Lorrie Thomas
I don’t know about all of you; but sometimes I think back to my childhood after having read some kind of horror on PYSIH and for the life of me can’t remember anything even close to this kind of stuff happening to me. I never had to worry about my dad biting me. I never had to worry about my mom depriving me of food or water for days on end. I never had to worry about either one of my parents trying to kill me.
How did I get so lucky?
Then it hits me; it’s not luck, that’s how it is supposed to be. Parents are supposed to love you; good or bad, clean or messy, thick or thin.
I have been sitting on this story for a few months; not because I didn’t think it was a good story, but because I thought there were too many stories about child abuse.
There have been an abundance of stories about moms taking the old adage of, “…I brought you into this world, and I will take you out”, way too seriously. Then I read a story the other 
day, Tyruss’ story, and I realized I needed to tell this child’s story too.
I would like to introduce you to Shylea Myza Thomas. In June of 1999, this little girl made her debut into the world and that could have quite possibly been the last happy day of her short life. At 3 weeks old she had a “crib accident”, which in plain English boils down to suffocation. Generally “crib accidents” occur when a parent or caregiver doesn’t take enough time and energy to make a crib safe and secure for an infant.
Shylea suffered from quadriplegia; the inability to use a single one of her four limbs. It is unclear if she was born this way, or if it occurred as a result of her “accident”. She also received her nourishment via a feeding tube. In the months following her suffocation the infant had other incidents of bodily damage; but the straw that broke the camel’s back was a fall that she took less than a year after her birth.
In mid-2000, Shylea took a spill that resulted in a broken leg. I guess a child with a broken leg isn’t hard for one to imagine, even a quadriplegic. I am definitely NOT saying it is an everyday event; but it could happen. However; doctors equate the severity of Shylea’s broken leg to that of one from a two story fall. I 
guess a quadriplegic infant falling from a 2 story distance finally got someone off their ass at Department of Human Services (DHS), they finally stepped in and removed the girl and her sister, who is 2 years older, from the mother’s custody.
Immediately the Thomas girls were placed in the care of a cousin where they stayed until 2003. There are no reports of any life altering occurrences while the girls were in this placement. In 2003, the girls were adopted by their birth aunt, Lorrie Thomas. Ms. Thomas is the mother of 7 children, including a 15 year old with 2 of her own children. That should have been reason enough to raise question about the care these girls would receive in her home. The sad thing about family placed adoptions in Michigan is that once they are approved—the state bows out and doesn’t give it a second thought. Numerous media outlets have submitted FOIA requests for Lorrie Thomas’ Pre Adoption Screening; all have been denied.
Following the adoption; life, as they say, went on. Nothing newsworthy occurred in this overstuffed household over the years. Sure, there were calls placed to DHS; but they decided to do nothing about them. They visited but never opened an investigation over any of the 10 complaints they received. The house was 
filthy and substandard—or maybe it wasn’t by Flint standards.
Family members called and made multiple reports questioning the care Shylea was receiving. Her older sister; Razetta Thomas-Carroll, 20, visited the home on multiple occasions and was denied access inside. Sometime near Shylea’s 9th birthday in 2008; her birth mother, Rachel Thomas, talked Lorrie Thomas into allowing the girl to go out with her to celebrate the occasion. Thomas-Carroll also accompanied the child on this outing and claims she was thin and her ribs were sinking in on one side. Lorrie Thomas claims the weight loss was caused by Shylea’s new feeding tube; stating that it only allowed her to eat so much. Uh, yeah. They only allow you to eat as much as is put in it.
Over the next few months, Thomas-Carroll attempted to visit with Shylea multiple times. Instead of being granted access to her, she was allowed to visit with the older of the two girls. The unnamed sister filled Thomas-Carroll in on the horrors Shylea was dealing with. She was kept locked in a hot upper level bedroom, even on the hottest of days. She was denied toys at Christmas. She was not allowed to see anyone.
On April 20, 2009; following the discussion with her sister, Thomas-Carroll called DHS again. Instead of listening to them, she demanded they listen to her by telling them if they didn’t do something about Lorrie Thomas, she was going to kill her. This started the investigation. The Department of Human Services interviewed family members and neighbors. Some family members claimed they hadn’t seen the girl for a year, some claimed she was in Virginia but asked no questions as to why. Neighbors claimed they had no idea the girl lived in the house.
Finally, DHS was finally taking this seriously and started an in-depth investigation.
Unfortunately, it was too late for Shylea.
Lorrie Thomas was taken to the Police Department and interviewed about the missing child. In the videotaped interview, Thomas was accused of lying about the whereabouts and that is when she demanded an attorney. She continued talking freely after her request.
Two days after the beginning of the search for Shylea, it ended. Lorrie Thomas rode in a car with Flint Police to, “Stor & Lock”, a self storage facility in the town and directed them to this helpless child’s body. Shylea’s body was haphazardly strewn in a plastic storage tote, covered with a garbage bag, there were a few moth balls thrown in to prevent mice from getting to the body.
Lorrie Thomas was arrested and charged with 2nd degree murder and held without bond. She is also being charged with tampering with evidence, and a misdemeanor count of removing a body without the permission of the medical examiner.
Little Shylea’s autopsy revealed the cause of death as being severe neglect and malnutrition; she weighed only 33 pounds at death (records show that she was 61 pounds in August of 2007). The medical examiner also determined that Shylea was dead for 6 weeks before she was found. Upon determining this; Lorrie Thomas was also charged with 2 counts of welfare fraud because on April 13, 2009 she cashed her $3336 Adoption Subsidy Check. This check was mostly for the care of Shylea – only $451 was dedicated to her sister’s care.
Lorrie Thomas’ court appointed attorney, Mark Clement, moved to have the discovery of the body thrown out as illegal during the preliminary hearing. Clement claims Thomas asked for an attorney during that videotaped interview but police continued talking to her. Genesee County Prosecutor, Marcy Mabry, countered that police didn’t question her—she kept talking. Judge Tracy Collier-Nix postponed the preliminary hearing until July 20, 2009 so she can determine if there is enough evidence to go to trial.
All of Ms. Thomas’ children are in foster care, although, their fathers are fighting for custody. DHS will not grant custody to them because one of them has a criminal history, two live out of state, and one owes back child support. Now if only they were that picky when placing Shylea; you wouldn’t be reading this story right now. Judge John Gadola is hearing the case in the children’s placement, and he has postponed the case until July 30; after the ruling in the preliminary hearing. He will also terminate Lorrie Thomas’ parental rights on August 14, 2009.
As of October 2008, the State of Michigan has changed its Family Placement Adoption Laws. Now even families must meet income and space requirements. They must also become foster care licensed to even be considered.
As soon as I know anything new in this case, I will update this story.
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55 Comments »
OK. here is where I get infuriated. $3,000 a month? Do the math – $36,000 a year, tax free. (That’s like a $50,000 job, before taxes!) And you know that does not include food, housing or medical care! AND, that’s added to the hundreds more that this bitch got for EACH of the other 10 kids in her home! That’s gonna be another $3000 or so. That’s more than most hardworking families make, and these cows gets it for just popping out babies?
Is there any wonder why these pigs fight over the child whom they have no love for or interest in taking care of? It’s a Goddamned PAYCHECK!
This is fucking sickening! These children are a commodity, a source of income. And the greedy, lazy whores can’t even bother keeping their income source in good shape?
The bleeding heart liberals have created this class of users. These people think that it’s their right to keep making babies, and it is OUR responsibility to take care of them. And no one ever is willing to point the finger at the abuses and say WTF? It is a sick damned society we live in.
In case you can’t tell.. I am pissed! I suggest that anyone who is offended by the “bleeding heart liberals” not get in my face about it till I have a chance to cool down a bit. …just saying…
Yeah, Mazzi,
Maybe we are, or aren’t on the same page on the “why” of it all, but:
If you have a garden, and you don’t take care of it, you lose your source of food, right? Well if you’re making over thirty fucking k a year to take care of a child, you’d think you’d try to do it right? What was she doing with the money? Literally getting manicures? She sure as hell wasn’t buying face lifts and getting her hair done right. 0.o
I’m not advocating taking advantage of the system, but honestly it seems that a good large number of the people who do are too retarded to be getting away with it and yet do somehow. That speaks volumes for how much of a failure the “system” is… and why it’s getting taken advantage of. I can understand having kids and the deadbeat dad leaves, then you have to support your kids until you get a good job to take care of them… but it should be temporary. Or if you are someone with ten kids and your baby daddy/mom dies, and you think “aw shit, I knew I should have been a lawyer!” That’s different. Having fifteen kids and living off of the state intentionally? Wrong on so many levels. There needs to be some sort of accountability here, and the system needs serious reform.
Exactly Alanna. I would never say that we shouldn’t help people who find themselves in a tough situation. I could happen to anyone under the wrong set of circumstances.
But my understanding is that the people for whom it is intended have the hardest time getting benefits. If I lost my job, and I had a mortgage and 3 kids and little or no savings, HOW would I get benefits? Wouldn’t they look at the equity in my home and refuse me?
From what I understand, if you want benefits, you had better be prepared to hand over ALL aspects of your freedom and privacy to the government. That is such a vile thought to those of us who are educated and understand what our constitutional rights are that many of us would refuse based on that alone.
This class of slaves to the system have no such compunction. They have been in the system their whole lives – I am pretty sure that they mostly have no clue how revolting that thought is. It’s just a way of life to them, just like popping out babies is a way of life.
I remember when my baby was born and all my coworkers said that being on maternity leave pay dropped our income enough to qualify for WIC. I looked at the application papers and never even bothered to fill them out because they were so intrusive. That was not a good trade-off, just to get a little free food.
I know I sound like some gun-grabbing neo-con crazy, but I don’t want my government having that much information about me. Period.
The safety net has become a hammock for which GENERATIONS will live in…..
15 with 2 children……. fucking breeders……… even rabbits are more responsible….
Mazzi: “I suggest that anyone who is offended by the “bleeding heart liberals” not get in my face about it till I have a chance to cool down a bit”
Stapler, isn’t this your cue?
“Stapler, isn’t this your cue?”
lmao…I was thinking the same thing
I’m always curious as to why these whores are always crying in court. My husband and I have a one year old daughter, and she is our WORLD. I had to quit my job and stay home with her when she was put on a heart and lung monitor at just 6 weeks old. His hours got cut at work, we recieve no state help, and we’re struggling just to make ends meet. But we do it, every single day, because we will do anything to make sure we’re rasing a happy, healthy and productive member of society. No one needs to hand me a goddamn government check so that I can do my job as a parent. No one needs to visit MY home and check and make sure my parenting is up to par. Lock these vile bitches up and throw away the key. I think I’m going to skip breakfast because I’m about to be sick. RIP sweet girl.
It’s worth it Moop. Even if you have to eat mac and cheese a few nites a week, it is worth it to give your child the best that you can. In a few years she will go off to preschool, then kindergarten, and you can get a part time job. Things will ease up financially.
You may not get wide-screen TV’s or nice new cars for a while, but if you don’t give your kid your undivided attention now, you will never have the opportunity again. It is worth every shopping trip to Goodwill or yard sales, to be home with your baby and NOT on public “assistance”.
god yes, it’s all worth it! It is the absolute greatest thing in the world if you’re willing to make many sacrifices. There have been times I hope we never have to relive, but somehow, our daughter is still the happiest kid you would ever meet. When my husband’s hours got cut his friend asked if we looked into assistance programs, and it hadn’t even crossed our minds to do so. I think a lot of the problem now is that people feel very VERY entitled when they give birth to, or foster children. Parenting is just as much a job (if not more) as any other. If someone was paying me-what was this woman making- oh yeah, $36,000 a year to do a job and I failed at it, I would get fired. Why the state is not interested in protecting their investement is beyond me. Probably like 90% of these cases could be told “The vacation’s over, if you would like help finding a job and daycare, let us know.” But meanwhile, families like mine will continue to suffer, and families with pregnant 15 year olds and money grubbing, abusive baby factories will continue to profit. I need coffee.
Fucking Flint, Michigan. I can’t say I’m surprised by any of this. Shocked and disgusted ? Yes. But surprised ? No way.
For anyone who has been to Flint, you know EXACTLY what I mean. For those of you who haven’t…heed this advice and stay away. For anyone who might be offended..too bad. Flint is a shit hole, plain and simple.
Flint is possibly the most depressing place I’ve ever been to. And you know, I understand that when the car factories died and the unemployment rate soared things got tough, but damn, some people just seem outright determined to fail in life.
“but damn, some people just seem outright determined to fail in life.”
Best line I’ve heard in a very long time, and so absolutely true.
The worst part is when these idiots have to drag the innocent down with them. I mean, if you want to live like a fucking slob, and make zero effort to find work, or shower, or do the very basic things that distinguish us as human beings….fine…that is your life. But when you drag your children into this shit, and then expect others to pay your ride through life….that’s when it seriously pisses me off, and has to stop.
I have to say; as much as this article isnt about where it occurred, that I completely agree with you about Flint.
I am from Michigan, albeit, the other side of the state from there, but it kind of embarrasses me knowing the way this town is.
Flint is not the biggest embarrassment in the state–that Honor actually goes to Detroit. Not a single day can you go without hearing about some kind of idiocy going on over there on the “East Side”.
Flint is filled with low-life scum; but low-life scum that couldnt cut it on the streets of Detroit.
I remember not too long ago reading an article about a child (13 or something) taking a Greyhound bus from Flint to Detroit after meeting a man on a date line. Turns out the “man” she met was a group of men that held her hostage and raped her for a few days–wouldnt you know that her mom didnt even know she was gone until she called her from a payphone after the assailants let her go. Her mom was pissed that she was in Detroit–only because she had to go pick her up. Leave it to Flint parents to have their priorities straight. (sarcasm, in case you missed that).
Most parents would have known their 13 year old was buying a bus ticket. Most parents would have realized their child was gone before the bus pulled out of the station. Flint and Detroit seem to live by their own rules. That must be why you cant find a grocery store in Detroit–the grocers dont wanna play by their rules. Must be why their Ex-Mayor is a convicted felon; for lying to a grand jury about an affair with his top aide. For assaulting a process server. For ordering the murder of a prostitute. Its probably why a city councilwoman was just convicted of bribery. That must be when someone asks me to “come to flint”, I flinch and become physically ill and have to tell them NO WAY JOSE!!
I could list multiple statistics about Flint and Detroit–but I wont bore you or be deemed a racist for doing so.
My point–thank the heavens above you don’t have to suffer in these cesspools.
min_duhh…
I too hail from Michigan, and know EXACTLY what you’re saying here. I won’t elaborate on what you wrote either because theres absolutely no reason to.
I still have family in Michigan, though not in Detroit or Flint…thank God, and will always consider Michigan my home. But yes, I am glad I got out..and do thank my lucky stars that I have stayed out.
Flint is terrible. We took my daughter to check out Kettering since it’s a great engineering school. The campus is really nice, but it is small, and surrounded by ghetto in every direction. I have never been so happy as when she whispered to me, halfway through the tour “I don’t want to go here”. LOL
What a horrible and depressing place. Had she not decided that it was not for her, I planned to put my foot down and say NO WAY. I didn’t raise her for 18 years to send her to a damned ghetto.
Mazzi,
Yep, Flint is one hell of a shit hole. I suppose I could find it within me to feel sorry for the majority of the people that live there, but due to experiences that I need not elaborate on…I don’t.
The majority of the people there seem to be proud of their ghetto lifestyle, and have zero desire to change anything about their circumstances or the conditions in which they live.
It’s just a horrible, horrible place.
I’m from the Flint area (Swartz Creek), and I live in Lansing now. It breaks my heart to see what’s become of Flint. Lansing may not be breathtaking, but at least it has a downtown with businesses that are open, and I’m not afraid for my life when I drive through it at night.
My husband and I were on our way to Maine about a year ago, and we took 27 down from the Mt Pleasant area as soon as we seen the Flint exits approaching he closed the windows and locked the doors in the car. That really freaked me out because he called me a sissy when I did stuff like that downtown Grand Rapids afterdark so I knew we were somewhere bad if he was doing it. I couldn’t roll my window down til we just about crossed into Ohio. He yelled at me if I looked at the car next to us for too long. …asked me if I wanted to get shot.
Its sad to see such a decline in the state; its absolutely a beautiful most places and would be all over if all the cretins took pride in something other than messing stuff up.
if Lorrie Thomas had been a non custodial father with visitation rights,,,, things would have been different……
Any accusations would have led to an investigation – EVERY DOOR in that house would have been opened EVERY SPACE behnd each door would have been looked at……
I was working on my house…… removing a carpet and my house was inspected to be sure I removed every staple……
The inpsectors saw i had a 6 room house and he work areas could be properly closed off and that the two rooms were only 1/4 of the total house…..
They took about 10 minutes to see that the entore house was old, in need of repair, but not filthy nor dangerous…
As far as welfare being intrusive……. it is as one enters into the system…. it’s as if the system want to be sure one will stay on it, those who have a temporary need are forced to fend on their own, go into debt and not ask again until they can prove that they will stay on the system. Once on… well we see just how they can live once one is “in”.
Octumom’s house should have glass walls so we cam all drive by and see our tax dollars at work…….
This story is such a tragedy. I am from Flint, Michigan and get angered that everyone in the world thinks that the residents there are ALL terrible. This woman does not reflect the majority of the residents’ who live there!! She was a piece of shit who took advantage of the system and neglected this little helpless angel. There are people in suburban areas who do the same thing!! I hope she gets sentenced to the max.
R.I.P. little Shylea.
Unfortunately, statistically speaking a MAJORITY of Flintites (is that the right name?) do fit that description to a tee.
If that is not the case, why (and I am using 2007 statistics here) was Flint listed as #3 on the most Dangerous Cities in America (behind you guessed it # 1 Detroit and #2 St Louis ). Definitely not because its an idyllic place to live.
Geez! That’s a woman??? That first picture of “her”…yikes!
Ok. After almost a year…I am going to ask this at the risk of sounding like a TOTAL RETARD.
How do you get a picture?
( I know this doesnt have anything to do with this story; but Im asking anyways.)
You set up an account at gravatar.com :-)
Just go to Gravatar.com and set up an account. That’s it.
Thanks Guys! I don’t feel so ditzy anymore, I thought I was missing a link somewhere–now you see why its Min_DUHHHH now dontcha?
I couldn’t figure it out at first, but I read the directions a couple of times and I really hope that I did it right. I’ll be kinda sad if it didn’t work
No shit! It worked!!!! Dayum!
its hard to believe a woman would put a poor little girl through that, whatever happened to maternal instincts? i have two little girls, ages 2 and 2 months, but i would never deprive them of food or visitors, and would never dream of depriving them of life. its unreal at how the system is, where allegations dont mean anything anymore, the kid has to be dead for CPS or whatever to look into it. especially when she was getting so much from the state for these kids, why didnt they keep checking up on them? thats how u protect the investment and the children. the state dropped the ball and i hope she fries
Okay, WTF. The state took her from a negligent mother and gave her to a murdering aunt. Huh so that is how that works. They just made it look like they were doing their job!
You know what the problem is? These people get paid to abuse our children. The state employees get paid to look like they care. Foster parents get paid to abuse and further harm our children. (not all foster parents abuse their children)
My 9 yr old daughter has a friend who gets hit for every minor infraction. (we have tried to get her help, No one has ever checked it out) My daughter and I were talking and she told me that she did not want anything for christmas or for her birthday, her only wish is that her friend be safe! I am still tearing up over that conversation. My point is if a 9 yr old knows that this is wrong and a state worker does not. Look like we have been paying the wrong people to take care of our precious children.
Wow – a nine year old child should be wanting stuff for themselves…
Stuff like this brings a tear to my eye and desire to break one of the 10 Commandments………
I hate the system as it is, it rewards having kids when you can’t afford them, sloth, laziness, ignorance….Want to make a dent in the govt budget? look at welfare-here in nebraska we had a jerk dad drop off 9 kids for the State to take care of cause he was out of work wife died, so then what does this brain surgeon do? gets some stupid twit pregnant with twins!! So you dump your kids without a second thought and have more! Why do all these morons seem to procreate without problem when people who want and could care for kids have problems?
This poor girl never stood a chance, just like all these kids killed at the hands of relatives. I have to say I would rather have an illegal but working immigrant than an entitled 3rd or 4th generation welfare celebrate when your 14 year old gets pregnant cause its more money welfare case in my neighborhood-
Spay and neuter your freeloaders!
What a difference between the first and the last picture.
Self righteous bitch in the first picture…. how dare anyone question her with what she does with the money once she cashes the checks… You know the checks are made out to her, so it’s her money….
The top picture just says “Fuck You all…. I just cashed the checks”
The last one……. “Oh I am so sorry I got caught” Maybe she’s upset now that her biggest check is not going to be there anymore, maybe what really brought tears to her eyes is the possibility that she’s have to pay some of it back……
Maybe what’s got her real upset is that she won’t be able to collect while in jail……. and when she gets out there will be no checks sitting in the mail box….
I don’t think that Shylea Myza is on her mind… well not as a person…
Amen, Fred. It’s all fun and games until someone gets arrested. Then the tears start-a-flowin.
My friend’s wife has pouted / teared her way out of a few speeding tickets, but speeding & murder are two different things……
…..another irresponsible welfare minority mother with her hand out…give me, give me, give me! I am so sick of the liberals in this country allocating our tax dollars to lowlifes like her and her family. Occurences like this will only grow more common. Quit issuing checks to those who haven’t earned it and they’ll stop breeding. It will take awhile to break the cycle, but they’ll eventually get the drift. This makes me sick!
yeah…let them all starve right s? some of your comments…ugh…welfare when used properly (liberal or conservative alike) works. When Republicans were in charge and either made all teh rules you blame liberals for or always upheld them, you said nothing. Now that we are in charge, it’s all our fault. Every comment you make have laviscious undertones to them. I’d wager you are part of teh OWI folks, or European American movement…
Why should anyone be starving? Most of these cases can get their lazy asses up and work for a living. I can agree that as far as welfare and disability are concerned, it can definitely benefit the people who recieve it and use it PROPERLY. But maybe the people who ABUSE the system wouldn’t be in such dire circumstances if they could have the foresight or basic responsibility to understand that having more and more children with more and more partners is not going to result in anything but poverty and a vicious cycle. What kind of a message does that send when people are rewarded for terrible, irresponsible behavior? Why should people be rewarded for making a living off of laziness, ignorance and greed? If people would rather starve to death than go out and make an honest living, get the kids away from them and let them have at it.
Kenny, I know you are talking to S, but I want to address the liberal issue, since I brought it up at first.
First of all, I complained about the welfare system when the Republicans were in power. The system has been broken for a long time, and the only thing that the R’s did was try to stem the bleeding a bit. Way too little, way too late, and way too unenforced.
The current system we have is an offshoot from what was called the “Relief” system in the earliest days of welfare. It was a system which brought food and clothing to needy families in response to an emergency in our country – the Great Depression. There were no cash payments, rather the cash came by putting the families to work. Well, it was embarrassing to families to receive handouts, so guilty whites (liberals) found ways to make it less humiliating. Instead of bringing boxes of food, they began giving food stamps so the families could shop with more dignity. If there was no male in the household to take a government sponsored job, the mother started getting a check to help her cover her families needs.
As each dignity issue was met, more were isolated, and steps were taken to make welfare less humiliating.
Because the humiliation factor was removed, so was the incentive for people to get OFF of welfare. Entire communities began asking for assistance, and why wouldn’t they? Our government was willing to give them as much as, or more than, they could get by working. As the communities grew, we ended up with the children of welfare mothers being surrounded by the system, and not even CONSIDERING any other options. As soon as they are of child-bearing age, having a few kids means a bigger paycheck for the family. In my state, welfare recipients have Visa credit cards with both their food stamp benefits and their CASH loaded in every month, so that they are completely unidentifiable from non-recipients.
My point (and that of many hard-working conservatives) is that it SHOULD be at least a little humiliating. If there is no humiliation, then it becomes essentially an entitlement in the minds of the recipients. It is no longer a compassionate hand-up, it is a plain and simple handout, and one which is designed to be delivered in a way to prevent any shame. We SHOULD be encouraging people to get educations, to get jobs, and to move out of the system. We SHOULD be encouraging unmarried women to not have babies, rather than rewarding them for having more and more and more. We should be holding people responsible and accountable for their families, rather than effectively encouraging them to have more children so that they can get more money.
There are so many offshoots of this horrid system, from poverty to drugs to crime, but the absolute worst thing that this system did was take the fathers out of the homes. It didn’t take long before people realized that the only way to get welfare was to be unmarried and have children. The women stopped insisting that their sperm donors step up to the plate and marry them, and instead began accepting irresponsibility as a norm.
There is so much more – I could go on for weeks abut this. But this is where we are, in a nutshell. Barring a complete rebuilding of the system from the ground up, we are in a position where the liberal do-gooders have created a monster (out of misguided compassion and/or guilt). The liberals today want to make it worse (ie: easier to get benefits – the humiliation factor is completely gone now), and the conservatives want to bring it down (in steps).
That’s why I blame the liberals. It’s not Obama or Pelosi or Frank who caused the problem. It began a long time ago, but was exacerbated over time by liberals. Obama and Pelosi and Frank have a vested interest in keeping it this way though. Since they are the ones who keep forcing society to give more, the takers will keep on voting for them. So why in the hell would they stop trying to give more away? It’s not THEIR money – so they could care less.
I don’t believe that it is cruel to try and find ways to get people out of the system, even if it means that the people will not live by the same standards as working families – until THEY also become working families. In my city, welfare recipients live in the same neighborhoods as people who who have two working middle-class adults. How is that even a LITTLE bit fair? How is there anything right about one family getting free housing, free food, free everything, and living at the same standard as people who work their asses off? Especially when the welfare mother has been rewarded for doing everything wrong – NOT having a job, NOT being married, having children she can’t afford, etc.etc.etc.
Psssst – Jason – I know that I oversimplified the steps from relief to the current welfare system – I didn’t mean it to be an historical walk through, so much as a rough idea, lol. Don’t beat me up, k???
Initially the relief system was actually a cash system. Later it became a negotiated settlement group, that helped keep the lights on and negotiate payments for bills and rent, and worked with other groups and programs for job placements. Our modern welfare system, the ones people malign so much, actually comes from the expansions of the Great Society. While Social Security, Welfare, Food Stamps, and a host of other programs came from the social safety-net, I don’t blame FDR for his actions. He was given an economic model that showed GDP would shrink for 20 years if something wasn’t done to make people stop burying money in the back yard. He raised taxes on the rich and managed to provide them an interesting incentive. They could pay taxes to the government for the redistribution of wealth or they could donate it to charities, schools and foundations so they could choose how the wealth would be distributed.
I don’t blame FDR for the excess and failings of these systems. I blame both the people who tried to force it to fail and those who used it to buy votes, so the Republicans and the Democrats respectively. I think the programs have a core of necessity. While unemployment wouldn’t pay all of my bills if I lost my job, I like knowing that if worst came to worst, that money deducted from my check all these years could help me bear through the few weeks it would take to find another job. If I were ever disabled, my extra disability insurance policies wouldn’t kick in for 6 months, but in the meantime, I could subsist on government programs until my private insurance would deign to pay for my failings. Knowing that even if there’s something cataclysmic that happens, I have a hope that I won’t completely be destroyed by it, is a useful thing to help me take risks and concentrate on the activities at hand.
I’m 31 and I’m not going to get Social Security. I have some life insurance policies(VUL’s not just term), some investments and I will have the equity in my home. People my age should be planning on Social Security just disappearing, while it maintains our parents and grandparents.
I don’t believe in perfectly free markets. I believe in mixed systems and some form of social welfare is necessary for anything sustainable… just maybe not what we have now.
I am 100% in favor of welfare in principle. I think that as a civilized society, we have to insure that at least our own citizens are not starving, and I don’t even object that tax money is taken involuntarily (although I would prefer to see non-government charitable foundations run most of it.)
I just don’t think it should be available as a lifestyle choice. If people are getting money from the government, at least they should be required to work for it, in some manner. And it should not be enough that it provides an income similar to that of a person who is working hard to stay OFF welfare.
And, frankly – I think it is beyond disgusting that a family member would get $3,000 a month from US to care for their own flesh and blood.
Plus, can you see the potential scam here? Have a baby – deliberately or negligently case brain damage / physical handicap, and pass the kid off to a relative. $3,000 a month is a hella lot of money, and for people who only see children as a government paycheck, that’s unfortunately not hard to imagine. I guess it’s impossible to prove how a little baby ended up handicapped, but it would not surprise me to find that some are deliberately injured to increase the benefits. It’s a sick world out there, and anytime money is involved, there are always people willing to be just a little bit sicker.
No Kenny, you wagered wrong. I am just a common sense Republican who was raised to work hard, go to college, and not accept something that I had not earned.
I have zero tolerance for a system that rewards people for being idle and having children they cannot afford and cannot take care of. I don’t have to prattle on about the statisitcs of welfare recipients, poverty, and their ability to care for their offspring. It is an undeniable fact.
Do I think they should starve you wondered? NO ONE is starving in this country and hasn’t for a long time. This generation, myself included, has no idea what starving is.
Let’s make a different bet. Wherever you live in the United States, within 200 miles there’s at least one person who is starving.
There are old people who are eating cat food to stay alive.
The disabled, the mentally infirm, the destitute, we do have to do something for them. There are admittedly a lot of people on Welfare, who should not be. I don’t think even Kenny is arguing against that, but there are people who need help and who cannot get it from their family, friends or church.
That’s a woman? Looks more like a fucking neanderthal!!
She’s about as advanced as one too. Stupid bitch.
I don’t think that $3000 is for just one month–I think those things are paid quarterly.
It is actually a monthly payment. It was supposed to cover costs for her medical equipment. On top of the adoption check, the girl also received a disability check. I am also assuming she collected welfare for her children and grand children living in her home. There was also some amount of child support. This family had to be sitting pretty financially– should have been at least. Sounds a little like she had a monthly income greater than most people make in 3 times as long.
Mazzi, you got a bit off topic witht he “bleeding heart liberals” thing. You really didn’t need to put that there because it looks like you just wanted to drop a little political b.s. in there. But all in all, I agree. If taking care of little Shylea was too much she should have said so. I understand caring for a child with disabilities can be a very rough and tiring job. My old downstairs neighbor’s son was disabled. His spine was twisted and he could hardly communicate, just with grunts and smirks. It was sad to see, but he lives a happy life. He’s loved, cared for, and always entertained and never alone. But I’m sad that Shylea was treated this way. Poor kid.
I think Mazzi’s comments are actually very relevant to the topic. Who do you think pushes for baby factories to get paid with government money? Who do you think supports criminals being coddled in prison instead of put to death? Maybe if the court systems in this country showed a little less compassion (hate to say it) cases like this wouldn’t happen so often. Nowadays there really isn’t much to fear when you do something like this.
Excellent story min_duhh. I haven’t been able to visit the site and finish reading all the stories in about a week, & it’s been great reading all the stories by the different authors. (Don’t worry Max, you’ll always be my favorite author!!)
This poor little one had such a tough time in her short little life. I can’t comprehend why social services thought Lorrie Thomas would make a good caregiver & provider for this girl when her home was already overflowing with children. I hope the children that were in Lorrie’s home will now have a chance at a better future. RIP Shylea!!
Alright, as promised, here is an update on this story.
(first I want to make a correction- in the original story the child placement hearing was on June 30 not July 30, sorry about that)
Now, for the update. Lorrie Thomas’ preliminary was continued once again. It was supposed to be decided today whether or not there was enough evidence to go to trial, instead it has been moved to September 2, 2009.
The judge in the child placement case decided to let all of Thomas’ children go with their fathers, except the oldest daughter,15 (the mother of 2). It seems her father failed court mandated alcohol screening as well as a court appearance. He will be allowed to re-apply for custody if he passes the alcohol screening. Shylae’s biological sister will also go live with one of the childrens fathers.
Thomas’ eldest daughter ran away from her foster home, with her children, on Saturday July 18 and was found on Monday July 20. She was staying with family. Monday she was placed back in state care. She claimed she ran because she didn’t want to testify against her mother. Could explain the additional postponment in the preliminary hearing.
The autopsy repost into this case has been released and official cause of death is listed as homicide caused by brain death by starvation. It has been clarified that Shylaes quadriplegia was caused by her “crib accident”. Also clarified are the facts that Shylae was deaf, blind, mute, confined to a wheelchair. It is also believed that Thomas falsified weight reports to the company providing Shylaes formula, and the formula was consumed by other children in the home.
The family court judge also decided it would be a good idea to order visitation for the children to see Thomas in jail. Eh, not something I agree with but I’m not the judge.
As always I will keep this updated.
What I don’t get is, why did Lorrie Thomas even file to adopt the poor child if she planned on neglecting her in the first place? Or does she enjoy denying a child food and care?
Not depriving all children, just the disabled ones who can’t speak for themselves.
another shocking case of the states inability to protect children how many kids have to die before a higher agency steps in and takes control of these so called child service offices it a sad state of ffairs when story after story i see on the news the web or whatever of people from these agencies “investigating”and dismissing claims of abuse its fucking sickining the rate of death of young children in this country lately at the hands of people who are supposed to love and protect them ,my 12 year old son died last year and i would give anything to have him back even my own life, these pieces of shit are given a gift and the treat them like trash kill them and throw them away its just sickening