Program pays for private eye to locate kids: Many low-income familieswith CPS files move nomadically from relatives' homes to apartments to renthouses. Locating them can require the skills of a private investigator.

Program pays for private eye to locate kids
By ALEX BRANCH
Star-Telegram staff writer

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/244450.html

As any Child Protective Services caseworker can tell you, the first step
in helping endangered children is to find them.

Many low-income families with CPS files move nomadically from relatives'
homes to apartments to rent houses. Locating them can require the skills
of a private investigator.

And often that's whom caseworkers turn to for help.

Under a program funded by United Way of Tarrant County, a licensed
private investigator has tracked down more than 300 families that seemed
to have vanished from the Earth.

"We've found some children in homes with needles on the floor, drugs on
the tables, dirty dishes, dirty clothes, filth and slime," said private
investigator Geoffrey Tait, who has helped CPS since 2005. "Empty homes
with no furniture, just blankets on the floor where they sleep. Kids who
needed to be rescued."

They might not have been, if not for one miserable, battered little boy
who wasn't found until it was too late.

A child dies

In 2004, a series of child-abuse deaths made headlines.

One of the most disturbing to Pat Cheong, an assistant vice president
for United Way, was the killing of 9-year-old Davontae Williams. Police
found his malnourished body covered with cuts and bruises inside an
Arlington apartment.

His mother and her partner often tied him up or locked him in the
pantry, police said. He hadn't attended school since the first grade.

It turned out, Cheong learned, that CPS caseworkers had tried to help
the family, but Davontae's mother evaded them by moving from one home to
another. In fact, in 2003, CPS had received an allegation of abuse or
neglect for about 400 area families but had been unable to locate them
for investigation, she said.

"These CPS workers had a very high number of cases to investigate and
had to try to track down all these families who had moved," Cheong said.
"It was an overwhelming task, and I thought there must be someone out
there specifically trained to find people."

That led the United Way's Families Impact Council to create a grant for
CPS to contract with a private investigator. Starting in November 2004,
when CPS caseworkers exhausted their own resources to find a family,
referrals were sent to the investigator. This year the grant was $63,000.

"It has been a tremendous help," said Marissa Gonzales, a spokeswoman
for CPS. "Children who vanish with their families are often the most
vulnerable. We wish we had this program in every county."

Finding families

A few years ago, Tait's three-person investigation company, Cat's Eye
Intelligence Service in Fort Worth, was doing work for 40 law firms
throughout the Metroplex.

In early 2005, when the first private investigator and CPS parted ways,
Tait got the contract.

"Generally, a PI's job is to find things," Tait said. "We can find
virtually anything on everybody. So I thought I could help."

After a family disappears, CPS caseworkers give Tait whatever
information they have on the family, such as accusations against them,
last known addresses, whether the adults received public assistance.

The first thing Tait does is run Internet searches. Some are public
information searches, but licensed private investigators also have
access to state databases usually open only to law enforcement personnel.

Tait can locate about 10 percent of the families without leaving his
desk, he said.

For those who aren't so easy, Tait and his investigators -- one of whom
speaks Spanish -- hit the streets, knocking on doors, asking relatives,
former neighbors or ex-employers for information. Once found, the
families are often stunned to find a private investigator at their door.

"In many cases, they didn't even know CPS was looking for them," Tait
said. "Sometimes they say, 'Well, I called CPS, but nobody answered so I
just hung up.' And, occasionally, they are angry that we are there."

The program's success led United Way to create a $48,000 grant for Tait
to train CPS caseworkers on investigative skills. Ideally, caseworkers
will soon be better-equipped to track families on their own.

"We're excited," Gonzales said. "Every bit of knowledge we can gain to
find these families will help."

Finding families

Results of the private investigator project paid for by a grant from
United Way of Tarrant County from November 2004 through Aug. 15:

530 Cases referred to private investigator

330 Families found by investigator

Types of abuse found

73 Neglectful supervision

34 Physical abuse

9 Medical neglect

11 Physical neglect

4 Sexual abuse

1 Abandonment

Note: In some cases, more than one type of abuse and/or neglect was found.

Source: Child Protective Services

How to donate

United Way of Tarrant County kicked off its annual fundraising campaign
Sept. 7.

The goal is $24 million, which will be used to fund nonprofit
social-service agencies in the region.

Mail a check to United Way of Tarrant County, 210 East Ninth St., Fort
Worth, TX 76102. Or donate online at www.unitedwaytarrant.org.

Alex Branch, 817-390-7689




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...