Judge arranges forced adoption for local politician’s daughter, citing poverty issues alone : Federal Jack
March 11, 2011 by C. Patience Summers
Filed under Establishing The Police State, Featured Stories, Human rights, Police Brutality & Abuse Of Power
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By C. Patience Summers
patiencepoet@ymail.com
http://thecorruptionreport.blogspot.com/
Bad Judge of the day (03-11-11): DISHONORABLE K. Mark Lloyd of Johnson County, In. He has an undisclosed conflict of interest because he sits on the board of directors to the Regional Services Council Committee (RSCC), an agency that decides what DCS contracted agencies will be used in his area. BAD JUDGE!
The following link is a pdf of the minutes of one of these meetings, if anyone is interested in seeing this judge on the roster for one of these: http://www.in.gov/dcs/files/Regional_Service_Council_14_MinutesApril2208.pdf
Occasionally, this reporter will hear about a judge who may not appear to be getting financial incentives for swaying their decisions, but their decisions still appear to be swayed for other reasons, even if it’s just a proverbial pat on the back from their peers or to feel in control of something.
One mother, Sherri Lynne Dungan, claims he allowed her parental rights to be terminated without just cause because the reporting individual who called Child Protective Services, Jodi Checkeye, is the daughter of the influential Warren Beville. Beville was a city councilman for the City of Greenwood, Indiana during the 60′s and 70′s.
Reportedly, Checkeye has custody of Dungan’s son as the result of poverty issues and no actual abuse allegations have been charged against Dungan.
“It’s a nightmare. It’s like she just ordered my son like you order an item from a restaurant,” Dungan cried.
In a brief, telephonic interview, Lloyd said that the RSCC is a statutory committee that decides what contracts the county will use for the foster care system and there are many officials involved besides himself.
He said that there is a process in In. for a judge to go through if they want to sit on the board of directors to a DCS directly contracted agency so that it can be certain to all that there is no conflict of interest involved, but he does not believe this process is needed for his involvement with any of the agencies he is a participant of.
Lloyd also claimed to be on another committee that provided monies to the foster care system.
He also claimed that he was attending college and high school while Beville was in office and did not know him.
Lloyd would not comment on Dungan’s case or why her child was removed without any substantiated allegations of actual abuse in his courtroom.
As of this date, Dungan’s parental rights to her son have been terminated and she hopes to overturn her case.
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
Saturday, March 19, 2011
LePage, Harvey spar on DHHS | The Morning Sentinel, Waterville, ME
LePage, Harvey spar on DHHS | The Morning Sentinel, Waterville, ME
By John Richardson jrichardson@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer
Gov. Paul LePage turned up his criticism of the former leadership at the Department of Health and Human Services on Friday, saying his administration continues to learn about undisclosed financial issues and potential budget problems in the agency.
"The last administration, frankly, I think was anxious to get out of town and did not provide us with a lot of information that we needed to make a strong decision on the supplemental budget and the biennial budget," LePage said while speaking to reporters Friday in Eliot.
Former DHHS Commisisoner Brenda Harvey again brushed off the criticism as political, saying former managers didn't hide any budget problems or leave anything but routine challenges for the new adminsitration.
"It would not be surprising that a new administration is putting all this together and recognizing the complexity of what they are about to manage," Harvey said. "If the expectation was that they were taking on a department with no (financial or regulatory) challenges to deal with, that's not an expectation that would ever be realized."
Last week, Gov. LePage issued a news release saying "New DHHS Leadership Uncovers Budget Errors." On Friday, LePage issued another release under the heading, "$150 Million in New DHHS Finanical Problems."
The administration also attached internal documents it said showed that the former leaders of the department left problems unresolved or undisclosed.
Harvey said there were no errors or secrets, just unwarranted attacks on the department and its staff.
Here are key points of dispute.
* The DHHS has paid $66 million more than budgeted to hospitals, and the new administration is reducing payments for the rest of the fiscal year to balance the account.
The LePage administration maintains the problem occurred because DHHS failed to make accounting changes when it switched to a new system for issuing Medicaid payments to hospitals last fall. It also says former managers did not explain the problem fully during the months leading up to the transition.
Harvey, on the other hand, said the temporary Medicaid overpayment was no error and was intended to help hospitals through the transition to the new payment system. The need to reduce future payments to balance the budget also should have been no surprise to the hospitals or the new administration, she said.
LePage's office on Friday released a Jan. 3 DHHS memo to the incoming administration. The memo gave an update on the Medicaid budget but made no mention of hospital payments being over budget.
On the other hand, a Dec. 8 memo from Harvey to the LePage transition team did show that the payments were $24 million over budget at that time, and a former DHHS manager said he told the new administration in January that future payments would have to be reduced.
* The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General will be coming to Maine to audit $138.9 million in federal Medicaid payments for school-based services from 2006 to 2008. It notified the Baldacci administration in November, but the LePage administration only learned about the impending audit on March 13, LePage said.
Dan Demeritt, LePage's spokesman, said the outgoing administration should have mentioned it. "When the federal government starts asking how you spent hundreds of millions that the taxpayers are accountable for, that's something you've got to be concerned about," Demeritt said.
Harvey said the department's staff works frequently with the federal auditors, and such reviews do not automatically signify a problem.
"In any given year, there could be as many as 30 state and federal audits, which are critical elements of federal oversight and accountability," Harvey said in a written statement Friday. "Such audits are common."
* A state audit found that DHHS may have overbilled the federal government several million dollars for Medicaid claims because of a change in formulas.
The LePage administration said Friday the issue was another example of the financial problems coming to light in the department.
Harvey, on the other hand, said the department had asked for a ruling from the federal government on the issue, and believed it would not be held liable.
Harvey called the attacks on DHHS political.
"I think the governor believes he inherited a mess, and they are (using) every situation they have to manage as confirmation of the mess," she said.
Demeritt said the governor simply wants people to know there are many problems to fix.
"We need to make it clear to the public that the problems we face are not small," he said.
The back-and-forth between LePage and Harvey is playing out mostly in the news media, although lawmakers have been watching. DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew has briefed legislators on the issues and the administration's efforts to review DHHS finances.
Sen. Earle McCormick, R-Gardiner and co-chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee, said it looks to him as though some issues got left unresolved at the end of the Baldacci administration.
"There was so much going on there at the end of the year," he said. "I don't think there was anything intentional."
Sen. Margaret Craven, D-Lewiston and a ranking Democrat on the committee, said the LePage administration may feel surprised because it fired longtime administrators with institutional knowledge. However, issues such as a federal audit are routine and not signs of mismanagement, she said.
"If they knew how government worked, they would know that the federal government came in and audited constantly," she said.
Craven also recalled that Gov. John Baldacci had to deal with problems with the DHHS budget when he came into office in 2003.
"He found invoices and unpaid bills stacked on his desk, and he never, ever pointed a finger," she said. "He was a gentleman. He just picked them up and paid them."
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By John Richardson jrichardson@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer
Gov. Paul LePage turned up his criticism of the former leadership at the Department of Health and Human Services on Friday, saying his administration continues to learn about undisclosed financial issues and potential budget problems in the agency.
"The last administration, frankly, I think was anxious to get out of town and did not provide us with a lot of information that we needed to make a strong decision on the supplemental budget and the biennial budget," LePage said while speaking to reporters Friday in Eliot.
Former DHHS Commisisoner Brenda Harvey again brushed off the criticism as political, saying former managers didn't hide any budget problems or leave anything but routine challenges for the new adminsitration.
"It would not be surprising that a new administration is putting all this together and recognizing the complexity of what they are about to manage," Harvey said. "If the expectation was that they were taking on a department with no (financial or regulatory) challenges to deal with, that's not an expectation that would ever be realized."
Last week, Gov. LePage issued a news release saying "New DHHS Leadership Uncovers Budget Errors." On Friday, LePage issued another release under the heading, "$150 Million in New DHHS Finanical Problems."
The administration also attached internal documents it said showed that the former leaders of the department left problems unresolved or undisclosed.
Harvey said there were no errors or secrets, just unwarranted attacks on the department and its staff.
Here are key points of dispute.
* The DHHS has paid $66 million more than budgeted to hospitals, and the new administration is reducing payments for the rest of the fiscal year to balance the account.
The LePage administration maintains the problem occurred because DHHS failed to make accounting changes when it switched to a new system for issuing Medicaid payments to hospitals last fall. It also says former managers did not explain the problem fully during the months leading up to the transition.
Harvey, on the other hand, said the temporary Medicaid overpayment was no error and was intended to help hospitals through the transition to the new payment system. The need to reduce future payments to balance the budget also should have been no surprise to the hospitals or the new administration, she said.
LePage's office on Friday released a Jan. 3 DHHS memo to the incoming administration. The memo gave an update on the Medicaid budget but made no mention of hospital payments being over budget.
On the other hand, a Dec. 8 memo from Harvey to the LePage transition team did show that the payments were $24 million over budget at that time, and a former DHHS manager said he told the new administration in January that future payments would have to be reduced.
* The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General will be coming to Maine to audit $138.9 million in federal Medicaid payments for school-based services from 2006 to 2008. It notified the Baldacci administration in November, but the LePage administration only learned about the impending audit on March 13, LePage said.
Dan Demeritt, LePage's spokesman, said the outgoing administration should have mentioned it. "When the federal government starts asking how you spent hundreds of millions that the taxpayers are accountable for, that's something you've got to be concerned about," Demeritt said.
Harvey said the department's staff works frequently with the federal auditors, and such reviews do not automatically signify a problem.
"In any given year, there could be as many as 30 state and federal audits, which are critical elements of federal oversight and accountability," Harvey said in a written statement Friday. "Such audits are common."
* A state audit found that DHHS may have overbilled the federal government several million dollars for Medicaid claims because of a change in formulas.
The LePage administration said Friday the issue was another example of the financial problems coming to light in the department.
Harvey, on the other hand, said the department had asked for a ruling from the federal government on the issue, and believed it would not be held liable.
Harvey called the attacks on DHHS political.
"I think the governor believes he inherited a mess, and they are (using) every situation they have to manage as confirmation of the mess," she said.
Demeritt said the governor simply wants people to know there are many problems to fix.
"We need to make it clear to the public that the problems we face are not small," he said.
The back-and-forth between LePage and Harvey is playing out mostly in the news media, although lawmakers have been watching. DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew has briefed legislators on the issues and the administration's efforts to review DHHS finances.
Sen. Earle McCormick, R-Gardiner and co-chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee, said it looks to him as though some issues got left unresolved at the end of the Baldacci administration.
"There was so much going on there at the end of the year," he said. "I don't think there was anything intentional."
Sen. Margaret Craven, D-Lewiston and a ranking Democrat on the committee, said the LePage administration may feel surprised because it fired longtime administrators with institutional knowledge. However, issues such as a federal audit are routine and not signs of mismanagement, she said.
"If they knew how government worked, they would know that the federal government came in and audited constantly," she said.
Craven also recalled that Gov. John Baldacci had to deal with problems with the DHHS budget when he came into office in 2003.
"He found invoices and unpaid bills stacked on his desk, and he never, ever pointed a finger," she said. "He was a gentleman. He just picked them up and paid them."
Were you interviewed for this story? If so, please fill out our accuracy form
Send Question/Comment to the Publisher
Friday, March 18, 2011
NH House investigating impeaching marital master
The Truth Bites "NH"
With the complaints emerging in every legislator’s office about the courts and DCYF, constituents should be very concerned about the 105 who did not vote for an investigation. This state owes 35 million for Medicaid fraud repaying since 2004, who knows what will happen with the banking department, the liquor commission and now the impeachment of Judges and Marital Masters, the conduct of these individuals is more than concerning they all failed to recognize the significance of multiple consumer complaints...
Phillip Cross is one example, other examples are Marital Master Alice Love, Judge Bamberger and unfortunately the list goes on…..
Under Superior Court rules for Marital Masters 12- 14 D. DIVISION OF HUMAN SERVICES REFERRALS
"No referrals for New Hampshire Division of Human Services investigations are to be automatically approved, even when the parties agree. A “show cause” hearing is to be required except in extraordinary circumstances, and when referrals are approved, inquiry is to be made to determine if the party or parties are to bear the costs of reference…"
You have to ask yourself in reference to the telegraph article on 2/24/11 about 3-year-old Christian Jackson who died of “blunt force trauma” and whose death has been ruled as a homicide, whether or not it could it have been avoided if a show cause hearing was done and the division of children youth and families was required to keep him safe. Both the courts and the division of DCYF failed this child one is too many.
Or 2009, a 10 year old girl was being abused by her mother, neighbors called over 300 times without DCYF intervention until she almost dropped in school – telegraph 12/14/06. They are not getting better they are getting worst.
State and Federal Reports round two since 2003 show that the Division of Children Youth and Families and the courts that are supported by them, have failed 67 % of the children and families they are suppose to serve, and that includes the Judges who heard the cases because they did not fully review the material. In several cases the Judges have acted on matters that they had no subject matter or personal jurisdiction to take action on. Documents show that Judges have ordered payments for the non-accused non indigent parents attorneys contrary to NH RSA 169-C:27 (f) and specifically NH RSA 169-C:10 II (a).
The DCYF offices are so unfit that under NH RSA 169- C: 3XXVI Relative placement – they consistently say no relatives could be reached – however every child has an emergency contact card at school and social workers have NEVER shown they utilized this to contact relatives.
Under NH RSA 169-C:28 De Novo Appeals (to be heard anew) in the Superior Court lack consistency across the board in the State of NH and the administration of Superior Courts has no idea of what the protocol is, this is a due process violation to all constituents who have been involved in these types of hearings, simply because the appeal is not made available to ALL. Nevermind the numerous other reasons.
Lets mention the confidential court thing… what else don’t they want the public to know? These legislators should be disgusted and THEY need to get to the bottom of these issues. The above is just a small sample of the abuse families in NH suffer daily CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS the “live free or die motto” was never meant to reflect bureaucrats’ enrichment off the rest of the state.
With the complaints emerging in every legislator’s office about the courts and DCYF, constituents should be very concerned about the 105 who did not vote for an investigation. This state owes 35 million for Medicaid fraud repaying since 2004, who knows what will happen with the banking department, the liquor commission and now the impeachment of Judges and Marital Masters, the conduct of these individuals is more than concerning they all failed to recognize the significance of multiple consumer complaints...
Phillip Cross is one example, other examples are Marital Master Alice Love, Judge Bamberger and unfortunately the list goes on…..
Under Superior Court rules for Marital Masters 12- 14 D. DIVISION OF HUMAN SERVICES REFERRALS
"No referrals for New Hampshire Division of Human Services investigations are to be automatically approved, even when the parties agree. A “show cause” hearing is to be required except in extraordinary circumstances, and when referrals are approved, inquiry is to be made to determine if the party or parties are to bear the costs of reference…"
You have to ask yourself in reference to the telegraph article on 2/24/11 about 3-year-old Christian Jackson who died of “blunt force trauma” and whose death has been ruled as a homicide, whether or not it could it have been avoided if a show cause hearing was done and the division of children youth and families was required to keep him safe. Both the courts and the division of DCYF failed this child one is too many.
Or 2009, a 10 year old girl was being abused by her mother, neighbors called over 300 times without DCYF intervention until she almost dropped in school – telegraph 12/14/06. They are not getting better they are getting worst.
State and Federal Reports round two since 2003 show that the Division of Children Youth and Families and the courts that are supported by them, have failed 67 % of the children and families they are suppose to serve, and that includes the Judges who heard the cases because they did not fully review the material. In several cases the Judges have acted on matters that they had no subject matter or personal jurisdiction to take action on. Documents show that Judges have ordered payments for the non-accused non indigent parents attorneys contrary to NH RSA 169-C:27 (f) and specifically NH RSA 169-C:10 II (a).
The DCYF offices are so unfit that under NH RSA 169- C: 3XXVI Relative placement – they consistently say no relatives could be reached – however every child has an emergency contact card at school and social workers have NEVER shown they utilized this to contact relatives.
Under NH RSA 169-C:28 De Novo Appeals (to be heard anew) in the Superior Court lack consistency across the board in the State of NH and the administration of Superior Courts has no idea of what the protocol is, this is a due process violation to all constituents who have been involved in these types of hearings, simply because the appeal is not made available to ALL. Nevermind the numerous other reasons.
Lets mention the confidential court thing… what else don’t they want the public to know? These legislators should be disgusted and THEY need to get to the bottom of these issues. The above is just a small sample of the abuse families in NH suffer daily CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS the “live free or die motto” was never meant to reflect bureaucrats’ enrichment off the rest of the state.
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