Thursday, March 31, 2011

FOSTER CARE IN LOS ANGELES: THE TIMES WAS DEAD WRONG


Richard Wexler

Wednesday, March 30, 2011
FOSTER CARE IN LOS ANGELES: THE TIMES WAS DEAD WRONG

New data show how the Los Angeles Times blew the story on child abuse fatalities

Add the new data released today to all the other revelations about the newspaper’s shoddy reporting and the Times case against child welfare reform in Los Angeles collapses like a house of cards.  FULL STORY

Cuts in child protective services possible

10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, March 30, 2011
By DUANE W. GANG
The Press-Enterprise

California- The Riverside County agency that investigates child abuse and neglect would have to eliminate 35 caseworkers to meet proposed budget cuts, its director said Wednesday.

The move would increase caseloads and potentially put children at risk, said Susan Loew, director of the county's Department of Public Social Services.

"We have only bad options available," Loew said Wednesday. "A cut of this magnitude gets us to a very fundamental, precarious place." FULL STORY

Put them all in prison for their Federal crimes against families.

Suit: Adoption agency didn't say kids were abused

Posted on Wednesday, 03.30.11
By DAN SCANLAN
The Florida Times-Union

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Andrew Dolan and Suzanne Tyler just wanted a "forever family" when they adopted a son and daughter in 2009 through Family Support Services of North Florida.

Then the Vancouver, British Columbia, couple learned the boy and girl, now 6 and 8 respectively, had been in four foster homes and a failed adoption, suffering physical and sexual abuse the agency never disclosed to the Canadian parents. FULL STORY

I left a nice comment there

With 4 DVDs...



March 31, 2011

With 4 DVDs...

Several weeks ago, a volunteer shared with us the following account of what he has been able to do with 4 DVDs of “The Child”:

Three weeks ago, I obtained 4 copies of the DVD and sent one to a member of the Florida House (where I used to live). He in turn shared it with another Florida House member, who I helped elect for the first time last November, just before I moved. Right now the Florida legislature is working to pass a resolution calling for Congress to adopt the Parental Rights Amendment.

The 2nd DVD I hand delivered to a freshman Congressman from a nearby district in the state where I live now. This was less than 2 weeks ago.

The 3rd DVD is on loan right now to a pastor. Eventually, I plan to give this DVD to another freshman Congressman from another nearby district of my state.

I’ve shown the 4th DVD to several church and TEA Party groups in the suburbs of [the major city where I live]. There are more to come. Eventually, I plan to give this DVD to the freshman Senator from my state.

By the way, if you want to persuade a lawmaker to watch the movie, handing it to them in front of 200 witnesses is a good technique.

This volunteer does not claim full credit for the results. Many of you in Florida have worked to support that resolution, for instance. But he played a part, and he continues to play a part, in introducing those around him and those in positions of influence to the need for the Parental Rights Amendment.

What could you do with 4 copies of “The Child?” What could you do with the resources you already have? The true strength of this account is not that this volunteer bought 4 copies of the DVD, but that he had the vision to see who he could educate on this issue, and he worked to make it happen.

So how about you? Who could you reach with the message of parental rights today?

Plan your screening of “The Child” here. Or volunteer in other ways here. Or maybe you can donate to keep the cause going strong. Who knows? Maybe the next exciting success story will be yours!

Gratefully,

Michael Ramey
Director of Communications and Research

CPS activist to donate proceeds from artwork to Japan disaster relief

March 31st, 2011 9:33 am ET
Daniel Weaver
Albany CPS and Family Court Examiner

FULL STORY

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Founder Quote

"It should be your care, therefore, and mine, to elevate the minds of our children and exalt their courage; to accelerate and animate their industry and activity; to excite in them an habitual contempt of meanness, abhorrence of injustice and inhumanity, and an ambition to excel in every capacity, faculty, and virtue. If we suffer their minds to grovel and creep in infancy, they will grovel all their lives." -John Adams, Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, 1756

Obviously, John Adams would be in deep doo-doo with CPS nowadays for that attitude

"The Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions." -American statesman and senator Daniel Webster (1782-1852)

"A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves." -French philosopher Bertrand de Jouvenel (1903-1987)

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

New Graphic- CPS wants you to Shut UP

SR 99 Hits First Milestone



March 29, 2011

SR 99 Hits First Milestone

As of this morning, we now have 34 sponsors on SR 99, the Senate resolution opposing ratification of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). This is great news!

With 34 sponsors, we can effectively halt any efforts by this administration to ratify the treaty; we can prevent it from receiving the 67 votes needed for Senate consent.

With 34 sponsors, however, we also have to be certain that not one can be turned by the opposition. And while we are thankful for and respectful of the senators we have on board, we also know the nature of politics.

So 34 simply aren’t enough.

It is also embarrassing that not a single Democrat has signed on yet. Not embarrassing for us – but for them!

A resolution in Florida supporting the Parental Rights Amendment and calling on the Congress to adopt it and send it to the states for ratification has so far passed through 3 committees. On its way, it has garnered 71% support among the Democrats who have voted on it.

A similar resolution passed unanimously in Louisiana last year - that's every Democrat in both houses. And five more resolutions (in SD, ID, and MT supporting the Amendment and in TN and OK opposing the CRC) have passed with a number of Democrats on board. But not one Democrat in the U.S. Senate so far has stood to oppose the dangers of the CRC.

Action Item

Please take a moment to call your Senators, especially if they are Democrats. Tell them it is embarrassing that the only ones standing against the intrusion of international law right now are Republicans. Tell them it doesn’t help the party to yield that high ground to their opponents across the aisle. Tell them you want them to represent America by protecting our rights to self-determination and self-government. Ask them to contact Senator DeMint’s office and cosponsor SR 99.

Legal Volunteers Needed

We also need legal volunteers who might be able to provide testimony in committee hearings before your state legislature. As Planned Parenthood and the ACLU begin to target Parental Rights Amendment resolutions, we need people present who can rebut their arguments with the facts about parental rights. Lawyers are especially beneficial in such situations. If you are able and would like to learn more, please email Michael@parentalrights.org and put “legal volunteer” in the subject line.

Gratefully,

Michael Ramey
Director of Communications & Research

Detroit Mother Jailed for Weaning Daughter Off Risperdal

Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2011 14:11:44 -0400
From: veracare

Alliance for Human Research Protection
A Catalyst for Debate
www.ahrp.org


FYI

"Unless we put medical freedom into The Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize into an undercover dictatorship."
Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signatory to the Declaration of Independence.

Two areas of medicine encapsulate abuses of the medical dictatorship that Dr. Rush warned against--in both cases, the majority of victims are children.

Case example:

Maryanne Godboldo, a 56-year old Detroit mother who sought help from a Children's Center for her 13-year old daughter who experienced an adverse reaction--in the form of sudden uncharacteristic behavior problems following a series of vaccinations--wound up in jail after a standoff with police.

The Center's treatment plan was a prescription for a controversial antipsychotic, Risperdal, which worsened her condition.

The mother sought another doctor who agreed that the drug should be withdrawn. Mrs. Godboldo, thereupon began to wean her daughter off the drug--which improved her condition.

But Child Protective Services intervened, ordering the mother to administer the drug as ordered by the Children's Center.

When the mother refused, she was threatened with loss of custody. A stand-off with police, resulting in her arrest, hit the news.

The Detroit News reports that "Godboldo's family and supporters, who gathered outside the court Sunday, said the woman has every right to make medical decisions for her daughter and that child welfare workers overstepped their authority. The unusual circumstances of the standoff attracted a large crowd of volunteers offering to help negotiate with Godboldo, including ministers and community activists."

Read more.... http://www.ahrp.org/cms/content/view/790/9/

Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav
veracare@ahrp.org
212-595-8974

Liberty Quotes


"The purpose of the Bill of Rights was to limit what the federal government could do. Any interpretation of a provision of the Bill of Rights as a grant of federal power is ipso facto wrong." -L. A. Powe, Jr. Centennial Professor of Law at The University of Texas  Source: Guns, Words, And Constitutional Interpretation, 38 William & Mary L. R. 1311, 1341-42 (1997).
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/L..A..Powe.Quote.B5D4

Monday, March 28, 2011

CPS supervisor speaks out about charges

Updated at 11:23 PM today
Carolina Leid
Web produced by Jennifer Matarese, Eyewitness News

NEW YORK (WABC) -- One of the two New York City child welfare workers charged in the death of an abused little girl is speaking out.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/new_york&id=8039857

Govt to take child protection role away from HSE

Monday, March 28, 2011 - 01:12 PM
Irish Examiner

The HSE is to be stripped of its role on child protection and a new agency established to take on the duties.

Children's Minister Frances Fitzgerald also said she wants to see a referendum on the rights of the child held this year.

Frances Fitzgerald today announced a consultation with young people to develop a five-year strategy for children from next year.

It will be carried out in all primary and secondary schools and youth reach centres next week.

The Minister for children said the country has been "shamed" by what has been done in abuse and neglect resulting in some childhoods "defined by torture and terror".

But she said a new dedicated executive agency working with her department to look after the care and welfare of children is needed, removing the role from the HSE.

Minister Fitzgerald said work will take place over the coming months to see how soon it can be done, but it is necessary to have a "new start" as soon as possible.

She also says she needs to examine the wording of a children's referendum, but believes it should take place this year. FULL STORY


I am willing to bet the "new" bureaucracy isn't going to be a bit better than the old one.

Prosecutors to seek death penalty in girl's death

(AP) – March 27, 2011

MIAMI (AP) — Prosecutors said Monday they would seek the death penalty for a Miami couple accused in the slaying of their 10-year-old adopted daughter, who was found dead in the back of her father's pickup truck while her brother sat in the front seat badly burned by chemicals.

Jorge Barahona, dressed in a green suicide watch vest exposing his bare arms, wept as he was led handcuffed into the courtroom. He sat several seats away from his wife, Carmen, who looked composed but frail.

"He's extremely emotionally unstable right now," his attorney Edith Georgie said. "He's been crying the whole time."

Both have pleaded not guilty to 18 charges including first-degree murder for the death of their adopted daughter Nubia and several aggravated child abuse and neglect charges related to her and her twin brother, Victor.

Authorities said the couple, who became the twins' foster parents in 2004, beat the twins with a shoe, whip or broom, bound their hands and feet, and locked them in a bathroom, sometimes for days. Police believe Nubia was beaten to death Feb. 11. On Valentine's Day, her body was found stuffed in plastic bags and doused in a toxic chemical in the back of Jorge Barahona's truck along the side of a busy highway. He is also charged with mutilating Nubia's body by pouring toxic chemicals on her.

Victor, who survived, was also in the truck, writhing in seizures and suffering from chemical burns.

The Barahonas were also accused of placing a plastic bag over Victor's head to make it difficult for him to breathe and forcing the twins to stand or sit in a corner of a room for hours, according to an indictment handed down last week. Jorge Barahona was charged with punching Victor in the lip, causing permanent disfigurement.

The judge on Monday set a tentative trial date for July.

The Department of Children and Families has also been scrutinized because workers ignored warnings from school officials that the girl was being abused. The couple were the subject of several abuse allegations before Nubia was killed. FULL STORY

Too bad the CPS people aren't liable for the death penalty too.

DCF worker pleads guilty to fibbing on report

Posted: March 28, 2011 - 6:16pm
By David Hunt
Florida Times-Union

A former state Department of Children and Families investigator in Jacksonville has avoided trial by pleading guilty to falsifying a child abuse record.

Quakeita Leisha Anderson, 28, resigned from the agency last year amid an investigation into the bogus report. She closed a child abuse case without making a standard follow-up visit, even though she justified it by reporting she made the visit. FULL STORY

Since lying is absolutely standard behavior for CPS agents, I don't know why they even prosecuted her.

Foster care in New York: Two views from the frontlines


Richard Wexler

Monday, March 28, 2011

Foster care in New York: Two views from the frontlines

Judge comes down on Texas CPS in twins case

State agency hit with rare sanction for taking custody of Spring infants
By TERRI LANGFORD
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
March 27, 2011, 9:09AM

Rushed casework by Texas Child Protective Services resulted in a rare if not unprecedented legal sanction against the agency Friday for trying to take premature infant twins from their parents without proving it was justified.

Not only did state District Judge Michael Schneider rule against CPS for what he termed a "groundless cause of action," he ordered that $32,000 of the Spring family's attorney fees be paid by the agency.

And as if to drive his point home, he ordered the caseworker and her supervisor to write the court a report proving they understand the state's child removal statutes within 30 days.

"The offensive conduct by (CPS) has significantly interfered with the legitimate exercise of the traditional core functions of this court," Schneider wrote in a 13-page order filed on Friday.

The twins were returned to their parents earlier this month on the judge's order. FULL STORY

Of course we KNOW these activities by ignorant and malfeasant CPS agents is their standard Mode of Operation, and it has been for 35 years.  The Big News here, is that a Judge has finally had a total can-full of it. We hope this is the beginning of a LANDSLIDE from other Judges against CPS across the nation.

Foster Families; Did you know? Vaccinations?

Foster Families Examiner
Marilyn Harrison

March 28, 2011

Foster Families; Did you know? Vaccinations? Part 1 / 9

Foster Families; Did you know? Vaccinations? Part 2 / 9

Foster Families; Did you know? Vaccinations? 3/9

Foster Families; Did you know? Vaccinations? 4/9

Foster Families; Did you know? Vaccinations? 5/9

Foster Families; Did you know? Vaccinations? 6 of 9

Foster Families; Did you know? Vaccinations 7/9

Foster Families; Did you know? Vaccinations? 8/9

Foster Families; Did you know? Vaccinations? 9 / 9

Ex-Wisconsin prosecutor won't face charges over sexting

A former prosecutor who sent racy text messages to a domestic abuse victim will not face criminal charges over misconduct and sexual assault allegations levied by more than a dozen women, the Wisconsin Justice Department announced Monday.
By TODD RICHMOND 1
Published: March 28, 2011

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A former prosecutor who sent racy text messages to a domestic abuse victim will not face criminal charges over misconduct and sexual assault allegations levied by more than a dozen women, the Wisconsin Justice Department announced Monday.

State investigators determined that former Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz's “conduct appears to fit the connotation of ‘misconduct' and demonstrates inappropriate behavior but does not satisfy the elements required to prosecute,” wrote Assistant Attorney General Tom Storm. FULL STORY

Figures, doesn't it?  Thats why they call it the "Just Us" system.

Grove man found guilty of rape, impregnating 14-year-old

By SHEILA STOGSDILL Tulsa World Correspondent
Published: 3/28/2011 12:55 PM
Last Modified: 3/28/2011 4:32 PM

JAY, Oklahoma — A Grove man was found guilty Monday to raping and impregnating a 14-year-old girl in his legal custody.

Tim Mountford, 53, entered a blind plea before District Judge Robert Haney in Delaware County District Court to second-degree rape and child sexual abuse.

....The Mountfords served as foster parents in their home about a block from Grove schools from Sept. 25, 1998, to May 22, 2006, and ran a day-care center from Feb. 7, 2002, to July 15, 2006, according to the Department of Human Services.

They stopped accepting foster children and voluntarily closed the day care.

Vicki Mountford filed for divorce in June 2009, according to court records. FULL STORY

Oregon Representative visits local child abuse agency

Posted: Sunday, March 27, 2011 9:00 am | Updated: 9:35 pm, Sat Mar 26, 2011.
By SARA HOTTMAN H&N Staff Reporter

As the rate of child abuse declines nationally, Klamath County's rate continues to increase, and on Saturday, local officials asked U.S. Rep. Greg Walden to help.

"Virtually every major societal problem ... can now be traced back to child abuse," said Ken Morten, executive director of Klamath-Lake Child Abuse Response and Evaluation Services, or CARES. FULL STORY

Of course, every major societal problem can also be traced back to morals and ethics going in the toilet in the 1960's. I guess it's a subject to be spun to suit your point of view.

Mercury-Containing Medicines: Harmful to Children

Posted By Dr. Mercola | March 28 2011

Several recent studies have linked mercury to serious harm in children.

Dr. Joachim Mutter, author of one of the newest mercury studies, found evidence confirming that mercury in vaccines and other medical products could trigger autism. Another recent study observed that organic mercury is added to vaccines without sufficient safety testing, and warned that the use of mercury-containing Thimerosal is "potentially damaging the health of children." FULL STORY

And a parent's concern about this is used against them by CPS as Medical Neglect

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Liberty Quotes


"Today’s political leaders demonstrate their low opinion of the public with every social law they pass. They believe that, if given the right to chose, the citizenry will probably make the wrong choice. Legislators not think any more in terms of persuading people; they feel the need to force their agenda on the public at the point of a bayonet and the barrel of a gun, in the name of the IRS, the SEC, the FDA, the DEA, the EPA, or a multitude of other ABCs of government authority." -Mark Skousen (1947-) American economist, investment analyst, newsletter editor, college professor and author Source: Persuasion versus Force
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Mark.Skousen.Quote.4977

Baby LK Report

You have really GOT to see the latest
LEGALLY KIDNAPPED News

The Exciting Adventures of Spacy Haze and Ted the Dirty Tea Bagger

Steps forward on child welfare reform, but Clark County still has plenty of work to do

By RICHARD WEXLER
SPECIAL TO THE LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Posted: Mar. 27, 2011 | 2:03 a.m.

FULL STORY

Maryland auditors: Children placed with foster care providers with history of neglect, abuse

By: Alex Pappas 03/27/11 8:05 PM
Examiner Staff Writer

Officials in Maryland put 32 foster care children in six homes with a history of abuse or neglect, a state audit uncovered.

But the executive director of agency that oversees home placement said officials knew of the findings of neglect and abuse before the children were assigned places to live and granted exceptions -- having determined the children were safe and not at risk of harm.

The review by the state's independent Office of Legislative Audits identified the six caregivers in the homes as having had the children in their care between 2007 and 2010.

State regulations prohibit children from being placed in either foster homes or in the homes of extended family where there has been evidence of abuse or neglect -- unless a local director grants an exception. But the audit said paperwork reflecting that kind of exception could not be found.

The audit said that in all but one of the six homes, the people were kinship providers, meaning they were related to the child.

"It indicated that the kids shouldn't have been in these locations," Bruce Myers, the state's legislative auditor, said of his office's review.

Carnitra White, executive director of the state's Social Services Administration, said local officials made exceptions for the six providers but didn't complete the required paperwork.

"It wasn't the fact that we did not know there had been a finding of abuse or neglect," she said, blaming the mix-up on officials not signing papers.

The area has seen foster parent horror stories before. A woman in Calvert County who adopted three foster care children in D.C. was convicted in 2010 of killing and freezing two of the girls. According to reports, officials in the District allowed her to adopt the girls despite a criminal past.

The instances of abuse or neglect of the six Maryland providers occurred before the state placed children in their homes, White said. She said the agency conducts criminal background checks on all providers.

Almost all of the six had histories of neglect, not abuse, White said. She defined neglect as leaving a child unsupervised or not taking child to a medical appointment, for example.

In a letter responding to the audit, the Maryland Department of Human Resources, which oversees the Social Services Administration, said an internal review was conducted of the six homes and found no evidence of additional child maltreatment. FULL STORY

See how words stung together (abuse and neglect) in the same sentence adopts a different meaning?

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Teen pregnancy matters

Lives are likely to be ‘poorer’ in every way for young mothers
By: Staff Writer
Winnipeg Free Press
Posted: 03/26/2011 2:07 PM

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/Teen-pregnancy-matters-118710224.html

Déjà vu over child deaths in Florida

Posted on Saturday, 03.26.11
For years, brutal child deaths have begat task forces, which produced reports – followed by still more child deaths.
By Carol Marbin Miller and Diana Moskovitz
MiamiHerald.com

FULL STORY

I left a really nice, HOT comment there.

We say April is Family Abuse Awareness Month

http://familyrights.us/news/archive/2009/april/child_protection_or_legal_kidnapping.html

AFRa Editorial- Where did we go wrong?

AFRA EDITORIALS
Guest editorial by Carolynn J. Middleton BA BSc

March 26, 2011
Where did we go wrong?

http://familyrights.us/news/archive/2011/march/where_wrong.html

The Baby Syndrome More Horrific Than Falling Three Stories

Posted By Dr. Mercola | March 26 2011

Story and videos about Shaken Baby Syndrome

I left a nice comment there

Friday, March 25, 2011

Understanding Black Child Abuse Stats

March 25, 2011 09:17 AM
Atlanta Post

(The Root) — Rates of reported child abuse are disproportionately high for black children, a fact that has long been linked to suspected racial bias by a largely white child-protection workforce. But a recently released study by Washington University researchers debunks that allegation, citing poverty as the main reason black children are twice as likely as white children to suffer abuse. Published in the March issue of the journal Pediatrics, the study, “Racial Bias in Child Protection? A Comparison of Competing Explanations Using National Data,” does note the importance of policing potential racial bias among teachers, doctors, nurses, law-enforcement officials, child-protective-services workers and other primary reporters of abuse. But the researchers argue that the broader focus should be on mitigating poverty, given that a third of black children are living below the federal government’s poverty line. Economic uplift is likely to curb abuse, concluded the team of six researchers from the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., the University of Maryland School of Social Work and the American Humane Association.

FULL STORY

The same impoverished segment of other races running afoul of neglect allegations, too.

Sewer Service

I never heard of this guy before. Looks like a bunch of educational videos to me.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Lawmakers debate DHHS oversight

By Fred Knapp, NET News
March 24th, 2011

Omaha, NE – Some Nebraska lawmakers say the Department of Health and Human Services needs more flexibility to run its operation. But in debate at the Capitol Wednesday, others argued the complaint-ridden department needs more oversight, not less.

Senators showed some sharp divisions over a proposal to give DHHS discretion to hire 25 more people outside of state personnel rules. The Department has been a focus of controversy over several issues recently. It lost federal funding after reports of abuse and neglect of patients at the Beatrice State Developmental Center. It’s now on its way to regaining that funding. The Department has also been criticized for confusion surrounding the privatization of child welfare services. FULL STORY

I left a nice comment there (subject to moderation)-

Wouldn't it be GREAT to find a pool of moral, honest, ethical Americans to put in these positions instead of this bunch of credentialed Organized Criminals you have been dealing with?

Two ACS Workers Charged With Homicide In Child's Death, Grandmother Faces Manslaughter Charges

Former ACS supervisor Chereece Bell, left, ACS case worker Damon Adams and grandmother Loretta Brett

By Ben Yakas in News on March 24, 2011 1:34 PM
The Gothamist

Last year, severely malnourished four-year-old Marcella Pierce died in her Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment weighing a scant 18 pounds and showing signs of other traumas. Her mother, Carlotta Brett-Pierce, was arrested and charged with murder, manslaughter and assault, but yesterday prosecutors charged three more people, including two Administration for Children's Services case workers and the girl's own grandmother, with contributing to her death. "Baby Marchella might be alive today had these ACS workers attended to her case with the basic levels of care it deserved, or had her grandmother stepped in and put a stop to the shocking abuse she is charged with facilitating," said Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes.

http://gothamist.com/2011/03/24/two_acs_workers_and_grandmother_cha.php

If it was up to us, we would prosecute CPS agents for their Federal Crimes by the THOUSANDS, several of which crimes are Capital crimes.  And we WOULD SEEK THE DEATH PENALTY.

Wilkins Gives Nubia Response Update to House Panel

Posted: 2:42 PM Mar 24, 2011
A House committee chairwoman cautioned the new head of Florida’s child welfare system on March 23 that lawmakers will be watching his response to one of the state’s worst-ever child abuse cases.
Reporter: Margie Menzel, The News Service of Florida
THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, Mar. 23, 2011

http://www.wctv.tv/news/headlines/Wilkins_Gives_Nubia_Response_Update_to_House_Panel_118594609.html

I left a nice comment there- (subject to moderator approval)

How about charging these people for their Federal Crimes, several of which are Capital crimes?

http://familyrights.us/bin/CPS_violates_these_every_case.htm

Senate passes bills to protect vulnerable Texans

From staff reports
Published: Thursday, March 24, 2011 3:10 PM CDT
Flower Mound Leader-News

The Texas Senate today passed bills by Senator Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, to improve mental health services for children in the foster care system and to fight financial exploitation of aging Texans. The Senate also passed bills to reduce abuse and fight fraud in taxpayer-funded programs.

Senate Bill 219 better coordinates services to ensure that children in the foster care system receive timely mental health screenings and services, and encourages child welfare professionals to develop training about the effects of trauma. It also directs the Health and Human Services Commission to explore the use of increased telemedicine in rural areas. "We need to make sure that our most vulnerable children receive the services they need to overcome the trauma they have experienced to help eliminate the cycle of abuse and neglect for future generations," Nelson said. FULL STORY

Translation- It's about the dope baby.  These people are NUTZ.  And this Senator is a Republican for a really confusing mix of communism in high places.

Fulfilling Our Fundamental Obligation

Michael Piraino
CEO, National CASA Association
Posted: March 24, 2011 04:30 PM
Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-piraino/post_1855_b_839850.html

I left a nice comment there, subject to their approval-

"what is the price we are prepared to put on a healthy and productive future for our children and their children?"

An excellent question. The biological families are paying The Ultimate Price- the Death Penalty of their Family-

"Permanent termination of parental rights has been described as "the family law equivalent of the death penalty in a criminal case." In re Smith (1991), 77 Ohio App.3d 1, 16, 601 N.E.2d 45, 54. Therefore, parents "must be afforded every procedural and substantive protection the law allows."- WHICH IS NOT HAPPENING

The family is denied any semblance of Due Process in this completely unconstitutional system. See "What Happens in the FOG" - http://exm.nr/hfjvl9

The un-ratified Convention on the Rights of the Child was supplanted into American law by CAPTA '74 and subsequent legislation and is DE FACTO in force. See "Best interest of the child- A new "Civil Right"- http://familyrights.us/news/archive/2009/oct/best_interest.html

Meanwhile the CPS system employs extremely incompetent, nasty, and officious people whose accusations become the Evidence in a system where you are presumed Guilty.

This system is quite evil, and CASA volunteers can provide a "safety valve" if they choose NOT to just be a rubber stamp to whatever the CPS agents and their paid contractors say.

Ron Paul: Department of Education wants to 'indoctrinate' children

By ANDY BARR | 3/23/11 3:51 PM EDT Updated: 3/24/11 12:09 PM EDT
Politico

DES MOINES, Iowa — Ron Paul warned a group of home schooling advocates on Wednesday that officials at the Department of Education are trying to “indoctrinate” their children.

“They don’t educate our kids, they indoctrinate our kids,” the Texas congressman said of federal education efforts. “It’s a propaganda machine.” FULL STORY

Democrats advance 'lesbians-as-role models' plan

'Costly state mandate targets children for sexual brainwashing'
Posted: March 23, 2011 8:38 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh © 2011 WorldNetDaily

A band of six Democrats in the California state Senate voted today to advance a bill that has been described as "the worst school sexual indoctrination ever" and would require that school children be taught to admire "lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual" role models.

S.B. 48 is sponsored by state Sen. Mark Leno, who boasts on his website of founding a business with his "life partner, Douglas Jackson," who later died of AIDS complications.

Randy Thomasson of the family-promoting SaveCalifornia.com said parents "don't want and children don't need 'LGBTIQ' role models in school."

"S.B. 48 micromanages public schools by forcing teachers, administrators, local school boards, textbooks, and instructional materials to promote a gaggle of sexual lifestyles that disturb parents and confuse kids," Thomasson said. "This costly state mandate targets children for sexual brainwashing, behind the backs of parents, teaching boys and girls to admire those who engage in homosexual, bisexual or transsexual behavior."

He explained that if S.B. 48 becomes law, children as young as 6 years old will be subjected to mandatory lessons about same-sex "marriage," bisexuality and individuals who choose to undergo sex-change operations. FULL STORY

When I went to Publik Skool in the late 60's, I learned the Politically Correct drivel about "what goes on in people's private bedrooms is none of my business". Then they decided I not only needed to know, but approve. Now they want to turn the world upside down and make themselves heroes. I understand completely now why God turned Sodom and Gomorrah into a melted hole in the earth at the bottom of the Red Sea.

Vaccine skeptics protest bill requiring doctor's note to opt out

A proposal to make it more difficult for parents to avoid school-entry immunization requirements has raised the ire of opponents, who say the requirement is insulting and violates their parental rights.
By Carol M. Ostrom
Seattle Times health reporter

Worried by outbreaks of contagious diseases such as measles and whooping cough, public-health officials are supporting a proposal to make it more difficult for parents to avoid school-entry immunization requirements.

The measure under consideration has drawn strong support in both houses of the Legislature and faced little opposition until recently, when vaccine-resisting parents mobilized to pack hearings and lobby lawmakers.

The proposal would require parents who seek exemption from current state law to submit proof that a health provider has informed them of the risks and benefits of immunization.

Currently, parents can sign a form themselves to claim religious, philosophical or personal reasons for refusing to immunize their children before enrolling them in school or day care.

Public-health officials say the bill is needed because immunization rates are falling, parents are receiving sketchy information from the Internet and the state has made it too convenient for them to skip immunization.

"Convenience is not a reason to risk our children's health, and countering misinformation requires a conversation with a trusted and informed health-care provider," Dr. Gary Goldbaum, Snohomish Health District health officer, told lawmakers. "This is a matter of protecting our most vulnerable citizens: our children.*" FULL STORY

* They keep using that phrase, and I am really getting tired of it. Maybe tired enough of it to write an Editorial about it some day.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Give Your Child a Dose of This Popular Remedy - and You Could Double Their Mortality Rate

Posted By Dr. Mercola | March 24 2011

In many countries, government officials and drug companies aggressively resist conducting studies that compare the health of vaccinated and unvaccinated children. But such studies have been conducted in Africa.

One such study, from Guinea-Bissau, shows a doubling of the mortality rate among infants vaccinated with a single dose of DTP vaccine. The mortality rate more than quadrupled after the second and third dose.

According to Age of Autism:

"VAERS data also show high infant mortality in the U.S. after DTP vaccination (much higher than from pertussis, diphtheria and tetanus together, hence it is clear that DTP vaccine is harming more children than saving." FULL STORY

We know for a fact that CPS will attack and destroy any family who takes this advice.  They call it "medical neglect".

Drowned Baby in Texas

An AFRA Newshawk just posted this story-

Subject: [AFRA_Newshawk] Family Of Drowned Baby Already Under CPS Supervision
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2011 21:02:17 -0700 (PDT)
From: Yomama

The link:
http://www.ksat.com/news/27286087/detail.html
Something is way off in this story.

So I went and looked at the story-

Family Of Drowned Baby Already Under CPS Supervision
Allegation Of Medical Neglect Led To Prior Child Protective Services Investigation

Jessie Degollado, KSAT 12 News Reporter
POSTED: Tuesday, March 22, 2011

-which left me with question marks.  But it linked to another related story-

Father Charged In Drowning Of Toddler Out On Bond
Christopher Hopkins Arrested On Charge Of Injury To Child
Katrina Webber, KSAT 12 News Reporter
POSTED: Tuesday, March 22, 2011

SAN ANTONIO -- A Northeast side man is facing charges in the death of his 3-year-old daughter, who drowned in a bathtub full of water.

Christopher Hopkins, 29, was arrested Monday afternoon on a charge of injury to a child. Hopkins was seen leaving the jail at the Bexar County Magistrate's Office around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday after posting a $50,000 bond.

In an interview with KSAT-12 News last Tuesday, Hopkins and his wife, Eileen, shared pictures of their daughter, Cassie, and tearfully told of how she suffered from Angelman Syndrome, a rare illness that left her prone to seizures and unable to walk or talk.

Eileen Hopkins said during the interview that she suspected Cassie must have suffered a seizure when she was left alone in the bathtub for a brief period.

The arrest affidavit showed Hopkins admitted to detectives that he had been giving Cassie a bath when he decided to leave her alone so he could have a beer and watch pornography.

Hopkins told investigators he checked on her twice and, on the second time, found her floating in the water.  FULL STORY

This is what I call a "Light-bulb moment" AKA an epiphany

Adoptions, parental rights loophole puts families in flux

Kevin Graman The Spokane Spokesman-Review
March 20, 2011

A Tri-Cities couple’s adopted sons may be taken away, and a Spokane woman’s daughter was adopted while she fought to keep the girl.

The separate child custody cases illustrate a gap in Washington law that makes it possible for adoptions to be finalized while the biological mother or father appeals termination of their parental rights.

A bill to close the loophole failed to come to a vote in the Legislature this session, leaving it up to the state court system to correct it through a rule change. FULL STORY

Report: Many Kids With Mental Disorders Don’t Get Proper Care

By David McCracken, MA, LPC
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on March 17, 2011
Psych Central

A report on a three-year project looking at the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders in children found among its conclusions that many children with problem moods and behaviors fail to receive the care recommended by experts.

Even when a combination of medication and psychosocial treatment was urged, the authors reported, kids are increasingly likely to only get psychiatric medications. FULL STORY

Many Teens Naïve About Risks of Social Networking

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on March 23, 2011
Psych Central


An Australian report on the legal risks associated with the use of social networking sites has found that while 95 percent of students use social networking sites, nearly 30 percent did not think social networking held any risks.

The project was designed to focus on the legal risks of social networking as experienced by secondary school students, teachers and parents. FULL STORY

Welfare Worker and Supervisor Charged in Death of Child

By MOSI SECRET
Published: March 23, 2011
New York Times

A former city child welfare worker and his supervisor were indicted on charges of criminally negligent homicide, the Brooklyn district attorney announced Wednesday, saying that their failures had contributed to the death of a 4-year-old Brooklyn girl, Marchella Pierce, who had been repeatedly beaten and tied to a bed and weighed just 18 pounds at the end of her life in September. FULL STORY

Foster Parents; All Parents CPS secrecy?

Foster Families Examiner
Marilyn Harrison
March 23rd, 2011 1:43 pm EDT

Recently we were informed of an article on secrecy appearing in the Orange County Register newspaper. It is our job to keep our finger on the pulse of the Foster Care System sometimes through a relevant news item affecting the corrupt system that we as foster parents must function within, problems like secrecy. The article specifically addresses this problem and we quote from that article

Foster Parents; All Parents CPS secrecy? 1/4

Foster Parents; All Parents! CPS Secrecy? 2/4

Foster Parents; All Parents CPS secrecy? 3/4

Foster Parents; All Parents CPS secrecy? 4 / 4

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Toy drive to improve children’s facilities

By Jody Marie Serrano, Daily Texan Staff
Published: Tuesday, March 22, 2011

http://www.dailytexanonline.com/content/toy-drive-improve-children’s-facilities

I left a nice long comment there

State Department Promises Move Toward CRC Ratification



State Department Promises Move Toward CRC Ratification

On March 10, the Obama administration told the UN Human Rights Council that it supports the UNHRC's recommendations that the United States should “ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child [CRC].” Moreover, the administration promised that it “intend[s] to review how we could move toward its ratification.”

In the meantime, SR 99 opposing ratification of the CRC is very close to its first major milestone. As of yesterday, Senator Jim DeMint's resolution, which expresses the reasons Senators oppose the UN child rights treaty, has 32 cosponsors, with 2 more senators committed to sign next Monday.

This is great news - but it is not enough!

We need to recognize that the Obama administration and the UN will not give up so easily. Thirty-four senators signed a similar measure regarding the Panama Canal treaty a few years ago, and the administration twisted arms until enough changed their minds to ratify that controversial treaty.

We cannot be satisfied with 32 Senators, or even with 34. We need to aim for at least 40 co-sponsors of SR 99 to make sure that the CRC cannot move forward in this term of Congress.

Pro-CRC States?

Additionally, state legislators in both Illinois and Rhode Island have introduced resolutions calling for the ratification of the CRC. Amazingly, the Rhode Island resolution admits, “If enacted, the [CRC] would become superior to the laws of the states and their judicial systems, and would be subordinate only to the text of the [U.S.] Constitution.”

Any state legislator who wants a treaty to become superior to his or her own state’s law is confessing the inability to enact state laws that are sufficient to protect children. They should do the honorable thing and resign if they feel so incompetent.

(Residents of Rhode Island please see our alert here and call today!)

Take Action: Call Now!

In light of the promise to the UN made just two weeks ago, we can expect greater pressure coming from the administration in very short order. We must continue to press on while we have the momentum.

Check the list of co-sponsors of SR 99 and call your senators today if they are not on the list. Urge them to stand for American self-government and the freedom of families to make good decisions for their children.

Finally, if you can help us with a donation for this cause, please click here.

Gratefully,

Michael Farris
President, ParentalRights.org

SCOTUS Absolute Immunity Case

In a §1983 case the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari on an absolute immunity defense for the grand jury testimony by a government investigator in a criminal case. Rehberg v. Paulk, 611 F.3d 828 (11th Cir. 2010), cert granted, ___ U.S. ____ (Mar. 21, 2011) (Docket # 10-788). There is a 7-4 split in circuits.

Question Presented: Whether a government official who acts as a "complaining witness" by presenting perjured testimony against an innocent citizen* is entitled to absolute immunity from a section 1983 claim for damages.

The ruling in this case could have implications for civil rights suits against CPS caseworkers who provide false evidence for removal orders, petitions, investigation orders, probable cause and shelter hearings, and possibly in trials. A complaining witness is a person who "set[s] the wheels of government in motion by instigating a legal action." Wyatt v. Cole, 504 U.S. 158, 164-165 (1992).

The certiorari filings are at http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/rehberg-v-paulk

* CPS agent testimony is often pure perjury.

Argument preview: Youth and Miranda rights

Lyle Denniston Reporter
Posted Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011 5:51 pm

The Court holds oral argument Wednesday on the issue of Miranda warnings for minors when questioned about crime by a police officer in a school conference room, behind a closed door.

Case Pages - J.D.B. v. North Carolina

At 11 a.m. on Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hold one hour of oral argument on whether children being interviewed by police at school have a right to be warned about their constitutional rights, under Miranda v. Arizona (1966). The new case is J.D.B. v. North Carolina (09-11121). Arguing for the youth involved will be Barbara S. Blackman, an assistant appellate public defender from Durham, N.C. The state of North Carolina will be represented by its Attorney General, Roy Cooper. He will divide time with Eric J. Feigin, an assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General, who will have 10 minutes to argue for the federal government in support of the state’s position. FULL STORY

Oregon considers free tuition for foster children

Mar 22, 7:00 AM EDT

SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Current and former Oregon foster children could get the opportunity to go to college for free.

That's the idea behind a bill getting a public hearing in the Legislature on Tuesday.

The House Education Subcommittee will hear testimony on the proposal to waive tuition and fees for students who have been in the foster care system. It would apply to people under 25 years old attending universities, community colleges and Oregon Health and Science University.

The measure is co-sponsored by Democratic Rep. Michael Dembrow of Portland and Republican Rep. Matt Wingard of Wilsonville.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OR_XGR_FOSTER_CHILDREN_TUITION__OROL- 

Perhaps one week before a kid turns 18- a kid needs to yell abuse. Free College!

Democracies

"[D]emocracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security, or the rights of property; and have, in general, been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths." -James Madison, Federalist No. 10, 1787

Think of that when you hear one of our dumb-ass politicians yapping about "Our Democracy".  The US was founded as a Constitutional Republic.  There is a HUGE difference.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Liberty Quotes


"Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it." -Thomas Sowell (1930- ) Writer and economist
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Thomas.Sowell.Quote.4021

"Destroy the family, you destroy the country." -Vladimir Ilyich Lenin [Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov] (1870 - 1924), First Leader of the Soviet Union
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Vladimir.Lenin.Quote.4180

The Latest in Atrocious Supreme Court Decisions - Only 2 Justices Stand Up for Your Rights...

Posted By Dr. Mercola | March 22 2011

A U.S. Supreme Court decision has just given drug companies total liability protection for injuries and deaths caused by government mandated vaccines. The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) called the decision a "betrayal" of the American consumer.

In a 6-2 decision, the Court majority voted to reject substantial evidence that current law was fully intended to protect an American's right to sue a pharmaceutical corporation for injuries that could have been prevented if the company had elected to make a safer vaccine.

The court decision leaves parents with no way to hold vaccine makers accountable and no feasible way to get compensation for the injuries suffered by their children; furthermore, the decision removes all financial incentive for multi-national drug companies to make vaccines as safe as they can be. FULL STORY

CPS making t-shirt obsolete

 

Harrowing Details Emerge in Beating of 18-Month-Old

March 21, 2011, 2:39 pm
By ELISSA GOOTMAN
New York Times
6:41 p.m. | Updated

Harrowing details in the beating of an 18-month-old Brooklyn foster child emerged in court on Monday, during the arraignment of the man charged in the case, Kysheen Oliver, 19, the boyfriend of the child’s foster mother.

Read this story slowly, and then read it again  Guaranteed to make anybody MAD.

Save the children

New report of child abuse deaths reminds us intervention saves lives and dollars.
12:00 a.m. EDT, March 22, 2011
Orlando Sentinel

FULL STORY

A story title like this one ticks me off instantly. But happily, it seems to be a tidbit of GOOD news. I left a nice comment there-

If a government is going to intervene in families and call it "help" and "services", it is fantastic if it really is helpful services.

This society obviously needs some help.

Given the quoted success rate, it appears "Healthy Families" is apparently not using the usual tyrannical, threatening and coercive model of CPS.

It is our understanding that this program exists because Florida obtained a waiver enabling them to use Federal funds otherwise restricted to kidnapping children and holding them hostage and doped out of their heads in state custody- while legally crucifying the parents to make the kids Legal Orphans.

We would hope to see more successful results of this program and if it continues to be proven effective and helpful, for it to become the new operational standard of CPS nation-wide.

 

A glass half full or half empty?

Prevention Action
21 March 2011

In 1889, legislation was passed in Britain which gave the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) the power to enter homes to rescue children at risk of harm, thus violating a long-held view of family sanctity.

While the development of Western countries’ concern for the welfare of children can be traced historically through the establishment of charities, legislation barring child labour, universal education and the abolition of cruel punishments, at key moments, there have been – as in 1889 – rather more radical, far-reaching revisions to the perception of the problem and how government and society should respond to it.

And although each country has adopted its own policies, there have also been some international initiatives, the most significant of which is the Convention of the Rights of the Child. This was adopted by the UN in 1989 and was enforced the following year. It gives the right of protection and personal fulfilment to every child and all the world’s countries have signed up to it, with the exception of the USA and Somalia.

But while international agreements are good at producing an apparent consensus at gatherings of world leaders, they are less effective at actually preventing abuse and neglect that is still manifest in many parts of the world. Examples of institutionalised abuse, war atrocities, racism, brutal punishments, sexual exploitation, high infant mortality and so on abound. A sceptical observer might well ask, therefore, precisely what the point is of agreeing to an international convention while terrible things continue to occur at home.

The answer is, in part, provided by two researchers who have recently reviewed the effects of the Convention 20 years after its implementation. They are, moreover, generally complimentary about its contribution and optimistic about the future. They acknowledge the barriers to progress caused by structural factors, such as poverty and disease, and the restrictive cultures and corruption endemic in many countries. They are also aware of the cynicism of governments that pay lip service to welfare while running repressive regimes.

They argue that international conventions are important in laying down universal standards and establishing a system equivalent to peer review. Countries may choose to ignore the requirements but the existence of the Convention makes their decision more salient, and that can lead to change for the better.

Examples of success are found in South America where most countries have incorporated the Convention into their national legislation, undertaken legislative and constitutional reforms, including setting up budgets, and given the Convention pre-eminence over internal law, a process obviously aided by the ending of repressive regimes and coming of democracy*.  FULL STORY

This is why the US needs to pass the Parental Rights Amendment. See Best interest of the child- A new "Civil Right" and the AFRA UNCRC page

*democracy in the Communist Manifesto

State grapples with its child protective services

THE ISSUE: DCF reacts to rash of fatal child abuse cases.
March 21, 2011

Here we go again. Another series of press conferences by Florida's top child-welfare administrators left to explain the horrific deaths of young children, deaths that might have been prevented if the people and programs responsible for protecting abused children hadn't missed the obvious signs.

Granted, Florida Department of Children & Families Secretary David E. Wilkins and his staff are in a tough spot. The deaths of 10-year-old Nubia Barahona of Miami Dade County and, to a lesser degree, 10-year-old Jermaine McNeil, and his sister, 6-year-old Ju'Tyra Allen, in Palm Beach County, have put a harsh spotlight on the state's abilities to uncover child abuse and to provide rehabilitative services once that discovery is made.

Unfortunately, the department's reaction — staff dismissals, the promise of improvements and particularly the remorse — sounds all too familiar, and unsatisfyingly frustrating. Worse still is the reality that DCF has little leverage over the network of community-based care organizations that conduct the lion's share of Florida's child welfare services.

Ideally, Florida's child protective and child welfare system is supposed to work like this: FULL STORY

Ideally, the agencies would apply the Federal Law-

42 U.S.C. § 671 (a) (15) Reasonable Efforts
http://familyrights.us/42usc/671.html#15

and
42 U.S.C. § 671 (a) (19) Relative Placement
http://familyrights.us/42usc/671.html#19

Kids in Danger, Funds in Danger

Public News Service - NY
March 21, 2011

ALBANY, N.Y. - Home visitation programs that help prevent child abuse and neglect could run out of money unless Gov. Cuomo and the legislature work out differences in their respective plans for funding, according to advocates of programs like Healthy Families New York. The governor proposed lumping together nine or more child welfare and juvenile justice programs.

Chris Deyss of Prevent Child Abuse New York says that would effectively eliminate home visitation. She points out that in their separate budget proposals the Senate and the Assembly put back the funds.

"What we're hoping is that they and we can help the governor understand what a much better idea it is to continue these prenatal and early childhood home visiting programs."

Cuomo has pledged to eliminate a deficit of over $10 million. Insiders say his aides and the legislature are working behind the scenes toward a resolution.

Law enforcement officials say home visitation helps break a generational cycle of crime, in which they often arrest young people whose parents they know from 20 years earlier because they - the parents - were abusive.

Meredith Wiley of Fight Crime Invest in Kids says home visitation also makes an impact in the short term.

"For instance, the Healthy Families program has data showing that they significantly lower the number of low birth-weight babies, which are very expensive babies, even at birth. Often, a low birth-weight baby will cost $100,000, $150,000 or even $200,000."

Deyss says home visitation is proven to work and ultimately saves taxpayers money. FULL STORY

One in four pupils admit swapping porn images of themselves by text message

By Kate Loveys
Last updated at 12:59 AM on 18th March 2011
Mail Online, UK

A disturbing number of children – some as young as 11 – are taking pornographic images of themselves and swapping them with friends via text messages or the internet, experts warn.

A survey reveals that 40 per cent of 11- to 14-year-olds have used their mobile phones or computer to send pictures of themselves or receive naked or topless images of friends.

And more than half of youngsters who sent these images – a trend known as ‘sexting’ – did so knowing the pictures would be passed on to a number of recipients.

And four in ten of the 11,000 children surveyed thought it was ‘appropriate’ to circulate pictures of topless girls in their school.

Experts said the findings showed a significant shift from children viewing internet pornography – to creating it themselves.

The shocking trend has been blamed on the volume of internet pornography seen by boys who, as a result, expect girlfriends to be promiscuous and flaunt their bodies. FULL STORY

As a cranky old dad, I wonder why kids need cell phones. Nothing good is coming from them.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Not OK: CR’s double standards for measuring abuse in foster care


Richard Wexler

Sunday, March 20, 2011


Not OK: CR’s double standards for measuring abuse in foster care

... there is not one word in CR’s lawsuit about the problem at the heart of so much abuse in foster care: Too much foster care.

http://www.nccprblog.org/2011/03/not-ok-crs-double-standards-for.html

Baby LK Report

You have really GOT to see the latest
 LEGALLY KIDNAPPED News

How Dumb Are We?

NEWSWEEK gave 1,000 Americans the U.S. Citizenship Test--38 percent failed.
The country's future is imperiled by our ignorance.

by Andrew Romano
March 20, 2011

http://www.newsweek.com/2011/03/20/how-dumb-are-we.html

God knows we are trying to do our part in supplying some education to people who find themselves in the cross-hairs of the insane communist CPS tyrants, who are even more ignorant about American Rights.

Santee Sheriff Sergeant Shows Off the Neighborhoods For Kids Program

Neighborhoods for Kids is an East County child welfare program that is a model around the nation.
By Steven Bartholow | 9:50am
SanteePatch- San Diego

FULL STORY

Don't miss the Video. Some true words spoken there.

Unclear Oversight Yields Repeated Violations at Home for Troubled Youth

By TREY BUNDY
Published: March 19, 2011
New York Times

In Alameda County, there is just one emergency group-home shelter for emotionally disturbed teenagers. It is called Refuge, for Resource Environment for Underprivileged Groups Enterprise Inc., but according to state documents and former employees, it is anything but a safe haven.

The record of an investigative visit of a Refuge group home in June 2007 by the Community Care Licensing Division of the California Department of Social Services.

Refuge, based in Oakland, has been cited 118 times for health, safety, personal rights and procedural violations during its 11-year existence, public records show. Violations included providing insufficient food and clothing, mishandling of residents’ money and medications, and abusive treatment by an inadequately trained staff.

On top of that, therapeutic support for the troubled young residents was all but nonexistent, two former employees say.

“Besides having a house and some food, I don’t know what other services they’re providing young people,” said Nicole Monroe, a former case manager in one of three six-bed Refuge homes in Oakland. “Not much was going on when I was working there.”

The troubles at Refuge, which serves young people who often come from backgrounds of (alleged) abuse and neglect, illustrate the difficulties that state and local governments have in regulating facilities that care for the most vulnerable populations.*

The state agency responsible for overseeing conditions inside group homes, the Community Care Licensing Division of the Department of Social Services, says that its inspectors look only for specific types of health, safety, procedural and personal rights violations, and that county social workers are responsible for assessing the quality of care.

County officials say it is the state’s job to assure that group homes function properly. FULL STORY

* Gawd, I am sick of that preposterous term

Child abuse, at-risk kids programs may see cuts

Local child abuse prevention experts are concerned proposed budget cuts to prevention programs would have a devastating impact on Lubbock, which already has a child abuse rate more than twice the state average.
Posted: March 20, 2011 - 12:13am
By Robin Pyle
Avalanche-Journal

FULL STORY

I left a nice comment there-

"Don't slay my sacred cow"

Bureaucrats whose paychecks come from lolling on the public dole can come up with all sorts of reasons they shouldn't join the ranks of the unemployed.

My #1 rhetorical question remains- "What's the WORST that could happen if we shut all of these communist programs down?"

Sex offenders including paedophiles should be allowed to adopt

Rules which bar sex offenders from working with children are ‘unfair’ and even convicted paedophiles should have the right to adopt, a leading legal academic has said.
By Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent 6:00AM GMT 15 Dec 2010
London Telegraph

Helen Reece, a reader in law at the London School of Economics, called on Theresa May, the Home Secretary, to relax rules which automatically ban sex offenders from caring for children, saying that this could breach their human rights.

In an article in the respected Child and Family Law Quarterly, Miss Reece suggested that reoffending rates were not high among sex criminals, adding: “despite growing public concern over paedophilia, the numbers of child sex murders are very low.”   FULL STORY

Just when you might think you had "seen it all" in "how low can you go" or "how crazy can you get?"

Saturday, March 19, 2011

The Familists

Here's an interesting new concept-

What is Familism?

Familism is a belief that the father-mother-children nuclear family is the basic building block of society and that society has a vested interest in making the family unit work: that is, having as many people as possible date, marry, and have children, and having them stay together, at least reasonably happily, for as long as possible.

Familism is the belief that society and its social institutions should be proactive in helping people resolve differences and get over marital crises. We believe that more than half of the divorces taking place in Israel today could have been averted, if a pro-conflict ideology hadn't permeated academia, the family courts, the media and the welfare system.

As familists, we are influenced by the spirit of Jewish Law or Halacha, which sanctifies the family unit and recognizes society's obligation to support married couples during a crisis and act towards reconciliation, or shlom bayit. We see divorce in much the same way a responsible surgeon sees a dangerous operation: as something to be undertaken only when there is no other choice. We think the no-fault approach to divorce that took hold in the West in the 1970s needs to be re-examined, because the road from 'no fault' to 'no fairness' and 'no morality' is a short one. FULL STORY

Fresno foster mom, 23, arrested in baby girl's death

Posted at 02:05 PM on Friday, Mar. 18, 2011
By Jim Guy / The Fresno Bee

A 23-year-old Fresno foster mother was booked this week on murder charges in the death of a 7-week-old girl who police say was the victim of shaken-baby syndrome.

Mikayla Tabin died last September at Children's Hospital Central California, prompting child welfare and law enforcement officials to launch an investigation.

Jovannee Reynolds was arrested by Fresno police Thursday after a months-long investigation that revealed shaken-baby syndrome, a term used to describe symptoms resulting from violent shaking of an infant or small child's head.

On Aug. 30, Fresno County Child Protective Services placed Mikayla with Reynolds and her husband at their central Fresno apartment on the 3200 block of West Ashlan Avenue.

On Sept. 13, the couple took Mikayla to Children's Hospital, saying the infant was having difficulty breathing. Mikayla died Sept. 20.

The Fresno Police Department's Child Abuse Unit and the Fresno County Coroner's Office began investigating what they determined was a suspicious death.

Reynolds' husband was not arrested, and police Lt. Mark Salazar said he is not a suspect.

Fresno County Social Services Director Catherine Huerta said the news was devastating. "When children go into a foster system, we assume the child is going to be safe," she said. "That obviously wasn't the case. It's just heartbreaking."

Huerta said social service workers routinely look into home safety, do background checks on potential foster parents and arrange for parenting classes. She said workers are trained to spot those who should not be parenting.  Oh Really?  And the workers are like what, 23 years old and childless themselves?

Huerta said after news of Mikayla's death last year, her department looked back at the case to see if there were any warning signs that Reynolds should not be a candidate for foster parenting. Huerta said there weren't.  Being 23 and apparently CHILDLESS wasn't?

Huerta said putting children in foster homes "puts us in a vulnerable situation. I don't know how we can't be."  Define "vulnerable" relating to CPS agency responsibility and liability please

Fresno County Supervisor Henry Perea said there must be "massive reform" of the state's foster care system. "It's always a tragedy to a community when we lose a child," he said. "Here's another child who died in the care of Fresno County. We should do better."*  FULL STORY

* Like be charged for accessory to MURDER, instead of just being so darned embarrassed about it.