'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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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.

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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State taking your kids... Too much power?

State taking your kids... Too much power?

Well, it's about time someone questioned child welfare in Michigan.  The power is based on the premise that poverty is the crime of child abuse.

(WXYZ) - All parents make mistakes. But in Michigan, one mistake can cost you your child. Critics say it’s happening all too often.

Legal experts say one of the reasons kids are getting wrenched from their parents is because we have one of the worst laws in the country when it comes to how and when the state can take your children.

You probably remember the “Mike’s Hard Lemonade” case – where a University of Michigan professor accidentally gave his 7-year-old son alcoholic lemonade at a Tiger’s game. By all accounts it was an honest mistake.

The dad in that case had never heard of Mike’s Hard Lemonade and had no idea it was for adults.

But legal experts tell Action News the chain of events that led to that boy being put in foster care isn’t unique.

On Sunday, on Action News at 11, Investigator Heather Catallo digs deep into what many call a broken system.

Catallo also takes a close look at something called the “guilt by association” problem – where even a parent who isn’t accused of anything can get caught up in the court system and risks losing the rights to their own child.

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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State taking your kids... Too much power?

WXYZ) - All parents make mistakes. But in Michigan, one mistake could cost you your child…and critics say it’s happening all too often because we have one of the worst laws in the country when it comes to how and when the state can take your children.

“It was an unbelievable nightmare! Far worse than the death of my first child,” said Claire Zimmerman. Zimmerman’s son was taken from her for only three days – but it was a harrowing experience her family will never forget.

It started as a night out with dad at a Tiger’s game… and ended with their 7-year old boy in foster care.

“I felt totally helpless, I felt desperate,” Zimmerman told Action News Investigator Heather Catallo.

Zimmerman won’t allow current pictures of Leo to be publicized – but she and her husband, Christopher Ratte, want everyone to know what happened.

At the ball park Christopher bought Leo a lemonade. Turns out, the University of Michigan archeology professor accidentally bought Mike’s Hard Lemonade, which has alcohol in it.

“It was just a mistake,” said Zimmerman.

Now, the couple is suing the state for taking their son because of what appears by all accounts to have been an honest mistake.

So exactly how did little Leo end up in foster care? At the end of the ballgame, security alerted Detroit police and from there Zimmerman says everything spiraled out of control.

According to the lawsuit – even before getting the hospital test results that showed no alcohol in Leo’s blood, a Detroit police officer turned the boy over to the state Department of Human Services… and the next day DHS put Leo in foster care.

“It’s terrifying, it makes you understand what it’s like to live in a totalitarian regime or something, where you have to fear for your own safety, and where the government doesn’t provide you protection, it actually threatens you,” said Zimmerman.

Michigan ACLU legal director Michael J. Steinberg says Michigan law is unconstitutional because it allows a child to be taken from his parents without having to prove the child is in immediate danger.

“Courts across the country have said, if you’re going to take a kid without a hearing, there has to be a finding, or a showing that the child is in harm,” said Steinberg.

Steinberg and other lawyers say there’s another major flaw with the system: the state fails to place children with family even though Michigan law requires DHS to try to do that. In Leo’s case, Steinberg says DHS refused to release him to his aunts and even his own mom, who had nothing to do with what happened at the ballpark.

“What’s happening in Michigan is a pattern of kids being taken away from parents against whom no allegations are made, simply based on the other parents conduct,” said University of Michigan Law Professor Vivek Sankran. Sankran challenges DHS decisions in the court daily, and he’s alarmed by what he calls the “guilt by association” problem. Sankran says both DHS and the courts are equally to blame for perfectly “fit” parents losing their children.

“We are one of two states in the country that have this type of doctrine. Most states have clear case law that unless you make allegations against a parent, that parent gets their kids back immediately,” said Sankran.

Sankran points to another troubling case. Bryson Stone’s mom abused drugs, and she willingly gave up the baby to his biological father, Milton Stone, right after Bryson was born.

“They said I would be able to take him home, and I was there at his birth,” said Stone.

Instead of allowing Milton to take his own son home, Wayne County DHS workers had Bryson put in foster care – even though Milton was never accused of abuse or neglect.

“These teddy bears represent all the foster kids I had with me,” said Stone pointing to a row of stuffed animals.

And get this—Milton is currently the foster parent to his cousin Antonio. So Michigan DHS approved Milton to foster parent his cousin, but refuses to let him parent his own son.

“This is a clear violation of this father’s fundamental right to parent. It’s one of the most closely guarded rights we have under the U.S. Constitution, and its being completely trampled on,” said Stone’s attorney, Tracy Green. She says DHS should have never brought this case before a judge.

DHS officials tell Action News that “safety comes first” – so the child is often placed in foster care until it can be determined if the other parent is complicit in the danger.

But experts say a child’s time in foster care is often prolonged because DHS requires the parents -- who are not even accused of abuse or neglect -- to comply with something called a “service plan” or “service agreement.” It’s a list of requirements that can include psychological evaluations and parenting classes, which often conflict with parents work hours.

If you fail to follow the plan to a T – you may not get your kids back. DHS blames the courts for this -- even though they create the service plans the judges approve.

“If a parent decides not to work with the court, if they decide to disregard the court’s orders, then that case is going to move forward in all likelihood towards termination of parental rights,” said Steve Yager, Deputy Director of the DHS Children’s Services Administration.

Steve Yager is a lying sack of shit.  I normally do not use such profanity as it diminishes my credibility but I have been doing these analyses of the child welfare industry, particularly in the State of Michigan, for almost 10 years, and I can say, personally, as an original source, Steve Yager needs to be federally investigated by the Department of Justice for participating in the filing of false claims, civil rights violations, mail fraud...oh, hell, just initiate a damn RICO on Michigan's entire child welfare system.


To bring forth a RICO one must only have 3 parties, but one would benefit to bring 4 for the rule-outs.


Let's name the top 4 RICO defendants of Michigan's Child Welfare System:


1. Maura "Cash-Cow" Corrigan, DHS Director;
2. William, "Bill" Johnson, Michigan Children's Institute Superintendent and Child Placing Agency contract overseer;
3. Steve "Cover-up" Yager, Children's Services Administrator;
4. Verlie "Won't-report-violations-of-law-to-the-Attorney-General" Ruffin, Michigan Children's Ombudsman.

“But why does a parent who’s not accused of abuse have to follow one of your service plans? They’re not accused of the abuse! Why should they have to jump through your hoops? It’s their child,” asked Catallo. 
“Again, the court has jurisdiction over the entire family,” said Yager.

DHS officials insist their workers have no greater authority in the courtroom than the parents’ lawyers or the child’s representatives. But many legal experts tell Action News, in many cases, the state and the court have no business stepping in, in the first place.

“We cannot take for granted the idea that the state is going to protect our rights. It’s not true,” said Claire Zimmerman.

DHS officials say they cannot comment on specific cases – but they insist the safety of children is their number one priority. 
The case against Leo Ratte’s father was quickly dismissed – and Leo’s family is working hard to change the child seizure law. They want a requirement that the state will have to show that a child is in immediate danger of serious harm before he or she can be taken from a parent. They’re hoping to call it Leo’s Law. If you would like more information about that, and we have posted a copy of the proposed legislation below.

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

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

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. 

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Everyone, Meet Bill Johnson

Sometimes it takes a heartbreaking story to make sure no one else lives through the same. This is a story about one of the 7,000 children who is under the care of one man.

Everyone, meet Bill Johnson, Superintendent of Michigan Children's Institute.



This is probably the first time Bill Johnson, Superintendent of Michigan Children's Institute has been interviewed by television media. WXYZ Channel 7 Detroit, ABC has opened the doors to the state decision process of child wards.

(WXYZ) - We’ve all heard the heartbreaking stories of children abused and neglected in foster homes. A local couple is asking why the state would take their foster child who is also their nephew, a little boy they so desperately love and had hoped to adopt.

Action News investigator Heather Catallo has a rare glimpse into the heart wrenching day the state took Jake away. read more

Let's see if the media is brave enough to do an indepth expose and even interview me.