By Tricia Bobeda
One year ago today, Tim Holland called 911 to report his son Ricky missing.
In the nine-day ground search that followed, thousands of volunteers looked for a 7-year-old boy they thought had run away from his Williamston home, carrying his piggy bank and favorite action figures.
The search ended with no sign of Ricky. The community found some closure after his body was found seven months later and his adoptive parents, Tim and Lisa Holland, were charged with murder; they have accused each other in the boy’s death.
Now the community wants answers: Is anyone to blame for the fate of a little boy found dead in a rural field?
After the Hollands were arrested, legislators and state officials vowed to investigate what more they could have done to prevent the Ricky Holland tragedy.
Some changes have occurred:
• The Department of Human Services, which oversees the state’s child welfare system, now does more criminal background checks on foster parents and relatives. The Hollands became Ricky’s foster parents in 2000 before they adopted him.
• Child Protective Services has hired more caseworkers. Computers are now centralized so caseworkers can communicate more effectively. DHS Director Marianne Udow said the department’s recent changes are part of an overhaul of the child welfare system that began before Ricky’s death. The tragedy accelerated its efforts.
“We know the child welfare system has needed fundamental change,” Udow said last week.
Charges of abuse Court testimony in the Holland case revealed a school nurse reported bruises on Ricky, and caseworkers noticed injuries on his siblings after he disappeared.
Tim Holland, 37, and Lisa, 33, also are charged with child abuse. The number of confirmed abuse and neglect cases in Michigan has increased almost 20 percent, from about 15,000 cases in 2000 to more than 18,000 last year. As of June 6, there were 789 Child Protective Services workers.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm granted a mid-year appropriation for 51 more caseworkers earlier this year. “It’s critical that numbers be increased, not just with bodies, but with well-trained people,” said Maxine Thome, executive director of the Michigan Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.
State children’s ombudsman Verlie Ruffin has completed a report on the state’s involvement with Ricky, and DHS is looking at it now. When the criminal investigation is closed, Ruffin’s report will go to the state Legislature for review. Udow said results will be discussed publicly after the trial, scheduled to begin Sept. 11.
“If there is anything in our findings that says that we should have done things differently, we will certainly take action,” she said. “We are accountable to the public.”
A state House Special Committee on Child Protection also was appointed earlier this year to investigate Ricky’s case file. The committee has been waiting for Ricky’s DHS files since March. Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III said the law requires Ricky’s files remain confidential while investigations are ongoing.
But state Rep. David Law, R-Commerce Township, is fighting to get Ricky’s DHS file now. The House committee was denied the file after requesting it under a statute called Ariana’s Law. That 2005 law expanded the powers of the children’s ombudsman and legislators to investigate child abuse cases. The committee is weighing its options. Ricky is a victim of a bureaucracy, said Pontiac resident Sonya Williams, who is organizing a candlelight vigil tonight in Williamston.
“There’s no excuse for how he fell through the cracks,” said Williams, who believes adoption procedures and child welfare laws need to be reformed.
Shared responsibility
Udow said child welfare is a shared responsibility. She wants to make sure people who suspect abuse and report it feel like they’re being heard. “The community has to tell us when they see things that are of concern,” she said.
But state Rep. Rick Baxter, R-Concord, said DHS doesn’t always listen. He is concerned that multiple calls about minor incidents may result in no reports filed. Thome said she hears similar complaints.
But Udow said every report, no matter how minor, is filed, even if it isn’t substantiated. DHS also has a new One Family, One File computer system with the entire history of a family in a single file.
“We don’t want paperwork or bureaucracy to get in the way of child safety,” Udow said. While the changes may help prevent children from falling through the cracks in the future, Udow said those who were involved in Ricky’s case are haunted by his death.
“Any of our social workers who were involved in this case (will have) nightmares for the rest of their life,” Udow said. “They go into this wanting to improve the lives of children. It’s something that’s hard to live with.”
Feelings of betrayal
Laura Maynard, 62, walked three miles each morning from her apartment to the command center for eight straight days, then walked through fields looking for Ricky Holland.
She feels betrayed.
“Looking back, I gave the parents the benefit of the doubt. Some people thought it was odd that they were not more involved in the search,” Maynard said. “I thought if he’d run away before, there would be a sense of bewilderment on their part, wondering what set the kid off this time.”
Tim and Lisa Holland have been charged with murder in their son’s death.
They face a trial in the fall. During those eight days, Maynard’s search parties found a fruit snack wrapper and a footprint: Both gave searchers the drive to keep looking, until they were ruled out as evidence.
But if a child went missing tomorrow, she would search again.
“If someone went missing I wouldn’t hesitate, that hasn’t changed for me,” Maynard said. She hopes Ricky’s death can bring about positive change for other children. “There were warning signs, and the school and the doctors didn’t pay enough attention,” she said. “Maybe another child won’t slip through the cracks.”
Search hard on neighbors
Carol Wesolek is angry about what she believes Tim and Lisa Holland put the community through.
“I can’t think of anything bad enough to do to those people,” said Wesolek, 75, who lives several houses from the Hollands’ home on Douglas Street in Williamston. Wesolek said the search was hard on the neighborhood. Her home was searched twice, and her motor home was searched once.
“It’s a sad, sad thing,” she said. Wesolek resents the time and money wasted on the search, but she said Ricky is still on everyone’s mind in the community. People have even started referring to the street she lives on as “Ricky Holland’s Road.”
- Kevin Grasha contributed to this sidebar
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