Research points to new causes of autism

Research points to new causes of autism

By Marie McCullough
Inquirer Staff Writer

Could delayed childbearing, infertility treatment, and premature birth contribute to autism?
Research presented this week in Philadelphia suggests the answer is yes.

The International Meeting for Autism Research, attended by more than 1,700 scientists and advocates at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, offered provocative findings from studies of large population groups. Such epidemiological research can uncover risk factors that are too subtle to detect in small groups or individuals.

At this point, experts can only guess at the biological basis for the links they're finding. And those clues are not enough to recommend changes in, for example, infertility treatment.

Still, knowing who may be at risk of autism could improve diagnosis, which might enable earlier intervention.

One study, led by the University of Pennsylvania and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, followed babies who weighed less than 4.4 pounds at birth through to age 21. Nearly 5 percent of these 623 young adults had an autism-spectrum disorder, five times the rate in the general population.

"Clearly, screening for autism-spectrum disorders in low-birth-weight survivors is critical," said lead author Jennifer Pinto-Martin, a Penn School of Nursing epidemiologist.

Autism includes a host of developmental disorders of varying severity marked by communication problems, compulsive behaviors, and inappropriate social interactions.

Last year, government researchers estimated that in 2006, the disorders affected 1 percent of U.S. children. Though that is in line with rates in other countries, it is 57 percent higher than the U.S. rate in 2002.

Better diagnosis can't fully explain the dramatic increase, experts agree.

In searching for explanations, researchers are looking at lifestyle changes. In recent decades, women have been delaying motherhood, which increases both their chance of needing fertility treatment, and their chance of having a low-birth-weight baby, typically due to prematurity.

These changes have emerged as risk factors for autism:

Two studies presented Thursday linked infertility treatment to the chance of autism. A Harvard University study of 3,985 nurses found that using ovulation-inducing drugs to overcome infertility nearly doubled the odds of having an autistic child. A Tel Aviv University study of 564 autistic children found they were three to four times more likely to have been conceived through in-vitro fertilization and to have been born at very low weights than children in the general population. The mothers of autistic children were also older - 33 on average - compared with 31 for the others.

A Danish study of more than 8,000 children diagnosed with autism found that very low birth weight (less than 3.3 pounds) increased autism risk. However, weight was a stronger risk factor for girls than boys, even though autism is four times more common in boys. Being slightly underweight increased the risk by 50 percent for girls, but not for boys.

A Columbia University study that has followed 108,000 Norwegian infants through age 7 found autism was more common among those whose heads were abnormally small or abnormally large in the first year of life. The researchers said "pediatricians should carefully record" babies' head measurements as a possible indicator.

There were also some reassuring results. A study led by the University of North Carolina concluded that although smoking during pregnancy isn't advisable, it doesn't increase autism risk, as was previously thought.

And the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore debunked the idea that the stress of having an autistic child drives most parents to divorce. Using data from a 2007 national survey, Krieger researchers found that 64 percent of autistic children live with two married parents - compared with 65 percent for other children.

Contact staff writer Marie McCullough at 215-854-2720 or mmccullough@phillynews.com.



Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/20100521_Research_points_to_new_causes_of_autism.html#ixzz0of5NdWe2
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Disbarred 75 year old ‘Barbara C. Johnson’ takes on the judicial system: Behind the Black Robes

Disbarred 75 year old ‘Barbara C. Johnson’ takes on the judicial system: Behind the Black Robes
May 21, 4:47 PMAlexandria Conservative ExaminerHank Richards


Amazon.com File Photo
Barbara C. Johnson was born in Boston in 1934. She grew up in Newton, Massachusetts a suburb of Boston known at the time for its fine public schools. She received her B.A. from Bennington College in Vermont and entered the New England School of Law at the age of 49. In 1987, she received her J.D.
In an interview with Hank Richards from the Examiner, Ms. Johnson said she was ‘called to the stage during her NESL graduation ceremony and received the West Publishing Company Corpus Juris Secundum Series Award (1987) for the highest annual scholastic average.’

She began her two decades as a sole-practitioner in civil and criminal litigation in State and Federal courts at both the trial and appellate levels.

As a member of the Children's Rights Council panel, she addressed a joint state-congressional committee on a shared-parenting bill. As an activist-attorney, she received a Woman of the Year award from the Fatherhood Coalition.

Her activism had grown out of her early outside interests. As a film consultant, she advised the Massachusetts Bar Association's Bicentennial Committee. She conceived, produced and moderated 'Think Tank,' a cable-TV series (Continental Cablevision in Newton) on local government and business.

In 2002, she ran a quixotic campaign for governor, campaigning in an antique fire truck and promising to use creativity, compassion and a willingness to listen to the people to mend an ailing government.

On August 9, 2006, Justice Francis X. Spina signed an order of disbarment against Barbara C. Johnson and she was forbidden from practicing law effective September 8, 2006.

At her hearing Ms. Johnson, a fiery and unconventional 75 year old, was quoted as saying, ‘No - damn it, no. Unless you’re willing to agree that you have a kangaroo court here, you cannot say that to me . . . that's a wagon of detritus, cow chips, horse manure . . . the disbarment by this kangaroo court is an effort to silence my criticism of the courts.’


Barbara C. Johnson during her campaign bid for Governor
Johnson has long been a fierce advocate for fathers' rights in family courts. She is an outspoken critic of the Massachusetts court system, which she says is rife with corruption.
Her aggressive nature and quest for court reform brings her book, Behind the Black Robes: Failed Justice, to the market.

According to some legal reviews, many agree with her position about the legal system.

‘The book addresses a serious problem - the need for court reform and the abolishment of judicial immunity. The book is filled with the courts’ tricks and traps for the unwary and tries to alert readers both why their law cases fail and what must be done to effect court reform. Each chapter presents a series of illustrations intended to teach the readers by example how to avoid those court tricks and traps that people are likely to encounter in their existing or potential court cases’ says one reviewer.

A newspaper once wrote, ‘While we don't fully agree with either her politics or her methods, Johnson is a character in a humdrum world sorely in need of more characters. She's the thorn in the side, the thumbtack on the chair . . . Johnson speaks her mind, and loudly.'

Another review states that ‘if we do nothing, the country will continue to drift slowly from bad to worse. Only continuing civil disobedience, demonstrations, including the recent much-laughed-at Tea Parties must first take place. Bets are on that the U.S. system will collapse after a severe energy shortage.

When the voting public finally becomes active and educated as to what kind of person they should elect to governmental office, only then can the evolutionary process begin’ – anonymous.

Her book, Behind the Black Robes: Failed Justice, is available at Amazon.com, Abebooks.com and Alibris.com .

Barbara is currently working on two more nonfiction books to help people who are representing themselves in family court. When finished with the nonfiction, she is planning to switch back to fiction or faction.

This 75 year old world traveler is a divorced woman with two sons and five grandchildren. She can be reached by e-mail at barbjohnson74@gmail.com .

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-43399-Alexandria-Conservative-Examiner~y2010m5d21-Disbarred-75-year-old-Barbara-C-Johnson-takes-on-the-judicial-system-Behind-the-Black-Robes?cid=sharing_twitter:43399



Please post everywhere you can post.

Thanks.


Please COMMENT on Hank Richards' article on Examiner.com: http://www.facebook.com/l/b6337;tinyurl.com/358vls8. If the article gets 40 comments, the story will be FEATURED all over the net and be picked up by Google. So if we want corruption in the courts and the need for court reform and the abolishment of judicial immunity to be featured finally in the media, it is extremely important to click the link to the article and COMMENT. Thank you.

--
Barbara C. Johnson, Advocate of Court Reform and Attorney in Fact
Apdo #404-4013
Alajuela, Atenas, Atenas
20501-Costa Rica

veritas.johnson74@gmail.com
barbjohnson74@gmail.com
Twitter: barbjohnson74
SKYPE ID: barbaracjohnson74
SKYPEIN: 978-961-0079 (Call forwarded from Massachusetts to Costa Rica)
Phone 506-2446-6724

I am currently writing two more books: HOW TO books, which I hope will help those folks representing themselves in court. To cover publishing costs, as well as related costs, I am now seeking donations via PAYPAL. To donate, click https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=SV6T3H4X7BHEG

Author: Behind the Black Robes: Failed Justice is available for purchase as a paperback ($23.99) or a Kindle edition ($9.99) on www.Amazon.com. To go directly to the Amazon book page, click
http://www.amazon.com/Behind-Black-Robes-Failed-Justice/dp/1439241155/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251668088&sr=1-1
False Allegations: http://www.falseallegations.com
Formerly, Participating Attorney: http://www.lawguru.com/cgi/bbs2/user/browse.shtml
Campaign 2002: http://www.barbforgovernor.com
-----
The judicial system is very broken. It must be fixed.
There are four people who can do the job:
Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.
Everybody thinks Somebody will surely do it.
It is a job Anybody can do. But Nobody is doing it.
At least I'm trying. What are you doing?
-----
It is dangerous to be right
when the government is wrong.
--- VOLTAIRE

All truth passes through three stages.
First, it is ridiculed.
Second, it is violently opposed.
Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
--- ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER (1788-1860)

Protesters accuse CPS of acting on anonymous calls

Protesters accuse CPS of acting on anonymous calls
unhappygrammy-Taking children due to anonymous calls is unconstitutional. Why does CPS/DCYF get away with it? An anonymous (proven false) report is the reason my husband and I were not allowed custody of our grandchildren. We found out who the person was, yet she was never arrested.

by KENS 5 Staff
Posted on May 20, 2010 at 6:45 PM
A small, but passionate protest was held Thursday outside Child Protective Services.
The group, Familias Unidas accuses CPS of removing children from homes, based on an anonymous caller, which is unconstitutional.
They say there are often family members willing to take in children, and that it is better to send a child to a family member rather than putting them in foster homes or state agencies.
The group also claims that 500 children across the country died last year at the hands of CPS and foster parents.
Share this article:

http://www.kens5.com/news/local/Protesters-admonish-CPS--for-acting-on-anonymous-calls-94540369.html

Does Methadone Work?

http://methadonetreatmentfor.com/12220/abuse-neglect-and-family-violence/

Abuse, Neglect and Family Violence

Abuse, Neglect and Family Violence

By PainPal


Abuse & Violence in the Family

(Dr. Samson Omotosho, PhD, APRN/PMHN)

Introduction: Abuse and violence in the family refer to physically and emotionally harmful behaviors that occur between family and household members. It includes child abuse, child neglect, intimate partners abuse and violence, marital rape, and elder abuse. It could be a learned behavior that can be unlearned through therapy. Perpetrators try to isolate the family to keep it secret and avoid sanctions. They usually have some power and control over the other members of the family. They may rationalize the violence with their drug use. The use of cocaine, PCP, amphetamine etc may increase violent behavior.

Forms of Abuse: Physical abuse includes hitting, punching, shoving, stabbing, shooting, kicking, and withholding medication, wheelchair, food, and fluids. Sexual abuse includes coercion, marital rape, and withholding sex. Psychological abuse includes threat, harassment, and blackmail. Emotional abuse includes name-calling, insults, and ridicule. Economic abuse includes total control over finance, running up bills, forbidding school or work.

Myths and Reality About Violence: Family violence occurs at all levels of society. Separation or divorce may not end violence. Abuser does not need to be provoked. Some survivors wrongly tend to blame self. Treat the violence but also the alcohol, drug, stress, and mental health problems if any. Violence occurs between gays and lesbians too. Abused women are discouraged from disclosure by threats, fear, denial and disbelief expressed by ‘confidants’.

Models of Intervention: The Paternalistic model assumes that the clinician has more knowledge than the patient; that the survivor is responsible for ending the violence; that the clinician should give advice and sympathy; and see the patient as a victim. Whereas, the Empowerment model, which is better, assumes that the clinician should mutually share knowledge with the patient, plan strategies with the patient, respect patient’s competence, experience and strengths, and see the patient as survivor.

Response of Survivors to Violence: Physical signs include injuries at multiple sites in various stages of healing (head, neck, face, throat, sexual organs), headache, insomnia, and stress. Behavioral sign is that the individual does not leave the abuser or leaves and returns before making a final break. Psychological signs include delayed reaction, depression, lowered self esteem, attributions e.g. self-blame, impaired school or work performance and conduct, poor concentration and poor problem solving.

Why Individual Does Not Leave the Abuser? Abused individuals do not leave the abuser for any of many reasons, which include fear of being stalked and killed (which is a realistic fear), strong emotional attachment to the abuser, determination to end the abuse, sanctions present in the couple’s culture, fear of stigma, lack of resources to live away from the abuser, and consideration of what will happen to her children if she leaves. She may leave and return, thinking, “Maybe he will change”.

Child Abuse & Neglect: In every state, child abuse and neglect are must be reported. Types of abuse include child sexual abuse, child physical abuse, child emotional abuse, and child neglect. Child that witnesses family violence may also suffer abuse.

Child Sexual Abuse: This is the involvement of children in sexual activities that they do not fully comprehend and to which they do not or cannot freely give consent. This violates child’s trust in the adult that is supposed to protect him/her. Threat to the child, pet, and others keeps the child quiet. It results in confusion, shame, and helplessness. Its effect may last a lifetime and affect mental health. It may be guarded as a family secret.

Observable Signs of Sexual Abuse: The observable signs of child sexual abuse include physical aggression, excessive masturbation, social withdrawal, low self esteem, impaired school performance, sleep disturbance, STD’s, bleeding, soreness, itching, UTI, pregnancy, bruises, swelling, redness, fracture, burns, and unkempt appearance.

School Violence: School violence is usually due to child drug use, child’s access to guns, antisocial and impulsive behaviors, family dysfunction, community unresponsiveness, interpersonal disputes, and bullying and harassment by peers.

Child Abduction: Most abduction is done by a parent. 70% are by fathers, 25% by their mothers. Parents that are likely to abduct include those that have threatened or attempted it in the past, suspect abuse by the other parent, may be paranoid, may intend to use it as revenge, punishment, trophy, or one that strongly believes that child be raised in his or her home country.

Child Abuse Assessment and Intervention: Explore and be aware of your own attitude to abuse survivors so as not to be judgmental. Do a thorough history & physical assessment. Use private, quiet uninterrupted environment. Honestly state the purpose of the interview. Inform victim of the pending physical assessment. Use a calm and supportive approach

If possible, interview child separately first before joint interview with parent or guardian. Pay attention to child’s affect (look) and behavior, mother’s understanding of the problem, discrepancies in their stories, and parent’s emotional responses. Document your assessment fully. Report suspected abuse to CPS. Coordinate services such as further assessment, psychological testing, individual psychotherapy, family psychotherapy, and group psychotherapy.

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV): IPV is a pattern of coercive and assaultive behavior between intimate and dating partners. Abuse of female partners is the more prevalent IPV. Female violence is more often in self-defense. Many IPV end in homicide or homicide-suicide. Leaving or an attempt to leave by the victim increases homicide risk. There is a higher homicide risk with handgun, history of suicidal ideation or attempt, battering during pregnancy, sexual abuse, substance use, extreme jealousy, and controlling behavior (“if I can’t have you, no one can”). Few women kill their abusers if there is no intervention. Assessment of IPV should be part of mental health assessment. Ask partners about history of conflicts, “pushing and shoving”, and quality of relationship. Observe for hesitation, looking away, and unease. Be supportive, let victim know she is not alone. Describe and map the extent of injuries. Assess for attribution e.g. self-blame. Assess for depression, PTSD, and anxiety. If patient is the abuser, assess potential for further violence. Consult legal advisor for “Duty to Warn”. Courts have made it mandatory abusers (happens to be mostly men) to be treated. Treatment includes confronting the violence, affirming that responsibility lies with the abuser, behavior therapy, anger control, attitude change to women, couple counseling, and cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). Empower the woman, using laws, community resources, support groups, and safe shelters. Mutually set goals with the victim. Mutually consider and choose from options. Help mobilize natural, social and professional supports.

Rape and Sexual Assault: This affects men, women and children, especially women and children. Sexual assault is a forced act of sexual contact without consent. It is usually done to humiliate, defile or dominate the victim. Rape is a felony, yet majority is unreported. Survivors of marital rape do not seek care because of embarrassment and humiliation. Careful assessment and questioning is needed. In caring for the victim, listen, be nonjudgmental, and provide emotional support. Document your observation and assessment fully. Help collect evidence if patient chooses to litigate. In the acute stage, assess for fear, disorganization, shock, and restlessness. In the second stage, assess for flashbacks, phobias to places and people, and sexual difficulties. Encourage the victim to discuss feelings. Explore options e.g. changing phone number. Explore available community services and support groups. Refer for physical treatment and psychotherapy. Plan for a follow-up phone contact in a few days.

Elder Abuse: There are about 5 million abused elderly persons in the US annually. Spouse abuse overlaps with elder abuse

The abused does not report for fear of being abandoned to a nursing home or being isolated. Signs include bruises on arms, wrists, ankles, face lacerations, vaginal lacerations, fractures, malnutrition, poor hygiene, dehydration, flinching and shrinking away in the presence of abuser. Help and care include reporting a suspected abuse to the Adult Protective Services (APS), counseling, psychotherapy, substance abuse and treatment of the abuser, if necessary.

Reference: Stuart, G. W. & Laraia, M. T. (2005). Principles and practice of psychiatric nursing (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.



Dr. Samson Omotosho is the CEO of Futurefocus Health & Wealth,a non-profit organization dedicated to mental health and business-building. Dr. Omotosho has worked as a professor of nursing in many universities in Nigeria and the US for more than 30 years. He is currently a psychiatric nurse practitioner and director of Optimum Health Systems, Inc., an outpatient mental health clinic and psyciatric rehabilitation program.

http://methadonetreatmentfor.com/12220/abuse-neglect-and-family-violence/

Bob Kerr: In Family Court, a long, fruitless search for a resolution

Bob Kerr: In Family Court, a long, fruitless search for a resolution
01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, April 11, 2010
Family Court Chief Justice Jeremiah S. Jeremiah Jr. will soon be leaving his position as he has announced his retirement.
The Providence Journal / Kathy Borchers

Michael Brady was in Family Court last summer. Actually, he wasn’t in a courtroom. He was in the chambers of Chief Judge Jeremiah Jeremiah, which is where the court’s business is sometimes conducted.

And Brady had one of those Family Court moments.

“He [Jeremiah] tells me I’ve got two hours to get the $4,000 or he was going to call DCYF and have them come and take my kids.”

Brady says he drove to New Bedford, borrowed the money from a friend, and drove back to the court.

It was a momentary fix, not a resolution. It gave Brady some breathing room but not much. He was still left to wonder if he’ll go back to prison.

Jeremiah has announced he is retiring after 23 years as head of what is probably the most secretly run court in Rhode Island. His retirement makes this a very good time not just to find a replacement from outside Family Court, but to make reforms to a court that does too much of its business out of public view and allows cases to go on and on to no one’s benefit but the lawyers.

Family Court is a world unto itself up on the fifth floor of the Garrahy Judicial Complex. There is no real oversight. Seldom do reporters cover Family Court sessions because the personal misery of the people who show up there is not news. Unless someone prominent, such as a former Supreme Court chief justice, is caught in the embarrassing fallout of a divorce proceeding, the court’s work moves along with little public notice and at a pace dictated by its judges, magistrates and lawyers. People going through some of the worst times of their lives too often find that the court only compounds their troubles rather than resolves them. Many end up spending years and tens of thousands of dollars pursuing a final solution that seems to come close, and then slips away time after time. They show up, there’s a continuance. They show up, one of the lawyers can’t make it. They show up, the court makes fun of them.

Three months ago, I talked with Denyce Rocchio, who has spent years in Family Court dealing with her ex-husband on matters of child support, visitation, custody and restraining orders. She has taken time off from her nursing job to attend court sessions that get her absolutely nowhere. But on Dec. 18, she became part of a Family Court classic, a judicial circus that astounded and amazed.

Rocchio was in court for yet another hearing on child support. The proceedings apparently got a little testy. When Magistrate Armando Monaco called her forward, she thought she was going into his chambers. Instead, he told her to sit in his chair at the bench. “You be the judge today,” he told her.

Then, says Rocchio, Monaco started throwing papers around and asking, “What would you do?”

It was stunningly childish. It certainly wasn’t typical. But it was further indication that Family Court judges and magistrates do as they want because they can.

And people like Michael Brady get caught in a draining, frustrating, seemingly endless round of continuances, delays, contempt citations, judicial bullying and, sometimes, time at the ACI.

His case comes down to a question of balance. He has been left completely disabled by heart attacks and arthritis. He says he used to make a lot of money in the mortgage business. Now, at 52, he says he makes $1,593 a month in Social Security disability and $85 in food stamps. But the court is still demanding that he continue paying $236 a week in child support for his now 17-year-old son by his first wife. He says he has been waiting for a hearing on his motion to modify the support payments based on his sharply reduced income. As long as that hearing isn’t held, as long as the old support order stays in effect, he will continue to be in contempt for non-payment. The money isn’t there, he says. Time at the ACI will not make it magically appear. It didn’t the first time he was sent there and it won’t if he’s sent a second time, or a third.

At one point, he says, an employee of Family Court came to his house in Providence and pointed out things he should sell to meet his child-support obligations.

Listening to Brady as he prepared breakfast for his two very young children was listening to another story of Family Court in which the simple need to bring everyone together, present all the facts and come to a practical and fair solution is never quite met. Bits and pieces are dealt with instead. The billable hours go up. Another session is scheduled.

One guy I know became so angry and frustrated with the way his child-support case was going that he called the judge at home to complain. The judge took offense. She said such contact wasn’t allowed. A couple of state troopers came to see him to reinforce the prohibition on phone chats with Family Court judges.

Two weeks ago, the Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union filed a class action suit charging the state Truancy Court, created by Jeremiah and run from Family Court, with operating in secrecy and violating the constitutional rights of children and their parents. Among the charges was that children were being threatened with confinement in the Training School for missing classes.

Obviously, change is needed in Family Court. People in the Rhode Island court system have acknowledged that for a long time. Transparency and accountability would be good.

Brady was back in court two weeks ago. It wasn’t about child support this time. It was about his wife’s request that their children be required to visit her. His wife, whom he is divorcing, is in the ACI on robbery charges.

“I don’t want my kids going to the ACI,” he said. “I don’t think it’s good for them.”

A Family Court magistrate ordered that the children, 27 months and 15 months old, be taken to visit their mother in prison.

“I like to think that’s my court, too,” said Brady, looking back on his still unfinished business with Family Court.

A lot of people probably think that way at first. Then, maybe in the fourth or fifth year of return visits, they might not think that way anymore.

bkerr@projo.com

http://www.projo.com/news/bobkerr/kerr_column_11_04-11-10_6LI1PFM_v17.2bbf63f.html

Anne Grant: Need paradigm shift for DCYF

Anne Grant: Need paradigm shift for DCYF
01:00 AM EDT on Friday, May 21, 2010
By ANNE GRANT
Rhode Island desperately needs a paradigm shift in our understanding of domestic abuse and the many ways it endangers children and drains our state budget whenever judges and state officials fail to comprehend the mind of an abuser.

Too many judges persist in the belief that both parents are sniping at each other, with children caught in the cross-fire. Far too often, one aggressive parent is abusing our state system in order to punish a good parent who is urgently trying to protect his or her children. The state is co-opted into helping the abuser, not the children.

As Rhode Island’s Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) prepares to interview candidates for chief judge of Family Court, we need to keep in mind some of the cases that have lingered for years in that court. I was executive director of the Women’s Center of Rhode Island in 1993 when I began meeting with a group of women we called Mothers on Trial, after Phyllis Chesler’s book by the same title. They and their children helped me understand a dynamic often overlooked in our child protective system, including the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF, in the executive branch) and Family Court (in the judicial branch).

As I got to know them, I felt inspired by many of these mothers, whom I found creative, resourceful, funny and wise. Children in our shelter gravitated to them. Meeting together, the women discovered how many of their husbands had been severely abused as children. Deeply wounded men who could not talk about their own childhood trauma yearned for good mothers. They were drawn to these extraordinary women who brought playfulness and joy into their lives.

But when pregnancies and babies came, all hell broke loose. New fathers became jealous, resentful, churlish, controlling and abusive mentally and physically. The women tried to protect their children and escape the danger. Violent husbands knew they could punish their wives best by depriving them of their greatest joy in life — their children.

Since then, I have written about various Rhode Island judges who failed to grasp this dynamic. That happens in other states as well. Two years ago, a Maryland pediatrician tried to persuade a judge that she and her three small children needed an order of protection against her husband’s threats to punish her by killing the children. In court, her husband’s attorney asked if the couple had sex the night before. She said yes. The judge concluded from this that her husband posed no threat even though exactly the opposite was true. Her husband made good on his threats several weeks later. During a court-ordered visit, he drowned all three children in a hotel bathtub.

Unfortunately, these custody and visitation cases hold financial incentives for Family Court lawyers and psychologists, who are paid by each parent and seem in little hurry to resolve these matters before the children turn 18. In some cases, abusive fathers have used DCYF to punish their wives by having the state take the children into custody at taxpayer expense, even though the mothers provided very good homes.

Many people cannot imagine that a state agency as powerful and secretive as DCYF is not accredited. No wonder a federal lawsuit looms and costly mistakes are being made. Because of this, Rhode Island now loses federal reimbursements and risks enormous liability.

The Senate has unanimously passed S-2346, sponsored by Sen. Bea Lanzi (D.-Cranston), to mandate accreditation of DCYF. The House will soon vote on its companion bill H-7133, sponsored by Rep. Eileen Naughton (D.-Warwick).

We also must address the alarming waste in Family Court. The public should attend JNC hearings and listen for those candidates who propose significant changes in policy and practice that will protect vulnerable children. Good judicial practice is clearly spelled out by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges at http://www.ncjfcj.org/images/stories/dept/fvd/pdf/judicial%20guide.pdf.

The Civic Research Institute has published a text that extensively describes these issues: http://www.civicresearchinstitute.com/dvac.html.

Rhode Island must stop traumatizing children and removing them from good homes at state expense. We must stop pouring scarce funds into our broken system. We must get DCYF properly accredited with professional standards and public accountability. And we must find a visionary chief judge for Family Court who will cut the waste and establish new integrity throughout Rhode Island’s child protective system.

Anne Grant ( parentingproject@cox.net) wrote about Rhode Island’s handling of high-risk custody cases in “Domestic Violence, Abuse and Child Custody: Legal Strategies and Policy Issues,” recently published by Civic Research Institute. She blogs at LittleHostages.blogspot.com.

http://www.projo.com/opinion/contributors/content/CT_grant21_05-21-10_86II8DA_v10.e20e5e8.html