"They said foster care was safe, they didn't tell us how to survive in there.."

WE'RE MOVING!!!

2007-10-03T11:08:00.001-07:00

WE ARE MOVING, so change your bookmarks, Its Almost Tuesday has moved to Wordpress now.

MEDIA RELEASE:

2007-09-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

MEDIA RELEASE:

CONTACT: Louise Uccio
PHONE: (917) 806-8301
FAX: (914) 965-3823
Email: HaveUmistakenMe@aol.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE :

MOTHER EXONERATED:
SUES ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN’S SERVICES
FOR MALICIOUS PROSECUTION, AND NEGLIGENT MISREPRESENTATION

September 28, 2007

New York, Ms. Louise Uccio via her civil rights attorney has filed a lawsuit in The Supreme Court in the State of New York after the devastating affect of a false 2001 “Substantiated” Child Protective Services case against her. Defendants named in the lawsuit include: The case-worker, Noreen Boffa and various “John and Jane Does” unknown officers in the Administration for Child Protective Services, as well as the City of New York.

Ms. Uccio, a loving and devoted mother, and her children’s lives have been irreversibly destroyed over the last six years. She was accused and falsely found guilty of being a drug addict who attempted suicide. Ms. Uccio is alleging that her estranged abusive husband’s relentless pursuit to destroy her for leaving the marriage was the basis of four investigations by The Administration for Children’s Services in N.Y. and Division of Youth and Family Services in N.J. In 2001; leading to this lawsuit.

Ms. Uccio has been kept from her children for years with no visitation, no phone contact, and no access to medical or school records. Her estranged husband has successfully managed to alienate the children from her and erase her from their lives. This loving mother who diligently took care of her children according to her daughters pediatric cardiologist [Dr Putman] has lost six precious years from her children’s lives, during which time two of her children have aged out of the system.

Ms. Uccio has no history of drug abuse, as proven in the original documentation that was used to over turn this case, which was available and should have cleared her from the beginning had this case ever been properly investigated.

She was falsely accused, and maliciously prosecuted while she was able to prove her innocence from the start. She feels the case was able to be substantiated as a combined result of her civility, and respect for "authority", as well as her naive innocence and not knowing her constitutional rights.
Although the false “substantiated” case was over turned on July 12, 2006, Not only have Ms. Uccio and her children not been reunited there has been no visitation to date.

# # #

If you would like more information about this lawsuit or to schedule an interview with Louise Uccio please call (917) 806-8301 or contact her @ HaveUmistakenMe@aol.com

[End]

MISSING CHILD IN FLORIDA

2007-09-17T08:15:00.000-07:00

BillOReilly.com: Jessica's Law

2007-09-15T22:46:00.000-07:00

What is Jessica's Law?
Named in memory of Jessica Lunsford, who was abducted and sexually assaulted before being brutally murdered, "Jessica's Law" refers to the Jessica Lunsford Act passed in Florida which mandates a minimum sentence of 25 years and a maximum of life in prison for first-time child sex offenders.
BillOReilly.com: Jessica's Law

AMBER Alert Training/Legal Database

2007-09-15T22:45:00.000-07:00

AMBER Alert Training/Legal Database

Your Rights in Foster Care

2007-05-04T09:51:00.001-07:00

The rights for youth in foster care may be different in each state. Ask your caseworker about your rights in your state. If your rights are being violated, contact a caseworker, attorney, CASA or foster parent immediately.

As a youth in foster care, you have the right:*

To know your rights in foster care, to receive a list of those rights in written form and to know how to file a complaint if your rights are being violated.
To be told why you came into foster care and why you are still in foster care.
To live in a safe and healthy home where treated with respect, with your own place to store your things and where you receive healthy food, adequate clothing, and appropriate personal hygiene products.
To have personal belongings secure and transported with you.
To have caring foster parents or caretakers who are properly trained, have received background checks and screenings, and who receive adequate support form the Agency to help ensure stability in the placement.
To be placed in a home with your brothers and sisters when possible, and to maintain regular and unrestricted contact with siblings when separated (including help with transportation), unless ordered by the court.
To attend school and participate in extracurricular, cultural, and personal enrichment activities.
To have your privacy protected. You can expect confidentiality from the adults involved in your case.
To be protected from physical, sexual, emotional or other abuse, including corporal punishment (hitting or spanking as a punishment) and being locked in a room (unless you are in a treatment facility).
To receive medical, dental, vision and mental health services.
To refuse to take medications, vitamins or herbs, unless prescribed by a doctor.
To have an immediate visit after placement and have regular visits ongoing with biological parents and other relatives unless prohibited by court or unless you don't want to.
To make and receive confidential telephone calls and send and receive unopened mail, unless prohibited by court order.
To have regular contact from and unrestricted access to social workers, attorneys, and advocates and to be allowed to have confidential conversations with such individuals.
To be told by your social worker and your attorney about any changes in your case plan or placement and receive honest information about the decisions the Agency is making that affect your life.
To attend religious services and activities of your choice and to preserve your cultural heritage. If possible your placement should be with a family member or someone from your community with similar religion, culture and/or heritage.
To be represented by an attorney at law in administrative or judicial proceedings with access to fair hearing and court review of decisions, so that your best interest are safeguarded.
To be involved, where appropriate, in the development of your case plan and to object to any of the provisions of the case plan during case reviews, court hearings and case planning conferences.
To attend court and speak to a judge (at a certain age, usually 12) about what you want to have happen in your case.
To have a plan for your future, including an emancipation plan if appropriate (for leaving foster care when you become an adult), and to be provided services to help you prepare to become a successful adult.

*Unless restricted by law or otherwise restricted by the court. This post isnot intended to provide legal notice, it is advised that you consult with an attorney for direction concerning legal rights in your specific situation.

Resources:

Arizona revised Statute, Relating to child welfare and placement, HB2105 – 441R – S Ver., Bill of Rights for Children in Foster Care, National Foster Parents Association

Florida Statute 39.4085 Legislative findings and declaration of intent for goals for dependent children.National Center for Youth Law, California Foster Youth— your rights. (November 2002)

Casey National Center, Bill of Rights for Children in Foster Care,(August 2002) Answers, Maine Youth Advisory Team. http://www.ylat.org/publications/answers.pdf New Jersey Revised Statute 9:6B-4, Rights for Children placed outside the home. Your Rights in Foster Care, Lawyers for Children, New York. South Carolina Foster Child's Bill of Rights, GOALL Youth Advisory Council.

The Real Deal, The National Youth in Care Network.Your Rights as a person placed with Growing Homes, Growing Home

What is Senate Bill 6?

2007-04-23T04:35:00.000-07:00

Senate Bill 6 amends the Education Code, Family Code, Government Code, Human Resources Code, Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, and Texas Probate Code to make a number of reforms to the children's protective services and adult protective services programs, certain related guardianship issues, and other family law matters. It requires the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) and the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to adopt a transition plan for the privatization of certain child welfare functions by March 1, 2006, and requires that all substitute care and case management services for children in DFPS managing conservatorship be provided by child-care institutions and child-placing agencies by September 2011.

It also requires enhanced training and reduced caseloads for child protective services caseworkers. The children's protective services reforms in the bill include provisions relating to tuition and fee exemptions for foster and adopted children, continuing education and other requirements for attorneys ad litem, medical assistance under the Medicaid program for children adopted out of DFPS conservatorship, criminal penalties for certain false reports of child abuse or neglect, response time requirements for certain reported cases based on immediacy and severity of harm to a child, a system for screening less serious cases of abuse or neglect without investigation, the exchange of information with other states, a Texas foster grandparent mentors initiative, funding for various community-based services and programs, facility and agency foster home inspection procedures, conditions under which an application for a license to operate a nonresidential child-care facility may be denied, a caseworker replacement program, requirements for providing certain informational materials, including the development of a child placement resources form, requirements relating to the family service plan, and requirements that the DFPS employ child safety specialists, colocate with local law enforcement agencies that investigate child abuse, and encourage the establishment of a children's advocacy center in certain counties.

Senate Bill 6 sets out requirements for medical care and educational services for children in foster care, including provisions relating to consent for medical care, parental notification of significant medical conditions, the provision of care in emergency situations, and the development of health and educational passports. The bill directs DFPS to develop and deliver cultural awareness competency training, expand court-appointed volunteer advocacy programs, develop a relative and other designated caregiver placement program, improve quality of investigations, eliminate delays, and establish a drug-endangered child initiative.

The bill requires DFPS to license and register child-placing agency administrators and to enforce related regulations and includes several provisions relating to licensing procedures, requirements, and penalties for administrators and facilities. In addition, the executive director of HHSC is required to establish an investigations division to oversee and direct children's protective services investigations. The bill also includes several conditions and restrictions related to employment at certain residential facilities, requires a criminal history background check for a prospective employee, and requires facilities to establish a drug-testing policy for facility employees.

Among the provisions relating to the privatization of substitute care, Senate Bill 6 includes regional implementation requirements and a transition plan and goals to be achieved through privatization. The bill transfers certain duties from DFPS staff to independent administrators and requires hiring preference to be given to DFPS employees whose positions are eliminated as a result of the privatization of services. The bill authorizes the DFPS to continue to provide substitute care and case management services beyond the deadline for privatization in certain emergency cases.

The adult protective services reforms in the bill include provisions relating to coordination between DFPS and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board regarding the development of curriculum and degree programs in fields relating to adult protective services, a statewide public awareness campaign designed to educate the public about the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of the elderly and disabled persons, and the use of technology to improve the effectiveness of the adult protective services program. The bill requires DFPS to maintain an investigation unit for adult protective services, develop and implement a training program and continuing education program for newly hired or newly assigned adult protective services workers and a case management training program for supervisors, develop and implement a quality assurance program, and develop procedures for investigating complex cases.

Senate Bill 6 requires the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission to develop risk assessment criteria to determine whether an elderly or disabled person is in a state of abuse, neglect, or exploitation, to develop and implement, subject to the availability of funds, a caseload management reduction plan that provides specific annual reduction targets, and to create a pilot program for monitoring unlicensed and illegally operating long-term care facilities. In addition, the bill authorizes DFPS, subject to the availability of funds, to contract with protective services agencies for the provision of services particularly to elderly or disabled persons in certain rural or remote areas. It also includes provisions relating to the filing of a petition to a court for an emergency protective order based on certain physical and psychological health assessments performed at the direction of the department.

Senate Bill 6 amends the Government Code, Human Resources Code, and the Texas Probate Code to transfer the powers, duties, functions, programs, and funds of the Department of Family and Protective Services relating to guardianship services to the Department of Aging and Disability Services. The bill includes provisions relating to the specific conditions that must be met for an individual to be referred for guardianship, procedures relating to court-initiated guardianship, and the creation of the guardianship certification board to provide for the certification and regulation of guardians.

Finally, Senate Bill 6 amends the Family Code and Penal Code to clarify provisions of the law relating to the offense of bigamy and to increase the penalty for the offense from a Class A misdemeanor to a felony of the third, second, or first degree depending on the age of the person to whom an actor purports to marry or with whom the actor lives under the appearance of marriage.

Tips on how you can be heard - letters to editor

2007-04-23T02:51:00.000-07:00

Writing a Letter to the Editor (source: Texas Freedom Network)

Studies show that Letters to the Editor sections are among the most-read parts of a newspaper. You can be sure that elected officials – or their staff members – read those sections regularly. In addition, letters to the editor are free and relatively easy to submit to newspaper editors. As a result, such letters can be effective ways of influencing public opinion (and the votes of policymakers who pay close attention to public opinion).

Don’t be discouraged if your letter isn’t published. Numerous letters on a particular topic can alert editors to the importance of a particular story and improve the chances that at least one of the letters on that topic will be published.

Writing Your Letter

Follow the newspaper’s guidelines for length. Ideally, keep your letter shorter than 150 words.
Focus on one point and state it clearly at the beginning of your letter.
Make sure your letter is timely. Try to tie your point to a recent news item, editorial, letter or event.
If you are responding to someone’s comments, don’t waste your limited space by repeating them. Focus on your own point.
Keep it simple. Avoid using complicated sentences and big words.
Avoid personal attacks, offensive language and political name-calling (e.g, “far right,” “extremist”). Such language will turn off the average reader.

Submitting Your Letter

Newspapers typically list on their editorial pages or Web sites the postal and email addresses for submitting letters to the editor. Submit your letter by email (preferred) or by fax. If neither is possible, send by mail as soon as possible to lessen the time between possible publication and the event about which you are writing. If you don’t find an address, you can call the newspaper’s main number for the information.
Include your contact information (daytime and home phone numbers, address and email, if available) so that the newspaper can verify that you sent the letter.

After Publication

Clip your letter and the header of the page on which it is printed – including at least the name of the newspaper and the date. Then photocopy the letter and header together on one page and fax your copies to your elected officials. Include a personal note indicating that you are a constituent.

Child Care Licensing Inspects Random Sample of Agency Foster Homes

2007-04-23T02:47:00.000-07:00

Original Article Here

eSenate Bill 6, passed during the 79th regular legislative session amended the Texas Human Resource Code (HRC) 42.044(e) to require Child-Care Licensing (CCL) to inspect a random sample of agency foster homes. Information gained during these inspections must be used to determine a child-placing agency’s (CPA) compliance with the licensing law, rules and minimum standards.

In preparation to meet this requirement, CCL conducted focus group and feedback meetings with representatives from the foster care community** to gain insight into the concerns that foster parents and child-placing agencies may have regarding these inspections. Input from these meetings was used in developing CCL staff training, creating inspection procedures and forms, and identifying the best ways to share information with CPA’s and foster homes.

**Why with the foster care community? To find out what they're afraid of and how they can comply without exposing the truth? Why don't they consult with the members of the community that are affected by this - ie the natural birth parents of the children affected by CPS?

Are there minutes of those meetings and Are those minutes available for public review. If not, why not? What do we need to do in order to obtain those?

Why isn't there feedback and inspections from 3rd party objective members of community? From former foster children?

DFPS statisticians pull a random sample list of homes from the DFPS database on a quarterly basis. From this sample, CCL staff plan and conduct their inspections. Additional homes are selected as a part of each sample to compensate for homes that have closed or have changed operating status. Foster homes that are not inspected during the sample period may be selected again in a future sample. Since inspections are conducted to evaluate how well a CPA is doing, foster homes that move from one CPA to another may be selected and inspected again with each subsequent move.

Minimum standard Section 749.2489 requires a CPA submit information about a foster home’s verification status to CCL within two working days of a change. This can easily be done by completing an Agency Home Report available in the CCL on-line provider section of our DFPS website. Up to date information on a foster home helps CCL staff better prepare for an inspection and avoids unnecessary contact with foster parents in inactive or closed status.

Foster Home Inspection Protocol

CCL mailed a pre-inspection notice to each foster home selected in the random sampling process. In most circumstances, CCL staff will announce their inspections to ensure that an adult caregiver is present during the inspection**. Once an inspection is scheduled, we encourage foster parents to explain about the CCL visit to their foster children and other persons in the home. CCL staff will have a picture ID card to present upon arrival at the foster home.

**Yeah sure they inform them ahead of time - how nice.... do they inform natural birth parents ahead of time that they're coming by to check the homes of the children??? They do this to ensure an adult caregiver is present during the inspection? Um.... its a foster home with children in it, don't you think an adult caregiver SHOULD ALWAYS BE PRESENT ANYWAY? What about suprise inspections? This is no way to "reform" how foster homes are run... this is a way to look good on paper but skirt the real issues...

CCL staff must use a foster home sampling guide to conduct their inspection. This ensures consistency in the type of information that is gathered about each foster home. During the inspection, CCL staff will interview foster parents and verbal children who are present, walk through the home both indoors and out, and review paperwork on file in the home, to determine how well the CPA is doing its job in verifying and monitoring their foster homes.

At the end of the inspection, any areas of concern are discussed with the foster parent or adult caregiver during an exit interview. CCL staff will leave a brief report, identifying concerns and discussion points. A summary letter outlining the minimum standards related to these concerns is sent to the CPA within 10 days. The CPA is responsible for following-up with the home to ensure concerns are addressed. If immediate hazards are found during an inspection, CCL staff will contact the CPA within 24 hours of the inspection.

and then what do they do??? they don't remove the children from that home as if they would to a parent???

Before leaving the home, CCL staff will also provide a feedback form with a postage paid return envelope. This form gives the foster parent an opportunity to tell CCL about the inspection experience and share suggestions for improvement.

Foster parents who have questions or concerns regarding an inspection should contact** their CPA. CPAs that have questions or concerns regarding the sampling program or a sampling report should contact their DFPS Licensing Representative or Licensing Supervisor.

**I think that I will contact them as they suggest the foster parent to do. We'll see what response I get.
No, i'm not a foster parent, I'm a birth parent. And in December 2004 my son arrived at a visit black and blue beaten up with a black eye and blood covered his shirt and was still dried in his nose and on his little body. I requested records of the agency he was placed at, and received, after many many many months of persistence in order to even GET THEM, incidents of many things, but not anything with regard to MY child's black eye and bloody appearance. If you go to my profile and click on the audio link, you'll hear a recording from that visit where I was shocked to see his condition, and he tells me what happened, but i have yet to find an incident report on that. Matter of fact, in the months prior to that incident, my son was abused terribly and for some reason in my case files, those months' reports are missing, and the caseworker has since left and so there is a note by the following caseworker that she is unable to go back and fill in those incidents because the original caseworker left no notes of that time. Isn't that called backdating?
The truth about these facilities are amazingly disgusting.... and I vow to tell as much truth as I can to you, because even with my obsessive persistence and passionate desire to seek it out, I have a hard time finding it, its buried very deep behind corporate veils.
Still, I'm doing it for the children - as THEY purport themselves to be doing.... then prove it CPS - prove it!!

227 Texas Children Died Innocently At Hands Of Parents - But... What I REALLY want to know is...

2007-04-23T01:13:00.000-07:00

I read this article and have just a few questions that this article brings to my mind; I will comment throughout and welcome (encourage) comments or resources i can turn to in order to answer my questions... because the facts here mean only so much but with the ENTIRE facts at hand, then, we can really know whats happening to our children. So please join in on the discussion if you will... I'd like to know thoughts of families that are affected by the system, or from the people within the system, or just taxpaying citizens whose hard earned money goes towards these services that are supposed to safeguard our children... there is a lot to be said about the statistics within the child abuse/neglect concern, which takes place not just by parents/guardians, but within the foster homes and residential treatment centers and youth camps... whats the WHOLE truth? lets see what we can learn here...

Last year, 227 Texas children died innocently

— By Debby Schamber
The Orange Leader

Officials with Child Protective Services want to paint the town blue to recognize April as Child Abuse Prevention Month.
The Blue Ribbon Child Abuse Prevention Campaign started in 1989 after a child’s death. The child’s grandmother received the news of her grandson’s traumatic death from injuries inflicted by his parents. As an expression of her grief and outrage she tied a blue ribbon on the antennae of her van to symbolize the bruised and battered body of her grandson, according to information from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
Child Protective Services kicked off a month-long campaign Sunday, hoping raise public awareness and eventually stop child abuse. To help get the program get started, a candlelight vigil and blue ribbon campaign will be held at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Orange County Courthouse.
“This is to remember the victims and bring awareness to the community,” said Shari Pulliam, public awareness officer the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. “Everyone is invited to attend.”

Last year 227 Texas children died from the abuse or neglect at the hands of their parents or guardians.*

I would like to know how many Texas children died from abuse or neglect at the hands of their FOSTER parents, Adopted parents (who adopted through TDPRS) and at the hands of workers at the residential treatment centers, therapeutic foster camps, or due to mishandling, misdiagnosis, or incidents relating to psychotropic drugs prescribed to them by contracted psychologists treating our foster children.. I'd like to know THOSE numbers.

Additionally, 67,737 Texas children were confirmed victims of abuse or neglect* and 17,536 children were removed from their homes, according to CPS.

If 67,737 Texas children were confirmed victims of abuse or neglect, I want to know if by saying confirmed they are saying that allegations from referrals were substantiated? And if so, how many of those were actual abuse rather than "neglectful supervision", a term CPS likes to use to sustain a referral on vague, sometimes (for lack of better terms) silly information because they did something (such as removing a child) that they shouldn't have done, and need to have a reason on paper to back it up - neglectful supervision.
In the UCCJEA when it was being changed over from the UCCJA, one area of discussion dealing with jurisdiction on the basis of emergency if the child is abused in another state, or taken and withheld in another state than the one of continuing jurisdiction, the court should not (but they do) transfer or grant emergency jurisdiction based on the term of neglect - it is considered too elastic of a term to be used in order to substantiate allegations made as a defense to parental abduction. That would only encourage parental kidnapping. Furthermore, if you look into the federal definitions of terms relating to child abuse laws... neglectful supervision is not even listed as a recognized term within federal guidelines. So, my point is, their statistic claims 67,737 children were confirmed abused or neglected .... how many of each? Is it, for example.... 20,000 abused and 47,737 neglected children with 40,000 of those being labeled neglectful supervision because of things like a parent in the household having marijuana i n their system from a new years eve party that is found after a spite referral comes in from an angry mother-in-law... having nothing to do with the children... or similar circumstances that really have no other application than that (unrecognized) term....
CPS - please tell us - whats the REAL numbers there? If those ARE sustained abuse/neglect cases, how many were NOT substantiated...? If 67,737 cases were substantiated - then tell us how many kids removed into foster care had cases where in the end the allegations were baseless? Whats THAT number? And how many children, if 227 children were killed at the hands of their parents/guardians, do you mean family members when you say guardians? who are the guardians you mean? define them? Or are the guardians you speak of stepparents? are they the foster parents? adopted parents? Who do you mean when you say "guardian"??
After questioning that, I wonder then how many children died at the hands of those you...CPS.... entrusted the children to - the foster parents or adoptive parents who adopted from CPS - the workers at state run juvenile detention centers, RTC's, camps? How many of those 227 children whose lives were needlessly and horribly cut short actually were killed by the hands of their BIRTH PARENTS - split that statistic for us after you define "guardian" - is it 7 killed by parents and 220 by guardians? Give us the REAL facts...
How many children died while in the care of the state? And while you're at it, how many of those children 17,536 children torn from their homes were allegations which were NOT substantiated or based on "neglectful supervision"? And of those - how many of THOSE children died in state's care. Those are the questions I want answered! I'll refrain at this time from asking about how many of those children were abused and beaten, battered, tortured, or traumatized by the state's child "protection" system... that, we can discuss later.

“Child abuse is an everyday occurrence that needs to be focused on, but we do this to simply raise awareness to the problem,” Pulliam said.

Pulliam asks who holds the answer to child abuse and also replies, “We all do.”
“Prevention of child abuse is not a responsibility that is only appropriate for parents and family. In fact it is an action in which each of us can participate.” Pulliam said. “No one can do everything, but everyone can do something and together we can do anything. Together we can prevent child abuse.”

If thats the case, Pulliam, tell me, how many foster parents or state facility workers are actually convicted, facility shut down, or forced into services with children immediately removed from their homes naming THOSE who are caring for those children under CPSs supervision, actually named in a registry as abuse/neglect perpetrators when a child is abused or killed in their care? If you want to be honest about pulling together to stop child abuse START THERE - because I can tell you not just from experience where my child was abused in state's care and nobody was convicted for it (instead they didn't bring him to visit me while his injuries were still present and told him I didn't show up thats why there was no visit....LYING to cover it up) ... I know that nothings been done inside the system except whats necessary to protect themselves when incidents occur. Go to the TDPRS Child Care Search Engine where you can input names of facilities and read their incident reports that they are legally bound to furnish the public with (although I've found that some are, in fact, not reported) - such as::
Narrative A young foster child was sexually assaulted by an older child in the home. The older child was arrested for sexual assault

WHO HERE WAS CONVICTED FOR NEGLECTFUL SUPERVISION TO ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN????? That facility is up and running still....

See my POST OF VIOLATIONS to discuss... I was going to list some here, but there are too many I want to show you that it deserved its own post....meanwhile back to the article....

The focus for the campaign this year is there is “no excuse for child abuse.”

Child abuse prevention is about stopping child abuse and neglect before it starts. The best way to prevent child abuse is to support families and provide parents with the skills and resources they need.

The public can have an active role in prevention of child abuse by being aware of the signs.

(and by demanding accountability within the foster care system)

“It is important for the community to be aware of the problems of child abuse and to learn what to do,” said Jane Nielsen, volunteer cooridnator/public relations for CASA.
Injury to a child is considered abuse regardless whether the caretaker intended the incident to happen or not. A person should suspect abuse if the child has frequent injuries without adequate explanations or complains of pain without obvious injury.
A person suspicious of child abuse may look for burns or bruises in unusual patterns that may indicate cigarette burns, the use of an instrument or even a human bite. To hide the marks a child may wear unseasonable clothing. The child may also disappear for a few days and the re-urface with injuries that appear to be a few days old.
Furthermore, a child may act out emotionally by becoming aggressive, disruptive, and have destructive behavior. On the other hand, a child may become withdrawn, passive, have emotionless behavior and a fear of going home or seeing the parents.
“It is important for the victims of abuse to know it is never their fault,” Pulliam said. “The kids can’t blame themselves and say if only they cleaned their room or did something different then it would not have happened.”
Child neglect is also a form of child abuse. Neglect is just as harmful and is a failure to provide basic needs to sustain the life or health of the child. However, this excludes failure to provide based on financial status unless services or help has been offered and refused.
A person may suspect neglect if a child suffers from obvious malnourishment or is stealing or begging for food. Furthermore, a child may have a lack of personal cleanliness and have torn or dirty clothing. In addition, the child may be left unattended at home or be absent from school frequently.
Child abuse and neglect is against the law in Texas, so is the failure to report the abuse. If a person suspects a child is abused they can call law enforcement or CPS at 1-800-252-5400. The hotline is answered 24 hours a day, every day. If the situation is life threatening, the person should call 911.
Reporters are not expected to prove the abuse or neglect they report. It is best to be specific of the injuries noted and the incidents observed. A delay in reporting the incident may result in serious harm to the child and it is also best for the investigator to see the injuries or bruises before they fade.
If a person fails to report suspected child abuse it may result in the person being charged with a Class B misdemeanor which can carry a fine up to $1,500 and up to 180 days of imprisonment.

Reach this reporter at 409-883-3571, Ext. 2613, or dschamber@orangeleader.com

LOST GERMAN SHEPHERD DOG IN PEMBROKE, NC

2007-04-19T16:02:00.000-07:00

Map of
Pembroke, NC 28372

You're probably wondering why I'm listing these ads for Lost and Found Dogs - My dog is missing.

If you come across my Angel Dog in or around Pembroke, NC or Lumberton, please notify findangeldog@gmail.com immediately or call 1-866-699-FIND.

14 year old makes threats to remain in foster care (NEWS DAILY ITEM)

2007-04-15T05:57:00.000-07:00

Daily Item:
News - 14-year-old who made threats to remain in foster care http://www.dailyitem.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007704130311

Visit DailyItem.com today!

updated video and lost angel dog channel

2007-04-15T02:53:00.000-07:00

2 YEAR OLD BATTERED IN CPS CARE - SEE THIS VIDEO

2007-04-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

Watch This Video

Posted 3/16/07BAKERSFIELD -

A Tehachapi family is outraged Friday night after finding bruises on their little girl when she was returned to them from a foster home.
The 2-year-old toddler was placed with her grandmother earlier this week after Child Protective Services found bruising on the girl during a foster home visit last week.
The grandmother said the toddler was emaciated, bruised, her head shaved bald, and possibly sexually abused.
We want to warn you, some of the pictures may be graphic.
“I couldn’t even think,” said Heather Yeck, the toddler’s mother. “I was in shock. I couldn’t even cry. I was just sick.”
Yeck is talking about her reaction after seeing these pictures of her daughter taken by her grandmother, bruised from head-to-toe and also in areas we can’t show you.
“She was totally black and blue,” said Cynthia Miller, grandmother. “Underneath her diaper and her ankles and her legs were covered with bruises.”
Her grandmother said the 2-year-old should not have been taken away in the first place. A Tehachapi Sheriff’s detective took the toddler away from her parents in late January and placed her in the hands of Child Protective Services when a thin fracture in the leg was found after she tripped over a wire—an indication of abuse in the past, but not so anymore. She reads a report from a county doctor.
“This is a very common accidental fracture in toddlers, and may occur even with an apparently minor fall and twist of the tibia,” the report stated.
The girl is staying with her grandmother now, and even though it has been a few days, you can still see remnants of her bruising but it’s nothing compared to the condition she came in with that Tuesday afternoon.
Her parents are furious.
“These people say they’re supposed to be Child Protective Services? And they take away my little girl because she falls on a little carpet strip and get a little spiral fracture which is really common,” said Sonny Wright, stepfather. “But they try to say we’re dangerous, we’re neglecting our kids, yet when we get her back, she’s not even the same little girl.”
“All I want to say is I want justice for my baby,” said Yeck, mother. “I want someone to suffer for this just as she has.”
We tried to get CPS’ side of the story, but they declined an on-camera interview and a statement, citing that they were prohibited by national laws from discussing the case. They did say over the phone a social worker checked on Savannah weekly, CPS discovered and reported the injuries during a visit last Thursday and acted immediately when injuries were discovered, and they are conducting their own investigation into what occurred at the foster home.
Bakersfield Police are also investigating the case.
The foster home was local.

These sad stories are nothing new... (click and see this video)

Action Alert

2007-04-02T00:12:00.000-07:00

Signatures: 877
Goal: 5,000
Deadline: Ongoing...

To: OUR Government and Child Protective Services - Our kids need us. Ever notice that a human child doesn't walk until it's tall enough to reach a parent's hand? -

"We are guilty of many errors and many faults, but the worst crime is abandoning children and therefore neglecting the foundation of life. Many of the things we need, can wait. The child cannot. Right now is the time his bones are being formed, his blood is being made, and his senses are being developed. To him we cannot answer, Tomorrow. His name is Today."

Government agencies, Social workers, judges they all make decisions on what is in the BEST interest of Children ... decisions which often determine their destiny.

Sadly, when the wrong decisions are made - Children are murdered!

They are beaten, tortured, sexually assaulted and murdered.

Who is responsible? The One making the decisions!

WE are asking for justice ... for Help!

Help never came for Angellika Nicole Arndt , Isaac Lethbridge,Daniel Jack Matthews, Ricky Holland, Christopher Michael, Sirita Sotelo, Nicholas Contreras, Sarah Angelina Chavez, Martin Lee Anderson,Ebony Smith,Kayla Allen,Candice Raynor......
and sadly many, many more but perhaps one day justice will come for them all. For these children, it's too late to turn back the hands of time. May the spirits of those lost rest in peace and may we never forget or ignore what happened to them.

In The Name of Those Children
We are asking For
October 22nd as Victims of Child Welfare Memorial Day to remember those who have died as a result of Child Welfare in their lives. -
In Memory of.....

The mistakes that are made when dealing with a child's life are inexcusable. With a "Victims of Child Welfare Memorial Day", increased attention and care with decisions concerning a child's disposition may come about." John King

Data shows that while the number of foster children in our state's care increased 24 percent from 26,133 in Fiscal 2003 to 32,474 in Fiscal 2005, the number of deaths increased 60 percent.
Read more....

A Child advocate in Chicago said: "an infant in a paper bag on the freeway at rush hour is safer than a child in protective custody there."
Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the United States. These numbers come from The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN) in Washington.
Perpetrators of Maltreatment
________________________________________________

Physical Abuse: CPS= 160 - Parents = 59

___________________________________________

Sexual Abuse : CPS = 112 - Parents = 13

____________________________________________

Neglect: CPS = 410 - Parents = 241

_____________________________________________

Medical Neglect: CPS = 14 - Parents = 12

_____________________________________________

Fatalities: CPS = 6,4 - Parents = 1,5

_____________________________________________

Sadistic and criminal aren't words usually associated with social workers. But they come to mind while reading the results of a yearlong investigation into a child-protection bureaucracy that was allowed to go rogue. Social workers gave each other nicknames like "The Queen of Removal" and "Terminator" and laughed as they stripped children from their parents!
Too Young and Too Innocent to Die
This page is in memory of children died of neglect or abuse while under the care of the social service agencies : In Memory of.....

We must find a way to stop the “system” from allowing this to happen. How many more children will be sacrificed before we do?"Unfortunately, for many people who haven't learned first hand it is hard to conceive that the very agency entrusted with protecting children would ever turn into the abuser. When my children were taken a long time acquaintance of my father stated "They must have found 'something'. CPS don't take kids away for no reason.". Until they've experienced it themselves, many people don't understand 'the whim complex'." -Rev. Dr. William W. Joslin

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Please Light a Candle

.........that their light always shine.
Click here

It is very sad to know there are children like these suffering today at the hands of Government Welfare Workers . This must stop before is too late, don't wait for new name on this page.

In Memory of.....

Make every letter a special delivery and send message out with Real U.S. Postage + Postage Pal -"In Memory of Foster Children" -
Please stand up for what is right !
Send message Out Now! Actions speak louder than words !
PLEASE KEEP YOUR MESSAGE SHORT!
keep it short, simple and straightforward.

What Is PTSD? Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

2007-04-01T22:55:00.000-07:00

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of a traumatic event. A traumatic event is a life-threatening event such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or physical or sexual assault in adult or childhood. Most survivors of trauma return to normal given a little time. However, some people will have stress reactions that do not go away on their own, or may even get worse over time. These individuals may develop PTSD.

People with PTSD experience three different kinds of symptoms. The first set of symptoms involves reliving the trauma in some way such as becoming upset when confronted with a traumatic reminder or thinking about the trauma when you are trying to do something else. The second set of symptoms involves either staying away from places or people that remind you of the trauma, isolating from other people, or feeling numb. The third set of symptoms includes things such as feeling on guard, irritable, or startling easily.

In addition to the symptoms described above, we now know that there are clear biological changes that are associated with PTSD. PTSD is complicated by the fact that people with PTSD often may develop additional disorders such as depression, substance abuse, problems of memory and cognition, and other problems of physical and mental health. These problems may lead to impairment of the person’s ability to function in social or family life, including occupational instability, marital problems and family problems.

PTSD can be treated with with psychotherapy (“talk” therapy) and medicines such as
antidepressants. Early treatment is important and may help reduce long-term symptoms. Unfortunately, many people do not know that they have PTSD or do not seek treatment. This handout will help you to better understand PTSD and the how it can be treated.

How does PTSD develop?

PTSD develops in response to a traumatic event. About 60% of men and 50% of women experience a traumatic event in their lifetime. Most people who are exposed to a traumatic event will have some of the symptoms of PTSD in the days and weeks after the event. For some people these symptoms are more severe and long lasting. The reasons why some people develop PTSD are still being studied. There are biological, psychological and social factors that affect the development of PTSD.

Some research shows that ethnic minorities, such as Blacks and Hispanics, are more likely than Whites to develop PTSD. One reason for these differences is that minorities may have more contact with traumatic events. For example, in Vietnam, Whites were in less combat than Blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians. Researchers are trying to understand other reasons for the differences in PTSD between the ethnic groups.A person’s culture or ethnic group can affect how that person reacts to a problem like PTSD. For example, some people may be more willing than others to talk about their problems or to seek help.

How long does PTSD last?

The course of PTSD is variable. This means it can be different for different people and that it can change over time. PTSD usually begins right after the traumatic event but it can also be physical abuse. The most traumatic events for women are rape, sexual molestation, physical attack, being threatened with a weapon, and childhood physical abuse.
PTSD is more common in “at-risk” groups such as those serving in combat. About 30% of the men and women who served in Vietnam experience PTSD. An additional 20% to 25% have had partial PTSD at some point in their lives. More than half of all male Vietnam veterans and almost half of all female Vietnam veterans have experienced "clinically serious stress reaction symptoms." PTSD has also been detected among veterans of other wars.

Estimates of PTSD from the Gulf War are as high as 10%.
Estimates from the war in Afghanistan are between 6 and 11%.
Current estimates of PTSD in military personnel who served in Iraq range from 12% to
20%.

Who is most likely to develop PTSD?

Most people who experience a traumatic event will not develop PTSD. However, the risk for developing PTSD increases if people:
• were directly exposed to the traumatic event as a victim or a witness
• were seriously injured during the trauma
• experienced a trauma that was long lasting or very severe
• saw themselves or a family member as being in imminent danger
• had a severe negative reaction during the event, such as feeling detached from ones
surroundings or having a panic attack
• felt helpless during the trauma and were unable to help themselves or a loved one.
Individuals are also more likely to develop PTSD if they:
• have experienced an earlier life threatening event or trauma
• have a current mental health issue
• have less education
• are younger
• are a woman
• lack social support
• have recent, stressful life changes

Some research shows that ethnic minorities, such as Blacks and Hispanics, are more likely than Whites to develop PTSD. One reason for these differences is that minorities may have more contact with traumatic events. For example, in Vietnam, Whites were in less combat than Blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians. Researchers are trying to understand other reasons for the differences in PTSD between the ethnic groups. A person’s culture or ethnic group can affect how that person reacts to a problem like PTSD.

For example, some people may be more willing than others to talk about their problems or to seek help.

How long does PTSD last?

The course of PTSD is variable. This means it can be different for different people and that it can change over time. PTSD usually begins right after the traumatic event but it can also be delayed for many years. For most people symptoms improve over the first year. Treatment also reduces symptoms but for some symptoms can last a lifetime. Roughly 30% of individuals develop a chronic form.

PTSD usually involves periods of symptom increase followed by remission or decrease, although some individuals may experience symptoms that are long lasting and severe. Some older veterans, who report a lifetime of only mild symptoms, experience significant increases in symptoms following retirement, severe medical illness in themselves or their spouses, or reminders of their military service, such as reunions and anniversaries.

What other problems do people with PTSD experience?

It is very common for other conditions to occur along with PTSD, such as depression, anxiety, or substance abuse. More than half of men with PTSD also have problems with alcohol. The next most common co-occurring problems in men are depression, followed by conduct disorder, and then problems with drugs. In women, the most common co-occurring problem is depression. Just under half of women with PTSD also experience depression. The next most common co-occurring problems in women are specific fears, social anxiety, and then problems with alcohol.

People with PTSD often have problems functioning. In general, people with PTSD have more unemployment, divorce or separation, spouse abuse and chance of being fired than people without PTSD. Vietnam veterans with PTSD were found to have many problems with family and other interpersonal relationships, problems with employment, and increased incidents of violence.

People with PTSD also may experience a wide variety of physical symptoms. This is a common occurrence in people who have depression and other anxiety disorders. Some evidence suggests that PTSD may be associated with increased likelihood of developing medical disorders.

Research is ongoing, and it is too soon to draw firm conclusions about which disorders are associated with PTSD. PTSD is associated with a number of distinctive neurobiological and physiological changes.

PTSD may be associated with stable neurobiological alterations in both the central and autonomic nervous systems, such as altered brainwave activity, decreased volume of the
hippocampus, and abnormal activation of the amygdala. Both the hippocampus and the amygdala are involved in the processing and integration of memory. The amygdala has also been found to be involved in coordinating the body's fear response.

What treatments are available?

PTSD is treated by a variety of forms of psychotherapy (talk therapy) and pharmacotherapy (medication). There is no single best treatment, but some treatments appear to be quite promising, especially cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT includes a number of diverse but related techniques such as cognitive restructuring, exposure therapy, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). See the National Center for PTSD’s website for more information about treatment types and providers.

delayed for many years. For most people symptoms improve over the first year. Treatment also reduces symptoms but for some symptoms can last a lifetime. Roughly 30% of individuals develop a chronic form.

PTSD usually involves periods of symptom increase followed by remission or decrease, although some individuals may experience symptoms that are long lasting and severe. Some older veterans, who report a lifetime of only mild symptoms, experience significant increases in symptoms following retirement, severe medical illness in themselves or their spouses, or reminders of their military service, such as reunions and anniversaries.
What other problems do people with PTSD experience?

It is very common for other conditions to occur along with PTSD, such as depression, anxiety, or substance abuse. More than half of men with PTSD also have problems with alcohol. The next most common co-occurring problems in men are depression, followed by conduct disorder, and then problems with drugs. In women, the most common co-occurring problem is depression.

Just under half of women with PTSD also experience depression. The next most common cooccurring problems in women are specific fears, social anxiety, and then problems with alcohol.

People with PTSD often have problems functioning. In general, people with PTSD have more unemployment, divorce or separation, spouse abuse and chance of being fired than people without PTSD. Vietnam veterans with PTSD were found to have many problems with family and other interpersonal relationships, problems with employment, and increased incidents of violence.

People with PTSD also may experience a wide variety of physical symptoms. This is a common occurrence in people who have depression and other anxiety disorders. Some evidence suggests that PTSD may be associated with increased likelihood of developing medical disorders.

Research is ongoing, and it is too soon to draw firm conclusions about which disorders are associated with PTSD. PTSD is associated with a number of distinctive neurobiological and physiological changes. PTSD may be associated with stable neurobiological alterations in both the central and autonomic nervous systems, such as altered brainwave activity, decreased volume of the hippocampus, and abnormal activation of the amygdala. Both the hippocampus and the amygdala are involved in the processing and integration of memory. The amygdala has also been found to be involved in coordinating the body's fear response.

What treatments are available?

PTSD is treated by a variety of forms of psychotherapy (talk therapy) and pharmacotherapy (medication). There is no single best treatment, but some treatments appear to be quite promising, especially cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT includes a number of diverse but related techniques such as cognitive restructuring, exposure therapy, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). See the National Center for PTSD’s website for more information about treatment types and providers.

I think I have PTSD. What can I do now?

Many people who might need help for something like PTSD are afraid to go for help. One out of five people say they might not get help because of what other people might think. One out of three people say they would not want anyone else to know they were therapy. But almost 50% of people say that there is less shame in seeking help now than there has been in the past

A study that’s been done of soldiers coming home from Iraq found that only 40% of service members with mental problems said they would get help. In many cases this was due to the soldiers’ fears about what others would think, and how it could hurt their military careers.

If you think you have PTSD there are a number of things you can do. You may want to be evaluated for PTSD by psychiatrist, psychologist, or clinical social worker specifically trained to assess psychological problems. You could also discuss your symptoms with your doctor. Talk to your doctor about the treatments discussed in this handout.
If you do not want to be evaluated but feel you have symptoms of PTSD you may choose “watchful waiting.” Watchful waiting means taking a wait-and-see approach. If you get better on your own, you won't need treatment. If your symptoms do not improve after 3 months and they are either causing you distress or are getting in the way of your work or home life, talk with a health professional.

In a few cases, your symptoms may be so severe that you need immediate help. Call 911 or other emergency services immediately if you think that you cannot keep from hurting yourself or someone else.

For more information see http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/

COME TAKE OUR FOSTER CARE SURVEY

2007-03-29T00:12:00.000-07:00

WE WANNA KNOW WHATS REALLY HAPPENING TO FAMILIES IN THE U.S.

We appreciate your feedback and thoughts about our products and services.
Please take a moment to take our online survey.
Just click here and enter survey number 49727 in the Take A Survey box to take our survey!

2007-03-10T23:51:00.000-08:00

On Jan. 22, 2003, FRONTLINE, in collaboration with Columbia University's School of Social Work and its Institute for Child and Family Policy, convened two panels of national experts at Columbia's Alfred Lerner Hall to talk about the child welfare system and, more specifically, foster care.

FRONTLINE's "Failure to Protect?: A National Dialogue" -- co-produced with Fred Friendly Seminars, with primary editorial consultation provided by Columbia University's Institute for Child and Family Policy -- is an exploration of the complex and heartwrenching decisions made every day by workers and policymakers in the child welfare system. Moderator John Hockenberry, a correspondent for Dateline NBC, presents a realistic hypothetical case to a dozen panelists -- child welfare experts and advocates -- and encourages them to face those same tough decisions. (source: pbs:frontline:shows:fostercare: failure to protect)

The Scenario: A resident of Metropolis recently purchases a brownstone in a low-income neighborhood called Franklin Heights. Across the street, she sees a couple of children -- one who looks to be about 8 years old and a baby. She notices that their clothes are dirty and they often lack adult supervision. She's sufficiently concerned about the children's well-being to pay a visit to their mother, Janice Smith.

What finally prompts the neighbor to call child protective services? And what will the caseworker assigned to the case and his supervisor decide about Janice and her children?

Read the entire transcript.(and lets discuss it here)

Video: Watch the entire program.

Participants' Bios

(Additional funding for "Failure to Protect?: A National Dialogue" is provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.)

MISSING GERMAN SHEPHERD IN PEMBROKE, N.CAROLINA

2007-03-09T20:35:00.000-08:00

Missing German Shepard
Needs Your Help

Angel has been Missing Since 3/5/2007

Lost ID: 375592

Microchip: 4307067E69

Pet Name:Angel

Last known major crossroads: NC Hwy 710 and Prospect Road, Pembroke, NC

I was told that she was last seen with another German Shepard in a field going towards the town of Lumberton, NC.

She may have ended up in a shelter or foster group
possibly near fayetteville, nc, raleigh area
or perhaps anywhere in the nc or sc region;
If you are not near Pembroke
do not dismiss this missing pet,
she could be anywhere
if you run across a german shepard

PLEASE SCAN GERMAN SHEPARDS IN
N.CAROLINA REGION FOR
MICROCHIP # 4307067E69
IT MAY BE MY ANGEL

PEMBROKE, North Carolina
Date of Birth:1/1/2001

Female: spayed
german shepherd
black/tan
Wearing a red collar.

PLEASE SCAN for microchip.

Contact: 1-866-699-FIND (3463)
Lost ID: 375592 Microchip: 4307067E69
(use these IDs when calling animal report in)

STOP DRUGGING OUR CHILDREN!

2007-03-08T16:36:00.000-08:00

Texas State Comptroller
"They are everybody's children, and nobody's children
.They are the forgotten children in the Texas foster care system.

This report gives these children a voice."

2002 - 44 kids in DPRS care died
2003 - 30 kids in DPRS care died
2005 - 48 kids in DPRS care died

Former Pharmaceutical Rep talks about overmedication in foster care.

Many foster children have psychological problems and are being treated with an array of medications to manage their symptoms.

**EVEN FUNDAMENTALLY NORMAL CHILDREN WHO HAVE BEEN TAKEN FROM THEIR HOMES AND FAMILIES CAN BECOME AGGRESSIVE AND "EMOTIONALLY REACTIVE" DUE TO A LOST SENSE OF TRUST**

Their conditions are only worsened by multiple placements and frequent caseworker turnover. Government misuses anti-psychotics on our foster children in the system

Take the Chemical Straightjackets off our children!

The Supreme Court has clearly established that to constitute a compelling interest, state interference with a parent's right to raise his or her child must be for the purpose of protecting the child's health or welfare.Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205, 230 (1972)

In addition to recognizing as a fundamental
liberty interest the right of parents to raise their children, the Supreme Court has also established that the Constitution's guarantee to fundamental privacy rights also embodies a fundamental right to parental autonomy in child rearing.

The Court acknowledged a "private realm of family life which the state cannot
enter." Prince v. Massachusetts, 3210 U.S. 158, 166 (1944); Moore v. City of East Cleveland, 431-U.S. 494 (1977)

Without doubt, it denotes not merely freedom from bodily restraint but also the right of the individual to contract, to engage in any of the common occupations of life, to acquire useful knowledge, to marry, establish a home and bring up children, to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and generally to enjoy those privileges long recognized at common law as essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men. Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390, 399 (1923).

It's Almost Tuesday (Conclusion)

2007-03-06T20:55:00.000-08:00

I told Mommy that each time I go home from a visit I just scream at my foster Mom.
"Because each time she walks in, its not you, Mommy"
So I scream. I scream and I scream.
Really I wish I didn't cause I only makes things worse, and making this foster mom mad is bad news. I try but I can't help it, I'm only 8 and screaming helps me when I hurt so bad I feel like I will blow up. . One of my foster sisters told me at another place this girl would cut herself; I guess that's how she let it out… I just scream, even though I know what it gets me.
"SHUT UP, BOY!" Mom yells.
"SHUT UP THAT SCREAMING!"
I shut up.
I shut up when I felt the sting of her ruler across my side, but not before I tore the towel rack off the wall in the bathroom.
I never did that at my real home, I don't know why I do it now.

"I want my Mommy!!!"
"I want my Mommy and my name's not Boy!"

Visit Day on Tuesday is the best day of my life but Visit Day night is almost as horrible as Visit Day morning was fantastic. I think I'd be as quiet as a mouse if it mattered, but it doesn't. It doesn't matter what we do, we always do something wrong to Mom and Dad… I feel like I'm only here for them to get me to do things for them that they don't want to do, and to cuss at. I hate it that they make us call them Mom and Dad.

Yesterday, my foster brother tried to break my neck. He's the oldest. There are 3 other foster brothers. 4 foster sisters too. In my old life, I would've yelled for help, but not here. I learned that the first week. I yelled for help and they helped all right – helped choke me… and hold me down. Even Lil' Sis sat on me, but I know why and I'm not mad at her. She's afraid of them too, like me. But she knows I won't hurt her later, so she sits on me, but not hard. Sometimes I see her looking at me and I can almost hear her saying she's sorry with her eyes.

I wonder if she hears me wishing she was Wonder Woman and could save me.

I'd become that green guy with all the muscles and save her if I could; I'd save all the children, even the mean ones. I think sometimes the other kids are mean because they're mad they are here. Maybe they learned that screaming doesn't do any good but I bet they didn't used to be mean in their old life. Like me, and the towel rack; I know in my old life I never saw some of the things that happened in foster care... its making me a different kid... we are all changing now that we are here.

I gave Lil' Sis my white shirt when she came in, because she didn't have any shirts that fit.

I try to protect her as much as I can, even from Mom. Especially now, ever since the night I call the "cord night".

I could still feel the stinging on my side and butt from the ruler the night before. "It's almost Tuesday, it's almost Tuesday" I kept telling myself as I try to ignore the stinging and get ready to go to sleep. Dad was in the bathroom fixing the towel rack when it happened. Mom was mad too and got madder as Dad was calling me bad names for breaking the rack last night. He kept saying that they didn't get paid enough money for the things that are broken by the "brats". I don't know who Dad gets paid by, but he's always yelling, "It's not enough to take care of you brats". What is a brat? My mom didn't call me names and I don't think anybody paid her to take care of me.

Dad used to be in the army and he's really fussy about things being just right. When Dad yells (which is a lot) he never uses our names. He even makes us wear army clothes sometimes. In my old life, I dressed like that for Halloween once. I won't now, if I ever get to go back home. When Dad wasn't around, we used to pretend we're in the army and yell each other's last names like he does, until he caught us, luckily it wasn't me. We never knew what Dad did to the boy he caught, cuz I think the boy was too scared to ever tell anyone. He never did tell anyway. That was the last time we played that game, once Dad caught us.

So anyway, Mom got the computer cord out from her desk drawer. I wish I'd looked at the clock and reminded Lil' Sis of the time but with Dad cussing and all that, I forgot. I jumped on top of Mom without thinking about how mad she'd get (she didn't feed me for at least 4 days afterward). But I had to save Lil' Sis!

Mom was choking Lil' Sis, she couldn't even get her fingers under the cord, but she was trying to so she could breathe. Her fingers are small too… she's only 5.

Mom wasn't stopping this time, not even when Lil' Sis turned blue. Usually she stops way before, but lately she gets so mad and that night, I don't think she even noticed Lil' Sis turning so blue. It was really scary!!
Maybe Mom needs some of those pills she says I have to take because I scream on Tuesday nights.

"STOP!!!!! YOU'RE KILLING HER!!!"

I hit Mom with my GI Joe car to make her stop choking Lil' Sis. Mom quit choking Lil' Sis and started hitting me. I didn't see My Mommy next Visit Day though. Mom said it was punishment, but mostly it was because of my eye. It had blood in it, and was all different colors - black and purple mostly, and I couldn't open it from the swelling. I didn't dare complain though or ask for a doctor. I imagine that maybe a doctor will get lost and accidentally knock on our door. Maybe the doctor would see my eyebrow was bleeding and stitch it. Dad said a butterfly band-aid was what they would put on it in the army and that would fix it… but it still bled for days. He made me go outside because I was bleeding and he said he didn't want me to make more messes.

I dug a hole and kept warm under the leaves and grass and stuff. I couldn't sleep, but I curled up into a little ball when I got scared. I pretended I was camping like I did when I was three years old and that my Mommy and Daddy were gonna be right back with marshmallows and graham crackers and lots and lots of chocolate.

"Dear God, please let me go home."

I wiped the blood with my shirt. It mixed with the dirt and leaves and made my brow throb.
It hurts so bad.
I'm cold.
I wonder if Mommy's gonna cry too, like me… cuz I didn't get to see her that next Tuesday. I wonder what they told her.

I make myself into a tighter ball. I imagine that I'm at a circus and that I'm a red ball being bounced off a seal's nose. I imagine bouncing from one seal to another seal and the seals clap and make that seal noise. I can almost hear the crowd cheer because I'm the smallest, tightest ball ever and I fly way high up into the circus tent … over the trapeze ropes even. I guess that's when I fell asleep. The last thing I remember was everything turning white around me.

"God, Is that you? I prayed. Did you hear me? Am I dead? What day is it?"
"Please God don't let me die until after Tuesday, I want to see my Mommy and tell her goodbye! I want to hug her again cuz I can't smell her Tuesday perfume on my shirt anymore 'cuz its too dirty!"

I can usually smell my Mommy for almost 5 days after a visit on my shirt. I try on the 6th day even though I know its probably faded by then. Still, I try. Since I gave Lil' Sis my white shirt, they took all my stuff away. This is the only shirt I have left. It'll be harder to smell Mommy from now on.

They even took my little rock Mommy gave me that has that bible verse on it about everything having its own time… like a time to live and a time to die. I don't want to die yet.

"Is it really time for me to die, God? Not 'til Tuesday, God, please…"

"Wake Up! Wake Up! It's Tuesday!" I can open my eye again. That's not God telling me to wake up though, it sounds like Lil' Sis…

I squint as the sun is starting to come down and is so bright. I don't know how long I've been sleeping. I thought I was dead.

"Its Tuesday? Really?"

Lil' Sis was shaking me, I was still in the hole, curled up in a ball, but we had to hurry, before she got caught outside. I know I'll get to see Mommy today. They won't hide me for two Tuesdays. No way!

I tell Lil' Sis that it'll all be okay once my Mommy sees my shirt. We'll be saved. My Mommy isn't Wonder Woman for real, but to me she is.
She'll save us.
Then Mom walks in… she looks at me for a moment because she sees me smiling. Then she says "No Visit Today Boy. Your Mommy didn't show up. I told you she doesn't love you, that's why you're here…" I didn't believe her really, but in foster care, you never really know what's true, they lie to us so much.

I shouldn't have let Mom see me smile. I think that's why Mom said my Mommy didn't show up. To take my smile away.

I think that on that Tuesday night, I screamed louder than ever! I screamed so loud that I got to see Mommy on Wednesday! The very next morning! When I fell asleep I dreamed that my Mommy screamed too, like me, and together we were so loud that the whole world could hear us. Then I found out that they were going to let us have a Wednesday Visit Day. I couldn't wait to see Mommy and I did see her on the best Wednesday of my entire life, but I think for Mommy it wasn't, she got really scared when she saw what's left of my black eye and all the blood on my shirt. I'll never forget it the rest of my life.

Mommy told me that she did go on Tuesday. The caseworker lied to her and told her I forgot to go to the visit but she knew that I would never forget.

Maybe my Mommy did scream like me.

I think they let me go home because of my shirt and my eye. Or maybe they realized my Mommy wasn't really bad. The first thing I wanted to do when I got out was go to a circus and see if there were seals there.

I hug Mommy all the time now, 100 times a day it seems … I love to hug her so I can smell her perfume and I don't care what day it is…I just want to smell her again…
and again
and again…

I still wake up from nightmares and Mommy always rushes in to comfort me right away. I don't think she sleeps very well listening for my cries. I was so scared of waking Mom or Dad that I learned how to cry very softly at night. I know I'm not in foster care anymore, but I still try to be quiet as a mouse, even in my sleep. I don't think Tuesday nights will ever be the same for me again, even if I'm not screaming anymore…
I will never go more than a week without wondering how many kids are screaming on Tuesday nights.

Or cutting themselves

Or turning mean.

When nobody is around, I imagine all the foster kids, even the ones I've never met, that are out there. They aren't like my imaginary friends in my old life though. They're real. They were my brothers and sisters for 18 months, and as long as there are foster homes like the one I had to live in, I know they're being punished for something a grownup did wrong. I still can't figure out why all those grownups don't know better at their age. I used to think maybe it was because they weren't as smart as me, but I'm not the only kid who understood. We all knew it, so it has to be something more than just being smart. I still don't know why they really put me in there. Maybe God put me there so I could save Lil' Sis that night from Mom. Maybe there isn't really a God and that's why there are foster homes to begin with. I don't know. I'm just a kid.

I wish all the grownups in the world knew how it felt to be treated "worse than a pile of dirt", I felt like I would die if I didn't have next Tuesday. If they really truly knew how it felt, then there wouldn't be any bad homes.
I know that's true, because when I grow up, I'm going back. I am – so I can save a foster kid whose being hurt like I was, because it's not fair for kids' wishes not to come true.

My Mommy explained that the kids, who turned mean, didn't have a day like my Tuesday Visit Days. Visit Days there are like resting days, like landing on free parking in monopoly.

Yeah, my mean foster brothers didn't have Mommy's to hug them and leave perfume on their shirts. That's why they were mean, because they didn't understand the first 6 days because everyday is the same as the day before. And on the 6th day, they didn't hope for one more sweet-smelling whiff because they didn't have a Mommy to visit tomorrow. Nobody tells kids like me what I'd have to do to survive when they put me in there, or that I would have to protect Lil' Sis, especially on the cord night. I wish she could've come home with me. I'd protect her forever even though I'm not green and covered with muscles, but to her I was.

I tell God thank you every night for letting me go home, I don't care if he really is real or not, because to me, he is.

Then it happened… I screamed again… I screamed just like I did in foster care.

My Mommy had never heard me scream since my new life, but one night I heard on TV… on the news… that they found her and she was dead. They said she was tucked away for bed, and wearing a white shirt. It was Lil' Sis, and she was wearing the same shirt I gave her. They said she was holding a rock with a bible verse on it.

The news people said the foster parents were in shock and had no idea what happened. They said she had tried to run away the night before but they had found her and brought her home and when no one was looking, she drank some kind of poison.

No!!

No!!

I never thought I would scream again after I got home and my Mommy just grabbed me and hugged me and pulled me close to her. It was the first time I was held while I screamed, and it felt weird at first but then it felt better. When I stopped screaming, I told Mommy that Lil' Sis was running away to find me. Mommy believed me even though I didn't tell her how I knew; I guess it was my screams. I didn't have to tell her that I didn't think she drank the poison herself, or that her death was an accident. That night I wanted to tell Mommy everything, but I didn't.

Lil' Sis was one of the really little foster kids and I wish she could have lived with me but instead she died. Mommy held me all night, and I remembered how Lil' Sis would ask if she could "smell the yummy flowers" on my shirt because she didn't have a real Mommy. I wish she could have met mine.
I curled up as tight as I could in Mommy's arms that night and thought about how Lil' Sis would never know how good it felt to be held by a real Mommy, but at least she knew what a real Mommy smelled like, and it always made her smile.
I loved watching her eyes that were so big when she smiled each time.
I loved being home in my Mommy's arms.
It felt so good and for the first time in my new life, I almost forgot what day it was.

Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied

2007-03-03T14:58:00.000-08:00

Children Killed In The Care Of The Government

2007-03-03T14:13:00.000-08:00

Please take and have a moment of silence for the children below, and pray for these brave children that have given their all in this war.
All of these deaths have happened with the support of your tax dollars, and after much protest and begging the government for help in stopping this. I want to announce and declare the holocaust going on in America today. Please support us in stopping this.
This is in memory of children who died after social service agencies removed them from the care of their parents, placing them with fosters, adopters, group homes, or psychiatric facilities. (Source:Connecticut DCF Watch)

As you read this list, and cry for these innocent lives that are stolen from them, please do not forget that these are only children that died!

This does not include the countless children that are abused in foster care that you never hear about.
Also consider how many of these children were taken by mistake or as the result of false allegations.
How many of these children would be here with us today were it not for the mistakes of overzealous or negligent social workers/law enforcement officers?
How many of these children would be here were it not for the spite referrals called in by embittered ex-spouses or in order to get standing in a custody battle?
How many of these children were taken for reasons that could've been remedied with in-home services such as substance abuse cases where no abuse/injury to the child existed or because poverty was confused with neglect?

How many of these children did not have to die?

1.. Genesis Acosta-Garcia, Las Vegas Nevada, three months old, November 19, 2005, septic shock

2.. Travis C Adams, Salem Oregon, August 8 2000, December 16 2002, wandered into creek

3.. Kayla Y Allen, Richlands North Carolina, November 10 1995 - August 24 2003, poison

4.. Martin Lee Anderson, Panama City Florida, fourteen years old, January 6 2006, beating/sickle cell

5.. Richard L (Ricky) Aragon, Albuquerque New Mexico, January 24 1991 - April 12 1993, battered

6.. Shirley Arciszewski, Charlotte North Carolina, April 19 1992 - September 11 2004, restraint

7.. Miguel Humberto Arias-Baca, Westminster Colorado, two years old, February 2 1999, battered

8.. Ian August, Sevier Desert Utah, June 21 1988 - July 13, 2002, exhaustion

9.. Denzel Bailey, Los Angeles California, eleven months old, April 2001, malnutrition

10.. Jeffrey Baldwin, Toronto Ontario, December 20 1996 - November 30 2002, malnutrition/pneumonia

11.. Casey Paul Barrow, West Valley Utah, eighteen months old, October 22, 2003, battered

12.. Anthony Bars, Indiana, four years old, January 20 2004, starvation, battered

13.. Shelly Bash, Midland Michigan, eight years old, March 2005, transplant rejection

14.. Nadine Catherine Beaulieu, Dauphin Manitoba, twenty three months old, February 1996, battered

15.. Teddy Bellingham, Smiths Falls Ontario, sixteen years old, August 1992, beaten

16.. Jerome Bennett, Oshawa Ontario, fifteen years old, February 3 2006, homicide

17.. Maria Bennett, Lancaster Ohio, two years old, October 23, 2002, battered

18.. Modesto Blanco, Lubbock Texas, twenty two months old, March 2 2002,battered

19.. Christian Blewitt né sik, Halesowen England, three years old, December 2002, poison/battered

20.. Deondre Bondieumaitre, Florida, sixteen months old, April 16 2003,battered

21.. Timothy Boss, Remsen Iowa, ten years old, February 23 2000, battered

22.. Alex Boucher, New Port Richey Florida, January 25 1997 - September 25 2000, asphyxiation

23.. Ashley Boyd, LaFayette Georgia, twelve years old, December 13 2005, hit by car / suicide

24.. Kerry Brooks, Los Angeles California, nine years old, February 10 2001, suicide

25.. Talitha Brooks, Colorado, one year old, July 1998, heatstroke

26.. Amira Brown, Reading Pennsylvania, twelve years old, September 4 2005, battered / restraint

27.. Diminiqua Bryant, Dothan Alabama, two years old, May 1999, battered

28.. Scott Buckle, Swansea Wales, twelve years old, February 6 2005, hanging

29.. Latasha Bush, Manvel Texas, January 2 1987 - February 28 2002, restraint

30.. Michael Buxton, Miami Oklahoma, five years old, July 5 1998, battered

31.. Eduardo Calzada, Bakersfield California, three months old, March 2004, battered

32.. Chris Campbell, Toledo Iowa, thirteen years old, November 2, 1997, restraint

33.. Gladys Campbell, Philadelphia/New Jersey, two years old, ca 1988

34.. Edith Campos, Tucson Arizona, fifteen years old, February 4 1998, restraint

35.. Latasha Cannon, Boston Massachusetts, seventeen years old, April 2001, slashed throat

36.. Mario Cano, Chula Vista California, sixteen years old, April 27 1984, untreated blood clot

37.. Joshua K Causey, Detroit Michigan, March 21 1998 - March 18 2003, battered

38.. Sherry Charlie, British Columbia, nineteen months old, September 4 2002, battered

39.. Sarah Angelina Chavez, Alhambra California, two years old, October 11 2005, battered

40.. Felix Chen, Bloomington Indiana, August 27 1997 - April 1 2004, treatment withheld

41.. Sky Colon Cherevez, Paterson New Jersey, three months old, August 6, 1998, battered

42.. Tiffany H Clair, Fort Worth Texas, September 6 1985 - May 4 2001, heroin

43.. Brian Clark, New Jersey, three years old, January 2002, untreated pneumonia

44.. Angelic Clary, Bakersfield California, three months old September 14 2003

45.. Roshelle Clayborn, San Antonio Texas, sixteen years old, August 18 1997, restraint

46.. Casey Collier, Westminster Colorado, seventeen years old, December 21 1993, restraint

47.. Desiree Collins, Los Angeles California, fourteen years old, February 10 2002, gunshot

48.. Nicholas Contreras, Queen Creek Arizona, January 15 1982 - March 2 1998, untreated infection

49.. Adrianna Cram, Veracruz Mexico (US supervision), August 25 2000 - June 13 2005

50.. Christopher Henry Cryderman, Springfield Missouri, July 27 2004 - November 22 2004, untreated infection

51.. Dirk D Dalton, Clarkston Washington, June 7 1989 - May 1 1994, battered

52.. Arieale Daniels, Naples Florida, fifteen years old, 1999, car crash

53.. Tajuana Davidson, Phoenix Arizona, three years old, November 3 1993, battered

54.. China Marie Davis, Phoenix Arizona, March 23 1991 - October 31 1993, battered

55.. Sabrina Elizabeth Day, Charlotte North Carolina, July 4 1984 - February 10 2000, restraint

56.. Tyler Jospeh DeLeon, Stevens County Washington, January 13 1998 - January 13 2005, dehydration

57.. Kameron Justin Demery, Long Beach California, two years old, October 14 1996, battered

58.. Connre Dixon, Ridgefield Township Onio eleven years old, October 18, 2004, stabbing

59.. Mark Draheim, Orefield Pennsylvania, October 10 1984 - December 11 1998, restraint

60.. Charmaria Drake, Cleveland Ohio, twenty months old, March 13 2003, battered

61.. Stephanie Duffield, Manvel Texas, July 14 1984 - February 11 2001, restraint

62.. Willie Lawrence Durden III, Citrus County Florida, seventeen years old, October 2005, unknown/died in cell

63.. Brian Edgar, Overland Park Kansas, nine years old, December 30 2002, asphyxiation

64.. William Edgar, Peterborough Ontario, thirteen years old, March 1999, restraint

65.. Tiffany Eilders, Rancho Cucamonga California, fourteen weeks old, December 7 2005, battered

66.. Kayla Erlandson, King County Washington, two years old, April 1991, battered

67.. Luke Evans, Lowell Indiana, sixteen months old, November 30 2001, malnutrition/battered

68.. Roberta (Berta) Evers, Bayfield Colorado, six years old, June 13 1998, restraint

69.. Sara Eyerman, California, twenty months old, ca 1986, untreated pneumonia

70.. Miranda Finn, Lake Butler Florida, nine years old, January 25 2006, traffic accident

71.. Laura Fleming, Palmdale California, October 11 2004 - November 21 2004, cause unknown

72.. Sarah Jane Forrester, Woodlawn Maryland, October 30 1985 - found May 13 1999, battered and stabbed

73.. Kameryn Fountain, Bibb County Georgia, two months old, November 20 2005, unknown cause

74.. Henry Gallop, Boston Massachusetts, two years old, 1987, poison

75.. Alexander Ganadonegro, Albuquerque New Mexico, March 10 1998, February 4 1999, battered

76.. Christening (Mikie) Garcia, Ingram Texas, twelve years old, December 4 2005, restraint

77.. Dylan George, Fremont California, April 16 2002 - October 4 2004, battered

78.. Corese Goldman, Chicago Illinois, two years old, 1995, drowning

79.. Mollie Gonzales, Jefferson County Colorado, ten years old, November 18 2002, drug overdose

80.. Julio Gonzalez, Glendale California, May 10 1995 - December 29 1996, battered

81.. Elizabeth (Lizzy) Goodwin, Coeur d'Alene Idaho, March 22 1996 - October 22 2002, drowning

82.. Anthony Green, Brownwood Texas, fifteen years old, May 12 1991, restraint

83.. Sabrina Green, New York City, nine years old, November 8 1997, burned and battered

84.. Lamar D Greene, Jacksonville Florida, sixteen years old, 2001, car crash

85.. Corey Greer, Treasure Island Florida, four months old, ca 1985, dehydration

86.. Gage Guillen, Boston Massachusetts, three years old, 1995, strangulation

87.. Darvell Gulley, Lincoln Nebraska, thirteen years old, April 27 2002, restraint

88.. Savannah Brianna Marie Hall, Prince George British Columbia, September 9 1997 - January 21 2001, malnutrition/restraint

89.. Latiana Hamilton, Jacksonville Florida, seventeen months old, July 18 2001, drowning

90.. Mykeeda Hampton, District of Columbia, two years old, August 1997, battered

91.. Kelly M Hancock, Malden Massachusetts, November 6 1985 - July 18 2000, stabbed

92.. Laura Hanson, West Palm Beach Florida, May 17 1981 - November 19 1998, restraint

93.. Jerrell Hardiman, La Porte Indiana, four years old, October ca 1993, exposure

94.. Diane Harris, Seguin Texas, seventeen years old, April 11 1990, restraint

95.. Jessica Albina Hagmann, Prince William County Virginia, two years old, August 11 2003, smothered

96.. Letia Harrison, Akron Ohio, October 23 1999 - September 19 2002, baked in attic

97.. Jordan Heikamp, Toronto Ontario, May 19 1997 - June 23 1997, starvation

98.. Eric Hernandez, Cedar Hill Texas, January 6 1999 - March 7 1999, suffocation

99.. Zachary Higier, Massachusetts, May 24 2000 - August 15 2002, battered

100.. Dwight Hill, Tucson Arizona, four months old, November 16 2005, cause unknown

101.. Nina Victoria Hilt né¥ Vika Bazhenova, Manassas Virginia, thirty three months old, July 2 2005, battered

102.. Steven A Hoffa, Des Moines Iowa, February 4 1993 - May 18 1996, battered

103.. Richard (Ricky) Holland, Williamston Michigan, September 8 1997 - July 2005, battered

104.. Michael Anthony Hughes, Choctaw Oklahoma, March 21 1988 - September 12 1994, kidnap/missing

105.. Joseph (Joey) Huot, Philadelphia Pennsylvania, two years old, January 27 1988, battered

106.. Dion Jack, Sproat Lake British Columbia, six years old, March 1 2006, untreated seizure

107.. Walter Jackson, Chicago Illinois, ten months old, August 9 2005, battered

108.. Dominic James, Springfield Missouri, June 4 2000 - August 21 2002, battered

109.. Billie-Jo Jenkins, Hastings East Sussex England, thirteen years old, February 1997, battered

110.. Demetrius Jeffries, Crockett Texas, seventeen years old, August 26 1997, strangulation

111.. Dontel Jeffers, Boston Massachusetts, four years old, March 6 2005, battered

112.. Stephanie Jobin, Brampton Ontario, thirteen years old, June 21 1998, restraint

113.. Aaron Johnson, Boston Massachusetts, fifteen months old, 1987, poison

114.. Xolani Nkosi Johnson, Cape town South Africa, twelve years old, June 2 2001, AIDS

115.. Elijah James Johnson, Los Angeles California, three years old,May 10 1999, scalded

116.. Lorenzo Johnson, Queen Creek Arizona, 17 years old - June 27, 1994, drowned during escape

117.. Quartrina K (Snappy) Johnson, Pikesville Maryland, December 25 1988-July 20 2004, beaten and choked

118.. Christal Jones, New York City (Vermont ward), May 24 1984 - January 3 2001, suffocation

119.. David L Jones, Chicago Illinois, April 15 1992 - March 7 1998, battered

120.. Dennis Jurgens né Serry Sherwood, White Bear Lake Minnesota, three years old, April 11 1965, battered

121.. Marissa (Shorty) Karp, Pompano Beach Florida, December 6 1985 - August 19 2002, gunshot

122.. David Ryan Keeley, New Haven Connecticut, six years old, August 12 1998, battered

123.. Ashley Keen, Lake Butler Florida, thirteen years old, January 25 2006, traffic accident

124.. Cassandra Killpack, Springville Utah, November 29 1997 - June 9 2002, water therapy

125.. Ahmad King né 'awls, Alma Georgia, three years old, January 24 2006, homicide

126.. Heather Michell Kish, Berlin Township Michigan, September 15 1987 - found October 6 2002, murdered

127.. Noah Knapp, Marysville Washington, six years old, May 30 2005, automobile collision

128.. Zaire Knott, Newark New Jersey, September 16 2005 - October 20 2005, cause unknown

129.. Anatoli Kolenda, Westfield Massachusetts, May 20 1991 - October 20 2002, stabbing

130.. Yana Kolenda, Westfield Massachusetts, December 31 1990 - October 20 2002, stabbing

131.. Anthony Lamb, Lake Butler Florida, twenty months old, January 25 2006, traffic accident

132.. Keisha Shardae Lane, Hagerstown Maryland, fifteen years old, August 17 2005, gunshot

133.. Shawn Lawrence né ndy Mohler, Shelton Washington, ten years old, October 9 1999, drowning

134.. Brittany Legler, Millcreek Pennsylvania, fifteen years old, May 9 2004, battered

135.. Jacob Lindorff, Franklin Township New Jersey, five years old December 14 2001, battered

136.. Christian Liz, New York City, three weeks old, November 29 2004, suffocation

137.. James Lonnee, Guelph/Hamilton Ontario, sixteen years old, September 7 1996, beaten by cellmate

138.. Gregory Love, Florida, twenty three months old, April 2005, head injury

139.. Nikki Lutke, Cheyenne Wyoming, five years old, August 28 2003, drowning

140.. Zachary James Lyons, Winston-Salem North Carolina, January 24 1992 - October 8 1996, battered

141.. Shaquella Mance, Belton South Carolina, seven months old, March 27 2005, battered

142.. Elizabeth Mann, Lake Butler Florida, fifteen years old, January 25 2006, traffic accident

143.. Heaven Mann, Lake Butler Florida, three years old, January 25 2006, traffic accident

144.. Johnny Mann, Lake Butler Florida, thirteen years old, January 25 2006, traffic accident

145.. Cynthia Nicole (Nicki) Mann, Lake Butler Florida, fifteen years old, January 25 2006, traffic accident

146.. Logan Marr, Chelsea Maine, October 14 1995 - January 31 2001, asphyxiation

147.. Stephanie Martinez, Pueblo Colorado, five years old, December 31 2001, untreated burns

148.. Tiffany Laverne Mason, Folsom California, June 11 1986 - August 9 2001, battered

149.. Viktor Alexander Matthey né - Sergeyevich Tulimov, Hunterdon County New Jersey, six years old, October 31 2000, hypothermia

150.. Dominic Matz, Osawatomie Kansas, July 6 2002 - February 15 2004, treatment withheld

151.. Jamie Mayne, Atascadero California, March 24 1995 - February 10 2000, battered

152.. Kristal Mayon-Ceniceros, Chula Vista California, sixteen years old, February 5 1999, restraint

153.. Emily Ann Mays, Tucson Arizona, sixteen months old, August 24 2005, battered

154.. Andrew McClain, Bridgeport Connecticut, December 6 1986 - March 22 1998, restraint

155.. Cory Bradley McLaughlin, North Carolina, four years old, July 4 1997, battered

156.. Jerry McLaurin, Brownwood Texas, fourteen years old, November 2 1999, restraint

157.. Maria Mendoza, Katy Texas, fourteen years old, October 12 2002,restraint

158.. Caleb Jerome Merchant, Edmonton Alberta, thirteen months old, November 26, 2005, battered

159.. Denis Merryman né .ritsky, Harford County Maryland, eight years old, January 2005, starvation

160.. Jacob Miller, Georgia, twenty two months old, November 20 1997, battered

161.. Clayton Miracle, Georgia, three years old, August 11 1993, battered

162.. Hanna Denise Montessori, Santa Ana California, March 16 1988 - January 19 2004, homicide/head-injury

163.. Alfredo Montez, Auburndale Florida, two years old, July 1 2002, battered

164.. Zachary Moran, Charlotte North Carolina, fourteen months old, August 8 2003, battered

165.. Christina Morlan, Scott County Iowa, September 3 2003 - November 30 2003, unknown

166.. Carlyle Mullins, Nashville Tennessee, five years old, May 27 2005, battered

167.. Cedrick Napoleon, Killeen Texas, June 26 1987 - March 7 2002, restraint

168.. Candace Newmaker né¥ C Tiara Elmore, Colorado, November 19 1989 - April 19 2000, re-birth asphyxiation

169.. Jonathan Nichol, Cook County Illinois, two years old, June 16 1995, drowning

170.. Trevor Nolan, Mono County California, five years old, April 12 1997, treatment withheld

171.. Sierra Odom, Arlington Texas, three years old, August 11 2005, battered

172.. Keron Owens, Walterboro South Carolina, three years old, January 19 1992, battered

173.. Sean Paddock né ?ord, Johnston County North Carolina, four years old, February 26 2006, battered

174.. Omar Paisley, Miami Florida, seventeen years old, June 2003, untreated appendicitis

175.. Terrell Parker, Buffalo New York, two years old, 2003, battered

176.. Travis Parker, Cleveland Georgia, thirteen years old, April 21 2005, restraint

177.. Alex Pavlis, Schaumburg Illinois, six years old, December 19 2003, battered

178.. Dawn Renay Perry, Manvel Texas, sixteen years old, April 10 1993, restraint

179.. Angellica Pesante, Seneca County New York, four years old, April 18 1997, battered

180.. Terrell Peterson, Atlanta Georgia, five years old, January 16 1998, battered

181.. Cynteria Phillips, Miami Florida, December 10 1986 - August 14 2000, rape/murder

182.. Marguerite Pierre, West Orange New Jersey, five years old, December 2005, poison

183.. Emporia Pirtle, Indiana, six years old, November 11 1996, battered

184.. Jason Plischkowsky, Southampton England, May 25 1985 - December 19 1986, head injury

185.. Huntly Tamati Pokaia, New Zealand, three years old

186.. David Polreis, Greeley Colorado, two years old, February 6 1996, battered

187.. Maryah Ponce, Rialto California, December 5 1997 - June 29 2001, baked in car

188.. Constance S Porter, Kearney Missouri, July 20 1998 - February 12 2001, battered

189.. Dakota Denzel Prince-Smith, Lancaster California, five years old, July 8 2003, baked in car

190.. Nehamiah Nate Prince-Smith, Lancaster California, three years old, July 8 2003, baked in car

191.. Karen Quill, St Louis Saskatchewan, twenty months old,September 13 1997, internal injuries

192.. Rodrigo Armando Rameriez Jr, Victorville California, eighteen months old, July 6 2001, drowning

193.. Stephanie Ramos, New York City, eight years old, July 9 2005, dumped in garbage can

194.. Bobby Jo Randolph, Houston Texas, seventeen years old, September 26 1996, asphyxiation

195.. Jacquelyn Reah, Grand Rapids Michigan, ten years old, November 27 2004, runaway / hit by car

196.. Latayna Reese, Bradenton Florida, fifteen years old, April 1996

197.. Caprice Reid, New York City, four years old, June 1997, starved and battered

198.. Jonathan Reid, Gardena California, nine years old, June 9 1997treatment withheld

199.. Matthew Reid, Welland Ontario, three years old, December 15 2005, suffocation

200.. Dustin Rhodes, Litchfield Park Arizona, nine years old, August 13 2003, battered

201.. Eric Roberts, Keene Texas, June 16 1979 - February 22 1996, restraint

202.. Ana Rogers, Sparks Nevada, four months old, July 2005, pre-existing injury

203.. Genevieve "Genny" Rojas, Chula Vista California, four years old, July 21 1995, starvation, scalded

204.. Paola Rosales, Milton Ontario, fourteen years old, July 3 2001, suicide

205.. Kyle Anthony Ross, Massachusetts, September 7 1995 - June 9 2001, rottweiler

206.. Marlon Santos, Worcester Massachusetts, five months old, November 5 1998, missing

207.. Andres E Saragos, Warm Springs Oregon, August 5 1995 - July 13 2000, baked in car

208.. Gina M Score, Plankinton South Dakota, May 7 1985 - July 21 1999, baked by boot camp

209.. Caprice Scott, Florida, infant, 1999, mother in foster care

210.. Ryan Scott, Sheffield Lake Ohio, two years old, March 27 1998, battered

211.. Krystal Scurry, Aiken County South Carolina, February 1989 - November 2 1991, rape/murder

212.. Andrew (Andy) Setzer, California, April 27 1995 - August 2 1999, battered

213.. Ariel Shaw, Bibb County Georgia, nineteen months old, January 26 2000, battered

214.. Vivan Uk Sheppard, Jacksonville Florida, eight months old, May 15 1999, suffocation

215.. Joseph H Shriver, Pennsylvania, March 2 1997 - October 5 1997, battered

216.. Quincey L Simmons, Omaha Nebraska, August 21 1997 - March 24 2001, battered

217.. Christopher Simpson, Michigan, seven years old, November 14 1998, fire

218.. Jordan Simpson Howell Morrison II, Howell Michigan, five years old, November 14 1998, fire

219.. Nicole Simpson , Michigan, seven years old, November 14 1998, fire

220.. Devin A Slade, Milwaukee Wisconsin, October 23 2000 - June 19 2001, asphyxiation

221.. John Smith, Fishersgate England, four years old, December 24 1999, battered and bitten

222.. Mikinah Smith, Cincinnati Ohio, one year old, March 18 2003, battered

223.. Tristan Sovern, Greensboro North Carolina, sixteen years old, March 4 1998, restraint

224.. Jushai Spurgeon, North Las Vegas Nevada, fourteen months old, April 3 2005, scalding

225.. LeRon St John, Detroit Michigan, fifteen years old, March 1 2003, untreated tuberculosis

226.. Lloyd Stamp, Edmonton Alberta, seventeen years old, September 29, 2005, suicide

227.. Tommy Stacey, Carmichael California, three months old, January 3 2005, SIDS

228.. Elizabeth (Lisa) Steinberg né¥ Launders, New York City, May 14 1981 - November 4 1987, battered

229.. Yasmin Taylor, Paterson New Jersey, seven months old, May 8 1994, virus

230.. Lakeysha Tharp, Irmo South Carolina, six months old, April 7 2004, asphyxiation

231.. Adam Michael Thimyan, Riverview Florida, October 2 1986 - April 3 2004, gunshot

232.. Timithy Thomas, Banner Elk North Carolina, nine years old, March 11 1999, restraint

233.. Liam Thompson né "mitry S Ishlankulov, Columbus Ohio, October 3 1999 - October 3 2002, scalding

234.. Michael Tinning, Schenectady New York, two years old, March 2 1981, asphyxiation

235.. Kelly Ann Tozer, Egg Harbor City New Jersey, eighteen months old, July 30 2005, drowning

236.. Patrick Trauffler, Phoenix Arizona, six weeks old, February 18 2003, battered

237.. Demetrius Tyler, Johnson City Tennessee, six months old, November 10 2004, drowning

238.. Tyler Vanpopering, Southgate Michigan, September 23 2003 - April 14 2004, battered

239.. Jacqueline Venay, Philadelphia Pennsylvania, six years old, September 21 1998, battered

240.. George Walker III, DeKalb County Georgia, ten months old, November 7, 2002, choking

241.. Michelle Walton, Boston Massachusetts, October 6 1994, asphyxiation

242.. Erickyzha Warner, Utica New York, July 19 2002 - May 31, 2004, untreated burns

243.. Shane Devell Washington, Fresno California, fifteen months old, circa 1996, drowning

244.. Evan Watkins, Las Vegas Nevada, twenty one months old, July 11 1996, battered

245.. Devin Wilder, Cleveland Ohio, July 29 1998 - April 21 2001, battered

246.. Dominic J Williams, Saint Louis Missouri, June 8 1987 - June 3 2004,strangulation

247.. Andrew Wilson, Owensboro Kentucky, three years old, August 7 2005, drowning

248.. Lorenzo J Wilson, Seattle Washington, January 29 2004 - October 22 2004, battered

249.. Rilya Wilson, Florida, born September 29 1996, disappeared 2001

250.. Michael Spencer Wiltsie, Silver Springs Florida, September 18 1987 - February 5, 2000, restraint

251.. Jimmy Allan Wood, Adams County Colorado, fourteen years old, November 13 2002, drug overdose

252.. Jonnie Wood, Springdale Arkansas, eight years old, August 13 2005, drowning

253.. Braxton D Wooden, Missouri, May 15 1997 - June 2 2005, gunshot

254.. Donte L Woods, West Palm Beach Florida, February 25 1986 - May 27 2002, gunshot

255.. Thomas (T J) Wright, Providence Rhode Island, three years old, October 31 2004, battered

256.. Willie Wright, San Antonio Texas, fourteen years old, March 4 2000, restraint

257.. Rufus Manzie Young Jr, Michigan, four years old, April 6 2003, battered

258.. Rebecca Brittany Bacon, Orlando, FL gastro-reflux (infant left alone with bottle)

259.. Anastasia (Staci"Space Cadet") Herbert and Larry Alexander Herbert (Baby Larry), Orlando, FL Killed in a fire

Repulsive mess and Social Services in Kentucky

2007-03-03T13:30:00.001-08:00

Repulsive mess in Kentucky

Sadistic and criminal aren't words usually associated with social workers. But they come to mind while reading the results of a yearlong investigation into a Kentucky child-protection bureaucracy that was allowed to go rogue.

Social workers gave each other nicknames like "The Queen of Removal" and "Terminator" and laughed as they stripped children from their parents. More

The full article will be available on the Web for a limited time:
(c) 2007 Lexington Herald-Leader and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.

Social services

Kentucky's shortage of child-protection workers usually comes to light when children die. The killing of a social worker brought the problem into focus for Gov. Ernie Fletcher. As he seeks another term, Fletcher is pushing the legislature to put $18 million into hiring more than 300 additional social workers and aides. The problem is that little thought and no real planing have gone into Fletcher's proposal to expand the ranks of social workers and aides in the Department of Community Based Services.

In fact, our Republican governor is doing something for which conservatives like to criticize liberals: throwing money at a broken system. The crisis in child protective services goes much deeper than a shortage of trained social workers, as an inspector general's investigation in the Elizabethtown region made shockingly clear. State social workers who reported abuses and unethical practices by their colleagues were punished while those who permitted them advanced. more

The full article will be available on the Web for a limited time:
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/editorial/16791544.htm
(c) 2007 Lexington Herald-Leader and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.

parent-child relationship protected

2007-03-01T05:14:00.000-08:00

The Ninth Amendment acknowledged the prior existence of fundamental rights with it: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."

The United States Supreme Court in a long line of decisions, has recognized that matters involving marriage, procreation, and the parent-child relationship are among those fundamental "liberty" interests protected by the Constitution.

Thus, the decision in Roe v. Wade, as recently described by the Supreme Court as founded on the "Constitutional underpinning of... a recognition that the "liberty" protected by the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment includes not only the freedoms explicitly mentioned in the Bill of Rights, but also a freedom of personal choice in certain matters of marriage and family life." While this court has not attempted to define with exactness the liberty thus guaranteed [by the Fourteenth Amendment] ...

In addition to recognizing as a fundamental liberty interest the right of parents to raise their children, the Supreme Court has also established that the Constitution's guarantee to fundamental privacy rights also embodies a fundamental right to parental autonomy in child rearing. The Court acknowledged a "private realm of family life which the state cannot enter." Prince v. Massachusetts, 3210 U.S. 158, 166 (1944); Moore v. City of East Cleveland, 431-U.S. 494 (1977)

Father enjoys the right to associate with his children which is guaranteed by this amendment (First) as incorporated in Amendment 14, or which is embodied in the concept of "liberty" as that word is used in the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment and Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Mabra v. Schmidt, 356 F Supp 620: D.C., WI (1973)

Compelling State Interest

2007-03-01T05:10:00.000-08:00

The following Supreme Court decisions were cited in a published opinion by Chief judge Norman K. Moon of Court of Appeals of Virginia June 3, 1997 in the case Williams and Williams v. Williams and Williams 24 Va. App. 778; 485 S.E. 2d 651 (June 3, 1997):

Even when blood relationships are strained, parents retain vital interest in preventing irretrievable destruction of their family life; if anything, persons faced with forced dissolution of their parental rights have more critical need for procedural protections than do those resisting state intervention into ongoing family affairs.

The Supreme Court noted its "historical recognition that freedom of personal choice in matters of family life is a fundamental liberty interest protected by the Fourteenth Amendment." Santosky v. Kramer, 102 S.Ct. 1388; 455 U.S. 745, (1982).

In applying the protection of the Fourteenth Amendment, the United States Supreme Court has held that

"[w]here certain fundamental rights are involved... regulation limiting these rights may be justified only by a 'compelling state interest' ...and ..legislative enactments must be narrowly drawn to express only the legitimate state interests at stake.

State interference with a fundamental right must by justified by a "compelling state interest." Roe v. Wade. 410 U.S. 113, 155 ; 93 S.Ct. 705; 35 L Ed 2d 147, (1973)

State's power to legislate, adjudicate and administer all aspects of family law, including determinations of custodial and visitation rights, is subject to scrutiny by federal judiciary within reach of due process and/or equal protection clause of 14th Amendment... fourteenth Amendment applied to states through specific rights contained in the first eight amendments of the Constitution which declares fundamental personal rights... Fourteenth Amendment encompasses and applied to states those pre-existing fundamental rights recognized by the Ninth Amendment.

THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO BE A PARENT

2007-03-01T05:01:00.000-08:00

U.S. SUPREME COURT DECISIONS

Our legal minds will put the cites below to good use. Please feel free to share them with your attorney. For future reference, these are being added to the ACFC legal cites page. - ACFC Loss of First Amendment Freedoms, for even minimal periods of time, unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury.

Though First Amendment rights are not absolute, they may be curtailed only by interests of vital importance, the burden of proving which rests on the government. Elrod v. Burns, 96 S.Ct. 2673; 427 U.S. 347, (1976).

The United States Supreme Court noted that:
a parent's right to "the companionship, care, custody and management of his or her children" is an interest "far more precious" than any property right. May v. Anderson, 345 U.S. 528, 533; 73 S.Ct. 840, 843, (1952).

The Court (U.S. Supreme Court) stressed:
"the parent-child relationship is an important interest that undeniably warrants deference and, absent a powerful countervailing interest, protection."

A parent's interest in the companionship, care, custody and management of his or her children rises to a constitutionally secured right, given the centrality of family life as the focus for personal meaning and responsibility. Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645, 651; 92 S.Ct. 1208, (1972)

The U.S. Supreme Court implied that "a (once) married father who is separated or divorced from a mother and is no longer living with his child" could not constitutionally be treated differently from a currently married father living with his child. Quilloin v. Walcott, 98 S.Ct. 549; 434 U.S. 246, 255-56, (1978)

Law and court procedures that are "fair on their faces" but administered "with an evil eye or a heavy hand" was discriminatory and violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U.S. 356, (1886)

The Constitution also protects "the individual interest in avoiding disclosure of personal matters." Federal Courts (and State Courts), under Griswold can protect, under the "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" phrase of the Declaration of Independence, the right of a man to enjoy the mutual care, company, love and affection of his children, and this cannot be taken away from him without due process of law.

There is a family right to privacy which the state cannot invade or it becomes actionable for civil rights damages. Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, (1965)

Parent's right to custody of child is a right encompassed within protection of this amendment which may not be interfered with under guise of protection public interest by legislative action which is arbitrary or without reasonable relation to some purpose within competency of state to effect. Reynold v. Baby Fold, Inc., 369 NE 2d 858; 68 Ill 2d 419, appeal dismissed 98 S.Ct. 1598, 435 U.S. 963, Il, (1977)

Parent's rights have been recognized as being "essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free man." Meyer v. Nebraska, 92 S.Ct. 1208, (1972)

Reality of private biases and possible injury they might inflict were impermissible considerations under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Palmore v. Sidoti, 104 S.Ct. 1879; 466 U.S. 429

Legislative classifications which distributes benefits and burdens on the basis of gender carry the inherent risk of reinforcing stereotypes about the proper place of women and their need for special protection; thus, even statutes purportedly designed to compensate for and ameliorate the effects of past discrimination against women must be carefully tailored... the state cannot be permitted to classify on the basis of sex. Orr v. Orr, 99 S.Ct. 1102; 4340 U.S. 268 (1979)

The United States Supreme Court held that the "old notion" that "generally it is the man's primary responsibility to provide a home and its essentials" can no longer justify a statute that discriminates on the basis of sex. No longer is the female destined solely for the homes and the rearing of the family, and only the male for the marketplace and the world of ideas. Stanton v. Stanton, 421 U.S. 7, 10; 95 S.Ct. 1373, 1376 (1975)

The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires that severance in the parent-child relationship caused by the state occur only with rigorous protections for individual liberty interests at stake.Bell v. City of Milwaukee, 746 F 2d 1205: U.S. Ct. App. 7th Cir. WI., (1984)

fundamental rights

2007-03-01T05:00:00.001-08:00

Where certain "fundamental rights" are involved, the Court has held that regulation limiting these rights may be justified only by a "compelling state interest," Kramer v. Union Free School District, 395 U.S. 621, 627 (1969); Shapiro v. Thompson, 394 U.S. 618, 634 (1969), Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398, 406 (1963), and that legislative enactments must be narrowly drawn to express only the legitimate state interests at stake. Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S., at 485; Aptheker v. Secretary of State, 378 U.S. 500, 508 (1964); Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296, 307-308 (1940); see [410 U.S. 113, 156] Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S., at 460, 463-464 (WHITE, J., concurring in result).... MR. JUSTICE STEWART, concurring.

family life is one of the liberties protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

2007-03-01T04:59:00.000-08:00

...Several decisions of this Court make clear that freedom of personal choice in matters of marriage and family life is one of the liberties protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1, 12; Griswold v. Connecticut, supra; Pierce v. Society of Sisters, supra; Meyer v. Nebraska, supra. See also Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158, 166; Skinner v. Oklahoma, 316 U.S. 535, 541. As recently as last Term, in Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438, 453, we recognized "the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person [410 U.S. 113, 170]....

consider addressing the rights and liberties of the family

2007-03-01T04:56:00.000-08:00

U.S. Supreme Court COOPER v. AARON, 358 U.S. 1 (1958) 358

U.S. 1 COOPER ET AL., MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS, INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, ET AL.

v. AARON ET AL.

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT. Fn No. 1.

Argued September 11, 1958. Decided September 12, 1958.

Opinion announced September 29, 1958.

...Article VI of the Constitution makes the Constitution the "supreme Law of the Land." I

n 1803, Chief Justice Marshall, speaking for a unanimous Court, referring to the Constitution as "the fundamental and paramount law of the nation," declared in the notable case of Marbury v. Madison, 1 Cranch 137, 177, that "It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is." This decision declared the basic principle that the federal judiciary is supreme in the exposition of the law of the Constitution, and that principle has ever since been respected by this Court and the Country as a permanent and indispensable feature of our constitutional system. It follows that the interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment enunciated by this Court in the Brown case is the supreme law of the land, and Art. VI of the Constitution makes it of binding effect on the States "any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding." Every state legislator and executive and judicial officer is solemnly committed by oath taken pursuant to Art. VI, cl. 3, "to support this Constitution." Chief Justice Taney, speaking for a unanimous Court in 1859, said that this requirement reflected the framers' "anxiety to preserve it [the Constitution] in full force, in all its powers, and to guard against resistance to or evasion of its authority, on the part of a State . . . ."Ableman v. Booth, 21 How. 506, 524.

No state legislator or executive or judicial officer can war against the Constitution without violating his undertaking to support it. Chief Justice Marshall spoke for a unanimous Court in saying that: "If the legislatures of the several states may, at will, annul the judgments of the courts of the United States, and destroy the rights acquired under those judgments, the constitution itself becomes a solemn mockery . . . ." United States v. Peters, 5 Cranch 115, 136.

A Governor who asserts a [358 U.S. 1, 19] power to nullify a federal court order is similarly restrained. If he had such power, said Chief Justice Hughes, in 1932, also for a unanimous Court, "it is manifest that the fiat of a state Governor, and not the Constitution of the United States, would be the supreme law of the land; that the restrictions of the Federal Constitution upon the exercise of state power would be but impotent phrases . . . ." Sterling v. Constantin, 287 U.S. 378, 397-398....

We have forwarded these excerpts from Sup. Ct. decisions to our big list for your information. The American Coalition for Fathers and Children For Membership information call 1-800-978-DADS, or see ACFC's homepage at: http://www.acfc.org American Fathers Coalition - 2000 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Ste. 148 Washington, D.C. 20006 1-800-978-DADS (3237) afc@capaccess.org http://www.erols.com/afc Subject: On Fundamental Rights & Mocking The Constitution

In condensing the collection of decisions, it came to me that we are obsessed with the rights of the individual, while at the same time forgetting that one person's rights become another person's burden. Yet, all of the intelligent and clever legal and constitutional arguments that are being made have one underlying concern. They are made to demonstrate the presence or absence of the validity that one's right's can be made to be inferior to another one's. At the base of all of this is that no-one exists in isolation. We all are parts (or at least should be) of systems that themselves are parts of levels in a hierarchy of systems comprising civilization.

The very foundation of the whole hierarchy of civilization is the group of social systems made up by these systems: husband-wife; parent-child; sibling-sibling; the family comprised of all of them; and, last but not least, the system of the extended family. Some have recognized that and the one very profound truth arising out that fact: any system is greater than the sum of its parts, but only then if all of the parts interleave, communicate, mesh and function well with one another. All of these clever arguments ignore one important aspect. That is the obligations of an individual to the social systems of which he is a member.

Thereby we ignore the needs and rights of all systems within society, because to demand one's rights requires that someone else is obliged to grant them. By ignoring obligations, each entity will feel entitled to enforce its rights, if necessary, to the extent that it will rob others of theirs. What we have then is not a well-functioning society anymore that is better than the sum of its parts, but rather a conglomerate of entities, or better yet, a mob - at worst, the end of civilization as we know it. It appears that the best legal minds have not come to terms with that truth, or else they would not be so terribly confused as appears to be the case in the bewildering array of judgments relating to the basic social system of society: the family. Would it be totally unrealistic to ask our legal minds to consider not only whether the state might have rights that are superior to those of the individual, but to think of the family unit in terms of a legal entity that has rights as well - with obligations and rights in relation to both, all of its members and the state?

Would it be totally strange to ask our legislators to consider addressing the rights and liberties of the family and, in connection with that, the obligations that an individual has toward the family and the state? Consider what would happen if we were to build the only one of the Ten Commandments that contains a promise as a constraint into constitutional rights: "Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." Why are we surprised and dismayed that we can't do well without it? Are we truly that smart that we can afford to ignore the wisdom that civilization lived by for thousands of years? -WHS

Teen Screen - A Hard Pill To Swallow!

2007-03-01T04:18:00.000-08:00

PETITION AGAINST FORCED PSYCHIATRY ON OUR TEENS!!!

Our children are not lab rats!

Is Psychiatry Really The Answer For Our Children? GREAT LINKS FOR PARENTS

2007-02-28T15:53:00.000-08:00

Source: http://ablechild.org (A WONDERFUL SITE)

www.adhdfraud.com. Essays, articles and other information pertaining to the fraud of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) -- Compiled by Dr. Fred Baughman.
http://www.adhd-report.com. The Parental Intelligence Report on 'ADHD' by Bob Collier.www.addvideo.org. New Web site features Dr. Fred Baughman on video exposing the national experts on the ADHD fraud. Another video shows the link between psychiatric drugs and school violence.

www.ablechild.org. 'Parents for Label and Drug Free Education' consists of a growing number of parents outraged over the pervaive and ever-growing drugging of our children. Begun by parent activists Sheila Matthews, Patty Weathers, Larry Smith and Vicky Dunkle, this website provides parents with the latest and more informative data surrounding "ADHD" and the drugs used to "treat" it.
www.fightforkids.com. The purpose of this Web site is to educate parents worldwide on the facts about today's widespread practice of labeling children mentally ill and drugging them with heavy, mind-altering, psychiatric drugs. æArmed in this way, loving parents will be able to prevail in the face of the enormous "drug children now" pressures so entrenched in society today. æProtected in this way, our children will be spared the totally unnecessary misery of a drug-hazed youth, succeeded by the risk of a drug-consumed adulthood.
www.psychsearch.net/teenscreen.html Ken Kramer's site documents the whole truth about Teen Screen, and connects the dots.
www.ritalindeath.com. Lawrence Smith developed this site as a response to the death of his fourteen-Year-old Son Matthew, who died on March 21, 2000. The cause was determined to be due to heart failure from the long- term ( age 7-14 ) use ofæRitalin. The purpose of this site is to prevent more deaths of our children from these dangerous drugs.
www.caer.com. Psychologist Lawrence Weathers gives his perspective on ADHD and profiles his method of helping called "computer assisted emotional recovery."
http://www.worldtalkradio.com/archives.asp?sid=97.The truth about ADHD and psychiatric drugs for children: Radio series archived on Annie Armen Live; includes John Breeding, PhD, Fred Baughman, MD, Able Child founders Patty Weathers, Sheila Matthews, and activist parents like Sheila Dunkle and Lawrence Smith whose children have died from the effects of psychiatric drugs. Great information and powerful true stories.
http://www.aTLC.org/Affiliates. Wildest Colts is an Affiliate of the Alliance for Transforming the Lives of Children.
http://www.byronchild.com. Kali Shapiro's new magazine is a winner. ByronChild supports the task of conscious parenting through considering the needs of children and parents within a world that is rapidly changing.
The Aware Parenting Institute
http://www.naomialdort.com. Supporting Authentic Parent-Child Relationships
http://www.naturalchild.org. Our vision is a world in which all children are treated with dignity, respect, understanding, and compassion. In such a world, every child can grow into adulthood with a generous capacity for love and trust. Our society has no more urgent task.
Parents Leadership Institute www.parentleaders.org The Parents Leadership Institute was founded by Patty Wipfler, international Re-evaluation Counseling reference person for parents, and features her work. The Institute assists parents who are eager to address the difficulties presented by parenting in today's world.æ They focus on listening as a cornerstone skill that develops parents' ability to connect with their children and solve problems within the family. Their goal is to empower parents and allies of children to care effectively for themselves and for young people of all ages, and to train leaders who will work for excellent community and national policy regarding parents and children. Very highly recommended.
www.rc.org. I recommend to all the theory and practices of the grassroots Re-Evaluation Counseling Community. Includes great resources for parents.
www.nhen.org. The National Home Education Network site provides encouraging information and support for the grassroots work of state and local homeschooling groups and individuals.
www.windhorseassociates.org. Windhorse Associates is a non-profit treatment and education organization with a whole person approach to recovery from extreme states of mind. Our services are individually tailored in close communication with each client and family.
www.transtherapy.org. Transtherapy is a reform movement in psychotherapy and in the mental helping professions. It is an association of practitioners who are critical of the trends of commercialism, medicalization, bureaucratization an idolization in this field.
Anti-Psychiatry Movement
Peter Breggin, M.D. and the Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology
Citizen's Commission on Human Rights Dendron, David Oaks publisher, PO Box 11284, Eugene OR, 97440. (503) 341-0100. The best newspaper available on mental health system oppression. David is also the contact point for Support Coalition International, an umbrella group of organizations devoted to the work of mental health liberation. Check out their web site at www.efn.org/~dendron.
www.drugawareness.org. Dr. Ann Tracy leads the International Coalition for Drug Awareness. Their Web site is dedicated to educating people regarding the potential harmful and life threatening short- and long-term effects of psychiatric drugs. Her specility, as reflected in her book Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? is the so-called SSRI's.
www.psychrights.org/Research/Digest/Researchbytopic.htm. Jim Gottstein's Law Project for Psychiatric Rights, Scientific Research by Topic.
Mental Health Field Articles

Ohio Mom on Trial in Foster Son's Death; (Domestic Violence Past Was Unreported)

2007-02-28T15:47:00.000-08:00

By TERRY KINNEY AP

BATAVIA, Ohio (AP) - A woman suggested binding her developmentally disabled 3-year-old foster son inside a closet, making her responsible for his death even if she did not intend it, prosecutors said Thursday as her murder trial opened.

A defense attorney, however, argued that Liz Carroll was a wife intimidated into going along with a plan hatched by her husband and his live-in lover. Carroll, 29, is charged with murder because prosecutors say she caused Marcus Fiesel's death by restraining him as she did. She and her husband also are charged with involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping, felonious assault and three counts of child endangerment.

In his opening statement, prosecutor Daniel "Woody" Breyer said Carroll suggested wrapping the boy in a blanket and leaving him alone while she and her husband, David Carroll Jr., and Amy Baker, who lived with the couple, went to a weekend family reunion in August. Breyer told jurors that the child was wrapped "much like a cocoon" with only his head and bare feet sticking out, and had been left that way before when the adults ran errands. "

He was confined as effectively as if he had been placed in a straitjacket," Breyer said. The child was dead when the Carrolls and Baker returned two days later. The Carrolls made up a story that he had wandered off or been taken from a park, prompting a massive search by authorities and volunteers. Defense attorney Gregory Cohen told the jury Liz Carroll was a caring person devoted to children and that David Carroll and Baker were responsible for the boy's death. "

I believe the evidence will show somebody else belongs there," Cohen told jurors of the prosecution's argument, pointing to an empty chair by his client at the defense table. In addition to murder, David Carroll, 30, is accused of burning the boy's body and dumping the remains in the Ohio River, and is charged with gross abuse of a corpse.

He is to be tried next month. Baker, 25, has not been charged and is expected to be the main witness against the Carrolls, who also face trial on lesser charges, including perjury and inducing panic, on their claim that the boy disappeared from the park.

The child was placed with the Carrolls three months before he died. The case prompted an independent review that found Butler County Children Services officials were not notified of David Carroll's domestic violence arrest. The detective who issued the report recommended the agency conduct better background checks and communicate more often with police.

A Foster Parent Can Get Paid, Cage Kids & Still Stay Out of Jail

2007-02-28T15:39:00.000-08:00

Updated:2007-02-15 22:11:30
Couple Sentenced for Child Endangerment
They Had Adopted Special-Needs Kids Sleep in Cages
By THOMAS J. SHEERAN AP

NORWALK, Ohio (Feb. 15) - A couple who forced some of their 11 adopted, special-needs children to sleep in wire-and-wood cages were sentenced to two years in prison Thursday, after the parents insisted they were only trying to keep the kids safe.
Madalyn Ruggiero, Pool / AP

Michael and Sharen Gravelle said they took on so many needy children because no one else wanted them.

Two of the children, however, said in statements read in court that they were treated harshly while they lived with Sharen and Michael Gravelle.

One wrote that they should be imprisoned "for as long as my siblings had to be in cages."

Sharen Gravelle told the court the children were never confined as punishment but rather to protect them, including a child who wanted to jump out a second-floor window. "Would you prefer that we let them jump? Either way, we'd be here. The difference is they're still alive," she said in a tearful, 26-minute statement.

Gravelle blamed social services officials for not helping her and her husband, Michael, control the destructive behavior of some of the youngsters. The children, who suffered from problems such as fetal alcohol syndrome and a disorder that involves eating nonfood items, ranged in age from 1 to 14 when authorities removed them in September 2005 from the Gravelles' home in Wakeman, about 60 miles west of Cleveland. They were placed in foster care in fall 2005 and the couple lost custody last March.

Sharen Gravelle kept her head down taking notes while the judge read the sentences. Michael Gravelle sat back in his chair, holding his face in his left hand. Each could have received up to five years in prison for each of the four felonies they were convicted of in December. They also were convicted of seven misdemeanors.

Michael Gravelle, his face red and his voice rising, told the judge he and his wife "felt we were being led by the Lord" when they decided to bring the first child into their home. He said problems began when they took in a group of siblings with an array of behavior and emotional problems. "What do you do with these kids?" Michael Gravelle asked. "I prayed constantly for the answer."

He said the enclosures resulted from the suggestions of a social workers, who recommended strict rules to improve the children's behavior. "I'm begging you," Michael Gravelle told the judge. "I do not deserve jail."

The two children whose statements were read in court, a girl and a boy, were in the courtroom Thursday. The boy wrote that he was "thankful that part of my life is behind me." He said of his new foster parents, "Because of them I don't have to steal food. I can use the bathroom whenever I want. Never again will I have to sleep in a box."

The girl's statement said Sharen Gravelle treated the children more harshly than her husband did. "Mom, you walked around like you were God, then whenever you did go places you were Mother Teresa taking in the poor black kids that no one wanted," she said. The girl said the Gravelles "are grown adults who know the difference between right and wrong. So I ask that they get as much time in jail for as long as my siblings had to be in cages."

The Gravelles have said they will appeal their convictions. The judge allowed them to remain free on bond pending the appeal. The couple has said they needed to keep some of the children in enclosed beds with alarms to protect them from their own dangerous behavior and stop them from wandering at night. Prosecutors said the Gravelles were cruel.

Witnesses, including the sheriff and some of the children, said the cages were urine-stained and lacked pillows or mattresses, but a social worker and others who testified for the defense said they never witnessed abuse and that the children's behavior improved because of the bright blue and red cages. One Gravelle child testified he was forced to live in a bathroom for 81 days, sleeping in a bathtub because of a bed-wetting problem.

The Gravelles' attorneys said the boy exaggerated the length of his bathroom stay, and an expert for the defense testified that the technique helped the boy.

Notice to Texas Parents Affected By CPS/TDPRS

2007-02-28T15:25:00.000-08:00

Committee discussion topics should address the goal of identifying best practices, areas of concern and opportunities for the improvement in outcomes for children and families within the investigative stage of service.

The Committees charge includes reviewing existing investigation policies and to identify and recommend best practices for parental involvement.

I am asking those who have had such problems with CPS to give us written testimony that we may share, since the time for personal testimony will be limited.

I want the committee to hear from parents who have had bad experiences with CPS so that we can ask questions of the department officials and recommend changes to alleviate such problems in the future.

Please give this information to others who might have had such experiences and let us hear from any parents you know who have had a negative experience.

Tim Lambert

Strengthening Investigations - Improved Screening

•41 Screeners have reviewed more than 24,000 reports

•Nearly 25% of these screened reports have been closed resulting in more caseworker time
spent on cases needing attention

New Investigations Structure

•Investigations division in place

•131 Special Investigators, with law enforcement background, hired statewide to assist in complex cases

•7 Law Enforcement Liaisons hired to build partnerships between DFPS and law enforcement in local communities and to assist in hiring special investigators

Child Safety Specialists

•20 Child Safety Specialists hired bringing the total to 43

•Risk assessment training developed and delivered to staff

•Risk and Safety Subcommittee established to better address risk and safety tool
Response Time Reduction

•Began pilot program in Dallas/Ft.Worth region

Joint Investigations and Training

•Joint investigations guidelines in place

•Working with law enforcement at local level to provide joint training

•Contract with Shaken Baby Alliance in place to provide advanced training on abuse/neglect investigations

Parental Notification of Child Transfer

•New policy and form in place

Supporting Quality Casework Hiring

•CPS hired over 2,200 direct delivery staff since September 2005

Staffing and Workload Distribution Plan

•Functional units established and workload measurement tools in place to allocate new staff to regions

Average daily caseloads for investigative caseworkers

•Sept 05 – 38.9

•Sept 06 – 27.8

Average daily caseload for conservatorship caseworkers

•Sep 05 - 42.6

•Sep 06 - 44.2

Technology

•1,794 Tablet PCs were distributed to CPS investigators by October 2006

•An additional 424 will be supplied to new CPS investigative staff by close of the biennium

•Tablet PCs have replaced the desktop computers allowing full computing capability in the field; this includes a wireless service for communication and information access

Drug Related Initiatives

•Drug Endangered Child Protocols and methamphetamine protocols incorporated into training

•9 substance abuse specialists hired statewide

Drug Testing Requirements

As of January 1, 2006, a residential child care operation must have a drug testing policy and inform DFPS within 24 hours after becoming aware that a person who directly cares for or has access to a child in the operation has abused drugs within the past 7 days.
DFPS: if a person who directly (as opposed to indirectly?) cares for or has access to a child in the operation (in the operation???) has abused drugs within the past 7 days!!!

The Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) Parental Advisory Committee's next meeting is scheduled for sometime around the 21st or 28th of March. At that time, the committee will be taking testimony from parents who have concerns or problems related to workers and/or the agency in regard to an investigations of abuse and/or neglect.

This is in keeping with our mission to advise the department on the policies affecting parents and their involvement with the department,including:

(1) Investigations of allegations of abuse or neglect;

(2) Designations of alternate placements for children; and

(3) Standards for persons who investigate reports of abuse or neglect on the state or local level.

"The scope of the DFPS Parental Advisory Committee is to focus on the CPS policies within the investigative stage of service to identify practices to improve parental involvement and to bring to the forefront issues as they evolve in order to improve the outcome for children and families served by CPS."

Breaking The Silence - Childrens' Stories

2007-02-28T15:10:00.000-08:00

Breaking the Silence: Children's Stories

8 min 3 sec - Feb 9, 2006
Average rating: (2 ratings)
Description: This is an eight minute excerpt of the program that aired on Public Television in October of 2005. The documentary tells the stories of children who are taken away from their protective mothers.

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(PBS; October 2001)
An hour-long national documentary that takes an innovative look at domestic violence in America, demonstrating the ways victims are breaking the destructive cycle of abuse and creating healthy, stable lives. Domestic violence defies easy categorization by race, age, economic or social standing. It happens to a disturbing number of women and children, and until recent years, has been cloaked in a blanket of silence. Rather than document the tragic circumstances of domestic violence cases, the program focuses on the process through which victims become survivors, offering domestic violence sufferers, policymakers, and concerned citizens examples of how to fight this devastating problem.
(NCFR Media Awards Competition — Runner-Up; DSA Vision for Tomorrow Award)

Petition For Children's Rights Against Stigma And Psychiatric Drug Abuse

2007-02-28T14:54:00.000-08:00

Petition For Children's Rights Against Stigma And Psychiatric Drug Abuse
View Current Signatures - Sign the Petition

To: President George Bush

Whereas:
The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted and proclaimed on December 10, 1948, states in Article 5,

"no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment";

Whereas:
The above right is also affirmed under Article 37 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and under Article 33 of that Convention, which states that

children have the right to protection from the "illicit use of psychotropic substances";

Whereas:
Medical research indicates considerable controversy and diverse opinion about the validity of childhood behavioral or learning "disorders" such as but not limited to, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and which are not scientifically substantiated;

Whereas:
In the United States, up to six million children have been administered potentially addictive, psychotropic stimulants and other drugs because of these psychiatric "disorders";

Whereas:
Such psychotropic stimulants have the same abuse liability as cocaine, and are considered more potent than cocaine; and that such drugs can cause other adverse reactions, including:

psychosis, agitation, bizarre dreams, loss of appetite, confusion, and depersonalization, and do not improve academic performance;

Whereas:
Parents and children are being denied adequate information about the lack of science behind childhood psychiatric "disorders," and the risks associated with drugs prescribed for them;

Whereas:
Parents and children are being denied information about alternatives to drug treatment for classroom or behavioral problems, such as nutritional, creative and educational solutions and, thereby are being denied the right to "informed consent";

Be it known that
We, the undersigned, sincerely request that the government implement legal safeguards to prevent children from being stigmatized as "mentally disordered," especially through "Special Education," or through the use of psychological questionnaires and tests in the class room, and to protect their inalienable right to be educated drug-free.

Sincerely,
The Undersigned
View Current Signatures

The Petition For Children's Rights Against Stigma And Psychiatric Drug Abuse Petition to President George Bush was created by Citizens Commission on Human Rights® International and written by Citizens Commission on Human Rights® International. This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no express or implied endorsement of this petition by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. The petition scripts are created by Mike Wheeler at Artifice, Inc. For Technical Support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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You Know You're A Corrupt Judge When...

2007-02-28T02:49:00.000-08:00

YOU PUT 97,000 CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE IN CALIFORNIA, AND MORE THAN HALF SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN TAKEN IN THE FIRST PLACE.
YOU KEEP KIDS IN FOSTER CARE TO ENDURE STARVATION, SEX, ABUSE, DEATH, RAPE, AND VIOLENCE.
YOU STRIP NON-ABUSIVE PARENTS OF THEIR PARENTAL RIGHTS IN ORDER TO FILL QUOTAS AND REAP FEDERAL INCENTIVES!
YOU RUBBER-STAMP EVERY CPS REQUEST TO KEEP A CHILD IN FOSTER CARE, GROUP HOMES AND EVENTUALLY PUT UP FOR ADOPTION.
YOU MADE A RULING THAT A PARENT IS INNOCENT AND NON-ABUSIVE AND KEEP THEIR CHILD IN FOSTER CARE ANYWAY.
YOU HOLD ILLEGAL HEARINGS, NOT GIVING PARENTS THEIR DUE PROCESS RIGHTS,CAUSING THEM TO LOSE THEIR CHILDREN.
YOU IGNORE ALL CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF PARENTS AND THEIR CHILDREN.
YOU, COUNTY COUNSEL, FOSTER AND GROUP HOMES, COURT APPOINTED ATTORNEYS, AND THERAPISTS ARE ALL IN BED TOGETHER.
YOU SENTENCE EVERYONE TO THERAPY AND ANGER MANAGEMENT, WHEN YOU AND CPS SOCIAL WORKERS COULD USE IT THE MOST!
YOU CONSPIRE TO KEEP CHILDREN AWAY FROM THEIR NON-ABUSIVE INNOCENT PARENTS FOR THE MAXIMUM TIME, NEVER EVEN CONSIDERING REUNIFICATION.
YOU HIDE BEHIND CPS CORRUPTION, FRAUD, MALICE, AND LIES, PRETENDING IT’S IN A CHILDS BEST INTEREST!
YOU LET EVERY CASE YOU HAVE GO BEYOND THE FEDERAL MANDATED TIMELINES FOR COMPLETION.
YOU LET CPS DELIVER CASE PLANS WELL AFTER THE 30 DAY DEADLINE, AND PRETEND IT IS LEGAL & ETHICAL.
YOU CONTINUALLY LET CPS PLACE PARENTS ON THE CHILD ABUSE CENTRAL INDEX (33,000 A YEAR IN CALIFORNIA) WITHOUT BEING CHARGED, STANDING TRIAL, OR BEING CONVICTED OF ABUSE.
YOU LAUNDER MONEY THROUGH A SLUSH FUND FOR YOUR OWN SPECIAL INTERESTS.
YOU LET CPS ABDUCT CHILDREN WITHOUT A WARRANT, WITH NO THREAT OF ABUSE OR IMMINENT DANGER!
YOU PURPOSLY WILL NOT LET A PARENT TALK IN COURT FOR OVER A YEAR, WHILE THEIR CHILDREN LINGER IN FOSTER CARE, BEING ABUSED WITH DRUGS, SEX, RAPE, STARVATION VIOLENCE AND EVEN DEATH.
YOU LET HEARSAY ALLEGATIONS, FALSIFIED RECORDS AND TAINTED TESTIMONY STAND AS FACT!
YOU ENCOURAGE CPS TO ALLOW CHILDREN TO BE DRUGGED, BRIBED, COERCED, FORCED AND BRAINWASHED TO MAKE FALSE STATEMENTS OF ABUSE ABOUT THEIR PARENTS, USING CPS RUN CAC CENTERS AND STATE FUNDED THERAPISTS.
YOU ALLOW CPS TO RECOMMEND THERAPISTS, ATTORNEYS, AND DOCTORS THAT WORK FOR THEIR OWN INTERESTS, AND PRETEND IT’S IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD.
YOU WILL NOT ALLOW A PARENT TO PRESENT EVIDENCE AND TESTIMONY THAT WOULD PROVE THEY ARE INNOCENT OF ALL CHARGES AGAINST THEM!
YOU ALLOW A FOSTER CHILD TO REMAIN IN A FOSTER HOME WITH PROVEN, DOCUMENTED CASES OF NUMEROUS LICENSE VIOLATIONS, AND SUBSTIANTED ABUSE CHARGES.

Child Welfare System Must Grow Up

2007-02-28T02:36:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, October 14, 2003
By Wendy McElroy www.foxnews.net/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,99942,00.html

Monday, September 29, 2003 -
Too many children have been unnecessarily placed in foster care because of a “perverse financial incentive” that encourages local governments to earn money by bringing youngsters into the system, a new state report says.

The study by the California Department of Social Services also says too much emphasis has been placed on investigating whether parents abused or neglected their children while not enough has been done to help families overcome their problems. “Over a period of years, the original vision for supporting and healing families through the child welfare system has deteriorated into an adversarial and coercive approach,” DSS Director Rita Saenz said. David Sanders, who took over in March as head of the troubled Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, said experts have estimated that as many as half of the county’s foster children could have been left in their parents’ care if the appropriate services had been provided.

A study by a child welfare think tank released earlier this year found that the government spends an average of $65,000 to $85,000 a year to house and educate a foster child in a group home. The total costs are staggering, authors of the report wrote, noting that the direct costs of child abuse and neglect nationwide are estimated at $25 billion a year while indirect costs such as juvenile delinquency, adult criminality and lost productivity to society total $95 billion. In response, the Child Welfare Services Stakeholders Group, a body of 60 child-welfare experts formed by Gov. Gray Davis in 2000, has proposed an “ambitious and far-reaching overhaul” of the state’s child-welfare system. Andrew Bridge, managing director of child-welfare reform programs at The Broad Foundation in Los Angeles, said one of the most basic problems with the system is restrictions that provide money only when a child enters foster care.

“The county will only continue to receive funding for the period it keeps the child in its care. You can’t run a system that is based on a buck-a-head for as long as you can keep the child,” Bridge said. The state report said California has 13 percent of the nation’s total child population and 20 percent of its foster children. More than 700,000 children come into contact with the child-welfare system annually statewide. About 77 percent of those in foster care were removed from their homes for neglect. In Los Angeles County, more than 160,000 children came into contact with the system last year.

Nearly 80 percent were involved because of neglect. More than 91,000 children are in foster homes statewide. In the county, the $1.4 billion DCFS budget pays to provide services to 75,000 children in the system or living in adoptive homes. Of those, nearly 30,000 actually live in foster homes. The stakeholders’ report recommends the Department of Social Services seek approval from the federal government for more flexible use of its $3.7 billion annual child-welfare budget so more money can be spent on services to help keep families together. Congress is expected to take up legislation next year dealing with reforms in how the system is funded. The stakeholders also recommended that the state improve its method of contracting with public and private foster care agencies.

Of the county’s 30,000 children in foster homes, an average of 6 percent to 7 percent are abused and neglected, a rate among the highest in the nation.

“The safety issue is such a big one,” Sanders said. “Los Angeles County is way out of line with the rest of the country. You just have kids who are being abused after we have supposedly put them in a safer environment.”

Janis Spire, executive director of the Alliance for Children’s Rights in Los Angeles, said the report outlines the “only realistic path toward achieving stable, secure homes for our children.”

“The toughest job is still ahead in terms of providing a step-bystep plan for achieving these goals,” Spire said.

Troy Anderson, (213) 974-8985
troy.anderson@dailynews.com

Los Angeles Study: Kids Rushed Into Foster Care

2007-02-28T02:34:00.001-08:00

By Troy Anderson Staff Writer
The California child welfare system is such a disaster that even the state’s Department of Social Services admits families are aggressively torn apart and children unnecessarily placed in foster care.

California has announced sweeping reform. But the reform required is for “authorities” to act like adults and take responsibility.

In a September 25 press release, CDSS Director Rita Saenz bluntly assessed why the agency has failed. “The original vision for supporting and healing families through the child welfare system has deteriorated into an adversarial and coercive approach.”

The result: In L.A. County alone, more than 160,000 children “came into contact” with Child Welfare in 2002; 30,000 are in foster homes — only one form of foster care.

David Sanders, head of the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services, reports that as many as half of those foster children could have stayed at home with “appropriate services” rather than removal. Thus, an L.A. Daily News headline declared that children are being “rushed into foster care,” where many remain.

Andrew Bridge of L.A.-based Broad Foundation explained why: money.
“The county will only continue to receive funding for the period it keeps the child in its care.” In various states, including California, there is a “perverse financial incentive” to place and retain children in foster care rather than leave them in the home.

Thus, the first way authorities can take responsibility is to remove the financial incentive to destroy families.

In a 2002 conference on Privatization and Government Reform, Laura Dykes explained how Kansas was reversing that dangerous trend — through privatization. “By giving contractors a lump sum, rather than paying them on a per-day, per-child basis, the perverse incentives are removed.” As a result “adoptions have increased 78 percent since privatization, and the dissolution rate [adoptions that fail] is only 2.4 percent, compared to 12 percent nationally.” (p.30) There is a second way for authorities to become adults.

Those who receive a paycheck from the family court system have another “perverse financial incentive”: to create and extend cases rather than resolve them.

Instead, the family courts should prefer the comparatively private and inexpensive alternative of binding arbitration whenever applicable.
The crisis of child welfare is not confined to isolated states. If it were, the Senate would not be considering a provision in the Welfare Reform Act reauthorization bill to make states accountable for undistributed child support funds. In 2002, almost $660 million in child support payments never reached their intended recipients nor were they returned to payees.

The funds “floated” as parents were “forced to pester the state for every nickel and dime.” Geraldine Jensen, president of the Association for Children for Enforcement of Support declared, “If a bank behaved this way it would go out of business.”

This is my point. State officials and policies should be held to the same standard of accountability — including criminality — as that applied to private businesses and individuals. They should be liable for their gross misconduct, including the filing of false reports.

This may require the repeal of legislation such as the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) that offered federal matching funds to states with compliant child abuse programs. It offered huge financial incentives to uncover abuse while providing no checks to protect the wrongfully accused. CAPTA established the policy of encouraging false accusations while eliminating accountability. It encouraged the leveling of anonymous charges through such mechanisms as hotlines. It extended legal immunity both to child welfare workers and to false accusers whose gross misconduct might deeply injure children.

The solution: Refuse to credit anonymous accusations; hold false accusers responsible for perjury; make “child welfare” workers liable for misconduct on the same level as private individuals. What is the alternative?
In the wake of financial incentives without accountability, the number of children in nationwide foster care has doubled from 270,000 in the mid-1980s to 542,000 in 2001. (That figure does not include children who “graduated” upon turning 18.) Once removed to official “safety,” these children are far more likely to suffer abuse — including sexual molestation — than the general population. According to the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, in 1998 six children per 100,000 population were killed in foster care compared to one per 100,000 in the general population.

For many children, foster care becomes permanent. In 1999, almost one in seven children in foster care nationwide had been there for three to four years; almost one in five had been there for five years or more.
The human cost of rushing children into foster care does not stop when they reach 18 years old. According to CDDS data, among youths who “emancipate” from foster care, 50 percent do not complete high school; 45 percent are unemployed; 33 percent are arrested; 30 percent are on welfare; 25 percent are homeless.

Foster care, as it exists, is often difficult to distinguish from child abuse.

Children deserve better, especially children from troubled homes. They deserve to have adults in charge — adults who take responsibility.

What it FEELS LIKE to be Falsely Accused!

2007-02-28T02:28:00.000-08:00

Source: Courtesy of AFRA

When your turn comes to answer a Child Protective Service Social Worker's allegations, the very first thing you notice is her hostile attitude and adversative behavior. Since most of us have learned CIVILITY and Social Skills to deal with aggressors, we try to find out why this person is so ticked at us so we can "make peace".

We explain the truth to her, but she doesn't care about the truth. We quickly learn this antagonist is implacable, callous, hard-hearted, merciless, and incapable of reason. Her mind was already made up and she is going to drag you into the Child Protective Service "meat grinder" any way she can.

She thinks nothing of making a False Accusation, only "making it stick".
You discover that she will LIE TO YOU and ABOUT YOU without conscience.

"At a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
(George Orwell)

"You can't depend on your judgment when your imagination is out of focus." -- Mark Twain

"Add a few drops of malice to a half truth and you have an absolute truth." -- Eric Hoffer

She is not doing an "investigation". It is a prejudiced personal attack, an Inquisition, a Character Assassination on YOU.

"All parents are POTENTIAL ABUSERS"
You don't want to be a "potential abuser", do you?
That's why you NEED THEIR "HELP"!
Many of these "Case Workers" OFTEN were (or see) THEMSELVES as having been somehow "victimized" as children, distrusts ALL parents, and exacts RETRIBUTION on YOU!

There is a desperate need to codify a NEW CLINICAL condition of "Old Dysfunctional Hippie Disorder" (ODHD)

Your every past word, deed, and thought are scrutinized under the New Age microscope. She will fabricate conjectures to cast you in the worst possible light.

You think quietly to yourself "I must have gotten the worst SOCIOPATH in their whole office". But after a while you learn that THEY ARE ALL THAT WAY in every Child Protective Service office across the nation and around the world. Child "Protective" Services People fit the Profile of a Sociopath

If you maintain a HIGH MORAL or ETHICAL STANDARD of any kind, or if you are a Christian- you can expect SPECIAL ATTENTION for your standards- because they do not believe in ABSOLUTE right and wrong.

This is not about any ABUSE of children by parents, it's a POLITICALLY MOTIVATED Cultural War

While you are going through all this, you are so shocked, terrified, confused, bewildered, and disoriented- it doesn't occur to you that these people are running a SCAM on you under the COLOR OF LAW

They will try to keep you "confused" and "off balance" as long as possible. They strive to maintain themselves as the "god" over your life by "keeping you busy" complying with their absurd demands, seeing their "counselors", and attending their compelled useless "classes" IMPLYING that it "might" help get your kids back, or THREATENING you with permanent termination if you don't obey their every capricious whim.

They set these "meetings" up to require you to miss work. They DO NOT CARE if you lose your job.

In fact, it appears they WANT you to lose your job to make you DESTITUTE so YOU CAN'T AFFORD to fight them and "NEED" MORE OF THEIR "SERVICES"! They seem to especially enjoy setting meetings up to conflict WITH EACH OTHER and find you "non-compliant" for FAILING to be at BOTH AT THE SAME TIME.

They operate through fear, threats, and intimidation.

You are afraid to go talk with a lawyer about what they are doing to you, because "it might make them mad".

THEY ARE COUNTING on your "faith in the system" and your DISBELIEF that the flagrant injustice you are experiencing is anything but "just a misunderstanding".These people COULDN'T be doing what it LOOKS LIKE THEY ARE DOING!

AT NO TIME, do they want it to occur to you that you have American Constitutional Rights and DO NOT "HAVE" TO PUT UP WITH their Nazi behavior. If the thought DOES CROSS YOUR MIND to even ASK- "What about my Rights?", you will be met with nasty, foul, sickening threats.
By the time you start "wising up", the trap has already snapped shut and you THINK you have to "play their game" to resolve the situation.
Then by the time you realize that you are going to LOSE your kids, your job, your house, and probably your marriage over this mind-boggling fraud,
NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO OR DON'T DO, the process is complete.
If they have your kids, you might continue trying to "comply" with their insane, impossible conditions (which they keep adding) for up to 2 years.

People end up "plea bargaining", admitting "guilt" when they are completely innocent- because THEY TELL YOU THAT YOU HAVE TO, TO GET YOUR KIDS BACK.

Of course, once you admit guilt, YOU ARE TOAST

Very, very few parents ever "win" this game.
The few who do win, mortgaged their home, cashed in all the College savings, got SECOND JOBS, borrowed money from all their relatives and LUCKILY hired a lawyer who HATES THE CPS and fights to WIN, not plea bargain. They might get their kids back, after the CPS has ruined them.

Bankruptcy and Divorces often follow. Few people recover from the ungodly trauma and Legal Abuse a CPS investigation puts them through. Those of us who have been through a malicious False Allegation are often called "paranoid" by people who have never been through it (who have "faith in the system" and DISBELIEVE YOU). But we aren't deluded or irrational. We WERE persecuted.

As a newspaper editor remarked when I was discussing my case with him-

"It isn't paranoia if THEY REALLY ARE out to get you".

This industry, it's agenda, and methods are an INTOLERABLE ABUSE of American Citizens, and a deliberate AFFRONT to American Constitutional Rights, Basic Human Rights, and even the United Nation Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments. -- William H. Borah

If they haven't attacked your family yet, we HIGHLY RECOMMEND our brochure "Family Survival Information- When your local Children's Protective Service takes an interest in YOUR FAMILY".

Be forewarned and ready to stand up for your Constitutional Rights. Your Constitutional Rights are your ONLY defense against these terrorists. When your Constitutional RIGHTS are gone, so is America. And we are very nearly there.

"Nothing is more dangerous than the idea that some public officials are above the law. If they are, then we don't have law -- and we won't have freedom much longer either." --Thomas Sowell

2007-02-28T02:16:00.000-08:00

State's Child Protection Agencies Collude with Judges to Defraud Federal Government©Nev Moore Jan. '02 AFRA

In 1974 Walter Mondale initiated CAPTA (the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act), the legislation that began feeding federal funding into the state's child welfare agencies. With remarkable foresight Mondale expressed concerns that the legislation could lead to systemic abuse in that the state agencies might over-process children into the system unnecessarily to keep, and increase, the flow of federal dollars. Shortly after CAPTA was enacted there was a dramatic increase in the number of children in foster care, peaking at around 500,000 during the mid-70's. George Miller, the Chairman of the federal Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families, initiated an intensive investigation of the nation's foster care system after the effects of CAPTA started to become apparent by the soaring numbers of children who were being placed in foster care. An official at the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare admitted to Miller that the government had no idea where many of the nation's 500,000 foster children where living, what services they were receiving, if any, or if any efforts were being made to reunite them with their families.To address the obvious free-for-all snatching of children that CAPTA had stimulated, the Committee crafted new federal legislation with the intent of creating accountability and clearer guidelines for the states child welfare agencies. During the crafting of P.L. 96-272 Chairman Miller's concern was that the federal government was footing the bill for warehousing children in institutions and inappropriate settings without accountability. In 1980 the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act, P.L. 96-272, was enacted. The act included provisions that "reasonable efforts" be made to prevent children from being unnecessarily removed from their homes and placed in foster care.

Although CPS has always tried to buffalo the media and the public that they are involved with families due to some sort of horrific child abuse or neglect, there has never been any debate among national policy makers, researchers, and federal agencies that the vast majority of CPS cases are due to poverty or frivolous/social reasons and do not contain elements of real child abuse. If the cases did actually involve acts of abuse they would be criminal, identified and investigated by law enforcement, rather than social workers, and would be prosecuted as such. P.L. 96-272 came into effect partly because Congress determined that a large number of children were being unnecessarily removed from their homes, and, once removed, they were lost in the limbo of foster care for years, many until they just grew too old, when they were then put on the streets at the age of 18. The Child Welfare League of America testified before a senate subcommittee: "In fact, there were many instances then, as now, of children being removed unnecessarily from their families. It is important to recognize that children are almost always traumatized by removal from their own families." So, accountability from each states child protection agency was also written in. To receive the federal money the states would have to submit an annual report to the federal government, known as an AFCARS report, that specifically accounts for each child in state care.

ACLU Children's Rights Project attorney, Marcia Robinson Lowry, explained in her testimony to Congress: "As a condition of federal funding, states must have a reasonable information system to identify children in federally-funded state custody." These requirements were implemented in 1980. Up until 1999 some states were still not filing their federally required AFCARS report to the federal government. According to Jeffrey Locke, former Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Social Services, the excuse to the legislature was that they "couldn't figure out how towork their computer system."When I called Senator Therese Murray in 1998 to ask how many children had died in foster care in Massachusetts, her aide replied: "We don't have those statistics." At that time Senator Murray was the Senate Chair of the Committee on Health & Elderly Affairs, and therefore responsible to oversee the collection and filing of AFCARS data.The "reasonable efforts" requirements were designed to address these issues by requiring the states child welfare agencies to have specific investigation and assessment policies to minimize frivolous removals, to provide "services" to address and ameliorate conditions that were detrimental to the child's well-being; to place children with relatives when removal from the home was absolutely necessary; and make efforts to reunite families in a timely fashion.

Methods to audit and track compliance with federal requirements were also built in. The states were to establish "citizen review panels" comprised of a specifically designated representation of the population which would include not only members of collateral professional communities involved in child protection, but "parents, foster parents, and former foster children." Each state was to have at least three citizen review panels. The panels would essentially act as a standing jury of peers and would review CPS cases. Twenty years after P.L. 96- 272 went into effect the citizen review panels have never been established in most states.Another means of creating accountability was to have the federal authority, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, conduct compliance audits, which are known as Section 427 reviews. The method of enforcement that Congress devised to ensure that the states followed the federal law was to provide incentive funds to the states that documented their compliance with the federal regulations.

The states would self-certify compliance, but could be subjected to "periodic" 427 reviews by the Dept. of Health & Human Services. Were the states to find themselves in non-compliance they would simply return the incentive funds. It would seem that providing cash to agencies that are allowed to self-document compliance is a somewhat less than intelligent system. It would be interesting to track down exactly how much money the states child "protective" agencies have returned to the government because they found themselves in non-compliance. Gee, maybe this is rocket science.Like CAPTA, P.L. 96-272 could only have worked if the federal government demanded compliance and meticulous accountability, and them imposed sanctions for non-compliance. Even better – criminal charges for racketeering for intentional fraud. Mark Soler, director of the National Youth Law Center in California explained:
"The Department of Health & Human Services has failed to promulgate meaningful regulations to implement the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act. It has applied even the minimal federal regulations that were developed in an inconsistent and arbitrary manner, and only token implementation of the laws protecting children.'

Even when HHS finds overwhelming evidence of lack of compliance during 427 reviews, no sanctions are imposed and they continue to keep the fed $$$ pouring in – in violation of their own regulations. Not so much as a slap on the hand or even token admonishment. Certainly explains how CPS developed their arrogance and contempt for any authority – because there is none. Their confidence that they are free from the feds insisting on compliance with the law is well illustrated by the foster care numbers which increased dramatically after CAPTA began feeding federal dollars into the states child protection agencies, then dropped equally dramatically after the enactment of P.L.96-272, which was supposed to create more specific federal regulation and accountability.

However, once the state agencies saw that the federal government was not enforcing compliance, the foster care numbers soared once again.

Michael Petit, Deputy Director of the Child Welfare League of America, stated in his testimony before Congress: "A 427 is a meaningless process for most of the states. It represents no kind of sanctions to the states whatsoever for non-compliance." Marcia Robinson Lowry told Congress: "States are passing HHS audits with systems in which no reasonable person could consider that children are being well treated. It is virtually impossible to fail a 427 audit."The initial concept of "reasonable efforts" was the only conclusion that any rational person could come to: rather than disrupt children's lives, and traumatize them by seizing them from non- abusive situations and placing them with strangers (who are often no better, and sometimes far worse), assist families in overcoming their obstacles and problems by providing support and services.

The idea never worked, though, because it has always been more profitable to too many to remove children rather than keep them at home. Rather than offer support and simple, practical services to families CPS forged contracts with vendors. Now private businesses, under the guise of "service providers", could mushroom into existence knowing that their sugar daddy, CPS, would provide a never-ending flow of coerced clients. The market potential is unlimited – potentially every mother, father, grandparent, and child in the country. Rather than offering practical, meaningful services that are germane to the families circumstances, CPS clients are ordered to engage in "services" with CPS-contracted vendors; special interest groups who are dependent on CPS for their income and profit by maintaining the levels of children in foster care, and whose interests are protected by a bureaucracy intent on securing it's own survival and protecting unlimited growth.The extent of which CPS is allowed to continue to operate while being so far out of compliance with the existing state and federal laws is mind boggling. It would be a challenge to find any other agency in our countries history that operated in such gross and blatant violation of the law with absolutely no intervention from the administration.

Tens of millions of tax dollars are being squandered on a system that is destroying families and causing lifelong emotional ruin to children – and those are the lucky ones who live through it.The most egregious area of outright criminal fraud is CPS's practice of filing their federally required documentation of compliance in secrecy through the courts. The federal foster care reimbursements are channeled through the Title IV-E section of the Social Security Act. Each states child welfare agency enters into a contract with the federal government, which is referred to as their Title IV-E state plan. It is this contract that spells out the responsibilities that CPS must, by law, comply with in order to receive their federal funding. To document compliance with the fed regs CPS must file a form through the courts in each individual case. In

Massachusetts these forms are referred to as a "29-C." 42 U.S. Code, ss 672 reads:

"These requirements are not mere formalities. The Finance Committee of Congress, in preparing its summary for final passage of the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, P.L. 96-272, stated; ` The Committee is aware of allegations that the judicial determination requirement (sic: that a judge makes a determination that a child needs to be removed from the home) can become a
mere pro forma exercise in paper shuffling to obtain federal funding.
While this could occur in some instances, the Committee is unwilling to accept as a general proposition that the judiciaries of the States would so lightly treat a responsibility placed upon them by federal statute for the protection of children."

1980 U.S. Code Cong. and Admin. News:

"A judicial determination of those efforts (reasonable efforts, as defined in the Act) serves to closely examine, in the case of each individual child, whether reasonable efforts were made to keep the family intact."

In accordance with the federal requirements the Massachusetts legislature enacted G.L. c.119 ss 29b, which requires all judges to certify that the Department of Social Services met the obligation grounded in the federal statute of making reasonable efforts to protect the child short of removing him or her from the parents, and, if the child was removed, making it possible for the child to return home in a timely manner.

Rather than "closely examining", in Massachusetts this grave responsibility is carried out by judges by rubber stamping stacks of 29c forms that simply contain three "yes" or "no" check boxes. In many instances making three check marks is even too much work for Massachusetts judges and they rubber stamp the forms while leaving them blank – never mind actually verifying that the "reasonable efforts" were made. In return for these forms DSS receives it's federal money.

The three questions are:

1. Continuation in the home is contrary to the well being of the child?

2. Reasonable efforts have been made prior to the placement of the child to prevent or eliminate the need for removal of the child from his/her home?

3. Reasonable efforts have been made to make it possible for the child to return to his parent/guardian?

I discussed this issue a few years ago with Veronica Melendez at the Children's Bureau (the federal authority). She told me that the federal government was under the impression that all parties were present in the court room at the time of the filing of the 29c's, so that the parents attorneys had the opportunity to object, rebut, or verify the "reasonable efforts."

In reality, no one sees the federal forms except the judges and a representative of DSS's main legal department. Attorneys ask us how we ever "got our hands on" the 29c forms, as we have never yet met an attorney who has seen the forms, let alone have been notified of the filing hearing. We even have forms on which the "no" boxes were checked, yet the children were still removed from their homes and federal funds collected for them.

By seizing children illegally in violation of the Title IV-E requirements, then filing false documents in secrecy through the courts to obtain federal funding, CPS is defrauding the federal government with intent.

CPS should be subject to investigation and prosecution by the U.S. Attorneys Office.

They should be held liable for the restitution of all illegally obtained funds, and prosecuted for perjury, obstruction of justice, and the fraudulent collection of federal funds under the False Statements and Accountability Act of 1996, P.L. 104-292 110 stat 3459, 42 U.S.C.S. 670-679a; P.L. 96-272; C.F.R. part 1356; and Title IV-E. I have discussed this issue with the Inspector Generals Office and they felt it could possible be prosecuted under RICO, yet they have also failed to act, possibly because it isn't just CPS/DSS who is committing federal fraud, but also the judges who are signing the documents.

In 1988 George Miller, the original architect of P.L. 96-272, and Chairman of the congressionally appointed Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families, recognized the fraud being committed in the name of child "protection", and stated:

"What has been demonstrated here is that you have a system that is simply in contempt. This system has been sued and sued and orders have been issued and they just continue on their merry way. And HHS just continues to look the other way. You have a system that is not only out of control, it's illegal at this point. What you are really engaged in is state sponsored child abuse."

--- PROBLEM STATEMENT ---

2007-02-28T02:11:00.000-08:00

I. State and federally funded Child Protective Service agencies are arbitrarily seizing children from non-abusive homes in the absence of evidence or realistic cause to believe that the child is in danger of harm, and in gross violation of their own protocols, state and federal regulations, and the Constitution of the United States.

II. For both parent and child there can be nothing in our life experience more devastating than the abrupt, brutal, and unwarranted enforced separation by strangers. The parent-child bond is our strongest instinct, superceding all else. To have this bond abruptly severed by strangers who possess unhindered power, and who give no thought or consideration to the fear, anxiety, and trauma that their actions cause, is a crime against humanity. Yet it is happening to 4600 American children per day, right here in the United States. Small children believe their parents to be all-powerful, like super heroes. They believe that their parents possess an all-powerful ability to shelter and protect them from any threat. When parents are powerless to prevent strangers from abducting the child from all that is safe and familiar to him/her, a fundamental belief system within the child is broken forever, along with the child's ability to feel safe and secure in their world. As parents are forced to sit by placidly, under the threat of never seeing their child again, a small child may believe that the parents gave him/her away because he or she was "bad", and the child's belief in their parents love is also destroyed. In a small child's mind he or she will be thinking: "Why aren't mom and dad fighting the bad guys and taking me home?" We have received many `phone calls from parents who have been devastated when their child screams at them: "You LET them TAKE ME away!" This is an act of emotional and psychological terrorism against a child.III. The law states that a child can only be removed from his or her home as a last resort, and only when the child is at imminent risk of serious harm. The problem is that the SS (social services) does not follow established law & policy, and nobody makes them. They face no consequences for appalling and illegal behavior. The police must submit to the whims of the SS. Judges go along with the SS, allowing them to control court process, rather than fulfilling their judicial canons by insisting that due process is followed, laws adhered to, and that procedural error is not tolerated. Few parents are criminally charged with anything, rather, they are subjected to a highly irregular "civil" proceeding that makes a complete mockery of our judicial system. Parents are often told they may not speak or present exculpatory evidence.

III. Children are not allowed to be present or express their wishes if they want to go home. The SS claims that this would "involve the child in adult issues" and "traumatize them". However, the instant a child says they want to be adopted, the SS runs them into the courtroom, stating that they must "honor the child's wishes."IV. Federal statistics say that there are approximately 3 million reports of suspected child abuse and neglect each year. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services documents 900,000 as "substantiated", leaving over 2 million families per year falsely accused of child maltreatment! Of the "substantiated" cases, 68% do NOT involve child maltreatment, according to the federal authorities. This figure is escalating at an alarming rate each year as over zealous reporting and frivolous intervention by the SS spins out of control.V. Actual acts of child abuse or severe neglect are not the primary allegations used To seize children from their families., meaning deliberate acts, willfully committed with the intent to harm - contrary to public assumption. The SS employs a method known as the "Clinical Model", in which the behaviors of the child are use to claim that there is some sort of obscure psychological abuse in the home that has traumatized the child.

IV. Therefore, if your child exhibits any normal, predictable behavior of childhood:
outgoing, quite, active, shy, placid, disobedient, obedient, neat, messy, loud, easy going, or temperamental - any behavior will be used to "prove" that the child is "acting out their inability to verbalize the trauma."

V. NOTHING is just plain normal predictable, unpredictable human behavior as it has existed for 3 million years. EVERYTHING has some deep, dark, bizarre (and completely illogical..) "meaning", that can only be seen by 23 year-old, childless, poorly educated social workers with little life experience, and all of which supports the prevailing political climate that ALL parents are inadequate and abusive, so children must be raised by the state. Welcome to "Junk Psychology For Dollars"!

VI. The state gains entrée' into private homes via the filing of a report of suspected child maltreatment. A report may be filed anonymously by anyone, a vindictive neighbor, a stranger who saw you yell at your child at the grocery store, a disgruntled employee, an ex-spouse, a teacher, a day care provider, someone whose romantic interest you rejected, or any unstable busybody.

"Abuse" reports are filed (and investigated) for head lice (usually contracted at school..), diaper rash, taking your child to the ER too often, leaving your child in the car while you run into the store, ear infections, not sending a snack or mittens to school, parents arguing in front of child, home schooling, spanking; ANY bruise, injury, or scrape inevitably incurred in the normal course of childhood; poverty issues, dirty clothing, no electricity, ANY "nudie" photos of toddlers playing in the sprinkler or in the tub. A yeast or urinary tract infection is now likely to bring an allegation of sexual abuse, although they are a common result of antibiotic use, careless hygiene, or a diet high in simple carbohydrates.

VI. Normal, innocent people do not tend to be suspicious and defensive, so they usually cooperate when the SS knocks on their door. We universally hear: "We have nothing to hide, so we invited them in, served them coffee, and were open and honest. Now our children are gone, and we don't know how this could happen in this country!"

VII. Once the SS gains entree' the family is put under a powerful, and distorted, microscope. "Social workers" will ask bizarre and invasive questions. Do the parents ever argue? Do they ever raise their voices? This is documented as "domestic violence." No surprise here, the majority of the funding for domestic violence programs is channeled through CPS. If parents deny domestic abuse or child abuse, they are condescendingly told that they are "in denial", and this is all "part of the syndrome." Admitting - confessing - is one of the requirements. Truth is not important. Saying the right things to keep federal funding flowing, is. You could be asked, as could your child (even a three or four year-old) if you have ever touched them in the chest or genital are. Obviously, after bathing, wiping, applying ointment, etc., any parent must answer "yes." Anyone who admits to having a drink occasionally is labeled "alcoholic and dysfunctional." (Powerful, wealthy politicians evidently have an exemption). Under the SS microscope every word, inflection, and action is attributed with the most distorted, bizarre, and ludicrous "meanings." If you have ever bounced a check, you have a "criminal record"; if your child is shy, they are "fearful and withdrawn"; if they are outgoing and active, they are "acting out due to the trauma." This is crazy, you say? Oh good, you're catching on now!

VIII. Once a child is seized by the state the parents are offered a sham civil court proceeding. In most cases the parents are never actually charged with anything. In many states you must not only be charged, but convicted of a crime to lose your drivers license. But, you can lose your children from an anonymous `phone call, with NO involvement from law enforcement, and NO charges of Any wrong-doing. The SS controls the courtroom and employs the tactic of delay to keep families separated. Parents may go to scheduled court dates 30 - 50 - 80 times, only to be told, after waiting in the hall all day, that their case has been continued - yet again. This can, and does, go on for months, and, even years, while children are separated from their families. If parents actually get inside the court room they are usually told they may not speak - and usually their court appointed attorneys won't do much speaking either. Exculpatory evidence is either not allowed, or "disappears" from the case file.

IX. These cases degenerate into an exercise in character assassination and slander by the SS where actual acts of child abuse or neglect that place the child at "imminent risk of serious harm" are not even discussed. Rather, vague, obscure, and distorted allegations about the parents personalities comprise the bulk of the court room testimony, including the parents "denial", "hostility", and "uncooperativeness." Judges should be questioning - and striking - such testimony Based on relevance, but they don't. The SS rules the court room and the judges simply abdicate their sworn oath and go along. The new federal law gives the SS 15 months to seek Termination of Parental Rights and have the child adopted out, so, children are being put up for adoption based on the timeline, even when parents have not had a chance to answer the initial allegations, and in the absence of any evidence or charges that they have harmed their child! Social workers routinely perjure themselves under oath without ever facing admonishment (let alone charges) from a judge.

This system is a SCAM, and makes a mockery of our most fundamentally held beliefs in our country.VIII. These children are placed in state contracted foster homes and institutions. All get federal benefits. Residentials and institutions hold multi-million dollar contracts with the social service agencies. Children are drugged, restrained, put in straight-jackets (they call them "safety coats" now); they are sexually, physically, and emotionally abused and tormented. Abuse that is far, far more egregious than the initial allegations made against the parents, and which would be prosecuted criminally were it to occur anywhere else.

X. In 2000 Time magazine printed a special issue on foster abuse and fatalities, calling it "America's shame." We've been calling it that for years. Abuse reports against foster homes and other SS contracted facilities is covered up. Police tell us that, if they receive abuse reports concerning a foster home, they have been directed to turn such reports back to the SS, so they self-investigate - which means they throw the complaints in the dumpster.Why is this happening? One factor is unmonitored federal funding ($14. Billion per year). The other is a huge industry that is providing private profit through Medicaid fraud. Service providers (vendors) hold multi-million dollar contracts with the social service agencies. The families are ordered to engage in "services" with the contracted vendors, all of whom bill Medicaid at astronomically inflated rates for "services" that are often inappropriate, unnecessary, and completely irrelevant to the families situation, or to child maltreatment.

Families are coerced into participating by intimidation and the threat of losing their children. In return for the fraudulently collected profits, the contracted vendors provide manufactured "evidence" of child maltreatment to support the SS claim that they need to keep the child in foster care. In return for this they receive more federal funding.

As an example, the Massachusetts DSS receives $700. Million a year in state funding alone. Not bad. Behind the money there is a socialist ideology that children should be raised by the state. Yes, even here in America. This agenda was promoted by people like Dr. C. Henry Kempe in the 1970's.

An open supporter of the Communist party regime who instructed:
"We must remove children from the crude influence of their families and, frankly, nationalize them." Dr. Kempe emphasized the need for a "stealthy, incremental approach" to implementing the agenda to make families obsolete.

This is a huge, complex, ugly picture.

We don't want to believe it can happen here in our beloved country. But it is.

4600 times per day.

So I am impelled to reach out to EVERY sane, rational American with a conscience to stand up and let your voice be heard... before it's too late.

Thank-you for your time.

Nev Moore
Justice for Families
http://www.justiceforfamilies.com

How Do We Forgive Our Fathers? By Dick Lourie

2007-02-28T00:22:00.000-08:00

How do we forgive our fathers?

Maybe in a dream?

Do we forgive our fathers for leaving us too often?

Or forever?
When we were little?

Maybe for scarin' us with unexpected rage...

or makin' us nervous because there seemed never to be any rage there at all.

Do we forgive our fathers for marryin' or not marryin' our mothers?
For divorcin' or not divorcin' our mothers?
And shall we forgive them for their excesses of warmth or coldness?
Shall we forgive them for pushing or leaning?
For shutting doors, for speaking into walls
or Never speaking
or
Never being silent?
Do we forgive our fathers in our age or in theirs?
Or in their deaths, saying it to them or not saying it?

If we forgive our fathers what is left?

PARENT'S GUIDE TO THE "SYSTEM"

2007-02-27T17:47:00.000-08:00

http://www.geocities.com/family_rights_wv
The CPSWATCH website is down as of this writing.
CPSWATCH has a Yahoo support group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cpswatch and a copy of the Parent's Guide can be obtained under Files in that group.Copies of CPSWATCH Parent's Guide to the System are archived on http://archive.bibalex.org/web/20011021061038/cpswatch.com/guide/ and on http://web.archive.org/

A copy of the Parent's Guide is archived on this site for research and for the public good.

PARENT'S GUIDE TO THE "SYSTEM"
by Cheryl Barnes

Contents:
Demand a Copy of the Search Warrant
Order a Copy of the Agency's Policy Manual
Read All Applicable State Laws and Cases
Order Your Records from the Agency
Document all Interactions
Don't Sign a Safety Plan or Stipulation
Request Placement with a Relative
Assert Your Parental Rights
Don't Waive Your Right to a Trial
File Court Reports and Affidavits
Do Everything by Court Order
Request an Administrative Hearing
Make Your Attorney Work for You
Protect Your Child From State Care Abuse
Use Proper Terminology

Demand a Copy of the Search Warrant

You do not have to speak with a Government Agent or allow them to enter your home without a search warrant!

When a government agent (social worker, police officer, etc) comes to your door, they are seeking your consent to allow them into your home. Remain calm. Say something like:
I understand your concerns and I'm happy to cooperate. May I see your search warrant please?

The agent may try to tell you that a search warrant isn't required because you can give voluntary consent or he may try to make you believe you are required to allow him into your home. The agent might say, “I’m required by law to come into your home to investigate.” It is true that the agent is required to make an investigation which may include entering your home. However, this doesn’t give the agent authority to break the law. If the agent needs to enter your home as part of his investigation, he needs to obtain a search warrant.
Remember that the agent is the one asking you to circumvent the law. You are acting within the law and he is asking you to ignore the law, skip procedure and just do things his way.

Don't be intimidated. Keep a proper perspective of the situation; you are willing to cooperate within the law. The law dictates that a search warrant is required before entering a private home.

Your position should be:
I do want to cooperate.

I do not want to ignore proper procedure.

Why would you want to circumvent clearly established laws and procedures?

Do not allow the agent to peer inside of your home or view your children. Do not answer any questions without seeing the search warrant and verifying it’s authenticity. Even minor questions such as your date of birth, name, number of children, etc. should not be answered without seeing a search warrant.

GAINING ENTRY BY THREAT OR INTIMIDATION

It is unlawful for the agent to coerce entry into your home by threatening or intimidating you. Federal courts are increasingly finding for parents who sue state agents for coerced entry. The 9th Circuit recently ruled:

Any government official can be held to know that their office does not give them an unrestricted right to enter peoples' homes at will.

[It is] settled constitutional law that ... police could not enter a dwelling without a warrant even under statutory authority where probable cause existed. The principle that government officials cannot coerce entry into people's houses without a search warrant ... is so well established that any reasonable officer would know it.

…appellants' claim, that "a search warrant is not required for home investigatory visits by social workers," is simply not the law.

[N]owhere is the protective force of the fourth amendment more powerful than it is when the sanctity of the home is involved. … Therefore, we have been adamant in our demand that absent exigent circumstances a warrant will be required before a person's home is invaded by the authorities."
— Calabretta v Floyd 189 F.3d 808 (9th Cir. 1999)

In the above case, a social worker and police officer coerced entry into the Calabretta home by threatening to break the door down. Even though the mother ultimately opened the door and allowed them to enter, she did so by coercion which is unlawful. Thus, the agents were held personally liable.
We recommend that you print the highlights of this case and other "warrantless entry" cases to hand to government agents who attempt to coerce entry into your home. You may find these cases on our caselaw page.

EVIDENCE REQUIRED TO OBTAIN A SEARCH WARRANT

In order to get a search warrant, the agent needs some sort of evidence. It can't be an anonymous phone call or allegations without any supporting evidence.
Even when the agent has enough evidence to obtain a search warrant, he is restricted to looking for specific things listed on the warrant. As an example, the warrant may give the agent authority to interview one of your children, this wouldn’t allow him to interview siblings or look through your home. It also wouldn’t require you to answer any questions.
Agents typically do not seek warrants because; a) they don’t have enough evidence to obtain one and b) they don’t wish to be restricted in their “investigations”.

This constitutional protection was put into place to protect families against unwarranted governmental intrusion into their private lives. Don't waive it! When properly used, this protection is adequate to protect innocent families but will not serve to conceal genuine child abuse.

QUESTIONING CHILDREN AT SCHOOL

While families are safe from warrantless governmental intrusion in their private homes; most states require that school and day care personnel allow state agents access to children without informing the parents either before or after contact has been made.
A way to overcome this is to teach your children to exercise their right to have their parents present before answering any questions. The easiest way to do this is by making up a laminated card and instructing the child to hand it to government agents. A sample card might look like this:

NOTICE TO GOVERNMENT AGENTS:

You are hereby informed that I have a right to have my parents present prior to answering any questions. I am now exercising that right and request that you contact my parents immediately.

The back of the card should have the child’s name, parents’ names and contact information. Several numbers should be listed; home, work, pager and an extra emergency number. Home and work addresses should be given as well. The more contact information, the better. This will eliminate the possibility of the agent claiming he didn’t know how to reach you.
By utilizing a written card, the child need only hand it to the agent rather than memorizing what to say. Since it’s in writing, the agent can’t say the child didn’t properly exert his right to have parents present prior to answering questions.

You may be asking; “How do I explain to my child what a government agent is?” Most of us teach our children not to talk to strangers. Government agents are strangers! It’s okay to tell your child not to talk to any adult unless you’ve given permission.

The reason we teach our children not to talk to strangers is because we don’t know what their motives are; they may be seeking to harm them. This couldn’t be more true with government agents. We don’t know their motives and we can’t presume they are pure because the child welfare system has irreparably harmed many children in the past.

Because children sometimes can’t tell the difference between government agents and ‘regular’ people, it is a good idea to teach children about the types of questions they shouldn’t answer rather than the types of people they shouldn’t talk to.

Basically, no person should ask about things that happen at home; what they eat, who they associate with, who visits, what type of discipline is used, etc. If an adult has a legitimate need to knows these things, he/she should ask the parent, not the child.

INVASIVE SURVEYS

Public and private schools are increasingly requiring children to participate in group surveys that ask intrusive questions about private home life. These surveys are often a fishing expedition to find indicators of abuse.
The so-called indicators aren’t what you’d expect them to be. Low income, no telephone, residence outside the city limits, more than three children, use of corporal punishment or grounding, both parents working, single parents, religious practices and other common things are seen as indicators of abuse and could generate a report to a child welfare agency.

By law, children may be excluded from these invasive surveys if the parents have a Hatch Letter on file with the school.

Click here for a sample letter under the Hatch Amendment.

The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (The Hatch Amendment) to the General Education Provisions Act, which became effective November 12, 1984 allows parents to exclude their children from basically anything that isn’t reading, writing or arithmetic.

The Hatch Amendment provides a procedure for filing complaints with the U.S. Department of Education and then withholding of federal funds for those in violation of the law.
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Order a Copy of the Agency's Policy Manual

Under federal law (Title IV-B & IV-E of the Social Security Act), state child protection agencies are required to have a policies and procedures manual in
place and to make it available to any citizen upon request.

If the agency refuses to honor your verbal request, send a formal written request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). A sample can be found here.

Under the FOIA, each agency is required to determine within 20 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays) after the receipt of a request whether to comply with the request. The FOIA permits an agency to extend the time limits up to 10 days in unusual circumstances.
Sometimes the agency will ask you to come to their office and look at the manual instead of providing you with a copy. Continue to insist on a copy. You need your own copy so that you can read it at your leisure and have it on hand as a reference.

If your written FOIA request is denied or not answered within the time frame allowed, send an appeal letter. A sample appeal letter can be found here. An agency is required to make a decision on an appeal within 20 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays). It is possible for an agency to extend the time limits by an additional 10 days.

If the appeal is denied or not answered within the time frame allowed, you may need to ask the court to compel the agency to provide you with a copy of the manual. If you have an open case involving your children, this can be done by filing a Motion to Compel within that case.
A sample Motion to Compel the agency to provide you with a copy of the manual can be found here.

If you don’t have an open case, you can file an FOIA appeal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court. This would be more costly and complicated. If you wish to pursue this route, you can get forms and a rulebook from the U.S. District Court in which you’ll be filing.

Additional information and forms for making requests under the Freedom of Information Act can be found at www.cpswatch.com/forms/foia.htm.
Once you have a copy of the manual, read it! You should become familiar with the agency's policies so that you know what the agency is supposed to do and what they aren't allowed to do.

Bring the manual with you to meetings with social workers and case planning conferences.

When they do violate policy, point it out to them in a calm, non-accusatory manner. Follow-up with a letter outlining the policies that were violated and what you’d like to see done to correct them.

When you first get the manual and discover that past violations have occurred, send the agency a letter pointing out the violations and asking them to make adjustments as soon as possible. Assume the violations were committed inadvertently even if you believe otherwise. When you behave in a friendly and professional manner, the courts will be more likely to agree with your position.
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Read All Applicable State Laws and Cases

Find out the exact legal definition of child abuse and neglect in your state. Once you've found the statute, research caselaw to find out how the courts have applied the statutory definition in other cases.

Courts base their rulings on what higher courts have ruled in the past. A hierarchy of courts is given below:

U.S. Supreme Court—applies to the entire United StatesU.S. Court of Appeals—applies to that federal circuitU.S. District Court—applies to that federal districtState Supreme Court—applies to the entire stateState Court of Appeals—generally applies to the entire stateState Circuit or District Court—applies to that portion of the state.

If you find a case from the Second District Court and you are in the Third District, the Judge in your case isn’t bound by that ruling. However, these rulings may have a persuasive effect, meaning that you could persuade your Judge to rule your way because the Judge in a neighboring district did.
You can find laws and cases at a law library or on the internet. Findlaw is a good place to search for state laws.

CPS Watch provides free legal research to parents and pro bono attorneys. To make a research request online, go to www.cpswatch.com/resources/researchhelp.htm. You may also make requests by mail.

Legal research requests return cases and code only, not advice on how to use the information. For parents needing advice, we offer an email service by subscription. You may subscribe to the CPS Watch Legal Information Group by going to lists.cpswatch.com. We currently have seven participating attorneys in the email group to answer parent questions.

Once you have the laws and caselaw, make sure that the case against you remains within that statutory definition.

It is very common for social workers to promulgate a mud-slinging campaign against you by filling the petition with irrelevant information. You should continually require them to show the court how their allegations are connected to abuse.

As an example, the state might put in the petition that the parent’s watch x-rated movies. While some people might find this distasteful, it has nothing to do with abuse or neglect. Thus, your task would be to require them to connect the alleged movie-watching to abuse or remove it from the complaint. You’d ask things like, “Are you alleging that the children were neglected or abused as a result of the movie watching?” and “Are you alleging that the children were unattended while the parents watched x-rated movies?” — “How exactly are you connecting the watching of x-rated movies to the alleged abuse or neglect?”
Another common accusation is that of ‘spanking’. The state will say that you regularly spank your child or that you use an instrument to administer corporal punishment, but won’t allege any injuries from the spankings.

Your focus would be on whether or not “regular spanking” or “spanking with an instrument” amounts to abuse. Again, you’d ask them to show you what law states spankings without injury are abuse? You needn’t bother admitting or denying the spankings at this point because it hasn’t been established that they would be abuse.

The temptation is to jump in and defend against the mud-slinging; to say that you don’t watch x-rated movies or that you use time-outs rather than spanking. However, this will lead you down a path of ridiculous, unrelated accusations and equally ridiculous defenses.

In the end it will burn up all your energy and bring out all your faults—faults that have nothing to do with child abuse or neglect.

It will also give the state things to use against you. As an example, you might admit that you do spank your child with an instrument but only as a last resort and have never left a bruise. The state will later say something like, “The parents admit to hitting their child with an object but are in denial about it’s negative effects.”

Social workers are notorious for twisting words and leaving out pertinent facts. The fewer words you give them to twist, the better off you’ll be. Here’s an example:

Social Worker: Does your husband have an anger management problem?Mother: No.Social Worker: Well does he get angry?Mother: Of course he gets angry, everyone gets angry.

The worker wrote in her report:
Mother reports her husband “gets angry” and views this as normal behavior.
Is this what the mother said? Yes! Is it what the mother meant? No! Will the Judge get the wrong idea from this report? Yes! The worker is implying that the mother knows her husband is a threat but refuses to do anything about it. She’s setting the mother up to be accused of ‘failure to protect’.

The mother shouldn’t have been discussing her husband’s “anger” with the social worker before the worker had drawn a clear line between the alleged anger and the alleged abuse or neglect. And that discussion would’ve taken place in a courtroom on the record rather than in a social worker’s office.
The mother’s response to this allegation should be, “While not confirming the accusation, the defendant asserts that the presence of ‘anger’ doesn’t meet the statutory definition of child abuse or neglect.”

You should first ask yourself, “Does this meet the statutory definition of abuse?”. If it doesn’t, you needn’t bother defending it. Rather, shift the focus back to the state by requiring them to make that connection.

The mother could take time to explain the whole conversation and the intent of her statements, but this would take the focus off the true legal argument and create a situation where the worker’s credibility might be weighed against her own (their word against yours).

The point you want the Judge to see is that the state has failed to meet it’s burden of proof. There is no issue of credibility because even if the accusations were true, they don’t amount to abuse. If there’s no allegation of abuse or neglect, the state has no jurisdiction.

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Order Your Records from the Agency
Under the Privacy Act of 1974, any agency that maintains a system of records must make a copy of the records available to the individual they pertain to.
This includes records on your children, even if they are in foster care, unless parental rights have been terminated. Some caselaw to that effect:

Statements made or information given by a custodial parent of an infant to a certified social worker, bearing adversely upon the health, safety and welfare of the infant, are not privileged within the contemplation of a state statute protecting the confidentiality of communications between a certified social worker and his client, and they are subject to compulsory disclosure.— Perry v Fiumano (4th Dept) 61 App Div 2d 512, 403 NYS2d 382

A father who is accused of committing various sexual offenses against his minor daughter, and who seeks to compel a child welfare agency to release its records pertaining to the daughter so that he can examine them for supposed medical records, names of witnesses, and other exculpatory evidence, is entitled under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to know whether those records contain information that might have changed the outcome of his trial if they had been disclosed.— Pennsylvania v Ritchie, 480 US 39, 94 L Ed 2d 40, 107 S Ct 989, 22 Fed Rules Evid Serv 1

A statute prohibiting the disclosure of information acquired by social workers from persons consulting them in their professional capacity is not applicable to information obtained by social workers investigating child abuse.— In Interest of Pitts (3d Dist) 44 Ill App 3d 46, 2 Ill Dec 652, 357 NE2d 872

We suggest that you try to determine your state's law that allows access to records and make the request under that law. Government agents seem to respond to state laws more readily than to federal law. If you can't find the state's law or if your state law doesn’t permit access to records, send a combined request under the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act.

If the request is denied or ignored, send an appeal letter. A Privacy Act appeal letter can be found here.

If the request is denied or ignored, you can file a Motion to Compel Disclosure.
If this request is denied or ignored, file a Writ of Mandamus with the state court of appeals to compel disclosure of the records. Mandamus has been used successfully to compel disclosure of records even in states where the parent's aren't allowed access to records under state law.

Since the Privacy Act is a federal law, all states must make records available regardless of state law. Just like with FOIA requests, you have the option of filing a lawsuit in federal court for denial of access to records.

The Privacy Act can also be used to force the agency to make amendments or correct errors in your records if they are inaccurate. Whether you receive your records through a state law request, Privacy Act request or court order, you should send a letter outlining any errors or omissions and request the agency to amend those errors. A sample letter using the Privacy Act can be found here.

Additional information and forms regarding the Privacy Act may be found on our website at www.cpswatch.com/forms/pa.htm.
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Document all Interactions

Keep a journal detailing all interactions with state agents.

In addition to the journal, give the agent and opportunity to confirm or deny your version of events by sending a documentation letter after each phone call or verbal conversation. A sample documentation letter can be found here.

A documentation letter similar to the one above should also be used to document visits with your children if they are in state care. A sample visitation letter can be found here.

This letter should be sent to all persons present at the visit as well as the worker managing your case. A copy will be filed with your court report.

If you get responses to either the documentation letters or visitation letters and their version of events doesn’t match yours, continue writing back and forth hashing out the discrepancies. All letters should be sent by certified mail.
Sometimes government agents will not respond to your letters. That’s okay.

They will have a hard time going into court later with a different set of events when they failed to respond to your letters. Your letters will become part of the court records and can be used as evidence.

We recommend that you tape all interactions in both audio and video. If a state agent refuses to be taped, don't speak to them without your attorney present. Agents with pure motives will want the record preserved just as carefully as you do. Unless they plan to act illegally or unethically, recorded meetings are more to their advantage than yours.

In most states you can audio tape the agent with the consent of only one participant (you). You’ll need to check your state’s law on eavesdropping prior to audio taping without consent. Failure to do so could result in a criminal arrest. Tapes made without the consent of all parties may not be admissible in court as evidence, but they will serve to aid you in writing follow-up documentation letters.
Some behavior needs to be seen as well as heard. If you can afford to, you should equip your home and person with hidden video cameras.
Hidden cameras are very small and unnoticeable. Some can be hidden in your home, while others can be worn on your person, such as a jean jacket, backpack, baseball cap or tie.
A catalog of surveillance equipment is available by calling or writing our office.
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Don't Sign a Safety Plan or Stipulation

The state agent may ask you to sign a "safety plan" or voluntarily agree to home visitation as a means of either keeping your children now or having them placed back home on a trial basis. The purpose of these programs is to gather enough evidence (real or imagined) to build a case to take your children. Remember, states only get federal money when they put your children in foster care, not when they leave them with you under a home visitation program.
These plans often require parents to agree not to use corporal punishment or other legal methods of child rearing. For a family that has been using corporal punishment to suddenly stop creates frustration and confusion and increases the likelihood that the parent will react out of anger. It also sends a message to the child that he doesn’t need to obey his parents to avoid a spanking because a state agent will come out and tell them they can’t spank him. If the original report had to do with problems with the child’s behavior and the parent’s use of discipline; this safety plan would create chaos.

Another tactic is to impose restrictions that are outside the parent’s control, such as requiring that a child do well medically even though the child has a diagnosed condition that would prevent this. The child’s illness leaves a high probability that he will be sick, thus the parents have no control over compliance with the safety plan and are simply counting the days until their child is removed.

In one such case, the child was diagnosed with a brittle bone disease and had even fractured while in foster care. The parents were asked to sign a safety plan which required the child not to have another fracture. The chances that he would re-fracture were very high and totally outside the parents control.
In another case, a child had a weight disorder and had gained an additional five pounds during a short foster care stay. The parents were asked to sign a safety plan which required the child to lose weight. The parents had been taking their child to doctors for years to no avail. Even foster care couldn’t make the child lose weight. How then could the parents be expected to control their child’s weight when the doctors and the state had failed?
In yet another case, the parents of a child with a seizure disorder were asked to sign a safety plan which required their child not to have seizures.
Sometimes the plan is simply to have the child’s grades improve, yet this is still outside the parents control. The parents can do everything in their power to facilitate good grades, but it’s ultimately up to the child to perform.
All of these plans will fail and the child will end up in state custody. The fact that the parents have failed one plan gives the state grounds not to offer another plan. Thus, they will move for permanency (termination and adoption).
Safety plans are intentionally vague and therefore impossible to follow. The plan might read, "parent's will maintain a home appropriate for children". This is subjective; you may think you home is excellent for children, but the agent might think that because you don't have safety plugs in your electrical outlets, the home isn't appropriate.

For desperate parents, the plan might seem like an easy way to get your child home or keep him home. In the long run, however, signing a safety plan could cost you your child permanently.
Bottom line - If you're not guilty of abuse or neglect, don't tolerate an unwarranted government assault and don't "settle" by agreeing to services you don't need. If the agency believes you are guilty of abuse or neglect, make them prove it in court.
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Request Placement with a Relative

The states get more money for placing children in foster care than they do for placing them with relatives. Thus, they are reluctant to place with relatives and when they do, they often require the relative to become a licensed foster care provider so the agency can get federal money.

Relative placement shouldn’t be confused with relative foster care. A relative foster home is just like any other foster home, except the caregiver happens to be related. They are bound by all the same restrictions as other foster homes and the agency can remove the children at any time without cause just as they could from a foster home that wasn’t a relative. Foster caregivers do not have a right to have a child placed in their home and they are not interested parties to the court case.

With relative placement, however, the agency doesn’t license the relatives as foster caregivers. The relatives aren’t bound by the restrictions of a foster home. A child placed under these circumstances couldn’t be removed from the home without cause.

Federal law requires that relatives be given preference for placement. The law doesn't allow the agency to impose restrictions on relative placements, such as foster care training or a home study, although most states require a background screen to be certain the relative doesn’t have a prior record of child abuse. Placement with relatives should be immediate without any delays.

Grandparents have the option of gaining interested party status by filing a Motion to Intervene with the court. With a Motion to Intervene, the grandparent can force placement when the agency refuses.

A Motion to Intervene gives the grandparent legal standing as a party to the case. This allows them to make motions to the court and to have the court hear their side before any decision is made. They can write court reports at each hearing to give the court their version of what has transpired as well as make recommendations about what should be done in the future.

* Note to Parents - Federal law does not require or even allow placement with a relative that is working against reunification. Further, a relative who continually makes false reports shouldn't be rewarded with placement of the child. If your child has been placed with a relative that is working against reunification, file a Motion to Change Placement with the court and cite the reason as the current placement is a hindrance to reunification.
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Assert Your Parental Rights

As your child’s parent, you still retain all your parental rights. Removing your child from your care is based on the child’s need for protection. It does not modify or revoke your parental rights.

You have all the same rights you always did, expect the right to have your child live in your home. This includes the right to medical records, educational records, the right to consent to medical care and to choose the doctor your child sees, the right to decide what church your child should attend, what type of environment he should reside in, etc.
Generally government agents sometimes pretend like you have no rights or fail to consult you before making decisions concerning your child’s care. If you don’t assert your parental rights, the government agent most likely will not honor them.

When your child is placed in state care, you should send a letter preserving your parental rights and outlining the type of care you want your child to receive. A sample letter can be found here.

MEDICAL RECORDS BELONG TO PARENTS

Sometimes medical providers wrongly believe that if your children are in state care, you don’t have any parental rights. Because of this false assumption, they will withhold medical records or refuse to speak to you about your child’s care. If the medical provider has made a report against you or is alleging abuse, he may be very reluctant to turn over records pertaining to your child, knowing those records might also incriminate him.

However, the records belong to you, as your child’s legal parent. The medical provider is simply a “custodian” of those records. This is why you need to sign a release form before the records can be sent to another doctor or given to a state agent.

In rare circumstances, medical records may be withheld as part of a criminal investigation. If this case, a court order is required to withhold the records.
If you don’t have any luck in getting the records yourself, you can pay an attorney a small fee to write a letter for you. The attorney wouldn’t be representing you, just drafting a letter. For some reason, doctors tend to respond better to letters from attorneys than letters parents.

We suggest that you send a letter to your child’s medical providers to preserve and clarify your parental rights. An example letter can be found here.

PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIRED FOR MEDICAL CARE

The medical provider needs your consent prior to treating your child. This is true even if your child is in state care.

The 9th Circuit Federal Court recently decided a case which greatly emphasizes the parental right to govern medical care, even when children are in state custody:

[43] The right to family association includes the right of parents to make important medical decisions for their children, and of children to have those decisions made by their parents rather than the state.

… it is in the interest of both parents and children that parents have ultimate authority to make medical decisions for their children...
— Wallis v Spencer, 202 F.3d 1126 (9th Cir. 2000)

In the above case, the Wallis children were picked up and taken to a clinic for an invasive vaginal and anal sexual abuse examination. The court held such exams even for investigative purposes are unlawful when administered without parental consent or a court order. Parental consent is always required.

… the "Constitution assures parents that, in the absence of parental consent, physical examinations of their child may not be undertaken for investigative purposes at the behest of state officials

… the state is required to notify parents and to obtain judicial approval before children are subjected to investigatory physical examinations.
— Wallis v Spencer, 202 F.3d 1126 (9th Cir. 2000)

State agents and foster caregivers do not have the power to consent to medical care. Even if the parent refuses to give their consent, the state agent must obtain a court order for medical care. In this case, the parents have a right to go before the Judge and tell their reasons for not wanting to give consent.
… unless a judicial officer has determined, upon notice to the parents, and an opportunity to be heard, that grounds for such an examination existParents have the right to be present with their child during all medical examinations and appointments.

Parents have a right arising from Fourteenth Amendment liberty interest in family association to be with their children while they are receiving medical attention, or to be in a waiting room or other nearby area if there is a valid reason for excluding them while all or a part of medical procedure is being conducted.— Wallis v Spencer, 202 F.3d 1126 (9th Cir. 2000)

Children have a corresponding right to have their parents present during medical exams and appointments.

Under Fourteenth Amendment right of family association, children have right to the love, comfort, and reassurance of their parents while they are undergoing medical procedures, including examinations, particularly those that are invasive or upsetting.— Wallis v Spencer, 202 F.3d 1126 (9th Cir. 2000)

PARENTS ENTITLED TO DIRECT CHILD’S EDUCATION
You have all the same parental rights concerning your child’s education that you did before he/she was placed in foster care. Teachers, like doctors sometimes wrongly believe that having a child in foster care means you have no parental rights. Worse, they believe the foster caregiver inherits your parental rights. To preserve and clarify your parental rights with your child’s teachers, we suggest you send a letter similar to the one here.

You may attend parent-teacher conferences. No other person should attend these conferences in your place, particularly not the state agent or foster care provider. If they desire to be present, it should be to observe only.

The state agent's only role should be to observe how you act as a parent, how you relate with your child’s teacher, handle his educational needs, etc. The state agent should not make educational recommendation, as she is unqualified to do so. The agent shouldn’t answer questions about your child’s performance or behavior, as she hasn’t spent enough time with him to render an accurate opinion.

The foster caregiver may have a genuine interest in the meeting because it will be partly her responsibility to facilitate an environment that will help your child get good grades. However, the foster caregiver should be respective of your role as a parent and her role as a temporary care provider. Any questions pertaining to goals for your child should be answered by you, the parent, not the temporary caregiver.

The foster caregiver should honor your goals and wishes for your child’s educational future even if she might have set different goals for her own child. This is not her child, but yours. She should provide an environment that will facilitate your goals. If the foster caregiver refuses to honor your parental goals and wishes for your child’s education, you should request a change of placement in court.

INDIVIDUAL EDUCATION PLAN

If your child has an Individual Education Plan or 504 Plan, you should participate in the designing of the plan. Sometime when you arrive at these planning conferences, the plan is already drawn up and they simply ‘discuss’ it with you. Politely ask that blank forms be brought out so that all parties may actively participate in the planning. You might say:
I understand that you are trying to save time, however, my child’s education isn’t an area I wish to cut corners in. This plan will direct my child’s education for quite some time. Thus, I want to put every effort into it’s planning. It’s better to spend additional time in planning now than to be dissatisfied with the results later.

Although others (state agent or foster caregiver) may attend the planning, you will be the person that outlines educational goals for your child. Make certain that all your concerns are heard and noted.

If a plan is developed that you didn’t participate in, demand another planning conference. If you don’t agree with a plan, don’t sign it. You have the right to a due process hearing if you don’t agree with an IEP or 504 plan. At such a hearing, the school would need to justify their unwillingness to heed your suggestions on the plan.
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Don't Waive Your Right to a Trial

Parents do not have Constitutional Rights in the Juvenile Court. There is no right to due process or other protections, except at trial (adjudication). This is because the presiding Judge in the Juvenile court is supposed to make decisions in the best interests of the child as he/she interprets that to be. For over 40 years, no form of due process was required in the juvenile courts; attorneys weren't even allowed.

In 1996, the Supreme Court ruled that some due process was required in the juvenile court, but not all Constitutional protections.

...the purpose of the court's decision is not to require in the juvenile process all of the constitutional rights now mandatory in the criminal or even administrative process, but rather simply to require in adjudicatory hearings those rights required by the notions of fundamental fairness and due process under the fourteenth amendment.— Kent v United States 383 U.S. 541, 562 (1966)

Thus, the only time parents have any due process rights is at the adjudication.
Adjudication is referred to as a trial, due process hearing, fact-finding hearing, jurisdictional hearing, etc. in various states. Going under different names makes it difficult for parents to determine which hearing is the adjudicatory hearing.

Whatever the state chooses to call it, it's the hearing where the state would present evidence and witnesses to prove their claim that you abused or neglected your child and you would present evidence and witnesses to the contrary. You can also cross-examine the state’s witnesses. This is the only time the state is required to prove their case and the only time the parents may present evidence in their defense.

It's also the first time you can appeal to a higher court. Even if the juvenile court finds against you, you can appeal to the state court of appeals. The appellate court is bound by due process of law and appellate court judges are commanded to look to the law and interpret it exactly as written.

The juvenile court judge is only commanded to act in the best interests of the child, regardless of what the law may say. They are given very liberal discretion to loosely interpret the law or even ignore it if they believe it to be in the child's best interests. Thus, it's in your best interests to get into the appellate court at the earliest possible point.

Because the adjudication is the only time the state is required to prove their case and the only time parents have due process rights, state agents make extreme efforts to get the parents to "stipulate" or "waive" the adjudication.
The stipulations can be worded in such a way that it doesn't sound like you've abused your child. For example, it might say that your child was injured and the injury was non-accidental but it doesn't say that you did it.

A stipulation might say the child has a medical condition and the parents are unable to manage it. This means neglect, the parents can’t or won’t meet their child’s needs. Wording doesn't matter. Signing any stipulation, regardless of wording is an admission that you are guilty of abuse or neglect and as such the state was justified in removing your child.

The state only has the power to intervene when parents have abused or neglected their child or there is a substantial risk that they will abuse or neglect their child. They don’t have the power to intervene when children are sick or have a medical condition unless the parents are neglecting the child by failing to provide adequate care. Therefore, when you stipulate (which means to agree), you are saying the state was correct to intervene, which is admitting abuse or neglect.

The agency will often resort to extreme measures, such as withholding visitation to extract a stipulation from parents. Some examples:

In our community CPS takes the position that a parent must acknowledge both the abuse of their children and take responsibility for the abuse before the parent can have unsupervised visits with their children.— Bart Rubin, PhD
… the child protection community is virtually united behind the concept that the parent must acknowledge responsibility for the abuse and must clarify that abuse with the child before visitation or contact can be re-established.— Frampton Durban, Jr, Chief Legal Counsel, Charleston County DSS, Charleston, SC

Do not succumb to these terrorist tactics! It's better to forego visitation for a short time while you make your case in court, than to lose your child forever in a termination of parental rights proceeding (under federal law, states must petition for termination of your parental rights at 15 months regardless of the progress you've made).

The best way to get your child home permanently is by requiring the state to prove their allegations against you in a court of law. If they fail to prove the allegations, the case is closed. The state is very aware of this fact, which is why they work so hard to get parents to waive their right to a trial.
From the Chief Legal Counsel above:

… therapeutic denial reduction work and eventual clarification counseling is far more effective in reducing risk than litigation.— Frampton Durban, Jr, Chief Legal Counsel, Charleston County DSS, Charleston, SC

In other words, it’s easier to withhold visitation and coerce parents into signing a stipulation than to proceed with litigation. The state knows they stand a good chance of losing at trial by failing to prove conclusively that you are guilty of the allegations.

If you sign a stipulation, you're waiving all your due process rights and can never again argue that you didn't abuse or neglect your child. This is perhaps the most important suggestion on this page!
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File Court Reports and Affidavits
COURT REPORTS
At each court hearing, all parties to the case may file a report with the court to give the judge information about what has transpired from one hearing to the next. The judge is required to read these reports prior to the hearing.
Generally only social workers write court reports because parents aren’t informed of their right to do this. Parents are "parties" to the case and have the right to file a court report. If a grandparent has gained interested party status through a Motion to Intervene, they too may file a court report.

Each court report should outline what has transpired since the last court hearing, including all interactions with the agency, visitations, and any other events associated with the case (psych evals, medical appointments, etc). Attach to the court report all the documentation letters you've been sending to state agents to confirm phone conversations, visitations, etc. (See Document all Interactions).

When this report is completed, take two copies to the Clerk of the Court and asked her to file them. She will file stamp each copy; place one in the file and give the other to you. You must get a file stamped copy as proof the document was filed.

Filing court reports is the only way for you to get your version of events into the written record. Should your case ever result in an appeal, the appellate court will get the court file and read everything it contains. When filing an appeal, you generally don't get a hearing, the court simply makes their ruling based on what's in the court record and your appellate brief. It's imperative for the appellate court to find your version of events in this written record.

AFFIDAVITS
In the beginning of your case, you should file a notarized affidavit of facts with the court. This affidavit is sort of a "for the record..." document. Often the petition contains many erroneous errors and omissions. Your affidavit will contain the truth to correct the state's petition. Some common examples are:
petition reads - "there's a hole in the kitchen floor"truth - "there's a tear in the linoleum"

petition reads - "child was covered in bruises"truth - "the child has minor bruises and scrapes on chins from climbing trees" petitions reads - "the home was piled to the ceiling in clutter"truth - "parents were packing to move"

Other things might include incorrect name spellings, birth dates, address, etc. Your affidavit should directly address all errors, inconsistencies and omissions found in the petition.

Sometimes the Affidavit will accompany a Motion to Dismiss if the affidavit shows there is no legal basis for state custody.

This affidavit should not be confused with the Answer that is filed in response to the petition. The Answer will simply confirm or deny the allegations in the Petition. It generally needs to be filed very quickly, in some states as little as 10 days.
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Do Everything by Court Order

You should require a court order before complying with any “demands” the agency might make. When the agent starts saying you need to do this or that, your response might be:

Mrs. Government Agent, I’m happy to do all that is asked of me by the court. Do you have a court order for the things you are asking?

The agent might say, “No I don’t have a court order, but the court will require you to do the things I’m asking anyway and it will please the judge if you have them completed early.”

By now, this person is likely someone that you greatly distrust. If the agent is anything like the norm, she’s already lied to you, misled you and broken several laws and procedures. Certainly you wouldn’t believe anything a person of this stature says without collaborating it first.

Your response to the above statement might be:

I’m thankful that you are trying to assist me in completing things you believe the court might require of me. I appreciate your concern.

However, I wish to follow the legal channels set in place for matters such as these. I know the court will base requirements imposed on me on specific findings of abuse or neglect. I prefer to wait for my day in court to defend the allegations made against me rather than acting as a guilty person by complying with demands put on child abusers now.

I’m confident the evidence will support my innocence and the court will be able to see through the allegations and not impose conditions on me intended for child abusers.

You do not need to take child rearing (parent training) classes or have a psychological evaluation until it is court ordered. It shouldn’t be court ordered until the court has adjudicated you guilty of abuse or neglect.

Sometimes, however, courts get in the habit of ordering all parents to complete child rearing classes, psychological evaluations and drug screens as part of the temporary orders. They believe it is an easy (and lazy) way of moving cases through the system more quickly.

However, federal courts have held that such restrictions can’t be imposed on parents without first finding that abuse or neglect did occur and second, finding some cause that the requirements are actually needed.

Even after abuse or neglect has been adjudicated; before a psychological evaluation can be ordered, there needs to be some justification for it, rather than simply ordering them for all parents.

The same applies to drug screens. There must be some reason to suspect drug use and it’s relationship to child abuse before a drug screen can be imposed. Likewise, there needs to be some judicial finding of parental unfitness before child rearing classes can be imposed.

If a Judge orders these things in the temporary orders in your case, you should object orally in open court while they are being ordered. Your response might be:

Your Honor, we object to these requirements being imposed without a judicial finding that creates a need for them.

The court is so accustomed to doing everything with a rubber-stamp and herding families through like cattle, that you’ll need to show them you’re a little different; you’re actually going to insist on compliance with the law.

The Judge may ignore your objection and impose the requirements anyway. If this happens, you should file an appeal to the state court of appeals. Contact our legal department for assistance in finding caselaw to use for the appeal.
If you aren’t in open court when the orders are made, but they are simply provided to you later, you’ll need to file a Motion to Reconsider with the court asking them to remove the restrictions imposed before you appeal. In other words, you need to give the Judge an opportunity to voluntarily rescind the orders before going to the appellate court.

Sometimes it may be to your advantage to voluntarily complete some things outside of a court order. If this is the case, it should be done completely on your own, because you want to or need to, and without the advice or assistance of the state agent.

As an example, if the state is alleging that you were “high” at the time the children were taken, you may want to rush to the hospital for a drug screen to prove you weren’t. Or the allegations might be that you are “often stoned” and leave the child to fend for himself. In this case, you might choose to get a drug evaluation to offer as evidence in your defense.

There might be an allegation that you are mentally unstable because your mother committed suicide or some other reason. You could choose to get a psychological evaluation to combat these accusations.

If you have an evaluation or take child rearing classes, either by court order or by choice, choose your own therapist. Do not go to the person the state agent recommends. When interviewing therapists or counselors, ask them if they contract with the state. If they do, go elsewhere. If you have reason to distrust the state, it doesn’t make much sense to trust those that do business with the state.

When choosing a therapist or counselor, question them closely to make certain they share or respect your closely-held convictions. If you are Christian, choose a Christian counselor or enroll in a Christian-based child rearing class. If you are a vegetarian, choose a counselor that will respect the choice you’ve made for your family. If you homeschool, chose a counselor that understands and respects homeschooling.

Do not sign a release of information for the state agent to speak with your therapist or obtain records. If you’ve gone voluntarily prior to a finding of abuse or neglect, you will bring the information to court with you to use in your defense. There’s no reason for the state agent to have it unless they have a court order.

If the agent has a court order for the information, it should be limited to the diagnosis or findings, not the entire file. The agent should not get a court order for the information prior to an adjudication of abuse or neglect. If such an order has been made, you’ll want to file a Motion to Reconsider or an appeal.
Be sure to get a clear order for visitation and not something like, “parents will get regular visits”. The order should outline exactly how often visits should occur and what type of restrictions will be imposed on them. If you don’t have a clear order, you can file a Motion to Clarify with the court.

In summary; before you do anything, require a court order. If you want something, seek a court order.

If the state fails to comply with any court order, you can file a Motion to Show Cause to hold the agency in contempt of court. If you disagree with an order, file a Motion to Reconsider or an appeal. If you’d like a court order explained more clearly, file a Motion to Clarify. These and other legal forms may be found at www.cpswatch.com/forms.
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Request an Administrative Hearing

If the agency substantiates you for abuse or neglect, you may request an administrative hearing to overturn the substantiation.

An administrative hearing is separate from juvenile court. You can be substantiated for abuse or neglect by the agency but not adjudicated through the court. Or, you could be unsubstantiated by the agency and still be adjudicated through the court. Thus there are two findings to fight; the agency’s and the court’s.

If you are substantiated by the agency, your name will be placed on the Child Abuse Registry forever. This will prevent you from taking any job involving children. Most states list unsubstantiated reports on the Child Abuse Registry for several years, up to 10 years in some states. You can ask for an administrative hearing to remove your name from the Registry even if you are unsubstantiated by the agency.

The procedure for seeking an administrative hearing is different in each state. Generally, the procedure is outlined in the finding you receive from the agency; usually in the small print.

If an administrative hearing isn’t settled to your satisfaction, you may appeal that decision and get another administrative hearing. If you’re not happy with the results there, you may file a judicial appeal to have the matter heard in court.

Remember that an agency finding has little to do with the return of your children. Only the court’s finding determines whether or not they remain in foster care. In fact, nationally, 18% of the children placed in foster care were unsubstantiated by the agency.

However, it is very important to fight BOTH findings; the agency’s and the court’s to ensure that your name won’t be listed on the Child Abuse Registry. Additionally, if you ever get entangled with the agency in the future, a previous substantiation will be used to create a “risk of harm” to justify removing your child again or to remove future children.

To learn more about administrative hearings, see www.cpswatch.com/admin.
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Make Your Attorney Work for You

Make sure that your attorney is on your side. Send a letter to him/her in the beginning outlining exactly what you expect from the representation. This letter should clearly outline all details of the representation, including the time frame in which they should return phone calls or answer letters.

You should request that your attorney immediately mail you a copy of everything he/she receives involving your case.
You should require that your attorney read everything in the court file and become familiar with it so that he/she is adequately prepared to defend you.
You should require your attorney to present all possible legal options to you in a clear and concise manner, then tell you which option he/she recommends and why. Since you are the one that stands to lose your child, you should make the final decision.

Above all, require that your attorney believe in your innocence and ability to rear your child. If the attorney has doubts about your innocence and abilities, he/she has no business representing you.

Document all interactions with your attorney the same way you do for state agents (see Document All Interactions). If the attorney consistently fails to heed your requests or provide an adequate defense, you may file a formal complaint against him/her with the bar association or attorney disciplinary board in your state.

If the representation is so bad that it severely impacts the outcome of your case,
the attorney can be sued for malpractice. In order to do this, you must be able to prove your claims and this is done through documentation letters.

Suing an attorney for malpractice will not effect the outcome of your case, it will simply require the attorney to compensate you for the damage he’s caused. This mean you’ve lost something needing compensation (your child). Thus, it’s better to ensure that the attorney is doing a good job through proper communication and documentation.

For more information about making your attorney work for you, order the book, "Mad at Your Lawyer" from our online store.

Mad at Your Lawyerby Attorney Tanya Starnes
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Protect Your Child From State Care Abuse

There is a very legitimate concern for your child’s safety while in state custody. Your child could be abused, neglected or even killed while in foster care.
According to a report published by the federal government, children were abused 4 times more often in state care, sexually abused 11 times more often and murdered 5 times more often in fiscal year 1998.

Through the years, the record for safety in state care has gotten worse. In Kansas, after failing to meet the standard for safety for more than 10 years in a row, they simply lowered it to be in compliance.

If you witness any marks, scrapes, bruises, burns, etc. on your child, you should ask for an explanation in writing. Document the injuries as carefully as possible by taking pictures.

Parents should be warned that the state may retaliate when you try to report abuse in foster care. They may stop your visits. If this occurs, file a motion in court to have the visits resumed.

Continue to report the abuse to the proper authorities. Do everything in writing.

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Use Proper Terminology

State agents often misuse words to support their agenda. By adopting their
chosen language, you are helping to promote their agenda.

Parent—There can only be one set of legal parents at any given time. State agents began calling temporary caregivers “foster parents” and so they needed another term to differentiate traditional parents, thus they came up with “birth parent”, “biological parent” or “bio parent”.

Let’s define each of these words correctly:

Parent—noun—(from Latin parere to give birth to) — one that begets or brings forth offspring

Foster—adjective—(from Old English fOstor-, food, feeding) — affording, receiving, or sharing nurture

Birth—noun—the act or process of bringing forth young from the womb

Biological—adjective—of biology; produced by applied biology

Notice how the adjective chosen for temporary caregivers (foster) is much more desirable than the one chosen for parents (birth or biological). The word foster even sounds better; a person who feeds, nourishes, cares for, shares with and nurtures; what a powerful and desirable title to hold! When combined with the stolen title of parent, the title of foster parent carries much prestige and recognition.

However, in contrast, the adjective of “birth” meaning only to “bring forth young from the womb” or “biological” meaning only that the child was made from your biologic material are very negative and undesirable. These adjectives do not impart any special recognition like “nurturing” or “feeding”. Our society is constantly bombarded with the rhetoric, “Anyone can be a sperm or egg donor, but it takes a real parent to nurture a child.” In the context of what we’ve just discussed, this statement basically says that foster (nurture) givers are “real” parents and the actual parents are simply sperm or egg donors.
Birth parent implies that you were the parent for the purposes of birth, but now the child needs nurturing. Foster parents do that. Likewise, biological parent implies that you’ve supplied the needed genetic material to create the child, but now your job is finished. Foster parents will now feed, nurture and care for the child.

Under the original Latin definition of parent, meaning “to give birth to”, a temporary caregiver could never be a parent. However, in our society, we have a legal process that allows non-parents to earn the title of parent; this occurs only through adoption. Temporary caregiver haven’t adopted your child, thus, they aren’t parents either naturally or legally and shouldn’t be addressed as such.
What is a “foster parent”? First, they are temporary. They serve a temporary function. Second, they are state contracted agents. Third, they are contracted to provide care for your child. Thus, the proper term would be “temporary state care provider”

Parenting used as a verb. According to Webster, parent as a verb means to "create" or "originate. Thus, the term "parenting" would mean the act of causing the conception of a child. After children are born, they are raised or reared. You don't attend parenting classes, you attend child rearing classes. You're not there to learn how to produce children you're there to learn how to raise them.

Using the term "parenting" to mean the act of raising a child wrongly implies that whoever is doing the "parenting" must be a "parent". Children can be raised by many people that aren't parents (such as relatives or state caregivers).

A recent Supreme Court ruling on family rights, Troxel vs Granville, used the term "child rearing" some 16 times, but never used the term "parenting". The idea of using the word parenting to mean raising a child was started by CPS; it isn't grounded in any theory of law or in the English language. It is simply another way in which CPS tries to steal the sanctity of parenthood and apply it to their own twisted agenda -- the total destruction of the traditional family. If you don't support that agenda, you shouldn't adopt their rhetoric.
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