Baby LK Report For June 13th 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zar3y7GgNws&feature=player_embedded

Calling all Birth/First/Natural/Original Parents

MONDAY, JUNE 14, 2010
Calling all Birth/First/Natural/Original Parents
My Aussie colleague, Evelyn Robinson, asked that this be shared...


Adoption Separation

Those of us who were separated from our children by adoption are very aware of society’s attitudes to single parenthood in the 20th century. Many of us are ageing and our experiences are barely comprehensible to members of the current generation, who have grown up in a very different social context. Single parenthood is now generally tolerated and supported to the extent that, in some places, single people are permitted to adopt.

I believe that recording and publishing our stories is an important way to validate our experiences. It is also a valuable educational exercise to illustrate the attitudes to single parenthood which were prevalent in the last century, especially in the 1960s and 1970s when so many children were adopted. It is difficult for our children and grandchildren to understand the socially intolerant climate in which our pregnancies occurred and the only people who can explain that to them are those of us who experienced society’s disapproval and often lost our children because of it. In line with the social values of the times, single parents were discriminated against and treated in different ways from parents who were married. In many cases they were denied what in the 21st century is perceived as social justice.

I plan to publish a collection of narratives written by parents who have been separated from their children by adoption. I am hoping to obtain contributions from Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Ireland to illustrate the similarities in adoption experiences in the major English-speaking countries. As far as I am aware, this is the first time that such a collection has been produced.

It is my hope that the collection will educate our children, our friends and families, our communities, as well as professionals who may be working with those have experienced adoption separation. I would like to produce a permanent record of how it felt to be pregnant at a time when single parents were blamed and shamed by an unforgiving society.

For further information, please contact me by e-mail to erobinson@clovapublications.com or by mail to PO Box 328, Christies Beach, South Australia 5165. For further information about me and my work, please visit my web site at http://www.clovapublications.com.

I would appreciate it if this information could be distributed as widely as possible.

13 Sask. children died in care since January

13 Sask. children died in care since January
Last Updated: Monday, June 14, 2010 | 7:28 PM CST
CBC News
Nicole Daniels holds a picture of her son, Evander. The 22-month-old child drowned while in foster care last week. (David Shield/CBC)
Thirteen Saskatchewan children involved in Saskatchewan's child-welfare system have died since January, the government said on Monday.

But Social Services Minister Donna Harpauer is blaming many of the deaths on pre-existing medical conditions.

"Many of the children that come into the care of the ministry … have very extensive — many of them have very extensive medical challenges," Harpauer said, in her first interview with CBC News since the death of a foster child last week.

The ministry has been under fire since Evander Daniels drowned in a bathtub in his foster home near Aberdeen, Sask. on Tuesday. An autopsy report also said that scald-type burns may have contributed to his death.

Between 15 and 20 children in care die in the province each year — many of the deaths go unreported to the public, yet each of them is a tragedy, Harpauer said.

"There is no child death that isn't a tragedy. Can I prevent health challenges in these children? No I can't," she said.

"What I can do is the best I can do for the safety of children."

First Nations groups, however, are critical of Harpauer's message and are calling for a public inquiry into Daniels's death. Aberdeen is about 40 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon.

While RCMP and social services continue to investigate what happened, officials on his home reserve of Sturgeon Lake First Nation said Daniels is the second foster child from the reserve to die in the last six months.

Harpauer said she won't call an inquiry until she hears back from investigators.

"In this particular case … I think there is an assumption that I know more than I know yet," she said.

"I am waiting on the same reports everyone else is."



Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2010/06/14/sask-child-deaths-foster-care.html#ixzz0qsnypUHI

Foster care associated with increased risk for STDs among adolescents

Foster care associated with increased risk for STDs among adolescents




Spending time in the foster care system may up a child’s chances of having at least one laboratory-confirmed STD by young adulthood, according to researchers from the University of Washington.

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“These youths have high rates of several factors linked with [STD] risk, including exposure to physical and sexual abuse, neglect, parental substance abuse, poverty, and violence early in life, and high rates of mental health problems, substance abuse disorders, and juvenile or criminal justice system involvement later in life,” they wrote. “Despite the seeming vulnerability of this population, to the author’s knowledge only 2 studies have specifically evaluated the risk for [STDs] for youth who have been in foster care relative to other adolescent subgroups.”

To investigate this potential relationship between foster care status and STD biomarkers and risk behaviors at adolescence, the researchers used data from Waves I to III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health that took place from 1994 to 2002. There were 7,563 girls and 6,759 boys were included in the analysis.

Adolescents completed a questionnaire about foster care status, sexual experience and behaviors at some point during grades seven to 12 (Wave I) and underwent follow-up interviews at approximately 2 (Wave II) and 6 years later (Wave III). At Wave III, the researchers also used Ligase Chain Reaction amplification technology to test urine specimens for gonorrhea and chlamydia and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for Trichomonas vaginalis DNA.

Data indicated that girls who had been in foster care were more likely to have Trichomonas (OR=3.23; 95% CI, 1.45-7.23) but not gonorrhea or chlamydia. In contrast, boys were more likely to have gonorrhea (OR=14.28; 95% CI, 2.07-98.28) and chlamydia (OR=3.07; 95% CI, 1.36-6.96) but not Trichomonas. The researchers noted, however, that these discrepancies may be due to the difficulty in detecting Trichomonas colonization in boys and the possibility that girls had already been treated for gonorrhea and chlamydia during adolescence.

Results also showed that girls who had been in foster care were more likely to report engaging in risky sexual behaviors, such as having sex with a casual partner, having sex for money or having vaginal intercourse. They were also more likely to report having their first sexual intercourse at a younger age and a higher number of lifetime partners than their peers. Boys who had been in foster care, however, did not show an increased likelihood of engaging in high-risk sexual behaviors when compared with adolescent boys who had not spent time in foster care.

In light of their data, the researchers urged future studies to focus on specific factors associated with foster care that could be responsible for the elevated risk of STDs in adolescence.

“If our findings are confirmed, then health care providers for current and former foster youth should consider modifying their screening practices to reflect the increased [STD] risk of these youth,” wrote the researchers. “Policymakers for the child welfare system should also consider incorporating programming to reduce [STD] risk into existing services for adolescents who are in foster care.”

Ahrens KR. Pediatrics. 2010;126:e97-e103.

http://www.pediatricsupersite.com/view.aspx?rid=65522

DCYF Jobs NH-New Blog

A new blog I found. It's very interesting. Please take a look! And to whomever posted this blog, a heartfelt Thank you to you. We need more people like you to help us in our fight.THANK YOU!

http://xicun.blog.hr/2010/05/1627628381/dcyf-jobs-nh-on-xicunbloghr.html

Another Father's Day is Near-Dedicated to OUR Loving Grandson Austin Knightly-Stolen By Nashua, NH DCYF

By unhappygrammie-Dot Knightly

Another Father's Day is near
Another sad day
Another sad year

It's been three and a half years
Since they stole you from us
The fight we are fighting
Is an inevitable must

We always treated you like our own little boy
From the day you were born
You were alway's such a joy

The visits to the park
The outings at Canobie Lake
The big smile upon your face
Was happiness no-one could mistake

The fun we alway's had
And the grandparent's you called "your Mom and Dad"
The good times we spent together
Makes every new day sad

We know your as unhappy as we are
Will the pain ever go away?
When will the courts get it right
And bring you home to stay?

The fight goes on for your return
When will our Government ever learn?
Why should Grandparent's be treated so unfairly?
When DCYF knows we love you dearly

You begged and you pleaded
For your grandparents you so desperately needed
But DCYF didn't care
Your requests went unheeded

They've traumatized you
They've put you on drugs
They feel no compassion
These Government thugs

They slandered us with all their lies
And placed you with stranger's who hold you hostage for money
They'll never take our place
You'll always be our "Buddy"

DCYF's fraud will come to end
Soon there will be no-one to defend
Their illegal practices and the Judges they own
The sooner the better
And then you'll come home

We love you
We miss you
We think about you night and day
We worry about you
While your away
We won't give up
Until your home to stay!

TEXAS MAKING FUTURE CRIMINALS (And So Are The Rest of The States !)

CRIMINAL JURISDICTION
Criminal Law Blog by Defense Lawyer John Floyd and Mr. Billy Sinclair

June 12, 2010
TEXAS MAKING FUTURE CRIMINALS

Filed under: Houston Criminal Lawyer — Tags: child abuse, criminal abuse, DFPS, fight club, foster care, incarceration — johntfloyd @ 12:05 pm
Children in Foster Care Residential Treatment Centers at High Risk of Neglect, Mistreatment and Abuse

By: By Houston Criminal Attorney John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

In a 2002 article for Child Trends, Dr. Richard Werthheimer, Ph.d, said there were more than 556,000 children in foster care in this country—many of whom suffered from serious emotional, behavioral, developmental, and other health problems. That figure represented an increase from 302,000 in 1980. While black children at the time accounted for 15 percent of the nation’s children, they represented 30 percent of those entering foster care and 42 percent of those living in foster care. Hispanic children, who represented 16 of the nation’s children, represented just 18 percent entering and living in foster care.

By 2006, as some states began to reform their foster care systems, the number of children in foster care decreased to 510,000, but the prognosis for future success of those children was as bleak as it was in 2002 – 60 percent of them between ages two months and two years were at still at a high risk for developmental delay and neurological impairment. The number of those “aging out” of foster care was increasing and studies were consistently showing that these “aged out” children had serious adjustment problems transitioning to adulthood: 38 percent had emotional problems, 50 percent used drugs, 48 percent did not have a high school education, and 25 percent had prior involvement with legal system. They were the most likely candidates for homelessness, unemployment, and incarceration.

To combat this persistent trend, states like New York, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, and Ohio began to make concerted efforts to reform their foster care systems, to aggressively push for adoption over institutionalization—and with significant, albeit surprising results. Associated Press reported recently that the number of children in foster care through 2008 had declined to 463,000, thanks in large part to the reforms implemented by these seven states. That represented an 11 percent decrease in the foster care population since 2002. Of these states implementing reforms, Florida led the way by reducing its foster care population from 29,300 in 2006 to 18,700 as of June 2010. AP said Florida accomplished this by “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 so a child doesn’t need to be removed.”

Texas, along with Arizona, Nevada, and Indiana, chose not join the reform trends between 2002 and 2008, although Texas did make some strides in reducing its foster care population. As of 2005, Texas had 32,474 children in foster care, by 2008 the number had minimally decreased only to 31,058, but by 2009 the number had decreased significantly to 27,422. As impressive as the 2009 numbers may appear at first glance, Texas nonetheless saw a 45 percent increase in its foster care population since 2001. Worst yet, as of September 2006, the state had identified 3,409 of its foster care children as having “special needs,” second only to California. And all these figures must be measured against the disturbing fact that in 2009 Texas saw 280 of its children die from child abuse and neglect—a shocking 30 percent increase over the previous year.


It is unfortunate, and tragically poignant, to have to observe that the State of Texas under the administrations of Gov. Rick Perry has not been very kind and caring to its most vulnerable children. Because the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (“DFPS”) found itself having a difficult time placing foster care children with special needs in either adoption or in or group home care, the agency adopted a strategy of “farming them out” to “residential treatment centers” operated by private companies. According to a study by the Houston Chronicle and the Texas Tribune, the agency has pumped $300 million in taxpayer dollars into 80 private run residential treatment centers since 2006, with half of them located in the Houston area alone.

And what kind of bang for its buck has the DFPS gotten from these private run facilities? A boat load of criminal abuse, neglect, and mismanagement—all common characteristics associated with state contracts given to the “private sector” to handle a state’s human services needs—whether with adult/juvenile penal institutions or foster care residential treatment centers. The private sector has one overriding concern: profit, even at the expense of human decency. The companies who actively pursue these state contracts (most often through insider political connections) hire the least trained and most corrupt personnel to manage and supervise their facilities. It is arguable that the very dregs of society are drawn to employment in these facilities because of the opportunities for human abuse and corruption they offer.

And that’s precisely what the recent Chronicle/Tribune study found. The newspapers reviewed state inspection reports and other records only to find “dozens of incidents of serious abuse and neglect, including physical beatings and failing to report attempted suicides and allegations of sexual assault … Unmonitored youths escaped, stole vehicles, and started fires. Staff failed to report sexual contact among young kids and provided others with alcohol and illegal drugs … Workers punished kids with dangerous physical restraints or long periods of confinement – sometimes without their clothes.”

Particularly disturbing was the newspapers’ finding that between June 2008 and April 2010 there were at least 250 incidents of staff violations involving neglect, abuse or other mistreatment of the children in the private run residential treatment centers. These incidents included staffers punching and choking children to get them to behave while allowing other children under “suicide watch” to be left unsupervised. A number of the children engaged in sexual activity with each other, with staff, and, in one instance, with the relative of a staffer.

At one facility 30 miles south of Houston in Manvel, Brazoria County, which is operated by Daystar Residential, Inc., employees in the spring of 2008 forced seven girls with developmental disabilities to gang fight while the staff “laughed, cheered and promised the winners a precious gift: after-school snacks,” according to the Chronicle/Tribune. The brawl resulted in four of the girls being injured. The fight came to the attention of authorities only after a Daystar employee saw bite marks and bruises on the girls during routine health checks and reported it.

While DFPS conducted a secret investigation and did not notify outside authorities, the Brazoria County District Attorney’s office did not seek a criminal indictment in this case once the incident became public as the Corpus Christi District Attorney’s office did last year upon discovery that 11 employees at the State School there forced mentally disabled adults to fight each other. The only action against the Daystar employees was that two employees (a female employee and a dorm supervisor) were dismissed shortly after the staged gang fight was exposed. The Chronicle/Tribune reported DFPS has kept the employees’ names secret, even though taxpayers have paid Daystar $16 million through the agency since 2006.

This arrogant official secrecy infuriated at least one Texas lawmaker. “Why I’m outraged is, the department hid this from us,” state Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, told the Chronicle/Tribune. “This is another example of us having to find out about systematic failures through the press, as opposed to proactively from the department … We could’ve fixed this problem last session when we were addressing a very similar issue.”

The “very similar issue” referred to by Rep. Rose was the Corpus Christi State School incident. It is probably not a coincidence that the Manvel incident involving the staged gang fight occurred during the same time as the Corpus Christi incident—such “fight club” episodes had obviously become popular in these kinds of facilities housing the mentally disabled. And had the local police not stumbled upon a video of one of the rights on the cell phone of a Corpus Christi State School employee, these “fight clubs” would have never been disclosed to the public even if discovered by DFPS because of that agency’s policy of secrecy.

“Nobody ever came up from (DFPS) and told us,” Jay Kimbrought, Gov. Perry’s chief of staff at the time of the Corpus Christi incident, told the Chronicle/Tribune. “And ‘fight club’ was a magic phrase, a defined term at that point.”

Rep. Rose now believes the Legislature’s House Human Services Committee should implement mandatory safeguards mandatory at foster care residential treatment centers to prevent future “fight club” incidents. One of those safeguards would be a “surprise inspection” at any facility where there is a reported incidence of abuse.

“My office, our committee, will work to move the department (DFPS) in this direction immediately,” Rose told the Chronicle/Tribune. “Unless we’re made aware of the problems, we’re left responding to them, as opposed to fixing them. Here, clearly, the department did a poor job of reporting systemic failure to the Legislature.”

Earlier this year we reported that “violence is a natural growth industry” in this country—and that holds especially true in Texas where its state agencies make the abuse and neglect of the most vulnerable of its citizens a common practice, particularly those who are disabled, elderly, young, or imprisoned. The abuse consistently inflicted upon juveniles in state-run facilities and upon “special needs” foster care children in private “residential treatment centers” are breeding a future crop of very violent predators. The savings of one dollar today on the proper care and treatment of the state’s most vulnerable young will cost its taxpayers ten dollars tomorrow in court and prison costs to handle the violent harvest those savings will inevitably produce.

Our children are our future—and if we don’t love and care for the most vulnerable and least advantaged among them, then we will reap a bountiful harvest of violence, crime, homelessness, and poverty once they become adults. It is often said that a child sexually abused will grow up to sexually abuse other children. Likewise, a child brutalized will grow up seeking revenge, conscious or unconscious, against the very system that brutalized him/her. Too many Texans invest in BP and AIG, and waste valuable resources on luxuries, the latest fashion, the best meals, and entertainment, but cannot find a penny of concern for those either too young or too old and too disabled to help themselves. God forgive us.

By: By Houston Criminal Lawyer John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2010/06/12/texas-making-future-criminals/