Collinsville Teen Freed From Foster Care

Collinsville Teen Freed From Foster Care
Created: 12/5/2007 5:10:21 PM
Last updated: 12/5/2007 7:18:13 PM

http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_articl...storyid=136098

By Leisa Zigman
I-Team Reporter

(KSDK) - A 17-year-old Collinsville teen was granted emancipation
Tuesday from his mother and the Illinois Department of Children and
Family Services.
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The extraordinary decision comes just one month after Illinois placed
the teen in a foster home with a convicted sex offender.

The emancipation order frees him from what James Branson called an
abusive biological mother and the State of Illinois.

The order states: "Petitioner James Branson is deemed completely
emancipated from his/her parents, guardian or custodians as of December
4, 2007."

Branson's nightmare with the Illinois DCFS began when case workers
placed him in a Madison County foster home two months ago.

Loren Wilbert Williams, convicted of four counts of aggravated criminal
sexual abuse of a child lived there, too.

Branson found out about Williams' history when he plugged in the foster
home address on the Illinois Sex Offender Registry.

"What would have happened if I didn't say anything about the sex
offender and the state just kept putting kids in there? What if another
kid got hurt," Branson said.

Branson said Williams never harmed him, but still called the hotline
with the information.

From there Branson was sent into two different foster homes.

He said it was a situation that made it difficult to get to school.

He said the state wouldn't help him with transportation or money as it
related to school.

A state spokesperson would only say that "DCFS is unable to comment
further on a pending investigation."

A spokesperson with the Foster and Adoptive Care Coalition said a
judge's emancipation order is rare.

Karen Morgan has worked with foster and adoptive children in Missouri
and Illinois for 16 years.

"There are times when children do fall through the cracks. But at all
costs, we have to ask, "Can we keep the child in his same school?'"

"We have case workers that have driven kids across town to go to school
everyday, because it's more important for that child to stay at his
school," she said.

Branson said he had one of those case workers, who he credited with
driving him to school at six in the morning from one of his foster homes.

Still, the thinks DCFS isn't working.

Madison County Judge Duane Bailey signed Branson's emancipation order.
He has signed a total of three since March.

"The system failed these kids. . I want to make sure they can succeed,"
Bailey said in a prepared statement.

Bailey first checks living and financial arrangements as well as the
petitioner's maturity.

Branson is living with an adult and has several adult friends advocating
for him.

He's getting a job, plans to graduate from Granite City High this year
and hopes to attend Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville this fall.

A call to the Illinois DCFS to ask how many times children in state care
are granted emancipation was not returned.

The Missouri Department of Social Services doesn't keep such statistics.









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 PROGRAMS....

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...