DC RALLY FOR FAMILY RIGHTS 2010 FAMILY IS FUNDAMENTAL

DC RALLY FOR FAMILY RIGHTS 2010
FAMILY IS FUNDAMENTAL


Families 4 Justice’s DC Rally


200 New Jersey Ave NW

Washington, DC 20001

MAP
♥
Friday

Lobbying
Tribute to Nancy Schaefer

Saturday

Balloons In Heaven with Glen C. Schulz, author of “Unlawful Flight: A Parental Kidnapping“

Donald Tenn, Fathers 4 Justice’s Superman
Russell Kessler
Mike Jeffries, author of “A Family’s Heartbreak: A Parent’s Introduction to Parental Alienation“
Chauncey Richards
James DeLelys: “OPM-How to get rich off a system by using Other Peoples’ Money”
Tom Porter: Unity
Bradley Howe, esq: Child Support Enforcement
Kevin Moran, “How To Win The War Against Family Court”
General Parker
Also individual stories of injustice, suffering, motivation and inspiration.

“Candlelight” Vigil organized by Families 4 Justice

Sunday, Parents’ Day

Karl Hindle: International Child Abduction
James Daraja: International Child Abduction
Parental Justice March, organized by Fathers 4 Justice
(Bring banners, signs, t-shirts, purple flags, your children or large photos of your children, still and video cameras and sunscreen.)

♥
The primary mission of the DC Rally for Family Rights is to educate the public and our representatives about the unnecessary suffering by increasing numbers of American families due to human and civil family rights violations; and to invoke the changes necessary to protect fundamental family rights.

The event is being organized by Families 4 Justice.

Affected parents and extended family, advocates and others are welcome to register to speak. Volunteers welcome. Donations appreciated.

♥


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Honoring Parents Day with the 4th Annual Family Preservation Festival at Upper Senate Park


© 2010 DC Rally for Family Rights 2010



http://dcrallyforfamilyrights.com/

Updated Schedule for D.C Rally

Schedule for D.C Rally

Jane Boyer

http://www.officialdcrallyfest.com/

--- On Mon, 7/12/10, Chronicle National news wrote:

From: Chronicle National news
Subject: Completed Schedule for D.C Rally please post this one now as all corrections have been made

Date: Monday, July 12, 2010, 2:24 PM

Friday July 23, 2010 Schedule for D.C Family Preservation Rally
Lobbying begins at 9:00 a.m starting from West Capitol
Congressional Education Panel begins at 4:00-6:00 P.M.
Where: U.S. Capitol – South Committee Room
Press Conference from 12 noon - 3pm
Where: At the National Press Club
Located at: 529 14th St. NW Washington DC 20045
Contact Number in case you get lost is: 202-662-750

Saturday July 24, 2010 9:00 a.m Schedule
National Anthem to be sung by Peter Love
Pledge of Allegiance by Ray Lautenschlager
Opening with prayer Minister Matilda L. Gray
Special Memorial Service for Former Senator Nancy Schaefer
L. Wilson Remembering Former Senator Nancy Schaefer
4th District Maryland Candidate Kwame Gyamfi will be honoring Former Senator Nancy Schaefer
Clips of Senator Nancy Schaefer speaking on behalf of families

Featured Guest Speaker begins at 9:30 a.m
Terrence Popp Speaks on the issue Suicide

Speakers who begin at 10:00 a.m are as follows:
Guy Babinue
AFRA Bill Towers
Thea Artis
Sheryle Hutter
Caring Grandparents

Featured Musician's begin Performing at 11:30 a.m
Namaste and Overtime Song Living The Dream
Namaste will also sing solo his new songs written especially for this event
Just Mike the Magnificent

Speakers at 12:00 noon are as follows:
NOPE President and Vice President Ray Lautenschlager and Mike Galluzzo
Clive Blousterd
Rob and Kids speak out on VAWA
Michael Crawley

Featured Guest Speaker's begin at 1:00 p.m
Ron Zaleski
Author of A Families Heartbreak Michael Jeffries
Author of The Look of Love Alderman Jill Egizii
Where it begins with CPS and Corrupt System Kwame Gyamfi

Speakers at 3:30 p.m are as follows:
Amber Hough
Fight CPS Now, TK
Roz McCallister of Ohio Family Rights
Aarde V. Atheian

Featured Musicians begin Performing at 4:30 p.m
Kyle Campfield to open for
Peter Love

Speakers at 4:45 p.m are as follows:
Don HutterJ.R, EPP, EJF,
Bessie the Founder of 3 Sides To Every Story
National Forum On Judicial Accountability
United States Marshal Mathew Fogg

Featured Musicians begin Preforming at 6:45 p.m
Namaste
Willie J ( Willie J wrote and preforms the song Gabriel Myers)

Featured Guest Speaker begins at 7:00 p.m
Veterans of America Group
Minister Matilda L. Gray
Founder and CEO of CTWTA/YCF
Chain The World To The Altar International Ministries
Youth Christ Foundation
Inspirational/motivational Speaker/Author/mentor
Adult/Youth Seminars and Workshops
Independent Beauty Consultant
www.marykay.com/mg1023
Ken K. from Children Need Both Parents Special Note: Ken will be bringing the car again this year he uses for these event's.

Featured Guest Speaker begins at 7:45 p.m
Yonda Ashley
Children Guest Speakers Section on CPS and CASA ABUSE
All children's names are not being publicized at this time. Childrens name's will be announced at this event only.

Concluding our first day will begin at 8:30 p.m and is as follows:
Prayer for the children lost by Minister Matilda L. Gray will begin vigil
Willie J will open Purple Light Night with the song for Gabriel Myers
Followed by a moment of silence for those suffering
Lighting of the Purple Lights with glow sticks also being used by audience
Naming the children whose lives have been lost with a bell toll for each


Sunday July 25, 2010 9:00 a.m Schedule is as follows:
National Anthem to be sung by Peter Love our
Pledge of Allegiance by Gavin and Ray Lautenschlager
Opening with prayer Minister Matilda L. Gray
Conclusion of our Memorial Service for Former Senator Nancy Schaefer
Out of respect for Former Senator Nancy Schaefer we will be having her final words on familiy issues in her findings begin the last day of our rally.
Tribute to Former Senator Nancy Schaefer by Ms. L. Wilson
4th District Maryland Candidate Kwame Gyamfi will be honoring Former Senator Nancy Schaefer with an unvieling of a porject prior to the event

Speakers who begin at 10:00 a.m are as follows :
Stephen Walker will present this years Proclamations to those nominated for their works in the Civil Family Rights Preservation Movement
Stanley Thorne
James Delelys
Bradley Howe
Kathrine Moore, POPULAR
Zena D. Crenshaw, POPULAR

Musician Performing begin at 11:45 a.m:
Kyle Campfield opens for
Peter Love

Speakers to begin at 12:00 p.m:
Debbie Young Founder of Justice For Families
Josie Perez of Model Families.org
Cheryl Martone with US Concerned Parents
Michael Moment
Clive Blousterd

Featured Guest Speaker to begin at 1:00 a.m Attorney Richard I Fine Case
David Levy with Childrens Rights Council


Speakers begin at 1:20 p.m are as follows:
George McDermott of Secret Justice
Mark Young of www.youtube.com/markyoung12
Tammy Myer
Amie Hankins
Captian Tony Taylor

Featured Musician begin Performing at 2:00 p.m
Namaste preforms with Overtime and Magnificent Mike opening for
Willie J

Speakers to begin at 2:20 p.m are as follows:
Audrey Fallon of PA
Bryan Jones
Brenda Baril
Roz Mc Allister
John and Brenda Cozzi

Featured Guest Speaker begins at 3:00:
Kwame Gyamfi speaking on Solutions to an Epidemic

Speakers to begin at 4:00 are as follows:
Francesca Moore
Ann Michelle Barhanovich Mc Kinney
Anne and Christopher House A Families Survival
Robert Fields

Featured Musician begin Performing at 5:30 p.m
Kyle Campfield

Featured Speaker at 5:45 p.m
The L Story
Minister Matilda L. Gray

Speakers Via Skype to begin at 6:30 p.m
Introduction of Featured Skype Speaker
Dr. Shirley Moore speak out for Attorney Richard I. Fine

Due to the Friday July 23, 2010 schedule being revolved around lobbying, an educational panel, a military function, and our press conference the following has been moved from Friday to Sunday please read the below add on:
Open Microphone for Families Affected is to begin at 7:00 p.m to 8:00 p.m

Concluding event of last day will begin at 8:00 p.m and is as follows:
Prayer for the children lost by Minister Matilda L Gray begins vigil
Willie J will open Purple Light Night with the song for Gabriel Myers
Followed by a moment of silence for those suffering
Lighting of the Purple Lights with glow sticks also being used by audience
Naming the children whose lives have been lost with a bell toll for each

We want to thank all whom attended the rally this year,especially those from Canada and pray that this year opened the hearts and minds of our elected officials enough for the change we seek in having our families. God bless you.

Pro-Lifers: White House Pregnancy Assistance Fund Could Fund Pro-Abortion Groups

Pro-Lifers: White House Pregnancy Assistance Fund Could Fund Pro-Abortion Groups
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 12, 2010


Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The new pregnancy assistance fund the White House quietly announced earlier this month has already drawn skepticism from pro-life advocates. Now, other pro-life leaders who are chiming in on its creation say they are worried grant money will go to pro-abortion organizations.

As LifeNews.com reported, the new $25 million program, which was part of the abortion funding health care bill, is supposedly designed to help pregnant and parenting teens and women.

The grant money, which will be provided mostly to state governments,is designed for educational institutions and community organizations that provide programs to help pregnant women such as scholastic assistance, help for child care and housing, and other programs.

Jeanne Monahan, director of the Center for Human Dignity at the Family Research Council, told CNS News that an example of a potential grant recipient mentioned in the HHS grant information had the government sending money to pro-abortion groups.

She cited “Text4baby," a program that sounds innocent enough but had the federal government working with the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute and affiliates of Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion business.

Monahan is also worried that pregnancy centers, which have provided assistance for pregnant and parenting clients for decades, will find it difficult to obtain funding.

“I think it’s fair to say (pregnancy resource centers) will find it challenging to apply for these grants,” Monahan said

A representative of the Health and Human Services Department’s Office of Public Health told CNS News that no organization is prohibit from receiving grant money under the new Pregnancy Assistance Fund as long as the state government doling out the money determines it qualifies.

“Any organization is eligible to apply, and those that do receive funds must use them in compliance with the program requirements,” the spokesperson said.

Melinda Delahoyde, president of Care Net, also told CNS News she wishes more funds were directed away from abortion businesses.

“While the government annually provides $350 million to Planned Parenthood, the country's largest abortion provider, virtually no federal funds have been allocated for the purpose of helping women who choose to carry to term,” Delahoyde told CNSNews.

“We are encouraged that the government is finally setting aside a small amount of funds in the Pregnancy Assistance Fund to support those women who make the courageous and selfless choice to give life to their babies despite life's challenges," she added. “Our hope is that the White House will be true to its word and use this money to reduce abortion by giving it to those organizations that truly help women choose life."

The Family Research Council is also skeptical of the end recipient of the dollars from the new program, according to a statement LifeNews.com received on Friday.

“FRC has been a leading voice for life-affirming pregnancy services, but we strongly oppose the idea that these grant recipients should include any group that financially profits from abortions," it said.

“The only way to help these mothers and their babies is by funneling the $25 million to organizations that won't make a profit from their work, namely pregnancy resources centers,” FRC added. “And if President Obama truly cared about these women, HHS would have issued real regulations--this time enforcing his Executive Order to strip abortion from the health care bill.”

Joe Young, vice president of ministry for Heartbeat International, another organization with pregnancy center affiliates, also told CNS News that the $25 million for pregnancy support is a "drop in the bucket" compared to the hundreds of millions pro-abortion groups receive.

Young cited a new Government Accountability Office report showing the Planned Parenthood abortion business reported receiving over $650 million in federal funds over a seven year period.

In total, several pro-abortion groups received more than $1 billion from the federal government.

Regarding the pregnancy center funds, it is anticipated that up to 25 grants in the amounts of $500,000 - $2,000,000 per year will be awarded and the application deadline is August 2, 2010.

Potential grant recipients can learn more about the program at http://www.hhs.gov/ophs/oah/prevention/grants/announcements/index.html

http://www.lifenews.com/nat6520.html

Americans Deserve to Hear How Donald Berwick Would Ration Medicare

Americans Deserve to Hear How Donald Berwick Would Ration Medicare
by Mitch McConnell
July 12, 2010

LifeNews.com Note: U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor Monday regarding the recess appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick. McConnell is a pro-life member of the U.S. Senate representing Kentucky.



“Ordinarily, Senators come to the floor to talk about the things that happen in Washington while we're here. Today I'd like to talk about something that happened last week while we weren't here. I'm referring, of course, to the President’s outrageous decision to take advantage of Congress’s absence last week to sneak Donald Berwick in as the new head of Medicare and Medicaid.

“As is well known, Congress has a constitutional duty to examine presidential nominees like Dr. Berwick. But apparently, the prospect of giving the American people an opportunity to hear this nominee defend his past praise for government-run systems that ration health care was worrisome enough for the administration that it sought to ignore congressional oversight altogether.

“As it turned out, the administration’s plan backfired — because even Democrats are outraged at this blatant attempt to prevent the American people from hearing this man talk about what he plans to do with Medicare and Medicaid. As usual, the administration wants to blame Republicans for its own failures. But in this case, the administration’s failure to respect the right of the American people to study Dr. Berwick’s record is being criticized by just about everyone, including the Democrat chairman of the committee in charge of reviewing his nomination.

“Here’s what Chairman Baucus said shortly after the appointment was made:

`Senate confirmation of presidential appointees is an essential process prescribed by the Constitution that serves as a check on executive power and protects Montanans and all Americans by ensuring that crucial questions are asked of the nominee, and answered.’

“So despite what the administration would like people to think, this recess appointment had nothing whatsoever to do with Republicans. The fact is, Republicans were looking forward to this debate. We welcomed this hearing. And anyone who looks at the facts knows any suggestion to the contrary is nonsense. So the charge is laughable.

“This appointment had everything to do with the administration’s fear of letting Americans hear Dr. Berwick’s well-known views about government-run care and about how he plans to implement the President’s plan to cut a half trillion dollars from Medicare while limiting the choices seniors now enjoy.

“And here’s the irony in all this: in an attempt to silence debate about Dr. Berwick and its own plans for health care, this nomination has only reignited the debate over the Democrat health care plan. By recess appointing a man who has sung the praises of the government-run British health care service, the administration is only inviting Americans to ask more questions about its own plans.

“I would've thought that anyone would be able to understand the significance of getting answers from an avowed admirer of rationed care before putting him in charge of implementing this administration’s $500 billion Medicare cut.

“But by denying the American people an opportunity to hear Dr. Berwick defend his past statements and his future plans, the administration is now forcing the Democrats who voted for the Democrat health care plan to defend Dr. Berwick and his views themselves. The administration may have shielded this nominee temporarily, but it has only exposed Democrats in Congress who voted for this bill and everything that follows from it — including this outrageous appointment.

“This appointment is just the latest evidence of how little the administration has concerned itself with the views of the public. When a majority of Americans and an overwhelming majority of Kentuckians opposed its health care plan, they cut deals with Democrat senators to squeeze it through Congress. Now they're not even bothering with Congress: they're just unilaterally installing people like Don Berwick to take charge of its plan for half a trillion dollars in Medicare cuts.

“This has been the administration’s approach all along: go around the American people, and now go around Congress. The administration can try to blame Republicans for a debate they don't want to have. But by denying Congress the ability to scrutinize this nominee, it only raises Americans’ suspicions about its health care plan and increases the burden on Democrats who supported it.

“Back in March, Speaker Pelosi remarked that we'd have to pass the health care bill to find out what’s in it. This nomination is part of the same arrogant approach. The same administration that forced this bill on an unwilling public has now forced Don Berwick onto anyone with Medicare and Medicaid. And now Democrats who voted for this bill will have to answer for his statements and views.”

http://www.lifenews.com/bio3131.html

HPD: Dad Fatally Beat 6-Year-Old Son Alex Duncan Accused Of Killing Tekerrious Jackson

HPD: Dad Fatally Beat 6-Year-Old Son
Alex Duncan Accused Of Killing Tekerrious Jackson



Click2Houston.com

HOUSTON — A father accused of beating his 6-year-old son to death faced a judge on Monday, KPRC Local 2 reported.
Alex Duncan, 34, has been charged with murder.
Houston police said Duncan, also known as "Boomer," beat his son, Tekerrious Jackson, over an eight-hour period from Saturday night into early Sunday, at an apartment on Polk Street near Lockwood Drive.
Investigators said Duncan got mad because Tekerrious would not go to sleep at about 7 p.m. Saturday. For the following eight hours, Tekerrious was told to get on his knees with his arm extended in front of him. Whenever Tekerrious dropped his arms, Duncan punched him, police said.
Duncan described the punches to the chest and other areas of the body as "chest boxing," investigators said.
Police said it was a ritual beating that Tekerrious had endured for weeks.
Tekerrious was taken to Texas Children's Hospital early Sunday after he appeared to have suffered a seizure. He died at the hospital on Sunday, officials said.
Tekerrious had not seen his father in about three years, police said. His mother decided to let him spend the summer with his father under the condition that they stayed with the boy's grandmother, officials said.
Duncan moved out of the grandmother's home a few weeks ago and took Tekerrious with him, police said.
Detectives said that Duncan's girlfriend, Tammyra Sampson, 30, witnessed the beatings. She told police that she once intervened to show Duncan how to properly discipline a child with a belt.
Sampson was arrested and charged with injury to a child by omission.
Sampson's 11-year-old daughter told police that she was forced to watch the beatings. She has been placed in the care of Child Protective Services.
Duncan and Sampson both have criminal pasts. Duncan has past convictions for assault on a family member and drug charges. Sampson also has past convictions for drug and theft charges.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38204573/ns/local_news-houston_tx/

Reform - Allegations ~80% Allegations Reported are False~

Reform - Allegations
~80% Allegations Reported are False~
Home | What You Can Do | Facts | State Chapters | Resources | When An Allegation Is Made | Our Support Group

Have Attitudes Really Changed??? Abuse in the Name of Protecting Children

As keeper of the web files, GranPa Chuck, of the NFPCAR website, this is part of my, or should I say Our Story, my wife and I, as Foster Parents caught in the web of false allegations. Please note this happened over a decade ago. We are now a multi-generational family living with our youngest daughter and her three children. (The Rest of Our Story will be featured in the future)

I was the editor of a Foster Parent Association Newsletter. I ran this article throughout three editions of the newsletters in Jan, Feb, and Mar of 1996 and was fired as a volunteer editor for this newsletter in March.

Then within six months, my wife and I had a list of False Allegations presented to us. Guess who gave me this article??? A Social Worker. She was a good meaning worker, but apparently some of her co-workers took offense to this information.

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Have Attitudes Really Changed???

Over a decade ago this information was given to caretakers (i.e. parents, teachers, physicians, members of the clergy, and foster parents) of our children who were accused of child abuse. No on condones the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of our children. However, those who were falsely accused have had their lives ruined even when they were “proven” innocent.

The wheels of bureaucracy are slow to change. Feel free to pass this information on via e-mail or hard copy. We need to unite as one family and change the laws and the attitude that “you are guilty until proven innocent”.

Have attitudes changed?? --- You be the judge!!!
Chuck
Editor-FPA Newsletter
Jan, 1996

http://nfpcar.org/Reform/Our_Story/Vocal.htm#Abuse_in_the_Name_of_Protecting_Children

Abuse in the Name of Protecting Children-Do Children Lie ~ The Child Abuse Industry ~

Abuse in the Name of Protecting Children
Bio on Title
Do Children Lie ~ The Child Abuse Industry ~

by Robert L. Emans

Words such as these come from victims of current child abuse laws in the US. Parents, foster parents, teachers, physicians, members of the clergy, and others have been falsely accused of mistreating children.

Many Americans applauded when laws were enacted to protect children from physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. I was one of them, having worked with emotionally disturbed children, many of whom had been victims of such abuse. Clearly, the intent of these laws was good.

Just as clearly, however, the consequences have been disastrous. The laws and the enforcement procedures related to child abuse too often deny human and constitutional rights to both the accused and the alleged victim. Indeed, observers have likened the climate created by these laws to that of Salem, during the witch hunt, to that of Nazi Germany in 1939, or to that of the McCarthy era in the 1950s.

In the U.S. in 1985, reported cases of suspected child abuse totaled 1.7 million. Of the reports involving sexual abuse, 80% were later determined to have been unfounded --up from 40% just five years earlier. Half of the substantiated cases of child abuse involved neglect, not other types of abuse; only 7% of the substantiated cases involved sexual abuse. Accusations of child abuse bring suffering and distress to everyone involved. It has been estimated, for example, that as many as 80% of those who are falsely accused of child abuse lose their jobs or suffer other employment problems. Hundreds of people have had to undergo traumatic investigations to establish their innocence; others have had to take part in corrective activities for things they did not do. Indi viduals falsely accused of child abuse have been psychologically scarred, and their reputations have been severely tarnished. Whole families have been destroyed.

Even when cleared of such charges, parents may lose custody of their offspring, and individuals who work with children may be permanently listed in police records as possible child abusers. Meanwhile, the alleged victims themselves may be stripped, searched or otherwise subjected to intensive physical and psychological examinations. During an interview on the television news program "Nightline," for example, a pediatrician employed by a county protection service said, "I actually put my hand on a little girl's vagina, and asked her if that was what they did to you, and do you think it went in that far, and did it bleed?"

The problem is that laws governing due process are too often misunderstood or ignored. Accusers enjoy complete anonymity and full legal protection. Standard rules of evidence are frequently disregarded. Often, individuals accused are presumed to be guilty until they can establish their innocence. Many officials would argue, however, that saving just one child from abuse justifies the wholesale denial of human and civil rights to those accused.

Anyone--even someone who is emotionally disturbed--can accuse another individual of child abuse at any time. Indeed, it can be a crime not to report a suspected case of child abuse, and social workers and law enforcement officers can be sued for failing to investigate such reports.

Consequently, people have been accused of child abuse as a result of reporting a missing child; hugging or kissing a child; having a child who is reluctant to participate in sports, speaking out in defense of a neighbor or a relative falsely accused of child abuse; complaining about a social worker, declining to submit to counseling; changing a diaper; or having a child who knows the names of bodily parts. Similarly, a drama director who failed to cast a certain child in a particular play, a teacher who gave low grades, a father who photographed his child in the shower, and physicians and dentists who provided normal examinations and treatment have faced such accusations.

The officials who investigate cases of suspected child abuse often have limited knowledge of children. Moreover, the procedures these officials use frequently lack reliability or validity.

The use of anatomically correct dolls to investigate cases involving the sexual abuse of children is a case in point No study has ever demonstrated that such dolls produced reliable and valid evidence. Indeed, conducting such a study would be virtually impossible since the subjects would have to include children who had never been sexually abused and subjecting children to such research may itself constitute sexual abuse. Moreover, the use of anatomically correct dolls as investigatory tools has never been shown to meet the basic procedural requirements established by psychological science. Dr. Ronald Gabriel, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Saskatchewan and practicing child psychiatrist, has noted: "Many persons working in the child protection field ... do not know about the projection-evoking properties of toys. The result has been that material produced ... can appear to confirm suspicions of sexual abuse when it may actually be no more than a normal reaction of a child to the dolls and the situation. ... the suspect will almost always be found "guilty."

Do children lie?

For generations, children were thought to be incapable of reporting what really happened to them. But the current view is that, since normal children are sexually inexperienced, every sexual experience they report must actually have taken place. This argument ignores the realities of child growth and development, however.

The work of Jean Piaget suggests that children do not discriminate between thoughts and the things thought of, between episodes of play and real world events. They do not remember the origins of their knowledge, and they often mistake memories of dreams for memories of actual events. Children are not able to fully differentiate between internal thoughts and external happenings until about age 11.

People who maintain that children never fabricate with regard to sexual experiences are deluding themselves. Vengeful or disturbed adults can manipulate children into believing that they have been sexually abused when that has not been the case. Questioning by adults whom they fear and wish to please can induce children to "lie." Having done so, the children come to believe what they have said. After prolonged questioning by investigators, children often confuse fact and fantasy. When adults already (and often too willingly) believe that sexual abuse has occurred, they often deal with the alleged victims in ways that heighten the suggestibility of these children.

The situation has been further confused by what has come to be known as the "child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome." Derived from cases of incest in intact families, the syndrome includes such behaviors on the part of the victim as secretiveness and helplessness. But children who have not been sexually abused often display these same behaviors, and the syndrome has never been scientifically validated Yet, investigators continue to use the syndrome to corroborate children's statements about having been sexually abused.

Even the polygraph (or lie detector) is biased against innocent suspects who tell the truth. An innocent suspect who distrusts the polygraph test is likely to fail it. Studies have shown that failed polygraph tests are less accurate than polygraph tests that are passed. Yet juries are more likely to accept the results of a polygraph test if the suspect fails it than if the suspect passes it. After 30 years of studying the polygraph. David Lykken, a scientist with no vested interest in the instrument, has concluded that "the assumptions of the polygraph test are implausible and the evidence for its validity is weak."

The child abuse industry

Accusations involving child abuse used to be handled responsibly by established legal and family support agencies. Today the government has established a quasi-independent investigatory system for such cases that functions at taxpayers' expense. Not uncommonly today, child protection workers are women who consider themselves to be or have been of abuse. LeRoy Schulz studied protection workers recently and concluded that they tend to be self-righteous unwilling to admit mistakes, lacking in ethics, naive about children, willing to use hearsay evidence, likely to conduct one-sided investigations, and blind to contradictory evidence. Eileen Anderson found therapists to be addicted to power and often involved in a conflict of interests between their pocket books and their professional responsibilities. Writing for the Boston Globe in 1985, Eli Newberger also had some disturbing views on child protection workers. He said that "many of these individuals seem to take pleasure in inflicting pain on children, to derive personal excitement and titillation from stories of their suffering, and to relish the lively interest of opposing counsel, jurors, and their peers.”

Large national organizations, though they mean well, sometimes contribute to the injustices. For example, in a 1985 statistical report on child abuse and neglect, the American Humane Association stated, "While some unsubstantiated reports are in fact false, most reports are true.”

We are VOCAL, a group of parents and others who are FAMILY advocates. Our goal is to see children and their families protected from all forms of abuse. Many families lack knowledge about the complex laws policies, and procedures governing child protection. In most states, the child protection agencies take an adversarial stand against the families they service: information to help them understand the system is often withheld Our education-oriented services provide a balance within the community, as well as a vehicle for implementing positive changes within the system.

Although our child abuse laws were written with good intentions, disregard for the ultimate goal of these laws may cause system-inflicted abuse. Children are sometimes abruptly removed from their families and familiar surroundings without adequate investigation, creating traumatic experiences and endangering parent-child relation ships. Child protection workers may pursue weak cases and refuse to return children to their homes, not realizing the harm caused to children and families as a result of their intervention. Quite often, children now need protection from child protective services.

We have prepared this information for you as an introduction to Victims of Child Abuse Laws--VOCAL--and the child abuse system. Because the child abuse laws and policies and their Interpretations vary from state to state and even from one caseworker to another, we would encourage you to learn as much as possible about the system in general, and the laws in your own locality.

If you are currently involved in a case with a child protective agency, all the information you can obtain to bring your case to an acceptable resolution and to understand what is happening. If you don't know your rights and understand your alternatives, you will not be able to effectively make the best decisions. We have detailed information packets available to aid your attorneys, mental health professionals, and yourself. A number of the studies and articles in these packets can be submitted into courts as evidence against inaccurate statements and unacceptable procedures often used by the prosecution and child protective services.

The Professional Manual includes approximately 500 pages of information written. by experts in the field of child abuse and neglect, such as Douglas Besharov, J.D., L.L.M., and psychologist Ralph Underwager, Ph.D. It can provide you, your attorney and mental health professional with pertinent information for your own case.

The Personal Manual contains articles and personal accounts which can help make sense out of a difficult experience and aid in case resolution.

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Other Publication by Robert L. Emans:
Psychology's responsibility in false accusations of child abuse

http://nfpcar.org/Reform/Our_Story/Vocal.htm#The_child_abuse_industry