Politics > Politics-USA > What's left to protect?: Child Protective Services gets to buryits mistakes along with the dead children it was supposed to protect.
| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"fx" |
| Date: |
20 May 2007 11:28:37 AM |
| Object: |
What's left to protect?: Child Protective Services gets to buryits mistakes along with the dead children it was supposed to protect. |
What's left to protect?
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0520sun1-20.html
May. 20, 2007 12:00 AM
Arizona's Child Protective Services uses unconvincing arguments to
deflect public fears about the agency's ineptitude.
By withholding information on the grounds of confidentiality, CPS gets
to bury its mistakes along with the dead children it was supposed to
protect.
The Arizona Republic is one of two state papers demanding more openness
from the agency. This is not done for reporters' egos or institutional
nosiness. As The Republic's filing says, what's at stake is the public's
"ability to monitor state government's performance of one of its most
basic and important duties: safeguarding children from abuse, neglect,
injury and death."
The public - you - cannot measure the agency's effectiveness prior to
the deaths of three Tucson children without more information.
What's known - from court and police records - is that the mother of
Ariana and Tyler Payne had a court order giving her sole custody. When
she called police to help her reclaim the children after a visit to
their father, Christopher Matthew Payne, he told officers that CPS was
working with him to regain custody. CPS subsequently told the police to
leave the kids with the father because they were investigating the mother.
The father is now charged with two counts of murder. Four-year-old
Ariana's body was found Feb. 18 in a trash bin. Two searches of a local
landfill failed to find her 5-year-old brother, though police believe
his body is there.
CPS stands behind a claim of confidentiality and refuses to release
information. State and federal law calls for confidentiality to protect
the identities of child victims and adults who might be falsely accused.
The children in this case are dead. The man accused is facing public trial.
Who is being protected?
Another child whose story is being withheld is 5-year-old Brandon
Williams. His mother is accused of first-degree murder in his March 21
death.
The boy's school had alerted CPS when he stopped attending class. CPS
failed to find him, but a Pima County Sheriff's deputy located the
mother after a missing-person report.
The deputy saw Brandon with bandages covering legs that had been dipped
in scalding water. The deputy didn't know about the CPS involvement and
accepted the mother's explanation that the child had fallen into cactus.
This failure of two public agencies to communicate was fatal. Brandon
subsequently died of a drug overdose.
Again, CPS refuses to release full information about the case.
Again, the only obvious beneficiary is the agency that should have done
more for these kids.
CPS may, indeed, feel legally bound to withhold information. If that's
the case, then lawmakers should make it even clearer in statute that
secrecy is not the same thing as privacy.
Confidentiality is not about covering up.
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
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.
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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