Family Court Reports

The Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Guardianship Support Act of 2008, also known as Senate Bill 3038 has two significant changes that you just might need to know about. Some people are calling for the complete annihilation of the Title IV-E Program, which as some of you already know funds the Foster Care and Child Protective Services related programs in the various states.

The original reference to Title IV-E is under the Social Security Act. You can find the complete text located at the Social Security Website or under the US Code. (Begins: 42 U.S.C. 670)

Under the Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Guardianship Support act of 2008, funding will be continued for the program but two notable changes are also be amended to the program. This is absolutely necessary, since it is what most would consider an essential services program. Some organizations are inadvertently calling for the non-renewal, but this is neither feasible or logical. The Federal government MUST continue to fund the state program under the contracts.

In the past, the federal government would only begin making payments to the states in the event that a child was taken and then placed with a licensed foster care facility. As you can imagine, the result was that the states wanted to be paid and would automatically place a child preferentially with a foster care facility instead of a stable relative guardian.

The first key change that occurs should S.3038 be passed, as it is anticipated to soon, the state would begin receiving payments if a child was taken and placed with a stable relative guardian. This will yield a reduction to the state foster care caseload and likely save every state money, allow for reduction of foster care caseloads, and have positive effects for the children involved. The more important factor is that a removed child will be able to continue living with relatives until the reason for the taking is cured.

Also in the past there was not a solid requirement to use electronic databases to locate the second parent that may not have any knowledge whatsoever that their child was removed from a single-parent home. Under the Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Guardianship Support Act of 2008 there will be a requirement to utilize the Federal Parent Location databases to find the other parent for placement, again increasing the likelihood of a child being placed with a relative instead of sometimes hazardous state care.

There are other significant changes to the program, including an increase in funding, but the results of this bill are likely to cause each state to pass a statute that refers to payment for relative guardian placement. In the near future if your state does not pass such a statute, we can help provide model language to get the job done.

For Immediate Release

Parental Rights Organizations Across the Nation to Encroach on Washington DC for Civil Rights Event.

Oakland County, Michigan ———- Children’s and
Parent’s Rights organizations from across the nation are scheduled to
encroach on Washington DC this August 15 & 16 at the Upper Senate
Park. Why? Because government policies do not reflect what is truly
best for children and good parents. The event is bringing the major
issues facing parents to the legislators’ doorsteps, their backyards,
and their offices.

A coalition of numerous individuals, organizations, and agencies
that grows daily as August draws near, aim to bring solutions to many
crises that are affecting America in this landmark event. This event is
not to be confused with last year’s successful event, a rally held
under the name DC RALLY 2007 and organized largely by Minister Ronald
Smith of Children Need Both Parents, Inc. which is scheduled again for
2009.

“Where we have a government that thinks it has the apparent
authority to confiscate children at will, as we can see from the recent
issues in Texas earlier this year, something needs to be done.” states
Lary Holland, one of the organizers of this event. He further states,
“we are dealing with a fundamental liberty and civil rights issue that
has to be recognized and respected by our government, the protected
right of parenthood.”

Various groups across the nation aren’t willing to compromise
liberty and let their government run on autopilot any longer.
“Somewhere along the lines, the government stopped believing that the
Constitution was a restriction on them and not a restriction on the
people,” according to Holland. This event will also be welcoming a
number of cyclists that are pedaling bicycles from Michigan’s Capitol
all the way to Washington DC to support a child’s right to two parents.

For more information about this historic civil rights event,
individuals and groups may contact “Write to Parent” at 800-883-9619.
Organizations that have not secured their exhibition table can do so
through August 8, 2008 by using the toll-free telephone number.
Individuals and Organizations looking to attend and participate in the
event may obtain the most up to date for information on travel,
accommodations, and itinerary at the event website at www.dcfestival2008.com.

The foster care system is flawed because of an overburdened system that focuses too much on federal funding rather than preventing harm to vulnerable children. Mistakes are frequently made that have long-lasting traumatic effects on children being improperly removed from good parents.

Judge: DCF failed to investigate family before taking children

The nation's foster care system is flawed. Cases where child protection and adoption agencies rush through "streamlined" administrative processes, stripping children away from parents for federal money, are more frequently appearing on a nationwide scale. Luckily, some of these agencies are being caught in the act of using their powers to generate revenue for the state agencies as opposed to solving actual problems. But why are removals and placement occuring so quickly? Children have to not only be removed but placed with a foster parent in order to receive valuable federal funds through Title IV-E of the Social Security Act. Due to funding incentives direct relative placement becomes less likely where a jurisdiction suffers budgetary issues and a highly-adoptable (younger and more attractive) child enters the system. It is more profitable to encourage foster placement than direct relative placement because of the incentivization of negative outcomes in our nation's foster care policies and system.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS August 25, 2007

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A judge has found the state Department of Children & Families negligent in failing to
properly investigate the medical histories of two children before accusing their mother of intentionally making them sick.

Sara
and Donald Evans lost custody of their two children, then 2 and 5, after the agency said they were victims of Münchhausen syndrome by
proxy, a condition where a person deliberately makes another sick. One child was placed in shelter care for 144 days and the other for 77 days in 2006 before being allowed to go live with grandparents.

"What is apparent to this court is that (DCF officials) came up with a legal theory, i.e. that this was a case of Munchausen by Proxy, a serious form of child abuse, and attempted to substantiate their theory with inaccurate and misleading information," Broward County Circuit Judge Marina Garcia-Wood wrote in a decision Friday criticizing the agency's performance.

The children had records from California documenting their legitimate medical problems, and the family's doctors had given sworn statements rejecting the abuse allegations. But DCF failed to consider those records, continuing dependency court proceedings three months after the family provided the documentation. The agency later dismissed all abuse allegations in July 2006.

"This court finds that the failure to consult with the children's prior medical doctors and caretakers, and a careful review of all medical records, which were extensive, and the children's medical history was, in fact, medical neglect," the judge wrote.

Garcia-Wood ordered the agency to pay for the Evans' legal fees.

The family has also filed a federal lawsuit against three DCF officials, alleging they violated the couple's civil rights by taking the children away.

DCF spokeswoman Leslie Mann said she could not comment on the ruling. DCF had argued in court that the case was "a battle of medical experts." In the federal case, attorneys for the DCF officials have argued that they acted within the scope of their jobs and did not deprive the family of their rights.

One of the Evans' children had a series of metabolic and developmental problems; the other had gastro-esophageal reflux.

Information from: South Florida Sun-Sentinel, http://www.sun-sentinel.com">http://www.sun-sentinel.com

The State of Michigan fails its children whether they are stuck in foster care homes or involved in child-custody disputes between parents. Large federal block grants repeatedly compromise and sway the discretion of family court judges in Michigan.

The Social Security Act proscribes programs under Title IV for Aid to Needy Families. Unfortunately the programs are often geared towards state revenue generation as opposed to helping families or their children. All too often the programs provide incentive for predetermined outcomes of separating children from parents, whether it be through the foster care system or the creation of an absent parent in a child custody lawsuit, often under the guise of the the subjective "best interests" standard.

The Associated Press today reported that a Judge will be granting class-action status in a foster care lawsuit on behalf of the state's 19,000 foster children in the next couple of weeks.

According to the article about the suit, "It alleges that the state's foster-care system has for years been plagued by shortcomings in resources and services that have resulted in inadequate physical and mental care and foster children being repeatedly moved between homes."

The State of Michigan's legal bill is going to keep climbing with more and more groups getting fed up with how Michigan treats its children as a commodity instead of human beings that need both parents.

Dearborn — A local parents' rights group has pledged its support for a Jordanian American who filed a federal lawsuit in January against the Michigan Department of Human Services.

You can visit their website at: http://www.parentsforchildren.net

You can attend their next rally this Friday, February 16, 2007 by contacting their organizer via telephone at: 313-999-6685 for more information or showing up at:

Time: 3:30pm through 4:00pm