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5月11日 Helping “Poca”, a local foster childA very close friend of mine, someone I’ve known many years, has been so moved by a local Seattle-ish area foster child, that she has decided to get involved. “Poca” is a medically fragile foster child who has been removed from her stable foster home undeservedly. She’s lived there since birth for all of her life (4 yrs). The family has been a foster family for medically fragile children for 10 years. All investigations by the local television station KING 5 and others point to DSHS bias against the foster family. There appears to be NO REAL reason for the removal. More detailed and lengthy information follows, but here is the gist. YOU CAN HELP! On Wednesday, 5/13 there will be a protest at the courthouse. The night before, Tuesday 5/12, there will be a sign-making session to prepare signs for the protest. If you can’t make the protest itself, the sign making event is a great way to get involved. EMAIL FROM MY FRIEND CINDY, ORGANIZING SOME PROTEST EFFORTS TO HELP POCA (long, but hang in there) ----- Original Message ----- Okay, Everyone!! We have a location for our sign-making session, thanks to Kerry Johnsen!! It will be 4:00pm to 6:00pm tomorrow, May 12th at The Cove in Normandy Park! The street address is 1500 SW Shorebrook Dr. // Normandy Park, WA 98166. Please send this out to your friends, your girl scout troop, any kind-hearted person you know. We would love to have a bunch of girls (and boys) there to make signs for Poca at Wednesday's rally. Susannah Frame from KING-5 TV will be there with a film crew. Hopefully, with the news exposure people will go to the rally the following day!! We have to get this little girl back with the only family she has ever known! Please call or email with how many of you plan to come, so we have enough sign supplies. Also, if you can go with me to the rally on Wednesday, please let me know. I really want to take a van full. Thanks so much, Cindy PS. The KING-5 broadcasts are at the very bottom of this long email. Some folks were asking me for them, so here they are again. ----- Original Message ----- ------------------------------------------------------------ Hi, All - I've never done anything like this before, but I am compelled to do something to help this little girl, nicknamed Poca, who has just been taken from the only home she has ever known! She spent the first 4 months of her life in the neo-natal intensive care unit, born to a drug addicted mom. Upon release, Poca went to live with the Langley's, a foster care couple trained in caring for fragile infants. Poca is now 4 years old and has been living with the Langley's all of her little life. Her drug-addicted, biological parents haven't been able to get it together enough for Poca to safely live with them. (Her little brother was just removed from their home, as well.) The state law is that after 15 months, the parents rights are supposed to be terminated so the child can be adopted and not continue to just live "in limbo." The Langley's want to adopt her, but the CPS workers on the case keep trying to place her back with her biological parents, even in the face of advice to the contrary from nearly everyone involved with Poca's case. In fact, every person that has recommended the parents' rights be terminated and that Poca be permanently placed with her foster family has been removed from the case - Poca's lifelong pediatrician, her neurologist, the ER doctors that identified abuse when she visited with the biological parents, the guardian-ad-litem that 5 times recommended parental rights be terminated - all of these trained professionals have been systematically removed from Poca's case by CPS because they dared to disagree with the CPS caseworker! Now, because the caseworker has manuevered to get Poca removed from the Langley's home - the only home she has ever known - KING 5 has gone public with the story trying to stop it!! Didn't work - Poca was taken out of the home this past Wednesday, and placed with a new foster family! I've been following Suzannah Frame's news stories on KING 5 about this little girl's plight, and called Suzannah to find out what the "other side" of the story was. There had to be more to it than was being told for a little girl to be ripped from the only home she has ever known! Suzannah assured me there is no smoking gun. She has been investigating this story since last August, and has read file after file on the case. She said there is no reason why this is happening other than caseworker bias. My next question was "what can an average citizen do to help?" She put me in touch with Gary Malkasian, who was also a foster parent, who's foster child was unwisely put back with the biological parents, and died shortly thereafter. I am forwarding an excellent email I received from him. It has more details, and the broadcasts from KING 5 about Poca's case. Watch them to find out more. Gary is spearheading a rally at the courthouse in Everett next Wednesday, which is when the hearing is for Poca's little brother. I have rearranged my schedule so I can attend that rally, and would love to take a van full of people with me! If any of you can go, please let me know. I'll probably leave Burien around 9:00am, May 13th. I have to tell you, I've gone to bed every night since Wednesday thinking about Poca - that she is in a strange bed in a strange house with people she doesn't know. It just breaks my heart. I know there are tragedies all over, but this is one we can maybe do something about. If we put pressure on the lawmakers, maybe we can get Poca back with her foster family. The senator in the Everett area is already starting to call for an investigation, so all the attention is working. I need some help. I just got a call a couple of hours ago. Suzannah says if we can find a place to make a bunch of signs ahead of time for the rally, she will have a news crews there to film it. I'm going to ask Seahurst Elementary on Monday morning if we can use the cafeteria. If anyone has a better idea, please let me know. I'm going to get supplies for signs, but I need people to make the signs. If kids could come too, that would be great. I know they'll be in school when the rally takes place, but this is a way they could contribute. It will obviously have to happen Monday or Tuesday afternoon or evening. If you can help, please let me know which night works better for you, and we'll go with the time that works for the most number of people. I think kids making signs that say, "Save Poca" would make for good TV, and hopefully get more people to the rally as well. I know this is a really long email, and I know that tomorrow is Mother's Day and everyone is busy, but it's also one more day that little Poca is away from the only family she has ever known. My heart just aches for her. Please let me know however you can help - provide a location, provide sign supplies, come make signs, come to the rally, or all of the above!!! Thanks so much for your time. Sincerely, Cindy Richardson (206) 431-1223 ----- Forwarded Message ----- Foster Care Justice Alliance Defending the Rights of the Child May 8, 2009 "They deserve a better deal than they are getting. They deserve life. They deserve hope… What they need is for you to stand up and fight for them. I seem to have made a career out of crying on the six o'clock news. But the truth is, they don't even need our tears. They need our outrage." Gary Malkasian (me), Sirita's Playground Grand Opening, Lake Stevens, August 26, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JUSTICE FOR POCA PROTEST RALLY Wednesday, May 13, 2009, 10 AM Denny Juvenile Justice Center Courthouse, 2801 10th Street, Everett, WA Because even a child has rights. To say I am outraged is an understatement. "Poca" is the nickname of a four year old girl. She has been in foster care her entire life. Born drug affected, premature and medically fragile, she spent the first four months of her life in the NICU at the hospital. All the rest of her life she has spent in the home of Dick and Amy Langley, who have devoted their lives to caring for special needs children. The Langleys have been subjected to the worst case of retaliation against a foster parent I have ever seen. This week a judge ordered Poca removed from their home with no transition. She said they had "interfered" with reunification by reporting bruises after unsupervised visits. After four years, the parents are still unable to be a safe placement, so the judge ordered the child moved to a new foster home. Poca is one of six siblings, all born premature and medically fragile. At least one tested positive for meth at birth. The father has a felony conviction for selling meth. Three children died in the home. The other three were sent to separate foster homes. The birth parents have tried for four years to get their children back. The eldest living child was returned home, but removed again last week - more on that below. The Langleys have cared for 20 foster children over the past 10 years, including a blind baby and children with severe disabilities. Some have been successfully reunited with their birth parents, and some adopted. But when you adopt a special needs child, sometimes they have issues that are not immediately apparent. The charges against the Langleys stem from their adoption of a boy named Taylor, who developed anti-social, violent and aggressive behaviors. It was suspected that his parents put alcohol in his baby bottle to keep him quiet, which caused serious neurological damage. By six years old he attacked family members with a screwdriver and a knife, broke Amy's nose and fingers, and threatened neighbors. Taylor needed special one-on-one attention in a therapeutic home where he was the only child. They found such a home, and he was readopted. DSHS called that child abandonment, and asked the judge to move Poca. A scathing 36 page report by an administrative review judge exonerated the Langleys and castigated DSHS for their inept investigation. Cleared of all charges, did DSHS reverse course, allowing Poca to stay with the Langleys? No, DSHS filed a new charge: Poca should not stay with the Langleys because they did not move Taylor fast enough. Darned if they do; darned if they don't. The state has now argued both sides of this issue, in an apparent attempt to oppose placement with the Langleys regardless of the facts and evidence. When Poca returned from an unsupervised visit with marks on her thighs, she claimed her birth mother did it. The ER doctor suspects abuse in his report. But DSHS calls it "unfounded". The child returns from another visit in respiratory distress with welts on her buttocks. The mark looks like a hand print. Another ER doctor indicates that this is abuse. The department calls this also unfounded. However, new charges have been filed against the Langleys. Apparently, searching for a bruise in response to the child's own complaints is considered an invasion of the child's privacy – a four year old child that has been with them from infancy and still needs help with toileting and hygiene! So finding a bruise is child abuse? But causing a bruise is not? I wrote Randy Hart a letter about this incident. I asked, quite simply, "Are you nuts?" DSHS have come up with multiple theories about Poca's injuries. They have alternately claimed that a car seat was responsible, or that the welts were really an allergic reaction the just happens to look like a hand print. Or that the Langley's just made the whole thing up. Yet Poca's older brother was removed just last week after he revealed to his school teachers that he was abused in his home and instructed by his mother to lie about it. Or are the Langleys responsible for that, too? I have been working on this case since August. I wrote to Governor Gregoire in October and asked her to investigate this case. In my letter I said that we hold her responsible, as the head of our state, for the safety of this child. Here is a list of all the people who have warned DSHS about this case, and what happened to them: 1 The initial social worker listed safety concerns and recommended adoption. She was moved to another case. 2 Dave Lindsey, the initial guardian ad litem - a court appointed special advocate - recommended 5 times termination of parental rights (TPR). He claims his guardian reports were altered. He was removed from the case, and replaced by an attorney that usually represents birth parents. 3 The child's neurologist, Dr. Stephan Glass, one of the top 3 neurologists in Washington State according to Seattle Magazine, credits the child's progress to the Langleys and warns that she will be seriously harmed by removal from the home. He is no longer allowed to see the child. 4 The child's pediatrician warned against removing the child. She is no longer allowed to see the child. 5 Two different emergency room doctors found evidence consistent with abuse after an unsupervised visit. Yet unsupervised visits continue. 6 Three psychological evaluations concluded the mother is "off the charts" in anti-social behavior. The department ordered fourth which concluded the mother is okay. This is called "shopping" for a provider to give a desired result. Anti-social behavior does not simply disappear without years of therapy. The more recent tests are not more reliable; on the contrary, they are less valid because patients eventually learn what the "correct" responses should be. 7 The Child Protection Team recommended TPR and adoption. Recommendation ignored. 8 The Langleys, Poca's foster parents, who have been subjected to the most egregious, venomous attack against a foster parent I have ever seen. 9 The foster parents of Poca's little brother also opposed the case plan. DSHS refuses to renew their license, despite no allegations against those foster parents at all. The hearing on May 13 at 2 PM is to remove him from the only home he has ever known. In other words: everyone. The social worker, the guardian at litem, all the medical providers, two sets of foster parents, the entire Child Protection Team, and the mental health evaluators. Those that oppose the department's case plan have been systematically removed. This case is just the tip of the iceberg. I can list you 10 other cases just as bad. I am sure there are hundreds more I don't even know about. These children have rights that are not being respected. There are 10,000 kids in foster care in Washington State. Half have been there for more than three years. Don't these kids have rights? Don't they deserve a life? It takes money to fight these cases. We need your donations, which is why we have set up Poca's Fund at Bank of America. The money will go to help pay the legal fees of fighting this case and create a legal defense fund for all the other children whose rights are being abused, but who do not have media coverage. They number in the thousands. CONTACT US 24 Hour Message Line: (484) 288-4364 MEDIA Watch for this story next week on the TODAY Show. Coverage on KING 5 Investigators with Susannah Frame: April 29, 2009: http://www.king5.com/localnews/investigators/stories/NW_042809INV-kids-in-limbo-SW.11d2b688e.html May 1, 2009: http://www.king5.com/localnews/investigators/stories/NW_043009INV-langley-foster-parentsKS.6d8ad6b.html May 5, 2009: http://www.king5.com/localnews/investigators/stories/NW_050409INV-tax-dollars-state-services-KC.1e475b81.html May 6, 2009: Wave of support for foster parents following TV coverage http://www.king5.com/localnews/investigators/stories/NW_050609INV-poca-foster-home-KC.28a1ac76.html May 7, 2009: Stevens' calls Poca's case 'a travesty' http://www.king5.com/localnews/investigators/stories/NW_050709WAB-stevens-poca-KC.46ebc28.html Watch for more updates at http://www.king5.com/localnews/investigators Dori Monson Show, KIRO Radio 97.3 FM (download) April 29, 2009: http://icestream.bonnint.net/seattle/kiro/2009/04/p_Dori_Monson_Show_20090429_2pm.mp3 David Boze Show, KTTH 770 AM (downloads) May 1, 2009: http://icestream.bonnint.net/seattle/kiro/2009/05/p_David_Boze_Show_20090501_3pm.mp3 May 6, 2009: http://icestream.bonnint.net/seattle/kiro/2009/05/p_David_Boze_Show_20090506_5pm.mp3 WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP 2. Join us in Facebook: http://www.causes.com/FCJA 3. Get on our mailing list for updates: http://www.fosterjustice.com/about/contact.htm 4. DONATE TO POCA'S FUND TO PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN: Make a tax deductable donation online, or at any Bank of America branch for "Foster Care Justice Alliance": http://www.fosterjustice.com/donate/donate.htm. Donations designated for "Poca's Fund" will go first to help pay the legal expenses of the Langleys. Any money donated above that will go into a legal defense fund for other foster families in similar situations. 6. Write to Washington State Governor Chris Gregoire. It's time she stops the outrageous behavior of the Everett DCFS office. This is just ONE CASE out of MANY where foster parents have been attacked for advocating for the child. Governor Chris Gregoire Office of the Governor PO Box 40002 Olympia, WA 98504-0002 Phone: 360-902-4111 Fax: 360-753-4110 Online: http://www.governor.wa.gov/contact/default.asp 7. Write to Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna. Tell him to reign in his staff and protect this child. Attorney General Rob McKenna 1125 Washington Street SE PO Box 40100 Olympia, WA 98504-0100 Phone: (360) 753-6200 Online: https://fortress.wa.gov/atg/formhandler/ago/ContactForm.aspx 8. FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. I have never asked that before. Donations to Foster Care Justice Alliance are tax deductable, and will help us continue to fight for changes in law and to support foster families under attack. 引用通告此日志的引用通告 URL 是： http://liefandlisa.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!A1E9AF9AED3A0763!856.trak 引用此项的网络日志
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