Law forcing too many into foster care
http://www.kansas.com/611/story/163676.html
The crucial task is assessing whether children in protective custody in
Sedgwick County belong in foster care.
On one side are those who want it done fast, or so it seems.
On the other side are those who want it done right, which can take time.
In the middle are some children who've ended up in foster care this year
not out of necessity but to beat a newly hard-and-fast deadline of 72
hours. As a result, Sedgwick County already has had nearly as many
child-in-need-of-care cases filed in 2007 as in all of 2006 -- 720 -- at
an added cost that state welfare officials have estimated at $2.5 million.
Local juvenile judges say the remedy for this intolerable situation
isn't more money, but more discretion and flexibility to do what's best
for each and every child.
The law should be amended to allow judges to give investigators more
time at the 72-hour point, if doing so will both safeguard the child and
potentially prevent the filing of a new case.
Until legislators narrowed the window last year, Sedgwick County
officials had treated 144 hours as their window for deciding whether to
file each child-in-need-of-care case. "We were spending that extra time
doing our best trying to keep children from coming into custody,"
Sedgwick County Juvenile Judge Tim Henderson told The Eagle editorial
board last week.
Not coincidentally, the county had the lowest per capita removal rate in
the state, 3.5 children per 1,000, and the second-best rating for safety.
"We have essentially two competing principles here -- the need for a
quick hearing and the need to keep the state out of people's lives as
much as possible," Henderson said.
But so far, Sedgwick County's pleas have met with resistance in Topeka,
where officials seem to see only a need for speed.
Don Jordan, secretary of the Kansas Department of Social and
Rehabilitation Services, told the editorial board in June that Sedgwick
County needs to "find a new equilibrium" in investigating abuse reports.
The Kansas Judicial Council's advisory panel on juvenile issues -- whose
recommendation could spur and shape legislative action -- reportedly had
a lengthy, heated discussion about the issue on Aug. 24, then deferred
the matter to its October meeting.
Henderson, who serves on the advisory council, said he understands how
some would think what works elsewhere in the state should work in
Wichita. But Sedgwick County isn't just bigger, he said. Finding
relatives and assessing the circumstances of a child's life in Wichita
can mean sorting through issues of substance abuse, sexual abuse,
domestic violence, mental illness, criminality and more.
"We have more poverty. We have more children on subsidized lunches. We
have more homelessness. We're just different. It's really frustrating
that the rest of the state takes that as somehow, 'we're special,' " he
said.
He's invited skeptical officials to come observe the county's challenges
for themselves, by sitting through the hearings. As the legislative
session nears, area lawmakers also must come together and prepare to
make the case to their colleagues that Sedgwick County needs help, not a
return to the old way but more flexibility to do it the right way.
As Henderson said, "Nobody likes the delay for a hearing, but it's even
worse to have kids coming into custody when they don't need to."
For the editorial board, Rhonda Holman
CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NSA / CIA
WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....
CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.
every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com
Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS
*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*
Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5
Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.
CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...
BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...
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