Arizona's child-welfare system has come under a microscope in recent months, with most of the attention focused on several high-profile deaths and how the state's Child Protective Services might have prevented them.
Any death of a child should be considered an anomaly because it is not the norm to kill a child.
State officials said at least six children, who had been the subject of one or more CPS reports, have died so far this year. Of the 70 children whose deaths officials attributed to maltreatment in 2010, 18 had prior CPS involvement.
Based upon the data of the state, CPS has stretched its resources so thinly that it cannot execute its primary mission to protect children. This is due to the imperialistic morality parade of public intervention for the smallest transgression of a conservative social norm and the fact that poverty is codified as the crime of abuse and neglect.
As a gubernatorial task force on child safety works on recommendations, which will likely become legislation in the coming session, misconceptions and myths abound about the responsibilities and rules governing CPS and its workers.
The task force will blatantly omit from the discussions anything related to the subject of fraud, waste and abuse in child welfare. Due to the levels of false claims, there are not enough resources to provide preventive services.
"The myth is that there's a simple solution to this problem," said Karin Kline, who spent 26 years in a variety of CPS positions.
It is not a myth; it is a conflict of interest. How is it the Attorney General can prosecute these privately contracted child placing agencies when the Attorney General is defending the practices of the privately contracted child placing agencies? Hmmm...
I just emailed them.
I encourage everyone to do the same and tell them I sent you.
Another is that there are obvious red flags to show CPS workers which children should be removed, she said.
Poverty is a red flag.
"That the kids who are killed have prior physical injuries and a prior report that a CPS worker somehow overlooked," she said. "Often, it's a kid sent to school dirty or hungry, or mom's got drug problems."
Why? Because society has stripped resources from those who are in need. Society created the problem, oops, I mean goods. Children are chattel for the state to profit by. Usury.
The Republic asked experts to help identify common myths surrounding child abuse and neglect. Among them:
The Republic did not ask me so here are my findings of common myths surrounding child abuse and neglect:
CPS can force parents or caregivers into drug or mental-health treatment or to accept other services, such as parenting classes and child care.
In fact, state law limits the authority of CPS to require anything of parents or caregivers accused of abusing or neglecting their children. And the law requires the caseworker to inform the family of this right at the beginning of an investigation.
Once caseworkers remove children and place them in state custody, a judge can require the family to meet certain conditions in order for the state to return the children. Parents might be able to keep their children under an "in-home dependency," which also involves a court order and requirements parents must meet to prevent the child's placement into foster care.
But short of a court order, the law states that a CPS worker "has no legal authority to compel the family to cooperate with the investigation or to receive protective services offered."
CPS will offer services to families accused or at risk of abuse or neglect, but participation is voluntary. Officials said families who agree to participate voluntarily are more likely to benefit than those forced to accept treatment or services as a condition for getting their children back.
Budget cuts over the past several years, however, have reduced the extent and the timeliness of voluntary services.
Confidentiality laws prevent CPS from talking publicly about cases.
Confidentiality laws prevent CPS from talking publicly about fraud, waste and abuse in cases.
Confidentiality laws prevent CPS from talking publicly about fraud, waste and abuse in cases.
In fact, Arizona has one of the least restrictive confidentiality laws in the country. State law allows the department to "confirm, clarify or correct" information about a case of child abuse or neglect that already has been made public.
In fact, no state in the union will report the number of children who have died in foster care. These unreported data include murders, suicides, medical neglect, and unnecessary psychotropic drug overdoses.
In fact, no state in the union will report the number of children who have died in foster care. These unreported data include murders, suicides, medical neglect, and unnecessary psychotropic drug overdoses.
That might include a situation where police investigating a missing or neglected child-release information about prior CPS involvement in the case. CPS could speak publicly about the case to correct misinformation or explain what caseworkers may have done to try to help the family.
This also includes situations where CPS speaks publicly to cover up the dirty deeds of the state privately contracted child placing agencies.
This also includes situations where CPS speaks publicly to cover up the dirty deeds of the state privately contracted child placing agencies.
The department rarely takes that opportunity, however, and some say that can make it appear that it's got something to hide.
"They can talk until they're blue in the face if they so choose," said Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform. "If they don't talk, they're stonewalling."
Kline sees it differently.
"The myth here is that CPS is not talking to cover for themselves," said Kline, now with Arizona State University's Center for Applied Behavioral Health Policy.
The agency does release basic information about child fatalities and near fatalities. One of the concerns about providing more information, however, is that it could endanger federal funding under a child-welfare law that has its own confidentiality requirements.
Hello! We have a winner. Basic information about child fatalities and near fatalities (I prefer to refer to as murder and attempted murder as the child was at the time under the auspice of the state) are never reported because it is murder. A federal compliance mandate for grant funding is to demonstrate the system is functioning the way the state proposed to the feds for the money. Murder was not one of the state objectives for its child welfare system.
The confidentiality argument is whitewash to cover up the dirty laundry of the state. Just ask the state auditor general and inspector general. They are not even allowed open access to the contracts and expenditures. This is why there is so much improper and questionable billing.
Hello! We have a winner. Basic information about child fatalities and near fatalities (I prefer to refer to as murder and attempted murder as the child was at the time under the auspice of the state) are never reported because it is murder. A federal compliance mandate for grant funding is to demonstrate the system is functioning the way the state proposed to the feds for the money. Murder was not one of the state objectives for its child welfare system.
The confidentiality argument is whitewash to cover up the dirty laundry of the state. Just ask the state auditor general and inspector general. They are not even allowed open access to the contracts and expenditures. This is why there is so much improper and questionable billing.
But Wexler said that's just an excuse. Federal officials have never taken a nickel away from a state for a confidentiality breach, he said, and the move in recent years has been toward more openness, not less.
Most children are killed by their mother's boyfriend.
In fact, mothers were the perpetrators in 34 out of 70 child maltreatment deaths in 2010, according to the Arizona Child Fatality Review Program, and fathers were responsible for 18 child deaths.
A mother's partner was the culprit in six child deaths last year.
"It's true that a boyfriend presents a risk factor to a young child," Kline said. "But it is not true that they're more likely to harm a child."
The statistics reflect the fact that mothers are the primary caregivers. Sixteen of the child-abuse and neglect deaths in 2010 were because of prematurity or other medical causes, such as a mother failing to seek medical care for a child or a baby born prematurely because of prenatal drug exposure.
There are no statistics to show how many children were murdered, tortured and raped in foster care.
There are no statistics to show how many children were murdered, tortured and raped in foster care.
Child abuse and neglect is spread equally across all socio-economic levels.
A child is ten times more likely to be abused in foster care than in the home.
A child is ten times more likely to be abused in foster care than in the home.
In fact, the most recent federal study shows that children in families earning below $15,000 a year are more than five times as likely to be considered maltreated compared with other children.
This is because poverty is codified as abuse and neglect.
This is because poverty is codified as abuse and neglect.
Researchers aren't clear whether that's because of the stress of poverty, or if greater scrutiny by state agencies results in more abuse and neglect reports. Most of these families receive some kind of public benefit, such as food stamps or subsidized housing.
Researchers do not want their funding cut off and will not discuss the fact that poverty is the ground for immediate removal as "failure to provide for the necessary needs of the child".
Researchers do not want their funding cut off and will not discuss the fact that poverty is the ground for immediate removal as "failure to provide for the necessary needs of the child".
"The more challenges that a family experiences and the more stress a family experiences, the more likely children's needs aren't going to be met, and they're gonna be abused" or neglected, Kline said, adding that the vast majority of low-income families don't abuse or neglect their children.
Other factors that can put children at risk include lack of child care and health care, and the lack of support from extended family. Some argue that case managers sometimes confuse poverty with neglect, and they remove children instead of offering help that would keep families together.
"The biggest connection between poverty and neglect is the confusion of poverty with neglect," Wexler said. "Either way, your best solution is to target the poverty."
There is no confusion. It is codified and taught at university level in federally funded social work programming.
There is no confusion. It is codified and taught at university level in federally funded social work programming.
Child Safety meeting
What: Arizona Child Safety Task Force
When: 9 a.m. Tuesday
Where: State Capitol, Executive Tower, second-floor conference room, 1700 W. Washington St., Phoenix.
For more information: Call the Governor's Office of Children, Youth and Families, 602-542-4043; or e-mail comments to the Maricopa County Attorneys' Office at childsafety@mcao.maricopa.gov.
I just emailed them.
I encourage everyone to do the same and tell them I sent you.
Greetings,
My name is Beverly Tran and I am a subject matter expert in the field of child policy. I contact you to provide my recommendations to be placed on the public agenda for the state to improve its child welfare system.
The first issue to be addressed would be to establish a grievance policy for clients and workers. The purpose of the grievance is to empower the people to perform the regulatory function for the improvement in quality and delivery of services. This may be better recognized as a whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act.
In light of the fact that Arizona has no mandatory referral component under its FCA to report Medicaid fraud, whereby Targeted Case Management is one of the largest funding streams in foster care, it should be strongly encouraged for all child welfare workers to take the online Deficit Reduction Training: http://www.azahcccs.gov/DRA/DRAtraining/default.html
I also encourage legislative engagement to create law mandating referral of suspected violations regarding Child Medicaid (Pediatric) and Child Targeted Case Management (Foster Care Services) to the Attorney General Medicaid Fraud Control Unit to establish and implement parallel protections for children as are in existence for seniors. http://www.azag.gov/seniors/mfcu.html. Please include in this legislative initiative a component to report the number and origin of referrals in an annual report from the Attorney General Office to the Legislature as this is a mandatory requirement of the federal funding for the fraud unit.
Another issue for the agenda would be to improve data collection, maintenance and disclosure in child welfare. I have identified the foster care data variables as: (1) suicide; (2) murder; (3) rape; (4) medical neglect (i.e. psychotropic drug related deaths and drug overdose); and (4) children of undocumented immigrants. The purpose of securing this information is to allow for public scrutiny in the form of cost-benefit analysis of programming and policy.
My last recommendation is to establish policy for contractual debarment, license revocation, sanction, and recovery of child welfare fraud. Beyond Medicaid fraud recovery, there can also be recovery in the state financial participation in the funding of Title IV-E programming.
If you are in need of any consultation, I offer my expertise in this subject matter.
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