News On 6 Investigates: Department Of Human Services Under Fire
http://www.newson6.com/Global/story.asp?S=8300687&nav=menu682_2
So many people have complained about the Oklahoma Department of Human
Services over the years, DHS may as well be a four-letter word. But now
the Department of Human Services is facing more than just complaints.
It's the target of a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of the 10,000
children in its foster care system.
News On 6 anchor Scott Thompson says a News on 6 Investigation uncovers
why the lawsuit could signal the end of DHS as we know it.
"School just became my outlet, and I just used school as my outlet so
that I wouldn't always be fighting and not getting along with my foster
parents and stuff," said former foster child Sasha Gray.
If DHS's foster care system is broken, Sasha Gray would know. Sossha
spent 14 years in the custody of the Oklahoma Department of Human
Services. She says DHS moved her 42 times, leaving her with 17
different foster families along the way. Her younger sister and two
younger brothers are still in the system.
Sasha says it was difficult living with some of those foster families.
Some treated her as an unwelcome guest. One foster father tried to get
into bed with her while wearing only his underwear. But one of the
worst moments came at the hands of a caseworker.
"She had me call my brothers and sisters and tell them that my mom had
given up her rights at 13! I had to call them and say 'Oh, mom is never
going to be able to get us again now,'" said Sasha Gray.
WATCH THE VIDEO: Sasha Gray talks about her ordeal of growing up in
foster care in Oklahoma.
And yet Sasha is considered a DHS foster care success story.
"How can you allow your public tax dollars to go for something so
terrible?" said Children's Rights founder Marcia Robinson Lowry.
Stories like Sasha's convinced a group called Children's Rights to force
Oklahoma to change its ways. Based in New York City, Children's Rights
says its goal is to make state-run child welfare agencies answer for how
they treat children. Children's Rights
http://www.childrensrights.org/site/PageServer?pagename=home_page
has brought about reform in Connecticut, Mississippi, Nebraska, New
Jersey, New York, and Tennessee. But it's also taken on systems run by
Atlanta, Kansas City, Milwaukee and Wa****ngton, D.C.
In February, the group filed a federal class action lawsuit against
Oklahoma. As defendants the suit names Governor Brad Henry, DHS
director Howard Hendrick, and every member of the Oklahoma Commission
for Human Services, the group that oversees DHS.
To read the complaint, CLICK HERE.
http://www.childrensrights.org/pdfs/OK_complaint.pdf
"What we're trying to do is represent these children in court and give
them some sort of a voice so that the government will be held
accountable for the terrible things that are happening to these kids,"
Marcia Robinson Lowry said.
WATCH THE VIDEO: Marcia Robinson Lowry talks about the problems with
Oklahoma's child welfare system.
http://www.newson6.com/global/Category.asp?c=136166
Listing them only by their initials, the lawsuit names nine children as
plaintiffs. It also spells out it claims about exactly how the foster
care system is failing each child.
At the time the suit was filed, D.G. was a five-month-old boy who'd been
in DHS custody since shortly after his birth. He'd already been moved
at least four times. According to the suit, he suffered a fractured
skull in an understaffed shelter, when he was dropped by a DHS worker
carrying him and another baby.
C.S. was an eleven-month-old girl who'd already been moved 17 times.
The suit says she suffered a fractured skull when she was abused in a
foster home. She then suffered dehydration and seizures in a group
home, and went months with a severe, untreated respiratory tract
infection.
R.J. is a 12-year-old boy who has been in and out of DHS custody for
eight years. He's been moved more than 20 times. He once spent 18
months in a foster home where he was regularly beaten with switches.
G.C., a 13-year-old girl, has been in DHS custody for the past four
years. She was beaten in one foster home, and was ***ually assaulted in
an institutional facility.
As heartbreaking as the stories may be, the founder of Children's Rights
says there's another issue here.
"I think its well beyond whether you care about children or not. It's a
good government issue. The government is paying money for the
destruction of children's lives," said Marcia Robinson Lowry.
"You want the language your way?" said Rogers County Juvenile Court
Judge Dynda Post.
Judge Dynda Post is a district judge for Rogers, Craig and Mayes
Counties, who also handles juvenile cases. She says DHS is failing, and
from her perspective on the bench, the biggest problem is that by law
the agency doesn't have to answer to the courts.
"When there's a problem with the way a worker has done a job, if there's
a problem with services not being provided, that's all DHS's
responsibility. They are not directly accountable to the courts," said
Judge Dynda Post.
http://www.okbar.org/public/judges/06bios/post.htm
If DHS isn't answering to the courts, who is DHS answering to?
"Only themselves as I understand it," Judge Dynda Post said.
WATCH THE VIDEO: Judge Dynda Post talks about the lack of DHS
accountability.
http://www.newson6.com/global/Category.asp?c=136167
DHS has chosen to fight the lawsuit, hiring a firm in Tulsa to defend
it. In a written statement, the firm, Riggs, Abney, Neal, Turpen,
Orbison & Lewis P.C. says the Oklahoma Department of Human Services has
made significant improvements to its foster care system, and says
federal oversight is unjustified. It says DHS will continue to improve
the system without it.
CLICK HERE to read statement.
http://kotv.images.worldnow.com/images/incoming/pdf/0805/RiggsAbney-statement.pdf
"It's always a defensive mode. 'We're doing this, we're doing that,
we're preventing that.' Instead of having an open ear and an open mind
to possible changes to make their agency work better. Typical
bureaucracy," said state Rep. Richard Morrissette, (D) Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma City legislator Richard Morrissette is an attorney who knows
the system firsthand thanks to his practice. He says DHS has become too
big and powerful, and it's now time to break it up into smaller parts.
"I just have a vision in my mind, and I'm not married to any particular
plan. What I am married to is this agency has to become accountable to
the citizens of Oklahoma and particularly to people it serves," said
Rep. Richard Morrissette.
WATCH THE VIDEO: Morrissette talks about why he is calling for an
investigation into DHS.
http://www.newson6.com/global/Category.asp?c=136165
In the meantime, former foster children like Sasha Gray worry about the
children still in the system. Children who don't, or can't, speak up
for themselves.
"As a foster child a lot of the times you just feel like you're by
yourself. You're in a room full of people, but you feel like you're by
yourself," Sasha Gray said.
Through an Open Records Request,
http://kotv.images.worldnow.com/images/incoming/pdf/0805/RiggsAbney-contract.pdf
the News On 6 has learned how much it will cost you, the taxpayer, to
defend DHS against the lawsuit. The Oklahoma Department of Human
Services is paying the Tulsa law firm of Riggs, Abney, Neal, Turpen,
Orbison & Lewis P.C. $200 an hour.
DHS has set aside a total of $330,000 out of its operating budget for
those fees over the next year and a half. That is in spite of the fact
that the Children's Rights group is not asking for any money in its
lawsuit.
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 Wa****ngton. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS
Perpetrators of Maltreatment
Physical Abuse CPS/Foster care 160, biological Parents 59
***ual 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 ***ual 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/articles.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/la-oe-callahan16oct16,0,5019944.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail
FOSTER CARE IS A 80 PERCENT FAILURE:. A Brief Analysis of the Casey
Family Programs. Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study. By Richard Wexler
http://www.nccpr.org/re****ts/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/2000/5_May/mayds4.htm
A recent study has found that 12-18 months after leaving foster care:
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 relation****ps. 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 Sup****t
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/2007-07-02-foster-study_N.htm?csp=34#Close
Read the studies online.
Casey "alumni" study: "Improving Family Foster Care: Findings from the
Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study,"
www.casey.org/Resources/Publications/NorthwestAlumniStudy.htm
MIT study: "Child Protection and Child Outcomes: Measuring the Effects
of Foster Care,"
www.mit.edu/~jjdoyle/doyle_fosterlt_march07_aer.pdf
Texas comptroller's "Forgotten Children" re****ts:
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 ABOLI****NG 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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