According to an Associated Press article published in the Duluth [MN] News Tribune, two Wisconsin babies were placed in foster care near the time their mother began basic military training.

It is not entirely clear from the article why the boys were placed with strangers, when it appears that both their father and their great-grandmother were willing to take them in.

While the baby boys were in foster care, they were allegedly abused and neglected and, as a result, the older boy died.

After the 3 year old’s death, one relative, his great-grandmother, was reconsidered and then deemed suitable, so the younger baby was placed with her.

The child’s father reasonably questions whether the great-grandmother will be able to keep up with the baby – and why she should have to, when his father wants to care for him.

The father reportedly plans to comply with the social services agency’s requirements for his surviving son to be placed with him. The requirements may include parenting classes and a psychological assessment.

The article does not report whether the foster parents were required to take parenting classes and undergo psychological assessments. Or whether those measures would have made a difference in the older baby’s fate.