Foster Family Had Other Children Taken Away Before Alleged Abuse

The Department of Human Services is investigating child abuse allegations after a child in foster care ended up in the hospital with serious injuries. Now, 7NEWS has learned that this isn't the first time the foster family has been accused of child abuse. The parents of the injured toddler want answers.

Timmy Dodge still has a swollen eye and the stitches from his brain surgery but his family says he is doing much better and getting back to his playful self. The signs for his recovery are good but the boy's father claims that if the Department of Human Services would have paid close attention to what he calls "signs of child abuse" at the foster parent's home, Timmy would not have to be at the hospital.

Since early January, Timmy and his sister Serenity have been living with foster parents in Castle Rock. Adams County Social Services took the two from Timothy Dodge Sr. and his wife after a court found them unfit to be parents. But the couple say it's the foster parents who are unfit.

"My kids were showing severe signs of mental trauma, bruises, serious scrapes," Dodge said.

After Timmy was rushed to Children's Hospital, Dodge said officials removed Serenity from the foster parents' care.

The Colorado Department of Human Services said this is not the first time that allegations of abuse have been raised regarding this foster family but they add their investigation could not validate previous claims.

However, the department says at least one child was removed from the home before the incident with Timmy.

Maple Star, the agency that certified the Castle Rock family also had issues with the Department of Human Services. In a monitoring team report from 2000, DHS cited Maple Star after several homes were found "out of compliance on health and safety inspections."

DHS also said Maple Star did not perform adequate background checks on some potential foster families.

For the Dodge family, they say these reports only support their claims that abuse occurred in the foster family's home but it's no comfort, they say, when their son is still stuck in a hospital bed, recovering from head trauma.