Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Child Protective Services

Child Protective Services  

Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts talks about instances when Arizona's Child Protective Services fails to protect children in its care from further abuse. She discusses her struggle to gain access to records in cases of a fatality and near fatality that, if made public, can help hold the agency accountable by giving the public a better understanding of what went wrong. 

LK: http://legallykidnapped.blogspot.com/2011/08/child-protective-services.html#ixzz1WfWzCc7e

HHS awards $40 million to boost public health infrastructure, prepare tomorrow’s public health workforce


HHS awards $40 million to boost public health infrastructure, prepare tomorrow’s public health workforce

Affordable Care Act creates jobs, helps ensure healthy communities,
cities and states through a strong public health system
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today over $40 million in grant funding, partly supported by the Affordable Care Act, to state, tribal, local and territorial health departments and several schools of public health to enhance the nation’s public health infrastructure and strengthen the public health workforce. Awarded in nearly every state, this funding will improve the delivery of necessary public health services in communities, cities and states across the country.
“These funds will help health departments around the country maximize the impact of the essential services they provide every day, and build the public health workforce to ensure we’re ready to meet the public health challenges of tomorrow,” said Secretary Sebelius. “Strengthening our nation’s public health system is critical to protecting the health of all Americans.”
The grants will fund key state and local public health programs supported through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Most of these grant dollars come from the Prevention and Public Health Fund created by the Affordable Care Act. Additional HRSA dollars supplement this investment.
This is the second year of CDC’s 5-year program known as the National Public Health Improvement Initiative (NPHII) Strengthening Public Health Infrastructure for Improved Health Outcomes grant program. Over 100 people have already been hired through the NPHII and an additional 116 positions are expected to be filled through today’s awards.
The NPHII funding allows health departments to improve the delivery and impact of the public health services they provide by improving how they track the performance of their programs; fostering the identification, dissemination and adoption of public health’s best and most promising practices; building a network of performance improvement managers across the country that share strategies for improving the public health system; and maximizing cohesion across states’ and communities’ public health systems to ensure seamless and coordinated services for residents.
“A strong, efficient, and effective public health system is critical for building a healthy society,” said CDC Director, Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “Investing in preventive services, system improvement and comprehensive interventions is essential to reducing the burden of health care costs in the future.”
Today’s awards will also support 10 Public Health Training Centers at accredited schools of public health and other public or non-profit institutions, bringing the total number of Public Health Training Centers to 37 across the country. HRSA’s Public Health Training Center (PHTC) Program provides our nation’s public health workforce education and training in areas such as environmental health, public health leadership, nutrition, and cultural competency. This expanded national educational network will provide highly-skilled training to nearly 500,000 public health and related healthcare practitioners.
“In a challenging economy, public health training and education are vital in our efforts to ensure access to affordable, high-quality health care,” said Mary K. Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N., HRSA administrator. “These grants provide learning opportunities that enhance technical, scientific, managerial, and leadership skills of public health workers, and help build a strong, well-rounded public health workforce for the future.”
Today’s announcement is another part of the Obama Administration’s broader effort to improve the health and well-being of our communities through initiatives such as the President’s Childhood Obesity Task Force, the First Lady’s Let’s Move! campaign, the National Quality Strategy, and the National Prevention Strategy.
For more information on CDC’s National Public Health Improvement Initiative (NPHII), please visithttp://www.cdc.gov/ostlts/nphii
For more information on HRSA’s Public Health Training Center (PHTC) Program, please visit:http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/grants/publichealth/index.html

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Why Michigan Is Going 'Schools Of Choice'


Here is a link to a piece I did on a cycberschool in Michigan.  It contains links to all the information for the program.  

In the light of the Governor's push for schools of choice, the underlying purposes of this initiative are targeted under cost benefit analysis.  Schools of choice allow free market principles to be put in place.  If a school cannot compete, it will be purged.  

How can a school compete when property values and millages allow for greater resources?  Refer back to the link I did.  Cybershcools do not have to maintain physical buildings to warehouse its students allowing for infinite number of students to enroll in its district.  Westwood public schools changed its name to  "Community Schools" inclusive of its cybercommunity.

If a school district can traditionally house 10,000 students, expansions of its online and cyber programs can increase enrollment to 100,000.  If each student generates federal funding of approximately $7,000, that now becomes a significant increase in the funding of the school district, allow for the creation of more jobs and provide better quality and delivery of services to the children.

Then, with this model, there is to be opportunity with the development of programs uniquely designed to cater to each students need which allows for tapping of Medicaid Targeted Case Management funding which is uncapped.

The entire concept of education must evolve in the same right as humans evolve.  An entire generation of children have been raised in heavy metal fallout environments of manufacturing in lead housing.  Comported with the ills of poverty and a chemically dependent economy which has replaced nurturing with drugging children for pharmaceutical profit, and you have the makings of a new form of human who will not function in the factory school model.

The day of the agrarian school model is over as well as the silencing of creativity and innovation of self-expression.  Learning is 24/7, from cradle to grave.  


I would be remiss not to acknowledge the downfalls of the new vision of education.  There is another organization called http://www.k12.com/.  Think of this as an educational brokerage firm.  Schools sign up and K12 recruits and assigns students to school districts.  Pontiac and Grand Rapids Schools participate.  Concerns fall under the area of fraud. Some will say that there is no oversight of the system.  Some will say the process does not guarantee.  There are even concerns with false claims as seen with universities getting into the game of education with elementary and high school education for the money.

My position on this is that every system possesses an acceptable error rating.  Unfortunately it taxpayer dollars.  I am in support of the new model of education.  Not everyone learns the same and we must stop forcing conformity in thinking.  The only way to stimulate the economy is to empower each child to be the best at what they enjoy.  

rick-snyder-education.jpgMichigan Gov. Rick Snyder addresses the Governor's Education Summit at MSU's Kellogg Center in East Lansing Monday, April 25, 2011.


Snyder pushes choice, but says strong Detroit Public Schools should be 'option' for students




Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder says he remains committed to a strong Detroit Public Schools but wants to make it easier for students around the state to enroll in other districts.

Snyder on Wednesday unveiled an ambitious plan to overhaul the state's education system, calling for the likes of teacher tenure reform, more charter schools, virtual classrooms and a longer academic year. 

He also proposed allowing students to attend schools in any district that has room, taking their state-based per-pupil funding with them. The suggestion is sure to face opposition in Detroit, where the cash-strapped public school system is reeling from years of declining enrollment resulting from a continuous exodus of families to the suburbs.

The plan could also be a tough sell in more affluent Metro Detroit districts, such as Bloomfield Hills, which charges outside students $10,000 a year to attend. District Superintendent Rob Glasstold The Detroit News he believes that allowing outside enrollment should be a local decision.



Listen: Gov. Rick Snyder



Snyder, speaking this morning on WJR-AM 760, said he welcomes debate and discussion on the proposal, and noted the plan would still give priority to local students while allowing outsiders to fill open slots.

"I think fundamentally, it's something that should happened and be available," he said. "Because in the end, it's about educating our children, and we have a failing system."

The Detroit Public Schools, in particular, is failing. Students in the district posted historically-low scores on a national standardized test in 2009, and state-appointed Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb has been unable to cap the growing deficit despite numerous school closures.

To save money, Bobb is working on a plan to sell dozens of school buildings to charter operators, which complements Snyder's plan to lift the charter school cap in districts with failing schools.

Snyder said he supports increased school choice -- which he characterized as putting students before the system -- but reiterated that a solid DPS should be one of those choices.

"There's been a continuing decline for a very long time in Detroit, and that's one of the things we're going to focus on, is turning it around," he said. 

"I want a strong Detroit Public Schools in terms of providing a public school option for kids in the city of Detroit. so as we continue  is process, I think we're going to look at new ways to innovate and take many of these reforms and apply them in Detroit."





President Obama To Come To Detroit Labor Day Parade

President Obama Comes To Detroit Labor Day Parade 2011

What Happens To Fathers Who Cannot Find A Job?

This is what happens to the fathers who cannot find a job. They go to prison for non-payment of child support.



This is what happens to mothers who cannot find a job. The children are taken away and put in foster care for not being able to provide for the necessary needs of the child and the court will prosecute her for being poor.



This criminalization of poverty is funded through Social Security. Absolutely brilliant.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Congressional Children's Caucus

112th Congress Kick Off event of the Congressional Children's Caucus, Co-chaired by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and Congressman Donald Manzullo, September 14, 2011 at 5:00 p.m., 5-354 Rayburn Building, DC.

Congressional Children's Caucus

Monday, August 29, 2011

Charges dropped against Detroit mom in police standoff

Despite federal investigations on fraudulently generating scientific reports to support "illegally and wrongfully" marketing these psychotropic drugs to kids, Michigan is willing to go for termination of parental rights to cover up the Medicaid fraud, and other violations of law.

It is time someone does something about this besides me.

Charges dropped against Detroit mom in police standoff


Detroit— A judge Monday dismissed criminal charges against Maryanne Godboldo, the Detroit mother involved in a March confrontation with police and Child Protective Services over her refusal to give her daughter a prescribed anti-psychotic medication.

The Wayne County Prosecutor's office will determine if an appeal will be taken to the Circuit Court regarding today's dismissal by 36th District Judge Ronald Giles, said Maria Miller, assistant prosecuting attorney.

Godboldo, 56, had been charged with discharge of a weapon, three counts of felonious assault, resisting and obstructing an officer, and a felony firearm count.

Godboldo was involved in a standoff March 24 when Child Protective Services authorities and Detroit Police came to remove the 13-year-old girl from the home. Authorities said she fired a handgun when police tried to kick open a door into the kitchen of the home on Blaine.
A Wayne County juvenile court jury heard about two weeks of testimony this month and found Godboldo was guilty of one count of neglect. The neglect charges stemmed from Godboldo's decision to stop giving her daughter the prescribed drug Risperdal, a controversial medication used to treat schizophrenia.

A judge is expected Sept. 29 to examine the custody issue and the child's medical treatment. The girl continues to live with an aunt; Godboldo has visitation rights.

Foster Care False Claims To The Government Will Never Be Prosecuted

This is the same scheme that is used in foster care.

Most of the time, a person will automatically think that these services are only provided to the foster children but the original parents, the ones who have had their children snatched, have to go through services, also.

I remember a case...the memories, where a mother was to go to anger management therapy because she would file complaints.  Not only was this 37 year old woman billed under juvenile coding, but she always found out that her counselor, who had severe challenges conjugating the infinitive "to be" claimed the graduate degrees of someone who had a similar name.  

This "therapist" who had spent about 10 years in prison was so entertaining that when he would come to the mother's house, yes home therapy visits, in the morning, she would invite her friends for high tea and silent laughs at what he was referred as "Brotha Man from the fith flo". 



Brotha Man did not realize that the mother worked with the graduate director of where he claimed to have graduated with two master degrees.  The mother decided to ridicule the director for issuing a degree to someone who could be Brotha Man's twin.

Come to find out through the power of FOIA, Brotha Man lied.  Not only that but the mother found out he was not even licensed by the state.

I should really publish his court report because it is hilarious if one can read through the illiterate chicken scratch.

Once the mother confronted Brotha Man with this information, he disappeared.  The foster care agency continued to bill for counseling that never took place and continued to file claims for the mother under juvenile reimbursement codes.

The state never did anything.  The foster care agency kept billing for phantom services and no one was ever convicted.

 JURY CONVICTS PERMIAN BASIN CHEMICAL DEPENDENCY COUNSELOR OF MAKING FALSE CLAIMS TO THE GOVERNMENT 
United States Attorney John E. Murphy announced that in Midland today, a federal jury found 61-year-old Ismael Hernandez Sanchez of Odessa, Texas, a licensed chemical dependency counselor doing business as “SR & Associates,” guilty of fraudulently billing the Government for an estimated $100,000 in counseling services which he never provided to Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) inmates. 
Testimony provided during trial revealed that in September 2006, Sanchez was selected to be the local provider for substance abuse treatment services to federal offenders who were being supervised by the Court following their federal incarceration and to defendants who were being supervised while their trials were pending. Per the agreement, Sanchez was to perform family counseling at $70/hour, individual counseling at $56/hour and group counseling at $40/hour to BOP inmates being housed at, or supervised by, the Dismas Charities Halfway House in Midland. Testimony further revealed that in 2009, Sanchez filed six separate false claims whereby Sanchez knowingly made false representations to BOP for reimbursement for family counseling services which never occurred. 
Sanchez faces up to five years in federal prison and a maximum $250,000 fine per count. Sentencing has yet to be scheduled. 
This case was investigated by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney John Klassen is prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government. 

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Legislator Calls for Clarifying Copyright Law

The movement has begun...

Legislator Calls for Clarifying Copyright Law








Arguing that Congress has an obligation “to preserve fairness and justice for artists,” the senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee has called for a revision of United States copyright law to remove ambiguities in the current statute about who is eligible to reclaim ownership rights to songs and sound recordings.


“For too long the work of musicians has been used to create enormous profits for record labels, radio stations and others, without fairly distributing these profits to the artists,” said Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, who was chairman of the committee until January. Because “copyrights are a tool to be used by creators to earn a living from their work,” he added, it is important to ensure “a fair marketplace.”





When copyright law was revised in 1976, recording artists and songwriters were granted “termination rights,” which enable them to regain control of their work after 35 years. But with musicians and songwriters now moving to assert that control, the provision threatens to leave the four major record companies, which have made billions of dollars from such recordings and songs, out in the cold.
As a result the major record labels — Universal, Sony, EMI and Warner — are now fighting the efforts of recording artists and songwriters to invoke those rights. The Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the interests of the labels, maintains that most sound recordings are not eligible for termination rights because they are “works for hire,” collective works or compilations created not by independent performers but by musicians who are, in essence, employees of the labels.
With years of costly litigation looming, groups that represent the interests of recording artists and songwriters said they found Mr. Conyers’s remarks encouraging. But given the issue’s legislative history any amendment process in Congress is likely to be long and complicated.
The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, whose more than 70,000 members include many recording artists and composers, said it was “deeply appreciative” of Mr. Conyers’s “continued focus in working to ensure that our copyright system recognizes the rights of artists for their creative contributions and which fairly compensates artists for the exploitation of their music.” In a statement the group’s national executive director, Kim Roberts Hedgpeth, said it looked “forward to learning more about any recommendations to enhance the rights of artists as they prepared to reclaim their rights in their musical works, and we are working to ensure that there is an effective system by which musical artists fully benefit from their rights under law.”
But the Republicans are the majority party in the House, and some lawyers and artist managers see them as more friendly to the record labels and other big media companies. For that reason the lawyers and managers have expressed doubts that a bipartisan agreement can be reached on the main issues relating to music copyrights, like defining who qualifies as the author of a work and under what circumstances, if any, a song or sound recording should be considered a work for hire.
“Since I’m going to have to be working with them, I don’t want to tell you they are conservative and corporate oriented,” Mr. Conyers said when asked about the Republican position. “That won’t help. I’ll be going to Lamar Smith after Labor Day to talk to him about this, about getting a little fairness into the entertainment industry,” he said, referring to his Republican successor as the committee’s chairman.
Mr. Smith, of Texas, declined a request for an interview. Instead, his staff issued a general statement in his name, saying that legislation that “stimulates U.S. job growth and furthers the interests of creators, innovators and consumers is a top priority of the Judiciary Committee,” and that Mr. Smith was personally committed to legislation that “protects America’s innovators.”
Those creators and innovators could presumably include both recording artists and songwriters. But Mr. Smith’s staff did not respond to a request to clarify his views or to arrange an interview with Republican staff members on the committee who might be able to explain the party’s position on termination rights and related copyright matters.
When Congress passed the copyright bill in 1976, it created an important exception to the general principle that the person who creates a work of art is its author. At the behest of book publishers and other companies that feared their interests would be adversely affected, the law declared that when a work has been “made for hire,” the employer, not an employee, should be considered its author.
The law generally defined a work made for hire as anything “prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment,” like a newspaper article. It also stated that “a work specially ordered or commissioned as a contribution to a collective work,” like a motion picture, a translation or an atlas, should be considered a work for hire. Sound recordings, however, were left off of that list.
But in 1999 language that would have explicitly included sound recordings as works for hire was inserted into an omnibus bill and was approved virtually without debate. A few months later the congressional aide reported to be responsible for that action, Mitchell Glazier, then the copyright counsel to the Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, moved to the recording industry association to become its chief lobbyist, and he continues to work for the group.
“That amendment was essentially passed in the middle of the night,” said William F. Patry, a former law professor and congressional staffer who is the author of several books on copyright. Congressional procedure allows for such changes, but only if they are merely technical matters, he said, “and clearly this wasn’t technical.”
In response recording artists, led by Don Henley of the Eagles and the singer Sheryl Crow, mobilized to overturn the amendment, which would have given the record labels control over their master recordings in perpetuity. A year later the artists were able to persuade Congress to undo the work-for-hire language for songs and recordings, and that seemed to have settled the issue.
“We were concerned with a lot of issues in recording contracts that we considered to be unfair, and this was one of the most glaring,” Mr. Henley said in a recent interview. “Work for hire was never intended to apply to sound recordings. That came about because of movies and books,” he continued, and “sound recordings somehow got added to the list and then taken off again.”
But the recording industry group, which declined to make Mr. Glazier available for an interview, does not see it that way. “By its own terms the statutory language makes clear that the law on termination was simply being restored to its previous state, and that Congress’s action was to have no effect on its interpretation,” the group said in a written statement.
Neither the record companies nor the artists seems to be relishing a confrontation in court. For the labels, already reeling from the sharp decline in sales of CDs over the past decade, any definitive judicial ruling that is adverse could be especially costly.
“It’s not in anybody’s interests to have years and years of litigation,” said Lisa A. Alter, a lawyer with the New York City firm of Alter & Rosen who represents numerous artists or artists’ estates on copyright matters. “The intent of Congress was clearly to protect authors who make bad deals in their eagerness to get their work out there.”

Saturday, August 27, 2011

The Corporatepersonhood Phenomenon

Children Can Vote

Beverly Tran Is A Corporation



As it clearly shows, children are the intellectual property of the corporation whereby each child, being unique, should be under patent.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Michigan Is Trying To Get More Federal Medicaid Money


Senate Bill 347: Revise medical services taxes to get more federal Medicaid money
Received in the House on June 30, 2011.
Passed 65 to 42 in the House on August 24, 2011, to repeal a 6 percent use tax on medical services health care providers, and replace it with a 1 percent tax on health insurance claims. These taxes are designed to “game” the federal Medicaid system in ways that result in higher federal payments to Michigan’s medical welfare system. This bill is the repealer, and Senate Bill 348 creates the new tax.
See [Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No"] at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=588221
Senate Bill 348: Revise medical services taxes to get more federal Medicaid money
Amendment offered by Rep. Lisa Brown (D) on August 24, 2011, to exempt health insurance provided to local government and public school employees from the tax.
The amendment failed 43 to 64 in the House on August 24, 2011, to exempt health insurance provided to local government and public school employees from the tax.
See [Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No"] at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=588216
Senate Bill 348: Revise medical services taxes to get more federal Medicaid money
Received in the Senate on August 24, 2011, to concur with the House-passed version of the bill.
Passed 31 to 7 in the Senate on August 24, 2011, to concur with the House-passed version of the bill.
See [Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No"] at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=588150
Senate Bill 348: Revise medical services taxes to get more federal Medicaid money
Amendment offered by Rep. Richard LeBlanc (D) on August 24, 2011, to label the tax a tax instead of an "assessment".
The amendment failed by voice vote in the House on August 24, 2011, to label the tax a tax instead of an "assessment".
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=137293
Senate Bill 348: Revise medical services taxes to get more federal Medicaid money
Received in the House on June 30, 2011.
Passed 65 to 42 in the House on August 24, 2011, to repeal a 6 percent use tax on medical services health care providers, and replace it with a 1 percent tax on health insurance claims. These taxes are designed to “game” the federal Medicaid system in ways that result in higher federal payments to Michigan’s medical welfare system. This bill creates the new tax.
See [Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No"] at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=588220

Hamtramck official accused of violating charter in naming himself chief


Hamtramck official accused of violating charter in naming himself chief



When Hamtramck City Manager Bill Cooper appointed himself as interim police chief after former Chief Marek Kalinowski retired at the end of June, he had little idea it would lead to a lawsuit against him.

The Hamtramck Ranking Officers Association filed a lawsuit and a motion seeking a preliminary injunction against Cooper and the city, alleging he violated the city charter by assuming the duties of the police chief without being certified as a police officer.

Although the motion seeking a preliminary injunction to block Cooper from becoming interim chief was denied Friday by Wayne County Circuit Judge Prentis Edwards, the association still is seeking a judgment that Cooper's appointment violates the charter.

"I have done nothing illegal," Cooper said Tuesday, adding that the self-appointment was prompted by his desire to learn more about the Police Department and help the next chief. "This wasn't going to be long-term."

Cooper said that because the police chief reports to the city manager, it was not a huge stretch for him to oversee the department on a temporary basis.

But Fred Gibson, attorney for the Hamtramck Ranking Officers Association, questions whether Cooper's appointment is valid because there is no record that the City Council voted on it.

According to Chapter 5 of the charter, "all appointed department heads shall be appointed by the city manager, subject to approval by a majority vote of council and mayor-elect."

"How do you adopt what seems to be an illegal act?" Gibson asked Wednesday.

Cooper said he hopes to recommend a candidate for police chief to the council as early as Sept. 13.

"We are required by contract to promote from within," Cooper said.

So far, Cooper said, the candidates have taken a written examination and are expected to complete an oral exam by early next week. Once the test results are in, Cooper will select a person to go before the council.

Bing fires No. 2 person at health department


Bing fires No. 2 person at health department



Mayor Dave Bing's investigation into potential misspending at the city's health department yielded another firing this week, his office confirmed Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Bing fired Audrey Smith, a general manager and No. 2 person at the Department of Health and Wellness Promotion, which also is under a federal investigation because of accusations of widespread misuse of tax dollars.

Smith, who couldn't be reached for comment, had been suspended for a week last month on claims that she falsified time cards to rack up overtime for subordinates.

Bing also fired the department's director, Dr. Yvonne Anthony, on claims that her daughter was receiving paychecks from the city for alleged work, even though she lived out of state.

Anthony also couldn't be reached for comment.

The investigation is part of an ongoing probe into the misuse of federal grants at the health department and Department of Human Services, which lost its director, Shenetta Coleman, and three other employees to firings last month.

The investigations come after the Free Press revealed misspending and mismanagement of federal grants intended for poor Detroiters as part of an ongoing series of reports about the troubled agencies.

Bing's office also is investigating Human Services manager Deirdra Burford and a city contractor after the newspaper uncovered improper use of gift cards to buy high-end appliances, such as washers and dryers.

A day after the Free Press interviewed Burford for the report earlier this month, she took a monthlong sick leave, according to the mayor's office.

Burford and the contractor, Wayne Wilson, remain employed while the mayor's office investigates. Neither have been charged with a crime.

Qns. Family Court judge heads ACS

Qns. Family Court judge heads ACS

Mayor Michael Bloomberg (c.) announced the appointment of Queens Family Court Judge Ronald Richter (r.) as the new commissioner of the city Administration for Children's Services.
The mayor selected Queens Family Court Judge Ronald Richter to take over as head of the city Administration for Children’s Services after Commissioner John Mattingly steps down in September.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg made the announcement July 27 and said Richter’s extensive experience, most recently as second-in-line to the commissioner position, made him a logical pick for the job.

“Six years ago, John Mattingly hired Ron as a deputy ACS commissioner, and together they instituted major reforms that made the agency far more effective,” Bloomberg said in a statement. “Now, Ron will build on that progress and help us do even more to protect our city’s most vulnerable children.”

Richter cut his teeth as an attorney for the Legal Aid Society, where he represented children in juvenile delinquency and child protection cases from 1991 to 2002, according to the mayor. In that role, he worked closely with ACS and other city agencies, and headed a team of attorneys as deputy attorney-in-charge for the society’s Juvenile Rights Division, which Richter said would help him in his current role as commissioner.

“Leveraging my experience in Family Court and the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, I am committed to advancing the mission of ACS to protect our young people, to find loving homes for them in foster care, to deliver services that help youth in our juvenile justice system and to provide high-quality child care to the working families of New York,” he said.

Bloomberg appointed Richter as a Family Court judge in 2009, where he led the Queens Child Protective Initiative. The initiative was an effort to give children a sense of permanency as promptly as possible.

The mayor said Richter had to make tough decisions about what to do with children and parents who wound up in court. Often those cases included child abuse, neglect and custodial cases. Richter often had to make the call whether or not a child should be separated from his or her parents.

“Whenever someone leaves our administration, it’s our goal to find someone who can do the job even better,” Bloomberg said. “Given Ron Richter’s extensive experience and abilities, we are highly confident we have found that person.”