Paper says ok to sue DYFS 4 four starving boys. Endorses lawsuits

Subject: Paper says ok to sue DYFS 4 starving boys. Only way to tame CPS
From: (Fern5827)
Date: 9/8/2004 9:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time
Message-id:

Only way to tame the absolute neglect which CPS manifests all over the nation.

Let the lawsuits commence. Only way to make this agency accountable.




State's DYFS defense excuses poor oversight

Tuesday, September 7, 2004

Suing the state might be the only way to remind it of its duty to protect needy
children.
The state has muddled the case against a Collingswood couple accused of
starving four youths they adopted through the state Division of Youth and
Family Services.

Raymond and Vanessa Jackson were charged with aggravated assault and other
charges after one of the youths, emaciated 19-year-old Bruce Jackson, was found
by a neighbor last fall eating out of a garbage can. Authorities soon found
three other stunted and severely malnourished youths adopted by the Jacksons
through DYFS.

When the Jacksons claimed that Bruce and younger brothers, Michael, Tyrone and
Kevin, had eating disorders when they arrived at their home, state officials
discounted that defense.

Now, Attorney General Peter Harvey is using that argument to protect 34 DYFS
employees involved with the Jacksons over several years. Harvey is seeking to
have a lawsuit filed against the state on behalf of the three younger boys
dismissed, echoing the Jacksons' defense.

It's unfortunate that a lawsuit might result in state taxpayers paying for the
failure at DYFS, but if that's what it takes to remind the state of its
responsibility to needy children, then so be it. Based on a previous lawsuit
being the impetus for recent improvements at the agency, it seems that this
extreme act may be the only way to get Trenton's attention.

Harvey contends the state and DYFS workers shouldn't be held directly liable
for the alleged actions or inaction of the Jacksons in addressing the boys'
problems.

The state suggests that its professional staff, including those who visited the
Jackson home several times, could not see that the already-ill youths weren't
faring well. Like the Jacksons, the McGreevey administration insists it is not
responsible for the boys' problems.

So who is accountable?

It appears the McGreevey administration will straddle any line to help DYFS
employees avoid taking an iota of responsibility for what happened to those
youths. That's how state officials operated in the past when too many of the
most vulnerable children placed under its care were found to have suffered more
abuse or died. State officials often made excuses for DYFS' shortcomings and
routinely denied malfeasance by employees. ADVERTISEMENT - CLICK TO ENLARGE OR
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That culture of denial prompted New York-based Children's Rights in 1999 to
file a successful class-action lawsuit against the state to force increased
spending, better training and smaller caseloads for DYFS.

This latest lawsuit against the state on behalf of Michael, Tyrone and Kevin
Jackson was filed by Marcia Robinson Lowry, the boys' guardian and executive
director of Children's Rights. Lowry obviously is skeptical of the state acting
in the best interest of these boys without the hammer of a court order.

Unfortunately, she may be right.


Thank you for visiting www.courierpostonline.com


DESCRIPTORS; NEW JERSEY, DIVISION OF YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES, CPS,
STARVATION, FOSTER CARE, ADOPTION, FAMILY LAW, ACS, DHS, CYS, CYF