Day care worker cleared of misconduct allegations
Tuesday, Jun. 15, 2010
PETERBOROUGH – A male employee of a Peterborough day care center has been cleared of allegations of sexual misconduct involving a 5-year-old boy, according to Hillsborough County Attorney Robert Walsh.
"After a complete forensic investigation, it was found there was no credible evidence to proceed," Walsh said.
Last month, a complaint was filed with police about inappropriate conduct by a Pine Hill Day Care Center employee with a 5-year-old child.
Walsh said a team of senior county prosecutors and victim/witness advocates, along with Peterborough Police Chief Scott Guinard and the state Bureau of Child Care Licensing, worked on the investigation.
Parents met with members of the county attorneys' office at a meeting last month at the time the complaint was made about the day care center, which is located on the campus of ConVal High School.
The staff member, a graduate student intern in the program, was placed on paid leave at the time of the complaint.
http://www.theunionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Day+care+worker+cleared+of+misconduct+allegations&articleId=ffb88b23-d467-4f48-87e4-a9fcd1391f5f
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, July 9, 2010
Day care worker cleared of misconduct allegations
Day care worker cleared of misconduct allegations
Tuesday, Jun. 15, 2010
PETERBOROUGH – A male employee of a Peterborough day care center has been cleared of allegations of sexual misconduct involving a 5-year-old boy, according to Hillsborough County Attorney Robert Walsh.
"After a complete forensic investigation, it was found there was no credible evidence to proceed," Walsh said.
Last month, a complaint was filed with police about inappropriate conduct by a Pine Hill Day Care Center employee with a 5-year-old child.
Walsh said a team of senior county prosecutors and victim/witness advocates, along with Peterborough Police Chief Scott Guinard and the state Bureau of Child Care Licensing, worked on the investigation.
Parents met with members of the county attorneys' office at a meeting last month at the time the complaint was made about the day care center, which is located on the campus of ConVal High School.
The staff member, a graduate student intern in the program, was placed on paid leave at the time of the complaint.
http://www.theunionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Day+care+worker+cleared+of+misconduct+allegations&articleId=ffb88b23-d467-4f48-87e4-a9fcd1391f5f
Tuesday, Jun. 15, 2010
PETERBOROUGH – A male employee of a Peterborough day care center has been cleared of allegations of sexual misconduct involving a 5-year-old boy, according to Hillsborough County Attorney Robert Walsh.
"After a complete forensic investigation, it was found there was no credible evidence to proceed," Walsh said.
Last month, a complaint was filed with police about inappropriate conduct by a Pine Hill Day Care Center employee with a 5-year-old child.
Walsh said a team of senior county prosecutors and victim/witness advocates, along with Peterborough Police Chief Scott Guinard and the state Bureau of Child Care Licensing, worked on the investigation.
Parents met with members of the county attorneys' office at a meeting last month at the time the complaint was made about the day care center, which is located on the campus of ConVal High School.
The staff member, a graduate student intern in the program, was placed on paid leave at the time of the complaint.
http://www.theunionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Day+care+worker+cleared+of+misconduct+allegations&articleId=ffb88b23-d467-4f48-87e4-a9fcd1391f5f
CPS case worker admits stealing gift cards meant for needy children
CPS case worker admits stealing gift cards meant for needy children
Reported by: Demond Fernandez
Email: DemondFernandez@woaitv.com
Last Update: 6:37 am
CPS worker accused of stealing gift cards intended for needy children
Stefanie Moore, 32, is accused of stealing $650 worth of donated WalMart gift cards from a supervisor’s desk drawer. (WOAI.com)
FLORESVILLE, Texas – A case worker with Child Protective Services is in hot water and facing some huge criminal charges. Stefanie Moore, 32, is accused of stealing $650 worth of donated WalMart gift cards from a supervisor’s desk drawer.
News 4 WOAI learned it was once Floresville Police detectives began looking into the case, Moore allegedly admitted to her direct manager she took the gift cards.
Each of the WalMart gift cards were donated to CPS by Karnes County Child Welfare Board. The gift cards were intended for children who needed clothing and other items. Sources told News 4 WOAI that Moore used some of the money to buy items for her own baby.
“It is uncommon and it’s something Child Protective Services does not and will not tolerate,” said CPS spokeswoman Mary Walker regarding the theft allegations.
Walker says Moore began working with the agency’s Floresville office in January 2009, and a background check was performed.
Moore now faces felony and misdemeanor theft charges. She is no longer working with Child Protective Service, since this criminal investigation.
“The actions of this particular investigator is not reflective of the actions of hundreds of men and women that are out there working on behalf of children everyday,” said Walker.
Investigators are also looking into whether Moore is behind some other reported thefts coming out of the Floresville office.
http://www.woai.com/news/local/story/CPS-case-worker-admits-stealing-gift-cards-meant/1bS_DoO_WUiM8QXSkWhgKQ.cspx
Reported by: Demond Fernandez
Email: DemondFernandez@woaitv.com
Last Update: 6:37 am
CPS worker accused of stealing gift cards intended for needy children
Stefanie Moore, 32, is accused of stealing $650 worth of donated WalMart gift cards from a supervisor’s desk drawer. (WOAI.com)
FLORESVILLE, Texas – A case worker with Child Protective Services is in hot water and facing some huge criminal charges. Stefanie Moore, 32, is accused of stealing $650 worth of donated WalMart gift cards from a supervisor’s desk drawer.
News 4 WOAI learned it was once Floresville Police detectives began looking into the case, Moore allegedly admitted to her direct manager she took the gift cards.
Each of the WalMart gift cards were donated to CPS by Karnes County Child Welfare Board. The gift cards were intended for children who needed clothing and other items. Sources told News 4 WOAI that Moore used some of the money to buy items for her own baby.
“It is uncommon and it’s something Child Protective Services does not and will not tolerate,” said CPS spokeswoman Mary Walker regarding the theft allegations.
Walker says Moore began working with the agency’s Floresville office in January 2009, and a background check was performed.
Moore now faces felony and misdemeanor theft charges. She is no longer working with Child Protective Service, since this criminal investigation.
“The actions of this particular investigator is not reflective of the actions of hundreds of men and women that are out there working on behalf of children everyday,” said Walker.
Investigators are also looking into whether Moore is behind some other reported thefts coming out of the Floresville office.
http://www.woai.com/news/local/story/CPS-case-worker-admits-stealing-gift-cards-meant/1bS_DoO_WUiM8QXSkWhgKQ.cspx
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Parents keep up foster care law fight Proposal would give preference to relatives
Parents keep up foster care law fight
Proposal would give preference to relatives
Valerie Olander / The Detroit News
Dearborn -- Ahmed and Rehab Amer of Dearborn, who had three children taken from them and raised in Michigan's foster care system, have been pushing to require the state to give special consideration to relatives when placing children.
"My children fell through the system. I do not want to let that happen to others," Rehab Amer said.
The Amers lost custody of their children when the mother, Rehab, was accused of killing her 2-year-old son, Samier, in 1985. She was acquitted by a jury a year later but never regained custody of an older son and Samier's twin sister.
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A fourth child, Zinabe, was taken by social workers four months after the acquittal.
Nearly 20 years after the boy's death, Wayne Circuit Court ordered the cause of death be changed to accidental on the death certificate. Medical experts said Samier had a rare brittle bone disease.
In the meantime, the children were adopted, their names were changed and they were raised in a Christian home in Clarkston. The Amers are Muslim.
The children are in their 20s now, and Rehab said she has an on-again, off-again relationship with them. They were raised believing she was involved in her son's death.
"My brother-in-law filed to be a foster parent. He was accepted to take other children, but not mine," she said.
The bill, known as the Amer Act, was introduced in 2005. Last year, when the bill was reintroduced by Rep. Gino Polidori, D-Dearborn, it was approved by the House within three months. But for the past 16 months, the bill has been sitting idle in the Senate Committee for Families and Children's Services, chaired by Sen. Mark Jansen, R-Gaines Township.
Polidori will be term-limited out of office in November, meaning the push to have the Senate take action is crucial, Rehab Amer said.
"Sen. Jansen has never returned any of my e-mails and his staff won't talk to me," she said.
Jansen's legislative director, Kelly Miller, said the senator and his staff are aware of the legislation and have been making sure it is compliant with the reforms ordered by a federal court as part of a lawsuit settlement with the nonprofit group Children's Rights.
The children's advocacy group put the Department of Human Services on notice in March, claiming the state is not compliant with the court order.
"It's not that Sen. Jansen is opposed to this bill. We're just doing our research," Miller said.
Department of Human Services policy gives preferential treatment to relatives, she said. The bill, HB 4118, would make that law.
Rehab Amer believes the delay is financial.
"I believe state gets more money from the federal government if a child is passed to a nonrelative's home. I believe that's what's going on," she said.
According to the House Legislative analysis of the bill, the financial ramifications depend on whether the relative becomes licensed as a foster parent.
It costs the state less to pay relatives who are not licensed.
However, the Children's Rights settlement "mandates that the state attempt to license all relative caregivers as foster parents, but provides an exemption for 10 percent of these cases," the legislative analysis says.
volander@detnews.com (313) 223-3320
From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100708/METRO01/7080414/1409/Parents-keep-up-foster-care-law-fight#ixzz0t94suODL
Proposal would give preference to relatives
Valerie Olander / The Detroit News
Dearborn -- Ahmed and Rehab Amer of Dearborn, who had three children taken from them and raised in Michigan's foster care system, have been pushing to require the state to give special consideration to relatives when placing children.
"My children fell through the system. I do not want to let that happen to others," Rehab Amer said.
The Amers lost custody of their children when the mother, Rehab, was accused of killing her 2-year-old son, Samier, in 1985. She was acquitted by a jury a year later but never regained custody of an older son and Samier's twin sister.
Advertisement
A fourth child, Zinabe, was taken by social workers four months after the acquittal.
Nearly 20 years after the boy's death, Wayne Circuit Court ordered the cause of death be changed to accidental on the death certificate. Medical experts said Samier had a rare brittle bone disease.
In the meantime, the children were adopted, their names were changed and they were raised in a Christian home in Clarkston. The Amers are Muslim.
The children are in their 20s now, and Rehab said she has an on-again, off-again relationship with them. They were raised believing she was involved in her son's death.
"My brother-in-law filed to be a foster parent. He was accepted to take other children, but not mine," she said.
The bill, known as the Amer Act, was introduced in 2005. Last year, when the bill was reintroduced by Rep. Gino Polidori, D-Dearborn, it was approved by the House within three months. But for the past 16 months, the bill has been sitting idle in the Senate Committee for Families and Children's Services, chaired by Sen. Mark Jansen, R-Gaines Township.
Polidori will be term-limited out of office in November, meaning the push to have the Senate take action is crucial, Rehab Amer said.
"Sen. Jansen has never returned any of my e-mails and his staff won't talk to me," she said.
Jansen's legislative director, Kelly Miller, said the senator and his staff are aware of the legislation and have been making sure it is compliant with the reforms ordered by a federal court as part of a lawsuit settlement with the nonprofit group Children's Rights.
The children's advocacy group put the Department of Human Services on notice in March, claiming the state is not compliant with the court order.
"It's not that Sen. Jansen is opposed to this bill. We're just doing our research," Miller said.
Department of Human Services policy gives preferential treatment to relatives, she said. The bill, HB 4118, would make that law.
Rehab Amer believes the delay is financial.
"I believe state gets more money from the federal government if a child is passed to a nonrelative's home. I believe that's what's going on," she said.
According to the House Legislative analysis of the bill, the financial ramifications depend on whether the relative becomes licensed as a foster parent.
It costs the state less to pay relatives who are not licensed.
However, the Children's Rights settlement "mandates that the state attempt to license all relative caregivers as foster parents, but provides an exemption for 10 percent of these cases," the legislative analysis says.
volander@detnews.com (313) 223-3320
From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100708/METRO01/7080414/1409/Parents-keep-up-foster-care-law-fight#ixzz0t94suODL
Grandparent's Rights Bill for NH
This letter is being sent to ALL Senators, State Representatives and Candidates in the State Of New Hampshire
Dear New Hampshire Senators, State Representatives and Candidates running for office,
The Grandparents of New Hampshire are interested in finding out what your position is regarding a subject of interest to every person in this state. The response we receive from every legislator from every part of the state, or the fact that there was no response, will be made public on my website and blog. That website is :
http://unhappygrammy-grandparentsblog.blogspot.com/
If you would like to take a look at the web-site http://www.grasc.org/ you will find a brief synopsis of the law pertaining to grandparents from all 50 states on that site. Sadly, there is not much in any state’s law related to grandparents having custody of grandchildren when parents are not suitable, but several do make reference to what should happen in some specific situations. New Hampshire is NOT one of those states. Grandparents are not even mentioned in New Hampshire law as far as we have been able to see.
Every voter in New Hampshire either is, has, was, or will have grandparents. In thousands of families throughout the state, those grandparents are deeply involved, and in many cases, have had to totally take over, the raising of grandchildren. The number of grandparents in this situation is continually rising for many reasons. The fact that they are grandparents, gives them a little more age and experience than the younger parents, but it is the age that is of concern. Right now, in New Hampshire, there are very few children being raised in homes that are predominantly controlled by the grandparents, for the reason being New Hampshire DCYF and the Court's state grandparent's have no standing in petitioning for custody of their grandchildren.
According to the research we have done, here in New Hampshire, there are NO laws specifically protecting the rights of grandparents who are doing everything they can to keep the family together by taking on the responsibility of their grandchildren. In fact, the law specifically states that if the parental rights of parents are removed, the rights of the grandparents go right along with them, leaving the children, many of whom have been raised from infancy, with NO legal grandparents or any other relative who has any right to raise them. At that point, the state can simply take those children from sometimes the only home they have ever known, and put them in a broken and overloaded foster care system, and up for adoption. In many cases, those children end up spending their early lives under the thumb of DCYF until they are 18, then they are told to just go be an adult. This is a deplorable situation that must be changed.
With nothing on the books mentioning grandparents, family court judges have no choice but to ignore the fact that a child may have been raised in a loving home by their grandparents, simply because of the lack of a law allowing them to live with grandparents when parental rights are being removed. In the vast majority of cases, those grandparents would gladly give the children a loving home among family, rather than see them forced into foster care.
We are not in favor of usurping the authority of good parents, rather, give the children the right to stay with their own loving family in cases where the parents either can’t or won’t take the responsibility themselves. With all this in mind, we want to know how you stand.
1. Do you support legislation which would protect grandparents and their grandchildren from being separated when parental rights of the children’s parents are being terminated and allowing the grandparents the right to adopt said children?
2. Would you consider introducing such legislation?
3. Do you consider grandparents appropriate caregivers for children whose parents either can’t or won’t take responsibility for them?
4. Do you consider age and/or minor disability a disqualifying factor when considering grandparents as caregivers or adoptive parents?
We would appreciate your response to this survey as soon as convenient for you. As stated at the first, all responses, or lack thereof, will be posted along with the complete text of this letter on my website. We feel that the citizens of New Hampshire have the right to keep their families together as best they can under even difficult circumstances. It should be the mandate of the state to help in that goal, rather than finding excuses to rip those families apart just because the parents may be irresponsible. There are cases pending in family courts at this instant where DCYF is attempting to tear families apart just because the grandparents have helped their own children and have been blamed for the mistakes their children have made, along with any other made up excuse to prevent the grandparent custody of their grandchildren.” to properly take care of the children. Our grandchildren are being severely traumatized by being ripped away from the grandparent's they have grown up with. The grandparent's in many cases, who have basically raised them since birth. The grandparents these children have been led to believe have disowned them.
We need Law's in New Hampshire that protect the child/grandparent relationship. Federal government mandates are NOT being followed. New Hampshire DCYF need's Law's to abide by, not Rules, which are NOT followed.
Thank you for your time and response,
Dorothy Knightly-Supporter of Grandparent's Rights in N.H
Dear New Hampshire Senators, State Representatives and Candidates running for office,
The Grandparents of New Hampshire are interested in finding out what your position is regarding a subject of interest to every person in this state. The response we receive from every legislator from every part of the state, or the fact that there was no response, will be made public on my website and blog. That website is :
http://unhappygrammy-grandparentsblog.blogspot.com/
If you would like to take a look at the web-site http://www.grasc.org/ you will find a brief synopsis of the law pertaining to grandparents from all 50 states on that site. Sadly, there is not much in any state’s law related to grandparents having custody of grandchildren when parents are not suitable, but several do make reference to what should happen in some specific situations. New Hampshire is NOT one of those states. Grandparents are not even mentioned in New Hampshire law as far as we have been able to see.
Every voter in New Hampshire either is, has, was, or will have grandparents. In thousands of families throughout the state, those grandparents are deeply involved, and in many cases, have had to totally take over, the raising of grandchildren. The number of grandparents in this situation is continually rising for many reasons. The fact that they are grandparents, gives them a little more age and experience than the younger parents, but it is the age that is of concern. Right now, in New Hampshire, there are very few children being raised in homes that are predominantly controlled by the grandparents, for the reason being New Hampshire DCYF and the Court's state grandparent's have no standing in petitioning for custody of their grandchildren.
According to the research we have done, here in New Hampshire, there are NO laws specifically protecting the rights of grandparents who are doing everything they can to keep the family together by taking on the responsibility of their grandchildren. In fact, the law specifically states that if the parental rights of parents are removed, the rights of the grandparents go right along with them, leaving the children, many of whom have been raised from infancy, with NO legal grandparents or any other relative who has any right to raise them. At that point, the state can simply take those children from sometimes the only home they have ever known, and put them in a broken and overloaded foster care system, and up for adoption. In many cases, those children end up spending their early lives under the thumb of DCYF until they are 18, then they are told to just go be an adult. This is a deplorable situation that must be changed.
With nothing on the books mentioning grandparents, family court judges have no choice but to ignore the fact that a child may have been raised in a loving home by their grandparents, simply because of the lack of a law allowing them to live with grandparents when parental rights are being removed. In the vast majority of cases, those grandparents would gladly give the children a loving home among family, rather than see them forced into foster care.
We are not in favor of usurping the authority of good parents, rather, give the children the right to stay with their own loving family in cases where the parents either can’t or won’t take the responsibility themselves. With all this in mind, we want to know how you stand.
1. Do you support legislation which would protect grandparents and their grandchildren from being separated when parental rights of the children’s parents are being terminated and allowing the grandparents the right to adopt said children?
2. Would you consider introducing such legislation?
3. Do you consider grandparents appropriate caregivers for children whose parents either can’t or won’t take responsibility for them?
4. Do you consider age and/or minor disability a disqualifying factor when considering grandparents as caregivers or adoptive parents?
We would appreciate your response to this survey as soon as convenient for you. As stated at the first, all responses, or lack thereof, will be posted along with the complete text of this letter on my website. We feel that the citizens of New Hampshire have the right to keep their families together as best they can under even difficult circumstances. It should be the mandate of the state to help in that goal, rather than finding excuses to rip those families apart just because the parents may be irresponsible. There are cases pending in family courts at this instant where DCYF is attempting to tear families apart just because the grandparents have helped their own children and have been blamed for the mistakes their children have made, along with any other made up excuse to prevent the grandparent custody of their grandchildren.” to properly take care of the children. Our grandchildren are being severely traumatized by being ripped away from the grandparent's they have grown up with. The grandparent's in many cases, who have basically raised them since birth. The grandparents these children have been led to believe have disowned them.
We need Law's in New Hampshire that protect the child/grandparent relationship. Federal government mandates are NOT being followed. New Hampshire DCYF need's Law's to abide by, not Rules, which are NOT followed.
Thank you for your time and response,
Dorothy Knightly-Supporter of Grandparent's Rights in N.H
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