“My boss rarely cared about anyone’s welfare. If there was an empty bed, he complained about lost profits.”
January 10, 2010 yvonnemason
Foster Care Abuse Survivors
Child Welfare System Needs Professional Accountability
Apr 29, 2009 Karen Stephenson
Child abuse happens in foster homes and it’s mostly the system that fails children and their foster parents. Tighter restrictions are needed to protect children-in-care.
A recent report by Saskatchewan’s Children’s Advocate concluded that children in Saskatchewan’s foster care system are being subjected to many abuses. The report cites abuse is happening because of non-compliance with policy among staff at the Ministry of Social Service. It also cites how children have suffered because of overcrowding in foster homes.
Foster parents have trust in the child welfare system when children are placed in their home. They know the importance of matching an incoming child with everyone who resides in the home. It doesn’t take long for some foster families to realize, the system doesn’t care about appropriate matching. It’s about filling “available” beds and for private agencies – filling beds is profit.
Speaking Out
“AAFG” is a former foster parent. She often caved under pressure in having children she felt were wrong for her home. Two days before AAFG was to attend her father’s funeral, she was pressured into having an autistic boy placed in her home with the promise it was only a brief emergency placement. AAFG recalls, “The days turned to weeks and the weeks turned to months.” She believes, “ If they looked at who was best suited for my home instead of profits, there would have been much more success in helping the children.” AAFG no longer fosters as her frustration with a failing system was more stress than she could manage.
Marvin Bernstein who authored the Saskatchewan report says that ministry staff would use “manipulative methods” to coerce foster parents into taking another child into their care.
A former case manager in Ontario, Anne W., worked for a privately-run foster care agency. She said her boss would tell her to lie and “pressure” the foster parents into taking a child even though she felt it was setting everyone up for disaster. Anne W. says, “My boss rarely cared about anyone’s welfare. If there was an empty bed, he complained about lost profits.”
Read more at Suite101: Foster Care Abuse Survivors: Child Welfare System Needs Professional Accountability http://abuse.suite101.com/article.cfm/foster_care_abuse_survivors#ixzz0cB3aewIb
Categories: Extoration of Children by CPSTags: cps selling children for profit, cps stealing childrne for profit. abuse by cps, yvonne mason
http://protectingourchildrenfrombeingsold.wordpress.com/category/extoration-of-children-by-cps/
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
Yes Case Workers Get A Bounty For Taking Children From their Parents
Yes Case Workers Get A Bounty For Taking Children From their Parents
January 10, 2010 yvonnemason
Manatee County, Florida has long made a business of stealing children. Families who settle there do not know that, however. They are attracted to the weather, the beauty of the area. If they knew they would never settle anyplace in Florida, which is arguably has the most corrupt CPS system in the nation. The County is run by a Board of Commissioners who meet at this well polished table.
Children are a commodity for which there is a steady and growing market both in the United States and across the world. Child sex-slaves arrive in Europe and elsewhere from unspecified locations; children taken from homes routinely end up in the porn industry. It has been going on for many years but since it did not impact most of us it was easy to ignore. But as counties across the country have cycled down into bankruptcy the need to pump harder for every buck to be made has become more compelling. Today it is not just the most vulnerable who are targeted but families that would before have been passed over as too well connected. In Manatee County the pumping is in fast forward.
Monday, June 2nd 2008
The two young sons of the Roberts were dropped off at the home of their babysitter, Christina Holbrook, residence11534 57th Street Circle East, Parrish, Florida. Both parents work. Michelle and James Roberts are both veterans of the US Navy who met while in service to their country. Both came from families with long and honorable histories of serving in the military.
Their oldest son, had been disciplined by his father the day before for jumping up and down on his baby brother, a potentially life-threatening activity. Spanking was the kind of discipline James himself experienced as a child growing up in Tennessee. The spanking had left a slight bruise.
CPS arrived at the babysitter’s home at 9:30am. They proceeded to strip the two boys and photograph them in the nude, questioning them for an hour. This was a bewildering and frightening experience for the boys.
The first James and Michelle heard of this was when Michelle received a phone call at 3:30pm from Alicia Habib. Habib presented herself as an agent for Child Protective Services, demanding that the couple present themselves for an ‘interview’. No criminal complaint was presented. But the process of intimidation and fear was launched.
Here, Michelle and James find out, to their shock, that the kids have been stripped and photographed. Left feeling as if the ground had been cut out from under them they endured with shock the moment when the deputy sheriff read James his Miranda rights. He was not charged; no criminal complaint was served. Michelle is interviewed. They are given orders. Michelle is to be present when James saw their children. CPS is moving towards building paperwork to take the children away from their parents.
During the interview they were shown the photos taken of their naked children by the deputy. The children’s faces were frozen in tears. He did not show them all the photos, keeping them under the paperwork. Michelle found his behavior intimidating. As the photos were shown he questioned her about their use of discipline.
Soon Michelle and James will realize that the CPS has no power unless they give it to them. CPS depends on the ignorance of ordinary people. The first phase had begun.
The system ground them out fine; dehumanizing them and working with fine-tuned intention to show them, by its actions, that they had no rights and no recourse. At the end of the week a hearing was set; they were now being launched into the second phase of the process that intended to wrest their children from them. But during those endless days they began to come out of the shock and consider their alternatives. They considered the Constitution and the rights they knew they had both sworn to defend as members of the armed forces of America.
Michelle loaded the two boys in their car and drove them hundreds of miles to the town where James had grown up. There, she left them with their great-grandparents. When you are seven months pregnant no long drive is comfortable, but for her children Michelle would risk anything.
In the car she prayed that she would not miscarry the baby held so close to her heart.
The two young parents are both veterans of the War in Iraq. Each had joined the Navy, after looking forward to serving their country from their early teems. She planned this as her career, since 7th Grade. He, since taking in ROTC in High School.
But they had joined a military that they believed cared for its own and kept its promises; after finding that their small son would be have to be left with someone else while both served in the war zone, they resigned. Their son, Lukas, was born the following October.
Now, they knew what the military is about. To them, they were just bodies to fill slots that civilians could fill at twice the pay. Never previously interested in politics they began to think about how the world was being run.
From the time you join you are told he is your commander and chief. She was not a Bush fan, but you cannot say it without fear of reprisal.
But Florida CPS was not finished with them. Although they did not know it, Habib stood to make nearly $10,000 as her bounty for taking the children, both very adoptable, from their home. They never could have imagined that the elderly great-grand-parents would be threatened with arrest, but that is what happened. They began studying the Constitution; This, they knew was the real law in America. If they understood it they could use it.
Now they understand that they should never have talked to CPS. If they had not, CPS would have had to leave them alone. CPS uses fear and intimidation to force the appearance that there they have entered into a ‘contract’ with parents. But since a valid contract cannot exist without the elements of disclosure, consent, and equitable exchange this is a fraud. All parents get is bankruptcy, heartbreak, and too often death.
The Case Plan Ploy – Adam Umholtz
Adam comes from a family that lived in a log cabin in Pennsylvania. The cabin was 230 years old. Made of chestnut beams that are from a species that is not extinct the beams were hand hewed and rectangular and criss crossed. Adam’s dad was a pastor for the Southern Home Mission Board. Adam’s younger brother was born there, in the horseshoe shaped valley that was filled with berry bushes and food they grew themselves.
Adam went to school at the Advanced Training Institute of America, now the ATI. Now he is an entrepreneur, or was until his life and family was hijacked by the CPS. Adam’s children were taken from him and his wife on Monday, July 28th, 2007. They were given a case plan that it was impossible to fulfill.
As part of the 72 goals laid out in the plan was one requirement that Adam attend a class for sexual offenders who had served time in prison. This was impossible for Adam to do. Adam is attending a study on successful parents and couples, a study in which he and his wife were invited to participate. Both parents are strong Christians who take their faith seriously. Neither parent has ever been to prison for any cause, much less a sexual offense. The charges were falsified made by a neighbor who was later charged with having committed a sexual offense themselves.
Adam cannot attend the classes available because he has never been to prison and has never been a sexual offender. He is not eligible for the class in any case. So the court told Adam to confess to a crime he did not commit to get his kids back. The court has an agenda. If Adam confesses they have a clear track for severing his parental rights. The lack of justice does not bother the court or the attorney who has urged him to confess to a crime he did not commit. They are all paid through the process that steals children for resale.
Parents are routinely told that to ‘complete their case plan’ they must fulfill requirements that force them to leave jobs that prevent them from attending classes scheduled from 9 – 5 on work days. They are told they cannot be self employed. Every possible block is put in their paths to complete a ‘requirement’ that is pointless in any case. The same pattern is reported by parents across the United States. Angelina Alexander, a parent in California was told she must quit her job as a taxi driver because she was self employed. Yet she had taken the job, the only one she could find, to fulfill the requirements to attend classes. In her case the report that took her small son from her home was from a former boyfriend who had never seen the child. Complaints that the charge was false were ignored as her processing continued.
Mainstream Americans are at risk today and have no idea what is coming. In Adam’s case the CPS had targeted the kids because they were homeschooling and because they had building materials in the back yard. Then a malicious neighbor, made sexual allegations. The neighbor was later proven to have lied.
But the fact that all the ‘charges’ were illegal did not stop them from forcing you to undertake the ‘Case Plan.’ There were no charges but they had already taken their eight children out of the home. If the family had known they would have refused to talk to CPS.
Adam and his wife are now approaching bankruptcy although they are better off than many couples because at least they do not have to hide to keep the child still living with them. Most parents face the same problem. Attempts to fulfill the case plan make it impossible to earn a living or are impossible to fulfill. There are no charges. There have been no charges. There will be no charges. As with most couples, they force the father to leave so that they will have a clear shot at grabbing the children from the mother.
CPS has continuously made false allegations, added their youngest child, born after they took the original eight children, to the present case, and over and over ignored the orders of the court. One of their daughters in foster care is suffering from a wound on her foot, acquired in the foster home, for which she is receiving no treatment. The wound continues to fester and they can do nothing.
Although there are no charges Adam and his wife are allowed to see the kids only two hours a week with supervision. And the court continues to threaten to sever their parental rights. Adam does not intend to let that happen.
Adam and his wife are considering their options now that they understand the fraud that has been perpetrated. Those options are growing, along with their understanding of the Constitution and how the system in place has worked to negate their rights.
Phase Three – Severing Parental Rights
Greg Pound and his wife, Malissa, had their parental rights severed in November of 2007. The incident that brought CPS into their lives was a simple accident. A friend’s dog visiting their home bit their baby. It could have happened to anyone; the dog’s owner was desperately sorry, the dog had never harmed anyone before. Accidents happen. There was a time when an accident was treated with offers of assistance, not viewed as the means for grabbing children from their parents and their home. But that was before those in power noticed the opportunity PL 105-89 (HR 867) offered them.
For four years the Pounds saw their children for just two hours a month. Looking at the children, across the barriers built by CPS always reduced them to tears.
The last time the Pounds saw their children was at the YMCA in Pinellas County. That ‘not for profit’ is paid 125 million a year, just for that county, according to Pound who says he has researched the subject exhaustively, to ‘babysit’ kids as they meet their parents in a stark ten by twelve foot room for the two hours they are allowed to be together for those months when they still hoped to be reunited.
The system is intended to separate children, a valuable commodity, from their parents. Mandates to reunite children and parents are consistently ignored as children are processed further and further into the system. What then happens to the children varies, but is in all cases appalling.
Along with the system abuse of families parents attempting to work in the system report that FOIA requests on such routine matters as copies of the Oath of Office and bonds, required by the Constitution, for each judge or elected official or law enforcement officer, are not produced, despite repeated requests. Many ask, over and over again, why such requests should be met with silence and hostility. Parents continue to struggle to regain custody of their children and to exact accountability from those who claim sovereign immunity as government employees from the impact of their acts on ordinary Americans. The claim of sovereign immunity for those employed by government is, according to Constitutional experts such as not employed by government entirely without foundation.
The three families whose cases appear here each report that they will never stop fighting. Each family is presently filing a civil rights suit against those involved in their several cases. In light of yesterday’s revelation on child-sex rings, operating across the United States but very present in their own areas of Florida, their questions are ever more anguished as they deal with the echoing emptiness of homes that once held the laughter of children.
Categories: Extoration of Children by CPSTags: Abuse by CPS, adoption and safe families act, caseworks make bounty for taking children, yvonne mason
http://protectingourchildrenfrombeingsold.wordpress.com/category/extoration-of-children-by-cps/
January 10, 2010 yvonnemason
Manatee County, Florida has long made a business of stealing children. Families who settle there do not know that, however. They are attracted to the weather, the beauty of the area. If they knew they would never settle anyplace in Florida, which is arguably has the most corrupt CPS system in the nation. The County is run by a Board of Commissioners who meet at this well polished table.
Children are a commodity for which there is a steady and growing market both in the United States and across the world. Child sex-slaves arrive in Europe and elsewhere from unspecified locations; children taken from homes routinely end up in the porn industry. It has been going on for many years but since it did not impact most of us it was easy to ignore. But as counties across the country have cycled down into bankruptcy the need to pump harder for every buck to be made has become more compelling. Today it is not just the most vulnerable who are targeted but families that would before have been passed over as too well connected. In Manatee County the pumping is in fast forward.
Monday, June 2nd 2008
The two young sons of the Roberts were dropped off at the home of their babysitter, Christina Holbrook, residence11534 57th Street Circle East, Parrish, Florida. Both parents work. Michelle and James Roberts are both veterans of the US Navy who met while in service to their country. Both came from families with long and honorable histories of serving in the military.
Their oldest son, had been disciplined by his father the day before for jumping up and down on his baby brother, a potentially life-threatening activity. Spanking was the kind of discipline James himself experienced as a child growing up in Tennessee. The spanking had left a slight bruise.
CPS arrived at the babysitter’s home at 9:30am. They proceeded to strip the two boys and photograph them in the nude, questioning them for an hour. This was a bewildering and frightening experience for the boys.
The first James and Michelle heard of this was when Michelle received a phone call at 3:30pm from Alicia Habib. Habib presented herself as an agent for Child Protective Services, demanding that the couple present themselves for an ‘interview’. No criminal complaint was presented. But the process of intimidation and fear was launched.
Here, Michelle and James find out, to their shock, that the kids have been stripped and photographed. Left feeling as if the ground had been cut out from under them they endured with shock the moment when the deputy sheriff read James his Miranda rights. He was not charged; no criminal complaint was served. Michelle is interviewed. They are given orders. Michelle is to be present when James saw their children. CPS is moving towards building paperwork to take the children away from their parents.
During the interview they were shown the photos taken of their naked children by the deputy. The children’s faces were frozen in tears. He did not show them all the photos, keeping them under the paperwork. Michelle found his behavior intimidating. As the photos were shown he questioned her about their use of discipline.
Soon Michelle and James will realize that the CPS has no power unless they give it to them. CPS depends on the ignorance of ordinary people. The first phase had begun.
The system ground them out fine; dehumanizing them and working with fine-tuned intention to show them, by its actions, that they had no rights and no recourse. At the end of the week a hearing was set; they were now being launched into the second phase of the process that intended to wrest their children from them. But during those endless days they began to come out of the shock and consider their alternatives. They considered the Constitution and the rights they knew they had both sworn to defend as members of the armed forces of America.
Michelle loaded the two boys in their car and drove them hundreds of miles to the town where James had grown up. There, she left them with their great-grandparents. When you are seven months pregnant no long drive is comfortable, but for her children Michelle would risk anything.
In the car she prayed that she would not miscarry the baby held so close to her heart.
The two young parents are both veterans of the War in Iraq. Each had joined the Navy, after looking forward to serving their country from their early teems. She planned this as her career, since 7th Grade. He, since taking in ROTC in High School.
But they had joined a military that they believed cared for its own and kept its promises; after finding that their small son would be have to be left with someone else while both served in the war zone, they resigned. Their son, Lukas, was born the following October.
Now, they knew what the military is about. To them, they were just bodies to fill slots that civilians could fill at twice the pay. Never previously interested in politics they began to think about how the world was being run.
From the time you join you are told he is your commander and chief. She was not a Bush fan, but you cannot say it without fear of reprisal.
But Florida CPS was not finished with them. Although they did not know it, Habib stood to make nearly $10,000 as her bounty for taking the children, both very adoptable, from their home. They never could have imagined that the elderly great-grand-parents would be threatened with arrest, but that is what happened. They began studying the Constitution; This, they knew was the real law in America. If they understood it they could use it.
Now they understand that they should never have talked to CPS. If they had not, CPS would have had to leave them alone. CPS uses fear and intimidation to force the appearance that there they have entered into a ‘contract’ with parents. But since a valid contract cannot exist without the elements of disclosure, consent, and equitable exchange this is a fraud. All parents get is bankruptcy, heartbreak, and too often death.
The Case Plan Ploy – Adam Umholtz
Adam comes from a family that lived in a log cabin in Pennsylvania. The cabin was 230 years old. Made of chestnut beams that are from a species that is not extinct the beams were hand hewed and rectangular and criss crossed. Adam’s dad was a pastor for the Southern Home Mission Board. Adam’s younger brother was born there, in the horseshoe shaped valley that was filled with berry bushes and food they grew themselves.
Adam went to school at the Advanced Training Institute of America, now the ATI. Now he is an entrepreneur, or was until his life and family was hijacked by the CPS. Adam’s children were taken from him and his wife on Monday, July 28th, 2007. They were given a case plan that it was impossible to fulfill.
As part of the 72 goals laid out in the plan was one requirement that Adam attend a class for sexual offenders who had served time in prison. This was impossible for Adam to do. Adam is attending a study on successful parents and couples, a study in which he and his wife were invited to participate. Both parents are strong Christians who take their faith seriously. Neither parent has ever been to prison for any cause, much less a sexual offense. The charges were falsified made by a neighbor who was later charged with having committed a sexual offense themselves.
Adam cannot attend the classes available because he has never been to prison and has never been a sexual offender. He is not eligible for the class in any case. So the court told Adam to confess to a crime he did not commit to get his kids back. The court has an agenda. If Adam confesses they have a clear track for severing his parental rights. The lack of justice does not bother the court or the attorney who has urged him to confess to a crime he did not commit. They are all paid through the process that steals children for resale.
Parents are routinely told that to ‘complete their case plan’ they must fulfill requirements that force them to leave jobs that prevent them from attending classes scheduled from 9 – 5 on work days. They are told they cannot be self employed. Every possible block is put in their paths to complete a ‘requirement’ that is pointless in any case. The same pattern is reported by parents across the United States. Angelina Alexander, a parent in California was told she must quit her job as a taxi driver because she was self employed. Yet she had taken the job, the only one she could find, to fulfill the requirements to attend classes. In her case the report that took her small son from her home was from a former boyfriend who had never seen the child. Complaints that the charge was false were ignored as her processing continued.
Mainstream Americans are at risk today and have no idea what is coming. In Adam’s case the CPS had targeted the kids because they were homeschooling and because they had building materials in the back yard. Then a malicious neighbor, made sexual allegations. The neighbor was later proven to have lied.
But the fact that all the ‘charges’ were illegal did not stop them from forcing you to undertake the ‘Case Plan.’ There were no charges but they had already taken their eight children out of the home. If the family had known they would have refused to talk to CPS.
Adam and his wife are now approaching bankruptcy although they are better off than many couples because at least they do not have to hide to keep the child still living with them. Most parents face the same problem. Attempts to fulfill the case plan make it impossible to earn a living or are impossible to fulfill. There are no charges. There have been no charges. There will be no charges. As with most couples, they force the father to leave so that they will have a clear shot at grabbing the children from the mother.
CPS has continuously made false allegations, added their youngest child, born after they took the original eight children, to the present case, and over and over ignored the orders of the court. One of their daughters in foster care is suffering from a wound on her foot, acquired in the foster home, for which she is receiving no treatment. The wound continues to fester and they can do nothing.
Although there are no charges Adam and his wife are allowed to see the kids only two hours a week with supervision. And the court continues to threaten to sever their parental rights. Adam does not intend to let that happen.
Adam and his wife are considering their options now that they understand the fraud that has been perpetrated. Those options are growing, along with their understanding of the Constitution and how the system in place has worked to negate their rights.
Phase Three – Severing Parental Rights
Greg Pound and his wife, Malissa, had their parental rights severed in November of 2007. The incident that brought CPS into their lives was a simple accident. A friend’s dog visiting their home bit their baby. It could have happened to anyone; the dog’s owner was desperately sorry, the dog had never harmed anyone before. Accidents happen. There was a time when an accident was treated with offers of assistance, not viewed as the means for grabbing children from their parents and their home. But that was before those in power noticed the opportunity PL 105-89 (HR 867) offered them.
For four years the Pounds saw their children for just two hours a month. Looking at the children, across the barriers built by CPS always reduced them to tears.
The last time the Pounds saw their children was at the YMCA in Pinellas County. That ‘not for profit’ is paid 125 million a year, just for that county, according to Pound who says he has researched the subject exhaustively, to ‘babysit’ kids as they meet their parents in a stark ten by twelve foot room for the two hours they are allowed to be together for those months when they still hoped to be reunited.
The system is intended to separate children, a valuable commodity, from their parents. Mandates to reunite children and parents are consistently ignored as children are processed further and further into the system. What then happens to the children varies, but is in all cases appalling.
Along with the system abuse of families parents attempting to work in the system report that FOIA requests on such routine matters as copies of the Oath of Office and bonds, required by the Constitution, for each judge or elected official or law enforcement officer, are not produced, despite repeated requests. Many ask, over and over again, why such requests should be met with silence and hostility. Parents continue to struggle to regain custody of their children and to exact accountability from those who claim sovereign immunity as government employees from the impact of their acts on ordinary Americans. The claim of sovereign immunity for those employed by government is, according to Constitutional experts such as not employed by government entirely without foundation.
The three families whose cases appear here each report that they will never stop fighting. Each family is presently filing a civil rights suit against those involved in their several cases. In light of yesterday’s revelation on child-sex rings, operating across the United States but very present in their own areas of Florida, their questions are ever more anguished as they deal with the echoing emptiness of homes that once held the laughter of children.
Categories: Extoration of Children by CPSTags: Abuse by CPS, adoption and safe families act, caseworks make bounty for taking children, yvonne mason
http://protectingourchildrenfrombeingsold.wordpress.com/category/extoration-of-children-by-cps/
Couple Makes $4256.00 Per Month for Adopting Eleven Speical Needs Kids
Couple Makes $4256.00 Per Month for Adopting Eleven Speical Needs Kids
January 10, 2010 yvonnemason
Child Collecting Foster Adopters Sentenced To Prison
February 16, 2007 11:43 AM EST (Updated: February 16, 2007 12:24 PM EST)
Some might think a couple who adopted eleven children out of foster care were philanthropists, but when you realize they got adoption subsidy payments of $4256 per month, it is hard to see mere kindness as a motive. And with so many children, a Norwalk, Ohio couple apparently didn’t know what to do, like the old lady in the shoe. So they kept some of the kids in cages made of wire and wood.
Last March a judge decided to terminate their rights to all eleven children, ages 2 to 15, after he determined that at least eight of them had been abused in the Gravelle home.
According to an Associated Press article dated February 15, 2007, Michael Gravelle said, “What do you do with these kids?” He said he prayed for an answer and built cages at the suggestion of social workers. His wife, Susan Gravelle, said the children were never confined as punishment. She claimed the cages were there to protect them. She said one of the children wanted to jump from a second-story window.
Two of the eleven children wrote statements that were read in court. A boy wrote about how grateful he was for his new fosterers. “Because of them I don’t have to steal food,” he said. “I can use the bathroom whenever I want. Never again will I have to sleep in a box.”
A girl’s statement read, “Mom, you walked around like you were God, then whenever you did go places you were Mother Teresa taking in the poor black kids that no one wanted.” She also said that the Gravelles “are grown adults who know the difference between right and wrong. So I ask that they get as much time in jail for as long as my siblings had to be in cages.”
A social worker and others testifying for the Gravelles said the children’s behavior improved because of the cages, which were painted bright red and blue, but the sheriff said the cages were urine stained and lacked pillows and mattresses. One boy claimed to have lived confined to a bathroom for 81 days, and an expert for the defense claimed this imprisonment helped the child.
In any case, the decision has been made as of February 15, 2007. The Gravelles have been sentenced to two years in prison because they adopted so many “special needs” children, that even with $4256 in adoption subsidy payments every month, they didn’t know what to do. Michael Gravelle said when they got into foster-adopting they felt “led by the Lord”. Perhaps if they hadn’t adopted so many kids, it wouldn’t have led to this.
Categories: Extoration of Children by CPSTags: Abuse by CPS, Abuse By Foster Parents, adoption and safe famiies act, capital gain by adoptive parents, yvonne mason
http://protectingourchildrenfrombeingsold.wordpress.com/category/extoration-of-children-by-cps/
January 10, 2010 yvonnemason
Child Collecting Foster Adopters Sentenced To Prison
February 16, 2007 11:43 AM EST (Updated: February 16, 2007 12:24 PM EST)
Some might think a couple who adopted eleven children out of foster care were philanthropists, but when you realize they got adoption subsidy payments of $4256 per month, it is hard to see mere kindness as a motive. And with so many children, a Norwalk, Ohio couple apparently didn’t know what to do, like the old lady in the shoe. So they kept some of the kids in cages made of wire and wood.
Last March a judge decided to terminate their rights to all eleven children, ages 2 to 15, after he determined that at least eight of them had been abused in the Gravelle home.
According to an Associated Press article dated February 15, 2007, Michael Gravelle said, “What do you do with these kids?” He said he prayed for an answer and built cages at the suggestion of social workers. His wife, Susan Gravelle, said the children were never confined as punishment. She claimed the cages were there to protect them. She said one of the children wanted to jump from a second-story window.
Two of the eleven children wrote statements that were read in court. A boy wrote about how grateful he was for his new fosterers. “Because of them I don’t have to steal food,” he said. “I can use the bathroom whenever I want. Never again will I have to sleep in a box.”
A girl’s statement read, “Mom, you walked around like you were God, then whenever you did go places you were Mother Teresa taking in the poor black kids that no one wanted.” She also said that the Gravelles “are grown adults who know the difference between right and wrong. So I ask that they get as much time in jail for as long as my siblings had to be in cages.”
A social worker and others testifying for the Gravelles said the children’s behavior improved because of the cages, which were painted bright red and blue, but the sheriff said the cages were urine stained and lacked pillows and mattresses. One boy claimed to have lived confined to a bathroom for 81 days, and an expert for the defense claimed this imprisonment helped the child.
In any case, the decision has been made as of February 15, 2007. The Gravelles have been sentenced to two years in prison because they adopted so many “special needs” children, that even with $4256 in adoption subsidy payments every month, they didn’t know what to do. Michael Gravelle said when they got into foster-adopting they felt “led by the Lord”. Perhaps if they hadn’t adopted so many kids, it wouldn’t have led to this.
Categories: Extoration of Children by CPSTags: Abuse by CPS, Abuse By Foster Parents, adoption and safe famiies act, capital gain by adoptive parents, yvonne mason
http://protectingourchildrenfrombeingsold.wordpress.com/category/extoration-of-children-by-cps/
This Child Was Not Removed and Should have Been – My Grandchildren Shouldn’t have been and were removed Why?
This Child Was Not Removed and Should have Been – My Grandchildren Shouldn’t have been and were removed Why?
February 27, 2010 yvonnemasonLeave
These kids should not have been taken but were.
Michael Levigne was a kindergarten student at Commerce Primary School.Funeral scheduled for murdered child
Posted by Mark Beardsleyin News, Top Stories
Monday, June 8. 2009
Comments (64)
Funeral services have been schedule for Michael Levigne, the 6-year-old Commerce boy who was killed Sunday. Visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, June 10, at Ginn Funeral Home, located at 90 Church Street in Carnesville. The funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 11, in the chapel of the funeral home.
A memorial fund has been established to help with the funeral expenses. Donations to the Michael Levigne Memorial Fund may be taken to Community Bank & Trust in Commerce. Contributions may also be mailed to: Michael Levigne Memorial Fund, c/o Community Bank & Trust, P.O. Box 59, Commerce, Ga., 30529.
Police believe Robert L. Clark shot and killed his 6-year-old grandson Sunday in a fit of rage over a dropped watermelon. Michael Levigne, a kindergarten student at Commerce Primary School was killed by a gunshot wound to the chest in the Troy Street, Commerce, home of his grandparents. Police say Clark shot his wife, Linda Dale Clarke, 58, in the chest/stomach area before he himself was shot by police officers after he fired a weapon at them.
Categories: Jackson County Georgia DFCSTags: Abuse by CPS, abuse by Jackson County DFCS, murder by cps, yvonne mason
http://protectingourchildrenfrombeingsold.wordpress.com/2010/02/27/this-child-was-not-removed-and-should-have-been-my-grandchildren-shouldnt-have-been-and-were-removed-why/
February 27, 2010 yvonnemasonLeave
These kids should not have been taken but were.
Michael Levigne was a kindergarten student at Commerce Primary School.Funeral scheduled for murdered child
Posted by Mark Beardsleyin News, Top Stories
Monday, June 8. 2009
Comments (64)
Funeral services have been schedule for Michael Levigne, the 6-year-old Commerce boy who was killed Sunday. Visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, June 10, at Ginn Funeral Home, located at 90 Church Street in Carnesville. The funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 11, in the chapel of the funeral home.
A memorial fund has been established to help with the funeral expenses. Donations to the Michael Levigne Memorial Fund may be taken to Community Bank & Trust in Commerce. Contributions may also be mailed to: Michael Levigne Memorial Fund, c/o Community Bank & Trust, P.O. Box 59, Commerce, Ga., 30529.
Police believe Robert L. Clark shot and killed his 6-year-old grandson Sunday in a fit of rage over a dropped watermelon. Michael Levigne, a kindergarten student at Commerce Primary School was killed by a gunshot wound to the chest in the Troy Street, Commerce, home of his grandparents. Police say Clark shot his wife, Linda Dale Clarke, 58, in the chest/stomach area before he himself was shot by police officers after he fired a weapon at them.
Categories: Jackson County Georgia DFCSTags: Abuse by CPS, abuse by Jackson County DFCS, murder by cps, yvonne mason
http://protectingourchildrenfrombeingsold.wordpress.com/2010/02/27/this-child-was-not-removed-and-should-have-been-my-grandchildren-shouldnt-have-been-and-were-removed-why/
Child Abuse: Guilty Until Proven Innocent or Legalized Governmental Child Abuse
Child Abuse: Guilty Until Proven Innocent or Legalized Governmental Child Abuse
February 6, 2010 yvonnemason
Child Abuse: Guilty Until Proven Innocent or Legalized Governmental Child Abuse
Karen Radko*
ABSTRACT: Statistics on the outcome of cases investigated in Florida indicate that in only a very small proportion of the reported cases was it ultimately determined that the parents had abused their children. Although the stated goal of child protection agencies is to keep the family united, in reality children are often quickly removed and placed into foster care following an investigation that is traumatic for parents and children alike, especially when there was no abuse. Suggestions are made for improving the way the system operates.
It should be every person’s legal responsibility to report any child they may reasonably suspect to be abused. However, the consequence of a child abuse report in most states is that the parents may be prosecuted and/or their children taken away with much less evidence than would be required for a conviction in a criminal court. The focus of this paper is to discuss some child abuse issues including the system’s abuse of power (Burriss, 1991) and to make recommendations for improvement.
We first must understand the definition of abuse and neglect (note that parents are not educated as to this definition and its consequences). For example, according to the Florida Statutes 4 (1989, chapters 623-960) criminal abuse and neglect is defined as:
827.04 Child abuse.
1. Whoever, willfully or by culpable negligence, deprives a child of, or allows a child to be deprived of, necessary food, clothing, shelter or medical treatment, or who, knowingly or by culpable negligence, inflicts or permits the infliction of physical or mental injury to the child, and in so doing causes great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement to such child, shall be guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084
2. Whoever, willfully or by culpable negligence, deprives a child of, or allows a child to be deprived of, necessary food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment, or by who, knowingly or by culpable negligence, inflicts or permits the Infliction of physical or mental injury to the child, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
3. Any person who commits any act which thereby causes or tends to cause or encourage any person under the age of 18 years to become a delinquent or dependent child, as defined under the laws of Florida, or which contributes thereto, or any person who shall, by act, threats, commands, or persuasion, induce or endeavor to induce any person under the age of 18 years to do or to perform any act, to follow any course of conduct or so to live, as would cause or tend to cause such person under the age of 18 years to become or to remain a dependent or delinquent child, as defined under the laws of this state, is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. It shall not be necessary for any court exercising juvenile jurisdiction to make an adjudication that any child is delinquent or dependent in order to prosecute a parent or any other person under this section. An adjudication that a child is delinquent or dependent shall not preclude a subsequent prosecution of a parent or any other person who contributes to the delinquency of dependency of the child.
827.05 Negligent treatment of children.
Whoever, though financially able, negligently deprives a child of or allows a child to be deprived of, necessary food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment or permits a child to live in an environment, when such deprivation or environment causes the child’s physical or emotional health to be significantly impaired shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
According to the Florida Protective Services System Annual Report, abuse and neglect is defined as “a child whose physical or mental health or welfare is harmed, or threatened with harm, by the acts or omissions of the parent or other person responsible for the child’s welfare” (Coler, 1991, p.3). This definition is adopted and used by the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services (HRS) case workers that deal with this issue.
As one can easily see from the above two definitions, there is a big difference between the HRS case worker’s definition of child abuse and neglect and the legal definition of abuse and neglect. However, both definitions leave a great deal of discretion to the case worker when attempting to decide whether a child has been abused and whether they can substantiate the need for removal of the child from their home. (A child is defined as one under 18 years of age.)
How Many Cases Are Confirmed?
The Florida Protective Services System Annual Report (Coler, 1991, p.19), Figure 9, indicates that 57% (62,803 cases) investigated by the state of Florida in the year 1989-90 were classified as “unfounded.” An unfounded report means a report in which the investigation determines no indication of abuse or neglect exists. Twenty-nine percent (32,306 cases) were classified as “indicated” (now reclassified as “closed without classification” because the indicated classification has been found unconstitutional (NL, ES, & MM, vs. Gregory L. Coler, 1990). This was due to the classification procedure which did not provide for the right to appeal the decision to label a person a child abuser (Whalen, 1991). Further, 1% (987 cases) were classified “no jurisdiction.” Finally, 13% (14,669 cases) were “confirmed.” The Annual Report defines a confirmed report as “a report in which the investigation determined that the abuse or neglect has occurred and the perpetrator is identified. A preponderance of credible evidence is required in order to classify a report as confirmed” (p.19).
Appeal rights must be given when the case is classified as confirmed. Of the 1200 cases that were appealed in a two-year period, 92% won the appeal (Associated Press, 1989). Thus, the names of the accused were removed from the abuse registry. Therefore, it is likely that in many “confirmed” cases of abuse, the parents did not actually abuse their children. The actual number of abused children in Florida is likely to be relatively small considering that the Florida abuse hotline receives nearly 200,000 calls of child abuse and neglect each year.
Richard Wexler (1990) reports statistics in his book, Wounded Innocents (), that are not normally seen in the news, presented in courts, or given to social workers. These statistics, which come from well-known sources, indicate that “between 95 and 99 out of every 100 women were not sexually abused by their fathers or stepfathers during their childhood (Russell, 1986); more than 99 out of 100 children are not beaten up by their parents every year (Gelles & Straus, 1989, p. 249); and more than 97% of all children are not abused or neglected in any way in the course of a year (U.S. Dept. of Human Services, 1988)” (p.77).
Why are there so many state investigations and so few confirmed reports of abuse? Why must so many families defend their innocence against false allegations of abuse or neglect? The answers are simple; the State Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services (HRS) was mandated under Public Law 92-247 The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974 and Public Law 95-266 The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Adoption Reform Act of 1978 to be “the ultimate authority responsible for children” (HRSM 175-7, 1-9, 1990). HRS has all power and authority over whether to remove children solely on an allegation made to the abuse hotline. The justification for this is called “erring on the side of the child.” With the definition of abuse and neglect so vaguely defined by current law, nearly all children at some time in their lives can fall into one or several categories of being abused or neglected. And although the stated goal of HRS is to keep the family united, strengthen the family, and protect parental rights (Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, 1988), in reality the state often refuses to help parents keep their children.
The Investigation
The investigation usually begins with an anonymous telephone call to the abuse hotline (Casey, 1991) by either a concerned party or one attempting to seek revenge. According to the the Florida Protective Services System Report (1991), “the abuse registry counselors may not be consistently screening allegations of abuse and neglect because they are not sufficiently knowledgeable about the screening criteria’ (iii). The counselors may have insufficient time to gather the information needed to determine whether an investigation is warranted. As a result, some counselors may be rejecting valid abuse allegations, leaving some victims of abuse unprotected by the state intervention program.
Further, “counselors may be initiating investigations unnecessarily, which wastes investigative resources, and unnecessarily intrudes upon the lives of private citizens” (iii, italics added). To improve the effectiveness and consistency of the Registry’s screening practices, more effective training is needed so that the counselors can recognize the presence of behavioral, environmental, and physical indicators of abuse and neglect, and be competent to interview without prejudice.
Once a call has been received and a determination is made to investigate, the HRS worker has up to 24 hours to complete an initial investigation. It has been found that HRS workers frequently take children from their parents with little or no evidence, but only a suspicion that abuse might have occurred. The HRS manual 175-7 (Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, 1990) states that during an investigation the “major source for substantiating the case is the family” and adds that the HRS worker is to document what the “family members transmit to the counselor through the condition of their home, their behavior, their attitudes toward the counselor and each other” (pp.2-17). The HRS worker then uses this information as a basis for removal of a child from the custody and care of the parents.
The Health and Rehabilitative Services Pamphlet (Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, 1988) tells the case worker that often parents are angry and will deny the allegation of abuse or neglect. It advises the case worker: “You must always obtain information to substantiate the alleged perpetrator’s account and to resolve any conflict between the allegations in the report and the alleged perpetrator’s denial” (F-2). It adds that if parents are overly-compliant, accepting, and helpful the case worker should not be falsely assured that the statements the parents are giving are true and accurate (F-2.5.6.) and states: “These may be a smoke screen to diffuse your investigation and manipulate you … be suspicious” (F-11).
However, “suspicious” is never defined, forcing HRS workers to use their own judgment. This advice is seldom advantageous to the family and HRS’s stated goal of keeping the family united and protecting parental rights. With the mentality of “be suspicious” and “substantiate” every allegation, a parent is usually in a no-win situation. If parents are either too hostile or too friendly, they are judged guilty of abuse or neglect simply by their emotions.
After the initial interview the case worker has 30 days to complete the investigation and classify the case. There are four types of classifications: unfounded, closed without classification, proposed confirmed, and confirmed. Bob Horner, a Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services subdistrict administrator, stated, “HRS is not bound by that (the 30 day rule). We can go as long as it takes to make a case (Pride, p.71). Horner observes that during that time, parents have absolutely no rights. However, Terry Ackert, the executive director of Florida’s Orange County Legal Aid Society, notes that every time HRS takes more than 30 days to investigate, they are violating the law: “If HRS isn’t following the written rules, they are abusing their authority beyond reason … their actions are outrageous” (Pride, 1986, p.71).
Abuse by the System
Children are traumatized when they are separated from their parents (Close, 1992; Ostalkiewicz, 1991). If abruptly removed and placed in foster care they are likely to be terrified and may suffer severe emotional distress and depression. Despite this, according to the data collected for the federal government by the American Humane Association, it appears that up to half of the children placed in foster care were in no immediate danger of serious physical injury (Besharov, 1988).
There is little gained by removing a child from the parents unless there are circumstances whereby the child was legitimately taken for protection from life-threatening injuries. Judge Bresee (Close, 1992) states that it is “critical to make a quick decision (in initial investigation and removal of a child) … two weeks doesn’t seem like any time at all, but to a child, it’s an eternity.” Foster care is supposed to be a short-term remedy designed to protect children from harm while parents have time to respond to treatment. Yet, the reality is far different. More than 50% of the children in foster care are in the “temporary” status for over 2 years; more than 30% are away from their parents for over 6 years (Besharov, 1988, p. 221s).
When the Florida government places children in foster care, HRS often prohibits the children from having contact with their friends, church, school, family or relatives. Further, the children lose access to their clothes, special blankets or animals, toys, games, dating (if adolescent), use of vehicle (if of age) and even use of telephone privileges. “This can only be construed as the imprisonment of a child, since the child has not committed any crime and is being held against his or her will; it is false imprisonment” (Burriss, 1991, p.5). Tong (1992) notes, “The long-term ramifications of this (separation trauma and loss of family and possessions) on the children has yet to be determined, but the potential consequences cannot be considered innocuous or inconsequential” (p.120).
Child advocates believe that abuse runs in cycles. Therefore, they maintain that when children are abused, they will later abuse their own children. Similarly, Burriss (1991) notes Gardner’s observation that many people will grow up and enter an occupation because of some major event in their life. For instance, a person exposed to a catastrophic illness may become a physician. Social workers who were abused as children may later wish to take on the cause of child protection. Therefore, they tend to be overzealous and to believe that every reported case of abuse or neglect must be substantiated in order to protect the child.
But, protect them from what … their parents? Wexler (1990) states, “No one will value and protect another’s child as they will their own.” In a Glenn Close (1992) documentary, Broken Hearts, Broken Homes, a social worker, Laurette Moatt, hesitates to return a child to the parents because: “It’s hard to return a child home because of the developmental stage she’s in. It’s not easy to switch primary caretakers. That’s not something kids do just like that.” Yet, this same social worker did not hesitate to “switch primary caretakers” on an unsubstantiated allegation of abuse. In addition, children are at higher risk of receiving physical, sexual and emotional abuse in foster care which may be worse than the alleged abuse by the parents (Jones, 1991).
HRS workers have great power to intervene and separate the child from the parents. However, they are not accountable. The conduct of HRS workers and other child advocates, such as the guardians ad litem, is protected with legal immunity. Florida statutes 415.508 and 39.455 state: “The inability or failure of the social services agency or the employees or agents of the social service agency to provide the services … shall not render the state or the social service agency liability for damages … (292). Also, according to the court case of Darryl H. v. Coler; 801 F. 2d 893.93 A. L. R. Fed. 501, this immunity protects social workers from civil rights violations, knowingly false reports, and abuse of children if done during the investigation.
In addition, all records of investigations involving child abuse are confidential or sealed unavailable to the public. While confidentiality is claimed to protect the child, in actuality it provides an excellent shield to cover up wrong doing by the child protection system. Therefore, child protection workers have full access to children with complete secrecy, immunity from prosecution, and legal protection from the department of Health and Rehabilitative Services if their judgment is questioned. What better environment could a child molester or abuser ask for?
Workers may violate basic civil and constitutional rights, falsify reports, emotionally traumatize and abuse children, and place children in foster care where the children may be physically and/or sexually abused. All of this is done in the name of the best interest of the child. “The government has no right to expect perfection from parents especially when the government has demonstrated they are substantially less than perfect themselves” (Burriss, 1991, p.7).
Jones (1991) identifies the harm of intervention in abuse cases as “iatrogenic harm” or system abuse. Iatrogenic harm is the harm created by the response of the system to an allegation of abuse. Some of the components Jones identifies are overzealous professional intervention which becomes counterproductive; repeated interviewing or “disclosure work”; repeated physical examinations; decline in living standards and family breakup; defensive decision making for fear of lawsuits; withholding of treatment for lack of funds; overtreatment; and foster care, particularly when there are multiple placements and the disruptions are abrupt.
In defense of the social worker, the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services in Florida acknowledges that “unfortunately, unpredictable increases in reports and cases, long-term vacancy rates and high turnover in staff have reduced the goal of obtaining manageable and effective workload” (Florida Protective Services System, p. 42). Workers are not adequately screened nor trained to do the job that is entrusted to them. A worker can have a four-year degree from any college. Although they have background checks, via fingerprints through the FBI run on them after employment, the screening does have information regarding abuse or neglect listed against them when they were children. Such childhood abuse could influence their attitudes as protective workers.
The recommended number of new cases per case worker is to be no more than 12 per month. However, workers average up to 15 or more new cases. When this is added to the existing case load, considering children stay in government care on the average of 2 to 6 years, a case worker may have up to approximately 120 cases. David Flagg, State House of Representatives of Alachua County, Florida (1988 to 1992) observes this is an outrage, not only for the case worker, but for the children (personal communication). Mr. Flagg felt that no one person could possibly handle that large a case load and do the task of protecting children adequately. He said it was no wonder children and families are being separated for long periods due to the lack of proper services being offered to reunite the family. ABC’s Diane Sawyer (News Prime Time Live, December 3, 1992) observes that “The HRS’s system is stretched too thin — too many case, too few workers … (social workers) are also just careless and incompetent.
Luza and Ortiz (1991) describe what they term the “shame” factor child protective workers use against families. They believe that “the Child Protective Service workers act in a shaming way toward people it investigates for abuse, in much the same way that a parent shames a child in a dysfunctional family. The family becomes the shamed ‘child’ and the CPS acts as the shaming ‘parent’” (p.109). Luza and Ortiz believe that even though there are laws requiring professionals to identify and report abuse, the pendulum may have swung too far in that it is considered unwise to support less intervention because one may be thought of as a proponent of child abuse. The result is unnecessary state intervention into private family matters and grief to innocent parents and their children.
Recommendations for Improvement
Schultz (1989) reports on a case study of 100 cases of unfounded abuse and makes several recommendations for improvement in the system:
The case load of the child protective worker should be reduced to a manageable level.
The hotline reports should be classified by experienced workers in terms of the seriousness of the risk.
In-service training for administrators in proper and ethical use of media (which often uses hype and exaggerated data) should be provided.
Initial call screening must be improved.
Family-impact statements should be required to justify all major decisions for state intervention into family privacy.
Child protective agencies should assign one case worker to represent the child and one worker to represent the interest and rights of the parents.
Family mediation should be a first step in allegations, instead of court action.
Interviews of suspected victims and offenders should be videotaped by properly trained personnel.
Investigators should receive training in how to effectively gather evidence that will stand up in court.
Professional assistance for parent-victim should be provided to assist them in forgiving the court and repairing injury by the system.
Some type of victims-compensation benefit for falsely charged and/or convicted individuals should be instituted, or made a part of current victims compensation policy.
There is one solution that has been implemented, as a pilot program in four districts in Florida (Chapter 415, 415.515-415.22). That program is the Family Builders Program. This program, which was developed by the Behavioral Sciences Institute in Washington, DC, is an intensive family preservation service designed to keep families intact and to improve family functioning (Kenny, 1991). Referrals to this program are parents who have allegedly abused or neglected their children and may lose custody of their children to the state department of HRS.
A team of highly trained therapists and social workers work with no more than three families at a time. They assess the needs of the family and they provide necessary services, such as help in obtaining food, clothing, and shelter; training in parenting skills, balancing a checkbook, and preparing nutritious meals; and teaching families about emotions, behaviors, and interpersonal relationships. The cost of these services, which are paid for by state, federal and private funds, does not exceed the cost of out-of-home care which otherwise would be incurred.
The social worker and therapists are available to the family 24 hours a day for up to 90 days. After that, there are monthly follow-ups by the same team for up to 12 months. This program has proven to be highly cost effective and 88% of the children originally targeted for out-of-home placement remain out of government-funded foster, group or institutional care. Therefore, this program is saving Florida substantial money.
Conclusions
Child abuse is a serious issue but is not as widespread as some child advocates maintain. Children not only have the right to grow up free of abuse, but have the right to expect to be raised within their own family. This issue is not just about “saving children”; it is about family preservation (Wexler, 1990). Until professionals can accept the fact that the family unit is the most important part of the child’s life, and that parents need to be recognized as the “experts” in knowing what is in the best interests of their children, innocent families will continue to be destroyed in what the bureaucratic government agencies call “acting in the best interest of the child” or “erring on the side of the child.” If we are really serious about child protection, we must begin “erring on the side of the family” (Wexler, 1990).
References
ABC News Prime Time Live, (1992, December 3). Who watches the watchmen? (Television). American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. Transcript #274.
Besharov, D. J. (1988). How child abuse programs hurt poor children: the misuse of foster care. Clearinghouse Review, 22(3), 219-227.
Burriss, R. (1991). The government’s right to molest children in the best interest of the child. Unpublished manuscript.
Casey, S. (1991). District Administrator HRS, Gainesville, Florida. Letter to David Flagg, Representative, District 24.
Close, C. (1992, December 2). Broken hearts, broken homes. Your family matters [documentary]. Lifetime production. Transcript #10.
Coler, G. L (1991). Florida Protective Services System: Annual Report, Fiscal Year 1989-90, Child Protective Investigations, pp.3, 19, 41-42. Tallahassee, Florida: Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services.
Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services. (1990). HRS Manual 175-7, pp. 1-9, 2-17. Tallahassee, Florida: Author.
Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services. (1988). HRS Pamphlet 175-1. Child Protective Services Investigation Decisions Handbook, Appendix F, F-2; F-11; pp. 7-5, 7-8. Tallahassee, Florida: Author.
Florida Protective Services System (1991). Executive Summary. Audit Report No. 11645, pp. i-vii. Tallahassee, Florida: Author.
Florida Statutes 4. (1989). Chapters 624-960, pp. 1308.
Florida Statutes 1. (1991). Chapters 1-246, pp. 292.
Florida Statutes 3. (1991). Chapters 409-623, pp. 117, 143-144.
Gelles, R., & Straus, M. (1989). Intimate Violence: The Causes and Consequences of Abuse in the American Family (). New York: Touchstone Books.
Jones, D. P. (1991). Professional and clinical challengers to protection of children. Child Abuse & Neglect, 15, 57-66.
Kinney, J. (1991). Making a difference for children, families and communities. Behavioral Science Institute.
Luza, S., & Ortiz, E. (1991). The dynamic of shame in interactions between child protective services and families falsely accused of child abuse. Issues In Child Abuse Accusations, 3(2), 108-123.
NL, ES, & MM plaintiff vs. Gregory L Coler, individually and as Secretary of the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, State of Florida, defendant, (1990, March). Case #TCA 90-40069-MP, in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee Division.
Ostalkiewicz, J. (1991. February). Family rights: HRS’ child abuse witch hunt. Orlando, FL, Newsletter, 1-8.
Pride, N. (1986). The Child Abuse Industry (). Illinois: Crossway Books.
Russell, D. (1986). The Secret Trauma: Incest in the Lives of Girls and Women (). New York: Basic Books.
Schultz, L. (1989). One hundred cases of unfounded child sexual abuse: A survey and recommendations. Issues In Child Abuse Accusations, 1(1), 29-38.
Associated Press (1989, February 7). Study: 92% of appealed child-abuse cases false. The Orlando Sentinel, p. B-1, B-5 and the Tallahassee Sun-Sentinal, p. 16-A.
Tong, D. (1992). Don’t Blame Me, Daddy (). Norfolk, Virginia: Hampton Roads Publishing Co.
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, National Center of Child Abuse and Neglect. (1988). Study findings: Study of national incidence and prevalence of child abuse and neglect (1988 NIS-2). Chapter 3, p. 2. Washington, DC: Author.
Wexler, J. (1990). Wounded Innocents: The Real Victims of the War Against Child Abuse (). New York: Prometheus Books.
Whalen, J. (1991). Florida abuse registry loses in federal court. Issues In Child Abuse Allegations, 3(4), 228-231.
* Karen Radko is the vice-president of the Board of Directors of VOCAL of Florida and the District Representative for the Gainesville, Florida VOCAL Chapter. Ms. Radko, who is pursuing a masters and doctorate in psychology, can be reached at P.O. Box 7021, Gainesville, Florida 32605. [Back]
Abuse by CPS, guilty until proven innocent, yvonne mason
http://protectingourchildrenfrombeingsold.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/child-abuse-guilty-until-proven-innocent-or-legalized-governmental-child-abuse/
February 6, 2010 yvonnemason
Child Abuse: Guilty Until Proven Innocent or Legalized Governmental Child Abuse
Karen Radko*
ABSTRACT: Statistics on the outcome of cases investigated in Florida indicate that in only a very small proportion of the reported cases was it ultimately determined that the parents had abused their children. Although the stated goal of child protection agencies is to keep the family united, in reality children are often quickly removed and placed into foster care following an investigation that is traumatic for parents and children alike, especially when there was no abuse. Suggestions are made for improving the way the system operates.
It should be every person’s legal responsibility to report any child they may reasonably suspect to be abused. However, the consequence of a child abuse report in most states is that the parents may be prosecuted and/or their children taken away with much less evidence than would be required for a conviction in a criminal court. The focus of this paper is to discuss some child abuse issues including the system’s abuse of power (Burriss, 1991) and to make recommendations for improvement.
We first must understand the definition of abuse and neglect (note that parents are not educated as to this definition and its consequences). For example, according to the Florida Statutes 4 (1989, chapters 623-960) criminal abuse and neglect is defined as:
827.04 Child abuse.
1. Whoever, willfully or by culpable negligence, deprives a child of, or allows a child to be deprived of, necessary food, clothing, shelter or medical treatment, or who, knowingly or by culpable negligence, inflicts or permits the infliction of physical or mental injury to the child, and in so doing causes great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement to such child, shall be guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084
2. Whoever, willfully or by culpable negligence, deprives a child of, or allows a child to be deprived of, necessary food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment, or by who, knowingly or by culpable negligence, inflicts or permits the Infliction of physical or mental injury to the child, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
3. Any person who commits any act which thereby causes or tends to cause or encourage any person under the age of 18 years to become a delinquent or dependent child, as defined under the laws of Florida, or which contributes thereto, or any person who shall, by act, threats, commands, or persuasion, induce or endeavor to induce any person under the age of 18 years to do or to perform any act, to follow any course of conduct or so to live, as would cause or tend to cause such person under the age of 18 years to become or to remain a dependent or delinquent child, as defined under the laws of this state, is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. It shall not be necessary for any court exercising juvenile jurisdiction to make an adjudication that any child is delinquent or dependent in order to prosecute a parent or any other person under this section. An adjudication that a child is delinquent or dependent shall not preclude a subsequent prosecution of a parent or any other person who contributes to the delinquency of dependency of the child.
827.05 Negligent treatment of children.
Whoever, though financially able, negligently deprives a child of or allows a child to be deprived of, necessary food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment or permits a child to live in an environment, when such deprivation or environment causes the child’s physical or emotional health to be significantly impaired shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
According to the Florida Protective Services System Annual Report, abuse and neglect is defined as “a child whose physical or mental health or welfare is harmed, or threatened with harm, by the acts or omissions of the parent or other person responsible for the child’s welfare” (Coler, 1991, p.3). This definition is adopted and used by the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services (HRS) case workers that deal with this issue.
As one can easily see from the above two definitions, there is a big difference between the HRS case worker’s definition of child abuse and neglect and the legal definition of abuse and neglect. However, both definitions leave a great deal of discretion to the case worker when attempting to decide whether a child has been abused and whether they can substantiate the need for removal of the child from their home. (A child is defined as one under 18 years of age.)
How Many Cases Are Confirmed?
The Florida Protective Services System Annual Report (Coler, 1991, p.19), Figure 9, indicates that 57% (62,803 cases) investigated by the state of Florida in the year 1989-90 were classified as “unfounded.” An unfounded report means a report in which the investigation determines no indication of abuse or neglect exists. Twenty-nine percent (32,306 cases) were classified as “indicated” (now reclassified as “closed without classification” because the indicated classification has been found unconstitutional (NL, ES, & MM, vs. Gregory L. Coler, 1990). This was due to the classification procedure which did not provide for the right to appeal the decision to label a person a child abuser (Whalen, 1991). Further, 1% (987 cases) were classified “no jurisdiction.” Finally, 13% (14,669 cases) were “confirmed.” The Annual Report defines a confirmed report as “a report in which the investigation determined that the abuse or neglect has occurred and the perpetrator is identified. A preponderance of credible evidence is required in order to classify a report as confirmed” (p.19).
Appeal rights must be given when the case is classified as confirmed. Of the 1200 cases that were appealed in a two-year period, 92% won the appeal (Associated Press, 1989). Thus, the names of the accused were removed from the abuse registry. Therefore, it is likely that in many “confirmed” cases of abuse, the parents did not actually abuse their children. The actual number of abused children in Florida is likely to be relatively small considering that the Florida abuse hotline receives nearly 200,000 calls of child abuse and neglect each year.
Richard Wexler (1990) reports statistics in his book, Wounded Innocents (), that are not normally seen in the news, presented in courts, or given to social workers. These statistics, which come from well-known sources, indicate that “between 95 and 99 out of every 100 women were not sexually abused by their fathers or stepfathers during their childhood (Russell, 1986); more than 99 out of 100 children are not beaten up by their parents every year (Gelles & Straus, 1989, p. 249); and more than 97% of all children are not abused or neglected in any way in the course of a year (U.S. Dept. of Human Services, 1988)” (p.77).
Why are there so many state investigations and so few confirmed reports of abuse? Why must so many families defend their innocence against false allegations of abuse or neglect? The answers are simple; the State Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services (HRS) was mandated under Public Law 92-247 The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974 and Public Law 95-266 The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Adoption Reform Act of 1978 to be “the ultimate authority responsible for children” (HRSM 175-7, 1-9, 1990). HRS has all power and authority over whether to remove children solely on an allegation made to the abuse hotline. The justification for this is called “erring on the side of the child.” With the definition of abuse and neglect so vaguely defined by current law, nearly all children at some time in their lives can fall into one or several categories of being abused or neglected. And although the stated goal of HRS is to keep the family united, strengthen the family, and protect parental rights (Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, 1988), in reality the state often refuses to help parents keep their children.
The Investigation
The investigation usually begins with an anonymous telephone call to the abuse hotline (Casey, 1991) by either a concerned party or one attempting to seek revenge. According to the the Florida Protective Services System Report (1991), “the abuse registry counselors may not be consistently screening allegations of abuse and neglect because they are not sufficiently knowledgeable about the screening criteria’ (iii). The counselors may have insufficient time to gather the information needed to determine whether an investigation is warranted. As a result, some counselors may be rejecting valid abuse allegations, leaving some victims of abuse unprotected by the state intervention program.
Further, “counselors may be initiating investigations unnecessarily, which wastes investigative resources, and unnecessarily intrudes upon the lives of private citizens” (iii, italics added). To improve the effectiveness and consistency of the Registry’s screening practices, more effective training is needed so that the counselors can recognize the presence of behavioral, environmental, and physical indicators of abuse and neglect, and be competent to interview without prejudice.
Once a call has been received and a determination is made to investigate, the HRS worker has up to 24 hours to complete an initial investigation. It has been found that HRS workers frequently take children from their parents with little or no evidence, but only a suspicion that abuse might have occurred. The HRS manual 175-7 (Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, 1990) states that during an investigation the “major source for substantiating the case is the family” and adds that the HRS worker is to document what the “family members transmit to the counselor through the condition of their home, their behavior, their attitudes toward the counselor and each other” (pp.2-17). The HRS worker then uses this information as a basis for removal of a child from the custody and care of the parents.
The Health and Rehabilitative Services Pamphlet (Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, 1988) tells the case worker that often parents are angry and will deny the allegation of abuse or neglect. It advises the case worker: “You must always obtain information to substantiate the alleged perpetrator’s account and to resolve any conflict between the allegations in the report and the alleged perpetrator’s denial” (F-2). It adds that if parents are overly-compliant, accepting, and helpful the case worker should not be falsely assured that the statements the parents are giving are true and accurate (F-2.5.6.) and states: “These may be a smoke screen to diffuse your investigation and manipulate you … be suspicious” (F-11).
However, “suspicious” is never defined, forcing HRS workers to use their own judgment. This advice is seldom advantageous to the family and HRS’s stated goal of keeping the family united and protecting parental rights. With the mentality of “be suspicious” and “substantiate” every allegation, a parent is usually in a no-win situation. If parents are either too hostile or too friendly, they are judged guilty of abuse or neglect simply by their emotions.
After the initial interview the case worker has 30 days to complete the investigation and classify the case. There are four types of classifications: unfounded, closed without classification, proposed confirmed, and confirmed. Bob Horner, a Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services subdistrict administrator, stated, “HRS is not bound by that (the 30 day rule). We can go as long as it takes to make a case (Pride, p.71). Horner observes that during that time, parents have absolutely no rights. However, Terry Ackert, the executive director of Florida’s Orange County Legal Aid Society, notes that every time HRS takes more than 30 days to investigate, they are violating the law: “If HRS isn’t following the written rules, they are abusing their authority beyond reason … their actions are outrageous” (Pride, 1986, p.71).
Abuse by the System
Children are traumatized when they are separated from their parents (Close, 1992; Ostalkiewicz, 1991). If abruptly removed and placed in foster care they are likely to be terrified and may suffer severe emotional distress and depression. Despite this, according to the data collected for the federal government by the American Humane Association, it appears that up to half of the children placed in foster care were in no immediate danger of serious physical injury (Besharov, 1988).
There is little gained by removing a child from the parents unless there are circumstances whereby the child was legitimately taken for protection from life-threatening injuries. Judge Bresee (Close, 1992) states that it is “critical to make a quick decision (in initial investigation and removal of a child) … two weeks doesn’t seem like any time at all, but to a child, it’s an eternity.” Foster care is supposed to be a short-term remedy designed to protect children from harm while parents have time to respond to treatment. Yet, the reality is far different. More than 50% of the children in foster care are in the “temporary” status for over 2 years; more than 30% are away from their parents for over 6 years (Besharov, 1988, p. 221s).
When the Florida government places children in foster care, HRS often prohibits the children from having contact with their friends, church, school, family or relatives. Further, the children lose access to their clothes, special blankets or animals, toys, games, dating (if adolescent), use of vehicle (if of age) and even use of telephone privileges. “This can only be construed as the imprisonment of a child, since the child has not committed any crime and is being held against his or her will; it is false imprisonment” (Burriss, 1991, p.5). Tong (1992) notes, “The long-term ramifications of this (separation trauma and loss of family and possessions) on the children has yet to be determined, but the potential consequences cannot be considered innocuous or inconsequential” (p.120).
Child advocates believe that abuse runs in cycles. Therefore, they maintain that when children are abused, they will later abuse their own children. Similarly, Burriss (1991) notes Gardner’s observation that many people will grow up and enter an occupation because of some major event in their life. For instance, a person exposed to a catastrophic illness may become a physician. Social workers who were abused as children may later wish to take on the cause of child protection. Therefore, they tend to be overzealous and to believe that every reported case of abuse or neglect must be substantiated in order to protect the child.
But, protect them from what … their parents? Wexler (1990) states, “No one will value and protect another’s child as they will their own.” In a Glenn Close (1992) documentary, Broken Hearts, Broken Homes, a social worker, Laurette Moatt, hesitates to return a child to the parents because: “It’s hard to return a child home because of the developmental stage she’s in. It’s not easy to switch primary caretakers. That’s not something kids do just like that.” Yet, this same social worker did not hesitate to “switch primary caretakers” on an unsubstantiated allegation of abuse. In addition, children are at higher risk of receiving physical, sexual and emotional abuse in foster care which may be worse than the alleged abuse by the parents (Jones, 1991).
HRS workers have great power to intervene and separate the child from the parents. However, they are not accountable. The conduct of HRS workers and other child advocates, such as the guardians ad litem, is protected with legal immunity. Florida statutes 415.508 and 39.455 state: “The inability or failure of the social services agency or the employees or agents of the social service agency to provide the services … shall not render the state or the social service agency liability for damages … (292). Also, according to the court case of Darryl H. v. Coler; 801 F. 2d 893.93 A. L. R. Fed. 501, this immunity protects social workers from civil rights violations, knowingly false reports, and abuse of children if done during the investigation.
In addition, all records of investigations involving child abuse are confidential or sealed unavailable to the public. While confidentiality is claimed to protect the child, in actuality it provides an excellent shield to cover up wrong doing by the child protection system. Therefore, child protection workers have full access to children with complete secrecy, immunity from prosecution, and legal protection from the department of Health and Rehabilitative Services if their judgment is questioned. What better environment could a child molester or abuser ask for?
Workers may violate basic civil and constitutional rights, falsify reports, emotionally traumatize and abuse children, and place children in foster care where the children may be physically and/or sexually abused. All of this is done in the name of the best interest of the child. “The government has no right to expect perfection from parents especially when the government has demonstrated they are substantially less than perfect themselves” (Burriss, 1991, p.7).
Jones (1991) identifies the harm of intervention in abuse cases as “iatrogenic harm” or system abuse. Iatrogenic harm is the harm created by the response of the system to an allegation of abuse. Some of the components Jones identifies are overzealous professional intervention which becomes counterproductive; repeated interviewing or “disclosure work”; repeated physical examinations; decline in living standards and family breakup; defensive decision making for fear of lawsuits; withholding of treatment for lack of funds; overtreatment; and foster care, particularly when there are multiple placements and the disruptions are abrupt.
In defense of the social worker, the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services in Florida acknowledges that “unfortunately, unpredictable increases in reports and cases, long-term vacancy rates and high turnover in staff have reduced the goal of obtaining manageable and effective workload” (Florida Protective Services System, p. 42). Workers are not adequately screened nor trained to do the job that is entrusted to them. A worker can have a four-year degree from any college. Although they have background checks, via fingerprints through the FBI run on them after employment, the screening does have information regarding abuse or neglect listed against them when they were children. Such childhood abuse could influence their attitudes as protective workers.
The recommended number of new cases per case worker is to be no more than 12 per month. However, workers average up to 15 or more new cases. When this is added to the existing case load, considering children stay in government care on the average of 2 to 6 years, a case worker may have up to approximately 120 cases. David Flagg, State House of Representatives of Alachua County, Florida (1988 to 1992) observes this is an outrage, not only for the case worker, but for the children (personal communication). Mr. Flagg felt that no one person could possibly handle that large a case load and do the task of protecting children adequately. He said it was no wonder children and families are being separated for long periods due to the lack of proper services being offered to reunite the family. ABC’s Diane Sawyer (News Prime Time Live, December 3, 1992) observes that “The HRS’s system is stretched too thin — too many case, too few workers … (social workers) are also just careless and incompetent.
Luza and Ortiz (1991) describe what they term the “shame” factor child protective workers use against families. They believe that “the Child Protective Service workers act in a shaming way toward people it investigates for abuse, in much the same way that a parent shames a child in a dysfunctional family. The family becomes the shamed ‘child’ and the CPS acts as the shaming ‘parent’” (p.109). Luza and Ortiz believe that even though there are laws requiring professionals to identify and report abuse, the pendulum may have swung too far in that it is considered unwise to support less intervention because one may be thought of as a proponent of child abuse. The result is unnecessary state intervention into private family matters and grief to innocent parents and their children.
Recommendations for Improvement
Schultz (1989) reports on a case study of 100 cases of unfounded abuse and makes several recommendations for improvement in the system:
The case load of the child protective worker should be reduced to a manageable level.
The hotline reports should be classified by experienced workers in terms of the seriousness of the risk.
In-service training for administrators in proper and ethical use of media (which often uses hype and exaggerated data) should be provided.
Initial call screening must be improved.
Family-impact statements should be required to justify all major decisions for state intervention into family privacy.
Child protective agencies should assign one case worker to represent the child and one worker to represent the interest and rights of the parents.
Family mediation should be a first step in allegations, instead of court action.
Interviews of suspected victims and offenders should be videotaped by properly trained personnel.
Investigators should receive training in how to effectively gather evidence that will stand up in court.
Professional assistance for parent-victim should be provided to assist them in forgiving the court and repairing injury by the system.
Some type of victims-compensation benefit for falsely charged and/or convicted individuals should be instituted, or made a part of current victims compensation policy.
There is one solution that has been implemented, as a pilot program in four districts in Florida (Chapter 415, 415.515-415.22). That program is the Family Builders Program. This program, which was developed by the Behavioral Sciences Institute in Washington, DC, is an intensive family preservation service designed to keep families intact and to improve family functioning (Kenny, 1991). Referrals to this program are parents who have allegedly abused or neglected their children and may lose custody of their children to the state department of HRS.
A team of highly trained therapists and social workers work with no more than three families at a time. They assess the needs of the family and they provide necessary services, such as help in obtaining food, clothing, and shelter; training in parenting skills, balancing a checkbook, and preparing nutritious meals; and teaching families about emotions, behaviors, and interpersonal relationships. The cost of these services, which are paid for by state, federal and private funds, does not exceed the cost of out-of-home care which otherwise would be incurred.
The social worker and therapists are available to the family 24 hours a day for up to 90 days. After that, there are monthly follow-ups by the same team for up to 12 months. This program has proven to be highly cost effective and 88% of the children originally targeted for out-of-home placement remain out of government-funded foster, group or institutional care. Therefore, this program is saving Florida substantial money.
Conclusions
Child abuse is a serious issue but is not as widespread as some child advocates maintain. Children not only have the right to grow up free of abuse, but have the right to expect to be raised within their own family. This issue is not just about “saving children”; it is about family preservation (Wexler, 1990). Until professionals can accept the fact that the family unit is the most important part of the child’s life, and that parents need to be recognized as the “experts” in knowing what is in the best interests of their children, innocent families will continue to be destroyed in what the bureaucratic government agencies call “acting in the best interest of the child” or “erring on the side of the child.” If we are really serious about child protection, we must begin “erring on the side of the family” (Wexler, 1990).
References
ABC News Prime Time Live, (1992, December 3). Who watches the watchmen? (Television). American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. Transcript #274.
Besharov, D. J. (1988). How child abuse programs hurt poor children: the misuse of foster care. Clearinghouse Review, 22(3), 219-227.
Burriss, R. (1991). The government’s right to molest children in the best interest of the child. Unpublished manuscript.
Casey, S. (1991). District Administrator HRS, Gainesville, Florida. Letter to David Flagg, Representative, District 24.
Close, C. (1992, December 2). Broken hearts, broken homes. Your family matters [documentary]. Lifetime production. Transcript #10.
Coler, G. L (1991). Florida Protective Services System: Annual Report, Fiscal Year 1989-90, Child Protective Investigations, pp.3, 19, 41-42. Tallahassee, Florida: Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services.
Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services. (1990). HRS Manual 175-7, pp. 1-9, 2-17. Tallahassee, Florida: Author.
Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services. (1988). HRS Pamphlet 175-1. Child Protective Services Investigation Decisions Handbook, Appendix F, F-2; F-11; pp. 7-5, 7-8. Tallahassee, Florida: Author.
Florida Protective Services System (1991). Executive Summary. Audit Report No. 11645, pp. i-vii. Tallahassee, Florida: Author.
Florida Statutes 4. (1989). Chapters 624-960, pp. 1308.
Florida Statutes 1. (1991). Chapters 1-246, pp. 292.
Florida Statutes 3. (1991). Chapters 409-623, pp. 117, 143-144.
Gelles, R., & Straus, M. (1989). Intimate Violence: The Causes and Consequences of Abuse in the American Family (). New York: Touchstone Books.
Jones, D. P. (1991). Professional and clinical challengers to protection of children. Child Abuse & Neglect, 15, 57-66.
Kinney, J. (1991). Making a difference for children, families and communities. Behavioral Science Institute.
Luza, S., & Ortiz, E. (1991). The dynamic of shame in interactions between child protective services and families falsely accused of child abuse. Issues In Child Abuse Accusations, 3(2), 108-123.
NL, ES, & MM plaintiff vs. Gregory L Coler, individually and as Secretary of the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, State of Florida, defendant, (1990, March). Case #TCA 90-40069-MP, in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee Division.
Ostalkiewicz, J. (1991. February). Family rights: HRS’ child abuse witch hunt. Orlando, FL, Newsletter, 1-8.
Pride, N. (1986). The Child Abuse Industry (). Illinois: Crossway Books.
Russell, D. (1986). The Secret Trauma: Incest in the Lives of Girls and Women (). New York: Basic Books.
Schultz, L. (1989). One hundred cases of unfounded child sexual abuse: A survey and recommendations. Issues In Child Abuse Accusations, 1(1), 29-38.
Associated Press (1989, February 7). Study: 92% of appealed child-abuse cases false. The Orlando Sentinel, p. B-1, B-5 and the Tallahassee Sun-Sentinal, p. 16-A.
Tong, D. (1992). Don’t Blame Me, Daddy (). Norfolk, Virginia: Hampton Roads Publishing Co.
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, National Center of Child Abuse and Neglect. (1988). Study findings: Study of national incidence and prevalence of child abuse and neglect (1988 NIS-2). Chapter 3, p. 2. Washington, DC: Author.
Wexler, J. (1990). Wounded Innocents: The Real Victims of the War Against Child Abuse (). New York: Prometheus Books.
Whalen, J. (1991). Florida abuse registry loses in federal court. Issues In Child Abuse Allegations, 3(4), 228-231.
* Karen Radko is the vice-president of the Board of Directors of VOCAL of Florida and the District Representative for the Gainesville, Florida VOCAL Chapter. Ms. Radko, who is pursuing a masters and doctorate in psychology, can be reached at P.O. Box 7021, Gainesville, Florida 32605. [Back]
Abuse by CPS, guilty until proven innocent, yvonne mason
http://protectingourchildrenfrombeingsold.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/child-abuse-guilty-until-proven-innocent-or-legalized-governmental-child-abuse/
System shuns father's family Grandparents, father have to fight for custody of son in foster care
System shuns father's family
Grandparents, father have to fight for custody of son in foster care
BY LANA HAIGHT, THE STARPHOENIXFEBRUARY 26, 2010
Baby Nolan's grandparents didn't know he'd been born until he was two months old
Photograph by: Greg Pender, The StarPhoenix, The StarPhoenix
One year ago, Saskatchewan children's advocate issued a scathing report on foster home overcrowding in the Saskatoon area. Kids in crisis is how Marvin Bernstein characterized the desperate situation, with some families trying to care for up to 15 children and youth at the same time. The consequence: Shocking stories of abuse and neglect.
This week, SP reporter Lana Haight tells the stories of a handful of children stuck in the system.
The children are among hundreds who are apprehended by child welfare workers every year in Saskatchewan and placed in foster homes. Some are in care for a few short weeks, while others remain in care for years.
The caregivers point to a rigid system where birth rights appear to trump the well-being of the children. Undeterred, they have gone to bat for the children and battled the system with mixed results. Based on their stories, we have identified recommendations that would have made a difference in the children's lives -- ultimately freeing them from the system.
TODAY: A father's family is shunned by the child welfare system.
- - -
PART 4 OF A FIVE-PART SERIES
Baby Nolan had already been in foster care for two months when his father and family learned of his birth. The baby spent another 12 months in the system before the dad was granted full custody of the boy.
"I'm always sad that we didn't get to rock and cuddle him when he was a baby," said grandma Judy.
She and her husband John are the primary caregivers for Nolan, now a busy 26-month-old toddler. The boy's father works out of town during the week and returns on weekends.
In the summer of 2007, Judy and John received a phone call from someone saying their son's former girlfriend was pregnant. They hired a lawyer to contact the woman, but had no success. They gave up.
When Nolan was born in October, his mother never told the father, nor did she identify him as such on the birth registration form.
But in December 2007, the 25-year-old man was contacted by Social Services and asked to provide family medical history because the mother wanted the baby, who was apprehended at birth, to be put up for adoption.
Suspicious about the situation, the man had DNA testing done, which proved his paternity. Now he was conflicted about what to do. Unsure that he could care for a baby boy, he didn't want his son to be adopted by strangers. And the birth mom didn't want the father and his family to have custody.
"There's always a battle when a relationship has gone sour," said Judy.
Little did the family know the battle would extend to a prolonged fight with the provincial government and its social workers, with baby Nolan caught in the middle.
"It was bungled right from the start," said grandpa John.
"Nobody seemed to know where to go and what to do," added Judy.
"Most dads walk away from this kind of situation. They didn't know how to deal with the dad."
Nolan's dad and grandma were invited to their first visit with the baby in May 2008, when he was seven months old. They arrived at an office of the Ministry of Social Services right after lunch and found the waiting room packed with about 50 other people. Two social workers met them in the waiting area and one began talking about Nolan in front of everyone, says Judy.
"It was a very uncomfortable situation. (One social worker) began pointing out characteristics consistent with fetal alcohol syndrome. The other social worker tried to shush her up."
Within a couple of months, baby Nolan was going to the grandparents' home for regular, and then extended, visits that were arranged between the foster family and Nolan's father and grandparents.
By the end of August 2008, Nolan was living with his grandparents, but neither they nor his dad had any legal standing. The foster mom informed Nolan's social worker of the arrangement. It was another two months before anyone from Social Services visited the grandparents' home to determine its safety and suitability.
"We had two social workers come out to our home. They were sent out by their supervisor. They just came to see where he was," said Judy.
And in September, the family members were called to a meeting with social workers to discuss Nolan's living arrangement.
By November 2008, Nolan's family and the foster family were frustrated with the social workers and the system in general. Nolan was living with his grandparents, the foster mom was receiving payment despite her objections (she used the money to purchase diapers and formula that she then passed on to the grandparents) and no one, including the family's lawyer, was able to move forward with Nolan's status.
While a call made to the Regina office of the Ministry of Social Services by Judy was the "worse thing ever," it also got the ball rolling.
The ministry ordered Nolan be returned to the foster family or he would apprehended. Also, the local supervisor denied knowing Nolan was living with his grandparents. However, the order came at the same time that the foster parents were dealing with the death of a family member.
On the Monday, Nolan's family returned him to foster care and on the Tuesday, a social worker called Nolan's family asking that the baby come back to the grandparents' home for a few days until the foster family was able to care for Nolan again.
For the first time since being involved with Social Services, Nolan's family members required criminal record checks and had to sign for his temporary custody.
The silver lining in Nolan's story is he was cared for by one foster family throughout the first years of his life and he was the only foster child placed in the home at the time. And while John and Judy have kind words for a couple of the social workers they encountered, the grandparents question the actions and inaction by most of the workers and the child protection system in general.
"They had no concern about (Nolan). His well-being wasn't considered," said Judy.
"And they are not accountable for their resources," added John.
Family recommendation: Give a father who wants custody of his child the automatic right to that custody if the mother is not interested in caring for the child.
TOMORROW: Children's voices need to be heard; and Family court a delaying experience
The StarPhoenix contacted the Ministry of Social Services requesting access to foster families to tell their stories, with the guarantee of anonymity, but was denied its request. We also contacted the First Nations Child and Family Services Agencies throughout the province and the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations for information and was not provided any. In the end, we used our own network of contacts to find families willing to talk about their experiences.
The names of the families and the children have been changed for this series. In some cases, the law required it because the children could not be identified. In other cases, the families requested it because they don't want backlash from the system.
lhaight@sp.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/life/Part+System+shuns+father+family+grandparents+father+have+fight+custody+foster+care/2616151/story.html
Grandparents, father have to fight for custody of son in foster care
BY LANA HAIGHT, THE STARPHOENIXFEBRUARY 26, 2010
Baby Nolan's grandparents didn't know he'd been born until he was two months old
Photograph by: Greg Pender, The StarPhoenix, The StarPhoenix
One year ago, Saskatchewan children's advocate issued a scathing report on foster home overcrowding in the Saskatoon area. Kids in crisis is how Marvin Bernstein characterized the desperate situation, with some families trying to care for up to 15 children and youth at the same time. The consequence: Shocking stories of abuse and neglect.
This week, SP reporter Lana Haight tells the stories of a handful of children stuck in the system.
The children are among hundreds who are apprehended by child welfare workers every year in Saskatchewan and placed in foster homes. Some are in care for a few short weeks, while others remain in care for years.
The caregivers point to a rigid system where birth rights appear to trump the well-being of the children. Undeterred, they have gone to bat for the children and battled the system with mixed results. Based on their stories, we have identified recommendations that would have made a difference in the children's lives -- ultimately freeing them from the system.
TODAY: A father's family is shunned by the child welfare system.
- - -
PART 4 OF A FIVE-PART SERIES
Baby Nolan had already been in foster care for two months when his father and family learned of his birth. The baby spent another 12 months in the system before the dad was granted full custody of the boy.
"I'm always sad that we didn't get to rock and cuddle him when he was a baby," said grandma Judy.
She and her husband John are the primary caregivers for Nolan, now a busy 26-month-old toddler. The boy's father works out of town during the week and returns on weekends.
In the summer of 2007, Judy and John received a phone call from someone saying their son's former girlfriend was pregnant. They hired a lawyer to contact the woman, but had no success. They gave up.
When Nolan was born in October, his mother never told the father, nor did she identify him as such on the birth registration form.
But in December 2007, the 25-year-old man was contacted by Social Services and asked to provide family medical history because the mother wanted the baby, who was apprehended at birth, to be put up for adoption.
Suspicious about the situation, the man had DNA testing done, which proved his paternity. Now he was conflicted about what to do. Unsure that he could care for a baby boy, he didn't want his son to be adopted by strangers. And the birth mom didn't want the father and his family to have custody.
"There's always a battle when a relationship has gone sour," said Judy.
Little did the family know the battle would extend to a prolonged fight with the provincial government and its social workers, with baby Nolan caught in the middle.
"It was bungled right from the start," said grandpa John.
"Nobody seemed to know where to go and what to do," added Judy.
"Most dads walk away from this kind of situation. They didn't know how to deal with the dad."
Nolan's dad and grandma were invited to their first visit with the baby in May 2008, when he was seven months old. They arrived at an office of the Ministry of Social Services right after lunch and found the waiting room packed with about 50 other people. Two social workers met them in the waiting area and one began talking about Nolan in front of everyone, says Judy.
"It was a very uncomfortable situation. (One social worker) began pointing out characteristics consistent with fetal alcohol syndrome. The other social worker tried to shush her up."
Within a couple of months, baby Nolan was going to the grandparents' home for regular, and then extended, visits that were arranged between the foster family and Nolan's father and grandparents.
By the end of August 2008, Nolan was living with his grandparents, but neither they nor his dad had any legal standing. The foster mom informed Nolan's social worker of the arrangement. It was another two months before anyone from Social Services visited the grandparents' home to determine its safety and suitability.
"We had two social workers come out to our home. They were sent out by their supervisor. They just came to see where he was," said Judy.
And in September, the family members were called to a meeting with social workers to discuss Nolan's living arrangement.
By November 2008, Nolan's family and the foster family were frustrated with the social workers and the system in general. Nolan was living with his grandparents, the foster mom was receiving payment despite her objections (she used the money to purchase diapers and formula that she then passed on to the grandparents) and no one, including the family's lawyer, was able to move forward with Nolan's status.
While a call made to the Regina office of the Ministry of Social Services by Judy was the "worse thing ever," it also got the ball rolling.
The ministry ordered Nolan be returned to the foster family or he would apprehended. Also, the local supervisor denied knowing Nolan was living with his grandparents. However, the order came at the same time that the foster parents were dealing with the death of a family member.
On the Monday, Nolan's family returned him to foster care and on the Tuesday, a social worker called Nolan's family asking that the baby come back to the grandparents' home for a few days until the foster family was able to care for Nolan again.
For the first time since being involved with Social Services, Nolan's family members required criminal record checks and had to sign for his temporary custody.
The silver lining in Nolan's story is he was cared for by one foster family throughout the first years of his life and he was the only foster child placed in the home at the time. And while John and Judy have kind words for a couple of the social workers they encountered, the grandparents question the actions and inaction by most of the workers and the child protection system in general.
"They had no concern about (Nolan). His well-being wasn't considered," said Judy.
"And they are not accountable for their resources," added John.
Family recommendation: Give a father who wants custody of his child the automatic right to that custody if the mother is not interested in caring for the child.
TOMORROW: Children's voices need to be heard; and Family court a delaying experience
The StarPhoenix contacted the Ministry of Social Services requesting access to foster families to tell their stories, with the guarantee of anonymity, but was denied its request. We also contacted the First Nations Child and Family Services Agencies throughout the province and the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations for information and was not provided any. In the end, we used our own network of contacts to find families willing to talk about their experiences.
The names of the families and the children have been changed for this series. In some cases, the law required it because the children could not be identified. In other cases, the families requested it because they don't want backlash from the system.
lhaight@sp.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/life/Part+System+shuns+father+family+grandparents+father+have+fight+custody+foster+care/2616151/story.html
Court orders foster children to return to birth family
Court orders foster children to return to birth family
BY LANA HAIGHT, SASKATCHEWAN NEWS NETWORK; CANWEST NEWS SERVICEFEBRUARY 27, 2010 6:02 AM
Three sisters from a family of 14 children have been ordered by a court to return to that family in April.
Photograph by: Gord Waldner, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Saskatchewan News Network; Canwest News Service
One year ago, Saskatchewan Children's Advocate issued a scathing report on foster home overcrowding in the Saskatoon area.
"Kids in crisis" is how Marvin Bernstein characterized the desperate situation with some families trying to care for up to 15 children and youth at the same time. The consequence: Shocking stories of abuse and neglect.
This past week, we've been telling the stories of a handful of children stuck in the system.
Today's story is the last in this series.
- - -
The three little girls don't understand why they are being sent home; they think they already are home.
"Here's a recent photo of our family," said Brad, showing off a studio portrait of his wife and their three foster daughters shot this fall.
"They wanted a family picture. So we went and had family pictures taken."
Eight-year-old Meagan and seven-year-old Reagan, in matching flowered dresses, stand on either side of Brad and his wife Cheryl. Two-year-old Jill, also in a flowered dress, sits on Brad's lap. Everyone is smiling.
The three sisters began their journey in the foster care system years ago. Meagan and Reagan have been placed with four or five foster families already. About two and a half years ago, they were placed with Brad and Cheryl. Jill joined them shortly after she was born after having been placed in a different foster home at birth.
The girls are from a family of 14 children with all but the oldest four siblings in foster care. The 10 kids in care have been split up among three foster families.
"The courts need to hear from the kids. They need to know what the kids want," said Brad, the girls' foster dad.
"Coming from us it can sound like it's a bit of an agenda, that we just want your kids. But that's not why we got into (fostering). It's just turned out that way. We believe that we can do a better job of helping them become the individuals that they can become."
Several weeks ago, a family court judge, following a recommendation of aboriginal elders, ordered that all 10 children be returned to their birth parents.
Brad, Cheryl and the three girls were caught completely off guard. They were under the impression the girls were to be placed permanently with Brad and Cheryl.
"These kids have been sexually, physically, emotionally abused and neglected," said Brad.
"When we drive past their (parent's) house, the windows are all smashed in, the door is frozen open a little bit. It's a nightmare to think these kids are going home in April."
Brad hauls out three colourful photo albums. Smiles abound. There are photos of the girls at the West Edmonton Mall, at the Calgary zoo, in Whitehorse. They are water sliding, crawling on monkey bars, baking at "grandma's," and listening to "grandpa" read The Night Before Christmas. And then there are photos of the girls wearing fancy new dresses bought just for them for a "family" wedding.
"They just thought that was the cat's meow -- getting brand new dresses for the wedding," said Brad.
"These girls are as much part of our family as our sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews."
Brad and Cheryl spend time helping the older two girls with school work and have seen them go from not being able to spell their names to being able to read beyond their grade level. They take swimming lessons and are in competitive gymnastics.
They are committed to helping the girls maintain a connection with their biological family -- arranging get-togethers with the other foster families who are caring for their siblings and taking the girls to see their birth parents for scheduled visits at a Social Services office in downtown Saskatoon. Brad and Cheryl don't want to sever the girls' ties with their First Nations culture either, but they do want to break the cycle of poverty, alcoholism, abuse and child neglect.
"We need to get them on the right track, let them graduate from high school. Reagan wants to be a hairdresser. Meagan wants to be a doctor. Give them the chance to do that and develop lives for themselves," said Brad.
"And they need someone to give them a hug when they're scared. They need to know they are loved unconditionally and they need to learn to love unconditionally."
Family recommendation: Children in the foster care system must have a "voice" -- access to a lawyer who will represent their interests throughout the process, including court hearings.
The Saskatoon StarPhoenix contacted the Ministry of Social Services requesting access to foster families to tell their stories, with the guarantee of anonymity, but was denied its request. The newspaper also contacted the First Nations Child and Family Services Agencies throughout the province and the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations for information and was not provided any. In the end, the StarPhoenix used its own network of contacts to find families willing to talk about their experiences.
The names of the families and the children were changed for this series. In some cases, the law required it because the children could not be identified. In other cases, the families requested it because they don't want backlash from the system.
© Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post
http://www.leaderpost.com/life/Court+orders+foster+children+return+birth+family/2621674/story.html
BY LANA HAIGHT, SASKATCHEWAN NEWS NETWORK; CANWEST NEWS SERVICEFEBRUARY 27, 2010 6:02 AM
Three sisters from a family of 14 children have been ordered by a court to return to that family in April.
Photograph by: Gord Waldner, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Saskatchewan News Network; Canwest News Service
One year ago, Saskatchewan Children's Advocate issued a scathing report on foster home overcrowding in the Saskatoon area.
"Kids in crisis" is how Marvin Bernstein characterized the desperate situation with some families trying to care for up to 15 children and youth at the same time. The consequence: Shocking stories of abuse and neglect.
This past week, we've been telling the stories of a handful of children stuck in the system.
Today's story is the last in this series.
- - -
The three little girls don't understand why they are being sent home; they think they already are home.
"Here's a recent photo of our family," said Brad, showing off a studio portrait of his wife and their three foster daughters shot this fall.
"They wanted a family picture. So we went and had family pictures taken."
Eight-year-old Meagan and seven-year-old Reagan, in matching flowered dresses, stand on either side of Brad and his wife Cheryl. Two-year-old Jill, also in a flowered dress, sits on Brad's lap. Everyone is smiling.
The three sisters began their journey in the foster care system years ago. Meagan and Reagan have been placed with four or five foster families already. About two and a half years ago, they were placed with Brad and Cheryl. Jill joined them shortly after she was born after having been placed in a different foster home at birth.
The girls are from a family of 14 children with all but the oldest four siblings in foster care. The 10 kids in care have been split up among three foster families.
"The courts need to hear from the kids. They need to know what the kids want," said Brad, the girls' foster dad.
"Coming from us it can sound like it's a bit of an agenda, that we just want your kids. But that's not why we got into (fostering). It's just turned out that way. We believe that we can do a better job of helping them become the individuals that they can become."
Several weeks ago, a family court judge, following a recommendation of aboriginal elders, ordered that all 10 children be returned to their birth parents.
Brad, Cheryl and the three girls were caught completely off guard. They were under the impression the girls were to be placed permanently with Brad and Cheryl.
"These kids have been sexually, physically, emotionally abused and neglected," said Brad.
"When we drive past their (parent's) house, the windows are all smashed in, the door is frozen open a little bit. It's a nightmare to think these kids are going home in April."
Brad hauls out three colourful photo albums. Smiles abound. There are photos of the girls at the West Edmonton Mall, at the Calgary zoo, in Whitehorse. They are water sliding, crawling on monkey bars, baking at "grandma's," and listening to "grandpa" read The Night Before Christmas. And then there are photos of the girls wearing fancy new dresses bought just for them for a "family" wedding.
"They just thought that was the cat's meow -- getting brand new dresses for the wedding," said Brad.
"These girls are as much part of our family as our sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews."
Brad and Cheryl spend time helping the older two girls with school work and have seen them go from not being able to spell their names to being able to read beyond their grade level. They take swimming lessons and are in competitive gymnastics.
They are committed to helping the girls maintain a connection with their biological family -- arranging get-togethers with the other foster families who are caring for their siblings and taking the girls to see their birth parents for scheduled visits at a Social Services office in downtown Saskatoon. Brad and Cheryl don't want to sever the girls' ties with their First Nations culture either, but they do want to break the cycle of poverty, alcoholism, abuse and child neglect.
"We need to get them on the right track, let them graduate from high school. Reagan wants to be a hairdresser. Meagan wants to be a doctor. Give them the chance to do that and develop lives for themselves," said Brad.
"And they need someone to give them a hug when they're scared. They need to know they are loved unconditionally and they need to learn to love unconditionally."
Family recommendation: Children in the foster care system must have a "voice" -- access to a lawyer who will represent their interests throughout the process, including court hearings.
The Saskatoon StarPhoenix contacted the Ministry of Social Services requesting access to foster families to tell their stories, with the guarantee of anonymity, but was denied its request. The newspaper also contacted the First Nations Child and Family Services Agencies throughout the province and the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations for information and was not provided any. In the end, the StarPhoenix used its own network of contacts to find families willing to talk about their experiences.
The names of the families and the children were changed for this series. In some cases, the law required it because the children could not be identified. In other cases, the families requested it because they don't want backlash from the system.
© Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post
http://www.leaderpost.com/life/Court+orders+foster+children+return+birth+family/2621674/story.html
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