Say you work for a county sheriff's department and you suspect that a couple is growing marijuana in their home. But you don't have enough evidence to get a search warrant. As Karl Malden used to say in those American Express commercials: What will do you – what will you do?
The dilemma arose in Sarasota County, Florida. And Sheriff's deputies there came up with what they thought was the perfect answer: Pretend they were from the one government agency to which that pesky Fourth Amendment never seems to apply. Pretend to be from the agency that can enter any home based on no more than an anonymous telephone tip. Pretend to be from an agency so powerful that, even if technically, people have the right to refuse, they'd be too terrified to invoke it.
Yes, that's right. The deputies pretended to be from child protective services, in this case, the Florida Department of Children and Families, and they pretended to be looking not for pot, but for child abuse.
According to the Sarasota Herald Tribune, the deputies told the couple they were investigating an anonymous tip about a child living in unfit conditions – and, they said, the couple had no right to refuse them entry.
It was all a lie, but once inside they found enough evidence to get a warrant, ultimately they found marijuana plants and drug paraphernalia. A circuit judge has ruled that illegal – and thrown out the tainted evidence. Because, after all, adults have Fourth Amendment rights.
But not children. Laws and court decisions vary from state to state, but as a practical matter, even if, technically, a parent can refuse entry to a child protective services worker, as a practical matter she'll just run to court, claim that the refusal itself puts the child in imminent danger and get the court not only to let her in, but also to take away the children. (Indeed, she may not even need to go to court – she could simply exercise her "emergency" power to declare the child endangered, call the cops to let her in, and then leave with the child.)
According to the Sarasota Herald Tribune, the deputies told the couple they were investigating an anonymous tip about a child living in unfit conditions – and, they said, the couple had no right to refuse them entry.
It was all a lie, but once inside they found enough evidence to get a warrant, ultimately they found marijuana plants and drug paraphernalia. A circuit judge has ruled that illegal – and thrown out the tainted evidence. Because, after all, adults have Fourth Amendment rights.
But not children. Laws and court decisions vary from state to state, but as a practical matter, even if, technically, a parent can refuse entry to a child protective services worker, as a practical matter she'll just run to court, claim that the refusal itself puts the child in imminent danger and get the court not only to let her in, but also to take away the children. (Indeed, she may not even need to go to court – she could simply exercise her "emergency" power to declare the child endangered, call the cops to let her in, and then leave with the child.)
In Florida, state law instructs caseworkers to simply run to court (or seek "other legal authority," whatever that is) whenever a family won't let them in. Judges are practically invited to rubber-stamp those requests. There is no requirement to show "probable cause" as there would be if, say, police wanted to search a home in connection with the murder of a child by a stranger. Nothing more than the existence of the investigation itself is required to force children to endure traumatic investigations, stripsearches as investigators or medical personnel look for bruises, and, quite possibly, removal from everyone they know and love.
At least one Florida judge has made clear that he will gladly order children subjected to any or all of this based on nothing more than a caseworker's say-so. Indeed, the judge, James Seals, did just that, in a case where the trauma inflicted on the children by his decision probably was exceptionally severe.
The case involved the family of six-year-old Coralrose Fullwood, who was raped and murdered. After the murder, Coralrose's parents and siblings moved into the home of grandparents. The parents were suspects at the time (someone else ultimately was charged). But instead of removing the parents from that home, DCF removed the children – without even giving them a chance to say goodbye. At precisely the time they needed the comfort of family most, while grieving for their sister, it was torn from them.
The grandfather understood that. A former police officer himself, he called his lawyer, who told him he didn't have to let the DCF workers in without a court order.
So they ran to Seals, who promptly obliged – and made clear his view that DCF always is entitled to enter a home based on no more than the fact that someone called the state hotline and the hotline passed on the case for investigation.
Seals even sent an e-mail to 12 people who serve with him on a "court-media committee." In the e-mail he is critical of the grandparents – but he asked the recipients, including the journalists, to keep secret the fact that he was speaking out on a case he'd heard – and criticizing one of the parties.
The largest paper in the region, the Fort Myers News-Press obliged; indeed, the News-Press even parroted Seals' view as its own in an editorial. Fortunately the Charlotte Sun, which apparently was not on the original distribution list, was not inclined to let Seals criticize the grandparents while hiding behind anonymity.
The Sun reported that in the e-mail Judge Seals explained that the law requires DCF to investigate any complaint forwarded by the hotline, and to see the child. "DCF does not have to present the judge with evidence that the children were actually being harmed," Seals wrote. "The only showing required was that they were denied access to the children."
So, if someone phones in an anonymous, off-the-wall complaint to the hotline and the hotline passes it on, according to Judge Seals, DCF need not have probable cause – or any real cause – to enter the home. Fourth Amendment? What Fourth Amendment?
No wonder those Sheriff's deputies were envious. They can't go to court and say "Your honor, we don't actually have a shred of evidence these people are growing pot in their house, but give us a warrant anyway." They couldn't even do that in search of a child murderer.
Fortunately, in the case of Coralrose Fullwood's siblings, a day after they were removed a wiser judge in another county ordered them returned to their grandparents – and ordered the parents removed instead.
The Florida Department of Children and Families is a wiser, more restrained agency than it was in 2006 but self-restraint is no substitute for due process.
This latest case in Sarasota really is one more reminder that every state needs a law barring the child welfare agency from entering a home without a warrant (or the same "exigent circumstances" exceptions as apply in a criminal case) and a clause specifying that judges may not use denial of entry to a child protective services worker as grounds to order the removal of a child, and may not use the mere existence of an investigation as grounds to force a family to allow a CPS worker in.
I'm sure my fellow liberals will cheer the decision to throw out the tainted evidence in the marijuana case. If only they were equally willing to realize that "children's rights" should include the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.
Maybe forcing our "representatives" into their own nightmare system will change their point of view.
Subject:
Fw: VOTE!! PLEASE READ and THEN PASS THIS FAR AND WIDE
Date:
Thu, 3 Dec 2009 00:05:05 -0600
From:
Marlene Jones <jonesma@...>
If you care about what the government is doing regarding healthcare and the laws they're trying to pass, then this is for you.
PLEASE PASS THIS FAR AND WIDE,
THIS WILL BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT
Please read and act, only takes a minute!
On Tuesday, the Senate health committee voted 12-11 in favor of a two-page amendment courtesy of SenatorTom Coburn that would require all Members and their staffs to enroll in any new government-run health plan.
It took me less than a minute to sign up to require our congressmen and senators to drink at the same trough!
Three cheers for Congressman John Fleming of Louisiana!
Congressman John Fleming ( Louisiana physician) has proposed an amendment that would require congressmen and senators to take the same healthcare plan they force on us (under proposed legislation they are curiously exempt).
If this is so good for the people then our government should be required to take advantage of it, too.
Please urge as many people as you can to do the same!
If Congress forces this on the American people, the Congressmen should have to accept the same level of health care for themselves and their families. To do otherwise is the height of hypocrisy!
In my previous story "71% Angry at Federal Government" I was tossing the term "Trillions" around as if I (or anybody else) remotely comprehend what a "trillion" of ANYTHING is.
Politicians talk figures in Millions, Billions, and Trillions all the time. Without batting an eye. Seriously, I think they are sight readers who convert words into sounds without thinking. They HAVE to be. FULL STORY
It's time to demand improvement
By The Oregonian Editorial Board
November 18, 2009, 4:11PM
State reports show the Washington County field office is not keeping up
with Multnomah and Clackamas in protecting abused children
Every
now and then, something happens that illustrates, once again, the
potentially life-saving value of turning the flood lights on state
agencies, in particularly the child foster care system. Did you know,
for instance, that Washington County's field office has the worst
record in the state for protecting children in foster care?
Now Oregonians have that information, thanks to a monthly tracking
system called the "Dashboard
Report,"
put in place by the state Department of Human Services. It's at not
necessarily easy to find, but it's there -- and it allows supervisors,
employees and members of the public to compare Oregon's 16
child-welfare district field offices.
This comparison of data
shows that the Washington County field office lags behind its peers. In
October, workers failed to check up on more than 400 kids in foster
care.
Just a fluke? It doesn't appear to be one. The
Oregonian's Michelle Cole analyzed nearly two years' worth of Dashboard
Reports. In 19 of the past 23 months, she found that the Washington
County office was the worst performer. When it didn't come in last, it
came in near the bottom.
On average, Oregon field offices
respond quickly nearly 81 percent of the time to reports of suspected
abuse. That sounds good, until you learn that the goal is to respond
promptly 100 percent of the time.
Clackamas County's response
rate is right around the state average, 81 percent. Multnomah County's
is under the average at 76 percent. But Washington County's is 68
percent. That is clearly unacceptable.
The Washington County
office deviates even more from the state standard that calls for
visiting every foster child within a 30-day period. On average, state
case workers make that crucial visit 79 percent of the time. In
Washington County, it's under 63 percent.
This discrepancy
cries out for an answer: Why would one metro county child-welfare field
office be that much different in its performance than another district
office?
True, the county's explosive growth and diversity are
complicating factors. New staff members have been hired to address the
workload, but training takes time. But one "reason" some officials gave
for the discrepancy qualifies more as an excuse than anything else.
They noted that Washington County covers a large geographic area,
making travel between foster homes and families extra time-consuming.
Please.
Sure, distances are long and traffic is bad everywhere. But, for the
record, Washington County is 727 square miles. Clackamas County is more
than twice as large -- 1,879 square miles.
OK, maybe there are
other reasons for the discrepancy that have not yet come to light. Day
in, day out, we know that our state's foster care system is neither as
bad as the horror stories and headlines suggest, nor as good as any of
us -- including the child-welfare workers themselves -- want it to be.
Closely
tracking the data from field offices doesn't illuminate exactly what's
wrong, why it's wrong or how, precisely, it can be fixed. But it does
flush the problem out into the open.
Thanks to the state's
aptly-named "Dashboard Reports," Washington County is now in the
headlights. There can be no evasion. We all know exactly where
improvement is needed.
November 20 has been designated “Children’s Day” by the internationalists. But what greater way to support children than to protect their families? So, we’re celebrating Children’s Day with a Parental Rights Rally in Washington, D.C.
The rally will be held at the U.S. Capitol, on the East Lawn across from the Rayburn House Office building. It is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with several very special guests invited to speak, including Rep. Peter Hoekstra and Sen. Jim DeMint, the lead sponsors of the Parental Rights Amendment; Gerard Robinson with Black Alliance for Educational Options; William Estrada of Homeschool Legal Defense Association; Dean and Julie Nelson of National Black Home Educators; and Steven Groves of Heritage Foundation.
We know most of you won’t be able to come all the way to D.C. If you are among those who can, give us a call at 540-751-1200 for further details or directions.
Tell Us YOUR Story
Too many Americans – including congressmen – think the proposed Amendment is just about stopping the Convention on the Rights of the Child. But threats to parental rights are already going on in our nation today. You have seen them. You have experienced them, and we need to hear from you.
Have you: been harassed about your child’s school attendance? Had your child immunized without your consent? Been harassed for your decision over whether to immunize your child or not? Been denied your child’s library records? Had to fight to (or been refused to) opt your child out of specific classes, activities, or events at school? Been harassed for opting them out? Been denied access to your child’s health records, or been kept from staying with them at the doctor’s office? Had your child subjected to health screenings, drug tests, etc., without your knowledge or consent? Had your child obtain an abortion or birth-control prescription without your knowledge or consent? Received threats or had your child removed by social services without cause and a fair trial?
Please, email us at stories@... with a brief description of your run-in with parental rights limitations. (Remember, we will have to read every email sent in, so brevity will be greatly appreciated. We can always write you back if we need more information!) And pass this email along to anyone you know whose parental rights may have been violated, so that they will know to share their story with us, too!
Join the Network
If you're not already on our email network (for instance, if this email was forwarded to you), click here to sign up for this weekly newsletter and/or action alert items regarding parental rights.
House CoSponsors
To date H.J. Res. 42 has 126 cosponsors in the U.S. House. Click here to see if your Rep. has signed on!
Senate CoSponsors
The Amendment (S.J.Res. 16) today has 6 sponsors in the Senate. See our Sponsors List.
Become a Member
Your donation of just $25 or more will enable us to do more toward passing the Parental Rights Amendment, and we will send you two window decals so you can proudly display your support for the cause. Click here to support parental rights.
LARRY JAMES HANSHEW, SUI JURIS Web: http://www.actnowinc.net E-mail: http://www.actnowinc@... Phone: *82-(949)-548-0403 group http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ncp-ca-orange
----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Rally Congress <chris@...> To: actnowinc@... Sent: Mon, November 9, 2009 4:34:21 PM Subject: Order Confirmation: Hand Deliver Letter to Congress
Hand Deliver Your Letter to Congress
Larry James, thanks for taking action on behalf of fight cps.
A charge to "RALLYCONGRESS.COM" will appear on your credit card statement for the amount of $9.00. The Transaction ID is #1430801.
Rally Congress will shortly print and deliver your letters to Capitol Hill.
An individual copy of your letter will go to each official:
November 9, 2009
Dear Sen. Barbara Boxer (D CA), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D CA), Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R CA-46),
Nationwide, there are State run agencies who are supposed to be protecting abused children in dangerous situations. Each State has many different titles for them. All of them are main stapled as CPS (Child Protective Services). For example, in Texas they're known as DFPS. (Department of Family and Protective Services)
While there is an important need to find abused children and to protect them, the current system is only finding a small percentage of those truly abused children. The rest of their statistics that guarantee a high departmental income are from families who never abused their children. Where they get this income and the sources of information will be posted after the next paragraph.
I am calling for an
abolishment of CPS. What I am petitioning for is an overhaul and restructure to bring them in line with lawful investigation practices, to maintain Constitutional Rights and proper training for Agents who never had children, and psychological evaluations to find and replace the Agents who were themselves abused as Children and see abuse in every home regardless of the situation. This is not, I repeat, not a rare occurrence. I will supply statistics to support this and how this has escalated. I will also supply the sources.
Departmental income has become more important to CPS and their offices than actually finding abused children and protecting them. Each and every time they remove a child from the home, they get paid from the Federal Government. Here they are:
1. Public Law 93-247 known as the Mondale Act of 1974.[CAPTA ACT]
2. Public Law 96-272 known as the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980
3. Social
Security Title IV-E funds.
The ASFA- Public Law 105-89 known as American Safe Families Act of 1997 is one of the most horrific laws on the books today. While it sounds nice in the title, when you get through the legal jargon, what this means is so wrong. If you ever had a child removed from your house by CPS, even UNFOUNDED and you are innocent, they will take that child in minutes after the child is born! Babies are highly adoptable and the Federal Government pays out $6,000 to the CPS office who conducts the legal kidnapping and gets them adopted quickly without regards to the biological Mother and her family. Since she was investigated once, they do this in the "best interests of the child" as she is a "potential" abuser.
The largest targeted type of families are folks with low incomes, children on SSI and are minorities. If you even have one of those three issues, you are a target for CPS to illegally investigate you. While these
things are a surefire magnet, they have been known to do illegal investigations against families if they were reported falsely with malicious intent. Example is an ex-wife wants to get even with her ex-husband and his new family, she could report them and put them through Hell.
Why are the reasons CPS Agents actually find so little true abuse?
1. Agents who never had children and don't understand that a few toys in the corner of the room is not a hazardous mess.
2. Agents are not trained in real evidence recognition. In fact, no Agent in CPS has any training in evidence, the Constitution or criminal justice. They are given anywhere from 3 to 6 months of training, being taught that it is ok to break into a Home without probable cause or exigent circumstances.
3. Agents are trained to use subjective speculation and not objective factual reporting.
4. The Agents do not get psychological evaluations. A number of Agents who
were abused as a child themselves see abuse in every home they go into, even if it's not there.
5. Most States do not require Agents to have a degree in Social Sciences. Any degree will do, doesn't even have to be related to the field.
6. The Agency has no checks and balances. A field Agent can lie to a judge or police officer with absolutely no proof and have it entered as factual evidence in a court of law!
7. Agents are trained to believe they are immune from the authority of the First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, Fifth Amendment, Sixth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment. They violate this in every investigation done nationwide.
Here are the statistics and sources to support these facts:
Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the United States. These numbers come from The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN) in Washington.
CPS- Physical Abuse (160) Sexual Abuse (112) Neglect (410) Medical
Neglect (14) Fatalities (6.4)
Parents- Physical Abuse (59) Sexual Abuse (13) Neglect (241) Medical Neglect (12) Fatalities (1.5)
As you can see, children are abused far more in care than at home. The calculated average is for every 1 abused child removed from an abusive home, there are 17 unabused children removed from loving non-offending homes nationwide.
Constitutional Violations and Court Rulings that CPS Ignores to this very day!
1. It's unconstitutional for CPS to conduct an investigation and interview a child on private property without exigent circumstances or probable cause. - Doe et al, v. Heck et al (No. 01-3648, 2003 US App. Lexis 7144)
2. All CPS workers in the United States are subject to the 4th and 14th Amendment - Walsh v. Erie County Dept. of Job and Family Services, 3:01-cv-7588
3. Police officers and social workers are not immune for coercing or forcing entry into a person's home without a
search warrant. Calabretta v. Floyd (9th Cir. 1999)
4. The mere possibility of danger does not constitute an emergency or exigent circumstance that would justify a forced warrantless entry and a warrantless seizure of a child. Hurlman v. Rice (2nd Cir. 1991)
5. Police officer and social worker may not conduct a warrantless search or seizure in a suspected child abuse case absent exigent circumstances. Defendants must have reason to believe that life or limb is in immediate jeopardy and that the intrusion is reasonable necessary to alleviate the threat. Searches and seizures in investigation of a child neglect or child abuse case at a home are governed by the same principles as other searches and seizures at a home. Goodv. Dauphin County Social Services (3rd Cir. 1989)
6. The Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures extends beyond criminal investigations and includes conduct by social workers in the
context of a child neglect/abuse investigation. Lenz v. Winburn (11th Cir. 1995)
7. Making false statements made to obtain a warrant, when the false statements were necessary to the finding of probable cause on which the warrant was based, violates the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement. Aponte Matos v. Toledo Davilla (1st Cir. 1998)
What can be done to change this for a better, more healthy Child Protection System?
I. Child Abuse is a Crime, not a touchy feely civil complaint and should be investigated as a crime.
II. Have the abuse allegations investigated by a Detective or Police Officer, who are trained for this as a career, whereas CPS workers are not. All investigations are joint ones with said Officers of the Law and with warrants properly issues under probable cause.
III. Re-train Agents to respect and obey the laws of the Constitution of the United States. If a family is guilty of abuse, a legal
investigation will find it.
IV. Repeal the Mondale Act, Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act, Title IV-E rewards to CPS from Social Security and the American Safe Families Act. Remember, they are not what the title sounds like and has been the root core of many loving homes losing their children to a system that will abuse them.
V. Make CPS legally investigate those who sign up to be foster parents. They do not do this today, and many foster parent who want the money for fostering them are actually child abusers who never get caught!
VI. All interviews to be audio and video recorded just like it happens with the police!
VII. Hold CPS Agents and foster parents and the records keeper responsible for every child who vanishes or dies in their care for their location.
VIII. Also investigate the person or persons reporting the abuse, and if done maliciously with intent to disrupt a family, prosecute the reporter to the
fullest extent of the Law regarding making false claims to Government Agencies to affect an unnecessary and costly investigation.
IX. Abuse is a Crime, guarantee the accused retain their right to face their accusers in a court of law. As the system currently is, this is not done.
X. The Children are to be tracked on a weekly basis, so no more children vanish in the system.
XI. If a disabled, mentally retarded or sick Child is put into Foster Care, the Child's current Physician will need to provide a copy of the diagnosis and treatment, and medications, if any, will be provided as prescribed by the Physician. All appointments must be kept while in Foster Care. Any violations without a very good reason will result in the Foster Parents losing their certification for Foster Care.
XII. If a Foster Child dies while in Foster Care, there will be an Investigation by the FBI and all parties responsible for the Death of a Child will
be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
XIII. There will be a National Database where all known abusers are recorded and can be accessed by Law Enforcement. Everyone who is found not guilty won't have their Convictions and Abuse Reports listed. It will be illegal to keep records of any sort on innocent individuals or families. If they are convicted in a court of law by a jury of their peers, then the report of abuse they are guilty of will be the only report listed.
Currently, none of this is done, and innocent families who are not guilty of anything are losing their Children based on the word of others where there is no burden of proof for Prosecution, for the sake of getting Federal Funds for tens of thousands of dollars. The few truly abused children are ending up in a system where they are worse off than where they came from, even to the extent of being killed. Also, the innocent children who are never abused are also
killed.
Injustice against one American is injustice against all Americans. Help us put the Justice back into Child Protective Services and get them focused on finding and saving abused children. It's time we removed them from the profitable business of tearing loving non-offending families apart.
Families should not fear government, rather government should fear FAMILIES! For it has long been held that we will be governed ONLY so far, then "it's ON!". Further more I am working on a "complete BAN ON CPS!". FOR THE PENALTIES HANDED OUT VIA CPS,SUFFERED BY CHILDREN & PARENTS FAR EXCEEDS THAT OF A CRIMINAL NATURE!{TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS = MURDER OF THE FAMILY}, SO IT'S SAFE TO SAY THEY HAVE MANAGED TO SQUEEZE IN THE DEATH PENALITY, WITHOUT A CHARGE OR CRIME? HOW CAN A RIGHT BE TERMINATED? WHAT PART OF RIGHTS SHALL NOT BE INFRENGED, DO THEY NOT UNDERSTAND? NIETHER I OR THEM CAN WAIVE RIGHTS, WHY, BECAUSE THE CONSTITUTION PROTECTS
THEM PERIOD. NEVER ASK FOR YOUR RIGHTS, INFORCE THEM AT ALL COST!..............L.J. HANSHEW, SUI JURIS
Sincerely, Hon. Larry James Hanshew, Sui Juris 2148 Newport Blvd, #G 1 G 1 Costa Mesa, CA 92627-1710
On Tuesday, October 7, 2008 Lame Duck George W. Bush signed into law the Orwellian-named Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act.
Among several things, the act....
-Allowing states to provide foster care supports and services to young people up to age 21. Translation- Collect their Social Security for three more years before dumping them on the street with no education, no skills.
LARRY JAMES HANSHEW, SUI JURIS Web: http://www.actnowinc.net E-mail: http://www.actnowinc@... Phone: *82-(949)-548-0403 group http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ncp-ca-orange
----- Forwarded Message ---- From: J Perez <contact@...> To: J Perez <contact@...> Sent: Wed, November 4, 2009 7:13:11 PM Subject: FW: Make a phone call to stop CAPTA
We need a good 17 thousand phone calls like we did with texas.
From: Carlene Eye [mailto:carlene@...] Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 5:56 PM To: Kathy Winters Subject: Make a phone call to stop CAPTA
The Congressional Education and Labor subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities is conducting a hearing on the reauthorization of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) tomorrow, November 5th.
You can reach the subcommittee members by calling the capitol switchboard, at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to one of the followingSubcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities members:
--- On Thu, 11/5/09, Leonard Henderson <leonard@...> wrote:
From: Leonard Henderson <leonard@...> Subject: [a_voice_for_children] CAPTA up for reauthorization To: Undisclosed-Recipient@... Date: Thursday, November 5, 2009, 3:41 PM
CAPTA up for reauthorization Nov 5, 2009
We just heard (email we received) that CAPTA is up for reauthorization this year.
So many times in the past, this rotten thing has been sneaked past us. In 2003, we found out about it after it passed. We swore it would never happen again. For those who don't know, CAPTA is the grandmother of this present insane fascist nightmare of out-of-control CPS agencies and unconstitutional Family Courts in the United States.
We did find THIS at the National Center for State Courts-
Child welfare
Issue: CAPTA Reauthorization
Impact: The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) is a source of funding for certain court programs and is the primary source of prevention funds for child welfare agencies. The eligibility requirements for states to access these funds have been used to dictate state policy and procedure.
Position: No current position, but state court leaders supported reauthorization the last time the Act was reauthorized
Summary:The authorization for the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) expired 9/30/08. The 111th Congress will be considering CAPTA reauthorization in 2009.
CAPTA provides discretionary grant funds to public agencies and non-profit providers and formula grants to states for child abuse prevention and treatment programs. The range of projects that can be funded under CAPTA is quite broad. For example, the discretionary funding can be used for developing kinship care programs, visitation centers for court-ordered supervised visitation between abused children and their parents, visitation centers for the safe exchange of children for visits with non-custodial parents in domestic violence cases, and collaborative efforts to identify cases needing intensive supervision. CAPTA also provides competitive grants to states for programs relating to the investigation and prosecution of child abuse and neglect cases.
Status: In 2008, the National Child Abuse Coalition submitted recommendations to Congress regarding revisions to the CAPTA. Most of their
recommendations were non-controversial and would not impact state courts. However, one recommendation was to add a requirement on states to appoint an attorney representing each foster child’s legal interests, in addition to the existing requirement that a guardian ad litem be appointed for each foster child to represent the child’s best interests.
COSCA members were surveyed to determine current state practice related to representation of children. The survey results indicate that the appointment of a second attorney for foster children will have a significant financial impact on the states. Concern about the financial impact on states was conveyed to the National Child Abuse Coalition and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee staff.
The Senate HELP Committee staff circulated draft reauthorization language in early June 2009. The draft did not include the provision mandating appointment of a second person to provide legal representation. A letter was submitted to HELP Committee leadership on behalf of CCJ/COSCA. APHSA and NCSL also have a concern regarding a new unfunded mandate.
The legislation is on hold until health care reform legislation is resolved. The House is expected to defer action until after legislation is filed in the Senate.
We just heard (email we received) that CAPTA is up for reauthorization this year.
So many times in the past, this rotten thing has been sneaked past us. In 2003, we found out about it after it passed. We swore it would never happen again. For those who don't know, CAPTA is the grandmother of this present insane fascist nightmare of out-of-control CPS agencies and unconstitutional Family Courts in the United States.
We did find THIS at the National Center for State Courts-
Child welfare
Issue: CAPTA Reauthorization
Impact: The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) is a source of funding for certain court programs and is the primary source of prevention funds for child welfare agencies. The eligibility requirements for states to access these funds have been used to dictate state policy and procedure.
Position: No current position, but state court leaders supported reauthorization the last time the Act was reauthorized
Summary:The authorization for the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) expired 9/30/08. The 111th Congress will be considering CAPTA reauthorization in 2009.
CAPTA provides discretionary grant funds to public agencies and non-profit providers and formula grants to states for child abuse prevention and treatment programs. The range of projects that can be funded under CAPTA is quite broad. For example, the discretionary funding can be used for developing kinship care programs, visitation centers for court-ordered supervised visitation between abused children and their parents, visitation centers for the safe exchange of children for visits with non-custodial parents in domestic violence cases, and collaborative efforts to identify cases needing intensive supervision. CAPTA also provides competitive grants to states for programs relating to the investigation and prosecution of child abuse and neglect cases.
Status: In 2008, the National Child Abuse Coalition submitted recommendations to Congress regarding revisions to the CAPTA. Most of their recommendations were non-controversial and would not impact state courts. However, one recommendation was to add a requirement on states to appoint an attorney representing each foster child’s legal interests, in addition to the existing requirement that a guardian ad litem be appointed for each foster child to represent the child’s best interests.
COSCA members were surveyed to determine current state practice related to representation of children. The survey results indicate that the appointment of a second attorney for foster children will have a significant financial impact on the states. Concern about the financial impact on states was conveyed to the National Child Abuse Coalition and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee staff.
The Senate HELP Committee staff circulated draft reauthorization language in early June 2009. The draft did not include the provision mandating appointment of a second person to provide legal representation. A letter was submitted to HELP Committee leadership on behalf of CCJ/COSCA. APHSA and NCSL also have a concern regarding a new unfunded mandate.
The legislation is on hold until health care reform legislation is resolved. The House is expected to defer action until after legislation is filed in the Senate.