An opinion editorial by Neal Feldman, long-time family rights activist, has been published in the Salem News. His letter concerns a recent case in which the final decision is to give the child to a grandparent in Mexico. The Oregon foster parents are fighting that decision in court.

Here’s Neal’s op-ed. Please leave a comment on what you read. The comment form is at the bottom of Neal’s article.

Oregon Human Services: Today’s Gestapo? - op-ed by Neal Feldman for Salem News, published November 17, 2007.

A New York based advocacy group called Children’s Rights is suing the state of Michigan in federal court on behalf of 19,000 foster children who may be endangered by maltreatment in the foster care system.

The Michigan Department of Human Services refused to provide documentation on sixty-seven foster children who died in state care there since 2004. At least three of those children were killed in state licensed foster homes. Circumstances regarding the other deaths are unclear as the state refuses to release records.

At a hearing on Tuesday, August 7, 2007 U.S. District Judge Nancy G. Edmunds ruled that an expert must be hired to assess the Michigan foster care system’s adequacy. The expert, Christopher Baird of the Children’s Research Center, will study 460 random Michigan foster care files

Judge Edmunds also ordered the state to release certain foster care documents by August 31, 2007.

Sources:
Court fight over Mich. foster care system set for Tuesday by Jack Kresnak, Free Press Staff Writer

U.S. judge names expert to assess Michigan foster care system, an AP article posted at WoodTV.Com.

Howard Hendrick, head of the Oklahoma DHS state agency, is under investigation for child neglect. His 13-year-old son was injured while they were burning brush at a lake house earlier this month.

According to an article on the Tulsa World website, an anonymous caller complained that the director didn’t act quickly enough to get medical help for his child. The director said the nearest hospital was 45 miles away, so they waited until the next morning.

Hendrick says he phoned a doctor immediately when the injury occurred. If the doctor recommended waiting, then that should end the case. Hendrick wouldn’t comment on how badly his son was injured but did say he is doing well. He also said, “I think he will fully recover.” To me that sounds like there’s some possibility he won’t. They have my sympathy … especially the injured child.

A comment on the Tulsa World article says, “I hope things turn out fairly for this family but I also hope the director sees how innocent families are treated poorly and lied to during the investigation process.” Honestly, I doubt that he’ll learn how DHS or CPS social workers treat poor folks. This case work will be under intense scrutiny and anyone working on it will be unwilling to lie and frame the man using false accusations. (Just my opinion on what will happen with the case.) I think it will be dismissed almost immediately. Yes, they got a report (probably anonymous) and he’s being investigated, but that doesn’t mean there were be an open DHS case against this man.

Source: DHS Director investigated after child injured - an Associated Press article published on the Tulsa World website.

P.S. - Speaking as someone who lives 75 miles from the nearest hospital - if my children were injured and the local clinic was closed, I could phone our local ambulance service. They check out injuries and provide transportation if needed, the entire way to the hospital. 45 miles is nothing - when a child is badly injured, he should be seen as quickly as possible. I’m sure the director of Oklahoma DHS had a good car and could have easily made the drive to town. This is not meant as a criticism of the parents’ judgment in this matter. I don’t know all the circumstances and have no intention to condemn anyone.

Morris Brasovankin, 89, and his wife, Mildred, 86, enjoyed taking care of their five-year-old grandson, Steven. He was born in 2001 to a mother addicted to crack, three months premature, weighing just over two pounds. The mother left and the child’s father, Steven Brasovankin, 54, made the mistake of contacting CPS to help take care of his son.

The baby was placed in a foster home but his father found out the foster parents wanted to adopt so he fought to get his son home again. Grandparents Mildred and Morris Brasovankin helped take care of little Steven.

Four months ago the father took little Steven to the hospital for treatment for a cold. The hospital staff called DHS thinking the father was acting irrationally, due, he says, to financial problems and business failure. The court ordered psychological counseling for this father and gave temporary custody to the grandparents.

Then disaster struck on March 23 at a court hearing when the impatient child, after being confined for more than an hour in the waiting area, got away from his grandparents and ran up to the judge’s bench where he smacked a computer. Because the Brasovankins weren’t able to chase the child and control him, their attorney retrieved him.

A CASA worker, Kathleen Knese, recommended that Steven be taken from his grandparents because of his activity level and behavior. She said that the Brasovankins wouldn’t be able to take care of him properly. The judge agreed and ordered that little Steven be placed in foster care in 90 days.

Ten days ago a DHS worker, James Hood, showed up at Steven’s school and took the child. The Brasovankins were not even notified. When Steven didn’t come home on the bus they phoned the school and were given the news.

From the article at Philly.Com:
“Right away, I’m running down to the school. I must have been there in two minutes,” Morris said. “I’ll tell you something — I love that little boy. I’d do anything for him. Anything. It killed me when I went to that school and he was already gone because if I was there, he would have never been taken away.”

Source: Too Old To Be Parents? by Wendy Ruderman for the Philadelphia Daily News.