by Donna Ennis
The federal government began sending American Indians to off-reservation boarding schools in the 1870s, when the United States was still at war with Indians. An Army officer, Richard Pratt, founded the first of these schools.
Pratt believed that the Indian Wars weren't extinguishing the culture fast enough, so he came up with the idea of separating children from their parents. The first boarding schools were started in the late 1800s. Our elders describe trains coming into tribal communities and grabbing children from their homes and taking them to these boarding schools. The effects of boarding schools are far-reaching and have resulted in historical, intergenerational and cultural trauma to our Native people.
Those boarding schools have an echo today.
Beginning with his separation from his family at the age of 4, Andrew was shuffled 28 times from foster home to foster home. He was stripped of his identity and placed in homes outside of his culture. He grew up not knowing who he was or where he came from because he was removed at such an impressionable young age, leaving him with no sense of belonging. I believe that a child's most important need, besides food, clothing and shelter, is the need to belong. Although Andrew had many siblings, he saw only a couple of the older ones on occasion and never saw his younger siblings again.
Andrew committed suicide at the age of 17 by hanging himself from a tree on the property of what was to be his last foster home. After his death, arrangements were made to get the family together for his burial. I have worked with many youth over the years, and it never gets any easier for me to comprehend what kind of child welfare system allows these atrocities to happen.
The trauma that Andrew suffered echoed the assimilation policies set out by the government through the federal Indian boarding school program. He too was separated from his family and tribe. Dominant cultural values were forced on him through a process of forced assimilation.
The 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act was created by the federal government in order to establish federal authority over adoption of Native American children. The goal of the act was to strengthen and preserve Native American families and culture.
Each year, South Dakota removes an average of 700 Native children from their homes. Of these 700 children, 90 percent are placed in non-Native homes or group care. The continuing separation of children from their heritage is a tragic and destructive aspect of these cross-cultural placements.
Despite federal law to the contrary, a boarding school mentality exists in favor of placing Native children in non-Indian settings. The identity of Native youth is devalued. Forced assimilation leads to conflict with these young people, who can become very confused about their tribal identity.
There is again a price on Indian children's heads, seen in the distribution of federal money to social services for their care. In addition, South Dakota has a record of designating Native children as having special needs -- which means they are worth more to the state financially than other children.
Social service agencies like Children's Home Society have become the new boarding schools for South Dakota. Just like in early tribal communities, children are being forcibly taken from their homes with no real basis. Families and tribes are being forced to hide their children from the state.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/11/08/ennis/
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 blunt head trauma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blunt head trauma. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Grandma: Boy in four foster homes in 14 months
By Rita Price
The Columbus Dispatch Monday October 24, 2011 6:01 AM
The weekly phone conversations are eagerly awaited but rarely make her feel better.
“I hear a defeated little boy,” Mary Ann O’Garro said.
Her grandson often says he wishes he were there, in Washington state, instead of at another new place, O’Garro said. The 8-year-old’s calls have come from many phone numbers.
Franklin County Children Services brought the troubled boy back to Franklin County last year after denying Lenford and Mary Ann O’Garro’s request for in-patient treatment near their home in the Seattle area, where they could visit and work with the child’s doctors.
Their grandson had been placed with them in 2008, a little less than a year after police discovered him beaten, burned and tortured while living with his mother — Mr. O’Garro’s daughter — in a suspected house of prostitution on Columbus’ North Side.
Months of love and therapy hadn’t managed to curb his bizarre and dangerous behavior, the O'Garros and Washington therapists said, so they wanted to try hospitalization.
Children Services disagreed. The agency’s former chief said he thought the boy could be better served, and stabilized, in a foster home here with people trained to support his therapy. But after 14 months back in Franklin County, the boy has lived in four foster homes in three school districts, his grandparents say.
Add in those who provide periodic respite for the foster parents, and the child probably has been in at least 10 homes, Mrs. O’Garro said. “In our minds, there’s no way this could not have damaged him further. He was already traumatized, then he was ripped from our house, and now he’s just bouncing around.”
Because the boy might have been sexually abused, The Dispatch is not naming him.
Chip Spinning, who recently took over as Children Services executive director after Eric Fenner’s retirement, said in an email that no one wants the boy to experience more trauma. But officials still think he should be cared for in a specially trained foster home instead of at an institution. He said the child is making progress and will receive “all recommended services to enable continued progress.”
The moves are unfortunate but happen for a variety of reasons in the child-welfare system, Spinning said. He said he couldn’t share the specifics.
Mrs. O’Garro said it’s hard to be hopeful. She said she has heard various reasons for the boy’s change of placement, including foster parents’ moving, an allegation of abuse against a foster provider, and the child’s intensive needs.
“I have not, to date, ever seen a single document that says he’s been stabilized,” she said. "His level of care has continued to increase. He’s been up to six psychotropic drugs.”
Children Services has acknowledged numerous mistakes in the case, starting with a failure to inform the O’Garros of the extent of the child’s abuse — and his likely need for psychological help — after he was placed with them.
The grandparents say they needed an attorney to get the agency to pay for the child’s initial treatment in Washington. The O’Garros have health insurance, but it isn’t sufficient to cover the expensive mental-health services.
After a review in late 2009, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services cited the agency for its handling of the case and ordered a plan for preventing future violations. Two employees were disciplined as a result of the agency’s internal investigation.
Mrs. O’Garro said she doesn’t know whether Children Services wants the child to return to his mother, to them or to be adopted.
Agency attorneys, a therapist and the child’s court-appointed guardian agreed last week that the boy’s mother, who has been released from prison, could have at least one supervised visit.
“He hasn’t seen her in nearly four years, since she was put in the police car and he was taken in an ambulance,” Mrs. O’Garro said. “That’s his last memory of her.”
The grandparents still struggle with their decision to surrender custody, a move that ultimately allowed Children Services to bring their grandson to Columbus last year. Their attorney, Susan Eisenman, has said the O’Garros made that difficult choice because they couldn’t pay for the treatment he needed and because they hoped the agency would approve a nearby Washington facility.
Instead, they had to put him on a plane.
Mrs. O’Garro cries when she thinks about all the boy has been through. Had he gone to a treatment center, “We think he’d be home with us,” she said. “All we can do now is just hope something positive happens.”
Source http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/10/24/grandma-boy-in-four-fosterhomes-in14months.html
The Columbus Dispatch Monday October 24, 2011 6:01 AM
The weekly phone conversations are eagerly awaited but rarely make her feel better.
“I hear a defeated little boy,” Mary Ann O’Garro said.
Her grandson often says he wishes he were there, in Washington state, instead of at another new place, O’Garro said. The 8-year-old’s calls have come from many phone numbers.
Franklin County Children Services brought the troubled boy back to Franklin County last year after denying Lenford and Mary Ann O’Garro’s request for in-patient treatment near their home in the Seattle area, where they could visit and work with the child’s doctors.
Their grandson had been placed with them in 2008, a little less than a year after police discovered him beaten, burned and tortured while living with his mother — Mr. O’Garro’s daughter — in a suspected house of prostitution on Columbus’ North Side.
Months of love and therapy hadn’t managed to curb his bizarre and dangerous behavior, the O'Garros and Washington therapists said, so they wanted to try hospitalization.
Children Services disagreed. The agency’s former chief said he thought the boy could be better served, and stabilized, in a foster home here with people trained to support his therapy. But after 14 months back in Franklin County, the boy has lived in four foster homes in three school districts, his grandparents say.
Add in those who provide periodic respite for the foster parents, and the child probably has been in at least 10 homes, Mrs. O’Garro said. “In our minds, there’s no way this could not have damaged him further. He was already traumatized, then he was ripped from our house, and now he’s just bouncing around.”
Because the boy might have been sexually abused, The Dispatch is not naming him.
Chip Spinning, who recently took over as Children Services executive director after Eric Fenner’s retirement, said in an email that no one wants the boy to experience more trauma. But officials still think he should be cared for in a specially trained foster home instead of at an institution. He said the child is making progress and will receive “all recommended services to enable continued progress.”
The moves are unfortunate but happen for a variety of reasons in the child-welfare system, Spinning said. He said he couldn’t share the specifics.
Mrs. O’Garro said it’s hard to be hopeful. She said she has heard various reasons for the boy’s change of placement, including foster parents’ moving, an allegation of abuse against a foster provider, and the child’s intensive needs.
“I have not, to date, ever seen a single document that says he’s been stabilized,” she said. "His level of care has continued to increase. He’s been up to six psychotropic drugs.”
Children Services has acknowledged numerous mistakes in the case, starting with a failure to inform the O’Garros of the extent of the child’s abuse — and his likely need for psychological help — after he was placed with them.
The grandparents say they needed an attorney to get the agency to pay for the child’s initial treatment in Washington. The O’Garros have health insurance, but it isn’t sufficient to cover the expensive mental-health services.
After a review in late 2009, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services cited the agency for its handling of the case and ordered a plan for preventing future violations. Two employees were disciplined as a result of the agency’s internal investigation.
Mrs. O’Garro said she doesn’t know whether Children Services wants the child to return to his mother, to them or to be adopted.
Agency attorneys, a therapist and the child’s court-appointed guardian agreed last week that the boy’s mother, who has been released from prison, could have at least one supervised visit.
“He hasn’t seen her in nearly four years, since she was put in the police car and he was taken in an ambulance,” Mrs. O’Garro said. “That’s his last memory of her.”
The grandparents still struggle with their decision to surrender custody, a move that ultimately allowed Children Services to bring their grandson to Columbus last year. Their attorney, Susan Eisenman, has said the O’Garros made that difficult choice because they couldn’t pay for the treatment he needed and because they hoped the agency would approve a nearby Washington facility.
Instead, they had to put him on a plane.
Mrs. O’Garro cries when she thinks about all the boy has been through. Had he gone to a treatment center, “We think he’d be home with us,” she said. “All we can do now is just hope something positive happens.”
Source http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/10/24/grandma-boy-in-four-fosterhomes-in14months.html
Friday, September 2, 2011
Arizona: meet the CPS bunker By Laurie Roberts
It seemed a reasonable enough question.
A four-month-old baby is found not breathing and near death, according to Chandler police. Baby Josephine suffers 14 broken bones, bruises all over her face and a cigarette burn to her arm.
All this, while she is in the custody of a “safety monitor,” a woman entrusted with the infant's care by Child Protective Services.
So, as I said, it seemed reasonable to ask why CPS put the baby with this woman and what steps the agency took to ensure the baby would be safe — back before she became a punching bag and an ash tray.
Public: Meet bunker.
“Your request for public records in this matter is respectfully declined,” wrote Todd Stone, public records request coordinator for the Department of Economic Security, which oversees CPS.
To understand how outrageous the DES response is, you have to go back to 2007 when three Tucson children died on CPS's watch. While CPS was busy sweeping the story under its well-worn rug, this newspaper and The Arizona Daily Star sued to get the records, uncovering a stunning array of foul-ups and failures that hastened those children to their graves. As a result, the Legislature in 2008 passed a series of reforms, including a law opening CPS records when a child is beaten to death or nearly so.
The new law was simple. It says that CPS “shall promptly provide CPS information to the public regarding a case of child abuse, abandonment or neglect that has resulted in a fatality or near fatality.”
Now, fast forward to last week, when Chandler police arrested Angelica Jimenez and her boyfriend, Steven Saldana, for child abuse. According to police, baby Josephine was no longer breathing when she was discovered in the early hours of Aug. 3. She was taken to Cardon Children's Medical Center, near death and in seizures.
“The victim was found to have fourteen broken bones in the legs and ribs. There also was a cigarette burn to the left forearm along with bumps and bruises on the forehead as well as bruising on both sides of the face…,” police wrote in court documents. “Forensic doctors stated the child had suffered a near-death episode and the injuries were non-accidental trauma.”
Jimenez told police that the baby had been placed in her care by CPS, a fact which CPS confirmed.
So I asked for the records last week. I wanted to know why CPS felt Jimenez was an appropriate “safety monitor” and what steps the agency took to check her background and the background of her felon live-in boyfriend.
Within 24, hours, I was turned down flat.
I pointed out the police document that quoted the doctors … and was told CPS must have “a determination from a Doctor specifically stating that a near fatality occurred”.
Beyond, apparently, the determination of the doctors on the scene who talked to the police on the scene.
Arizona Republic attorney David Bodney wrote a four-page demand letter. Again, CPS said no.
“All appropriate parties were engaged in a review of the matter,” Stone wrote Wednesday. “In connection with such review, a conclusion was reached that the incident that is the subject of the public records request in question was not a near fatality.”
I asked who “all appropriate parties” were. Stone's reply: “The forensic physician involved in this case made the determination that this was not a near fatality.”
I don't know if it's the same forensic physician who told the police that it was a near-death episode. But since CPS is determined to go to great lengths to avoid answering questions about what it did -- or didn't do -- to protect baby Josephine, I'll toss out one more hurdle.
State and federal law define a near fatality as “an act that, as certified by a physician, places a child in serious or critical condition.”
Hard to see how 14 broken bones, a cigarette burn and a four-month-old baby not breathing wouldn't qualify.
Former House Speaker Kirk Adams, a prime sponsor of the 2008 law, called the CPS response “disturbing,” noting that the law requires openness in such cases so that children ultimately are better protected.
“It certainly was not our intent to provide a technical escape clause for them not to share what has happened in these cases,” he said. “There is incredible public interest to know whether or not an agency which has a nearly impossible but incredibly important task of protecting these children, whether or not things operated correctly, whether or not procedures are being followed.”
One would think that the CPS brass, given their budget woes, would have better things to do than spending a week working out how to avoid having to explain to the public what they did to ensure baby Josephine's safety before handing her over to the woman who now sits in jail.
But no. The bunker's been fortified, the blackout curtains have dropped, the moat's been dug and alligators are circling, to warn off any brave soul who might try to get a peek into the place.
(Column published Sept. 3, 2011, The Arizona Republic)
Friday, September 2, 2011 at 06:07 PM
Source http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/LaurieRoberts/140200
A four-month-old baby is found not breathing and near death, according to Chandler police. Baby Josephine suffers 14 broken bones, bruises all over her face and a cigarette burn to her arm.
All this, while she is in the custody of a “safety monitor,” a woman entrusted with the infant's care by Child Protective Services.
So, as I said, it seemed reasonable to ask why CPS put the baby with this woman and what steps the agency took to ensure the baby would be safe — back before she became a punching bag and an ash tray.
Public: Meet bunker.
“Your request for public records in this matter is respectfully declined,” wrote Todd Stone, public records request coordinator for the Department of Economic Security, which oversees CPS.
To understand how outrageous the DES response is, you have to go back to 2007 when three Tucson children died on CPS's watch. While CPS was busy sweeping the story under its well-worn rug, this newspaper and The Arizona Daily Star sued to get the records, uncovering a stunning array of foul-ups and failures that hastened those children to their graves. As a result, the Legislature in 2008 passed a series of reforms, including a law opening CPS records when a child is beaten to death or nearly so.
The new law was simple. It says that CPS “shall promptly provide CPS information to the public regarding a case of child abuse, abandonment or neglect that has resulted in a fatality or near fatality.”
Now, fast forward to last week, when Chandler police arrested Angelica Jimenez and her boyfriend, Steven Saldana, for child abuse. According to police, baby Josephine was no longer breathing when she was discovered in the early hours of Aug. 3. She was taken to Cardon Children's Medical Center, near death and in seizures.
“The victim was found to have fourteen broken bones in the legs and ribs. There also was a cigarette burn to the left forearm along with bumps and bruises on the forehead as well as bruising on both sides of the face…,” police wrote in court documents. “Forensic doctors stated the child had suffered a near-death episode and the injuries were non-accidental trauma.”
Jimenez told police that the baby had been placed in her care by CPS, a fact which CPS confirmed.
So I asked for the records last week. I wanted to know why CPS felt Jimenez was an appropriate “safety monitor” and what steps the agency took to check her background and the background of her felon live-in boyfriend.
Within 24, hours, I was turned down flat.
I pointed out the police document that quoted the doctors … and was told CPS must have “a determination from a Doctor specifically stating that a near fatality occurred”.
Beyond, apparently, the determination of the doctors on the scene who talked to the police on the scene.
Arizona Republic attorney David Bodney wrote a four-page demand letter. Again, CPS said no.
“All appropriate parties were engaged in a review of the matter,” Stone wrote Wednesday. “In connection with such review, a conclusion was reached that the incident that is the subject of the public records request in question was not a near fatality.”
I asked who “all appropriate parties” were. Stone's reply: “The forensic physician involved in this case made the determination that this was not a near fatality.”
I don't know if it's the same forensic physician who told the police that it was a near-death episode. But since CPS is determined to go to great lengths to avoid answering questions about what it did -- or didn't do -- to protect baby Josephine, I'll toss out one more hurdle.
State and federal law define a near fatality as “an act that, as certified by a physician, places a child in serious or critical condition.”
Hard to see how 14 broken bones, a cigarette burn and a four-month-old baby not breathing wouldn't qualify.
Former House Speaker Kirk Adams, a prime sponsor of the 2008 law, called the CPS response “disturbing,” noting that the law requires openness in such cases so that children ultimately are better protected.
“It certainly was not our intent to provide a technical escape clause for them not to share what has happened in these cases,” he said. “There is incredible public interest to know whether or not an agency which has a nearly impossible but incredibly important task of protecting these children, whether or not things operated correctly, whether or not procedures are being followed.”
One would think that the CPS brass, given their budget woes, would have better things to do than spending a week working out how to avoid having to explain to the public what they did to ensure baby Josephine's safety before handing her over to the woman who now sits in jail.
But no. The bunker's been fortified, the blackout curtains have dropped, the moat's been dug and alligators are circling, to warn off any brave soul who might try to get a peek into the place.
(Column published Sept. 3, 2011, The Arizona Republic)
Friday, September 2, 2011 at 06:07 PM
Source http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/LaurieRoberts/140200
Friday, August 12, 2011
Autopsy Finds Infant Died Of Child Abuse
An autopsy today attributed the death of a 3-month-old Far South Side girl to blunt head trauma due to child abuse.
Ianah Sherrod's father, Ivory Harmon, was charged with aggravated battery of a child. That charge remains and the case is still under investigation, said a spokesman for the Cook County state's attorney's office.
Ianah was brought to University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center by her father last Thursday afternoon, police said. He told officers who were called there that he had found her unresponsive in her crib.
The child, who showed signs of having been beaten, was resuscitated and placed on a ventilator, police said. She died Tuesday afternoon, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services said it has opened an investigation into the girl's death.
Harmon, of the 11300 block of South Forest Avenue, is being held at Cook County Jail without bail.
Source Article http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-autopsy-finds-infant-died-of-child-abuse-20110811,0,1156217.story
Ianah Sherrod's father, Ivory Harmon, was charged with aggravated battery of a child. That charge remains and the case is still under investigation, said a spokesman for the Cook County state's attorney's office.
Ianah was brought to University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center by her father last Thursday afternoon, police said. He told officers who were called there that he had found her unresponsive in her crib.
The child, who showed signs of having been beaten, was resuscitated and placed on a ventilator, police said. She died Tuesday afternoon, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services said it has opened an investigation into the girl's death.
Harmon, of the 11300 block of South Forest Avenue, is being held at Cook County Jail without bail.
Source Article http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-autopsy-finds-infant-died-of-child-abuse-20110811,0,1156217.story
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