Mother's attitude again impedes help for her dozen kids

TAMPA — Once again, Angel Yulee Adams' attitude has impeded help for her 12 underage children.

In what was supposed to be a court hearing Tuesday to discuss transferring her dozen kids from a foster home to her brother's care, a case manager instead dropped the news that after a Saturday visitation, Job Yulee no longer wants to take them in.

Nicholas Allegretti with the Children's Home Society relayed to the judge what he understood of the situation.

He heard that when it came time to transport the children for the visit, Adams offered no help, standing back as their uncle and another man loaded and unloaded them.

Allegretti was also told that Adams, who lives in a garage apartment on her brother's property, refused to let the kids see their uncle for part of the visit.

And she complained about a storage unit Yulee got to hold furniture for the children.

"I just kept getting over again a lack of respect by mom," Allegretti said.

Adams' attorney said the mother thinks the visit went well and had not realized her brother was upset until the following day. Adams declined to comment after the hearing.

The brother, still upset, did not go to court.

The three fathers of the children sat in on the hearing. One, Garry Brown, wore orange and shackles, transported from prison where he is serving a five-year sentence on drug charges.

Adams had been living with her kids in a motel room before a group of children's advocates and state officials paid her $6,000 debt to the Tampa Housing Authority in April and found them a six-bedroom home to live in rent-free.

She showed no gratitude at that hearing. Then, she refused to answer Circuit Judge Tracy Sheehan's questions about her relatives or whether she was pregnant, facts to determine who would have contact with the kids. The judge threw her in jail for contempt of court and Adams lost her children.

Since then, they have been living in Brandon at A Kid's Place, a temporary shelter.

Alexandra Zayas can be reached at azayas@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3354.