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Preston Hertzog, the 4 month old baby whose brain suffered serious injuries possibly due to his parents's shaking, died Wednesday at Schneider Children's Hospital in New Hyde Park. Parents Antonio Patterson and Tamira Hertzog had been investigated by the Administration for Children's Services over the 2000 death of an infant and were currently meeting with ACS over abuse claims on another child, and the couple hid Hertzog's pregnancy from ACS workers. They were called "extremely evasive" by ACS commissioner John Mattingly.
The City Council held hearings questioning Mattingly about the ACS's efforts monitoring case, bringing up other incident where children have died while the caregivers are being investigated by ACS. The city also announced they would start a subway and radio advertising campaign to encourage people to report abuse. The sad thing is that in some of these cases, abuse has been reported, but the ACS has a difficult time following up (huge caseloads, only so many workers...). The ME's office will conduct an autopsy on Preston. Patterson and Hertzog have been questioned but have not been charged with any crime yet. Their other children have been placed in foster care.
And another shaken baby case is in the news: A nanny was sentenced to 10 years in jail after shaking a 5 day old girl to the point where the child has severe brain damage. The girl's mother, Vanessa Donohue, even made the judge cry when giving a victim impact statement.
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shouldn't there be police involvement and possibly oversight going on if we're talking about murders?? social workers are used to working on multidisciplinary teams. put a detective with the investigator and hold the social worker responsible for assessment and psychosocial issues, let the cop handle criminal/legal
It's unfortunate that the media focus is always on punishment and perpetrators.
In Buffalo, they've been educating new parents about the danger of shaking young children - not just babies, but as old as 5 years - and what they can do to cope with inevitable moments of frustration.
Since that program started in 1998, the incidence of inflicted head injury has dropped by 50%. A similar program is now in place in Westchester County and the other six counties immediately north of New York City.
In 2004, New York required that all maternity hospitals offer parents the same opportunity to learn how to protect their children.
But all they have to do to comply with the law is ask.
Asking a parent if they want to watch a video about Shaken Baby Syndrome is not the same as asking a parent if they want to learn how to protect their child.
In the articles about the half-dozen shaking incidents in NYC this year that made it into the papers this year, I've never seen any indication that NYC hospitals are doing any prevention education.
They might be. They might not. If they aren't, half of the children shaken in NYC every year - which statistically would be about 40-50 babies, infants and toddlers, didn't have to suffer.
There are exceptions to every rule, but most parents do want to know how to keep their children safe. Hospitals - and ACS - should help.
And for all those with children in child care, it's been a law since 2003 that licensed providers be educated about SBS prevention as part of their licensing.
That's a good thing, because 8 million children under age 5 are in child care now, and it is estimated that 20--25% of shaking cases involve a child care provider. Usually, it's a family provider who works in a home setting, not in a child care center.
Parents need to discuss this issue with their child care provider, nanny, babysitters and everyone else.
As the Donohue case shows, trusting your caregiver is not enough. parents don't leave their child with someone they think will hurt the child, yet a simple search on Google News will show you it is heartbreakingly common.
George Lithco
SKIPPER (Shaking Kills: Instead Parents Please Educate and Remember) Initiative
Poughkeepsie New York
Skippervigil@Yahoo.com
www.SkipperVigil.com