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The first involved a mother whose 2-year-old was treated for a drug overdose on three different occasions in the span of a few months. Despite hospital workers and other officials sending three separate warnings to DCFS after the child's first two near-death experiences, the toddler was left with his mom and died from a third overdose in June. 

The mother, 28-year-old Whitney Ard, was arrested last week, kicking off a cascade of questions over why the agency did nothing to remove the boy despite clear evidence that his life was in danger. Just days later, another shocking arrest would thrust DCFS back into controversy. 

Michael Hadden, a foster father to at least three different children, was arrested after his foster kids accused him of repeated sexual abuse. Those children were removed from Hadden's custody in February as an investigation into those claims unfolded. Arrest records said one of the victims was previously removed from Hadden's care in 2021 but was ultimately returned, at which point he claims the abuse continued. 

Photos show the property where the children stayed was dilapidated, and sources said they mostly lived out of a trailer connected to the crumbling house. 

Earlier this week, representatives with DCFS faced questions from lawmakers and blamed the failures on staffing shortages. 

"No one wants to do this work," Assistant Deputy Secretary Rhenda Hodnett said of the numerous vacant positions at DCFS. "Case workers are exhausted, afraid... the trauma they bear every day is incredible."

That explanation wasn't enough for some lawmakers.

"What happened with the baby was so unacceptable guys, we can't have that," Senator Regina Barrow said during Monday's hearing. "I think someone should be prosecuted. I don’t want his death to be in vain."

Another legislator, Rep. Jason Hughes in New Orleans, was so dissatisfied with the response that he took to social media Thursday calling for DCFS Secretary Marketa Walters to lose her job. 

"...morale at [DCFS] and the internal work culture must be improved drastically. I'm convinced that can only be accomplished with new leadership at the top of the agency and needs to occur ASAP!" Hughes wrote in a series of tweets. 

How many horrific incidents need to happen for us to realize new leadership is needed immediately at @LouisianaDCFS? Leadership MATTERS! https://t.co/Sh1q7HSUkT

— Jason Hughes (@RepJasonHughes) August 11, 2022

DCFS has said it's reviewing both cases to determine what went wrong. 

"These cases are tough. They are really hard. They are heartbreaking to us. They are heartbreaking to the community. They are heartbreaking to the legislators..." Walters said after the hearing on Monday. 

Walters said the agency is taking "disciplinary actions" in wake of the toddler's death but would not give any details on what that might be. 

"I do think the governor needs to get involved and demand a change in leadership at DCFS," Hughes said. "The question we have to ask ourselves is how many more lives do we have to lose, and how many more children have to be heinously raped."

Rep. Hughes sent the following letter to Governor John Bel Edwards on Thursday, calling for his office to step in.

Chief of Staff Cooper, and Team JBE,

I sincerely hope this finds each of you well. I know the Governor is currently out of the country on an extraordinary and important mission on behalf of our great State. I sincerely appreciate his leadership.

On yesterday, I publicly called for the resignation of DCFS Secretary Walters. Today, I have reiterated this call and have also called for the resignations of the Assistant Secretary for Child Welfare and Assistant Secretary for Family Support. In my opinion, DCFS is in a crisis and new leadership, as well as a new direction is needed.

As an appropriator, I am committed to fighting for additional funding for DCFS. However, I can only do so with new leadership in place. The problems at DCFS are too many to name, and too many children and families in our State are needlessly suffering. Money alone will not solve the issues at DCFS. The culture and structure at DCFS needs to change. We cannot wait any longer and time is not on our side.

This is not an issue I take lightly and calling for someone’s resignation is not something I take pride in. However, in my opinion, the time has passed for a fresh start.

I am happy to discuss this issue further with the Governor at any time.

Sincerely,

Jason

BATON ROUGE- A grandmother told the WBRZ Investigative Unit the state told her she was too old to care for her grandson when she tried to get custody of him. Instead, the state placed the child in foster care. The foster parent was arrested last week for raping the 14-year-old.

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Sylvia Smith, the child's grandmother, says on four separate occasions she filed complaints with the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) about her grandson's living conditions. He does not share her last name. Smith told WBRZ her grandson shared specific details of what Michael Hadden did to him.

"He says, 'Mimi, sometimes I wake up at night, and I just scream,'" Smith said.

Smith said her grandson told her he was raped multiple times a week starting at the age of seven. He was also forced to perform sex acts with other foster children in the house so Hadden could watch, according to Smith.

The child was signed away to foster care about seven years ago, when Smith's son no longer wanted to care for him. That's about the time, she said, she began spending $30,000 of her money trying to get custody of her grandson.

"They would just say you're too old," Smith recalled. "I'm not too old. I can climb those trees over there."

Smith, who is 80 years old, still wants custody of her grandson. She said a cascade of failures by DCFS allowed this to happen.

She wants Hadden to stay in jail forever.

"I wanted to hurt a lot of people at first," Smith said. "When I grew up, you fought. Someone did something to you, you knocked the devil out of them...can't do that anymore. But, if I had a choice I would beat him up. I can beat him up."

At the capitol this week, DCFS Secretary Marketa Walters said the house where the boys were allegedly raped was seen by caseworkers as a part of a site visit. The dilapidated house was in a messy condition and had missing roof tiles and more.

"Being able to provide adequate shelter is one of the things we look at," Walters said. "The house had to pass a home study. At some point, that home passed that home study."

Smith does not believe Walters. She also does not believe routine site visits were happening with any sort of frequency.

"Are ya'll crazy," Smith asked. "Are you stupid? Because let me tell you something, where they lived over there with him, it was roach-infested, [had] mice, and three boys would sleep together in the same bed."

With so many problems at DCFS, Smith said it's time for the organization to be dismantled.

"We need John Bel Edwards, that Broome person, to get together and tear this all apart and start over from scratch and hire people who know what they are doing."

DCFS said the matter remains under investigation and there was nothing the agency could say when asked today.

Hadden remains jailed on a $325,000 bond.

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East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Dr. Beau Clark reviewed the child's medical records and said the state's inaction appears to have led to his death.

"I think this was preventable," Clark said. "If there was a moment between the second and third overdose where action was taking place and the child was placed in protective custody, then the third overdose would not have occurred."

Instead, nothing happened by the state.

Arrest documents from the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office outlined two previous instances where Whitney Ard, 28, brought her unresponsive toddler to a hospital before the child died on June 26. Ard was booked Tuesday on a charge of negligent homicide after law enforcement investigated her son's death.

On the day of his death, arrest records said the child—identified as Mitchell Robinson III—was rushed to the hospital by ambulance from their Denova Street home. 

Ard, who was jailed in May after a drug bust at her home, was released just a day earlier and said her son was behaving normally when she picked him up from her mother on June 25. Ard told deputies she was lying in bed with her son when he asked for food early the next morning.

The mother said she made a bowl of cereal, placed it on the floor next to her bed for the 2-year-old to eat and went back to sleep. Arrest records said she woke up later that morning to find the child back in bed "cold to the touch, unresponsive, with his fingertips, mouth, and tongue blue in color."

Paramedics arrived outside the home to find Ard's friend trying to resuscitate the child on the pavement. First responders tried giving the boy epinephrine, a medicine used to treat allergic reactions. When that didn't work Ard told the paramedics her son responded to Narcan in the past.

Narcan also proved unsuccessful in reviving the toddler, and he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital. On Aug. 2, over a month later, the East Baton Rouge coroner determined the child's death was caused by a fentanyl overdose. 

Deputies investigating the family's home said they found the corner of a clear plastic bag "containing white powdery residue" beneath the bed near the bowl of cereal on the floor. 

Deputies also noted there had been two other instances in April and June where the mother brought her unresponsive son to a hospital, adding that both incidents were reported to the Department of Children and Family Services prior to the child's death. 

On April 12, healthcare workers noted the child was suffering from respiratory failure and seizure-like symptoms, though his brain activity was not consistent with a seizure and "no seizure medications were needed," according to the report. The toddler was ultimately released back to his mother after being treated with Narcan.

The woman once again brought her child to the emergency room on June 4 after she noticed he was having troubled breathing "similar to the event in April." The unresponsive toddler was again treated with Narcan and discharged from the hospital two days later.

East Baton Rouge Coroner Beau Clark called it a "significant" failure and said a third report was sent to DCFS after the toxicology results from one of the hospital visits showed fentanyl in the boy's system. That report was made by a physician who treated the child.

"Her documentation was perfectly laid out in a timeline and appropriate manner of her clinical suspicion, the things she did and the people she talked to," Clark said.

The WBRZ Investigative Unit learned the Department of Children and Family Services did not remove the child from the care of the mother after the two hospital visits where the child had to be resuscitated with Narcan or after the mother's arrest following an East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's investigation into her house being used as a drug den.

Ard's bond was set at $50,000 for the negligent homicide charge, but a judge put a hold on the bond Wednesday. Ard will not be able to post bond until the judge lifts the hold. 

District Attorney Hillar Moore said his office plans to file a motion Thursday to revoke Ard's bond for the May drug arrest due to the recent homicide arrest. 

WBRZ learned late Tuesday, the state Inspector General was investigating how DCFS reacted to multiple incidents involving the child's overdoses and the mother's arrest. DCFS Secretary Marketa Garner Walters released the following statement Wednesday morning, but declined to do an on camera interview.

"When we learned of the tragedy involving this child, we immediately began a comprehensive review of this case and all circumstances surrounding it.

 The Department has already taken numerous steps to make changes that range from policy changes to personnel actions. The review is ongoing.

 We are also working with the Office of Inspector General to review every step of this case and will not be able to comment further."

Watch Chris Nakamoto reports all day on WBRZ.