Child Abuse, In Central Nebraska, USA (continued)
News Type: Event — Mon Apr 12, 2010 6:33 PM EDT
By mdphknmrk
The last time I saw the children...
They were being loaded into a police car, but thankfully, there weren't enough handcuffs for the minor children to wear - but they had done nothing to warrant an arrest - they were only attempting to report that the guardian male where they were being forced by the state's DHHS workers to live, had done something that wasn't right. (The DHHS officers weren't told at the time that one of the girls had spoken to me on the phone regarding the incident) - "He slips his hand up under mine and my sister's shirts...when he tickles us." I didn't ask for further details, but I believe she was being truthful...but I don't get paid to decide for or against them, so I chose to let my gut (decide)...
To me, this story was beginning to carry the all too familiar tones of recent testimonies "by the victims" of past abuse (a small yet undisclosed number of Catholic "pedophile" Priests (which has long since been overboard where neglect lies - neglect by the abused, that is, for not stepping forward immediately).
They, as far as their mother knows, might even be back with the guardians, but worse, a police report started on April 8, 2010, has just been sent off to those, upstate, who get paid to file them somewhere.
Will the children get moved to another home soon the mother wonders...
I wonder, why, in the name of their best interest, would they be sent back to a place (as they told me tearfully) none of them want to be?
If they were, it wouldn't be the first time they'd been ignored here, no, and this isn't the first complaint by them about the various placements they've endured thus far - nor is it their first complaint regarding this home for that matter - they lie - that's the only plausible explanation - it's just a ploy to come home under...
Protected by the Pope - wait, these kids aren't even Catholic, but, when a school nurse was called to examine a scratch on the neck of one of the girls, the case wasn't important enough for the state to make a move over, "She grabbed me by the neck and choked me because she said I was stepping too loudly up the stairs...and she has really sharp nails." the girl had said. Remember, the three kids are in this situation because of abuse by their grandmother and their Grandmother's boyfriend, but that I have few details over.
I had my reasons...? (Was this the excuse the guardian mother used, or was it that (and I quote) "The child has a history of not being truthful." The Guardian parent had stated on at least one occasion, of which I myself overheard while interviewing the mother of these children (she'd called there so I could hear for myself why she hadn't spoken to her children in what I called forever - the mother knew exactly how long it had been...WTH..(hey)? I was sitting right there, too, when the unfit mother defended her child, "She never used to, not when they lived with me."
I later learned where they learned it from while one of them begged their mother not to report this latest accusation, "They always lie to us, MOM, PLEASE...they all lie to us..." said one, "They'll just keep us from you again - it's not fair." said another.
...And for the same reasons the state won't return them to their biological mother, no matter how many times the children say otherwise, they can only be lying when it comes to where they feel the safest - kids! They don't know what they're saying when they claim their mother was good to them - no, because theylie (I feel for them here, because 'state' employees insist that their mother is unfit - but I wonder, after watching this unfit mother of 5 care for a recently born set of twins (17 months old, a boy and a girl - both smart - neither showing any signs of abuse) - these workers haven't seen this mother in action the way I have - The mother I see, is far better fit to raise her children, than a growing number of parents I've seen still raising their own, Married or single.
"So...who Lies?"
According to most police detectives, anyone who has something to hide (or cover up) - most often, (but not always) - the guilty. So, after all of this time, why are these children still being accused of lying about their guardians, and why am I being expected to believe they are incompetent to claim there was no wrong done to them by their mother? At this stage, to admit that the children are being truthful about one, would compromise the integrity of a government run institution, which, like any organization, should be competent enough to admit when they are wrong. But, it's hard to admit that ole college degree isn't worth the paper it's written on - that would deny them supremacy in court, and compromise their ability to hold authority over helpless poor families that get abused when a child molester runs free.
I have to wonder more...will they merely be transferred before they can come under fire for their practice of removing children from families that might have been better off protected?.
Nothing, is against the law, yet, at the same time, it isn't - it is immoral for someone to do nothing when a crime has been reported - but, when it comes to a priest, or a state funded guardianship program, it's ok - the children's best interest is what matters most.
...Whoa - let me rework this some based on that thought - was the family just not what these people would call "Role Model Material" for the fine state of Nebraska...is it that shallow here? To be honest, TV shows like that which Rosanne played in...others, the Simpsons, Family Guy - those all showed families with married couples...even "Married, with Children" portrayed a worse environment than these children would endure if they were back at 'home' - but each of those shows (with the exception of the Bundy group) were raising their children with the support of friends and family (whether welcomed or not). Is this family just guilty of not having a support group...typical?
Is this the case of, "The Single Mother With Three Too Many Children" or is it that these are just one of many sets of children who are tired of being lied to by people that claim to know what's best for them?
There is no humor here when I say, "Well, it is after all a Nebraska DHHS I'm writing this article about - this is the state which farms corn, watermelons, and hey, they'll even farm out your children, just as long as there is room for them in one of their better homes - but when children complain about being denied due process, or about the way they are being treated, even I have a hard time calling it better, much less, in their 'best' interests...
http://mdphknmrk.newsvine.com/_news/2010/04/12/4149305-child-abuse-in-central-nebraska-usa-continued
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
Friday, May 21, 2010
DHS spending millions to defend itself in lawsuit
DHS spending millions to defend itself in lawsuit
By GINNIE GRAHAM World Staff Writer
Published: 4/18/2010 2:26 AM
Last Modified: 4/18/2010 4:36 AM
Related Story: Group suing DHS says state 'resistant'
The state Department of Human Services has spent about $2.4 million since April 2008 on attorneys to defend it in a federal class-action lawsuit alleging abusive conditions in the state foster-care system, according to records reviewed by the Tulsa World.
The suit, filed in February 2008 in federal court in Tulsa, accuses the state of placing foster children in harm's way because of deficiencies in the system such as too many cases per worker, not enough home visits, multiple placements and not enough training for foster parents.
The Commission for Human Services, which oversees DHS, will consider on April 27 a plan to furlough employees four hours a week for 46 weeks beginning in July as a way to cut $30 million from the budget for the next fiscal year. The plan would shift employees to a four-day workweek.
DHS Director Howard Hendrick said the agency recognizes the budget crisis, but there is no choice but to defend the lawsuit.
"The services we deliver to children in out-of-home care do not violate the constitutional rights of the children for whom we care," Hendrick said in an e-mail statement from the public information office.
Hendrick stated that more than 90 percent of foster children receive a monthly visit
from their caseworkers, and the overall number of children in foster homes has been reduced by 30 percent in the past three years.
"We have the fewest number of children in care in more than a decade," Hendrick said. "We have the most tenured staff we have had in years, and we have the most manageable caseloads in years. We are prepared to defend the excellent work our staff does every day."
The Human Services Commission never took a formal vote on hiring outside attorneys to defend the federal lawsuit, but commissioners receive updates in executive session periodically, according to agency spokeswoman Beth Scott.
The contract for services was signed by Hendrick in March 2008. It states the agency would be billed on a monthly basis and included a list of attorneys with hourly rates ranging from $180 to $200 an hour.
In a July 2008 application to the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office for approval to hire an outside attorney, DHS stated the anticipated costs had "too many variables to make an estimate." The Attorney General's Office gave the approval.
DHS set aside $500,000 in its 2009 budget and later amended that to $800,000, according to the application records.
The agency gave its reason for needing outside attorneys as a "lack of resources." While in-house counsel will assist, the agency said it will "need the resources available from a large firm with experienced counsel in this type of major litigation."
Invoices submitted by the Tulsa-based legal firm Riggs, Abney, Neal, Turpen, Orbison and Lewis show expenditures for 13,744 hours of work for $2.5 million, but "professional courtesy discounts" of $313,000 bring the cost down.
About $178,000 is listed as "other" expenses and $37,300 for services from a copy shop for processing e-mail exchanges between DHS workers. DHS said the "other" expenditures are not an open record but would include consultants, experts, extensive discovery and reproducing documents, Scott stated in an e-mail.
"The 'other' category is privileged because disclosing those details would jeopardize the defense of the lawsuit," Scott stated.
Scott said agency officials considered the trial and appellate experiences of attorneys in the firm before deciding on the contract.
The attorneys appearing in court for DHS are Bob Nance, who has served as an assistant attorney general and argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, and Don Bingham.
The firm's contract will likely be renewed, Scott said.
Monthly invoices range from $132,000 in April 2009 to about $40,000 in July 2008.
Children's Rights founder and Executive Director Marcia Robinson Lowry has been representing the plaintiffs in court with the assistance of Tulsa attorney Frederic Dorwart.
Also being listed at some point as providing support for the plaintiffs are the Oklahoma firms of Seymour & Graham; Doerner, Saunders, Daniel & Anderson; Day, Edwards, Propester & Christensen; and the international law firm Kaye Scholer.
The parties are starting the process of exchanging evidence, and the trial is expected to begin in 2011.
Ginnie Graham 581-8376
Ginnie.graham@tulsaworld.com
By GINNIE GRAHAM World Staff Writer
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20100418_11_A1_TesaeD750643
By GINNIE GRAHAM World Staff Writer
Published: 4/18/2010 2:26 AM
Last Modified: 4/18/2010 4:36 AM
Related Story: Group suing DHS says state 'resistant'
The state Department of Human Services has spent about $2.4 million since April 2008 on attorneys to defend it in a federal class-action lawsuit alleging abusive conditions in the state foster-care system, according to records reviewed by the Tulsa World.
The suit, filed in February 2008 in federal court in Tulsa, accuses the state of placing foster children in harm's way because of deficiencies in the system such as too many cases per worker, not enough home visits, multiple placements and not enough training for foster parents.
The Commission for Human Services, which oversees DHS, will consider on April 27 a plan to furlough employees four hours a week for 46 weeks beginning in July as a way to cut $30 million from the budget for the next fiscal year. The plan would shift employees to a four-day workweek.
DHS Director Howard Hendrick said the agency recognizes the budget crisis, but there is no choice but to defend the lawsuit.
"The services we deliver to children in out-of-home care do not violate the constitutional rights of the children for whom we care," Hendrick said in an e-mail statement from the public information office.
Hendrick stated that more than 90 percent of foster children receive a monthly visit
from their caseworkers, and the overall number of children in foster homes has been reduced by 30 percent in the past three years.
"We have the fewest number of children in care in more than a decade," Hendrick said. "We have the most tenured staff we have had in years, and we have the most manageable caseloads in years. We are prepared to defend the excellent work our staff does every day."
The Human Services Commission never took a formal vote on hiring outside attorneys to defend the federal lawsuit, but commissioners receive updates in executive session periodically, according to agency spokeswoman Beth Scott.
The contract for services was signed by Hendrick in March 2008. It states the agency would be billed on a monthly basis and included a list of attorneys with hourly rates ranging from $180 to $200 an hour.
In a July 2008 application to the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office for approval to hire an outside attorney, DHS stated the anticipated costs had "too many variables to make an estimate." The Attorney General's Office gave the approval.
DHS set aside $500,000 in its 2009 budget and later amended that to $800,000, according to the application records.
The agency gave its reason for needing outside attorneys as a "lack of resources." While in-house counsel will assist, the agency said it will "need the resources available from a large firm with experienced counsel in this type of major litigation."
Invoices submitted by the Tulsa-based legal firm Riggs, Abney, Neal, Turpen, Orbison and Lewis show expenditures for 13,744 hours of work for $2.5 million, but "professional courtesy discounts" of $313,000 bring the cost down.
About $178,000 is listed as "other" expenses and $37,300 for services from a copy shop for processing e-mail exchanges between DHS workers. DHS said the "other" expenditures are not an open record but would include consultants, experts, extensive discovery and reproducing documents, Scott stated in an e-mail.
"The 'other' category is privileged because disclosing those details would jeopardize the defense of the lawsuit," Scott stated.
Scott said agency officials considered the trial and appellate experiences of attorneys in the firm before deciding on the contract.
The attorneys appearing in court for DHS are Bob Nance, who has served as an assistant attorney general and argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, and Don Bingham.
The firm's contract will likely be renewed, Scott said.
Monthly invoices range from $132,000 in April 2009 to about $40,000 in July 2008.
Children's Rights founder and Executive Director Marcia Robinson Lowry has been representing the plaintiffs in court with the assistance of Tulsa attorney Frederic Dorwart.
Also being listed at some point as providing support for the plaintiffs are the Oklahoma firms of Seymour & Graham; Doerner, Saunders, Daniel & Anderson; Day, Edwards, Propester & Christensen; and the international law firm Kaye Scholer.
The parties are starting the process of exchanging evidence, and the trial is expected to begin in 2011.
Ginnie Graham 581-8376
Ginnie.graham@tulsaworld.com
By GINNIE GRAHAM World Staff Writer
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20100418_11_A1_TesaeD750643
Group suing DHS says state 'resistant' Children's Rights seeks reforms in foster care system
Group suing DHS says state 'resistant'
Children's Rights seeks reforms in foster care system.
By GINNIE GRAHAM World Staff Writer
Published: 4/18/2010 2:27 AM
Last Modified: 4/18/2010 4:37 AM
Related Story: DHS spending millions to defend itself in lawsuit
Oklahoma has been as resistant as any state that Children's Rights has sued over child welfare concerns, the group's founder says.
Children's Rights began as a project of the New York Civil Liberties Union and later the American Civil Liberties Union. It became an independent nonprofit in 1995.
The group has filed lawsuits against child welfare systems in Connecticut, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.
Children's Rights filed suit against Oklahoma's Department of Human Services in early 2008 seeking reforms in the foster care system including lowering the caseload among workers, adding training and recruitment for foster families, creating more oversight to ensure visitations are made and lowering placements among foster children.
Nearly all the nonprofit's other lawsuits were settled in consent decrees agreeing to reforms, with some states in their second decade of the settlements. In a 1991 trial against the Washington, D.C., system, a federal judge ruled against the district and reached an out-of-court settlement in 1993 on a reform plan.
"Oklahoma has been as resistant as any state I've encountered,
and in so many ways, fighting the case at all levels," said Children's Rights founder and Executive Director Marcia Robinson Lowry. "The state is entitled to legal claims. But it has resisted fact gathering and is drawing out this process."
Lowry said the state's high rate of abuse and neglect of children in foster care and the frequency of placements drew her organization's attention.
Evidence presented during class-action status hearings showed that 1.2 percent to 1.8 percent of foster children suffer from abuse or neglect, and the average caseload is about 50 per worker.
The nine children originally listed as plaintiffs had a total of 176 caseworkers, 125 secondary workers and 190 supervisors, according to court records.
The children included an 11-month-old with 17 placements and abuse resulting in a skull fracture, a 5-year-old girl going to nine facilities in four counties within a year and a 13-year-old girl who was sexually abused in care, court records state.
Lowry said more than 150 Oklahoma child welfare advocates were interviewed during an eight-month period before the group decided to file the lawsuit.
"We do not become involved in a system unless local providers feel there is a problem and problems that cannot be solved without outside intervention," Lowry said. "We've never become involved in a system without speaking to a large number of people in a state."
Lowry said the suit against Oklahoma is not about recovering monetary damages.
"We are seeking prospective reforms to make things better for people coming into the system," she said. "Our view of the problem is based on the state's own data and from the state child advocates we interviewed."
DHS officials say Children's Rights have received awards in past settlements, including $6.4 million in the Michigan consent decree and $10.5 million from Georgia in its settlement.
Some of the reforms being sought have been instituted since the lawsuit's filing, such as changing the process of when to remove children in order to keep more in their homes.
Also, the Legislature moved oversight of emergency shelters from DHS to the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth and stopped law enforcement officers from automatically taking children to shelters.
Defense attorneys argue that a federal decree may interfere with ongoing state cases. DHS officials say a mandated decree may be a hardship on the agency in the long run.
Officials point to a contentious effort by the Washington, D.C., attorney general to end a decree there after a federal judge recently criticized the district for a lack of progress and non-compliance with child welfare statutes.
DHS officials say the child welfare budgets may significantly increase under a decree. It cites Connecticut's child welfare budget growing from $250 million when it entered into a consent decree in 1989 to the current $820 million budget, and Michigan's budget growing from $32 million to $129 million within two years of a settlement.
However, Lowry said reforms can make a system more efficient in the long run and will save children's lives.
"You have to ask 'what are you prepared to do to save a person's life,' but also a mismanaged system is not saving the state money," Lowry said.
Ginnie Graham 581-8376
Ginnie.graham@tulsaworld.com
By GINNIE GRAHAM World Staff Writer
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=16&articleid=20100418_16_A8_Oklaho901763
Children's Rights seeks reforms in foster care system.
By GINNIE GRAHAM World Staff Writer
Published: 4/18/2010 2:27 AM
Last Modified: 4/18/2010 4:37 AM
Related Story: DHS spending millions to defend itself in lawsuit
Oklahoma has been as resistant as any state that Children's Rights has sued over child welfare concerns, the group's founder says.
Children's Rights began as a project of the New York Civil Liberties Union and later the American Civil Liberties Union. It became an independent nonprofit in 1995.
The group has filed lawsuits against child welfare systems in Connecticut, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.
Children's Rights filed suit against Oklahoma's Department of Human Services in early 2008 seeking reforms in the foster care system including lowering the caseload among workers, adding training and recruitment for foster families, creating more oversight to ensure visitations are made and lowering placements among foster children.
Nearly all the nonprofit's other lawsuits were settled in consent decrees agreeing to reforms, with some states in their second decade of the settlements. In a 1991 trial against the Washington, D.C., system, a federal judge ruled against the district and reached an out-of-court settlement in 1993 on a reform plan.
"Oklahoma has been as resistant as any state I've encountered,
and in so many ways, fighting the case at all levels," said Children's Rights founder and Executive Director Marcia Robinson Lowry. "The state is entitled to legal claims. But it has resisted fact gathering and is drawing out this process."
Lowry said the state's high rate of abuse and neglect of children in foster care and the frequency of placements drew her organization's attention.
Evidence presented during class-action status hearings showed that 1.2 percent to 1.8 percent of foster children suffer from abuse or neglect, and the average caseload is about 50 per worker.
The nine children originally listed as plaintiffs had a total of 176 caseworkers, 125 secondary workers and 190 supervisors, according to court records.
The children included an 11-month-old with 17 placements and abuse resulting in a skull fracture, a 5-year-old girl going to nine facilities in four counties within a year and a 13-year-old girl who was sexually abused in care, court records state.
Lowry said more than 150 Oklahoma child welfare advocates were interviewed during an eight-month period before the group decided to file the lawsuit.
"We do not become involved in a system unless local providers feel there is a problem and problems that cannot be solved without outside intervention," Lowry said. "We've never become involved in a system without speaking to a large number of people in a state."
Lowry said the suit against Oklahoma is not about recovering monetary damages.
"We are seeking prospective reforms to make things better for people coming into the system," she said. "Our view of the problem is based on the state's own data and from the state child advocates we interviewed."
DHS officials say Children's Rights have received awards in past settlements, including $6.4 million in the Michigan consent decree and $10.5 million from Georgia in its settlement.
Some of the reforms being sought have been instituted since the lawsuit's filing, such as changing the process of when to remove children in order to keep more in their homes.
Also, the Legislature moved oversight of emergency shelters from DHS to the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth and stopped law enforcement officers from automatically taking children to shelters.
Defense attorneys argue that a federal decree may interfere with ongoing state cases. DHS officials say a mandated decree may be a hardship on the agency in the long run.
Officials point to a contentious effort by the Washington, D.C., attorney general to end a decree there after a federal judge recently criticized the district for a lack of progress and non-compliance with child welfare statutes.
DHS officials say the child welfare budgets may significantly increase under a decree. It cites Connecticut's child welfare budget growing from $250 million when it entered into a consent decree in 1989 to the current $820 million budget, and Michigan's budget growing from $32 million to $129 million within two years of a settlement.
However, Lowry said reforms can make a system more efficient in the long run and will save children's lives.
"You have to ask 'what are you prepared to do to save a person's life,' but also a mismanaged system is not saving the state money," Lowry said.
Ginnie Graham 581-8376
Ginnie.graham@tulsaworld.com
By GINNIE GRAHAM World Staff Writer
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=16&articleid=20100418_16_A8_Oklaho901763
Grandparents Rights For Visitation-The Present State Of Us Legislating
Grandparents Rights For Visitation-The Present State Of Us Legislating
Children are the best companions to the aging grandparents. In the past they were under grandparent’s custody irrespective of their parents alive or not. Later the society has undergone changes and now separation, divorce, premature deaths to parents are most common among the society. In these circumstances grandparent’s rights on their loving grandchildren become questioned which necessitated for legislative rulings for grandparent’s visitation rights on children. It is a legal right to keep in touch with the children in the event of any of the parents objects such an act due to the reasons stated earlier. In the US all states have separate statues that give permission to the grandparents to maintain contact with their children.
Though all fifty states have regulations on grandparent’s legal rights, it varies considerably on procedure and practice. Since the matter is crucial to the physical and emotional development of the child, the courts always ruled that the best interest of the child should always be protected when granting visitation rights to grandparents. In all states the law requires that it is the responsibility of the grandparent to prove that visitation is in the best interest of the grandchild.
Over the years all states adopted the legislation which assured the grandparents rights for petition in the case of parental death or separation. The legislation provided satisfactory relief to the grandparents and the children but when the custodian of the child moved to another state, the grandparents needed to fight again in that state for the same issue. To solve this, The passing of the ( Visitation Rights Enforcement Act) in 1998 guaranteed that the grandparents could visit their grandchildren anywhere in the United States if they had visitation rights in any one state.
In recent times the issue became more complicated due to frequent divorce, drug, and alcohol addiction and family separations in large numbers in the society. The merits and demerits of any particular case depend on the circumstances as the sudden separation from the loved ones causes emotional problems to grandparents and children alike. In 2000 the U S Supreme Court delivered an important judgment in the case of Troxel v. Granville in which it was stated that a parent who provided adequate care for the children was free to take a decision on the matter with whom the children would associate and leaving the matter to court decisions would be in conflict with the parent’s basic constitutional rights. Though this interpretation from the apex court was widely criticized the state courts still take the judgment as basis for any subsequent decisions. Several grandparents’ organizations in US are moving for a suitable legislation to address the issue promptly.
And as a grandparent please keep your grandchildren’s best interest in mind. I hope that you are one of those lucky grandparents that has a good relationship with your grandchildren and their parents but if your are not please search out your options at grandparents rights The rights of grandparents raising grandchildren are certainly something to check out. I wish you all the best. Good luck with your grandchildren. Jacquelyn Dunn
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jacquelyn_Dunn
http://www.xforce.ws/2010/05/grandparents-rights-for-visitation-the-present-state-of-us-legislating/
Children are the best companions to the aging grandparents. In the past they were under grandparent’s custody irrespective of their parents alive or not. Later the society has undergone changes and now separation, divorce, premature deaths to parents are most common among the society. In these circumstances grandparent’s rights on their loving grandchildren become questioned which necessitated for legislative rulings for grandparent’s visitation rights on children. It is a legal right to keep in touch with the children in the event of any of the parents objects such an act due to the reasons stated earlier. In the US all states have separate statues that give permission to the grandparents to maintain contact with their children.
Though all fifty states have regulations on grandparent’s legal rights, it varies considerably on procedure and practice. Since the matter is crucial to the physical and emotional development of the child, the courts always ruled that the best interest of the child should always be protected when granting visitation rights to grandparents. In all states the law requires that it is the responsibility of the grandparent to prove that visitation is in the best interest of the grandchild.
Over the years all states adopted the legislation which assured the grandparents rights for petition in the case of parental death or separation. The legislation provided satisfactory relief to the grandparents and the children but when the custodian of the child moved to another state, the grandparents needed to fight again in that state for the same issue. To solve this, The passing of the ( Visitation Rights Enforcement Act) in 1998 guaranteed that the grandparents could visit their grandchildren anywhere in the United States if they had visitation rights in any one state.
In recent times the issue became more complicated due to frequent divorce, drug, and alcohol addiction and family separations in large numbers in the society. The merits and demerits of any particular case depend on the circumstances as the sudden separation from the loved ones causes emotional problems to grandparents and children alike. In 2000 the U S Supreme Court delivered an important judgment in the case of Troxel v. Granville in which it was stated that a parent who provided adequate care for the children was free to take a decision on the matter with whom the children would associate and leaving the matter to court decisions would be in conflict with the parent’s basic constitutional rights. Though this interpretation from the apex court was widely criticized the state courts still take the judgment as basis for any subsequent decisions. Several grandparents’ organizations in US are moving for a suitable legislation to address the issue promptly.
And as a grandparent please keep your grandchildren’s best interest in mind. I hope that you are one of those lucky grandparents that has a good relationship with your grandchildren and their parents but if your are not please search out your options at grandparents rights The rights of grandparents raising grandchildren are certainly something to check out. I wish you all the best. Good luck with your grandchildren. Jacquelyn Dunn
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jacquelyn_Dunn
http://www.xforce.ws/2010/05/grandparents-rights-for-visitation-the-present-state-of-us-legislating/
Grandparent’s Rights
Grandparent’s Rights
This aspect of family law gives a right to the grandparents to take care of the child. Sometimes, the child may be more attached to the grandparent or some other close relative. This law is applicable in such cases. There are two types of law – ‘Loco Parentis’ and ‘Legal Parents.’ In the former case, the child treats a person as a parent since he has developed a bonding and an emotional relationship with the elderly. In the latter, the parents are the biological parents of the child.
http://eden.boseviews.com/2010/05/21/family-law-attorney-and-family-law/
This aspect of family law gives a right to the grandparents to take care of the child. Sometimes, the child may be more attached to the grandparent or some other close relative. This law is applicable in such cases. There are two types of law – ‘Loco Parentis’ and ‘Legal Parents.’ In the former case, the child treats a person as a parent since he has developed a bonding and an emotional relationship with the elderly. In the latter, the parents are the biological parents of the child.
http://eden.boseviews.com/2010/05/21/family-law-attorney-and-family-law/
DYFS to pay $4.5M to N.J. boy who was sexually abused by foster parent
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DYFS to pay $4.5M to N.J. boy who was sexually abused by foster parent
By Jim Lockwood/The Star-Ledger
May 12, 2010, 5:38PM
HUDSON COUNTY -- The state Division of Youth and Family Services has agreed to pay $4.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a boy who was sexually abused by a foster parent when he was 6 years old, according to his attorney.
The boy, now 17, was placed by DYFS in the custody of a Hudson County couple in 1995, and was sexually assaulted between 1996-98, according to a lawsuit against DYFS by the boy and his current guardian.
The foster parents were convicted in Hudson County in 1999 on charges involving the boy; one parent was convicted of sexual assault while the other was convicted of child endangerment, according to public court records.
After being removed from the Hudson County couple’s custody, the boy was transferred to a new foster parent who has since become his adoptive parent, and who filed the lawsuit in 2008 in Passaic County on his behalf alleging negligent placement and supervision by DYFS, according to the lawsuit.
The settlement was reached Monday in Superior Court in Paterson during jury selection for a trial of the case, said the boy’s attorney, Jeffrey Advokat of Morristown. There was no admission of wrongdoing by the state under the settlement and the civil lawsuit now will be dismissed, Advokat said.
Lauren Kidd, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Children and Families that includes DYFS, said the agency does not comment on litigation.
Advokat said the settlement was based upon various factors considering liability and longterm affects of the abuse. The boy has continued to undergo mental-health treatment over the years and has made progress through the counseling, he said.
“You can never put a price tag on what happened, but the amount of money is life-changing for him,” Advokat said. “It will make his life better.”
Settlements of such lawsuits are the norm while having one actually go to trial is unheard of, said Cecilia Zalkind, executive director of the Association for Children, a statewide nonprofit child-welfare advocacy group.
“On a broader level, it’s an issue of accountability and holding a system accountable for what happens to kids,” Zalkind said.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/05/nj_dyfs_will_pay_45m_to_boy_wh.html
Breaking Local News from New Jersey
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DYFS to pay $4.5M to N.J. boy who was sexually abused by foster parent
By Jim Lockwood/The Star-Ledger
May 12, 2010, 5:38PM
HUDSON COUNTY -- The state Division of Youth and Family Services has agreed to pay $4.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a boy who was sexually abused by a foster parent when he was 6 years old, according to his attorney.
The boy, now 17, was placed by DYFS in the custody of a Hudson County couple in 1995, and was sexually assaulted between 1996-98, according to a lawsuit against DYFS by the boy and his current guardian.
The foster parents were convicted in Hudson County in 1999 on charges involving the boy; one parent was convicted of sexual assault while the other was convicted of child endangerment, according to public court records.
After being removed from the Hudson County couple’s custody, the boy was transferred to a new foster parent who has since become his adoptive parent, and who filed the lawsuit in 2008 in Passaic County on his behalf alleging negligent placement and supervision by DYFS, according to the lawsuit.
The settlement was reached Monday in Superior Court in Paterson during jury selection for a trial of the case, said the boy’s attorney, Jeffrey Advokat of Morristown. There was no admission of wrongdoing by the state under the settlement and the civil lawsuit now will be dismissed, Advokat said.
Lauren Kidd, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Children and Families that includes DYFS, said the agency does not comment on litigation.
Advokat said the settlement was based upon various factors considering liability and longterm affects of the abuse. The boy has continued to undergo mental-health treatment over the years and has made progress through the counseling, he said.
“You can never put a price tag on what happened, but the amount of money is life-changing for him,” Advokat said. “It will make his life better.”
Settlements of such lawsuits are the norm while having one actually go to trial is unheard of, said Cecilia Zalkind, executive director of the Association for Children, a statewide nonprofit child-welfare advocacy group.
“On a broader level, it’s an issue of accountability and holding a system accountable for what happens to kids,” Zalkind said.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/05/nj_dyfs_will_pay_45m_to_boy_wh.html
Child Prostitution in Portland, Oregon
By: cheryl boyer Topic: child prostitution in portland org/Dan Rather
May 19 2010
Dan Rather
Host, Dan Rather Reports
Posted: May 18, 2010 10:14 AM
Pornland, Oregon: Child Prostitution in Portland
Child prostitution has become a national problem in this country. Yes, I know that you have trouble believing that. You don't want to believe it, so you tend not to.
"Widespread sex trafficking in children?", you may be saying to yourself. "Sure, it happens overseas in places like Thailand and Moldova, and while there may be some of it here there's not that much of it in our country."
Based on a months long investigation and some reportorial digging, I'm here to tell you that you are wrong. We all are. We're in denial.
In covering news for more than 60 years, I'd like to think that few stories shock me anymore. But this is one of them. We ran across it late last year and the more we dug, the more disturbing it became.
Eighty-year-old men paying a premium to violate teenage girls, sometimes supplied by former drug gangs now into child sex trafficking big time? You've got to be kidding. Nope. That's happening and a lot more along the same lines.
The business is booming. One of the worst areas for it runs along lines running roughly from Seattle to Portland, to San Francisco and Los Angeles, to Las Vegas. But no place in the country is immune.
To pick just one example among many, Portland, Oregon is without doubt one of the nation's treasures. It has been voted one of the best places to live and work. But according to police, the city and its outlying communities has become a hub for the sexual exploitation of children. In a recent nationwide sting by Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, Portland ranked second in the country for the number of rescued child prostitutes. And according to Doug Justus, the workhorse sergeant in charge of Portland's tiny Vice Detail, many of the children caught up in this are middle class kids from the area.
WATCH:
The girls, sometimes as young as 12, often 13-16, are lured by a "front man" in his mid-to-late teens. He becomes her "boyfriend," taking her to dinner, buying her nice things, sometimes meeting her parents. The girl eventually moves in with him. Then he says they need money to continue being together. First, she's enticed to sleep with his friends to pay the rent. Soon she's turning tricks for what police say is an endless supply of older men willing to pay top money for sex with very young girls. Other times convincing the young adolescent girls to sell themselves happens very quickly.
"It is an out-of-control problem. It's unbelievable," say Justus. "I've only done this vice-squad job for three years. I've been a cop for 29. If you had told me three years ago that a 14-year-old girl would go to a food court, meet a guy, and three hours later be selling herself, I'd a said, no frigging way. It happens every single day, every day."
It is a very lucrative business, according to Justus. "An average pimp with one kid will make between $800 and $l,000 a day. That's seven days a week, 30 days a month," he said. And the pimps usually have a stable of young girls. No wonder so many criminals in the drug trade have turned to it which they have in droves. There's less chance of being caught, less chance of being prosecuted if caught, lighter sentences -- if any -- if convicted.
There is, and has been for a long time, a national "War on Drugs." There isn't one on child prostitution and what amounts to a slave trade. Only feeble efforts at best.
Justus is frustrated that the Portland police have only two full-time vice investigators, compared to dozens of drug investigators.
"I'm not a politician. I'm just a cop. But if I'm a criminal and I got busted for drugs and I had a regional (drug) task force over here. And there's another task force over there, and there, and then I know there's only two vice investigators in the city of Portland, let me think. I think I'll sell women because what are the chances of me being caught?"
The story we've prepared is not about prostitution per se. This is about child abuse. This is also about statutory rape and compelling prostitution among the young. All are difficult to prove. A major reason, according to police, is that it's extremely difficult to convince a young girl to testify against their pimps and "johns". They are afraid.
Sgt. Justus told us the story of a 16-year-old girl whom he convinced to "roll" on her pimp. But before she could testify against him she disappeared -- and her pimp walked free. Justus has spent the last year looking for her and fears she's dead.
How many children are being peddled on the streets of Portland and in other cities and towns, to say nothing of the Internet (Justus and other law enforcement people say Craigslist, along with other Internet sites, are major factors in the spread of child prostitution)? Hard to know about the real numbers. The most conservative estimates are that at least 100,000 American children are being victimized. Many experts say they believe it's closer to 300,000 or more.
Whatever the number, it is a national outrage and disgrace. And the problem is growing, not diminishing.
Based on our investigation, we've prepared an hour long program on this problem. We've spoken with parents who never dreamed their young daughter would be caught up in underage prostitution but was. We've also interviewed several girls who lived to tell about their experiences of being sold. Tuesday night at 8pm Eastern time on HDNet, via satellite and cable.
Download the show on iTunes.
May 19 2010
Dan Rather
Host, Dan Rather Reports
Posted: May 18, 2010 10:14 AM
Pornland, Oregon: Child Prostitution in Portland
Child prostitution has become a national problem in this country. Yes, I know that you have trouble believing that. You don't want to believe it, so you tend not to.
"Widespread sex trafficking in children?", you may be saying to yourself. "Sure, it happens overseas in places like Thailand and Moldova, and while there may be some of it here there's not that much of it in our country."
Based on a months long investigation and some reportorial digging, I'm here to tell you that you are wrong. We all are. We're in denial.
In covering news for more than 60 years, I'd like to think that few stories shock me anymore. But this is one of them. We ran across it late last year and the more we dug, the more disturbing it became.
Eighty-year-old men paying a premium to violate teenage girls, sometimes supplied by former drug gangs now into child sex trafficking big time? You've got to be kidding. Nope. That's happening and a lot more along the same lines.
The business is booming. One of the worst areas for it runs along lines running roughly from Seattle to Portland, to San Francisco and Los Angeles, to Las Vegas. But no place in the country is immune.
To pick just one example among many, Portland, Oregon is without doubt one of the nation's treasures. It has been voted one of the best places to live and work. But according to police, the city and its outlying communities has become a hub for the sexual exploitation of children. In a recent nationwide sting by Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, Portland ranked second in the country for the number of rescued child prostitutes. And according to Doug Justus, the workhorse sergeant in charge of Portland's tiny Vice Detail, many of the children caught up in this are middle class kids from the area.
WATCH:
The girls, sometimes as young as 12, often 13-16, are lured by a "front man" in his mid-to-late teens. He becomes her "boyfriend," taking her to dinner, buying her nice things, sometimes meeting her parents. The girl eventually moves in with him. Then he says they need money to continue being together. First, she's enticed to sleep with his friends to pay the rent. Soon she's turning tricks for what police say is an endless supply of older men willing to pay top money for sex with very young girls. Other times convincing the young adolescent girls to sell themselves happens very quickly.
"It is an out-of-control problem. It's unbelievable," say Justus. "I've only done this vice-squad job for three years. I've been a cop for 29. If you had told me three years ago that a 14-year-old girl would go to a food court, meet a guy, and three hours later be selling herself, I'd a said, no frigging way. It happens every single day, every day."
It is a very lucrative business, according to Justus. "An average pimp with one kid will make between $800 and $l,000 a day. That's seven days a week, 30 days a month," he said. And the pimps usually have a stable of young girls. No wonder so many criminals in the drug trade have turned to it which they have in droves. There's less chance of being caught, less chance of being prosecuted if caught, lighter sentences -- if any -- if convicted.
There is, and has been for a long time, a national "War on Drugs." There isn't one on child prostitution and what amounts to a slave trade. Only feeble efforts at best.
Justus is frustrated that the Portland police have only two full-time vice investigators, compared to dozens of drug investigators.
"I'm not a politician. I'm just a cop. But if I'm a criminal and I got busted for drugs and I had a regional (drug) task force over here. And there's another task force over there, and there, and then I know there's only two vice investigators in the city of Portland, let me think. I think I'll sell women because what are the chances of me being caught?"
The story we've prepared is not about prostitution per se. This is about child abuse. This is also about statutory rape and compelling prostitution among the young. All are difficult to prove. A major reason, according to police, is that it's extremely difficult to convince a young girl to testify against their pimps and "johns". They are afraid.
Sgt. Justus told us the story of a 16-year-old girl whom he convinced to "roll" on her pimp. But before she could testify against him she disappeared -- and her pimp walked free. Justus has spent the last year looking for her and fears she's dead.
How many children are being peddled on the streets of Portland and in other cities and towns, to say nothing of the Internet (Justus and other law enforcement people say Craigslist, along with other Internet sites, are major factors in the spread of child prostitution)? Hard to know about the real numbers. The most conservative estimates are that at least 100,000 American children are being victimized. Many experts say they believe it's closer to 300,000 or more.
Whatever the number, it is a national outrage and disgrace. And the problem is growing, not diminishing.
Based on our investigation, we've prepared an hour long program on this problem. We've spoken with parents who never dreamed their young daughter would be caught up in underage prostitution but was. We've also interviewed several girls who lived to tell about their experiences of being sold. Tuesday night at 8pm Eastern time on HDNet, via satellite and cable.
Download the show on iTunes.
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