Jan 28, 2006 7:51 pm US/Eastern
Advocates: Nixzmary Death An Isolated Incident
Experts Wary Of Parents Feeling 'Foster-Care Panic'
NEW YORK (AP) ―
There is no argument that Nixzmary Brown's death was horrific; the 7-year-old Brooklyn girl was tortured and beaten to death.
There is, however, concern and contention over the next phase for New York City's child protection agency and the families it monitors.
Some child-welfare advocates worry the tragedy is being compounded by what they call "foster-care panic."
The phenomenon has occurred in several states over the years.
It happens in high-profile cases after an abused child in a family already under scrutiny is killed and authorities then sharply increase the number of children removed from their parents.
Often, some experts argue, the result is a harmful overreaction to public pressure.
Too many children have been wrested from poor but well-meaning parents and placed in troubled foster-care systems where the long-term outlook for children is bleak, they contend.
Possible evidence of such a syndrome has surfaced in New York, where -- compared to the same period last year --abuse reports nearly doubled (to 3,307) and foster-care placements doubled (to 291) in the 12 days after Nixzmary's death earlier this month.
The trend is alarming advocates who have praised New York for a dramatic reduction of foster-care rolls since an uproar over the 1995 beating death of 6-year-old Elisa Izquierdo by her mother.
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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