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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- Official's comments fuel debate over childcustody reports
Official's comments fuel debate over child custody reports
http://www.hdnews.net/wirestories/k1...nts-06-08-0980 WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- Comments made by the head of the state's child welfare agency earlier this year are fueling accusations that reports used to remove children from homes have included false information. During a March 18 meeting in Topeka with family advocacy group Citizens for Change, Don Jordan, secretary of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, was recorded telling the members that Sedgwick County prosecutors have "bullied" social workers into including information they don't agree with in their affidavits. Those affidavits are presented to judges who, based on the information, determine whether children are returned to their families or kept in protective custody. Sedgwick County prosecutors deny pressuring social workers and three Sedgwick County judges who oversaw the cases said they haven't seen evidence of wrongful acts. But the comments have provided critics of the state's child welfare system ammunition for their claims that the affidavits are of questionable validity. "I was so floored at what he said, that this man acknowledged ... he was aware of what was going on," said Marlene Jones, 69, of Wichita, who attended the meeting and whose family has had custody battles with the state. "I believe that SRS is a necessity. They just have to get it right." The affidavits are usually three or four pages long and are based on social workers' interviews with parents, teachers, relatives and the children themselves. The social workers detail the results of their child abuse and neglect investigations, which prosecutors can use in their petitions to argue that a child remain in temporary custody. "But in Sedgwick County oftentimes we end up writing things because it's what our social workers get bullied by the District Attorney's Office into writing," Jordan was recorded as saying to Citizens for Change in March. "So they really have no belief in what it says." Later in the meeting, he added: "I am working on our staff that we do our assessments properly and we do not get bullied into writing things we don't believe. But then the reality comes down to, you send a 25-year-old social worker into a room with a 15-year county ADA (assistant district attorney) who is willing to yell at them, cuss at them, scream at them and threaten them, you know." Jordan has confirmed making the comments but said he shouldn't have used the word "bullied." "I don't think they intend to bully our staff," he told The Wichita Eagle in Sunday's editions. "It was a poor choice of words ... I don't believe anybody's asked to perjure themselves or lie." He also said social workers should be independent of prosecutors. "I think they (the affidavits) should reflect, without intervention of the DA's office, the professional judgment of the social worker," he said. Vickie Burris, president of the group that Jordan made the comments to, said his answers should make people question the validity of the affidavits and allow families to challenge court decisions based on those affidavits. "The courts are only going to be as good as the information they receive," Burris said. Burris said she's had suspicions, based on complaints from families, that some of the affidavits contained false information. But attorneys typically advise families not to challenge the information for fear of angering the department, prosecutors or the judge. She added that a person who was not a member of Citizens for Change but attended the meeting recorded Jordan's comments and that she didn't know about the recording until afterward. Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston called Jordan's comments at the meeting "outrageous." "That was just so disappointing to have something like that said by an agency head," Foulston said. "You can't un-ring the bell. He's left the impression with citizens and individuals in the community that the District Attorney's Office is doing something that we shouldn't be doing." Deputy District Attorney Ron Paschal, who oversees juvenile cases, said his attorneys review the affidavits and have the legal authority to order that relevant information be included. But he said his staff doesn't improperly pressure social workers to include certain information in their reports and the social workers don't have to sign affidavits if they don't agree. "We have a job to do, and they have a job to do, and if they come to our office and have not done it, we're not going to hesitate to ask them to follow up," he said. "We're the ones who have to prove the matter in court." Sedgwick County District Judge Tim Henderson said that while he believes the speed required in some cases does lead to inaccuracies, he doesn't believe anyone is being dishonest. "I am very comfortable in the integrity of the DA's office and the (SRS) workers ... because I am constantly asking them if they believe it is appropriate," he said. State Rep. Mike O'Neal, R-Hutchinson, is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. He said Jordan's comments at least raise the question of whether the affidavits reflect the judgment of the caseworkers, although that doesn't necessarily make the information in them wrong. "I applaud him for recognizing (a concern) and saying we need to do something about it," O'Neal said. ------ Information from: The Wichita Eagle, http://www.kansas.com An Inconvenient Truth about Child Protective Services, Foster care, and the Child Protection "INDUSTRY" Child Protective Services Does not protect children... It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even killed at the hands of CPS. every parent should read the free handbook from connecticut dcf watch... 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/Foster care 160, biological Parents 59 Sexual Abuse CPS/Foster care 112, biological Parents 13 Neglect CPS/Foster care 410, biological Parents 241 Medical Neglect CPS/Foster care 14 biological Parents 12 Fatalities CPS/Foster care 6.4, biological 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. THIS IS AMERICA'S HIDDEN HOLOCAUST Currently Child Protective Services violates more constitutionally guaranteed liberties & civil rights on a daily basis then all other agencies combined, Including the National Security agency/Central intelligence agency wiretaping programs… THE CORRUPT BUSINESS OF CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES BY: Nancy Schaefer Senator, 50th District of Georgia http://www.senatornancyschaefer.com/...s.php?filter=6 This is Child Protection? By Gregory A. Hession, J.D. http://www.jbs.org/node/4632 Mercenary Motherhood: "Memoirs of a Babystealer." http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/...nion-rightrail FOSTER CARE IS A 80 PERCENT FAILU. A Brief Analysis of the Casey Family Programs. Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study. By Richard Wexler http://www.nccpr.org/reports/cfpanalysis.doc HOW THE WAR AGAINST CHILD ABUSE BECAME A WAR AGAINST CHILDREN http://www.nccpr.org/issues/1.html Adoption Bonuses: The Money Behind the Madness DSS and affiliates rewarded for breaking up families By Nev Moore Massachusetts News http://www.massnews.com/past_issues/...May/mayds4.htm A recent study has found that 12-18 months after leaving foster ca 30% of the nation’s homeless are former foster children. 27% of the males and 10% of the females had been incarcerated 33% were receiving public assistance 37% had not finished high school 2% receive a college degree 50% were unemployed Children in foster care are three to six times more likely than children not in care to have emotional, behavioral and developmental problems, including conduct disorders, depression, difficulties in school and impaired social relationships. Some experts estimate that about 30% of the children in care have marked or severe emotional problems. Various studies have indicated that children and young people in foster care tend to have limited education and job skills, perform poorly in school compared to children who are not in foster care, lag behind in their education by at least one year, and have lower educational attainment than the general population. *Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Support 80 percent of prison inmates have been through the foster care system. The highest ranking federal official in charge of foster care, Wade Horn of the Department of Health and Human Services, is a former child psychologist who says the foster care system is a giant mess and should just be blown up. http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=2017991 Four rigorous studies have found that at least 30 percent of America’s foster children could be home right now if their parents had decent housing. This study found thousands of children already in foster care who would have done better had child protection agencies not taken them away in the first place. Front-page story in USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...m?csp=34#Close Read the studies online. Casey "alumni" study: "Improving Family Foster Ca Findings from the Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study," http://www.casey.org/Resources/Publi...lumniStudy.htm MIT study: "Child Protection and Child Outcomes: Measuring the Effects of Foster Care," http://www.mit.edu/~jjdoyle/doyle_fo...arch07_aer.pdf Texas comptroller's "Forgotten Children" reports: www.window.state.tx.us/forgottenchildren The bottom line? - Child Protective Services and the Foster Care system for the most part turns out young adults that are nothing more than walking wreckage... CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CONSTITUTIONALLY GUARANTEED LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS ON A DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAMS.... 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... |
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