Child abuse attorney not trained - Penn.

By Terrie Morgan-Besecker

WILKES-BARRE – Luzerne County has lost out on potentially thousands of dollars in state reimbursements because an attorney who represented children in abuse cases did not obtain training required by the state.

Frank Castano, executive director of Children and Youth Services, said he cannot seek reimbursement for work attorney John Bellino performed as a guardian ad litem after July 1, 2011 because Bellino did not obtain specialized training mandated by state legislation that went into effect last year.

The revelation comes as the court system faces mounting criticism for failing to monitor payments made to Angela Stevens, a Kingston attorney who admitted she double billed the county for representing parents in Children and Youth cases.

A Times Leader investigation revealed Stevens, who was paid more than $144,000 in 2011, charged the county for each fee petition she delivered to the court, even though many appeared to have been delivered in one trip.

President Judge Thomas Burke on Friday would not comment on why Bellino, who was paid a flat salary of $50,230, was permitted to remain employed if the county could not be reimbursed. Burke said he could not discuss the matter because it is a personnel issue.

Guardian ad litems are attorneys appointed by the court to represent children who are in the custody of Children and Youth Services to ensure their best interests are protected, independent of their parents’ interest.

The state Department of Public Welfare reimburses Luzerne County Children and Youth 50 percent for guardian services. As of July 1, the department no longer provided that funding for a guardian who did not obtain the training, which was mandated under an amendment to the state’s Adoption Act that went into effect last April.

Bellino, who had served as guardian for 11 years, was among the 59 county employees who were laid off Thursday.

It’s not known how much of Bellino’s salary from 2011 and 2012 might have been reimbursed by the state because the court system did not submit any invoices to Children and Youth detailing the number of hours he worked on cases, Castano said.

In the 2010-11 fiscal year, Castano said he sought 50 percent reimbursement for $48,208 in invoices submitted by court administration for work Bellino performed. The court had to submit invoices, even though Bellino was paid a flat salary, because DPW required documentation of the number of hours and cases on which he worked, Castano said.

Bellino said Friday he did not obtain the training because he did not know he was required to take it.

“I thought I was exempt from it because I’ve been doing this so long. I thought it was for new guardians,” Bellino said.

Bellino said was told by Castano of one training session held last year, but he did not learn about it until the last minute and could not attend due to a conflict. He said he assumed he could take it this year.

“When (Castano) told me that was a requirement for reimbursement, I believed at that point I could get it this coming year,” he said.

Children and Youth also has a contract with North Penn Legal Services to provide two attorneys as guardian ad litems. Castano said he was able to seek reimbursement for their work because both of those attorneys had received the training.

To date DPW has reimbursed the county $17,833 for the first quarter of fiscal year 2011-2012, according to deputy press secretary Ann Bale. The county spent a total of $66,252 with North Penn in the second quarter, which will be eligible for 50 percent reimbursement. That request has not yet been processed, Bale said.

Source http://www.timesleader.com/news/Child_abuse_attorney_not_trained_03-03-2012.html

N.Y. Threatens to Remove License of Anti-vaccine Attorney

Written by Raven Clabough

Patricia Finn (left), a vaccine rights attorney in New York, is being targeted by the Ninth Judicial District, which is threatening to strip her license to practice law and file criminal charges against her.

Finn has garnered a reputation for helping parents to protect their children from vaccines that are viewed as potentially dangerous, and also represents families of victims who have suffered adverse reactions to vaccinations. Among the anti-vaccine community Finn is touted as a hero, but those in favor of vaccinations view her as a villain.

According to Finn’s website, her law office “focuses on protecting clients’ First Amendment rights,” and that the attorneys are “especially dedicated to the rights of parents and individuals who have religious beliefs in conflict with mandated vaccines.” Those clients in particular require help to receive exemptions relating to school, immigration, adoption, and the workplace.

Finn has now come under the scrutiny of the NYS Ninth Judicial District Grievance Committee. She contends that the she has been harassed by the New York State Judiciary after insisting that parents have constitutional rights regarding vaccine decisions for their children, particularly after she represented health care workers in New York regarding the H1N1 (swine flu) mandatory vaccination policy. New York was the first state to require mandatory flu shots for healthcare workers.

On February 22, Finn delivered the keynote address at the Parental Rights rally in Charleston, West Virginia — held by parents in order to draw attention to their constitutional rights to protect their children from the medical/industrial complex's vaccination protocol.

West Virginia is one of two states that do not permit religious or philosophical exemption against vaccination; Mississippi is the other. Both states mandate that children receive multiple vaccines, including those against hepatitis B, in order to attend daycare, public, or private school.

A group called “We the Parents” hired Finn to represent them in their cause against the state of West Virginia to change that mandate. Finn has also recently been hired by the parents of Kaylynne Matten, the 7-year-old Vermont girl who died in December 2011 just four days after receiving the flu vaccine.

Following her appearance at the “We the Parents” rally in West Virginia, Finn was served with papers threatening to strip her of her license to practice law. One document describes her vaccine right advocacy as “threatening the public interest.”

Mike Adams of Natural News raises the point that if vaccine proponents are so confident in the ability of the vaccinations to offer absolute and total immunity against infectious diseases, then “how can an unvaccinated child ever threaten the health of a vaccinated child?”

In a letter outlining the various charges against her, Patricia Finn was told that she must relinquish her complete list of clients to the judiciary. Most people understand that what the court is asking of Finn is a clear violation of attorney/client privilege. Adams contends that the court is looking to “terrorize the parents who have sought legal help in opting out of dangerous vaccines.”

Finn’s problems with the New York Judiciary began with her “legal termination” by New York. She explains:

This morning I was served with papers to suspend my license to practice law. The charges are bogus and come on the heels of my address to the Parental Rights Rally in WV. I am also being ordered to disclose the names of people I represent who do not vaccinate… I refuse. I would go to jail first before I give out the names. Please contact all pro vaccine choice organizations and the media… know the truth! I call this harassment the Wakefield Effect!

The “Wakefield Effect” refers to the censorship of anyone who takes a stand against vaccinations. Dr. Andrew Wakefield was reportedly slandered by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) for his views on vaccinations and for his claims that they could lead to conditions such as autism and bowel disease. He has since filed a lawsuit against the British Medical Journal to clear his name.

Natural News reports:

The lawsuit cites several articles and editorials published in BMJ that include "false and defamatory allegations" about Dr. Wakefield and his work. "Secrets of the MMR [measles, mumps, rubella] scare: how the case against the MMR vaccine was fixed," an article written by journalist Brian Deer that was published in BMJ, and an accompanying editorial by Fiona Godlee, editor-in-chief of BMJ, are two of the defamatory writings named in the suit.

It’s worth noting that the last two complaints brought against Finn were filed sua sponte, meaning “on their own accord” — there is no former client or public complainant filing the charges. Instead, they are put forward by the New York Ninth Judicial District Grievance Committee itself.

Finn is not likely to be intimidated, it seems. She posted on her Facebook page: “If it takes my license to get attention to this issue, then so be it. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

Opponents of vaccinations claim that forced vaccines are a violation of constitutional rights.

Claudia Raymer, founder of the group We the People, stated, “We feel like it’s a constitutional issue.” She adds that vaccines also pose a moral dilemma, as some are developed with the use of aborted fetuses.

During the We the People rally, Raymer made the argument that some vaccines are wholly unnecessary, such as the one for chicken pox, which is not a deadly disease, and the one for Hepatitis B, a sexually-transmitted disease.

Raymer has a stake in the push to change West Virginia law, as her son developed a condition that she asserts is related to immunizations. When a doctor in Pittsburgh recommended that she receive a medical exemption for her son, she was denied by Marshall County officials in West Virginia. Raymer is now filing an injunction, but if the exemption is denied, she asserts her only remaining option will be to home-school her son.

"We're not asking for groundbreaking legislation," Raymer said. "We're asking for the rights just like other states [have]."

While advocates of vaccinations contend that the higher the percentage of vaccinated students, the less likely a school is for outbreaks of illnesses, opponents mention to possible connections between vaccines and conditions such as autism — pointing out that groups such as the Amish, who do not participate in vaccine programs, have zero reports of autism. Likewise, vaccines such as those which are said to prevent cervical cancer, have had reported negative effects such as brain damage.

Vaccine skeptics also call attention to the content of vaccines — such as mercury, formaldehyde, phenoxyethanol, and diploid cells from aborted fetal tissue — and the long-term effects of those items on the human body as prime reasons not to force vaccinations on the American people.

The battle over vaccines has been a contentious and long-standing one. According to Finn, the decision of the New York Judiciary to target her is a clear indication that the state of New York wishes to strip parents of their legal protections.

Source http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/11023-ny-threatens-to-remove-license-of-anti-vaccine-attorney

Child Missing From CPS Shelter, Mother Wants Answers

by Mike Manzoni

PORTLAND -- The mother of a child in protective services custody who went missing Tuesday wants to know how her daughter got out of a shelter where she was staying.

Lori Marie Rivera, 13, went missing Tuesday afternoon with two 17-year-old girls from the Teen Connections shelter in Portland.

Terry Rivera, the girl's mother, said she was not notified her daughter was missing until the day after, and said she has struggled to get answers from Child Protective Services.

"You [CPS] promised you were going to put my children in a safe place, and nothing was going to happen to them and she [CPS case manager] told me, 'Well, we did try to put her in a safe place, but if she ran away that was her own thing of running away,'" said Rivera.

Rivera said she lost custody of her daughter after a drug raid involving her husband a few years ago. The girl has lived at the shelter in Portland since November.

Portland police are investigating Rivera's disappearance as a runaway. Child Protective Services has notified the appropriate courts and the girl's attorney.

Source http://www.kristv.com/news/child-missing-from-cps-shelter-mother-wants-answers/

Panel: Lack of trained investigators at Office of Guardian ad Litem a concern - Utah

By brooke adams

A legislative panel on Tuesday declined to approve the Office of Guardian ad Litem’s request for more money to hire an additional attorney and increase wages, saying it was more concerned the office has no trained investigators to assist staff in reviewing child welfare cases.

Director Rick Smith told the Child Welfare Legislative Oversight Panel that the office’s 41 attorneys, appointed by judges to represent the best interests of children in court proceedings, are currently averaging about 200 clients — twice as many as recommended by national standards. The lone attorney assigned to Uintah, Duchesne and Daggett counties currently has nearly 400 clients, Smith said.

"The concern at this point is we have an attorney out there who may be committing malpractice simply because he has too many clients to represent in an appropriate way," Smith told the lawmakers.

He asked the panel to approve $202,000 in ongoing funds to add an attorney and a support staff member. He also asked the panel to consider addressing inadequate staff wages in next year’s budget. Smith said staff turnover was 21 percent last year, but has been as high as 25 percent in recent years as staff seek higher salaries elsewhere — including the Utah Attorney General’s Office.

"Our attorneys are paid 34 percent less than other attorneys in state government," Smith said. "That’s a problem."

The panel was particularly disturbed, however, that the office has no investigators, as required by statute, to do independent casework.

"We’ve never had funding to hire those investigators," Smith said. "Our attorneys do a lot of it; our support staff do a lot."

As a result, the office uses a lot of investigative work done by the Division of Child and Family Services, he said.

That, combined with heavy case loads, means the office’s attorneys work "a minimum of 40 hours a week," Smith said. But because the state is exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act, "we can work them a lot of hours and they don’t get paid overtime for it, so that is a very common practice."

A motion to approve the office’s budget request was withdrawn after one lawmaker requested more information and two others expressed concerns with the office’s operations.

"I have some real concerns about what the Guardian ad Litem is supposed to do and not supposed to do. So when you’re asking for more money, I’m not too sympathetic," said Rep. Christine F. Watkins, D-Price.

Watkins said her view stemmed from conversations with constituents and first-hand observations of cases in which she felt a Guardian ad Litem stepped "out of what I would consider normal boundaries." She described one attorney who told a child’s parent she had a personality disorder. There was no such diagnosis in the mother’s case, she added.

Watkins said that highlighted the need for trained investigators because "you’re relying on people who shouldn’t be investigating."

Rep. Merlynn T. Newbold, R-South Jordan and the panel’s co-chairwoman, said the Guardian ad Litem’s role is to "advocate for the child and not for the state, and if you’re relying on information from [DCFS] and haven’t done anything on your own, that gives me concern."

Source http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/53014054-78/office-smith-panel-attorney.html.csp