The Truth about U.S. Foster Care

Exposing the injustice, corruption, criminal, and unconstitutional acts of Child Protective Service Agencies and the Juvenile Court - Please see: http://www.fixcas.com/parody/tomb.htm; www.squidoo.com/abolishcps/; http://abolishcps.blogspot.com/2006/06/call-to-action-my-personal-story.html; and http://www.fightcps.com

My Photo
Name:

Hi, this is Ty and he was "legally" kidnapped by CPS on January 1, 2005. To view his photo log, please visit http://abolishcpsnow.blogspot.com/ As his mother, I will continue praying and fighting until he is returned home. To see what you can do to help put an end to family and juvenile court injustice, please visit www.squidoo.com/abolishcps/. There are several petitions that you can sign and a host of additional information. Working together we can end the abuse of power, lack of employee accountability, and remove the umbrella of immunity that shields their deliberate and intentional felony acts! If you feel that the decision to remove your children was based on race, please reflect on the beautiful and encouraging words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: “I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. I believe that ‘unarmed’ … truth and unconditional love will have the final word.” IF YOU HAVE A PERSONAL STORY TO SHARE, PLEASE SEND TO: victimizedbycps@hotmail.com.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

I Read the News Today by Anne Patterson

I read the news today, another child is dead.
Another child took a ransom on their head.

They said he would be better off, and safe forever more,
They said his mother was unfit, to them she was a whore.

Her greatest crime was poverty, their greatest crime is lies.
Depending on your verdict, depending on your eyes.

They said he would be safe, for every single day.
But then again their pay cheque is telling it this way.

A child he was forever, and dead forever more.
And all because they judged his mother, if we’re keeping score.

His father was invisible, forbid that he was found.
As if the man had right’s, an industry in the ground.

I read the news today, another child is dead.
Another child took a ransom on their head.

The stranger is forever, and safe forever more.
And all upon the lie, their mother was a whore.

Real families are no better, not safe forever more?
Based upon the theory, the mother is a whore.

The families all extended, are neither safe as well.
In child protection services a modern wicked hell.

But none of them will answer, to anything above.
The children were all taken for someone else's love?

I read the news today, another child is dead.
Another child took a ransom on their head.

But they have all the answers, the crystal searing ball.
Never held responsible, the greatest crime of all.

They said he would be happy, in all that is above.
And be forever grateful, they thought that this was love.

And as he passes forward - onto the other side.
He’ll be greeted by dead children, their arms are open wide.

And many of them are angels, sent from well above.
To try and maybe tell us the system is not love.

Before their brutal fates, they ached for something more.
Their mothers, fathers and families, if we’re keeping score.

And in between the darkness, and what is wrong and right.
Do not give up on children, and never stop this fight.

By Anne Patterson with love - and written for all the dead children who are anonymous who died in care of child protection agencies.

© 2006. All rights reserved.

To read about this tragic crime, simply click on the title above: I Read the News Today by Anne Patterson

Although this tragedy occurred in Canada, it is still a life lost while under the governments "protection" and therefore must be included.

Also read Sherry Charlie's story: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2006/02/07/bc_sherry-charlie20060207.html

Friday, February 16, 2007

84-Year-Old Woman Sleeps with Foster Child

Here we go again ... yet another case of a foster "parent" sexually abusing the child she was being paid to protect. An 84-year-old woman from Portland Oregon has "confessed to having sex with an 11-year-old boy in her foster care." According to a CNN reporter, Georgie Audean Buoy was known as "everyone's grandmother." I don't know about you, but she is nothing like my grandmother!! The last time I checked, grandmothers baked cakes and pies for their grandchildren, not raped them. For those of you offended by my choice to use the word "rape" and not "sexual abuse," get over it!! Having sex with an underage child, male or female, is statutory rape ... i.e. RAPE!!!

Not only was this child raped by his foster "mother," but he is also being raped by a "justice" system that thinks 36 months in prison is sufficient punishment for this rapist. Even as a woman, I must say that I feel there is a definite double standard here. If the foster caregiver had been male, they would have thrown the book at him!

I also believe there is more to this story than the public is being allowed to know. On CNN it was stated that the rapists' husband was sick and in bed in another room while the 11-year-old was being victimized -- call me a pessimist but I'm not buying it!! I wonder how many of the children in their care were raped by one or both of these perverts. So far, only one child has come forward.

"In a taped confession, Buoy admitted to having sex with the boy while he was in her care in 2004, Wolf said. Her age and lack of prior criminal convictions played a role" in the prosecuting attorney's decision to offer her a plea deal of only 36 months. What type of message does this case send? If you have never been arrested or you are over a certain age, it's ok to rape children because the District Attorney's office will "go easy" on you?

This very sick woman was a "longtime member of her church and volunteered at the county jail ..." How typical of this wolf in sheep's clothing ... this rapist!!! And here's the best part of her plea deal, she must " ... pay $5,000 to the victim ..." What a joke!!! To members of the United States federal government, THIS is what you're paying for ... THIS is what you're funding!!!

I guess if you're a pedophile, it "pays" to foster innocent little children!!!

TMajor
www.squidoo.com/abolishcps/

To read more, simply click on the title above: 84-Year-Old Woman Sleeps with Foster Child or visit
http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/02/16/octogenarian.
abuse.ap/index.html

Social Workers Behaving Badly

Child protection caseworkers and their social workers, etc. included

[DCF Worker Arrested for DUI: Police Find Child in Back Seat] Updated July 26, 2002 -- NBC 6 News Team

MIAMI -- A Department of Children and Families caseworker [56-year-old Mirla Pronga] is under arrest, charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. But police say what she had in the back seat of her car is an even bigger outrage.

Officers said Pronga was asleep with the engine of her car still running. When they looked into the car, they allegedly found a crying 7-month-old baby girl in the back seat.

Investigators said Pronga had taken custody of the baby from the foster parents in order to supervise a short visit with a biological parent. http://www.nbc10.com/News/1579738/detail.html

November 8, 2006, Wednesday -- The New York Times
DISPLAYING ABSTRACT - The executive director of one of the city's midsize foster care agencies resigned after an audit by the city's comptroller's office found that she had spent tens of thousands of dollars at luxury retailers. The audit showed that the executive director, Lelar Floyd, used the agency's corporate credit card ...

By LESLIE KAUFMAN (NYT); Metropolitan Desk Late Edition - Final, Section B, Page 1, Column 2, 760 words http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30E17FC355B0C7B8CDDA80994DE404482&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2fF%2fFoster%20Care

[Caseworker charged with stealing gift card intended for child] February 01, 2007, Thursday -- AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF, Katie Humphrey

Donor wanted card to go to boy in state custody, but authorities say he never received it.

A state Child Protective Services caseworker [45-year-old Leslie Alexandra St. Aubin] is accused of stealing a $200 gift card that was intended as a Christmas present for a child in protective custody.

The gift card was used in the same transaction as a stolen credit card, the documents said. St. Aubin was also being held in connection with a misdemeanor theft by check case in Travis County. She remained in the Williamson County Jail on Wednesday, with bail set at $36,000. http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/02/01/1cps.html

Friday, June 8, 2001 -- MaineToday.com, By GARY J. REMAL, Blethen Maine News Service
AUGUSTA -- A former state caseworker originally charged with manslaughter in the death of her 5-year-old foster daughter was indicted Thursday on a murder charge ... Schofield was a state child-protective caseworker at the time Marr and her younger sister were placed in her care, a violation of the Department of Human Service's regulations ... http://news.mainetoday.com/stories/010608schofield.shtml

[Social Worker Charged With Child Abuse] POSTED: 5:35 pm CDT Septermber 27, 2006 -- TheKansasCityChannel.com

Beth Hersh, 28, formerly of Blue Springs, is accused of assaulting her 2-month-old foster son at Children's Mercy Hospital. Hersh is charged with first-degree assault, endangering the welfare of a child and child abuse.

Investigators said Hersh attempted to smother the 2-month-old while he was in the hospital being treated for something else. Hersh's former landlord, Melodie Chrisman, told KMBC that she isn't surprised by the charges ... she had a "Refrigerator full of spoiled food and running down the floor. There were bugs, rats, we had to fumigate several times. Just wasn't a clean place for children to be," she said. http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/news/9949377/detail.html?rss=kc1&psp=news

[State Labor Ruling Forces DCF To Rehire Employee Who Was Arrested] May 20, 2006 -- Courant Staff, COLIN POITRAS

A state social worker who was fired following allegations of fabricating evidence and tampering with a witness in a child endangerment case has gotten her job back with pay, officials and sources familiar with the case said Friday.

Valerie M. Miles returned to work at the Department of Children and Families last week. Miles is no longer handling abuse and neglect cases. She is currently doing research in the agency's central Hartford office after accepting a reduction in pay, said Gary Kleeblatt, a DCF spokesman.

Police accused Miles of falsely insisting in a sworn affidavit that plastic bags of drugs were found during a raid of a Hartford home that resulted in four children being taken from their parents. Police said they never found drugs in the home. Police also accused Miles of forcing one of the family's neighbors to provide a false statement supporting her claim about drugs in the home. The neighbor later told police she felt pressured to lie, according to Miles' arrest affidavit. http://www.geocities.com/family_rights_wv/socialworkers/supervisor_arrested2.html

[St. Louis licensed clinical social worker arrested on 19-county indictment of Medicaid fraud] June 18, 2003, Attorney General's News Release

The indictment charges that Burger, who owns Burger Youth and Family Services at 4144 Lindell Boulevard, billed the Missouri Medicaid program for psychological counseling services she did not provide. Burger is charged with 16 felony counts of making a false statement to receive a health care payment and with three felony counts of stealing by deceit. http://www.ago.mo.gov/newsreleases/2003/061803b.htm

[Social Worker to Stand Trial on Medicaid Fraud Charges] June 23, 2005

Cheryl Jean Apollo (DOB 2/9/47) of East Peoria, Ill., allegedly submitted fraudulent Medicaid claims from January 2002 to May 2003 while she was an employee of Evergreen Behavioral Services in Mexico, according to a probable cause statement submitted with the charges. The office of Attorney General Jay Nixon is working with Audrain County Prosecuting Attorney Jason H. Lamb with the case.

Lamb filed the charges against Apollo on April 25. She faces three counts of stealing by deceit, a class C felony punishable upon conviction by up to seven years in prison and a $5,000 fine. She also faces 29 counts of making a false statement to receive a Medicaid payment, a class D felony punishable upon conviction by up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Her arraignment is scheduled for 9 a.m. July 22 in Audrain County Circuit Court. http://www.ago.mo.gov/newsreleases/2005/062305.htm

[School social worker charged with 'indecent liberties'] 01/25/2006 The Fairfax County Times

A 51-year-old Vienna man was arrested on Tuesday, Jan. 17 and charged with taking "custodial indecent liberties" with a 13-year-old Fairfax-area boy, according to Fairfax County police. On Jan. 17, Rother was taken into custody and transported to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. http://www.timescommunity.com/site/tab5.cfm?newsid=15996484&
amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp
;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;
amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;BRD=2553&
amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;PAG=461&dept_id=511693&rfi=6

FYI: Proposing sexual activity or actually fondling a child (ages 0-18) -- when he or she is your own child or a child under your custody or supervision -- is a Class 6 felony, Taking indecent liberties with a child by person in custodial or supervisory relationship. The penalty for that is a fine-5 years. The Albo bill takes very serious crimes against children -- such as "any act of carnal knowledge," "an act of sexual intercourse" -- and adds them to the definition of § 18.2-370.1, Taking indecent liberties with child by person in custodial or supervisory relationship.

In Albo's bill, these acts, along with the fondling of genitals, are added to the definition of custodial indecent liberties in subsections vii-xi. Committing these sex crimes against a child age 0-18 thus would become a Class 6 felony. To be clear, that means that even if prosecutors had DNA evidence of sexual intercourse with a young child, they could plea bargain it down to a fine or probation. We think the more likely occurrence will be the routine skewing downward of sentences for sex crimes against children, as "options" get used. http://www.protect.org/virginia/vaAlboBillQA.html

Wednesday, January 31, 2007 -- PalmBeachCoast.com
STUART - A lawsuit filed in Martin Circuit Court Tuesday accuses a social worker with the state Department of Children and Families of taking the law into her own hands and separating a mother from her two children without a court order.

Jessica LaBoy said in court papers the caseworker lied when she told Martin County sheriff's deputies in February 2003 that she had a court order to remove LaBoy's children, a boy and a girl, from their mother's care. A day earlier, a circuit judge had ordered a DCF investigation on LaBoy closed. According to court records, two Martin sheriff's deputies took LaBoy's children from her without verifying whether an order existed. LaBoy, who also is suing DCF Secretary Bob Butterworth and the agency itself, said her son was injured while in foster care. The children were later returned to her.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/01/31/m2b_ briefs_0131.html

[Social Worker Charged with Sexual Contact] August 25, 2005 -- WXII2.com News

A local social worker [26-year-old Kenyon Laron Allen] has been charged with having sexual contact with a resident of the American Children's Home in Davidson County. http://www.wxii12.com/news/4899721/detail.html

[Police Chief Charged with Child Abuse] November 14, 2005 -- Daily Mail

Colin Inglis, 48, was charged by officers from North Yorkshire Police who were called in to investigate allegations that he abused boys when he was a social worker at a home in Hull in the 1980's. A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "Following an investigation by North Yorkshire Police, on behalf of Humberside Police, a 48-year-old Hull man has been charged with 14 counts of indecent assault in relation to allegations of historic child abuse in the Humberside area. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=368602&in_page_id=1770

[Social Worker Faces Child Porn Charges] 05/28/2004 -- Daily Freeman.com, by Ariel Zangla

TOWN OF ULSTER - An employee of the Ulster County Department of Social Services was arrested on charges he possessed sexual performances by children obtained through the Internet, authorities said. Robert Myers, 56, was arrested by state police Wednesday on four counts of felony possessing a sexual performance by a child. He arraigned in Ulster Town Court and sent to Ulster County Jail on $50,000 bail.

Glenn Decker, the Commissioner of Social Services of Ulster County, said he was aware of the investigation and had been assured no crime had been committed on county time or property or with county equipments. "These charges stem from activities outside of the county department," Decker said. http://www.dailyfreeman.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1769&dept_id=72585&newsid=11814548&PAG=461&rfi=9

[Two DCF Investigators Fired, Two Quit Over False Reports In Palm Beach County] February 3, 2007 -- The Associated Press

WEST PALM BEACH - Two Department of Children & Families investigators have been fired and two others have resigned in recent months after falsifying information about visiting abused and neglected children in Palm Beach County. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-0203dcf,0,519798.story?coll=sfla-news-palm

[Social Worker's Attitude Angers Clients] Sunday, January 16, 2005 -- Plain Dealer Reporter, Joel Rutchick

" ... according to clients, child-welfare lawyers and fellow caregivers, it has been a years-long rampage by a rogue social worker who often seemed more determined to exercise her power over mostly poor clients than to help them get their families back on track. Butler has misrepresented parents' progress to deny them custody of their children, sometimes permanently, court records show. She has also violated important child-welfare requirements.

Documents show, for instance, that she has waited as long as 20 months to file paperwork in court showing what parents needed to do to get their children back, when state law directs child protection agencies to do so within a month.

And DCFS records show that, contrary to a key agency goal, Butler has been far more eager than her colleagues to remove children from their homes and far more likely to keep them away longer. According to court records, agency documents and interviews with court officials and other child-welfare workers, Butler has also been accused of:

Keeping children isolated from their mother for weeks without authority, a "gross abuse" of court rules, according to a Juvenile Court magistrate.

Misleading school officials about the status of children she removed from their home improperly.

Using questionable drug-abuse allegations against a mother before a key court hearing to get her to sign away custody rights to her children.

And threatening to have a mother arrested for checking on her daughter's academic progress at school.

Off the job, police records show, Butler was charged with domestic violence four years ago after she attacked her stepmother and vowed to return with others to beat her up.

"She's a very hurtful person," said Mark Witt, a leading child-welfare lawyer. Witt is one of many court officials, clients and caregivers who said they complained to DCFS officials about Butler's behavior, with little result. "She has a belligerent disregard for the rules of court and is disrespectful to people," he said.

In an interview last week, DCFS Director James McCafferty acknowledged that Butler could be "aggressive and rude," but said he thought that checks and balances were in place to keep her under control.

" ... a Plain Dealer reporter reviewed Butler's personnel file. And five days after that, DCFS suspended Butler for a range of infractions, including failure to maintain a valid driver's license, falsifying county records, and inappropriately using work time to go to court on the domestic violence charges stemming from the confrontation with her stepmother.

As long as a decade ago, Butler's then supervisor noted that she talked down to clients, that she sometimes created crises on cases where none existed before and that she could be "difficult" when agency instructions didn't fit her "agenda." Butler also chastised the boy's biological mother for raising questions about her son's care, according to DCFS records, telling her that she had lost the right to have an opinion. "Your baby's all right," Butler told her, according to the investigator's report. "Don't create a false alarm."

With DCFS embarking on a successful campaign to slash the number of children in foster care, the roughly 35 social workers in her office have managed to cut their foster-child caseload by 60 percent since 2002. But over the same period, records show the number of foster children in Butler's roster increased by 71 percent, from 14 to 24. And over the last three years, her monthly average of children in foster care was twice that of others in her office. She also was the slowest in closing cases. http://www.cleveland.com/socialworker/plaindealer/index.ssf?/socialworker/more/3.html

[Social Worker Cries Foul, Pays Dearly: Unwillingness to Compromise costs her a job] Thursday, February 26, 1998; Seattle Post-Intelligencer, by Mike Barber and Andrew Schneider

"From what I saw, there was little or any real proof that those children (the Wenatchee child sex-abuse investigations) had been molested or raped by their parents. But there is no doubt in my mind that they were horribly abused by those of us who were supposed to protect them ..."

Her unwillingness to compromise in the pursuit of justice cost her a job, but it stands as an inspiration to those who know her.

"The better we did at reuniting families, the more CPS ... resented it, as though we were wrong in rehabilitating families," he says. CPS "had an attitude that children were replaceable parts," Glassen says. "Juana never had that. She knew the value of a family." http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/powertoharm/vasquez.html

For reference: In February 1998, the Post-Intelligencer published a series of articles that documented overzealous -- and even abusive -- actions by Perez and social service caseworkers, civil rights violations by judges and prosecutors as well as sloppy work by public defenders ..." To read Power to Harm: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/powertoharm/

[Woman wants kids back after social worker marries ex] Jan. 7, 2007 -- Associated Press

CLEVELAND (AP) - A woman says she was persuaded to give up custody of her four children by a social worker who secretly dated and later married her ex-husband. Hillmon resigned from the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services after the department found out about the marriage.

County officials reviewed the file at the time and still believe the children belong with their father and not Kidd, who acknowledged whipping them with an electrical cord before taking parenting and anger management courses. Hillmon, 30, said it was a mistake and unprofessional to get romantically involved with Anderson but believes the children are better off because of it.

The children were removed from Kidd again in May 2005 after the youngest boy, then 4, was seen hanging over a porch railing unsupervised.

Anderson was given legal custody in June 2005, just days after divorcing Kidd. Hillmon and Anderson married seven weeks later. Hillmon said their relationship did not start until weeks before they married.

Hillmon continued on the case and filed an affidavit with the court in August 2005 saying she had visited the family at Anderson's residence and found "the home and living situation appropriate." She did not mention she had married Anderson. http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/0107socialworker-ON.html

[Middlesex County Court Charged with Corruption: Who Altered Court Hearing Tapes and Other Records?] December 2000 -- Massachusetts News, by Ed Oliver

A father has been separated from his son because "insiders" in the Middlesex County Probate and Family Court in Cambridge are friends and associates of his ex-wife's new husband, a father has charged.

There has also been deliberate manipulation of court files and hearing tapes, his attorney says. This and other irregularities have kept the father from his son for six years without any evidentiary hearing ever having taken place. As a result, the boy has developed serious problems and was eventually turned over to DSS by the mother and her new husband.

"There is ample evidence that insiders in the Middlesex Probate and Family Court have removed documents from his case file, falsified the case docket, refused to docket motions and hearings in the public record, and withheld the public file for nine months," Attorney Gregory Hession told Massachusetts News. He says someone has even edited several hearing tapes. "All these things are illegal and mock justice. If a court can engage in this kind of behavior and get away with it, can anyone with a case in the Commonwealth believe he will get fair and impartial justice?"

Judge McGovern said in a ruling this August that some of the tapes have been destroyed even though the law forbids their destruction if any matter is pending or subject to appeal. Some of the tapes which were destroyed were those which were the most altered. http://www.massnews.com/past_issues/2000/12_Dec/1200middlesex1.htm

[Agency accused of Abusing Authority: Ombudsman rips Children Services over Custody Battle] Friday, January 12, 2007; Cincinnati.com - The Enquirer by Eileen Kelley and Sheila McLaughlin

High-ranking officials with the Butler County Children Services Board misused their power and curried favors across county lines when they threw themselves into the fray between Joetta Street and her ex-husband, Vince Richardson, the independent ombudsman for the board said.

Street's 9-year-old daughter was removed from her mother's home in March after Michelle Money, an administrator with Butler County Children Services, who is the girl's stepmother, accused Street of emotionally abusing the child. That allegation came on the heels of a police report Street filed that accused Money of beating the child with a belt.

Now, Street faces six months in jail after New Miami police accused her of making a false police report. Street stands by the abuse allegations and feels they were ignored. Money's emotional-abuse claims were backed up by Heffner and other top ranking administrators who threw the agency into the domestic relations case so the child would be taken away from Street, said Bill Morrison, the Ombudsman.

The girl is living with Richardson and Money while a Warren County judge sorts through the custody mess. Although Warren County child protection caseworks found Money's claim unfounded, Street is unable to see the girl unless she pays a therapist $110 to supervise the hourly visits each week according to a judge's order. "I never would have dreamed how corrupt the system was until I had to go through it myself," Street said. "This has devastated me." http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070112/NEWS01/701120356

[A State Agency with The Power to 'Kidnap With Impunity'] Tuesday, July 31, 2001 - Fox News, by Wendy McElroy

For Heidi and Neil Howard, giving birth to a terminally ill baby seemed punishment enough. But that was before the Massachusetts Department of Social Services stepped into their lives. The department came knocking at the door to their home in the form of a "home visitor" sent by the hospital when the Howards' first baby girl was born with terminal health problems. According to the Massachusetts News, the "home visitor" was a social worker who found the home in disorder. The kitchen was in the process of being remodeled. Over Heidi's objections and without identifying the true purpose of the call, the "home visitor" opened closets and quizzed her about her marriage. Then, she filed a report about the messy home and "stress" in the family -- stress undoubtedly caused by having a dying child.

Their situation was complicated by a restraining order that Heidi says she was blackmailed into filing: the DSS allegedly threatened to remove their two boys, 10-year-old Christopher and five-year-old Ethan, if Heidi did not register a complaint against her husband even though she insisted no abuse had occurred. With a restraining order on file, the DSS seized the boys in November 1999. In February 2001, another daughter, Jessica, was seized from her nursing mother on the grounds that the other children were already in DSS custody. No court hearing has been held on the two boys.

Chester Darling, an attorney for the Howards, has called the DSS "an agency ... that can kidnap children almost with impunity." The money from incentives, grants, and contracts goes directly into the coffers of child protection agencies when they adopt-out children. Who benefits? "Social workers, diagnosticians, attorneys, foster homes and group homes, to name a few," says Susan Jackson of CPS Watch, a watchdog organization that monitors Child Protective Services. "These folks are fed by a child abuse industry to the tune of well over $12 billion."

Collectively, they form the Child Abuse Industry.

In 1998 [One year after the introduction of the American Safe Families Act or ASFA], according to a federal Department of Health and Human Services report, Kansas removed 1,872 children from their homes. But only 1,104 of the investigations substantiated the charges of abuse. The report states that 272 children were removed from families for reasons "unknown" in Ohio the same year.

The DSS wanted to put baby Jessica up for adoption, but on July 16th, Judge Robert Belmonte of the Framingham Juvenile Court ordered the baby returned to her parents. At last report, the DSS maintains that the two boys should be adopted out but seems willing to let an aunt and uncle become the adoptive parents. That way, at least, the DSS would still receive its "adoption incentive payment." http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,30915,00.html

[Social Worker Goes To Court] by Angie Moreschi/Eyewitness News Indianapolis, Jan. 16

Children's Services caseworker Denise Moore had no comment as she left court after her initial appearance.

Moore is accused of official misconduct and falsifying information in an adoption proceeding. An Eyewitness News investigation in November showed Moore failed to do a proper criminal history check before placing four-year-old Anthony Bars and his twin sister in the home of L.B. and Latricia Bars, but indicated on official court documents that she did.

L.B. Bars had a battery conviction on his own daughter and a history of abuse in CPS records. Anthony and his sister were beaten and severely malnourished and Anthony died.

Indianapolis Police did get a request for a background check on the Bars after the kids were already placed in the home. But even after getting the results of that, the children were left in the home. The state never even disciplined Moore for her actions. Officials have repeatedly refused to explain that, citing state confidentiality laws. http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=1603756

[Social Worker Fired for Leaving Child in Locked Van] 9/1/2006 -- Associated Press

WENTWORTH, N.C. -- A Rockingham County social services worker has been charged with child abuse and fired from her job after a child in her care was found locked in an unattended vehicle. Betty Vaughn, 60, of Reidsville, left a 12-week-old infant in a locked van Friday in a parking lot with the windows up and the engine off, according to her arrest warrant. Temperatures that day were more than 90 degrees. The infant, whose name and gender were not released, had been taken from its home and held in protective custody because the child had a broken arm, according to Rockingham County Sheriff's Office. http://rdu.news14.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=90162

[Child Haven Vows Name Count After Girl was Left in Van] Aug. 03, 2006 -- Las Vegas Review-Journal, by Lawrence Mower

Child Haven will be revising its policies after a 4-year-old girl was left in a van for 40 minutes last week.

The 4-year-old girl, whose name was not released, was left in the Child Haven van after a mix-up regarding how many children were in the vehicle when it returned to the home.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Aug-03-Thu-2006/news/8855342.html

[Social Worker Charged with Billing Fraud] December 14, 2005 Fayetteville, N.Y.

A licensed clinical social worker from Fayetteville has turned in her license after being charged by the state with professional misconduct for submitting bogus insurance claims. Madge Eileen Flynn, of 5294 Burke Road, pleaded guilty last year in Oneida County Court to fourth-degree insurance fraud, a felony.

Flynn, who provided mental health services in Clinton, was accused of billing Excellus BlueCross BlueShield for visits that never took place. Flynn paid more than $40,000 in restitution to Excellus and was sentenced to three years of conditional discharge and 50 hours of community service. She was charged with insurance fraud after a joint investigation by Excellus, the state Insurance Department and the Oneida County District Attorney's Office showed Flynn billed for bogus appointments in 2000 and 2001. http://www.insurancefraud.org/newsarchives/news_december2005.htm

[Child removed from home in 'sad' twist of fate] -- Robert Matas, Globe and Mail

The little girl was eight years old. She told a social worker and police officer in Saskatchewan that her foster parents had involved her in cannibalism, gruesome satanic rites and sexual orgies. Almost everyone she knew -- 16 family members and friends -- was charged in 1991 in what police called the province's scandal of the century.

After her parents and one of their friends were convicted, she told a social worker she made up the stories. But her denials were dismissed.

Now she is a mother in her mid-twenties. And, in a twist of fate, a British Columbia court decided recently she was unfit to take care of her own three-year-old child. "This is a sad case," Judge R.R. Smith of the Provincial Court of British Columbia stated in a ruing that cleared the way for her child to be adopted.

The mother "seems to live a life that goes from one crisis to the next," Judge Smith said. She has slow impulse control and poor anger-management skils. She is in denial about her drinking problem and associates with people involved in the drug culture. "Even though this child has no special needs, the mother repeatedly demonstrated that she is unable to live a life that could focus on the best interests of the child. This is probably because the mother's own needs are so strong that they will usually take priority over the needs of the child," he wrote.

She feels she is "getting picked on" for what happened earlier in her life and authorities are not looking at what she is doing now.

Saskatoon lawyer Robert Borden, who represented families who successfully sued for malicious prosecution, said yesterday the mother's problems in B.C. relate back to how she was treated in Saskatchewan when she was a little girl.

"She was not looked after," he said. She told a social worker in the early 1990's that she made up the stories, and the social worker did nothing, Mr. Borden said. She also told the social worker that she was being sexually assaulted by a sibling, and the social worker left her with the sibling for four years, he said. " ... And now she has lost her child."

I have to ask how different Kathy's life might have been if the amount of money the Saskatchewan government has spent keeping her away from her family had instead been spent on her, how different her life might be. Her twin sister ... also informed Dueck that their older brother Michael was raping them -- right on one of the 1990 disclosure tapes. Michell has also had her children apprehended in B.C. To read additional details, please visit the links below: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheila_steele/1718133/ (or)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/content/subscribe?user_URL=http://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2FArticleNews%2FTPStory%2FLAC%2F20051026%2FBCCHILD26%2FTPNational%2FCanada&ord=1171443970032&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true

Although these chidren were in Canada their tragic stories, while under the "protection" of the government, must be told.

Office of The Attorney General - Peter C. Harvey, Attorney General -- November 16, 2005

NEWARK -- A social worker who has been charged with criminal sexual contact and child endangerment by local authorities today agreed to voluntarily surrender his license and cease practice, Attorney General Peter C. Harvey and Consumer Affairs Director Kimberly Ricketts announced.

The New Jersey Board of Social Work Examiners was scheduled to hold a hearing this morning on the temporary suspension of Richard J. Mieliwocki's license to practice social work. The hearing was scheduled after Mieliwocki, a resident of Madison, was criminally charged with three counts of endangering the welfare of a child and three counts of criminal sexual contact. "The criminal allegations raise serious issues about the safety of clients," Attorney General Harvey said. "We cannot allow this social worker to remain in practice while these allegations are pending." http://www.state.nj.us/lps/newsreleases05/pr20051116c.html

[Child Protection Social Worker Arrested for DUI]

Nicole Lorraine Dewar, 38, worked for the Rock County Family Service Agency in Luverne as a child protection social worker.

She worked as a child protection social worker, but a former Rock County, Minnesota, employee faces 2 years in jail for allegedly driving drunk with her own children in the car. Police say her blood alcohol level was more than four times the legal limit. The county's car was impounded, and Dewar was jailed in St. Paul. She has since been released, and the county's vehicle has been returned to Luverne. As for her children, the St. Paul City Attorney's Office couldn't release any information on their condition or whereabouts. http://www.ksfy.com/Stories/Story.cfm?SID=7593

[DCF Worker Arrested for DUI: Police Find Child in Back Seat] Updated July 26, 2002 -- NBC 6 News Team

MIAMI -- A Department of Children and Families caseworker [56-year-old Mirla Pronga] is under arrest, charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. But police say what she had in the back seat of her car is an even bigger outrage.

Officers said Pronga was asleep with the engine of her car still running. When they looked into the car, they allegedly found a crying 7-month-old baby girl in the back seat.

Investigators said Pronga had taken custody of the baby from the foster parents in order to supervise a short visit with a biological parent.
http://www.nbc10.com/News/1579738/detail.html

[Social Worker Arrested after Party with Teens] 10/18/2005 by Candace Taylor, Register Staff

GUILFORD -- A local social worker [49-year-old Margaret Pohe Rose] has been arrested on charges she held a drinking party for a group of underage teens and was found to be in possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. An online advertisement for Rose's Boston Post Road practice states that she serves adolescents, adults, families and couples, and that she specializes in supporting people suffering from addictions. http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15404729&BRD=1281&
amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;
amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;
amp;amp;amp;amp;PAG=461&dept_id=517515&rfi=6

[Social Worker Arrested, Accused of Possessing Child Porn]

Social worker Elizabeth McClain, of Apache Junction, has been arrested and jailed, accused of having approximately 700 images of child pornography. http://www.kpho.com/news/10201438/detail.html

[Second Child Welfare Caseworker Accused of Falsifying Documents] -- December 1, 2006

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- A second child welfare caseworker bonded out of the Orange County jail on Friday afternoon. Department of Children and Families administrators said Luanne Brunson falsified documents saying she'd made home visits on at-risk kids when she really did not [Christopher McDonald was also charged less than 24 hours earlier].
http://www.wftv.com/news/10443482/detail.html

[Computer Sex Sting Snares State Social Worker] July 17, 2003 -- Burlington Vermont

Ralph Culver, 52, Burlington, was arrested Wednesday afternoon after police say he attempted to meet what he believed was a 14-year-old girl, according to court records.

Culver used his home computer and the state-owned computer in his Burlington office to send explicit sexual descriptions and requests about what he hoped the "girl" would do with him, according to police.
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=1365190&nav=4QcRGxlr

[Baby Stolen! ... Children & Youth Steal a Chidl] December 1, 2006 -- 5thEstate.com

Lancaster County Children & Youth Agency along with one of their agents, Gary Sanderson are being sued in federal court for violating the civil rights of a Warwick Township resident and her baby. Sanderson, accompanied by two police officers, took Patricia Shope's one year old daughter under specious reasons and threatened that, "the clock is ticking" and that the mom could lose her baby through adoption!

Why? Sanderson said she was on drug! When she voluntarily submitted to drug testing and proved she wasn't on drugs, Sanderson and company then accused her of Munchaussen Syndrome by proxy. (that is where often a mother makes their child ill to get attention) Sanderson, who has no training to make such a diagnosis was undaunted by the facts! Moreover, Children and Youth Agency lied, distorted and exaggerated in their petition presented to Judge Jim Cullen in order to take the child ...
http://5thestate.com/061201b.htm

[Social Worker Pleads Guilty to Buying Cocaine from Client] April 9, 2003; By Jacob Goldstein, Chronicle Staff Writer

A former social worker admitted Wednesday that she bought cocaine from one of her clients. Rita Watson Bennet, 49, pleaded guilty to possession of dangerous drugs and official misconduct. The Bozeman woman gave curt answers to the questions put to her by District Court Judge Nels Swaqndal at a change ... bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2003/04/09/news/drugsbzbigs.txt

[Committee on Ways & Means: Statement of Jody Wardell, Enon, Ohio]

At my own expense I have been working to expose fraud, waste, and abuse within the Montana DPHHS Child and Family Service Division (CFSD) for 3 years. I wrote and produced my own newsletter to keep Montana legislators informed and continue to work out of Ohio to help keep information circulating. I also took more than 10 telephone calls during a 2 and a half hour talk radio show in Kalispell, Montana dealing with issues of abusive social work power.

Current social work abuse and neglect in Montana is undermining family as the fundamental unit of society, not only in terms of the trauma caused to the maltreated parents and children through false allegations, but also in gross abuse of taxpayer dollars. The cost economically includes 1) the funds spent on child welfare services based upon false allegations and 2) the increasingly large sums of money dedicated to addressing issues based upon "precautionary principles" of "possible" consequences of abuse and neglect which in reality, simply do not exist.

Critics of the Montana DPPHS CFSD have begun to turn public attention toward what appears to be a DPPHS systemic problem. A cultural problem that apparently has been ignored by Montana DPHHS bureaucrats for years: Social workers can and do lie due to personal issues of dysfunction which cause maladjusted perceptions of abuse, compassion, fatigue and burnout.
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=view&id=1355

[Infant Dies In Family Under D.C. Supervision] Friday, January 19, 2001; Page B01 -- By Scott Higham and Sari Horwitz

Child and Family Services has been operating under a court-appointed receiver since 1995, when a federal judge found that the agency was failing to comply with court orders and violating the constitutional rights of neglected and abused children.

The agency is being transferred back to District government control.

The agency also said in its statement that police were investigating unrelated allegations of misconduct on the part of an employee. The agency did not release any details concerning the allegations, but child welfare sources said the employee allegedly was having sex with at least one foster child under his supervision.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A15580-2001Jan18

[Social Worker Pleads Guilty to Medicaid, Insurance Fraud] May 21, 2003 - Maryland Attorney General, Douglas F. Gansler

Comparison of individual insurance company billing records with Andreadis' office records revealed many instances where the defendant billed private insurers for therapy sessions that either never took place or were conducted by unlicensed and untrained individuals. Interviews with numerous former and present patients corroborated this documented analysis.

The defendant employed a number of individuals whom she assigned to perform hands-on face to face social work services. These individuals were not licensed nor did they possess any qualifications to perform psychotherapy or social work services. Several of these employees were in fact former patients of Andreadis. These employees saw patients and made notations in their medical charts. On some occasions, diagnoses were even rendered by these employees and on numerous occasions, these employees saw patients when the defendant was not present at the office, yet the defendant billed for these sessions.
http://www.oag.state.md.us/Press/2003/052103.htm

[Caseworker Faked Visit to Slain Child] July 13, 2002 -- St. Petersburg Times, Curtis Krueger

A state child-welfare investigator was fired and criminally charged Friday with falsely claiming she had visited the 2-year-old boy whose body was found beside I-275 this week.

The investigator, Erica Jones, reported that she visited the child on the same day police say he was killed.

Kearney, who spent three days in Polk County working with police on the case, said she was "very concerned about the fact that we have an investigator who has falsified records . . . . The reality is there was no contact with Alfredo, Rheyna and the mother."
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/07/13/State/Caseworker_faked_visi.shtml

[Rilya's Caseworker Charged, Jailed] October 18, 2002 - Associated Press

Deborah Muskelly turned herself in to state law enforcement agents and was charged with 21 counts of official misconduct, 11 counts of grand theft and nine counts of petty theft.

Muskelly is charged with working as a substitute and adult education teacher at the same time she claimed she was working for the Department of Children and Families, said Ed Griffith, spokesman for Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office. The fraudulent time cards were filed from January 2000 to February 2002, investigators said.
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/10/18/State/Rilya_s_caseworker_ch.shtml (&)
http://www.wesh.com/news/1726710/detail.html

[Caseworker Charged with Molesting Third Boy] November 3, 2005

NOBLESVILLE, Ind. -- A Hamilton County child protective services worker who already faced sex-related charges involving two boys has been charged with molesting a third.

Cory Heinzman, of Arcadia, was charged this week with molesting an 11-year-old boy on three occasions in 2002.

Heinzman was arrested in May on charges that he molested an autistic teenage boy who had been part of his caseload. Authorities said molestation in that case allegedly happened between August 2004 and March.

In June, he was charged with having sexual contact with a second boy late last year. That boy made the allegations after the first investigation started.
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/5246180/detail.html

[Mother charged after baby’s death: CPS caseworker fired; third Madison County child in three years to die under CPS care] -- The Herald Bulletin

The worker, whose name was not available at press time, was fired and her supervisor demoted, according to Cummings.

Cummings said criminal charges against the caseworker are possible. In January 2003, Cummings filed criminal charges against Mike Warrum, the caseworker assigned to protect 8-year-old wheelchair-bound Mark Norris, who died of pneumonia and malnutrition. http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/local/local_story_165230609.html?start:int=15
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/archives/04/11/08/110804innorris.htm
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/3901609/detail.html

[Ex-caseworker accused of rape] December 7, 2005 - The Billings Gazette

Allan Lee Morrison, 46, was arrested last week on felony charges of rape and promoting prostitution.

Court records say the 12-year-old reported having sex with Morrison on multiple occasions between February and September 2002. Morrison later reinitiated contact after he was no longer the boy's caseworker, court documents say.

Morrison also allegedly paid a local teenager $50 to $100 to have sex with him on 15 to 20 occasions. The teenager, who was not a client, said that in a few instances, Morrison used alcohol and other drugs to entice him, court records say.
http://www.billingsgazette.com/newdex.php?display=rednews/2005/12/07/build/state/98-caseworker-rape.inc

[Caseworker Went Out of His Way]

A Jackson County caseworker accused of sexually abusing his developmentally delayed clients went out of his way to nurture intense friendships with young men in his care, colleagues said.

Until he was arrested Wednesday, those who worked with and depended upon Robert Jackson believed that was a good thing. In hindsight, former associates are flinching at recollections of the 62-year-old Talent man's zeal.

Jackson was arraigned on 11 felony sex charges Thursday in Jackson County Circuit Court.

Jackson, a former state-certified foster parent and Prospect School Board member, passed criminal background checks. http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2000/august/080400n2.htm

[Caseworker Charged with Selling Crack Cocaine] Wednesday, June 4, 2003 -- Pittsburgh Tribune Review by Daniel Reynolds

Police arrested an Allegheny County Children, Youth and Families caseworker [27-year-old Amy Eskievich] from Swissvale on Tuesday and charged her with selling crack cocaine to undercover officers.

" ... Eskievich worked in the Family to Family division of CYF and served as a liaison between foster families and biological families to help the biological parents develop better parenting skills.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_137931.html

[Report Cites CPS Errors, Caseworker Load in Deaths] Wednesday, April 13, 2005 by Jonathan Martin Seattle Times Staff Reporter

At the time of their death by starvation and dehydration last November, Justice and Raiden Robinson had fallen off Child Protective Services' (CPS) radar despite their mother being accused of child neglect at least six times.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002239932_starved13m.html

[More Charges In Starved Kids Case] Oct. 27, 2003

COLLINGSWOOD, N.J. -- (AP) State officials were investigating whether a caseworker ignored evidence that four malnourished boys were being starved by their adoptive parents to determine if criminal charges should be filed, the governor said Monday.

"It's inconceivable how a case worker could go there and not detect these atrocious conditions," Gov. James E. McGreevey said during an appearance in Jamesburg.

The boy's adoptive parents, Vanessa Jackson, 48, and Raymond Jackson, 50, of Collingswood were arrested Friday and were being held on four counts of aggravated assault and 14 counts of child endangerment. The oldest of the boys, 19-year-old Bruce Jackson, was just 4 feet tall and weighed just 45 pounds when he was found earlier this month.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/28/national/main580372.shtml

[Caseworker Held on Gun Charges] July 29, 2005 -- Pittsburgh Tribune-Review by Jill King Greenwood

Federal agents have charged a caseworker [Theresa Marie Bishop] with the Allegheny County Office of Children, Youth and Families with buying four guns -- one a high-powered assault rifle -- for a convicted felon.

Bishop bought a .45-caliber Ruger handgun, a high-powered rifle and two 9-millimeter pistols and gave the weapons to her boyfriend, Glenn Edwards, according to a criminal complaint. She purchased the guns on two different days in June and one day this month, the complaint states.

Bishop began working for CYF as a caseworker trainee on Oct. 18 and was promoted to a second-level caseworker April 18. She worked in the intake division, investigating abuse cases.

The promotion indicates that Bishop "apparently" had been a good worker, Lubawy said.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_358251.html

[Martin Co. Caseworker Sentenced as a Sex Offender] October 13th, 2006 by WBIW News

(SHOALS) - A former child caseworker from Martin County has been sentenced to six years in prison following his guilty plea to charges of distributing sexually explicit material involving minors.

Fifty-six-year old Michael Pridemore of Loogootee will also be registered as a sex offender. Following his release from prison, Pridemore will serve a supervised release for life, which includes ongoing participation in a sex offender treatment program. He'll also not be allowed to have contact with minors.
http://www.wbiw.com/news/local/archives/2006/10/martin_co_caseworker_sentenced.php

[Panel: DCYF Failed Child Who Died After Beating from Foster Parents] 11/01/2005 -- Jo C. Goode, Journal Register News

PROVIDENCE -- One year ago on Oct. 31, 3-year-old Thomas "T.J." Wright died at 1:50 p.m. from a beating the Woonsocket toddler allegedly suffered at the hands of his foster parents while under the care of the state Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF).

Specifically, the panel said, the child protection agency missed at least five separate opportunities to identify the foster parents as inappropriate caregivers while in the process of certifying the unemployed couple.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15489596&BRD=1713&amp
;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;PAG=461&dept_id=24491&rfi=6

[State team takes over DCS in Wilson] By Ian Demsky Staff Writer

The state is putting a new team in charge of the Wilson County Department of Children's Services office, a development that comes after a worker there and a former DCS worker were arrested trying to gain access to a hospital maternity ward.

Christopher Lott, a DCS caseworker in Wilson County, was arrested Friday by the Smyrna Police Department along with former DCS worker Erica Barham.

The duo claimed to be on official department business but were stopped by security in the waiting room of the maternity area of the StoneCrest Medical Center in Smyrna, hospital spokeswoman Jessica Florida said.

DCS had been under scrutiny since October when a report from a child-welfare oversight committee found that from April to December 2003, caseworkers failed to perform adequate visits, too many children had multiple home placements, and oversight was improper for children on psychotropic drugs.
http://www.tennessean.com/government/archives/05/01/64269716.shtml?Element_ID=64269716

[DCF Worker Arrested When Police Search Murder Suspect's Apartment] Oct. 7, 2004

(Waterbury-AP ...) A state social worker was arrested yesterday when police searched the apartment she shares with her boyfriend who is wanted on a murder charge.

Authorities say they found 13 bags of crack cocaine, a 25-caliber handgun and Tenisha Rogers, a social worker with the Department of Children and Families.
http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=2398745

[Sitter Says She Reported Abuse Before Baby Died] December 15, 2006 by Randy Ludlow and Dana Wilson - The Columbus
Dispatch

DELAWARE, Ohio -- A baby sitter alarmed by bruises on 11-month-old Nicholas Goodrich said she called children services officials on Nov. 20 to report that she suspected abuse.

A baby sitter said she was concerned for Nicholas' well-being and called children services in Franklin and Delaware counties three weeks before he died.

The agency reviewed the report but did not investigate, spokeswoman Kay Marshall said. Agency Director John Saros has requested an administrative inquiry into how the matter was handled, Marshall said.
http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/12/15/20061215-D1-01.html
http://www.cleveland.com/ohio/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/
116747210282830.xml&coll=2

[City Hit with Suit in HRA Molest Rap] April 19, 2006

A Brooklyn boy allegedly molested by a city caseworker in a Human Resources Administration bathroom is suing the city - charging officials knew the caseworker had a history of sexually abusing children.

The lawsuit claims Serafin Colon, 55, "was engaging in a pattern of inappropriate conduct with children and other [HRA] visitors, including sexual abuse and touching."
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file/story/410018p-346965c.html

[Probation Officer Charged in Molestation] December 06, 2006 by Don Lehman

GLENS FALLS -- A Warren County probation officer and local youth minister, who formerly worked as a child protective services caseworker, was arrested Tuesday on charges he had improper sexual contact with two underage boys.

Bradford T. Overton, 30, of 10 Nelson St., Apt. 4, Glens Falls, faces four misdemeanor charges -- two counts each of forcible touching and endangering the welfare of a child -- for allegedly having sexual contact with 15- and 16-year-old boys at his home over the summer, police said.

Overton has worked as a probation officer, handling a caseload of juvenile offenders for the past six months. Before that, he was a Child Protective Services caseworker for the Warren County Department of Social Services, police said.
http://www.poststar.com/articles/2006/12/06/news/doc457642baa2bd5971983461.txt

[Social Worker Boozed Minors] February 21, 2007 by Kenneth Hart - The Independent

LOUISA -- A Lawrence County social worker was arrested last week for allegedly serving alcohol to teenage girls at a party.

Ruth J. Horn, 32, of Louisa, was charged with four counts of third-degree unlawful transaction with a minor, a Class A misdemeanor. Each count carries a jail sentence of up to one year.

The charges stem from a party Horn hosted at her residence on Jan. 27, Kentucky State Police at Ashland said. Four girls, ranging in age from 15 to 18, allegedly were given alcoholic beverages by Horn during the party, according to the KSP.

The five-year veteran of the Division of Protection and Permanency resigned her position this week, the KSP said.
http://www.dailyindependent.com/local/local_story_052233849.html

[Social Workers Ignore Child's Abuse Before 2003 Murder, Panel Rules] December 23, 2004 -- Seattle Post-Intelligencer Reporter

In the two months before 2-year-old Emerald Champagne Loop was murdered in 2003, social workers [Bjerkness and Campbell] in the Bellingham office of the state Department of Social and Health Services received five different reports of missing teeth and deep, unexplained bruises on the toddler's pale body.

But Emmie's Child Protective Services social worker and the social worker's boss never acted to take Emmie and her older sister out of harm's way.

Both Bjerkness and Campbell have since been reassigned to DSHS positions in which they do not provide direct services to children and famiies, she said. Neither could be reached for comment.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/204981_emmie23.html

[Richmond Mom Charged in Son's Death] Nov. 01, 2006 by Bruce Gerstman - Contra Costa Times

Contra Costa Child Protective Services was aware of three previous reports concerning the child's well-being last year. Social workers in each case found the reports were unworthy of further investigation. http://www.philly.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/15904655.htm

[KSL News Investigates Problems with D.C.F.S] Feb. 19, 2004

"They have absolutely no personal accountability at all, if they do something wrong or a child dies. Well, then changes are simply made to the records usually by administration so that DCFS doesn't get in trouble when the case is reviewed."
http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?nid=39&sid=76339

[Lifting the Veil: Falsification of Records]

In southwest Florida, a supervisor of child-abuse investigators instructed several caseworkers to falsify reports to improve his unit's performance numbers, according to a 1991 Health and Rehabilitative Services Inspector General report.
http://www.liftingtheveil.org/falsification.htm

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Whose Protecting Children from the Protectors

A Washington Post writer, Steve Vogel, issued a report about a 16-year-old boy living in a group home for neglected youths. While under the "protection" of the state the child was allegedly raped by three women, a "substitute teacher and two counselors at the group home." It's not clear if the 'protectors' were acting separately or if they regularly engaged in one big menage a'tois. Mr. Vogel chose to use the term "sexually abused," but I prefer to call it exactly what it is ... rape! The last time I checked, having sex with an underage child is statutory rape ... which is rape, even if the minor gave his consent. Nevertheless, the workers were charged with "sexual abuse of a minor," after police received a tip from a fellow teacher.

According to Vogel's report, the 32-year-old teacher spent alone time with the child in her home where she "had sex with him." Once police began investigating the allegations, they would also discover that the 32-year-old teacher wasn't the only one smitten by the boy. They would later also charge both 38 and 24 year old counselors at the group home with the same crime. I wonder if they knew the others were also involved sexually with the boy or if they were all unaware of the others indiscretions -- my gut tells me they all knew. I am also willing to bet the teen took pride in his sexual conquests which may have contributed to their cover being blown. I can just see the teen walking through the group home bragging to his buddies that he has had this one, and that one, and that one over there too!! Or, who knows, maybe he wanted to see just how many of the "professionals" he could sleep with before either aging out of the system or being returned to his parents.

The website for M.S. Youth Services Group Home, where the three employees worked, claims to provide "a safe, home environment, for abused and neglected boys in need of alternative living." Now THATS what I call alternative living!! Take children from their homes under the guise of protecting them, and throw them into foster or group homes where they are often beaten, molested, raped, and sometimes killed. How long will our government continue to turn a blind eye to the atrocious crimes being committed against children and innocent parents? And most importantly, how long will our government continue to fund this criminal organization?
While our government continues to ignore these crimes, many are left to wonder whose protecting children from the protectors?

TMajor

This report was based on details from Steve Vogel's article in the Washington Post: 3 Women Charged With Sexually Abusing Teen (Thursday, February 1, 2007; Page B05). To read Steve's article visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/31/AR2007013102147.html

If you believe that foster care should be reserved for children that are orphaned, or have TRULY been abandoned by their parents and ALL extended family members; If you believe that children in foster care should actually be victims of abuse and/or neglect, once proven by a judge and jury NOT a social worker with a God complex; If you believe in the Constitution and civil rights for all, no matter what their economic, social, or cultural group may be – Please sign the petitions referenced at www.squidoo.com/abolishcps/ (scroll down to Get Involved!!!). Thank you in advance for your participation!

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Domestic Violence vs. Physical Violence

Stacey and Claudia Hill lost their newborn daughter Selena shortly after her birth. Why was little Selena ripped from the loving arms of her mother just days after entering this world? Were drugs detected in the newborns system, indicating drug abuse by her mother? Or perhaps one or both parents had a history of abusing other children in their care?

Based on published reports, little Selena was taken from her parents because of "concerns that her parents ... had physically abused each other and didn't seem capable of caring for the baby." It was also reported that the couple had "two older children in foster care." If in fact they had other children in state custody, this would explain little Selenas' abduction. Once child protective services (CPS), for whatever reason, take possession of one child they will without a doubt seize any additional children you have or will have. This, I feel, is a method used by the agency to "punish" parents that have taken a stand and refuse to jump through their ridiculous hoops because their Constitutional and civil rights were violated while being denied due process. CPS is the best example of Big Brother gone mad!!!

Well, once little Selena was "protected" from her own parents based on implied domestic violence in their home, she was placed in a foster home free from "abuse" and "neglect" ... right? If not, what justifiable reason would the state have to rip a newborn child from the loving, safe, nurturing arms of its parents? Please research the American Safe Families Act (ASFA), signed into law in 1997 by then President Bill Clinton.

Selena Hill's parents were "replaced" with foster parents Scott and Deborah Brown; And her natural siblings, also being held in foster incarceration, were replaced with the Brown's two children. Here's what I found to be extremely interesting with this story ... after Selena was removed from her home because her parents "abused each other ...," she was placed in a home in which police had investigated "reports of violence ..." "three times this year before" Selena was "placed there ..." It was also reported, by neighbors of the Browns' that "they knew about the police visits ... and said Deborah Brown told them her husband had physically and verbally abused her." So, just to put things into perspective ... little Selena was taken from one home with 'domestic violence' and placed in another home with domestic violence.

According to the news article, potential foster care providers are prescreened for felony convictions but not misdemeanors. And the agency is not required to check police records to see if they were ever "dispatched to a home for domestic disturbances." So if the police are called to a home every weekend because the husband drinks too much and likes to slap his wife and kids around, this home could potentially pass the agency's pre-screening process ... assuming charges were never filed. Now compare just how thorough an investigation is conducted on biological parents once their children have been stolen.

Once children are removed from their biological parents, social workers will talk to their neighbors, co-workers, estranged family members, and anyone that may have spent five-minutes in their presence, or that will listen to them, in an attempt to determine your "character." It really makes you wonder why the same effort isn't exerted before placing our children in the homes of strangers. Is it because the child "protection" agency is more concerned with generating federal funding than the safety of the very children they claim to protect? Perhaps if half the effort to "build a case" against Selena's parents was used to investigate the Browns, Selena would not have been thrown into a violent home where she was allegedly beaten. Naturally, the authorities responsible for her protection "will not comment on wether they knew of the reports of domestic violence."

"On Sept. 21, 7-week-old Selena was rushed to Children's Hospital in Oakland with a fractured skull and other injuries that almost killed her." Yes folks, at only 7 weeks of age, little Selena had a fractured skull and almost lost her life!!

Based on published reports, Scott Brown, the foster "father" quite naturally "pleaded not guilty" and was released on bail. It was also reported that "Deborah Brown left the child with him while she attended a class even though he was not licensed as a foster parent. Police say he said Selena received a burn when he pulled her across a carpet so he could change her diaper. He also reportedly said his 4-year-old son dropped the infant from a height of less than a foot." Please lets not forget that Selena was only 7-weeks-old while being "pulled" across the carpet for a diaper change and while being handled by the couples 4-year-old.

For additional disturbing details please click on the title, Domestic Violence vs. Physical Violence, above to be redirected to Susan Ferriss' article or visit: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/examiner/archive/1995/11/20/NEWS2888.dtl

There is sooooooo much more to read that will shock you and leave you with more questions than answers, for example:

1) "Deborah Brown reported that during an argument Scott hit her in the face several times ... " a claim that Scott would deny although accepting responsibility for "hitting" and pushing her and slapping her "lightly across the face."

2) Neighbors ... "were critical of the decision to license the Brown residence as a foster home" and stated "I honestly don't see how that house could have passed inspection. I was really surprised (authorities) didn't know more about what was going on." The comments obviously supported by local police who commented that visits to the Brown's home "are a matter of public record."

3) "The city Department of Social Services said its employees appear not to have violated any rules in their care of Selena. A county social worker was supposed to visit Selena at least once a month, although not necessarily inside the brown home." Isn't this typical CPS jargon ... 'we are unable to comment' ... 'we have not violated any rules' ... 'its unfortunate that the child was beaten or killed,' or we "cannot discuss details of the case because of confidentiality policies," blah, blah, blah.

4) "Anything more extensive, such as a review of local police records or interviews with neighbors, is not mandated." You'd better believe its not mandated because if they review police records or interview neighbors, their qualified foster caregiver pool would be cut in half ... they know it and so do we. They refuse to look because they do not want to see. They refuse to ask because they do not want to hear. They do not inquire because they do not want the truth revealed ... they are much more comfortable simply rolling the dice and gambling with little lives because this generates money from Uncle Sam!!

5) "Catholic Charities, one of 10 agencies under contract ... to certify foster homes, also declined to discuss most details and refused to say whether its social worker had ever met Scott Brown ..." A spokesman for Catholic Charities commented "We have complied with all the requirements. We went beyond the requirements ... We are looking at what we can do to do better."

6) "I think it would be possible to write guidelines where you wouldn't deny a license based on phone calls to police, but where the licensing agency would do more to check out the family ... The guidelines could strike a balance between civil liberties and the protection of children." For all parents that have lost their children, this is an amazingly odd comment when you consider the fact that civil liberties nor Constitutional rights are issues for the agency before making the decision to remove children from their biological families. And children are removed from their homes based on anonymous phone calls to those in authority.

If you believe that foster care should be reserved for children that are orphaned, or have TRULY been abandoned by their parents and ALL extended family members; If you believe that children in foster care should actually be victims of abuse and/or neglect, once proven by a judge and jury NOT a social worker with a God complex; If you believe in the Constitution and civil rights for all, no matter what their economic, social, or cultural group may be – Please sign the petitions referenced at www.squidoo.com/abolishcps/ (scroll down to Get Involved!!!). Thank you in advance for your participation!

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Tigers Den or Foster Home - You Be the Judge

Many of you will remember the story of a New Yorker caught with a 400-pound Siberian tiger living in his apartment. Actually, it was not until the man was "severely bitten on the leg by the tiger" and forced to seek medical treatment that his little secret was revealed. But here's what many of you may not have known ... after this story aired, child welfare authorities also became involved. However, their involvement was very 'hush hush' and you may not have heard anything on the news or read anything in the newspaper. If you, like many Americans, were left in the dark and are now wondering why child welfare was involved in what appears to have been a case of 'some nut' attempting to domesticate a wild animal in his urban high-rise apartment, please read on.

According to an NBC-4 news report, Antoine Yates was the proud pet owner of both a tiger and an alligator and his apartment "may have also been home to city foster children." Yes, you read correctly ... please do not re-read ... the agency created to protect abused and neglected children may have really screwed up if/when they approved this home for foster child placement.

An Investigation was conducted to determine whether "several foster children in the city's protective care were living in the apartment with these dangerous wild animals." Investigators would also like to know "how the city could not have known about it."

"Records show beginning in 1998, and until 2002, the city placed several foster children ranging in age from 4 to 10 in the apartment in the care of Martha Yates, 68. Yates is the mother of Antoine Yates ... the man arrested after being attacked by his pet ..."

News Channel 4 was able to ascertain from sources familiar with the case as well as several foster children that "they lived not only with the tiger and the alligator, but also with a lion." Wow, can you spell S-A-F-E-T-Y and protection??!! I sure can and it does not equate to placing little abused and neglected children in a home with wild animals! Let's not discuss the fact that the foster home was a Housing Project in Harlem! When you consider the fact that many children are removed from their parent's home due to unpaid utility bills (neglect) ... the parents fought with one another while the children were in the home (emotional abuse/Domestic Violence) ... the child was spanked (physical abuse) ... or the mother failed to prevent the child from being spanked (failure to protect), it is amazing that child "welfare" authorities would place children in this type of environment or would be unaware that dangerous animals were being kept in the apartment with the children. For many, many, years the public has been led to believe that once children are "rescued," they are placed in the safe embrass of loving caregivers who have their best interest at heart. Additionally, once placed in the home of strangers, their care is well supervised by social workers with child protective service agencies.

Quite naturally, the foster care giver denies the children's allegations and city records "indicate that no animals were viewed in the home." Although not "viewed" in the home were the animals "present" in the home -- this sounds like a play on words to me. I would also like to know if any of the children reported the presence of wild animals to social workers -- if so, why wasn't immediate action taken . With the constant and continuous media reminders that social workers, and others in child protection falsify documents, pretend to conduct mandatory home visits that never took place, and tamper with agency and legal documents, this very serious oversight by the department of child welfare should have been handled by an independent investigative agency determined to uncover the truth. The very lives of these children were seriously compromised under the guise of 'protecting' them, if reports are correct. If child welfare agencies are not concerned with the safety and protection of the children under their care, all rational beings are left to question or ponder why children are being removed from their homes to begin with, barring extreme circumstances of abuse or neglect -- to shed some light on this, please research the American Safe Families Act (ASFA).

Many of you know that social workers are required to make mandatory and regular child welfare checks on children living in the homes of strangers. If these visits were in fact being conducted, how could the animals have gone undetected? Especially when neighbors reported "a stench over recent months." Common sense leads me to believe that if social workers were actually conducting regular welfare checks or home visits, they may have heard the mighty roar of the lion behind closed doors. And they most certainly would have received some type of verbal or non-verbal indication from the children that the animal(s) were there.

How did the 'big wigs' in child protection deal with what could have easily been a tragic yet predictable outcome? It was stated in the NBC 4 report that directors are reinforcing the need for caseworkers to "always open all doors when visiting a foster home." So, here's my advice ... STOP SNATCHING CHILDREN FROM INNOCENT PARENTS!!! If they would stop stealing children on trumped-up allegations, if not completely fabricated, and throwing them into the homes of strangers, the current epidemic of foster children being beaten, molested, raped, and even killed, would drastically decrease.

I hate to say this, but Mr. Yates was left barely able to "walk on a leg that was almost torn off;" I'm just happy to know that the foster children still have all limbs intact and were able to 'walk on their legs' right out of this potentially deadly display of 'protection gone wrong.'

I don't know about you, but I have not heard anything about the outcome of their "investigation."

For more details, click on the title, Tigers Den or Foster Home ... above or visit
http://www.nbc4.tv/news/2542068/detail.html

Friday, February 09, 2007

Tears of a Murderer?

Take one ... take two ... let the show begin! And begin it did, when a tearful Mary Jane King reported to authorities that 3-year-old foster child Ahmad was missing. According to Ms. King the child disappeared as she "walked away to grab a shopping buggy" in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Parents across America gasped as they were forced to recall each time they had done the same. How could such an innocent and unsuspecting act lead to a potentially tragic outcome?

After a days-long intense search by neighbors and police (see Search Continues for Missing Wayne County Boy -- link provided below), King finally admitted to killing Ahmad. Her admission of guilt would come after a three-county search for the missing child. This paid care giver would eventually lead them to "the spot in Appling County where she'd hidden the child's body ..."

According to published reports, Ahmad was one of several children placed in Kings home for their 'protection and safety.' King could be heard in a police interview talking about "spanking other foster children and she called Ahmad's death an accident." Yet, Ms. King reportedly canceled a prescheduled home visit by a social worker set to check on the well being of other children in her home just before Ahmads' disappearance; This, of course, led prosecutors to quickly infer that Ahmads' disappearance was anything but accidental.

To read more, visit:
http://www.wtoctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5621754&nav=0qq6eG32 by clicking on the title, Tears of a Murderer.., above.

Search Continues for Missing Wayne County Boy: http://www.wtoctv.com/Global/story.asp?s=4414338

If you believe that foster care should be reserved for children that are orphaned, or have TRULY been abandoned by their parents and ALL extended family members; If you believe that children in foster care should actually be victims of abuse and/or neglect, once proven by a judge and jury NOT a social worker with a God complex; If you believe in the Constitution and civil rights for all, no matter what their economic, social, or cultural group may be – Please sign the petitions referenced at www.squidoo.com/abolishcps/ (scroll down to Get Involved!!!). Thank you in advance for your participation!

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Tragic Accounts of Protection By The State

[Shyanna Durst, 11 months old, Galesburg. Died Feb. 9, 2003]: A neighbor who was the subject of a child abuse investigation agreed to baby-sit Shyanna. A DCFS caseworker allowed this arrangement. An inspector general's report stated the baby sitter, who had a sleep disorder, was lethargic because she was overweight. The report also stated she spent her family's benefits check on calls to psychic hot lines. When a DCFS supervisor learned the baby sitter's live-in boyfriend had a felony record for selling crack cocaine, the supervisor implemented a "safety plan" that required another adult -- a relative or friend -- to be with her children at all times. However, the baby sitter refused to allow a caseworker into her home to make sure another adult was there. Shyanna accidentally choked to death on loose binding from a mattress while the baby sitter slept. -- DCFS DISCIPLINE: None

[Brandon McBride, 10, Timothy McBride, 8, Pierre Walker, 10, Chicago]: The boys died after a fire on July 19, 2000]: DCFS licensing worker failed to ensure that a foster home had working smoke detectors. The worker rushed a licensing inspection because "the foster mother was in a hurry," an investigative report stated. The three children died after a fire July 19, 2000, that destroyed the home. After the fire, a second licensing worker employed by DCFS told an investigator that she "was unfamiliar as to how to check (smoke detectors) to find out if they are operational." A state fire marshal's probe concluded that the home had no smoke detectors. "The worker's admitted failure to check for fire hazards in the home may have cost three children their lives," the inspector general concluded. -- DCFS DISCIPLINE: Faced with discipline, the second licensing worker resigned. A child protection investigator received counseling.

[Tina Winston, 11, Palatine, Died July 10, 2000]: Two staff members at a residential facility for developmentally disabled children used by DCFS attempted to restrain Tina. The girl was extremely disruptive and took psychotropic medication. But the workers were unfamiliar with the restraint -- a choke hold -- and Tina died. Her death prompted four pages of recommendations from the inspector general about how to deal with children who are mentally disabled. -- DCFS DISCIPLINE: None

[Cheril Hobbs, 13, Chicago, Died Sept. 1, 1999]: A 13-year-old girl who lived in the same foster home stabbed Cheril to death. Juvenile authorities charged the girl with murder. An inspector general's investigation concentrated not only on the murder but the aftermath. "The caseworker demonstrated a shocking unfamiliarity with the case," the inspector general reported. Meanwhile, the girl accused of murder transferred to a public school in Chicago and was allowed to mingle with students. School authorities eventually learned about the murder charge and isolated the girl from the other students. While the girl was the first juvenile in Illinois to give a videotaped statement in a murder case, a judge found her not guilty on Nov. 2, 2000. -- DCFS DISCIPLINE: None

[Antonio Moseley, 2 months old, Chicago Heights, Died Sept. 8, 1998]: A teenage girl who was living in the same foster home beat Antonio to death. A therapist had recommended that the "severely emotionally disturbed girl" be placed in a home where she was the only child. But a DCFS caseworker and supervisor ignored the warning and "failed to monitor the home in a meaningful way," according to an investigation. The caseworker did not have time to check on Antonio because of "additional demands on (her) time preparing for a national accreditation process." -- DCFS DISCIPLINE: None

[William Jackson, 2 , Matteson, Died October 1998]: William, a foster child, died a week after the 11-year-old daughter of his foster mother placed him in scalding water. An inspector general's investigator reviewed the records of a private agency that had placed William in the foster home. "Instead of having access to the whole file on the foster mother, each worker was allowed to enter just their case notes," the report stated, adding, "The workers, therefore, did not have historical or contextual knowledge on which to base their decision making." William's foster brother, who was malnourished, had upper arms that "were the circumference of a quarter," according to a physician's report. The foster mother had pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of a controlled substance just before being licensed, but a system to catch such arrests "was loose and rarely worked in practice," the inspector general concluded. -- DCFS DISCIPLINE: Three private agency workers resigned.

For more examples of child "protection" gone wrong, please visit: http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/local/16030326.htm

[Boy, 9, and girl 16 died prior to 2002]: These children died after acute asthma attacks while living in separate foster homes. Private agency caseworkers failed to make any mention of asthma in either child's case file. Caseworkers did not have an Asthma Action Plan, even though the boy had been identified by the Department of Public Aid as one of the top 200 users of asthma medication in the state. -- DCFS DISCIPLINE: None

For additional examples, visit:
http://us.f384.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?.rand=b8qcsu0cf8ir9

[Andres Saragos, 4-year-old, died after being left in hot car for hours, Warm Springs]: Tamera Coffee, 34, Warm Springs, pleaded guilty in federal court to charges she killed her foster child last summer by leaving him in a closed car in the hot sun. She pleaded innocent April 17 to the second-degree murder charges filed last year. On the morning she was to go to trial, she accepted a plea agreement and a 6 1/2 year sentence. Coffee admitted she left 4-year-old Andres Saragos in a car for nine hours on July 13, 2000. Temperatures topped 90 degrees that day. Coffee first told police Andres had been home all day, but later admitted she left him in the car with the windows down. After a polygraph test, Coffee changed her story again, telling police she left windows down half an inch and didn't check on the boy. A prosecutor said he had a witness who would have said the windows were completely up. In a written plea to the court, Coffee took full responsibility for the boy's death. Coffee was released until the judge makes a final sentencing decision on July 31. Andres had lived with Coffee and her husband for 21/2 years. He was in and out of foster care while his birth mother, Vernice Switzler, an American Indian, battled alcoholism. http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=998

January 1, 2007 -- Baltimore Sun, by Gadi Dechter
[Teen Dies at Bowling Brook]

Isaiah Simmons III, age 17, died January 23, 2007 after being restrained at Bowling Brook Prepatory School in Maryland.
http://www.isaccorp.org/simmons/isaiah-simmons.01.25.07.html

June 24, 2006 -- Twincities.com, Pioneer Press
[Clinic cited in girl's death: 7-year-old dies after being restrained by staff at Rice Lake, Wis., center]

A 7-year-old girl who died a day after being physically restrained by employees at a Rice Lake, Wis., counseling clinic was placed in a so-called "control hold" because she was "gargling milk," according to a report by state health officials. [Note: According to reporter Emily Gurnon, Angie was restrained for gargling milk two days prior to her death: she was also restrained the day before her death]
http://caica.org/NEWS%20Angie%20gargling%20milk.htm

02/18/04 - Lawrence Journal-World, by Dave Ranney
[State to Investigate Death of 19-month-old in Lawrence]

The attorney for the distraught mother of a 19-month-old boy who died five days after he was taken into state custody said the child would still be alive had he been left with his mother.

"This is a case where the system went too far," said Scott Wasserman, a Lenexa lawyer. "Dominic Matz should not have been in foster care. He was fine when he was in his mother's care. He died because he was in foster care."

Records attribute Dominic's death to "lungs filled with fluid," Wasserman said, a condition his mother had been trained to prevent.

"It's our contention that had the person who was caring for Dominic been properly trained, this wouldn't have happened," Wasserman said. "His mother did, in fact, have that training and was taking care of her son when he was taken away from her."
http://www.tilrc.org/docs/0304fostercare.htm

February 9, 2006; ISAC, Cindy Stauffer
[Initial autopsy: Restrained teen was suffocated]

Initial autopsy findings show that a teen who died in Ephrata over the weekend suffocated while being held down, the attorney for the teen's parent's said today.

His death was the second one in two months at the behavioral treatment center.

Karoly agreed that further tests need to be done, but said initial findings are indicating the teen suffocated.

Aletriz suffered a number of injuries consistent with that finding, Karoly said.

The autopsy showed evidence of a traumatic injury to the left side of the teen's head, chest compression, lesions inside his shoulders, and bleeding near
his shoulder blade, in his ribs and in his spinal area, the attorney said.

The teen, who was 6 feel 1 inch tall and weighed 260 pounds, also had bite marks on his lips and tongue and stomach material in his nose, also indicators that he suffocated, Karoly said.

He had been diagnosed as being bipolar and had struggled with anger problems, his mother said.
http://www.isaccorp.org/summitquest/summit-quest.02.09.06.html

[Death of Toddler In Central Texas Foster Home Ruled Homicide] September 7, 2006

The death of a 16-month-old boy who died while in the care of a Corsicana foster home has been ruled a homicide.

The boy and his 3-year-old brother had been at the foster home for six days before the child died Monday. The child's name was not released.
http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/3859792.html

[Foster Mother of Baby Who Died Arrested] Oct 6, 2006

A foster mother sits in jail, accused of murdering a seven month old baby. Police say "Baby Charles" died while in Melanie Ochs' care. She's now being charged with murder by child abuse. http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=5504187&nav=menu107_2

[Foster Mom May Get Murder Charge Boy Died of Dehydration on Seventh Birthday] Friday, July 21, 2006

Carole Ann DeLeon, 51, a former paralegal with the U.S. Attorney's office in Spokane, was charged in April with criminal mistreatment of an 8-year-old foster child identified only as S.M.M.

Now, Stevens County Prosecutor John "Jerry" Wetle is seeking permission to add the murder charge involving Tyler DeLeon, 7, who weighed 28 pounds at his autopsy after he died of dehydration at DeLeon's home Jan. 13, 2005 -- his seventh birthday. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday before Superior Court Judge Allen Nielson.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/278381_foster21.html

[Adrianna Maria Romero-Cram] 08/06/05

" ... She would have turned 5 years old August 25th, 2005 but was beaten to death by her aunt and uncle in Mexico where the Oregon Department of Human Services placed her without doing a safety check on the family and despite pleas and warnings from her mother and grandmother that the aunt and uncle were dangerous."

Department of Human Services states she [the child's biological mother] has no rights to the child because she gave up her rights, which were forced with threats and a lie that the father had given up his own rights.
http://tribes.tribe.net/adrianna

[Toddler Died of Head Injuries, Foster Mother in Edmonton Court] January 30, 2007 -- CBC News

A three-year-old boy rushed to an Edmonton Hospital on the weekend died of head injuries, shows an autopsy report released Tuesday, when his foster mother also appeared in court on a second-degree murder charge.

Court documents filed by the Edmonton Police allege the foster mother committed assault causing bodily harm on the little boy from Dec. 5 -- the day she began to care for him -- until Friday.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2007/01/30/court-foster.html?ref=rss

[Sherry Charlie a Battered Child, Says Pathologist] February 7, 2006 -- CBC News

The toddler was beaten to death by her great uncle Ryan George in September 2002, three weeks after she and her brother were placed in his home by USMA -- an aboriginal child-welfare agency.

George had a violent criminal record. Less than a month after she moved in, Sherry was killed by George. He told authorities that Sherry's brother had pushed her down the stairs.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2006/02/07/bc_sherry-charlie20060207.html

[Social Worker Goes to Court] Jan. 16

An Eyewitness News investigation in November showed Moore failed to do a proper criminal history check before placing four-year-old Anthony Bars and his twin sister in the home of L.B. and Latricia Bars, but indicated on official court documents that she did.

L.B Bars had a battery conviction on his own daughter and a history of abuse in CPS records. Anthony and his sister were beaten and severely malnourished and Anthony died. Indianapolis Police did get a request for a background check on the Bars after the kids were already placed in the home. But even after getting the results of that, the children were left in the home. The state never even disciplined Moore for her actions. Officials have repeatedly refused to explain that, citing state confidentiality laws. http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=1603756

[Social Workers Ignore Child's Abuse Before 2003 Murder, Panel Rules] December 23, 2004 -- Seattle Post-Intelligencer Reporter

In the two months before 2-year-old Emerald Champagne Loop was murdered in 2003, social workers [Bjerkness and Campbell] in the Bellingham office of the state Department of Social and Health Services received five different reports of missing teeth and deep, unexplained bruises on the toddler's pale body.

But Emmie's Child Protective Services social worker and the social worker's boss never acted to take Emmie and her older sister out of harm's way.

Both Bjerkness and Campbell have since been reassigned to DSHS positions in which they do not provide direct services to children and famiies, she said. Neither could be reached for comment.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/204981_emmie23.html

[Foster Mom Arrested in Death] 11.24.2005 -- Arizona Daily Star

The foster mother of a 4-month-old Tucson boy who died was arrested Wednesday on a charge of first-degree murder.

Guadalupe Yolanda Gomez is accused of killing Dwight Hill, a foster child who had been in her home only 16 days before he died. An autopsy showed the boy died from blunt-force trauma, officials said.
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/printDS/104012

[Another Child Dies in Foster Care] Posted March 9, 2004

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- The death of a 3-month-old boy in a southwest Bakersfield foster home Monday was ruled a homicide, 10News reported.

The Kern County coroner's identified the baby as Eduardo Calzada. They said Tuesday that the baby died from numerous blows to the head.
http://www.turnto23.com/news/2910369/detail.html

[Brain-Damaged Foster Child Dies] Thursday, December 14, 2006

OAKLAND -- Deonna Green, the 2-year-old Pittsburg girl who was hospitalized with severe brain damage last week, died at Children's Hospital Oakland Wednesday, officials said this morning.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/14/BAGEJMVLQS3.DTL&feed=rss.news

[Trial Starts in Death of Todder] Nov 16, 2004; Observer-Dispatch

Rosemary Davis, 51, is charged with second-degree manslaughter in connection with the Memorial Day death of Erickyzha Warner, a 22-month-old girl who died while in Davis's foster care.

According to Davis' attorney, "Rosemary Davis is the one who saved the child," he said. "She brought it to the table, and she gave it CPS." http://www.uticaod.com/archive/2004/11/16/news/12869.html

[State Investigation Requested for Baby Roman's Death] 11/21/2006 -- 30 ABC Action News

Fresno County Board Supervisor, Henry Perea is now asking the state to investigate Baby Roman's death. He says it was the county's responsibility to protect that child, but the County failed. Child Protective Services removed three month old Baby Roman after doctors told police someone intentionally broke the baby's arm.

Fresno Police now say CPS returned the baby to his father, but never told investigators. Detectives say it was crucial information because the father, Robert Quiroz, was under investigation for child abuse.
http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=local&id=4785400&ft=lg

Anonymous Deaths of Children in Protective Care (anonymous but not unnoticed and definitely will not be forgotten)

Nevada, Las Vegas: 7-month-old foster boy in the 2700 block of Dune Cove Road, near Sahara Avenue and Fort Apache Road, who was in critical condition after being injured died.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Aug-05-Sat-2006/news/8898979.html

Nevada, Las Vegas: 14-month-old foster child in North Las Vegas on the 3400 block of Fort Niagara Avenue
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/comsite5/bin/pdinventory.pl?pdlanding=1&referid=2930&purchase_type=ITM&item_id=0286-9071257

Ohio, Ridgefield Township: 11-year-old foster child is dead. Investigators in Huron County will use an autopsy report in the morning to help them determine if the death of the child was a homicide or suicide.
http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_fullstory.asp?id=25097

Utah, West Valley: 18-month-old foster child at a house near 3400 South and 6400 West was found "face down on the floor beside the crib." The child's foster parent, Jeannette llene Gomez, 30, remained in the Salt Lake County Jail on Tuesday.
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,520034448,00.html

Washington, Spokane: 20-month-old foster child died. Police say 37-year-old Avery Sam was booked into the Spokane County Jail Saturday on charges he abused the child ... "the child died Sunday."
http://www.kxly.com/index.php?sect_rank=1§ion_id=559&story_id=4101

(CANADA)
Edmonton: Three-year-old boy from west-end home "died late Saturday night after being rushed into the Stollery Children's Hospital. "A 32-year-old woman who was the boy's foster mother was also charged with assault causing bodily harm, and failure to provide the necessities of life."
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/29012007/3/canada-foster-mother-charged-child-s-death.html

If you believe that foster care should be reserved for children that are orphaned, or have TRULY been abandoned by their parents and ALL extended family members; If you believe that children in foster care should actually be victims of abuse and/or neglect, once proven by a judge and jury NOT a social worker with a God complex; If you believe in the Constitution and civil rights for all, no matter what their economic, social, or cultural group may be – Please sign the petitions referenced at www.squidoo.com/abolishcps/ (scroll down to Get Involved!!!). Thank you in advance for your participation!