I WasA Foster Child And CPS Needs Real Reform

Apr 1, 2014

IMAGE: “”Draped Reclining Mother and Baby” by Henry Moore, Photo by Peter Rivera, Creative Commons

Just like Child Protective Services can suck for parents, foster care can suck for kids too. As someone who spent my pre-teen and teen years in foster care, this is something that my friends and I know all too well.
The following is a letter that I recently wrote to the Texas Senate Committee regarding recommendations for better protecting children in foster care as a follow up to a judicial hearing that was held on 2/20/2014.
In short, when CPS recognizes its limitations, it can prioritize its services for those who can benefit most, and stop wasting time and energy on families who will not benefit at all, such as in households with responsible marijuana using parents.
You don’t have to have been in foster care to agree with this.

Dear Committee Member,
Thank you for including the well-being of foster youth as a topic of discussion during the 83rd Interim Session on 2/20/2014. By allowing public testimony, those who have experienced the foster care system firsthand were able to share their experiences and provide recommendations for how the system can be improved. This email is a follow-up to that testimony.
In 2013, 17,022 children were removed from their homes by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS 2013 Data Book, pg. 48). This is a 40% increase from the 12,107 children removed in 2009, just 2 years after the DFPS started putting regulations in place to house foster youth in hotels due to a lack of available foster homes or other appropriate placements. This increase in removals is no doubt a result of increased funding provided to the department to hire additional investigators to handle referrals that were being made to the Statewide Intake Hotline.
While we – and by “we” I mean all of the people of Texas – have expanded Child Protective Service’s ability to investigate claims of abuse or neglect and separate families by removing children when they deem it to be necessary, we have not placed a strong enough focus on ensuring the well-being of these children once they have entered the foster care system. We have taken great steps in this direction by doing things such as setting up the Foster Care Redesign program and providing greater regulations for psychotropic medicating of youth, but it is simply not enough. This is apparent not only by the experiences shared by former foster youth on 2/20/14, but also because of the fact that other youth currently in care are still sharing these same experiences and could tell many of the same stories we heard.
I aged out of foster care in 2003 and more than 10 years later the stories of those who recently aged out of foster care are still full of the same pain, hurt, and agony my own friends and I experienced. Not enough is changing. We have to do more. But what?
The most important thing we must do to immediately improve the lives of youth in foster care is to hold the department accountable to children the same way the department holds parents and families accountable during investigations of abuse or neglect.
Actually, the Texas Family Code already requires us to do this, we just have to get better at it. Section 153.002 states that “The best interest of the child shall always be the primary consideration of the court in determining the issues of conservator ship and possession of and access to the child”. When the department removes a child from their family, they claim that the removal is in the best interest of the child and that they (the department) can do a better job ensuring the safety and well-being of the child than the family can.
If a child is being abused or even killed in their care, are they really doing a better job of caring for that child than the family was? Maybe, maybe not. Who gets to decide if the state funded abuse or neglect a child has endured is better or worse than the privately funded family abuse or neglect the child received at home? In some cases children were not even being harmed at home but the department did not agree with some other aspect of the parent’s lives. CPS shouldn’t get to decide when they have so much to lose in the decision. If they admit that they are actually more harmful to a child than their biological family, they open themselves up to lawsuits, and could lose funding. None of that is very good for business, but that can’t be the primary concern when we are talking about children’s lives.
What we need is an outside group, agency, committee, or someone to provide an unbiased investigation of claims of abuse or neglect within the foster care system.
This group would communicate with the courts so that judges can really make decisions about what is in the best interest of the child and the most egregious cases of abuse or neglect within the foster care system would be reported to the legislature directly. This would enable the legislature to be more educated regarding the services being provides by Child Protective Services and make the best decisions to protect Texas’ most vulnerable population. While it would be best to establish this group as a formal entity with a budget, we could surely ask people to take this task on voluntarily, or ask an existing Committee (such as the CPS oversight committee that already exists) to take on this great task.
Another way to protect youth in foster care is to stop depending on CPS to report abuse and neglect within it’s own system. We have to start listening to the children.
When CPS receives a report of abuse or neglect, they usually interview the youth involved. They believe what the youth is telling them and use information gained in these interviews to justify removals of children from their homes. Yet once a youth enters the foster care system, their word is no longer considered reliable.
Youth should be taken seriously when reporting abuse or neglect, regardless of whether they are on medications or considered “problem children”. Youth should also have people who periodically talk with them and ask them if they have been abused or neglected since some youth will not tell unless asked. The best way would be for each youth to have a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) that does not change and that they could bond with. This would allow the youth to feel more comfortable and make them more likely to report abuse or neglect if it occurs. However, random yearly interviews of youth to ask about abuse and neglect, as well as the investigation of all claims of abuse and neglect made by youth is a good start. This could also be done by the group established above to investigate these claims anyway.
We can also teach youth who to contact if they do get up the courage to report abuse or neglect and nothing is done. We can establish a hotline similar to (or maybe even the same as) the abuse and neglect line set up for youth in the custody of the Texas Youth Commission.
We should also teach youth how to contact their legisators if they are being abused and neglected in foster care and no one else will help them. The Texas Health and Human Services, including Child Protective Services, is accountable to the legislature for the quality of services it is providing and if anyone can help a youth who is being abused, is it not their legislators? Hopefully we are able to set up a system in which youth are being taken seriously and being protected so that they have nothing to report, but if they do and no one will listen, wouldn’t you like to know about that?
These are just a few of the many things that can be done to better protect youth in the foster care system. To recap, my recommendations are:
1. Holding CPS accountable the same way we hold parents and families accountable.
2. Creating an outside entity to investigate claims of abuse or neglect within the foster care system
3. Stop letting CPS be the sole reporter of abuse or neglect in the foster care system. Listen to the children.
4. Teach children who to contact if their claim of abuse or neglect is not addressed. Also teach youth how to contact their legislator as a last resort.
While foster care can be a better alternative for some youth, Child Protective Services is unable to recognize its own limitations. Unfortunately, the result is that the department ends up harming some youth instead of helping them. And not only while they are in care, but youth continue to be affected by their foster care experience even once they age out. These youth have a 50% chance of becoming homeless once they leave care, and are usually not considered employable. Only 3% graduate college with some sort of degree, even though Texas offers free tuition to those in the foster care system. Over 200,000 prisoners nationwide admit to spending time in foster care. This is arguably the most at risk of all at risk groups, including 1st generation high school graduates, 1st generation college students, single parent homes, youth of incarcerated or drug addicted parents, and minority youth. All of this should be considered when determining what is in the best interest of youth when determining whether to place a youth in foster care or keep them with their family.
Once Child Protective Services starts to do recognize their limitations and truly focus on what is in the best interest of youth, they will be able to priortize their services for those who truly need them. They will be able to reduce caseloads by not focusing on families unnecessarily, and have a reduced demand for services that will allow them to expect quality and not overburden their service providers.
We may not see all of the results right away, but when CPS can provide better care to the youth in foster care, THEY will start creating better adults. They will start creating successful adults that are not being incarcerated and are able to pursue higher education without other trauma standing in their way.
And that will reduce the number of parents who need CPS servcies in the future, which is really the key to lowering the number of youth who need these services in the first place.

http://www.ladybud.com/2014/04/01/i-was-a-foster-child-cps-needs-real-reform/

Review Of Child Deaths In Texas Uncovers Lies At Child Protective Services

Associated Press
February 9, 2014

Alexandria Hill, 2, died in CPS custody in 2013 

State records show that mistakes by Child Protective Services caseworkers contributed to the deaths of two children and the serious injury of another during the past year. The Austin American-Statesman reports that investigations by the Office of the Inspector General document the cases. The investigatory body began regularly reviewing child fatalities for the first time in December 2012.
The newspaper obtained records from 95 child death cases that were reviewed by investigators. Of those, 71 indicated that CPS had been involved with the families before the child’s death. CPS was cleared of mistakes in all but two of the cases.

http://www.infowars.com/review-of-child-deaths-in-texas-uncovers-lies-at-child-protective-services/

Stop Child Protective Services From Wrongfully Taking Kids

Petition by
Kevin Kulman
COUNTLESS INNOCENT KIDS AND FAMILIES are victims to CPS’ corrupt power. CPS neglects to do proper investigations before removing a child. And when in shelter or foster care, they refuse to act when the child is being abused or hurt. Countless amounts of children are legally kidnapped over nothing by CPS from the laziness of social workers not doing their job of a proper investigation.


This cause is important because:

1. We need to stop traumatizing kids and tearing apart families.
2. We must help the parents that are dealt brain shattering stress wasting thousands of dollars hiring attorney fees to get their own child back.
3. Lastly, CPS is illegally taking kids. It is sad, it gets me angry knowing this is going on right now, a kid somewhere crying for their mommy or daddy, locked up in a new world with a stranger

IT HAS TO STOP! Please if you support this cause, sign this petition! It’s free and you are legitimately helping, I promise! I am petitioning to President Barack Obama to change the rules and regulations of CPS to moderate how much power they have in taking kids and to ensure a proper investigation is taken place.
Thank you so much for reading this, your signature means a world of hope to me and the kids of America!

MY STORY: I was taken into CPS when I was 16 after my doctors got frustrated that they  did not know how to treat my heart condition and blamed my mom for making me have open heart surgery and said all my pain was in my head.
Three days after being in CPS custody, I collapsed. The days prior, I begged to see a doctor because I was having cruel stabbing chest pain. CPS said it was all in my head and refused to let me go to the doctor. Luckily I had a follow up appt. with my cardiologist made, and when I finally got treated. I came out with  a pericardial effusion, pleural effusion, pericarditis, pneumonia and a 104.2 fever. If I didn’t have that appointment I would have died.
Sign Today. Thank You
http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-child-protective-services-from-wrongfully-taking-kids?share_id=EWhCvlmfag&utm_campaign=friend_inviter_chat&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&utm_term=permissions_dialog_true

Arizona Parent Caims CPS Moved Child 17 Times

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - A harsh spotlight has been shining on Child Protective Services the last few weeks. Now a parent steps forward to talk about her experience with the agency -- sadly, it's not a good one.   She worries about the thousands of children trapped in the system, though there might be better options out there.
It was an emergency when 5-week-old Aurora came to David and April Snow in their Phoenix home nearly five years ago.

"The biological mother had some substance abuse issues and so we had our work cut out for us at the get go," said April.
CPS placed the baby with the Snows because Aurora is April's cousin.
From the time she was a baby to when she was taken four years later, Aurora was moved by CPS 17 times, according to April.
"She had 17 transitions in and out of our home, in and out of shelters, in and out of emergency placement, in and out of other foster homes," said April.
Aurora was placed with the Snows in February of 2009, but 13 months later, April says CPS deemed that the biological mother was able to care for her daughter again. The mother had since given birth to a baby boy and had moved to Tucson.
The Snows had to let Aurora go, but disagreed with CPS' decision.
"They returned Aurora to her biological mother, who now had a younger child and they were all homeless," said April, who adds that she could tell Aurora was losing her sparkle.
"My husband used to drive down every week to see them and would pick up Aurora and take her to eat, go to the store, buy food, clothes, whatever he could do because you hands are tied."
April says on one visit in July of 2010, they saw Aurora had cigarette burns on her.  They called CPS.
"They would reassure us everything was fine and no, the mother didn't burn the child on purpose.. the wind blew the cigarette, you know, things to us that weren't right."
The very next month, April says something finally happened in Tucson with Aurora's biological mother that could not be explained away or ignored.
"Her biological mother stabbed the boyfriend multiple times in the hotel room and when Tucson Police responded, they found both children in there.. blood everywhere and they removed the children."
Aurora went back to the Snows, but she was not the same child who had left them.
"Aurora who had left our home developmentally on task no longer spoke, she only grunted and screamed.. she had completely shut down," said April.
CPS would remove Aurora one more time from the Snows in September of 2011 when the couple said they couldn't take both Aurora and her baby brother -- just her.
Then a fourth CPS worker got the case, who April says was their guardian angel.
"She wasn't burned out, she was one of the good ones that still had a fight in her."
April says the CPS worker listened to their whole story, connected the dots, severed parental rights of the mother to Aurora and her baby brother.
The brother went to another family member and in March of 2012, the Snows officially adopted Aurora.
A happy ending on the surface, but the Snows will tell you the pictures of their adorable little girl with a pink feather boa doesn't reveal the whole truth.
"She wakes up every night crying.  Two nights ago, we found her in a closet hiding and these are things that are long lasting.  She used to scream every time the doorbell would ring and hide because she would be afraid," said April.
Aurora is in counseling, but the Snows know the damage runs deep.
They worry about the thousands of children in Arizona that are either trapped in a nightmare of abuse or bouncing around the system within a community that can't find a way to save them.
We asked CPS about the Snow's case.  The couple feels the agency can't or won't look at the big picture and do what's best for children in crisis.
CPS responded that it cannot comment on cases like this one.

Read more: http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/story/24246917/2013/12/17/cps-adoption#ixzz2oCjv79Tm

Father Shot And Killed As Police Try To Take Child

William Reddie, a 32-year-old single father from Michigan, was shot and killed as local Child Protective Services (CPS) officials and police officers attempted to remove his 3-year-old son from the home.
An anonymous tipster claiming that Reddie had marijuana in the home set off a string of incidents which turned a happy toddler into an orphan – and led a local newspaper to conduct its own investigation and issue its own report.
A police officer who followed up on the tip stated he smelled marijuana at William Reddie’s home. Possession of marijuana is a misdemeanor, unless law enforcement officers find large amounts or an intent to sell. Michigan Child Protective Services staffers did not have any indication of any type of child abuse or neglect inside the home and felt the drug possession was justification enough to remove the toddler.
Reddie’s action when Michigan police officers attempted to remove the child surely played a role in his death, but the entire incident could have been avoided if CPS and the investigators had not overreacted to possible marijuana smoking, Reddie’s family and friends say.
City of Grayling police officer Alan Somero went to Reddie’s home for an alleged domestic disturbance earlier the day of the shooting, but did not make any arrests. Reddie allegedly became “agitated” when accused of smoking pot in front of his son. He was reportedly on the phone in a heated conversation with a woman when the police and CPS workers arrived. The man fighting for custody of his child understandably did not agree with what was being done.
The social services workers asked for a police escort during the removal.

An excerpt from the court order allowing the removal of the child reads:
“There are reasonable grounds for this court to remove the child(ren) from the parent… because conditions or surroundings of the child(ren), and is contrary to the welfare of the child(ren) to remain in the home because: It is alleged that the father used marijuana in the home in the presence of the child. In addition, there is concern for the safety of the child due to a domestic disturbance and threats made toward law enforcement by the father.”
When the Michigan Child Protective Services workers and law enforcement officers tried to remove the child, Reddie reportedly displayed his 4-inch pocketknife and lunged at the group. The officers had been holding their Taser guns during the altercation, but ultimately holstered their non-lethal weapons and grabbed their firearms. Crawford County Deputy John Klepadlo shot and killed Reddie during the incident.
Crawford County Sheriff Kirk Wakefield called for a Michigan State Police investigation into the use of deadly force by the deputy. Despite a state police investigator’s desire to charge Deputy Klepado, the prosecuting attorney decided that the shooting was justified, according to Reason Magazine.
County prosecutor Mark Jernigan had this to say about the use of deadly force ruling:
“The deceased was in possession of an edged weapon. The deceased pulled a knife and hid it behind his back. At the point where he pulls his hand forward and lunges at the officer, he is in such close proximity, and presents a clear danger of deadly force, the officer is left with no option other than to use deadly force to protect himself, the other officer and the three civilians that were present. The use of deadly force is completely justified and therefore, the homicide was justified.”
But friends and family say CPS and state official should not have been at the home in the first place: Toxicology reports found no alcohol or marijuana in his system.
“Where was protect and serve?” his mom, Michelle VanBuren said to a local newspaper. “The officers always have to stick together and for them to do this is just totally uncalled for. …They took the only thing he ever loved.”
http://brainsyntax.com/Home/MessageDetail/1129

Three CPS Workers Arrested In Connection To Greenville Teen's Murder Investigation

Three Child Protective Services workers were arrested Tuesday in connection with an investigation into the murder of a teenager in 2012. The arrests include a supervisor, a case worker and a retired investigator.
Laura Ard, Natalie Reynolds and Rebekah Ross are charged with official oppression and tampering with evidence. Some of those charges are reportedly related to the Alicia Moore murder investigation.
The body of the 16-year-old Moore was found along a road near Canton in Van Zandt County in Nov. 2012. Moore had disappeared four days earlier after getting off a school bus in Greenville, which is in Hunt County.
Alicia Moore's family said they only dealt with CPS last summer after Alicia was sexually assaulted.
They said CPS was never involved in her disappearance or murder in November. However, Hunt County Sheriff's Deputies still arrested the three women for tampering with evidence.
CPS confirms Ard was CPS's Investigative Program Director in the Greenville office. She was hired in 1992 and retired this past March.
CPS records show Natalie Reynolds, 33, was hired in 2002 and worked as an Investigative Supervisor. She's charged with oppression and tampering or fabricating evidence with a $40,000 bond.
Alicia Moore's aunt tells FOX4 she dealt with Reynolds trying to get a copy of a report related to Alicia's sexual assault case last summer. She believes these arrests are only related to that case, not the murder case.
"I don't have no problem with them. They did what they could do. My main focus is trying to find see what's going to happen with her murder. I mean, if my uncle, if they have more evidence that shows that he did it. I'm not even thinking about this."
Moore's uncle, Michael Vincent Moore, 57, was arrested and charged with capital murder in the case.

Read more: http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/23520286/three-cps-workers-arrested-in-connection-to-greenville-teens-murder-investigation#ixzz2h90SRXcE

California Promotes Cps Caseworkers

California Promotes CPS Caseworkers Who Lie to Judges and then teaches other Caseworkers how to do the Same

April 27, 2011

by Kimberly Edds, Staff Writer

An Orange County social worker who lied to a juvenile court commissioner in order to take away a woman’s two daughters — and cost the county $4.9 million in a court judgment — was later promoted to a supervisor, county officials confirmed.
She now trains other social workers.

 It took Seal Beach mother Deanna Fogarty-Hardwick six-and-a-half years to regain custody of her children, who were 6 and 9 when they were taken from her in 2000.
Fogarty-Hardwick’s oldest daughter, Kendall, is now 20, and filed her own lawsuit against the county and three of its social workers for depriving her of a relationship with her mother.
Orange County Social Services social workers Marcie Vreeken and Helen Dwojak filed false reports and held back evidence which would have cleared Fogarty-Hardwick, an Orange County jury found in 2007. A third social worker was cleared of liability.
The jury awarded Fogarty-Hardwick $4.9 million in damages, with the county responsible for the bulk of the award. The county appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied the county’s request to be heard last week.
Vreeken and Dwojak were never disciplined.
In fact, Vreeken was later promoted, according to county records. She earned $103,441.48 last year as a senior social services supervisor, according to county records.

Dwojak, who was Vreeken’s supervisor, retired from the county in 2006, according to county records.
“I am certain and I stand by my social workers that they did not fabricate, they did not suppress any information and they did not perjure themselves,” said Dr. Michael Riley, director of the Orange County Social Services Agency. “If they had I would have dismissed them.”
Social Services conducted an investigation into how the social workers handled the case and found no wrongdoing, Riley said. “This woman is the epitome of integrity,” Riley said of Dwojak. “They did nothing wrong.”
According to court papers, Vreeken threatened that if Fogarty-Hardwick did not “submit” to her will, she would never see her children again. The social workers also tried in 2000 to coerce Fogarty-Hardwick to sign a document saying she was a bad parent by threatening to take her daughters away, Fogarty-Hardwick alleged.
Fogarty-Hardwick refused.
According to daughter Kendall Hardwick’s lawsuit, Vreeken “attempted to coerce Kendall into visiting her father by threatening that if Kendall did not visit with her father she would be taken away from her mother and ‘put in a home.’ ”
Kendall Hardiwick’s lawuit accuses Vreeken of lying in a Feb. 17, 2000 court report, including failing to disclose her threats against Kendall and her sister that left the two girls in tears and a subsequent argument between Vreeken and Fogarty-Hardwick.
A county commissioner ordered Fogarty-Hardwick’s daughters taken from their mother and put in Orangewood Children’s Home immediately. Vreeken and another social worker went with a uniformed police officer to to take Kendall’s younger sister, who was “screaming and crying for her mother as she hid under the principal’s desk,” according to Kendall’s lawsuit. Kendall was also forcibly removed, leaving her “devastated.”

 The girls were later put in foster care.
Kendall Hardwick’s lawsuit also accuses Vreeken of repeatedly lying in court reports and on the stand to thwart Fogarty-Hardwick’s attempts to regain custody of her daughters.
In a March 31, 2000 letter, a therapist wrote to the agency that “Kendall … shows signs of emotional regression. She was tearful throughout the session, begging to go home. … She doesn’t know how much longer she can cope and visibly shook while relating this.”
“Defendants knew of Plaintiffs emotional collapse,” the suit reads. “Yet, while testifying in the juvenile court trial, Vreeken refused to acknowledge the children were mentally deteriorating.”
The social workers instead reported the children “were doing well,” according to the lawsuit.
Fogarty-Hardwick gave her ex-husband full custody in 2002, hoping to protect her daughters. She was then allowed two supervised visits a month for two years. She eventually won 50-50 custody in 2006.
Fogarty-Hardwick sued the county in 2002, arguing the Social Services Agency and its two social workers violated her civil rights. A jury ruled against her.

 She sued again, arguing this time county’s policies violated her constitutional rights, including her Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
Fogarty-Hardwick’s accused the county of violating her constitutional rights by removing her children without making a finding of imminent danger or serious physical injury; interviewing her daughters without a parent present; holding her children without cause; fabricating evidence; and failing to properly train employees about parents’ constitutional rights.
The jury voted 10-2 in favor of Fogarty-Hardwick. The county appealed.
In the Fourth District Court of Appeal opinion, Justice William Bedsworth wrote, “the evidence adduced at trial obviously caused both the jury and the judge to conclude not only that something seriously wrong was done to Fogarty-Hardwick in this case, but also that the wrongful conduct was not an isolated incident.”

“Despite Fogarty-Hardwick’s complaints, and the concerns expressed by others about the handling of this dependency case, SSA did not investigate the situation or consider assigning different social workers to the matter. Neither of the social workers involved was disciplined. Instead, Vreeken was promoted to supervisor in 2001,” Bedsworth wrote.
Child Protective Services cases are not open to the public, a fact which Riley says prevents him from providing the whole picture.
“We have no agenda to disrupt families,” Riley said. “Our goal is to keep families together.”
http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/04/25/lying-social-worker-promoted-now-trains-others/81173/#comment-150701

Categories: Abuse by CPS Tags: Abuse by CPS, corruption by cps, greed by cps, Helen Dwojak, Marcie Vreeken, stolen children for profit, 

Texas Child Wins Protection From State Child Welfare Agency

By National Coalition for Child Protection Reform

Published: Thursday, Sep. 29, 2011 - 11:30 am

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 29, 2011 -- /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A Texas court is sending an urgent message to child protective services agencies across the country: Stop harming children in the name of "protecting" them, according to a national child advocacy organization.
The National Coalition for Child Protection Reform responded Thursday to a decision by a court in Texas ordering the Texas Child Protective Services agency to stay away from a 14-year-old girl.
Such "orders of protection" are common in domestic violence cases.  "But we've never heard of such an order protecting a child from a child welfare agency – until now," said NCCPR Executive Director Richard Wexler.
In the Texas case, according to KHOU-TV, a 14-year-old was taken after allegations of neglect, apparently as a result of a misunderstanding.  After 18 months during which she was repeatedly abused in a group home, she couldn't take it anymore and ran away.  According to the family's lawyer, the caseworker then said something that speaks volumes about whether the child ever needed to be taken:
"The case worker called [her] mom and said she ran away, but you find her, you can keep her," attorney Julie Ketterman told KHOU.
The mother did find her daughter. Then Ketterman went to court and won the family that order of protection.  The court ruled that "[CPS] engaged in conduct constituting family violence and good cause exists for issuance of a protective order...in the best interest of the child."
"Sadly the only thing unusual about this case is the outcome," said Wexler.  "Tens of thousands of times every year, all across America, children are needlessly taken from everyone they know and love.  The emotional trauma is, in itself, devastating.  But several studies have found abuse in one-quarter to one-third of foster homes and the record of group homes and institutions is even worse.
"All those cases of children wrongfully removed overload CPS agencies, so workers have less time to find children in real danger who really do need to be taken from their parents.
"We congratulate this family for its courage and we congratulate their lawyer, Ms. Ketterman, for finding an innovative way to protect her client – and send a message across the country," Wexler said.
SOURCE National Coalition for Child Protection Reform

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/09/29/3948518/texas-child-wins-protection-from.html

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/09/29/3948518/texas-child-wins-protection-from.html#ixzz1ZkRbefTZ

Maura Corrigan Director Michigan Department Of Human Services

This Article is So Wrong on So Many Levels!

May 9, 2011

This article is wrong on so many levels. The author of this article states that the letter of the law is followed when children are taken. She also says that caseworkers don’t have the ability to snatch children without a signed order from the judge.

There are so many things wrong it is almost laughable.

To begin with children are snatched daily just on the word of a caseworker and we know they lie. It has been proven over and over again. The Bahrona Case is a prime example the caseworker and guardian et libum both stated there was no family trying to get the children when in fact the Aunt and Uncle in Texas had been trying almost since day one. They had even written the judge several times.
The next dumb statement is that the letter of the law is followed- really! Parents are denied their constitutional rights on every level, Their 4th, 6th, and 1st rights under the Constitution are violated from the get go. Parents are threatened, harrassed and abused by CPS from day one.
They are considered guilty before they ever get in front of a biased judge who also stands to gain under Title IV funding.
Maura Corrigan can try to spin this anyway she wants to- it still walks like a duck- looks like a duck and smells like a duck. In other words children are stolen for profit on a daily basis especially since the economy is in the tank. Parents are charged with deprivation and neglect which are criminal charges but yet they are never charged criminally- if they were the case would be open as it would be in criminal court. We who are fighting this corrupt system know they all including the judges work under the veil of secreacy in order to be able to steal children for profit. Ms. Corrigan needs to quit while she is still ahead. Before she gets in over her head.

Maura Corrigan Director Michigan Department of Human Services

BY MAURA D. CORRIGAN

DETROIT FREE PRESS GUEST WRITER

Issues of child welfare have dominated the headlines in the past few months. As the current director of the Department of Human Services and a former justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, I appreciate any spotlight on the plight of our state’s most vulnerable children. But if we are all to work together to protect children and ensure that they are living in safe and stable homes, we must understand the system in place to protect them.

Contrary to popular belief, our Child Protective Services caseworkers do not decide on their own to remove children from their homes. Only judges can issue orders removing children from their homes; such orders are issued only in the most extreme circumstances.

In fact, fewer than 8% of the cases investigated by CPS in 2010 result in children being placed in another home to protect their safety. Law enforcement sometimes removes children from home in emergencies to protect them from immediate threats of harm. In those situations, CPS still must obtain a court order before accepting the child from law enforcement for purposes of placement in a safe home.

A dramatic picture is often painted of parents being caught unaware when their child is to be removed from the home. Sometimes the parents cannot be provided advance notice of an order of removal, as it may threaten the safety of the child.

Both the parents and the child are represented by an attorney before the judge when the case is being weighed. The parents’ attorney is responsible for bringing to light relevant facts, and only when all the evidence is considered will a judge make the determination whether to place a child away from his or her home.

The best place for children is with their own families. Many programs are in place to help parents acquire the skills they need to care for their children — and these are the most prescribed actions when dealing with child abuse and neglect cases. But in that small percentage of cases where children are unsafe or at imminent risk of harm, we must take action to find a safe haven.

Under Michigan law, DHS is bound to protect the privacy of the children in our care. We cannot share the background that led to our actions or the facts that would make the court’s decision to remove a child clear. This can lead to the perpetuation of misinformation and/or a mischaracterization of the actions taken in a case. Sadly, our social workers who are so committed that they are willing to face horrors each day to protect children are demonized.

A child’s welfare is first and foremost the responsibility of the family. But when a family is unable, or unwilling, to care for their children, the courts, law enforcement, community partners and DHS all share responsibility for ensuring that children are safe and that families receive the support and services needed to achieve successful reunification.

Maura D. Corrigan became the director of the Michigan Department of Human Services in January and is a former Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice.

Categories: Abuse by CPS

Child Protective Services in Brazoria County, HOUSTON Texas Is Being Ordered To Stay Away From A Child

Mother accuses CPS of neglecting child

by Jeremy Desel / KHOU 11 News

khou.com

Posted on September 29, 2011 at 12:12 AM

Updated yesterday at 12:21 AM

HOUSTON – Child Protective Services is being ordered to stay away from a child, due to what happened to the girl while she was in the agency’s custody.

Jaime Brown, the girl’s mother, said it’s been a long fight.

"I felt very helpless. Very helpless, and very alone," she said.

Brown’s daughter was taken from her by Child Protective Services in July of 2009, because of allegations of neglect.

Brown claims it is all a big mix-up.

"I was horrified. I did not know what was happening. I wanted to help her and I couldn't," she said.

After 18 months in a CPS overseen group home 14-year-old Christianne ran.

”The case worker called (her) mom and said she ran away, but you find her, you can keep her," said Julie Ketterman, the Brown’s attorney.

That is exactly what her mother did. After Brown found her daughter and made sure that she was safe, her attorney went to court turning the tables on CPS asking for a protective order against Child Protective Services, because of what allegedly happened when Christianne was in CPS's care.

"She was beat up quite a bit. There was the running away. She has braces and the wires were literally falling off of her teeth," Ketterman said.

In August of this year the Brazoria County court ruled in her favor granting a protective order saying:

"(CPS) engaged in conduct constituting family violence and good cause exists for issuance of a protective order...in best interest of the child."

It is a one-page ruling with big potential impact.

"It could snowball," said Ketterman.

That is because if you apply CPS's own rules when it comes to child placement, CPS may now have a problem.

"If there is a finding of child abuse or neglect or family violence, then you no longer qualify to have a child placed," said Ketterman.

Now it is the agency itself that now has this finding of abuse. A hearing in Brazoria County could make the order against CPS permanent for two years. We contacted CPS and the agency told us simply that they would be answering the allegations in court.

http://www.khou.com/news/Mother-accuses-CPS-of-neglecting-child-130758708.html

Houston Texas