Report: CPS leaves abused Tucson kids in filthy home
Mother in prison; dad said to have punched tyke
SHERYL KORNMAN
Tucson Citizen
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/51673.php
A state Child Protective Services report given to the Tucson Citizen
reveals the lengths to which the agency has gone to keep three young
children with a parent, even when the parent was found to be physically
and emotionally abusive.
In the case of the three Tucson children, the report noted, they were
abused by their father while he was in a romantic relationship with a
CPS supervisor who three years before was the father's CPS case manager.
CPS is under scrutiny because of the agency's involvement with two Pima
County families whose children were killed.
Two parents are charged with first-degree murder in the children's deaths.
Ken Deibert, deputy director of the Department of Economic Security's
Division of Children, Youth and Families, which oversees statewide
operation of CPS, said in a recent interview with the Citizen that the
state must "assure the safety, well-being and the permanence of children."
But, "No. 1, the expectation is that we are working towards
reunification of that child with their family," he said.
The agency has worked to reduce the number of children placed in group
homes and shelters, but the number of foster parents available to care
for abused or neglected children in a family setting continues to fall
short of the need.
CPS case files and court proceedings are sealed from public and media
scrutiny by state law to protect the children.
The Citizen is not identifying the parents named in the 2004 CPS report
it was given to protect the children.
But the newspaper is publishing information from the report, prepared in
the children's dependency case, because it details the physical and
emotional abuse they endured over a 10-year period beginning in 1995 and
what CPS did about it.
CPS spokeswoman Liz Barker Alvarez said the report, dated Dec. 20, 2004,
is authentic.
It was done in response to a child care center's report to CPS on Dec.
10, 2004, alleging that a 4-year-old boy had "9 or 10 bright red welts
on his right hip and below his right buttocks." The child said his
father hit him with a belt on Dec. 9, the report said.
The children were placed in protective custody by the state on Dec. 12
of that year.
In the report, the CPS investigator reviewed the family's case history
and concluded that the children "have sustained significant physical
abuse and psychological damage."
"They are the most terrified children this investigator has interviewed,"
The report recommends intensive counseling for the man's 7-year-old son
before more contact with his father. It notes that the 4-year-old showed
signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.
A doctor diagnosed the boys' 10-year-old sister with "emotional abuse
with severe depression and moderate anxiety, which (the doctor) states
is directly linked to maltreatment by the father."
The report said that given the father's "history of violent criminal
behavior, drug and alcohol abuse and child abuse, this investigator
feels that the prognosis for family reunification is poor."
Still, the report said, "the case plan goal is family reunification with
a target date of 6-21-05."
The father hung up Friday when a Citizen reporter tried to speak with
him by phone about the case. It could not be learned if the children are
living with him. Their mother is in prison.
According to the 2004 CPS investigator's report to Pima County Juvenile
Court, CPS involvement with the family dated back to April 17, 1995,
when the agency received a report that the father was drunk and punched
his daughter, then no more than a year old, while he and his wife
argued. The report said the home was filthy. The report was
substantiated by CPS, but it's not known what action the agency may have
taken as a result.
According to the CPS document and court records:
● May 31, 1999: CPS received a report that the man and his wife brought
their daughter to a hospital because she was having difficulty
urinating. The physician who treated the girl said she had dried feces
crusted on her buttocks and vagina and was dirty "head to toe." The girl
was treated "to prevent a kidney infection."
The family was referred to Family Builders, a state-funded child abuse
and neglect prevention program, but the family declined services. The
CPS cased was closed.
● July 9: Tucson police responded to a domestic violence call on July 2
and told CPS that the man grabbed his oldest son, then 2, by the face,
causing him to have a bloody nose. He grabbed his daughter, then 4, by
the face, lifting the child off the ground and bruising her cheek, the
police report said. He threatened to kill the mother and fled with an
automatic handgun, police said. This report was unsubstantiated by CPS.
● Aug. 10, 2000: The couple's son, then 3, was seen wandering alone in a
public library, dirty and with no shoes. The mother was living with a
homeless man who was a suspect in a theft. Police found a round of
ammunition on one of the children's beds. This report was
unsubstantiated by CPS.
● Sept. 27: CPS received a report stating the mother was using drugs and
the children were going to neighbors asking for food. There was no
formula for the baby. The children were found to be dirty and
malnourished. CPs substantiated this report.
● Oct. 12: The mother said she could not care for the children. They
were taken into protective custody.
She was arrested soon after on burglary and armed robbery charges. She
was convicted of the felony charges in 2001 and sentenced to 10 years in
prison.
A "reunification case plan" was developed by CPS, with the goal of
returning the children to their father.
● Feb. 17, 2001: The father was arrested on charges of disorderly
conduct and illegally firing a gun. He said that if he went to jail, he
would "lose the children."
The father, supported by his CPS case manager - who became his romantic
partner in 2004, by her admission - and with support from the prosecutor
and the attorney handling the children's dependency case, is sentenced
to a 12-month work furlough, followed by two years of intensive probation.
He is given two years of case management services by the state "to
assist him to safely parent his children."
● August: The father violated terms of his work furlough and went to
jail for two months but said he wanted a chance to "not lose his
children." The children were in the care of their mother's sister. The
father is given another chance and put on two years of intensive probation.
● April 2002: The children are returned to their father's physical custody.
● Aug. 22, 2002: CPS substantiated a report of the father's physical
abuse of his daughter, whose face was swollen and bruised. The father
told police the child was lying and said his probation would be revoked
if he was cited by police.
A City Court prosecutor declined to issue charges against the father,
still on probation, saying it was in "the best interests of the children
and their overall family preservation."
● Oct. 1, 2002.The dependency case brought by CPS was dismissed and the
children were returned to his custody by the court.
The CPS investigator who wrote the Dec. 20, 2004, report could not be
reached Monday.
CPS BY THE NUMBERS IN PIMA COUNTY
6,435 - Reports of child neglect, abuse or abandonment received in Pima
County by CPS in the six months ended Sept. 30, 2006
780 - Reports assigned for investigation in Pima County that were
substantiated by CPS in the six months ended Sept. 30, 2006
443 - Reports assigned for investigation in Pima County where a removal
occurred in the six months ended Sept. 30, 2006
Source: Child Welfare Semi-Annual Report for the period ended Sept. 30,
2006
CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL
SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY 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
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.
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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