RIVER FOREST, Ill. (STMW) – A River Forest man who took in dozens of foster children since 1996 and volunteered with local youth groups was charged Friday with the sexual abuse of two girls.
Robert L. Gaskill, 63, of the 600 block of Ashland Ave., was ordered held Saturday in lieu of $50 million full cash bond by Judge Gregory P. Vasquez.
In bond court Saturday, prosecutors said Gaskill sexually abused two adolescent girls over a period from 1996 to 2009.
He is scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, at the Maybrook Courthouse in Maywood. Sources said the case is expected to go to a grand jury for possible formal indictment.
A River Forest detective assisted by members of the WEDGE task force arrested Gaskill at his home Thursday. On Friday the Cook County State’s Attorney approved two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault, which is a Class X felony.
Gaskill and his wife have operated a foster care service in their large three-story frame home on Ashland Avenue, and a foster care support system called Tapestry Chicago. He also served on the board of the River Forest Youth Soccer program and was a program coordinator in the late 1990s.
Gaskill currently works as the marketing director at Lydia Home in Chicago, a residential facility for abused children. He previously worked for Mercy Home for Boys and Girls in Chicago.
Gaskill is also a former publisher of the Oak Leaves/Pioneer Press West Group, where he worked for 16 years until the mid 1980s. Following that, he was the president and publisher of Chicago Catholic Publications, which publishes the Chicago Archdiocese’s official newspaper, the New World.
Gaskill was not currently an employee of the Catholic New World or New World Publications, Archdiocese of Chicago spokeswoman Susan Burritt said Saturday. She did not immediately have any information on when he had served as publisher for Chicago Catholic Publications.
In a 2009 interview with the Forest Leaves, Gaskill said he and his wife had “been opening their home to foster children for about 15 years.” Many of them had disabilities of some kind.
He said he had fostered “about 75 different children over that time.”
In 2009, the Gaskills had 12 children, four biological, six adopted and two in foster care.
“Long before we got married, while we were dating, we both agreed we wanted to have large families,” Rob Gaskill said in 2009. “We thought it would be fun to have a lot of children.”
Source http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/02/04/one-time-religious-publisher-foster-parent-charged-with-sex-abuse-of-two-girls/
CPS corruption hurts and destroys families worldwide. Please use caution posting about CPS here or anyplace on the internet. For your protection, using your full, real name and precise location is not advised. CPS has eyes everywhere and CPS is notorious for taking what people say, twisting it, embellishing on it and then using it against them in CPS "investigations" and at court proceedings.
Showing posts with label adopted. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adopted. Show all posts
Monday, February 6, 2012
Parents suing over listing on child abuse index - California
A couple who cut locks of their daughter's hair as punishment for lying are suing an Orange County agency and social worker, saying they were not afforded due process.
By Christopher Goffard
A year after George and Bette McFetridge adopted a troubled teenage girl, the Irvine couple contends, her behavior grew increasingly disconcerting. She neglected her grades, kept company with grown men and ran away repeatedly.
On her camera, the Orange County deputy district attorney and his wife found a photograph of a pentagram, and of words written on pavement: "Torture." "Agony."
To punish her for lying about her whereabouts, Bette McFetridge took a pair of scissors and cut off locks of the girls' hair in early 2008 — a snip for each lie.
The "tough love" punishment led to an allegation of emotional abuse that a social worker deemed "inconclusive" but nevertheless landed the couple on the state's Child Abuse Central Index, where they remained for 11 months.
Now, the McFetridges are suing the Orange County Social Services Agency and Bridget Hannegan, the veteran social worker who handled their case. They allege their inclusion on the list damaged their reputations, stigmatizing them as child abusers, and that they were not afforded due process to fight the label.
Though George McFetridge is a county prosecutor, he is bringing the lawsuit as a private citizen and representing himself in court. In the suit, he alleges the social worker's confidential report about the case was forwarded to the district attorney's office, damaging his reputation, and that having his name on the abuse index impeded his attempt to become a court appointed special advocate.
In Orange County Superior Court on Friday, he told jurors that he used to prosecute child abuse cases in California and Nevada. "I have sent people to prison for child abuse," he said. Of himself and his wife, he added: "We are experienced, successful parents."
The girl, referred to in court only as "Holly," was 15 at the time of the hair-cutting incident. McFetridge said that his wife, concerned about their daughter's behavior, issued multiple warnings to tell the truth or risk punishment. After each lie, she cut another strand. "She cut a third strand, and then Holly started telling the truth," he told jurors. "We made a breakthrough."
He said he received a letter in April 2008 that he and his wife had been reported to the abuse index, but 12 weeks passed before he was able to see the social worker's report. He said the social worker falsely alleged the girl's hair was cut to within an inch of her scalp, leaving silver dollar-sized chunks missing.
The girl is now 18 and no longer living with the McFetridges, who acknowledge the adoption failed. "We're Facebook friends," Mr. McFetridge told jurors.
The couple is seeking $28,000 they spent to send the girl to a residential program, plus $1 a month for each month they spent on the abuse index.
Daniel Spradlin, attorney for the Social Services Agency and the social worker, told jurors the agency's actions were "reasonable and appropriate."
He described the girl as "a very emotionally troubled child," adding: "Nobody is saying Mr. and Mrs. McFetridge are bad people.… Maybe they did not appreciate how deep her troubles were." He said the girl believed herself a failure in her parents' eyes. "Mom wanted a daughter who was an avid reader," he said, which the girl was not.
Spradlin said Mrs. McFetridge grew resentful that the girl did not seem to appreciate the life they were trying to give her. He said the girl "had nothing" when they adopted her, but that her appearance — particularly her hair — was a large part of her identity.
"They used what the child's most precious possession was" to discipline her, he said.
The case is expected to continue next week.
Source http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0204-abuse-20120204,0,5961191.story
By Christopher Goffard
A year after George and Bette McFetridge adopted a troubled teenage girl, the Irvine couple contends, her behavior grew increasingly disconcerting. She neglected her grades, kept company with grown men and ran away repeatedly.
On her camera, the Orange County deputy district attorney and his wife found a photograph of a pentagram, and of words written on pavement: "Torture." "Agony."
To punish her for lying about her whereabouts, Bette McFetridge took a pair of scissors and cut off locks of the girls' hair in early 2008 — a snip for each lie.
The "tough love" punishment led to an allegation of emotional abuse that a social worker deemed "inconclusive" but nevertheless landed the couple on the state's Child Abuse Central Index, where they remained for 11 months.
Now, the McFetridges are suing the Orange County Social Services Agency and Bridget Hannegan, the veteran social worker who handled their case. They allege their inclusion on the list damaged their reputations, stigmatizing them as child abusers, and that they were not afforded due process to fight the label.
Though George McFetridge is a county prosecutor, he is bringing the lawsuit as a private citizen and representing himself in court. In the suit, he alleges the social worker's confidential report about the case was forwarded to the district attorney's office, damaging his reputation, and that having his name on the abuse index impeded his attempt to become a court appointed special advocate.
In Orange County Superior Court on Friday, he told jurors that he used to prosecute child abuse cases in California and Nevada. "I have sent people to prison for child abuse," he said. Of himself and his wife, he added: "We are experienced, successful parents."
The girl, referred to in court only as "Holly," was 15 at the time of the hair-cutting incident. McFetridge said that his wife, concerned about their daughter's behavior, issued multiple warnings to tell the truth or risk punishment. After each lie, she cut another strand. "She cut a third strand, and then Holly started telling the truth," he told jurors. "We made a breakthrough."
He said he received a letter in April 2008 that he and his wife had been reported to the abuse index, but 12 weeks passed before he was able to see the social worker's report. He said the social worker falsely alleged the girl's hair was cut to within an inch of her scalp, leaving silver dollar-sized chunks missing.
The girl is now 18 and no longer living with the McFetridges, who acknowledge the adoption failed. "We're Facebook friends," Mr. McFetridge told jurors.
The couple is seeking $28,000 they spent to send the girl to a residential program, plus $1 a month for each month they spent on the abuse index.
Daniel Spradlin, attorney for the Social Services Agency and the social worker, told jurors the agency's actions were "reasonable and appropriate."
He described the girl as "a very emotionally troubled child," adding: "Nobody is saying Mr. and Mrs. McFetridge are bad people.… Maybe they did not appreciate how deep her troubles were." He said the girl believed herself a failure in her parents' eyes. "Mom wanted a daughter who was an avid reader," he said, which the girl was not.
Spradlin said Mrs. McFetridge grew resentful that the girl did not seem to appreciate the life they were trying to give her. He said the girl "had nothing" when they adopted her, but that her appearance — particularly her hair — was a large part of her identity.
"They used what the child's most precious possession was" to discipline her, he said.
The case is expected to continue next week.
Source http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0204-abuse-20120204,0,5961191.story
Sunday, January 1, 2012
“They were just suspicious of me from the beginning” - Iowa
by Jennifer Hemmingsen
When Victor Rodgers heard that his baby had been born, he headed to the hospital.
Even though he and the child’s mother weren’t together anymore, he planned on being an involved dad.
It was February 2009 — five weeks before her due date — but his ex’s new boyfriend had beaten her so badly that doctors had to deliver the baby. That’s how the Iowa Department of Human Services got involved.
Rodgers wanted to take his daughter home with him, but the DHS worker said he would have to go through the agency. She placed the baby with a foster family.
It took three months for DHS to confirm Rodgers’ paternity. Again, he asked to take his daughter home. Instead, the agency allowed him to visit her. Twice a week. With supervision.
Even though Rodgers had no history of child abuse or neglect, DHS would make him jump through more than two years’ worth of hoops to prove he was good enough to keep her.
He’s not alone. A recent third-party analysis of Linn County DHS, conducted by the non-profit Center for the Study of Social Policy, cited a concerning, widespread confusion between child safety and the potential risk of future harm among Cedar Rapids child welfare workers. The confusion was further compounded by “stigma, labeling and negative inferences drawn based on a family’s history.”
The analysis noted a “culture of caution” that leads to excessive intervention, coercion and monitoring of families, particularly black families. It found “the child protection system and its partners intervened with some African-American families in extensive ways with no clear reason or rationale.”
As Rodgers, now 48, tells it: “They were just suspicious of me from the beginning.”
Over the next few months, DHS records show, Rodgers worked his way up from supervised to unsupervised visits, meeting every personal and parenting goal the agency laid out for him. In October 2009, he even had his girlfriend, Molly, who had an extensive history with DHS, move out of his apartment because his caseworker told him to.
Rodgers agreed to take his daughter, Karee, to a safe place and call police, if Molly or Karee’s mother showed up at his apartment. By December 2009, he was consistently having weekend-long visits with his child. Social workers would drop in unannounced twice a day just to monitor his care. Things were going fine.
By Jan. 13, 2010, DHS gave him full-time custody of Karee on a trial basis — the last step toward reunification.
That month, when Molly showed up at Rodgers’ place, he took Karee to his cousin’s house, in accordance with the safety plan.
Yet when police arrived, Molly told them she lived there, and it was Rodgers who was forced to leave. When he returned later that night, Molly stabbed him in the shoulder. The next day, a DHS worker showed up at Rodgers’ home with police, demanding Karee.
Rodgers refused to hand over the child without a court order. Instead, police stunned him with a Taser and took Karee. DHS moved him back to fully supervised visits.
Still, caseworkers were positive about his progress, noting that Rodgers had maintained stable housing, employment and school throughout the case. He had everything needed to care for Karee and was showing good parenting skills.
“Victor has been able to do what DHS wanted done and progress to getting Karee home,” a February 2010 note reads. “Victor is very conscientious in moving forward in his life for himself and Karee.
“Victor did a lot of things right in the incident with Molly in attempts to keep Karee safe, including removing her from the situation,” the caseworker wrote. “She was kept safe.”
Perplexingly, though, just a few lines later: “Victor needs to be able to show he can protect Karee.”
Rodgers had planned on moving back to Illinois to be close to his sister once he got custody of Karee. He never got the chance.
On May 10, 2010, police again found Molly at Rodgers’ apartment. The state filed a petition to terminate Rodgers’ rights.
Rodgers continued to visit his daughter, under supervision. The worker’s notes are poignant: “Victor was very appropriate.” … “Victor was calm and relaxed during the visit, but did seem to be sad when this worker took Karee to his vehicle and drove off.” … “Karee never wanted her dad to let go of her.” … “Karee was very content sleeping in her dad’s arms for the majority of the visit.”
At Rodgers’ termination hearing that August, the social worker testified she didn’t believe Rodgers ever would harm his child. She was just worried he wouldn’t be able to keep her safe.
On Nov. 16, 2010, Rodgers’ parental rights were terminated. He appealed. He lost.
Karee would later be adopted by an unrelated family.
“Still to this day, I don’t have an allegation of child abuse or child neglect or anything,” he said. “I’m a good parent. They said I did a great job.”
That wasn’t good enough for a system that demands parents not only prove they’ve kept their children safe but judges their fitness to parent and rights to their children based on a theoretical future harm.
Source http://thegazette.com/2011/12/31/they-were-just-suspicious-of-me-from-the-beginning/
When Victor Rodgers heard that his baby had been born, he headed to the hospital.
Even though he and the child’s mother weren’t together anymore, he planned on being an involved dad.
It was February 2009 — five weeks before her due date — but his ex’s new boyfriend had beaten her so badly that doctors had to deliver the baby. That’s how the Iowa Department of Human Services got involved.
Rodgers wanted to take his daughter home with him, but the DHS worker said he would have to go through the agency. She placed the baby with a foster family.
It took three months for DHS to confirm Rodgers’ paternity. Again, he asked to take his daughter home. Instead, the agency allowed him to visit her. Twice a week. With supervision.
Even though Rodgers had no history of child abuse or neglect, DHS would make him jump through more than two years’ worth of hoops to prove he was good enough to keep her.
He’s not alone. A recent third-party analysis of Linn County DHS, conducted by the non-profit Center for the Study of Social Policy, cited a concerning, widespread confusion between child safety and the potential risk of future harm among Cedar Rapids child welfare workers. The confusion was further compounded by “stigma, labeling and negative inferences drawn based on a family’s history.”
The analysis noted a “culture of caution” that leads to excessive intervention, coercion and monitoring of families, particularly black families. It found “the child protection system and its partners intervened with some African-American families in extensive ways with no clear reason or rationale.”
As Rodgers, now 48, tells it: “They were just suspicious of me from the beginning.”
Over the next few months, DHS records show, Rodgers worked his way up from supervised to unsupervised visits, meeting every personal and parenting goal the agency laid out for him. In October 2009, he even had his girlfriend, Molly, who had an extensive history with DHS, move out of his apartment because his caseworker told him to.
Rodgers agreed to take his daughter, Karee, to a safe place and call police, if Molly or Karee’s mother showed up at his apartment. By December 2009, he was consistently having weekend-long visits with his child. Social workers would drop in unannounced twice a day just to monitor his care. Things were going fine.
By Jan. 13, 2010, DHS gave him full-time custody of Karee on a trial basis — the last step toward reunification.
That month, when Molly showed up at Rodgers’ place, he took Karee to his cousin’s house, in accordance with the safety plan.
Yet when police arrived, Molly told them she lived there, and it was Rodgers who was forced to leave. When he returned later that night, Molly stabbed him in the shoulder. The next day, a DHS worker showed up at Rodgers’ home with police, demanding Karee.
Rodgers refused to hand over the child without a court order. Instead, police stunned him with a Taser and took Karee. DHS moved him back to fully supervised visits.
Still, caseworkers were positive about his progress, noting that Rodgers had maintained stable housing, employment and school throughout the case. He had everything needed to care for Karee and was showing good parenting skills.
“Victor has been able to do what DHS wanted done and progress to getting Karee home,” a February 2010 note reads. “Victor is very conscientious in moving forward in his life for himself and Karee.
“Victor did a lot of things right in the incident with Molly in attempts to keep Karee safe, including removing her from the situation,” the caseworker wrote. “She was kept safe.”
Perplexingly, though, just a few lines later: “Victor needs to be able to show he can protect Karee.”
Rodgers had planned on moving back to Illinois to be close to his sister once he got custody of Karee. He never got the chance.
On May 10, 2010, police again found Molly at Rodgers’ apartment. The state filed a petition to terminate Rodgers’ rights.
Rodgers continued to visit his daughter, under supervision. The worker’s notes are poignant: “Victor was very appropriate.” … “Victor was calm and relaxed during the visit, but did seem to be sad when this worker took Karee to his vehicle and drove off.” … “Karee never wanted her dad to let go of her.” … “Karee was very content sleeping in her dad’s arms for the majority of the visit.”
At Rodgers’ termination hearing that August, the social worker testified she didn’t believe Rodgers ever would harm his child. She was just worried he wouldn’t be able to keep her safe.
On Nov. 16, 2010, Rodgers’ parental rights were terminated. He appealed. He lost.
Karee would later be adopted by an unrelated family.
“Still to this day, I don’t have an allegation of child abuse or child neglect or anything,” he said. “I’m a good parent. They said I did a great job.”
That wasn’t good enough for a system that demands parents not only prove they’ve kept their children safe but judges their fitness to parent and rights to their children based on a theoretical future harm.
Source http://thegazette.com/2011/12/31/they-were-just-suspicious-of-me-from-the-beginning/
Thursday, December 29, 2011
CPS caseworkers tell of own lives in system
By ANITA HASSAN
What Gaby Valladares remembers most about many past Christmas holidays is receiving a drugstore alarm clock. Year after year, for five years in a row.
It was not a gift she particularly wanted, but it reminded her of one thing: She was in foster care. The clock was a present from her foster families that was provided to them by a child placement agency.
"It's one of the reasons, to this day, that I can't use an alarm clock," she said.
Valladares, now 27, spent almost all of her teens in foster care in the Houston region until she "aged out," becoming too old to be in Child Protective Services.
The one-time foster child went on to make her career as a CPS youth specialist in Harris County, helping teenagers who grew up in the same environment she did.
She mentors teens who age out of CPS, trying to help them cope with life after years of foster care.
It is not uncommon for people who went through the system to find careers as adults in the agency or with other social service organizations, said Estella Olguin, CPS spokeswoman for the county.
Some, like Valladares, say that working for CPS allows them to use their personal experiences to make a difference in others' lives.
CPS custody at age 7
They can also help improve an agency they were intimately familiar with for years.
"I do what I do because of what happened to me," said 23-year-old Megan Davis, a CPS caseworker in the intensive investigations unit in Harris County.
Davis said she and her twin sister were placed into CPS custody at age 7 after suffering physical abuse by their stepfather.
She recalls at least three caseworkers coming to her home to investigate her parents when she was a girl. The caseworker she remembers most is the one who made a second visit and finally removed the twins from the home.
Davis and her sister were fortunate enough to be placed in the same foster care home, and by the time they were 14, both had been adopted by the same family.
"I can honestly say she (the caseworker) saved me and my sister's life," Davis said. "It was the fact that she didn't forget us. It was nice to finally be remembered."
That experience not only led Davis to become a CPS caseworker herself but also shaped the way she works with the children assigned to her. For one thing, she says, it has taught her to spend time building a rapport with each child and to look for the same signs of abuse that she herself exhibited.
"It also always reminds me not to remove (children from parents' custody) too quickly," she said.
Although Davis has many cases - at one point she had at least 42 - she remembers every child's name.
"Because I don't forget them, the way my caseworker didn't forget me," she said.
Valladares also knows that her own experiences help her make better connections with the young people she works with.
"At least they can know, I may not feel what you feel, but I can relate," she said.
By the time she was 15, Valladares and her younger brother and sister were living in a Houston homeless shelter with their mother.
Eventually, a CPS caseworker was called to the shelter and the children were removed from their mother's custody. The decision was mostly based on the fact that the children had been out of school for two consecutive years, Valladares said.
Siblings separarted
The caseworker tried hard to keep Valladares and her siblings together, but the children were split up not long after being taken away from their mother.
Valladares ended up living in five foster care homes in less than a year.
It wasn't until she ended up in a home in La Porte that she was able to finish high school. Because she had missed so much school, however, Valladares said she started her freshman year at 17.
Many people tried to convince her that she should get her GED, but Valladares decided to stay in school.
"I had so many obstacles to get there, and once I had the opportunity to knock high school out of the way I was like, 'I'm going to do this,' " she said.
While many children age out of foster care at 18, Valladares stayed in the system until she finished high school at 20.
Sharing her struggles
After graduation, Valladares moved to Houston and began attending classes at Texas Southern University. She worked graveyard shifts at McDonald's to supplement an allowance the state began paying her when she left foster care.
In 2006, she went to work for CPS when the youth specialist positions were created in the agency.
Valladares works at the The Houston Alumni and Youth Center, a transitional facility where teens aging out the system can come for assistance.
Part of her job at the H.A.Y. Center is to help youngsters in foster care understand what resources are available to them after they age out.
One of the most important parts of her job is being open about sharing her own struggles in foster care, and in life afterward.
"The more personal, the better," Valladares said. "I feel like sometimes they need to look at me not as a (CPS) worker, but as someone who takes pride in having made it out of the system."
Juanetta Smith, 27, is another CPS employee who spent several years in foster care. Smith, however, had no aspirations of making a career at CPS.
"In all honesty, I did not want to work for CPS, because I had known CPS from a negative perspective as a child," she said.
Smith said she entered foster care at age 14 after being taken from her parents because they were cocaine addicts.
After going into state custody, Smith had a difficult time in several foster homes. At one point, she even ran away and ended up spending time in a juvenile facility.
She eventually was placed with a foster family near Austin. That turned out to be a good match, and she stayed with the family until she aged out of the system at 18.
Destiny at work
After graduating from college, Smith filled out several job applications, and CPS was the first to call her back.
She gave the job a chance, and found that she loved it.
"I feel like I'm destined to be here," she said.
Smith started out as an investigator, but now works in the foster and adoption department at the agency in Harris County. Her job is providing the training to help prepare people who want to become foster or adoptive parents.
She enjoys being able to offer people her perspective on what life was like in foster care, as well as explain the problems she had coming into it.
"I tell them, 'Anything you want to ask me, I am open to answer,' " Smith said. "I want them to know that these kids coming into their homes are going to have some issues, a lot of issues similar to the things I went through."
Source http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/CPS-caseworkers-tell-of-own-lives-in-system-2423703.php
What Gaby Valladares remembers most about many past Christmas holidays is receiving a drugstore alarm clock. Year after year, for five years in a row.
It was not a gift she particularly wanted, but it reminded her of one thing: She was in foster care. The clock was a present from her foster families that was provided to them by a child placement agency.
"It's one of the reasons, to this day, that I can't use an alarm clock," she said.
Valladares, now 27, spent almost all of her teens in foster care in the Houston region until she "aged out," becoming too old to be in Child Protective Services.
The one-time foster child went on to make her career as a CPS youth specialist in Harris County, helping teenagers who grew up in the same environment she did.
She mentors teens who age out of CPS, trying to help them cope with life after years of foster care.
It is not uncommon for people who went through the system to find careers as adults in the agency or with other social service organizations, said Estella Olguin, CPS spokeswoman for the county.
Some, like Valladares, say that working for CPS allows them to use their personal experiences to make a difference in others' lives.
CPS custody at age 7
They can also help improve an agency they were intimately familiar with for years.
"I do what I do because of what happened to me," said 23-year-old Megan Davis, a CPS caseworker in the intensive investigations unit in Harris County.
Davis said she and her twin sister were placed into CPS custody at age 7 after suffering physical abuse by their stepfather.
She recalls at least three caseworkers coming to her home to investigate her parents when she was a girl. The caseworker she remembers most is the one who made a second visit and finally removed the twins from the home.
Davis and her sister were fortunate enough to be placed in the same foster care home, and by the time they were 14, both had been adopted by the same family.
"I can honestly say she (the caseworker) saved me and my sister's life," Davis said. "It was the fact that she didn't forget us. It was nice to finally be remembered."
That experience not only led Davis to become a CPS caseworker herself but also shaped the way she works with the children assigned to her. For one thing, she says, it has taught her to spend time building a rapport with each child and to look for the same signs of abuse that she herself exhibited.
"It also always reminds me not to remove (children from parents' custody) too quickly," she said.
Although Davis has many cases - at one point she had at least 42 - she remembers every child's name.
"Because I don't forget them, the way my caseworker didn't forget me," she said.
Valladares also knows that her own experiences help her make better connections with the young people she works with.
"At least they can know, I may not feel what you feel, but I can relate," she said.
By the time she was 15, Valladares and her younger brother and sister were living in a Houston homeless shelter with their mother.
Eventually, a CPS caseworker was called to the shelter and the children were removed from their mother's custody. The decision was mostly based on the fact that the children had been out of school for two consecutive years, Valladares said.
Siblings separarted
The caseworker tried hard to keep Valladares and her siblings together, but the children were split up not long after being taken away from their mother.
Valladares ended up living in five foster care homes in less than a year.
It wasn't until she ended up in a home in La Porte that she was able to finish high school. Because she had missed so much school, however, Valladares said she started her freshman year at 17.
Many people tried to convince her that she should get her GED, but Valladares decided to stay in school.
"I had so many obstacles to get there, and once I had the opportunity to knock high school out of the way I was like, 'I'm going to do this,' " she said.
While many children age out of foster care at 18, Valladares stayed in the system until she finished high school at 20.
Sharing her struggles
After graduation, Valladares moved to Houston and began attending classes at Texas Southern University. She worked graveyard shifts at McDonald's to supplement an allowance the state began paying her when she left foster care.
In 2006, she went to work for CPS when the youth specialist positions were created in the agency.
Valladares works at the The Houston Alumni and Youth Center, a transitional facility where teens aging out the system can come for assistance.
Part of her job at the H.A.Y. Center is to help youngsters in foster care understand what resources are available to them after they age out.
One of the most important parts of her job is being open about sharing her own struggles in foster care, and in life afterward.
"The more personal, the better," Valladares said. "I feel like sometimes they need to look at me not as a (CPS) worker, but as someone who takes pride in having made it out of the system."
Juanetta Smith, 27, is another CPS employee who spent several years in foster care. Smith, however, had no aspirations of making a career at CPS.
"In all honesty, I did not want to work for CPS, because I had known CPS from a negative perspective as a child," she said.
Smith said she entered foster care at age 14 after being taken from her parents because they were cocaine addicts.
After going into state custody, Smith had a difficult time in several foster homes. At one point, she even ran away and ended up spending time in a juvenile facility.
She eventually was placed with a foster family near Austin. That turned out to be a good match, and she stayed with the family until she aged out of the system at 18.
Destiny at work
After graduating from college, Smith filled out several job applications, and CPS was the first to call her back.
She gave the job a chance, and found that she loved it.
"I feel like I'm destined to be here," she said.
Smith started out as an investigator, but now works in the foster and adoption department at the agency in Harris County. Her job is providing the training to help prepare people who want to become foster or adoptive parents.
She enjoys being able to offer people her perspective on what life was like in foster care, as well as explain the problems she had coming into it.
"I tell them, 'Anything you want to ask me, I am open to answer,' " Smith said. "I want them to know that these kids coming into their homes are going to have some issues, a lot of issues similar to the things I went through."
Source http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/CPS-caseworkers-tell-of-own-lives-in-system-2423703.php
Friday, December 16, 2011
Lawsuit Claims CPS Removed Kids Out of Spite - Texas
RANDY WALLACE
Investigative Reporter
HOUSTON - If Child Protective Services had its way, 5-year-old Katelynn Allen wouldn't be with her grandmother right now. Neither would her 6-year-old brother Elisha.
CPS wanted them to be adopted by non-relatives.
"I don't even think I can find a word that can summarize what I went through," said the children's grandmother, Houston Minister Teresa Allen.
It was Allen who first contacted CPS back in August of 2009.
She was concerned about her grandkids because of her daughter's alleged drug use.
Three months went by and nothing happened.
In the meantime Allen took the kids to keep them safe.
Then, according to her lawsuit against CPS, a CPS caseworker called.
That case worker stated, "She was in fear of losing her job for missing a deadline to investigate the matter."
Allen complained to the case workers supervisor and anyone else with CPS that would listen.
She wanted action.
"You go all the way to the top and you just can't believe that there was no one in authority that could have stopped, looked and listened and investigated my complaint," Allen said.
"She finally went over the head of the case worker, then over the head of a supervisor to the program director," said Allen's attorney Chris Branson. " She was told in no uncertain terms that that was a bad move on her part and they were going to show her exactly what happens to people who make bad moves."
The next day Branson said CPS took Allen's two young grandkids away from her.
"I did not know what was going on, I did not know why," Allen said.
"The initial taking was illegal," Branson said.
Branson said CPS claimed the kids were in danger that's why they took them with no court order in hand.
"My client did nothing to have CPS take these kids, nothing came out later," Branson said.
For the next 11 months the lawsuit claims CPS workers did everything they could to discredit Allen who was denied access to her grandkids, and was repeatedly told they would be adopted by non relatives and she would never see them again.
"Anger, fear, the rejection, I mean it makes you feel less than a human being," Allen said.
In a hearing the grandmother won the right to get her grandkids back. But she hopes the lawsuit will lead to changes at CPS.
"We believe this is a good case to set a precedent that will send a clear and distinct message to Child Protective Services to clean up their act and do things the right way," Branson said.
Source http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/investigates/111216-child-protective-services-dispute
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Forensic pathologist: Nathaniel Craver's injuries could not be self-inflicted
"Traumatic brain injury" and "failure to thrive" caused Russian boy's death
By RICK LEE
Daily Record/Sunday News
Posted: 09/07/2011 09:29:04 AM EDT
A close-up photograph of 7-year-old Nathaniel Craver's face as he lay on an autopsy table showed his swollen head.
How extensive that swelling was became apparent when his head was compared to the frailness of his neck.
Dr. Wayne Ross, a forensic pathologist who has performed more than 9,000 autopsies and post-mortem exams, could not keep the astonishment out of his voice as he described the dead boy to the jury.
"His head, virtually his entire head, was swollen up like a balloon," he said. "And I don't mean just a little bit of swelling. The entire skull and head looked like a watermelon. Like an alien."
Ross, who conducts many York County autopsies for suspicious deaths, was testifying on the second day of trial for Michael and Nanette Craver, the Carroll Township couple accused of killing Nathaniel, their adopted Russian son.
Nathaniel died on Aug. 25, 2009 at Hershey Medical Center, five days after Michael Craver, 46, rushed him to the hospital.
Ross was on the witness stand for more than four hours, testifying about the boy's injuries and giving his expert opinion how they occurred. He said Nathaniel died from "complications of a traumatic brain injury" and "severe failure to thrive."
He said he was told before autopsy that Nathaniel's parents said he had a history of injuring himself.
Michael and Nanette Craver, 55, have maintained the boy struck his head on a wood stove in their home. They told police, doctors and child abuse investigators Nathaniel seemed all right except for a mark on his head. They put an ice pack on the mark and put him to bed about 45 minutes later. In they morning, they said, they could not rouse him.
Ross told the jury he began his examination from that aspect.
He said, during his examination, he turned to the police officer observing the autopsy and told him the boy's death "needed to be pursued from the aspect of abuse caused by another person."
Ross said he found evidence of injury to the right side of the boy's brain, a subdural hematoma, from an impact "of hundreds of Gs of force," inflicted about two weeks before he was brought to the hospital in a coma.
Ross said the swelling of the boy's head was the result of "multiple impacts."
Relying on photographs taken of Nathaniel during the summer of 2009, including one of a healthy, well-toned shirtless boy, Ross concluded that six weeks before his death the boy suffered repeated impacts to his head, pulled legs and arms, blunt force trauma to the chest, possibly was bound and was starved.
The doctor also found evidence of a skull fracture on the right side of the head, a healing broken rib, compression spinal injuries, and high enzyme levels confirming liver and heart damage.
The child otherwise was covered with small bruises and abrasions on his chest and back. In a picture of the dead child laying on his back, every rib could easily be counted.
Ross said Nathaniel's swollen brain at autopsy "was a mess."
"It was soft as anything," he said. "It was purple and it was dead. Flat and mushy and just horrible."
On cross-examination, defense attorneys pushed Ross with alternative theories for the injuries, such as fetal alcohol syndrome, self-abuse, genetic disorders and diseases. Ross conceded such theories could account for injuries in some cases but "not in this case."
He said he specifically looked for and did not find evidence of alcohol fetal syndrome in Nathaniel's brain.
When York County Office of Children, Youth and Families placed Nathaniel and his twin sister, Elizabeth, in her foster care at age 5, "They asked me to watch them to see if they injured themselves in any way," foster mother Lori Ferree said.
She testified neither child did while in her care for about two weeks.
Ferree said Nathaniel was an active boy who loved to play but seemed confused about being allowed to play in the dirt and get dirty. She said when she would take the children for supervised visits with the parents, the children would return in more "formal" clothes.
She said Nanette Craver chided her one time for dressing Elizabeth in the wrong shoes for her outfit."
Catholic Charities parent educator Lisa Blake testified that Michael Craver railed against Children, Youth and Families' "interference" in the family's lives.
She said during one meeting with him, he was so verbally abusive, she was happy to cut the session short.
Andrew Blochichak, a family physician and Nanette Craver's brother-in-law, testified he did not see Michael and Nathaniel Craver at any family gatherings the summer of 2009. He said he did see Nanette and Elizabeth. His testimony implied Nathaniel was being kept from sight.
He said he asked Nanette why Nathaniel was not at a July 4th party and a later wedding.
"Nanette said, 'Nathaniel is a handful,' and she didn't want to bring him," he said.
Source http://www.ydr.com/crime/ci_18841999?source=most_viewed
Jury hears details of adopted Russian boy's serious injuries
The Carroll Township couple, which adopted twins, have remained in prison.
By RICK LEE
Daily Record/Sunday News
Posted: 09/06/2011 08:56:57 AM EDT
After Michael Craver rushed his unresponsive 7-year-old son to Holy Spirit Hospital, the first doctor to examine him noticed an unstitched, healing wound on the back of the boy's head.
Beside the boy's frighteningly swollen face, mottled bluish skin, fixed pupils, raspy respiration and deep coma, the doctor wondered about the untreated head wound.
Dr. Nicholas J.T. Baran said Craver told him, "These injuries kind of happen all of the time."
Craver later said, "... it's amazing what you get used to," a York County Child abuse investigator said.
Nathaniel Craver, Michael and Nanette Craver's adopted Russian son, died at Hershey Medical Center on Aug, 25, 2009, five days after he was first taken to the hospital.
Tuesday
(SUBMITTED)in opening statements in the York County Judicial Center, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Tim Barker said the Cravers were charged with the boy's murder for both inflicting the injuries and denying him their parental duty to care for and protect him. Both parents are charged with criminal homicide, endangering the welfare of a child and conspiracy.
Barker told the jury of Nathaniel's uncountable injuries spread "head to toe" over his body. He said there was evidence of repeated physical abuse, "pattern" injuries and binding.
He focused specifically on the boy's swollen face and his underlying head injuries. Barker said he was told people cried when they saw Nathaniel in the hospital and that some described his appearance as "a little monster."
He said the Cravers' contention that the boy's physical and emotional disorders - fetal alcohol syndrome and reactive detachment disorder - and allegations of injuring himself resulted in his death.
"The defendants have used Nathaniel's background .... to cover what was really going on," he said. "There is only one conclusion. he did not self-abuse himself to death."
First Assistant Public Defender Clasina Mahoney argued that is exactly what happened. She said the Cravers "did not sit back and watch it happen, as the commonwealth would have you believe. They desperately searched for help."
They sought answers from doctors and hospitals throughout southeastern Pennsylvania, including Hershey Medical Center and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, she said.
She said therapy at a Lancaster facility, where Michael Craver batted balloons with his son and acted like a princess with his daughter, Nathaniel's twin sister, helped the girl who had similar problems, but not Nathaniel.
The first day of testimony focused on Nathaniel's appearance when he entered the hospital. His parents said he had hit his head on a wood stove in their Carroll Township home.
An emergency room nurse at Holy Spirit Hospital said the boy's head, "to me, felt like a wet sponge."
Baran testified Nathaniel registered the lowest possible score on a medical coma test. He also told the jury that a scan of the grotesquely swollen left side of the boy's face showed no subdural fresh bleeding and was the result of an older injury.
Dr. Mark Iantosca, a Hershey Medical Center neurosurgeon who removed part of Nathaniel's skull to relieve the swelling, said he found older blood under the boy's scalp and fresh blood pushing on his brain.
Iantosca also said the injury could have happened the way the Cravers' said it did.
"I think a 7-year-old child, throwing himself with a running start headfirst into a metal object would be sufficient to cause that injury," he said.
He added that the head injury could have been caused by "a closed fist, a blunt object or a car accident ...."
He also agreed with the defense that the child could have appeared uninjured and then suffered bleeding and swelling of the brain during the night.
The trial continues today and is expected to last through next week.
Parents' defense
On trial for murder, Michael and Nanette Craver maintain they never harmed their 7-year-old son, Nathaniel, but that the boy they adopted at 18 months old in Russia had physical and emotional problems that caused him to injure himself.
From the time Nathaniel was rushed to Holy Spirit Hospital on Aug. 20, 2009, to their arrests in February 2010 to the first day of their trial in the York County Judicial Center, they have consistently said the boy struck his head on a wood stove in the couple's Carroll Township home.
According to testimony, evidence and statements presented in court Tuesday during the first day of trial, the jury learned:
Nathaniel and his twin sister were born prematurely in a Russian prison to a mother with substance abuse problems;
Both children were diagnosed in the United States with fetal alcohol syndrome and reactive detachment disorder;
Nathaniel was hyperactive, mentally delayed and had a short attention span;
He pinched and bit himself, pulled his hair and eyebrows out and pulled the skin under his nose until it bled;
He had a high pain tolerance and appeared fearless;
He would bang his head and rock himself to sleep;
The Cravers were reported twice to York County Children, Youth and Families for apparent injuries on the children. The children were placed in foster care but no findings of abuse were substantiated;
After returning from foster care, Nathaniel was distant with his parents;
Nathaniel was distant with children but "touchy-feely" with adults, offering them hugs and kisses;
He would pull the family dog's fur;
He was abusive to his sister;
He frequently wet the bed.
Nathaniel's injuries
The jury also learned Nathaniel's injuries included:
A fresh hematoma, massive bleeding between the skull and the brain;
Older evidence of bleeding between the scalp and the skull;
A boxer's cauliflower ear on the left side of his head;
A ruptured right eardrum;
Evidence of binding;
Pattern bruising to the back and buttocks;
Emaciation and less than one millimeter of subcutaneous fat;
And "head-to-toe" marks, bruising, contusions and abrasions, according to at least two medical witnesses.
http://www.ydr.com/crime/ci_18834019
Click Here To Read More About This Case
By RICK LEE
Daily Record/Sunday News
Posted: 09/07/2011 09:29:04 AM EDT
A close-up photograph of 7-year-old Nathaniel Craver's face as he lay on an autopsy table showed his swollen head.
How extensive that swelling was became apparent when his head was compared to the frailness of his neck.
Dr. Wayne Ross, a forensic pathologist who has performed more than 9,000 autopsies and post-mortem exams, could not keep the astonishment out of his voice as he described the dead boy to the jury.
"His head, virtually his entire head, was swollen up like a balloon," he said. "And I don't mean just a little bit of swelling. The entire skull and head looked like a watermelon. Like an alien."
Ross, who conducts many York County autopsies for suspicious deaths, was testifying on the second day of trial for Michael and Nanette Craver, the Carroll Township couple accused of killing Nathaniel, their adopted Russian son.
Nathaniel died on Aug. 25, 2009 at Hershey Medical Center, five days after Michael Craver, 46, rushed him to the hospital.
Ross was on the witness stand for more than four hours, testifying about the boy's injuries and giving his expert opinion how they occurred. He said Nathaniel died from "complications of a traumatic brain injury" and "severe failure to thrive."
He said he was told before autopsy that Nathaniel's parents said he had a history of injuring himself.
Michael and Nanette Craver, 55, have maintained the boy struck his head on a wood stove in their home. They told police, doctors and child abuse investigators Nathaniel seemed all right except for a mark on his head. They put an ice pack on the mark and put him to bed about 45 minutes later. In they morning, they said, they could not rouse him.
Ross told the jury he began his examination from that aspect.
He said, during his examination, he turned to the police officer observing the autopsy and told him the boy's death "needed to be pursued from the aspect of abuse caused by another person."
Ross said he found evidence of injury to the right side of the boy's brain, a subdural hematoma, from an impact "of hundreds of Gs of force," inflicted about two weeks before he was brought to the hospital in a coma.
Ross said the swelling of the boy's head was the result of "multiple impacts."
Relying on photographs taken of Nathaniel during the summer of 2009, including one of a healthy, well-toned shirtless boy, Ross concluded that six weeks before his death the boy suffered repeated impacts to his head, pulled legs and arms, blunt force trauma to the chest, possibly was bound and was starved.
The doctor also found evidence of a skull fracture on the right side of the head, a healing broken rib, compression spinal injuries, and high enzyme levels confirming liver and heart damage.
The child otherwise was covered with small bruises and abrasions on his chest and back. In a picture of the dead child laying on his back, every rib could easily be counted.
Ross said Nathaniel's swollen brain at autopsy "was a mess."
"It was soft as anything," he said. "It was purple and it was dead. Flat and mushy and just horrible."
On cross-examination, defense attorneys pushed Ross with alternative theories for the injuries, such as fetal alcohol syndrome, self-abuse, genetic disorders and diseases. Ross conceded such theories could account for injuries in some cases but "not in this case."
He said he specifically looked for and did not find evidence of alcohol fetal syndrome in Nathaniel's brain.
When York County Office of Children, Youth and Families placed Nathaniel and his twin sister, Elizabeth, in her foster care at age 5, "They asked me to watch them to see if they injured themselves in any way," foster mother Lori Ferree said.
She testified neither child did while in her care for about two weeks.
Ferree said Nathaniel was an active boy who loved to play but seemed confused about being allowed to play in the dirt and get dirty. She said when she would take the children for supervised visits with the parents, the children would return in more "formal" clothes.
She said Nanette Craver chided her one time for dressing Elizabeth in the wrong shoes for her outfit."
Catholic Charities parent educator Lisa Blake testified that Michael Craver railed against Children, Youth and Families' "interference" in the family's lives.
She said during one meeting with him, he was so verbally abusive, she was happy to cut the session short.
Andrew Blochichak, a family physician and Nanette Craver's brother-in-law, testified he did not see Michael and Nathaniel Craver at any family gatherings the summer of 2009. He said he did see Nanette and Elizabeth. His testimony implied Nathaniel was being kept from sight.
He said he asked Nanette why Nathaniel was not at a July 4th party and a later wedding.
"Nanette said, 'Nathaniel is a handful,' and she didn't want to bring him," he said.
Source http://www.ydr.com/crime/ci_18841999?source=most_viewed
Jury hears details of adopted Russian boy's serious injuries
The Carroll Township couple, which adopted twins, have remained in prison.
By RICK LEE
Daily Record/Sunday News
Posted: 09/06/2011 08:56:57 AM EDT
After Michael Craver rushed his unresponsive 7-year-old son to Holy Spirit Hospital, the first doctor to examine him noticed an unstitched, healing wound on the back of the boy's head.
Beside the boy's frighteningly swollen face, mottled bluish skin, fixed pupils, raspy respiration and deep coma, the doctor wondered about the untreated head wound.
Dr. Nicholas J.T. Baran said Craver told him, "These injuries kind of happen all of the time."
Craver later said, "... it's amazing what you get used to," a York County Child abuse investigator said.
Nathaniel Craver, Michael and Nanette Craver's adopted Russian son, died at Hershey Medical Center on Aug, 25, 2009, five days after he was first taken to the hospital.
Tuesday
(SUBMITTED)in opening statements in the York County Judicial Center, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Tim Barker said the Cravers were charged with the boy's murder for both inflicting the injuries and denying him their parental duty to care for and protect him. Both parents are charged with criminal homicide, endangering the welfare of a child and conspiracy.
Barker told the jury of Nathaniel's uncountable injuries spread "head to toe" over his body. He said there was evidence of repeated physical abuse, "pattern" injuries and binding.
He focused specifically on the boy's swollen face and his underlying head injuries. Barker said he was told people cried when they saw Nathaniel in the hospital and that some described his appearance as "a little monster."
He said the Cravers' contention that the boy's physical and emotional disorders - fetal alcohol syndrome and reactive detachment disorder - and allegations of injuring himself resulted in his death.
"The defendants have used Nathaniel's background .... to cover what was really going on," he said. "There is only one conclusion. he did not self-abuse himself to death."
First Assistant Public Defender Clasina Mahoney argued that is exactly what happened. She said the Cravers "did not sit back and watch it happen, as the commonwealth would have you believe. They desperately searched for help."
They sought answers from doctors and hospitals throughout southeastern Pennsylvania, including Hershey Medical Center and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, she said.
She said therapy at a Lancaster facility, where Michael Craver batted balloons with his son and acted like a princess with his daughter, Nathaniel's twin sister, helped the girl who had similar problems, but not Nathaniel.
The first day of testimony focused on Nathaniel's appearance when he entered the hospital. His parents said he had hit his head on a wood stove in their Carroll Township home.
An emergency room nurse at Holy Spirit Hospital said the boy's head, "to me, felt like a wet sponge."
Baran testified Nathaniel registered the lowest possible score on a medical coma test. He also told the jury that a scan of the grotesquely swollen left side of the boy's face showed no subdural fresh bleeding and was the result of an older injury.
Dr. Mark Iantosca, a Hershey Medical Center neurosurgeon who removed part of Nathaniel's skull to relieve the swelling, said he found older blood under the boy's scalp and fresh blood pushing on his brain.
Iantosca also said the injury could have happened the way the Cravers' said it did.
"I think a 7-year-old child, throwing himself with a running start headfirst into a metal object would be sufficient to cause that injury," he said.
He added that the head injury could have been caused by "a closed fist, a blunt object or a car accident ...."
He also agreed with the defense that the child could have appeared uninjured and then suffered bleeding and swelling of the brain during the night.
The trial continues today and is expected to last through next week.
Parents' defense
On trial for murder, Michael and Nanette Craver maintain they never harmed their 7-year-old son, Nathaniel, but that the boy they adopted at 18 months old in Russia had physical and emotional problems that caused him to injure himself.
From the time Nathaniel was rushed to Holy Spirit Hospital on Aug. 20, 2009, to their arrests in February 2010 to the first day of their trial in the York County Judicial Center, they have consistently said the boy struck his head on a wood stove in the couple's Carroll Township home.
According to testimony, evidence and statements presented in court Tuesday during the first day of trial, the jury learned:
Nathaniel and his twin sister were born prematurely in a Russian prison to a mother with substance abuse problems;
Both children were diagnosed in the United States with fetal alcohol syndrome and reactive detachment disorder;
Nathaniel was hyperactive, mentally delayed and had a short attention span;
He pinched and bit himself, pulled his hair and eyebrows out and pulled the skin under his nose until it bled;
He had a high pain tolerance and appeared fearless;
He would bang his head and rock himself to sleep;
The Cravers were reported twice to York County Children, Youth and Families for apparent injuries on the children. The children were placed in foster care but no findings of abuse were substantiated;
After returning from foster care, Nathaniel was distant with his parents;
Nathaniel was distant with children but "touchy-feely" with adults, offering them hugs and kisses;
He would pull the family dog's fur;
He was abusive to his sister;
He frequently wet the bed.
Nathaniel's injuries
The jury also learned Nathaniel's injuries included:
A fresh hematoma, massive bleeding between the skull and the brain;
Older evidence of bleeding between the scalp and the skull;
A boxer's cauliflower ear on the left side of his head;
A ruptured right eardrum;
Evidence of binding;
Pattern bruising to the back and buttocks;
Emaciation and less than one millimeter of subcutaneous fat;
And "head-to-toe" marks, bruising, contusions and abrasions, according to at least two medical witnesses.
http://www.ydr.com/crime/ci_18834019
Click Here To Read More About This Case
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