A 3-year-old boy has tragically died after being left in a car by himself for 5 hours on an Alabama day when the heat index was over 100 degrees.
Sign the petition to demand a full investigation into how this happened!You see, the toddler was not under the care of his family at the time. No, the boy was in foster care and therefore was in
state custody. Specifically, he was in the care of a contractor for the state human resources department.
That contractor was supposed to take him from a visit with his father in the morning to a daycare center that would watch the boy for the afternoon.
But the boy never made it to daycare, and his father will never see him again.According to reports, the boy was taken from his visit with his father around 11:30am and remained strapped in the car while the contractor
ran errands. Then, she went home. And the small boy was left in the car.
He was locked in that hot car with the windows up from 12:30pm to 5:30pm, a blazing hot time of day. He must have been so terrified and confused.At 5:30pm, the daycare called the woman to ask about the whereabouts of the child. He was still in her car…unresponsive.
Police were called to the scene, but it was too late --
the 3-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.The Department of Human Resources in Alabama is meant to "oversee child protection." What happened was the exact opposite.
According to reports, the boy is confirmed to have a father and an aunt present in his life.
How utterly devastating for this family to put their trust in the state to keep this baby safe and care for, just to have it fail so miserably. Studies have shown that children in foster care have a significantly higher risk of maltreatment and abuse than children not in the foster system, and this horrible incident is a key example. Children in foster care need a monumental amount of protection, understanding, and safekeeping -- these are often children that have already had traumatic beginnings, and require a whole love of healing, love, and rehabilitation.
So how in the world was this kind of harm allowed to befall this poor child?The Alabama Department of Human Resources owes this boy's family, and the entire world, answers. We demand a thorough investigation into how this happened -- whether it is a lack of oversight, a need for better training or employee vetting, or whatever it may have been that led to this tragedy.
Sign the petition to demand justice for this boy and his family by demanding a a full investigation!