Bill to pay DCF settlement to couple who adopted sexually abused boys fails
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2008/04/25/a19a_xgr_boys_0426.html
By KATHLEEN CHAPMAN
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 25, 2008
Soon after Debbie and Jorge adopted three boys who had been raped and
beaten in Palm Beach County foster care, they bought the children
miniature horses.
They hoped the pets would help teach the brothers to care for living
things. And a few months ago, when the youngest boy called from out of
state to ask how the horses were eating, Debbie thought she may have
succeeded. He seemed to miss them.
But not long afterward, Debbie came home to find some of the horses
convulsing, and most already dead. Her son, now 13, had slipped rat
poison into their food.
That has been Debbie and Jorge's life since 1998, when they adopted the
boys without knowing they had been abused for years in state foster
care. Both gave up their chosen careers to raise their severely troubled
sons, who have set fires in their home and have hidden knives outside
their bedroom windows.
But it will be at least another year before they get their promised
compensation from the state.
The Department of Children and Families settled with the parents for $10
million in October and is now paying for the boys' therapy at
specialized residential treatment programs outside of Florida. But any
payment of more than $100,000 requires approval from lawmakers. And a
claims bill for the full amount (SB 66) died in the legislature this
session.
Debbie and Jorge say they understand the state's budget crisis, but the
money is critical to help boys who have already killed animals and
threatened to kill Debbie.
Sen. Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, sponsored the family's claims
bill and is in line to take over as Senate president next year if he is
reelected. This session, he pushed legislators to approve payments for
Marissa Amora, another Palm Beach County child, who won a $26.8 million
jury verdict after DCF failed her too.
Atwater said Friday that he will work to win relief for the three
brothers.
"We will get it done," Atwater said. "I can tell you that, regrettably,
it will not be this year. But the day will come."
Debbie and Jorge were a school principal and youth minister living in
Boynton Beach when they approached DCF about adopting from foster care
more than a decade ago. The couple already had one adopted son, and they
said they were open to children with learning disabilities or other
problems.
The only thing they said they couldn't handle was a child who had been
sexually abused.
DCF's adoption workers didn't know that the three boys were being
molested in their foster home when they introduced them to the couple.
The department failed to provide other records that showed the boys had
reported abuse in another foster home, where they said they were caged
when they misbehaved.
Former foster father Hector Rosa was sentenced to life in prison for
molesting the three boys and an 11-year-old girl.
Debbie and Jorge closed on the adoption in 1998, when the boys were 3, 5
and 6 years old.
Soon after the adoption, the couple discovered how severe the boys'
abuse had been.
The couple said they had looked forward to a jury trial in their suit
against DCF, but they agreed to settle because the state promised
immediate treatment for the boys. Though relieved that the boys are now
in treatment programs, they say the family is still under enormous
financial and emotional strain.
Jorge said he is optimistic that Atwater and other state leaders will
come through with the money next year.
"I believe he cares for our family, and it's encouraging for us," Jorge
said.
An Inconvenient Truth about Child Protective Services, Foster care, and
the Child Protection "INDUSTRY"
Child Protective Services Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of CPS.
every parent should read the free handbook from
connecticut dcf watch...
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/Foster care 160, biological Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS/Foster care 112, biological Parents 13
Neglect CPS/Foster care 410, biological Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS/Foster care 14 biological Parents 12
Fatalities CPS/Foster care 6.4, biological 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.
THIS IS AMERICA'S HIDDEN HOLOCAUST
Currently Child Protective Services violates more constitutionally
guaranteed liberties & civil rights on a daily basis then all other
agencies combined, Including the National Security agency/Central
intelligence agency wiretaping programs…
THE CORRUPT BUSINESS OF CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES
BY: Nancy Schaefer Senator, 50th District of Georgia
http://www.senatornancyschaefer.com/articles.php?filter=6
This is Child Protection?
By Gregory A. Hession, J.D.
http://www.jbs.org/node/4632
Mercenary Motherhood: "Memoirs of a Babystealer."
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-callahan16oct16,0,5019944.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail
FOSTER CARE IS A 80 PERCENT FAILURE:. A Brief Analysis of the Casey
Family Programs. Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study. By Richard Wexler
http://www.nccpr.org/reports/cfpanalysis.doc
HOW THE WAR AGAINST CHILD ABUSE BECAME A WAR AGAINST CHILDREN
http://www.nccpr.org/issues/1.html
Adoption Bonuses: The Money Behind the Madness
DSS and affiliates rewarded for breaking up families
By Nev Moore Massachusetts News
http://www.massnews.com/past_issues/2000/5_May/mayds4.htm
A recent study has found that 12-18 months after leaving foster care:
30% of the nation’s homeless are former foster children.
27% of the males and 10% of the females had been incarcerated
33% were receiving public assistance
37% had not finished high school
2% receive a college degree
50% were unemployed
Children in foster care are three to six times more likely than children
not in care to have emotional, behavioral and developmental problems,
including conduct disorders, depression, difficulties in school and
impaired social relationships. Some experts estimate that about 30% of
the children in care have marked or severe emotional problems. Various
studies have indicated that children and young people in foster care
tend to have limited education and job skills, perform poorly in school
compared to children who are not in foster care, lag behind in their
education by at least one year, and have lower educational attainment
than the general population.
*Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Support
80 percent of prison inmates have been through the foster care system.
The highest ranking federal official in charge of foster care, Wade Horn
of the Department of Health and Human Services, is a former child
psychologist who says the foster care system is a giant mess and should
just be blown up.
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=2017991
Four rigorous studies have found that at least 30 percent of America’s
foster children could be home right now if their parents had decent
housing.
This study found thousands of children already in foster care who would
have done better had child protection agencies not taken them away in
the first place.
Front-page story in USA Today.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-07-02-foster-study_N.htm?csp=34#Close
The full study is available here.
http://www.mit.edu/~jjdoyle/doyle_fosterlt_march07_aer.pdf
The bottom line? - Child Protective Services and the Foster Care system
for the most part turns out young adults that are nothing more than
walking wreckage...
CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CONSTITUTIONALLY
GUARANTEED LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS ON A DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER
AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL
INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAMS....
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...
|
