Moving forward on foster care?

Moving forward on foster care

Monday, October 15, 2007

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl.../EDFFSOMTK.DTL

Slowly but surely, the state of California is taking steps to ensure
that foster children, who are our collective responsibility, are able to
live with a modicum of decency and care.

Last week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed two important bills:
AB1331, which requires county welfare agencies to help disabled foster
youth apply for the federal Supplemental Security Income program before
they are emancipated from the foster care system, and SB39, which
publicly opens the case files for foster children who died as a result
of abuse and neglect.

Neither of these bills is showy or expensive. What each represents is
pragmatism and common sense, two of the most underrated qualities in
Sacramento. For that reason, they stand a chance of actually having a
positive impact on the lives of California's 86,000 foster children.

AB1331 shouldn't even be necessary - why wouldn't county agencies make
an attempt to help disabled foster children secure the federal
assistance that is available to all disabled people who have little
income, not just those who are in foster care? Unfortunately, the need
for this law points out how disorganized the foster care system truly
is, and how fundamentally it can fail our children. With the passage of
AB1331, which was authored by Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa,
California will become the first state to ensure that disabled foster
children have their benefits in place upon emancipation. We hope it
won't be the last.

Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, authored SB39, which will provide
far more transparency into our foster care system. Before its passage,
the only way for a member of the public to learn basic information about
a foster child who had died in the system, as a result of abuse and
neglect, was to file a lawsuit. Opponents of SB39 - and similar bills
that preceded it - claimed that disclosing information about the dead
children could be detrimental to the privacy of social workers and
foster families. SB39 redacts sensitive information about those parties
while reminding the state who it is supposed to be serving - the
children placed in its care, not those who are collecting its paychecks.




CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NSA / CIA
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.


CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...


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...