Suit targets lawyers in tot's death

Suit targets lawyers in tot's death

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/met...suit_1215.html

By ANDY MILLER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/15/07

A 2-year-old Atlanta girl whose death sparked widespread outrage was
placed in a dangerous home because her publicly appointed attorneys
failed to represent her properly in court hearings, a lawsuit alleges.

Nateyonna Banks died in November 2006 after being placed with her
mother, who was charged with beating her to death. The girl's estate
filed suit Friday against Fulton County's child advocate attorney office
and the lawyers who represented her.


Attorney Don Keenan of the Keenan Law Firm, who filed the suit in Fulton
state court, said Fulton's Office of the Child Advocate Attorney failed
to fully investigate Nateyonna's mother, Shandrell Banks.

Keenan said Banks had a history of Fulton's Department of Family and
Children Services removing her children, had a mental illness and had a
drug possession conviction.

The child advocate attorney office is understaffed, underfunded and
overworked, Keenan said, citing a University of Georgia study.

"That safety net had a huge hole in it, and Nateyonna fell through and
died,'' Keenan said. He compared child advocate attorneys to ''potted
plants'' during Juvenile Court proceedings on Nateyonna Banks' placement.

Keenan said he hopes the suit helps repair the legal safety net for
children. It seeks unspecified damages to be awarded to Nateyonna Banks'
estate, including to her five siblings.

Fulton County and its child advocate office, through a spokeswoman,
declined to comment on the lawsuit. Three attorneys who handled
Nateyonna's case could not be reached for comment.

Also named as a defendant is a company contracted with DFCS as a case
management agency that handled the Banks case. The company, Family Ties
Enterprises, did not return a phone call requesting comment on the suit.

Shandrell Banks had given birth to Nateyonna while incarcerated on a
cocaine possession charge. She had already had two of her children
removed from her care.

Nateyonna's great-aunt, Carolyn Banks, had raised the girl since
infancy. She approached the state child welfare agency seeking financial
help raising Nateyonna in May 2006.

Fulton County DFCS workers agreed the child should be placed with
Carolyn Banks.

But supervisors overruled that decision and recommended placing the
child with the mother, which occurred in July 2006.

DFCS Director Mary Dean Harvey later said, ''It was poor decision-making.''

Nateyonna Banks' death caused a shakeup in DFCS.

Keenan said Friday's suit was the first civil litigation in the country
naming a governmental child advocate legal department in a suit alleging
incompetence.

He cited a Carl Vinson Institute of Government study that found in about
half of the cases, Fulton County child advocate attorneys did not review
DFCS case documents. In more than 60 percent of cases, child advocate
attorneys did not interview at least one family member.

Lawyers in the Fulton County office had an average caseload much higher
than recommended, the study said.

Notes from a case management worker reported that two months before
Nateyonna died, Shandrell Banks was feeling ''overwhelmed at times'' and
''more and more despair.'' In October, the child had a swollen face and
an eye that was closed, the case worker reported.

DFCS is not a defendant because suing the agency is futile, Keenan said,
adding that he would rather focus ''on the lawyers that should have done
their job.''

"I assume DFCS is not going to do its job,'' he said. "The courts demand
— we demand — these kids get effective lawyers. We can't trust DFCS to
do their job.''






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...