MURDERED CPS FIGHTER Nancy Schaefer

Nancy Schaefer on CPS

Message to Austin Knightly's Foster Stranger's Jessie and David

It has just come to my attention that you commented back on a letter to the Editor I wrote on December 24th, 2009:
Sent: Sat, December 26, 2009 2:26:03 AM
Subject: [nashuatelegraph] Re: Parental rightstoo easily revoked - NashuaTelegraph.com

UKNOWN (unregistered) wrote:

DEAR DOROTHY FIRST OF ALL YOU ARE WRONG I WAS THE FIRST PLACE YOUR GRANDSON WAS IN FOSTER CARE THE 1ST HOME YOUR GRANDSON WAS PUT IN AND NO IM NOT THE ADOPTED PARENT.2ND I HAVE A FOSTER PARENT FOR SOME TIME AND THE STATE GIVES MORE THAN ENOUGH CHANCES FOR YOUR GRANDKIDS TO GET BACK TO THERE PARENTS.IVE SEEN IT ALL,I DO BELIEVE YOU ARE MISTAKEN YOUR DAUGHTER SHOULD BE ASHEMED,MY TAX DOLLARS PAY FOR PEOPLE LIKE HER.GET A GRIP.DCYF GOES WAY BEYOND WHAT I WOULD LIKE.THEY GIVE TO MUCH TO PEOPLE LIKE YOU.

As it is too late to comment back to you in the Telegraph and I was not able to retrieve your comment, I find I must comment to you through my blog.
To Jessie and David, thank you for letting me know Austin has not been adopted by you. I don't think it would have been in Austin's best interest if you had adopted him, although you do work for DCYF, so how do I know you aren't lying also?
If he is not with you, I'm glad. He already tried to hang himself once in your home already. He also stated in front of his mother's caseworker, Anna the homewrecker, that he was being fed pretzels and water. Anna had told him not to tell his mother, but he did and she confirmed it. Did you feel he and his sister needed to be on a diet? They both lost three clothes sizes while living in your home, which wasn't even a year. Austin's sister was severely underweight when they were moved and placed in the childrens home.
The only thing's you know about any of the kids you take in are the lies that DCYF tell's you. I know exactly how it works. I took foster classes also and am well aware of the lies told about parents and their families. Did DCYF fail to tell you all charges against Austin's mother were dropped? Did they also fail to tell you that missing evidence proved her innocence? Did they also fail to tell you that the CASA worker and Anna the homewrecker were afraid that once this evidence came to light, that the children would be returned and how they were going to do whatever they could to make sure the kids were never returned? No, I'm sure you weren't told any of this. Foster stranger's are just puppets for DCYF and you won't ask questions for fear they will retaliate against you and you will lose your foster stranger license. You see, this is why I don't have my grandchildren. Because I wouldn't kiss up to DCYF and lie about my daughter's, I have been retaliated against.
So if you don't have Austin, I'm glad. Hopefully he is no longer skin and bones. But I don't trust your word any more than I trust DCYF's. Is money that important?

Diane V. Grendell: Time to protect our children

Diane V. Grendell: Time to protect our children
Published: Sunday, April 04, 2010

By Diane V. Grendell



"The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children." Dietrich Bonhoeffer

As a child psychiatric nurse and a judge on Ohio's 11th District Court of Appeals, child maltreatment has been a considerable concern of mine for the past 20 years. I am frequently faced with outrageous and unfathomable cases related to child abuse and neglect. As I researched child abuse and neglect data, I was both shocked and appalled at this country's horrific statistics. I was dismayed that a civilized nation would have such extraordinary child maltreatment rates. This data needs to be publicized to convey the serious problem of child maltreatment in the United States, as well as child abuse and neglect around the world.

Child Abuse and Neglect in the United States

Each week, child protective services agencies throughout the United States receive more than 50,000 reports of suspected child abuse or neglect; a report of child abuse is filed every 10 seconds. Every state has mandatory child abuse and neglect reporting laws that require certain professionals and institutions, including health care providers and facilities, teachers, social workers, police officers, and daycare providers, to report suspected maltreatment of a child. Approximately two thirds of the cases reported provide sufficient information to prompt an assessment or investigation. As a result of these investigations, on average, 2,500 children per day are found to be victims of abuse or neglect throughout the country. Statistics indicate that one third of abused and neglected children later abuse their own children, thus, continuing the cycle of abuse.

The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System is a federally sponsored effort that collects and analyzes annual data on child abuse and neglect. The data is submitted voluntarily by each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

According to Child Maltreatment 2007, the most recent report of data from the NCANDS, approximately 794,000 children were found to be victims of child abuse or neglect in 2007. Of this number, 59 percent suffered neglect, 10.8 percent were physically abused, 7.6 percent were sexually abused, 4.2 percent were emotionally or psychologically maltreated, and 1.2 percent were medically neglected. Moreover, nearly 15 percent of victims experienced other types of maltreatment such as abandonment, threats of harm to the child and congenital drug addiction.

Furthermore, 3.2 million referrals, involving approximately 5.8 million children, were made to Child Protective Services agencies in 2008. Nearly three quarters of the children had no history of prior victimization. Nearly 62 percent of those allegations reached the report stage and either were investigated or received an alternative response. Approximately 25.2 percent of the investigations that reached the report stage determined that at least one child was a victim of child abuse or neglect.

Of the victims reported, nearly 80 percent were abused by a parent, acting alone or with another person. Statistics show 38.7 percent of child victims were maltreated by their mothers acting alone. Victims abused by a non-parent, such as an unmarried partner of a parent, legal guardian or foster parent, accounted for nearly 10 percent of the total.

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University estimates that substance abuse is a factor in at least 70 percent of all reported cases of child maltreatment. A comprehensive national survey of child maltreatment found that 14 percent of children in the United States experience some form of maltreatment during their childhood.

The fatalities

There were an estimated 1,760 child fatalities in the United States last year; at least four children died from abuse or neglect per day. Research indicates very young children (ages 3 and under) are the most frequent victims of child fatalities; children younger than 1 year of age accounted for 44.2 percent of the fatalities. Fatal child abuse may involve repeated abuse over a period of time or a single, impulsive incident. In cases of fatal neglect, the child's death results not from anything the caregiver does, but from a caregiver's failure to act. The neglect may be chronic (such as extended malnourishment) or acute (such as an infant who drowns after being left unsupervised in the bathtub). In 2008, nearly 35 percent of child maltreatment fatalities were associated with neglect alone. Physical abuse alone was cited in more than a quarter of the reported fatalities. Furthermore, more than 35 percent of fatalities were the result of multiple maltreatment types.

The response to the problem of child abuse and neglect fatalities is often hindered by inconsistencies, including: underreporting of the number of children who die each year as a result of abuse and neglect; lack of consistent standards for child autopsies or death investigations; the varying roles of child protective services agencies in different jurisdictions; uncoordinated, non-multidisciplinary investigations; and medical examiners or elected coroners who do not have specific child abuse and neglect training.

Consequences

There are obvious physical consequences of abuse and neglect, such as changes in the development of the brain, injuries, bruises and fractures. A child can also suffer consequences such as social and behavioral problems; cognitive dysfunction; high risk behavior; and emotional health problems. Of young adults that had been abused as children, at the age of 21, 80 percent met the diagnostic criteria for at least one psychiatric disorder, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders and post traumatic stress disorder. Abused children are 25 percent more likely to experience teen pregnancy. Additionally, abused school-age children consistently perform lower on standardized tests of reading and math skills, are 2.5 times more likely to repeat at least one grade, and two times more likely to require special educational services.

There is a definite link between child abuse and neglect and future criminal behavior. Children who experience child abuse and neglect are 59 percent more likely to be arrested as a juvenile, 28 percent more likely to be arrested as an adult, and 30 percent more likely to commit violent crime. Statistics indicate about 14.4 percent of all men in prison in the United States were abused as children, and 36.7 percent of all women in prison were abused as children.

Moreover, there is a connection between childhood abuse and neglect and substance abuse. Children who have been sexually abused are 2.5 times more likely to develop alcohol abuse and nearly four times more likely to develop drug addictions. In addition, nearly two-thirds of the people in treatment for drug abuse reported being abused as children.

There are also costs to society associated with neglected and abused children. These costs are related to the immediate needs of children, as well as the indirect costs, such as the costs connected with the long-term and/or secondary effects of the abuse and neglect.

Based on a study conducted in 2007, the estimated annual cost of child abuse and neglect in the United States was $103.8 billion for 2007. The study concluded that the direct costs amounted from hospitalization, mental health care, child welfare services, and law enforcement costs. The study assumed that 50 percent of the seriously injured children needed hospitalization and 25-50 percent needed some form of mental health.

The study further concluded that 22 percent of maltreated children have learning disorders and required special education, which costs nearly $6,000 per pupil. Also, the cost of caring for a juvenile offender in a residential facility must also be factored in, since it is estimated that 27 percent of abused or neglected children become delinquents. In addition, the costs associated from the adult criminal justice system must be accounted for as well.

Finally, the study indicated abused and neglected children would cause a loss in productivity to society, which must be allotted for when estimating the cost of child abuse and neglect. The study recognized that although the economic costs are substantial, it is essential to recognize that it is impossible to calculate the impact of the pain, suffering, and reduced quality of life that victims of abuse and neglect experience. The study suggested that intangible losses may represent the largest cost component of violence against children.

Another study concluded that the United States annually spends an estimated $258 million on foster care, incarceration, and other societal costs because of the abuse and neglect of children, which amounts to $1,460 per family, per year.

Ohio children

Last year, there were more than 100,000 reported cases of child abuse or neglect in Ohio. Nearly half of the reported cases confirmed the child was a victim of abuse or neglect.

From 2002 through 2007, one study reports that of the 234 children who died due to abuse or neglect in Ohio, one third of the children died after Children Services became involved in their case. A study through the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported a larger number of child abuse and neglect deaths. ODJFS reported 358 such deaths from 2002 to 2006, and Children Services offices were involved in 92 of those children (26 percent). The percentage is more than two times the national average of 12 percent.

Examination of several cases, where a child died as the result of abuse or neglect, showed that the caseworkers failed to assess the safety of the children, did not check the background of adults in abusive homes and/or improperly closed cases when children were still at risk. A horrific example of the failure of the system is the case of 20-month-old Charmarla Drake. The child spent the first 18 months of her life in foster care and was later returned to her teenage mother, Sharnese Brock, who subsequently beat the child to death. Brock said she repeatedly asked to return the baby to child services prior to her death, reasoning that she could not cope. However, in reports, child services officials stated that Brock wanted the baby and was working on her parenting skills.

Another shocking example is the case of Jaquelyn Mae Cooper. Had child services officials checked the background of the caregiver, Daniel Duffield, before he beat Jacquelyn to death, they would have discovered he had previously served two years in prison for abusing another child.

There are also instances of foster-care placement agencies licensed by the state that have failed to screen or run background checks on foster parents. One of these failures resulted in the death of a 3-year-old Cincinnati boy after he was bound and stuffed in a closet.

Connre Dixon's death is another illustration of the fatal results from the failure to check the background of the caretaker. The 11-year-old from Huron County was placed with a foster family, even though child services officials knew of child abuse allegations against the foster father, Paul Efaw. After an argument with the child, Efaw stabbed her in the chest several times with a hunting knife. He served three years for voluntary manslaughter. A jury awarded the girl's estate $600,000 in damages after a wrongful death lawsuit against the county child services agency.

County agencies received more than 70,000 reports of child abuse and neglect last year. About 4 percent of the complaints led to the removal of children from abusive homes and placement in foster care. Ohio law exempts the identities of foster parents from open-records laws; sadly, as a result, Ohioans cannot independently check on the suitability of foster parents.

International problem

In 2006, the United Nations released the first U.N. Secretary General's Study on Violence Against Children, which confirms that such violence exists in every country of the world, cutting across culture, class, education, income and ethnic origin. In certain regions, violence against children is socially approved, and is frequently legal and state-authorized; it is sometimes accepted as "tradition" or disguised as "discipline."

The study revealed that growing income inequality, globalization, migration, urbanization, health threats, in particular the HIV/AIDS pandemic, technological advances and armed conflict, affected how children were treated.

The study painted a detailed picture of the nature, extent and causes of violence against children and proposed recommendations on how to prevent and respond to it. The study recommended that all states develop a multifaceted and systematic framework to respond to violence against children. The study also suggested that a national strategy, policy or plan of action on violence against children with realistic and time-bound targets, coordinated by an agency with the capacity to involve multiple sectors in a broad-based implementation strategy, should be also formulated.

Improving safety

Many of Ohio's children services agencies, particularly in smaller, rural counties without local tax levies, are underfunded by the state. Increased funding would certainly improve child protective services agencies. Computerized tools may also be the key to improving case evaluation and the safety of abused children.

As of Dec. 18, 2008, all 88 Ohio counties are linked to the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System. This Web-based system will be used by all of Ohio's child welfare workers to determine eligibility, conduct case management, and administer adoption, foster care, and child protection services.

The project's mission is "to provide automated technology solutions to Ohio's state and local child welfare agencies that support service delivery and practice for the safety, permanency and well-being of children and families." The system gives caseworkers immediate access to information about the backgrounds of at-risk children and adults with whom they could be placed. Cuyahoga County was the last county to connect to the network that began with Muskingum County in August 2006. The system will connect all of Ohio's child welfare agencies with agencies in 26 other states that are already using the system. The SACWIS allows a caseworker to track a child across county lines and is accessible to more than 6,000 county caseworkers as they work to support and improve the safety, permanency and well-being of Ohio's children and families. In addition, the system, which supports cases from intake to closure, is accessible to workers anywhere Internet access is available and includes alerts and reminders which will help in day-to-day case management.

While the exact number of children affected is uncertain, child injuries and fatalities due to abuse and neglect remain a serious problem in the United States and around the world. Mahatma Gandhi once said "(a) nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." Although states like Ohio are improving in some areas with regard to achieving positive outcomes for children who come into contact with state child welfare systems, many challenges remain. As data from sources like NCANDS become more detailed and available, they can help professionals and others understand the problem of child maltreatment more completely. Unfortunately, data alone cannot solve the problem of child abuse and neglect.

Diane V. Grendell of Chester Township serves as a judge on Ohio's 11th District Court of Appeals.

Please comment on this article and let this Judge know how it really is!

http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2010/04/04/opinion/nh2303426.txt#blogcomments

Open Message to Austin Knightly Nashua, NH

I know at some time you will finally see the messages I've been posting to you. The strangers DCYF have placed you with can't keep you off the computer forever. Your smarter than they think you are and the drugs they've put you on, hopefully won't stop you from learning the truth. And if they've told you they are vitamin's, they aren't. That's what they tell all the kids that they kidnap. I know they've brainwashed you. They told you your mother wasn't your mother anymore. I'm sure they told you we don't love you and don't want you, just so they could turn you into their little robot. Once you've gone on the computer and read everything I've been doing to fight for your return, you'll know yourself they are nothing but liar's. That the stranger's who are holding you hostage are being paid off. DCYF was paid off to take you from us also. Because I would not lie about your mother or your Aunt, we were not allowed custody of you. Because I have become a fighter against the corruption within DCYF and the illegal kidnapping of you and Isabella, Grampie and I were not allowed to let you live with us, even though DCYF, CASA, your therapist and all the Judges knew you wanted to be with us. They would have lost all their bonus money if you had come to live with us. Money means more to them than the life of a child.
We will never give up this fight for your return. DCYF and the stranger's you are living with have been telling you nothing but lies.
I hope you have a nice Easter. It's not the same without you, but we will be together again. We alway's had a lot of fun on the Holidays with you, Ally and your mother. Please don't forget us and don't believe anything the stranger's or DCYF tell's you. The only thing they care about is the money their getting for you. They don't care about you or any other child they steal. Money is the only thing that matter's to them. They don't care about the pain they've caused you. They put all the blame on your mother, even though the charges were dropped. They did everything illegal they could to keep you from all of us. You are still Austin KNIGHTLY! Don't ever forget that. We are still in the same house and will not leave until you and Isabella come home! I plan to fight for you both for as long as it takes. Your room is still waiting for you. DCYF led us to believe you were coming to live with us, so we set everything up for you. We still have your motorcycle also, although I'm sure your too big for it now. Belle is still waiting for you also.
I hope you have a nice Easter, with more to eat than pretzels and water! Remember how we always had Easter egg hunts for you and Ally? And you alway's found the most egg's? Don't forget we are here for you and always will be. We love you and alway's will!
Love Alway's, Grammie and Grampie

Permanency outcomes of children in kinship and non-kinship foster care: Testing the external validity of kinship effects

Permanency -- New Child Welfare Information Gateway Library Additions


Permanency outcomes of children in kinship and non-kinship foster care: Testing the external validity of kinship effects

Eun Koh, a,
a Postdoctoral Research Associate, Children and Family Research Center, School of Social Work, University of Illinois, Urbana—Champaign, 150 N. Wacker Drive, Suite 2120, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
Received 26 May 2009; revised 15 October 2009; accepted 16 October 2009. Available online 25 October 2009.
Abstract
The study investigates the permanency outcomes of children in kinship foster homes in comparison to children in non-kinship foster homes. To examine whether the effects of kinship placements are generalizable across states, the study utilizes the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data obtained for five states that participated in the Fostering Court Improvement project: Arizona, Connecticut, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee. The study also addresses the issue of selection biases with the use of propensity score matching (PSM) methods. A partially longitudinal file was created from the states' AFCARS 6-month submissions from March 2000 to September 2005. The PSM method created the matched samples of the study, balancing the mean covariates between kin and non-kin children.
Analyses of survival times were conducted to investigate the permanency outcomes of children in kinship and non-kinship foster homes, using unmatched and matched samples. In the study, permanency outcomes include legal permanence and placement stability. The study finds that the direction and the size of kinship effects vary across the states with respect to the outcome of legal permanence, but positive advantages of kinship placements are reported for placement stability in all five states. Implications of the findings for practice and policy are discussed.
Keywords: Foster care; Kinship care; Legal permanence; Placement stability; Propensity score matching

Article Outline

1. Introduction
2. Permanency outcomes of kin and non-kin children
3. Method
3.1. Data
3.2. Sample
3.3. Analysis
3.3.1. Propensity score matching
3.3.2. Analysis of survival times
4. Results
4.1. Propensity score matching
4.2. Permanency outcomes
5. Discussions
6. Limitations
7. Conclusion
Acknowledgements
References




http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V98-4XJ17JV-1&_user=10&_coverDate=03/31/2010&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=5e820757ea9f1ba5207039795736a809




Tel.: +1 312 641 2505x18; fax: +1 312 641 2337.
Children and Youth Services Review
Volume 32, Issue 3, March 2010, Pages 389-398

New Federal Report Shows Drop in Child Abuse Rates-The Editors from ABC are asking For more Information on this Topic

New Federal Report Shows Drop in Child Abuse Rates
New federal report shows decrease in number of US children suffering abuse, neglect
The Associated Press
Post a Comment By DAVID CRARY AP National Writer
NEW YORK April 1, 2010 (AP)
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Chart shows decrease in the number of children abused in the U.S.
(AP)
The rate of child maltreatment in the U.S. dipped in 2008 to its lowest level since 1990, but the number of abuse-related child fatalities continued to rise, according to new federal figures.

The annual report from the Department of Health and Human Services, issued Thursday, said the estimated number of victimized children had dropped sharply, from 903,000 in 2006 to 772,000 in 2008. However, there were 1,740 reported fatalities, up from 1,330 in 2000.

Carmen Nazario, HHS assistant secretary for children and families, said she was encouraged by the decrease in maltreatment, but sounded a note of caution.

"The results show too many children still suffer from abuse and neglect, and we have not yet experienced the full impact from the economic situation," she said.

The HHS data was for the 2008 fiscal year, ending Sept. 30, and did not reflect the recession that took hold in the final months of that year.

The report did not explain the decrease, but child-welfare experts — spotting the trend in some previous studies — have suggested that increased awareness and intolerance of child abuse has had an impact over the past decade.


According to the HHS report, the rate of child victimization was 10.3 per 1,000 children in 2008. That's down from a peak rate of 15.3 in 1993 and is the lowest since the congressionally mandated survey — titled the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System — began in 1990.

Of the victims, 71 percent suffered neglect, 16 percent were physically abused, 9 percent were sexually abused and about 7 percent suffered psychological maltreatment.

Regarding fatalities, the worst rates were for infant boys. Children under 4 accounted for 80 percent of the estimated 1,740 fatalities.

The recent increase in fatalities might be due, in part, to changes in how data is collected and reported by the states, the report said.

Do you have more information about this topic? If so, please go to the website to contact the editors of ABC News. (This is their request)
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=10263346