Courts take action on runaway teen and her daughter

After a teenage girl disappeared from the Carlton County Youth Shelter last week with her baby and the teen’s 3-year-old sister, police issued a missing children alert — and removed the alert five hours later when the children were found.

The escapade came with some major consequences as the teen is now facing criminal charges for taking her sister, herself and her 18-month-old baby out of county custody.

Sadie Slides Off, 17, was charged in Sixth District Carlton County Court Sept. 13 for “depriving of custody right-violation of court order-take minor,” a felony. She was sent to the Arrowhead Juvenile Center in Duluth until Tuesday, Sept. 17, when she had more hearings at the courthouse in Carlton under CHIPS parameters, or “child in need of protection or services.”

After Tuesday’s hearing, Judge Robert Macaulay said he would allow Slides Off and her baby to live together in a foster home, as long as the mother goes to school and complies with the requirements of the court, which include following a safety plan for her daughter, following all CHIPS requirements and maintaining daily contact with a social worker. Slides Off agreed.

While her criminal hearing was closed to the public, the CHIPS hearing regarding Slides Off was open. While there were no protests at the hearing, there were protests outside the courthouse Friday. There were at least 15 people in the courtroom for Tuesday’s hearing.

The Gitchigumi Scouts posted about Slides Off’s situation, encouraging the peaceful protest Friday against separating the teenager from the younger children.

“Unfortunately this story is all too common,” a Sept. 11 post read. “Sadie is not a bad mother, she is a very young mother who did what she thought she had to in order to not be separated from her family. If you believe the separation of indigenous families ended, you are wrong, if you believe this happens only at the border, you are wrong.”

The Gitchigumi Scouts is described as a small group centered around patrolling and searching for missing and murdered indigenous women. It also focuses on issues that can lead to dangerous situations for women.

Slides Off is represented by attorney Terri Port Wright in the CHIPS case. The teen’s CHIPS status is as a mom and as a child.

“My hope for Sadie is that she is able to comply with her safety plan and have her daughter returned to her custody soon,” Port Wright told the Pine Knot News.

According to the 10-page CHIPS petition in the case, Carlton County Public Health and Human Services has a history of Slides Off as a child from 2008 before her family moved and again in 2016-17. Slides Off was removed from her mother’s home for a time in 2016 due to a high risk of abuse and neglect. The case was closed in May 2017 due to non-cooperation and follow- through with the county and the Fond du Lac social worker.

According to the petition, Slides Off and the other children were placed into foster care after police were called to the home on May 31 after a deceased juvenile male was found in the home. In June, custody of both Slides Off and her sister, was transferred to Carlton County for appropriate out-of-home placement, while custody of her baby remained with Slides Off.

Things appeared to be going well, with regular hearings held with the mother/grandmother in the CHIPS matter of her children, and a trial home visit held June 11.

On Sept. 4, the foster parent caring for the girls had a medical emergency and was unable to provide care for the children.

The children were with their mother at the time, and went back to stay at her home. But they were removed again on Sept. 10 when the mother failed a urine analysis test.

Slides Off did not want to leave and argued with the social workers, saying that “all the agency does is rip families apart.” She left the home through the front door and was located down the road by police. All three children were taken to the Carlton County Youth Shelter in Cloquet, but Slides Off said she didn’t want to stay, and would leave the next day if she wasn’t out of the shelter by then.

After supper the same day, Slides Off left the shelter with her baby and little sister, getting a ride from her cousin. The shelter reported her departure to the social worker and the police department that evening.

After contacting family members and not finding the girls the next morning, the social worker requested assistance from the Cloquet police with the search. At approximately 3:15 p.m. on Sept. 11, Slides off, her baby and little sister were found at a residence on Tyler Drive, in a trailer on the property. According to the report, they went to a friend’s house the evening of Sept. 10 and spent the night with her cousin before moving to the trailer.

Fond du Lac police reported an overwhelming odor of marijuana in the trailer, and the two younger girls were taken back to the shelter while Slides Off was eventually transported to the Arrowhead Juvenile Center.

Slides Off told the social worker she left the shelter because her little sister kept complaining that shelter workers were yelling at her and she didn’t know what to do.

The next CHIPS court hearing for Slides Off is set for Oct. 15. She and her child are expected to remain in a foster home. It wasn’t clear where the 3-year-old sister was placed.