mntleo2
mntleo2's JournalAmerican Safe Families Act=Destruction of Families
The ironically named American Safe Families Act (AFSA) is not "safe" for kids and it is destroying families. Here are a few facts about the ASFA law and what it's consequences:
*AFSA is mandated funding taken out of Social Security. States receive on the average of $2 Billion of federal funding solely for the taking of kids from their families
*AFSA mandates say in essence: "The more kids you take, the more money you will make. If you return these children home, you will LOSE all future and present funding..."
* The cost for taking kids from their families brings funds into DSHS state agencies between $8,000-$10,000 per month per child. It will generate even more funding if the children are deemed "disabled"
*DSHS admits that less than 15% of the kids they take are truly abused. This means that 85% of these children could stay in their homes ~ but it would cost CPS some of that $8-$10,000 to give them services costing less such as energy assistance, affordable housing, food security and medical assistance. Many of these parents are low wage workers with no sick leave or family support and they have to choose between things like taking a day off for a follow-up appointment or making the following month's rent. Clinics and hospitals receive AFSA money for reporting those who do not make those appointments as well as other "abuses".
* At this time CPS case managers and contracted agencies are given immunity even if proven they have committed perjury, intimidation, deliberately overlooked the law, or any other violation that would fine other government employees, put them in jail for up to 20 years, and may even face the death penalty according to the US code, which is above any other laws: . Title 18, U.S.C., Section 245 .
* The most expensive cases of child abuse and neglect that states have brought have been proven as shams. Even the US circuit Court said that CPS is not trustworthy because they have no one to overlook their accusations ~ except within their own internal "investigations" which in essence is the fox watching the chicken coop. McMartin Case in CA, the Massachusetts and Wenatchee Witch Hunts that occurred in the 1980s and 1990s were THE most expensive trials in the histories of their states and all were proven to be utter shams. This is because officials used quack psychological methods now called "False Memory Retrieval" as legal fact. After using kids as their guinea pigs with using them for "studies" they had used kids for years to win their case by getting kids to make false statements in court, this method has since been considered unethical...
However not one counselor, law official, judge, or case manager has faced a single consequence for these false accusations that send hundreds of children scattered, many innocents to prison and destroyed thousands of lives. http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mcmartin/mcmartinaccount.html https://www.vdare.com/articles/prosecutorial-abuse-the-wenatchee-witch-hunt-unravels-further Indeed many of these prosecutors and their CPS cohorts were elevated into higher positions ~ hate to say it but some of them are Democrats and have served in positions such as university department heads, policy committees, and Attorney General after "making their bones" on these witch hunts. Here is one such Democrat: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/addiction-in-society/201001/martha-coakley-and-modern-witch-hunting-ritual-child-sexual-abuse
False Memory Retrieval has produced numerous law suits from patients who were deliberately misled into thinking their own fathers were rapists using suggestive counseling. It was was an intense and invasive practice that had children make false accusations against their families and community members. It was also used with adults who were counseled into thinking they had been raped and molested as children. This kind of coaching is still used with kids today by CPS workers who can remove a child from a classroom or go behind closed doors with no recording, and interrogate kids of any age with no independent witnesses or any way to prove their allegations that they claim a child has made. They can twist the most innocent comment into a "fact" simply by stating they "felt" that the child was in "imminent danger". Imminent Danger means that even if they didn't find any abuse or any patterns of abuse, the child may be "in danger"" in the future with only the case manager's "feelings" that abuse "could" happen. These allegations are frequently used as fact in court for quick removal of the child, often using police to do so with case manger "concerns" that can later be proven as outright lies ~ but too late to have the child returned to their homes, of course.
* Thanks to ASFA therefore for any American, the use of "imminent danger" means that, regardless of how well loved and cared for a child may be all the time they have resided with the one who love them, any of these government officials can simply state in court that they "felt" the kid COULD be abused in the future in order to remove these kids and place them elsewhere, most often with strangers.
* There is literally no oversight as to whether or not accusations of abuse and neglect are valid. Indeed a case manager can simply point their finger at someone and put the accused on state public record lists for life next to convicted child rapists and murderers without so much as a trial or any way to revoke these accusations after 20 days. The 9th Circuit Court and Supreme Court stated in their rulings with Los Angeles County vs Humphreys that they had little faith in DSHS agencies that because of the lack of external oversight, these accusations were not founded because there was no one else but DSHS themselves to ensure integrity or accuracy. Yet thousands of falsely accused are still on these lists to this day without so much as a trial and these affect background checks for employment, housing and credit with no way of revoking them. http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/09-350.pdf
* According to DSHS' own estimates, over 6000 children die yearly while in state care. Legally kidnapped kids are 5-7 X more likely to be abused, raped, molested, and neglected in foster care and adoption than if they had been left in the home. They are more likely to become homeless, go to jail, become drug and alcohol addicted, become teen parents, than if they had been left in their family homes with services costing far less. Anyone can go to an inner city place where these kids gather (most of them are from foster and adoption homes) and hear stories of abuse, rape and neglect that would curl your hair. They will tell you they tried to report their abuse to CPs but since they have been put in chosen "forever homes, or foster homes, CPS will not hear their cries for help. You might also note that, while these kids are shivering in some doorway, DSHS agencies who do not care where these kids are or what is happening to them, are STILL collecting that $8,000-$10,000 per month for that shivering, scared, abandoned foster child.
* Low income families are being targeted for taking kids instead of giving them support that costs literally 1/10th of the cost of CPS invention. Also families of Islam where their kids are placed in Christian foster homes where their children are forced to eat pork and attend church. A dear Muslim friend of mine in MI is at this time trying to change the ASFA law with her Representative (Conyers). they have introduced a bill in the US congress that is garnering over 50% support at this time. Her child was killed while in foster care and she is on a mission that she hopes will change this horrible law, not only for her, but for others who are being targeted. Here is her FB petition page: https://www.facebook.com/events/509459582487595/. I support this dear woman because I personally know of the horrible consequences and corruption that this law creates.
* Entire low income housing communities are being routinely emptied of children, documented in CA, WA, GA, PN, MI, NV, FL, and AZ. This means that every single child has been taken from their parents, especially babies since they are the most adoptable and bring in the most adoption fees. Indeed many mega-non-profits who sponsor low income housing bringing in $millions in housing funds ~ also house adoption agencies generating $millions in government funding, these adoption agencies are "conveniently" located nearby within the same agencies (cough cough while saying "YWCA, Goodwill, and - choke - Salvation Army" ). In homeless shelters CPS worker hover while looking for these children to take, having offices right in the shelters. A successfully taken child can generate up to $5000 in bonuses given to case managers as a reward for taking a child as is written and allocated in the ASFA budget. so, according to those employed with AFSA funding every single parent within those housing units are "abusive and neglectful" and any other children they may give birth to are subjected to be snatched from their mother's arms hours after birth without so much as an accusation, since they now have a legal history of "abuse and neglect". I have seen 10 couples with adoption hopes circling the hospital maternity ward while the formerly accused mother is in labor, who has no desire to give up her baby but will be forced to by the state anticipating rich rewards ~ I am *not* making this up. Oh and screw the maternal or paternal grandparents who would take the child, they are not considered worthy of taking their grandchild, especially since removing the baby would generate $50,000-100,000 adoption funding like one of those 10 couples would bring to CPS and their affiliates.
* In addition to the $2Billion of AFSA funding they are mandated to receive, most states allow CPS to also take 1/3-1/2 of the discretionary TANF (Welfare) budget meant for families needing services. They will take this funding for themselves including housing, cash assistance, child care, medical, housing and food benefits, gutting funding for family support. Then they will deny a family these benefits and can remove low income family's children for "abuse and neglect" This is because their DSHS agencies will receive literally 10 times the money for taking the children rather than the 1/10th it would cost for assisting the family. Even with drug and alcohol addictions, the amazing women at The Rebecca Project have shown a much less costly 80% long term success rate with women who have been in prison that go into in-house drug and alcohol treatment bringing their children with them who also receive counseling and support.
Taking kids from their families is not the answer. Assisting the 85% of the families who need services would, but because of AFSA this is not being done. Removing a parent's rights is like a death and IS a legal "death" for this child and their family. Never again will these kids know their grandparents, their siblings, their relatives, their parents or anything about their genealogy. In turn the birth parents and relatives are left to mourn the loss of their children for the rest of their lives.
I have more, much more that I could say, but this is long enough.
My 2 cents,
Cat in Seattle
Unpaid Work = $450 BILLION a year to replace
We first need to begin to respect and define unpaid work.
According to the AARP it would cost tax payers over $450 BILLION dollars per year if we were to replace the unpaid labor of care giving so women can go out there and make rich men richer saying, "Do you want fries with that?" You can find links and read their wonky report here: http://www.aarp.org/home-family/caregiving/info-10-2012/home-alone-family-caregivers-providing-complex-chronic-care.html
What does this replacement of this unpaid mean, you might ask? Well this is the labor (mostly) women have to do to take care of their children, their elders, and their spouses unpaid and without any consideration for the contributions they make to their communities.
How does this unpaid work contribute to my community or to me, you might ask? Well YOU would be expected to pay that $1/2 Trillion yearly more to build, maintain, and staff facilities in order for someone abandoning their loved ones in order to work for a wage.
(Mostly)women LOSE almost $400,000 over a work lifetime due to this labor according to the AARP and other labor studies.
Social Security calls those years of unpaid care giving "zero years" for the 3 to 5 times in their lifetime (mostly) women make the agonizing decision whether to care for a loved one or work for a wage. This means women who choose to care for this loved one will not be eligible for any pension or Social Security benefits.
If women choose this unpaid labor in order to care for their loved ones, they are most often forced to live off the income of the loved one for the 24/7 unpaid labor that gives them zero benefits such as sick leave, vacation, unemployment benefits, medical benefits or retirement. If they were compensated with a wage according to labor and this AARP study, she would be paid upwards of $137,000 per year for the various tasks she performs such as chauffeuring, cooking, house work, nursing,childcare, elder care, physical therapy, household shopping, and various other tasks that would cost far more of they were sourced out.
Welfare insists that women go back to work when their infant is 3 months old. For a women with a newborn to work for a wage at their McJob, she will make at most $1000 per month while the cost to taxpayers is over $2000 per month for infant daycare alone. Other Over 70% of the McJobs they are forced to work are off hours, evenings, weekends and the like when childcare is nonexistent and if it does exist (my city has ONE off hour daycare at this time) it costs much more. Additional daycare for older potty trained kids can cost from $500-1000 per child per month, also tax paid. For the paid worker, this does not include all the other extra costs they may need such as transportation to work, career clothing, etc. At this time taxpayers subsidize much of this while the McJob yields less than $1000 per month, in essence subsidizing corporations over $4000 more per month so they can pay this McWage.
In contrast if these women were given financial support in order to care for their loved ones, it would cost about $1200 per month, and this includes housing assistance, medical for herself and her kids, and food assistance. If her loved one is an elder or spouse who needs assistance so she can work for a wage, facilities costs could soar to upwards of $8000 per month.
The point is that we seem to "forget" all this unpaid labor that is saving us $Trillions and yet is often not even considered "work". If we were smart, which most of us are not if we do not see this work as worthy, we would realize we would not be burdened with these corporate subsidies, it cost less that 1/5th of what we are paying now to support unpaid labor and give far more stability to families.
My 2 cents (and I have more stats and information)
Cat in Seattle
Board member of P.O.W.E.R http://www.mamapower.org
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