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GUEST COLUMN

 

(9/7/2006)

 

 

Paper Orphans

Part 1 of 2 (Part 2 of 2)

 

By gwen caldwell

 

The Adoption and Safe Families Act, (ASFA), was passed in 1997 by the US Congress. The purpose of this Bill was to protect children from lingering in foster care too long. In some cases children were literally being lost in foster care in some of America’s larger cities. The problem was high worker turnover and over weighted caseloads. The idea was to find permanent placement for children within a designated time frame. Attached to this movement of children would be financial incentives and bonuses to states for compliance with mandates. Thus, the Child Abuse Industry in America was now, subsidized by the Federal Government. With virtually no accountability and no oversight on the part of the states it has become the genocide of American families.

One would hope that this would make our children safer and at lower risk for neglect, abuse and death. This certainly has not been the case. One would hope that this would reduce the number of children in foster care. This certainly has not been the case. One would hope that family needs would be addressed to ensure stability. This certainly has not been the case. In my opinion the goals of ASFA have grossly failed at an untold cost to families at the expense of American taxpayers. ASFA demands that the child welfare agency be responsible for ensuring the safety of children in out-of-home care. Yet, we have had repeated reports of sexual abuse, physical and emotional abuse of children while in the care of the state. When these allegations are reported to the agency or other government officials the actions taken are generally unacceptable and untimely! The parents are then retaliated against, being denied unmonitored visits, mail and phone contact with their child. If a child suggests or says something that can be construed as abuse in their parent’s home immediate action is taken. However, once in the custody of the state these allegations are minimized, discounted or ignored all together.

The actual outcome of ASFA has been a higher number of children in foster care nationwide. There has been a massive increase in parental terminations, and adoptions of America’s children. The issue that needs to be pointed out here, is that not only are the parent’s rights to have a relationship with their children terminated, all family members are terminated from having a relationship with these children. ASFA is very specific in stating that these children should continue to enjoy a relation with their relatives, communities and schools, this rarely, if ever is the final outcome.

My concern about this growing industry is reduced to who is really benefiting from ASFA. The professional parents (foster parents), the contracted mental health care providers, the residential and treatment centers, the growing demand for more social workers being hired to handle the caseloads. According to statistics from the National Child Protection Reform each child that is in the system generates an estimated residual economic development figure of $250,000.00 or more per year! This tells me that our children are being harvested as a subsidized cash crop. When the market numbers increase then dividends in the form of bonuses are paid to the states.

The children who are being protected from their parents who are rarely if ever charged under any criminal abuse or neglect statue are going to age out of the system without an adequate education, little or no social skills, little or no work experience, disenfranchised from their families and communities, on psychotropic drugs. What future does that hold for them? What are the residual costs to the taxpayers going to be? Are we just grooming our youth for their eventual commitment to our prison systems?

All of the proceedings that take place, with the exception of the rare criminal abuse charges, are done by Administrative proceedings under a veil of secrecy. There is no jury, no evidence only speculation and hearsay of the Case Worker, no witnesses or open trail, because of “the child’s confidentiality” and I don’t know of one case where the child(ren) were present in court to testify. Instead the children are represented by their own counsel, who for the most part in collusion with CPS. The parents as a rule are adjudicated and placed on the Nation Registry of Child Abusers. They lose their family. They are generally, in financial ruin. They are told by everyone who hears their story, “They can’t do that!” But the fact remains it was done, is being done and will continue to be done until American families stand together in a voice of solidarity and demand that their Constitutional right to parent their children is restored. However, they don’t do that for fear their other children will be taken or they will some how suffer further consequences from the State. Or they believe the biggest lie…parents in America have all gone mad and only professional parents and social workers care about and are capable of loving these “poor” children!

I am not suggesting, nor do I believe that there are not children who are being abused. What I am saying is that thousands of children are being removed arbitrarily and without substantiated cause from their homes. Some of these families only needed services that could’ve been provided with the children still in the home such as help with utility shut offs, food, transportation or housing costs. I would like to note that according to national statistics children in foster care are at much higher risk of sexual and physical abuse then in the home of their parents. Federal Law dictates the following definition of abuse and neglect: Federal legislation provides a foundation for States by identifying a minimum set of acts or behaviors that define child abuse and neglect. The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) (42 U.S.C.A. §5106g), as amended by the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003, defines child abuse and neglect as, at minimum: • Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation; or • An act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm. This definition of child abuse and neglect refers specifically to parents and other caregivers. A "child" under this definition generally means a person who is under the age of 18 or who is not an emancipated minor.

A pattern that we see emerging is that when one parent has a Protection Order that includes the children, CPS still frequently places a removed child with the abusive parent in violation of the protection order. We also see that in alleged sexual abuse cases, instead of removing the perpetrator the child is removed from the home, when they most need the support of family members they are being re-traumatized and think that they have done something wrong. That think they are being punished. If the perpetrator is removed from the home that child should be able to stay in the home with counseling and other services being provided to help the family heal and move beyond the horror of this behavior. The perpetrator is the one that should be charged and punished, not the victim!

Gwen Caldwell
Voice of Women
Founder
voiceofwomen@hotmail.com

www.freewebs.com/voiceofwomen

 

 

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