http://www.ksn.com/news/local/story/Judge-wont-dismiss-grandparents-lawsuit/ID6KIbvztU-OzgVy28DcKA.cspx
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by grandparents accusing a social worker of failing to protect a toddler who was beaten to death by her father's girlfriend.
U.S. District Judge Monti Belot ruled Friday that maternal grandparents Larry and Mary Crosetto had enough facts to overcome the state's claim of qualified immunity for social worker Linda Gillen.
The Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services argued that Gillen had "no duty to intervene" after she investigated a report claiming abuse and neglect of the 23-month-old Coffeyville girl, who died in 2008 as a result of head injuries.
The Crosettos sued Gillen in January, accusing her of gross negligence for not protecting their granddaughter despite repeated complaints alleging abuse. The suit does not name the agency as a defendant.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
May 29, 2010
Bambi Hazen
On "The CPS Chronicle"
Discusses How Her Daughter Was
Arrested Again
Bambi Hazen
On "The CPS Chronicle"
Discusses How Her Daughter Was
Arrested Again
Listen to internet radio with The CPS Chronicles on Blog Talk Radio
It Just NEVER Ends In Sedgwick County!
BAMBI HAZEN IS CIRCULATING AN EMAIL WHICH STATES THE FOLLOWING:
Sent: Saturday, May 29, 2010 12:25 PM
Subject: BAMBI HAZENS DAUGHTER ARRESTD AGAIN BY THE SAME OFFICER THAT TOOK HER FROM HOME
THIS IS BAMBI HAZEN,
OFFICER NAGY CAME TO MY HOUSE IN WICHITA KANSAS LAST NIGHT FRI MAY 28TH AND ARRESTED ASHTON AS A RUNAWAY (OF COURSE ON A HOLIDAY WEEKEND) I AM ASKING FOR SUPPORT FOR THE COURT HEARING THAT WILL BE HELD I DO NOT HAVE AN EXACT TIME YET IM SURE IT WILL BE ON WED JUNE 2ND 2010 THEY HAVE PLACED HER IN SEDGWICK COUNTY JUVENILE DETENTION CENTER SHE IS NOT A CRIMINAL . I WILL BE FILING A HABEUS CORPUS IN FEDERAL COURT ON TUESDAY ANY SUGGESTIONS OR LAWS THAT WOULD BE USEFUL PLEASE LET ME KNOW THANK YOU !!!!!!! PLEASE FEEL FREE TO POST WHEREVER YOU WANT TO /NEED TO AND CONTACT WHOEVER YOU FEEL WOULD HELP THANK YOU !!!
PS I AM OUT OF TOWN FOR THE WEEKEND HE ARRESTED HER WHEN I WASNT HOME.
Bambi Hazen seeking Justice in Unjust Sedgwick County Kansas Case. No 08 JC 371
"In the Interest of Ashton"
http://www.countyinneedofchange.blogspot.com/www.myspace/mom_hazhttp://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/states/kansas/2008-12-12-1120627356_x.htmwww.myspace/mom_hazhttp://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/states/kansas/2008-12-12-1120627356_x.htm
Sent: Saturday, May 29, 2010 12:25 PM
Subject: BAMBI HAZENS DAUGHTER ARRESTD AGAIN BY THE SAME OFFICER THAT TOOK HER FROM HOME
THIS IS BAMBI HAZEN,
OFFICER NAGY CAME TO MY HOUSE IN WICHITA KANSAS LAST NIGHT FRI MAY 28TH AND ARRESTED ASHTON AS A RUNAWAY (OF COURSE ON A HOLIDAY WEEKEND) I AM ASKING FOR SUPPORT FOR THE COURT HEARING THAT WILL BE HELD I DO NOT HAVE AN EXACT TIME YET IM SURE IT WILL BE ON WED JUNE 2ND 2010 THEY HAVE PLACED HER IN SEDGWICK COUNTY JUVENILE DETENTION CENTER SHE IS NOT A CRIMINAL . I WILL BE FILING A HABEUS CORPUS IN FEDERAL COURT ON TUESDAY ANY SUGGESTIONS OR LAWS THAT WOULD BE USEFUL PLEASE LET ME KNOW THANK YOU !!!!!!! PLEASE FEEL FREE TO POST WHEREVER YOU WANT TO /NEED TO AND CONTACT WHOEVER YOU FEEL WOULD HELP THANK YOU !!!
PS I AM OUT OF TOWN FOR THE WEEKEND HE ARRESTED HER WHEN I WASNT HOME.
Bambi Hazen seeking Justice in Unjust Sedgwick County Kansas Case. No 08 JC 371
"In the Interest of Ashton"
http://www.countyinneedofchange.blogspot.com/www.myspace/mom_hazhttp://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/states/kansas/2008-12-12-1120627356_x.htmwww.myspace/mom_hazhttp://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/states/kansas/2008-12-12-1120627356_x.htm
Friday, May 28, 2010
No rights
Posted on Fri, May. 28, 2010
Letter from Wendell Turner to the Wichita Eagle Editor
Wendell Turner, Grandparent in Sedgwick County, Has No Rights To His Grandchildren
I was astounded to read the commentary by Shelley Duncan, president and CEO of Youthville, about the wonders of foster care ("Foster parents are the unsung heroes of kids," May 16 Opinion) and the article about the murder of little Brooklyn Coons ("SRS: Social worker not at fault," May 16 Local & State).
Like most states, Kansas doesn't recognize grandparents as having any rights to their grandchildren. When a child-in-need-of-care case comes up in court, grandparents have to register as interested parties to even be allowed to attend. If they register, they are allowed to attend but must not speak. At the first case-plan meeting, which is usually conducted by a Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services contractor, the first thing the grandparents are told is that they don't have rights. That is the law, but exceptions can be made if the grandparents have enough money for the best lawyers or know the right people. How do I know this? I was there.
WENDELL TURNER
Wichita
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/05/28/1333908/letters-to-the-editor-on-memorial.html#ixzz0pEaoLc6K
Letter from Wendell Turner to the Wichita Eagle Editor
Wendell Turner, Grandparent in Sedgwick County, Has No Rights To His Grandchildren
I was astounded to read the commentary by Shelley Duncan, president and CEO of Youthville, about the wonders of foster care ("Foster parents are the unsung heroes of kids," May 16 Opinion) and the article about the murder of little Brooklyn Coons ("SRS: Social worker not at fault," May 16 Local & State).
Like most states, Kansas doesn't recognize grandparents as having any rights to their grandchildren. When a child-in-need-of-care case comes up in court, grandparents have to register as interested parties to even be allowed to attend. If they register, they are allowed to attend but must not speak. At the first case-plan meeting, which is usually conducted by a Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services contractor, the first thing the grandparents are told is that they don't have rights. That is the law, but exceptions can be made if the grandparents have enough money for the best lawyers or know the right people. How do I know this? I was there.
WENDELL TURNER
Wichita
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/05/28/1333908/letters-to-the-editor-on-memorial.html#ixzz0pEaoLc6K
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Former SRS investigator claimed that a probe of possible day care fraud might have prevented Damion's death
Posted on Fri, May. 21, 2010
Bloody towel, gun at issue in hearing in case of slain 2-year-old
BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle
Affidavit: Toddler's death was avoidable
Grandmother: How did SRS lose child?
As approaching sirens got louder, a neighbor saw DeWhite Cameron take two things from a rental house near 13th and Hillside one day in 2008.
Prosecutors said in court today that those two things turned out to be a bloody towel, later found with trash, and a gun, later found in a brush pile. The towel bore the blood of 2-year-old Damion Thomas, the son of Cameron's girlfriend. The sirens sounded as emergency crews responded to a report that Damion was not breathing.
No evidence indicated the gun was used to harm Damion, but as a convicted felon, Cameron was not supposed to have a gun.
The information came out in a Sedgwick County District Court hearing in preparation for Cameron's trial, which begins Monday with jury selection, and possibly opening arguments that afternoon.
Cameron, 28, is charged in Damion's death with first-degree murder done in the commission of child abuse, and two counts of aggravated battery against Damion and his twin brother.
Damion's mother, Shaneekwa Saunders, has pleaded guilty to aggravated child endangerment and been placed on probation. She admitted leaving her children with Cameron — her live-in boyfriend — while she worked, from April 1 to Sept. 18, 2008.
In a past interview, Cameron's defense attorney, Lee McMaster, has said that part of Cameron's defense "may well be that others, or another, were involved in the death."
Today's hearing also made clear that Damion's older brother, now 5, could be called to testify.
In previous articles about the case, the Eagle has reported:
* That SRS, the state child protection agency, had been involved in Damion's life after his birth because of concerns about his well-being and that SRS closed its case on the family because it couldn't locate them after they moved.
* That Damion suffered abuse for months before a fatal beating, and that he bore bruises and scars from head to toe and extensive internal injuries.
* That Damion's mother was receiving state-funded aid to take him to a day care home — but was not leaving him there — during the period when he was injured. And that a former SRS investigator claimed that a probe of possible day care fraud might have prevented Damion's death — if the investigation hadn't been blocked by SRS, a claim the agency denied.
In court today, after hearing arguments from the defense attorney and from prosecutors about what evidence can be presented, District Judge Greg Waller said he was inclined to allow testimony that as emergency crews approached Damion's home at Erie and 13th, the neighbor saw Cameron carry two things from the home.
Waller said evidence about the bloody towel was relevant but that he thought testimony about the gun would be prejudicial and that the gun was not tied to the boy's injuries.
Prosecutors Kim Parker and Shannon Wilson had contended that the gun also was relevant to Cameron's state of mind and showed that while the boy was in "acute distress" in the home, Cameron was busy taking objects from the house.
McMaster, the defense attorney, also argued with the prosecutors over whether Damion's older brother, who was 3 years and 11 months old at the time of the incident, really understands, at age 5 now, the meaning of telling the truth.
The boy was gently escorted to the witness stand, and a can of root beer was placed in front of him. He slowly twisted back and forth in the seat and smiled shyly. In a soft voice, he said he knew the difference between the truth and a lie.
McMaster told Waller that his client would be at a disadvantage having to face a "darling" child witness and a jury "outraged by the nature of this case."
"Judge, they're going to love this kid (the 5-year-old)... and they're going to love these ladies (Parker and Wilson)." But the jurors will "hate me," McMaster added.
Waller said that although his decision could change, "at this time, I believe he is a qualified witness."
The two sides also discussed how to handle autopsy photos that jurors will see.
Waller said the key is presenting photos if they are relevant evidence, but not if they are repetitive or gruesome.
Reach Tim Potter at 316-268-6684 or tpotter@wichitaeagle.com.
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/05/21/1324728/bloody-towel-gun-at-issue-in-hearing.html#ixzz0oitZJTtj
Bloody towel, gun at issue in hearing in case of slain 2-year-old
BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle
Affidavit: Toddler's death was avoidable
Grandmother: How did SRS lose child?
As approaching sirens got louder, a neighbor saw DeWhite Cameron take two things from a rental house near 13th and Hillside one day in 2008.
Prosecutors said in court today that those two things turned out to be a bloody towel, later found with trash, and a gun, later found in a brush pile. The towel bore the blood of 2-year-old Damion Thomas, the son of Cameron's girlfriend. The sirens sounded as emergency crews responded to a report that Damion was not breathing.
No evidence indicated the gun was used to harm Damion, but as a convicted felon, Cameron was not supposed to have a gun.
The information came out in a Sedgwick County District Court hearing in preparation for Cameron's trial, which begins Monday with jury selection, and possibly opening arguments that afternoon.
Cameron, 28, is charged in Damion's death with first-degree murder done in the commission of child abuse, and two counts of aggravated battery against Damion and his twin brother.
Damion's mother, Shaneekwa Saunders, has pleaded guilty to aggravated child endangerment and been placed on probation. She admitted leaving her children with Cameron — her live-in boyfriend — while she worked, from April 1 to Sept. 18, 2008.
In a past interview, Cameron's defense attorney, Lee McMaster, has said that part of Cameron's defense "may well be that others, or another, were involved in the death."
Today's hearing also made clear that Damion's older brother, now 5, could be called to testify.
In previous articles about the case, the Eagle has reported:
* That SRS, the state child protection agency, had been involved in Damion's life after his birth because of concerns about his well-being and that SRS closed its case on the family because it couldn't locate them after they moved.
* That Damion suffered abuse for months before a fatal beating, and that he bore bruises and scars from head to toe and extensive internal injuries.
* That Damion's mother was receiving state-funded aid to take him to a day care home — but was not leaving him there — during the period when he was injured. And that a former SRS investigator claimed that a probe of possible day care fraud might have prevented Damion's death — if the investigation hadn't been blocked by SRS, a claim the agency denied.
In court today, after hearing arguments from the defense attorney and from prosecutors about what evidence can be presented, District Judge Greg Waller said he was inclined to allow testimony that as emergency crews approached Damion's home at Erie and 13th, the neighbor saw Cameron carry two things from the home.
Waller said evidence about the bloody towel was relevant but that he thought testimony about the gun would be prejudicial and that the gun was not tied to the boy's injuries.
Prosecutors Kim Parker and Shannon Wilson had contended that the gun also was relevant to Cameron's state of mind and showed that while the boy was in "acute distress" in the home, Cameron was busy taking objects from the house.
McMaster, the defense attorney, also argued with the prosecutors over whether Damion's older brother, who was 3 years and 11 months old at the time of the incident, really understands, at age 5 now, the meaning of telling the truth.
The boy was gently escorted to the witness stand, and a can of root beer was placed in front of him. He slowly twisted back and forth in the seat and smiled shyly. In a soft voice, he said he knew the difference between the truth and a lie.
McMaster told Waller that his client would be at a disadvantage having to face a "darling" child witness and a jury "outraged by the nature of this case."
"Judge, they're going to love this kid (the 5-year-old)... and they're going to love these ladies (Parker and Wilson)." But the jurors will "hate me," McMaster added.
Waller said that although his decision could change, "at this time, I believe he is a qualified witness."
The two sides also discussed how to handle autopsy photos that jurors will see.
Waller said the key is presenting photos if they are relevant evidence, but not if they are repetitive or gruesome.
Reach Tim Potter at 316-268-6684 or tpotter@wichitaeagle.com.
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/05/21/1324728/bloody-towel-gun-at-issue-in-hearing.html#ixzz0oitZJTtj
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Bill Medvecky's Letter to the Wichita Eagle
-----Original Message-----
From: wjm2644@aol.com
To: newsletters@wichitaeagle.com
Sent: Sun, May 16, 2010 2:26 pm
Subject: STORY ON FOSTER PARENTS.
Sirs,
Since I cannot access my account which sends me newsletters each day, I write to you through this address,
The story you have up concerning the "Unsung heroes" of foster care, is a story that you seem to put out there about once a month concerning the Kansas foster care system.
I have to guess that you do not read the follow-up comments from your readers... This system is not only broken, it is corrupt and actually highly abusive to both the parents and children who come into contact with these businesses.
The CEO of Youthville, Shelley Duncan, earns over $200,000.00 a year. That's not a group interested in children, it's a business.
This group stops HUNDREDS of children who should, and could live with blood relatives, and yet they don't get that opportunity, because there's no money in placing children in relatives care. Federal Law DEMANDS they try to place the children with families FIRST. Yet they place these children in just 10% of the time with family? WHY?
The answer is quite simplke; If Youthville does that, who's going to pay Shelly's salary?
I don't know what the deal is between these vultures and the paper, but if you go back and do a poll of the responses from your readers, you will see that the sale is not being made. You cannot sell this turkey to the people who come into contact with them, and they keep trying to get you to understand that over and over again.
I have people ringing our phones off the hook BEGGING for help in their fight with Youthville and that corrupt D.A. you have, yet you seem to think these folks are as pure as the driven snow. Why?
Do the comments heap praise upon Youthville? Are they ALL just a pack of malcontents? Where are all the folks who think that everything in Kansas Foster care is just ducky?
THEY DON'T EXIST. If you come into contact with these people, your child is nothing more than a dollar sign. They are nothing more than job security for these ghouls.
I have a roll a dex full of people sitting in Kansas who are loosing their grandchildren, nieces and nephews and sons and daughters for nothing more than money. Want to speak to a few? How about ONE?
I ask you to go back into your own archives. Take a look at the comments on these stories and ask yourself how so many folks could be so wrong about this "Wonderful" group and the multi millions of dollars that put smiles on their faces while Kansas children pay the price, even unto death!
Thank you,
Bill Medvecky
wjm2644@aol.com
239-826-3831
From: wjm2644@aol.com
To: newsletters@wichitaeagle.com
Sent: Sun, May 16, 2010 2:26 pm
Subject: STORY ON FOSTER PARENTS.
Sirs,
Since I cannot access my account which sends me newsletters each day, I write to you through this address,
The story you have up concerning the "Unsung heroes" of foster care, is a story that you seem to put out there about once a month concerning the Kansas foster care system.
I have to guess that you do not read the follow-up comments from your readers... This system is not only broken, it is corrupt and actually highly abusive to both the parents and children who come into contact with these businesses.
The CEO of Youthville, Shelley Duncan, earns over $200,000.00 a year. That's not a group interested in children, it's a business.
This group stops HUNDREDS of children who should, and could live with blood relatives, and yet they don't get that opportunity, because there's no money in placing children in relatives care. Federal Law DEMANDS they try to place the children with families FIRST. Yet they place these children in just 10% of the time with family? WHY?
The answer is quite simplke; If Youthville does that, who's going to pay Shelly's salary?
I don't know what the deal is between these vultures and the paper, but if you go back and do a poll of the responses from your readers, you will see that the sale is not being made. You cannot sell this turkey to the people who come into contact with them, and they keep trying to get you to understand that over and over again.
I have people ringing our phones off the hook BEGGING for help in their fight with Youthville and that corrupt D.A. you have, yet you seem to think these folks are as pure as the driven snow. Why?
Do the comments heap praise upon Youthville? Are they ALL just a pack of malcontents? Where are all the folks who think that everything in Kansas Foster care is just ducky?
THEY DON'T EXIST. If you come into contact with these people, your child is nothing more than a dollar sign. They are nothing more than job security for these ghouls.
I have a roll a dex full of people sitting in Kansas who are loosing their grandchildren, nieces and nephews and sons and daughters for nothing more than money. Want to speak to a few? How about ONE?
I ask you to go back into your own archives. Take a look at the comments on these stories and ask yourself how so many folks could be so wrong about this "Wonderful" group and the multi millions of dollars that put smiles on their faces while Kansas children pay the price, even unto death!
Thank you,
Bill Medvecky
wjm2644@aol.com
239-826-3831
Sunday, May 16, 2010
SRS: Social worker had no duty to protect child who later died
Posted on Sun, May. 16, 2010
BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle
An attorney for SRS also contends that because the girl was not in the agency's custody, the state owed no duty to protect her.
The arguments revolve around the case of 23-month-old Brooklyn Coons. Her father's meth-addicted girlfriend was convicted of murder after the girl died from brain injuries caused by her being violently shaken. Melissa Wells Coons is serving a life sentence.
Brooklyn's grandparents, Larry and Mary Crosetto, say they met with Linda Gillen, a veteran SRS social worker based in Coffeyville, and told her they thought Brooklyn was being abused and could be killed if she wasn't removed from the home of her father and his girlfriend. The Crosettos say they offered Gillen evidence but that she refused to act because of a grudge against them.
The legal argument that the social worker had no duty to protect Brooklyn doesn't sit well with her grandfather.
"I thought this was her job," said Larry Crosetto, who is suing Gillen in federal court.
The SRS arguments are in response to the lawsuit the grandparents filed in January. The lawsuit seeks more than $75,000 in damages.
"What we hope to do is get SRS to act in these situations ... and prevent it from happening to another family," Crosetto said.
Brooklyn's death is one of several across the state where families have accused the state Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) of failing to protect children who were killed.
Child abuse or neglect has taken a heavy toll in Wichita, where police investigated eight child homicides in 2008. Seven of the eight deaths occurred from abuse or neglect by caregivers, police said.
In the past six months, several more suspicious child deaths have occurred in the Wichita area, raising more questions about the SRS role in protecting children.
SRS answers suit
In federal court documents defending Gillen, the social worker, SRS staff attorney Danny Baumgartner cites a U.S. Supreme Court case finding no constitutional duty of government to protect a child from violence committed by an individual.
Baumgartner also argues that Brooklyn was not in SRS custody, so SRS owed no duty to protect her.
The SRS defense is based partly on the idea that while government has a duty to the public at large, it can't be held liable for protecting one person from another individual unless special circumstances exist.
The situation limits government's exposure to liability.
But Larry Crosetto said the argument that government has no duty to the individual doesn't seem right to him.
"If it is the responsibility of government to protect the public, who protects the individual?"
The Crosettos' attorney, Randy Rathbun, argues in court documents that Gillen held a years-old grudge against the Crosettos that caused her to ignore reports of abuse from them and not follow her duty to protect the girl from her father's meth-addicted girlfriend, Melissa Wells Coons.
Brooklyn's mother, Angela Coons, died at age 24 in 2007 after a sudden illness. Brooklyn's death was the Crosettos' second loss.
The grandparents' lawsuit says that Gillen refused to accept photographs showing bruises on the girl a month before her death, which Gillen denies in court documents.
Court documents say, without elaboration, that the Crosettos believe Gillen held a grudge over their adoption of their daughter Angela years earlier.
SRS says Gillen has been employed with the agency since 1974.
The SRS response says Gillen denies having a grudge.
The SRS defense
In a court filing responding to the lawsuit, SRS attorney Baumgartner said (referring to the child, Brooklyn, as "B.I.C."):
* "Even assuming the imminence of danger, and even assuming Ms. Gillen knew about this danger (which Defendant denies), Ms. Gillen was under no duty to protect B.I.C. from a danger Ms. Gillen did not create."
* "Even assuming the 'animus' (which Defendant denies) Plaintiffs claim Ms. Gillen had against them, Ms. Gillen was under no duty to protect B.I.C. from third parties."
The SRS response says that the Crosettos seem to contend that once they met with Gillen about their concerns over Brooklyn, "their hands (and the Police's hands) were tied. This is far from the situation."
The document adds: "Ms. Gillen feels for Plaintiffs' loss, but with all due respect to Plaintiffs there is no Constitutional remedy for them here."
As a state employee, Gillen is entitled to "qualified immunity," SRS says.
Grandparents' case
In the court papers representing the Crosettos, their attorney Rathbun says, "This is not just another case of ... an overworked SRS employee and a report that fell through the cracks. Linda Gillen knew and hated Mr. Crosetto."
Rathbun also said that Gillen "carried a powerful animus that resulted in her refusal to follow her duty and protect" the girl from her father's girlfriend.
The Crosettos' filings provide this timeline:
* On Jan. 17, 2008, Coffeyville police responding to a 911 call found Brooklyn unresponsive and in the care of the girlfriend. Police saw head injuries and bruises on the girl.
* The next day, police placed three other children from the home of Melissa Wells Coons and Randy Coons, Brooklyn's father, into protective custody because of "deplorable" living conditions and the injuries to Brooklyn.
* Three days after the 911 call, Brooklyn died in a hospital.
Before the 911 call, Coffeyville police did not take steps to protect Brooklyn because they "reasonably believed that the defendant (Gillen) was undertaking her statutory obligations to safeguard" Brooklyn and her brother, a court document says.
The Crosettos contend that Gillen took it upon herself to monitor Brooklyn's situation — causing other agencies that could have protected the girl to defer to SRS.
Recently, Brooklyn's father pleaded no contest to aggravated endangerment of a child. He faces sentencing July 1.
Gillen remains a social worker with SRS, the agency says.
Reach Tim Potter at 316-268-6684 or tpotter@wichitaeagle.com.
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/05/16/1315895/srs-social-worker-had-no-duty.html#storylink=omni_popular#ixzz0o6qG4W3M
***********************************************
More on this story to be found on the following links:
Coffeyville couple sues SRS worker after granddaughter's beating death
January 24, 2010
BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/01/24/1150653/coffeyville-couple-sues-srs-worker.html#ixzz0o6qcPbzV
SRS seeks dismissal of lawsuit filed by grandparents
March 11, 2010
BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/03/11/1219764/srs-seeks-dismissal-of-lawsuit.html#ixzz0o6qs79ez
Posted on Sun, May. 16, 2010
BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle
An attorney for SRS also contends that because the girl was not in the agency's custody, the state owed no duty to protect her.
The arguments revolve around the case of 23-month-old Brooklyn Coons. Her father's meth-addicted girlfriend was convicted of murder after the girl died from brain injuries caused by her being violently shaken. Melissa Wells Coons is serving a life sentence.
Brooklyn's grandparents, Larry and Mary Crosetto, say they met with Linda Gillen, a veteran SRS social worker based in Coffeyville, and told her they thought Brooklyn was being abused and could be killed if she wasn't removed from the home of her father and his girlfriend. The Crosettos say they offered Gillen evidence but that she refused to act because of a grudge against them.
The legal argument that the social worker had no duty to protect Brooklyn doesn't sit well with her grandfather.
"I thought this was her job," said Larry Crosetto, who is suing Gillen in federal court.
The SRS arguments are in response to the lawsuit the grandparents filed in January. The lawsuit seeks more than $75,000 in damages.
"What we hope to do is get SRS to act in these situations ... and prevent it from happening to another family," Crosetto said.
Brooklyn's death is one of several across the state where families have accused the state Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) of failing to protect children who were killed.
Child abuse or neglect has taken a heavy toll in Wichita, where police investigated eight child homicides in 2008. Seven of the eight deaths occurred from abuse or neglect by caregivers, police said.
In the past six months, several more suspicious child deaths have occurred in the Wichita area, raising more questions about the SRS role in protecting children.
SRS answers suit
In federal court documents defending Gillen, the social worker, SRS staff attorney Danny Baumgartner cites a U.S. Supreme Court case finding no constitutional duty of government to protect a child from violence committed by an individual.
Baumgartner also argues that Brooklyn was not in SRS custody, so SRS owed no duty to protect her.
The SRS defense is based partly on the idea that while government has a duty to the public at large, it can't be held liable for protecting one person from another individual unless special circumstances exist.
The situation limits government's exposure to liability.
But Larry Crosetto said the argument that government has no duty to the individual doesn't seem right to him.
"If it is the responsibility of government to protect the public, who protects the individual?"
The Crosettos' attorney, Randy Rathbun, argues in court documents that Gillen held a years-old grudge against the Crosettos that caused her to ignore reports of abuse from them and not follow her duty to protect the girl from her father's meth-addicted girlfriend, Melissa Wells Coons.
Brooklyn's mother, Angela Coons, died at age 24 in 2007 after a sudden illness. Brooklyn's death was the Crosettos' second loss.
The grandparents' lawsuit says that Gillen refused to accept photographs showing bruises on the girl a month before her death, which Gillen denies in court documents.
Court documents say, without elaboration, that the Crosettos believe Gillen held a grudge over their adoption of their daughter Angela years earlier.
SRS says Gillen has been employed with the agency since 1974.
The SRS response says Gillen denies having a grudge.
The SRS defense
In a court filing responding to the lawsuit, SRS attorney Baumgartner said (referring to the child, Brooklyn, as "B.I.C."):
* "Even assuming the imminence of danger, and even assuming Ms. Gillen knew about this danger (which Defendant denies), Ms. Gillen was under no duty to protect B.I.C. from a danger Ms. Gillen did not create."
* "Even assuming the 'animus' (which Defendant denies) Plaintiffs claim Ms. Gillen had against them, Ms. Gillen was under no duty to protect B.I.C. from third parties."
The SRS response says that the Crosettos seem to contend that once they met with Gillen about their concerns over Brooklyn, "their hands (and the Police's hands) were tied. This is far from the situation."
The document adds: "Ms. Gillen feels for Plaintiffs' loss, but with all due respect to Plaintiffs there is no Constitutional remedy for them here."
As a state employee, Gillen is entitled to "qualified immunity," SRS says.
Grandparents' case
In the court papers representing the Crosettos, their attorney Rathbun says, "This is not just another case of ... an overworked SRS employee and a report that fell through the cracks. Linda Gillen knew and hated Mr. Crosetto."
Rathbun also said that Gillen "carried a powerful animus that resulted in her refusal to follow her duty and protect" the girl from her father's girlfriend.
The Crosettos' filings provide this timeline:
* On Jan. 17, 2008, Coffeyville police responding to a 911 call found Brooklyn unresponsive and in the care of the girlfriend. Police saw head injuries and bruises on the girl.
* The next day, police placed three other children from the home of Melissa Wells Coons and Randy Coons, Brooklyn's father, into protective custody because of "deplorable" living conditions and the injuries to Brooklyn.
* Three days after the 911 call, Brooklyn died in a hospital.
Before the 911 call, Coffeyville police did not take steps to protect Brooklyn because they "reasonably believed that the defendant (Gillen) was undertaking her statutory obligations to safeguard" Brooklyn and her brother, a court document says.
The Crosettos contend that Gillen took it upon herself to monitor Brooklyn's situation — causing other agencies that could have protected the girl to defer to SRS.
Recently, Brooklyn's father pleaded no contest to aggravated endangerment of a child. He faces sentencing July 1.
Gillen remains a social worker with SRS, the agency says.
Reach Tim Potter at 316-268-6684 or tpotter@wichitaeagle.com.
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/05/16/1315895/srs-social-worker-had-no-duty.html#storylink=omni_popular#ixzz0o6qG4W3M
***********************************************
More on this story to be found on the following links:
Coffeyville couple sues SRS worker after granddaughter's beating death
January 24, 2010
BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/01/24/1150653/coffeyville-couple-sues-srs-worker.html#ixzz0o6qcPbzV
SRS seeks dismissal of lawsuit filed by grandparents
March 11, 2010
BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/03/11/1219764/srs-seeks-dismissal-of-lawsuit.html#ixzz0o6qs79ez
Saturday, May 15, 2010
KC foster parent, David Melton, accused of abusing teen boy
Posted on Thu, May. 13, 2010 12:23
Posted on Thu, May. 13, 2010 12:23
Picture of David Melton
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/05/13/1943607/kc-foster-parent-accused-of-abusing.html#ixzz0nr1sG6dl
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/05/13/1943607/kc-foster-parent-accused-of-abusing.html#ixzz0nr1sG6dl
A south Kansas City foster parent was charged today with sexually assaulting a teenage boy in his care.
Jackson County prosecutors charged 49-year-old David Melton with two counts of second-degree statutory sodomy.
The 15-year-old boy told police that he was molested at Melton’s house in January. According to court documents, the boy was living in a residential care facility but spending time at Melton’s house because he was in the process of being adopted by Melton and a partner.
The boy did not initially report the incidents because he said he did not want to be returned to a residential care facility, according to court documents. Melton was questioned by police Wednesday and denied touching the boy inappropriately.
KATHY WINTERS IN THE NEWS
KATHY WINTER PROTESTING ADOPTIONS
http://kansas.watchdog.org/3734/adoption-protest-at-joco-courthouse/
KATHY WINTERS AND OTHERS TESTIFY BEFORE JOINT COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN’S ISSUES
http://kansas.watchdog.org/2010/compelling-stories-about-problems-with-placement-and-removal-of-children/
SADIE CARPENTER AND KATHY WINTERS BEFORE LEGISLATORS
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=jr_3tsyG0gQ&playnext_from=TL&videos=XSWuCKtEKYc
KATHY WINTERS ON FOX4 NEWS
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=cSZ6wUMBDbc&playnext_from=TL&videos=Xo0w_Gxy_lw
http://kansas.watchdog.org/3734/adoption-protest-at-joco-courthouse/
KATHY WINTERS AND OTHERS TESTIFY BEFORE JOINT COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN’S ISSUES
http://kansas.watchdog.org/2010/compelling-stories-about-problems-with-placement-and-removal-of-children/
SADIE CARPENTER AND KATHY WINTERS BEFORE LEGISLATORS
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=jr_3tsyG0gQ&playnext_from=TL&videos=XSWuCKtEKYc
KATHY WINTERS ON FOX4 NEWS
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=cSZ6wUMBDbc&playnext_from=TL&videos=Xo0w_Gxy_lw
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
OPEN LETTER TO KANSAS LEGISLATORS ~ RELEASE THESE CHILDREN NOW! ~
Dear Kansas State Representatives and Senators,
I am writing to you today to ask of you to demand that the State of Kansas return 2 little boys back to their mother, the Non-Offending parent. Once again, children have been removed from the home of the non-offending parent and placed in the custody of the state, this is a pattern that continues to happen in sedgwick county and it is destroying the lives of children.
Here in Sedgwick County they think nothing of taking children from safe homes and placing them in foster care, they are NOT educated and they don't care about what it does to a child if removed from the care of a parent. The trauma they are causing, first they are abused by ONE parent and then they are removed from the loving and protective parent, the system is abusing these two boys just as they have with many other children. According to experts, removing children from homes causes SERIOUS TRAUMA http://www.jrplaw.org/Documents/xxharmandlreplacement.pdf
PREVENTING PTSD IN CHILDREN
Adapted from Goodman, 2002
Parental support influences how well children cope after a
traumatic event. Birth, foster, and adoptive parents, kin
caregivers, and professionals can help children by:
• Providing a strong supportive presence
• Modeling and managing their own expression of feelings
and coping
• Establishing routines with flexibility
• Accepting children’s regressed behaviors while encouraging
and supporting a return to age-appropriate activity
• Helping children use familiar coping strategies
• Helping children share in maintaining their safety
• Allowing children to tell their story in words, play, or pictures
to acknowledge and normalize their experience (Not cover-up the abuse as if it never happened, just like sedgwick county does)
• Discussing what to do or what has been done to prevent
the event from recurring
• Maintaining a stable, familiar environment (removing them from their own home where the abuse didn't happen causes secondary trauma)
The State of Kansas is destroying these two little boys, they are NOT getting the proper treatment they should be getting they are being abused while in foster care, they need to be returned to their Mother, they are being forced to visit with the abusive parent, the parent that the family court investigator said sexually and physically abused .
The mother just recently went to the foster care home to check on her children because one of them was really sick during their visit earlier in the day, the mother was told the child would go to the doctor, but that didn't happen, when she arrived at the foster home the foster dad welcomed the mother in the home, but when the foster mother seen her, she turned violent on Valarie the mother, she attacked Valarie, she pushed her out the front door backwards, and Valarie went down on her back. This foster mom is a dangerous person, she has no business taking care of children, she can't even maintain her violent behaviors. (Valarie, the mom has a broken elbow, she has to have surgery next week, her elbow will never be the same) If this foster mom can lose it with an adult imagine what she can do to a child.
The bottom line to this tragic story once again is that these children should of never been placed into foster care, and it's time that someone does something to save these boys from more trauma, the oldest boy isn't doing well, he needs to be home and he needs PROPER therapy, not YOUTHVILLE's therapy. These children have been sexually abused and physically by the dad and they have NOT received any treatment for the abuse, they are only being forced to go to classes with their ABUSER, how could anyone force a victim into classes with their abuser? That would be like forcing a RAPE victim into classes with their rapists, what is wrong with this system? That would be like forcing my daughter when she was a victim of rape, kidnapping, drugging, indecent liberities, and sexual exploitation with her offender. Come on something has to be done to save these boys, they must go home so they can begin to heal and the father must be held accountable for abusing his children. NOT get special treatment by Youthville. If you continue to allow the system abuse of these children then you are just as much responsible for their continued abuse, their not getting the proper treatment.
I and other citizens of Kansas are demanding that these two little boys be released from states custody and placed back in the home of their non-offending parent A.S.A.P and that they NOT be forced to live or visit their abuser without supervision if the boys choose to have supervised visits, they should be allowed to make that decision. It is their safety that is most important.
To all citizens who want to save these two little boys from further abuse please sign and forward this on to everyone you know, just click forward and then sign your name and pass this on to everyone in your email list.
Thank you,
Donna Roberts/Founder
ACRA-A Child's Rights Association
316-529-3179
1. Donna Roberts/Founder of ACRA-A Child's Rights Advocate 316-529-3179
I am writing to you today to ask of you to demand that the State of Kansas return 2 little boys back to their mother, the Non-Offending parent. Once again, children have been removed from the home of the non-offending parent and placed in the custody of the state, this is a pattern that continues to happen in sedgwick county and it is destroying the lives of children.
Here in Sedgwick County they think nothing of taking children from safe homes and placing them in foster care, they are NOT educated and they don't care about what it does to a child if removed from the care of a parent. The trauma they are causing, first they are abused by ONE parent and then they are removed from the loving and protective parent, the system is abusing these two boys just as they have with many other children. According to experts, removing children from homes causes SERIOUS TRAUMA http://www.jrplaw.org/Documents/xxharmandlreplacement.pdf
PREVENTING PTSD IN CHILDREN
Adapted from Goodman, 2002
Parental support influences how well children cope after a
traumatic event. Birth, foster, and adoptive parents, kin
caregivers, and professionals can help children by:
• Providing a strong supportive presence
• Modeling and managing their own expression of feelings
and coping
• Establishing routines with flexibility
• Accepting children’s regressed behaviors while encouraging
and supporting a return to age-appropriate activity
• Helping children use familiar coping strategies
• Helping children share in maintaining their safety
• Allowing children to tell their story in words, play, or pictures
to acknowledge and normalize their experience (Not cover-up the abuse as if it never happened, just like sedgwick county does)
• Discussing what to do or what has been done to prevent
the event from recurring
• Maintaining a stable, familiar environment (removing them from their own home where the abuse didn't happen causes secondary trauma)
The State of Kansas is destroying these two little boys, they are NOT getting the proper treatment they should be getting they are being abused while in foster care, they need to be returned to their Mother, they are being forced to visit with the abusive parent, the parent that the family court investigator said sexually and physically abused .
The mother just recently went to the foster care home to check on her children because one of them was really sick during their visit earlier in the day, the mother was told the child would go to the doctor, but that didn't happen, when she arrived at the foster home the foster dad welcomed the mother in the home, but when the foster mother seen her, she turned violent on Valarie the mother, she attacked Valarie, she pushed her out the front door backwards, and Valarie went down on her back. This foster mom is a dangerous person, she has no business taking care of children, she can't even maintain her violent behaviors. (Valarie, the mom has a broken elbow, she has to have surgery next week, her elbow will never be the same) If this foster mom can lose it with an adult imagine what she can do to a child.
The bottom line to this tragic story once again is that these children should of never been placed into foster care, and it's time that someone does something to save these boys from more trauma, the oldest boy isn't doing well, he needs to be home and he needs PROPER therapy, not YOUTHVILLE's therapy. These children have been sexually abused and physically by the dad and they have NOT received any treatment for the abuse, they are only being forced to go to classes with their ABUSER, how could anyone force a victim into classes with their abuser? That would be like forcing a RAPE victim into classes with their rapists, what is wrong with this system? That would be like forcing my daughter when she was a victim of rape, kidnapping, drugging, indecent liberities, and sexual exploitation with her offender. Come on something has to be done to save these boys, they must go home so they can begin to heal and the father must be held accountable for abusing his children. NOT get special treatment by Youthville. If you continue to allow the system abuse of these children then you are just as much responsible for their continued abuse, their not getting the proper treatment.
I and other citizens of Kansas are demanding that these two little boys be released from states custody and placed back in the home of their non-offending parent A.S.A.P and that they NOT be forced to live or visit their abuser without supervision if the boys choose to have supervised visits, they should be allowed to make that decision. It is their safety that is most important.
To all citizens who want to save these two little boys from further abuse please sign and forward this on to everyone you know, just click forward and then sign your name and pass this on to everyone in your email list.
Thank you,
Donna Roberts/Founder
ACRA-A Child's Rights Association
316-529-3179
1. Donna Roberts/Founder of ACRA-A Child's Rights Advocate 316-529-3179
Saturday, May 1, 2010
OPEN LETTER TO KANSAS LEGISLATORS
Open Letter to Kansas
From: Shaylene Moore
Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2010 10:31 PM
To: Steve.Abrams@senate.ks.gov
Cc: Pat.Apple@senate.ks.gov ; Jim.Barnett@senate.ks.gov ; Karin.Brownlee@senate.ks.gov ; Terry.Bruce@senate.ks.gov ; Pete.Brungardt@senate.ks.gov ; Jeff.Colyer@senate.ks.gov ; Les.Donovan@senate.ks.gov ; Jay.Emler@senate.ks.gov ; Oletha.Faust-Goudeau@senate.ks.gov ; Marci.Francisco@senate.ks.gov ; David.Haley@senate.ks.gov ; Anthony.Hensley@senate.ks.gov ; Tom.Holland@senate.ks.gov ; Laura.Kelly@senate.ks.gov ; Dick.Kelsey@senate.ks.gov ; Kelly.Kultala@senate.ks.gov ; Janis.Lee@senate.ks.gov ; Julia.Lynn@senate.ks.gov ; Bob.Marshall@senate.ks.gov ; Ty.Masterson@senate.ks.gov ; Carolyn.Mcginn@senate.ks.gov ; Steve.Morris@senate.ks.gov ; Ralph.Ostmeyer@senate.ks.gov ; Tim.Owens@senate.ks.gov ; Mike.Petersen@senate.ks.gov ; Mary.PilcherCook@senate.ks.gov ; Dennis.Pyle@senate.ks.gov ; Roger.Reitz@senate.ks.gov ; Derek.Schmidt@senate.ks.gov ; Vicki.Schmidt@senate.ks.gov ; Jean.Schodorf@senate.ks.gov ; Chris.Steineger@senate.ks.gov ; Mark.Taddiken@senate.ks.gov ; Ruth.Teichman@senate.ks.gov ; Dwayne.Umbarger@senate.ks.gov ; John.Vratil@senate.ks.gov ; Susan.Wagle@senate.ks.gov ; David.Wysong@senate.ks.gov
Subject: FW:FW:FW:FW:FW:RE:An Open Letter to Kansas
Mr. Abrams,
You are my Senator And I need help, please. I saw this e-mail and thought that I might as well ask for help. I cannot leave Kansas right now becuase my child is in foster care. Why? Because I forbid her to go to a party on Saturday night. She sent a text message to a friend. And that friend's mom that I was unfair. The party was filled with drugs, alcohol and sex. My daughter was only 14. Now she is 15 and has been in foster care for over a year. Why? Because social services came to my home unannounced. I let them in thinking that they would surely understand what was going on. The lady looked so nice. But then, she found me guilty of neglect because she said that my daughter's room was too small! Yes, too small. I am a mother of four children. And she had the small bedroom because she was the youngest. After my son turned 18 and went into the military, she would inherit a larger room. But it fit her nicely until that year. But then, they discovered that my ex-husband made a lot of money and went after both of us. I don't make as much money but I work very hard to take care of my children. And now that she is in foster care, I am required to pay them child support.I am taking money away from my other children to meet the state's demands. It would be easier on all of us if my daughter was at home. And she misses me so badly. And she has changed so much. She is so bitter now. So distrustful of everything. She doesn't believe anyone. She doesn't believe me when I tell her that she will be home with her family soon. I hate you Kansas. I hate you! I did not abuse or neglect my child because her bedroom was small. There is a perfectly nice size room waiting for her I am surprisd she didn't also write that my child was wearing hand me downs from her sister. I understand why this Mother cursed you. It is a curse to be involved with you. And it is not a good place to be. I thought Kansas was a much better place but it has so many bad problems that I can't say anything about this state any longer. So please listen to my cries, listen to my daughter's cries, and send my baby back home.
Please. Please. I want my daughter home with me. Her birthday is next week!
She will be 16 and will be in foster care.
-----------------------------------------------------
Dear Senators of Kansas:
Before reading this letter, please note that I make absolutely no apologies for speaking my mind. I am doing the housecleaning of my soul, my spirit, my heart. After all, a clean house is what you want....
One would think that after the big to-do with Brown vs. the Board of Education, the state of Kansas would be a bit more sensitive and concerned about violating parent's and children's rights. One would think...but clearly we are being led by the brainless....
I am a Mother, a Woman, and a Defender of My Home...and right now, I am ticked off that my children are now afraid of YOU, Kansas! They are afraid of your school officials, they are afraid of your police, they are afraid of your neighborhoods, they are afraid of their government. They look out the windows and are now suspicious of everyone. The emotional abuse that you did to my children outweighs any of the false allegations that you threw my way. The verbal abuse of them hearing that their Mother may be unfit, is the worse thing that you could have done.
You destroyed our relationships...completely....and to move to Overland Park and Olathe and feel like "I made it" is a crock of shit.
Okay Kansas Senators, I am writing you this one time (maybe), and to let you know that I am sick and tired of the crap going on in this state, particularly in Johnson County.
SRS social workers are doing their job. They have bills to pay just like the rest of us. But when you talk to them, they are manipulative and just downright liars. And God forbid if you tick one off as she will wield her pen and assassinate your character with a SUBSTANTIATION.
When I hear horror stories of Kansas SRS, the Blue Valley School District and Olathe School District and certain officers with the Overland Park and Olathe police department who collaborate to remove children from the homes of good parents, I am wondering why on earth very few of you Senators, you so-called representatives of the people are not saying anything about it!
Oh, I know why. It's because you know that SRS is the biggest profit center for the state of Kansas. But understand this. This e-mail is going to go viral and spread through Kansas (and the country) like a wild fire.
But I want to know what YOU are going to do to fix this system.
Here's some of my issues:
1. Social Services might contact you and they only have 45 days to close a case...so why do they keep it open for MONTHS? They are breaking their own policies/laws?
2. When they send you a letter that there is a "concern", they like to throw in their abuse and neglect pamphlet that tells you your constitutional RIGHTS. But then they tell you to call them. If you choose not to call them then you are not cooperating.
3. When you go to the Kansas SRS website there is a link for parents. But the freaking link doesn't work! So when you try to figure out how to complain against the Kansas SRS, the first website that shows in Google is the Attorney General's office (Steve Six) and the F.A.Q. all provides bullshit answers about SRS. To anyone reading this, it should be pretty obvious that if the KS Attorney General office devotes that much web page real estate to SRS, then "Houston, we have a problem!"
4. When you request to know what you are being accused of, which most people have a right to know this, you get a reply that they can't tell you because of the privacy of the child. WHAT? Most parents protect the privacy of the child. And most parents don't have time to let people play games with their children like the SRS does. HOW DARE SRS!
5. As far as the right to privacy, how private is SRS when they decide to go and ask neighbors or the school or the police, etc. questions about the child. Yet, have the nerve...the AUDACITY to tell the parent that they don't have the right to know about the child.
6. Kids are placed into foster care, ripped from their homes, and used to make money from the state
Now understand this Kansas. Never in the many years of raising my children have I ever gone through such ignorance in my life. NEVER! It's like you just want to put people in little boxes so that some of the people here can feel comfortable. You want to put people away or make life hard for them because they come with different ideas, different thoughts, and don't let their kids curse them out or disrespect the parental authority.
So understand this, I am leaving. But I will not forget. And thanks to the WORLD WIDE WEB, I and my family will never let you rest. Don Jordan, enjoy that paycheck. Social Workers, if you want to practice law, go to law school! Judges, you are not GOD!
It's on, Kansas....because you have finally pushed me to the point of really ticking me off!
So my advice to any of the SENATORS on this list who want to get back into office...you have heard from "one of the people" and I am adding your e-mails so that as this letter goes VIRAL, then you will hear from other parents. It doesn't matter where they live...we are all dealing with the same IGNORANCE.
Now my house is clean, so get the "F" out! Clean your own house!
We'll be watching you and you better represent your citizens this time, because me and my children and other parents and their children are all going to make sure that our rights are no longer trampled on.
Sincerely,
Mother, Woman, and Defender of the Home
P.S. I may not know all of the facts, but I hope there are others who will write and educate those of you who are collecting votes and paychecks and not addressing this issue.
P.S.S.
To anyone who wants to send a letter, here are the e-mail addresses.
Tell them how you really feel! It's time, Kansas citizens, to no longer allow this to take place.
From: Shaylene Moore
Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2010 10:31 PM
To: Steve.Abrams@senate.ks.gov
Cc: Pat.Apple@senate.ks.gov ; Jim.Barnett@senate.ks.gov ; Karin.Brownlee@senate.ks.gov ; Terry.Bruce@senate.ks.gov ; Pete.Brungardt@senate.ks.gov ; Jeff.Colyer@senate.ks.gov ; Les.Donovan@senate.ks.gov ; Jay.Emler@senate.ks.gov ; Oletha.Faust-Goudeau@senate.ks.gov ; Marci.Francisco@senate.ks.gov ; David.Haley@senate.ks.gov ; Anthony.Hensley@senate.ks.gov ; Tom.Holland@senate.ks.gov ; Laura.Kelly@senate.ks.gov ; Dick.Kelsey@senate.ks.gov ; Kelly.Kultala@senate.ks.gov ; Janis.Lee@senate.ks.gov ; Julia.Lynn@senate.ks.gov ; Bob.Marshall@senate.ks.gov ; Ty.Masterson@senate.ks.gov ; Carolyn.Mcginn@senate.ks.gov ; Steve.Morris@senate.ks.gov ; Ralph.Ostmeyer@senate.ks.gov ; Tim.Owens@senate.ks.gov ; Mike.Petersen@senate.ks.gov ; Mary.PilcherCook@senate.ks.gov ; Dennis.Pyle@senate.ks.gov ; Roger.Reitz@senate.ks.gov ; Derek.Schmidt@senate.ks.gov ; Vicki.Schmidt@senate.ks.gov ; Jean.Schodorf@senate.ks.gov ; Chris.Steineger@senate.ks.gov ; Mark.Taddiken@senate.ks.gov ; Ruth.Teichman@senate.ks.gov ; Dwayne.Umbarger@senate.ks.gov ; John.Vratil@senate.ks.gov ; Susan.Wagle@senate.ks.gov ; David.Wysong@senate.ks.gov
Subject: FW:FW:FW:FW:FW:RE:An Open Letter to Kansas
Mr. Abrams,
You are my Senator And I need help, please. I saw this e-mail and thought that I might as well ask for help. I cannot leave Kansas right now becuase my child is in foster care. Why? Because I forbid her to go to a party on Saturday night. She sent a text message to a friend. And that friend's mom that I was unfair. The party was filled with drugs, alcohol and sex. My daughter was only 14. Now she is 15 and has been in foster care for over a year. Why? Because social services came to my home unannounced. I let them in thinking that they would surely understand what was going on. The lady looked so nice. But then, she found me guilty of neglect because she said that my daughter's room was too small! Yes, too small. I am a mother of four children. And she had the small bedroom because she was the youngest. After my son turned 18 and went into the military, she would inherit a larger room. But it fit her nicely until that year. But then, they discovered that my ex-husband made a lot of money and went after both of us. I don't make as much money but I work very hard to take care of my children. And now that she is in foster care, I am required to pay them child support.I am taking money away from my other children to meet the state's demands. It would be easier on all of us if my daughter was at home. And she misses me so badly. And she has changed so much. She is so bitter now. So distrustful of everything. She doesn't believe anyone. She doesn't believe me when I tell her that she will be home with her family soon. I hate you Kansas. I hate you! I did not abuse or neglect my child because her bedroom was small. There is a perfectly nice size room waiting for her I am surprisd she didn't also write that my child was wearing hand me downs from her sister. I understand why this Mother cursed you. It is a curse to be involved with you. And it is not a good place to be. I thought Kansas was a much better place but it has so many bad problems that I can't say anything about this state any longer. So please listen to my cries, listen to my daughter's cries, and send my baby back home.
Please. Please. I want my daughter home with me. Her birthday is next week!
She will be 16 and will be in foster care.
-----------------------------------------------------
Dear Senators of Kansas:
Before reading this letter, please note that I make absolutely no apologies for speaking my mind. I am doing the housecleaning of my soul, my spirit, my heart. After all, a clean house is what you want....
One would think that after the big to-do with Brown vs. the Board of Education, the state of Kansas would be a bit more sensitive and concerned about violating parent's and children's rights. One would think...but clearly we are being led by the brainless....
I am a Mother, a Woman, and a Defender of My Home...and right now, I am ticked off that my children are now afraid of YOU, Kansas! They are afraid of your school officials, they are afraid of your police, they are afraid of your neighborhoods, they are afraid of their government. They look out the windows and are now suspicious of everyone. The emotional abuse that you did to my children outweighs any of the false allegations that you threw my way. The verbal abuse of them hearing that their Mother may be unfit, is the worse thing that you could have done.
You destroyed our relationships...completely....and to move to Overland Park and Olathe and feel like "I made it" is a crock of shit.
Okay Kansas Senators, I am writing you this one time (maybe), and to let you know that I am sick and tired of the crap going on in this state, particularly in Johnson County.
SRS social workers are doing their job. They have bills to pay just like the rest of us. But when you talk to them, they are manipulative and just downright liars. And God forbid if you tick one off as she will wield her pen and assassinate your character with a SUBSTANTIATION.
When I hear horror stories of Kansas SRS, the Blue Valley School District and Olathe School District and certain officers with the Overland Park and Olathe police department who collaborate to remove children from the homes of good parents, I am wondering why on earth very few of you Senators, you so-called representatives of the people are not saying anything about it!
Oh, I know why. It's because you know that SRS is the biggest profit center for the state of Kansas. But understand this. This e-mail is going to go viral and spread through Kansas (and the country) like a wild fire.
But I want to know what YOU are going to do to fix this system.
Here's some of my issues:
1. Social Services might contact you and they only have 45 days to close a case...so why do they keep it open for MONTHS? They are breaking their own policies/laws?
2. When they send you a letter that there is a "concern", they like to throw in their abuse and neglect pamphlet that tells you your constitutional RIGHTS. But then they tell you to call them. If you choose not to call them then you are not cooperating.
3. When you go to the Kansas SRS website there is a link for parents. But the freaking link doesn't work! So when you try to figure out how to complain against the Kansas SRS, the first website that shows in Google is the Attorney General's office (Steve Six) and the F.A.Q. all provides bullshit answers about SRS. To anyone reading this, it should be pretty obvious that if the KS Attorney General office devotes that much web page real estate to SRS, then "Houston, we have a problem!"
4. When you request to know what you are being accused of, which most people have a right to know this, you get a reply that they can't tell you because of the privacy of the child. WHAT? Most parents protect the privacy of the child. And most parents don't have time to let people play games with their children like the SRS does. HOW DARE SRS!
5. As far as the right to privacy, how private is SRS when they decide to go and ask neighbors or the school or the police, etc. questions about the child. Yet, have the nerve...the AUDACITY to tell the parent that they don't have the right to know about the child.
6. Kids are placed into foster care, ripped from their homes, and used to make money from the state
Now understand this Kansas. Never in the many years of raising my children have I ever gone through such ignorance in my life. NEVER! It's like you just want to put people in little boxes so that some of the people here can feel comfortable. You want to put people away or make life hard for them because they come with different ideas, different thoughts, and don't let their kids curse them out or disrespect the parental authority.
So understand this, I am leaving. But I will not forget. And thanks to the WORLD WIDE WEB, I and my family will never let you rest. Don Jordan, enjoy that paycheck. Social Workers, if you want to practice law, go to law school! Judges, you are not GOD!
It's on, Kansas....because you have finally pushed me to the point of really ticking me off!
So my advice to any of the SENATORS on this list who want to get back into office...you have heard from "one of the people" and I am adding your e-mails so that as this letter goes VIRAL, then you will hear from other parents. It doesn't matter where they live...we are all dealing with the same IGNORANCE.
Now my house is clean, so get the "F" out! Clean your own house!
We'll be watching you and you better represent your citizens this time, because me and my children and other parents and their children are all going to make sure that our rights are no longer trampled on.
Sincerely,
Mother, Woman, and Defender of the Home
P.S. I may not know all of the facts, but I hope there are others who will write and educate those of you who are collecting votes and paychecks and not addressing this issue.
P.S.S.
To anyone who wants to send a letter, here are the e-mail addresses.
Tell them how you really feel! It's time, Kansas citizens, to no longer allow this to take place.
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