http://www.theunionleader.com/uploads/media-items/2009/January/2008statesalaries.pdf
No wonder the State is Going Broke!
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
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Southern Grandma Goes To Court
Southern Grandma Goes To Court
unknown writer
Lawyers should never ask a southern grandma a question if they aren't prepared for the answer.
In a trial, a Southern small-town prosecuting attorney called his first witness, a grandmotherly, elderly woman to the stand. He approached her and asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know me?' She responded, 'Why, yes, I do know you, Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a boy, and frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, and you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you're a big shot when you haven't the brains to realize you'll never amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you.'
The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?'
She again replied, 'Why yes, I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a
youngster, too. He's lazy, bigoted, and he has a drinking problem. He can't build a normal relationship with anyone, and his law practice is one of the worst in the entire state. Not to mention he cheated on his wife with three different women. One of them was your wife. Yes, I know him.'
The defense attorney nearly died.
The judge asked both counselors to approach the bench and, in a very quiet voice, said,
'If either of you idiots asks her if she knows me, I'll send you both to the electric chair.'
unknown writer
Lawyers should never ask a southern grandma a question if they aren't prepared for the answer.
In a trial, a Southern small-town prosecuting attorney called his first witness, a grandmotherly, elderly woman to the stand. He approached her and asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know me?' She responded, 'Why, yes, I do know you, Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a boy, and frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, and you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you're a big shot when you haven't the brains to realize you'll never amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you.'
The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?'
She again replied, 'Why yes, I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a
youngster, too. He's lazy, bigoted, and he has a drinking problem. He can't build a normal relationship with anyone, and his law practice is one of the worst in the entire state. Not to mention he cheated on his wife with three different women. One of them was your wife. Yes, I know him.'
The defense attorney nearly died.
The judge asked both counselors to approach the bench and, in a very quiet voice, said,
'If either of you idiots asks her if she knows me, I'll send you both to the electric chair.'
1121 CPS/DCYF Videos
Super Aflam videos (1121)
http://www.superaflam.com/CPS/
Please check out this site and learn the truth of the abuses practiced against families by our own state agencies.
http://www.superaflam.com/CPS/
Please check out this site and learn the truth of the abuses practiced against families by our own state agencies.
A Fight To Extend Parents' Rights
A Fight To Extend Parents' Rights
Foster children with parents in prison are often put up for adoption. The State Senate takes up a bill aimed at slowing that practice.
By Abigail Kramer
Published: Feb 25, 2010
Chrystal Reddick has been clean and sober for one year, nine months and eight days. In that time, she says, she’s submitted to at least 15 drug tests (all negative), taken three different kinds of parenting classes and missed just one visit with her 7-year-old son, who was placed in a foster home when Reddick was arrested for using a stolen credit card, three years ago.
In a few weeks, all of those numbers may be rendered meaningless: Though she holds a job, has an apartment and has never stopped fighting to get back custody of her son, Reddick has run afoul of a child welfare law that, according to its opponents, puts parents who spend time in jail, prison or residential drug treatment programs at unfair risk of losing legal rights to their kids – even when there’s little to indicate that they won’t provide a good home in the future.
The law is called the Adoption and Safe Families Act, or ASFA. Under its dictates, when a child has been in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months, welfare workers are compelled to file for termination of the parent's rights, starting a process that cuts contact between parent and child and – in theory, at least – sets the child on a path to adoption. The agencies can make exceptions in cases where there’s a “compelling reason” that termination isn’t in the child’s best interest, but that usually requires a parent to prove that he or she has maintained a strong relationship with the kids.
Critics of the law say that burden of proof is simply unrealistic for incarcerated parents, whose ability to keep in contact with their children rests on the mercy of potentially unsympathetic prison guards and usually overworked social workers, to say nothing of foster care providers who may be reluctant to facilitate the logistical, bureaucratic and emotional ordeals of a visit to prison. Too often, say ASFA critics, families who would be better off together fall into a bureaucratic Bermuda Triangle where the child welfare and criminal justice systems meet. If they can’t get out, parents stand to lose the right even to seek information about their children – they may never find out where their kids are, how they’re doing, or whether they’ve been adopted.
In New York, that may be about to change. Last month, the state Assembly unanimously passed the ASFA Expanded Discretion bill, which would end the compulsory nature of the 15-month time limit for kids who land in foster care because a parent is incarcerated or enrolled in a residential drug treatment program. The bill’s advocates say that the goal is to allow child welfare workers to make decisions on a case-by-case basis: They could still file for termination of parental rights if there were a good reason to do so, but families wouldn’t be broken apart solely because a parent is in prison.
State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, chair of the Senate’s Children and Families Committee, has championed the change with legislation in the Senate.
“I sponsored this bill to give families separated by the criminal justice and child welfare systems the fighting chance they deserve to rebuild and stay whole,” Montgomery said. "For too long, we've failed to protect the true best interests of children in foster care with parents in prison and treatment programs.”
The bill has two dozen cosponsors in the senate, including nearly all of the Democratic leadership, and it’s backed by a long list of leaders in the state’s child welfare community, both within government and without. Gladys Carrion, Commissioner of the New York Office of Children and Family Services, spoke out for the bill at a press conference on Feb. 23. The Advisory Board of the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet has issued a statement of support, as have the Children’s Defense Fund, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of NYC and the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, which wrote in a statement, “Family bonds are too important to impose this harsh an action on children and families who could, if given the opportunity, stabilize and flourish.”
Some key players don’t see it that way: Mayor Bloomberg’s office, the New York Public Welfare Association and the city's Administration for Children's Services have come out against the Expanded Discretion bill, citing the same concern that inspired ASFA laws in the first place: Kids deserve permanent homes. If their biological parents can’t give them one, then they should be freed for other options.
“We believe this legislation is unnecessary because it creates a special category for children of incarcerated parents and parents in a residential drug treatment program,” ACS Commissioner John Mattingly said via e-mail. “We would rather focus on ensuring that all young people in care have the same options for permanency.”
The bill could go to vote in the Senate as March begins. Should it pass, signing by Gov. Paterson is anticipated by supporters.
http://www.citylimits.org/news/article.cfm?article_id=3895
Foster children with parents in prison are often put up for adoption. The State Senate takes up a bill aimed at slowing that practice.
By Abigail Kramer
Published: Feb 25, 2010
Chrystal Reddick has been clean and sober for one year, nine months and eight days. In that time, she says, she’s submitted to at least 15 drug tests (all negative), taken three different kinds of parenting classes and missed just one visit with her 7-year-old son, who was placed in a foster home when Reddick was arrested for using a stolen credit card, three years ago.
In a few weeks, all of those numbers may be rendered meaningless: Though she holds a job, has an apartment and has never stopped fighting to get back custody of her son, Reddick has run afoul of a child welfare law that, according to its opponents, puts parents who spend time in jail, prison or residential drug treatment programs at unfair risk of losing legal rights to their kids – even when there’s little to indicate that they won’t provide a good home in the future.
The law is called the Adoption and Safe Families Act, or ASFA. Under its dictates, when a child has been in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months, welfare workers are compelled to file for termination of the parent's rights, starting a process that cuts contact between parent and child and – in theory, at least – sets the child on a path to adoption. The agencies can make exceptions in cases where there’s a “compelling reason” that termination isn’t in the child’s best interest, but that usually requires a parent to prove that he or she has maintained a strong relationship with the kids.
Critics of the law say that burden of proof is simply unrealistic for incarcerated parents, whose ability to keep in contact with their children rests on the mercy of potentially unsympathetic prison guards and usually overworked social workers, to say nothing of foster care providers who may be reluctant to facilitate the logistical, bureaucratic and emotional ordeals of a visit to prison. Too often, say ASFA critics, families who would be better off together fall into a bureaucratic Bermuda Triangle where the child welfare and criminal justice systems meet. If they can’t get out, parents stand to lose the right even to seek information about their children – they may never find out where their kids are, how they’re doing, or whether they’ve been adopted.
In New York, that may be about to change. Last month, the state Assembly unanimously passed the ASFA Expanded Discretion bill, which would end the compulsory nature of the 15-month time limit for kids who land in foster care because a parent is incarcerated or enrolled in a residential drug treatment program. The bill’s advocates say that the goal is to allow child welfare workers to make decisions on a case-by-case basis: They could still file for termination of parental rights if there were a good reason to do so, but families wouldn’t be broken apart solely because a parent is in prison.
State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, chair of the Senate’s Children and Families Committee, has championed the change with legislation in the Senate.
“I sponsored this bill to give families separated by the criminal justice and child welfare systems the fighting chance they deserve to rebuild and stay whole,” Montgomery said. "For too long, we've failed to protect the true best interests of children in foster care with parents in prison and treatment programs.”
The bill has two dozen cosponsors in the senate, including nearly all of the Democratic leadership, and it’s backed by a long list of leaders in the state’s child welfare community, both within government and without. Gladys Carrion, Commissioner of the New York Office of Children and Family Services, spoke out for the bill at a press conference on Feb. 23. The Advisory Board of the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet has issued a statement of support, as have the Children’s Defense Fund, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of NYC and the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, which wrote in a statement, “Family bonds are too important to impose this harsh an action on children and families who could, if given the opportunity, stabilize and flourish.”
Some key players don’t see it that way: Mayor Bloomberg’s office, the New York Public Welfare Association and the city's Administration for Children's Services have come out against the Expanded Discretion bill, citing the same concern that inspired ASFA laws in the first place: Kids deserve permanent homes. If their biological parents can’t give them one, then they should be freed for other options.
“We believe this legislation is unnecessary because it creates a special category for children of incarcerated parents and parents in a residential drug treatment program,” ACS Commissioner John Mattingly said via e-mail. “We would rather focus on ensuring that all young people in care have the same options for permanency.”
The bill could go to vote in the Senate as March begins. Should it pass, signing by Gov. Paterson is anticipated by supporters.
http://www.citylimits.org/news/article.cfm?article_id=3895
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Director of Calif. mental hospital arrested for investigation of molesting his foster child
Director of Calif. mental hospital arrested for investigation of molesting his foster child
FILE - In this photo taken Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009 Claude Foulk, executive director, gestures during an interview in his office at the Napa State Hospital in Napa, Calif. Foulk was arrested Wednesday Feb. 24, 2010 after a five-month investigation for allegedly molesting a foster child in his care for more than a decade. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File) (Eric Risberg, ASSOCIATED PRESS / December 9, 2009)
CHRISTOPHER WEBER
Associated Press Writer
February 24, 2010 | 7:13 p.m.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The executive director of a Northern California mental hospital was arrested Wednesday for investigation of molesting his foster child for more than a decade.
Napa State Hospital Director Claude Edward Foulk, 62, was arrested at the hospital after a five-month investigation by Long Beach police.
The hospital fired him after he was charged Tuesday with 35 felony counts, punishable by up to 280 years in prison.
Foulk was booked into custody in Long Beach. Prosecutors asked that bail be set at $3.5 million, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Lesley Klein said.
The investigation was started in September after a man now in his 40s came forward, Long Beach Police Sgt. Dina Zapalski said.
The crimes were "not work-related," Zapalski said.
Foulk is accused of sexually molesting the boy shortly after taking him in as a foster child at age 10 in 1992. The alleged crimes continued through 2004 after Foulk and the youth moved to Walnut, according to the district attorney's office.
Investigators were also looking into claims from four other alleged victims in Long Beach and Rancho Murietta in Northern California dating from 1975 to 2006, before Foulk began working at Napa State Hospital, Zapalski said.
Prosecutors said the statute of limitations could prevent them from pursuing some other alleged cases.
It could not be immediately determined if Foulk had an attorney.
Foulk was appointed director of Napa State Hospital in 2007. Hospital officials declined to comment.
"We did not know anything about this until Long Beach police came to the hospital and arrested him this morning," said Nancy Kincaid, spokeswoman for the California Department of Mental Health.
She noted the alleged incidents predated Foulk's arrival at Napa State Hospital.
"He was not in one-on-one contact with patients," Kincaid said. "He had no clinical hospital privileges, so he wouldn't have been offering treatment."
Dr. Stephen W. Mayberg, director of the state mental health department, said Foulk had been fired.
Napa State Hospital Administrator Dolly Matteucci is serving as acting executive director while the department searches for Foulk's replacement, Kincaid said.
At the time of Foulk's appointment to Napa State Hospital he was lauded for his lengthy career in mental health services in both the private and public sectors.
Prior to taking the position in Napa, Foulk worked for the state Department of Mental Health as the Chief of Program, Policy and Fiscal Support, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported. Before that, he held positions as chief executive officer and chief operating officer of private community acute psychiatric hospitals, including CPC Horizon Hospital and Clinic in Pomona and CPC Alhambra Psychiatric Hospital in Rosemead, according to a Department of Mental Health news release.
Napa State Hospital is one of the largest state mental health facilities in the United States, with about 1,260 beds for patients. Many of the hospital's patients come from the criminal justice system — including those found not guilty by reason of insanity. No juveniles or child molesters are treated at Napa.
___
Associated Press Writers Denise Petski and Shaya Tayefe Mohajer in Los Angeles, Terence Chea in San Francisco and Donald Thompson in Sacramento contributed to this report
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-hospital-director-molestation,0,995978.story
FILE - In this photo taken Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009 Claude Foulk, executive director, gestures during an interview in his office at the Napa State Hospital in Napa, Calif. Foulk was arrested Wednesday Feb. 24, 2010 after a five-month investigation for allegedly molesting a foster child in his care for more than a decade. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File) (Eric Risberg, ASSOCIATED PRESS / December 9, 2009)
CHRISTOPHER WEBER
Associated Press Writer
February 24, 2010 | 7:13 p.m.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The executive director of a Northern California mental hospital was arrested Wednesday for investigation of molesting his foster child for more than a decade.
Napa State Hospital Director Claude Edward Foulk, 62, was arrested at the hospital after a five-month investigation by Long Beach police.
The hospital fired him after he was charged Tuesday with 35 felony counts, punishable by up to 280 years in prison.
Foulk was booked into custody in Long Beach. Prosecutors asked that bail be set at $3.5 million, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Lesley Klein said.
The investigation was started in September after a man now in his 40s came forward, Long Beach Police Sgt. Dina Zapalski said.
The crimes were "not work-related," Zapalski said.
Foulk is accused of sexually molesting the boy shortly after taking him in as a foster child at age 10 in 1992. The alleged crimes continued through 2004 after Foulk and the youth moved to Walnut, according to the district attorney's office.
Investigators were also looking into claims from four other alleged victims in Long Beach and Rancho Murietta in Northern California dating from 1975 to 2006, before Foulk began working at Napa State Hospital, Zapalski said.
Prosecutors said the statute of limitations could prevent them from pursuing some other alleged cases.
It could not be immediately determined if Foulk had an attorney.
Foulk was appointed director of Napa State Hospital in 2007. Hospital officials declined to comment.
"We did not know anything about this until Long Beach police came to the hospital and arrested him this morning," said Nancy Kincaid, spokeswoman for the California Department of Mental Health.
She noted the alleged incidents predated Foulk's arrival at Napa State Hospital.
"He was not in one-on-one contact with patients," Kincaid said. "He had no clinical hospital privileges, so he wouldn't have been offering treatment."
Dr. Stephen W. Mayberg, director of the state mental health department, said Foulk had been fired.
Napa State Hospital Administrator Dolly Matteucci is serving as acting executive director while the department searches for Foulk's replacement, Kincaid said.
At the time of Foulk's appointment to Napa State Hospital he was lauded for his lengthy career in mental health services in both the private and public sectors.
Prior to taking the position in Napa, Foulk worked for the state Department of Mental Health as the Chief of Program, Policy and Fiscal Support, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported. Before that, he held positions as chief executive officer and chief operating officer of private community acute psychiatric hospitals, including CPC Horizon Hospital and Clinic in Pomona and CPC Alhambra Psychiatric Hospital in Rosemead, according to a Department of Mental Health news release.
Napa State Hospital is one of the largest state mental health facilities in the United States, with about 1,260 beds for patients. Many of the hospital's patients come from the criminal justice system — including those found not guilty by reason of insanity. No juveniles or child molesters are treated at Napa.
___
Associated Press Writers Denise Petski and Shaya Tayefe Mohajer in Los Angeles, Terence Chea in San Francisco and Donald Thompson in Sacramento contributed to this report
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-hospital-director-molestation,0,995978.story
Foster mom arrested for child abuse
Foster mom arrested for child abuse
By Jon Johnson
Assistant Editor
Published on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 10:11 PM MST
Children who are orphaned or are victims of cruelty by their biological parents often find themselves placed in foster care. It is therefore that much more reprehensible when those children are victimized by the very person who is paid to care for them.
Tammy Andrews, 39, of Safford was arrested Wednesday on charges of child abuse, unlawful imprisonment and aggravated assault.
According to a press release from the Safford Police Department, officers were dispatched to residence in Safford on Feb. 11 in regard to a report of a 10-year-old boy being stabbed in the hand by his foster mother.
Tammy Andrews sits in a Safford Police Department interview chair prior to speaking with detectives. Andrews was arrested for child abuse, unlawful imprisonment and aggravated assault.
Subsequent investigation revealed the victim lived with Andrews at her residence on Santa Fe Street and had fled the home after he was attacked.
The child was placed into the care of Child Protective Services at that time, and a search warrant was executed at Andrews' house. Several items of evidence were collected during the search, according to the report.
It stated further investigation by Safford detectives and a thorough medical examination of the victim appear to validate allegations of a long history of "significant abuse and neglect of the child" by Andrews.
A second warrant was served on the residence Feb. 24. Additional items were seized and Andrews was arrested. The police investigation is ongoing. Andrews was being interviewed by detectives when this update was posted, and Chief John Griffin said she would be booked into the Graham County Jail after the detectives finish their interview.
The Courier will update this story as more information becomes available.
http://www.eacourier.com/articles/2010/02/24/news/breaking_news/doc4b85f496af096689009179.txt
By Jon Johnson
Assistant Editor
Published on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 10:11 PM MST
Children who are orphaned or are victims of cruelty by their biological parents often find themselves placed in foster care. It is therefore that much more reprehensible when those children are victimized by the very person who is paid to care for them.
Tammy Andrews, 39, of Safford was arrested Wednesday on charges of child abuse, unlawful imprisonment and aggravated assault.
According to a press release from the Safford Police Department, officers were dispatched to residence in Safford on Feb. 11 in regard to a report of a 10-year-old boy being stabbed in the hand by his foster mother.
Tammy Andrews sits in a Safford Police Department interview chair prior to speaking with detectives. Andrews was arrested for child abuse, unlawful imprisonment and aggravated assault.
Subsequent investigation revealed the victim lived with Andrews at her residence on Santa Fe Street and had fled the home after he was attacked.
The child was placed into the care of Child Protective Services at that time, and a search warrant was executed at Andrews' house. Several items of evidence were collected during the search, according to the report.
It stated further investigation by Safford detectives and a thorough medical examination of the victim appear to validate allegations of a long history of "significant abuse and neglect of the child" by Andrews.
A second warrant was served on the residence Feb. 24. Additional items were seized and Andrews was arrested. The police investigation is ongoing. Andrews was being interviewed by detectives when this update was posted, and Chief John Griffin said she would be booked into the Graham County Jail after the detectives finish their interview.
The Courier will update this story as more information becomes available.
http://www.eacourier.com/articles/2010/02/24/news/breaking_news/doc4b85f496af096689009179.txt
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Open Message to Maggie Bishop N.H. DCYF Director
I hope you and your cohorts are pleased as to the way you've changed so many lives in N.H. You've turned parents and grandparents and even foster parents into fighter's. Unfortunately, you've pushed so many over the edge, they can't get their lives back. And I can't even count how many children you've traumatized and drugged, all for the almighty dollar. You've given me a reason to live. Something worth fighting for. My grandchildren and the demise of DCYF, protectors of no-one, destroyers of families. A new outlook on life, you might say. A reason to fight the great and powerful DCYF. You've stolen my grandchildren illegally and asked me, "So what do you want me to do about it now?" I told you I want my grandchildren and I won't stop fighting for them. And what did you tell me? That I will never see my grandchildren again. I will see my grandchildren and I'll make sure they know of all the fraud used in their kidnappings by DCYF. Austin already knew at five years of age how DCYF steals kids. Money isn't everything.
You also told me I should have left my daughter in jail to die. When I asked you if that were your child, would you leave your child there to die, you told me yes, you would. Do you even have any children? I hope you do and I hope they read this and are made aware of what a horrible excuse of a mother you are. Then you asked me why my daughter isn't dead. Could it be that I am a Real child protector, not you? You have no clue how to protect a child. The only thing on your mind is getting away with everything illegal to obtain federal funding. The only thing you know how to do is cash your weekly blood money check's. Do you also get bonus money for every child you steal? Has the Federal government even started an investigation yet as to all the falsified paperwork you submit for funding? If they haven't, it's on the way!
If you've noticed, I'm now moving full steam ahead, since you asked me why my daughter isn't dead. That was the wrong thing to say to a mother who really cares about her children and family. Something you obviously know nothing about. You are a crude, crude woman and you will be the reason N.H. DCYF falls. I and my team will make sure of it. You see, we abide by the law. Something you and your cohorts couldn't do if your lives depended on it. The truth will come out. The sooner the better.
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