Oregon Court of Appeals rules mother who tested positive for marijuana shouldn't lose kids
Published: Wednesday, July 28, 2010, 4:17 PM Updated: Wednesday, July 28, 2010, 4:52 PM
Helen Jung, The Oregonian
The state cannot take children away from a mother who tests positive for marijuana use without evidence that shows her drug use endangers the children, the Oregon Court of Appeals has ruled.
In a decision issued today, the court reversed a Marion County juvenile court ruling that the state Department of Human Services had jurisdiction over two children, a 19-month-old and a 6-month old. The state had argued that the mother's marijuana use "presented a reasonable likelihood of harm to her two children."
But the appeals court agreed with the mother's argument that the state failed to provide any evidence connecting her behavior with risk to the children.
The children and the mother are identified only by their initials in the case.
The state first became involved with the children in October 2009 when it received a report that a man was selling methamphetamine at the family's home.
DHS workers visited the home and met the father, who appeared to be "under the influence of a controlled substance." The agency later learned that the father was a registered sex offender. The mother arrived home later and denied using drugs.
At the time, the workers found that the home was clean, the children had appropriate food to eat and they appeared "happy and healthy," the appeals court wrote in its decision. A DHS worker also had testified that the mother "appears to have appropriate parenting skills."
The parents agreed to have the two children stay with their maternal grandmother while DHS checked to see whether the father had completed his required sex offender treatment. During that time, a urinalysis from the mother came back testing positive for marijuana.
The mother admitted using the drug at a party a week or two earlier but said she did not use it frequently and never used it around the children. A test taken a few weeks later came back negative for marijuana and other drugs.
But the state had trouble getting in touch with the mother, who did not have a working phone and did not show up to a December 2009 meeting, according to the appeals court decision. She eventually did meet with DHS but failed to submit another urinalysis as requested.
It was "the accumulation of things" that led the juvenile court to conclude that the mother had a chemical abuse problem and find that the state had jurisdiction over the children.
But in reversing the decision, the appeals court said "the record lacks evidence showing that mother's use of marijuana, her 'chemical abuse problem' as found by the trial court, is a condition or circumstance that poses any risk to her children. That evidence is necessary to establish jurisdiction over the children."
The case goes back to the juvenile court, said Holly Telerant, attorney for the mother. She declined to comment on where the children are living currently. The Department of Human Services did not immediately have comment.
-- Helen Jung
http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2010/07/oregon_court_of_appeals_rules_mother_who_tested_positive_for_marijuna_shouldnt_lose_kids.html
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
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Child Welfare Experts Urge Congress to Expand Title IV-E Waivers Hearing focuses on impact of more family preservation services
Latest News
Child Welfare Experts Urge Congress to Expand Title IV-E Waivers
Hearing focuses on impact of more family preservation services
(July 29, 2010)
by Patrick Boyle
The federal government should expand a flexible funding program that helps states and counties reform their child welfare systems and keep more children out of foster care, a panel of experts told a congressional committee Thursday.
States participating in the demonstration program, known as the Title IV-E wavier, which allows federal funding to the state to be shifted into different services, have improved their child abuse and neglect prevention and family preservation, the witnesses told the House Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, under the Ways and Means Committee.
“The waiver has shown dramatic impacts,” said George Sheldon, secretary of Florida’s Department of Children and Families. For example, he said, the number of children in out-of-home care has dropped by 36 percent in the four years since his state was granted a waiver.
He and others told the subcommittee that expanding the waiver program to other states should be part of a larger reform of child welfare financing that would focus more on family preservation and permanency placement for youths removed from their homes.
Under the waiver program, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) allows specific states to spend funds they get under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act on efforts to keep children out of foster care. Normally, Title IV-E money is spent on services and administrative costs for youth in foster care.
Experiments began under the Clinton Administration in the late 1990s in Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio and Oregon, and have since expanded. The waivers vary by state and typically are not statewide. Studies have found some promising results in reducing out-of-home placements and the duration of placements that are made, and in increasing permanent placements for youths who had been removed from home.
Several child welfare advocates, such as Casey Family Programs, want Congress to give HHS authority to grant IV-E waivers to more states, which prompted yesterday’s hearing, chaired by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.).
McDermott’s own state is trying to institute new reforms while facing a state budget crunch and cutbacks in federal funding. “We really feel this waiver would help us,” said Washington State Rep. Ruth Kagi (D), because it would allow the state to use some IV-E money for services to keep families together.
Another reason it might help: The waiver in Florida required the state to maintain the level of child welfare funding in effect at the time the waiver was granted, and provides for small annual increases. Those provisions keep the state from using the federal money to replace state expenditures. Casey CEO William Bell told the subcommittee that for future waivers, “I would suggested that we absolutely maintain the ‘maintenance of effort provision.’ ”
A recent report from Casey supports the waivers and reviews their impact in several states.
Fred Wulczyn, a research fellow at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, testified that the most consistent positive effects of the waivers involve using the money for subsidized guardianship, under which relatives are paid to help care for children who have been removed from their parents.
While the advocates focused on the cost-neutrality and potential savings of the waivers, because they allow existing funds to be shifted to different services, Rutledge Hutson of the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) appealed for more funding.
“We’ve got to have a infusion of funds,” especially for preservation services, said Hutson, director of child welfare policy at CLASP. “The current financing structure is at odds with achieving the outcomes we want to achieve.”
“If we really want to improve the outcomes, we have to take on comprehensive finance reform,” Hutson said.
The witnesses’ prepared testimony and a link to the hearing are here.
http://www.youthtoday.org/publication/article.cfm?article_id=4188
Child Welfare Experts Urge Congress to Expand Title IV-E Waivers
Hearing focuses on impact of more family preservation services
(July 29, 2010)
by Patrick Boyle
The federal government should expand a flexible funding program that helps states and counties reform their child welfare systems and keep more children out of foster care, a panel of experts told a congressional committee Thursday.
States participating in the demonstration program, known as the Title IV-E wavier, which allows federal funding to the state to be shifted into different services, have improved their child abuse and neglect prevention and family preservation, the witnesses told the House Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, under the Ways and Means Committee.
“The waiver has shown dramatic impacts,” said George Sheldon, secretary of Florida’s Department of Children and Families. For example, he said, the number of children in out-of-home care has dropped by 36 percent in the four years since his state was granted a waiver.
He and others told the subcommittee that expanding the waiver program to other states should be part of a larger reform of child welfare financing that would focus more on family preservation and permanency placement for youths removed from their homes.
Under the waiver program, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) allows specific states to spend funds they get under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act on efforts to keep children out of foster care. Normally, Title IV-E money is spent on services and administrative costs for youth in foster care.
Experiments began under the Clinton Administration in the late 1990s in Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio and Oregon, and have since expanded. The waivers vary by state and typically are not statewide. Studies have found some promising results in reducing out-of-home placements and the duration of placements that are made, and in increasing permanent placements for youths who had been removed from home.
Several child welfare advocates, such as Casey Family Programs, want Congress to give HHS authority to grant IV-E waivers to more states, which prompted yesterday’s hearing, chaired by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.).
McDermott’s own state is trying to institute new reforms while facing a state budget crunch and cutbacks in federal funding. “We really feel this waiver would help us,” said Washington State Rep. Ruth Kagi (D), because it would allow the state to use some IV-E money for services to keep families together.
Another reason it might help: The waiver in Florida required the state to maintain the level of child welfare funding in effect at the time the waiver was granted, and provides for small annual increases. Those provisions keep the state from using the federal money to replace state expenditures. Casey CEO William Bell told the subcommittee that for future waivers, “I would suggested that we absolutely maintain the ‘maintenance of effort provision.’ ”
A recent report from Casey supports the waivers and reviews their impact in several states.
Fred Wulczyn, a research fellow at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, testified that the most consistent positive effects of the waivers involve using the money for subsidized guardianship, under which relatives are paid to help care for children who have been removed from their parents.
While the advocates focused on the cost-neutrality and potential savings of the waivers, because they allow existing funds to be shifted to different services, Rutledge Hutson of the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) appealed for more funding.
“We’ve got to have a infusion of funds,” especially for preservation services, said Hutson, director of child welfare policy at CLASP. “The current financing structure is at odds with achieving the outcomes we want to achieve.”
“If we really want to improve the outcomes, we have to take on comprehensive finance reform,” Hutson said.
The witnesses’ prepared testimony and a link to the hearing are here.
http://www.youthtoday.org/publication/article.cfm?article_id=4188
Child Welfare Advocates Clash Over Rhode Island
Child Welfare Advocates Clash Over Rhode Island
YouthWorkTalk
Posted by
Patrick Boyle Home
– Child Welfare Advocates Clash Over Rhode Island
7/26/2010
With Rhode Island’s child welfare system facing a lawsuit by one advocacy group, another advocate has taken aim at both the state and the plaintiff.
Richard Wexler, head of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, held a news conference in Rhode Island Thursday to issue a 64-page report calling the state “the child warehousing capital of America.” The report, State of Denial: Why Rhode Island’s Child Welfare System is so Dismal – and How to Make it Better, says the state removes children from their homes 80 percent more frequently than the national average, and places them in the poorest of group homes and institutional care.
Children’s Rights, a New York-based advocacy group, also believes Rhode Island’s child welfare system is a mess, and in 2007 joined a class action lawsuit by the state’s child advocate, Jametta Alston, against the state Department of Children, Youth and Families in an effort to force reforms. In June, the federal First Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the lawsuit, which had been thrown out by a lower court. The case is now awaiting reassignment to a judge.
Wexler charged that reforms pushed by Children’s Rights in other states rely too heavily on continuing to remove children from their homes, and that any settlement in Rhode Island would probably “exacerbate” that practice. He called for a settlement emphasizing “safe, proven alternatives to taking away so many children in the first place.”
Susan Lambiase, associate director of Children’s Rights, replied via e-mail that Wexler’s report “identifies issues we have been trying to get Rhode Island officials to address” through the lawsuit, including “the growing number of children placed in large, unsafe institutional settings.” She said lawsuits by Children’s Rights in other states led to changes that include reducing foster care populations.
The nonprofit National Coalition for Child Protection Reform advocates alternatives to removing children from their homes. The nonprofit Children’s Rights has brought class actions lawsuits against several states to reform their child welfare systems.
http://www.youthtoday.org/talk/comments.cfm?blog_id=377
YouthWorkTalk
Posted by
Patrick Boyle Home
– Child Welfare Advocates Clash Over Rhode Island
7/26/2010
With Rhode Island’s child welfare system facing a lawsuit by one advocacy group, another advocate has taken aim at both the state and the plaintiff.
Richard Wexler, head of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, held a news conference in Rhode Island Thursday to issue a 64-page report calling the state “the child warehousing capital of America.” The report, State of Denial: Why Rhode Island’s Child Welfare System is so Dismal – and How to Make it Better, says the state removes children from their homes 80 percent more frequently than the national average, and places them in the poorest of group homes and institutional care.
Children’s Rights, a New York-based advocacy group, also believes Rhode Island’s child welfare system is a mess, and in 2007 joined a class action lawsuit by the state’s child advocate, Jametta Alston, against the state Department of Children, Youth and Families in an effort to force reforms. In June, the federal First Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the lawsuit, which had been thrown out by a lower court. The case is now awaiting reassignment to a judge.
Wexler charged that reforms pushed by Children’s Rights in other states rely too heavily on continuing to remove children from their homes, and that any settlement in Rhode Island would probably “exacerbate” that practice. He called for a settlement emphasizing “safe, proven alternatives to taking away so many children in the first place.”
Susan Lambiase, associate director of Children’s Rights, replied via e-mail that Wexler’s report “identifies issues we have been trying to get Rhode Island officials to address” through the lawsuit, including “the growing number of children placed in large, unsafe institutional settings.” She said lawsuits by Children’s Rights in other states led to changes that include reducing foster care populations.
The nonprofit National Coalition for Child Protection Reform advocates alternatives to removing children from their homes. The nonprofit Children’s Rights has brought class actions lawsuits against several states to reform their child welfare systems.
http://www.youthtoday.org/talk/comments.cfm?blog_id=377
DCF Secretary to testify in D.C. on foster care
DCF Secretary to testify in D.C. on foster care
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The head of the state's child welfare agency will testify in Washington D.C. about how states can use federal funds to keep children out of foster care.
Florida's Department of Children and Families was the first to accept a federal waiver that allows unprecedented flexibility in funding abuse prevention services, which include parenting classes, substance abuse and mental health treatment and even emergency cash assistance.
The flexibility allows the department to keep more families together by offering them help up front, instead of removing the children first. DCF has reduced the number of foster children by 36 percent since 2007.
DCF Secretary George Sheldon will speak before a U.S. House Subcommittee on Thursday.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/29/1751848/dcf-secretary-to-testify-in-dc.html#ixzz0v5JTyyYB
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The head of the state's child welfare agency will testify in Washington D.C. about how states can use federal funds to keep children out of foster care.
Florida's Department of Children and Families was the first to accept a federal waiver that allows unprecedented flexibility in funding abuse prevention services, which include parenting classes, substance abuse and mental health treatment and even emergency cash assistance.
The flexibility allows the department to keep more families together by offering them help up front, instead of removing the children first. DCF has reduced the number of foster children by 36 percent since 2007.
DCF Secretary George Sheldon will speak before a U.S. House Subcommittee on Thursday.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/29/1751848/dcf-secretary-to-testify-in-dc.html#ixzz0v5JTyyYB
Couple in custody after 8 dead babies found in plastic bags Infants' corpses buried in village in northern France
Couple in custody after 8 dead babies found in plastic bags
Infants' corpses buried in village in northern France
Luc Moleux / Reuters
Police outside the home of a couple who was expected to appear in court Thursday after police found the corpses of eight newborn babies in their village in northern France.
msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated 7/29/2010 4:29:27 AM ET
Share Print Font:
A French couple was expected to appear in court Thursday after police found the corpses of eight newborn babies in a village in northern France.
A judicial official said the corpses were found in two places in Villers-au-Tertre, a village of about 700 people not far from the city of Lille.
"Two people are being held in custody. They are the mother and father of the children," public prosecutor Eric Vaillant told Reuters.
French newspaper Le Figaro reported two of the bodies had been hidden for more than 20 years.
"What is certain is that the new born babies all had the same parents. They were stuffed inside plastic bags and then buried," an unnamed detective told the U.K.'s Daily Mail.
They were being held on suspicion of concealment of a corpse and failing to report a crime, the BBC said, adding that the couple were due to appear in court Thursday.
The couple had two grown-up daughters, reportedly in their 20s, and were grandparents, a local resident told Agence France Presse.
'Wouldn't harm a fly'
One teenage girl said the couple's daughters were nice girls and described the mother as a simple, quiet woman "who wouldn't harm a fly," AFP reported.
"These are attractive, helpful, polite and courteous people," a neighbor, a man in his 50s, told the news service.
They had done nothing to suggest that they might be capable of abnormal behavior, he said. "The husband was even elected to the town council," he added.
Radio France International said the man worked in the building trade was and his wife was a nursing assistant.
Police cordoned off the house with yellow-and-black tape and the house stood with doors and windows shuttered Wednesday night. The prosecutor for the Nord region was planning a news conference Thursday.
An initial report by French radio that the mother had admitted to "systematically" killing her babies without telling her husband was later rejected by a police source, the U.K's Guardian newspaper said.
Pregnancy denial
France has seen a string of cases in recent years of mothers killing their newborns and saving and hiding the corpses.
In one case, Celine Lesage was sentenced in March to 15 years in prison after acknowledging in court that she killed six of her newborns, whose corpses were found in plastic bags in her basement in northwest France.
Another Frenchwoman, Veronique Courjault, was convicted last year of murdering three of her newborn children.
Her husband discovered two of the corpses in a freezer while the two were living in South Korea.
During the trial, psychiatrists testified that she suffered from a psychological condition known as "pregnancy denial."
Germany also has seen similar cases. In one, a woman was convicted of manslaughter in 2006 and sentenced to the maximum 15 years in prison for killing eight of her newborn babies and burying them in flower pots and a fish tank in the garden of her parents' home near the German-Polish border.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38462248/from/toolbar
Infants' corpses buried in village in northern France
Luc Moleux / Reuters
Police outside the home of a couple who was expected to appear in court Thursday after police found the corpses of eight newborn babies in their village in northern France.
msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated 7/29/2010 4:29:27 AM ET
Share Print Font:
A French couple was expected to appear in court Thursday after police found the corpses of eight newborn babies in a village in northern France.
A judicial official said the corpses were found in two places in Villers-au-Tertre, a village of about 700 people not far from the city of Lille.
"Two people are being held in custody. They are the mother and father of the children," public prosecutor Eric Vaillant told Reuters.
French newspaper Le Figaro reported two of the bodies had been hidden for more than 20 years.
"What is certain is that the new born babies all had the same parents. They were stuffed inside plastic bags and then buried," an unnamed detective told the U.K.'s Daily Mail.
They were being held on suspicion of concealment of a corpse and failing to report a crime, the BBC said, adding that the couple were due to appear in court Thursday.
The couple had two grown-up daughters, reportedly in their 20s, and were grandparents, a local resident told Agence France Presse.
'Wouldn't harm a fly'
One teenage girl said the couple's daughters were nice girls and described the mother as a simple, quiet woman "who wouldn't harm a fly," AFP reported.
"These are attractive, helpful, polite and courteous people," a neighbor, a man in his 50s, told the news service.
They had done nothing to suggest that they might be capable of abnormal behavior, he said. "The husband was even elected to the town council," he added.
Radio France International said the man worked in the building trade was and his wife was a nursing assistant.
Police cordoned off the house with yellow-and-black tape and the house stood with doors and windows shuttered Wednesday night. The prosecutor for the Nord region was planning a news conference Thursday.
An initial report by French radio that the mother had admitted to "systematically" killing her babies without telling her husband was later rejected by a police source, the U.K's Guardian newspaper said.
Pregnancy denial
France has seen a string of cases in recent years of mothers killing their newborns and saving and hiding the corpses.
In one case, Celine Lesage was sentenced in March to 15 years in prison after acknowledging in court that she killed six of her newborns, whose corpses were found in plastic bags in her basement in northwest France.
Another Frenchwoman, Veronique Courjault, was convicted last year of murdering three of her newborn children.
Her husband discovered two of the corpses in a freezer while the two were living in South Korea.
During the trial, psychiatrists testified that she suffered from a psychological condition known as "pregnancy denial."
Germany also has seen similar cases. In one, a woman was convicted of manslaughter in 2006 and sentenced to the maximum 15 years in prison for killing eight of her newborn babies and burying them in flower pots and a fish tank in the garden of her parents' home near the German-Polish border.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38462248/from/toolbar
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Two young parents face off against DHS to regain custody of their twin boys.
Two young parents face off against DHS to regain custody of their twin boys.
By Michelle Andujar
from WillametteLive, Section News
Posted on Wed Jul 28, 2010 at 09:35:17 AM PDT
Alyssa and Chris Weber had the same kindergarten teacher but they didn't meet until grade school. They started dating when she was a junior in high school.
"We used to hit each other over the head with a pop bottle," recalled Alyssa. Soon after, he proposed: "He did a knee slide up to me in the cafeteria and asked me to marry him with a ring and everything," she said.
"I didn't have a rose in my mouth. That was the only off key," added Chris.
The Webers married in 2008 at Stayton Pioneer Park. Alyssa had just found out she was with child. "We were both happy ... and shocked, and kinda scared because of the fact that we were homeless," she said. They hadn't been able to make the rent and were living in their Chevy Lumina for a few weeks. Upon receiving the news, they moved in with Alyssa's grandmother until their twin boys, Aiden and Zander, were born. Soon after, they found a place of their own.
"Two weeks after we moved out, DHS took our kids," said Alyssa, who was eighteen at the time.
She had noticed two-month old Zander was fussy and wasn't moving normally. Concerned, she rushed him to the emergency room. An x-ray revealed he fractured his clavicle, but an ER doctor explained that this kind of injury is common in babies, often caused by the birth process, and that they may go undetected because children so young don't move around very much. Zander's fracture was left to heal on its own.
At the time, the Webers didn't know what could have caused the fracture.
The hospital called the child abuse report hot line in March '09. "It is our policy [that we report] any child up to age two with any fracture that is not associated with a motor vehicle accident," said Julie Howard, Salem Hospital spokesperson.
The Marion County child abuse expert ordered full body x-rays of both boys, which revealed a possible fracture on Aiden. When investigators could not get a clear answer of how either injury may have happened, DHS [Department of Human Services] took custody of the twins, suspecting child abuse.
Soon after, it was confirmed that Aiden never actually suffered a fracture, but by then it was too late.
"We all sat around and thought what could've caused Zander's fracture. Within a week after they were taken, we figured it out," said Alyssa. "We were on our way to go pick up my mum and go shopping. She would help us out with what we needed that we couldn't get with food stamps. I noticed the car seats were a little snug but we were already late to pick her up. We almost rear-ended someone. I slammed on the brakes to avoid an accident."
The day before the almost-accident, the boys had received shots and Alyssa was expecting them to be fussy, which is why she said she did not noticed he was hurt.
"We told DHS what happened and they still said the cause was undetermined," she said. "We didn't agree with that report."
Authorities dropped all criminal abuse charges but DHS founded them for neglect because of the 'unexplained' injury.
As part of the DHS investigation, the Webers submitted to DHS psychological tests. A DHS-appointed psychiatrists diagnosed Alyssa with depression, anxiety and ADHD. Chris was diagnosed with PTSD and ADHD, and was told he needed to "grow up and mature."
"When they found out it wasn't child abuse and that we were gonna do everything possible so that it didn't happen again, they told me that I wasn't mentally stable enough to care for twin boys when I was doing it fine before," she said. "I only made one mistake which was not loosening up their car seats before leaving the house."
The Webers did say they have been sad.
"It's hard enough every morning waking up and not seeing the boys in our house. We stored all their toys in her grandma's house so we didn't have to see them," said Chris.
Two weeks after the call to the hot line, a juvenile court judge granted DHS temporary custody of the children, while DHS stated they would "continue to seek jurisdiction of the children." The conditions for return included the parents' cooperation with treating their mental health issues and them proving they had the knowledge and ability to parent.
"How do they know that I can't parent when they haven't even given me the chance to try and I'm a first time parent?" questioned Alyssa.
The twins have been in foster care for the last sixteen months. During this period, the Webers found an infected gouge on one of the boys' heads, it was revealed that they had received a double dose of vaccines, and the kids were taken out of state, they said.
"I didn't see anything stating that they had permission from the judge. They went to a wedding for a family that wasn't even their family and we missed a home visit over it," said Alyssa.
Since the boys were taken, the Webers have been allowed to visit them a couple of hours a week in a DHS location supervised by a note-taking observer.
In August'09, DHS had noted the parents' strong bond with the babies. Yet by December, the Webers failed to meet many of the DHS workers' standards. They stated a lack of bonding with the children; they commented on the Webers' appearance, which was "unkempt;" they made "little eye contact" and they claimed the children made less vocalizations and attempts to stand up when around their parents than with the foster parents.
They stated: "Both children are very attached to their foster parents ... both children do not appear to have a strong bond with their parents."
The Webers agree. They say the time spent away, the limited visits and the children's young age have contributed to their lack of proper bonding.
"Other DHS kids may seem like they are bonding better with their parents because they are older," said Alyssa.
"Our boys don't look at us as parents, they look at us as the Monday babysitters," said Chris, adding that a joyful DHS employee told him one of the boys said "hi dada" to the foster parent. "It was good news because they're talking but it was a slap in the face, it was like saying 'Guess what, your kids don't believe in you."
Alyssa said, "It hurts. It doesn't feel right. I carried them for practically 9 months. We're the ones who created them. I went through the c-section and the recovery time. I spent all those nights taking care of them and I make a single mistake and someone else gets to have my kids."
In order to improve their bonding skills and meet DHS requirements, the Webers took a class called "How to bond with your child," which recommended parents to "use your babies as weights to benchpress" among other things. They also had several meetings with parenting counselors.
Their efforts were in vain. DHS stated that they had failed to demonstrate their newly acquired skills; for example, by not using the DHS toys. "We used the toys. And we have recorded every visit until DHS told us we weren't allowed to record anymore," said Chris.
In the first part of 2010, the State's plan continued to be returning the kids to their home and the couple had made some progress in DHS' opinion: Alyssa was engaged in counseling and taking medication, and they had taken parenting classes. They were ready for Aiden and Zander to come home. "We baby proofed our whole house," said Chris.
Then, in June '10, there was an unexpected turn of events: DHS recommended that the plan for Aiden and Zander be changed from return to parent to adoption, based on visit observations and the fact that Chris had failed to get a job and attend counseling.
"It all changed when the foster parents said they wanted to be permanent guardians for the boys," said Chris. "DHS always had their mind set on adoption," added Alyssa.
Indeed, a May 2009 court document stated that adoption was a concurrent plan. "It doesn't seem right when it says that that early," said Chris.
They believe that their boys are very desirable candidates for adoption because they're younger than most kids who enter the foster care system and they're identical twins.
"They won't remember their parents if they're adopted out now. On a little one they can change their last names, they can make them believe they're the real parents. And identical twin boys are like gold for people because not everybody can have twins and twins get the most attention," said Alyssa, adding that people used to stop her constantly to praise her babies.
A juvenile court judge will make a final decision August 30th at 2:00 p.m.
"Chris has a job now and he got into counseling," said Alyssa. Chris is confident that the boys will come home this time, but Alyssa said, "I don't want to get my hopes up."
Added to their fears is the fact that Alyssa is now seven months pregnant. She is expecting another boy, who will carry the name of Iven James.
"I should be happy about this pregnancy but all I am is terrified. DHS told me I'm red flagged. They told me, 'If you're gonna have it in the hospital we're gonna be there ready to pick it up,'" she said. "They are saying we are not stable enough to have either the twins or Iven."
Gene Evans, communications officer for Child Welfare, said it's very rare for DHS to be in the hospital when an infant is born, but he said, "It does happen if there's a danger but not because another child is in DHS."
He continued, "Every case is different. Every case starts with someone reporting a child is in danger." He also said that a report could come from a DHS employee if they thought either parent presented a danger and that they are in fact mandatory reporters.
Evans said that potential issues could be drugs, alcohol or even mental illness, including depression, but DHS would need a reason beyond just the depression per se, such as deeming the mother unable to make decisions. "It's about the mom's behavior," he said.
The Webers plan to have Alyssa's father adopt Iven before he's born, but they haven't started the process because of a lack of resources, and a hope that the judge will rule in their favor before they need to resort to that.
At her young age of twenty, she is thinking about having a hysterectomy. "I'm thinking about having my tubes tied after this one because of all the troubles with DHS. I'm too terrified at having more babies yanked from me," she said. The Webers wanted a large family.
"We had a lot of hopes and dreams for our kids, like how we would spend our first holidays," said Alyssa. "We haven't had a single holiday with them. I've requested them, and I said I would agree to having supervision the entire time, and nothing. They say 'we're closed for that.'"
The Webers have a clean record. "We don't do drugs, we're completely clean people," said Chris, adding that they are peaceful people and that he never even curses. "In over seven years he's yelled at me once or twice, and that was only to get my attention," added Alyssa.
They think their financial situation acted against them, particularly in their inability to hire a lawyer. "I got a court-appointed attorney. They work for the state, doing what the state wants," said Alyssa.
There is one loophole, but they're not confident it will help. Chris is Native American, Ojibwa, Black Foot, Cherokee and Cheyenne. However, he doesn't have an official statement of his background. "I've been trying to find my grandfather my whole life," he said.
DHS rules apply differently to Native Americans. "It would be up to the tribe to decide whether or not the boys can come home," he said. "But it's up to DHS."
The requirement to achieve Native American status may vary. "In some cases it could be 1/2 and for others it could be 1/16," stated Evans.
The May 2009 record stated that DHS was "still researching whether the [Indian Child Welfare Act] would apply to this case." The Webers have yet to receive an answer.
Though they believe their case is unfair, they say sometimes DHS is justified, as in Chris's case. He was abused as a child and grew up in foster homes.
"DHS is taking an Oregon kid unrightfully," said Alyssa. "I believe that DHS Child Welfare in the state of Oregon has become corrupt with either money or power and are beginning to discriminate against young parents or parents with minor mental health issues."
According to Chris, DHS would have returned the kids faster if he had left Alyssa. "The judge said my mental disabilities don't inhibit my ability to parent, but Alyssa's disability would."
The Webers owe DHS a few thousand dollars for their boys' stay. "$365 dollars per month for each. It's like a daycare fee," they agreed.
States fund their own child protective services, with large amounts of help from the federal government. Additionally, states receive federal incentives for increasing the number of foster children who are adopted out.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families, Oregon received $220,000 in 2009 for increasing its rate of adoptions compared to previous years.
"They say that they are there to help put families back together but that is a lie," Alyssa stated. "They are there to rip them apart and get the money while doing so."
http://willamettelive.com/story/Two_young_parents_face_off_against_DHS_to_regain_custody_of_their_twin_boys114.html
Lyons: Government is daring to keep kids on drugs
Lyons: Government is daring to keep kids on drugs
By Tom Lyons
Published: Sunday, July 25, 2010 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, July 24, 2010 at 7:32 p.m.
Apparently the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had at least heard about the suicide of Gabriel Myers.
Myers' death by hanging happened in a Florida foster home last year, but that wasn't the main reason it triggered a major reaction at Florida's Department of Children and Families.
The real reason: He was 7 years old.
Whatever else might have helped lead such a young child toward ending his life, one detail was impossible to ignore: The boy was being treated with three different psychotropic medications.
Medications of that sort make some people more depressed or even suicidal, and their effects when combined are harder to predict, especially in children.
So DCF did a quick check on how many foster children were being given such drugs. Troubling facts emerged.
Not only was the percentage high, it was not really known. And, in more than a third of known cases, required approval permission documents were missing.
DCF Secretary George Sheldon quickly acknowledged the problem and started a study group to learn more and give advice. And a year later, the picture is at least more clear. Very few files lack required documentation now. And when I asked for the most current numbers, they were available, and somewhat lower. In the Sarasota-Manatee-DeSoto county region, 11 percent of foster children are given psychotropic meds. Statewide, it is 13 percent.
Some critics insist too many foster parents, lacking the skill or patience to work with troubled children who arrive as strangers, are still too quick to see medication as the way to curb problem behavior or just keep foster children quiet, no matter the side effects.
To read this entire article, please go to:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100725/COLUMNIST/7251032/2055/NEWS?p=1&tc=pg
By Tom Lyons
Published: Sunday, July 25, 2010 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, July 24, 2010 at 7:32 p.m.
Apparently the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had at least heard about the suicide of Gabriel Myers.
Myers' death by hanging happened in a Florida foster home last year, but that wasn't the main reason it triggered a major reaction at Florida's Department of Children and Families.
The real reason: He was 7 years old.
Whatever else might have helped lead such a young child toward ending his life, one detail was impossible to ignore: The boy was being treated with three different psychotropic medications.
Medications of that sort make some people more depressed or even suicidal, and their effects when combined are harder to predict, especially in children.
So DCF did a quick check on how many foster children were being given such drugs. Troubling facts emerged.
Not only was the percentage high, it was not really known. And, in more than a third of known cases, required approval permission documents were missing.
DCF Secretary George Sheldon quickly acknowledged the problem and started a study group to learn more and give advice. And a year later, the picture is at least more clear. Very few files lack required documentation now. And when I asked for the most current numbers, they were available, and somewhat lower. In the Sarasota-Manatee-DeSoto county region, 11 percent of foster children are given psychotropic meds. Statewide, it is 13 percent.
Some critics insist too many foster parents, lacking the skill or patience to work with troubled children who arrive as strangers, are still too quick to see medication as the way to curb problem behavior or just keep foster children quiet, no matter the side effects.
To read this entire article, please go to:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100725/COLUMNIST/7251032/2055/NEWS?p=1&tc=pg
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)