The Powers of the State
There is a piece worth checking out over at the Indianapolis Star: Protecting Kids, Abusing Power? (Updated link). The Story covers the growing opposition to Indiana’s child welfare system:
The danger, some observers say, is that the confidentiality meant to protect children also allows caseworkers to abuse their authority. A new internal appeals process should address some concerns, state officials say. Critics go even further, arguing that grievances should be handled outside the agency.
A parents’ group, Honk for Kids, has sprung up to address these concerns. The group appears to be a project of J.A.I.L. (Judicial Accountability Initiative Law), a group focused of striping away judicial immunity from Indiana judges and holding them personally accountable for their actions as judges. Founded by Ronald Branson, the group appears to me to be one of those advocating the idea that the courts have overstepped their constitutional limits, and therefore are improperly exercising power over we citizens, the kind of bizarre stuff that ends up in a lot of pro se prisoner appeals.
Anyway, the group made it in to an Indy Star article, so they at least have that going for them. The story does detail the trials of one mother who spent $100K fighting off caseworkers to regain custody of her child. In my experience, its hard to reach generalized conclusions about the child welfare system based on specific cases, though. One item of interest sticks out in the article:
Hoosier children living in poverty are removed from their families by Child Protective Services at three times the rate in Illinois and twice the rate in Alabama, two states recognized nationally for successful child welfare reforms. The national rate of removal for children living in poverty — often a major factor in neglect allegations — is 23.9 per 1,000 children. The Indiana rate is 31.1, compared with 9.9 in Illinois and 15 in Alabama.
Now it could be that we in Indiana are just bad parents, but worse off than Alabama? I think the statistics do point to something of concern with the present system in Indiana: In 2004, the state took 7,689 children, but only returned 605. This would put the annual growth of kids living in foster care at over 7,000 additional kids per year. This is particularly troubling in light of new federally mandated time limitations on having kids out of the home. This drives families into the teeth of a parental termination. The article quotes advocates for the current system in response. DCS spokesperson Susan Tielking noted the rights of parents to get into court and challenge the removal of their children by the Department.
The trouble with this right to go to court is that courts are hard-pressed to actually overrule the Department on a removal. No one wants to be responsible for placing a child into circumstances that lead to the child being harmed or killed. Children removed from their families by the state become tar babies: No one wants them in the system, but the state will be politically responsible for anything that happens to that child wherever that child is placed. Judges cannot be blind to the potential of a reelection campaign where the issue is his or her decision to overrule the Department and return a child to their family and the child is hurt. This is why the quick trigger on removal of the child in the first place is the real issue.
November 28th, 2006 16:49
[...] This is a big problem in Indiana. Indiana removes kids from their homes at a much higher rate than most states (The Powers of the State), so we end up with a lot of kids needing placement. [...]
January 6th, 2007 11:13
What Hypocracy!!!!!! Honk for Kids is supporting Nancy Dyer in Indianapolis and bonded her out of jail?????? Nancy Dyer has her sixth kid on the way, most of the kids’ fathers are unknown, she had her first child when she was 15 and her kids eat from the trash and throw crap around the room!!! And Honk for Kids is a child advocacy group???? I think not….they must hate kids in order to be supporting Nancy Dyer. Disgusting!
January 20th, 2007 08:35
This is a response to your blog entry
Honkforkids is a grass root group who only purpose is fighting the dcs.
Honkforkids knows there must be a dcs to protect children, however it must be a accountable, else you have the current situation.
Also Honkforkids did not have anything to do with bailing out Nancy Dyer, one of our members choose to do so, and we support her right to do as she pleases.
If the person who bailed Nancy Dyer out had been a democrat or Republican, we wonder if the effect would have been the same?
If the poster would like, there are several people who would like to tell him of their cases.
One is a family who just had 4 children removed due to false allegations; they were not even appointed counsel until after the children were removed, even though they requested it in both writing and in court.
Three of these children were special needs children; it will cost the state 5000.00 per child a month.
That’s money out of our pockets.
Another is a case that had stretched out for three years, the child in this case has no bedroom, and she has spent the last three years on a couch.
That’s okay with Mr. Payne.
These are just two cases out of 1690 we now have.
Is the poster part of the problem or part of the solution?
We hope the poster will contact us.
http://www.honkforkids.com/videoindex.htm
Local 317-791-0889 or toll free 1-866-397-0705.
January 23rd, 2007 21:24
I can prove that the prosecutor’ office allowed my family to be harrassed, false reports to be filed, and even from one county to another county, that false reports and court documents were made with intent to cause harm. I have stacks of proof, that CPS workers committed perjury, falsification of court records, and withheld the truth from the judge with deliberate actions. I can also prove with CPS’ own documentation, that they knew the allegations where false, days after they made a case, but refused to allow the mother to have the infant back for almost 7 months. I can prove that CPS knew the child was with drug users, but did nothing. When the prosecutor’ office hears the threats from a CPS worker on recording, and refuses to allow a protective order to be served, and refuses to do anything when the mother is beaten and caught recording on 911, something bad is going on at the prosecutor’s office, and the Head of CPS. Just how many children must die under the facade of “protection”? How many families must loose their live savings to protect their children from the fraudulent actions of CPS? I can prove that a child was under the funding of foster care, but was not under foster care. Dan Carmin signed for this to be. I question, just who received payment for a child not in foster care??
January 23rd, 2007 21:33
Judges need to know what is going on, they need the truth, but the judges will not listen to the parent that is attempting to tell the judge what is going on. This is why the abusing male was allowed to make false allegations, as the mother was always negative for drugs, but the male was always positive for THC and Cocaine. I as this, if the man makes an allegation that the mom “does” drugs, but the tox screens are negative, they steal the child. But, when they find out that the man making the allegations is highly positive for drugs, CPS continues to allow the child to be with the man. Not even the judge listened to the mother saying that she was abused, she was attempting to “shatter the silence”, and that his drug use was an issue. The judge ignored her, and when the man was asked to take a court tox screen and paternity test, the man refused, but that was okay!! When the judge was told the infant was beaten, that too, was okay. From James Payne to Carl Brizzi, the crimes woven to hide the conspiracy of the state’ child laundrying business is foul and thick, and many citizens are suffering as many have no support to be protected from the crimes of the state officials that abuse their position for gain. The officials are to serve, be just, moral, ethical, and make sure that all citizens are treated equally, but some political figures forget they are ever so privilged to hold their seat and title, as they abuse their power, and citizens suffer the hardship of loss. I pray every day, that the carpet of truth will rise, and those in office that are willing to cause harm will fall at the feet of those they destroyed.
Thank you.
January 23rd, 2007 22:00
When is comes to CPS and Paternity courts, can anyone tell me why hearsay is used to make critical judgments? When there is tape recordings, black and white documented court records, medical records, and bruises, abnormal EMG, (when the infant’s head was bashed in and the CPS worker refused medical help), and much much more, why does the courts of CPS and Paternity ignore the facts, documentation, recordings, ____you know, valid PROOF, rather than hearsay???
When did the “Liberty and Justice for all” change to it is “whatever someone says about you”???? Why are there so many children’ deaths in Indiana??? Because we pay billions of tax dollars to react, rather than respond. We pay for state workers to meet a criteria of children needed to be removed from homes, rather than the meet the need of the families as a whole. We pay for foster parents to gain large amounts of money to buy cars and diamond rings, then neglect and abuse the child, and at times, kill the child. I heard a woman say, “I am getting another foster child today, now I can put the marquise diamond ring in layaway”.
Tax dollars should be spent on educating emergency room doctors on what to do if abuse is suspected, tests that must be performed to validate actual abuse, to promote teaching of parenting during pregnancy and after the birth of the child, educating parents what to expect from childhood phase to phase, and what to do to calm down when frustrated, more needs done to prevent “ACTUAL” abuse, as Indiana needs to learn what “Neglect” is, as it is not giving a child 2% milk vs whole milk,(as one parent lost her child for this), or refusing to have their Jewish infant son circumcised, (as one woman lost her infant for this, noted as “refusing necessary medical care). So, is being poor, or at low-income level a crime too? If a parent can not buy a child Guess jeans, is this neglect too? If someone took cases of children noted to be neglected as Malnourished or Failure to Thrive, would it be found a blood lab test to show what the pre-albumin or albumin is?? If not, when did the CPS worker become a doctor to diagnosis??? As CPS continues to steal children from their homes, children will be a hot commodity that only the rich will be allowed to have. CPS will lie, Guardian ad Litem will be biased toward CPS, and even the Domestic Relations Court, will just document the false allegations as such, sign off their professional name, without even investigating or validating with proof. I can prove this too, as my name was used by CPS, without even speaking to me, then Domestic Relations, stated I retracted what I said, that CPS wrote, without speaking to me. So, how could this be written in court records without anyone speaking to me??? Because, hearsay, is all that is needed to remove a child, as the state makes more money if the child is removed, so why should the state care about the truth?? Also, if a man doesn’t want to pay child support, all he has to do is call CPS with a false allegation, CPS removes the child to place in state care, and poof, no child support is required, but tax payers get to pay, and children are forced to suffer.
January 24th, 2007 19:22
There is a serious issue with the state workers of CPS or Dept. of Child Services, when a parent is forced to sign a CHINS paper under the direct threats of “You will never see your child aain if you do not sign this right now” or for parents to be forced to have their parental rights terminated before having a fair trial, with validity not hearsay, as the judge notably refuses to allow any valid proof. Did anyone know that children are on the web adoption site before the parent is terminated, more or less, before the parent is given the right for a fair trial, of which does not occur to the letter of the law.
I can write this, as I have witnessed the threats and the judge refusing to listen to the parent, but only accept hearsay from the CPS worker. I can also prove CPS’ perjury, falsification of court records, and withholding the truth from the judge, and prove that Carl Brizzi’ office knew of the crimes of several CPS workers, as they were given the informaiton many times, but nothing was done.
We, the citizens of Marion County, and Indiana in general, deserve better services, competency, accountability, responsibility, and honesty, from those that are in positions to serve the public. But when these persons are willing to commit defamation, slander, libel, perjury, and sweep the truth under the rug, the only choice we, the citizens have, is to refuse to vote Republican again. As the State Police, Governor, Head of CPS, Attorney General, Attorney General Inspector, Prosecutor of Marion Co. , ect will protect each other (Republicans) for political gain, but allow harm to be done to the citizens of which they took an oath the serve. So who is abusing and neglecting children, families, citizens???
February 1st, 2007 11:02
Honk For Kids was helping Nancy Dyer prior to her being arrested for the second time. Please take a look at this http://antimidas.blogspot.com website that has detailed the entire Nancy Dyer case up to this point. You can see that Honk For Kids is actually telling her how to handle the sitaution, and asking her to lie. They mentioned tell the reporter you pay child surpport for your two daughters in Florida. The reality is she ran away from Florida because she was not paying child support. So HFK is it OK for her to lie, but not a social worker. These people just use her to advertise themselves. One of their members on Topix forum actually said the group should use her as a “good advertisement”. This was when they were still not admitting their involvement in this case. HFK is filled with liars, and use people’s misfortune to promote their group.
February 3rd, 2007 11:54
Rita Stanton had a 14 year old son that was convicted as a sexual preditor. She feels that children should in no way be held accountable for improper sex acts upon innocent victims. This is stated on the Nancy Grace show on CNN. She created a group that tells judges that it is OK for kids to sexually assalt other people, and they should not go to jail for it. Sounds like she is a bad parent, that was trying to help her very bad child.
March 9th, 2007 07:31
In the state of Indiana, children who are abused are not taken from the home of where they are abused. I was born in 1960 and I suffered severe maltreatment, I begged to be removed yet no one listened!
In the state of Indiana, the only children who are taken from their homes are the ones who have a loving family relationship.
Indiana also uses ever power they have to cloak
their own abuse force upon the children.
Until the people who really care about children get together and fight with all they have, it will never change!
April 9th, 2007 03:33
I grew up in Lake County Indiana, I forgot the worst of the abuse until recently. In 2004 of Oct. the nightmares started, as a child I suffered severe maltreatment and saw things that a child should never see. I still manage to work a job and share a place with my daughter so we can have a roof over our head. but I suffer alone with all the pain of the past. Child Abuse is no joke and Indiana is the worst state when it deals with protecting children. I did some research and Indiana does not report all their child abuse to Washington like the other States. Why? I write to help with my despair from the past. Maybe this will help other see. I’m not very good at writing.
Corruption claims to be a modern-day Saint
While they take everything from the one they destroy
Crushing the spirit, leaving her hopeless evermore
With their lies and deceit, they keep her hidden in darkness
No comfort except the horror she suffered
They cry to the church and hide within its realm
Their script is old, they do it well
With the money they steal that covers the eyes
Of anyone who cares about all their crimes
In this State the Evil runs deep
They are above the law with all the money they keep
The room with four empty walls she had as a child
She endured alone all the Evil maltreatment
She begged for escape to anyone who would listen
Yet no one cared about her deep cries of despair
And left her there to endure the Evil again and again
The hateful words her caretakers made
Was the only voice she was allowed to hear
From the age of two she was drugged until she was sick
She expected to die, but yet she lived
Only to remember the torment she suffered
With no money or insurance to receive help from the past
She is left to live the horror, locked in despair
The films she was in, names she can never know
She was told if she lived at eighteen she must go
Never to be seen again so no one would know
All their lies and corruption that made their wealth
Stay out of this State, anyone who loves their children
For they will steal their souls and crush their spirits
4/7/2007 © brokenspirit2me@yahoo.com
April 19th, 2007 23:08
I have been in the system for about a year now and now I will proably been in the system for another year or more. DCS in tipp county sure wants to ripe familes away from one another once more they have removed my children after they gave them back to my and my husband. ANd they have correced cofession from him of things he has not done as well as have him throwen in jail on a 5,000 dollar cash bond and on top of that have threated me that if i go and see him or have any contact with him that I will lose my kids so they are in a since forcing me and him to just forget that we love one another and that he has done nothing wrong they really dont have any proof at all but as far as they are concered the casa that we have on the case seems to have lots and lots of infulence on everyone and she seems to be able to get everyone to go against my husband because she hates him and I know that she is trying to take my kids. They have been runing our life for a year now and now they are ripping out hearts of parents and kids and using the kids against both of us to try and get us to do what they want us to do.
August 6th, 2007 12:41
Retha moved her pregnant daughter and son to Indiana in dec 2005 or jan. 2006,to live with her parents, in order to hide her from my son.
Her daughter,my sons fiancee and the baby’s
father,gave birth to the baby on Feb.5,2006.
Retha left her parents house along with her son
in June 2006.She left her daughter and the baby with her parents,due to conflicts with her
daughter.They were doing just fine and were being well provided for.Oct. 2006 the daughter
and my son were going to get married.Retha’s
brother didn’ t agree with the underage marriage,so he went to the courthouse and talked to the judge.He told the judge he had
concerns about his parents abilities to make legal decisions for Retha’s daughter and her baby,even though his parents didn’t make the
legal decision for the daughter to marry,Retha
did. There weren’t ANY allegations of abuse or
neglect stated by the brother,to the judge.The
judge refered him to child services.In my opinion this is a legal matter and should have
been refered to an attorney. The brother stated
to the judge that he didn’t want to contact
child services,and didn’t.The judge then took it upon himself to contact child services.As a
result the,now 18 years old, daughter and her
1 and a half year old daughter have been prisoners of child services since Oct.2006.
The judge refuses to terminate jurisdiction.
It has been stated in court at every hearing,
by child services,that no abuse or neglect has ever occured.They are just keeping them prisoners because they can.I didn’t find out that the judge was the person responsible for
puting them in Child services until our Appeals
attorney listened to the court tapes.She stated
that she couldn’t believe how vindictive the judge is.Now $10,000.00 later we are still fighting.I don’t care about the cost,because
their lives are priceless!A great injustice has
been done here.We will be filing a Federal Lawsuit as soon as we can find an attorney to
take this matter all the way.We don’t care how long it will take.They need to atone for all they’ve done!
September 12th, 2007 00:06
My husband’s son was taken from his mother for neglect in indiana, they were living in a car, and my husband wants to bring him home. He is in foster care and has a court hearing tommarrow. What can he do
September 12th, 2007 00:08
My husband drove from oregon (4 days) to get there to go to court and they have mad no attempt to help him get his son.
February 18th, 2008 06:05
In recent years, there have been numerous stories in newspapers around the world about the failures of the departments of Family Services and Social Services to do their respective jobs of monitoring and assisting children in dangerous situations. Do we ever read about a child murdered by a family that the Department of Children & Families or the Sheriff’s Office has not already investigated, usually more than once? What will it take to protect these innocent children?
These stories are a step in the right direction, but one wonders if perhaps they came too late. All the outrage in the world can’t resurrect a dead child.
Too many children have died as a result of wrong decisions by CPS. With power comes responsibility and accountability, which most officials ignore. A child welfare system so overwhelmed with children who don’t need to be in foster care,the less time they have to find children in real danger. Children Who Didn’t Have to Die - Website http://suncanaa.com/
February 18th, 2008 11:19
[...] been over these grounds before: The Powers of the State. You can see a healthy debate on the issue of DCS accountability in Indiana over here: Forums to [...]
May 28th, 2008 16:03
Why does the public sit silent? Why is there not mobs outside the courthouses with every case where there is obvious abuse of power? How many innocent deaths and families ripped apart by the injustices of CPS —gather together–in common bond and fight!!!
May 30th, 2008 11:04
DCS/CPS what ever the current name is needs oversight that is not done internally. You also have former Judge Payne, who is well known for his super ego, at the help of an organization that already operates in their own world. The crutch being used is that they are helping children. They and they alone know better than anyone else what is best for children. They currently are trying to strip from Juvenile Judges what power the judges do have so that the DCS/CPS will have total control. Again, most of this sine Judge Payne came to the helm. Someone’s Man Mitch thought Payne would be the ideal candidate to head a crumbling child welfare system. However, much that has changed is adding new worker’s, they have not done the total case management that was the reason for adding them. You still have DCS/CPS using home based services from other organizations. The only way you can keep this boat afloat is to keep them busy removing children.
What about preventative maintenance? What about trying to educate and work with a family instead of engaging them in such an adverse relationship? If you were truly caring for the children, help them. Help their parents. Educate!!!!!!
It is all about money. Follow the money. It is nothing about families and how the child needs their family intact and how to help them stay that way.
About Nancy Dyer, sterilization comes to mind. We are not talking about mother love here.