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Tucson AZ Critics want CPS records open to public



 
 
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Old August 21st 07, 04:10 PM posted to alt.support.child-protective-services,alt.support.foster-parents,alt.dads-rights.unmoderated,alt.parenting.spanking
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Default Tucson AZ Critics want CPS records open to public

Critics want CPS records open to public
Mary K. Reinhart, Tribune


http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/95522

The state’s child welfare system has needlessly taken poor children away
from their families, according to critics demanding that Child
Protective Services open its records to the public.

Joined at a Capitol news conference Monday by a current and former
legislator, Richard Wexler, who runs a small Virginia-based child
welfare group, said CPS removes too many children “in cases where a
family’s poverty is confused with neglect.”

Wexler, former Tempe Rep. Laura Knaperek and Sen. Linda Gray,
R-Glendale, said reforms instituted by Gov. Janet Napolitano have
floundered, yanking a record number of children out of their homes,
overwhelming caseworkers and failing to get substance abuse and other
services to troubled families.

But a pair of Republican lawmakers are concerned that CPS has done just
the opposite: giving parents too many chances and, in two recent cases,
failing to protect three Tucson children whose parents are charged in
their deaths.

And the case last week of a Mesa mother who, once jailed in the death of
her infant, was accused of beating her 10-yearold bloody in a Wal-Mart,
also raised questions about CPS supervision.

Reps. Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, and Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, agree, however,
that legislation is needed to open court hearings and CPS records.

They’ll hold a hearing next month regarding the Tucson cases, a meeting
that’s been delayed because the lawmakers want it open to the public.

“Anytime that we can shine sunshine in any dark places I think it’s
better for public policy in the long run,” said Adams, who chairs the
House Government Committee.

“My personal opinion right now is the current confidentiality law is too
restrictive and is not conducive to good government.”

Ken Deibert, deputy director of the state Department of Economic
Security, which oversees CPS, said more services have been provided to
help keep children safely in their homes, and that’s decreased the
number of kids in foster care.

After reaching a peak of nearly 10,000 children in foster care in 2005,
the number has been declining, Deibert said, in large part because more
families are receiving in-home services, like parenting classes,
substance abuse treatment, family therapy, child care and job training.

The number of kids in group homes and shelters declined by 21 percent
from March 2005 to March 2007.

Nearly 9,800 children were in foster care as of March, according to CPS
statistics, about one-third of them living with relatives.

“We don’t remove a child because of neglect,” he said. “Where we can
care for a child safely in the home, that’s what we’re going to do.”

The agency has expanded a program called Family to Family, which focuses
on tapping broad community and family support to keep children at home,
reunify them or, if necessary, find families nearby qualified to adopt them.

Deibert said he’s also willing to work with legislators to broaden the
CPS confidentiality law, which allows the agency to withhold records and
claim the release could interfere with a police or judicial investigation.

Wexler, Knaperek and Gray cited a new MIT study, based on children in
the Illinois system, that showed those who were allowed to remain with
their families fared better than those who were placed in foster care.

“We need to get the parents help instead of that emotional trauma that
occurs when children are taken out,” Gray said.

Wexler, who distributed a 52-page report on Arizona’s child welfare
system, called for $54 million in new funding, all of it directed to
alternatives to foster care, with the caveat that the foster care system
receive no more money.

He also recommended beefing up the Family to Family program, and giving
parents legal counsel and staff to investigate CPS reports.

Adams said he doesn’t disagree that more in-home services are needed,
but that’s not always enough to keep kids safe. He said Mesa CPS
caseworkers tell him that 70 percent to 80 percent of the cases where
children are removed involve methamphetamine.

“When you begin to look at the circumstances of these children being
removed ... I’m hesitant to say all children are better off” in their
homes, he said.

Deibert, who came here nine months ago from Idaho, said the push and
pull between those who want more children removed and those who call for
keeping more families together is a perennial debate in child welfare.

“That’s one of the delicate balances that you have to deal with,” he
said. “I think we’re making good progress in the right direction.”





Reader comments (3)

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My comment disappeared! What's going on?

Karen
Confidetiality could be maintained by blacking out the names of the
children and adults involved in CPS referalls. A CPS report could be
published in the newspaper, similar to the police and fire reports. No
names are used when reporting those incidents.

By publishing such a report in the newspaper, the general public and
those in power would KNOW the State of Abused Children in Arizona.

Knowing how overworked CPS is (I am a former foster parent) this
information could be done electronically as part of their in-house
paperwork. A template could be created, questions could be asked and
aswered, and the information could be emailed to the newspaper for
reporting in the paper.

Knowledge is power. The more people who are aware of the abuse of
children, the more likely the abuse can be addressed before yet another
tragedy occurs. Family and neighbors who read of these incidents "in
their neighbordhod" might assist at some level. Politicians would be
forced to address the reality of child abuse in Arizona. Foster care
agencies, CASA, and the Foster Care Review Board might find themselves
swamped with volunteers.





CPS needs help. This incident reporting could be the first step! Suggest
removal of this comment
August 21, 2007


Kara
I feel that CPS removes children when they shouldn't and returns
children when they shouldn't. My children were removed from me and given
to their dad and put into a worse situation. He mentally and physically
abused the kids for many years and nothing was ever done. They finally
removed the younger 2 when my oldest called CPS on her dad. My youngest
child who will turn 18 next week has been in the foster care system for
3 years. My middle child who is 19 ran away from a group home and CPS
didn't seem to care what happened to her. I think CPS needs to be
investigated and their records gone over with a fine tooth comb. I don't
feel the records need to public because they included things that has
happened to children and they (children) need to be protected at all
times. Suggest removal of this comment
August 21, 2007


FIRE NAPOLITANO
I CANNOT believe that the good people of Arizona continue to sit on
their hands and squelch the voice of disdain toward out
Governor..NAPOLITANO Made promise after promise regarding CPS reform and
has absolutely delivered NOTHING..WHERE is she on these issues..Hiding
in her office, sticking her finger in the wind to guage the wind of
public opinion...SHE HAS FAILED THE STATE Suggest removal of this comment
August 21, 2007





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...

 




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