Posted on 03/03/2004 3:39:07 PM PST by SheLion
PORTLAND — A group of Maine mothers whose children have been taken into state custody say they will hold a rally next week to protest what they call flaws in the state's child protective services.
Two groups say they are planning to rally Monday outside Portland's Department of Human Services building.
Portland Organizing to Win Economic Rights and the Maine Alliance for DHS Accountability and Reform say false allegations and financial incentives to get children adopted drive DHS to break up families.
Kerri Shannon of Addison, whose son and daughter were removed by the state in 2003, said she plans to attend the rally.
"I hope (state officials) will see the light and reopen some of these cases and change how DHS does things," Shannon said.
DHS denies the parents' allegations. The agency says fewer children are taken from their parents now than were several years ago, and there has been a five percent annual reduction in the number of children in state care.
DHS defenders say a lack of resources means caseworkers are overworked and sometimes make mistakes.
But such arguments have done little to sway parents, who organized a group called "Mothers of the Disappeared" after five-year-old Logan Marr died at the hands of her foster mother in Jan. 2001.
The parents want DHS reforms including reviews of cases where parents say they never abused their children, and help for families that can't afford expert testimony when fighting for parental rights in the courts.
"The welfare of the child does not seem to be the goal anymore," said Mary Callahan, a Lisbon foster parent who leads the Maine Alliance for DHS Accountability.
"The children are taken from homes where they have not been hurt," she said. "But someone saw potential for harm somewhere down the line and put them into a system where they're guaranteed to be hurt."
A spokesman for Gov. John Baldacci said the governor's plan to merge DHS with the Department of Behavioral Services will make the agency more "family-friendly and accountable." The governor wants to acknowledge the good work DHS does but also look at ways we need to improve in how we deal with people," Lee Umphrey said.
Lucky Hollander is vice president of advocacy and prevention services at Youth Alternatives, an agency that provides case management services to DHS. She said protesters have many valid points but are squandering their energy by targeting DHS instead of aiming for a systemic commitment to strengthening families.
"You have to see a bigger picture than the big bad guys at DHS," she said.
The rally will be followed by an "Unfair Fair," at the Chestnut Street Church, which will include a screening of the Frontline documentary about the Logan Marr case and a candlelight prayer vigil.
No one is safe anywhere...
Guaranteed. But I just question the way the state can just go into a person's home and remove the children. If there is proven abuse and drugs present, I can understand wanting to protect the children.
But my question is: is the state just yanking kids out of homes for the money, with no proof of actual child abuse? It's a double edge sword, IMHO.
This is MR.B.
I've been working on this issue with Mary Callahan and a good guy from the other side of the aisle .
Mary lives in my district and is a real nice person, and she has a lot of tenacity and creativity.
Last Saturday, we met with the nominee for the Commissioner of the new agency that will be created when DHS and the department of mental health are merged, John Nicholas.
We told him we had heard psychologists and clients alike speak of threats of retribution from the DHS, he said that he will not tolerate that kind of tactic.
He has no kinship with the DHS culture and is an award winning state budget officer, all fiscal business, all the time.
I will post a copy of the statement from MADAR and POWER.
MR.B
In recent months, many of these cases have affected our members and thus compelled us to speak out and get involved. Federal and State governments have created perverse financial incentives that reward social service agencies for destroying families. Families are not informed of their rights, and when they do try to defend themselves against DHS, a lack of finances further stacks the deck against them. The checks and balances that exist in almost any other area of law do not exist here, with confidentiality laws and complete immunity from prosecution protecting one side - the DHS - and little or nothing protecting the other side - the families.
Furthermore, families with children in the system are terrified by reports of ongoing abuse in foster care. There is a disturbing tendency to cover up these issues rather than expose and correct them. Academic studies and lawsuit "case readings" around the country show that official statistics concerning abuse in foster care vastly underestimate the problem. Those who step forward to report abuse in foster care face retaliation.
We are aware of and support recent efforts to improve the system with family team meetings, but we believe this to be too small an effort and one that will prove to be short-lived without more basic, fundamental changes. The system will not return to its original intent, that of protecting children, unless and until financial incentives stop rewarding the patent destruction of families. Moreover, we must create a system that is as fair to the poor as it is to the rich. Checks and balances insuring due process for families, transparent decision-making, and consistent standards are just some of the necessary elements required of such a system. We commit ourselves to join in this process.
We call for:
1) Removal of the perverse financial incentives that rewards breaking up families.
2) Real citizens review boards to oversee DHS agencies and hold officials accountable for wrongdoing.
3) Review of all cases where un-abused children have been removed from families.
4) Due process, including access to independent experts for all families who are faced with termination of parental rights.
MR.B
I sure am thankful for forums like this that get information out there so others can be aware! And I appreciate your input very much!!!
The usual mantra about not enough money being thrown at them.
And if even more tax dollars were shoveled in the direction of DHS, it would only result in more otherwise unemployable busybodies and amateur psychologists being let loose upon the citizenry.
Departments will be merged, bureaucrats will be reassigned, but the underlying approach will remain the same, barring real systemic change.
I don't see the change happening in the near future, in Democrat-dominated Maine where nanny-statism is the only growth industry.
I wish these groups good luck, they've got a heck of a fight ahead of them.
Personally, I don't like the "control" that is given to this Coalition! What they say goes, and there is no Maine Rep that will go up against them.
from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Now......where is this money going??!!
Said another way, "Everywhere the same." So-called "child protective" services do not have a good record of success, but they do have power.
I put this in email to a Representative I talk to a lot. This person used to be on the committee at DHS and was asking too many questions to the point of being re-assigned to another committee. So.........there really IS a chipmunk in the woodpile here.
It's going to Joe Ditre and Michelle Small, bigtime proponents of single payer (socialilzed medicine) to fight the implementation of every "Affordable Health Insurance" proposal.
They should be called "The Consumers For Unaffordable Healthcare"
The Governor, the lawmakers and their "appointed coalitions" in this state SUCK big time! They are out for themselves. Wish we could flush them all and just start over.
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