The Disability and Parental Rights Legislative Change Project was initiated at the University of Minnesota as a collaborative project in the College of Education and Human Development between the School of Social Work and the Institute on Community Integration. The collaboration developed following the identification of discriminatory legislation within child custody and terminaton of parental rights statutes. The goal of the project is to assist interested groups in removing disability from these statutes to eliminate discrimination, with the ultimate goal of ensuring the safety, permanency and well-being of children. This guide provides an overview of the problem; key principles for protecting parents with disabilities; model statutory language and accompanying definitions; a legislative change strategy; practice suggestions for modifying services and providing parental accommodations; frequently asked questions and answers; and resources.
Read more by clicking this link http://www.cehd.umn.edu/ssw/CASCW/research/Disabilities/tpr/default.asp
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.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Oklahoma Department of Human Services worker testifies in trial concerning foster child's death
Edmond foster parent has been charged in the death of a child she was caring for in 2009.
BY TIFFANY GIBSON
Published: September 23, 2011
GUTHRIE — Attorneys cross-examined a state child welfare worker Thursday in the child abuse trial of Amy Holder. Holder is accused of abusing Naomi Whitecrow, 2, who died after four months in foster care with Holder, of Edmond.
Holder has been charged with felony child abuse in connection with the death. Investigators said Naomi had been living with Holder for four months before her death on January 20, 2009, at 7751 Prairie View Road in Edmond.
The Oklahoma medical examiner's office found recent scrapes and bruises on Naomi's face, chest, back legs, right buttock and head, as well as old and new scabs.
Her death was first ruled undetermined, but an Indiana pathologist was able to review the evidence and reported the girl died of blunt-force injury to the head, abdomen and extremities.
The trial for Holder began this week with jury selection Tuesday and opening statements Wednesday.
Prosecutors called Lashelle Humphreys, a Department of Human Services worker, to the stand Thursday to talk about her interaction with the child and her foster parents.
Humphreys said she became involved in the case in 2008 when DHS was asked to intervene when a baby boy tested positive for cocaine at a hospital.
She said the mother, Kayla Whitecrow, also had cocaine and marijuana in her system, according to medical staff.
As the primary worker on the case, Humphreys said Kayla Whitecrow's two children, including Naomi, were removed from the household in February 2008. They were placed with foster parent Alicia Taylor in Garfield County, she said.
When Kayla Whitecrow checked into the Chi Hullo Li Rehabilitation Center, a Choctaw Nation substance abuse facility, to receive treatment, her two children were placed there with her, Humphreys testified.
A facility worker testified Thursday that Naomi seemed healthy when she was placed there. With only two incident reports of her smashing her finger and hitting her head on a water fountain, the woman said she seemed like a normal child.
Another worker who used to interact with Naomi said she didn't have a problem eating or walking.
“She would play with her little brother and put her face on his,” the worker said. “She was a sweet little girl.”
Humphreys told the jury many times that DHS has a policy to try to reunite families; therefore, she made a plan to help the parents receive treatment.
Scott Adams, Holder's attorney, said that his client began fostering Naomi in September 2008 after Kayla Whitecrow left the facility and abandoned her children.
He said Holder believed the girl might have been abused because she would shake and act distant. Adams said this was made known to DHS, however, they proceeded to try and reunite the girl with their birth mother.
Humphreys testified that dealing with Holder was often difficult because of her demands. She said she tried to organize visits between Naomi and her biological mother, but Holder would always cancel the plans.
Adams said that Holder was caring for three other children at the time and needed more notice to plan visits.
He questioned Humphreys' concern for Naomi, asking why she never visited them.
She testified that she only spent five minutes with Naomi at a Christmas party in December 2008, but noticed that her body language seemed distant.
“She kind of looked through me,” Humphreys said. “Her eyes looked hollow. She looked sad.”
Source http://newsok.com/oklahoma-department-of-human-services-worker-testifies-in-trial-concerning-foster-childs-death/article/3606733?custom_click=lead_story_title
BY TIFFANY GIBSON
Published: September 23, 2011
GUTHRIE — Attorneys cross-examined a state child welfare worker Thursday in the child abuse trial of Amy Holder. Holder is accused of abusing Naomi Whitecrow, 2, who died after four months in foster care with Holder, of Edmond.
Holder has been charged with felony child abuse in connection with the death. Investigators said Naomi had been living with Holder for four months before her death on January 20, 2009, at 7751 Prairie View Road in Edmond.
The Oklahoma medical examiner's office found recent scrapes and bruises on Naomi's face, chest, back legs, right buttock and head, as well as old and new scabs.
Her death was first ruled undetermined, but an Indiana pathologist was able to review the evidence and reported the girl died of blunt-force injury to the head, abdomen and extremities.
The trial for Holder began this week with jury selection Tuesday and opening statements Wednesday.
Prosecutors called Lashelle Humphreys, a Department of Human Services worker, to the stand Thursday to talk about her interaction with the child and her foster parents.
Humphreys said she became involved in the case in 2008 when DHS was asked to intervene when a baby boy tested positive for cocaine at a hospital.
She said the mother, Kayla Whitecrow, also had cocaine and marijuana in her system, according to medical staff.
As the primary worker on the case, Humphreys said Kayla Whitecrow's two children, including Naomi, were removed from the household in February 2008. They were placed with foster parent Alicia Taylor in Garfield County, she said.
When Kayla Whitecrow checked into the Chi Hullo Li Rehabilitation Center, a Choctaw Nation substance abuse facility, to receive treatment, her two children were placed there with her, Humphreys testified.
A facility worker testified Thursday that Naomi seemed healthy when she was placed there. With only two incident reports of her smashing her finger and hitting her head on a water fountain, the woman said she seemed like a normal child.
Another worker who used to interact with Naomi said she didn't have a problem eating or walking.
“She would play with her little brother and put her face on his,” the worker said. “She was a sweet little girl.”
Humphreys told the jury many times that DHS has a policy to try to reunite families; therefore, she made a plan to help the parents receive treatment.
Scott Adams, Holder's attorney, said that his client began fostering Naomi in September 2008 after Kayla Whitecrow left the facility and abandoned her children.
He said Holder believed the girl might have been abused because she would shake and act distant. Adams said this was made known to DHS, however, they proceeded to try and reunite the girl with their birth mother.
Humphreys testified that dealing with Holder was often difficult because of her demands. She said she tried to organize visits between Naomi and her biological mother, but Holder would always cancel the plans.
Adams said that Holder was caring for three other children at the time and needed more notice to plan visits.
He questioned Humphreys' concern for Naomi, asking why she never visited them.
She testified that she only spent five minutes with Naomi at a Christmas party in December 2008, but noticed that her body language seemed distant.
“She kind of looked through me,” Humphreys said. “Her eyes looked hollow. She looked sad.”
Source http://newsok.com/oklahoma-department-of-human-services-worker-testifies-in-trial-concerning-foster-childs-death/article/3606733?custom_click=lead_story_title
Foster care system: broken beyond repair?
By Darcy Spears
CREATED Sep. 22, 2011
Clark County, NV (KTNV) - Desperate parents. Children with no rights. Ruthless caseworkers, and a corrupt system. That's how Clark County's Department of Family Services has been described by child welfare experts who say our system is broken almost beyond repair.
"We are damaging children so much more within the system..." says Anita Stephens of the Clark County Caregiver Advisory Board.
"I think what you're seeing here is exactly what happens when children do not have a voice," says Janice Wolf of the Children's Attorneys Project.
"I believe if anybody should be charged with child abuse and neglect it should be the Department of Family Services," says Vicki Lambou, a foster mom.
Those concerns are echoed across the valley by judges, attorneys, child advocates and parents who are hoping against hope that change comes to Clark County.
"Nevada is woefully behind," says Wolf. She leads the Children's Attorneys Project through the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada. She says they only have the resources to represent half of Nevada's 3200 foster children.
"We're catching up, but in so many states the law requires every child to have an attorney."
Matthew and Brandon did not have an attorney. The two brothers lived with UMC emergency room nurse Vicki Lambou for three years. She was supposed to adopt them and says they all dreamed of being a family.
"I told the children I'm not going anywhere. I'm here. I'm mommy forever. Forever. I had no idea that the DFS was capable of something like this."
Clark County's Department of Family Services took Matthew and Brandon out of Vicki's home based on a substance misuse charge that was later overturned in Family Court for "insufficient credible evidence." Despite that, Vicki never got the boys back.
"They've betrayed me and they've betrayed the children. They've used me. And now I'm being discarded like I'm trash."
Child welfare experts believe this case illustrates what's wrong with Nevada's foster care system, which they say is staffed with inexperienced, overloaded caseworkers who often fail to put children's best interests first.
"They're in a fragile little bubble and the slightest thing can pop that and destroy their world," says Anita Stephens, past president of the Foster Parent Association. She currently sits on the Caregiver Advisory Board made up of foster parents and DFS staff. She's been closely following Vicki's case.
"We have to use a little more compassion in my opinion in really looking at the situation and not just saying I'm the almighty authority."
Over seven and a half years, she and her husband have fostered 43 children, two of whom they've adopted.
"I've worked with DFS enough to know that blanket rigmarole that they put out there of the confidentiality."
She believes DFS often hides behind confidentiality laws in order to protect their decisions. That's exactly what they did when Contact 13 asked about Vicki's case.
"It's the nameless, faceless little people that the bureaucracy of DFS and CPS and the County Commission and all these other people make decisions around," Stephens says.
Vicki went to the County Commission for help, and accountability for DFS.
"And I'm asking for there to be an eye on what happens and who's looking out for the best interests of the children in our community. And why are we taking foster parents that are stepping up to the plate to adopt these children and crucifying them?" Vicki asked Commissioners.
She told then that over a three-month period, DFS filtered the boys through five different foster homes, at times separated from each other.
DFS is now trying to get their biological grandparents to adopt them.
"I know in Vicki's case that's kind of what the premise is--they should be able to be with biological family--but that's where they were removed from. No one's addressing that piece," Stephens says incredulously.
Also, there was no transition for the brothers out of the home where they'd lived for three years. DFS left most of their things behind too.
"I think it's a classic example to look at and say this is what goes horribly wrong within the system and it happens more often than not," Stephens says.
County Commissioners are working to at least get Vicki visitation with the boys.
The National Center for Youth Law in San Francisco is also reviewing the case.
And, just this week, the County Commission approved funding to expand the Children's Attorneys Project.
That means every foster child in the system will have an attorney within the next two years.
Vicki Lambou has started a petition to ask our elected officials for accountability and transparency from DFS.
She's gotten over 200 signatures so far. We've posted a link to that along with this story.
Source http://www.ktnv.com/news/local/130394563.html
CREATED Sep. 22, 2011
Clark County, NV (KTNV) - Desperate parents. Children with no rights. Ruthless caseworkers, and a corrupt system. That's how Clark County's Department of Family Services has been described by child welfare experts who say our system is broken almost beyond repair.
"We are damaging children so much more within the system..." says Anita Stephens of the Clark County Caregiver Advisory Board.
"I think what you're seeing here is exactly what happens when children do not have a voice," says Janice Wolf of the Children's Attorneys Project.
"I believe if anybody should be charged with child abuse and neglect it should be the Department of Family Services," says Vicki Lambou, a foster mom.
Those concerns are echoed across the valley by judges, attorneys, child advocates and parents who are hoping against hope that change comes to Clark County.
"Nevada is woefully behind," says Wolf. She leads the Children's Attorneys Project through the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada. She says they only have the resources to represent half of Nevada's 3200 foster children.
"We're catching up, but in so many states the law requires every child to have an attorney."
Matthew and Brandon did not have an attorney. The two brothers lived with UMC emergency room nurse Vicki Lambou for three years. She was supposed to adopt them and says they all dreamed of being a family.
"I told the children I'm not going anywhere. I'm here. I'm mommy forever. Forever. I had no idea that the DFS was capable of something like this."
Clark County's Department of Family Services took Matthew and Brandon out of Vicki's home based on a substance misuse charge that was later overturned in Family Court for "insufficient credible evidence." Despite that, Vicki never got the boys back.
"They've betrayed me and they've betrayed the children. They've used me. And now I'm being discarded like I'm trash."
Child welfare experts believe this case illustrates what's wrong with Nevada's foster care system, which they say is staffed with inexperienced, overloaded caseworkers who often fail to put children's best interests first.
"They're in a fragile little bubble and the slightest thing can pop that and destroy their world," says Anita Stephens, past president of the Foster Parent Association. She currently sits on the Caregiver Advisory Board made up of foster parents and DFS staff. She's been closely following Vicki's case.
"We have to use a little more compassion in my opinion in really looking at the situation and not just saying I'm the almighty authority."
Over seven and a half years, she and her husband have fostered 43 children, two of whom they've adopted.
"I've worked with DFS enough to know that blanket rigmarole that they put out there of the confidentiality."
She believes DFS often hides behind confidentiality laws in order to protect their decisions. That's exactly what they did when Contact 13 asked about Vicki's case.
"It's the nameless, faceless little people that the bureaucracy of DFS and CPS and the County Commission and all these other people make decisions around," Stephens says.
Vicki went to the County Commission for help, and accountability for DFS.
"And I'm asking for there to be an eye on what happens and who's looking out for the best interests of the children in our community. And why are we taking foster parents that are stepping up to the plate to adopt these children and crucifying them?" Vicki asked Commissioners.
She told then that over a three-month period, DFS filtered the boys through five different foster homes, at times separated from each other.
DFS is now trying to get their biological grandparents to adopt them.
"I know in Vicki's case that's kind of what the premise is--they should be able to be with biological family--but that's where they were removed from. No one's addressing that piece," Stephens says incredulously.
Also, there was no transition for the brothers out of the home where they'd lived for three years. DFS left most of their things behind too.
"I think it's a classic example to look at and say this is what goes horribly wrong within the system and it happens more often than not," Stephens says.
County Commissioners are working to at least get Vicki visitation with the boys.
The National Center for Youth Law in San Francisco is also reviewing the case.
And, just this week, the County Commission approved funding to expand the Children's Attorneys Project.
That means every foster child in the system will have an attorney within the next two years.
Vicki Lambou has started a petition to ask our elected officials for accountability and transparency from DFS.
She's gotten over 200 signatures so far. We've posted a link to that along with this story.
Source http://www.ktnv.com/news/local/130394563.html
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