State to Probe DHS

The state’s Department of Human Services will investigate why its workers failed to help a struggling Southfield woman take care of her bedridden mother, a woman who eventually died of bedsores, malnutrition and neglect.

In a statement released Wednesday evening, Douglas Williams, the director of Oakland County’s Department of Human Service said, “We regret this terrible tragedy. Ms. Cooper’s death calls attention to the need for additional support for people caring for vulnerable family members.”

“We’ve reopened this case and will take any warranted and appropriate action, if necessary, against personnel involved,” Williams said.

His statement came the same day a furious Oakland County Circuit Court judge blasted DHS workers for failing to help Stephanie Cooper take care of her mother, Agnes Cooper, 63, who suffered from multiple sclerosis and disabilities as a result of strokes. She died in November 2007 of sepsis and raging bedsores.

The daughter, Stephanie Cooper, eventually pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter, and faced up to five years in prison when she appeared for sentencing before Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Nanci Grant on Wednesday morning.

But Grant refused to send Cooper, 40, a clerical worker, to jail or prison, noting that DHS workers had investigated the family home at least five times, noting bedsores on Agnes Cooper, 63, in a filthy bed and malnourished.

Stephanie Cooper, a single mother suffering from clinical depression and diabetes, repeatedly sought help from the state and local agencies, but was placed on "waiting lists.”

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State to Probe DHS After Judge Blasts Woman's Care

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