June 2, 2010, Psychiatry
Medicating Children: A “Whistleblower’s” Lawsuit Raises a Novel Legal Question
A Legal Challenge to "Off-Label" Use of Psychiatric Drugs in Children
Published on June 2, 2010
In the past few years, a number of pharmaceutical companies have admitted to federal charges that they illegally marketed psychiatric medications for non-approved uses, with the companies paying large sums to settle the cases. Now, a legal complaint filed by the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights in an Alaskan federal court is raising a related question. When healthcare providers bill Medicaid for prescriptions of psychiatric drugs to children for non-approved uses, are they committing Medicaid fraud?
The case, United States ex-rel Law Project for Psychiatric Rights v. Matsutani, was unsealed earlier this year, and legal papers were recently filed that have brought this novel question -- which obviously has profound implications for the prescribing of psychiatric medications to poor children and adolescents -- into sharp focus.
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The Law Project for Psychiatric Rights (PsychRights), which is headed by Alaskan attorney James Gottstein, filed its whistleblower complaint in April 2009. Known as a qui tam lawsuit, PsychRights sued on behalf of the federal government under the False Claims Act, which allows private individuals to pursue legal complaints against individuals or companies that are allegedly defrauding the government. In December, the federal government declined to join PsychRights in the case.
PsychRights named Alaskan state officials, hospitals, mental health agencies, psychiatrists, and pharmacies as defendants. In its complaint, PsychRights argues that the federal government has agreed to provide Medicaid reimbursement only for those outpatient drugs that are prescribed for an FDA-approved use or for a use supported by a medical compendium (such as the DRUGDEX Information System.) PsychRights maintains that the defendants defrauded the federal government when they billed Medicaid (or the federal Children's Health Insurance Program) for outpatient drugs that didn't meet this standard.
As part of its complaint, PsychRights identified 16 commonly prescribed psychiatric medications that have no "medically accepted indication" for youth under 18 years old, and it also identified the limited number of "medically accepted indications" that exist for 32 other psychiatric drugs. PsychRights compiled this list of "approved" uses by methodically going through the drug compendiums, and it serves as the evidential heart of the complaint, for it reveals that psychiatric medications are regularly prescribed to poor children for non-approved uses. PsychRights is asking the federal court to stop this practice (which it argues is harmful), and to pay hefty financial penalties for the fraudulent claims made to date.
In early April, the defendants petitioned the court to dismiss the complaint, arguing that it was "fatally flawed" for a number of reasons, including several technical ones. For example, the defendants maintain that PsychRights has not "disclosed" private information that is required of "whistleblowers" in qui tam suits. But the defendants also argued --and this goes to the core legal issue of interest to healthcare providers -- that PsychRights has misinterpreted the applicable Medicaid law. Medicaid is a joint state-federal program, with each state establishing a Medicaid plan that must be approved by the federal government, and the defendants argue that a state may in fact choose to provide Medicaid reimbursement for outpatient drugs that are not FDA approved or "medically indicated" by drug compendia. The defendants argue that Alaska implicitly made that choice in regard to off-label use of psychiatric medications in children, and thus no fraud was committed.
The U.S. District Court in Alaska will likely take months to rule on the defendants' motions to dismiss the complaints. If the court rules on the central issue, it will help define whether Medicaid law supports off-label, non-compendia-approved use of psychiatric medications in children, or deems this commonplace practice to be medically unjustified.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/node/43537
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, June 4, 2010
151 children known to social services have died, figures show
151 children known to social services have died, figures show
New figures show 151 children and young adults, who were known to social services or who were previously in care, died over the last 10 years.
The details come after the Health Service Executive released details last week which showed 37 other children died between the years 2000 and 2010 while in the care of the State.
These new figures from the HSE come after a further detailed analysis of records from between the 1st January 2000 and the April 30th last.
Over the last 10 years, 124 children died who were known to social services and had ongoing contact with protection services, but were not in direct care of the State.
63 died of natural causes and 61 of unnatural causes.
The figures also show that 27 young adults who had been in care previously but who were no longer in care at the time of their death died during the 10 year period.
Of these, 4 died of natural causes and 23 of unnatural causes.
Of the total 84 unnatural deaths 21 relate to suicide, 10 to unlawful killing, 14 are drug related, 15 are road traffic accidents, while 24 are attributed to other accidents.
http://www.newstalk.ie/news/news-headlines/151-children-who-were-known-to-social-services-have-died-figures-show/
New figures show 151 children and young adults, who were known to social services or who were previously in care, died over the last 10 years.
The details come after the Health Service Executive released details last week which showed 37 other children died between the years 2000 and 2010 while in the care of the State.
These new figures from the HSE come after a further detailed analysis of records from between the 1st January 2000 and the April 30th last.
Over the last 10 years, 124 children died who were known to social services and had ongoing contact with protection services, but were not in direct care of the State.
63 died of natural causes and 61 of unnatural causes.
The figures also show that 27 young adults who had been in care previously but who were no longer in care at the time of their death died during the 10 year period.
Of these, 4 died of natural causes and 23 of unnatural causes.
Of the total 84 unnatural deaths 21 relate to suicide, 10 to unlawful killing, 14 are drug related, 15 are road traffic accidents, while 24 are attributed to other accidents.
http://www.newstalk.ie/news/news-headlines/151-children-who-were-known-to-social-services-have-died-figures-show/
MORE NEWS FROM THE “KOOKS” CPS GRAB BAG
Free the FLDS Children - AKA The Freedom Liberty Defenders Society
By Bill Medvecky
Defending Due Process, Religious Liberty, Human Rights, Constitutional Rights, and Freedom for the FLDS Community and All Of Us!
MORE NEWS FROM THE “KOOKS” CPS GRAB BAG
Here’s a story I want you to read.
When you finish reading it, tell me what you would do, but be very careful, keep Tonya Craft in mind.
(This is a very real story, and this actually happened, so you are not being set up to look stupid. I added nothing, I merely did not put up the rest of the story.)
On October 10, 2003 Bruce Jackson, 19-year-old adopted son of Raymond and Vanessa Jackson, was found foraging for food in a neighbor’s trash near his home in Collingswood New Jersey.
Once the matter came to the attention of police, the appalling facts of the case came to light.
Bruce, age 19, looked to the police like a seven-year-old. He stood four feet tall and weighed 45 pounds.
The family had seven children, three girls and four boys. One of the girls was a foster child about to be adopted, the others were all adopted.
While the girls appeared normal the boys were all emaciated. They were:
Michael 9 years 23 pounds
Tyrone 10 years 28 pounds
Keith 14 years 40 pounds
Bruce 19 years 45 pounds
The parents made the lame excuse that the boys suffered from eating disorders, though they had no explanation for why there was an epidemic in their family.
The police, the press, the local child protectors, the state prosecutor and the US Congress went to work on the case.
The seven children were instantly removed from the Jackson home and placed in foster care.
Newspaper stories appeared daily with shocking new revelations.
Caseworkers had visited the home 38 times in two years without noticing the malnourishment.
The family had kept the children in isolation by homeschooling.
Bruce had bad teeth and remained hospitalized. Bruce, and possibly the other boys as well, had lost weight since his adoption in 1999.
In foster care the children were fed properly and began to gain weight.
The Jacksons had received a subsidy of $28,000 a year to care for the children.
YOU are the judge, jury and executioner. What would you do?
http://www.flds.ws/2010/06/04/more-news-from-the-kooks-cps-grab-bag/#comment-106930
By Bill Medvecky
Defending Due Process, Religious Liberty, Human Rights, Constitutional Rights, and Freedom for the FLDS Community and All Of Us!
MORE NEWS FROM THE “KOOKS” CPS GRAB BAG
Here’s a story I want you to read.
When you finish reading it, tell me what you would do, but be very careful, keep Tonya Craft in mind.
(This is a very real story, and this actually happened, so you are not being set up to look stupid. I added nothing, I merely did not put up the rest of the story.)
On October 10, 2003 Bruce Jackson, 19-year-old adopted son of Raymond and Vanessa Jackson, was found foraging for food in a neighbor’s trash near his home in Collingswood New Jersey.
Once the matter came to the attention of police, the appalling facts of the case came to light.
Bruce, age 19, looked to the police like a seven-year-old. He stood four feet tall and weighed 45 pounds.
The family had seven children, three girls and four boys. One of the girls was a foster child about to be adopted, the others were all adopted.
While the girls appeared normal the boys were all emaciated. They were:
Michael 9 years 23 pounds
Tyrone 10 years 28 pounds
Keith 14 years 40 pounds
Bruce 19 years 45 pounds
The parents made the lame excuse that the boys suffered from eating disorders, though they had no explanation for why there was an epidemic in their family.
The police, the press, the local child protectors, the state prosecutor and the US Congress went to work on the case.
The seven children were instantly removed from the Jackson home and placed in foster care.
Newspaper stories appeared daily with shocking new revelations.
Caseworkers had visited the home 38 times in two years without noticing the malnourishment.
The family had kept the children in isolation by homeschooling.
Bruce had bad teeth and remained hospitalized. Bruce, and possibly the other boys as well, had lost weight since his adoption in 1999.
In foster care the children were fed properly and began to gain weight.
The Jacksons had received a subsidy of $28,000 a year to care for the children.
YOU are the judge, jury and executioner. What would you do?
http://www.flds.ws/2010/06/04/more-news-from-the-kooks-cps-grab-bag/#comment-106930
Reforms help states cut foster-care populations
Reforms help states cut foster-care populations
Fri, 2010-06-04 20:16 - Niels
By DAVID CRARY (AP) – June 4, 2010
NEW YORK — No single youngster can be the poster child for America's foster care system, with its mix of happy endings and heartache. Yet Tatiana Fowler's smile, as she embraces the woman who adopted her, gives a hint at the groundswell of change that is altering that mix for the better.
Tatiana, 16, and her 15-year-old sister Brittany were adopted earlier this year by a cousin of their mother after four years in foster care. They became part of a dramatic trend in New York City, which has reduced its foster care population from nearly 28,000 in 2002 to under 16,000 this spring.
Thanks to sizable reductions in several other states, it's a coast-to-coast phenomenon — the latest federal data, from 2008, recorded 463,000 children in foster care nationally, down more than 11 percent from 523,000 in 2002.
Each jurisdiction is different, but by reducing stays in foster care, speeding up adoptions and — perhaps most crucially — expanding preventive support for troubled families so more children avoid being removed in the first place, the numbers are coming down.
Many states still are experiencing stable or rising foster care populations. And child-welfare advocates worry that budget cuts may undermine some of the promising new policies.
Overall, however, there's encouragement that New York City and a few other places — notably California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey and Ohio — have been able to sharply reduce the number of children in foster care.
"We're going to continue to see practices get better," said Anita Light, director of the National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators. "In many cases, a child can remain at home and be safe with the proper amount of support."
When removal is deemed necessary, and parental rights are terminated, agencies have been working harder to arrange timely adoptions.
That was the case for Tatiana and Brittany Fowler — whose mother, a repeat drug abuser, proved incapable of keeping the family together.
The sisters initially were placed in foster care with another relative, but conflicts arose. Last year, Karen Simmons, a cousin of the mother, said she and her auto-mechanic husband, Dwayne, would be willing to adopt the girls, adding to a household already abuzz with the Simmons' three teenagers.
The Simmonses — devout Jehovah's Witnesses who'd known Tatiana and Brittany since they were little — live in a modest, three-bedroom apartment in the Bronx, on a monthly income of roughly $2,000, including food stamps.
Tatiana is finishing 10th grade at West Bronx Academy for the Future and aspires to be a child-welfare advocate after college so she can help the next generation of foster children. Her foster care experience helped hone a high degree of self-reliance, but she's elated to be adopted.
"I was fortunate somebody stepped up to the plate," she said. "To be a successful person, you need strong support. Now if I have an issue, a problem, I have someone to talk to."
John Mattingly, commissioner of New York City's Administration for Children's Services, noted that the city's foster care population has been declining gradually since a peak of nearly 50,000 in the early 1990s following the crack cocaine epidemic.
One stubborn problem, in New York City and some other places, is a slow-moving family court system that sometimes prolongs children's stays in foster care. Mattingly is working with judges to impose a timetable that would cut some nine-month delays to 90 days or less.
But even if the court issues are resolved, proposed budget cuts that could cost New York City 3,000 slots in its preventive-services program are a concern. Mattingly hopes the consequences won't include a new surge of foster care entries.
"All of these models that we've seen as successful are in danger — there's a great risk of going back to the old days," said Jane Golden of the Children's Aid Society, which arranged Tatiana's adoption.
To many experts, Florida's turnaround has been the most remarkable. Its foster care population soared after the high-profile 1998 beating death of a 6-year-old girl by her father, and stayed high through 2006.
Since then, Florida has implemented a wave of policy changes that have reduced its foster care population from about 29,300 in 2006 to 18,700 this year.
The key for Florida, alone among the 50 states, was obtaining a statewide waiver from federal funding rules. This allows federal foster care money to be used for a variety of child welfare initiatives rather than being limited to out-of-home care — enabling the state to support troubled families with economic aid, parenting classes and substance abuse treatment so a child doesn't need to be removed.
George Sheldon, who heads Florida's Department of Children and Families, said a group of youths who'd spent years in foster care had urged him to pursue the changes.
"Almost to a child, they said, 'I would have rather stayed at home and dealt with issues than go into foster care and get passed from home to home and school to school," Sheldon said. "Even if it's a quality foster home, they feel they don't belong there."
Florida also sped up the average time for foster children to be reunified with their families. And in the remaining cases where parental rights are terminated, Florida has intensified efforts to get the children adopted or placed permanently with other relatives.
Though adoptions from foster care in the state reached all-time highs — more than 7,400 in 2008-09 — Sheldon hopes Floridians can do more.
"After the earthquake in Haiti, everybody wanted to adopt a Haitian child," he said. "We're trying to take that passion to help and say there are children in this country, in Florida, who are in need of adoption."
One leader on the front lines is Jim Adams, CEO of Family Support Services of North Florida. The private nonprofit helped cut the number of children in foster care in Jacksonville by 62 percent between 2006 and the end of 2009 — while spending far less money and achieving better outcomes.
"The way the system had been built, you had to isolate the child from the family," said Adams, a 33-year veteran of the field. "Now we try to have family engagement — working with the moms and dads and relatives.
"A lot of kids got put into foster care not because of physical abuse, but because of poverty — no food on the table, utilities cut off," he said. "With the waiver, we've been able to redirect the dollars that went to warehousing kids into funding families and the long-term challenges they've got."
Among the youths aided by Family Support Services is Lauren Lindgren, 18, who's now working for the agency as she prepares for college next fall. She was in foster care from age 2 to 7, when she was adopted, then returned to foster care at 14 after her adoptive parents divorced.
She hopes agencies working with foster children look "to see what's best for the kids, not what's best for everyone else."
"In foster care, it used to be you couldn't even spend the night at your friend's house — they had to get a background check," Lindgren said. "They changed that, so now you can. They're trying to make it seem like we're just kids, rather than foster kids."
In raw numbers, the biggest drop has occurred in California — where the foster care population fell from 90,692 in 2002 to under 65,000 last year, and the average stay in foster care was sharply reduced. Los Angeles County, where a Florida-style funding waiver is in effect, accounts for much of the decrease.
Karen Gunderson, chief of the Child and Youth Permanency Branch at California's Department of Social Services, said the changes reflect a push to get more foster children adopted or placed in the guardianship of relatives.
More recently, there's been an emphasis on so-called "wraparound" services — which develop individualized plans to help families deal with behaviorally troubled children so they don't have to be removed from home.
Georgia, another success story, had about 14,500 children in foster care in 2004, the result of a surge in investigations of suspected abuse. Now the figure is under 8,000.
B.J. Walker, commissioner of Georgia's Department of Human Services, said the key change was a more thorough, flexible approach at the front end, finding ways to support high-risk families without removing the children.
"We had to get our workers to believe this was safe," Walker said. "If you come into the system now, you're truly a child who's experienced abuse and neglect."
Her department, which had been taken to court by a New York-based advocacy group in 2002, says the recurrence of child maltreatment has dropped well below the national average and its average caseload per caseworker has decreased markedly.
Not all states joined the trend — those with rising foster care numbers in 2002-08 include Arizona, Texas, Indiana and Nevada. Steve Meissner, a spokesman for Arizona's Department of Economic Security, noted that his state's population grew during that period, with the influx including many potentially vulnerable children.
"The sad fact is that though there has been real improvement in some states, in much of the country things are as bad as ever," said Richard Wexler of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, which seeks to reduce the number of children unnecessarily placed in foster care.
"To the extent that there has been a real improvement," Wexler added, "it begs the question: What took so long?"
A fundamental problem, in the view of many child-welfare advocates, is the federal funding system — which in effect is a disincentive for states to reduce their foster care populations.
According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, 90 percent of federal child-welfare funds are reserved for supporting children in foster care, with only 10 percent available for front-end prevention and reunification services that can help keep families together.
The child welfare administrators' association, under Anita Light's direction, is proposing to change the law so all states would have more flexibility in how they spend child-welfare funds. Light believes there's bipartisan support for the change, and hopes for congressional approval sometime this year.
Even among those heartened by the drop in foster care populations, there's concern about one negative trend — the number of foster youths aging out of the system without a permanent family has risen from 19,000 in 1999 to a record high of nearly 30,000 in 2008.
Without the safety net of a family, these young adults often face immense challenges in securing decent jobs and housing.
Tatiana Fowler was relatively lucky in getting adopted at 16 — most foster children that old age out of the system without a permanent family.
Among them is Derrick Riggins, now 25, who had five different foster care placements growing up in Orlando, Fla. He now has a master's degree and is eying law school, aspiring to be a children's rights advocate.
Riggins was among the young people sought out by Florida officials to provide firsthand input on child-welfare reforms — and he stressed the importance of keeping more children of out foster care to begin with.
"The first couple of nights you stayed away from your own family is the toughest time," he said. "These are complete strangers you have to stay with. You ask, 'How did I get here? How long do I have to be here?' Questions you don't get answers to."
http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/43556
Fri, 2010-06-04 20:16 - Niels
By DAVID CRARY (AP) – June 4, 2010
NEW YORK — No single youngster can be the poster child for America's foster care system, with its mix of happy endings and heartache. Yet Tatiana Fowler's smile, as she embraces the woman who adopted her, gives a hint at the groundswell of change that is altering that mix for the better.
Tatiana, 16, and her 15-year-old sister Brittany were adopted earlier this year by a cousin of their mother after four years in foster care. They became part of a dramatic trend in New York City, which has reduced its foster care population from nearly 28,000 in 2002 to under 16,000 this spring.
Thanks to sizable reductions in several other states, it's a coast-to-coast phenomenon — the latest federal data, from 2008, recorded 463,000 children in foster care nationally, down more than 11 percent from 523,000 in 2002.
Each jurisdiction is different, but by reducing stays in foster care, speeding up adoptions and — perhaps most crucially — expanding preventive support for troubled families so more children avoid being removed in the first place, the numbers are coming down.
Many states still are experiencing stable or rising foster care populations. And child-welfare advocates worry that budget cuts may undermine some of the promising new policies.
Overall, however, there's encouragement that New York City and a few other places — notably California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey and Ohio — have been able to sharply reduce the number of children in foster care.
"We're going to continue to see practices get better," said Anita Light, director of the National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators. "In many cases, a child can remain at home and be safe with the proper amount of support."
When removal is deemed necessary, and parental rights are terminated, agencies have been working harder to arrange timely adoptions.
That was the case for Tatiana and Brittany Fowler — whose mother, a repeat drug abuser, proved incapable of keeping the family together.
The sisters initially were placed in foster care with another relative, but conflicts arose. Last year, Karen Simmons, a cousin of the mother, said she and her auto-mechanic husband, Dwayne, would be willing to adopt the girls, adding to a household already abuzz with the Simmons' three teenagers.
The Simmonses — devout Jehovah's Witnesses who'd known Tatiana and Brittany since they were little — live in a modest, three-bedroom apartment in the Bronx, on a monthly income of roughly $2,000, including food stamps.
Tatiana is finishing 10th grade at West Bronx Academy for the Future and aspires to be a child-welfare advocate after college so she can help the next generation of foster children. Her foster care experience helped hone a high degree of self-reliance, but she's elated to be adopted.
"I was fortunate somebody stepped up to the plate," she said. "To be a successful person, you need strong support. Now if I have an issue, a problem, I have someone to talk to."
John Mattingly, commissioner of New York City's Administration for Children's Services, noted that the city's foster care population has been declining gradually since a peak of nearly 50,000 in the early 1990s following the crack cocaine epidemic.
One stubborn problem, in New York City and some other places, is a slow-moving family court system that sometimes prolongs children's stays in foster care. Mattingly is working with judges to impose a timetable that would cut some nine-month delays to 90 days or less.
But even if the court issues are resolved, proposed budget cuts that could cost New York City 3,000 slots in its preventive-services program are a concern. Mattingly hopes the consequences won't include a new surge of foster care entries.
"All of these models that we've seen as successful are in danger — there's a great risk of going back to the old days," said Jane Golden of the Children's Aid Society, which arranged Tatiana's adoption.
To many experts, Florida's turnaround has been the most remarkable. Its foster care population soared after the high-profile 1998 beating death of a 6-year-old girl by her father, and stayed high through 2006.
Since then, Florida has implemented a wave of policy changes that have reduced its foster care population from about 29,300 in 2006 to 18,700 this year.
The key for Florida, alone among the 50 states, was obtaining a statewide waiver from federal funding rules. This allows federal foster care money to be used for a variety of child welfare initiatives rather than being limited to out-of-home care — enabling the state to support troubled families with economic aid, parenting classes and substance abuse treatment so a child doesn't need to be removed.
George Sheldon, who heads Florida's Department of Children and Families, said a group of youths who'd spent years in foster care had urged him to pursue the changes.
"Almost to a child, they said, 'I would have rather stayed at home and dealt with issues than go into foster care and get passed from home to home and school to school," Sheldon said. "Even if it's a quality foster home, they feel they don't belong there."
Florida also sped up the average time for foster children to be reunified with their families. And in the remaining cases where parental rights are terminated, Florida has intensified efforts to get the children adopted or placed permanently with other relatives.
Though adoptions from foster care in the state reached all-time highs — more than 7,400 in 2008-09 — Sheldon hopes Floridians can do more.
"After the earthquake in Haiti, everybody wanted to adopt a Haitian child," he said. "We're trying to take that passion to help and say there are children in this country, in Florida, who are in need of adoption."
One leader on the front lines is Jim Adams, CEO of Family Support Services of North Florida. The private nonprofit helped cut the number of children in foster care in Jacksonville by 62 percent between 2006 and the end of 2009 — while spending far less money and achieving better outcomes.
"The way the system had been built, you had to isolate the child from the family," said Adams, a 33-year veteran of the field. "Now we try to have family engagement — working with the moms and dads and relatives.
"A lot of kids got put into foster care not because of physical abuse, but because of poverty — no food on the table, utilities cut off," he said. "With the waiver, we've been able to redirect the dollars that went to warehousing kids into funding families and the long-term challenges they've got."
Among the youths aided by Family Support Services is Lauren Lindgren, 18, who's now working for the agency as she prepares for college next fall. She was in foster care from age 2 to 7, when she was adopted, then returned to foster care at 14 after her adoptive parents divorced.
She hopes agencies working with foster children look "to see what's best for the kids, not what's best for everyone else."
"In foster care, it used to be you couldn't even spend the night at your friend's house — they had to get a background check," Lindgren said. "They changed that, so now you can. They're trying to make it seem like we're just kids, rather than foster kids."
In raw numbers, the biggest drop has occurred in California — where the foster care population fell from 90,692 in 2002 to under 65,000 last year, and the average stay in foster care was sharply reduced. Los Angeles County, where a Florida-style funding waiver is in effect, accounts for much of the decrease.
Karen Gunderson, chief of the Child and Youth Permanency Branch at California's Department of Social Services, said the changes reflect a push to get more foster children adopted or placed in the guardianship of relatives.
More recently, there's been an emphasis on so-called "wraparound" services — which develop individualized plans to help families deal with behaviorally troubled children so they don't have to be removed from home.
Georgia, another success story, had about 14,500 children in foster care in 2004, the result of a surge in investigations of suspected abuse. Now the figure is under 8,000.
B.J. Walker, commissioner of Georgia's Department of Human Services, said the key change was a more thorough, flexible approach at the front end, finding ways to support high-risk families without removing the children.
"We had to get our workers to believe this was safe," Walker said. "If you come into the system now, you're truly a child who's experienced abuse and neglect."
Her department, which had been taken to court by a New York-based advocacy group in 2002, says the recurrence of child maltreatment has dropped well below the national average and its average caseload per caseworker has decreased markedly.
Not all states joined the trend — those with rising foster care numbers in 2002-08 include Arizona, Texas, Indiana and Nevada. Steve Meissner, a spokesman for Arizona's Department of Economic Security, noted that his state's population grew during that period, with the influx including many potentially vulnerable children.
"The sad fact is that though there has been real improvement in some states, in much of the country things are as bad as ever," said Richard Wexler of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, which seeks to reduce the number of children unnecessarily placed in foster care.
"To the extent that there has been a real improvement," Wexler added, "it begs the question: What took so long?"
A fundamental problem, in the view of many child-welfare advocates, is the federal funding system — which in effect is a disincentive for states to reduce their foster care populations.
According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, 90 percent of federal child-welfare funds are reserved for supporting children in foster care, with only 10 percent available for front-end prevention and reunification services that can help keep families together.
The child welfare administrators' association, under Anita Light's direction, is proposing to change the law so all states would have more flexibility in how they spend child-welfare funds. Light believes there's bipartisan support for the change, and hopes for congressional approval sometime this year.
Even among those heartened by the drop in foster care populations, there's concern about one negative trend — the number of foster youths aging out of the system without a permanent family has risen from 19,000 in 1999 to a record high of nearly 30,000 in 2008.
Without the safety net of a family, these young adults often face immense challenges in securing decent jobs and housing.
Tatiana Fowler was relatively lucky in getting adopted at 16 — most foster children that old age out of the system without a permanent family.
Among them is Derrick Riggins, now 25, who had five different foster care placements growing up in Orlando, Fla. He now has a master's degree and is eying law school, aspiring to be a children's rights advocate.
Riggins was among the young people sought out by Florida officials to provide firsthand input on child-welfare reforms — and he stressed the importance of keeping more children of out foster care to begin with.
"The first couple of nights you stayed away from your own family is the toughest time," he said. "These are complete strangers you have to stay with. You ask, 'How did I get here? How long do I have to be here?' Questions you don't get answers to."
http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/43556
Gov. Crist signs bill releasing $1.2M to Immokalee teen raped by foster father
Gov. Crist signs bill releasing $1.2M to Immokalee teen raped by foster father
By AISLING SWIFT
Posted June 4, 2010 at 4:49 p.m.
Pierreisna Archille, upper left, her daughter, and Darlene Achille.
Gov. Charlie Crist has signed a bill that will release $1.2 million to the guardian of a mentally retarded woman who had a baby after being raped as a teen by her foster father in Immokalee.
The claims bill Crist signed Thursday afternoon was approved by the Legislature and releases the remainder of a $1.3 million settlement by the state Department of Children and Families to Darlene Achille, the guardian for her sister, Pierreisna, 26, and her 9-year-old daughter.
"The next step is obviously getting the money," said attorney Richard Filson of Sarasota, who filed the lawsuit in 2002. "I talked to Pierreisna and she is very happy. ... They're living in a small apartment. It's good news to them."
The sisters hope to purchase a home with part of the money, he said.
The Daily News normally doesn’t identify rape victims, but Achille gave the newspaper permission to identify her sister, who has a 40 IQ and the mental abilities of a first-grader. The sisters and girl have since moved to the Orlando area.
DCF settled the case in 2007 for $1.3 million, but most of it was sitting in DCF’s Federal Grants Trust Fund for two years because the Legislature must approve a claims bill before funds can be released.
On April 28, the House adopted Bill 195, sponsored by Rep. Peter Nehr, R-Palm Harbor, and a day later, the Senate passed Bill 60, sponsored by Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Brandon.
The sisters already received $100,000, the maximum allowed for a verdict or settlement without legislative approval. Filson agreed to accept less than lawyers usually receive for a lawsuit and hasn’t yet been paid.
Achille was juggling several jobs to care for her sister and niece, but the money will enable her to find transportation for her sister and part-time caretakers so she can focus on getting a full-time career as an athletic trainer.
"I know Darlene will say, because she's said it before, that this releases a lot of pressure off her," Filson said. "It's great to see them finally get the help they need."
The money will go into a special needs trust account and a trustee will be appointed.
The child was born after Pierreisna Archille had been repeatedly raped over two years; the sisters’ last names are spelled differently due to a typographical error on Pierreisna’s birth certificate.
Their 2002 lawsuit alleged DCF workers ignored past accusations about Velásquez and didn’t fully investigate. DCF didn’t dispute that the molestation and rapes occurred but it couldn’t be held liable just because a foster parent abused a child. Filson had to prove DCF was negligent.
His investigation showed that in August 1997, Achille told DCF workers she saw Bonifacio “Bennie” Velásquez molesting the 2-year-old girl that he and his wife, Josephine, were adopting from foster care. Achille also told DCF that Velásquez was “getting fresh” with her, touching her rear-end and peeking under her dress.
A DCF caseworker investigated and discredited her account, although Achille and her younger sister, Muriel, who also complained of abuse, were moved to another foster home. The toddler and Pierreisna remained.
Velásquez’s abuse wasn’t made public until 1999, when his wife died and DCF workers re-evaluated whether he could care for all the children in his home. DCF removed them, but recommended relicensing for boys only. Five days later, Archille’s new foster family alerted DCF that she was four months pregnant.
Velásquez, 74, was released from state prison in 2008 after serving 6½ years and still lives in Immokalee.
The caseworker was fired, but still has the same job working for an agency in the foster care system.
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/jun/04/gov-crist-signs-bill-releasing-12m-immokalee-teen-/
By AISLING SWIFT
Posted June 4, 2010 at 4:49 p.m.
Pierreisna Archille, upper left, her daughter, and Darlene Achille.
Gov. Charlie Crist has signed a bill that will release $1.2 million to the guardian of a mentally retarded woman who had a baby after being raped as a teen by her foster father in Immokalee.
The claims bill Crist signed Thursday afternoon was approved by the Legislature and releases the remainder of a $1.3 million settlement by the state Department of Children and Families to Darlene Achille, the guardian for her sister, Pierreisna, 26, and her 9-year-old daughter.
"The next step is obviously getting the money," said attorney Richard Filson of Sarasota, who filed the lawsuit in 2002. "I talked to Pierreisna and she is very happy. ... They're living in a small apartment. It's good news to them."
The sisters hope to purchase a home with part of the money, he said.
The Daily News normally doesn’t identify rape victims, but Achille gave the newspaper permission to identify her sister, who has a 40 IQ and the mental abilities of a first-grader. The sisters and girl have since moved to the Orlando area.
DCF settled the case in 2007 for $1.3 million, but most of it was sitting in DCF’s Federal Grants Trust Fund for two years because the Legislature must approve a claims bill before funds can be released.
On April 28, the House adopted Bill 195, sponsored by Rep. Peter Nehr, R-Palm Harbor, and a day later, the Senate passed Bill 60, sponsored by Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Brandon.
The sisters already received $100,000, the maximum allowed for a verdict or settlement without legislative approval. Filson agreed to accept less than lawyers usually receive for a lawsuit and hasn’t yet been paid.
Achille was juggling several jobs to care for her sister and niece, but the money will enable her to find transportation for her sister and part-time caretakers so she can focus on getting a full-time career as an athletic trainer.
"I know Darlene will say, because she's said it before, that this releases a lot of pressure off her," Filson said. "It's great to see them finally get the help they need."
The money will go into a special needs trust account and a trustee will be appointed.
The child was born after Pierreisna Archille had been repeatedly raped over two years; the sisters’ last names are spelled differently due to a typographical error on Pierreisna’s birth certificate.
Their 2002 lawsuit alleged DCF workers ignored past accusations about Velásquez and didn’t fully investigate. DCF didn’t dispute that the molestation and rapes occurred but it couldn’t be held liable just because a foster parent abused a child. Filson had to prove DCF was negligent.
His investigation showed that in August 1997, Achille told DCF workers she saw Bonifacio “Bennie” Velásquez molesting the 2-year-old girl that he and his wife, Josephine, were adopting from foster care. Achille also told DCF that Velásquez was “getting fresh” with her, touching her rear-end and peeking under her dress.
A DCF caseworker investigated and discredited her account, although Achille and her younger sister, Muriel, who also complained of abuse, were moved to another foster home. The toddler and Pierreisna remained.
Velásquez’s abuse wasn’t made public until 1999, when his wife died and DCF workers re-evaluated whether he could care for all the children in his home. DCF removed them, but recommended relicensing for boys only. Five days later, Archille’s new foster family alerted DCF that she was four months pregnant.
Velásquez, 74, was released from state prison in 2008 after serving 6½ years and still lives in Immokalee.
The caseworker was fired, but still has the same job working for an agency in the foster care system.
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/jun/04/gov-crist-signs-bill-releasing-12m-immokalee-teen-/
Defending a Lawsuit Against Motion to Dismiss Case: L Family v. Administration for Children, Youth and Families
Defending a Lawsuit Against Motion to Dismiss
Case: L Family v. Administration for Children, Youth and Families
Filed: 3-3-06
In March 2006, Home School Legal Defense Association filed a lawsuit in Arizona on behalf of a member family whose 4th and 14th Amendment rights had been violated by a social worker investigation that had no basis outside of an anonymous tip. Just a few weeks after our filing, the social workers filed a motion to dismiss, saying that their actions were completely within the law.
Mr. and Mrs. Laraby (name changed to protect family’s privacy) denied a social worker access to their home at the first contact, but over a month later, two social workers and several sheriff’s deputies arrived on their doorstep, insisting on entry into the home. The family immediately called HSLDA for help. The social workers refused to speak with HSLDA Staff Attorney Thomas Schmidt, but instead insisted that he talk with an assistant attorney general, who informed him that if the Larabys did not allow the social workers into their home, the children would be removed from their parents’ custody.
The social workers also told Mr. and Mrs. Laraby that if they were not allowed into the home to complete their investigation, they would handcuff the parents in front of their children and take their children away. In response to this terrible threat, the parents stood aside and allowed the social workers in. Within five minutes, the social workers determined that the anonymous tip was false and left.
HSLDA filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of Mr. and Mrs. Laraby for violation of their 4th Amendment rights, interference with family privacy, and the sheriff’s failure to train deputies in constitutional procedures. We argued that the wrongful threat to take custody of Mr. and Mrs. Laraby’s children was coercion, a tactic often used by social workers to gain unlimited access to a family’s home despite the parents’ objections.
Shortly after HSLDA filed this lawsuit, the social workers responded with a motion to dismiss, stating that they had not violated the Laraby family’s rights in demanding entrance to their home and threatening arrest and removal of the children. Instead, the social workers argued that their actions were protected, claiming that social workers do not have to follow the 4th Amendment when conducting an investigation. They asked the court to dismiss the case before the Larabys were even able to present any evidence showing that their rights had been violated.
HSLDA responded to the motion, arguing that all social workers are bound by the 4th Amendment and citing HSLDA’s landmark case, Calabretta v. Floyd: “The principle that government officials cannot coerce entry into people’s houses without a search warrant or applicability of an established exception to the requirement of a search warrant is so well established that any reasonable officer would know it.”
At the same time, HSLDA responded to another motion to dismiss from the assistant attorney general who had spoken with Schmidt, which said that the Larabys had failed to state a claim at all. In our reply to this motion, HSLDA explained to the court that the assistant attorney general had indeed violated the rights of Mr. and Mrs. Laraby with her statement that the social workers would take custody of the children under Arizona law if they were not allowed into the house.
With the briefing on these motions now complete, we are awaiting a hearing date and a decision from the court as to whether we will be able to present the evidence that Mr. and Mrs. Laraby’s rights were violated.
http://www.hslda.org/courtreport/V23N2/V23N208.asp
Case: L Family v. Administration for Children, Youth and Families
Filed: 3-3-06
In March 2006, Home School Legal Defense Association filed a lawsuit in Arizona on behalf of a member family whose 4th and 14th Amendment rights had been violated by a social worker investigation that had no basis outside of an anonymous tip. Just a few weeks after our filing, the social workers filed a motion to dismiss, saying that their actions were completely within the law.
Mr. and Mrs. Laraby (name changed to protect family’s privacy) denied a social worker access to their home at the first contact, but over a month later, two social workers and several sheriff’s deputies arrived on their doorstep, insisting on entry into the home. The family immediately called HSLDA for help. The social workers refused to speak with HSLDA Staff Attorney Thomas Schmidt, but instead insisted that he talk with an assistant attorney general, who informed him that if the Larabys did not allow the social workers into their home, the children would be removed from their parents’ custody.
The social workers also told Mr. and Mrs. Laraby that if they were not allowed into the home to complete their investigation, they would handcuff the parents in front of their children and take their children away. In response to this terrible threat, the parents stood aside and allowed the social workers in. Within five minutes, the social workers determined that the anonymous tip was false and left.
HSLDA filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of Mr. and Mrs. Laraby for violation of their 4th Amendment rights, interference with family privacy, and the sheriff’s failure to train deputies in constitutional procedures. We argued that the wrongful threat to take custody of Mr. and Mrs. Laraby’s children was coercion, a tactic often used by social workers to gain unlimited access to a family’s home despite the parents’ objections.
Shortly after HSLDA filed this lawsuit, the social workers responded with a motion to dismiss, stating that they had not violated the Laraby family’s rights in demanding entrance to their home and threatening arrest and removal of the children. Instead, the social workers argued that their actions were protected, claiming that social workers do not have to follow the 4th Amendment when conducting an investigation. They asked the court to dismiss the case before the Larabys were even able to present any evidence showing that their rights had been violated.
HSLDA responded to the motion, arguing that all social workers are bound by the 4th Amendment and citing HSLDA’s landmark case, Calabretta v. Floyd: “The principle that government officials cannot coerce entry into people’s houses without a search warrant or applicability of an established exception to the requirement of a search warrant is so well established that any reasonable officer would know it.”
At the same time, HSLDA responded to another motion to dismiss from the assistant attorney general who had spoken with Schmidt, which said that the Larabys had failed to state a claim at all. In our reply to this motion, HSLDA explained to the court that the assistant attorney general had indeed violated the rights of Mr. and Mrs. Laraby with her statement that the social workers would take custody of the children under Arizona law if they were not allowed into the house.
With the briefing on these motions now complete, we are awaiting a hearing date and a decision from the court as to whether we will be able to present the evidence that Mr. and Mrs. Laraby’s rights were violated.
http://www.hslda.org/courtreport/V23N2/V23N208.asp
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