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Kids kept with grandmas

But a judge allows visits with their parents, who left them at home while at work.

By JENNIFER LIBERTO
Published September 17, 2005

TAMPA - Tina Palomba's eyes were already red and puffy when she entered a tiny courtroom Friday to face a judge who would decide her children's fate.

When Senior Judge Roland Gonzalez ordered Palomba's three young children to remain with their two grandmothers, Palomba's tears dotted the papers she needed to sign.

But the judge also said Palomba and the father, Mark Minneti, could visit the children under the grandmothers' supervision.

Palomba and Minneti, both 28, were arrested Thursday on charges of felony child neglect, after they went to work and left the three children inside a mobile home, which caught fire.

At the hearing, grandmother Elizabeth Minneti of Town 'N Country agreed to continue caring for the toddler, Mya, 3. Gonzalez said Avery, 10, and Jarrett, 8, could remain with Palomba's mother, Holly Clark of Clearwater, who didn't attend the hearing.

Palomba and Minneti were released from the county's Orient Road Jail Friday afternoon - Palomba, on her own recognizance, and Minneti, after family posted his $2,000 bail.

Local child welfare experts agree that Palomba and Minneti's case is unfortunate but common in families of limited means.

"It's very common for families to find that they are caught between trying to put food on the table and providing the level of care and supervision that they'd like to provide for their kids," said University of South Florida professor Bob Friedman, who chairs the Department of Child and Family Studies.

Palomba and Minneti apparently struggled to do just that.

The two had bounced around the Tampa area. Court records indicate they were evicted from two different addresses in 2003. In June, the couple was given three days' notice to make good on $2,777 in back rent owed on a townhouse at 9127 Baymeadow Court in Tampa. They were evicted Aug. 2.

They had lived at Metropolitan Ministries and with family members for several weeks. Less than a week ago, they moved into the mobile home off N Rome Avenue.

Both day laborers, they left home early Thursday morning for a construction job that was scheduled to last until 1 p.m. They left Avery and Jarrett to watch Mya.

They told Tampa police they had gone to work to try to make money for rent and to turn on the electricity.

Families staying at Metropolitan Ministries have an elementary school on site. The children told the Times their parents planned to enroll them in public school on Monday. The school district could not confirm those plans.

Child neglect cases can be subjective, and often criminal charges depend on details, said Department of Children and Families spokesman Andy Ritter.

For example, when younger children are left in the care of an older sibling, there is no minimum age requirement for the sibling in charge.

"The first thing we check is the maturity of the child," Ritter said. "There can be 16-year-olds who have no business watching their younger siblings and there are 10-year-olds who are old enough and mature enough."

Lack of electricity, the cleanliness of the home and even the time of day that children are left alone can all factor into determining child neglect, Ritter said.

In this case, a candle lit in a bedroom caught bedding on fire and quickly consumed most of the mobile home.

The children closed doors and ran to a bedroom on the opposite side of the house, after trying the front door, which wouldn't open, said Tampa Fire Rescue Capt. Bill Wade. He praised the children for closing the doors.

"The children slowed the growth of the fire by depriving it of oxygen, which slowed the spread of the smoke," he said.

A 79-year-old neighbor helped pluck the children to safety.

Metropolitan Ministries spokeswoman Tracy Clouser said the organization tries to teach families about alternatives to such hard decisions, through a self-sufficiency program.

"We encourage families not to be doing jobs like day labor, in the beginning stages," Clouser said.

Times staff writers Jacob Fries, Candace Rondeaux and Melanie Ave and news researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report.

[Last modified September 17, 2005, 02:15:31]