THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 9, 1996 TAG: 9605090437
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
Call him Ishmael.
Call his world restored.
On Wednesday, 21-month-old Allen Ishmael Gates-Williams was removed from foster care and returned to his mother, Elizabeth Williams-Rawlins, after a juvenile court judge ordered the city's Department of Social Services to do so.
Last Thursday, the toddler was taken from his 28-year-old mother and she was arrested on misdemeanor neglect and abandonment charges after Social Services workers learned that she had left the child home alone in his crib for hours while she was working at a nearby fast-food restaurant.
Williams-Rawlins was jailed when she couldn't come up with $2,500 bail.
On Friday, she was released on her own recognizance, but a judge already had granted Social Services temporary custody of the boy.
The single mother was arrested after she turned to Social Services for financial help in getting her electricity restored. She said that while trying to convince a social worker of her financial straits she divulged that she had left her child unattended.
Williams-Rawlins said that she had left Ishmael Gates-Williams alone in his crib for several hours at a time during three days last week in order to avoid child-care costs so that her minimum-wage paycheck would stretch far enough to pay the rent. She said that she returned home at least twice during the eight-hour shifts to check on Ishmael, who was confined to a crib, provided with meals, a television to watch and toys.
Though she said she left Ishmael alone reluctantly, the desperate mother feared that if she could not provide a home for her son, she would lose him.
After hearing her story, social workers alerted Child Protective Services, as required by law. At the same time, though, they went to work on the young mother's financial problems. By Wednesday, the department was able to assure a judge that she would get help.
Williams-Rawlins became uncooperative with investigators and social workers when it was suggested she place her son in foster care.
``I told them I didn't want to go back on the (welfare) system, that I just wanted money to help get the electricity turned back on,'' said Williams-Rawlins. ``I told them that I would quit my job, but they said, `how would I live then?' ''
Detective Dennis Brown told Judge Woodrow Lewis on Wednesday that he had tried to avoid arresting Williams-Rawlins after being called in on the case, but had feared for the safety of both mother and child when she refused to give the name of the baby's father and spoke of suicide.
Though she did not dispute Brown's statements in court, Williams-Rawlins said afterward that she had at no time spoken of suicide, as Brown testified.
On Wednesday, Lewis found Williams-Rawlins guilty as charged, but told social workers to return the boy to his mother after receiving assurances that the department would help Williams-Rawlins pay an outstanding electric bill of more than $1,800 and help her find affordable day-care services. Williams-Rawlins also agreed to attend parenting classes and receive counseling.
The boy's father, Marcus Gates, is in the Navy and stationed at Little Creek Amphibious Base. Judge Lewis granted him joint custody of Ishmael and entered an order for child support.
Williams-Rawlins said that Gates has voluntarily paid her $300 child support all along - the same amount ordered Wednesday by the court - and spends time with his son, as well. She said she had not married Gates because she wished to remain independent.
Williams-Rawlins moved to Virginia Beach from her native Puerto Rico about two years ago to remain close to Gates, who was formerly stationed in Puerto Rico. She holds a bachelor's degree in business management from the University of Puerto Rico, had been living on her own from the age of 22 and had no reason to believe that she would not be able to support herself and her son in Virginia Beach.
But months of disappointment in trying to land a job drove Williams-Rawlins to go on welfare. When she failed to report her income from one low-paying job early this year, her welfare payments stopped. Five weeks ago, she took a job at Burger King a block from her apartment, but found that the money she made, added to the sum Gates gave her, just didn't pay the bills.
It was when she returned home last Thursday to find her electricity shut off that she turned to Social Services for help. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
BETH BERGMAN/The Virginian-Pilot
Elizabeth Williams-Rawlins, her son Ishmael, and a friend settle
back into a routine after the boy and his mother were reunited
Wednesday. A judge ordered the boy returned to her after
Williams-Rawlins' life was placed on a sounder footing.
KEYWORDS: CHILD CUSTODY VIRGINIA BEACH DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES
CHILD NEGLECT by CNB