Youth Today
The Fleecing of Foster Children: How We Confiscate Their Assets and Undermine Their Financial Security
March 18, 2011 by Kaitlin Mayhew
The Children’s Advocacy Institute, First Star
About 30,000 of the nation’s foster children age out of the system each year, most often at age 18. They are expected to become independent, self-sufficient and contributing members of society with little or no assistance from others.
According to this report, the foster care system creates huge problems that make the expectations unrealistic. Only about 3 percent of children in foster care ever earn four-year degrees, and by age 24, less than half of foster care “alumni” are employed.
Children in foster care are more likely to be victim to identity theft, and many do not even discover that they had been targeted until they leave foster care and are applying for a student loan, apartment, or car and discover their credit has been destroyed.
Many children in the foster care system quality for Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Benefits Program (OASDI) and/or the Supplemental Security Income for Aged, Blind and Disabled (SSI) program, but can’t claim the benefits, according to this report.
Underage beneficiaries are required to have an adult representative payee, which often can’t be provided for a foster child, so the benefits are confiscated.
Even those who do get benefits are given odd restrictions. For example, they are not allowed to accumulate resources that exceed $2,000, so in essence they are being taught not to save money. The $2,000 figure was put in place in 1989 and has not been adjusted since for inflation.
One or more of these situations intertwined can result in a lifetime of poverty. Another problem is the state and county social services budgets have been reduced in recent years, and face more cuts as a result of the struggling economy.
According to the organizations authoring the report, the states should take more responsibility for foster children. “States should be required to check into youth’s credit records and repair when necessary.”
The report recommends passage of the Foster Children Self-Support Act, which would safeguard some of foster children’s Social Security benefits, creating a basic safety net for when they age out of foster care.
“Just as parents work hard to raise children who will become self-sufficient, we should work hard to prepare foster youth to have the same capabilities.”
Free. 44 pages. http://www.caichildlaw.org/Misc/Fleecing_Report_Final_HR.pdf
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, March 18, 2011
Oliver Spring couple files $50 million lawsuit over abuse charges, removal of children
Oliver Spring couple files $50 million lawsuit over abuse charges, removal of children » Knoxville News Sentinel Mobile
By Bob Fowler
Published Thursday, March 10, 2011
An Oliver Springs couple accused of child abuse have filed a $50 million federal lawsuit over their arrest and the removal of six adopted children from their home.
The complaint was filed on behalf of Tobias M. Pethtel and Kathleen Elaine Pethtel, both 45.
The legal action names nine organizations and 31 individuals - including eight Anderson County deputies and five foster parents - as defendants.
The lawsuit contends the children were uprooted from their home, coerced by children's advocacy groups and state Department of Children's Services employees and others, and placed in inappropriate foster homes.
The 114-page amended complaint - first filed in November - was resubmitted earlier this month in U.S. District Court.
The Pethtels are free on $75,000 bonds after being indicted last summer on six counts each of aggravated child abuse or neglect.
"They've had a long and difficult saga," said Billy Sams, an attorney representing them in their criminal cases.
Authorities have declined comment on the pending criminal cases. An Anderson County judge has issued a gag order banning parties from discussing the case.
The Pethtels contend their constitutional rights have been trampled on, from their arrest to the state's seizure of their children to the children's subsequent mistreatment by foster parents.
The children "have been raised in a traditionally conservative and Christian manner," the lawsuit states.
Department of Children's Services workers have portrayed the couple as belonging to a "cult," it continues, "subjecting the family to discriminatory religious remarks."
One DCS worker described the children as "brainwashed," according to the lawsuit.
The Pethtels have seven children, ranging in age from 7 to 16 and adopted in Russia, Hawaii and Idaho, according to court records. Six children were living at home at the time, while a seventh child was in a Florida military school.
The federal complaint alleges the Pethtels' legal woes were sparked by a "911 prank call" made by one of the children in November 2009.
A deputy responding to cite the parents for the call "forced his way into the house" without a warrant and noticed a bruise on one child's face, according to the complaint. Although deputies were told the bruise was the result of a recent bike wreck, DCS employees were summoned, it continues.
Subsequent "Nazi-style interviews" of some of the Pethtel children produced "crazy lies, gross inconsistencies and contradictions," the lawsuit contends.
The legal action alleges foster parents for the children exposed them to various practices "outside the family guidelines."
Lanis L. Karnes, a Jackson, Tenn., attorney, filed the federal lawsuit. Karnes didn't return calls Monday and Tuesday seeking comment.
Bob Fowler may be reached at 865-481-3625.
By Bob Fowler
Published Thursday, March 10, 2011
An Oliver Springs couple accused of child abuse have filed a $50 million federal lawsuit over their arrest and the removal of six adopted children from their home.
The complaint was filed on behalf of Tobias M. Pethtel and Kathleen Elaine Pethtel, both 45.
The legal action names nine organizations and 31 individuals - including eight Anderson County deputies and five foster parents - as defendants.
The lawsuit contends the children were uprooted from their home, coerced by children's advocacy groups and state Department of Children's Services employees and others, and placed in inappropriate foster homes.
The 114-page amended complaint - first filed in November - was resubmitted earlier this month in U.S. District Court.
The Pethtels are free on $75,000 bonds after being indicted last summer on six counts each of aggravated child abuse or neglect.
"They've had a long and difficult saga," said Billy Sams, an attorney representing them in their criminal cases.
Authorities have declined comment on the pending criminal cases. An Anderson County judge has issued a gag order banning parties from discussing the case.
The Pethtels contend their constitutional rights have been trampled on, from their arrest to the state's seizure of their children to the children's subsequent mistreatment by foster parents.
The children "have been raised in a traditionally conservative and Christian manner," the lawsuit states.
Department of Children's Services workers have portrayed the couple as belonging to a "cult," it continues, "subjecting the family to discriminatory religious remarks."
One DCS worker described the children as "brainwashed," according to the lawsuit.
The Pethtels have seven children, ranging in age from 7 to 16 and adopted in Russia, Hawaii and Idaho, according to court records. Six children were living at home at the time, while a seventh child was in a Florida military school.
The federal complaint alleges the Pethtels' legal woes were sparked by a "911 prank call" made by one of the children in November 2009.
A deputy responding to cite the parents for the call "forced his way into the house" without a warrant and noticed a bruise on one child's face, according to the complaint. Although deputies were told the bruise was the result of a recent bike wreck, DCS employees were summoned, it continues.
Subsequent "Nazi-style interviews" of some of the Pethtel children produced "crazy lies, gross inconsistencies and contradictions," the lawsuit contends.
The legal action alleges foster parents for the children exposed them to various practices "outside the family guidelines."
Lanis L. Karnes, a Jackson, Tenn., attorney, filed the federal lawsuit. Karnes didn't return calls Monday and Tuesday seeking comment.
Bob Fowler may be reached at 865-481-3625.
Foster-care deaths increase, but advocates defend system
Foster-care deaths increase, but advocates defend system - Whittier Daily News
By Troy Anderson, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/21/2010 08:50:48 PM PST
Blog
Go behind the yellow tape in the Crime Scene blog
Amid growing concerns about an increase in child abuse and deaths in Los Angeles County, child advocates and county officials are debating what impact new reforms have had in recent years and how to best improve the troubled foster-care system.
The debate centers in part over how the county's Department of Children and Family Services should be funded. A previous method was scrapped in 2007 because it gave financial incentives to tear kids away from their families and place them in foster homes.
The new method essentially involves the county receiving a fixed, capped amount of money under a waiver granted by the federal government.
While most county officials have called it a success, some have questioned whether it has played a role in a recent countywide increase in child abuse and deaths.
DCFS director Trish Ploehn - who reportedly is facing possible ouster from her job because of problems within the department - defended the waiver.
"The waiver itself has been exceptionally successful," Ploehn said. "The old way of doing foster care basically set up an incentive for foster-care agencies to have more children in care. That is not a good way to do child welfare, and research bears out that children always do much better in their own homes. Removing a child from their family is traumatizing to the child."
But Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky has raised concerns recently about the waiver and DCFS' drive to reduce the number of
Advertisement
children in foster care, saying the push has resulted in the county leaving too many children in unsafe environments.
Yaroslavsky did not return calls for comment.
Yaroslavsky's concerns come as the number of child deaths rose from 18 in 2008 to 26 last year. And 23 have been reported this year, putting it on track to surpass last year's figure.
DCFS released the figures under a new law designed to give the public a fuller picture of the number of children who died after county agencies were brought in to investigate reports of abuse or neglect.
County officials, however, have said the apparent statistical increase in deaths may be misleading, because a new law requires an expansion in the number of causes of death that should be counted. The old way primarily focused on homicides, while the new statistics also include drownings, suicides and other types of deaths resulting from accident or neglect.
The number of reports of abuse and neglect also has increased from 182,013 in 2007 to 186,782 last year.
As of Sept. 21, the number stood at 139,571 and was on pace to surpass 2009.
But Ploehn said she believes the rising number of reports of child abuse and neglect in the county is not connected to the waiver or other reforms, but rather the increasing stress on families hit by the nation's weak economy.
Meanwhile, a report slated for release this week is expected to show that the well-being of children in DCFS' care has improved since the waiver went into effect in 2007.
The report, requested by Supervisors Michael Antonovich and Mark Ridley-Thomas, is expected to show the number of children in long-term foster care has dropped from 9,918 in 2007 to 6,641 now, the number of children abused or neglected in foster care has fallen from 451 in 2007 to 393 now, and the number of children placed in group homes has decreased 33 percent, according to DCFS figures.
Under the method of funding before the waiver, the county received $30,000 to $150,000 in state and federal funding for each child placed in foster care.
A series of audits in 2003 found private foster-family agencies and group homes had spent millions of taxpayer dollars to drive around in Jaguars and Mercedes and pay for Las Vegas gambling debts, calls to psychic hot lines, jewelry, parties and alcohol.
At the time, former DCFS Director David Sanders said that because of the financial incentives in child-welfare laws, up to half the county's foster children had been unnecessarily placed in a system that is often more dangerous than their homes.
Sanders, who advocated the waiver, said the point of the waiver was to free up a portion of DCFS' $1.8 billion budget to use on services to help families stay together.
In 2007, the federal government granted Los Angeles County and other jurisdictions throughout the nation the waivers. Since then, DCFS has used $88 million that normally would have gone to pay for foster care and put it toward services to help families and keep children out of foster care. At the same time, the number of children in foster homes has dropped from 30,000 in 2003 to 15,000 now.
Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, said there is no evidence the waiver has compromised the safety of children in the county.
"The waiver is the only thing that has kept this whole situation from being even worse," Wexler said. "We know it's possible to improve safety under a waiver because Florida has done it. Without the waiver, huge numbers of additional children will be needlessly torn from everyone they know and love."
troy.anderson@dailynews.com
213-974-8985
By Troy Anderson, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/21/2010 08:50:48 PM PST
Blog
Go behind the yellow tape in the Crime Scene blog
Amid growing concerns about an increase in child abuse and deaths in Los Angeles County, child advocates and county officials are debating what impact new reforms have had in recent years and how to best improve the troubled foster-care system.
The debate centers in part over how the county's Department of Children and Family Services should be funded. A previous method was scrapped in 2007 because it gave financial incentives to tear kids away from their families and place them in foster homes.
The new method essentially involves the county receiving a fixed, capped amount of money under a waiver granted by the federal government.
While most county officials have called it a success, some have questioned whether it has played a role in a recent countywide increase in child abuse and deaths.
DCFS director Trish Ploehn - who reportedly is facing possible ouster from her job because of problems within the department - defended the waiver.
"The waiver itself has been exceptionally successful," Ploehn said. "The old way of doing foster care basically set up an incentive for foster-care agencies to have more children in care. That is not a good way to do child welfare, and research bears out that children always do much better in their own homes. Removing a child from their family is traumatizing to the child."
But Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky has raised concerns recently about the waiver and DCFS' drive to reduce the number of
Advertisement
children in foster care, saying the push has resulted in the county leaving too many children in unsafe environments.
Yaroslavsky did not return calls for comment.
Yaroslavsky's concerns come as the number of child deaths rose from 18 in 2008 to 26 last year. And 23 have been reported this year, putting it on track to surpass last year's figure.
DCFS released the figures under a new law designed to give the public a fuller picture of the number of children who died after county agencies were brought in to investigate reports of abuse or neglect.
County officials, however, have said the apparent statistical increase in deaths may be misleading, because a new law requires an expansion in the number of causes of death that should be counted. The old way primarily focused on homicides, while the new statistics also include drownings, suicides and other types of deaths resulting from accident or neglect.
The number of reports of abuse and neglect also has increased from 182,013 in 2007 to 186,782 last year.
As of Sept. 21, the number stood at 139,571 and was on pace to surpass 2009.
But Ploehn said she believes the rising number of reports of child abuse and neglect in the county is not connected to the waiver or other reforms, but rather the increasing stress on families hit by the nation's weak economy.
Meanwhile, a report slated for release this week is expected to show that the well-being of children in DCFS' care has improved since the waiver went into effect in 2007.
The report, requested by Supervisors Michael Antonovich and Mark Ridley-Thomas, is expected to show the number of children in long-term foster care has dropped from 9,918 in 2007 to 6,641 now, the number of children abused or neglected in foster care has fallen from 451 in 2007 to 393 now, and the number of children placed in group homes has decreased 33 percent, according to DCFS figures.
Under the method of funding before the waiver, the county received $30,000 to $150,000 in state and federal funding for each child placed in foster care.
A series of audits in 2003 found private foster-family agencies and group homes had spent millions of taxpayer dollars to drive around in Jaguars and Mercedes and pay for Las Vegas gambling debts, calls to psychic hot lines, jewelry, parties and alcohol.
At the time, former DCFS Director David Sanders said that because of the financial incentives in child-welfare laws, up to half the county's foster children had been unnecessarily placed in a system that is often more dangerous than their homes.
Sanders, who advocated the waiver, said the point of the waiver was to free up a portion of DCFS' $1.8 billion budget to use on services to help families stay together.
In 2007, the federal government granted Los Angeles County and other jurisdictions throughout the nation the waivers. Since then, DCFS has used $88 million that normally would have gone to pay for foster care and put it toward services to help families and keep children out of foster care. At the same time, the number of children in foster homes has dropped from 30,000 in 2003 to 15,000 now.
Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, said there is no evidence the waiver has compromised the safety of children in the county.
"The waiver is the only thing that has kept this whole situation from being even worse," Wexler said. "We know it's possible to improve safety under a waiver because Florida has done it. Without the waiver, huge numbers of additional children will be needlessly torn from everyone they know and love."
troy.anderson@dailynews.com
213-974-8985
A Child's Right: A Child's Right
A Child's Right: A Child's Right
Welcome to A Child’s Right! This 100% volunteer organization is dedicated to a child's fundamental right to be loved, guided, nurtured and educated by both fit and willing parents. To deny this is wrong. To deny this IS child abuse. Click the link to Watch the video at the very bottom of this webpage and ask yourself if this is in the "best interests of the children".
On this website you will find plenty of useful information and it will be updated frequently! You will find information on the benefits of shared parenting, children and parental rights events, Title IV-D, Support: System Down - The Movie, recommended blogs, A Child’s Right videos, volunteer opportunities, and our newly revised A Child’s Right store.
Welcome to A Child’s Right! This 100% volunteer organization is dedicated to a child's fundamental right to be loved, guided, nurtured and educated by both fit and willing parents. To deny this is wrong. To deny this IS child abuse. Click the link to Watch the video at the very bottom of this webpage and ask yourself if this is in the "best interests of the children".
On this website you will find plenty of useful information and it will be updated frequently! You will find information on the benefits of shared parenting, children and parental rights events, Title IV-D, Support: System Down - The Movie, recommended blogs, A Child’s Right videos, volunteer opportunities, and our newly revised A Child’s Right store.
Oh the stuff I find when not looking for it
Oh the stuff I find when not looking for it
Did you know that...
• 5,800,000 children were referred to Child Protective Services (CPS)
• 3,600,000 were investigated for maltreatment by CPS
• 902,000 children were determined to be victims of abuse or neglect
• The annual estimated direct cost of medical care for child abuse and neglect in the U.S. is $33,101,302,133
• The annual estimated direct AND indirect cost of child abuse and neglect in the U.S. is $103.8 billion in 2007 value
More:
OK, so here's the figures-
5,800,000 reports
3,600,000 investigations (2.2 million "screened out" as obviously false reports to begin with)
902,000 founded cases
Here's how the math works=
Get rid of some extra zeros=
Move the decimal both sides=
Do the math=
THERE'S that magic 15% again. See my previous "85% of all child abuse reports are unfounded" stories.
Leonard Henderson, co-founder
American Family Rights
http://familyrights.us
"Until Every Child Comes Home"©
"The Voice of America's Families"©
COMMENT on this story
"Better be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own." --Aesop (c. 550 B.C.) legendary Greek fabulist
If CPS hasn't attacked YOUR FAMILY yet, see If you are ever approached by anyone from social services.... and WHEN THEY COME AFTER YOU
Learn as much as you can, as fast as you can at How To Fight CPS
Get YOUR VERSION OF HISTORY ON THE RECORD with your Sworn Declaration
Leonard Henderson, co-founder
American Family Rights Association
http://familyrights.us
"Until Every Child Comes Home" ©
"The Voice of America's Families" ©
I am not a lawyer and I do not pretend to give legal advice. If you need legal advice, see AFRA's Lawyer Friends who certainly are not pretenders (http://familyrights.us/info/law) I merely relate the things I learned in the past that seemed to work in my own case or things that others have related to me that worked in their cases. I provide information for free and do not expect to receive any form of payment or reward on this side of heaven. Therefore, DO NOT rely on this information as legal advice. Real Legal advice would come from a real lawyer who hates CPS and prepares a VIGOROUS DEFENSE against a negative (proving nothing happened) instead of talking you into a plea bargain (http://familyrights.us/bin/The_Problem_with_Plea_Bargaining.htm)
AFRA Editorials are NOT copyrighted. Please feel free to forward widely. We are at 100% total complete WAR with CPS, not trying to be famous or important.
Did you know that...
• 5,800,000 children were referred to Child Protective Services (CPS)
• 3,600,000 were investigated for maltreatment by CPS
• 902,000 children were determined to be victims of abuse or neglect
• The annual estimated direct cost of medical care for child abuse and neglect in the U.S. is $33,101,302,133
• The annual estimated direct AND indirect cost of child abuse and neglect in the U.S. is $103.8 billion in 2007 value
More:
OK, so here's the figures-
5,800,000 reports
3,600,000 investigations (2.2 million "screened out" as obviously false reports to begin with)
902,000 founded cases
Here's how the math works=
Get rid of some extra zeros=
Move the decimal both sides=
Do the math=
THERE'S that magic 15% again. See my previous "85% of all child abuse reports are unfounded" stories.
Leonard Henderson, co-founder
American Family Rights
http://familyrights.us
"Until Every Child Comes Home"©
"The Voice of America's Families"©
COMMENT on this story
"Better be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own." --Aesop (c. 550 B.C.) legendary Greek fabulist
If CPS hasn't attacked YOUR FAMILY yet, see If you are ever approached by anyone from social services.... and WHEN THEY COME AFTER YOU
Learn as much as you can, as fast as you can at How To Fight CPS
Get YOUR VERSION OF HISTORY ON THE RECORD with your Sworn Declaration
Leonard Henderson, co-founder
American Family Rights Association
http://familyrights.us
"Until Every Child Comes Home" ©
"The Voice of America's Families" ©
I am not a lawyer and I do not pretend to give legal advice. If you need legal advice, see AFRA's Lawyer Friends who certainly are not pretenders (http://familyrights.us/info/law) I merely relate the things I learned in the past that seemed to work in my own case or things that others have related to me that worked in their cases. I provide information for free and do not expect to receive any form of payment or reward on this side of heaven. Therefore, DO NOT rely on this information as legal advice. Real Legal advice would come from a real lawyer who hates CPS and prepares a VIGOROUS DEFENSE against a negative (proving nothing happened) instead of talking you into a plea bargain (http://familyrights.us/bin/The_Problem_with_Plea_Bargaining.htm)
AFRA Editorials are NOT copyrighted. Please feel free to forward widely. We are at 100% total complete WAR with CPS, not trying to be famous or important.
Questionable Conduct
Questionable Conduct
AFRA EDITORIALS
Guest editorial by Carolynn J. Middleton BA BSc
March 15, 2011
Questionable Conduct
Dear Friends of AFRA,
The other day I met with a woman, at her home, just as a caseworker from the local CPS arrived to do a follow-up, on a report that was made against her. The worker identified herself and gave the reason for her home visit. Against my advice, she beckoned the worker into her home. She invited her to the dinning room table and we all sat down. My introduction immediately followed, which the worker explained made her uncomfortable with my being present, for this interview. My client merely said, "Well, this is a friend of mine and I'm not about to shoo her away, just so you can have an interview!" That having been said the interview continued.
The worker began to ask a few preliminary questions;
The size of my client's home?
How many people were living here?
What were their names?
Their relationship to my client? etc...
With each question the worker had for this woman, to my surprise, she had a question of her own;
Do you like working for the CPS?
Do you often find no grounds to pursue a case?
A friend of mine is a good wife and mother, yet a CPS worker seemed to find something to get their agency
involved and it's been an arduous situation ever since, would you lie, cheat, commit fraud, or just plain distort the facts, just to make a case for your agency's involvement in my family?
Doesn't it bother you that so many people are needlessly involved with your agency, and you guys draw out cases as long as you can, just to keep yourselves involved in a family's private, personal business?
- and last but not least -
Are you just a bureaucrat, or do you honestly believe in what you are doing?
Would you lie, cheat, and/or distort facts if your supervisor told you to?
If you did, wouldn't you find it hard dealing with your conscience?
Wouldn't you find it hard to sleep at night, knowing what you did?
Would you still go after someone, even if you knew this was a good family?
Would you want others to do onto you, as you have done to others?
Needless to say, the worker became quite insulted by these questions and belligerent towards this lady. There was nothing for me to do but smile, and even laugh a bit, under my breath. It really was funny how this client of mine was putting this poor worker on the spot, through the wringer and in the spot light, as it were. It was even more fun just to watch this worker squirm at this woman's questions.
I have to admit I was not in any way suborning what this woman was doing, but she was very clever, with her approach. By the end of the interview, this worker seemed in a hurry to leave. This woman escorted the worker throughout her kitchen and the rest of her home, then answered the worker's questions carefully, honestly, but with an air of caution, and cleverly composed responses. When the worker left, my client showed me a very small tape recorder, she had hidden beneath the dinning room table. She demonstrated how she had started the tape recorder, before the worker came to the door and was just now turning it off.
My client said she would be making a complete transcript of the conversation and the interview, adding aspects that a mere audio recording could not pick up. She also informed me she would be adding quite a bit of narration to the transcript, in order to reveal just what transpired, visually.
About a week later this woman contacted me to let me know she had just received a letter, informing her this worker found no evidence to substantiate the report that had allegedly been filed against her, that there would be no further involvement with the agency, and that the case was closed. My client seemed quite proud of the way she handled the situation. She wasn't belligerent, she wasn't insulted, she wasn't shocked or overwhelmed, but she was very clever in the way she handled this worker's visit;
I must say...
I'm not saying this will work for most people. In fact, if insulted, a worker is just as likely to turn on the client and make a case, just to be annoying and intrusive. But lo and behold, my client's attitude and behavior was just the ticket, in this situation, and she told me that she was fully prepared to deal with this worker.
I asked her how?
She explained that, between information she had received from THE COMMITTEE, and from various articles and material she had read from AFRA, as well as other websites, she determined she was not going to fall into traps and contrivances that others had become victimized by. When she invited this worker into her home, I found it hard to believe that she was following our advice, but as it luckily turned out for her, she handled this worker very well indeed.
Here's one unusual one, for the record, I guess.
And here's one for us...!
Sincerely,
Carolynn J. Middleton BA BSc
( Executive Secretary )
COMMENT on this story
"Better be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own." --Aesop (c. 550 B.C.) legendary Greek fabulist
If CPS hasn't attacked YOUR FAMILY yet, see If you are ever approached by anyone from social services.... and WHEN THEY COME AFTER YOU
Learn as much as you can, as fast as you can at How To Fight CPS
Get YOUR VERSION OF HISTORY ON THE RECORD with your Sworn Declaration
Leonard Henderson, co-founder
American Family Rights Association
http://familyrights.us
"Until Every Child Comes Home" ©
"The Voice of America's Families" ©
I am not a lawyer and I do not pretend to give legal advice. If you need legal advice, see AFRA's Lawyer Friends who certainly are not pretenders (http://familyrights.us/info/law) I merely relate the things I learned in the past that seemed to work in my own case or things that others have related to me that worked in their cases. I provide information for free and do not expect to receive any form of payment or reward on this side of heaven. Therefore, DO NOT rely on this information as legal advice. Real Legal advice would come from a real lawyer who hates CPS and prepares a VIGOROUS DEFENSE against a negative (proving nothing happened) instead of talking you into a plea bargain (http://familyrights.us/bin/The_Problem_with_Plea_Bargaining.htm)
AFRA Editorials are NOT copyrighted. Please feel free to forward widely. We are at 100% total complete WAR with CPS, not trying to be famous or important.
AFRA EDITORIALS
Guest editorial by Carolynn J. Middleton BA BSc
March 15, 2011
Questionable Conduct
Dear Friends of AFRA,
The other day I met with a woman, at her home, just as a caseworker from the local CPS arrived to do a follow-up, on a report that was made against her. The worker identified herself and gave the reason for her home visit. Against my advice, she beckoned the worker into her home. She invited her to the dinning room table and we all sat down. My introduction immediately followed, which the worker explained made her uncomfortable with my being present, for this interview. My client merely said, "Well, this is a friend of mine and I'm not about to shoo her away, just so you can have an interview!" That having been said the interview continued.
The worker began to ask a few preliminary questions;
The size of my client's home?
How many people were living here?
What were their names?
Their relationship to my client? etc...
With each question the worker had for this woman, to my surprise, she had a question of her own;
Do you like working for the CPS?
Do you often find no grounds to pursue a case?
A friend of mine is a good wife and mother, yet a CPS worker seemed to find something to get their agency
involved and it's been an arduous situation ever since, would you lie, cheat, commit fraud, or just plain distort the facts, just to make a case for your agency's involvement in my family?
Doesn't it bother you that so many people are needlessly involved with your agency, and you guys draw out cases as long as you can, just to keep yourselves involved in a family's private, personal business?
- and last but not least -
Are you just a bureaucrat, or do you honestly believe in what you are doing?
Would you lie, cheat, and/or distort facts if your supervisor told you to?
If you did, wouldn't you find it hard dealing with your conscience?
Wouldn't you find it hard to sleep at night, knowing what you did?
Would you still go after someone, even if you knew this was a good family?
Would you want others to do onto you, as you have done to others?
Needless to say, the worker became quite insulted by these questions and belligerent towards this lady. There was nothing for me to do but smile, and even laugh a bit, under my breath. It really was funny how this client of mine was putting this poor worker on the spot, through the wringer and in the spot light, as it were. It was even more fun just to watch this worker squirm at this woman's questions.
I have to admit I was not in any way suborning what this woman was doing, but she was very clever, with her approach. By the end of the interview, this worker seemed in a hurry to leave. This woman escorted the worker throughout her kitchen and the rest of her home, then answered the worker's questions carefully, honestly, but with an air of caution, and cleverly composed responses. When the worker left, my client showed me a very small tape recorder, she had hidden beneath the dinning room table. She demonstrated how she had started the tape recorder, before the worker came to the door and was just now turning it off.
My client said she would be making a complete transcript of the conversation and the interview, adding aspects that a mere audio recording could not pick up. She also informed me she would be adding quite a bit of narration to the transcript, in order to reveal just what transpired, visually.
About a week later this woman contacted me to let me know she had just received a letter, informing her this worker found no evidence to substantiate the report that had allegedly been filed against her, that there would be no further involvement with the agency, and that the case was closed. My client seemed quite proud of the way she handled the situation. She wasn't belligerent, she wasn't insulted, she wasn't shocked or overwhelmed, but she was very clever in the way she handled this worker's visit;
I must say...
I'm not saying this will work for most people. In fact, if insulted, a worker is just as likely to turn on the client and make a case, just to be annoying and intrusive. But lo and behold, my client's attitude and behavior was just the ticket, in this situation, and she told me that she was fully prepared to deal with this worker.
I asked her how?
She explained that, between information she had received from THE COMMITTEE, and from various articles and material she had read from AFRA, as well as other websites, she determined she was not going to fall into traps and contrivances that others had become victimized by. When she invited this worker into her home, I found it hard to believe that she was following our advice, but as it luckily turned out for her, she handled this worker very well indeed.
Here's one unusual one, for the record, I guess.
And here's one for us...!
Sincerely,
Carolynn J. Middleton BA BSc
( Executive Secretary )
COMMENT on this story
"Better be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own." --Aesop (c. 550 B.C.) legendary Greek fabulist
If CPS hasn't attacked YOUR FAMILY yet, see If you are ever approached by anyone from social services.... and WHEN THEY COME AFTER YOU
Learn as much as you can, as fast as you can at How To Fight CPS
Get YOUR VERSION OF HISTORY ON THE RECORD with your Sworn Declaration
Leonard Henderson, co-founder
American Family Rights Association
http://familyrights.us
"Until Every Child Comes Home" ©
"The Voice of America's Families" ©
I am not a lawyer and I do not pretend to give legal advice. If you need legal advice, see AFRA's Lawyer Friends who certainly are not pretenders (http://familyrights.us/info/law) I merely relate the things I learned in the past that seemed to work in my own case or things that others have related to me that worked in their cases. I provide information for free and do not expect to receive any form of payment or reward on this side of heaven. Therefore, DO NOT rely on this information as legal advice. Real Legal advice would come from a real lawyer who hates CPS and prepares a VIGOROUS DEFENSE against a negative (proving nothing happened) instead of talking you into a plea bargain (http://familyrights.us/bin/The_Problem_with_Plea_Bargaining.htm)
AFRA Editorials are NOT copyrighted. Please feel free to forward widely. We are at 100% total complete WAR with CPS, not trying to be famous or important.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)