Walking a fine child care line

Walking a fine child care line

01:00 AM EST on Sunday, January 24, 2010

By Lynn Arditi

Journal Staff Writer

Alston
It’s been just 2½ years since Rhode Island’s child advocate sued the state alleging widespread abuse and neglect of the children in its care.

Fueled by public outrage over the beating death of a 3-year-old boy in an unlicensed foster home, the class action lawsuit, backed by the New York nonprofit Children’s Rights, portrayed Rhode Island’s child-welfare system as not only overburdened but grossly mismanaged, and called for a complete overhaul.

Now, the fate of the lawsuit is uncertain and the child advocate, Jametta O. Alston, may soon be out of a job.

Governor Carcieri, who has said repeatedly that the lawsuit is without merit, has convened a search committee to fill the $82,490-a year post when Alston’s five-year term expires Feb. 1.

Whomever the governor appoints will have to decide whether the lawsuit, which is pending before a federal appeals court in Boston, is worth pursuing.

“It’s a tough question,” said Andrew J. Johnson, a former finalist for the child advocate’s job who is now director of the Court Appointed Special Advocate’s office, which provides legal representation for children in state custody. “If you answer it, ‘No,’ ” he said, “for rest of your career, people say you got appointed because you were the only person who said you’d pull the lawsuit. If you say yes (to pursuing the lawsuit), would the governor appoint you?”

Whether the lawsuit is, as some describe it, a blunt instrument where a scalpel is needed, or, as others contend, the best strategy to ensure the safety of children in state care depends on whom you ask. The state’s data on its performance is mixed.

On one point, however, most agree: an effective child advocate is critical to protecting children in state care.

Though appointed by the governor, the child advocate operates independently, serving as a watchdog over the Department of Children, Youth and Family — including foster homes, group homes, shelters, and the training school — and monitoring complaints and reports of child abuse. State law requires the child advocate to “take all possible action” including filing lawsuits to ensure that the legal and civil rights of children are protected. .

Carcieri appointed Alston in June 2005, after she resigned as city solicitor in Cranston. A lawyer who had worked for 10 years in the state attorney general’s office, Alston, a single parent, offered a compelling, personal perspective to the job: she had adopted a 7-year-old foster child. (Her daughter is now 16.)

Alston replaced Laureen D’Ambra, who served for 15 years, spanning three governors. During Gov. Lincoln Almond’s first term, D’Ambra sued the state to increase the number of beds in group homes and recruit more foster parents. The day a federal consent degree was signed, Almond’s director of administration notified her that she would have to re-apply for her job.

A search committee, chaired by Family Court Chief Judge Jeremiah S. Jeremiah Jr., reviewed the applications of 10 candidates, and returned with one recommendation: Laureen D’Ambra. She remained in the job until May 2005, when she became a Family Court judge.

Alston was sworn into the office the same day Patricia Martinez, Carcieri’s director of community relations and the former head of the nonprofit Progreso Latino, became the new director of the DCYF. Both were under intense public pressure. Eight months earlier, a 3-year-old boy named Thomas “T.J.” Wright had been beaten to death in an unlicensed foster home. And the DCYF had just received poor marks on a federal evaluation.

The child advocate’s office convened a panel of experts to investigate; it concluded that DCYF workers had missed or ignored several warning signs that might have prevented the boy’s death, and delivered 16 recommended improvements.

Under Martinez, the DCYF revamped its licensing of foster homes, purchased fingerprinting equipment and conducted its own criminal background checks to reduce the time lag in evaluating prospective foster parents.

By the second anniversary of T.J. Wright’s death, however, Alston had grown impatient. She charged that the DCYF had failed to make some of the most important changes called for by the review panel, including reducing DCYF worker’s case loads, then as high as 20.4 families per caseworker.Within a week, 21 DCYF casework supervisors signed a letter to Martinez stating that the state needed to reduce “unmanageable” caseloads to ensure the safety of children in state custody or supervision.

Frustrated with the pace of change at the agency, and encouraged by the Children’s Rights group, Alston filed a federal class action lawsuit in June 2007 against the state, naming Carcieri, Martinez and Jane E. Hayward, then secretary of health and human services, as defendants.

The child welfare system is “beyond broken,” Alston told a reporter . “It’s demolished. It doesn’t work.”

The plaintiffs included 10 children –– identified only by their first names and initials –– who, the lawsuit alleges, suffered years of abuse and neglect in foster homes, in some cases only to be returned to live with parents who were unwilling or unable to properly care for them. Rhode Island had the highest rate in the country of children abused or neglected in state foster care in five of the previous six years (from 2000 to 2006), according to federal data cited in the lawsuit.

In the 2½ years since the suit was filed, the DCYF reports that caseloads have fallen to an average of 14 families per caseworker, the recommended level, with the exception of one region, where the average is about 15 families.

The rate of abuse and/or neglect of all children under state supervision fell in fiscal 2008 to 9.5 percent, down from 13.3 percent the previous year, after the DCYF discovered “significant coding issues” in the 2007 data which resulted in misclassifications and data entry errors, said the agency’s deputy director, Jorge E. Garcia.

Meanwhile, the rate of children reentering foster care within 12 months of returning home climbed in 2008 to 24.5 percent, nearly three times the national standard of 8.6 percent, according to the data. The rate from April 1, 2008, through the first three months of 2009 was 23.5 percent. The lowest rate during the last five years was in 2006, when it was 13.4 percent.

“It’s an extraordinarily high number,” said Susan Lambiase, a lawyer representing Children’s Rights in the class action lawsuit. “The danger in that number is perhaps children are returning home without the proper supports in their families or they’re rushing them home before their parents are ready to have them.”

Last May, a federal court judge in Providence dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that Alston and the other plaintiffs had no standing. Alston appealed to the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, which heard arguments earlier this month; a decision is pending.

“The kinds of reforms taking place in other states … are not taking place here,” said Lenette Azzi-Lessing, an assistant professor at Wheelock College School of Social Work, in Boston, who worked for years in child welfare in Rhode Island. Azzi-Lessing is prepared to testify as an expert witness for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which she called “one of the best hopes in bringing that system along.”

Lambiase, of Children’s Rights, says the group will pursue the lawsuit with or without the backing of the child advocate.

But even within Rhode Island’s child welfare community, support for the lawsuit is far from unanimous.

“Whether (Jametta Alston) stays or someone new comes in, the child advocate…needs to work hand in hand with the state to better develop a system to provide services for children,” said Philip Keefe, president of the social workers’ union and a member of the search committee. “I think if it’s a less confrontational (approach) it might be more beneficial. Because ultimately, I think we all have the same goal…”

Since Alston filed the lawsuit, public protests over the DCYF have quieted. There are no more embarrassing State House hearings about the agency’s performance. And after years of running over budget, the DCYF has managed to win favor among lawmakers by keeping its spending under the state allocation for two years in a row.

“There’s been improvement at the agency,” said state Sen. Rhoda E. Perry, chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services. “The length of time in licensing home care, the ratio of case workers to case loads, the transition period for teenagers and young adults (to get) out of the system, and other child outcome measures” show the agency is moving in the right direction.

The DCYF, which hasn’t had a federal performance review since 2005, is scheduled to begin one this spring.

Meanwhile, the governor’s office has received about 25 applicants for the child advocate position. . One of them is from Jametta Alston.

larditi@projo.com
http://www.projo.com/news/content/PROTECTING_CHILDREN_01-24-10_ODH6NQ7_v292.3987a27.html

Happy Birthday Austin KNIGHTLY Where-ever You Are!

Happy Birthday little buddy. We're still fighting for your return. We hope your being treated good, although no-one will treat you any better than your grandparents. We are still waiting for an answer from the Supreme Court. If there is any justice in NH, you will be returned to us. We will never give up on you and will never give up this fight. We know you need us as much as we need you. Life just isn't the same without you. Belle still kisses your picture every day and watches at the window for you. Your room is set up with your favorite things, just waiting for your return. We love you more than life itself and always will. Please don't forget us. WE Are Your Family!
Love, Grammie and Grampie!

Grudge Calls to CPS (Child Protective Services)

You're Mad, but Who Are You Really Going to Hurt?
There are many people, and I use that word, 'many', loosely, as I don't know, nor does anyone else, really, what number it would be, who think it's a good tactic to call CPS on someone who has really ticked them off. It does hurt them, as they are investigated by the government, people
who find out ostracize them, they can lose their daycare license or teacher's certificate, if they have one, problems can start in their marriage, and so on. But if the caseworker who visits is having a bad day, or is new and doesn't know as much as another, more experienced caseworker might know about how child protection works, the children get taken away, and put in foster care. Those same people who wouldn't think twice about calling in to make a false allegation think, 'so what?' and make the call.

The problem is that there might not be anything going on that is abusive or neglectful in that family. Then let's say that the kids do get taken away. The parents, yes, they are stunned, hurt, ashamed, and so forth. Their children are gone. But how do the children feel? They have lost everything they hold dear to them, their parents, their toys, their clothes, the little hiding spot in the front room that was all their own, their pets, their friends, and the list goes on and on. The parents get left behind, with all the reminders of their children, the scribble on the wall, the messy bed, the toys in the bedroom, the backyard, the front porch, the shampoo visor in the bathroom, and the school pictures coming in the mail. They hurt, yes, but not as much as their children do. They are adults, and they understand more than what the children will. To be honest, they, most likely, can have more children. Their children cannot get new parents, unless they are adopted. They cannot have a new, clean-slate childhood.
Another part of this equation that rarely enters in to the thoughts of those who make grudge calls to CPS is the children who need that caseworker's time to ensure they are not further abused or neglected. There are bad parents out there who don't care about their children, or downright
resent them and make it well-known to the children in their care. These are the children that need their caseworker to be able to focus on them and their needs, not sidetracked by some disgruntled neighbor who has decided to use the government, especially CPS, as their own personal equalizer. It's impossible for anyone, government worker or not, to be in two places at the same time. If someone calls a CPS caseworker out to investigate something that doesn't exist, that person who called CPS maliciously might as well side with parents who truly are abusive and willfully neglectful.

I'm sure this article will make some people angry, but I hope it will open some people's eyes. There are only so many resources to go around, and it is impossible for a person to be in two places at the same time. Since this is true, it's hard to argue that people who can make that grudge call can say that they honestly care about children who really are abused or neglected. My goal here is to reduce the chances that someone will make a grudge call just because they are mad at the parents. There are other places and other things that a person can do.

Other things that someone who is mad at someone else can do would be to talk about it, if possible, go through mediation, get a protective order, avoid the person you're angry with (and this includes talking about them to other people), and even moving to another area. And if you must call and report them, much like a child tattling on another child, call the IRS for tax evasion (at least you keep any children out of it), call the board of health on them for mice on their property or farm animals they are keeping (and so on - get creative), call city code for housing violations, and so forth. But keep the children out of adult arguments. There's no reason for a child to be hurt because their parent is unable to get along with his or her neighbors. And remember, it is illegal to make a grudge call to CPS, and those who do and are caught doing so can actually end up facing jail time, plus monetary damages, depending on their location.

Written by LorriAnne http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/434234/grudge_calls_to_cps_child_protective.html?cat=38

Money, Child Protective Services and Greed

Money, Child Protective Services, and Greed
November 07, 2007 by Georga Hackworth

We all hear the horror stories involving Child Protective Services but believe it will never happen to us. Maybe we like to believe that those horror stories are the exception to the rule. Maybe we like to think that the media is sensationalizing the facts for ratings and profit, after
all, that is what the media does. Maybe we think that we are doing everything right and will never have to deal with the system.

The reality is that states and counties receive $30,000 for each child removed from the home and put into the system. Those funds go up to between $40,000 and $150,000 if the child has special needs. If you think that kind of money doesn't breed corruption, think again. In March 2003 the city of San Francisco had 75,000 children in their system. 75,000 children at $30,000 each (that is assuming none of them were handicapped) is $2,250,000,000! Foster families receive between $3,000 and $8300 a year for fostering a child depending on the state. That is a nice little profit being made even after you account for salaries and other overhead. It would be interesting to know where several million dollars each year is going.

The Department of Child Protective Services is a relatively new department of the government. In 1974 the first child abuse case went before the courts. There were no child abuse laws at that time so the case was taken up by the Human Society of the United States. It was after that case that the first child abuse laws were written and the Department of Child Protective Services was put together. It wasn't long before around 500,000 children were placed into the system with nothing in place to either return the children to their parents to find permanent homes for them. I remember attending elementary school with several children who lived in an orphanage where these children were put and forgotten about by the system.

Like most government agencies, CPS has evolved over the years and undergone reform to prevent abuse of the system as well as to make things run smoother and more effectively. However, it seems that the more rules that are put in place the more loopholes there are for corruption.

In 1997 the Adoption and Safe Families Act was put into place by the 105th Congress of the United States. The Adoption and Safe Families Act states:

· Reasonable efforts shall be made to preserve and reunify families unless the parent(s) have committed murder or voluntary manslaughter; aided, abetted, attempted, conspired or solicited to commit murder or voluntary manslaughter; committed a felony assault that resulted in
serious bodily injury of the child or another child of the parent; the parental rights of the parent to a sibling have been terminated involuntarily

· If a child is not to be returned to the parents that a permanency hearing will take place within 30 days and that finalization of the placement, either with a legal guardian or by adoption, will be handled in a expeditious fashion as well as the details of how this will be done.

· How much money is to be given by the Federal Government to carry out the bill including incentive payments for the adoption of children in the system.

Yes, incentive payments for the adoption of children in the system. How this works is that a base line number of adoptions has to happen by each state or they risk loosing money. I understand the thought pattern behind the push to adopt out children permanently placed in the system. However, providing monetary incentives opens a lot of doors for the abuse of power. The base line number of adoptions of each state was determined individually. The number of adoptions for the years 1995, 1996 and 1997 were added up and the average taken. Each state was given their number. For each adoption that takes place over that number the state gets $4000. An additional $2000 is given for each special needs child.

Where does all this money go? I wish I had the answer there. Every child that gets put into the system is automatically enrolled in Medicaid. That crosses medical care off the list of what that money pays for. Foster families get a stipend each month for each foster child they take care of to help cover food, clothes and other basic needs. That monthly payment is only a small fraction of that $30,000 given to the state.

From my personal experience I can tell you that none of that money goes into helping the families who have been torn apart. In fact, the social worker that showed up on my door step was driving a BMW. Apparently social workers do get paid that much. So much for horrible hours, horrible
pay and it being a thankless job that has a high turn over rate. I will say that being a social worker takes a certain type of person and not everyone is cut out for the job.

Forget wanting to help families. Forget wanting to protect children. Maybe that is why people originally go into social work. To be successful at you have to have a sadistic side of you that enjoys watching people suffer, that way you don't get emotionally attached and you do what you have to do.

Don't believe me? Don't think the system is abused? Consider for a moment that every report that is made to Child Protective Services, regardless of the validity of the claim, has to be investigated or the state risks loosing federal monies that are tied to Social Security. This means that if you get into a fight with your neighbor, your mother-in-law, or a friend they can pick up the phone and call in a false report in retaliation and you will have a social worker show up on your doorstep.

If everything isn't picture perfect when that social worker arrives, a case is formed. It could be anything such as the garbage hasn't been taken out that day, there are dirty dishes in the sink or your kids haven't had a bath yet that day. These people are there to judge your parenting and if they show up on that off day they aren't going to believe you that it's not normally like that.

I have also learned first hand that if someone makes a false call and makes the story outrageous enough that there will be no investigation and your kids will be taken on the spot, and the social worker doesn't have to be professional about it. They are allowed to yell at you, make snap judgments without asking questions, make you stand in the rain for three hours as well as ask questions that are a violation of your personal rights.

The social worker involved in our case also did nothing to help us out. Her idea of help was coming back a week later with a zoning inspector and having the house we were living in condemned making us homeless. This was after she was ordered by the court to return our kids and pay for temporary housing until we could get moved. When we went back to court and she was questioned on this her argument was "We are not in the habit of putting up homeless families."

She violated court order after court order and the judge did not do much about it, beyond not letting her get her way of terminating our parental rights and putting the children in state care. I know that the numbers were adding up in her head. I have seven children. Some of them are
considered special needs. If she could get them adopted out there would be a nice bonus of $28,000 minimum.

After a month and a half we did get our kids back, but not after our visitation awarded by the court was blocked for a week and a half, our oldest was put in an unapproved foster home (the woman was licensed to take care of relatives only) and been sexually assaulted and our other children spent just over a month sick because the group home they were put in were very lax about the special diets they had to be on for health reasons.

Nothing was put in place for the emotional and mental well-being of my children. There is no counseling that is automatically given to children in the system to help cope with being separated from their parents. Maybe it is because it is assumed that every child removed from their home and taken away from their parents will be relieved because the state has rules, regulations and procedures in place to prevent errors from happening. Forget that the system is set up with monetary incentives at every corner that those motivated by greed.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/437593/money_child_protective_services_and.html?cat=25

Encountering the Child Snatchers, AKA, Child Protective Services

Encountering the Child Snatchers, AKA, Child Protective Services
August 05, 2007 by Lillian Ryvers

When the knock comes, be ready! Credit: Mad Cow Studios | © Mad Cow Studios
No one expects to be falsely accused of child abuse or neglect; yet bogus cases are reported daily to Child Protective Services. My own daughter falsely reported my husband for physical abuse after he refused to let her call her boyfriend one evening. The next day, CPS and the police were
on our doorstep. Unfortunately, CPS has no way of sorting the real cases from the false ones without performing an investigation. While you cannot necessarily avoid an investigation, you can take steps to be prepared for the knock at the door.

First, contact an attorney. CPS may tell you that there is no need for legal counsel, or that it makes you look "guilty." However, CPS does not have your best interest in mind. Their job is to prove the case or dismiss it. If CPS has contacted you in the first place, you should not panic, but do need the representation of an attorney. Many attorneys will offer a free consultation, and then propose the retainer fee they would need to represent you. Any attorney will tell you that you are under no requirement to let CPS into your home unless they have a valid warrant. Do not allow them to threaten you or coerce you into inviting them inside.

In case they have a warrant, make sure your house is clean. CPS workers are trained to look for any signs of neglect. Are your dishes done and counters wiped off? Is the floor swept and the trash taken out? Is your laundry done and hung up neatly in the closet? These are all things that a CPS caseworker will note in her report. You do not need to hire a professional cleaning service to come in, but you should ensure that your house is in clean, livable condition.
Furthermore, while you should make every effort to cooperate with CPS, do not volunteer any information. Even if you have not been able to retain an attorney, you will still need to talk to CPS. Print out a copy of your state's recording laws and, if your state allows it, use a recorder
to tape the entire conversation with CPS. If they tell you that it is not permissible to record the conversation, show them the state law. Make them ask the questions and stick to brief answers. Most importantly, do not lie to them or else it will come back to bite you in the end.

Obtain a notebook to document every conversation and interaction with CPS. Do not allow the caseworker to fool you into trusting him or her. Write down every thing that is said and do not allow them to interview your child without being present. Teach your child to never talk to strangers, even at school. Another way to prevent this is to write a letter to the school stating that no one is allowed to talk to your child without your written permission. If you do not trust your child's school to carry out your wishes, have the child carry a laminated card that states no one can interview or question your child without an attorney and yourself present.

Additional preparedness can be obtained by researching CPS and false allegations of abuse on the Internet. Several websites link to very helpful resources and information. Do not think that this cannot happen to you or that CPS will immediately determine your innocence. The most important advice I can give you is to not admit to any thing and do not plead guilty to a crime you did not commit. CPS is infamous for telling families that they can have their children back if they "just plead guilty," but find that doing so unleashes a new kind of hell.

Even if you think that CPS will never bother you, implement these guidelines and tips to make sure you are ready if they do. No one is immune or overlooked when it comes to child abuse. Know your state laws and make sure you are ready. You could very well be the next one to find CPS at your doorstep.


http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/335066/encountering_the_child_snatchers_aka.html?cat=25

Antidepressants Tied To Preterm Births: Study-Try telling this to NH DCYF and Nashua Family Court!

Antidepressants Tied To Preterm Births: Study

By Ed Silverman // January 22nd, 2010 // 12:06 pm

Among nearly 3,000 women who gave birth in Washington State, those who started taking SSRI antidepressants in the second or third trimester had a higher risk of preterm birth, according to Reuters, which cites a study in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Compared with others not given the meds, the women were nearly five times more likely to deliver prematurely. The same risk was not seen, however, among women who started on an SSRI before pregnancy or during the first trimester.

The study also found a higher risk of preterm delivery among women who took anti-anxiety drugs known as benzodiazepines, regardless of when they began treatment, Reuters continues. Those drugs, which include meds such as lorazepam (Ativan) and alprazolam (Xanax), were linked to higher risks of other complications, including low birth weight, newborn respiratory distress and a low Apgar score, which measures newborn health. The SSRIs, by the way, include Lilly’s Prozac, GlaxoSmithKline’s Paxil and Pfizer’s Zoloft.

But the meaning isn’t clear, because the study couldn’t estimate treatment benefits. And SSRIs didn’t appear to present equal risks for all women. “It is very important to have other studies of the risks associated with (these) drugs, but also of benefits associated with treating mothers,” Ronit Calderon-Margalit of the Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public Health in Jerusalem tells Reuters.

http://www.pharmalot.com/2010/01/antidepressants-tied-to-preterm-births-study/

Abuse Freedom Live - Explosive Show Sunday Night!

Abuse Freedom Live - Explosive Show Sunday Night!
Saturday, January 23, 2010 10:46 PM
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ABUSE FREEDOM UNITED PRESENTS
ABUSE FREEDOM LIVE

HTTP://WWW.BLOGTALKRADIO.COM/ABUSEFREEDOMLIVE

SUNDAY NIGHT 7:00 P.M. THROUGH 10:00 P.M. EASTERN STANDARD TIME
Call in number: (646) 595-2134

Our Show Titled…. Families Fighting Back Full Force!
Families Rights Groups are joining forces with Abuse Freedom United as We in a continuing effort to Merge as ONE…
Against the Monstrous Criminal CPS Civil Rights Violators Nationwide!
Join Us and our Special Guests Tonight!
AN EXPLOSIVE SHOW YOU WILL NOT WANT TO MISS.

SUNDAY NIGHT’S GUEST:

ELEANA KATZ – Victim of CPS Abuse – AND HER FIGHT AGAINST THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM
Lori Pearman – Ex-Casa Volunteer Worker - http://www.arcasa5.com/
Susan Spies – Grandparent/CPS Victim
Colleen Beimer, Grandmother of (5) – CPS Victim
Mrs. Marilyn and husband, Dr. Harrison of “FOSTER PARENT’S LEGAL SOLUTIONS”
http://www.foster-parents-legal-solutions.com/home.html

The Abuse Freedom Live Show is
HOSTED BY JANE OF ABUSE FREEDOM UNITED AND JOSIE, CO-HOST of
http://www.modelfamily.org and http://nfps.us
TONIGHT’S SHOW WILL ENABLE OPEN LINES
CALLERS WILL BE ABLE TO PRESENT COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS TO
OUR SPECIAL GUESTS TONIGHT!!!

· CALL IN NUMBER (646) 595-2134
You can subscribe to this show on ipod touch or your iphone
Go to http://blogtalkradio.com/abusefreedomlive
If you are an advocate, group or organization advocating on behalf of family preservation and would like to be on our show contact
jane@abusefreedom.com or Josie at contact@modelfamily.org
or call Josie at 786-288-7034 and leave a message!