Child "Protection" "Service" violates EVERY Human right in the United States
March 14, 2010
I am Leonard Henderson, co-founder of the American Family Rights Association.
I am responding to the U.S. State Department Web site requesting "complaints" of Human Rights abuses regarding the United Nation’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process
In 1985 I got remarried to a woman who already had 3 sons from her former marriage. The middle son was always the one who was "wherever he wasn't supposed to be, and doing whatever he wasn't supposed to be doing".
In 1997, this boy's behavior got so bad that we went to Oregon CPS for help. In 1999, CPS decided to blame ME for causing all this boy's troubles. They did this by having the boy bogusly "diagnosed" with "Post Traumatic Disorder" and then used that as "Syndrome Evidence" to blame me.
Per Oregon's Grievance Process, I defeated this absurd case against me-
http://oregonfamilyrights.com/grievance/
All my documents are at-
http://oregonfamilyrights.com/oregon/henderson/
At that time, I was running 3 businesses. The stress from this false allegation caused me to lose my health. I lost my businesses, and ended up nearly penniless.
Doctor Stephen Baskerville sums up what is going on with CPS and the unconstitutional Family Courts-
TOTALITARIANISM IN AMERICA
By Stephen Baskerville, Ph.D
December 18, 2007
NewsWithViews.com
Mass incarcerations without trial or charge; forced confessions; children forcibly separated from their parents with no reasons given; doctored hearing transcripts and falsified court records; evidence fabricated against the innocent; government agents entering the homes, examining private papers and personal effects, and seizing the property of citizens who are under no suspicion of legal wrongdoing; special courts created specifically to convict people who cannot be convicted in ordinary courts; children instructed to hate their parents by state functionaries:
Is all this the Soviet Union in the 1930s or Communist China in the 1960s? Is this some novelist's prognosticated dystopia?
No, all this and more is routine in the United States today.
Full Story
http://www.newswithviews.com/Baskerville/stephen10.htm
STEPHEN BASKERVILLE (in about 2000) said-
Not since the overthrow of the Weimar Republic have the leaders of a major democracy used their offices and the mass media to disseminate invective against millions of their own citizens. In fact it was Adolph Hitler who urged that “the state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people” and who explained, in the words of Rabbi Daniel Lapin, that “as long as government is perceived as working for the benefit of children, the people happily will endure almost any curtailment of liberty.” Using children to tug on our heartstrings may be not only a weakness of the sentimental. It also may be a ploy by those cynical and unscrupulous enough to exploit children for their own purposes. This is likely to be remembered as one of the most diabolical perversions of governmental power in our history, a time when we allowed children to be used and abused by fast-talking government officials and paid for it with our families, our social order and our constitutional rights.
I myself have written extensively about the extremely unconstitutional nature of the operations of CPS. Not the least of which is-
Best interest of the child- A new "Civil Right"
October 16, 11:25 AM
http://www.examiner.com/x-26520-Family-Rights-Examiner~y2009m10d16-Best-Interest-of-the-Child-A-New-Civil-Right
-wherein I quote Hillary Clinton herself-
"Best interests operates as an empty vessel into which adult perceptions and prejudices are poured." --Hillary Rodham, Children Under the Law, 43 Harv. Ed. Rev. 487, 513 (1973).
Many years ago, Pamela Gaston started calling the Family Courts- "China Courts", and that's exactly what they are.
But not even the communist government in China is kidnapping kids and operating a damnable CPS.
Child Protection agencies are absolutely corrupt and what they do is absolutely unconstitutional. CPS agencies obey NO law whatsoever- http://familyrights.us/bin/caselaw/new_cases.html
The Ninth District has just decided once again in Greene vs. Camreta that American children DO have their 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."
But the agencies continue kidnapping America's children, holding them for ransom, doping them out of their heads until they "age out", destroying their families, and FRAUDULENTLY collecting the Federal Funding streams.
CPS- Destroying America's Future, One Child at a time
Leonard Henderson, co-founder
American Family Rights Association
http://familyrights.us
"Until Every Child Comes Home" ©
"The Voice of America's Families" ©
"You do not examine legislation in the light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered; but in the light of the wrongs it would do and the harms it would cause if improperly administered." -Lyndon B. Johnson
"There is no system ever devised by mankind that is guaranteed to rip husband and wife or father, mother and child apart so bitterly than our present Family Court System."- Judge Brian Lindsay Retired Supreme Court Judge, New York, New York
"There is something bad happening to our children in family courts today that is causing them more harm than drugs, more harm than crime and even more harm than child molestation." Judge Watson L. White Superior Court Judge, Cobb County, Georgia
"For every social problem A caused by government program X, problem A can be solved by abolishing program X. The principle can be applied at all levels of government --federal, state and municipal. The possibilities are intriguing and should appeal to partisans of all political persuasions." -William J. Stepp
The WAR
on the Family
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)
Isabella Brooke Knightly and Austin Gamez-Knightly
In Memory of my Loving Husband, William F. Knightly Jr. Murdered by ILLEGAL Palliative Care at a Nashua, NH Hospital
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTIO
ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION
A Catalyst for Public Debate: Promoting Openness, Full Disclosure, and
Accountability
http://www.ahrp.org
FYI
In 1997 Congress passed a law--FDA Modernization Act (FDAMA)--encouraging
the use of children as human subjects in drug trials. The law awards drug
manufacturers who test their patented drugs in children with an addition
6-months of patent exclusivity--regardless, whether the drugs prove harmful
or beneficial for children.
The consequences of that ill-advised law are documented in tales of horror.
The Miami Herald reports about a psychiatrist who repeatedly put children's
lives at risk in commercial psychotropic drug trials.
One 7-year old child, Gabriel Myers, a child in foster care, who was
"treated" by Dr. Sohail Punjwani, committed suicide by hanging himself with
a shower cord.
"Before Gabriel's death, Punjwani had prescribed several powerful mental
health drugs -- some of which had not been approved by the FDA for use on
children and had been linked to dangerous side effects, including an
increased risk of suicide among children."
This boy's death prompted a yearlong investigation by a Department of
Children & Families task force, as well as proposed legislation before the
Florida Senate.
Dr. Punjwani who enrolled numerous children into drug trials, violated
medical ethics, research protocols by overdosing the children, resulting in
serious harm to the children.
The FDA sent a warning letter to Dr. Punjwani, describing inhumane
maltreatment of children in the trials:
Punjwani gave one child doses ``in excess of... specified limits.'' The girl
was ``overdosed'' on the drug for more than two weeks.
The child was discontinued from the trial before it was completed, ``due to
worsening auditory hallucinations that apparently caused the subject to
lacerate her wrists.''
Another child, "Subject 1001" weighed 103 pounds: the child ``was overdosed
on study medication for 20 consecutive days while participating in the
study,'' the letter states.
A child identified as ``Subject 1003,'' who was 15 at the time of the
trials, ``was overdosed on study medication for 21 consecutive days while
participating in the study.''
``Subject 1004,'' a 16-year-old, ``received doses in excess of the maximum
target dose for 3 consecutive days while participating.''
A 10-year-old, identified as ``Subject 1007,'' was ``overdosed'' for nearly
two weeks while on the study...
According to the FDA letter, in one trial, six of seven children -- chosen
at random -- who received one of the tested drugs in Punjwani's study, the
dosage exceeded what was spelled out in the protocol.
The FDA letter does not specify the names or types of drugs the doctor was
testing, and a spokeswoman for the FDA, Sandy Walsh, said "such details are
kept confidential to protect drug companies."
The Department of Children & Families Secretary George Sheldon, who
appointed a task force last year to study Gabriel's death, said Monday he is
asking the FDA to compare a list of Florida foster children with lists of
children enrolled in Punjwani's clinical trials. Sheldon said he was acting
on concerns that children in state care may have been involved in clinical
trials, which is against state law.
FDA spokespersons say the agency considers breaches of its regulations to be
``very serious.'' Yet, even as the FDA warning letter to Dr. Punjwani
notes, ``we are concerned that the response is not adequate to prevent
future recurrence of the violation,'' the agency did not disbar him from
conducting further pediatric clinical trials.
Who is accountable for the chemical torture of children who were subjected
to medical maltreatment that borders on criminal negligence?
How many child casualties, and what level of professional negligence must be
documented before a medical doctor's license to practice is revoked?
Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav
veracare@ahrp.org
212-595-8974
A Catalyst for Public Debate: Promoting Openness, Full Disclosure, and
Accountability
http://www.ahrp.org
FYI
In 1997 Congress passed a law--FDA Modernization Act (FDAMA)--encouraging
the use of children as human subjects in drug trials. The law awards drug
manufacturers who test their patented drugs in children with an addition
6-months of patent exclusivity--regardless, whether the drugs prove harmful
or beneficial for children.
The consequences of that ill-advised law are documented in tales of horror.
The Miami Herald reports about a psychiatrist who repeatedly put children's
lives at risk in commercial psychotropic drug trials.
One 7-year old child, Gabriel Myers, a child in foster care, who was
"treated" by Dr. Sohail Punjwani, committed suicide by hanging himself with
a shower cord.
"Before Gabriel's death, Punjwani had prescribed several powerful mental
health drugs -- some of which had not been approved by the FDA for use on
children and had been linked to dangerous side effects, including an
increased risk of suicide among children."
This boy's death prompted a yearlong investigation by a Department of
Children & Families task force, as well as proposed legislation before the
Florida Senate.
Dr. Punjwani who enrolled numerous children into drug trials, violated
medical ethics, research protocols by overdosing the children, resulting in
serious harm to the children.
The FDA sent a warning letter to Dr. Punjwani, describing inhumane
maltreatment of children in the trials:
Punjwani gave one child doses ``in excess of... specified limits.'' The girl
was ``overdosed'' on the drug for more than two weeks.
The child was discontinued from the trial before it was completed, ``due to
worsening auditory hallucinations that apparently caused the subject to
lacerate her wrists.''
Another child, "Subject 1001" weighed 103 pounds: the child ``was overdosed
on study medication for 20 consecutive days while participating in the
study,'' the letter states.
A child identified as ``Subject 1003,'' who was 15 at the time of the
trials, ``was overdosed on study medication for 21 consecutive days while
participating in the study.''
``Subject 1004,'' a 16-year-old, ``received doses in excess of the maximum
target dose for 3 consecutive days while participating.''
A 10-year-old, identified as ``Subject 1007,'' was ``overdosed'' for nearly
two weeks while on the study...
According to the FDA letter, in one trial, six of seven children -- chosen
at random -- who received one of the tested drugs in Punjwani's study, the
dosage exceeded what was spelled out in the protocol.
The FDA letter does not specify the names or types of drugs the doctor was
testing, and a spokeswoman for the FDA, Sandy Walsh, said "such details are
kept confidential to protect drug companies."
The Department of Children & Families Secretary George Sheldon, who
appointed a task force last year to study Gabriel's death, said Monday he is
asking the FDA to compare a list of Florida foster children with lists of
children enrolled in Punjwani's clinical trials. Sheldon said he was acting
on concerns that children in state care may have been involved in clinical
trials, which is against state law.
FDA spokespersons say the agency considers breaches of its regulations to be
``very serious.'' Yet, even as the FDA warning letter to Dr. Punjwani
notes, ``we are concerned that the response is not adequate to prevent
future recurrence of the violation,'' the agency did not disbar him from
conducting further pediatric clinical trials.
Who is accountable for the chemical torture of children who were subjected
to medical maltreatment that borders on criminal negligence?
How many child casualties, and what level of professional negligence must be
documented before a medical doctor's license to practice is revoked?
Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav
veracare@ahrp.org
212-595-8974
FDA warns psychiatrist who treated foster child who killed self
FDA warns psychiatrist who treated foster child who killed self
The psychiatrist who treated the Broward foster child who killed himself last year is now in hot water with the FDA.
Child "Protective" Services, Pharm / Psych Experiment's best friend, the force behind the child welfare laws.
See: THE CHILD PROTECTION RACKET: How the mental health industry subverted Child Protective Services leaving ruined families in its wake. http://www.freedommag.org/english/vol38i/index.htm
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER, cmarbin@miamiherald.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/16/1531156/psychiatrist-gets -warning-from.html
Seven-year-old Gabriel Myers hanged himself with a shower cord in a Margate foster home.
A South Florida psychiatrist who was treating a 7-year-old foster child before the boy committed suicide last year has received a warning from federal drug regulators who say he failed "to protect the rights, safety and welfare" of children enrolled in clinical drug trials.
In a strongly worded letter dated Feb. 4, regulators at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Dr. Sohail Punjwani over-medicated children who were enrolled in clinical trials for undisclosed drugs. One girl, the letter said, slashed her wrists while hallucinating.
Another, a 13-year-old, "experienced sedation and dizziness during the study," the letter said.
The warning letter, a harsh and rare form of discipline by the agency, says Punjwani failed to "adhere to the applicable statutory requirements and FDA regulations governing the conduct of clinical investigations."
"Your failure to conduct the requisite safety measures contributed to the unnecessary exposure of pediatric subjects to significant overdoses, which jeopardized the subjects' rights, safety and welfare," the letter says.
Punjwani did not return calls from The Miami Herald seeking comment.
Punjwani, who practices in Tamarac and has offices elsewhere in South Florida, was treating 7-year-old Gabriel Myers when the boy hanged himself with a shower cord in a Margate foster home. The boy's death prompted a year-long probe by a Department of Children & Families task force, as well as proposed legislation before the Florida Senate.
Before Gabriel's death, Punjwani had prescribed several powerful mental health drugs -- some of which had not been approved by the FDA for use on children and had been linked to dangerous side effects, including an increased risk of suicide among children.
Punjwani also was sued last summer by a Tamarac mother who claims her son, 16-year-old Emilio Villamar, died after being over-medicated with a group of mental health drugs at a Fort Lauderdale psychiatric hospital.
The letter mailed to Punjwani does not specify the names or types of drugs the doctor was testing, and a spokeswoman for the FDA, Sandy Walsh, said such details are kept confidential to protect drug companies.
Walsh said the FDA does not send out such warning letters often, and the agency considers breaches of its regulations to be "very serious." The letter was signed by Leslie K. Ball, a doctor who heads the compliance office of the Division of Scientific Investigations, and Constance Cullity, a doctor who is also a compliance officer.
For years, drug makers did not study most medications on children, largely due to ethical concerns over using kids [especially those in staet custody or oversight] as test subjects. More recently, however, Congress passed laws to encourage pharmaceutical companies to test their drugs for safety and efficacy with children by extending patents on drugs approved for adults.
In a trial for one drug that was not identified, Punjwani gave one child dosages "in excess of... specified limits," the letter says.
The child was discontinued from the trial before it was completed, the letter says, "due to worsening auditory hallucinations that apparently caused the subject to lacerate her wrists." The girl was "overdosed" on the drug for more than two weeks.
The letter says Punjwani submitted a corrective action plan to the FDA and revised his procedures to better protect his research subjects from dosing missteps. "However," the letter says, "we are concerned that the response is not adequate to prevent future recurrence of the violation."
The clinical trials for a different drug were to adhere to a series of protocols that specified what dosage of the drug was to be used, depending on the child's weight, the letter states. But for six of seven children -- chosen at random -- who received one of the tested drugs in Punjwani's study, the dosage exceeded what was spelled out in the protocol.
One child who weighed 103 pounds, for example, "was overdosed on study medication for 20 consecutive days while participating in the study," the letter states. The child is identified only as "Subject 1001."
A child identified as "Subject 1003," who was 15 at the time of the trials, "was overdosed on study medication for 21 consecutive days while participating in the study," the letter says. "Subject 1004," a 16-year-old, "received doses in excess of the maximum target dose for 3 consecutive days while participating," the letter says.
A 10-year-old, identified as "Subject 1007," was "overdosed" for nearly two weeks while on the study, the letter states.
Department of Children & Families Secretary George Sheldon, who appointed a task force last year to study Gabriel's death, said Monday he is asking the FDA to compare a list of Florida foster children with lists of children enrolled in Punjwani's clinical trials. Sheldon said he was acting on concerns that children in state care may have been involved in clinical trials, which is against state law.
The FDA letter, Sheldon said, "raises clear ethical issues and judgment issues that we need to clearly understand." If foster kids were enrolled in clinical trials, he said, "we will need to take it to another level."
[Child "Protective" Services, Pharm's best friend, the force behind the child welfare laws].
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/16/1531156/psy chiatrist-gets-warning-from.html#ixzz0iMIGbtxf
The psychiatrist who treated the Broward foster child who killed himself last year is now in hot water with the FDA.
Child "Protective" Services, Pharm / Psych Experiment's best friend, the force behind the child welfare laws.
See: THE CHILD PROTECTION RACKET: How the mental health industry subverted Child Protective Services leaving ruined families in its wake. http://www.freedommag.org/english/vol38i/index.htm
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER, cmarbin@miamiherald.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/16/1531156/psychiatrist-gets -warning-from.html
Seven-year-old Gabriel Myers hanged himself with a shower cord in a Margate foster home.
A South Florida psychiatrist who was treating a 7-year-old foster child before the boy committed suicide last year has received a warning from federal drug regulators who say he failed "to protect the rights, safety and welfare" of children enrolled in clinical drug trials.
In a strongly worded letter dated Feb. 4, regulators at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Dr. Sohail Punjwani over-medicated children who were enrolled in clinical trials for undisclosed drugs. One girl, the letter said, slashed her wrists while hallucinating.
Another, a 13-year-old, "experienced sedation and dizziness during the study," the letter said.
The warning letter, a harsh and rare form of discipline by the agency, says Punjwani failed to "adhere to the applicable statutory requirements and FDA regulations governing the conduct of clinical investigations."
"Your failure to conduct the requisite safety measures contributed to the unnecessary exposure of pediatric subjects to significant overdoses, which jeopardized the subjects' rights, safety and welfare," the letter says.
Punjwani did not return calls from The Miami Herald seeking comment.
Punjwani, who practices in Tamarac and has offices elsewhere in South Florida, was treating 7-year-old Gabriel Myers when the boy hanged himself with a shower cord in a Margate foster home. The boy's death prompted a year-long probe by a Department of Children & Families task force, as well as proposed legislation before the Florida Senate.
Before Gabriel's death, Punjwani had prescribed several powerful mental health drugs -- some of which had not been approved by the FDA for use on children and had been linked to dangerous side effects, including an increased risk of suicide among children.
Punjwani also was sued last summer by a Tamarac mother who claims her son, 16-year-old Emilio Villamar, died after being over-medicated with a group of mental health drugs at a Fort Lauderdale psychiatric hospital.
The letter mailed to Punjwani does not specify the names or types of drugs the doctor was testing, and a spokeswoman for the FDA, Sandy Walsh, said such details are kept confidential to protect drug companies.
Walsh said the FDA does not send out such warning letters often, and the agency considers breaches of its regulations to be "very serious." The letter was signed by Leslie K. Ball, a doctor who heads the compliance office of the Division of Scientific Investigations, and Constance Cullity, a doctor who is also a compliance officer.
For years, drug makers did not study most medications on children, largely due to ethical concerns over using kids [especially those in staet custody or oversight] as test subjects. More recently, however, Congress passed laws to encourage pharmaceutical companies to test their drugs for safety and efficacy with children by extending patents on drugs approved for adults.
In a trial for one drug that was not identified, Punjwani gave one child dosages "in excess of... specified limits," the letter says.
The child was discontinued from the trial before it was completed, the letter says, "due to worsening auditory hallucinations that apparently caused the subject to lacerate her wrists." The girl was "overdosed" on the drug for more than two weeks.
The letter says Punjwani submitted a corrective action plan to the FDA and revised his procedures to better protect his research subjects from dosing missteps. "However," the letter says, "we are concerned that the response is not adequate to prevent future recurrence of the violation."
The clinical trials for a different drug were to adhere to a series of protocols that specified what dosage of the drug was to be used, depending on the child's weight, the letter states. But for six of seven children -- chosen at random -- who received one of the tested drugs in Punjwani's study, the dosage exceeded what was spelled out in the protocol.
One child who weighed 103 pounds, for example, "was overdosed on study medication for 20 consecutive days while participating in the study," the letter states. The child is identified only as "Subject 1001."
A child identified as "Subject 1003," who was 15 at the time of the trials, "was overdosed on study medication for 21 consecutive days while participating in the study," the letter says. "Subject 1004," a 16-year-old, "received doses in excess of the maximum target dose for 3 consecutive days while participating," the letter says.
A 10-year-old, identified as "Subject 1007," was "overdosed" for nearly two weeks while on the study, the letter states.
Department of Children & Families Secretary George Sheldon, who appointed a task force last year to study Gabriel's death, said Monday he is asking the FDA to compare a list of Florida foster children with lists of children enrolled in Punjwani's clinical trials. Sheldon said he was acting on concerns that children in state care may have been involved in clinical trials, which is against state law.
The FDA letter, Sheldon said, "raises clear ethical issues and judgment issues that we need to clearly understand." If foster kids were enrolled in clinical trials, he said, "we will need to take it to another level."
[Child "Protective" Services, Pharm's best friend, the force behind the child welfare laws].
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/16/1531156/psy chiatrist-gets-warning-from.html#ixzz0iMIGbtxf
Foster mother had 5 abuse complaints
Foster mother had 5 abuse complaints
Inquiries are focusing on her role in the death of a 2-year-old girl and how she got licensed in the first place. One of the abuse reports about her was substantiated.
The South Los Angeles foster mother under investigation in the fatal beating of a 2-year-old child had been the subject of five previous child-abuse complaints, including one substantiated allegation that she had severely neglected her own biological child in 2002, confidential records show.
Kiana Barker's troubled history, coming in the wake of disclosures about her live-in boyfriend's criminal record, has raised questions about how she could have been approved last year as a foster parent by child-welfare authorities. Under state rules, both adults should have been disqualified from caring for or living with foster children.
Barker's home was supposed to have been a refuge for Viola Vanclief, born in 2007 to a schizophrenic mother who proved dangerously neglectful when off her medications. Instead, confidential child-welfare records reviewed by The Times show, Viola was moved from one high-risk home to another.
After Viola's March 4 death, Barker told investigators that the toddler had been trapped in a bed frame and that she accidentally struck the child with a hammer while trying to free her, according to coroner's records. Viola had multiple bruises on her body, the records say. The death was deemed a homicide caused by blunt-force trauma.
Barker and James Julian were arrested on suspicion of murder, then released after prosecutors sent the case back to the police and coroner for further investigation.
Neither Barker nor Julian could be reached for comment.
Two weeks after Viola's death, child-welfare officials still are unable to say why Barker's past had not ruled her out as a foster parent.
"I'm still in the information-gathering phase," said Trish Ploehn, Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services director. "I'm still pulling the state regs to determine who was responsible to assess the history and who was responsible to follow up following the subsequent hotline calls. It's a complicated and complex analysis."
Jeff Hiratsuka, head of the state Community Care Licensing Division, which is responsible for licensing foster parents, was unable to explain why the 2002 substantiated-neglect probe did not lead his workers to disqualify Barker when she applied in 2005 for a child-care license and in 2009 for foster-care certification.
Hiratsuka said it was unclear whether Barker's history had not been reported to the state database by county workers, or if it had been reported and overlooked by his staff.
"We need to gather more information," said Lizelda Lopez, a spokeswoman for the state agency.
Reached Wednesday, Viola's sister, 23-year-old Sonja Vanclief of Columbus, Ohio, said the family regretted that Viola had ever been taken away from her mother, Olivia. "These people should go and do whatever time," she said, referring to Barker and Julian. "Viola was a baby and she was defenseless, and they were supposed to protect her."
As for the county, "they are sloppy," said Sonja Vanclief, who was herself placed in foster care as a child.
Viola first came to the attention of Ploehn's department shortly after her birth when child-welfare investigators determined that her schizophrenic mother was not taking her medication, according to the records. Viola was briefly removed from the biological mother's care and then, as is common practice, reunified with her as the county tried to help the woman care for her infant.
But seven months later, the investigators determined that the mother was still not taking her medication, was using cocaine and had violently attacked another person. The county initiated court proceedings to terminate the mother's parental rights, the records show.
The infant was later placed with Barker, 30, who has two children of her own. It is unclear whether county social workers at that time were aware of the five previous complaints against Barker.
The records show, however, that county Children and Family Services investigators substantiated the severe neglect charge in 2002 -- a finding that should have placed Barker on the California attorney general’s database consulted by employers and regulators to vet foster parents and other child-care providers.
Details of the 2002 case and others were not contained in the records reviewed by The Times.
Over subsequent years, callers continued to report abuse or neglect by Barker but social workers were unable to substantiate the complaints, the records show. In 2005, someone accused Barker of emotionally abusing a child and investigators deemed the allegation unfounded. In July 2008, a caller alleged neglect of two foster children -- a charge deemed inconclusive. One month later, Barker was accused of general neglect and sexual abuse of foster children. Investigators determined the neglect charge to be inconclusive and the sexual-abuse charge unfounded. Three months later, investigators concluded another complaint of sexual abuse of a foster child was unfounded.
Under state rules, the inconclusive cases should have beenentered into the state database and might have precluded a state license.
Inquiries are focusing on her role in the death of a 2-year-old girl and how she got licensed in the first place. One of the abuse reports about her was substantiated.
South L.A. foster mother, boyfriend are under investigation in child's death
L.A. County welfare agency refuses to release files on children's deaths
Abuse begets abuse in a family's brutal legacy
In addition, the records show, Barker's boyfriend went undetected in Barker's home over the course of the couple's three-year relationship. Julian, who is known as "Big Bird," is also under investigation in Viola's death, and was convicted in 1992 of armed robbery -- a fact that should have disqualified him from living in a home certified for foster care.
When Barker applied to become a foster parent, state regulators apparently did not discover his presence -- despite the three 2008 child-abuse investigations that should have documented everyone living in the home, the records show.
The foster care agency that Barker worked for, United Care Inc., also had a record of problems. The agency, which contracts with the county and oversees 88 homes with 216 foster children, repeatedly has been cited in recent years after caregivers choked, hit and whipped their charges with a belt. In 2007, a foster child under the agency's care drowned while swimming unsupervised in a pool.
Viola's death comes as Ploehn's department is facing scrutiny in the deaths of more than 30 children who passed through the county's child-welfare system over the last two years. All but two cases have involved children killed while in the custody of their own parents.
A series of reforms has been initiated by Ploehn and the county Board of Supervisors, but Viola's death indicates that communication among key personnel remains a serious problem.
It also shows that the L.A. County system sometimes affords abused children no good alternatives.
"The options are few and they are not well-researched or investigated, and we are not getting the right people to care for these children," said Jorja Leap, a child-welfare expert at UCLA. "My 16-year-old daughter was subjected to more scrutiny to obtain her driver's license than this woman underwent to become a foster parent."
garrett.therolf
@latimes.com
Times staff researchers Kent Coloma and Scott Wilson contributed to this report.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-child-death18-2010mar18,0,5455606.story
Inquiries are focusing on her role in the death of a 2-year-old girl and how she got licensed in the first place. One of the abuse reports about her was substantiated.
The South Los Angeles foster mother under investigation in the fatal beating of a 2-year-old child had been the subject of five previous child-abuse complaints, including one substantiated allegation that she had severely neglected her own biological child in 2002, confidential records show.
Kiana Barker's troubled history, coming in the wake of disclosures about her live-in boyfriend's criminal record, has raised questions about how she could have been approved last year as a foster parent by child-welfare authorities. Under state rules, both adults should have been disqualified from caring for or living with foster children.
Barker's home was supposed to have been a refuge for Viola Vanclief, born in 2007 to a schizophrenic mother who proved dangerously neglectful when off her medications. Instead, confidential child-welfare records reviewed by The Times show, Viola was moved from one high-risk home to another.
After Viola's March 4 death, Barker told investigators that the toddler had been trapped in a bed frame and that she accidentally struck the child with a hammer while trying to free her, according to coroner's records. Viola had multiple bruises on her body, the records say. The death was deemed a homicide caused by blunt-force trauma.
Barker and James Julian were arrested on suspicion of murder, then released after prosecutors sent the case back to the police and coroner for further investigation.
Neither Barker nor Julian could be reached for comment.
Two weeks after Viola's death, child-welfare officials still are unable to say why Barker's past had not ruled her out as a foster parent.
"I'm still in the information-gathering phase," said Trish Ploehn, Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services director. "I'm still pulling the state regs to determine who was responsible to assess the history and who was responsible to follow up following the subsequent hotline calls. It's a complicated and complex analysis."
Jeff Hiratsuka, head of the state Community Care Licensing Division, which is responsible for licensing foster parents, was unable to explain why the 2002 substantiated-neglect probe did not lead his workers to disqualify Barker when she applied in 2005 for a child-care license and in 2009 for foster-care certification.
Hiratsuka said it was unclear whether Barker's history had not been reported to the state database by county workers, or if it had been reported and overlooked by his staff.
"We need to gather more information," said Lizelda Lopez, a spokeswoman for the state agency.
Reached Wednesday, Viola's sister, 23-year-old Sonja Vanclief of Columbus, Ohio, said the family regretted that Viola had ever been taken away from her mother, Olivia. "These people should go and do whatever time," she said, referring to Barker and Julian. "Viola was a baby and she was defenseless, and they were supposed to protect her."
As for the county, "they are sloppy," said Sonja Vanclief, who was herself placed in foster care as a child.
Viola first came to the attention of Ploehn's department shortly after her birth when child-welfare investigators determined that her schizophrenic mother was not taking her medication, according to the records. Viola was briefly removed from the biological mother's care and then, as is common practice, reunified with her as the county tried to help the woman care for her infant.
But seven months later, the investigators determined that the mother was still not taking her medication, was using cocaine and had violently attacked another person. The county initiated court proceedings to terminate the mother's parental rights, the records show.
The infant was later placed with Barker, 30, who has two children of her own. It is unclear whether county social workers at that time were aware of the five previous complaints against Barker.
The records show, however, that county Children and Family Services investigators substantiated the severe neglect charge in 2002 -- a finding that should have placed Barker on the California attorney general’s database consulted by employers and regulators to vet foster parents and other child-care providers.
Details of the 2002 case and others were not contained in the records reviewed by The Times.
Over subsequent years, callers continued to report abuse or neglect by Barker but social workers were unable to substantiate the complaints, the records show. In 2005, someone accused Barker of emotionally abusing a child and investigators deemed the allegation unfounded. In July 2008, a caller alleged neglect of two foster children -- a charge deemed inconclusive. One month later, Barker was accused of general neglect and sexual abuse of foster children. Investigators determined the neglect charge to be inconclusive and the sexual-abuse charge unfounded. Three months later, investigators concluded another complaint of sexual abuse of a foster child was unfounded.
Under state rules, the inconclusive cases should have beenentered into the state database and might have precluded a state license.
Inquiries are focusing on her role in the death of a 2-year-old girl and how she got licensed in the first place. One of the abuse reports about her was substantiated.
South L.A. foster mother, boyfriend are under investigation in child's death
L.A. County welfare agency refuses to release files on children's deaths
Abuse begets abuse in a family's brutal legacy
In addition, the records show, Barker's boyfriend went undetected in Barker's home over the course of the couple's three-year relationship. Julian, who is known as "Big Bird," is also under investigation in Viola's death, and was convicted in 1992 of armed robbery -- a fact that should have disqualified him from living in a home certified for foster care.
When Barker applied to become a foster parent, state regulators apparently did not discover his presence -- despite the three 2008 child-abuse investigations that should have documented everyone living in the home, the records show.
The foster care agency that Barker worked for, United Care Inc., also had a record of problems. The agency, which contracts with the county and oversees 88 homes with 216 foster children, repeatedly has been cited in recent years after caregivers choked, hit and whipped their charges with a belt. In 2007, a foster child under the agency's care drowned while swimming unsupervised in a pool.
Viola's death comes as Ploehn's department is facing scrutiny in the deaths of more than 30 children who passed through the county's child-welfare system over the last two years. All but two cases have involved children killed while in the custody of their own parents.
A series of reforms has been initiated by Ploehn and the county Board of Supervisors, but Viola's death indicates that communication among key personnel remains a serious problem.
It also shows that the L.A. County system sometimes affords abused children no good alternatives.
"The options are few and they are not well-researched or investigated, and we are not getting the right people to care for these children," said Jorja Leap, a child-welfare expert at UCLA. "My 16-year-old daughter was subjected to more scrutiny to obtain her driver's license than this woman underwent to become a foster parent."
garrett.therolf
@latimes.com
Times staff researchers Kent Coloma and Scott Wilson contributed to this report.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-child-death18-2010mar18,0,5455606.story
Parents of foster kids need basic services, study says
News
Parents of foster kids need basic services, study says
by: Jocelyn Chui
Sixty percent of the parents with children in the state’s child welfare system had trouble getting enough food for the family last year, according to a social survey done by Partners with Our Children.
The data collected by the public-private organization were a part of an independent evaluation of the state’s Department of Social and Health Services. Its purpose was to better engage parents in DSHS’s work to reunite biological families after the children had been put into foster care.
The report was presented at the February Legislative session at the request of Representative Ruth Kagi, who is the chair of the House Early Learning and Children’s Services Committee. “The study is really valuable,” Kagi said. “It really helps us to understand how parents view our child welfare system and what are the major barriers they are facing, which we need to address.”
Of the parents surveyed, over 70 percent were unable to pay the rent or mortgage, buy needed clothing or pay an important bill at some point in the past 12 months. Roughly 50 percent had been homeless, evicted or had to move in with family or friends. Annual income was $10,000 or less for about half of the families.
Parents also said they prized the state’s ability to help them meet basic needs like food or housing over services for substance abuse, domestic violence or anger management. But they agreed with social workers that learning parenting skills is a high priority.
“The social worker can help get families the services they need to overcome the conditions that caused the child’s removal,” said the Director of Partners for Our Children Mark Courtney. “But the worker usually doesn’t have access to resources to provide basic, concrete services like housing. This raises important policy issues.”
http://www.realchangenews.org/index.php/site/archives/3965/
Parents of foster kids need basic services, study says
by: Jocelyn Chui
Sixty percent of the parents with children in the state’s child welfare system had trouble getting enough food for the family last year, according to a social survey done by Partners with Our Children.
The data collected by the public-private organization were a part of an independent evaluation of the state’s Department of Social and Health Services. Its purpose was to better engage parents in DSHS’s work to reunite biological families after the children had been put into foster care.
The report was presented at the February Legislative session at the request of Representative Ruth Kagi, who is the chair of the House Early Learning and Children’s Services Committee. “The study is really valuable,” Kagi said. “It really helps us to understand how parents view our child welfare system and what are the major barriers they are facing, which we need to address.”
Of the parents surveyed, over 70 percent were unable to pay the rent or mortgage, buy needed clothing or pay an important bill at some point in the past 12 months. Roughly 50 percent had been homeless, evicted or had to move in with family or friends. Annual income was $10,000 or less for about half of the families.
Parents also said they prized the state’s ability to help them meet basic needs like food or housing over services for substance abuse, domestic violence or anger management. But they agreed with social workers that learning parenting skills is a high priority.
“The social worker can help get families the services they need to overcome the conditions that caused the child’s removal,” said the Director of Partners for Our Children Mark Courtney. “But the worker usually doesn’t have access to resources to provide basic, concrete services like housing. This raises important policy issues.”
http://www.realchangenews.org/index.php/site/archives/3965/
After 7-Year-Old Gabriel Myers' Suicide, Fla. Bill Looks to Tighten Access to Psychiatric Drugs
After 7-Year-Old Gabriel Myers' Suicide, Fla. Bill Looks to Tighten Access to Psychiatric Drugs
Posted by Edecio Martinez
Gabriel Myers
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (CBS/WFOR) The apparent suicide of 7-year-old boy Gabriel Myers, who was taking several psychiatric medications, has led to the introduction of a bill in the Florida legislature, which would assure that powerful mental health drugs dispensed to Florida foster care children would be more closely monitored.
The proposal is largely based on the findings of a task force formed after Gabriel locked himself in a bathroom and hung himself with a shower cord last April.
Gabriel Myers (Credit: Family Photo)
Gabriel was on Seroquel - used to treat bipolar disorder - and other psychiatric drugs linked by federal regulators to potentially dangerous side effects, including suicide, but the risks may not have been adequately communicated to his foster parents.
The drugs are not approved for use by young children. But doctors often prescribe them 'off-label,' for purposes for which the drugs have not been approved.
Sen. Ronda Storms said prescribed drugs have replaced talk therapy and are over-prescribed to subdue unruly children. The measure would require an independent review before psychiatric drugs can be administered to children 10 or younger.
"All you do is mask the behavioral problems by treating him (psychotropically). All you're doing is putting him in a chemical straight jacket so that he can't act out so you can get him to 18 and dump him into adulthood and that's not acceptable," said Storms to CBS affiliate WFOR.
Gabriel's death prompted a statewide investigation that found 13 percent, or 2,699, of all foster children are on such drugs, according to a Department of Children and Families(DCF) study. That compares with only an estimated 4 percent to 5 percent of children in the general population.
Child advocates say the prescribing doctors often lack pertinent information on the child, including medical history and behavioral background. The bill requires caregivers and doctors to report any adverse side effects, which DCF must document.
The bill also requires children to have a mental health treatment plan that includes counseling for children prescribed such drugs.
Story Contributed by CBS Affiliate WFOR.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20000546-504083.html
Posted by Edecio Martinez
Gabriel Myers
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (CBS/WFOR) The apparent suicide of 7-year-old boy Gabriel Myers, who was taking several psychiatric medications, has led to the introduction of a bill in the Florida legislature, which would assure that powerful mental health drugs dispensed to Florida foster care children would be more closely monitored.
The proposal is largely based on the findings of a task force formed after Gabriel locked himself in a bathroom and hung himself with a shower cord last April.
Gabriel Myers (Credit: Family Photo)
Gabriel was on Seroquel - used to treat bipolar disorder - and other psychiatric drugs linked by federal regulators to potentially dangerous side effects, including suicide, but the risks may not have been adequately communicated to his foster parents.
The drugs are not approved for use by young children. But doctors often prescribe them 'off-label,' for purposes for which the drugs have not been approved.
Sen. Ronda Storms said prescribed drugs have replaced talk therapy and are over-prescribed to subdue unruly children. The measure would require an independent review before psychiatric drugs can be administered to children 10 or younger.
"All you do is mask the behavioral problems by treating him (psychotropically). All you're doing is putting him in a chemical straight jacket so that he can't act out so you can get him to 18 and dump him into adulthood and that's not acceptable," said Storms to CBS affiliate WFOR.
Gabriel's death prompted a statewide investigation that found 13 percent, or 2,699, of all foster children are on such drugs, according to a Department of Children and Families(DCF) study. That compares with only an estimated 4 percent to 5 percent of children in the general population.
Child advocates say the prescribing doctors often lack pertinent information on the child, including medical history and behavioral background. The bill requires caregivers and doctors to report any adverse side effects, which DCF must document.
The bill also requires children to have a mental health treatment plan that includes counseling for children prescribed such drugs.
Story Contributed by CBS Affiliate WFOR.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20000546-504083.html
Grandparents rights are all about the kids
Grandparents rights are all about the kids
Mar 17th, 2010 | By neil | Category: grandparents rights
When grandparents rights are implemented in the way they were intended a great amount of good is the result. Nearly every state in the union has some form of grandparents rights legislation and, according to every court case, custody evaluation, and case study I have read all of these state laws place the emphasis in the best interest of the child.
If there was ever a win-win situation then this is it. If only life were that clear cut.
My heart aches a lot when I read the transcripts of the cases of very abused and neglected children. Story after story of ill-equipped, non-functioning parents that are just trying to show the world that they wield some power over something and the children be damned.
In most cases the courts give these parents opportunity after opportunity to get their act together before any action is taken. In most of these cases it is the grandparents that have come to the rescue of the grandchildren. This is just the kind of circumstances that the grandparents rights laws were enacted for.
It was not long ago that the grandparents would not have had “standing” in the court. The result of this approach was that it took much longer to get the help to the child in crisis where it was needed.
Now that these laws offer grandparents this standing it gives them the right to address the court on behalf of the children, nothing more. It is not a mandate to take any rights from parents, it merely allows a caring grandparent to be heard above the rants and rationalizations of a parent who most often has lost the ability to provide safety and nurture to the child.
To be clear, the court offers the parents every avenue to right the wrong and function in their child’s life. The court uses Comprehensive Custody evaluations to separate the truth from accusations. In most cases a custody study will be carried out by an outside independent Guardian Ad Litem in an effort to be fair to all.
This process will include tools such as psychological testing, chemical dependency evaluations, urinalysis, previous court records, etc. Without belaboring the point let me just say that in every case I have studied the courts go to the mat to protect the parents rights. This approach, while painful for those caring bystanders, is consistent with the United States Constitution as it applies to parental rights.
Parents rights are addressed in the 1st, 5th, 9th and 14th amendments to the constitution which might indicate their importance. You won’t get an argument from me on this point.
Some cast this whole discussion as an argument for parents rights against grandparents rights and that is missing the entire point. The one and only guiding principle and standard for this entire issue, the best interest of the child.
What is this best interest of the child? To this end the court is instructed to consider and evaluate all the relevant factors such as:
The wishes of the child’s parent or parents as to custody.
The reasonable preference of the child, depending on the child’s age.
The input of the child’s primary caregiver if different than parent(s).
The intimacy of the relationship between the child and each parent.
The interaction and relationship of the child with parent(s), siblings, grandparents and anyone else who significantly affects the child’s best interest.
The child’s adjustment to school, home and/or community.
The longevity of a stable and satisfactory environment with a consideration for maintaining continuity.
The security and permanence of a family unit that exists or is being considered for a custodial home.
The physical and mental health of the individuals involved.
The disposition and capacity of the custodial parties to give love, affection and guidance to the child.
The ability to educate and raise the child in the child’s own culture and religion or creed, if any.
The presence in the household of anyone who has allegedly committed domestic abuse.
The physical living conditions of the custodial home.
The willingness of the custodial parent to encourage and permit frequent and continuing contact by the child’s other parent, absent any danger to the child.
All of these factors revolve around sole custody…these and many other factors come into play when joint custody is sought.
The point is that these are childrens’ lives and I am not sure everyone wouldn’t be better served if we throw the parents rights and grandparents rights into a blender and created the best interest of the child’s rights.
I encourage anyone who reads this article to learn all they can about the subject of grandparents rights. My goal for caring grandparents and caring parents to make this entire subject all about the child.
Please be well and happy.
NEIL
http://www.caringgrandparents.com/grandparents-rights/grandparents-rights-are-all-about-the-kids
Mar 17th, 2010 | By neil | Category: grandparents rights
When grandparents rights are implemented in the way they were intended a great amount of good is the result. Nearly every state in the union has some form of grandparents rights legislation and, according to every court case, custody evaluation, and case study I have read all of these state laws place the emphasis in the best interest of the child.
If there was ever a win-win situation then this is it. If only life were that clear cut.
My heart aches a lot when I read the transcripts of the cases of very abused and neglected children. Story after story of ill-equipped, non-functioning parents that are just trying to show the world that they wield some power over something and the children be damned.
In most cases the courts give these parents opportunity after opportunity to get their act together before any action is taken. In most of these cases it is the grandparents that have come to the rescue of the grandchildren. This is just the kind of circumstances that the grandparents rights laws were enacted for.
It was not long ago that the grandparents would not have had “standing” in the court. The result of this approach was that it took much longer to get the help to the child in crisis where it was needed.
Now that these laws offer grandparents this standing it gives them the right to address the court on behalf of the children, nothing more. It is not a mandate to take any rights from parents, it merely allows a caring grandparent to be heard above the rants and rationalizations of a parent who most often has lost the ability to provide safety and nurture to the child.
To be clear, the court offers the parents every avenue to right the wrong and function in their child’s life. The court uses Comprehensive Custody evaluations to separate the truth from accusations. In most cases a custody study will be carried out by an outside independent Guardian Ad Litem in an effort to be fair to all.
This process will include tools such as psychological testing, chemical dependency evaluations, urinalysis, previous court records, etc. Without belaboring the point let me just say that in every case I have studied the courts go to the mat to protect the parents rights. This approach, while painful for those caring bystanders, is consistent with the United States Constitution as it applies to parental rights.
Parents rights are addressed in the 1st, 5th, 9th and 14th amendments to the constitution which might indicate their importance. You won’t get an argument from me on this point.
Some cast this whole discussion as an argument for parents rights against grandparents rights and that is missing the entire point. The one and only guiding principle and standard for this entire issue, the best interest of the child.
What is this best interest of the child? To this end the court is instructed to consider and evaluate all the relevant factors such as:
The wishes of the child’s parent or parents as to custody.
The reasonable preference of the child, depending on the child’s age.
The input of the child’s primary caregiver if different than parent(s).
The intimacy of the relationship between the child and each parent.
The interaction and relationship of the child with parent(s), siblings, grandparents and anyone else who significantly affects the child’s best interest.
The child’s adjustment to school, home and/or community.
The longevity of a stable and satisfactory environment with a consideration for maintaining continuity.
The security and permanence of a family unit that exists or is being considered for a custodial home.
The physical and mental health of the individuals involved.
The disposition and capacity of the custodial parties to give love, affection and guidance to the child.
The ability to educate and raise the child in the child’s own culture and religion or creed, if any.
The presence in the household of anyone who has allegedly committed domestic abuse.
The physical living conditions of the custodial home.
The willingness of the custodial parent to encourage and permit frequent and continuing contact by the child’s other parent, absent any danger to the child.
All of these factors revolve around sole custody…these and many other factors come into play when joint custody is sought.
The point is that these are childrens’ lives and I am not sure everyone wouldn’t be better served if we throw the parents rights and grandparents rights into a blender and created the best interest of the child’s rights.
I encourage anyone who reads this article to learn all they can about the subject of grandparents rights. My goal for caring grandparents and caring parents to make this entire subject all about the child.
Please be well and happy.
NEIL
http://www.caringgrandparents.com/grandparents-rights/grandparents-rights-are-all-about-the-kids
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