Surry County Foster Parent Due in Court for Sex Abuse of Foster Children

Surry County Foster Father, David Lynn McMillian, has appealed his conviction, December 9, 2011,  for taking indecent liberties with a child (two children…foster children to be precise) and is scheduled to appear in the Surry County Superior Court June 5, 2012.

David Lynn McMillian

McMillian was arrested 14 months ago after two of his teenage foster children informed the resource officer at their school that they were being sexually abused by their foster father.

The resource officer contacted the Surry County Sheriff’s Department and the Surry County Department of Social Services and the subsequent investigation, which also involved the SBI, resulted in McMillian’s arrest for four (yes four) felony counts of  taking indecent liberties with a child.  

According to law enforcement the abuse had been on going since 2007!

More information on this case will be posted on the 5th of June.

 

Care, Custody, and Control of your children….unless your an illegal immigrant.

In America the United States Supreme Court has found and held that all parents have the right to the care, custody, control, and companionship of their children unless they are proven unfit.  “the interest of parents in the care, custody and control of their children–is perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized by this Court.” Troxel vs Granville 530 US 57 (2000)

Furthermore, North Carolina’s own courts have found, “`[i]n order to justify depriving a parent of the custody of a child in favor of third persons there must be substantial reasons or, as various courts have put it, the reasons must be real, cogent, weighty, strong, powerful, serious, or grave.’ 67 C.J.S. Parent and Child § 12, page 651.” James v. Pretlow, supra. Nor is the fact that a parent or parents seeking to retain custody of their child, or to obtain custody of their child, may not be as able financially to take care of the child as the party seeking to defeat their custody sufficient to justify the court’s depriving the parents of custody and awarding it to some third person. 2 Nelson, Divorce & Annulment, § 15.15, p. 245 (2d ed. rev. 1961).

As a result of the “deep and meaningful relationship” existing between parent and child, the preliminary determination required by the relevant constitutional provisions “must not be lightly undertaken” and “must be supported by clear and convincing evidence.” Id. At 53, 550 S.E.2d at 503 (citing Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745, 747-48, 71 L. Ed. 2d 599, 603, 102 S. Ct. 1388, 1391-92 (1982)).

Parental rights may only be terminated if the specific criteria in GS 7B-1111 are met, being a resident of another country and poverty are not legal reasons for terminating parental rights, in fact 7B-1111 specifically states that poverty cannot be used as a reason for terminating parental rights, so DSS’ claim that the children are better off with their foster parents because the father does not have running water in Mexico is in error…running water is not a requirement of parenting.  So were our ancestors unfit because they did not have running water?  My grandparents did not have running water, or an indoor bathroom  until 1984, yet I was always clean, well fed, and loved and so was their house and clothes.

Amish people do not have running water, so should the state rush in and remove their child and call them unfit, based solely on that?

I would also like to mention that Mexico does have an issue with running water, it is not just this father’s home, but millions of Mexican residents that lack running water, through no fault of their own, so should America go in a take all Mexican children from their homes? Running water does not determine whether you are a good parent, who adequately provides care to your children and should not be used in this case to deny, by all accounts, a healthy, loving parent child relationship.  If DSS can take these children from this father for this reason, they can take a child for any reason without justification.

The grounds for terminating parental rights in North Carolina are:

§ 7B‑1111.  Grounds for terminating parental rights.

(a)        The court may terminate the parental rights upon a finding of one or more of the following:

(1)        The parent has abused or neglected the juvenile. The juvenile shall be deemed to be abused or neglected if the court finds the juvenile to be an abused juvenile within the meaning of G.S. 7B‑101 or a neglected juvenile within the meaning of G.S. 7B‑101. (There has been absolutely no abuse or neglect alleged against this father!)

(2)        The parent has willfully left the juvenile in foster care or placement outside the home for more than 12 months without showing to the satisfaction of the court that reasonable progress under the circumstances has been made in correcting those conditions which led to the removal of the juvenile. Provided, however, that no parental rights shall be terminated for the sole reason that the parents are unable to care for the juvenile on account of their poverty. (This father has not willfully left his children in foster care or a placement outside the home, in fact he has fought to have his children place with him, he was deported and unwillingly separated from his children and wife.)

(3)        The juvenile has been placed in the custody of a county department of social services, a licensed child‑placing agency, a child‑caring institution, or a foster home, and the parent, for a continuous period of six months next preceding the filing of the petition or motion, has willfully failed for such period to pay a reasonable portion of the cost of care for the juvenile although physically and financially able to do so. (There is no evidence that this father has willfully failed to pay a reasonable portion of his children’s care)

(4)        One parent has been awarded custody of the juvenile by judicial decree or has custody by agreement of the parents, and the other parent whose parental rights are sought to be terminated has for a period of one year or more next preceding the filing of the petition or motion willfully failed without justification to pay for the care, support, and education of the juvenile, as required by said decree or custody agreement. (Does not apply in this case)

(5)        The father of a juvenile born out of wedlock has not, prior to the filing of a petition or motion to terminate parental rights: (Does not apply to this case since the parents are, according to the article, legally married.)

a.         Established paternity judicially or by affidavit which has been filed in a central registry maintained by the Department of Health and Human Services; provided, the court shall inquire of the Department of Health and Human Services as to whether such an affidavit has been so filed and shall incorporate into the case record the Department’s certified reply; or

b.         Legitimated the juvenile pursuant to provisions of G.S. 49‑10 or filed a petition for this specific purpose; or

c.         Legitimated the juvenile by marriage to the mother of the juvenile; or

d.         Provided substantial financial support or consistent care with respect to the juvenile and mother.

(6)        That the parent is incapable of providing for the proper care and supervision of the juvenile, such that the juvenile is a dependent juvenile within the meaning of G.S. 7B‑101, and that there is a reasonable probability that such incapability will continue for the foreseeable future. Incapability under this subdivision may be the result of substance abuse, mental retardation, mental illness, organic brain syndrome, or any other cause or condition that renders the parent unable or unavailable to parent the juvenile and the parent lacks an appropriate alternative child care arrangement. (The reasons these children were removed from their mother were out of this fathers control, since he was no longer in the home or able to re-enter this country because of deportation, in order to care for his children.  It should also be noted that these conditions did not exist when this father resided in the home, with his children) 

(7)        The parent has willfully abandoned the juvenile for at least six consecutive months immediately preceding the filing of the petition or motion, or the parent has voluntarily abandoned an infant pursuant to G.S. 7B‑500 for at least 60 consecutive days immediately preceding the filing of the petition or motion. (This father has not willfully abandoned his children)

(8)        The parent has committed murder or voluntary manslaughter of another child of the parent or other child residing in the home; has aided, abetted, attempted, conspired, or solicited to commit murder or voluntary manslaughter of the child, another child of the parent, or other child residing in the home; has committed a felony assault that results in serious bodily injury to the child, another child of the parent, or other child residing in the home; or has committed murder or voluntary manslaughter of the other parent of the child. The petitioner has the burden of proving any of these offenses in the termination of parental rights hearing by (i) proving the elements of the offense or (ii) offering proof that a court of competent jurisdiction has convicted the parent of the offense, whether or not the conviction was by way of a jury verdict or any kind of plea. If the parent has committed the murder or voluntary manslaughter of the other parent of the child, the court shall consider whether the murder or voluntary manslaughter was committed in self‑defense or in the defense of others, or whether there was substantial evidence of other justification. (Does not apply in this case)

(9)        The parental rights of the parent with respect to another child of the parent have been terminated involuntarily by a court of competent jurisdiction and the parent lacks the ability or willingness to establish a safe home. (I would say this father wants to establish and is capable of establishing a safe home for his children, but is being prevented from doing so by the state of North Carolina and DSS.)

(10)      Where the juvenile has been relinquished to a county department of social services or a licensed child‑placing agency for the purpose of adoption or placed with a prospective adoptive parent for adoption; the consent or relinquishment to adoption by the parent has become irrevocable except upon a showing of fraud, duress, or other circumstance as set forth in G.S. 48‑3‑609 or G.S. 48‑3‑707; termination of parental rights is a condition precedent to adoption in the jurisdiction where the adoption proceeding is to be filed; and the parent does not contest the termination of parental rights.

(b)        The burden in such proceedings shall be upon the petitioner or movant to prove the facts justifying such termination by clear and convincing evidence. (1977, c. 879, s. 8; 1979, c. 669, s. 2; 1979, 2nd Sess., c. 1088, s. 2; c. 1206, s. 2; 1983, c. 89, s. 2; c. 512; 1985, c. 758, ss. 2, 3; c. 784; 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 941, s. 1; 1997‑390, ss. 1, 2; 1997‑443, s. 11A.118(a); 1998‑202, s. 6; 1998‑229, ss. 11, 28; 1999‑456, s. 60; 2000‑183, s. 11; 2001‑208, s. 6; 2001‑291, s. 3; 2001‑487, s. 101; 2003‑140, s. 3; 2005‑146, s. 1; 2007‑151, s. 1; 2007‑484, s. 26(a).)

A look at North Carolina law, and North Carolina and United States legal opinions easily answers this question, so why then is DSS still fighting to illegally detain these children and keep them from their father?  I believe this is another demonstration of the uncontrolled and unchecked power of DSS.  A prime example of DSS’ total disregard for the laws of this state and country.  What this case basically comes down to is the illegal taking of Senor Montes’ children, not out of fear that he will hurt them, but because DSS believes that these children will be better off with someone else because their father lives in Mexico and doesn’t have running water.  DSS believes these children are better off being raised by strangers, then by a father who loves them so much, that even after being deported…he has still found a way to fight for custody of his children.  Just because DSS disagrees with the living conditions of a foreign country, or their way of life, does not make that way of life wrong.

Deported Migrant Fights for Custody of His 3 Children

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=488748&CategoryId=12395

SPARTA, North Carolina – A North Carolina court postponed a decision in the case of an immigrant deported to Mexico who is fighting for the custody of his three U.S.-born children.

District Court Judge Michael Duncan heard for eight hours the arguments as to whether Felipe Montes, who lived in Sparta for nine years, is capable of bringing up his children in Mexico or whether it would be better to put them up for adoption.

The judge heard Thursday from the state Division of Social Services and set another hearing for May 29, when Montes’ attorney, Donna Shumate, will have the chance to argue the importance of reuniting the family.

“This is a complicated, difficult case, but we expect to win. I’ve had the support of other attorneys in different parts of the country, and we’ll prepare for our hearing,” Shumate said.

Felipe Montes’ nightmare began on a day in October 2010 that started out like any other. He made breakfast for his wife and children and got the kids ready for daycare. (Isn’t this man entitled to citizenship since he is married to a U.S. Citizen?)

Montes, 33, was the sole provider for the family and the children’s primary caregiver, as his wife – a U.S. citizen – suffers from an unspecified disabling mental illness.

Unable to get a driver’s license because he was undocumented, Montes had been arrested several times for driving without a license, but continued to drive so he could work.

When he went to court to pay his fines, two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were waiting for him.

They handcuffed him and transferred him to a detention center in Georgia, from where he was deported to Mexico on Dec. 3, 2010, as his wife was expecting the couple’s third child.

Soon after Felipe’s deportation, his wife, Marie Montes, lost custody of their children due to economic difficulties and a decline in her health.

Marie, 31, told Efe that she expects to join her husband in Mexico once the judge returns custody of the children to Felipe.

“He’s an excellent father,” she said, and noted that Montes is “desperate” to see his kids because “he loves them with all his heart and so do I.”

The woman told Efe that the DSS has not let her speak with or see her children and that has caused her stress and insomnia.

“I did what I could during the three months that I had the kids. I want them sent to him. I have health problems with my kidneys and I take medicine, but I repeat, I’m not a drug addict like say I am,” the mother said.

Montes is not an isolated case, according to the Applied Research report “Shattered Families,” which shows that more than 5,000 children of deported or detained immigrant parents are currently in foster homes.

DSS says the Montes children would be better off with their current foster families than with their dad in Mexico, because there is no running water where he lives. (no parental rights shall be terminated for the sole reason that the parents are unable to care for the juvenile on account of their poverty.  North Carolina General Statute 7B-1111 (a)(2))

The Mexican Consulate in Raleigh has been encouraging Montes and will offer the necessary assistance to reunite the father with his children if the court rules in his favor. 

 ARC_Report_Shattered_Families_FULL_REPORT_Nov2011Release

Being an illegal immigrant or a legal citizen of another county does not remove a parents rights to the care, custody and control of their children, nor does it make a parent unfit.  In fact there is nothing in the North Carolina General Statutes that lists illegal immigrant or foreign citizen as a finding of abuse, neglect, or dependency.  See North Carolina General Statute 7B-101.  Definitions

I would go so far as to call the Allegheny Department of Social Services handling of this case discriminatory based on race and national origin.  To deprive a parent of their children and children of their parent based on conditions that a parent has no control over, but are in fact a way of life in his country is discrimination.

Another North Carolina Department of Social Services Investigated for Misappropriation of Funds

Durham DSS under investigation after critical audit

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/10944804/

DURHAM, N.C. — The Durham County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the operations of the county’s Department of Social Services office to determine whether any criminal offenses have occurred, County Manager Mike Ruffin said Wednesday.

The investigation follows a county audit of the DSS office that found Walmart gift cards normally used to provide emergency food or clothing to children in foster care and other DSS clients were being used to pay for office parties and reward agency workers.

“The audit findings are disturbing,” Stan Holt, board chairman of Durham County DSS, said in a statement. “We expect sound procedures to be in place that ensure public funds are handled appropriately and with integrity. The weakness of internal controls in a public organization breaches the public trust.”

Ruffin and Holt declined to comment on the criminal investigation.

County auditors found that DSS officials purchased almost $206,000 in Walmart gift cards between January 2007 and last November, but the agency didn’t keep track of them or how they were used. One employee, for example, was found with more than $9,000 in gift cards in January, and files in the office contained folders filled with random receipts, notes about DSS programs, more gift cards and even $12 in cash, according to the audit.

Almost $7,100 in gift cards were used on training sessions, staff meetings, a Christmas charity program and to entice clients to participate in surveys, according to the audit. As much as $975 in gift cards was given to employees during a 2010 staff holiday party at the home of former DSS Director Geri Robinson, the audit states.

The Durham County Board of Commissioners fired Robinson last summer. She recently filed suit seeking to regain her job, as well as unspecified damages, and her attorney called the criminal investigation “a witch hunt.”

Attorney Jack Nichols said Robinson paid the money back for the cards given to employees and maintained that the agency was using gift cards for office purposes, including buying food for meetings, before Robinson was hired.

“It’s almost like they are fishing for reasons to justify her termination,” Nichols said.

He charged that Durham County Commissioner Joe Bowser, who sits on the DSS board, targeted Robinson “because she did not respond to his political direction.” In her lawsuit, Robinson alleges that Bowser pressured her to hire certain people and treat people differently based on race.

“Some of the stuff that Bowser did, I think, is pretty egregious,” Nichols said.

Bowser said the lawsuit is an attempt to smear him in an election year.

“It’s just smoke that she has blown and her attorney has blown, and it’s all going to be cleared up at the courthouse,” he said.

He added that the audit’s findings are only a small part of the problem he saw with DSS under Robinson.

“I was surprised at the fact that the audit didn’t dig as deep as I thought it should have,” he said.

The auditors tracked purchases linked to some of the gift cards and were able to substantiate that many were used appropriately.

Holt told WRAL News that he finds some comfort in those findings and said he wants to ensure that gift cards can still be used to help DSS clients in certain circumstances.

“I don’t want to throw the baby out with the bath water,” he said.

Interim DSS Director Gail Perry said in a statement included in the 26-page audit report that the agency has implemented better financial controls to account for gift card usage.

Aside from the gift cards, the audit also questioned the DSS office’s use of temporary workers and contractors and the reimbursement of Robinson’s moving expenses in 2009 without getting competitive bids.

This isn’t the first time a DSS office in North Carolina has had an issue with gift cards or misappropriation of funds.  See the links below for some other cases.

MECKLENBURG DSS AUDIT/SPENDING HABITS/MISAPPROPRIATION OF FUNDS

http://stopcorruptdss.wordpress.com/2009/08/20/mecklenburg-dss-auditspending-habitsmisappropriation-of-funds/

GIVING TREE TOYS RELEASED TO SALVATION ARMY FOR DISTRIBUTION

http://stopcorruptdss.wordpress.com/tag/misappropriation-of-funds-meant-for-foster-children/

THE DSS MYSTERY: WHERE DID MONEY GO? (MECKLENBURG COUNTY DSS, NORTH CAROLINA)

http://stopcorruptdss.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/the-dss-mystery-where-did-money-go-mecklenburg-county-dss-north-carolina/

FORMER SURRY COUNTY DSS SUPERVISOR FACES 31 FELONY COUNTS

http://stopcorruptdss.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/former-surry-county-dss-supervisor-faces-31-felony-counts/

BRUNSWICK COUNTY NC DSS WORKER INVESTIGATED IN LARGEST FRAUD CASE IN YEARS

http://stopcorruptdss.wordpress.com/2009/01/01/brunswick-county-nc-dss-worker-investigated-in-largest-fraud-case-in-years/

NC DSS worker pleads guilty to fraud

http://www.wwaytv3.com/2012/02/14/nc-dss-worker-pleads-guilty-to-fraud

Winston-Salem foster mother arrested for having sex with foster child

Winson-Salem foster mother, Jasmine Smith Boyd, 38, of 3900 Thornaby Circle, has been arrested and charged with 6 counts of Sex Offense-Parental Role, a class E Felony.

Arrested for Multiple Sex offenses

Continue reading on Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/cps-in-winstonsalem/winston-salem-foster-mom-arrested-for-allegedly-having-sex-with-child#ixzz1fbVvCluh

Iowa City Mom sues DHS for placing 5-year-old into Foster Care based on false allegations

 

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-29636-Surry-County-CPS-Examiner~y2010m1d6-Iowa-City-Mom-sues-DHS-for-placing-5yearold-into-Foster-Care-based-on-false-allegations#

 

Iowa City mom, Jessica Wilbur, has filed a civil lawsuit against the Iowa Department of Human Services for placing her 5-year-old daughter into foster care, based solely on the word and signature of the child’s non-custodial father, Robert Nino.

 

The lawsuit, which was filed in Johnson County District Court, alleges that Ms. Wilbur’s constitutional rights were violated by DHS director, Charles Krogmeier and DHS investigator, Paul Lafauce because of the circumstances under which they place her daughter into foster care. 

 

To read the rest of this story, please visit the link above

GIVING TREE TOYS RELEASED TO SALVATION ARMY FOR DISTRIBUTION

 

http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/Some-County-Commissioners-push-for-Another-DSS-Investgation-79353437.html

by MICHELLE BOUDIN / NewsChannel 36

E-mail Michelle: MBoudin@WCNC.com

Posted on December 15, 2009 at 6:31 PM

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Some county commissioners are calling for yet another investigation into the Department of Social Services’ program that was supposed to get toys to needy children.

The call for action comes on the same day that thousands of toys from the now-suspended Giving Tree program finally were released from an office to a place that will actually get them to kids — the Salvation Army.

 

At the Salvation Army Christmas Bureau on Tuesday, hundreds of volunteers were building bikes, stuffing stockings and filling giant bags, making sure thousands of children’s wish lists will be filled.

“It feels good to be able to help those in need,” said volunteer Jennifer Newman.

The job got easier late Tuesday morning as about 4,000 toys were moved from the Mecklenburg County DSS building, where they were collecting dust for the last month.

“These items have been in limbo since then based on the investigations and the audits,” said county spokesman Danny Diehl. “It’s about doing the right thing right now, which is making sure these items get to those who need them the most.”

CMPD is investigating the Giving Tree program. Federal authorities are reportedly investigating, too. Investigators are looking into some bad accounting practices to see if they were criminal or mistakes.

Three Republican county commissioners also want to hold a special meeting to question the head of DSS and the former head of the Giving Tree and allow anyone with concerns to come forward anonymously.

Democratic Commission Chair Jennifer Roberts says, “The intention was a good intention. But the idea of a secret meeting, I think, is inappropriate. I don’t think we want anything behind closed doors.”

Commissioners will vote Tuesday night on whether to hold the special meeting. It would likely be later this week.

MAN GETS 25 YEARS TO LIFE FOR MURDER OF DAE’VON BAILEY, 6

 

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bailey16-2009dec16,0,741489.story

By Hector Becerra

Marcas Catrell Fisher, 36, pleaded guilty to beating his ex-girlfriend’s son in South L.A. as his 5-year-old daughter watched from the corner of a room, unable to scream.

One month after pleading guilty, a South Los Angeles man was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years to life in prison for beating his ex-girlfriend’s 6-year-old son to death.

Compton Superior Court Judge John Cheroske sentenced Marcas Catrell Fisher, 36, to the maximum term for first-degree murder.

Fisher killed Dae’von Bailey on July 23 in South Los Angeles as the boy’s 5-year-old half sister — who was Fisher’s daughter — watched from the corner of a room, unable to scream. The girl would later tell social workers that she had seen her brother tied up in the hallway, crying, as her father beat him.

Later, she said, Fisher put Dae’von in the shower and told him to “wake up” before dragging him to the bedroom. Fisher eventually fled, leaving his daughter behind with her dead brother.

For almost a month, he eluded a police dragnet before being tracked to an apartment in North Las Vegas.

A convicted rapist, Fisher had agreed to care for Dae’von and his daughter after their mother, Tylette Davis, put five of her six children in other people’s care. The boy and his siblings had been the subject of 10 child abuse or neglect investigations since 1999 by the time he came under Fisher’s care.

In the last three months before his death, Dae’von twice told authorities that he had been physically abused by Fisher, but both times he was left with the man who eventually killed him.

Los Angeles Police Department detectives said that the boy’s body bore bruises in different stages of healing, indicating that he had been abused for an extended period of time.

On Tuesday, a bespectacled Fisher apologized from behind a pane of glass at the Compton courthouse for killing the boy.

Before he was sentenced, Majella Maas, the boy’s kindergarten teacher at Lakewood’s Riley Elementary School, told the court that Dae’von’s death left not only his family grief-stricken. Later, Maas said the boy was the most affection-hungry child she had encountered in 28 years of teaching, always asking for hugs.

After the sentencing, she went to his grave site in a Compton cemetery. It bears no marker, she said, but a cemetery worker knew where it was and led her there.

He had made a makeshift marker for Dae’von’s grave, Maas said.

“He said, ‘Oh, the baby?’ I’ll show you where he is,’ ” she said. “He knew his name instantly.”

hector.becerra@latimes.com

SUSPECT IN CHRISTOPHER THOMAS CASE CHARGED WITH WITNESS INTIMIDATION

 

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/78488032.html

Reginald Keith, already charged with child neglect and failing to protect Christopher Thomas’ sister from the crippling abuse inflicted by his wife, Crystal Keith, was charged Thursday with intimidating a witness: Crystal Keith’s sister.

Crystal Keith, 25, was convicted in May of beating 13-month-old Christopher to death and torturing his then 2-year-old sister. She was sentenced in July to serve 50 years in prison.

The Keiths are the Thomas siblings’ aunt and uncle and had been their kinship foster parents. Reginald Keith, 27, was charged in February with failure to act to prevent great bodily harm to a child and child neglect. His trial is scheduled to begin in January.

One of the key witnesses in Reginald Keith’s trial is expected to be Crystal Keith’s sister, Veneesa Smith.

According to police, Keith took Christopher’s sister to Smith’s home on Nov. 10, 2008, after Crystal Keith had beaten Christopher, who would die from his injuries the next day.

The 2-year-old girl had been beaten, lashed and burned. She was covered with scars and could not walk. According to the complaint filed Thursday, Smith asked Reginald Keith what had happened to the child.

“Reginald told her that (the girl) does not walk or talk because she was born with several physical defects,” the complaint says.

“Reginald responded that (the girl’s) face was like that when she was born and her legs were swollen because (the girl’s) skin would ‘bubble up,’ ” the complaint says.

Reginald Keith’s trial was originally scheduled for June 1.

According to the complaint filed Thursday, Keith wrote Michelle Smith in May and asked her to persuade her sister, Veneesa Smith, not to testify against him.

The complaint quotes Keith’s May 8 letter:

“Hey Michelle how are you doing? I know I wrote you a couple of days ago. But I just went to court today and I saw veneesa on the witness list for the D.A. so can you tell her not come to court to testify against me on the first of june, 2009. Because my lawyer said the D.A. have nothing on my but only veneesa testimony that I told her what crystal told me. So my lawyer now trying to dismiss my case. So tell her please please michelle and please tear up this letter when you are done reading it okay michelle.”

The letter contains a postscript that says:

“PS: Read it and tear it up ASAP.”

Reginald Keith is scheduled for a hearing on the abuse charges Friday before Milwaukee County Circuit Judge David Borowski.

Reginald Keith’s attorney, Glenn Givens, has alleged that Crystal Keith has attempted to turn the Keiths’ biological daughter against Reginald Keith. He has asked that a special prosecutor be appointed and that a John Doe investigation be convened to investigate possible witness tampering by Crystal Keith and Michelle Smith.

Borowski is expected to rule on those motions Friday.

Keith faces up to 18 years in prison on the abuse charges.

He now faces an additional 10 years in prison on the intimidation charges.

NORTH CAROLINA CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ILLEGAL AND UNETHICAL PRACTICES?

 

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-29636-Surry-County-CPS-Examiner~y2009m12d2-North-Carolina-Child-Protective-Services-illegal–and-unethical-practices#

Do you know a child who has died during or after a DSS investigation in North Carolina?

Do you know a child who has died after reports of abuse where made to DSS? Did DSS ignore your report and fail to protect the child?

Do you know a child who has died in foster care or after being adopted from foster care due to child abuse or neglect?

Are you the family member of a child that died during or after DSS involvement?

Are you a family member of a child who has died as a result of DSS policy violations or inaction when it came to investigating reports of abuse?

 

To read more of this article please visit the above link…more importantly, if you have a complaint against North Carolina DSS, in any county…visit the above link and contact the reporter.

COURT MONITOR: CFSA’S FOSTER CARE STILL FAILS

 

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2009/11/30/court-monitor-cfsas-foster-care-still-fails/

Posted by Jason Cherkis on Nov. 30, 2009, at 10:01 pm

AG Peter Nickles push to have the city’s child welfare system removed from federal court oversight has hit a road block. In a very non-shocking report [fostercare_report] released today, the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP)has found huge gaps in CFSA’s foster-care system.

CSSP is the court-appointed monitor. Its reports are the fuel for the ongoing case in U.S. District Court. It’s going to be difficult for Nickles to make legal arguments refuting their findings. The Center does their homework and are one of the most thorough watchdogs in the District. This latest report, culled from investigative work conducted during this past summer, shows that CFSA still has deep and fundamental problems in how it cares for foster kids.

“The Monitor’s overall recommendation is that CFSA devote significant quality improvement resources to better understand the experiences of foster parents and children during the placement process,” the report states.

The report only gets worse from there.

The court monitor’s investigation found that CFSA’s own computer system did not contain accurate foster parent contact information for 20 percent of the 134 children it studied. The system appeared “to overstate” the number of visits social workers made to foster homes. And, the system’s “security practices are not uniformly followed, making it difficult to assign accountability for case practice action in all cases.”

It also found that in 25 percent of the cases, the foster parent reported that the child was no longer in their care. “Some children continued to be moved…even when foster parents report that they would be willing to care for children for extended periods,” the report states.

Foster Care Placements

The monitor found that 17 of the 69 applicable children (or 25 percent) were no longer in placements identified in CFSA’s computer system. In other words, the computer system had the wrong address for 25 percent of the children surveyed. For the majority of these kids, they were moved to other foster homes despite the foster parents stating that they would have kept the children. Ten of the children went to another foster home; three children went to various group homes.

Medical Needs

For more than a third of the children studied, foster parents reported that CFSA did not provide them with the required basic information concerning the child’s medical and mental-health history. The Monitor notes that CFSA failed this court benchmark. Ninety-five percent of children should be given documentation of Medicaid coverage within five days of placement. Less than half of the foster parents stated that they had received such documentation. Half of the children did not receive proper dental care—another benchmark failed.

Social Workers

The report noted that social workers are failing at their most basic task: Visiting the children under their supervision. The monitor wrote that only one child out of the 112 applicable children received all the required social worker visits after entering a new placement. Four percent of the children studied received zero visits by social workers within the first month of their new placement.

In one case a social worker wrote that they had done such a visit only to record that they did not actually see the child. They only spoke with a sibling.

The monitor also noted that the access to these children’s files were easily accessed within CFSA’s computer system known as FACES:

“In multiple cases, the Monitor saw contact notes that were entered through a supervisor or program manager’s access to FACES, but were actually authored and signed by someone other than the supervisor or manager. In other words, a supervisor or manager’s access to FACES was used to gain entry to the electronic case record and a different person…had authored the contact note.”

Foster Parents Left In The Dark

For almost one third of the children studied, the foster parents reported zero knowledge of the child’s goals within the system. For example, they did not know whether the child was working towards reunification with a parent, working on a kinship placement, or an independent living arrangement.

Foster parents told the monitor they were not too happy with CFSA. The monitor writes:

“Foster parents for nearly half othe children told CSSP they did not believe the services and supports being provided for the children in their care were sufficient to meet the children’s needs.”