A MOTHER has rejected a $100,000 settlement from the state, offered as compensation for the death of her baby while in the care of FamiliesSA.
Michelle Edwards is suing FamiliesSA, Anglicare and a foster carer for compensation over the death of her baby, Elizabeth, in June 2004.
Ms Edwards, 45, told The Advertiser she had rejected the out-of-court settlement following a string of payments by the department - including Myer and Coles cards of up to $400 at a time - since the death of her nine-month-old daughter.
She has given The Advertiser documents detailing two payments of emergency funding assistance from the Department of Families and Communities, each of $10,000, to cover legal costs she incurred during a 2007 coronial inquest into Elizabeth's death.
The assistance came even though she did not qualify for legal aid and was denied Victims of Crime funding.
The Department of Families and Communities yesterday confirmed it was in a legal dispute with Ms Edwards.
"The Department of Families and Communities provided financial assistance to the woman for funeral assistance, legal fees, counselling, family re-establishment/re-unification expenses and other supports to ensure that she was able to look after her other child," the department's media adviser, Jeremy Roberts, said.
The department would neither disclose how much those expenses totalled, nor if they could account for the money Ms Edwards has proved she was paid.
She said Myer and Coles cards were handed to her and larger payments were discussed with instructions and a request "not tell the Crown anything about it".
Ms Edwards said the cards were used by FamiliesSA to cover the cost of totally refurbishing and furnishing her Edwardstown Housing Trust home after Elizabeth's death.
The department spent at least $120,000 in a bid to keep her happy, she said.
"They got me carpet, floating floors . . . they got me whatever I wanted," she said.
A settlement conference is scheduled for April 23.
The coronial inquest, which concluded in September 2007, found baby Elizabeth died in June 2004 while in the custody of the Families and Communities Minister, then Jay Weatherill, and in the care of a couple.
Coroner Mark Johns determined the baby died of the combined effects of asphyxia and inhalation of gastric contents and said the fact Elizabeth was left to sleep with a bottle in a U-shaped pillow likely contributed to her death.
Ms Edwards in April 2004 first called for FamiliesSA assistance to care for her daughter, who had medical issues resulting from a difficult birth.
Elizabeth was placed in foster care for two weeks before returning to the care of her mother for about a month.
Ms Edwards in June 2004 again asked for assistance with Elizabeth.
The girl was cared for by three different foster carers over eight days before she died while being looked after by two foster carers.
Ms Edwards said she found it too hard to now talk about her daughter.
In a separate case, a father whose two children were placed in care in November 2004 also said he was paid at least $25,000 by FamiliesSA.
The man, who had jointly cared for the children with his partner and who cannot be named for legal reasons, provided letters to The Advertiser from FamiliesSA outlining the $2715 cost of a holiday to Kalgoorlie in April 2005 for he and his partner to visit his mother - while their children were in foster care.
"We didn't ask for any money . . . they just kept saying `do you want money'?" he said.
A letter sent in March 2009 confirms the man received two airfares and $250 spending money for the trip through the FamiliesSA Emergency Financial Assistance program. "They asked how they could help me and I said I wanted my kids back," the man said.
About the same time the holiday offer was made, the then Children, Youth and Family Services sent a letter to alert the couple their daughter had allegedly been sexually assaulted by another foster child while in care.
The father said he only became aware of those claims when a second letter was sent in November of that year to confirm he was aware of the claims.
He said he last saw his children three years ago.
Families Minister Jennifer Rankine said she was not aware of the claims.
"This is not a matter that I recall being raised with me during my time as minister - but I do know that financial assistance is often provided to families to make them secure and ensure that children can remain with their parents," Ms Rankine said.
