Associated Press
Iowa will pay $275,000 to settle a lawsuit brought against two state employees on behalf of a toddler who suffered brain damage from severe head injuries while in the state foster care system, according to records released this week.
The payment settles a lawsuit that alleged that an Iowa Department of Human Services worker and a supervisor were warned that Jayden Clark was suffering neglect and abuse while under the care of foster parents in Albia but failed to take action. Half of the money will be invested for the 4-year-old boy, who will get access when he turns 18, while his parents will get $15,000 apiece and his attorney will get $101,000 in fees.
The lawsuit in federal court continues against foster parents Jason and Christen Morgan, who have denied wrongdoing.
"We are satisfied with the way it came out. But because there is ongoing litigation against the foster parents, I really can't comment beyond that," said the boy's attorney, Jeffrey Lipman of Clive.
Authorities responded to the Morgans' home in February 2010 when Clark, then 2, was found unresponsive with extensive injuries to the head and were told he had fallen out of a bunk bed. Fighting for his life, the boy was treated for head trauma and a lacerated liver and was hospitalized and forced to undergo rehabilitation for months.
Local and state investigators conducted an extensive look into whether he was abused, but they filed no criminal charges. The lawsuit blames the foster parents' "abuse or neglect" for the injuries, without elaborating on how they occurred.
A DHS investigation resulted in a finding of confirmed child abuse that was not serious enough to be placed on the Child Abuse Registry, a designation used for cases involving a lack of proper supervision or physical abuse that was minor. In court documents, state lawyers said the finding was not for physical abuse and denied that "findings of neglect, as such, were made."
After the boy's hospitalization, child welfare officials removed his siblings from the home while then-Gov. Chet Culver expressed outrage and ordered an investigation.
The lawsuit alleges Clark's parents, Travis and April Clark, and a social worker started noticing significant black bruises across his forehead "from ear to ear" in January 2010 after he and three siblings were placed with the Morgans the prior month. The foster parents blamed his siblings for causing the bruises, but his parents and the social worker suspected abuse and reported it to the DHS worker and his supervisor, who failed to visit the home or conduct an investigation, the suit claims.
As the bruising got worse in following weeks, the social worker warned DHS about the "increased level of abuse and injury" and said the agency needed to consider removing him from the home, but no action was taken, the suit said. Clark's parents took photographs to document the bruising and also warned DHS, the lawsuit said.
Ultimately, Clark "suffered a closed head injury as a result of the abuse or neglect and has permanent brain damage," the lawsuit said. Lipman said the boy was now living with his parents, who are originally from Centerville, but he would not say where.
"He's always going to have some impairment from this," Lipman said.
In a memo made public with the details of the settlement, Assistant Attorney General Diane Stahle said the state decided on the cash payment after investigating the case and "balancing the likelihood of an adverse verdict against the likelihood of a defense verdict." The details were worked out during mediation, she wrote.
In court documents, state lawyers acknowledged DHS employees were twice told about the bruising to the boy but said that it was attributed to his siblings. The foster parents have denied they breached their duty to provide a safe environment for Jayden and also blamed his siblings for the bruises. Their attorney didn't return a phone message.
DHS spokesman Roger Munns declined comment on the case but said both employees named in the lawsuit remain in state employment, one by his agency and one by Iowa Workforce Development.
Source http://muscatinejournal.com/news/state-and-regional/iowa/iowa-settles-suit-over-boy-s-foster-care-injuries/article_9dba63e2-acd1-5f09-bed1-c08ea86c42ef.html
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 foster parents. Show all posts
Showing posts with label foster parents. Show all posts
Monday, March 5, 2012
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Foster Care Children, Now Grown, Tell Their Stories - Florida
The Calizaire sisters lived with countless families, and say they were abused by some of their foster care parents
By Nathalie Pozo
Sophia and Princess Calizaire were introduced to foster care when they were seen wandering the streets looking for their mother, who had left them alone in a South Florida motel.
"We heard this big bang at the door," said Sophia Calizaire. "We were trying to figure out who it was."
It was the Florida Department of Children and Families coming to take them away, and they became foster care files that night, when they were just four and seven years old.
The Calizaire sisters lived with countless families and were moved from one school to another. They say they were abused while staying with some of those foster care parents.
"She took a belt, she started beating me with the belt, picked up a hanger, she started beating me with the hanger, picked up a heel and started beating me with the heel,” said Sophia.
Her sister, Princess, was outside the room and could hear everything. “I couldn’t do anything about it," Princess said, with tears coming down her face.
The Calizaire sisters remember one foster care parent making them sleep in a dog house and eat dog food. They say some foster care parents wouldn’t feed them, would keep locks on the refrigerator and would sometimes starve them as a form of punishment.
"She told me to eat in front of my sister while she watched and my sister is hungry. I took out the chewed up piece of chicken from my mouth and gave it to her," said Sophia, who said she was caught by her foster care mother. "She filled up the bathroom sink and she took my head and started drowning me. She kept drowning me until she felt she was ready to stop."
Princess says the abuse not only came from the parents. “I stayed in a foster home down south where this boy used to try to rape me every night before I would go to sleep," she said. "I used to be scared to go to sleep at night. I ran away from there."
Mez Pierre, now 24, had a similar experience in foster care when he was a little boy. He says he was sexually abused by one of the teen foster kids staying in the same home.
“I was a little kid, they knew they could take advantage of me and I couldn’t fight back,” said Pierre. "But I did tell, I did tell someone and she didn’t do anything, she didn’t do anything."
In 2005, DCF completed privatizing foster care. They contracted with 20 lead agencies throughout the state to oversee the care and needs of children in foster care.
Our Kids manages Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, while Child Net handles Broward County. The abuse endured by Pierre and the Calizaire sisters happened before the agencies took over, but they still say the system is far from perfect.
Some child advocate attorneys say the current privatized system does not work because lead agencies like Our Kids sub-contracted other organizations to monitor foster care children.
"So you have multiple corporations and agencies who supposedly are in charge and responsible for the lives of the children but tragically these children, real human beings, fall through the cracks in the system,” said attorney Howard Talenfeld.
DCF disagrees and says when it was a statewide agency it became quite unmanageable.
"Out of the one or two cases that you hear which are horrible cases and we need to learn from, there are thousands of children and families that DCF and Our Kids helps on a yearly and daily basis," said DCF’s southern regional director, Esther Jacobo, who added that DCF is taking steps to improve the system.
Jacobo said case managers have to see a child in care every 30 days and must have private conversations with that child so they feel comfortable opening up. She says there is an electronic monitoring system in place for case workers, which snaps a picture of the child with a time, date and location.
"It’s kind of like a GPS and statewide Tallahassee monitors that so you know what is happening in terms of the child visit," Jacobo said.
Currently, there are just fewer than 20,000 children in foster care statewide, according to DCF. During a two-month span between August and October, there were 127 verified abuse cases across the state, 17 of them in the South Florida area.
Source http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Foster-Care-System-Through-The-Eyes-of-The-Ones-Who-Lived-It-140874593.html
By Nathalie Pozo
Sophia and Princess Calizaire were introduced to foster care when they were seen wandering the streets looking for their mother, who had left them alone in a South Florida motel.
"We heard this big bang at the door," said Sophia Calizaire. "We were trying to figure out who it was."
It was the Florida Department of Children and Families coming to take them away, and they became foster care files that night, when they were just four and seven years old.
The Calizaire sisters lived with countless families and were moved from one school to another. They say they were abused while staying with some of those foster care parents.
"She took a belt, she started beating me with the belt, picked up a hanger, she started beating me with the hanger, picked up a heel and started beating me with the heel,” said Sophia.
Her sister, Princess, was outside the room and could hear everything. “I couldn’t do anything about it," Princess said, with tears coming down her face.
The Calizaire sisters remember one foster care parent making them sleep in a dog house and eat dog food. They say some foster care parents wouldn’t feed them, would keep locks on the refrigerator and would sometimes starve them as a form of punishment.
"She told me to eat in front of my sister while she watched and my sister is hungry. I took out the chewed up piece of chicken from my mouth and gave it to her," said Sophia, who said she was caught by her foster care mother. "She filled up the bathroom sink and she took my head and started drowning me. She kept drowning me until she felt she was ready to stop."
Princess says the abuse not only came from the parents. “I stayed in a foster home down south where this boy used to try to rape me every night before I would go to sleep," she said. "I used to be scared to go to sleep at night. I ran away from there."
Mez Pierre, now 24, had a similar experience in foster care when he was a little boy. He says he was sexually abused by one of the teen foster kids staying in the same home.
“I was a little kid, they knew they could take advantage of me and I couldn’t fight back,” said Pierre. "But I did tell, I did tell someone and she didn’t do anything, she didn’t do anything."
In 2005, DCF completed privatizing foster care. They contracted with 20 lead agencies throughout the state to oversee the care and needs of children in foster care.
Our Kids manages Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, while Child Net handles Broward County. The abuse endured by Pierre and the Calizaire sisters happened before the agencies took over, but they still say the system is far from perfect.
Some child advocate attorneys say the current privatized system does not work because lead agencies like Our Kids sub-contracted other organizations to monitor foster care children.
"So you have multiple corporations and agencies who supposedly are in charge and responsible for the lives of the children but tragically these children, real human beings, fall through the cracks in the system,” said attorney Howard Talenfeld.
DCF disagrees and says when it was a statewide agency it became quite unmanageable.
"Out of the one or two cases that you hear which are horrible cases and we need to learn from, there are thousands of children and families that DCF and Our Kids helps on a yearly and daily basis," said DCF’s southern regional director, Esther Jacobo, who added that DCF is taking steps to improve the system.
Jacobo said case managers have to see a child in care every 30 days and must have private conversations with that child so they feel comfortable opening up. She says there is an electronic monitoring system in place for case workers, which snaps a picture of the child with a time, date and location.
"It’s kind of like a GPS and statewide Tallahassee monitors that so you know what is happening in terms of the child visit," Jacobo said.
Currently, there are just fewer than 20,000 children in foster care statewide, according to DCF. During a two-month span between August and October, there were 127 verified abuse cases across the state, 17 of them in the South Florida area.
Source http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Foster-Care-System-Through-The-Eyes-of-The-Ones-Who-Lived-It-140874593.html
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
State failing to spur kinship custody - Virginia
4.6% of foster kids stay with relatives in 2010 - lowest in the nation
Virginia ranks last in the nation when it comes to asking relatives to become foster parents, even though promoting such so-called "kinship care" is official state policy.
Only 4.6 percent of kids in foster care were with relatives in 2010, well below the national average of 24 percent, the Virginia Commission on Youth reported to the General Assembly this week.
For one Staunton family, the Simms, who have been trying to win custody of a cousin's infant, the finding is no surprise.
"I really don't know what to say," added Sylvia Simms. Licensed as a day care provider and as a treatment foster parent, she and her husband, Army veteran William Simms, say they've been rebuffed and misled by local social workers in their efforts to care for the infant.
The infant's foster care plan, prepared by the social workers, contradicts findings by the infant's court-appointed guardian ad litem, who had recommended placing the infant with the Simms. The social services department has declined to comment, beyond saying there are two sides to every story and saying the state's policy is to encourage kinship care.
The commission reported "the negative perception held by child welfare workers 'that the apple does not fall far from the tree,'" was one reason why kinship care lagged in Virginia.
In addition, it said, many Virginians object to the idea that people be paid to care for relatives who need foster care.
But the commission also reported caregivers looking after relatives find it is tough to get help with health care, child care, housing and mental health services that children in foster care are supposed to get.
In many cases, such caregivers don't know, or aren't told, they are entitled to welfare, help with health care coverage or for a wide range of other support services intended for children in foster care, the commission said.
It recommended the state Department of Social Services move forward with its previously announced plans to create an assistance program to help people providing foster care to relatives.
It also asked the state Department of Education to ensure school systems understood they could not assume children in foster care with relatives were not local residents and therefore not entitled to free schooling.
The commission also suggested Virginia re-examine its list of crimes that permanently bars people from taking relatives into foster care, noting these can include single instances of misdemeanor drug possession.
Source http://www.newsleader.com/article/20120114/NEWS01/201140323
Virginia ranks last in the nation when it comes to asking relatives to become foster parents, even though promoting such so-called "kinship care" is official state policy.
Only 4.6 percent of kids in foster care were with relatives in 2010, well below the national average of 24 percent, the Virginia Commission on Youth reported to the General Assembly this week.
For one Staunton family, the Simms, who have been trying to win custody of a cousin's infant, the finding is no surprise.
"I really don't know what to say," added Sylvia Simms. Licensed as a day care provider and as a treatment foster parent, she and her husband, Army veteran William Simms, say they've been rebuffed and misled by local social workers in their efforts to care for the infant.
The infant's foster care plan, prepared by the social workers, contradicts findings by the infant's court-appointed guardian ad litem, who had recommended placing the infant with the Simms. The social services department has declined to comment, beyond saying there are two sides to every story and saying the state's policy is to encourage kinship care.
The commission reported "the negative perception held by child welfare workers 'that the apple does not fall far from the tree,'" was one reason why kinship care lagged in Virginia.
In addition, it said, many Virginians object to the idea that people be paid to care for relatives who need foster care.
But the commission also reported caregivers looking after relatives find it is tough to get help with health care, child care, housing and mental health services that children in foster care are supposed to get.
In many cases, such caregivers don't know, or aren't told, they are entitled to welfare, help with health care coverage or for a wide range of other support services intended for children in foster care, the commission said.
It recommended the state Department of Social Services move forward with its previously announced plans to create an assistance program to help people providing foster care to relatives.
It also asked the state Department of Education to ensure school systems understood they could not assume children in foster care with relatives were not local residents and therefore not entitled to free schooling.
The commission also suggested Virginia re-examine its list of crimes that permanently bars people from taking relatives into foster care, noting these can include single instances of misdemeanor drug possession.
Source http://www.newsleader.com/article/20120114/NEWS01/201140323
Monday, December 19, 2011
Niveen Ismail Seemed Prison-Bound for Plot to Kidnap Son Until Jurors Heard Her on Tape
By Matt Coker
Niveen Ismail headed into a Santa Ana courtroom last week facing the possibility of a three-year prison sentence for allegedly asking a private investigator to kidnap her 7-year-old son from his foster parents.
But, after three hours of deliberations, the jury found the Newport Beach 45-year-old not guilty, and based on the press accounts from the trial, it's easy to see why.
Ismail, who lost parental rights to her son in 2005 when officers found him home alone, contacted and met P.I. Robert Young in November 2009. According to the Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA), Ismail proposed paying Young a large sum of money to kidnap her son from his foster family in Lake Forest and take him to Tijuana. From there, prosecutors alleged, Ismail planned to take her son to Europe or her native Egypt.
But the investigator later contacted the Newport Beach Police Department, and another meeting was set up on Dec. 4, 2009, that had Ismail joined by the P.I. and an undercover cop she believed was working with her point person. At that meeting, the OCDA claimed, Ismail discussed obtaining passports for her and her son, asking again for her son to be kidnapped in exchange for money. She was then arrested, and when trial began Dec. 7 Ismail was facing one felony count of solicitation to commit kidnapping.
What blew the case for prosecutors were the secretly recorded tapes from Ismail's meeting with Young and the undercover, according to Jon Cassidy's coverage in the Orange County Register. Young testified that Ismail threw out the kidnapping idea as a "what if" at the first meeting, but while she is heard discussing such a plot at the follow-up meeting, she did not actually request it, Cassidy reports. Instead, Ismail is heard continually trying to steer the conversation back to another idea: spying on the foster family, according to Cassidy, who adds it was the investigators who were heard repeatedly bringing up the kidnapping.
Ismail was told a kidnapping would cost $5,000 versus $500 for surveillance on the foster family. After initially providing Young and his fake partner with a photo of her son--and indication she was in on the kidnapping--she later changed her mind and only paid $500, Cassidy reports.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Beth Costello presented circumstantial evidence that Ismail had begun applying for an Egyptian passport and looked online for driving directions to the Mexican border and flight information from Mexico to Europe, but that obviously was not enough for the jury to buy that the mom had, as the charges suggest, solicited to commit a kidnapping.
"We had an intelligent jury that sifted through rumor, innuendo and distraction thrown at them by the prosecution," Ismail's attorney, Ann Cunningham, reportedly told Cassidy. "The case was all on tape."
Source http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2011/12/niveen_ismail_gladys_remigio_k.php
Niveen Ismail headed into a Santa Ana courtroom last week facing the possibility of a three-year prison sentence for allegedly asking a private investigator to kidnap her 7-year-old son from his foster parents.
But, after three hours of deliberations, the jury found the Newport Beach 45-year-old not guilty, and based on the press accounts from the trial, it's easy to see why.
Ismail, who lost parental rights to her son in 2005 when officers found him home alone, contacted and met P.I. Robert Young in November 2009. According to the Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA), Ismail proposed paying Young a large sum of money to kidnap her son from his foster family in Lake Forest and take him to Tijuana. From there, prosecutors alleged, Ismail planned to take her son to Europe or her native Egypt.
But the investigator later contacted the Newport Beach Police Department, and another meeting was set up on Dec. 4, 2009, that had Ismail joined by the P.I. and an undercover cop she believed was working with her point person. At that meeting, the OCDA claimed, Ismail discussed obtaining passports for her and her son, asking again for her son to be kidnapped in exchange for money. She was then arrested, and when trial began Dec. 7 Ismail was facing one felony count of solicitation to commit kidnapping.
What blew the case for prosecutors were the secretly recorded tapes from Ismail's meeting with Young and the undercover, according to Jon Cassidy's coverage in the Orange County Register. Young testified that Ismail threw out the kidnapping idea as a "what if" at the first meeting, but while she is heard discussing such a plot at the follow-up meeting, she did not actually request it, Cassidy reports. Instead, Ismail is heard continually trying to steer the conversation back to another idea: spying on the foster family, according to Cassidy, who adds it was the investigators who were heard repeatedly bringing up the kidnapping.
Ismail was told a kidnapping would cost $5,000 versus $500 for surveillance on the foster family. After initially providing Young and his fake partner with a photo of her son--and indication she was in on the kidnapping--she later changed her mind and only paid $500, Cassidy reports.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Beth Costello presented circumstantial evidence that Ismail had begun applying for an Egyptian passport and looked online for driving directions to the Mexican border and flight information from Mexico to Europe, but that obviously was not enough for the jury to buy that the mom had, as the charges suggest, solicited to commit a kidnapping.
"We had an intelligent jury that sifted through rumor, innuendo and distraction thrown at them by the prosecution," Ismail's attorney, Ann Cunningham, reportedly told Cassidy. "The case was all on tape."
Source http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2011/12/niveen_ismail_gladys_remigio_k.php
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Sunday Journal: For social worker, biggest lie didn't come from 'hoodlum children'
By Derry Smith
Driving a child to the Florida School for Boys in Marianna was not in the job description when my mother accepted the position of social worker for the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice System in 1959.
Fresh out of college, she felt privileged to join the department. She intended to work toward improving the future for kids who lived with neglectful or abusive parents. What she learned was that Florida's state and county agencies didn't have much compassion for kids.
Children, some as young as six, were arrested for such petty crimes as trespassing and taken away from their homes. Typically, parents weren't punished for neglecting or even abusing their children.
As a juvenile guardian for the court, my mother would hear tales from kids about the horrendous punishment they had to endure at the hands of foster parents. When she took these revelations to her supervisors she was chastised for believing "lies."
The Marianna School for Boys was a threat that was part of the protocol when working with disobedient kids. And her charge, Jackie, had been threatened many times. He knew first-hand about the place, being a seasoned attendee by the time he was 11 years old.
Jackie lived with a mother who showed no interest in him. She didn't keep him fed or clean. The truant officer visited regularly, and the neighbors called the police often about the boy trespassing in their yards and stealing fruit. His mother finally gave up custody, and the state put him in a foster home. Within a month Jackie ran away. The authorities caught up with him. My mother was the social worker who interviewed him.
"The foster mother doesn't feed me," he told her. "I only eat if there's something left after her own kids do."
Again my mother reported the complaint to supervisors. Her report was met with indifference.
"Children lie," she was told as before. "Especially hoodlum children."
Her orders to escort Jackie to Marianna came as a "gift." She understood that the state had an expense account for traveling to the School for Boys and she was expected to use it.
Her supervisor informed her of the nicest hotel in the area and the best places to eat. She made the reservations and, accompanied by my father, left on a Friday. With the blessing of her boss they intended to make a weekend of it. It wasn't until they sped north with Jackie in the back seat that she realized this would be no blissful vacation.
He was small for 11, and his freckled face lacked childish wonder. His haggard eyes seemed too old for tears, and this may be why he didn't cry. He begged to be taken somewhere else. Anywhere else.
"Please don't take me there," he said. "They're mean. They beat you."
My mother looked at the child, his brown bangs almost in his eyes.
"You've survived this place before," she said. "And I bet if you cooperate, the guards won't beat you."
But still he begged.
"It's only an eight-month sentence," she said. "Use it as an opportunity to turn your life around."
She had no advice for what he said next.
"The big kids. They chase the little kids," he said quietly. "And when they catch ya' they blow ya'."
"They blow you?"
My mother assumed he spoke of oral sex. After listening to more description she realized he meant sodomy.
"I seen 'em even kill dogs that way," he concluded.
She felt sick to her stomach.
She contemplated not taking him. He wasn't handcuffed. He ate lunch with my parents in a restaurant outside of Tallahassee, and she waited for him to run away. But he didn't. Instead he tagged along behind her like a wounded animal, begging her not to leave him.
My mother didn't ask any more questions. She didn't say much either. She was young and inexperienced and stuck with a system that didn't care. She listened to his pleas, knowing she could do nothing for him.
When she returned to work on that Monday, it was only to hand in her resignation.
Derry Smith lives in St. Petersburg. She shares her stories on her blog, storiesonthenines.org.
Source http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/sunday-journal-for-social-worker-biggest-lie-didnt-come-from-hoodlum/1201820
Driving a child to the Florida School for Boys in Marianna was not in the job description when my mother accepted the position of social worker for the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice System in 1959.
Fresh out of college, she felt privileged to join the department. She intended to work toward improving the future for kids who lived with neglectful or abusive parents. What she learned was that Florida's state and county agencies didn't have much compassion for kids.
Children, some as young as six, were arrested for such petty crimes as trespassing and taken away from their homes. Typically, parents weren't punished for neglecting or even abusing their children.
As a juvenile guardian for the court, my mother would hear tales from kids about the horrendous punishment they had to endure at the hands of foster parents. When she took these revelations to her supervisors she was chastised for believing "lies."
The Marianna School for Boys was a threat that was part of the protocol when working with disobedient kids. And her charge, Jackie, had been threatened many times. He knew first-hand about the place, being a seasoned attendee by the time he was 11 years old.
Jackie lived with a mother who showed no interest in him. She didn't keep him fed or clean. The truant officer visited regularly, and the neighbors called the police often about the boy trespassing in their yards and stealing fruit. His mother finally gave up custody, and the state put him in a foster home. Within a month Jackie ran away. The authorities caught up with him. My mother was the social worker who interviewed him.
"The foster mother doesn't feed me," he told her. "I only eat if there's something left after her own kids do."
Again my mother reported the complaint to supervisors. Her report was met with indifference.
"Children lie," she was told as before. "Especially hoodlum children."
Her orders to escort Jackie to Marianna came as a "gift." She understood that the state had an expense account for traveling to the School for Boys and she was expected to use it.
Her supervisor informed her of the nicest hotel in the area and the best places to eat. She made the reservations and, accompanied by my father, left on a Friday. With the blessing of her boss they intended to make a weekend of it. It wasn't until they sped north with Jackie in the back seat that she realized this would be no blissful vacation.
He was small for 11, and his freckled face lacked childish wonder. His haggard eyes seemed too old for tears, and this may be why he didn't cry. He begged to be taken somewhere else. Anywhere else.
"Please don't take me there," he said. "They're mean. They beat you."
My mother looked at the child, his brown bangs almost in his eyes.
"You've survived this place before," she said. "And I bet if you cooperate, the guards won't beat you."
But still he begged.
"It's only an eight-month sentence," she said. "Use it as an opportunity to turn your life around."
She had no advice for what he said next.
"The big kids. They chase the little kids," he said quietly. "And when they catch ya' they blow ya'."
"They blow you?"
My mother assumed he spoke of oral sex. After listening to more description she realized he meant sodomy.
"I seen 'em even kill dogs that way," he concluded.
She felt sick to her stomach.
She contemplated not taking him. He wasn't handcuffed. He ate lunch with my parents in a restaurant outside of Tallahassee, and she waited for him to run away. But he didn't. Instead he tagged along behind her like a wounded animal, begging her not to leave him.
My mother didn't ask any more questions. She didn't say much either. She was young and inexperienced and stuck with a system that didn't care. She listened to his pleas, knowing she could do nothing for him.
When she returned to work on that Monday, it was only to hand in her resignation.
Derry Smith lives in St. Petersburg. She shares her stories on her blog, storiesonthenines.org.
Source http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/sunday-journal-for-social-worker-biggest-lie-didnt-come-from-hoodlum/1201820
Friday, November 11, 2011
Police: Fugitive who sexually abused foster children arrested
Blog authros note:
What is with these fosters who are so vile? Why didn't someone at CPS or whoever licensed them do a thorough check on these people? They couldn't have really checked into these people because this seems like something too weird to have just started when this man was 40. It makes us sick to think that CPS's failures are why so many children suffer such horrendous abuse simply due to CPS negligence.
-----
by Naxiely Lopez
McALLEN — A combined effort by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies led to the arrest of a man wanted in connection with the sexual assault of three children who were under his care for more than a year.
Investigators believe Jose Luis Cazares, 40, abused three foster children — all under the age of 10 — while they lived with him and his wife, Belinda, from January 2008 to April 2009, court documents showed. The children were placed in foster care because their mother was deported to Honduras.
Police learned about the alleged abuse only after a second foster family took the children in.
A woman who claimed to be the victims’ half-sister went to police in May and told them the children had made an outcry, records showed. Police did not reveal the woman’s identity.
Investigators took the victims to the Children’s Advocacy Center in Edinburg in June, where they were interviewed separately by professionals. There, the children detailed their lives with the Cazares.
One girl told staff at the center Cazares would take her to his room, where he would sexually assault her or use sex toys to do so, records showed.
The girl told police she pleaded with Cazares to stop, but he wouldn’t.
If she told, he would slap her in the mouth, the child said.
The abuse happened “every day in a while after school,” a probable cause affidavit quotes her saying.
A second girl told staff Cazares would buy something for them if they engaged in sex with him and his wife.
That child detailed an incident during Halloween in which he took her costume off and assaulted her.
A third victim, a boy, did not make an outcry, police said. But his sisters told staff they saw Cazares sexually abusing him.
The children began showing signs of abuse shortly after the second foster family began caring for them in April 2009, the half-sister told police.
The family reached out to Child Protective Services at the time to alert them about the assault, but the family was never contacted by anyone, records showed. They reached out again in 2010 to the children’s physician, but again no one followed up.
By the time police were involved, Cazares and his wife had already relocated.
That’s when the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Fugitive Task Force got involved. The team comprises officers from various law enforcement agencies, including U.S. Marshals Service; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Texas Department of Criminal Justice; U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Hidalgo and Starr County sheriff’s offices; and police departments in McAllen, Mission, San Juan and Weslaco.
Officers tracked Cazares down in Prairie Gillette, Wyo., using documentation from Child Protective Services, police said. Investigators contacted the Gillette police and they assisted in questioning the pair.
Both denied the allegations, investigators said.
Gillette police also assisted in interviewing a fourth female minor who was living with them in Wyoming, police said.
The girl apparently had a child at a young age, which sparked investigators’ interest.
The fourth victim initially told police her baby’s father was a boy at school, but she eventually admitted Cazares raped her when she was living with him in McAllen, police said.
That girl told police she was at home taking care of the three foster children when Cazares ordered them to their rooms and raped her on the couch by holding her down.
On Tuesday, investigators received information that Cazares was once again in the area and was working at Hayashi Hibachi, records showed. Police arrested him there about 4:45 p.m.
Investigators continued working on filing charges against Cazares’ wife, Belinda.
A McAllen Municipal judge charged Jose Luis Cazares with two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child — a first-degree felony — sexual assault and prohibited sexual conduct, both second-degree felonies. His bond was set at $550,000.
If convicted, he could face up to life imprisonment and a fine of up to $10,000.
Source http://www.themonitor.com/news/fugitive-56493-mcallen-abused.html
What is with these fosters who are so vile? Why didn't someone at CPS or whoever licensed them do a thorough check on these people? They couldn't have really checked into these people because this seems like something too weird to have just started when this man was 40. It makes us sick to think that CPS's failures are why so many children suffer such horrendous abuse simply due to CPS negligence.
-----
by Naxiely Lopez
McALLEN — A combined effort by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies led to the arrest of a man wanted in connection with the sexual assault of three children who were under his care for more than a year.
Investigators believe Jose Luis Cazares, 40, abused three foster children — all under the age of 10 — while they lived with him and his wife, Belinda, from January 2008 to April 2009, court documents showed. The children were placed in foster care because their mother was deported to Honduras.
Police learned about the alleged abuse only after a second foster family took the children in.
A woman who claimed to be the victims’ half-sister went to police in May and told them the children had made an outcry, records showed. Police did not reveal the woman’s identity.
Investigators took the victims to the Children’s Advocacy Center in Edinburg in June, where they were interviewed separately by professionals. There, the children detailed their lives with the Cazares.
One girl told staff at the center Cazares would take her to his room, where he would sexually assault her or use sex toys to do so, records showed.
The girl told police she pleaded with Cazares to stop, but he wouldn’t.
If she told, he would slap her in the mouth, the child said.
The abuse happened “every day in a while after school,” a probable cause affidavit quotes her saying.
A second girl told staff Cazares would buy something for them if they engaged in sex with him and his wife.
That child detailed an incident during Halloween in which he took her costume off and assaulted her.
A third victim, a boy, did not make an outcry, police said. But his sisters told staff they saw Cazares sexually abusing him.
The children began showing signs of abuse shortly after the second foster family began caring for them in April 2009, the half-sister told police.
The family reached out to Child Protective Services at the time to alert them about the assault, but the family was never contacted by anyone, records showed. They reached out again in 2010 to the children’s physician, but again no one followed up.
By the time police were involved, Cazares and his wife had already relocated.
That’s when the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Fugitive Task Force got involved. The team comprises officers from various law enforcement agencies, including U.S. Marshals Service; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Texas Department of Criminal Justice; U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Hidalgo and Starr County sheriff’s offices; and police departments in McAllen, Mission, San Juan and Weslaco.
Officers tracked Cazares down in Prairie Gillette, Wyo., using documentation from Child Protective Services, police said. Investigators contacted the Gillette police and they assisted in questioning the pair.
Both denied the allegations, investigators said.
Gillette police also assisted in interviewing a fourth female minor who was living with them in Wyoming, police said.
The girl apparently had a child at a young age, which sparked investigators’ interest.
The fourth victim initially told police her baby’s father was a boy at school, but she eventually admitted Cazares raped her when she was living with him in McAllen, police said.
That girl told police she was at home taking care of the three foster children when Cazares ordered them to their rooms and raped her on the couch by holding her down.
On Tuesday, investigators received information that Cazares was once again in the area and was working at Hayashi Hibachi, records showed. Police arrested him there about 4:45 p.m.
Investigators continued working on filing charges against Cazares’ wife, Belinda.
A McAllen Municipal judge charged Jose Luis Cazares with two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child — a first-degree felony — sexual assault and prohibited sexual conduct, both second-degree felonies. His bond was set at $550,000.
If convicted, he could face up to life imprisonment and a fine of up to $10,000.
Source http://www.themonitor.com/news/fugitive-56493-mcallen-abused.html
Lawsuit involving foster child, DSS workers settled - SD
by Scott Waltman
A lawsuit alleging that officials should have known they were placing a girl in a potentially unsafe Aberdeen foster home has been settled without a trial.
Terms of the agreement cannot be disclosed, according to court paperwork.
The case was filed by a woman appointed to represent the girl against Northeastern Mental Health, two state Department of Social Services workers, the foster parents and another foster child. Documents concerning the settlement were sealed to protect the victim, according to case paperwork.
The Department of Social Services' Child Protection Services was responsible for care of the girl when Northeast Mental Health placed her with the Steve and Stephanie Schuman family of Aberdeen in December 2007, according to the lawsuit. The girl stayed with the foster family until March 2008 and turned 9 during that time.
A 17-year-old male "with a propensity to sexually act out" — one of the defendants — had previously been placed in the foster home. The lawsuit claims that the older boy sexually abused the girl during the time they lived in the same home. The defendants should have known the boy was a threat to the girl and failed to properly address the issue, according to the lawsuit.
Department of Social Services employees Amy Reyes and Laura Woolverton, who worked on the girl's case, were listed as defendants.
Agreements settle the case with the Schumans, Northeastern Mental Health, Reyes and Woolverton. The other foster child is not mentioned in the settlement.
Previously, a $25,000 proposed settlement from Northeast Mental Health and the Schumans had been rejected.
Source http://www.aberdeennews.com/news/aan-lawsuit-involving-foster-child-dss-workers-settled-20111110,0,7424685.story
A lawsuit alleging that officials should have known they were placing a girl in a potentially unsafe Aberdeen foster home has been settled without a trial.
Terms of the agreement cannot be disclosed, according to court paperwork.
The case was filed by a woman appointed to represent the girl against Northeastern Mental Health, two state Department of Social Services workers, the foster parents and another foster child. Documents concerning the settlement were sealed to protect the victim, according to case paperwork.
The Department of Social Services' Child Protection Services was responsible for care of the girl when Northeast Mental Health placed her with the Steve and Stephanie Schuman family of Aberdeen in December 2007, according to the lawsuit. The girl stayed with the foster family until March 2008 and turned 9 during that time.
A 17-year-old male "with a propensity to sexually act out" — one of the defendants — had previously been placed in the foster home. The lawsuit claims that the older boy sexually abused the girl during the time they lived in the same home. The defendants should have known the boy was a threat to the girl and failed to properly address the issue, according to the lawsuit.
Department of Social Services employees Amy Reyes and Laura Woolverton, who worked on the girl's case, were listed as defendants.
Agreements settle the case with the Schumans, Northeastern Mental Health, Reyes and Woolverton. The other foster child is not mentioned in the settlement.
Previously, a $25,000 proposed settlement from Northeast Mental Health and the Schumans had been rejected.
Source http://www.aberdeennews.com/news/aan-lawsuit-involving-foster-child-dss-workers-settled-20111110,0,7424685.story
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Changes at DCF cause concern on advisory panel - Conn.
By Jacqueline Rabe Thomas
The sweeping changes the Department of Children and Families has made in recent months are drawing the ire of the agency's advisory panel, whose members--as parents, community providers, child lawyers and foster parents--are seeing first-hand the ramifications.
"You need to hear the crap that's going on," Janice Andersen, the deputy director of a Bridgeport-based group that deals with juvenile justice and other child welfare issues, told a top DCF official Monday.
It wasn't quite the reaction Fernando Muniz was expecting. He came to the meeting with a three-page update on the positive impact of keeping more children with their families, how reducing congregate care for the youngest children has played out and how the number of children living out of state has declined.
"As we have sat around this table all these years, these are all things you asked for," Muniz said in response to the harsh criticism. "Your points have been well taken."
But members of the State Advisory Council say many of the changes are causing widespread concern.
"Foster families are in absolute panic that you are sending children into unsafe homes. Just because someone shares the same genes does mean their criminal history shouldn't matter," said Laurie Landry, a therapist in Wethersfield. "What are you thinking?"
Connecticut previously had one of the lowest rates in the country of placing abused and neglected children with family members when it was determined they couldn't stay at home. Because of this, the department began waiving what Muniz describes as "the most restrictive guidelines in the country." That often includes waiving what the agency calls a non-relevant criminal record.
As a result of the changes, the number of children placed with family members increased from one in seven at the end of last year to one in five in September.
The group also said the agency's move to decrease the number of abused and neglected children with specialized needs being sent to live out-of-state--from 364 children in January to 258 in October--also is having some harmful affects.
"They may be coming home, but we aren't prepared for them," said Betsy Palmer-Ehrenfeld, who coordinates a network of foster homes for special-needs children across the state. She says the money is not available to ensure appropriate treatment for children with severe behavioral issues such as cutting themselves or exhibiting problem sexual behavior.
Muniz said many of those that were living out-of-state aged out of care, some went home and others were placed in facilities in the state. He said about half of the applications to place a child out-of-state have been rejected since the start of the year.
Anderson, who is the chairwoman of the advisory panel, also complained that parents continue to be treated poorly by DCF, despite the agency's ending surprise visits in response to allegations of abuse and neglect.
"There's a huge elephant in this room we have to talk about," she said. "You are not really trying to get parents and families involved." She cited advice the department is giving school districts in the Bridgeport region on how to handle a situation when they suspect a child is not getting the health care they require. "They are being told to report the parent for medical neglect. You should be helping them find the help."
Muniz responded that there would undoubtedly be hiccups in implementing such sweeping changes, but reminded the group that it is the agency's job to make sure children are safe.
"We are only here for abuse and neglect," he said. "DCF is not intended to be a poverty help program."
That upset Karen Hanson, a coordinator for child services at Yale's Child Study Center.
"You are going to send them to 2-1-1 and the Department of Social Services. Give me a break they can't even pick up the phone. That makes no sense," she said.
Source http://www.ctmirror.org/story/14453/changes-dcf-cause-consternation-their-advisory-panel
The sweeping changes the Department of Children and Families has made in recent months are drawing the ire of the agency's advisory panel, whose members--as parents, community providers, child lawyers and foster parents--are seeing first-hand the ramifications.
"You need to hear the crap that's going on," Janice Andersen, the deputy director of a Bridgeport-based group that deals with juvenile justice and other child welfare issues, told a top DCF official Monday.
It wasn't quite the reaction Fernando Muniz was expecting. He came to the meeting with a three-page update on the positive impact of keeping more children with their families, how reducing congregate care for the youngest children has played out and how the number of children living out of state has declined.
"As we have sat around this table all these years, these are all things you asked for," Muniz said in response to the harsh criticism. "Your points have been well taken."
But members of the State Advisory Council say many of the changes are causing widespread concern.
"Foster families are in absolute panic that you are sending children into unsafe homes. Just because someone shares the same genes does mean their criminal history shouldn't matter," said Laurie Landry, a therapist in Wethersfield. "What are you thinking?"
Connecticut previously had one of the lowest rates in the country of placing abused and neglected children with family members when it was determined they couldn't stay at home. Because of this, the department began waiving what Muniz describes as "the most restrictive guidelines in the country." That often includes waiving what the agency calls a non-relevant criminal record.
As a result of the changes, the number of children placed with family members increased from one in seven at the end of last year to one in five in September.
The group also said the agency's move to decrease the number of abused and neglected children with specialized needs being sent to live out-of-state--from 364 children in January to 258 in October--also is having some harmful affects.
"They may be coming home, but we aren't prepared for them," said Betsy Palmer-Ehrenfeld, who coordinates a network of foster homes for special-needs children across the state. She says the money is not available to ensure appropriate treatment for children with severe behavioral issues such as cutting themselves or exhibiting problem sexual behavior.
Muniz said many of those that were living out-of-state aged out of care, some went home and others were placed in facilities in the state. He said about half of the applications to place a child out-of-state have been rejected since the start of the year.
Anderson, who is the chairwoman of the advisory panel, also complained that parents continue to be treated poorly by DCF, despite the agency's ending surprise visits in response to allegations of abuse and neglect.
"There's a huge elephant in this room we have to talk about," she said. "You are not really trying to get parents and families involved." She cited advice the department is giving school districts in the Bridgeport region on how to handle a situation when they suspect a child is not getting the health care they require. "They are being told to report the parent for medical neglect. You should be helping them find the help."
Muniz responded that there would undoubtedly be hiccups in implementing such sweeping changes, but reminded the group that it is the agency's job to make sure children are safe.
"We are only here for abuse and neglect," he said. "DCF is not intended to be a poverty help program."
That upset Karen Hanson, a coordinator for child services at Yale's Child Study Center.
"You are going to send them to 2-1-1 and the Department of Social Services. Give me a break they can't even pick up the phone. That makes no sense," she said.
Source http://www.ctmirror.org/story/14453/changes-dcf-cause-consternation-their-advisory-panel
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Police: Foster parents allegedly hurt other child
By BRIAN WALKER
The Post Falls foster parents arrested on Thursday in connection with the death of a 2-year-old girl they cared for nearly three years ago bonded out of the Kootenai County jail on Friday after their first appearance in court.
Jeremy Clark, 36, and his wife, Amber Clark, 28, were arrested after a grand jury assigned to the case came back with an indictment in the Karina Moore case on Wednesday night.
Both were being held in jail on $25,000 combined bonds on two counts of felony injury to a child, one count of concealing evidence and one count of perjury. The bond amount stayed the same during the first appearance before the couple bonded out of jail late Friday afternoon, according to jail staff.
During their court appearance earlier in the day, Amber sobbed while Jeremy showed little emotion. Several supporters of the Clarks attended their appearance.
The Clarks, represented by the county Public Defender's Office, declined to be interviewed on Friday, per their attorneys. Their attorneys could not be reached for comment.
The arraignment in district court is expected on Thursday. The case is expected to go to trial.
"When I became chief, bringing this to a conclusion was one of my top priorities," Post Falls Police Chief Scot Haug said. "My feeling was that somebody needed to be a voice for Karina. This was a very complex case that took interviewing dozens of medical experts, witnesses and reviewing digital and physical evidence.
"We wanted to make sure we had a good solid case (before making the arrests). We've always had a detective, sometimes two, assigned to the case for the past three years."
Haug and Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh declined to comment on details surrounding the charges or evidence.
"I can't talk about evidence," Haug said. "That will come out in court."
McHugh added: "They deserve a fair trial."
Haug said another child under the Clarks' care - a boy who was 4 at the time - was allegedly injured in the home between 2007 and 2008.
"The (injury to child) charges indicate physical harm done to the children, but I can't get into the specifics," Haug said.
The Clarks were registered foster parents for two years and had several children in their care, but haven't been registered with the state since the Moore case. They also have kids of their own.
Haug said he believes the Clarks were aware of the ongoing investigation during the past three years. A search warrant was recently served at their home.
Jeremy was arrested without incident at his house, while Amber was arrested at her Hayden workplace.
Haug said the Clarks were not cooperative with police during the investigation, but declined to specify.
The grand jury met on the case from Monday through Wednesday. Haug said it's rare that cases go to a grand jury, which speaks to the complexity of the Moore case. He said police supported McHugh's decision to have a grand jury consider the charges.
Karina's biological mother, Samantha Moore, couldn't be reached for comment on Friday. She earlier said she doesn't believe her daughter's death was an accident.
Haug said Samantha was pleased with the outcome of the case when he spoke with her on Thursday.
The Clarks, who had been Karina's foster parents for more than a year, told police that Karina fell about 4 feet down a flight of carpeted stairs during the Jan. 6, 2009, incident. Amber Clark told police she was on the couch and recognized that the child might fall, but the child fell to the bottom of the stairs before she could help. She called the incident a tragic accident.
Haug wouldn't comment if investigators believe the account was made up.
Clark claimed she performed CPR until emergency responders arrived and flew her to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. Police said Karina was at the bottom of the stairs when they arrived.
Karina was brain dead and comatose afterward and died 10 days later.
The Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office ruled the case a homicide, citing "blunt force head injuries."
However, the examiner's report did not corroborate with the initial police investigation nor the opinions of multiple doctors police interviewed at Kootenai Medical Center and Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, which determined the head and spleen injuries were consistent with an accidental fall.
John Howard, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy of Karina, said he could not comment on the evidence or factors that led him to the homicide determination.
Moore filed civil lawsuits against the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare in January this year in state and federal courts, claiming she reported abuse allegations against the Clarks to social workers twice, but her concerns weren't addressed.
The suit claims the IDHW "negligently and with reckless indifference failed to supervise the foster home ... which resulted in the death of Karina."
The suits have been stayed.
Karina and two of her siblings, a brother and sister, had been living with the Clarks. Moore has since regained custody of her two surviving children.
The Clarks hadn't been booked in the local jail before.
Staff writer David Cole contributed to this article.
Source http://www.cdapress.com/news/local_news/article_4599160c-4a3a-5254-9fa5-1876efb5147f.html
The Post Falls foster parents arrested on Thursday in connection with the death of a 2-year-old girl they cared for nearly three years ago bonded out of the Kootenai County jail on Friday after their first appearance in court.
Jeremy Clark, 36, and his wife, Amber Clark, 28, were arrested after a grand jury assigned to the case came back with an indictment in the Karina Moore case on Wednesday night.
Both were being held in jail on $25,000 combined bonds on two counts of felony injury to a child, one count of concealing evidence and one count of perjury. The bond amount stayed the same during the first appearance before the couple bonded out of jail late Friday afternoon, according to jail staff.
During their court appearance earlier in the day, Amber sobbed while Jeremy showed little emotion. Several supporters of the Clarks attended their appearance.
The Clarks, represented by the county Public Defender's Office, declined to be interviewed on Friday, per their attorneys. Their attorneys could not be reached for comment.
The arraignment in district court is expected on Thursday. The case is expected to go to trial.
"When I became chief, bringing this to a conclusion was one of my top priorities," Post Falls Police Chief Scot Haug said. "My feeling was that somebody needed to be a voice for Karina. This was a very complex case that took interviewing dozens of medical experts, witnesses and reviewing digital and physical evidence.
"We wanted to make sure we had a good solid case (before making the arrests). We've always had a detective, sometimes two, assigned to the case for the past three years."
Haug and Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh declined to comment on details surrounding the charges or evidence.
"I can't talk about evidence," Haug said. "That will come out in court."
McHugh added: "They deserve a fair trial."
Haug said another child under the Clarks' care - a boy who was 4 at the time - was allegedly injured in the home between 2007 and 2008.
"The (injury to child) charges indicate physical harm done to the children, but I can't get into the specifics," Haug said.
The Clarks were registered foster parents for two years and had several children in their care, but haven't been registered with the state since the Moore case. They also have kids of their own.
Haug said he believes the Clarks were aware of the ongoing investigation during the past three years. A search warrant was recently served at their home.
Jeremy was arrested without incident at his house, while Amber was arrested at her Hayden workplace.
Haug said the Clarks were not cooperative with police during the investigation, but declined to specify.
The grand jury met on the case from Monday through Wednesday. Haug said it's rare that cases go to a grand jury, which speaks to the complexity of the Moore case. He said police supported McHugh's decision to have a grand jury consider the charges.
Karina's biological mother, Samantha Moore, couldn't be reached for comment on Friday. She earlier said she doesn't believe her daughter's death was an accident.
Haug said Samantha was pleased with the outcome of the case when he spoke with her on Thursday.
The Clarks, who had been Karina's foster parents for more than a year, told police that Karina fell about 4 feet down a flight of carpeted stairs during the Jan. 6, 2009, incident. Amber Clark told police she was on the couch and recognized that the child might fall, but the child fell to the bottom of the stairs before she could help. She called the incident a tragic accident.
Haug wouldn't comment if investigators believe the account was made up.
Clark claimed she performed CPR until emergency responders arrived and flew her to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. Police said Karina was at the bottom of the stairs when they arrived.
Karina was brain dead and comatose afterward and died 10 days later.
The Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office ruled the case a homicide, citing "blunt force head injuries."
However, the examiner's report did not corroborate with the initial police investigation nor the opinions of multiple doctors police interviewed at Kootenai Medical Center and Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, which determined the head and spleen injuries were consistent with an accidental fall.
John Howard, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy of Karina, said he could not comment on the evidence or factors that led him to the homicide determination.
Moore filed civil lawsuits against the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare in January this year in state and federal courts, claiming she reported abuse allegations against the Clarks to social workers twice, but her concerns weren't addressed.
The suit claims the IDHW "negligently and with reckless indifference failed to supervise the foster home ... which resulted in the death of Karina."
The suits have been stayed.
Karina and two of her siblings, a brother and sister, had been living with the Clarks. Moore has since regained custody of her two surviving children.
The Clarks hadn't been booked in the local jail before.
Staff writer David Cole contributed to this article.
Source http://www.cdapress.com/news/local_news/article_4599160c-4a3a-5254-9fa5-1876efb5147f.html
Friday, November 4, 2011
Unprecedented: N.J. judges find foster parents have no say in child placement
Blog authors note:
Finally, it's about time! Most blood relatives have no say in these kangaroo courts so why do foster parents get a say in them? They are just glorified babysitters for the state kidnappers! Hopefully, this will carry over to all states. Then it would be nice if they would allow legal blood relatives to chime in about placement - that is when the best interests of the child will truly be served. Blood families should never be replaced if they are willing and capable of providing everything necessary for the child.
-----
By Jerry DeMarco
The hearts of New Jersey foster parents are in the right place, but that doesn’t give them a say in placement hearings, a state appeals court has ruled in an unprecedented decision stemming from a Hudson County case.
The “resource parents,” as parents are called in the state’s courts, have “no independent legal interest” when a judge is weighing where to place youngsters from troubled situations, the Appellate Division determined. That responsibility belongs to a law guardian appointed by DYFS.
"The importance of the essential role of resource parents in the child placement arena is unquestioned," Judge Marie Lihotz wrote. "However, the legal rights of such caregivers in securing an undisturbed relationship with a child placed in their home [are] very limited."
The decision was brought on by a Hudson County judge’s refusal to allow two foster parents a say in a hearing that removed a child from her drug-addicted parents and placed the girl with her aunt.
The youngster, now 2, was born on July 16, 2009 with cocaine and other drugs in her system, which put her into a hospital for six weeks. She ended up with the foster parents while DYFS moved to remove her parents’ biological rights.
The foster parents requested "full participation" in proceedings aimed at final placement of the girl, calling themselves "indispensible parties" and "psychological parents."
They said they had plenty of information to share, wanted to review expert reports produced by DYFS and requested they be allowed to retain their own expert. They also gave the judge statements from a pediatrician.
Superior Court Judge Marilyn Foti in Jersey City allowed them to speak, and to attend various hearings, but said their participation ended there. Their testimony couldn’t carry any weight in the ultimate decision, in which the girl was taken from them on April 21. 2011, Foti ruled.
They appealed.
The appeals judges backed Foti, saying the foster parents “should be given the opportunity to let the judge know their wishes during the best-interests hearing.” They noted that "Foti evaluated the competence, sensitivity, patience, responsiveness and devotion of all possible caregivers."
They even went so far as to say that it would hurt the girl somewhat to be removed "from the loving care" of the foster parents.
In the end, however, the appeals judges said Foti "properly balanced the evidence of all necessary considerations and was not merely a preference for a relative placement over care by her resource parents."
What's more, they said, DYFS clearly spells out in its contract that foster parents don’t have the legal right to seek adoption.
The foster parents "opened their home" to the girl, identified in court papers as V.B., "who then stole their hearts," the judges wrote.
"The protective services system values adults like [them], who have optimally fulfilled their role as resource parents. The commitment, care, sacrifice and unconditional love [they] nobly conferred on V.B. will forever alter the course of her life. Nevertheless, the emotional ties that unavoidably developed neither result in psychological parent status nor otherwise confer an interest permitting standing to intervene in a interests hearing."
Source http://www.cliffviewpilot.com/hudson/2981-unprecedented-nj-judges-find-foster-parents-have-no-say-in-child-placement
Finally, it's about time! Most blood relatives have no say in these kangaroo courts so why do foster parents get a say in them? They are just glorified babysitters for the state kidnappers! Hopefully, this will carry over to all states. Then it would be nice if they would allow legal blood relatives to chime in about placement - that is when the best interests of the child will truly be served. Blood families should never be replaced if they are willing and capable of providing everything necessary for the child.
-----
By Jerry DeMarco
The hearts of New Jersey foster parents are in the right place, but that doesn’t give them a say in placement hearings, a state appeals court has ruled in an unprecedented decision stemming from a Hudson County case.
The “resource parents,” as parents are called in the state’s courts, have “no independent legal interest” when a judge is weighing where to place youngsters from troubled situations, the Appellate Division determined. That responsibility belongs to a law guardian appointed by DYFS.
"The importance of the essential role of resource parents in the child placement arena is unquestioned," Judge Marie Lihotz wrote. "However, the legal rights of such caregivers in securing an undisturbed relationship with a child placed in their home [are] very limited."
The decision was brought on by a Hudson County judge’s refusal to allow two foster parents a say in a hearing that removed a child from her drug-addicted parents and placed the girl with her aunt.
The youngster, now 2, was born on July 16, 2009 with cocaine and other drugs in her system, which put her into a hospital for six weeks. She ended up with the foster parents while DYFS moved to remove her parents’ biological rights.
The foster parents requested "full participation" in proceedings aimed at final placement of the girl, calling themselves "indispensible parties" and "psychological parents."
They said they had plenty of information to share, wanted to review expert reports produced by DYFS and requested they be allowed to retain their own expert. They also gave the judge statements from a pediatrician.
Superior Court Judge Marilyn Foti in Jersey City allowed them to speak, and to attend various hearings, but said their participation ended there. Their testimony couldn’t carry any weight in the ultimate decision, in which the girl was taken from them on April 21. 2011, Foti ruled.
They appealed.
The appeals judges backed Foti, saying the foster parents “should be given the opportunity to let the judge know their wishes during the best-interests hearing.” They noted that "Foti evaluated the competence, sensitivity, patience, responsiveness and devotion of all possible caregivers."
They even went so far as to say that it would hurt the girl somewhat to be removed "from the loving care" of the foster parents.
In the end, however, the appeals judges said Foti "properly balanced the evidence of all necessary considerations and was not merely a preference for a relative placement over care by her resource parents."
What's more, they said, DYFS clearly spells out in its contract that foster parents don’t have the legal right to seek adoption.
The foster parents "opened their home" to the girl, identified in court papers as V.B., "who then stole their hearts," the judges wrote.
"The protective services system values adults like [them], who have optimally fulfilled their role as resource parents. The commitment, care, sacrifice and unconditional love [they] nobly conferred on V.B. will forever alter the course of her life. Nevertheless, the emotional ties that unavoidably developed neither result in psychological parent status nor otherwise confer an interest permitting standing to intervene in a interests hearing."
Source http://www.cliffviewpilot.com/hudson/2981-unprecedented-nj-judges-find-foster-parents-have-no-say-in-child-placement
Saturday, October 22, 2011
CPS Lies - Kidnapping, Corruption, Organized Crime
CPS LIES #1; Baby P Effect, Worldwide Kidnapping, Organized Crime
CPS LIES #2 Most Foster Parents Care
CPS LIES #3 Child Protective Services Criminals' Doublespeak
CPS LIES #2 Most Foster Parents Care
CPS LIES #3 Child Protective Services Criminals' Doublespeak
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Abducted children found, claim city abuse
BY BOB DODA
The search for eight children taken from a foster care facility in Forest Hills on September 19 ended at around 10:30 p.m. Monday evening in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Police officials say that Shanel Nadal, 28, of Manhattan, and her husband Nephra Payne are awaiting extradition back to New York City after being found with their eight children – seven boys named Nephra and one 11-month-old girl – preparing to spend the night in a van with no license plates. The Daily News has reported that a joint police effort between NYPD, South Carolina State Police and the FBI were able to track the family through their cell phone and swipes on their welfare benefits card.
While the eight-child escape from a supervised visit with foster parents and Forestdale officials was dramatic enough, Norman Steiner – the parent’s attorney – claims that while in the city’s custody the children were abused. He states that the planned abduction was in the best interest of the children.
“The children were sexually molested while in the care of the city,” said Steiner to The Daily News. “You can’t blame the parents for acting in the children’s best interest. It’s a shame the city failed them.”
Steiner did not release any details regarding the alleged abuse but says he fully expects his clients to be exonerated from any crime.
An attempt to visit and interview Riverdale officials was refuted by workers at the agency who said the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) would speak on their behalf. They issued two statements regarding the apprehension of the family and the allegation of abuse on the city’s behalf:
“It is wonderful that the Payne children have been located and are now safe. Specially-trained staff from ACS will bring the children home to New York City. . . An investigation by ACS is already underway into how the children could have been abducted from the foster care agency during a supervised visit. ACS is reviewing with the foster care agency the protocols it has in place for supervised visits and its campus security system. We will share the results of that investigation once it is completed . . . We are aware of the allegations currently being made by the parents and we take all allegations of abuse seriously. Our immediate concerns are for the well being of the children. We have appropriate mental health professionals working with the children, including experts in trauma and a range of other disciplines.”
The parents will be charged with kidnapping, custodial interference and child endangerment, according to Associated Press reports. Nadal was arraigned and bail was set at $200,000.
Source http://www.queenscourier.com/articles/2011/09/28/news/top_stories/doc4e836b977bd08255418581.txt
The search for eight children taken from a foster care facility in Forest Hills on September 19 ended at around 10:30 p.m. Monday evening in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Police officials say that Shanel Nadal, 28, of Manhattan, and her husband Nephra Payne are awaiting extradition back to New York City after being found with their eight children – seven boys named Nephra and one 11-month-old girl – preparing to spend the night in a van with no license plates. The Daily News has reported that a joint police effort between NYPD, South Carolina State Police and the FBI were able to track the family through their cell phone and swipes on their welfare benefits card.
While the eight-child escape from a supervised visit with foster parents and Forestdale officials was dramatic enough, Norman Steiner – the parent’s attorney – claims that while in the city’s custody the children were abused. He states that the planned abduction was in the best interest of the children.
“The children were sexually molested while in the care of the city,” said Steiner to The Daily News. “You can’t blame the parents for acting in the children’s best interest. It’s a shame the city failed them.”
Steiner did not release any details regarding the alleged abuse but says he fully expects his clients to be exonerated from any crime.
An attempt to visit and interview Riverdale officials was refuted by workers at the agency who said the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) would speak on their behalf. They issued two statements regarding the apprehension of the family and the allegation of abuse on the city’s behalf:
“It is wonderful that the Payne children have been located and are now safe. Specially-trained staff from ACS will bring the children home to New York City. . . An investigation by ACS is already underway into how the children could have been abducted from the foster care agency during a supervised visit. ACS is reviewing with the foster care agency the protocols it has in place for supervised visits and its campus security system. We will share the results of that investigation once it is completed . . . We are aware of the allegations currently being made by the parents and we take all allegations of abuse seriously. Our immediate concerns are for the well being of the children. We have appropriate mental health professionals working with the children, including experts in trauma and a range of other disciplines.”
The parents will be charged with kidnapping, custodial interference and child endangerment, according to Associated Press reports. Nadal was arraigned and bail was set at $200,000.
Source http://www.queenscourier.com/articles/2011/09/28/news/top_stories/doc4e836b977bd08255418581.txt
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Lawmakers express continued frustration with DCF response in Barahona case
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Updated: 6:16 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011
Posted: 6:12 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011
TALLAHASSEE — Frustrated lawmakers grilled the head of Florida's Department of Children and Families Tuesday and expressed doubt about whether he's doing enough to make the state's children safer in the aftermath of the alleged Barahona child abuse case.
DCF Secretary David Wilkins' appearance Tuesday morning before the Senate Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee was his first since the July 25 release of a Miami-Dade County grand jury report that found that child welfare workers failed to properly monitor Nubia Barahona's adoptive parents as highlighted by her alleged torture and slaying this winter.
Wilkins was appointed by Gov. Rick Scott shortly before 10-year-old Nubia's body was discovered in a plastic bag in the back of her adopted father Jorge Barahona's truck alongside Interstate 95 in West Palm Beach on Valentine's Day. Her twin brother, Victor, was found drenched in chemicals and convulsing in the front seat.
Jorge Barahona and his wife Carmen, the children's foster parents for five years before adopting them, have been charged with first-degree murder and child abuse in Nubia's death.
Since then, the agency hired 100 child protection investigators, conducted additional training session for caseworkers and increased the number of foster children who are getting regular medical and dental care, Wilkins said. The department has also stopped measuring how long hot line operators spend on the phone with tipsters, he said. The abuse hot line received at least two calls in the days preceding Nubia's death.
"But we've still got a long way to go," Wilkins told the committee, acknowledging there was a "big breakdown" in the Barahona case.
The non-binding grand jury report recommended that child welfare workers have full access to databases containing reports of allegations about at-risk children, something that Wilkins said he was still trying to put into effect.
But he drew fire from Committee Chairwoman Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, when he blamed the tragedy on Andrea Fleary, the DCF child abuse investigator fired in March who allegedly repeatedly signed off on the children's welfare without making contact with them.
"Our assessment is that the number one symptom of the problem was the case manager was not owning the case," he said.
To which Storm said, "I don't know what the heck that means. What the blankety-blank does that mean? The little girl was practically peeling paint off the wall to eat and they were afraid of these people and everybody at the school was saying it and the most we can come up with was the case manager was not owning the case?
"I think you should be more direct to say this was a human failure for humanity for this person. That's a human failure. I don't know how else to say it."
Wilkins also said that all foster children are now being seen by caseworkers every 30 days but that he wanted an extra $25 million for additional visits "any time a major event" occurs in the child's life.
Caseworkers should already have been visiting the children monthly, Sen. Nan Rich said, because lawmakers initiated that requirement after the disappearance a decade ago of Rilya Wilson, a 4-year-old foster child who has never been found.
"We're going right back to the same kind of situation," Rich, D-Weston, said.
The disconnection of the Barahonas' telephone, the children's problems at school, hot line reports and an inability to make physical contact with the twins apparently went ignored, Rich said.
"Normally I would say we don't need legislation. But to me something is dramatically and drastically wrong if all of these red flags are not seen. This to me is just crying out for us to do something," she said.
Wilkins suggested that the agency keep tabs on adopted children for up to one year, especially in the case of special needs children.
But Storms, a lawyer, said she believed that would be unconstitutional.
After Wilkins' hour-long testimony, lawmakers appeared uncertain what, if anything, they could do.
"It's a source of enormous frustration. It can be very discouraging to continue to hear some of the same things," Storms said after Wilkins testified. "All I can do is keep trying and keep hoping that we get a different result. But we can make all the laws that we want to make and pass all the statutes and if people will not do what they're supposed to do then I don't know how you fix that."
Source http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/lawmakers-express-continued-frustration-with-dcf-response-in-1869405.html
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Updated: 6:16 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011
Posted: 6:12 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011
TALLAHASSEE — Frustrated lawmakers grilled the head of Florida's Department of Children and Families Tuesday and expressed doubt about whether he's doing enough to make the state's children safer in the aftermath of the alleged Barahona child abuse case.
DCF Secretary David Wilkins' appearance Tuesday morning before the Senate Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee was his first since the July 25 release of a Miami-Dade County grand jury report that found that child welfare workers failed to properly monitor Nubia Barahona's adoptive parents as highlighted by her alleged torture and slaying this winter.
Wilkins was appointed by Gov. Rick Scott shortly before 10-year-old Nubia's body was discovered in a plastic bag in the back of her adopted father Jorge Barahona's truck alongside Interstate 95 in West Palm Beach on Valentine's Day. Her twin brother, Victor, was found drenched in chemicals and convulsing in the front seat.
Jorge Barahona and his wife Carmen, the children's foster parents for five years before adopting them, have been charged with first-degree murder and child abuse in Nubia's death.
Since then, the agency hired 100 child protection investigators, conducted additional training session for caseworkers and increased the number of foster children who are getting regular medical and dental care, Wilkins said. The department has also stopped measuring how long hot line operators spend on the phone with tipsters, he said. The abuse hot line received at least two calls in the days preceding Nubia's death.
"But we've still got a long way to go," Wilkins told the committee, acknowledging there was a "big breakdown" in the Barahona case.
The non-binding grand jury report recommended that child welfare workers have full access to databases containing reports of allegations about at-risk children, something that Wilkins said he was still trying to put into effect.
But he drew fire from Committee Chairwoman Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, when he blamed the tragedy on Andrea Fleary, the DCF child abuse investigator fired in March who allegedly repeatedly signed off on the children's welfare without making contact with them.
"Our assessment is that the number one symptom of the problem was the case manager was not owning the case," he said.
To which Storm said, "I don't know what the heck that means. What the blankety-blank does that mean? The little girl was practically peeling paint off the wall to eat and they were afraid of these people and everybody at the school was saying it and the most we can come up with was the case manager was not owning the case?
"I think you should be more direct to say this was a human failure for humanity for this person. That's a human failure. I don't know how else to say it."
Wilkins also said that all foster children are now being seen by caseworkers every 30 days but that he wanted an extra $25 million for additional visits "any time a major event" occurs in the child's life.
Caseworkers should already have been visiting the children monthly, Sen. Nan Rich said, because lawmakers initiated that requirement after the disappearance a decade ago of Rilya Wilson, a 4-year-old foster child who has never been found.
"We're going right back to the same kind of situation," Rich, D-Weston, said.
The disconnection of the Barahonas' telephone, the children's problems at school, hot line reports and an inability to make physical contact with the twins apparently went ignored, Rich said.
"Normally I would say we don't need legislation. But to me something is dramatically and drastically wrong if all of these red flags are not seen. This to me is just crying out for us to do something," she said.
Wilkins suggested that the agency keep tabs on adopted children for up to one year, especially in the case of special needs children.
But Storms, a lawyer, said she believed that would be unconstitutional.
After Wilkins' hour-long testimony, lawmakers appeared uncertain what, if anything, they could do.
"It's a source of enormous frustration. It can be very discouraging to continue to hear some of the same things," Storms said after Wilkins testified. "All I can do is keep trying and keep hoping that we get a different result. But we can make all the laws that we want to make and pass all the statutes and if people will not do what they're supposed to do then I don't know how you fix that."
Source http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/lawmakers-express-continued-frustration-with-dcf-response-in-1869405.html
Monday, September 5, 2011
Senate approves Foster Care Act
By HANNAH L. TORREGOZA
September 5, 2011, 5:08pm
MANILA, Philippines — The Senate has approved on third and final reading the Foster Care Act of 2010, a measure giving tax breaks to foster parents and donor agencies that put a premium on homeless children.
Senate Bill no. 2486, authored by Senate President Pro Tempore Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Sen. Pilar “Pia” Cayetano, aims to establish a system that would promote foster care for homeless children by giving foster parents and donor agencies tax incentives.
“Foster care” is defined by the bill as the provision of planned temporary substitute parental care to a child. The bill seeks to address the lack of institutions in the country that attend to the needs of abandoned and neglected Filipino children.
In order to qualify as a foster parent, a person must be of legal age and must meet a set of qualifications to prove that he or she is of good moral character, and capable of providing for the needs of the foster child.
During her sponsorship speech, Cayetano stressed the need for government to give attention and consideration to foster care as a preferred way of caring for homeless children as opposed to the current practice of placing them in institutions, such as orphanages and youth centers.
“Studies show that foster care creates a better living environment, and develops better individuals as opposed to institutional care,” Cayetano said.
“Through foster care, children are given more attention and care in a home setting, thus providing them with more opportunities for normal, mental, spiritual, emotional, and physical growth,” she added.
Once it is enacted into law, Estrada said, the government will provide assistance and tax incentives to foster parents, child-caring agencies and donor institutions.
The bill grants foster parents medical insurance through the Philippine Health Insurance (PhilHealth) if they are non-members at the time of foster care. They will also be provided with counseling, training on child care and development, skills training, and livelihood assistance.
Foster parents are also entitled to personal tax exemption, and additional exemptions for dependents. The Department of Welfare and Development (DWSD) will also see to it that the foster child will receive monthly support.
Source http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/333281/senate-oks-foster-care-act-third-and-final-reading
September 5, 2011, 5:08pm
MANILA, Philippines — The Senate has approved on third and final reading the Foster Care Act of 2010, a measure giving tax breaks to foster parents and donor agencies that put a premium on homeless children.
Senate Bill no. 2486, authored by Senate President Pro Tempore Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Sen. Pilar “Pia” Cayetano, aims to establish a system that would promote foster care for homeless children by giving foster parents and donor agencies tax incentives.
“Foster care” is defined by the bill as the provision of planned temporary substitute parental care to a child. The bill seeks to address the lack of institutions in the country that attend to the needs of abandoned and neglected Filipino children.
In order to qualify as a foster parent, a person must be of legal age and must meet a set of qualifications to prove that he or she is of good moral character, and capable of providing for the needs of the foster child.
During her sponsorship speech, Cayetano stressed the need for government to give attention and consideration to foster care as a preferred way of caring for homeless children as opposed to the current practice of placing them in institutions, such as orphanages and youth centers.
“Studies show that foster care creates a better living environment, and develops better individuals as opposed to institutional care,” Cayetano said.
“Through foster care, children are given more attention and care in a home setting, thus providing them with more opportunities for normal, mental, spiritual, emotional, and physical growth,” she added.
Once it is enacted into law, Estrada said, the government will provide assistance and tax incentives to foster parents, child-caring agencies and donor institutions.
The bill grants foster parents medical insurance through the Philippine Health Insurance (PhilHealth) if they are non-members at the time of foster care. They will also be provided with counseling, training on child care and development, skills training, and livelihood assistance.
Foster parents are also entitled to personal tax exemption, and additional exemptions for dependents. The Department of Welfare and Development (DWSD) will also see to it that the foster child will receive monthly support.
Source http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/333281/senate-oks-foster-care-act-third-and-final-reading
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Psychiatry Drugs Foster Care Children – Ashley
Psychiatry Drugs Foster Care Children – Ashley I took my video camera to a Foster Care Alumni meeting and asked seven foster kids to tell me about there experiences in Child Protective Services while wards of the state. One thing they all had in common was massive over drugging with psychiatric drugs. Child placement agencies, foster parents, RTCs (Residential Treatment Centers) and Therapeutic Foster Homes get paid a certain amount of money each day for taking care of a foster child. The amount of money they get paid depends on a level of care system. The more difficult the child or the more problems that child has, the more money you get. A child at the basic level of care is worth about 17 dollars a day where as a child in the highest level of care could be worth as much as a 1000 dollars a day. This puts the incentive on diagnosing children with behavior problems to justify raising their level of care. A child on psychiatric drugs is worth more than a child without problems. It is not uncommon for a foster child to be placed on many different psychotropic drugs at the same time. Some investigations have found children on as many as 13 mind altering drugs prescribed by a psychiatrists at one time. These drugs include all categories of psychiatric drugs; antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, anxiety medications, anticonvulsants medications, etc. The SSRI drugs are commons such as Paxil, Zoloft, Prozac, etc. Also a number of these children described taking …
Source http://health5news.com/?p=2728
Friday, August 19, 2011
Psychiatry Drugs Foster Care Children – Tristen
Psychiatry Drugs Foster Care Children – Tristen I took my video camera to a Foster Care Alumni meeting and asked seven foster kids to tell me about there experiences in Child Protective Services while wards of the state. One thing they all had in common was massive over drugging with psychiatric drugs. Child placement agencies, foster parents, RTCs (Residential Treatment Centers) and Therapeutic Foster Homes get paid a certain amount of money each day for taking care of a foster child. The amount of money they get paid depends on a level of care system. The more difficult the child or the more problems that child has, the more money you get. A child at the basic level of care is worth about 17 dollars a day where as a child in the highest level of care could be worth as much as a 1000 dollars a day. This puts the incentive on diagnosing children with behavior problems to justify raising their level of care. A child on psychiatric drugs is worth more than a child without problems. It is not uncommon for a foster child to be placed on many different psychotropic drugs at the same time. Some investigations have found children on as many as 13 mind altering drugs prescribed by a psychiatrists at one time. These drugs include all categories of psychiatric drugs; antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, anxiety medications, anticonvulsants medications, etc. The SSRI drugs are commons such as Paxil, Zoloft, Prozac, etc. Also a number of these children described taking …
Psychiatry Drugs Foster Care Children – Aisha
Psychiatry Drugs Foster Care Children – Aisha I took my video camera to a Foster Care Alumni meeting and asked seven foster kids to tell me about there experiences in Child Protective Services while wards of the state. One thing they all had in common was massive over drugging with psychiatric drugs. Child placement agencies, foster parents, RTCs (Residential Treatment Centers) and Therapeutic Foster Homes get paid a certain amount of money each day for taking care of a foster child. The amount of money they get paid depends on a level of care system. The more difficult the child or the more problems that child has, the more money you get. A child at the basic level of care is worth about 17 dollars a day where as a child in the highest level of care could be worth as much as a 1000 dollars a day. This puts the incentive on diagnosing children with behavior problems to justify raising their level of care. A child on psychiatric drugs is worth more than a child without problems. It is not uncommon for a foster child to be placed on many different psychotropic drugs at the same time. Some investigations have found children on as many as 13 mind altering drugs prescribed by a psychiatrists at one time. These drugs include all categories of psychiatric drugs; antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, anxiety medications, anticonvulsants medications, etc. The SSRI drugs are commons such as Paxil, Zoloft, Prozac, etc. Also a number of these children described taking …
Source: http://health5news.com/?p=1631
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