ParentingBanter.com - View Single Post - Governor vows to 'get to the bottom' of foster care lawsuit: fostercare system is so broken that children have been placed back with fosterparents who abused them or even killed in foster care.

**Greegor**

The State is the worst parent!
A Zoo Gorilla has more parental instinct than CPS and their courts.

On Jul 3, 2:07 pm, fx wrote:
Governor vows to 'get to the bottom' of foster care lawsuit

http://www.boston.com/news/local/rho...2007/07/02/gov...

By Eric Tucker, Associated Press Writer | July 2, 2007

PROVIDENCE, R.I. --Gov. Don Carcieri vowed Monday to "get to the bottom"
of allegations contained in a federal lawsuit that the state's foster
care system is so broken that children have been placed back with foster
parents who abused them, shuttled between more than a dozen homes or
even killed in foster care.

"Are the allegations in fact true? Do we have any failings in terms of
procedure or policy? Do we have possibly some bad decisions being made?"
Carcieri said after a meeting with state child advocate Jametta Alston,
who filed the lawsuit Thursday. "I don't know any of that right now, but
we're going to get to the bottom of it."

Alston brought the lawsuit, which is seeking class action status, on
behalf of the 3,000 children currently in Rhode Island's foster care
system. The lawsuit cites federal data that show Rhode Island had the
nation's highest rate of abuse or neglect of foster care children in
five of the six years between 2000 and 2005.

"If we have youngsters that are being abused that are in our care ... I
want it to stop now, and I want to get to the bottom of it," Carcieri said.

Ten children were identified with pseudonyms in the complaint, which
included disturbing allegations about their cases and the foster care
system.

For instance, the suit says the Department of Children, Youth and
Families returned two brothers to their parents even though one of the
boys had reported being sexually abused by his father. The month after
they were returned, the complaint says, one boy had a bruise around his
eye and one had a large mark on his neck.

The lawsuit says one 5-year-old boy was sexually assaulted in his foster
home, while another child spent time in more than 14 different homes and
institutions -- including one where he was allegedly sexually abused by
a roommate.

Patricia Martinez, the director of the department -- which was sued
along with the governor -- said she could not comment on any of the
alleged abuse cases since her staff was still in the early stages of
investigating them. But she said she was troubled by the allegations.

"If we find that we failed a system, that a provider failed, then you
bet that we will take corrective actions," Martinez said.

Some of the cases are already several years old, so some of the staff
members involved in these cases may no longer be associated with the
department, Martinez said.

The suit says caseworkers are so overburdened that children might not
get a visit from them for months and contends that children languish for
long periods of time in the foster care system because the department is
slow in finding them permanent adoptive homes.

Carcieri said Monday that Alston had given him the full names of the
children cited in the lawsuit. He said he would be briefed Tuesday by
DCYF about their cases and that it was possible that caseworkers would
be fired if they knew about problems but did not fix them.

Problems at the department came to the public's attention after
3-year-old T.J. Wright died in foster care in 2004. His aunt and her
live-in boyfriend have pleaded not guilty to beating him to death. Their
cases have not reached trial.

Carcieri and Alston said they did not discuss specifics of the lawsuit
during their conversation but instead focused on ways to improve
communication. The governor said he had not been aware of the alleged
abuse until he read news accounts of the lawsuit.

Lisa Guillette, executive director of the Rhode Island Foster Parents
Association, said it's critical that caseworkers have manageable
workloads since they're relied upon to identify problems.

"The stories of the plaintiffs demonstrate systemic failure in a lot of
ways -- lack of oversight, lack of adequate support for the children and
the placements that are serving them," Guillette said.
© Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL
SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....

CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.

every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com

Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS

*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*

Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5

Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.

BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...