation.

Erickson’s has had an on-and-off relationship with Taylor over the years. In January 2006, she sought a domestic abuse temporary restraining order but never followed up.

While both rely on Social Security disability for their incomes, state law says that can’t be a factor in deciding whether to remove a child.

County officials declined to discuss their case in depth because it is pending. But they did detail the process involved in handling child welfare cases.

Wisconsin is among 10 states in which most child welfare services are locally funded and delivered — in La Crosse County, the annual cost is $4.86 million, $3.15 million of which comes from local taxpayers. Elsewhere, states fund and provide child welfare services, according to Human Services Director Jerry Huber.

County child protection workers often get involved when someone from the public or another agency has filed a complaint that a child might be in danger.

A worker will investigate, and can remove a child from a home for safety reasons, said Megan DeVore, an assistant corporation counsel who now handles most of the child welfare cases.

In 2006, La Crosse County child protective services workers investigated 870 families with 1,793 children. Of those, 512 families were “screened out,” meaning no further action was taken, said Mary Ellen Prinsen, manager of child protective services.

The remaining 358 families received more investigation and oversight, resulting in 132 cases in which petitions were filed for a child in need of protective services, known as CHIPS.

If child protective services takes a child out of the home, he or she usually goes into foster care. The child also can be placed with a relative.

In some cases, the child may be returned to the parents in a relatively short time if the problems are corrected. In others, the county will move to have the child declared in need of protection.

The parents can agree to this, or they can fight it. In a few cases, there’s even a jury trial. DeVore said judges get regular updates on the status of the child and the parents.

The county is required to develop a “case plan” of steps the parents and county will take to reunify the family.

DeVore said the county’s goal is to work with parents to provide a safe environment for the children.

“Once safety is controlled, we look at return to home,” DeVore said. “We’re not in the business of trying to create perfect parents.”

The case involving Taylor and Erickson is proceeding on two tracks, according to the records. The county is working to reunite the family, but also to put the children up for adoption if Taylor and Erickson can’t take care of them.

“If reunification is not successful, we need to have a backup plan,” DeVore said.

Neither parent has a nearby relative who could take care of the children, though Erickson has an uncle, John Swenson, a 1984 Viterbo University graduate now in the Chicago area, who said he might be willing to adopt the children if the court terminates parental rights.

If the judge April 17 finds probable cause to terminate parental rights for Jesse James, the matter will go to trial within about 45 days, though that could be delayed if the parents’ attorneys need more time.

At the trial, the parents have the right to a 12-person jury. For parental rights to be terminated, DeVore said, the jury must answer yes to three key questions:

Have the parents failed to meet the conditions for reunification in the court order?

Has the county made reasonable efforts to provide services to the parents that were ordered by the court?

Is there a substantial likelihood the parents will not meet the conditions for reunification in the next nine months?

DeVore, who has been trying these cases since 1998, said she can remember only three or four times when the jury has not agreed to terminate parental rights. In those few instances, it usually has been because of the last question.

If parental rights are terminated, custody of the child is transferred to the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services.

“At that point, we (the county) don’t have any say where that adoptive placement is,” DeVore said.

If the parents voluntarily terminate their rights — which usually is what happens — visitation agreements often are reached with adoptive parents, DeVore said, though they’re not enforceable.

DeVore and Prinsen said the county gets no benefit from putting children up for adoption.

“I have to say it’s one of the hardest things for our workers to do,” Prinsen said. “They spend a lot of time and effort, and really wanting to reunify children with their families if at all possible.”

A child protection success story

When child protection workers take children away from their parents, it can

create a lot of animosity.

But the La Crosse County Department of Human Services also has some “satisfied customers,” said Mary Ellen Prinsen, who manages the family and children’s services division.

“We have cases where the parents don’t want us to close them” because they appreciate the county workers’ help and support, Prinsen said.

In March, a woman named Heather — no last name was given — shared her experience with the county’s Health and Human Services Board.

According to the board’s minutes, the young mother of three children came from an abusive relationship; the children’s father was arrested for battery. She said she gave up a four-year college scholarship for the relationship.

Heather was in the human services system for more than two years. The court system held hearings on the children, and Heather separated from the children’s father and was able to retain two of the children. The third child was placed with Heather’s sister.

Though defiant at first, Heather ended up praising the assistance provided by child protective services, saying it helped her learn to be a parent and enjoy being a mom.

Reid Magney can be reached at (608) 791-8211 or rmagney@lacrossetribune.com.

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