Tuesday, December 15, 2009
KY,DSS,knew children were at risk for abuse
Nearly 270 Kentucky children died of abuse or neglect during the past decade — more than half of them in cases where state officials already knew of or suspected problems.
During one recent 12-month period, 41 children died — the highest rate of any state, according to a recent report by the Every Child Matters Education Fund, a Washington child-advocacy group.
In a six-month review of the problem, The Courier-Journal found that:
-- Child-protection officials, day-care workers, and parents, friends and relatives missed signs of abuse such as suspicious bruising and evidence of previous injury, or were hesitant to act.It found that since 2000, Kentucky Child Protective Services officials have investigated reports of problems in cases of 149 of the 267 Kentucky children who subsequently died from abuse or neglect, according to the annual report on such deaths produced by the cabinet.
“That's pretty alarming,” said David Richart, a consultant and longtime child advocate in Louisville. “Those are dangerous, ominous signs when you are already involved with the family or with the home.”
Patricia Wilson, commissioner of social services for the cabinet, said she believes that the state's nearly 1,520 “front-line” social workers who handle child protection are hard-working and do a good job helping protect children.
But she said she is disturbed by the 41 deaths highlighted in the Every Child Matters report — which covered 12 months that ended Sept. 30, 2007 — and acknowledged it's not an area where the state wants to be No. 1 .
Related
* Jefferson jurist allows rare look behind scenes of family court
* Confidentiality exceeds law's requirements in Kentucky
* Funding is a struggle for other social agencies too
* Baby crash dummies help sort out facts
* As allegation rate rises, advocates fear Kentucky is missing some abuse
* Graphics: Abuse reports; ages of abuse; abuser relationship to victim
* Many Kentucky social workers ‘bombarded' by pressures of job
* Recognizing the warning signs of abuse can save some children's lives
* Victims of child abuse come from all parts of Kentucky
* Graphics: Child abuse by the numbers; child abuse trends
* Painful lives cut short: Three tragic tales of child abuse in Kentucky
* SPECIAL REPORT: Children in Crisis
“We really wish there weren't any fatalities,” Wilson said. “Every fatality is a tragedy.”
MULTIPLE REPORTS
21 cases involved 10 or more notices
State officials had received two or more reports of suspected mistreatment in 60 percent of the 304 cases in which a child died or suffered life-threatening injuries during the past 10 years, according the state's annual report on child-abuse deaths.
And in 21 of those cases, the cabinet had received 10 or more reports of suspected mistreatment, according to the annual report.
Wilson said the state's policy about confidentiality prevents her from commenting on specific cases or whether the cabinet was involved at the time of a child's death. But she acknowledged that multiple reports about suspected mistreatment would be potentially serious, depending on how recent they were and their nature.
“It makes a difference whether it's three times this year or three times three years ago,” Wilson said.
Though the details of state child abuse cases are secret — even after a child dies — court records of adults charged with murder in some recent cases show state officials were well aware of suspected problems. For example:
(3 of 5)
Two-year-old Christopher Allen of Louisville died Aug. 28, 2008, from a severe battering three days after a social worker removed him from his mother and placed him with an aunt.
Social service and other officials had repeatedly investigated allegations that he had been mistreated. The aunt and her boyfriend are facing murder charges; the case is scheduled for trial next year.
Kayden Branham, 20 months, of Monticello, died May 31 after drinking drain cleaner that his 14-year-old mother and 19-year-old father allegedly were using to make methamphetamine in a Wayne County mobile home. Both Kayden and his mother were under the supervision of state child-protection authorities and were supposed to be in another home.
Seven-month-old Gaige Pyles, of Elsmere, died Aug. 15 after being shaken to death. His father, Matthew Pyles, 27, was indicted Oct. 22 and charged with murder. State child-protection officials had been involved with the infant before his death, according to the Kenton County prosecutor.
Related
* Jefferson jurist allows rare look behind scenes of family court
* Confidentiality exceeds law's requirements in Kentucky
* Funding is a struggle for other social agencies too
* Baby crash dummies help sort out facts
* As allegation rate rises, advocates fear Kentucky is missing some abuse
* Graphics: Abuse reports; ages of abuse; abuser relationship to victim
* Many Kentucky social workers ‘bombarded' by pressures of job
* Recognizing the warning signs of abuse can save some children's lives
* Victims of child abuse come from all parts of Kentucky
* Graphics: Child abuse by the numbers; child abuse trends
* Painful lives cut short: Three tragic tales of child abuse in Kentucky
* SPECIAL REPORT: Children in Crisis
Each death is devastating to family and friends, survivors say.
“It really sickens me, how the baby suffered so much,” Samantha Chapman said of grandson Robert Ross Jr., a 3-month-old Covington baby who died in 2008 from a skull fracture and suffered multiple broken bones. “That just tears my heart apart.”
SIGNS UNRECOGNIZED
More vigilance is needed by all
Child-abuse experts say the true picture may be even worse because as many as half of all child-abuse or neglect deaths may not be recognized and reported, being classified instead as accidental or from natural causes.
“I think some people are too nice to allow themselves to imagine what some people are capable of doing,” said Dr. Melissa Currie, director of the University of Louisville's pediatric forensic division.
The Every Child Matters report said national research shows that officials may be missing as many as 50 percent of child-abuse deaths.
In Kentucky, the leading cause of death of abused children is head trauma, and 70 percent are under age 3. Other causes include shootings, strangulation and poisoning, according to the state's 2009 annual report. Neglect deaths were most often caused by drowning, failure of adults to seek medical treatment, exposure to drugs and suffocation, the report said.
(4 of 5)
State law requires anyone who knows of abuse or neglect to report it to police, prosecutors or the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. But those involved in child-abuse detection and prevention say even the most obvious signs of abuse — bruising, especially in infants — often go unrecognized and thus unreported.
“Bruises on babies are not normal — period,” Currie said. “If you see them, you should do something.”
A 2007 study led by UofL researchers examined the abuse deaths or near deaths of 20 Kentucky children under age 3 and found that in most cases, evidence of prior abuse, such as suspicious bruising, had been previously documented by someone, such as a social worker, nurse or doctor, but not acted on.
Officials say that many more children could be saved, even with Kentucky's risk factors for child abuse, such as high rates of poverty and drug abuse and low educational attainment. But that would require more vigilance on the part of everyone who encounters such children — not just state child-protection officials.
Related
* Jefferson jurist allows rare look behind scenes of family court
* Confidentiality exceeds law's requirements in Kentucky
* Funding is a struggle for other social agencies too
* Baby crash dummies help sort out facts
* As allegation rate rises, advocates fear Kentucky is missing some abuse
* Graphics: Abuse reports; ages of abuse; abuser relationship to victim
* Many Kentucky social workers ‘bombarded' by pressures of job
* Recognizing the warning signs of abuse can save some children's lives
* Victims of child abuse come from all parts of Kentucky
* Graphics: Child abuse by the numbers; child abuse trends
* Painful lives cut short: Three tragic tales of child abuse in Kentucky
* SPECIAL REPORT: Children in Crisis
“There is only a certain percentage of cases CPS has an opportunity to intervene in,” Currie said. “All the rest need to be caught by the rest of us.”
Some advocates believe opening confidential state records of abuse deaths or near-deaths would shed more light on the system and help improve it. Though such disclosure is allowed under federal law, many states including Kentucky, choose not to do so.
“Information about these tragic events ... is withheld by many jurisdictions,” said a national report released last year by the Children's Advocacy Institute at the University of San Diego law school and First Star, a Washington child advocacy group. “This is unacceptable.”
LACK OF FUNDS
Social workers face enormous pressure
The state's annual report shows a sharp decline in the rate of cases where social workers substantiate abuse or neglect, despite an increase in reports of abuse or neglect since 2000, a trend advocates and some social workers blame on a shortage or workers and resources.
(5 of 5)
Wilson, the social service commissioner, credits a better system of screening out complaints that don't appear to involve abuse or neglect — such as families without utilities or food. But child advocates are skeptical.
“That just doesn't compute,” Richart said of the decline in substantiation rates. “There's no logical reason why that would be so.”
Critics note that the underfunded state social-service system has undergone three rounds of budget cuts in the past two years and likely faces more.
“The state leads the nation in child abuse deaths,” Sheila Patrick, a 15-year social worker from Eastern Kentucky, told a legislative panel in October. “That's as high a price as you can pay.”
Related
* Jefferson jurist allows rare look behind scenes of family court
* Confidentiality exceeds law's requirements in Kentucky
* Funding is a struggle for other social agencies too
* Baby crash dummies help sort out facts
* As allegation rate rises, advocates fear Kentucky is missing some abuse
* Graphics: Abuse reports; ages of abuse; abuser relationship to victim
* Many Kentucky social workers ‘bombarded' by pressures of job
* Recognizing the warning signs of abuse can save some children's lives
* Victims of child abuse come from all parts of Kentucky
* Graphics: Child abuse by the numbers; child abuse trends
* Painful lives cut short: Three tragic tales of child abuse in Kentucky
* SPECIAL REPORT: Children in Crisis
Judges also lament the shortage of services for families — such as counseling, drug treatment or parenting classes — all reduced sharply by state budget cuts.
“Typically, parenting classes are one of the things we order,” said Jefferson Family Court Judge Stephen George. But now poor parents must wait several months to get into a class while the children linger in foster care, he said.
Also cited is a culture within the state social-service system that gives regional supervisors broad power to put enormous pressure on social workers to meet paperwork deadlines or face discipline. That sometimes forces them to skimp on investigations or take short cuts, a group of social workers told lawmakers this fall.
“We are just putting out fires,” Barbara Cowan, a Kenton County social worker, said at the October meeting of the House-Senate Health and Welfare Committee. “Corners are definitely being cut.”
Compounding the problem is that social workers are afraid to speak out, say officials of their union and others.
“Workers are scared to say anything,” said Shane Sidebottom, a Covington lawyer who has represented seven state social workers in “whistleblower” lawsuits alleging that they suffered retaliation for trying to point out problems. “This is a culture of fear.”
In failing to adequately deal with signs of abuse, Kentucky is hardly alone among the states. The Every Child Matters report found that child-welfare authorities nationwide generally have had prior involvement in about half of the cases of children who die each year from abuse or neglect.
Michael Petit, president of Every Child Matters, said his organization is calling on the federal government — which provides about half the money states spend on child welfare — to step forward with national standards and stricter oversight of state child protection programs.
“This problem isn't going to go away,” he said. “I don't think any state can wrestle this to the ground. You've got to have federal involvement.”Two-year-old Christopher Allen of Louisville died Aug. 28, 2008, from a severe battering three days after a social worker removed him from his mother and placed him with an aunt.
Social service and other officials had repeatedly investigated allegations that he had been mistreated. The aunt and her boyfriend are facing murder charges; the case is scheduled for trial next year.
Kayden Branham, 20 months, of Monticello, died May 31 after drinking drain cleaner that his 14-year-old mother and 19-year-old father allegedly were using to make methamphetamine in a Wayne County mobile home. Both Kayden and his mother were under the supervision of state child-protection authorities and were supposed to be in another home.
Seven-month-old Gaige Pyles, of Elsmere, died Aug. 15 after being shaken to death. His father, Matthew Pyles, 27, was indicted Oct. 22 and charged with murder. State child-protection officials had been involved with the infant before his death, according to the Kenton County prosecutor.State law requires anyone who knows of abuse or neglect to report it to police, prosecutors or the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. But those involved in child-abuse detection and prevention say even the most obvious signs of abuse — bruising, especially in infants — often go unrecognized and thus unreported.
“Bruises on babies are not normal — period,” Currie said. “If you see them, you should do something.”
A 2007 study led by UofL researchers examined the abuse deaths or near deaths of 20 Kentucky children under age 3 and found that in most cases, evidence of prior abuse, such as suspicious bruising, had been previously documented by someone, such as a social worker, nurse or doctor, but not acted on.
Officials say that many more children could be saved, even with Kentucky's risk factors for child abuse, such as high rates of poverty and drug abuse and low educational attainment. But that would require more vigilance on the part of everyone who encounters such children — not just state child-protection officials.Wilson, the social service commissioner, credits a better system of screening out complaints that don't appear to involve abuse or neglect — such as families without utilities or food. But child advocates are skeptical.
“That just doesn't compute,” Richart said of the decline in substantiation rates. “There's no logical reason why that would be so.”
Critics note that the underfunded state social-service system has undergone three rounds of budget cuts in the past two years and likely faces more.
“The state leads the nation in child abuse deaths,” Sheila Patrick, a 15-year social worker from Eastern Kentucky, told a legislative panel in October. “That's as high a price as you can pay.”Judges also lament the shortage of services for families — such as counseling, drug treatment or parenting classes — all reduced sharply by state budget cuts.
“Typically, parenting classes are one of the things we order,” said Jefferson Family Court Judge Stephen George. But now poor parents must wait several months to get into a class while the children linger in foster care, he said.
Also cited is a culture within the state social-service system that gives regional supervisors broad power to put enormous pressure on social workers to meet paperwork deadlines or face discipline. That sometimes forces them to skimp on investigations or take short cuts, a group of social workers told lawmakers this fall.
“We are just putting out fires,” Barbara Cowan, a Kenton County social worker, said at the October meeting of the House-Senate Health and Welfare Committee. “Corners are definitely being cut.”
Compounding the problem is that social workers are afraid to speak out, say officials of their union and others.
“Workers are scared to say anything,” said Shane Sidebottom, a Covington lawyer who has represented seven state social workers in “whistleblower” lawsuits alleging that they suffered retaliation for trying to point out problems. “This is a culture of fear.”
In failing to adequately deal with signs of abuse, Kentucky is hardly alone among the states. The Every Child Matters report found that child-welfare authorities nationwide generally have had prior involvement in about half of the cases of children who die each year from abuse or neglect.
Michael Petit, president of Every Child Matters, said his organization is calling on the federal government — which provides about half the money states spend on child welfare — to step forward with national standards and stricter oversight of state child protection programs.
“This problem isn't going to go away,” he said. “I don't think any state can wrestle this to the ground. You've got to have federal involvement.”
Reporter Deborah Yetter can be reached at (502) 582-4228.
During one recent 12-month period, 41 children died — the highest rate of any state, according to a recent report by the Every Child Matters Education Fund, a Washington child-advocacy group.
In a six-month review of the problem, The Courier-Journal found that:
-- Child-protection officials, day-care workers, and parents, friends and relatives missed signs of abuse such as suspicious bruising and evidence of previous injury, or were hesitant to act.It found that since 2000, Kentucky Child Protective Services officials have investigated reports of problems in cases of 149 of the 267 Kentucky children who subsequently died from abuse or neglect, according to the annual report on such deaths produced by the cabinet.
“That's pretty alarming,” said David Richart, a consultant and longtime child advocate in Louisville. “Those are dangerous, ominous signs when you are already involved with the family or with the home.”
Patricia Wilson, commissioner of social services for the cabinet, said she believes that the state's nearly 1,520 “front-line” social workers who handle child protection are hard-working and do a good job helping protect children.
But she said she is disturbed by the 41 deaths highlighted in the Every Child Matters report — which covered 12 months that ended Sept. 30, 2007 — and acknowledged it's not an area where the state wants to be No. 1 .
Related
* Jefferson jurist allows rare look behind scenes of family court
* Confidentiality exceeds law's requirements in Kentucky
* Funding is a struggle for other social agencies too
* Baby crash dummies help sort out facts
* As allegation rate rises, advocates fear Kentucky is missing some abuse
* Graphics: Abuse reports; ages of abuse; abuser relationship to victim
* Many Kentucky social workers ‘bombarded' by pressures of job
* Recognizing the warning signs of abuse can save some children's lives
* Victims of child abuse come from all parts of Kentucky
* Graphics: Child abuse by the numbers; child abuse trends
* Painful lives cut short: Three tragic tales of child abuse in Kentucky
* SPECIAL REPORT: Children in Crisis
“We really wish there weren't any fatalities,” Wilson said. “Every fatality is a tragedy.”
MULTIPLE REPORTS
21 cases involved 10 or more notices
State officials had received two or more reports of suspected mistreatment in 60 percent of the 304 cases in which a child died or suffered life-threatening injuries during the past 10 years, according the state's annual report on child-abuse deaths.
And in 21 of those cases, the cabinet had received 10 or more reports of suspected mistreatment, according to the annual report.
Wilson said the state's policy about confidentiality prevents her from commenting on specific cases or whether the cabinet was involved at the time of a child's death. But she acknowledged that multiple reports about suspected mistreatment would be potentially serious, depending on how recent they were and their nature.
“It makes a difference whether it's three times this year or three times three years ago,” Wilson said.
Though the details of state child abuse cases are secret — even after a child dies — court records of adults charged with murder in some recent cases show state officials were well aware of suspected problems. For example:
(3 of 5)
Two-year-old Christopher Allen of Louisville died Aug. 28, 2008, from a severe battering three days after a social worker removed him from his mother and placed him with an aunt.
Social service and other officials had repeatedly investigated allegations that he had been mistreated. The aunt and her boyfriend are facing murder charges; the case is scheduled for trial next year.
Kayden Branham, 20 months, of Monticello, died May 31 after drinking drain cleaner that his 14-year-old mother and 19-year-old father allegedly were using to make methamphetamine in a Wayne County mobile home. Both Kayden and his mother were under the supervision of state child-protection authorities and were supposed to be in another home.
Seven-month-old Gaige Pyles, of Elsmere, died Aug. 15 after being shaken to death. His father, Matthew Pyles, 27, was indicted Oct. 22 and charged with murder. State child-protection officials had been involved with the infant before his death, according to the Kenton County prosecutor.
Related
* Jefferson jurist allows rare look behind scenes of family court
* Confidentiality exceeds law's requirements in Kentucky
* Funding is a struggle for other social agencies too
* Baby crash dummies help sort out facts
* As allegation rate rises, advocates fear Kentucky is missing some abuse
* Graphics: Abuse reports; ages of abuse; abuser relationship to victim
* Many Kentucky social workers ‘bombarded' by pressures of job
* Recognizing the warning signs of abuse can save some children's lives
* Victims of child abuse come from all parts of Kentucky
* Graphics: Child abuse by the numbers; child abuse trends
* Painful lives cut short: Three tragic tales of child abuse in Kentucky
* SPECIAL REPORT: Children in Crisis
Each death is devastating to family and friends, survivors say.
“It really sickens me, how the baby suffered so much,” Samantha Chapman said of grandson Robert Ross Jr., a 3-month-old Covington baby who died in 2008 from a skull fracture and suffered multiple broken bones. “That just tears my heart apart.”
SIGNS UNRECOGNIZED
More vigilance is needed by all
Child-abuse experts say the true picture may be even worse because as many as half of all child-abuse or neglect deaths may not be recognized and reported, being classified instead as accidental or from natural causes.
“I think some people are too nice to allow themselves to imagine what some people are capable of doing,” said Dr. Melissa Currie, director of the University of Louisville's pediatric forensic division.
The Every Child Matters report said national research shows that officials may be missing as many as 50 percent of child-abuse deaths.
In Kentucky, the leading cause of death of abused children is head trauma, and 70 percent are under age 3. Other causes include shootings, strangulation and poisoning, according to the state's 2009 annual report. Neglect deaths were most often caused by drowning, failure of adults to seek medical treatment, exposure to drugs and suffocation, the report said.
(4 of 5)
State law requires anyone who knows of abuse or neglect to report it to police, prosecutors or the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. But those involved in child-abuse detection and prevention say even the most obvious signs of abuse — bruising, especially in infants — often go unrecognized and thus unreported.
“Bruises on babies are not normal — period,” Currie said. “If you see them, you should do something.”
A 2007 study led by UofL researchers examined the abuse deaths or near deaths of 20 Kentucky children under age 3 and found that in most cases, evidence of prior abuse, such as suspicious bruising, had been previously documented by someone, such as a social worker, nurse or doctor, but not acted on.
Officials say that many more children could be saved, even with Kentucky's risk factors for child abuse, such as high rates of poverty and drug abuse and low educational attainment. But that would require more vigilance on the part of everyone who encounters such children — not just state child-protection officials.
Related
* Jefferson jurist allows rare look behind scenes of family court
* Confidentiality exceeds law's requirements in Kentucky
* Funding is a struggle for other social agencies too
* Baby crash dummies help sort out facts
* As allegation rate rises, advocates fear Kentucky is missing some abuse
* Graphics: Abuse reports; ages of abuse; abuser relationship to victim
* Many Kentucky social workers ‘bombarded' by pressures of job
* Recognizing the warning signs of abuse can save some children's lives
* Victims of child abuse come from all parts of Kentucky
* Graphics: Child abuse by the numbers; child abuse trends
* Painful lives cut short: Three tragic tales of child abuse in Kentucky
* SPECIAL REPORT: Children in Crisis
“There is only a certain percentage of cases CPS has an opportunity to intervene in,” Currie said. “All the rest need to be caught by the rest of us.”
Some advocates believe opening confidential state records of abuse deaths or near-deaths would shed more light on the system and help improve it. Though such disclosure is allowed under federal law, many states including Kentucky, choose not to do so.
“Information about these tragic events ... is withheld by many jurisdictions,” said a national report released last year by the Children's Advocacy Institute at the University of San Diego law school and First Star, a Washington child advocacy group. “This is unacceptable.”
LACK OF FUNDS
Social workers face enormous pressure
The state's annual report shows a sharp decline in the rate of cases where social workers substantiate abuse or neglect, despite an increase in reports of abuse or neglect since 2000, a trend advocates and some social workers blame on a shortage or workers and resources.
(5 of 5)
Wilson, the social service commissioner, credits a better system of screening out complaints that don't appear to involve abuse or neglect — such as families without utilities or food. But child advocates are skeptical.
“That just doesn't compute,” Richart said of the decline in substantiation rates. “There's no logical reason why that would be so.”
Critics note that the underfunded state social-service system has undergone three rounds of budget cuts in the past two years and likely faces more.
“The state leads the nation in child abuse deaths,” Sheila Patrick, a 15-year social worker from Eastern Kentucky, told a legislative panel in October. “That's as high a price as you can pay.”
Related
* Jefferson jurist allows rare look behind scenes of family court
* Confidentiality exceeds law's requirements in Kentucky
* Funding is a struggle for other social agencies too
* Baby crash dummies help sort out facts
* As allegation rate rises, advocates fear Kentucky is missing some abuse
* Graphics: Abuse reports; ages of abuse; abuser relationship to victim
* Many Kentucky social workers ‘bombarded' by pressures of job
* Recognizing the warning signs of abuse can save some children's lives
* Victims of child abuse come from all parts of Kentucky
* Graphics: Child abuse by the numbers; child abuse trends
* Painful lives cut short: Three tragic tales of child abuse in Kentucky
* SPECIAL REPORT: Children in Crisis
Judges also lament the shortage of services for families — such as counseling, drug treatment or parenting classes — all reduced sharply by state budget cuts.
“Typically, parenting classes are one of the things we order,” said Jefferson Family Court Judge Stephen George. But now poor parents must wait several months to get into a class while the children linger in foster care, he said.
Also cited is a culture within the state social-service system that gives regional supervisors broad power to put enormous pressure on social workers to meet paperwork deadlines or face discipline. That sometimes forces them to skimp on investigations or take short cuts, a group of social workers told lawmakers this fall.
“We are just putting out fires,” Barbara Cowan, a Kenton County social worker, said at the October meeting of the House-Senate Health and Welfare Committee. “Corners are definitely being cut.”
Compounding the problem is that social workers are afraid to speak out, say officials of their union and others.
“Workers are scared to say anything,” said Shane Sidebottom, a Covington lawyer who has represented seven state social workers in “whistleblower” lawsuits alleging that they suffered retaliation for trying to point out problems. “This is a culture of fear.”
In failing to adequately deal with signs of abuse, Kentucky is hardly alone among the states. The Every Child Matters report found that child-welfare authorities nationwide generally have had prior involvement in about half of the cases of children who die each year from abuse or neglect.
Michael Petit, president of Every Child Matters, said his organization is calling on the federal government — which provides about half the money states spend on child welfare — to step forward with national standards and stricter oversight of state child protection programs.
“This problem isn't going to go away,” he said. “I don't think any state can wrestle this to the ground. You've got to have federal involvement.”Two-year-old Christopher Allen of Louisville died Aug. 28, 2008, from a severe battering three days after a social worker removed him from his mother and placed him with an aunt.
Social service and other officials had repeatedly investigated allegations that he had been mistreated. The aunt and her boyfriend are facing murder charges; the case is scheduled for trial next year.
Kayden Branham, 20 months, of Monticello, died May 31 after drinking drain cleaner that his 14-year-old mother and 19-year-old father allegedly were using to make methamphetamine in a Wayne County mobile home. Both Kayden and his mother were under the supervision of state child-protection authorities and were supposed to be in another home.
Seven-month-old Gaige Pyles, of Elsmere, died Aug. 15 after being shaken to death. His father, Matthew Pyles, 27, was indicted Oct. 22 and charged with murder. State child-protection officials had been involved with the infant before his death, according to the Kenton County prosecutor.State law requires anyone who knows of abuse or neglect to report it to police, prosecutors or the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. But those involved in child-abuse detection and prevention say even the most obvious signs of abuse — bruising, especially in infants — often go unrecognized and thus unreported.
“Bruises on babies are not normal — period,” Currie said. “If you see them, you should do something.”
A 2007 study led by UofL researchers examined the abuse deaths or near deaths of 20 Kentucky children under age 3 and found that in most cases, evidence of prior abuse, such as suspicious bruising, had been previously documented by someone, such as a social worker, nurse or doctor, but not acted on.
Officials say that many more children could be saved, even with Kentucky's risk factors for child abuse, such as high rates of poverty and drug abuse and low educational attainment. But that would require more vigilance on the part of everyone who encounters such children — not just state child-protection officials.Wilson, the social service commissioner, credits a better system of screening out complaints that don't appear to involve abuse or neglect — such as families without utilities or food. But child advocates are skeptical.
“That just doesn't compute,” Richart said of the decline in substantiation rates. “There's no logical reason why that would be so.”
Critics note that the underfunded state social-service system has undergone three rounds of budget cuts in the past two years and likely faces more.
“The state leads the nation in child abuse deaths,” Sheila Patrick, a 15-year social worker from Eastern Kentucky, told a legislative panel in October. “That's as high a price as you can pay.”Judges also lament the shortage of services for families — such as counseling, drug treatment or parenting classes — all reduced sharply by state budget cuts.
“Typically, parenting classes are one of the things we order,” said Jefferson Family Court Judge Stephen George. But now poor parents must wait several months to get into a class while the children linger in foster care, he said.
Also cited is a culture within the state social-service system that gives regional supervisors broad power to put enormous pressure on social workers to meet paperwork deadlines or face discipline. That sometimes forces them to skimp on investigations or take short cuts, a group of social workers told lawmakers this fall.
“We are just putting out fires,” Barbara Cowan, a Kenton County social worker, said at the October meeting of the House-Senate Health and Welfare Committee. “Corners are definitely being cut.”
Compounding the problem is that social workers are afraid to speak out, say officials of their union and others.
“Workers are scared to say anything,” said Shane Sidebottom, a Covington lawyer who has represented seven state social workers in “whistleblower” lawsuits alleging that they suffered retaliation for trying to point out problems. “This is a culture of fear.”
In failing to adequately deal with signs of abuse, Kentucky is hardly alone among the states. The Every Child Matters report found that child-welfare authorities nationwide generally have had prior involvement in about half of the cases of children who die each year from abuse or neglect.
Michael Petit, president of Every Child Matters, said his organization is calling on the federal government — which provides about half the money states spend on child welfare — to step forward with national standards and stricter oversight of state child protection programs.
“This problem isn't going to go away,” he said. “I don't think any state can wrestle this to the ground. You've got to have federal involvement.”
Reporter Deborah Yetter can be reached at (502) 582-4228.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Please don't let Taylor become a system satistic
here in the making we have a child being victimized by a government that knows & does nothing plz view write the white house and I as well am faxing this info tomorrow to them also plz sign petition let's ban together and save 1 child today while I fight to save millions tomorrow
http://taylorspetition.blogspot.com/
http://taylorspetition.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Justice for Erin Oswego county DSS fails child murdered
An emergency room doctor who treated 11-year-old Erin Maxwell just before she died last year says Oswego County's child protective workers have for years been unresponsive to reports of child abuse.
Dr. Dennis Mullaney, a former ER physician at A.L. Lee Memorial Hospital in Fulton, says his worst fears of that complacency were realized with the deaths of Maxwell and 15-month-old Nick Taylor two weeks earlier.
The county's Department of Social Services routinely ignored reports of suspected child abuse called in by doctors and nurses in the emergency room at Lee Memorial, Mullaney said in an interview last week. The medical staff talked frequently among themselves about DSS's complacency, he said.
Mullaney, an ER doctor for more than 30 years in three states, said he's never seen child protective workers as unresponsive as in Oswego County. In one case, he transferred a child to a hospital in Onondaga County so caseworkers there would get involved. The problem in Oswego County became so pervasive a year before Maxwell's death that he called for a meeting between DSS and hospital officials.
"I know it's hard to believe, but you'd call and they'd say, 'Why are you bothering us with this,'" he said.Mullaney saw Maxwell in the ER on Aug. 29 and she died the next morning. Her stepbrother, Alan Jones, is charged with strangling her in their Palermo home. DSS received complaints in 2003, 2005 and 2006 about her living conditions, and workers had visited the home but did not remove her. State officials last week issued a report criticizing DSS's handling of the case.
Two weeks before Maxwell's death, Taylor died from severe trauma to the head. His mother's boyfriend, Jay John Barboni, was charged with murder. The night Taylor arrived in the ER, Mullaney got the boy's medical records from Crouse Hospital. They showed that two weeks earlier, the case had been referred to child protective workers, Mullaney said. He doesn't know what the agency did.
Mullaney, who left Lee Memorial in September, said he and other medical professionals there had become so frustrated with DSS that they requested a meeting with agency officials in the summer of 2007. He feared some children might die, he said.
"I was at the end of my rope," Mullaney said. "I knew what was coming down the road."
About 10 people attended the meeting -- four from DSS, he said. Mullaney told them child protective workers were brushing off calls from the ER of suspected child abuse.
Mullaney said he reported about 12 cases of suspected child abuse in his four years at A.L. Lee. Only once or twice did a child protective worker go to the hospital to investigate, he said. They would usually tell him they'd interview the child's parents the next day, he said. He said he laid out his concerns to DSS officials at the meeting.
Their response was that they were professionals and knew what they were doing, Mullaney said.
DSS Commissioner Frances Lanigan did not return phone requests for an interview. In an email response, she said she was not at the meeting. She said confidentiality laws prevented her from discussing cases publicly.
She wrote in her email that DSS officials sometimes meet with "community stakeholders" such as hospital workers about promoting child safety.
"There are times we cannot agree," she wrote. "However, our approach is always one where we are open to hearing concerns and responding in a professional manner."
Tammy Brown, the former nursing director of the ER at Lee Memorial, confirmed that the meeting took place with the Oswego County DSS leaders, but declined to comment further.
After the meeting in a board room at the hospital, Mullaney told the hospital's administrator, Dennis Casey, that he feared the county's apathy could have devastating results, Mullaney said.
"I told him, 'We'll have dead kids upstairs,'" referring to the ER, Mullaney said. Casey did not return phone requests for an interview.
A week after the meeting, Mullaney contacted the Syracuse office of the state Office of Children and Family Services and complained about Oswego County's lack of interest in suspected child abuse cases, he said. A spokeswoman for the office confirmed that Mullaney made the complaint, but was unable to say what became of it.
Mullaney's meeting with DSS officials was prompted by the case of an 18-month-old who'd suffered a spiral fracture to his leg, Mullaney said. It's the kind of injury in a child that's almost always caused by abuse -- usually an adult twisting the child's leg, Mullaney said. He called the state child abuse hotline that night, but got a cold response from the Oswego County DSS worker who called back, Mullaney said. The worker refused to come to the hospital, he said.
"She said, 'Why are you bothering us with this? You decide which parent did it and send him home with the other one,'" Mullaney said. As in other cases, the worker told Mullaney an investigator would look into the allegations the next day, he said.
Fearing more harm to the child, Mullaney kept the child overnight in the emergency room, then had him transported to a Syracuse hospital, he said. There, Onondaga County caseworkers were called in and referred the case to Oswego County for investigation, Mullaney said. He doesn't know what became of the child or the case, and does not remember the boy's name.
Telling a doctor to decide who abused the child is an inappropriate response, according to Karen Schimke, president of the Albany-based Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy.
"That's why we have child protection," she said. "How's the doctor supposed to know?"
Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, said a toddler with a spiral fracture is a case that clearly should be investigated.
"I would argue that if they didn't investigate, they screwed up," he said.
But child protective workers shouldn't necessarily go to the hospital just because it's an ER doctor reporting abuse, Wexler said. The caseworkers should evaluate the evidence independently because some doctors report suspected child abuse just to cover themselves, he said. Innocent families can be needlessly torn apart by false accusations, he said.
Lanigan wrote in an email that caseworkers who get a call from the state hotline consider the information and determine whether the child is in imminent danger. They have 24 hours under the law to contact the alleged victim, she said.
"When a child is in the hospital and there is no plan for release within 24 hours, a reasonable assumption made by the department would be that the child is in a safe place," Lanigan said. The caseworker might have more pressing issues than getting to the hospital immediately, such as the safety of other children in the home, she said.
"If the hospital staff says release is imminent and they have concerns about the release, a child protective investigator would be sent immediately, no matter what time of day," Lanigan wrote.
Oswego County DSS child protective workers have been under scrutiny since Maxwell's death last year. The state's investigation found that DSS did inadequate long-term monitoring of the deplorable conditions in her home, even though it smelled of animal urine, animals were kept in the kitchen and there were more than 120 cats in the house. The report said Maxwell's death likely would not have been prevented had DSS acted differently.
Mullaney disagrees, and questions the thoroughness of the state's investigation. He was on duty in the ER when Maxwell was brought in, and gave state police a written statement about his medical findings. And he'd complained to the state a year earlier about Oswego County's caseworkers, he said. But he was never contacted by the state investigators who did the report, he said.
State investigators didn't interview Mullaney because they were focused on reviewing the work of Oswego County's caseworkers, not on the police investigation, said spokeswoman Susan Steele.
Mullaney, who heads the ER at Eastern Niagara Hospital in Lockport, said he blames himself for not going public sooner with his concerns. He said he can't shake the children's deaths.
"When you finish resuscitating them and they're lying there dead on a gurney and you're waiting for the police," he said, "that is burned into your mind. It never goes away."
John O'Brien can be reached at jobrien@syracuse.com or 470-2187.
http://www.justiceforerin.webs.com/
this DR look at him he is a broken man
Dr. Dennis Mullaney has accused Oswego County child protective workers of brushing off reports of suspected child abuse.
Leaving court in September are (right to left): Erin Maxwell's stepbrother, Alan Jones; her stepmother, Lynn Maxwell; her father, Lindsey Maxwell; and their attorney, Salvatore Lanza.
Dr. Dennis Mullaney, a former ER physician at A.L. Lee Memorial Hospital in Fulton, says his worst fears of that complacency were realized with the deaths of Maxwell and 15-month-old Nick Taylor two weeks earlier.
The county's Department of Social Services routinely ignored reports of suspected child abuse called in by doctors and nurses in the emergency room at Lee Memorial, Mullaney said in an interview last week. The medical staff talked frequently among themselves about DSS's complacency, he said.
Mullaney, an ER doctor for more than 30 years in three states, said he's never seen child protective workers as unresponsive as in Oswego County. In one case, he transferred a child to a hospital in Onondaga County so caseworkers there would get involved. The problem in Oswego County became so pervasive a year before Maxwell's death that he called for a meeting between DSS and hospital officials.
"I know it's hard to believe, but you'd call and they'd say, 'Why are you bothering us with this,'" he said.Mullaney saw Maxwell in the ER on Aug. 29 and she died the next morning. Her stepbrother, Alan Jones, is charged with strangling her in their Palermo home. DSS received complaints in 2003, 2005 and 2006 about her living conditions, and workers had visited the home but did not remove her. State officials last week issued a report criticizing DSS's handling of the case.
Two weeks before Maxwell's death, Taylor died from severe trauma to the head. His mother's boyfriend, Jay John Barboni, was charged with murder. The night Taylor arrived in the ER, Mullaney got the boy's medical records from Crouse Hospital. They showed that two weeks earlier, the case had been referred to child protective workers, Mullaney said. He doesn't know what the agency did.
Mullaney, who left Lee Memorial in September, said he and other medical professionals there had become so frustrated with DSS that they requested a meeting with agency officials in the summer of 2007. He feared some children might die, he said.
"I was at the end of my rope," Mullaney said. "I knew what was coming down the road."
About 10 people attended the meeting -- four from DSS, he said. Mullaney told them child protective workers were brushing off calls from the ER of suspected child abuse.
Mullaney said he reported about 12 cases of suspected child abuse in his four years at A.L. Lee. Only once or twice did a child protective worker go to the hospital to investigate, he said. They would usually tell him they'd interview the child's parents the next day, he said. He said he laid out his concerns to DSS officials at the meeting.
Their response was that they were professionals and knew what they were doing, Mullaney said.
DSS Commissioner Frances Lanigan did not return phone requests for an interview. In an email response, she said she was not at the meeting. She said confidentiality laws prevented her from discussing cases publicly.
She wrote in her email that DSS officials sometimes meet with "community stakeholders" such as hospital workers about promoting child safety.
"There are times we cannot agree," she wrote. "However, our approach is always one where we are open to hearing concerns and responding in a professional manner."
Tammy Brown, the former nursing director of the ER at Lee Memorial, confirmed that the meeting took place with the Oswego County DSS leaders, but declined to comment further.
After the meeting in a board room at the hospital, Mullaney told the hospital's administrator, Dennis Casey, that he feared the county's apathy could have devastating results, Mullaney said.
"I told him, 'We'll have dead kids upstairs,'" referring to the ER, Mullaney said. Casey did not return phone requests for an interview.
A week after the meeting, Mullaney contacted the Syracuse office of the state Office of Children and Family Services and complained about Oswego County's lack of interest in suspected child abuse cases, he said. A spokeswoman for the office confirmed that Mullaney made the complaint, but was unable to say what became of it.
Mullaney's meeting with DSS officials was prompted by the case of an 18-month-old who'd suffered a spiral fracture to his leg, Mullaney said. It's the kind of injury in a child that's almost always caused by abuse -- usually an adult twisting the child's leg, Mullaney said. He called the state child abuse hotline that night, but got a cold response from the Oswego County DSS worker who called back, Mullaney said. The worker refused to come to the hospital, he said.
"She said, 'Why are you bothering us with this? You decide which parent did it and send him home with the other one,'" Mullaney said. As in other cases, the worker told Mullaney an investigator would look into the allegations the next day, he said.
Fearing more harm to the child, Mullaney kept the child overnight in the emergency room, then had him transported to a Syracuse hospital, he said. There, Onondaga County caseworkers were called in and referred the case to Oswego County for investigation, Mullaney said. He doesn't know what became of the child or the case, and does not remember the boy's name.
Telling a doctor to decide who abused the child is an inappropriate response, according to Karen Schimke, president of the Albany-based Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy.
"That's why we have child protection," she said. "How's the doctor supposed to know?"
Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, said a toddler with a spiral fracture is a case that clearly should be investigated.
"I would argue that if they didn't investigate, they screwed up," he said.
But child protective workers shouldn't necessarily go to the hospital just because it's an ER doctor reporting abuse, Wexler said. The caseworkers should evaluate the evidence independently because some doctors report suspected child abuse just to cover themselves, he said. Innocent families can be needlessly torn apart by false accusations, he said.
Lanigan wrote in an email that caseworkers who get a call from the state hotline consider the information and determine whether the child is in imminent danger. They have 24 hours under the law to contact the alleged victim, she said.
"When a child is in the hospital and there is no plan for release within 24 hours, a reasonable assumption made by the department would be that the child is in a safe place," Lanigan said. The caseworker might have more pressing issues than getting to the hospital immediately, such as the safety of other children in the home, she said.
"If the hospital staff says release is imminent and they have concerns about the release, a child protective investigator would be sent immediately, no matter what time of day," Lanigan wrote.
Oswego County DSS child protective workers have been under scrutiny since Maxwell's death last year. The state's investigation found that DSS did inadequate long-term monitoring of the deplorable conditions in her home, even though it smelled of animal urine, animals were kept in the kitchen and there were more than 120 cats in the house. The report said Maxwell's death likely would not have been prevented had DSS acted differently.
Mullaney disagrees, and questions the thoroughness of the state's investigation. He was on duty in the ER when Maxwell was brought in, and gave state police a written statement about his medical findings. And he'd complained to the state a year earlier about Oswego County's caseworkers, he said. But he was never contacted by the state investigators who did the report, he said.
State investigators didn't interview Mullaney because they were focused on reviewing the work of Oswego County's caseworkers, not on the police investigation, said spokeswoman Susan Steele.
Mullaney, who heads the ER at Eastern Niagara Hospital in Lockport, said he blames himself for not going public sooner with his concerns. He said he can't shake the children's deaths.
"When you finish resuscitating them and they're lying there dead on a gurney and you're waiting for the police," he said, "that is burned into your mind. It never goes away."
John O'Brien can be reached at jobrien@syracuse.com or 470-2187.
http://www.justiceforerin.webs.com/
this DR look at him he is a broken man
Dr. Dennis Mullaney has accused Oswego County child protective workers of brushing off reports of suspected child abuse.
Leaving court in September are (right to left): Erin Maxwell's stepbrother, Alan Jones; her stepmother, Lynn Maxwell; her father, Lindsey Maxwell; and their attorney, Salvatore Lanza.
7 Yr old boy commits suicide in foster care
What a SAD SAD story! What if instead of putting him in danger if they got the mom the housing and inpatient treatment that she needed wit him beside her? Would this have had a different outcome? Maybe!
Blessings,
Misty
MessageComments can be made here: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/sfl-gabriel-myers-hanging-b042409,0,6377809.story
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
State officials investigating whether 7-year-old suicide victim was given mind-altering drug
By Jon Burstein
April 24, 2009
MARGATE - State officials are investigating whether a 7-year-old boy who hanged himself in his Margate foster home had been given a powerful, mind-altering drug in violation of Florida law.
Three weeks before his April 16 suicide, Gabriel Myers was prescribed the drug Symbyax, which is a combination of the generic forms of the anti-depressant Prozac and the anti-psychosis drug Zyprexa, according to state Department of Children & Families records released Friday night.
But there was no court order in place for Gabriel to use the drug, the records show. Under Florida law, parental consent or a judge's ruling is needed before a foster child can be administered a psychotropic drug.
It's unclear whether Gabriel was taking Symbyax. Margate police have his medication logs as they investigate his death, according to DCF spokeswoman Leslie Mann.
Mann said the agency is examining why a court order was not obtained to put Gabriel on the drug.
"We are not sure at this time if the medication played a role in Gabriel's death, but the department will seek a professional medical review of the treatment and prescription medication in Gabriel's case," she said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Prozac for use in children, but not Symbyax and Zyprexa. Even so, doctors have the right to prescribe any drug for any patient they think it will help.
Symbyax, like all anti-depressants, carries a "black box" warning - the strongest the FDA can issue - because anti-depressants increase the risk of suicidal thoughts in minors. Studies have not linked the drugs to an increase in suicides.
The FDA first issued the warning about Paxil in 2003, then extended it to all anti-depressants the next year.
In addition to Symbyax, Gabriel also was on Vyvanse, an attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder drug, records show.
At the time of his death, Gabriel was home alone with the 19-year-old son of his foster father. Gabriel got upset with the young man during lunch, locking himself in the bathroom and saying he was going to kill himself. The young man used a screwdriver to pick the lock and found Gabriel hanging from a shower hose, according to DCF records.
Gabriel was pronounced dead one hour later at Northwest Medical Center in Margate.
DCF is also investigating why Gabriel was being watched by the 19-year-old.
"The bottom line is that (the 19-year-old) should not have been left alone with Gabriel, if in fact he was," Mann said.
DCF began releasing more than 1,000 pages of Gabriel's child welfare records about 7:30 p.m. Friday, detailing a tragic life in which he was both a victim and an apparent danger to other children.
A month before his death, Gabriel told a therapist he was "a bad person," the records state.
"(Gabriel) said, 'I lied when I was 1 years old, then I lied when I was 2 years old. I was born a liar and I will always be lying,' " according to the therapist's report.
DCF first learned of Gabriel in June after his mother was found passed out in a parked car in Hallandale Beach and he was in the back seat. The boy had come from Ohio--where authorities were looking into allegations that he had been sexually abused by an older boy, according to DCF records.
While in Florida, he bounced between his uncle's home and two foster homes. He lived in one foster home from October until March, when fears arose that he might hurt a toddler in the house, according to DCF records. He was then moved to the Margate foster home, where he lived for the three weeks leading up to his death.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
28,506 Signatures Against TeenScreen. Petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfU9puZQKBY
Blessings,
Misty
MessageComments can be made here: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/sfl-gabriel-myers-hanging-b042409,0,6377809.story
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
State officials investigating whether 7-year-old suicide victim was given mind-altering drug
By Jon Burstein
April 24, 2009
MARGATE - State officials are investigating whether a 7-year-old boy who hanged himself in his Margate foster home had been given a powerful, mind-altering drug in violation of Florida law.
Three weeks before his April 16 suicide, Gabriel Myers was prescribed the drug Symbyax, which is a combination of the generic forms of the anti-depressant Prozac and the anti-psychosis drug Zyprexa, according to state Department of Children & Families records released Friday night.
But there was no court order in place for Gabriel to use the drug, the records show. Under Florida law, parental consent or a judge's ruling is needed before a foster child can be administered a psychotropic drug.
It's unclear whether Gabriel was taking Symbyax. Margate police have his medication logs as they investigate his death, according to DCF spokeswoman Leslie Mann.
Mann said the agency is examining why a court order was not obtained to put Gabriel on the drug.
"We are not sure at this time if the medication played a role in Gabriel's death, but the department will seek a professional medical review of the treatment and prescription medication in Gabriel's case," she said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Prozac for use in children, but not Symbyax and Zyprexa. Even so, doctors have the right to prescribe any drug for any patient they think it will help.
Symbyax, like all anti-depressants, carries a "black box" warning - the strongest the FDA can issue - because anti-depressants increase the risk of suicidal thoughts in minors. Studies have not linked the drugs to an increase in suicides.
The FDA first issued the warning about Paxil in 2003, then extended it to all anti-depressants the next year.
In addition to Symbyax, Gabriel also was on Vyvanse, an attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder drug, records show.
At the time of his death, Gabriel was home alone with the 19-year-old son of his foster father. Gabriel got upset with the young man during lunch, locking himself in the bathroom and saying he was going to kill himself. The young man used a screwdriver to pick the lock and found Gabriel hanging from a shower hose, according to DCF records.
Gabriel was pronounced dead one hour later at Northwest Medical Center in Margate.
DCF is also investigating why Gabriel was being watched by the 19-year-old.
"The bottom line is that (the 19-year-old) should not have been left alone with Gabriel, if in fact he was," Mann said.
DCF began releasing more than 1,000 pages of Gabriel's child welfare records about 7:30 p.m. Friday, detailing a tragic life in which he was both a victim and an apparent danger to other children.
A month before his death, Gabriel told a therapist he was "a bad person," the records state.
"(Gabriel) said, 'I lied when I was 1 years old, then I lied when I was 2 years old. I was born a liar and I will always be lying,' " according to the therapist's report.
DCF first learned of Gabriel in June after his mother was found passed out in a parked car in Hallandale Beach and he was in the back seat. The boy had come from Ohio--where authorities were looking into allegations that he had been sexually abused by an older boy, according to DCF records.
While in Florida, he bounced between his uncle's home and two foster homes. He lived in one foster home from October until March, when fears arose that he might hurt a toddler in the house, according to DCF records. He was then moved to the Margate foster home, where he lived for the three weeks leading up to his death.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
28,506 Signatures Against TeenScreen. Petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfU9puZQKBY
Child abuse prevention
Child abuse statistics show that about 900,000 children are the victims of child abuse or neglect in the United States each year, and about of these 1,500 children die.
Effects of Child Abuse
For the survivors of child abuse, the effects include:
* long-term physical problems, including physical disabilities
* behavioral problems
* psychological problems
* difficulties in school and social relationships
* criminal behavior and a high risk of being arrested for a violent crime as a juvenile or adult
Another big consequence of child abuse is the direct and indirect cost associated with child abuse, which have been estimated to be about $94 billion each year, including child welfare, law enforcement and special education.
Child Abuse Prevention
One good way to prevent child abuse is to recognize risk factors that are associated with child abuse, including:
* substance abuse
* domestic violence
* a personal history of child abuse
* poverty
* lack of parenting skills
* a small social support network
And then, in addition to supporting programs that target those high risk groups to prevent child abuse, such as education programs, parent support groups, and mentoring, some good child abuse prevention strategies include learning the signs of child abuse and how to report suspected child abuse.
Groups that support child abuse prevention that you could get involved with include:
* Prevent Child Abuse America
* Childhelp
* National Exchange Club Foundation
* Parents as Teachers
* Nurturing Parent Programs
* Parents Anonymous Inc.
* Circle of Parents
* Healthy Families America
* Parent Child Home Program
* National Respite Locator Service
* National Center for Children in Poverty
* American Humane Association
Signs of Child Abuse
Since child abuse is so common, recognizing the signs of child abuse, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect, can be a good way to help prevent further abuse of these children. This is especially important for people who have regular contact with children, such as teachers, coaches, and friends and family members of these children.
Some signs of child abuse can include, but aren't limited to:
* sudden changes in a child's behavior
* a child with unexplained bruises or burns, etc.
* the child's medical problems are not being cared for properly, for example, he may have regular asthma attacks or a lingering cough and hasn't been to the doctor
* a child being left without adult supervision
* a parent who doesn't seem to have appropriate concern for her children
* families who seem to have entirely negative relationships
* a child who isn't dressed appropriately in cold weather, is dirty, or frequently misses school
* a child who talks about age-inappropriate sexual behaviors
Child Abuse Hotlines
If you suspect that a child is being abused, you should report it right away.
There are many reasons why people don't report child abuse, such as:
* not wanting to get involved
* not being sure if it really is child abuse
* they aren't sure how to make a report of child abuse
* thinking that someone else will do it
* not being aware of child abuse laws in their states, which could make reporting mandatory for certain people
* being afraid of getting in trouble for filing a report if the child isn't really being abused, which doesn't happen as long as you are making the report in good faith
None of these reasons is going to help a child who is being abused though, especially if they are in a life threatening situation. What if you're wrong? The local child welfare agency will likely do an investigation. If you are right and stop the abuse, you may change or save a child's life.
To report child abuse, in addition to the Child help National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD), you can call your state child welfare agency's child abuse hotline.
In an emergency situation, call 911.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
CPS ignored clear warnings & left to kids in danger now 2 kids are dead
Two Tyler children have died in less than a month, and court records reveal that both families were subjects of Child Protective Services investigations detailing neglect - and in one case a threat to kill the child.
Court records obtained by the Tyler Morning Telegraph Thursday indicate the Texas Department of Family Health CPS case workers were aware of threats made by Catherine Stevens toward her son, William, and also had documented abuse at the home of Jose Luis Aguilar
William Stevens
Mrs. Stevens remains in the Smith County Jail on a $1 million bond for allegedly strangling 2-year-old William to death earlier this month.
THREATS AND MENTAL ILLNESS
A court document filed by a Tyler CPS investigator in May 2006 said the agency went to investigate allegations of abuse of William at the hands of Mrs. Stevens.
When the investigator arrived at the home on Memory Lane in Tyler, she discovered Mrs. Stevens was in the Rusk State Hospital for treatment for "depression with psychosis."
According to the document, "The report alleges that Mrs. Stevens was scheduled for release on May 19, 2006, but she made threats that if she was to return home, William would drown, suffocate or something else. The report states that Mr. Stevens has visited the hospital trying to get his wife released, because he doesn't want to take care of the baby himself."
CPS officials said the report was not substantiated.
"The comments reported came from an anonymous tip and could not be confirmed," Shari Pulliam, CPS public information officer, told the newspaper in an interview Thursday night.
The document further stated that the case worker was verbally abused by Mickey Stevens, the child's father, who told the investigator he worked for the agency until 1997 and was familiar with CPS procedures and would not be bullied.
Mickey Steves
"Throughout my contacts with Mr. Stevens, I observed him shaking. It appeared as if he was shaking from anger and had difficulty controlling his impulses due to his passive aggressive behavior ordering me out of the home, then allowing me to return," the document states.
Stevens remains in the Smith County Jail after allegedly assaulting a public servant in the district attorney's office earlier this week.
When asked to enter into a Safety Plan with the agency concerning his child's safety, Stevens replied, "I am the father, I will make sure he is safe. There is your safety plan."
However, the documents filed in the 321st District Court in 2006 included a petition to the court in aid of investigation. The request from CPS stated the agency was afraid William would be removed from the state before the conclusion of any investigation.
But the investigation was suddenly halted.
Ms. Pulliam said mental health professionals later told CPS that Mrs. Stevens was not a danger to herself or her child and the investigation was concluded.
Catherine Stevens
"We had no further contact with the family and the case was closed 14 months ago because there was family support both inside and outside of the home," she said. "At the case closure the mother was not to have unsupervised contact with the child."
William was found dead, with Mrs. Stevens hovering over his body earlier this month. She told authorities she strangled her son.
BROKEN PACT WITH CPS
A fatal car crash on West Gentry Parkway the night of July 20 claimed the life of Jose Aguilar and sent his step-father to jail only hours after a CPS investigator visited the family's home.
CPS and court records indicate that the agency had been dealing with Jaime Patrescio and Bobbie Aguilar, Jose's mother, for several years and the couple had entered into a safety plan with the agency to keep the children from being put into foster care.
Jamie Oscar Patrescio
The reports of abuse and neglect stated that Jose was found wandering blocks away from his home in March of this year and that the children had been placed with family members with the parents having no unsupervised visitation and no visits if the parents were under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
The documents also state Tyler Police officers found Jose blocks away from his home in 2006 and that a CPS investigator heard Ms. Aguilar slap the child. The investigator also learned the family was going between the homes of family members and a local motel.
In November 2006 CPS received unconfirmed reports that Ms. Aguilar was abusing methamphetamines.
Documents dating back to 2004 indicate the agency investigated claims of Bobbie Aguilar shaking the baby and injuring him, but the report was ruled out.
Ms. Pulliam said Aguilar's parents broke the pact with her agency which resulted in Jose's death.
She added that the family was active in many of the agency's services and were being supervised with daily visits.
"The family was seen that day and a removal was not initiated in this case due to the many immediate and extensive family members who were willing to provide supervision and care to this child," she said.
But Patrescio allegedly put Jose in the front seat of his vehicle and then ran a stop sign and was struck by another vehicle.
"Anytime a child dies it is tragic, and I can see where the community would be outraged at these two deaths, but we rely on the family being truthful and the community calling us when they see anything that indicates abuse," Ms. Pulliam said. "We need new safeguards."
SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN
Concern and thoughts of how to better protect children spurred State District Judge Carole Clark to hold a meeting Thursday to address the inadequacies of the system.
"When I read the two reports on these children I was very concerned and thought, what can I do and what can our community do to better protect our children?" she said.
Her answer was to call a meeting with representatives from the district attorney's office, judges, attorneys, CPS investigators and other agencies to find a solution.
"We needed to get everyone together to learn what we could do to help this problem and we came up with one solution," she said.
Ms. Pulliam agreed new policies are needed and that the stress of the job often takes a toll on caseworkers leaving the agency with a shortage of investigators.
"Removing children from the home is always a last resort," she said. "The law requires that CPS has made reasonable efforts to prevent or eliminate the need to remove the child from the home."
The results of Thursday's meeting brought the court into a new role when dealing with CPS cases. She said a more open line of communication between all involved agencies is needed.
New procedures were enacted to safeguard children who are 3 years old and younger and whose parents are drug addicts.
"There will now be court ordered protection where the children will be immediately housed with family members or in the worst cases placed into a foster care situation if there is no safe family member," Judge Clark said.
The judge said dealing with parents suffering from mental illnesses was a more complex issue that needed additional study before the problem could be solved.
"Mental health issues are a lot more complicated and we are trying to put our heads together to come up with ideas. We just do not have the mental health resources that we need at our disposal," she said.
Judge Clark was pleased with the meeting Thursday and said she felt confident children would be the beneficiaries of collaboration.
"Will we protect 100 percent of the children? No, because things will happen, but at least we can build-in all the safeguards we can put in place," she said.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
please help end the corrupt way child protective services operates
To all Gods children that he took back home to stop their suffering,
We have failed you.
When the people that are suppose to shield you from pain is the one causing your suffering,
We have failed you.
When you are cold, hungry and in pain and the government knows and does nothing.
We have failed you.
When we see your bruises, we cover our eyes, when we hear your cry, we cover our ears, when we should tell of your pain, we cover our mouths.
We have failed you.
The angels have flown back home, because we have failed them.
You have your wings angels. Ours are broken.
Copy this code to your website to display this banner!
I am a Chicago mom of two that after the tragic C.P.S. failing of 13 yr old Shavon Miles I stood up & demanded change within a system gone bad children keep dying & they continue to keep their jobs while families remain destroyed children ripped from loving homes for the almighty dollar yet because they are so over burdened children really abused are left to die CPS is not a form of population control children are human beings when one takes a life they are held accountable why is CPS untouchable CPS =can't protect shit.
I had a dream I was kneeling, at fifteen crosses on the hill
Not a whisper from the trees, everything was still,
I felt a sadness in my heart, an empty kind of pain,
Fifteen souls had gone away, only memories remained.
I tried to cry out to ease my grief,
Lifted my hands to heaven, prayed God's relief.
Not a sound or a word, emptiness abounds,
My sorrow overcoming, I began to drown.
Such bitter suffocation, I wish someone could hear,
Why we let this happen , in my dream nothing was clear.
I shook my fist to heaven and begged for reasons why,
But only silence spoke, offering no reply.
No sound came from my lips even as I screamed,
I prayed it's just a nightmare, an awful kind of dream.
Then I heard a choir of angels beckoning from above.
"The world is reaping hatred,"
"Because the world's not sowing love.
"
"You should embrace each other's differences no matter what they may be,"
"And enlighten each other with the hope of peace and unity.
"
When the angel finished speaking, she ended with a sigh,
Gazing down at fifteen crosses of fifteen souls who said goodbye.
Then the heavens opened up, the angels giving way,
up to the gates of heaven, Amazing grace began to play.
And as they left this Earthly realm the angels were downhearted looking
back at fifteen crosses of the recently departed.
A soft rain began falling, but no cloud was in the sky,
Then Jesus whispered to me, "This is how the angels cry.
"
State paid & protected for now that is I will never give up until my law is passed and they are held accountable please help me do that be their voice 4 children a day die what will you do ?
Online petition - Reform child protective services
We have failed you.
When the people that are suppose to shield you from pain is the one causing your suffering,
We have failed you.
When you are cold, hungry and in pain and the government knows and does nothing.
We have failed you.
When we see your bruises, we cover our eyes, when we hear your cry, we cover our ears, when we should tell of your pain, we cover our mouths.
We have failed you.
The angels have flown back home, because we have failed them.
You have your wings angels. Ours are broken.
Copy this code to your website to display this banner!
I am a Chicago mom of two that after the tragic C.P.S. failing of 13 yr old Shavon Miles I stood up & demanded change within a system gone bad children keep dying & they continue to keep their jobs while families remain destroyed children ripped from loving homes for the almighty dollar yet because they are so over burdened children really abused are left to die CPS is not a form of population control children are human beings when one takes a life they are held accountable why is CPS untouchable CPS =can't protect shit.
I had a dream I was kneeling, at fifteen crosses on the hill
Not a whisper from the trees, everything was still,
I felt a sadness in my heart, an empty kind of pain,
Fifteen souls had gone away, only memories remained.
I tried to cry out to ease my grief,
Lifted my hands to heaven, prayed God's relief.
Not a sound or a word, emptiness abounds,
My sorrow overcoming, I began to drown.
Such bitter suffocation, I wish someone could hear,
Why we let this happen , in my dream nothing was clear.
I shook my fist to heaven and begged for reasons why,
But only silence spoke, offering no reply.
No sound came from my lips even as I screamed,
I prayed it's just a nightmare, an awful kind of dream.
Then I heard a choir of angels beckoning from above.
"The world is reaping hatred,"
"Because the world's not sowing love.
"
"You should embrace each other's differences no matter what they may be,"
"And enlighten each other with the hope of peace and unity.
"
When the angel finished speaking, she ended with a sigh,
Gazing down at fifteen crosses of fifteen souls who said goodbye.
Then the heavens opened up, the angels giving way,
up to the gates of heaven, Amazing grace began to play.
And as they left this Earthly realm the angels were downhearted looking
back at fifteen crosses of the recently departed.
A soft rain began falling, but no cloud was in the sky,
Then Jesus whispered to me, "This is how the angels cry.
"
State paid & protected for now that is I will never give up until my law is passed and they are held accountable please help me do that be their voice 4 children a day die what will you do ?
Online petition - Reform child protective services
Cindy Graupmann the killer caseworker rot in hell
former CPS worker Cindy Graupmann the killer caseworker
this animal also goes under the sign-on in2hens2: on the Tuscon Citizen newspaper blog site and violated a gag order to bash & attack Jamie the mommy of Ariana & Tyler Payne also she had a sidekick Christopher Payne's sister what an animal where is her loyalty to her niece & nephew 2 innocent children her brother brutally murdered & abused for months and she defends him brother or not my brother did that I would end his miserable ass myself I cannot imagine what Jamie feels or goes through but I know she has my support 100 %and her children forever have my heart & fight for their justice and change in the very system that took their lives
this animal also goes under the sign-on in2hens2: on the Tuscon Citizen newspaper blog site and violated a gag order to bash & attack Jamie the mommy of Ariana & Tyler Payne also she had a sidekick Christopher Payne's sister what an animal where is her loyalty to her niece & nephew 2 innocent children her brother brutally murdered & abused for months and she defends him brother or not my brother did that I would end his miserable ass myself I cannot imagine what Jamie feels or goes through but I know she has my support 100 %and her children forever have my heart & fight for their justice and change in the very system that took their lives
Justice Bureau statistics on CPS
Survey Shows Dramatic Increase
in Child Abuse and Neglect, 1986-1993
Excerpts from HHS Release, September 18, 1996
Link to Full HHS Release
The Department of Health and Human Services released a survey estimating that child abuse and neglect in the United States nearly doubled during the seven years between 1986 and 1993.
According to the HHS study, the number of total child maltreatment instances that were investigated by state agencies remained constant from 1986 to 1993; however, the percentage of cases investigated declined dramatically.
"It is shameful and startling to see that so many more children are in danger and that proportionately fewer incidents are investigated," HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala said. "Now states, schools, health care professionals -- all of us -- must commit ourselves to investigating and preventing child abuse with far greater effectiveness than we have seen in the past."
The report estimated the number of abused and neglected children increased from 1.4 million in 1986, to over 2.8 million in 1993. The number of children who were seriously injured quadrupled from about 143,000 to nearly 570,000.
Schools identified the largest number of children at risk, yet state services investigated only 16 percent of these children. For the cases identified in the study, less than 50 percent of children identified as maltreated by any source (except law enforcement) were investigated by child protective services.
Shalala said, "We are giving states more flexibility, demanding more accountability and focusing on the only bottom line that matters: results."
In regard to sexual victimization, the NIS survey concluded:
Girls are sexually abused three times more often than boys;
Boys have greater risk of emotional neglect & serious injury than girls.
The NIS is funded by HHS National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect and mandated by Congress. Previous NIS studies were released in 1981 and 1988.
in Child Abuse and Neglect, 1986-1993
Excerpts from HHS Release, September 18, 1996
Link to Full HHS Release
The Department of Health and Human Services released a survey estimating that child abuse and neglect in the United States nearly doubled during the seven years between 1986 and 1993.
According to the HHS study, the number of total child maltreatment instances that were investigated by state agencies remained constant from 1986 to 1993; however, the percentage of cases investigated declined dramatically.
"It is shameful and startling to see that so many more children are in danger and that proportionately fewer incidents are investigated," HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala said. "Now states, schools, health care professionals -- all of us -- must commit ourselves to investigating and preventing child abuse with far greater effectiveness than we have seen in the past."
The report estimated the number of abused and neglected children increased from 1.4 million in 1986, to over 2.8 million in 1993. The number of children who were seriously injured quadrupled from about 143,000 to nearly 570,000.
Schools identified the largest number of children at risk, yet state services investigated only 16 percent of these children. For the cases identified in the study, less than 50 percent of children identified as maltreated by any source (except law enforcement) were investigated by child protective services.
Shalala said, "We are giving states more flexibility, demanding more accountability and focusing on the only bottom line that matters: results."
In regard to sexual victimization, the NIS survey concluded:
Girls are sexually abused three times more often than boys;
Boys have greater risk of emotional neglect & serious injury than girls.
The NIS is funded by HHS National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect and mandated by Congress. Previous NIS studies were released in 1981 and 1988.
we must all stand up for the children
To all Gods children that he took back home to stop their suffering,
We have failed you.
When the people that are suppose to shield you from pain is the one causing your suffering,
We have failed you.
When you are cold, hungry and in pain and the government knows and does nothing.
We have failed you.
When we see your bruises, we cover our eyes, when we hear your cry, we cover our ears, when we should tell of your pain, we cover our mouths.
We have failed you.
The angels have flown back home, because we have failed them.
You have your wings angels. Ours are broken.
Caseworker of Tyler & Ariana Payne violates gag order to bash mom in a blog
A
prosecutor's questions about confidential child welfare reports and a
former caseworker's comments on a Tucson Citizen blog interrupted
Christopher Mathew Payne's capital murder trial Thursday.
Former
Arizona Child Protective Services caseworker Cindy Graupmann had just
taken the stand late Thursday afternoon when Deputy County Attorney
Susan Eazer lodged an objection.
After
the jury was dismissed, Eazer told Pima County Superior Court Judge
Richard S. Fields that the defense hadn't disclosed that it had
unredacted CPS records it shouldn't have had.
Fields
told attorneys to come back earlier than usual Friday to continue
discussing the matter as well as an earlier situation involving
Graupmann and blog comments.
Graupmann
admitted to Eazer that she had made comments on the Tucson Citizen's
trial blog that disparaged Jamie Hallam, the mother of Ariana and Tyler
Payne and Payne's ex-wife.
"The
saddest part is that Jamie Hallam is responsible just as much as
Christopher Payne," Graupmann, who is unemployed, wrote March 3 under a
fictitious name.
Eazer wants to use Graupmann's comments to impeach her testimony.
"Aside
from the bias the witness brings into the courtroom, as a CPS worker,
one of the things that she blogged about contained information about a
subsequent case that clearly she learned about while still working for
CPS that was totally confidential," Eazer said.
"She
is breaking every rule known to CPS, that CPS has out there, which is
exactly what she and her supervisor did March 9," Eazer said.
Eazer
was referring to the 2006 incident in which Graupmann and her
supervisor Christy Tarpley advised police to allow Payne to keep his
children despite a signed court order giving custody to Hallam. Hallam
had complained to police in 2006 that Payne had taken the children for
a visit and refused to return them. She called police, who went to
Payne's house and then called CPS.
"I never told the officer to do that," Tarpley testified Thursday. "I told him if he had the court paper, that was the answer."
Tarpley
said she remembered talking to Officer William Nutt, who testified
previously that Tarpley told him to leave the children with Payne,
because she "laughed about his name."
Despite a CPS letter dated March 1, 2006, that cleared Hallam of an unsubstantiated.. charge, Tarpley said the case wasn't closed then.
"The button was not pushed," Tarpley said, explaining that the unit issuing the letter was "a mess" at that time.
Prosecutors
say Payne kept the children after Hallam left them for the visit
because he didn't want to pay child support. When his girlfriend, Reina
Irene Gonzales, complained of caring for them, Payne shut them in a
closet and starved them to death over a period of months in 2006.
Ariana's body was found in February 2007. Tyler's body has never been found.
Defense
attorneys say Gonzales abused and starved the children. Payne faces the
death penalty if he's convicted on either of two first-degree murder
charges.
Hallam settled a lawsuit against CPS, Graupmann and Tarpley for $1 million. A suit against Tucson police is pending.
Earlier, Tarpley questioned why she was even called to testify for the defense.
"I didn't look at any of this and I really don't care," Christy Tarpley said, when shown reports on the case.
"I
was shocked when I got a subpoena yesterday and I'm just trying to
figure out what I'm doing here," said Tarpley, who now works for the
Pascua Yaqui tribe.
"Just another CPS nightmare," she said, shrugging.
prosecutor's questions about confidential child welfare reports and a
former caseworker's comments on a Tucson Citizen blog interrupted
Christopher Mathew Payne's capital murder trial Thursday.
Former
Arizona Child Protective Services caseworker Cindy Graupmann had just
taken the stand late Thursday afternoon when Deputy County Attorney
Susan Eazer lodged an objection.
After
the jury was dismissed, Eazer told Pima County Superior Court Judge
Richard S. Fields that the defense hadn't disclosed that it had
unredacted CPS records it shouldn't have had.
Fields
told attorneys to come back earlier than usual Friday to continue
discussing the matter as well as an earlier situation involving
Graupmann and blog comments.
Graupmann
admitted to Eazer that she had made comments on the Tucson Citizen's
trial blog that disparaged Jamie Hallam, the mother of Ariana and Tyler
Payne and Payne's ex-wife.
"The
saddest part is that Jamie Hallam is responsible just as much as
Christopher Payne," Graupmann, who is unemployed, wrote March 3 under a
fictitious name.
Eazer wants to use Graupmann's comments to impeach her testimony.
"Aside
from the bias the witness brings into the courtroom, as a CPS worker,
one of the things that she blogged about contained information about a
subsequent case that clearly she learned about while still working for
CPS that was totally confidential," Eazer said.
"She
is breaking every rule known to CPS, that CPS has out there, which is
exactly what she and her supervisor did March 9," Eazer said.
Eazer
was referring to the 2006 incident in which Graupmann and her
supervisor Christy Tarpley advised police to allow Payne to keep his
children despite a signed court order giving custody to Hallam. Hallam
had complained to police in 2006 that Payne had taken the children for
a visit and refused to return them. She called police, who went to
Payne's house and then called CPS.
"I never told the officer to do that," Tarpley testified Thursday. "I told him if he had the court paper, that was the answer."
Tarpley
said she remembered talking to Officer William Nutt, who testified
previously that Tarpley told him to leave the children with Payne,
because she "laughed about his name."
Despite a CPS letter dated March 1, 2006, that cleared Hallam of an unsubstantiated.. charge, Tarpley said the case wasn't closed then.
"The button was not pushed," Tarpley said, explaining that the unit issuing the letter was "a mess" at that time.
Prosecutors
say Payne kept the children after Hallam left them for the visit
because he didn't want to pay child support. When his girlfriend, Reina
Irene Gonzales, complained of caring for them, Payne shut them in a
closet and starved them to death over a period of months in 2006.
Ariana's body was found in February 2007. Tyler's body has never been found.
Defense
attorneys say Gonzales abused and starved the children. Payne faces the
death penalty if he's convicted on either of two first-degree murder
charges.
Hallam settled a lawsuit against CPS, Graupmann and Tarpley for $1 million. A suit against Tucson police is pending.
Earlier, Tarpley questioned why she was even called to testify for the defense.
"I didn't look at any of this and I really don't care," Christy Tarpley said, when shown reports on the case.
"I
was shocked when I got a subpoena yesterday and I'm just trying to
figure out what I'm doing here," said Tarpley, who now works for the
Pascua Yaqui tribe.
"Just another CPS nightmare," she said, shrugging.
I am a caseworker a poem by me
I am a caseworker I will never take blame
when I fail to protect children I never feel shame
I blame the families or others involved
even when I saw bruises ,burns or scars
I rip families apart and have no shame
to me ripping families apart is my favorite sick game
to me the almighty dollar comes first the cries of the children
simply overlooked I am a caseworker I lie & fail families
and rip them apart Federal funding is what I am about
children don't matter to me I cash my check every week
and sleep like a baby no one cares that I am downright lazy
I get paid by the system & families I destroy I am a caseworker
need I say more
when I fail to protect children I never feel shame
I blame the families or others involved
even when I saw bruises ,burns or scars
I rip families apart and have no shame
to me ripping families apart is my favorite sick game
to me the almighty dollar comes first the cries of the children
simply overlooked I am a caseworker I lie & fail families
and rip them apart Federal funding is what I am about
children don't matter to me I cash my check every week
and sleep like a baby no one cares that I am downright lazy
I get paid by the system & families I destroy I am a caseworker
need I say more
CPS clears mom of Payne children of negelct & drug use so give her back her baby
By bringing the CPS worker in charge of the neglect claim against
Jamie Hallam to the stand, the defense has proven a point it couldn't
have intended to make: that Hallam was a fit parent.
Hallam's ex-husband, Christopher Mathew Payne, in on trial on
charges of first-degree murder in the deaths of his children, Ariana
and Tyler.
One of the defense theories as to broken bones that Ariana Payne
suffered was that they came before she and her brother came to live
with their father.
Former CPS caseworker Cindy Graupmann testified that she saw Ariana
and Tyler Payne twice over a five-month span and they appeared to be
healthy and well-cared for.
In fact, she indicted on a case note that the second time she saw
the children on a surprise visit, they were snuggled up with their
grandfather.
Graupmann asked Hallam to do a test for illegal substances in October 2005, which proved she was clean.
On Feb. 14, 2006, Graupmann talked to Hallam's ex-husband, Chris
Payne. Payne told Graupmann that he knew Hallam was cooperating with
the CPS investgation and wasn't doing drugs, Graupmann testified.
But despite the fact that Hallam kept in touch with CPS and complied
with the drug test, Graupmann told Payne Hallam wasn't cooperating and
Graupmann still suspected illegal drug use.
The only thing mentioned in Graupmann's case notes on visits with
Hallam that she based the fact on were sores on Hallam's face, which
could have been acne, prosecutor Sue Eazer said.
Presumably, Graupmann was also talking to an anonymous source who
said Hallam was using drugs, but the jury won't be hearing testimony
about anonymous tips.
When Graupmann talked to Payne on Feb. 6, 2006, she suggested he
seek custody of the children. At the time, Graupmann testified, she
didn't know that Payne had had nothing to do with his children for the
past three years and had been keeping them despite Hallam's attempts to
get them back.
It wasn't until Graupmann talked to Hallam on Feb. 14, 2006, that she learned Payne had been a deadbeat dad, she testified.
On Feb. 17, 2005, Hallam called Graupmann, concerned that she
couldn't reach Payne and that she wanted her children back. Hallam had
feared that CPS had taken the children, which Graupmann assured her it
had not.
"You didn't try to help her find the kids or tell her the defendant had moved to change custody, did you?" Eazer asked.
"I don't have that in my case note," Graupmann said.
"Do you think if you told her that might or might not be included in the case note?"
"I don't recall," said Graupmann, who worked for CPS from April 2004 to September 2008, when she retired.
"But you did note that you told her to drop?" Eazer said, meaning submit to a drug test.
"That's correct."
Graupmann's testimony was interrupted by the lunch break. She's expected back on the stand shortly after 1 p.m.
Graupmann admitted yesterday outside the courtroom that she had been
making disparaging comments about Hallam on the Citizen's trial blog.
In addition, one of Payne's sisters also has been commenting.
In response, Pima County Superior Court Judge Richard Fields ruled
today that witnesses were being restricted in the courtroom and being
told not to make comments about the case while the trial is going on.
Jamie Hallam to the stand, the defense has proven a point it couldn't
have intended to make: that Hallam was a fit parent.
Hallam's ex-husband, Christopher Mathew Payne, in on trial on
charges of first-degree murder in the deaths of his children, Ariana
and Tyler.
One of the defense theories as to broken bones that Ariana Payne
suffered was that they came before she and her brother came to live
with their father.
Former CPS caseworker Cindy Graupmann testified that she saw Ariana
and Tyler Payne twice over a five-month span and they appeared to be
healthy and well-cared for.
In fact, she indicted on a case note that the second time she saw
the children on a surprise visit, they were snuggled up with their
grandfather.
Graupmann asked Hallam to do a test for illegal substances in October 2005, which proved she was clean.
On Feb. 14, 2006, Graupmann talked to Hallam's ex-husband, Chris
Payne. Payne told Graupmann that he knew Hallam was cooperating with
the CPS investgation and wasn't doing drugs, Graupmann testified.
But despite the fact that Hallam kept in touch with CPS and complied
with the drug test, Graupmann told Payne Hallam wasn't cooperating and
Graupmann still suspected illegal drug use.
The only thing mentioned in Graupmann's case notes on visits with
Hallam that she based the fact on were sores on Hallam's face, which
could have been acne, prosecutor Sue Eazer said.
Presumably, Graupmann was also talking to an anonymous source who
said Hallam was using drugs, but the jury won't be hearing testimony
about anonymous tips.
When Graupmann talked to Payne on Feb. 6, 2006, she suggested he
seek custody of the children. At the time, Graupmann testified, she
didn't know that Payne had had nothing to do with his children for the
past three years and had been keeping them despite Hallam's attempts to
get them back.
It wasn't until Graupmann talked to Hallam on Feb. 14, 2006, that she learned Payne had been a deadbeat dad, she testified.
On Feb. 17, 2005, Hallam called Graupmann, concerned that she
couldn't reach Payne and that she wanted her children back. Hallam had
feared that CPS had taken the children, which Graupmann assured her it
had not.
"You didn't try to help her find the kids or tell her the defendant had moved to change custody, did you?" Eazer asked.
"I don't have that in my case note," Graupmann said.
"Do you think if you told her that might or might not be included in the case note?"
"I don't recall," said Graupmann, who worked for CPS from April 2004 to September 2008, when she retired.
"But you did note that you told her to drop?" Eazer said, meaning submit to a drug test.
"That's correct."
Graupmann's testimony was interrupted by the lunch break. She's expected back on the stand shortly after 1 p.m.
Graupmann admitted yesterday outside the courtroom that she had been
making disparaging comments about Hallam on the Citizen's trial blog.
In addition, one of Payne's sisters also has been commenting.
In response, Pima County Superior Court Judge Richard Fields ruled
today that witnesses were being restricted in the courtroom and being
told not to make comments about the case while the trial is going on.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
How Tyler & Ariana's mommy remembers them RIP angels
Ariana and Tyler when they were alive
Everyone always asks me what Ariana and Tyler were like.
Here is how I remember them.
I would love to tell you about Ariana and Tyler. They were the most wonderful children that any mother could have. Ariana and Tyler were 11 months apart. They were so close in age, and I think that is what made their bond so much closer. After leaving my ex-husband when Ariana was only 4 weeks old, we moved into our own place. There were not a lot of other kids around, so they mostly played with each other. It was always the 3 of us. I didn’t want to send them to daycare. On our days at home, they played like most normal kids do. Tyler loved to play outside in the backyard with his trucks and his cars.
Ariana would play with her dolls. Her favorite activity most of all was coloring. She had a little bag that she would carry everywhere. Before we went anywhere, she would make sure that it was stocked up with her paper and her crayons and coloring pencils. She would put pens, markers, and even chalk in that little bag–anything that she could color with.
She just loved all the different colors. She would fall asleep coloring on most nights. I cannot forget to tell you that she would sometimes extend her artwork from paper to the walls or dressers. LOL.Tyler loved Scooby-Doo. He had Scooby-Doo bedsheets, and t-shirts, and every video possible that had Scooby-Doo.
He liked to ride his bike (with training wheels, of course). Ariana never got the chance to learn how to ride a bike.Every day we would have what I called “Quality Time”–that is when I turned off the TV and shut off the phone and didn’t answer the door. Because for that one hour every day, it was about us being together. I would let them choose what activity that we were going to do. Usually it was making cookies. Tyler LOVED to cook! Or we would do arts and crafts because that was Ariana’s favorite. I remember how I bought one of those toy kitchen sets for Ariana, and Tyler would fight her to play with it. I had to go out and buy another one so they each had one.
Every time Tyler would get a little money, he would ask if we could go to the store so he could buy plastic food for his kitchen set. LOL.
They were the most amazing children. They loved each other so much and had a bond that was inseparable. They were like night and day, though. Ariana would go to bed early; Tyler liked to stay up late. He would wake Ariana up if she was sleeping and he was awake. She loved milk with her food; he drank juice. He was particular in what he ate. Ariana loved to eat.
She would eat everything on her plate then move into Tyler’s seat and eat the rest of his meal. Their personalities were so sweet and gentle. Tyler was a true momma’s boy. He liked to be everywhere I was.
Ariana was more independent. She would play by herself and be comfortable with it, but she was very cuddly. She would sit on my lap for hours and didn’t move. I can still hear her little voice in my head saying “I LOOVVE YOUU.” It was such a sweet gentle voice.Okay, this is getting harder to write.
I think that I am going to stop now because I can barely see the keyboard. My heart is broken, and no one can fix it. The pain that I feel is immense. I have no earthly words to explain what I am going through. It feels as though my heart has been ripped out of my chest while it was still beating and I am left to survive with this big gaping hole where it once was.
If I could do that day over again, I would. I would trade places with them if I could. There is nothing in this world that could compare to a mother’s grief. I am extremely saddened by everything that they had to go through.
Carolina toddler dead DSS failure
SHELBY - A 2-year-old boy is dead and his mother and stepfather have been charged with murder and child abuse, according to a Cleveland County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies charged Kathy Lynn Swafford, 20, and Dwight Stacy Justice, 42, both of 867-30 E. Zion Church Road, Shelby, with one count each of felony child abuse and felony murder.
The couple is being held in the Cleveland County Detention Center, with no bond.
Cleveland County EMS responded to the home Friday at 1:20 p.m. after a caller said the child had been sick for a couple days, according to a sheriff's official. The caller also stated the boy had a knot on his head and had been throwing up blood, deputies said.
"When EMS got there, they knew it was something more and contacted us," said Cleveland County Sheriff's Capt. Bobby Steen.
Steen said they are not sure where the call came from at this time.
EMS took the 2-year-old boy to Cleveland Regional Medical Center for treatment before being airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. He died Saturday at 3:18 p.m.
"It appears that he died of trauma injuries to head and body," Steen said.
"When it is a child involved, everyone gets into that extra gear," he said. "We want to solve it quick.
"We have feelings too," he said. "No one likes to see a child hurt.
"
T2sister's Comment
The family called DSS several times expressing their concerns for this little boy's safety but nothing was done and now he's dead. This child's story is very much like Chris' story. For more information go to the Shelby Star. There are several articles about this case at that web site.
Leave a comment tell your state representatives you want DSS to do their job!
These children already left to die in 09 by social service workers
Three children died after a catalog of errors by social workers, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose.
In cases that echo the mistakes made during the short life of Baby P, the children were left in danger despite clear warning signs that they were at risk.
Repeated opportunities were missed to intervene to save the children, whose families were regularly visited by social workers, police and health workers.
Despite the blunders, no measures were taken to discipline any of the professionals involved.
Critics said the official reports into the cases, uncovered by The Sunday Telegraph, showed that the current child protection system was not working.
The three serious case reviews disclose:
A three-year-old girl died after taking her mother's drugs. Just three weeks earlier social workers had considered ? and then decided against ? putting her into care
A 14-month-old baby was killed by a cocktail of drugs, months after social workers were warned her mother was taking crack cocaine and heroin
A baby of seven months died in bed with her mother, whose alcohol intake contributed to the death. Social workers who previously found the mother drunk in bed with the infant had asked her to sign an agreement to tackle her drinking, which she signed after consuming eight cans of beer.
In the case of the three-year-old, who was on the child protection register in Reading, just 25 of 84 attempts by social workers to visit her family were successful.
Despite her parents' refusal to co-operate with social services, action was not taken to protect Trae-Bleu Layne, who died of a methadone overdose.
Even when her parents took her on a violent raid on local shops - which ended with a high-speed chase by police, who found the child in the back of a car next to drug-taking paraphernalia - authorities failed to step in to protect the infant.
The investigation demonstrates that the critical errors made by social services in the case of Baby P, whose abuse and death was not prevented by 60 visits from Haringey's social workers, are being replicated across the country.
The cases raise fundamental questions about the competence of front line staff working in child protection, and the leadership of those running services.
Michael Gove, the shadow children's secretary, described the cases as "appalling" evidence that the current child protection system had failed.
He said: "These particular cases seem quite appalling: they raise profound questions about the Government's claim that we have got the right systems in place."
The NSPCC warned that countless more children would die as a result of abuse if lessons from investigations into the deaths were not heeded.
Wes Cuell, the charity's director of children's services, said: "There are many children who are alive today who will die in equally tragic circumstances if we continue to fail to learn the lessons from these cases."
He said serious case reviews by agencies responsible for child protection raised the same problems repeatedly: poor judgment by front line staff in health, police and social work; and weak supervision by managers in charge of child protection.
Samauri Mayes
2-year-old
January 2, 2009
Greenville,South Carolina
Lucas Isaac Polanco
2-year-old
January 4,2009
Milton-Freewater,Oregon
Seth Ireland
10-year-old
January 6, 2009
Fresno,California
Alexis "Lexie" Glover
13-year-old
January 7,2009
Manassas,Virginia
Tatina Riveria
8-month-old
January 9,2009
Omaha,Nebraska
Alex Angulo
4-year-old
January 11,2009
Chicago,Illinois
Foster Girl
4-year-old
January 13,2009
Edmonton,Canada
Ania Duncan
6-month-old
January 14,2009
Cleveland, Ohio
Karina Moore
2-year-old
January 16, 2009
Post Falls,Idaho
Guadalupe Correa
3-year-old
January 20, 2009
Stockton,California
Joseph M.Schoolfield
3-year-old
January 24,2009
Carlyle, Illinois
Iven Carlos
2-month-old
January 27,2009
Chicago,Illinois
Darcey Freeman
4-year-old
January 29,2009
Melbourne,Australia
February
Hope Richard
9-year-old
February 3,2009
Manitoba,Canada
Miraculious Fuentes
Manriquez
3-year-old
February 3,2009
Amarillo,Texas
Aquan Lewis
10-year-old
February 4,2009
Evanston,Illinois
Angel DeHerrera
4-year-old
February 6, 2009
Colorado Springs,CO
Esmond Ross
7-year-old
February 7, 2009
Kansas City,Missouri
Foster Girl
10-year-old
February 7,2009
Rockhampton, Australia
Abigail Johnson
4-month-old
February 9, 2009
Evansville,Indiana
Tendral Meytok
Gurung
9-month-old
February 10, 2009
Virginia Beach,Florida
Kaylan Broumley
3-year-old
February 12,2009
Nacogdoches,Texas
Thomas Joel Villa
7-month-old
February 12,2009
Canyon,Texas
Isiah Martin
2-year-old
February 13,2008
Detroit,Michigan
Jeremiah Ray Swafford
2-year-old
February 13,2009
Shelby,North Carolina
Joshua Pinckney
2-year-old
February 13,2009
Cumming,Georgia
Jyhiem Adam Bacon
2-month-old
February 14, 2009
Salisbury,North Carolina
Darlene Diles
35-day-old
February 17,2009
Dallas,Texas
CPS corruption x13
..
The Central Index functions as a blacklist of parents. Each state has their
own version of the list and once a name is added parents have found it nearly
impossible to have their name removed. These lists have been declared unconstitutional
in a recently ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Too many people have been listed -- not on the basis of what they have done
to bring harm to children, but simply on the basis of CPS caseworker opinions.
Most people listed on the Central Index have never been criminally charged,
have never been informed that their name appears on the list, neither have
they been convicted of any kind of child abuse or neglect.
Yet, having your name appear on the list can and has led to individuals losing
jobs, future employment opportunities and can follow them the rest of their lives
causing irreparable harm for themselves and their families.
The Gates couple who appear in this video said they became foster-adoptive parents so
they could help needy children. The Gary & Melissa Gates have spent the past 8-years
and $175,000.00 trying to get their names removed from the Central Registry list in
Texas. Each state has their own lists but they are shared from state to state, making
it nearly impossible to lead a normal life once your name has been added.
The Gates have founded a non-profit organization — The Texas Center for Family Rights,
after they saw the need for families to be protected from invasive investigations by CPS,
which can be started by one malicious phone call.
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About Me
- Momonamission4CPSreform
- I am a mom of 2 children that cannot stand the horror & failings of Americas children child welfare does not just suck in 1 state it's all over the corruption & blood money for these children must be addressed
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