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
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Foster Parents vs NH DCYF
From Expert Law Forum-Help with your Legal questions
Join Date: May 2009
Foster Parents vs DCYF
My question involves child abuse/neglect/guardianship questions in the State of: NH
*** I know that there are hundreds of requests for help in these forums and it is only by the member's generosity of time, that the questions can be answered. I know that the idea is to be as brief as possible, but the complexity of my problem over the past 7 years has grown enormous. If those inclined to help out do not wish to read such a lengthy summary, PLEASE JUST SKIP to my questions at the end and ask further questions of me as needed - I don't mind re-answering anything already described below. ***
Over the past 16 years, as a specialized/therapeutic foster home,my husband and I have adopted five boys (9,10,13,19,21) through the foster care system, most with significant special needs that had been unsuccessful in multiple prior placements (Bipolar, Autism, Epilepsy, feeding tube, mental retardation).
In addition, we have a foster child who I will call "Jay" (13), who has been living with us full time for 7 years, with a couple of exceptions. He has been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, ADHD, PTSD, and has learning disabilities and an auditory processing disorder). As with all of our children (when still in foster care), we have been actively involved in all aspects of Jay's care and life.
When we got Jay at 6 years old, he had already been in ten foster homes over a period of about 2 years. He was horribly abused and had tremendous behavior difficulties. As is often the case with DCYF, we received few details at the outset, and over the next several months, he destroyed thousands of dollars worth of property, had aggressive and sexualized behaviors, psychotic symptoms; hearing voices, playing with fire, lying, stealing etc - you get the picture). However, through all of this, we kept Jay, for which DCYF was enormously grateful.
Over the years, Jay has improved in many areas, but still requires constant 1:1 supervision, due to impulsivity, hearing voices telling him to hurt people at times, poor decision making leading to safety issues and very poor social skills and peer interaction. We have remained committed to Jay through all of this.
As a side note: parental rights have been terminated.
The problem is as follows: DCYF feels Jay should have the opportunity to be adopted by a family, and if we don't agree to be that family, they want to look elsewhere. We want Jay to remain with us, with some part time weekend residential/therapeutic component as recommended by his mental health providers. Jay has stated his preference to never be moved anywhere, even if we can't adopt him, as he considers us his only real family. The only reason we have not yet adopted Jay is that due to his extreme needs, and uncertain mental health status in the future, we fear losing all the services currently available to him as a foster child. DCYF has refused to consider keeping these services in place after adoption, although they have the ability to approve them.
This case is unusual in that upon our request, the probate judge has made us "parties to the case", which gives us many rights not typically afforded to foster parents. In addition, due to DCYF's refusal to follow court orders, we hired an attorney and filed contempt charges against them, which were eventually dropped in exchange for an out of court agreement, signed as a court order, that markedly limits the DCYF's ability to make unilateral decisions about Jay's care, treatment or placement.
Despite this, DCYF continues to directly violate the terms of the court agreement, making unilateral decisions and acting out of spite, rather than doing what the court approved "team" has recommended. None of the "team" agrees with DCYF; not his long term psychiatrist and psychologist; not his CASA/GAL and most importantly, not the court, which has ruled against DCYF multiple times in their quest to have Jay moved to another home who might be willing to adopt him. It should also be noted that DCYF has in the past, placed him on the National Adopt USA website with no response for for 15 + months.
With DCYF's continued lack of regard for the law or court orders, I am again in the position of having to seek an attorney's help to file new contempt charges to stop DCYF from trying to remove him from our home if we don't agree to keep him full time under their conditions. Although I may be able to somehow come up with enough money for one more round, I can't continue to do this on a long term basis, which is possible given DCYF's past actions.
The reason this has been so lengthy is that I would like to ask those in the legal forums with so much expertise, to suggest possible solutions to this problem - some new, fresh ideas to this untenable situation.
We have considered asking for guardianship, but as there is no subsidized guardianship available in NH, this is not an option. Co-guardianship would
work but requires the consent of both parties and DCYF has flatly refused to consider this. Does anyone know of some way around this such as some type of partial guardianship or limited guardianship; could we try to get guardianship over medical/psychiatric treatment, or placement or ???. Could we ask the court to limit the duties of DCYF in terms of their guardianship over Jay. Are there any guardianship loopholes, avenues to
pursue?
What about some type of power of attorney over some part of Jay's care/treatment that would in turn limit DCYF's power?
Were we to adopt Jay, would it be within the power of the probate court (or higher court) to order that, in addition to the normal subsidy, services such as transportation, respite, unusual costs (ie destruction, acute care services in times of crisis) and therapeutic summer programming (over what the school provides) must be kept in place?
My attorney thus far, has not been able to come up with anything else, and has spent most of her time focusing on the court agreement/DCYF contempt and putting out fires/objecting to DCYF motions to remove team members that don't agree with them and most recently, DCYF's motion to vacate the court agreement.
I have spent hours and hours researching the law to the best of my ability as a lay person, but have not found anything specific enough to pursue as an alternative. I suppose my last ditch effort would be to go public with the case, within the limits of confidentiality requirements. Perhaps public outrage would spur on closer scrutiny of DCYF's actions and their total disregard for the law.
Any help or suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated. PLEASE!
Thank you,a NH foster parent
06-01-2009, 07:02 PM
Mr. Knowitall
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: California
Posts: 38,603
Re: Foster Parents vs DCYF
It sounds like you've had an effective lawyer working for you, and that you have an unusually complicated case history and situation. The short question appears to be, is there a way to get the benefits and support of a foster parent when adopting, or when taking custody by some other means; the short answer is "not that I'm aware of." A lawyer could spend a lot of hours chasing possibilities, most of which will turn out to be dead ends or things you already know.
I really do wish that I had a brilliant idea that would get you out of this mess.
#3
06-01-2009, 08:19 PM
Junior Member
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 3
Re: Foster Parents vs DCYF
Thank you for taking the time to read the post and for your answer, although
I really do wish you had a "brilliant idea" that would get me out of this
mess
I guess I'll keep on plugging away, even if I have to do it without an attorney
the next time, while foolishly hoping that in the future, DCYF will actually do what "is in the best interests of the child" and act with integrity instead of
arrogance.
Thanks again for your reply.
A foster parent
Join Date: May 2009
Foster Parents vs DCYF
My question involves child abuse/neglect/guardianship questions in the State of: NH
*** I know that there are hundreds of requests for help in these forums and it is only by the member's generosity of time, that the questions can be answered. I know that the idea is to be as brief as possible, but the complexity of my problem over the past 7 years has grown enormous. If those inclined to help out do not wish to read such a lengthy summary, PLEASE JUST SKIP to my questions at the end and ask further questions of me as needed - I don't mind re-answering anything already described below. ***
Over the past 16 years, as a specialized/therapeutic foster home,my husband and I have adopted five boys (9,10,13,19,21) through the foster care system, most with significant special needs that had been unsuccessful in multiple prior placements (Bipolar, Autism, Epilepsy, feeding tube, mental retardation).
In addition, we have a foster child who I will call "Jay" (13), who has been living with us full time for 7 years, with a couple of exceptions. He has been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, ADHD, PTSD, and has learning disabilities and an auditory processing disorder). As with all of our children (when still in foster care), we have been actively involved in all aspects of Jay's care and life.
When we got Jay at 6 years old, he had already been in ten foster homes over a period of about 2 years. He was horribly abused and had tremendous behavior difficulties. As is often the case with DCYF, we received few details at the outset, and over the next several months, he destroyed thousands of dollars worth of property, had aggressive and sexualized behaviors, psychotic symptoms; hearing voices, playing with fire, lying, stealing etc - you get the picture). However, through all of this, we kept Jay, for which DCYF was enormously grateful.
Over the years, Jay has improved in many areas, but still requires constant 1:1 supervision, due to impulsivity, hearing voices telling him to hurt people at times, poor decision making leading to safety issues and very poor social skills and peer interaction. We have remained committed to Jay through all of this.
As a side note: parental rights have been terminated.
The problem is as follows: DCYF feels Jay should have the opportunity to be adopted by a family, and if we don't agree to be that family, they want to look elsewhere. We want Jay to remain with us, with some part time weekend residential/therapeutic component as recommended by his mental health providers. Jay has stated his preference to never be moved anywhere, even if we can't adopt him, as he considers us his only real family. The only reason we have not yet adopted Jay is that due to his extreme needs, and uncertain mental health status in the future, we fear losing all the services currently available to him as a foster child. DCYF has refused to consider keeping these services in place after adoption, although they have the ability to approve them.
This case is unusual in that upon our request, the probate judge has made us "parties to the case", which gives us many rights not typically afforded to foster parents. In addition, due to DCYF's refusal to follow court orders, we hired an attorney and filed contempt charges against them, which were eventually dropped in exchange for an out of court agreement, signed as a court order, that markedly limits the DCYF's ability to make unilateral decisions about Jay's care, treatment or placement.
Despite this, DCYF continues to directly violate the terms of the court agreement, making unilateral decisions and acting out of spite, rather than doing what the court approved "team" has recommended. None of the "team" agrees with DCYF; not his long term psychiatrist and psychologist; not his CASA/GAL and most importantly, not the court, which has ruled against DCYF multiple times in their quest to have Jay moved to another home who might be willing to adopt him. It should also be noted that DCYF has in the past, placed him on the National Adopt USA website with no response for for 15 + months.
With DCYF's continued lack of regard for the law or court orders, I am again in the position of having to seek an attorney's help to file new contempt charges to stop DCYF from trying to remove him from our home if we don't agree to keep him full time under their conditions. Although I may be able to somehow come up with enough money for one more round, I can't continue to do this on a long term basis, which is possible given DCYF's past actions.
The reason this has been so lengthy is that I would like to ask those in the legal forums with so much expertise, to suggest possible solutions to this problem - some new, fresh ideas to this untenable situation.
We have considered asking for guardianship, but as there is no subsidized guardianship available in NH, this is not an option. Co-guardianship would
work but requires the consent of both parties and DCYF has flatly refused to consider this. Does anyone know of some way around this such as some type of partial guardianship or limited guardianship; could we try to get guardianship over medical/psychiatric treatment, or placement or ???. Could we ask the court to limit the duties of DCYF in terms of their guardianship over Jay. Are there any guardianship loopholes, avenues to
pursue?
What about some type of power of attorney over some part of Jay's care/treatment that would in turn limit DCYF's power?
Were we to adopt Jay, would it be within the power of the probate court (or higher court) to order that, in addition to the normal subsidy, services such as transportation, respite, unusual costs (ie destruction, acute care services in times of crisis) and therapeutic summer programming (over what the school provides) must be kept in place?
My attorney thus far, has not been able to come up with anything else, and has spent most of her time focusing on the court agreement/DCYF contempt and putting out fires/objecting to DCYF motions to remove team members that don't agree with them and most recently, DCYF's motion to vacate the court agreement.
I have spent hours and hours researching the law to the best of my ability as a lay person, but have not found anything specific enough to pursue as an alternative. I suppose my last ditch effort would be to go public with the case, within the limits of confidentiality requirements. Perhaps public outrage would spur on closer scrutiny of DCYF's actions and their total disregard for the law.
Any help or suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated. PLEASE!
Thank you,a NH foster parent
06-01-2009, 07:02 PM
Mr. Knowitall
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: California
Posts: 38,603
Re: Foster Parents vs DCYF
It sounds like you've had an effective lawyer working for you, and that you have an unusually complicated case history and situation. The short question appears to be, is there a way to get the benefits and support of a foster parent when adopting, or when taking custody by some other means; the short answer is "not that I'm aware of." A lawyer could spend a lot of hours chasing possibilities, most of which will turn out to be dead ends or things you already know.
I really do wish that I had a brilliant idea that would get you out of this mess.
#3
06-01-2009, 08:19 PM
Junior Member
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 3
Re: Foster Parents vs DCYF
Thank you for taking the time to read the post and for your answer, although
I really do wish you had a "brilliant idea" that would get me out of this
mess
I guess I'll keep on plugging away, even if I have to do it without an attorney
the next time, while foolishly hoping that in the future, DCYF will actually do what "is in the best interests of the child" and act with integrity instead of
arrogance.
Thanks again for your reply.
A foster parent
Friday, June 25, 2010
The washington dc family rights movement against cps
The washington dc family rights movement against cps
Jane Boyer
The Family Rights Movement has been around for years.
Families have taken a new turn in the United States and are now saying enough.
When a family finds their lives devastated by entities privately contracted through our government all to often they have no where to turn.
2010 proves to be a very interesting year for families here in the United States as they reach out to other families afflicted.
In the course of families being destroyed by these entities they are now joining together to tell political elected officials they want change.
Families will lobby and speak out on Capitol Hill July 23 - 25.
The goal is and should be to show how many in mass numbers are affected by the families these private entities that no longer work for you, us, and our families.
The hope of gathering is that our elected officials will take notice and start to work for We The People as it should be.
We want them to take notice that change is needed and strive towards reforming or eliminating those entities that harm family values, family, morals, and family unity.
We the ones working for this change ask you those affected to take a step forward with us and use your voices.
Show your numbers this year on Capitol Hill with the voice God gave you for preserving your Right to be a Parent.
Once we unite from all across America in a mass quantity that is drastically needed the government will have no other recourse than to acknowledge and change
where entities have done wrong.
Thank you for your time.
Respectfully,
All Who Have Worked To Bring We The People Family Preservation Fest to D.C
http://www.officialdcrallyfest.com
ADHD Diagnose and the True Nature of Children
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbwNgIdYQN8&feature=player_embedded#!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Foster Agency Accused of Forcing Teen to Abort Now Threatens Whistleblowers
Foster Agency Accused of Forcing Teen to Abort Now Threatens Whistleblowers
By James Tillman
PHILADELPHIA, PA, June 24, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Luz Navarro, a foster-mother who earlier this year had four minors under her care, had all of them removed from her home after she told a newspaper that a Philadelphia Department of Human Services (DHS) caseworker forced one of the children to have an abortion.
Now Concilio, a social-service agency that oversees fostering cases and subcontracts for Philadelphia, has allegedly tried to intimidate and silence other foster parents by falsely stating that Navarro will be going to jail.
After she became pregnant, the 16-year-old foster child in Navarro's care had initially been thrilled to be expecting, and had told her 1-year-old that he would have a little brother.
But according to Navarro, a social worker with the Philadelphia Department of Human services threatened to take away both of the girl's children unless she had an abortion.
"She said that if she decided to have the infant she wasn't going to let her have both babies," Navarro said. "They wouldn't be together."
After Navarro told the Philadelphia Daily News about the social worker's actions, the DHS took away all of the foster children in her care.
City spokesman Douglas Oliver has said that the foster mother violated HIPAA by revealing confidential information about the minor in her charge. Nevertheless, no charges have yet been pursued against Navarro.
But according to the Philadelphia Daily News, Concilio is now attempting to silence other foster parents by alleging that Navarro will be jailed.
"Lawyers for the city and for Concilio will sue ... the person who was a foster [parent]," a Concilio foster-care coordinator told foster parents, according to a foster parent speaking anonymously. "The sentence could be five to 10 years in jail."
The coordinator claimed to be reading a letter from Philadelphia Department of Human Services commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose. But according to a spokeswoman from the DHS, Ambrose never wrote anything like this.
Concilio also said that the city would be suing Marisol Rivera, a former Concilio employee who had been fired because she did not want to cooperate in the abortion.
"They hired me to work in child protection, not to kill children," Rivera told the Daily News.
Rivera had been threatened after she refused to drive the girl to an abortuary. Rivera acquiesced after she discovered that a prior trip to the abortuary had already killed the baby, but was fired after she told Concilio's human-relations director about the threat.
According to the Daily News Concilio has also recently imposed new confidentiality rules, holding small group meetings with foster parents to discuss them and have them sign new contracts.
The new contract states that foster parents are forbidden to tell "the child's history with neighbors, friends, relatives or any other persons(s) not directly involved with the professional care of the child." It is also more than twice as long as the previous contract.
Rivera has said confidentiality was never a priority before the story of the forced abortion came out.
Jheovannie Williams, the same Concilio employee who allegedly threatened the foster parents, also reportedly told parents not to believe the “lies” in the newspaper, or the people who are "united to create chaos."
To contact Concilio:
Phone: (215) 627-3100
705-09 N. Franklin Street
Philadelphia, Pa. 19123
To contact the Philadelphia Department of Human Services:
Anne Marie Ambrose, Commissioner
AnneMarie.Ambrose@phila.gov
215-683-6000
1515 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jun/10062415.html
By James Tillman
PHILADELPHIA, PA, June 24, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Luz Navarro, a foster-mother who earlier this year had four minors under her care, had all of them removed from her home after she told a newspaper that a Philadelphia Department of Human Services (DHS) caseworker forced one of the children to have an abortion.
Now Concilio, a social-service agency that oversees fostering cases and subcontracts for Philadelphia, has allegedly tried to intimidate and silence other foster parents by falsely stating that Navarro will be going to jail.
After she became pregnant, the 16-year-old foster child in Navarro's care had initially been thrilled to be expecting, and had told her 1-year-old that he would have a little brother.
But according to Navarro, a social worker with the Philadelphia Department of Human services threatened to take away both of the girl's children unless she had an abortion.
"She said that if she decided to have the infant she wasn't going to let her have both babies," Navarro said. "They wouldn't be together."
After Navarro told the Philadelphia Daily News about the social worker's actions, the DHS took away all of the foster children in her care.
City spokesman Douglas Oliver has said that the foster mother violated HIPAA by revealing confidential information about the minor in her charge. Nevertheless, no charges have yet been pursued against Navarro.
But according to the Philadelphia Daily News, Concilio is now attempting to silence other foster parents by alleging that Navarro will be jailed.
"Lawyers for the city and for Concilio will sue ... the person who was a foster [parent]," a Concilio foster-care coordinator told foster parents, according to a foster parent speaking anonymously. "The sentence could be five to 10 years in jail."
The coordinator claimed to be reading a letter from Philadelphia Department of Human Services commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose. But according to a spokeswoman from the DHS, Ambrose never wrote anything like this.
Concilio also said that the city would be suing Marisol Rivera, a former Concilio employee who had been fired because she did not want to cooperate in the abortion.
"They hired me to work in child protection, not to kill children," Rivera told the Daily News.
Rivera had been threatened after she refused to drive the girl to an abortuary. Rivera acquiesced after she discovered that a prior trip to the abortuary had already killed the baby, but was fired after she told Concilio's human-relations director about the threat.
According to the Daily News Concilio has also recently imposed new confidentiality rules, holding small group meetings with foster parents to discuss them and have them sign new contracts.
The new contract states that foster parents are forbidden to tell "the child's history with neighbors, friends, relatives or any other persons(s) not directly involved with the professional care of the child." It is also more than twice as long as the previous contract.
Rivera has said confidentiality was never a priority before the story of the forced abortion came out.
Jheovannie Williams, the same Concilio employee who allegedly threatened the foster parents, also reportedly told parents not to believe the “lies” in the newspaper, or the people who are "united to create chaos."
To contact Concilio:
Phone: (215) 627-3100
705-09 N. Franklin Street
Philadelphia, Pa. 19123
To contact the Philadelphia Department of Human Services:
Anne Marie Ambrose, Commissioner
AnneMarie.Ambrose@phila.gov
215-683-6000
1515 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jun/10062415.html
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