Child Protective Services safety plan put child in danger, policesay..

CPS safety plan put child in danger, police say

By Maureen O'Hagan

Seattle Times staff reporter

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm..._abuse31m.html

Loni Venegas is charged with seven counts of assault of a child.



Loni's husband, Remil Venegas, also is charged with assault of a child.

Last month, Pierce County sheriff's deputies and Child Protective
Services pulled a 12-year-old boy from his home, suspecting he was being
abused by his step-grandmother.

Less than a month later, deputies were back at the Puyallup home again,
but not because of additional allegations of abuse. This time, they were
prompted by the CPS "safety plan," which called for the boy to live in a
travel trailer in his grandparents' backyard. When detectives found out
the boy had been living there for about two weeks, they were so floored
that they decided to intervene, according to sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer.

And then sheriff's detectives discovered the problems ran much deeper.
Troyer said detectives now believe the boy was tortured for years,
including being beaten with a bamboo stick and scalded. Teachers and
others who suspected abuse had made nine prior reports to CPS, but the
agency declined to investigate all but one complaint, according to a CPS
spokeswoman. They found that one complaint inconclusive.

CPS regional administrator Nancy Sutton said the agency was stymied
because the boy wouldn't confirm he was being abused. Nonetheless, the
agency plans to scrutinize the case to see where it might have done
things differently.

That doesn't satisfy Troyer. Although law-enforcement officers typically
are reluctant to publicly criticize another agency, Troyer was unusually
blunt in his criticism of CPS and its handling of the case. "What has me
riled up about the whole thing is it shouldn't have got this far," he said.

Last week, the boy's step-grandmother, Loni Venegas, was charged with
seven counts of assault of a child. The boy's grandfather, Remil
Venegas, was also charged with assault of a child.

Reached at their home Monday, Loni Venegas declined comment and hung up.

Meanwhile, Troyer said the case raises a number of larger issues — such
as CPS procedures that he said give police too little information too
late. He also said that a public that diligently calls CPS to report
suspected child abuse might be better off calling police instead.

"I just don't understand why people have been brainwashed into calling
CPS," Troyer said. "It's a crime; it should be investigated by police."

In 2001, the boy's mother and her boyfriend — a man he called "papa" —
were killed in a car accident. Because his biological father had only
minimal contact with the boy over the years, several relatives engaged
in a lengthy battle over the boy's custody. A court commissioner placed
him with Remil Venegas, his maternal grandfather, and Remil's wife, Loni.

By 2004, CPS began receiving complaints of suspected abuse, according to
charging documents filed last week by the Pierce County Prosecutor's
Office. In May 2004, someone at Collins Elementary School called after
the boy told classmates that his grandmother "threw him down and hurts
him a lot." He confirmed the allegations to a counselor but said he
didn't want to talk about it or he'd get in trouble.

That September, a teacher at Collins reported the boy had a bruised eye,
nose and cheek. He said he slipped playing soccer at school one day —
but the teacher knew there hadn't been school that day.

advertising

That same year, administrators were concerned that the boy had an
inordinate number of absences, which can be an indicator of child abuse.
When school officials called the boy's home, the Venegases withdrew him
from school, charging documents state. The school called CPS about that,
too.

"The counselor reported fearing there was no safety net for the child,"
court documents state.

Between March 2004 and December 2005, CPS recorded eight complaints, but
declined to investigate, Sutton said. The family was referred to
unspecified services in response to one complaint, the agency said. The
agency did not specify which complaint.

In March 2007, the boy was enrolled in Ford Middle School when another
complaint came in alleging the boy had cuts and bruises on his face and
was missing a tooth. The boy said he got hurt playing, but school
officials were concerned enough that they called his prior school to see
if people there had noticed anything suspicious.

Middle-school personnel reported their suspicions to CPS, but the boy
didn't disclose abuse to investigators. He later told Pierce County
detectives that the CPS caseworker interviewed him in front of his
grandparents, according to court documents. Sutton denied that this
occurred.

Pierce County sheriff's detectives also questioned the boy in response
to the school's complaint but he didn't disclose abuse to them, either.
That case — the only one investigated by CPS until the most recent one —
was closed.

Troyer said things might have been different if detectives had known
about the eight prior complaints.

Under CPS policy, intake workers decide whether to forward complaints to
law enforcement by filling out what's known as a "blue sheet." But the
blue sheets don't always provide important information, Troyer said —
like details about prior complaints.

"We get blue sheets with two or three sentences on them," Troyer said.
"We just get piles and piles of blue sheets and no way of tracking them."

But Sutton said detectives were informed about the eight prior
referrals. And they can always ask for further information.

Troyer said there's another issue at play with the blue sheets.

They're sent through the Postal Service instead of via e-mail, which
means they can't be tracked electronically by law enforcement. And
sometimes law enforcement doesn't receive them for weeks, according to
Troyer. By that time, he said, "black eyes are gone, cuts are healed."

Last month, a neighbor took the boy to the sheriff's department after he
showed up at the doorstep with a swollen face. The boy told officers he
was afraid to go home because Loni Venegas was abusing him, according to
charging papers. He was removed from the home by CPS.

Within two weeks, CPS officials, along with family members and others,
came up with the plan to have him live in the trailer. His grandfather,
who at that point was not accused of abuse, was supposed to stay there
with him. While Troyer describes the trailer as an "oversized doghouse"
with no running water, Sutton described it as being equipped with air
conditioning and electricity.

In retrospect, the agency "does have concerns about that decision,"
according to CPS spokeswoman Kathy Spears. They plan to take another
look at how that came about.

When detectives learned he was in a trailer, they swooped in once again
and pulled him out. At that point, they said, the boy revealed more
disturbing details during an in-depth interview.

According to court documents, the boy said:

• Remil Venegas repeatedly punched him in the stomach

• Loni Venegas scraped a fork up and down his legs and then poured
vinegar into the cuts.

• Loni Venegas beat the bottoms of his feet with a bamboo stick so he
could barely walk. She whacked his hands until they were swollen.

• Several times, she choked him to the point where his vision blurred
and he was seeing spots. Sometimes he was unable to talk afterward.

• After he urinated on the floor because she wouldn't let him use the
bathroom, she forced him to lie down and mop it up with the clothes he
was wearing. Then she stomped on his head. His chin was split and he
needed stitches.

• She made him get in the tub to clean it then ran scalding water,
burning his feet.

Spears said that the complaints it had received didn't include some of
the more shocking details, like the scalded feet. She said they plan a
thorough review of the case.

The boy is currently in foster care.

Troyer said it doesn't really matter who might be at fault.

"The bottom line is somebody needs to fix it so it doesn't happen
again," he said.

Seattle Times staff reporter Brad Haynes and news researcher Miyoko Wolf
contributed to this report.

Maureen O'Hagan: 206-464-2562 or

Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company




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

CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING HUNDREDS 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...

On Aug 1, 7:26 pm, fx wrote:
CPS safety plan put child in danger, police say

By Maureen O'Hagan

Seattle Times staff reporter

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm..._abuse31m.html

Loni Venegas is charged with seven counts of assault of a child.

Loni's husband, Remil Venegas, also is charged with assault of a child.

Last month, Pierce County sheriff's deputies and Child Protective
Services pulled a 12-year-old boy from his home, suspecting he was being
abused by his step-grandmother.

Less than a month later, deputies were back at the Puyallup home again,
but not because of additional allegations of abuse. This time, they were
prompted by the CPS "safety plan," which called for the boy to live in a
travel trailer in his grandparents' backyard. When detectives found out
the boy had been living there for about two weeks, they were so floored
that they decided to intervene, according to sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer.

And then sheriff's detectives discovered the problems ran much deeper.
Troyer said detectives now believe the boy was tortured for years,
including being beaten with a bamboo stick and scalded. Teachers and
others who suspected abuse had made nine prior reports to CPS, but the
agency declined to investigate all but one complaint, according to a CPS
spokeswoman. They found that one complaint inconclusive.

CPS regional administrator Nancy Sutton said the agency was stymied
because the boy wouldn't confirm he was being abused. Nonetheless, the
agency plans to scrutinize the case to see where it might have done
things differently.

That doesn't satisfy Troyer. Although law-enforcement officers typically
are reluctant to publicly criticize another agency, Troyer was unusually
blunt in his criticism of CPS and its handling of the case. "What has me
riled up about the whole thing is it shouldn't have got this far," he said.

Last week, the boy's step-grandmother, Loni Venegas, was charged with
seven counts of assault of a child. The boy's grandfather, Remil
Venegas, was also charged with assault of a child.

Reached at their home Monday, Loni Venegas declined comment and hung up.

Meanwhile, Troyer said the case raises a number of larger issues - such
as CPS procedures that he said give police too little information too
late. He also said that a public that diligently calls CPS to report
suspected child abuse might be better off calling police instead.

"I just don't understand why people have been brainwashed into calling
CPS," Troyer said. "It's a crime; it should be investigated by police."

In 2001, the boy's mother and her boyfriend - a man he called "papa" -
were killed in a car accident. Because his biological father had only
minimal contact with the boy over the years, several relatives engaged
in a lengthy battle over the boy's custody. A court commissioner placed
him with Remil Venegas, his maternal grandfather, and Remil's wife, Loni.

By 2004, CPS began receiving complaints of suspected abuse, according to
charging documents filed last week by the Pierce County Prosecutor's
Office. In May 2004, someone at Collins Elementary School called after
the boy told classmates that his grandmother "threw him down and hurts
him a lot." He confirmed the allegations to a counselor but said he
didn't want to talk about it or he'd get in trouble.

That September, a teacher at Collins reported the boy had a bruised eye,
nose and cheek. He said he slipped playing soccer at school one day -
but the teacher knew there hadn't been school that day.

advertising

That same year, administrators were concerned that the boy had an
inordinate number of absences, which can be an indicator of child abuse.
When school officials called the boy's home, the Venegases withdrew him
from school, charging documents state. The school called CPS about that,
too.

"The counselor reported fearing there was no safety net for the child,"
court documents state.

Between March 2004 and December 2005, CPS recorded eight complaints, but
declined to investigate, Sutton said. The family was referred to
unspecified services in response to one complaint, the agency said. The
agency did not specify which complaint.

In March 2007, the boy was enrolled in Ford Middle School when another
complaint came in alleging the boy had cuts and bruises on his face and
was missing a tooth. The boy said he got hurt playing, but school
officials were concerned enough that they called his prior school to see
if people there had noticed anything suspicious.

Middle-school personnel reported their suspicions to CPS, but the boy
didn't disclose abuse to investigators. He later told Pierce County
detectives that the CPS caseworker interviewed him in front of his
grandparents, according to court documents. Sutton denied that this
occurred.

Pierce County sheriff's detectives also questioned the boy in response
to the school's complaint but he didn't disclose abuse to them, either.
That case - the only one investigated by CPS until the most recent one -
was closed.

Troyer said things might have been different if detectives had known
about the eight prior complaints.

Under CPS policy, intake workers decide whether to forward complaints to
law enforcement by filling out what's known as a "blue sheet." But the
blue sheets don't always provide important information, Troyer said -
like details about prior complaints.

"We get blue sheets with two or three sentences on them," Troyer said.
"We just get piles and piles of blue sheets and no way of tracking them."

But Sutton said detectives were informed about the eight prior
referrals. And they can always ask for further information.

Troyer said there's another issue at play with the blue sheets.

They're sent through the Postal Service instead of via e-mail, which
means they can't be tracked electronically by law enforcement. And
sometimes law enforcement doesn't receive them for weeks, according to
Troyer. By that time, he said, "black eyes are gone, cuts are healed."

Last month, a neighbor took the boy to the sheriff's department after he
showed up at the doorstep with a swollen face. The boy told officers he
was afraid to go home because Loni Venegas was abusing him, according to
charging papers. He was removed from the home by CPS.

Within two weeks, CPS officials, along with family members and others,
came up with the plan to have him live in the trailer. His grandfather,
who at that point was not accused of abuse, was supposed to stay there
with him. While Troyer describes the trailer as an "oversized doghouse"
with no running water, Sutton described it as being equipped with air
conditioning and electricity.

In retrospect, the agency "does have concerns about that decision,"
according to CPS spokeswoman Kathy Spears. They plan to take another
look at how that came about.

When detectives learned he was in a trailer, they swooped in once again
and pulled him out. At that point, they said, the boy revealed more
disturbing details during an in-depth interview.

According to court documents, the boy said:

· Remil Venegas repeatedly punched him in the stomach

· Loni Venegas scraped a fork up and down his legs and then poured
vinegar into the cuts.

· Loni Venegas beat the bottoms of his feet with a bamboo stick so he
could barely walk. She whacked his hands until they were swollen.

· Several times, she choked him to the point where his vision blurred
and he was seeing spots. Sometimes he was unable to talk afterward.

· After he urinated on the floor because she wouldn't let him use the
bathroom, she forced him to lie down and mop it up with the clothes he
was wearing. Then she stomped on his head. His chin was split and he
needed stitches.

· She made him get in the tub to clean it then ran scalding water,
burning his feet.

Spears said that the complaints it had received didn't include some of
the more shocking details, like the scalded feet. She said they plan a
thorough review of the case.

The boy is currently in foster care.

Troyer said it doesn't really matter who might be at fault.

"The bottom line is somebody needs to fix it so it doesn't happen
again," he said.

Seattle Times staff reporter Brad Haynes and news researcher Miyoko Wolf
contributed to this report.

Maureen O'Hagan: 206-464-2562 or

Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company

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

CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING HUNDREDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...

Was this one of those 'happy families'?



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...

Betty,

Title of news story:
CPS safety plan put child in danger, police say

Grandparents both criminally charged for assaulting the kid
and STILL CPS directs the kid to sleep in a TRAILER in the
SAME grandparents back yard???

How did you get past that to poke at how dysfuctional the family is?

While you're joking about how dysfunctional these gandparents are,
how did you miss that CPS PLACED THE KID THERE??

On Aug 2, 7:22 pm, Greegor wrote:
Betty,

Title of news story:
CPS safety plan put child in danger, police say

Grandparents both criminally charged for assaulting the kid
and STILL CPS directs the kid to sleep in a TRAILER in the
SAME grandparents back yard???

How did you get past that to poke at how dysfuctional the family is?

While you're joking about how dysfunctional these gandparents are,
how did you miss that CPS PLACED THE KID THERE??

I was making jest of the premise that CPS rips families apart by
refusing to work with families to keep children with relatives.
Did ya see that? How CPS did anything they could to keep the boy with
his natural grandparent?
Now, if he'd been put in foster care and abused there what would your
take have been?
Same old ****. Doesn't matter what the state does, they can't do
anything right.
Oh, yeah, but don't blame those abusive grandparents. Mmmmkay?

On Aug 2, 10:26 pm, Dragon's Girl wrote:
On Aug 2, 7:22 pm, Greegor wrote:

Betty,

Title of news story:
CPS safety plan put child in danger, police say

Grandparents both criminally charged for assaulting the kid
and STILL CPS directs the kid to sleep in a TRAILER in the
SAME grandparents back yard???

How did you get past that to poke at how dysfuctional the family is?

While you're joking about how dysfunctional these gandparents are,
how did you miss that CPS PLACED THE KID THERE??

I was making jest of the premise that CPS rips families apart by
refusing to work with families to keep children with relatives.
Did ya see that? How CPS did anything they could to keep the boy with
his natural grandparent?
Now, if he'd been put in foster care and abused there what would your
take have been?
Same old ****. Doesn't matter what the state does, they can't do
anything right.

When the state is IN CHARGE that is the case.
How could it be OTHERWISE when the state is in charge?
In SEVERAL senses it is true they can't do anything right.
Their outrageous level of incompetence makes that inevitable.

Oh, yeah, but don't blame those abusive grandparents. Mmmmkay?

That's the position of CPS.
They put the kid BACK with them after criminal abuse!

Did you miss that?

On Aug 3, 10:52 pm, Greegor wrote:
On Aug 2, 10:26 pm, Dragon's Girl wrote:



On Aug 2, 7:22 pm, Greegor wrote:

Betty,

Title of news story:
CPS safety plan put child in danger, police say

Grandparents both criminally charged for assaulting the kid
and STILL CPS directs the kid to sleep in a TRAILER in the
SAME grandparents back yard???

How did you get past that to poke at how dysfuctional the family is?

While you're joking about how dysfunctional these gandparents are,
how did you miss that CPS PLACED THE KID THERE??

I was making jest of the premise that CPS rips families apart by
refusing to work with families to keep children with relatives.
Did ya see that? How CPS did anything they could to keep the boy with
his natural grandparent?
Now, if he'd been put in foster care and abused there what would your
take have been?
Same old ****. Doesn't matter what the state does, they can't do
anything right.

When the state is IN CHARGE that is the case.
How could it be OTHERWISE when the state is in charge?
In SEVERAL senses it is true they can't do anything right.
Their outrageous level of incompetence makes that inevitable.

Oh, yeah, but don't blame those abusive grandparents. Mmmmkay?

That's the position of CPS.
They put the kid BACK with them after criminal abuse!

Did you miss that?

Nope, didn't miss it at all.
Did YOU miss that they were trying to keep the child with family?
They do do that, you know.
And that, Greg, is my point.
That's not ripping a family apart.