Things I lose sleep over:

By Joshua Allen

The Business of Child Abuse.

How come some Agency CEO's allowed to pay themselves six figures while working very little? And when office employees know this person is rarely in the office or involved in the day to day dealings, why do county auditors do nothing more than glance at the CEO's time cards if there is any question?

After agencies are shut down for gross mismanagement, how come CEO's who paid themselves millions of dollars over their term of administration allowed to simply walk away without further consequences?

And…Why are these CEO's allowed to continue to consult, and or work with abused and neglected children after numerous ethical breaches?

Why are agency CEO's allowed to use taxpayer money to rent buildings and land from themselves? Why has this practice been allowed to continue? Does anyone think this is proper?

When an agency CEO has settled many-many claims of sexual harassment before reaching trial, then tried to use taxpayer money to pay attorney fees in at least 3 of these cases, then continued to serially sexually harass ladies of all types; (and within the industry this is all common knowledge), well why is he still given clearance to work around abused and neglected children?

When an agency is closed down for mismanagement and there is money left over, what happens to this money? Is it true that some CEO's are allowed to continue on their same salary for quite some time doing very little beyond perhaps running a simple parenting class or putting on picnics for kids?

When somebody is reportedly warned that there are major problems with a foster home, does nothing, and a child dies – why are the involved individuals allowed to move on to other agencies to consult and supervise?

When a CEO brags several times in front of witnesses that a Los Angeles County Supervisor helped him personally get his agency off of administrative hold, and apparently does this without talking to the county officials who know of him and the circumstances of the hold, and then a child dies - how come the Supervisor won't answer the question if what the CEO said was true? And if it is true, what exactly did the Supervisor do to help the CEO get his agency off of administrative hold?

Why is there seemingly never any consequences for Board Members of grossly mismanaged agencies who vote huge salaries for disgraced CEO's, do little deals with the CEO's, and know the whole time this is unethical if not illegal?

If the county because of a change in policy, is now substantiating a much higher percentage of child abuse allegations, what happened to all the children (before the change in policy) who were previously abused when the allegations against their abusers were incorrectly found to be unsubstantiated?

The last one haunts me the most…

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LA Foster Care: Fairy Tales from The Unforgiven.

A Story of Greed, Hypocrites and Those who did Nothing.

The Business of Child Abuse

By Joshua Allen

 

Authors Note: The following is a fairy tale. Any similarity to people, living or dead, or to actual events is purely a coincidence.

In the Child Abuse Industrial Complex, Foster Children are cared for and represented by 3 distinct and separate entities. The Department of Children and Family Services, the Children's Courts, and the Foster Parents.

This is one story:

 

Once upon a time on a world far far away there was a tragic toddler who was taken out of her home and put into foster care.

Now one day, for reasons only known by the Gods, the toddler was killed when the disgraceful Foster Parent hit her with a hammer. And to this day the reasons remain obscure and impossible to fathom…

Now this horribly tragic toddler had an Imaginary foster care social Worker (FCSW).

The foster care social worker was a very busy lady. She had many jobs and dozens of cases and was pulled in so many directions her community and friends wondered how she could possibly keep track of all the foster children.

The legal limit was 15 but nobody was counting, and this social worker was assigned to monitor the tragic toddler's home, (And as we quickly learned, the toddler didn't count either). The social worker was supposed to visit weekly but who knows. Maybe we should ask?

However, the imaginary social worker does visit the home at least once. And she does not like what she sees, no, no, not at all! What a rotten home.

She tells her imaginary supervisor problems with the home and more importantly, problems with the foster parent.

"What the heck is going on?" She asks. "Do you know this lady?"

The imaginary supervisor knows the foster parent is close with the imaginary administrator and does little to nothing. If the supervisor says anything at all (and this is in doubt) nothing happens. Her resistance to wrong was like light through a pane of clear glass. She may have been invisible.

So the social worker writes an email to the Administrator. She outlines the concerns she has about the home and the foster parent.

Now mind you, there are definite problems with the home. There are problems with the foster parent. And the social worker decides to keep the email. She will later show it to anyone who asks.

Now in this tragic foster home lived a convicted felon. This criminal was the father of a child who lived with the foster parent and the toddler. However, the felon is not supposed to live in the home but everyone sort of turns a blind eye and all seems well.

The administrator knows something is up, and she's no dummy. So she decides to protect herself, in an imaginary way.

The Administrator extracts a signed piece of paper from the foster mother. The paper says that she understands the felon and father of her child cannot live in her home.

The foster mother knows this is against the rules. They both know this is just a piece of paper. The imaginary administrator will take measures to insure that the evil auditors find nothing wrong if they should ever ask questions. And they never do.

Oddly, the home is strange and has padlocks on the doors and cameras in the halls. This is against foster care regulation but nobody from the agency cares about this. The position from the agency is they had no idea. They never saw what was there as they carefully went through the home.

Both the imaginary CEO and the administrator swear the administrator has visited the home twice in February, but the small house is so gigantic, so complicated, that she and more than one other social worker have somehow missed 3 padlocked doors and cameras in the hallway! It must be evil magic.

The social worker quickly realizes that nothing is being done to correct the dangers in this bad home. She does not want to be held accountable if something happens to the toddler.

This time she goes directly to the Administrator, face to face, mano y mano…. And so the single rarest thing known to happen in social work takes place. They have a meeting!

The social worker looks the administrator in the eye and very deliberately speaks. "The house and the foster parent are not up to standards!" She says. "It is unsafe. The foster parent is nuts!" She cries. "This cannot go on."

The administrator, full of wisdom, nods with understanding and appears to be considering options. Why yes, this is indeed a difficult situation. Action must be taken to protect the agency.

Now the administrator knows the agency has been on hold for months because they have refused to pay back money that was stolen (questionably spent) from the county. After two years of prevarication the evil county is insisting they get their money back! Of all the gall!

How dare they!

There is a lesson here. If a mere peasant like you or I had stolen from a cash register, lets' say, $20 from 7/11 or JC Penny, we would go to jail. But with foster agencies, if you are likely complicit in stealing a quarter million from the county, charging things for home and pleasure from company credit cards, as if it's your own personal fortune, and unable to document how or where much of the money was spent… well, after a few years the county insists you pay it back interest free - no harm no foul. Kind of cool huh?

But, back to our fairy tale…

The forlorn agency is in trouble, deep trouble. They have been on hold a long time and have watched their business tank into the ground. The CEO laments;

"We are dying on the vine! What shall we do?"

They are not allowed to place any foster children into their homes. They are not allowed to make money! It is all he can do to breath.

The CEO cries and shakes his fists to the political heavens. He tears his hair and rents his clothes. He curses those who would do him harm. They are all against him.

Yet with tears in his eyes he brags to his loyal retainers that one county supervisor is on their side, he says he will help, but the fool has been too slow to act! He has such contempt for these supervisors, but this time he needs them.

And worse, the agency must make a large payment to back the county off, to lift the evil hold. But alas, they don't have the money.

You see, they have already given much of the money to themselves as a bonus and a raise in salary. This was a reward for all their hard work. It is only fair he thinks, he has done so much! What would be the fate of these children without him? How could he make a living?

He curses the fates that led the agency astray. What more could he have done? If only they would leave him be. "The fault is theirs!" He cries. "It is theirs…"

So the imaginary CEO and imaginary administrator are desperate and in no mood to decertify another foster home and lose even more money and revenue.

Even if the home stinks, even if the foster parent has a criminal record and a substantiated report of abuse. Even if it was right was the right thing to do.

And much later the CEO tells anyone who listens that this home is no different from half the other foster homes in the county.

"Lots of foster parents have convictions." He shouts to all who would listen. "Don't you understand, it's the county who is the criminal. If only you had done your job!"

So the administrator dreams up with a solution, an imaginary solution. The answer is wonderful for all (except for the imaginary toddler). The solution by the administrator keeps the toddler in the favored home. The bed shall still earn money.

Home safety will be considered on another day when the fates are more aligned with the agencies interests. Her idea is wonderful and she passes the plan on to her subordinates.

Besides, she reasons, the favored foster parent is set to adopt the child soon, at which point the problem will go away. (Well at least for the agency but unfortunately not for the toddler).

And this dear listener is the ingenious solution from the imaginary administrator:

For now on, the Agency Social Worker shall only visit the toddler at the agency office, instead of personally visiting and checking the foster home for any problems.

Yes, that will solve everything!

The foster parent will bring the toddler to the agency! They can now pretend there is no home! The Administrator's joy is without bounds. The inspiration for such glad tidings could only be a gift from the Gods.

See no evil, hear no evil, and therefore, speak no fraud. We shall all be protected!

Dante writes about a special place in hell for hypocrites and those who do nothing during times of moral crisis. The fates are now sorely tempted, and shall have their revenge.

Who but the Gods truly know what is in the heart of someone when they use a hammer to free a toddler whose head is stuck in a bed frame? Such a thing is unimaginable to mere mortals, as is the reason such a thing happens. And it happens to a little angel.

In the end, one can only describe. And so there is a failure and death, perhaps even murder. There is a failure at every level.

There is the failure of the county social worker who barely visited and never expressed any concerns. Where was she? What did she do?

There is the incompetence of the foster care social worker who saw what a disaster the home was, the pit bulls, the cluttered yard with the wrecked car, and thought it was enough to simply report this to superiors and write an email so she would be covered.

And though she knew right and wrong, she took the easy way out and acquiesced to minimal visits and later visits at the office so she wouldn't have to report on the home which was the Administrator's intention. The Foster Care Social Worker was a very, very, busy person, with many, many jobs. We all have to make a living, right?

There was the huge letdown by the agency supervisor who did absolutely nothing. Whose principle concern was to never challenge her boss. She protests so little because she likes her job and must ingratiate herself with the ruling powers as was her custom.

"It's not my fault." She cries. "The case was only transferred for a month or two!" Oh If only she had had more time than several weeks! The precious toddler would still be alive!

The failure and negligence continued with the imaginary administrator who didn't want to upset the balance, who liked the terrible foster parent and had personally brought her over to the agency.

She didn't want to lose money, and thus found a solution, one that like everything else with this fairy tale was cursed from the beginning.

Her solution pathetic dishonest; she lied as she was want to do; and assumed a piece of paper with a signature that she knew was meaningless would be enough to keep her and the agency covered if anything bad happened to the baby.

And up the food chain was the CEO, whose malfeasance was the antecedent of these events. Who set the example that would be the first domino to fall which eventually led to the death of the imaginary toddler.

Whose greed colored the tone that united the entire agency and influenced workers who would stay quiet, and keep in line with whatever he said was the truth, which they would if they knew what was good for them. Oh it's good to be the CEO!

In the end it is about him, always about him. The bucks stopped inside his desk. The agency united under him was his agency. It is his money. It is his all-important prestige in the community. The board of directors served at his leisure. They obeyed his rules. Oh it is good to be the CEO!

The CEO is angry. It is horribly wrong for anyone to dare cast aspersions! They must have a hidden agenda. As always, it was their fault, whoever "they" are.

"Are you blind? Can't you see?" He asks. "I have done nothing."

The blame is theirs: Never his: It wasn't his hand on the hammer that pounded the baby, he just allowed the person to be a foster parent.

"Who are you to cast the first stone? Anyways it is your fault."

Asks the CEO, "The county was supposed to check the house, why didn't they do their job? It is their fault. Anyway we will still be around, so don't worry about us. I can consult! There are still so many children to save."

The CEO cannot help himself; he keeps talking to anyone who will listen. The fault was with the bureaucrats and their politician stooges.

Or the fault lay with the politicians who supported him when times were good and whose support was crucial, and helped him stay in business during that whole mess with the missing money.

And what of the politicians who helped lift the hold when the agency was down and out. They helped him avoid meaningful consequences when hundreds of thousands was stolen, err I mean questionably spent.

And finally, we come to the CEO's hand-picked board of directors;

The people who rubber stamped his wishes, and who did as they were told. Who got whatever deals they received from the endeavor and proudly served their community, but mostly themselves.

Who believed the gravy train would always continue. And they reveled in the important board meetings with talks of millions of dollars, and included perks.

It was so exciting, so different from their daily lives. They were players – they were important! This was big business! They deserved this.

So in the end all of these factors united to bring about the horrible death of this toddler, who despite being an innocent angel, was cursed since the day she was born. We know not why.

And when the Imaginary Foster Parent grabbed a very real hammer, it was almost as if the road had been paved for her, only the intentions were not so good, they were paved with dollars and vanity, and were to our united community's everlasting shame.

May V find the peace she never did in life. Bless you child, you have not sinned and did not deserve your fate. You will not be forgotten. If only…

We can only pray.

            
 

                 THE END

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Joshuaallenonline@gmail.com

LA Fo$ter Care: Racial Politics plays a role. Shocked…shocked…

The Business of Child Abuse.

By Joshua Allen

In Los Angeles County more than 90% of foster children are of minority status. A small percentage of these children are of Asian, Middle Eastern, or Pacific Island decent, but the vast majority of this (90%) ratio of foster children is roughly split between children of Hispanic and African American origin.

Caucasian children represent just a small percentage of foster children in Los Angeles yet they are abused and neglected at rates that correlate to their population. Therefore, the question begs, is this because there is more child abuse in one community over another? And what happens to all the abused white children? Where the heck are they going? Or for that matter, why aren't they going into foster care?

Could it be because of poverty, do poorer communities have a higher ratio of child abusers, or are wealthier communities able to keep social workers and allegations at bay (until angry revelations in divorce court)? Or culturally; do some cultures call the cops or DCFS hotline more than others?

Well actually, some do. Some communities do indeed call the hotline more than others. Sometimes it seems the DCFS hotline is more popular than the telephone numbers for personal injury attorneys you see on the side of buses. (But it's close).

Yet child abuse seems to cut equally across the racial and socioeconomic spectrum. And if a small percentage of everyone is doing it, why aren't all races (and classes) represented equally in foster care in proportion to their population here in Los Angeles? Is this because of racism or some other nefarious reason?

Without doubt, some would say exactly that. Racism however can't begin to explain these huge percentages. Racism plays a role, but the most important factor is money. The Child Abuse Industrial Complex feeds off of it.

Think of it in socioeconomic terms. Regardless of race, it is fairly certain your child won't spend much time in foster care if you can afford a competent lawyer. Now the county does provide lawyers to birth parents and they are hardworking folk. Yet most people prefer a private lawyer over a public defender. That's just the way it is. And the lawyers used in children's court are paid less than public defenders. So you tell me, if you have the money for a private attorney, would you want the lawyer that the court assigns to you?

There used to be an agency in Los Angeles that would advertise for social workers and use the phrase "culturally sensitive," when spelling out the job description in the classified ads. Exactly what this meant was never clear. One supposes "culturally sensitive" means you aren't a racist. Who wants to hire racist social workers?

Or perhaps the ad meant they wanted somebody with knowledge of a particular community but couldn't really say it. Could you imagine an ad that said "must understand Jews?" Or, "Good knowledge of Mexican culture?" Neither could I, so perhaps "culturally sensitive," was the best they could do. We don't want any culturally insensitive social workers now do we?

Yet I was always a bit uncomfortable when reading the ad, wondering if the phrase was meant to exclude certain people (like me) or, was I culturally sensitive enough. Maybe I was too sensitive? I could imagine somebody being so culturally sensitive they would be paralyzed when it came to dealing with an angry-child-abusing-birth-parent that belonged to the culture they were so sensitive to.

Or what if you were so culturally sensitive you couldn't tell the foster parent from the culture different from yours to knock off the stupid stuff they've been saying in front of the foster children. Hey, I've seen it.

Indeed prejudice or discrimination of any kind is anathema to a social worker, and highly frowned upon, (Unless you happen to dislike Republicans in which case you get a pass). Remember, some shrinks and social workers must have unconditional positive regards for child abusers to do their job correctly. Now that's tough.

A want ad is much less ambiguous when it asks for a social worker that is bilingual. It is clear what they are looking for. Bilingual social workers are at a premium in Los Angeles. Wonder of all wonders…it's because so many foster children and foster parents speak Spanish. (The French you learned in Finishing School is not so valuable within LA foster care circles).

The County and Foster Care Agencies try to match up children as best they can with the children's own culture and language but can't always do this. For one thing, it is against an Agencies economic interest to turn down a placement for language or cultural issues when they have bed space and a kind and willing foster parent. For another thing, especially for a short term placement, it's not always a negative. A loving home is a loving home right?

And sometimes cultural problems are more to do with the food served in the home than with the language used. Sometimes we all need Mama's cooking and foster children are no different. But I've seen some preventable mistakes, like a baby growing up speaking Spanish and their birth mother not understanding a word of it when she visits her child. Oops!

Race and culture can play a huge role in other areas of foster care, especially in the schools. One Social Worker reported a case of a foster teen that was in English as a Second language class for years at her public school, (Where she did quite well). And you ask, what's the problem with that? The problem is the teenager spoke English as a first language and spoke little Spanish. The student did have a Hispanic surname, but really there is no justifying this nonsense. And why hadn't anyone spoken up about this before the social worker got on the case? I dunno, maybe we should ask her teachers?

Another sad example of the role of race in foster care is the high percentage of African American children who are tarnished with the "special needs," label and put into special education classes. Does it occur to some of these educators that the stresses that caused these children to be placed into foster care may have impinged on their academics? That "special needs," doesn't apply to them and that special education is the last place they should be? The percentage is huge and indefensible, and it goes on year after year. If you are an African American male in foster care you are probably placed in special education at our public schools.

Social workers constantly fight with LAUSD over this garbage. Advocating in the schools for foster children is a large part of the job and it can be quite frustrating.

It remains a losing battle – a "special" battle.

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Joshuaallenonline@gmail.com

Angel on 48th Street The Business of Child Abuse

LA FO$TER CARE: Angel on 48^th Street.

 

The Business of Child Abuse.

 

By Joshua Allen

 
 

There are a lot of decent people in the foster care business.  Foster parents who do anything, spend anything, go anywhere - all for the children. There are Social workers who go above and beyond, who on a regular basis, pay from their own pocket to buy candy, or journals, or tickets to a theme park.  Mentors who give of themselves completely, working with teens through adulthood and are a mentor in every sense of the word.  Administrators who are tireless in their pursuit of the best interest of children.This is about one of them. 

 

Author's Note: I was introduced to Mrs. Wilson by a social worker who has known her for a decade.  She said she wanted to see something positive in these pages after reading so much about greed and corruption and now the death of Viola Vanclief.  So, here you have it - somebody making a difference, making the world a better place. 

                           
 

Mrs. Wilson has lived here for over two decades, she is proud of her home, and the pride shows in its upkeep.  There remains a dignity to the neighborhood. People still watch out for one another. Yet, time has not been kind.  The neighborhood used to be safer, one could walk late at night without much worry. That may have changed over the years but her home remains the same. It is perhaps - because of this – even more dignified, located on a street that retains a neighborly quality even if that can't be said a block away.

 

Wilson's home now has a gate around the porch and prudently, it is almost always locked.  This gated home is a place where Foster Teens have graduated from Dorsey High or Manual Arts High School to then go on to a dignified life working productively, raising their children, and moving away to newer homes in Victorville or Ontario, where hopefully, there are still front and backyards and kids are told to come home before supper or before it's dark. Sadly, it is not like that in Wilson's  neighborhood.  Mrs. Wilson has a name for what goes on around the corner.  Not quite unprintable, but best left unsaid.

 

Perhaps three dozen foster teens have passed through Mrs. Wilson's home during the past 15 years. Many return now, to visit, to see how 'Mom' is doing. To most of these grown ladies Mrs. Wilson is Mom in every sense of the word. Many are grown and have husbands and children, while others have good, honest jobs with productive work that contributes to society.  Wilson's 'kids,' foster teens who came to her now have futures; something that seemed lost before they arrived at her home.   These ladies, these ex-foster teenshave one thing in common: They call her "Mom," and this was and still is their home. They visit often.

 

"I treat all these girls as if they were my own daughter. Everyone is equal here," said Wilson. "I don't like the term foster child. Some of these girls have no hope when they come here."

 

Wilson has fostered teenage girls who have suffered every imaginable evil.  She has seen it all.  Girls who were forced out to make their way on the street before they have reached puberty. Girls who were beaten by mothers and fathers and boyfriends.  Twelve-year-old girls left alone in their homes while their parents drank or gambled or sold themselves (or them) for drugs. Many of these girls were sexually abused by their step fathers or fathers or some other male relative.  Actually, there is not a lot of talk about fathers one way or another. That's just the way it is.

 

While never routine, the horrors from the girls' pasts are not an uncommon story here. Perhaps that is a good thing. The knowledge that other girls have gone through similar situations, have suffered and come through,  and have made good lives for themselves can be comforting. Being around  and speaking to others with experiences like your own demonstrates to them that they are not alone. There is a word for this in psychology text books, it is called universality. All these girls have come to the home of Mrs. Wilson.  For them it is a shelter, a sanctuary.

 

Wilson is old school and proud of it.  No, there is no 'woodshed,' in back. She wouldn't last a day in foster care if there were. But she is old school nonetheless.  The rules are simple but strict. Most important is respect. Respect for the home, respect one another, respect for teachers, social workers, for birth parents - especially if parents are trying to make things right.  However, most of all, the girls must have respect for themselves. Because that is how the healing begins. 

 

Some girls can't abide the rules and leave in anger for another foster home - sometimes a group home. It is a pity really, because Mrs. Wilson has saved a lot of lives and experienced professionals of all types knowsthis. Drugs, gangs, crime, violence - not tolerated.  Back talk? -  Not a good idea.  Make an effort at school and with your studies.   Finish your homework, do your chores.  Treat each other well, no foul language.Care about each other.

 

Some girls come with boyfriends outside the home and need careful supervision. Some are pregnant with attendant trips to the doctor, therapist, or tutor - you name it.  Others come with tattoos, piercings as well as bruises and scars - many scars. 

 

The girls learn modesty and decency; words not often heard from a system that is perhaps too concerned with being nonjudgmental. The girls can attend any Church or house of worship, and while religious freedom is encouraged, they often accompany Wilson to her regular church where they become part of the community. These are "her girls." 

 

Wilson will work with birth parents if they want the best for their child and they are trying. However, many parents do not. She will do everything she can to help the teens return home.  But while in her house, these are her girls.  And she is Mom to all.

 

Mrs. Wilson can be wary of therapists and social workers. Some she likes, some she doesn't. "Nobody is going to come into my home and tell me what's what," said Wilson. " I earned this home working for decades for the county and with a small dry cleaner." Social workers and therapists, and anyone else looking to help should know, you don't just walk into this home and announce that you are going to help. Help comes with time and love. Help comes when you are accepted enough to be believed.  You earn that, and it's not easy.

 
 

Foster care means trips to the doctor, trips to the dentist, trips to medical evaluations, trips to the therapist,trips to court.  There are frequent visits with birth parents and school meetings adnauseum.  Foster care means opening your home to agency social workers, investigators, County social workers, nurses, and community care licensing.   Foster care means stacks of paperwork for each child and it all better be filled out correctly.

 

Mrs. Wilson does all of this for each girl in her home, and somehow graduates a high percentage from high school, a much higher percentage than the norm. Many go on to junior college or vocational school. Others have run away, gone AWOL  to be with boyfriends or relatives not vetted by the county, or sadly, they go to live on the street. Unfortunately, this is not unusual. But more than a few runaways have returned because they realize what they gave up.  And they are welcomed back. Others are never heard from again.

 

The ones who remain make a commitment and are rewarded with a family, with love, with a home and a promise. A promise that Mrs. Wilson (Mom) will do everything in her power to help these girls succeed.  She helps to heal wounds and the scars of horrible violations of neglect or abuse that have come from the people these young women should be able to trust the most - their blood. A home with Wilson is a reward for trying.

 

The girls learn to give back, to help each other and the community. They learn about bank accounts and check books. They learn about car loans and scholarships. They learn about dignity and babies having babies. Mrs. Wilson has seen it all. She has been there during personal times of bad health and family crisis. This is what she does. This is what the Lord wants from her.

       
 

But not all girls want help, and the trick is trying to change their minds and their way of thinking.  Sometimes when an adult chooses to be lost, make bad choices, you have to back off and let them make their own choices no matter how miserable.  You don't have that luxury with children.  You have to try with each and every one, no matter how street smart, no matter how tough.  You have to try.

 

That's what a parent does.

 

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LA Fo$ter Care: A Hitchhikers Guide to Foster Care: Follow the Money.

The Business of Child Abuse:

By Joshua Allen



Speak privately to any number of Foster Care Social Workers and the questioner learns something fast. The care and wellbeing of abused and neglected children is not the primary focus or priority of Foster Care Agencies. Foster Care Agencies first priority is geared towards growth (increasing revenues) and towards passing County Audits and inspections. I have interviewed dozens of foster care social workers over the years and the above is a constant and frequent theme. There are exceptions of course, and many individuals in these agencies do have as their intent the best interests of foster children.

This does not negate however the foolishness of a system that is geared towards passing county audits or inspections over the wellbeing of abused and neglected children. Agencies are terrified of audits and county inspections. They are terrified because the county uses these audits to discipline or close them down if they are big offenders towards the care of foster children or because of financial malfeasance and misappropriation of funds.

Yet, it is hard for a foster agency to be closed down by county officials no matter what they've done. Just think about Martin Luther King Hospital and you can get some idea about how effective the Board of Supervisors are when confronted with a corrupt or incompetent organization. Foster Care Agencies stay open and generate large salaries for their owners (and friends and family) despite misappropriations of hundreds of thousands of dollars over a period of years and despite numerous warnings and red flags to county officials. http://file.lacounty.gov/Auditor/audit_reports/Children%20and%20Family%20Services%20-%20Adoption/cms1_070613.pdf Agencies stay open when owners and administrators intentionally violate regulations and guidelines and over pay themselves tens of thousands of dollars each year only to be made to pay it back for the single year they were audited. http://file.lacounty.gov/Auditor/audit_reports/Children%20and%20Family%20Services%20-%20Adoption/cms1_080315.pdf Agencies stay open when they can't properly account for hundreds of thousands of dollars and spend years arguing with the county about it. http://file.lacounty.gov/Auditor/audit_reports/Children%20and%20Family%20Services%20-%20Adoption/cms1_132473.pdf And here is why. Agencies stay open because they play (and pay) politics. And if "money is the mother's milk of politics," abused children are the mother's milk of agencies.

Politics is about relationships, and a foster agency thrives because of relationships. A good relationship with a particular DCFS office, a Supervisor or even a County Social Worker who are responsible for placing Abused and Neglected Children into their foster homes is worth a large percentage of Agency revenues. Agencies do everything they can to cultivate these DCFS relationships because of the millions of dollars involved.

Relationships with County Analysts and State Licensing officials who are responsible for policing, inspecting and checking into any incidents or irregularities insures an agency runs smoothly. If an agency doesn't have a good relationship with their analyst they are in big trouble since violations of regulations can be found anywhere and at any time, basically whenever they look. This could then impact their ability to place further children in their certified foster homes and maintain revenues.

And equally important are an agencies relationship with Foster Parents, who provides the bed space and revenue streams that keep the whole project going and growing. You must keep foster parents happy or they will leave for greener pastures.

Agencies play on the nature of their work to win support from local politicians, radio hosts, community activists and well-meaning businesses and organizations who they exploit for everything from toys or event tickets for the children (good) to free airtime, advertisements, and cash gifts. Who doesn't want to help abused children?

To add a veneer of legitimacy, an agency will sometime recruit an upstanding member of the community to sit on and balance out the board of directors that may be have too many relatives or paid employees of the agency owner or be unbalanced in other ways. And although in theory board members are only supposed to be compensated with an occasional meal and gas money some of them will fight to the death before giving up their seat or allow themselves to be replaced. In two decades I have never seen a board member penalized for allowing an agency to commit malfeasance but I digress.

Generally, Foster Care Agencies are audited every year or two to check for irregularities with social worker and foster parent paperwork, quality of care in the foster home and insuring that foster parent and social worker files contain appropriate degrees, certifications and fingerprint checks. (Over the years I have seen more than a few foster care social workers thrown out after it was discovered that had forged their degree so I have to wonder how frequent occurrence this is in the real world of corporate hiring).

Agencies are audited fiscally much less frequently and this should change. Fiscal audits often occur when the county has received a number of complaints either regarding child care issues or financial malfeasance. A common denominator when an agency is investigated is a preponderance of complaints from disgruntled employees who may or may not have truth behind their claim. An agency that fires more than a quarter of their workforce per year is asking for trouble but amazingly this still occurs.

In theory non fiscal audits of files are supposed to be yearly but are rarely so unless the agency is on the county radar. Audits are usually postponed for weeks and months after being announced. Agencies use threats of upcoming audits to motivate social workers and other personnel to get their act together and have all paperwork and foster homes in order. Sometimes the county will warn the agency in advance which files and foster homes they plan to check and inspect. And the agency knows that files of any and all children on psychotropic medication are the first to be examined.

An audit lasts anywhere from a day to several weeks and include inspections into the paperwork for anywhere from 10 to dozens of foster children. Auditors will also visit a few foster homes and conduct perfunctory interviews with foster parents and foster children to insure the agency is performing up to minimal standards. Sometimes Spanish speaking foster parents with little or no English are interviewed by a county official with little or no Spanish. (Or for that matter, little or no common sense).

How well the agency, foster parent, and social workers do in assisting or helping foster children work through the multitude of psychological and academic issues they face on a daily basis is not the question. In reality, the important thing to both the Agency and County is the quality of documentation. In other words, are the T's crossed and I's dotted.

County and Agency foster care social workers are almost always evaluated as an employee from the quality and completeness of their paperwork. This is sort of fair I guess, at least as far as it goes; due diligence keeps the lawyers away and to some at least, is the only way the county and agency can evaluate the care and quality of their own work. Well at least their paperwork!

Agencies obsess about these audits and discussions about passing them takes up a huge percentage of time during staff meetings and trainings. A social worker depressingly learns the bulk of their time is to be spent in documentation and ensuring due diligence. There is a dark joke in foster care about drive byes, but this is not about gang shootings. The myth is about the social worker who calls the foster parent from their car and has them bring the baby or toddler outside and hold them up, or perhaps spin them around to ensure to the worker the child is healthy, alive and unmarked. The same social worker would then go back to their computer and spend an hour or two documenting the encounter.

Now about lawyers; after the auditor, the biggest fear an agency has is from lawyers. Every foster child is assigned a lawyer to represent their interest in court. These lawyers are the lowest paid attorneys in the county system. At the same time foster children are assigned a lawyer, their birth parents are also assigned a lawyer to represent their interests in court. And, as if 2 lawyers weren't enough, (is it ever?) the county has their own lawyer to represent them separately since county interests may not be consistent with the interests of the foster child.

So basically there are 3 lawyers for each case. Reaching any of these lawyers on the phone is about as easy as breaking out of Alcatraz. And go figure, the lawyers are overworked and have too many cases to do the job properly. Most foster children as well as birth parents wish they could have more time with them working on their case. Actually birth parents would probably just settle for a returned phone call.

An abusive parent who has enough money to pay privately for a decent lawyer will probably have their child returned a lot quicker (with some monitoring) than the typical birth parent that becomes ensnared in the county system. Does this surprise anyone? (Actually, an abusive parent who has enough money to hire a lawyer is much less likely to have their child removed in the first place).

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Turning Abused Children Into Gold

LA FO$TER CARE: Cents and Sensibilities:

The Business of Child Abuse.

 

By Joshua Allen.

 

Almost weekly there comes a time for the Agency Foster Care Social Worker where the better part of valor means holding on to your job. It may come during Christmas when CEOs making a buck and a half provide $10-$15 gift certificates (To Target) to foster teens for their Christmas gift, while at the same time spending thousands on a Christmas party. It could come when the social worker repeatedly notes egregious behavior and conditions by a foster parent in their home, only to watch helplessly as foster children are continually placed in the home, while the foster parent at most, are made to submit to some vague consequence such as retraining, that means just about anything the agency decides it means. Bed space young man, Bed space…

Allegations of any kind whether obviously true or false, stupid, ridiculous or horrifying, cause the agency to fly into damage control at supersonic speed. There is nothing wrong with this, children must be protected. And if that means a social worker go to a foster home at 3 in the morning in pouring rain on a Sunday night in the worst part of town then that is what we do. (There are very few foster homes in Malibu). This will sometimes necessitate the removing of a child to another home immediately until a more suitable location can be found the next day during working hours. All I can say is thank heavens for GPS.

False allegations stink, happen all the time, and cause untold damage to foster children, foster parents, and less importantly, social workers and the agency. False allegations usually originate from disgruntled birthparents with a grudge against the system, the particular foster parent who is sheltering their child, or because they are mentally ill. The latter is not me being facetious. I have seen many times over the years obviously false allegations by schizophrenic parents being thoroughly and deeply investigated to the detriment of the foster child and the foster home, despite all involved workers knowing from years of experience the history and context from which the allegations were made. Cover your behind or CYA rules the day.

False allegations however are not just limited to disgruntled birthparents. I have seen false allegations occur from confused and angry foster children under the incorrect assumption that the untrue allegation will lead to a return to their birth home. This is very tragic and not uncommon. And I want to note, that I am differentiating here between false allegations and allegations made in good faith by a mandated reporter that were found to be untrue after a proper investigation. No, I am talking here about the plethora of difficulties we all face when an allegation hits the wire. And there are many other instances of false allegations that I will cover at a later time.

 

Early in my career I trained foster parents for several years and saw to their certification as foster parents in good standing. After several years I went through the list of all the foster parents I had trained and I was shocked to note that after 5 years, almost 50% of the foster parents in the group had been subject to unsubstantiated allegations of child abuse that caused a suspected child abuse report to be made to the hot line, and a full investigation by County investigators. I then went through the list of all the foster parents in the agency and found mostly the same thing. Nearly half the foster parents certified by the agency had received some sort of accusation within five years of there being certified.

Most of us including myself have never had an allegation of child abuse made towards us, but I can tell you (especially when you are innocent) it can be harrowing and traumatic. The county has a few words they use to indicate the results of their investigation. An allegation can either be substantiated, unsubstantiated, founded, unfounded, or perhaps worst of all inconclusive; with the latter meaning they have no idea what actually happened. However, without a doubt, the worst victim of a false allegation of child abuse is the foster child.

Having an allegation found to be unsubstantiated or unfounded does not mean that everybody lives happily ever after. During investigations Foster children are often removed from a home to which they have been bonded to for months or perhaps years. And many times these children never return to the home for various reasons such as enrollment in a new school, or transfer to another agency that wants to keep the placement and revenue stream within their own confines. Sometimes, the county worker no longer wants the risk of returning the child to the unjustly tainted home because it is too much bother. At other times, the old beloved home no longer has the space because new children have been placed there since the removal of the particular child in question. Empty beds earn no money.

My purpose here is not to excoriate the county or even the agency that must be diligent in their mission of protecting abused and neglected children. But so often common sense does not rule the day when children are removed from homes and foster parents whom they have grown to love and have bonded with. Many experienced County Social Workers will not let this happen. However the county has a huge attrition rate of social workers who last less than one year! And I mean huge. And so agencies are often faced with a Hobson's choice when balancing the best needs of the child that must always (but doesn't always) come first.

The last thing an agency wants to do is fight the system or give the slightest perception they are not doing everything they have to do to protect the child. There is morality involved, and there is money. Money that is lost when an agency's reputation is tarnished. Money that is lost when a foster home has empty beds. So the default position therefore is to remove the child to a "safer" location preferably within the agency, until the county can sort things out. Over the years I have seen dozens of children moved and transferred to different foster homes because of false allegations and frankly I have no simple answers to this quandary. As I said above, it stinks. Do you ever wonder what the children say? Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don't sleep so well.

KIDS FULL OF DOLLARS: LA FOSTER CARE

 

L.A. Foster Care: Kids Full of Dollars.

 

The Business of Child Abuse.

 

By Joshua Allen:

 

I learned a surprising lesson early on when I became a social worker. Child abuse is Big Business. Child abuse pays all or part of the salaries of doctors, nurses, lawyers, judges, psychologists, therapists, counselors, tutors, dentists, social workers, social worker supervisors, administrators, directors, fundraisers, grant writers, consultants, mental health educators, inspector's, audit controllers, quality assurance investigators, car seat manufacturers, CPR trainers, …the list is endless. A bureaucracy totaling billions of dollars a year exists in Los Angeles just to handle child abuse. Millions of trees are mercilessly slaughtered just to provide the paperwork for the thousands of reports and lawyer friendly documents required to keep the whole process moving smoothly. And while the amount of children in foster care has decreased by more than half during the past five years, the amount of tax dollars budgeted by the county has remained almost the same, despite the governor's recent across-the-board cuts.

Foster children will likely encounter perhaps a half dozen social workers and therapists within several weeks of placement into foster care. The county has made a large effort in the last few years to quickly reunify abused and neglected children to their birth or relative's home. This has reduced the amount of foster children in the system, but has created its own difficulties with a higher incidence of foster children being abused and neglected by parents or family members when they reunify, because of insufficient time, (for birth parents to overcome whatever caused their children to be taken away), preparation or monitoring by DCFS. County workers often face a difficult task in trying to balance the best interest of the children, bosses who are pressuring them to return the kids as fast as possible, and the allocation of limited resources. So it is a trade-off.

Therapy whether healing, helpful or hellish plays a large role in the child-abuse community. The large majority of therapists and counselors I have encountered are sincere and well-meaning and truly want to help these children to the best of their ability. Difficulties exist however that continues to throw a stumbling block in front of this laudable goal. As usual, one of the difficulties has to do with money.

When a foster child is first assigned a therapist, he or she will probably encounter either a mental health intern, a licensed therapist (usually an MFT or a clinical psychologist) or a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW). Yet, many highly qualified and licensed professionals simply don't accept Medi-Cal and therefore are out of the picture completely. Others don't speak Spanish. (This is Los Angeles after all) Sadly, most of the time foster children and teens are therefore assigned a Well-Meaning but generally inexperienced mental
health intern who works under the supervision of a licensed professional.

Frequently a foster child or sibling set will for various reasons be transferred to a different home which often necessitates assigning a new and different therapist to the case. Changing therapists is not good. Children and teens that have been around for a while can quickly become inured to any therapeutic interventions because of the large number of helpful therapists and social workers they encounter. (Personally I would rather walk a mile in tight shoes then encounter a half dozen helpful social workers and therapists at any time, but that's another story). The children and teens simply don't want more therapy after so many therapists and social workers have come and gone. Can you blame them?

The question begs however, why and how often are foster children transferred to many houses (often far apart) during the time they are placed in foster care? Foster children and teens can be transferred for a variety of legitimate reasons. Change of foster homes can occur because of bad or difficult behavior in the home, to be nearer the birth parent, or to reunite with siblings. Sometimes the' fit' between foster parent and foster child just is not good. (Or sometimes really bad!) Nobody believes this is an ideal situation, and it's often much worse. On average, a foster child or teen can be placed in four or more homes after just a couple years. This does wonders towards their state of mind.

Unfortunately, foster care agencies sometimes have a financial incentive to move children to a different home in order to free up bed space that would otherwise go unused. For example, an agency may transfer a four-year-old child to another home so that two older children can share the vacated room and thus add an extra revenue stream. Or instead of turning a placement down (forcing the county to find a more appropriate home) an agency may stick a new child in one home while waiting for a different more appropriate home to free up beds.

However, Surprise!… things don't always work out. The child can end up staying in the first home, bonding with the foster parent and school system for weeks or months before finally being shipped to the more appropriate home that, for example, may have foster parents more skilled in dealing with that child's particular emotional difficulties. The county generally doesn't like this, but are sometimes equally culpable because there is simply not a better alternative, or frankly are lazy and just go along with whatever the agency wants them to do. Not a bad trait if you happen to be my boss but otherwise as they say on the employee evaluation form "there is room for improvement."

Other times a foster care agency may accept a child or teenager they know is not a good fit (with the foster parents) hoping things will eventually work out and thus create a revenue stream from the otherwise empty bed. Foster Care Social Workers and administrators are frequently at odds because of this with the Social Worker usually coming out on the losing end (shocking) and doing his or her best to reconcile an otherwise impossible situation in the foster home. Believe me; I've spent thousands of hours in foster homes doing exactly that. Well, to tell the truth, it's sort of our job. An inappropriate placement of just a few weeks (one that never should have happened) can be worth thousands of dollars to the agency. Multiply that and you get…well I'll let you do the math. And I can guarantee you, so will they.

As you can imagine, some agencies are more nefarious about this than others. Stay tuned.