Police say DCYF worker had $10K of cocaine

Police say DCYF worker had $10K of cocaine



Wednesday, March 10, 2010 11:37 PM EST
By LISA BACKUS
Staff writer



FARMINGTON — A state Department of Children and Families employee was arrested on drug and risk of injury charges Tuesday after narcotics officers allegedly found $10,000 worth of cocaine in the home she shared with her 4-year-old and 16-year-old children, police said.

Leshan Hanson, 32, of 11 Greenbriar Drive, has been put on administrative leave pending an agency investigation, DCF spokesman Gary Kleebatt confirmed.

Hanson is a social worker with DCF and may face disciplinary action pending the outcome of the agency’s investigation, he said.


Hanson and Douglas Bailey, 25, of the same address, were arrested Tuesday after Farmington Narcotics Response Team officers executed a search warrant at their home.

The address had been under investigation for illegal drug activity for weeks, Lt. Marshal Porter said. When police arrived Tuesday morning they found several teens ages 15 and 16 with small amounts of marijuana inside the home. All were skipping class at Farmington High School, police said. Three were referred to juvenile authorities.

A search of the address revealed 79 grams of cocaine placed in dozens of vials in a closet, Porter said. The street value of the drugs was estimated to be close to $10,000.

DCF was notified about the risk of injury charges but the children were in Hanson’s custody as of last night, Porter said.

Hanson and Bailey were charged with risk of injury to a minor, possession of narcotics with intent to sell and possession of narcotics. Hanson was released after posting $25,000 bond. Both are scheduled to appear in Hartford Superior Court March 16.

http://www.bristolpress.com/articles/2010/03/10/news/doc4b986d48f3db8588413576.txt

New York Judge Rules For Family...

THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 2010
New York Judge Rules For Family...It ALL Rests With The Judge In WA
N Y Judge rejects Clinton County Dept of Social Services petition to place child in foster care. (What do you know? There WERE relatives. PR)

March 9, 2010
Family Court Judge, Timothy J. Lawliss, has rejected a petition filed by Clinton County Department of Social Services to place Dustin O. in foster care. Dustin O.'s parents had signed a voluntary agreement to place their child with the department, but opposed the placement in foster care.

While Judge Lawliss rejected some of the arguments made by Dustin's parents, he ultimately rejected the Department of Social Services' petition because the argument did not present any proof that it had tried to locate any relatives who would be willing and properly equipped to care for the child.

(In the WA State Stuth Case the department and CASA knew about qualified relatives and ignored them. I personally, in court, told Judge Schaefer about this who when informed said the information had come to late. The CASA screamed at the Stuths and swore Alexis would NEVER go out of state. And, when I had reported the fact of relatives wanting Alexis, CPS told me they only informed the judge of qualified relatives after the termination!!!!!)

The judge's decision was based on New York State Social Services Law 358-a(2) which states:

"In the case of a child whose care and custody have been transferred to a social services official by means of an instrument executed pursuant to section three hundred eighty-four-a of this chapter, the petition shall also allege and there shall be shown by affidavit or other proof satisfactory to the court that all the requirements of such section have been satisfied, including the results of the investigation to locate relatives of the child, including any non-respondent parent and all of the child's grandparents. Such results shall include whether any relative who has been located expressed an interest in becoming a foster parent for the child or in seeking custody or care of the child."

The Clinton County Department of Social Services has thirty days to appeal the decision.
(Let me translate: The Clinton Co. DSS has 30 days to muster all the free government attorneys they can to take this child. They have 30 days to make any reassignment of CASA if they need. They have 30 days longer to dig up dirt and make up dirt to use in court against the family. They will lie if they have to. There are no rules against it.)
Posted by State Senator Pam Roach at 7:05 AM
http://pamroachreport.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-york-judge-rules-for-familyit-all.html

KIDNAPPING

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EDITORIALS
Kidnapping
21 MINS AGO
By Leonard Henderson
March 10, 2010
Over the years, I have been taken to task by CPS people for calling them KIDNAPPERS.
Oh the sanctimony! "We aren't kidnapping kids. We are doing what is in their 'best interest", you see? If it weren't for us watching out for kids 'best interest' they would be getting whippings and held responsible for their actions. If it weren't for us, some kids would DIE!"
Yeah well.. Want to see the LAW about that?
18 U.S.C. § 1203 : US Code - Section 1203: Hostage taking
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, whoever, whether inside or outside the United States, seizes or detains and threatens to kill, to injure, or to continue to detain another person in order to compel a third person or a governmental organization to do or abstain from doing any act as an explicit or implicit condition for the release of the person detained, or attempts or conspires to do so, shall be punished by imprisonment for any term of years or for life and, if the death of any person results, shall be punished by death or life imprisonment.
So let's talk about the typical CPS case. What happens? CPS receives a "complaint". CPS acts on that "complaint". To "err on the side of caution", they remove the child from his/her home.

What's wrong with that?

There's the minor detail of the CHILD'S Fourth Amendment Right "to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
Why not arrest the alleged "perpetrator" instead?

Because that would be a CRIMINAL charge and the alleged perpetrator would receive his
Miranda, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendment Rights and Constitutional DUE PROCESS.
Instead, parents get dragged with no defense through the unconstitutional family court system, trying to make CPS happy so they can get their kids back. See What Happens in the Fog
The child of course has not gotten a blessed thing but his absurd new "Best Interest Civil Right".
Happily, some of this "problem" was recently addressed in the Greene v. Camreta case. So now it is "discovered" that American kids actually have Constitutional Rights that certainly overcomes the "best interest" sacred cow of European Socialism.
So what about the legal definition of Kidnapping "...detain another person in order to compel a third person or a governmental organization to do or abstain from doing any act as an explicit or implicit condition for the release of the person detained, or attempts or conspires to do so.."
Well bunkie, what do you think about volunteering your Constitutional Rights away to "cooperate" with CPS and signing a Safety Plan?
These monsters aren't going to GIVE you your Constitutional Rights. If you don't KNOW your Constitutional Rights and DEMAND them, you are a slave.
In US. vs. Johnson, 76 F.Supp. 538, 540 (1947), Federal District Court Judge James Alger Fee ruled that-
"The privilege against self-incrimination is neither accorded to the passive resistant, nor to the person who is ignorant of his rights, nor to one indifferent thereto. It is a FIGHTING clause. It's benefits can be retained only by sustained COMBAT. It cannot be claimed by attorney or solicitor. It is valid only when insisted upon by a BELLIGERENT claimant in person." McAlister vs. Henkel, 201 U.S. 90, 26 S.Ct. 385, 50 L. Ed. 671; Commonwealth vs. Shaw, 4 Cush. 594, 50 Am.Dec. 813; Orum vs. State, 38 Ohio App. 171, 175 N.E. 876. "The one who is persuaded by honeyed words or moral suasion to testify or produce documents rather than make a last ditch stand, simply loses the protection. . . . He must refuse to answer or produce, and test the matter in contempt proceedings, or by habeas corpus."
“A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him.” -Ezra Pound

COMMENT on this story at AFRA's new "Intense Debate" page
"Better be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own." --Aesop (c. 550 B.C.) legendary Greek fabulist

If CPS hasn't attacked YOUR FAMILY yet, see If you are ever approached by anyone from social services.... and WHEN THEY COME AFTER YOU
Learn as much as you can, as fast as you can at "How To Fight CPS"-
http://familyrights.us/how_to/fight_cps.html

Get YOUR VERSION OF HISTORY ON THE RECORD with your Sworn Affidavit-
http://familyrights.us/bin/FORMS/sworn_affidavit.html

Leonard Henderson, co-founder
American Family Rights Association
http://familyrights.us
"Until Every Child Comes Home" ©
"The Voice of America's Families" ©

Have you seen AFRA News Today?
http://familyrights.us/news

I am not a lawyer and I do not pretend to give legal advice. If you need legal advice, see AFRA's Lawyer Friends who certainly are not pretenders (http://familyrights.us/info/law) I merely relate the things I learned in the past that seemed to work in my own case or things that others have related to me that worked in their cases. I provide information for free and do not expect to receive any form of payment or reward on this side of heaven. Therefore, DO NOT rely on this information as legal advice. Real Legal advice would come from a real lawyer who hates CPS and prepares a VIGOROUS DEFENSE against a negative (proving nothing happened) instead an ATTORNEY (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/attorn) talking you into a plea bargain (http://familyrights.us/bin/The_Problem_with_Plea_Bargaining.htm)

Obama using 'bounty hunters' to root out fraud

Obama using 'bounty hunters' to root out fraud



ABC News – White House Weighs In on Health Care
Slideshow:Health Care
Play VideoVideo:Thousands march for health care reform WCNC Charlotte
Play VideoVideo:Kucinich: We Need a Public Option ABC News

AFP – US President Barack Obama speaks on healthcare and health insurance reform at Arcadia University in Glenside, …
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press Writer – Tue Mar 9, 11:14 pm ET
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama said Tuesday he'll bring in high-tech bounty hunters to help root out health care fraud, grabbing a populist idea with bipartisan backing in his final push to overhaul the system.
The White House announcement came as Obama prepared to travel to Missouri on Wednesday, taking his closing argument to the nation's heartland. The trip will be his second public appearance this week to rally support and fire up nervous Democrats.
The White House released details of the anti-fraud plan hours after a fresh challenge to the administration from major business groups that unveiled a multimillion-dollar ad campaign arguing that under Obama's plan "health care costs will go even higher, making a bad economy worse."
The ad buy, costing between $4 million and $10 million, will start Wednesday on national cable TV outlets. Later in the week, the campaign shifts to 17 states home to moderate and conservative Democrats. Their votes are critical to Obama's endgame for passing legislation to expand coverage to millions who now lack it and revamp the health insurance system.
On Capitol Hill, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and other senior administration officials met with House and Senate Democratic leaders, who have struggled to secure the votes for the stalled health care legislation.
The two-step approach now being pursued calls for the House to approve a Senate-passed bill from last year, despite House Democrats' opposition to several of its provisions. Both chambers then would follow by approving a companion measure to make changes in that first bill.
"We're going to get it done as soon as possible," Emanuel told reporters after the meeting.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs has said he expects the House to act by March 18, the day Obama leaves for an overseas trip. That timetable would be tough to meet, and congressional leaders told Emanuel on Tuesday that they don't need deadlines handed down from the White House, according to Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee and attended Tuesday's meeting.
"He was certainly informed that we don't feel that we want any deadline assigned to us," Waxman said. "We want to pass the bill. We want to make sure it's the way it should be. And as soon as possible."
Republicans are playing on House Democrats' suspicions of their Senate colleagues, arguing that Senate Democrats may not hold up their end of the bargain and the votes will be politically damaging for Democrats in November.
"They will be voting, when they pass the Senate bill, to endorse the Cornhusker kickback, the Louisiana Purchase, the Gator-aid, the closed-door deal, the special deal for the unions, which may or may not bother any Democrats, I don't know — but it will be riddled with special deals," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said.
Obama's anti-fraud announcement was aimed directly at the political middle.
Waste and fraud are pervasive problems for Medicare and Medicaid, the giant government health insurance programs for seniors and low-income people. Improper payments — in the wrong amounts, to the wrong person or for the wrong reason — totaled an estimated $54 billion in 2009. They range from simple errors such as duplicate billing to elaborate schemes operated by fraudsters peddling everything from wheelchairs to hospice care.
The bounty hunters in this case would be private auditors armed with sophisticated computer programs to scan Medicare and Medicaid billing data for patterns of bogus claims. The auditors would get to keep part of any funds they recover for the government. The White House said a pilot program run by Medicare in California, New York and Texas recouped $900 million for taxpayers from 2005-2008.
The presidential memorandum Obama will sign Wednesday directs Cabinet secretaries and agency heads throughout the government to intensify their use of private auditors under current legal authority. Obama also announced his support for a bipartisan bill that would expand the ways government agencies can pay for such audits using recovered funds. Among its co-sponsors is Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Obama's GOP opponent in the 2008 presidential race.
The White House estimates that expanded use of private audits throughout the government could recoup at least $2 billion for taxpayers over the next three years. Much of that would come from Medicare and Medicaid, which have to scramble to keep up with the endless proliferation of new fraud schemes.
Obama his placing a heavy emphasis on battling waste and fraud in his final health care push. The repackaged bill he announced last month contained more than dozen anti-fraud ideas. A common theme linking them is the increased use of technology to spot suspicious billing patterns and keep track of service providers with a track record of problems.
___
Associated Press writer Donna Cassata contributed to this report.
(This version CORRECTS that Obama will sign memorandum Wednesday instead of he signed Tuesday, reflecting White House change.)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100310/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_health_care_overhaul

Foster care kids need kinship families

Foster care kids need kinship families

By GLADYS CARRION
First published in print: Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Providing safe, nurturing and stable families is good for children, families and New York's taxpayers.


There are nearly 25,000 children in foster care in New York. Returning these children to their parents or finding them adoptive parents is one of the top priorities and challenges for the state Office of Children and Family Services and county social services departments.
This challenge requires that the state and counties be creative about finding permanent homes for these children if they are unable to return to their parents. The solution -- which has proven successful in 39 states and the District of Columbia -- is kinship guardianship care.

A bill before the state Legislature would implement a subsidized kinship guardianship program statewide, creating a new path to permanency for children in foster care.

Wikipedia refers to this solution as "grandfamilies," in recognition of the fact that the largest percentages of kinship caregivers in the United States are grandparents. But, it can also mean other people related by blood or marriage -- aunts, uncles, cousins or siblings.

A number of New York children have kinship caregivers. The caregivers may provide the children with permanent homes and the lifelong connections that research has found is critical for them to lead healthy and successful lives. But these caregivers have not been eligible for the subsidies provided to foster and adoptive parents. Many grandparents and extended family members are economically challenged and unable to step up to become kinship caregivers without financial support. As a result, children languish in foster care.

Research clearly shows that kinship foster care families are safer, more stable placements that are more likely to keep children connected with their siblings and communities than nonrelative placements. These placements also are cost effective. In Illinois, studies projected a savings of approximately $90 million over 10 years by eliminating the administrative costs associated with adoption and foster care.

Additionally, during this economic crisis, when it is ever more critical that every dollar we spend is wisely spent, this kinship caregiver program will produce savings for counties that now pay a $12,000 per child administrative overhead fee to foster care agencies in addition to the board rate.

Improving outcomes for children in foster care is an ongoing challenge. I am extremely pleased when we can meet that challenge, made even more difficult by today's economic realities, with a solution that is both good for children and families and cost effective.

Gladys Carrion is commissioner of the state Office of Children and Family Services.




Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=909850&category=OPINION#ixzz0hluhQesm

Bill Would Create New Oversight Office for Child Welfare Services

Bill Would Create New Oversight Office for Child Welfare Services
03/08/10 - 05:16 PM
RSS Feed
Joe Thompson - bio
jthompson@krextv.com
Mesa County, Colo.
A bill has been introduced in the Colorado State Legislature that would create a new office to investigate complaints against social workers who handle child abuse cases. If created, the oversight office would be independent of state and county social services departments. The new child protection office was recommended by a panel set up by Governor Ritter a couple years ago after children in the state’s system died from neglect and abuse.

Len Stewart, the director of Mesa County Human Services, says he’s concerned about the additional bureaucracy the oversight office could create, and wonders if the office would have enough resources to be effective. But despite his concerns, Stewart is hopeful the office will work if created, and help the state do a better job when it comes to protecting kids.

Stewart says he is pleased the state is taking the time to focus on the problem of child abuse. But while the panel was formed after some county welfare agencies were accused of neglect, Stewart says many complaints against his department stem from them being too aggressive in certain cases. Stewart says that’s a problem he’s willing to live with, as he’d rather be too aggressive than to let neglect or abuse against a child continue.

Governor Ritter is backing the proposed legislation. Republican state senator Josh Penry (District 7) is listed as one of the co-sponsors of the bill.
http://www.krextv.com/index.php/site/article/bill_would_create_new_oversight_office_for_child_welfare_services/81507730/

Feds move against Human Development Center

Feds move against Human Development Center

The long-bubbling federal review of the Conway Human Development Center seems to have come to a full boil today.

The Justice Department today filed a motion in federal court to enjoin the admission of developmentally disabled children to the center to prevent their placement in "dangerous conditions" and to allow continued investigation of accusations of "imminent and serious threats to the safety of the facility's more than 500 residents."

Here's a copy of the motion for an injunction.

Justice filed a complaint against the state in January 2009. It said it had concluded that residents face "increasing and grave risk of harm each day that deficiencies are ignored." It cites, among others, the state's failure to move residents into community-based programs. Also:

The United States has concluded that children at the facility are particularly vulnerable given allegations that CHDC residents are subjected to dangerous medication mismanagement and harmful, unnecessary restraints. In recent years, at least three CHDC residents have died, suffered possible permanent organ damage or been at risk of hemorrhaging to death because of psychotropic medication mismanagement. CHDC also continues to utilize 41 different forms of mechanical restraints on both children and adults, including straitjackets, restraint chairs and papoose boards - practices that have been largely barred from other facilities for years.

I've sought comments from the state on today's development.

This is an old story. Here, for example, is a five-year-old Justice Department investigation report sent to Gov. Mike Huckabee with similar allegations. The state has always exhibited a certain blindness about operations at Conway, as evidenced when this suit was filed more than a year ago and a state spokesman described Conway services as "wonderful." More than 500 people live there, most with profound or severe retardation. Some are in fragile health. In 2005, according to the Disability Rights Center, about three dozen were school-aged children. This link carries multiple links to the progress of this ongoing probe.

It is an unrelated divison of the state Human Services Department, but this news happens to come on a day I've received continuing tips about shortcomings in the state's child protective services, an agency whose work was highlighted in this week's cover story by David Koon. There is more to come from a former official about personnel qualifications and responsiveness at the agency. How many children fall through the cracks in Arkansas? And how long will legislators tolerate the lack of accountability from the agency, which won't discuss specifics of their cases and won't reveal what, if any consequences, were meted out to workers involved? The governor continues to disappoint in this field. Children pay the price. The Justice Department has the power to pull the covers off.



JUSTICE DEPARTMENT NEWS RELEASE

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today asked the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas to take immediate action to prevent children from being admitted to the Conway Human Development Center (CHDC) in Conway, Ark. The department’s motion for preliminary injunction aims to prevent the segregation of children with developmental disabilities in dangerous conditions and to address accusations of imminent and serious threats to the safety of the facility’s more than 500 current residents.


In January 2009, the Justice Department filed a complaint against the State of Arkansas to enforce the federal requirement that individuals with disabilities be served in the most integrated settings appropriate, and to remedy unconstitutional conditions at CHDC. Information collected through discovery since the filing of the complaint has led the department to conclude that residents face increasing and grave risk of harm with each day that deficiencies are ignored, and that Arkansas fails to serve individuals in the most integrated setting appropriate to the residents’ needs.

The United States has concluded that children at the facility are particularly vulnerable given allegations that CHDC residents are subjected to dangerous medication mismanagement and harmful, unnecessary restraints. In recent years, at least three CHDC residents have died, suffered possible permanent organ damage or been at risk of hemorrhaging to death because of psychotropic medication mismanagement. CHDC also continues to utilize 41 different forms of mechanical restraints on both children and adults, including straitjackets, restraint chairs and papoose boards - practices that have been largely barred from other facilities for years.


“The State has a responsibility to ensure the safety of individuals who reside in state-run facilities, and we must act swiftly when the state does not live up to that responsibility,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Rights Division. “Individuals with developmental disabilities have the right to live in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs, and states must take swift action to ensure that all individuals are accorded these basic rights.”
In addition to barring inappropriate restraints and requiring safeguards to prevent dangerous medication practices, the motion seeks to require that the state remove barriers to the provision of supports and services in the community, so that individuals with disabilities, including the approximately 50 children at CHDC, are not forced to choose between an unsafe institution and the denial of necessary services in a more integrated setting.

Between June 1, 2007, and Oct. 1, 2009, a CHDC resident was more likely to die than be discharged to a more integrated setting. On average, CHDC residents die at the age of 46.5 years, compared with the average age of 72 years for other individuals with developmental disabilities living in institutional settings. The number of individuals with developmental disabilities who are waiting to receive community-based services is on the rise in Arkansas, with over 1,300 currently waiting to receive services through the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services Alternative Community Services waiver program, with an average wait time of approximately two and a half years.


The Civil Rights Division is authorized to conduct investigations under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). CRIPA authorizes the Attorney General to investigate conditions of confinement in certain institutions owned or operated by, or on behalf of, state and local governments. In addition to residential facilities serving persons with developmental disabilities, these institutions include psychiatric hospitals, nursing homes, jails, prisons and juvenile correctional facilities. The ADA authorizes the Attorney General to investigate whether a state is serving individuals in the most integrated settings appropriate to their needs. Please visit http://www.justice.gov/crt to learn more about CRIPA, the ADA and other laws enforced by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Posted by Max Brantley on March 9, 2010 05:29 PM |

http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/2010/03/feds_move_against_human_develo.aspx