Video: The Watch List: The medication of foster children | Need to Know

Video: The Watch List: The medication of foster children | Need to Know
The Watch List: The medication of foster children
January 7, 2011
Nearly one in every 10 American children is diagnosed with a mental health disorder. Often the treatment prescribed is medication, and often the medication is heavy-duty — so-called antipsychotic drugs.

In this report, you’ll see that foster care children are prescribed drugs at a rate much greater than that of other kids. Concern over their well-being — not to mention the amount it costs to treat them — has prompted the Government Accountability Office to investigate potentially abusive prescribing practices in America’s state foster care systems. The GAO findings are expected to come out later this year.

Need to Know correspondent Shoshana Guy went to Texas to investigate overuse of psychotropic drugs in foster children, as well as that state’s efforts at reform.

Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

YouTube - Children's Rights

YouTube - Children's Rights

AFRA Front Page News-Wexler- Two notable works of journalism

AFRA Front Page News

Wexler- Two notable works of journalism

Richard Wexler
Friday, January 7, 2011
Two notable works of journalism
…one to read, one to see.

The cover story in the current issue of the D.C. alternative weekly CityPaper gives hope that the reports of the death of great investigative journalism have been at least slightly exaggerated. The story is all about the ugly, expensive, soul-destroying world of “residential treatment.”

And tonight, the PBS series Need to Know airs a segment on the misuse and overuse of psychiatric medications on foster children. Since PBS fiefdoms – I mean stations – consider it a violation of their God-given rights to cooperate and air programs at the same time more than a few days a week, you’ll have to check your local listings for the time. But it’s on at 8:30pm in New York and 10:30pm in D.C.

The Truth Bites "NH": Initial Appeal/Void/Jury Demand Civil Suit & Amendment as needed for Interested Parties

The Truth Bites "NH": Initial Appeal/Void/Jury Demand Civil Suit & Amendment as needed for Interested Parties

More Information for those who wish to attach to Civil Suit 226-2010-CV-00612 Department of NH DHHS/DCYF and others. Links to orginal documents below.

New Hampshire Superior Court Rule 15. Intervention:

Any person shown to be interested may become a party to any civil action upon filing and service of an Appearance and pleading briefly setting forth his relation to the cause; or, upon motion of any party, such person may be made a party by order of court notifying him to appear therein. If a party so notified neglects to file an Appearance and Answer on or before the date established by the court, that party shall be defaulted. No such default shall be set aside, except by agreement or by order of the court upon such terms as justice may require.

Superior court rule 139

With the above stated that would mean all civil suits must be public prior to the date established by the court or it would be a denial of due process to interested persons.

The date established and expedited by the court is: 1/20/10 with a hearing at 9:00 am at Nashua Superior Court, 30 Spring Street, Nashua, NH 03060.

Below are the full links to each document or simply click on the Title for intital document the amendment is the 2nd doc.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yih90JZEN02RLLaGMOzIhgITlVMhNhBuVOC7-NeVKQ0/edit?hl=en&authkey=CP7NmuwO

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SjsDTF6HIx_gRTisrjepzHtMmsc732N9WoHmgjnHiIg/edit?hl=en&authkey=CKX7wooD

Mother Of Child That Committed Suicide While In Custody Of The State Spoke Before Kansas Legislators

YouTube - Mother Of Child That Committed Suicide While In Custody Of The State Spoke Before Kansas Legislators: ""

Death of restrained boy ruled homicide at Daystar in Manvel | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Death of restrained boy ruled homicide at Daystar in Manvel | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle



37 Comments
Homicide ruled in 4th death at troubled kids' facility
Boy, 16, asphyxiated in November after being restrained inside a closet
By TERRI LANGFORD
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Jan. 7, 2011, 6:07AM
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The restraint death of a 16-year-old boy at Daystar Residential Inc., a facility for troubled children, has been ruled a homicide caused by "complications of mechanical asphyxia," according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science.
Michael Kevin Owens suffocated and died on Nov. 5 after a Daystar staffer placed him in a physical restraint inside a bedroom closet because he would not show the staffer what he held in his hand. Owens' death was the fourth restraint-related fatality to occur at Daystar or its sister facilities. Daystar is located 25 miles south of Houston.
The name of the staffer has not been released, and the case will go before a grand jury to determine whether criminal charges will be filed, according to Brazoria County District Attorney Jeri Yenne.
Owens' death occurred just days after the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services notified Daystar that it was on probation, and the incident prompted the agency to place the Manvel-based facility, for the third time, under the watch of a state monitor.
The agency is reviewing the autopsy report, which was issued to them late Thursday.
"We have been going through a very deliberate process of evaluating Daystar's state license, and this ruling is an important piece," said Patrick Crimmins, DFPS' spokesman.
Earlier this summer the Houston Chronicle and the Texas Tribune reported that Daystar staffers had once urged developmentally disabled girls to fight one another for a snack. The 2008 incident was one of 250 confirmed abuse cases involving Daystar and 79 other residential treatment centers.
Since that report, the state agency has not moved any new foster care children into Daystar. After Owens' death, DFPS officials began relocating Texas children from Daystar because of its probation status. The last Texas foster care child was removed from Daystar on Wednesday. Five other foster care children — all from California - remain there.
Use of restraints cited
Last month, the agency issued its first report since Owens' death. In it, the state monitor raised questions over the repeated use of restraints during the same behavior incident. Daystar, wrote monitor Jeff Enzinna, releases children after two minutes of being restrained to give them a chance to regain control. But if a child continues to behave poorly, the staffer restrains the child again.
In November, 14 restraints were reported at Daystar, occurring during seven separate incidents.
One child was restrained four times during an 11-minute period. Another was restrained four times in a 15-minute period.
"If these children had not been released after 2 minutes but were held until calm as DFPS regulations allow, the number of restraints would have decreased by 50 percent," wrote Enzinna.
Daystar attorney John Carsey did not immediately return a Houston Chronicle phone call asking for comment.
terri.langford@chron.com

Legally Kidnapped: Story From A Former Foster Child

Legally Kidnapped: Story From A Former Foster Child

Story From A Former Foster Child

You ask, 'would you want you as mommy and why? YES! Speaking from the child's perspective..... because that's my mommy and she loves me! I believe you're arriving at certain conclusions predicated on her displayed frustration w/the morally decadent establishment. Worse yet are those believing they possess the intellectual faculty to decide who's fit or unfit. How dare you! God appointed unto the womb the heir of the estate... but this stinkin' society would rather make the determination instead. She's a whore, she's unemployed, she has fifty kids already, she had three boyfriends last week, she's at the bar again.... whatever. It sickens me that there exist those in this country believing in freedom for themselves but somehow find the excuse to regulate, manipulate, restrict, impede and impose upon another of equal status.
Unless one has been forced to endure the crippling effects of the foster system they have no room to speak. I've been through it... made a ward of the court at age three and forced into some eighteen different homes by the age of eighteen. Every one of those families were foster parents for one reason and one reason only...... MONEY! And yet they had the audacity to claim their love for me was far greater than the love of my own mother. What HOGWASH! From day one they begin the brainwashing... "your mother is a whore"... "your mamma's no good".... "your mom is trash"... "your momma doesn't work"... blah blah blah .... all done to create a prejudice against her... and it worked.
Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night every week to indoctrinate me with their perception of truth. How many times did I hear "spare the rod spoil the child"?..... as they beat, slapped, punched, kicked using belts, sticks, screwdriver's, hammers, an axe ..... literally sent to the hospital on three separate occasions because the beatings were so severe, but, ya know, "tell grandma you fell off of the swing." What explanation reasons the shredding of my sister's picture? My only attachment.... 'They're not your family --- WE ARE!!! A hair brush used against my legs until the blood ran down and pooled on the floor. My brother was put in a bathtub with running cold water and beaten with a bread pin until the thing finally broke....(lied in court and produced evidence of a brand new rolling pin) and I as his brother was forced to watch and listen to the beatings. I'm now 47 and beginning to feel the effects of this abuse as my right elbow has bothered me the entirety of my adult life. Deprived and denied meals to the point that at eighteen (when I finally got to leave) I weighed a whole whopping 130 pounds. My self confidence and self esteem wane and to this day ... never married, no children (NO WAY), never bought a home and a job affording a mere survivability until I die. Because of this system I regretted birth, life and family but instead begged for death, mercy and peace. And I might add, mission accomplished! I had an absolute hatred of all men, women, authority and most especially this thing you called 'God'.... teaching parents to assert authority by whatever violent means necessary. You think I want to bring a child into this world? Think again! (And below is a mother whose child has been ripped from her arms and you mock her.) She obviously is what I'm not just by the sheer desire to procreate and bring forth new fruit/seed/heirs. I feel for her!
The so-called parents administrate a particular perception of truth.... The old law was nailed to the cross, eternal torment in a lake of fire for noncompliance to their will and authority, a soul separate from the body, a child shall obey his mother and father and a myriad of other half baked concoctions as they forced me to memorize biblical passages. Problem ... it wasn't MY ( that's MY) mommy or daddy telling me to do whatever! From where in the blankety blank does the authority originate for these imposters to impose their will upon another's child? Commie freakin' morons... in my opinion! As a child what choice in resistance do I have against Satan the foster dad? Or the love of Venus? Get real!!!

Fortunately I had the opportunity to embrace my natural mother one year before she passed... but I'm the exception. And how sad that anyone would have to go through life distinguishing between natural and foster! The words alone leave a bitter taste.
Regards,

Ken
Permission given to post this story.
Thank you for your story Ken.
Posted by LK