Two women who are charged with endangering the welfare of a child for allegedly having a 2-year-old living in squalor are apparently being given a chance to clean up their act.
A neighbor says the child appears to be still living at the home on 3181 Dodgeson Road, Alexander, which yesterday had a Dumpster filled with trash parked in the driveway.
The home is owned by Lynda Rae Morrill, the 44-year-old grandmother charged in the case. She purchased the 1,288-square-foot home from Habitat for Humanity in October, 2003, according to public records. The home, which sits on more than an acre of land, is assessed at $131,900.
A neighbor, who said the yard was quite a mess before the clean up started -- she doesn't know what it was like inside -- said she believes six adults have been living there. She said she was told that Morrill and her daughter, Lisa Rene Richmond, 22, have been given 30 days to clean up the residence.
Eileen Kirkpatrick, commission of the Department of Social Services, said she can't discuss the specific case, but she did talk about general practice in child-welfare cases.
She said when a complaint comes in, there is an investigation, with Child Protective Services trying to determine whether the issue of the complaint -- such as a child not showing up for school -- is the extent of the problem, or if there are other issues in the home, such as abuse.
Child Protective Services does try to work with parents to correct problems, she said, rather than just take the child away.
"It's our job to try and fix the problem," Kirkpatrick said. "We make all attempts to try and keep the child in the home. We try to keep families intact."
If the problem isn't fixed, then the issue can be brought to Family Court.
Jessica M. Maguire-Tomidy, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Genesee County, said prospective Habitat home recipients go through an extensive background check. Not only must the applicant meet financial requirements, but references -- including landlords -- are checked.
"After their application is taken, we do a credit check, a criminal background check, a home visit, and send out landlord and employment references to be completed by individuals the family works for and has rented from," Maguire-Tomidy said in an e-mail. "We review all of the above to determine need for decent housing, and willingness to partner with us. Should we feel that they would be a good match for our program, we ultimately take our recommendation to the Board of Directors for a voted approval as a Habitat partner family."
Home recipients do more than pay for the house, they must also work 300-500 hours on the construction of the building.
She said she couldn't discuss any specific recipient.
"We try very diligently to pick the right families, and this is a stringent screening process," Maguire-Tomidy said. "For about every 15 families that come to apply to our program only one will ultimately qualify for recommendation to the Board of Directors."
