Groves Trial - Full Testimony of Andrea Bowling - Dylan Grove's Foster Mother

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: State may call their next witness. [00:00:06] Speaker 2: Your Honour, State will call Andrea Bowling. [00:00:18] Speaker 1: Please raise your right hand for me, please. I count when we swear the testimony you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God. Please have a seat. Ma'am, we do have media in the courtroom this afternoon. Do you have any objection to your image being filmed or photographed during your testimony? No objection. Thank you. [00:00:44] Speaker 2: Ma'am, would you state your name for the record? And how do you spell your last name? Thank you. How are you employed? [00:00:54] Andrea Bowling: I'm a teacher. [00:00:56] Speaker 2: Where are you a teacher at? [00:00:57] Andrea Bowling: Menford Elementary School. [00:00:59] Speaker 2: How long have you been a teacher? [00:01:01] Andrea Bowling: 18 years. [00:01:04] Speaker 2: In that time as a teacher, what age groups have you taught? [00:01:07] Andrea Bowling: Second grade for 10 years and third grade for eight years. [00:01:18] Speaker 2: In your time at teaching, has that been all in Scioto County? [00:01:25] Andrea Bowling: Yes. All at Menford. [00:01:26] Speaker 2: All at Menford? [00:01:27] Andrea Bowling: Menford Elementary. [00:01:28] Speaker 2: How has teaching evolved in Scioto County over those 20 years? [00:01:33] Andrea Bowling: How? I'm sorry. [00:01:34] Speaker 2: How has teaching evolved in Scioto County over those 20 years? [00:01:37] Andrea Bowling: How has teaching evolved in Scioto County? [00:01:40] Speaker 2: Yeah. Are the kids any different these days? Oh, yeah. [00:01:45] Andrea Bowling: From when I first started, yeah. There's a big difference in kids and their home dynamic and sometimes behavior. [00:01:59] Speaker 2: What kind of differences have there been? [00:02:04] Andrea Bowling: Since the drug epidemic, there's been a lot more children with being raised by grandparents and or, you know, their family is kind of suffering and they're having difficulties at home due to mainly drugs. And they need a lot more emotional support and compassion and help from teachers. [00:02:37] Speaker 2: So your duties at school have expanded from just the normal 2 plus 2, I'd say. [00:02:43] Andrea Bowling: Oh, absolutely, yes. [00:02:45] Speaker 2: Now, it's my understanding that you've been a foster parent. You need to answer out loud for us. [00:02:50] Andrea Bowling: Oh, I'm sorry. Yes. [00:02:51] Speaker 2: Okay. And when did you become a foster parent? [00:02:55] Andrea Bowling: I was certified in July of 2017. [00:03:02] Speaker 2: And what process do you go through to become a foster parent? [00:03:07] Andrea Bowling: Well, we have to take classes that train us, 40 hours of classes that train us about different things that we need to know as far as kids that might come into the system that we would be taking care of. And we have to have drug tests, medical physicals, home inspection, home studies. Anyone in the home has to take a drug test and also have medical physicals. There's a lot to it. The fire department had to come out and inspect the house to make sure it was safe. Yeah. There's a lot of things. [00:03:59] Speaker 2: Are there different types of foster parents that a person can become? [00:04:03] Andrea Bowling: I'm sorry. [00:04:04] Speaker 2: Are there different types of foster care that can be provided or training for foster parents? [00:04:09] Andrea Bowling: Yes. There's, um, are there different types of foster care? [00:04:14] Speaker 2: Yes. [00:04:16] Andrea Bowling: Yes. You can be trained completely to just foster or you can be trained to foster to adopt. You can be trained for medically fragile foster children. [00:04:28] Speaker 2: What type of training did you receive? [00:04:31] Andrea Bowling: I received the foster to adopt training. [00:04:36] Speaker 2: And why did you receive the foster to adopt training? [00:04:40] Andrea Bowling: Um, when I first decided to become a foster parent, I, um, was just planning on fostering. Um, I'm 41 years old. I've raised a son who's now in college and I was just planning on fostering. And, um, as I was starting to get all of the paperwork, oh, we had to have BCI and federal background checks too. Um, as we got all of our paperwork together, um, Children's Services said, you know, you may want to consider foster to adopt. It's just a few more hours. And, you know, if you don't get it tagged in, into this, you know, you may wish you did later. And I said, okay, you know, yeah, I'll do that. So I went ahead and give foster to adopt. [00:05:28] Speaker 2: Okay. Seemed like the right thing to do at the time. [00:05:31] Andrea Bowling: Yeah. Yes. [00:05:34] Speaker ?: Okay. [00:05:35] Speaker 2: Um, before we, uh, get to January of 2019, um, had you had, uh, previous foster children? [00:05:44] Andrea Bowling: Yes. I had two, a six and seven year old, um, and I had them for a year and four months before they were reunited. [00:05:54] Speaker 2: Okay. And, uh, prior to January of 2019, had you ever had an infant before? [00:06:03] Andrea Bowling: Um, a foster care infant? No. [00:06:05] Speaker 2: Okay. [00:06:05] Andrea Bowling: I mean, I'd raised my son. [00:06:06] Speaker 2: Certainly as a mother, you've had an infant. Right. Yeah. [00:06:08] Andrea Bowling: Yeah. [00:06:09] Speaker ?: Yeah. [00:06:11] Speaker 2: I'd like to direct your attention now to January of 2019. [00:06:18] Speaker ?: Okay. [00:06:20] Speaker 2: What happened in January of that year? [00:06:22] Andrea Bowling: Okay. So the two foster children that I had, um, previously, they were reunited in November of 2018. So I went December and then part of January before I got a phone call. And then I was teaching, sorry. I was teaching, um, getting ready to, to do attendance. And I got a phone call from Children's Services. And they said, we have a baby that needs to be, um, in foster care. Would you be willing to go pick him up later? And I, I said, um, yes. Yeah, I will do that. And I said, I'm teaching today, um, and I need to go get some clothes and diapers. And, um, then I will go pick him up around six. Would that be okay? And they said, look, we'll call the hospital. And they did. And they got back with me and that was okay. And so I ended up picking, going down there at six o'clock. [00:07:32] Speaker 2: Okay. If you would just, I, I can hear you, but if you can, I know. You can't hear me? If you can speak up a little bit more. Okay. [00:07:38] Andrea Bowling: Am I, is it a microphone right here? [00:07:40] Speaker 2: That's a microphone there, but it's not a broadcast microphone. It's just a recording microphone. [00:07:43] Andrea Bowling: Okay. I'll talk louder. [00:07:44] Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. You're a teacher. I know you can. [00:07:46] Andrea Bowling: I'll use that voice. [00:07:47] Speaker 2: Okay. Did you have anything to prepare for, um, fostering an infant? [00:07:57] Andrea Bowling: Did I have anything to prepare? [00:07:59] Speaker 2: Was there anything you needed to do before, uh, you said you had to go get diapers, but was your house ready for an infant at that time? [00:08:05] Andrea Bowling: I had, from where I had my previous foster son, I had a room that was vacant. Um, my cousin, uh, gave me the crib for Dylan. Um, and then I had a rocker recliner upstairs that I brought down so I could rock in. Um, and then a friend of mine from church gave me a mamaroo, which is a, it's a device like what they have at the hospital, which is kind of like a high tech saucer type thing that rocks the babies, um, and sues them. And so we had one of those brought to the house and just, I have a really good support system of friends and family. And it was just like clothes were coming in and, and, uh, it was almost immediate. I had everything I needed for him seems like there was this mad scramble from your community of friends to it was yes, it was a mad scramble. And then, then we had a, a room that was perfect for him. [00:09:10] Speaker 2: Um, so were you, were you advised of any, uh, potential medical condition that Dylan had, um, in this call to children, from children's services? [00:09:22] Andrea Bowling: Yes. [00:09:24] Speaker 2: What was your understanding of, uh, what you might, might be dealing with? [00:09:29] Andrea Bowling: Um, they told me that he was born with drugs in the system and that he was withdrawing. And that he was, um, at that time he was five pounds, four ounces. So he was really tiny. Um, that's basically what they told me. [00:09:53] Speaker 2: Okay. Um, so you'd mentioned you got to the hospital around six o'clock? [00:09:59] Andrea Bowling: Yes. Around six, six 30. [00:10:01] Speaker 2: What hospital was that? [00:10:03] Andrea Bowling: SOMC. [00:10:04] Speaker 2: Okay. And once you got to the hospital, what, what did you do? [00:10:11] Andrea Bowling: Okay. So went to the, um, the nursery there at the hospital. And, um, met with the nurses, they let me in and then I went through some training on how to, what signs to look for with a baby that's withdrawing and, um, how to take care of a, a baby that is, um, you know, has, has been born with drugs in a system and, and, you know, uh, uh, for several hours, different types of training for how to take care of him. Um, and then they had to do a car seat test with him because he was so small to make sure he could sit in the car seat. Um, and his, they checked his oxygen, um, as he was sitting there for an hour. They had different things hooked up to him. So I watched him do that. And then, um, after the car seat test, we, that's when we were ready to go home. [00:11:15] Speaker 2: Okay. And, um, what, what kind of vocational plans had you made initially when, when you were going to go home with Dylan? [00:11:25] Andrea Bowling: What kind of, I'm sorry, I can't. [00:11:26] Speaker 2: What kind of job plans? Did you have work that you had to go to or? [00:11:29] Andrea Bowling: Oh yeah, I mean, I'm a teacher. So I, this was midweek that I got Dylan and, um, I didn't want to leave him with a babysitter or daycare. So I took, took 12 days off that I had him. I was going to take more. [00:11:59] Speaker ?: I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. [00:12:26] Speaker 2: I was going to take a look at him. [00:12:28] Speaker 1: I was going to take a look at him. [00:12:30] Speaker ?: I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. [00:12:44] Speaker 2: I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. [00:13:06] Andrea Bowling: I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. [00:13:14] Speaker ?: I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. [00:13:18] Andrea Bowling: I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. [00:13:32] Speaker 1: I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. [00:13:42] Speaker ?: I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. [00:14:12] Speaker 1: I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. [00:14:20] Andrea Bowling: I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. [00:14:24] Speaker ?: I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. [00:14:50] Speaker 1: I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. [00:15:27] Speaker ?: I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. [00:15:30] Speaker 1: I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. [00:15:32] Speaker ?: I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. [00:15:37] Speaker 1: I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. [00:15:50] Speaker 4: I was going to take a look at him. [00:15:51] Speaker 1: I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. [00:15:54] Speaker 2: I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. [00:16:03] Andrea Bowling: I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. [00:16:06] Speaker 2: I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to take a look at him. I was going to see a pediatrician a few times. [00:16:13] Andrea Bowling: Yes. I took him to Dr. Ali. [00:16:15] Speaker 2: Dr. Ali out of Waverly? Yes. Okay. In the time that you had, Dylan, did he suffer any physical injuries? [00:16:26] Andrea Bowling: Any physical injuries? No. [00:16:28] Speaker 2: Yes. [00:16:29] Speaker ?: Okay. [00:16:33] Speaker 2: I'd like to direct your attention to a family team meeting at Children's Services Board. Do you recall being part of a family team meeting? Yes. [00:16:43] Andrea Bowling: I do. [00:16:44] Speaker 2: Do you recall the date of that? The date of that? [00:16:46] Andrea Bowling: Yeah. [00:16:47] Speaker 2: Okay. [00:16:48] Andrea Bowling: So, it was January 25th, I believe. [00:16:50] Speaker ?: Okay. 24th or 25th? [00:16:52] Andrea Bowling: Yeah. Somewhere in there? Somewhere right there. Yeah. Somewhere right there. Yeah. Okay. [00:16:59] Speaker ?: And, you know, you know, a couple of years ago. [00:17:00] Andrea Bowling: It was January 25th, I believe. [00:17:03] Speaker ?: Okay. [00:17:04] Speaker 2: 24th or 25th, somewhere in there? Yeah. Somewhere right there. [00:17:07] Andrea Bowling: Yeah. [00:17:08] Speaker 2: And that was followed by a visitation with the parents. Is that right? [00:17:16] Andrea Bowling: Right. Yes. I met Dylan's parents and then they visited with him. [00:17:22] Speaker 2: Okay. Daniel and Jessica Groves? [00:17:24] Andrea Bowling: Yes. [00:17:25] Speaker 2: Okay. [00:17:26] Andrea Bowling: And then they visited with him for an hour. [00:17:28] Speaker 2: Okay. Were you part of that visitation? [00:17:30] Andrea Bowling: I talked to them before I left the room, but no, it was their time to spend with him. [00:17:39] Speaker 2: Okay. Approximately how long had you talked with them? [00:17:42] Andrea Bowling: Probably about five minutes. [00:17:44] Speaker 2: Okay. [00:17:45] Speaker ?: Okay. [00:17:45] Speaker 2: Did you have an opportunity in that five minutes to observe the demeanor of the parents? [00:17:57] Andrea Bowling: Yes. [00:17:58] Speaker 2: What was Jessica's demeanor at the time? [00:17:59] Andrea Bowling: I felt like there was a possibility that she was under the influence of something at that time. [00:18:14] Speaker 2: Okay. Well, let me see what your knowledge is of that kind of thing. Okay. So, as a school teacher, how many years of experience have you had teaching? [00:18:23] Andrea Bowling: 18. [00:18:24] Speaker 2: In that 18 years of experience, have you had occasion to run into people or deal with people that are under the influence of substances? Yes. Okay. Approximately how many times? [00:18:39] Andrea Bowling: Have I seen someone intoxicated or under the influence of drugs? [00:18:44] Speaker ?: Ten. Okay. Ten times maybe? [00:18:47] Andrea Bowling: Yes. [00:18:48] Speaker 2: Is that in the last few years or is that over your entire career? [00:18:53] Andrea Bowling: Probably in the last, I don't know, five, six years. [00:19:01] Speaker 2: Okay. And in your experience just being a citizen and growing up here and observing people on the streets, have you had experience with that as well? [00:19:09] Andrea Bowling: Yes. [00:19:10] Speaker 2: Okay. So, what kind of behavior was Mrs. Groves exhibiting? [00:19:21] Andrea Bowling: She was kind of flailing her arms around and she was really happy and excited and more giddy than happy. Okay. [00:19:38] Speaker 2: Now, is it fair to say that people are sometimes like that when they're happy? Yes. What made you think this was something not normal? [00:19:49] Andrea Bowling: Just under the circumstances, it was kind of unexpected behavior to walk into children's place with the baby and then to just see that, you know, she was, I just felt she was under the influence of something at that time. [00:20:10] Speaker 2: Okay. Now, what kind of demeanor did you see from Mr. Groves? [00:20:15] Andrea Bowling: Yes. He was quiet. [00:20:17] Speaker ?: I didn't suspect anything as far as him being under the influence of anything. [00:20:18] Andrea Bowling: Okay. Okay. [00:20:20] Speaker 2: With regard to their demeanor, did you express some concerns to children's services? [00:20:34] Andrea Bowling: Yes. [00:20:35] Speaker ?: Okay. I asked if they would drug test. [00:20:37] Andrea Bowling: Okay. [00:20:38] Speaker 2: At some point, were you advised that Dylan was going to be placed back with his parents? [00:20:51] Andrea Bowling: I assumed he would be eventually, not in 12 days, but eventually. Okay. [00:20:57] Speaker 2: When were you advised that he was going to be placed back? Was it at that meeting or shortly thereafter? [00:21:01] Andrea Bowling: No, it wasn't at that meeting. I believe the meeting was on a Wednesday and it was the Friday after that Wednesday. I had actually called children's services to find out when our next visit was going to be, because normally you have a weekly visit. And I was just calling to find out when our next visit was going to be so that I could, you know, just have it on my schedule. [00:21:27] Speaker 2: Okay. [00:21:28] Andrea Bowling: And then they informed me that he was going to be reunited and to have him at the office that following Monday morning. [00:21:37] Speaker 5: Okay. [00:21:38] Speaker 2: That following Monday, would that have been the 28th? [00:21:53] Andrea Bowling: Yes. Yeah. [00:21:55] Speaker ?: Okay. Okay. [00:21:57] Speaker 2: And were you part of the actual transition or exchange back to the family? [00:22:04] Andrea Bowling: Yes. Daniel was there to pick up Dylan. [00:22:10] Speaker 2: When did he arrive? [00:22:13] Andrea Bowling: Okay. So I was there at nine and he got there about 9:15. [00:22:17] Speaker 2: Okay. And how was his demeanor then? [00:22:23] Andrea Bowling: The same. The same as the first time I met him. [00:22:28] Speaker 2: Okay. And what happened during that exchange? [00:22:33] Andrea Bowling: We, he brought in a car seat for Dylan and I was getting Dylan's belongings together. [00:22:49] Speaker 2: What, what, what, what did you do with those belongings? [00:22:54] Andrea Bowling: I gave them to Daniel. [00:22:56] Speaker ?: Okay. [00:22:57] Speaker 2: I gave him. Go ahead. [00:22:59] Andrea Bowling: Some formula diapers, his blanket, his quilt from the hospital, some pictures, I gave him a Bible. [00:23:14] Speaker 2: Okay. [00:23:15] Speaker ?: Okay. [00:23:16] Speaker 2: Now, I want to hand you what have been marked as States Exhibits 23, 22 and 23. Showing these to the council. Ma'am, I'm handing you what's been marked as States Exhibit 22. [00:23:24] Speaker ?: Do you recognize this item? [00:23:24] Speaker 2: Yes. [00:23:25] Speaker ?: Okay. What is this? It's actually a picture of the picture, but what is it? It's a picture of Dylan that I, that I took. Okay. Is that one of the pictures you gave to... Yes. Okay. The States Exhibit 23, do you recognize that? Yes. What is it? It's a picture of Dylan that I, that I took. Okay. Is that one of the pictures you gave to... Yes. [00:23:39] Speaker 2: Okay. The States Exhibit 23, do you recognize that? Yes. What is it? Yes. What is it? [00:23:45] Speaker ?: It's actually a picture of the picture, but what is it? [00:23:46] Andrea Bowling: It's a picture of Dylan that I, that I took. [00:23:47] Speaker 2: Okay. Is that one of the pictures you gave to... Yes. [00:23:50] Andrea Bowling: Okay. The States Exhibit 23, do you recognize that? Yes. [00:23:53] Speaker 2: What is it? It's a picture of Dylan that I, that I took. Okay. Is that one of the pictures you gave to... Yes. Okay. The States Exhibit 23, do you recognize that? Yes. What is it? [00:24:03] Andrea Bowling: Another picture of Dylan. Is that a picture you took as well? [00:24:05] Speaker 2: Yeah. The States Exhibit 22, Your Honor. [00:24:07] Andrea Bowling: The jury's due. [00:24:08] Speaker ?: Okay. The States Exhibit 23, you recognize that? Yes. What is it? Another picture of Dylan. Is that a picture you took as well? [00:24:16] Speaker 2: Yeah. The States Exhibit 22, Your Honor. The jury's due. The States Exhibit 23, you recognize that? Yes. [00:24:23] Speaker ?: The States Exhibit 23, you recognize that? Yes. What is it? [00:24:26] Speaker 2: Another picture of Dylan. 23, the jury's view. Reflections identified those since Dylan Gross. Did you provide Daniel with anything else besides the... [00:24:55] Andrea Bowling: I gave him a letter to him and Jessica. [00:24:59] Speaker 2: Okay. And did you provide your number or anything like that? I did. [00:25:04] Andrea Bowling: I just basically in the letter said that how much I loved Dylan, cared about him, and that I just wanted to be maybe, you know, if I could be involved or to have them maybe just let me know about some milestones that he reaches. [00:25:20] Speaker 2: Did you offer to help if they were needing help? I did. [00:25:26] Andrea Bowling: I said, if you ever need anything, just call me, and I gave him my phone number. [00:25:32] Speaker 2: Did they ever reach out to you after that? [00:25:34] Andrea Bowling: No. [00:25:36] Speaker 2: Is Daniel Groves in the courtroom here today? Yes. Could you point him out for the court? [00:25:41] Speaker ?: Is that really over there? [00:25:43] Speaker 2: Is Jessica Groves in the courtroom here today? [00:25:45] Speaker ?: She's standing over there. [00:25:47] Speaker 2: Your Honor, if there's a record, so reflect. [00:25:48] Speaker 1: If I reflect the witnesses pointed to and identified both the defendants, Daniel Groves and Jessica Groves. [00:25:55] Speaker 2: Thank you, ma'am. No further questions, Your Honor. [00:25:57] Speaker 1: Thank you, Mr. Taylor. Mr. Stratton, you may cross-examine. Thank you, Your Honor. [00:26:10] Speaker 5: Good afternoon, Mrs. Rowling. [00:26:11] Speaker ?: Good afternoon. [00:26:14] Speaker 5: You mentioned that you're a teacher out at Menford. [00:26:17] Andrea Bowling: Right. [00:26:17] Speaker 5: Okay. You mentioned that over the years that you have taught, that you have seen our drug problem firsthand. Right. You've seen it in the kids, the way they're dealing with stuff and how they act in class. [00:26:31] Andrea Bowling: Yeah, the effects of different things, yes, with that. [00:26:34] Speaker 5: Okay. I'm guessing some of that had to do with why you became a foster parent. [00:26:39] Andrea Bowling: It is, yes. I had a couple of foster kids in my room, and they kind of brought me to the decision of becoming a foster parent. [00:26:48] Speaker 5: Okay. Earlier, you mentioned that when you took Dylan as a foster kid, that you got a crib and stuff from different places. [00:27:02] Andrea Bowling: Yeah. [00:27:03] Speaker 5: Let me ask you, how much as a foster parent are you out of pocket that you spend on your own? [00:27:10] Andrea Bowling: Oh, a lot. [00:27:11] Speaker 5: A lot. [00:27:12] Andrea Bowling: Yeah. [00:27:12] Speaker 5: Does Children's Services reimburse you for every bit of that? [00:27:16] Andrea Bowling: That we get for buying things more? [00:27:19] Speaker 5: Yeah, let's say you said you got a crib or diapers or stuff like that. Do they reimburse you for all that, everything that you spend? [00:27:26] Andrea Bowling: No. [00:27:26] Speaker 5: No. Okay. As a foster to adopt, you understand that Children's Services tries to reunify with the family. [00:27:37] Andrea Bowling: Right. [00:27:38] Speaker 5: Okay. And you've had that happen in the past? [00:27:41] Andrea Bowling: Right. [00:27:41] Speaker 5: And with this case, correct? [00:27:43] Andrea Bowling: Correct. [00:27:44] Speaker 5: Okay. And it is hard, I'm sure. [00:27:46] Andrea Bowling: It is hard. You get attached. [00:27:49] Speaker 5: You get attached. Yeah. Yeah. When Dylan was returned, and let me correct something. Earlier, I think you said that the family team meeting was on January 25th. I think it was the 24th. [00:28:02] Andrea Bowling: Okay. Might have been. Yeah. [00:28:03] Speaker 5: I think that's what Patricia Craft earlier testified to. Okay. That was on the 24th. I think you called on the 25th back. [00:28:11] Andrea Bowling: Okay. [00:28:12] Speaker 5: To make your comments to Children's Services on the 25th. [00:28:17] Andrea Bowling: On the 25th. Okay. Okay. [00:28:21] Speaker 5: So you had the team meeting on the 24th. [00:28:25] Andrea Bowling: Okay. [00:28:27] Speaker 5: During or after that team meeting, did you make any comments to Children's Services about... How do we make it right? [00:28:34] Speaker 1: I may. Raise your question, please. Yes, Your Honor. [00:29:00] Speaker 5: Mrs. Bowling, when you made a phone call to Children's Services, you had a couple of comments about Jessica Groves specifically. What were those comments? [00:29:11] Andrea Bowling: I felt like she was under the influence of something. I felt like she was high on something. [00:29:16] Speaker 5: But you didn't mention that on the day of the family team meeting, did you? [00:29:21] Andrea Bowling: I did. I called after the team meeting. [00:29:24] Speaker 5: Okay. There's... Are you surprised that there is no record of you calling after the team meeting on the 24th? [00:29:34] Andrea Bowling: Am I surprised? No. [00:29:35] Speaker 5: Okay. Why are you not surprised? [00:29:42] Andrea Bowling: I'm just not. Okay. [00:29:45] Speaker 5: Does CPS Children's Services listen to you often? [00:29:57] Speaker 1: Well, let me be more specific on this issue here. [00:30:06] Speaker 5: You knew that Dylan was going to be returned to the father. [00:30:08] Andrea Bowling: Right. [00:30:09] Speaker 5: You objected to that, correct? [00:30:14] Andrea Bowling: I didn't feel like 12 days was long enough. Yes, I disagree with that. [00:30:18] Speaker 5: All right. We'll leave it there. Is it fair to say, Ms. Bowling, that without people like you, as a foster parent, foster to adopt, that our system with Children's Services would not function? Is that fair to say? [00:30:36] Andrea Bowling: Children's Services wouldn't function if there weren't foster parents? [00:30:39] Speaker 5: Yes. [00:30:41] Andrea Bowling: Right. Yeah. [00:30:42] Speaker 5: Okay, and that is because of people like you who are willing to take in children that we're able to take care of drug-addicted babies. [00:30:52] Speaker 1: Right. [00:30:53] Speaker 5: No further questions, Bob. [00:30:55] Speaker 1: Thank you, Mr. Stratton. You may cross-examine the witness. [00:30:58] Speaker 4: Good afternoon, Ms. Bowling. [00:31:12] Andrea Bowling: Good afternoon. [00:31:16] Speaker 4: You are a foster parent. You are not an employee of the Children's Services, Sutter County Children's Services Board, are you? An employee? Yeah, you're not an employee. No. Okay. I'm a foster parent. You're a foster parent. Correct. And is it fair to say that it is the agency and the agency's decision and the guidelines that they must follow that dictate the reunification standards? Is that correct? It is their decision, not mine. Okay. And that they were the ones, although you were a participant in the team, the team meeting. [00:31:59] Andrea Bowling: It is, they're just the team meeting was just me meeting Daniel and Jessica and then visiting with Dylan. [00:32:06] Speaker 4: Oh, right. So there was no discussion at that time in regards to what was to be accomplished by the parents? No plan, nothing. Right. Or anything like that was involved in that meeting at all? It was just meeting each other. [00:32:16] Andrea Bowling: It was just meeting each other. [00:32:17] Speaker 4: Okay. Great. I'm glad you cleared that up. But you do agree, at the end of the day, it is the agency and the standards that they set and the guidelines that they must follow is what led to Dylan being placed back with Daniel Gross. [00:32:37] Andrea Bowling: Right. It was definitely not my decision. Okay. Thank you. [00:32:41] Speaker 4: No further questions, Your Honor. Thank you, Ms. Scott. [00:32:44] Speaker 1: Any redirect? No, Your Honor. Thank you, Ms. Bowling. Is this witness excused? [00:32:49] Speaker 4: Excuse. [00:32:50] Speaker 1: She is, Your Honor. Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Tiemann. Yes, Your Honor. She's not sat in during the trial. Is there any thought that she'll be recalled to testify? You don't need to make that decision now, Counsel. I'll let you. [00:33:11] Speaker 2: Your Honor, we don't anticipate calling Ms. Bowling back to testify if she's so inclined to witness any of the trial. We'll give no objection. Ms. Scott, Mr. Stratton. [00:33:25] Speaker 4: I do not. You want to approach? [00:33:28] Speaker 5: Yeah, we can dress it up. [00:33:29] Speaker 4: Well, I do not anticipate calling her as a witness in our case-in-chief, Your Honor, so I would have no objection. [00:33:38] Speaker 1: Is there any objection to me releasing her from the earlier separation order if she chooses to sit in? [00:33:44] Speaker 5: No, Your Honor, there's no objection. [00:33:45] Speaker 4: No objection. [00:33:46] Speaker 1: And you can step out. You're certainly welcome to sit in if you wish. You're certainly not required to. Mr. Tiemann, you may call your next witness. Thank you, Your Honor.