July 1, 2004
Committee on Ways and Means
Subcommittee on Human Resources
Wally Herger, CA Chairman, Nancy L. Johnson, CT, Scott McInnis, CO ,Jim
McCrery, LA, Dave Camp, MI, Phil English, PA, Ron Lewis, KY, Eric Cantor,
VA, Benjamin L. Cardin, MD, Fortney Pete Stark, CA, Sander M. Levin, MI,
Jim McDermott, WA
Charles B. Rangel, NY
RE: HEARING ON FAILURE TO PROTECT CHILD SAFETY
I request Congressional Inquiries of Health and Human Services Child
Protective Services in All States. My online Petition for this can be
viewed on http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/253404476
. The Petition currently has 967 signatures as of this writing and is ongoing.
Parents are often falsely accused, or children are taken on extremely
trivial and frivolous allegations of child abuse and neglect. The CPS system
is flooded with children that should not be in CPS custody. States
are failing to protect our children and are failing to meet federal mandates
(fn1) because our Child Protective Services (CPS) system is so grossly overpopulated
with children due to false allegations of child abuse and neglect or allegations
so trivial and frivolous that they actually do not merit governmental interference.
Nationwide Congressional Inquiries/Investigations of CPS Departments
in All States must be conducted.
Nationwide, the definitions of child abuse and neglect
must be narrowed. CPS must stop unjustifiably snatching our children,
placing them in CPS custody for the federal financial incentives this brings
States and the Child Protection Industry.
Dr. Orr’s recommendations for reform. Dr. Susan Orr, Associate
Commissioner Children’s Bureau, recommended in Child Protection at the Crossroads:
Child Abuse, Child Protection, and Recommendations for Reform (fn2) that
the definition of child abuse and neglect must be narrowed and her other
recommendations for reform that should be implemented. Dr. Orr points out
that caring for children in foster care costs the average taxpayer over 10
times more than if children were safely left with their natural families
and those families received a welfare check. The National Coalition for
Child Protection Reform also recommends CPS leave families in peace when
they are innocent and that CPS offer basic concrete help to low-income families
for family preservation.
For False allegations of child abuse and neglect , as according
to the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform (NCCPR) suggests in
Successful Alternatives to Taking Children from their Parents (fn3): “1.
Doing nothing. There are, in fact, cases in which the investigated family
is entirely innocent and perfectly capable of taking good care of their children
without any "help" from a child welfare agency. In such cases, the best thing
the child protective services worker can do is apologize, shut the door,
and go away.” Children have been removed from their natural families for
homes being in disarray from spring cleaning tasks in progress (as in my
own case), while remodeling and while in the process of moving in or out
of a residence.
Low-income families, and particularly women, are being unfairly
targeted and their children are being exploited by CPS for profit.
An estimate of almost 60 percent of all child abuse and neglect cases are
lodged against Women in the U.S. Low-income families, and particularly women,
are unfairly and prejudicially being targeted by CPS. According to Child
Maltreatment 2002, 58.3 percent of all child neglect and abuse accusations
are lodged against women.(fn4) This figure could actually be much higher,
as not all states reported in this category. According to this report, 57.8
percent of parents were accused of neglect only.(fn5) CPS commonly
“confuses” poverty with neglect. Women are the primary “soft target” of
CPS as they often fulfill the role of primary caregiver for children and
are often awarded custody of the children. Women typically earn far less
than males do, and a divorce can throw a family from a comfortable standard
of living one day to at or below poverty level the next. Once a family’s
income drops, they are unfairly and automatically labeled “at risk” of child
abuse and neglect and become the primary “soft targets“ of CPS. Women typically
cannot afford good legal representation to fight false or trivial allegations
of neglect or abuse.
Battering and lodging false allegations with CPS against their
former victims has become the preferred “tools” for abusive fathers to gain
advantages in divorces and to sole custody of children. Typically
women often still perform the primary care giving duties for children and
are often awarded custody of the children upon separation/divorce. However,
in many areas of our nation, battering and domestic violence is still treated
as a “dirty little secret”, in some areas it is actually considered acceptable
and is tolerated by the local judicial systems.
In my own case, I was denied a Protection Order against my ex-husband
during my separation in 1999, by Family Court Judge Charles E. Parsons who
stated he would refuse to issue a Protection Order because, “Hunting is a
way of life in West Virginia.” When I presented evidence of domestic violence
issues on the part of my ex-husband and the criminally violent history of
his current wife (she stabbed one of her former husbands in the chest with
a knife) to Mineral County Circuit Court Judge Andrew N. Frye, Jr. in my
child abuse and neglect case, Judge Frye accused me of “vindictively…just
trying to make (my ex-husband) look bad.” Judge Frye awarded custody of
my son to my abusive ex-husband, against my son’s wishes by ignoring the
evidence of domestic violence on the part of my ex-husband and his current
wife even though caselaw clearly indicates spousal abuse is a factor to be
considered when determining the placement of children. He referred future
matters of custody, visitation, and child support to Mineral County Family
Court Judge Parsons. Judge Parsons refused to set a hearing for those matters
for one year three months. I have been denied a constitutional right to
a parent-child relationship with my child. I have not been allowed to see
my child in two years five months as of this writing. All this as a result
of spring cleaning tasks in progress. (fn6)
R. Lundy Bancroft (fn7) points out that court authorities (and CPS departments
involved in custody/visitation disputes wrongfully classified as child abuse/neglect
cases) typically uses Janet Johnson's Typology of Batterers where the focus
is wrongly directed toward the VICTIMS of abuse, instead of on the batterers
in "A CRITICAL LOOK AT JANET JOHNSTON'S TYPOLOGY OF BATTERERS" (fn8) Mr.
Bancroft points out the tactics used by Batterers in child custody and visitation
disputes and the numerous advantages of battering (fn9) and also that Judges
and Court Personnel must be trained in domestic violence issues and in assessing
risk to children. In non-abusive situations, the children benefit from each
parent being very involved in the children’s lives after separation/divorce.
But, experts agree that parents must be extremely committed to making joint
custody situations work. However, Batterers are abusing the legal system
and taking advantage of and equal parenting laws, where either parent has
an equal chance of gaining custody of the children, to the great detriment
of children. R. Lundy Bancroft and the Battered Womans Custody Conference
of Albany, NY (fn10) indicate that abusive men are twice as likely to demand
sole custody of the children than non-abusive men and that up to 70% of all
men who demand sole custody win by convincing the courts that the mothers
are unfit. Typically, fathers earn more income and therefore can afford
much better legal representation than women. Abusive men will stalk mothers
through the court system to continue to harass, control, and financially
devastate their former victims. Statistically, older women who have been
victims of domestic violence may easily have their lives devastated and are
commonly and routinely relegated to living at or below poverty level.
Gender-bias against women is prevalent in many Courts in the U.S.
and in CPS investigation procedures. In an article by Kristen Lombardi
entitled "Changes in Massachusetts family courts since 1989" (fn11) Ms. Lombardi
points out the following: “A 1989 MASSACHUSETTS study commissioned by the
state Supreme Judicial Court showed that mothers engaged in custody disputes
with their ex-husbands or boyfriends can fall victim to gender bias. Family
courts held mothers to higher standards than fathers. Judges and other
courtroom personnel, for example, scrutinized mothers’ habits, work schedules,
and relationships, as if looking for any reason to prove them unfit. By contrast,
fathers who simply sought custody were viewed as undertaking what the study
termed " an extraordinary act of commitment " to his children."
When it came to allegations of child abuse in custody battles — typically,
allegations lodged by women against men — court officials often presumed
that the claims were false. The 1989 study showed that a majority of Massachusetts
family-court judges even agreed with the statement that mothers only charge
child abuse " to gain a bargaining advantage in the divorce. " Judicial attitudes
ranged from " skepticism " to " disdain. " And judges made what the study
described as " inconsistent and ... questionable " rulings, such as granting
alleged abusers unsupervised visits.”
Claims have been made that much has changed in Massachusetts since this
gender-bias study was done. In West Virginia, and in numerous other states,
gender-bias against women is alive and thriving, to the very great detriment
of children. In West Virginia, the recommendation that Judges “refrain from
gender-bias” speech is not nearly enough. They routinely make extremely
gender-biased decisions against women in divorce/custody/visitation/ and
child abuse and neglect cases. Judges in Mineral County West Virginia make
decisions that make it known that domestic violence/abuse is not only tolerated,
it’s considered acceptable. When fathers desire custody of their children
(after typically remarrying quickly and with a woman ready to assume child
care duties for the fathers) CPS bends over backwards to assist the fathers
in gaining custody, ignoring clear, articulable evidences and proofs of domestic
violence on the part of the fathers. CPS must stop allowing themselves to
be used as “weapons” of choice in child custody/visitation disputes and
wrongly classifying these cases involving separation, divorce, custody and
visitation issues as “abuse and neglect” cases. CPS eagerly becomes involved
in such cases in order to warehouse the children in foster care while the
parents “battle it out” so they can collect federal funding for the children
while in foster care.
Fathers who lodge false allegations of child sexual abuse against mothers
or mothers’ new boyfriends, fiancees, or husbands seem to automatically be
believed by CPS, the Courts, court personnel and police, even when the evidence
indicates no such abuse occurred. This is becoming a commonly used tactic
by men to gain “emergency” custody of their children with no pre-deprivation
procedures.
KVC said to consider West Virginia a feeding trough they are feeding
off of. It’s a “feeding frenzy”. A former employee of KVC, a Kansas
based private organization that provides foster care services in West Virginia,
reported to me that KVC (formerly known as AYC -Action Youth Care- in West
Virginia) was being investigated in Kansas for various financial irregularities
and mistreatment of clients. The former employee indicated that one social
worker with KVC who had serious mental health issues herself and who had
a serious eating disorder, would routinely cruise through parking lots of
grocery stores and department stores, looking for mothers with children (soft
targets) to report to KVC for removals.
Reportedly KVC (AYC) entertained West Virginia officials lavishly
, chauffeured them in limousines, etc. in order to get the contract to provide
foster care services in West Virginia. Reportedly, KVC (AYC) billed Medicaid
over 8 million dollars in their very first year of operation in West Virginia
. The reporter stated West Virginia was a feeding trough that KVC was feeding
off of.
The Awarding of such Lucrative Contracts to Private Organizations
should be investigated for Bribes and/or Kickbacks. Child protection
has become a multi-billion dollar corrupt industry. Numerous persons make
their living directly from the child protection business. No one in the
system earning their livelihood from the child protection business wants
to see an end or restrictions on this lucrative industry.
“Child Protection” has become a lucrative cottage industry as well.
The Denver Post published a series of articles regarding profiting from
foster care. For example, reportedly Rocky Road President Charles Elias
had an extremely comfortable home in which he kept his private office. He
was paid more than $1.6 million over 5 ½ years to find and supervise homes
for foster children. He was accused of placing children in a foster home
with broken windows, one toy, and not enough food, clothes or furniture.
Elias owned that home and rented it to a foster parent. The state poured
$36.7 million in one fiscal year into private agencies. Agencies leaders
commonly collect annual compensation packages and management fees that total
over $100,000.00 (fn12)
Child Protective Services follows the Money: DSS 'Follows
The Money;' Makes An Extra $90 Million Per Year What's 'Best For The Child'
Is Secondary To 'More Federal Money' Massachusetts News By Edward G. Oliver
December 1--The Department of Social Services is using financial consultants
who specialize in advising the state how to aggressively "maximize federal
revenue." This means that the decision as to whether to remove a child from
his parents is often a factor of whether the DSS can get more federal money,
according to many experts. It is reported that the Department is making an
extra $90 million a year by this method. [Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD: meaning
the child is for sale, is a commodity, also that children are removed from
their families by the state for money alone, without regard for rights of
family, child, without regard for their well-being] “As Thoma observes,
"The Congress failed to ask one crucial question when it
passed the legislation; Why are so many children in
the foster care system to begin with?" (fn13)
CPS regularly, routinely and knowingly violates families’ rights
and fail to follow CPS rules, procedures, policies and states’ laws in child
abuse and neglect procedures. The Courts and court personnel serve as “rubber
stamps“ for CPS. As in my own case, my son was not “currently being
homeschooled”, “being held inside (my) home”, and in “danger” as the social
worker had falsely alleged to fabricate a seemingly “emergency” situation
to justify seizing my child. My son was clean, in a clean uniform, well-nourished,
happy, healthy and safe in school with his friends and classmates just as
I said he would be. My son was in very good physical and emotional condition,
he had no signs and showed no signs of any form of abuse or neglect whatsoever.
Upon seizing my son from his private parochial school in nearby Westernport,
Md, the social worker transported my son back to West Virginia to be questioned
by the Mineral County Prosecutor Lynn Nelson when my son adamantly refused
to be placed with his father. My son, who was 13 ½ years old, denied I
was ever abusive or neglectful toward him, he stated I treated him very well
and that he wanted to be returned to me. My son adamantly refused to be
placed with his father and told authorities his father had been abusive toward
him and me. Any reasonable person, upon viewing and interviewing my child,
would have come to the conclusion that my child was not an abused or neglected
child while in my care and custody. However, instead of returning my son
to me, CPS, unjustly and without cause, entered my son into foster care to
collect federal funds for his care (incarceration) in CPS custody for seven
months.
Social workers made numerous knowingly false statements to the
court; perjured themselves under oath; misreported, distorted, exaggerated
and fabricated conditions of my home to make me “appear” neglectful; CPS
omitted all information regarding the fact that spring cleaning tasks were
in progress; and omitted all the positive conditions of the home; omitted
all the positive information regarding my care of my child. I had been unlawfully
detained by CPS and police; questioned even though I repeatedly stated I
wished to speak with my attorney; West Virginia State Police (WVSP) and CPS
forcibly entered my home without consent, permission, a court order or search
warrant in the complete absence of emergency circumstances on two separate
occasions (my child was in school and not present in the home during either
illegal entry) No pre-deprivation procedures had been followed; an “emergency”
situation had been fabricated to sidestep laws to prevent unnecessary removals
and to seize my child on an “emergency“ basis; no procedures for Interstate
Compact had been followed. The post-deprivation procedures were sham procedures
based on numerous knowingly false allegations and knowingly false statements
to the court by CPS; I was denied Due Process in numerous instances in this
case; no “reasonable efforts” were made for reunification, due to the extreme
gender-bias of the Courts and CPS in my area all efforts were geared to aiding
my abusive ex-husband in gaining custody of my son and evidence of domestic
violence issues on the part of my ex-husband and the criminally violent history
of his current wife were ignored. My son‘s stepmother stabbed one of her
former husbands in the chest with a knife. She is alleged to be an alcoholic
and police were called to her home on numerous occasions for domestic violence
issues.
At the very least, Nationwide, Social workers must be required to
provide their name, title, the name of the department with which they are
employed and wear Photo Identification Tags when contacting parents.
They should hand parents their identity information in the form of a business
card with contact number for their department. They should be legally required
to hand parents a written summary of the allegations that have been made
against them. The failure of social workers to identify themselves have
led to children being removed from foster care settings, never to be seen
again.
[That is, a man claiming to be a social worker, but who showed no form of
ID, removed Rilya Wilson from a foster home in Florida. It took over a year
for the system to realize the child was missing. Social workers routinely
remove children from homes, schools and foster care settings without showing
any form of ID whatsoever. This has made it extremely easy for persons to
impersonate social workers in order to abduct children.]
Backlash and prejudice against low-income families. Unless
a family has a large amount of money to hire extremely good attorneys and
expert witnesses, chances are great that children will not be returned to
families quickly. The current federal financial incentives encourage CPS
to keep children in foster care for long periods of time, it also encourages
CPS to continue to stay involved with families and take children repeatedly.
The push has been to remove people from public assistance and to
prevent people from beginning to receive public assistance. As soon as a
low-income family becomes eligible for public assistance or applies for public
assistance, it’s a “red flag” for CPS to make finding for “abuse and neglect”
against those families. Yet, Dr. Orr points out that caring for children
in CPS custody costs taxpayers over 10 times more than if children were to
be left with their families and the families received a welfare check.
In separation/divorce issues, CPS in my area commonly bends over backward
to place the children with the fathers if the fathers express an interest
in obtaining custody. Just as indicated in the article by Kristen Lombardi
(fn10), mothers are held at a much higher standard than fathers and mothers
are placed under a microscope, looking for any reason to take the children.
When real, articulable evidence of neglect or abuse is not found, it is fabricated.
By taking children from mothers, this prevents mothers (who typically
earn far less than males) from receiving public assistance for their children.
By entering the children in foster care (often unnecessarily and without
just cause), CPS gets to collect federal funds for the children instead of
having to expend Federal and State money for public assistance. As indicated
in Wenatchee The Power to Harm (fn14), abuses of power and discretion will
always occur as long as CPS budgets depends directly upon the number of children
in CPS custody. By eventually placing the children with the fathers
(who typically earn more income than the mothers), CPS eliminates the chance
that the children will receive public assistance. In this way, CPS and the
child protection industry profits from the children instead of expending
any monies to help preserve the family (consisting of Mothers and children).
However, the detrimental effects of this on children is being callously ignored
as well as the detrimental effects on good, fit Mothers or “good enough”
Mothers who have been falsely accused or accused of trivial, frivolous allegations
of child abuse and neglect.
Nationwide, States are under-reporting and misreporting fatalties,
near-fatalities, and maltreatment of children in CPS custody. According
to West Virginia [ State Comment ] by Ann M. Burds, Director Office of Social
Services “information reported by the Department is not accurate. Specifically,
the number of child fatalities, the number of children who were the subject
of an investigated report alleging child maltreatment, and the number of
children maltreated in foster care are in all likelihood incorrect.” (fn
15) “It is not possible, however, to go back and capture data for the years
covered in the 2000 Report.” Supposedly, efforts were underway to fix the
reporting of incorrect data, but in actuality, it appears that it’s just
a cover-up, that they don’t want to find the correct number of fatalities
and near-fatalities of children or the correct number of children abused/neglected
in foster care in previous years or any year for that matter. This is horrendous
and absolutely inexcusable.
Note: WV over-reported the number of children investigated for child
abuse and neglect by several thousand. WV under-reported the numbers
of fatalities and maltreatment of children in foster care by an unknown amount.
Nationwide, parents have reported in CPS reform support groups
that if they discover and report that their children have been
raped, sodomized or otherwise seriously abused in CPS custody, their
parental rights are often terminated and they are never allowed to see their
children again. Children are often actively encouraged in schools
to report abuse, however, they are not informed of the consequences if they
should file false allegations of abuse to get their way. In one case, a
mother in Washington state, whose native language is not English, had her
children taken by CPS unjustly. Her 12 year-old daughter called police and
falsely reported the mother had hit her. When, in actuality, the child objected
when the mother was trying to get the children to go to sleep as it was bedtime.
The daughter admitted that her mother had not hit the children. Her daughter
was returned, her son, who was approximately six years old, was kept in foster
care. The mother learned that her son had been sodomized when her son was
initially taken into foster care. The mother complained to the social worker,
the social worker filed a false telephone harassment charge against the mother
in retaliation. The mother’s parental rights were never terminated, but
she has not been allowed to see her son for approximately ten years. The
mother states her son has been drugged all these years with psychotropic
drugs. The child is now reportedly almost 16 years old. The mother currently
has an attorney and is still fighting the system to be allowed to see her
son.
Incompetent legal representation. Currently, lawyers often
provide incompetent legal representation to clients accused of child abuse
and neglect charges. First, lawyers may actually lose money if they provide
a defense for their clients due to the extremely low hourly rate they are
paid if court-appointed. Lawyers frequently encourage clients to plead guilty,
even if innocent. Secondly, lawyers that do provide a vigorous defense to
their clients are “bucking the system” and they may be retaliated against,
their referrals my dry up, they’re “out of the loop”, and they may even face
being disbarred.
Monies must be made available to States Legal Aid Services, extremely
good legal representation must be made available to low-income families,
families rights must be upheld. Since child abuse and neglect allegations
and domestic violence allegations often arise in separation/divorce issues,
Legal Aid Services must be funded to handle separation, divorce, child custody
and visitation disputes.
The corruption in the Child Protection Industry is extremely severe
and widespread.
The most vulnerable of our society, the ones least able to defend themselves,
particularly children and women, are being systematically exploited for profit
by this corrupt industry. Nationwide investigations of CPS must be done
in all states. There must be a streamlined method for families to be informed
of their rights and to file complaints against unscrupulous, unethical social
workers. Courts and court personnel absolutely must be stopped from serving
as a “rubber stamp” for CPS and in “railroading” innocent persons. Families
must have the right to use Advocates to ensure their rights and their children’s
rights are upheld during the entire CPS process. The injustices conducted
in secrecy behind the closed doors of the juvenile justice system must end.
Removals of children should be reserved only for the most serious child abuse
and neglect cases and clear, articulable proof must be presented. Enough
of lying social workers who can remove happy, healthy children from their
families based on fabricated, false hearsay.
Adoption demands are high, CPS unjustly fulfills that demand by
taking children from non-abusive, non-neglectful parents. An example
of this is The Taking of Logan Marr, a case where social worker Sally Schofield
wanted to adopt daughters. Sally Schofield duct taped Logan Marr to a high
chair with 40 yards of duct tape and Logan Marr suffocated to death. (fn
16)
The State is an Extremely Poor Parent. Children are 6 times
more likely to die in foster care and 10 times more likely to be abused or
neglected than if they had been left in their natural homes. A knee-jerk
response to the Broadway & Swann (fn 17) case should NOT be taken to
give additional powers to CPS which is already chaotically out of control.
The case has not yet been tried in a court of law, the true facts have yet
to be determined.
Joe & Jennifer A love story with nothing typical about it
June 28, 2000, 6:26PM
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/texas/590568
is a story about runaways from foster care, and natural homes, living on
the streets.
Failing Texas Foster Children 5/5/04 . Is a Video showing a child
being smothered to death in CPS custody.
http://keyetv.com/investigativevideo/
KEYE Investigates. No wrongdoing found on the part of the treatment facility
used by CPS or workers.
The Columbus Dispatch "Cuyahoga County Parents ask court to return
daughter"
http://www.dispatch.com/news/news01/may01/695829.html
A two year old boy was beaten to death in foster care. "In a motion filed
Friday in Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court, Antoinette Artale and Rickie Wilder
say the Department of Children and Family Services is interfering with 3-
month-old Makenna Wilder's proper medical care and treatment. Makenna, they
say, needs to begin treatment for osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disorder
that causes her bones to break under the slightest pressure." "Devin
was placed in a foster home, and Makenna was admitted to the hospital. Seventeen
days later, Devin was dead. County Coroner Elizabeth K. Balraj said the child
had been shaken and hit in the head, and she ruled his death a homicide"
Foster care inquiry sought
http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/6934122p-7869375c.html
Bill Maze to ask state today to investigate Fresno County department. By
Jim Davis The Fresno Bee (Deaths of three Children in Foster Care) "The first
was Anthony Cortez, 15, of Fresno who died April 21 after being choked by
another youth during a fight at a Stockton foster home. ...On May 14, 4-month-old
Christopher Battie died in a foster care home, possibly of Sudden Infant
Death Syndrome.... Maze said his concern grew after reading about the court
case of Freddie Hayes, 47, of Fresno who was sentenced this month to two
years in prison in a case involving the death of a 10-year-old foster girl."
Child in foster care lost nearly half his weight By Jim Davis
The Fresno Bee
http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/4528519p-5548053c.html
"A 4-year-old boy lost nearly half of his body weight in five months of
foster care before his Fresno foster parents were arrested last week, the
boy's lawyer said Monday. The boy went from 50 pounds to about 30 pounds
after his foster parents apparently withheld food from him and his 10-year-old
brother, said Ron Smith, the lawyer. "He was a chunky 41/2-year-old, but
at 30 pounds he was considerably lightweight."'
Baby Suffers Brain Damage in DSS Custody in Joyce Morris’ Foster
Home on Cape Cod by Nev Moore, President, Justice For Families
http://www.massnews.com/past_issues/2001/jan%202001/0101dss.htm
"Violence not ‘reported’; Foster home still operating But somehow he had
received acute trauma to the head that sent him into a critical condition.
The foster mother, Joyce Morris, reported, “Someone dropped the baby.” I
had previously heard terrible stories from former children who had been sent
to Morris’ home and witnessed babies being thrown. I felt that I had to inform
the doctors at Children’s Hospital of those facts. I spoke with Dr. Christoforo,
who was the neurologist in charge of my friend’s grandchild. I told him the
history of that foster home and offered to fax up an 18-page abuse report
that the Visiting Nurses Association had filed about the poor conditions
there. He asked why I was calling him. I said that I felt the hospital should
have this information so that they could investigate the potential of child
abuse. He said that he was not interested in hearing it or seeing the reports
on that foster mother. I had not caught his first name so I asked him again.
He refused to repeat his name. I asked him if he was refusing, as a mandated
reporter, to take information on the potentially criminal abuse of my friend’s
grandbaby. He said, “Mrs. Moore, this conversation is not taking place,”
and he hung up on me."
Mother, Foster Mother React To Infant's Death Mother Says System
Is Corrupt MILWAUKEE -- A mother whose 7-month-old son died in foster care
wanted answers Thursday.
http://www.themilwaukeechannel.com/news/836136/detail.html
Reportedly the biological mother in this case, Tiffany Slade, stole gasoline
and was arrested. Her infant, Devon, was placed in foster care with Anita
Lusk. The infant was placed in a twin-size bed with Lusk's 13 year-old niece.
"But Devin didn't make it through the night. In the morning he was found
dead, wedged between the wall and the mattress. "(The) bottom part of his
body was between the bed and his head and arms were on the bed," Lusk said."
Lusk didn't have a crib, and reportedly "had 10 other kids living in the
four-bedroom home." The question is, why didn't a social worker check out
the house before dropping off the baby, Tracy reported. "She didn't ask about
a crib or ask anything about where he would be sleeping or anything like
that," Lusk (pictured, right) said. Slade said the system failed her. "The
system is corrupt," she said. "They're trying to save these children and
instead they're killing them."
Victim’s Siblings Testify in Edgar Trial
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/6836600.htm?ERIGHTS=-2301587447929457692kansascity::[email protected]&KRD_RM=8oqoosxswwwwvpqvrtxooooooo|Christina|Y
Father, Baby Sitter Sentenced in Death of 9yr old-suffocated after being
wrapped in duct tape http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1025223/posts
Tyranny. “When the government fears the people, there is democracy.
When the people fear the government, there is tyranny”. This is Tyranny.
Parents lucky enough to get their children back from CPS stay in their homes,
quaking with fear that CPS will come and take their children again at every
knock on their door.
"Decency, security, and liberty alike demand that government officials
shall be subjected to the same rules of conduct that are commands to the
citizen. In a government of laws, existence of the government will be imperiled
if it fails to observe the law scrupulously. Our government is the potent,
the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people
by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker,
it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself;
it invites anarchy. To declare that in the administration of the criminal
law the end justifies the means-to declare that the government may commit
crimes in order to secure the conviction of a private criminal-would bring
terrible retribution. Against that pernicious doctrine this court should
resolutely set its face."
OLMSTEAD v. U.S., 277 U.S. 438 (1928)
The Constitution of the United States gives Citizens the right to be
free from unreasonable searches and seizures. CPS must be stopped from violating
these Constitutional Rights of an estimated 3,000 families each day in the
U.S. The sanctity and safety of the home must be restored to families.
The focus of Federal Financial Incentives must be shifted immediately
from rewarding “removals” of children for the profit of the child protection
industry to voluntary “family preservation” measures. Nationwide investigations
of CPS must begin. Children have a right to familial relationships, they
have the right to know and love, and be loved by, their natural families.
Parents wrongfully accused of child abuse and neglect and who have been unjustly
denied a parent-child relationship with their children and wrongfully denied
all contact with their children by this corrupt system must be given immediate
relief.
Free Our Children,
Christina Amtower
[email protected]
http://www.geocities.com/family_rights_wv/
HELP MOTHERS FALSELY ACCUSED OF CHILD ABUSE AND/OR NEGLECT HELP THEM PROTECT
THEIR CHILDREN
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/512966888
Help Mothers who are Wrongfully Accused of Child Abuse (Petition by another
author)
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/452154813
Request for Congressional Inquiry of HHS Child Protective Services in All
States
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/253404476
1 New York Times “U.S. Finds Fault in All 50 States' Child Welfare Programs”
April 26, 2004 By ROBERT PEAR
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/26/politics/26CHIL.html?ex=1084011077&ei=1&en=401f7eb048843d50
2 Policy Study No. 262, October 1999, Child Protection at the Crossroads:
Child Abuse, Child Protection, and Recommendations for Reform by Susan Orr,
Ph.d., RPPI Reason Public Policy Institute http://www.rppi.org/socialservices/ps262.html
3 National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, Nine Ways to do Child
Welfare Right, “Successful Alternatives to Taking Children from their Parents”
http://www.nccpr.org/index_files/page0005.html
4 Chapter 5, Perpetrators, Child Maltreatment 2002, Characteristics of
Perpetrators
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/cm02/chapterfive.htm
5 Child Maltreatment 2002 Table 5-3 Perpetrators by Relationship to Victim
and Types of Maltreatment, 2002
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/cm02/table5_3.htm
6 The condition of my home did not meet definitions of child abuse and neglect
under West Virginia Code. I have filed a pro se appeal of my case with the
West Virginia Supreme Court.
7 http://www.lundybancroft.com
8 A Critical Look at Janet Johnston’s Typology of Batterers
http://www.lundybancroft.com/pages/articles_sub/JOHNSTON.htm
9 UNDERSTANDING THE BATTERER IN CHILD CUSTODY AND VISITATION DISPUTES R.
Lundy Bancroft
http://www.lundybancroft.com/pages/articles_sub/CUSTODY.htm
10 Battered Mothers Custody Conference Albany, NY
http://www.batteredmotherscustodyconferencealbany.org/
11 Custodians of Abuse
http://www.bostonphoenix.com/childrenatrisk/
,
12 Profiting from Foster Care, Denver Post
http://63.147.65.175/news/foster0522a.htm
13 Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD testimony in Rep. Baca forum regarding CPS March
13, 2004
14 Wenatchee - Power to harm
http://rds.yahoo.com/S=2766679/K=wenatchee+power+to+harm/v=2/SID=e/l=WS1/R=1/H=0/*-http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/powertoharm
15 Child Welfare Outcomes 2000
http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/cwo00/statedata/wv.htm
16 The Taking of Logan Marr
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/fostercare/marr/
Failure to Protect PBS frontline
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/fostercare/
17 "Baltimore Couple Charged In Deaths Of Twin Infants" The WBAL Channel.com
http://www.thewbalchannel.com/news/3312627/detail.html
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UPDATE JUNE 5, 2005
REGARDING FN11 CUSTODIANS OF ABUSE by Kristen Lombardi is archived on
http://web.archive.org/web/20041009225240/www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/top/features/documents/02643516.htm or on http://www.geocities.com/christinaamtower/custodiansofabuse/index.html