DCFS: Credible Evidence of Abuse Exists at Main West..

[Stuart G]

Source: Chicago Tribune


Tribune reporter
9:37 p.m. CST, February 9, 2013

The state’s child welfare agency has ruled that two staff members at Maine West High School abused and neglected children, a revelation that appears to be linked to a soccer team hazing scandal at the Des Plaines school involving allegations of beating and sodomy.

An Illinois Department of Children and Family Services investigation concluded on January 30 that there were “indicated” reports of abuse and neglect against both staff members, according to spokesman Dave Clarkin. An “indicated” report means that the agency uncovered credible evidence that abuse took place.
Clarkin declined to comment on whether the targets of the investigation were boys and girls varsity coach Michael Divincenzo and freshman boys coach Emilio Rodriguez

Both men, who have denied knowledge of hazing and could not be reached for comment Saturday, have been suspended and face being fired in the wake of the scandal that was revealed in November.

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-dcfs-credible-evidence-of-abuse-at-maine-west-20130209,0,5107661.story?track=rss

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Main West High School is in Des Plaines Illinois...
Des Plaines is a suburb of Chicago..approximately 5 to 8 miles Northwest of Chicago depending on how you measure. It is 3-4 miles northeast of O Hare Airport.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

This story now has the kind of proof will keep this going for a long time. This kind of thing is not supposed to happen in a suburb like
Dis Plaines. Actually this kind of thing can happen anywhere there is lax control over sports or deranged coaches. Not new, just very very sad...

[mntleo2]

1. Not just the coaches, DCFS is one sick agency in all states

It comes from Title IV B and E, which in essence says, "The more kids you take from their families, the more money you will make. If you return these children to their birth home, you will LOSE all present and future funding for returned kids..." Do not take my word for it, ask any US Rep on the Ways and Means Committee who is on the Social Security and Welfare committees.

Furthermore, they have made complete immunity for any DCFS personnel EVEN IF PROVEN TO HAVE LIED IN COURT.

What this is transpiring into is DCFS can make false allegations against any parent or family member, come in and take the kids and then receive between $6-8000 PER MONTH PER KID to do so. they also go in state by state and take about 1/3 of the TA NF (welfare money), food stamp funding, housing, and Medicaid to keep these kids in foster care. Indeed they can claim even if they have not found any abuse whatsoever, that any future abuse might happen as a legal excuse to take the kid. As a matter of fact DCFS personnel can additonally with their pay receive between $2-6000 bonus for any taken kid by lying in court no questions asked.

There is an entire industry that has cropped up for taken kids for this money by "non-profits", the legal industry, judges (who get paid double time with double all the bennies by vacating their regular positions for Family Court), adoption agencies, foster homes, schools, hospitals, mental health, and lots of contracted agencies.

DCFS is always quick to point out parental abuse but will never tell you how musch worse it is for kids who have had the misfortune to land in their system. There is also a myriad of studies showing that kids are 5-7 X more likely to be abused and even killed while in foster care than if left in the home with services. But this does not stop DCFS from going after that money. About $1+Billion per state is taken off Social Security along with the $Millions being taken from "discretionary" safety net programs, for the taking of kids. They know full well that it costs 1000% more to take kids than to assist the parents if left in the home. While one kid being abused is too many, it is well known that less than 15% of these kids are in "imminent danger" though that is the legal term used to take ALL these kids. Indeed the taking of these children causes lifelong trauma they will never get over.

Many dummass upper income people see nothing wrong with taking poor kids and placing them in upper income homes, even if lies are being used. DCFS is well known to place children with well known abusers ~ and to IGNORE any signs in an adopted or foster home when there are clear signs the child is being abused. Just so long as there is the new home with the brand new SUV in the driveway, be damned what hell goes on behind those closed doors ~ and there is plenty. Adopted kids are not much farther behind foster kids in being more likely to experience sexual abuse, drop out of school, become homeless, go to jail, become substance abusers, become teen parents, become estranged from their "forever family", and be unable to maintain any long term relationships because of the severe detachment syndromes they have due to being yanked from their families.

Next time you go to any downtown city and see that pack of kids on the corner, be assured most of them are foster and adopted kids. While harvesting "the little babies" is quite lucrative, teens are "damaged merchandise" and not so adoptable ~ but DCFS still gets that $6-8000 per month for foster care so who cares if the kid is raped, freezing, homeless, without any parental love, just so long as their "legal parent" gets that SS money?

That school is just the tip of the iceberg. Those coaches have little fear they will be caught since most of the time any allegations by the children being abused will never be heard by anyone ~ particularly the DCFS personnel paid to protect them. DCFS, Family Court, and their contracted minions do not give a DAMN about taken kids ~ just so long as they can line up at the bank with their hand out for their own paychecks.

Not to toot my own horn but more can be learned with links that I have written here: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/07/13/883930/-Thanks-to-CPS-Robin-Committed-Suicide-Last-Week

Hope this helps,

Cat in Seattle

[madrchsod]

2. the illinois dcfs is a complete failure due to lack of funding

i`ve been in this system while trying to help someone with their children. the dcfs agent i was working with did`t have the money to help me out and did`t have enough long term qualified homes for the child i was taking care of. the agent finally had to place the child with the parent.
since then the illinois dcfs has taken bigger monetary cuts and staffing.

[Blackjackdavey]

3. ???

Nothing personal, but far too much of this post is completely absurd. To begin with it is completely irrelevant to the story as the extent of family services involvement in the case discussed is that they conducted an investigation based on a report that a responsible party neglected or abused a child. That is what they do. Secondly, as the coaches in question don't have custody of the children, family services won't be taking the children from their parents -- the coaches will end up with a black mark on their record that will prevent them from being employed in a position to care for children.

I understand that Seattle has a major homeless child problem, however I'd be willing to bet that the children you speak of are there not due to family and youth services but rather neglectful or abusive parents. Hence the need for said services.

Family and youth services are not "harvesting" children. That is absurd. Despite federal funding it still costs counties more to keep kids in foster care than it does to help them remain in the home. As you said, "They know full well that it costs 1000% more to take kids than to assist the parents if left in the home." There is no profit motive.

It is a fair criticism to point out that they often put kids in foster care because it is easier -- not because it is profitable. It is absolutely true that foster homes in many cases, no where near all, are just as bad or worse than their homes of origin. There is also most certainly a bias against families of lower socioeconomic status which truly is an issue as conditions of poverty are taken for neglect which then sets the process in motion in a ham handed, often unhelpful way.

This is an issue that interests me. I would love to stand corrected with data that supports the claims you have made as I am open to thinking about this differently.

[mntleo2]

4. Thank-you for the response!

Last edited Mon Feb 11, 2013, 01:46 PM - Edit history (3)

I have had to edit this so many times because of typos and forgotten linmks, info, etc. Sorry about that.

The point I am trying to make in the above writing is about giving services to families instead of the immorality of taking kids for little reason that appear with a great deal of evidence to be for profit not for the kids. Every year the Feds cut welfare, housing, medical, food assistance and other services, while increasing CPS (Title IV) budgets. Every year states after taking thie Title IV funding they allow CPS go in and TAKE even more safety net monies for themselves while crying they need to cut vital services for low income families. Then they go in and take the children because of those needs not being met and accuse families of abuse instead of giving services. A low wage parent cannot afford to pay rent for her wages, much less heat, gas for her car, or baby diapers for her child ~ and believe me these are reasons they use every day to take her children.

Profit making is one of the major incentives within the DCS agencies. This manifests in a myriad of contracted for-profit companies and non-profits (and frankly there is little difference between mega-"non-profit" and corporations). In WI alone there are over 169 agencies who are dedicated to CPS activity where the Title IV mandates are, "The more children you take the more money you will make," is the incentive to get funding. http://www.welfarewarriors.org/mwv_archive/sp09/sp09_milw.htm . Take WI and multiply those 169 agencies by 50 states and you have a heueuege industry dedicated solely to taking kids. Therefore these mandates alone are suspect as to what "agenda" these agencies have as far as being "fair and balanced" for what is best for children. If they stand to lose funding every time they recommend a child be returned to their home, which should be around 85% of the time, this would not be good for their bottom line.

These "experts" routine go into Family Court and lie in order to ensure their own profit (and jobs). Because of the immunity they enjoy, there are no consequences for this lying, indeed there is only more money being pumped into their program ~ and pretty generous personal rewards when they are successful in taking children from their families. From a 2012 article from The National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, whose research is well documented with inarguable data:

The second law, ASFA, includes
bounties to states of up to $12,000 or more per
child for every adoption they finalize over a
baseline number. The bounty is paid when the
adoption is finalized, so there is an incentive to
place a child with little concern about whether
the placement really will last. Indeed, if the
adoption “disrupts” and the child is placed again,
the state can collect another bounty.
Thus, states and private agencies now
have financial incentives to keep children in
foster care and financial incentives to place them
for adoption – but no financial incentives to keep

http://www.nccpr.org/reports/12Financial.pdf

I have sat in on legislative meetings, gone to DC about this issue and spent time with Jim MCDermott (D), who is on the Ways and Means Committee in the U.S. House. I have heard the words of "suits" in local meetings where the Title IV is being discussed. But it is all about doing the math, which most in the media refuse to do and where the very agencies like to ignore the glaring proof that support for g\families is the key to a child';s success. I have done the math, and when I go into these meetings with questions about what I have found, I get nothing but confirmation (another quote from this well documented article):

Unfortunately, at the federal level, the
financial incentive to place children is increased
by two other laws. Under the 1996 federal
welfare law, if a family is forced into poverty, no
matter what the reason, they may not be able to
get public assistance to help care for their own
children (depending on how many years they
have received such assistance), but as soon as
their children are taken away, the foster care
system may receive a never-ending subsidy to
help foster parent

As an activist for low income families, I have also personally interviewed parents in the low income housing where every single child has been taken from this housing in all the states mentioned in my post. How can anyone say every single parent is abusive, often in clean and sober housing? I have met with attorneys in CA who have witnessed it and are bringing a class action lawsuit because of the widespread habit of taking kids without having to prove a thing legally.

For example, the CASA/GAL program, who are supposed to be replacing lawyers to stand for the child, brag about "every accused person being guilty" and admit they go with CPS 97% of the time. Is this "for the kids" or to protect themselves, social workers and their contracted minions (including mental health officals), who lie in court making recommendations where they do not have to prove anything in a REAL court of law? As a matter of fact a CASA goes into court with a lawyer by their side to protect themselves, to hell with the kids who have nobody legally defending them. Isn't this fraud when taking $Millions from the government for being "neutral" when they admit themselves they are not? CASAs and any state paid "expert" are merely rubber stamps for some very flimsy evidence. In my county alone the CASA program who are supposedly "volunteer" took over $5Million in government funding ~ without taking into account the $Millions they receive in private donations. Where is this money going and unless there is a great deal to hide, why is so much money being used solely to protect the GAL rather than the kids?

Foster care families have more rights than any family member for the child. If accused of abuse foster families get to pick a lawyer who is paid for and use them in court. But no family member caring for their relatives have such a right. they do not even have a right to a public defender. If a family is too poor to defend themselves and cannot afford a lawyer when falsely accused, this skews evidence and placement when it comes to what is truly "the best interest of the child" instead of what is "in the best interest of DCFS and their minions' bank accounts". Furthermore if accused these family members are put on publicly available lists for background check alongside sex offenders for the rest of their lives without even so much as a trial to prove anything. Even if proven innocent, they STILL remain on this background check list for 3 years. Try to get a job, rent a home, or even volunteer with your other children and grandchildren in their school with THAT on your background for anyone to see. ...

The most damning about what is being done is that DCS in all states get so much money for taking children while refusing to actually give parents or these kids' families any services when they well know it would be better for the child. Less than 15% of these kids are truly in "imminent danger", the legal argument used every day in Family Court. This means that they can take kids without any evidence of abuse using the fairy tale of future abuse. The outrage is that DCS is endangering 85% of these kids by placing them in homes that are a far greater risk for abuse.

Tell me, why else would they do this except for profit? If it is not for profit, they sure have created for themselves a nice lucrative business where they can go into court and lie, a federal offense under USC Code Title 18 Section 101 for government employees and then collect Title IV, TANF, medical, housing and food stamp monies for taking more and more kids.

We as a society do not value care giving. Poor women are just as challenged as upper class woman yet they are not allowed to care for their loved ones. States are willing to pay everyone else in the world to care for their kids than actually allow these parents to BE parents, which would cost literally 1000% less than having strangers care for these kids. The 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Act basically calls this work "doing nothing". Only paid work is "doing something". The Adoption and Foster Care Industrial Complex get tons of money for taking kids instead of supporting the parents. Yet, if we were to replace this unpaid work with institutions it would cost over $450 Billion a year. Women lose on the average of $400,000 in wages over a paid work lifetime because they have to make the agonizing decision to work for a wage or the 24/7 care of a loved one. This does not only include children, it also includes care of elders and spouses as well. http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/ppi/ltc/fs229-ltc.pdf

It sickens me whenever a governor cries in front of the camera because they have to cut more services for badly needed necessities assisting low income families, the disabled, and elderly when they well know they and their legislators have signed over 1/3 of these funds to CPS. It makes me angry when speaking to the kids on the street when they tell me they cannot go to their foster or adoptive homes because they are being molested, raped, beaten, starved when the agency responsible for them is reaping $8000 a month and doing nothing about it. It hurts to hear a child's agonized screams when being pulled form their parent at a "visitation" when the parents has done nothing but been low income. Yes I am angry that this country is more willing to spend 1000% more on taking kids, than supporting their families.

Taking kids from their families is Big Business. At this time the only way states can get major funding is with the taking of children from their families. The Feds are cutting services and people do not seem to realize that when the Feds cut funding, it "trickles down" to the states who impose more and more regressive taxes on the poor while reaping $Millions in profits for taking children. Anyone involved while making a living off this Ponzi Scheme are despicable unless they are truly advocating for children, not lying in court, and paying attention to kids who are truly abused Otherwise they need to be held accountable and made to pay for the damages they do using their abusive tactics on a child every time they rip children from their homes with no reason. These tax-paid emplyees are refusing to help the parents while pouring money into foster care and adoption to abusive families and group homes where abuse abounds. They are responsible for the destruction of entire families due to their willingness to accuse rather than assist, as is the most moral and ethical.

If the institution in the OP had rapes and other situations, this is only because its widespread knowledge it is an embarrassment to the agencies responsible to keep kids safe. They ignore most institutional abuse while running to the mike to report parental abuse when they know full well the children under their care are suffering in far greater numbers while in foster care and adoption. While hypocritically claiming they are "child savers" they know full well that taking kids results in failure for the child and they know that the money involved with taking these children costs far more than supporting these kids' families. They do little or nothing to encourage any support for families when they know it works better. This school is not the only one that is allowing the abuse of kids. If they truly cared about the welfare of kids instead of lining their own pockets, institutional abuse should be admitted instead of targeting a few cases as if they are doing anything significant to change the whole System. this should begin with Title IV monies being poured into hiding their own responsibility for child abuse happening under their watch, rather than spending $Millions to blame families.

CA is the model for CPS Systems in many if not most states. Read in this case about what DFS themselves admit that gave the 9th Circuit Court the willies as far as how they "investigate" false allegations that will affect these adults for the rest of their lives. This was more than 5 years ago. IN 2010 the Supreme Court ruled that it was just fine to leave these proven innocent people on a list available for anyone to see for background checks. http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2009/01/30/0556467.pdf

CA-CHING!!!!!



My 2 cents
Cat in Seattle

[Blackjackdavey]

5. Passion

I'm impressed by your passion for this subject. The folks that you work with are fortunate to have such a passionate voice speaking on their behalf. I must confess though, I have trouble following the thrust of your position given that much of what you argue is based on loose interpretations and narrow assumptions when looking at the data and regulations. For instance, you state on numerous occasions that it is well documented that keeping kids in foster care is more expensive than keeping kids at home and you're right, it is. But that is the exact opposite of a profit motive -- government agencies are not making money by placing kids in foster care. They are spending money. You mention a "bounty" provided to caseworkers who facilitate a successful adoption. I can't speak for every state, but in New York Child Protective Services are mandated to get kids out of foster care AS SOON AS POSSIBLE because you are correct -- foster care isn't good for kids. However, these same agencies are also mandated to exhaust every possible path toward sending kids back to their home of origin before a child can be adopted. CPS is also required to make every attempt to place the children with family members before they can be adopted out of the family. They are required, by federal law I believe, to keep native kids with native families. The reason that there is an "industry" of agencies that are working to help these families is because the child protective people were making demands of poverty stricken people that those people couldn't meet, because of poverty. You're right, it isn't fair to tell people that they can't have their kids back unless they do A, B and C while they have no resources to accomplish them. The state mandated that if counties are going to hold things over the head of folks they better also be prepared to help them accomplish A, B and C -- and here's the funding to do it. In fact, this is one area that is a funded mandate -- that's a good thing. Additionally, here in New York, every kid has his or her own lawyer (who is often the person with the most pull in these cases.) During this discussion, however, the most important thing to bear in mind is that are many, way too many, kids who are abused and neglected and are in danger at home and, even in foster care, are far better off away from home. It is easy to get caught up in the emotion of a family who is in this situation -- but they are very often fighting the system instead of simply following steps to get their kids back. I have far too often seen families drag their heels in protest rather than follow a few simple steps, have a few civil conversations and get their kids back. At any rate, I'm unable to address each of your points -- I wish you luck with your advocacy.