Sept. 13, 2005, 10:50PM
Judge returns toddler to family
Drug use claims about grandmother in Louisiana were unsubstantiated

By MELANIE MARKLEY
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

A Harris County judge returned a New Orleans toddler to her 14-year-old mother and grandmother Tuesday after the child was found at the Astrodome without her family and placed in foster care.

Associate Judge Sherry Van Pelt ordered the 20-month-old child returned after Child Protective Services found her with a baby sitter, who alleged the grandmother, evacuated to a Thibodaux, La., shelter, was abusing drugs.

CPS could not substantiate the allegation, and Red Cross volunteer Nick Callihan helped clear the grandmother by paying for a test at a doctor's office that showed she was drug-free.

"I am blessed. We are blessed. I get to get my granddaughter in my arms at 5 o'clock (Tuesday)," said an elated Kim Williams, 42, who appeared at the hearing with her daughter, the child's mother.

CPS spokeswoman Estella Olguin said the agency, which also had raised concerns about the mother's age, was only looking out for the child's welfare.

"In no way were we trying to keep (the child) away from her family or for them to be separated any longer than was necessary," she said. "But in all cases where we have custody of children, we just want to make sure they are going back to a safe place."

After Hurricane Katrina struck, Williams said she left the 20-month-old in the baby sitter's care while she helped evacuate elderly residents from the public housing project where the family lived in New Orleans.

The family got separated, she said, and Williams and her daughter ended up at a Red Cross shelter in Thibodaux, where she met Callihan. Williams said she did not know what had happened to her granddaughter until she was contacted by a cousin who had seen the girl on a television report about children who were missing their parents.

Callihan drove Williams and her daughter to Houston but when they arrived early Monday morning, they learned that CPS would not give them the child. They also learned that a Tuesday custody hearing had been scheduled in family court.

Callihan, a real estate agent in Sealy, became Williams' advocate after meeting her at the shelter. He said he had no doubt that the drug allegations were false.

"I saw her in the shelter, I saw her with the children, the way they reacted and smiled, and the way she interacted with them," he said. "I knew she was a sincere and genuine person who had a genuine need. And someone had to step up and do what had to be done."

Williams said her family has been offered a house in Thibodaux, and she has several job options when she returns.

She said she does not know why the baby sitter made allegations against her to CPS, but she said the woman had tried to claim the child as her own to get more federal assistance.

melanie.markley@chron.com