Kentucky Foster News

Interesting new development in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky

2011-12-10T14:26:00.000-08:00

Fostering better ideas for children
Bellamy, Lana. Trailblazer, Dec. 8, 2011.

More than 6,800 children are currently in foster care through the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, according to ky.gov. Last year, more than 700 of those children were adopted. Foster families are responsible for more than 80 percent of the adoptions.

Chris Groeber, chief executive officer for the foster care agency Key Assets Kentucky (KAK), has made it his mission to keep improving the fostering statistics. The main office in Mt. Sterling, Ky., is the first Key Assets program in the United States.

It all started when Groeber was doing social work in Florida. His co-workers asked him to come listen to a group from England presenting a new kind of therapeutic foster care.

Key Assets in England worked with Aboriginal families in Western Australia, as well as families as far north as the Arctic Circle. Their goal was to keep the children they were caring for close to the communities they were born into.

“I thought if we could do that in the Arctic Circle and we could do that in the outback in Australia, surely we can do that with the kids in Eastern Kentucky,” Groeber said. “It seemed like a no-brainer to me.”

A Morehead State University alumnus, Grober said he felt keeping kids in their original communities was something foster programs in Eastern Kentucky generally overlook.

Groeber said KAK is currently targeting Martin County because 94 percent of that county’s foster kids, who were placed in out-of-home care, were placed out of county.

“That severs the ties!” Groeber said. “I think we [Eastern Kentucky] are one of the few places in the nation to still appreciate community for what it is.”

Groeber said the Key Assets program in England inspired him and he invited its representatives to do a presentation in Kentucky and help start a new branch in the eastern part of the state.

By January of 2012, the staff will consist of five full-time and five part-time workers. There are now three offices in Eastern Kentucky located in Mt. Sterling, Salyersville and Ashland.

Groeber said he emphasizes staff involvement with the foster families.

Shannon Stull, executive assistant of KAK, said the greatest benefit their agency has to offer a child is a chance at a “normal” kind of life.

“At the end of the day isn’t that what anyone wants?” Stull said. “To be safe, loved and cared for.”

Groeber said, “One of the things we want our caregivers to know, is all of our staff. Even Shannon goes out and visits because she’s the voice they hear on the other end of the phone.”

“I want the kids to be able to bond to the agency,” Groeber said, looking around the comfortable office. “I want them to bond to this place and this space because they need a place and space to belong to.”

According to superpages.com, in Kentucky there are 56 listings for foster care agencies, 61 listings for social and human services and five different options for child and adult foster care and services. But Key Assets Kentucky sets itself apart from other fostering agencies by creating a unique vision for how to care for the children it serves.

Groeber said, “We say we’re an agency that works with adults who work with kids.”

KAK,s pre-service process, called Journey to Foster, goes into the homes of prospective foster families before they adopt foster children and prepares them mentally and emotionally before they open their home.

Forty-two hours of training is required to become a licensed foster caregiver. Twenty-one hours of the training takes place in a classroom and the other 21 hours are in the home.

During the training, Groeber and his staff spend a lot of time with the foster families practicing crisis management and what to do when certain dramatic scenarios arise. They want to prepare the families before the child is adopted in order to create emotionally stable atmospheres.

Groeber said the extensive amount of time spent in the pre-service process is important because it sets the pace for how the family will help the foster child develop as a person.

Groeber said, “We believe that those foster carers who are with those kids 24-seven are the primary change agents in those kids’ lives, so we try to equip them to be the case-manager and the clinician because they’re going be there when the sparks fly.”

Besides having a less an atypical pre-service program, Key Assets also sets itself apart from other agencies by referring to those adopting the foster kids as foster carers instead of foster parents.

“Kids already have parents,” Groeber said.

Groeber added that even though the children have real parents, they were in foster care because things didn’t work out at home.

“We made a conscious decision to say, ‘You are caring for that kid. At best, you're re-parenting, but you didn’t give birth to this kid. You’re a carer, it’s for a limited time. For this season in this child’s life, you’re their carer,’” Groeber said.

Groeber said the main goal of KAK is to be the last agency to take care of the child.

“We don’t want those kids to bounce from us,” Groeber said, “because some of those kids we’re talking about have had two, 15, 45 placements by the time they get to us. By the time they get to us, we don’t want to be just another placement—we want to be the last.”

Although Groeber has been in social work for 25 years, he still encounters struggles.

“There’s always resistance from the kids at some level,” Groeber said. There’s the honeymoon phase and then we drop the hammer.”

Groeber said sometimes the resistance from the children comes when they are initially placed with KAK. In some cases, they blame the agency for taking them from their previous placement.

“I think a lot of times, these kids will want to place blame, and that’s fine. We’ll take the blame as an agency,” Groeber said. “If you want to blame me, that’s perfectly fine, but at the end of the day, I love you unconditionally — I care about you unconditionally, so that doesn’t matter.”

The main office for KAK is on East Main Street in Mt. Sterling. Just a few feet up from it is a quaint coffee shop Groeber and his crew built especially for the foster children. There is a main room followed by a study area and a computer lab.

The walls are lined with empty bookshelves that Groeber assures will be filled with books and movies and anything else the kids need for entertainment. A Christmas tree is lit near the window next to a wall with a row of photographs of children’s smiling faces.

On one of the bookshelves is a small pile of books filled with poems and artwork called Hundreds and Thousands, Secrets and Dreams completed by the foster children from the Key Assets agency in England

The poem on the last page of one book is by a girl named Azita with artwork by Sophie. Azita writes that the poem is dedicated to her foster family that took her in at her weakest and gave her strength.

An excerpt from the poem titled "Thank You" reads, “I’m really grateful they took me in at my weakest point, provided me a home and a loving family to live with. So there's proof that humanity still exists.”

Young people aging out of foster care in Kentucky deserve greater support

2011-11-15T09:07:00.000-08:00

Advocates pushing for more help for foster children in Kentucky after they turn 18

Lexington Herald Leader, November 12, 2011.

Lexington, Ky. — Evicted and struggling to save money to buy a car, 19-year-old Clairessa Johnson often feels hopeless.

Johnson and her infant daughter have been staying with a friend and she's saving what she can from a minimum-wage fast-food job in Lexington.

The former foster care child had sought help from a state provision that allows some teenagers to say in foster care until they turn 21. But she said the Cabinet for Health and Family Services has denied her request.

"It leaves me lost," Johnson told the Lexington Herald-Leader.

She would like to become one of about 556 foster children between the ages of 18 and 21 who have extended their stay in foster care. It would allow her to get help with housing, living expenses, health care and other vital services.

Over a year period ending in June, 531 foster children turned 18 and left state custody. Advocates say many of them will have struggles similar to Johnson, who is taking classes with the hopes of becoming a nurse.

"They are forced to deal with society when they don't have the social skills or the independent living skills to be successful," said Earl Washington, a Lexington social worker who has been helping Johnson. "To think that these kids who were in the system for years — some since they were babies — are going to magically be successful when they are 18 is foolish."

Washington said he's helped Johnson apply for housing, but it might be months before she is in her own apartment.

Some of the teens leaving foster care have mental illnesses, learning disabilities, or alcohol and drug problems. Some, like Johnson, have children before they are 18. And those who go to college or a training program with the state's help don't always get the everyday support they need, advocates said.

"These youth aging out of foster care are some of the most vulnerable young people that we have," said Jerry Cantrell, CEO of Bellewood Homes for Children, which contracts with the state to operate foster care and independent living programs in Louisville and Lexington. "Without any support, 75 percent of them fail."

Cabinet for Health and Family Services spokeswoman Jill Midkiff said state caseworkers begin working with teens around their 16th birthday to develop their independent living skills, such as money management, job preparation and basic home economics.

By the time the individuals are 171/2, caseworkers are required to outline a plan for their transition to independence, including whether they want to recommit to foster care.

In the 2012 General Assembly, some former foster children and leaders of private child caring agencies are going to push for improved laws and regulations for young adults in the program who are between 18 and 21.

One movement, called True Up, is trying to improve the situation for children aging out of foster care. True Up is getting help from former foster child Frank Harshaw, now the CEO of an energy services company.

"There are some issues" with the system in place to help Kentucky's foster children once they turn 18, said Harshaw. "But there are also some good programs. We have to help these kids use those programs to their benefit and society's benefit."

State Rep. Tom Burch of Louisville, chairman of the House Interim Joint Committee on Health and Welfare, said he will hold a hearing this month on issues involving foster children who are turning 18.

Wheels of the Commonwealth turn slowly for youth in need of services and support

2011-10-15T14:04:00.000-07:00

Ex-foster child awaits ruling on state help
Yetter, Deborah. Oct. 8, 2011

LEXINGTON, KY. — In and out of foster homes since age 6, Clairessa Johnson said she was ready to leave state care last year after she turned 18.

But homeless and pregnant, Johnson quickly realized she needed help and asked to be admitted to the state’s independent-living program, which provides assistance with housing, school, living expenses and other services for former foster youths.

Now more than a year later — and recently evicted from her Lexington apartment — Johnson, 19, said she is again homeless while she waits for a final decision after a state hearing officer recommended in June she be returned to state care to pursue independent living.

“This is not right,” said Johnson, who is raising a 10-month-old daughter, attending college and working despite her difficulties. “I’ve been going through this all my life, getting shut down.”

The final decision is up to state social services Commissioner Patricia Wilson, with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Johnson said she still has no word of any decision.

Cabinet officials said Friday that the hearing officer's order was not officially entered until Aug. 15, after both sides had a chance to submit additional material.

After that, the commissioner has 45 days to make a final decision, according to an email from spokeswoman Jill Midkiff.

“Decisions are reviewed in the order received,” Midkiff said. A decision in Johnson’s case “is in the review process,” she said.

Earl Washington, a Lexington social worker and advocate who has been assisting Johnson, said cabinet officials had provided them with no explanation for the delay, despite repeated inquiries.

“It’s not fair to hold her up,” said Washington, who helps run a nonprofit advocacy organization for foster youths called Fostering Goodwill and oversees independent living for Kentucky United Methodist Homes.

Johnson said a social services official recently told her that it was “pointless” to keep calling and that she would be notified once the commissioner decides.

Some child advocates say the case points to a broader problem. They say the cabinet has cut resources for foster-care children who turn 18, and youths who leave the system are ill-prepared to find housing, get jobs, go to school and manage life on their own.

“I think money’s behind it,” said Jerry Cantrell, executive director of Bellewood Presbyterian Home for Children, one of several private children’s agencies in Kentucky that offer independent living programs under contract to the state.

Whatever the reason, Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, said former foster youths such as Johnson are entitled to know what the rules are and when to expect a decision. “This young person is in child-welfare purgatory,” Brooks said.

Under state law, youths have six months after turning 18 to request a return to the cabinet’s care to get help with services such as independent living. They may remain in the program until age 21.

After cabinet officials refused her request to return to state care, Johnson, with Washington’s help, filed an appeal, which entitled her to an administrative hearing held June 9 .

The hearing officer found that Johnson requested independent living May 4, 2010, about three months after she turned 18 on Jan. 20. At that point, she was still in the cabinet’s custody. On May 13, 2010 a judge — at the cabinet’s recommendation — released Johnson from the cabinet’s custody, the hearing officer said

Washington said Johnson’s former social worker in Jefferson County, Michelle Cox, opposed Johnson’s request for independent living, telling him Johnson “was not a good candidate.” --WHAT KIND OF SOCIAL WORKER IS THIS?

This year, Johnson said, she showed up for her June hearing with little more than her life story to tell. Cox, she said, opposed her request to return to state care and was armed with a thick file of Johnson’s history in the cabinet’s care. Among problems Cox cited, Johnson said, were that Johnson had been “defiant” and had become pregnant as a teen. -- ALL THE MORE REASON SHE NEEDS SUPPORT TO MAKE IT AS A YOUNG ADULT

Still, hearing officer Deborah Stanley ruled in Johnson’s favor, noting she testified she had shown stability, had graduated from high school after leaving state care, has a job and is caring for her child while trying to continue her education.

“Based on the evidence and regulatory guidelines, Ms. Johnson’s commitment must be reinstated,” Stanley’s recommendation said. Johnson provided a copy to The Courier-Journal.

Johnson, a Louisville native, said she moved to Lexington to stay with a friend last year. She said she enrolled at Lexington’s Henry Clay High School.

“I was determined to graduate,” she said.

She also found a job at a fast-food restaurant, enrolled at Bluegrass Community and Technical College and moved into an apartment with the hope she would get enough money to keep up rent payments through the independent-living program.

But with her case still pending, Johnson said, she fell behind on the rent and was evicted in September. She is again staying with a friend.

“Sometimes it feels like a cycle that will never end,” Johnson said.

Washington said the delay is especially galling because Johnson has worked hard to pursue the appeal, a lengthy process that would discourage many young people.

“She could be in independent living and getting everything she needs,” Washington said. “The fact of the matter is we won an appeal and she’s homeless now.”

Johnson said it’s frustrating because she is trying to take charge of her life after years of foster care where social workers were in control.

“I feel like they lived my life for me,” she said. “I didn’t get to make decisions about nothing.”

Only 13% of children in Kentucky's foster care system were adopted in 2007

2010-11-28T10:10:00.000-08:00

"According to 2007 data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System, only 13 percent of children in Kentucky's foster care system were adopted. And older children are less likely to be adopted than younger ones. Many parents have chosen to adopt from overseas. Last year saw 262 international adoption cases in the state."

Source: Krzton-Presson, Rose. Cultural, Psychological Development an Issue in Older-Child Adoptions, WKMS, Nov. 26, 2010.

Young people deserve a voice regarding their placement

2009-05-22T06:58:00.000-07:00

Judge takes teen from state's care; foster parents granted custody
Yetter, Deborah. Louisville Courier-Journal, May 11, 2009.

In an unusual rebuke to state child welfare workers, a Jefferson County family court judge has removed a teenage girl from their care and granted temporary custody to her foster parents.

Circuit Judge Stephen George last month took that step, over the objections of state workers, after the workers reneged on an agreement to let the 17-year-old remain in the Bullitt County foster home where she had been thriving, said the girl's lawyer, Christopher Harrell.

"I think it's atrocious," said Harrell, who said the state previously had agreed not to move the girl from the foster home. "

The girl is not being identified because she is a minor and has experienced abuse.

George's actions remove the state's authority over the teen.

Jim Grace, head of Kentucky's child protection services, said in an interview that he can't comment on the specifics of the case because of confidentiality laws. But he said that, in general, state social service officials try to return children to their family homes when it's in their best interest.

Yet while family court proceedings involving abused and neglected children by law are confidential, Grace acknowledged the judge's decision to transfer custody from the state to the foster parents "may be unusual." And he said state officials will investigate the matter and see if further action is warranted.

Growing outrage
The girl, Harrell and others involved in her case agreed to talk to a reporter about the case because, they said, they are outraged by how state workers handled it, starting with the decision earlier this year to try to send the teen back to the troubled home they removed her from last year.

The girl said she told her social worker she was afraid to return home and wanted to stay in her foster home, where she was happy, treated well and improving in school.

"She said that wasn't an option," the girl said in a recent interview at her lawyer's office. "It was kind of like her way or no way."

The girl contacted a reporter after reading a Courier-Journal story in January about a youth in Oldham County who said he was being forced out of foster care just a few months before his high school graduation.

She told the newspaper she was experiencing similar treatment and noted that the move would have disrupted her education. Once failing in school, she said she's now makes As and Bs, has made up a year's worth of missed school credits, has joined the ROTC, is on track to graduate on time and is considering college or the military.

And none of the problems at her family home, including fighting and physical violence, have been resolved, she said.

She said her goal was to stay in foster care through age 18, then seek independent living from the state, which would provide continued support and help pay for college. Her first social worker encouraged her to work toward that goal by making good grades and following the rules in her foster home.

But she said a different social worker assigned to her case last fall told her the state's goal was for her to return to her family home, from which she was removed in April 2008.

"I don't think that makes sense," the girl said in the interview.

Foster parents step in
Harrell, appointed as a guardian ad litem to represent the girl's interests, said the foster parents also are unhappy with the state's proposed actions. They consider the girl part of their family and have agreed to take temporary custody even though they lose foster care payments from the state.

That family has declined to comment, saying foster care officials have warned them not to speak publicly about the case because of confidentiality rules.

The girl said she believes her case is similar to that of Julian Tweedy, 18, of Oldham County, whose situation was profiled Jan. 23 in The Courier-Journal. In that case, too, the foster parents agreed to keep him at their own expense while the matter was pending.

After the newspaper report, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services reversed its decision and allowed Tweedy to remain in foster care.

Case spurs criticism
Children's advocates harshly criticized the state for its actions in that case, and advocates for the girl say some of the state's actions in her case defy explanation.

"They're supposed to be there to help and protect kids," said Lisa Butler, a child advocate with the Jefferson County juvenile public defender's office who is assisting in the girl's case. "The whole thing is so broken."

The girl said she was frustrated by her state social worker, who she said refused to listen to her and threatened her and her foster parents with contempt of court if they didn't follow her directions. (Only judges can hold people in contempt of court, Grace said.)

The girl said when she objected to returning home, the worker said, "Life's not fair," the same thing Tweedy said his worker told him. Records provided by their lawyers, show both teens had the same social worker, Jacki Schultz, and the same social service supervisor, Billy Jenkins, managing their cases.

Neither Jenkins nor Schultz could be reached for comment and Grace, their supervisor, said they would not be available for an interview because of state confidentiality rules.

Tweedy and the girl, in separate interviews, each said they tried to tell Schultz they encountered fighting and violence on their occasional visits to their family homes.

Tweedy said Schultz told him that because he had turned 18, he was an adult and should handle it. The girl said Schultz told her she needed to try harder to get along with her family.

The most recent meeting over the girl's fate devolved into a shouting match between Harrell and Jenkins, said Harrell, who attended the April 8 session along with his client, Schultz, Jenkins, Butler, the foster parents and the girl's parents.

At one point case, Jenkins became so upset the girl offered him her "squeeze bunny," a spongy toy a therapist gave her to squeeze when she found herself getting tense, she said, a detail confirmed by Harrell and Butler.

"I said, here, I think you need this," she said.

Told of that allegation, Grace said that while he couldn't speak about this case, "we would never want that to happen."

Girl's future
Despite the rancor, the parties eventually agreed the girl could remain in the Bullitt County foster home and finish school, Harrell said.

But when the parties got to court April 15, he said, Jenkins and Schultz announced they had changed their minds and the girl was to be transferred to a new foster home in Jefferson County, which would have forced her to change schools near the end of her junior year.

It was then that the judge ordered the girl removed from the state's custody, finding the state hadn't made reasonable efforts to ensure an appropriate outcome.

Harrell said it's a good temporary solution but doesn't resolve all the issues. For example, if the girl isn't in foster care through her 18th birthday, she can't get free tuition at a state university and she can't qualify for independent living assistance beyond age 18.

Although the judge ordered the girls' parents to pay child support to the foster parents, it's only about half the financial support the state pays for foster care. And the state immediately cut off the girl's Medicaid coverage, leaving the foster parents scrambling to find health insurance for her.

Fostering Goodwill makes Christmas Wishes come true for foster care alumni on the holidays

2008-12-23T13:18:00.001-08:00

People who age out of foster care often need help
Davis, Merlene. Lexington Herald-Leader, Dec . 2, 2008.

Earl Washington knows what it is like to be 18 and itching to be free of the constraints of the foster care system he called home for 10 years.

Jeff Culver knows what it is like to help young people like Washington who age out of foster care but who have very little support to help them succeed in life.

Jeff Culver and Earl Washington work in the office of Fostering Goodwill, the non-profit they founded in 2006. They focus on young men and women who are legally adults and have aged out.

With experiences on both sides of the foster care fence, the two men focus their areas of expertise toward helping young people who are legally adults but who might not have the skills to maneuver in the adult world.

"We always talked about starting something for older foster youth," Washington said, "those who are about to age out and up to 23 or 24. People just want to get rid of them."

The numbers bear that out
The results of a 2007 study by the Pew Charitable Trust showed that annually 20,000 kids age out of foster care nationwide, an increase of 41 percent since 1998. One third of them didn't have a high school diploma and about 20 percent become homeless. Nearly half of the young women who have been in foster care become pregnant at least once by age 19.

Washington, director of the child placing services at the Methodist Home Independent Living Program, said he grew up in foster care in Lexington, spending a brief time in the juvenile justice system as well.

"I left my home when I was about 9 years old," he said. "I returned home for two to four months at a time. Nothing consistent."

At 18, he turned his attention to Eastern Kentucky University, where he wanted to study social work and give back to the community.

"I didn't have any expectations of being successful at that. I didn't go to public school until the last semester of my senior year. I attended classes at the Metro Group Home.

"I wanted my freedom and I wanted to be completely free of everybody," he said. "What we want may not be what we need. It is definitely not what may be best for you."

Upon reaching 18, those leaving state care have the option of staying with state supervision through independent living programs, which find them apartments and money to attend a public college or university or trade school.

"There are great programs, but they still have some gaps," Washington said. "We are working to improve those programs."

But, even if the youths leave the system, they can still return when times get tough and they discover that life as an adult can be difficult.

"They just need a mentor because they have no one," said Culver, who works with the state's social and juvenile services. "Some go back to families, where there may not be a meaningful relationship. Many go from place to place. But if they keep in touch with us, we will help them."

Emotions can run particularly low this time of year when the themes of love, family and home are stressed.

To help lift their spirits, Washington and Culver have devised a program called Christmas Wishes.

They ask for monetary donations or gift cards, which will then be distributed to youths who aren't quite the people we think of at Christmastime.

Along with the gift cards, a survey is mailed to the youths who are still in touch with independent living programs, asking what more can be done to bridge their entry into adulthood. Culver said they will use the responses to make improvements.

"People want to be Santa to 5-year-olds, but teenagers need something, too," said Susan Otero, owner of Rooster and Rose Home Boutique in Nicholasville's Brannon Crossing Shopping Center. "I think they are kind of forgotten with everything. They need just as much attention as the little ones."

Otero, who has spearheaded fund drives for foster children 10 years and older, started collecting luggage for children in state care when her son was a Cub Scout.

Before 9/11, Otero invited friends over for a fancy open house at Christmastime. Now she gives them a snack and asks them to donate gift cards to the youth.

"We target the older kids," she said. "We target the most needy, the ones whose parents have signed off on them or are incarcerated, or have drug issues, or health issues.

"These kids will be coming into the community soon and I would rather they have a good experience."

You can help by sending either a check or a gift card from a major retailer to Fostering Goodwill, P.O. Box 54561, Lexington, Ky., 40555.

They can also be reached by phone at (859) 509-4307 or (502) 741-9527.

Or you can drop off money or gift cards at Rooster and Rose Home Boutique. For every $5 donated at the shop, Otero said, donors are given a raffle ticket for a chance at a beautiful gift basket.

Plus, she said, she'll gladly give your gently used luggage to the foster children so that they won't have to move their possessions from place to place in a plastic garbage bag.

The gift cards can be loaded with any amount, but keep in mind how much a sweater or shoes costs these days. Monetary donations will be bundled to give larger gift cards to the young people who have children.

"They have to grow up fast when they age out of the system," Washington said. "It was just me when I went to college. I didn't have anyone to put money on my meal card.

"Speaking as a service provider, we don't prepare these kids well and then we expect them to succeed," he continued. "They have all the tools. We just need to help them get to that point."

Foster Children and Medical Care

2008-12-21T11:31:00.001-08:00

Clinic for kids in foster care celebrated Musgrave, Beth. Lexington Herald-Leader, Dec. 6, 2008.

Janice Hukle expected a hassle when she took one of her foster children to a new clinic on Waller Avenue.

The Jessamine County woman has been a foster parent to more than 100 kids over the past 30 years. And most of those kids needed special medical treatment.

Hukle was used to bullying and cajoling the medical system to get her kids the best services possible. But the doctors at the Medical Home for Coordinated Pediatrics spent a long time talking to Hukle about the needs of her foster daughter.

"They did everything for you," Hukle said of the staff at the clinic.

"There was no rush," she said. "I mean, that's just unheard of."

On Friday, the Medical Home for Coordinated Pediatrics — a clinic solely for the 7,100 Kentucky kids in foster care and the 9,000 kids who have been removed from their parents and are being taken care of by a family member — celebrated its 500th patient visit.

The clinic, a partnership between the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the University of Kentucky Department of Pediatrics, serves 20 counties and opened in the fall of 2007. It is the first clinic of its kind in Kentucky and one of the few clinics in the country dedicated solely to treating kids in the foster care system.

Approximately 80 percent of children in foster care have special medical needs, but getting medical care for them is often difficult.

Nearly all children in the foster care system are eligible for Medicaid, a health insurance program for the poor or disabled. But it's difficult to find doctors who consistently take Medicaid, said Eric Friedlander of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

The other problem, Hukle said, is that sometimes kids enter the foster care system with health problems that have been undiagnosed. Or they are in the foster care system because their parents didn't get them medical treatment.

"You have to go off of whatever information has been gathered," Hukle said. And sometimes that information is dismal at best.

This clinic allows for a continuity of care, said Teresa James, the deputy commissioner for the Department for Community Based Services, which oversees foster care. Children in the foster care system who are returned to their parents can still come to the clinic, James said.

Moreover, information about each child will be entered into a database, which social workers can access if the child re-enters the foster care system, James said.

First lady Jane Beshear, at a ceremony Friday to commemorate the 500th visit, said that in tough economic times, the state needs more innovative partnerships like this one.

"If you think differently, then many things can be accomplished," Beshear said.

UK provides most of the medical staff. The Commission for Children With Special Health Care Needs, which is part of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, provides the space. Medicaid pays for most of the care.

Friedlander said the state contributed $100,000 to the clinic's operations budget, and much of that money will be repaid by Medicaid.

Clinic dedicated to caring for the health of children in foster care

2008-12-10T17:46:00.000-08:00

First Lady Celebrates Work of Children's Clinic
University of Kentucky News, Dec. 9, 2008.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 9, 2008) – Kentucky First Lady Jane Beshear marked a milestone Dec. 5 at a University of Kentucky clinic, the first of its kind in the state dedicated to caring for the health of children in foster care.

The Medical Home for Coordinated Pediatrics (MHCP),a joint venture of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services’ (CHFS) Commission for Children with Special Health Care Needs (CCSHCN), the University of Kentucky College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics and CHFS’ Department for Community Based Services (DCBS), celebrated its 500th patient visit in less than one year of operation.

Beshear toured the center, met its staff and spoke about the benefits of the program. “Children’s health care is a priority of my husband, Gov. Steve Beshear,” said Beshear. “In these tight economic times we must use our existing resources to best serve the children of the Commonwealth – including those who are in state foster care. When a partnership like this results in so many benefits, it’s a win for all of Kentucky.”

The clinic is a one-stop medical center that provides comprehensive, compassionate, coordinated pediatric primary care for children in out-of-home care. The center, located in the CCSHCN’s Waller Avenue office, serves children in out-of-home care from Fayette and 19 surrounding counties. Medical information for children who visit the center is entered into CCSHCN’s database, which can be accessed by its staff statewide and follows the children no matter where they go, improving the consistency of care they receive.

CCSHCN Executive Director Rebecca Cecil said that clinic staff address each child’s needs, make appropriate referrals and coordinate follow-up care. “This clinic, coupled with the nine commission nurses stationed in DCBS offices across the state, provides a level of medical expertise that has been desperately needed,” she said.

DCBS Deputy Commissioner Teresa James said this continuity gives the children a medical home. “We strive to reduce the number of placements for our children in foster care,” James said, “but there are often situations when a child must be moved to another home or facility.”

The clinic also provides support for families in the Kinship Care Program, which places children with relatives rather than in a foster home, James said.

“The importance of this program to the health and lives of these Kentucky children is profound,” said Dr. Timothy Bricker, professor and chair, Department of Pediatrics, UK College of Medicine, and physician-in-chief of Kentucky Children’s Hospital. “The foster caregivers and the staff of this program are our heroes.”

Because the program is able to use existing commission clinic space and share some staff, the additional costs of running the clinic are less than $100,000. The clinic is located in available space within the commission’s office and Medicaid pays for the services provided to the foster children.

Approximately 7,100 Kentucky children are in state foster care. DCBS is responsible for coordinating an initial physical health screening within 48 hours of the child’s entry into out-of-home care. DCBS also must ensure that each child has a physical, dental and visual exam scheduled within two weeks of entry into care. About 122 children in foster care are considered medically fragile with specialized health care needs.

Concern about racial bias in Kentucky foster care system

2008-03-17T13:26:00.001-07:00

Former state employee speaks out against foster care
WBKO, Mar 16, 2008.

Bowling Green, KY - A former state employee says Kentucky officials are backing off an initiative to try to prevent racial bias in the foster care system.

Last year, Delanor Manson was asked to lead the effort to educate social workers, school officials and others about bias.

That came after the Cabinet for Health and Family Services admitted that the number of African Americans under the state's care was disproportionate to their numbers in the population.

Manson was fired in January by Governor Steve Beshear's administration, and now says the state is backing off the initiative.

However, officials with the Cabinet say they have put about $260,000 in state funding behind the effort.

Clermont County needs more foster parents

2008-03-15T07:40:00.001-07:00

County in need for foster care homes, families
Coomer, Regan. Florence Community Press.

With about 350 children in foster care and 80 to 90 foster homes in Clermont County operating at any given time, the Department of Job & Family Services is forced to send half of these children out of the county to homes in networks that are owned by businesses that provide foster care services.

Going into foster care is traumatic for a child no matter what, said Tim McCartney, director of Job & Family Services, but add moving out of the county to that, removing the child from the extended family, schoolmates and friends, and the child undergoes even more strain.

"But, we have to do it to make sure children have a safe environment to be in," McCartney said.

Erica Boller, a foster care supervisor in Clermont County, said "50 percent of our children leave the county and that's awful. They have to totally leave what's familiar to them. Our children should be taken care of by our community."

McCartney agrees displaced children should stay in the county.

"We believe these are Clermont County's kids and we want to make sure our community is taking care of the kids," he said.

One Clermont County woman who cares for foster children is Denise Strimple of Tate Township. Strimple and her husband have been foster parents since 1988.

"It's worth the risk," Strimple said. "The thing that most people say, 'I don't know if I can give them back,' It really is worth the risk to ourselves to know you're making life better for a child who doesn't have a choice or voice most of the time."

The Strimples have opened their home primarily to children with disabilities or medical issues.

"We spend most of our time with these children helping them overcome that and doing different therapies and appointments at Children's and things to help maximize their potential while they're with us," she said. "It's very rewarding to see them not being able to do things they should be doing at what age level they are to coming back to a typical area of where they belong."

Strimple said she and her husband generally care for one child at a time over a six-month period to give the child the advantage of their sole attention and care.

"It's always a heartbreak to say goodbye," Strimple said, "but it's certainly worth the investment."

Besides the negative effects of removing the children from everything they know, sending children out of the county also makes it harder for families to reunite after the parents have resolved the issues that caused the county to remove the kids, McCartney said.

"It's more difficult to reunify because of the distance. It's also frankly just more costly. We incur travel expenses for our staff, and networks, they're businesses, so it costs us more to pay a network to provide care for a child than it does for Clermont County foster parents," McCartney said.

Though there is a need for more foster homes in general, Boller said, "Our real need is for families that can take care of older children, school-age children and sibling groups."

Some county families are reluctant to provide care to older children because they either may be hoping to adopt, in which case the family would prefer an infant, or because they're not certain of what types of concerns or behaviors those children may bring into the home, Boller said.

However, the county provides mentors and training for families who open their homes to older children, Boller said.

"They report to us they feel the rewards tenfold from those children."

Boller said she'd like to see an additional 60 homes open up in Clermont County; if there were that many, children wouldn't have to be sent out of the county.

"We're really looking for people to help give a child a brighter tomorrow and please look into your hearts and give us a call. We are here and we want them to be there for our children," she said.

McCartney agreed that the county needs people who will provide good homes for displaced children.

"Simple fact of the matter is, in a growing count like us, we have 350 kids in care, five years ago we had a little less than two hundred, the number of kids that we have to care for has grown as the county has grown."

If you're interested in becoming a foster parent, call 732-STOP (7173) or visit clermontforkids.org. The county also is holding open houses in coming months at local libraries to provide information to people wanting to become foster parents. The next open house is at 7 p.m. March 20 at the Union Township Branch Library.

African American children overrepresented in Kentucky foster care

2008-03-15T07:39:00.001-07:00

Foster care bias program shuffled
Honeycutt Spears, Valarie. Kentucky.com

A former state employee said Cabinet officials are abandoning an initiative to educate those in the foster care system about racial bias.

Last year, after the Cabinet for Health and Family Services admitted that the number of blacks under the state's care were disproportionate to their number in the population, they asked Delanor Manson to lead their efforts.

Manson said that she was fired in January by Gov. Steve Beshear's administration. The Rev. Louis Coleman of Louisville, a civil rights activist, filed a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department, saying that the Cabinet is discriminating against the state's most vulnerable black families.

But Cabinet spokeswoman Vikki Franklin said that the initiative to educate social workers, school officials and others about bias continues through community meetings and workshops and that the Cabinet continues to support the program with state funding Ð about $260,000 in fiscal 2008.

Workshops have not been scheduled beyond June 30 because state agencies don't know how much money they'll receive in the budget, she said.

The Cabinet found in a study last year that in 11 counties, black children are represented in foster care at more than 1.5 times their percentage of the population. Fayette County is one of the worst examples, with black children in foster care at 3.4 times their proportion of the population. Black children represent 13.5 percent of the population in Fayette County, while they constitute 45.7 percent of the children in foster care. A bill filed by State Rep. Darryl Owens, D-Louisville, that proposes to open a Cabinet office to deal with the disparity in treatment for children of color, was passed by the House Health and Welfare Committee Thursday.

Manson said the Cabinet is opposing the bill.

However, Franklin said Cabinet officials are continuing to review the legislation.

Manson was executive director of the Cabinet's office for quality management. No one has since been hired to take over the workshops she led that educate workers in the system about racial bias, she said. Manson said she has continued to conduct the workshops called Race, Community and the Child Welfare System in areas with the biggest problems.

"I am continuing to do presentations, coordinate workshops and meetings as a private citizen without any reimbursement for travel, expenses or salary because it is essential that we keep the communities engaged," Manson said. "I don't want the momentum to go away."

Franklin said Manson is continuing the work on her own and "not at the invitation of the Cabinet."

As the state takes measures to further fund its own workshops, Manson said black children and their families are not being treated fairly.

"Failure to continue the work sends a signal that disparate outcomes for children of color is OK," she said.

BY THE NUMBERS
Kentucky counties with the highest percentage of black children in foster care:

Jefferson 592
Fayette 308
Christian 23
Graves 29
McCracken 46
Warren 82
Hardin 52
Boyle 17
Kenton 67
Daviess 32
Madison 15

Source: Cabinet for Health and Family Services

What about the PEW recommendations and advocating for the voice of the child?

2008-03-06T08:06:00.000-08:00

Bill would alter foster care process
Aims to protect parental rights.
Honeycutt Spears, Valarie. Feb. 23, 2008.

FRANKFORT --In Jefferson County, attorneys volunteer to help indigent families at a crucial first hearing to determine whether a child must live in foster care or can stay with an appropriate family member.

Parents in the rest of the state aren't as lucky -- indigent parents go to court without a lawyer initially.

Jefferson Family Court Judge Patricia Walker Fitzgerald takes it on herself to make sure that all families are educated about complex and confusing court procedures. She tells them in clear terms that if their child has been removed by a social worker, the child could be headed for a state adoption. As a result, according to Fitzgerald, "more children are able to stay with their families."

Elsewhere in Kentucky, many parents don't realize that they can lose their child forever until it's too late.

State Rep. Darryl Owens' House Bill 151 would require that the entire state embrace the policies Jefferson County officials voluntarily carry out.

"What we have now is not a system, it's just luck," said Robin Cornette, a Lexington lawyer who often works as a court-appointed attorney. "If we are serious about holding social workers accountable for their work, about ensuring that parents' rights to their children are not unjustly terminated, then we have to create a real system, one which does not rely solely on the luck of finding free or underpaid lawyers."

House Bill 151 requires attorneys to be appointed before the first hearing in child protection cases, called the temporary removal hearing. It directs judges to tell families in writing and orally that they stand to lose their children permanently. The bill was drafted by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services' Blue Ribbon Task Force on Adoption after 16 months of hearings.

John Hamlet, a court-appointed attorney in Jefferson County, said the bill "provides some protection for the most vulnerable families."

House Bill 151 would give court-appointed attorneys in child protection courts the first raises they've had since the 1980s. Now, court-appointed attorneys in child protection cases are paid a maximum of $500, and in some jurisdictions, only $250 -- no matter how long the case goes on, how complicated the case is, or how many hours are required. The bill would raise that amount to $1,000.

It would require that an attorney be appointed for indigent parents who want to appeal the termination of their parental rights.

State Rep. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, said she will call the bill for a vote next week in the House Judiciary Committee, which she chairs. She will also call House Bill 421, promoted by Chief Justice Joseph E. Lambert, which would make child protection hearings open in selected courts across Kentucky in a four-year pilot program. Child protection courts in most states are open to some degree.

Rep. Susan Westrom, a Lexington Democrat who introduced House Bill 421 and is a co-sponsor of House Bill 151, thinks Senate leaders will realize the importance of the reform legislation.

After multiple hearings and investigations into allegations that children were being improperly removed from their families, Westrom said she believes people expect results.

"We've got to prove that we listened, so that no family or child will be abused by the system," she said.

But Stein's counterpart in the Senate, Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, isn't making any promises. Stivers, who heads the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he has had only a brief conversation with Lambert's aides about the open court bill and hadn't read it or other legislation concerning child protection courts because the bills aren't yet moving in the House.

"It would be premature for me to comment on the chances for passage," Stivers said this week.

With the state's budget constraints, David Richart of the Louisville-based Institute on Children, Youth and Families thinks the likelihood that lawmakers will increase fees for court-appointed attorneys "is not great." But he said lawmakers could save the parts of the bill that give families an attorney earlier in the process, that supervise court-appointed attorneys and that educate families to the fact that the state could arrange an adoption for their children.

"Even if the fee increase is cut," Richart said, "there are still some substantial things we can do to improve child protection court procedures."

Meanwhile, Leigh Anne Hiatt, a spokeswoman for Lambert, says that he will soon be meeting with Stivers.

"We are continuing to educate legislators about the purpose of the bill and how it will be implemented," Hiatt said.

Kentucky Youth Connects and Kentucky Organization for Foster Youth

2008-02-26T16:00:00.000-08:00

For former foster kids, there's help out there
Davis, Merlene. Lexington Herald-Leader, Feb. 26, 2008.

Stefanie Burnett, 24, has spent 10 years in foster care and lived in six placements.

But don't feel sorry for her.

"It made me who I am and it has definitely given me a lot of will and strength," Burnett said.

Had she not endured the ups and downs, the good placements and not-so-good ones, "I don't think I would be the person I am today," she said.

Who she is is a graduate student at the University of Kentucky in her last year of a master's degree in merchandising and textiles.

And she wants other young people who have aged out of the foster care system to understand that they can do the same thing and more.

Burnett is a regional youth coordinator for KYneX, or Kentucky Youth Connects a mentoring and networking program throughout the state that teaches current and former foster youth how to survive on their own.

The program matches the youth with people who can help them apply for subsistence money, teach them how to balance a checkbook, build a resume or get utilities turned on, she said.

"We have a really strong support network," Burnett said. "They can voice their concerns here and get that off their chests. It is hard to find a place where everyone will understand what is going on."

George Duvall, state KYneX coordinator, said support is invaluable to a foster youth. Four out of 10 homeless people have been in foster care, he said.

KYneX targets youths who are 15 to 23. They don't have to be students in college or technical school to benefit.

A sister program, Kentucky Organization for Foster Youth, or KOFFY, allows young people to travel the state gathering information about the foster-care experiences of other children. They then act as intermediaries between foster youth and lawmakers to effect change.

Burnett said she was allowed to stay with her last foster family until she graduated from high school, even though she had turned 18. She then left to attend summer school at UK.

Not all foster youth are granted that option or even want it, Duvall said. Once they reach 18, he said, some "burn bridges with workers or with foster families and don't have anywhere to turn to."

Duvall said more people need to know about the program. "We want to get the word out there to people who work in foster and adoptive care. We have something not only for in-care, but as they age out."

For example, there is money available to pay college tuition, fees and housing allotments for former foster children.

In Lexington, the program serves about 350 people a year. There are similar programs on each college campus in Kentucky except for Kentucky State University, which is served by the Lexington program, and the University of Louisville, where the city has a support network.

Plus, Duvall said, there will be an annual conference June 6 to 8 for foster youth and former foster youth and their adult supporters at Western Kentucky University. It will celebrate the program's fifth anniversary.

"Everything is absolutely free," he said. "We feed you, educate you and have fun."

Each participant must have an adult supporter or have one assigned to them.

To attend the state conference, call Duvall at (859) 257-4094 or e-mail him at gduvall@uky.edu

Burnett thinks it will be well worth your time.

She said she was 19 when she received a call nearly five years ago inviting her to attend a meeting. She has been part of the program ever since.

"I was immediately intrigued by what I could do to give back," she said. "Just because I had left foster care didn't mean I had to put it in my past.

"It's all about benefiting the foster youth of Kentucky."

Snakehandling foster parents- now, I've heard it all

2007-12-15T18:41:00.001-08:00

Foster Parents Who Refused to Stop Attending Snake-Handling Services Sue After Losing License
FOX News, Nov. 30, 2007.

LONDON, Ky. — A southeastern Kentucky couple who say they refused to agree not to attend snake-handling religious services have sued a foster-care agency after their license was revoked.

Melissa Dixon, a lawyer for Jason and Tammy Barrett of Laurel County, wouldn't say whether the Barretts have handled snakes before but said they have never taken their foster children to the services. They also promised not to take the children to such services, she said.

Dixon said the Barretts hope the public will focus on the religious freedom issues in the lawsuit rather than on snake-handling.

The Barretts allege that Lifeway for Youth Kentucky, a foster-care agency that contracts with the state, violated their constitutional rights. They say the agency revoked their license and took custody of the foster children in their care in November 2006 because they had formerly attended services where snakes were handled.

Officials at Lifeway's Lexington office did not return a phone call for comment.

The Barretts are still licensed foster parents through another agency, Dixon said. They've been licensed since October 2005, and they are licensed to care for kids with special needs.

"Mr. and Mrs. Barrett became foster parents because they felt it was in their heart to help children and it was something they felt in their heart ... they needed to do," Dixon said.

Jason Barrett, a Holiness faith evangelist, was a founding member of his church in 2005, helped start new churches in other states and helped save struggling churches, Dixon said. She declined to disclose the name of Barrett's church.

The church no longer participates in the practice, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in London on Wednesday. It names Lifeway, nine of its employees and the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

Linda F. Long, 48, of London, died last year after she was bitten in the face by a rattlesnake during a service at East London Holiness Church. Her family is suing Marymount Medical Center in London over allegations that members of the medical staff made derogatory comments about her religious beliefs rather than providing proper care.

The Barretts' lawsuit alleges that Lifeway revoked their license because of news coverage of Long's death.

"From the information I have been able to gather, they (Lifeway officials) were concerned with their own liability and public image," Dixon said.

In Ohio, a 3-year-old mentally disabled boy died last year after the family Lifeway placed him with bound him with a blanket and left him in a closet. State officials there have been trying to revoke the agency's license.

Hardin County social workers are not held accountable

2007-08-18T12:07:00.000-07:00

Grand jury declines to indict social service workers
Yetter, Deborah. Courier-Journal, July 31, 2007.

A grand jury in Hardin County has declined to indict any state child - welfare workers over allegations that some of them lied in court, falsified records and otherwise abused their authority.

The grand jury, in a report released yesterday, found too much time had elapsed to charge anyone with criminal violations in 18 cases it reviewed of workers' conduct in child abuse and neglect cases.

But in the harshly worded report, grand jurors called for more outside oversight of the state's child-welfare system and tougher laws to deal with errant workers, noting they have "potentially devastating power" over children and parents.

The six-page report also criticized the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services for not acting sooner to sanction employees involved in misconduct.

The findings that triggered the grand jury investigation were contained in a January report by the cabinet's inspector general. That report cited arbitrary and — in some cases — deliberate mistreatment by workers of families at risk of losing children in abuse or neglect cases.

"We found it both disturbing and shocking that these few employees were able to act in such a manner toward the families involved, as well as the court system, without any significant disciplinary measures being taken," the report said.

Mark Washington, the state official in charge of social services, said in a statement yesterday that the cabinet has been investigating the allegations and is about to act.

"The cabinet will finalize personnel actions in August," the statement said. But some people were disappointed with the lack of criminal charges yesterday, including Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, and David Richart, director of the National Institute on Children, Youth and Families in Louisville.

The two child advocacy organizations released reports last year that alleged widespread problems among some workers in the Lincoln Trail social - service region that then included Hardin and seven surrounding counties.

The lack of criminal charges "gives everyone a pass, and I think that's regrettable," said Richart, who has worked with some families in the region to try to help them resolve disputes with the state.

Richart said he talked to several of the families yesterday and they were disappointed but didn't want to speak publicly.

"They just feel like the justice system let them down," he said.

Brooks said the results leave him wondering how the state can guarantee "kids and families are treated consistently, equitably and fairly."

Hardin Commonwealth's Attorney Christopher G. Shaw, who led the grand jury investigation, said he and grand jurors also were frustrated that they could not identify any felony violations, which have no statute of limitations and could have been prosecuted.

Any possible criminal violations appeared to be misdemeanors and were outside the 12-month statute of limitations for prosecuting lesser offenses, he said.

"It was frustrating and depressing," Shaw said

He said the grand jurors took the unusual step of deciding to issue a report because of their frustration and because of the publicity generated after the cabinet's inspector general issued a public report citing wrongdoing by some workers and referring them for possible charges to the grand jury.

"We did everything we could do," Shaw said.

Neither the grand jury nor the inspector general's report identified any employees by name , and there were no further specifics in the case. In his statement, Washington said the cabinet only obtained names of employees suspected of misconduct in April from the inspector general, which acts as an independent watchdog. It then began investigating, in accordance with state personnel law, he said.

The grand juror's report noted that criminal laws dealing with employee misconduct in child-welfare cases provide few serious sanctions. It called for "clearly defined felony criminal penalties."

By law, child-welfare cases are confidential and outside public scrutiny. The grand jury report suggested that "perhaps a separate agency outside the cabinet should be established and given the power to review and, if necessary, remove those employees" found to have abused their authority.

Brooks said he believes the state is working to improve oversight of employees and consistency of decisions in child-welfare cases. A blue - ribbon commission formed last year is studying ways to improve the system.

But he said the inability of the grand jury to bring charges despite alleged abuses detailed in the inspector general's report leaves him concerned that there's no clear way to hold workers accountable.

"It should not bring a lot of comfort to the families in Hardin County," Brooks said.

Reporter Deborah Yetter can be reached at (502) 582-4228.

KY social workers off the hook for their crimes

2007-08-04T13:26:00.000-07:00

Grand jury declines to indict social service workers
Yetter, Deborah. Louisville Courier-Journal, July 31, 2007.

A grand jury in Hardin County has declined to indict any state child - welfare workers over allegations that some of them lied in court, falsified records and otherwise abused their authority.

The grand jury, in a report released yesterday, found too much time had elapsed to charge anyone with criminal violations in 18 cases it reviewed of workers' conduct in child abuse and neglect cases.

But in the harshly worded report, grand jurors called for more outside oversight of the state's child-welfare system and tougher laws to deal with errant workers, noting they have "potentially devastating power" over children and parents.

The six-page report also criticized the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services for not acting sooner to sanction employees involved in misconduct.

The findings that triggered the grand jury investigation were contained in a January report by the cabinet's inspector general. That report cited arbitrary and — in some cases — deliberate mistreatment by workers of families at risk of losing children in abuse or neglect cases.

"We found it both disturbing and shocking that these few employees were able to act in such a manner toward the families involved, as well as the court system, without any significant disciplinary measures being taken," the report said.

Mark Washington, the state official in charge of social services, said in a statement yesterday that the cabinet has been investigating the allegations and is about to act.

"The cabinet will finalize personnel ac tions in August," the statement said. But some people were disappointed with the lack of criminal charges yesterday, including Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, and David Richart, director of the National Institute on Children, Youth and Families in Louisville.

The two child advocacy organizations released reports last year that alleged widespread problems among some workers in the Lincoln Trail social - service region that then included Hardin and seven surrounding counties.

The lack of criminal charges "gives everyone a pass, and I think that's regrettable," said Richart, who has worked with some families in the region to try to help them resolve disputes with the state.

Richart said he talked to several of the families yesterday and they were disappointed but didn't want to speak publicly.

"They just feel like the justice system let them down," he said.

Brooks said the results leave him wondering how the state can guarantee "kids and families are treated consistently, equitably and fairly."

Hardin Commonwealth's Attorney Christopher G. Shaw, who led the grand jury investigation, said he and grand jurors also were frustrated that they could not identify any felony violations, which have no statute of limitations and could have been prosecuted.

Any possible criminal violations appeared to be misdemeanors and were outside the 12-month statute of limitations for prosecuting lesser offenses, he said.

"It was frustrating and depressing," Shaw said

He said the grand jurors took the unusual step of deciding to issue a report because of their frustration and because of the publicity generated after the cabinet's inspector general issued a public report citing wrongdoing by some workers and referring them for possible charges to the grand jury.

"We did everything we could do," Shaw said.

Neither the grand jury nor the inspector general's report identified any employees by name , and there were no further specifics in the case. In his statement, Washington said the cabinet only obtained names of employees suspected of misconduct in April from the inspector general, which acts as an independent watchdog. It then began investigating, in accordance with state personnel law, he said.

The grand juror's report noted that criminal laws dealing with employee misconduct in child-welfare cases provide few serious sanctions. It called for "clearly defined felony criminal penalties."

By law, child-welfare cases are confidential and outside public scrutiny. The grand jury report suggested that "perhaps a separate agency outside the cabinet should be established and given the power to review and, if necessary, remove those employees" found to have abused their authority.

Brooks said he believes the state is working to improve oversight of employees and consistency of decisions in child-welfare cases. A blue - ribbon commission formed last year is studying ways to improve the system.

But he said the inability of the grand jury to bring charges despite alleged abuses detailed in the inspector general's report leaves him concerned that there's no clear way to hold workers accountable.

"It should not bring a lot of comfort to the families in Hardin County," Brooks said.

2007-07-06T18:42:00.000-07:00

Volunteer to Help Foster Children Without Opening Your Home
Harsh, Erica. WTVQ, July 6, 2007.

The Family Courts are asking for your help putting foster children back in their homes sooner.

The Citizen Foster Care Review Board is searching for volunteers to review the cases of foster children. After eight hours of training you could be ready to help get kids into a permanent home faster. By reviewing cases, program director Patrick Yewell says you can make sure kids don't get lost in the system.

"Children spend an average of about three years in foster care... it's so important that we have people who their only interest is children," Yewell, a former foster child said.

Yewell says board members report to a Family Court judge who can then make a more informed decision on what to do with a particular child.

There are currently 140 review boards across Kentucky; ten of those are in Fayette County. To get information about a review board near you call1-800--928-2350

Wow - they've fostered between 150 - 160 teenagers

2007-06-03T18:13:00.000-07:00

Temporary parents 'foster' good feelings
Robinson, Rianna. Georgetown News, June 3, 2007.

Nora and Mike McCain are foster parents in Scott County. They say they have fostered between 150 and 160 teenagers.

Today in Scott County, there are 80 to 85 children in the foster care system, and the adults and families who provide a temporary home for them say they defy conventional ideas about foster children.

Ruby Harris has been a foster parent for 32 years, and has given a temporary home to more than 100 children from newborn to 12. Currently, Harris is foster mother to three children, and said that every child has had the same basic needs.

"They're all kids," Harris said. "They all need the same thing. They need someone to love them and take care of them."

Harris treats foster children in her home the same as she would treat her own children, and said foster kids create no more challenges than her own children.

"They're a part of the family," Harris said. "Most little kids won't have emotional issues."

The most important thing for a foster parent is to have love in their heart for children, she said. Foster parents are well trained and willing to go the distance for the children, Harris said.

"I would honestly say that Scott County has some of the best foster parents," she said, "They will go to bat for the kids, and they do the same for their foster kids as they would their own kids.

"I've been a foster parent long enough that I have kids that are grown and still come see me. If you don't get attached to the kids, you're in the wrong business."

Even so, that same attachment makes it tough to let go when the time comes. The foster care program is meant to be temporary.

"The goal is that all of the children will go home to their parents eventually," Harris said.

Scott County has a great need for foster families that accept teenagers, such as the McCain family, Harris said.

Nora and Mike McCain have been foster parents since 1984, and have fostered between 150 to 160 teenagers.

Parents who are more concerned with their own needs than those of the children often cause the anger she sees in the younger generation, said Nora McCain.

"I see a lot of kids out here and I think we're raising a generation of kids who're angry," McCain said. "They're angry because their parents don't have time for them. Mike and I need to remember that we can't save the world, but we wish we had a 10-bedroom house so we could take in 10 kids."

The McCains began their work with teenagers at a home for delinquent boys. Mike said it took about two years for them to begin to understand the problems the teens faced. Many foster kids are unfairly judged because of negative stereotypes attached to being a foster child, he said.

"There are a lot of good teens out there that aren't given a chance," Mike said.

Most of the problems the Mc-Cains have encountered with foster children stem from low self-esteem. Foster kids often feel their birth parents don't love them, which makes them feel worthless, Mike said. Many children who end up in foster care have pretty much been left to fend for themselves until that point, he said, adding that the teens' low self-esteem makes it harder for them to set good boundaries for themselves.

"Every kid brings their own set of problems into the house," Mike said.

Right now, the McCains are foster parents to four teenage girls, and said that sometimes there are conflicts in the house. When that happens the whole family sits down for a meeting to discuss problems before they erupt into bad behaviors, he said. Everyone in the house is expected to pitch in and help out with chores like cooking and cleaning, and most of the time everyone cooperates. Occasion-ally, a teenager might act out, but the McCains have learned to see past a child's behavior to understand the root of why they acted out to begin with, Mike said.

"I think the kids really realize that we do care for them," he said.

The foster care system often puts children in institutions designed for juvenile criminals, Mike said.

The social services system in Kentucky doesn't do enough to train foster parents about how to deal with the unique problems teenagers face, he said.

The state should raise the per diem amounts foster parents receive to encourage more people to become foster parents, and more money should be spent on training for potential foster parents, he said.

Many foster kids develop resentment towards their foster parents because the kids feel like their birth parents are being replaced.

"We can be a family for them, but we can't replace their birth family," Mike said.

Children fostered by the McCains attend church with the family, because Mike believes the large church youth group helps teens hone their socialization skills. The McCains work with a child's birth parents so they can visit their children whenever it's possible.

One of the McCains' foster children is 17-year-old "Jane," who has been with the family for seven months.

"I don't feel like I'm in foster care," she said. "I have a lot of support."

Before "Jane" came to stay with the McCains, she lived with her parents. Her mother was abusive and withheld food, showers and other basic needs from her, calling them privileges, the teen said. She called the police five different times to tell them what was going on in her home, and said it was only after she threatened suicide that police removed her from the home and put her in a group home in Bourbon County.

"If I hadn't (threatened suicide) they would have put me in the detention center," she said.

"Lily," 16, has been staying with the McCains for about six months. She is in foster care after a family member sexually abused her. The teenager's mother did not believe her, so she fled to a neighbor's house for help. She eventually moved in with the McCains. Though her situation with her mother is still rocky, "Lily" still sees her mother and is going to family counseling with her and the family member who abused her. "Lily" said she's grateful to the McCains for all they've done for her.

"They're wonderful people, and they've helped me a lot," she said.

Foster children receiving inadequate medical care

2007-05-24T07:12:00.000-07:00

Medicaid not enough for foster children
Wheeler, Stertease. AXcess News, May 24, 2007.

(Georgetown, KY) Washington - Children in foster care are at a higher risk for developing mental and physical health problems, but it's much harder for these children to receive proper medical care, experts said Monday.

They spoke at a discussion in the U.S. Capitol on federal issues regarding the health and well being of foster care children.

The focus of the discussion was on inadequate Medicaid funding, which in turn dictates how much medical care children in foster care receive. The panelists also discussed the need to push for mandatory medical coverage for children leaving the foster care system and to improve dental coverage and child-placement practices.

Dr. David M. Rubin, director of research and policy at Safe Place: Center for Child Protection and Health, said that states are not required to provide Medicaid coverage to young adults after age 18. Safe Place is a program developed by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to provide resources to address the medical and psychosocial needs of at-risk children.

The Chafee Independence Act of 1999 gives states the option of extending medical coverage to foster children who become too old for the system at age 18 and to help them make the transition into adult life. The "Medicaid Foster Care Coverage Act of 2007," introduced in the Senate in March, would make Medicaid coverage of foster care children mandatory through age 21.

Access to adequate dental health care is also a problem among foster children receiving Medicaid.

Foster parent Deborah D. Williams of Dumfries, Va., is a long-time foster parent.

"Dentist's wouldn't take kids under 4 on Medicaid," Williams said. "We do need care and more help in finding doctors that will take Medicaid."

According to a study conducted by the Child Welfare League of America, one-third to one-half of children afflicted with dental problems were reported to have dental decay. The CWLA is an association of almost 800 nonprofit agencies headquartered in Arlington, Va., that is responsible for assisting more than 3.5 million neglected children annually.

Another issue is whether kinship care, or children placed with relatives, is better than general foster care. Rubin said welfare workers make kinship care a priority over general foster care, but there isn't overwhelming evidence to prove that placing children with relatives is better.

"There is scant and conflicting evidence to show how placement of a child in kinship care influences the child's well-being long-term," Rubin said.

Despite the conflicts, Rubin did not dismiss the idea, and he said it could prove to be a good alternative to general foster care.

"We need to think about placement with kin. It is an important alternative to traditional foster care that may help children exit the system quickly," Rubin said. "I'm not here to say that we should push every child in kinship care, there has to be some limits ... they have to have some relationship with the child."

To provide better health care and an overall better way of life for children in foster care, two bills have been proposed to ensure better care of foster children. One would help relatives of foster children who agree to care for them and the other would also help non-relatives.

Source: Scripps Howard Foundation Wire

246 security incidents since new online system for KY social workers was implemented

2007-05-20T15:39:00.000-07:00

Security web system praised
Facilitates reports of threats, attacks
Kentucky Post, May 14, 2007.

Some Kentucky social workers are giving high marks for a computer-based system that allows workers to report threats, attacks and other security concerns.

The reporting system is among changes by the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services since the slaying of Western Kentucky social service aide Boni Frederick last October.It enables social workers to report security concerns to Frankfort using a Web site that immediately e-mails the report to supervisors in Frankfort and in the field.

Previously, workers had to fill out a written report and fax or mail it to Frankfort.

Shenise Mack, a Jefferson County social worker, said the computer-based system is "going to be a way to help us." Jennifer Williams, who also works in Jefferson County, called it a sign of "tremendous progress."

Both said threats and attacks are an ongoing problem for social workers who often deal with hostile and angry adults who sometimes have mental-health or substance-abuse problems.

The new statewide system is resulting in swifter action against people who make threats, state officials said last week to a group of social workers and others studying safety.

Since the computer-based system began in November, 246 incidents have been reported, according to a report provided to the work group. In 33 of those cases, law enforcement or emergency medical officials were notified, it said.

The incidents included threats, assaults and disorderly conduct. Thirteen cases resulted in criminal charges.

Tom Emberton Jr., Kentucky's undersecretary for child and family services, said the system allows the state to act swiftly on such reports and compile a database to track trends and identify areas of particular concern.

Bruce Linder, who oversees the state's nine social service regions, said he gets the reports immediately by e-mail, which allows him to keep up with threats or attacks on social workers and make sure they are being handled properly by regional supervisors.

"It really has sped up the process," he said.

Joel Griffith, a regional supervisor, said he thinks workers are more likely to fill out the online reports -- partly because its faster and easier -- and also because, following Frederick's death, state officials repeatedly reminded workers to report security concerns.

As a result, Griffith believes more workers are reporting threats or other incidents they might previously have shrugged off as part of the job.

Meanwhile, the study group formed after Frederick's death will continue its work to come up with recommendations for lawmakers in 2008. It was the group's first meeting since the General Assembly in March passed legislation named after Frederick. The Boni law is aimed at upgrading safety and getting more frontline social workers on the job.

The group also discussed resources for social work, how to get more workers on the job, how to make offices safer, how to get faster criminal background checks on clients before they visit the home and ways to improve safety when workers make home visits.

Frederick was fatally beaten and stabbed in Henderson when she took an infant for what was to be a final home visit with his mother. The state recently had moved to sever the mother's parental rights and place the child for adoption. The mother and her boyfriend have been charged with Frederick's murder.

People need to be able to report child abuse without fear of retaliation, but in this case it seems like the cop went too far

2007-05-20T15:38:00.002-07:00

Suit alleges child taken without cause
Parents say neighbor stirred action by calling her police officer son
Honeycutt-Spears, Valarie. Lexington Herald-Leader, May 14, 2007, pg. B1.

A Williamsburg police officer conspired with a state social worker to take custody of a woman's 2-year-old son after the woman got into a dispute with the officer's mother, according to a lawsuit filed last week.

The suit, filed Tuesday in Whitley Circuit Court, says that on April 9, Felicia Morgan of Williamsburg "had words" with her neighbor, telling the woman to stop "snooping" and "peeping" through a privacy fence. According to the suit, the neighbor called her son, Williamsburg police Officer Wayne Bird.

Within minutes Bird, in uniform, appeared on Morgan's doorstep along with state social worker Stephanie Bryant, who took custody of Morgan's 2-year-old son, according to the court complaint.

The lawsuit maintains that the child was taken without just cause.

According to the complaint, Bird told Felicia Morgan not to curse at his mother, "and the next time (his mother) called or he saw Plaintiffs outside he would clean house with the Plaintiffs on or off duty."

Bird and the social worker told Morgan that they were investigating a complaint that the Morgans -- Felicia and her husband, Anthony -- were permitting the 2-year-old to drink beer.

"It was obvious to Stephanie Bryant that the child was not intoxicated, was drinking root beer and was well-cared for," the lawsuit said.

A Cabinet for Health and Family Services document attached to the complaint states that Bryant found no evidence of a problem.

"This investigation is found to be an unsubstantiation at this time. A case will not be opened. No finding of neglect has been found," said the April 12 report, signed by Bryant and her supervisor.

"Overall," said the Morgans' attorney, David Smith of Corbin, "this shows that the Cabinet (child protection officials) in Whitley and McCreary counties is completely out of control."

Bryant took the child and placed him in the temporary custody of Felicia Morgan's mother. Social workers returned the child to his parents the next day, after the parents hired an attorney.

The Morgans are suing Wayne Bird, his mother, Gladys Bird, and Bryant, alleging that the three "clearly falsified untrue allegations."

The lawsuit also names the city of Williamsburg and Bryant's employer, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, as defendants. The couple asks for $8,000 in damages.

The two agencies "negligently supervised their employees and permitted them to act outside their duties, in an unconstitutional manner," the complaint says.

A lawsuit gives one side of a story. Wayne and Gladys Bird and Bryant did not return phone calls.

Cabinet spokeswoman Vikki Franklin said Cabinet officials could not comment because they had not received the lawsuit.

Williamsburg City Police Chief Denny Shelley said he was not aware of the lawsuit or the incident.

"No formal complaint has been filed with the city," Shelley said.

The complaint alleges that Bird searched without a warrant both the Morgans' house and that of a neighbor.

The Morgans passed two drug tests in the hours after the child was taken.

Although the social worker did not find any evidence that the couple had been neglectful, they were required to sign a "safety plan" promising that they would not "party" in front of their child.

In the past 18 months, the Cabinet has fielded several complaints that Kentucky social workers unjustly remove children from homes. Earlier this year, the Cabinet's inspector general found that some state social workers, mostly in Hardin County, were vindictive against parents and committed possible crimes as they removed children inappropriately.

In recent weeks, a judge in Whitley County also criticized social work officials there for placing a foster child in a home where a registered sex offender "freely roamed."

Social workers deserve to be protected

2007-05-20T15:38:00.001-07:00

Beyond the Boni Bill Louisville Courier Journal, May 12, 2007, pg. A8.

If salaries were measured on the Richter scale, the pay of most social workers would barely register. Yet, they fill some of the toughest jobs in state government — for example, when they must meet face to face with people about to lose custody of their children.

So, the new, statewide, computerized Critical Incident Reporting System represents a badly needed safety upgrade. Through it, social workers can quickly alert their superiors about threats and other security concerns. In turn, those potential risks can be tracked and, if warranted, other agencies can be called in. Previously, workers filled out paper reports and mailed or faxed them to Frankfort.

Technology is a beautiful thing, and early indications are that the new system is a big hit. Since it was started up in November, 246 incident reports have been logged, including 33 that resulted in law-enforcement and/or emergency medical officials being notified.

It's impossible to know if the system would have saved Boni Frederick, the social service aide who was murdered last October when she took a baby for a final visit with its mother before it was put up for adoption.

But Ms. Frederick's death obviously put the heat on state government. In March, the General Assembly passed the "Boni Bill," with the aim of putting more social workers on the front lines and making it safer them to do their jobs.

And there's more to come.

Mark Birdwhistell, secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, told the safety study group formed after Ms. Frederick's death that it's his job to come up with more recommendations to be considered by the General Assembly next year.

Meanwhile, we'll know how seriously Kentucky takes its responsibility to protect abused and neglected children by the degree to which it acts to protect the state workers sent in to rescue them.

Threats, assaults and disorderly conduct against social workers

2007-05-20T15:37:00.002-07:00

System helps social workers report dangers
Still more to do, study group told
Yetter, Deborah. Louisville Courier-Journal, May 10, 2007, pg. B1.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The threat was alarming — a father, angry that his children had been removed by child welfare officials, promised to kill the family caring for them and cut the throat of the social worker investigating his case.

"It's a common occurrence," said Joel Griffith, a regional supervisor who added that the threat occurred in his Northern Kentucky region. "It's a shocking occurrence."

But a new statewide computer system to report and track such incidents is resulting in swifter action against people who make threats, state officials yesterday told a group of social workers and others studying safety.

Formed after last October's murder of Western Kentucky social service aide Boni Frederick, the group will continue its work this year and held its first meeting since the General Assembly in March passed legislation named after Frederick. The Boni law is aimed at upgrading safety and getting more frontline social workers on the job.

Mark Birdwhistell, secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, told the group that the bill is a start and the study group's job is to come up with further recommendations for lawmakers in 2008.

"We really have to get down to work and prepare for the '08 session," he said.

The cabinet already has enacted some changes, including the "Critical Incident Reporting System," a computer-based effort that allows workers to report threats, attacks or other security concerns to Frankfort using a Web site that immediately e-mails the report to supervisors in Frankfort and in the field.

Previously workers had to fill out a written report and fax or mail it to Frankfort.

Some social workers at yesterday's meeting said the reporting system is one of the most significant improvements since Frederick's death.

"I think it's going to be a way to help us," said Shenise Mack, a Jefferson County social worker.

"That to me is tremendous progress," said Jennifer Williams, who also works in Jefferson County.

Both said threats and attacks are an on going problem for social workers who often deal with hostile and angry adults who sometimes have mental health or substance-abuse problems.

Since the computer-based system began in November, 246 incidents have been reported, according to a report provided to the work group yesterday. In 33 of those cases, law enforcement or emergency medical officials were notified, it said.

The incidents included threats, assaults and disorderly conduct. Thirteen cases resulted in criminal charges, including the Northern Kentucky man who threatened to kill the social worker and family caring for his children.

Tom Emberton Jr., Kentucky's undersecretary for child and family services, said yesterday the system allows the state to act swiftly on such reports and compile a database to track trends and identify areas of particular concern.

Bruce Linder, who oversees the state's nine social service regions, said he gets the reports immediately by e-mail, which allows him to keep up with threats or attacks on social workers and make sure they are being handled properly by regional supervisors.

"It really has sped up the process," he said.

Griffith said he thinks workers are more likely to fill out the online reports — partly because its faster and easier — and also because, following Frederick's death, state officials repeatedly reminded workers to report security concerns. As a result, Griffith believes more workers are reporting threats or other incidents they might previously have shrugged off as part of the job.

"I know I'm getting lots more of the reports," he said.

The group also discussed resources for social work, how to get more workers on the job, how to make offices safer, how to get faster criminal background checks on clients before they visit the home and ways to improve safety when workers make home visits.

Frederick was fatally beaten and stabbed in Henderson when she took an infant for what was to be a final home visit with his mother. The state recently had moved to sever her parental rights and place the child for adoption.

The mother and her boyfriend have been charged with Frederick's murder.

Several workers said yesterday the state needs a protocol to assess an increased danger to the worker as circumstance of a case change with rules to back it up.

Griffith said he gets memos from workers who say they have been threatened and that they plan to hold the next meeting with the family in a state agency office instead of the home.

"I say OK, but there's no policy that says it's OK," Griffith said. - THERE SHOULD BE

Children's attorneys: You get what you pay for!

2007-05-20T15:37:00.001-07:00

Accused state social workers still on the job
State gets a 'D' in representing neglected kids
Lexington Herald-Leader, May 2, 2007, pg. B3.

A recently released report on legal representation for foster children gave Kentucky a "D" for the representation it provides to abused and neglected children, according to officials from Kentucky Youth Advocates.

First Star, a national child advocacy organization based in Washington, issued the report, giving grades to states based on mandates for representation, training requirements, children's involvement in proceedings and attorney immunity from malpractice.

Kentucky was one of six states to receive a "D" grade based on a 100-point index; 15 states received failing grades. Kentucky received a score of 60 out of 100. Neighboring states received a range of grades. Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri were given failing grades, Ohio received a C, Tennessee got a B, and West Virginia got an A.

The group made recommendations to the Kentucky legislature that included developing training for attorneys, requiring that children keep the same attorney if possible, and giving children the right to legal representation during the appeals process.

The First Star report also recommended that children's attorneys have caseload and compensation levels that allow for "effective assistance of counsel."

"While Kentucky guarantees attorneys for children in its child welfare system, the issue of quality representation is simply not adequately addressed," said Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates. "At a broad level, we can do more to support the quality issue through proactive legislation in 2008 and a focused commitment from the legal profession. On a pragmatic basis, issues like increasing fees for court-appointed attorneys are imperative if we really want to tackle the quality issue."

Louisville-based Kentucky Youth Advocates is one of two groups that issued a report on concerns with adoption practices, particularly in Hardin County, in January 2006.

Funeral for Marcus Fiesel

2007-05-20T15:35:00.001-07:00

Funeral held for boy murdered by foster mother
Greber, Dave. Kentucky Post, May 5, 2007, pg. A4.

Some who came to Marcus Fiesel's final send-off Friday found consolation in the fact that the 3-year-old who died such an ignominious death -- bound in a blanket and closed up in a closet for two days during a sweltering August weekend -- was at last getting a proper funeral.

"That little boy got some respect for once in his life," said Paul Brownstead, foreman of the Clermont County, Ohio, jury that convicted Marcus' foster mother, Liz Carroll, of his murder, leading to a prison sentence of 54 years to life for her.Carroll's husband, David Carroll Jr., got 16 years to life after copping a plea. He was also convicted of burning the boy's body.

Friday, all that remained of Marcus, 18 charred bone fragment enclosed in a casket no larger than a child's toy box, were buried in a cemetery here.

Earlier in the day, his biological mother, Donna Trevino, wept as she greeted mourners at a funeral home where about 60 people paid their respects.

Some carried flowers and stuffed animals, and many said they felt compelled to attend even though they didn't know the boy. "For me personally, this was the ultimate violation of civil rights," said Anita Scott Jones, president of the Middletown NAACP.

But there was also consolation in the fact that the boy's death has prompted calls for sweeping reform of Ohio's foster care system.

Among changes that have been proposed: adding staff and funding for the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services to intensify its oversight of private foster agencies like the one that placed Marcus with the Carrolls; mandating annual criminal background checks of foster parents and adding drug testing to them; and developing a central database for criminal and personal background checks.

Reformers also want a database of foster caregivers whose licenses have been revoked and requiring a five-year waiting period before they can apply for reinstatement.

At the county level, Marcus' death provided the impetus to disband the Butler County Children Services Board and merge the agency with the county's Department of Job and Family Services. And the case cost board director Jann Heffner her job.

The Children Services board has decided to oppose Butler County Commissioners' plan to disband it, which could occur as early as May 14 with a unanimous vote by commissioners.

Contracts with private foster care agencies, such as Lifeway for Youth, which selected the home where Marcus died, were renegotiated for more frequent foster parent background checks. They now require state, federal and driving record checks every year, local criminal checks every six months, and notification within 24 hours of criminal activity.

Instead of every three months, caseworkers began checking private foster homes inside and outside the county monthly starting in September.

Why are these 13 social workers still on the job and working with children?

2007-05-20T15:34:00.000-07:00

Probe alleged violations of law and policy
Honeycutt-Spears, Valarie. Lexington Herald-Leader, May 2, 2007, pg. 3B.

FRANKFORT -- At least 13 state social workers remain on the job nearly four months after a Kentucky inspector general's investigation alleged that they had committed crimes and violated policies while removing children from their families.

Also still working is a supervisor under investigation since April 2006 for allegedly trying to alter documents and intimidate witnesses in the investigation by the inspector general for the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services, spokeswoman Vikki Franklin has confirmed.

Franklin said the supervisor, Pam Tungate, an assistant administrator for the cabinet's Lincoln Trail region based in Elizabethtown, is working in another county until the cabinet completes an internal personnel review launched as a result of the inspector general's report.

Former Inspector General Robert J. Benvenuti spent a year investigating inappropriate state adoptions, terminations of parental rights and foster care before releasing a report in January.

Benvenuti found that employees gave false testimony in court and falsified public records and adoption records. The investigation showed that one social worker threatened, struck and cursed clients. Another social worker did not visit families, but lied and said she did.

All of those workers are still on the job. Cabinet officials are reviewing the cases to determine appropriate personnel actions while they continue working, Franklin said.

Benvenuti turned his findings over to Hardin Commonwealth's Attorney Chris Shaw, who could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Terry Brooks, executive director of Louisville-based Kentucky Youth Advocates, said his organization is concerned that the workers might still be dealing with families.

Brooks said his organization is not suggesting that the social workers be pegged as guilty before the investigations are complete.

"But if the cabinet is serious about changing its climate and practices," Brooks said, "you have to wonder if you can do that with the same players."

No one listened to Tonya Thomas' concerns about foster children being in daily contact with sex offender

2007-05-20T15:33:00.001-07:00

Sex offender 'roamed' in foster home
Judge chastises officials
Honeycutt-Spears, Valarie. Lexington Herald-Leader, May 1, 2007, pg. A1.

WILLIAMSBURG -- A judge says that Kentucky child protection officials were "reckless and negligent" for repeatedly placing children in a foster home where a known registered sex offender "freely roamed."

In an April 10 order, Whitley District Judge Daniel L. Ballou said the registered sex offender lived on the property of and adjacent to the Whitley County foster home, was in the foster home on a daily basis, "freely roamed the premises of the foster home and was not prohibited from having daily contact with foster children."

Ballou's order said the cabinet "knowingly placed Kentucky children in harm's way."

Ballou's order is the latest in a series of allegations from child advocates, judges, attorneys, frontline social workers and families involving the cabinet's placement of foster children. Some complaints allege that social workers, especially supervisors, make inappropriate decisions under the guise of federal laws that make it easier to remove children from their families.

In his order, Ballou said that in regard to the Whitley County case, he agreed with the late President Ronald Reagan who once quipped, "The most terrifying words in the English language are 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'"

"However, in the present case," Ballou wrote, "the humor is lost in the potential danger this child was placed in due to the incompetence of the government."

Ballou ordered a teenage girl in foster care at the home returned to her mother. Other foster children were in the home, according to the order. The order did not speak to the status of those children, but the judge ordered the cabinet not to place any children in the foster home.

In response, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services "is reviewing the matter and shares some of Judge Ballou's concerns," Cabinet spokeswoman Vikki Franklin said. "We are in the process of determining whether appropriate actions were taken and whether additional training is necessary."

Ballou's order said the cabinet for Health and Family Services regional office in London was notified of the situation on or before May 2006 "but took no appropriate and necessary action to protect the children placed in their care." The judge's order does not name the sex offender.

Ballou's order said that one social worker, identified as Tonya Thomas, was "professional, diligent and conscientious" in notifying the court that the foster children were in daily contact with the sex offender. Ballou's order said that aside from the efforts of Steve Halstead, a former Cabinet regional office employee, "no immediate action" was taken by Thomas' supervisors in the regional office to protect the foster children.

At an April 4 hearing, the judge's order said, "testimony by Cabinet personnel was fraught with inconsistencies and exposed an irresponsible degree of indecisiveness on the part of Cabinet leadership as well as convenient bureaucratic memory lapses."

Ballou ordered the cabinet to provide three reports. One outlining complaints, reviews, income information and details about the foster home was due within 20 days. A second report detailing the safety of all children in state custody in Whitley and McCreary counties, where the judge also presides, was due within 30 days. A third report on allegations of other sex offenders living on the premises of foster homes in Whitley and McCreary counties was due within 20 days.

A 2006 report by child advocacy groups Kentucky Youth Advocates and the Louisville-based National Institute on Children Youth and Families cited examples of social workers at odds with regional supervisors who failed to protect children while trying to keep removal and adoption numbers high.

National Institute Executive Director David Richart said that Whitley and McCreary counties were "one of the pockets of danger" mentioned in the 2006 report called "The Other Kentucky Lottery."

"Like a broken record, the cabinet keeps saying it will conduct internal reviews" of problematic cases, " said Richart, "but sunshine is the best disinfectant, and that's why it's necessary for people outside the cabinet to be involved in the reviews."

Boys Haven training foster youth to succeed in the KY horse industry

2007-05-04T16:24:00.001-07:00

Boys' Haven turns to horses
Equine program will aid clients
Smith, Peter. Louisville Courier-Journal, May 1, 2007, pg. B1.

While some are preparing a garland of roses for a Kentucky Derby winner this week, a small group is preparing a home for other horses they hope will bring more lasting benefits for needy youths and young adults.

Boys' Haven, which operates programs to help abused, homeless and struggling youths, is building a barn on its campus, located near Bardstown Road and the Watterson Expressway .

A grand opening is scheduled for Monday.

The barn, with a capacity of 12 horses, will be used to train Boys' Haven clients how to take care of horses, and eventually the group also hopes to bring in horses that can be used for therapy for disabled and traumatized children.

"There are a lot of kids who have been in foster care and residential care," said Jay Wilkinson, manager of the new equine program at Boys' Haven. "When they leave the state (system), they really don't have the employment skills to handle a job. They end up on the streets, in need of services."

He said the Kentucky horse industry has "a very ample supply of entry-level positions, with benefits," with the ability to advance.

Joshua Adams, 26, a former Boys' Haven resident, is helping to build the barn and plans to be in the first class.

"I've learned a lot just through building the barn," Adams said. "...We've been working pretty much seven days a week, trying to meet this deadline" for the grand opening.

Adams added that he knows nothing about horse care but wants to learn.

"I'd like to be able to just be involved in the trade, maybe eventually one day have my own horses," he said.

Boys' Haven has a dozen students — all adults — lined up for its first six-month training program, Wilkinson said. They will take care of three thoroughbreds and two standard bred horses — including getting them ready for races. They will also visit horse farms for their training.

In addition, the agency eventually hopes to house retired horses that could be used in an "equine therapy" program in which children with disabilities can ride and care for the animals.

"It works very well with kids with disabilities, both mental and physical, especially autistic kids," Wilkinson said.

"When they can take a horse ... and they can walk it, they bond with that horse" and develop self-esteem," he said.

The total cost for the barn is $55,000 in materials, with staff, students and volunteers providing the labor, said Vern Rickert, executive director.

"It's a very important project for us," he said.

"I'm surprised at how many other people are excited about it. It's just really caught hold in terms of interest in the general public."

According to Boys' Haven, major contributors and volunteers include the Al and Guy Campisano Family Trust, Doug and Susan Byars, C & I Engineering, Courier-Journal employees, Community Foundation of Louisville, Joseph Elmore, the Kentucky Equine Education Project, Kentucky Foster Youth Transition Assistance and Nicholas X. Simon.

Amy Baker deserves what she gets

2007-04-27T18:20:00.001-07:00

Judge won't cut bond for Baker
Kinney, Terry. Kentucky Post, April 24, 2007, pg. A2.

A judge refused to reduce bond Monday and set a May 17 hearing on the extradition to Kentucky of the key witness against a couple convicted in Ohio for the death of their 3-year-old foster child.

Amy Baker was granted immunity by Clermont County prosecutors to testify against Liz and David Carroll, a Union Township couple who left Marcus Fiesel bound in a closet while they attended a weekend family reunion in Kentucky.On Friday, authorities in Mason County, Ky., filed charges against Baker, accusing her of helping to get rid of the boy's body in the Ohio River -- which is Kentucky territory.

Baker, the live-in girlfriend of David Carroll, remained in jail following her hearing in Clermont County Municipal Court. Judge James Shriver refused her attorney's request to lower the bond from $50,000.

Baker surrendered Friday in Batavia to Clermont County prosecutors and has been held in the county jail since.

Defense attorney Norm Aubin said Baker will fight extradition to Kentucky. He said she doesn't have the money to pay the bond and could remain in jail for several months while the extradition fight is settled.

"It's not fair," the lawyer told Shriver. "It's not right."

Shriver was asked to appoint a special prosecutor in the case.

Clermont County prosecutors aren't happy that authorities in Kentucky filed charges against Baker after they gave her immunity to cooperate.

"Amy Baker should not be plucked out of Ohio to stand charges in Kentucky," Aubin said after the hearing.

Maysville police filed an arrest warrant on Friday, accusing Baker and David Carroll of tampering with physical evidence. Baker testified under immunity that she was with Carroll when he burned the boy's body and threw the ashes and other remains into the Ohio River off the William Harsha Bridge between Maysville and Aberdeen.

Clermont County prosecutors said they were assured by Kentucky officials that they would not pursue charges against Baker.

"If they did want her, they should have told Hamilton County and Clermont County prosecutors they did," Aubin said.

"They waited until it was all over before they even decided to do it."

Aubin said Mason County Attorney John F. Estill and Commonwealth Attorney Kathryn B. Hendrickson should have consulted with prosecutors in Ohio before filing charges against his client.

"We don't know why they're doing it," he said.

"You're going down the road of prosecutors getting in the way of each other's cases. You're supposed to use your own judgment and not bow to public pressure."

Estill could not be reached for comment Monday.

The Carrolls were accused of leaving the developmentally disabled boy home alone, bound in a blanket and tape inside a closet, while they went to a family reunion. The boy was dead when they returned to the home.

Baker testified at Liz Carroll's trial, which ended in her conviction in February. Carroll was sentenced to at least 54 years in prison.

David Carroll acknowledged his role in the boy's death rather than go to trial, and was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison.

The case sparked calls for changes in the way Ohio dealt with foster children. The state revoked the license of Lifeway for Youth, the private agency that licensed the Carrolls as foster parents, although Lifeway is now appealing that action.

Amy Baker showed David where to burn Marcus' body

2007-04-27T18:19:00.001-07:00

Maysville charges Amy Baker
Eigelbach, Kevin. Kentucky Post, April 21, 2007, pg. A1.

The star witness in the murder cases against Marcus Fiesel's foster parents now faces a felony charge of her own in connection with the little boy's death.

Amy Baker, the live-in girlfriend of Liz and David Carroll Jr., turned herself in Friday afternoon at the office of Clermont County, Ohio, Prosecutor Woody Breyer after learning that officials in Maysville had issued a warrant for her arrest on a charge of tampering with evidence.She remained in custody Friday evening at the Clermont County Jail, with her bail set at $50,000 cash, pending an extradition hearing.

Breyer blasted the action by Kentucky officials, saying it was a betrayal of the deal he made with Baker to give her immunity from prosecution if she testified against the Carrolls.

Authorities claim that on Aug. 7, Baker drove David Carroll's SUV over the William Harsha Bridge while he threw some of the boy's remains into the Ohio River. The span connects Maysville with Aberdeen, Ohio.

That's the basis for the "tampering with physical evidence" charge, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Maysville police have also obtained a warrant for the arrest of David Carroll on the same charge, but had not served that as of Friday.

"We were in no hurry to get him served," Maysville Detective Ken Fuller said. "We know he ain't going nowhere."

David Carroll is serving a sentence of 16 years to life at the Southern Ohio Correctional Institution in Lucasville.

Through a plea deal with prosecutors, he received a lesser sentence than his wife. She is serving a 54-year sentence in the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville, Ohio, after a jury convicted her of murder and other charges.

Prosecutors in Hamilton and Clermont counties gave Baker immunity in exchange for her testimony, a deal that sparked anger throughout the region and helped drive the case against her in Kentucky, Fuller has said.

She told jurors during Liz Carroll's trial that she showed David Carroll a spot in Brown County where he could burn Marcus' body, then accompanied him there.

The 25-year-old Batavia, Ohio, woman also said she drove the Carrolls' white GMC Envoy across the bridge into Maysville, while David Carroll threw out what remained of Marcus' body after the burning.

The river is part of Kentucky, under the jurisdiction of Mason County.

Mason County Attorney John F. Estill asked Maysville police to investigate after the legal proceedings in Ohio were over, Fuller said.

Estill told The Ledger Independent newspaper in Maysville that he had promised Clermont County prosecutors not to interfere with the murder investigation. Since both Carrolls have been convicted, however, the "issue is moot," he said.

He could not be reached for elaboration Friday afternoon.

Breyer said the prosecution of Baker was driven by talk radio and questioned why Baker was being held on a high bond.

"She's not a danger to flee," he said.

Marcus, 3, who was autistic, died after the Carrolls and Baker left their home in Clermont County's Union Township on Aug. 4 for a family reunion in Williamstown.

Baker testified that Liz Carroll held Marcus while her husband wrapped him in a blanket, bound with duct tape, with his head and bare feet sticking out, and placed him in a playpen inside their walk-in closet.

Baker testified that Liz Carroll didn't want to take the boy to the reunion for fear that someone would ask about a bruise on his neck, which he suffered after David Carroll left the boy in his car seat all night.

When the Carrolls and Baker returned home from the reunion two days later, Marcus was dead.
Nine days later, Liz Carroll told police that she had taken him to Juilfs Park in Anderson Township, Ohio, and found him missing after she had passed out because of a health problem.

Police and hundreds of volunteers searched the park and surrounding area for days.

A week later, she called a news conference and asked people to keep looking.

KY Summit on Children needs to include people in and from foster care

2007-04-27T18:18:00.002-07:00

Summit to focus on children in the courts
Meeting's goal is to improve system
Steitzer, Stephanie, Louisville Courier-Journal, April 25, 2007, pg. B2.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Supreme Court Chief Justice Joseph Lambert announced plans yesterday for a summit meeting aimed at improving the way the court system handles children.

Lambert said the Kentucky Summit on Children — to be held in Louisville this summer — would be the first of its kind.

He said it would bring together roughly 500 professionals, including judges, social workers, public defenders and foster parents, to talk about issues such as truancy, substance abuse and foster care.

"There is no more important issue in Kentucky or in any place than the well-being of our children," he said.

The summit is scheduled to be held Aug. 27-30. Afterward, nine regional meetings would be held to get feedback from communities on some of the ideas presented at the Louisville event.

Lambert said he hopes to make a final decision on some of the proposals by the summer of 2008.

Plans for the summit were presented during a meeting of a blue-ribbon panel that has been studying the state's adoption procedures since last August.

The 13-member panel has been looking into complaints that some parents have had their rights terminated too soon because courts across the state are inconsistent and some judges aren't properly trained in family law.

Mark Birdwhistell, secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said he has strengthened standards for placing children in the care of relatives. He said the cabinet also has worked to provide more training to front-line staff and developed a checklist to help judges ensure due process for children and birth parents.

More changes, including possible legislation, could result from the work of the blue-ribbon panel and the summit, officials say.

KY Summit on Children, Aug. 27-30 in Louisville

2007-04-27T18:18:00.001-07:00

Foster care shifts to family
Relatives seen as best placements
Honeycutt-Spears, Valarie. Lexington Herald-Leader, April 25, 2007, pg. B1.

FRANKFORT -- Kentucky officials are changing child protection practices in response to widespread criticism of foster care adoptions, and Chief Justice Joseph Lambert is calling for improvements to the state's child welfare courts.

Under the new child protection practices, social workers will be directed to try harder to place children with extended family members before they turn to non-relative foster parents. Birth fathers and paternal relatives would particularly benefit from this change.

"We've identified these opportunities for improvement with the expectation that they will mean more equitable results for birth parents," Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Mark Birdwhistell said yesterday at a meeting of a state Blue Ribbon Panel on Adoption.

Birth parents whose children are placed in foster care also will be told in clear terms by social workers and in writing that they stand to lose their children to adoption, Birdwhistell said.

The changes, which will take effect immediately, coincided with the announcement of an initiative by Lambert to improve Kentucky's courts and child welfare system.

The first-ever Kentucky Summit on Children will be held Aug. 27-30 in Louisville, Lambert said.

As many as 500 professionals will gather to offer recommendations to the Administrative Office of the Courts that don't necessarily require changes in the law.

"All corners of the state will be included in this broad-based discussion on how to provide the best care to our children," Lambert said.

Lambert said that the summit will study the issue of the fast-tracking of state adoptions versus children lingering in foster care and administrative procedures that would help prevent juvenile delinquency and child maltreatment.

At the summit, judges, lawyers, lawmakers, court and child welfare professionals will study truancy, court appointed attorneys, jailing juveniles and substance abuse.

Lambert will then host nine regional meetings in Kentucky on how to improve the court system's handling of children's issues. Lambert said he would approve the changes to the courts and child welfare system in June 2008.

The initiatives come at a time when Kentucky's child protection system is under intense scrutiny.

A federal law passed in the late 1990s directs social workers to find prospective adoptive parents for children soon after they are placed in foster care and allows courts to terminate parental rights more quickly than in the past.

Two Kentucky child advocacy groups released a report in January 2006 that raised the possibility that the cabinet was removing children inappropriately.

The cabinet formed the Blue Ribbon Panel on Adoption in August to study the problem.

Then, earlier this year, a cabinet inspector general's report said that some social workers in Elizabethtown broke laws as they unjustly removed children from their biological parents.

In preparation for the 2008 General Assembly, the task force yesterday decided to create work groups to study whether child protection records and courts should be open.

The work groups also will study whether court-appointed attorneys would receive their first increase in fees since the 1980s and whether state social workers are adhering to policy.

Chief Justice Lambert said he thought it was possible that Kentucky child protection courts and records, now closed to the public, could be opened but "that would require legislation."

Meanwhile, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services will create pamphlets to inform all parents whose children have been placed in foster care that they could lose their parental rights and their children be adopted.

The cabinet and Administrative Office of the Courts also are developing a checklist for judges to use to make sure that children and their birth parents get due process in court. Use of the checklist by judges will be voluntary, not mandated.

Legislation that would have required judges to educate birth parents failed in the 2007 General Assembly.

As a result, Birdwhistell said he has decided to go ahead and make as many changes as he could administratively, with social workers educating parents.

1,400 of Kentucky's 7,000 foster children are in residential treatment centers

2007-04-27T18:17:00.001-07:00

State boosts children's home aid
Yetter, Deborah. Louisville Courier-Journal, April 24, 2007, pg. A1.

Private residential centers for some of Kentucky's most severely abused or neglected children are getting some extra financial help from the state.

Starting July 1, the state will provide about $4.7 million in increased payments over 12 months for children it sends to the nonprofit, mostly faith-based centers, Mark D. Birdwhistell, secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said yesterday.

The action comes after lawmakers failed in the 2007 legislative session to approve about $7.5 million that centers such as Home of the Innocents and Brooklawn Child and Family Services had requested to keep up with rising costs.

"We're elated," said Jerry Cantrell, executive director of Bellewood Presbyterian Homes for Children in Jefferson County. "We can stop stretching things so thin and get back to the total focus on taking care of the children."

About 7,000 children are in state custody because they have been removed from their homes because of abuse or neglect.

About 1,400 are at private residential centers, and the rest are in foster care, with relatives or in other placements.

Bart Baldwin, president of Children's Alliance, representing about 40 such centers, said the rate increase — the first since 2000 — will help until 2008, when the alliance hopes lawmakers will consider extending the rate increase .

Some lawmakers, including Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville, and Rep. Jimmie Lee, D-Elizabethtown, agreed that the centers the state relies on to care for such children are overdue for a rate increase.

But the increase got bogged down among other spending disputes in the session's final hours.

Meanwhile, officials with the centers said they were being forced to cut back services — or close altogether.

"This will really make it so that we can survive," Cantrell said.

The state — which doesn't operate any facilities for children removed from their homes — pays private centers about $170 to $180 per day, depending on the child's needs.

Officials say that hasn't kept up with the rising costs of providing 24-hour supervision and care for children, some who are severely emotionally disturbed.

They estimate the costs at $200 to $240 per day — and they say they struggle to make up the difference from donations, fundraising and help from sponsoring church organizations.

Birdwhistell said Gov. Ernie Fletcher approved the cabinet's plan for a one-time reshuffling of funds to help the private centers.

The move takes about $4.7 million from a fund used to help low-income parents pay for child care but replaces it with federal funds the cabinet reallocated.

"It's not to the detriment of any program," said Tom Emberton Jr., the cabinet's undersecretary for child and family services.

Ralph Risimini, president of the board of St. Joseph Children's Home in Louisville, said the increase will help his facility — but he hopes the state takes a more comprehensive look at paying the true cost of caring for children.

Foster care has become a 'sea of statistics'

2007-04-27T18:16:00.000-07:00

Kentucky's kids need a happy ending Crawford, Byron. Louisville Courier-Journal, April 22, 2007, pg. B1.

On a Sunday when events of the past week have heightened concern for America's children, the plight of nearly 400 youngsters across Kentucky looking for homes and families to love them should take on added urgency.Most of the children have been removed from homes where they were mistreated or abandoned. Many of their stories never make the news or touch the public conscience — but each is a tragedy in desperate need of a happy ending.

Nationwide, their numbers are so great that their individual cases have become a sea of statistics: more than 500,000 children in foster homes, and more than 100,000 hoping to be adopted.

There are 6,900 children, from babies to 18-year-olds, in foster homes across Kentucky — 1,100 in Jefferson County alone — waiting for the state to decide their fates. Of about 375 children up for adoption in the state, 113 are in Louisville.

"We are in crisis right now," said Betty Bastin, recruitment coordinator for Foster Care and Adoption Services in Jefferson County.

"The kinds of situations we're seeing with children seem like they worsen every couple of years. And also we're in crisis with foster homes, because we don't have enough," she said.

Many of the children placed in foster care eventually return home, but regular mentoring and monitoring are needed.

"People don't always want to be parents," said Bastin, who was adopted as an infant. "They want the glory of being a parent, but they're not doing the right things. Families are hurting out there."

Younger children are usually adopted sooner, while many children between the ages of 12 and 18 are passed over. Those who never find someone to care may eventually wind up in the jail system.

Jose Dunn, who is on the placement team of Bastin's agency, was one of several children removed from a single-parent household. He might easily have become such a statistic had he not found hope for his life through the example of several role models.

"Eventually every child was taken away from my mother and was either adopted or fostered out, or were on the street, or they died," said Dunn, a retired Air Force captain.

"I had a house father and his wife when I was in an orphanage ... who dedicated their lives to living with us, and loved us by leading us and limiting us. If it wasn't for good people who stepped up to the plate, I don't think I'd be here today."

He notes that volunteers who are unable to serve as foster or adoptive parents may help keep distressed families together by serving as mentors or respite care providers.

"You can adopt a family," said Dunn. "Sometimes, even if we can't help the parent, we can help the child feel more comfortable and feel like they're going to make it.

"I loved my mother. She made a lot of mistakes, but if somebody would have been there to help guide her ... I think she would have made it," he added. "Money would not have made the difference. What would have made the difference is actual hands-on people."

To learn more about how you can help, phone (502) 595-KIDS in Louisville or call the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services adoption branch at (800) 928-4303.

Surge of deaths due to domestic violence

2007-04-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

File rash of kids' deaths under domestic violence
Thomas, Darlene. Lexington Herald-Leader, April 16, 2007, pg. A6.

Each of the violent deaths and serious assaults that occurred the past few weeks was domestic violence. Not a domestic dispute, not a relationship gone sour, but real individuals trapped by coercive, controlling and violent conduct.

When a domestic-violence death occurs, it often evokes strong emotions. We ask why she didn't leave. How could a man hurt his own child? Why would any human being want to hurt the people or person they say they love?

Arrests have been made in the recent episodes of violence, but in our quest to fully understand how this continues to occur, we must look beyond the physical perpetrator and wonder: Where were the neighbors, the police, social services, the shelter, the courts, the schools, the church?

Questioning systems designed to help protect adult and child victims is important; questions make sure that we stay diligent to our missions and never take for granted the capacity for harm to occur.

But these systems can only operate from the information they are given. Judges, police officers, teachers, social workers and domestic-violence program advocates are here to help, to assess, assist and provide options and choices, but the system cannot do it alone.

Domestic violence is a community issue, not an individual issue. Domestic violence does not discriminate, therefore no one is immune. Understanding that the impact of family violence touches schools, college campuses, workplaces, our places of faith, neighborhoods and families is imperative if we are to address the issue holistically.

When considering breaking the cycle of violence, families experience a wide range of feelings, including embarrassment, humiliation, fear, isolation and abandonment. As a community, we can begin to address those feelings by:

* Becoming aware of the problem and sending clear messages that we do not condone or tolerate family violence.

* Encouraging the media to report information about where victims can go and who they can contact for support.

* Encouraging businesses to include domestic violence protocols in their risk-management policies to help protect victims and other employees.

* Openly discussing the issue of family violence from our pulpits, classrooms, board rooms and women's and men's associations, affirming to victims and perpetrators that the "secret" no longer holds power.

* Supporting service providers and researchers who are trying to help families in need through donations and volunteerism.

* Partnering with school officials to address potential gaps in monitoring home schooling, especially if the family has been identified as high-risk.

* Encouraging friends, family and neighbors to report suspected abuse.

People ask, "Where were they?" I challenge with the question, "Where are we?"

-Darlene Thomas
Executive director of the Bluegrass Domestic Violence Program
Lexington, Kentucky

Join the Conversation about racial inequities in foster care

2007-04-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

Readers Forum: Confronting the racial disparities in the foster care system
Deines, Helen. Louisville Courier-Journal, April 9, 2007, pg. A6.

Applause for your April 3 editorial regarding "Race and family" in Kentucky.The commonwealth's Cabinet for Health and Family Services has courageously acknowledged the racial disparity in the number of children it removes from their own homes and places in foster care.

No state is exempt from this problem.

Kentucky models honesty in being among the first to plan specific actions to keep all children safe in ways that are also fair to every child and family.

The statewide plan is actually an expansion of a pilot program, nurtured in the Cabinet's Metro Louisville office with the guidance of the Casey Family Programs Foundation.

Many of us in Louisville — child welfare workers, birth parents who have regained custody of their children, youth raised in foster care, community partners, academics — have been working together for 18 months to grapple with these racial disparities and to make changes in all of our work.

There are some key facts to face:

-Research is clear that white families and families of color in like circumstances are equally likely to maltreat their children.

-Most children in foster care are there for poverty-related neglect, not abuse.

-The racial inequities we see in child welfare mirror the racial inequities we see in health care, education, criminal justice and economics.

-We are dealing with community problems that play out in the lives of children. The Cabinet for Health and Family Services cannot respond to these problems alone.

-Professional child welfare workers need each of us to do what we can, especially to reach out to poor families of color.

There are many ways to help, from lending a hand to a neighbor experiencing hard times, advocating for a living wage, welcoming affordable housing stock in our subdivisions, unraveling our un- spoken biases, and — of course — calling the child abuse hotline if we suspect a child is in danger.

There is even a Web site where you can keep current, ask questions, request a speaker for your congregation and make your opinion known. Just go to www.jointheconversation.net

It will take this whole community to undo the racial inequities embedded in the lives of our children.

HELEN DEINES
Louisville 40220

I used to play these commercials really loudly, and hope my father would listen to them -- it didn't work

2007-04-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

'Hugged your kid's' Jack C. Lewis dies
Idea came from bumper sticker
Burba, Paula. Louisville Courier-Journal, April 4, 2007, pg. B6.

Jack C. Lewis, who was responsible for popularizing the 1970s "Have You Hugged Your Kid Today?" slogan, died Sunday at Baptist Hospital East in Louisville.

Lewis, who lived in Frankfort, Ky., was 72.

He said he got the idea for the bumper sticker after seeing something similar while on vacation in South Carolina.

While commissioner of the Kentucky Bureau for Social Services — the agency overseeing foster care, adoptions and juvenile delinquency — Lewis had 10,000 red-and-white bumper stickers with the saying printed, with "Kentucky Department for Human Resources" in unobtrusive type below the "Have You Hugged Your Kid Today" slogan in bold red ink. That was in the spring of 1976.

Less than six months later, people were reported fighting over the stickers at the state fair, where the agency, which normally did not advertise, had to set a limit of one sticker per family.

"All my life I've been impressed by what it can do to touch someone's shoulder," Lewis told T he Courier-Journal in 1976. "Over 90 percent of juvenile delinquency — if that (hugging) were practiced in the home — wouldn't happen."

By the time he resigned from his position as commissioner in July 1978, more than 350,000 "Have You Hugged Your Kid Today?" bumper stickers had been distributed to all 50 states and 17 countries.

A native of Bell County, Lewis was a graduate of Union College and earned his master's degree in social work at the University of Louisville .

He had worked with children's institutions and had directed residential services for the former state Department of Child Welfare before becoming director of field services for the Social Services Bureau.

He became deputy commissioner of social services in 1974 and was promoted to commissioner in 1976. He left in 1978 to join the private sector but returned to state government in 1984 as deputy secretary of corrections. He later became commissioner of corrections, a post he left in 1996.

Disturbingly high rate of child abuse in Kentucky

2007-04-19T09:57:00.001-07:00

Commentary: Too many death
Make fixing protective services top priority
Lexington Herald-Leader, April 3, 2007, pg. A8.

Kentucky is losing more children to abuse and neglect than all but three other states and the District of Columbia.

The number nearly doubled from 2000 to 2004. Kentucky's rate of abuse and neglect fatalities is 3.88 per 100,000 children, well above the national average of 2.03.

Yet the Fletcher administration and Senate Republican leaders blocked an in-depth study of what's wrong with child-protective services.

The legislature that adjourned last week did approve $6 million to hire new social workers and improve child-protection workers' safety. That's good.

But instead of the in-depth study by an independent panel sought by the House, we have yet another study group dominated by agency insiders.

In the last year, we've read a series of disturbing articles by Herald-Leader staff writer Valarie Honeycutt-Spears about families who've been arbitrarily shattered by an agency that's under pressure to pump up adoption numbers.

At the same time, older children languish in foster care with little hope of a permanent family to see them through their teens and into adulthood.

The inconsistencies in how parental-rights and adoption cases are handled across the state prompted child advocates to dub the system: "Kentucky's other lottery."

The system of foster care and adoption has been the subject of a critical report by the state auditor's office. And a state inspector general's investigation revealed shocking, and in some cases what was described as criminal, misconduct by the regional child-protection agency in Elizabethtown, The inspector general provided a list of recommendations that should be enacted statewide.

The legislature made some progress, but really just played around the edges of the more complex problems. Likewise, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services has responded with some changes and restructuring, but nothing like the overhaul that's needed.

It will take fresh eyes and outside perspectives to fix what's broken within the bureaucracy of Kentucky's community-based services.

The next governor should put that task at the top of his to-do list.

Reform failed because its recommendations were shot down

2007-04-19T09:55:00.000-07:00

Officials must go back to work on reform
Task force, failed legislation at issue.
Honeycutt-Spears, Valarie. Lexington Herald-Leader, April 2, 2007, pg. A1.

FRANKFORT -- A few weeks from now, state child protection officials are likely to face some hard questions at a meeting of a task force convened last year to study the decisions social workers and courts make about removing Kentucky children from their parents.

Chief among them:

* How is the Cabinet for Health and Family Services going to stop state social workers from making arbitrary recommendations that can result in death and injury to some children while other children are unjustly removed from their biological families?

* And why did reform legislation, written by cabinet officials, fail to pass during the recently ended 2007 General Assembly session?

Some critics say the cabinet put together a bad bill and that the task force created by the cabinet was flawed at its inception because the panel was created and led by the very agency that is facing criticism for its decisions.

"I thought the legislation was poorly constructed and not well-thought out," said Jennifer Jewell, executive director of Women in Transition, an organization in Louisville and Lexington that helps mothers under investigation by social services.

"The task force was flawed," Jewell said, in part, because it did not include biological parents whose children had been removed.

Jewell and Lexington attorney Robin Cornette, who represents biological families in danger of losing their children, say that a group independent of the cabinet should be investigating the cabinet's problems. They say some members of the task force are connected to the cabinet in one way or another. Cornette, who testified in front of the task force, said that she and other professionals were given only 15 minutes to try to explain very complex laws and court procedures.

Cabinet Secretary Mark D. Birdwhistell, who was chairman of the task force, says that in the next year the cabinet is committed to fixing the inconsistencies that can lead to life-threatening and life-altering consequences for children.

He promised intense study of whether social workers are adhering to policies designed to protect both children and their biological families and on whether Kentucky should open child protection courts.

Birdwhistell said he expects the task force to also spend months studying the various issues involved in giving court-appointed attorneys their first fee increase in more than 20 years so that they can better represent parents and children.

"We've got to tackle transparency in courts" and try to make sure that parents get better representation from court-appointed attorneys," said Birdwhistell.

A federal law passed in the late 1990s directs social workers to find prospective adoptive parents for children soon after they are placed in foster care and allows courts to terminate parental rights more quickly than in the past.

Parents don't have to be physically or sexually abusive to lose their children forever, only to be found neglectful in some way.

Two Kentucky child advocacy groups released a report in January 2006 that raised the possibility that the cabinet was removing children inappropriately.

Meanwhile, a cabinet inspector general's report found that some social workers in Elizabethtown broke laws as they unjustly removed children from their biological parents.

Birdwhistell convened the Blue Ribbon Task Force in August, saying that it would draft reforms for the 2007 General Assembly.

In retrospect, Birdwhistell says, it was in unrealistic to think that legislation could be drafted on such a complex issue in a few short months.

The proposed legislation was not drafted until late in the session and it was not given to task force members to review until the morning it was introduced. That prompted several members to complain that they had been left out of the bill drafting process.

The original legislation called for judges to alert biological parents that they could lose their children forever once they were in foster care, but that provision was cut at the urging of the Administrative Office of the Courts, which was uncomfortable with legislators making requirements of judges.

The legislation called for judges to appoint parents an attorney shortly after a child was taken away. But State Sen. Julie Denton, R-Louisville, said that provision caused the bill to die because lawmakers from small counties didn't think there were enough court-appointed attorneys available.

Although task force members had agreed that the fees for court-appointed attorneys should be increased for the first time since the 1980s, the bill actually reduced the fees. State Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville, said he thought the bill died because so many court-appointed attorneys were against the provision that reduced fees for them.

But Cornette, the Lexington attorney, said she thought the legislation failed because the suggestions of advocates and professionals weren't included.

"The process wasn't thorough," Cornette said, "and it wasn't thoughtful."

LifeSkills, Inc. offers foster care classes

2007-04-14T15:33:00.001-07:00

Foster parent training
News-Democrat & Leader, April 13, 2007.

Each year, thousands of children are placed temporarily in foster care due to parental abuse or neglect. Often, there are a shortage of foster homes to care for the children.

LifeSkills, Inc. Therapeutic Foster Care will be starting new classes soon to help train, support and give financial assistance to those who would like to provide a short-term place for children to live.

These children need help. LifeSkills, Inc. TFC is a non-profit nationally accredited private child care agency that works with children who have a variety of needs and require a loving home environment.

If anyone would like more information on becoming a professional parent, please contact Peggy Zorn at 270-901-5000, ext. 1215.

No funding to build visitation centers - sigh

2007-04-09T19:30:00.002-07:00

Social workers hail 'Boni Bill'
New state law offers protection
Yetter, Deborah Yetter, Louisville Courier-Journal, April 6, 2007 , pg. A1.

Nearly six months after a Western Kentucky social service aide was killed on the job, Gov. Ernie Fletcher signed a bill yesterday meant to keep state social workers safer.

Called the Boni Frederick Bill after the worker fatally stabbed and beaten in Henderson last October, it will provide $6 million to hire more social workers, improve security at local offices and create secure sites where parents can visit children removed because of abuse or neglect.

Frederick's daughter, Sandy Travis, of Dixon, Ky., said in an interview it is a huge relief that the bill has become law — after several twists and turns through the legislature that left her fearful nothing would come of the effort inspired by her mother's death.

"I plan on exhaling today," said Travis, who was unable to attend yesterday's ceremony to sign the bill at a state social services office in Louisville. "I am really thrilled. Anything that will keep this from happening to somebody else — how could you not be thrilled?"

The bill includes $3.5 million for security improvements and $2.5 million to hire about 80 front-line workers over the next year. It has an emergency clause, meaning it takes effect immediately.

Fletcher signed the bill surrounded by state social service officials, lawmakers who supported the legislation and some of the state's 1,500 front-line social workers and aides who have long argued the agency is underfunded, leaving workers with rising caseloads and facing increasingly dangerous situations.

The so-called front-line staff members, who work in the field, carry an average of 20 to 25 cases each , while the target is 17 cases each.

"This bill means so much to the workers," said Karen Ivie, a state social worker from Kenton County who spoke at the ceremony. "It just brings up morale so much."

Frederick's death touched off an outpouring of comments from social workers around Kentucky who said their caseloads are too high, they often encounter angry or hostile families in investigating abuse allegations and there simply aren't enough workers to meet the needs of families stressed by violence, poverty and drug or alcohol abuse.

Social workers who attended the signing ceremony said it is a fitting memorial to Frederick.

"We're glad," said Patricia Pregliasco, a social worker in Jefferson County who has been outspoken about the agency's need for more money and more workers.

Lynda Dougherty, who works as an advocate for parents involved in child protection cases in Jefferson County, said she's happy the agency is getting more resources that could help protect workers.

"Everyone don't love their (state) workers but they're doing their jobs and they should be secure," Dougherty said. "It's sad it had to take that one event to make it happen."

Mark D. Birdwhistell, secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said officials began searching for ways to improve the child welfare system immediately after Frederick's death after he and Fletcher agreed "we need to take this tragedy and make something good come out of it."

But he and several others who spoke yesterday, including Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville, the sponsor of the legislation, said the $6 million won't be enough.

"It's not everything I wanted," Burch said, speaking to social workers. "It's not everything you wanted. It's only the beginning."

The final bill drops a plan to expand outside visitation centers around the state where parents can visit children — something many advocates had wanted but some members of the Senate opposed. Rather it requires the cabinet to create such centers within its existing facilities.

Burch said he would continue to seek funding to expand such centers, believing they are an important service to families.

The bill also creates a work group to study additional improvements the legislature could authorize in 2008, and Birdwhistell said the visitation centers and security will be among issues studied.

Travis said she doesn't plan to let the issue drop and will continue to advocate improvements in the child welfare system.

"I'm not done," she said. "I plan to get involved."

Fear and concern as a result of social worker's death

2007-04-09T19:30:00.001-07:00

Fletcher signs social worker law
Measure will add security, staffing
Schreiner, Bruce. Kentucky Post, April 6, 2007, pg. A2.

Gov. Ernie Fletcher on Thursday signed into law a measure intended to make sure that the slaying of a Kentucky social worker won't happen again.

"I would hope, first of all, that we don't have to attend any more funerals of our workers," Fletcher said at a signing ceremony attended by a number of lawmakers and social workers at a state social service office.The legislation, named in western Kentucky social worker Boni Frederick's honor, is meant to strengthen on-the-job protections for social workers. It includes $6 million to hire additional social workers and improve safety.

The law will result in bolstered security at social workers' offices, a safer environment for visits between birth parents and abused or neglected children and technology aimed at ensuring social workers' safety.

Social workers also will have around-the-clock access to criminal records.

"Even though it wasn't everything that we wanted, it is a very good start," Fletcher said.

The original bill, backed by Fletcher's administration, called for about $20 million during the next 16 months to add more than 300 social services staffers, including 225 social workers.

Frederick, a Morganfield social services aide, died last October after being stabbed and beaten when she took a 10-month-old boy for a visit at his mother's house. The youngster was found safe and returned to foster care after a three-day manhunt. The boy's mother and her boyfriend have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, kidnapping, robbery and theft.

At the bill-signing ceremony, state Health and Family Services Secretary Mark Birdwhistell recalled an emotional meeting with social workers following Frederick's death.

"I saw fear; I saw concern," he said.

Northern Kentucky social worker Karen Ivie called the bill signing a "milestone event," and said the law includes features requested in studies from 1985 and 1995 -- long before a review following Frederick's death.

"Twenty-two years, three formal studies, years of public bashing or lack of understanding from the public, finally we're seeing the first steps in moving forward in a positive and meaningful way," Ivie said.

Some of Frederick's colleagues attended the signing ceremony. One of them, Henderson County social worker Kelly Shaw, said she hoped the safety measures would reach social workers quickly. She said on-the-job safety is a common concern.

"I'm glad to see something positive come out of this tragedy," Shaw said.

One important step to improve safety would be a "quick turnaround" on criminal checks to make social workers fully aware of situations before going out on calls, she said.

"We never know what we're walking into a lot of the times," Shaw said.

Caption:
Photo

Caption:
AP Photo/The courier-Journal, Pam Spaulding

Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher shakes hands with social worker Karen Ivie at the signing of a law to improve social worker safety.

Author: Bruce Schreiner, Associated Press
Section: News
Page: A2

Boni Bill signed into law - a good first step

2007-04-09T19:29:00.000-07:00

Fletcher signs 'Boni bill' designed strengthen social worker protections
New law provides for more workers, better technology, security
Schreiner, Bruce. Lexington Herald-Leader, April 6, 2007, pg. D1.

LOUISVILLE -- Gov. Ernie Fletcher yesterday signed into law a measure intended to make sure that a crime like last year's slaying of Western Kentucky social worker Boni Frederick won't happen again.

"I would hope, first of all, that we don't have to attend any more funerals of our workers," Fletcher said at a signing ceremony attended by a number of lawmakers and social workers.

The legislation, named in Frederick's honor, is meant to strengthen on-the-job protections for social workers. It includes $6 million to hire more social workers and improve safety procedures. The law will result in bolstered security at social workers' offices and provide them with technology aimed at ensuring their safety. Social workers also will have around-the-clock access to criminal records.

"Even though it wasn't everything that we wanted, it is a very good start," Fletcher said.

The original bill, backed by Fletcher's administration, called for about $20 million during the next 16 months to add more than 300 social-services staffers, including 225 social workers.

Frederick died in October after being stabbed and beaten when she took a 10-month-old boy for a visit at his mother's house in Henderson. The youngster was found safe and returned to foster care after a three-day manhunt. The boy's mother and her boyfriend have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, kidnapping, robbery and theft.

Some of Frederick's colleagues attended the signing ceremony.

One of them, Henderson County social worker Kelly Shaw, said she hoped the safety measures would reach social workers quickly. She said on-the-job safety is a routine concern.

"I'm glad to see something positive come out of this tragedy," Shaw said in an interview.

One important step to improve safety would be a "quick turnaround" on criminal checks to make social workers fully aware of a situation before going out on calls, she said.

"We never know what we're walking into a lot of the times," Shaw said.

Rebecca Harbin, a social worker in Louisville, said the additional 60 to 80 social workers expected from the legislation will ease caseloads, but said it's "not even a drop in the bucket" to staffing needs. She hoped the legislation would be a catalyst for more action in the 2008 legislative session.

"We are going to have to continue ... to push for more to keep it on the front burner because this is not everything that we need," Harbin said. "We need much more."

Poverty a bigger factor than race in terms of losing custody of children

2007-04-09T19:28:00.000-07:00

Kids' removal from homes eyed
State takes high number of blacks
Yetter, Deborah. Louisville Courier-Journal, March 31, 2007, pg. A1.

Concerned about the disproportionate number of black children in state care, Kentucky officials are launching a project to determine why so many are being removed from homes and what can be done about it.

About 19 percent of the 7,000 children in state care are black, yet African Americans make up only 7.3 percent of Kentucky's population.

"This is an opportunity to make a difference and do what's right," said Tom Emberton Jr., who oversees the state social-service system for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

African-American lawmakers from Jefferson County — which has the highest rate of black children removed from homes because of alleged abuse and neglect — welcome the initiative. More than half the Jefferson County children in state care are black, although African Americans make up only 19 percent of the county's population.

"The numbers are disturbing," said state Sen. Gerald Neal, D-Louisville. "We must find out exactly what's going on and how to correct it.

Neal said he believes there is "clearly a racial component" but said the issue probably is more complex — involving poverty, housing, services for families such as counseling or drug treatment and other issues.

State Rep. Darryl Owens, D-Louisville, said he is concerned about the problem, particularly in Jefferson County.

"The numbers are staggering," he said. "This is a very serious problem, and we have to find out the reason for it."

Emberton said that's what the state intends to do in coming months. It has identified 11 counties with the highest rates of black children in state care and will spend about $500,000 over the next year to try to find out why.

At the same time, the state is launching more training and education on possible biases by those involved in child welfare and how to overcome them.

Benita Hollie, an African- American single mother from Lexington who is fighting to regain her two children, said she supports the plan. Hollie, whose children were removed from her custody three years ago, said impoverished parents — especially African Americans — are at a disadvantage in the child-welfare system.

Hollie said she asked a relative to care for her children while she was recovering from injuries in a car accident and they were removed after child protective workers investigated. The state, citing confidentiality laws, has declined to comment on her case.

"It's like you're set up for failure and more so if you are African American," she said. "If you don't have money or clout, anything can happen to you."

Hollie has joined Women in Transition, a Louisville-based group working to persuade the state to examine its child-welfare system. In particular, the group wants the state to look at how it treats poor single parents.

Emberton said he heard some of their concerns when members of the group spoke at a series of task-force meetings in Frankfort over the past several months. He hopes the state's project will address issues such as whether decisions are being made "simply because a family is poor."

Kentucky's effort mirrors national concern
The Child Welfare League of America and the Annie E. Casey Foundation are among the groups that have called on officials to study the imbalance and address the causes.

The Child Welfare League has reported that black and American Indian children are placed in foster care more often than white children, although research shows no direct link between race and child abuse or neglect.

Black children also remain in foster care longer and are less likely to be reunited with their families than whites, it said.

The Casey Foundation reported that children removed from homes are more likely to drop out of school, suffer mental health problems and wind up in the juvenile or adult correctional systems.

Kentucky would like to avoid such problems by not removing children from homes whenever possible, Emberton said.

"We want to keep children with their families," he said.

Jennifer Jewell, coordinator for Women in Transition, said she hopes the state takes an in-depth look at the complexity of the issues poor families encounter in trying to retain custody of their children.

For example, if a parent lacks stable housing, the state might refuse to return children to the parent — even if all other problems have been corrected. The catch, Jewell said, is that a poor parent receiving "Section 8" federal housing assistance loses it once the children are removed from the home.

That forces the parent to find substandard housing, double up with relatives or possibly become homeless — and authorities then refuse to return the children because the parent lacks a suitable home. And, the parent can't get the Section 8 subsidy back because of a long waiting list — in the thousands — in Jefferson County.

"Housing is a huge issue," Jewell said. "It's all poverty-related. People need to start connecting it to the larger issues."

Hollie said her problems date to her first court appearance over the state's plan to remove her children. She couldn't afford a lawyer, so she went alone — and lost.

State law doesn't require a judge to appoint a lawyer for poor parents until after the initial hearing to decide whether to remove the children from the home. Advocates, including Women In Transition, are seeking to change the law to require a lawyer be appointed immediately for parents, but that proposal failed in this year's legislative session.

"If I had the money to pay for a good attorney it never would have happened to me from day one," Hollie said. "If you're poor, you're just up the creek without a paddle."

Racial disparity in foster care

2007-04-07T18:55:00.000-07:00

High percentage of black children in state care
WBKO , KY, Apr 1, 2007.

A new report shows there are higher percentages of black children in state care than the general population.

The report says 20 percent of children in state care are black, while only 7.3 percent of the state's population is black.

That disparity has state officials launching a project to see why so many black children are being removed from homes and what can be done about it.

State officials have identified 11 counties with the highest rates of black children in state care and will spend about $500,000 dollars over the next year to try to find out why.

The state is also launching more training and education on possible biases by child welfare workers and how to overcome them.

Jefferson County has the highest rate of black children removed from homes because of alleged neglect and abuse.

More than half of the Jefferson County children in state care are black, although African Americans make up only 19 percent of the county's population.

Relocation of Child Focus Foster Care

2007-04-07T18:27:00.000-07:00

Child Focus Inc. Foster Care making a move
Community Press, April 4, 2007.

CLERMONT COUNTY - Child Focus Foster Care, 988 Ohio Pike at the intersection of Bennett, will soon be relocating program services to the main Child Focus campus in Mt. Carmel.

"(Child Focus) will continue licensing new foster parents and maintaining existing foster parent base," said Pam Lindeman, M.Ed., LSW, director of foster care and out of home care services for Child Focus. "The relocation of foster care to the main Child Focus campus will result in a greater county-wide accessibility to foster care program services and supports."

The main Child Focus campus is at 555 and 551 Cincinnati-Batavia Pike in the Mt. Carmel/Eastgate area.

"We are looking forward to being in the same facility where so many great services are offered including Head Start, Outpatient Mental Health and School services," said Lindeman. "It feels like we're going back to our core, our home."

Child Focus Foster Care offers training and certification services to interested applicants in Clermont County. Applicants benefit from 44 hours of preparatory training and homestudy assessment.

"During our transition back to the main Child Focus campus, training and certification activities will continue to be offered monthly to interested persons. Our phone number, 752-1555, and open orientation meetings, held the first Tuesday of every month, will remain the same," said Lindeman.

Child Focus has been a provider of foster care services since 1989 and continues to evidence effective outcomes.

"Unlike many private foster care agencies in the Greater Cincinnati area targeting recruitment efforts in Clermont, Child Focus is based in Clermont County and is committed to partnering with families to care for children from Clermont County," said Lindeman. "Foster parents are vital to the system of care for children in Clermont County."

In 2006, Child Focus provided for the daily care of more than 45 children and adolescents.

"There continues to be a great need for families to care for younger children, sibling groups and older youth. We need more strong, supportive families to open their homes. Ultimately, though, we want to assure the public that we will continue to be the same quality program - the only thing we're changing is the address."

If you are interested in more information on becoming a foster parent, contact a foster care representative at 752-1555.

Couple willing to trade their baby for an SUV and some cash

2007-04-03T19:50:00.000-07:00

Couple offered toddler for $3,000 and an SUV, police say
CNN, March 24, 2007.

OWENSBORO, Kentucky (AP) -- A couple are charged with trying to sell a 15-month-old girl for $3,000 and a sport-utility vehicle.

Charles G. Hope Jr., 32, and Amber M. Revlett, 26, both of Owensboro, planned to use the money to pay off his fines for previous criminal charges, said Daviess County Sheriff's Lt. Bill Thompson. They were arrested Friday.

Thompson said it started out Wednesday as a joke between the couple and two women, but it became apparent that Hope and Revlett weren't kidding.

"This is one of those things that worked out, and, luckily, we were able to do this before they were able to sell the child to someone who may not have contacted law enforcement," Thompson said.

Hope told the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer that he wasn't trying to sell his girlfriend's little girl.

"I love her babies, I love my babies, and people don't have enough money to get any of my kids," he told the newspaper.

Hope said the two women he's accused of trying to sell the baby to were just trying to get the child for themselves.

"They said something to [Revlett] about giving us $500 for temporary custody to take her to New Mexico and I said, 'Well, give me $3,000 and your truck,"' Hope said. "The next thing I know, I'm sitting here accused of trying to sell my kid ... . I know they don't think I'm serious, they just want her."

Thompson said Revlett's three children were placed in the custody of child protective services.

Selling a child for adoption is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

80 new social workers will be hired (vs. original request of 200+)

2007-04-02T19:06:00.001-07:00

Boni Bill passes - at end of session
Compromise on oversight reached
Vos, Sarah. Lexington Herald-Leader, March 28, 2007, pg. D1.

FRANKFORT -- The state would hire as many as 80 new social workers under an agreement reached by the House and Senate last night on the so-called Boni Bill.

The agreement gives the Cabinet for Health and Family Services $2.5 million for new staff and $3.5 million for visitation centers for foster children and their biological parents, safety improvements at regional offices and technology improvements like panic buttons, said Rep. Jimmie Lee, D-Elizabethtown, and Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville. It appropriates more money than either of the versions that originally passed both Houses.The agreement was passed by both houses as an amendment to Senate Bill 59, a transportation reorganization bill. The measure passed both chambers unanimously -- and to cheers and clapping in the House.

Cabinet Secretary Mark Birdwhistell said he was pleased. "It's been a very exciting and difficult couple of days," he said.

Passage came after a long day of negotiations. Even after agreement had been reached by the conference committee, the bill's future appeared in question as a result of the political wrangling.

About 8:30 p.m., the House passed the agreement as an amendment to SB 59, and, shortly thereafter, sent their members home.

"We're not going to be strung out all night," House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, told reporters.

The Senate later approved the same language but as HB 362, the original Boni Bill, named after slain Henderson social worker aide Boni Frederick.

Half an hour later, the Senate approved SB 59, as amended by the House, sending the Boni Bill on to the governor.

Until late yesterday, the main sticking point had been how much oversight the legislature would get over the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

The House version had called for an outside task force to study policies and procedures at the cabinet, and the Senate version had called for a cabinet-appointed study group.

The agreement goes with the Senate version but puts the chairs of the Senate and House Health and Welfare Committees on the study group, Burch said.

"This is a major concession on the House's part," Rep. Jim Wayne, D-Louisville, said as the two sides met early yesterday. That meeting included Wayne, Lee, Burch, Rep. C.B. Embry Jr., R-Morgantown; Sen. Julie Denton, R-Louisville; Sen. Dorsey Ridley, D-Henderson; and Birdwhistell.

It ended abruptly when Denton and Ridley were called back to the Senate. Senate President David Williams later described the meeting as an "ambush."

"They were trying to talk and clear the air," he said. "The House people had the press down there."

In the end, Birdwhistell acted as an emissary as a compromise was reached.

Lee called the agreement a start. "It's been a long, hard struggle to get where we are," he said.

Children are dying, and Cabinet is hiding behind veil of confidentiality

2007-04-02T19:05:00.002-07:00

Commentary: Unlock the files - child-abuse cases need public scrutiny
Lexington Herald-Leader, March 30, 2007, pg. A12.

The clamp on information after a child dies of abuse in Kentucky is a disservice to the taxpaying public and to children at risk of becoming the next grisly statistic.

Lawmakers and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services should lift the lid on events leading to a child's death, including the role of government agencies.Kentucky children die of abuse and neglect at a significantly higher rate than the national average, and the number of such deaths is rising.

It's naive to think that all children can be shielded from the brutality in their lives. But it's also reasonable for the public to be able to scrutinize how well government agencies are protecting the children with whom they have contact.

In the last few weeks, parents have been charged in the deaths of three Central Kentucky children, including one who had been moved from foster care into a home where both adults had records of domestic violence.

As it stands, the cabinet that oversees child protection seldom, if ever, releases its internal investigations into such deaths.

Cabinet lawyers cite the confidentiality of clients' medical records -- even when the client is dead -- and other provisions of Kentucky law.

We understand the importance of protecting the privacy of siblings and informants. But there has to be a way to redact genuinely sensitive information while giving the public an idea of whether government agencies have dropped the ball.

States that are losing fewer children to abuse than Kentucky have opened up the process to increase accountability. Kentucky should, too.

State Rep. Ruth Ann Palumbo, D-Lexington, plans to once again push for the release of summaries of the internal reviews; similar legislation failed in 2004.

Palumbo also says she'll draft legislation that would allow lawmakers to review cases to track decisions made by the child-protection agency.

In many cases, such disclosure would reveal that social workers had done all they could and would exonerate the cabinet.

We understand there are complicated questions surrounding the privacy of juveniles -- those who have committed crimes and those who are victims of crimes. Among those who say juveniles would be better protected by opening up certain legal proceedings, including termination of parental rights, is former state Inspector General Robert J. Benvenuti.

Shedding more light on child-abuse deaths is not a complicated question. It's the obvious right thing -- and something that the legislature should require and that the cabinet should allow on its own.

State Rep. Ruth Ann Palumbo will again push for the release of data.

Over 75% of social workers have been verbally or physically attacked

2007-04-02T19:05:00.001-07:00

Bill to protect social workers gains approval
Alford, Roger. Kentucky Post, March 28, 2007, pg. A13.

Lawmakers reacted to the grisly slaying of a social worker by approving a bill intended to lessen the dangers faced by others working in the same occupation.

Under the measure, named in honor of slain social worker Boni Frederick, visits between birth parents and abused or neglected children take place in secure locations.

Lawmakers pushed the Boni Bill through late Tuesday, the last day of the legislative session.

Frederick died in October after being stabbed and beaten when she took a 10-month-old boy for a visit at the house of his mother, 33-year-old Renee Terrell. Prosecutors say Terrell and her 23-year-old boyfriend, Christopher Luttrell, killed Frederick, stole her car and kidnapped the boy. He was found safe and returned to foster care after a three-day manhunt.

Terrell and Luttrell have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, kidnapping, robbery and theft.

The measure appropriates $6 million to institute safety procedures, including opening regional visitation centers and hiring 60 to 80 additional social workers.

Money was also set aside for other safety measures, which could include purchasing two-way radios with panic buttons for all social workers, said state Rep. Jim Wayne, D-Louisville, who served on a joint House and Senate committee that hammered out the final details.

Frederick's daughter, Sandy Travis of Dixon, said she was relieved that the bill passed and is on its way to Gov. Ernie Fletcher to be signed into law. Travis had lobbied for the bill in several appearances at the Capitol.

"This has devastated my whole family," Travis said. "If I got up in the morning and read where another social worker was killed like my mother was killed, it would hurt just as bad."

Gov. Ernie Fletcher said earlier Tuesday that lawmakers were playing politics with the legislation. Fletcher had assigned Health and Family Services Secretary Mark Birdwhistell to help House and Senate lawmakers reach the compromise.

"It's been a long journey, but we're very pleased that the provisions of the Boni Bill are now passed," Birdwhistell said. "We can move forward with protecting the health and safety of our social workers."

State Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville, said he was upset that it took so long to get lawmakers to approve the measure, which can save the lives of social workers.

"That's the sad thing," Burch said. "Somebody has to die for these people to take any action."

The original bill, backed by the Fletcher administration, called for about $20 million during the next 16 months to add more than 300 social services staffers, including 225 social workers, to the state payroll.

State Sen. Daniel Mongiardo, D-Hazard, said he had doubts in recent weeks whether the measure would pass.

Mongiardo had been involved in drafting the legislation, listening to the concerns of social workers from across the state on what's needed to make them safer.

"Over 75 percent of social workers have been verbally or physically attacked," he said. "It's obvious that what we've done to this point has not been enough."

Second Lexington child to die at the hands of a parent within the past 31 days

2007-04-02T19:03:00.001-07:00

Another child killed, another parent charged
Short lives, violent deaths - 2-month-old dies from injuries
Lennen, Steve and Delano Massey. Lexington Herald-Leader, March 28, 2007, pg. A1.

As young children played in the grass yesterday on Winnie Drive, Ruben and Lester Clarkson said they had a hard time believing what authorities say occurred the day before behind a nearby apartment door.

Michael Lee Reed, 19, is accused of killing his two-month-old daughter, Brianna Brown. He is charged with murder. Brianna is the third Central Kentucky child -- and the second Lexington baby -- to die in 31 days allegedly at the hands of a parent.

Brianna died from her injuries yesterday morning at the University of Kentucky Medical Center, according to Lexington police.

An autopsy at the state medical examiner's office in Frankfort is scheduled for this morning, Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn said.

Neighbors Ruben and Lester Clarkson, who are brothers, said they couldn't picture Reed injuring his baby girl. They agreed he was quiet, even timid.

"He doesn't seem like the type of person who would do that. He's been out here and played with my kids," Lester Clarkson said. Later he added, "But behind closed doors, hey, you never know."

On Monday, police were called about 1:10 p.m. to the UK medical center about an unresponsive child. Lexington firefighters and EMTs earlier went to the Prall Place Apartments on Winnie Drive and took the baby to the hospital.

Reed later called Lester Clarkson from the hospital and told him the child was brain dead, Clarkson said.

Police arrested Reed and initially charged him with first-degree criminal abuse at 2:15 a.m. yesterday. The charges were upgraded to murder after the infant died at 11:30 a.m. yesterday.

According to the initial police report, Reed "intentionally abused" his 2-month-old daughter, which resulted in serious physical injury.

The report also said Reed admitted the abuse.

Reed is being held in the Fayette County jail. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the new charge this afternoon in Fayette District Court. Since the charge has been changed, his bond will not be set until after his arraignment.

Brianna Brown is the second Lexington baby to die in recent weeks.

Caleb Eli Bishop died Feb. 25 at UK Hospital after four days in intensive care. He suffered a skull fracture, a broken leg, retinal hemorrhaging and an injury to his right ear, according to court documents.

His mother, Courtney Diane Brundige Bishop, is charged with murder and is scheduled for a preliminary court hearing this morning.

Investigators would not say much about the circumstances surrounding Brianna's death. Police Lt. John Gensheimer said he could not comment on the nature or the cause of the child's injuries.

A spokeswoman for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services said that Brianna's death will be investigated by the cabinet, but declined to say whether state social workers had previous contact with the family. It was not known last night where the couple's 2-year-old son was staying.

Ruben Clarkson worked with Reed at a nearby Dairy Queen until about a week ago. He said they worked during the evenings and Reed was often at his girlfriend's apartment during the day caring for Brianna and the 2-year-old boy, Brandon, they have together.

"He played out here all the time with the boy," Clarkson said. If Reed is responsible for the baby's death, it must have been an accident, he said. "I don't think it was intentional."

Last night, Reed's father, James Smith, was also struggling to wrap his mind around the tragedy.
As he stood outside on his front porch, Smith clutched a tiny pink object, which resembled a flower in a small pot. Instead of petals, the flower had a white furry mane surrounding a framed picture of Brianna. He stared at the picture, then his eyes floated toward the ground.

"I think they're rushing to judgment," Smith said. "I know they have to blame somebody, but why rush judgment?"

Reed's thoughts drifted to Monday, when his son called, his voice trembling in fear.

"I don't know what happened that day," Smith said. "He called us acting like he was scared. He said the baby was sick -- she was vomiting. That's all we know."

Smith said Brianna has never been abused, to his knowledge. Reed would often drop Brianna off with his parents while he ran errands. Neither Smith nor his wife ever noticed any marks or bruises. Reed has two other children -- his young son and an infant with another woman -- and there have never been any signs of abuse with them, Smith said.

"I've been around this boy for so many years," he said, pausing to collect his thoughts. "I'm really worried. Hopefully the charges they have against him aren't true."

Staff writer Beth Musgrave contributed to this report.

How to report suspected child abuse
If you believe a child is being abused or neglected, the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services suggests you call the Child Protection Hot Line at 1-800-752-6200, or the Protection and Permanency office in your county. The cabinet's Web site, http://chfs .ky.gov/dcbs/dpp/child_safety. htm, lists some answers to frequently asked questions:

Who should report suspected abuse or neglect of a child?
The Kentucky Revised Statute says every person -- not just teachers and doctors -- who has reasonable cause to think a child is being physically abused, sexually abused, neglected or is dependent has a duty to report the abuse.

What information do you need to provide when reporting abuse?
* The child's name, sex and approximate age.
* The name of the person thought to have been responsible for the abuse or neglect.
* A description of the injury, neglect or threatened harm to the child.
* The current location of the child; day care or school; home address.
* Any immediate risk to the child or to a worker going out to ensure the child's safety (i.e., guns).

Can a person reporting abuse be sued?
The reporter is given civil and criminal immunity from prosecution as long as the reporter acted in good faith. The Department for Community Based Services releases the name of a reporter only upon the order of a judge.

If I report someone for child abuse, do I have to give my name?
No. Abuse reports can be made anonymously. However, in order to follow up with additional information, callers are encouraged to identify themselves.

What happens to children who are being abused if it is reported?
Reports of child abuse will be investigated by the Department for Community Based Services. If it is substantiated, children may be removed from the home and placed in foster care until their family situation can be evaluated and corrected. Treatment services are provided, which may make it possible for children to remain in the home.

Source: Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services; Kentucky Revised Statutes.

African American parents more likely to have children removed from their custody

2007-04-02T18:21:00.000-07:00

State to study blacks in foster care
Dispropotionate number taken from homes
Honeycutt-Spears, Valarie. Lexington Herald-Leader, March 31, 2007.

A project is under way to find out why there is a disproportionate number of black children being removed from their families and put into state foster care in Kentucky.

African Americans make up only 13.5 percent of Fayette County's population.

But of all the children in out-of-home state care in Fayette County, 45.7 percent are black.

Fayette County is one of 11 counties statewide that the Cabinet for Health and Family Services will study, Cabinet spokesperson Vikki Franklin said yesterday.

Statewide, blacks make up 7.3 percent of Kentucky's population. About 19 percent of the 7,000 children in state custody are black.

State child protection officials will facilitate meetings in which state social workers and community partners, including police, will gather to discuss the factors that put black children in state care.

The cabinet will not release details of the project until Monday, Franklin said, but she confirmed yesterday that workshops will begin in Jefferson County and then expand to other parts of the state.

The National Association of Black Social Workers is expressing concern about the numbers of black children in state care nationwide -- at last count over 40 percent of all children in state custody were lack.

The Washington, D.C-based group's Web site says that African American parents are no more likely to abuse or neglect their children but they are more likely to be investigated, have children removed from their home, and receive fewer services from the state.

Note to legislators: Don't play dumb, just because you don't want to spend the money

2007-03-28T18:40:00.003-07:00

Readers' forum: Seven years of blue-ribbon study on Boni Bill issues
Louisville Courier-Journal, March 25, 2007, pg. H2.

The Kentucky legislature is arguing about, among other things, the "Boni Bill' and components of this bill.

Some in the legislature believe we need a blue-ribbon panel to determine the need for an increase in the number of social workers, for the improvement of social worker safety and for supervised visitation centers in Kentucky.

Kentucky is fortunate to already have five blue-ribbon panels, namely, the Citizen Review Panels, located throughout the state.

These are federally mandated panels that meet on a monthly basis to review child protective service issues.

The Citizen Review Panels have made recommendations for over seven years regarding the need for more social workers, as well as voicing concerns regarding the safety of social workers.

Why waste further time and potentially more social workers' lives by appointing another blue-ribbon panel?

Legislators need only to read the annual reports sent to them every year by the Citizen Review Panels.

Additionally, some in the legislature seem to think that supervised visitation centers are "untested."

Supervised visitation centers have been in Louisville for 10 years and have protected many children from harm while affording parents an opportunity to visit with their children.

These centers have been hugely successful and should be a service available to all in the commonwealth.

The members of the Jefferson County Citizen Review Panel, on whose behalf I am writing, implore the legislators to take a look at the work we have been doing for seven years and move forward to increase funding for more social workers and provide funding for more supervised visitation centers.

These issues can no longer be ignored or put on the back burner.

J. BRYAN FANTONI
Chairman, Jefferson County Citizen's Review Panel
Louisville 40206

KY state law requires all citizens to report suspected child abuse or neglect

2007-03-28T18:40:00.001-07:00

Reporting child abuse is everyone's duty
Shelburne, Lori. Lexington Herald-Leader, March 26, 2007, pg. A10.

At issue: March 18 Herald-Leader article by Cassondra Kirby, "Michaela's '10 years of hell'; happiness was fleeting amid turbulent home life"

All who have read the story of the tragic death of 10-year-old Michaela Watkins have been sickened. We ask ourselves how anyone could so cruelly abuse a helpless child and how this little girl could have been so invisible.By her tragic life and death, this child is a shameful reminder of the depravity of some among us and the need for the rest of us to understand our obligation to help protect all children, not just our own, from abuse and neglect.

Sunday's Herald-Leader article did a good job educating the public about how a private citizen can report suspected child abuse or neglect. I urge the paper to reprint that information in all follow-up articles about this case.

Not mentioned in the paper's summary was the fact that the legal duty to report suspected child abuse and neglect is mandatory and applies to every private citizen, not just to teachers and social workers.

The system (commonly thought of as police, social services and the courts) cannot protect at-risk children unless someone reports the suspected abuse or neglect.

Professionals -- such as teachers, social workers and doctors -- who have frequent contact with children usually receive specific training about their legal obligation to report suspected abuse and neglect to the proper authorities.

What many of us may not realize, however, is that state law requires "any person who knows or has reasonable cause to believe" that a child or dependent is neglected or abused to immediately report the suspected abuse or neglect to local law enforcement, state police, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, the commonwealth's attorney or the county attorney.

The statute uses the word shall to define the duty to report. The report can be made anonymously and with a phone call, but the duty to report is mandatory. Intentional violation of this reporting requirement is a criminal offense punishable by up to 90 days in jail.

In contrast, anyone who in good faith reports suspected child abuse or neglect is immune from civil and criminal liability.

Based on the Herald-Leader's articles, it appears in the case of Michaela that several neighbors and family members may have suspected or even known about abuse. It is unclear how many of those individuals actually reported their suspicions.

Presumably a thorough investigation is under way by local and state law enforcement surrounding the brutal death of this child, and we all hope justice will be served.

In the meantime, this case should serve as a reminder of the potentially horrific consequences of turning a blind eye to suspected child abuse and neglect.

We are each an integral part of the system.

-Lori Shelburne of Lexington is chairwoman of the Fayette County Bar Association's Family Law Section.

Caption: Michaela Watkins, 10, was found dead at her Winchester home on March 11. Her father and stepmother have been charged with murder.

Institutional discharge into homelessness

2007-03-28T18:39:00.001-07:00

Readers forum: Adding to CLOUT's challenge
Louisville Courier-Journal, March 26, 2007, pg. A6.

We applaud the March 12 Community Challenge by Bishop Walter A. Jones Jr. of CLOUT. The Coalition for the Homeless has worked with CLOUT on many issues, such as affordable housing and the minimum wage, that face people living in poverty and despair in our community.Jones focused on drug and alcohol addiction leading to a revolving door of institutionalization and incarceration. A major issue not mentioned was institutional discharge into homelessness.

Without appropriate intervention before or after institutionalization, homelessness continues to grow.

Metro Louisville and Kentucky, along with many other states and municipalities, have developed 10-year plans to end homelessness. The plan's strategy calls for collaborating with all aspects of the community including the faith community to end homelessness, but institutions continue to be a feeder system into our streets and shelters.

Together with Family and Children First and the Adanta Behavioral Health Services of Somerset, we have developed a coordinated, comprehensive program to ensure that people who are released from the Kentucky Department of Corrections, mental health facilities and the foster care system are provided services to keep them from becoming homeless....

This small urban/rural pilot project, funded by the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Families, proves that with some intervention, people do not have to become homeless. In the first 18 months, both sites served over 50 individuals, and only one person returned to corrections.

Kentucky's recidivism rate is 57 percent. So this program, costing $2,500 per client, saved the state approximately $850,000 per year because people do not return to prisons and jails. These 50 fragile men and women who were served have gone back to their hometowns and are now leading productive lives.

The expansion of Drug Court to intervene at the beginning of the corrections process is in the best interest of the community. Let us implement other proven interventions at other points in the system.

Each church, synagogue and mosque is needed to mentor, support and encourage people who have fallen upon hard times. It is our hope that this project, along with more affordable housing opportunities, can be replicated in every corner of the state to keep people who are suffering from substance abuse, mental illness, childhood abandonment and institutionalization from becoming part of the homeless population by being released, all alone, to the streets.

MARLENE GORDON
Executive director
Coalition for the Homeless

DAN FOX
Executive director
Family and Children First
Louisville 40203

Why entrust a child to a father guilty of domestic violence?

2007-03-28T18:38:00.002-07:00

Michaela's '10 years of hell'
Happiness was fleeting amid turbulent home life
Kirby, Cassondra, Lexington Herald-Leader, March 18, 2007, pg. A1.

WINCHESTER -- "Oh my God," Rachel Samuels repeatedly whispered when she saw her dead baby girl laid out on a stretcher early last week in a funeral home in Lexington.

Samuels searched for traces of the daughter she knew: the blond-haired, brown-eyed angel with an innocent, ivory face and dreams of being a cheerleader.But a year had passed since Samuels last saw her, and that Michaela Watkins was gone.

In her place was a sickeningly skinny 10-year-old girl. A few cuts and large black bruises covered her face. Her cheeks were distorted and sunken. Her lips had been split, and chipped teeth were visible. Her nose was dented and unnaturally turned.

"There are no words to describe what my baby looked like," Samuels said. "It wasn't her -- her face -- it just wasn't her."

Michaela was found dead last Sunday in a Winchester apartment. Michaela's father, Patrick Watkins, and stepmother, Joy -- who had custody of Michaela for about a year -- have been charged with murder.

It was a harsh ending to a harsh life that one relative describes as "10 years of hell."

"I like to think that now Michaela's in the arms of the Lord," said Audrey Stokley, Joy Watkins' mother. "She doesn't have to be afraid any more."

When Samuels went to the funeral home to view Michaela, the girl's body was wrapped in a sheet. She was visible only from her shoulders up.

Authorities told Samuels that under the sheet the girl was "bruised from head to toe," had broken ribs, and severe burns on her lower body.

Samuels -- her whispers turning to screams -- had seen enough in her daughter's face. She didn't want to look at the rest of the girl's injuries. Samuels' husband of nearly four years, Keith Samuels, practically carried her from the funeral home.

"The picture that's in my mind of her. ... I'm a 42-year-old man, and I have not ever seen anything like that before," Keith Samuels said.

Authorities have not yet released the cause of death for Michaela. But the Watkinses -- who have declined interviews with the Herald-Leader -- have said her death was an accident. They told police Michaela burned herself last Saturday in hot water in the bathtub and then slipped and fell down the stairs.

The Watkinses said they didn't think Michaela's injuries were severe enough to warrant medical treatment. They found her dead Sunday in her bed.

Police have not said whether they believe the Watkinses' account. Authorities say the Watkinses are charged with murder for failing to get medical help for the little girl.

Witnesses told police Michaela had been dead for 45 minutes before anyone called an ambulance.

School was her refuge
Relatives and others who know the family said Michaela's short life was filled with hardship.

They described how Rachel Samuels used to leave Michaela home alone in Fayette County with her baby brother, Michael, sometimes all day and night. They talked about alleged drug use and filthy living conditions. They said the children slept on a dirty mattress on the floor. Their hair often wasn't combed, their clothes weren't clean and they often weren't bathed.

"But she was still a beautiful little girl," said Robin Jenkins, who taught Michaela while she attended Dixie Elementary in Lexington. Michaela first came to Dixie in October 2004, when she was in the third grade.

Jenkins, who teaches students with learning disabilities, said Michaela worked hard and went out of her way to please teachers, seeking hugs along with their approval. Jenkins still has a birthday card that Michaela made for Jenkins' dog.

On multiple occasions, school administrators called Rachel Samuels to pick up Michaela because the girl had head lice. Jenkins and other teachers suspected that Michaela's home life was a lonely one.

"That's probably why she really seemed to enjoy school," Jenkins said. "She was so starved for positive attention. I think she just wanted someone to love her. And we did."

In the fall of 2005, Michaela and her brother were placed in foster care after authorities discovered the girl home alone.

"I'll never forget it," Jenkins said. "Michaela came in and looked gorgeous. Her hair was shiny, and she was clean. She came to me and said, 'Mrs. Jenkins, I had a bath. Do I smell good?'"

Jenkins cried as she recalled how Michaela just couldn't stop smiling that day. Jenkins said she never knew the name of the family who cared for Michaela and Michael during that time.

"I just want people to know that there was a little bit of time in her life that she did have happiness," Jenkins said. "But it was a very brief happy time."

Keith and Rachel Samuels maintain that Michaela and Michael were healthy and happy while living with them. They say they both have kept steady jobs and are working in Lexington. Rachel has an associate's degree from Central Kentucky Technical College in medical administration.

They deny allegations of drug use and say that although they allowed Michaela to pick out her own clothes, she was clean.

"When the kids were with us, they were treated fine," Keith Samuels said. "She was sent home for head-lice, but when kids are going to school they are going to pick up things like that from other kids. That's normal."

Rachel Samuels does admit to leaving the children alone from time to time, for brief periods. She said she would have neighbors look in on them. The day that social workers came, Rachel said, she left Michaela home alone for about two hours while she went to a job interview. Michael was in day care. State officials placed both children in foster care.

Father given custody
After the children were placed in foster care, Rachel said, Patrick Watkins, who had not seen Michaela since she was 3 months old, gained full custody of the girl, who was then 9. Patrick and Joy Watkins also adopted Michaela's half-brother Michael, who isn't related to either of the Watkinses. Patrick and Joy Watkins have two children of their own, Zachary, 4, and Mariah, 6.

"I begged and pleaded with the judge not to give them to Patrick," Rachel said. "I said, 'If I can't have them, leave them in foster care.' But no one would listen."

She believes her pleas were ignored because she and Patrick had gone through a messy divorce, and court officials probably thought she was being vengeful in trying to keep the children away from him.

Rachel and Patrick were married in 1995, two weeks after she graduated from high school. They met while working at Hoover's Furniture in Lexington and dated only about six weeks before getting married, she said.

They moved in with Patrick's family, and Rachel soon became pregnant. Right away, she said she realized Patrick was not the man he had seemed to be. She said he was extremely jealous and would not allow her to leave the house. She said he threatened her, wouldn't buy groceries and would take food away from her while she was pregnant.

"A bully, a very angry man," Rachel says.

Rachel filed for divorce in 1996. The divorce petition mentions two incidents of domestic violence. In one, the petition alleges, Patrick "beat her about the head, stole her personal belongings, including her driver's license and all forms of personal identification."

The divorce was granted in July 1997, and Rachel got sole custody of Michaela. Patrick was ordered to pay child support of $332.58 per month. The divorce decree also mentions a domestic violence order against Patrick in Powell County. It ordered him to stay 500 feet away from Rachel or her house or members of her family for three years, until April 2000.

According to state records, Patrick Watkins has also been convicted of burglary and failure to pay child support. In February 2000, Patrick obtained a domestic violence order against Joy Watkins after she allegedly threatened him at home, busted his nose and called his work, threatening him and yelling obscenities.

At the time, he said he believed Joy Watkins "to be armed and dangerous."

Joy Watkins was found guilty of disorderly conduct. Patrick and Joy were ordered to stay away from each other until March 2003, but family members say they quickly reconciled.

Rachel Samuels and child welfare advocates have said that because of the domestic violence allegations involving Patrick and Joy Watkins, they should not have been awarded custody of Michaela or allowed to adopt Michael.

"They should have seen that he had a history of violence," Rachel said.

Moving to Winchester
Michaela was halfway through her fourth-grade year at Dixie Elementary when she told teachers she was moving to Clark County to live with her father. Jenkins -- who did not know the Watkinses -- said Michaela was excited about the move.

There was no way of knowing the girl would be dead in a year.

Last week, more than half a dozen neighbors and family members described acts of verbal and physical abuse by the Watkinses against the children, particularly Michaela. They said they had seen the couple slap Michaela, curse at her and call her names.

"She always looked so sad and lonely," said neighbor Nancy Bowling, 60.

Betty Stokley -- Joy Watkins' grandmother, who lives next door to the couple -- said she had seen Patrick kick Michaela in the back, knocking her down. Stokley said Michaela was often not allowed out of her bedroom. A potty was placed beside her bed because she wasn't allowed to use the bathroom.

Neighbor William Deaton's 10-year-old niece attended Shearer Elementary in Winchester last year with Michaela. He said Michaela told his niece that "her dad was being mean to her and beating her up."

Deaton said his niece told teachers and a guidance counselor about what Michaela had said. He did not know what came of it.

But Shearer Principal Ed Sigmon said there were "no signs that raised any red flags with us." Sigmon described Michaela as "an overachiever" who was sweet and loving.

The Watkinses withdrew Michaela from public school over Christmas vacation. Betty Stokley said the couple decided to home-school the child because she had health issues, including a problem with urinating on herself.

Betty Stokley said she never saw such issues. State laws governing home-schooling prohibited officials from investigating why Michaela was being home-schooled or whether she was receiving an appropriate education.

"It broke my heart," Betty Stokley said. "That child loved school. She just wasn't the same after that."

She said the girl rapidly began losing weight when she was taken out of school.

Despite her concerns, Betty Stokley said she did not notify social workers because she knew Patrick Watkins would cut her out of her grandchildren's lives. - BAD MOVE

"I thought this way I could keep a close eye on them," she said. "I don't know, maybe I should have done more." - YES, YOU SHOULD

Others said they did not notify authorities because they were intimidated by Patrick Watkins, who was known to curse at neighbors. - COWARDICE

"I can't down anyone for not wanting to get in the middle of something like this," said Audrey Stokley, Joy Watkins' mother. She said she made reports to police and social workers, but nothing was done.

There is no way to know how many times social services visited the Watkinses. Officials with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services declined to release information about Michaela because of the police investigation and to protect the confidentiality of her three siblings, who have been placed in foster care. The cabinet has launched an investigation. - OF ITSELF

Winchester police received one anonymous complaint on Jan. 26 that the Watkinses were not feeding Michaela. The call, which did not mention physical abuse, led to two home visits. Officers said Michaela looked "very skinny," but a social worker told them she had an eating disorder.

Social workers continued to monitor the situation and took Michaela to a doctor to be checked out at least once, police said. Officers said they saw no signs of abuse.

But Rachel Samuels said something was wrong -- Michaela didn't have any health problems before moving in with the Watkinses. She said the girl, who weighed 95 pounds about a year ago, looked like she had lost about 30 pounds since living with the Watkinses.

At her funeral, lots of love
Rachel Samuel's father, Gary Adams, broke down in tears Friday as he stood with his wife Debbie in front of Michaela's casket.

"She looks like an angel," Debbie Adams whispered.

Michaela's body was dressed in a white sweater and pink princess dress. A bruised hand poked out from the sweater's sleeve, but there were no other obvious signs of trauma.

Funeral officials worked on the girl from Monday up until a couple of hours before the visitation, Rachel Samuels said. Inches of makeup and paste covered the trauma. Officials suggested that the family have a closed casket.

Instead, they put a sign next to the open casket, requesting that visitors not touch Michaela.

Teachers, neighbors and children flowed into Franklin Avenue Church of the Living God. Teddy bears, flowers and handwritten cards from the girl's classmates decorated the room.

On one note, a fifth-grade student wrote a haunting message: "I wish you was here but with a different mom and dad."

How to report suspected child abuse or neglect

2007-03-28T18:38:00.001-07:00

How to report suspected child abuse
Lexington Herald-Leader, March 18, 2007, pg. A12.

If you believe a child is being abused or neglected, the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services suggest you call the Child Protection Hot Line at 1-800-752-6200, or the Protection and Permanency office in you county. The cabinet's Web site lists some answers to frequently asked questions:

Who should report suspected abuse or neglect of a child?
Anyone who has reasonable cause to believe a child is being physically abused, sexually abused, neglected or is dependent.What information do you need to provide when reporting abuse?

The following basic information is requested:
* The child's name, sex and approximate age
* The name of the person believed to have been responsible for the abuse or neglect
* A description of the injury, neglect or threatened harm to the child
* The current location of the child; day care or school; home address
* Any immediate risk to the child or to a worker going out to ensure the child's safety (i.e., guns)
* The reporter's name and identifying information only if the caller wishes to give that information; anonymous reports are accepted and investigated.

Can a person reporting abuse be sued?
The reporter is given civil and criminal immunity from prosecution as long as the reporter acted in good faith. The Department for Community Based Services releases the name of a reporter only upon the order of a judge.

Can a social worker just take a child out of the home?
No. Only the police have that authority if they feel that a child is in imminent danger. A judge can issue an emergency custody order for a child to be picked up and held for 72 hours before a hearing. The Kentucky Revised Statute allows a hospital administrator or a physician treating a child to hold that child without a court order, but they must request an emergency order within 72 hours.

If I report someone for child abuse, do I have to give my name?
No. Abuse reports can be made anonymously, however in order to follow up with additional information, callers are encouraged to identify themselves.

What happens to children who are being abused if it is reported?
Reports of child abuse will be investigated by the Department for Community Based Services. If substantiated, children may be removed from the home and placed in foster care until their family situation can be evaluated and corrected. Treatment services are provided, which may make it possible for children to remain in the home.

How to report suspected child abuse
If you believe a child is being abused or neglected, the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services suggests you call the Child Protection Hot Line at 1-800-752-6200, or the Protection and Permanency office in your county.

Brooklawn should have been more transparent and forthcoming with information

2007-03-24T16:47:00.001-07:00

Readers forum: Questions remain about the wisdom of this one
Louisville Courier-Journal, Feb. 4, 2007, pg. H2.

.. You can be a supporter of Brooklawn and nevertheless challenge the wisdom of a group home placement. These ideas are not inconsistent or contradictory.

There are a number of unanswered questions about Brooklawn's proposed group home:

Why didn't Brooklawn anticipate potential objections in a single-family residential neighborhood? I live in Kensington, and such a home would be prohibited by plat restrictions. I know of no one who lives in this type of neighborhood who would expect a group home to be placed next door.

Presuming Brooklawn did anticipate this debate, did they try to fly under the radar and obtain approval before anyone got wind of what was going on? It sure looks that way

As a matter of law, if the juveniles have completed treatment, how are they disabled under the statute?

Brooklawn's letter to the neighbors claimed in December that the age group was 14 to 18, but now say the age range is 16 to 18. How and why did it change? Does that change have a legal effect?

With no track record to compare, how did Brooklawn determine that this group home would meet their objectives? Or is this just an experiment?

This group home is far from my house, and it won't affect me in any way. I'm just tired of the propaganda war and wish the facts were laid on the table.

DOUG MILLER
Louisville 40205

For every child Brooklawn admits, it must turn away six

2007-03-24T16:46:00.002-07:00

Readers forum: Soaring need requires more group homes for youths
Louisville Courier-Journal, Feb. 4, 2007, pg. H2.

We present some facts as part of the discussion about the proposed Brooklawn group home issue: Brooklawn's value to our community and its successes simply cannot be overstated.

Serving dependent children and youth, most of whom have emotional and behavior problems related to neglect, abandonment, physical or sexual abuse or other significant trauma, Brooklawn is an enviable human services success story for any community.

The course of treatment at Brooklawn typically takes about a year before a child is ready to be discharged.

Only youths who have successfully completed Brooklawn's campus-based treatment program will be considered for admission to the proposed group home, and almost every resident will be attending a public school or university before being considered for admission.

By state law, no youth who has committed a sex crime can be admitted into a group home or other facility with dependent, neglected or abused children.

Unfortunately, there has been a huge increase in the number of children in the state's foster care system over the last few years, overwhelming the supply of available foster homes statewide.

Thus, options for children completing treatment have been greatly reduced, and successful residents must stay at Brooklawn much longer than before.

This, in turn, prevents admission of children on the long waiting list. Sadly, for every child Brooklawn admits, it must turn away six!

Our community needs group homes. Our community needs programs like Brooklawn's that offer a proven method to help children and youth. Brooklawn helps our community, and our community needs to help Brooklawn.

JIM DAILEY
Executive director, Kentucky Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
Louisville 40223

Bob McFadden, president of the Louisville Affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, also signed this letter.

Maybe she played hard to get because she was afraid of intimacy (because of her time in foster care)

2007-03-24T16:46:00.001-07:00

Couple now face challenges together
Moss, Dale. Louisville Courier-Journal, March 18, 2007, pg. B1.

He would ask, she would resist. Off and on, for years that became decades, Tom Nash chased the charms of Mary Richards.She cannot explain why she played harder-than-hard to get, only that she forever will regret it. Before he gave up, blessedly, she gave in. They acknowledged their hearts, confronted their loneliness. Last October, in a packed Park Christian Church, the couple exchanged vows.

"Love is possible for everyone," said the Rev. David Brown, who officiated. "They exemplify that."

They have mental disabilities. They are reminded routinely of what they cannot do. Not that they feel sorry for themselves or expect us to feel sorry for them. Though heartwarmingly determined, they still rely on Social Security, on subsidized housing, on rides and on pills galore, like now they rely on each other.

They chose marriage, nonetheless, and thankfully, they get to choose. Their minds were the only ones that had to be made up. "And so far," Gloria Nash said, "it's looking good."

She is the 47-year-old Nash's 78-year-old mother. Her husband, Wilbur Nash, is likewise 78 and likewise thrilled and relieved to see Tom so loved and supported. No one knows better the challenges Tom Nash poses, as well as faces. Along with his mild retardation, he is epileptic and his vision is failing. Plus he had succumbed to the sloppiness of bachelorhood.

"I'm not a good cook or good housekeeper," Tom Nash said. "I needed somebody to turn me around."

His parents had worried, obviously, who would be there for their son when they no longer would. So daughter-in-law doubles as godsend. Mary Nash must care for her new husband almost as much as about him. He suffers seizures - quick but scary. Yet she does not panic. "And I will never panic," she said.

He grew up in New Albany, in a nurturing home, a pity-free zone. Her upbringing in Aurora was troubled and sad. By 12 she was a group-home resident. "I would not want to go back to my childhood days," she said.

They met in Corydon, at a place of employment for the disabled called a sheltered workshop. He said he remembers it like yesterday, she catching his fancy and a friend urging him to make the first move, and the second, and ... . Nashes are not quitters, he explains.

"He'd bug me every day," Mary Nash said. "I'd say 'no. I'm not interested in men.'

"I was stubborn."

They lost touch, were reunited, again apart, again together. Each went on dates, each led lives apparently unfulfilling.

She enrolled last year in a GED preparation class at Park Christian, the Nash family's church. Though a high school graduate he signed up, too, coincidentally, for a brush up. Call it fate, or something. "The good Man above," Tom Nash said.

This time, right off, she gave him her phone number. He called before she even returned home. They set up a picnic alongside the Ohio River and, seemingly in whirlwind time, agreed on marriage.

"They just discovered the other person that makes their life work," said Brown, plugged in early to the nuptials plan.

Could it last? Was it necessary? Their resolve was tested. At least slow down, suggested those closest to the couple. Mary Nash said like a million people wondered if she truly was ready. "I said, 'Just butt out,'" Tom Nash said he told those leery about the courtship's pace.

They were overdue for happiness, defined their way. Sandy Bishop, Mary Nash's case manager for New Hope Services, quickly came to realize Mary and Tom belong together. "After it all came together, I could see how they were," Bishop said. "It's been good for them, really good."

Tom Nash's parents accompanied them on a wonderful, belated honeymoon to Disney World and the beach in Florida. Then it was back to adapting to the changes marriage invariably requires, plus at least one. To satisfy the gods of bureaucracy, each was no longer eligible for food stamps.

They live in a secluded apartment in Jeffersonville, near his workshop employment at New Hope and not especially far from her job with Papa John's. Still a string bean, he's gained 11 pounds on her cooking and on the surplus pizza she brings home.

"More goods than bads," she said, asked for the status.

Gloria Nash, a wife for 55 years, tells them they will be lucky to get it right. Any couple is. Then again, luck already seems finally on their side. "She (Mary) said it was her first wedding, and only wedding," Tom Nash said.

Cabinet secrecy stalls child protection reforms

2007-03-24T16:45:00.001-07:00

Records release on a child's death varies by state
In Kentucky, youth welfare officials make decision
Honeycutt-Spears, Valarie. Lexington Herald-Leader, March 22, 2007, pg. A1.

At least 12 states have passed laws requiring that child protection records be released when a child dies from neglect or abuse.

But Kentucky, which in 2004 had the fifth-highest rate of children dying of abuse and neglect in the United States, isn't one of them.When a child dies from abuse or neglect in Kentucky, state child protection officials decide whether to release the information on a case-by-case basis.

In the case of Michaela Watkins, a Clark County 10-year-old whose father and step-mother have been charged with murder, the answer is no.

Michaela was found dead in the couple's apartment, and relatives have said that police and state social workers had previous contact with the girl and her family, including three other children in the home.

So far, the state has declined to release any records in Michaela's case, citing an ongoing police investigation and saying the confidentiality of Michaela's siblings should be protected. The state says it is conducting an internal investigation of its contact with Michaela.

Kentucky Youth Advocates, a Louisville-based child advocacy group, favors opening state social service records after child fatalities, said KYA Deputy Director Lacey McNary. The hard part, she said, is in deciding when that should happen.

"We want to ensure transparency, but we want to make sure that police can do their job," McNary said.

Under federal law, states such as Kentucky that receive federal child abuse prevention grants must have a provision in place to release state social service information when a child dies. But the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act does not require the release of information in all cases or specify the information that can be released, said Steve Christian, a spokesman for the Colorado-based National Conference of State Legislatures.

The national average of children dying from abuse and neglect was 2.03 deaths per 100,000 children in 2004, the most recent year for which national data was available. In 2004, Kentucky's rate was 3.88. Only Indiana, Washington D.C., Oklahoma and Georgia had higher rates.

Indiana, which had the nation's highest rate of deaths from child abuse and neglect in 2004, has passed a law that requires a judge to open files in child death cases after receiving a request from the public or an agency. Within 30 days of a request being made to open a record, the court in the Indiana county where the child died must exclude identifying information not relevant to the circumstances of the child's death.

Antoinette Lasky, a pediatrician who heads Indiana's Child Fatality Review Board, said the child fatality open-records law followed high-profile deaths of children in the custody of Indiana's child protection system.

Lasky said that, because each judge is allowed to decide what material to redact, the information that the public sees can vary widely from case to case. Sometimes there's too little information; other times there's too much or it's not relevant.

Though Lasky contends Indiana would be better served with set guidelines on what information should be held back, she said the law had been beneficial to the state.

"Certainly, public scrutiny has played a role in child protection reforms in Indiana," Lasky said.

Steve Key, general counsel for the Hoosier State Press Association, said he hasn't heard any complaints about agencies or judges resisting releasing records in any Indiana case.

"There remains the strong sense that the public has the right to know that, when the state steps in and takes responsibility for children, that those children are protected," Key said.

Other states that require public disclosure of information on a child fatality or near-fatality include Arizona, Kansas, Nebraska, New York and Nevada.

New York's legislation came about when a woman beat her 6-year-old daughter to death in 1995. The child was known to child protective services and other agencies because her drug-addicted mother had repeatedly abused her. However, because of caseworker error and little or no sharing of information, nothing was done to help her.

In response, New York lawmakers enacted the Child Protective Services Reform Act of 1996, known as Elisa's Law, to require that child fatality information be made available to state and city auditors and the public and that such information be shared among those investigating a case.

ln Arizona, state officials are required to provide summary information regarding a fatality or near fatality caused by abuse or neglect if any citizen requests it. A judicial review isn't required before the release. Information is released only about the dead child, said Beth Rosenberg, director of Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice for Arizona Children's Action Alliance. There is no information released about other people in the home.

"I think the law has helped," Rosenberg said. "Years ago, you wouldn't have gotten any information on a child."

Kentucky had the fifth-highest child abuse and neglect fatality rate among 43 states and the District of Columbia reviewed for federal fiscal year 2004, according to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services study. The U.S. rate was 2.03 deaths per 100,000 children.

1. Indiana (4.81 deaths per 100,000 children)
2. District of Columbia (4.56)
3. Oklahoma (4.54)
4. Georgia (4.20)
5. Kentucky (3.88)
6. Missouri (3.47)
7. Wyoming (3.42)
8. Texas (3.38)
9. West Virginia (3.12)
10. Colorado (2.97)

House is right, Senate is wrong

2007-03-24T16:44:00.001-07:00

Visitation centers are tied up in impasse
Legislators still hoping to pass social work bill
Yetter, Deborah. Louisville Courier-Journal, March 19, 2007, pg. A1.

Supervised visits between parents and children follow a careful script at The Family Place in Louisville.

Mother and father arrive through separate entrances, and the parent bringing the child never sees the parent who is there for the visit. Doors are locked with key cards, and an off-duty sheriff's deputy provides security.

"Anything anybody can do to create more centers like this is probably one of the most worthwhile things my tax money could be spent on," said Richard Muench, a Louisville father who brought his children to the non profit agency last week for a visit with their mother.

The failure of state legislators to approve a bill that could create a network of such visitation centers around the state, as part of an effort to improve safety for social workers and families, has outraged supporters.

But lawmakers say they are hopeful they can work out differences in the final two days of the legislative session, March 26 and 27, and pass a bill.

Muench said that c onflicts with his children's mother made it impossible to hold visits elsewhere, but "I don't have to worry about the Family Place. ... It has been a lifesaver - it really has."

Setting up visitation centers across the state was one goal of lawmakers backing House Bill 362.

But the measure - named "The Boni Frederick Bill" after a Western Kentucky social service aide slain on the job last year - was caught in the last-minute gridlock between the House and Senate and failed to gain approval on the last scheduled day to pass bills in the 2007 legislative session.

But lawmakers haven't given up hope on the bill.

"I hope we're able to sit down and come together," said Rep. Jimmie Lee, D-Elizabethtown, who is chairman of the House human services budget subcommittee.

Supporters of the bill, including Boni Frederick's daughter, Sandy Travis, are upset that it has stalled.

"I was very disgusted," said Travis, whose mother was fatally stabbed and beaten when she took an infant for a final home visit with the child's mother in Henderson. "If something (like that) happened in Frankfort, they'd have security that was out of this world."

Social workers - who complain they are short-staffed and overburdened by a rising caseload - also were frustrated by the legislature's inaction, said Tricia Mack, a Louisville social worker.

"We feel alone," she said.

Lee said he thinks lawmakers were tired and tempers simply got short as legislative action last Monday stretched to nearly midnight.

"I expect everyone's going to take a few days to cool down and step back and look at things," he said.

Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, said he is willing to work with the House to pass HB 362, although the House and Senate still have conflicts about what the final version should include.

He suggested that House members may better accept the Senate version "if they'll just calm down and start looking at it." - NO, BECAUSE IT SUCKS

Mark D. Birdwhistell, secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said he hopes to work with lawmakers from both chambers to get a bill through this session. Lawmakers had reserved the final two days to consider any legislation the governor might veto but say they probably will use them to try to pass legislation that is still pending.

"We want to get the bill passed," Birdwhistell said. "I'm very hopeful we'll be able to reach a consensus on the outstanding issues."

Among the issues to be resolved:
Funding. The House had proposed $4.8 million to hire more than 100 more social workers and social service aides and open 16 secure visitation centers around the state for parents to visit with children removed for abuse or neglect.

Gov. Ernie Fletcher and cabinet officials also had backed expanding the handful of small visitation centers that now operate in a few communities, including Louisville, with budgets largely dependent on grants or local funds.

The Senate is willing to spend up to $6 million but wants to use the money to hire about 60 workers and make local child welfare offices more secure, rather than open visitation centers.

Williams has said he doesn't believe private centers would be secure and described them as "untested." He said he would rather put funds into improving security at the offices and possibly creating visitation sites there.

Oversight. The House wants an outside task force to review Health and Family Services' child welfare system and make recommendations for changes to the legislature in 2008. The Senate wants to empanel a work group from staff within the cabinet to identify possible improvements.

Both sides say they feel strongly about what they want in the bill but will try to settle the differences when they meet next week.

"I'm still optimistic," said Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville, sponsor of the bill and chairman of the House Health and Welfare Committee. "I think we'll come to an agreement."

If lawmakers do decide they want to expand visitation centers around the state, The Family Place - which has operated its center in Louisville for seven years - is ready to help with training and advice, said Pamela Helms, its president.

Proponents argue that such centers operate in many states to provide a secure and neutral place where families separated by violence, abuse or other conflict can visit under the supervision of trained workers.

At Family Place, clients are referred by the court. Children visit parents in one of several colorful rooms filled with comfortable furniture, books and toys - but trained workers are always nearby or in the room, if necessary.

The center has never had a serious incident, even though "the families we serve are those where there's a great risk for violence," Helms said.

Pat Dintamin, center director, said staff members defuse tensions by being polite and respectful to all parties and don't take sides in family disputes.

But Helms said adequate funding is scarce. "It seems so logical that these services are needed, but it's such a struggle to find funds," she said.

The center currently uses a federal grant to provide visits for children with families involved in domestic violence and recently got $50,000 from the state to expand family visits to children removed from homes because of abuse or neglect.

Helms, who worked as a state social worker and supervisor for 10 years, said it may be unrealistic to expect social workers to organize parental visits and hold them in a state office.

"The challenges state social workers have are so enormous, " she said. "Finding a time and place to have a supervised visit can be impossible. "

Wife kills husband, ending domestic violence saga

2007-03-24T16:43:00.001-07:00

Woman accused of killing husband slaying ended apparent fight
Relatives describe violence
Lannen, Steve. Lexington Herald-Leader, March 20, 2007, pg. B1.

The shooting death of a man Sunday night was the tragic end of a relationship rife with physical and mental abuse, said the mother of the woman accused of pulling the trigger.

On Sunday night at 3505 Greenlawn, David and Sandra Lubben argued over whether to buy her mother a carton of cigarettes. That led to yelling, threats and David Lubben throwing a chair at his wife, said Vicky Musgrove, who was in the house.The night before he had threatened to cut up his wife with a knife, she said.

A little after 10 p.m., Sandra Lubben found a handgun she had and shot her husband in the chest, according to a police report. He was taken to the University of Kentucky hospital, where he died about 10:45, according to Lexington police and Fayette County coroner's news statements.

Sandra Gwen Lubben, 38, was arrested and charged with murder. At her arraignment yesterday afternoon, Fayette District Judge T. Bruce Bell entered a not guilty plea for her and appointed a public defender. He set a full cash bond at $50,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Monday.

Two uncles attended the hearing and later visited their niece at the Fayette jail.

"She's told me several times that he was beating up on her and was abusive. She told me that a lot," David Musgrove said. "He's controlling. He's the type of guy who wanted everything his way."

Sandra Lubben was hesitant to go to court to stop the abuse, said Musgrove.

"He told her if she had him locked up, he was going to hurt her bad," she said.

The couple married in July last year in Memphis, Tenn., but had dated for about five years, she said.

They had a young daughter, Musgrove and her uncles said, but Sandra Lubben had five children from previous marriages. Her oldest son is serving in the U.S. Navy, but the other children were removed about two weeks ago and placed in foster care, she said.

"I watched the kids get into the (police) car like they were so happy to get out of the house. It was unreal. They didn't cry or anything," said Sharon Edwards, a neighbor who lives across the street.

She said she and residents sometimes heard David Lubben screaming at his wife. "I don't think I ever saw her without a black eye," she said.

Still, Sandra Lubben always defended her husband, Edwards and Musgrove said.

- Sandra Lubben was charged with murder. Bond was set at $50,000.

Fruad and extortion discourage Guatemalan adoptions

2007-03-24T16:42:00.001-07:00

Guatemalan adoptions frowned upon
State Dept. says system 'rampant with fraud'
Crary, David. Lexington Herald-Leader, March 17, 2007, pg. A3.

NEW YORK -- Citing rampant problems of fraud and extortion, the State Department says it no longer recommends that Americans adopt children from Guatemala -- the No. 2 source of orphans coming to the United States.

Some adoption officials are outraged, calling the move a de facto suspension and an overreaction that will cause more harm than good, leaving hundreds of children stranded in Guatemalan foster homes.

"It's inflammatory, it's insensitive to people's feelings," Thomas Atwood, president of the National Council for Adoption, said yesterday. "People all across the country in the process of adopting from Guatemala are frightened right now."

Adoptions from Guatemala are popular because of relatively swift procedures and have increased steadily in recent years, reaching 4,315 in 2006 -- second only to China. Yet U.S. officials have pressed Guatemala for anti-corruption reforms, saying there were frequent cases of birth mothers pressured to sell their babies and adoptive American parents targeted by extortionists.

This week the State Department issued a detailed advisory saying, "We cannot recommend adoption from Guatemala at this time. ... There are serious problems with the adoption process in Guatemala, which does not protect all children, birth mothers, or prospective adoptive parents."

The advisory stopped short of imposing a ban on adoptions from Guatemala, but said cases would be scrutinized more closely than before and reviews would take longer.

"Adopting a child in a system that is based on a conflict of interests, that is rampant with fraud, and that unduly enriches facilitators is a very uncertain proposition with potential serious lifelong consequences," the advisory said. "When you decide whether to move forward with adoption in Guatemala, you should consider factors beyond timing."

Atwood said the advisory amounted to a "de facto suspension."

"What parent now is going to enter an adoption program for Guatemala?" he asked. "What's going to happen to 2,000 kids waiting in foster care there?"

Atwood said his council, one of the nation's largest adoption advocacy groups, shared the State Department's concerns about Guatemala, but wanted to continue adoptions to the United States while encouraging in-the-works reforms.

Pending proposals would create a central authority in Guatemala to tighten regulation of an adoption industry long dominated by notaries who function as baby brokers.

Patrick Watkins offers stupid and implausible excuse for killing his stepdaughter

2007-03-19T14:13:00.001-07:00

Couple charged with murder
Held in death of girl, 10
Kirby, Cassondra. Lexington Herald-Leader, March 15, 2007, pg. A1.

WINCHESTER -- The father and stepmother of 10-year-old Michaela Watkins were charged yesterday with murder in her death, Winchester police said.

Patrick and Joy Watkins of Winchester, who were initially charged with criminal abuse, remained in the Clark County jail. Their bond was raised from $20,000 to $200,000 each shortly after the murder charges were filed.A preliminary hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in Clark District Court.

Officials continued to say little about how Michaela died. Winchester police Capt. Harvey Craycraft said she had several injuries, but he could not be more specific. County Coroner David Jacobs said preliminary results from an autopsy conducted Monday were not being released because of the continuing police investigation.

But details of the Watkinses' side of the story have begun to emerge.

According to an account the couple gave WKYT-TV, Patrick Watkins heard Michaela fall and scream after he had told her to go take a bath Saturday night.

"By the time I get up the stairs, she's red from butt to feet and her skin is peeled off," he said in the interview. "She got burned. The water burned her up."

After getting out of the tub, Michaela slipped and fell down the stairs. Watkins said his wife asked whether they should take Michaela to the hospital, but he said her injuries didn't appear that severe.

Michaela seemed fine that night. But after an outing at Red River George the next day, Michaela began having breathing problems, so they returned to their apartment. They found Michaela dead in her bed 45 minutes after they arrived home, Watkins said.

"I love my daughter," he said. "I love my family and now I've lost it all."

The Watkinses have declined interviews with the Herald-Leader.

Craycraft confirmed that the couple had given a similar account to police. He said the murder charges were prompted by the couple's failure to obtain treatment for Michaela.

Neighbors and relatives have said in interviews that the couple subjected Michaela to repeated verbal and physical abuse.

"She lived in fear of them," said Betty Stokley, Joy Watkins' grandmother, who added that she was glad to hear the charges had been upgraded to murder.

Through an open records request, the Herald-Leader has learned that police had received one complaint against the Watkinses for their treatment of the children, which led to two home visits.

On Jan. 26, an anonymous caller told Winchester police that the Watkinses were not feeding Michaela. The caller did not mention anything about physical abuse, said Craycraft, who was one of the officers who responded to the call.

"That day Michaela was very skinny and it didn't look normal to me," Craycraft said. "So I called a social worker."

The social worker told Craycraft that Michaela had a self-inflicted eating disorder. However, social workers continued to monitor the situation and took Michaela to a doctor to be checked out at least once, he said.

Craycraft said he didn't see any bruises on Michaela or any of her three siblings during his visit.

"Besides her being skinny, there was no signs of abuse," Craycraft said. "Nothing to indicate that anything was wrong."

It is not known how many times social workers visited the family. Officials with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services said they would not release details about the cabinet's contact with Michaela because of the police investigation and in an effort to protect the confidentiality of the other children, who have been removed from the home.

In the WKYT interview, Joy Watkins said that if she and her husband were treating Michaela badly, there would have been signs.

"This was a child that was in and out of doctor's offices and therapist offices every two weeks," she said. "Are people going to say that every one of those people failed her, that they missed something? There was nothing to miss."

Staff at Shearer Elementary School in Winchester, which Michaela attended until late last year, are raising money to pay for Michaela's funeral and fund a scholarship in her name. One person helping in that effort, Shane McCaslin, 38, said family members of Joy Watkins had contacted the school to see whether they could use some of the money for Joy Watkins' bond. The school declined that request.

Visitation for Michaela will be 5-7 p.m. Friday at the Franklin Avenue Church of the Living God in Winchester. The funeral will be private.

Visitation centers are tested and proven elsewhere

2007-03-19T14:12:00.003-07:00

Readers' forum
Louisville Courier-Journal, March 14, 2007, pg. A10.

Safe visitation centers not an experiment
I would like to clarify information included in a Courier-Journal article about funding for the Boni Bill that described supervised visitation centers as "an untested idea" and "an experiment."This came as a surprise to many Jefferson County residents who developed supervised visitation services in Louisville nearly 11 years ago.

In 1996, Mary Lou Cambron of Jefferson County Family Court organized a Visitation Center Task Force whose purpose was to develop a cogent plan and strategies for safe and accessible visitation options for families and children.

In 1998, through a partnership with the University of Louisville, the first visitation center was opened with funding from the Cabinet for Families and Children, the Department of Social Insurance and the Division of Child Support Enforcement. The original Family Access Center evolved into what is currently known as the Visitation Center at Family Place.

The Visitation Center at Family Place is a component of the Louisville Metro Visitation and Exchange program. The program has been successfully operated by Louisville Metro Government with general fund and federal dollars from the Office on Violence Against Women since January 2004.

Current funding prohibits the Visitation Center at Family Place from serving families where the children have been removed, but from 1999-2003 a limited number of child welfare cases were conducted at the center.

I acknowledge that the legacy of supervised visitation centers in Kentucky is relatively short, but the idea of supervised visitation centers being used for child welfare cases is not uncharted territory in Louisville, the Commonwealth of Kentucky or anywhere else in the country.

ERICA BINDNER-WOOTEN
Louisville Metro Office for Women
Louisville 40245

Cut 'a travesty'
The state Senate made a very bad decision to cut funding for the Boni Bill. One area you shouldn't play politics with is family services.

I have been a foster parent for eight years and have seen some very hard-working people in social services. The work they do for Kentucky's children is extraordinary.

Our social workers ... deserve better than what they are getting. For the state Senate to cut funding in a bill to protect social workers is a travesty.

Not only would this bill help social workers, but also and most important, it would help the kids placed in the state's care....

We need more social workers, with the growing case loads and the number of children coming into care.

The safety of the workers and children should have no price tag.

DAN WILLIAMS
Mount Washington, Ky. 40047

Yes, Williams, visitation centers are a good use of state money (you jerk)

2007-03-19T14:10:00.001-07:00

Impasse remains on social worker protections
Yetter, Deborah. Louisville Courier-Journal. March 13, 2007, pg. B4.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Lawmakers failed last night to break a deadlock over a bill aimed at improving social worker safety.

Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, said the Senate was willing to put up to $6 million into the bill to hire more workers and create other safety measures in the state's child-welfare system.

But members of the House and Senate didn't resolve their differences before adjourning.

The legislature will reconvene March 26 for two days to consider any vetoes by Gov. Ernie Fletcher. There could be action on the bill then.

Efforts at compromise yesterday came after the Senate last week stripped all funds from the House version of House Bill 362, named the "Boni Frederick Bill." Frederick was a Western Kentucky social service aide slain on the job.

She was fatally stabbed in October after she took an infant to a final court-ordered visit with his mother.

The decision to remove the funding outraged critics, who said the bill was useless without money for about 100 more workers and safety measures including secure centers where parents could visit with children removed from homes because of abuse or neglect.

The House version included about $4.8 million to hire 109 social workers and open 16 secure visitation centers.

Yesterday lawmakers worked on a draft bill that would allow the state to hire about 60 more workers and dedicate about $3.5 million to making offices more secure.

Williams had challenged the notion of visitation centers and said he didn't think it would be a good use of state money.

A House- Senate conference committee was appointed yesterday to resolve differences.

Mark D. Birdwhistell, secretary of the C abinet for Health and Family Services, spent part of the evening shuttling between the House and Senate, trying to work out differences.

But some sticking points remained late yesterday .

"What they want is their bill," Williams said of the House. "That's their idea of a compromise."

Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville and the sponsor of HB 362, said House members weren't willing to drop some provisions, including an outside task force to monitor the social service system.

The Senate version called for an internal work group from the family services agency to do the monitoring .

Burch predicted the differences would be worked out.

"I think we'll end up with a good bill before this session ends," he said.

Williams, you need to open your mind to visitation centers - they have worked in other states

2007-03-19T14:09:00.001-07:00

Break in session leaves budget items in limbo
Biesk, Joe. Kentucky Post, March 13, 2007, pg. A6.

A $28 million appropriation for improvements to the Kentucky Horse Park was left in the lurch Monday when lawmakers adjourned without reaching an agreement on a number of major construction projects.

The money was to be used to build an outdoor stadium in preparation for the 2010 World Equestrian Games. A proposal to dole out about $25 million in grants to help southern Kentucky communities deal with the effects of lowering Lake Cumberland also was not settled when the legislature adjourned for a two-week break."It's a precarious situation," said House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green.

Also not moving forward: money for a new dorm and dining hall at Northern Kentucky University and a bill that would extend tax breaks for Newport on the Levee.

Both the House and Senate were busy amid a flurry of activity Monday, the last day before a scheduled two-week break. The General Assembly was scheduled to return for two days on March 26 to consider any of Gov. Ernie Fletcher's vetoes or deal with other legislative matters.

By law, the legislature may not work beyond March 30; however, Fletcher has threatened to call lawmakers back for a special session later this year. Fletcher wants legislators to act on a Senate plan to overhaul the state's pension system and a variety of other spending proposals.

In a separate proposal, the legislature cleared a variety of tax breaks for projects throughout the state, including the proposed $465 million Museum Plaza project along the Louisville riverfront.

But the Senate did not approve a bill that would have given Newport on the Levee and other tourist attractions an additional six years to earn a state tax rebate, said state Rep. Jon Draud, R-Crestview Hills.

A plan to spend $9 million at Lexington's Blue Grass Airport so it could capture a matching federal grant to relocate the runway involved in the failed takeoff and crash of Comair Flight 5191 last summer, in which 49 people were killed, also cleared the Senate. A similar proposal had already cleared the House.

Senate President David Williams said the Senate inserted the extra spending in hopes of avoiding a special legislative session.

"If we don't pass these things, the governor is going to call us back," Williams said.

It was the second consecutive year lawmakers would leave spending matters vulnerable to Fletcher's veto. A plan to reinstate about $370 million in projects -- including millions at state universities and colleges -- that Fletcher slashed from the budget last year remained in legislative limbo. That includes $24.5 million for a new dorm and dining hall at Northern Kentucky University.

Whether that plan would be approved likely depended on the fate of the Senate pension plan, Williams said.

Democrats and Republicans in the Senate approved a plan last week in which the state would sell more than $800 million in bonds to help out the financially troubled state pension system.

Without legislative intervention, Williams has said, the plan would likely go broke by 2022 -- leaving the state with a $2 billion annual pension obligation.

Current employees and retirees would not face any changes in their pension benefits, but a key provision of the Senate plan would limit future employees' benefits. Instead of receiving traditional pensions, future employees would have a "hybrid" plan that includes a mixture of defined benefits and investments.

Richards has said he favors the bond issue but does not support changes in employee benefits.

Richards said he thinks the bill to restore funding for the university projects was being used as a bargaining chip by the Senate. Richards said he doesn't know whether the measure will pass this session, even though House and Senate leaders had an agreement.

"We don't feel like we should have to deal on it a second time," Richards said.

Another high-profile proposal that remained unresolved was legislation aimed at better protecting state social workers from on-the-job dangers. House and Senate lawmakers were trying to resolve differences in the versions passed by each chamber.

The move stems from last year's death of Henderson social worker Boni Frederick who was stabbed and beaten when she took an infant to his mother's house for a visit last October.

One sticking point appeared to be House language to create neutral locations for supervised visits between birth parents and their abused or neglected children.

Williams said such visitation centers would simply "create more targets" among workers.

Richards said lawmakers would to try to hammer out a deal on the so-called "Boni Bill."

Nevertheless, Fletcher said he thought there was enough time on the legislative clock for further agreement.

"I think it's not over till it's over," Fletcher said.

When you witness child abuse, you need to REPORT it

2007-03-19T14:08:00.001-07:00

Neighbors describe dead girl's chronic abuse
Response by social services questioned
Kirby, Cassondra. Lexington Herald-Leader, March 13, 2007, pg. A1.

WINCHESTER -- Ten-year-old McCaylah Watkins, whose bruised and lifeless body was found in her family's Winchester apartment Sunday, was an unhappy child who lived in fear of upsetting her father and stepmother, said those who know the family yesterday.

More than half a dozen neighbors and relatives said Patrick and Joy Watkins routinely belittled and yelled at the girl in public, cursing at her, telling her to shut up and calling her stupid, along with other, harsher names.

Police arrested the Watkinses on Sunday and charged each with first-degree criminal abuse on a child less than 12 years old.

"The parents were charged with criminal abuse for failing to get treatment for the child's injuries," said Winchester police Capt. Harvey Craycraft. He said the couple hadn't made any attempts to render aid to the suffering child, other than calling for an ambulance.

Betty Stokley -- Joy Watkins' grandmother, who lives next door to the couple, said Patrick Watkins was especially cruel to McCaylah, his daughter from a previous marriage. Stokley said she had seen him kick the girl in the back, knocking her down, and had seen him force the girl to spread her fingers out on a table so he could smash them with his hands.

Stokley said McCaylah was often not allowed out of her bedroom and rarely got to go outside to play. She said the couple wouldn't even let McCaylah go to the bathroom, which was across the hall from her room, but placed a potty beside her bed for her to use instead.

"Caylah would dodge him and move to the side if he walked past her," Stokley said of Patrick Watkins, 30. "She would shake and go on. She was afraid."

McCaylah was pronounced dead just after 4 p.m. Sunday, when an ambulance and police were called to apartment 35 on Memorial Park for an unresponsive child.

McCaylah, who was found in a bedroom, had what Craycraft described as "trauma injuries." Stokley said police told her the body was badly bruised.

Patrick Watkins told police that the girl had fallen down some stairs, Craycraft said.

Craycraft could not go into more detail, but he said more charges were possible once authorities view the results of an autopsy that was completed yesterday. He said authorities hope to learn exactly what caused the child's death and when and how her injuries occurred.

Police confiscated a Dumpster after neighbors told police they saw Patrick Watkins take out trash just before calling emergency workers. Police have not said what evidence, if any, was found.

In Clark District Court, a not-guilty plea was entered yesterday for the Watkinses. Judge William Clouse said he would appoint public defenders for them. Each was being held in the Clark County jail on a $20,000 cash bond; they will be back in court March 20.

Because they are in jail, funeral arrangements have not yet been made for McCaylah.

Brother recently adopted
According to Clark County court records, Patrick and Joy Watkins, 28, do not have extensive criminal backgrounds. The most serious crime was in February 2000, when each was convicted of domestic violence against the other.

Stokley said the couple have been married for about nine years and have lived at the apartment complex on Memorial Park for about five years.

She said they were raising four children, including two of their own, Zachary, 4 and Mariah, 6. They recently gained full custody of McCaylah. And they have adopted Michael Woodrum, 4, McCaylah's half brother. He and McCaylah share the same mother, but Michael is not related to Patrick or Joy Watkins.

The other three children have been in state custody since Sunday. Stokley said she hopes to gain custody of them.

Officials with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services would not comment yesterday on past or current investigations involving the Watkinses. They also would not say whether the remaining children will be released to family members.

In recent months, Stokley said, she hasn't been a significant part of Joy Watkins' life and hasn't been allowed to see the children often, because of Patrick Watkins. She said social service workers and the police have been called several times on the couple over their treatment of the children, and Patrick Watkins blamed her for the calls and attention.

Through tears yesterday, Stokley said she blames social service workers for not doing more to prevent McCaylah's death.

"The social workers, they didn't do their part," Stokley said. "If they had taken McCaylah out of there, this little girl wouldn't be dead. I don't know if I could have done anything to save her or not. I'm so broken-hearted about this that I can't hardly talk about it."

Neighbors grieving
As residents of the apartment complex recalled incidents of alarming physical or verbal abuse against McCaylah, many wondered yesterday whether there was something more they should have done.

"They were awful mean to the little baby," said Nancy Bowling, 60. "She was 10 years old, she wasn't nothing but a little baby who had no one to turn to."

Bowling, who used to walk her grandson to school with McCaylah and Joy Watkins, said Joy Watkins often seemed hateful and rarely said anything pleasant to the girl.

"She would call her stupid and say things to her like 'shut up,'" Bowling said. "Caylah was a real pretty, sweet little girl, but she didn't look happy. I don't ever remember seeing her smile."

In one incident, Joy Watkins became upset with McCaylah and began yelling at her in the street in front of Bowling's apartment. She was screaming so loudly that neighbors stepped out onto their porches to see what the commotion was about, Bowling said.

Watkins knocked the schoolbooks out of McCaylah's hands and then stormed off while the girl, who was crying, struggled to pick up her belongings, Bowling said.

Another neighbor, William Deaton, 35, said McCaylah, who was home-schooled this year, attended Shearer Elementary in Winchester last year with his 10-year-old niece. He said McCaylah told his niece that "her dad was being mean to her and beating her up."

Shearer Elementary Principal Ed Sigmon declined to comment about McCaylah yesterday.

"I don't know what happened down there that day," Bowling said. "But I do know what I've seen -- what we've all seen."

You know what needs to be done, you just don't want to pay for it

2007-03-19T14:07:00.001-07:00

More social-worker hires ok'd
Compromise sought on safety
Vos, Sarah, Lexington Herald-Leader, March 13, 2007, pg. C2.

FRANKFORT - Legislators struggled to work out a compromise last night on a bill to improve social worker safety.

The Senate and House, however, had agreed to hire 60 social workers, said Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville. The main sticking point between the two bodies was whether to appoint a legislative task force or create a safety study group led by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

A compromise proposed yesterday morning would have given the Cabinet for Health and Family Services close to $6 million to hire 60 social workers and address safety issues in regional offices and technology needs for social workers, Williams said.

But the task force, which was in the original House bill, remained an issue. Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville, who crafted the original bill, said the blue ribbon task force was key to improving social worker safety. It would allow the legislature to address systemic problems in the cabinet.

"How do you correct a problem in a cabinet unless you got new eyes looking inside it?" Burch said.

Williams argued that the task force should be more narrowly focused on safety and that creating a legislative committee would be pointless.

"We don't need legislators grandstanding on this issue," Williams said.

The Senate and House have approved different versions of the bill, and both bodies assigned conference committees yesterday morning to work out differences. The groups had not met by press time last night.

There is still time for the the committees to meet before the legislature returns for the final two days of the session, Burch said.

Senate and House arm-wrestle over Boni Bill

2007-03-19T14:06:00.001-07:00

Many loose ends await legislators on the last day
Loftus, Tom. Louisville Courier-Journal, March 11, 2007, pg. A1.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — If Kentucky lawmakers hope the 2007 legislative session will be remembered as productive, they have a long, hard day ahead of them tomorrow.

That's the last scheduled day to pass bills, and the House and Senate have resolved only a handful of major issues.

"It's like I anticipated," said Rep. Jim Wayne, D-Louisville, a legislative veteran. "Not a whole lot is likely to get done."

The Republican-controlled Senate and Democratic-controlled House have passed their priority bills. But, with few exceptions, they haven't passed each other's.

Among the major issues still pending: bailing out the financially troubled state retirement funds, making workplaces safer for coal miners and social workers, and funding construction projects vetoed last year by Gov. Ernie Fletcher.

Not only was there little progress last week on key bills, but hostility between the two chambers boiled over late Thursday.

House Democrats accused Senate President David Williams of blocking House bills and trying to force the House to accept the Senate's plan for shoring up the retirement systems.

Williams countered that the House lacked the political courage to pass the Senate's retirement system bail-out plan. Both chambers agree that the system needs more money, but the Senate wants to reduce retirement benefits for future employees, an issue House leaders say needs more study.

Fletcher said Friday that he may call a special session if lawmakers cannot agree on stabilizing the pension plans.

By week's end a few bills had cleared both chambers — among them an increase in the minimum wage, from the current $5.15 an hour to $7.25 by July 2009, and generous incentives to Ford Motor Co. to keep nearly 8,000 jobs at its two plants in Jefferson County.

And for the most part tempers had cooled.

"It won't be successful as it could have been if we don't finish some crucial matters," Williams, R-Burkesville, told reporters Friday. "But everything is still out there, everything can be accomplished that we'd hoped to accomplish."

Williams on Wednesday threatened to block many House bills that called for new spending — including the measure to authorize borrowing for the vetoed construction projects — if the House didn't accept the Senate plan for stabilizing the retirement funds.

But on Friday he resisted saying which bills he believed must pass for the session to be a success.

"I'm not going to set that defining sort of list of bills," he said. "There are a lot of important bills. I believe that we'll come to a successful conclusion."

House Speaker Jody Richards, a Bowling Green Democrat who is seeking his party's nomination for governor in the May 22 primary, said that "when you look at the work product of this House, I think you have to give it an 'A.'"

The session's success, Richards said, "is going to depend on what the Senate passes that we sent it."

The major stumbling block remains the Senate's plan to issue bonds that would raise more than $800 million to stabilize the retirement systems of state workers and teachers, and to limit benefits of future state workers.

Under the Senate proposal, workers hired after July 1, 2008, would participate in a "hybrid" pension plan. The state would contribute a smaller amount than it does now to a traditional "defined benefit" plan, while giving workers the option of participating in a 401(k)-type plan to which both employee and employer would contribute.

The concern is that lower-paid employees might opt out of the voluntary plan, thus raising questions about whether they could save enough for retirement.

Richards repeated Friday that the House can accept the borrowing. But he said any change to future employee benefits must be given more study and approved in 2008.

"We will act on something to try to get the bond part of the pension plan enacted," Richards said.
But the House is adamant, he said, in its opposition to changing benefits for future employees in the current session.

Also unresolved is spending. The Senate has held back on approving the projects Fletcher vetoed last year — a list that includes $6 million for the Louisville Zoo's Glacier Run exhibit.

And neither chamber has acted on Fletcher's surplus spending proposal, which includes $38 million to improve the Kentucky Horse Park in time for the 2010 World Equestrian Games, as well as funding for local government grants and water systems in Southern Kentucky to help cope with the federal decision to lower the water level of Lake Cumberland to make repairs to Wolf Creek Dam.

Fletcher said those spending items also might be put on the agenda of any special session.

Also to be resolved are differences in House Bill 361 — the "Boni Frederick Bill," which is aimed at improving social worker safety and is named for the social-services aide slain on the job last year.

The Senate approved the bill Friday — but only after $4.8 million in state funding had been stripped from the measure. Key House members want the money restored.

Differences also must be resolved on bills strengthening mine- safety rules, helping counties cope with costs of holding state inmates in county jails, improving math and science teaching, and allowing tax breaks for developers of the Museum Plaza project in Louisville.

Many other bills are dead, or appear to have only a slight chance for passage.

They include measures to ban public universities and other state agencies from providing health insurance for domestic partners of employees; to allow trees to be cut so billboards are more visible; to permit juries to award damages for the loss of companionship; to require women seeking abortions to get information about the risks of the procedure in face-to-face meetings; and to require immunizations of girls and young women against a virus that causes cervical cancer.

Under the current schedule, midnight tomorrow is the deadline for passing bills. But that could change: Legislative leaders could, for example, decide to add to this week's schedule one or both of the days set aside for later this month to deal with any Fletcher vetoes.

But only three legislative days remain, and the session must end by March 30.

Thanks for nothing (no funding), Kentucky Senate

2007-03-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

Kentucky General Assembly: Senate passes social worker bill
Critics call it useless after money removed
Yetter, Deborah and Stephanie Steitzer. Louisville Courier-Journal, March 10, 2007, pg. B1.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Senate yesterday approved a bill meant to improve social worker safety — though critics claim it was gutted and key House members say they can't accept it.

Named the "Boni Frederick Bill" after a Western Kentucky social service aide slain on the job, House Bill 362 was stripped of $4.8 million Thursday by a Senate committee and changed substantially.

The changes prompted some strong objections yesterday from Sen. Dorsey Ridley, a Democrat from Henderson, where Frederick was killed after she took an infant for a court-ordered home visit with the mother.

"Our social workers are on the front line protecting our most vulnerable citizens," Ridley said. "Far too often we send them into situations where their lives are threatened."

Ridley said he objected to the Senate leadership's decision to strip all funding from the bill to hire 109 social workers and other staff and open 16 secure centers around the state where parents could visit children removed for abuse or neglect.

Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, defended the changes, saying they would give the Cabinet for Health and Family Services the authority to make immediate safety changes including surveying all social-service offices and upgrading security with existing funds.

But the cabinet already has the power to do that. After Frederick's death — among other steps — the cabinet with the assistance of Kentucky State Police began surveying county offices and making recommended improvements for security.

Social workers and Frederick's daughter, Sandy Travis of Dixon, said this week that the bill is meaningless without funds to hire more workers and open visitation centers.

Still, Williams defended the changes.

"To say that this bill has been gutted is an insult," he said. - A DESERVED INSULT

But others in the Senate disagreed, including Ernesto Scorsone, D-Lexington, and Dan Mongiardo, D-Hazard.

Mongiardo was one of several lawmakers who met with social workers at a public forum after Frederick's death.

"If Boni Frederick's death is not in vain, then we have to do something substantive to protect them," he said.

Sen. Julie Denton, a Louisville Republican who is chairwoman of the Health and Welfare Committee, also spoke against the changes, saying more far-reaching improvements are needed.
The bill now goes back to the House and likely will be assigned to a conference committee so members of both chambers can try to work out their differences.

The Senate approved the bill 34-0, with some members saying they voted for it only to get it to the conference committee, where they hope it can be improved.

The Senate also approved Senate Bill 83, which would raise the state speed limit to 70 mph on rural interstate highways and most parkways.

The vote was 35-2 to accept changes made by the House and send the bill to Gov. Ernie Fletcher, who has previously supported raising the speed limit from the current 65 mph. Fletcher spokeswoman Jodi Whitaker said the governor would reserve comment until he reviews the bill with advisers.

Sen. Tim Shaughnessy, D-Louisville, who opposed the bill, said he feared the higher speed limit would increase Kentucky's highway death toll.

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the correlation between speeds and accidents, and the faster you go the more likely you're going to die," the Louisville Democrat said in an interview after the final vote.

Before taking effect, the higher speed limit would need approval from the state transportation secretary after an engineering study of safety factors.

The bill specifies that all rural stretches of interstates are eligible for the 70 mph speed limit. The exceptions would be urban portions of interstate highways in Jefferson County and the Cincinnati suburbs in Northern Kentucky.

In addition, rural sections of four-lane parkways would be eligible for the 70 mph speed limit. Current speed limits would remain unchanged on the Hal Rogers Parkway and a portion of the Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway east of Campton.

In the name of 'immediacy,' Williams guts the Boni Bill

2007-03-19T14:03:00.001-07:00

Senate reshapes social worker bill
Schreiner, Bruce. Kentucky Post, March 10, 2007, pg. A6.

The Kentucky Senate reshaped legislation Friday aimed at shielding state social workers from on-the-job dangers, setting up likely negotiations with House counterparts on how to avoid a repeat of a social worker's slaying.

Senate President David Williams said the Senate-passed version would allow quick action to better protect social workers at their offices and during house calls."The bottom line of it is that more things need to be done immediately," the Burkesville Republican said, adding that the Senate's plan would give a state agency the flexibility to incorporate safety measures.

Sen. Ernesto Scorsone, D-Lexington, responded that letting the Health and Family Services Cabinet take care of the problem was "unacceptable." He said the cabinet was unresponsive by not asking lawmakers last year for more social workers.

"They don't get it," he said.

Sen. Daniel Mongiardo, D-Hazard, said the bill had been "gutted."

"If Boni Frederick's death is not (to be) in vain, then what we have to do is something substantive for our social workers across this state, to protect them," he said.

The legislation, termed the "Boni Bill," stems from last year's death of Boni Frederick, who was stabbed and beaten when she took an infant to his mother's house for a visit at Henderson in October.

In response, Gov. Ernie Fletcher proposed about $20 million to strengthen protections for social workers. He wanted to add more than 300 social services staffers, equip social workers with two-way radios and create neutral locations for supervised visits between birth parents and their abused or neglected children.

The version that cleared the House on a 98-0 vote contained $4.8 million, including $2.5 million in extra state funds. Among the uses for the money would be to hire more social workers and to open the neutral locations -- termed "visitation centers."

Williams said such centers could put even more people at risk because it wouldn't provide them training to defuse dangerous situations. - BULLSHIT

The Senate backed a version that would allow Health and Family Services Secretary Mark Birdwhistell to redirect existing cabinet funds to improve security. It also would let him request $1 million in extra state funding. Williams noted that Birdwhistell has a vast budget at his disposal in deciding what safety measures to take.

The Senate plan includes no guarantees to hire more workers, but Birdwhistell has said it would give him more latitude to try to protect them. Birdwhistell also previously said that, if he decided extra staffing was needed, he could draw on funds to accomplish it.

The Senate version would result in security assessments of social workers' workplaces, and would give Birdwhistell the authority to promptly beef up protections. Also, social workers could request that law enforcement officers accompany them on visits and could refuse to go out on the cases until getting a police escort.

Williams said that version provides "more real protection" for social workers than the House-passed plan.

House Speaker Jody Richards said the House would not accept the Senate's changes, setting the stage for House and Senate negotiators to try to resolve the differences.

13 senators voted against changing Boni Bill

2007-03-19T14:02:00.003-07:00

Senate oks revision of Boni Bill
Williams says it's improved - others say its gutted
Vos, Sarah, Lexington Herald-Leader, March 10, 2007, pg. B1.

FRANKFORT - The Senate yesterday approved a version of a social worker safety bill that is drastically different from the House version, making the issue one that will probably be worked out in a conference committee.

"And who knows what it will look like when it comes out," said Sen. David Boswell, D-Owensboro.Thirteen senators voted against changing the House bill, and several spoke against it.

"If Boni Frederick's death is not in vain, then what we have to do is something substantive," said Sen. Daniel Mongiardo, D-Hazard. "This committee substitute does not do that. It has been gutted."

House Bill 362 is called the Boni bill, in honor of Frederick, a Henderson social worker aide who was killed while supervising a visit between a toddler and his biological mother.

Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, who offered the revised version of the bill in committee, defended the changes.

"The truth of the matter is the Senate committee substitute provides more real protection for social workers than did the bill that came over from the House," Williams said.

The Senate approved Williams' version of the bill. It now goes back to the House for concurrence. Williams and House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, both said yesterday that the issue is likely to go to conference.

The House and Senate versions of the bill disagree as to how much money the Cabinet for Health and Family Services needs to address social worker safety and how safety would best be improved.

The House version would give the Cabinet $4.8 million to hire more than 100 staff and set up visitation centers for foster children and their biological parents. It would also set up a legislative task force to do an in-depth study of social worker salaries, procedures and other issues.

The Senate version does not appropriate money, although it would allow the cabinet to move money around in its budget and its secretary to request an additional $1 million from the governor.

It directs the cabinet to assess safety problems at regional offices and fix them and to hire police officers to accompany social workers if needed. Instead of a legislative task force, it would create a cabinet study group focused on safety.

Both versions of the bill would give social workers access to criminal-background checks and require them to report threats.

Sen. Julie Denton, R-Louisville, worked on the original bill that proposed hiring more than 300 social workers and staff and appropriating more than $18 million.

She said she could not vote to change the House version, because, although it did not retain everything recommended in the original bill, it contained more of the solutions social workers wanted -- like more staff and visitation centers.

"These are the sorts of things they are interested in," Denton said. "They do think it will make a difference."

Kentucky foster care system cannot be relied upon to perform consistently or well

2007-03-19T14:02:00.001-07:00

Commentary: Abuse and neglect - scrutinize, fix unreliable protection system
Lexington Herald-Leader, March 15, 2007, pg. A10.

On one hand, Kentuckians have seen a system that's overly eager to separate some babies and toddlers from their biological families.

Yet this same system failed to protect a battered 10-year-old despite reports of abuse and left her at the mercy of a father and stepmother who have a record of domestic violence.The tortured life and premature death of Michaela Watkins is one more symptom of a protective system that can't be relied on to perform consistently or well.

The past year has revealed deep problems in Kentucky's child-protection system, ranging from a rogue regional agency that gloated over its clients' misfortunes to dangerous working conditions, exemplified by the killing of social worker Boni Frederick as she supervised a parent-child visit.

In response to Frederick's death, the House and Senate have agreed to reallocate $6 million for safety and technology needs and the hiring of an additional 60 social workers.

But legislative negotiators have yet to agree on how to address what's broken in child-protection services.

Lawmakers should approve a House plan for an in-depth study of community-based services, including staffing needs and caseloads. It's been more than 10 years since Kentucky has taken a hard look at how to better protect children.

The panel should be independent, include front-line social workers, and -- to avoid political grandstanding -- be chaired by non-legislators.

Its work could produce support and a blueprint for Gov. Ernie Fletcher's more ambitious plan to spend $18 million and hire 300 additional social workers.

Meanwhile, the state must account for its failure to protect Michaela.

Yesterday, the child's father, who says she was injured falling down stairs, and her stepmother were charged with murder.

Herald-Leader reporters quickly found adults who knew the child was being abused, including some who had told authorities about the abuse. Police and social workers had visited the family.

Michaela had been withdrawn from the Clark County schools to be "home schooled" -- not the first time lax state laws have enabled home schooling to disguise child abuse.

Families in Kentucky are routinely denied custody of a child because of a domestic-violence record. Mothers can lose their children for not taking them from a home where there is violence. The presence of a stepparent is a known risk factor for abuse.

Yet, not only had Michaela been moved from foster care into her father's custody, the state also allowed the father to adopt her younger brother although there was no biological relationship.

Why the reports of abuse did not spur Michaela's removal and how the state entrusted two children to adults with records of violence are questions that demand accountability.

Unfortunately, Kentucky has no law requiring public release of records after a child dies from abuse or neglect. What the public learns about this tragedy will be at the discretion of the agency that was supposed to protect the victim.

The legislature should also fix that by mandating release of internal investigations by the child-protection agency after a child dies from abuse or neglect.

10-year-old Melissa's death could have been avoided

2007-03-19T14:01:00.001-07:00

'The system failed this little girl' -Police, social workers visited her home
Child advocate says parents should never have had custody
Kirby, Cassondra & Valarie Honeycutt Spears. Lexington Herald-Leader, March 14, 2007, pg. A1.

WINCHESTER -- There were plenty of chances to save blond, 10-year-old Michaela Watkins.

Grieving relatives said yesterday that social workers and police had visited the home to investigate complaints against her father and stepmother, Patrick and Joy Watkins, now charged with criminal abuse in her death.

They and an advocate for Kentucky children say the Watkinses should never have gotten custody of Michaela to begin with.

Michaela was found dead at her Winchester apartment Sunday afternoon. Witnesses told police that she had been dead for at least 45 minutes before emergency workers were called, court records show.

"The system failed this little girl," said Michaela's grandmother by marriage, Audrey Stokley, who said she had complained to social workers about Patrick Watkins. "They should have checked closer to see what we were talking about instead of saying, 'Well, it's fine.'"

Cabinet for Health and Family Services officials said yesterday they are launching an internal investigation into the case, as is customary when a child dies while being monitored by state social workers. The Cabinet decides case by case whether to release details about what led up to a child's death.

But Cabinet Undersecretary Tom Emberton Jr. said he would not release details about the cabinet's contact with Michaela because of the police investigation and in an effort to protect the confidentiality of her three siblings, who have been removed from the home.

Michaela's mother, Rachel Samules, divorced Patrick Watkins in 1997. Initially, she was given custody of Michaela. (Family members have given conflicting spellings of her name, which has also been reported as McCaylah.)

But Samules used to leave young Michaela home alone in Fayette County with her baby brother Michael, sometimes all day and night, in squalid conditions, relatives said. After finding them home alone, the state placed the two children in foster care more than a year ago.

They wound up with the Watkinses, despite Patrick Watkins' history of domestic violence, including several incidents against Samules and one against Joy Watkins, court records from Fayette and Clark counties show.

"I just can't figure out why they would give him custody of the children in the first place," said Samules' father, Gary Adams of Indianapolis. "Why didn't they contact the grandparents first?"

Betty Stokley, Joy Watkins' grandmother, said the Watkinses sought custody of Michaela -- who draws a disability check of at least $600 a month -- for the money.

Patrick Watkins' record and the Watkinses' convictions for domestic violence against each other should have been enough to prevent them from gaining full custody of Michaela and from adopting Michael, her half-brother, said David Richart, one of Kentucky's leading child advocates.

"Somebody dropped the ball," said Richart, executive director of the Louisville-based Institute on Children, Youth and Families. "I would go so far as to say that the death could have been prevented had the cabinet been diligent in investigating."

The Watkinses were each charged with first-degree criminal abuse on a child less than 12 years old, for failing to get treatment for Michaela's injuries, police said.

In a taped interview with police, both said they had noticed that the child's breathing was slowing and that a heartbeat was barely detected at one point, court records say.

The Watkinses, who declined an interview with the Herald-Leader yesterday, have pleaded not guilty. Samules could not be reached for comment.

Police would not say whether they believe Patrick Watkins' account that Michaela received her injuries from falling down the stairs. However, authorities have said that more charges are likely once they view the results of an autopsy that was completed Monday.

Despite witnessing repeated acts of violence, Betty Stokley said she did not notify social workers because she knew Patrick Watkins would cut her out of her grandchildren's lives. "I couldn't call social workers -- I wanted to keep the kids in my life," she said. "I thought this way I could keep a close eye on them. I don't know, maybe I should have done more."

Domestic violence connection
The system failed Michaela on many levels, advocates and officials say.

As far back as 1995, Kentucky child protection officials serving on a task force declared that there was a connection between parents who engage in domestic violence and the risk of physical abuse to their children.

Kentucky social workers routinely deny family members custody simply because there's an allegation of domestic violence, experts say. And mothers can lose custody of their children for not immediately taking them out of the home when a spouse or partner is violent.

Rachel Samules' December 1996 divorce petition mentions two incidents of domestic violence. In one, the petition alleges, Patrick Watkins "beat her about the head, stole her personal belongings, including her driver's license and all forms of personal identification."

Teachers often can spot abuse of children, but they could not help Michaela because the Watkinses were given permission to home-school her in December.

Yesterday, Diane Akers, Clark County's director of pupil personnel, said Kentucky's lax state laws governing home-schooling prohibited her from investigating why Michaela was being home-schooled or whether she was receiving an appropriate education. Michaela's death should be a wake-up call to lawmakers to strengthen the law, she said.

"It's a tragic situation," Akers said. "We are endangering a lot of children when we don't have some way" of determining how they are being educated.

Akers said that under state law, the Watkinses did not have to tell her why they were taking Michaela out of the school system, or give her details of the curriculum they intended to follow.

Akers said she has many concerns that among the 230 students being home-schooled in Clark County, several parents aren't providing adequate instruction. And she has always worried that some parents might be removing children to avoid scrutiny by school officials.

Shearer Elementary Principal Ed Sigmon said yesterday that there were "no signs that raised any red flags with us" while she was a student there.

Sigmon described the 10-year-old as "an overachiever -- a very hard-working young lady."

Neighbors set up a memorial in front of Michaela's front door Monday night, and staff members at Shearer are raising money to pay for her funeral and to fund a scholarship in her name. Lasting Impressions, in Winchester, also donated a dress for Michaela to be buried in.

Fund established for funeral, scholarship
Funeral arrangements for Michaela Watkins were incomplete yesterday, but the staff at Shearer Elementary School has set up a fund to help pay for her funeral expenses and for a scholarship in her name.

* To donate, call the school at (859) 744-4978 or send money to:
Peoples Exchange Bank
Grace Bible Church fund/ Michaela Watkins
c/o Lisa White
P.O. Box 95
Winchester, Ky. 40392

Senate stalls KY adoption reform bill

2007-03-19T14:00:00.002-07:00

Adoption reform appears dead
Lexington Herald-Leader, March 13, 2007, pg. C2.

The Senate sent a bill involving adoption reform back to committee last night, most likely killing the measure. Asked whether the proposal was dead, Senate Health and Welfare Chairman Julie Denton, R-Louisville, said, "It appears to be."

The move makes the bill's passage unlikely because, with only two days remaining in this legislative session, the committee will not have time to deal with it. As revised by the House, Senate Bill 141 would have created for a panel of top state child protection officials to review every recommendation to terminate parental rights.

State officials have spent the last year investigating complaints that children are inappropriately removed from their biological parents and placed in foster care to facilitate state adoptions.

Need for volunteers to serve on Citizen Foster Care Review Boards in KY

2007-03-19T14:00:00.001-07:00

Volunteers sought for foster review
Kentucky Post, March 12, 2007, pg. A2.

State officials have put out a call for volunteers to serve on Citizen Foster Care Review Boards in several Northern Kentucky counties.

Volunteers are needed in Boone, Bracken, Campbell, Gallatin, Kenton and Robertson counties to review cases of children placed in foster care because of dependency, abuse and neglect, officials said.

Participants must complete a six-hour initial training session and consent to a criminal record and central registry check.

For more information, call field coordinator Debra Scholer at (859) 334-3245 or (502) 545-8530.

House strips $7.5 million from budget, which also costs them the equivalent in federal matching funds

2007-03-19T13:59:00.003-07:00

Advocates seek funding for abused children
Increase removed from House bill
Yetter, Deborah. Louisville Courier-Journal, March 10, 2007, pg. B5.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Leaders of centers that care for abused children are fighting to revive a proposed funding increase that they fear is dying in the final days of the legislative session.

"It is a true crisis," said Gordon Brown, president of Home of the Innocents in Louisville, one of several representatives of the private centers who visited the Capitol this week.

"We're here bending ears and twisting arms," said Ralph Risimini, board president of St. Joseph Children's Home in Louisville.

A coalition of about 40 nonprofit, mostly faith-based children's residential centers in Kentucky says that without an increase in state payments for children they serve, some facilities will be forced to make cuts or close.

An increase of about $7.5 million — which would attract another $7.5 million in federal matching funds — initially was proposed in a House spending bill. But it was stripped from the legislation in the House budget committee.

Kentucky has no residential centers of its own and relies on the network of private centers to care for some of the most severely disturbed children the state has removed from homes because of abuse or neglect.

Some lawmakers said this week that it still may not be too late to provide an increase to the centers — the first in seven years.

"This is something that has to be dealt with," said Sen. Charlie Borders, R-Russell, the chairman of the Senate budget committee. "My concern is that we are losing places for these children."

Private centers have been forced to cut services or close because of rising costs, according to the advocates.

"We are struggling to serve these kids, and in some cases struggling to stay open," said Bart Baldwin, president of Children's Alliance, which represents the centers.

Borders and Rep. Jimmie Lee, D-Elizabethtown, said lawmakers could restore the funding in a conference committee in the closing days of the session. Lawmakers will complete the bulk of their work next week, with two days set aside to deal with any gubernatorial vetoes later this month.

Lee, chairman of the human services budget subcommittee, said House leaders had the $7.5 million removed from a spending bill because "they look at it as reopening the budget."

"I look at it as a crisis," he said.

The Cabinet for Health and Family Services supports the increase, and Gov. Ernie Fletcher recommended it in his list of proposed spending items.

Fletcher this week urged lawmakers to approve the increase.

"Nonprofits, such as the Home of the Innocents, have an urgent need for funding to ensure their ability to take care of a growing number of children," he said in a statement released by his office.

The state currently pays centers about $170 to $180 per day to care for each child — an amount that hasn't kept up with rising costs of 24-hour care, according to representatives of the facilities. The costs include housing, staffing, counseling and other services.

To make up the shortfall, all centers raise private funds, including donations from affiliated churches. But it's getting harder to close the gap, they say.

"Our organization is looking at a significant deficit this year, and the deficit's been growing every year," Risimini said.

Advocates for the centers say that, even as the number of children removed from homes is rising, private centers are losing beds.

About 7,000 children are now in state care, most of them in foster care, compared with about 5,500 in 2000. Over that same period, the number of private residential slots has decreased from about 1,800 to 1,400.

Sixty children are currently in more costly out-of-state treatment centers, in most cases because child welfare officials can't find a spot at a Kentucky facility. Lee said it costs the state up to three times as much to send children out of state.

Jerry Cantrell, executive director of Bellewood Presbyterian Homes for Children in Anchorage, said most children at residential centers have already failed in other settings and have nowhere else to go.

By the time they reach centers such as Bellewood, most already have cycled through a series of placements in foster care and psychiatric hospitals.

Every time a child is moved, "you have to start all over," Cantrell said. "It is a tragedy."

Senate won't approve House's changes to biological parent bill

2007-03-19T13:59:00.001-07:00

Parental rights changes hit a snag
House-Senate conferenece may find a compromise
Vos, Sarah. Lexington Herald-Leader, March 10, 2007, pg. B2.

FRANKFORT -- The Senate won't approve changes made by the House to a bill designed to provide more protection to biological parents in danger of having their parental rights terminated.

Republican leadership decided during a caucus meeting yesterday not to approve the changes.The move doesn't mean the issue is dead, said Sen. Julie Denton, R-Louisville.

A compromise probably will be agreed to when the two legislative bodies go to conference, she said.

State officials have spent the past year investigating complaints that some children are inappropriately removed from their biological parents and placed in foster care to speed up state adoptions.

The House measure, which incorporates language from another Senate bill that had gotten held up in committee, calls for a panel of top state child-protection officials to review every recommendation to terminate parental rights before that recommendation is sent to a judge.

Why about measuring the effectiveness of KY residential treatment centers for juveniles?

2007-03-10T16:38:00.000-08:00

Advocates seek funding for abused children
Increase removed from House bill
Yetter, Deborah. Louisville Courier-Journal, March 10, 2007.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Leaders of centers that care for abused children are fighting to revive a proposed funding increase that they fear is dying in the final days of the legislative session.

"It is a true crisis," said Gordon Brown, president of Home of the Innocents in Louisville, one of several representatives of the private centers who visited the Capitol this week.

"We're here bending ears and twisting arms," said Ralph Risimini, board president of St. Joseph Children's Home in Louisville.

A coalition of about 40 nonprofit, mostly faith-based children's residential centers in Kentucky says that without an increase in state payments for children they serve, some facilities will be forced to make cuts or close.

An increase of about $7.5 million -- which would attract another $7.5 million in federal matching funds -- initially was proposed in a House spending bill. But it was stripped from the legislation in the House budget committee.

Kentucky has no residential centers of its own and relies on the network of private centers to care for some of the most severely disturbed children the state has removed from homes because of abuse or neglect.

Some lawmakers said this week that it still may not be too late to provide an increase to the centers -- the first in seven years.

"This is something that has to be dealt with," said Sen. Charlie Borders, R-Russell, the chairman of the Senate budget committee. "My concern is that we are losing places for these children."

Private centers have been forced to cut services or close because of rising costs, according to the advocates.

"We are struggling to serve these kids, and in some cases struggling to stay open," said Bart Baldwin, president of Children's Alliance, which represents the centers.

Borders and Rep. Jimmie Lee, D-Elizabethtown, said lawmakers could restore the funding in a conference committee in the closing days of the session. Lawmakers will complete the bulk of their work next week, with two days set aside to deal with any gubernatorial vetoes later this month.

Lee, chairman of the human services budget subcommittee, said House leaders had the $7.5 million removed from a spending bill because "they look at it as reopening the budget."

"I look at it as a crisis," he said.

The Cabinet for Health and Family Services supports the increase, and Gov. Ernie Fletcher recommended it in his list of proposed spending items.

Fletcher this week urged lawmakers to approve the increase.

"Nonprofits, such as the Home of the Innocents, have an urgent need for funding to ensure their ability to take care of a growing number of children," he said in a statement released by his office.

The state currently pays centers about $170 to $180 per day to care for each child -- an amount that hasn't kept up with rising costs of 24-hour care, according to representatives of the facilities. The costs include housing, staffing, counseling and other services.

To make up the shortfall, all centers raise private funds, including donations from affiliated churches. But it's getting harder to close the gap, they say.

"Our organization is looking at a significant deficit this year, and the deficit's been growing every year," Risimini said.

Advocates for the centers say that, even as the number of children removed from homes is rising, private centers are losing beds.

About 7,000 children are now in state care, most of them in foster care, compared with about 5,500 in 2000. Over that same period, the number of private residential slots has decreased from about 1,800 to 1,400.

Sixty children are currently in more costly out-of-state treatment centers, in most cases because child welfare officials can't find a spot at a Kentucky facility. Lee said it costs the state up to three times as much to send children out of state.

Jerry Cantrell, executive director of Bellewood Presbyterian Homes for Children in Anchorage, said most children at residential centers have already failed in other settings and have nowhere else to go.

By the time they reach centers such as Bellewood, most already have cycled through a series of placements in foster care and psychiatric hospitals.

Every time a child is moved, "you have to start all over," Cantrell said. "It is a tragedy."

Senate rules against social worker safety

2007-03-10T16:33:00.002-08:00

Funds stripped from social-work bill
Senate panelcuts $4.8 million
Yetter, Deborah and Stephanie Steitzer. Louisville Courier-Journal, March 9, 2007, pg. B1.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — In a surprise move, a Senate committee yesterday stripped all $4.8million from a bill meant to improve the safety of social workers.

The move outraged supporters of House Bill 362, named the "Boni Frederick Bill" after the Western Kentucky social-service aide slain on the job last October.

"They have absolutely gutted the Boni Bill," said an angry Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville, the bill's sponsor. "The Senate just doesn't care about social workers and their safety."

Senate leaders defended the move, saying the new version of the bill gives state child welfare officials more flexibility to improve safety.

Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, said the House bill was too broad and required specific changes, including establishing secure sites where parents can visit children removed for abuse or neglect.

"That might be a good idea but it's an untested idea," Williams said. "We want to make sure we do everything we can do immediately and not experiment."

But supporters of the original bill — including Frederick's daughter, Sandy Travis of Dixon, Ky. — said the measure is pointless without sufficient funds to hire more front-line workers and open secure centers for family visits.

Frederick was fatally beaten and stabbed after she took an infant to the mother's home for a final visit.

"Do they not even care what this does to the family?" Travis asked. "This is killing my family."

Patricia Pregliasco, a state social worker in Jefferson County, said she and co-workers are overwhelmed by growing caseloads and were counting on funds to hire more staff.

"I've never seen anything so desperate," she said. "It really is frightening, how overloaded the workers are."

The bill the House passed March1 contained $4.8million to hire 76 social workers and 33 aides and clerical workers over the next 16 months. The money also was to be used to open 15 secure centers around the state.

The bill approved yesterday by the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee — which now goes to the full Senate — directs the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to try to find money within the existing budget for safety improvements.

If more money is needed, the bill authorizes the cabinet to ask the governor for $1million.

Health and Family Services Secretary Mark Birdwhistell said he could work with the Senate version of the bill.

But last month — when the House made a similar proposal that he use existing funds to hire more workers — Birdwhistell said that his agency was already strapped and that he had no additional funds without reducing other services for the poor, elderly and disabled.

Rep. Jimmie Lee, D-Elizabethtown, said yesterday that the system is in dire need of more workers. And he noted that state social-work schools will produce about 80 college graduates this year.

"To not put those people to work is a crime," he said.

Travis said she will keep fighting for more resources for social workers.

"I'm not going to let this die," she said.

Burch calls revised Boni bill a piece of trash

2007-03-10T16:32:00.001-08:00

Measure to help social workers is altered
House author of Boni Bill says it's been gutted
Vos, Sarah. Lexington Herald-Leader, March 9, 2007, pg. B3.

FRANKFORT -- A Senate committee yesterday stripped funding from a bill to improve social worker safety, and deleted a provision that would have allowed the state to hire more than 100 social workers and staff members.

Rep. Tom Burch, D-Louisville, who sponsored the House bill, said the move gutted the bill."They made it into a social worker abuse bill," he said. "The Senate has absolutely lost their brains over there."

Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, who offered the new version of the Boni Bill, denied the charge.

"We didn't take the money out," Williams said. "We allowed more money to be spent on protection of social workers than the House does."

The revised bill now goes before the full Senate and then back to the House for concurrence. But how it will fare there is far from certain. Burch said yesterday he would rather have no bill than the one approved by the Senate committee, which he described as a "piece of trash."

The measure as approved by the Senate does not contain any new funding. It allows the Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Mark Birdwhistell to take money from other programs and request up to $1 million from the governor.

Williams said that ability to move money around would provide more funding than the $4.8 million appropriated by the House, because the cabinet has a multi-billion dollar budget.

Last month, when the bill was before a House committee and it appeared no new money would be appropriated, Birdwhistell said he could not find adequate funds in his budget for the problems that exist.

Yesterday, however, he praised the flexibility the Senate version of the bill offered, and denied that finding money in the existing budget, which he described as "extremely lean," would be a problem.

"Even if the initial funding may look a little less than what came out of the House version, the immediacy that this affords me will allow me to more quickly address the safety issues," Birdwhistell said.

House Bill 362 is named after Boni Frederick, a Henderson social worker who was slain last fall while supervising a visit between a toddler and his biological mother.

The House measure would have given the cabinet $4.8 million to hire more than 100 social workers and staff members and to open visitation centers for foster children and their biological parents.

It also created a blue-ribbon panel to examine everything from salaries to operations and procedures.

The Senate version does not contain money for staff or visitation centers. It directs the cabinet to assess safety problems at regional offices and fix them, and to hire police officers to accompany social workers if needed. Instead of a blue-ribbon panel, it directs Birdwhistell to create a study group focused on safety.

"What we're going to do is have a complete security check of each one of the offices and authorize them to spend all the money necessary to secure those offices," Williams said.

Both versions of the bill give social workers access to criminal-background checks and require them to report threats.

Hank Cecil, of the Kentucky Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, who had advocated more money to hire more social workers, was stunned by the changes made in the Senate. He noted that Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher had originally asked for more than $18 million to hire more than 300 social workers and staff members.

"They went against their own governor," he said.

Senate's version of bill won't deliver on earlier promises

2007-03-10T16:31:00.002-08:00

Senate plans its own Boni Bill
As session winds down, HPV bill dies, booster seat stalls
Vos, Sarah. Lexington Herald-Leader, March 8, 2007, pg. C3.

FRANKFORT -- The Senate plans to offer its own version of a bill designed to improve social worker safety.

Budget committee chairman Charlie Borders, R-Grayson, said staff were working on a revised version of the bill that may be voted on as early as today."One of the key things will be from the security aspect," Borders said. "Is the security what it needs to be? Can we do more?"

The bill is named after Boni Frederick, a Henderson social worker aide who was killed while supervising a visit between a toddler and his biological mother.

The bill will be heard today or Friday, Borders said.

As it passed the House, the bill would allow the state to hire more than 100 social workers and staff, and create visitation centers around the state for foster children and their parents. It appropriates $4.8 million to allow the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to make those changes, among others.

Cervical cancer vaccine
While the Boni Bill appears likely to move forward in some form, a House bill dealing with vaccinations against cervical cancer is dead, and a bill requiring the use of booster seats has stalled because of opposition.

House Bill 345, which requires middle school girls to be vaccinated against a virus that causes cervical cancer, will not be heard in the Senate, Borders said. The bill, which passed the House two weeks ago, is assigned to his committee.

"This is something we need to take a long, hard look at because obviously we we need to prevent cancer anytime we can," Borders said.

Borders said he had concerns about making the vaccine, which prevents the human papilloma virus, mandatory and questions about how long the immunization would last. He said there wasn't time to address those issues during this session.

Booster-seat bill
House Bill 53, which requires children between the ages of 4 and 8 and less than 57 inches tall to ride in a booster seat, has not been heard by the Senate Transportation Committee because of disagreement over whether it should pass, said Sen. Brett Guthrie, R-Bowling Green, who chairs the committee.

Those who opposed the bill don't like the government telling parents what to do, Guthrie said. No decision has been made on the bill.

"Obviously, in the next day or two, we have to decide, but there's still opportunities for it to pass."

The bill has passed the Democratic-controlled House four times, but the measure has never gotten out of committee in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Thank you, State Rep. Tom Burch

2007-03-10T16:31:00.001-08:00

House renews effort on adoption reform
Honeycutt-Spears, Valarie. Lexington Herald-Leader, March 9, 2007, pg. B3.

FRANKFORT -- The House yesterday unanimously approved a bill designed to afford more protection to biological parents in danger of having their parental rights terminated.

The bill ensures that proposed foster care adoptions are thoroughly reviewed."It puts some continuity into how adoptions are done," State Rep. Tom Burch said as he argued for the bill on the House floor.

State officials have spent the last year investigating complaints that some children are inappropriately removed from their biological parents and placed in foster care to facilitate state adoptions.

The Cabinet for Health and Family Services Inspector General found that some state social workers committed crimes as they removed children from their biological families.

When it was clear earlier this week that the original foster care adoption bill --Senate Bill 141 -- was stalled in the Senate, Burch took another bill that had already passed the Senate and attached new language to it.

That language calls for a panel of top state child protection officials to review every recommendation to terminate parental rights before that recommendation is sent to a judge.

For the bill to continue to pass through the General Assembly, the Senate must concur with the changes made in the House.

Fees for court-appointed attorneys haven't raised since the 1980's

2007-03-10T16:30:00.001-08:00

Steps taken to revive adoption bill
Top officials would review every recommendation to terminate parental rights
Honeycutt-Spears, Valarie. Lexington Herald-Leader, March 7, 2007, pg. B2.

FRANKFORT -- With the foster care adoption bill stalled in the Senate, state Rep. Tom Burch yesterday took steps in the House to revive it.

In the revised legislation, Burch calls for a panel of top state child protection officials to carefully review every recommendation to terminate parental rights before that recommendation is sent to a judge.

In essence, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary and the Inspector General and the officials who head legal and social service divisions, would have to review every request to terminate parental rights.

The formation of a protection and permanency panel would protect the rights of a biological mother, a biological father, and their child, the revised bill says.

The revised legislation says the panel would have to review Cabinet records and written and oral comments from biological parents and other relatives before approving a termination of parental rights.

State officials have spent the last year investigating complaints that children are inappropriately removed from their biological parents and placed in foster care to facilitate state adoptions.

Burch, D-Louisville, said the amended bill is "pretty much" the same as the old legislation. But he said the bill calls for no fee increases for court-appointed attorneys. Those fees have not been raised since the 1980s.

"This is the best that we can do right now," Burch said.

He said lawmakers hope to add increased funding for court-appointed attorneys in the next legislative session.

Under the revised legislation, Kentucky's chief justice would establish procedures for managing child protection and permanency cases in court.

The revised legislation is now called Senate Bill 140. It passed the House Health and Welfare Committee that Burch chairs and now goes to the full House for its consideration.

Meanwhile, the foster care adoption bill sponsored by Sen. Julie Denton, R-Louisville, has not yet been called for a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The committee chairman, Sen. Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said yesterday morning that he was waiting for revised wording from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services before calling that original foster care legislation -- Senate Bill 141 -- for a vote.

The problem with Senate BIll 141 is that it requires more court-appointed attorneys and that might not be practical in rural areas, Stivers said.

Cabinet spokeswoman Vikki Franklin said yesterday afternoon that Cabinet officials were still working on Denton's bill.

It was not immediately known last night how Burch's action would affect Denton's bill.