'Tis The Season To Kick Off The 2020 Child Welfare Propaganda Battle To Cover Up Medicaid Fraud

For those of you who do not know, Heather Catallo was one of the first reporters, along with Jack Kresnak and his coverage of Ricky Holland, and Diane Bukowski, who dared touch this subject matter, and on that fact alone, should be honored.

Oakwood is a haven for Medicaid Fraud when it comes to diagnosis and scripting up people, for there are many, many tales to be told.

Wolverine used to dole that stuff out in handfuls to the kids, even after DOJ prosecutes.

These Psychobabies,* "The Ones Who Were Lied To That They Know Everything" are all up in child welfare where they come from overseas with a fake ass certificate, from a fake ass U.S. sponsored university, with fake ass research, with fake ass letters of support from other fake ass persons of authority, including, but not limited to the "Elected Ones", where those forged letters of support typically go for about $5K a pop the last time I witnessed.

The real letters of support normally have many legal fees attached to the congressional office, but I digress.

Not really because this is about Medicaid Fraud in Child Welfare and no one cares because 'tis the season to campaign.

FUN FACT! A CHILD WELFARE WORKER CAN DO AN AXIS III DIAGNOSIS ON A KID IN FOSTER CARE

Now, who is going after all that Medicaid Fraud in Child Welfare?

You do know they also generate fraudulent diagnoses on the parents of the kids, based upon the report and recommendations of child welfare workers.

Back in the day, some child welfare workers did not even have GEDs and none were sworn civilians to represent the courts and law enforcement, until the Madame Maura Corrigan (said in a high British accent) realized that there were no oaths of office.

I believe the Madame had the revelation, then, so lovingly tossed the perfection of my prayers, like a good little christian, out of court because....[sic] the court has not been swayed.

Metro Detroit doctor accused of falsely diagnosing hundreds of kids with epilepsy

(WXYZ) — Lawyers say a local doctor falsely diagnosed hundreds of metro Detroit children with epilepsy, and they say he did it for money. Many families are now suing, but it’s taken 11 years to finally have their day in court.

Dr. Yasser Awaad is in the middle of the second of 267 lawsuits filed against him. Lawyers say hundreds of kids were forced to endure grueling medical tests multiple times, including forcing kids to stay awake all night so they could be sleep deprived. But they never actually needed them.

Mariah Martinez was just 9 years old when she said she was referred to Awaad for headaches. At the time, he worked for Oakwood Healthcare, which is now owned by Beaumont.

"I feel like it shouldn’t be this hard to go see a doctor," Martinez said. "Shouldn’t be this hard to get up in the morning."

Martinez says Awaad wanted her to undergo an electroencephalogram, or EEG, and then told her she had epilepsy. Martinez says she was confused because she’d never had a seizure.

“I didn’t know what epilepsy was at that point," she said.

"Were you scared?" 7 Investigator Heather Catallo asked.

Mariah Martinez was just 9 when she went to see Dr. Yasser Awaad for headaches. He diagnosed her with a form of epilepsy. Tonight on @wxyzdetroit at 6PM, I'll show you how she's just 1 of 100s of local young people he's accused of falsely diagnosing. @michiganLARA @MIAttyGen pic.twitter.com/mE0ZaJHxcv

— Heather Catallo WXYZ (@HeatherCatallo) October 21, 2019

"Yeah, being told you’re abnormal, or the tests are abnormal, means I’m not like everyone else, and at that age, you just want to fit in," Martinez responded.

She said the anti-seizure medication not only made her drowsy – it made her headaches worse.

"I kind of withdrew into myself, didn’t want to be around people," she added.

It wasn’t until Awaad suddenly left his practice four years later and she saw a new doctor that Martinez says she found out – she never had epilepsy.

"I was very angry at first, very angry," she said.

"What have you lost?" Catallo asked.

"I lost, I feel like a piece of my childhood. All the time I could have been learning to do things, playing with the other kids, I could have friends, I could have joined a sport – you never know," she said.

Martinez was not alone.

"I think it’s despicable and deplorable that he would do this to any innocent child let alone several hundred," medical malpractice lawyer Brian McKeen said. McKeen and a team of attorneys are suing Awaad and the hospital.

"When you look at all the evidence in this case, Heather, the conclusion is inescapable. That this was done intentionally," he said.

McKeen alleges Awaad ran an EEG mill: the more tests he ran on the kids, the more money he made.

"As a result of the bonus, you made hundreds of thousands of dollars, didn't you?" McKeen asked Awaad at a 2018 deposition.

"I was entitled to," Awaad said.

Brian McKeen is a medial malpractice lawyer who's representing 267 people suing a doctor accused of falsely diagnosing them with epilepsy. On @wxyzdetroit 6PM, I'll show you why McKeen thinks the state didn't do enough to discipline the doctor @michiganLARA @MIAttyGen pic.twitter.com/0UBpgIO8qY

— Heather Catallo WXYZ (@HeatherCatallo) October 21, 2019
McKeen says one of Awaad’s pediatric neurology colleagues even blew the whistle on him to Oakwood administrators back in 2003.

"She told them he’s doing unnecessary EEGs, he’s diagnosing kids with epilepsy that don’t have it and he’s giving kids unnecessary drugs and they did not do anything about it. They swept it under the rug," McKeen said.

McKeen says Awaad also falsely diagnosed Martinez’s sister with epilepsy; and in a different family, he’s accused of misdiagnosing 4 out of 5 siblings.

Hundreds of medical licensing records obtained by the 7 Investigators show that since 2010, the state has been accusing Awaad of violating the public health code for wrongly diagnosing kids with epilepsy. The state complaints use words like negligence and incompetence to describe Dr. Awaad, yet he still held on to his medical license.

In 2012, he was put on probation and had to pay a $10,000 fine.

"That wasn’t enough. They should suspend his license. He should never be allowed the opportunity to practice medicine and violate the trust of any other patient," McKeen said.

In June, a jury awarded Mariah Martinez $3 million for her case against Dr. Awaad. Another of the 267 trials is currently under way in Wayne County Circuit Court.

"I don’t know if I’ll ever be 100 percent," Martinez said.

We reached out to Beaumont and their lawyer, but they can't comment due to the pending litigation and patient privacy laws. A spokesman also told us they have not had a relationship with Awaad since 2017.

Beaumont spokesman Mark Geary declined to provide someone to talk to the 7 Investigators on camera. Geary released this statement to us:

“The litigation involving Dr. Yasser Awaad and Oakwood Healthcare dates back more than a decade to 2007. We cannot comment about the specifics of this case or others because of pending legal proceedings and patient privacy laws.

After his employment with Oakwood Healthcare, Dr. Awaad was briefly employed by Beaumont to provide medical education and clinical curriculum for residents and medical students in pediatric neurology. He completed this work in 2017 and has not had any relationship with Beaumont since that time.”

Meanwhile, the Michigan Attorney General's Office has filed another administrative complaint against Awaad’s license. The hearing was supposed to be held next week, but Awaad’s lawyers asked for it to be delayed. It’s now scheduled in March.

* I have written a treatise on Psychobabies and shall update with a link and a post! Besides, it would be boring to just drop everything, long before it plays out.

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WXYZ FOIA Opens Up Email Scandal With Oakland County Commissioner

This is part of that foreign invasion I have been telling everyone about for the last 10 years.

DELETED EMAILS: Oakland County commissioner admits to telling colleagues to DELETE emails, after getting FOIA request from Heather Catallo WXYZ and Simon Shaykhet WXYZ this week. The emails involve the discussion of replacing the late county executive L. Brooks Patterson, who passed away from cancer days ago.

Family of L. Brooks Patterson calls board's decision 'unforgivable' and 'offensive'

The Oakland County Board of Commissioners have pushed back, for a second time, a meeting to consider appointing a new county executive.

Earlier Thursday, the family of the late L. Brooks Patterson expressed their disappointment following Acting Board Chair Marcia Gershenson's, D-Bloomfield Township, decision to consider the appointment during a 9:30 a.m. regularly-scheduled meeting on Aug. 15, the day of Patterson's funeral. 

A few hours after the family released a statement calling the decision "unforgivable", Gershenson switched gears, opting to hold the meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 16. 

"Out of respect for the family, we decided to move the meeting to Friday," said Gershenson. "We also heard from a lot of our constituents so we made the change to the interview process." 

The board will consider an appointment at that meeting following a five-day public application process and committee review of applications. The appointee would finish out Patterson's term, which expires Dec. 31, 2020. 

A community says goodbye to L. Brooks Patterson

Mary Margaret Patterson Warner said her father was a softee and someone who had a lot of love to give. 

Commissioner Dave Woodward resigns, public applications sought for county executive

A Thursday meeting to select the next county executive has been canceled and the leading candidate for the position has resigned from the boar…

Mary Margaret Patterson Warner, one of Patterson's daughters, called the board's initial decision to host a meeting the morning of her father's funeral a "heartless play for power."

"This is unforgivable and has offended the Patterson family," said Warner. "Our father has earned and deserves more respect than this.”

Gerald Poisson, who was sworn in as county executive Saturday following Patterson's death, said the board's decision was "inappropriate." He called the new interview process a "spectacle" and "sham.'

Poisson will remain the county executive until the board appoints a new one or a special election is held next spring. Per state law, the board has 30 days from Patterson's death to appoint a new executive. 

Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner said he agrees with the Patterson family. Meisner said he will not submit an application and continue working towards seeking the nomination in 2020. 

Board chair Dave Woodward, D-Royal Oak, resigned as county commissioner late Wednesday. He will be submitting an application for board consideration to become county executive. 

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Biased Media Reporting Of Michigan Child Protective Services

In my traditional spirit of fuchsia, I bring to you my two cents.

Yes, I found this report to be extremely biased, if not a bit heavy on the propaganda side, knowing quite well the history of WXYZ in its lack of objective reporting in Michigan child welfare and disclosures of participating in fund raising and public support of child placing agencies and residential institutions which have been shuttered and have participated in questionable billing practices.

But, who am I to make such statements pertaining to the operations of Michigan child welfare?

Pay attention how the report cites numerous incidents of Medicaid fraud in child welfare, yet fails to address it.

Kim Russell should have consulted with Heather Catallo.

Attorney: Even the best parents should know rights in CPS investigation

(WXYZ) - Julie Baumer lost almost everything when she tried to do the right thing.

How about doing a report on asset forfeiture and fraudulent billing in Medicaid?

“There is no amount of compensation that can ever get back what I have lost,” she said.

Nope.  Not a red cent nor opportunity for compensation because of the issues of immunity, false claims and fraudulent billing.

Remember, child welfare agents have the "Right To Lie", even if the ruling came down to say that they do not.

Her nightmare started in 2003.  When her sister said she couldn’t raise her newborn son, Julie took in baby Phillip and offered to adopt him.  He had a rough birth.  He was a fussy eater from the start. Then, at five-weeks-old he suddenly stopped eating. She rushed him to the hospital.

“When the results came back they said there was bleeding on the brain,” said Juliue.

A doctor at the hospital diagnosed him with shaken baby syndrome. Julie, in her twenties with few resources, found herself unable to pay a doctor to review that diagnosis at trial. She was sent to prison with a sentence of fifteen years. After almost five years in prison, the Innocence Project helped exonerate her.

In child welfare, you are guilty until proven innocent, with no right to confront your accusers, where poverty is considered the crime of abuse and neglect.

As for the shaken baby syndrome, well, that has a long and illustrious history with DeVos financially promoting this extremely unscientific theory for the purposes of advocating for more federal contractual grants to expand their private, non-profit, child welfare initiatives to fraudlently generate more money to fund political campaigns.

An expert found an MRI that proved little Phillip suffered a stroke, not trauma. However by then Phillip had been permanently adopted. She had no right to see him.

Now, let me tell you what is wrong with these three sentences:  Even though the workers were the ones who testified in support of the "shaken baby" training talking point, devoid of any medical training or licensure, the MRI was done, after the adoption.

One must understand that Michigan has no reinstatement of parental rights laws where it is speculated, as there exists no other logical explanation outside of inept legislative leadership and a financial will to remain beholden to their campaign financieers, that to reinstate parental rights would be a public act of culpability in the submission of false claims for cost reimbursement to Medicaid.

“To be told I am to have no contact with him, that is a cross I am going to have to bear for the rest of my life. That is a heartache,” said Julie.

Join the ranks.  You have been anointed.

“Do I think the system works? No,” said Sonia Cannon, an attorney who specializes in Child Abuse and Neglect cases.

If you do not believe the system is working, then what have you done, besides this interview, to specifically identify and address why the system is not working?

Allow me to answer that.  Money.  Attorneys need money, and this statement is not a shock, it is an industry.

Cannon has worked as a caseworker, a prosecutor of Child Protective Services Cases, and most recently as a defense attorney.  She says the system makes it hard for those without resources to get a good defense.

No money, no justice. Poverty is the crime of abuse and neglect, and grounds for removal.  Everyone knows that, except WXYZ.

She says all parents need to be aware, even the innocent can find themselves under investigation for child abuse.  She has seen it happen.

She says if you find yourself subject of a child abuse investigation, don’t go it alone.

“You better contact an attorney and do it immediately,” said Cannon.

How?  Where?  Who is going to pay for it?  By the time one does contact an attorney, the child is already in foster care placement.

See, there is this thing called, "exigent circumstances".  This means the CPS workers can call police to enter the home without a warrant.

It can happen at a hospital with an unexplained illness or if your child says something that raises a red flag at school.

No, it is called mandatory reporting.  Anyone who is in a licensed profession of the State of Michigan faces fines, imprisonment, or license revocation if they do not report, "suspected" so-called child abuse and neglect.  This has nothing to do with the professional experience of one to discern, logically, if there are other mitigating circumstances.  This strictly deals with professional self-preservation in the event someone else beats them to the punch in filing a report.

That is what a local mom says happened to her.  She says she was investigated after her special needs son said at school she didn’t feed him, when she says she simply changed his diet. She recorded CPS as they came to her house.  The video raises the question for parents, would you know what to do if it happened to you?

She told the CPS worker an attorney told her to ask what the allegations were before deciding whether to let her in her house.

The CPS workers are under no obligation to state the allegations because they can file what is called an ex-parte motion to the court for removal if they are turned away from the home.  By the time one is able to even solicit legal counsel, the orders of the court are in place and the parent is placed on the Central Registry of abuse and neglect, which means the case is in full motion, devoid of any formal, legal notification, and keep in mind I did not dare to mention any effectuation of service of the case, itself.

“Don’t call these attorneys. They don’t know what they are talking about,” the worker can be heard saying.

Actually, these CPS workers are absolutely correct.  By the time an attorney gets to the home, those kids are long gone, being billed as foster kids.

“Technically she doesn’t have to let her in her home,” said Cannon.

Attorney Cannon says this is a big question parents have. She recommends parents ask what the allegations are and then based on that information decide, should they call an attorney or let the worker into their home because the home will help prove the allegations are false.

If a parent does not allow a CPS worker into the home, these state agents can then call the police who will enter the home, guns drawn.

CPS investigators do need warrants to force entry, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t times when you should let them in.  If you don’t let them in they can obtain a court order.  It is possible a judge may remove your children pending an investigation.

“Verifying the safety and well-being of the child through face-to-face contact at the child’s home is essential to a Children’s Protective Services investigation,” said Bob Wheaton, Public Information Officer for the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services.

What Bob Wheaton really meant to say:  "Michigan is still under federal court monitoring, with a slew of lawsuits in queue so we are going to stick to regurgitating  the policy talking points to avoid raising any issues in dealing with the state's pervasive tolerance of perpetuating the submission of false claims for cost reimbursement to Medicaid and the utter disregard to any civil rights in child welfare."

There are no civil rights in child welfare.

Cannon also says it is not a bad idea to calmly let the investigator know you plan to record any conversations because it is about your children, and therefore very important.

“Don’t let your emotions control you.  Be calm and polite,” said Cannon.

Your children are about to fall prey to being legally kidnapped, raped, drugged & tortured, and advice is given to remain calm when you are aware of the massive ocean of personal stories, federal reports, and settlement agreements in dealing with cases of children who are tortured in foster care?  

Seriously?

Hey, WXYZ, if you stand behind your reporting of "what to do if CPS comes-a-knocking", then how about you doing an undercover investigation and allow one of your own to go through human trafficking in child welfare?

Right, I did not think so. 

No one in their right minds would subject their own children to Child Protective Services.

She said in cases where a doctor is investigating whether an illness is caused by abuse, don’t try to figure out what happened by suggesting possibilities.  She has seen that misconstrued as if a parent is offering conflicting stories.  Only talk about what you know, not what you don’t know.

To access mental health treatment for a child in poverty in Michigan, it is called "catching a case" which is subsequently reported as abuse for purposes of billing.

I would be remiss in failing to mention kiddie kickbacks.

Julie says  the devastating lesson she learned is  don’t let the fact you know you are innocent result in you letting your guard down.

Julie learned the lesson of child welfare propaganda.

“You put your trust in them and you don’t expect the system to fail. Unfortunately the system failed and I just happened to be a victim of that,” she said.

The system did not fail.  If functioned exactly how it was intentionally designed.

CPS provided the below pamphlet to help educate parents about the process.

Our friends over at legally kidnapped  have provided, below, a video to help educate parents about the process because WXYZ failed to report the other side of the story of Medicaid fraud in child welfare.

Parents guide to CPS by WXYZ-TV Channel 7 Detroit on Scribd

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Will Michigan Attorney General Let CPS Over Rule Them?

I seem to have a serious problem with the position of Livingston County CPS.

If the County Prosecutor has decided not to pursue termination of parental rights, then how is it that Livingston County CPS has the authority to take up the pursuit?

Let's begin with the authority of CPS.

CPS is supposed to be considered as a fact finding entity which provides services.  In this instance it has now transformed itself into a self-governing entity with usurpation powers.

Where is it written that CPS can, against the authority of the State, hire an external prosecutor?

I would like to know the legal authority on this because I am quite sure it does not exist.

With that being said, CPS would have to take its request, for budgetary and representative reasons, to a public body for approval.

If the County Prosecutor is under the authority of the Attorney General would that not mean that CPS would have to formally request some kind of grant of leave from the State in order for approval to budget and pay for an external prosecutor who would than be granted subpoena powers of the State, including powers to represent the State of Michigan in a court of law?

Were there any federal funding appropriation in the grants and cost reimbursements to allow for external prosecution outside the purview of the Attorney General?

Someone in the Burns camp needs to FOIA these concerns of representational and funding authority to the State.

I would even strongly encourage contacting the HHS OIG and DOJ as a whistleblower and request investigation into the issues of independent prosecution.

Prosecutors won't seek to terminate father's parental rights in controversial Baby Naomi abuse case

HOWELL, Mich. (WXYZ) - Prosecutors in Livingston County are now saying they won’t try to terminate the parental rights of a father who’s at the center of a case that involved a controversial child abuse conviction.

The Burns family has maintained from the start that they were being unfairly accused of child abuse. Now there’s a sudden shift in the mood in Livingston County, as the prosecutor is backing down on some aspects of this case.

Last week, a Livingston County Judge cited the growing community support for the Burns family when she went against state guidelines and only sentenced Josh Burns to one year in the county jail.

The 38-year-old Brighton father was convicted of second degree child abuse, a 10-year felony.

Josh Burns says that when his daughter Naomi was 2-months-old, she slipped off his lap, and he caught her by the face to keep her from hitting the floor. 

Both Josh and his wife Brenda say it was an accident, and Josh passed a polygraph examination.

 "It’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever been through in my life,” Burns told 7 Investigator Heather Catallo during an exclusive interview in January.

Later, doctors discovered bleeding between the baby’s skull and brain and they found retinal hemorrhages. Both parents and some medical experts say that Naomi’s injuries were largely caused by birth trauma and illness. 

But prosecutors say it was abuse.

Last year, Brenda was cleared of all abuse allegations, and now has custody of Naomi.

But as the 7 Investigators have reported, she had to go into hiding recently when Child Protective Services started coming after her again – even bringing five Brighton cops into her home one night.

“I am in fear. I have nightmares at night,” said Brenda Burns during the January interview.

Earlier this month, both Livingston County Prosecutors and CPS filed a petition against Brenda Burns – demanding to see Naomi.

Now prosecutors have dropped that. They’re also dropping their bid to terminate the parental rights of Josh Burns.

Prosecutor Bill Vailliencourt tells the 7 Investigators that because Burns is locked up in jail – and then has to face 2 more years of probation – prosecutors no longer have concerns that he would have contact with the baby.

Now they say, the termination of his parental rights is “no longer a viable option.”

So far, CPS caseworkers are moving forward with both the termination hearing and with their petition against Brenda Burns. But they have to hire a new lawyer to do that; Livingston County prosecutors will not be on the case.

“I will pursue justice for families for the rest of my life,” said Josh Burns, shortly before his sentencing last week. “We plan to start a foundation to educate folks around the country about CPS abuses and prosecutorial misconduct.”

Legal experts tell the 7 Investigators, these moves by the prosecutor’s office could signal that this family could be reunified at some point.

That’s what the Burns want.

Now they just have to wait to see if CPS will agree with them, and allow that to happen.

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Hiding from Michigan CPS is a Profitable Crime

Get ready for Michigan's biggest holiday.

Child Abuse Propaganda Month!  April is only a few weeks away.

For almost 10 years I have been desperately trying to bring national attention to the lack of parallel jurisprudence in the child welfare system.

Alas, my work has but all fallen upon deaf ears.

Instead of reiterating, I will just do color commentary...in a soft fuchsia...to make the facts more palatable.

Cleared of harming her daughter, mom is in hiding and on state's secret list of child abusers

BRIGHTON, Mich. (WXYZ) - The showdown over a local baby continues. The 7 Investigators first showed you last night  how a mother in Livingston County has gone into hiding because she fears authorities will take her daughter away, even though the mom has been cleared of all abuse allegations.

The mom is absolutely correct.  CPS has all intentions of taking the child back into the custody of the State.  A CPS case will remain open, up to a year, to monitor the status of the child.  It justifies billing, which of course, is detailed as case management.  It only takes one incident of non-compliance.  In this situation the non-compliance was when she tried to resist CPS and police entering and searching the home without warrant.  But, as we, in the industry of fighting fraud, waste and abuse, well know, CPS enters a home without a warrant under what is called exigent circumstances.  

Exigent circumstances in child welfare means someone, like an untrained social worker will bring in law enforcement to validate their whimsical notion that the child is in immediate danger.

Child Protective Services workers are still demanding an address for Brenda Burns and her baby, Naomi.

Even though the case against the mother has been dismissed, that does not mean that CPS cannot, at any time they please, file another petition, even if there are no grounds for a petition, and if the petition is deficient, they can, whenever the wind blows, amend the petition.  This means CPS has every legal right to demand the whereabouts of the child.  If the mother does not comply, that is ground for amending the petition to child neglect.

Brenda’s lawyer told 7 Investigator Heather Catallo that CPS isn’t following the law, and they’ve even gone so far as to put Brenda Burns on a secret list labeling her a child abuser – despite the fact that a jury found her innocent.

CPS is following the law.  

Typically, CPS will place an individual on the Central Registry for Abuse and Neglect within 48 hours of an investigated complaint.  It has nothing to do with substantiation.  By law, the State must notify an individual of being on the Registry within 30 days but rarely does.  This is one reason there may be more than 100,000 people on the Central Registry without any knowledge.  

So why does the State maintain this "secret registry"?

Well, I can only at this time speak upon Wayne County.  The Registry is secret because of the fraudulent billing.  Yes, CPS Wayne County was "rubber stamping" court orders for CPS a while back.  These court documents for removal and placement were rubber stamped due to the fact that the cases were fraudulent.  By this I mean they never existed.  No judge.  No court.  No prosecutor.  No defendant.  Yet, these cases were being billed.

If and hopefully when the Central Registry is made public, it may behoove federal investigators of HHS OIG and DOJ to cross reference each individual on the Registry to the case billings for cost reimbursement.  They will find children, and even parents, were prosecuted as juvenile delinquents and foster care.  This is called 'double jackets'.

Fortunately, Madame Maura Corrigan made sure these cases were absent any federal review.

The Burns family has created a website to document their legal battle.

Welcome to the war.  You have been chosen.  Assume your position in the ranks.

Both Josh and Brenda Burns deny that they ever hurt their daughter Naomi.

Of course they did not harm their daughter.  Most parents do not.  I doubt if anyone even realizes poverty is considered abuse and neglect.  Mental illness, poor education and low IQ are also considered child abuse.  Failing to admit you hurt your child or even challenging the charges that you hurt your child is considered child abuse and sent up as aggregate data to generate national statistics on child abuse.

So, because the Burns deny that they ever hurt their daughter Naomi, that is child abuse and justification for filing a second petition for removal of the child.

“It’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever been through in my life,” said Josh Burns as he fought back tears during an interview in January.

No.  This is not the hardest thing you have ever been through in your life.  Just wait until you see your daughter being drugged, beaten and raped in foster care, knowing there is nothing you can do about it, not even shed a tear because if you do break down, you will give CPS all the ammunition needed to file for termination of parental rights as you are clearly mentally unstable, demonstrating a future likelihood of emotional abuse.

Naomi is now a 14-month-old. When she was only 10-weeks-old, the baby had to be hospitalized after suffering from seizures and severe vomiting. Medical experts say the Naomi had injuries from vacuum suctioning during a very difficult labor.

Ah, but your medical doctor did not document the trauma.  This makes the hospital and doctor liable for medical malpractice and, of course, humiliates the attorney general in the prosecution.

“Watching my wife go through what she went thru to bring our daughter into the world, it gave me a new love for my wife,” said Josh.

I bet it did.

But a doctor at the University of Michigan said the bleeding they later discovered between Naomi’s brain and skull was caused by abuse. Josh admits that Naomi slipped off his knee last March, but says he caught her before she hit anything.

Doctors are mandatory reporters who are trained that it is "better to err on the side of the child", famous words of Janet Reno.  No doctor will ever jeopardize a medical license just for a parent.

Livingston County CPS workers accused both parents of child abuse and they put Naomi in foster care.

Counties get their funding and sustain jobs by meeting quotas and maintaining levels of children in the system.  If Livingston County CPS is snatching from a new demographic, it tells me they are running out of fresh baby bodies to put in the system.

A jury later cleared Brenda and she now has custody of her daughter.

The reasons she was cleared were because her husband had too much trust in the system by sharing the 'lap slip' story.  By clearing her, CPS is eligible to put more services in place to monitor....and bill.

Josh was convicted of felony child abuse in January, but both parents maintain that Josh is innocent. Brenda told us that she has lost all faith in the judicial system.

One cannot loose faith in the justice system when child welfare does not have the same justice system.  You are guilty until proven innocent.  Period.  You are not allowed to face your accusers.  You are not even allowed to be present when a petition is filed against you.  Hell, you are not even notified to be present in court when a petition is filed.  You are not allowed legal representation during the course of 'services' or better put as interrogation.  It is your word against a social worker, if they are even a social worker.  You are not allowed to request second opinions from professionals who are not contracted with the State.

“I am in fear. I have nightmares at night,” said Brenda Burns during an interview in January. “I don’t feel good about my country, I don’t feel like it’s a safe place.”

All parents should have this fear.  All it takes is one phone call to the CPS hotline.

Brenda’s lawyer says a raid on her home by police and a CPS worker the night of Josh’s criminal conviction prompted the mother to fear that CPS was coming after Naomi again.

CPS will raid, at any time, day or night, without warrant, with no more than a piece of paper that says the child is in danger, which you are disallowed from viewing if it even exists.  What that danger is can always be generated in a court report after the fact, at a later date.

That’s why attorney Elizabeth Warner sent a letter to CPS last week – telling them that Brenda was moving – and if they needed to talk to her – CPS could go through Warner.

Wrong.  Too Much Information.  TMI.  Never tell them anything.  Anything you say will be used to remove a child, particularly if you just had charges dropped against you.  Retribution generates revenue.

The result? CPS filed a new petition against Brenda, demanding she give them her address.

No,  CPS filed a petition of child neglect because she failed to provide for the proper needs of the child.  Those needs, not being expounded upon in the petition, are of the State to protect the best interests of the child.  Those interests have high dividends when the funds are properly invested in the stock markets and other child protection programs, which only exist in a pretty, shiny brochure.

“It has all the makings of a personal grudge. Somebody in that Livingston child welfare system is upset at losing the civil trial against the mother. And they just won’t let it go,” said Warner.

It is more than just personal.  It is about potential revenue maximization.  Remember, Michigan wants to go private.  Once privatization kicks fully in, there is no public scrutiny.  There is no due process.  There are no civil rights.  The mother has committed the crime of moral turpitude, which is classified as child abuse.  Look it up.

Warner is outraged that even though Brenda Burns was cleared, CPS still put her on their secret list of child abusers, called the Central Registry. Warner says under the law, Brenda should not have been placed on the registry, which will prevent her from resuming work as a registered nurse.

Yes.  The days of nursing are done.  She was suppose to petition for removal from the Registry but of course, could not as she just recently received notice that she was on the registry.  This is a typical response from State Administrative Law Judges and Child Welfare /Administrators when asked why a person is on the Registry and is denied removal:

"You are denied being removed from the Central Registry because you were placed on the Central Registry."  I kid you not.

“So they’re trying to destroy her, emotionally, financially, legally, any way that can,” said Warner.

They are not trying to destroy her.  It is just pro forma.  That is how the system is designed.

The letter from CPS tells Brenda that she’s on the registry as person responsible for: “Severe Physical Injury, Shaken Baby Syndrome, Physical Abuse. And while the date of the notice says April 2, 2014, the CPS case worker didn’t sign it and send it until January of this year. Warner says the law requires CPS to notify you within 30 days of their investigation that you’re on the registry, not 9 months later like this.

She should be grateful she was even notified.

“They put her on the registry when there’s a 2014 law that says they can’t do that,” said Warner.

The law says that she can petition to be removed.  She never petitioned and now it is too late as there is a second petition.

“They need to back out of this family. They have overstepped their legal limits!”

CPS has no legal limits.  No oversight.  No contractual disbarment.  No sanctions. No license revocation.  No prosecution.  No termination.  No prosecution.  No recovery.  Why?  It's the Eleventh Amendment.  States are immune and to strip in federal court is a freakin' bitch of an action because it will take lots of money, a keen legal mind and a bold legal soul who is not afraid of being blacklisted in Michigan.

Brenda Burns is now in hiding because she fears retribution from CPS. A hearing is scheduled for next week to address this issue of Brenda’s address.

I hope you have Native American in you.  Hide on a reservation and stay there until the child turns 18 years of age.  Otherwise, you are going down.  You can always sign over your rights to someone else in another state before Michigan takes jurisdiction again.

That will be held on the same day of her husband’s sentencing, and it will be held in front of the same judge who will be sentencing Josh Burns. Now family members and attorneys are concerned that the CPS actions will hurt him in court.

It will hurt the mother more than the father.  It also looks like the father will serve time.  His appeal will be denied and this is why.  Michigan, during the 1980s revamped its courts.  To reduce backlog, the Court of Appeals does not have to entertain every petition for appeal.  Besides, the last time I checked, many of the COA judges are affiliated with child placing agencies. thanks to the judicial lobbying of Madame Maura Corrigan.  Is this a conflict of interests?  Of course, but there is nothing one can do about it.  It is Michigan.

A spokesman for the Department of Human Services, which oversees CPS, says they cannot discuss individual cases, due to confidentiality laws. Bob Wheaton did tell us in an email that “the standard for being listed on the Central Registry is different than the standard in court. By law, DHS has the responsibility to place an individual on the Central Registry when the department substantiates that individual as a perpetrator of child abuse or neglect.”

Wheaton is correct.  Abuse has been substantiated.  They were married.  He was found guilty.  She is the wife.  End of story.

A federal lawsuit is underway challenging the constitutionality of that process; lawyers say there is no due process because parents can be labelled an abuser on the Central Registry without a conviction in court.

True.  If a person is successful in a CPS case of this magnitude, does that mean the State must reimburse the federal government?  When hell freezes over.

Now is the time for federal intervention.

Now is the time to put civil rights in child welfare.

Now is the time to audit non-profits.

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Michigan Injustice Maximizes Revenues in Child Welfare

It looks like Michigan has its showcase for April's Child Abuse Propaganda Month!

Child welfare has a new face on its propaganda poster to justify its course in securing more funding for its operations.

No longer is it the socially constructed face of the inner city, welfare single mom.  We now have a new demographic to validate the continuance of civil rights deconstruction.

Here is what will more than likely happen in this case:

• Dad will appeal conviction and lose;
• Mom will be charged with child neglect for failing to "provide for the necessary needs of the child";
• Child will not be placed with relatives because the family is too close;
• Mom will be order to undergo psychiatric evaluation where she will be diagnosed with some off the wall malady to justify the petition of removal;
• Termination of parental rights will be filed to prevent any civil litigation;
• Child will be placed in foster care to grow up on psych meds to silent her being raped, beaten and eventually age out to a life of prostitution.

Yes, the scenario I have just painted is a drastic, yet realistic.

The one key event that has led me to believe this as the most likely outcome is what was stated in the case:  The child was born with the condition.

If this is correct, the hospital, medical profession and Livingston CPS are liable, or rather fallible, but of course, that could never happen.

Besides, mom and dad will lose their professional licenses and will never be capable of fighting the issue of civil rights in through the courts.

Justice costs money.  Injustice maximizes revenues.

Mom cleared of abuse claims goes into hiding with baby after CPS continues to demand home visits

Lawyer calls CPS actions "legal terrorism"

BRIGHTON, Mich. (WXYZ) - A local baby at the center of a wild child abuse case is now among Michigan’s most wanted kids.

Little Naomi Burns has been taken into hiding by her mother, who fears authorities will take the child from her.

An attorney for Brenda Burns is calling this legal terrorism. Brenda has been cleared of all abuse allegations, but when her attorney told Child Protective Services workers last week to stop contacting Brenda, CPS went to court, demanding an address for the child.

The Burns family has created a website to document their legal battle – click HERE to see it.

For two months in 2014, the Burns family was the picture of perfection.

Josh Burns was flying planes for a commercial airline. Brenda was a registered nurse, and little Naomi was their bundle of joy.

“Naomi was a very wanted child. We waited a very long time to have children,” said Brenda in an interview with 7 Investigator Heather Catallo in January.

“I attended daddy boot camp classes at St. Joe’s [Hospital] before she even came into the world, because I wanted to be the best dad I could be,” said Josh during the same interview.

But two months after Naomi’s difficult C-section birth – trouble started. Josh says the baby slipped off his knee one day. In the tumble, mom and dad say she suffered only a faint bruise on her cheek.

“She was smiling and giggling, we went about our normal day,” said Josh.

But the next day, Naomi started projectile vomiting. Josh and Brenda rushed to the ER.

“I told the attending physician there about it, and he scoffed at it, and said – ‘Dad, this is nothing you did, your daughter is suffering from an infection or virus,’” said Josh.

But a doctor at the University of Michigan later found more: bleeding in the area between Naomi’s brain and skull. That’s called a subdural hematoma. They also discovered retinal hemorrhaging.

There were no other signs of trauma on the child, but that doctor then accused Josh and Brenda of abuse. Both adamantly deny they ever harmed their baby.

Brenda describes the accusations as, “devastating, humiliating, and terrifying.” CPS put Naomi into foster care.

“We were shocked. We had been in the hospital for 10 days, trusting these people with our daughter’s life. We brought her back to these same people. It was like somebody threw a hand grenade into our room and walked away,” said Josh.

Brenda was ultimately cleared and Naomi was eventually returned to her. But Josh was charged with child abuse.

“It’s like living a nightmare. And you wake up every day and you’re still there. And you just think, what do I have to do to prove to these people that I’m not the man I say I am,” said Josh.

And despite experts who said the bleeding inside Naomi’s head happened at birth and was caused by trauma during her delivery, a jury convicted Josh in January. Josh says he hasn’t seen his daughter in nearly a year.

“It’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever been through in my life,” said Josh.

The night of Josh’s conviction, a Child Protective Services worker from the Michigan Department of Human Services showed up with Brighton Police at Brenda’s house. They wanted to see if Josh was violating a court order that prevents him from seeing Naomi. The encounter was captured on a nanny cam inside the home.

“I’m with CPS, I’m with DHS. I was asked to just come out and just verify that he was not here,” CPS worker Melinda Chamberlain can be heard saying on the video.

“You can check the house if you choose,” says Charles Burns, Naomi’s grandfather.

Brenda’s attorney, Elizabeth Warner, says they had no warrant to search the home.

“Five Brighton City police officers and a DHS employee committed a home invasion of the child’s home. The child was there with her grandparents. But regardless of who she was there with – it wasn’t her father, and they had absolutely no reason to do that,” said Warner.

Warner says this police raid is one of the reasons she sent CPS a letter last week telling them that Brenda was moving. Warner said they could write to Brenda at a post office box, or they could call Warner.

But now CPS has filed a new court petition against Brenda, demanding that she provide them with Naomi’s new address.

“Does she have to do that,” asked Catallo.

“No,” said Warner. “It’s definitely not a crime for her to take her daughter and live wherever she wants to with her daughter. Her daughter was given back to her, she’s the fit parent, and under our constitution and the way that our Michigan Supreme Court has interpreted it, they cannot put her child under supervision of DHS.”

Now Brenda is in hiding.

“I think that would be the safest thing for any good mother to do. These people in Livingston County have not acted either honorably or legally. It frankly is the most stupid, silly petition I’ve ever seen filed. It doesn’t accuse her of any child neglect. It doesn’t accuse her of any child abuse. It accuses her of moving. And having an attorney. Period,” said Warner. “It is pure hypocrisy, and legal terrorism. I don’t know any other way you can put it.”

A referee issued an order, demanding an address for the child by 5:00 p.m. on Friday March 6.

The Livingston County prosecutor told us that as of March 11, the child’s location has not been provided.

“It is not our desire to keep a child from her mother. We want to make sure that the child is protected from the man who abused her. To the extent there is a dispute over what the court can order the mother to do, that is a matter that will be litigated and ultimately decided by the courts,” said Bill Vailliencourt in an email to the 7 Investigators. “There is no vendetta here. Our primary concern has always been the protection of the child from harm and holding her abuser accountable for his criminal conduct.”

Both sides will be back in court next week.

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Congressman wants U.S. Attorney General to investigate Michigan Child Protective Services

Hansen!!

  Congressman wants U.S. Attorney General to investigate Michigan Child Protective Services

DETROIT (WXYZ) - The 7 Action News Investigators were the first to expose how a local court wasn’t following the law when it came to removing children from their homes.

Now one of Michigan’s Congressmen is calling on the Department of Justice to investigate the state’s Child Protective Services system.

Representative Hansen Clarke says the most important thing he can do as a member of Congress is protect families in Michigan.

So now he’s calling on U.S.  Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate what’s been happening in Michigan.

“The most important right, constitutionally and God-given right we have is to be able to raise our children. So that’s why I’m going to the attorney general right now to see how we can keep our families together,”  Rep. Hansen Clarke, (D) 13th District, told 7 Action News Investigator Heather Catallo.

Rep. Clarke is asking the Attorney General of the United States to investigate the treatment of African American children and families by Michigan’s Department of Human Services, which oversees Child Protective Services.

7 Action News has been investigating DHS for years, and we were the first to expose that Wayne County’s Juvenile Court wasn’t following the law when CPS workers  would bring in petitions to take children from their parents because of alleged abuse or neglect.

“I knew the system was broken, but I didn’t know it was this broken, where anyone, literally anyone could come and take your child,” said Maryanne Godboldo, who’s 13-year-old daughter was taken temporarily by CPS last year.

Testimony under oath in the Godboldo case revealed that probation officers inside the court would routinely stamp Presiding Juvenile Court Judge Leslie Kim Smith’s name onto the removal orders.  By law, a judge must review the CPS workers allegations of abuse, and then sign the order.

After we reported on the rubber stamping that legal experts say is against the law – the court stopped doing it.  But we still asked the court and DHS to tell us how long it had been going on, and how many children were taken from their parents illegally.  Judge Smith was not interested in answering our questions.

“But it was your name on those removal orders – why was this allowed to happen in your court,” asked Catallo.

“I understand,” said Judge Smith.

“Are you going to talk to us or not,” asked Catallo.

“Have a good day,” said Judge Smith.

Now Congressman Clarke is asking questions of his own.  Clarke sent a letter Attorney General Eric Holder, saying “My office has received complaints from individuals and community groups alleging that CPS is removing African American children from their parents in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner.”

“I want to make sure that every parent is able to raise their child, regardless of their color, regardless of how much money they make – we shouldn’t be penalizing women because they’re struggling financially by taking away their children – that’s outrageous!!!! And Look at the harm it’s done to the child,” said Rep. Clarke.

DHS Director Maura D. Corrigan issued this written statement:

“The department welcomes a dialogue with Rep. Clarke, as we do with all legislators.  We can assure the representative that despite his concerns based on a small number of local cases out of the nearly 100,000 child welfare cases the department investigates each year statewide, that DHS focuses solely on the welfare of the child without regard to race.”

The Madame Maura Corrigan is a brilliant and refined liar.

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Families say they are being torn apart and blame the privatization of Michigan's foster care system

Families say they are being torn apart and blame the privatization of Michigan's foster care system

I say privatization is a cover up for Medicaid fraud in child welfare.


(WXYZ) - Michigan families are being torn apart--and critics blame the privatization of the foster care system. Families desperate to care for loved ones say they are spending thousands of dollars to fight a hostile bureaucracy to get children out of state hands.


It costs alot to fight a revenue-maximization scheme.  The child welfare industry does not enjoy having their funding streams taken away.

7 Action News Investigator Heather Catallo looks at some heart-breaking cases and how a system meant to save tax dollars may be costing you and harming kids.


Take a look at this:

For Lori Scribner, her grandkids are everything.

“The oldest girl she really enjoyed making pies with me,” says Scribner.

When she found out her grandkids were put in foster care after the state declared their parents unfit, court records show she quickly came forward.

“I have been telling them I want them all along,” Scribner says.

The private agency contracted by the state to oversee the case said she needed a bigger home for her four grandkids. She bought a five-bedroom ranch with a pool. The agency said she needed to earn more money. So, the registered nurse came out of semi-retirement and went back to work full-time.

“So I could support the kids, I understood that,” Scribner says.

Scribner says she jumped through every hoop, and has spent $50,000 in legal fees and other costs fighting for her grandkids. But she still faces the prospect of never seeing them again.

“There was nothing I could do that they would let them come,” she says.

The state pays private agencies to handle most foster care adoption cases. They are supposed to make placing foster children with family a priority. But 7 Action News has found some private agencies fail to do this and appear to manipulate the process to favor their clients--couples hoping to adopt. This can cut kids off from family forever.

Maureen Gordon says she has been fighting a system that seems set on breaking family bonds. A private agency approved another couple to adopt her great niece who is in foster care.

“I feel like I have been living under a bully mentality,” says Gordon, who is very familiar with foster care. She is a social worker and she and her husband, who live in Oklahoma, foster-parented dozens of kids and adopted two.

“My credentials are impeccable,” says Gordon, who has spent about $30,000 trying to get her niece and has no plans to stop.

“I’m not going away. She’s coming home to her family,” she insists.

Roxanne Gant says she was met with strong resistance when fighting for her grandson Bradley.

“To think that I may never see him again, it’s hurtful,” says Gant.

She also hired a lawyer and says she spent $15,000 in legal fees. The private agency finally approved her to adopt—another child. But Gant didn't want just any child.

“I just want Bradley,” she says.

The Department of Human Services oversees the private agencies it contracts to handle foster care adoptions. DHS wouldn’t talk to 7 Action News because Scribner and Gordon’s cases are being litigated.

The private agencies wouldn’t talk about the cases citing adoption confidentiality laws.

So why were Scribner, Gordon and Gant denied their loved ones when the law and child welfare policy are clear that family able and willing get first priority?

“The private agencies simply have an affiliation, a familiarity, a working relationship with their foster family, they recruited…and they want to help those people get a child,” says attorney Elizabeth Warner.

Warner represents families in these disputes. She says private agencies have an allegiance first to their clients -- couples looking to adopt… not the best interest of the foster child.

"They may say they are doing this for the children, but in reality you can tell when a case is being managed by an agency…," says Warner.

Warner and other experts told 7 Action News they have seen widespread problems with private adoption and foster care agencies. They say they don’t follow policy, stonewall families and manipulate cases to get the outcome they want.

“It’s some pretty blatant tactics to try and shut the doors to relatives who want to adopt…,” Warner says.

On Wednesday, November 9 and Thursday, November 10 at 11 p.m., 7 Action News Investigator Heather Catallo will tell you what happened to these families and the children they love in this two-part series.