Fern5827
November 6th 03, 05:42 PM
Subject: Kin in Calif. question kids in Foster Care system there
From: (Fern5827)
Date: 11/6/2003 11:07 AM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id: >
Subject: Parents rip county foster care system - by Troy Anderson
Los Angeles Daily News
Parents rip county foster care system
By Troy Anderson
Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
In emotionally charged testimony Tuesday before the Los Angeles County Board of
Supervisors, parents whose children have been placed in foster care called for
an investigation into whether thousands of youngsters should have been taken
from their parents.
The testimony follows the release of a state Department of Social Services
report in September that found too many children have unnecessarily been placed
in foster care because of "perverse financial incentives" that encourage local
governments to earn money by bringing children into the foster care system.
David Sanders, director of the county Department of Children and Family
Services, said experts have estimated that as many as half of the county's
foster children could have been left in their parents' care if appropriate
services had been provided to the families.
Some of the dozens of parents gathered in the Hall of Administration hearing
room also questioned whether Los Angeles County judges could fairly hear their
cases because the county pays each judge about $30,000 a year in benefits on
top of the state salaries and benefits they receive.
"We believe that every case has been tainted," said Shirley Moore, a state
Assembly candidate and a member of the California Black Republican Council.
A court spokesman did not return a reporter's phone call seeking comment late
Tuesday.
In the supervisors' hearing, no public official spoke in defense of the child
protective services system.
Moore said she and others have gathered nearly 100,000 signatures they plan to
submit to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft in a request to place the
county's courts under oversight of a federal consent decree. The petition
alleges the courts have lost their integrity due to "intrinsic fraud and
financial conflicts of interest" in civil and criminal cases involving
children's services, eminent domain and probate.
"Too many black children are being taken from their homes in the name of grant
money," Moore said. "This criminal enterprise must stop."
The Rev. Ruby Lynn Brown, an associate minister from Pasadena and a 34-year
employee at County/USC Medical Center, said "relative caregivers" who take care
of grandchildren and other relatives in the foster care system are concerned
about the large number of children they believe were wrongfully seized from
their families.
"There are too many minority children being transported through the system
because of the arrogance of children's services," Brown said.
Brown and Moore said they intend to ask Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger
for a state investigation of the child protective services system.
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20954%257E1744662,00.html#
Troy Anderson, (213) 974-8985
DESCRIPTORS; CPS, DSS, CALIFORNIA, CHILD PROTECTIVE, FAMILY LAW, ASFA,ABUSE,
NEGLECT, CSD,KINSHIP CARE, SOCIAL WORK, DHS, CA, CHILD ABUSE
From: (Fern5827)
Date: 11/6/2003 11:07 AM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id: >
Subject: Parents rip county foster care system - by Troy Anderson
Los Angeles Daily News
Parents rip county foster care system
By Troy Anderson
Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
In emotionally charged testimony Tuesday before the Los Angeles County Board of
Supervisors, parents whose children have been placed in foster care called for
an investigation into whether thousands of youngsters should have been taken
from their parents.
The testimony follows the release of a state Department of Social Services
report in September that found too many children have unnecessarily been placed
in foster care because of "perverse financial incentives" that encourage local
governments to earn money by bringing children into the foster care system.
David Sanders, director of the county Department of Children and Family
Services, said experts have estimated that as many as half of the county's
foster children could have been left in their parents' care if appropriate
services had been provided to the families.
Some of the dozens of parents gathered in the Hall of Administration hearing
room also questioned whether Los Angeles County judges could fairly hear their
cases because the county pays each judge about $30,000 a year in benefits on
top of the state salaries and benefits they receive.
"We believe that every case has been tainted," said Shirley Moore, a state
Assembly candidate and a member of the California Black Republican Council.
A court spokesman did not return a reporter's phone call seeking comment late
Tuesday.
In the supervisors' hearing, no public official spoke in defense of the child
protective services system.
Moore said she and others have gathered nearly 100,000 signatures they plan to
submit to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft in a request to place the
county's courts under oversight of a federal consent decree. The petition
alleges the courts have lost their integrity due to "intrinsic fraud and
financial conflicts of interest" in civil and criminal cases involving
children's services, eminent domain and probate.
"Too many black children are being taken from their homes in the name of grant
money," Moore said. "This criminal enterprise must stop."
The Rev. Ruby Lynn Brown, an associate minister from Pasadena and a 34-year
employee at County/USC Medical Center, said "relative caregivers" who take care
of grandchildren and other relatives in the foster care system are concerned
about the large number of children they believe were wrongfully seized from
their families.
"There are too many minority children being transported through the system
because of the arrogance of children's services," Brown said.
Brown and Moore said they intend to ask Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger
for a state investigation of the child protective services system.
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20954%257E1744662,00.html#
Troy Anderson, (213) 974-8985
DESCRIPTORS; CPS, DSS, CALIFORNIA, CHILD PROTECTIVE, FAMILY LAW, ASFA,ABUSE,
NEGLECT, CSD,KINSHIP CARE, SOCIAL WORK, DHS, CA, CHILD ABUSE