Angry parents of Ohio newborn who died in foster care blame child protective services
The parents of an Ohio baby who died in foster care have expressed their anguish and frustration with Athens County Children Services. Lindsey Householder, 30, and William Dollison, 32, welcomed Logan Dollison into their family on December 19, 2021, at home. Later, the mother and newborn were taken to O’Bleness Hospital in Athens. During their stay, Logan was taken into custody by the child protective services and he died on January 7.
Father William told NBC4 on January 27, "They are supposed to be protecting my kids, but they just proved that they can’t. They let my kid die, and they don’t have no explanation, no nothing for it."
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In an interview with NBC4, the mother said, "I didn’t know I was pregnant with him." When she was in the bathroom, she realised the baby was coming out. She said, "We went to the hospital. We got there by squad. Everything was fine with Logan. They ran all kinds of tests, made sure everything was fine with both of us, and the next day CPS (Child Protective Services) came in and took him."
The couple's other children too are with the child services, and William said the couple is in the process of getting them all back. Athens County Children Services commented to NBC4 on Wednesday, but it was not about the specifics of Logan's case or the other children.
On January 5, baby Logan was taken to the doctor for a weight check and the doctor said he was fine. However, the parents were not notified of this doctor's visit despite the fact that they did want to attend. The following day they were supposed to have a visit at 10 am but they were informed that it was canceled. This was because Logan had not been eating and his care giver was taking him to the doctor. Householder said that they asked if they could go to this doctor's appointment but she was told that they would need to wait for the caseworker's approval.
Later the couple was told that Logan was being transferred to intensive care at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus. Since it was snowing heavily in Glouster, where the parents live, they could not go.
All this while, Householder had been texting with the foster mother. On January 6, 11:50 pm she recieved a text saying the baby's condition had worsened. “At midnight, she finally texted me back and said that his heart had stopped and they couldn’t get it back,” Householder said.
Logan died on January 7 and he was not even three weeks old. “We did not get to identify Logan. We didn’t get to see him or nothing until the day before his funeral,” Householder said.
An angry Dollison said, “If it was me, I’d be behind bars right now until I could prove my innocence. I’d be behind bars. It wouldn’t matter what it is … if he was in our custody. That’s how it would have been. But for them, they still get to walk the street.”
The cause of death has not been released. The Athens County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death.