WICHITA — State welfare officials say police should have considered taking 2-month-old twins into protective custody before one of them died at a west Wichita motel.
The Wichita Eagle reports that in the Wichita area, when police put children into protective custody, it often means taking them initially to a facility that offers emergency, temporary care. From there, they can go to a foster home or relative while the child protection system determines an eventual placement.
Instead, police put the infants with a relative on Aug. 28 after finding that their parents were intoxicated at the motel where the family stayed. The next afternoon, the relative returned the babies to the parents. One of the twins was found dead at the motel Thursday morning. The parents have been arrested.
