Florida's adoptive parents deserve more protection: "Buyer beware."?

State's adoptive parents deserve more protection

Palm Beach Post Editorial

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion...dopt_0613.html

A Palm Beach County man who sexually abused, threatened, underfed and
neglected three brothers has been sentenced to prison for life without
parole. The Florida Department of Children and Families, which
repeatedly placed the children with abusive foster parents and then
withheld those records - denying the children medical treatment - has
yet to pay for its abusive role in their care.

The boys are now 15, 14 and 12. Over the past nine years, they have
molested each other, touched other children, set fires, hidden scissors
and knives in holes they dug in the walls, hoarded food and threatened
to kill their adoptive mother. An occupational licensed mental-health
counselor who worked with the boys described them as "little Ted Bundys
in the making."

As Post reporter Kathleen Chapman wrote on June 3, Debbie and Jorge, a
former Boynton Beach couple, learned of their sons' sexual abuse by
chance - when the squeak of a bed frightened the youngest one - months
after they had adopted the boys. More details were revealed at a
Colorado treatment center, despite the efforts of a DCF caseworker who
said in a recent deposition that, under orders by her supervisors, she
told the center to keep boxes of DCF records on the boys hidden from
Debbie and Jorge.

DCF also denied the boys follow-up treatment in Colorado. The children's
fear and distrust is so deep that even after watching a judge sentence
their former foster parent Hector Rosa to prison, the youngest son asked
Debbie who will guard Rosa "when the guards sleep at night."

Debbie and Jorge sued DCF in 2002 for the cost of treating the boys and
for millions in damages because the state misled the couple about the
boys' history. Now, three DCF secretaries and four administrators for
Palm Beach County later, Debbie and Jorge are scheduled to meet next
month for mediation with DCF in Tallahassee before a trial in Palm Beach
County this fall.

DCF's decision to conceal the boys' history is beyond belief, unless you
know DCF's recent history. Floridians who buy a car are protected by the
state's lemon law. Floridians who buy a home can have it inspected
before the sale by an objective professional. So the state offers more
protection to buyers of material goods than to adoptive parents. They
must rely on DCF - as the custodial parent of children who have been
abused, neglected or abandoned - to provide records charting each
child's medical history and background, so that their children can get
the care they deserve. Misleading those interested in adopting the 573
boys, 310 girls and 65 groups of siblings available from the state only
furthers any abuse the children have suffered.

This spring, to encourage more adoptions, the Legislature increased the
subsidies for parents from an average of $3,788 annually to $5,000
annually. But the dollars won't matter if the state discourages adoption
by being dishonest about the children's backgrounds. Prospective parents
will hear only this: "Buyer beware."




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...