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Guest
State to pay $10 million in abuse of three boys
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/10/22/1022foster.html
By ANTIGONE BARTON and KATHLEEN CHAPMAN
Palm Beach Post Staff Writers
Monday, October 22, 2007
For years after discovering that their three adopted sons had been
raped, beaten and caged while in state custody, a Boynton Beach couple
struggled to get the traumatized brothers the treatment they needed.
On Monday, more than five years after the couple sued the state for
concealing the abuse and for the damage the boys suffered before coming
to them, Florida officials agreed to pay the family the $10 million
experts estimate will help them begin to get suitable care.
"The sad part is we're talking about boys who are 15 and 16 years old,
as opposed to 8 and 9," their adoptive mother, Debbie, said Monday.
According to a memo the couple's attorney said was written by a
consultant for the state, recommending that the case be settled, the
foster care system had been "catastrophically destructive" to the
children, who were 2, 3 and 4 years old when the couple adopted them in
1998.
The Palm Beach Post is not using the couple's last names to protect the
identity of their sons.
During their earliest years, the boys had been shuttled from an abusive
mother to a brutal foster family to the home of a pedophile. They were
expelled from a series of schools and treatment programs while Debbie
and Jorge rearranged their home and their lives to protect the boys from
each other. In addition to assaulting each other, molesting classmates
and attempting suicide, the boys attacked their adoptive parents.
The settlement reached Monday will allow the brothers to go to an
out-of-state program for children who have suffered extreme abuse. It
comes as the two oldest, who are nearly 15 and 16, are on the verge of
being too old for the program.
"A wrong had been done, and we had to correct it," said Bob Butterworth,
secretary of the state Department of Children and Families. "The case
had to be settled in order for the two oldest children to get the
treatment they needed as soon as possible."
Butterworth, appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist to head the long-troubled
agency in January, announced when he took office that he would not spend
state money fighting lawsuits when facts indicated the agency had erred.
"It is refreshing that Gov. Crist and Secretary Butterworth took a look
at the case and realized the gravity and the care they needed," the
boys' adoptive father said.
"During the past administration, we were completely ignored despite what
they knew, which is a lot," Debbie said.
It was only after the adoption that the parents learned the boys'
previous foster father was a pedophile who had raped an 11-year-old
girl. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2000. The couple learned
that the middle child had clung to a state-paid therapist's leg, sobbing
as he begged not to be returned to a household where he and his brothers
were molested nightly.
By the time they learned this, Debbie said, she and her husband were
"running a group home without a staff" as the boys terrorized their
household. Psychologists have concluded that the boys can no longer love
or trust anyone, they said.
The couple had one adopted son when they prepared to adopt more from
state foster care. Willing to take a child with disabilities or
behavioral problems, they asked only that they not be given a child at
risk for molesting other children, because they did not want to put
their young son at risk.
"It changed his whole childhood," Debbie said.
The youngest of the brothers, now 13, remains at home. The middle child
is in a psychiatric hospital, and the oldest is in a group home after
assaulting Debbie.
"They were just getting too big and too strong to stay here," Debbie
said, though she and her husband have refused to consider reversing the
adoption.
The legislature still must approve $9.5 million of the settlement, but
the boys' treatment will begin immediately thanks to help from the
state's Agency for Health Care Administration, Butterworth said. The
family will receive $500,000 now - the maximum that can be settled
without legislative approval.
"This settlement is fair, at best," the couple's attorney, Lance Block,
said Monday. "Had this case been a private entity, it would have settled
for many millions more. On the other hand, I have been trying cases
against the state of Florida for 23 years, and I never thought I would
see the day that the Department of Children and Families would try to
get cases settled that should be settled."
The outlook for the boys is worse now than if they had been able to get
the care they needed years ago, the couple said. But they remain hopeful.
"We are depending on the state of Florida to follow through on what they
have said they will do," Jorge said.
The couple, who moved to the Gainesville area last year, remain staunch
advocates for adoption.
"Children need homes," Debbie said. "But parents need to know that the
state of Florida is not going to hide things."
CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NSA / CIA
WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....
CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.
every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com
Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS
Perpetrators of Maltreatment
Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5
Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.
CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...
BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/10/22/1022foster.html
By ANTIGONE BARTON and KATHLEEN CHAPMAN
Palm Beach Post Staff Writers
Monday, October 22, 2007
For years after discovering that their three adopted sons had been
raped, beaten and caged while in state custody, a Boynton Beach couple
struggled to get the traumatized brothers the treatment they needed.
On Monday, more than five years after the couple sued the state for
concealing the abuse and for the damage the boys suffered before coming
to them, Florida officials agreed to pay the family the $10 million
experts estimate will help them begin to get suitable care.
"The sad part is we're talking about boys who are 15 and 16 years old,
as opposed to 8 and 9," their adoptive mother, Debbie, said Monday.
According to a memo the couple's attorney said was written by a
consultant for the state, recommending that the case be settled, the
foster care system had been "catastrophically destructive" to the
children, who were 2, 3 and 4 years old when the couple adopted them in
1998.
The Palm Beach Post is not using the couple's last names to protect the
identity of their sons.
During their earliest years, the boys had been shuttled from an abusive
mother to a brutal foster family to the home of a pedophile. They were
expelled from a series of schools and treatment programs while Debbie
and Jorge rearranged their home and their lives to protect the boys from
each other. In addition to assaulting each other, molesting classmates
and attempting suicide, the boys attacked their adoptive parents.
The settlement reached Monday will allow the brothers to go to an
out-of-state program for children who have suffered extreme abuse. It
comes as the two oldest, who are nearly 15 and 16, are on the verge of
being too old for the program.
"A wrong had been done, and we had to correct it," said Bob Butterworth,
secretary of the state Department of Children and Families. "The case
had to be settled in order for the two oldest children to get the
treatment they needed as soon as possible."
Butterworth, appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist to head the long-troubled
agency in January, announced when he took office that he would not spend
state money fighting lawsuits when facts indicated the agency had erred.
"It is refreshing that Gov. Crist and Secretary Butterworth took a look
at the case and realized the gravity and the care they needed," the
boys' adoptive father said.
"During the past administration, we were completely ignored despite what
they knew, which is a lot," Debbie said.
It was only after the adoption that the parents learned the boys'
previous foster father was a pedophile who had raped an 11-year-old
girl. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2000. The couple learned
that the middle child had clung to a state-paid therapist's leg, sobbing
as he begged not to be returned to a household where he and his brothers
were molested nightly.
By the time they learned this, Debbie said, she and her husband were
"running a group home without a staff" as the boys terrorized their
household. Psychologists have concluded that the boys can no longer love
or trust anyone, they said.
The couple had one adopted son when they prepared to adopt more from
state foster care. Willing to take a child with disabilities or
behavioral problems, they asked only that they not be given a child at
risk for molesting other children, because they did not want to put
their young son at risk.
"It changed his whole childhood," Debbie said.
The youngest of the brothers, now 13, remains at home. The middle child
is in a psychiatric hospital, and the oldest is in a group home after
assaulting Debbie.
"They were just getting too big and too strong to stay here," Debbie
said, though she and her husband have refused to consider reversing the
adoption.
The legislature still must approve $9.5 million of the settlement, but
the boys' treatment will begin immediately thanks to help from the
state's Agency for Health Care Administration, Butterworth said. The
family will receive $500,000 now - the maximum that can be settled
without legislative approval.
"This settlement is fair, at best," the couple's attorney, Lance Block,
said Monday. "Had this case been a private entity, it would have settled
for many millions more. On the other hand, I have been trying cases
against the state of Florida for 23 years, and I never thought I would
see the day that the Department of Children and Families would try to
get cases settled that should be settled."
The outlook for the boys is worse now than if they had been able to get
the care they needed years ago, the couple said. But they remain hopeful.
"We are depending on the state of Florida to follow through on what they
have said they will do," Jorge said.
The couple, who moved to the Gainesville area last year, remain staunch
advocates for adoption.
"Children need homes," Debbie said. "But parents need to know that the
state of Florida is not going to hide things."
CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NSA / CIA
WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....
CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.
every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com
Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS
Perpetrators of Maltreatment
Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5
Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.
CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...
BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...
