It's not what you get in life, it's what you do with what you have!
Joined: Nov 2006 Gender: Female Posts: 911 Karma: 45
Re: Current news about children in crisis « Reply #61 on Dec 28, 2006, 3:24pm »
I don't think change will happen until it becomes a personal problem for everyone. I am one of those that didn't see the truth until it hit me square in the face. I used to be of the belief that if they had your children... you must have done something wrong. I trusted in our government to keep things legit. I never had cause to research or question the system before. Never really heard anything about it. Don't even know anyone involved with them personally. How do we get the attention of those who still have such a stigma? How do we make it personal for them? Shock!! It's the only thing that really gets to people. We need a tazor that delivers a reality shock and injects the truth. We need to get rid of the stigma that makes us a social outcast and disrespected because of it.
You will never stand taller, than when you stoop to help a child!
Mary Celeste Guest
Re: Current news about children in crisis « Reply #62 on Dec 28, 2006, 4:48pm »
Me too, my family also. I mean if they took your kids theres a reason right! WRONG! I was in shock when they took my child, the shock grew to indignation when I found they didn't want to give him back. My parents to thought oh well, its a mistake, he'll come home. I had to fight like hell, I won but there is a heavy price when you fight a large establishment with unlimited financial resources. Your health, financially, emotionally and your spirit. After you get the added bonus of living in fear for a few years that they'll come back, maybe snatch your child from school. Remember when we used to think the only danger was stranger danger and not the CAS.
Re: Current news about children in crisis « Reply #63 on Dec 28, 2006, 5:44pm »
Re: the request for the picture of the underfeed friend. This is a post mortem picture of baby Jordan , who dies in Toronto at 5 months old while the moder was under the full supervision of CCAS worker in the womens shelter. This picture is not much different the the one Jeffery Baldwin had show on the TV.
As of my knowledge all employees of the shelter and the CCAS worker were negligent in performing their duties to protect this child but no charges were brought against them and they are still on the job.
It's not what you get in life, it's what you do with what you have!
Joined: Nov 2006 Gender: Female Posts: 911 Karma: 45
Re: Current news about children in crisis « Reply #65 on Dec 28, 2006, 9:57pm »
Girl in foster care dies from injuries 2006/12
7 minutes ago
DALLAS - A teenager was arrested in the death of a 6-year-old foster girl he allegedly threw her to the ground at least four times. Now, the state is investigating all foster homes managed by the private agency that placed the girl in the teen‘s home.
The girl, Katherine Frances, died Tuesday from injuries she suffered Sunday. The 14-year-old boy, the son of the foster parents caring for Katherine and her three siblings, was being held in a juvenile detention center on suspicion of murder.
"What we have done is launch an unprecedented intervention effort to address the deaths in homes formerly overseen by Mesa," said Patrick Crimmins, spokesman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. "The plan is designed to ensure the safety of more than 300 children in foster homes in more than 20 Texas counties."
The state stopped placing children in Mesa‘s homes earlier this year after the September death of a 16-month-old girl and the August 2005 death of a 3-year-old girl. Both died of head injuries.
Therapeutic Family Life took over 140 of Mesa‘s foster homes, including the home where Katherine died. On Tuesday, the state suspended Therapeutic from placing more children in its foster homes.
Eli Bell, attorney for Therapeutic Family Life, said the company doesn‘t have much information on what transpired at Katherine‘s foster home.
Katherine and her three siblings had been temporarily removed from the foster home only days before her death. The foster mother had taken Katherine and her 8-year-old sister to a hospital with bruises on Nov. 25. The foster parents told police the girls injured themselves fighting.
The children had been removed from their mother‘s custody in July because state investigators said the mother would leave the children alone, didn‘t provide food for them and had no electricity.
It's not what you get in life, it's what you do with what you have!
Joined: Nov 2006 Gender: Female Posts: 911 Karma: 45
Re: Current news about children in crisis « Reply #66 on Dec 28, 2006, 11:17pm »
States vary on an abused kid's right to a lawyer POSTED: 11:53 a.m. EST, December 26, 2006
CONCORD, New Hampshire (AP) -- When foster parents JoAnn and Kenneth Hamel took in a 2-month-old boy who had been neglected, a judge named a non-lawyer volunteer to serve as the baby's Court Appointed Special Advocate.
The volunteer, trained and supported by CASA of New Hampshire, spent countless hours over three years working with the Hamels and a state caseworker to reunite Damien, first with his mother, then with his father.
His mother, struggling with her own mental health problems, gave up early on. His father worked harder to meet the state's goals, but had a hard time keeping a job and an apartment.
When his visits with Damien became erratic, the state Division of Children, Youth and Families moved to terminate his parental rights and clear the way for the Hamels to adopt the boy. Unable to get an appointment with the division's attorney, the Hamels hired their own lawyer to advise them and protect Damien's interests.
They're glad they did. The judge ruled against the father, and Damien, who had been hitting and biting other children at day care, is now a happy, well-adjusted 4-year-old, Kenneth Hamel said.
Federal law mandates guardians for all abused and neglected children, but does not say they must be lawyers. Whether states require lawyers appears to be a function of population and funding, as much as principle.
Illinois law, for instance, recognizes the challenge of serving large urban areas by requiring lawyers for children in counties with more than 3 million residents, said Sharon Hurwitz, director of CASA of Cook County. The county, which includes Chicago and its suburbs, has about 10,000 children in foster care, all represented by the county Public Guardian's office.
CASA has only enough volunteers to help 600 children at a time, and they generally complement the lawyers' work by investigating complex cases, Hurwitz said.
States differ on what role the child's lawyer should play. Illinois and New Hampshire require attorneys to act as "guardians ad litem." In other words, they are independent fact-finders who advocate for the child's "best interests."
That model is also followed by CASA groups in all 50 states. For example, a 14-year-old girl may want to remain with her mother, even though her stepfather is abusive, but the guardian may recommend foster care.
Other states, including California, require lawyers to represent the child's wishes once the child is old enough to express them. Children as young as 4 can say, "I want to stay with Mommy," said Miriam Krinsky, head of the Children's Law Center of Los Angeles. The children also have a right to attend hearings.
"Children need to feel they've had a voice in the process," and need lawyers "who can put them on an equal footing with the other parties in the courtroom," Krinsky said.
New Hampshire is one of 19 states that does not guarantee lawyers for the victims in child abuse and neglect cases, but a national group aims to change that.
Children whose futures will be decided in court should have the same right to a lawyer as their accused parents, according to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, which recommended in July that states adopt that guarantee. The American Bar Association and the National Association of Counsel for Children agree.
"You're talking about decisions that will determine the quality, safety and direction of a child's life. There's nothing more fundamental," said Ellen Shemitz, president of the New Hampshire Children's Alliance. "A child should be entitled to the same protection of those rights as an adult has."
But some judges and lawyers say children are well-represented by special advocates and state agency lawyers in all but the most complex cases.
Judge Edwin Kelly, head of New Hampshire's family courts, says judges give great weight to the reports and recommendations of CASA volunteers, who usually spend many hours meeting with children and families in their homes and interviewing doctors, counselors, teachers and caregivers.
"Because CASAs are so capable of expressing the interests of the child, it's not as though the child's voice is being unheard," Kelly said.
In New Hampshire, which has about 1.3 million residents, the courts handle about 430 child abuse and neglect or termination of parental rights cases each year.
CASA volunteers represent children in about 70 percent of the cases, and judges appoint lawyers only where volunteers are unavailable. The system appeals to state legislators because the volunteers' services are free, and CASA offices are funded through private grants and donations.
Marcia Sink, president of CASA of New Hampshire, said the system works well because cases rarely become very adversarial.
"There's more a sense of 'Let's work with this family' and trying to put things back together again whenever possible and be successfully reunited, so we're not always looking at this really intense legal battle," she said.
In the Hamels' case, the CASA volunteer "was a true advocate for Damien," but lacked the legal skills to examine witnesses and make her points before a judge, JoAnn Hamel said. The father was entitled by law to a court-appointed attorney, who was well-prepared compared to the overburdened DCYF lawyer, she said.
David Sandberg, staff lawyer for CASA of New Hampshire, believes special advocates often do a better job because they are trained to remain open-minded from beginning to end about what is best for the child.
"If you don your litigation armor, you begin to give that up and you begin to shut down," he said. "You're not listening to the evidence with a truly open mind -- you're listening with an eye to what you're going to ask on cross-examination."
But Howard Davidson, director of the ABA's Center on Children and the Law, said sometimes an adversarial approach is necessary, especially when state agencies are dragging their feet.
"Lawyers can help get their kids out of the system faster," he said. "When kids and families aren't getting the services they need, (lawyers) can file motions and subpoenas to question agency representatives."
The policy debate could end up in court. Many child advocates took heart from last year's ruling by a federal judge in northern Georgia that said abused and neglected children have a state constitutional right to lawyers.
The consent decree in Kenny A. v. Perdue applies in only two counties, but child advocates are sure to use the case as a model for litigation in other states.
It's not what you get in life, it's what you do with what you have!
Joined: Nov 2006 Gender: Female Posts: 911 Karma: 45
Re: Current news about children in crisis « Reply #67 on Dec 28, 2006, 11:52pm »
Thu, December 28, 2006 Mom on run may be in Syria UPDATED: 2006-12-28 02:09:06 MST
Officials speculate city woman wanted for 're-abducting' kids fled Lebanon via illegal crossing
By PABLO FERNANDEZ, CALGARY SUN
Supporters of a mom who allegedly took justice into her own hands by "re-abducting" her children are anxiously awaiting news amid speculation she may have fled Lebanon.
Melissa Hawach is wanted by Lebanese authorities for allegedly kidnapping her children, Hannah, 5, and Cedar, 3, whom she was awarded full custody by Canadian courts.
Lebanese officials speculated the two girls, Melissa and her father may have crossed into Syria via an illegal border crossing.
Although the Canadian Foreign Affairs Department has neither confirmed nor denied the belief, Lebanon's Daily Star is today reporting that, if caught, Melissa will be charged with kidnapping.
The Missing Children Society of Canada supported Hawach's failed legal attempt in Lebanon to get her kids back after her ex-husband -- Lebanese-Australian Joe Hawach -- took them there last summer.
But the society's executive director Rhonda Morgan said the group hasn't received any news of the Calgary mother's whereabouts.
"We're just waiting for word at this point -- waiting just like everybody else," she said.
Foreign Affairs and International Trade, citing privacy issues, disclosed little about consular efforts by the Canadian government in Lebanon to assist Melissa.
The Canadian Embassy has been providing assistance and support to Melissa since this summer, but Foreign Affairs spokesman Rodney Moore could not confirm if help was still being provided to the mom by consular staff.
Moore said Foreign Affairs will aid all Canadians who ask for help, but there is a limit to how much they can do.
"It depends on whether local laws have been transgressed and, of course, if a Canadian is in another country and breaks laws, their laws have to apply," he said.
You will never stand taller, than when you stoop to help a child!
CEthier Guest
Re: Current news about children in crisis « Reply #68 on Dec 29, 2006, 8:30am »
Unfortunately women in Arabic countries have no rights and I are not allowed to even have a passport. They are written in the passport of the husband. Gross.
Speaking of women's rights - York Children's Auid Society is on the same page here - a professional woman is deemed to be cleaner to a man , supressed and treated as a slave upon the Society written request because she was born in another country. Ms. Erin Satoor put her signature on drafted by her racist agreement. Expecting it to be taken to Human Rights Tribunal soon.
Re: Current news about children in crisis « Reply #69 on Dec 29, 2006, 12:24pm »
Cathy..I have a girl that needs some help with what to be asking from the CAS in the files as she will be reping herself..email me ok Dean has my email and will give it to you ok..thanks
I can not be of much help in telling what one can ask. The CAS wont talk to me , wont respond my mail , etc.
There were serve from the Human Rights Commission, but it will take like 3-4 years to take the case to Human Rights Tribunal.
Meanwhile Executive Director McNamara is playing "hide" , I guess that he is hoping to resign or be kicked out by the time this case goes to the tribunal. Guess what. I had named him personally in my complaint for violations under multiple gropunds and Board of Directors and Executives still share liabilities even if they hide behide the Corporate veil.
It is my opinion that he is trying to get as much $$$$ as he can and blow. He does not behave as a person that is interested in resolving issues or helping children.
Re: Current news about children in crisis « Reply #72 on Dec 29, 2006, 10:09pm »
On www.fixcas.com in their current news it looks like the Government is with holding bill 88 and pushing for bill 165 that will let only an advocate look into the CAS not the Ombudsman. The letter that Rob McQuade got back from the Government does not include mother or father as parents to the children
Re: Current news about children in crisis « Reply #73 on Dec 29, 2006, 10:41pm »
Thank you Cathy..I forward the info to her and I'm sure she will phone you, you know which files you got and those Lotus 123 notes also maybe explain to her what they are and how to ask for them and why she is requesting them..she has very little time left before her kid is made a automatic crownward under the new rules..
Re: Current news about children in crisis « Reply #74 on Dec 30, 2006, 8:38am »
I don't know anything about crown wardship
The CAS made application for 3 moths CAS ward. When I listen the interview with the parents of Jaffrey Baldwin , they said that the CAS played the same tacktic to them. They were coersed because they were young to get a break and the CAS took the child for 3 months , then this was extended and so on.
I believe that Jeffrey was autistic. This is an inpairment of the nervous system. He banged his had and had behavioral problems. I believe that he would not eat, which is not an excuse that the grandparents did not do anything about it. It seem they did not act out of fear from the CAS.
I believe that in court was shown a distourted story of what actually happened because the crawn wanted a conviction to move on. The gradnmother was already assessed as having lack of intelligence. She was probably mentally sick and was unfit to stand on trial. Because these people were NOBODY , noone bothered to argue the case for them. By the very same reason the crown did not even bother to soupena the CAS employees to testify under ought. This is NOT an excuse about what Jeffreys grandparents did.
I believe that Jeffrey's muther remain unpunished and I dissaprove the tactics being used by the crown.
![[Home]](http://s2.images.proboards.com/menu/home.gif "[Home]")
![[New Topics]](http://s2.images.proboards.com/menu/topics.png "[New Topics]")
![[Help]](http://s2.images.proboards.com/menu/help.gif "[Help]")
![[Search]](http://s2.images.proboards.com/menu/search.gif "[Search]")
![[Calendar]](http://s2.images.proboards.com/menu/calendar.gif "[Calendar]")
![[Login]](http://s2.images.proboards.com/menu/login.gif "[Login]")
![[Register]](http://s2.images.proboards.com/menu/register.gif "[Register]")
![[Live Chat]](http://s2.images.proboards.com/menu/chat.gif "[Live Chat]")
![[Search This Thread]](http://s2.images.proboards.com/search2.gif "[Search This Thread]")
![[Reply]](http://s2.images.proboards.com/buttons/reply.gif "[Reply]")
![[Send Topic To Friend]](http://s2.images.proboards.com/buttons/sendtopic.gif "[Send Topic To Friend]")
![[Print]](http://s2.images.proboards.com/buttons/print.gif "[Print]")
Author
![[avatar]](http://www.avatarist.com/avatars/Cartoons/South-Park/Oh-my-god-they-killed-Kenny.gif "[avatar]")
![[msn]](http://s2.images.proboards.com/msn.gif "[msn]")
![[Quote]](http://s2.images.proboards.com/buttons/quote.gif "[Quote]")
Logged
![[avatar]](http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q89/bammaspics/30-10-06_1246.jpg "[avatar]")
![[image]](http://files.blog-city.com/files/aa/37236/p/f/jordan_heikamp.jpg "[image]")