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More recent news
Reunification Appeal
December 31, 2007
A mother is seeking reunification with her two sons, both young adults.
Her son John Cory was taken for adoption because she was the victim of abuse
by her late husband. Even after the husband's death, she could not see her
adopted son. She has posted at least a half-dozen appeals on the web to
find her boys. Expand for full details. You can send replies to Cindy
Darlene Wells/Truckle, cindy_65_2004@hotmail.com
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Her first son, Jeffrey Thomas Anthony Elliott, born March 27, 1983,
passed away August 29th 2003 due to severe infection to his finger while
in a privately owned prison in Penetang.
|
| | mother:
| | name at child apprehension: | Cindy Truckle
| | name today: | Cindy Darlene Wells
| | date of birth: | July 21, 1965
| |
| | husband: | Nelson Truckle aka Lucky, deceased (suicide April 1990)
| |
| | son:
| | name: | Christopher Micheal John Elliott
| | place of birth: | Ottawa Ontario
| | date of birth: | June 17, 1984
| |
| | son:
| | name at birth: | John Cory Truckle
| | date of birth: | October 21, 1985 at 12:39 am
| | place of birth: | Toronto East General ,Toronto Ontario
| | birth weight: | 6 pounds and 2 ounces
| | birth condition: | healthy baby boy
|
I'm Looking for my son I lost to adoption. He was taken away from me
by Dan Freedman in Toronto Ontario Canada, and someone else in the
children's aid handled the adoption. I was 20 at the time or 21.
My Son was taken into care for the first time and into an emergency
foster home on September 16, 1986, both times due to me being abused. He
was returned to me on November 11th 1986. John Cory Truckle was taken
once again into care and put in an emergency foster home December 27th
1986. He had been in the care of my ex-husband. He was found to be
intoxicated (alcoholism)(drug abuse).
At that time I was allowed 2 hours per week to visit in which John
Cory was happy to see me and responded well to me. The visits were:
July 27, August 12, 19 and 26, 1986. On January 1988 John Cory became a
permanent ward of the agency John Cory met his adoptive parents in March
1988 and moved in May of 1988. Early in 1989 John Cory's adoption had
been finalized apparently in Toronto Ontario through a worker in the
children's aid - his adoptive parents were both in the 40's age range.
They had a baby girl as well that John Cory always played with and was
happy with.
Whoever lives around Scarborough, Ontario I know Christopher lives in
that area. His last known whereabouts was the Gerrard/Carlaw area
Harold Kenneth Murphy and his mom Margaret were the ones that raised
him thinking they were related (As they were told). His real dad is
Thomas Donald Elliott of Ottawa. Harold goes by the name of Kenny to all
his friends that know him, he used to work at the Applebee Auto Wreckers
back in 1984. He is tall, dark hair, skinny build, used to have a blue
pickup truck.
My boys if you see this please know I love you both tremendously and
didn't give you both away. you were both taken then moved away from me.
I've been searching since 1995 with nothing but brick walls
Thanks in advance any help at all is appreciated in the Toronto
area.
John Cory Truckle, age 17 months
Northern Ontario Baby Stolen
December 30, 2007
A Kirkland Lake couple got a Christmas
surprise: an apprehension order. Social workers approached the family
under false pretenses of assistance, then saved themselves 500 kilometers of
driving by inducing the family to drive their baby girl to North Bay, where
she was seized. The family got some bad advice on the internet, and has
forfeited their opportunity to legally challenge the validity of the
apprehension. The dad's dysfunctional mother seems to the the source of the
problem. The story makes clear that the biggest fear of social workers is
now video cameras. Since the story uses real names, it will probably be
bullied off the internet shortly. Read it while you can.
Fran Lyon Cleared
December 30, 2007
Fran Lyon, the pregnant woman driven out of the UK by the threat to
remove her baby at birth, has been told that it is safe for her to return
home. There is no way to tell whether this is an honest change of policy by
Northumberland social services, or a sucker play to get her back where her
baby can be seized. Fran is taking no chances, and will remain outside
England. We had earlier reports on
October 18,
November 3,
November 12 and
November 24.
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Pregnant Fran told she's in the clear
Dec 28 2007 by Ben Guy, The Journal
A WOMAN who fled the country to avoid her newborn child being taken
into care has been told she is safe to be a parent after all.
Fran Lyon, 22, Hexham, pictured in her home.
Fran Lyon flew to Continental Europe last month to escape a
Northumberland County Council social services ruling that her child would
be taken from her 10 minutes after birth.
But now a psychologist’s report to the council has said Ms Lyon, 22,
would not be a threat to her baby, who will be named Molly, and that she
should be allowed to keep the child if she returns.
The U-turn comes after a previous report said Ms Lyon should not be
allowed to keep her baby because psychiatric problems she suffered as a
teenager made her a threat to the child.
Speaking exclusively to The Journal, Ms Lyon, who used to live in
Hexham, said that despite the new report, she had no intention of
returning to the UK.
She said: “It is basically as close as you will get to them saying
‘sorry, we messed up’, as they have realised they wouldn’t stand a chance
if it was challenged in court.
“I hit the roof when I found out. Because of them I have lost
everything – my job, my home and I have sold everything.
“I literally own what I can carry. Apart from Molly, I have got
nothing at all.”
The original decision to remove the child was taken after a
paediatrician Miss Lyon had never met said she was likely to suffer from a
condition that would cause her to harm her child.
Despite other doctors saying she was fit to be a parent, social
services refused to back down – until the latest recommendation was made
by a London expert.
Miss Lyon said she was now happily settled in a flat and had an
excellent midwife.
“They have said that if I go back, I would be allowed to go into a
mother and baby unit with Molly and that I would be allowed to breast
feed. But there is absolutely no way I am coming back. Why on Earth
should I?
“You think of the damage that they could have done to Molly if she had
arrived before I made my decision to leave.
“They simply shouldn’t be allowed to put somebody through this and then
at the last minute turn round and say they were wrong.
“They have destroyed so much, I am not going to allow them to destroy
any more.”
Molly is due to be born early next month, and Ms Lyon said she had
spent much of the past few days shopping and preparing for the new
arrival.
A Northumberland County Council spokesman said: “Unfortunately, we are
unable to comment on individual cases. However, we can say that child
protection recommendations are always subject to review.
“We would never put a child protection plan in place without current
and appropriate grounds for serious concerns, and we are concerned that Ms
Lyon’s whereabouts are still unknown.
“We urge Ms Lyon to urgently get in touch with us, or a medical
adviser, so we can be sure she and her unborn child receive the help and
support that they need.
“It is crucial that the authorities wherever she is have relevant
information from us to do this.”
Timeline
- August 27, 2007: Ms Lyon – then five months pregnant – tells The
Journal she is considering an abortion to prevent her child going into
care.
- September 8: She vows not to terminate her pregnancy but will fight
to keep her daughter.
- September 13: Ms Lyon is not allowed to attend the meeting deciding
the fate of her unborn child. She faces an anxious wait for a letter
from the Northumberland County Council’s safeguarding children panel
telling her if the appeal has been upheld.
- October 4: Ms Lyon says she is facing losing her home as a result of
the battle to keep her child. The time spent attending meetings,
seeing doctors and filling in legal forms means she is struggling to
work enough to pay the rent.
- November 10: She leaves her home in St Hilda’s Road, Hexham, after
receiving a birth plan for her child from Northumberland social
services. She says she is being hounded out of the region by council
bosses.
- November 26, 2007: Ms Lyon flees to Continental Europe to avoid the
social workers planning to take her baby.
Adoption Scammers Sentenced
December 27, 2007
In October a charity called Zoé’s Ark tried to fly 103 children out of
Chad to France for adoption. They represented the children as injured
orphans from Darfur (Sudan). The injuries were fake, the children were
Chadian, not Sudanese, and they had been under the care of their families.
Today a Chadian court sentenced the schemers to eight years. Now if we
could get children's aid workers before a Chadian judge ...
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The New York Times, December 27, 2007
French Aid Workers Get 8 Years Hard Labor
By LYDIA POLGREEN
DAKAR, Senegal — Six French aid workers were found guilty on Wednesday
by a court in Chad and sentenced to eight years of hard labor for trying
to take to Europe 103 children who they claimed were orphans of the
conflict in Darfur.
Luc Gnago/Reuters
Police at the Palace of Justice in Chad, where six French citizens
were convicted Wednesday of trying to kidnap 103 children.
Luc Gnago/Reuters
Éric Breteau, leader of the group that was found guilty.
Display images for more detail
The verdict came after four days of closely watched testimony in Chad’s
capital, Ndjamena. The case enraged many Chadians and embarrassed France
just as a European peacekeeping force made up largely of French troops was
to begin deployment in the region. The episode brought condemnation
across Africa.
Prosecutors portrayed the aid workers as remorseless kidnappers bent on
exploiting Chad’s children. But the workers claimed they were
humanitarians acting within the confines of international law, trying to
save children from imminent harm.
Diplomats and analysts widely expect that the French workers will be
allowed to return to France. Though French officials called the verdict a
sovereign decision, they said they would ask Chad to allow the workers to
serve their sentences in France, news agencies reported.
The workers claimed they had been rescuing child refugees from parched,
war-torn Darfur, in western Sudan, but it turned out the children were for
the most part neither Sudanese nor orphans.
This year the aid group, Zoé’s Ark, posted an emotional appeal on its
Web site claiming that a child dies in Darfur every five minutes and
calling upon families in Europe to help the organization bring the
children to Europe for temporary refuge. The group said it planned to
rescue 10,000 orphans. Many donated money to help cover the costs of
chartered planes.
In October, Chadian officials stopped workers from the group as they
hustled dozens of children, some of them in bandages and attached to
intravenous drips, onto a plane in eastern Chad. The aid workers were
charged with attempted kidnapping.
The bandages and bloodstains turned out to be a ruse. The group’s
supporters have argued that local helpers misled the workers about the
children’s status, but video images released by a journalist who had
traveled with the aid workers showed them putting the fake bandages on the
children.
The children were turned over to the Red Cross and found to be in
relatively good health. Interviews with those old enough to speak showed
that virtually all of them were Chadian, not Sudanese, and had been living
with adult relatives they considered to be their parents.
The case touched off anti-French riots in Chad, a former French colony
with close ties to France. In street demonstrations, Chadians demanded
the death penalty.
French troops occupy two bases in Chad, and French troops are expected
to make up a large portion of a European Union peacekeeping force aimed at
stabilizing Chad and the Central African Republic, which have been
destabilized by the conflict in Darfur and by rebellions of their own.
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France flew to Chad to try to defuse
tensions, and eventually the aid workers were allowed to leave on
condition they returned for the trial.
Addendum: Another article gives more details,
allowing for a comparison between children's aid and the French
kidnappers.
Local snitches assist in finding families with children. Initial contact
with the families is achieved through misrepresentation, in Africa by
promising to build a school, in Canada by posing as helpers.
The kidnappers falsely claimed their African finds were orphans. In
Canada, the same effect is achieved by getting a judge to declare them crown
wards, turning them into paper orphans.
Mr Breteau claimed to act from purely charitable motives, overlooking the
Frenchmen back home who had already paid for adoptive children. Again, just
like Canada, where at least two different money streams fund the adoption
industry, appropriations and fees from prospective adopters.
News of the mass kidnapping spread panic through Chad. A similar kind of
panic exists in the west, though limited to parents apprised of the true
power of child protectors.
One real difference is the fake medical treatments for the children to
fool airport authorities into letting them out of the country. In Canada,
fooling the authorities is unnecessary.
Unlike most western countries, the courts in Chad represented the parents,
and treated the kidnappers harshly. Until there is a change in political
mood, the courts in the US and Canada will continue to represent the
interests of the child snatchers, protecting them from punishment.
Chad, a former colony, is a French client state, and the French government
arranged for the transfer of the convicted kidnappers to France on December
28, two days after their sentencing. France may yet reduce their
punishment.
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Chad jails French volunteers for eight years
SUSAN SACHS, From Thursday's Globe and Mail, December 27, 2007 at 1:00
AM EST
PARIS — A court in Chad yesterday convicted six French volunteer
charity workers of attempting to kidnap 103 African children and fly them
to France without their families' consent.
The four men and two women were sentenced to eight years hard labour by
a judge in N'Djamena. They were also ordered to pay $8.9-million in
damages to the families of the children they tried to take to France.
One of the six, nurse Nadia Merimi, was in tears and had to be
comforted by her lawyer. Another, former soldier Alain Peligat, gave the
charity's impassive leader Eric Breteau a brief hug of solidarity.
The aborted airlift has embarrassed France and exasperated legitimate
aid organizations working in Chad. The defendants were members of an
amateur aid group called Zoe's Ark. They said they believed they were
rescuing orphans from “sure death” in Darfur, in neighbouring Sudan. But
most of the children, ranging in age from toddlers to 10 years old, turned
out to be neither orphans nor from Darfur.
Instead, they had been rounded up from villages in neighbouring Chad.
Several of their fathers testified at trial that they had handed over
their children because “the white people” from France had promised to
build a school nearby and educate them.
The Zoe's Ark members, admitting they knew neither the region nor its
culture, said they relied on local intermediaries to search out and bring
them orphans to airlift out of the country. Two of the local men they
hired, one Sudanese and one from Chad, were also convicted as accomplices.
They received lighter sentences of four years in prison.
Just before the end of the trial, Mr. Breteau, who was also convicted
of using forged papers, apologized to any Chadian parents who had been
separated from their children.
But he again insisted that he and his colleagues had acted in good
faith when they tried to fly the children from eastern Chad, near the
border with Sudan's conflict-ridden Darfur region, to France.
“If they are Sudanese … we have deprived them of a better future; if
they are Chadians and we were lied to, if we separated them from their
families, we are really terribly sorry, for we never wanted to separate
families.”
The case of the snatched children has complicated France's already
delicate relations in Central Africa, where it has a leading role in the
planned United Nations-African Union mission for Darfur. The French are
seen as crucial to securing the co-operation of Chad, which is to be the
staging ground for a massive international peacekeeping mission set to
deploy next month in Darfur.
Since the affair broke in late October there has been more than one
anti-French protest in the streets of N'Djamena. (Chad, a landlocked
Central African country of 10 million people, won independence from France
in 1960.) France has not defended the actions of Zoe's Ark, but has
requested that the self-proclaimed Good Samaritans be sent home,
presumably to serve out at least part of their jail terms.
Chad has done little to stop the popular anger whipped up against the
Zoe's Ark operation. UN and private aid workers in the area have said
that the French group's actions sparked rumours that Western “child
stealers” were at large, panicking Darfur refugees.
Mr. Breteau has insisted he intended only to ask for political asylum
status for the children and did not suggest to his supporters they could
adopt them. At one point during his detention in Chad, he described
himself as the only person in the world trying to do something concrete
for Darfur victims.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has tried to handle the controversy
with a combination of behind-the-scenes diplomacy and grand public
gestures. He has described the Zoe's Ark operation as “illegal” and
“unacceptable.” Foreign Ministry officials said they had repeatedly warned
the charity against attempting any sort of private rescue scheme.
But after the group was arrested in late October as they tried to take
the children out of Chad in a rented airplane, Mr. Sarkozy intervened
personally to secure the release of several journalists and airline crew
members who were with the Zoe's Ark group.
He pledged to bring home those remaining in Chad, “no matter what they
have done,” and proposed that they be tried in France. Chad's Interior
Minister Ahmat Mahamat Bachir briskly rejected the suggestion, calling it
an insult. “These bandits should be tried and convicted here,” he said,
adding, “Let them get a taste of our prisons.”
Despite the angry words, the French charity workers were apparently
treated well. When one of the accused women fell ill during the trial,
she was taken to a French military hospital, not a local one, for
treatment. The group was held in a low-security detention centre that is
one of the newest prisons in Chad. Their fellow detainees were described
as people caught up in clan disputes who considered it safer to live in
prison than at home.
But French Foreign Ministry officials have apparently been negotiating
for some time to bring the Zoe's Ark defendants back to France, taking
advantage of a 1976 agreement with Chad that provides for extradition of
convicted criminals to their home country to serve out their prison
sentences.
A Socialist deputy suggested the price to be paid for the return of the
charity workers could be high.
“It's clear that he is going to have to pay a lot of money, to the
families [in Chad] as well as to the Chad government,” said Jean-Louis
Bianco, one of the leading opposition figures in the National Assembly.
“But if this money is used for the development of Chad, why not?”
A quick transfer of the convicted charity workers to France is likely,
according to Antoine Glaser, editor of Letter from the Continent, a
magazine specializing in Africa. Chad's President Idriss Déby wants
French military support to fight the insurgents and Mr. Sarkozy wants to
make sure Chad does not create roadblocks for the Darfur peacekeeping
force.
“There is a real deal between the two men that goes beyond the Zoe's
Ark affair,” Mr. Glaser told the newspaper La Croix. “Just like in the
good old days, everything will be worked out between France and Chad
without bothering with the sovereignty or judicial process of either
country,” he added.
Special to The Globe and Mail, with a report from Agence France-Presse
Lawyers Want Tax Money
December 26, 2007
Two lawyers, Gregory and Byron Mills, are specializing in suing the state
of Nevada on behalf of dead and lost foster children. It looks promising,
but it turns out all they are doing is lining up to take tax money, and
force the legislature to appropriate more of it. Parents get short shrift
in their view, "these people did things to have their children taken away in
the first place". Even purported reformers, such as the lawyers in this
case and Marcia Lowry of Children's Rights Inc soon join the lineup of
claimants on the public treasury. Family integrity cannot be restored
through litigation.
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December 21 - December 27 2007
Firm takes up cause of victimized kids in foster care
By Stephanie Tavares / Staff Writer
Attorneys Byron Mills, left, and brother Gregory are shown at their
downtown Las Vegas offices.
LEILA NAVIDI / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Sometimes the growth of a practice comes in unexpected and even
unpleasant forms.
Attorneys Gregory and Byron Mills had a fairly quiet family law
practice in the heart of downtown Las Vegas for the last few years,
handling a variety of low-profile matters.
But the disappearance last year of one foster child and the death of
another launched the brothers into a major new practice area: Fighting
for compensation for foster children abused while under the care of the
Nevada Child and Family Services Division and left without treatment by
the state's foster system.
"The system has to change, and so far the only way we can see to do it
is lawsuits. Unfortunately it's the only way," Byron Mills said.
"There's no funding to help kids abused in the system, and it's been going
on for years. They're not getting the protection and the counseling they
deserve after something like that happens. In many cases it's simply been
covered up."
Their law firm, Mills & Mills, has five active cases against the
state, is working on several more and anticipates a large influx of cases
as word gets out about what it is doing. The four-attorney firm has spent
many man-hours researching and preparing its first cases, one involving
the disappearance of Everlyse Cabrera and the other, the death of a baby
boy.
The firm can't afford to do these cases pro bono because of its size
and the amount of time the cases will take to prepare. Gregory Mills has
already spent months preparing the cases the firm has, and legal legwork
could last for years.
If it succeeds in the end, the firm stands to earn hundreds of
thousands of dollars from these cases over the next several years. And
right now it is the only law firm in town aggressively seeking out abuse
victims in the foster care system, preparing advertisements and public
information campaigns.
Gregory Mills (who prefers to go by the nickname Gregor) is leading the
firm's efforts, representing the biological parents and missing or
deceased children. He is seeking restitution as well as additional
information about the care that the children received.
Other cases at this point involve children who have been sexually or
physically abused at the hands of foster parents or foster siblings and
have not received counseling and treatment.
The firm's initial aim is to get the state to pay compensation up front
for children abused in the system.
"We can't just ask for the court to give these kids counseling at this
point," Byron Mills said. "The family juvenile court already is tasked
with getting them counseling, and it isn't. The money from these lawsuits
will go into court-monitored and controlled accounts to pay for counseling
until the kids are 18. At that point anything that's left over will go
directly to the kid."
The idea is for the firm to be a resource for these children since they
have nowhere else to turn.
"The sad part is these kids and their parents don't know who they could
report it to," Mills said. "I mean, you can't call (the children's
service division) on itself. And these kids are not getting the help they
need."
The parents will not be able to exploit the situation because they
won't have access to these funds except in cases where the child has died,
he said.
"If the parents know their kids have been abused or are being abused
they can contact us. But they don't stand to gain from it," Mills said.
"Remember these people did things to have their children taken away in the
first place. So we're very mindful of that."
The firm's secondary aim is to see the department reformed, fully
funded and children protected from future abuse.
Ideally, foster care caseworkers have about 20 kids to evaluate, Mills
said. In Nevada, funding for the program is so inadequate that one
caseworker may be working with 50 or more children, according to media
accounts. These caseworkers are supposed to meet these children in person
at least once a month, but there simply isn't enough time. They are lucky
to see kids once every other month, Byron Mills said.
"It makes it impossible for them to do their jobs," he said.
If a caseworker cannot see the child, she has no way of knowing if
abuse is taking place or likely to occur. And the lack of qualified
foster homes has led to children being placed in homes that have not been
properly evaluated.
"While doing these types of cases we realized that while the foster
system is quick to take kids away from their parents, they're not so good
at protecting them once the kids are in foster care," Byron Mills said.
"People within the foster system have asked us for help. They have a huge
amount of cases and not even close to enough caseworkers and nowhere near
enough money to run the program and protect the kids."
The Mills brothers have supported legislative lobbying efforts in the
last session, although they haven't done any direct lobbying themselves.
Gov. Jim Gibbons has pledged to leave the agency's budget intact while
many other agencies face budget cuts in the latest round of
belt-tightening. And the Mills brothers hope that something will occur in
the 2009 Legislature to bring additional funding to the program.
In the meantime, they plan to use the only means they have of
persuading lawmakers that fully funding foster care programs is in the
state's best interest.
"Just like a large corporation, until it hurts them in the wallet,
they're not gong to do anything," Mills said. "It's our goal to hit them
so hard and so repeatedly that they're forced to deal with the problem and
increase the funding. We hope that in the future we don't have to do this
anymore because the problem won't exist."
At the same time, the brothers are urging their colleagues in the legal
profession and the business community to get more involved in the issue.
They are encouraging lawyers and businesspeople to lobby legislators and
to participate in the Court Appointed Special Advocate program, which
provides volunteer advocates for abused and neglected children going
through the foster care system.
The Mills are also spreading the word about the dire need for foster
parents. There are too few foster parents anyway, but even fewer from the
professional and business community, and the more good homes foster
children have to go to, the better off everyone will be, they said.
"Ultimately this comes out of all our pockets," Byron Mills said. "And
if this problem grows, this burden will grow for everyone and in myriad
ways."
Stephanie Tavares covers utilities and law for In Business Las Vegas
and its sister publication the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached at
259-4059 or tavares@lasvegassun.com.
The Night Before CAS
December 24, 2007
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugarplums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap -
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutter, and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave a lustre of midday to objects below;
When what to my wondering eyes should appear
But an ugly black sleigh pulled by 8 robot deer
With a CAS worker, it made me quite sick
I knew in a moment it wasn't Saint Nick!
More rapid than eagles her coursers they came,
And she hollered and cursed and called them by name.
"Now Slasher! now Danger! now Pouncer and Tricks 'em!
On Rotten! on Stupid! on Dodo and Blitz 'em!
To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall,
Screaming "I want the children - I want them all!
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle mount to the sky,
So, up to the housetop the robots they flew,
With a sleigh full of cops and CAS too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The scratching and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head and was turning around,
Down the chimney the CAS came with a bound:
She was dressed up for combat, from head to her foot,
And her clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of toys she carried so well,
And she looked like a witch just casting her spell.
Her eyes, how they glistened! her pimples, how scary!
Her cheeks were so wrinkled, her nose was all hairy;
Her thin smirking mouth was drawn up like a bow,
An attempt to look kind, but just like a troll.
Bearing gifts for the children parents could not afford
"Foster care, foster care, all hurry aboard!"
Then in came a lawyer so slickly and quick
I thought for a moment that HE was St Nick.
"No children tonight! No warrent! no order!
Now get out, now get out! and torment no other!
He gave me a wink and nodded his head,
and so let me know I had no more to dread.
He said nothing to me as he finished his job
Making sure they were gone, the CAS mob.
Then glancing around he so quietly said
"All is now well, you can go back to bed"
As fast as he came,as quick he left
Like a phantom, was gone, with a movement so deft
But I heard him proclaim as he faded from sight,
"Merry Christmas to all, keep your children - tonight
Chatham-Kent to Improve Website
December 22, 2007
John Dunn has directed us to another example of progress achieved through
his advocacy on behalf of children in care. The website of Chatham-Kent Children's Services will
be revised to inform readers about the complaint process. So far this kind
of advocacy has only brought small improvements.
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Children's Aid website to have complaint info; Lack of
details criticized by Foster Care director
Chatham-Kent Children's Services is changing its website and the new
one will include complete information about the complaint process.
Chief executive officer Mike Stephens said while the former website
contained information about filing a complaint, there is an additional
method that was enacted in 2006 that is not on the website.
The local children's aid society was recently criticized by John Dunn,
the executive director of the Foster Care Council of Canada, about the
lack of complete complaint information on its website.
"This is something that needs to be addressed immediately to meet the
needs of children and youth in care from being harmed either physically,
sexually or emotionally," Dunn said in an e-mail to the CKCS, which was
forwarded to The Chatham Daily News.
Stephens said the agency responded to Dunn's concerns and explained
that the agency is re-vamping its online presence. The website is
currently under construction.
"There is no legal obligation for us to have it on our website,"
Stephens said.
He noted the information is given freely to people dealing with CKCS.
"All of our clients who would be in a position to make a complaint get
a hard copy of our complaint process," he said.
Stephens said the information that was not on the website deals with
taking a complaint to the Child and Family Service Review Board, an option
clients are told about if a complaint is made.
He said CKCS gets a handful of complaints a year.
"Most complaints get resolved in the first phone call," he said.
Dunn, who works out of Ottawa as an advocate for children in care, said
he noticed the full complaint information was missing while checking the
website for membership details.
Brain Damage
December 21, 2007
A scientific study of Romanian children confirms the obvious, that foster
care is worse than parental care, and institutional care is worse still.
But this time, the researchers measured the difference. Pre-school children
in an orphanage suffer an IQ loss of six points per year relative to foster
children, who in turn suffer a similar deficit relative to children in the
care of their parents. Which form of care serves the best interest of the
child?
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CNN.com
Foster care better than orphanages for kids' IQs
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Toddlers rescued from orphanages and placed in good
foster homes score dramatically higher on IQ tests years later than
children who were left behind, concludes a one-of-a-kind project in
Romania that has profound implications for child welfare around the globe.
This photo, provided by the journal Science, shows an orphanage in
Criova, Romania, in 1994.
The boost meant the difference between borderline retardation and
average intelligence for some youngsters.
Most important, children removed from orphanages before age 2 had the
biggest improvement -- key new evidence of a sensitive period for brain
development, according to the U.S. team that conducted the research.
"What we're really talking about is the importance of getting kids out
of bad environments and put into good environments," said Dr. Charles
Nelson III of Harvard Medical School, who led the study being published
Friday in the journal Science.
The younger that happens, "the less likely the child is to have major
problems," he added.
The research is credited with influencing child-care changes in
Romania, and UNICEF has begun using the data to push numerous countries
that still depend on state-run orphanages to start shifting to foster
care-like systems.
"The research provides concrete scientific evidence on the long-term
impacts of the deprivation of quality care for children," UNICEF child
protection specialist Aaron Greenberg said. "The interesting part about
this is the one-on-one caring of a young child impacts ... cognitive and
intellectual development."
That orphanages are not optimal for child development comes as no
surprise. Earlier studies have found that thousands of children adopted
during the 1990s from squalid orphanages in Eastern Europe, China and
elsewhere continued to face serious developmental problems even after
moving to affluent new homes with doting parents.
But questions remain. Were those abandoned or orphaned children who
spent more time in orphanages less healthy to begin with? How much damage
does neglect and lack of stimulation in the early months of life do? How
long does that damage last?
In the study, U.S. researchers randomly assigned 136 young children in
Bucharest's six orphanages to either keep living there or live with foster
parents who were specially trained and paid for by the study. Romania had
no foster-care system in 2000 when the research began.
The team chose apparently healthy children. Researchers repeatedly
tested brain development as those children grew, and tracked those who
ultimately were adopted or reunited with family. For comparison, they
also tested the cognitive ability of children who never were
institutionalized.
By 4½, youngsters in foster care were scoring almost 10 points higher
on IQ tests than the children left in orphanages. Children who left the
orphanages before 2 saw an almost 15-point increase.
Nelson compared the ages at which children were sent to foster care.
For every extra month spent in the orphanage, up to almost age 3, it meant
roughly a half-point lower score on those later IQ tests.
Children raised in their biological homes still fared best, with
average test scores 10 points to 20 points higher than the foster-care
kids.
What does that mean as these children grow up? Just this week an
anxious acquaintance cornered Nelson to ask what to expect of a child who
spent nine months in a Vietnamese orphanage.
"There's much more to functioning in life than your IQ," Nelson
stresses.
Plus, he only now has begun testing these children again as they turn 7
and 8. They might catch up.
For now, Nelson tells adoptive parents, "The older the child is when
they leave the institution, the more likely that child may have some
developmental problems and the more difficult it may be to ameliorate
those problems. ... The message to parents is simply to go into this
with their eyes open, but not to give up."
For the U.S. and other countries that depend on foster care instead of
orphanages, the study has implications, too, because it used high-quality
foster care that is not the norm in many places, Nelson noted. Studies
comparing the impact of foster care of varying quality are under way.
The Romanian government requested the study and began its own foster
care program shortly thereafter. Early study results are credited with
influencing Romania's recent prohibition on institutionalizing children
under 2 unless they are severely disabled.
Escape Utah!
December 20, 2007
A Utah mother, Denise Mafi, has fled the state to avoid losing her
children. One of the few good defenses against child protectors is to leave
their jurisdiction before legal process is served. Sadly few parents take
this advice, because they are unwilling to believe the abuses committed in
the name of children until it is too late. The prospects for Denise Mafi
are better, as long as she never returns to Utah.
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Thursday, December 20, 2007
POLICE STATE, USA
Woman abandons home to escape public schools
Judge ordered homeschooler to enroll kids or lose custody
Posted: December 20, 2007, 1:00 a.m. Eastern, By Bob Unruh,
WorldNetDaily.com
A Utah woman who was ordered by a juvenile court judge to enroll her
children in public school or lose custody of them has abandoned her home,
furniture and other possessions to escape the order.
Denise Mafi, a nine-year veteran of homeschooling, has confirmed to WND
she and her children packed up their essentials – clothes and homeschool
materials – and fled Utah over the weekend, spending more than 50 hours on
a bus trip to an undisclosed part of the country.
There she has obtained an empty home and is spending the Christmas
break trying to find beds for her children and herself. After the New
Year she will involve the children in a local homeschooling process.
"We're shampooing carpets right now. We have no furniture. We have no
beds," she said. "But my kids are not going to public school. They are
not going where Jesus isn't welcome."
Her home, furniture and other possessions left behind in Utah? "I'm
not going back unless the judge removes the threat of arrest," she said.
"I'll fight for the cause but I'm not going to be a martyr."
The case erupted for Mafi because of an apparent paperwork glitch that
could be the fault of her local school district. Now Utah home school
officials say they have asked the state Legislature to review actions by
the judge, whose office has declined comment to WND.
The confrontation developed after Mafi, still married but separated
from her husband, already had begun her homeschooling plan for the
2007-2008 year, for which she had received a district exemption as
required in Utah. She was told she was being accused of four counts of
failing to abide by the state's compulsory education law, with a penalty
of up to six months in jail on each count, because the district alleged
she had not submitted a required affidavit for the long-completed
2006-2007 school year.
Counseled by a public defender, she thought she was meeting the court's
demands earlier when she enrolled her two youngest children in classes in
Utah and put her two older children in an online curriculum connected to
the public school. However, she soon learned otherwise.
"Well everything fell apart in court today. I had to enroll my two
oldest in public school. … If I didn't the judge said I would lose
custody of my children. He threw out the plea and we go to trial on
January 9th. I have NO CHANCE with this judge. He will find me guilty.
He already has. So I will probably be spending some time in jail. Please
pray for my children," she noted in an online forum connected to a "Five
In A Row" homeschool curriculum she had used when her children were
younger.
Scott Johansen
At issue are the threats issued by Judge Scott Johansen, who serves in
the juvenile division of the state's 7th Judicial District. Johansen
threw out the agreement Mafi thought would resolve the charges.
Mafi has reported, and her recollection of events has been confirmed by
attorneys, that Johansen told her homeschooling fails 100 percent of the
time and he would not allow it.
"I can tell you there are several legislators working on this,
including one on the judicial retention committee," said John Yarrington,
president of the Utah Home Education Association. "There's no excuse for
this kind of bias and prejudice."
Mafi, who has her own copy of the required affidavit, said she faxed it
to the school district office Oct. 27, 2006. But the district alleged it
didn't arrive, and Mafi failed to keep a fax confirmation she received at
the time.
WND contacted the judge's court, but was told to call the state
judiciary's office. A spokeswoman confirmed the situation was being
reviewed, but she couldn't comment on a pending case. The district
attorney's office didn't return a telephone request for comment.
Tom Smith, however, who identified himself as a friend of the judge,
wrote to WND in his defense.
"I and another local Republican official wrote to encourage Gov.
Bangerter to appoint Scott Johansen, who was a Democrat county attorney at
the time, as a juvenile judge. Scott did not like the partisan politics
at the time, and many of his views today tend to be more conservative," he
said. "I believe he has served our area very well in his capacity of
juvenile judge."
Smith cited an occasion when he was teaching a number of years ago,
when "some in our school wanted to change the method of teaching to a more
liberal way; a method that had not done well in other schools. Judge
Johansen took a stand against it with those of us who opposed the change.
The result was that several of us teachers were not required to make the
change."
Yarrington said a lawyer for the UHEA is working on the case, and
lawyers for the Home School Legal Defense Association are reviewing the
situation.
Mafi said she is hoping she will not be required to return to Utah for
the scheduled Jan. 9 trial, and it was unclear immediately how the fact
her children no longer remained in Utah would affect the charges already
filed.
She has explained that her opposition to public schools comes from what
she sees as an anti-Christian atmosphere. Mafi said she and her husband
had decided homeschooling would be their choice even before the children
reached school age.
As WND has reported, such threats and actions are becoming more common
in Germany, but that nation still makes homeschooling illegal under a law
launched when Hitler expressed a desire to control the minds of youth.
A recent court ruling there, in fact, said not only is homeschooling a
basis for child endangerment charges, but a local government was remiss in
allowing a mother to take her two children to another country where
homeschooling is legal.
Wolfgang Drautz, consul general for the Federal Republic of Germany,
has commented on the issue on a blog, noting the government "has a
legitimate interest in countering the rise of parallel societies that are
based on religion or motivated by different world views and in integrating
minorities into the population as a whole."
Drautz said homeschool students' test results may be as good as for
those in school, but "school teaches not only knowledge but also social
conduct, encourages dialogue among people of different beliefs and
cultures, and helps students to become responsible citizens."
The German government's defense of its "social" teachings and mandatory
public school attendance was clarified during an earlier dispute on which
WND reported, when a German family wrote to officials objecting to police
officers picking their child up at home and delivering him to a public
school.
"The minister of education does not share your attitudes toward
so-called homeschooling," said a government letter in response. "... You
complain about the forced school escort of primary school children by the
responsible local police officers. ... In order to avoid this in future,
the education authority is in conversation with the affected family in
order to look for possibilities to bring the religious convictions of the
family into line with the unalterable school attendance requirement."
Addendum: The family appears to have successfully
escaped the wrath of Utah.
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Saturday, January 12, 2008
POLICE STATE, USA
Homeschooler's trial date abandoned
Mom who fled state accused of failing to file district
affidavit
Posted: January 12, 2008, 1:00 a.m. Eastern, WorldNetDaily.com
A trial date for a homeschooling mom from Utah who fled the state when
a judge threatened to take away custody of her children has been vacated,
officials have confirmed.
A lawyer with the Home School Legal Defense Association, which actually
became involved in the case after it was well advanced, told WND that
parties in the case against Denise Mafi by stipulation had vacated a trial
date scheduled this week, and no new court date has been set.
Mafi had fled her Carbon County, Utah, home after a judge had ordered
her to enroll her children with a public school within a day or he would
remove then from her custody.
Mafi, who at that time had had counsel from a public defender,
abandoned her home, furniture and other possessions to leave Utah and seek
refuge in another state, where she is getting her four children involved
in another homeschooling program.
Mafi told WND she and her children had packed up their essentials –
clothes and homeschool materials – and spent more than 50 hours on a bus
trip to an undisclosed part of the country.
Charges against her stemmed from what she has described as a paperwork
mixup. She says she faxed a required notification of her homeschooling
plans to her local school district; officials there say they never
received it.
While Mafi's case isn't yet fully resolved, officials with the HSLDA
confirm that another situation with similar circumstances was successfully
resolved with the case being dismissed.
In the second case, an unidentified homeschooling mother was facing
criminal counts for failing to enroll her daughter in a local public
school.
"Though the mother had been properly notifying the school district for
the past two years that she was homeschooling her 12-year-old daughter,
she inadvertently delayed notifying for the 2006-2007 school year until
February 2007," according to the organization's report on the situation.
"The district decided that failure to file the affidavit before the
first day of the public school year was an automatic criminal violation of
the state's compulsory school attendance law. Yet Utah's home education
statute does not specify a filing deadline, requiring only that an
affidavit be sent to the district 'annually,'" the HSLDA said.
The case eventually was dismissed with prejudice by Utah Juvenile Court
Judge Elizabeth Lindsley.
According to attorney Frank Mylar, who worked on the case in Utah, the
result "is a great victory for all homeschoolers in Utah."
He said he's hopeful that the message for school districts is that they
cannot intimidate families who may inadvertently file their notice after
the school year begins.
Mylar, president of the Utah Christian Home Educators, also is working
with the HSLDA on the Mafi case, officials said earlier.
When Mafi fled, she told WND she would not return to Utah to retrieve
her furniture and other items unless the threat of her arrest was removed.
But she did confirm she would be available for scheduled court
appearances.
In her new location, she obtained an empty home and spent part the
Christmas holiday period finding beds for her children and herself and
shampooing carpets. But she was adamant about homeschooling.
"My kids are not going to public school. They are not going where
Jesus isn't welcome," she said.
Her plight prompted dozens of WND readers to request a way to make a
donation to her, and HSLDA's own foundation, while not immediately set up
to transfer donations to one specific individual, does recognize that
homeschoolers may have urgent needs, and does respond to those needs.
The case erupted for Mafi because of an apparent paperwork glitch that
could be the fault of her local school district.
Mafi, still married but separated from her husband, already had begun
her homeschooling plan for the 2007-2008 year, for which she had received
a district exemption as required in Utah. Then she was told she was being
accused of four counts of failing to abide by the state's compulsory
education law, with a penalty of up to six months in jail on each count,
because the district alleged she had not submitted a required affidavit
for the long-completed 2006-2007 school year.
Counseled by a public defender, she thought she was meeting the court's
demands earlier when she enrolled her two youngest children in classes in
Utah and put her two older children in an online curriculum connected to
the public school. However, she soon learned otherwise.
"Well everything fell apart in court today. I had to enroll my two
oldest in public school. … If I didn't the judge said I would lose
custody of my children. He threw out the plea … I have NO CHANCE with
this judge. He will find me guilty. He already has. So I will probably
be spending some time in jail. Please pray for my children," she noted in
an online forum connected to a "Five In A Row" homeschool curriculum she
had used when her children were younger.
Scott Johansen
At issue are the threats issued by Judge Scott Johansen, who serves in
the juvenile division of the state's 7th Judicial District. He threw out
the agreement Mafi thought would resolve the charges, and then warned her
about losing her children if they were not enrolled in the public school
district, or if they missed class without a doctor's note.
Mafi has reported, and her recollection of events has been confirmed by
attorneys, that Johansen told her homeschooling fails 100 percent of the
time and he would not allow it. Court officials told WND the comments
didn't happen as Mafi reported, but have been unable to provide a
transcript to confirm either version.
Mafi, who has her own copy of the required 2006-2007 affidavit, said
she faxed it to the school district office Oct. 27, 2006. But the
district alleged it didn't arrive, and Mafi failed to keep a fax
confirmation she received at the time.
Hanity on Drugs
December 20, 2007
Sean Hannity with Doug
Kennedy (YouTube) shows the connection between anti-depressants and
violence, suicide and homicide. Many massacres are committed by students on
psychotropic drugs, or recently withdrawn from drugs. The one important
issue omitted is that drugs are often administered under threat of child
removal. The black box warnings discussed in the program are futile when
the drugs are administered by force. You can also view the letter titled The Mental Health Screening of Children
(pdf) by Georgia State Senator Nancy
Schaefer.
Sidebar: Vegetarians Only!
Do you remember the headlines about the ten-year-old girl who massacred
other students with a steak knife? We don't. The principal of Sunrise
Elementary School in Ocala Florida is taking no chances. He has had a girl
arrested for using a knife on her dinner. She admits to being a repeat
offender, and has been charged with a felony.
It is not steak knives that are responsible for school killings. We
suggest going after the drug pushers instead.
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Student Arrested After Cutting Food With Knife
10-Year-Old Charged With Possession Of Weapon On School
Property
UPDATED: 4:08 pm EST December 14, 2007
An elementary student in Marion County was arrested Thursday after
school officials found her cutting food during lunch with a knife that she
brought from home, police said.
The 10-year-old girl, a student at Sunrise Elementary School in Ocala,
was charged possession of a weapon on school property, which is a felony.
According to authorities, school employees spotted the girl cutting her
food while she was eating lunch and took the steak knife from her.
The girl told sheriff's deputies that she had brought the knife to
school on more than one occasion in the past.
Students told officials that the girl did not threaten anyone with the
knife.
The girl was arrested and transported to the Juvenile Assessment
Center.
Addendum: Charges against the knife-wielding
girl were dropped.
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OrlandoSentinel.com
Charges dropped against 10-year-old who brought steak
knife to school
Katie Fretland, Sentinel Staff Writer
1:37 PM EST, December 26, 2007
The State Attorney's Office has decided not to prosecute a 10-year-old
girl who brought a steak knife to school to cut her lunch. After a review
of the child's school record, prosecutors determined charges should be
dropped, Assistant State Attorney Ric Ridgway said today.
Teachers saw the child using a 4 1/2 inch kitchen knife to cut her
steak at lunch on Dec. 13. They notified the Marion County Sheriff's
Office and she was arrested on a felony weapons charge. She was also
suspended from school for three days.
Investigators with the Department of Juvenile Justice then interviewed
the child and looked at her clean school and behavioral record. They
recommended that charges should be dropped and the State Attorney's Office
agreed.
"She has an excellent school history, no disciplinary problems, good
grades and nothing whatsoever to suggest she was a troubled child,"
Ridgway said.
Allison Quets Sentenced
December 18, 2007
Allison Quets has been sentenced. Her story would be rejected for
publication as fiction, because it is too absurd. To summarize:
- Allison Quets became pregnant through expensive in vitro
fertilization.
- She had life-threatening problems during pregnancy, but gave birth to
healthy twins.
- She was cajoled or coerced into consenting to adoption.
- After regaining her health she tried to reclaim her children.
- Lawyers purportedly representing her took a half a million dollars in
fees without getting her children back.
- On a visit with her children, she fled with them to Canada.
- She and her children were forcibly returned to the United States.
- She was incarcerated in North Carolina indefinitely until pleading
guilty.
- She pleaded guilty as her only means of getting out of jail.
- She has been sentenced to five years probation, with severe restrictions
on contact with the family that has taken her children.
- As a convicted felon, she will have no prospect of regaining her
children ever, or resuming her high-paying career.
For earlier stories on this case, refer to
December 29 20006,
January 4, 2007,
April 14 and
Sept 15
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National Post, Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Biological mom gets five years for kidnapping twins
Andrew Thomson, CanWest News Service Published: Tuesday, December 18,
2007
OTTAWA -- Allison Quets was sentenced to five years probation on
Tuesday afternoon for kidnapping her biological twins and crossing the
border to Ottawa in December 2006, according to North Carolina media
reports.
A federal court judge in Raleigh also ordered the 50-year-old to stay
away from two-year-old Holly and Tyler and their adoptive parents without
state court approval and a parole officer present. Quets was fined
$15,000 and must also pay travel expenses to Kevin and Denise Needham, the
reports said.
She must also surrender her U.S. passport.
Quets pleaded guilty on Sept. 14 to two counts of international
parental kidnapping, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in
prison and a $250,000 fine.
She was released after eight months in jail and prosecutors pledged to
recommend a penalty at the low end of federal sentencing guidelines.
On Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Bowler accused Quets of
harassing the Needhams with her continued efforts to regain custody,
according to the News & Observer of Raleigh.
Her case gained notoriety once she drove north in her white minivan,
arriving in Ontario on Dec. 23 and spending Christmas at a Kingston, Ont.
bed-and-breakfast before renting a city townhouse.
Ottawa police arrested Quets on Dec. 29, and the twins were returned
to the Needhams.
Federal authorities argued she planned the cross-border trip months in
advance, which included obtaining passports for the children and
contacting a Canadian immigration lawyer.
The complicated story began when Quets undertook a pregnancy by
in-vitro fertilization at the age of 47, while living in Orlando, Fla.
Holly and Tyler were born in July 2005.
Quets has argued she was in medical distress and never intended to give
up the babies one month later to a North Carolina couple, Kevin and Denise
Needham.
She has fought to regain custody ever since.
Ottawa Citizen
Lawyers for Children Sued
December 18, 2007
Nateyonna Banks was taken into state care in Atlanta Georgia. In July
2006 she was returned to her mother, Shandrell Banks. Under her mother's
care, the child was beaten and died on November 9, 2006. Now a lawsuit on
behalf of the child's estate has been launched against the state-appointed
lawyers who represented the child. Money collected would have to go to the
girl's heir, almost certainly the mother who killed her, so this is not a
plea to compensate an innocent party. Of more concern, hurting the lawyers
financially will scare future lawyers into opposing all reunifications of
their clients with their parents.
In Ontario, the Office of the Children's Lawyer already opposes all
reunifications, as projected for Georgia. We have never come across a case
in which a children's lawyer addressed the court saying: "Your worship, I
respectfully suggest that my client's interest would best be served by
remaining in the care of his parents". It can only get worse. Recent legislation mandated public
inquiries into cases such as Nateyonna Banks in which a child dies in
the care of parents after being returned from CAS care. We can expect one
such inquest per year, giving widespread publicity to the dangers of
returning children to their parents. The dozens of children dying each year
in foster homes will remain out of view of the press and the public.
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Suit targets lawyers in tot's death
By ANDY MILLER, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Published on:
12/15/07
A 2-year-old Atlanta girl whose death sparked widespread outrage was
placed in a dangerous home because her publicly appointed attorneys failed
to represent her properly in court hearings, a lawsuit alleges.
Nateyonna Banks died in November 2006 after being placed with her
mother, who was charged with beating her to death. The girl's estate
filed suit Friday against Fulton County's child advocate attorney office
and the lawyers who represented her.
Attorney Don Keenan of the Keenan Law Firm, who filed the suit in
Fulton state court, said Fulton's Office of the Child Advocate Attorney
failed to fully investigate Nateyonna's mother, Shandrell Banks.
Keenan said Banks had a history of Fulton's Department of Family and
Children Services removing her children, had a mental illness and had a
drug possession conviction.
The child advocate attorney office is understaffed, underfunded and
overworked, Keenan said, citing a University of Georgia study.
"That safety net had a huge hole in it, and Nateyonna fell through and
died,'' Keenan said. He compared child advocate attorneys to ''potted
plants'' during Juvenile Court proceedings on Nateyonna Banks' placement.
Keenan said he hopes the suit helps repair the legal safety net for
children. It seeks unspecified damages to be awarded to Nateyonna Banks'
estate, including to her five siblings.
Fulton County and its child advocate office, through a spokeswoman,
declined to comment on the lawsuit. Three attorneys who handled
Nateyonna's case could not be reached for comment.
Also named as a defendant is a company contracted with DFCS as a case
management agency that handled the Banks case. The company, Family Ties
Enterprises, did not return a phone call requesting comment on the suit.
Shandrell Banks had given birth to Nateyonna while incarcerated on a
cocaine possession charge. She had already had two of her children
removed from her care.
Nateyonna's great-aunt, Carolyn Banks, had raised the girl since
infancy. She approached the state child welfare agency seeking financial
help raising Nateyonna in May 2006.
Fulton County DFCS workers agreed the child should be placed with
Carolyn Banks.
But supervisors overruled that decision and recommended placing the
child with the mother, which occurred in July 2006.
DFCS Director Mary Dean Harvey later said, ''It was poor
decision-making.''
Nateyonna Banks' death caused a shakeup in DFCS.
Keenan said Friday's suit was the first civil litigation in the country
naming a governmental child advocate legal department in a suit alleging
incompetence.
He cited a Carl Vinson Institute of Government study that found in
about half of the cases, Fulton County child advocate attorneys did not
review DFCS case documents. In more than 60 percent of cases, child
advocate attorneys did not interview at least one family member.
Lawyers in the Fulton County office had an average caseload much higher
than recommended, the study said.
Notes from a case management worker reported that two months before
Nateyonna died, Shandrell Banks was feeling ''overwhelmed at times'' and
''more and more despair.'' In October, the child had a swollen face and an
eye that was closed, the case worker reported.
DFCS is not a defendant because suing the agency is futile, Keenan
said, adding that he would rather focus ''on the lawyers that should have
done their job.''
"I assume DFCS is not going to do its job,'' he said. "The courts
demand — we demand — these kids get effective lawyers. We can't trust
DFCS to do their job.''
Family Courts Worse than Communism
December 18, 2007
Professor Stephen Baskerville writes on family law in America, but he
could have just as well said Canada or England or Australia. Family law
does not attempt to dispense justice, replacing that goal with "the best
interest of the child". In the final paragraphs, he recounts the
experiences of refugees from eastern European police states. They report
that American family courts are harsher than the worst that eastern Europe
had to offer.
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TOTALITARIANISM IN AMERICA
By Stephen Baskerville, Ph.D, December 18, 2007, NewsWithViews.com
Mass incarcerations without trial or charge; forced confessions;
children forcibly separated from their parents with no reasons given;
doctored hearing transcripts and falsified court records; evidence
fabricated against the innocent; government agents entering the homes,
examining private papers and personal effects, and seizing the property of
citizens who are under no suspicion of legal wrongdoing; special courts
created specifically to convict people who cannot be convicted in ordinary
courts; children instructed to hate their parents by state functionaries:
Is all this the Soviet Union in the 1930s or Communist China in the 1960s?
Is this some novelist’s prognosticated dystopia? No, all this and more is
routine in the United States today.
Among the most disturbing tales to come out of totalitarianism were the
revelations of how both Nazi and Communist governments intruded into
family life. The practice of governments dictating to parents what they
could tell their children or using children as informers against their
parents strikes us as chilling and unnatural. Yet similar practices are
occurring in America today on a much more massive scale.
What we are talking about here is family law, a secretive political
underworld of which few are aware until it strikes them. Parents summoned
to family court discover that their children can be taken away, they can
be forced to turn over all their property without explanation to
government officials and their private clients, their future earnings can
be confiscated to the point where they are unable to house or feed
themselves, and they can be incarcerated without trial – all without any
evidence or even charge that they have committed any actionable offense.
Unlike any other court, family courts do not even pretend that they are
concerned with justice. They claim to determine “the best interest of the
child” in divorces or other cases where one party is trying to take away
someone else’s children. It is not necessary for the parent or parents
whose children are targeted to have done anything legally wrong. Because
most parents will spend any amount of money not to have their children
taken away, these courts are very lucrative for lawyers and others who
have developed a stake in taking control of other people’s children.
Traditionally, parents determined what was best for their own children.
Now courts make that determination, over the objection of parents who have
done nothing to forfeit the right to make it themselves. Once courts stop
administering justice, they start administering injustice; there is no
middle ground. Without justice, asked St. Augustine, “What are kingdoms
but great robberies?”
Never before in human history has any government created a machinery
whose primary purpose is to take children away from their parents. The
Nazis and the Communists both did it. But it was not their principal aim.
In America, we have created multibillion dollar machinery that exists for
no other purpose.
The very idea of incarcerations without trial should be raising an
outcry and have us demanding to know what is taking place in the world’s
greatest democracy. Yet we hear nothing but silence from journalists,
self-styled civil libertarians, and “human rights” groups.
Conservatives have allowed this to happen by credulously swallowing
feminist propaganda about “deadbeat dads,” “pedophile” fathers, and
wife-beaters. Having given the Left a monopoly as gatekeepers of the Bill
of Rights and civil liberties, conservatives can hardly be surprised that
they stand defenseless as the Left targets the family, fathers,
Christianity, and other “patriarchal” institutions.
The erosion of our freedoms today is so gradual that few can find
tangible points at which to oppose it. But here we have an attack on
freedom that is much more direct than culture; it involves a direct
assault on private family life by a dangerous government machinery. Until
we wake up to the fact that radical feminism is a totalitarian ideology
and that the family courts are executing the feminist Terror, we will
never reverse the family’s decline.
Facile parallels with totalitarian dictatorships drawn by westerners
who never experienced those terrors are a much-abused form of criticism
and one to which conservatives are especially susceptible. Yet in this
case, survivors of those dictatorships readily attest to the similarity.
Bogumila and Jerzy Koss compare New York’s family courts to the
bureaucratic tyrannies they knew in Poland. “As children we lived through
Nazi horror, then through Communist occupation,” they write, “and now, in
the United States, the ‘Land of the Free,’ we are persecuted by judicial
tyranny.” But in contrast to Nazi and Stalinist regimes, which used
children as one weapon among many, today in the Western democracies
children and families have become the central object of government
tyranny, and parents rather than dissidents have become the targets.
After experiencing American family law, Romanian dissident Mihai Muset
gained a new perspective on totalitarian justice under communist dictator
Nicolae Ceausescu, by whose regime he had been arrested for a protest. "I
was sentenced to two months in prison," he recalls, "but at least I got to
appear in court and talk to the judge. That's more than I got in family
court."
Stephen Baskerville holds a PhD from the London School of Economics and
is president of the American Coalition for Fathers and Children and
ssistant professor of government at Patrick Henry College his book, Taken
Into Custody: The War Against Fathers, Marriage, and the Family
(Cumberland House, 2007).
Web Site: www.stephenbaskerville.net
E-Mail: sbaskerville@cox.net
Foster Care Damage is Permanent
December 16, 2007
The three children of Tim and Gina Williams were taken by British child
protectors. When an appeals court ruled in their favor two years later, the
children were returned, but they were not the same kids. The family now
lives in constant fear. This case shows the futility of trying to undo the
damage caused by wrongful intervention in the name of child protection.
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The Daily Mirror
Pain of social work sex slur family
Exclusive by Julie McCaffrey 15/12/2007
There was supposed to be a happy ending, but for now the scars run too
deep.
When Tim and Gina Williams' three children were taken into care, the
Mirror described their story as "every parents' nightmare".
Wrongly accused of sexually abusing their children - two girls and a
boy all under 10 at the time - the couple were finally vindicated and
reunited with their little ones.
But by then their children had spent two agonising and utterly
unnecessary years in care.
And now, more than a year after their children were returned to them
and they were absolutely vindicated in the High Court, a damning report is
to be released listing 32 recommendations that might ensure such an
appalling blunder by a social services department never happens again.
The Newport Safeguarding Children Board's full report will remain
confidential. But the summary heavily criticises Newport City Council,
the Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust and the Gwent police.
Tim and Gina, 38, from Newport, South Wales, want the board to publish
the damning faults in full.
But for now they hope the report will ensure no other families endure
such living hell.
Tim, also 38, says: "Of course we're still angry at how we've been
treated. Of course we're bitter. But we've never been interested in
pointing the finger at individuals who made mistakes.
"We just want to know that serious lessons have been learned and that
no one suffers like our family. We wouldn't want our worst enemies to go
through what we did."
Sadly, the suffering is far from over for the Williams family.
Tim and Gina believe Zara, now 13, Ieuan, 10, and eight-year-old
Courtney - whom the family call Buffy - have been damaged by their years
in care.
Gina explains: "Our children are so different since they came back to
us, it's like having three little strangers at home.
"None can bear to have us out of their sight because they think we
won't come back. They believe they were taken into care because we didn't
love or want them any more."
Zara had always been happy at school before being taken into care but
now her teachers say she can be disruptive and can't settle in class.
Ieuan, once a sensitive little boy, has become an angry child who
screams, shouts and hits out at doors and walls. He plays with the boy
next door, but won't venture beyond that.
Recently, leaving for a week's school trip to an adventure park, he
sobbed so much as the bus pulled away that his parents wanted to take him
off.
He was terrified he was waving goodbye to his mummy and daddy for the
last time.
Buffy, meanwhile, is too scared to go to sleep in case she wakes to
find her parents gone, and tiptoes into their room in the middle of the
night to check that Tim and Gina are still there.
She's reluctant to leave their side, choosing to play with dolls and
colouring books in the living room rather than in her pink bedroom. She
cries each morning as she says goodbye at the school gates.
"All three are extra clingy and constantly fight for our attention,"
says Tim, who has a heart condition and cannot work.
"If they don't see us at the school gates the moment the bell rings
they freak out, so we have to get there 10 minutes early and stand in
exactly the same spot. We take them everywhere with us because they
refuse to go to babysitters. But whenever we see the children angry or in
tears, we have to remember that it's not their fault.
"They were ripped from us and still don't understand why. They think
it was because they were naughty, even though we've tried to explain it to
them as best we can."
The family's terrible ordeal began on May 15, 2004. An 11-year-old boy
had been invited to play with the children in the paddling pool and later
in the day he and Buffy were sent to change out of their swimming gear and
into their bed clothes.
But when Tim went upstairs he found the boy, minus his pyjama bottoms,
on top of his five-year-old daughter whose nightie was above her waist.
Furious, he called the police who were followed by social services.
And there began the chain of events that ripped the family to pieces.
Weeks later, Buffy sat with her mummy in hospital while she winced and
sobbed as she endured an internal examination. The results devastated her
parents.
The doctor said Buffy was the victim of chronic sexual abuse by an
adult. Tim immediately became a suspect.
The medical report also said the abuse might have been caused by an
implement, thereby also casting suspicion on Gina.
It wasn't long before social services called at the family's terraced
home, wanting to take the children into care. "They said if we didn't
hand them over they'd get a court order to take them from us," says Tim.
"After three sleepless nights and endless hours of talking, we felt
forced to agree to their demands."
Banned from discussing details of the investigation with their
children, Tim and Gina drove their distraught children to the social
services office, telling them they were going on a little holiday.
Staff whisked Zara, Ieuan and Buffy from their parents' arms as soon as
they arrived. They were not even allowed to say goodbye and heard screams
of "Mummy! Daddy!" even after they'd left the building.
Over the next bleak two years, Tim and Gina saw their children for
90-minute supervised sessions each week. They missed milestones such as
birthdays, learning to ride bikes and school plays and two Christmasses
spent in terrible, lonely misery.
This year Tim and Gina have again spent more than they can afford on
Christmas.
"All we ever wanted was our kids back where they belonged," says Tim.
"Of course we spoil them, we can't help it because we feel we have to make
it up to them."
Jessica Good, solicitor for the family, is still fighting their corner.
She says: "Brushing things under the carpet does not help. We will
take all the possible steps to secure publication of the full overview
report. I hope Tim and Gina can discover the truth about why this
happened to them."
But for now, Christmas is a chance to forget for a while.
Ieuan is secretly trying to rip the corners of the Transformer wrapping
paper to peek inside a giant present under the tree.
Buffy has knocked a bauble to the floor and Zara almost stands on it in
stocking feet.
Within seconds the three are shouting at each other and the Williams'
house is filled with the noise of excited, argumentative children. And
that's exactly how they like it.
In care According to the Association For Adoption And Fostering there
are 60,000 kids - equal to 150 primary schools - in care.
Our two years of torment
How the family's nightmare unravelled...
MAY 15 2004
Tim calls police when 11-year-old boy found on top of five-year-old
Buffy.
JUNE 8 2004
Buffy is examined in hospital.
JULY 26 2004
Hospital examination results cast suspicion on Tim and Gina.
AUGUST 23 2004
Children taken into care.
APRIL 29 2005
Local authority applies for court order to ensure children remain in
care.
SEPTEMBER 22 2006
Children returned home after Buffy is re-examined by an American
doctor, who insists she was not abused.
OCTOBER 17 2006
High Court judgement passed, rejecting allegations of abuse.
DECEMBER 14 2007
The Newport Safe guarding Children Board's report criticises Newport
City Council, the Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust and the Gwent police.

Kiddie Shrinks Use Fear Marketing
December 16, 2007
In New York the shrinks who put labels on normal or gifted children
have resorted to fear to sell their unnecessary services. The
threats in the form of ransom notes will fall flat with families
who have already received real-life ransom demands from their local
child protection agencies.
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Clicking on one of the paragraphs below will bring up the
image used in the campaign.
We are in possession of your
son. We are making him squirm and fidget until he is a detriment to
himself and those around him. Ignore this and your kid will pay…ADHD
We have your son.We are
destroying his ability for social interaction and driving him into a life
of complete isolation. It's up to you now…Asperger's Syndrome
We have your son. We will
make sure he will no longer be able to care for himself or interact
socially as long as he lives. This is only the beginning…Autism.
We have your daughter. We
are forcing her to throw up after every meal she eats. It’s only going to
get worse. --Bulimia
We have taken your son.
We have imprisoned him in a maze of darkness with no hope of ever getting
out. Do nothing and see what happens…Depression
We have your daughter. We are
making her wash her hands until they are raw, everyday. This is only the
beginning…OCD
Our response:
To: Children's aid societies, psychiatrists, therapists, social
workers, divorce lawyers, coroners, group home operators and Office of the
Children's Lawyer: We know who you are. We will continue to expose your
malfeasance and racketeering until you no longer have the money and power
you need to hold our children for ransom.
Addendum: On December 19 the campaign was
abandoned for being too controversial.
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The New York Times
December 20, 2007
Ransom-Note Ads About Children’s Health Are Canceled
By JOANNE KAUFMAN
The Child Study Center at New York University said on Wednesday that it
would halt an advertising campaign aimed at raising awareness of
children’s mental and neurological disorders after the effort drew a
strongly negative reaction.
The two-week-old campaign, created pro bono by the advertising agency
BBDO, used the device of ransom notes to deliver ominous messages
concerning disorders like autism, depression, bulimia and
attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The note about autism, for example, read: “We have your son. We will
make sure he will no longer be able to care for himself or interact
socially as long as he lives.”
Advocates for children with autism and for other special-needs children
said the ads reinforced negative stereotypes.
“While many individuals spoke to us about the need to continue the
campaign, inadvertently we offended others,” said Dr. Harold S.
Koplewicz, the Child Study Center’s founder and director, who estimated
that he had received 3,000 e-mail messages and phone calls. Thirty
percent of those praised the initiative, he said, and 70 percent expressed
anger and hurt.
“One woman was crying to me on the phone that she felt alone and
ashamed about her child and thanking me because the campaign captured how
she felt,” he said. “But we also heard from some parents who are working
day and night to help their children, and the way they read the ransom
messages was that they weren’t doing enough.”
Ultimately, Dr. Koplewicz said, “I was concerned about the focus of
the debate being on the ads rather than on the children.”
Kristina Chew, founder of the blog Autism Vox and the mother of a
10-year-old son with autism, praised the decision. “I’m very glad the
campaign is over,” she said.
Dr. Koplewicz said he had “started conversations” with critics of the
ransom-note ads. “They said they felt our intentions were good and they
wanted to help, so we want to hear their voices as we start to plan the
next ads with BBDO.” The goal is to introduce a new campaign in the next
three months.
He said that the decision was made by the Child Study Center with no
pressure from N.Y.U., and he maintained that, despite the negative
publicity, no ground had been lost.
“It’s the first time that the issue of children’s mental health has
gotten national attention without being precipitated by a shooting at a
high school or college,” he said.
Culture of Suspicion
December 15, 2007
A discussion on a private forum dealt with the subject of the feelings of
the victims of CAS child theft. Participants spoke of anger, torment,
guilt, shame fear, hate, disgrace and disappointment. CAS targets develop
the same habits as eastern Europeans under communism, constantly wondering
who to trust, and who not. Our previous research indicated that losing a
child to abduction was more painful than seeing a child die. Below are
comments by two of the participants, copied with permission.
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luvmykids
My spouse and I have three children who were never abused but taken
away anyway cause the grandparents who are abusive and criminals said so.
We had a beautiful family and I'm not sure if we are going to get them
back or not but if we do I'm afraid of all the damage that may have been
done to our children. I'm afraid we won't be the family we used to be.
My youngest son who is just turning 4 doesn't understand why he was taken
from his loving parents and older siblings. So far we have missed almost
a year of our children growing and learning, birthdays and the youngest's
first day of school. The CAS are abusive and emotionally traumatizing
hundreds of families. When are they going to be held responsible for all
the damage they have done?
Sela
I lost everything. I lost my children. My husband, as I knew him. I
lost my closest family members....., my friends. My closest friend even.
I lost my life as it was.
My neighbours wouldn't speak to me and gave me dirty looks.
Sela
I used to be a fairly trusting person. I didn't have a hard time
trusting people and I gave most people the benefit of the doubt.My trust
has now been deeply and violently violated, by so many people that I have
a hard time trusting anyone. My life seems severely altered. Without
trust it is very difficult to for many kind of relationship with others.
This is a major effect that I have suffered at the hands of liars,
back-stabbers, betrayers and the CAS who did not attempt to sort out the
truth.
I am hardly interested in making new friends, where before I was
well-liked and I loved my friends. But now I get irritated easily by
people. I find myself wanting to distance myself, rather that trying to
make friends.
I am now suspicious of almost everyone.
How to Train Prostitutes, Criminals and Addicts
December 14, 2007
An article in a Vancouver magazine shows that the province's foster care
system is a training ground for the next generation of social misfits. Half
of mass-killer Robert Pickton's victims were former foster kids. Leaving
more kids with parents is suggested as the best remedy.
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Neglected by the province, foster care is a fast track to
the streets
By Pieta Woolley, Publish Date: December 13, 2007
A veteran of Downtown Eastside street life, Jody Coyen says the
abuse that drives kids into the foster care system could be
addressed with better social supports.
Jody Coyen isn't surprised that half of the women Robert Pickton is
guilty of killing are alumnae of the provincial foster-care system. At
34, she's already a veteran of the Downtown Eastside's street life and was
friends with many of the missing women. In an interview at the Ovaltine
Cafe on December 11, Coyen told the Georgia Straight that "most people
down here have the same story. They were abused as children, come from
alcoholic homes, stayed in foster care."
In fact, 65 percent of people who live on the street are former kids in
care, according to a study commissioned by the B.C. Federation of Foster
Parent Associations. The statistic chills the federation's president,
Melanie Filiatrault. Having fostered 42 children, she knows some of them
are not making good choices and are vulnerable, just like Pickton's
victims.
"It just makes my heart ache," she told the Straight in a phone
interview. "It's almost criminal."
Filiatrault is travelling around B.C., asking foster families what
supports they need to help kids in care make better choices. It's an
ongoing project, she said, as foster parents know "the names, addresses,
and phone numbers of tomorrow's homeless".
About 9,000 children and youths are in the care of the Ministry of
Children and Family Development, according to its Web site. At the
University of Victoria, the Promoting Positive Outcomes for Youth From
Care project studies what happens to youths after they graduate from the
system at 19. It found that within 2.5 years after leaving: 85 percent
had been charged with a crime; 38 percent had been diagnosed with
depression; and 41 percent reported using marijuana at least a few times
per week. Just 21 percent of youths in care graduate from high school,
compared to 78 percent across the province.
On November 26, the provincial child and youth officer, Mary Ellen
Turpel-Lafond, released a report that found that only 18 of retired judge
Ted Hughes's 62 child-protection recommendations had been implemented
since they were accepted by the government in April 2006. The
recommendations grew out of a review of the entire child-welfare system,
precipitated by the 2002 Port Alberni beating death of foster child Sherry
Charlie. Earlier this month, the B.C. Liberals refused to increase
Turpel-Lafond's budget. She had asked for $6.558 million for 2008-09 but
received one-third less.
In light of Turpel-Lafond's report and the Pickton case, the province
should play a much bigger role in keeping its children in care from
becoming victims, Adrianne Montani told the Straight in a phone interview.
Montani is the provincial coordinator for First Call: B.C. Child and
Youth Advocacy Coalition. The bigger role will require lighter case loads
for social workers, better welfare rates, better budgets for children's
services, and a commitment to fund the Ministry of Children and Family
Development on the basis of need rather than arbitrarily, as happens now,
she said.
"The research tells us that being in foster care is a prognosis for a
big vulnerability to an unproductive life," Montani said. "People end up
very, very fragile and vulnerable, so they self-medicate as there's so
much pain when you're taken away from your family."
She noted that there are plenty of excellent foster parents and some
not-so-great ones. But the real problem with the system is that kids are
taken away from their parents in the first place, and that creates a base
of instability that is difficult to repair.
Realistically, Montani said, some children will always need to be
apprehended, as their families cannot care for them safely. However, she
said, the number of apprehensions could be cut dramatically if B.C.
families were supported properly. Income assistance does not provide
enough money to feed kids a proper diet, she said, which makes those
families vulnerable to apprehension. The minimum wage is so low, families
can barely afford proper clothing and furniture–again, making them
vulnerable to apprehension. An accessible child-care system would help
families dramatically, she said.
Indeed, the executive director of the B.C. Association of Social
Workers, Linda Korvin, said there has always been a lack of political will
to care for children and youths properly.
"The system has been underfunded since long before my time," she told
the Straight in a phone interview. "It's because they're people without a
voice.…I think the public cares when there's a tragedy [such as the
homicide of Savannah Hall], but when it's not in the news, people go on to
other things. There's not enough consistent public pressure."
Coyen said she wishes the government had intervened when she was a
child. Physical abuse, sexual abuse of both her and her brother, and an
alcoholic mother pushed her into addiction by the time she was a young
teen, she said. Had her mom received some parenting support, she said,
her life might have turned out differently.
Staffer Hated Group Home Work
December 14, 2007
A blogger signing her post "Lindsay" describes life as a group home
worker. The constraints of the job foster negative attitudes toward the
work. It is no wonder the inmates do not make progress.
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Thursday, December 13, 2007
Kinda crazy news for me a couple weeks ago. Before I got the job that
I have now, I worked in a female adolescent residential facility, or in
layman's terms, a group home for youth that have been placed into the
Children's Aid Society's care. It was a shitty job. Most people in my
field do put their time in there, but never usually last long because the
pay is shitty for the work we do. And there's no where to move with it,
and the burn out rate is incredibly high! I was working with 6 girls,
ranging from 13-18. Anyways, I came to find out that one of my girls was
involved in a murder a couple weeks ago. She stabbed a girl over a fight
about a boy. I could not believe it. She was 13 when I was with her, and
now she's 18. I was just completely shocked! I know that often group
home kids do not turn their life around, and end up living on the streets,
or following the same chaotic life cycle that they are used to. Anyways,
needless to say, I've seen a few interviews that the girl has given and
she has not changed a bit. She was all about me when I knew her, and that
seems to be the case now. She's looking for her 15 minutes of fame, and
unfortunately she thinks that negative behaviours are the way to get it.
So that was kind of interesting. On the news one night, they were
interviewing street kid that was friends with the girl that was killed,
and here it was another one of my girls from the group home. Kinda sad
when you see them now and see that they haven't turned it around.
Lindsay
Jail for Grandpa
December 13, 2007
The British prison system is short of space for murderers and rapists,
but has found room to house grandfather Charles Roy Taylor for the offense
of meeting his own grandson.
Jack Frost, who brought attention to this case with internet articles in
October, says Britain has 200 cases a year of persons jailed by family courts in
secret proceedings.
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From The Times, December 13, 2007
Free the 'Grandfather One'
Is it really in the public interest that a grandparent is
jailed for not avoiding his grandson?
Camilla Cavendish
Two MPs have put down an early day motion in the House of Commons to
bring attention to what they believe is a miscarriage of justice. It
notes that a man named Charles Roy Taylor has been sent to prison for 20
months for being in contact with his stepgrandson. It “wonders if this is
a good use of scarce prison resources; and calls for the Secretary of
State for Justice to consider whether he should be released for
Christmas”. Jack Straw no doubt has bigger things on his mind. And no
story like this is ever as simple as it looks. But it deserves attention.
Charles Roy Taylor is a 71-year-old with a heart condition. He knew
that a jail sentence was the penalty he might pay if he did not take steps
to avoid his stepgrandson. But this seems desperately unfair. The
teenager, whom we shall call John, has been in care since his mother died
of an overdose. He has been phoning his grandparents and running away to
see them for some time. In the end, social services became concerned that
the grandparents were “undermining the care plan” by continuing to see
John. It does not appear to be clear to the grandparents what the care
plan is. But it does not seem to include them, even though they could
presumably be John's first port of call when he leaves the care system at
18.
It is not the local authority's fault that this child had a difficult
childhood. In taking responsibility for him, social workers were doing
their best. Neither he nor his grandparents sound like the easiest people
to deal with. But as in so many cases of this kind, bitterness between
the family and the authorities appears to have escalated into a ludicrous
situation, which simply cannot be in the best interests of the child.
After a great deal of argy-bargy that I cannot go into for legal
reasons, Mr Taylor last year gave an undertaking not to communicate with
John until he was 18. But asking a man not to pick up the phone to a
child, not to take him in when he turns up at the front door, is a harsh
demand. It is tantamount to asking him to deny that the child exists,
when what that child may need most is attention.
In stalking cases, when Person A is ordered to avoid Person B, it is
usually at the explicit request of Person B, who fears assault. In this
case, Person B was apparently desperate to see his grandparents. He seems
to see them as his best hope. So in whose interests was such an order?
If he has broken his undertaking, Mr Taylor has surely been responding as
humanely as most of us would. A jail sentence seems wholly
disproportionate.
When I first learnt of this case I felt that there must be more to it.
That perhaps the grandparents were suspected of abuse. I can find no
evidence of any such allegation. Indeed, the authorities initially seemed
happy to leave them in contact with John. What appears to have happened
is that the exchanges between the family and social workers became
increasingly bitter, all of whom no doubt believed themselves to be in the
right.
The council cannot comment on individual cases. It will say only that
“Mr Taylor was sentenced by the High Court after he breached a court
order”. It cannot comment on John's treatment in care. John seems
unhappy. He has apparently asked to be discharged. But his voice can
only be heard within the system, a system he seems determined to rebel
against.
There is a growing campaign on the internet to release Mr Taylor. This
has two parts. The first is that a 20-month jail sentence is preposterous
when the prisons are so overcrowded that dangerous criminals are being
released early. The second is that Mr Taylor was allegedly committed to
jail in a “secret court”. This seems unlikely. But it is an allegation
that is made frequently. Legally, you cannot send someone to jail in a
secret court. In practice, it is questionable whether a judge sitting in
a family court from which press and public are excluded, who declares the
court open for a few minutes to pronounce sentence, is really “open”.
This matters, because the view of the legal profession increasingly
seems to be that the less we know the better. The justification for
keeping family courts closed, despite the recommendations of the Commons
Constitutional Affairs Select Committee, is to protect children's privacy.
Yet this argument is no longer confined to the family courts. It is
increasingly being trotted out in criminal cases too.
In the past month, one court has ruled that the defendants in a
witchcraft trial, who were alleged to have done unspeakable things to
children, could not be named in case this led to the identification of
their victims. Another court banned publication of anything about a
mother accused of poisoning her child with salt, in case the information
affected her surviving child. The Times has recently succeeded in
overturning yet another ruling, that a man who pleaded guilty to making
indecent images of children could not be named in case his relatives might
suffer. The Court of Appeal found that the man should be named, and that
the attempts to restrict the proceedings were invalid.
The law must not become a secret process. Some lawyers seem convinced
that the media want to identify vulnerable children, but it is always
possible to write these stories without doing so. Seeing that justice is
done is a fundamental part of law.
What is sad is that our elaborate system of child protection, which is
designed to put children first, has sometimes become a way of avoiding
accountability. The two MPs are right to ask whose interests Mr Taylor's
jailing serves. Presumably, the last thing John wants is for his
grandfather to be in jail. They are both victims of a system that asks us
to take on trust that it knows best. But prison is surely the wrong place
for Charles Roy Taylor.
Multiple Abuses by Halton CAS
December 12, 2007
In conjunction with the Barb Turkowska case (below), Canada Court Watch
has posted a number of other problems with Halton CAS.
- A family was broken up in January 1995. When the clergy intervened to
urge reunification, CAS threatened the church. A letter from Brian
Pearson summarized the case. The family has not been reunited, even in
2007.
- Within the past two weeks a teenager in the care of Halton CAS gave a
video statement to Canada Court Watch. She reported being beaten and
robbed while inside a CAS supervised facility.
- Within the past week, Halton CAS has refused to provide a membership
list, as required by the Corporations Act. Canada Court Watch hints
they may be concealing irregularities in the list.
The full story is posted on the Canada Court Watch home page in the
entry for December 12, 2007. Below you can expand the letter of Brian
Pearson.
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The original has a handwritten note:
PLEASE NOTE
Names of family erased because of court order banning identity
of child + family.
Where the original had an erased name, we have inserted
[surname], [mother], [father] or [daughter].
The letter is on the letterhead of:
St Stephen's Anglican Church
1121 - 14th Avenue South West
Calgary, Alberta T2R 0P3
April 12, 2000
To whom it may concern:
I am pleased to provide this statement regarding my dealings with the
Children's Aid Society through 1995 in support of and, at times, on behalf
of the [surname] family, members of St Simon's Anglican Church,
Oakville, where I was rector from 1992 to 1997.
The unfolding of the circumstances involving the [surname]s
and the Halton Region Children's Aid Society, right from the beginning,
revealed to me a shocking abuse of power on the part of the CAS, a callous
disregard for fair process, and an unwillingness to make any attempt to
reintegrate [daughter], the [surname]'s daughter, with
her family following her removal from the home in January, 1995. Instead,
[daughter] became a pawn in the battle of wills between
[father], her father, in his attempts to see her receive proper
medical and psychiatric attention, and the CAS, who seemed solely
concerned to protect their reputation after a botched handling of the
case.
My involvement with the family has been documented elsewhere (in
separate statements including those dated January 26, June 26, September
18 and December 10, 1995). This statement concerns my attempts on their
behalf to effect a breaking of the impasse that existed between the family
and the CAS as the case entered the fall of 1995.
In the fall of 1995, Irene Richards, a church member well known to the
[surname]s, and I visited Ann Mulvale, Mayor of Oakville, outside
the Halton Region council chambers. Ms Mulvale was aware of the
circumstances involving the [surname]s and the CAS and was
offering to help us gain access to the Board of Directors of the Halton
Region CAS through Ron Carter, a Regional Councillor and a member of the
CAS Board, in order to raise our concerns that the family had never
received a fair hearing. She introduced us to Ron Carter, who promised to
take our concerns to the next Board meeting. The result of this
intervention on our behalf, conveyed to us by Ms Mulvale, was that Mr
Carter was told at that meeting that this was one of the "worst cases of
abuse the CAS had ever dealt with". No further information was offered
substantiating this claim and Mr Carter felt no choice but to withdraw his
questions.
In November, 1995, I sought an appointment with Terrance Young, MPP for
Oakville North, to seek his help in pressing for a full investigation into
the case by the Minister of Community and Social Services. He agreed to
meet with the [surname]s and then, having done so, promised to
help in contacting the Minister's office. However, following a phone
conversation with CAS director Ron Coupland the next week, Mr Young
suddenly withdrew his support. Mr Coupland had reiterated to Mr Young
that this was one of the "worst cases of abuse the CAS had ever dealt
with". Furthermore, in reference to a current media report from the US
about a Sri Lankan man kidnapping his intended bride, Mr Coupland had
added, "Maybe they do that sort of thing there!". Mr Young asked that
neither he nor Mr Coupland be quoted, but said that with this new
"evidence" he could no longer offer to help the [surname]s in
their quest for a fair hearing.
But most significant was a meeting that took place on September 26,
1995, in the office of the Right Reverend Walter Asbil, then Bishop of the
Anglican Diocese of Niagara. In attendance were the Bishop himself, Rob
Welch, diocesan Chancellor (legal advisor to the diocese), Archdeacon
Ralph Spence, myself, and two lawyers: David MacKenzie, representing the
CAS, and Megan Pallett, representing the child, [daughter]. The
meeting had been sought by David MacKenzie in the wake of some damaging
public comments that had been made by local Anglican churches about the
CAS in relation to this case.
At this meeting several revelations were made about the relationship of
the CAS to the diocese. One was that the church could expect to "have egg
on its fact" for attempting to take up the [surname]s' cause.
Another was that, should the father, [father], fail to be reigned
in in his fight with the CAS, he could "lose his daughter forever". Both
of these seemed to be veiled threats directed at the church should it
continue to help the [surname]s press for a fair hearing.
At the same meeting, both David MacKenzie and Megan Pallett agreed that
the issue was no longer whether or not abuse had taken place; the issue
was protecting the child because the believed abuse had taken
place, causing the CAS to step in on her behalf. Megan Pallett agreed
that, in any case, steps ought to be taken to reintegrate
[daughter] with the family through visits arranged with her
mother, [mother]. This reintegration has never taken place, now
more than five years later.
At every turn, as these events show, the CAS, from early on, sought to
discourage and dissuade those who sought to raise questions about its
handling of the case and who supported the [surname]s in their
quest for a fair hearing. This did nothing to assuage the concerns of
many people, myself included, that the CAS was more interested in
protecting itself than it was in protecting and working for her
reintegration into her family.
Respectfully,
/signed/
Brian E Pearson
Rector, St Stephen's Church
Secret Police Charge Family
December 12, 2007
Halton Police are prosecuting in a case in which a social worker left
documents in a private home. There is no way to be sure, but this looks
like the case we reported on October
26, in which the worker is identified as Barb Turkowska. So who is
being prosecuted? Not the social worker, but the family who got her
incompetent services.
Do you think this is a miscarriage of justice? Do you want to support
the unfairly prosecuted family? You cannot. The proceedings are secret.
You are not allowed to know the name of the aggrieved family.
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The Halton Herald
Halton Children's Aid Worker Compromises Private
Confidential Client Information
Posted on Monday, December 10 @ 17:58:27 EST by editor
Halton: The Halton Regional Police Service reported today, that they
have laid charges in connection to a complaint made by the Halton
Children's Aid Society after confidential files were left at an Oakville
client's home.
According to the report; "towards the end of October 2007, Halton
Children's Aid Society files were left at the home of a CAS client family
in Oakville. The files in question contained confidential information
about a number of client families of the Halton Children's Aid Society".
The Police report failed to note what 'type' of "confidential information"
was contained in the file.
The report alleges; "CAS officials attempted unsuccessfully to
retrieve the documents. As a result, the Halton Regional Police Service
was contacted and asked to investigate the matter.
On December 8th, 2007 the police investigation resulted in the couple
that came into possession of the CAS documents being charged criminally
with Theft and Mischief."
Police reported; "The Theft charge resulted from the use of the
documents by the couple after they came into possession of them". Once
again, the report failed to report; what 'type' of "use" of the documents
resulted in - theft charges being laid.
The report did note, however; "The Mischief charge resulted from the
couple's refusal to return the highly sensitive documents to the
Children's Aid Society, despite efforts made to retrieve them". No
mention was made in the report as to whether or not the department
retrieved the documents or if the documents might still be at large.
The department did report; "A 33 year old man and 33 year old woman,
both Oakville residents, have been charged. They will not be identified,
as the Children's Aid Society is still involved with them and their
children on a client basis. Both are scheduled to appear in Milton Court
on January 30th, 2008."
Addendum: This family currently does not want to
attract attention. Any efforts at helping in the case should be directed to
Canada Court Watch.
Return of Adoption Disclosure
December 11, 2007
Ontario is proposing to replace the adoption disclosure law, changing
acronyms from AIDA to AARA. Here is the press release from the Ministry of Community and Social Services. You
can already read bill 12, Access to Adoption Records Act (Vital Statistics Statute Law Amendment),
2007. Below is an announcement from COAR, giving an analysis of the
bill.
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COAR Update
Today we met with staff members of the Ministry of Community and Social
Services. They have created a new adoption disclosure bill. If it passes
it will replace the Adoption Information Disclosure Act (AIDA), portions
of which Judge Belobaba deemed unconstitutional.
The New Bill
The new bill allows:
- Adopted adults (18 and older) to access their original birth
registration.
- Birth parents of adoptees (19 and older) to access the information
found in the amended and original birth certificates.
- Birth parents and adopted adults to file a contact veto
- Birth parents and adopted adults to file a disclosure veto
- Individuals who file a disclosure veto to provide updated medical and
family histories.
The new bill is very similar to AIDA. The major changes are as
follows:
- The addition of the disclosure veto. The disclosure veto will expire
after death. Individuals may withdraw the veto at any time.
- Individuals who fear that disclosure may cause them harm no longer may
apply to the Child and Family Services Board to keep their names
hidden
- Birth parents will not have to wait while the CAS determines whether
their child was removed due to abuse. Their applications will be
processed more quickly.
There is one other addition which we feel is very good news.
Individuals adopted on or after September 1, 2008 and their birth parents
will not be able to file a disclosure veto. They will have unrestricted
access to information once the adoptee becomes an adult.
Moving the Bill Through the Legislature Today, the government
introduced the bill to the legislature. They anticipate that it will
return for second reading in early spring. It will then go to committee
and return to the legislature for third reading. While we are very
pleased that the government has created a new bill so quickly, we realize
that we will have to wait several more months before we can apply for
information.
We did discuss the current process and were assured that the government
will resolve the issues many of you experienced finding applications for
non-identifying information and the registry online. If you continue to
have problems with this, please let us know and we will make sure that the
government knows about them.
Like you we are disappointed to see the introduction of a disclosure
veto but we all know that once this new bill becomes law we will be in a
much better place than we were before the introduction of AIDA. Based on
evidence from other jurisdictions we know that very few people will file a
disclosure veto and that the vast majority of adopted adults and their
birth parents will have access to their information.
In solidarity,
Michael Grand mgrand@uoguelph.ca
Karen Lynn ccnm@rogers.com
Wendy Rowney wrowney@rogers.com
Perfect Gift for Him
December 9, 2007
The problems with family law do not all originate with social workers.
Below we copy the beginning of a FathersCan blog post illustrating the
attitudes of a bookseller.
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November 7, 2007.
Ms. Heather Reisman
C.E.O.
Indigo Books and Music Inc.
Dear Ms. Reisman,
Earlier this evening I was in the Chapters store at Square One in
Mississauga browsing around to see what was new and what was on sale as I
frequently do.
I noted two tables in the bargain books section of the store. One had
a sign saying "Great Gifts for Her". The other, of course, was "Great
Gifts for Him". I went over to take a look.
On the "Great Gifts for Her" table were books on Meditation,
Watercolour Painting; books on must see movies and must read books; and
collections of Bronte Sister stories and other short story collections.
On the "Great Gifts for Him" table were "The World's Worst Criminals",
"The World's Worst Crimes", "Murder Stories", "Homicide Stories", "Crime
Stories", and "Crimes of Passion".
For the rest of the letter, refer to the source.
James Williams
National Director of Operations
FathersCan
Ottawa
Children of Ontario Smokers to be Seized
December 7, 2007
The law we predicted on November
22 is now pending in the provincial parliament. It is Bill 11, An Act to amend the Smoke-Free Ontario Act to protect children and youth
from second-hand smoke in motor vehicles. When proclaimed, Ontario
police will be issuing tickets for smoking while driving with a child in the
car.
The most important question is not the amount of the fine, but will
children's aid societies confiscate the children? The answer is yes,
regardless of what the law says. It is standard procedure in Ontario to
notify children's aid whenever police issue a ticket for a safety offense
with a child in the car. The fact that children fare better with imperfect
parents than in foster or group homes will count for nothing when a platoon
of social workers marches on your family. And for non-smokers, don't think
your children are safe. They can be seized if they hitch a ride with a
smoker.
Adoptive Non-Love
December 7, 2007
An adopted boy is the subject of attempted homicide by his "forever dad",
child protective services worker Art Bracke. This case is another example
of a child protection insider with an adopted child.
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dailypress.com
Man charged with attempted murder
A retired social services officer set fire to his home with
his son inside, officials say.
By NICOLAS ZIMMERMAN, 247-4760, December 4, 2007
MIDDLESEX
— A retired Middlesex County social services officer is awaiting
extradition from a Maryland jail to Middlesex County on charges he torched
his Wake home while his adopted son slept inside.
Art Bracke, who retired this summer after more than 20 years as a child
protective services officer in Middlesex, is charged with arson and
first-degree attempted murder in the Nov. 17 fire at his Mill Wharf Road
home.
A state police arson investigator was called to the scene shortly after
firefighters responded to the blaze around 1 p.m. Nov. 17, according to
Lavinia Thornton, public information officer for the Middlesex Sheriff's
department.
Josh Bracke, 19, was inside the home when the fire started but was
unharmed, Thornton said. He told police later that when he ran out of the
house, he saw his father speed out of the driveway, according to the
sheriff's office.
Around 5 p.m. that day, Bracke, 61, was involved in a head-on
collision near Joppa, Md., north of Baltimore, said Maryland State Police
Investigator J.E. DeCourcy. When Bracke was arrested, just a few miles
from the accident scene, he was carrying two handguns that were not
registered in Maryland, DeCourcy said.
Bracke was taken into custody and charged by Maryland state police with
DUI, leaving the scene of an accident and two counts of possession of a
concealed deadly weapon.
As the county's senior social services officer, Bracke investigated
reports of child abuse and neglect and worked with courts to place
children in foster homes. According to press clippings and a Web site
maintained by Bracke, he founded and served as executive director of New
Beginnings, a therapeutic foster home for boys located in Newport News and
later in Middlesex.
He ran the home from 1975 to 1985, according to his Web site.
Bracke is being held without bail at the Harford County Detention
Center, Bel Air, Md. Extradition to Virginia should take about a month,
Thornton said.
Unholy Trinity
December 6, 2007
The Harold Levy blog on Dr Charles Smith posted an item on December 3
reporting that the Ontario government provided funding for Dr Smith to sue
the CBC for an unfavorable broadcast report on November 10, 1999. The
comment below is posted by a person knowledgeable about the subject matter
of the inquiry, but who wants to remain anonymous.
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December 4, 2007 5:57 AM
To believe that the problems in the Coroner's office are limited to the
time frame of one "Dr Charles Smith" would be tantamount to revitalizing
the thought process that the world is flat.
This is merely a sacrificial lamb from the lions den.
Feel free to take pictures, form comments, but don't scratch more than
the surface. In the realm of Pediatric Death Investigations, Pediatric
Death Review Committees there is a clear absence of trained pediatric
specialists, however there is also a clear and present danger of the
"Trinity of Power" ie The Cops, The Coroner, and the CAS, poised to attack
the innocent family of a deceased child.
That is why most of us sit in silence, terrorized to the depths of our
souls. We know that there is no where to hide. If we build our cases,
take our notes and come forward, they will find a grow op in our homes,
create a reason to take our kids, tarnish our reputations, imprison
us.
We are the mothers and fathers of these children.
Don't "Goudge us again". Our precious babes are dead, our pockets are
empty from fighting the criminal investigations, the civil litigations,
our human rights and those of surviving children are non existent. We are
looking for an Angel of Mercy. With our empty arms, hardened hearts, we
are screaming out to you in our silence: STOP THIS MADNESS!!!
Truth and Justice await us all in the end.
Family Tricked
December 6, 2007
In our news comments we treat all children in custody of child protectors
as if they were seized by force of arms, even if the documents say parents
gave up the children voluntarily. That is because dozens of parents have
told us privately that those consents were obtained by coercion or
deception. Today's story from Guam is about a senior US Navy officer, David
G Matthews, who was cleared of child abuse by the police, but tricked into
getting his family onto a registry of child abusers.
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Guam News
Friday December 7, 2007
$1.9M suit filed against US Navy
By Gina Tabonares, Variety News Staff
A SENIOR ranking officer of the U.S. Navy filed a $1.9 million lawsuit
against the federal government for an alleged intentional infliction of
emotional distress and invasion of privacy.
David G. Matthews, a GS14 COMNAVMAR member, filed the claim under the
Federal Tort Claims Act in the District Court of Guam after the U.S. Navy
denied the claim he filed on May 18, 2007 against the Secretary of
Defense, the Secretary of the Navy, and COMNAVMAR Guam.
According to Matthews, the defendants’ reckless and unlawful conduct
irreparably damaged his good name and reputation, and compelled him to
seek early retirement from federal employment that resulted in significant
personal, professional and financial implications.
His case stemmed from an incident on June 14, 2005 when his wife Debora
was apprehended by COMNAVMAR security for alleged child abuse involving
their daughter.
On the same day, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service concluded
Debora Matthews did not abuse her daughter and the COMNAVMAR executive
officer and attorneys stated there was no criminal investigation by the
Navy or referral to the Guam Police Department.
Two days later, the Matthews couple received telephone calls from Vince
Pereda, a Family Advocacy Program case manager for the COMNAVMAR Fleet and
Family Support Center Guam. They briefly discussed the incident involving
Debora Matthews and her daughter.
A review of the FFSC case records reveals Pereda “maintained” case
notes as of June 16, 2005. Pereda discussed the case with a Guam Child
Protective Services worker after initiating records and without the
approval of the plaintiff and his wife.
The case manager and a Guam Child Protective Services worker told the
couple that they didn’t need an attorney and that there was no criminal
case, but they were never apprised of the potential consequences of their
discussions which is the purpose of the PA and FAP program description
document.
On June 17, 2005, Pereda asked Debora Matthews to sign two documents
which he stated were required to allow FFSC/CPS to interview their
daughter.
David Matthews, however, learned that the two documents were the
Privacy Act statement and the FFSC Program Description.
He said neither document was explained to them nor Pereda asked his
wife to read the documents prior to signing, describing the act as a trick
to have Debora Matthews to sign the forms.
The plaintiff asked a criminal investigation concerning the falsified
document but they felt that the defendant attempted to conceal the crime.
In September 2005, the Navy placed the plaintiff and his wife in a
military tribunal for alleged child abuse. As a result, the Matthews were
placed in a federal registry as child abusers.
The information that was illegally and unlawfully obtained from the
plaintiff and his wife was used against them in the tribunal.
The Matthews were concerned with the personal and professional
ramification of a military tribunal and, on Sept. 1, 2005, they asked the
U.S. Navy if they were eligible for Navy legal service support in regard
to the military tribunal but a Department of Defense employee said it was
a local call denying their eligibility.
The plaintiff said they were put in the child abuser registry and
labeled without due process.
Matthew said that placing his name under central registry will have
negative impact on his current and future employment and security
clearance.
The couple wrote a letter to COMNAVMAR and the DOD asking to remove
their names from the federal registry as child abusers and asked
additional information, but they were disregarded and provided no
response.
They asked the court for compensatory damages of $1.951.894, the
removal of their names from the federal registry as child abusers, to
provide them all information requested via the Freedom of Information Act,
and provide answers to all questions they asked in his original claim.
No More Shaken Babies
December 6, 2007
Over the past two decades there have been many cases of parents accused
of abuse or homicide on the basis of shaken baby syndrome. Testimony by
Michael Pollanen to the Goudge Inquiry suggests that this condition belongs
in the junk science category. English courts have already rejected the
syndrome. While reversal of criminal convictions is possible, no adoptions
will be undone to right two decades of wrongs.
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The Globe and Mail
MD casts doubt on shaken baby syndrome
KIRK MAKIN, JUSTICE REPORTER, December 6, 2007
The deaths of 142 Ontario babies since 1986 were attributed to a cause
many scientists now believe has been discredited - shaken baby syndrome -
the province's top forensic pathologist testified yesterday.
Michael Pollanen told Mr. Justice Stephen Goudge that skepticism about
SBS is so great that he should consider urging a review of the cases when
he produces his report next spring.
Dr. Pollanen said he did not know how many of the 142 cases were
investigated as suspicious deaths, resulting in criminal charges,
convictions or the seizure of siblings from the parents of the pediatric
victims.
"To be very straightforward, this would generate a lot of controversy
in the community... because it is very polarized," Dr. Pollanen said.
The inquiry was launched last spring to look at how the province's
former star pathologist, Charles Smith, was able to rise to the top of his
profession despite a series of autopsy errors that led to miscarriages of
justice.
However, Dr. Pollanen's revelation yesterday went beyond Dr. Smith to
include the work of other pathologists who diagnosed SBS - a conclusion
that was typically made upon the discovery of brain swelling and retinal
bleeding combined with tissue damage to the linings of the brain.
Dr. Pollanen said that in recent years, a significant segment of the
scientific community has come to believe that these symptoms can be found
in babies who suffer an accidental blow to the head or an innocent fall.
He testified that Britain took the lead a couple of years ago,
systematically re-examining a large number of SBS cases in what became
known as the Goldsmith review.
"In the U.K., some of these convictions were quashed," he said. "The
scope of the problem is not clear in Ontario. There needs to be some
consideration of whether we should undertake something like the Goldsmith
review."
Similar reviews may follow in other countries, Dr. Pollanen said.
"One of the factors to put fuel on the fire in the U.S. is that
traditionally, sentences have been robust in these kind of cases - the
death penalty or life imprisonment.
"In the face of what some people believe to be remarkable miscarriages
of justice in some of these cases, it really has polarized groups of
experts."
Dr. Pollanen also testified that:
A 1991 ruling by a judge of the Ontario Court of Justice who acquitted
a 12-year-old of murdering a baby was "a masterful analysis of the case
... that was slightly ahead of its time." Dr. Pollanen was effectively
endorsing the judge, Mr. Justice Patrick Dunn, who rejected Dr. Smith's
testimony in acquitting the babysitter. The inquiry has heard that Dr.
Smith often told colleagues that Judge Dunn later confided he regretted
the acquittal and should instead have convicted the babysitter.
With not a single medical school in Canada offering forensic pathology
training as an area of subspecialty, "I would say we have lagged about 40
years behind in comparison to other systems."
Forensic pathologists working in provincial coroners' systems are
"prohibitively" underpaid in comparison to their counterparts in the
private sector.
Defence counsel in Ontario will never have more than one or two
forensic pathologists willing to work on homicides unless legal aid
funding improves substantially and experts get over their revulsion for
disputing conclusions by colleagues testifying for the Crown.
Advances in forensic pathology have made it even more clear that a
Kingston baby known as Sharon definitely died of bites from a pit bull.
At the time, the fact that most of the injuries were to her neck,
shoulders and head was considered highly unusual and suggestive of a
homicidal stabbing. However, Dr. Pollanen said that recent studies have
shown that, unlike attacks on adults, dogs frequently savage those
portions of a child's anatomy.
State Ward Kills Eight
December 6, 2007
The gunman, Robert A Hawkins, who yesterday killed eight people and
himself in Omaha, Nebraska, was a state ward for four years. While in state
care he was diagnosed with three mood disorders. We don't know for sure
that he was medicated, but if not, this is the first time on record
psychiatrists diagnosed mood disorders without prescribing drugs. So this
continues the pattern of mass shootings by young people — the killer
was on psychotropic drugs, or separated from his father by force of arms, or
apparently as in this case, both.
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KETV.com
State Spent $265K On Hawkins' Care
Mall Shooter Was State Ward For 4 Years
UPDATED: 5:16 pm CST December 6, 2007
OMAHA, Neb. -- Nebraska spent $265,000 and four years trying to
provide help to the 19-year-old who became the Westroads Mall shooter on
Wednesday afternoon.
Eight people were killed, in addition to the shooter, Robert A.
Hawkins.
Gov. Dave Heineman said Hawkins became a ward of the state on Sept.
17, 2002, but parental rights were not terminated and none of his siblings
were state wards. Hawkins was terminated as a state ward on Aug. 24,
2006.
Todd Landry, the director of Child and Family Services for the
Department of Health and Human Services, said the state spent $265,000 on
services provided to Hawkins over the four years he was a state ward.
Landry said Hawkins was made a state ward with no parental fault, but
because he needed services, which included stays at residential centers
and in-patient at a hospital.
Landry said Hawkins stayed at a facility in Missouri called Piney
Ridge, plus Omaha's Cooper Village, Lutheran Family Services and Addiction
and Behavioral Health Services Inc. Landry said those homes provide
addiction counseling, mental-health counseling and behavioral counseling,
among other services, but he could not say exactly what Hawkins was
treated for under federal and state privacy laws.
Landry did say that one of the treatment periods came after Hawkins
threatened to kill his stepmother.
Hawkins Timeline:
- 2002 became ward of the state
- February 2003 taken to Cooper Village
- November 2003 arrested for a fight
- December 2004 enters foster care
- March 2005 charged with possession with intent to deliver
- December 2005 went to live with his father in La Vista
- August 2006 state care ends under court order
While a state ward, he was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder,
mood disorder, oppositional defiant disorder and parent-child relations
problems.
Landry said Hawkins was "provided quality services for a youth that
needed it."
Chief Outlines Shooter's Day
On Thursday morning, Omaha Police Chief Thomas Warren said Hawkins was
in and out of Von Maur before he opened fire.
Hawkins opened fire at 1:42 p.m. Wednesday. Warren said surveillance
video shows Hawkins entering the store twice. The second time, he entered
the main entrance on the first level of Von Maur about six minutes before
police received the first call for shots fired. He said the tapes show
that Hawkins was obviously hiding something in a black sweatshirt.
"He took the elevator to the third floor," Warren said. "Upon exiting
the elevator, he immediately started firing shots."
It seems that Hawkins started shooting near the children's department.
That's where 34-year-old attorney Jeff Schafford was shot in the arm.
On the third floor, Hawkins walked past the escalator atrium and shot
down to the second floor, killing a customer, the chief said. He then
walked to customer service.
"Several people were mortally injured. Multiple shots fired. In a
recessed customer service area, he encountered several individuals (then)
took his own life," Warren said.
Customers, shocked and scared, said that's when they began rushing for
exits. By the time police arrived, the shooting was over.
Warren speculated that at least 30 rounds were fired from an AK-47
rifle. Warren said he believes the weapon was stolen from Hawkins'
stepfather. Warren said the gun had two 30-round magazines with the
ability to fire off rounds quickly.
Hawkins apparently left two suicide notes and a will, prompting Warren
to call the shootings premeditated. The chief said people may never know
why he went on a rampage. Warren said it appears that the victims were
chosen randomly. He said it also appears the mall was chosen because it's
a large public place where he'd get a lot of attention.
Warren said Hawkins left voice and text messages for his mother,
friends and an ex-girlfriend and that Hawkins visited a friend near
Westroads before the shooting.
A woman who said she used to hang out with Hawkins said she and the Von
Maur shooter would smoke pot together. "Mandy" said her father forced her
to quit hanging out with Hawkins and his friends, and in recent weeks
she'd received threats from the group.
Mandy said Hawkins had threatened her and her family as recently as two
weeks ago. She said one message threatened to shoot her if she didn't
stop bad-mouthing Hawkins.
Hawkins was due in Sarpy County Court this month on minor in possession
charges. In 2006, charges filed against him in Washington County related
to drugs had been dropped.
Addendum: Here is definite word from his mother
that shooter Robert Hawkins started taking Ritalin and Zoloft early in
childhood.
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Mom: Omaha mall shooter was troubled child
Published: Dec. 13, 2007 at 8:11 PM
NEW YORK, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- A young man who killed eight people at a
Nebraska mall before taking his own life was a troubled child, his mother
said Thursday.
Maribel Rodriguez told ABC's "Good Morning America" that Robert Hawkins
was taking Ritalin, a drug given to hyperactive children, and the
anti-depressant Zoloft when he was 5. From 2002 to 2005, he moved through
a succession of foster homes after allegedly threatening his stepmother.
"I'm not a dictator, so I can't tell you what to think,'' Rodriguez
said during the interview."But as his mother I loved him, deeply and
without end. If you want to hate Rob, hate Rob. You don't need that type
of pain. It destroys your soul."
Hawkins had broken up with a girlfriend and lost his job not long
before the Dec. 5 shootings. He left a note that suggested he wanted to
be famous for something but also said that he did not want to "be a
burden" on his loved ones.
Smith Bullies Cop
December 5, 2007
Below is a letter describing an incident in which Dr Charles Smith
bullied a cop when given a speeding ticket. Our comments:
- The letter is second-hand, not of evidentiary quality.
- The average measured speed on Ontario's highway 401 (outside the Toronto
bottleneck) is 113 km/hr, so Dr Smith's alleged speed is not
outrageous.
- Threatening a cop shows a personality trait, that may have extended into
his pathology work.
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| date: | 18 November, 2002
| | from: | Northumberland OPP - Cobourg detachment
| | to: | Chief Coroner Dr. James Young
|
Dear Dr. Young.
An officer from my detachment has contacted me about the circumstances
of a traffic stop that I feel you should be aware of.
The stop took place on the 401 Highway near Percy Street in Cramahe
Township on the 9th of November, 2002. Constable Nancy Wagner advised the
driver she had clocked him at 136 km/hr and asked if he had a reason for
traveling at that speed. He indicated "I was passing". There was one
other occupant in the passenger seat, being an 18-20 year old male. The
officer showed some discretion and issued the driver a ticket for 115
km/hr which would result in no demerit points (instead of 4) and
approximately $200.00 less of a fine.
The driver got angry and said "did you not see my license plate?" The
officer said "Yes sir". He then said "Do you know who I am, I am the head
of Pediatric Forensic Pathology for this province." He asked "What office
do you work out of?" The officer responded "Northumberland OPP, Cobourg
office."
He then said "Next time Cobourg needs forensics on a child they won't
get one from our office."
The officer asked "So you are denying Cobourg your services because you
got a speeding ticket?" He then responded "Yes." The officer clarified
"You are going to risk an investigation for a family and child because you
got a speeding ticket?" He again motioned with a head nod up and down.
The officer advised the motorist she would be speaking to her Inspector
about the matter and he quickly drove off.
Constable Wagner was obviously very concerned by the statements made to
her. I do not think I need to comment further about the seriousness of
this matter.
I look forward to hearing from you in relation to this issue.
/Signed/ J. Szarka
Inspector J.J. (Jim) Szarka, Inspector and Detachment Commander.
More on Alana Livas
December 5, 2007
According to the latest news, five-year-old Alana Livas, taken from CAS
by her parents on November 29, suffers from rickets. Inside Toronto says
she currently has swelling of the wrists, ankles and rib area, and has heart
arrhythmia because of the illness. The girl went into CAS care in March,
yet still has serious symptoms. This could be one of the cases where
medical problems are the pretext for picking up a child who then gets only
perfunctory medical care.
Rickets is correctable with a diet containing calcium and vitamin D.
Both are present in fortified milk (the only kind now sold in Canada).
Photographs of the parents suggest the mother is not Caucasian, meaning the
girl could be lactose intolerant. Fish and certain fortified cereals are
other sources of vitamin D. Consulting a physician would almost certainly
mean relinquishing her back to perfunctory treatment, so she may be better
off without seeing a doctor. In case the parents find this website, here is
a list of vitamin D sources from the (US) National Institutes of Health.
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insidetoronto.com
Police seek information about missing girl
Abducted child may face serious medical issues
BY JOANNA LAVOIE, December 4, 2007 05:39 PM
Toronto Police are appealing for details regarding to the abduction of
five-year-old Alana Livas.
They are especially encouraging her parents, Peter and Vivene Livas, to
bring the child to a medical facility as she may experience serious
complications from Rickets, an illness brought on by deficiencies in
vitamin D and calcium.
There's a potential that Alana could experience an altering of her
heart's electrical function, which may lead to breathing problems, police
say. She currently has swelling of the wrists, ankles and rib area, and
has heart arrhythmia because of the illness.
"We're quite concerned about this and we're quite concerned that the
mom and dad aren't aware of this," said Det.-Sgt. Rick Searl, noting the
parents knew of their daughter's condition, but may be unaware of the
potential new complications.
"We're trying to appeal to the mom and dad to get Alana to a medical
facility."
Peter and Vivene Livas allegedly abducted Alana on the afternoon of
Thursday, Nov. 29 from a Children's Aid Society building on Kennedy Road.
The couple reportedly took the child from the facility's parking lot
following a supervised visit, driving away in a brown 1993 Acura Integra
with the licence plate number BCCL 451.
Police recovered that vehicle in Scarborough Monday afternoon with its
plates removed. Searl said police believe those plates were transferred
to a 1998, light blue GMC Jimmy.
Police are also reporting that the Livas may have access to several
other licence plate numbers including AJKA 478, 171 XRN, 279 RPE and JK
221.
Peter and Vivene Livas are currently out on bail and facing charges
related to a marijuana grow operation. Their daughter, Alana, is in the
custody of an aunt and has been under the supervision of the CAS since
March. She is described as white with a dark complexion and long,
straight, dark-brown hair.
Anyone with information can call police at 416-808-4100 or Crime
Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477) or online at www.222tips.com.
Dr David Southall Disqualified
December 4, 2007
British doctor David Southall was struck off, meaning he can no longer
practice medicine in the UK. His resumé looks like a duplicate of
Ontario's Dr Charles Smith. Lowlights of Dr Southall's career include
accusing many mothers of harming their own children, driving Sally Clark to
suicide with a years-long ordeal of false accusations, diagnosing a man as a
killer after seeing him on television, doing medical experiments on children
without parental consent and keeping secret files on those children. He has
appeared on these pages before on
August 30, 2006,
October 1, 2007 and
October 27, 2007.
For an example of Dr Southall's arrogance, see a 1997
interview (Google video).
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The Daily Telegraph
Misconduct case gets doctor struck off register
By Graham Tibbetts, Last Updated: 2:19am GMT 05/12/2007
A paediatrician who wrongly accused a mother of drugging and murdering
her son has been struck off the medical register for serious professional
misconduct.
Prof David Southall: guilty
This was the second time the General Medical Council had acted against
Prof David Southall.
Three years earlier, he falsely suggested that the husband of the
solicitor Sally Clark was responsible for the death of their two children.
Dr Jacqueline Mitton, the chairman of the Fitness to Practise panel,
said Prof Southall had "deep-seated attitudinal problems".
"Your misconduct is so serious that it is fundamentally incompatible
with your continuing to be a registered medical practitioner," she said.
Prof Southall, 59, did not react as the ruling was given.
The latest case involved a woman, named only as Mrs M, whose
10-year-old son hanged himself in 1996.
The medical council hearing was told that Prof Southall refused to
believe her version of events.
He insisted that she had taken needles from the hospital where she
worked to give him a lethal dose of drugs. Police officers found no
evidence to back his claims.
Prof Southall had maintained that he was investigating the death in a
"forensic manner" because he wanted to protect the woman's other son, who
was eight.
It was ruled last week that he had acted inappropriately and added to
the distress of the mother.
He was also found guilty of other failings linked to children in his
care during the 1980s and 1990s. These included removing medical notes to
create "special case" files on children, potentially putting them at risk.
Prof Southall, who worked at London's Royal Brompton Hospital and later
the North Staffordshire Hospital NHS Trust, was banned from working on
child abuse cases for three years in 2004.
He was found guilty of serious professional misconduct for his role in
the case of Mrs Clark, wrongly jailed over the deaths of her two sons.
He implied that her husband, Steve, was responsible after watching a
television documentary on the case.
Mr Clark was exonerated while Mrs Clark was found dead at her home in
Hatfield Peverel, Essex, in March this year after she "drank herself to
death".
The panel noted that Prof Southall had never apologised to the Clark
family or Mrs M.
He is immediately suspended from the medical register but has 28 days
to lodge an appeal.
In a statement read by his solicitor, Anne Ball, he said: "I'm
disappointed by today's decision because I have always maintained that the
decisions I took were in the best interest of the children involved."
Prof Southall received several expressions of support after the
hearing.
Dr Evan Harris, MP, said the ruling was "a serious miscarriage of
justice".
Psychologist Busted
December 3, 2007
Our glossary defines psych whore as:
Colloquialism among legal professionals to describe psychiatrists who
diagnose children with disorders in order to increase funding of child
protection agencies.
Three months ago psychologist Marsh Kleinman was charged with malpractice
in New Jersey, but the story just circulated on the internet. In Ontario,
children's aid societies have a reliable repertoire of such "experts" they
can rely on to give testimony slandering parents.
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Family Court Appointed Psychologist Charged by State
Attorney General's Office
July 31, 2007
Dear NJCCR Member Mothers, Fathers, Stepparents, Grandparents, Friends
and Family Advocates
The New Jersey State Attorney Generals office has officially charged
Psychologist Marsha Kleinman of Middlesex County NJ, with multiple counts
of malpractice. This development was made possible only through the
cooperation of one of our members with the State Attorney General’s
office. Ms. Marsha Kleinman is a court appointed Psychologist who has
routinely been awarded custody/evaluation cases throughout NJ. She has
been involved with the removal of children from their parents by utilizing
methods that are considered highly unethical and abusive toward children.
Ms Kleinman was charged with multiple counts of gross and/or repeated
malpractice on behalf of the child. Additionally, the charge included
misleading the family court by not reporting all the facts that were
reasonably available.
NJCCR is calling for the immediate suspension and a permanent
revocation of her license to practice. Additionally, Ms. Kleinman's
ability to be unsupervised around children should be limited indefinitely.
This kind of abuse should not be taken lightly. It is the most severe
kind of abuse when a person of trust is given the power and control over a
child's future, and that person exploits the child's trust and dependency
to be able to substantiate personal biased opinions. Mental health
exploitation of a child will damage that child for life. We expect
criminal charges should follow this complaint and question why they have
not already been filed. This kind of behavior is not acceptable toward
any child or parent, and certainly our Child Protective Services should
not risk exposing any other child to Ms. Kleinman’s practices until this
case is adjudicated.
It is unfortunate that Ms. Kleinman, was allowed to continue to
practice unmonitored during the years of investigation and thus, there is
no way to determine how many other children and families she has adversely
affected or abused. It is the New Jersey Council for Children's Rights
position that Ms. Kleinman be immediately suspended from seeing any child
until this case is adjudicated.
NJCCR views zero tolerance policy for child abuse and actual domestic
violence to also apply to court appointed professionals.
For the safety and well being of all children and families, NJCCR urges
careful discretion to be used by all parents when choosing to expose your
children to a mental health professional.
Other individuals whose children have been exposed to Ms. Kleinman’s
practices have already contacted NJCCR. Please contact New Jersey Council
for Children's Rights immediately by email to abuse@njccr.org with
information of any person who currently or in the past has used Ms.
Kleinman's services during divorce proceedings and has been victim to
unsubstantiated accusations of child abuse or the like through her
treatments. The New Jersey Council for Children's Rights believes that
children have the right to both parents regardless of their parents'
marital status and as such advocates for shared parenting and the
protection of children from predatory professionals that surround the
divorce industry. It should be noted that this case is not about a child
being sexually abused by a parent, but about the misuse of psychological
"experts" during divorce litigation and their ability to mislead the
courts and effectually destroy the family’s potential for a positive post
divorce environment with both parents involved in the child’s life.
Unmonitored, court appointed custody "experts" have tremendous leverage
when it comes to custody matters. An unbiased opinion from a court
appointed Psychologist is essential to the proper workings of our current
family court system. Left unmonitored and loosely regulated only puts our
children at further risk of abuse. The real question here is how many
other cases has Ms. Kleinman performed in this fashion and what we as
citizens can do today to protect our children and make sure that this does
not happen again. Every one of Ms. Kleinman's past evaluations must be
investigated and the cases re-opened for findings of potential foul play.
New Jersey Council for Children's Rights is calling for our State
legislature to establish a "Family safety Act" for the protection of
children from the predatory practice of child psychology and for oversight
of psychologists that are used in family court through independent family
centric organizations such as NJCCR. NJCCR is committed to working with
our legislators in establishing these safeguards for protection of NJ
families and children. NJCCR is calling for funding this initiative so
these types of problems can not only be fully investigated and documented
across the family court system, but also prevented in the future.
Sincerely,
Michael Argen
President, NJCCR
Hulk and Spiderman Strike
December 3, 2007
Today the Hulk and Spiderman climbed the structure surrounding the
Sapperton Skytrain Station in New Westminster, British Columbia. The
weather was poor, but they remained aloft for four hours. The two were
processed by police and released with a summons. Here is the Fathers 4 Justice press release (MS-word
format).
Ignorance of CPS
December 2, 2007
The following letter to an advice columnist is a mild story of CPS
intervention. The reply shows that among professionals, including
reporters, there is still a high level of ignorance and naiveté
about child protectors. One of the preconditions for reform is getting the
truth out about child protection.
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Since you asked ...
Somebody sent child protective services to my house!
An anonymous complaint brought a scary visitor with a list
of accusations.
By Cary Tennis
Cary Tennis
Nov. 30, 2007 | Dear Cary,
I have an unusual problem that is really hurting me. About two months
ago, a worker from the child protection agency in my town appeared on my
doorstep. She told me she had received a report about me and my child and
was investigating. She came in and read off the accusations. I was
reeling and in shock. Someone associated with my small church had sent in
a complaint anonymously. The accusations were ridiculous and untrue
except for one. My child had kicked another child whom my child was
really upset with. This child was jealous and had been teasing a lot, but
his parents weren't aware of it. This incident was reported in detail to
the agency with the statement that "she didn't care about it," which is,
of course, untrue. I was really upset about the kicking and talked to my
child about how we settle differences, and then I took away a planned play
date. We talked to the parents and I thought the matter had been settled.
I had to furnish names of people who could vouch for my parenting and I
gave two friends from church. I also talked to the minister, who is very
new to our church and to other church leaders. Everyone I've talked to is
shocked and supportive and no one has any idea who could have done this or
why.
The mother of this boy grew increasingly distant and angry after this
incident and then refused to speak to my child and me at all. They quit
coming to our church soon after. This family didn't have many close
friends as they are hard to get along with and didn't come very often.
Their child didn't have friends at the church either except for my child.
We had been very good friends at one time.
I could tell from the worker's demeanor that the charges weren't going
to go anywhere but I still haven't heard from the agency. I could be in
for a surprise but I seriously doubt it. No one at the church has been
contacted by the agency, but the worker had already visited my child and
the school counselor before she came to my door. There were no concerns
at the school and my child handled herself well so far as I can tell.
It's a real nightmare to have this happen.
My problem is that I don't know for sure who did this. If it is this
family, they aren't at my church anymore and probably aren't going to be
much of a threat in the future. If it's not this family, then it's
someone from my church and that is very scary as we are active at the
church. We're still going to the church and participating in selected
activities. I've curtailed some of my child's activities to lessen the
chance that someone might observe something that can be twisted around to
look damaging. Other than this mother, I've had no conflicts with anyone
else in this town and neither has my child.
What is the most prudent thing for me to do? What is the psychological
profile of someone who would do something like this to a child and his
mother? Is it likely to be someone I've had a conflict with or a relative
stranger?
Thank you so much. I think you give very thoughtful responses to
people.
Pretty Good Mom
Dear Pretty Good Mom,
You're telling me that an employee of the state, acting on an anonymous
accusation, visited your child and your child's school counselor, and then
came into your house and read you a list of accusations made by someone
associated with your church. Then you were required by law to furnish a
list of people who could vouch for your parenting.
Your letter inspires great outrage. Where is this place? Who are
these people?
I couldn't live in a town like that!
But here's what a reasonable citizen might do. A reasonable citizen
might go to the agency and ask for a meeting with the caseworker and the
caseworker's boss. I would want to learn as much as I could, not about
who made this particular complaint, but about how such a system operates.
Does it happen often that people are referred in this way? What are the
procedures? What records are public and what are private? What is the
agency's funding? What is its charter? Who makes decisions about who is
hired and fired?
Now, of course our society has to protect children. There are some
truly evil people out there.
But I would want to know if I, too, could simply make a complaint about
someone at random and cause a case worker to go visit them and scare the
living daylights out of them. I would ask them to show me the form and
the process by which I could make such an anonymous complaint. I would
ask them how they determine the credibility of such a complaint. Must a
person making a complaint appear in person, or could such a complaint be
made in writing or over the phone? Must the person furnish
identification? Are records kept of the person's visit or phone call?
Under what conditions are those records made public? What threshold of
credibility must a complainant meet? What evidence must be given prior to
the sending out of an investigator? What protections are in place so that
any old sociopathic busybody can't just use this agency to harass and
terrorize his or her neighbors? And if there are protections in place,
were they used in this instance?
Finally, I would be very curious to figure out -- though I wouldn't ask
this directly -- if a person making a complaint might be able to use
specific knowledge of the agency and its personnel in order to cause an
investigator to come out.
You know what else I would want to know? I would want to know what
kind of academic background and credentials these people have, these
people who are empowered to walk into some family's home and read off a
list of anonymous accusations. Of all the powers of the state that are
available to petty, misguided bureaucrats who might have just a touch of
the sadistic and the power-hungry in them, this is one power that ought
not be entrusted to just anybody. I'd want to know that anyone doing this
job at least had an understanding of the limits on state power in a free
society.
And I would want to know how often it can happen that a totally bogus
complaint reaches this point. I'd want to know if they audit their
activities to determine this. I would want to know if this agency had a
higher incidence of such false complaints than other agencies.
And I'd say, well, if this is a public agency with public records, then
the press has a right to see them.
And then once I'd learned all I could, I'd contact a reporter at the
local newspaper.
I'd tell them my story.
I'd beg the reporter to at least call the agency and inquire about my
case.
You wouldn't have to get the reporter to promise to do a story, just to
make a phone call.
Come to think of it, the logic is sweet: In the same way that a child
protective agency is more or less compelled to investigate any complaint,
so a newspaper reporter is more or less compelled to at least make a phone
call to check out a tip.
Now, I'm kind of dumb about small town life. It may be that doing
these things would make life too uncomfortable for you. If so, I would
still suggest that, in order to understand what happened, you learn as
much as you can about the social forces in American life that could lead
to such a thing. And if I were you I would think seriously about moving
to a more cosmopolitan area.
Cary Tennis is Salon's advice columnist.
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