Showing posts sorted by date for query wagering. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query wagering. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Sunday, March 24, 2019

TEFRA: The Latest Medicaid Fraud In Child Welfare Trust Fund Battle - Who Will Control The Industry of Trafficking Tiny Humans - Nessel v. Engler

Today, I was tip toeing through the FinCEN trying to figure the next, latest and greatest stealin' op of the "Legal Geniuses" (trademark pending) when I found a lovely growth of financial intel called the cross border transfer from the originator to the beneficiary, and said to myself,

"Hey, Self! You know what that sounds like? It sounds like one of those trafficking tiny humans mechanisms."
"Well, golly geeze, who would have ever thought about transposing international financial law enforcement models over to the privatized industry of trafficking tiny humans?"
"Me, Silly!"
So, there you have it, I found TEFRA:

Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982



TEFRA, as it is called, has lots and lots of asset forfeiture models for civil debt and liquidity for child support, disabled children, children and their families living in poverty, the elderly, and the lot.

That is when I figured out that this was the introduction to that "targeted population" era.

TEFRA talks about the transfer of bonds from the originator to the beneficiary in the form of trusts, children's trust funds.

It was at this point I said, "Corporate Parental Rights!"

I found the originator of the Public Private Partnership they are repurposing for civil asset forfeiture in the transfer of the grant to the right of the incapacitated person, having a diffusion of lumping children, disabled and elderly, into the category of not being legally capable to represent themselves in legal matters, therefore must be put under a Guardian Ad Litem for one of these privatized, foreign corporations to take legal custody of the trust, being the Medicaid funding, and any other inheritances, because the corporate parent becomes the beneficiary.

The rebranding of child welfare.

I know, I need to do a LK production on this.


This is why there is a push to become gender neutral.

Gender neutral in law allows for easier transfers of funds under chattel law.

Chattel law is heirarchial when it comes to gender in property ownership.

Think of it like this, instead of a marriage, you have a corporate partnership, with newly defined corporate parental rights through TEFRA in mergers and acquisitions, or rather, adoption.

Yes, it still exists today, but I see the "Legal Geniuses" (trademark pending) taking this into maritime law, because we are dealing with foreign corporations in partnership with our federal, state and local governments.

partnership by on Scribd


Yes, the "Legal Geniuses" (trademark pending) are rolling out the 2019 Stealin' Model for Medicaid fraud in child welfare.

Behold, the first thing that popped up when I did a basic term search on TEFRA:

Arkansas Department of Human Services
https://humanservices.arkansas.gov/about-dhs/dms/tefra


https://afmc.org/individuals/arkansans-on-medicaid/beneficiary-education/tefra-webinar-feb2019/

These are Medicaid funded private children's trusts models, which have no gender, under TEFRA.

This is being diffused across the nation as corporate parental rights, where the corporation is the beneficiary and the state is the orignator to the trust.

I tell ya, these "Legal Geniuses" (trademark pending) are awfully clever when it comes to stealin'.

The following is the Michigan private, foreign, children's trust funds for wagering.

MiABLE



This is all about the children's trust funds because they get that Medicaid money and leverage it, not providing crap to the people who need it, for the purposes of maximizing revenues.

Seriously.


This is about the christian chattel law model being outdated, when it comes to parental rights, under the legal property ownership concepts in gender, only.

There is nothing in Ecclessiastical law which recognizes same sex marriages, as the many subjects of wifery are still on the books under the Mann Act and Immigration and Naturalization Act.

It has nothing to do with one's genotype or phenotype, it has to do with the beneficiary of the trust, the ownership of the intellectual property.

Corporations have no gender; ergo, do not produce its goods, but acquire, through the transfer of parental rights from the host, the new name for mother.

The LBQRSTUV narrative is just a cover for the genetic research industry of manufacturing tiny humans, because humans are being produced outside a human host and it not very easy to assign gender to parental protein strands.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, a foreign corporation, has a corner on the market when it comes to the child welfare industry.

The LBQRSTUV community wants in on the skins because the Pro Lifers have been running the show.

Nothing more.  Nothing less.  It is about the children's trust funds in the trafficking of tiny humans, which is why we are circling in on the use of policy of a private, foreign corporation.

Since all this started in Michigan, this boils down to nothing but a battle between "The Boys" v. "The Girls" on who controls the rebranding of parental rights in child welfare.

Child welfare is chattel law under the Vatican, "Virgin of the Sea", so I see this as a simple battle of corporate privateers taking over the industry, with these very same questions lingering in SCOTUS in DACA/DAPA actions.

Who owns the child, under what jurisdiction, under what laws, under what authority, under what rights?

This is going to be very nasty because people do not like it when you snatch their money, but now comes another group that wants in on the Medicaid fraud in child welfare gaming system.

Nessel does not want to talk about trafficking tiny humans in Michigan, but is willing to confront the John Engler, but not on this subject matter.

We should ask Nessel why she does not want to talk about trafficking tiny humans in Michigan.

Oh, wait....I forgot.

Michigan is still under federal oversight of its child welfare system.

What a situation!

This is what I call an inherently contemporaneous conflict of interests because she cannot advise and advocate at the same time in child welfare, remember?

Michigan will no longer fund adoption agencies that discriminate against gays

Michigan will no longer financially support adoption and foster care agencies that refuse to work with same-sex couples and LGBTQ individuals because of religious beliefs under the terms of a settlement of a lawsuit negotiated by Attorney General Dana Nessel.

The settlement, which was announced Friday, sets up a battle with the Republican-led Legislature, which passed a law in 2015 that allows adoptions agencies to refuse to work with members of the LGBTQ community.

The terms of the settlement require that the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services agrees to maintain nondiscriminatory provisions in its foster care and adoption agency contracts. It also calls for the department to enforce the nondiscrimination provisions by terminating contracts with agencies that either discriminate against same-sex couples or LGBTQ individuals who would otherwise qualify to become foster or adoptive parents or that refer them to other agencies.

In exchange for the policy, the plaintiffs in the case — Kristy and Dana Dumont of Lansing and Erin and Rebecca Busk-Sutton of Detroit — have agreed to dismiss their claims and pay their own attorney fees and costs.

“We are so happy that for same-sex couples in Michigan who are interested in fostering or adopting, opening their hearts and homes to a child no longer comes with the risk of being subjected to the discrimination we experienced," the Dumonts said in a statement released by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which filed the case on behalf of the couples. "We are hopeful that this will mean more families for children, especially those who have been waiting years for a family to adopt them. And we can’t wait to welcome one of those children into our family.”

In 2015, Republicans in the Michigan Legislature, voting mostly along party lines, passed a controversial bill that allows adoption and foster care agencies to cite religious convictions when refusing to work with same-sex couples who want to adopt  or foster a child.

The two couples filed a lawsuit in 2017 challenging the MDHHS contract with taxpayer-funded and state-contracted foster care and adoption agencies that refused to work with same-sex couples.

The couples said they approached St. Vincent Catholic Charities and Bethany Christian Services to adopt children the agencies had accepted through referrals from MDHHS.  They said the agencies refused to work with them.

It is not found in chattel law.

The state contracts with 59 private adoption and foster care agencies across the state and while the MDHHS wasn't able to say specifically how many don't work with same-sex couples or LGBTQ individuals, 20 of the agencies are affiliated with religious organizations.

After the settlement was announced Friday, the Michigan Catholic Conference, the Lansing-based advocacy agency that serves as the official voice of the Catholic Church in Michigan, tweeted, "The settlement announced today by the Attorney General in the Dumont/Lyon case does nothing to protect the thousands of children in foster care looking for loving homes. As such, it is highly unlikely this is the last chapter of the story."

Lori Windham, an attorney with Becket, a Washington D.C.-based law firm that works on religious freedom cases, said the settlement violates Michigan law that protects religious adoption agencies.
"The Michigan AG and the ACLU are trying to stop the state from working with faith-based adoption agencies," she said in a statement. "The result of that will be tragic. Thousands of children will be kept from finding the loving homes they deserve."

Nessel, the first lesbian to be elected to statewide office in Michigan, is most well-known for her representation of a Madison Heights same-sex couple, a case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and led to the 2015 decision that legalized same-sex marriage.

During her campaign for attorney general, standing up for the rights of the LGBTQ community was a major theme.

“Discrimination in the provision of foster care case management and adoption services is illegal, no matter the rationale,” Nessel said in a statement. “Limiting the opportunity for a child to be adopted or fostered by a loving home not only goes against the state’s goal of finding a home for every child, it is a direct violation of the contract every child-placing agency enters into with the state.”

The ACLU said the settlement was a victory for the 12,000 children in foster care in Michigan.

“Our children need every family that is willing and able to provide them with a loving home," said Leslie Cooper, deputy director of the ACLU LGBT & HIV Project. "When agencies choose to accept taxpayer dollars to provide public child welfare services, they must put the needs of the children first.”

But the settlement is sure to spark a backlash from Republicans in the Legislature, who argued that businesses, including adoption and foster care agencies, shouldn't be forced to conduct business in a way that violated their moral and religious beliefs.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, blasted Nessel and the settlement.

“Dana Nessel has shown us that she cares little for the Constitution and even less for the vulnerable population of children in need of forever homes," he said.

"Nessel’s actions make it clear that she sought the office of attorney general to further her own personal political agenda."

He claimed that faith-based adoption agencies will have to stop operating in Michigan because of the lack of taxpayer-funded support.

State Rep. James Lower, R-Cedar Lake, said the decision proves that the Legislature was right when it passed a bill late last year that would allow lawmakers to intervene in any case brought against the state. One of the reasons behind the bill was fear that Nessel would try to undo laws passed by Republicans. That bill was vetoed by former Gov. Rick Snyder.

"I’m just disappointed. This proves our point that the attorney general is unwilling to defend the laws in this state," he said, adding that he's sure the GOP caucus will talk about how to move beyond this one settlement. "We can still request to become a party to cases, but I think this one is over."

Lower wasn't in the Legislature when the original bill passed in 2015, but he said he would have supported it.

"It made sense — the situation puts these agencies in a tough situation because they have been able to refer couples to another agency that is willing to work with same-sex couples," he said. "But now, they'll have to choose to either not to help the kids or violate their religious beliefs."

DNA & RNA have no gender when it comes to corporate parental rights.



ThermoFisher

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Sunday, March 10, 2019

The History Of U.S. Family Separation Policies & Borders - Interstate Compact On The Placement Of Children ~ A House Judiciary Tale Of Corporate Shape Shifters In The Trafficking Tiny Humans Industry

Once upon a time, "The Elected Ones" gave the Celestial Goddess of the Woodshed the Saddy Face because, the Members of the U.S. Judiciary Committee continued to demonstrate a severely lack of legal acumen in the concept of asking just where the administrative process of DHS, DHHS, and the individual states warehoused as an authoritative source when it comes to dealing with trafficking tiny humans across borders.

Voila! 

These are the private, secret foreign organizations (because they are fake) that are now the great repository of child welfare law, accreditation, the regulators, the policymakers, the lobbyists, the rulemakers of the U.S. Judicial Branch, and all other decision makers, in the hierarchy of international law for the UCC, children's trusts funds.

This is how they invaded the U.S. because no one cares about the children, as demonstrated by legislators of the day.

FUN FACT! STATES HAVE BORDERS, TOO.

These are your private human databases where they input to do that predictive modeling crap on the "best interests of the child" by wagering the children's trusts.

Home
https://www.juvenilecompact.org/

WHAT IS JIDS?
The Juvenile Interstate Data System (JIDS) is a web-based system that facilitates the supervising, transferring, accepting, tracking, and returning of juveniles from one state to another. JIDS enables the 50 states and 2 territories that comprise the Interstate Compact for Juveniles (ICJ) to manage workflow and communications, as well as provide consistent service to juveniles. JIDS provides users with the ability to quickly complete ICJ forms, notify Compact Offices of new information and requests, and track cases and juveniles. In addition to serving as the main communication tool for processing juvenile requests, JIDS serves as a clearinghouse for juvenile information. Data can be accessed through dynamic or static reports on a local or national level. JIDS’ implementation furthers the mission of the Compact by promoting public safety interests through the effective tracking and supervision of juveniles and establishing a system of uniform data collection on information pertaining to juveniles subject to the Compact.
David Brown, Web.com
(My apologies but he was the closest I could 
find as a face to trafficking tiny humans 
industry policy)
I consider this nothing more than a clearing house for Social Impact Bond investments, or money laundering operation for child welfare NGOs, as they expand their operations from just legally kidnapping children and selling them through adoption, but now, they are going full chattel.

This site claims the name as a copyright, which there is no registration in the U.S. Copyright Office.

It is registered with ICANN as Network Solutions, LLC out of Florida, as a branch of the Delaware LLC, where the closest thing I got to a name of a principle, I guess, were these cats ~

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Dec. 21, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Web.com Group, Inc. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President David L. Brown on Friday announced he plans to retire from the company in early 2019. Brown founded the company in 1997 and has served as its CEO since that time. Under Brown’s leadership, the company grew to $750 million in revenue. 
“Working alongside our Web.com employees for the last 21 years has been immensely rewarding, and for that, I am forever grateful,” said Brown.
In October, Web.com was purchased by an affiliate of Siris Capital Group, LLC., a private equity firm specializing in technology investments. When the company was acquired, Brown committed to continue leading the company until a new CEO was identified by Web.com’s board of directors.
Siris Capital
https://siris.com/company/
Siris has lots and lots of corporate affiliates, or LLCs, who knows, they are just Corporate Shape Shifters, that are all human databases for administrating human services, you know, modern human trafficking networks, like the International Compact on the Placement of Children, or the the emerging frontier of human intelligence networks to privately run governments, being UCC privateers.

Yes, privatization, where government national treasuries are the final frontier for the corporate raiders, because it then took me here to Westbridge Energy Corporation, which was just picked up by HartEnergy.

Hart Energy
https://www.hartenergy.com/companies/westbridge-energy-corp

NETWORK SOLUTIONS CENTER LLC80223142735321 TURNER DR STERLING HEIGHTS, MI 48312-3663 USA
NETWORK SOLUTIONS GROUP, INC.800486830467883513 EAST 8TH ST, STE 22 HOLLAND, MI 49423 USA
NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC.800337859335145600 RENAISSANCE CENTER SUITE 1400
DETROIT, MI 48243 USA
NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC.80057076448486A8200 POWDERHORN TRAIL SE CALEDONIA, MI 49316 USA
NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC.8001120211087222534 S ROCHESTER RD ROCHESTER HILLS, MI 48307 USA
NETWORK SOLUTIONS INCORPORATED80100746762703430600 TELEGRAPH ROAD BINGHAM FARMS, MI 48025 USA
NETWORK SOLUTIONS INCORPORATED OF D.C.80100746762703430600 TELEGRAPH ROAD BINGHAM FARMS, MI 48025 USA
NETWORK SOLUTIONS LLC801627795D6845J30721 CREST FOREST FARMINGTON HILLS, MI 48331 USA
NETWORK SOLUTIONS LLC801373328D0618WPO BOX 4065 MT PLEASANT, MI 48804 USA
NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LTD.8005337945174498723 LAKEVIEW BLVD CLARKSTON, MI 48348 USA
NETWORK SOLUTIONS OF GRAND RAPIDS INC.80057076448486A8200 POWDERHORN TRAIL SE CALEDONIA, MI 49316 USA
NETWORK SOLUTIONS OF WEST MICHIGAN INC.800342060323268114 E DIVISION ST ROCKFORD, MI 49341 USA
NETWORK SOLUTIONS P.M., LLC801697542D8501Y20480 SHEFFIELD RD DETROIT, MI 48221 USA

APHSA
https://aphsa.org/OE/AAICPC/ICPC_Regulations.aspx
Unlike the fake committee Corporate Shape Shifter, Interstate Commission for Juveniles, here we have a 501c3, with a mission statement for modern day human trafficking and a board for investors.
BETTER, HEALTHIER LIVES FOR CHILDREN, FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES. APHSA WILL SUPPORT AND ADVISE OUR MEMBERS, INFORM POLICY MAKERS, AND WORK WITH OUR PARTNERS TOO FULLY ENGAGE ONE ANOTHER IN PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE IN HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES POLICY AND PRACTICE.
APHSA pays the independent contractor, True North Group, Inc., $111,002 in 2016, an inactive Florida corporation has acknowledge that receives substantial amounts in federal grants and contributions.

But the True North Group, Inc. is registered in the State of Michigan, and may even own real estate from land banks.

THE TRUE NORTH GROUPE80094452971525V43996 WOODWARD AVENUE SUITE 201
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MI 48033 USA
TRUE NORTH GROUP INC.80069439001100MPO BOX 23 ONAWAY, MI 49765 USA
TRUE NORTH GROUP INSURANCE SERVICES LLC802111791F19188110 N MICHIGAN AVE HOWELL, MI 48843 USA
TRUE NORTH GROUP PROPERTY MANAGEMENT, LLC802037074F0032MPO BOX 471 STE 1
ELK RAPIDS, MI 49629 USA

FUN FACT! APHSA IS NOT REGISTERED CORPORATION IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE, AS IT HAS CLAIMED ON ITS IRS 990 2016 TAX RETURN

Alas, APHSA is but another Corporate Shape Shifter.

This is what you call a Public Private Partnership because the feds give them money, and they come up with the databases and policies to maximize revenues in the trafficking of tiny humans, through the promulgation of private policies, just like DACA and DAPA, for the investors of Social Impact Bonds using their crappy predictive models.

Congress makes law, not a private, fake, foreign corporation.

This is the work of Jenny "from the Block" Granholm and her crew of "The Girls", because she was the one who championed the diffusion of a human services based economy, starting in Michigan to compliment the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) to get to that Children's Trust Fund.

This is private policy of the Interstate Commission for Juveniles and Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, DHS and DHHS uses for family separation policies.

And that ends the tale of how the Celestial Goddess of the Woodshed assuaged the dearth intelligence on trafficking tiny humans policies in the U.S. House Judiciary Committee.


Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Monday, March 4, 2019

HuschBlackwell, Engler, MSU, ILIT & Children's Trust Funds

  "The irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) is a valuable and commonly used estate planning tool. An ILIT can be beneficial for clients having liquidity needs at death due to support obligations for dependants or transfer taxes imposed on assets held outside the ILIT." ~ HuschBlackwell, 2007

Image result for Husch Blackwell
https://www.huschblackwell.com/
Are these people serious?

Husch Blackwell is the law firm Engler hired to audit Michigan State University.

I do not know why, but I immediately thought of the Children's Trust Fund when I saw they were from Kansas.

This was meant for me to find.

These are the schemes of the children's trusts.

They are specifically training through Continuing Education Credits for the Michigan State Bar attorney licensing, Insurance Wagering, when it comes to corporate parents.

These people are wagering on the trust fund, not the individual.

This is why they are pushing the co-optimization of abortion to be recognized as termination of parental rights.

"The guardian or conservator has an insurable interest in the life of the individual for whom the guardian or conservator was appointed."

That is why they are trying to "de-gender" everything.

This is legal trust nomenclature for foreign privateering the children's trust funds.

Corporations, like law firms, have pecuniary rights to the best interests of the child, you know.

I see children's trust funds, everywhere.


So, let me get this straight.

You can come in as a Child Placing Agency and get legal corporate guardianship, where you then go get some life insurance on the kid, paying the premiums probably under Medicaid, to take out a loan on the policy, wagering on the viability of the trust.

Now, since the administrator of the trust is called an "interested individual", you have a situation of NO-NAME, where you only know that there exists a pecuniary interest in the trust, not the individual, or in this instance, the child, and not who is running ops.

Are these foster children?

Are there other schemes for all the children of "The Poors"?

Are these Social Impact Bonds?

Is this predictive modeling crap?

Does the sun rise every morning?

But, it gets better.

So, it is now, not, illegal to wager on the death of the trust, and not the death of the child.

Then, just because I am very good at being morbid when it comes to child welfare in Michigan, I am going to go out there and say, only because Engler was up in this mix, that these law firms were taking out these ILIT policies.

This is the point I am inserting the entire termination of parental rights in the womb called "aborting birth" to expedite the paperwork for the insurance policies.

I am going to eventually have to map this out..

This is chattel law and I am going to go push the proverbial envelope and say that these people are pushing terminating parental rights as a form of civil asset forfeiture, where this pushes up equity in these corporate shape shifters who leverage the guardianship of the Medicaid cost reimbursement of dumb services which are also federally funded as human subject research projects of foreign universities to keep stealin' by taking out multiple mortgages on properties they got from other property tax and mortgage fraud schemes?

The termination of parental rights, or rather abortion, is the death of the child, where the corporate parent can cash in on the trust, and just issue a new birth certificate through a new birth called adoption?

These people have been expediting this child welfare rebranding.

Is this how all these Public Private Partnerships got leveraged with the Office of Michigan Attorney General?

It very much so looks that way to me.

Hey Bill, Smooches!

Dana Nessel had no idea of what she stepped into with these massively overlapping federal investigations, because she refused to listen to the people.

Do it very slowly, my precious ones, I want to watch and savor each and every morsel of my moments of retribution.


MSU trustees weigh independent probe into Nassar scandal


As the fallout from the Larry Nassar sex abuse scandal lingers at Michigan State University, the Board of Trustees may pursue the path that General Motors followed to move past a massive safety recall.

Officials at the state's largest public university are considering whether to authorize an independent investigation into how Nassar's decades of molestation and assaults were allowed to occur.

Dan Kelly, vice-president, MSU Board of Trustees
The hope is that such a probe could satisfy demands for a full accounting while protecting sensitive information from public dissemination — similar to how GM resolved the crisis surrounding a faulty ignition switch that was blamed for causing at least 12 deaths.

The independent investigation is being discussed by the trustees' Committee on Audit, Risk and Compliance, chaired by board Vice Chairman Dan Kelly, who said after the last board meeting Feb. 15 that he hopes such an inquiry will occur.

"There needs to be more done in terms of public disclosures," Kelly said.

Board Chairwoman Dianne Byrum added, "There (are) multiple conversations going on about how we can assist the survivors in their healing.

"Everything is on the table right now for discussion."
Trustee Brian Mosallam, who has long called for an independent investigation, said last week that nothing is finalized but there are active discussions about the nature and scope of a possible independent investigation.

He said he has made numerous statements that an independent investigation is needed for "public consumption for a number of reasons."

In May, he wrote a statement called "New Day at MSU" that said: "We must immediately begin an independent internal review of the Larry Nassar matter to demonstrate to our courageous survivors, their families and all other MSU stakeholders (and government and regulatory authorities) that drastic voluntary remediation is better late than never."

The issue is heating up as MSU faces criticism from Nassar victims and state investigators for withholding more than 6,000 documents from the Michigan Attorney General's Office, citing attorney-client privilege. That probe has resulted in criminal charges against three former MSU officials, including ex-president Lou Anna Simon, but many say a deeper, broader inquiry is needed.

Those critics argue the AG's investigation is limited in scope and is not enough for MSU to understand what happened, to make changes and to ultimately allow victims, their families and the community to create a better culture.

"We need to look at what happened and why it happened," said Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to publicly accuse Nassar of sexual assault. "If we don’t find out those answers, it will be very difficult in looking forward."

GM, the nation's largest automaker, found itself in a similar situation five years ago, as scrutiny mounted over what the company knew and when it knew it about the defective ignition switches used in its Chevrolet Cobalt compact cars.

At the time, the automaker had known for more than a decade about the problems and faced several investigations, yet hadn't begun three recalls of the affected cars until January 2014.

CEO Mary Barra, who had been on the job for two months, apologized shortly after the recalls, emphasized it had taken too long and added she had told Anton Valukas, a former U.S. attorney who was leading GM's internal review, that there would be no roadblocks or "sacred cows."

Two and a half months later, Valukas delivered an independent report that found a "pattern of incompetence and neglect" led to the delay of the recalls by nearly a decade. In response, GM fired 15 employees, disciplined five others and made major changes at the company to identify, elevate and train around safety issues.

 "We failed these customers," Barra told employees during a town hall meeting in June 2014 after the report was released. "We must face up to it and learn from it. To that end, on behalf of GM, we pledge that we will use the findings and recommendations from this report as a template for strengthening our company."

Experts say an independent investigation is often the first thing an entity will do to resolve an issue and demonstrate transparency.

"It looks good to the outside world to have a third-party investigator," said Michelle Krebs, a Detroit-based executive analyst for Autotrader, a car shopping website operated by Cox Automotive. "Internally, it allows them to do it in a way that internal politics can’t get in the way. It is indeed a third party, not someone in the company who has bias."

Krebs noted that Ford Motor Co. announced last month that employee concerns prompted an outside investigation of whether incorrect computer modeling might have caused it to misstate fuel economy and emissions for government testing.

She also pointed to a 2010 third party investigation conducted as Toyota recalled millions of vehicles after reports of unintended acceleration that were suspected in the deaths of at least 89 people.

"You need to get out in front of it, fast," Krebs said. "Because then you get it over with more quickly.

Then you can get on with your business; otherwise, it’s this cloud that hangs over the company, the institution, longer than it needs to and it delays putting into practice new processes to prevent it from ever happening again."

That's exactly what MSU needs, Denhollander said. Nassar was enabled in his crimes by conduct at MSU that was not necessarily illegal, such as reporting failures, communication silos and training shortfalls, she said.

"This is a healthy step that many organizations have taken much faster than MSU," Denhollander said. "We want to know what went wrong so we can deal with it."

Many have called on Michigan State to do an independent investigation since the earliest public allegations against Nassar in September 2016. But until now, the idea has faced resistance from many university leaders.

Then-university spokesman Jason Cody addressed it in November 2017.

"As for the call for an independent investigation, the FBI and MSU Police Department conducted a joint investigation earlier this year to determine whether any university employee other than Nassar engaged in criminal conduct," Cody said. "The results of that investigation were sent to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan. We have no reason to believe that any criminal conduct was found."

More recently, former interim President John Engler addressed an independent investigation days before he was forced to resign under pressure In January, saying that such a probe had already been done by Husch Blackwell, a Kansas City law firm that examined MSU's Title IX process.

"There are some people who want to continue to investigate and inquire into lots of things," Engler said. "I wouldn't support any more. ... We're trying to get rid of lawyers and consultants now. We're trying to go back to work."

In January 2018, MSU trustees asked then-Attorney General Bill Schuette to do an investigation into the university's role in the Nassar scandal in the wake of testimony by more than 150 women about the former sports doctor's crimes. The university promised it would cooperate.

MSU handed over reams of documents, including some that had nothing to do with the Nassar investigation.

Officials at the attorney general's office, under Schuette and his successor, Dana Nessel, have alleged that MSU blocked its investigation by withholding documents under attorney-client privilege. Part of MSU's argument for doing so is that the university is still in litigation with insurance companies.

As lawyers in the Attorney General's Office went to court to have a judge review the withheld documents, Nessel said in January that it appears her office is not going to see the majority of those documents because MSU has "fought this office every step of the way."

Proponents of an independent investigation at MSU say an outside investigator could review the privileged documents to see what's in them and include them in a final report without making attorney-client discussions public.

"We want answers. All the answers," said Sterling Riethman, who was among the scores of gymnasts and other athletes assaulted by Nassar. "To get those, we need both an independent investigation and the remaining documents to be turned over to the AG’s office.

"If MSU wants to show us that they’ve truly turned a corner, the solution is simple: Engage and encourage the independent investigation we’ve been advocating for, and release the remaining documents to the AG’s office."

WITH GUARDIAN OR CONSERVATOR
Sponsor:  Rep. Kate Segal
House Bill 5192 with committee amendment
Sponsor:  Rep. Larry DeShazor
House Bill 6272 with committee amendment
Sponsor:  Rep. Jon Switalski
Judiciary (HB 5192 & 6272)
First Analysis (8-3-10)

BRIEF SUMMARY:  The bills would put in place additional protections for certain assets of wards and protected individuals, in order to prevent misuse or fraud by guardians and conservators.
FISCAL IMPACT:  These bills would have a minimal fiscal impact on the judiciary system.  The bills' new requirements may cause an increase in administrative workload for some courts, depending upon the number of relevant cases they handle.

THE APPARENT PROBLEM:
In recent years, several high profile stories about guardians and conservators bilking elderly or disabled individuals of their life savings have received media attention.  In 1991 and 2000, several officials with a professional guardianship business, Guardian Inc., were sentenced to prison on charges of fraud and embezzlement involving hundreds of clients in Wayne County.  More recently, dozens of seniors in Eaton County have been victims of guardians and conservators with a combined loss of over $3 million.

The Estates and Protected Individuals Code establishes the rules for when a guardian may be appointed to take care of an individual and when a conservator may be appointed to take care of an individual's financial affairs.  A person can have both a guardian and a conservator appointed on his or her behalf.  Generally speaking, a guardian is appointed when a finding is made by a court that a person is legally incapacitated—that is, unable to make informed decisions about his or her own care and custody.  During the process to determine if an individual is legally incapacitated, a guardian ad litem is appointed to represent the best interests of the individual if he or she does not already have legal counsel of his or her own choosing.  A person who has had a guardian assigned is referred to as a "ward" and a person who has had a conservator appointed to take care of his or her money or property is referred to as a "protected individual."

Most often, the person appointed as a guardian or conservator is a relative, such as a spouse, child, or parent, although a guardian or conservator can also be a neighbor, attorney, bank, or business that operates a service as professional guardians and/or conservators.  In some cases, the petitioner for guardianship is a government worker, i.e, a social services caseworker.  Current law requires certain duties of a guardian, a conservator, and a guardian ad litem (who may be an attorney, social worker, or volunteer).  For instance, guardians and conservators are required to file documentation of how the ward is cared for and how the personal property of the protected individual is managed.

Discovering why abuses continue to happen despite current protections in law and how to stop those abuses has been the subject of several formal and informal task forces convened since the mid-1990s, the largest being a task force on guardianships and conservators convened by the state Supreme Court in the mid-1990s and a more recent one convened by the governor in 2005 and 2006 on elder abuse.  Though both task forces compiled recommendations believed to be necessary to protect the state's vulnerable citizens, few of those recommendations have been implemented.

For example, Michigan law prohibits a conservator from selling the home of a protected individual in his or her care without prior court approval.  Yet, there are no prohibitions in place preventing the conservator from opening up a line-of-credit loan on the home's equity, or other type of home equity loan that essentially strips the home of its value, and then through fraud or mismanagement, use up the proceeds.  It is believed that requiring a conservator to obtain court approval before a home equity loan could be secured would give an additional layer of oversight that could stop unnecessary or intentionally fraudulent loans from being made, thus protecting the assets of the protected individual.
In light of the growing numbers of guardian and conservator appointments, and the continuing problems with foreclosures associated with refinance loans, legislation has been offered to implement several more recommendations of the task forces.

THE CONTENT OF THE BILLS:
House Bills 4619, 5192, and 6272 taken together would amend several sections of the Estates and Protected Individuals Code (EPIC) to require a guardian ad litem to ask about the amount of assets considered as "liquid assets" belonging to the individual and include an estimate of the amount in his or her report to the court; grant a court discretion under certain circumstances to order the guardian to petition for appointment of a conservator; prohibit a conservator from selling, mortgaging, or disposing of the protected individual's property without court approval; and require, with certain exceptions, a conservator to furnish a bond.

House Bill 5192 and 6272 are tie-barred to each other and to House Bill 4619 (previously reported).  Consequently, the bills could not go into effect unless the bills to which they are tie-barred are also enacted into law.  House Bill 4619, previously reported by the Senior Health, Security, and Retirement Committee, has passed the House and is pending Senate committee action.

House Bill 4916
House Bill 4619 would amend the Estates and Protected Individuals Code (MCL 700.5305).  In addition to the current duties of a guardian ad litem (GAL) appointed for an individual alleged to be incapacitated, the bill would require a GAL to ask the individual and the petitioner for guardianship about the amount of cash and property readily convertible into cash that is in the individual's estate (liquid assets).

Under the bill, if a court determined that the total amount of cash and property readily convertible into cash exceeded the limit for administering a small estate under Section 3982 of the act, or if the court determined that financial protection was required for the ward for another reason, a court could order the guardian to petition for the appointment of a conservator or for another protective order for the ward's estate.  If a conservator had not been appointed for a ward's estate, and the guardian determined that there were more liquid assets in the ward's estate than were reported by the guardian ad litem, the guardian would have to report the amount of the additional cash or property to the court.
As a part of his or her duties, a guardian ad litem must also make numerous determinations.  The determinations must be included in the report the GAL prepares for the court.  The bill would revise one of the required determinations.  Currently, the GAL must determine whether there are one or more appropriate alternatives to the appointment of a full guardian.  The code lists as alternatives the appointment of a limited guardian; appointment of a conservator or another protective order; or execution of a patient advocate designation, do-not-resuscitate declaration (DNR), or durable power of attorney.  The bill would require the GAL to also determine whether one or more actions should be taken in addition to the appointment of a guardian, and would require the GAL to consider the appropriateness of at least each of the listed alternatives described above as alternatives or additional actions to the appointment of a guardian (e.g., guardian and conservator, or guardian and DNR order, etc.).  In addition, in the report informing the court of the determinations, a GAL would have to include an estimate of the amount of cash and property readily convertible into cash that is in the individual’s estate.

House Bill 5192
The bill would amend the Estates and Protected Individuals Code (MCL 700.5410) to require a conservator to furnish a bond if the estate in question exceeded the small estate threshold.  Specifically, a court would have to require the conservator, with some exceptions, to furnish a bond if the court determined that the value of cash and property readily convertible into cash in the estate and in the conservator's control exceeded the small estate threshold for administering a decedent's estate, adjusted under Section 1210 for the year in which the conservator was appointed.  This requirement would not apply if one or more of the following applied:
·                    The estate contained no property readily convertible to cash and the cash was in a restricted account with a financial institution.
·                    The conservator had been granted trust powers under Section 4401 of the Banking Code.
·                    The court determined that requiring a bond would impose a financial hardship on the estate.
·                    The court stated on the record the reasons why a bond was not necessary.
The bill would take effect April 1, 2011.

House Bill 6272
The bill would amend the Estates and Protected Individuals Code (MCL 700.5422 and 700.5423) to specifically prohibit a conservator from mortgaging, pledging, or causing a lien to be placed on the protected individual's home without court approval.  Currently, a conservator must obtain approval from the court in order to sell or otherwise dispose of the protected individual's real property (in general, land and buildings or fixtures on the land) or interest in real property.  A sale or other disposal of real property or an interest in real property can only be approved if, after a hearing with notice to interested persons and consideration of evidence of the value of the property, the court determines the sale or disposal of the real property is in the protected individual's best interest.  Under the bill, these provisions would also extend to a conservator's ability to mortgage, pledge, or cause a lien to be placed on the protected individual's real property or interest in real property.
A conservator would be required to record an order allowing the sale, disposal, mortgage, or pledge or placement of a lien on real property in the records of the register of deeds for the county in which the real property is located.  Unless the order had been recorded or a person to whom an interest in the property was transferred had been given a copy of the order, the person would not be entitled to presume that the conservator had the power to make the transaction.
The bill would take effect April 1, 2011.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The bills are reintroductions of House Bills 5186-5188 of the 2007-2008 legislative session.  Those bills were passed by the House of Representatives but failed to see Senate action.  Supporters of last year’s initiative included the AARP Michigan, the Michigan Probate Judges Association, and the Michigan Probate Court Association.

ARGUMENTS:
For:
In many cases, petitions to appoint guardians for individuals are filed by people unfamiliar with the duties of guardians or conservators.  Petitions are also filed by social service workers or health care workers who may not be familiar with the personal details of the individual.  Thus, it often happens that an individual for whom a guardian is appointed has a substantial estate that should be under the management of a conservator.  If the guardian is not astute in money management, or is corrupt, the ward's assets can easily be frittered away or stolen.

One easy way to identify those cases in which a conservator should also be appointed is to have the guardian ad litem (GAL) assigned by the court make some initial inquiries as to the amount of cash and personal or real property – that could be easily converted into cash – that is owned by the individual.  The GAL process is a fairly quick assessment of the individual's situation, and many GALs are either volunteers or paid below current market for their services.  Therefore, the bill would not require an exact figure, which could take days or weeks to determine.  However, even a few well placed questions can identify an estate that perhaps should be under the management of a conservator.

To that end, House Bill 4196 would require the GAL to include an estimate of the individual's liquid assets in the section of his or her report to the court in which a determination of whether or not an appointment of a conservator or another protective order would be an appropriate alternative or additional action to appointment of a guardian.  The bill would also establish a threshold for the size of the estate for which a court could--but would not be mandated to--require the newly appointed guardian to petition for a conservator to manage the estate.  If the guardian found assets that the GAL did not know about, and therefore did not report to the court, the bill would put an onus on the guardian to report those assets.  The court could then reconsider whether a conservator should be appointed.

Identifying the amount of the liquid assets up front could also alert the potential guardian that if a conservator were not appointed, it would be his or her duty to responsibly manage the ward's estate.  Knowing the amount of the funds involved may also help the court in its determination as to the suitability of a particular person's appointment as guardian.

For:
House Bill 6272 would close a loophole in the law that enables a conservator to obtain a mortgage or home equity loan on the home of a protected individual (the person found to be legally incapacitated).  Reportedly, there have been cases of conservators stripping homes of equity through various loan products and then either embezzling those funds or mismanaging them.  Regardless, the result is that when the protected individual needs that equity to provide for his or her needs, or to pass on to an heir, it is gone.  Requiring court approval should add an extra layer of protection.  This is particularly important in light of the numerous mortgage products offered today and the problems that have arisen from subprime loans.

For:
House Bill 5192 would address another concern raised by the Michigan Supreme Court and Governor Granholm's task forces to end elder abuse.  Under the bill, a conservator would have to furnish a bond if the estate exceeded the small estate threshold.  If the conservator mismanaged or pilfered the assets, the bond would cover the loss to the protected individual.  Basically, requiring a bond would provide another layer of oversight which should discourage fraud.  Insurance companies providing the bonds also have the resources to aggressively go after "bad apples" and collect from those conservators the money paid out by the bond.  An insurer is also apt to deny a bond to a person who has a sketchy credit history, a criminal history, or otherwise appears to be a bad risk; thus, without a bond, the person could not be appointed conservator.

So that the bond requirement would not provide hardship or be ordered unnecessarily, there would be several exceptions.  For instance, if the conservator were the spouse or child of the individual, and it appeared the relative would provide proper care and management of the assets, a court would not have to require a bond, though the court would have to record the reasons why it determined the bond was unnecessary.

For:
As a package, the bills would provide a few more layers of oversight and protection for those for whom a guardian and/or conservator is appointed and would do so with minimal to no cost to the state.  The measures won't cure all that ails the system, but will screen out some bad actors from being appointed guardians or conservators, will identify upfront some estates that should go into conservatorship that would be missed under the present process, and will provide a financial mechanism for protected individuals cheated by a conservator to recoup some or all of their losses.

Against:
The bills are an excellent first step in implementing some quick, low-cost fixes.  However, according to an article published in AARP The Magazine entitled "Stolen Lives" in February, 2004, even professional guardians receive little training and are not required in most jurisdictions to be certified.  By comparison, those certified by the National Guardianship Foundation, the certification arm of the National Guardianship Association, must adhere to a code of ethics and undergo continuing education.  According to the article, "the vast majority of the (then) estimated 600,000 Americans under guardianship are receiving care from people without certification."  Requiring certification of professional guardians, or even providing some minimal training and refresher courses for friends or family members appointed as guardians, could also help to protect the assets of wards from mismanagement or out and out fraud.

POSITIONS:
A representative of Elder Law of Michigan testified in support of House Bill 4619.  (6-10-10)
A representative of the Michigan Advocacy Project indicated support for House Bill 4619.  (6-10-10)
A representative of the Office of Services to the Aging testified in support of House Bills 5192 and 6272.  (7-21-10)
The Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan (PAAM) indicated support for House Bills 5192 and 6272.  (7-21-10)
A representative of the Long Term Care Ombudsman indicated support for House Bills 5192 and 6272.  (7-21-10)
The Michigan Bankers Association indicated a position of neutrality on House Bill 5192.

Susan Stutzky
Ben Gielczyk

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