Earlier Claims Of Abuse Investigated Against Renee Bowman
ROCKVILLE, Md. (WUSA) – Two reports of child abuse or neglect were purportedly made to Maryland authorities against Renee Bowman, 43, prior to the discovery of the bodies of two young girls in her basement freezer in Lusby, Maryland, last Saturday. Yvonne Keller, of Landover, tells 9NEWS NOW she alerted child protective services of her concern of possible abuse involving Bowman and one of her children in 2003. Maryland Department of Human Resources officials disclosed Thursday they investigated a child abuse complaint against Renee Bowman in January, 2008.
A caseworker found no evidence of neglect in that case. Last Saturday Calvert County deputies discovered the frozen bodies of two children inside a basement freezer at Bowman’s home in Lusby. The bodies are believed to be those of two girls, ages 9 and 11, she had adopted.
The freezer was discovered after a third adoptive daughter of Bowman’s was found on Friday wandering the streets of Lusby covered with bruises and wearing soiled clothes. Bowman has been charged with child abuse in that case. However other charges have yet to be determined pending Medical Examiner forensic testing. Positive identity of the two children is still pending as well as what caused their deaths and how long they had been dead. Bowman reportedly has told investigators the bodies are those of her two daughters.
She also has claimed one died from starvation and the other as a result of a fall. But those claims have yet to be confirmed or contradicted. On Thursday Bowman’s boyfriend, Joseph Dickerson, was questioned for several hours by police and prosecutors at the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s office.
Dickerson has been described as cooperative. Sources tell 9 News Now he claims ignorance of what was inside the freezer. He has not been charged with any crimes. According to Ms. Keller, a mutual friend informed her of his concerns that one of Bowman’s daughters was being abused when she lived in Landover.
She said she called authorities anonymously with the information. She says Bowman moved soon thereafter. Both state and county officials tell 9 News Now they have no record of any complaint against Bowman at that Landover address.
According to a DHR statement released late Thursday, the caseworker investigating the other complaint of child neglect went to Renee Bowman’s home in January when she was living in Charles County. The caseworker “observed the home to be clean … but did notice a smell of mildew. Ms. Bowman reported the smell … was caused by a water leak.
The child was observed to be of appropriate weight and good health. Conditions in the home were adequate. based on these findings and observations no neglect was found at that time.”.
http://jrjamesmreynolds.wordpress.com/2010/02/23/earlier-claims-of-abuse-investigated-against-renee-bowman/
Isabella Brooke Knightly and Austin Gamez-Knightly
In Memory of my Loving Husband, William F. Knightly Jr. Murdered by ILLEGAL Palliative Care at a Nashua, NH Hospital
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
NH reports decrease in child support payments:
[February 21, 2010]
NH reports decrease in child support payments: More families turn to government help
Feb 21, 2010 (The Eagle-Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Child support collection by the state Division of Child Support Services dropped 6.7 percent in 2009, after several years of steady increase. Officials say the economy is to blame.
"It's definitely an unusual drop for us, compared to the past," director Mary Weatherill said. "We had been steadily increasing our collections until that drop." The division collects only a portion of the child support paid in the state. Many parents make payments directly to one another. Weatherill said she didn't know what percentage of total child support payments made in the state are made through Child Support Services.
But Judge Edwin Kelly, administrative judge of the state's Family Division, said he thought there was a "pretty fair correlation" between the payment trends at Child Support Services and private payments.
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, October 4-6, 2010. Los Angeles, CA.
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, October 4-6, 2010. Los Angeles, CA.
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, October 4-6, 2010. Los Angeles, CA.
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, October 4-6, 2010. Los Angeles, CA.
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, October 4-6, 2010. Los Angeles, CA.
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, October 4-6, 2010. Los Angeles, CA.
The drop in child support collection comes after years of increases, Weatherill said. From fiscal years 2005 to 2008, the amount of payments being made increased steadily each year, from $84.7 million to $90.6 million. That figure dropped to $84.6 million in fiscal year 2009.
"We believe that it is attributable to the economy," she said.
Unemployment seems to be a common reason people are not paying, Weatherill said. If an unemployed person is behind in payments, the state will withhold a portion of the individual's unemployment benefits. The amount being withheld from unemployment checks increased sharply in 2009, from $304,355 to $963,288.
"It does seem to show a trend of the economy impacting the population that we serve," she said. "All parties are impacted -- both the person responsible for paying support and the family on the receiving end." The state also has seen an increase in the number of people asking to have child support payments lowered, Kelly said. He said the court could not provide hard numbers on payments, but he recently took an informal poll of all the state's family courts.
"They're all experiencing what they describe as a pretty large increase in the number of petitions to change court order," he said.
That's the legal term for having a court adjust the amount of child support a parent is ordered to pay. Kelly said he had no doubt the increase was due to the economy.
And, more often than in previous years, Kelly said, both parents are agreeing to the lower payments.
"The former spouse knows the other is out of work or that they've been laid off," he said.
If a parent simply ignores child support payments, he or she can be arrested, Kelly said. More often, people want to make their payments, but are having a hard time doing so, he said.
"Generally speaking, people really do try to live by the rules," he said. "They love their kids and they're concerned about them, so they try to do the right thing." The loss of or decrease in child support payments can further burden struggling families, Kelly said.
"The overall impact to everybody involved -- the kids, the families -- is that there's less money that goes around," he said.
To make up for that loss, families may lean more heavily on government aid programs.
Terry Smith, director of the state Division of Family Assistance, said the number of New Hampshire residents receiving food stamps has increased 50 percent since June 2008. When child support payments stop, families are eligible for an increase in food stamp benefits, he said.
"In the food stamp program, if child support is reduced, that's less income in the household and more food stamps are provided as a result," Smith said.
Children who "face a deprivation" -- the loss or absence of a parent included -- may be eligible for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, Smith said. The state's TANF caseload has climbed 28 percent since June 2008.
In a family that is receiving child support, the state takes that support in exchange for a TANF grant that is worth more. Under those circumstances, the Division of Family Assistance, rather than the parent, collects the child support payments.
Like Kelly, Smith said most people want to pay. That includes people whose missed payments lead the other parent to rely on government aid.
"It's important for people to recognize that a divorced parent isn't necessarily a bad parent, or a bad person, because his wife or her husband is on TANF," he said. "Rather, they don't have the money to contribute." To see more of The Eagle-Tribune or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.eagletribune.com/. Copyright (c) 2010, The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/02/21/4633836.htm
NH reports decrease in child support payments: More families turn to government help
Feb 21, 2010 (The Eagle-Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Child support collection by the state Division of Child Support Services dropped 6.7 percent in 2009, after several years of steady increase. Officials say the economy is to blame.
"It's definitely an unusual drop for us, compared to the past," director Mary Weatherill said. "We had been steadily increasing our collections until that drop." The division collects only a portion of the child support paid in the state. Many parents make payments directly to one another. Weatherill said she didn't know what percentage of total child support payments made in the state are made through Child Support Services.
But Judge Edwin Kelly, administrative judge of the state's Family Division, said he thought there was a "pretty fair correlation" between the payment trends at Child Support Services and private payments.
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, October 4-6, 2010. Los Angeles, CA.
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, October 4-6, 2010. Los Angeles, CA.
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, October 4-6, 2010. Los Angeles, CA.
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, October 4-6, 2010. Los Angeles, CA.
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, October 4-6, 2010. Los Angeles, CA.
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, October 4-6, 2010. Los Angeles, CA.
The drop in child support collection comes after years of increases, Weatherill said. From fiscal years 2005 to 2008, the amount of payments being made increased steadily each year, from $84.7 million to $90.6 million. That figure dropped to $84.6 million in fiscal year 2009.
"We believe that it is attributable to the economy," she said.
Unemployment seems to be a common reason people are not paying, Weatherill said. If an unemployed person is behind in payments, the state will withhold a portion of the individual's unemployment benefits. The amount being withheld from unemployment checks increased sharply in 2009, from $304,355 to $963,288.
"It does seem to show a trend of the economy impacting the population that we serve," she said. "All parties are impacted -- both the person responsible for paying support and the family on the receiving end." The state also has seen an increase in the number of people asking to have child support payments lowered, Kelly said. He said the court could not provide hard numbers on payments, but he recently took an informal poll of all the state's family courts.
"They're all experiencing what they describe as a pretty large increase in the number of petitions to change court order," he said.
That's the legal term for having a court adjust the amount of child support a parent is ordered to pay. Kelly said he had no doubt the increase was due to the economy.
And, more often than in previous years, Kelly said, both parents are agreeing to the lower payments.
"The former spouse knows the other is out of work or that they've been laid off," he said.
If a parent simply ignores child support payments, he or she can be arrested, Kelly said. More often, people want to make their payments, but are having a hard time doing so, he said.
"Generally speaking, people really do try to live by the rules," he said. "They love their kids and they're concerned about them, so they try to do the right thing." The loss of or decrease in child support payments can further burden struggling families, Kelly said.
"The overall impact to everybody involved -- the kids, the families -- is that there's less money that goes around," he said.
To make up for that loss, families may lean more heavily on government aid programs.
Terry Smith, director of the state Division of Family Assistance, said the number of New Hampshire residents receiving food stamps has increased 50 percent since June 2008. When child support payments stop, families are eligible for an increase in food stamp benefits, he said.
"In the food stamp program, if child support is reduced, that's less income in the household and more food stamps are provided as a result," Smith said.
Children who "face a deprivation" -- the loss or absence of a parent included -- may be eligible for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, Smith said. The state's TANF caseload has climbed 28 percent since June 2008.
In a family that is receiving child support, the state takes that support in exchange for a TANF grant that is worth more. Under those circumstances, the Division of Family Assistance, rather than the parent, collects the child support payments.
Like Kelly, Smith said most people want to pay. That includes people whose missed payments lead the other parent to rely on government aid.
"It's important for people to recognize that a divorced parent isn't necessarily a bad parent, or a bad person, because his wife or her husband is on TANF," he said. "Rather, they don't have the money to contribute." To see more of The Eagle-Tribune or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.eagletribune.com/. Copyright (c) 2010, The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/02/21/4633836.htm
Father to serve 6 months in deal - Wife sentenced for girl's beating
Father to serve 6 months in deal
Wife sentenced for girl's beating
By DANIEL BARRICK
Monitor staff
February 24, 2010 - 12:00 am
Daniel LeBlanc, whose ex-wife was sentenced last month for severely beating his daughter at their Webster home two years ago, will spend at least six months in jail for failing to promptly take the child to a hospital.
LeBlanc, 33, was scheduled to go to trial on three charges related to the beating, including two counts of simple assault for striking the child and one count of endangering the welfare of a child for waiting two days until seeking medical care for his daughter, who was 8 years old at the time of the beating. But LeBlanc pleaded guilty to the last charge last week. In return, prosecutors dropped the assault counts. All were misdemeanor charges.
LeBlanc, who now lives in Belmont, was sentenced to serve 12 months in jail, though half of that sentence will be suspended provided he maintains good behavior for the next five years. The sentence, signed last week by Judge Diane Nicolosi, also requires LeBlanc to undergo counseling and treatment as directed by the corrections department and the state Division for Children, Youth and Families.
He must also complete domestic violence counseling, and he can have no unsupervised contact with his daughter or another child who was living with him at the time of the assault.
LeBlanc's sentence begins March 19.
Rachel Harrington, the assistant Merrimack County attorney who handled the case, said prosecutors agreed to LeBlanc's plea deal in part to avoid a trial that would have required his daughter to testify before a jury.
"The primary concern in this resolution was the well-being of the victim in this case," Harrington said, "and to reach an appropriate resolution but still spare her the trial process."
Cara LeBlanc, Daniel LeBlanc's ex-wife, was sentenced in January to serve between six and 20 years for her role in the beating of the girl, who was living with the couple at the time of the assault in July 2008. Cara LeBlanc is not the girl's biological mother.
According to the police, Cara LeBlanc repeatedly struck the girl's head against a wood floor, threw her down stairs, dragged her up the stairs by her hair, tied her to a door and kicked her in the stomach and legs, and locked her in an overheated room for an extended period. Cara LeBlanc was charged with a total of 16 felonies and misdemeanors.
The girl suffered severe injuries from the beating, including a broken vertebra and ribs, kidney and liver damage, and bruises over her body and face. According to the police, Daniel LeBlanc also struck the girl with a stick and a belt. The police said he waited two days before taking the girl to the hospital. At the time, the pediatric director at Children's Hospital in Boston said it was one of the worst cases of child abuse he had ever seen, according to the police.
Cara LeBlanc's sentence was part of a plea deal reached with prosecutors in which she pleaded guilty to seven charges: two counts each of second-degree assault and simple assault and one count each of criminal restraint, witness tampering and endangering the welfare of a child.
According to his attorney, Nicholas Brodich, Daniel LeBlanc is a full-time college student and has served with the New Hampshire Army National Guard for the past 12 years. Brodich said LeBlanc's conviction will not affect his service with the Guard.
"If a drill comes up when he's incarcerated, we'll have to deal with it at that point," Brodich said. "But given the relatively short duration of the incarceration, with everyone being flexible, I think he'll be able to keep up his commitment."
Had Daniel LeBlanc been convicted of the two simple assault charges, which are considered domestic violence charges, "it would have made his future in the Guard tenuous at best," Brodich said.
Brodich said he did not know LeBlanc's rank in the Guard. A message with the New Hampshire National Guard's public relations office was not returned yesterday.
At the time of the assault on his daughter, Daniel LeBlanc worked as a guard at the state prison in Concord. According to a court filing by his attorney, LeBlanc lost that job after he was charged in the beating.
Daniel LeBlanc's case file also indicates several conflicts in past months with the court's pretrial services. According to documents on file at Merrimack County Superior Court, Daniel LeBlanc failed to attend a domestic violence treatment program ordered by pretrial services, missed meetings with the service officials and missed his court-ordered 9 p.m. curfew on at least one occasion.
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100224/FRONTPAGE/2240312#comment-113177
Wife sentenced for girl's beating
By DANIEL BARRICK
Monitor staff
February 24, 2010 - 12:00 am
Daniel LeBlanc, whose ex-wife was sentenced last month for severely beating his daughter at their Webster home two years ago, will spend at least six months in jail for failing to promptly take the child to a hospital.
LeBlanc, 33, was scheduled to go to trial on three charges related to the beating, including two counts of simple assault for striking the child and one count of endangering the welfare of a child for waiting two days until seeking medical care for his daughter, who was 8 years old at the time of the beating. But LeBlanc pleaded guilty to the last charge last week. In return, prosecutors dropped the assault counts. All were misdemeanor charges.
LeBlanc, who now lives in Belmont, was sentenced to serve 12 months in jail, though half of that sentence will be suspended provided he maintains good behavior for the next five years. The sentence, signed last week by Judge Diane Nicolosi, also requires LeBlanc to undergo counseling and treatment as directed by the corrections department and the state Division for Children, Youth and Families.
He must also complete domestic violence counseling, and he can have no unsupervised contact with his daughter or another child who was living with him at the time of the assault.
LeBlanc's sentence begins March 19.
Rachel Harrington, the assistant Merrimack County attorney who handled the case, said prosecutors agreed to LeBlanc's plea deal in part to avoid a trial that would have required his daughter to testify before a jury.
"The primary concern in this resolution was the well-being of the victim in this case," Harrington said, "and to reach an appropriate resolution but still spare her the trial process."
Cara LeBlanc, Daniel LeBlanc's ex-wife, was sentenced in January to serve between six and 20 years for her role in the beating of the girl, who was living with the couple at the time of the assault in July 2008. Cara LeBlanc is not the girl's biological mother.
According to the police, Cara LeBlanc repeatedly struck the girl's head against a wood floor, threw her down stairs, dragged her up the stairs by her hair, tied her to a door and kicked her in the stomach and legs, and locked her in an overheated room for an extended period. Cara LeBlanc was charged with a total of 16 felonies and misdemeanors.
The girl suffered severe injuries from the beating, including a broken vertebra and ribs, kidney and liver damage, and bruises over her body and face. According to the police, Daniel LeBlanc also struck the girl with a stick and a belt. The police said he waited two days before taking the girl to the hospital. At the time, the pediatric director at Children's Hospital in Boston said it was one of the worst cases of child abuse he had ever seen, according to the police.
Cara LeBlanc's sentence was part of a plea deal reached with prosecutors in which she pleaded guilty to seven charges: two counts each of second-degree assault and simple assault and one count each of criminal restraint, witness tampering and endangering the welfare of a child.
According to his attorney, Nicholas Brodich, Daniel LeBlanc is a full-time college student and has served with the New Hampshire Army National Guard for the past 12 years. Brodich said LeBlanc's conviction will not affect his service with the Guard.
"If a drill comes up when he's incarcerated, we'll have to deal with it at that point," Brodich said. "But given the relatively short duration of the incarceration, with everyone being flexible, I think he'll be able to keep up his commitment."
Had Daniel LeBlanc been convicted of the two simple assault charges, which are considered domestic violence charges, "it would have made his future in the Guard tenuous at best," Brodich said.
Brodich said he did not know LeBlanc's rank in the Guard. A message with the New Hampshire National Guard's public relations office was not returned yesterday.
At the time of the assault on his daughter, Daniel LeBlanc worked as a guard at the state prison in Concord. According to a court filing by his attorney, LeBlanc lost that job after he was charged in the beating.
Daniel LeBlanc's case file also indicates several conflicts in past months with the court's pretrial services. According to documents on file at Merrimack County Superior Court, Daniel LeBlanc failed to attend a domestic violence treatment program ordered by pretrial services, missed meetings with the service officials and missed his court-ordered 9 p.m. curfew on at least one occasion.
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100224/FRONTPAGE/2240312#comment-113177
A new way to keep families whole
A new way to keep families whole
Bill would curb foster care of kids whose moms are incarcerated
By BRYAN FITZGERALD, Special to the Times Union
First published in print: Wednesday, February 24, 2010
ALBANY -- Advocates for the rights of incarcerated women took what they hope was a giant step forward Tuesday to keep the families of jailed mothers intact after release.
Joined by supportive members of the Legislature and a handful of formerly jailed mothers, representatives from the state Office of Children and Family Services and the Women in Prison Project held a news conference in front of the Senate Chamber to push for support of the Adoption and Safe Families Act Expanded Discretion Bill.
The bill would grant foster agencies more leeway when forcing children of incarcerated mothers into permanent foster care.
The law currently terminates the parental rights of a parent whose child has been in foster care for 15 of the previous 22 months. The average sentence of an incarcerated woman in the state is 36 months -- meaning the majority of inmates lose their parental rights.
The new bill would give foster agencies expanded discretion in filing termination papers when a parent is incarcerated or participating in a residential drug treatment program.
"This is a complicated problem with a simple solution," said Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry, D-Queens, the chair of the chamber's Committee of Correction. "Giving these families the chance to stay together is the right thing to do."
The bill has passed with unanimous support in the Assembly for the past two years, but has failed to hit the Senate floor.
The bill has 24 Senate co-sponsors, including Sens. Velmanette Montgomery, Tom Duane, Jeff Klein, Liz Krueger, Carl Kruger, Ruth Hassell-Thompson, Eric Schneiderman as well as Majority Leader Pedro Espada and Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson.
"This is one big step in this challenge to bring back something that is so essential," Espada said.
There are roughly 100,000 children in New York state with an incarcerated parent, 10,000 of which have a mother in prison or jail.
An estimated 7 percent to 14 percent of children in foster care in the state have a parent who is incarcerated.
Advocates of the bill argue that placing a child in foster care hurts not only the child, but the mother as well, making her less apt to maintain a productive life in society.
The news conference included testimony from several mothers who lost custody of their children to foster care after being incarcerated, including Charmaine Smith of Brooklyn.
"I'm here not just for my own child, but for all the children out there," Smith said. "We need a law that affects the decisions we'll make tomorrow, not the ones we made in the past."
The current ASFA laws have been in place for 11 years. Advocates note approval of the new legislation would also save the state on costly parental termination proceedings.
Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=904052&category=STATE#ixzz0gSIp70Gd
Bill would curb foster care of kids whose moms are incarcerated
By BRYAN FITZGERALD, Special to the Times Union
First published in print: Wednesday, February 24, 2010
ALBANY -- Advocates for the rights of incarcerated women took what they hope was a giant step forward Tuesday to keep the families of jailed mothers intact after release.
Joined by supportive members of the Legislature and a handful of formerly jailed mothers, representatives from the state Office of Children and Family Services and the Women in Prison Project held a news conference in front of the Senate Chamber to push for support of the Adoption and Safe Families Act Expanded Discretion Bill.
The bill would grant foster agencies more leeway when forcing children of incarcerated mothers into permanent foster care.
The law currently terminates the parental rights of a parent whose child has been in foster care for 15 of the previous 22 months. The average sentence of an incarcerated woman in the state is 36 months -- meaning the majority of inmates lose their parental rights.
The new bill would give foster agencies expanded discretion in filing termination papers when a parent is incarcerated or participating in a residential drug treatment program.
"This is a complicated problem with a simple solution," said Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry, D-Queens, the chair of the chamber's Committee of Correction. "Giving these families the chance to stay together is the right thing to do."
The bill has passed with unanimous support in the Assembly for the past two years, but has failed to hit the Senate floor.
The bill has 24 Senate co-sponsors, including Sens. Velmanette Montgomery, Tom Duane, Jeff Klein, Liz Krueger, Carl Kruger, Ruth Hassell-Thompson, Eric Schneiderman as well as Majority Leader Pedro Espada and Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson.
"This is one big step in this challenge to bring back something that is so essential," Espada said.
There are roughly 100,000 children in New York state with an incarcerated parent, 10,000 of which have a mother in prison or jail.
An estimated 7 percent to 14 percent of children in foster care in the state have a parent who is incarcerated.
Advocates of the bill argue that placing a child in foster care hurts not only the child, but the mother as well, making her less apt to maintain a productive life in society.
The news conference included testimony from several mothers who lost custody of their children to foster care after being incarcerated, including Charmaine Smith of Brooklyn.
"I'm here not just for my own child, but for all the children out there," Smith said. "We need a law that affects the decisions we'll make tomorrow, not the ones we made in the past."
The current ASFA laws have been in place for 11 years. Advocates note approval of the new legislation would also save the state on costly parental termination proceedings.
Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=904052&category=STATE#ixzz0gSIp70Gd
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
California Group Home Greed Trumps Children's Need
California Group Home Greed Trumps Children's Need, National Child Advocacy Group Says
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- At a time when services to vulnerable California children face devastating budget cuts, the state's group homes and institutions are grabbing an additional $242 million to fund programs that are largely worthless and sometimes harmful to children, a national child advocacy group said Tuesday.
"This is a triumph of group home greed over children's need," said Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform.
Wexler was responding to a federal judge's order that the state give California group homes and institutions for foster children a whopping 32 percent rate increase, even as the rest of California's social safety net is being torn apart by budget cuts.
Wexler said NCCPR hopes the state will appeal the decision, which is expected to cost the state $77 million and counties $115 million รข€“ with $50 million more from the federal government.
"All that money could be far better spent on safe, proven alternatives to tearing apart families in the first place," Wexler said. "In those cases where children really must be taken from their parents, there is nothing that a group home or institution does that can't be done better and at lower cost in therapeutic foster homes and with intensive services like Wraparound.
"While the group home industry plays lip service to such alternatives, they scarf up all the money that would make them possible. Even the worst fiscal crisis in memory is not enough to give them pause. While people with nothing left to give must tighten their belts, the group home industry is pigging out, paid for every month they needlessly hold children in their institutions – creating a perverse incentive to prolong foster care."
Wexler noted that "the phrase 'group home industry' doesn't originate with us. It comes from a reform-minded California child welfare agency that spent more than a decade fighting that industry after it shut down most of its institutional beds in favor of better alternatives."
Details on that case, on the failure of group homes and residential treatment, on better alternatives, and a response to all the excuses from the group home industry are available from the NCCPR Child Welfare Blog, www.nccpr.blogspot.com.
SOURCE National Coalition for Child Protection Reform
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20100223/pl_usnw/DC59789
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- At a time when services to vulnerable California children face devastating budget cuts, the state's group homes and institutions are grabbing an additional $242 million to fund programs that are largely worthless and sometimes harmful to children, a national child advocacy group said Tuesday.
"This is a triumph of group home greed over children's need," said Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform.
Wexler was responding to a federal judge's order that the state give California group homes and institutions for foster children a whopping 32 percent rate increase, even as the rest of California's social safety net is being torn apart by budget cuts.
Wexler said NCCPR hopes the state will appeal the decision, which is expected to cost the state $77 million and counties $115 million รข€“ with $50 million more from the federal government.
"All that money could be far better spent on safe, proven alternatives to tearing apart families in the first place," Wexler said. "In those cases where children really must be taken from their parents, there is nothing that a group home or institution does that can't be done better and at lower cost in therapeutic foster homes and with intensive services like Wraparound.
"While the group home industry plays lip service to such alternatives, they scarf up all the money that would make them possible. Even the worst fiscal crisis in memory is not enough to give them pause. While people with nothing left to give must tighten their belts, the group home industry is pigging out, paid for every month they needlessly hold children in their institutions – creating a perverse incentive to prolong foster care."
Wexler noted that "the phrase 'group home industry' doesn't originate with us. It comes from a reform-minded California child welfare agency that spent more than a decade fighting that industry after it shut down most of its institutional beds in favor of better alternatives."
Details on that case, on the failure of group homes and residential treatment, on better alternatives, and a response to all the excuses from the group home industry are available from the NCCPR Child Welfare Blog, www.nccpr.blogspot.com.
SOURCE National Coalition for Child Protection Reform
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20100223/pl_usnw/DC59789
Foster parent charged with sex acts with a child
Foster parent charged with sex acts with a child
February 23, 2010 4:34 PM
Diane Turbyfill
LINCOLNTON — A foster parent in Lincoln County has been charged with sex acts against a child.
George Michael Steen, 38, of North Cedar Street, was charged Friday with two counts of first-degree sex offense with a child and one count of sex offense with a child.
The boy was 8 at the time of the sexual assaults, according to Detective Matt Painter with Lincolnton Police.
Steen could face a life sentence if convicted as charged.
The incidents took place between December 2007 and February 2009 at Steen’s Lincolnton home, according to a press release from Lincolnton Police.
Steen and his wife were licensed foster parents from 2005 to 2009, according to the Lincoln County Department of Social Services. Officials would not say how many children were cared for in the Steen home during that time.
The Steens haven’t fostered children for about a year, according to Painter.
The boy reported the sexual encounters while in foster care at another facility, Painter said.
Potential foster parents go through an extensive screening process, according to Sandy Kennedy, program manager for foster care an adoption with Lincoln County DSS.
Applicants go through drug screenings, reference and background checks, mental evaluations and training.
Allegations of abuse are always taken seriously, said Kennedy.
“Anytime an allegation comes up against a foster parent, we look at all the children who have been in the home, regardless of criminal charges,” said Kennedy. “This is truly unfortunate and we are doing everything we can to protect our children and to give this particular child all the help he needs in overcoming this.”
Steen was still in jail Tuesday afternoon on a $170,000 secured bond. His next day in court is set for March 10.
You can reach Diane Turbyfill at 704-869-1817.
http://www.gastongazette.com/news/parent-44044-acts-sex.html
February 23, 2010 4:34 PM
Diane Turbyfill
LINCOLNTON — A foster parent in Lincoln County has been charged with sex acts against a child.
George Michael Steen, 38, of North Cedar Street, was charged Friday with two counts of first-degree sex offense with a child and one count of sex offense with a child.
The boy was 8 at the time of the sexual assaults, according to Detective Matt Painter with Lincolnton Police.
Steen could face a life sentence if convicted as charged.
The incidents took place between December 2007 and February 2009 at Steen’s Lincolnton home, according to a press release from Lincolnton Police.
Steen and his wife were licensed foster parents from 2005 to 2009, according to the Lincoln County Department of Social Services. Officials would not say how many children were cared for in the Steen home during that time.
The Steens haven’t fostered children for about a year, according to Painter.
The boy reported the sexual encounters while in foster care at another facility, Painter said.
Potential foster parents go through an extensive screening process, according to Sandy Kennedy, program manager for foster care an adoption with Lincoln County DSS.
Applicants go through drug screenings, reference and background checks, mental evaluations and training.
Allegations of abuse are always taken seriously, said Kennedy.
“Anytime an allegation comes up against a foster parent, we look at all the children who have been in the home, regardless of criminal charges,” said Kennedy. “This is truly unfortunate and we are doing everything we can to protect our children and to give this particular child all the help he needs in overcoming this.”
Steen was still in jail Tuesday afternoon on a $170,000 secured bond. His next day in court is set for March 10.
You can reach Diane Turbyfill at 704-869-1817.
http://www.gastongazette.com/news/parent-44044-acts-sex.html
Doctor Gets Court Order to Confine Pregnant Woman Against Her Will
Doctor Gets Court Order to Confine Pregnant Woman Against Her Will
by Roxann MtJoy
Published January 15, 2010 @ 12:19PM PT
With issues like the Stupak Amendment and Nevada's Personhood Initiative in the national spotlight, I am aware that a woman's right to choose whether or not to carry a fetus to full-term is under attack.
What I didn't realize, perhaps naively, is that her right to choose how to carry a fetus is also under fire. Last March, Florida resident Samantha Burton was in week 25 of her pregnancy when she paid a visit to her doctor. Burton was showing signs of potential miscarriage, so her physician ordered bed rest. Burton explained that, as a working mother of two toddlers, bed rest simply wasn't a viable option and then proceeded to ask for a second medical opinion. Seems reasonable, right?
Her doctor, however, was having none of that. Rather than refer Burton for the desired second opinion, he instead felt it necessary to contact state authorities, who then proceeded to force Burton to be admitted to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital against her will and undergo any procedure the doctor felt like prescribing. When Burton had the audacity to request a change in the hospital in which she was being treated, the court denied her request. Three days into her forced hospitalization, Burton miscarried.
Never mind that there is actually no scientific research to support the claim that bed rest helps prevent preterm birth and that even the American College of of Obstetricians and Gynecologists does not believe it should be routinely recommended. Never mind Burton's very real concern for the care of her two small children. Never mind the psychological, physical, and financial toll this takes on her family. The only thing that mattered to the doctor and the government was that they got their (ultimately ineffectual) way.
Oh, and did I mention this case gets worse? Burton (with help from her pro bono lawyer and the ACLU) sued the State of Florida claiming it -- duh -- violated her constitutional rights. The court ruled against her, claiming that that State was merely maintaining "status quo" in the situation. Hmmm. I never knew forcing a woman to bed rest in a hospital was status quo. Perhaps I've been ill-informed.
It is scary to think that the government feels it can negate the bodily autonomy of pregnant women for any reason, let alone for something like this. Where does this stop? If a doctor lacking scientific support can force a woman into a hospital of his choosing for the tests of his choosing, what's next? Certainly it seems as if the bar has been set pretty low in terms of the criteria needed to override a woman's freedom to make informed decisions for herself.
Burton' lawyers filed for appeal and the case is now being heard in Florida's First District Court of Appeals. Hopefully, this time the court will acknowledge the bodily autonomy of pregnant women and reverse the lower court's frightening and potentially dangerous ruling. I shudder to think of the consequences of the earlier decision being upheld.
http://womensrights.change.org/blog/view/doctor_gets_court_order_to_confine_pregnant_woman_against_her_will
by Roxann MtJoy
Published January 15, 2010 @ 12:19PM PT
With issues like the Stupak Amendment and Nevada's Personhood Initiative in the national spotlight, I am aware that a woman's right to choose whether or not to carry a fetus to full-term is under attack.
What I didn't realize, perhaps naively, is that her right to choose how to carry a fetus is also under fire. Last March, Florida resident Samantha Burton was in week 25 of her pregnancy when she paid a visit to her doctor. Burton was showing signs of potential miscarriage, so her physician ordered bed rest. Burton explained that, as a working mother of two toddlers, bed rest simply wasn't a viable option and then proceeded to ask for a second medical opinion. Seems reasonable, right?
Her doctor, however, was having none of that. Rather than refer Burton for the desired second opinion, he instead felt it necessary to contact state authorities, who then proceeded to force Burton to be admitted to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital against her will and undergo any procedure the doctor felt like prescribing. When Burton had the audacity to request a change in the hospital in which she was being treated, the court denied her request. Three days into her forced hospitalization, Burton miscarried.
Never mind that there is actually no scientific research to support the claim that bed rest helps prevent preterm birth and that even the American College of of Obstetricians and Gynecologists does not believe it should be routinely recommended. Never mind Burton's very real concern for the care of her two small children. Never mind the psychological, physical, and financial toll this takes on her family. The only thing that mattered to the doctor and the government was that they got their (ultimately ineffectual) way.
Oh, and did I mention this case gets worse? Burton (with help from her pro bono lawyer and the ACLU) sued the State of Florida claiming it -- duh -- violated her constitutional rights. The court ruled against her, claiming that that State was merely maintaining "status quo" in the situation. Hmmm. I never knew forcing a woman to bed rest in a hospital was status quo. Perhaps I've been ill-informed.
It is scary to think that the government feels it can negate the bodily autonomy of pregnant women for any reason, let alone for something like this. Where does this stop? If a doctor lacking scientific support can force a woman into a hospital of his choosing for the tests of his choosing, what's next? Certainly it seems as if the bar has been set pretty low in terms of the criteria needed to override a woman's freedom to make informed decisions for herself.
Burton' lawyers filed for appeal and the case is now being heard in Florida's First District Court of Appeals. Hopefully, this time the court will acknowledge the bodily autonomy of pregnant women and reverse the lower court's frightening and potentially dangerous ruling. I shudder to think of the consequences of the earlier decision being upheld.
http://womensrights.change.org/blog/view/doctor_gets_court_order_to_confine_pregnant_woman_against_her_will
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