|
|
|
help
collapse
Press one of the expand buttons to see the full text of an
article. Later press collapse to revert to the original form. The
buttons below expand or collapse all articles.
expand
collapse
More recent news
CAS Stonewalls Criminal Trial
September 21, 2005
If you have had any dealings with Children's Aid, or have been following
the issues in this webpage, you know the difficulty of getting information
from Children's Aid. They claim immunity from the Freedom of Information
Act, and hide behind cop-outs such as "protecting the child from emotional
harm". In a murder case involving a dead child, none of their excuses
apply, but Children's Aid sticks by its habit of revealing nothing. Will
they let their contractors go free by refusing to disclose their files?
This could become an important case.
expand
collapse
Judge halts trial until aid files are found
For weeks, the court has heard quibbling about who has the slain boy's documents
By CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD, Wednesday, September 21, 2005
An Ontario Superior Court judge temporarily halted the Jeffrey Baldwin murder case yesterday amid ongoing delays in ensuring the little boy's entire file at the Toronto Catholic Children's Aid Society is in the hands of trial lawyers.
"This can't continue," a frustrated Judge David Watt snapped at one point. "It's going to stop now; it's going to be clarified now before we take one more step."
With that, he ordered James Maloney, lawyer for the CCAS, to notify prosecutor Lorna Spencer by tomorrow that the whole file has been located, or return to court Friday to explain why not.
Once that is done, CCAS child-care worker Margarita Quintana is to review its contents, with the trial itself on hold until Sept. 29.
Ms. Quintana was the family's worker when Jeffrey and three of his siblings were handed over to the very grandparents -- Elva Bottineau and Norman Kidman -- who are now on trial for first-degree murder in the little boy's Nov. 30, 2002, death.
The four children were taken from their mother, the grandparents' daughter Yvonne Kidman, in a series of three separate family court proceedings over the course of several years.
The Catholic Children's Aid didn't object to the grandparents' gaining legal custody of the youngsters.
Neither did anyone ever check the agency's own files, which contained clear documentation that Ms. Bottineau and Mr. Kidman were manifestly unfit to be acting as caregivers for vulnerable youngsters -- both were criminally convicted child abusers.
Ms. Quintana will be called as a witness here, and Ms. Spencer and defence lawyers for the grandparents want to know before they begin to question her what records she personally prepared or relied upon in making decisions about the children's placement.
Jeffrey died a few weeks shy of his sixth birthday of septic shock complicated by pneumonia, but expert witnesses have testified that the central contributing factor in his death was what one of them termed a gross "nutritional insult."
The boy had been starved over months and perhaps even years, and at death weighed less than he had when he was a healthy, chubby toddler of 12 or 13 months, and stood only 37 inches tall.
He was deemed officially both wasted and stunted, terms that respectively refer to the impact of chronic starvation upon body weight and height, and Judge Watt has also heard that the little boy and one of his sisters, just a year older, lived in a locked, frigid and feces-smeared room in the grandparents' east-end house.
For weeks now, Mr. Maloney for the CCAS, Keith Geurts for Ms. Quintana and Crown prosecutors have been quibbling about which agency documents have been handed over and which, if any, are missing.
It was unclear -- and Judge Watt yesterday pointed no finger of blame -- whether the delay was due to simple miscommunication or something else.
What was apparent, however, is that the judge has lost his stomach for further wrangling.
He also urged Mr. Geurts to have Ms. Quintana agree to an interview with prosecutors, saying, "Although I can't compel her to be interviewed, it would be a prudent course for her to follow."
On the advice of her lawyer, Ms. Quintana has declined repeated requests from Toronto Police and prosecutors to be questioned about the case.
It is likely that she, like other workers at the Catholic Children's Aid, remains alert to a recent high-profile case involving one of their colleagues, Angie Martin.
She was the worker in the Jordan Heikamp case -- the infant starved to death in a native women's shelter in Toronto before the unseeing eyes of a plethora of helping professionals and under the ostensible supervision of Ms. Martin -- and along with the baby's teenaged mother, Renee Heikamp, was charged criminally in Jordan's death.
The charges against both women were dismissed after a preliminary hearing.
But both testified at length and to enormous publicity at a coroner's inquest examining Jordan's death in the spring of 2001 -- just 18 months before firefighters and paramedics responded to the 911 call about Jeffrey.
Ms. Bottineau, now 53, was convicted on June 10, 1970, of assaulting her own baby daughter, Eva. Then a teen mother, Ms. Bottineau was sentenced to a year of probation. Though the five-month-old infant died of pneumonia, an autopsy revealed she had also suffered tiny fractures of the shoulders, elbows and wrists - now recognized as classic signposts of child abuse.
Mr. Kidman, also now 53, was convicted on Dec. 29, 1978, of two counts of assault causing bodily harm in connection with assaults upon two of Ms. Bottineau's children, then aged 5 and 6, from a former relationship. He was sentenced to two years of probation and fined $150 on each charge.
The two children were later made Crown wards and subsequently adopted.
Shortly after Jeffrey's death, CCAS executive director Mary McConnville acknowledged that the agency had failed to check its own files and that, had someone done so, the revealing information about Ms. Bottineau and Mr. Kidman was there to be found.
Ms. McConnville said at the time that the agency had no policy for staff to check files in cases called "kinship care," in which relatives step forward to seek custody of youngsters whose own parents are deemed unfit, such as Ms. Bottineau did when daughter Yvonne saw first one, then two others and finally a fourth child taken from her.
There is such a policy now.
If the role of the agency and its worker are somewhat peripheral to the criminal trial - it is Ms. Bottineau and Mr. Kidman who are charged after all - the publicity around the details of how they came to gain legal custody of four youngsters might increase pressure upon the Ontario coroner's office to call an inquest into Jeffrey's death after the trial is over.
That decision hasn't yet been made, deputy coroner Dr. Jim Cairns told The Globe and Mail yesterday.
Jeffrey died of the complications of starvation almost three years ago; baby Jordan died of starvation in 1997; three years before that, another tiny charge of the agency was making headlines.
That was baby Sara Podniewicz, who died gasping for breath, her lungs filled with pneumonia, in her car seat at the age of six months and 10 days.
She had 24 broken bones at the hands of her crack-addled parents and yet at their trial - both were convicted of second-degree murder - a CCAS worker and another the agency had contracted to monitor the home were questioned at length about the jarringly cheerful notes they had made documenting Sara's alleged progress.
Convicted Murderer Freed
September 21, 2005
Bill Mullins-Johnson, who was convicted of homicide on the testimony of
the discredited Dr Charles Smith, is now free. Widespread attention to this
story may help alleviate the moral panic surrounding child abuse.
expand
collapse
C B C . C A N e w s - F u l l S t o r y :
Mullins-Johnson granted bail after 12 years in prison
Last Updated Wed, 21 Sep 2005 11:29:05 EDT, CBC News
Bill Mullins-Johnson has been granted bail after 12 years in prison while the federal justice minister determines if he was wrongfully convicted.
Bill Mullins-Johnson answers questions
after walking out of court in Toronto (CP
Photo/Frank Gunn)
The 35-year-old man was convicted in 1994 of sodomizing and strangling his four-year-old niece. No forensic evidence linked him to the crime, yet he was convicted based on testimony from two pathologists.
Two experts now say that the girl was not sexually abused, and in fact died of natural causes.
Wednesday, a freed and emotional Mullins-Johnson said the past 12-years have been nothing but hell for him and his family. He said the '94 trial wasn't justice, it was an injustice and his family has been torn apart by it. He added he's looking forward to exonerating himself.
Family members put up $125,000 in bail money.
The 35-year-old Sault Ste. Marie man said he loved his niece and that his heart went out to her parents. "I appreciate what the parents of my niece have gone thorough -- they lost a little girl in all this," he said.
Justice Minister Irwin Cotler must now decide whether to order a new trial or send the case back to the Ontario Court of Appeal.
Politicians Squabble over Dead Girl
September 21, 2005
Sherry Charlie was a ward of child protectors in British Columbia, and
died in their care. In this case as well, the child protectors attempt to
blame the contractors for their failure.
expand
collapse
THE TIMES COLONIST
Tot's death probe sparks new inquiry
Children's ministry under fire for avoiding spotlight in investigation of Sherry Charlie case
Lindsay Kines and Jeff Rud, Times Colonist
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
B.C.'s Children and Family Development Minister Stan Hagen announced an inquiry Tuesday into why his ministry altered its investigation into the death of 19-month-old Sherry Charlie.
In a move quickly dismissed by the NDP as another coverup, Hagen said the inquiry won't re-open the original investigation or examine the ministry's role in Sherry's care.
Instead, Hagen asked Attorney General Wally Oppal to appoint Child and Youth Officer Jane Morley to investigate. She will look at why the original review's terms of reference were changed to focus on the aboriginal agency involved, rather than the ministry. Morley will also examine the time it took to release the report, a censored version of which was first issued earlier this summer. Finally, she will study the ministry's policy regarding internal investigations.
The report is due Dec. 1.
NDP children's critic Adrian Dix predicted a whitewash, because the government didn't instruct Morley to ask questions that were deliberately ignored by the original probe.
Dix said Morley's review won't look at the role that ministry budget cuts, staff reductions, and a massive reorganization played in Sherry's death.
"This is an investigation to tell us a very limited number of things, to tell us who said what to whom in the Ministry of Children and Families," Dix said. "But the failure of the child protection system is what they continue to cover up with this investigation.''
Sherry died at Port Alberni in 2002 after being placed with her uncle under a kith and kin arrangement, in which children are given to relatives rather than taken into foster care. Sherry's uncle killed her a few weeks after she was placed in his home by the Nuu-chah-nulth child protection agency, Usma.
The ministry's investigation uncovered failings, including the fact that a criminal record check was never completed on the uncle, who had a history of violent offences. The review also found problems with information sharing between the aboriginal agency and the ministry. Agency social workers weren't trained to do kith-and-kin agreements, and the ministry provided only partial background information.
But, in response to NDP questions this week, Hagen confirmed that early in the investigation, senior officials in his ministry changed the terms of reference to block the probe from looking at the ministry's role in Sherry's care.
Hagen produced two documents Tuesday showing that in a letter dated Sept. 26, 2002, David Young, director of child protection responsible for aboriginal agencies, states that the review of Sherry's death will examine five areas, including whether the ministry's response met established standards. The recipient of the letter is blanked out. In a subsequent letter dated Nov. 6, Young drops any mention of the ministry's response, and says the review will look at four areas.
Addendum: We have a page with articles devoted to
Sherry Charlie.
Papa t'aime
September 20, 2005
Today Andy Srougi of Fathers for Justice climbed the Jacques-Cartier
bridge in Montreal, stopping traffic. Other F4J demonstrations occurred in
a half-dozen other Canadian cities.
expand
collapse
Montreal Gazette
Two charged for bridge stunt
Canadian Press
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
CREDIT: ALLEN MCINNIS, THE GAZETTE
Bridge protest snarls city traffic for 12 hours.
LONGUEUIL, Que. -- Two men were charged with
mischief on Tuesday after a major Montreal bridge was
closed for 12 hours in a stunt aimed at pushing for
more rights for fathers in custody cases.
The Jacques Cartier Bridge was closed Monday,
forcing thousands of angry motorists to use other
bridges to get to work and back home in communities
across the St. Lawrence River from Montreal.
Andy Srougi, 39, also faces conspiracy and
obstruction of justice charges in addition to two
mischief charges.
Stephane Dube was charged with two counts of
mischief and breaking conditions.
The men are part of a group called
Fathers-4-Justice and want an inquiry into the way
fathers are treated in family law.
A man atop the bridge unfurled a banner that said,
Papa t'aime (Daddy Loves You).
Similar protests took place on the same bridge last
May and on a Vancouver construction site a few weeks
ago.
A bail hearing will be held for Srougi and Dube on
Thursday in Longueuil on Montreal's south shore.
Brantford Charity Helps Needy Family
September 17, 2005
Here is a first person report from a family helped by the benevolence of
the Children's Aid Society. It is in the father's words, subject only to a
few editing changes to clarify grammar.
expand
collapse
I am writing to you because our family here in
Brantford is fed up with the local SS group -- I mean the
Children's Aid Society of Brantford. For 12 years off and
on they have harassed us every time we tried to get our
children the help recommended by schools. The CAS comes
in and interferes with any progress we have worked on with
the children. My wife Diane has done a tremendous job of
getting the children the help they needed but the last two
years have been the worst from the CAS.
In December 2003 my son attacked me and was trying to
get something out of the silverware drawer. I stopped him
but he punched me a couple of times before I could turn to
him. I was arrested for assault that night and told I
could not go home.
While I was living with my parents I took groceries
paid the rent and utilities and helped my wife out as best
as I could while being under a court order not to go home.
Then my son took his rage out on our oldest daughter and
severely injured her and threatened my wife Diane. Diane
had several times gone to the Attorney General to get the
charges dropped but they refused.
I found a new place to live with our daughters because
there was not enough room at my parents'. My mother
helped Nancy with her injuries and I had to go to court.
My lawyer forced me to plead guilty for something I did
not do and CAS put me on the registry for child
assault.
Diane and I were left with no choice but to have our
son Henry removed from the house because he was like a
time bomb and we could not trust him any more for his
actions. Diane and I had tried for years to get him help
but we were interfered with by the CAS every time we made
headway with him.
So now this new witch hunt. In January 2005 the CAS
got involved with our oldest daughter Nancy. She was
skipping school at BCI and my wife Diane found out about
it half way though her school year. We grounded her for
it and I went to work. Then Diane called me at work
saying that Nancy had run away from home. Diane called
the police. We did not know that when you call the police
on a runaway the CAS is automatically involved. So when
we got Nancy back home Mike Kasurak the CAS worker said
that there were no safety issues at the home and he was
going to close the case but told me that I should spend
more time with the girls.
The following month Maria our youngest daughter did not
return from school and Diane and I got worried that
something had happened to her. I was just going up to the
school when the phone rang and it was the CAS worker Mike
Kasurak saying that he had Maria and he would be over with
her in 15 minutes. An hour went by and Mike Kasurak
finally showed up with 2 Brantford Police officers and
said we did something bad to Maria. Diane and I had no
idea what he was talking about and we were told we could
not have our daughters returned home. Diane and I finally
found out that I was accused of sexually touching our
daughter Maria at Christmas time which I could not figure
out because Maria is a little chatter box. If that
happened she would have told someone in our family. Also,
there were 17 witnesses that night.
Then Diane and I found out that during an interview
with Mike Kasurak at BCI Nancy had her top unzipped by
Mike Kasurak so he could see the tattoo on her breast. We
told CAS but they ignored it.
So now to date our family is 20 thousand dollars in
debt from this witch hunt and we still can not have Maria
back from CAS. Diane and I have got Nancy cleaned up from
the drug abuse and the hell she went through in foster
care. They have taken Mike Kasurak off our case and put
Danilla Turco in charge but the lies on court documents
and the witch hunt continues.
So we are now searching for advice on how to go about
dealing with the situation of having our daughter Maria
returned to us. The reason we are stating that she should
be returned to us is because the conclusion of the police
investigation was that there was no evidence that there
should be charges against Maria's father Mike Lund. My
wife Diane Lund is saying that she has gone through enough
and is tired of fighting CAS when there is no reason
because of the result of the police investigation. As
well l have dealt with a few scares of my wife having two
nervous break downs and an attempt to commit suicide.
So I wish that someone could help our family before our
family has a final separation and we no longer are
together as a one unit family, as we should be and were
before CAS came into our lives twelve years ago. Also
unless we can get rid of them we will always worry about
what else they may come up with to tear our family apart.
Mike Lund, Diane Lund, Henry Lund, Nancy Lund, and Maria
Lund.
Sincerely,
The Lund Family
Mike Lund
(address)
Brantford, Ontario
(postal code)
(519) (phone)
ditto@execulink.com
Addendum: September 22, 2005. This story was posted in response
to a request from the author for assistance in publicizing his case.
Children's Aid has made no objection to Dufferin VOCA, but they have
threatened the author with prosecution. They did not object to being tagged
as "the local SS group", only the disclosure of the names of the family. To
keep this family out of trouble we have changed the family names to
pseudonyms and removed the author's street address. You can send him mail
at the email address shown. The name of the social worker is as in the
original request. Though we will not post the family name and address
publicly, you can get them privately from Dufferin VOCA at our email address
on our home page.
More Abuse of CAS Wards
September 16, 2005
Here is more news about how the Catholic Children's Aid Society of
Toronto cares for its wards.
expand
collapse
Toronto Sun
September 16, 2005
'He always eats well'
Grandfather accused of starving boy to death portrayed
Jeffrey as healthy to police, court hears
By SAM PAZZANO, COURTS
BUREAU
Justice David Watt, left, presides in court
yesterday as the accused Norman Kidman and Elva
Bottineau watch Kidman's videotaped statement.
(Pam Davies, Sun illustration)
Tiny Jeffrey Baldwin was locked up in his bedroom
to prevent him from drinking toilet water in the
middle of the night, court heard yesterday.
Jeffrey's grandfather Norman Kidman told detectives
of the gruesome details of the 5-year-old boy's life
in a videotaped statement that was played in court
yesterday.
Kidman and his longtime common-law wife, Elva "Eve"
Bottineau, are accused of starving Jeffrey to death,
confining him in his urine-and-feces infested, frigid
bedroom. Both 53-year-olds have pleaded not guilty to
first-degree murder in Jeffrey's Nov. 30, 2002 death.
The Catholic Children's Aid Society awarded custody
to the couple in 1998.
Kidman portrayed Jeffrey to police as a healthy,
but "borderline retarded" boy who always had a good
appetite.
But Kidman admitted to police he had "no idea" how
much Jeffrey weighed.
"He always eats well. A very good eater. Jeffrey
is, always was, always was a good eater," Kidman said
in the interview with police.
Jeffrey weighed 21 pounds when he died, or as much
as the average 10-month-old baby, and court has heard
his appearance shocked everyone who saw the stunted
boy at hospital.
NOT TOILET-TRAINED
Kidman said Jeffrey wasn't sent to school because
he wasn't yet toilet-trained and wouldn't have been
accepted. Jeffrey's room was stripped of all
furnishings and toys because he would smear them with
feces, Kidman said.
Kidman said he and his wife stopped Jeffrey from
banging his head off the floor.
"Was he a normal size?" Det. David Simpkins asked
in the interview.
"No, Jeffrey was small. He was always small. He
was always tiny," Kidman said.
Evidence presented earlier in the trial showed that
Jeffrey, as an infant, was in the 97th percentile for
height, or extremely tall for his age.
Jeffrey was "fine" and healthy the last time Kidman
saw him naked two or three weeks before his death,
court heard in the interview.
Medical evidence presented earlier in the trial
concluded Jeffrey would have appeared as gaunt and
emaciated in the last few months of his life as he had
at death.
MOM SHOOK BOY
Kidman said his daughter Yvonne lost custody of
Jeffrey and his sister after a welfare office worker
spotted the mom shaking one of the kids. Yvonne lost
an earlier baby for leaving her in the house while she
was fighting in the street, court heard.
Jeffrey was never physically abused, only "smacked"
for misbehaving sometimes, Kidman told police.
Jeffrey had blunt force trauma injuries on his
head, court has heard.
Universal Child Tracking
September 15, 2005
Holland is introducing a file to track every child. Fragmentary evidence
suggests this may already be happening in Canada, but without any public
announcement. Big sister is watching.
expand
collapse
Yahoo! News / The Associated Press
Dutch to Open Electronic Files on Children
Tue Sep 13, 6:36 PM ET
The Dutch government plans to open an electronic file on every child at
birth as a tool to spot and protect the troubled kids of the future.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2007, all citizens will be tracked from cradle to
grave in a single database — including health, education, family and
police records — the health ministry said Tuesday.
As a privacy safeguard, no single person or agency will be able to
access all contents of a file. But organizations can raise "red flags" in
the dossier to caution other agencies about problems, ministry spokesman
Jan Brouwer said.
The intention is to protect troubled children, Brouwer said. Until
now, schools and police have been unable to communicate with each other
about truancy records and criminality, which are often linked.
"Child protection services will say, 'Hey, there's a warning flag from
the police. There's another one from school. There's another one from
the doctor," Brouwer said. "Something must be going on and it's time to
call the parents in for a meeting."
Every child will get a Citizens Service Number,
making it easier to keep track of children with
problems even when their families move, said Secretary
of Health Clemence Ross.
"Safety, guidance, education and supervision are
incredibly important for the development of children,"
Ross said.
All Dutch births are currently registered with
local authorities.
Adoptive Children Caged
September 14, 2005
We have an extensive comment on this story following its end. It comes
from the website of the CBC, though because of a strike, maybe not from the
normal CBC sources. The original is marked also "Canadian Press".
expand
collapse
'Caged' kids from Ohio home well-dressed, well-fed, well-behaved: neighbours
01:35 AM EDT Sep 14
WAKEMAN, Ohio (AP) - Eleven children removed from an Ohio house where authorities said some of them slept in homemade cages are polite, well-behaved, well-dressed and appear to have been well-fed, neighbours and authorities said Tuesday.
Their adoptive parents, Michael Gravelle, 56, and Sharen Gravelle, 57, denied in a custody hearing Monday they abused or neglected the children, aged one to 14, who have conditions that include autism and fetal alcohol syndrome.
No charges had been filed as of Tuesday afternoon and messages left with the couple's lawyer were not immediately returned.
The Gravelles said a psychiatrist recommended they make the children sleep in the cages, Huron County Prosecutor Russell Leffler told the Norwalk Reflector newspaper. The parents said the children, including some who had mental disorders, needed to be protected from each other, a search warrant on file at Norwalk Municipal Court stated.
Leffler refused comment Tuesday at his office.
Neighbours said they often saw or heard the children playing and the family yard was littered with toys - plastic cars, tricycles, slides and an overturned skateboard near a wooden ramp. Seven bicycles were piled in a storage shed.
"Those kids were dressed better than some of the kids who live in Cleveland," said Jim Power, who lives across the street.
"They behaved like any other kids when they were outside playing."
At night, authorities said, eight of the children were confined in one-metre-tall wooden cages stacked in bedrooms on the second floor. The cages were painted in bright, primary colours, with some rigged with alarms that would send a signal to the downstairs when a cage door was opened. One cage had a dresser in front of it, county sheriff's Lieut. Randy Sommers said Tuesday.
"The sheriff and I stood there for a few minutes and just kind of stared at what we were seeing," Sommers said.
"We were speechless."
No one answered the Gravelles' door Tuesday and the grey, four-bedroom house was dark. A pig, roosters and other animals shared the yard outside Wakeman, a community of about 1,000 people, 80 kilometres west of Cleveland.
The children have been placed with four foster families and were doing well, said Erich Dumbeck, director of the Huron County Department of Job and Family Services.
"We're still trying to figure out what happened in that home," Dumbeck said.
"We don't have any indication at this point that there was any abuse."
Sommers said a social worker investigating a complaint contacted authorities. Dumbeck would not discuss the complaint.
The search warrant said the cages had mats and the house smelled of urine. One boy said he slept in a cage for three years, Sommers said. A baby slept in a small bed and two girls used mattresses
Deputies said they were called to the home last year when a 12-year-old boy was upset and ran away for several hours. He was found not far away.
Although the family has lived in Huron County for 10 years, the children were adopted through other counties and states, Dumbeck said. He said his agency was trying to determine how the adoptions were completed.
"I don't believe there were any caseworkers checking in with this family," he said.
Reviews are ordered only when there is a complaint.
One of the children, a boy born with HIV, was adopted as an infant in 2001 through the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services, the agency's director Jim McCafferty said. The Gravelles received a subsidy of at least $500 a month to care for him.
The private agencies who reviewed the couple's home life before the adoption gave them "glowing reports," McCafferty said.
Leah Hunter, who lives two houses away, said she often saw the children walking down the road.
"They looked OK. They hardly ever wore shoes but I'm a country girl and for me that's normal," she said.
This may simply be a case of bad adoptive parents. But based on past
experience, it could be an indication of other problems far deeper in the
social services system than foster parents.
On October 10, 2003 Bruce Jackson, 19-year-old adopted son of Raymond and
Vanessa Jackson, was found foraging for food in a neighbor's trash near his
home in Collingswood New Jersey. Once the matter came to the attention of
police, the appalling facts of the case came to light. Bruce, age 19,
looked to the police like a seven-year-old. He stood four feet tall and
weighed 45 pounds. The family had seven children, three girls and four
boys. One of the girls was a foster child about to be adopted, the others
were all adopted. While the girls appeared normal the boys were all
emaciated. They were:
| Michael | 9 years | 23 pounds
| | Tyrone | 10 years | 28 pounds
| | Keith | 14 years | 40 pounds
| | Bruce | 19 years | 45 pounds
|
The parents made the lame excuse that the boys suffered from eating
disorders, though they had no explanation for why there was an epidemic in
their family.
The police, the press, the local child protectors, the state prosecutor
and the US Congress went to work on the case. The seven children were
instantly removed from the Jackson home and placed in foster care.
Newspaper stories appeared daily with shocking new revelations. Caseworkers
had visited the home 38 times in two years without noticing the
malnourishment. The family had kept the children in isolation by
homeschooling. Bruce had bad teeth and remained hospitalized. Bruce, and
possibly the other boys as well, had lost weight since his adoption in 1999.
In foster care the children were fed properly and began to gain weight. The
Jacksons had received a subsidy of $28,000 a year to care for the children.
But even at the outset, some things about the case did not add up. The
initial reports described the family as homeschoolers, one of the bugaboos
of the social services system. And there was the pastor, Harry Thomas. He
had seen the family up close, and had only praise for the parental love
given to the entire family. He stated his praise in the press, and in
congressional hearings held shortly after the scandal broke.
The mystery unraveled a year later with the publication of an in-depth
story by David France
in New York Magazine. There is a rare eating disorder called
rumination. Sufferers regurgitate their food and chew it again. Eating the
same meal more than once is less nutritious than eating a new meal, leading
to malnutrition. The regular presence of stomach acid in the mouth causes
rotting of the teeth.
Remediating rumination requires expensive treatment. New Jersey DYFS
decided not to provide the treatment, but to dump four of their cases on the
Jacksons. The family was not sophisticated enough, or wealthy enough, to
seek the required treatment, and the boys languished. When the scandal
finally broke, the Jacksons became the scapegoats.
Now we have another case, this time in Ohio, of many adopted children all
exposed to inexplicable abuse. This could be a case of genuine abuse in
foster/adoptive homes. Depending on what numbers you look at, abuse in
foster homes is three to ten times more prevalent than in natural families.
But the neighbors say it was a happy family, and aside from cages, installed
at the urging of a psychiatrist, everything seemed normal. The
psychiatrist's advice makes some sense, because in foster care the main risk
of child abuse is not foster parents, but other children.
So is this a malevolent family of child-abusers? Or a naïve family that
follows doctor's orders uncritically? Or even a family being set up to take
the blame for a scandal? We will be watching news reports for answers.
Addendum: The scapegoats are released after
serving two years in jail.
expand
collapse
Sharen Gravelle released from jail
Annie Zelm, 05:07 AM Mar 18 2011
Sharen Gravelle is let into the Huron County Jail Monday morning to begin serving her two-year prison sentence along with her estranged husband Michael Gravelle after being convicted of abusing their 11 adopted children.
Register file photo/LUKE WARK
Norwalk
After serving nearly two years in prison, Sharen Gravelle is free — and Michael Gravelle will be out soon, too.
The estranged pair convicted of child endangering and child abuse have served their scheduled sentences, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections.
Sharen Gravelle, 62, was admitted to prison April 7, 2009, and released Wednesday from the Northeast Pre-Release Center in Cleveland.
Michael Gravelle, 62, was admitted April 6, 2009, and is scheduled to be released Monday from the Hocking Correctional Facility in Nelsonville.
Both will be on parole for the next three years.
Their releases mark the end of a criminal case that dragged on for more than five years, starting in 2005 when social workers removed the adopted and foster children from their home after an investigation.
The Gravelles kept some of the special needs children in alarmed enclosures and used cruel and unorthodox ways to discipline them, according to court records.
Sharen Gravelle testified that she and her husband built the enclosed beds to protect the children, so they didn't wander during the night.
Huron County Court of Common Pleas Judge Earl McGimpsey sentenced the Gravelles to two years in prison in 2007, after a jury convicted them on four felony charges of child endangering, two misdemeanor charges of child endangering and five misdemeanor charges of child abuse.
They were both acquitted on 17 other charges, according to court records. Their sentences were postponed during a series of appeals, but they ultimately lost.
Huron County prosecutor Russ Leffler said the judge apparently felt the Gravelles were "basically good people," but he disagrees.
"They should have gotten a lot longer (sentences)," Leffler said. "Some of the children are doing well, some not as well."
The Gravelles' attorney, Kenneth D. Myers, did not return a call seeking comment.
The children ranged from 1 to 14 years old when they were taken from the Gravelles' home near Wakeman.
At least two of the children are now suing the Gravelles. They're also seeking compensation from Hamilton County, Adopt America Network, their social workers and Fairhaven Counseling.
Last March, Huron County awarded a $1.2 million settlement to be split among the 11 children, depending on their needs and the severity of the abuse they suffered.
Call for Release of Falsely Convicted
September 13, 2005
Every moral
panic breeds its own brand of experts supporting its excesses. Here is
another article on the work of Dr Charles Smith, who has found so many cases
of child homicide that his opinion is now suspect.
expand
collapse
Group says murder convict is innocent,
calls for release
Last Updated Tue, 13 Sep 2005 16:53:57 EDT CBC News
The Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted
said Tuesday that Canada has another wrongful
conviction case - a man was convicted of raping and
killing a four year old Ontario girl in June 1993, but
it now seems that the girl died of natural causes.
Lawyer James Lockyer in December 2004.
(CP PHOTO/Aaron Harris)
The group wants Bill Mullins-Johnson to be let out
of prison on bail while Ottawa decides how to deal
with what they said is the latest name on a long list
of miscarriages of justice.
James Lockyer, director of the association, said:
"Once again we have a man who's spent a lot of time in
jail -- 12 and-a-half years in his case -- not just
for a crime he didn't commit, but for a crime that
never happened."
Mullins-Johnson of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., was
convicted of first-degree murder in 1994 for
sodomizing and strangling his four-year-old niece
Valin Johnson in June 1993.
The conviction was based on what his backers call a
"rush to judgment" by pathologists, who testified
Valin had been chronically sexually abused and
strangled or smothered. Their findings were backed up
by Dr. Charles Smith, a Toronto pathologist whose
conclusions in dozens of child deaths are currently
under review.
Smith -- who until recently was with Toronto Sick
Kids hospital -- told Mullins-Johnson's 1994 trial
there was clear evidence Valin was killed while being
anally raped, something no one who did the actual
autopsy had detected. There was no semen or other DNA
evidence to support that finding.
Now, Dr. Michael Pollanen, a top pathologist with
Ontario's coroner's office, and a British expert, have
both concluded Valin was not abused, sodomized nor
strangled, they believe she died of natural causes.
Lockyer wants federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler
to quash the conviction and order a new trial or, at
the very least, refer it back to the Ontario Court of
Appeal.
On Tuesday in Toronto, Lockyer said Canada needs an
independent tribunal to review claims of wrongful
convictions such as one set up in the U.K. eight
years ago. It has already found more than 50 murder
convictions were unjustified.
Lockyer said: "All we have now is a sort of a
piecemeal examination of a case here and case there
primarily brought forward by our organization. It's
just not good enough."
Doctor Smith Resigns
September 12, 2005
In June we reported on the
case of pathologist Dr Charles Smith who seemed to treat every death of
a child as a homicide. He left his position at the Hospital for Sick
Children in July, but the resignation was undisclosed until now.
expand
collapse
The Globe and Mail
Embattled pathologist no longer at
Sick Kids
By JOE FRIESEN
Monday, September 12, 2005 Page A10
Dr. Charles Smith, a pediatric forensic
pathologist whose work is being reviewed by the
coroner's office, has resigned from his post at the
Hospital for Sick Children.
Once considered Ontario's leading expert on
pediatric forensics, Dr. Smith has been surrounded by
controversy in recent years.
In 2003, he was removed from the five-person team
that conducts autopsies for the coroner's office after
judges and medical authorities criticized his methods
and conclusions. He continued to work as a
pathologist at the hospital, earning a salary of
$290,000 last year. But earlier this year officials
discovered that evidence crucial to criminal cases had
gone missing in his office.
A hospital spokeswoman gave no reason for his
departure, but said he resigned in July. No
announcement was made.
In June, Chief Coroner Barry McLellan launched a
review into 40 homicide and suspicious-death cases
handled by Dr. Smith since 1991. It was to be
conducted by a panel of independent experts and was
expected to examine whether Dr. Smith's autopsies and
consultation reports in a number of sensitive cases
were reliable. At the time, Dr. McLellan said the
review was necessary to maintain public confidence in
the coroner's office.
The review was sparked by an internal audit into
the keeping of evidence and tissue slides in the
specialized forensic pathology unit at the Hospital
for Sick Children. That audit of the 70 cases handled
by the unit since it opened in 1991 uncovered a few
instances in which microscope slides and tissue
samples had been misplaced.
In 2002, a senior Crown official asked Ontario
prosecutors to look at their files to find cases where
the credibility or reliability of Dr. Smith was
called into question. They identified 25 such
cases.
Lawyers from the Association in Defence of the
Wrongly Convicted have been calling for a public
inquiry into Dr. Smith's work. In June, Cindy Wasser
of AIDWYC said, "He's not just any doctor. He's a
forensic pathologist who gives evidence in homicides,
the most serious offence in the Criminal Code.
People's lives were involved, not to mention the grief
of losing a baby, a child, an infant . . . none of
those people have closure."
In 1998, three-year-old Tyrell Salmon died in
Toronto. As a result of Dr. Smith's conclusions,
Maureen Laidley, the girlfriend of Tyrell's father,
was charged with murder. The charge was later
withdrawn after three other pathologists said the bump
on the child's head was caused by a fall against a
coffee table.
In the case of Amber S., a local coroner concluded
that the 16-month-old girl died from a fall. Dr.
Smith ordered that her body be exhumed and came to the
conclusion that her 12-year-old babysitter had killed
the girl by shaking. She was charged with the crime.
But when it went to trial, 18 other pathologists
questioned Dr. Smith's methods. The babysitter was
acquitted and the judge suggested that Dr. Smith had
tunnel vision.
Adoption Disclosre is Back
September 12, 2005
The Ontario adoption disclosure law, bill 183, abandoned by the government in the spring, is back under
consideration. The disclosure veto for birth parents is gone. The
following article gives the legislative facts, along with a case in which
adoption disclosure could have been helpful in restoring a family sooner.
expand
collapse
The Globe and Mail
Adoption changes would open door to the past
But unwanted revelations could destroy lives, say privacy
advocates
Monday, September 12, 2005
Michelle Edmunds was 1½years old when she was
taken from her home in Toronto and placed in foster
care. But she never stopped thinking about her mother
-- what she was like, the colour of her eyes, and why
she had given her baby up for adoption. They finally
reunited when Ms. Edmunds was 34.
Ms. Edmunds, now 42, said the happiest day of her
life was when she received family photographs in the
mail from her mother in 1996. Her younger brother,
John James, had the same red hair and freckles and
looked like her twin. The photo of her grandmother as
a young woman bore an uncanny resemblance to Ms.
Edmunds -- they had the same eyes and mouth.
"I could actually look at those pictures and
see myself," she said.
The photos helped Ms. Edmunds fill in some of the
missing pieces about her past. She began searching
for her birth mother in 1975. But she does not
understand why it took 21 years before she had enough
information to track down her mother, who had moved to
Edmonton. She also met four of her brothers and
sisters and is still searching for her father.
"It's my identity. How could anybody have the
right to withhold that from me? "
Ms. Edmunds decided to share her story with The
Globe and Mail after the proposal of legislation in
Ontario that would lift the veil of secrecy on
adoption records. Hearings resume Wednesday.
Ms. Edmunds, who is single and works as a
counsellor helping immigrants find jobs, is on one
side of a battle, sparked by the government's efforts
to bring greater openness to a process that has long
been confidential.
On the other side are privacy advocates who say the
government has gone too far by proposing to
retroactively expose the identities of birth parents
who expected decisions they made to remain
private.
Ontario Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian is
leading the campaign defending the rights the birth
mothers who now fear exposure because they have never
told even their families about having a child they
gave up for adoption.
"I feel like I have no other choice," Ms.
Cavoukian said. "I feel that it's my job, because
there's no one else to express this view."
Under the current law, in place since 1927,
adoption records are sealed. The only way for birth
parents and adopted children to reunite is for both to
register with the government to have identifying
details revealed. Even then, a match can take as long
as three years.
The proposed legislation, known as Bill 183, would
allow individuals at age 18 access to their birth
records, which contain their original name and
information about their birth mother. Parents would
have access to birth records and adoption orders once
the child turns 19.
Ms. Cavoukian is urging the government to amend
the bill to give birth parents and adoptees who want
their identities protected an automatic disclosure
veto for adoptions that occurred before the proposed
rules take effect.
She's received hundreds of letters, many from
elderly birth mothers who fear revelations about their
past would destroy their families.
"I made the hardest decision of my life 20
years ago alone with no family knowledge of my
pregnancy or adoption," says one letter.
"These proposed changes could completely upset my
life as it stands today."
Ms. Cavoukian said the goal of greater openness of
adoption records can be achieved without trampling on
the rights of these individuals and potentially
destroying their lives. She has the support of every
one of Canada's federal and provincial privacy
commissioners and the provincial Progressive
Conservatives.
Tory MPP Norm Sterling called on the government
last week to withdraw Bill 183 and draft a new piece
of legislation to improve access to adoption records
without revoking the privacy rights of birth mothers
and adoptees.
Sandra Pupatello, Minister of Community and Social
Services, said there would be little point in changing
the legislation if it is not retroactive. The
government has amended the bill to allow adopted
persons who had been victims of abuse by their birth
parents to maintain their privacy and to allow others
who want privacy to appear before a tribunal where
they would argue that disclosure would cause
significant harm.
Ms. Edmunds said her thirst for information never
went away. "It wasn't a choice. It was a
physical need, a craving."
At 10, she was adopted into the family that
included three older children, where she had been in
foster care since the age of 2. But that did not end
her craving for information about her birth mother.
"Telling an adopted child that you love them
does not override that physical need to know your
roots," she said. "What adopted kids want to
hear is who they look like, what's your mother's name,
when's her birthday."
She remembers going through the telephone directory
when she was 10, looking for a listing for her mother.
She didn't find it.
When she was 13, her adopted family took her to the
Children's Aid Society in Toronto, and asked them to
give her some information about her background.
She got a document titled Non-identifying
information on child prior to adoption. It had basic
information about her background: she was born in
Chicago on Sept. 28, 1962, began walking at nine
months and had her tonsils removed at 3. It also
noted a doctor observed in 1964 that she never smiled.
She spent the next 20 years feeling confused and
thinking she could be related to everybody. On one
occasion, she approached a haggard-looking woman in a
bar -- she knew her birth mother was an alcoholic --
and asked if she had a daughter named Michelle.
In 1995, Ms. Edmunds returned to the Children's
Aid Society and found out more about her family. Her
mother was raised in an orphanage in Nova Scotia and
she had eight brothers and sisters. One brother died
in infancy and five other siblings were adopted or
became wards of the Crown.
She also found out that one of her older sisters,
Colette, had been searching for her for 17 years. She
met her and another sister, Mimi -- in New York where
they live -- and the three have become close. "We
became the sisters we should have been all along,"
Ms. Edmunds said.
The following year, Ms. Edmunds tracked down her
mother at an address in Edmonton with the help of a
friend who overheard her phoning across the country.
She spoke to her mom for the first time on the
telephone on Mother's Day in 1996 and went to visit in
September.
She said her mom was only 62 at the time, but
looked like 92. Her mother told her she had tried to
find her many times but that no one would give her any
information.
Ms. Edmunds was struck by one overwhelming
emotion. "l lost her for 34 years and then had
her for eight months. I never really cried because I
didn't know her well enough."
The reunion was bittersweet. Her mother died two
months later of pneumonia.
Instructions for Foster Parents
September 12, 2005
We have posted a section of the manual for foster parents titled The Child in the Foster Home. The dull
prose provides authority for some our statements about Children's Aid.
We have previously suggested that when a child such as Jeffrey Baldwin is
harmed in foster care, the social worker is the one primarily responsible,
not the foster parent. The manual strongly supports this conclusion. In 31
items, all but seven require the foster parent to defer to the social
worker, the agency (Children's Aid) or the child's doctor. The foster
parent has discretion only over food, clothing and transportation.
The manual forbids nursery school for foster children except in special
cases, though CAS compels natural parents to send their children there.
Protection from Family Law
September 11, 2005
An article in the Western Standard, Dads on the Run shows the
ultimate result of destruction of family life by the courts. It is not a
better life for children. Though the article does not mention it, the real
reason for the recent campaign against "identity theft" may not be to guard
against credit card fraud, but to track down people who have started life
under a new identity.
expand
collapse
Dads on the Run
You've lost your wife, your kids, your house, and any money
you earn goes to your ex. Your only hope may be the highly secretive
organization that is helping hundreds of divorced Canadian dads flee the
country and start a new life
Candis McLean - September 5, 2005
In January, Gordon, a B.C. divorced dad, was desperately e-mailing
men's groups for help. Having lost his job more than a year ago, he had
nevertheless been ordered by a judge in December to pay $22,000 in annual
child support for his three kids--kids he hadn't seen in 24 months. He
was out of money, out of resources and was becoming depressed and
suicidal. Then he received a strange e-mail. "We know what you are going
through," it read. "Many of your Canadian and American
comrades/brothers/friends are taking asylum to start a new life away from
the oppression of their governments. To save their lives. Do you want to
join them?"
Unsure of what to do, Gordon (not his real name) replied with an e-mail
requesting more information. What followed must have seemed like a spy
novel come to life: Gordon was told to go to a public library and e-mail
the details of his situation, using s-mail, a highly-encrypted e-mail
service, that could not be monitored by the FBI or RCMP. He was to use a
woman's name as his moniker. "I will then give you another s-mail address
and will never use this one again," the source, who called himself Sandy,
explained.
Sandy identified himself as a men's rights activist. He confided in
Gordon that he had been through a messy divorce of his own: his ex-wife
had accused him of sexually abusing their children. And though she
eventually admitted all the allegations were made up, the 11 years of
court battles that Sandy had fought to clear his name had cost him over a
million dollars, leaving him destitute, and inspiring him to help other
dads who were facing prosecution and ruin in bitter divorces--by helping
them escape.
Sandy instructed Gordon to erase all references to their communication
on his home computer and then clean his hard drive. "After that please
comm [communicate] only from public libraries. Now, if you want to go any
further, send me a new email address, NOT IN YOUR NAME!!! We will set a
time and I will give you a phone number. Get a calling card from a
convenience store, pay cash. You will use that to call me from a payphone
to a payphone." He also prepared Gordon for the major life change he would
have to make to extricate himself from his legal troubles. "Start selling
and pawning everything you can w/out tipping your hand," Sandy wrote. "Do
you have construction skills, a craft or trade that is saleable on the
cash market?" Then he told Gordon to "pack as if you are taking a sudden
vacation," and gave him the sort of instructions one might need if he were
on the lam from the law, or trying to escape persecution in some
oppressive country:
PACK LIGHT - CLOTHES, TOOLS OF YOUR TRADE, AND MINIMAL FISHING &
CAMPING GEAR. PAY CASH ON THE ROAD. GO TO SMALL STORES W/OUT CAMERAS
IF YOU CAN FIND THEM. TAKE EXTRA FUEL SO THAT YOU GET 5-600 MI BEFORE
STOPPING TO FUEL. DELETE THIS MESSAGE AND ALL OTHER CORRESPONDENCE W/ME
AND OTHERS. COMMIT ADDRESSES TO MEMORY.
In fact, Gordon would be on the lam from the law. And the
organization that Sandy represented, the Planetary Alliance for Fathers in
Exile, believes that dads just like Gordon all over North America
are being persecuted by an oppressive regime--the family court
system. According to their website, PAFE is dedicated to helping fathers
escape and obtain new identities and jobs in Europe. The way PAFE
explains it, divorced dads are at war with a system they cannot hope to
defeat. The website claims that 100,000 men are annually forced to leave
the U.S. alone due to the "feminist fraud" that has tainted the justice
system against men. "This exodus is proof that America is living in a war
zone with or without Iraq," the PAFE site reads. "There are dead, dying,
wounded and missing among its ranks each day. The number of men forced
into illegal and treasonous debtor's prisons in America stands at around a
quarter of a million. There are still men paying into this diseased
system, so that they can see their children and 'be safe' month to month
. . . [N]o father in his right mind should go along and support this
fraud. Fathers have 3 choices--take their kids into hiding overseas, stay
and show civil disobedience, or go overseas alone to start a new life.
All else is slavedom or death."
In his first Canadian interview ever, the man who heads up PAFE, "Jean
Kelly," admits that even his own name is a pseudonym. A decade ago he was
a New York City emergency room physician, when a friend of his, a Canadian
doctor, approached him to help him find a way to reduce the suicide rates
among divorced fathers, and to help his associates who found themselves
unable to continue with their careers because they were consumed by
custody, access and child-tax issues. Kelly happened to hear about a
policy begun by the French government, seeking highly educated immigrants
as part of its competitiveness policy. He immediately realized that the
opportunity represented a way out for thousands of men who thought they
had none.
Today, Jean Kelly says he has four nationalities, and goes by two
different names, and he and the colleagues he has helped are all in
hiding. Over the past five years, he says, his organization,
headquartered in Nice, France, has helped 4,700 divorced fathers from
several countries to escape what they consider to be "illegal and
inhumane" custody and access laws, by moving to Europe and changing their
identities. Nearly 100,000 men, Kelly says, have fled from Great Britain
and 137,000 from Australia. So far, he claims 1,000 Canadian men have
gone into exile.
"My former Canadian wife took my two daughters to her mother, claiming
sexual misconduct," says one father, who chooses to call himself "Lee"
rather than reveal his identity for this story. Lee fled Canada and was
able to find work, through the assistance of PAFE, in the information
technology industry, with a major multinational corporation in Japan. He
could not stay in Canada. "I had 17 witnesses in court stating they never
saw anything unusual in my behaviour towards my daughters. It was no
use," Lee says. "The Toronto judge gave her custody, and myself
supervised access. If I ever was to have [another] family I would be
greatly disadvantaged both financially and socially with the burden of the
decision of the judge. I chose to cut all ties to my past and start
anew."
Some of the men PAFE helps are hiding from convictions that would see
them go to jail if they were ever tracked down. But many others simply
see no future in Canada, where they believe they will never be treated
fairly. "Mainly, though," says Kelly, "they love children, they love to
have a relationship, and hardly any new wife is going to put up with
having to pay tax to the ex. Especially those who are highly educated
professional women, because their income, as well as their husband's, is
going to be taken into consideration in the [support] equation."
Kelly says that once they are overseas, the men find work all across
the European Union. And the opportunities are tremendous for men who have
skills: "We've got scientific institutions, high-speed railways, a space
agency," says Kelly. "We've got the biggest passenger plane in the world.
We take anyone who's got experience and education. For those without, we
provide work in the building industry, farming and transportation." PAFE
says that officials in the French and Spanish governments are actively
helping the group to make it easier for skilled workers to start a new
life. "We take the skilled and highly educated gladly--engineers,
high-tech computer skills, scientists--but we are also doing a lot of
humanitarian work, preventing people from going to jail." Among his
clients, he says, "a large number have PhDs--the 'who's who' among
scientists and engineers." Men who aren't highly skilled often work in the
underground economy and pay no taxes. "We help anyone who wants to have a
life again and use their potential to the fullest," Kelly says.
In addition to helping what he sees as a persecuted group, Kelly is
paid to bring fathers over by the companies that want to hire them--like a
headhunter. For the father on the run, the services are free. All he
must do is get himself overseas. "Everything is arranged. We can even
provide an assortment of East European women from whom to choose a new
wife--those that don't suffer the illusion of feminist indoctrination
dished out by Hollywood about leaving marriages for imagined greener
pastures," Kelly adds.
Fleeing one's home naturally means leaving behind children. But the
majority of fathers are non-custodial parents who have no access to their
kids anyway. "Too many fathers don't see their kids because there were
sexual allegations made against them by these women in order to get cash
and custody," says Kelly. "They are not classified as missing people, but
have to be crossed off the child support computers because they've been
out of the system for two years. They are known to be overseas because,
upon leaving the country, the information from their passport is fed into
the computer."
One father who identifies himself simply as "David," who fled Canada
several years back, writes in an e-mail to the Western Standard
about the decision to leave his children behind: "I figured that, despite
the heartache of leaving the kids, either I don't see them from jail, or I
don't see them from the U.K. So I chose to not see them from the U.K."
David, who works in the computer industry, says that his child support had
been calculated by the Justice Department based on a salary he was earning
during the nineties' dot-com boom. When his salary fell, along with the
fortunes of the computer sector, he was no longer able to keep up with
payments. David insists that he continues to pay support according to
Canadian government guidelines, but he now uses his actual salary in the
formula. "However that's not good enough for the government," he writes.
"I still probably won't be able to return to Canada due to the arrest
warrant which has been issued, although I can't be extradited for a
non-criminal offence. I try to speak with my children on the phone each
week, but it's not the same."
Edward Kruk, a social work professor at UBC and author of the book,
Divorce and Disengagement: Patterns of Fatherhood Within and Beyond
Marriage , confirms that, in his studies of "disengaged non-custodial
fathers," he has interviewed fathers living in Canada and Britain. And,
he says, in his experience, their decision to leave their families, their
careers and their country behind is typically made only when there appears
to be no hope for them to escape their desperate situation. "When parents
cannot agree on a parenting plan and the court must decide, 85 per cent
[of decisions] result in sole maternal custody, 10 per cent in sole
paternal custody, and the other five in a variety of arrangements
including split custody," such as splitting the kids up between the
parents, says Kruk. But shared parenting--or joint physical custody--is
virtually non-existent in Canada. That's despite the fact that the body
of study "indicates that on every single adjustment measure, children fare
better in joint custody than sole," Kruk adds.
The judicial system's structural barriers, the mechanisms and
institutions that polarize parties, and the feeling that many men have of
being seen strictly as someone to be harassed for financial support rather
than someone to provide social and psychological support for their
families--all that, combined with the pain of being unable to see their
children, can be overwhelming. Many divorced fathers, Kruk says, find
they get little support through the mental health system where they are
considered "deadbeat" or violent and irresponsible--both as marital
partners and parents. "A lot of stereotypes dominate the field," Kruk
acknowledges. "It's rare to find much sympathy in my own field [of social
work]. Most programs are geared to toward mothers and children, as though
children's needs were identical to mothers, but there is almost nothing
for fathers. For all these reasons, many fathers just disappear."
When the father is reduced to the status of visitor, the relationship
becomes constrained and artificial, particularly for fathers who were
previously very close to their kids. "They soon find they have very
little influence and aren't really able to parent, so they take on an
avuncular, rather than a parental, role," Kruk says. "The stereotype is
that they don't care, but the reality is that fathers have made every
effort to establish meaningful parental relationships and are thwarted."
In his own study, Kruk found those fathers who are most attached and
involved with their children's care, and who want to share parenting, are
the ones most at risk of losing access over time, because the courts often
view their attempts to gain more access as harassing their former wives.
Child Custody and Domestic Violence: A Call for Safety and
Accountability, a 2003 training book for family court judges, by
London, Ont., psychologist Peter Jaffe, actually warns judges to be
suspect of fathers looking to increase access: "Many batterers pursue
visitation as a way of getting access to their ex-partners," writes Jaffe.
"They may seek custody to engage in prolonged litigation during which
their legal counsel and the court process mirrors the dynamics of the
abusive relationship." In the past, studies showed that over 50 per cent
of non-custodial divorced fathers gradually lose all contact with their
children, notes Kruk. At that point, it's not hard to see why some dads
begin to consider a fresh start altogether.
While PAFE exists precisely to help fathers escape what it considers
unjust custody and support arrangements, the ideal, says Jean Kelly, would
be for dads to be able to stay home, near their children, and be treated
fairly by the courts. "If Canada wants a healthy society it should not
bow to minority interest groups," he says, referring to the feminist
activists he says have upended the justice system, turning it against men.
"Individuals anywhere will escape from laws which are unfair and damaging
to themselves and society."
The societal damage isn't all that hard to see: hundreds, perhaps
thousands, of skilled and educated men fleeing Canada for life is
something any economist would easily recognize as an undesirable policy
outcome. Kelly estimates that in a typical case, a single exiled father
could cost Canada $2 million in lost skills and foregone future income.
And there is the immeasurable cost that comes from such a large number of
children growing up without a father in their life.
But Kelly speculates that, in many cases, politicians are unlikely to
worry about those sorts of things: "Feminist governments are happy they
[the dads] are overseas because they are not the ones who are going to
vote for them." For those Canadians, however, who are uncomfortable with
the idea of so many fathers being driven out of Canada, the answer is to
demand a fairer divorce system. There should be a requirement for joint
physical custody in all but the most extreme cases, with the financial
responsibility for the kids falling to both parents, rather than
aggressively going after the father's income alone. "That gives incentive
to the fathers, saves the kids and saves on taxes," says Kelly. "Fathers
would be working and contributing." More importantly, they could remain in
their old lives, in contact with their loved ones. For, while lawmakers
here may largely see them as financial sponsors, and governments abroad
see them as a way to attain badly needed skills and labour, in the end
these men on the run are, above all, somebody's dad.
CAS Escapes Responsibility
September 9, 2005
Jeffrey Baldwin was a ward of the Catholic Children's Aid Society of
Toronto. He died by starvation at the hands of his foster parents.
The prosecutor alleges that the foster parents abused the child to keep
their foster payments, a habit they share with Children's Aid societies. As
is customary in these cases, the contractors are on trial, the agency
responsible for the child is not. The following report is from the National
Post.
expand
collapse
Boy, 5, was starved to death
Weighed 22 pounds: Grandparents accused of treating him
'like a dog'
Shannon Kari, CanWest News Service, September 9, 2005
CREDIT: National Post, Robert Sprull
The murder trial of two grandparents charged in
the starvation death of their five-year-old
grandchild Jeffrey Baldwin began Thursday.
Five-year-old Jeffrey Baldwin was locked in his
room, treated like a "dog" and kept alive for the
foster-care money he generated, the Crown alleged
yesterday at the murder trial of the dead boy's
grandparents.
Norman Kidman and Elva Bottineau, both 53, are
charged with first-degree murder in the November,
2002, death of their grandchild, who weighed less than
10 kilograms (22 pounds) when he died. The couple are
also charged with the unlawful confinement of Jeffrey
and his then-six-year-old sister.
The Catholic Children's Aid Society of Toronto
placed Jeffrey in the care of his grandparents in 1998
because of allegations of abuse. The children's aid
organization did not check its own files at that time,
and was unaware Mr. Kidman and Ms. Bottineau had
prior convictions for assaulting children.
Crown attorney Bev Richards outlined a series of
horrific details about Jeffrey's physical condition as
she began the prosecution's case before Judge David
Watt. The Superior Court judge previously ruled in
favour of a defence request and is presiding over the
case without a jury.
Emergency personnel who responded to a 911 call
placed by Ms. Bottineau on Nov. 30, 2002, found
Jeffrey's lifeless body on a kitchen counter, wrapped
in a towel, in the east-end home.
An autopsy determined the young boy was 93
centimetres tall and weighed 9.68 kilograms when he
died, just six weeks before his sixth birthday. Prior
medical records indicated he weighed slightly more
than that when he was just a year old.
The cause of death was found to be "chronic, severe
malnutrition," Ms. Richards said. The boy had "acute
bacterial bronchial pneumonia," and probably went into
septic shock in the hours before his death. Jeffrey
had abrasions on his body and "caked-on" collections
of bacteria on his skin that were estimated to be one
millimetre thick, she said.
Six adults and six children lived in the Woodfield
Road home owned by Mr. Kidman and Ms. Bottineau.
Jeffrey and one of his sisters lived in a bedroom with
a "hook lock" on the exterior door frame. The bedroom
reeked of urine and feces to the point the "smell was
right in your clothing," even after someone left the
room, Ms. Richards said.
A 24-year-old daughter of the couple (not Jeffrey's
mother) lived in the home with her boyfriend, James
Mills. The prosecution said yesterday Mr. Mills will
testify that Jeffrey was singled out, and he looked
like "skin and bones" and was "treated like a dog."
The boy was so thirsty he would sometimes lick water
out of the toilet, Mr. Mills told police.
Mr. Mills has also claimed Ms. Bottineau
explained that if she sought help for Jeffrey and his
sister it would "ruin" her foster-care cheque. "Those
two kids are $600 to me a month," Mr. Mills said he
was told. He reportedly did not go to the authorities
because he was afraid of being ordered to move
out.
Mr. Kidman and Ms. Bottineau, who have been in
custody since March, 2003, both pleaded not guilty
yesterday.
Ms. Bottineau was previously convicted in 1970 of
assault causing bodily harm in the death of her
five-month-old daughter, and was sentenced to a year's
probation. Mr. Kidman was convicted of assaulting
two of Ms. Bottineau's children in 1978, and received
two years' probation. This information was
contained in the files of the Catholic Children's Aid
Society when the couple won custody of Jeffrey. A
senior official in the organization told the National
Post in 2003 that it was "astonished" at the failure
to check its records, and it would correct a
"significant flaw" in its policies. The trial
continues today with testimony from a senior pediatric
specialist at the Hospital for Sick Children.
Ellis in Court
September 7, 2005
Aneurin Ellis has filed an
affidavit in the court case in which CAS wants to have him jailed.
In August we reported that CAS
denied membership to an applicant. We now have the reasons from the Children's Aid Society of
Waterloo Region, denying membership to Patricia Ellis. They are: her
husband Aneurin Ellis is of bad character owing to his legal wrangles with
Children's Aid and his attempts to alert the public to CAS policies, and
consequently they deem it unlikely that Patricia will support the goals of
the society.
Commentary:
Do you think taxpayers unhappy with policies should have a voice in how
their taxes are spent? Children's Aid doesn't.
The Children's Aid Society of Waterloo Region has denied membership to a
mother on grounds that her husband is not of good character, and his views
are not in accord with the goals of the society. This policy, necessary for
private advocacy groups to avoid diluting their membership, now applies to
spending of public funds as well.
The Children's Aid Society of Waterloo Region, spends $38 million per
year of tax money. The members elect the directors, who in turn hire the
management, which makes the operational decisions and policies. The
membership policies deny critics a voice in spending.
CAS pretends to be a private charity, but that pretense is a sham.
Charitable contributions are only $210 per year.
Addendum: On September 7 the court hearing resulted in a finding
of contempt. As nearly as we can decode the judge's handwriting, the
outcome is:
Sept 7/05
Mr Ellis is found in contempt. Order to go
(illegible) he is to send a written unambiguous +
unreserved retraction + apology to Mssrs Chalk,
Ringrose + Boles by sending them the correspondence at
their workplace + to notify the Children's Aid +
Waterloo Regional Police Services within 15 days
Failure to do will result in a jail term of 30
days. (illegible sentence). Costs fixed at 3000.00 +
GST.
/signed/ FEDAK, J.
In two legal actions, the Children's Aid Society has gouged ten thousand
dollars out of this family. The result can only make conditions worse for
the children they purport to protect. Batman and Robin Return!
September 3, 2005
According to Fathers-4-Justice, Batman and Robin scaled a crane this
morning in Vancouver British Columbia.
Batman
Addendum: The climbers were Batman (Robert Robinson) and Robin
(Chris Coderre). The event planned for 24 hours ended in ten hours because
of high winds. The next day The Incredible Hulk (Kevin Christiaens) climbed
to the top of the New Westminster Supreme Court. The police seem to have
had a tip-off, and detained standbys Batman and Robin. The event ended in
three hours with the descent of the Hulk, and all were free to go.
Here is TV coverage of the event (wmv format).
Children Drugged by Force
August 28, 2005
The article Inside
Incarnation gives more on the New York foster children used for drug
experiments. Children who refused to take the pills were given sugical
implants to make drugging easier. Justifiable for life-saving medicines,
but dubious to get experimental data.
Addendum: Commentary by oncologist Dr Dolores A Sicheri:
expand
collapse
I sat for 5 years on a University Ethics Committee.
Children are a "protected group." Ethics committees
frown on clinical research in "protected groups."
There has to be good reasons and possible benefits.
There has to be a responsible person weighing benefits
vs. risks and giving informed consent. This person
also has the responsibility to withdraw consent if the
study drug proves too onerous or too toxic for the
child. The service providers in this particular case
failed to fulfil this obligation. This is the reason
for the media uproar. Putting feeding tubes into
these children to administer the drugs is simply
outrageous.
This case will go on to become part of the NCI's
repertoire of things not to do. All medical
professionals doing research are obligated to take a
course in medical ethics.
This case is analogous to the Meadowbrook Long
Island case of the 1970's. There parents were coerced
into enrolling their disabled children into a study of
the natural history of hepatitis B in an institution.
The only access into residential services for these
parents was to allow their child to be given the live
hepatitis B virus. They were allowed to bypass the
wait list for their consent.
Donation to Children's Aid
August 27, 2005
Following is a press release in which a company endeavors to create
corporate goodwill by donating to the Children's Aid Foundation. Some more
feedback such as that below might convince them to use some other charity
for that purpose.
expand
collapse
August 27, 2005
Stephanie Diodati
Communications Manager
Transamerica Life Canada
(416) 883-5418
stephanie.diodati@aegoncanada.ca
Subject: Drive For Life Golf Tournament
Madam:
This letter is in response to your press release
copied below. It contains the paragraph:
Transamerica will host 136 invited guests as they
tee off at 10am in an effort to raise an additional
$300,000 for the Children's Aid Foundation and The
Jean Tweed Centre. The funds will go towards a
Post-Secondary Education Endowment Fund, a new play
area, and other programs to help children and
at-risk mothers create a brighter future together.
Perhaps you are fooling us, but more likely the
Children's Aid Foundation is fooling you. The
Children's Aid Societies, supported by the Children's
Aid Foundation, do not allow children and mothers
to have any kind of a future together. They are in
the business of separating children from their
mothers, and permanently whenever practical. In the
course of organizing opposition, I have accumulated
the names of hundreds of mothers (and fathers)
adversely affected with the actions of the Children's
Aid Society because they have either lost their
children, or been threatened with the loss of their
children. There are also many foster care graduates,
among whom none are pleased with the "care" they
received while under-age. If you look into the
matter, you will find it difficult or impossible to
find a single parent or child happy with the
"services" received from Children's Aid. You can read
almost daily news of the atrocious conduct of this
agency on my website listed below, or dozens of other
websites created by victims of Children's Aid.
I suggest that your company can enhance its
reputation by redirecting its charitable donations
elsewhere.
Robert T McQuaid
RR 5
Orangeville Ontario L9W 2Z2
email: rtmq@stn.net
web: www.fixcas.com
news: http://fixcas.com/news/news.htm
Press release copied from the web at:
www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/
August2005/26/c3541.html
Attention News/Assignment/Photo Editors:
Transamerica Life Canada's Drive For Life Golf
Tournament Tees Off August 30th
Tragically Hip founder Gord Downie to give live
solo performance at Eagle's Nest
TORONTO, Aug. 26 /CNW/ - A major charitable
commitment is driving Transamerica Life Canada's
annual Drive For Life Golf Tournament. The
tournament, which will feature an intimate live
performance by Juno award-winning singer Gord Downie,
will be held Tuesday, August 30th at the Eagle's Nest
Golf Club in Maple, Ontario. Now in its ninth year,
the event has already raised over $2 million for
Canadian charitable organizations.
Transamerica will host 136 invited guests as they
tee off at 10am in an effort to raise an additional
$300,000 for the Children's Aid Foundation and The
Jean Tweed Centre. The funds will go towards a
Post-Secondary Education Endowment Fund, a new play
area, and other programs to help children and at-risk
mothers create a brighter future together.
"Children who suffer abuse and neglect, and women
who struggle with addiction and substance abuse are
among the most vulnerable members of society. We're
delighted that every dollar raised through Drive For
Life will go directly towards helping make a positive
difference in their lives," said David Boone, Vice
President of Marketing and Corporate Services at
Transamerica Life Canada.
"Transamerica is proud to be designated an Imagine
Caring Company because of our long-term commitment to
donating one per cent of annual pre-tax profits
through our charitable giving program, in the spirit
of hope," he added.
Previous Drive For Life tournaments have featured
such prominent personalities as comedian Leslie
Neilson, and Olympic speed-skating gold medalist
Catriona LeMay Doan. "This year, we're honoured to
have one of Canada's top musical talents lending
support to our event," said Boone. "Mr. Downie will
help us show others that it's possible to have a lot
of fun, while also doing something valuable for the
people of our community."
Photo opportunity:
Photographers and media representatives are invited
to Eagle's Nest Golf Club on August 30, 2005. The
event begins at 10am and Gord Downie is scheduled to
perform at 7:30pm, following dinner.
About Transamerica Life Canada
Transamerica Life Canada is a member of the AEGON
Group, one of the world's largest insurers. AEGON
N.V. and Transamerica Life Canada have consistently
received strong financial ratings from Standard &
Poor's and A.M. Best Company. In 2004, Transamerica
Life Canada had more than $600 million in gross life
insurance premium and recorded almost $9 billion in
total assets under management.
As an Imagine Caring Company, Transamerica Life
Canada donates one per cent of annual pre-tax profits
to in the spirit of hope, our charitable giving
program, which in the last seven years raised more
than $5.6 million for worthy charities in the
communities in which we do business.
About The Children's Aid Foundation
The Children's Aid Foundation, a national
organization, is committed to improving the lives of
abused and neglected children through Education,
Enrichment and Prevention.
About The Jean Tweed Centre
The Jean Tweed Centre is a caring and innovative
centre that addresses the treatment needs of women
with substance use and gambling concerns and their
families. Providing specialized services to more than
1500 women, The Jean Tweed Centre is the largest such
centre in Ontario.
For further information: Stephanie Diodati,
Communications Manager, Transamerica Life Canada,
(416) 883-5418, stephanie.diodati@aegoncanada.ca
Addendum: Here is another letter on the same topic dated August
28, 2005:
expand
collapse
Hello Stephanie Diodati,
My name is John Dunn. I am a former Crown Ward who
lived in foster care for sixteen years. During that
time, I was moved through thirteen placements and
suffered abuse in a couple of the homes, not to
mention the psycological trauma of moving so much,
being uprooted from several schools and friends my
whole life, simply because of the way the child
welfare system is structured.
I created a thirteen minute documentary of my life
in foster care which takes you on a virtual subway
ride through the foster homes I lived in, as a way to
open the eyes of the public as to how many foster
children end up living as a result of the secrecy and
"confidentiality" offered them by the child welfare
system, which in effect, keeps us hidden from the
public, and from any attempts to truly advocate for
us.
I know there are good cases that come from CAS's
work, I can not deny it, but there are literally
thousands of children who suffer in foster care from
emotional, physical and sexual abuse, all hidden from
the scrutiny of the public eye.
Please, if you wish to help children and their
families, consider helping them before CAS becomes
involved in their lives... most of your donation will
end up paying for legal fees of a Society attempting
to terminate access to children in care by their
natural mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters...
Please listen to my story which aired across Canada
on CBC by clicking the link below:
http://web.ncf.ca/fe281/radio.html
Thank you
John Dunn
The Foster Care Council of Canada
http://web.ncf.ca/fe281/
Ontario Advisory Committee on Child and Youth
Services
http://oaccys.proboards34.com/index.cgi
Dead Baby Scam
August 27, 2005
Earlier we reported on the use of the Dead Baby Scam in Canada. Here is a report
from the BBC of the same racket in the Ukraine. In Canada, no one offers a
mother €3000 for a baby. They simply sieze the baby without compensation,
and say it is in the best interest of the child.
expand
collapse
Last Updated: Friday, 26 August 2005, 21:44 GMT 22:44 UK
Ukraine baby theft claims probed
The mothers of the babies were said to be all in
excellent health
Harrowing reports of babies stolen at birth and
human organ removal in an Ukrainian city are to be
investigated by a top European political body.
The Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly is
sending a rapporteur to Kharkiv as Ukraine's
prosecutors delve into the cases of three mothers.
"People are afraid to even give birth now," Kharkiv
campaigner Tatyana Zakharova told the BBC News
website.
The main hospital under scrutiny has dismissed
accusations against it.
Ruth-Gaby Vermot-Mangold, the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (Pace) rapporteur,
is to visit Maternity Hospital No 6 after her arrival
on Monday and will meet local parents, Ms Zakharova
and Ukrainian officials.
Her trip will also take her to the capital, Kiev,
amid reports that babies may have been snatched at
birth in other Ukrainian cities.
The alleged baby thefts go back to the autumn of
2002 but the case achieved wider publicity last year
after MPs from across Europe tabled a motion at the
Pace, which brings together 46 countries.
Underlining real concern over baby-trafficking from
Eastern Europe, they pointed to newspaper adverts in
Moldova encouraging single mothers there to sell a
child for 3,000 euros.
Communal grave
"There has been no concrete follow-up in these
three [Kharkiv] cases," Agnes Nollinger, who is
accompanying Ms Vermot-Mangold, told the BBC News
website on Friday.
Prosecutors are still investigating the three
cases, nearly three years after Svetlana Puzikova
arrived in labour at the maternity hospital in the
early hours of a November morning.
She was in her 40th week and her family were
waiting to visit the new mother and child later in the
day.
Only the midwife and one other woman who was not
introduced to her were at hand for the birth, Tatyana
Zakharova of the National Ukrainian Federation of
Multiple-child Families (NUFMF) told the BBC.
The last she saw of her baby was it being passed to
the stranger. After that, 20 kilos lighter after her
delivery, she and her family were told it had died at
birth.
According to the NUFMF, doctors' records indicated
the birth of a healthy child was to be expected.
No birth or death certificates were issued as an
"abortion" had occurred, and the family was told that
the remains of Svetlana's baby had been consigned to a
communal grave with 27 other foetuses as "bio waste".
When the family demanded an inquest, this grave was
reopened the following year in the thaw of the harsh
Ukrainian winter.
Inside, the NUFMF reports, were 30 sets of remains,
not 28, and Svetlana's baby could not be identified
among them.
First-time mums
In late December 2002, Lena Zakharova (no relation
to Tatyana) should have given birth to her first baby
at Maternity Hospital No 6. It, too, was declared
dead.
A third mother, Tatyana Dormidontova, gave birth at
a maternity ward of another Kharkiv hospital in her
32nd week of pregnancy in July 2001.
Her baby was declared dead but the body was
reportedly that of a much bigger baby. The mother
herself died soon after birth.
All three women, according to Tatyana Zakharova,
were first-time mums and each was in excellent health.
This factor leads her to suspect the babies may
have been stolen for illegal adoption or, even worse,
for the use of their organs.
There are reports that the babies' parents - or in
Dormidontova's case the grandparents - were asked to
sign blank pieces of paper. In their confused and
fraught state they did not refuse.
The remains in the grave had allegedly had their
organs and brains removed.
"They were like gutted rabbits," Tatyana Zakharova
told the BBC.
Larissa Nazarenko, head of Maternity Hospital No 6,
was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news
agency that "not a single fact" had been proven.
The Council of Europe team will be in Ukraine until
Thursday to compile a report that will then be handed
to the Parliamentary Assembly.
Earn Money from Foster Kids
August 26, 2005
This Reuters press release is too sick for comment.
expand
collapse
LOS ANGELES, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Providence Service
Corp. (PRSC.O: Quote, Profile, Research), which
provides social services under government contract, on
Monday said it has acquired for $8.4 million foster
care service providers Maple Star Nevada and Maple
Services LLC.
The deal gives Providence inroads into two new states,
Colorado and Oregon, and broadens existing business in
Nevada into foster care services, the company said.
Maple Star Nevada provides therapeutic foster care
services in several Nevada locations and for-profit
Maple Services LLC provides management services to
Oregon and Colorado not-for-profit providers of foster
care services.
The acquisition is effective Aug. 1.
Providence said the deal is expected to add about $5.5
million to its annual revenue and raised its 2005
revenue outlook to $137 million from $135 million.
The acquisition is also expected raise earnings by
about 2 cents per share in 2006, but, because of debt
service costs, it is not expected to affect projected
2005 earnings per share of 99 cents, the company said.
Surveillance of F4J
August 25, 2005
We noted that in May Fathers for Justice (F4J) had conducted too many
stunts to count. Since then there has been almost nothing, but not for lack
of effort.
Conducting coordinated events across Canada requires communication, and
all communication with homes of F4J leaders is now intercepted by the
police. Police have already disrupted a planned F4J demonstration. Ministry Stonewalls FOI Request
August 22, 2005
John Dunn made a request to the Ontario government for information
collected during the review of the CFSA. The principal part of his request
was:
expand
collapse
As a result of the Ministry of Children and Youth
Services' (the ministry) mandatory five year review of
the Child and Family Services Act, the Minister, Dr.
Marie Bountrogianni created a report titled "Report on
the 2005 review of the Child and Family Services Act"
which was published in March of 2005. This report
stated that over 90 submissions were made to the
ministry with recommendations regarding the Child and
Family Services Act (CFSA) and related matters.
I would like to request a single copy of each of
the 90 submissions the Minister referred to in her
report ...
Here is the reply from the ministry:
expand
collapse
| Ministry of Community | Ministère des Services
| | and Social Services | sociaux et communautaires
| |
| | Ministry of Children | Ministère des Services
| | and Youth Services | à l'enfance et à la jeunesse
|
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Unit
Communications and Marketing Branch
6th Floor, Hepburn Block
80 Grosvenor Street
Toronto, Ontario M7A 1E6
Telephone: (416) 327-4545
Fax: (416) 326-2567
August 16, 2005
Mr. John Dunn
Foster Care Council of Canada
503-1218 Meadowlands Drive East
Ottawa ON K2E 6K1
Re: Request Number CYS2005/0036
Dear Mr. Dunn,
I am writing to you about your access request made
under the Freedom of Information and Protection of
Privacy Act. Your request was received on June 24,
2005. In your request you are interested in receiving
copies of the submissions received from the ministry
pertaining to the review of the Child and Family
Services Act.
As you will know from the report itself, which is
available on the ministry's website, 72 responses came
from individuals and 24 submissions were from advocacy
groups, professional organizations and service provider
associations.
Access is denied to the records received from
individuals under s.21(2)(f) as the personal information
is highly sensitive. The definitions section of FIPPA,
says that personal information includes "correspondence
sent to an institution by the individual that is
implicitly or explicitly of a private or confidential
nature, and replies to that correspondence that would
reveal the contents of the original correspondence".
The information provided by the individuals is
considered to be highly sensitive and the individuals
included:
- parents who had experience with children's aid
societies and with adoption
- individuals who had been or are currently in the
care of a children's aid society
- individuals who have been adopted
- mothers who have relinquished children for
adoption
- grandparents caring for their grandchildren
- lawyers who have represented parents and/or
children
- people affected by adoption
- people affected by domestic violence
I am pleased to provide you with the attached list
of associations, including: addresses, telephone
numbers, fax numbers and e-mail addresses. The
submissions have not been provided, because the area
responsible for them recently moved and is still in
the process of establishing their new offices. The
responsible area will continue to search for the
submissions.
In the meantime, you may wish to contact the
organizations directly to receive a copy of their
submissions.
You may request that this decision be reviewed by
the Information and Privacy Commissioner. The
Commissioner can be reached at:
Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario
Suite 1400, 2 Bloor Street East
Toronto ON M4W
1A8
(416) 326-3333
If you decide to appeal a decision to the
Information and Privacy Commissioner, please provide
the Commissioner's office with:
- The request number assigned to the request
- A copy of this decision letter, and
- A copy of the original request you sent to this
institution
Appeals to the Commissioner must also be
accompanied by the appropriate fee. Fees vary
according to the nature of the request being appealed.
If the person appealing has made a request for access
to a general record under subsection 24(1)
FIPPA, the fee is $25.00.
You have 30 days from the receipt of this letter to
request a review from the Commissioner.
If you have any questions, you can contact me at
the telephone number on the first page of this letter.
Please use the Request Number assigned to your request
in any further correspondence
Sincerely,
/signed/
Mary Lou Daniels
Manager
Enclosure
The letter was followed by a table giving the
name of each organization and full contact
information. Only the names are reproduced
here.
- Ontario Association of Social Workers
- Ontario Association of Residences Treating
Youth
- Family Services of Halliburton County
- Second Chance for Kids
- Children and Youth Advisory Committee; Family
& Children's Services Niagara
- Adoption Council of Ontario
- Advisory Committee for Child and Youth
Services
- Ontario Association of Interval and Transition
Houses
- Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against
Women and Children
- Ontario Association of Children's Aid
Societies
- Adoption Support Kinship
- Office of the Child and Family Services
Advocacy
- LoveCry, The Street Kids Organisation
- Foster Parents Society of Ontario
- Ontario Federation of Teaching Parents
- Citizens Commission on Human Rights
- Probation Officers Association of Ontario
- Legal Aid Ontario
It is difficult to believe, as the ministry claims, that letters sent for
the purpose of correcting legislation are of a private or confidential
nature. Last year, we posted three of
the submissions to the ministry, none of them mentioning the name of a
single CAS client. Is the ministry using this as an excuse for concealing
letters with information about atrocities committed in the name of child
protection?
And here is what John Dunn reported August 22:
expand
collapse
Well folks, something interesting has turned up. I
made a FIPPA request last month which turned out
pretty good and is in the works.
Then I did some other inquiries by phone as to how
I would learn from the Ministry how a CAS's Policy and
Procedure Manual is approved by a Ministry.
I found out that a CAS submits their policy and
procedure manual to the Ministry for approval.
(probably the local Regional Office for each CAS) I
then phoned, just to get an answer (helps me brain
storm as I obtain more and more information from each
call) and asked how I would obtain a copy of the most
recently approved Ottawa CAS policy and procedures
manual from the Ministry using a FIPPA request and who
I would talk to regarding this book.
Well, here we go... talk about Government double
talk and a feeble attempt to make the request seem
complicated enough to make a person want to give
up.
I got a call from
Bilinsky, Irene
Phone: 613-788-2392
Fax: 613-787-5283
E-Mail: irene.bilinsky@css.gov.on.ca
Address:
Irene Bilinsky
Program Supervisor - COMMUNITY SERVICES 1
7th Flr
10 Rideau St
Ottawa, ON K1N 9J1
today and she seemed to have been told to shut my
request down fast.
She said that she was told that I should have
included it in my previous FIPPA request and that
because I did not, I would not be able to obtain
it.
After talking as if she knew nothing of my request
other than what "someone" told her... which she
claims was that she was only told to tell me that I
had to put what I asked for in the previous FIPPA
request and that I could not get it because I did
not.
CAS Wants Critic in Jail
August 21, 2005
CAS is moving this Wednesday to jail Aneurin Ellis for publicly
criticizing Children's Aid. We have posted some of the court documents in the case.
In the summer of 2002 Aneurin and Patricia Ellis had a fight in which she
made accusations against her husband to the police. By the time he went to
the police, she had recanted the allegations, but the police charged him
anyway. The charges were withdrawn months later but CAS intervened while
the matter was pending, and has been in the family for three years. During
that time CAS got a default order to take the kids after the family told
them they had to go to Aneurin's dying mother, the children have been taken
away twice, and CAS coached their then four-year-old daughter to say on
video tape that dad held his hand in her vagina (She could not pronounce
vagina correctly in the early part of the tape). The family can no longer
afford a lawyer, and Mr Ellis handles the court matters by himself. He has
distributed letters opposing CAS before, and Peter Ringrose, Executive
Director of CAS, has sued him in a civil action, also getting a judgment by
default.
Addendum: In court on August 24, the case was postponed for two
weeks to September 7, 2005 to allow Mr Ellis to get legal advice.
Montreal Mom-hunt
August 19, 2005
Once again, be on the lookout for a mother caring for her own kids, this
time in the Montreal area. The pictures are not available on the web.
expand
collapse
The Montreal Gazette
Friday August 19, 2005
Mom, grandma snatch kids
Police investigating kidnapping; No Amber Alert
necessary, authorities say, because children not
believed to be in danger
PAUL CHERRY, The Gazette, Friday, August 19, 2005
Two children were kidnapped by their mother and
grandmother during what was supposed to be an arranged
family visit at a youth protection office.
The Montreal police released photos of the
children, 8-year-old Amalia Jean Baptiste and her
5-year-old brother, Moise, several hours after the
children were abducted Wednesday afternoon.
The children's 38-year-old mother lost custody of
her son and daughter last year and the youngsters were
placed with foster parents. Their mother had not been
heard from since January.
Wednesday, foster parents brought the children to a
youth protection office on Henri Bourassa Blvd. E.
in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough for a supervised
visit with the children's 67-year-old grandmother.
"The grandmother and mother were waiting outside as
the foster parents arrived for the supervised visit,"
said Jocelyne Boudreault, a spokesperson for the
Centre Jeunesse de Montreal. "It all happened in a
matter of minutes. It appeared to be planned because
they had a taxi waiting nearby. The mother threatened
the foster parents and gave them the impression she
was armed."
The grandmother and mother tried to jump into a
waiting taxi with the children but a foster parent
told the driver what was happening. The driver
refused to move and the mother, grandmother and two
children left on foot.
Boudreault said both women had the right to
supervised visits but that the mother had not
requested to see her children since she
disappeared.
The grandmother made regular supervised visits to
the children, Boudreault said. "But until (Wednesday)
the grandmother had given us no sign she would be an
accomplice in the kidnapping of the children. What we
hope now is that they are doing well and that they
will give us some news."
Montreal police Constable Benoit Couture said the
police are treating the case as a kidnapping. But the
police would not release the identity of either the
mother or the grandmother for reasons that Couture
would not explain.
He said the police would have released the women's
names if the case merited issuing an Amber Alert, the
child-abduction response system where information is
diffused to the media immediately.
Couture said one criterion for using the alert is
when investigators believe a child's life is in
danger.
"That is not the case this time," he said.
Both children are black, slightly over 3 feet tall
and thin.
Moise has brown eyes and short black curly hair.
He was wearing a dark green shirt and dark green
pants.
Amalia has brown eyes and short, curly black hair
with braids. She was wearing pink pants and a pink
shirt.
The police are asking anyone who sees the children
to call 911. Anyone with information concerning this
case can contact the Montreal police at (514)
280-0128.
pcherry@thegazette.canwest.com
Emily Lake
August 14, 2005
Lynnae Lake, the mother arrested on Oregon with her daughter Emily, has
been under attack by child protectors before in Michigan. According to
Nancy Luckhurst, complaints originated from her two older daughters when
they became teenagers. Leonard Henderson suggests a chemical company
initiated complaints to escape a tort suit. In any case, Michigan had Emily
in custody for a time, and the mother and daughter, now nine, eventually
fled to Oregon where Lynnae Lake lived under the name Anne White. While in
hiding, Lynnae made a then-anonymous video of her flight from child protectors.
There are two new reports on the case, a short one by Leonard Henderson,
and a long description of the arrest by Will
Gaston.
Emily Lake
I have been privileged to spend a couple of afternoons with Lynnae and
Emily Lake. I found Lynnae (the mom) to be highly intelligent with
impressive knowledge and experience with the technical aspects of
electronics. I was impressed with her uncompromising insistence on truth,
accuracy and high moral and ethical standards. Emily Lake (the daughter),
like most homeschoolers was very well-spoken, polite, and quiet, exuded a
high intellect. She was terrified at the possibility of ending back in CPS'
talons based on her previous terrible experiences in foster care.
Unfortunately, her fear of abusive treatment by the authorities continues to
be prophetic. - Leonard Henderson
Addendum: Susan Detlefsen reports on the legal
status of Emily Lake:
expand
collapse
From: <motherinterrupted@motherinterrupted.us>
To: <Oregon_Family_Rights@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2005 5:48 PM
Subject: Emily Lake Extradition Hearing Wednesday
August 17, 11 a.m.
The third shelter hearing to determine whether or
not either Oregon or Michigan has a legitimate claim
on 9 year old Emily, will take place tomorrow:
Emily Lake Hearing
August 17, 11 a.m.
1401 NE 68th (behind Glisan Fred Meyer), Portland,
Oregon
The Michigan petition was expired when Emily was
taken. Judge Waller is waiting to see whether or not
Michigan CPS can have it renewed. If not, they may
have to let Emily go.
Susan
Addendum: On August 17, Judge Waller ordered
Emily Lake returned to Michigan. For a detailed report, refer to the blog by Susan
Detlefsen. We have also created a combined report
on the hearing by Susan Detlefsen, Rev Randy Blair and Lynnae Lake aka Anne
White.
Prosecute Dad
August 13, 2005
CBS is planning a new TV show for this autumn called Close to Home. Each
episode is about a dysfunctional family, and glorifies social workers and
prosecutors while vilifying fathers. This link is to the promo for Close to Home,
with seven minutes of sample video.
Openness Orders
August 13, 2005
A lawyer comments on a change to the Child and Family Services Act
providing for openness orders. Even a lawyer is mystified. She mentions
the claim that most access orders are not now exercised, without pointing
out the foot-dragging by Children's Aid to prevent access, and the
humiliating conditions of supervised access.
expand
collapse
Proposed adoption law raises many questions
Family Practice By Carole Curtis
for Law Times
The provincial government established a Child
Welfare Secretariat in April 2004, and hired Bruce
Rivers (then executive director of the Toronto
Children's Aid Society, the largest CAS in Canada) to
head up a law reform initiative. The initiative had
many goals, but was intended, in part, to evaluate the
changes made to the Child and Family Services Act in
2000, following the report of the panel of experts
chaired by Justice Mary Jane Hatton. The Child
Welfare Secretariat prepared a report with 40
recommendations, which was submitted to the
government, but has not been made public.
Bill 210, Child and Family Services Statute Law
Amendment Act, 2005, was introduced on June 6. The
bill amends the act to (among other things) permit
courts to make openness orders for Crown wards who are
the subject of a plan for adoption.
The number of children in the care of children's
aid societies in Ontario has gone from 10,000 to about
19,000 in the last five years (these statistics may be
slightly out of date, but are not exaggerated).
In Ontario, there are roughly 9,000 children
(called Crown wards) in the permanent care of a
children's aid society. Seventy five per cent of them
can't be adopted because their family has a court
order for access. The government says that majority
of those access orders are not used by the parents
(i.e., the parents do not see the children). One of
the problems in this area is the lack of reliable data
about the children in the government's care.
Crown wards with access live in foster and group
homes. On average, children in foster or group care
are moved every two years. That means a child moves
her belongings, leaves her friends, changes schools,
lives in a new house, and lives with a new family,
facing different rules and new expectations. No one
doubts this kind of instability permeates and affects
all aspects of the child's life and well-being.
Children's aid societies' budgets went from $500
million to $1.1 billion in less than five years in
Ontario. How-ever, currently, children's aid
societies are carrying about a $70-million
deficit.
Although I have acted and continue to act for all
sides of the child protection equation (parents,
children, and children's aid societies), my
observations on this bill are from the perspective of
parents' counsel. I refer to the parents as "the
parents" and not as the "biological parents" or the
"birth parents" as has become fashionable in this area
of practice.
These amendments are a little complicated, and not
intuitive. If you work in this area, you will need to
read the bill closely.
In the bill, openness is not access. It may mean
contact, communication, a card or letter, information,
knowledge and for the child, may result in a greater
sense of identity.
Before an adoption, only a children's aid society
may apply to a court for an openness order (s.
145.1). The test applied is the best interests of the
child. The order can only be made on consent of
everyone, including the possible adoptive parents.
The court can only change or terminate the order
before an adoption, based on a material change in
circumstances, applying the best interests test, and
the children's aid society must agree.
After an adoption, the court can also change an
openness order (s. 153). However, the child cannot
apply for this change, and the parents cannot apply
without leave. Openness can also be the subject of an
agreement.
This law reform initiative raises mostly questions.
Initially, there is a concern that the focus of law
reform not be at the end of the process (at the Crown
wardship/adoption stage) when it is too late to help
this family stay together. Why isn't the energy and
money being put into the front end of the process, in
keeping families that need help together?
What is the philosophy behind this initiative?
What is intended by this initiative? And for whose
benefit? Is there any empirical data about this? Is
this meant to benefit the parents? Is it meant to
free up more kids for adoption? Who is the client
here? (i.e., whom does the government identify as the
client?).
Don't tell me the child is the client: that has
never been the case. Parents and their lawyers will
tell you that the government has always seen the
adoptive parents as the real client.
What results are intended or expected? Is this
meant to reduce the number of kids in care at the
early stages? Is this meant to reduce the number of
kids in long-term foster care (Crown ward with access,
in foster care)? Will there be applications to court
to terminate those several thousand access orders that
are now not being exercised, and replace them with
openness orders?
What is the structure really intended to be? What
sort of contact is envisaged? Remember that the word
used is "openness," not access or contact. What
rights accrue to these children during minority and at
age 18 -- are there any different rights than now? Is
the contact envisaged by the parents different from
the contact envisaged by the adoptive parents?
Why does the government cling to the use of the
term "adoption?" What about permanent placement?
Adoption itself is not a panacea, particularly in an
evolving multi-cultural society. Like fostering,
adoption is a concept quite foreign to some
cultures.
What will the court order look like? What will the
"usual" terms be? Will any retroactive orders be
permitted? Who are the parties to these orders?
What about enforceability? Who will these orders
bind? Who are the parties to these orders? What, if
any, is the continuing role for children's aid
societies after adoption? Who will enforce these
orders?
And finally, from the parent's perspective, what do
parents think this means? Do they think it means
access? Will parents think this a better solution?
What is really being offered to parents here? Will
this make settlement of Crown wardship cases
easier?
There are many bad names one can call a woman in
our society, but there is nothing as horrible to a
woman as calling her a bad mother. This is really
what these cases are about. Losing your child forever
is the worst thing that could possibly happen to a
parent. A Crown wardship case is the capital
punishment of family law.
While there may be research which supports the
validity of reform in this area, it has not been made
available. It is a great skill that lawyers are
taught, to take something nearly everyone thinks is a
good idea and pick it apart until almost nobody thinks
it is. There is much in this bill to consider.
Carole Curtis is a family law lawyer in a
three-lawyer firm in Toronto. She can be reached at
carolecurtis@carolecurtis.com
Domain Hijacked
August 12, 2005
The domain name systemvsbizzi.com, formerly used by Jessie McVicar to
host his website critical of Children's Aid, has been removed from his
control and placed on status registrar-hold. This shuts down his website.
A similar technique was used in October 2003 to shut down the AFRA website for two weeks.
Addendum: A new site with similar material, but not under direct
control of Jesse McVicar, has appeared at www.systemvsbizzi.biz.
Another Girl MacedProtected
August 10, 2005
Here is a story you will not see anywhere in the press, not even in
Oregon.
expand
collapse
A shelter hearing for Emily Lake will be held
tomorrow at 2:30 at the Multnomah County Juvenile
Courthouse at 1401 NE 68th (behind the Glisan Fred
Myer).
Emily and her mother "Anne" left their home back
east some time ago to avoid being separated for a
second time by CPS. Many of these families contact me
because I have a cable show that exposes CPS fraud and
abuse.
Some of you who will receive this will remember
meeting Emily, a bright, charming 9 year old who
reported being kidnapped by CPS and abused in foster
care, then finally returned to her mother, only to be
hunted again by CPS, beginning sometime a year ago or
so. Rather than subject her daughter to being taken
again by CPS, Anne did what hundreds of other mothers
across the country have done: hide their children
from CPS, who alleges to be "protecting" the same
children who say CPS has hurt them in the past.
According to an eye witness report, Emily and Anne
were violently apprehended by Portland Police (7
patrol cars with police dogs). Both Emily and the
mother were maced, and the mother, trying to protect
Emily from police, may have been beaten. Emily was
heard screaming for her mother and violently
protesting her "arrest" by Children's Protective
Services and the Portland Police.
Please show your support for the family tomorrow by
attending the shelter hearing tomorrow.
Susan Detlefsen
MotherInterrupted.us
Addendum: Here is more on the case from
Nancy Luckhurst:
expand
collapse
August 10, 2005
Dear God in heaven have mercy on this angel child
and her mother. We need to step forward and speak up
for this mother. Emily's mother had given her my name
and number to memorize and call in case of emergency
at any time. She knew because of our advocacy there
would be a friendly voice at the end of the phone.
Never in my life have I ever heard such terror in the
voice of a child. How do you remain calm to keep the
child calm in at a time like this. Then her mother
came to the phone and for a few short minutes we
talked she was petrified. She knew they were there
for her and Emily. She was so frightened for what she
knew is going to happen to her daughter. She didn't
make it easy on them I can tell you that. But let it
be known that there will be a full investigation into
this one. The wheels are already turning in the right
places and Justice will be done. And people other
than this mother pay for the lies perjury and false
allegations.
Group Home Fosters Hookers
August 9, 2005
The following article from the Chicago Sun-Times describes the
recruitment of prostitutes. It has more stereotypes than fact, but the
truly important fact is in the middle: the prostitutes were runaways from
Aunt Martha's Group Home for Troubled Youth in Glenwood, which likely means
Aunt Martha's Youth Service
Center. The girls must have found the life of a prostitute preferable
to being an inmate in a group home. According to the article, the US
Congress is considering outlawing domestic trafficking, but is not
considering cleaning up group homes.
expand
collapse
Chicago Sun-Times
U.S. kids coerced into prostitution
August 9, 2005
BY ANNIE SWEENEY Crime Reporter
Just teenagers, the two girls spent their nights
walking up and down "the stroll" near 47th and
Pulaski, waving at passing cars in hopes of finding
work.
All the while, Victor Powell -- who allegedly had
the girls tattooed with his pimp alias, "Mr. Cream"
-- sat in his Cadillac, making sure his enterprise
churned out its usual thousands of dollars a night,
federal court documents indicate.
That was until October 2004, when Powell, 22, was
arrested after one of the girls escaped his alleged
iron grip and told her story to authorities.
Soon, Chicago's first federal prosecution of child
trafficking and prostitution was launched.
Another Chicago-area resident, David Phillips,
later was indicted under similar charges as Powell.
He allegedly pimped a girl who was 14.
The cases against Powell and Phillips reflect the
emerging concern that authorities have about U.S.
citizens who are trafficked -- bought and sold on the
street against their will.
In recent years, lawmakers and law enforcement
have focused on human trafficking as an international
crime -- women, for example, who are tricked into
leaving Latvia to work as hookers in Germany.
But this year, for the first time, Congress is
considering changes to anti-trafficking legislation
that would recognize domestic trafficking. It would
provide money to help victims recover and set up
training for police.
Often, kids who find themselves lured into the
trafficking trap are runaways or wards of the
state.
"They are low-esteem children picked up at bus
stops or malls, train stations or whatever," said FBI
Special Agent Mark Wallschlaeger, a coordinator of the
Child Prostitution section. "They are moved on. . .
. Before they know it, they are doing things they
wouldn't have imagined doing in all their lives."
'Almost a brainwashing'
Both Phillips and Powell glorified the pimp
lifestyle, often posing with cash or girls, court
documents show.
Powell had them watch videos called "Pimps Up Ho's
Down" and "American Pimp" so they could learn the
lifestyle. Phillips allegedly can be seen on a
videotape saying, "Pimp some tonight. I need some
Benjamins."
Powell allegedly brought the girls, one 16 and
another 17, to "the stroll" -- along 47th Street
between Western and Pulaski, and Pulaski between 47th
and 59th -- every night between June and September
2004.
There, the girls would wave down cars, charging
between $70 and $150, depending on the act they
performed, the documents said.
Powell also allegedly took the girls to St. Louis
to work at a hotel. During a trip to Arizona, one of
them was arrested.
Powell allegedly chose the clothes the girls wore
-- typically high heels and short skirts. He also
allegedly beat and raped them.
"He kept all the money. He made them believe he
was keeping the money for them. The girls were not
free to leave. He kept them in horrible hotels. And
moved them around. He paid for food and clothing,"
said Assistant U.S. Attorney Carrie Hamilton. "It's
almost a brainwashing that takes place. It's a very
complicated, horrible relationship."
Phillips' alleged victims, a 14-year-old and
16-year-old, were recruited after they ran away from
Aunt Martha's Group Home for Troubled Youth in
Glenwood, according to court records. They remained
with him only for about three weeks, but during that
time they were trafficked into Indiana.
Powell's attorney refused to comment, but
Phillips' attorney denied the allegations.
"David Phillips did not take any children or
adults over state lines, and there is no evidence that
he did," said his attorney, Shannon Lynch.
Lynch said Phillips, a father, previously ran a
limousine business and grew up in Chicago.
New law under review
People who have studied human trafficking say it's
hard to know how many domestic victims are out there.
A 2001 University of Pennsylvania study estimated
there were as many as 325,000 children at risk of
being caught up in commercial sex trades.
Chicago cops have come across kids who were
trafficked in from other states. But exactly how many
children have been forced into prostitution locally or
over state lines is not clear.
Child prostitutes are as young as 11 and probably
were sexually abused as young children. They don't
get along with their parents or guardians, which makes
having a pimp so attractive, said Faye, 17, a former
child prostitute who spoke to the Chicago Sun-Times.
The newspaper is withholding her last name to protect
her safety.
The pimp will always make you feel better, Faye
said, buying clothes and gifts and telling you what
you want to hear. And he knows how to make you want
him.
"If he said he didn't need me, I'd work harder,"
said Faye, who began prostituting at age 13 on the
East Coast.
The FBI in Chicago began focusing on the problem
of child prostitution two years ago after national
federal law enforcement officials met with child
advocacy groups. The discussion sparked more
coordinated efforts to identify victims through the
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
and the Chicago Public Schools, said Hamilton, of the
U.S. attorney's office.
Legislation that Congress is considering not only
would provide training for cops to better handle these
specific human-trafficking cases, but it also would
provide $5 million to build three rehabilitation
centers around the country to house victims. Under
existing law, no money is earmarked to help these
victims, said Maureen Walsh, general counsel for the
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe,
which helped draft the bill.
The mentality of law enforcement is often still
punitive, Walsh said.
"Child victims are still viewed [as] the
blame-worthy party," Walsh said. "They are to blame
for being on the streets as opposed to looking at them
as being children sexually exploited by adults."
Children of the Night in Los Angeles, a
comprehensive facility for victims of child
prostitution, is one of the few places around the
country dedicated to this problem, said the founder,
Dr. Lois Lee.
Lee said children who suffer this kind of abuse
should not be housed with other children in the
juvenile justice system.
Because of their sexual abuse, they lack a lot of
the aggression other children in the system have.
This leaves them unable to take care of themselves
against kids who are criminals.
Yet, the children pose a different threat
altogether.
"They recruit for pimps,'' Lee said. "And they're
sexually compulsive."
'Walk forward'
When Faye arrived in Los Angeles, she had one
plan: See the Hollywood sign and get back to the East
Coast and her pimp.
Today, Faye is about to leave for college at Cal
State-Long Beach -- a success story at Children of the
Night.
"If a 13-year-old girl is able to turn her life
over, then anything is possible," she said. "Tell the
girls the hardest part is to walk forward. It's the
easiest to go back. Once you are able to move forward
you are able to do so many things."
Meanwhile, both Powell and Phillips are awaiting
trial. The FBI's Wallschlaeger is pursuing leads on
other victims.
Family Rebuffed
August 8, 2005
Remember those boasts by ministers promising more money to help disabled
children? Here is the story of one real family with a disabled child,
driven to penury by the demands of Children's Aid, and rejected in attempts
to apply for relief.
expand
collapse
Family with disabled children ejected
from hearing
by Cecilia Nasmith, - Friday, August 05, 2005 @ 09:00
John Copeman, his wife Ann and three of their five
children piled into their van yesterday to make the
hot, expensive drive from Campbellford to the Ontario
Disability Support Program tribunal hearing to ask for
help.
It was no picnic, but they had waited a year for
this hearing date.
Unfortunately, they came out with nothing, after
their social assistance review board's social benefits
tribunal hearing at the Best Western Cobourg Inn and
Convention Centre was abruptly cancelled -- after Mr.
Copeman was asked to take his autistic son out of the
room.
Mr. Copeman showed up with the boy, he explained
outside the hotel, because the funding they received
for Billy's day care had been cut.
"We should have been receiving $400 a month
maximum, because he is totally dependent upon us for
washing, dressing -- we can't leave him alone," he
said. "They cut that in half."
But then, even with money, it's hard to find a care
giver because Billy is a typical size for a
12-year-old. Along with his habit of vocalizing, he
can be physically difficult to handle or restrain.
The hearing was to be an independent, impartial
review with the Copeman family, but Billy's noises
seemed to put the tribunal off. She didn't even seem
happy when the boy was out in the hall with his
mother, and asked that he be taken from the
building.
"I can't do that," Mr. Copeman said. "He's part
of the problem we are here to resolve."
Then he was told that, if he did not get the boy
out, he would in effect be the one making the decision
-- which he saw as a threat.
"We're leaving here with nothing," he said. "I
don't even know if I'll get a chance for another
meeting -- we waited over a year for this one."
That's a long time to wait, when dealing with a
safety issue as the family is doing. They had hoped
to get money for a safe, modern furnace to replace the
wood stove that poses a hazard to Billy and his
family.
Sometimes his son doesn't sleep, Mr. Copeman said.
He has been known to open the wood stove and add wood
to the fire. Sometimes he tosses in plastic toys and
sets off the smoke detector.
Along with the danger, wood heating is not very
comfortable, he added. If one of the children has a
medical appointment in Peterborough or Toronto, for
instance, they have to come home to a cold house.
Mr. Copeman had been refused money to fix up his
home because it wasn't up to a certain standard. In
fact, he admits, the Children's Aid Society at one
point gave them 48 hours to move.
"I remortgaged the house and fixed it up. I spent
$50,000 to bring it up to ODSP standards, and they
didn't fund any of that. We put in new windows, new
door, new roof," he listed.
"We just couldn't afford a new furnace for $12,000,
so we were appealing that decision. We come here, and
this lady doesn't want us in the room.
"(Billy) goes swimming, he goes to school, nobody
ever asks him to leave," he said, fighting back tears.
"This is the first time my disabled son has been asked
to leave a place."
Mr. Copeman even approached the owner of the Best
Western to see if he had any kind of policy about
disabled people.
"He said, `I have no beefs. We host groups and
conventions all the time'," Mr. Copeman said.
"Dalton McGuinty promises hundreds of thousands of
dollars for autistic children, and we got nothing.
Just cutbacks, cutbacks, cutbacks."
And that includes money for their 10-year-old
daughter with developmental difficulties, he added.
Her funding has been cut back by $125 a month.
"We got an increase on the National Child Tax
Disability Benefit," Mr. Copeman said. "Our baby
bonus went up, and ODSP clawed that back."
After the family was ejected yesterday from the
board room in which hearings were conducted, the door
was closed. Mr. Copeman knocked in vain, and then
the hotel owner went in to talk to the tribunal
member. He came out with a message: the hearing
would have to be rescheduled.
Having spent $35 on gas and $40 at McDonald's (with
the prospect of possibly receiving back 18 cents per
kilometre if this expense is approved), the
discouraged Copeman family climbed into the hot van to
go home.
"We have no specific policies about children being
present, because we haven't felt it necessary to make
any," said legal-unit manager Joanne Leatch of the
social assistance review board's social benefits
tribunal.
Though unable to comment on specifics, Ms. Leatch
explained that the members who conduct hearings are
trained in an ongoing way in the importance of
conducting a hearing with sensitivity.
"We know appellants appealing before them are very
vulnerable people," Ms. Leatch said.
"To back that up, we also have on our Web site a
complaints procedure so that, if someone feels they
haven't been treated properly, our chair felt it was
important they have a place to go. They just write in
to our chair, and it's taken from there."
FIA/DHS Opponent Sued
August 7, 2005
Pastor Randy Blair and his lawyer Janet M Frederick have for years
opposed Michigan child protectors, who in response to criticism recently
changed their name from Family Independence Agency (FIA) to Department of
Human Services (DHS). Now a target of Mr Blair's criticism is suing him.
The item in controversy appears to have been removed from the website. [
Pastor Blair points that this statement is incorrect, the website is
unchanged ]. What is left of the Enemies of
Children page urges readers not to harm those named, but to pray for
them.
expand
collapse
From: Blair
To: Pastor Randy
Sent: Saturday, August 06, 2005 10:52 PM
Subject: PRESS RELEASE: Oakland County Attorney Sues
Child Activist Organization
06 AUG 2005 - An Oakland County Attorney, Jeffrey
S. Sherbow, of the Law Offices of Sherbow &
Mitchell, P.C. in Pleasant Ridge, is suing Pastor
Randy Blair, an activist and President of Michigan
victims of CPS. Named also in the lawsuit as
defendants are "all agents, members, board members,
trustees, attorneys, employees, and those persons in
active concert or participation with them."
Mr. Sherbow alleges that Blair and Michigan
victims of CPS "used personal information about [him],
listing his home as an address of an "enemy of
children", and/or advocating that action be taken
against him." This, allegedly, was on the
www.michiganvictimsofcps.org website, which serves at
the primary information center for Blair's activist
group, which advocates on behalf of families who have
been falsely accused of child abuse or neglect and
children who are abused in state care.
He is seeking an excess of $25,000 in damages as a
result of his "extreme mental anguish, mental concern
and a loss of personal mental solicitude" and "extreme
stress, anxiety, humiliation, inconvenience, and
psychiatric disabilities." He alleges that "Wanted"
posters of Judge Cheryl Matthews contained information
that would incite violence on his person or home as a
result of a concerted, organized effort by Michigan
victims of CPS.
Pastor Blair, who had never even heard of the
plaintiff before the 6th of August said, "This goes
beyond the bounds of frivolity, and is nothing more
than an attempt to silence the group's First Amendment
Rights, and hinder our activism for the children and
families of Michigan. Our, always nonviolent,
activist efforts will remain unfettered by this
trifling inconvenience. It is our sincere expectation
that Judge Sosnick will throw this frivolous lawsuit
out of his courtroom, and perhaps order the plaintiff
to get back on his meds. Regardless, Sherbow
certainly will be in our prayers."
An August 24th Hearing is scheduled at 8:30am
before Judge Sosnick at the Oakland County Circuit
Court. Blair will be represented by Janet M.
Frederick, Esq., known for her staunch defense of
falsely accused parents in several states, who is also
a party in this lawsuit. Sherbow is represented by
Elaine R. Carlis, of Sherbow & Mitchell.
Pastor Blair can be contacted at (248) 618-7937.
Email: blairs@ameritech.net
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Randy Blair (248) 618-7937 Fax - (831)
855-9108
Director - Christ-Centered Family Rejuvenation Center
- www.ccfrc.net
President - Michigan victims of CPS PAC -
www.michiganvictimsofcps.org
J.A.I.L. Warden - Oakland County MI-
www.jail4judges.org
Jean has Adopted Daughter
August 6, 2005
In a Canadian echo of the US Supreme Court nomination, it turns out the
six-year-old daughter of Governor-General designee Michaëlle Jean is
adopted. Here is a sidebar from a Canada.com article.
expand
collapse
CREDIT: Fred Chartrand. The Canadian Press
Governor general-designate Michaelle Jean,
standing with her six-year-old daughter,
Marie-Eden, and her husband, Jean-Daniel Lafond,
dismissed suggestions she was appointed because of
her minority and francophone roots, or because the
Liberals want her help to shore up their image in
Quebec.
Governor of Children and Youth
August 5, 2005
Canada's newly appointed Governor General Michaëlle Jean says that she
will use her position to draw attention to children and young people. We
quote just the two relevant paragraphs from the Globe and Mail.
expand
collapse
Jean debuts with a combative, witty style
By MICHAEL DEN TANDT
Friday, August 5, 2005 Page A4
With a report from John Ibbitson
After a prepared speech delivered mostly in
impeccable Radio-Canada French and partly in
impeccable French-accented English, Ms. Jean said she
intends to use the bully pulpit of Rideau Hall to
focus attention on the plight of disadvantaged young
people.
"I can tell you already that one of my concerns in
my new job will be to consider the situation of
children and youth in this country," Ms. Jean said.
"As a journalist, even though this was not part of my
work, I have always set time aside to meet with
children in the schools, often in disadvantaged
neighbourhoods and I've always taken the time to
listen to those young people."
Supreme Adoption
August 4, 2005
US Supreme Court nominee John G Roberts has two adopted children. We may
find out soon whether the adoptions are charity or baby theft. Here is the
report by Matt Drudge.
expand
collapse
XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX THU AUG 04, 2005 11:35:09
ET XXXXX
NY TIMES INVESTIGATES ADOPTION RECORDS OF SUPREME
COURT NOMINEE'S CHILDREN
**Exclusive**
The NEW YORK TIMES is looking into the adoption
records of the children of Supreme Court Nominee John
G. Roberts, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
The TIMES has investigative reporter Glen Justice
hot on the case to investigate the status of adoption
records of Judge Roberts' two young children, Josie
age 5 and Jack age 4, a top source reveals.
Judge Roberts and his wife Jane adopted the
children when they each were infants.
Both children were adopted from Latin America.
A TIMES insider claims the look into the adoption
papers are part of the paper's "standard background
check."
Roberts' young son Jack delighted millions of
Americans during his father's Supreme Court nomination
announcement ceremony when he wouldn't stop dancing
while the President and his father spoke to a national
television audience.
Previously the WASHINGTON POST Style section had
published a story criticizing the outfits Mrs.
Roberts had them wear at the announcement
ceremony.
One top Washington official with knowledge of the
NEW YORK TIMES action declared: Trying to pry into
the lives of the Roberts' family like this is
despicable. Children's lives should be off limits.
The TIMES is putting politics over fundamental
decency."
One top Republican official when told of the
situation was incredulous. "This can't possibly be
true?"
Developing...
Addendum: The New York Times ran an article Adoptions in Paraguay: Mothers Cry Theft in 1996
describing the techniques used to supply adoptive
children to Americans.
Call to Moles
August 4, 2005
Here is a call to CAS moles from AFRA. We know you are watching, because
you send the police promptly when you object.
expand
collapse
From: aconnell@--------------
To: leonard@familyrights.us
Sent: Wednesday, August 03, 2005 9:28 PM
Subject: Medical neglect
Dear Leonard,
My children were removed from my custody because
the school called in a report that my son was
extremely ill and I refused to take him to the
hospital. I told them I called our pediatrician's
office and described the symptoms and was told it was
a virus going around and not to bring him in. My
other son and I were suffering from the same
symptoms.
The DCF worker removed both of my children. She
had him taken to the hospital. He was released first
thing the next morning with a clean bill of health.
It has been 16 months and I have not gotten my
children back. Also, no efforts to avoid removal were
made, no services were offered. At my trial those
details were not mentioned.
I guess there is nothing I can do about it.
--Anna
What do you think I should tell Anna? Especially
considering that she has it figured out already??
If we had a system that operated on truth and facts,
there wouldn't be a justice problem, would there? Or
would you rather just blow her off and assume that she
isn't telling the truth? This is what we deal with
every day with this incompetent and evil system. I
don't want to hear from the choir. I want to hear from
the smart-aleck CPS moles and pro-system operatives that
visit this site to "scope out the enemy" and the
politician's aides who were sent here to see if we are a
bona-fide organization or a crazed bunch of radicals.
The AFRA CEO wants to hear from YOU I will publish
any and all replies in an "Advice to Anna" page.
Please forward widely.
Junior Justice fighters
August 2, 2005
The following incident occurred on July 28 in front of Queen's Park, as
reported by Canada Court Watch.
expand
collapse
Photo: Junior Justice fighters standing up for
Justice at Queen's Park on July 28, 2005. These
children were once victims of unlicensed CAS
workers on a witch hunt against their parents.
The older children still have bad memories of
being in fear and held in foster care against
their wishes by the CAS in Ontario. These kids
will undoubtedly become part of the growing
movement of Ontario citizens and future taxpayers
who will eventually put an end to the CAS
incompetence and corruption in that province.
Addendum: The children pictured are those of
Aneurin and Patricia Ellis.
Time to Act on Adoption Disclosure
August 1, 2005
John Dunn has forwarded information on the
controversy over the Adoption Disclosure bill.
expand
collapse
Information & Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian
has been busy this summer. In her latest promotion of a
disclosure veto in Bill 183 she has published quotations from the letters, emails and phone calls she
received opposing the bill. Click on "Submission to
Minister Pupatello" to read the letter to Sandra
Pupatello and on "attachments" to read the quotes.
In addition, Cavoukian published her "Fact Sheet on
Adoption Disclosure" on June 29th (click on the above
link, it's just below "Submission to Sandra
Pupatello"). This "Fact Sheet" is extremely
unbalanced, and often just plain wrong, in presenting
the facts about adoption disclosure. For example, the
IPC claims that adopted adults cannot get copies of
their own adoption orders -- you all know that this is
simply not true! COAR has prepared a rebuttal to the
"Fact Sheet" titled "Misinformation from the Privacy
Commissioner".
You can read the rebuttal at COAR or CCNM. If you would like a copy of the rebuttal
in a word document write to Karen Lynn at
ccnm@rogers.com. Feel free to distribute it as you
see fit.
ACTION
It is vital that we maintain the support of MPPs
who support Bill 183. In particular, we need to
ensure that Liberal MPPs remain committed to the bill
as it is now - without a disclosure veto. We need all
of their votes to get the bill passed!
Please write to your MPP at his or her constituency
office. Here's the link to all MPP's contact
information: olaap.ontla.on.ca/mpp/daIndex.do?locale=en. Look
under "Current Members" and click the link that suits
you to find the name and constituency email address of
your MPP. Please remember that MPPs will not be at
their Queen's Park offices in the summer - better to
write them in their ridings.
If you can, it would be best if you could visit
your MPP to talk to him or her personally. Personal
contact works best.
It is very possible that many MPPs will have read
the misinformation from the privacy commissioner.
They may not understand the damage caused by
disclosure vetoes and they may be succumbing to the
propaganda from the privacy commissioner. We need to
make them understand WHY we don't want a disclosure
veto.
If Bill 183, which right now does NOT contain a
disclosure veto (just a contact veto and a fine),
comes to include a disclosure veto because of pressure
from the commissioner, we will lose the most
progressive bill ever introduced in Canada. The
experience of other provinces demonstrates that
disclosure vetoes, whether applied against birth
parents or adopted adults, are very hurtful, punitive,
prevent medical information from being transmitted,
and are often confusing. If you are an adopted adult
subject to a disclosure veto you will not be able to
get your original birth certificate or to get any
information on it, including the name(s) of your
parents of birth and your name at birth. If you are a
searching birth parent you will not be able to get
your son's or daughter's name.
Content of Your Letter
Tell your MPP, respectfully, in as much detail as
possible, your own personal reasons why you need to
know this information. Heart-warming or heartbreaking
is good. You could talk about the pain of not knowing
essential information about your self, not knowing how
your lost child has fared, your loss, or whatever is
appropriate for you. Tell them what is is like not to
know who you are or what has happened to your
now-adult child. The urgent need for medical
information, if you need it, is good. Please try to
be as convincing as possible and this time, don't be
brief.
Send us a Copy
Urgent: Please send us a separate copy of your
letter so that WE can use it (without your name!) to
counter the quotations from the privacy commissioner.
Send your copy to either Karen at ccnm@rogers.com or
Wendy at wrowney@hotmail.com.
Thanks friends. Here's hoping that by the end of
October we will have tasted victory in Ontario.
Yours sincerely,
| Michael Grand | mgrand@uoguelph.ca
| | Karen Lynn | ccnm@rogers.com
| | Wendy Rowney | wrowney@hotmail.com
| | COAR Coordinating Committee
|
Bierly Children Stolen
August 1, 2005
Not all of our readers are Canadian. An American fan suggested the Bierly story as a good example
of child protection gone awry.
Lisa Bierly had her children stolen in Utah. A child with medical needs
was neglected in care, the mother was not allowed to give evidence to the
court, the family lawyer did not bring out important points in defense, the
lawyer for social services vilified the family. A functionary of the child
protection system tried to use it as a source of a child for her own
adoption. And even after acknowledging that the removal was unjustified,
the state would not give the kids back. The children identified by the
pseudonyms Michael and Katie appear in other sources as Jordan and Leigh. You can reach Lisa Bierly at
lsbierly @ yahoo.com (but remove the spaces around the at sign).
expand
collapse
Feature - June 2, 2005
Broken Home
One woman’s arduous custody battle wins child-welfare reforms, and nothing more.
by Shane Johnson
It had been more than two years since the family had seen or heard from the boy, hereafter referred to as “Michael” due to privacy concerns, and Peter was unsure his brother would even recognize his voice. He dialed the number anyway and, by chance, Michael picked up.
“Peter?” Michael asked in disbelief.
“Yeah, it’s your brother,” Peter guaranteed.
What followed was a hasty, nerve-racking reunion. Between sobs on either end of the line, Peter confirmed that Michael was in good health and being a good boy, but he missed everyone and wanted to come home. Before hanging up, Michael, who recently turned 12, asked Peter to carry a simple message to their mother: “Tell mom I said thanks for trying.”
Few would fault Michael’s mother for not trying. But Lisa Bierly, a former debutante and daughter of a retired Pittsburgh banker, is showing wear for the four-and-a-half-year struggle to win back her two youngest children. The fiery mother of four’s distinctively thick eye makeup runs ever more frequently. Her doctor says wincing stomach pain probably indicates ulcers. And she could stand to lose a few pounds, she says, to ease the load on a nagging back injury, but time or zeal for exercise has been hard to come by.
It was September 2000 when Michael, a brittle diabetic, was taken into state custody due to his mother’s alleged medical neglect. Adding to the anguish was the removal of Michael’s now-6-year-old sister, “Katie,” as a so-called “sibling at risk” six days later. Since then, Bierly’s waking hours have been spent in dogged pursuit of bringing them back home. Standing in her way have been state agencies, including Utah’s Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS), which acknowledge both removals were fraught with mistakes, but ultimately blame Bierly for losing her children.
The word “mistakes,” however, doesn’t nearly quantify the tragicomedy of errors and bureaucratic dysfunction that presaged and perpetuated a harsh lesson in Kafkaesque futility. Bierly doesn’t shirk her part in exacerbating the nightmare. But she’s paid dearly for those missteps while the other offending players have gone as yet unanswerable.
A first-of-its-kind review of the case by the Legislative Auditor General’s office found that “procedural errors were made during the removals of each of the children and … we cannot definitely conclude that the removals were justified at that time.” There’s consensus that the first social worker assigned to the case strayed from accepted DCFS policies, and widespread agreement among child-welfare workers that one particularly relentless assistant attorney general seemingly worked against the family from the outset. Then there was the doctor who, before ever examining Michael, referred his mother to DCFS for medical neglect, then testified as the star witness against her fitness as a parent, and later tried to take the boy for her own.
Justice in the case has been almost poetic. For even as Bierly’s various protests have brought about changes to DCFS policies—changes that could easily have made the difference in her case—she’s yet to taste the fruit of those hard-won reforms. Consequently, semiweekly Sunday breakfasts with what family she has left invariably turn to dour reflections on two empty seats.“Grandpa Barry”
DCFS Child Protective Services (CPS) worker Barry Richards, “the stranger who called himself grandpa,” dropped into the Bierlys’ lives at a Midvale motel, where they were holed up contemplating a move back to Pennsylvania to be with Bierly’s ailing father. Her eldest, Tim, was the lone holdout. Looking back, the 23-year-old dead-ringer for actor Ethan Hawke wishes they’d just gone.
Richards, a licensed clinical social worker and self-described “traumatologist,” was at the time a part-time caseworker with 13 months experience. Although he still conducts clinical assessments for the division, according to DCFS Salt Lake Valley Regional Director LaRay Brown, he’s since left CPS. During the course of what Bierly recalls as a 20-minute chat, Richards informed her of an anonymous medical neglect referral, then bid her goodbye, never to meet Michael until taking him into state custody two weeks later.
That lag, Richards later testified in court, was due to the “ongoing investigation, gathering a cumulative amount of concern and evidence from those witnesses I interviewed.” But Richards never mentioned that throughout his investigation—he was out of town at a conference, as later discovered by the Office of Child Protection Ombudsman (OCPO), which found lapses in Richards’ casework and concerns about his behavior.
Meanwhile, the case Richards set on the back burner was boiling over in the hands of Dr. Dana Hardin, then the new chief of pediatric endocrinology and diabetes at the University of Utah Medical School and head of the Utah Diabetes Center.
Bierly was two-and-a-half-hours late for Michael’s first appointment with Hardin who, weeks earlier, had replaced Michael’s lifelong diabetes doctor. Hardin had left for the day but, when phoned by an attending nurse, instructed Bierly to stand by with Michael for her imminent return. When Bierly refused, she says Hardin ordered Michael hospitalized at once. Flabbergasted, Bierly says, she left with her son.
“I wanted a second opinion,” Bierly has always maintained. “It wasn’t that I knew more than the doctor, but I knew my child, and he was not sick.”
Adds Darryl Taylor, Bierly’s common-law husband and Katie’s father: “That was Lisa’s medical neglect: that she didn’t want her kid to go in the hospital with some lady that she doesn’t even know, some new doctor.”
Bierly skipped a follow-up, whereupon Hardin urged DCFS intervention.
Tim tried, but couldn’t console his brother when “Grandpa Barry” arrived to take him into custody. “I told [Michael] we’d get him back; do whatever we could,” recalls Tim, now a father to three daughters of his own.
With characteristic Bierly pluck Michael refused to go, leaving Tim to carry his sobbing brother, “the Love Bug,” to an idling car at the curb. Tim notes it was “the last time we were able to have freedom as a family.”
Richards drove off with the boy, later citing his “immediate” need of medical care in a shelter request form. But according to OCPO and the Legislative Auditor General, Richards never interviewed Michael, never had his medical condition assessed and offered the family no in-home preventive services before the removal, all of which DCFS policy calls for. And instead of racing the supposedly sickly child to a hospital, as DCFS policy also requires, records show Richards delivered Michael to a shelter where no one was so much as qualified to administer an insulin shot. He admonished staff to strictly follow Bierly’s written instructions for Michael’s care, “despite the fact that DCFS removed [Michael] based on allegations Ms. Bierly was not providing [him] with appropriate medical care,” OCPO pointed out.
In a phone call hours after Michael’s removal, Bierly says Richards confessed the removal was a “huge mistake,” one of many allegations he prefers not to address. Despite a signed and notarized confidentiality waiver from Bierly, which he insisted upon before he would discuss the case, Richards declined comment, citing concerns about his integrity and professional reputation.
It wasn’t until four days after Michael’s removal—when in the foster home of a registered nurse who voiced “intensifying” concerns that his condition was “worsening without [Bierly’s] attention,” Richards' case logs note—that he was admitted to Primary Children’s hospital at his mother’s request. Michael’s treating physician: Dr. Hardin.
Days later, Bierly was splitting time between court and the hospital when Richards returned to the motel to take Katie from her father, whom Bierly points out has never been accused of abuse or neglect. “Did he have the [guts] to admit his mistake?” Bierly asks. “No, he compounded the problem with [the assistant attorney general] by taking my daughter.”
Records show DCFS countenanced OCPO recommendations that Richards “receive specific training on the appropriate actions” that should be taken when children with chronic medical conditions are taken into custody, and a “plan of corrective action” to retrain him in “CPS policy, the ability to adequately assess risk and the ability to write clear and specific activity logs which accurately represent the action taken on the case.” OCPO ultimately concluded that a “more timely assessment and intervention may have precluded … removal” of both children.
That’s an understatement to former Republican state Rep. Matt Throckmorton, one of many to take more than a passing interest in the case. Of hundreds of allegedly bungled DCFS cases that Throckmorton says he has thoroughly investigated, the Bierly case is among a half-dozen where, “in my opinion, it’s just 110 percent clear the children never should have been removed.
“All she needed was one chance to clarify it without the state immediately yanking her kids,” he says, “a chance for a second medical opinion, at minimum.”
Throckmorton slated Bierly to share her story with a child-welfare oversight panel in 2002, but another case took up the allotted time, and he was never able to reconvene the panel. After the meeting, though, Throckmorton says Assistant Attorney General Paul Amann introduced himself and immediately volunteered, “Lisa is a liar.”
The e-mails began innocuously enough, Throckmorton says. Every few days, Amann would write, inquiring about the next hearing. But then the cables turned “bizarre,” “annoying,” “amazing,” “almost juvenile,” Throckmorton says. He forwarded one particularly “harassing” e-mail—questioning why a conservative lawmaker such as Throckmorton would take up for someone like Bierly—to Amann’s superiors, after which he says the pestering ceased.
Considering the stature of Amann’s office, Throckmorton says, “if he was willing to write that kind of e-mail to a state legislator, that supports the validity of the concerns that [Bierly] raised about how he treated her in court.”
Foregone Conclusion?
Among fellow attorneys, Amann is known as a fierce courtroom adversary, among some DCFS workers as an overbearing bully, and to Bierly, the man who ensured she’d never get her children back. Technically, the attorney general’s office is supposed to provide legal advice to its client, DCFS, but those lines sometimes get blurred in practice.
“They said I have an authority problem,” laments Bierly. “[Amann] had an authority problem, as in he had this massive ego and everybody had to bow down in his presence.”
At a shelter hearing to decide if the removals were warranted, Amann set the lasting tone, painting a ghastly portrait of Bierly for 3rd District Juvenile Judge Olof Johansson. Relying on Richards’ testimony, along with letters of concern from Dr. Hardin, Amann depicted Michael as a boy on the cusp of death due to his mother’s neglect.
Richards’ testimony that Michael was hospitalized the day he was removed went unchallenged by Bierly’s court-appointed attorney, Russell Pietryga, who then argued semantics when Richards stressed the family’s “transient” motel accommodations as his reason for removing Katie. In fact, that decision may not have been Richards’ at all. His case logs state that Amann and the guardian ad litem, a state attorney assigned to represent Michael’s best interests, “obliged” Richards to seek Katie’s “immediate removal.”
Had anyone bothered to ask, Bierly ached to tell Johansson, the family was in a state of transition, not transience. What’s more, she and Taylor had inked a lease on a $1,200-per-month house the day before. But nobody asked, and neither Bierly nor four defense witnesses—Tim, Peter and two family friends—earlier sworn in were called to testify.
Richards’ description of Michael’s “perilous” condition went unchallenged, even though both the boy’s pediatrician and previous diabetes specialist indicated in earlier and subsequent correspondence that, although Bierly missed appointments, Michael was seen regularly, was well cared for and as much loved as any child.
Michael’s weight had plummeted to the fifth percentile on the growth curve for boys his age, Dr. Hardin’s correspondence stated, a possible indication his insulin was being insufficiently administered. But according to Hardin’s own tally of Michael’s weight at the time, he would have plotted safely in the 25th percentile on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts.
That Michael never went into crisis under his mother’s care, which records show he has done at least twice in foster placements, “proves that I knew what to do with [Michael’s] diabetes,” Bierly says. Hospital records indicate Michael’s blood-sugar levels were wildly erratic throughout his stay at Primary Children’s, and long after Hardin adjusted his insulin, supporting what Michael’s previous doctors had always known—his brittle diabetes was exceptionally difficult to control.
Even DCFS Director Richard Anderson seemed befuddled, later telling OCPO that Michael “did not appear to be doing much better in foster care than he was with Ms. Bierly.”
None of that factored into Amann’s resounding Law & Order-style courtroom monologue. Citing a letter from Dr. Hardin that she’d addressed to his office the day before, Amann pitted the boy against his mother.
“She’s talking specifically … about the mother,” Amann said, “how she was not appearing, and how she didn’t come to see the child, didn’t come to visit the child …”
“That is not true,” Bierly gulped, her voice registering a whisper on the court tapes.
“… And [Hardin] has statements in here that are quoted directly from the child,” Amann continued, more vehement with each cadence. “‘You won’t come back. You will never come back. I hate you. You never come back. … She lies. You lie, mom. You lie.’ A direct quote from the child.”
A glance at hospital visitation logs proves Bierly was by her son’s side for all or part of 61 hours during his eight days at Primary Children’s, despite scrambling to find ready shelter, keeping track of two teenage sons and gearing up for a court defense she’d never get to present. Far from a boy selectively observed bawling out his negligent mother, the logs show Michael was desperately homesick, and blamed the separation from his family on his diabetes.
Worse than muzzling her, “they never once listened to the cries of [Michael and Katie],” Bierly says. And while Katie couldn’t speak for herself, Bierly says the signs were plain enough. Nicknamed “Pretty” for her long, blond locks, Katie took to nervously pulling them out in foster care, and case logs show she “had been moved around so much” by early 2002, “it had a definite impact on her ability to bond.”
Michael’s futile attempts to return home, according to case files provided by Bierly’s one-time attorney Wayne Searle, included urinating on the bedroom floor at his foster home, beseeching his foster mother to forget his insulin and licking glucose strips to throw off his blood-sugar levels. In one of his last checkups with Hardin before she moved to Texas in June 2001, she noted he was deliberately skipping meals. Asked why, Michael answered: “First I get to go home, then I don’t.”
Pietryga objected to Amann’s theatrics, calling Hardin’s 11th-hour letter inadmissible hearsay. “If this child is saying this stuff … let’s put him on the stand,” Pietryga demanded. “I don’t have anyone to cross-examine on this.”
Johansson then cleared the court for a private meeting with the squabbling attorneys. When court reconvened, without a word to or from Bierly, Johansson ordered Michael to remain in foster care indefinitely, and Katie temporarily, until a “safety plan” and a psychological workup on Bierly had been completed.
“I was cut, dried and hung before ever walking into that courtroom,” Bierly maintains. It’s an understandable conclusion, given that hospital staff and DCFS seemed to know Michael’s fate in advance.
“Mom to be informed tomorrow that child won’t leave hospital with her,” Hardin scribbled in a log two days prior to the hearing. Richards was to inform Bierly of Johansson’s anticipated decision the day before the hearing, hospital logs show, the same day Hardin noted discussing “the court mandates” with Michael, “i.e. he is going to be [a] ward of [the] state.”
Conflict of Interest?
Bierly satisfied Johansson’s stipulations with respect to Katie, and she was returned home three days before a November 2000 adjudication hearing to determine if, in fact, Michael had been neglected. The downside was that Amann didn’t deliver discovery to Bierly’s attorney until two days before trial.
With so little time to examine the state’s evidence, Bierly showed up with nothing but a doctor’s note vouching for her fitness as a mother, expecting Pietryga to indulge her request for a continuance. He declined to submit the note, and convinced Bierly to take the stand. “‘Tell the judge that you know how to take care of your juvenile diabetic,’” Bierly recalls as the gist of Pietryga’s advice. “‘You’ll get your child back today.’”
“As stupid as I was, I went on the witness stand,” says Bierly, only to face off with Amann’s sole witness, Dr. Hardin. “Here’s a mother being charged with alleged medical neglect and she is opposite the chief of endocrinology at the diabetes clinic—now, who is the judge going to believe?”
More than that, Bierly has since learned that Hardin may not have been a disinterested third party. City Weekly has obtained a document from a confidential source indicating Hardin was actively attempting to adopt Michael in late 2002. Furthermore, two independent sources close to the case have confirmed, in notarized affidavits provided to City Weekly, firsthand knowledge that in 2003 DCFS placed Michael with Hardin for the purpose of potential adoption. The placement lasted for roughly six months beginning in March 2003, one source says. Both sources say Hardin personally disclosed that Michael lived with her for several months during 2003, but he was returned to Utah after having extreme difficulties assimilating with her family.
One source claims direct knowledge of Hardin taking Michael for at least one overnight visit to her home while she was his treating physician from October 2000 until she moved to Texas in June 2001.
Reached by phone, Hardin denied any contact with Michael after she left town. However, she said her family, especially her sons, took a personal liking to Michael. “They kind of buddied around, and … I visited him with my kids—mostly just my kids wanted to visit him while he was in foster care, and we did do that,” Hardin said.
After the alleged adoption effort fell through, Hardin acknowledges her family continued to send letters and greeting cards to Michael through DCFS. She initially denied that she considered adopting Michael, but later explained in a voice message why she “hesitated so much,” when asked.
“We talked about it a lot,” Hardin said. “And I still feel guilty about the fact that we did not even try. … Yes, I thought about the ethics of whether or not I could even think about it, and also concluded at that point that I would need to have completely separated my work life from him for quite some time if that were to be the case.”
DCFS won’t confirm or deny whether Michael was placed with Hardin, but agency administrator Adam Trupp parrots Hardin’s take on the ethics of it.
“If there’s a referent who then ends up managing to get a removal of a child, and then they get that child placed in their home as a foster-adoptive home, I can see a conflict there,” Trupp says. “But the farther away you get from that direct contact, the more I think it’s unlikely that there’s any sort of conflict.”
Trupp did a quick check of voluminous DCFS case logs, but turned up no record of Michael’s earlier purported visit to Hardin’s home, and can’t think of a reason why it would have been justified.
No kidding, says Tim Bierly, who learned of Michael’s move to Texas months ago. “I’m not about to ask why [Hardin] would want [Michael], or why anyone would want [Katie], because I know damn well why,” says Tim. “They’re funny, beautiful, smart; they’re my family.”
Even so, Tim can’t see the logic of DCFS allowing the placement, because it “pretty much proves that [Hardin] had some sort of a motive,” he says.
Johansson substantiated Hardin’s allegations of neglect, and continued Michael’s stay in foster care pending Bierly’s successful navigation of a “service plan.” No longer an issue of fitness—Bierly was officially unfit—Michael’s fate would now turn on his mother’s “compliance.” As ordered, Bierly submitted to regular counseling, passed her diabetes courses and maintained a residence, but one provision of the service plan would render all other efforts moot.
Katie, it seemed, was safe at home and in the clear. A December 2000 risk assessment signed by Bierly’s new caseworker—hereafter referred to as “K.L.” because she has since left the division and could not be contacted—concluded Katie was not a sibling at risk. And K.L.’s case logs show that a service plan for Katie was then terminated, “because of administration error, due to [Amann] telling caseworker that PSS [in-home protective] services were ordered when they weren’t.”
Amann contends K.L.’s cancellation of the service plan was in error. DCFS administrator Trupp can only fathom that at the time there was poor coordination “between the decision-making processes and evaluation processes within the division and the AG’s actions in court.” Nonetheless …
All-Powerful Presence
“Just so that all the cards are on the table,” Amann told Johansson at a January 2001 disposition hearing for Michael, “it is our intention to remove [Katie] from the mother’s custody.”
Amann went on to cite Bierly’s alleged failures to abide by Katie’s safety plan. Specifically: that she didn’t have a working phone, which records show she did; that she hadn’t maintained a residence, which records show she had; and that she slept at a friend’s house the night before the hearing, which is “none of Paul Amann’s damn business,” Bierly says.
Bierly repeatedly interrupted Amann, but was scolded by Johansson, who told her to wait her turn. But when Amann finished, Johansson chose not to get involved because the matter of Katie’s status was not officially before him. As to the initial decision to remove Katie, “Those are prerogatives and decisions that the attorney general’s office can make,” he said, before dismissing court. Despite Bierly’s frantic pleas to Amann, Katie, who had been waiting with Bierly’s friend in the court parking lot, was taken back into state custody.
That’s about when affairs between DCFS and Amann turned irreconcilably south. DCFS brass disagreed with Amann’s decision to remove, telling OCPO investigators “non-compliance is generally not a reason for taking custody of a child.” It was K.L.’s first unsupervised hearing, and she “thought that’s how the system worked.” K.L. was later pulled off the case due to concerns she was unsure “whether to follow [the] DCFS practice model,” or “directives” from Amann and the guardian ad litem, DCFS documents reveal. Furthermore, DCFS repeatedly requested Amann’s ouster, but he refused, and the attorney general’s office backed him.
Trupp calls Johansson’s deference to Amann an “abrogation of responsibility,” adding, “If we take a child in court, the court should assert jurisdiction to say, ‘Wait a minute, this child’s under my jurisdiction, not under the division’s, not under the AG’s.’”
Dating back to 1999, internal DCFS communications obtained from Searle indicate Amann regularly stepped on the division’s toes. Responding to a complaint lodged by one DCFS caseworker, David Carlson, Amann’s boss and then chief of the attorney general’s Child Protection Division, acknowledged others had complained that Amann “acts like it is his way or the highway. …They complain that he is rude and condescending.” But Carlson dismissed the rancor as a problem of “attitude and demeanor … as apposed [sic] to the substance of the disagreements.”
That very substance was at center stage when Amann ordered the removal of another supposed sibling at risk in March 2001, even though DCFS and law enforcement ruled the death of another child in the home an accident. “‘Your legal counsel is telling you to remove, what are you going to say about that?’” Amann was quoted telling the caseworker.
Amann’s casual references to an alleged child abuser as “(MO)Lester” rankled another DCFS employee. And one of Bierly’s caseworkers was “disturbed and angry” when Amann suggested the woman’s personal life was affecting her work. He also riffed on a typo Bierly made in a court pleading: “‘fencing with the same old windmills’ … may bode well for her ‘ruinification’ but it does not bode well for her ‘reunification.’”
Reached for comment during a recent business trip, Amann deferred to the authors of said communications. Generally speaking, he explained via e-mail, the “function of child protection attorneys is to call the legal shots.” But, he added: “Clients don’t always follow their attorney’s advice. I’m sure that Brian Nichols wasn’t following the advice of counsel when, during his [recent Atlanta] rape trial, he shot the judge and court reporter.”
As to Bierly’s claims that he held undue sway over her case, Amann responded: “Please don’t allow yourself to believe that I am the omniscient, all-powerful presence that Lisa portrays me as (or I will bring about your swift and unimaginably devastating demise!!! Ha ha ha ha ha. I’m kidding … C’mon.)”
That brand of humor was lost on DCFS, too.
“I don’t think we would come out in any way and stand up in defense of the AG’s office in what they did in that case,” says Trupp, adding that Amann’s actions amounted to a “seminal event” in Utah’s child-welfare system.
“If you are a prosecutor wanting to prosecute, and punish, and seek retribution, which there’s certainly a place for, then you shouldn’t be in this system,” Trupp says.
After the Bierly case, Amann was reassigned to the attorney general’s Internet Crimes Against Children task force. And paramount among systemwide changes since the case is a clear understanding between DCFS and the new Child Protection Division Chief Mark May. Trupp says May has assured DCFS that it can make its own “‘dumbass decisions,’” as long as they fall within the law.
Other changes include an increased focus on in-home preventive services; the need for a warrant before removing children, except in the most extreme circumstances; and changes to how the sibling at risk statute is applied.
Today, Trupp says, “we would not go into that kind of situation having just medical neglect, not linked to the other child, and no nexus between the parent’s behavior and a risk to the other child, and remove that child from the parent’s custody.”
Though Bierly acknowledges pride in helping effect changes to the system, “What does that do for me and my children?” she asks in frustration. While admitting some days are better than others, “every night when I close my eyes the nightmare is real again,” she says.
“Elian Gonzales-style removal at gunpoint”
Logs show Bierly had complied with her service plan after it was finalized in late January until mid-April. After some wrangling with Amann and the guardian ad litem, DCFS returned Katie home in late March.
Michael went into insulin shock earlier that month, 30 minutes after arriving for a supervised visit with Bierly. K.L. and the foster mother pinned the blame on Bierly, but the case files confirm Michael arrived with a dangerously low blood-sugar level. At any rate, records show Hardin readjusted Michael’s regular insulin dosage downward—as Bierly claims she had always lobbied—and began working with DCFS toward Michael’s first trial home placement. Bierly’s court-ordered therapist recommended the same. But hopes of Michael’s homecoming, and the reunion with Katie were short-lived.
Admittedly, the Bierly family had its share of domestic foibles—which were about to catch up with them.
Bierly and Taylor were convicted of shoplifting an $88 CD player days before Christmas 1999. Their explanations, while conceivable, are as easily unbelievable—each thought the other had paid for the device. And earlier that year police cited Bierly for simple assault; there again, an isolated accident, she says. Arguing with Taylor late one night, Bierly explains, she reached around to push him away but bonked him on the nose instead. “We’re not the Bradys,” she concedes. “We’ve made mistakes, but that doesn’t mean we should lose our children for the rest of our lives.”
Past due on a $300 fine and court-ordered diversion classes for the shoplifting conviction, a judge issued a $10,000 bench warrant for Bierly’s arrest in February. Making matters worse, in an unannounced home visit, Bierly’s caseworker spotted her entering the house with Taylor. And that was a problem.
Because of Bierly’s prior simple assault, Johansson had ordered no contact between Taylor and Katie until he came before the court. The order came at Michael’s adjudication hearing, after Katie had been returned home, and didn’t list “the father” by name, which Bierly and Taylor took to mean Michael’s biological father. Once the mandate became clear, though, it was as unfathomable as it was impossible to live by.
“There have never been any allegations against Darryl,” Bierly stresses. “They knew where he lived; why didn’t they send any court papers his way?”
Besides, to keep in step with the service plan, Bierly needed to maintain a stable residence. But between court, DCFS meetings, doctor’s appointments, diabetes training, therapy, visits with her children that needed to be scheduled five days in advance and “kicking against the pricks,” as one official put it, she hadn’t the wherewithal for a job. That left Taylor, and his construction wages, to pay rent on a home that was well beyond their means, but a move to more affordable digs would show instability, Bierly feared. Bierly says a call from the attorney general’s office to her father in Pennsylvania soured that relationship, not to mention a source of income when times were rough—and times were rough.
The facts remained: Bierly was in violation of a court order, and a looming arrest warrant didn’t portend a stable home environment. Court documents show she tried to clear up the warrant with a fine payment on May 4, 2001, but she says the court clerk told her she’d first have to see the judge, who was in regularly scheduled court hearings all day.
Fearing jail, Bierly dodged two critical juvenile court hearings: one on May 10 to consider a trial home placement for Michael, and another four days later to end Katie’s trial home placement.
The only thing to do then was wait. But a heads-up that Johansson ordered Katie back into custody sent Bierly skedaddling across the street to a girlfriend’s house for a nerve-calming gin and tonic. “It was the dumbest thing,” she says. “I knew what was coming down; I just didn’t know my whole family was going to get hurt in the process.”
DCFS called in Midvale police to effect the removal. In an internal e-mail, Amann later dubbed the fiasco “an Elian Gonzales-style removal at gunpoint.”
Through the door, Taylor was taken down and handcuffed. As the sounds of radio chatter and an apparent scuffle neared, Bierly ducked into a bedroom closet with Katie—a rash gesture, “but I just couldn’t lose my daughter again,” she says.
According to a police report, two officers converged on Bierly’s hiding place and, with guns drawn, ordered her out from under a mound of linens. The first officer commanded Bierly to “drop the child,” the report states, to which “I told them ‘No,’” she says. That’s when, according to the report, a second officer “applied a pressure point on her left shoulder and she released the child.”
As Bierly was being handcuffed, down the hall officers mixed it up with brothers Tim and Peter. The officer in charge of Katie released her to join the fray, and as Katie scampered outside after her mother, her brothers were pepper-sprayed, wrestled to the ground and cuffed. Both were charged with resisting arrest—Tim with assault on a police officer and Peter with obstructing justice—and released at the scene.
Bierly can’t help but bemoan her next 48 days in jail as excessive punishment for an $88 retail theft. “It probably cost me my kids,” she says.
All the same, DCFS hadn’t given up. Bierly’s inexperienced caseworker was replaced with a seasoned veteran, “L.H.” DCFS refused to sign on with a petition to terminate Bierly’s parental rights, which the guardian ad litem filed days after her arrest. Although Amann’s name wasn’t on the petition, DCFS knew he wasn’t an ally.
In an internal e-mail to DCFS Salt Lake Valley Regional Director LaRay Brown, L.H. said Amann and the guardian ad litem had “worked together … against the mother from the beginning. I am not stating [Bierly] isn’t hard to work with, she is, but … they DO NOT have the best interest of the children as their priority.”
On the hard-to-work-with score, Bierly’s petulance is scrupulously documented throughout the case files. She canceled appointments, demanded impromptu visits, alleged Michael and Katie were being harmed in state custody, huffed, screamed, cried, failed to return calls, even cherry-picked facts to make herself look better to the system. It’s the same as she ever was, and always will be when it comes to her children.
In her defense, Tim says where the system ran up against an insolent challenger, Bierly taught him the “stubbornness of never backing down, no matter how big you are … if you do me wrong.”
And many agree Bierly was done wrong, but she’s also an undeniable “pain in the ass,” according to her own lawyer. That shouldn’t detract from her undeniable strengths, Tim says, as “a wonderful mother, and a wonderful friend.”
To that end, a one-time prospective adoptive father for Michael and Katie, David Reoch, says that contrary to the horrible picture of a broken home described to him by DCFS, Michael voiced “only fond thoughts of his home life prior to being in DCFS custody.” Michael lived with Reoch for nearly a year, with Katie later joining them for about six months, but the adoptions fell through when Reoch fell ill in mid-2002.
“Nobody knows us,” Peter adds, gravely. “We have so much love for these children, and there was never a time [Michael and Katie] weren’t provided for.”
As far as medical neglect, Tim says, caring for Michael’s diabetes became a way of life the day he was diagnosed at 11 months old. Using an orange to simulate the insulin injections, Tim says Bierly began training the rest of the family in earnest. “‘Now practice!’” he recalls his mother’s command. “And she qualified us all.”
While L.H. stuck with Bierly during and after her jail stint—at one point vowing to reunify the family in spite of Amann, Bierly says—by the September 2001 termination trial, she too had defected into the termination camp.
Even after the trial had gotten under way, however, DCFS Salt Lake Valley Regional Director Brown was dubious. “For me the most disturbing issue is that [Michael and Katie] may lose their mother, not because she cannot parent but she is not in compliance,” she vented in an internal e-mail to the attorney general’s office. “I am not sure this is how the system should work.”
At a last-ditch mediation session in September 2001, DCFS agreed to joint-therapy sessions with Bierly, Katie and Michael, with the goal being reunification. Amann and the guardian ad litem objected, and Johansson torpedoed the plan at a subsequent hearing.
The proceedings to terminate Bierly and Taylor’s parental rights dragged well into 2002, with Johansson rendering a tentative verdict in July, and the final order to terminate following in August.
Bierly filed a complaint against Amann with the Utah State Bar in 2001, which was dismissed two years later. Upon termination of her parental rights, she appealed and was rebuffed by the Utah Court of Appeals and Utah Supreme Court. The Utah Judicial Conduct Commission recently declined to take action against Johansson on a complaint from Bierly.
The Death Penalty
Views on how, why and whether Bierly and Taylor should have lost their children are as disparate as they were throughout the case.
From DCFS, Trupp offers that his view of what was safe and appropriate in the case is “entirely different” from Amann’s view. But the bottom line is there was a service plan, and Johansson found Bierly hadn’t satisfied it. Unfortunately, he says, “In the juvenile court system, you can come in on a misdemeanor, essentially, and wind up with the death penalty.”
The system’s undefined standard for what a fit parent looks like, Trupp continues, makes it particularly difficult for those like Bierly—poor, disorganized, stubborn—to achieve an idealized standard.
Though there’s nothing more DCFS can do, given that Katie and Michael have been adopted, “I don’t see Lisa ever giving up and, frankly, I would never stop either,” says Trupp.
Amann isn’t nearly as sentimental as Trupp, or at all receptive to Bierly’s self-ascribed role as victim. “Lisa is like a siren,” he reflected. “She’s like the siren that cried ‘wolf,’ if I may mix metaphors. She’s very forceful. She works hard to make her voice heard, and the story she presents is compelling. Unfortunately for her, it’s not factual.
“I don’t hold any animosity for Lisa. What I have for her is pity. She had God’s greatest gift and she lost it.”
In her own analysis, Bierly was the unwitting participant, and her family the unfortunate victims of a clash of wills. “There was a power struggle here,” she insists. “The AG didn’t care what DCFS wanted, the [guardian ad litem] was doing whatever the AG said, the doctor wanted my child, and then you have the judge who didn’t give a s—t about anything.”
Would she have done anything differently? Absolutely. But she can’t think what. “I was so busy jumping through so many hoops I didn’t know whether I was coming or going,” Bierly says. “Everybody was telling me I would get my kids back, and then before I know it, I’m at a termination trial fighting for my life.
“But if my case is an example of what was wrong with the system, and it obviously was because they’ve gone and changed all the applicable laws, then why shouldn’t they right the wrong?”
That’s exactly what Bierly hopes will come of a tentatively scheduled sit-down with DCFS, the attorney general’s office and a representative of Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.’s office. But unless the outcome includes reunification with her children, Bierly vows, “I’m going to be fighting this thing until the day I die.”
Source:
Salt Lake City Weekly
recovered from internet archive
DCF Arrest in Connecticut
July 30, 2005
In an indication of decreasing respect, another social worker was
arrested this time in Connecticut. If tradition is followed, there will be
no real penalty.
expand
collapse
The Hartford Courant
DCF Supervisor Arrested, Suspended
July 29, 2005, COLIN POITRAS, Courant Staff Writer
A Department of Children and Families social worker
is accused of fabricating evidence and tampering with
a witness in a child endangerment case in Hartford
earlier this year.
Valerie M. Miles, a social work supervisor in
DCF's Hartford office, turned herself in and was
arrested about 2 p.m. Thursday. She was released on
$10,000 bail pending an appearance in Superior Court
scheduled for Aug. 11 in Hartford.
Hartford police were not releasing any further
details and DCF officials were reluctant to comment on
the matter.
It was unclear Thursday whether the charges related
to one of Miles' child abuse and neglect
investigations at work or to an incident in her
personal life.
Miles, 48, lives at 53 Dogwoood Road,
Plainville.
Hartford police said the charges were based on an
incident involving the risk of injury to a child at
296 Hudson St. in Hartford on May 27. Miles was
charged with two counts of fabricating physical
evidence and one count of witness tampering.
Miles was placed on paid administrative leave on
July 7, said DCF spokesman Gary Kleeblatt. State
records show her current salary is about $103,000 a
year. Miles has worked at DCF for 16 years.
"We're cooperating with police," Kleeblatt said.
"This is under investigation and we will take
appropriate disciplinary action as warranted up to and
including termination."
"Allegations of this nature are extremely troubling
and we are going to take them very seriously,"
Kleeblatt said.
Miles could not be reached for comment Thursday.
She is represented by West Hartford attorney Leon M.
Rosenblatt. He also was reluctant to discuss the
details of the case.
"It is in fact true that she surrendered to a
warrant today," Rosenblatt said. "Beyond that, stay
tuned."
CAS Defies Law
July 29, 2005
We reproduce below an article on a foster parent published July 18, 2005
in the Ottawa Citizen. Like most press articles on the subject, it is a
puff piece. What makes this one unusual is that it includes the actual
names of the persons involved.
John Dunn found the address of the foster home and a satellite image from
the article. (The more intrusive discoveries are omitted on the web
version of the letter). The article, prepared with the cooperation of
Children's Aid, and later posted to
the OACAS website, contravenes the Child and Family Services Act which
contains the provision:
45(8) No person shall publish or make public
information that has the effect of identifying a child
who is a witness at or a participant in a hearing or
the subject of a proceeding, or the child's parent or
foster parent or a member of the child's family.
All foster children are the subject of a child
protection proceeding. The law against publishing the
names of persons applies only to articles in derogation
of Children's Aid.
expand
collapse
CREDIT: Rod MacIvor, The Ottawa Citizen
Brad Hammond is always in the midst of children.
Some are his day-care children, some are his
foster children, and some are his own. But all of
them, such as Owen, 21/2, front row left, Brandon,
2, Kaia, 19 months, and Ashley, 8, back row, left,
and Jek, 9, receive equal amounts of love and
care.
He builds the future -- one child at a time
For six years now, Brad Hammond, a father and day-care
provider, has been giving foster children a stable,
caring place to stay, Jenni Lee Campbell
writes
Jenni Lee Campbell, The Ottawa Citizen, Monday, July 18, 2005
At an age when many of his contemporaries are
clinging to the last vestiges of bachelorhood and
still consider pizza and beer to be major food groups,
28-year-old Brad Hammond is in a completely different
ballpark. If you want to get technical, he's in a
tee-ball field, actually. And he knows his food
groups inside out.
The softspoken, funny young man is a modern-day
Super Dad, a father and daycare provider who, for the
last six years, has also been spreading the love to
foster children in need of a stable, caring place to
stay while their family issues are worked out by the
Children's Aid Society.
People like Mr. Hammond play a crucial role in the
community, says Jacquie Woodward, director of Child
and Youth in Care Services at the CAS. The need for
foster homes in Ottawa is the highest it has been in
years.
"All the literature indicates that for every child
that comes into care, ideally you would like to have
three families to choose from," says Mrs. Woodward,
in order to match a child's issues with the capacity
of foster parents.
The CAS currently has between 250 and 260 foster
families for their 880 children in care. Almost 300
of those children are currently in the foster care
system.
Mr. Hammond and his wife, Nada Jean, who works for
NAV Canada, have fostered 15 children so far, often
taking in groups of siblings and children with serious
behavioural issues.
"Most of the time they come to us with the clothes
on their back," says Mr. Hammond of the children
they've fostered.
The first thing he and Ms. Jean do is take them
shopping for new clothes and school supplies, and let
them choose a bedset for their room to make them feel
at home.
When nine-year-old Julien arrived at the Hammond's
three years ago, he had little vocabulary, no social
skills, and was unable to dress himself.
Today, he's a bright, energetic and athletic boy
who enjoys going to school and doing taekwondo.
Giving children like Julien a sense of pride and
self-confidence is something Mr. Hammond takes very
seriously. Where he used to have his school work
ripped up at home, Julien's brightly-coloured artwork
is displayed prominently on the fridge at the
Hammonds. His progress is incredible, says Mr.
Hammond.
"He's inspiring."
Equal treatment is one of the cornerstones of how
Mr. Hammond and Ms. Jean treat their children,
regardless of how long they've been part of the
family.
At Christmas, everyone gets the same number of
presents (Mr. Hammond, the main Christmas shopper,
can never resist going well over the per-child
allowance they get from the agency for gifts).
"A lot of kids never had birthdays or Christmases,
and we're able to give them back some of their
innocence and childhood," Mr. Hammond says.
Mr. Hammond, who studied sociology at Carleton
University and has worked with developmentally delayed
adults, has always felt at home in the role of
caregiver. When he and Ms. Jean met each other, Ms.
Jean's daughter, Ashley, was a toddler and she wasn't
interested in beating around the bush with some guy
who wasn't going to stick around.
"One of the first questions I asked him was, 'Do
you want to have kids?'" Ms. Jean says.
"He told me he wanted twelve!"
Mr. Hammond may have been joking a bit, but he and
Ms. Jean are getting close.
It wasn't long after that conversation that they
decided they both wanted to be foster parents.
The CAS accepts applications from anyone over the
age of 18 who is interested in fostering, and there
are different levels of care -- people who can't
commit to full time fostering are encouraged to apply
to fill relief or weekend positions. Foster care
workers then conduct a 9-to-12-week home study to
determine the appropriateness and safety of the
home.
Pre-service training is given to prospective foster
parents, says Mrs. Woodward, "to help them deal with
separation and loss, behavior management, and to
understand their relationship with the birth
parents."
Even experienced foster parents like Mr. Hammond
and Ms. Jean receive ongoing in-service training
around practical things like safety, CPR, and dealing
with children who have been abused.
Once they were approved as foster parents, they
started taking children in and haven't stopped. Then
came Brandon, 2, who the Hammonds conceived through
in-vitro fertilization.
When Mr. Hammond lost his job due to cutbacks six
months after Brandon was born, it could have thrown
the family into a crisis. Instead, it seemed like
everything fell neatly into place.
One of their friends had just lost their daycare
provider, and Mr. Hammond decided to take over. He
now cares for toddlers Owen and Kaia, and will be
taking in another child soon, bringing the total of
children he looks after to eight.
"There's a stigma about men running daycares," Mr.
Hammond says ruefully. He's still angry at police
chief Vince Bevan, who publically said several months
ago that he would never leave a child with a male
babysitter.
"His reasoning was that men have a predisposition
to be sexual predators," Mr. Hammond explains. "I
was mortified."
Despite the bad press, Mr. Hammond has plenty of
admirers. His daycare dads joke that they should take
lessons from him, and women dig his fun, gentle way
with children.
"I get asked if I'm married all the time!" Mr.
Hammond says, and he and Ms. Jean laugh.
The Hammonds have already outgrown two houses in
just a few years. Their new four-bedroom near the
airport is spacious and has a great backyard, complete
with toddler pools, two sandboxes and a
playstructure.
An important part of caring for children who are
going through uncertain periods in their lives is
stability and structure. Mr. Hammond is well aware
of this, and his routines reflect it.
After school, the older children play outside or in
the basement playroom. Mr. Hammond calls them one at
a time into the kitchen, where he looks over their
agendas and gives them a hand with their homework.
After everyone's done, it's free time, but Mr.
Hammond doesn't allow TV or videogames on school days,
so that means dress-up, arts and crafts, puzzles, or
sports.
"There's absolutely nothing like getting down on
the floor and playing with your kids," Mr. Hammond
says.
Every night at dinner the family does "Good
Thing/Bad Thing," where each person gets to tell
everyone about the high and low of their day.
Mr. Hammond says his job starts at 6 a.m., and
doesn't end until he goes to sleep. Even then, there
are fevers to treat and nightmares to soothe.
"They (the foster children) carry a lot of baggage
with them," Mr. Hammond says. "But it's the most
amazing feeling in the world going to bed, knowing
that regardless of the day's challenges, they've made
progress or even are just safe in your house."
And his kids might one day accuse him of being a
workaholic, but it's doubtful that his devotion to his
job will leave them feeling scarred or unloved. Just
several months ago, at the behest of Ashley and one of
his foster children, Mr. Hammond entered a radio
station's 'Drag Your Dad to Duff' contest, allowing
them to doll him up in all their best finery. He
choked on the Hillary trivia, but they forgave
him.
One of Mr. Hammond's and Ms. Jean's latest foster
kids is a sweet, pretty and thoughtful girl. She
comes home from school every day with a new fact for
Mr. Hammond, and often surprises him with her grasp
of concepts and ideas that seem well beyond her
age.
"It's beyond rewarding," Mr. Hammond says, smiling
at her. "The kids teach us about life and love."
To find out more about fostering, attend the
Children's Aid Society's monthly information session,
the last Thursday of every month, or visit
www.fosteradoptwinningkids.com
Fostering Happiness
Addendum:
expand
collapse
From: mbernstein@oacas.org
To: "John Dunn" <afterfostercare@hotmail.com>
CC: barbara.mackinnon@casott.on.ca,jlewis@oacas.org
Subject: Your Memo
Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2005 10:33:05 -0400
Good Morning, Mr. Dunn:
Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.
Without commenting on the validity of your allegation,
I wish to advise that this information has been removed
from the OACAS website.
Regards, Marv
Marvin M. Bernstein, B.A., LL.B., LL.M.
Director of Policy Development and Legal Support
Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies
75 Front St. East, 2nd Floor
Toronto, ON M5E 1V9
Telephone: (416) 366-8115 Ext. 241
Fax: (416) 366-8317
E-mail: mbernstein@oacas.org
Controlled News Conference
July 28, 2005
Mary
Anne Chambers, Minister of Children and Youth Services, announced new
programs for children today.
As is customary in these situations, taking money
from parents and giving it to social service agencies
was characterized as beneficial to children. Among the
more worrisome measures are one to provide universal
screen of newborns. Screening for pathologies is
beneficial, but the same screening can be used to
justify removing children from their parents. From the
release:
First screening of consenting mothers and their
newborns at the hospital is followed by a phone call
within 48 hours of discharge from the hospital.
CAS now gets consent from parents by threatening to
take away their children in the alternative. Will they
now do that to all mothers? Another mandatory screen
will occur at 18 months of age.
Karol Karolak attempted to attend the news conference
as a reporter for Canada Court Watch. Since his native
language is Polish, we have slightly edited his comments
for grammar and spelling.
expand
collapse
Today I went to a press conference held by Children
and Youth Services Minister Mary Anne Chambers at the
Rose Avenue Day Care Centre in Rose Avenue Junior
Public School. I grew up in a communist country and
remember well the manipulation of media by the state
and the feeding out of politically correct
information. But even the communists took care of
appearances and handed out press releases after event
took place. Today's event was a time warp as I got
the press release at the door before press conference
started and it revealed what had been said before
they actually said it. It seemed as if I was
listening to tape recorders disguised as people.
It was like in good old commie days. A man in a
dark suit at the door was checking who gets in, to
prevent provocateurs from spoiling the show.
He spotted me immediately and asked me if I was
from the press. I told him yes.
I got in with flyers in my hand, a few minutes
later the man in the dark suit was back at me with a
piece of paper asking me to sign in. I signed my name
and wrote CourtWatch for the news organization.
Another ten minutes and the man in black was back
asking me what kind of news organization CourtWatch
is, as he had never heard of it. I told him that it
is internet based. Then he moved on to the main
subject on his agenda -- getting me out of this
conference -- and asked me to step outside of the
room. We walked out and in a hallway I gave him few
sets of flyers. A woman joined us and I gave her a
few sets of flyers as well and told her that it is not
my intention to rain on their parade but if they are
not going to stop child trafficking by Giesbrecht and
his buddies, next time I just might start asking the
Minister some very inconvenient questions and
embarrass them publicly.
The man in black walked me out of the building and
we continued our conversation on a school playground.
He assured me that my flyers will be delivered to the
proper people.
This was a time warp. I remember in communist
Poland having an almost identical encounter with the
Polish Secret Service when I was walked out of the
"pre election" meeting for asking a very innocent
question about the electoral process. That encounter
was the beginning of my eventually quite thick file
with Polish Secret Police.
Yours
Karol Karolak P. Eng.
CPS Snatches Wife
July 26, 2005
Washington lawyer Gary A Preble recounts his experience in saving a girl
wanted by child protectors, so much that the child protectors and the
judiciary were willing to subvert the law to do so.
expand
collapse
July 25, 2005
Please indulge me in hearing today's war story. It
is an example of why aggressive dependency attorneys
can make a difference and why court-appointed
attorneys need to love liberty and sometimes need to
take a more aggressive and/or creative approach (and
that it doesn't hurt at times to involve an
out-of-town attorney).
I am in Olympia, Washington. Mom contacted me the day
after court because she and her 16-year-old dependent
daughter had both been found in contempt by the
juvenile Court Commissioner (a non-elected judicial
officer employed by the elected judges) by separate
orders. Mom's order said she would go go to jail in
12 days (today) if she had not made steps to undo what
she had done, and she wanted to know what could be
done to fight the orders. The court and my client are
7 hours away from my office.
What had happened was this: Mom and daughter, who was
a dependent child pursuant to a CPS case and living in
foster care, had almost completely unrestricted contact
(including shopping across the state line in Idaho). Two
weeks ago today, they went to Idaho, daughter driving her
own car and taking Mom as a passenger. They met
daughter's boyfriend who had turned 18 that day; his
mother was also there. Mom consented to daughter's
marriage and they were married that day under Idaho law.
They honeymooned in Washington (by very strange
coincidence staying at the same motel my wife and I had
stayed 3 days earlier on a trip across state).
The next day there was a scheduled court hearing and
the Commissioner became upset that her authority had been
circumvented. So, on her own "motion" and without any
opportunity for a response to be prepared, she found Mom
and daughter in contempt. She had no basis in the
contempt law to find contempt, but apparently her
irritation at the circumstances got the better of her.
She also ordered the daughter back into foster care and
ordered no contact between the mother and daughter.
My initial feeling was that there was also no longer
any juvenile court jurisdiction because the minor had been
emancipated by the marriage. After researching the
matter, I found that case law does in fact recognize
emancipation by marriage, that the Idaho marriage is
entitled to full faith and credit under the US
Constitution, and that the Commissioner was completely
without grounds to find either Mom or the daughter in
contempt. (In other words, piqued that the daughter and
mother had circumvented the court's authority, the
Commissioner proceeded to circumvent not only Washington
statutes but the US Constitution.)
I associated with court-appointed counsel and filed a
Motion to Revise (a statutory procedure that allows a
commissioner's decision to be heard fresh by an elected
judge of Superior Court), submitting 8 pages of research
showing from both Idaho statutes and Washington law that
the child had been emancipated by marriage, that the court
was without jurisdiction, that the mother couldn't
withdraw her consent if she wanted to, and that the
Commissioner had no lawful basis to find contempt. I also
filed a request for stay with the Superior Court at 8:30
this morning, not knowing how the Commissioner would rule
at 9:00 and hoping to keep my client out of jail. (The
court was too far and travel too costly on short notice,
so local counsel presented the motion for stay to the ex
parte judge.) The Judge wouldn't sign the stay,
saying he would want to look at it further before
ruling.
Meanwhile, the parties and other attorneys were in
Juvenile Court at 9:00, armed with my legal arguments set
out in the Motion to Revise. While I haven't yet spoken
to the attorneys, their arguments to the court apparently
succeeded. Mom faxed me the three orders entered
today:
- "Based upon motion of mother's counsel to vacate
contempt ... and argument of counsel ... IT IS
ORDERED THAT [the order] holding mother in
contempt is hereby vacated and dismissed with
prejudice."
- The daughter's contempt was also vacated and
dismissed. with prejudice.
- And the third order said: "[A] motion to
dismiss--which was being readdressed after further
consideration ... IT IS ORDERED THAT the
dependency is hereby dismissed based on the
child's emancipation by marriage."
While case law indicates the Commissioner
technically has no jurisdiction once the Motion to
Revise is filed, and while her having entered today's
orders under such circumstances suggests perhaps a
tendency to not feel constrained by the law and
procedures, who am I to complain if the Commissioner
wants to essentially commandeer the Motion to Revise,
treat it as a motion for reconsideration, and give us
everything we wanted? But there is no question it
would not have happened without the Motion to
Revise.
And best wishes and congratulations to the once
again happy bride and groom--after having endured the
violation of their civil rights by government
employees for what should have been some of the
happiest two weeks of their marriage.
Life in a Group Home
July 21, 2005
In reporting on a rape, the Ottawa Sun gives a picture of life inside a
group home that is not what you see in the warm cuddly brochures from social
services. These homes for teenagers are really prisons.
expand
collapse
July 20, 2005
Rape no surprise to staff
'Outbursts' common at group home
By ANDREW SEYMOUR, Ottawa Sun
IT WAS only a matter of a time before a staff
member was attacked and seriously injured at a Kanata
group home, former and current employees said
yesterday.
Several employees, who asked their names not be
used due to confidentiality agreements they're
required to sign, said there is often only one worker
to deal with as many as four troubled youth in the
home.
It's where an adult female employee was struck over
the head with a bottle, tied up and raped last Friday.
A 15-year-old boy has been charged with aggravated
sexual assault, forcible confinement and assault with
a weapon among other charges. He cannot be identified
under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
"The kids have outbursts, which were pretty
regularly," said one former employee. "Yelling,
screaming, punching holes in the wall, which is not
uncommon in a group home."
The employee said staff are alone with teens and
kids up to the age of 17, including overnight and
during the day. It's only during the evening hours
that there are two employees.
'HITTING AND BITING'
Four youths live in the house where the assault
occurred.
"Staff were assaulted. It was hitting and biting
but never anything to this kind of degree," the
employee said, adding she worried about her and her
co-workers' safety.
According to employees, there are on-call
supervisors and staff have access to a panic
pager.
A staff meeting has been called for later this week
at homes for both Youth Continuum, where the assault
occurred, and the Brindle Agency, which manages
several other Kanata group homes. It's expected
scheduling and policies will be discussed during the
meeting.
The owner of the group homes, Phil Brindle,
declined to comment yesterday on the sex assault and
what steps are being taken to prevent future
attacks.
Ottawa police said they have completed their
investigation and indicated there was no evidence of
criminal wrongdoing on the part of the group home.
'BEHAVIOURAL ISSUES'
Officials for both the Children's Aid Society,
which sends youth to the home, and the Ministry of
Children and Youth Services, which licenses group
homes, would not comment on whether an investigation
was under way.
Neither agency would provide the Sun with details
about what guidelines privately run group homes are
expected to follow, instead referring the question to
the other.
The CAS says the group home is provided a daily
amount for each at-risk youth it takes in.
Youth "that are in group homes ... would have
behavioural issues stemming from mental health or
historical abuse," said CAS spokeswoman France
Clost.
A former resident of the house, who knows the
accused, said it wasn't unusual for there to be
trouble in the group home.
"It depends on the night," said the 17-year-old,
who spent nearly two years in the house where the sex
assault occurred. He admitted there was occasional
"pushing and shoving" of staff, but said it was rare
that a resident would throw punches or resort to other
violence.
andrew.seymour@ott.sunpub.com
Foster Child Drug Trials
July 20, 2005
The New York Times has published a defense of the drug trials in which
foster children were used as test subjects. The Times faults critics for
publishing stories lacking real names of victims, without mentioning that
publication of names of foster children is in many places forbidden by law.
The article does not deal with the central problem, that children were
enrolled not through informed consent, but by force of arms.
Since the New York Times hides behind an electronic wall, our links are
to:
The Spartanburg
Herald-Journal
Local copy, in
case the link expires.
Babies Available!
First Come, First Served!
July 15, 2005
The increase in the number of babies taken by force of arms has made it
possible for couples to start adopting again.
expand
collapse
Adoption list to reopen: Names of couples seeking to adopt infant being taken
The Observer (Sarnia), Monday, July 11, 2005, By George Mathewson
Today brings a ray of hope for childless couples hoping to adopt a baby in Sarnia-Lambton.
After a seven-year freeze, the local Children's Aid Society is again accepting the names of 25 couples eager for a child aged two or under.
Officials expect to be inundated with applications.
"We've had a large response in the past and we expect that will happen again," said Stephen Doig, director of services.
As of today, the infant waiting list has reopened for two months. It marks the first time new names will be added since 1998.
The number of couples seeking an infant has long exceeded the number of babies available.
In fact, only once in the past two decades has the society accepted new applications, and that was to add 25 couples to the list in 1998.
"There are a lot of children available for adoption, but they're not always infants," Doig said.
Seventeen children of all ages were adopted through the agency last year, and 25 children the year before.
To be eligible for the infant list, couples must be residents of Lambton County, childless, able to provide documentation confirming they are medically infertile, and prepared to accept a baby within two to eight years.
Couples who have one child and can provide the necessary documentation are also eligible for registration.
Those who meet the criteria should call 336-0068, ext. 260. A recorded message will advise what information is required.
The agency will then forward an application form, which must be returned no later than Sept. 9. Twenty-five couples will be randomly selected by lottery from the eligible candidates and added to the waiting list before it is indefinitely closed again.
Parents Still Have to Give Up Kids
July 15, 2005
Remember Marie Bountrogianni's promise to end the practice of requiring
parents to surrender custody to get treatment for kids? It is still going
on. Gordon Floyd claims once again that more funding could solve the
problem.
expand
collapse
The Observer
The ultimate act of a mother's love: Kim
Drexler Loved Her Child So Much, She Gave Her
Up
The Observer (Sarnia), Wednesday, July 13, 2005, By Jack Poirier
Kim Drexler says she's scared to death her troubled
daughter's next act of self-mutilation could be her
last.
The Sarnia woman says she is being forced to give
up custody of her 14-year-old daughter, Kaitlyn, and
make her a ward of the court in order to get her into
more programming to address her mental health
problems.
"Katie cuts herself up and no one can say what
causes her behaviour", mom say,. "Her one arm, she
has nothing left of it, it's all scars".
The Children's Aid Society has been involved
with the Drexlers for months. Drexler said there
isn't a lot of help left out there. If Kaitlyn were
older, she's been told there'd be more resources
available.
"One of the biggest issues I have with this whole
thing is why did we have to give her up to get her
help?" Drexler wonders.
"They tell me that and I might not have a child to
help by the time she reaches 16".
Kaitlyn's been diagnosed with Oppositional Defiance
Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,
other conduct disorders and learning disabilities.
She's been on mood stabilizers since she was 10.
Kaitlyn has been in foster homes, group homes, and
the community girl's home. Every time her daughter
gets placed in open custody, she bolts.
"She's even tried to escape from the
courthouse".
Kaitlyn has been in counselling, hospitalized, has
been prone to violence and drug use and has had
recurring issues with skipping classes since Grade
4.
When she was in Grade 5, after kids began to notice
Kaitlyn couldn't read, Drexler says her daughter
"tried to jump out of a window and stab herself.
"She's always been a handful", Drexler adds, "since
she was about six years old".
She's been verbally abusive and physically abusive
to her family, including mom and dad.
"I've heard it all, bitch, slut", Drexler says.
There have also been issues involving her other
sons, ages 12 and 9.
"My youngest is scared of her. He thinks we can't
protect him. I can't tell you how that makes me
feel", she says, tears running down her cheek. "It's
been really hard on us. I've done so much crying".
The turmoil has taken its toll on the family.
Drexler says she's been hospitalized for
stress-related illnesses and had to step down as a
supervisor at work.
"Even though we've been having all these troubles,
she's still my baby", Drexler says. "I've had a lot
of guilt because I've been forced to choose between my
kids".
The saddest part is this isn't an isolated story,
says Gordon Floyd, CEO of Children's Mental Health
Ontario, an association made up of all the youth
mental health treatment centres across the
province.
He says there isn't enough provincial funding,
resulting in only a handful of kids getting the proper
treatment they need.
"It really is a serious problem", says Floyd, who
spoke recently at a St. Clair Child and Youth
Services event.
He says there is only enough treatment capacity in
the province to handle 150,00 kids a year, which is
less than a quarter of the kids requiring
treatment.
"The demand for services is going up and coupled
with reduced capacity, this is the result".
And, because there is a shortage of services, the
kids deemed most in crisis would be at the top of the
list. For a parent to give up custody, that would
certainly move the child up the chain, Floyd says.
It's situations like this that drew the ire of the
province's ombudsman, André Marin.
In a 44-page report last month, he called the
system "unjust, oppressive and unfair".
More than 100 Ontario families have already had to
give up their children to get help and as many as 15
other families will soon be forced to confront the
wrenching decision, the report stated.
"This is one of the toughest reports I've ever
seen", Floyd says. "It says what's going on isn't
just wrong, it's immoral".
But according to changes to the Child and Family
Services Act and directions from the Ministry, no one
has to surrender services to access services, says the
Children Aid Society's Stephen Doig.
"There is free treatment available", he says.
But, there are waiting lists that can top five
months, Doig says, and children do sometimes fall
through the cracks.
"We could always use additional programming,
especially residential treatment beds for children
with long-standing mental health issues".
In other words, children like Kaitlyn Drexler.
It's been a long-standing issue locally, Doig says,
as all of the beds are reserved for assessments, not
for long-term care.
For now, the Drexler family will continue to
struggle along, hoping Kaitlyn gets the help she needs
before it's too late.
"My biggest fear is she is either going to end up
dead or gone for good", her mom says.
Los Angeles Police Kill Toddler
July 14, 2005
Police in Los Angeles killed a nineteen-month-old girl Suzie Peña in a
standoff with the girl's father. Autopsy results mentioned in later news
reports show that it was a police bullet that killed the girl. This kind of
story is the inevitable result of high levels of police intervention in
family life.
expand
collapse
The Chicago Sun-Times
Toddler who was used as shield by dad is
killed in shootout
July 12, 2005
BY TIM MOLLOY
LOS ANGELES -- A toddler girl was shot and killed
when her intoxicated father used her as a shield
during a fiery gun battle with police after a standoff
that lasted three hours, authorities said.
Police Chief William Bratton said Monday his
officers were well within department policy when they
shot car wash owner Jose Raul Pena on Sunday. Pena
also was killed; an officer shot in the shoulder was
expected to recover.
"You aren't going to stand there with somebody
shooting at you," Bratton said. "The person
responsible for any loss of life ... was the
individual who held his child out as a shield and
continued to shoot."
The 19-month-old child's mother, Lorena Lopez, said
she pleaded with officers to hold their fire.
"He had problems with depression, his business was
not doing well," Lopez told KNBC-TV. "I told them
that he needed help, he needs a psychologist, but
please don't shoot. They didn't understand, and the
police fired, like, 300 shots."
Mayor: Cops 'were doing their jobs'
Autopsies will determine whether the bullet that
killed the toddler was fired by police or her father.
Police spokesman Kevin Maiberger said 11 officers
fired during the standoff, but it was not known how
many shots they took.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the officers were
only trying to protect themselves and the public.
"My heart is out to a grieving mother who's lost
her child. My heart is also out to those officers who
put their lives on the line," Villaraigosa said. "Not
a one of them went into that situation with the intent
to hurt anyone. They were doing their jobs."
The standoff started when officers were called to
an intersection where Pena was behaving erratically
and aggressively. He fired at the officers, and
police called in a SWAT team and tried to talk to the
man.
AP
Addendum: From the Los Angeles Times:
Suzie Marie Peña died as her father engaged
Los Angeles police in a gun battle Sunday night.
The father of the 19-month-old girl used her as a
shield before police stormed his apartment. July
11, 2005
Addendum: You will be pleased to learn that
the cops did nothing wrong in killing Suzie:
expand
collapse
Officers cleared in shooting of toddler
used as human shield
Associated Press
Last updated: Tuesday, November 28th, 2006 12:13:45 PM
LOS ANGELES -- An investigation has cleared the Los
Angeles police officers involved in the accidental
shooting of a toddler being used as a human shield.
The 19-month-old girl was killed during a shootout last
year between police and her father. It came at the end of
a long standoff.
LA's district attorney looked into the case and is
deciding not to bring charges against the eleven officers
involved. Prosecutors believe the SWAT team members were
trying to defend themselves and others when they
mistakenly killed the girl.
Officials have said traces of cocaine were found in the
child, and that the father had also used illegal drugs.
The girl's mother is taking steps to sue the city.
Brantford Woman Harassed by CAS
July 13, 2005
The woman Brantford Police and Children's Aid think is responsible for
the tape posted to this site on
June 4 has been hiding for a month. Today, unaware that all
quasi-police agencies in Canada use caller-id technology, she called Bruce
Burbank, Director of Family Services for the Children's Aid Society of
Brant, and left a message on his answering machine.
In less than an hour a CAS caseworker Christine was at the door. No one
answered, so she left a card in the mailbox. In only a few minutes more a
gas and hydro vehicle arrived and cut off gas service to the house. While
it may seem far-fetched to make a connection, we have had a report unrelated
to this case in which CAS workers arrived with hydro so that they could
seize kids as soon as the power was disconnected (on grounds of lack of
running water). We will keep you informed of developments. No Retrial for VandenElsen
July 13, 2005
Before the Halifax standoff, Carline VandenElsen was acquitted by a jury
on charges of kidnaping her own triplets and taking them to Mexico. The crown has now abandoned efforts to
try her a second time on the same charges. It is unlikely that the
concerns of Craig Merkley, cited by the crown, have much to do with the
decision, since in other areas of family law, the courts show no sensitivity
to fathers. More likely, the crown would have to face now twelve-year-old
witnesses saying that they love their mother. Unfavorable press coverage
was another problem - there is a large amount of coverage in Nova Scotia
(though not in Ontario) and a half-dozen websites dealing with the case.
André Lefebvre, who was present at the hearing, posted a copy of the
crown's motion on his newsblog.
More on Murdered Foster Child
July 12, 2005
Earlier we copied an article on the murder of foster child Braxton Wooden in
Missouri. Since that time, the police have investigated by interviewing the
14-year-old son of the foster family. Police interviewed him while he
changed his story, eventually finding that the killing was an accident. The
teenager will remain confined as punishment until age 17. In this kind of
case, the question remains, did the police use their interrogation skills to
bring the truth from a reluctant witness? Or did they browbeat the boy
until he told them the story they wanted to hear? Several facts have now
come out that contradict the story constructed by the police. Press
coverage in Missouri has been essential in uncovering the truth in this
case. When an incident of this kind occurs in Canada, there is no press
willing to investigate. Even in Missouri, there is no chance the social
worker who had legal authority over Braxton will be held accountable for
negligence contributing to the death of her ward. Here is the latest from
the Joplin Globe.
expand
collapse
The Joplin Globe
July 10, 2005
Rush to judgment?
Braxton Wooden, a foster child shot to death a
month ago, had been active in Little League in
Kansas.
Coroner, court, prosecutor learn of statements
after their decisions were made
Jeff Lehr, Globe Staff Writer, 7/10/05
Braxton Wooden's mother says she believes he was
murdered.
She believes the 14-year-old son of foster parents
Mark and Treva Gordon intentionally shot her
8-year-old son in the head with a .38-caliber handgun
he knew full well was loaded during a game of cops and
robbers June 2 in the Alba couple's foster home.
Brandie McLean, Braxton's mother, wrote in a letter
provided recently to the Globe: "I am very
disappointed that the police didn't know the whole
story about what happened to Braxton when the Gordons'
son went to court."
She believes the findings of two investigators with
the Missouri Department of Social Services indicate
the Gordons' son should have been adjudicated in
Jasper County Juvenile Court on a murder allegation
instead of involuntary manslaughter.
McLean wrote: "It's a shame that the state did a
better job of finding out what really happened than
the Alba policemen. I wish the court would have had
the state report instead of the city report."
Actually, the juvenile court adjudicated the Gordon
boy and committed him to the custody of the Division
of Youth Services until he is 17 based on a juvenile
officer's report to the court, not the JasCo
Metropolitan Police Department's reports on the
shooting as McLean's letter mistakenly notes.
The juvenile officer's report cited the "end story"
the Gordon boy told investigators the night of June 4
after changing his story about what had happened
several times.
The "truth" he'd finally told them was that he'd
found the gun and some ammunition for it in a boot in
the family's garage back about May 2004, shortly after
the Gordons had moved to their home at 104 S. Smith
St. in Alba. He told them that he had loaded it with
a single bullet at that time and put it back in the
boot, and forgot about it, and that he didn't remember
the gun was loaded when he had put it to Braxton's
head and pulled the trigger on June 2.
What calls that "end story" into question are the
reports of an investigator with the State Technical
Assistance Team of the DSS and a state child-abuse
hot-line investigator. Those reports - not made
public until June 28 - revealed that other foster
children in the Gordons' home told DSS investigators
that the Gordon boy had chased them around the house
with one or more of three handguns in the Gordons'
home on prior occasions. They said they'd seen him in
possession of bullets, and that one of them had seen
him load and unload the gun repeatedly on a prior
occasion.
But, by the time that information surfaced, the
Jasper County coroner had already ruled the death an
accidental shooting, the juvenile court had
adjudicated and committed the Gordon boy for
involuntary manslaughter and the Jasper County
prosecutor had decided not to charge the foster
parents for keeping unsecured guns in their home.
Premature decisions?
The Globe's review of all public records related to
the shooting has found that neither the JasCo police's
nor the Jasper County Sheriff's Department's reports
on the shooting reflect any awareness of what the
other foster children told the state's investigators.
There is no indication that police or sheriff's
detectives ever interviewed the other foster
children.
The coroner made his ruling on June 6. The
juvenile court adjudicated the case June 14. And
Jasper County Prosecutor Dean Dankelson made the
decision not to charge the Gordons and declared the
criminal side of the investigation closed on June
17.
The coroner, juvenile court and prosecutor
acknowledged to the Globe this past week that they
were not aware of what the other foster children told
investigators when they made those decisions.
Coroner Jerry Neil said he based his ruling on
preliminary autopsy findings and a discussion he'd had
with Detective Ron Thomas of the Sheriff's Department,
which assisted JasCo police in the investigation.
Thomas had told him the morning of June 6 that he and
juvenile officer Ritchie Torrez were "comfortable"
with calling it an accidental shooting based on the
"end story" of the Gordon boy obtained on June 4, Neil
said.
"Why not make the ruling based on the information I
had?" Neil said this past week.
He said he did not know if the information about
the other foster children's accounts had even come out
when he made the ruling. In fact, the state
investigators' interviews of the other foster children
did not take place until the afternoon of June 6,
hours after Thomas had talked to Neil.
Neil acknowledged that he "might have held off a
few more days if anyone held any additional
information" about the incident. But, he said, to
date, no one from DSS, the prosecutor's office or
either criminal investigative agency involved has
expressed any concern to him regarding his ruling.
He said he first learned of the other foster
children's accounts in the June 29 edition of the
Globe. But he said he does not know that the
information would have made a difference in his
ruling.
"Foster children have gone through so much, they
don't have a lot of credibility with me," Neil said.
"They can get confused and fabricate a good
story."
He acknowledged that the foster children's accounts
do seem to suggest that the Gordon boy "may have known
the gun was loaded." But knowing the gun was loaded
and having an intent to kill are two different things,
he said. He said proving that intent without a
confession could be difficult.
The Gordon boy had told investigators during his
"end story" that he had played with the gun three
times previously since loading it more than a year ago
and the gun had not gone off.
Neil said the Gordon boy "seemed remorseful" to
investigators and "without strong motive."
"There's certain things in life we're never going
to know," Neil said, "such as where's Jimmy
Hoffa?"
Gunshot residue
Joe Hensley, attorney for the Jasper County
Juvenile Office, also acknowledged that the juvenile
court was not aware of the other foster children's
accounts when the court adjudicated the Gordon boy.
Hensley said no petition was ever presented to the
juvenile court alleging murder, contrary to some
information to that effect in the STAT investigator's
report.
Hensley said it probably would have made little
difference if the court had known about the other
foster children's accounts.
Hensley said child witnesses' accounts are "always
problematic" and he would take any siblings'
statements "with a grain of salt."
Three of the six foster children placed with the
Gordons at the time of the shooting were McLean's
three oldest children. Her two youngest children were
placed in another foster home when all five were
removed from her care last September after her
2-year-old son, Chandler, got out on a roof of their
Webb City home while she was sleeping.
The two children who told state investigators about
prior occasions when the Gordon boy had the gun or
guns out were not Braxton's siblings.
Hensley said that, without a motive, it is
difficult to establish intent on the part of the
Gordon boy.
"I can prove negligence," he said. "That's not
difficult. When it comes to intent, that's more
difficult because we don't have a motive in this
case."
He said from all reports the juvenile office
received, the Gordon boy and Braxton Wooden got along.
In fact, all the foster children in the home got along
with the Gordon boy, he said.
Hensley said the case also posed some evidentiary
problems. Gunshot residue tests showed trace amounts
of gunpowder residue on the Gordon boy's hands and a
larger amount on Braxton's hands, a finding that in
some ways supported the Gordon boy's initial story
that Braxton had shot himself.
"That kind of threw us a bit," Hensley said.
But, he said, even if investigators could have
proved murder, the allegation in juvenile court would
have produced the exact same result, committal to DYS
until the boy is 17, unless the court would have
certified the boy for trial as an adult.
Voice-stress test
Capt. Jerry Gilbert of the Jasper County Sheriff's
Department said on Friday that Detective Thomas was
not present during the portions of the state
investigators' interviews of the other foster children
when they spoke of prior occasions when the Gordon boy
had a gun or guns out.
That is why no mention of other children's accounts
is part of the Sheriff's Department reports, Gilbert
said.
Included in the sheriff's reports obtained by the
Globe are the results of a computerized voice-stress
analysis test conducted on the Gordon boy with his and
his parents' permission on the day of the
shooting.
A cold reading of the test determined that the boy
had shown clear stress on just one of four relevant
questions asked him. The four relevant questions
were: "Did you take the gun out of your father's
closet?" "Did you put ammunition in the gun?" "Did
Braxton shoot himself with the gun?" and "Did you
shoot Braxton with the gun?"
The Gordon boy had answered "no" to three of the
questions. He answered "yes" to "Did Braxton shoot
himself with the gun?"
The one he had shown clear stress on was: "Did you
put ammunition in the gun?"
The reliability of CVSAs is an issue in
law-enforcement investigations. The fact that the boy
later changed his story with respect to his responses
to all four questions reflects on the results of this
particular test.
Unsecured weapons
Dankelson acknowledged this week that he'd made the
decision not to charge the foster parents based on the
reports of the JasCo police. He had met with
then-police Chief Clifton Boyer prior to making that
decision on June 17.
Dankelson made that acknowledgment in response to
the first question of a set of three written questions
presented to him by the Globe in light of the state
investigators' findings.
Dankelson's response to questions asking if he was
aware of the foster children's accounts at the time of
his decision and if there was any other evidence he'd
been presented that outweighed the foster children's
accounts in making that decision by stating that he'd
scheduled a meeting of the Child Fatality Review Panel
for Wednesday of this coming week.
He wrote that he would be in a better position
after that meeting "to determine if there exists more
information to be able to answer" the Globe's other
two questions.
Boyer retired the day he met with Dankelson to
discuss possibly charging the Gordons. According to
Dankelson, Boyer did not feel they should be
charged.
The Globe has been unable to reach Boyer since that
time. He has not returned repeated calls to his
cellular telephone number.
Gilbert told the Globe on Friday that there are
problems with charging the Gordons.
"I don't think there's a state law the parents
violated as to the keeping of weapons in their home,"
Gilbert said.
He said if they were to be charged with child
endangerment for not having guns and ammunition
secured, local law enforcement would be put in the
position of having to charge parents every time they
go into a home and find both children and unsecured
guns present.
"You have thousands and thousands of homes across
the state of Missouri that have children and weapons
in them," Gilbert said.
He said law enforcement "really can't take a stance
on that."
Prohibited
McLean told the Globe this past week that she has
been prohibited by the Children's Division of DSS from
asking her other two children who were placed in the
Gordons' home about the presence of guns there during
her weekly visits with them at the Children's Division
offices in Joplin.
DSS records show that the juvenile court had not
been apprised of Braxton Wooden's placement with the
Gordons at the time of the shooting.
Braxton and two of her other children had been
placed with the Gordons following the
toddler-on-the-roof incident last September. In
January, they went to live with McLean's mother, Linda
McLean, in Kansas with the court's approval.
Because the children proved too much for their
grandmother to handle, she'd gradually returned each
of them to the Gordons' foster care. Braxton was the
last one she returned. The plan with Braxton's family
support team at the Children's Division had been for
Braxton to remain with the grandmother through the end
of school and then be returned to the Gordons.
School ended for the boy on May 25. The
grandmother then dropped him off at the Gordons on May
27 before the court had been apprised of the change in
placement. Records indicate that the grandmother and
foster parents had apprised Braxton's caseworker,
Mickie Morgan, of the boy's return to the Gordons'
care. The records further indicate Morgan was waiting
until a family-support meeting on June 2, the day of
the shooting, to inform the court of the grandmother's
return of the child to foster care.
DSS records on Braxton also indicate that a
decision had been made to switch McLean's children
from a reunification track to an adoption track. The
Gordons' licensing of their home was to be changed
from foster home to an adoptive home.
Brandie McLean told the Globe she was not aware of
that plan change. She still wants her children back.
She recently acquired a home to live in and is
attempting to comply with other DSS requirements for
reunification with her children, she said. She said
the publicity about her case has made her search for
steady employment difficult. She said employers are
reluctant to hire her.
Her letter to the Globe concludes: "I know I've
made many mistakes as a parent, but it breaks my heart
to know that my kids were taken from me because the
state said that I neglected them, but were put in a
house where they were neglected and Braxton was
killed."
Repeated attempts by the Globe to afford the
Gordons an opportunity to comment have been
unsuccessful. A listed phone number for the couple is
no longer a working number.
Jack Stratton Needs Help
July 12, 2005
Jack and Kathy Stratton had ten of their children
taken by North Carolina on January 30, 2001. This is an
interracial homeschooling couple, and the children did
well on achievement tests. In 2004 Jack Stratton was a
candidate for the Mecklenburg Board of County
Commissioners, the body having oversight over the child
protectors, and got nine percent of the vote required
for election. Among the lowlights of his case, he was
sentenced to jail for speaking publicly about his
family, he suffered a heart attack during one of the
court hearings on his case, and what is left of his
family has had to take refuge outside of the reach of
the North Carolina police.
Now he appeals for support in the form a mailing list
entries. You can help in this important case by
forwarding your email address to him. His email address
is:
Jack Stratton
jackstratton12@hotmail.com
expand
collapse
July 11, 2005
Friends,
I feel we are very close to accomplishing our
mission of getting our children back. I have been
working here underground for months.
It may be that the child stealers now realize
that their elaborate four and a half year scheme
against us is not going the way they planned and
that they are in serious trouble. Naturally
this puts my freedom and probably my life in jeopardy.
If I suddenly disappear, I want people to know about
it.
In addition, my wife and two oldest sons are
currently in exile in another state after jack-booted
thugs from the Mecklenburg County law enforcement /
gestapo arm of the DSS began to threaten my wife in my
absence.
I need to compile a large email list across the
United States so as to make hundreds of thousands and
perhaps millions of people aware of what we
are about to do here in Charlotte.
I would also like the information posted to as many
websites as possible.
If you or anyone you know has a large email list
and would be willing to post our information,
please let me know.
Sincerely,
Jack Stratton
Parenting Classes?
July 11, 2005
The Orangeville Banner, cannot directly criticize
social services. But here is an article from their
Canada Day editorial page.
expand
collapse
Do parents need instruction manual?
Karen MARTIN-ROBBINS, Great EXPECTATIONS
I was flipping through the TV channels the other
day (looking for Dragon Tales or Poko) when I came
across one of the latest reality shows --
Supernanny.
The show is one of several that gives viewers a
voyeuristic look into the homes of dysfunctional
families.
Each episode you meet a family whose children have
outrageous behavioural problems -- like a child that
spits at his mom and tells her he "hates her".
Then the parenting expert -- Supernanny, in this
case -- swoops in and in about 20 minutes saves the
family from itself.
As someone that is not a fan of reality TV, I have
to admit the show is addictive.
It is fun to revel in other people's problems and
sit smugly back and say, "My kids will never do
that".
But that is exactly the problem with shows like
this.
It feeds into the idea that parents cannot possibly
cope without an expert.
At one point during this particular show, the mom
says, "I am so grateful to Supernanny. I feel like I
finally have an instruction manual for my kids".
Do parents really need an instruction manual to
raise their children?
I certainly believe that it is difficult to raise
children in isolation.
I have a cousin that is living away from family and
friends with her husband and six-month-old son. The
family is having some problems.
They have no one to relieve them from their
parenting duties. No one to ask, "Does this poop look
normal?".
As a mom of two rambunctious twins, I am grateful
for my family and friends whom I can vet stuff
with.
I can ask them, "How did you get your kids to sleep
through the night?".
Or my favourite these days, "Did your children
refuse to eat anything but Cheerios?".
But I also believe that my parenting skills will
develop from me being a loving parent.
And besides, haven't people been raising kids for,
well, forever?
We have a tendency to criticize parents.
We like to gossip about our friend's kid that
"should be on Ritalin". It makes us feel better about
oruselves.
Which is probably why shows like Supernanny
exist.
But when the day comes that my kids tell me they
hate me, as they most certainly will, I plan to turn
to the best expert of all -- me.
More Babies for CAS
July 9, 2005
This article suggests using post-partum depression as
a pretext for screening all mothers (and babies) upon
giving birth. Note that in social worker jargon,
"support" means persons giving orders. Dr Dolores A
Sicheri found the article.
expand
collapse
The Toronto Star
Jul. 8, 2005. 01:00 AM
After-birth support may prevent
postpartum depression
SHERYL UBELACKER, CANADIAN PRESS
Providing professional support specifically
tailored to a woman after she brings home her new baby
may be the best way to prevent postpartum depression,
research suggests.
An analysis of 15 international studies by the
University of Toronto shows strategies before birth,
including pre-natal classes targeting postpartum
depression, appear to be ineffective in preventing the
disorder.
"Mothers are busy and they often do not attend
these pre-natal classes, so they weren't receiving a
sufficient dosage of the intervention," researcher
Cindy-Lee Dennis of the faculty of nursing said this
week.
What she did find is that support provided by a
health professional — for instance, a public
health nurse or midwife — may be able to
prevent postpartum depression if it is geared to the
individual woman and based on her specific needs.
That could mean a mom who is having marital
difficulties after the birth of her baby being
referred for family counselling or a low-income mother
getting steered towards financial assistance, Dennis
said.
More than one in 10 women experience depression
after giving birth, ranging from mild baby blues to a
severe form of the illness that in rare cases can
include psychosis.
But most women are reluctant to seek help, Dennis
said. "There's a stigma attached to being depressed
in the postpartum period because it's supposed to be a
happy time."
The reason pre-natal measures don't seem to work is
because it's virtually impossible to predict which
women will develop postpartum depression, although
those at greatest risk are women of low socioeconomic
status, those with relationship difficulties, a past
history of psychiatric problems or pre-natal
depression and anxiety.
Dennis. advises new moms be assessed by a health
professional during the first four weeks after birth
and referred for treatment if needed.
Michigan Girl Drugged by Force
July 7, 2005
A Michigan television station, WILX Lansing/Jackson, did two reports on a
five-year-old girl, Mary Schneider, afflicted with an auto-immune disease.
When her parents, Andy and Jamie Schneider, decided not to use a prescribed
drug because of side-effects, Michigan DHS gave her two drugs by force. DHS
quickly retreated once the parents intervened in court, and all record of
ordering the treatment has disappeared.
This is not the usual kind of family that DHS can push around. Clients
sue child protectors regularly, and the suits end as soon as the agencies
plead their legal immunity. This family can afford the best in legal
representation, and may come up with a legal theory that works to reduce the
intrusiveness of child protectors. A successful theory might even spread
across the border into Canada.
The following news summary from WILX and email from Nancy Luckhurst
describe the situation.
expand
collapse
Fight Finished Over Mary's Medicine
Heath Care For Child Dispute
Nick LaFave
Mary was diagnosed with Juvenile Dermatomyositis last
year. A U of M specialist prescribed prednisone and
methotrexate. Once Mary's parents learned of the
potential side-effects of methotrexate, they consulted
other doctors and took her off the drug.
The Department of Human Services was informed and
obtained a court order forcing Mary into the hospital.
On June 25, Mary was given a dosage of methotrexate,
and three dosages of prednisone without her parents
permission.
At a court hearing June 30, no one would admit to
giving the order to administer those drugs.
A court order, dated June 24 gave the DHS authority to
consent to interim medical treatment for the girl.
The family believes the Clinton County Court
overstepped it's bounds by issuing both the order to
send Mary to the hospital - because they say she was
in no imminent danger... and the order giving DHS
medical authority.
Both orders have now been dismissed. Mary is now
under the supervision of another specialist from
Kalamazoo.
Schneider family attorney Antoinette Frazho says the
hospital staff acted appropriately, only administering
drugs when they were under court order to do so.
expand
collapse
I e-mailed WILX and asked them to please give my
phone number to the Schneiders and let them know the
Foundation would be interested in talking to them and
that we felt they should get in touch with Sheen as
well as their Rep and make arrangements to testify
before the House Standing committee.
Well about an hour later I got a phone call from a
man by the name of Russ Winchel. Mr Winchel is a
Private Detective who works for the Schneiders high
powered attorneys. He and I had a wonderful
conversation. It seems it didn't take these attorneys
long or him long to figure out DHS has a serious
problem with controling workers. And that the
Schneiders are not the only people who have been run
over by DHS. And that DHS likes to screw with the
good loving families and leave the ones who actually
do abuse their kids alone because they are afraid to
go in and mess with the real abusers.
Are you getting the picture yet? He would like
some other really good Michgan cases to look at. So I
told him I think we can accomodate him. He told me
the Schneiders are ready to take this right to the
wall against DHS. And they really really want to see
Judge Lisa Sullivan standing on a street corner
selling pencils for a living. They are pissed and
don't plan to get over it. I don't know what the plan
is but I am thinking we could be looking at another
class action law suit that is going to be handled by
some really big boys. They have made up their mind
they are going to put an end to this kind of
Government abuse. Oh and to let you know Russ said
their case has completely gone away and they are no
longer in any danger from DHS and they are no longer
taking their child to U of M. They have a specialist
in Kalamazoo who is now handling their daughters case.
And it is true that they can find no one what so ever
who authorized the procedure to be done on this child.
Sure would hate to be the person who did it.
Anyone want to take odds on how that child's chart
got changed? Cause the order to do the procedure had
to be ordered by some Dr in that Hospital in order for
it to get done. It is going to suck to be U of M and
Sparrow Hospital as I see it. And I am not thinking
Marianne Udow is going to have some sleepless nights
along the way too. But hey no one wanted to listen to
little ole us did they?????????
ROFLMAO
So guys I need some cases besides the ones I have
personaly. Please put your cases together if you want
them presented and send them to me or Randy matters
not which one of us but WE must be able to confirm
your case before turning it over to the Detective.
And you must be able to gel it down to a 3 page
synopsis with a few pages of documentation to prove
it. So get your poop in a group kids we are going to
get this job done.
Nanc
Anne Enters CAS
July 6, 2005
Here is a report from a participant in yesterday's
event in which Anne was compelled to return to CAS.
expand
collapse
There were 15 people in front of Simcoe CAS. Anne
was delivered by Rev Dorian Baxter before nine AM.
Anne, once there, pulled out her tape recorder and
told them that she is going to record them. Dorian
Baxter talked to CAS -- they were there in force and
promised to place Anne in a foster home where foster
parents have two kids of their own and two foster
kids. She will be allowed at any time to call her dad
and others. CAS promised to expedite their
"investigation" of allegations against Anne's father
and that was it.
We distributed lots of flyers, I guess local TV
took some video, around 10:30 we went downtown and
distributed more flyers, met for lunch at 12 and went
home.
Secret Training for Judges
July 6, 2005
Family law critics have long claimed that Canadian
family law judges receive secret training. Now there is
indirect confirmation. An American critic has obtained
a copy of the "California Judges Benchguide".
Interspersed between recitations of the law are a number
of notes called "JUDICIAL TIP". These advise judges on,
among other things, how to make findings that will get
the state the most funding from the federal government.
In Canada, do judges make findings on the basis of the
facts, or on the requirement to get the most
funding?
The manual, dated 2003 and 2004, was copied
photographically, so it is 45 megabytes, too big for
this website. Commentary, and links to the manual, are
at The
Sociology Center by James Roger Brown.
Bountrogianni Promise Broken
July 4, 2005
When Marie Bountrogianni promised to return custody of severely disabled
children to their parents, we speculated on ways the promise might not be kept.
Here is one we never suspected: a cabinet shuffle excuses the minister.
expand
collapse
The Globe and Mail
Ontario minister's departure leaves
disabled in limbo
Parents fear treatment crisis will continue
By KAREN HOWLETT, Monday, July 4, 2005
Ontario MPP Marie Bountrogianni is taking on a new
role in Premier Dalton McGuinty's cabinet, leaving a
long-standing crisis involving severely disabled
children in the province far from resolved and raising
concerns among families about further delays.
Ms. Bountrogianni was transferred to
Intergovernmental Affairs from Children and Youth
Services last week as part of the Premier's cabinet
shuffle.
As Minister of Children and Youth Services, she had promised to begin
restoring legal custody to families forced to relinquish guardianship over
a severely disabled child to get access to treatment. She made the pledge
after Ontario Ombudsman André Marin accused the government of turning a
blind eye to the problem.
Anne Larcade, whose son has brain damage and a
degenerative neurological condition, has seen several
ministers come and go during the five years that she
has struggled to find treatment for Alexandre. She
said she is worried that Ms. Bountrogianni's
departure will delay any resolution and lead to
another round of empty "we're-working-on-it"
promises.
"It's unfortunate because I think she was coming
around to wanting to do the right thing," said Ms.
Larcade, whose son is in a group home in
Huntsville.
Ms. Bountrogianni's successor is Mary Anne
Chambers. While the change in ministers might buy the
government more time to deal with the problem, it is
not going to stop the Ombudsman from pursuing the
matter, said a government official. "I think they
understand very clearly that André Marin is not
a pushover."
Ms. Bountrogianni rolled out her action plan last
month after Mr. Marin called the government's failure
to address the crisis "unjust, oppressive and
unfair."
The problem dates back to the late 1990s when the
Progressive Conservative government abandoned
legislation designed to provide a safety net for
severely disabled children.
The government stopped entering into special-needs
agreements with families, forcing them to give up
custody of a child to get treatment or manage on their
own.
Ms. Bountrogianni's office has identified 83
families that had to relinquish custody of a severely
disabled child on either a temporary or permanent
basis. So far, 35 families that entered into
temporary agreements with a Children's Aid Society
have had legal custody reinstated, spokesman Andrew
Weir said.
Some of the families do not want to get back
custody of a child, he said. But the process will not
be as straightforward for the 34 families that do.
These are the families whose child has either been
taken into temporary care through a court order or
been made a permanent Crown ward.
Mr. Weir said the government is working with the
Children's Aid Society to go to court to unwind
custody agreements for the remaining families.
Cindy Cameron of London, Ont., is one of the
parents who has regained custody. She and her husband
have signed an agreement with a community youth
services group that pays for their son Jesse's
treatment in a group home.
Ms. Cameron said she and her husband are relieved
that they no longer face the spectre of permanently
relinquishing custody of Jesse, something they feared
would give them much less say in decisions involving
him.
But Linda Limon, mother of a severely autistic son,
said it is not just a matter of restoring legal
custody to parents. Her son Andrew is in a government
treatment centre in London, near the family's home.
But the centre has no room for him after the end of
August, and she has no idea what will happen.
Douglas Elliott, a lawyer representing a group of
families suing the government over its treatment of
disabled children, said many of the community agencies
that are entering into agreements with the families
are inadequately funded. If the government really
wanted to solve the problem, he said, it would make
special-needs agreements and settle the lawsuit.
Anne to Enter Children's Aid
July 3, 2005
The following announcement from Canada Court Watch details plans for Anne
on Tuesday, July 5. All supporters are invited to attend.
expand
collapse
On Thursday June 30, 2005, the Archbishop Dorian A.
Baxter attempted to enter the court at Collingwood,
Ontario presided by Madame Justice Olah of the Ontario
Superior Court of Justice. The 13-year-old teen who was
the subject of the hearing by the CAS requested in writing
that Court Watch support her and her father by being
present in the court.
Tragically, as a response, extra armed officers of the
Collingwood, Ontario detachment of the OPP were brought in
to the court to block Archbishop Baxter's attempt to enter
the court. Officers physically locked the courtroom doors
at the order of Justice Olah blocking all movement in or
out of the court. This was a tragic day in the
administration of Justice and the Rule of Law in
Canada.
Further information about this story is posted on the
Canada Court Website at http://www.canadacourtwatch.com as well as a picture
of Archbishop Baxter distributing flyers in support of the
teen.
We will be looking for persons willing to support the
teen on Tuesday morning in Barrie, Ontario as she turns
herself over to the CAS to save her family. Archbishop
Baxter will personally escort the girl into the CAS
offices at 9:00 am and then give an announcement to those
present. He will be holding Justice Olah personally
responsible for what happens to this girl after that day.
Supporters are welcome to join us for the event. We will
be meeting at the Rock and Roll Diner in Barrie (just
north of highway 400) between 7:30 and 8:00 am Tuesday
morning for coffee. Flyers about the CAS will be
distributed at the same time as the girl surrenders
herself.
A day at the near by public beach will be planned for
the day for supporters to gather and meet. Bring a picnic
lunch. Kids are welcomed.
If you would like to give your support to this teen who
is fighting the injustice of the family courts then plan
to be in Barrie Tuesday morning. If you wish to speak to
someone in person, then send us an e mail to
info@canadacourtwatch.com giving us your contact
number.
Remember, all it takes for evil to triumph over good is
for good people to do nothing.
The Rock N Roll Diner, phone 705-721-0223, is at the
Kozlov Centre, 400 Bayfield Street, Barrie Ontario, 900
meters northwest of Highway 400. The Children's Aid
Society of Simcoe County is at 60 Bell Farm Road Unit 7,
Barrie Ontario L4M 5G6. Refer to the mapquest map below
for directions.
Anne's Father in Contempt
June 29, 2005
At a hearing today in Collingwood Ontario Anne's father was
held in contempt of court. He has until 9 am
Tuesday July 5, 2005 to deliver Anne to the Children's
Aid Society, or he will be committed to jail
indefinitely and fined one thousand dollars per day.
Finck and VendenElsen Sentenced
June 29, 2005
Today Larry Finck was sentenced to 4 1/2 years, Carline VandenElsen to 3
1/2 years for the Halifax
standoff. The higher sentence for Finck is curious, since the jury
found that Carline fired the gun. Bountrogianni Fired
June 29, 2005
Today Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty reorganized the cabinet, removing
Marie Bountrogianni as Minister of Children and Youth Services and replacing
her with Mary Anne Chambers. Refer to Premier
McGuinty Fine Tunes His Cabinet At Mid-Term for details. Same-sex Marriage!
June 28, 2005
Tonight the Canadian Parliament enacted same-sex marriage throughout Canada, increasing the number of families
eligible to receive babies after seizure from natural parents. This measure
also enlarges the political constituency supporting the removal of children
from parents. Bomb-proofing for CAS
June 28, 2005
When clients are unhappy with your "services", do you
reform the services or enhance security to protect
yourself from their anger? Here is the answer.
expand
collapse
CAS moves to boost security: Large
boulders block access to glass wall
The Windsor Star, Tuesday 28 June 2005, Craig Pearson
The Windsor-Essex Children's Aid Society is
boosting its look along with its security.
The society on Monday began building a large stone
garden that will enhance the appearance of the north
grounds and help prevent vehicles from approaching the
glass wall facing the Detroit River.
"From a risk-management point of view, we wanted to
add something to the front that would increase safety
for everyone using the building," said CAS spokeswoman
Lindsay Hulkonen. "It's a security issue."
Early on Oct. 26 last year, when the building was
nearly empty, former CAS worker Jim Malone lit two
20-pound propane tanks and smashed his fiery truck
into the building's north facade.
The collision and resulting fire caused almost $1
million in damages and many employees were forced to
find other quarters. Malone died three days later
from burns at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto.
The local CAS is still not fully back to normal
since the crash, because not all workers have returned
to the first floor where most of the damage was
caused.
But restoration of 78 planes of glass was completed
last week, and when the landscaping is finished --
within two to three weeks -- Hulkonen said the
child-welfare agency expects all employees will
return.
The rock garden will cost $25,000 to $30,000 and
will include local plants as well as rocks from a
local quarry.
Hulkonen said the cost of the outdoor renovation
has been covered by donations.
Note: Our indirect source omitted a picture.
We will add it as soon as possible.
More Money for Child Protection
June 27, 2005
The Ontario Government has announced more money for severe special needs
(handicaped) children. Near the end it says that 35 families in this
category have had their parental rights restored. This part at least sounds
like good news, though not a single name has come up publicly or privately.
Once attention moves away from this issue, the additional funds will only
increase the baby bounty.
expand
collapse
McGuinty Government Helping More Children
With Severe Special Needs
Part Of Long-Term Plan To Improve Services For
Special Needs Children And Youth
QUEEN'S PARK, June 27 /CNW/ - The McGuinty
government is committing an additional $10 million to
help more children and youth with severe special needs
receive services faster, Children and Youth Services
Minister Marie Bountrogianni announced today.
"This measure is another step in our long-term plan
to improve and expand services for families of special
needs children across the province," Bountrogianni
said. "We're working hard on many fronts to build a
co-ordinated system that supports families long before
their situations become critical, and that provides
relief to those families that do reach an acute
stage."
The government is providing an additional $10
million to respond to the needs of families in crisis
and provide specialized supports where they are needed
most. The extra funding comes on top of more than
$100 million in new investments that have begun to
make a difference for children and youth with special
needs across the province. This includes building
children's treatment centres in parts of the province
that didn't have one and providing more services
locally through more than 200 new and expanded
community mental health programs.
"We are acting on the advice of community planning
teams across the province that have first-hand
knowledge of services for special needs children and
families," said Bountrogianni. "The money will help
provide a combination of residential treatment and
other specialized supports for children and youth who
urgently require care."
Community planning teams made up of special needs
service providers, parents and other stakeholders were
established by the ministry in April to recommend
strategies to expand and improve services so more
children and youth can get help in their home
communities. The government is also conducting a
review of the residential service system across all
sectors to determine what specific measures are needed
to improve that system for children, youth and
families across the province.
"We have to integrate and collaborate across many
sectors in order to improve services for children with
special needs," said John Flannery, Executive Director
of Surrey Place Centre, which participated in the
ministry's community planning team for Toronto.
"These planning teams pulled together government,
parents, educators, health professionals and others to
address both immediate service pressures and wider
system improvements which will have longer-term
impacts for families."
The increased funding also builds on the
government's recent actions to help parents who had
relinquished custody of their children with special
needs to children's aid societies. Under the
government's direction, children's aid societies and
other community agencies have worked with those
parents over the past month to help them regain
custody of their children without disruption to the
specialized services and care their children receive.
To date, 35 families have had their parental custody
restored.
"We know that increased spending alone is not the
solution," Bountrogianni said. "That's why we are
moving forward with our plans to fundamentally improve
the current system so that special needs services are
more accessible, better co-ordinated and centred on
the needs of children and their families."
Disponible en français
www.children.gov.on.ca
Anne's Father in Collingwood Court
June 27, 2005
Anne's father, whose hearing for contempt on June 20 in Barrie was
disrupted by Canada Court Watch, will be in court again in Collingwood on
June 30. Canada Court Watch plans more activity in this case, and all
supporters of Anne are invited to participate. The court house is at 49
Huron Street. We will keep you informed of further plans with an addendum
to this note.
Addendum: An announcement from Canada Court Watch follows. For
the event to be successful, participants must distribute flyers before court
begins, so we suggest arriving at Collingwood at 8:30 am Thursday June 30.
You can also look here for Anne's
whole story.
expand
collapse
Dear Readers
We are looking for a number of volunteers who can
help us to monitor the court and to distribute flyers
this coming Thursday morning in Collingwood.
Archbishop Baxter is scheduled to appear in the court.
We will be getting together afterwards and lunch will
be provided to all those who help. We are supporting
the 13 year-old girl who has been in hiding from CAS
for over 5 months.
This girl is standing up for justice and has
sacrificed her personal life for the cause. Please
show this girl that we support her by giving some of
your time this Thursday to help get the message out to
the people of Collingwood.
If you want to help then send a message to
info@canadacourtwatch.com
You can read some of this girl's letters on the
court watch website at http://www.canadacourtwatch.com
Mona-Clare Orphaned, Gays Adopt
June 24, 2005
Carline VandenElsen and Larry Finck, convicted of crimes in the standoff
with police apprehending their baby Mona-Clare, have lost legal rights to the baby.
Defending their baby was the source of serious mental health concerns to the
court. From the story:
Last summer, in Mr. Finck's criminal case, a
psychiatrist at the East Coast Forensic Hospital in
Dartmouth found that he suffers from chronic delusions
of persecution and has serious psychotic illness along
with a personality disorder.
A dictionary defines delusion as: A false belief held in spite of
invalidating evidence. Mr Finck has lost two children by force of arms,
without ever causing harm to either of them. He has validating evidence.
The next story from the Dundas Star News may give a clue to Mona-Clare's
future. It is about a normal couple with no mental health problems.
expand
collapse
First gay couple adopt son through CAS
By Peggy Chapman, News Staff, (Jun 24, 2005)
As Hamilton recognizes Gay Pride throughout the
city this week, a local couple want to tell their
story of adoption in hopes of letting other
alternative families know that it's not as difficult
as it's perceived to be.
Marcus and Wayne have been together for five years
and married for the past two. The two men moved here
from Toronto hoping to start a family. As gay men,
they assumed their options were limited.
Marcus, Wayne and their five-year-old son relax in
the backyard of their home.
"Once we seriously started talking about adoption,
we went to a private adoption agency where we
received a great deal of education and support," said
Marcus. "The problem is, private adoptions can be
very complicated. The birth parents get most of the
say in what happens, and can change their
minds." The couple went through the painful
experience of losing a baby they expected to
adopt. "The mother was fine with the situation,
and even let us in the hospital for the birth," said
Wayne. "We had everything set up and bought the baby
gear." But the baby did not go home with the
couple. For privacy reasons, they prefer not to
discuss what happened.
"It was hard. We were really discouraged," said
Marcus.
Just like many families who want to adopt, this
couple had an ideal dream of bringing a newborn home,
but what about the older children? Recent provincial
figures show 9,000 Crown wards in Ontario (children
without permanent families since their parents'
rights have been removed). Yet, Hamilton
Mountain MPP and Minister of Children and Youth
Services Marie Bountrogianni said that only 900, or
10 per cent, are placed for adoption in a given
year.
The minister's recent initiative announced on June
6 is an effort to increase the opportunities for
these 9,000 children and make it easier for them to
move to a permanent family. Many of these children
are currently in the system because of access orders
- giving their parents the right to visit -
precluding them from moving to adoption. After
years of heartache and private paths in search of
adoption, Marcus and Wayne decided to call the
Hamilton's Children's Aid Society, which eventually
found them their son - something they just assumed
would be very complicated. "The perception out
there is if you're gay it will be difficult to adopt,
if not impossible," said Wayne. "We've proven that
wrong. The process is intrusive, but not
discriminatory. Our being gay wasn't an issue
really. The CAS just wanted to know if we could
support a child responsibly." The couple see
many alternative families adopting under just one
name and keeping the homosexuality a secret, but they
both wanted to be the legal parents to their
child. When asked if they had any advice to
people wanting to adopt, Marcus said simply, "Take
parental leave." After years of trying to
adopt, this couple feel the process they went through
was "meant to be" and have only good things to say
about the local CAS. Meeting at the family home,
their son happily played in the backyard with the
dog, as the dads were interviewed on the deck. Every
so often the five-year-old boy would come up and ask
either Papa (Wayne) a question, or he'd climb on
Dad's (Marcus') lap to join in the
conversation. "We had and have, so much
support. Unlike birth parents, adoptive parents and
foster parents get added education and skills before
the child ever gets home. That is a
benefit." Rachel Threlkeld, co-ordinator of
Homes for Kids urges families of all backgrounds and
makeups to consider fostering or adoption.
"The CAS is in desperate need of homes for
children. We encourage single people, gays, lesbians
and new Canadians from other culturally diverse
backgrounds to contact us." For information on
adoption or foster parenting call 905-546-KIDS, or
online at www.hamiltoncas.com.
Police Hunt for Tape
June 23, 2005
Police and Children's Aid in Brantford are following a 21-year-old woman
suspected of being the source of the recording recently deleted from
Dufferin VOCA. Children's Aid has opened investigations into the families
of two friends with whom she stayed near the time of the recording. In
other parts of Ontario CAS has used its powers to suppress dissent, the same
may be happening in Brant. The woman herself checked into a hospital with
stress and was medicated. While groggy from the medication, she was induced
to sign a document. After regaining her faculties, she was able to see, but
not keep, a copy and found it to be a consent to disclose her medical
records to Children's Aid. Today, a Brantford police officer found her.
She was not arrested, but the officer tried to find out where the original
tape was located so he could take it. It is not known what on the tape
justifies this much effort at suppression. Opening CAS Records Suggested
June 22, 2005
Ontario's Children's Aid Societies are not subject to the freedom of
information law, and reject all requests for their documents. Parents
cannot even request documents relating to their own children. Ontario
privacy commissioner Ann Cavoukian is suggesting expanding freedom of
information to all crown-funded agencies including Children's Aid.
expand
collapse
Wed. Jun. 22 2005 1:33 PM ET
Expand information laws, Ontario watchdog urges
Canadian Press
TORONTO -- All Ontario organizations that are
funded by taxpayer dollars should be included under
the province's Freedom of Information laws.
Ontario privacy commissioner Ann Cavoukian
That's what Ontario's privacy commissioner wants
the province to do to improve accountability.
In her 2004 annual report, Ann Cavoukian says
hundreds of organizations receive huge amounts of
public dollars but aren't subject to laws that let the
public request the release of certain information.
Cavoukian cites hospitals, Children's Aid societies
and various community organizations as examples.
She says Ontario's FOI legislation was progressive
when it was put in place in 1987, but now it has
fallen behind.
Cavoukian says the province needs to extend its
current legislation to cover these organizations.
"There are at least hundreds of organizations that
are recipients of large transfer payments from
governments that are not subject to these acts," she
said.
"Therefore, the general records of these
organizations are not subject to public review."
Last year, Ontario extended FOI laws to cover Hydro
One and Ontario Power Generation, a move applauded by
Cavoukian.
The province also gave the auditor the power to
examine universities, colleges, hospitals and other
publicly funded organizations.
Addendum: Here is a link to the full report.
Removal on Demand by Police
June 22, 2005
Brantford detective Dave
Sinclair has been building a case for theft in the recording of Brant social workers
accessible through this news page since June 4, 2005. While we disagree
that any wrongdoing was involved, the contents of this recording are not
vital enough to be worth a contest in the courts, and the link to the
recording is now gone.
Police intend to harass the woman who made the recording, and since she
is unable to afford her own lawyer, she is in severe peril. Dufferin CAS Annual Meeting
June 21, 2005
Since changing the bylaws to make opposition impossible, the business
part of the CAS annual meeting is uneventful. This year following the
formal meeting, awards were presented to long-serving employees, and there
was an art show by twenty boys and girls currently wards of Dufferin
Children's Aid. Each child showed and described his creation, then
announced his dream. Even in this closely controlled group of children,
half of the expressed dreams involved reunification with their family, or
life in a family of their own as adults. The room full of professional
family destroyers applauded each of the children.
The CAS report includes a picture of the planned building at 655 Riddell
Road. It appears to be large enough to replace all of the existing CAS
buildings in Orangeville with room to spare. They have plans for your
children. VandenElsen out of Hospital
June 21, 2005
The following report of Carline VandenElsen's
hospitalization confirms an earlier report from Connie
Brauer.
expand
collapse
Tuesday, June 21, 2005, The Halifax Herald Limited
VandenElsen taken to hospital
Carline VandenElsen is back in jail after spending
a few hours in Dartmouth General Hospital on
Sunday.
Ms. VandenElsen, who began a hunger strike in the Nova
Scotia Correctional Facility on May 21 was treated for
migraine headaches and severe vomiting, one of her friends
said.
Support for Anne
June 20, 2005
This morning a court hearing for Anne's father was
scheduled for Barrie. Children's Aid was trying to get
him held in contempt for failing to disclose Anne's
whereabouts. Before the court time, ten associates of
Canada Court Watch surrounded the courthouse and
distributed flyers describing Anne's case. By the time
the hearing started, there were flyers throughout the
courthouse, and the judge knew about them. Upon seeing
a reporter from Canada Court Watch in the courtroom as a
media representative, the judge and lawyers retreated to
chambers for an hour and a half. When the judge
returned, she announced that the Canada Court Watch
reporter could not attend without making a motion before
the court. The judge did not allow the reporter to give
any argument for the record, and he retreated when
threatened by security staff. The hearing for Anne's
father was postponed.
Outside the courthouse, the distribution of flyers
continued. The public was not apathetic, a third of
passers-by gave some positive indication of support.
The only negative comment came from a Children's Aid
worker. Many people described their own family's
involvement with Children's Aid. One woman in a wheel
chair identified herself as a former Children's Aid
worker who retired 20 years ago, and is appalled at
their current practice of family destruction -- she
tried to keep families together. After the hearing,
distribution of flyers continued in downtown Barrie
The flyers were copies of Canada Court Watch reports
dated March 4, 2005 and
April 26, 2005.
VandenElsen Reported Hospitalized
June 19, 2005
According to an email press release from Connie Brauer, Halifax
hunger-striker Carline VandenElsen has been hospitalized. There are no
reports from professional news sources on this matter. Connie Brauer's
exact words, addressed to Nova Scotia's political leadership, are:
expand
collapse
Carline VandenElsen is dying and it's your fault!
She has been taken to hospital!
CAS nightmare in Hamilton
June 16, 2005
The following story of CAS mayhem in Hamilton was posted on June 14, 2005
to the AFRA website (link after article). Anyone seriously considering
homeschooling children should first join the Home School Legal Defence Association, since they can offer quality
protection against raids by CAS. In this case below, CAS has committed one
of their common acts, stirring up animosity in a family that previously had
worked out how to care for its own children. Eight policemen attending one
unarmed parent beats our old record of five.
expand
collapse
I would like to take this time to introduce myself.
I am a single father with two children. My son is 11
years old and my granddaughter whom I have custody of
is 6 years old. This nightmare is still going on and
I want to bring it to light about the corruption in
our CAS and the Police in our beautiful city ...
I have video and audio recordings of all the events
that have taken place and I will upload a picture of
what happened to my family.
On February 25, 2005 after I had been home
schooling the children for six months a Hamilton CAS
worker arrived at my door when my babysitter was
there. The Hamilton Children's Aid worker left her
business card and then left. She came back with 2
police officers and illegally entered my premises.
There was another anonymous phone call that there was
no hydro, no heat and no food. This was a lie. The
children were on a sleepover for the weekend and I was
moving to another address. The events leading up to
the children's apprehension is a travesty and must be
dealt with NOW.
On February 26, 2005 the next day, the after hours
worker (did not get her name) arrived again with two
police officers and demanded that the children are
produced. They were still on a sleepover. I was
moving. No longer was there an issue of no heat, no
hydro or no food, it was safety concerns.
On March 4, 2005 I received a phone call from CAS.
They asked if I would co-operate. The issue at hand
at that time was the other address and I did not live
there. I had moved and there was no reason for them
to be involved if I was not there.
On March 8, 2005 8 police officers, and two CAS
workers, arrived at the old house again. I did not
live there. The police kicked in the door and the CAS
workers walked throughout the house. When I arrived
on the scene I entered the house through the back door
and I went to the front door. I spoke with the police
and ensured them that I did not live there and asked
to see a copy of the warrant for them to kick down the
door. They did not give me a copy at that time as
they only had an original. The police officer did not
hand me the copy he waved it in my face. I could not
see who, what, why or how this was done. I told them
I want to go to court and deal with this.
On March 9, 2005 I went down to the Family Court at
55 Main St. West and asked Duty Counsel how I could
bring an action against Hamilton CAS and they said
that I couldn't. I had to be given something in
writing.
Having settled into the new apartment on March 11,
2005 the two children and went away for March Break
for their yearly visit to their grandmothers house.
They returned to my new address on March 17, 2005.
While reading through the court papers I found out
that the CAS workers were at the other address on
March 17th and March 21, 2005. Both times they came
with the police and both times they left. I did not
live there.
Police battering their way into the home.
On March 24, 2005 at approximately 1pm, two CAS
workers and 8 policemen showed up at our old house.
We did not live there. They used the swat team to ram
the door in with a long battering ram. They did
extensive damage to the doorknob, the mail slot and
the door panels. They finally got in and searched the
whole house, with the CAS workers in tow. They went
around the back of the house and then decided to look
in both apartments next door. They tried to get into
the lower apartment but did not knock. They just
checked the doorknob and then left the area. They
went into the basement saw that it was locked and
proceeded upstairs to the second floor apartment.
They knocked and as there was no answer they proceeded
to break down the back door. I went to the back door
to find out about the commotion and one police
officer; a woman stated you are illiterate. You
can't read or write. I don't know where that
statement came from; it just came out of the blue. 6
swat team members and two CAS workers stood in the
kitchen of the upper apartment. They did not go past
the kitchen sink. The CAS workers were not concerned
about the apartment that the children and I lived in.
CAS calls it an attic. It is a 3-bedroom apartment.
They just wanted the children. The children were
sitting in the living room and the two swat team
members asked how old they were and what their names
were. They told my friend to leave the room but she
did not. My friend stood in the doorway. The SWAT
team member asked the children what school they go to.
They replied that my friend here home schools them.
The CAS said that is why they are here. The children
are not getting the proper education. I stated that I
was not served anything to begin with. The CAS
proceeded to give me a 200- page document with court
papers he should have gotten the previous time they
broke down the door. They have again used false
allegations and innuendos to disrupt a family, who has
chosen to home school their children. That is their
crime.
On March 24, 2005 I contacted the Hamilton
Children's Aid office to ask if I could see the
children. It was Easter weekend. CAS stated that I
would have to take it up with the courts to see my
children. They could not supervise me on the
weekend.
On March 29, 2005 I spoke with CAS again. I asked
if I could see the children again. She stated again I
would have to take it up with the courts.
On March 30, 2005 I spoke with my daughter She
stated to me in person that she had spoken to the CAS
and that she had delivered Easter baskets to them on
March 24, 2005. She stated that CAS will not work
with us and we have pulled the last straw with her and
she will not co-operate with us. My daughter stated
to us that she would be at court to support us getting
the children back.
On April 1, 2005 I attended court with my friend
and saw my daughter at the courthouse. She would not
support me in getting the children. She was putting
in a plan of care to get both children. We would have
to fight it out. She sat with CAS and they went into
the courtroom together. She was added as a party as
the youngest child's biological mother and four people
were added as having visitation for the children. The
biological mother and friend accompanying her and with
a friend accompanying me. THIS WAS A COURT ORDER.
Judge Genesee stated that she would be the head judge
in these proceeding without prejudice. This meant
that we could bring it before any judge before the
next court date to get temporary custody of the
children.
On April 1, 2005 after court was over I spoke with
CAS in regards to my first visit. She stated Tuesday
April 5, 2005 at 4:30pm.
On April 5, 2005 I called The CAS to verify the
meeting at 4:30pm and they stated that I didn't call
fast enough and that they gave the first visit to my
daughter. We would have to wait until April 6, 2005
at 4:30pm.
On April 6, 2005 we arrived at the Children's Aid
office at approximately 4:25pm. The children were not
there for the visit. We waited over 1/2 an hour
before the children arrived at 5:05pm. We saw the
children and the first thing out of the youngest
child's mouth was I am moving with my mommy and the
boy is moving in with his brother. Throughout our
hour and a half we talked with the kids and played
with them. This was under the supervision of CAS and
her assistant. Everything we said they wrote down.
After about an hour the oldest boy stated that he had
talked to his brother. I asked him how and he stated:
THAT HE CAME WITH HIS SISTER ON THE VISIT LAST NIGHT.
After the visit was over I asked the CAS worker how
come the Children's Aid Society had disobeyed a court
order. She said take it up with the courts. The
court order says four people not 5 or 10.
The CAS' mission statement states that they must
protect the autonomy, integrity and cultural diversity
of the family. The ultimate goal is to reunite this
family together.
Not once has the worker stated that she will come
to visit me and discuss the Plan of Care that I
presented to the Courts. The Children's Aid Society
has stated in court that they will discuss and work
with my daughter and her Plan of Care that is
presented.
The CAS has deliberately torn apart this family and
all we want from the Society is CO-OPERATION. CAS is
biased in their opinions using the Police force to
remove children from an address they did not live in,
in Hamilton. The CAS worker and the Police force put
the children at risk by taking them out of their new
apartment and out the back door knowing there was a
front entrance. They walked them through the yard,
past the damage that the SWAT or tactical unit did to
the door. That is psychological trauma that will
remain in this children's mind forever.
And to suggest that they not go home where they
have been raised for the past 4 years. They must go
to two other family members that did not care before
for the welfare of these children. As court papers
prove these facts.
Addendum: For later developments in this
story, refer to Paige
Margaret.
Report on Foster Guinea Pigs
June 16, 2005
A scandal beginning with outrage at the use of foster
children as guinea pigs in medical experiments has now
degraded to a government report suggesting failure to
obtain sufficient information.
expand
collapse
Feds: Some AIDS Drug Tests Violated
Rules
By JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writer, June 16, 2005
WASHINGTON - The government has concluded at least
some AIDS drug experiments involving foster children
violated federal rules designed to ensure vulnerable
youths were protected from the risks of medical
research.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services'
Office of Human Research Protections concluded that
Columbia University Presbyterian Medical Center in New
York, where several foster children were enrolled in
drug studies in the 1990s, failed to obtain and
evaluate whether it had proper consent, information
and safeguards for the foster kids.
"When some or all of the subjects (e.g., children)
are likely to be vulnerable to coercion or undue
influence, additional safeguards have been included in
the HHS regulations to protect the rights and welfare
of these subjects," the federal agency wrote the
research hospital.
The hospital's "records demonstrate a failure ...
to obtain sufficient information regarding such
safeguards with respect to the enrollment of wards of
the state or foster children," the agency
concluded.
The Associated Press reported May 4 that federally
funded researchers in New York, Illinois and several
other states tested AIDS drugs on hundreds of foster
children since the 1980s, often without providing the
children with special advocates to protect their
rights and interests.
Marilyn Castaldi, a spokeswoman for Columbia
Presbyterian, did not immediately return calls
Wednesday and Thursday seeking comment.
But the hospital acknowledged in correspondence
with the government that it was "in the process of
planning steps specifically to improve protections for
children, and particularly foster children."
The hospital told the government it is increasing
the resources to its Institutional Review Boards that
monitor the safety of its experiments, improving
training for researchers and creating a Web-based
system that ensures necessary information for patient
safety is collected.
The government cited Columbia Presbyterian in a
letter dated May 23 with violating rules in at least
four AIDS studies involving foster children,
including:
- Failing to "obtain sufficient information
regarding the selection of wards of the state and
foster children as research subjects."
- Failing to "obtain sufficient information
regarding the process for obtaining permission of
parents or guardians for wards of the state or
foster children."
- Failing to have enough information to ensure the
selection of patients for the studies was
"equitable."
Dufferin CAS Annual Meeting Call
June 15, 2005
expand
collapse
Child and Family Services
Dufferin
You are cordially invited to attend
The
Annual General Meeting
On
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Monora Pavilion
Refreshments - 6:30 p.m
Business Meeting - 6:45 p.m
Presentation - 7:00 p.m.
Unveiling of Art Competition Submissions
"My Future Dreams"
This artwork has been submitted by children
and youth in our care and will be displayed
in our new building at 655 Riddell Rd.
|
Here are directions to Monora Park. This
is a public meeting, and non-members may attend peaceably as well, to
support the families of Dufferin. Mothers Wanted
June 14, 2005
The following item was posted to the afterfostercare
group today:
expand
collapse
CBC is doing a story on kids in care. She is
wondering why the number of kids in care has increased
so dramatically in the last few years.
She is hoping to speak with a mother who has had
her children removed by the CAS due to poverty or
whatever - not a "voluntary" infant placement. I
imagine that she will want to interview you on TV.
If this fits any of you, please call the reporter,
Michelle (Chung - I think) directly at 416-205-5617.
I have been interviewed by Michelle on two occassions
and she was kind and respectful both times.
Foster Child and Mother Speaks.
June 13, 2005
Canada Court Watch has posted a short clip from the recent testimony of a young mother (mp3) who was
abused in foster care and witnessed the physical abuse of other children by
CAS workers while in foster care. Pathologist Falsely Accuses Parents
June 13, 2005
We missed the significance of this article until a reader pointed out
that many parents falsely accused of homicide through the efforts of Dr
Charles Smith later lost their other children to Children's Aid. We have
more comments at the end of this article from MacLean's.
expand
collapse
June 7, 2005 - 17:40
Coroner orders review of Toronto pathologist accused of mishandling cases
COLIN PERKEL
TORONTO (CP) - The work of a forensic pathologist criticized for his handling of suspicious child deaths will be put under the microscope amid fears of wrongful convictions and allegations of bungled autopsies, Ontario's chief coroner announced Tuesday.The review will cover 40 cases in which Dr. Charles Smith did the autopsy or provided an expert opinion - all of the criminally suspicious cases he has handled at the laboratory in the world-renowned Hospital for Sick Children since 1991.
"This review will focus on whether the conclusions reached by Dr. Smith in his autopsy or consultation reports can be supported by information and materials available," said Dr. Barry McLellan.
"This will be a major undertaking."
The aim is to restore public confidence in the system, McLellan said.
Smith was once considered the province's leading expert on pediatric forensics.
However, judges and medical authorities have criticized his work and conclusions. Charges have collapsed in several criminal cases he handled.
Kirsten Kramar, a criminologist at the University of Winnipeg, said the planned review was "great news."
In 2000, Kramar was researching a book on infanticide at the Ontario's coroner's office when she stumbled on what she considered to be a striking pattern in Smith's conclusions in more than 25 baby deaths.
"In every single case, he determined there was foul play," Kramar said from Winnipeg.
"Smith in particular would always say that it was murder - someone had murdered this child and (his) authority carried a lot of weight in front of the courts."
In one notorious case, Smith concluded that a seven-year-old girl in Kingston, Ont., had been stabbed to death, while several other experts concluded she was mauled by a pit bull.
The Crown dropped the murder charge against the girl's mother, but not before she'd spent 3 1/2 years in jail. She launched a lawsuit against Smith and police.
"It's very, very important that his cases are looked at," said Kramar. "I've never seen anything like this in Canada."
McLellan said he didn't know how many criminal charges or convictions might have hinged on Smith's work.
Smith was not taking media calls Tuesday.
McLellan announced a sweeping audit of all forensic exhibits handled by the Sick Kids lab in March after material in one case handled by Smith could not be found.
Lawyers had wanted a tissue sample for an independent evaluation, believing it could exonerate William Mullins-Johnson of murdering his four-year-old niece Valin.
The Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., man was convicted in 1994 at age 24 and has been in jail for the past 12 years.
Smith and four other specialists provided "consultation reports" and he was the only one to conclude Valin had been sexually assaulted at the time of death.
The missing tissue was found during the audit last week in an envelope on Smith's desk.
Smith still does pathology at Sick Kids but no longer works in the hospital's arm's-length pediatric forensic pathology unit, which serves the coroner's office.
Sick Kids spokeswoman Helen Simeon said Smith's work for the hospital was independently evaluated last month and found to be "up to the level that is expected."
The pending review by the coroner's office, whose motto is "We speak for the dead to protect the living," will likely have no impact on Smith's status with the hospital, Simeon said.
The controversy has prompted calls for a public inquiry but Attorney General Michael Bryant ruled that out - at least until after the coroner's review is done.
"I don't want to do anything to prejudge or interfere with his review," Bryant said.
McLellan said Smith has done no autopsies in criminally suspicious cases since 2001 or worked for his office since December 2003.
He also said the formal review may be done by a panel of independent pathologists.
"The major impetus here is that of public confidence and responding to the concerns that we're well aware of arising from some high profile cases," said McLellan.
He said he would announce specifics of the review in a few weeks but said the audit has reassured him that forensic exhibits are being properly stored and tracked.
Notes and Comments: Dr Smith is under review in 40 cases. In
press reports since the announcement of the review, these cases have been
mentioned:
- Baby Athena, daughter of Anthony Kporwodu and Angela Veno, died Marcy 6,
1998. Their toddler Julius was seized by Children's Aid and placed in
Ghana. The mother had an abortion to avoid losing yet another child.
Murder charges were dismissed.
- Nicholas, son of Lianne Thibeault of Coniston Ontario died on November
30, 1995. CAS took her other child. Lianne's father Maurice Gagnon has
files on a large number of cases handled by Dr Smith.
- Sharon, daughter of Louise Reynolds of Kingston Ontario died on June 12,
1997. The mother spent three years in jail after Dr Smith said she
stabbed her child 80 times. Other experts determined the child was
killed by a dog.
- On June 26, 1993 Valin Johnson, niece of baby-sitter William
Mullins-Johnson of Sault Ste Marie, died. Her uncle has spent 12 years
in a penitentiary for killing the child. Dr Smith may be concealing
exculpatory evidence.
- When three-year-old Tyrell Salmon of Toronto died in 1998, Dr Smith
accused his step-mom Maureen Laidley of murder. Charges were later
dropped.
- Jenna, daughter of Brenda Waudby was murdered in September 1997. Dr
Smith falsified the time of injury, allowing the mother to be accused of
the killing.
James Stewart in a book called Blind Eye describes the career of
Dr Michael Swango, who has murdered dozens of patients over two decades in
practice. The question dealt with in the book was, how can the medical
establishment ignore such a person, instead of putting an end to his mayhem?
While the facts are not all in, this may be another case of a rogue
doctor who harms people, not with intravenous poison, but with false
accusations. With current attitudes toward child abuse, the rest of the
world is too eager to believe a pathologist who reports every baby death as
homicide.
Other professionals besides Dr Smith assist Children's Aid in taking
children from their parents regardless of the facts. Children's Aid has a
supply of psychiatrists they can rely on to give unfavorable reports on all
families referred. And Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children houses the SCAN
Clinic (Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect), whose mission it to separate
children from their parents. Anne's Father in Court
June 10, 2005
Here is the report as posted by Canada Court Watch:
expand
collapse
(June 9, 2005) Court Watch has been informed that
the Simcoe County Children's Aid Society from Ontario
has filed a motion to have the loving father of a
13-year-old Barrie, Ontario girl, charged for contempt
of court. After being forced out of her lovely
executive home where she lived with her dad and two
older brothers, because of allegations, the
13-year-old teenage girl was being threatened, coerced
and isolated from her friends and family by York
Region and Simcoe County CAS workers in an attempt to
force the teen to go back to live with her abusive
Barrie, Ontario, mother who had previously assaulted
the girl and wanted custody of her daughter for
herself. As as a result of threats and abuse by the
CAS, the teen fled into hiding to protect herself from
abuse by the unlicensed CAS workers involved. Typical
of CAS strong arm tactics when they don't get their
way, unlicensed and unregulated workers with the
Simcoe CAS are now demanding that the father force his
own teenage daughter out of hiding and to make her
return back to the care and control of the CAS which
the girl reported had abused her prior to her fleeing
to safety or that the court order the father to be
found in contempt. The girl only wants to return home
to live with her father and her two older brothers.
The court hearing is scheduled for 9:00 am on Monday
June 20, 2005 at the Barrie, Ontario Court. The
Simcoe County CAS is relying on evidence from one key
CAS worker, Mr. Steven Rainey, who the Ontario
College of Social Workers has already indicated in
writing is not registered to practice as a social
worker in the Province of Ontario. Legal experts
reviewing the documents of this CAS "child protection
worker" have indicated that this worker's sworn
evidence is highly flawed, contradictory to other
evidence and in the opinion of one legal researcher,
"typical of the type of garbage put before the courts
by these unlicensed and unregulated CAS workers."
Court Watch has been advised that the parties involved
are undertaking a comprehensive analysis of this
worker's affidavits as well as other court documents
for the purpose of ascertaining legal liability for
the violation of the girl's rights and freedoms. Stay
tuned to the Court Watch website for further
developments in this case.
CAS Worker Assaulted
June 10, 2005
This is from the Ottawa Sun. There is no other news available so far.
expand
collapse
Fri, June 10, 2005
CAS worker hurt in melee
By Sun Media
A Children's Aid Society worker was assaulted in a
multi-generational melee at a home near Tartan Dr.
and Jockvale Rd. at about 2:40 p.m. yesterday while
trying to take custody of a girl.
The situation quickly turned bad with the girl's
parents, grandparents and teen brother.
Police are still investigating. There's no word
yet on whether any charges will be laid.
No Adoption Disclosure
June 9, 2005
Ontario's Adoption Disclosure bill is dead. It would
have reduced the power of the social services system by
allowing families to reunite without controls. The bill
will be prorogued at the end of the spring legislative
session. New legislation, if any, will have to be
introduced anew at the next session.
Adoption Disclosure was defeated, apparently, with
objections from women in old-age homes fearing
disclosure of their secrets, along with the assistance
of the provincial Progressive Conservative Party and its
leader, John Tory. Grannies do not have the kind of
political clout needed to defeat legislation -- only the
social services system itself could do so. John Tory is
now the defender of social services.
Here is a news item on the subject from the Ottawa
Sun:
expand
collapse
Thu, June 9, 2005
Adoption disclosure bill delayed
By Antonella Artuso, Queen's Park Bureau
TORONTO -- A controversial adoption disclosure bill
will be shelved until at least the fall, the victim of
"jitters and game playing," NDP MPP Marilyn Churley
says.
Churley said the Liberals are eager to see the
House rise for the summer while the Tories are
determined to filibuster the bill.
"It seems like the adoption bill is always jinxed
by something," said Churley, who has tried repeatedly
over the years to bring forward such legislation.
This latest bill would open up adoption records to
birth parents and adoptees.
Tory House Leader and Leeds-Grenville MPP Bob
Runciman said yesterday his party had reached a deal
with the Liberal government to delay the bill, giving
the government more time to consider the potential
pitfalls of the legislation.
Addendum: To remove all doubt about John Tory,
here is a quote from an email by John Tory to his
supporters dated Friday June 17, 2005:
expand
collapse
In contrast to the McGuinty Liberal record, I am
very proud of the many accomplishments that our Caucus
was able to achieve this session. These include:
Convincing the Liberals that the flawed adoption
legislation was not ready for passage due to its lack
of adequate protection of privacy rights;
Police Threaten Website
June 8, 2005
This evening two officers of the Ontario Provincial
Police visited the home of Robert T McQuaid to complain
about the content of the Dufferin VOCA website. We will
keep you informed of developments, if possible.
Addendum: The dispute outlined in the
following email is now in the hands of lawyer Walter
Fox.
expand
collapse
June 8, 2005
Robert:
I have just got off the phone with the O.P.P.
officer who spoke with you. I would be more than
happy to speak to your lawyer and please provide him
with my name and contact information. It might help
if they have a criminal law background.
My investigation has so far shown that this tape
recording was stolen from Brantford C.A.S. The female
that provided the recording to you, has indicated that
it would be given to you personally.. It also
violates section 45(8) of the Child and Family
Services Act of Ontario. Your description of where
and when the tape was made further implicates you in
this investigation.
I see that your "Dufferin VOCA" website is also
linked to the 'AFRA' site to which you are listed as a
board of director.
Take this warning seriously and remove this
recording and any links pertaining to it. You or your
lawyer are free to call me for further details..
Det. Dave SINCLAIR
Brantford Police Service
(519) 756-0113 ext. 2273
dsinclair@police.brantford.on.ca
Appeal to Prime Minister
June 8, 2005
We report here a complaint about CAS. Unlike most
such complaints, it includes research to show the source
of funding, and just what kind of people become the
power brokers within Children's Aid. The comparison to
the Gestapo misses the mark. The Third Reich
organization most resembling Children's Aid was
Lebensborn, which took Nordic appearing babies from
families in occupied slavic countries and sent them to
Germany to be raised as Aryans.
expand
collapse
From: Aneurin Ellis
To: PRIME MINISTER MARTIN
Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2005 4:12 PM
Subject: Children's Gestapo
Aneurin Ellis
31 Inadale Court
Kitchener, Ontario N2M 2Z7
519-569-8693
June 8th 2005
The Right Honourable Paul Martin P.M, M.P.
Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A2
Fax: 613-941-6900
Re: Children's Gestapo (FCSWR) of New Berlin
(Kitchener)
Dear Prime Minister Martin,
I am writing this letter to ask for your
intervention. I live with my family in Kitchener,
Ontario. For more than two years now the Family and
Children Services of the Waterloo Region has subjected
us to criminal harassment. This organisation with the
name sounding as if it is a government entity in
reality is a criminal organisation very much like "La
Cosa Nostra" also better known in United States as the
Mafia. It is registered with the Canadian Government
as a so-called charitable organisation under the name
THE CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY OF THE REGIONAL
MUNICIPALITY OF WATERLOO and has governing structure
of a charitable organisation where an unknown number
of members of this so called charity "elect" a board
of directors. Last financial statement filed with
Canada Revenue Agency for 2004 shows that despite
almost 40 million dollars of the operating budget this
organisation has collected only $210 in charitable
donations. This $210 allows this organisation to
maintain charitable status and completely avoid
government scrutiny, and allows the government to
completely avoid its fiduciary duties and
responsibilities. This organisation under its
concocted name carries out its activities pretending
that it is a government organisation. It has powers
vested to it by the provincial government exceeding
those vested to the police, it operates in complete
secrecy very much like German Gestapo during Second
World War and when confronted with accusations of
wrongdoing it hides behind $210 charitable donation
and complete unaccountability afforded to real
charities.
Registered Charity Information Return
The information displayed below has been manually
entered by the CRA from the registered charity's
Registered Charity Information Return. This
information has not necessarily been verified for
accuracy or completeness by the Charities
Directorate.
Registered charities that notice problems with
their online information should visit the amendment
page for instructions on how to correct the
information.
2004 Registered Charity Information Return for THE
CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY OF THE REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY OF
WATERLOO
| | Revenue
| | 4500 | Total tax-receipted gifts
| $ 210
| | 4510 | Total gifts received from other
registered charities
| | 4520 | Total specified gifts included in
line 4510
| | 4530 | Total other gifts
| $ 190,669
| | 4540 | Revenue from federal government
| | 4550 | Revenue from provincial/territorial governments
| $ 37,786,135
| | 4560 | Revenue from municipal/regional governments
| | 4570 | Total revenue from government
| $ 37,786,135
| | 4580 | Interest and investment income
| | | Proceeds from disposition of assets:
| | 4590 | gross
| | 4600 | net
| | 4610 | Rental income (land and buildings)
| | 4620 | Memberships, dues, and association fees (non tax-receipted)
| | 4630 | Total revenue from fundraising
| | 4640 | Total revenue from sale of goods and services (except to government)
| | 4650 | Other revenue
| $ 1,739,547
| | 4700 | Total revenue
| $ 39,716,561
|
Current management structure of Family and Children
Services of the Waterloo Region is such it's president of
the Board of Directors is Mr. Kevin Chalk, who is at the
same time acting as Superintendent of Waterloo Regional
Police Service and it seems that the Family and Children
Services of the Waterloo Region is just an unaccountable
extension of the local Police or "Super Secret Police"
that can enter homes without a warrant and apprehend
children as unjustified punishment, extortion, blackmail
or simply way to terrorize citizenry. It can also be
viewed that Waterloo Police Service is acting as an
extension and a completely unaccountable criminal
organization.
Mr. Kevin Chalk's official title is, Superintendent of
the Community Mobilization Division, Region of Waterloo
Police, this title when translated to the German language
has direct historic parallels to the Nazi Gestapo.
The Executive Director of the Family and Children
Services of the Waterloo Region is Mr. Peter Ringrose
transplanted British Probation Officer from
Nottingham.
Mr. Peter Ringrose is also acting as Chair of the
Community Safety & Crime Prevention Council at the
Municipal Government of Waterloo Region.
As anyone can see this concentration of power with one
man having a background in the British correctional
community, and the other a very strong connection in the
law enforcement community, both of them in charge of a
"very secretive charitable organization" with power to
enter private residence without warrant and apprehend
without court order create a situation that is unbearable,
oppressive and conducive to corrupt and criminal abuse of
power and authority of otherwise a legitimate and
democratically elected government.
According to my knowledge, none of the two men were
elected to their positions and none of them are
accountable to any democratically elected government
body.
This arrangement has lead to unchecked abuse of my
family and countless other families in the region and I
desperately plead for your intervention.
Sincerely,
Aneurin Ellis
More Opposition to CAS / Canadian Tire
June 8, 2005
Canada Court Watch has found another parent
writing to Canadian Tire (pdf) to request an end to their support of
Children's Aid. Child and Family Services Act Revised
June 6, 2005
Today the Ontario government began a media campaign promoting its changes
to the Child and Family Services Act. This is the most consequential
legislation relating to family law -- by comparison, the scuffles over the
Ombudsman's report and the Adoption Disclosure Act were mere sideshows.
Articles were placed in the newspapers and included media appearances by
Marie Bountrogianni. In every medium, the new act is promoted as furthering
adoption.
The text of the proposed law is not available on the Ontario Legislative
Assembly website, so the press-release by the Minister of Children and Youth
Services is the only available source. Part of it follows below.
Translated out of social worker jargon, it looks pretty scary.
"Creating more legal options beyond traditional adoption". It is hard to
see what this may be. Homosexual adoption? Adoption by single parents?
Permanent placement in a group home? It is unlikely to be something better
for children.
"Supporting families after an adoption". In social worker jargon,
support means social workers issuing orders. So even after a child is
adopted, he will remain under social worker control.
"A new funding framework for children's aid societies". In the past, the
actual funding rules for Children's Aid Societies have been bureaucratic
secrets. This is unlikely to change, so we will have no way to know whether
the assertions in the press release are factual.
"Resolve more cases outside the courtroom through more collaborative
solutions". Does this mean that parents will no longer have recourse to the
courts to get their children back?
There is no suggestion anywhere that natural parents are part of the
solution to foster care. The emphasis on expanding adoption means that the
Ontario government has no intention of reducing the theft of children from
parents. And there is no suggestion anywhere of repatriating children from
foster care, even when the family infirmity justifying the child removal has
been repaired.
expand
collapse
McGuinty Government To Make Adoption Possible For More Children
New Legislation To Help More Children Find A Permanent Home
TORONTO, June 6 /CNW/ - The McGuinty government
intends to introduce legislation today that would, if
passed, reform the province's adoption system so that
more children can find a safe, secure family to grow
up in, Children and Youth Services Minister Marie
Bountrogianni announced today.
"The current system is too rigid," said
Bountrogianni. "We need to help more children find a
permanent, caring home by making adoption more
flexible for individual children and friendlier for
parents."
There are approximately 9,000 children, who are
considered Crown wards, in the care of Ontario's
children's aid societies, but current legal and
structural barriers make three-quarters of them
ineligible for adoption. Proposed changes would make
adoption more flexible and provide a wider range of
options so that more children can be placed with a
family on a permanent basis.
"Children move between foster homes and group homes
an average of every two years," said Bountrogianni.
"This kind of instability can affect a child's
education, self-esteem and their ability to form
meaningful relationships as they grow up. We want to
help our children grow up in permanent, nurturing
families."
The proposed changes are part of the government's
plan to reform Ontario's child protection system so
that more children and youth in the care of children's
aid societies thrive in safe, stable, supportive
homes. The plan includes:
- Making adoption more flexible for children by
allowing more children to be adopted while keeping
important ties to their birth family and
community
- Creating more legal options beyond traditional
adoption so children and youth can be placed in a
permanent home
- Making the process consistent for adoptive parents
by simplifying the application process, creating a
province-wide registry to help match available
children with prospective parents and supporting
families after an adoption.
The government's plan also includes working with
children's aid societies so they are better equipped
to place children in permanent homes and are more
effective in matching their level of response to the
individual needs of each family. A new funding
framework for children's aid societies will help them
to be more accountable and sustainable so they will be
there to protect children who need them in the future.
The legislation would also help resolve more cases
outside the courtroom through more collaborative
solutions.
"Clearly, the government recognizes the monumental
value that a permanent, caring family represents to a
child who has been abused or neglected," said Pat
Fenton, Executive Director of the Adoption Council of
Ontario. "We are delighted to see it taking concrete
steps today to help these vulnerable children."
"Instability affects every part of a child's life,"
said Bountrogianni. "These children and youth live in
fear because they think no one loves them or wants to
invest in them. These changes would help those
children and youth know what it means to have a
family."
[two backgrounders and a fact sheet follow in
the original]
Addendum: An Act to Amend the Child and Family Services Act is
now online.
The biggest, and most dangerous, change for families is
in new section 20.2(1). It provides that the Executive
Director of the Children's Aid Society can "consider"
alternative dispute resolution. New section 223.1(1)
provides for alternative dispute resolution to be defined by
regulation. It is likely that the government intends some
kind of administrative hearing before employees of
Children's Aid. So now when your child is taken by
Children's Aid, you will have no recourse outside of
Children's Aid itself.
Section 61(8) provides for review in cases where a foster
parent disputes the decision to remove a crown ward in his
care for more than a year. The party adverse to the foster
parent gets to appoint the person conducting the review.
Section 68 defines the internal complaints procedure. It
will still exist, but the right of aggrieved persons to a
copy of the procedure is eliminated. They can get only
"information concerning the review procedure", those glossy
pamphlets with lots of smiling faces and no substantive
content. It also eliminated the right to internal review
for matters dealt with by a court, so this paragraph may
become moot in most cases.
There remains no legal recognition of the reality that
natural parents provide better care for children than any
substitute.
Social Workers Discuss Adoption Disclosure
June 4, 2005
Brant Children's Aid workers, forgetting that they were
on record, candidly discussed the proposed Adoption
Disclosure Law, and many other serious and frivolous
topics.
This recording of a discussion by social workers (mp3)
was made on the morning of June 2, 2005 at the Children's
Aid Society of Brant, 14 Henry Street, Brantford Ontario.
It was posted to the web by the American Family Rights
Association. The first ten seconds is noise.
Addendum: The link to the recording was removed on June 22, 2005 to avoid
litigation.
Foster Child Murdered
June 3, 2005
We get too many reports of American children dying in foster care to list
here -- there wouldn't be any room left for Canadian news. This one is
different. A mother whose sin was following doctor's orders got drowsy from
the medication and allowed a child to wander. Her children went to foster
care where one was apparently murdered. The mother faces felony
child-endangerment charges, many years in prison and permanent loss of all
of her children. In accord with tradition, the social workers responsible
for the tragedy will receive no punishment.
expand
collapse
The Joplin Globe
117 E. Fourth St.
Joplin, MO 64801
Gunshot kills boy in foster care
8-year-old left home alone with 14-year-old
By Jeff Lehr and Derek Spellman, Globe Staff Writers 6/3/05
ALBA, Mo. - The 8-year-old son of a woman whose
children were taken from her when her toddler got out
on the roof of their Webb City home last September was
killed in a shooting Thursday morning inside a foster
home where he had been placed by the state.
Police were not releasing the name of the shooting
victim, but the Globe confirmed through other sources
that the boy killed by a gunshot wound to the head was
Braxton Wooden, the son of Brandie McLean, 28.
Authorities have not determined whether the
shooting was accidental or self-inflicted, according
to Clifton Boyer, chief of the JasCo Metropolitan
Police Department. The shooting was reported at about
8:20 a.m. at a foster home at 104 S. Smith St. in
Alba.
A 14-year-old was at the home at the time of the
shooting but is not in custody. Boyer said
investigators are assuming that the two boys were the
only ones at the home during the shooting, but he said
their investigation of the incident is continuing.
He did not identify the foster parents or offer any
explanation concerning where they were at the time of
the shooting.
While police would not identify either boy, McLean
and her attorney confirmed that the shooting victim
was her son, Braxton.
McLean was too upset Thursday night to speak to the
Globe at length about what had happened. But she did
briefly express her sorrow over Braxton's death and
her instinctive anger with the state's child-welfare
system that oversaw her children's placement in foster
care.
"But it's not going to bring him back," she said of
her anger. "Nothing ever will."
Her attorney, Judd McPherson, of Joplin, said his
client obviously "feels like the system has completely
failed her."
Braxton was the oldest of the five children removed
from McLean's home after her 2-year-old son, Chandler,
was spotted on a roof of their house at 123 E. Third
St. in Webb City the morning of Sept. 20. Police
found McLean and a 16-year-old female friend asleep in
the living room of the home.
McLean has acknowledged that the situation was
dangerous for her son. But she said she had been put
on an anti-psychotic drug, Seroquel, by a doctor about
a week before the incident to treat her depression and
stress, and that the drug made her sleepy all the
time.
She was charged with felony child endangerment, and
the Children's Division of the Missouri Department of
Social Services removed her children and placed them
in foster care. She has been allowed weekly visits
with them while her legal case has been pending. She
also is facing two prior felony forgery counts.
McPherson said three of his clients' five children
were placed in the Alba foster home. Chandler and a
daughter, Keyaira, 3, also have been living there but
were at a day-care center when the shooting took
place, he said.
McPherson said he spent some time Thursday trying
to learn what happened in the foster home. He said
all the information he had received indicated that
Braxton and the 14-year-old boy were home alone at the
time of the shooting.
He said his client has been "dealing with the fact
that her son was taken from her custody because the
state alleged he was not safe with her there, and then
was placed in a foster home that provided inadequate
supervision and access to a weapon."
Neither the media relations coordinator for the
state Children's Division nor John McGinnis, director
of the department's Jasper County office, could be
reached for comment Thursday afternoon.
Jasper County Coroner Jerry Neil said an autopsy
was scheduled for today. He said he could not yet
rule on the cause of death, pending the results of the
autopsy. JasCo Metro is leading the police
investigation but will enlist the help of the Jasper
County Sheriff's Department, Boyer said.
The victim's father, Braxton D. Wooden, 29, is
serving time in the Missouri prison system for
domestic assault and felony drug possession.
Brandie McLean's mother, Linda McLean, of Riverton,
Kan., recently was cleared to have custody of Braxton,
Keyaira and Chandler, and kept them for a period. But
she eventually turned them back over to the state's
foster-care system, according to McPherson and Brandie
McLean's brother, Mark Prauser, of Mankato, Minn.
Prauser, who learned of Braxton's death from a
family member, said his nephew had been placed in the
foster home just within the past month, after his
grandmother turned him back over to the state.
"There is something wrong with a system that
charges one person with felony child endangerment for
an accident where no one was hurt, and then turns
around and places them in a home where they are shot
and killed," Prauser said.
He said one of his sister's children now "has been
taken care of so well of by the state that he is no
longer with us." He said a home with guns in it,
especially one where children have access to guns, "is
not a safe place for foster children."
Prauser said he last spoke to his nephew several
weeks ago. At the time, Braxton was enthusiastic
about baseball and getting to visit Prauser in
Minnesota, he said.
Prauser said he doesn't know who to blame most at
this point for what happened to Braxton.
Boyer said the bullet struck the boy's right temple
and exited through the rear part of his head. He was
taken to St. John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin
and then died while en route to Children's Mercy
Hospital in Kansas City.
McPherson said he took McLean's legal case
Wednesday at her request, after she learned that a
plea agreement she had accepted in April could lead to
her never getting her children back.
The plea agreement she accepted while represented
by a public defender called for her to plead guilty to
all three felony charges she is facing, including the
child-endangerment charge, in exchange for a promise
that the prosecution would recommend that she not be
sentenced to any more than four years in prison and
would not oppose a recommendation that she be placed
on probation if that is what a pre-sentence
investigation determines.
McPherson said his client was "ill-advised" to make
that plea.
McLean told the Globe that her Children's Division
caseworker had told her that if she was convicted of
child endangerment, it would not affect her
eligibility to get her children back. She said she
later learned that under a state law that went into
effect this year, a conviction for felony child
endangerment automatically terminates parents' right
to custody of their children.
McPherson said the Legislature might change the law
so that it is not as harsh as that with respect to
convictions for child endangerment. He said McLean
will be withdrawing her guilty plea, and that he
intends to defend her against all three felony
counts.
He compared his client's plight to the Dominic
James foster-care death case. The 2-year-old
Springfield boy died in August 2003 while in foster
care.
"If this doesn't call for reform of the foster-care
system, what does?" McPherson said.
Addendum: Authorities intend to sweep this matter
under the rug by making a teenager the scapegoat. Had it
happened in a home with real parents, they would have been
charged with some kind of a crime for negligently leaving
guns where they could cause death. In the Braxton Wooden
case, the parental rights were being exercised by a social
worker, and she will not be charged.
expand
collapse
Posted on Wed, Jun. 08, 2005
Teen charged in shooting death at southwest
Missouri foster home
Associated Press
ALBA, Mo. - A 14-year-old boy has been charged
with involuntary manslaughter in the death of his
parents' 8-year-old foster child.
A judge in Jasper County on Tuesday ordered the
teenager to be held by juvenile authorities and
charged with involuntary manslaughter until a juvenile
court hearing next Tuesday. The closed hearing will
be similar to a trial by judge in adult court, Joe
Hensley, attorney for the Jasper County Juvenile
Office said.
Hensley said the teen will be released if he is
found not guilty. He could be ordered to undergo
treatment if found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Braxton Wooden, 8, was shot in the head Thursday
when he and the teenager were apparently alone at the
family's Alba home, officials with the JasCo
Metropolitan Police Department said.
Based on an autopsy and information from
investigators, the Jasper County coroner ruled Monday
that the shooting was an accident. Coroner Jerry Neil
said Braxton died of a .38-caliber close range gunshot
wound. He said that handgun and a .22-caliber Beretta
handgun were confiscated at the scene.
The victim was the oldest child of Brandie McLean,
of Webb City. Her five children were taken into
Missouri Department of Social Services' custody after
her 2-year-old child was seen on the roof of the
family's home in September.
Police said they found McLean, 28, and a
16-year-old female friend asleep in the living room.
McLean, who was charged with child endangerment,
said her medication had made her sleepy.
Her lawyer, Judd McPherson, of Joplin, said three
of her children had been placed in the Alba foster
home. The other two were at a day-care center at the
time of the shooting, he said.
JasCo police Chief Clifton Boyer said Tuesday that
authorities could not provide details in the case
until later this week and the juvenile's name would
not be released.
Information from: The Joplin Globe,
http://www.joplinglobe.com
Politicians Switch Sides
June 2, 2005
Dr Dolores Sicheri has written a letter to the Windsor Star on the
current controversy over care for disabled children.
expand
collapse
A little over 2 years ago, Mr. Dwight Duncan
wanted Linda Taylor and myself to hold a press
conference in the media room at Queens Park to tell
our stories about the forced termination of parental
rights for access to services. He wanted to embarrass
the Progressive/Conservatives in the pre-election
period. As we did not want to be political pawns, we
declined the offer.
Dwight's party is now in power. It is continuing
the policies of the PC government. It has done
nothing to remedy the problem. Moreover, it has no
honourable desire to fix the problem. The Liberals do
not get it that the mothers of Ontario have come
together publicly to say no more to the abuse of their
families and parental rights. They are a formidable
force to reckoned with.
These mothers are now demanding a "Royal Commission
of Inquiry" into this practice. All these files must
be opened and testimony taken from the families. A
societal crime has been committed. Justice must be
served. Canada cannot move forward on the world stage
as a 21st century model for democracy and human rights
unless the rights of its most vulnerable citizens and
their parents are protected.
Dolores Sicheri
Lakeshore, Ontario
CAS Discourages Advocacy
June 1, 2005
Today the Ottawa Citizen publishes a letter from John Dunn suggesting
that CAS discourages its clients from getting help from advocates. Based on
our experience, Mr Dunn understates the problem. We have seen CAS respond
to advocacy by calling for the family death penalty, crown-wardship.
expand
collapse
Assistance discouraged
June 1, 2005
Re: Many improvements at CAS, May 26.
Barbara MacKinnon, executive director of the
Children's Aid Society of Ottawa, writes that it is
"the community's responsibility as a whole to ensure
the well-being" of its children. As a former foster
child myself, and currently a child-welfare advocate
who provides support and advocacy for clients of the
Ottawa Children's Aid Society, I don't see the CAS
acting this way.
I have seen the CAS actively advise clients not to
use an advocate, and have also been told by staff
within the agency that they have been told not to
communicate with advocates. This type of conduct
discourages people from getting involved in ensuring
the well-being of children in the community.
John Dunn,
Ottawa
Bountrogianni Promise
May 31, 2005
Yesterday the report of Ontario Ombudsman André Marin on disabled
children was the prime topic of conversation in the Ontario Legislature. All of the questions on the
topic came from the NDP. In Premier McGuinty's turn to speak, he echoed Mrs
Bountrogianni's earlier boasts of increased funding for Children's Aid,
funding that raises the baby bounty. Minister of Children and Youth
Services Marie Bountrogianni said:
My ministry has directed the children's aid
societies to begin calling the parents tomorrow.
Where there are no protection issues, those parents
who have temporary care agreements will have their
parental rights restored without a change to the
service for their children on or before this
Friday.
The result of this warm sounding promise may be:
- As in an earlier statement by Mrs
Bountrogianni, she may simply ignore the promise.
- The restoration of parental rights may be restricted to the seven cases
investigated by Mr Marin, leaving hundreds of other families without
relief.
- The minister may examine all children in foster care, including crown
wards, and return them to their parents in cases where there were no
valid grounds for removal. That would take a political miracle.
- Children's Aid may create "protection issues" justifying keeping the
children. In a letter to Ontario political
leaders (pdf), John Dunn has predicted how Children's Aid will
continue to take custody of disabled children when, in Marie
Bountrogianni's words, "there are no protection issues". CAS will
behave outrageously toward the parents, then at the first sign of
annoyance, send the parents to anger management and take the kids.
In any case, the issue being discussed is a trifle.
Ontario has 18,000 foster children, of which 150 to 200
are covered by Mr Marin's report. No one has asked how
many of the others were taken into custody without
cause.
Bountrogianni May be Asked to Resign
May 30, 2005
The following press release, originating with the Ontario New Democratic
Party (NDP) suggests that Minister of Children and Family Services Marie
Bountrogianni should resign over failure to deliver promised services to the
parents of disabled children.
expand
collapse
NDP CAUCUS SERVICES
Attention News Editors:
Families in Ombudsman Ontario's Special
Needs Report Visit Queen's Park Today, Demand Real
Answers from Minister Bountrogianni
LONDON, ON, May 30 /CNW/ - Parents in the Ombudsman
Ontario report, "Between a Rock and a Hard Place"
could call on the Minister and those in her ministry
to resign today. They will sit in Queen's Park
legislative gallery while specific questions are
raised to the Minister of Child and Youth
Services.
Linda Limon, one of the 'original seven'
complainants in the Ombudsman's report and mother to
Andrew, who is 8 and severely Autistic, expects
meaningful answers from Minister Bountrogianni. Linda
wants to ask, "When are you going to find Andrew a
permanent placement? "It's not as simply as
'restoring custodial rights' and means nothing to
us...Jim and I have custody of Andrew". Andrew is
currently on an extension at a Ministry treatment
facility in London (CPRI) until the end of August.
Last week, he broke both of his permanent front teeth
in half head-banding on the floor at CPRI.
All of the seven complainants in the Ombudsman's
report have custody of their children, except one
having been forced into societal wardship. For some,
crown wardship will be a reality very soon. Some of
the parents have expressed anger over the Minister's
latest announcement to restore custodial rights to
parents. "While we applaud the Ombudsman's
recommendations, the Minister stating she'd be
restoring custody does nothing to change Jesse's life
300KM from home. Nothing at all. We have custody but
we do not have our son", Cyndi Cameron, mother to
Jesse Cameron, 14, expressed.
The Minister's recent comments regarding 'moving
very quickly' on this issue holds little weight with
families who have waited years to access residential
service. While the Minister continues to express a
commitment to 'building capacity', some believe the
Ministry is paralyzed with indecision. Five of the
families were available for comment and jointly state
that either the Minister - and those within her
ministry, specifically, Deputy Minister Jessica Hill,
Assistant Deputy Minister Cynthia Lees, and Regional
Director, Peter Steckenreiter either "step up to the
plate today or step down from their positions". They
want the Minister to fulfill the Ombudsman's
recommendations for their kids- commit to stating
specific action plans today, in their presence.
Jennifer Bray, mother to Wesley, 12, insists that
Bountrogianni act immediately to re-instate the
legislation for special-needs agreements. "We can no
longer go through this nightmare," Bray said.
The families have also expressed a concern
regarding the general impression about their
involvement in the class action law suit. None of
these families state that they are currently involved
in the Anne Larcade $500 million class action lawsuit.
These parents express there needs to be a point of
clarification that their families - who are currently
facing Children's Aid Society (CAS) involvement and
imminent custodial relinquishment to access
residential services for their children with special
needs, and who are without lawyers in this matter have
put faith in the process of the Ombudsman and
government - and are not involved in the class action
suit. "Any reports to the contrary presently in the
media - or from other involved citizens are just not
true", mother Cynthia Cameron stated.
"We refuse to become involved with the CAS to
access residential support for Andrew. Today, I am at
Queen's Park demanding a definitive solution outside
the CAS, for my son.
For the seven original complainant families - the
Brays, Camerons, Grignards, Limons, McLarens,
Nieblers, and Pynes - the time for the Minister to act
specifically in their cases is now. "I would like to
ask the Minister, how has that seventy-four million
dollars she continues to refer to helped our
families?", Limon questioned.
For further information: Parents available for
comment at the following contact numbers are:
Jennifer Bray, (519) 253-5160; Cyndi Cameron, (519)
474-4359 (home) or (519) 719-7867 (cell); Tina
Grignard, (519) 631-5472 (home after 6 p.m.); Linda
Limon, (519) 245-7087 (home after 7 p.m.) or (519)
719-7867 (cell).
PC's Oppose Adoption Disclosure
May 30, 2005
On May 17 John Tory (PC), leader of the opposition, suggested in a
question to the Ontario Provincial Premier that opponents of the adoption
disclosure law should get more time at the hearing. The bill has been
referred to the eleven member Standing Committee on Social Policy with eight
Liberals, two PC's and one NDP member. At an earlier committee vote, only
Ted Chudleigh, PC/Halton, voted against the bill.
The committee held hearings, reported in the Hansard of May 18 and May 19.
According to the following (partisan) spectator, the two PC members
continue to obstruct the bill:
expand
collapse
Monday, May 30, 2005
Many of you will have seen The Star today and the
announcement that the Liberals are introducing a DV.
It will only apply to parents who can demonstrate that
adoptee access to information will cause them
significant emotional or physical harm. I'm not
crazy about it but it's better than no bill at all.
The government is assuring us that it will not become
a regular dv and that applicants will have to jump
through some hoops to get it and that the adoptee can
appeal. So it's not the end of the world.
The clause by clause hearing was more positive than
I had anticipated. Sterling and Jackson were the PCs
and were, predictably, annoying but so far none of
their amendments have passed. As we anticipated, they
did not finish today so we will be back there
tomorrow. The PCs are calling for a dv and no
retroactivity. Big surprise.
The Liberals are holding firm and I really have to
mention Ernie Parsons who was amazing today. Many of
you will remember that he was just awful at the
committee hearings for Bill 77. But he has completely
changed his mind and made the most wonderful eloquent
speeches today in support of both mothers and adoptees
needing to know. It really was amazing.
We are not out of the woods yet since the PCs may
try to stall tomorrow and ensure that the clause by
clause gets held over until next week which will delay
third reading. Or they may try to filibuster at third
reading. But tonight I am feeling more positive than
I have in a while.
Wendy
In this case, the Liberals are moving to reduce the
power of social services over families, while the PC's
are trying to keep the status quo.
earlier news
| |
|
