Father Seeks New Chance With Damon

DAMON JUMP, left alone by his mother, appears to be thriving in foster care. But no one knows yet where he will end up, or who will get to care for him.

Damon Jump, the baby found starving and abandoned in a burning apartment building, was moved recently from a foster home into the home of a family that may want to adopt him.

Six months after his rescue he is chubbier now, a 20-month-old toddler who jabbers and walks. His sister Ariel, 3, is with him in the new home.

But whether this family - or some other family down the road - will be allowed to adopt the Jump children has not yet been decided, and won't be until authorities either sever their parents' rights or give them a second chance. That process could take a couple of years or longer.

The children's father, Joe Jump, says he wants his children back. Two months ago, he checked into a six-month alcohol-treatment program on Queen Anne Hill, telling relatives he's determined to conquer his drinking problem and win his children back.

"His goal is to get his life back on track and get the kids back," said Kelly Griffith, his stepmother-in-law. "He doesn't feel that anybody in the family is capable of taking care of Damon and Ariel. He doesn't want to see them adopted out."

"He told me: `Kelly, I don't have to do this. It's my choice.' . . . So I back him all the way. It's great he's made this stand."

The children's mother, LaDawn Jump, is in jail, facing up to five years in prison when she goes before a sentencing judge May 29. She has admitted that she left Damon alone in the apartment for the better part of a month after she moved in with a new boyfriend, taking Ariel with her. She would drop by every few days to leave Damon peanut butter sandwiches and change his bulging diaper.

Joe Jump was in jail at the time, and LaDawn said she was confused and fearful the new boyfriend would dump her if he knew she had a baby.

She has not voluntarily severed her parental rights and said shortly after her arrest that she loves both children "with all my heart." Neither LaDawn nor Joe Jump agreed to recent requests for interviews.

According to state law, until and unless their rights are terminated by an order of the Juvenile Court, either parent could regain custody if they could prove they had corrected the deficiencies that caused the children to be taken from them in the first place.

So far, the state Office of the Attorney General hasn't filed a termination of parental rights petition against either of the Jumps, said Assistant Attorney General Mary Li. Before that could happen, it would have to be determined, among other things:

-- That continuing the parent-child relationship would reduce the chances for adoption later on.

-- That a parent is so severely impaired as to be incapable of caring for the child.

-- That a parent refused to complete necessary treatment for drug or alcohol abuse.

Damon is gaining weight, walking

Joe Jump, a self-described alcoholic, was in the Auburn Jail for traffic violations when he learned through news reports of Damon's abandonment. It was a story that shocked the region: an emaciated 13-month-old found by a police officer motionless and alone on a bedroom floor of an empty apartment in an Auburn complex where a fire had broken out. He had chewed carpeting and sucked his thumb raw from lack of food.

After his rescue, Damon and Ariel were placed in a special-needs foster home in King County. According to the mother of the foster parent, who asked not to be identified, Damon has gained weight, is walking and jabbers.

"He's a chubby little guy," she said. "He's doing what kids his age should be doing."

Ariel, though, was having more trouble adjusting to life without her parents, the foster parent's mother said.

Recently, the children were moved from the foster home to the home of another family that hopes to adopt them, the woman said. The family has two other children.

Kathy Spears, spokeswoman for the Department of Social and Health Services, said the children were in a "more permanent" home and that adoption for any child placed in such a setting was "always a possibility." But she declined to discuss the case further.

Jump family wants to keep children

Meanwhile, Jump family members - some of whom did not know of Damon's existence until learning about him through news reports - are now hoping to keep both children in the family.

Vera Lafferty, LaDawn Jump's mother, said she has asked to see Damon and Ariel, but except for a brief visit in January has not been allowed contact. Joe Jump's grandfather, Jack Scott, and Joe's mother, Sharon Jump, also have sought contact with the children.

Scott said that until Joe Jump completes treatment and "cleaned himself up," the children would be better off where they are now. Once his life is on track, though, "I told him I would help him all I could," Scott said.

Father `very committed' to treatment

Griffith, LaDawn Jump's stepmother, said Joe Jump stayed at her home in Cashmere for about a week after he was released from jail earlier this year.

He is very committed to the treatment program in Seattle, she said. "He wants to work on himself and get on track. Once he's finished (the program) he wants to start working on getting his kids back."

He still seems in shock over the whole ordeal, she added. "He seemed to not be feeling much of anything. He doesn't know what to feel."

Once Jump completes the treatment program, he faces more jail time, according to Chelan County Deputy Prosecutor Steve Funderburk. In March, Jump pleaded guilty to driving with a suspended license in 1997. The court agreed to hold off sentencing until the treatment program is over. Griffith said Joe Jump does not want the children returned to their mother.

If Deputy Prosecutor Hugh Barber gets his way, they won't be - at least for five years. That's how much prison time he will recommend at her sentencing. The standard range for child abandonment is 12 to 14 months. But given Damon's history, "I view it as an abandonment from birth," Barber said.

Damon was born with a heart defect that required immediate surgery, but police reports, court records and interviews with friends and relatives found that he was virtually alone in the world from birth.

Friends and relatives who tried to intervene were largely ignored as their reports of abandonment went ignored.

Medical authorities say it's too soon to know whether Damon suffered permanent damage from the neglect. According to court documents, doctors said a brain scan, skeletal survey and other tests showed Damon will suffer some loss of brain function that could be permanent. They also said malnutrition caused his skeletal growth to be arrested.