A Nacogdoches, Texas CPS caseworker, Alvita Johnson, 50, was arrested in 2006 for abusing three foster children in her care. Charges against her included injury to a child and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The children involved were ages 10, 12, and 15 at the time.

Recently she was found guilty of two counts of injury to a child and three counts of aggravated assault. Here’s the sentence:

Sources:
Former CPS employee arrested for alleged abuse by Kyle Peveto, published in the Daily Sentinel on November 22, 2006.
11/01 On the record, published on Friday, October 31, 2008 also in the Daily Sentinel, a Nacogdoches, Texas newspaper.

This was posted as a comment on the site. I’m promoting it to the front page so that more of you will know about it. I’ve also requested more information. - ljm

There will be a march to protest CPS in Sacramento, California on November 25th, 2008.

Location: The Federal Building and the Mayor’s Office.

Time: It starts at 10:45am.

Organizer Susan Smith can be contacted at 415-863-6306 or 415-756-9589.

She plans speakers, banners, media, press, logo t-shirts, and more.

A ten year old boy in Jacksonville Florida has had his life ruined by a CPS over-reaction to a false allegation. They ripped the boy from his mother, incarcerated him in foster care with foster parent Leticia Rodriguez, and left him to be molested by two teenage boys they’d already been told were abusing children.

The person who made the false allegation went to jail because of it. Unfortunately the Department of Children and Families dragged things out in court and managed to keep the boy away from his mother for four weeks. Time enough for him to be repeatedly abused by the foster parent’s two teenage sons.

Typical CPS social work abuse of children! Even though they KNEW the mother wasn’t guilty they pursued their case to keep a child in foster care and draw on those federal funding streams they love so much.

Does anyone here understand why I’m so angry at legislators for not changing the federal child abuse laws? Don’t legislators realize how many children they are HARMING? I sadly believe they DO know it and don’t bother doing anything to help because of some pressure from higher authorities. Tell me it isn’t so! Tell me American children are more important than that!

The mother intends to sue the state of Florida. I hope a lot of pathetic caseworkers lose their jobs over this, and that the state goes broke if it isn’t already.

Florida DCF spokesman John Harrell wouldn’t talk about the eight year old girl foster child who complained about being molested in that foster home NINE MONTHS before the boy stayed there. In all that time, how many other children have been abused? Quite a few, wouldn’t you think?

Source: Foster Child Sexually Abused in Foster Home by Jackelyn Barnard, published on November 12, 2008 by FirstCoastNews.Com (WJXX and WTLV).

FightCPS has a chatroom that you can use 24/7 to chat with other victims of child welfare laws.

Here’s the link: FightCPS Chatroom

I will be there on Friday evenings at 7pm Pacific Time for an open chat.

If anyone else would like to lead a chat please comment with your weekly start time, and a topic if you have one.

An unidentified Canadian foster parent, age 34, is on trial, accused of second-degree murder. Her three-year-old foster child, a Native American boy, died of a severe head injury sustained on January 26, 2007. The foster parent, a nurse, took the boy to the bathroom in the middle of the night and there he either fell and hit his head during a temper fit, or she hit him. The court must decide which is true.

A forensic pathologist, Dr. Bernard Bannach, testified that there was a sudden, unexpected blow to the head causing the brain to rotate within the skull, tearing veins and causing a subdural hematoma. He admitted that this could conceivably be caused by a fall rather than by an abusive blow to the head.

Dr. Alex Levin said the boy’s brain seemed to have been subjected to severe repeated trauma. The boy’s body was also covered with severe bruises including on the feet and lower back - places boys don’t usually bruise themselves.

In his opening statement the prosecutor, Mark Huyser-Wierenga, said that children with similar injuries were involved in automobile accidents or falls from three stories up, and that this injury couldn’t have been caused by anything other than child abuse.

Child protection social worker Edele Kaffo said that she saw nothing wrong with the way the child was being cared for by the accused foster parent. Her opinion was based on telephone calls and home visits between December 6, 2006, and January 26, 2007. Apparently the boy was in the home less than two months. He was taken from his poverty-stricken parents who were allegedly accused of instability, domestic violence, and alcoholism.

The foster mother believed the boy had fetal alcohol syndrome and took him to a pediatrician several times. The boy’s doctor, Dr. Kan Lee, testified that she claimed the boy woke up screaming and saying, “Daddy hurt me” and “Daddy bad.” He said that during the first doctor’s office visit the boy had multiple small bruises on his forehead, legs, and back as well as a cut on his thigh. During the second visit there were two new bruises.

Sources:
Blood-flooded brain led to boy’s death by Ben Gelinas, published in the Edmonton Journal.
No concerns about foster mom, case worker tells Edmonton murder trial by Florence Loyie, published in the Edmonton Journal.
Toddler showed signs of disorder: Foster mother complained of outbursts, court told by Karen Kleiss published October 30, 2008 in the Edmonton Journal.
Blow that killed foster boy was sudden, hard, court hears by Karen Kleis, published October 22, 2008 in the Edmonton Journal.
Ex-foster mother pleads not guilty to murder by Jennifer Yang, published October 15, 2008 in the Edmonton Journal.

A foster parent in Detroit, Michigan has been arrested for allegedly molesting two young girls, ages 10 and 12. Robert Carl Davids, 55, may face life in prison for raping the two children who were in his home as foster children.

Their mother lost custody of her five children in 2006 due to a drug raid, but she’s been working on her reunification plan and hopes to get her children back on December 4.

In the meantime she’s been telling Michigan DHS caseworkers that her children were in danger. According to a Detroit News article, she said, “I was making complaints in February 2007 almost every day about the home . . . and I felt no one was taking me seriously.” She thought her daughters were being ‘beaten and sexually assaulted’.

Source: Man charged with abuse of two foster girls” by Oralandar Brand-Williams, published on November 8, 2008 in the Detroit News.

Dawn Robertson of Honk for Kids has lots of work to do in her effort to save children from DCF injustice. Her state, Indiana, has been taking children from their homes far more often than other states. Child detentions in Indiana have risen ten percent while nationwide, detentions dropped four percent since 2004.

In 2007 Indiana’s Department of Child Services (DCS) removed 7712 children from their homes. That was 369 more than in the previous year.

The Associated Press article about the odd statistics quoted Ms. Robertson as saying, “There does not seem to be, with most judges, an independent and unbiased review of all the facts of the cases. It’s very one-sided. DCS’ word is considered gospel.”

The data on Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) child welfare overzealousness was compiled by the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform. That’s Richard Wexler’s organization. He pointed out there’s no evidence that children are safer in Indiana and said, “When you are seeing no increase in safety but a huge increase in removals, that means your system is getting worse.”

We who are fighting child welfare insanity in whatever state we’re in should get in the habit of reviewing national child abuse and neglect statistics, as Wexler has done. You’ll never know what there is to find unless you look.

Statistical information:

National Child Abuse and Neglect Statistics
Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities: Statistics and Interventions

Sources:
Report says state removing more kids from homes by Tim Evans, published on November 8, 2008 in the Indiana Star.
Report says state removing more kids from homes, an AP article published on November 8, 2008 in the Chicago Tribune.

A Dearborn, Michigan mother, Elena Andron, 32, asked for help from social services when she lost her job. She asked that the state help take care of her quadriplegic nine-year-old son, Johnny Dragomir. Unfortunately Johnny starved to death in the Monroe Foster Home in Detroit; owner Mildred Monroe, a registered nurse and dietician, apparently didn’t feed him enough and he died of malnutrition.

Elena Andron has filed suit against the the foster care home and others, asking $30 million in damages.

Andron stated in her lawsuit that when she became concerned about her son’s health she was denied access to him. When he entered foster care he weighed 80 pounds, and when he died, he weighed only 48 pounds. His school teacher didn’t notice any “red flags” and the foster home still has an active license.

Sources:
Mom sues over 9-year-old’s death in foster care in Wayne County court: $30-million suit claims her son starved by Tammy Stables Battaglia, published on November 5, 2008 in the Detroit Free Press.
Lawsuit: Foster Home Starved Boy, 10, To Death published November 3, 2008 on the ClickOnDetroit website.

Hannah Overton, 30, the Texas foster parent and Christian homeschooling mother of five convicted to life in prison without parole for the murder of a foster child, is asking for a new trial.

She was convicted in September 2007 because she allegedly forced a four year old, Andrew Burd, to drink a mixture of two cups water, salt, pepper, chili powder and Cajun spices as a punishment. Hannah’s version of this is different. She says the child requested the “Zatarain’s Seasoning” and she put it in water instead of on food because he had an overeating disorder. She says she did not force him to drink it as a punishment. Source: Free Hannah Overton Website.

While many more violent foster parents have gotten off with a mere hand-slap, this young woman was sentenced to life without parole even though she had no intention to kill the child. She reportedly panicked when she saw Andrew wasn’t breathing, and waited an hour and a half to call for medical assistance. This is what the prosecutor said made her responsible for Andrew’s death. Source: Woman Convicted In Foster Child’s Death Seeks New Trial published on November 7, 2008 at KWTX.com.

A commenter at Sarah Walston’s blog article about Hannah Overton said that the actual time Overton waited to take Andrew to the hospital was only five minutes, not an hour and a half.

This case shows that foster parenting is a dangerous occupation. For years now I’ve warned people NOT to get involved with the foster care industry because of the risk of false accusations, and because of things like this where foster children die or are murdered, and there must be accountability.

One foster parent wrote on Sarah Walston’s blog:
“This story TERRIFIES me because I currently have 2 foster children living in my home, and now I’m forced to think ‘What IF this happens to ME?’ This story shows how easily some unfortunate twist of fate, can leave someone wrongfully convicted…”

There is a website created by Overton’s Christian supporters: Free Hannah Overton.

My opinion on this is that she got a much longer sentence than she deserved. Without a doubt, forcing a child to drink hot spices is a form of child abuse, and she deserved some prison time if she actually did that, but to put her away for life without parole is far too much time, especially for a young woman who is unlikely to be a danger to society if set free.

Another blog article, Suffer the Children, gives an opposing view, criticizing the “Free Hannah Overton” movement and pointing to perceived flaws in the thinking and writing of those seeking to help her.

For a picture of Andrew Burd: Corpus Christi Couple Charged in Death.

See also: Hannah Overton convicted of killing foster son.

This case has become a favorite cause for bloggers, especially Christian bloggers:
Hannah Overton :: Pray for Hannan Overton :: Release Hannah Overton :: Free Hannah!!! :: Hannah Overton Alleged Salt Poisoning Case :: Urgent Prayer Request for Hannah Overton :: May God Bless Hannah Overton and Family :: Free Hannah Overton :: Free Hannah Overton.

Other FightCPS articles about Hannah Overton: Texas: Fosterer charged with murdering 4-yr-old boy with hot pepper

Hannah’s aunt posted extensive information on her MySpace blog in which she said part of the conviction relied on a FALSE affidavit filed by a CPS social worker! See: The Wrongful Conviction of Hannah Overton.

What is your opinion? Should Hannah Overton be freed? Should her sentence (life without parole) be exchanged for something less harsh? Or do you think she got what she deserved?

If you’re one of the people who thought CPS would never be able to take your children because you were doing nothing wrong, please let me know. I want to compile an e-book of articles about people who thought they would never ever have a problem with CPS.

Just leave a comment and I’ll get in touch with you.

Thanks to an Obama supporter, we’ve got contact information:

Here is his Senate office address:

Obama, Barack- (D - IL) Class III
713 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2854
Web Form: http://obama.senate.gov/contact/

From http://www.senate.gov

And here is his campaign ‘contact us’ info:

http://answercenter.barackobama.com/cgi-bin/barackobama.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php

. . . . .

After you write your letter please post it here in comments.

Let’s keep our letters together, and keep them on the internet and see how much change we get.

Please remember that a handwritten letter on paper will probably get more attention than an email. Legislators often delete emails unread, or just scan the subject lines.