Prosecutor Proposes Jailing Parents As Commissioners Ask For More Jails

Michigan uses third grade reading scores to forecast prison populations to build new jails.

Prosecutor proposes jail time for parents who miss teacher conferences

New York (CNN) -- A county prosecutor in Michigan is proposing a law that could punish parents with jail time for repeatedly missing their children's parent-teacher conferences.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy introduced a proposal Tuesday at a Detroit City Council meeting that would require a parent to attend at least one parent-teacher conference a year or face up to three days in jail, according Maria Miller, Worthy's press secretary.

The proposal, which Worthy has also sent to the state legislature and the Wayne County Commission, would exempt parents whose children are performing exceptionally well or who are actively engaged with their children's teachers. Parents who are unable to travel for health reasons also would be exempt.

So far the proposal has met with mixed responses.

Detroit Council President Pro Tem Gary Brown applauded Worthy's idea, saying he would support legislation.

"It's child abuse when your child is failing in school and you're not involved, because you are strapping that child to a life of poverty," Brown told CNN.

He noted, however, that jailing parents for missing school meetings might not be practical and suggested altering the punishment. "If it's not jail maybe it's something else, but we've got to do something to get the parents' attention," he said.

Daniel Lessard, a member of the Livonia Public Schools board, said that he agrees with the need to get parents involved, but called the idea "the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"You can't legislate parental involvement. I think this proposal is purely political and a real neat way to get your name in the paper," Lessard said.

Wayne County Commissioner Laura Cox, R-Livonia, blasted the proposal because she feels that Worthy has bigger problems she needs to deal with first. "Kym Worthy has a record of complaining that her office doesn't have enough funding to prosecute violent crimes, and now she wants to put parents in jail. It's despicable," Cox said.

According to the proposed ordinance, teachers would work to accommodate parents' schedules by setting up conferences at any time during the day. Additionally, any parent convicted under the law would have their sentences delayed to give them another chance to attend a meeting. If they do, the charges would be dropped.

At present there is no legislation pending in the state House, County Commission or City Council.

Kym Worthy was not available for comment Thursday.

Wayne County commissioners to vote on $700M bond for new jail, court
Darren A. Nichols / The Detroit News
Detroit —Wayne County officials may spend $700 million for a new jail and court facilities, a plan some are questioning amid the rough economy.

The County Commission is set to vote today on a 30-year bond for a $300 million jail. A formal, final vote is Nov. 4. Some commissioners want to issue another $400 million in bonds to consolidate all of Wayne County's courts.

DOJ Sexual Victimization of Youth

The Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics released a findings report pursuant to the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003
(P.L. 108-79) (PREA) requires the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) to carry out a
comprehensive statistical review and analysis of the incidents and effects of prison rape for each calendar year. This report fulfills the requirement under Sec. 4(c)(2)(B)(ii) of the Act to provide a list of juvenile correctional facilities
according to the prevalence of sexual victimization, entitled Sexual Victimization in Juvenile Facilities 2008-09

Completed by Allen H. Beck, Ph.D., Paige M. Harrison and Paul Guerino, BJS Statisticians, is the first pathetic attempt at a National Survey of Youth in Custody.

The attempt is pathetic because it accepts, as seen in its methodology section, that the facilities are in compliance of federal, state and local laws of reporting abuse and neglect. That is an assumption that could have easily been ruled out if the BJS Statisticians had any type of rudimentary background in child welfare policy.

For instance, if one looks U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA), one would be able to see the lack of reporting and monitoring, documented by the same Department this report was generated.

In most juvenile facilities, the only avenue for a youth to file a complaint is through the facility. The facility, not wanting to be contractually debarred, fined, license revoked, sanction, or risk bad publicity, will not report, let alone maintain a complaint registry database.

Then there is the next stratosphere of administrative deficiencies, pouring more fuel on the flames heating up the controversy in the legitimacy of data, is the non-existence of local regulation or databases. Continuing on up to a state level will further demonstrate the data are all suspect as the states have never once met annual benchmarks in its child welfare system.

What were not even raised as possible biases:

(1)Researcher bias: The DOJ was investigating itself, an inherent conflict of interest as it never raised participation of the DHHS OIG activities;

(2)Selection bias: In the sample, there were no residential institutions or temporary foster care shelters which would have fallen well within the range of acceptability.

Included are questions surrounding the qualifications of the population of facilities. If the validity of reporting of abuse and neglect is at the heart of the matter, then it should have been properly identified;

(3)Policy bias: This one is all mine. Never did they mention the exclusions and exemptions with the Freedom of Information Act in dealing with matters of children who are under the aegis of the state. States have multiple confidentiality policies that do not allow the warehousing of youth complaints;

(4) Contamination bias:

Q: Who does a youth report abuses to while incarcerated?
A: Reporting it to the incarcerator who is abusing.

Q: How does a youth report sexual abuse when there is fraud in the case?
A: Never.

Out of pure safety and survival issues, a youth may not be inclined to report out of fear of retaliation or threats, meaning the abuser will "intervene" with an increase of abuse to continue revenue-maximization schemes;

(5)Compliance bias: As touched upon earlier in this post, compliance to abuse and neglect reporting was automatically assumed;

(6)Operationalization bias: It breaks down the incidents into those involving actual private parts, and those that involve kissing, exhibitionist behavior and misc. (i.e. showing porn). There are significant difference between the degrees of sexual misconduct, even on federal and state levels. There were no specification of the categories nor were there any assignment. This leaves the reader to, I guess, "guess" as to the rates of occurrence and how it relates to staff interactions with youths.

I could continue, but I believe I have made my point.

If the writers of these findings properly identify the limitations of the study, then, the report would be worth replication. As it stands, the National Survey of Youth in Custody Report, Sexual Victimization in Juvenile Facilities 2008-09 completed by Allen H. Beck, Ph.D., Paige M. Harrison and Paul Guerino, BJS Statisticians, is a wonderful educational tool for better understanding the lack of accountability and transparency in child welfare.

U.S. DOJ Report on Sexual Victimization in Juvenile Facilities 2010

State of Michigan Committee on Appropriations for Human Services will be holding session to review this report, Thursday, January 14, 2010 at 9:00 a.m., 426 State Capitol Building, Chaired by Representative Dudley Spade, Clerk Phone Number 517-373-8080.

As Michigan has some of the most egregious administrative child welfare administrative operations in the nation, it will be interesting to review the review of the committee.

It can only be hoped that the need for a central registry for child welfare be established to end fraud in child welfare, not just in Michigan, but for the entire nation, and world.

The rates of sexual victimization in juvenile facilities reported by youth needs to be considered higher that what is found in this report. I do not know what to be considered worse, the fact that youth are being harmed at an alarming rate under the care of the state, or the fact that this DOJ publication is covering it up.

Michigan's Noble Lie

Michigan Children's Institute is the epitome of the example of Plato's Noble Lie. This is a governmental entity that, as it states on the site,

Michigan Children's Institute

The Michigan Children's Institute was created to assure the proper care of children needing services from the state. The law established the MCI superintendent as the legal guardian for children committed to MCI when parental rights have been terminated. In 1935, the Michigan Legislature established the MCI Superintendent as the legal guardian for these children. The Superintendent is authorized to consent to adoption, emancipation, and marriage of MCI wards. Children who have been committed to MCI, whose permanency plan is other than adoption, usually remain under the MCI supervision until age 19.

For further information regarding the Michigan Children's Institute contact 517-335-6421.

When you call, ask Mary Rossman, who will answer the phone, to speak with Bill Johnson, the Superintendent, or for that matter, ask to speak with Bruce Hoffman, his assistant and, just for fun, inquire the authority the Superintendent possesses to represent the Great State of Michigan without being elected, appointed by the Governor with advice and consent of the Senate, or just ask if he has ever taken an oath of office to uphold the Constitution of the United States. You will here my name being cursed under her breath because this is the Noble Lie.

The Noble Lie for MCI, is promoting the legitimacy of Michigan's Child Welfare System to the public when, in accordance to federal funding mandates and constitutionalities, in all practicality, it is illegitimate.

The Noble Lie is the Supreme Court clarified the Superintendent's powers as consenting to the designation of a guardian, layered with another Noble Lie of the Legislature introducing a package of bills to legitimize the legislative powers of the court, in order to continue the submissions of false federal claims.

The Noble Lie is the best for the State of Michigan for the entire Child Welfare System would implode if it were to come into federal compliance.

The Noble Lie is growing, underneath the veil of secrecy. As seen below, there is no shape or form to access the fraudulent activities of Michigan's Child Welfare system, not even the secret operations of MCI.

CASE FILED UNDER ADOPTION CODE

You have accessed a case that arises under the Adoption Code, as
denoted by the two-letter case type code in the lower court file number.

Pursuant to MCL 710.67, “…records of proceedings in adoption
cases…and the papers and books relating to the proceedings shall be
kept in separate locked files and shall not be open to inspection or copy
except upon order of a court of record for good cause shown expressly
permitting inspection or copy.”

All information on adoption cases is foreclosed from disclosure. No
employee of this Court may provide information regarding this case to a
member of the public except by order of this Court. MCL 710.67.
If necessary, you may call 517/373-2252 to confirm that this case is
appropriately flagged as arising under the Adoption Code.

When an opinion is issued, it will be accessible through the Court’s
online opinion archive.

The way this statute is written, there is no tolerance for a whistleblower.

Dunleavy v. Wayne County

Stop the Noble Lie. Stop Medicaid Fraud in Child Welfare.

SOLUTION: NATIONAL DATABASE

Metro Detroit funding for kids at stake

Originally published in the examiner.com

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Head Start, has embarked on a nationwide review to assess Head Start grantees that have applied for additional funding under the Recovery Act.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General released its results of a limited review of the City of Detroit Department of Human Services Head Start Program.

The Head Start Program is funded directly through federal grants.  For the fiscal year 2009, ACF awarded over $47 million to Detroit's Head Start and Early Head Start Programs. 

The federal review revealed questionable reporting activities that did not comply with federal mandates, possibly jeopardizing additional Recovery Act funds.  Detroit requested an additional $4.8 million through the Recovery Act for 2010.

The City responded by agreeing with the recommendations and asked ACF to take into consideration its financial condition.

Even though funding is separate, Wayne County is experiencing similar auditing challenges in its children and family services and juvenile programming. 

State of Michigan Auditor General reports have questioned the operations of Wayne County Children and Family Services and Juvenile Services. The most recent state audit questioned all claims of the county.

The Detroit is one of five cities under federal investigation for Medicare and Medicaid fraud. 

Targeted Case Management, a Medicaid program, is one of the largest funding sources for foster care, adoption and juvenile services.  The Michigan Senate has recently acknowledged "on going and large scale Medicaid fraud" with the introduction of a bill for a state Medicaid Inspector.

A Round of Applause for Detroit H.E.A.T.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let's stand up and give a round of applause to our new friends at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Department of Justice Attorney General for catching a Medicare Fraudfeasor!

This same, exact scheme is a mirror image of what is done in Medicaid. Instead of the area of physical therapy, you have it in foster care and adoption because children do not sign nor review the documents, and, parents are not privileged to even know what is going on with their own children.

Free reign on fraud, straight-up bilking tax dollars. No accountability, no transparency, no oversight.

Here is a real life example. I know because I talked to the people who were actually doing it, and I have the documents to prove it. And yes, the documents are cyber-filed protected.

In Wayne County, Michigan, there are no bids on state child placing agency (CPA) contracts. These 5 agencies provide services to abused and neglected children. Each year, the big 5 CPAs submit letters of renewal, that include an increase in the contractual fees.

Then, the big 5 submit billing to Wayne County for certain services provided to children. There is no human way possible to verify if the services were actually rendered. It is relatively economically impossible to even go through each and every billing statement to even see if the clients meet eligibility criteria. Here is an example:

In Wayne County foster care, they will use referrals to the Juvenile Assessment Center for adults. Yes, that is correct, adults. The majority of the time the services rendered to these "adults" are only on paper, the same paper that is submitted for billing reimbursements.

Then in Wayne County, you have employment services for children. Yes, employment services for children, where the county will conduct employment background checks to make sure these children are eligible for employment, sometimes 5 days a week. I would reveal who the check was made out to, but I do value my life.

But the fraud in foster care only gets better.

In Wayne County you have what is called the Will Smith/Bill Smith billing system. Basically, a child is taken into foster care and billed as a foster care child. Then, with a cut and a paste of the same Social Security number, Will becomes Bill, who is now a juvenile delinquent. And there you have it, double-billing.

Yes, there is a legitimate form of double-billing called "dual jackets". This is when a child is in one system and needs services from the other but a review of the records will show that the name remains the same.

I will be providing the Medicaid Fraud Strike Force with as much instruction as possible to assist in the detection, identification, and recovery. I want Michigan to be the model state.

I will also be coming out soon with my book to better understand how the industry functions.

Until then, bravissimo H.E.A.T., encore!

Department of Justice Press Release

For Immediate Release
August 26, 2009 United States Attorney's Office
Eastern District of Michigan
Contact: (313) 226-9100

Detroit Area Physical Therapist Pleads Guilty to Causing More Than $1.6 Million in Fraudulent Medicare Billing

Detroit area physical therapist Jay Jha, 45, pleaded guilty today to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program of approximately $18.3 million. Jha, of Troy, Mich., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen. At sentencing, scheduled for Dec. 16, 2009, Jha faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

According to information contained in plea documents, Jha, a physical therapist licensed in the state of Michigan, began working in approximately February 2003 as a contract therapist for a co-conspirator. The co-conspirator owned and controlled several companies operating in the Detroit area that purported to provide physical and occupational therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries. Jha admitted that he, the co-conspirator, and others created fictitious therapy files appearing to document physical and occupational therapy services provided to Medicare beneficiaries, when in fact no such services had been provided. According to court documents, the fictitious services reflected in the files were billed to Medicare through sham Medicare providers controlled by co-conspirators.

In order to create the fictitious therapy files, Jha acknowledged that his co-conspirators paid cash kickbacks and other inducements to Medicare beneficiaries, in exchange for the beneficiaries’ Medicare numbers and signatures on documents falsely indicating that they had received physical or occupational therapy. Jha admitted that he was one of the licensed physical or occupational therapists from whom the co-conspirator obtained signatures on fictitious "progress notes" and other documents in the therapy files, falsely indicating that the therapists had provided therapy services to the Medicare beneficiaries on those dates.

During the course of the scheme, Jha admitted he signed approximately 336 fictitious physical therapy files indicating that he had provided physical therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries, when in fact he had not. Jha admitted that he was paid between $90 and $110 for each file that he falsified. Between approximately February 2003 and December 2005, Jha admitted that he falsified physical therapy files that supported claims to the Medicare program totaling approximately $1,680,000. Medicare actually paid approximately $772,800 on those claims. Jha admitted that, throughout the conspiracy, he was fully aware that Medicare was being billed for physical therapy services that he falsely indicated he had performed.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys John K. Neal and Benjamin D. Singer of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas W. Beimers of the Eastern District of Michigan. The FBI and the HHS Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) conducted the investigation. The case was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Since the inception of Strike Force operations in March 2007—Miami (Phase One), Los Angeles (Phase Two), Detroit (Phase Three), and Houston (Phase Four)—the Strike Force has obtained indictments of more than 293 individuals and organizations that collectively have billed the Medicare program for more than $680 million. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

Each of the Strike Force teams across the separate phases are led by a federal prosecutor from the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section or the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Each team has an agent from the FBI and HHS-OIG.

To learn more about the HEAT team, go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov