Inaction by local authorities puts children in harm's way

Why didn't the Mahoning County Prosecutor's Office and the county Juvenile Court react with any urgency to an appeal from the Austintown Police Department to remove two children from a home in which the mother had demonstrated an inability to take care of them?
That question demands a public response from Prosecutor Paul Gains and juvenile court Judge Theresa Dellick in light of a 1-year-old boy and 2-year-old girl being found last Sunday morning running naked in and out of traffic on North Raccoon Road near the family's apartment.
If this were the first time these children were left in harm's way, it would have been troubling. If it were the second time, it would have been unacceptable. But a third time? That's inexcusable.
Last October, after the girl was found in the middle of the road, where she was almost hit by a car -- in September the boy was seen walking across Raccoon Road at 2:30 a.m. -- the police wanted the juvenile court to step in and make a decision about the children's future. No decision was made.
Criminal charges: Indeed, the police department had been hoping that the prosecutor's office would act expeditiously on the criminal charges filed against the mother -- child endangerment in September and child neglect in October -- but the wheels of justice seemed frozen.
On Sunday, the 22-year-old mother was charged with an additional two counts of child endangerment, and on Tuesday police filed two counts of child neglect against her.
However, the juvenile court has not been forthcoming with information about the status of those or the previous charges.
Such secrecy is unacceptable. We fully understand the need for the juvenile court to protect the identities of children charged with crimes or the identities of children involved in domestic disputes. But we are hard-pressed to understand why Judge Dellick sees the need to keep this case under wraps. It isn't as though the mother has a right to her privacy, and it isn't as though the children would be harmed in any way if their names appeared in court documents that are open to the public.
The mother was given a chance to straighten out her life and to show that her children are her top priority. After the September incident, Austintown police decided to leave the children with her in hopes that she would learn from her mistakes.
But when police responded to a call from an area resident on Sunday, they found the children with red marks and rashes on their bodies, the apartment "dirty and unkept," trash, clothing and human feces on the floor, and the kitchen was filthy and had little food. The bedding on the children's bed was covered with debris.
Given all of this, we have to wonder why this situation was allowed to exist for so long. Straight answers from Prosecutor Gains and Judge Dellick are in order. Shouldn't there be a greater sense of urgency in dealing with cases involving defenseless children? We think there should.