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Another one of those angels who protect your children has been arrested, this time for abusing her own children. She was not a lowly caseworker, but a senior officer. This is likely to be one of those stories we never hear about again.

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Atlanta Journal-Constitution

DFCS official denies abuse

By CRAIG SCHNEIDER, Published on: 03/13/07

One of Fulton County's top child welfare officials was arrested after being accused of striking her 8-year-old daughter 34 times with a belt, police said Monday.

Cylenthia Clark, 38, of Fayetteville was charged with felony child cruelty on Saturday. Clark is assistant director of the Fulton County office of the state Division of Family and Children Services.

Cylenthia Clark's four daughters have been placed in protective custody. She is out on bond.

The arrest warrant alleges that on Feb. 7, Clark told the child to remove all her clothes except her panties and then whipped her with the belt on the back, arms, legs and face.

The girl and her three sisters, ages 6, 5 and 3, were taken from Clark's care and placed in protective custody, Fayetteville police Lt. Beverly Trainor said.

In an interview, Clark acknowledged spanking her daughter but said, "I am not a child abuser. I have never abused my children." Clark got out of jail on bond Saturday.

Trainor said the girl's school reported marks on the child's back and arms Feb. 28 to Fayette DFCS. That report was passed on to Fayetteville police.

Clark said her daughter had been aggressive lately, fighting in an after-school program at Hood Avenue Primary and even fighting a teacher who tried to break it up.

"I did spank her, but I didn't abuse her," Clark said. "I don't even want to spank my kids, but it's a last resort."

DFCS spokeswoman Dena Smith said Clark is back on the job but only doing administrative work and has no involvement in child protection cases.

The arrest of one of Fulton's top child welfare officials stunned workers in the county office and leaders in Georgia's child welfare community. Officials at Fulton DFCS have power to investigate parents for child abuse and neglect, and even to remove children from their homes and place them in foster care.

"We would hope that the people we entrust with our children would hold the same values as we do," said Normer Adams, executive director of the Georgia Association of Homes and Services for Children. "The values that people hold reflect in what they practice. How can you take someone's child away, when you're doing something like this?"

Adams said he thinks Clark should be put on administrative leave until the case is resolved.

DFCS officials said Clark arrived in the Fulton office less than a year ago. Clark and her husband are separated, Fayetteville police said, and he lives in another state.

Fulton DFCS workers said the office was shocked to hear the news. "She's a nice person," said Fulton DFCS worker Richard Maynard. "It's unfortunate, and my prayers go out to her and her family."

Shantreas O'Neil, a Fulton social services specialist, said, "All of us doing this work are responsible for protecting the kids, so it would surprise me if this happened to any worker."

Neighbors at Weatherly Walk apartments in Fayetteville said Clark appeared to be a caring mother.

"I was always amazed she could get all those little girls dressed and herself ready for work," said Lori Holt, the mother of twin 8-month-old boys. "I'm doing good to get out of here with bottles and diapers."

Clark said she was surprised to be arrested.

"I'm sure they [Fayette DFCS and police] were following protocol, but from my experience that [an arrest] is reserved for more severe cases," Clark said.

The arrest comes as Fulton DFCS has come under attack from several of its own workers who criticized top managers as arrogant and belligerent. The workers say the management style has prompted many employees to leave, burdening others with more work and leaving some children in danger of abuse and neglect.

State DFCS Director Mary Dean Harvey said the Fulton office has increased its scrutiny of workers since a lawsuit settlement last year in which a federal court ordered the office to improve its care of children.

She said the greater demands may have led some disgruntled workers to complain and leave. She also said the Fulton office is performing better.

Staff writers Kathy Jefcoats and S.A. Reid contributed to this article.

Source: website of Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Addendum: Social workers are in the habit of destroying families with false allegations, and when they want to purge one of their own, they do it the same way. This could be a case of social worker fratricide.

Addendum: This later article shows that the mother in this case got preferential treatment.

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Atlanta Journal-Constitution

DFCS workers felt pressured to play favorites, advocate says

By Craig Schneider, Kathy Jefcoats
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/12/07

Fayette County child welfare workers felt pressure from their state office to close the case against a top employee charged with beating her daughter, the state child advocate said Wednesday.

Child Advocate Dee Simms said Gov. Sonny Perdue personally requested she find out if favoritism was shown to Cylenthia Clark, deputy director of the Fulton County child welfare office.

Clark was charged with felony child cruelty March 10 after Fayette school officials reported marks on the child's back and arms to the Fayette office of the state Division of Family and Children Services. Fayetteville police said that on Feb. 7, Clark ordered her 8-year-old daughter to remove her clothes and whipped her 34 times with a belt.

DFCS officials said the case was handled properly and that Clark was not given preferential treatment. Clark, who has been reassigned to administrative duties at the Fulton DFCS office, could not be reached Wednesday for comment. A month ago, she said she spanked her daughter, but didn't abuse her.

Simms said her investigators interviewed several workers in the Fayette office of DFCS. "It is my feeling that they felt pressure to minimize it [the case] or make it go away," Simms said. She said she hasn't gotten state DFCS's side of the story yet.

Police placed the girl and her three sisters in foster care, but DFCS quickly moved the children into the home of their maternal grandmother, Simms said.

One Fayette caseworker wrote the governor to complain about the way the case was handled. Tracy Murray said the state office "mandated" that her office waive the drug screen and criminal background check in order to quickly place the children with the grandmother.

"Governor, make no mistake the leadership representing this department is in full support of this mother who has beaten her child with no remorse," Murray wrote.

State DFCS Director Mary Dean Harvey said she often reviews individual county cases and, working in consultation with the county, discusses waivers on background checks.

The children have since been placed in the custody of their father, who lives in Chicago, authorities said.

State Department of Human Resources officials say they're conducting an internal investigation. "We haven't found anything to show that DFCS has done anything wrong," said Cathy Lynn, deputy director of the state Office of Investigative Services, an arm of DHR. DFCS is also an arm of DHR.

The difference of opinion sets up yet another conflict between state DFCS, the agency tasked with handling child welfare services, and the child advocate, appointed to keep watch over DFCS. Simms recently issued a blistering report on the Fulton DFCS office.

Fayette District Attorney Scott Ballard also has started an investigation into whether Fayette DFCS delayed reporting the abuse allegations to Fayetteville police.

Harvey said DFCS notified police by fax shortly after receiving the abuse allegation from the girl's teacher.

Ballard said he needs to confirm that, but said DFCS did not follow protocol and telephone police to confirm. Consequently, he said, police did not begin the investigation for another 20 days.

Source: website of Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A blog by a resident of Kennedy House in Scarborough Ontario recounts his experiences under the screen name Ed Blazo, really his nemesis at the group home. Among other experiences, he recounts the rape of a fellow resident. Below is his story of how part of his pay from a summer job was embezzled by the group home staff.

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Ed Blazo

I am in grade 12 and exams are just around the corner. The stress of living in this hostile house is weighing down on me. I think I have been through a lot in this four and half years that I called this house home. Instead of building young boys into confident responsible men, the goal seems to be how to beat the soul and spirit out of these young bucks. How many guys that have gone through Kennedy house's doors have made it. Ok, make it easier, how many have stayed out of jail? Not many. Still the world revolves around money, so Ed was not going to be pulling in any more money from the children's aid for anyone who is over 18, so out they go. And to make sure they are out and he doesn't have to carry them, he gives ya the boot before your 18th birthday. So like I said with exams around the corner, I was told to look for an apartment. I said how was I to pay the rent? Kathy said that I would be given student welfare till I finished grade 12. I said what about after that? She said as far as going on to further my education, she didn't see that as an option. Best that once I finished school to look for a job. Immediately. I asked about the 25% of my pay she has socked away. When do I receive that? She said: sorry, but that money went back into the house. But I said that when we were told to give her 25% of our pay when we were forced to work the summer and also whenever I worked — hell they even took Tyrone's 25% when he slaved all day selling Dicky Dee ice cream — it would be returned to us upon leaving the house, so(rt) of like a hope chest — funds to sock away for a rainy day. She went into: do you know how much it costs to keep me here? She said that I would find out once I was on my own.

Source: Microsoft blogging site

James Nord, an Arizona man in a business where he could make enemies, is anonymously accused of molesting a ten-year-old boy living in his home. When child protectors find the man lives alone, the accusation changes to molesting at the home of the boy's mother. When they can't find her, he is accused of molesting his own sister and son. The caseworker tells the man his file has been closed, but continues to question his friends. He is on a list of low-risk sexual predators, but cannot find the name of his accuser. The caseworker continues because she collects a bounty for her investigation. Child protection is too important to stop for mere innocence, or even absurdity.

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Sunday, March 11, 2007

Man upset over probe for alleged child molestation

Suzanne Cronn-Herald/Review James Nord reviews a document in his home office on Sunday. Nord has file a $50 million dollar law suit against Cochise County and the state stemming from an accusation of child molestation of which no evidence was found and the case was closed.

By Shar Porier

Herald/Review

SIERRA VISTA — “They don’t care who they screw up.”

The frustration of 66-year-old paralegal James Nord over an alleged incident of child molestation, which he claims landed his name in a file at Child Protective Services as a “low risk” sexual predator, continues as he tries to clear his name.

It all started more than a year ago on Feb. 28 when he got a call from CPS investigator Marilyn Piduch at his home in Sierra Vista. She asked if she could meet with him. He agreed, and Piduch and Marde Closson, local CPS supervisor, came to his home and told him a complaint had been filed. They had been told a woman and her 10-year-old son were living with him, and that he had molested the boy. After an inspection of his home, they found no evidence of anyone living with Nord.

“I’ve lived alone for 18 years, with the exception of my son and his family when they first moved here,” he said.

Wondering who could have made such an accusation, he asked for the name of his accuser and was told the identity could not be revealed.

He filed a complaint with the Cochise County’s Sheriff’s Office for false reporting and harassment against the CPS.

Deputy Cpl. John Filippelli took the complaint and called CPS in an attempt to confirm a name given by Nord as the possible informant. The deputy states in a report that CPS told him the caller wished to remain anonymous but that it was definitely not the person suspected. He then went to Nord’s residence and advised him of the findings.

“Nord advised when CPS completes their investigation he will file a petition to disclose the name of the person reporting. I advised Nord if/when he finds out the subject’s name to contact me, and I will continue the investigation,” he writes in the report.

Though Nord said Filippelli met with him the morning of March 2 and told him CPS had closed the case, there is no such statement in the deputy’s official report. Filippelli’s investigation is listed as active/dead file pending further information from Nord on the identity of the person who called CPS with the complaint.

Part of Nord’s complaint of CPS’ actions involves the continuing investigation involving friends and family after the case had supposedly been closed.

Piduch interviewed Nord’s son, Carl, on the same day and questioned him about the woman and her son.

Nothing further was done until May 17, when Nord requested a copy of the complaint. On June 8, he received the CPS summary report, which gave a different scenario. In the report, Nord was accused of molesting the 10-year-old daughter of a woman while living with her at her residence. The report also states he violently molested and assaulted his sister for four years and molested his son.

Nord and his son were upset over the new allegations listed in the summary report.

“I don’t understand. First it was a boy. Now it’s a girl, my sister and my son. It’s absurd,” Nord said.

Carl Nord says there wasn’t an incident involving him.

“Nothing ever happened to me or my aunt. I checked,” he said. “There are no people living with Dad or he with them. It’s a crock. Somebody’s made up the complaint. They investigated and found no evidence, but, yet, they continued. If the case was opened and closed on the same day, as they said, why did they call me in March?”

Nord decided he was going to get to the bottom of it and tried to get a judge to allow the identity of his accuser to be revealed and his name cleared. The case went before Cochise County Superior Court Judge James L. Conlogue.

Assistant Attorney General Roger Perry Jr. argued against releasing the name. According to documentation on file at the courthouse concerning the case, Perry stated, “There can be no justification for a request that all records concerning the petitioner be expunged from CPS files,” he said, “Arizona maintains a record of the report as it must, according to law.”

Conlogue ruled against Nord’s request and ordered the file sealed.

Nord suspects he was the subject of retribution of someone, but he hasn’t a clue who that may be.

His friend Betty Madrid believes she knows who filed the complaint. Nord was helping her on a legal matter involving fraud. According to her affidavit, Madrid called Piduch on March 1 and said she “was positive that the report was made for vindictive reasons. I told her that because of my accusation, I was being followed … She asked me who I thought would do this.”

Madrid gave four names, but was interrupted by Piduch, who asked how Madrid knew of one of the people mentioned. That made Madrid suspicious, and she told Nord of the conversation.

In December, Nord filed a lawsuit against the county, the state and all the agencies and people involved in December. His lawsuit claims that Closson and Piduch “… acted with reckless disregard” and failed to determine whether probable cause existed before taking action. He claims violation of his civil rights to due process, loss of reputation and infliction of emotional distress among other charges.

He is seeking $50 million in his suit.

“I suffer from headaches, nausea and nervousness. This whole thing has distracted me from being able to my job. It interferes with my work,” he says in the court paperwork.

“One’s reputation is a significant, intensely personal possession that one strives to protect,” Nord continued. “The CPS takes everything some mystery party says as factual and does not need any corroboration of any sort. They closed the case without any substantiation and put my name in their files.”

He sought help from an Arizona ombudsman, Ellen Stenson, who wrote in a letter the case was closed “as neither substantiated nor unsubstantiated, but rather noted they were unable to locate (the woman and her child).

“We do not have any evidence that the CPS investigation was inappropriate or that CPS has inappropriately shared information about you …,” Stenson said in her response.

Stenson’s findings seem to bolster the stand of the Attorney General’s Office, which is handling the federal lawsuit.

The state, on behalf of all the agencies and parties listed in Nord’s suit, is represented by Assistant Attorney General Perry, who has entered a motion to dismiss on the grounds that Nord has a “lack of cognizable legal theory” and “the absence of sufficient facts.” He states in the motion that CPS, as an agency of the state, is immune from private damages or injunctive relief.

As for Nord’s worry of being classified as a sexual predator in a central registry, Perry says this “is an example of an unwarranted deduction of fact. (Nord) was investigated by the CPS; therefore, he reasons, he has been placed on such a list … it appears (from the complaint) this claim was not substantiated. There was no child living in his home to be concerned about. He is not a convicted sex-offender, subject to registration.”

Perry writes that CPS is required to maintain a record of the report, but this record in no sense is considered a predator list. Therefore, Nord’s deduction that since he was investigated his name exists on a CPS list is unrealistic.

He states in a court document, “… Criminal investigations — even if CPS conducted criminal investigations — can be conducted on no more than a hunch; they can be conducted on a whim …”

Due to the serious nature of the information included in the CPS summary report, the agency had the right to investigate the tip, he argues in the court document.

Perry has tried to have that CPS summary report rejected as evidence. In a phone conversation, Perry said Nord had not authenticated the CPS report. Therefore, it should be disallowed, as should the affidavits Nord gathered.

“I am asking the court to look at facts alleged in the complaint. Nord does not state a cause of action against these people. I have moved to strike things that are not properly brought before the court,” Perry said. “I cannot find a cause that would allow for action against these people. I have to move to strike things that are not properly brought before the court. Even if you were to pretend that all the facts as he presents them are true, he still does not have a case.”

Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever and County Attorney Ed Rheinheimer did not respond to calls for comment on the lawsuit.

Liz Barker, public information officer for CPS, said she could not comment on the pending litigation. However, she answered questions about procedure and policy of CPS. She said when someone calls the statewide hotline phone number, a series of questions is asked. If the answers meet the criteria, a report is forwarded to the proper district office, and staff proceed to investigate.

Barker confirmed that a person’s name remains on file with CPS even if allegations have not been substantiated. If the case is substantiated and a conviction obtained, the name is added to the statewide registry of sex offenders by the department of public safety.

One other irregularity, as Nord sees it, is a provision that provides a monetary incentive to CPS staff to investigate cases. If six cases of abuse or neglect are investigated per month, the employee receives 10 percent of the monthly salary.

Barker confirmed that case workers are paid “a stipend” on the number of cases they investigate. The sum is paid whether the investigations pan out or not.

That makes Nord wonder if such financial gains are ethical and if that policy is part of the problem.

“Was I investigated to make more money? Who thought of this stipend?” he asked. “All I’m trying to do is clear my name. I had a background check run on myself and it came back clean,” he added. “But CPS has my name in a file somewhere, unsubstantiated or not.”

Nord, who claims he is still distressed over the incident, waits for the lawsuit to be heard. “Can you imagine waking up one day to find you’re being looked at as a child molester? And I’m just supposed to take that and roll over and play dead? I don’t think so.”

REPORTER Shar Porier can be reached at 515-4692 or by e-mail at shar.porier@bisbeereview.net.

Source: website of the Sierra Vista Herald

A video recently circulated on the internet, The Drugging of our Children, produced by Gary Null, deals with the enormous quantity of drugs given to school children, including the role of child protectors as prescription enforcers. Its 103 minutes are of particular interest to viewers knowledgeable about biology and pharmacology.

When Nelson A Boylen Collegiate Institute needed a family studies teacher, they hired the best — a qualified teacher with experience as a children's aid worker. She taught her students so well that she will soon give birth to one of their children.

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Teacher accused of sex with student

Paola Queen, a teacher at Nelson A. Boylen Collegiate Institute, has been charged with sexual exploitation after police received a tip about an alleged inappropriate relationship.

Woman is pregnant after alleged relationship and teen has left high school, police say

March 10, 2007, Betsy Powell Kristin Rushowy, Staff Reporters

She was a child protection worker who taught family studies and now she's a high school teacher accused of having sex with one of her teenage students.

Toronto police have charged Paola Queen, a 35-year-old teacher at Nelson A. Boylen Collegiate Institute, with one count of sexual exploitation after they received a Crime Stoppers tip earlier this month about an alleged inappropriate relationship between a high school teacher and a student.

She is pregnant and is at a "substantial stage" into the nine-month term, Det. Peter Duncan said yesterday.

The student, who has left the north Toronto school on Falstaff Ave. near Jane St., is believed to be 17 and cannot be identified by law.

"This was a very good student, someone who has since left school" and the reasons, while not conclusively known, are "directly related to that pregnancy," Duncan said.

Police allege Queen began a romantic and sexual relationship with the teen not long after she started teaching at the school in September 2005, "one that has continued, to our knowledge, to the present time," said Duncan, of 31 Division. Both speak Spanish, a source said.

A student in Queen's parenting class said she often saw the teacher and two brothers in a car together. "She would let them drive," said the 15-year-old who asked not to be identified.

Queen was obviously pregnant and recently told students not to give her grief in class because of her condition, the student said.

Family members on both sides were also aware of the relationship and the pregnancy, police said.

"From our investigation it appears that both relatives of the accused lady and the victimized youth knew of this relationship and had for some time, several months at least," Duncan said.

Police exercised two search warrants and they found photographs showing the pair with other family members.

The teacher had been living with the student "for short periods at least before she was arrested."

Queen was arrested on Tuesday night.

Under the Criminal Code, no one is allowed to have a sexual relationship with anyone under 18 years old if they are in a position of trust or authority "and certainly any teacher would follow under that description," said Duncan.

A young person at that age is "at an obvious stage in their emotional development" where they would be vulnerable to "friendly behaviour and given a degree of affection would fall into a position where they would develop an emotional attachment with a teacher as somebody in a position of authority."

While he doesn't now appear to be traumatized, "this could be a young man who could take years to fully understand the impact on his life," he said. "I think this is something, morally, is going to disgust some people."

Supt. Roy Pilkington, who runs 31 Division, said it's not uncommon for men in positions of authority to victimize young females, but added: "It's very rare – I've been a police officer for some 34 years – and this is the first case I can recall in Toronto ... where we've had this reverse situation."

Queen has been released with conditions not to attend the school in question. She is to appear at in court April 17. She has no children of her own and is not currently married but may be separated or divorced.

She is also to have no contact with the youth. Duncan admitted this could prove to be problematic if he is indeed the father of the baby. "That's another sad dimension."

Queen is a former child protection worker with Toronto's Catholic Children's Aid Society.

The family studies teacher is now on home assignment, which means she's on leave with pay until the matter has been resolved in the courts.

"That's normally the case when a teacher has been charged with a criminal offence," said board counsel Grant Bowers.

"That's normally their status until the matter has been disposed of by the courts."

If found guilty, she'll be fired; if she's acquitted or the charges are withdrawn, the board will still conduct its own investigation before deciding if she's allowed to return to work, added Bowers.

In a letter sent home with students yesterday, principal Linda Curtis said it's alleged that Queen began an inappropriate relationship "soon after she started as a teacher" at the school in September 2005.

Queen became a teacher in June 2005 after obtaining a bachelor's degree in education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. According to the Ontario College of Teachers, her qualifications are in the areas of family studies, individual and society, and visual arts.

She also has two undergraduate degrees – in arts and social work – from York University, dating back to 1995.

The Toronto District School Board first heard of the allegations from police, Bowers said. He could not say if the school had previously received any complaints about Queen.

The student is not currently attending Nelson A. Boylen, although sources said he has not been transferred to another school.

Even though the charges were laid just days before March Break, the Toronto board has arranged for counselling during the holidays should students or staff request it. A meeting will be scheduled following the break for parents to air any concerns or to seek advice on how to discuss the issue at home.

"Our primary goal is to make sure that the students aren't upset, and to provide any counselling that students may need," said Bowers. "When a person in authority in a school community is charged with anything, it can cause ripples in the school community."

Bowers said the Toronto board has one of the toughest policies regarding relationships. No employee – teacher or any other staff member – is allowed to have sexual relations with a student.

"Any teacher or other employee found guilty (by the courts), or found by us on the balance of probability to have abused a child in any way, is terminated immediately," he said.

"If these allegations are true, and that's a big if, it's extremely regretful and another example of how we have to be vigilant and protect our kids."

The Ontario College of Teachers, the profession's governing body, says if the board alters Queen's terms of employment "if it restricts her teaching duties or terminates her, they must let us know," said communications officer Brian Jamieson.

After receiving the complaint in writing, the college will investigate, and information would be forwarded to an investigation committee to decide if an official disciplinary hearing is warranted. The college's investigation is separate from that of the police.

In cases where teachers are found guilty of professional misconduct for having sexual relations with students, they stand to lose their licence – and, if that happens, it's almost always permanent, said Jamieson.

Bowers said he will notify the college on Monday.

When asked if the boy's family could sue the board, Bowers said that Canada is "rather unique because since the year 2000, the Supreme Court has held school boards and other institutions vicariously liable" for the inappropriate actions of teachers and other caregivers of children.

Source: website of Toronto Star

An article by James Wallace of Osprey Media displays the kind of investigative journalism normally only seen in the American press. Ontario's government agencies at all levels deny requests for information from the public, even routine requests. Freedom of information requests are stymied with legal exceptions. The experience of Dufferin VOCA is similar. Inquiries are commonly met with "that's confidential". In the case of a request to a children's aid society, they say nothing, or answer with "we don't supply that information".

Another personal story found on the internet. It is another "Sophie's Choice" scenario, in which CAS lets mom and dad keep two kids, they want the other to place with grandma.

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March 07 (2007)

Bitten By The Scorpion

I have been bitten by the scorpion!

The scorpion being the Children's Aid Society. They have been involved in my family's life for seven and a half years, and they sting is still just as painful. They have been trying to take our son away since he was six months old, and just couldn't seem to do it. But now they just may have found a way to keep him away from us forever. With the help of my "loving" mother of course. They will allow us to have our daughters but not our son, and for th life of us all, no one can figure out why. Especially since they think we're good enough parents to our daughters that it is safe for them to close their file. But yet they would rather have my mother gain full custody of our son. It really doesn't make much sence. My husband has been reduced to supervised access and now must see his son under the close scrutiny of the CAS. That is completely unjustifiable. But what makes it worse is that he is only allowed to have 2 hours a week. Worse still is now they are trying to make things even more difficult for husband by making him sign his life away in paper work before he caneven get to see his son, and if he were to not follow any of the supposed rules for thereputic access, his visits will cease and desist effective immediately. But yet when he was having visits before he didn't have to sign a thing and the so called rules were not nearly as overbearing. The CAS is doing everything in their power to make excuses as to why my husband should be refused his access and they are stalling so that my mother can gain custody of our son.

All of this is because my mother wanted a little boy and she got me instead. And I got to have the little boy that she has always wanted with a family that she has hated for the past twenty-seven years....

In the end it isn't really about a child's wellbing it's about money and power over the less fortunate. Greed is a very powerful thing...I just hope that my son and two daughters can survive the backlash.

We'll just see how much the scorpion will sting when it's under the heel of my boot!!!

Author's profile:

Display name:	Crimson
Nickname:	Crimson_Sorrow_Forever
Gender:	Female
Age:	27
Occupation:	CSR
Interests:	I love Anne RIce novels and Stephen King. I like all kinds of music. I love to sing dance write
More about me:	I'm a mother of three. I'm a student I work I have a loving husband I'm wiccan I'm aspiring to be an author and a Forensic Pathologst I also tend to be a little over dramatic sometimes ob kb I'm turning into a pumpkin Blessed Be on Thy Journey! In Love and Light let Trust and hope be with Thee!
Name:	April Willison
Home address:	Canada
Marital status:	In a relationship

Source: Windows Live message board

A report acquired by the CBC says that Ontario's children's aid societies act as apprenticeship programs for criminal behavior. No one will dare suggest correcting the problem by leaving children with mom and dad. Instead, we can soon expect calls for more money for CAS to improve group homes.

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Kids see group homes as 'gateways to jail': child advocate

Last Updated: Wednesday, March 7, 2007 | 7:46 AM ET
CBC News

Almost half of Ontario's young offenders in detention for minor crimes came through the child welfare system, a report from the Office of Child and Family Service Advocacy shows.

The trend is a concern for child advocates across the country and Ontario Child Advocate Judy Finlay said many of the province's young people are beginning to think of group homes as "gateways to jail."

"We're taking them out of very difficult family circumstances, bringing them into state care and then we're charging them for their behaviour. It's very concerning to me," Finlay said.

The report, which was obtained by CBC News, lays much of the blame on group homes that rely too heavily on police to resolve problems that could be handled by staff.

Kids have been charged for everything from refusing to read a book or hitting someone with a tea towel, Finlay said.

One group home in Ontario called police 400 times in a single year.

Ontario is not the only province that needs to fix the system, the report says. A sampling of facilities across Canada found that 57 per cent of young offenders had a connection to the child welfare system, the report said. In British Columbia, a recent study put that number at 73 per cent.

While some teens acknowledge the more serious charges may be warranted, they complain that too often, staff lack the training to deal with troubled kids and resort to calling police.

One teen, who can't be named under federal law, said workers would often provoke him. After he was charged, group home workers had an easy way to threaten him by suggesting a breach of his bail or probation conditions would mean a return to a young offenders facility.

"They threaten you and say you better read that book or you're going back to jail. Come on, what kind of system is this?" the teen said.

Finlay is calling on the province to collect data on police calls from group homes and the charges that result. She also wants to see a mental health worker attached to each group home and higher standards for an industry that costs taxpayers more than $200 million a year.

Source: website of CBC

Addendum: Here is the start of a comment on this subject by Carolyn Buck, Executive Director of Toronto Children's Aid:

The most recent aggregate provincial data shows that 15% of Crown wards under CAS’ care in Ontario were charged under the Young Offender Act, now the Youth Criminal Justice Act. This is not the overwhelming majority as some critics report.

Young people come to us with an array of difficult experiences. The scars left by the trauma of abuse go well beyond skin deep and unspeakable acts leave indelible impressions at the most vulnerable time in human development.

Source: website of Toronto Children's Aid

This drivel requires us to go back to elementary arithmetic. Judy Finlay divided the number of young offenders with CAS cases by the number of young offenders (almost 50%), Carolyn Buck divided it by the number of crown wards (15%). Of course the results are different. You are not lying, Mrs Buck, you are just trying to fool us.

The second paragraph goes on to blame the failings of children in care on the parents they were taken from. If that is so, why is the death rate in foster care five times as high as parental care? The most common cause of foster death for young children is "battered". How do parents batter their kids in far-away foster homes? There are indeed unspeakable acts that leave indelible impressions on children, but they come from the child protection system itself.

Rick Fredrickson, deprived of his child by a Saskatchewan court, has filed an appeal. The text of the appeal is online.

Fathers-4-Justice has had success in drawing press attention to the injustices of family court, and consequently its members come under intense scrutiny from agenicies with police power. This press release from Jeremy Swanson gives more on the soldier, Ken Sandall, harassed by children's aid.

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CAS INVESTIGATES FORMER OTTAWA F4J COORDINATOR

In November 2006, the Ottawa office of the Children's Aid Society (CAS) investigated the former Ottawa Fathers-4-Justice (F4J) Coordinator for being a member of that group. According to Ken Sandall and another source who was interview by CAS, questions of Mr. Sandall's F4J membership and activities were posed. An official CAS document obtained clearly states that CAS had unverified child protection concerns but pursued the investigation of Mr. Sandall regardless.

While earlier acting in the position as Ottawa-area F4J Coordinator, Mr. Sandall received emails from the CAS making inquiries and demanding information about local F4J policies and activities. When Mr. Sandall did not comply, a damaging and defamatory child protection investigation was launched against Mr. Sandall. According to CAS, they received a mysterious, anonymous complaint-which could not be verified-accusing Mr. Sandall of many false allegations. However, according to Mr. Sandall, CAS' investigation went far beyond the issues and indications provided by this 'phantom' email from an un-named source. The resulting CAS interrogative-style interview of Mr. Sandall was focused on his F4J membership and allegations that the CAS investigator later admitted were not part of that 'phantom' email or any of the allegations contained therein

Mr. Sandall's activities with F4J were limited at the time of his service due to the fact that he is a current serving member of the Canadian Forces. Mr. Sandall supported F4J in a supportive, organizational and administrative capacity. However, after three short months, he was forced to resign as the F4J Ottawa Coordinator for family reasons. Mr. Sandall states that he was not bullied into leaving the F4J position, as the decision was clearly family-orientated. He still maintains his basic membership in F4J and other Fathers and Family Rights groups.

Questioned Saturday Mr Sandall ventured "Is participation in F4J or any other father's rights groups illegal ? Does being a father's rights supporter constitute a danger to children? CAS seems to think so " he said.

Mr. Sandall tried to directly address the CAS investigation from the local CAS Ottawa office up to the CAS' provincial office in Toronto. He received no replies to phone calls and emails and the official reaction appears to ignore all attempts at communication in this matter. Mr. Sandall has launched a complaint to CAS, as well as his Member of Parliament and the Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario.

"I fear that, CAS will attempt to 'find' and launch another allegation against me in response to my complaint and attempt at redress against them " said Mr Sandall.

-30-

Contact:
Jeremy Swanson	(613) 237-1320 ext 2438
Ken Sandall	(613) 249-9470 cell (613) 794-7435

Source: email from Jeremy Swanson

When you give a donation to the friendly folks who collect for the United Way, you are supporting the same agency that separates parents and children by force of arms. Here the United Way gives $198,990 to the Mutual Aid Program for Parents, operated through the Children's Aid Society.

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United Way agencies get boost

By JENNIFER O'BRIEN, SUN MEDIA

[ Paragraphs not relating to Children's Aid omitted. ]

Yesterday, dozens of community agencies found out how much money they'll get this year from the United Way of London and Middlesex as it released allocations from its record $6.6-million fundraising campaign last year.

Overall, United Way funding to member agencies will rise to just more than $5 million this year, up from $4.4 million last year.

Also, spending on United Way community services and special programs will rise to nearly $1.63 million from $1.4 million last year.

Yesterday's funding allocations lit up the office for United Way staff, said Helen Connell, the local chapter's executive director.

"There was a feeling of euphoria here today," she said of the office at 409 King St.

"All day long, people have been coming in to find out how much they are receiving . . . We get to see the faces of the agencies and how appreciative they are.

"It really feels good."

The Mutual Aid Program for Parents, operated through the Children's Aid Society received a $55,000 boost, bringing its funding to $199,000 to support a program that helps Spanish-speaking parents.

---

FUNDING ALLOCATIONS

• Across Languages, $32,000
• Big Brothers, $172,300
• Big Sisters, $211,951
• Boys' & Girls' Club, $421,000
• Canadian Hearing Society, $75,900
• Canadian Mental Health Association, $127,703
• CNIB, $210,670
• Changing Ways, $170,000
• Community Living London, $117,051
• Crouch Resource Centre, $109,480
• Epilepsy Support Centre, $100,000.
• Family Service Thames Valley, $401,626
• Girl Guides, $46,000
• Glen Cairn Community Resource Centre, $159,000
• Horton Street Seniors Centre, $70,650
• Hospice of London, $126,500
• John Howard Society, $318,654
• Learning Disabilities Association, $109,000.
• London Coffee House Program, $128,600
• London & District Distress Centre, $134,493
• London Intercommunity Health Centre, $78,655.
• London Interfaith Counselling Centre, $85,325.
• London Occupational Safety & Health, $90,866
• London Unemployment Health Centre, $153,855
• LUSO, $120,796
• Meals on Wheels, $79,000
• Mutual Aid Program for Parents, $198,990
• N'Amerind, $61,233
• Ontario March of Dimes, $94,785
• SARI, $35,500
• Scouts, $42,500
• Sexual Assault Centre, $60,855
• South London Neighbourhood Resource Centre, $104,794
• Stevenson Children's Camp, $93,730
• Next Wave Strathroy Youth Centre, $124,000
• Women's Rural Resource Centre, $58,013.
• London Y, $220,000
• Youth Action Centre, $66,500

Source: London Free Press

Carline VandenElsen, convicted in the Halifax standoff when police seized her baby in 2004, has been on a temporary pass helping at a church. At her parole hearing, she was sent back to jail.

Canada Court Watch has been approached by a whistleblower lawyer who wants to expose the corruption in family courts.

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Lawyer calls for judicial inquiry into dysfunctional family court system!

(March 2, 2007) - A long standing member of the Law Society of Upper Canada contacted Court Watch recently and stated that there is an urgent need for a full judicial and/or Parliamentary inquiry into what this experienced Law Society member believes is corruption and incompetence within the family court system in Ontario. This lawyer says that the current family court system is destroying children and families and bleeding them dry of their financial resources. This unnamed source has offered Court Watch the opportunity to review documents and other evidence to support this whistle-blower's allegations about the system and will go on the public record soon about his allegations. This lawyer has said, that in the name of justice, the truth about the family court system in Ontario must be made known to the people of Ontario and that the family court system must be cleaned up from top to bottom as it is bringing scorn and disrespect to the entire legal profession and to those remaining lawyers in other sectors of the law who still believe that it is their duty to stand up to vigorously defend the principles of truth and justice.

Source: Canada Court Watch

A quip attributed to Mark Twain says: “It's no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.”

In this item, a mother who wants to be with her daughter, and a daughter who wants to be with her mother are both in jail to keep them separated. Since it is truth, it doesn't have to make sense.

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Originally published February 28, 2007

Amber Alert canceled — Missing girl OK, mom arrested

By Lisa Roose-Church, DAILY PRESS & ARGUS

Submitted photo Christina Renaud, the Howell-area girl who was the subject of an Amber Alert, turned up unharmed Tuesday at the Royal Oak Police Department. The girl's mother, who is not her legal guardian, is in custody on parental kidnapping charges.

The Livingston County Sheriff's Department said early Wednesday that the Howell-area girl who was the subject of an Amber Alert the prior day had turned up at a police station unharmed.

Meanwhile, the girl’s mother, who is not her legal guardian, was being held at the Livingston County Jail for allegedly kidnapping her.

The girl — Christina Renaud, 16, of Oceola Township — turned up OK at the Royal Oak Police Department on Tuesday, the same day authorities in that community had taken her mother, Debbie Renaud, into custody, the Sheriff's Department said. Debbie Renaud lives in Royal Oak.

Police say Debbie Renaud requested visitation with her daughter last week and was to return the teen to her legal guardian Sunday. But the teen didn't turn up or contact her guardian as planned, and the Livingston County prosecutor’s office on Tuesday authorized an arrest warrant against Debbie Renaud for parental kidnapping. Also, police issued an Amber Alert for Christina Renaud on Tuesday.

Royal Oak police arrested the mother later in the day.

Christina Renaud was in protective custody with the Sheriff’s Department this morning.

Sheriff's Detective Marc King is still investigating the circumstances surrounding the teen's disappearance.

Contact Daily Press & Argus reporter Lisa Roose-Church at (517) 552-2846 or at lrchurch@gannett.com.

Source: website of Daily Press & Argus, Livingston Michigan

When an adoption is finalized, most jurisdictions issue a phony birth certificate to the adoptee, listing the adoptive parents as mother and father. These birth certificates are useless when it comes to protecting the child from inherited genetic diseases. Another problem is that the phony birth certificates are not recognized for citizenship purposes, allowing an adult to unexpectedly become an illegal alien in his own country — we reported on the case of Ruth Shaw. Here is a third problem — inheritance. Olive Watson was the daughter of IBM magnate Thomas J Watson Jr (1914-1993). To ensure her lesbian lover Patricia Spado shared in her inheritance she adopted Spado as her daughter in 1991. The death of Watson's wife in 2004 activated a provision in the will dividing his estate among his grandchildren. The Watson family does not want Spado to get a share, and is challenging the adoption.

So adopted children can be cut out of their health, citizenship and inheritance. Once adopted children reach the age of majority, they are in practice orphans again.

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IBM heirs battle 'my mother is my girlfriend' cash claim

Big Blues see red over pink adoption

By Chris Williams

Published Thursday 1st March 2007 00:54 GMT

A lesbian woman who had a long term relationship with one of the daughters of IBM president Thomas J. Watson Jr is fighting for her right to a share of his legacy.

Patricia Spado lived with Olive Watson for more than 10 years until they separated in 1992. Watson adopted Spado under Maine law in 1991. At 44 years old, Spado was one year her senior.

The unusual arrangement was designed to circumvent anti-gay marriage laws and allow Spado to become a legal heir to the trust fund Thomas Watson Jr set up for his grandkiddies, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 19.

When the couple separated, Olive Watson signed an agreement with her ex stating: "I have not and that I shall at no time initiate any action to revoke or annul my adoption of you."

However, Thomas J. Watson's 18 grandchildren are arguing that the fund, which was opened on his death in 1993, was aimed at blood relatives and that he had no knowledge of the adoption.

Fund chief Thomas J. Watson III successfully challenged the legality of the adoption in Connecticut, where his father died. Spado is appealing that decision, and is fighting another attempt by the trust to have the adoption annulled in Maine.

If Spado is denied the millions, she could do worse than get a job at IBM, which earlier this year topped a poll of the most fabulous places for gay people to work. ®

Source: website of the Register (UK)

A Canadian boy, and nearly 200 other children, are in jail in Texas. In this case, the pretext is immigration. When children really need help, there are no child protectors in sight.

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Truthdig

We’ll Lock Up Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses Yearning to Breathe Free

Posted on Feb 27, 2007

By Amy Goodman

“I want to be free. I want to go outside, and I want to go to school,” pleaded a 9-year-old boy, on the phone from prison. This prison wasn’t in some far-off country, some dictatorship where one would expect children to be locked up. He is imprisoned in the United States.

The boy, Kevin, is imprisoned in Taylor, Texas, at the T. Don Hutto Residential Facility. His parents are also locked up there. The tale of how this family became imprisoned is just one example of how broken our immigration policies are in this country. It is a tale of children left behind, of family values locked up, of your tax dollars at work.

The parents are Iranian and spent 10 years in Canada seeking asylum. Kevin, their son, was born in Canada during that time. Their request for asylum was eventually denied, and they were deported back to Iran. Majid, the father, said he and his wife were jailed and tortured there. They soon fled to Turkey and bought Greek passports. They hoped to reapply for asylum in Canada, armed with proof of the torture they suffered in Iran.

On a plane back to Canada, a fellow passenger suffered a heart attack, requiring an unscheduled landing in Puerto Rico. Although they never had any intention of entering the U.S., because the plane touched down here, their passports were questioned and they were detained. The family was shipped off to Hutto. They have been there for more than three weeks.

Immigration detention places the family in a legal limbo that could leave them imprisoned indefinitely, perhaps only to be deported back to more torture in Iran.

This shameful practice of locking up children is bad enough. What’s worse is that it is being done for profit, by the Corrections Corp. of America. CCA is the largest publicly traded private prison operator in the U.S. CCA has close to 70 facilities scattered across the country, recent earnings of $1.33 billion and a gain in its stock-share price of 85 percent in the past year. Industry analysts gush at the profit potential promised by private prisons. Their commodity: human beings.

A recent report issued jointly by two nonprofit agencies—the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children and the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service—titled “Locking Up Family Values: The Detention of Immigrant Families,” paints a grim picture of the conditions these families endure. While in 2005 Congress directed the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain families in “non-penal, homelike environments,” the report details how prisonlike the Hutto facility is. While ICE announced Hutto as a new facility, it was formerly a prison.

Children as young as 6 are separated from their parents, kept in prison cells with heavy steel doors equipped with a sensitive laser alarm system. The children wear prison uniforms. They get one hour of school per day and one hour of recreation. All non-lawyer visits are “non-contact,” through a Plexiglas window speaking over a phone, to obviate the “necessity” of a full-body cavity search after each visit. Yet the chairman of the CCA board of directors, William Andrews, begs to differ: “The reports come from special-interest groups that are attempting to do away with privatization and the whole immigration situation. ... The family facility, particularly, at T. Don Hutto is almost like a home.” Recent reports put the total number of children at Hutto at between 170 and 200.

Close to a year after massive pro-immigrant marches occurred in every major U.S. city, immigration policy remains broken, with sensational crackdowns on undocumented workers, a planned multibillion-dollar wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and more than 26,000 immigrants in prison.

CCA stock is up but the spirits of 9-year-old Kevin are down as he languishes in his federally funded private prison cell. He wants to go home to Canada, where he was born. U.S. immigration officials now hold his fate and that of his parents: deportation to possible torture in Iran, or political asylum and a possible return to Canada. With a Congress obsessed with nonbinding resolutions and the Bush administration that brought you Abu Ghraib and the Maher Arar deportation scandal, the prospects for Kevin and his parents are grim at best.

Amy Goodman is host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on 500 stations in North America.

Source: Truthdig website

Addendum: Alex Jones calls this a concentration camp, since it holds people not for wrongdoing, but for being a member of a group.

Addendum: The boy Kevin and his family were returned to Canada on March 21. The camp remains in operation.

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Canadian boy, parents arrive in Toronto after Texas prison stay

Last Updated: Thursday, March 22, 2007 | 7:41 AM ET, CBC News

A nine-year-old Canadian boy and his Iranian parents arrived safely in Toronto on Wednesday night after being held for six weeks in a Texas detention centre.

"Thank you for everybody who helped us," Kevin Yourdkhani said, clutching his bags at Toronto's Pearson International Airport.

Masomeh Alibegi holds up immigration papers as she walks with nine-year-old son Kevin Yourdkhani and his father Majid after arriving at a Toronto airport on Wednesday.Masomeh Alibegi holds up immigration papers as she walks with nine-year-old son Kevin Yourdkhani and his father Majid after arriving at a Toronto airport on Wednesday. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Kevin and his parents, Majid Yourdkhani and Masomeh Alibegi, flew into the airport from Houston, landing in Toronto at about 5:45 p.m. ET. The couple had tears in their eyes after leaving the plane.

The family was allowed to come to Canada after Immigration and Citizenship Minister Diane Finley agreed to give them temporary residency permits two weeks ago. The permits arrived in Texas on Monday.

Finley said she granted the permits in the best interest of the boy. The family is now trying to claim refugee status.

Kevin's parents arrived in Canada 10 years ago seeking asylum, but were unsuccessful and deported to Iran in December 2005. Kevin was born when they lived in Canada.

The parents said they faced torture in Iran and made another attempt to seek refuge in Canada with the use of stolen Greek passports.

But on a flight to Toronto from Guyana on Feb. 4, a passenger suffered a heart attack and died, resulting in the plane being diverted to Puerto Rico.

U.S. officials discovered their false documents and detained them for five days before sending them to the T. Don Hutto detention centre near Austin, Texas. The converted medium-security prison has been condemned by human rights groups and is the subject of a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The family said living in the centre was awful.

"It was miserable condition they had over there," Majid Yourdkhani said, standing by his wife as he spoke to reporters at the Toronto airport.

"There are almost 200 children that live there in very bad conditions. Now most of the children there have chicken pox, eye infections, flu."

His wife said the family is relieved to be back in Canada, and young Kevin said he can now resume his life in Toronto.

"I will go back to my school, to my teachers," the boy said.

Source: website of CBC

The mother identified only by her maiden name Lisa Sweet has lost her children again. Below are two posts by the mother to Sarnia's Smoking Gun about yesterday's apprehension.

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CAS took the kids at 12.30 pm today, based on saying I missed appointments. I have the letters from both the dentist and the doctor saying that I haven't missed any appointments all. Then they say my kids are dirty, the school called yet they do not call on the girl who threatens to kill her kids. The principal just doesn't like me. My kids are never dirty. It's that the worker cannot get my husband on drugs or anything like that. They want six months and that stupid court clinic assesment thingy.

My mother-in-law wants to sue them now as we have done everything that they want us to do.

On Friday my oldest daughter threw a fit at school, so they called CAS on me saying they are concerned.

I'm not sure how I'm going to fight it this time as no matter what I do nothing is good enough for that worker.

I want a worker change but they refuse, she is way to biased against me to begin with.

They let my ex friend threaten her kids with I'm gonna shoot you you stupid ..... she locked him in his room when he got suspended from last Thursday until today. Yet CAS turns their heads because her kids are 4 and 5 and don't know how to talk yet.

I want to take it to the media but im not sure how to.

Lisa

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Thanks bizzi, I'm so heartbroken right now, had to watch them take my four-year-old away crying. As soon as she saw the police outside and the worker she started shaking and freaking out. I don't blame her.

I asked to see the papers, they had they refused to let us see them. I asked for the kids to go to family and they started asking if the kids knew them, how old they were if they were married, etc, then told me that they haven't even called but I know they did.

My mother-in-law wants to sue them, but I told her I wouldn't even know where to start with that. The worker has told me she will get my kids no matter what, anyway they split them up again.

They try to tell me no money is involved, yeah right, I'm one of the bought children I know better than that.

They want six months, I know if I give it to them I've definitly lost for sure. It all stemmed with the eight-year-old throwing tantrums at school which only seems to happen after the worker on an almost daily basis harassess them at school.

She, the worker, followed me home from school on Friday, we just got in the door not even 5 min before she got here, so there were coats on the floor and she didn't like that and there was water and mud from the kids boots that I was cleaning up as she came in the door. Doesn't seem to get this is natural for this time of year.

I will submit pics to the courts as they say my kids are always dirty, I'm one of those that loves lots of pictures so I take them at random. Guess its a good thing I do that as the kids are not dirty in one of them neither is my house.

The police looked at the worker kind of funny when I asked her why someone across the street was allowed to say she was going to shoot her four-year-old and continually belittles him and screams at him. No answer from her, but I know why, its because that girls kids at four and five don't even have the language skills of a two-year-old so they don't want to adopt them as people here only want good kids not from drug addicted families.

Source: Sarnia's Smoking Gun

On February 12 the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), the trade association for the child protection industry, produced a report showing that about a tenth of children moved into a foster home will be in a hospital emergency room in the first three weeks, and that foster alumni suffer elevated mental problems. Supporters of child protection cannot deny its conclusions, since it is their own product. Of course, the report is used to lobby for even more money, rather than keeping kids out of foster care. Summary of important conclusions with links to full report.

Here is an item found on the internet that will probably be gone soon, when CAS bullies the parents. Past indiscretions, real or imagined, cannot be forgiven by CAS.

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Name:	Kimberley
Occupation:	small business owner
Age:	31
Location:	Ontario
Interests:	I enjoy cooking knitting quilting cross-stitch baking going for walks going to church riding on the four wheeler horses dogs and spending time with family.

February 23

Hello world!!

Greetings to everyone,

This is the first time I have ever posted on here. So please bare with me. I'm not quite sure what to say. So I will give you some info on my myself and my husband.

John and I have been married since September 2006. Things are going really great he is a wonderful man. We have a little girl. She was born in June 2006. She isn't home right now; she was taken by the Children's Aid Society at birth.

My husband and I have been working very hard to get her home for the last eight months. You see to make the long story short; they(CAS) believe that they have just cause to have her. I made some really bad choices when I was younger and I lost two girls to them four years ago after fighting for two and half years. I had to give them up because I had no other options. So that is just part of the reason why my new little angel is not home. The other reason is about as far off course as it could be. They(CAS) claim to have charges against my husband on an assault from 1993. The reason I say the charges are outrageous and do not have any substance is that when the supposed assault happened he wasn't even in the country. My husband had left home in 1992 and lived in the states for one year then moved to Alberta where he stayed for 9 years. He returned in 2001. Nothing was ever said about charges against him that whole time period. Now that we have a daughter together they(CAS) seem to think they can take her because apparently in their eyes people don't grow up and change.

I am rather upset that they can do this to families. My husband and I are devoted christians and are no longer struggling with our past. God gave us our daughter to raise her ourselves not for the CAS to take.

Well I think that is enough for now. Talk to you all soon.

Kimberley

Source: Microsoft blog

Child protectors in England have the perfect cure for an overweight boy — take away his mother! In 2000 child protectors in New Mexico seized three-year-old Anamarie Martinez-Regino from her parents for obesity, but gave her back a few months later after a public outcry. The current case appears to be an unmarried mother, so the outcome is unpredictable.

Is it possible the bean-counters have been working overtime on this? Putting obese children on half-rations, while collecting full foster care rates from the treasury, could ratchet up their profits reimbursement.

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Last Updated: Tuesday, 27 February 2007, 04:06 GMT

Fourteen stone child 'risks care'

Connor prefers to eat processed foods

An eight-year-old boy who weighs over 14 stone (89kg) may be taken into care by a local authority.

Connor McCreaddie, from Wallsend, North Tyneside, has lost a stone and a half in two months, but still prefers processed food to fruit and vegetables.

His mother, Nicola McKeown, has been called to a child protection conference with the local authority on Tuesday.

Family support may be offered, but the last resort would be for North Tyneside officials to place Connor into care.

Connor's pre-Christmas weight of 15 stones and eight pounds (98.8kg) is four times the weight of a healthy child of his age.

He has lost weight after beginning an intensive exercise regime and introducing some healthy food into his diet.

The eight-year-old does have a bike and a trampoline which he uses, but he has to stop after around 10 minutes because he becomes out of breath and can vomit.

He has difficulty dressing and washing himself, misses school regularly because of poor health and is a target for bullies.

Confident

Ms McKeown, 35, told the BBC: "Connor had a mouthful of apple once and he didn't like it.

"He refuses to eat fruit, vegetables and salads - he has processed foods.

"When Connor won't eat anything else, I've got to give him the foods he likes.

"I can't starve him.

"But I'm confident I can get his weight down with a bit of help."

Ms McKeown denied she is neglecting her son, and said he would be "skinny" if she had been.

She said she had seen doctors, but no-one had actually stepped in to offer her help.

She said that taking Connor into care would be "disastrous".

His story was due to be featured in ITV's Tonight With Trevor McDonald, which followed Connor and his mother for a month.

Child's interests 'paramount'

Dr Colin Waine, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, said that removing a child from their family could be justified.

"The long-term impacts of this child's gross obesity are frightening.

"He has great risk of diabetes and coronary illness.

"His life expectancy is severely prejudiced. So action is required if his health is to be safeguarded."

A spokeswoman for North Tyneside Council and North Tyneside Primary Care Trust, said: "We share the concerns over the child's health and well-being.

"We have been working with the family over a prolonged period of time and will continue to do so.

"The child's interests are paramount."

Source: website of BBC

The San Antonio Texas Express-News has printed a lengthy story on the Lozano family. Ordinarily, the press only reports on extraordinary child protection cases, such as those involving an injured or dead child. This article deals with the most common kind of child protection case, the single mom. Details show many common tactics, such as omitting facts favorable to the family and a "Sophie's Choice": you get to keep some kids as long as we get the rest. When the family genuinely needs help it is denied. A digression shows the habit of the legislature to respond to all problems in the system by giving it even more money. Links to San Antonio Express-News and our local copy.

We have previously noted that child protectors harass nudists, vegetarians, smokers and prostitutes. Here is another group that must look over their shoulder for big sister.

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'Wife Swap' appearance sparks child abuse calls for Iowa family

By Christopher Rocchio, 02/22/2007

An appearance on ABC's Wife Swap reality series almost found an Iowa couple in hot water for child abuse.

Barb and Mike Haigwood -- a couple who raise organic food with their two teenage children on a farm near Massena, IA -- sparked Wife Swap viewers to contact the Iowa Department of Human Services after an episode featuring the family aired on Monday, February 19, The Des Moines Register reported Wednesday.

During the Wife Swap broadcast, the Haigwood children -- 13-year-old Aleesha and 16-year-old Lee -- said they don't go to school and Lee's home schooling includes counting the number of eggs the family's chickens have produced. Barb, the family's 37-year-old mother, also explained that she "believes in eating every two to three hours" -- a belief that causes her to wake the children for late-night drinkings of a beverage containing kefir, a yogurt-like product.

Prior to their Wife Swap appearance, Barb had told The Register that family's decision to eat "nothing but raw food, including eggs and meat" was part of their way of dealing with health problems related to Aleesha's attention deficit disorder.

However The Register reported Iowa state officials do not consider "an unorthodox diet and messy housekeeping" to be child abuse, and added the parents have filed the proper paperwork to home-school their two children. Iowa Department of Human Services spokesman Roger Munns told The Register his department "logged a number of calls" to its child-abuse hotline after the episode aired, and also received "at least 10 messages emailed to its website" as well as a fax.

"DHS only investigates child abuse and neglect cases when there is a credible report that, if proven true, would amount to abuse. None of these reports rise to that threshold," Munns told The Register. "People who eat unusual food and feed it to their children are not abusive, nor are people whose houses are not tidy."

Steve Pelzer, superintendent of the Cumberland and Massena school district, said that -- as the law requires --the Haigwoods have filed paperwork "proving competent private schooling." Pelzer added a licensed teacher from the West Des Moines area "monitors the children's progress."

Bard told The Register on Tuesday that the family could not comment unless reporters "went through ABC's public relations department." A spokesman for ABC could not be reached on Tuesday, according to The Register.

Source: website of Reality TV World

Promoters of a program called TeenScreen want to examine every American teenager for signs of mental illness. Teens failing the tests will be referred to a psychiatrist, and prescribed psychotropic drugs.

You can find an account of the whole process on the website TeenScreen Truth. An alliance between the psychiatric profession and the drug industry pushes the drugs and divides the spoils. Force and deception assist at every stage. Parents are required to consent, but that consent is obtained by mailing out a letter. If the parent does not respond, it is deemed to be consent. The child must sign another consent form, but instructions tell the clinicians to treat non-consent as failing the test. After a prescription is issued the child protection system acts as enforcers by treating non-compliance with prescriptions as medical neglect.

The actual questionnaires used are confidential, but copies have made their way into cyberspace. For example, here is the self-administered questionnaire used by Columbia University (pdf). You can find more forms, including those used to evaluate the results, at Liberty Coalition. Subjects failing the self-administered test get another questionnaire administered by a professional. One of the questions is: "In the last year, have you used marijuana six or more times?". The instructions tell the clinician to expect "yes"; a "no" is an indicator of untruthfulness.

If successful in the US, this program is likely to spread to Canada. You have an opportunity to help stop this program in its early stages with an online petition. Many petitions relating to family law attract dozens or hundreds of signatures, but the TeenScreen petition is approaching twenty thousand signatures. We hope to see some Dufferin VOCA readers on the list.

Addendum: In the two days following this article there was a spurt of signatures on the petition, including several known Dufferin VOCA readers.

A woman without a name accused of killing a child without a name has been granted bail for reasons that cannot be published. Earlier this month a blue-ribbon panel was established to do an investigation that will keep the case out of the public eye for two years. The extraordinary cloak of secrecy over this case lends credence to otherwise unfounded rumors that the accused is well-connected politically. We had previous reports on January 28, January 31, February 5 and February 13.

One of the functions of convicting a foster parent for the death of a ward is to divert attention away from the failure of the responsible agency. But who can accept an unnamed person as a scapegoat? This may become an interesting case.

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Foster mother charged with murder granted bail

Last Updated: Friday, February 23, 2007 | 4:05 PM MT CBC News

An Edmonton woman charged with second-degree murder in the death of her three-year-old foster child has been granted bail.

After hearing arguments Friday, a Court of Queen's Bench judge ruled that the 32-year-old woman has to post a $10,000 cash bond and is forbidden from having any unsupervised contact with children, including her own two biological children.

Outside court, the foster mother's lawyer, Brian Beresh, said the woman was elated to be granted bail.

"This is just the classic case where you would never expect, given her history, that she would ever be in jail. This is just unbelievable — she has been shattered by this experience."

Beresh accused authorities of making a "rush to judgment" when she was charged.

"We were very disappointed that people did not view this objectively, collect information objectively. From my review of what I have seen so far there appears to be certain individuals or agencies, which appear to be protecting their own conduct."

The three-year-old boy died in an Edmonton hospital on Jan. 27 of head injuries after being rushed from his foster home.

Charges against his foster mother include second-degree murder, assault causing bodily harm, and child abandonment or failure to provide the necessities of life.

She can't be named under the Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act.

The judge has issued a publication ban on what was said in court Friday.

Source: website of the CBC

The Onion lampoons overprotection of children, suggesting imagination is hazardous. There is a sad record of today's spoof becoming tomorrow's reality.

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Child-Safety Experts Call For Restrictions On Childhood Imagination

February 20, 2007 | Issue 43•08

WASHINGTON, DC—The Department of Health and Human Services issued a series of guidelines Monday designed to help parents curtail their children's boundless imaginations, which child-safety advocates say have the potential to rival motor vehicle accidents and congenital diseases as a leading cause of disability and death among youths ages 3 to 14.

Jill Tyn, 4, perilously close to danger.

"Defuse the ticking time-bomb known as your child's imagination before it explodes and destroys her completely," said child-safety expert Kenneth McMillan, who advised the HHS in composing the guidelines. "New data shows a disturbing correlation between serious accidents and the ability of children to envision a world full of exciting possibility."

The guidelines, titled "Boundless Imagination, Boundless Hazards: Ways To Keep Your Kids Safe From A World Of Wonder," are posted on the HHS website, and will also be available in brochure form in pediatricians' offices across the country.

According to McMillan, children can suffer broken bones, head trauma, and even fatal injuries from unsupervised exposure to childlike awe. "If your children are allowed to unlock their imaginations, anything from a backyard swing set to a child's own bedroom can be transformed into a dangerous undersea castle or dragon's lair," McMillan said. "But by encouraging your kids to think linearly and literally, and constantly reminding them they can never be anything but human children with no extraordinary characteristics, you can better ensure that they will lead prolonged lives."

Although the exact number of child fatalities connected to an active imagination is unknown, experts say the danger is very real. According to a 2006 estimate, children who regularly engage in imagination are 10 times more likely to suffer injuries such as skinned knees from mythical quests, or bruises and serious falls from the peak of Bookcase Mountain.

One of the HHS recommendations emphasizes increased communication between parents and children about the truths behind outlandish fantasies. "Speak with your children about the absolute impossibility of time travel, magical powers, and animals and toys that talk when adults are not around," reads one excerpt. "If this fails to quell their imaginations, encourage them to stare at household objects and think clearly and objectively about their actual, physical characteristics."

The HHS also discourages aimless playtime activities that lack a rigid, repetitive structure: "Opt instead for safe activities like untying knots, sticking and unsticking two pieces of Velcro, drawing straight lines of successively longer lengths, and quietly humming a single note for two to three hours."

But even these relatively safe activities can become imaginative, experts warn, without proper precautions. "Do not let children know that, for example, sailors and pirates untie knots," McMillan said.

Although no cure has yet been developed for childhood imagination, preventative measures can deter children from potentially hazardous bouts of make-believe.

"Many of the suggestions are really quite simple, like breaking down cardboard boxes or sewing cushions to couches so they cannot be converted into forts or playhouses," McMillan said. "Blank pieces of paper, which can inspire non-reality-based drawings, should be discarded unless they are used in one of our recommended diagonal folding and unfolding activities. And all loose sticks left lying in the yard should be carefully labeled 'Not a Sword.'"

Unfortunately, removing everything from a child's field of view that could stimulate his active young mind is extremely time-consuming, and infeasible as a long-term solution, McMillan acknowledges. "To truly protect your children, you must go to great lengths to completely eliminate their curiosity, crush their spirit of amazement, and eradicate their childlike glee. Watch for the danger signs: faraway expressions, giggle fits, and a general air of carefree contentment."

Added McMillan: "Remember, if you see a single sparkle of excitement in their eyes, you haven't done enough."

Source: website of the Onion

Addendum: Here it is in real life from the publication Archives of Diseases in Childhood March 2007, a publication of BMJ (British Medical Journal). Mamas, don't let your boys grow up to be superheroes.

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Superhero-related injuries in paediatrics: a case series

Patrick Davies1, Julia Surridge2, Laura Hole3 and Lisa Munro-Davies3

ABSTRACT

Five cases of serious injuries to children wearing superhero costumes, involving extreme risk-taking behaviour, are presented here. Although children have always displayed behaviour seemingly unwise to the adult eye, the advent of superhero role models can give unrealistic expectations to the child, which may lead to serious injury.

The children we saw have all had to contemplate on their way to hospital that they do not in fact possess superpowers. The inbuilt injury protection which some costumes possess is also discussed.

Source: website of BMJ (British Medical Journal)

Respect for child protectors has sunk to the level that the Dear Abby column will now print a letter critical of CPS. In December, Dear Abby printed an item of the subject of children driving golf carts, and on February 8 the letter below was printed in response.

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Dear Abby: A 6-year-old driving a golf cart is child endangerment, and a social worker has the right to remove that child to a foster home and ask questions later. The parents would then be under a microscope.

Because the grandparent knew about the situation and did not report it to the authorities, the grandparents would probably not be considered safe guardians for that child, and the child would be placed with strangers until the parents finish court-ordered parenting classes.

Foster children are big business. It's a totally different climate than it was in the days when only severely neglected and abused children found their way into foster care.

I speak from 17 years of experience as a foster parent and 30 years as a psychiatric nurse who has seen what hoops families must jump through to get their children back once child protective services is involved.

– Reader in Ferris, Texas

Source: website of Orange County Register

In another announcement that shows the politicians just don't get it, MPP David Orazietti and Premier Dalton McGuinty announce even more money for agencies usurping the functions of mom and dad.

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SooToday.com

Dalton & Dave shake their moneymakers

By David Helwig, SooToday.com, Thursday, February 22, 2007

NEWS RELEASE
DAVID ORAZIETTI, MPP

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Orazietti announces $765,590 in new funding for children and youth in Sault Ste. Marie

McGuinty government investment creates jobs and supports the local economy

Sault Ste. Marie – The McGuinty government is investing $765,950 in Sault Ste. Marie to help eight not-for-profit organizations better serve children, youth and families while strengthening the local economy, David Orazietti, MPP announced today.

"With this investment, our government is providing further support for children and youth in Sault Ste. Marie," said Orazietti. "These additional funds to expand or upgrade facilities that serve our community's young people will also help create jobs and boost local economic development."

Local organizations benefiting from this latest government investment include:

• Children’s Rehabilitation Centre Algoma, $484,950
• Ontario Early Years Centre, $150,000
• Algoma Family Services, $39,000
• Children’s Aid Society of Algoma, $44,780
• Child Care Algoma, $29,860
• John Howard Society, $7,000
• Northern Youth Services, $7,000
• Operation Springboard, $3,000

Funding for these projects comes from an investment of more than $37 million by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services to help targeted service providers across the province improve or expand more than 900 buildings.

Projects range from general repairs to improve energy efficiency and better meet safety requirements to major construction and renovations to existing buildings.

"These investments will not only help to better serve some of our most vulnerable children, youth and their families, but they will contribute to economic growth and opportunities in these communities," said Minister of Children and Youth Services Mary Anne Chambers.

The ministry's contribution is a key part of the government’s recently announced $190 million economic stimulus package aimed at creating the equivalent of 3,000 jobs across the province on top of the 270,000 net new jobs created since 2003.

"While the economy remains fundamentally strong, it is important to remember that slower growth has a real impact on people and communities," said Finance Minister Greg Sorbara. "Investing in these areas that assist families and communities now means a more prosperous and competitive future for Ontario."

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Source: SooToday.com

A group of academics with credentials in social work is opposing an adherence initiative of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW).

Adherence is a technical term with the medical definition:

The extent to which the patient continues the agreed-upon mode of treatment or intervention as prescribed

In social work, adherence means forcing patients to take their medicine. At the field level, social workers tell parents to administer psychotropic drugs to their children, or lose the children to foster care.

Last October the NASW sent an email to members asking them to join the initiative (MS Word format). The dissenting letter is below. In the restrained tones of academics it exposes the junk science behind the pushing of psychotropic drugs.

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Open Letter to NASW Regarding "Adherence Initiative for Schizophrenia" Sponsored by Janssen, L.P:

Elvira Craig de Silva, DSW, ACSW
President, National Association of Social Workers (NASW)

Elizabeth Clark, PhD, ACSW
Executive Director, NASW, and President, NASW Foundation

On October 6, 2006, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) sent to its Specialty Practice Sections on mental health and private practice an emailed “Invitation to Join The National Adherence Initiative for Schizophrenia.” An article in the November issue of NASW News also announces and describes the initiative (1).

The brief text in the email asked social workers to consider enrolling “in a nationwide data collection effort.” It stated: “Partial adherence is a significant problem in the treatment of schizophrenia … and can affect up to 75% of patients.” It invited participants to “identify up to 10 clients with schizophrenia that you feel are at risk for partial adherence.”

The last line of the text informed that this initiative “is sponsored by Janssen, L.P. in partnership with NASW.” The pharmaceutical company Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, markets Risperdal (risperidone), an antipsychotic drug that grossed $2.3 billion in US sales in 2005 (2). Social workers who enrolled received a packet from Janssen, with the “study instrument,” that spoke of nothing but the importance of drug treatment adherence for schizophrenia.

The undersigned social workers and social work educators and researchers are, for several reasons, concerned about the NASW’s active participation in this pharmaceutical company marketing initiative.

First, now is a time of unprecedented awareness of the pharmaceutical industry’s stake in framing how distress and mental disorders are seen and how they are treated (3). This industry has used every means at its disposal—including one-to-one enticement of professionals (4), sponsorship and delivery of continuing “education” (5), sponsorship of advocacy groups, ghost-writing of “scientific” articles and dissemination of unsupported “medication algorithms” (6), direct-to-consumer advertising, intense legislative lobbying (7), as well as suppression of research findings, illegal marketing of psychotropic drugs for off-label purposes (8), and cash payments to state officials to include atypical antipsychotics on Medicaid formularies (9)—to remain the dominant player in health and mental health. Regardless of evidence of drugs’ efficacy or safety, the industry’s unrivaled ability to spread money to influence thinking, practice, and policymaking means that the mental health system serves the industry, rather than the opposite.

Second, as non-industry funded studies increasingly identify the limitations of its products and exaggerated claims made about them, the industry greatly diversifies marketing efforts to dilute any impact of bad news on drug sales. Countless seemingly “independent” professional and advocacy activities are today carefully orchestrated and funded by marketing firms to reach specific prescription goals (8). The stark truth is that no mental health profession and no professional activity is safe from drug industry influence. Moreover, mere awareness of the issue cannot guard against being used as part of the industry’s marketing efforts. As authors from psychology have recently recommended, mental health professions need to build a “firewall” between marketing and science. (10) Authors from medicine similarly call for “a strict sequestration of commercial and scientific activities, and a fundamental internal reevaluation of the interactions between individual physicians, professional organizations, and the industry” (8). Did the NASW consider such warnings, now so numerous in the literature as to defy counting?

Third, it seems to us that the NASW did not sufficiently scrutinize an “adherence initiative” in 2006. Treatment compliance is an old issue in schizophrenia care. Everyone in this field knows that antipsychotic drugs’ unpleasant effects make them extremely undesirable to patients. The Janssen initiative closely follows the government-sponsored CATIE studies’ findings that three quarters of patients on atypical antipsychotics such as Janssen’s Risperdal—falsely touted for a decade as vast improvements over older drugs—stop taking their prescribed medication because of “inefficacy, intolerable adverse effects, or other reasons” (11).

The study instrument mailed to social workers consists of eight “yes/no” questions, each describing a “deficit” in patients that would put them “at risk” of “partial adherence.” In our view, no information not already well known from dozens of previous studies on adherence to neuroleptic treatment, including the $45 million CATIE studies on nearly 1,500 patients, is likely to come from this Janssen-NASW study. The adherence initiative repeats that “partial adherence” is a significant problem in the treatment of schizophrenia—but the more significant problem lies rather with the drugs’ now well established ineffectiveness and adverse effects.

Fourth, and more to the point, Janssen’s exclusive patent to market oral risperidone will expire in 2007, and the company stands to lose significant revenue as cheaper generic versions come to market. Janssen is therefore now emphasizing the long-acting injectable version of risperidone, which it markets as Risperdal Consta—on which it still holds patent for several more years (and which sells for more than the oral version). The history of antipsychotic drug use shows that one notion, and one notion only, has ever justified using long acting injectable antipsychotics: adherence (compliance). In this light must Janssen’s “adherence initiative” be more fully appreciated.

Finally, even as social work researchers lead the questioning of a failed paradigm constraining explanation and intervention in the lives of persons who experience psychosis (12), we are mystified that the NASW allies itself with Big Pharma, rather than lead the unbiased search for veritable innovations in care. Improvement rates in schizophrenia, after more than 50 years of drug treatment, are worse now than they were 80 years ago (13). Given that mental disorders and psychosis are strongly correlated with environmental factors such as low socioeconomic status (14) and childhood trauma (15), the NASW should formally endorse the preventive research of social workers that attempts to protect youth from harmful experiences or to foster healthy lifestyles and psychological resilience. Rather than lend even more credence to pharmaceuticals, the NASW should spearhead an initiative to publicize available psychosocial treatments that teach coping skills, interpersonal skills, and independent living skills that allow clients to function with minimal reliance on costly and potentially harmful drugs.

The undersigned consider this “adherence initiative” a campaign directly promoting the drug treatment of schizophrenia and indirectly promoting Janssen’s image and products. The “adherence” sought is that of social workers and other professionals to a treatment model guided by drugs—Janssen’s drugs. That this initiative seeks to enroll social workers in a seeming research effort for the benefit of patient care simply cannot be taken as its primary purpose. More than anything, the initiative expresses to outside observers that yet another professional organization could not remain independent of the pharmaceutical industry’s influence.

It is our understanding that Janssen initiated the contact with the NASW, remunerated the consultant from the NASW, and made a donation to the NASW Foundation in return for this collaboration. (No mention of this donation appears in the NASW News article.) The other organizations partnering with Janssen in this initiative include the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the (American) Psychiatric Nurses Association, and Schizophrenics Anonymous, all of which benefit from drug company largesse.

We request, first, that the NASW publicly backtrack on this initiative; second, that for the sake of transparency the NASW discloses the amount that Janssen donated to the NASW Foundation; and third, that the NASW inform its membership and the broader constituencies it aims to serve precisely how it intends to protect itself from other pharmaceutical industry initiatives certain to follow this most unfortunate precedent.

Signed:

• David Cohen, PhD
  Professor, Florida International University
• Stephen E. Wong, Ph.D.
  Associate Professor, Florida International University
• Tomi Gomory, PhD
  Associate Professor, Florida State University
• Jeffrey Lacasse, PhD Candidate
  Visiting Lecturer, Florida State University
• Dennis Saleeby, PhD
  Professor Emeritus, University of Kansas
• Stuart A. Kirk, DSW
  Professor, University of California, Los Angeles
• John Bola, PhD
  Assistant Professor, University of Southern California
• Eileen Gambrill, PhD
  Professor, University of California, Berkeley
• Linda Vinton, PhD
  Professor, Florida State University
• Scott Ryan, PhD
  Associate Professor, Florida State University
• Kia J. Bentley, PhD
  Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University
• C. Aaron McNeece, PhD
  Dean & Professor, Florida State University
• Wendy Crook, PhD
  Associate Professor, Florida State University
• Mark A. Mattaini, DSW
  Associate Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago
• Nicholas Mazza, PhD
  Professor, Florida State University
• Blace Nalavany, Ph.D.
  Assistant Professor, East Carolina University
• Devon Brooks, Ph.D.
  Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Associate Professor, University of Southern California
• D. Lynn Jackson, Ph.D.
  Director of Field Instruction, University of North Texas
• Donni P. Whitsett, Ph.D.,
  University of Southern California

REFERENCES

1. Pace, P. R. (2006, November). NASW joins adhere