Daughter disallowed from caring for her deceased mother's adopted special needs children

Grandma steps in to care for seven orphans with special needs
Gullick, Mecury-Register, Dec. 31, 2006.

When Tammie Blewett died Dec. 13, she left seven children orphaned.

Blewett's mother, Donna Blewett, stepped in to care for the family, moving from Concord to her daughter's house in south Chico, but she met a tangle of bureaucratic red tape and road blocks that have her bogged down.

Thursday afternoon, Donna Blewett spoke to the Enterprise-Record about the problems she's met since her daughter's death and the future she plans for her grandchildren.

The complications arose because Tammie Blewett's children were adopted and all have special needs. Besides which, the 41-year-old mother died suddenly, without a will, and her assets are frozen until probate is completed.

Blewett said she was initially told all the children would be placed in foster homes.

"In a 'normal' family, grandma would step in," she explained, wiping tears away. "What, I'm not a grandma?"

While Donna Blewett talked, others cared for the children. Although their ages range from 11 years to 27 years, all are mentally still children.

Blewett said at least three caregivers work in the home at all times because of the children's high needs, but friends came in to help during the past two weeks as well.

Kim Cowell, of Concord, said she traveled to Chico to help Donna Blewett, as did Diana Sauer, who used to work in the household when she was a student at Chico State University.

Renee Rasmussen, who said Tammie Blewett had been her best friend, explained that she was trying to help Donna get the help she needs from various agencies.

Melissa Salo and Echo Holcomb, two of the home's full-time employees, continued with daily activities, carrying non-ambulatory children around and playing with them, helping prepare dinner and cleaning up as needed.

A Christmas tree lit up the living room, where workers, friends and family intermingled in a confusion of roles.

"They're all Tammie's kids," Rasmussen said.

Besides her adopted children, Rasmussen explained, everyone who spent time in the Blewett home — those who worked for her and at least 35 foster children she'd taken in over the years — were her children.

"She was that kind of person," Rasmussen said, describing her friend as "a natural mother" — someone who started working for a foster care home at 12 years old and was running her own home at 21.

"She didn't do it for her own glory," she added.

A combination of services support the children to help with their care, including Social Security, in-home support services, Aid to Adoptive Parents, Far Northern Regional Center, Chico Unified School District special day classes, ARC adult program and others.

Legal conservatorships were required for those over 18 and Tammie Blewett had begun the process for her oldest two children, but it hadn't been completed when she died.

Now the expensive process has stalled and the agency that would typically fund the process, Far Northern Regional Center, has not done so.

Rasmussen said the agency acted as if the children were living in an unlicensed care home, rather than being adopted children. She said Donna Blewett is worried she won't be able to meet mortgage payments and other expenses unless she can get some of the agencies' services transferred quickly.

Sorting through what she needs to do to transfer the cases to her name has been a challenge, Donna Blewett said, but she's still hoping Far Northern will pick up the conservator filing fees.
Rasmussen said the agency scheduled a review committee meeting for Friday, but she notified the Enterprise-Record later that day that she had been told the meeting didn't take place because of the holidays.

Far Northern Regional Center did not return calls to the Enterprise-Record Friday and the attorney working on behalf of the Blewett children, Jane Stansell, declined to comment.
Five years ago, when Tammie Blewett moved her unusual family to Chico, Donna Blewett said, she did so because she knew the community had resources for her children and she wanted them to live in a smaller community.

Blewett said she was devastated when her daughter chose to move away from Concord, "as if she'd moved to the moon."

"I knew I would (move to Chico) sooner or later," she said.

That time came more suddenly than she anticipated, forcing her to quit her job at a friend's restaurant and come to care for her grandchildren.

When a supervisor at Far Northern told her the children would be put in foster care, she said, "He knew nothing about what he was talking about."

But she did feel panic and frustration, and she's still uncertain what will happen.

What she hopes for is to care for her grandchildren in the home Tammie created — with its theme-decorated bedrooms for the children, its homework room, therapeutic exercise areas and safety-fenced swimming pool.

Her son, Tammie's brother, also plans to come from the Bay Area to help out and comfort the family.

Blewett said the children cried, missing their mother, but not as much as she thought they would.

"They're pretty strong kids," she said, and added that they were each in counseling to help them cope.

People in Chico were very generous, Rasmussen added, in helping make a Christmas for the family.

A fund for the children has been established at ARC, 2020 Park Ave. For information, call 891-5865.