State withheld records on abused boy, suit says

State withheld records on abused boy, suit says

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/200...WS01/389828802

By Diana Hefley
Herald Writer

EVERETT -- The state has illegally withheld records about how social
workers handled abuse allegations involving a young boy who nearly
starved to death last year, according to a civil lawsuit filed Thursday
against the state Department of Social and Health Services.

Shayne Abegg, now 5, was removed from his father's south Everett
apartment in 2007 after he was found severely malnourished. The boy
could barely walk and his hair was falling out when police found him.
His father, Danny Abegg, recently was sentenced to 8 years in prison for
starving Shayne. The man's girlfriend, Marilea Mitchell, also was
sentenced to 8 years behind bars.

Seattle attorney David Moody alleges that the state has failed to turn
over thousands of documents he requested under the state's public
records laws. He requested the documents in December and has received
only a fraction of the records the state has about its involvement with
Shayne, according to the lawsuit filed in Snohomish County Superior Court.

"It is clear that Shayne's records were being requested and reviewed at
the top levels of state government almost immediately after his story
was made public in March 2007," Moody said. "For DSHS to drag its feet
and fail to turn over Shayne's records is shameful. I suspect that there
are dozens of documents that DSHS does not want the public to see."

A spokesman for DSHS declined to comment about the lawsuit.

"We can't debate the issues in the news media," spokesman Steve Williams
said. "We have been and continue to process the records that were
requested."

The state must be careful to protect the identities of other people
named in the records and must read each document carefully, he said.

Moody, who was hired by Shayne's court-appointed guardian, also plans to
file a civil lawsuit against the state for failing to protect Shayne and
ignoring numerous warning signs that the boy was wasting away even as
state social workers visited the family.

Shortly after Shayne was removed from his father's apartment, an
executive review was ordered by the Children's Administration, part of
DSHS. The review was completed in December. State social workers missed
a pattern of abuse and neglect, didn't follow policy to make sure Shayne
was safe and failed to hold his parents more accountable for their son's
well-being, according to the review.

Moody on Thursday released testimony from a neighbor, who called Child
Protection Services as early as May 2006. She alleged that Shayne and
his brother were being abused and always seemed hungry. The woman said
she was never contacted by state social workers.

Documents show that caseworkers investigated the allegations but
concluded they were unfounded. They encouraged Danny Abegg and Mitchell
to move away from the neighbor.



Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or .






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

The full study is available here.

http://www.mit.edu/~jjdoyle/doyle_fo...arch07_aer.pdf

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...