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Rhode Island was the worst in the nation in the rate of childrenabused and neglected while in state foster care in five of the six yearsbetween 2000 and 2005, according to federal data.
DCYF chief vows action on alleged foster abuse
01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, June 30, 2007 By Steve Peoples Journal State House Bureau http://www.projo.com/news/content/dc...L.3559ab7.html The state may pursue criminal charges and other disciplinary measures against any state employee, foster parent or foster home that failed to protect children from repeated sexual, physical and emotional abuse as disclosed in a sweeping civil-rights lawsuit filed this week in federal court, according to Patricia Martinez, director of the state Department of Children, Youth and Families. Martinez yesterday said she was not previously aware of the allegations outlined in the 85-page lawsuit filed Thursday by the state child advocate. The stories of 10 young children who suffered repeated abuse and constant shuffling through foster homes, shelters and institutions are told in graphic detail in the suit against Martinez, Governor Carcieri and Jane A. Hayward, secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. The lawsuit is riddled with allegations that the DCYF repeatedly placed children in dangerous situations, failed to remove them promptly after abuse was revealed, and later failed to offer proper counseling and treatment. “If people did not follow the appropriate steps and children were harmed in a foster home, we will have to take disciplinary actions,” said Martinez, who took over the DCYF in 2005. “If we see that there are definitely things that we need to bring to the police, there’s no question about it. … Corrective action could be that we may need to revoke that [foster home’s] license — not suspend it, but revoke it.” DCYF lawyers have requested the real names of the children from the lawsuit (only pseudonyms are used in the court filing) and plan to examine the cases in the coming days, Martinez said. “I want to know if there was a conversation with somebody who failed to take action,” she said. Child Advocate Jametta O. Alston is pursuing class-action status on behalf of the 3,000 children now in state custody, aiming to overhaul Rhode Island’s child-welfare system, which the suit portrays as overburdened and mismanaged. Rhode Island was the worst in the nation in the rate of children abused and neglected while in state foster care in five of the six years between 2000 and 2005, according to federal data. The suit claims state caseworkers are laboring under “excessive caseloads”; the state places too many children in institutions, group homes and emergency shelters; and children are being reunited with parents who have abused them. The governor, who refused for a second consecutive day to speak publicly about the case, released a written statement saying he was “extremely concerned” by the allegations, but that some of the information “may be outdated and fails to take into account the reforms that have been made under” Martinez. Carcieri has agreed to meet with Alston in his office Monday. “Any case of abuse involving children is extremely upsetting to me, which is why I take this lawsuit very seriously,” Carcieri said in the statement. “We have instituted a number of reforms within DCYF that are making a difference, but are not reflected in the lawsuit.” The statement cites reforms that require foster homes to be licensed within six months of a placement and end “night-to-night placements,” in which children in state care don’t know from one night to the next where they will sleep. “Everything he says is inaccurate,” Alston said of the governor, referring to her DCYF filings that show at least 25 night-to-night placements in the last two months. Carcieri also touted the addition of flexible schedules negotiated as part of the social worker union’s four-year contract which was signed May 1. The scheduling changes allow caseworkers to better match their work hours with families’ needs. The statement did not mention one reform the union wanted: inserting language into the contact that would limit families assigned to each social worker to 14. The Carcieri administration blocked that reform for financial reasons, according to Lucie Burdick, president of Local 580, the Rhode Island Alliance of Social Service Employees. Most caseworkers currently handle about 20 families, Burdick said, and because families often include multiple children, caseworkers are often responsible for monitoring more than 50 children. “They aren’t feeling like they can do the job with the resources they have in a way that protects the kids,” Burdick said. “The caseloads are way too high.” In his statement, the governor noted that the DCYF was “in a process” of hiring 10 new caseworkers. Burdick says there are between 38 and 40 vacancies out of about 85 caseworkers in the Pawtucket regional office alone. The lawsuit was backed by Children’s Rights, a nonprofit New York City organization, and the international law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, which has an office in Providence. Although Alston said she told Martinez of a potential lawsuit almost seven months ago, Martinez said yesterday that she was caught off-guard by this week’s announcement. Meanwhile, state lawmakers yesterday responded. “The concerns, particularly with regard to the number of caseworkers, have been paramount concerns for the Senate,” Majority Leader M. Teresa Paiva Weed said yesterday. “And I would anticipate that the Senate will continue to do meaningful oversight.” 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 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 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. 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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