BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A former case worker says Brevard Family Partnership, their board, DCF and agencies associated with them says they failed a 4-year-old Joy King Castro and the failure led to her death on Aug. 25.
Kirsten Larson was with Brevard Cares, an agency associated with Brevard Family Partnership which manages and places children in foster care, and was the case manager for Castro.
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Titusville police said Castro was badly beaten while in the care of her foster mother, 41-year-old Lakeisha Mitchell.
Mitchell told Titusville police she found Castro unconscious and her lips were blue and she was slumped over in a bath tub filled with water. But police said her story didn’t match Castro’s extensive injuries including bruising to her left eye, swelling to the forehead and other trauma.
Larson, the case worker, doesn’t hold back in the letter when addressing where the problems started.
She said the problems ended with Mitchell, but that “somewhere in the middle, there is blame that lies with us as well.”
READ: Documents show history of Brevard County foster mother facing murder, child abuse charges
Larson said the agency knowingly placed Castro in a dangerous situation by placing her in Mitchell’s home after children had been removed over care allegations prior.
She said Brevard Family Partnership “knew about Joy, they knew about Mitchell, and in an effort to wrap everything up with a little bow and pat themselves on the back for a job well done, they placed Joy in that home anyway.”
READ: Family attorney of 4-year-old killed in Brevard County foster care pursuing legal action
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