Family Forum / Parenting / Spanking / December 2007

RICHARD WEXLER: REAL FOSTER CARE SCANDAL IS NUMBER OF KIDS REMOVED
BY RICHARD WEXLER

http://www.kansas.com/205/story/219708.html

The real scandal in Kansas child welfare is not that the state is
oppressing Sedgwick County by giving authorities "only" 72 hours to keep
a child in limbo before a court decides if he ever needed to be torn
from his family in the first place ("More time: Courts need flexibility
on foster care," Nov. 1 editorial). The real scandal is that somewhere
near 80 percent of the children torn from their families in Sedgwick
County probably never needed to endure that trauma.

If you can send a child home within a week, odds are you never needed to
take that child at all.

The same authorities who claim that tearing apart a family is done only
when parents are a dire, imminent threat to their children now tell us
that 80 percent of the time, the threat goes away within a week. Either
the child goes home or is placed with a relative.

Those authorities also tell us they need six days to investigate the
case. But the way it's supposed to work is that you investigate first,
then decide if conditions are so bad that there's no alternative to
traumatizing the child by taking him away. The only exception is
supposed to be an emergency.

But if 80 percent of the children don't need to stay in care, few of
these cases really were emergencies. In Sedgwick County, the mantra is:
take the child and run first, ask questions later.

Children experience time very differently from adults; for children it
moves far more slowly. Six days of "protective custody" -- a better term
would be "internment" -- can be agony for an infant, a toddler or a
young child.

Even as time moves at a snail's pace, there is no way to explain to the
child why this has happened. How do you tell an 18-month-old it's all
"for your own good"? The child may experience it as akin to a
kidnapping. Other children may believe they've done something terribly
wrong, and now they are being punished.

As for the claim that Sedgwick County needs the extra time because of
the area's complex urban problems, the counties that include the cities
of Los Angeles and Chicago take children at a far lower rate than
Sedgwick County without holding them for six days first, and both cities
have excellent safety records.

The claim that Sedgwick County takes children at the lowest rate in the
state is a mirage, based on relabeling 80 percent of placements in
foster care as something else. The federal government doesn't put up
with that. The feds say if the child is out of the home more than 24
hours, it counts as an entry into care.

It should. You can be sure it "counts" to the child.

Richard Wexler is executive director of the National Coalition for Child
Protection Reform in Alexandria, Va.

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...