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Before she died, Angie
had finally found her place
Foster family says
7-year-old still had tantrums but was making progress
BY KEVIN HARTER
July 10, 2006
 David
and Donna Plavli's step-daughter Angie in a photograph from last
winter. Abandoned by her birth parents and transferred in and out of
foster homes, Angellika Arndt was prone to fits of anger followed by
a calm sweetness and her signature "light-up-your-life smile."
The 7-year-old was
making progress. Her Ladysmith, Wis., foster parents of about 18
months had high hopes for her to begin first grade this fall in a
regular classroom. Donna and Daniel Pavlik said the girl they
affectionately called Angie still had tantrums, but it always seemed
possible to redirect her attention and calm her.
But those dreams of
a better future for the girl ended May 26 when Angie died from
injuries she suffered while being restrained at a Rice Lake
treatment facility.
"She had been
getting time-outs at school,'' Donna Pavlik said, explaining why the
family enrolled her in the treatment program. "We thought it would
help get her caught up. … She was a little behind academically. We
just wanted her to be a normal 7-year-old and be ready for the
fall."
An investigation
into Angie's death by the Rice Lake Police Department and Barron
County district attorney is expected to conclude this month.
In an earlier
investigation into the girl's death, the Wisconsin Department of
Health and Family Services cited "multiple violations" of state law
at the Northwest Counseling and Guidance Clinics, including the law
governing physical restraint of clients. During her month attending
the weekday treatment program, she was restrained face down by two
clinic workers nine times, the state report said.
Clinic officials
deny any wrongdoing.
The Pavliks won't
discuss the investigation or any related legal issues. But they
agreed to talk about the girl they loved because they want others to
know more than the cursory biography of Angie released by
authorities after her death, which said that she was born in
Milwaukee to parents who signed away rights to her and her siblings
and that she had bounced around the child-protection system.
The thing they said
they can't forget is Angie's smile.
"It was a big
smile. A light-up-your-life smile," Donna said.
"The first time we
met her, she had that big smile," Daniel said. "She had that
likeability factor. She fit in right away with everybody like she
had been with the family since she was born."
The couple took
Angie in through a provision called sustained foster care, and they
expected her to be with them until she was 18.
The two each have
children from previous marriages and opted to take in foster kids
rather than have more children. Daniel, 46, who works for a window
manufacturer, and Donna, 37, a special-education teacher's aide,
expanded their ranch home to include a bedroom for each child.
Angie's pink
bedroom with Barbie borders remains largely as she left it May 25.
The closet is full of dresses, the shelves lined with stuffed
animals and dolls and her CD player loaded with a country Western
mix the Pavliks downloaded for her.
"I believe she
would have turned out to be a normal person and you never would have
known she had a rough childhood," Daniel said.
"We wanted to help
her turn her life around. … The way things were going, she would
have turned out to be a wonderful, caring person," Donna said.
Angie was diagnosed
with reactive attachment disorder, mood disorder and attention
deficit with hyperactivity disorder, according to the state's
report.
"She at times could
be a harder kid to handle. With reactive attachment, kids test
boundaries and try to upset a good thing to see how long you are
going to stick with them or give them up,'' Donna said.
Donna said Angie
did have "sporadic" tantrums. They tended to be over the things that
upset kids, like what was made for dinner. In such cases Angie would
be "redirected" by being removed from the table and taken to her
room.
The couple said
Angie never was a danger to herself or others and they never
restrained the brown-eyed, 56-pound girl. She usually emerged from
her room with a smile and ate her dinner.
"We made huge gains
on her behavior,'' Donna said. "Her difficult times could be minutes
or an hour out of a whole day. Not ever was a complete day a
difficult day.''
Said Daniel: "We
are a pretty active family. We aren't much for sitting in front of
the TV. … Angie never stopped us from going places."
They have hundreds
of photos of Angie, but there will be no more photos from fishing
trips, Easter egg hunts or birthdays. And Daniel will no longer buy
extra minnows when he goes fishing.
"Angie and her
cousin would take about five of them and name them. They became
pets," Daniel said.
Angie, who
celebrated her seventh birthday March 3 at McDonald's, was buried in
the blue dress she got for Easter, a pink and black swimsuit beneath
it.
The couple said
they don't know why, but she would wear swimsuits under her clothes
to school. Maybe she liked it for some kid reason, or maybe it was
her way of getting one over on the adults.
Angie's monument in
Riverside Cemetery is etched with an angel, her name, and these
words: "Gone from our home, but never from our hearts."
"I still can't
believe it," Donna said. "It's hard to wake up every morning and
know she's not here."
Kevin Harter can be
reached at kharter@pioneerpress.com or 800-950-9080, ext. 2149.
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