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Expert: Illinois' child protection system can be 'cruel'
Expert: Illinois' child protection system can be 'cruel'
http://www.bnd.com/homepage/story/331568.html Holbrook says he will research issue BY GEORGE PAWLACZYK AND BETH HUNDSDORFER News-Democrat Illinois' child protection system "can be arbitrary, capricious and cruel," even though it has made "significant progress," the executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform said Monday. Richard Wexler cited a story that appeared Sunday in the News-Democrat about more than 3,000 cases of persons wrongly listed as child abusers by the Department of Children and Family Services. He cited the newspaper's 2006 series about the deaths of 53 children in the agency's care. "The problems revealed Sunday and those revealed in the 2006 series 'Lethal Lapses' are not 'opposites' that need to be 'balanced,'" Wexler said in a statement issued Monday. "Rather, they are directly related. The more time DCFS workers waste persecuting innocent families and taking away children because of false allegations, trivial problems or issues that can be resolved without tearing apart families, the less time they have to find children in real danger who really must be taken from their parents." The nonprofit coalition was formed as the result of a national conference at Harvard University in 1991. The newspaper reported Sunday that of 11,473 cases between 2002 and 2007 in which persons placed on the state's official child abuser list appealed to be removed, 3,051 either won an appeal before a DCFS administrative law judge or had their cases thrown out without a hearing because of a lack of evidence. All of these names were dropped from the list, called the State Central Register. But the appeals often cost thousands of dollars in attorney's fees, and the wrong listings ruined reputations and resulted in children needlessly removed from homes, according to several families interviewed by the newspaper. In these cases, the hearing judges criticized DCFS caseworkers for failing to properly investigate. A DCFS spokesman has said that while mistakes are made, the vast majority of persons who end up on the list stay listed for at least the required minimum of five years. State Rep. Tom Holbrook, D-Belleville, who helped push for a new state law to increase child protection after reading the newspaper's Lethal Lapses series said, "I don't know that in 14 years, I've had anyone come in with the issue that they were improperly placed on the child abuser list and can't get off it." However, Holbrook said, "If they err on the side of caution for the child's safety, it's hard to argue with that. But unfortunately, it's set up in many cases where there is a no-win situation ... a lot of these children have disruptive homes. ... There is no moral compass in their lives. And their complaints can really destroy someone if there is some vendetta there and the complaints aren't true." Holbrook said he may bring up the subject of persons wrongly accused of child abuse to the house standing committee on DCFS "as soon as I research more about it." Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Greenville, who co-sponsored the recent child protection law with Holbrook, could not be reached for comment Monday. Wexler said that erring on the side of the child does not protect children. "There probably is no phrase in the child-welfare lexicon that has done more harm to children than "err on the side of the child," Wexler said, adding, "The problem with the systematic abuses revealed by the News-Democrat Sunday is not that they hurt parents, though of course they do. ... "They hurt children by subjecting them to the enormous emotional trauma of needless foster care. ... They hurt children by placing them at risk of abuse in foster care itself, where the rate of abuse is far higher than generally realized, and far higher than the general population." Contact reporter George Pawlaczyk at or 239-2625. Contact reporter Beth Hundsdorfer at or 239-2570. An Inconvenient Truth about Child Protective Services, Foster care, and the Child Protection "INDUSTRY" Child Protective Services Does not protect children... It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even killed at the hands of CPS. every parent should read the free handbook from connecticut dcf watch... 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/Foster care 160, biological Parents 59 Sexual Abuse CPS/Foster care 112, biological Parents 13 Neglect CPS/Foster care 410, biological Parents 241 Medical Neglect CPS/Foster care 14 biological Parents 12 Fatalities CPS/Foster care 6.4, biological 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. THIS IS AMERICA'S HIDDEN HOLOCAUST Currently Child Protective Services violates more constitutionally guaranteed liberties & civil rights on a daily basis then all other agencies combined, Including the National Security agency/Central intelligence agency wiretaping programs… THE CORRUPT BUSINESS OF CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES BY: Nancy Schaefer Senator, 50th District of Georgia http://www.senatornancyschaefer.com/...s.php?filter=6 This is Child Protection? By Gregory A. Hession, J.D. http://www.jbs.org/node/4632 Mercenary Motherhood: "Memoirs of a Babystealer." http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/...nion-rightrail FOSTER CARE IS A 80 PERCENT FAILU. A Brief Analysis of the Casey Family Programs. Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study. By Richard Wexler http://www.nccpr.org/reports/cfpanalysis.doc HOW THE WAR AGAINST CHILD ABUSE BECAME A WAR AGAINST CHILDREN http://www.nccpr.org/issues/1.html Adoption Bonuses: The Money Behind the Madness DSS and affiliates rewarded for breaking up families By Nev Moore Massachusetts News http://www.massnews.com/past_issues/...May/mayds4.htm A recent study has found that 12-18 months after leaving foster ca 30% of the nation’s homeless are former foster children. 27% of the males and 10% of the females had been incarcerated 33% were receiving public assistance 37% had not finished high school 2% receive a college degree 50% were unemployed Children in foster care are three to six times more likely than children not in care to have emotional, behavioral and developmental problems, including conduct disorders, depression, difficulties in school and impaired social relationships. Some experts estimate that about 30% of the children in care have marked or severe emotional problems. Various studies have indicated that children and young people in foster care tend to have limited education and job skills, perform poorly in school compared to children who are not in foster care, lag behind in their education by at least one year, and have lower educational attainment than the general population. *Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Support 80 percent of prison inmates have been through the foster care system. The highest ranking federal official in charge of foster care, Wade Horn of the Department of Health and Human Services, is a former child psychologist who says the foster care system is a giant mess and should just be blown up. http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=2017991 Four rigorous studies have found that at least 30 percent of America’s foster children could be home right now if their parents had decent housing. This study found thousands of children already in foster care who would have done better had child protection agencies not taken them away in the first place. Front-page story in USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...m?csp=34#Close Read the studies online. Casey "alumni" study: "Improving Family Foster Ca Findings from the Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study," http://www.casey.org/Resources/Publi...lumniStudy.htm MIT study: "Child Protection and Child Outcomes: Measuring the Effects of Foster Care," http://www.mit.edu/~jjdoyle/doyle_fo...arch07_aer.pdf Texas comptroller's "Forgotten Children" reports: www.window.state.tx.us/forgottenchildren The bottom line? - Child Protective Services and the Foster Care system for the most part turns out young adults that are nothing more than walking wreckage... CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CONSTITUTIONALLY GUARANTEED LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS ON A DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAMS.... 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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