Tucson, Arizona: Child-removal policy is criticized, Advocate Richard

Child-removal policy is criticized
Advocate: CPS pulls too many kids from homes
By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.21.2007

http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/197395

PHOENIX — Arizona is removing too many neglected children from their
homes, a national critic of child welfare policies contends.
Many of those children would be better left with their parents, said
Richard Wexler, who runs the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform.
Wexler said Arizona has responded to reports of child abuse in prior
years by hiring more caseworkers and putting more children into foster
care. That includes a 2003 change in state law pushed by Gov. Janet
Napolitano, which specifically de-emphasized the goal of Child
Protective Services to preserve the family unit.
But Wexler said there is evidence that in most cases, children do better
when kept in their homes.
But Wexler said that requires a lot more money to help the parents with
counseling and other services, and the Legislature has been unwilling to
provide such funding.
Sen. Linda Gray, R-Glendale, who sponsored Wexler's visit to Arizona,
said she is not yet willing to commit to spending the $54 million he
said would be necessary.
His visit was timed specifically to influence planned legislative
hearings next month on the deaths of three Tucson children. That is
because Wexler also is advocating for opening more records and court
hearings of child welfare cases to the public.
Former state Rep. Laura Knaperek, R-Tempe, who has been an advocate for
open access to records, said efforts have been thwarted by arguments by
Napolitano — first as attorney general and more recently as governor —
that such moves would result in the loss of federal money. But Knaperek
said that hasn't happened in other states that have more public access
than Arizona does.
"It's a red herring," she said. "We can open court cases. And we can
also protect the child as much as possible."
Jeanine L'Ecuyer, the governor's press aide, said Napolitano's beliefs
about what should and should not be available to the public have never
focused on money.
"The issue here is what's right for the children involved," L'Ecuyer
said. "There are some privacy concerns that are very real for children."
Wexler said his belief that children do better at home is buttressed by
a study released last month by a professor at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. Joseph Doyle, who tracked 15,000 youngsters
from 1990 to 2002, concluded those who stay in their homes are less
likely to become juvenile delinquents or become pregnant as teens, and
are more likely to hold jobs as young adults.
L'Ecuyer said Arizona cannot base its policies on "one study in isolation."
"The people at Child Protective Services in Arizona have to base their
work on reality," she said, adding that CPS keeps children in their own
homes "when it is safe to do so."
Wexler said there are cases in which children who are being beaten or
sexually abused need to be taken from homes for their own protection.
But he said those are in the minority.
"I'm talking about the cases that didn't make the headlines a few years
ago and don't make the headlines now," he said.
"We had these horrifying cases, so we took away more kids," Wexler
continued. Yet the number of "horrifying cases" did not abate, he said.
"It didn't work."
Ken Deibert, a deputy director of the state Department of Economic
Security, said the number of children "out of home care" is nearly 2
percent less now than it was a year ago.
But that trend is only recent: The number of children placed out of
their homes went from 6,104 at the end of March 2002 to 9,902 at the
same time last year; it was down to 9,773 at the end of March of this year.



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...