click for help

collapse

On this page press one of the expand buttons to see the full text of an article. Later press collapse to revert to the original form. The button below expands all articles.

show all

More recent news

A British organization advocating natural childbirth has published a letter enumerating harmful side-effects of the child protection system. We cannot find the original letter, but British MP John Hemming summarized it.

expand

collapse

Child Protection damages Public Health - AIMS

The following is an AIMs press release sent out recently that I quote.

The punitive way child “protection” is practised in the UK may be doing more harm than good. In their many cases on file, the Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services has numerous examples:

• Women with postnatal depression who are at risk of suicide conceal their illness - for fear of losing their children
• Women who are being beaten up by their partners don’t report it - for fear of social workers taking their children
• Women in need of support whose pregnancies were the result of rape conceal it from midwives at antenatal clinic - for fear of social workers being called in.
• Parents are afraid to take sick children to A & E - for fear paediatricians will have them taken away.
• Health visitors, once valuable supporters, are no longer welcomed since they became “the health police”

These and many other examples were outlined in a letter AIMS sent to Chief Medical Officers in the UK - which has now been published. “We make sure officials have the information - then they can’t say they did not know”, says Jean Robinson, former Hon. Research Officer who wrote the letter.

“The most worrying thing is that there is no adequate research base showing benefits and risks of these draconian and expensive interventions. Yet medical interventions have to be proved. The harm that can be done from even short term, minor interventions, is both deep and long lasting, yet no one has wanted to collect the data showing how serious and common it is.”

posted by john ¶ 10:30 AM

Source: John Hemming blog for May 21, 2008

A Texas appellate court has ruled that the FLDS children were not in imminent danger and there is no legal justification for their seizure under pretext of child protection. We have a press report below, and you can read the original Texas Court of Appeals decision (pdf). The court found that growing up among teachings promoting early marriage for girls did not place them in imminent physical danger. It did not deal with the issue that the phone call initialing the raid was a hoax.

expand

collapse

The New York Times

May 23, 2008

Court Says Texas Illegally Seized Sect’s Children

By RALPH BLUMENTHAL

HOUSTON — A Texas appeals court ruled on Thursday that the state had illegally seized up to 468 children from their homes at a polygamist ranch in West Texas. The decision abruptly threw the largest custody case in recent American history into turmoil.

LM Otero/Associated Press Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints members left the courthouse on Thursday after a ruling in their favor in San Angelo, Tex.

Although the court did not order the children’s immediate release, it raised the prospect that many of them would be reunited with their families, possibly within 10 days. The children have been in foster homes scattered across Texas since early April, making their parents travel hundreds of miles to visit them.

Officials of the State Department of Family and Protective Services, which led the raid on the ranch in Eldorado, defended their actions as being taken in the children’s interest and said they were considering their next steps.

The unanimous ruling by three judges of the Third Court of Appeals in Austin revoked the state’s custody over the children of 38 mothers and, by extension, almost certainly the rest, for what it called a lack of evidence that they were in immediate danger of sexual or physical abuse.

One mother, Martha Emack, 23, said she was “totally thrilled” by the ruling. “Everyone is totally overjoyed to tears,” she said in a telephone interview.

Ms. Emack said both of her children had been seized — one just turned a year old and the other 2. “It’s been very emotional, very traumatizing,” she said.

When asked whether she ultimately wanted to return to the ranch with her children, Ms. Emack said quickly, “I do want to go back.”

The court said the record did “not reflect any reasonable effort on the part of the department to ascertain if some measure short of removal and/or separation would have eliminated the risk.”

It said that the evidence of danger to the children “was legally and factually insufficient” to justify the removal and that the lower court had “abused its discretion” in failing to return the children to the families.

The ruling, an unusual opinion granting relief in a case not yet decided, was issued on the custody challenge by the 38 women and an additional 54 who filed a second action. Lawyers said the burden was on the state to show why it should not apply to the rest of the children, as well.

Custody hearings under way before five judges in San Angelo were canceled.

Susan Hays, a lawyer in Dallas who specializes in appellate law and who is the lawyer for a 2-year-old taken from the ranch, said the children might begin returning home as early as next week.

“Right now, there is an order saying return the children,” Ms. Hays said. “It technically does not apply to all the women’s children. But practically it does.”

She said the state would have to file a motion for emergency release quickly that asks the court to stay the order.

“If they don’t,” Ms. Hays said, “then we’re done. The children could be returned as soon as next week, or not depending on what happens with the high court.”

The case began on April 3, when Texas investigators, saying they were responding to a girl’s call for help, raided the 1,691-acre Yearning for Zion ranch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Eldorado, about 45 miles south of San Angelo.

The caller was never found, and investigators now suspect that the call was a hoax.

The polygamous sect broke away from the Mormon church decades ago over the Mormons’ condemnation of plural marriage and began building its secluded compound in Eldorado in 2003.

The sect’s leader, Warren Jeffs, was sentenced last November in Utah to 10 years to life in prison for forcing a 14-year-old girl to marry her 19-year-old cousin and to submit to sexual relations against her will,

In a statement after the ruling on Thursday, the Department of Family and Protective Services said: “Child Protective Services has one duty: to protect children. When we see evidence that children have been sexually abused and remain at risk of further abuse, we will act.”

The agency said it removed the children “after finding a pervasive pattern of sexual abuse that puts every child at the ranch at risk.” The officials said interviews “revealed a pattern of under-age girls being ‘spiritually united’ with older men and having children with the men.”

“We will work with the Office of Attorney General to determine the state’s next steps in this case,” the department said.

The appeals judges who ruled, Chief Justice W. Kenneth Law and Justices Robert. H. Pemberton and Alan Waldrop, all Republicans, said removing children from their homes was “an extreme measure” justifiable only in the event of urgent or immediate danger.

Instead, the court said, the state argued that the “belief system” at the ranch condoned under-age marriage and pregnancy and that the whole ranch functioned as a “household” in which sexual abuse anywhere threatened children in the entire community.

But in reality, the judges said, there was no evidence of widespread abuse, and they faulted the district judge, Barbara Walther, for approving the children’s removal based on insufficient grounds.

David Schenck, a Dallas lawyer who represented one mother, Marie Steed, said that the appeals court had asked the state to respond to the women’s motion by last Monday and that the state had asked for more time.

“This was the court’s answer,” Mr. Schenck said.

The ruling was hailed by the Liberty Legal Institute, which litigates cases of religious freedom.

“One message from this decision is clear,” the group said. “The rights of every Texas parent will be taken seriously, no matter who you are.”

Jim Cohen, a law professor at Fordham University, said it was highly unusual for an appeals court to intervene in a continuing case, especially one involving child protection.

“It showed the proof was really weak, not a close call at all,” Professor Cohen said.

Tim Edwards, a lawyer in San Angelo who represents four mothers, said: “This is a wonderful day. It confirms not only my feeling, but the feeling of many, many attorneys involved in the case, that Child Protective Services failed to meet their burden of proof to justify a court order to remove more than 400 children from their homes for the last six or seven weeks.”

Mr. Edwards said even if the children went home soon, the effects were likely to linger.

“You’re talking about a situation that is traumatic to many people,” he said, “and the recovery from that trauma may be slow in coming.”

Cynthia Martinez, a spokeswoman for Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, which represents many of the women, said sentiments varied. Many mothers, Ms. Martinez said, voiced “a general concern that the ranch had lost its purpose because the mothers and children’s last memory is of the ranch being raided, and that is a huge concern for a lot of these parents.”

Ms. Hays said she was surprised by the judges, whom she described as among the most conservative on the court. “This ruling restored my faith in the rule of law,” she said. “This is an opinion based on law and not politics.”

Laura Nugent, a lawyer in Austin who represents four of the children, said she was thrilled. “I feel this is the correct way to rule on the evidence,” Ms. Nugent said. “I felt all along that the department did not bear their burden of proof.”

Ms. Nugent, whose clients are 6, 10, 11 and 12, said she was unsure whether the ruling applied to all the children she represented and was awaiting details.

“They all want to go home,” she said. “They are emphatic that they want to go home and be reunited with their parents and their siblings.”

This is not the first time a raid on polygamists may have backfired. In 1953, Arizona authorities under Gov. Howard Pyle raided a fundamentalist community, Short Creek, which is now Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, taking about 160 children into custody. The custody ruling was overturned on appeal in 1955.

Reporting was contributed by John Dougherty in Las Vegas, Dan Frosch in Denver and Gretel C. Kovach in Dallas.

Source: The New York Times

Texas DFPS Public Information Officer Marleigh Meisner, April 2008

Addendum: It is easier to get a court to give a favorable decision than to get child protectors to pay attention to it. Texas child protectors are appealing the decision invalidating their seizure of over 400 children from the FLDS ranch. Even if the courts are against them after appeals are exhausted, we can expect a long period of foot-dragging before the children are returned. We enclose two articles, one on the appeal and another indicating that a small number of children will be reunited with their families.

expand

collapse

Texas fights return of FLDS kids

Top state justices to mull case

By Ben Winslow and Brian West, Deseret News, Published: May 24, 2008

SAN ANGELO, Texas — The day after FLDS mothers celebrated an appeals court decision ordering the return of their children, child welfare officials went to the Texas Supreme Court to prevent it.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services asked the Supreme Court to stay the 3rd Court of Appeals order and keep the children where they are, in foster facilities, until the high court considers its arguments. Attorneys argued the more than 450 children will "suffer irreparable harm" if the appellate court order is followed and says the children "will be at risk of sexual and emotional abuse" if returned to their parents.

Attorneys for dozens of FLDS mothers wasted no time responding, filing papers with the high court just hours afterward. The mothers argued any delay returning the children will cause "continuing, irreparable harm every day that they are separated from their parents."

Ostler McCarthy, staff attorney for the Texas Supreme Court, said the justices requested the trial record Friday from the 3rd Court of Appeals — an indication that it plans to work on the case over the weekend.

Rod Parker, a Salt Lake attorney representing the Fundamentalist LDS Church, said the state's appeal will be an uphill battle for Texas authorities.

"They ought to take a step back and think about what they're doing here and if it's really best for the children in the face of what's happened to them so far and their inability to produce any evidence," he said.

"This is an agency that's out of control."

In the first paragraph of its appeal, attorneys for DFPS wrote: "This case is about adult men commanding sex from underage children; about adult women knowingly condoning and allowing sexual abuse of underage children; about the need for the department to take action under difficult, time-sensitive and unprecedented circumstances to protect children on an emergency basis ... "

It also questions the appeals court's order to return the children "without giving the court the opportunity to determine which parents are entitled to possession of which children."

DFPS has complained that children switched names and both children and mothers have refused to answer questions about identities or family relationships, making it difficult to determine which child belongs to which parents.

"The children have a constitutional best interest right to know with absolute certainty who their parents are. Due to the orchestrated conspiracy of silence, neither the department nor the trial court was able to match alleged parents with the children," state attorneys argued, adding that it was important to establish relationships to determine potential risks of sexual abuse.

"This is a desperate argument on behalf of the state," countered attorney Amy Warr, who helped write the response to the DFPS appeal.

"The matching of children with parents did not become a problem for the department until a court decided that it had to give the children back," the response by Texas RioGrande Legal Aid states. DFPS knows the correct identities, the mother's attorneys argued, especially since the department allowed the mothers to visit their children, participated in status hearings and presented service plans that name the children and their parents.

The appeal by Texas authorities repeats allegations of a "pattern of girls reporting that there was no age too young" to be married and boys at the ranch are groomed to be "perpetrators."

DFPS identified five underage girls from "Bishop's Records" who are pregnant or had conceived a child, including one girl who was 13 when she conceived.

"By necessity, the record establishes that not only children as young as age 13 were pregnant but also that men must have engaged in the sexual abuse of children at least nine months before, if not at an even earlier age," the court document states.

The department justifies the removal of babies from the ranch, citing a Child Protective Services supervisor's statement that "the little boys, the babies, the girls, what I have found is that they are living under an umbrella of belief that having children at a young age is a blessing and therefore any child in that environment would not be safe."

Thursday's decision from the Court of Appeals "offers a poor analysis of misstated facts," and that court overstepped its authority in ordering that the children be returned, DFPS attorneys argued.

The department said it would not be safe for any child to return to the ranch "because the adults on the ranch expressed that they 'aren't doing anything harmful to their children.'"

In its response, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid attorneys said the appellate court decision to return the children does not mean Texas child welfare workers would no longer have oversight.

"The practical effect of this order is to allow the children to go home while the department continues its investigation. The department's suit regarding the children remains pending in trial court, which could issue any appropriate orders to protect the children's safety and ensure their continued presence in the state."

Attorneys for the FLDS mothers asked the Supreme Court to deny Texas' request to issue a stay of the appellate court order.

"Right now these children are experiencing the irreparable harm, pain and distress of enforced separation from their parents (and, in many cases, siblings)," the response states.

"By denying the stay and allowing the court of appeals order to take effect, this court would halt the only harm that everyone is certain is occurring. As the court of appeals correctly determined, there is no evidence of any equivalent harm — including abuse — that could justify the stay."

Contributing: Amy Joi O'Donoghue

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com; bwest@desnews.com

Source: Deseret News

---

CPS agrees to reunite 12 FLDS children with parents for now

May 23, 2008

SAN ANGELO, Texas (AP) — State child welfare authorities have agreed to reunite 12 children from a west Texas polygamist sect with their parents until the state Supreme Court rules on their custody case.

Teresa Kelly, a spokeswoman for the parents' lawyer, says Child Protective Services agreed on Friday to allow the parents to live with their children in the San Antonio area under state supervision.

An appeals court ruled Thursday that CPS was wrong to seize more than 440 children from a ranch run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The state appealed that ruling to the Texas Supreme Court on Friday.

CPS said it took the children into foster care because the sect pushes girls into underage marriage and sex and raises the boys to be perpetrators.

Source: Associated Press hosted by Google

Addendum: A knowledgeable source says that the families of the twelve children consented to a deal with CPS under which they will get their kids back, but be subject to impositions such a visits, counseling, parenting classes and such. They also forfeit the right to sue CPS for damages.

It is easier to pass a camel through the eye of a needle than to get information from children's aid. In today's instance a Windsor couple has been denied records of a failed adoption.

expand

collapse

St. Joachim couple seek transparency from Children's Aid

Craig Pearson, The Windsor Star

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

ST. JOACHIM -- Five years after a heartbroken St. Joachim couple returned a baby girl to the local Children's Aid Society -- when a potential adoption fell through -- the prospective parents are still fighting to find out what went wrong.

Edward Hickey and Kelly-Ann Spezowka say extra documents recently disclosed to them through a review by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services still do not provide what they want -- case notes from the Windsor-Essex Children's Aid Society worker involved.

"Despite numerous requests from the ministry to WECAS to divulge all the documentation on the case, they're refusing to do that," Hickey said Thursday. "So it's a frustrating experience -- which is what it's meant to be. They're intending to make it frustrating."

Local CAS director Bill Bevan said privacy laws prevent him from speaking about individual cases.

"I can't talk about a specific situation," Bevan said. "But I can assure you we co-operate fully with the ministry and any review they might do.

"We are required to not only co-operate fully but to disclose all information that is required under a review."

Children and Youth Services spokeswoman Anne Machowski said she could not address a specific case. But she noted that the Child and Family Services Act has appeal procedures built in, including through the ministry, the Auditor General of Ontario, and the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

The story began in October 2002, when CAS workers introduced Hickey and Spezowka to a one-year-old girl as mommy and daddy.

Though the couple knew they still had to go through a formal adoption procedure before the process was complete, Hickey said CAS workers indicated they felt things should run smoothly.

The couple even wanted to rename the girl and considered her their daughter. But after some months, Hickey said they could tell something was wrong with the adoption process.

They eventually found out that the maternal grandmother, who had originally said she did not want the girl full-time, was having second thoughts.

But Hickey said he and his wife were not informed about the grandmother's flip-flop until after they had developed a close bond with the girl. Figuring they had little hope of adopting the girl against the maternal grandmother's wishes, they returned her to the CAS amid tears -- a day they still cannot shake.

"It was the hardest thing we've ever done," Hickey said.

Bevan sent Hickey and Spezowka a letter of apology in October 2003, saying: "I have concluded that the organization should have been forthcoming in working with you. Firstly, we could have and should have provided you with more information about the grandmother who was involved with the child placed in your home."

But Hickey, a 43-year-old pilot, and Spezowka, a 42-year-old social worker -- who live in a bright and airy lakeside home with their 10-year-old son and three-year-old daughter -- want more. They want to know when the CAS knew the grandmother was back in the picture and why they weren't told sooner.

They want all documents related to their case -- in particular, the CAS social worker's case notes from 29 meetings -- released to the ministry, and then hopefully to them.

"They are obligated to disclose every single document, file, and note regarding our case to the director, appointed by the ministry, who is reviewing the case," Hickey said. "They still have not done that.

"They're dragging out the process as long as possible so that the whole story of what happened to this child never finds its place in the public domain."

Hickey and Spezowka have hundreds of pages disclosed from the local CAS, but not the case workers' notes, which they believe will show everything and give them closure.

Hickey and Spezowka started their complaint procedure with the ministry in the summer of 2005, and say they were told the process would take six months.

Now they also want the system changed to make Children's Aid Societies more transparent.

"All the policies and procedures are already in place, they're just not following them," Hickey said. "But we want them to be more open and we want them to be more accountable."

Source: The Windsor Star

The State of Texas has come as close as it ever will to admitting that the call initiating the FLDS raid in April was a hoax. The call, purportedly from a girl named Sarah raped by her husband Dale Barlow, now seems to have been a hoax call from Rozita Swinton in Colorado Springs. No Sarah has been found. Dale Barlow did not live in Eldorado Texas, but in Arizona. Texas previously dropped the arrest warrant for Mr Barlow, now it is dropping the case of "Sarah". Notwithstanding the collapse of the case, don't expect CPS to return the children.

expand

collapse

May 19, 2008, 11:40PM

With no 'Sarah,' CPS asks to drop her case

Houston Chronicle

SAN ANGELO — It was the call for help that launched one of the largest raids on a religious compound in U.S. history.

But on Monday, a Child Protective Services attorney asked for the case involving a 16-year-old known as "Sarah," who claimed sexual and physical abuse at the hands of her husband, to be dropped.

The state has all but declared the call a hoax after the phone number was traced to a Colorado woman with a history of pretending to be an abused child. The Texas Department of Public Safety even withdrew its arrest warrant against Dale Barlow, alleged husband and Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints sect member.

But CPS has not confirmed whether it thinks "Sarah" is real or not, saying that the call didn't force the removal of 463 children, and that what the agency found — which has yet to be truly revealed — did.

Early Monday, CPS attorney Gary Banks asked that the case of "Baby Jessop," naming Sarah as the mother and Barlow as the father, be dismissed.

"We're not saying that the child doesn't exist, but at this time we don't believe she's in our custody," Banks said.

Source: Houston Chronicle

Some FLDS parents have been turned into full-time commuters as they shuttle around Texas to see their scattered children.

The Deseret News has posted a copy of the generic plan of care inflicted on all FLDS parents. You can see it at the Deseret News (pdf) or our local copy.

expand

collapse

New York Times

Far-Flung Placement of Children in Texas Raid Is Criticized

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press Members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Monday at the courthouse in San Angelo, Tex.

By KIRK JOHNSON, Published: May 20, 2008

SAN ANGELO, Tex. — Texas policy holds that when children are taken from their parents for investigation of possible abuse, geographic distances should be kept to a minimum to allow supervised visitation.

That has not, by a wide Texas mile, been the experience of Nora Jeffs, who was among the dozens of women attending court hearings here on Monday. Since her eight children were taken in the raid at a polygamist compound last month, Ms. Jeffs has been transformed into more or less an itinerant traveler, trying to visit her children, who are 18 months old to 14 years old, according to a state case worker.

Ms. Jeffs has two children in foster care in Amarillo, up in the Panhandle; one in Gonzales in south-central Texas; two in San Antonio, in Central Texas; and three in Waco, halfway between Dallas and Austin, a lawyer for Ms. Jeffs said. The closest are about 150 miles from her home in Eldorado, and the farthest are more than nine hours apart by car.

The children themselves, who are not allowed to travel while in state custody, are being encouraged to use conference telephone calls to stay in touch and to send drawings and letters.

“Her children are scattered to all corners of Texas,” said the case worker, Irene Schwaninger, in a hearing before Judge Thomas Gossett. “It’s something I’m working to rectify to the best of my ability.”

The hearings, technically meant as a 60-day check-up of the state’s plan in handling the children and families of the raid, have exposed the clanking machinery of the Texas child welfare apparatus, which has strained at the seams and spent millions of dollars to handle one of the biggest and most complex child welfare cases in the nation’s history.

Altogether, 465 children are now in state custody, after being taken from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or F.L.D.S., in a raid that began on April 3 after someone called an abuse hot line and said that she was a 16-year-old child bride being abused by her older husband in the church’s compound in Eldorado, about 45 miles south of here. The caller has still not been found.

The hearings, which are expected to go on for several weeks — one at a time before five judges at the Tom Green County Courthouse here — are the beginning step of differentiating all those families and children into individuals with their own stories.

In a first round of hearings last month, lawyers represented groups of families and children. And even on Monday, there were moments of confusion. Some children, for example, still have names and ages rendered different ways in state records.

Many of the families are also related and share last names like Jeffs, which is also the name of the F.L.D.S. leader, Warren S. Jeffs, who was convicted last year on a rape charge for imposing marriage between an under-age girl and older man in Utah. (Whether Ms. Jeffs is related to Warren Jeffs could not be determined on Monday.)

In one case on Monday afternoon, a lawyer for a mother of four named Carlene Jessop argued that the state was lumping all the families together and not acknowledging that some of them lived apart from the communal experience that the state said exposed the children to the under-age marriage practices.

“This family is not part of a commune,” said the lawyer, Nancy B. DeLong, referring to Ms. Jessop and her husband, William S. Jessop, who have said they have four children together, from 8 years old to almost 2, now in state custody. “They need to be separated out.”

Ms. DeLong argued that the Jessop case should be separated out from the larger mass of F.L.D.S. custody cases because the family’s pattern is so different. Judge Jay Weatherby denied the motion but said he would be willing to revisit it later.

In Ms. Jeffs’s case, which was the first of the day in Judge Gossett’s court, and took just over an hour, moments of cool if jargon-filled bureaucracy were interspersed with periods of seemingly heartfelt emotion.

Judge Gossett, in approving the state’s interim plan for the family — that the children remain in state custody — but reserving the right to amend it later, had stern words for Ms. Jeffs, who said in a written statement supplied by her lawyer that she would do anything to get her children back and ensure their welfare as long as it did not violate the precepts of her religious belief.

“That doesn’t give me a lot of confidence,” Judge Gossett said, staring down from the bench at Ms. Jeffs, who was dressed in a pale-blue prairie dress. “Your right to your religious belief ends when it violates the law.”

The F.L.D.S. broke off from mainstream Mormons after Mormons disavowed polygamy in 1890.

State officials said the raid and the taking of all the children in the church’s compound, called Yearning for Zion, were necessary because the culture of the sect led to illegal under-age marriage for girls and acceptance of that practice by boys — a pattern that state officials have said endangers both sexes.

Source: New York Times

A British Columbia couple, Colleen and Alvin Deroache, has posted an account of five years five years dealing with child protectors. This material is in seven YouTube videos: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]. Since controversial material disappears quickly from YouTube, we have local copies: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] (all in flv format). Only the first is technically awkward.

Other videos posted by the couple disclose that during a period of ill health Colleen lost her marriage and her children. Upon regaining her health, her children have remained in control of British Columbia child protectors. You can see for yourself how abusive she is, because she quotes the bible in her defense.

Child protectors who remove children from parents for the most trifling reasons give short shrift to reports of abuse within their own ranks. New York rebuffed three complaints of abuse against foster mother Joanne Alvarez, and a fourth was still under investigation Monday when six-year-old Taylor Webster died in her care.

expand

collapse

The cause of her death is pending further study and investigation by police.

Foster Mother Investigated For Abuse Before Child, 6, Died

By Melissa Russo, Government Reporter

POSTED: 1:14 pm EDT May 20, 2008
UPDATED: 1:25 pm EDT May 20, 2008

NEW YORK -- News 4 has learned that East Harlem foster mother charged in the death of a 6-year-old girl was the subject of four separate investigations by the Administration of Children’s Services regarding the treatment of the children in her care.

The most recent probe was still ongoing when the Taylor Webster died Monday of an apparent overdose after her foster mother administered an adult pain medication patch -- allegedly to treat the child's complaints of neck pain.

Sources familiar with the case tell News 4 New York the most recent complaint about foster mother Joanne Alvarez was filed last month, April, 2008, when a tipster reported that Alvarez was using "excessive corporal punishment."

A source inside the system tells News 4 New York that officials from the ACS Office of Special Investigations (OSI) found no evidence of abuse when they visited the child at school and checked up on two other children, ages 7 and 8, who had been adopted by Alvarez. OSI investigates allegations of abuse and neglect involving children in the foster care system.

Caseworkers also learned that Taylor's foster mother had made regular visits to the pediatrician, including one visit this month, on May 8th, and that the pediatrician had found "nothing unusual."

Insiders tell News 4 - despite several complaints about Alvarez's care - they believe the cause of her death was an "unintentional, stupid mistake."

In fact, News 4 has learned that Alvarez was in the process of trying to adopt little Taylor.

Sources tell News 4 that two prior complaints filed within the last 18 months were declared "unfounded" by ACS, meaning that ACS could not or did not substantiate the complaints. Did these workers miss warning signs that could have prevented Taylor's death?

Taylor had been in Alvarez's care for five of her six years, since May of 2003. Alvarez had adopted two other children, meaning she had to complete many necessary background checks and prove to the Family Court that she was a fit parent.

Good Shepherd Services, the foster care agency most recently supervising Taylor's case, is one of New York's better performing agencies, according to a city government source.

ACS has declined to comment on the case, saying "it's under investigation"

News 4 New York has learned that Taylor ended up in foster care as a toddler after her biological mother left her in the care of an unrelated man who died of a seizure while caring for her. Her biological mother was extradited to Pennsylvania to face felony charges. We're told the biological mother also had four children in foster care in Pennsylvania.

Source: WNBC TV New York

Harold Levy posted a story about Angela Cannings, falsely convicted of murdering her own children. Here is an anonymous post in response.

expand

collapse

Thank God for the strength of Angela, Trupti, Patty and the thousands of others. Sally, God rest your soul. If not for all of you, I would have shared a similar fate. Somehow the knowledge of what happened in your cases weighed heavily on the minds of some of our accusers. We were spared prison, but the damages that were done are horrific.

Five months after the death of our seven-week-old son, I was six weeks pregnant. I returned home from work late in the evening. My husband, clearly grief stricken said.. sit down. I just took one look at his face and knew something was horribly wrong. I took the stairs three at a time and found the crib empty. I sunk to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. Why? Why didn't they listen to me and do a full work up on her? She was the only surviving child from four pregnancies! How could they just look at her and say, she's just fine. My husband picked me up off the floor and said.. she's not dead. She's gone and so is our other daughter. The Children's Aid took them until the police investigation is complete. Relief flooded in. This is just a big mistake. Why would the police investigate us? Why would the Children's Aid think our children needed protection? From who?

Five days later, we appeared in court and found out. Wild accusations flew, we could not protect ourselves, our children. Our home was reopened as a crime scene. We had to prove our innocence. The loss of our beloved son, the loss of our surviving children. The torture of seeing their emotionally ravaged faces, twice weekly, for two hours in a visitation centre.. only to have them torn from our arms, screaming, crying.

This went on for months and months. Twice a week, a visitation supervisor would advise us that we had three minutes left.. Our 14-year-old would dutifully drop everything, pick up our 18-month-old, her face would turn to stone, yet as her mother, I could see the pain etched in the darkened circles under her eyes. I still see the little outstretched hands.. reaching for us as her sister carried her away to a car driven by strangers. We would hide our tears as not to upset our kids. Then breakdown on our way to our own car. Often, we would drive behind them.. all the way home. They were staying less then 4 blocks from our house, in the care of relatives. The tears would flow again, as their car turned at the intersection. Our car had to go straight. Straight home to the emptiness, where once there was so much laughter. My belly was expanding with new life, and what should have been a healing time was turned into a fear so deep. The newspaper tooted.. Infant poisoned, experts confirm, unusual chemical found

This went on for weeks, the news cameras showed up at my home. My phone rang off the hook. I was terrified. I called my parents.. the cameras showed up there too. But we had nothing to tell them. We were not given any information to even begin to form a defence. Our son's autopsy was not made available to us for a further four months. We feared arrest as our home was searched yet again. We did not even know which one of us was the focus of the investigation. We didn't know if I would be giving birth in prison, or in hospital, wife of a prison inmate. My husband prayed it would be him, I prayed I would be me. Both sets of grandparents contemplated admitting culpability but could not come up with a reasonable, plausible, way in which they could have done such a heinous thing. It seemed so hopeless, for so long. We were never charged, therefore we can never be found innocent. We were never jailed, so we can never be set free. We do however, have our children home. Our son, has health challenges. We will always be viewed as suspect. When we go to the hospital, we will always be weighed against our past. If we insist on a test or disagree with a diagnosis or treatment.. rest assured, we will be dragged away from our children in chains.. it has happened. Today, I will fill out our daughters kindergarten registration package that asks about her past. I will fill it out honestly, we have nothing to hide. Pre-School History Form ie Does my child have any fears.. yes. She fears being dragged out of her home at night. She fears that we will get mad at her and send her away.. AGAIN. She is afraid of police. She remembers they helped take her away.. I tremble when a police car is behind me on the road. Will they drag me away for going two miles over the speed limit, because I am a suspect in a crime that never happened? (This fear is getting better with time) but how will the school react to my answer to question 36.. Has your child experienced any significant changes in his/her family life in the past? Birth of a baby, death of a family member, moving, separation.. my response will not fit in the two lines provided. 39. Has your child received assistance from any social services agencies during the preschool years? Family Services, Home Care, CAS? Who will interpret my answer? What will it COST us.. will we survive their Judgement.. or be referred for more SERVICES??? Our answers will form part of her permanent school record. In two years we will have to fill out the same forms for our son. This will never be over for us. This will follow us everywhere. forever. All because of a tissue fixative used in abundance at our sons autopsy. What an effective fixative!!! It FIXED us forever.

May 20, 2008 9:05 AM

Source: comments to Harold Levy blog about Dr Charles Smith

It is only a guess, but this sounds similar to the case of baby Stryker Burke who died at age 55 days. After tissue samples were preserved in a solution containing methanol, a pathologist diagnosed methanol poisoning as the cause of death. So far, only a report by Dr Mohammed Ali Al-Bayati is available on this case, and we have a local copy.

How do parents find out their child has been injured in foster care? When they get a bill for x-rays. In the US. Canadian parents don't get bills.

New York mother Sandra Allen got a bill for her son's x-rays, but does not know anything about the injuries. On visitation, discussion of the injury is forbidden.

expand

collapse

New York Post

FURY AT FOSTER 'ABUSE'

By DOUGLAS MONTERO

CARE SCARE: Sandra Allen learned that 6-year-old son Stephen was injured in city foster care — only after getting his X-ray bills.

May 19, 2008 -- Sandra Allen first wants to get her son back from the city - then she'll sue.

Allen is part of growing army of irate parents whose kids were abused or injured while in the custody of the Administration for Children's Services.

Allen, who works for the city's Department of Finance, said she learned in early 2007 that her son Stephen Jr., 6, had a fractured skull and broken collarbone when she started getting X-ray bills from her employee medical insurance.

"We still don't know what happened to his head - we need to know," said the teary Queens mom.

Allen still doesn't know who beat up Stephen, and she is forbidden by MercyFirst, the Queens foster-care provider contracted by ACS to take care of him, from questioning him during supervised visits.

"They [ACS] make the Police Department's blue wall of silence look like cheesecloth," said Joseph Kasper, Allen's lawyer.

The "standard practice" requires the foster-care provider to inform birth parents of injuries or abuse "as soon as possible," an ACS spokesman said.

Tell that to Raven Hamlett, whose two sons, then 5 and 2, were sexually abused sometime between February 2004 and June 2006 when she voluntarily put them in foster care to kick a drug habit.

After getting them back, she sought their medical records from ACS because the oldest boy was acting out.

The ACS social workers accidentally "turned over documents saying these kids had been sexually abused" by an unknown man who attacked them in the Bronx foster-care agency caring for them, her lawyer David Lesch said.

"It's a nightmare - I have never seen anything so heinous," said Lesch, who filed a lawsuit last year.

There are 211 pending personal-injury lawsuits against ACS, some dating back to 2003, according to Law Department records.

The city has shelled out $1.8 million to resolve 15 personal-injury cases, including a $1 million payout last year to Antonia Phillips, now 6, who suffered permanent brain damage after being shaken in 2003 by an unknown assailant.

ACS refused to say if any workers or foster-care contractors were arrested or disciplined for the attack.

Phillips' lawyer Derek Sells calls the lack of prosecution "perplexing."

Between July 2006 and June 2007, there were 1,337 complaints that children in ACS care were abused or neglected, and 301 - nearly a quarter of the cases - were substantiated.

Both numbers were up from the previous 12 months where 197 of 1,256 complaints were substantiated. MercyFirst refused to comment.

douglas.montero@nypost.com

Source: The New York Post

There is a call from Ryerson University for graduating crown wards aged 18 to 21 to participate in a study of child care. We don't know who uses screen name socialworks, but it might be one of the researchers.

expand

collapse

socialworks

CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS

« Thread Started on May 14, 2008, 9:31pm »

Be part of an important Ryerson University School of Social Work Graduate Studies research study

Are you between 18 and 21 years of age? Have you been involved in Child Welfare and want to share your story?

If you answered YES to these questions, you may be eligible to participate in a Focus Group research study.

The purpose of this research study is to study the experiences of Crown Wards once they have graduated from care. Specifically, I wish to explore the transition experience from care to independence.

You may not benefit from participating in this research study, but may help others in the future. It is a good opportunity for you to speak about important issues, share your experience, and help contribute to future research and the development of new and alternative policies and possible practice procedures.

Participants will be reimbursed for their time and travel.

Adults (18 - 21 years of age) are eligible to participate.

The Focus Group will be held in the GTA.

For more information: ƒu(416) 303-2214 OR mswresearch@hotmail.com

This study has been reviewed by, and received ethics clearance through, The Research Ethics Board (REB)

Source: The Foster Care Council of Canada Message Board

More action is planned in support of chemo boy, this time Tuesday at the Hamilton courthouse. The information is from screen name moldessa.

expand

collapse

CAS seizes sick boy to give him chemo

moldessa

Reply #15 May 18, 2008 at 9:18am

(omissions)

Once again we will be outside the family courthouse Tuesday May 20, 9 am

We must find away to protect our future our children from the child stealing corrupt people, we must stand up together!

Source: Sarnia's Smoking Gun

Following our item on the Children's Lawyer, Rob Ferguson pointed out a conflict of interest. Birkin Culp acts for the Office of the Children's lawyer, and serves as a director of community organizations including St Leonard's Community Services. Mr Culp's profile, from the website of his own law firm, is copied below.

expand

collapse

Lawyer Profile - Birkin J. Culp

Picture By The Northlight Studio, Brantford

Birkin Culp joined Lefebvre and Lefebvre in 1999 and has since had a busy practice primarily in the areas of family and criminal law. He represents individuals in the Superior Court of Justice and the Ontario Court of Justice. In addition to representing individuals, he also acts as agent for the Office of the Children's Lawyer (OCL) and represents children in both Child and Family Services Act and Children's Law Reform Act matters. He is an appointed agent for the Family Responsibility Office (FRO), representing the FRO in collection and enforcement proceedings.

Birkin obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree from Kingston, Ontario in 1997. At Queen's, he served as president of Law Students' Society and was honoured with the Gavel Award for his significant contribution to student affairs during his three years at law school. He previously completed his Bachelor of Arts (Honours Degree) in Political Science/History at the University of Guelph where he was awarded with the W.S. Reid Thesis Prize for a paper he wrote on a special history project.

Birkin is involved in various community affairs. He is a member of the Brant Ontario Court of Justice Bar and Bench committee and in such capacity, represents concerns of the bar to the local Judge and participates in deliberations concerning matters affecting administration of justice at the local level. He is also a member of the Board of Directors at St. Leonard's Community Services, a position he greatly cherishes. He participates in board meetings concerning the agency's diverse services in the areas of justice, addictions, mental health, employment and education. In the past Birkin was an executive board member and director of the Brantford School of Instrumental Music.

Birkin is also a keen participant in federal, provincial and local political associations in the Brantford area.

Source: Lefebvre and Lefebvre LLP

Examining the annual report of St Leonard's Community Services (pdf) discloses the following:

Expansion of the dining and recreation facilities at the Youth Resource Centre (YRC), located at 331 Dalhousie Street, in order to properly serve 20 youth. This renovation, which followed the creation of 20 single rooms last year, was made possible with funding from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and through ongoing contributions for operating expenses from the Municipality, the Ministry of Children and Youth Services and area Children’s Aid Societies. — page 1

Child Welfare Reform St. Leonard’s Community Services has been providing residential care to local, regional and provincially based Children’s Aid Societies since 1992. In an effort to establish more home-like therapeutic environments for children in the care of the CAS, the Agency reduced its overall number of child welfare beds to eight for Brant County and eight for Haldimand/Norfolk. This decision was also in response to a reduced demand for group home beds in Ontario, resulting from changing demographics and child welfare reforms, which are focusing on permanency planning, adoption, custody, foster care and kinship care. Sadly, as a result of the reduction in beds, staffing levels needed to be reduced. In an effort to minimize the impact of the reduction and to ensure the continued relationship between the Agency and valued staff members, most impacted employees were transferred to other Agency locations or they accepted an alternate role within the program. — page 3

Tables list Children's Aid Societies under both Funders and Partners. — page 12

We have a local copy of the annual report.

Mr Culp is a director of an agency that receives funding from the children's aid societies. The largest contributor to children's aid funding is the Ontario government, under a formula that provides per-capita reimbursement for foster children. So when Mr Culp represents a child in a protection action, returning the child to his parents reduces the funding of St Leonard's customer.

There is a potentially larger conflict of interest in the extraordinarily uninformative financial statement (page 11). Of St Leonard's $9,649,999 annual revenue, $9,321,687 came from Government funding. If that is also distributed per-capita, Mr Culp's organization can benefit directly by taking certain children away from their parents.

Canada Court Watch has much material on the Office of the Children's Lawyer, and is appealing to the public for more persons to come forward with information. Below is an abridged version of their comments.

expand

collapse

Information wanted from children and parents about their experience with Ontario's Office of the Children's Lawyer!

(May 17, 2008) In a recent court hearing, Ms. Clare Burns, the Children's Lawyer of Ontario, personally intervened and attempted to discredit Canada Court Watch by claiming that Court Watch should not be allowed to monitor child protection cases in the courts and that Court Watch should not be considered as a media source for getting information out to the public. By her actions, Ms. Burns has only demonstrated that her agency is more worried about protecting the interests of its lawyers than it is interested in promoting accountability and transparency Court Watch has a copy of a video from the Law Society of Upper Canada in which Ms. Burns has stated that her office has determined that the recording of children can psychologically harm them. Yet, the Supreme Court of Canada has said that the video recording of children is a reliable source of evidence.

Ms. Burns takes the position that her government funded agency is a reliable source for providing services for children and that organizations such as Canada Court Watch should not be allowed to monitor how the Children's Lawyer's Office does its job. Her agency had previously argued this same position at a court hearing. The lawyers with the Office of the Children's Lawyer and the Children's Aid were defeated in court by a single Canada Court Watch reporter. Court Watch has received many complaints from children about their distrust of the court appointed Children's Lawyer. Children have testified that their court appointed children's lawyer has lied to the court about what they are saying and that they don't trust their children's lawyers. This being the case, why is Ms. Clare Burns so opposed to having her worker maintain an accurate record of meetings with children by simply audio recording them?

A previous report (link broken) released by a committee of citizens about the Children's Lawyer on just one case, provides some evidence as to the poor job this agency has done in the past. This report which was produced by the citizens of Ontario at no cost to the taxpayers, resulted in the Office of the Children's Lawyer being hauled before the Divisional Court In Toronto and harshly criticized by the court. Recent video testimony from a mother gives some more indication of how parents feel about this government funded agency and that problems continue to exist with this agency. Link to video.

Canada Court Watch feels that it is time for children and parents of Ontario who have had dealings with Ontario's Office of the Children's Lawyer, to have their say so that the elected officials of the Province of Ontario can know how the Children's Lawyer is performing under its mandate. Court Watch would like to gather testimony and other evidence from children and parents who have had dealings with the Office of the Children's Lawyer for the purpose of producing an investigative report on this agency. We are looking for video interviews with children and parents as well as court documents which will show how the Children's Lawyer has performed in various Ontario court cases. We want the names of individual lawyers who have worked as children's lawyers and we want feedback as to how well they performed. Testimony from mature children and teens will be most helpful. Whether a good or bad experience, Court Watch would like to hear from you. If you are interested in providing information or testimony in support of this effort, please contact Canada Court Watch at info@canadacourtwatch.com

Source: Canada Court Watch

Canada Court Watch attaches a link to a mother's interview, and we have our local copy (22 megabytes flv format).

An unnamed insider has reported abuses within a women's shelter to Canada Court Watch.

expand

collapse

Women's Shelter supervisor reports abuse of tax dollars by women's shelter!

(May 16, 2008) A women's shelter supervisor contacted Canada Court Watch to disclose that she has witnessed considerable problems within the women's shelter where she works and that there are many things that she has seen which she does not feel are right but unable to say anything publicly about due to fear of losing her job at the shelter for abused women. During her interview she disclosed that records were being altered and that the shelter for abused women was taking in many women of questionable background for the sole purpose of maintaining higher levels of government funding from the Province of Ontario. She indicated that violence was occurring in the shelter and that homeless people, people on drugs and violent women were being allowed into the facility in the presence of children without question in order to maintain higher levels of funding from the Ontario government.

Source: Canada Court Watch

We have an extensive library of previous material on women's shelters including a local copy of the girl's video (42 megabytes, flv format) in today's article.

The stereotype of foster children taken from miserable homes and moved to upscale families is false. Data released by the Annie E Casey Foundation shows that foster homes are on average at a lower socio-economic level than the general population. Children taken into foster care go from bad to worse.

expand

collapse

Study: Big gaps in foster vs. traditional homes

By Wendy Koch, USA TODAY

Children in foster care live in poorer, more crowded and less educated homes than kids in other families, often taking them from one disadvantaged environment into another, new research shows.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation study is the first to analyze 2006 Census Bureau data, the most recent available, for a detailed look at foster parents.

"The gaps were so pervasive," says demographer William O'Hare.

O'Hare finds foster households have a lower average income, $56,364, than do all households with children, $74,301, even though they care for more kids.

Half of foster households have three or more children compared with 21% of all other households with that many. The study also finds foster parents are more likely than others to be unemployed and lack a high school diploma.

"Too often the foster care experience adds to the disadvantages these children" have already endured, says O'Hare, noting that most kids are placed in the foster system because of abuse or neglect.

About 510,000 children were in U.S. foster care in September 2006, the most recent count provided by the Department of Health and Human Services. Of those, 40% were white, 32% black and 19% Hispanic.

O'Hare's study adds a "unique" national perspective to other research showing foster parents are, "in some instances, lower working class," says Fred Wulczyn, research fellow at the University of Chicago's Chapin Hall Center for Children.

Wulczyn says many foster children come from poor families, and social workers make an effort to keep them with relatives or at least in their own community.

"There's a lot to be said for maintaining cultural ties," he says. He adds, however, that when the state takes responsibility for children, it should try to improve their circumstances, by offering help to struggling foster parents or by seeking parents with greater resources.

O'Hare's findings focus mostly on children in non-relative family care, which accounts for about half of all foster kids. Others live with relatives or, in the case of the 464 children removed from a polygamist sect's ranch in Texas last month, in institutions or group homes.

Foster parents related to the kids in their care are even more likely than other foster parents to be poor, single and older, because many of them are grandparents, says Rob Geen, vice president for public policy at Child Trends, a non-partisan research center.

He says many people who become foster parents have been personally touched by foster care.

"They're not in it for the money," says Geen, adding they often dig into their pockets to cover the full costs of caring for the children.

Sidebar:

FOSTER CARE VS. TRADITIONAL

Foster children tend to live in households that are poorer, less educated and more crowded than the typical U.S. household with children.

Homes with foster care

Household income: $56,364

Household with at least 3 children: 50%

Parent with no high school diploma: 21%

Parent didn't work last year: 20%

Homes without foster care

Household income: $74,301

Household with at least 3 children: 21%

Parent with no high school diploma: 14%

Parent didn't work last year: 13%

Source: William O'Hare of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, based on Census Bureau's 2006 American Community Survey

Source: USA Today

In the latest step in the struggle by John Dunn to get the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa to comply with the law, CAS wants Mr Dunn to sign a binding agreement without getting a copy. Here is John Dunn's letter to Barbara MacKinnon (MS-Word).

After many legislative turns, Ontario has enacted a new adoption disclosure law. It now awaits only the drafting of regulations and proclamation by the lieutenant governor.

expand

collapse

May 14, 2008

COAR Bulletin

Ontario has a new adoption disclosure law!

Bill 12 passed third reading today. As members of the adoption community watched, the Ontario legislature voted in favour of opening adoption records.

It was an emotional time for us. While we are very disappointed that the new law includes a disclosure veto we are thrilled that now more than half of the people affected by closed adoption records in Canada will be able to access information.

All of the Liberals present in the legislature voted in favour of the bill. All of the Conservatives voted against it. With the exception of one NDP member who abstained (Peter Kormos) all of the others present voted in favour. In the end an overwhelming majority of MPs voted for the bill.

The government now has to finish writing regulations, the guidelines that explain how the release of information will actually work. They will also plan an advertising campaign so that people understand the changes. It seems that in September 2008 adopted adults and birth parents may start filing vetoes. The following June we will be able to apply for information.

While it seems that we still have several months to wait, it pales in comparison to the 81 years, since adoption records were sealed in 1927, we have waited to get to this day.

In solidarity,

Michael Grand mgrand@uoguelph.ca
Karen Lynn ccnm@rogers.com
Wendy Rowney wrowney@rogers.com

The COAR Coordinating Committee

Source: email from COAR

Three days ago we mentioned a press report of the unsigned statements of workers at the Hill Country Community Mental Health-Mental Retardation Center. Leonard Henderson has managed to get copies of eleven of the statements. They are in image pdf files, so only readers with broadband can read them. Here are the links: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11.

In other FLDS news, two of the pregnant FLDS "teenagers" have given birth, been reclassified as adults and expelled from CPS care. Of course, CPS kept the newborns. It was a good trick to keep the moms from moving away and giving birth out of the reach of Texas CPS. Do you still believe that the Eldorado settlement was rife with pregnant teens?

Addendum: The Salt Lake Tribune posted links to the same files (in sidebar), so they are authentic, at least to the standards of journalism.

There was a three-hour court hearing in the case we are calling chemo boy. The boy will be allowed to go home to his parents following completion of his current round of treatment, probably this week. The parents are permitted to seek a second opinion from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and even a third opinion from an international expert. The case will be back in court in a month for more oversight. We include below a text report from CHCH and a grass-roots report from Mary Janiga. Here is a video link (Internet Explorer only).

The judge advised the family against continued demonstrations such as those outside the hospital yesterday, though it was only grass-roots action that led to the events freeing the boy from children's aid. Parents assume it is their natural right to seek a second opinion on their child's treatment, yet in Canada that right can be exercised only with the specific consent of a court. In the video you can hear CAS lawyer David Felicient say: "The Society obviously is going to continue to monitor the situation and cooperate with the family". This is an example of a pattern in another childhood cancer case, that of Kathie Wernecke: The child protectors tell the press the exact opposite of what they do in the secrecy of the court. The entire controversy occurred because the Society has not been cooperating with the family.

CPS lied to the public and the press. CPS lied to the press and television crews stating that they wanted to keep the lines of communication open with the parents and Katie. Meanwhile in the court room, CPS was requesting to take away Katie's cell phone and computer and phone access and wanted to shut off all communication and visits with her parents. CPS said publicly and repeatedly that all they wanted was to get Katie the cancer treatments and get her well and return her back to her parents. That was a lie. According to my attorney Luis Corona, at our next to the last court hearing, CPS had filed for termination of our parental rights over Katie. They never had any intention of returning her to her parents. CPS filed to terminate our parental rights and to take Katie into permanent CPS custody until she could be adopted out.

Father Edward Wernecke writing on Kathie Wernecke.

Later in the video, you can hear Lisa Diamond recount how her daughter Tayler's life was saved by taking her out of chemo therapy at McMaster and transferring her to Toronto's Sick Kids.

expand

collapse

Family of cancer-stricken boy regain custody

Vows to continue fight for rights

Al Sweeney, Canwest News Service, Published: Tuesday, May 13, 2008

HAMILTON - The parents of a cancer-stricken boy forced to undergo chemotherapy, say they're very pleased to have reached an agreement Tuesday with the Children's Aid Society whereby the 11 year old will continue his treatments and will be placed in his father's custody.

"We're happy with the way this decision is," said the boy's mother, who cannot be named because that would identify the child. "When this round of treatment is over, our son comes home. That's what we wanted and that's what he wanted."

The parents also will be allowed to secure a second opinion on the boy's health, and potentially a third - possibly a world-class diagnosis from abroad -and they will be free to explore the possibility of alternative therapy.

"We will continue to fight for our rights and for our son's rights" the boy's mother said outside the courthouse.

The child's parents appeared before an Ontario Superior Court judge Tuesday afternoon, asking to regain custody of their son and to uphold his right to refuse chemotherapy.

The boy has an aggressive form of leukemia and has undergone chemotherapy before. His parents say he suffered through it, and they decided as a family to stop the treatments. He says he is taking natural medication and does not want the chemotherapy treatment.

Last Thursday, when the family brought the boy to a Hamilton hospital for routine tests, the CAS seized him.

When his father protested, he was handcuffed and evicted from the premises.

The case has sparked national debate over the right to seek alternative therapies for chronic illnesses.

The family and about a dozen supporters protested Monday outside Hamilton's McMaster Children's Hospital saying the CAS is wrong to order the child to endure chemotherapy when he says he doesn't want it.

"I feel very happy. I'm very excited that I'm going to be able to go visit my son whenever I please," said his father, following Tuesday's three-hour hearing. "And when this treatment is over, I'm going to be able to hold him." he said.

During the hearing, the judge said it is paramount the boy's mental and physical health is respected as the first consideration and that means keeping him away from the media glare and the protests over his ordeal.

"It's understood the child is going to stay in hospital for some time, having his treatment," said CAS lawyer David Feliciant. "The Society, obviously, is going to continue to monitor the situation and co-operate with the family."

The boy is undergoing the first of 22 months of chemotherapy. The case is to be reviewed in one month, the judge ruled.

Source: CHCH News

---

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Children's Aid Society Protest (part 4)

We started our support for the family from John and King Street, handing out flyers, talking to complete strangers at approximately 1pm today. We got alot of support and people discussed their issues with us in regards to their Children's Aid Society experiences. We arrived at the Family Court house pictured and had alot of support and turn out. Even a nurse stopped her car, parked and held a sign in support of our cause. We had people from all walks of life with their own stories of the horrors about the Children's Aid. One of our supporters from our organization Child Assist Services, was instrumental in raising the issues of corruption of the family court system, the judges, the lawyers etc... We kept chanting from 2pm until 4pm FREE "D".

As this is a child protection issue names of the parties cannot be identified but definitely our voices were heard.

The power of three people made a difference when strangers and people off the street gave their time and support to our cause. We ended up with approximately 20 supporters and people that truly heard the plight of this child and the issues surrounding the case.

We waited until 5pm when the family court shut down for the day, and the mother and father arrived outside the court house elated. They had won custody back of their son, but the Children's Aid Society still retained control of his medical and chemotherapy needs. The child would be returned to his parents once the last round of chemotherapy was finished.

However, in order to show the corruption of the family court as it stands today, the Family Court judge in charge of this decision (I will post the name once I do some further investigation) stated that the child's emotional and physical health are an issue and the amount of media coverage and the use of a bull horn and protests at McMaster Medical Center are detrimental to the child.

As stated by Al Sweeney of CHCH News Hamilton on television at 6pm on May 13, 2008, and on Live at 5:30pm with Mark and Donna. This is definitely an issue that has to be dealt with immediately in regards to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and association as determined by our own Constititution and democratic rights as citizens of Canada. I will continue to support families in need and will continue to voice my concerns about the corruption and outright falsified statements and innuendos perpetrated by the Children's Aid Societies of this world. We have the right to be heard. This is not an isolated case and we have to stand together. This blog has just sprung into hyper mode for the Children's Aid issue. I hope that you see the coverage Vinny and Paige and I never forgot you for one minute during this whole ordeal. We all tend to get caught up in the moment and not for one second were you on the backburner of my mind. You were always close to my heart and I shed a tear today for every child and family hurt by the corruption of Children's Aid Society.

Posted by maryjaniga at 8:35 PM

Source: blog of Mary Janiga for May 13, 2008

There was more activity in support of the Hamilton boy getting involuntary chemo therapy. We enclose two grass-roots reports, and the news report of CHCH-TV. From the third article, here is the link to video coverage.

expand

collapse

Monday, May 12, 2008

Children's Aid Society Protest (part 3)

We had a great day today despite the wind and the rain. We raised our Native flag high and were there to support a sick child and his mother.

See the news clip on CHCH tv Hamilton.

Posted by maryjaniga at 7:49 PM

Source: blog of Mary Janiga for May 12, 2008

---

moldessa

CAS seizes sick boy to give him chemo

Reply #6 May 12, 2008 at 3:11pm

Thanks to child assist services and all in attendance we were able to negotiate access between mother and sick child.

It was not until we brought out our trusty bullhorn and embarrassed McMaster and the children's aid did they allow access to take place in exchange for us to stop using the bullhorn. The exchange was made and the family was able to visit the child.

The turn-out was great. The media was all over the place again. We will be on the news at 6 and again at 11. We have been mentioned in most newspapers (child assist services) is being recognized as a valuable service in the Hamilton area. Tomorrow we will once again join together in the hopes that the child will be returned to his parents.

We will be meeting up at the family court house in Hamilton (Main and McNabe) at 2 pm. The media will also be there, we are expecting an even greater turn-out tomorrow as we have gained a lot of support from the community as many people were just walking off the street to inquire about the child assist services. In turn we have gotten the word out, made friends all for a good cause.

Anyone wishing to attend tomorrow is welcome to join the child assist services at the family court house.

We are all hoping tomorrow the child is returned to his parents but if not we are in this for the long haul.

There is much more to be done people and as you can see three people who join together with the same goal in mind (to bring accountability in the system) can make a difference. WE MADE THAT DIFFERENCE TODAY

A special thanks to the founders of the child assist services and to all those who came out and showed there support

Source: Sarnia's Smoking Gun, posting under screen name moldessa

---

Protestors: "We have a native child being held hostage"

Boy, 11, forced to undergo chemo: "leave me alone"

Al Sweeney, CHCH News, Published: Monday, May 12, 2008

A remarkable scene outside McMaster Children's Hospital today in a story we first told you about last week. The parents and supporters of a young leukemia victim protesting outside the hospital. They're furious that the eleven-year-old boy is being held against his will by the Children's Aid Society and forced to undergo chemotherapy he doesn't want. Al Sweeney has the latest.

Family members and supporters lined up across from the boy's room.

"We hear your voice buddy. Come to the window and wave to us."

But for much of the day the blinds were drawn.

His stepmother and a long-time family friend sang one of his favorite songs.

"One dream can change the world."

His supporters struggled with tears and anger.

"Its its its just (covers face and cries) it's (turns away)"

They say the boy's treatment is wrong. And call this abuse of a child whose family says they're Métis, part native.

"We have a native child being held hostage in McMaster Children's Hospital at this moment, stolen by the Children's Aid Society of Hamilton." -Swayze Brook, Protestor

We can't identify the boy or his family for legal reasons.

He was kept in the hospital under a court order last week and forced to undergo chemotherapy .... even though he says it makes him so sick he doesn't want the treatment and his family says it has little chance of success.

The boy told us by telephone the treatment is not fair:

"I just want them to leave me alone. I'm doing the right thing. I'm taking natural medicine. They don't, they're not listening."

Throughout the day, protestors came and went. And others were touched by the plight of the boy and his family. Francine Thibodeau brought his mother games for the boy to play in hospital.

"I think he should be able to speak for himself. if he needs a break, he needs a break." -Francine Thibodeau, supporter

The next step in this dispute with a boy's life in the middle is expected to take place in court.

The family has hired prominent Toronto lawyer Marlys Edwardh to fight their case and says the Children's Aid Society is going to ask for formal custody of the boy on Tuesday afternoon.

The society doesn't confirm that.

They say they feel for the parents and the plight of the child ... but have to carry out their mandate and a court order.

Source: CHCH TV

The cartoon below by Richard Barlow was posted on the internet in celebration of mother's day.

expand

collapse

Source: Truth Will Prevail (FLDS)

Supporters of the Hamilton boy subjected to involuntary chemo therapy rallied outside his hospital room yesterday. He is also getting legal assistance from a top-rated lawyer, Marlys Edwardh. We include two reports, one from the Globe and Mail and one from the blog of Mary Janiga, one of the rally participants.

expand

collapse

Boy, 11, can't endure chemo any more, defiant father says

JILL MAHONEY, From Monday's Globe and Mail, May 12, 2008 at 3:40 AM EDT

He is angry, misses his family and is losing his reddish-brown hair. His dad says his "spirit's broken."

The 11-year-old Hamilton boy, who has leukemia, was seized by the Children's Aid Society last week and is being forced to undergo chemotherapy against both his and his family's wishes.

"We may still lose him and we may still lose against them, but that doesn't mean I'm going to give up," his father said in an interview yesterday.

The child's father and stepmother are exploring their legal options and friends have hired Marlys Edwardh, a prominent Toronto lawyer whose long-time law partner is veteran counsel Clayton Ruby.

Friends of a boy taken into temporary custody by the Children’s Aid Society so that he can receive chemotherapy wave to him from outside his window at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton Sunday evening. A vigil was held to protest against the boy’s treatment by the authorities. (Glenn Lowson for the Globe and Mail)

Last night, about two dozen people, including members of the child's family, held a vigil in the rain outside his hospital window. The boy waved down at his supporters, who held candles in Styrofoam cups.

At a hospital appointment for routine tests last Thursday, the Children's Aid Society of Hamilton took the boy, who cannot be identified under youth-protection laws, into its temporary custody. Chemotherapy treatment was then commenced.

His family can visit him only under the watchful eyes of CAS workers and security guards; his father was evicted from the hospital in handcuffs after reacting in anger when his son was seized.

A judge earlier ruled the boy is not capable of understanding the implications of refusing chemotherapy.

Two of Canada's top pediatric oncologists have said he will die without the aggressive treatment.

The deeply spiritual youngster, who likes dancing, singing and writing stories, is to be released from hospital tomorrow after his treatment is finished, his father said. It is unclear if the CAS intends to place him in foster care or release him to his family.

A spokeswoman did not return messages yesterday.

The father called the ordeal "awful, hell on wheels."

He said he will fight to regain custody of his son, saying the boy has suffered enough.

"The best thing for him to do would ... be home with us so that if he did pass away, at least it would be home with us and we could take care of him and we could make sure that he's sent away the way he deserves to be, not poked and prodded and treated like a criminal," he said.

Family friend Belma Diamante, who hired Ms. Edwardh, said the boy's views have not been heard by the court and child welfare agency.

"Every institution and every individual, if they're claiming that we're making the best decision in [the boy's] interest, then naturally [he] has to be heard," said Ms. Diamante, who met the boy when she helped him realize his dream of dancing in The Nutcracker three years ago when she was president of the Canadian Ballet Youth Ensemble.

The child was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which has a cure rate exceeding 80 per cent, when he was 7.

He underwent chemotherapy and in January, marked one year cancer-free. But the disease came back just a few weeks later.

The boy, who has aboriginal ancestry, did one round of chemotherapy in February and then decided to stop aggressive treatments in favour of natural remedies, including chelation therapy, vitamins, oregano and green tea.

Chemotherapy makes him extremely ill and causes effects such as vomiting, bloating, pain in his spine and difficulty walking.

"He told us that he didn't want to undergo any more treatment because he felt that it wasn't going to give him quality of life, that he felt that it would probably take away his life," his father explained.

"He would rather just go traditional and natural and take it for as long as it would take him so that he could be with his friends and so that he could be at home with his family and play with his sister and just try to have fun and live as long as he could live."

The boy also has fetal alcohol syndrome and is mildly intellectually delayed, his father said.

He also has serious behavioural problems, for which he takes medication. His mother died of a brain tumour when he was 4.

Source: The Globe and Mail

---

Childrens Aid Society Protest (part 2)

Well there were at least 20-30 people in attendance at the candle light vigil for the 11 year old boy and his family at McMaster Children's Hospital this evening at 7pm. Despite the rain, the wind and the cold a good crowd showed up with candles and signs. It was definitely a Mother's Day to remember. Hugs and tears, and laughter and lots of stories told of lost children and families torn apart by the Children's Aid Society.

The media was in attendance: The Globe and Mail, The Hamilton Spectator, CHCH News Hamilton, McMaster University.

The parents were there and extended family and friends. I got a few pictures of the vigil and of the building where the child is being held hostage by a system so corrupt, they kept the child from his home and from his mom on Mother's Day. Supervised and under guard of CAS workers and Security, the mother only seen her son from 11am until 7pm today in his hospital bed. There is a 20% chance this child may not make it through chemotherapy and our voices must be heard for this child.

We will be holding another protest tomorrow morning on Monday May 12, 2008 at 8am until 3pm.

Posted by maryjaniga at 10:31 PM

Source: blog of Mary Janiga for May 11, 2008

The Salt Lake Tribune publised an article by FLDS mother Maggie Jessop. There are also hundreds of reader responses.

expand

collapse

I am an FLDS woman and I am entitled to the same rights as you

Maggie Jessop, Salt Lake Tribune, Article Last Updated:05/09/2008 09:08:23 PM MDT

So, you want to hear from the FLDS women, huh? OK, you asked for it.

However, I may not have it within my psychological or emotional capacity to communicate appropriately due to the widespread "fact" that I belong to an uneducated, underprivileged, information-deprived, brainless, spineless, poor, picked-on, dependent, misled class of women identified as "brain-washed." But, I'll give it my best shot.

I have the right to freedom of speech. Why haven't you heard from me before? I am a mother. That is my privilege, my career and my duty, and it keeps me pretty busy. I like it that way.

Up until now, I have left it up to the government to protect my right to be a mother. I have never been guilty of intentionally breaking the law, never been in a courtroom, never even spoken to an attorney.

In the face of the holocaust going on, most people want to know the truth, right? Well, do you get truth from liars? Come on, John Doe-Head, do you revel in crude and erroneous sensationalism? What kind of a person are you, anyway? Isn't it better to get the truth from those who really know?

If someone is different, people get suspicious, perhaps even jealous, and assume the worst. Interesting. I have broken no law. I have never abused my children. I have injured no one in the choices I have made. I am a citizen of the United States of America, and I am entitled to the same rights as you are. I expect the freedom to worship God after the dictates of my own conscience, and believe all men, and women, should be free to do the same.

Put yourself in my shoes, because you and your children could be next. You think you are safe because you belong to the public? I am denied my rights because I am alien? Frankly, they are dead wrong. I am just a normal person. I have eyes and ears, not to mention a big mouth, and I have a heart to feel my way through life, and I have a brain to reason and choose.

They take my children because my beliefs could damage them years from now? How ridiculous can they get?

I used to think anyone in this country was innocent until proven guilty, but, no, I am guilty because the media and the government and the religious bigots think or say or hear or suspect I am immoral and abusive. Good grief!

They say we are dangerous to society because we follow one man. Do we, indeed? Yes! His name is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Get out your scriptures, all you sanctimonious judges and prove where I have broken a single law of God; and after that, since He comes first, prove where I have broken a law of this land.

OK, I admit, I got a speeding ticket once about 25 years ago, but I repented of that, and I haven't had one since. What else have I done?

You mean they have my children in state custody because of what I believe? What an incredible outrage.

Who is brainwashed, after all, may I ask? Excuse me, please, but I feel completely indignant that authorities in the state of Texas would insult my level of intelligence, however minimal it may be, and label me a half-wit when I have witnessed hundreds of numbskulls lower themselves so pathetically, responding without conscience in blind obedience to orders from the Gestapo. And they call me brainwashed? Amazing.

I believe the truth shall be known and right will prevail. In the meantime, I continue to lug around my gargantuan briefcase as I search for my children. That briefcase really ought to be a diaper bag.

My day planner ought to be filled with ideas for a day of improvement with my children, for nothing is more joyful than witnessing the development of a child from heaven, nothing more pleasant than watching a beautiful bud of the rarest flower on earth blossom into a picture of loveliness, a precious bloom in the garden of life, nourished by that eternal element of unconditional love, a gift from our Eternal Father, which He makes available to His children through the instrumentality of unselfish motherhood.

My pillow really ought to be a sacred place where I can rest my weary head after a satisfying day of interaction with precious children, not a sponge of sorrow to mop the tears of a childless mother.

Ask your questions about the most misunderstood people on Earth. Seek the truth, and we will answer with truth. Just ask.

---

MAGGIE JESSOP is a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and mother of four children who are in Texas state custody. She asks readers to read the Web sites www.captivefldschildren.org and www.fldstruth.org.

Source: Salt Lake Tribune

Canada Court Watch has posted the video they promised earlier of a girl who was introduced to smoking by her foster mother. She also acted as cigarette buyer while under legal age. Watch the video CAS workers break the law and encourage kids to break the law too! on the Canada Court Watch site or our local copy (flv).

We have posted so many items originated by John Dunn that he is nearly part of the Dufferin VOCA family. Today Mr Dunn spoke to his father for the first time.

expand

collapse

I just wanted to blast this out there and will expand on it later! I'm in too good of a state of shock to type much now.

I just talked to my birthfather for the first time and it was awsome! He said he tried to find me too thinking I was in Nova Scotia etc, but he remembered my mom (1969) and he remembered going to the CCAS in 1972 when an ad in the paper from the CCAS was seeking him (to which he was unable to take care of my brother and I)...

We are going to meet this summer and have a beer, shoot the shit and swap photos!

I just happened to call his parents today (have known about them for a while using Canada 411) and he answered! He sounded as if he almost teared up at first when I mentioned who I was, and he said "that's me!" (about himself)

Ok, I am atta here, but will write more later... yahoo!

Sincerely

John Dunn
Executive DirectorThe Foster Care Council of Canada

www.afterfostercare.ca

Source: email from John Dunn, May 11, 2008

The mental health workers hired during the first week after the FLDS raid last month have revealed the treatment of the children by the CPS workers. Social workers lied to the families, and threatened mental health workers with arrest. Mothers were denied access to their lawyers. After a week, CPS sent the mental health staff home for being too compassionate. The children were held under conditions favoring the spread of contagious diseases.

expand

collapse

Women of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints discuss the raid at their Eldorado-area ranch. Hill Country Community Mental Health-Mental Retardation Center workers blasted Child Protective Services employees over actions at shelters. CYNTHIA ESPARZA: SAN ANGELO STANDARD-TIMES

May 10, 2008, 10:39PM

Mental health workers rip CPS over sect

Staff complains agency traumatized kids, disregarded mothers' rights

By ROGER CROTEA, San Antonio Express-news

Mental health workers sent to emergency shelters in San Angelo last month to help care for the hundreds of women and children removed from a polygamist sect's West Texas ranch have sharply criticized the Child Protective Services operation, telling their governing board it unnecessarily traumatized the kids.

The CPS investigation of suspected child abuse and its decision to seek state custody of all 464 children punished mothers who appeared to be good parents of healthy, well-behaved and emotionally normal kids, workers said in a set of short and unsigned written reports made at the request of the board after a briefing Tuesday.

Threatened arrests

All nine reports by employees of the Hill Country Community Mental Health-Mental Retardation Center expressed varying degrees of anger toward the state's child welfare agency for removing the children from their community, separating them from their mothers or for the way CPS workers conducted themselves at the shelter.

A few described ongoing tension between the two groups of social workers, including threats by CPS to have interfering MHMR workers arrested.

"I have worked in Domestic Violence/Sexual Abuse programming for over 20 years and have never seen women and children treated this poorly, not to mention their civil rights being disregarded in this manner," one wrote.

The workers spent several days in San Angelo, some shortly after the April 3 search of the Yearning for Zion Ranch prompted by a sexual abuse complaint, during the chaotic opening of a shelter in the city's coliseum, or in the days leading up to the children's dispersal to foster care facilities across the state later that month.

"The entire MH support staff was 'fired' the second week; we were sent home due to being 'too compassionate,' " one report stated.

The state has argued that enough evidence of "spiritual marriages," pregnancy and childbirth by underage girls at the ranch exists to seek permanent removal of all the children from their parents because of the risk of child abuse.

The compound was built to house members of a breakaway Mormon sect called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

To respond to the allegations, CPS spokesman Patrick Crimmins said via e-mail: "We have received no complaints from Hill Country MHMR. However, we will be looking into what are obviously very serious allegations, and sharing these allegations with other agencies as appropriate."

The MHMR workers helped staff large shelters in San Angelo where mothers were at first allowed to stay with the children. Only mothers of younger children were allowed to remain after the first few days.

All the MHMR workers described themselves as impressed by the mothers they worked with. Many of them described child welfare workers as high-handed, rude or uncaring toward the mothers and overzealous in their concerns that they might escape or harm their keepers.

Two reported that the CPS workers were friendly and compassionate.

Three reported that CPS workers lied to the mothers; one described it as a tactic to make separating them from their children go easier. Several said the mothers were denied access to their lawyers.

Some of the MHMR workers said the crowded conditions at the shelter allowed upper respiratory infections and chicken pox to spread rapidly and many noted the shelter's other discomforts. One described it as deliberate, a form of coercion to aid the investigation: "The more uncomfortable they were the more CPS thought they would talk."

Needed to communicate

Kevin Dinnin, the president of Baptist Children and Family Services who served as incident commander at the shelter under a contract between his agency and the state, said he couldn't confirm many of the allegations made by the MHMR workers.

"Some of it is unfounded," he said. "Some of it is accurate, depending on your point of view. Were the shelters crowded? Yeah. But it's a shelter. And yes, CPS workers were taking notes and listening. Yes, they were always around. I'm not defending CPS, but it's hard to give people privacy in a shelter."

The CPS and the MHMR staff could have reduced tensions with better communication, Dinnin said.

The written statements were given to the Hill Country MHMR board anonymously because the workers had signed agreements not to disclose what they had seen, said board member Jack Dawson.

"What they saw was so horrendous, they had to report it to the board," said Dawson, a Comal County commissioner. "I have every confidence their stories are accurate. Our people are professionals, with years and years of service in their fields."

Board President John Kite said the entire board was upset by the reports. He said he is trying to get Gov. Rick Perry to meet with the workers.

"We were literally astounded at what they told us," Kite said. "They are trampling all over human decency and those people's civil rights. ... We should not just sit here and let it happen."

Express-News staff writer Nancy Martinez contributed to this report.

Source: Houston Chronicle

Here is a personal plea from a mother double-crossed by her lawyer, who has now joined the local prosecutors office. When a lawyer's malfeasance causes a client to lose money, the client can recover the money from the lawyer, but there is no way to recover a child.

expand

collapse

I had an attorney that was supposed to file an appeal in Pennsylvania Supreme Court for the termination of parental rights but she lied to me for three years. She has moved on to the DA Office now and she said she could not help me. I checked with the Supreme Court and they told me she never filed in that court. What can I do? She left my son in a boy's house and lied to me, telling me that she had not heard from the court yet. I don't know what I can do, I have not seen my son in over three years. Can anyone tell me if there is something I can do? Anything I can put into the court myself? Is there a way I can sue this attorney? Please contact me at [ cafaily at yahoo.com ].

Source: CPSWatch posting copied with permission of the author

Lord Justice Wall of the England and Wales Court of Appeal has criticized John Hemming, electe