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CHARLOTTE, Tenn. - Judge: DCS could be blamed for foster family deaths
Judge: DCS could be blamed for foster family deaths
Slayings prompt questions about foster placements ANTONIO GONZALEZ, Associated Press Saturday, January 5, 2008 Christopher Berkey/Associated Press http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/ja...ed-for-deaths/ CHARLOTTE, Tenn. - A juvenile court judge said the state Department of Children's Services could be to blame in the slayings of a foster mother and her mother-in-law because of the way it places troubled children in its care. Foster children James Earl Garrett, 17, and Jeffery Byrd Johnson Jr., 15, are charged with first-degree murder in the New Year's Day deaths. Judge Andrew Jackson pointed the finger at DCS after a hearing Friday where he ordered the boys held in custody until he can decide whether they will be tried as adults. "If the facts of the case are true, as they appear to be, the blame rests squarely at the front door of the Tennessee Department of Children's Services," the judge told reporters. "This is exactly the kind of situation we have warned about," he said referring to the state's placement of foster children. "It appears that DCS has been misappropriately placing juveniles for years." Foster mother Mary Clark, 39, and Gail Clark, 66, of Orange, Mass., were shot to death early New Year's Day. William Clark, husband and son of the victims, also has blamed the state for a policy that gives DCS 15 days to respond to requests to relocate children from foster families. One of the boys had asked to be moved from the home in White Bluff, and the slayings occurred while the family was waiting for a meeting to take place, William Clark said Thursday. The process is expedited if there is a safety issue, DCS spokesman Rob Johnson said, but in general DCS is cautious about relocating foster children because of the disruption it can cause the child. So far, DCS's internal review of the case has found no sign that anyone was in danger, Johnson reiterated Friday. Clark said the younger teen was a student at Dickson's alternative high school, and didn't start to misbehave until Garrett arrived a few weeks ago. Clark said Garrett had asked the state to remove him from the house. He said Jeffery Johnson Jr. did have an assault charge for hitting a boy at school, a small charge that wouldn't cause DCS to move a child. "As tragic and saddening as this case is, we still believe this is an appropriate placement," Rob Johnson said in response to the judge's comments. "Based on everything we've reviewed so far, there's nothing we've seen that shows these boys should have been placed somewhere else." The boys arrived at the court in Charlotte, about 30 miles west of Nashville, shackled at the waist. The judge ordered both to stay in custody until a Feb. 18 hearing, but allowed Garrett permission to contact his biological parents, who live in Clarksville. "He's disappointed right now. The young man, he's still a kid. He's just trying to hang in there," said Garrett's attorney, Jerred Creasy, who expects the case to be transferred to adult court. "If this were an adult case, he'd be pleading not guilty today," he said. There is no plea process in Tennessee's juvenile courts. The younger teen's father, Jeffery Johnson Sr., attended the hearing with his sister and her daughter. A tearful Johnson, holding up a picture from when his son was 3 years old, said his son did not pull the trigger in the slayings. He also blamed DCS for the boys' placement in the Clarks' home. "The system let both them boys down," Johnson said, pausing for a moment to wipe his eyes. "They fouled up big time." His son's attorney declined to comment. Jeffery Johnson Sr. said he had been trying to regain custody of his son for the last 18 months. He said his son was placed in foster care after he was taken away from his mother, who was living in Florida. Johnson has not been allowed to visit or talk to his son since he was charged, until Friday's hearing. William Clark has said the younger boy got along well with the family for the four or five months he stayed with them, but Garrett had only lived with them for about month. Neither boy has a history of violence, DCS officials said. DCS has been repeatedly criticized by police and court authorities for putting violent juveniles in non-secure facilities where they continue to commit crimes in the community. Top officials of the agency were threatened with contempt of court charges by a Nashville juvenile court judge in 2006 after a teenage armed robbery suspect escaped custody from a non-secure facility.Davidson County Juvenile Court Judge Betty Adams Green, the same judge who threatened DCS officials with contempt charges, said she has seen signs of improvement with child placement. "We have had some very heated discussions with the DCS," Green said. "At least, from my perspective, there have been some improvements, especially better classifications of children." © 2007, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. 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... |
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