American Family Advocacy Center report first published in

2001

THE VOICE OF THE CHILDREN

I m ust preface this by pointing out that a large percentage of children are not rem oved from their
hom es because their lives or safety are in danger. They are rem oved for such things as accidental
injuries, dirty carpets, clothes on the floor, refrigerators that are not full, m issing school, playing outside
without supervision, witnessing their parents argue, parents asking for help from DHS such as respite care
or assistance with com bating an addiction or food stam ps, and m ore. I deal largely with issues where the
parent’s problem s did not rise to the level of endangering the child, indeed, even posing a threat of danger
to the child. But even when children have been abused, they don’t deserve what too often happens to
them in state custody.
Last Novem ber, Clintha (11) and Viola (10) Harris ran away from their allegedly abusive foster
hom e in Arapaho County, Colorado. They left behind two of their siblings in that foster hom e.
The girls have reported that they were never abused by their parents before the state swooped in
and rem oved them . They also stated that their case worker, Dawn Shields, tried to m ake them lie and
accuse their parents to justify their rem oval. The girls are adam ant about their dislike and distrust of
Shields. They stated that they want to go hom e to their m om and dad.
According to the Harris girls, they had been beaten with a cane by the foster m other, and locked
in a room , where they escaped through a window. They m ade their way across half of Colorado and all of
Kansas and surfaced in Kansas City. They accused their foster care giver of shaking their infant sister,
and of hitting them on the head.
They have also alleged sexual abuse in the foster hom e. Shields reportedly ordered the girl’s aunt
NOT TO HAVE THE CHILDREN MEDICALLY EXAMINED in an attem pt to verify this report, in the event
the girls showed up at her house in Kansas City, MO. Such evidence could prove detrim ental to Arapahoe
County if were confirm ed, regardless of the best interests or the safety of the children involved.
The children were returned to Colorado and have been secreted away by Arapahoe County, but
not before I obtained their statem ents on video tape.
The confidentiality laws surrounding child protective services, which, ostensibly are designed to
protect the children, have effectively been used as a veil of secrecy to hide the abusive and illegal
activities of DHS leaving the children without a true voice about what they endure while under the dubious
‘protection’ of the state.
You see, while children are being protected by DHS, they suffer abuse and neglect of a nature
that is sim ply not tolerated by DHS if it were com m itted by the biological parents. W e believe that if a child
is going to be rem oved from their parents due to alleged abuse or neglect, that they m ust be placed in a
hom e that is superior in every way, but especially safety, to their hom e. DHS does not hold this sam e
opinion. And children are routinely placed in hom es that prove to be worse than the hom es they were
rem oved from .
As an exam ple: In El Paso County, Sanita Swisher had her seven children rem oved when she
was arrested for allegedly leaving a 10 year-old boy hom e alone. She was later acquitted during her
crim inal trial, but her parental rights have since been term inated. One of her seven children, Lea, had an
infant who went into foster care with her. During the course of Lea’s stay in her foster hom e, she cam e
hom e from school one day to find her 12 m onth old son hom e alone, unattended in his crib, scream ing.
The foster parents had left the house without taking the baby. The foster parents still have their foster care
license, they still had foster children assigned to their hom e, and they did not have their own children
rem oved by DHS.
Yet, this isn’t the worse exam ple of DHS coverups of abuse and neglect in foster care. Bones and
Sandy Evers were the model foster-adopt parents in La Plata County, until their seven-year-old adopted
daughter died of asphyxiation in her sleep. As a result of that accidental death, DHS yanked two sisters
out of their hom e who were weeks away from having their adoption finalized. The Evers won their
Dependency and Neglect case, but were charged crim inally with Child Abuse Resulting in Death. In their
crim inal trial, the jury returned a com prom ise verdict of Negligence, and the Evers were sentenced to jail
tim e. Meanwhile, one of the two babies taken from the Evers’s by DHS died in another foster hom e of a
subdural hem atom a. Nobody was charged with her m urder, and it was not reported as a m urder. Yet,
clearly, it was m urder. And it was covered up.
 Terry Cam pbell’s grandson was placed in Rocky Mountain Boys Ranch, where he was confined to
a cell for 23 hours of the day. On the one hour that he was allowed out, he wore chains and shackles. He
was never accused nor convicted of any crim e. He was abused by the system and his voice was never
heard.
Sandra Manchego’s fifteen-year-old son has spent four years in La Junta Boys Ranch under a
Pueblo County caseworker diagnosis of being psychotic. W hile there, he endured brutal abuse at the
hands of other residents and by staff. One day, he couldn’t take it any m ore and killed som e of the turkeys
on the ranch. They shipped him to the State Hospital in Pueblo where the doctors said he was not
psychotic as his caseworker insisted. The caseworker keeps insisting that the Pueblo doctors include
som e elem ent of psychosis in his diagnosis in order to keep getting the funding she needs. Meanwhile, he
was m is-diagnosed, m istreated, and abused by the system for four years without his voice being heard.
Sanita’s son was sexually m olested by a child in his El Paso County foster hom e. Her daughter
exhibited bruising from her foster hom e. W hen Sanita pushed for her children’s safety in foster care, El
Paso County caseworker, Marian Percy, retaliated and filed for term ination of Sanita’s parental rights. She
felt that Sanita was not focusing on the appropriate issues and declared that the court-ordered treatm ent
plan had failed to rem edy the problem s that caused the children to be rem oved. Despite the fact that
term inating parental rights represents a failure on the part of the agency to keep the fam ily together, Percy
was reportedly prom oted for her successful m anagem ent of this case.
Cinnam on Martin’s daughters were punished in their Arapahoe County foster hom e for praying to
be returned hom e, by being isolated from each other and denied m eals. Their voices were not heard.
Veronica and Richard Schlosser, in Larim er County, were punished by the foster caregivers for
crying. Veronica ran away from her foster hom e and revealed her situation on a video tape which was
aired in New York City. For six m onths after their return hom e, thirteen year-old Veronica could not go to
sleep unless the light was left on and her m other sat by her bed. She hides when the doorbell rings.
In Adam s County, Dorothy C.’s children were returned from foster care to exhibit previously non-
existent sexualized behaviors.
Robin Bingham ’s son was place in Cedar Springs on the recom m endation of an El Paso County
caseworker, without any m ental health diagnosis, where his life was threatened with a knife by a gang of
residents. El Paso County DHS was repeatedly inform ed to no avail. Chris ran from Cedar Springs for fear
of his life. His voice was not heard.
Joe Fox’s daughter was taken by Arapahoe County DHS for a dirty house and has been denied
substantial parenting tim e with her and her infant sister who was taken shortly after birth. Caseworker Lisa
Justis has actively interfered with the parent-child bond in order to facilitate the children’s adoption. She
has denied those children access to their grandparents in Pueblo who have inform ed m e that at the end of
their last visit, little Akane begged to go hom e with her grandparents. This has been denied by Arapahoe
County in spite of a Pueblo County hom e study that the grandparents hom e was entirely acceptable.
Akane and Leda don’t even need to be in foster care with strangers. This is nothing less than em otional
abuse by DHS; denying them their identity by isolating them from their fam ily. Their voices are not heard.
Christopher Jensen is a ten year-old boy with m ild retardation and cerebral palsy. His m other,
Rochelle is bi-polar. He has spent a large part of his life with his grandm other and aunt. El Paso County
has taken him from his grandm other and placed him in foster care where the best we can determ ine, the
care he receives is at best, indifferent. Chris has a grandm other and aunt who want him , and can support
each other with caring for him , but DHS has filed a petition to term inate parental rights. He is unhappy in
his foster hom e and wants to be with his fam ily; he told m e so, and I video taped it. If parental rights are
term inated, he will have becom e a throwaway child, in spite of the fact that he has fam ily who loves him
and wants him , and for no other reason than his and his m other’s disabilities.
Laura Kneis’s children were place in foster care where they had to sleep on the floor in the fam ily
room . They insisted the foster m other was “psycho.” She called them “anim als” and m aligned their
m other to them . They complain that they are not allowed to talk about what goes on in the foster hom e.
Their voices are not heard.
The owner of the Stars Group Hom e in El Paso County is being investigated for breaking a child’s
arm .
These coverups occur because the agency that is charged with protecting our children, the
agency that places our children, is also the agency responsible for covering reports of abuse and neglect
in foster hom es and institutional placem ents. This agency has a vested interest in covering up reports of
child abuse and neglect to children in their own custody.
There have been studies which docum ent the rates of abuse in foster care and group hom es as
far exceed the rates that occur in the general population. For exam ple:
SEXUAL ABUSE
• Baltim ore found substantiated sexual abuse 1cases in foster care was 4 tim es higher
• Indiana found three tim es m ore sexual abuse 2 in foster care and 28 tim es greater in group hom es
• A lawyer in Florida knew personally of over 50 instances of child on child sexual abuse involving
over 100 Broward County foster children, Broward County only reported 7 instances.3
• Casey Fam ily Program alum ni survey found 24% of the girls reported actual or attem pted sexual
abuse in foster hom es.4
PHYSICAL ABUSE
• Indiana found physical abuse occurred twice the rate of the general population in foster hom es
and ten tim es the norm al rate in group hom es 2
• Baltim ore study of case records found abuse in 28% of foster hom es 5
• Various studies have shown that a child has a 10 tim es GREATER chance of being
abused/neglected in foster care/state custody than they do in their own hom es .6
NATURE OF ABUSE IN FOSTER CARE in Colorado
• The guarantee of emotional traum a due to the child being separated from his parents. This
is largely not recognized by DHS and is actually m is-characterized as being a result of the
abuse/neglect they allegedly suffered in their hom es. It is exacerbated by isolation techniques
such as withholding visitation or requiring severely lim ited and supervised visits with fam ily, by not
allowing contact with siblings or extended fam ily m em bers. This traum a m anifests itself as acting
out behaviors including bed-wetting, destructive behavior, urinating/defecating in inappropriate
locations, crying, clinging or self-isolation, poor perform ance and behavior problem s in school,
self-abuse and suicidal gestures, running away, physical violence, verbal abuse, and m ore. Often
these behaviors will be m is-diagnosed as ADD/ADHD or other m ental health issues which lead to
the next step of abuse,
• Over-medicating children to control behaviors. Foster hom es cannot deal with som e of these
intense problem s and request the child be m edicated to control his behavior, in effect putting the
child on chem ical restraints. Medications and residential adm issions have also been used to
brainwash children who are resistant to accusing their parents in Colorado. Reference the Miller
fam ily in Canon City, whose six year old son was subjected to isolation from his siblings and
parents and to repeated and lengthy residential adm issions which included heavy m edications, for
his refusal to accuse his father of sexually m olesting him . An independent evaluation of the entire
fam ily suggested the children had been psychologically m anipulated against their parents.
• Interference with parent-child bonds. This routinely happens with infants. The courts routinely
only allow 1-3 hours of supervised visitation with infants during their m ost critical bonding periods.
These children naturally fail to develop attachm ents to their biological parents which is used to
term inate parental rights. Attachm ent disorders often develop because of the confusing m essages
the infant is receiving.
• Indifferent care by foster care providers denying the child love, nurturing and security that a
parent gives. This is nothing more than warehousing of children.
• Inadequate facilities including beds or bedding, bedroom s, inability to transport children to
visitations, appropriate church or other regular activities enjoyed by the child in his hom e.
• Physical abuse including hitting, punching, kicking, slapping, pinching, pushing, hair-pulling,
biting, and m ore. This abuse is perpetrated by the licensed foster care giver, their own children
and friends, and by other foster children in the hom e. W hen parents see bruising on their children,
they are not allowed to photograph it, and it is m inim ized by caseworkers as “accidental.”
• Em otional abuse including having their parents m aligned, being called nam es, ridiculed for their
sorrow or beliefs, belittled, denied the ability call their parents, isolated from the household,
isolated from fam ily and their siblings which denies them their identity and their fam ilial
connections, having photos of their parents and fam ily taken or destroyed or being forbidden to
possess such photos, having their personal belonging taken and put into a com m on pool of
belongings for all foster children
• Sexual Abuse. Since DHS is the agency that places the child AND the agency that investigates
reports of abuse in foster hom es, they have a vested interest in covering up cases like Lisa K’s 10
year old daughter who was raped in a foster hom e. She was subjected to intense psychological
‘therapy’ to convince her she was lying about the rape. El Paso County allowed the rapist to leave
the country and did not pursue prosecution. Many children who are sexually m olested in foster
care have been rem oved from their hom es for poverty related ‘neglect’ issues and never suffered
abuse at the hands of their parents.
1.Mary I. Benedict and Susan Zuravin, Factors Associated W ith Child Maltreatment by Family Foster Care
Providers (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, June 30, 1992)

2. J. W illiam Spencer and Dan D. Kundsen, “Out of Home Maltreatment: An Analysis of Risk in Various Settings
for Children,” Children and Youth Services Review Vol.14, 1992

3.Affidavit of David S. Baserman, Esq. W ard V. Feaver, Case # 98-7137, United States District Court, Southern
District of Florida, Fort Lauderdale Division, Dec. 16, 1998

4.David Fanseil, Foster Children in a Life Course Perspective (New York: Columbia University Press, 1990)

5. Memorandum and Order of Judge Joseph G. Howard, L.J. v. Massinga, JH 84-4409, United States District Court
for the District of Maryland, July 27, 1987

6.A 1986 survey conducted by the National Foster Care Education Project - Timothy W . Maier, "Suffer the
Children," Insight on the News, (November 24, 1997). p. 11. A follow-up study in 1990 by the same group produced
similar results. The American Civil Liberties Union's Children's Rights Project similarly estimates that a child in the
care of the state is ten times more likely to be abused than one in the care of his parents - Seth Farber, "The Real
Abuse," National Review, (April 12, 1993)