PARENTS SEARCHING FOR HELP FROM CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES OFTEN LOSEKIDS; Reform effort would get kids services without hauling them into court...

Ledger Special Report - PARENTS SEARCHING FOR HELP OFTEN LOSE KIDS;
Reform effort would get kids services without hauling them into court

By JULIE JETTE
The Patriot Ledger

http://www.patriotledger.com/article...ews/news01.txt

First of two parts.

HOLBROOK - From the time Barbara Greenwood’s 14-year-old granddaughter
was a baby, it seemed she never slept. Now she stays out all night,
despite her mother’s attempts to enforce a curfew. From the time she
could talk, she was more defiant than other children, Greenwood said.
The Holbrook teenager now refuses to take psychiatric medication
prescribed to her, punches holes in the wall and tormented the family
cat so severely that her mother gave it away.

She refuses to get out of bed to go to school, and is scheduled to
repeat seventh grade this year - although, for her age, she should be in
the ninth.

‘‘Her mother tells her to go up to her room, she goes out the door.
Tells her to be in at 10 or 8, she comes in at midnight,’’ Greenwood said.

At her wit’s end, the girl’s mother sought help in Quincy Juvenile
Court, filing an application for a Child in Need of Services, or CHINS,
petition. She has voluntarily given the Department of Social Services
legal custody of the girl, although she is still living at home.

Parents and schools are increasingly turning to the courts to get help
for kids. More than 9,300 CHINS applications were filed in the 12-month
span that ended June 30, 2006, a 12 percent increase since 2002. The
number that proceeded to a full court hearing - 5,719 - is roughly the
same as it was 2002.

Cases that don’t go before a judge are handled by probation officers,
who often obtain services for children to keep them out of court.

The consequences of failing to help families who can no longer control
their children are clear: Often such children wind up in expensive group
homes or become delinquent children and then criminal adults.

Ryan Bois, the 20-year-old man accused of killing his 6-year-old cousin
from Weymouth, Joanna Mullin, was one such person. By the time he was
11, he was in a group home because, relatives said, his mother could not
control him. In his teens he was in the custody of the Department of
Youth Services, the state’s system for dealing with delinquent children.

While it is not known if Bois’ parents turned to the state’s juvenile
courts, many parents do - often placing their child in group homes and
involving the Department of Youth Services.

‘‘Very often, (the court) is the only place that people know to turn to,
because there aren’t resources out there,’’ said Barbara Talkov,
executive director of the Children’s League of Massachusetts. ‘‘The
schools don’t know where else to turn. Nobody knows where to turn. So
they turn to the courts.’’

CHINS was first established in the 1970s as a way to keep kids out of
the juvenile justice system even though they would still interact with
the courts. Instead, child advocates say, CHINS has become the only
gateway many parents can find to get services for severely troubled kids.

Via the CHINS process, a parent, educator or, less commonly, a police
officer seeks assistance for a child from a probation officer or a judge.

Typically, children who are subjects of CHINS proceedings have been
chronically truant from school, have run away from home or are
exceedingly defiant - blatantly and repeatedly flouting rules meant to
keep them or others safe. Experts say about half of CHINS cases come
from school officials because of absenteeism.

Frequently, such children wind up in the custody of the Department of
Social Services. In fiscal 2005, 45 percent of kids with a CHINS case
were overseen by DSS.

‘‘Parent advocacy groups and parents will talk about how they had no
idea when they filed a CHINS that a CHINS could equate to loss of
custody,’’ said Mia Alvarado, chief of staff at the Department of Social
Services. ‘‘All these families wanted was help dealing with the problem
they were facing.’’

The dangers when the CHINS system doesn’t help a child are stark:
According to a 2000 report from Citizens for Juvenile Justice, a Boston
advocacy group, 54 percent of children involved in a CHINS proceeding
wind up being arraigned in juvenile or adult court within three years of
their first CHINS-related court appearance.

But a massive attempt to overhaul the system for handling such crises is
under way in the Legislature, with law enforcement, child welfare
officials, educators and parents whose children have been through the
system participating in the reform process.

The focus of the effort: make more social services available to kids and
families without parents having to go through the courts, where what
starts as a plea for help can end in parents losing custody of their
children.

How CHINS works

CHINS, which stands for Child In Need of Services, was established by
the Massachusetts Legislature in 1973 to decriminalize problematic youth
behaviors like running away, truancy, severe disobedience to parents and
repeatedly violating school rules. Below is a step-by-step explanation
of how the CHINS process works:

—Parents and educators can file an application for a CHINS petition for
a child.

—Once a petition is filed, the Department of Social Services can contact
the family and also put the family in contact with a Juvenile Court
probation officer.

—The probation officer will write up a CHINS agreement that states what
the child needs to do to stop her problematic behavior.

— A judge will then review the application and determine if services
will be ordered for the child.

—The judge may then issue orders as to what a child is required to do in
the next six months. If the child complies, the case will likely be
dismissed. If not, the judge may issue an extension for an additional
six months.

— The judge will also make a determination about custody of the child,
either sending the child into the custody of the Department of Social
Services or keeping the child in his or her home.

Source: Parents for Residential Reform

Julie Jette may be reached at .

Copyright 2007 The Patriot Ledger
Transmitted Saturday, October 06, 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

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...