MANY CHILD DEATHS COME DESPITE CPS VISITS

 

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6679660.html

By TERRI LANGFORD Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle

Oct. 21, 2009, 11:12PM

Nearly half of all Texas children killed by abuse belonged to families previously investigated by Texas Child Protective Services — a statistic that has shown no improvement since 2004, despite efforts to save more children, records show.

Each year, about 200 children die of abuse or neglect in Texas — at least1,227 since 2004, according to records obtained by the Houston Chronicle. That’s 516 children who died who came from families with CPS histories.

They include Kati Earnest, 5, dead on July 4, from a beating.

Darrell “Tre” Singleton III, 1, left unattended for hours in a car on Sept. 3. Dead from exposure to 95 degree heat.

Emma Thompson, 4, sexually abused. Dead on June 27 from a beating.

In these child deaths, just three among the hundreds, prior visits to their families and homes by CPS investigators failed to detect potentially fatal warning signs.

“They are worrisome to me,” state Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, and member of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, said of the increase in child deaths among families with a CPS history. “They should be worrisome to anybody.”

On their face, the numbers of these troubled families with deadly outcomes seem to point to a worsening problem for CPS, one that the agency hopes to get a handle on with a better realignment of its work force in four regions of the state.

About 700 caseworkers and support staff in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and the Rio Grande Valley will be reassigned to more critical jobs within CPS’ investigative force and Family Based Safety Services, the department charged with monitoring families once they come to the agency’s attention. It is this department that works with families where a CPS investigation indicates potential problems but doesn’t merit removing children from the home.

“Obviously, our goal is to bring those numbers down,” said Anne Heiligenstein, commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, which includes CPS. “That has to be our goal.”

Study: Texas tops U.S.

The national advocacy group Every Child Matters released a study Wednesday showing Texas leads the nation in child abuse deaths from 2001 to 2007.

The deaths among repeat CPS complaints represent less than 1 percent of the 165,000 child abuse investigations completed by the agency each year. However, the growing incidence of child deaths coming from families with prior CPS histories, particularly in Houston, has prompted a review here and in Dallas of child abuse investigations.

Lawmakers are also looking for more answers about why certain families can’t be located more quickly before a child dies.

Such deaths continue to occur despite a $248 million infusion to CPS in 2005, which brought in 2,500 additional caseworkers and support staff, along with better equipment like digital cameras and more laptop computers, so workers could enter information about a child more quickly.

The additional money, equipment and staff did reduce the $1 billion-a-year agency’s crippling investigation caseload. The number of investigations per worker fell from 43 in 2004 to 22 cases today.

But the reforms, aimed at improving child abuse investigations, have done little to break chronic households from a cycle of abuse.

“The fact CPS had previous contact with the family doesn’t automatically mean that CPS could have prevented that death,” said Patrick Crimmins, spokesman for CPS.

Ultimately the person who killed the child — and in 77 percent of Texas cases, that’s a parent — is responsible for these deaths.

“I think we’re all accountable and CPS as well,” Sen. Uresti said. “(But) we don’t want to lose sight of the fact that someone killed these children, and they should be held accountable.”

The recent cases

In several cases among the 189 children who died by fiscal year’s end on Aug. 31, there are stories of missed chances that continue to nag at the agency charged with protecting children while the public asks what it would take to stop missing the signs that something is amiss.

In the case of Kati Earnest, the Vernon girl died after two previous investigations failed to verify the callers’ complaints that she was neglected and possibly abused. Fifteen months after the second complaint, she was dead. Her mother said the girl drowned, but she was covered in bruises. Authorities say the mother finally admitted to beating her five times with a closed fist. She’s now charged with capital murder.

Emma Thompson, 4, died after suffering a fractured skull and more than 80 bruises. The Spring girl was also sexually assaulted. Her mother tried to say her child had fallen. CPS was in the middle of an investigation into possible sexual assault of the girl after she tested positive for genital herpes. Because it can be transmitted in a nonsexual manner in rare cases, CPS let the girl stay with her mother. Three weeks later, Emma was dead.

And in Arlington, CPS workers considered the mother of 1-year-old Darrell Singleton “a pathological liar” and mentally ill from their prior visits, which included the removal of an older sibling because of abuse. But he remained in his mother’s care. He died when he was left in a car all day while she worked in a nearby office.

Reaching more children?

According to Scott McCown, executive director for the Center for Public Policy Priorities, the number of chronic CPS families could indicate the agency’s investigations may finally be zeroing in on the most troubled families in their system.

“More of the children are being reached by CPS,” he said.

While the loss of a single child is unacceptable, McCown said, he reasons that “the fact that more of the murders this year than last year had some kind of involvement with CPS could be evidence of a good thing. It means the system is more vigorous.”

Just last week, Kayvon Lewis, 3, turned up in a Houston emergency room. He could not walk or talk and weighed just 17 pounds, about half of what a child his age should. On two previous visits to Kayvon’s home, neither of the two CPS investigators, who were both with the agency less than a year, detected anything wrong with the child. A third call came from the hospital staff when his mother brought him to the ER.

Admitted in critical condition, he is still alive.

terri.langford@chron.com

CHILD ABUSE BILL PASSED BY WIS LEGISLATURE

 

Associated Press 

3:41 p.m. CDT, October 20, 2009

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-wi-xgr-childcare,0,2887168.story

MADISON, Wis. – Child welfare agencies would have more reporting responsibilities under a bill passed by the Legislature designed to increase public awareness of child abuse and neglect.

The Senate and Assembly passed another bill Tuesday that would allow the state to hold child care owners and officers personally liable for payments incorrectly made under the Wisconsin Shares program.

The reporting proposal was inspired by the November beating death of a 13-month-old boy and the torture of his 2-year-old sister in Milwaukee.

Under the bill, the state would be required to inform the public about children who have been killed or seriously injured due to abuse or neglect. Supporters say the changes will help increase public confidence in the child welfare system.

ARKANSAS MAN ACCUSED OF SEX ABUSE AFTER TRIP NORTH

 

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/crime/story/980633.html

MARK LEVRIER: Longtime worker for Texas’ child protective services returned to Alaska to face charges.

By JAMES HALPIN

jhalpin@adn.com

Published: October 20th, 2009 04:49 PM

Last Modified: October 21st, 2009 09:59 PM

An Arkansas man who helped a family move to Anchorage is accused of molesting their 12-year-old daughter and suspected of doing so along the way, according to Anchorage police.

Quitman, Ark. resident Mark LeVrier, 52, — a longtime child protective services employee in Texas — is facing two counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor in connection with the alleged assault on the 12-year-old, and police say there might be more victims.

LeVrier, who uses a wheelchair, is accused of molesting the girl in Anchorage in September after helping the family move in August, Crimes Against Children Detective Brett Sarber said.

Police say LeVrier admitted he sexually abused the girl while they were driving up the Alaska Highway, but those alleged crimes, which took place out of APD jurisdiction, remained under investigation.

As soon as the girl knew she was being molested she told her parents, who confronted LeVrier. He fled the state that day, police said. He later returned from Arkansas after finding out he was wanted and police arrested LeVrier Monday.

Police say they think there may be other victims near Lockhart, Texas, where LeVrier formerly lived, or Austin, Texas, where he worked for 23 years in child protective services.

LeVrier was being held at the Anchorage jail with bail set at $50,000

CPS INVESTIGATING CASE OF 17-POUND TODDLER

 

http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou091020_mp_cps-starving-boy.2379f740a.html

By Shern-Min Chow / 11 News

HOUSTON — Child Protective Services is investigating the case of a 3-year-old boy who weighs just 17 pounds, which is about the size of a typical 6-month-old. But while CPS is looking into his family, the agency may have to answer some questions itself.

At last word, the little boy was in critical condition at Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital. His mother, 30-year-old Marcia Holliday, has been charged with felony injury to child. Her bail was set at $20,000.

Officials say his mother brought the boy to the hospital Friday, October 16, and told them “he wasn’t right.” Holliday’s neighbor believes the boy’s mother didn’t intentionally starve him.

“He wouldn’t eat. She tried, she tried. He wouldn’t eat,” said Kathy Scott, Holliday’s neighbor.

Scott has known the family for two months. They live in the same northwest side apartment complex.

“She did all she could for him. The reason I know is I watched the other kids while she took care of them,” said Scott.

Holliday’s son suffers from seizures and other health problems, but doctors say that’s unrelated to his body’s starvation.

“There really is no medical reason why he’s not eating or gaining weight. He does have some issues but nothing that would make him malnourished,” Child Protective Services spokesperson Estella Olguin said.

CPS has investigated the family twice before.

In January and November of 2008, CPS looked into allegations of neglect with the Holliday family but found no signs of problems. Now, with the boy sick and in the hospital, officials are looking into the organization.

This is because the toddler’s hospitalization comes after the deaths of three children this year. All died after CPS investigated the families. Now state CPS officials are investigating CPS in Southeast Texas, an area called Region 6.

“(A review team) randomly pulled 200 cases to look at patterns and trends of some areas that we feel workers need maybe additional training in,” said Olguin.

The result of that state investigation should be in by the end of October.

“We know this is an issue we’re struggling with in these cases where there’s been previous history with CPS. What is it we’re not capturing?” said Olguin.

Holliday’s 6-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter were also living with her. Both children have been placed into foster care. CPS indicated a grandmother and aunt live nearby and knew of the youngest brother’s severe malnutrition but did not actively intervene.

The boy’s siblings will also undergo full medical exams to determine their health. Both are considered small for their age.

“They might be kind of small for their age, but she cooked for them,” said Scott.

They, too, have developmental problems. None of the children has attended school.

TIME OF RECKONING FOR MOM

 

Zahid’s mother goes on trial for manslaughter on Friday

 

http://www.news-press.com/article/20091020/NEWS01/910200362/1002

Nicole Brewington, accused of allowing her boyfriend to beat her son Zahid Jones Jr. to death in 2007 in Cape Coral, will go to trial Friday.

Attorneys were in court Monday afternoon to discuss any outstanding issues that remain before Friday, when attorneys will select a jury for Brewington, who is charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child. Zahid, 3, was beaten to death by Brewington’s boyfriend Kashon Scott and died May 29, 2007.

Brewington, 34, faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of the first-degree felony. The trial is expected to last most of next week.

In court Monday, Assistant Public Defender Karen Elizabeth Miller told Lee Circuit Judge Mark Steinbeck she wants to call Scott as a witness. Attorneys will dispute Thursday whether Scott’s statement to Cape Coral police should be part of the trial.

“My goal is to play Mr. Scott’s statement for the jury,” she told Steinbeck.

Scott, who was convicted in 2008 of aggravated manslaughter and aggravated child abuse and was sentenced to 60 years in prison, is being held at the Florida State Prison West Unit in Raiford. Steinbeck signed an order to transport Scott back to the Lee County Jail for the trial next week.

Also discussed Monday was a decision to have prospective jurors fill out a form of basic questions before they get to Steinbeck’s courtroom to save time on jury selection, which is expected to last most of the day Friday. They will be asked individually if they have followed the case in the media and formed opinions about Brewington’s guilt based on news reports and if they have had any experiences with child abuse or with the Florida Department of Children And Families.

The department was criticized after removing Zahid and his two siblings amid allegations of abuse and neglect and returning them to their mother two months before the toddler’s death. Scott was not supposed to be living at the house when Zahid was killed.

Also Thursday, attorneys will debate whether Brewington will be able to rely on a defense of battered spouse syndrome. Assistant State Attorney Carrie Pollock said Monday she is opposed to Brewington using the defense at trial.

KIDS IN CRISIS (MSNBC NEWS STORY)

Kids in Crisis

Weighing the protection of children against the rights of the parents.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9612031/ns/msnbc_tv//

When does discipline cross the line to become abuse?  It’s a tough challenge for the child welfare system to weigh the protection of children against the rights of parents.  In the United States there are only 25,000 caseworkers charged with investigating nearly 2 million child abuse claims each year.  With extraordinary access from the Indiana Supreme Court, MSNBC-TV took an unprecedented look inside the complex world of child abuse investigators.   This is the story of one family torn apart when one of their children makes a claim that ultimately causes trauma for them all.  You can decide who is telling the truth and ultimately whether the state’s actions were in the children’s best interest.

WOMAN TO BE TRIED OVR GIRL FOUND DEAD IN STORAGE

Woman to be tried over girl found dead in storage

 

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iX3IKWT5t9haQq7vk7pkPNDlwCuQD9BAA9N02

By DAVID RUNK (AP) – Oct 13, 2009

FLINT, Mich. — A woman has been ordered to stand trial on charges including second-degree murder in the death of her adopted quadriplegic daughter whose body was found in a storage unit.

Judge Tracy Collier-Nix of 68th District Court made her ruling on Tuesday.

Forty-year-old Lorrie Thomas of Flint will stand trial on six charges.

Authorities believe 9-year-old Shylae (sha-LAY) Thomas had been dead for six weeks when her body was discovered inside a 33-gallon container in a storage unit on April 22.

An autopsy indicated the cause of death was neglect, malnourishment and dehydration.

Defense attorney Mark Clement denies that Thomas, who was Shylae’s aunt, starved the girl.

Thomas is set to be arraigned Monday in circuit court.

A Suzanne Shell Story on Legally Kidnapped

 

http://legallykidnapped.blogspot.com/2009/10/suzanne-shell-story.html

 

WILL THEY ALLOW ANY “NUT JOB” TO ADOPT

 

http://stopcorruptdss.wordpress.com/2009/10/19/will-they-allow-any-nut-job-to-adopt-2/

WILL THEY ALLOW ANY NUT JOB TO ADOPT?

Look at what this adoptive mother is saying about her adoptive children.   Do you honestly believe that a woman that can say these horrible things about these children is the right person to raise them?

My God with a mother like that, you don’t need enemies!!!

When people called her out about her comments on these children, this woman, Lisa Hill, began emailing, threatening, and harrassing them, while in the public face, claiming it was the other way around.  I know because I have been on the recieving end of her emails and am now suffering under constant and continuing harassment from her for reposting her blog posts.   

It is my belief that if you put public information on a PUBLIC FORUM then you best be prepared for the comments you recieve.  She posted these horrible things about children who from her own mouth have suffered enough. She gave no nevermind to how hurt they would be if they’d come across her derogratory comments about them or how others would treat them if they read the comments and recognized them from the pictures she posted.  Lisa Hill does not have these childrens best intrest at heart, just her own pity party, and it is my belief that CPS should immediately remove these children and place them in a home where they will recieve the love that they deserve…  not the tyrannical ravings of a woman who obviously does not know the true meaning of the word mother.   UNCONDITIONAL LOVE AND FORGIVENESS NO MATTER WHAT!

 This woman posted this and then after recieving negative comments thought that she could change her blog to private, I guess she forgot about this other site where she had posted it as well… I am posting the entire thing here, so she can’t deny that she posted it.

I have reposted Lisa Hill’s blog posts under the guidelines of the Fair Use Doctrine, I believe I have made it perfectly clear that I have done so, not only because I find them News Worthy, but also for the purpose of criticism.  I completely and totally disagree with the manner that she speaks of her adoptive children and find her attitude toward them alarming.  Ms. Hill has continually emailed me threatening and harassing me in an attempt to bully me into removing these posts, I refuse to do so. 

This is a non-profit, blog, used to educate people about CPS, Foster Care, Adoption and the deaths or injuries of children that have been in contact or in the custody of Child Protective Services.  Lisa Hill adopted her two older children from Foster Care and I seriously question CPS allowing her to do so after reading what she has posted about them.  I believe that Ms. Hills attitude toward these children is harmful to them and it is that belief that has made me refuse to remove this post.  People need to see first hand how some of the people who adopt foster children really feel about them.  Lisa Hill’s posts brings this issue fully to light and I feel they are  a prime example of why we need better screening for people who adopt children from foster care and the need for continued montoring after children are adopted from foster care.

Lisa Hill has emailed me accusing me of endangering her children by reposting her posts, I do not believe that my repost is  endangering her children, Ms. Hill is the one who posted all of this information on a public forum, I have merely reposted the information that she released to the public.  These are not private facts, but information that she herself made public on several different public forums, she did not have a concern in the world that predators might be able to use the information that she posted to find her children, but now she wants to say that I am endangering her children. 

As a matter of fact, my blog posting carries only the information that she, herself,  posted on the wellness blog site.  On her other blog, where she also posted this, she has the state she lives in,  the town, the names and ages of the children, her husband’s name and occupation and even more pictures of these children and the other two.  That information can also still be accessed by anyone wishing to do so, I have choosen not to publish that information here.

My point is her issue with my reposting her offensive posts has nothing to do with endangering her children, but more to do with the fact that she has now realized how horrible what she wrote about these children really is and wishing to hide the proof of it.  Ms. Hill refuses to accept the responsiblity for her actions and has instead rage a campain against those who have stood up to her and cried foul for what I can only percieve as resentment, anger, and an intense dislike toward the children that she adopted.

She is claiming that these post are fake…which is an outright lie!  I would never post anything that was not the truth, nor would I fake posts!

I will be posting Lisa Hills emails to me at a later date.

 

Fair Use

 

http://www.citmedialaw.org/legal-guide/fair-use

 

“[T]he fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include –

the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

the nature of the copyrighted work;

the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole;

and the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.”

 Before you read these posts…check out the safety assessment that is filled out when the DSS of my state investigates the family

Pay special attention to section A  1 and 2…according to our own guidelines the cruel manner in which Ms. Hill speaks of her children is continued abuse….

dss-5231

Nut job

http://stanford.wellsphere.com/weight-loss-article/nut-job/810361  SHE HAS REMOVED THIS POST, BUT YOU CAN STILL FIND IT AT:

http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:ygXCKTqWrdcJ:www.wellsphere.com/weight-loss-article/nut-job/810361+weight-loss-article/nut-job/810361&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Posted Sep 23 2009 11:11pm

Yep. I am a bad mother. I regret ever adopting my older two kids. They are soooo hard to raise and they came withsooooo many problems. They are emotionally unstable, they lie, steal, manipulate, everything ALL DAY EVERYDAY and parenting them brings me no joy what-so-ever. I always caution people against adopting older kids from foster care unless they are older and finished with child rearing and can focus on a loveless relationship and have the time and energy to run their house like a prison. We were lied to about our kids and not given their files until AFTER their adoption was final. I was so stupid because I thought a loving home and stability would “help” these kids. WRONG. We have had them for 4 years (got them at ages 5 and 6) and they only get better at lying. We just found out today that our now 10 year old has been stealing from us. She is the one everything thinks is so sweet and innocent but they don’t know her. So today Andi stole $20 from us to buy a little thumb sized stuffed animal from a girl at school. Nice. We live penny to penny and yet she feels it’s ok to do this. I noticed money missing and I was yelling at my husband all day telling him that he must have taken it because I didn’t and we weren’t going to have enough money to get by until Friday when he gets paid. Then, the kids came home from school and Miguel told me Andi found a $20 bill in the middle of a bush on the way to school this morning. After interrogation, he admitted what she did and also gave her up about stealing things from the kids at school then SELLING THEM to other people. Great. I am the mother of a 10 year old slanger in the 5 th grade. Oh so proud. NOTHING we do gets to them. No punishments, no rewards, NOTHING drives them to be better people. That’s part of RAD. (Reactive Attachment Disorder) No conscience. I feel like shit because I imagine all the time that something happens that will send them back to their birth mom and how great life would be. From sun up to sun down I have to deal with all their crap. Calls from the school about theft, lying, trying to hurt our animals, last night I became overwhelmed and binged. I felt like such a failure because I turned to the only way to cope I know how. I wanted the world to stop for a moment and when I binge it does. For me, it is not our fault they are this way. We did not abuse or neglect them. Their birth mom did and some of their foster parents but we are left cleaning up the crap forever. Where is the joy? I try soooo hard to give them a normal life but it’s like they don’t want to accept that. All the RAD specialists say there is nothing we can do but try to “condition” them to do the right thing by habit but not because they know it’s the right thing. Since they were neglected so bad during their formative years before 3, their brains didn’t form naturally in that way and they are incapable of ever bonding or feeling empathy. I guess the criminal part of their brains developed just fine because they are great at all that. You would NEVER know it if you met them. they are MASTERS at putting on a fake front. EVERYONE is always telling me how good they are at church and school until stiff comes up missing… Give them a while and they will start to show their true colors. I feel soooo guilty thinking the things I do because I know it is not their fault for what happened to them to make them this way, but I resent being lied to by the state of California and now I am “stuck” with this situation. Everyday this is my existence. I am extra grateful for my other two kids because at least I get the good with the bad. I get to know what it’s like to have a child of mine love me and feel empathy for others. Yes, the kids are in therapy and s ee the therapist at school. I did get a notice from the school that the problems they have are far beyond what they deal with. Duh. Sometimes I find myself looking forward to when they are 12 and we can put them in a boot camp or group home. I look forward to peace. I look forward to some normalcy. That is, if they make it to 12 without going to Juvenal hall from finally stealing from the wrong person or place. Then i feel guilty for thinking those things. Thanks for listening to my vent. I don’t talk about this much because it is so embarrassing, but it is my reality. No judgements please. Unless you have a kid with RAD, you would not understand.

 I have decided to remove her children’s picture, I have left it up here long enough to make the point of what she did by releasing it.  That was my point.   Not only did she speak so horribly of her children, she released their pictures so everyone would know exactly who she was talking about.  I think that in itself shows the lack of concern Ms. Hill has for her children’s safety and well-being.   

Pic of the day… they look so normal don’t they?

 

Crazy Dayz

http://stanford.wellsphere.com/weight-loss-article/crazy-dayz/810360    SHE HAS REMOVED THIS POST, BUT YOU CAN STILL FIND IT AT:

http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:Z8-jdLqvpV4J:stanford.wellsphere.com/weight-loss-article/crazy-dayz/810360+weight-loss-article/crazy-dayz/810360&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Posted Sep 23 2009 11:11pm

I LOVE my kids school. So this morning I marched Andi right down to her principals office to tell her that Andi has been stealing from school. Her principal let her have it and is going to decide if she should stay the class Treasurer. Her principal and the entire school knows what my older kids are like so they are very understanding. I won’t lie, it feels good to be validated. as we were leaving, she said to me she can’t imagine how hard it is for us at home with my kids. Just to hear someone say that makes me feel better. To all of you, thanks for the support yesterday. There were about one of you who chastised me for my OWN FEELINGS on my own site, but again I remind you, if you don’t like it don’t read it. This is my safe place. I had SOOO many e-mails from people who have either gone through this or know someone who has adopted older children from foster care and gone though the SAME THING and they appreciate my honesty. There is nothing I want more in the world than for my older kids to change, to have a chance at life, but I should have been told the truth and been allowed to make an adoption decision based on TRUTH.This one person kept saying we chose them not the other way around. Not exactly. I was their daycare provider and they had already had TWO failed adoptions. They were placed with us as a kin placement on an emergency basis because their pre -adoptive mother wanted them out of the house asap. It was a Friday night. Then they kept dragging their feet about placing them somewhere else. They lied to us about their past and assured us that once they had stability all would be well so we agreed that our home would be better than being raised in a group home which is where they were headed at 5 and 6 years old! Just like they didn’t ask for their life circumstance, I did not ask for this either. In that way we are in the same boat. At what point is it enough? when they burn down our house? Miguel has already used knives to cut holes in his mattress so he could hide all the things he steals in there. How long until that knife lands somewhere else? They are both master manipulators and I am not surprised that my 10 year old daughter had a criminal enterprise going on at school. I will NEVER apologize for my own feelings. I will never hold back here because I committed to myself to be real. I KNOW it’s out on the Internet. That is the point. Maybe someone else out there is dealing with this or thinking of adopting older children and it can help them. This is my life. My day to day and I will purge on here how I want to and whenever I damn well want to.

 

Crazy Lady!!!

http://stanford.wellsphere.com/weight-loss-article/crazy-lady/810359  SHE HAS REMOVED THIS POST, BUT YOU CAN STILL FIND IT AT:

http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:7ZCepOUQ-FAJ:www.wellsphere.com/weight-loss-article/crazy-lady/810359+weight-loss-article/crazy-lady/810359&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Posted Sep 23 2009 11:11pm Brendahas left a new comment on your post “Nut job”:I’m going to report you tomorrow to CPS. I’m just giving you fair warning so don’t be surprised when they come knocking at your door. I know this won’t get published and that’s okay. It’s to you personally. Thank God I have friends who found out the town you live in. This article has been copied and pasted so you can’t deny writing it. They deserve so much better than you.Then she wrote this…Brendahas left a new comment on your post “Nut job”: I’m crazy? Lady, you’re saying you hate your kids and I’m crazy? I have 5 children plus an adopted child and I love them all. You need to be reported. Do those kids a favor and get them the hell out of your house. You are off your rocker. I cannot believe the things you said about these poor children. They deserve to be with someone who can take up the time needed for them and apparently that’s not you. I seriously doubt that CPS will do a damn thing cos you’re a cash cow for them but it will make me feel better. I just hope those kids don’t see what you wrote. You’re a horrible mother and not much of a human being either. $20 is more important to you than them. Go buy yourself a pizza or ice cream, wolf it down and maybe you’ll feel a little bit better!This lady has been leaving me crazy comments ALL night. Here is her profile…http://www.blogger.com/profile/14453734054168347425As if you can call CPS because someone is frustrated with their emotionallydisturbed children. YEs! Call the police while you are at it! Oh no! How dare I provide a loving home, safety, a life, a family. Yes! Call CPS! Their case workers will LOVE this. (You know, this is funny… their case workers are FROM CPS! lol ) AND they know exactly how I feel and are trying to get family therapy approved through the state! YES crazy lady. While your at it, get some therapy for yourself. It is VERY sad to have to stalk an adoptive mother who through thick and thin IS raising two children that were adopted from foster care. YEs! Call CPS and tell them that I am a horrible person for living up to my commitments to them and giving them ALL I HAVE EVERYDAY OF MY LIFE. They will be mortified! For sure they will place them with a better woman than I. Maybe someone who beats them, who neglects them, who doesn’t hold them, care for them, take them to church, someone who will not be there team mom for all their sports, or someone who doesn’t take them to school early so they can be in choir or act as a campaign manager so they can get elected to their student councils. Yes. I am worthless and they are MUCH better off in foster care. You sound like a crazy dumb ass. Go stalk someone else. I’m sure CPS will bend over backwards for you after reading all YOUR blogs. hahaha!Geez. This blog world really brings out the crazies. I guess I should have guessed that would happen with such a hard topic, but I will never hide from my feelings and I will always share my hardships in hopes that what I go through might help someone else.

 

Now this wacko is joining in the fun!

http://stanford.wellsphere.com/weight-loss-article/now-this-wacko-is-joining-in-the-fun/810358  SHE HAS REMOVED THIS POST, BUT YOU CAN STILL FIND IT AT:

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Posted Sep 23 2009 11:11pm She writes…

lilibithas left a new comment on your post “Nut job”: Oh boy are you in big trouble , tell us how much you get for the subsidy monthly ?? and did they come to you already drugged ?? are they coded ?? Got you number and your location , this has going out to the media too , also the gov and the Social workers union and many news orgs else , you are a monster why did you take these kids ?? lady if those children are not removed and put in a safe and nuturing home soon , there is going to be hell to pay , while its true that CPS lies you cannot cast blame you adopted them , have you ever heard of the Casey foundation ?? have you ever gotten off your fat ass and got help or did you just do a few hours at the CPS seminar …..we got you you are a disgrace to the familys that do love children and not eat up the money you get , This is gone viral and its too late to shut it down , criminal charges against you for fraud and SLOTH have been set in motion ……you stole those kids and you have the nerve to speak out against the bios , HMM thought CPS didnt tell you anything …..this has already been printed out and on its way , you had better not hurt those children , nancy grace is going to have a feild day with you to if something happens , make sure you stop eating for a while and make sure the kids are not hurt , the police have been alerted too . no copywrite laws broken here

Wow. Someone is off their meds. lol Here is her bio… http://www.blogger.com/profile/06513141679326716598Here is her e-mail… lizzianthus007@aol.com

Going private – who wants an invite?

http://stanford.wellsphere.com/weight-loss-article/going-private-who-wants-an-invite/811029

Posted Sep 24 2009 10:45pm

So those two ladies who are stalking me have gotten out of control. The lilbit one is a lady who lost custody of her daughter while she was in rehab so she is against ALL adoptive parents. She has been leaving VERY threatening e-mails saying she knows where my kids go to school etc so I am going to go private. I have her contact info from her blog and plan to call her local police if she sends me another e-mail, but if anything this experience has shown me what whackadoos there are out in the world and I need to be more careful about our safety. The Brenda one has been leaving comments ALL night and according to my feed which gives me her contact info she has been checking my site every 5 minutes since yesterday. All these women are women who have had children taken from CPS. The crazy Brenda says my kids were stolen from their bio mom. This lady sold my kids for drugs but Brenda believes in all her mind that they are better off with her. It looks as though there was a reason for all these women to lose their kids. I would shutter at the thought of them being able to provide a safe home when they are obviouslymentally unstable. My follower thing says I have almost 200 followers and blogger will only let you invite 100 so I will take the 1st 100 that comment here. (Not the crazies.) lol see you on the private side folks!

20 spots left for an invite!

http://stanford.wellsphere.com/weight-loss-article/20-spots-left-for-an-invite/811028    SHE HAS REMOVED THIS POST, BUT YOU CAN STILL FIND IT AT:

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Posted Sep 24 2009 10:45pm

Please don’t forget that if you don’t have your e-mail on your profile, I can’t send you the invite without it so please e-mail me with it asap. See you there! P.s. The Crazy Brenda lady is involved with a group of people who have had their kids taken away that believe that ALL adopted kids should be with their bio parents no matter what the abuse. They are a bunch of crazy people who no doubt lost their kids for good reasons. I am sooo sorry they found their way here but you all should know so you can protect your blogs. Her info and the links to all her coo-coo blogs are in the posts below. These nuts have been sending AWFUL posts that I will not publish and now will no longer read. I shutter to think what would have happened to their kids if they still had them. I will close up shop so we are all protected. God help any children those people have. I now feel MUCH better knowing that my kids are with me instead of live wires like that.

Lisa Hill

 Top HealthBlogger for the Weight loss Community Blog: http://losewithlisa.blogspot.com/ I am a 32 year old wife and a mother to four beautiful adopted children. I am struggling with a… Full Bio

BioI am a 32 year old wife and a mother to four beautiful adopted children. I am struggling with a food/binge eating addiction and I am disclosing all of my struggles and victories on my site in order to receive and offer support.

WHY DO THE CHILDREN KEEP DYING?

 

 

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-et-onthemedia16-2009oct16,0,4314089,full.column

 

James Rainey

 

Gail Helms told me how she happened on the pictures and the headline on the front page of Sunday’s Times: “Flawed County System Lets Children Die Invisibly.”

The tears came to her eyes. She put the paper aside for a while.

Reading about two teenagers dying in foster care would be painful for anyone, but doubly so for Helms. The stories served up another reminder of the anger and despair she felt 14 years ago, when her grandson Lance was beaten to death after a judge returned the boy to his violent, drug-plagued father.

“These cases are so difficult,” Helms, 66, said quietly, on the phone from her home in Hemet. “You can’t help but think: Has anything changed? Has anything changed?”

It’s trite and inadequate to say all of us have failed, but I’m going to say it anyway because I think it’s true.

The L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services needs to do more to keep better tabs on children. The county supervisors who oversee the agency need to do a lot of things better — starting with breaking the years-long logjam that has kept county departments from sharing information about children at risk. And the media, including The Times, need to more consistently pursue an issue that won’t go away any time soon.

I’ve had a particular interest in the issue since I met Gail Helms in the dark days after 2 1/2 -year-old Lance’s death in North Hollywood.

Little I’ve written in nearly 30 years of newspapering has generated as much response as that 1995 story. A picture of the adorable, sandy-haired toddler appeared on Page 1, along with the description of how he’d been hit so hard his internal organs burst.

The phone calls and mail arrived in waves. Eventually, the state Legislature passed reforms.

It all seemed so important then. It all seems so inadequate now.

My article touched only one of the system’s horrific failures, but barely hinted at how kids fall into danger and, more important, what helps keep them safe.

I like to think I got to some of those deeper issues as I wrote about foster care over the next couple of years. But the problems seemed so big — an army of incompetent parents overwhelming a small rank of protectors — it was hard not to get depressed.

Every few years, The Times would go full throttle after another child death or mount a series of stories, but then move on to other things.

“On the general topic of staying on a subject year after year, I think that’s fair criticism on a lot of subjects,” said David Lauter, the Times’ assistant managing editor who oversees local coverage. “News organizations have a tendency to focus attention on a subject for a while, then move on to the next subject. That’s not always a bad thing, but it does work against consistency.”

I could see how the paper would focus its attention elsewhere. There are so many other subjects, people and places in the county that cry out for coverage. Even one activist who has dedicated much of her life to child welfare issues told me confidentially: “You get to a point that your eyes glaze over and you move on.”

Still, if abused and neglected children don’t fall under the old journalism admonition — comfort the afflicted — then who does?

Since taking over local coverage more than a year ago, Lauter said, he has asked his reporters for more coverage. And my colleague Garrett Therolf has joined the battle. He’s detailed children’s deaths, ridden along with a social worker, raised the question of how a county supervisor could be “shocked” at the number of fatalities, when the lawmakers receive regular reports of same and noted how Los Angeles’ many bureaucracies have failed, repeatedly, to figure out a way to share information about endangered kids.

Therolf and veteran investigative reporter Kim Christensen wrote the Sunday pieces about Miguel Padilla and Lazhanae Harris that had Gail Helms near tears.

The stories raised questions about county oversight but also suggested a long-running dilemma of a system “in which choices sometimes boil down to leaving children with families that can’t or won’t care for them, or placing them in foster homes that are no better — and are sometimes worse.”

What hasn’t changed since I left the child welfare beat?

* The need to provide as many services as possible — drug rehab, parenting classes, day care and the like — to troubled families to help them keep children at home. It’s tempting to want to wish a pox on deadbeat parents, but evidence shows it’s cheaper, and works better, to give them a hand. The alternative often is the long-term costs and abysmal outcomes that come with foster homes and, often, the probation camps and prisons that follow.

Trish Ploehn, director of the family services department, tells me an arrangement with federal officials has allowed more money to be spent on such services. The 14 kids in the system who died of abuse or neglect last year was higher than any of us should accept. But when the county was pulling many more children from homes a decade ago, foster care deaths peaked at 20 in one year.

* Promises that the county social workers will get more information — from probation, mental health, sheriff’s deputies and others — to give them more clues when children might be in danger. The supervisors are stumbling along, more than a decade later, on the most recent fix. It’s not a panacea, but more information can only make for better decisions.

* Fights over public records. Our reporters still struggle to learn more about what happened to the kids who died. Despite passage last year of yet another “transparency” law, reports on child deaths often have many key facts blacked out. Ostensibly, the redactions protect siblings, but they seem more likely to protect adults who need to be held accountable.

Finally, I think we could use more notice — like the article Therolf wrote in March about a “ride-along” with one caseworker — about the huge challenges social workers face every day.

As with many other subjects, the media focus more on foster care problems than solutions. News outlets need to do both when it comes to the most daunting work I can imagine.

It’s hard to comprehend the many losses Gail Helms has suffered. After Lance died, her son, David, went to prison for delivering the fatal blow. Daughter Ayn died of lupus, after a long fight to keep custody of Lance and for foster care reforms.

Now 66 and retired from a career in insurance, Gail Helms remains resilient. She laughs about her fading memory and still brings herself to read about foster care horrors, wondering when the system will get better.

In the meantime, Helms said, people can feel better if they help just one child. They can sign on with the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), a group of volunteers who help judges make the right decisions for foster children. Or they can give money to the Alliance for Children’s Rights, another nonprofit that intervenes when foster kids aren’t getting what they need.

“Even now, after all these years, it’s like most people don’t know what to do,” Helms said. “I think people need something they can do.”

james.rainey@latimes.com