Friday, April 30, 2010

Starved to Death in Michigan Foster Care

Investigators: Starved to Death in State Care
Contributor: Ann Mullen
Email: amullen@wxyz.com





(WXYZ) - For several months, the Action News Investigators dug deep into Michigan’s tragically-flawed foster care system. During our investigation, we uncovered the heartbreaking story of a 10-year-old boy who starved to death while a facility banked cash to care for him.

We began telling Johnny’s story over the last two days here on WXYZ.com. In that time, the response has been overwhelming and your comments confirm that Michigan’s children need a better foster care system.

Johnny’s mother, Elena Andron, dedicated her life to caring for her wheelchair-bound son. All she wanted was a little help.

The state’s answer was to put him in a foster care facility. One year later, Johnny starved to death.

“He was a big part of my life. He was my life,” Andron told Action News Investigator Heather Catallo.

The state is quick to take kids from parents and put them in foster care, especially poor parents. The state makes it very hard to get them back. Experts say the state has a financial incentive to keep kids away from their families.

Johnny, who was nine at the time, could not walk, talk or feed himself. He had cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

“He was a lot of work, like any single mother, it was kind of hard,” says Andron.

Things got even tougher when she lost her factory job.

She turned to the Michigan Department of Human Services, a decision she will regret for the rest of her life.

The foster care facility where the state sent Johnny failed to feed him enough food. Andron says she watched her son waste away as she begged for help.

“I just wanted to carry him out of there, just pick him up and take him, and just take him home,” she says.

If only it was that simple.

Bill Mitchell knows how difficult it can be to get your kids out the state’s hands. He had to fight all the way to the Michigan State Supreme Court to get his three boys back.

“They’re my kids. I’m not going to give up on my kids,” says Mitchell.

Why did Mitchell and Andron have to fight so hard to try to get their children back? Some say it’s because the state gets a lot of cash for foster kids.

“Termination of parent rights is very high in Michigan,” says Warner. “But it’s also very high nationwide and it happened because of some laws that were passed by the federal government and encouraged states to terminate parental rights more often than they used to and promise to send them money if they would terminate rights and have the children adopted.”

According to the state’s own figures, the federal government gave Michigan about $110 million last year for foster care. That’s compared to the $26 million in programs that help parents keep their kids. Foster facilities also have an incentive to keep kids away from their parents. In Andron’s case, the foster home got about $12,000 a month from the state for Johnny.

“You’re getting paid, you’re getting a lot of money,” says attorney Arnold Reed, who represents Andron in a lawsuit against the foster care facility and several other state-contracted groups.

Reed says the foster facility profited big time off of Johnny.

“There is no shortage of money, plus you’re getting a stipend, you’re getting a clothes stipend and you’re getting a stipend for food,” says Reed.

But not enough of that food made it to Johnny.

“He started deteriorating so quick I could not believe my eyes,” says Andron. “He had gotten so weak to where he was just shaking constantly.”

She agreed to make her son a temporary ward of the state. She was supposed to bring him home after a year - once she got back on track financially. But she says the state didn’t tell her that she would be put on a central registry for parents who abuse and neglect their kids. To get Johnny back she would have to fight to get off of the registry by attending parenting classes and meeting other requirements—something that Andron says was nearly impossible to do with a new job.

“They wanted me to go through some evaluations, which I did,” says Andron.

When she complained about Johnny losing weight, she says the state turned on her.

“They didn’t care. None of my complaints mattered,” says Andron.

The Department of Human Services did not like Andron’s complaints or her efforts to get her son back. They took her to court and asked that she not be allowed to see Johnny.

Andron says the first time she met her court-appointed lawyer was that day in court. She says the lawyer didn’t put up much of a fight. The judge sided with the state. The next time Andron heard about Johnny he was dead.

“I entrusted people with my son and I thought they were good people. They were licensed,” says Andron.

Johnny weighed 120 pounds when he went into foster care, she says. An autopsy report shows he was only 48 pounds when he died of malnutrition.

“I just cannot believe that someone can have that kind of a heart, to starve a child like that,” says Andron.

Bill Mitchell also fought the state. His boys were living with their mom when his children were taken. Mitchell tried to get the boys, but the state asked the court to terminate his parental rights too, primarily because of his finances.

“I have the right to choose where I want to work,” says Mitchell, who is an engineer and works at Walmart. The state held this against him. DHS also didn’t like that he couldn’t keep up the mortgage on the family home after the boys’ mom walked out.

“She was responsible for $300 of the thing and it was too much for me to maintain, you know, all by myself,” Mitchell says.

The state also said Mitchell didn’t try hard enough to get his kids back. But he says he changed his shift to work nights to make state scheduled visits with his sons and parenting classes.

“It wouldn’t have mattered what I said or what I did, they had already determined their course and now we were just going through the motions,” says Mitchell, who didn’t even get a court appointed lawyer until nine months and three hearings into the case.

The lower court sided with the state and terminated bill’s rights but he appealed and three long years later the Michigan Supreme Court sided with him.

“You shouldn’t have to go to this point,” says Mitchell.

The ruling says Mitchell’s finances should never have been held against him. Mitchell is set to get his kids back. But he says it’s all taken a toll.

“Birthdays, first time they discover something, first time they make a new friend, things that will never be returned to me,” he says.

“He’s one of the most outstanding parents ever to have been run through a termination preceding, and if it can happen to him, it can happen to anybody,” says attorney Elizabeth Warner.

“We’re spending a ton of money for putting these kids in foster care,” says Vivek Sankaran, an assistant professor at the Child Advocacy Law Clinic at the University of Michigan Law School. “But for these children we are irreparably scaring them by damaging the bonds that they form with their families.”

Sankaran says only about nine percent of the 16,000 kids in foster care were sexually or physically abused. The majority were taken from their parents because of poverty-related neglect.

“Removal is too often thought of as the first option for protecting children and child welfare rather than working with families, engaging with them, providing them services in the home,” says Sankaran.

His organization, the Detroit Center for Family Advocacy, helps parents on the front end—getting them the services they need so their kids are not taken. He says so far they have had 100 percent success.

“We need to create a culture where parents are willing to say, ‘I need help, help me, I need to become a better parent, here is what I need,'” says Sankaran.

That is exactly what Andron tried to do, but with heartbreaking results.

“I gave them my healthy child and to get him back in a casket. I feel like he’d still be a live today if he was home with me,” says Andron.

State officials would not speak on camera. But they told Action News that their top priority is to return kids to their birth parents. The state also says the number of kids in foster care is down by about 3,000 and fewer parents had their rights terminated last year.

As for the foster home that housed Johnny, the state shut it down.

We are working on an additional story for Friday night, on Action News at 11 p.m., about what some people go through as they try to adopt relatives who are in the Michigan foster care system.

Now, it's my turn...

Hey, Mike Cox, I smell Medicaid fraud.  Am I going to take this one or are you?

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Pfizer Geodon Tested on Kids

The Pfizer Geodon Trial And Physician Mishaps

By Ed Silverman
April 28, 2010

Earlier this month, the FDA sent Pfizer a warning letter for failing to properly monitor pediatric clinical trials in which at least 13 children with bipolar disorder experienced overdosing that led to restless legs, tremors, involuntary facial movements and a serious skin disorder.

This is a big problem for the drugmaker, since Pfizer hopes to receive an extra six months of marketing exclusivity in return for having conducted the pediatric trials. But the dosing scandal could prompt the FDA to request further trials, which would require so much additional time that exclusivity would likely be lost, since the basic Geodon patent expires in 2012. This would also delay pediatric approval, which would expand the possibilities for a drug that generated $1.1 billion in sales last year.

But who were some of the doctors involved? …

…there was Sohail Punjwani, who was cited for numerous instances in which the wrong dosage was given children. Punjwani ran one of three sites that were responsible for 40 patients receiving incorrect doses, or 16 percent of the kids involved, and half of them were given more than the maximum tolerated dose for the trial…

Punjwani has made headlines in Florida, where he is based, for treating 7-year-old Gabriel Myers, who hanged himself with a shower cord in a foster home. The boy’s death prompted a probe by a Department of Children & Families task force and proposed legislation before the Florida Senate. He did not respond to messages.

+++

Note: The FDA warning letter to Pfizer states that informed consent was not obtained in these clinical trials. See letter here: http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/ucm208976.htm


The FDA warning letter to Punjwani can be found here: http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/ucm202862.htm

Michigan Cashes in on Kids

Children who end up in foster care are not always there because their lives were in danger. The majority of the time children are made wards of the state because the parent is poor. When I say poor, I am saying that they qualify simply due to the fact that there is no place else to turn.

Michigan puts children in foster care with propaganda to maximize revenue.

This is the old adage of the "get-a-job-you-lazy-bum" or "these-women-have-babies-just-to-collect-welfare" syndrome, where a person, with the best intentions, will take your children, with no intentions of ever giving the child back because there is too much money involved.



Kate Hanley is a fucking liar, who has lied through her teeth in public hearings, and the feds need to come down and indict her for Medicaid Fraud, False Claims, Wire Fraud, Mail Fraud, for covering up Michigan's failure to be compliant with federal mandates when receiving federal grants. Kate Hanley covers up for the Artificial Dictator of Fraud. Kate Hanley knows the state is not, and never will be in compliance with Title IV-E. This is why the state promotes informing the parents that children will stay in foster care for 12 months, as 12 months is the magical hour to file the termination of parental rights papers for adoption. This is why Michigan is pumping adoption because once a child is adopted, the files documenting the fraud are proverbially shredded. No evidence, no fraud, but full compliance with the settlement agreement with Children's Rights, though.

These are the same people who lobby our elected officials for more money to take more children from the people.

These are the same people who lobby to cut more social resources for the historically economic impoverished geographies.

These are the same people who knowingly and willingly allow a child to be tortured, only because it would be incriminating to let the child go back home.

These are the same people who will get away with the murder of this child.

These are the same people who will not loose their state contract.

These are the same people who will lobby for more money to continue doing what they do best...



There was no reason to place this child in foster care. All that needed to be done was to give. Housing, medical and financial assistance would have been more cost effectve than taking the child out of the family.

There was no reason to keep this child in care for 12 months. The plan was to never give the mother her child back. That is why nothing was done.

These people got paid with tax payer dollars to watch this child die and the Attorney General will do absolutely nothing, whatsoever, to recoup the money.

No fines, no contractual debarrment, no license revocation, no accountability, no transparency.

Thank you WXYZ-Detroit, again,  for being a leader and exposing the industry for what it really does.

Happy Child Abuse Propaganda Month!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Michigan Doctor Senentenced in Medicare Fraud Scheme

Even though this deals with Medicare, it is a classic example of a healthcare fraud scheme, the same ones found in child welfare.

Detroit-Area Doctor Sentenced to 72 Months in Prison for Medicare Fraud Scheme
Patient Recruiter Sentenced to 40 Months in Prison


WASHINGTON—Dr. Toe Myint was sentenced today in Detroit to 72 months in prison for participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program, announced the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS). A patient recruiter was also sentenced today in Detroit to 40 months in prison for his role in the conspiracy.

No one ever goes to jail for participating in conspiracies to defraud the Medicaid program in foster care.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Gerald E. Rosen ordered Myint, of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, to pay more than $3.1 million in restitution, jointly with co-defendants, and to serve two years of supervised release following his prison term. Chief Judge Rosen also ordered Terrence Hicks, a Jackson, Michigan, resident and patient recruiter, to pay more than $4.9 million in restitution, jointly with co-defendants, and to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.

There can never be a federal case against a state privatized child placing agency as the co-defendants would be the state, acting as a contracted arm of the state.  What normally happens is that the state is hit with a reduction in its Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentage.

Myint, 56, was convicted by a Detroit jury on January 22, 2010, of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, following a week-long trial. In the last three months, three Michigan-area doctors have been convicted at trial of separate health care fraud offenses as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in Detroit. Hicks, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud on December 18, 2009.

In most instances, there are no bids for local child placing agencies so it would be detrimental, allegedly, to shut down any of facilities down, yet found to provide the greatest good to the community to continue its current patterns of fraud.

Between approximately October 2006 and March 2007, Myint, Hicks, and their co-conspirators caused more than $4.2 million in false and fraudulent claims to be submitted to the Medicare program for services supposedly provided by Myint at Sacred Hope Center Inc., a purported infusion clinic. Medicare actually paid more than $3.1 million of those claims. Hicks also worked at a second, related infusion clinic, called Xpress Center, Inc., which billed an additional $2.3 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare.

In 2004, more than $700 million in false and fraudulent claims had been submitted to Medicaid and Title IV-E programs for services supposedly provided by Michigan child placing agencies, but nobody did anything about it except to keep funding the agencies.

Evidence presented during Myint’s trial established that beginning in approximately October 2006 and continuing until March 2007, Myint routinely prescribed medications for patients at Sacred Hope that they did not need, and that in many cases, were never provided to the patients at all. In fact, the clinic existed for the purpose of causing fictitious claims for injection and infusion therapy services to be billed to Medicare. Myint was the only doctor who worked at Sacred Hope, and the owners of the clinic asked him to prescribe particular drugs to patients because they believed that Medicare would reimburse the medications at a high rate. Evidence at trial showed that Myint agreed to prescribe the medications even though he knew the patients did not need them.

Children in foster care are routinely prescribed antipsychotic medications that they did not need, and that in many cases, were never provided to the children at all.  In fact, there are child placing agencies that exist for the purpose of causing fictitious claims for child abuse therapy and preparation for adoption therapy services to be billed to Medicaid.  Typically, there is only one doctor who works with the child placing agencies and even residential institutions and the owners would ask for particular drugs, like Seroquel, be given to children to secure higher rates of foster care payments and Medicaid reimbursements.  These doctors prescribe the medications even though they know the children do not need them.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Medicare beneficiaries were not referred to Sacred Hope or Xpress Center by their primary care physicians, or for any other legitimate medical purpose, but were recruited by Hicks to come to the clinics in exchange for the payment of cash kickbacks. Hicks recruited the beneficiaries in downtown Detroit and drove them to the suburbs of Southfield and Livonia, Michigan, where the clinics were located. Trial evidence showed that in exchange for the cash kickbacks Hicks paid them, the Medicare beneficiaries visited the clinics and signed documents indicating that they had received the services billed to Medicare...more

According to civil lawsuits and state audits, children were not allowed to stay in the home, but were legally kidnapped and pushed through the foster care system to eventually be adopted.  Once adopted, all records of Medicaid fraud are destroyed.  Mental health providers are then recruited to generate fraudulent reports to keep the children in foster care for extended lengths of time and in exchange for false court reports to support the decision to terminate parental rights, the mental health providers, the mental health providers received kiddy kickbacks, with the child placing agencies signing documents indicating the services were provided to the children.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

AstraZeneca Pays $520 Million in False Claims

This is a wonderful example of Medicaid fraud at its finest. The makers of Seroquel were promoting the anti-psychotic drug for "off-label" usage. Allow me to provide a working definition for "off-label".

CHILDREN

That's right, Seroquel is the darling of the child welfare industry. Seroquel is used as a chemical restraint in foster care. The drug is instantly prescribed to children who show any desire to return home or who speak out on the abuses in foster care.

Seroquel, is the favorite of residential institutions for children as it immediately qualifies a child for the higher level of placement care.

Seroquel, in all its glory, has extreme side effects ranging from tardic dyskenisia to horrifying conditions of endopresis. Seroquel will allow a child to meet the criteria for Individualized Education Programs, or as we all know as special needs.

Seroquel will cause heart attacks in 8 year old children. Seroquel will take a child lab rat to the brink of suicide.

But the miraculous beauty of Seroquel is that not one penny of the false claims was recouped in child welfare.

After all the arduous work of the Health Care Fraud Enforcement Task Force, children will continue to be pumped with anti-psychotic drugs and dumped in the money making world of foster care fraud by burying this story.

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Pharmaceutical Giant AstraZeneca to Pay $520 Million for Off-label Drug Marketing


AstraZeneca LP and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP will pay $520 million to resolve allegations that AstraZeneca illegally marketed the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel for uses not approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services’ Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) announced today. Such unapproved uses are also known as "off-label" uses because they are not included in the drug’s FDA approved product label.

The Wilmington, Del.-based company signed a civil settlement to resolve allegations that by marketing Seroquel for unapproved uses, the company caused false claims for payment to be submitted to federal insurance programs including Medicaid, Medicare and TRICARE programs, and to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program and the Bureau of Prisons.

Under the terms of the settlement, the federal government will receive $301,907,007 from the civil settlement, and the state Medicaid programs and the District of Columbia will share up to $218,092,993 of the civil settlement, depending on the number of states that participate in the settlement. The allegations were originally brought in a lawsuit under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act and various state False Claims Act statutes...more

CORPORATE INTEGRITY AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN...

I can only hope that the federal portion of the settlement goes towards ending Medicaid fraud in child welfare. May is National Foster Care Propaganda Month.

Happy Child Abuse Propaganda Month!

Monday, April 26, 2010

SCOTUS Cuts Children's Rights Money

Oh my, looks like Children's Rights lost a substantial part of their funding scheme.

Justices Put Curbs on Payment for Lawyers
By ADAM LIPTAK


WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday made it a little harder for civil rights lawyers to be paid extra for exceptional results.

In most American lawsuits, each side pays for its own lawyers whether they win or lose. But Congress occasionally allows the winning side to claim its legal fees from its adversaries, notably in cases involving claims of civil rights violations.

The question in the case decided Wednesday, Perdue v. Kenny A., No. 08-970, was how judges should determine how much the losing side has to pay.

The case arose from a successful class-action suit on behalf of 3,000 children in Georgia that helped reform the foster-care system there.

The trial judge awarded the lawyers $6 million using a conventional way of calculating legal fees — hours worked times the local hourly market rate for lawyers of comparable experience and skill. The judge then added $4.5 million for what he said was work of exceptionally high quality.

Justice Samuel A. Alito, writing for five justices, said that some additional payments may be proper in rare cases but that the judge here had not given good enough reasons for increasing the basic payment by 75 percent...more

See, every time Children's Rights files a class action, it files on behalf of children in foster care to provide them more services and to expedite the process of adoption. Children's Rights does not advocate for the children who have been improperly and unnecessarily removed form the family, nor does it advocate for the child victims who have been legally kidnapped. Children's Rights does not advocate for damages to the children who have been harmed in foster care, not even to the children were able to get the class certification on the case. Children's Rights brings forth these class action law suits because they know they have a guaranteed money making cash cow.

See, there is no why, shape or form a state can meet the requirements of any of the settlement agreements.

Even though it is admirable that this organization has taken the initiative to protect children from the horrific conditions in the foster care system, Children's Rights fails to consider that these children are mostly being placed in foster care due to poverty and fraud.

I have loosely developed my own hypothesis for these class action events. When the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General comes out with extremely poor audits of a state child welfare systems, Children's Rights gears up to file because the money to be had does not come from the settlement agreement of the case, it comes from the settlement agreement of the attorney fees and the likelihood that the state will not meet the criteria for compliance, meaning the state will breach the settlement agreement and there shall be more attorney fees incurred.

Actually, this is quite brilliant, so I do not fault, as I am only here to inspire people to do more through education.

Of these attorney fee settlement agreements, not one single penny will go to the children of these cases. Not one penny will even remain in the state of where the agreement was entered. Not one penny will go to a family to prevent a placement in foster care for lack of resources such as housing or medical care.

In the end, the children still loose until someone stands up and takes action to stop the fraud in child welfare.

Childrens Rights Attorney Fees

$6.2 million reasons why we continue to celebrate...

Children's Rights Attorney Fees SCOTUS Decision

Happy Child Abuse Propaganda Month!

New York Gangsters Take Kids

The New York Department of Homeless Services announces a proposal to class action settlements dealing with homeless families with children.

NOTICE OF PROPOSED CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENTS

To: Homeless Families With Children

This notice is about settlements in five lawsuits called Boston v. City, McCain v. Bloomberg, Lamboy v. Doar, Slade v. Bloomberg, and Cosentino v. Carrión.

These five cases were brought by families with children who were homeless or were about to become homeless.

The families in Cosentino said that the State and City were wrongly convincing families who were homeless or were about to become homeless to place their children in foster care. These families said that instead of placing or keeping children in foster care because their families did not have safe housing, the State and City should help the families find and keep housing.


Here we have, what shall never see the light of day in national statistics or in the academic world, is a new category for reason of entry into foster care. That category is duress through racketeering.

But why was it that New York was able to hold a proverbial shot gun to families reaching out for help?

The answer is simple: no bid contracts.

It's so easy being a New York gangster, especially when it deals with child welfare. The public will fund you; the courts will dismiss your cases; and you can even get away with murder.



Hand over the kids, there's nothing you can do about it.



Happy Child Abuse Propaganda Month!

Sunday, April 25, 2010

National Child Abuse Registry Covers Up Fraud

Another fine example of the lack of parallel jurisprudence in the child welfare industry.


Flaws Found In State Child-Abuse Registries
Push For National Database Barely Progressing
DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer


POSTED: Sunday, April 25, 2010
UPDATED: 12:33 pm EDT April 25, 2010
NEW YORK -- Combatting child abuse is a cause with universal support. Yet a push to create a national database of abusers, as authorized by Congress in 2006, is barely progressing as serious flaws come to light in the state-level registries that would be the basis for a national list.

In North Carolina, an appeals court ruled last month that the registry there is unconstitutional because alleged abusers had no chance to defend themselves before being listed.

In New York, a class-action settlement is taking effect on behalf of thousands of people who were improperly denied the chance for a hearing to get removed from the state registry.

And the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case this fall arising from the plight of a California couple whose names remain on that state's registry years after they were cleared of an abuse allegation made by their rebellious teenage daughter...more

I always say:
If they can put us on a central registry, then we can put them on a central registry.  

The national registry is being promoted to destroy any possibility for transparency and accountability. Once placed on the registry, all false claims are thereby validated as legitimate claims. Until there is due process in child welfare a national database of child abusers is nothing more than part of the never ending cover up of child welfare fraud.

End the secrecy and let due process live.


Follow the link above to read the national report to Congress.

Baby LK Report April 24, 2010

Baby LK recaps the week in news for the child welfare industry.


Happy Child Abuse Propaganda Month!

Legally Kidnapped Calls Out California Child Welfare Fraud

Our friends over at Legally Kidnapped have been on an analytical roll and has polished the lens to look into the marketing for the child welfare industry.

Whenever there's a month designated to honor some line of bullshit, such as Child Abuse Propaganda Month, many stories in honor of such lines of bullshit are presented to the sheep in effort to raise awareness for the cause. However, the biased and one sided nature of such presentations are often lacking in fairness and truth, are presented in absence of fact, and are designed to take advantage of the emotions of good people, thus creating a culture of lies where the concept of Big Brother develops and grows right under your noses.

The following article is no exception.

Abuse cases push Fresno Co. CPS to breaking point

A bad economy has created a dangerous environment for many Fresno County children...more

I could not have said it better myself, but I do have one question:

Why is the media focusing on data of the counties? Is it to take focus away from its respective state for failure to come into federal compliance with its funding stipulations or is it an attempt to save the face of public trust in government and blame the people? Either way it's propaganda.

So, without further adieu, I give you reasons why the observations of Legally Kidnapped are valid:

The California Defalcation Factor

Kentucky Hit With Social Worker Whistleblower Suit

Boy, I would love to get my hands on the actual complaint. I like the way the articles briefly glances over the "reported violations." This should be an interesting case because Kentucky has no false claims act.

Perhaps Representative Tom Burch can introduce one.

Social worker files 'whistleblower' suit against state
state employee files 'whistle-blower' suit

By Valarie Honeycutt Spears - vhoneycutt@herald-leader.com

A state social worker filed a "whistle-blower" lawsuit Friday alleging that Kentucky officials disciplined him because he reported violations by fellow social workers, including the placement of children in the homes of registered sex offenders.

In the suit, filed in Franklin Circuit Court against the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Clay Clement said that in September he complained to the cabinet's inspector general about two cases in which children younger than 4 were placed in the care of registered sex offenders without the cabinet taking any safety precautions or notifying law enforcement.

Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2010/04/24/1237346/social-worker-files-whistleblower.html#ixzz0m5SpmXNt

Pennsylvania Cover Ups Kids 4 Cash Scandal

Just when you think the end of April would bring the end of the celebration of Child Abuse Propaganda Month, I run across this breathtakingly biased article supporting and even more egregious state report promoting the cover up of extreme malfeasance in the Department of Public Welfare.

Parents, relatives remain most likely abusers of children
By Charles Schillinger (Staff Writer)

Published: April 24, 2010

Parents and relatives are overwhelmingly the most likely perpetrators of abuse of a child, according to an annual report released by the state Department of Public Welfare.

About 81 percent of the substantiated 3,365 sexual assaults on children statewide in 2009 were committed by parents, family members or someone living in the child's home, the report found. Another 16 percent of the sexual assaults were committed by baby sitters.

Of the 1,647 physical abuses reported statewide, parents were the abuser 66 percent of the time, with 558 reports of abuse by the mother and 529 reports of abuse by the father.

While media reports often focus on abuse by strangers or others, the abuse of children has long been a problem within the family, said Lackawanna County Children and Youth Services deputy director William Browning...more




Deputy Director William Browning, have you lost your living mind??? Just in case you have, enjoy the following report, and be quite sure, this post will be viewed by those who will be overseeing your next federal review.

U.S. DHHS Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, Philadelphia County Audit 2008

Mr. Browning, just in case you still do not understand that the generation of false public reports is not going to be accepted, allow me to refresh your memory one last time...

You are suppose to be working with the Administration for Children and Families, not generating propaganda to cover up hundreds of millions in child welfare fraud.

U.S. DHHS OIG Pennsylvania Castille Foster Care Audit 2007

Mr. Browning, you have been formally put on notice.



Luzerne, Lackawanna corruption scandals pose new barriers for region's economic development
BY JAMES HAGGERTY (STAFF WRITER jhaggerty@timesshamrock.com)

Published: April 18, 2010

Economic developers worked for decades to escape the region's image as a Rust Belt has-been, weighted down by the demise of anthracite mining and textile manufacturing.

Today, a different stigma may pose new barriers to expansion in Northeast Pennsylvania.

More than two dozen public officials in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties have been charged in the last 15 months in a far-ranging, ongoing public corruption investigation. The net has ensnared three former Luzerne County judges and a commissioner, a Lackawanna County commissioner and a former commissioner, along with lesser public officials.

The scandal adds to the hurdles economic developers face as they try to attract business following the nation's worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.more

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Indiana Child Liquidation Method

It is always wonderful to see a different perspective introduced into the area of child policy. For so long, we have seen only one, biased side of analyses come exclusively from the realms of social work. I bring apply more technical applications when I look at a particular issue, but, my associates over at Legally Kidnapped have brought to the table a tasty, precious morsel of analysis in the area of public opinion.

Yes, public opinion is nothing more than a product of marketing, or more intuitively recognized in microeconomic terms, price is a reflection of market manipulation. When the public is only introduced to asymmetrical information, then, then, monopolies form, allowing the control of public behavior.

Oh, just read this...

The Indiana Child Liquidation Method

So late last night, I commented on the Michigan Heart Gallery which puts hard to place foster children on display for everybody to see, and today, I come across one of these heartwarming sucker you in with love kind of bullshit articles that really just makes you want to puke because anybody who knows anything about this issue should clearly be able to see that they are sending the wrong message in an effort to sucker people into their little scam.

And be it Child Abuse Propaganda Month, I am somewhat obligated to celebrate by continuing to point out the bullshit that they present so carefully in an effort to manufacture public support for their cause...more

Legally Kidnapped Translates Michigan Adoption

A Special Message from the Michigan Child Liquidation team.

Legally Kidnapped translates Michigan adoption system to reality. The only item missing was Superintendent of Michigan Children's Institute, Bill Johnson.
mentioning the legal guardian of these children, the

Friday, April 23, 2010
Legally Kidnapped

A Special Message from the Michigan Child Liquidation team.

Here is an article that I just came across from the great broke state of Michigan. A state which has stolen so many children, that they don't have the resources to house them all. So what do they do? Liquidate the assets. What a solution.

Michigan Heart Gallery Features Faces of Foster Kids

Lets take a look at this article point by point.

Hundreds of Michigan children have a simple wish. All they want is a family that they can call their own.

Translation to reality: They want their real families. Dreams of forever homes being pumped into their heads.

Friday marked the grand opening of the Michigan Heart Gallery. It offers a chance to be introduced to some of Michigan's children who are waiting and hoping for a home.

Translation to reality: The Heart Gallery is the Showroom Floor of the Adoption Industry. Picture displays of children stuck in the system. Don't let em fool ya. It's all about the incoming cash and the ability to present what is often misinterpreted as a positive outcome.

Smiling, laughing, serious, siblings, daughters, sons -- what these children all have in common is the need for a forever family.

Translation to reality: What these children all have in common is that they were screwed out of their family ties by the all wise and all knowing babystealers of Michigan's Child Protective Industry.

"To have a family is one of the most important things," said Heidi Raubenolt with Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange. "Kids need support in their lives."

Translation to reality: "Although having ties to their family is important, we over at the Child Protective Industry thought it best to screw these kids out of their real families and fail them even further by bouncing them around through the foster care system and screwing them up so bad that nobody wants them anymore. Now we're making one last desperate attempt to present our work as a positive effort in these kids lives."...more

Translation to reality: So we're gonna put them on display and hope to liquidate. Coming to a town near you.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Wisconsin Settles TANF Discrimination With HHS

For some reason, the HHS press release has disappeared. I normally can hunt them down when this happens, but I find the document.

Discrimination charges were filed against the Wisconsin Department of Children and Family Services. Families were denied assistance, leading to minority child removals to foster care. More details are found in the agreement.

Voluntary Compliance Agreement between HHS and Wisconson

Naturally, none of this information will be included in any research or studies as to the overrepresentation of minorities in foster care.

Child Policy Student Funding

Here is a great opportunity for new perspectives to enter the academic world of child policies.

The Quality Improvement Ceneter on Early Childhood (QIC-EC) is pleased to announce the release of a Request for Applications (RFA) for Dissertation Support for advanced-level doctoral students conducting research on preventing the abuse and neglect of infants and young children (0-5) and promoting child and family well-being. Learn more about this opportunity, a pre-application technical assistance webinar for potential applicants, and download the RFA HERE.

The deadline for applications for dissertation support is June 9, 2010.

Child Abuse Student Funding

Here is a great opportunity for new perspectives to enter the academic world of child policies.

The Quality Improvement Ceneter on Early Childhood (QIC-EC) is pleased to announce the release of a Request for Applications (RFA) for Dissertation Support for advanced-level doctoral students conducting research on preventing the abuse and neglect of infants and young children (0-5) and promoting child and family well-being. Learn more about this opportunity, a pre-application technical assistance webinar for potential applicants, and download the RFA HERE.

The deadline for applications for dissertation support is June 9, 2010.

Santa Clara County Named in $400 Million False Claims Damages Suit Over DFCS Fraud

This 2006 case was recently brought to my attention. As soon as I find the case I will publish the documents.

Santa Clara County Named in $400 Million False Claims Damages Suit Over DFCS Fraud

Suit Alleges CPS Charged State and Federal Programs For Non Existent Children

After a Federal False Claims Act suit was unsealed last week, the County of Santa Clara has been served with a summons to appear on charges of defrauding State and Federal Social Security funds for Foster Care.

The suit alleges that the Department of Family and Children's Services regularly bills the State and Federal Governments for managing case files of children that do not exist. The attorney for the case estimated the damages and fraud at about $400 million dollars in State and Federal funds...more

Why Michigan Needs More Foster Homes

State struggles with foster home shortage
Economy, placement rules contribute to problem
Catherine Jun / The Detroit News


A shortage of foster homes in Michigan has forced agencies to institutionalize children and separate thousands of siblings, state officials and child advocates say.

This comes as the state prepares to launch a campaign to recruit new foster parents.

That campaign is named "Child Abuse Propaganda Month Extension"

There are very simple reasons why the state is running short on foster homes.

1. Medicaid Fraud in Child Welfare:  The Attorney General does absolutely nothing with its Medicaid Fraud Control Unit to end the billions in child welfare fraud;

2. Poverty is considered as child abuse and grounds for removal to foster care.  As poverty increases, so does the number of children who enter the system;

3. The improperly and unnecessarily removed from their homes in order to meet child placing agency quotas.

5. There is no transparency, accountability or oversight in Michigan's child welfare system.  The individuals in this article are very familiar with this fact.

Poverty is not a crime.

To make the historic story of foster care and adoption short and sweet, allow me to cost-effectively sum up the policy for the Industry of Human Trafficking:
  • Poverty is abuse and neglect. Abuse and neglect is a crime.   
  • A parent(s) who is poor abuses and neglects the child.  
  •  The state must protect the welfare of the child.   
  • The state never questions the work of God.  
  •  Foster care and adoption residential institutions are in the name of God.   
  • People and corporations make tax write-off financial contributions to the institutions.   
  • Children get medicated; pharmaceutical companies get profit; social workers get jobs. 
  • The longer a child is in foster care; the more jobs are sustained.   
  • Sustaining and creating jobs saves money for the state. 
  • Foster parenting is a job. 
  • The state and the institutions are given financial incentives and receive financial rewards for each child transitioned into adoption.  
  •  Michigan needs to make budget cuts.  
  •  Michigan needs to create more jobs.   
  • Foster parenting is significantly more economical than an institution.  
  •  Adoptive families receive financial rewards for each child adopted.   
  • The state no longer is financially responsible for the child.   
  • The state is no longer financially responsible for the birth parent.   
  • Everyone contributes to the economy.   
  • A stronger economy eradicates poverty.   
  • Poverty is a crime.  
  •  When you stop poverty, you stop abuse and neglect.

Texas Puts Poor Kids in Foster Care

Child Abuse Doubles in Potter County
Posted: Apr 22, 2010 10:28 PM

AMARILLO, TEXAS - The rate of child abuse in Potter County is over three times the state average according to new information.

In 2009, for every 1,000, there were 30.4 confirmed child abuse victims in Potter County. Compare that to the statewide average of 10.5. And to make things worse, the local rate is over double what it was a decade ago.

This surge in cases is creating major backlogs in the courts and prolonging the trauma for many kids. But there's a way you can help in just an hour of work a week. CASA says they are in desperate need of volunteers because of this growing problem. If you're interested, the next training session is soon. You can sign up by calling, 373-2272.


TRANSLATION: POTTER COUNTY IS POOR AND POVERTY IS CONSIDERED CHILD ABUSE.

As of the census of 2000, there were 113,546 people, 40,760 households, and 27,472 families residing in the county. The population density was 125 people per square mile (48/km²). There were 44,598 housing units at an average density of 49 per square mile (19/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 68.60% White, 9.96% Black or African American, 0.87% Native American, 2.49% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 15.44% from other races, and 2.60% from two or more races. 28.11% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 40,760 households out of which 34.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.40% were married couples living together, 15.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.60% were non-families. 27.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.21.

In the county, the population was spread out with 28.00% under the age of 18, 11.10% from 18 to 24, 30.10% from 25 to 44, 19.10% from 45 to 64, and 11.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 100.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $29,492, and the median income for a family was $35,321. Males had a median income of $26,123 versus $20,275 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,947. About 15.20% of families and 19.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.30% of those under age 18 and 12.30% of those age 65 or over.


Happy Child Abuse Propaganda Month!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Maryland Charges Social Worker With Medicaid Fraud

Bowie Social Worker Charged with Medicaid Fraud

BALTIMORE, MD ( April 1, 2010) - Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that Michael Ryan, 53, of the 12000 block of Seabury Lane in Bowie, was indicted by a Prince George’s County Grand Jury and charged with 12 counts of felony Medicaid fraud and 12 counts of felony theft. The charges allege that while employed as a social worker between January 2005 and November 2007, Ryan submitted a series of false claims to the Maryland Medicaid Program for individual therapy services to medical assistance recipients.

Each count of felony Medicaid fraud is punishable by up to five years in jail and/or a $100,000 fine. Each count of felony theft is punishable by up to 15 years in jail and/or a $25,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Office of the Attorney General in conjunction with the Maryland State Police. Criminal charges are merely accusations of wrongdoing, and a defendant is presumed innocent until the State proves the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

New Jersey Sentences Medicaid Fraud

Essex County Pharmacy Owner Sentenced in Medicaid Fraud Investigation
Medicaid program billed for expensive HIV/AIDS prescriptions never dispensed


TRENTON – Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that the owner of a Newark pharmacy was sentenced today in connection with an investigation into pharmacy owners and employees who bought completed prescription forms for HIV/AIDS drugs from indigent patients so Medicaid could be billed for drugs that were never actually dispensed.

According to Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Riza Dagli, Nwala Gabriel, 49, of Piscataway, was sentenced to three years of probation by Superior Court Judge Michael A. Petrolle in Essex County. Judge Petrolle also ordered Gabriel to pay $178,272 in fines and restitution and to serve 150 hours of community service. Gabriel will be excluded from the Medicaid program for three years. He must surrender his license to practice pharmacy for a minimum period of three years or until he successfully completes all terms of his criminal sentence.

The sentence was based on Gabriel’s guilty plea to Medicaid fraud. The charge was contained in a state grand jury indictment obtained by the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit on Oct. 26, 2009.

In pleading guilty on Feb. 23, Gabriel, the owner of Harrison Pharmacy on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Newark, admitted that he fraudulently billed Medicaid for prescription drugs that were never dispensed to the Medicaid beneficiaries.

Deputy Attorneys General Sherry Wilson and Debra Conrad represented the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor at today’s sentencing.

Gabriel was charged as a result of Operation PharmScam, an ongoing investigation targeting Medicaid fraud that began in 2008 and has been conducted by OIFP’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the Jersey City Police Department and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations.

On Oct. 26, 2009, a total of 11 defendants, including Gabriel, were indicted as a result of the investigation into pharmacies that were buying prescriptions from patients and billing the Medicaid Program for medicines that were never dispensed. A full list of defendants charged is in the Oct. 26, 2009 press release at www.njpublicsafety.com.

On Jan. 19, two technicians at Pharmacy of America who were indicted, Jannah Rasheedah Amatul Muid and Alicia Stephens, pleaded guilty to Medicaid fraud. On March 8, Muid and Stephens were sentenced to three years probation, ordered to pay a $1,000 civil fine and were barred from participating in the Medicaid Program for a period of five years. Muid was ordered to perform 150 hours of community service, while Stephens was ordered to perform 100 hours community service. On the same day, Shivonne Forde, another Pharmacy of America technician, pleaded guilty to third-degree possession with intent to distribute prescription legend drugs. Forde’s sentencing is scheduled for June 3.

The investigation has been conducted for the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit by Detective Danielle Han, Detective Joseph Jaruszewski, Detective Jacqueline Latty, Detective Kevin Gannon, Sgt. Fred Weidman and Sgt. James Wrightson. Deputy Attorneys General Sherry Wilson and Debra Conrad are leading the prosecutions, with assistance from Deputy Attorney General Erik Daab, who is Deputy Chief of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and Deputy Attorneys General William Hoyman, Cynthia Vazquez, Linda Rinaldi and Carol Stanton Meier.

The Medicaid program, which is funded by the state and federal governments, provides health care services and prescription drugs to persons who may not otherwise be able to afford such services and medicines. The State of New Jersey administers the Medicaid program through the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services and through the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which investigates both criminal and civil Medicaid fraud and abuse in that program.

Anyone with information about fraud or abuse involving the Medicaid program or Medicaid providers is urged to call the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit toll free at 1-877-55-FRAUD or report it online at www.NJInsuranceFraud.org. All information received will remain confidential.

Ohio AG Files Medicaid Fraud Against Nursing Home

Cordray Files Suit Against Nursing Home Provider
4/7/2010

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray today filed a lawsuit against a large Ohio-based nursing home provider doing business under the name Carington Health Systems. The lawsuit alleges the company overstated nursing home expenses in reports filed with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS), resulting in overpayments of Medicaid reimbursements for 21 nursing facilities.

“By artificially inflating its expenses, this company caused the Ohio Medicaid Program to overpay for services,” said Attorney General Cordray. “It is critical that Medicaid dollars are spent as intended and that we hold accountable those providers who try to take advantage of the system.”

Nursing facility Medicaid providers are required to report their costs for supplying services to residents. ODJFS uses those cost reports to calculate a per diem rate for Medicaid reimbursement paid to a nursing facility for each day that each resident resides in the facility.

The lawsuit, filed under Ohio’s Medicaid statute, alleges that Carington’s Medicaid nursing facility services providers over-reported certain consulting service expenses in their 2003 cost reports. The result, according to the lawsuit, was an inflated per diem reimbursement rate for fiscal years 2005 – 2010.

The lawsuit, filed in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, seeks monetary recovery for the overpayment of Medicaid reimbursement and damages.

The nursing facilities named in the complaint are:

Arlington Nursing Home, Newark
Batavia Nursing & Convalescent Center, Batavia
Bryden Place, Columbus
Carington Park, Ashtabula
Clermont Nursing & Convalescent Center, Milford
East Galbraith Health Care Center, Cincinnati
East Galbraith Nursing Home, Cincinnati
Forest Hills Center, Columbus
Franklin Ridge, Inc., Franklin
Glencare Center, Cincinnati
Golden Years Nursing Home, Hamilton
Harmony Court, Cincinnati
Home at Hearthstone, Cincinnati
Heath Nursing & Convalescent Center, Heath
Madison Health Care, Madison
Nelson Park Care Center, Columbus
Sidney Care Center, Sidney
St. Catherine’s of Fostoria, Fostoria
St. Catherine’s of WCH, Washington Court House
Terrace View Gardens, Cincinnati
Woods Edge Point, Cincinnati

To read the full complaint, go to www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/CaringtonHealthSystemsComplaint.

The Ohio Attorney General’s office investigates and prosecutes health care providers who defraud the state's Medicaid program and also enforces Ohio laws protecting mentally or physically disabled or elderly citizens from financial exploitation, neglect and abuse in long-term care facilities. Last year, the office’s Health Care Fraud Section recovered a record $91.4 million, breaking the previous year’s record of $65.2 million. Indictments increased from 164 in 2008 to 228 in 2009, and convictions rose from 187 to 215 last year.

Anyone who suspects patient abuse or neglect or Medicaid fraud can contact the Ohio Attorney General’s office at (800) 282-0515 or online at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov.

New York AG Announces Medicaid Fraud Unit Criminal Convictions

ATTORNEY GENERAL CUOMO ANNOUNCES MEDICAID FRAUD UNIT SETS RECORD WITH 148 CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS IN 2009
Cuomo’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Also Recovers Over $283 Million in 2009

~
Cuomo Recovers Over $660 Million in Taxpayer Funds in First Three Years as Attorney General

NEW YORK, NY (April 12, 2010) - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that his Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) obtained a record 148 criminal convictions across New York and recovered over $283 million in 2009. The information is detailed in his office’s Annual Report submitted today to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The entire report can be found at www.ag.ny.gov/media_center/2010/apr/mfcu_2009.pdf.

In Cuomo’s first three years as Attorney General, MFCU has recovered over $660 million in taxpayer funds. As the largest unit within Attorney General Cuomo’s division of criminal justice, MFCU investigates and prosecutes Medicaid fraud as well as patient abuse and neglect, and served as the federal model for the creation of the national Medicaid fraud control unit program.

“Our Medicaid Fraud Control Unit continued to be a national leader in 2009, garnering a record number of criminal convictions and recovering hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars,” said Attorney General Cuomo. “MFCU’s mission is clear - protect vulnerable patients from neglect and abuse while ensuring taxpayer dollars are safe and secure. I am confident that in 2010 MFCU will continue building on this nationally recognized record of excellence.”

The 2009 Annual Report details MFCU’s major criminal and civil cases for the past year and the $283 million in recoveries. MFCU also obtained a record 148 convictions. In addition, MFCU was honored with two awards last year from the Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (OIG). For the first time, MFCU was named Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Year for its work in 2008. In addition, the Inspector General also awarded members of MFCU with the 2009 Cooperative Achievement Award in recognition of their outstanding work on the civil settlement with Eli Lilly, which resolved allegations that the company illegally promoted Zyprexa for off-label uses. New York recovered $91 million in that settlement.

The report highlights MFCU’s activities and major cases during 2009 and includes data regarding the 148 convictions and $283 million in recoveries. Some of the cases, settlements, convictions, and achievements described in the report include:

* Operation Home Alone: The Attorney General’s Operation Home Alone investigation of corruption in the home care industry during 2009 resulted in civil settlements with licensed home health care services and certified home health care agencies totaling $51.7 million and 25 criminal convictions. As part of this ongoing investigation, MFCU indicted two home health aide training schools and their owners for selling phony home health aide certificates - resulting in millions of dollars of unlawful Medicaid billings. In addition, a home care agency and its owner were convicted of stealing more than $1 million for nursing services provided by unlicensed nurses in the State of New York. To date, 125 defendants have been charged and approximately 100 have been convicted through Operation Home Alone.
* Pharmaceutical Settlements: MFCU participated in settlements with several pharmaceutical companies, including Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Astra Zeneca, and Aventis for off-label marketing, kickbacks, misreporting prices, and other fraud.
* Drug Diversion and Prescription Fraud: In 2009, MFCU secured a 3 year prison sentence for a doctor who was convicted of selling prescriptions, which were then filled, and sold on the street - all paid for with Medicaid money. In addition, a pharmacist was sentenced to one year in jail for billing Medicaid over $1 million dollars for prescription drugs that were never dispensed.
* Program Fraud: An upstate hospital debt collecting company and its owner were indicted for scamming Medicaid for over $700,000 by bribing a local Department of Social Services employee to assist in approving Medicaid coverage for certain hospital patients. The DSS employee pleaded guilty and is cooperating in the ongoing prosecution. MFCU filed a civil suit against the debt collecting company seeking over $2 million dollars in civil damages and penalties under the False Claims Act and Social Services Law.
* Nursing Homes: MFCU filed criminal charges and a civil lawsuit seeking damages of $5 million against a nursing home and its owner for paying kickbacks to a hospital employee for patient referrals ultimately billed to Medicaid. By law, patients are entitled to a choice of 5 nursing homes, but the hospital employee referred the patients to nursing homes he knew would refuse the referral, leaving the patients no choice but to go to the corrupt home. As a result of this scheme, patients were denied a real choice of where they or their loved ones would be admitted.
* Dentists: A judge issued a $15.6 million judgment against two dentists who operated a mobile dentist business and who knowingly employed an individual with a prior felony conviction. The convicted felon had also been barred from participating in the Medicaid program and paid kickbacks for Medicaid patient referrals. The felon made illegal payments to have “runners” and “hustlers” refer Medicaid patients to the buses for treatments billed to Medicaid.
* Hidden Camera Investigations: Cuomo’s MFCU leads the nation in using hidden surveillance to investigate neglect and abuse in nursing homes. MFCU arrested 22 current and former health care workers at nursing homes in Troy and Buffalo just last month. To date, 30 nursing home employees have been convicted based on undercover video.

Under the federal legislation that created the Medicaid fraud control unit program in 1978, the federal government funds 75 percent of Medicaid fraud control units’ budgets and states fund 25 percent. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services administers the federal grant funds for the nation’s 50 Medicaid fraud control units. The New York MFCU’s own monetary recoveries fund New York State’s share of the unit’s budget with the remainder of the money returned to the New York State Department of Health’s Medicaid budget.

Orange County Woman Arrested for Defrauding Medicaid Program Out of More Than $84,000


TALLAHASSEE, FL - Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that an Orange County woman is in custody after she allegedly defrauded the Florida Medicaid program out of more than $84,000. Xiomara A. Honor, owner of Morning Star Ministries of Central Florida, Inc., was arrested today by law enforcement officers with the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Investigators with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit received a complaint from the Agency for Health Care Administration alleging that Honor, 47, billed the Medicaid program for services that were allegedly not provided. Honor also purportedly employed caregivers who did not meet the necessary guidelines to provide services to Medicaid recipients.

Honor will be charged with one count Medicaid Fraud, a third-degree felony. She is currently being held in the Orange County jail and if convicted, faces up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.

HHS Revs Up Its Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Section

UPDATE:  After review of HHS OIG work to rev up States Medicaid Fraud Control Units, as of May 2016,  I was not impressed.

Hot off the presses!  

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General is revving up oversight for the States Medicaid Fraud Control Units.

New Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Section

To better showcase the important role played by State Medicaid Fraud Control Units (MFCUs), OIG has developed a new section of the website devoted to these State organizations and their activities.  The 50 MFCUs, which are funded on a matching basis as part of the Medicaid program, are established in Federal law as "single, identifiable" Units operated by the States and devoted to the investigation and prosecution of Medicaid fraud and patient abuse and neglect.  As part of its oversight responsibility for the MFCUs, OIG conducts periodic reviews of Unit activities and issues annual certifications.
You can explore the new MFCU section and its various links here:
http://www.oig.hhs.gov/fraud/mfcu/

As a feature of this new section, OIG will now be featuring press releases of enforcement actions taken by these State agencies.  You can view our initial list of April MFCU enforcement actions here:
http://www.oig.hhs.gov/fraud/enforcement/state/2010/04.asp  You can view February and March enforcement actions by going through the "State Enforcement Actions" link in the main MFCU section.

For all your latest news in State Enforcement Actions with Medicaid Fraud Control Units, keep coming back and sign up for my RSS.  It's on!

Why Standard of Fraud is So High in Child Welfare

Ever wanted to know why child welfare information and records are not open to the public?

Ever wanted to know why the circumstances of fraud in child welfare are so hard to prove in a court of law?

Well, here it is:

In the case of Tampico v. EOUSA, No. 04-2285, slip op. at 8 (D.D.C. Apr. 29, 2005), the court clarified the position that is applied to all child protection cases, as it is a federally funded law enforcement action by qualifying certain records containing identifying information pertaining to children involved in criminal proceedings by statute to the Freedom of Information Act under Exemption 3.

Congress exempted nine categories of documents from the broad disclosure requirements of the Freedom of Information Act. Exemption 3 applies to documents that are specifically exempted from disclosure by another statute. 5 U.S.C.S. § 552(b)(3). Exemption 6 protects personnel and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. 5 U.S.C.S. § 552(b)(6). Exemption 7(C) excludes records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that the production of such materials could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. 5 U.S.C.S. § 552(b)(7)(C).

Then, under the Federal Victims Protection and Rights Act (3) the term “child abuse” means the physical or mental injury, sexual abuse or exploitation, or negligent treatment of a child. 

As seen in the language of the statute, the terms "child abuse" and "child neglect" are fungible. One in the same.

But this still begs the question, "Why are the state contracted child placing and child welfare agencies, States and U.S. Administration for Children and Families not subject to disclosure of operations for publication in the media?

Here is the case.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE et al. v. REPORTERS COMMITTEE FOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS et al.

No. 87-1379

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

489 U.S. 749; 109 S. Ct. 1468; 103 L. Ed. 2d 774; 1989 U.S. LEXIS 1574; 57 U.S.L.W. 4373; 16 Media L. Rep. 1545

December 7, 1988, Argued
March 22, 1989, Decided

The court addressed whether disclosure of the rap sheet constituted an unwarranted invasion of privacy within the meaning of 5 U.S.C.S. § 552(b)(7)(C). The court held that the fact that an event was not wholly "private" did not mean that an individual had no interest in limiting its disclosure. The privacy interest in a rap sheet was substantial. Whether an invasion of privacy was warranted had to turn on the nature of the requested document and its relationship to the basic purpose of the FOIA, which focused on the citizen's right to be informed about the government's actions. The news groups in this case did not intend to discover anything about the conduct of the agency, and response to the request would not shed any light on the agency's conduct. Thus, the public interest in release of a rap sheet was not the type of interest protected by the FOIA. The court held, as a categorical matter under § 552(b)(7)(C), that a third party's request for law enforcement records about a private citizen could reasonably be expected to invade that citizen's privacy, and that when the request sought no official information about the government, the privacy invasion was unwarranted.

This is interpreted to mean that it would be an invasion of a child's privacy, or in more familiar terms, not in the "best interest of the child" to release under FOIA any federally funded law enforcement activities pertaining to child abuse for publication in the media. This was theory was qualified under FOIA Exemption 6.

But of course, there is another reason why child welfare is so secretive. We know there are federal enforcement statutes to provide accountability against child welfare fraud, but the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General has what is called in the legal community, "Safe Harbor Provisions". Safe Harbor are exactly what you think; they are a place in the law where an individual or corporation can go to as a safe haven when it has been found that they have been practicing questionable and improper billing cost activities that are punishable by law.
HHS OIG Solicitation for Safe Harbors and Fraud Alerts 2009

Now, we can understand why the MFCUs and the States Attorney General will do nothing, (except for Roy Cooper) as they are too lazy to find the statutory passage to go into the "Exemption 3 and 6 safe harbor" and attack the Child Welfare Medicaid Fraudfeasor with full prosecution and recovery.

We can also understand why Child Abuse Propaganda continues to thrive as there is no public scrutiny of the data that is generated nor the research that is published as we can see "abuse and neglect" are lumped into the same Exemption categories.  With poverty codified as neglect, the propaganda campaigns are in full force.   Nothing more than malafide scienter on the part of these universities to protect federal aberrant billing practices.
Michigan Child Abuse Prevention Month Complete Toolkit 2010


Each state has a Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU), stationed in with the States Attorney General. These MFCUs has the powers and funding to stop Medicaid fraud. Section 1128B(b) of the Social Security Act (the Act) (42 U.S.C. 1320a–7b(b)) provides criminal penalties for individuals or entities that knowingly and willfully offer, pay, solicit, or receive remuneration in order to induce or reward business reimbursable under the Federal health care programs. The offense is classified as a felony and is punishable by fines of up to $25,000 and imprisonment for up to 5 years. OIG may also impose civil money penalties, in accordance with section 1128A(a)(7) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a–7a(a)(7)), or exclusion from the Federal health care programs, in accordance with section 1128(b)(7) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a–7(b)(7)), yet enforcement is exempted under 3 and 6 of FOIA.

This is why only the bravest warriors enter the battlefield of the court to bring forth qui tams.

The barriers of entry into the "safe harbor"  in alleging fraud or mistake in child welfare claims as a party must state with particularity the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake in a court of law.  It becomes an epic battle of honor for the parties who choose to battle the ugly beast named fraud in child welfare.   Even though malice, intent, knowledge, and other conditions of a person's mind who commits child welfare fraud may be alleged generally in litigation, it is still the burden of the party to educate the court on the facts, the honor of the warrior to tell his story...



Stop Child Welfare Fraud

It must be noted that there is still no mention of any oversight of the pervasive fraud, just focusing on child welfare, with TRICARE the military and military families version of Medicaid. Also, child welfare fraud is not exclusive to Medicaid, as the false claims exist in the areas of Title IV-E, the next largest area of child welfare fraud.