February 25, 2010
DHS accused of foul play
Justin Lofton Staff Writer
Ada Evening News
Ada — Following failed attempts to get custody of his daughter, an Ada man accuses Pottawatomie County Department of Human Services of violating the Indian Child Welfare Act and its own policies.
Jeff Larney, a member of the Seminole Tribe, said he learned Ann Marie Redmon, 6, was his daughter through results of a DNA test in October 2009.
“It was almost a week to two-and-a-half weeks later when I got to meet her for the first time,” Larney said. Larney said he was not happy with the strict visitation hours. He also claimed the Seminole Nation had not been contacted regarding the welfare of the Seminole child in the case.
“Through the Indian Child Welfare Act, she was basically supposed to be placed with me from the time I found out,” Larney said.
Teresa Leon, Larney’s fiance, said after four months of debating with DHS about visitation hours, a meeting was scheduled with DHS. At the meeting, Larney and Leon learned Redmon and her half-sister were being removed from their current home. Redmon would be placed with Larney and Leon and the half-sister would be placed in a shelter. Larney said he and Leon told DHS they would take both Redmon and her half-sister.
Leon said Redmon was placed in their home but Redmon’s half-sister was only “on a visit” until further investigation could be completed. She said Pottawatomie County DHS removed both girls from the home a week later, citing an eight-year-old Driving Under the Influence charge for Larney and an argument he had with his ex-wife.
During the altercation, Larney said his ex-wife ran over his foot and he broke a window in her vehicle. Larney said he had gone through an outpatient treatment program for alcohol abuse and sought anger management help following these incidents but prior to learning about his daughter.
“I get the feeling they want to keep them (the children) in Pottawatomie County at all costs, even though they’re not following procedure,” Leon said. “He (Larney) is not a party to the reason she got put into foster care to begin with. He didn’t even know he had her until after they had already been put into foster care. Our question is, why do they keep putting off placing her with him when we have done no harm to that child or any other child in our lifetimes?”
Larney and Leon allege that Pottawatomie County DHS has violated the Indian Child Welfare Act as well as DHS’s own policies. Larney said he contacted a representative for Seminole Nation Child Welfare on Feb. 18 and he had not been contacted regarding Redmon. Roy Yargee of Seminole Nation Child Welfare said he could not comment as the case was still under investigation, but he said the tribe had been informed of the case by Pontotoc County DHS.
Larney’s attorney, Kurt Sweeney, said, “I do feel like DHS has even violated their own policy.”
“They’ve got no reason to not place his (Larney’s) biological child with us,” Leon said.
“They need to be in a safe environment and a stable home where they’re cared for and they’re loved,” Larney said. “They’ve got that here.”
Attempts to contact Pottawatomie County DHS were unsuccessful.
http://adaeveningnews.com/local/x1004926435/DHS-accused-of-foul-play
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
Monitoring child welfare
Monitoring child welfare
Lawmakers unveil bill to create an independent investigator of the system
Peter Marcus, DDN Staff Writer
Friday, February 26, 2010
Following the deaths of 35 children over the past three years who “slipped through the cracks” of the state’s child protection system, lawmakers yesterday unveiled a bill that would create an independent investigator to address weaknesses in the system.
At a news conference yesterday, Sen. Linda Newell, D-Littleton, unveiled her Senate Bill 171, the Child Protection Ombudsman Bill. The measure would create an independent “advocate” to help protect children and provide accountability of the child welfare system.
“How many children have to die before we take action?” asked Newell. “Today, we need to make a stand for those who are too young to stand up for themselves.”
It remains unclear exactly how the program would be run Ń either directly through the Department of Human Services, or through a nonprofit. Karen Beye, director of the Colorado Department of Human Services, said those details will be worked out by lawmakers as they debate the bill.
Necessary?
But supporters of the legislation, including Gov. Bill Ritter, say the move is necessary to fix the broken system.
“This legislation will provide transparency, consistency, accountability and ongoing input for Colorado’s child welfare system and help us improve critical services for Colorado’s most vulnerable children,” said Ritter.
The proposal stems from one of 29 recommendations made by the Child Welfare Action Committee, which was formed in April 2008 by an executive order from the governor. The committee met for 18 months before making its recommendations.
Several recommendations are already being implemented, including the Child Welfare Training Academy, a differential response program that allows stakeholders to skip the court process, and beefed-up response to mandatory reporters, to name a few.
High-profile cases
Several high-profile cases raised caution flags over the past three years.
One case was 3-year-old Neveah Gallegos, who was suffocated, placed in a garbage bag and then buried in her pink princess tennis shoes underneath a tree stump and debris in a Denver ravine. Critics said it was unacceptable that the case slipped past the welfare system’s radar, especially considering the mother’s boyfriend was a registered sex offender, and that little Neveah had been treated at an emergency room for vaginal bleeding.
Seven-year-old Chandler Grafner was another child to slip through the cracks. He weighed only 34 pounds when he was found dead. Grafner’s biological parents filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against child-welfare agencies in Denver and Jefferson counties. The suit claimed that the Department of Human Services in Jefferson County failed to adequately investigate whether Grafner’s foster parents were fit to supply a foster home. The suit went on to claim that child-welfare agencies in both counties then failed to keep Grafner safe while living in the foster home. There were even reports at the time that surfaced from Grafner’s school indicating abuse.
Ombudsman’s duties: Stop such tragedies from occurring
Ritter said the purpose of the ombudsman would be to really stop such tragedies from occurring.
“Before kids get in the system and when they’re under the watchful eye of social services, but parents believe or foster parents believe that the system isn’t necessarily responding to those kids’ issues the way they should be, before a (guardian ad litem) is involved, before a juvenile court is involved and there’s dependence and neglect Ń are we doing as much as we can for the sake of these kids?” asked the governor.
The ombudsman’s office would be charged with reviewing complaints, making recommendations and filing an annual report concerning improvements to the system. An aspect of community outreach and education would also be tied to the job.
While the ombudsman would be independent of state departments, the program would be an independent component of the Department of Human Services.
Supporters point out that 29 other states have created a similar program.
Newell says rather than play the blame game, it’s time for lawmakers and state departments to take action.
“For years there has been finger pointing from and to all parties Ń the state, the counties, the advocates, the providers Ń it is finally time to put down our fingers and join hands and band together for the solution to help children, to stop the blame game and come together to be part of the solution in protecting kids,” she said.
http://www.thedenverdailynews.com/article.php?aID=7445
Lawmakers unveil bill to create an independent investigator of the system
Peter Marcus, DDN Staff Writer
Friday, February 26, 2010
Following the deaths of 35 children over the past three years who “slipped through the cracks” of the state’s child protection system, lawmakers yesterday unveiled a bill that would create an independent investigator to address weaknesses in the system.
At a news conference yesterday, Sen. Linda Newell, D-Littleton, unveiled her Senate Bill 171, the Child Protection Ombudsman Bill. The measure would create an independent “advocate” to help protect children and provide accountability of the child welfare system.
“How many children have to die before we take action?” asked Newell. “Today, we need to make a stand for those who are too young to stand up for themselves.”
It remains unclear exactly how the program would be run Ń either directly through the Department of Human Services, or through a nonprofit. Karen Beye, director of the Colorado Department of Human Services, said those details will be worked out by lawmakers as they debate the bill.
Necessary?
But supporters of the legislation, including Gov. Bill Ritter, say the move is necessary to fix the broken system.
“This legislation will provide transparency, consistency, accountability and ongoing input for Colorado’s child welfare system and help us improve critical services for Colorado’s most vulnerable children,” said Ritter.
The proposal stems from one of 29 recommendations made by the Child Welfare Action Committee, which was formed in April 2008 by an executive order from the governor. The committee met for 18 months before making its recommendations.
Several recommendations are already being implemented, including the Child Welfare Training Academy, a differential response program that allows stakeholders to skip the court process, and beefed-up response to mandatory reporters, to name a few.
High-profile cases
Several high-profile cases raised caution flags over the past three years.
One case was 3-year-old Neveah Gallegos, who was suffocated, placed in a garbage bag and then buried in her pink princess tennis shoes underneath a tree stump and debris in a Denver ravine. Critics said it was unacceptable that the case slipped past the welfare system’s radar, especially considering the mother’s boyfriend was a registered sex offender, and that little Neveah had been treated at an emergency room for vaginal bleeding.
Seven-year-old Chandler Grafner was another child to slip through the cracks. He weighed only 34 pounds when he was found dead. Grafner’s biological parents filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against child-welfare agencies in Denver and Jefferson counties. The suit claimed that the Department of Human Services in Jefferson County failed to adequately investigate whether Grafner’s foster parents were fit to supply a foster home. The suit went on to claim that child-welfare agencies in both counties then failed to keep Grafner safe while living in the foster home. There were even reports at the time that surfaced from Grafner’s school indicating abuse.
Ombudsman’s duties: Stop such tragedies from occurring
Ritter said the purpose of the ombudsman would be to really stop such tragedies from occurring.
“Before kids get in the system and when they’re under the watchful eye of social services, but parents believe or foster parents believe that the system isn’t necessarily responding to those kids’ issues the way they should be, before a (guardian ad litem) is involved, before a juvenile court is involved and there’s dependence and neglect Ń are we doing as much as we can for the sake of these kids?” asked the governor.
The ombudsman’s office would be charged with reviewing complaints, making recommendations and filing an annual report concerning improvements to the system. An aspect of community outreach and education would also be tied to the job.
While the ombudsman would be independent of state departments, the program would be an independent component of the Department of Human Services.
Supporters point out that 29 other states have created a similar program.
Newell says rather than play the blame game, it’s time for lawmakers and state departments to take action.
“For years there has been finger pointing from and to all parties Ń the state, the counties, the advocates, the providers Ń it is finally time to put down our fingers and join hands and band together for the solution to help children, to stop the blame game and come together to be part of the solution in protecting kids,” she said.
http://www.thedenverdailynews.com/article.php?aID=7445
State Senator: 'How many kids have to die?'
State Senator: 'How many kids have to die?'
Eli Stokols Political Reporter
6:32 PM MST, February 25, 2010
Chandler Grafner , Neveah Gallegos
DENVER - Gov. Bill Ritter and Democratic lawmakers laid out a plan to address systematic weaknesses in Colorado's child protection system that have resulted in the deaths of a few dozen children in protective care, from Chandler Grafner, who starved, to Neveah Gallegos, who was murdered.
Sen. Linda Newell, D-Littleton, is the sponsor of a bill that would create a child protection "ombudsman", an independent advocate to oversee the child welfare system.
"In the past three years, Colorado has seen over 30 childhood abuse and neglect related deaths under our care," Newell said. "How many kids have to die before we take action?"
Thursday's action is the result of the Colorado Child Welfare Action Committee, which Ritter convened 18 months ago to come up with solutions to problems within the state's child welfare system. The ombudsman advocacy office is one of the committee's 30 ideas, 27 of which are being implemented. Right now, 29 other states have an ombudsman to oversee child protection.
"The program will provide for transparency, consistency, efficiency and ongoing input," Ritter said. "They'll help resolve complaints and assure services for children in need of protection. Altogether, this will result in better outcomes for children, their families, county departments and the child protection system as a whole."
http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-xgr-child-protections-022510,0,4435829.story
Eli Stokols Political Reporter
6:32 PM MST, February 25, 2010
Chandler Grafner , Neveah Gallegos
DENVER - Gov. Bill Ritter and Democratic lawmakers laid out a plan to address systematic weaknesses in Colorado's child protection system that have resulted in the deaths of a few dozen children in protective care, from Chandler Grafner, who starved, to Neveah Gallegos, who was murdered.
Sen. Linda Newell, D-Littleton, is the sponsor of a bill that would create a child protection "ombudsman", an independent advocate to oversee the child welfare system.
"In the past three years, Colorado has seen over 30 childhood abuse and neglect related deaths under our care," Newell said. "How many kids have to die before we take action?"
Thursday's action is the result of the Colorado Child Welfare Action Committee, which Ritter convened 18 months ago to come up with solutions to problems within the state's child welfare system. The ombudsman advocacy office is one of the committee's 30 ideas, 27 of which are being implemented. Right now, 29 other states have an ombudsman to oversee child protection.
"The program will provide for transparency, consistency, efficiency and ongoing input," Ritter said. "They'll help resolve complaints and assure services for children in need of protection. Altogether, this will result in better outcomes for children, their families, county departments and the child protection system as a whole."
http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-xgr-child-protections-022510,0,4435829.story
ARE YOU ON THE SECRET CHILD ABUSER DATABASE?
ARE YOU ON THE SECRET CHILD ABUSER DATABASE?
Posted by Amy Mischler @ 6:09 pm
In 1974 the federal government enacted the child abuse prevention and treatment act known as CAPTA. While the intentions of this legislation were honorable the outcome, in the past twenty years has become a disaster for many American families.
A key point of this law is that each state could create its own definition of child abuse and its own procedure for placing people on the child abuser database. An example is that in the state in Kentucky all its takes to make you a state designated child abuser; is the signature of a social worker and a supervisor. There is no jury trial and worse, in many cases no notice that Kentucky holds you to be a child abuser.
This was the finding of Office of Inspector General Robert Benvenuti in 2007. “When DCBS ( which is child protection services in Kentucky) completed investigations in some cases, the letters of findings (Substantiated/Not Substantiated) were not sent to clients at the end of their investigations. This meant the 30-day period established to permit parents to appeal the finding before they are included in the Child Abuse and Neglect (CAN) database elapsed without the parents even knowing about the findings. Once parents realized they had been included in the database, often when they were denied employment, they were required to prove they did not receive the notice before they were permitted to appeal the finding. In one case, this caused a biological parent to lose employment as a teacher for an entire school year.”
For more on this national problem watch the video.
http://www.usjusticewatch.com/217,are-you-on-the-secret-child-abuser-database/
Posted by Amy Mischler @ 6:09 pm
In 1974 the federal government enacted the child abuse prevention and treatment act known as CAPTA. While the intentions of this legislation were honorable the outcome, in the past twenty years has become a disaster for many American families.
A key point of this law is that each state could create its own definition of child abuse and its own procedure for placing people on the child abuser database. An example is that in the state in Kentucky all its takes to make you a state designated child abuser; is the signature of a social worker and a supervisor. There is no jury trial and worse, in many cases no notice that Kentucky holds you to be a child abuser.
This was the finding of Office of Inspector General Robert Benvenuti in 2007. “When DCBS ( which is child protection services in Kentucky) completed investigations in some cases, the letters of findings (Substantiated/Not Substantiated) were not sent to clients at the end of their investigations. This meant the 30-day period established to permit parents to appeal the finding before they are included in the Child Abuse and Neglect (CAN) database elapsed without the parents even knowing about the findings. Once parents realized they had been included in the database, often when they were denied employment, they were required to prove they did not receive the notice before they were permitted to appeal the finding. In one case, this caused a biological parent to lose employment as a teacher for an entire school year.”
For more on this national problem watch the video.
http://www.usjusticewatch.com/217,are-you-on-the-secret-child-abuser-database/
State sues to defend federal Medicaid claims
2/24/10
State sues to defend federal Medicaid claims
By Meg Haskell
BDN Staff
BANGOR, Maine — Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services has asked a federal court to overturn a decision of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that disallows close to $30 million in federal case management funds for children in Maine’s Medicaid program, called MaineCare.
If the state should lose its case, Maine DHHS could be required to repay the money, which dates to services delivered in 2002 and 2003.
State Health and Human Services Commissioner Brenda Harvey said Tuesday that she was unable to comment on the specifics of the case, but that it would have “no short-term impact” on the current budget-paring process under way in Augusta.
In the longer term, she said, the state expects to win its case and has not made plans for repayment of the money.
A 2007 audit performed by the federal DHHS Office of Inspector General found that Maine DHHS had overstated expenditures associated with delivering case management services for children in the MaineCare program, including many in state custody. The OIG also found that the state had failed to ensure that Medicaid costs for those services were “reasonable, allowable, and allocable, in accordance with Federal requirements.”
Specifically, the OIG audit found that the cost of delivering the case management services in question was overstated by nearly $10 million; that the state had illegally included administrative and support costs in its charges; and that unallowable services considered “direct services” for children in the foster care system had been improperly billed to the federal Medicaid program.
The conclusions were based on a review of more than 600 case management services delivered in 2002 and 2003 to 99 children, most of whom were in state custody at the time.
Federal Medicaid policy defines allowable case management services as those services that help people “gain access to needed medical, educational and social services.”
The direct provision of such services themselves is not an allowable case management expense.
In a decision based on the findings of the audit, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services determined that Maine DHHS should repay $27.9 million to the federal Medicaid program. The state in 2008 appealed the decision to the federal DHHS appeals board, arguing that all services in question had been delivered and billed under Medicaid guidelines and definitions in effect at the time.
In its decision dated Dec. 24, 2009, the appeals board found that the state had failed to demonstrate that the disallowed expenditures were, in fact, allowable and upheld the CMS ruling.
In its complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Bangor, Maine DHHS, represented by the state Attorney General’s Office, asked for judicial review of the federal decision and requested a reversal of that decision. The state also seeks a declaration that the actions of the federal DHHS are “contrary to federal law, arbitrary and an abuse of discretion.”
No court date has been set.
http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/137571.html
State sues to defend federal Medicaid claims
By Meg Haskell
BDN Staff
BANGOR, Maine — Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services has asked a federal court to overturn a decision of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that disallows close to $30 million in federal case management funds for children in Maine’s Medicaid program, called MaineCare.
If the state should lose its case, Maine DHHS could be required to repay the money, which dates to services delivered in 2002 and 2003.
State Health and Human Services Commissioner Brenda Harvey said Tuesday that she was unable to comment on the specifics of the case, but that it would have “no short-term impact” on the current budget-paring process under way in Augusta.
In the longer term, she said, the state expects to win its case and has not made plans for repayment of the money.
A 2007 audit performed by the federal DHHS Office of Inspector General found that Maine DHHS had overstated expenditures associated with delivering case management services for children in the MaineCare program, including many in state custody. The OIG also found that the state had failed to ensure that Medicaid costs for those services were “reasonable, allowable, and allocable, in accordance with Federal requirements.”
Specifically, the OIG audit found that the cost of delivering the case management services in question was overstated by nearly $10 million; that the state had illegally included administrative and support costs in its charges; and that unallowable services considered “direct services” for children in the foster care system had been improperly billed to the federal Medicaid program.
The conclusions were based on a review of more than 600 case management services delivered in 2002 and 2003 to 99 children, most of whom were in state custody at the time.
Federal Medicaid policy defines allowable case management services as those services that help people “gain access to needed medical, educational and social services.”
The direct provision of such services themselves is not an allowable case management expense.
In a decision based on the findings of the audit, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services determined that Maine DHHS should repay $27.9 million to the federal Medicaid program. The state in 2008 appealed the decision to the federal DHHS appeals board, arguing that all services in question had been delivered and billed under Medicaid guidelines and definitions in effect at the time.
In its decision dated Dec. 24, 2009, the appeals board found that the state had failed to demonstrate that the disallowed expenditures were, in fact, allowable and upheld the CMS ruling.
In its complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Bangor, Maine DHHS, represented by the state Attorney General’s Office, asked for judicial review of the federal decision and requested a reversal of that decision. The state also seeks a declaration that the actions of the federal DHHS are “contrary to federal law, arbitrary and an abuse of discretion.”
No court date has been set.
http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/137571.html
Foster mom arrested for child abuse-updated article
Foster mom arrested for child abuse-updated article
By Jon Johnson
Assistant Editor
Published on Friday, February 26, 2010 3:42 PM MST
Children who are orphaned or are victims of cruelty by their biological parents often find themselves placed in foster care. Recently, a foster parent was accused of victimizing a child placed in her care.
Tammy Renea Andrews, 39, of Safford turned herself into authorities and was arrested Wednesday on charges of child abuse, unlawful imprisonment and aggravated assault. A felony warrant for her arrest was issued by Justice of the Peace District 1 Judge Gary Griffith.
According to a press release from the Safford Police Department, officers were dispatched to residence in Safford on Feb. 11 in regard to a report of a 10-year-old boy being stabbed in the hand by his foster mother.
Tammy Renea Andrews sits in an interview chair at the Safford Police Department. She was booked into the Graham County Jail on Wednesday night on charges of child abuse, unlawful imprisonment and aggravated assault.
Officers Brian Avila and Sherri O'Neal responded to the address and observed the youth had blood on his hands and pants as well as several old scars throughout his body.
Subsequent investigation revealed the victim lived with Andrews at her residence on Santa Fe Street and had fled the home after he was attacked. He said Andrews stabbed him in the hand because she caught him stealing food from one of the cabinets.
Some of the other numerous allegations from the youth include being tied up with string and/or chains after Andrews' other children leave for school. He said Andrews refuses to feed him if he urinates or defecates himself when he is tied up. Officers noted ligature marks and a swollen left shoulder which the victim said was sore from being hog tied. The victim was also apparently dressed in the same clothing for the past week.
He said Andrews took him out of school and homeschools him, but he doesn't do any of the work. The workbooks are unused and Andrews does all the school work on the computer, according to the victim. He is supposed to be in the third grade.
The victim was observed being covered in bruises and scars and stated Andrews repeatedly hits him with closed fists, a small baseball bat and a hammer. He said he has several loose teeth due to his beatings, and Andrews would get brown paper bags and put them over his head when he was tied up. She allegedly did this so he could not see when she was going to hit him, according to the victim.
Additionally, it was discovered the victim had a BB lodged in his abdomen from when Andrews had allegedly shot him. He said he bled from the wound, but Andrews would not take him to receive medical attention.
During his interview with Safford detectives, the victim noticed a staple puller and said Andrews had used one like it to pinch his tongue. He said she would take the staple puller and a pair of pliers and use them to pinch opposite sides of his tongue at the same time.
The victim's wounds matched his descriptions of the beatings and items he said were used were found at the home during an execution of a search warrant. Some of the items listed in the search warrant include a ball-peen hammer, a cord with a knot tied in it, a movement alarm, numerous allegedly unused schoolbooks from a hall closet, a red rope leash, a choker chain collar, a black pellet gun and metal BBs.
After his interview, the child was placed into the care of Child Protective Services.
A thorough medical examination of the victim allegedly validates allegations of a long history of "significant abuse and neglect of the child" by Andrews.
A second warrant was served on the residence Feb. 24. Additional items were seized, and Andrews was arrested. The police investigation is ongoing.
Andrews was booked into the Graham County Jail on four charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, three charges of child abuse, unlawful imprisonment and and an additional aggravated assault charge. Her bond was set at $100,000.
http://www.eacourier.com/articles/2010/02/26/news/breaking_news/doc4b884b4ca03bf650543852.txt
By Jon Johnson
Assistant Editor
Published on Friday, February 26, 2010 3:42 PM MST
Children who are orphaned or are victims of cruelty by their biological parents often find themselves placed in foster care. Recently, a foster parent was accused of victimizing a child placed in her care.
Tammy Renea Andrews, 39, of Safford turned herself into authorities and was arrested Wednesday on charges of child abuse, unlawful imprisonment and aggravated assault. A felony warrant for her arrest was issued by Justice of the Peace District 1 Judge Gary Griffith.
According to a press release from the Safford Police Department, officers were dispatched to residence in Safford on Feb. 11 in regard to a report of a 10-year-old boy being stabbed in the hand by his foster mother.
Tammy Renea Andrews sits in an interview chair at the Safford Police Department. She was booked into the Graham County Jail on Wednesday night on charges of child abuse, unlawful imprisonment and aggravated assault.
Officers Brian Avila and Sherri O'Neal responded to the address and observed the youth had blood on his hands and pants as well as several old scars throughout his body.
Subsequent investigation revealed the victim lived with Andrews at her residence on Santa Fe Street and had fled the home after he was attacked. He said Andrews stabbed him in the hand because she caught him stealing food from one of the cabinets.
Some of the other numerous allegations from the youth include being tied up with string and/or chains after Andrews' other children leave for school. He said Andrews refuses to feed him if he urinates or defecates himself when he is tied up. Officers noted ligature marks and a swollen left shoulder which the victim said was sore from being hog tied. The victim was also apparently dressed in the same clothing for the past week.
He said Andrews took him out of school and homeschools him, but he doesn't do any of the work. The workbooks are unused and Andrews does all the school work on the computer, according to the victim. He is supposed to be in the third grade.
The victim was observed being covered in bruises and scars and stated Andrews repeatedly hits him with closed fists, a small baseball bat and a hammer. He said he has several loose teeth due to his beatings, and Andrews would get brown paper bags and put them over his head when he was tied up. She allegedly did this so he could not see when she was going to hit him, according to the victim.
Additionally, it was discovered the victim had a BB lodged in his abdomen from when Andrews had allegedly shot him. He said he bled from the wound, but Andrews would not take him to receive medical attention.
During his interview with Safford detectives, the victim noticed a staple puller and said Andrews had used one like it to pinch his tongue. He said she would take the staple puller and a pair of pliers and use them to pinch opposite sides of his tongue at the same time.
The victim's wounds matched his descriptions of the beatings and items he said were used were found at the home during an execution of a search warrant. Some of the items listed in the search warrant include a ball-peen hammer, a cord with a knot tied in it, a movement alarm, numerous allegedly unused schoolbooks from a hall closet, a red rope leash, a choker chain collar, a black pellet gun and metal BBs.
After his interview, the child was placed into the care of Child Protective Services.
A thorough medical examination of the victim allegedly validates allegations of a long history of "significant abuse and neglect of the child" by Andrews.
A second warrant was served on the residence Feb. 24. Additional items were seized, and Andrews was arrested. The police investigation is ongoing.
Andrews was booked into the Graham County Jail on four charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, three charges of child abuse, unlawful imprisonment and and an additional aggravated assault charge. Her bond was set at $100,000.
http://www.eacourier.com/articles/2010/02/26/news/breaking_news/doc4b884b4ca03bf650543852.txt
Should poverty and inability to find & keep appropriate housing tear mother from child?
Is home where the heart is?
Should poverty and inability to find & keep appropriate housing tear mother from child?
By DANA DiFILIPPO
Philadelphia Daily News
difilid@phillynews.com 215-854-5934
SPARKLE Ballard had her baby home just a year when city social workers swooped in and snatched the infant away to foster care, deeming Ballard an unfit mom.
Her offense: She didn't have permanent housing.
Desperate for her daughter, Ballard did what she was told in a bid to get her back: She quit hopscotching houses and settled in a Mount Airy apartment, took parenting and GED classes and applied for jobs with more family-friendly hours.
But it wasn't enough. One year later, Ballard has seen her daughter, Christianna, only in weekly, supervised visits on the foster agency's turf.
"I think it's outrageous," said Ballard, now 19. "There are other people out there who can use their help and services, people that actually are abusing and neglecting their kids. I'm not one of those people."
Like Ballard, thousands of parents nationally have lost their children to foster care for little reason other than inadequate housing.
One fifth of foster children nationally landed in county custody - or languished there, as housing issues delayed family reunification - because of inappropriate housing, according to the Child Welfare League of America. A third of the nation's foster children have at least one homeless or "unstably housed" parent, according to the league.
Desensitized bureaucrats too often equate poverty with neglect and seize children away from biological parents whose only "offense" is hardship, critics charge.
And once kids are in the system, it can prove insurmountably difficult to get them out.
Parents petitioning to get their children back in Philadelphia typically wait five months between hearings, local parent-advocates say.
Because federal law requires social-service agencies to place foster children in permanent homes - biological or adoptive - after 15 months in county custody, biological parents might have just two or three chances to get their children back.
"There is not endless time to resolve some pretty serious problems," said Kathy Gomez, managing attorney of the Family Advocacy Unit of Community Legal Services, who represents hundreds of parents in custody cases.
"Housing is among the single biggest factors in the use and misuse of foster care," said Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform. "Not only is it doing enormous harm to the children, who face abuse [in foster care] and possible permanent separation from their parents. It's doing enormous harm to the taxpayers, because foster care costs more than a rent subsidy.
"It is never an excuse to take away a child because the child's family can't afford a decent place to live," Wexler added. "It is incredibly cruel to the child and it's stupid financially."
Poverty a problem
Under the Pennsylvania Juvenile Act, the list of reasons why children can be placed in county care is vast and varied: Physical or sexual abuse; delinquency under age 10; the death of or abandonment by parents; parental behavior such as drug abuse that endangers the child; the child's habitual disobedience or truancy; and so on.
Poverty is not on the list.
But poverty is a common denominator in many of the families whose children end up in foster care. It invites authorities' scrutiny, and snowballs into other issues that could prompt removal or delay reunification, child advocates say.
"It's easy to come under child-protection observation when you're poor," Gomez said. "And there's no room for error when you're poor: Once something goes wrong, things just tend to spiral."
Housing problems frequently result.
Parents struggling to pay rent might not have money to cover utilities or maintenance and repairs, creating living conditions that social workers might deem unsafe for children, Gomez said. Others who can't afford child care and transportation costs might miss so much work that they get fired - and without a paycheck to pay rent or a mortgage, they lose their housing, she said.
"Lack of housing is not legal grounds for removal, but homelessness, housing problems and residence in low-income neighborhoods all result in a greater likelihood of CPS [child-protective services] being involved," said Corey Shdaimah, an assistant professor of social work at the University of Maryland who has studied the correlation between poverty, housing and child welfare issues.
Ruth White, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Center for Housing and Child Welfare, agreed: "Child welfare won't say that they have actually separated a family because of housing. But it totally happens."
The remedy seems obvious: Help these families get housing.
But agencies that offer subsidized housing are overwhelmed by demand.
The Philadelphia Housing Authority, for example, has a waiting list of 43,000, spokesman David Tillman said.
Still, PHA participates in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Family Unification Program, which covers subsidized housing costs for 16,000 families nationally whose housing troubles threaten child-welfare involvement.
Since 2000, HUD has given PHA 300 vouchers under the program; 224 families in Philadelphia have benefitted, Tillman said. While 76 vouchers remain up for grabs, not everyone can use those vouchers, even if no one disputes a family's needs. HUD and PHA disqualify applicants with a history of violent crime or drug convictions.
DHS also partners with the city's Office of Supportive Housing to get 50 federally funded housing vouchers for families facing separation due to housing problems, DHS Commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose said.
Ambrose said that her agency doesn't track how many DHS-involved families have inadequate housing, nor how many children were removed from families living in poverty.
She insisted that her agency does not remove children solely for housing reasons. But among the more than 3,000 children in Philadelphia foster care, inadequate housing is a frequent concern, she acknowledged.
"I believe that children should, first and foremost, be with their families," Ambrose said. "We remove kids only if there is an identified safety threat. When there is a safety threat, we have a legal mandate to remove those children."
But family preservation is paramount, she added.
The agency has a $1.35 million emergency fund it uses to fix broken windows, buy beds, repair faulty plumbing, pay utility bills and solve other housing headaches that could endanger children, she said.
Because those funds are so sorely needed, DHS workers strive to ensure "housing sustainability," Ambrose added. That means that instead of passing out checks for security deposits willy-nilly, the agency wants to make sure that the families it helps can continue paying their monthly rent - and that requires a steady paycheck.
Further, the agency last July launched an "alternative response services" program, in which it identifies cases where no safety threat exists and hook up those families with in-home services to avert removal, Ambrose said.
DHS spends an average of $50 a day to provide a family in-home services under the new program, and up to $80 a day for those struggling with cognitive impairment, medical issues or sexual abuse, she said. In contrast, they pay foster parents about $24 a day per child.
"We pay double to triple to keep kids in their homes," Ambrose said. "We don't believe that children and families should be destabilized because of a housing issue."
Still, Shdaimah and others ask, why bother giving any money to foster parents? Why not just give it directly to the biological parents to fix whatever ails them and to preserve the family?
Wexler thinks that he knows the answer to those questions.
"The only reason we don't do this is it's not politically popular," he said. "It's not popular to provide help to 'bad parents.' The child-welfare system is really a parent-punishment system. But the problem is: When we take a swing at those parents, the blow almost always lands on the children."
But Ambrose disagreed.
"We're very clear about when we should remove children: It's when we can't keep them safe in their homes," Ambrose said. "I'm not sure that throwing money at them is what's going to keep them safe."
Hope for the future
Anyone with any experience in the child-welfare system knows that most cases are murkier than the waters of the Schuylkill.
In the decision to remove Ballard's daughter, Christianna, housing was an issue, Ambrose acknowledged.
But Ballard, who worked late nights as an IHOP waitress, occasionally left her daughter with a relative who was a sex offender, Ambrose said. Ballard and her baby also lived in one home where other residents had domestic-violence issues, Ambrose added. Ambrose listed other lesser problems she says delayed reunification, but Ballard denied any problems or noncompliance.
Ballard hasn't lost faith. She has a hearing scheduled for June, and she hopes that she'll get Christianna back then.
Until then, she'll visit her daughter, trying to coax the quiet girl into opening up more to mama.
"She doesn't talk - she just whispers," Ballard said. "They think she needs speech therapy. They think there's something wrong with her. But she's only 2; she doesn't understand what's happening to her. You [DHS] took her away from her mom. I wouldn't want to talk to you either."
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20100222_Is_home_where_the_heart_is__Should_poverty_and_inability_to_find___keep_appropriate_housing_tear_mother_from_child_.html?page=3&c=y
Should poverty and inability to find & keep appropriate housing tear mother from child?
By DANA DiFILIPPO
Philadelphia Daily News
difilid@phillynews.com 215-854-5934
SPARKLE Ballard had her baby home just a year when city social workers swooped in and snatched the infant away to foster care, deeming Ballard an unfit mom.
Her offense: She didn't have permanent housing.
Desperate for her daughter, Ballard did what she was told in a bid to get her back: She quit hopscotching houses and settled in a Mount Airy apartment, took parenting and GED classes and applied for jobs with more family-friendly hours.
But it wasn't enough. One year later, Ballard has seen her daughter, Christianna, only in weekly, supervised visits on the foster agency's turf.
"I think it's outrageous," said Ballard, now 19. "There are other people out there who can use their help and services, people that actually are abusing and neglecting their kids. I'm not one of those people."
Like Ballard, thousands of parents nationally have lost their children to foster care for little reason other than inadequate housing.
One fifth of foster children nationally landed in county custody - or languished there, as housing issues delayed family reunification - because of inappropriate housing, according to the Child Welfare League of America. A third of the nation's foster children have at least one homeless or "unstably housed" parent, according to the league.
Desensitized bureaucrats too often equate poverty with neglect and seize children away from biological parents whose only "offense" is hardship, critics charge.
And once kids are in the system, it can prove insurmountably difficult to get them out.
Parents petitioning to get their children back in Philadelphia typically wait five months between hearings, local parent-advocates say.
Because federal law requires social-service agencies to place foster children in permanent homes - biological or adoptive - after 15 months in county custody, biological parents might have just two or three chances to get their children back.
"There is not endless time to resolve some pretty serious problems," said Kathy Gomez, managing attorney of the Family Advocacy Unit of Community Legal Services, who represents hundreds of parents in custody cases.
"Housing is among the single biggest factors in the use and misuse of foster care," said Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform. "Not only is it doing enormous harm to the children, who face abuse [in foster care] and possible permanent separation from their parents. It's doing enormous harm to the taxpayers, because foster care costs more than a rent subsidy.
"It is never an excuse to take away a child because the child's family can't afford a decent place to live," Wexler added. "It is incredibly cruel to the child and it's stupid financially."
Poverty a problem
Under the Pennsylvania Juvenile Act, the list of reasons why children can be placed in county care is vast and varied: Physical or sexual abuse; delinquency under age 10; the death of or abandonment by parents; parental behavior such as drug abuse that endangers the child; the child's habitual disobedience or truancy; and so on.
Poverty is not on the list.
But poverty is a common denominator in many of the families whose children end up in foster care. It invites authorities' scrutiny, and snowballs into other issues that could prompt removal or delay reunification, child advocates say.
"It's easy to come under child-protection observation when you're poor," Gomez said. "And there's no room for error when you're poor: Once something goes wrong, things just tend to spiral."
Housing problems frequently result.
Parents struggling to pay rent might not have money to cover utilities or maintenance and repairs, creating living conditions that social workers might deem unsafe for children, Gomez said. Others who can't afford child care and transportation costs might miss so much work that they get fired - and without a paycheck to pay rent or a mortgage, they lose their housing, she said.
"Lack of housing is not legal grounds for removal, but homelessness, housing problems and residence in low-income neighborhoods all result in a greater likelihood of CPS [child-protective services] being involved," said Corey Shdaimah, an assistant professor of social work at the University of Maryland who has studied the correlation between poverty, housing and child welfare issues.
Ruth White, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Center for Housing and Child Welfare, agreed: "Child welfare won't say that they have actually separated a family because of housing. But it totally happens."
The remedy seems obvious: Help these families get housing.
But agencies that offer subsidized housing are overwhelmed by demand.
The Philadelphia Housing Authority, for example, has a waiting list of 43,000, spokesman David Tillman said.
Still, PHA participates in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Family Unification Program, which covers subsidized housing costs for 16,000 families nationally whose housing troubles threaten child-welfare involvement.
Since 2000, HUD has given PHA 300 vouchers under the program; 224 families in Philadelphia have benefitted, Tillman said. While 76 vouchers remain up for grabs, not everyone can use those vouchers, even if no one disputes a family's needs. HUD and PHA disqualify applicants with a history of violent crime or drug convictions.
DHS also partners with the city's Office of Supportive Housing to get 50 federally funded housing vouchers for families facing separation due to housing problems, DHS Commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose said.
Ambrose said that her agency doesn't track how many DHS-involved families have inadequate housing, nor how many children were removed from families living in poverty.
She insisted that her agency does not remove children solely for housing reasons. But among the more than 3,000 children in Philadelphia foster care, inadequate housing is a frequent concern, she acknowledged.
"I believe that children should, first and foremost, be with their families," Ambrose said. "We remove kids only if there is an identified safety threat. When there is a safety threat, we have a legal mandate to remove those children."
But family preservation is paramount, she added.
The agency has a $1.35 million emergency fund it uses to fix broken windows, buy beds, repair faulty plumbing, pay utility bills and solve other housing headaches that could endanger children, she said.
Because those funds are so sorely needed, DHS workers strive to ensure "housing sustainability," Ambrose added. That means that instead of passing out checks for security deposits willy-nilly, the agency wants to make sure that the families it helps can continue paying their monthly rent - and that requires a steady paycheck.
Further, the agency last July launched an "alternative response services" program, in which it identifies cases where no safety threat exists and hook up those families with in-home services to avert removal, Ambrose said.
DHS spends an average of $50 a day to provide a family in-home services under the new program, and up to $80 a day for those struggling with cognitive impairment, medical issues or sexual abuse, she said. In contrast, they pay foster parents about $24 a day per child.
"We pay double to triple to keep kids in their homes," Ambrose said. "We don't believe that children and families should be destabilized because of a housing issue."
Still, Shdaimah and others ask, why bother giving any money to foster parents? Why not just give it directly to the biological parents to fix whatever ails them and to preserve the family?
Wexler thinks that he knows the answer to those questions.
"The only reason we don't do this is it's not politically popular," he said. "It's not popular to provide help to 'bad parents.' The child-welfare system is really a parent-punishment system. But the problem is: When we take a swing at those parents, the blow almost always lands on the children."
But Ambrose disagreed.
"We're very clear about when we should remove children: It's when we can't keep them safe in their homes," Ambrose said. "I'm not sure that throwing money at them is what's going to keep them safe."
Hope for the future
Anyone with any experience in the child-welfare system knows that most cases are murkier than the waters of the Schuylkill.
In the decision to remove Ballard's daughter, Christianna, housing was an issue, Ambrose acknowledged.
But Ballard, who worked late nights as an IHOP waitress, occasionally left her daughter with a relative who was a sex offender, Ambrose said. Ballard and her baby also lived in one home where other residents had domestic-violence issues, Ambrose added. Ambrose listed other lesser problems she says delayed reunification, but Ballard denied any problems or noncompliance.
Ballard hasn't lost faith. She has a hearing scheduled for June, and she hopes that she'll get Christianna back then.
Until then, she'll visit her daughter, trying to coax the quiet girl into opening up more to mama.
"She doesn't talk - she just whispers," Ballard said. "They think she needs speech therapy. They think there's something wrong with her. But she's only 2; she doesn't understand what's happening to her. You [DHS] took her away from her mom. I wouldn't want to talk to you either."
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20100222_Is_home_where_the_heart_is__Should_poverty_and_inability_to_find___keep_appropriate_housing_tear_mother_from_child_.html?page=3&c=y
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