 |
| THIS IS A MUST READ!! Not for the Faint Hearted. |
When my girlfriend and I had joined El Dorado County Victims of CPS,
It
was a small group originating in South Lake Tahoe, So Penny and I
decided to concentrate a little farther south so we could spread our
organization out, but more importantly, El Dorado County encompasses
both Lake Tahoe and the lower half, just shy of Sacramento. I believe
we had a great bunch of people, and although small, each one of us, just
diverse enough to handle about any situation. All CPS knew of us at
this point was regarding out demonstrations and appearances at the Board
of Supervisors mtgs, which became heated at times. We spoke of our
frustrations, however, we needed to get through and talk to them on a
personal level; from one mother or father to another. They (CPS)
accepted our request for a meeting to discuss only a few issues that the
parents were dealing with, so that we could relay to the parents any
and all misunderstandings etc.We narrowed it down to one issue we felt was the determining factor that left the parents in the court room absolutely helpless.
I drafted an agenda, gave it to them ahead of time as to keep everything in order...
Remember the phrase "stop short", well, that is exactly what happened, and it was only part of their (CPS) plan to make sure that we did not have access to any inside information, or heaven forbid, help or advocate for the fucking families that were shredded to bits during the kidnapping of their kids and finally terminating their parental rights, yes, all in the name of MONEY.
Ok Ok, I will cut to the chase... the meeting was completly focused on whether we had a leader, and if so, who. This was you see, if anything went wrong, they could swiftly reprimand us, and of course to divert the attention away from the contents of the agenda. We told them that we did not have a leader and preferred to make decisions as a team. That, of course, did not sit well with the Big Cheese, Mr. Nielson, as he promptly needed a leader and a mission statement from our group, all within a week or this would be the end of the road for our group.
I have attached, first, the agenda, and then after two weeks, the Director of CPS emails one of our staff, Ernie Claudio, and basically degrades who we are and what we stand for.. With Ernies permission, I told him that I would like to respond to the CPS DIRECTOR'S LETTER, point by point. That letter is attached as well. Harsh, but it was closure that I needed and one of my better letters.
Copies were sent to county cousel, our Lovely District Attorney, Board of Supervisors.
I go back and read this one frequently..
Enjoy
Justice Now/CPS Reform meeting with
CPS Management
Notice of Meeting and its contents June 15, 2010
|
To: Janet Walker-Conroy, Daniel Nielson
Mark Connotes
From: Justice Now/CPS Reform,
We
would like to begin by thanking each one of you for taking the time out
of your busy schedule, in order to discuss a long standing issue, not
only with us, but many families. We would like to stay focused on the
issue at hand during the meeting so we have created an agenda with a
topic that we will present to you and try to gain some understanding of
why things are done the way they are as well as the state of the agency
at this point in time. There are numerous items to address; however,
the one common theme that stands out with most families is the issue of
documentation (court reports) and the notice of hearing (timely
manner).
Below,
we have enlisted some facts and information relevant to our meeting,
and finally a few questions that we would like some answers to, only
because what continues to happen is in direct contrast with the policies
set forth by CPS.
We
hope that providing you with our agenda allows you some comfort and
time to think about the questions, information and your response to some
very critical issues. This should facilitate our meeting as we will
work to keep a positive and productive tone throughout the meeting.
We also have hopes that this will be the beginning of a long-standing
and productive relationship.
The
one request we have is that a policy manual be available during the
meeting so that we may refer to as well as clear up any
miss-understandings.
Notice
of Hearings: The fact is that the notice of hearing is to be in the
hands of the parents and their attorney 10 days before the hearing.
Most would be happy if the post mark was within 10 days, but
unfortunately, the notices, and more importantly the recommendations,
are delivered in person to the families on the front steps of the court
house. The families are already nervous about court, nervous about
what is going to happen and frustrated because they have learned that no
one in the CPS/Juvenile system is there to act as their advocate.
Without
the 10 days notice, the parents are rendered defenseless in the court
room. What’s worse is that these reports are littered with
inaccuracies and false statements, and when not challenged, the decision
by the judge can be catastrophic.
These
reports should contain accurate and truthful information, and when they
don’t, the parents and their attorneys must be ready to submit
corrections to the report, as they are not allowed to speak up in court
nor will the court appointed attorney stand up and object to any wrong
doings.
We all know that undisputed testimony becomes fact, whether it is the truth or not.
1. What
can you do (CPS mngmt) to ensure that the reports are in the hands of
the families and their attorneys within the proper time frame? On a
side note, the notice of hearing contains a box in which a check mark is
to be placed if the notice and recommendations are delivered within the
proper time frame. The fact is, this box is checked even when we
receive the reports 10 minutes before the hearing.
2. If
the above cannot be remedied, what options, if any, are available to
the family? More than not, the family is unaware that they can call
for a continuance due to this delay, but are never told by the social
worker or their attorney(court appointed)
3. Will
you advocate for the parent regarding a continuance. Are you aware
that both the attorney and the social worker rarely keep the parent
informed of what is going on?
4. This
is where we come in, and could act as a liaison between the attorneys,
social workers and then would be able to explain the process to the
parents by someone who has been in their shoes.
This
10 day time frame is very important, due to the fact that many reports
are littered with inaccuracies, opinions as facts, and false statements
or allegations. These can range anywhere from minor to major, but the
point is, this happens every day, and even when others are aware of
these injustices, they remain silent to keep the show running smoothly
as the clock ticks it’s countdown towards parental termination.
1. Are there consequences for the underwriter when these mistakes are founded?
2. If so, what are the consequences when the law is broken, and what is the consequence when the policy manual has been violated?
3. Is
there documentation on file to show these reprimands, proving that
in fact that the social worker was written up, not just hearsay.
4. Aside
from the multi level peer group, what other system of checks and
balances are in place to ensure that the social workers adhere to the
policy manual and abide by the law? There are many sections to the 14th amendment that CPS violates daily and these are punishable by fines, imprisonment, or both.
**
Some thoughts on the reports; the mistakes they contain, and why the
social workers might write the reports with such a negative tone and
heavy hand. **
There
is a preconceived attitude of clients by case workers that perpetuates
disregard and disrespect of clients (parents) that often continues
throughout their entire program. My personal experience will attest to
this. During my 18 long months in the system, every report had numerous
errors. When I asked my social worker why her report was different from
what we had talked about, she said” Just ask your attorney”. Not one
person was concerned with the fact that my report was filled with lies.
In some instances, the reports became worse and my daughter used as
leverage the more I questioned these injustices. Theses social workers
are faced with challenging ethical dilemmas daily, compounded with the
fact that their case loads are beyond full and there is just not enough
time in the day to complete all necessary tasks. Could this possibly be
a reason for such horrible reports? Are there unreasonable demands
placed on the social workers by management, ethical or not? Is there a
pay value for writing the report in such a negative manner? Is the
social worker licensed or not? Blatant lie vs. Ignorance
Our
hope is that by having a day or two to familiarize yourself with this
agenda, which should give you a little time to think about the questions
and concerns we have. These types of meetings have a propensity for
becoming emotionally driven due to the nature and that is why we tried
to keep everything based on fact . We also welcome any questions,
concerns or comments from your management, so
you
will be able to prepare and answer our questions either at the meeting
or, in writing, within 14 days of the meeting. (June 29th)
The
Board of Supervisors has been briefed on this meeting and has a copy of
the same document you are now reading. They will be waiting for a
review of our meeting as well as the response to our questions, answered
or not. The public has been notified of the meeting and is anxiously
awaiting the results. Our community is becoming frustrated with the
operations of CPS, however, if they see that there is positive
communication between us, I believe we could play a part in changing
the public’s perception of CPS and the manner in which it deals with
the family and children.
Every
parent and child’s legal rights must be observed and protected by CPS.
Failure to consider the “Individual” may be CPS’S biggest failing.
Our
only goal is to open lines of communication between the agency and the
families who are working on re-unification. Once there is a clear
understanding of the case plan, court proceedings, and a time frame to
re-unify, the tension and adversarial tone begin to subside, quite
possibly clearing the way to a successful outcome for all.
We look forward to meeting with you,
Regards,
JUSTICE NOW/CPS REFORM
Sounds good right.?????
what a fucking letdown
11/5/2010
Mr. Nielson;
I would like to respond to your letter submitted to Ernie Claudio, on or about July 19, 2010
I
will start by saying, thank you, for the short lived effort and
although you did inform us that you needed a leader and a mission
statement before proceeding, we were quite busy due to the fact that
this is a very busy time of the year for CPS, as we are learning, and as
your case loads increase, magically, our client base explodes. Being
that this is volunteer only, we had to make the decision on whether to
get all of us together, sit down and chat about a leader and a mission
statement, or desperately help parents try and get some answers to
things because their attorneys and social workers flat out refuse to
keep them informed.
I won’t be
speaking from or through my fellow advocates; I am speaking to you as a
woman, a mother and one who still believes that one day that truth and
justice will prevail.
Yes Mr.
Nielson, You were and are clear about who you won’t meet with, and
unfortunately that includes families who are left in the dark, and
recent history shows almost no representation by these so called “court
appointed attorneys”;While these parents struggle daily to prove their
fitness as a parent; and then, and only then, if the social worker
believes that the parent has benefited from the services, the children
might come home. That is a lot of power given to a social worker, and
90 % of the time there is an adversarial tone between worker and
parent. You will never hear of this Mr. Nielson, because these social
workers have been here longer than you and they are trained in tactics
that use fear and intimidation, and once used on the parent, they know
it won’t go anywhere, because the threat of losing their children makes
them comply immediately.
It is in
fact quite simple, if you look at it from a business standpoint; What
we supply as advocates, is very much in demand. You are correct when
you say that we are simply a small collection of individuals, who have a
very poor understanding about CPS operations, law, etc.
I
will add by saying our understanding is less than poor when
understanding the injustices that continue under your leadership and
management. Our primary focus has never been leadership and/or upper
echelon management that wears an empty title. We are the “army
grunts” on the front line, in the midst of battle, sacrificing life and
liberty for our brothers in arms. We advocate for the very thing this
country was founded on!!
Mr.
Nielson, You rarely engage families with concern, and families that try
and use the chain of command, are stopped abruptly by their social
workers who use their tactics of leveraging the children against the
parents. So, while you think it is smooth running from up top, your
thumb has never really quite felt the pulse beat of your organization,
even though your signature graces every clients paper work. Mr.
Nielson, are you aware that your supervisors and social workers are
forcing children, 10 and under, to visit in a room, with the parent that
brutally sexually abused them. While the child screams and clings to
the mother because they don’t want to go, the mother objects to this,
and subsequently is restrained by the sheriff, the child is peeled off
of the mother, and forced to go to the abuser. My body shudders as I
even write this. 2 days ago, I checked to see how the mother and family
were doing, hoping that the visits would stop; someone must surely see
that this is worse than hell. The mother, with a blank stare, looking
right through me, says”the visitations have turned into “overnights”.
Mr. Nielson, her life will never be the same, and YOU ARE TO BLAME!! I
must applaud you and your staff for having the ability to go “third
person” which has got to be the only reason you can go home and sleep at
night. I comforted this mother as she screamed in my arms; My old
ways would tell me to do something else, but I must believe in KARMA,
and that goodness will prevail.
You
say that any client who has problems with their report has access to
anyone in the chain of command at any time. Mr .Nielson, have you tried
to call your own agency under a fake name just to check what a response
time might be, maybe check on customer service? It might surprise you.
The
parent never has the chance to rectify the situation, which can only be
done very early on in the proceedings when the parents are, for the
lack of a better word, deemed crazy and unfit, but the one who is to
advocate simply tells the parent to sit back, be silent and accept the
case plan. Once the box for reasonable efforts is checked, that
wonderful title iv funding just flows down stream. It is even a bonus
if the kids clean up well, as they won’t languish in the system too
long. I sit back and try to imagine having the amount of power you
and even your social workers have, and if I had that much, I must admit,
it would be quite hard to contain myself too!!
Yes,
I’m not a client anymore, however, I now do what I do because I was a
client, if that makes sense. I am sorry to see that you believe we
have failed to state our purpose; Many in our county would disagree.
You will never hear the clients concern because you and your
organization don’t think there is a problem. A grand jury investigation
of your agency almost every year from 2000 to 2009 might say different.
You have made mention of multiple
meetings throughout the year with ernie; the fact is that there have
only been two, after many distractions and cancellations, and I believe
you only attended one.
You are
correct again in saying that your sole purpose was to have us identify a
group leader, and our role and/or mission statement. You made that
such a priority, that it conveniently created a distraction in order for
you to dodge the one question we had for you. You have shown once
again consistency in dodging important matters, questions and
accountability. BRAVO!! My wish for you Mr. Nielson? Attend a hearing
or two; visit a family who has just had their parental rights
terminated; comfort a mother who has her child ripped from her arms;
COMFORT A CHILD WHO SCREAMS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT REMEMBERING THE DAY HE WAS TAKEN. I still do!!
The
only one who has failed, Mr. Nielson, is you; and perhaps your biggest
failing is not recognizing the one you are obligated to protect; THE CHILD
No comments:
Post a Comment