Fern5827
October 8th 04, 01:56 PM
And these are NOT my words, but the words of another law enforcement agency in
Texas.
So when your own won't cover your back, you know you're in deep doo-doo.
Bad Faith is what the public discerned years ago, when CPS was plunged to a
nadir of disrespect--even lower than that of the IRS.
Read away and DENY if you can.
Subject: Other LE grp calls DFPS "retaliatory, secretive, controlling"
From: (Fern5827)
Date: 10/8/2004 8:50 AM Eastern Daylight Time
Message-id: >
It's not just unhappy children and families any more.
Even other law enforcement organizations are panning the conduct of CPS in San
Antonio, TX, and by extension, to every other CPS agency in the US.
After all, NOT ONE AGENCY PASSED INSPECTION. THEY ALL FAILED THEIR AUDITS.
Child agency in S.A. blasted
Web Posted: 10/05/2004 01:20 AM CDT
Guillermo X. Garcia
Express-News Austin Bureau
AUSTIN — Child Protective Services operations in San Antonio are viewed as
"secretive, overly controlling, punitive, retaliatory and not always acting in
good faith" with community officials and advocates, a Bexar County official
told state lawmakers Monday.
Speaking before a House committee, David J. Reilly, Bexar County's chief
juvenile probation officer, laid out a stinging criticism detailing what he
called "a culture of secrecy that seems to permeate the entire chain of
command."
A sense of retaliation and squandered good will, he said, characterizes the San
Antonio regional office of the state agency charged with protecting Texas' 6
million children from abuse and neglect.
The troubled agency has been the subject of a statewide investigation and
unprecedented criticism from Gov. Rick Perry, who says he has lost all
confidence in the agency's senior leadership and has demanded immediate changes
to systemwide problems uncovered within the agency.
Expanding on the results of a 60-day investigation he and the probation
office's chief counsel conducted this summer following the beating death of
2-year-old Diamond Alexander-Washington, Reilly summarized some of the 60
findings and 46 recommendations about how to improve the state agency's
operations in Bexar County.
The child's mother has been charged in the death, which occurred weeks after
the child was removed from state custody and returned to her.
Health and Human Services Commission Inspector General Brian Flood said he
wasn't surprised by Reilly's findings and indicated he has found similar
problems throughout the agency's statewide operations.
Following the governor's order, Flood carried out a statewide investigation of
the operations of the child protection agency, an HHSC component.
Agency spokesman Geoff Wool said he expects the issues Reilly raised will be
addressed in Flood's report. The agency does not know if the secrecy problems
Reilly found are unique to San Antonio, he added.
The Inspector General's report will be used by legislators in January to
propose new legislation to fix the agency's more obvious problems: an
inexperienced, underpaid staff carrying caseloads three times the nationally
recommended standards.
The report is due to the governor by year's end.
But while Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick have
said they want to reform the beleaguered agency in the next legislative
session, including allocating more money for caseworkers, "the culture of
secrecy is going to be a very tough nut to crack," Reilly said.
The agency's "culture is characterized by what appears to be an overriding need
to remain ... exclusively controlling case directions to the point of
withholding information ... particularly to those who take an opposing
viewpoint or question their decisions," he said.
After his testimony, Reilly said "a top-to-bottom restatement of the program's
values" might be needed, adding, "The problem seems to go far above the
caseworker level."
Rep. Suzanna Gratia Hupp agreed. Hupp, R-Lampasas, was appointed to head an
interim panel studying foster care and adoption, also part of the child
protection agency's responsibility.
She said "we will be looking at significant (legislative) changes ... but it is
going to be very difficult to legislate every nook and cranny out there."
Monday's hearing was the last of six on various topics related to child
protection issues.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
OklahomaFamilyRightsAssociation
http://okafra.4t.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OKFAMRA/
Eclectic Home Educators
http://ehe.4t.com
descriptors; TEXAS, SAN ANTONIO, TDPRS, PRS, DFPS, CPS, CHILD PROTECTIVE,
DALLAS, HOUSTON, WACO, GALVESTON, LUBBOCK, HARLINGEN, EL PASO, CORPUS CHRISTI,
MIDLAND
Texas.
So when your own won't cover your back, you know you're in deep doo-doo.
Bad Faith is what the public discerned years ago, when CPS was plunged to a
nadir of disrespect--even lower than that of the IRS.
Read away and DENY if you can.
Subject: Other LE grp calls DFPS "retaliatory, secretive, controlling"
From: (Fern5827)
Date: 10/8/2004 8:50 AM Eastern Daylight Time
Message-id: >
It's not just unhappy children and families any more.
Even other law enforcement organizations are panning the conduct of CPS in San
Antonio, TX, and by extension, to every other CPS agency in the US.
After all, NOT ONE AGENCY PASSED INSPECTION. THEY ALL FAILED THEIR AUDITS.
Child agency in S.A. blasted
Web Posted: 10/05/2004 01:20 AM CDT
Guillermo X. Garcia
Express-News Austin Bureau
AUSTIN — Child Protective Services operations in San Antonio are viewed as
"secretive, overly controlling, punitive, retaliatory and not always acting in
good faith" with community officials and advocates, a Bexar County official
told state lawmakers Monday.
Speaking before a House committee, David J. Reilly, Bexar County's chief
juvenile probation officer, laid out a stinging criticism detailing what he
called "a culture of secrecy that seems to permeate the entire chain of
command."
A sense of retaliation and squandered good will, he said, characterizes the San
Antonio regional office of the state agency charged with protecting Texas' 6
million children from abuse and neglect.
The troubled agency has been the subject of a statewide investigation and
unprecedented criticism from Gov. Rick Perry, who says he has lost all
confidence in the agency's senior leadership and has demanded immediate changes
to systemwide problems uncovered within the agency.
Expanding on the results of a 60-day investigation he and the probation
office's chief counsel conducted this summer following the beating death of
2-year-old Diamond Alexander-Washington, Reilly summarized some of the 60
findings and 46 recommendations about how to improve the state agency's
operations in Bexar County.
The child's mother has been charged in the death, which occurred weeks after
the child was removed from state custody and returned to her.
Health and Human Services Commission Inspector General Brian Flood said he
wasn't surprised by Reilly's findings and indicated he has found similar
problems throughout the agency's statewide operations.
Following the governor's order, Flood carried out a statewide investigation of
the operations of the child protection agency, an HHSC component.
Agency spokesman Geoff Wool said he expects the issues Reilly raised will be
addressed in Flood's report. The agency does not know if the secrecy problems
Reilly found are unique to San Antonio, he added.
The Inspector General's report will be used by legislators in January to
propose new legislation to fix the agency's more obvious problems: an
inexperienced, underpaid staff carrying caseloads three times the nationally
recommended standards.
The report is due to the governor by year's end.
But while Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick have
said they want to reform the beleaguered agency in the next legislative
session, including allocating more money for caseworkers, "the culture of
secrecy is going to be a very tough nut to crack," Reilly said.
The agency's "culture is characterized by what appears to be an overriding need
to remain ... exclusively controlling case directions to the point of
withholding information ... particularly to those who take an opposing
viewpoint or question their decisions," he said.
After his testimony, Reilly said "a top-to-bottom restatement of the program's
values" might be needed, adding, "The problem seems to go far above the
caseworker level."
Rep. Suzanna Gratia Hupp agreed. Hupp, R-Lampasas, was appointed to head an
interim panel studying foster care and adoption, also part of the child
protection agency's responsibility.
She said "we will be looking at significant (legislative) changes ... but it is
going to be very difficult to legislate every nook and cranny out there."
Monday's hearing was the last of six on various topics related to child
protection issues.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
OklahomaFamilyRightsAssociation
http://okafra.4t.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OKFAMRA/
Eclectic Home Educators
http://ehe.4t.com
descriptors; TEXAS, SAN ANTONIO, TDPRS, PRS, DFPS, CPS, CHILD PROTECTIVE,
DALLAS, HOUSTON, WACO, GALVESTON, LUBBOCK, HARLINGEN, EL PASO, CORPUS CHRISTI,
MIDLAND