The Host of The Families & Children Justice Show, Debbie Williams, is extending a special invitation to the public to come and engage in the issues of justice for families and children.
Debbie Williams has been more than just an advocate for social justice, she is a powerful catalyst in elevating the voices of those who seek equality and justice with her weekly television and radio shows on WHPR.
What many do not know is that I consider her to be pivotal in, forcefully, integrating the issues of child welfare into the political arena of Michigan, of which continues to be ignored.
When no one would listen, when our elected officials, including official candidates and religious leaders, would turn their noses up at the ills of child poverty before slamming the doors in the faces of parents and caregivers bemoaning the stripping of their civil rights, Debbie Williams, in her humble being, continued the fight to get someone to pay attention to the silent voices of children and families.
Her tenacity has paid off.
If you are running for elected office in 2016, or even further out, I implore you to, not just show up for a photo op or a quick distribution of campaign kicker cards, I expect your campaign to make a charitable contribution to her organization, Family & Children Justice so that she may be able to continue bringing awareness to a segment of the population which has been ignored and silenced in the most egregious ways.
Each year, in Michigan, this little group of sanctimonious arbitrators, armed with their lust of being bestowed community recognition of their self-imposed adjudicative powers of stripping the rights of due process from "the poors"m the Foster Care Review Board has a nomination process.
Each year the Foster Care Review Board provides a forum for recognition of the excellent work that is performed by child welfare professionals who work diligently to overcome systemic barriers and go above and beyond policy, court rule, and statutory standards to help ensure the safety, well being, and timely permanency for children and families served by our foster care system.
TRANSLATION TO REALITY: Each year the Foster Care Review Board makes no recommendations to the Michigan Attorney General's Office for suspected violations of law and policy, nor does it make recommendations of civil rights violations or fraud within its child welfare system.
The annual awards are presented to those on the “front lines” who have displayed a commitment to excellence and integrity in serving the needs of our states most vulnerable children and families.One nominee from each of the following categories – jurist (judge or referee), foster care caseworker, lawyer-guardian ad litem (LGAL), foster parent(s), and parent attorney – will be recognized for their exemplary service to abused or neglected children in the Michigan foster care system. All other nominees will receive a congratulatory letter from the Foster Care Review Board, informing them of their nomination and thanking them for their service. TRANSLATION TO REALITY: The annual awards exclude anyone who has fought on the front lines against the nefarious indolence of administrative buffoons like Steve Yager and Bill Johnson.
Finalists are chosen by a panel of Foster Care Review Board members and award winners are chosen by a panel of child welfare professionals and advocates, including award winners from the past year. Award recipients are recognized at the FCRB annual training conference in early November.
So, please, if you know of someone who is doing outstanding work in any of these categories, take the time to submit a nomination. This will not only recognize their efforts, but will help to highlight to the public the important and often excellent work that is performed within our state child welfare system.
TRANSLATION TO REALITY: In this nomination process, there are, but of course, limited categories, from which to choose.
Let us examine these categories.
Nominations for the Child Welfare Awards are accepted each year from June through mid-September. Criteria descriptions, deadlines, and forms are available at the links below:
TRANSLATION TO REALITY: Notice that there is no category for community advocate, family member, or even a foster child.
There is no option to nominate anyone who has made substantial efforts to end fraud, waste and abuse of Medicaid funding and the horrors of privatization.
There is not even an option for a birth parent who has successfully advocated for their own child.
Why, one may ask. Well, it would be quite an awkward situation to acknowledge the child welfare system has flaws due to the fact the state is still under federal monitoring.
So, it is at this point I ask for everyone who cares about providing equal justice to the poor, or just to give a voice to a child who is in the foster care system screaming, silently, writhing in seering physical and emotional pain, to give recognition to the work of an individual who has dedicated her life to illuminating the injustices of foster care.
Therefore, it is with the greatest of pleasure that I nominate Debbie Williams, for her work with Families and Children's Justice.
Debbie Williams travels the country, building coalitions for the purpose of forcing "the elected ones" to understand that the time has come to open public discussions on how we treat the poor and their children who cannot afford access to justice.
To nominate Debbie Williams for the Michigan Foster Care Review Board Child Welfare Advocate of the Year, please contact:
Kathy Lohr
Administrative Assistant, Foster Care Review Board
Remember, there are no civil rights in child welfare. So, when Kathy tells you there is no category to nominate a community child welfare advocate, remember, ask her why, then let me know what she says. Oh, and make sure you tell Jim Novell that Beverly Tran is still on a mission...
Amanda Mika, administrating stuff in the City of Warren
The battle between Warren Mayor Jim Fouts and the City Council has escalated after the council either wittingly or unwittingly cut the position of the mayor's longtime assistant from the new budget.
The council also took another perceived swipe at Fouts by approving ballot language to reimpose stricter term limits on the mayor's office.
"This is an out-of-control council controlled by outsiders who would like to get control of lucrative contracts and licenses," Fouts said of the budget the council approved June 30, hours before the new fiscal year began July 1. "This is a combination of censorship, retaliation, retribution and basically political terrorism."
Fouts has been battling with the City Council since a newly-elected council took office after the November election. They have sparred on matters involving recreational marijuana, a proposed social media policy for officials, access to city department heads and even the city attorney's job status.
The new budget eliminates one of six positions in the mayor's office, that of executive administrator, which had a salary of $90,857.
Council President Pat Green said the council was merely eliminating what it thought was a long vacant position.
"That position has been open since Lou Schimmel left the city (in 2011) and it's never been filled," he said.
FUN FACT! LOU SCHIMMEL WAS THE FORMER EMERGENCY MANAGER FOR THE CITY OF HAMTRAMCK
"Why are you cock blocking?"
But Amanda Mika — who has worked for Fouts for a nearly a decade and whose relationship with the mayor has come under public scrutiny after they were secretly videotaped arm-in-arm on an out-of-town trip together — said that is her position. She told the council so during public comments after the vote at its June 30 online meeting.
She told the Free Press on Monday that she was promoted to the No. 2 spot in the mayor's office earlier this year from her longtime position of executive assistant, which had a budgeted salary of $78,494.
Mika and Fouts said the council not only cut her executive administrator position from the budget, but also her former union position as assistant planner.
Mika's six-month stint as an assistant planner caused a kerfuffle in 2017, when a complaint was filed to look at whether it was a ploy to provide her with lifetime job protection under civil service rules.
Mika returned to her non-civil service job in Fouts' office after the six-month period, putting in enough time to allow her to transfer to a civil service job in the city if Fouts left office. The Warren Civil Service Commission didn't take up the complaint.
"They're clearly targeting me," Mika said of the council's recent budget move. "I think it's political. Obviously, they have an issue with me. ... I'm not happy. I'm offended."
Mika said she's going to continue working "even if it means I'm working for free." She said a few residents have called her, and "I'm right where they need me to be."
Green said the council did not receive information that anyone had been appointed to the long-vacant position.
"And we went back historically," he said, "there's no appointment to that position. We are reasonably assured that has never been filled. And we stand by that information."
Green said all of Mika's emails come out with the title of executive assistant on them, her LinkedIn account says executive assistant and Fouts referred to her as executive assistant during a June 18 budget hearing. Green said nothing about Mika's change in position was sent over to the clerk's office or announced to council.
Green said as part of budget questions to the city controller, he asked for a list of everyone in Fouts' office by name and position, but the controller's office did not respond.
He said Fouts could have provided this information at the June 18 budget hearing, but refused to, "so we're standing by our budget." He said council is asking its legal counsel whether Mika was in the administrator position improperly and what steps can and should be taken.
But Mika and Fouts said the council never afforded Fouts the chance to provide the information about his office at the budget hearing, saying they muted him and hung up on him.
After that, Green said that Fouts just referenced that Mika is the executive assistant and that he thought that she was the executive administrator, "so I just want to make sure that we have the right people in the right, right positions."
Mika said council could have asked human resources for a list of personnel in the mayor's office. Neither she nor Fouts said council made that request of Fouts' office.
Mika said she wants to continue to use the executive assistant title because it's "more relatable." She said all of the positions in Fouts' office are filled, including her old job as executive assistant.
Fouts said he believes the budget will be reconsidered by the council. Councilwoman Angela Rogensues said in a July 2 email to council that she would like her vote reconsidered for the 2020-21 budget.
Fouts said he's planning to have budget meetings with key people on his staff this week to discuss options, including a veto. He said he doesn't want to lay off remaining staff to put Mika into place because "everyone who works for me is valuable."
While Fouts hasn't vetoed the budget, he has vetoed council's approval of a ballot question that would ask voters a yes or no question: Should the office of mayor have the same terms as the other city elected offices, which is the greater of three complete terms or 12 years?
Green said the ballot language has to be approved by the state. If approved, he said the question would be on the November ballot. If approved by voters, he said, it would take effect immediately, but Fouts would serve out the rest of his current fourth four-year term.
"In no way, shape or form is it trying to remove him from office," Green said, adding that council wants all elected officials in the city on the same page with 12 years in office.
Voters in 2016 approved extending the term limit for the office of mayor from three four-year terms in office or 12 years to five four-year terms or 20 years.
Fouts said he hasn't decided whether he would run for a fifth term as mayor and called the council's ballot question vote "a distraction."
"They want to take over the office of the mayor," he said. "They don't think they can beat me in a fair and square election."
Now, all we have to do is await for Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy to drop the charges she continues to bringforth.
Maryanne suffered a stroke and has been in a coma for quite some time.
As difficult as it was, her daughter was kept out the child welfare system.
The stress of being prosecuted, over, and over, and over, and over, I believe at least 5 times Worthy has brought back charges after being dismissed, against Godboldo, for the discharge of her gun, in her home, under utter fear of the unknown when her house was surrounded by SWAT teams of police when a child welfare worker reported her to Child Protective Services for not allowing her daughter to be put on cocktails of psychotropic medications.
A dystopian way of life has settled over metro Detroit as the coronavirus rages, yet humanity shines in the face of COVID-19. Detroit Free Press
Julena Gay, the sister of state Rep. Sherry Gay Dagnogo, D-Detroit, died Tuesday after battling coronavirus for several weeks.
Gay Dagnogo said last week that her sister had been on a ventilator for two weeks, but was improving. On Monday, she posted on her Facebook page that while her sister was recovering from COVID-19, she had developed sepsis, a life-threatening infection.
This obituary is part of “We Will Remember,” a series about those we’ve lost to the coronavirus.
Early Wednesday morning, she posted: "I’m Devastated, Heartbroken, and Disappointed! ... This feels like a horrible nightmare that I’m trapped in! God help me! I want my Sisterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"
More: A look back at when the coronavirus started and how it spread in Michigan
More: Death toll rises as coronavirus sweeps through Michigan nursing homes
Gay, 63, lived in Detroit and worked at Chrysler. She is survived by her mother, Willie Ruth Thomas; children Janita, Julian and Jaynell Gay and Jasyn Young, and her sister.
Members of the Detroit Caucus serving in the Michigan Legislature said they were devastated by the loss, compounded by the loss of state Rep. Isaac Robinson, D-Detroit, who died March 29 from a suspected coronavirus infection. Two other Detroit legislators, state Reps. Tyrone Carter and Karen Whitsett, both tested positive for COVID-19 and are recovering.
"In the face of this unspeakable crisis, Rep. Gay-Dagnogo has set an incredible example of leadership and strength for our entire community, weathering these vast impacts to our lives," said Rep. Tanesha Yancy, D-Harper Woods. "She’s done all of this while serving as a pillar in her own family throughout the past several weeks that her sister was hospitalized prior to her passing."
State Rep. LaTanya Garrett, D-Detroit, said that Gay's death was a loss for the city.
"Ms. Gay was a devoted activist ... who showed a deep love for the community. This is a tragic loss for our district and the entire city of Detroit," she said.
Carter said his battle with coronavirus gave him a glimpse of what Gay-Dagnogo's family was going through.
“After battling with this virus myself, I know firsthand the toll it can take not only on those of us who have tested positive, but our family, friends and loved ones, as well," he said.
On Wednesday, Detroit reported more than 7,100 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 475 deaths..
“We have lost far too many of our Detroit community members to this insidious pandemic, including a fellow legislator and now Rep. Gay-Dagnogo’s sister,” said Rep. Joe Tate, D-Detroit.
Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal.
We Will Remember: If you have a family member or close friend who has died from COVID-19 and you would like to share their story, go to bit.ly/freep-will-remember.
Debbie Williams, the host of Families & Children's Justice interviews former Detroit Public Schools Superintendent Herman Davis on the financial history of Detroit Public Schools, bonds, and contract fraud.
Trends of congenital anomalies in Europe during 1999–2008 showed abdominal wall, gastroschisis, hypospadias, trisomy 18 and renal dysplasia significantly increased, and that neural tube defect (NTD), anophthalmos/microphthalmos, severe congenital heart defects (CHDs) and limb reduction significantly decreased, and suggested decreases in neural tube defects were due to improved periconceptional folic acid supplementation [8]. Another study reported that the prevalence of NTD was lower in countries providing folic acid [9]. In Glasgow (UK) most anomalies declined from 1980 to 1997, whereas chromosomal anomalies showed an increase trend [10]. Cleft lip with or without cleft palate was found to show no significant change in US, but to follow a declining trend globally [11]. The prevalence of CHD has increased considerably over time worldwide, and recently it was reported Asia has the highest prevalence of CHDs [12]. In Korea, cryptorchidism increased from 5.01 to 17.43 per 10,000 births and hypospadia also increased from 1.40 to 3.28 per 10,000 births between 2000 and 2005 [13]. In addition, a Korean study based on medical insurance claims data for 2009–2010 showed a 14-fold increase in hypospadias and epispadias, a 12-fold increase in atrial septal defects, a 11-fold increase in undescended testis as compared with 1993–1994 [14]
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5981962/
Medicaid fraud in child welfare because the South Korean research was funded by the National Institute of Health and its Vatican tiny human lab rat network.
I wonder if the Black Lives Matter Movement is going to come to Joseph Prince's defense, and to the defense of the network of the National Association of Black Social Workers, who were trained to promulgate and transpose this trafficking tiny humans child welfare fraud model, better know as the residuals of the peculiar institution?
Probably not, because Black Lives Matter is a cover for trafficking tiny humans, because slavery was never abolished, and that is how people afford new outfits for their fashion show selfies when they do the cake walk of opulence, every Sunday at the church-ez.
Just ask Debbie Williams.
You do know there are going to be found lots of tiny human trust funds, which will more than likely be foreign entities, where individuals like Joseph Prince did not file under FARA as a registered foreign agent, but, hey, what do I know?
I know I learned about all this in Detroit, where it all started.
#maytheheavensfall
VA Employee Found Guilty Of Corruption Charges And Defrauding VA Of Nearly $19 Million In A Year
DENVER – United States Attorney Jason R. Dunn announced that yesterday a jury sitting in U.S. District Court in Denver found former Veterans Affairs (VA) employee Joseph Prince, age 60, of Aurora, Colorado guilty of felony health care fraud, conspiracy, payment of illegal kickbacks and gratuities, money laundering charges and conflict of interest. The verdict is the result of an eight-day jury trial before U.S. District Court Judge Raymond P. Moore. Prince’s bond was continued and he was ordered to home incarceration pending his sentencing.
According to the indictment and evidence presented at trial, Prince was a Beneficiary Provider Relationships Specialist with the VA’s Spina Bifida (SB) Health Care Benefits Program, which covers medical needs of children of certain veterans of the Korea and Vietnam wars suffering from SB. Prince worked for a VA call center in Denver, and spoke with health care providers and SB beneficiaries or their families regarding their health care needs and care reimbursement.
Prince defrauded the VA’s Spina Bifida Health Care Benefits Program by signing up the family members of the program’s beneficiaries as home health “contractors” with sham home health entities run by Prince’s associates. Prince knew that the sham home health entities were not authorized providers by the VA. He nonetheless encouraged the family members to submit bills despite the fact that they were not approved providers and to include the bills for services that either were not provided or were not allowed by the VA. He then accepted payments from the associated home health entities for referrals he himself made to those agencies. Prince’s referrals led to payments totaling approximately $20 million from the VA to the Prince-related home health agencies, which were run by associates including his wife, his brother-in-law, his half-sister, and friends.
Ultimately Prince referred approximately 45 SB beneficiaries to the sham home health entities. The total amount of fraudulent claims paid by the SB Health Care Benefits Program to the five Home Health Entities totaled approximately $19 million. Of that amount, Prince received approximately $1.5 million in kickbacks from two home health entities between December 2017 and June 2018.
“To steal from a program that is intended to help our veterans and their children who suffer from serious medical conditions is reprehensible,” said U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn. “Mr. Prince was also harming the American taxpayers and will now pay a significant price for his actions.”
“The crimes perpetrated by Joseph Prince and his associates were especially troubling since Prince was a VA official,” said Gregg Hirstein, Special Agent in Charge, VA Office of Inspector General. “The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General is committed to holding accountable those who illegally enrich themselves using VA programs intended to help our nation’s veterans and their dependents, who deserve to be served by a workforce of the highest integrity. I am thankful for the close coordination of the investigative agencies and the United States Attorney’s Office to quickly end this massive fraud.”
“The sizeable amount of false claims Joseph Prince submitted and subsequent kickbacks he received are an affront to government programs intended to help the public,” said Andy Tsui, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge, Denver Field Office. “It is unacceptable to abuse a position of trust for personal financial gain and for those that do, IRS-Criminal Investigation will seek justice on behalf of the true beneficiaries of government benefits programs.”
“The recent conviction of Joseph Prince is significant and highlights the FBI’s collaboration with the United States Attorney’s Office as we hold this defendant accountable for abusing his position as an official at the Department of Veteran’s Affairs to manipulate government contracts for personal gain,” said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Dean Phillips. “The FBI will continue to use all available tools to detect illegal conflicts of interest and bribery schemes in government entities.”
Long-time friend of Prince and co-conspirator Roland Vaughn pled guilty to paying an illegal gratuity to a public official on August 1, 2019, and is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Moore on April 9, 2020. Glenn and Catherine Beach, who were also friends of Mr. Prince, pleaded guilty to paying an illegal gratuity to Prince. The Beaches will be sentenced on April 1, 2020.
Prince will be sentenced on June 11, 2020. Felony Conflict of Interest carries a penalty of not more than five years in prison and a fine of not more than $250,000 or two times the gain or loss from the offense per count. Health care fraud carries a penalty of not more than 10 years in prison and a fine of not more than $250,000 or two times the gain or loss from the offense per count. Conspiracy to Commit an Offense against the United States carries a penalty of not more than five years in prison and a fine of not more than $250,000 or two times the gain or loss from the offense. Soliciting/Receiving an Illegal Gratuity carries a penalty of not more than two years in prison and a fine of not more than $250,000 or two times the gain or loss from the offense per count. Unlawful Monetary Transactions carries a penalty of not more than 10 years in prison and a fine the greater of $250,000 or two times the value of the property involved in the transaction per count. Money Laundering carries a penalty of not more than 20 years in prison and a fine the greater of $500,000 or twice the value of property involved in the transaction per count.
The government will seek forfeiture of specific assets and restitution to the Veterans Health Administration in the amount of approximately $19 million.
This case was investigated by VA’s Office of the Inspector General, the FBI, and IRS-CI.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anna K. Edgar and Hetal J. Doshi.
Host of Families & Children Justice, Debbie Williams, interviews Attorney Tracy Green, former Wayne County Judicial Candidate and partner with Vivek Sankaran, Director of the Child Advocacy Law Clinic at the University of Michigan Law School.
This is the first time in history that a candidate for the DNC chair has actually traveled the country, going into the congressional districts and precincts to advocate for voting rights in the Democratic Party.
Debbie Williams, host of Families & Children Justice interviews Carnell Alexander on men who are ordered by the Michigan courts to pay child support when DNA demonstrates they are not the biological father.
Carnel Alexander tells his story about incarceration, asset forfeiture and other civil rights violations for defending false claims of the courts.
DETROIT (WXYZ) - Carnell Alexander says he got a shock during a traffic stop in the early 1990s. The officer arrested him, telling him he is a deadbeat dad.
When he appeared in court Alexander told the judge, he didn’t have any children. The court told him to find the woman.
The court gave him an old address. When he couldn’t find her, he says was told he would have to pay.
“It is such an unfair system,” said Alexander. “Period.”
He later learned that while he was in prison for a crime he committed as a young man, an ex listed him as father on an application for welfare benefits. Notice of the paternity hearing that followed was taken to his old house.
"We are Bless now we all have a way to tell the Public the True!! If a corrupt case worker , social worker, police officer, Guardian At Litem, or Judicial system will not tell the real true about our situation." said Debbie Williams, host of Families and Children's Justice.
It seems there are those in Congress who possess the political fortitude to prepare hearings on decades of UAW corruption.
Unfortunately, it seems these brave "Elected Ones" are just going to have to breakdown and speak upon TARP, but probably not, because we are probably going to see the art of deflection.
Have no fear, the UAW has a formidable history that shall not be bleachedbitted, and it all started in Detroit, but no one will #sayhisname.
Washington — Republican lawmakers on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee are calling for Congress to investigate what they call "widespread, brazen lawbreaking" at the United Auto Workers union.
U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, and his colleague U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-NC, wrote in a letter to the top ranking Democrats on the Democratic-controlled U.S. House Education and Labor Committee that the panel should "hold a public hearing on the ongoing federal investigation of the United Auto Workers union for violating the Labor Management Relations Act."
They said it was "essential the committee confront the widespread, brazen lawbreaking by union leaders who purport to represent nearly 150,000 American autoworkers but have betrayed their trust in favor of self—enrichment."
The UAW, which is striking against General Motors Co., is in the midst of a union corruption scandal that has produced nine convictions, and last week led to a regional UAW director being charged. The federal investigation has implicated UAW President Gary Jones and his predecessor, Dennis Williams. Investigators allege the two are part of a multi-year conspiracy that involves misusing member dues and squandering them on poolside villa rentals in Palm Springs, booze, cigars, more than 100 rounds of golf and spending sprees at pro shops.
Walberg and Foxx said in their letter: "Since 2017, federal investigators have uncovered more than a decade of rampant corruption among the senior ranks of the UAW, which has included money laundering, tax fraud, bribery, and embezzling workers’ hard-earned union dues for lavish personal expenses."
Brian Rothenberg, a UAW spokesman, said in a statement: "The UAW and its membership are focused on taking care of GM and Aramark members to make sure they have quality health care insurance, as well as adequate pay and benefits.
"GM’s decision to cut access to health insurance for 48,000 members makes this an urgent issue for autoworkers right now," he said. "That is where all of our focus continues to be – on our members.”
Rothenberg's statement did not address the calls for congressional investigation of the UAW's leadership.
The call for a congressional investigation into the UAW's corruption scandal could put Democrats in Washington in a bind. Democratic lawmakers have been careful to stand alongside UAW rank-and-file members during the strike, while largely avoiding comment on the union and its leadership.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, both Democrats, joined picket lines on Monday to march with union members. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, marched with striking GM workers Thursday.
