Local Lawmakers Grapple With Changing The Culture At DCF

TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) – Both chambers of the Legislature took up child-welfare reform Tuesday, hearing from a wide range of experts with research about staff turnover and caseloads.

But one number stood out: 432, the number of Florida children who died of abuse and neglect in 2012, according to Pam Graham, a social work professor at Florida State University.
Graham, who spoke to the House Healthy Families Subcommittee, served on the State Child Abuse Death Review Committee. Of the 432 children who died in 2012, she said, 40 percent were already involved with the Department of Children and Families.
“It pains me that if the right people had been helping those families, a lot of the deaths could have been prevented,” Graham said.
The number of child deaths usually mentioned in legislative committees is 40, the number that the Casey Family Programs, a policy group, reviewed after a series of child deaths last year.
And that’s how many it took to prompt legislative leaders to vow to overhaul the child-welfare system.
“The public is crying out to us to have revolutionary reform,” said Sen. Eleanor Sobel, a Hollywood Democrat and chairwoman of the Senate Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee. “We don’t want to keep reading about children’s deaths. …However, we’re going to do it in a pragmatic way, step by step.”
Sobel’s panel and the House Healthy Families Subcommittee examined such steps as requiring all new child-protective investigators to have social-work degrees and helping the current investigators get such degrees.
Not everyone who spoke to the lawmakers agreed on how to fix the workplace culture at DCF, but virtually all said it had to be done.
“The thing that we keep coming back to is a lack of fraternity,” Mike Watkins, chief executive officer of Big Bend Community Based Care, told the Senate panel.
To the House panel, Mary Alice Nye, of the Legislature’s Office of Program Policy and Government Accountability, said child-protective investigators report feeling pressured to close cases within a 30-day window and to get all of their work done without filing for overtime pay.
The investigators “felt that they were less and less able to use their knowledge and expertise in decision-making,” Nye said.
They also reported spending 50 to 80 percent amount of their time on administrative tasks and expressed concern about going into homes where there had been violence, difficulty in getting law enforcement officers to meet them there and using their own cars for work, which could identify them in small communities.
“They generally indicated they felt support from their immediate (supervisor) but not from DCF or the lead (community-based care) agencies,” Nye said.
DCF Interim Secretary Esther Jacobo said a program to pair child-protective investigators was being piloted in cases where a child is 3 years old or younger, has a prior DCF history and other family risk factors such as domestic violence, mental illness or substance abuse.
Jacobo said the pilot has been so successful that it will go statewide. Gov. Rick Scott has recommended hiring 400 additional child protective investigators, bringing their caseloads down to 10 apiece.
Sobel said it’s important for state agencies to be more consistent.
“Stop the turnover and create a workforce that likes where they’re working and enjoys what they do and accomplishes a lot,” she said. “For the sake of the kids, we have to do this.”
According to OPPAGA, the turnover for child-protective investigators in Florida is 20 percent. For the case managers who provide services at the local level, it’s 30 percent.
“The News Service of Florida’s Margie Menzel contributed to this report.”

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2014/02/11/lawmakers-grapple-with-changing-the-culture-at-dcf/

Lawsuits Allege Private Prison Company Covered Up Youth Sex Abuse

A pair of recent lawsuits against a private youth prison operator in Florida amplify claims that the company, Youth Services International, has frequently covered up reports that staff sexually abused young people held inside its facilities.
According to a suit filed in October in federal court, the top administrator at one YSI youth prison regularly made sexual advances toward teenage boys held there in 2010 and 2011 and on at least one occasion brought inmates home with him and into his bedroom. A separate case filed in Florida court in November alleges that a female guard at another YSI facility in 2012 began an "intimate and sexual relationship" with a 14-year-old inmate.
Florida officials at the Department of Juvenile Justice did not investigate these alleged incidents until months and even nearly a year after they occurred, according to accounts from the mothers of the victims and documents obtained by The Huffington Post. This was in part because the for-profit prison operator failed to immediately report the alleged episodes as required under its contracts with the state.
The lawsuits reinforce the findings of a recent Huffington Post investigation that revealed more than two decades of abuse and neglect inside private prisons operated by Youth Services International and other companies run by its founder, James Slattery. The series focused particular attention on the state of Florida, which has become emblematic of a nationwide trend in which growing numbers of prisoners of all ages are placed inside institutions operated by for-profit companies. Florida has entirely privatized its youth prisons.
The articles detailed multiple instances of young inmates at YSI facilities in Florida complaining of having been beaten, sexually assaulted or neglected by guards only to have their reports buried or minimized. Former staff at these prisons told HuffPost that the company systematically discouraged employees from reporting mistreatment and other violations in order to avoid imperiling future state contracts.
Florida's Department of Juvenile Justice largely relies on contractors to self-report serious events such as fights, assaults or escapes. Former YSI employees told HuffPost that the state's system created incentives for the company to under-report and cover up incidents of staff misconduct or violence.
Citing the HuffPost investigation, a top Florida lawmaker has called for legislative hearings on abuses inside YSI's prisons. The first is scheduled for Wednesday.
The new allegations fit a pattern documented in HuffPost's earlier investigation, one in which company employees failed to report serious incidents to state authorities. A former employee at Thompson Academy -- the YSI prison where the top administrator allegedly brought inmates home -- says he alerted higher-ups to the administrator's behavior in a formal complaint in October 2011. But corporate officials never called outside authorities as required, according to the employee and state juvenile justice records.
"They used to tell us, 'If something's going on, don't call the police, call a supervisor,'" said the former employee, Kamel Warren. "They don't want people to come in, investigate and find out what was really going on in this facility."
State juvenile justice officials did not learn of the administrator's actions until 11 months after the alleged events occurred. Even then, the reports came only after an outside attorney representing former YSI employees heard about the incidents and went directly to the state, according to DJJ complaint logs. Correspondence obtained by HuffPost shows that supervisors at YSI were aware of the allegations involving the administrator but did not report them to the state.
Trips outside a youth prison facility are allowed only in special circumstances, according to state regulations, and a parent typically must give consent. Tomonica Allen, the mother of one of the boys, said she knew nothing of the outside activities until after her son was released. "Every time my child left, why didn't they inform me that he was gone for two, three, four hours?" she said in an interview. "Why didn't I ever know this until he got out?"
The other lawsuit alleges a similar cover-up on the part of YSI. Employees did not report the improper relationship between the guard and the inmate to the state until months later, when the girl's mother discovered the relationship and started calling local police.
State records indicate that Department of Juvenile Justice investigators are looking into the allegations brought up in both lawsuits. But the department has made no formal conclusions, even though officials have been aware of some of the allegations for nearly two years.
A spokeswoman for Florida's Department of Juvenile Justice declined to comment on the two cases, citing the pending investigations.
A lawyer representing YSI, Michael Elkins, wrote in an email that the company intends to "vigorously defend" against the allegations that the Thompson Academy administrator brought boys home with him. Chris Slattery, a YSI vice president who is the son of chief executive James Slattery, said the company "immediately reported" to the state once officials learned of the allegations involving the employee who started a relationship with an inmate.
The federal lawsuit centers on allegations that Craig Ferguson, the top administrator at YSI's Thompson Academy from 2010 through 2012, took boys home with him on at least one occasion and touched them inappropriately both while off campus and at the prison.
Ferguson often summoned the plaintiff to his office inside the facility late at night and would take his shirt off in front of him and rub the boy's back, shoulders and thighs, according to the suit. If the boy declined the advances, Ferguson "would get upset and irritated with plaintiff, and send him back to his bed."
Allen, the plaintiff's mother, whose son was 15 when he was sent to Thompson in early 2011, said he started mentioning the outside trip to Ferguson's home after he was released. She said her son told her that Ferguson instructed the boys not to tell anyone they had been there.
Her son, whose name is being withheld because he was a juvenile at the time, told her he didn't go into Ferguson's bedroom that day, but other boys did.
Ferguson no longer works for YSI. In a phone interview after this article was published Monday, he denied all of the allegations about taking boys home, taking his shirt off and touching them inappropriately, calling the assertions "foolishness."
"All of those charges are false," he said. "People find motivation to do these type of things just for money. I'm surprised they would go so far with an untruth."
Warren, the former Thompson Academy employee, filed a sexual harassment complaint against Ferguson to YSI's corporate office in Sarasota, Fla., in October 2011 that also mentioned the administrator taking boys home. Warren wrote that Ferguson "hid a lot of things from investigators and lawyers. He has taken kids to his house and church with him. He bribes kids and staff."
Warren told HuffPost that a YSI senior vice president, Jesse Williams, acknowledged the allegations that Ferguson took boys home and said the company would investigate.
But state records show the first time the DJJ learned of the incident was more than four months later, in March 2012, when an outside attorney called in to report the allegations. Warren and other guards had mentioned Ferguson's behavior to the lawyer, Michael Hoffman, who was representing them in a separate wage dispute. Hoffman went on to represent Allen's son in the federal suit.
Elkins, the YSI lawyer, provided a redacted draft copy of the DJJ's investigation into the case, which confirmed that Ferguson took boys away from the facility but could not confirm whether he had taken them to his home.
Ferguson also pointed to the DJJ inspector general's preliminary findings, which he said proved the allegations against him "are lies."
"That came back unsubstantiated, and I knew that it would," he said.
Elkins noted that a judge dismissed a lawsuit involving Ferguson last year brought by the same lawyer, Hoffman, in state court. The judge dismissed the case because Hoffman failed to meet a filing deadline and had showed up late for a hearing.
The DJJ draft report also concluded that Warren and other lower-level employees should be held accountable for failing to report the incident, even though Warren did report the administrator's actions to his superiors at the company, who then did not relay the allegations to state authorities. The report found that corporate officials were not accountable, however, noting that one of the executives involved was in an "administrative position" and did not have direct contact with youth or guards.
Neither YSI nor state officials responded to additional questions about the investigation.
In the other lawsuit, filed in state court in November, the mother of a former inmate at YSI's Broward Girls Academy alleges that a female guard, Talisha Reddick, initiated a sexual relationship with her daughter when the girl was an inmate there.
Reddick would "punch, hit, slap and physically beat [her] and would also deny [her] bed sheets, food and sanitary items" if the girl refused to comply with her sexual advances, according to the lawsuit. The suit says Reddick continued to pursue the relationship for months after the girl left the facility.
The lawsuit accuses YSI of allowing Reddick to "take advantage of and manipulate" the girl, "whose capacity to protect herself was substantially diminished as a result of her youth, mental health issues and incarceration."
Reddick did not respond to calls seeking comment. Chris Slattery, the company vice president, wrote in an email that YSI believes the allegations are "without merit."
The girl's mother, Bridget Hester, said in a recent interview that she started noticing strange behavior in her daughter after she was released from Broward Girls in September 2012. She constantly missed classes at school, and would disappear at night and on weekends.
Several months later, a friend told Hester she had seen the girl kissing an older woman in a burgundy car. A few days later, in January 2013, Hester said she confronted a woman driving a car that fit the description who was dropping her daughter off outside a relative's home. She sped away, but the girl told her afterward that the woman was Reddick, Hester said.
Her daughter became despondent and refused to go to school, Hester said, and she ended up getting arrested with a group of girls in connection with an attempted carjacking last January. She is now serving time in a state-run prison for young female offenders.
Hester said her daughter opened up about her relationship with Reddick after the arrest, saying she often met the YSI employee for sex in Miami hotels.
Hester said she called Jasir Diab, a YSI regional vice president, on Jan. 21 last year to report Reddick. She also called local law enforcement and the Broward Girls Academy over the next few weeks.
State records show that Pamela Rollins, who heads the Broward Girls facility, called in the complaint to the DJJ on Jan. 28, a week after Hester said she told Diab about the misconduct. Neither Rollins nor Diab responded to requests for comment for this article.
Slattery said YSI reported the allegations "the same day it was brought to our attention." He said the company has no records of earlier conversations about the alleged improper relationship.
The DJJ's inspector general is still investigating the allegations, and the matter is also under criminal investigation by police and prosecutors in Palm Beach County.
This article has been updated to include comments to HuffPost from Craig Ferguson, the former Thompson Academy administrator, made after publication.
For more on Youth Services International, read HuffPost's two-part investigation, "Prisoners of Profit":
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/13/youth-services-international-lawsuits_n_4589550.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

Scott Seeks $31 Million Bump In DCF Funding For Child Protection

Gov. Scott to propose increased funds for child protection

By Mary Ellen Klas

Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

“Editor’s Note: We believe the constant flow of federal funding is the very reason that CPS is so corrupt. They are ALREADY taking/stealing children for baseless reasons and destroying families each and every day. A pay increase and promotion only pushes them to steal more children.”

In an effort to repair his child welfare track record, Gov. Rick Scott will announce Tuesday in Miami that he is steering $31 million in additional money to child protection efforts, a move aimed at reducing caseloads and increasing oversight of vulnerable children in Florida.

Ticky Ricky

The announcement comes in the wake of dozens of child deaths from abuse and neglect in the past year, and amid calls for reform of the Department of Children & Families from the non-profit Casey Family Foundation and Democrats in the Legislature.
“While DCF has made significant changes to protect children, we still have much to do to protect the most vulnerable among us,’’ the governor said in a statement on Monday. “Even one child death is a death too many.”
The governor will also announce that he will steer an additional $8 million to sheriff’s offices to investigate child abuse complaints, a turnabout for the governor who recommended a $17 million reduction in the grants to sheriffs for child protective efforts in his 2013-14 budget proposal.
The governor’s proposal, which is only a recommendation to the Legislature, includes restoring money for Substance Abuse and Mental Health programs, services that play a vital role in reducing child abuse, the agency said in a statement released to the Herald/Times on Monday.
The governor said his “historic increase to DCF funding” will pay for the hiring of 400 additional child protective investigators. The proposal also aims to reduce caseloads for child protective investigators from the current 13.3 cases per investigator to 10, and institute two-person teams in cases involving children under age 4 when the family has a history of domestic violence, substance abuse or mental illness, the statement said.
The program would be modeled after a pilot program DCF is currently running using paired investigators for high-risk cases in Miami-Dade and Polk counties.
DCF interim Secretary Esther Jacobo said she is confident the proposals “will keep Florida children safe.”

DCF interim Secretary Esther Jacobo

“Armed with input from national experts and data to back up our proposals, we are prepared to ensure that these funds will be laser focused on protecting children who are most at-risk,” Jacobo said in the statement.
The governor’s recommendation also includes restoring 26 of the 72 quality assurance positions that were cut under former DCF Secretary David Wilkins. Child advocates blame those cuts for contributing to some of the child deaths.
Another 50 current investigator positions would be eligible for career advancement under a new “Child Protective Master Practitioner” plan that would reward case workers with the most knowledge and experience.
The Casey Family Programs reviewed 40 child deaths last year and concluded that both DCF and community-based care organizations should focus more resources on providing services aimed at stabilizing families to prevent abuse.
The governor’s track record in his previous budget requests to the Legislature has been to reduce funding to the child welfare agency. In his first budget proposal in the 2011-12 budget year, for example, the governor recommended reducing funding for DCF by $238 million below its current levels at the time.
In 2011-12, Scott recommended increasing the agency budget by $1.7 million over the level approved by lawmakers a year before but, in 2013-14, he recommended reducing the budget again — by $75.7 million — below what lawmakers had approved the year before.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/01/13/3869179/gov-scott-to-propose-increased.html#storylink=cpy

The raw truth about
power and ambition in Florida.

Petitioning Esther Jacobo For Full Investigation Into DCF Florida

Dear Esther Jacobo: 

Robin K. Jensen

Thank you for your time and consideration into this matter. I am sure after your review of this case, you will see a pattern of lies and manipulation on the part of Ms.Robin K. Jensen Lawyer for DCF in Sarasota Florida.

I also ask that you request the court tapes to listen first-hand how easily a Lawyer can manipulate their status to abuse citizens under the color of law. We are petitioning for a full investigating in this case.

Sincerely,

Randy Kluge

941-915-1046

DCF caught kidnapping

DCF-The Frightening Reality Of The Florida State Mob Punishing Parents And Pulling Favors

Posted on November 16, 2013 by imaconstitutionalist

I’ve never seen DCF move so quickly….and without probable cause. This case was a terrifying jolt of reality.

This week, a family was ambushed by the Florida Dept. Of Children and Families (DCF). The DCF mafia, under investigation and responsible for several deaths due to unqualified and un-credentialed so-called social workers and investigators from mostly third-world countries who have been charged with protecting abused and neglected children in the state of Florida, moved swiftly in their attempts to usurp two children from a couple grieving over the recent suicide death of their teenage son.
In dependency court in Palm Beach County this week, the Child Protective Investigator blatantly lied in her Petition for Shelter, citing that the children of the Palm Beach County family were in imminent danger, citing physical abuse and neglect. The misquotes and material misrepresentations in the Petition were so blatant, that the DCF attorney didn’t even bother putting the investigator on the stand. Without a private attorney present, those parents would have been thrust into a system operated by this mafia that was not only eager to cash in on their living children, but also on their dead son. But why…?
Also disturbing was the jurisdictional issue. Though the family resided in Palm Beach County, it was an investigator from Broward County and a BSO Deputy, that initially contacted the parents just 4 days after the death of their son. DCF cited “a conflict” which was later learned to be that a family member of the natural father, who had been paying child support and, though he had very little (if any) relationship with the children, also stood to capitalize on the estate of the deceased child. The father’s immediate relative is an “award-winning” Supervisor at DCF. Evidently, even DCF isn’t immune from calling in the occasional favor. It is known that this DCF Supervisor and her family made the allegations against the mother, who had been engaged in a custody battle for years, and the step-father, who had been a daily and active participant in the lives of the children, picking up where the natural father had dropped off. Ironically, the natural father, though present, was neither a witness nor a party to the case.
The investigator never entered the home where the alleged abuse took place (which was clean, full of food, and had zero history of domestics or abuse). In fact, they never even went to the home. They coerced the older remaining son to write an email to the investigator…though even his email stated clearly that there had never been any physical abuse. The intake report cited bruising on the now deceased child, but there was never any abuse in the home, and the boy played contact sports. The accusations were false, misleading, and a disgusting attempt at DCF to pull favors and punish a family that was already grieving for the obvious sake of estate standing and child support adjustments.
The parents and their counsel were given less than 24 hours to prepare for the hearing. This isn’t uncommon, though it’s also interesting given the fact that the investigator never entered the home and there had been no police or school reports citing abuse, domestics or any type of violence or even harsh corporal punishment ever. DCF rarely moves quickly in cases of serious abuse, so this move by them was preposterous.
The courtroom was filled with witnesses in favor of the mother and step-father, and when DCF’s fumbling attorney began questioning the son, she essentially threatened him with perjury, trying to prove that there was any purpose at all for DCF to have even removed the children in the first place. Her leading questions were compounded, and she was clearly frustrated. The private counsel was repeatedly interrupted by the presiding judge, who, in his defense, has to spend every day with the DCF lawyers. He walks a tightrope with trying to protect children and families, while protecting same from the Department of Children and Families.
Without an ounce of evidence to statutorily substantiate the removal of the children, and without an iota of case law or factual standing to consider the children in imminent danger, show that the least restrictive means test had been met, or further prove that even notice of hearing had been served except via phone by an investigator that refused to disclose the location of the hearing in the first place, the judge had no choice but to dismiss the Petition against the already grieving parents.
One thing is certain: without the parents having private counsel, they would have been living more of an already massive nightmare. They already lost one child, and now because DCF’s Star-Supervisor was an accomplice in an obvious custody and estate matter that didn’t involve abuse, they would have lost their other children.
The fear-mongering Palm Beach County DCF staff (all colleagues of that Supervisor who called in her mafioso favor) were unapologetic and upset at the outcome. In fact, their manager was overheard saying, “This is ridiculous.” Yes, ma’am, this was. This was a disgusting overreach of your department’s power and a gross example of your desire to intimidate and harass a grieving family as a favor to your colleague.
The reality is, DCF (no matter how lousy their lawyers) rarely loses to unsuspecting parents-yet rarely protect the children that ARE abused (see Miami Herald articles on DCF). Don’t EVER attempt to fight allegations alone. Hire an attorney….you can’t put a price on your Constitutional right and liberty to parent.
imaconstitutionalist

http://imaconstitutionalist.com/2013/11/16/dcf-the-frightening-reality-of-the-florida-state-mob-punishing-parents-and-pulling-favors/

Florida Department Of Children And Families Has Failed

Angela Guinn:

So I have to start by saying the Florida Department of Children and Families Has Failed many people through the years…. While they were still HRS they Failed me I was not removed from my home while I was being Sexually abused by my step father while there had been proof that something had happened nothing was done this man also got off on a technicality and served no time in Jail. Many years later the system is still a failure losing kids in the system, placing kids where they should not be placed and even breaking protocol. Why do I say this well, Starting March 31, 2009 My children were removed from my care for two months prior i had been fighting with DCF for Medicaid I was receiving unemployment 600 a month but yet myself, and my two kids that were with me (Jason and heather) were making too much to qualify for Medicaid….I begged because I knew my mental state was fading I knew I was in depression and needed help but couldn’t get that help unless i had Medicaid. A week before March 31, 2009 my ex husband brought my daughter Katlin to me and said he couldn’t handle her so I said fine i would take her… I didn’t seem to have any problems out of her while she was with me. except realizing a child with adhd needs to come home do homework and then play. The day she had a half day of school I figured she could do her homework at 4 when she usually did it so i let her go outside to play. well honestly the homework didn’t get done and i sent a note to the teacher and to my amazement the teacher understood and let her make it up. March 31, 2009 DCF showed up with two sheriffs’ officers and took the kids I did explain to the worker that I knew I was depressed and that yes i had issues and i needed help they had already contacted Katlins dad to come get her. When asked if they could contact my mother or other family members for Jason and Heather They said they already had a place they were going to. It is my understanding of the law before the court hearing with in 24 to 48 hours that they are to try to place with family and they did not. we went to court the next morning and the judge told DCF they had 24 hours to get me in for an evaluation this being court ordered I had to work on it myself at 4pm the next day I made myself the appointment and took the court papers with me. Diagnosis PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), major Depressive Disorder, and Anxiety.

I was told if I needed help with apts etc to contact the worker and they would help, when I did ask for help it was not provided except on occasion. this went on for several months saying I was not complying with the case and I was trying but I needed help they wanted me to work which I was doing but did not want to provide visits after work hours so i would have to take days off. That is a catch 22 basically you don’t work you don’t get your kids back you don’t follow visits you don’t get your kids back you lose your job because you talk off work too much you don’t get your kids back you lose your transportation cause you cant afford gas or your car payment cause you take off and lose your job… well you get what i am saying. This went on through July… July 17, my mother came over to let me know I had to be in court for another case involving my Daughter Katlin and William at their Fathers house. They were removed from his care as were his other two children. Katlin had bruises on the scalp two black-eyes and her ear was black and blue.
and another bruise found on her back, just under the shoulder blade…. I went to court talked to the caseworker and she showed me the pictures of Katlin it was horrifying I could not believe what i was seeing and the fact that her father allowed this to happen. Not only was that but her father allowing William 8 at the time to medicate himself. William was placed in a foster home without Katlin. She was in another foster home, in another county. Brandy (Dustins wife/ the step mother of my children/ and my cousin) was arrested for child abuse of Katlin. She was Charged and eventually plead guilty, Third degree Felony Child Abuse.
About a month after the children were removed I got a call saying that I needed to go to the centers to meet William that he had tried to commit suicide. When I got to the centers I met William who was happy to see me. I gave him a hug he looked at the clock on the wall and turned and said “Mommy I have to take this now” as he pulled an orange pill out of his pocket, there was no bottle no prescription on him in anyway… I asked William what it was and he said it was his rispridone….

I know that that drug is usually used for bipolar there for is a felony if there is no script with it and an 8 yr old is carrying this pill in his pocket. Not to mention his foster mom allowed this to happen she gave it to him so he could take it when he needed to and the worker that came with William didn’t know he had it in his pocket. I did tell William that he could not take it because the doctor had to look at him first and ok it. Which the doctor did not ok. William admitted he had tied a rope around his neck two days prior. This devastated me that it happened two days before and was not reported until this day he was at the centers, The foster mom is an EMT therefore she knows better than most that it should have been reported right then. I told my concerns to DCF and they told me they would look into it they did not remove him from this care… they told her “don’t do it again”…other incidents happened failure to give meds several days in a row and still nothing was done. eventually William was placed, back in the care of his father and Brandy was frequently over to see Dustin, Williams father… once again William was removed from Dustin and then placed with Barbra, brandy’s mother whom brandy was living with I questioned this action because brandy was in the home and I was told that he is not in Brandy’s care…but a couple months later he was placed in Brandy’s care I questioned this also because before a child can be placed in someone’s care they have to have a background check and a violent history is a denial in this case she was allowed to take my son and she was on probation for third degree felony child abuse on his sister Katlin. Once again he was placed back with his father, Until October of last year. William was once again removed I was notified that William was removed and had to appear in court by phone since i am now in Michigan. Williams father was admitted to the Centers and I didn’t know what for … My mother called me that evening and let William talk to me I asked no questions regarding his father but William said “you know mom, dad is in the centers cause he was going to kill himself because he failed a polygraph test” polygraph coming out of Williams mouth did not surprise me…because in first grade he went to school and asked his teacher if she knew what MRSA stood for the teacher asked him what it stood for and he said Methacillin Resistant Staphylococcus Areaus big words for a first grader but always asked to look at my medical dictionary and asked questions I held nothing back if he wanted to learn.

William was placed in foster care where Jason and Heather were for a little over a year I was being jerked around they said they were going to send him up here to live with me and i was already for it and then they said they were going to send to his father again and then his father was found guilty of sexual battery therefore William could not be returned to Dustin. Just before the last hearing the case worker Yolanda called me and told me they were thinking of placing William back with Brandy. I told her absolutely not and explained that she had been charged in the abuse of Williams sister which she already knew since this is the same worker throughout the case with the exception of the first month which was a male worker of whom i had dated in the past and it was a conflict of interest and we both asked for there to be another worker as it was a conflict of interest but did not explain to what extent it was. Yolanda told me that William was not the victim in the case and that she would be able to care for him. When asked why they were now not considering me for placement I was told that it is because i lost my job… I am not going to lie I was very heated over that and told her that there are people everyday that don’t have jobs and care for their kids just fine. I am keeping up with my bills. Yolanda also told me that the court would call me in two days cause that was our hearing. To my surprise Marion county courts did not call, when they had called every time before that. The decision was to send him to live with Brandy. William went to live with Brandy on the 28th of December 2012. I have been told by a source that wishes me not to give her name but is a family member that Brandy has had Dustin over to see the kids several times. This source is in Florida and said she knows for a fact that this has happened. I am tired of getting nowhere when I ask the news, newspapers, and other sources for help. Reporting this to the Head of DCF in Florida in Tallahassee I was basically given a lie to shut me up. This lie was that the worker had been fired when my mother showed up in court well the worker was still there…. So if the head haunchos in Tallahassee are covering things up too where do i go for help now….Washington? Where Do I start? Here? I am writing this not only to expose Florida’s DCF system and Marion county court system but also for help and answers. DCF in Florida looks at it as though I don’t care for my kids, The thing is I do I care for them enough to say yes I screwed up and I was a mess, I also care for them to try to find out answers to questions no matter how long it takes hoping to change laws.

That system can not honestly say they know what people feel like, their psychological evals are not realistic by no means having your children taken from you and experiencing it twice in less than a year who would not feel angry and upset not to mention calling them on their screw-up’s and nothing being done about it where a normal parent would have the child removed from their care a foster parent is slapped on the hand and told not to do it again….yeah I think I have that right to be angry with out being told that i have anger issues because lets face it anyone enduring that much hurt and loss would be normal to be angry, sad and depressed. So if anyone out there can help with information on where i can go to get help…. I dont know if i could sue the state but am so willing to do what i can to change something with that system.
Angela Guinn:

America's Shamful Adoption Incentive Awards

FY 2010 Adoption Incentive Awards Based on FY 2009 Earning Year
State	Award
Alabama	$1,477,397
Alaska	$719,213
Arizona	$584,582
Arkansas	$1,360,481
California	$0
Colorado	$0
Connecticut	$520,809
Delaware	$102,745
Dist of Columbia	$0
Florida	$5,718,271
Georgia	$364,921
Hawaii	$187,775
Idaho	$1,147,906
Illinois	$155,888
Indiana	$1,360,481
Iowa	$0
Kansas	$531,438
Kentucky	$1,371,110
Louisiana	$1,006,189
Maine	$113,373
Maryland	$173,603
Massachusetts	$0
Michigan	$3,511,033
Minnesota	$446,408
Mississippi	$38,972
Missouri	$510,180
Montana	$0
Nebraska	$637,726
Nevada	$467,665
New Hampshire	$49,601
New Jersey	$0
New Mexico	$658,983
New York	$0
North Carolina	$1,077,048
North Dakota	$0
Ohio	$0
Oklahoma	$1,204,593
Oregon	$637,726
Pennsylvania	$2,175,353
Rhode Island	$198,403
South Carolina	$655,440
South Dakota	$60,230
Tennessee	$0
Texas	$7,468,475
Utah	$432,236
Vermont	$0
Virginia	$14,172
Washington	$0
West Virginia	$1,030,990
Wisconsin	$276,348
Wyoming	$49,601
Puerto Rico	$382,635

Governor Scott,

Is this why I can not even get you to answer an email? Florida is the second highest state in Adoptive Incentives. Almost $6,000,000 is a pretty good incentive to take children out of healthy happy homes. Sad and embarrassing for Florida, I will be sharing this with everyone I can.

We the parents of any child in DCF care hold you responsible for any injury, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, over medication and death of any and all children as you have been made aware of the abuses and corruption in your state and refuse to do anything about it.

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/news/press/2010/fy10_adoption_incentive_awards.htm
THIS IS 2009 FISCAL YR PAY OUTS OF INCENTIVE BONUS' PR STATE..

Randy Kluge

A Grandmothers Fight To Save Her Grandchild

On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 1:16 PM, D Nicks <d_nicks@yahoo.com> wrote:

For those of you who don't know me, I will tell you a bit about what I am going through. I am a mother and grandmother. I have had my grand baby since she was 6 weeks old. When she was born she was an ounce shy of 8 pounds, when she arrived... here, she was 5 weeks old and only 4 pounds. She would scream until she would vomit as soon as she heard her mothers voice. She landed in the hospital a day after arriving here because she was so bad off, it was a week long stay, her mother left the hospital the day she was admitted and never went back. We stayed the entire week with her at the hospital, we had to learn CPR and agree to NOT turn her over to her mother before she could be released to us and she was not going to be released to our daughter at all. It was us or foster care.

We did find out our daughter had been abusive to her by her own admissions. Our daughter has been baker acted for mental issues upwards of 12 times already and she uses her mental disorder as an excuse for what she did to our grand baby. It... has been a battle to keep her here, every time our daughter wants something, money etc, if we don't give it to her, she threatens to go to court and take the baby. The latest round was her moving in with her boyfriend (she met him and moved in with him the same day basically) and after a week, was saying she was going to take the baby to live with her and the boyfriend. The kicker, she knew he was a registered sex offender and convicted felon. She has lived in at least 6 different places in the past four months. She lived in Ga for a time, stabbed herself in the gut and claimed "the black man did it", this latest couple she stayed with used her clothing and all for target practice and left a note with a bullet in her belongings.

These are the types of people she surrounds herself with and she will lie for them and even take from her own child for them, so yes, I will fight to keep my grand baby with me because I will not stand by and allow her to have the same fate... so many other innocent children end with. The county here in Florida that I am in has a long history of making bad decisions when it comes to children in these situations so we are worried, but will continue our fight.