Bloomberg Defends Commissioner Despite Report on Child Deaths
http://www.1010wins.com/pages/795850.php?contentType=4&contentId=786810
NEW YORK (AP) -- Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the city's child
welfare commissioner on Friday, a day after a damning report concluded
10 children had died as a result of the agency's inept investigations.
On his weekly radio show, Bloomberg called John B. Mattingly, head of
the Administration for Children's Services, "as good a guy as you're
ever going to get to head an agency like this.''
Asked Thursday if he should step down, Mattingly had replied, "The mayor
will let me know any time that he feels I'm not carrying out what I
promised him I would do when I came in August 2004, and I will be here
as long as he wants me.''
The Department of Investigation report outlined a troubling pattern of
lying, incompetence, carelessness, ill-trained caseworkers.
The DOI said child protection workers sometimes simply took parents at
their word when they denied the allegations. Sometimes they closed cases
without even trying to interview people who probably had relevant
information.
The deaths occurred in an eight-month stretch beginning in October 2005.
The report gives grim details about the children whose deaths likely
could have been prevented: Nixzmary Brown, 7, and Quachaun Brown, 4,
beaten in 2006; 2-month-old Michael Segarra, who was born with cocaine
in his system and died in his crib of neglect.
After 16-month-old Dahquay Gillians drowned in a bathtub on Nov. 6,
2005, an ACS manager admitted that he had falsified records to make it
appear he had been actively supervising the investigation, the report
said. Dahquay's mother has pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide.
"It's sad that they are letting children die,'' Latisha Bond, Dahquay's
cousin, told the New York Post.
Bloomberg ordered the 18-month DOI investigation in January 2006.
In response, the agency said it has drastically increased the number of
caseworkers, reduced each worker's caseload from 22 to 11, and made
important personnel changes.
Mattingly said ACS investigated more than 63,000 abuse and neglect
reports in 2006, up from 48,000 the previous year, and expects the
number to reach 61,000 by the end of this year.
ACS also has hired 20 investigative consultants with law enforcement
experience and plans to bring on 100 more. The intention is to have one
investigative consultant per 15 caseworkers.
"In child protection, there is no quick fix, no silver bullet,''
Mattingly said. "We have made progress ... but we are by no means done.''
On his radio show, Bloomberg said Mattingly heads an agency ``that has a
very tough job and we don't pay people that well and it's dangerous and
you see things that you never thought you'd ever see.''
"It is what it is,'' Bloomberg said of the report. "Let's focus on
making it (the agency) better rather than yelling and screaming.''
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
CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING HUNDREDS 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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