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Miami, FL-- Report: DCF inept in handling 2 rape cases



 
 
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Old January 30th 08, 08:44 PM posted to alt.support.child-protective-services,alt.support.foster-parents,alt.dads-rights.unmoderated,alt.parenting.spanking
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Default Miami, FL-- Report: DCF inept in handling 2 rape cases

Report: DCF inept in handling 2 rape cases

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/flor...ry/388395.html

DCF's new regional chief promises to stay focused on preventing child
abuse in state-financed care after a scathing report questions the
investigation of the rape of two foster children.

BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER



Miami child abuse investigators waited days to notify police and
prosecutors that two foster children had been raped, interviewed one of
the girls in front of her alleged attacker and the foster mother to whom
he was engaged, and were slow to remove the girls from the home, a new
report says.

A team of investigators from the Department of Children & Families'
Quality Assurance office concluded in a Jan. 15 report that the
investigator assigned to the case last May showed ''no sense of
urgency,'' when she waited three days to reinterview one of the girls
who had only discussed the case in front of her foster parents.

''We have to stay focused on preventing child abuse and neglect in these
homes,'' said Alan Abramowitz, DCF's new regional administrator in
Miami. ``These foster homes have got to be of a high standard.''

To improve the licensing and oversight of foster homes, Abramowitz is
creating a specialized unit within his investigations staff with
expertise in identifying the maltreatment of kids living in private or
state-run institutions.

Other DCF investigative units, including the one run by the Broward
Sheriff's Office, already house such teams.

''When we send out an investigator to a juvenile justice program or a
foster home, we're not just looking into abuse or neglect, we're also
looking to close the loop on licensure issues,'' Abramowitz said.

If the child protection system worked more effectively, licensing
authorities would have better information when deciding whether to
relicense or close a shaky foster home or juvenile justice program, he said.

HOME NOW CLOSED

The foster home at the center of the controversy was licensed by DCF in
December 2002. Between its opening in 2002 and its closing five years
later, the home -- which was in the 3300 block of Northwest 208th
Terrace -- was the subject of 10 reports to Florida's child abuse hot
line, the January report says.

''Required notifications about the abuse reports to (foster care)
licensing staff and stakeholders such as law enforcement, state
attorney's office, guardian ad-litem and others were either late or not
completed at all,'' the report said. The notifications, ''in most
cases,'' did not meet agency rules or even state law.

Exacerbating the problem, the report said, child abuse investigators
assigned to the reports were poorly trained in handling abuse
allegations involving foster homes or other child-caring institutions.

CASUAL PACE

Investigators and their supervisors failed to accurately document who
was living in the foster home, including Ian Garrick, who was engaged to
marry the foster home's operator, the report said.

And even when investigations yielded recommendations designed to protect
the home's children, supervisors failed to ensure the recommendations
were followed, the report said.

Sometimes, probes of the home were closed even though recommendations
for corrective action had not yet been implemented.

A REGULAR VISITOR

DCF's abuse hot line got two complaints about the home in November 2006;
one of the complaints said a 10-year-old girl had been molested by
Garrick, who has maintained he's innocent. One of the reports was closed
as a ''duplicate'' of the other, even though the two reports did not
include the same allegations, the quality assurance review said.

The report that remained open ``failed to address the fact that Garrick
was identified as the mother's fiance, which would imply that he was a
regular visitor in the home and this should have prompted a more
in-depth assessment of the on-going safety of the remaining children in
the foster home.''

Garrick was charged by police in July, accused of raping an 11-year-old
and 8-year-old girl -- both foster children then living in the home. He
pleaded innocent to the charges, and is awaiting trial.

LAX INTERVIEW

''The investigator's interview with Garrick consisted only of a brief
telephone conversation with him denying the sexual abuse allegation,''
the report said.

DCF received two new abuse reports in May 2007, both alleging sexual
assault of a foster child by Garrick. Initially, one of the girls was
interviewed while both Garrick and the foster mother were in the home.

``Although the ... investigator acknowledged concern regarding the
victim child's demeanor and determined that the child should be
interviewed in a neutral setting, there was no sense of urgency to
ensure the child was reinterviewed immediately.''

The new interview did not occur until three days later, when the girl
acknowledged she had been raped.

''This resulted in the foster children remaining in the home for those
three days with the potential of being subjected to further abuse,'' the
report says.





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...



"SAVE THE FAMILY AND YOU SAVE THE CHILD"
 




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