Dear Senator:

The issue of my concern is the overdue need for Family Court reforms; the need for reforms in Child Protection and Family Placement Agencies within the DSS and the repeal of the Mondale Act/CAPTA.

It is unacceptable and intolerable that the constitution of the United States of America is not upheld in Family and Juvenile Courts, especially the fourteenth amendment which guarantees the rights of life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness, including the right to raise our children with out government interference. The Supreme Court also states that the state should not interfere with the right of a fit parent to raise their child in the Supreme Court case of Troxel Vs Granville. Child protective workers go beyond their power and override the constitutional rights of their victims. Victims of the system, a bad system that doesn't even protect those that it was designed to protect.

Government abuse to children is rampant and performed with the perverse notion that it is 'in the best interests of the child'. We need reform now to save our families. Judges who rely solely on the testimony of DSS and
who never hear the parents even when they are allowed to speak are committing the worse atrocities in our society and denying the very freedom and justice that they are sworn to uphold.

And all for what you may ask? For the money that is provided to the counties by the state and federal government under the Mondale Act/CAPTA for the numbers of children that are stolen from their families.

This is a black stain on our country and our advanced society. For how can we call ourselves a world leader and point to human rights abuses in other countries when this happens in our own country. We need to clean up the corruption in our own system of Child Protection and make this agency accountable for their actions before we can hope to protect the children of the world.

I am asking for congressional hearings into these matters. I, for one am ready to be heard. Many others are willing and ready as well. We implore you for a hearing.

This is an opportunity for your office to perform a great service to the people of this country. Please don't turn your back on the children of this country. Thank you,

Sincerely,
Mary Jo Marceau-Hawthorne


<<<The Senator Stephan Saland, (chair person for the NY Senate Commitee
on Children and Families) follows with typos, exact except spacing and
stationary headings:>>>

September 3, 2002

Ms. Mary Jo Marceau-Hawthorne
362 Quaker Rd
Macedon, New York 14502

Dear Ms. Hawthorne:

Thank you for writing about the need to reform family court law and child protective services.

Regarding the issues you raised in your letter and editorial, while I agree that neither the laws nor the institutions which implement them are perfect, I must take exception to your broad allegations that family court judges and child protective service caseworkers do not uphold the Constitution and further, that "government abuse to children is rampant and performed with perverse notion(s)..",

Regarding your accusation that Family Courts do not uphold the United States Constitution, you paraphrased an often quoted Supreme Court Opinion that parents have a right to bring up children without governmental interference. While you were aware that the government can intervene when a parent is deemed unfit, I don't think you realized that once a court substantiates charges of abuse and/or neglect against a parent, that parent is deemed temporarily "unfit" and the state may intercede. It would be irresponsible of me to second guess the judge who placed your child in foster care, but apparently the court found cause to intervene.

I do not know how your PINS petition and subsequent indicated finding by CPS (Child Protective Services) became intertwined, but it should be noted that PINS is not a program in which a parent "enrolls" her child, as you wrote in your editorial. It is a judicial process in which a parent appeals to a judge to place the child under the court's authority because the family is not able to control such child. It is an option of last resort and a step I am sure you did not take without serious deliberation.

Neither Family Court nor Social Services laws permit courts to place a child and throw the key away. If a child is in care for more than 30 days, statues require that such child have a permanency plan which must include: the reason the child was placed, the steps which were taken to avoid such placement, how the needs of the child wil be met, and to insure that the parent and child relationship is not impeded, a description of the visitation schedule.

It might also be noted that Family Court is a civil court and not a criminal court. The judicial processes followed in Family Court are, consequently, somewhat different than those found in the criminal courts, for example, there are no jury trials in Family Court.
However, fundamental rights are protected in Family Court starting with the element that decisions can be appealed. In fact, section 1052-b of Family Court Act requires the respondent's counsel to advise such respondent of the the right to appeal. Additionally, family court judges are elected officials and serve only as long as the public has confidence in them.

Similarly there are legal actions which can be taken against the Department of Social Services. If you haven't already, I suggest you consult with an attorney who is experienced in matters of family law and discuss whether or not you or your child's rights were denied, and what remedies are(or were) available to you.

Additionaly, the regional Office of Children and Family Services can review the way a case was investigated. The contact for Wayne County is Linda Kurtz. She may be reached at 716-238-8201. The office is located at 259 Monroe Avenue, Rochester, New York 14607.

If I have in any way misconstrued your situation, it was not my intention. I did not have the specific details of your case - although even if I had - it would be irresponsible of me to second guess the judge (or caseworkers). My response, therfore, must be limited to summarizing the checks and balances found in Family Court and Social Services Law.

In closing, let me assure you that neither the state nor the county makes and money placing children in care. In fact, our resources are stretched so thin that reimbursement is below cost.

The Mondale Act/CAPTA is federal legislation. Accordingly, you may wish to contact your federal representatives to voice your concerns regarding reform or repeal.

Sincerely,
Stephen M. Saland
Senator

cc. Senator Michael Nozzolio

< I am posting this not to discourage anyone but to encourage all.
Write back with your comments. From the letter you can see we have a
lot of work to do in order to turn the tide and get our officials to
see what is really going on. Remember they sit in their lofty towers
and can't see the peasants. Our job is to create awareness in order to
facilitate change. I am actually encouraged by this letter. It is
the first non form letter I have received. It means the Senator
actually read my letter and for a brief moment I had his attention!!!
It is a start!! Let's keep his attention on this matter. If anyone
intends to write, please make it to Bettina Marlow's attention or it
will get tossed or forwarded to your Senate representative. Senator
Saland, Room 946 LOB, Albany NY, 12247

Dear Senator Saland:

Thank you for taking the time to read my letter, and attached article. Your interest is inspiring.

I apologize if I have in any way offended you. I understand that you take exception to my allegations about family court judges and case workers and I realize that not all of these people are unfair but this was not the case in my experience. I only wish my experience would have been different. I went into this experience trusting these individuals after all they hold places of high importance in the community but found they are quite mortal and make mistakes. I have seen and been in contact with too many others who have been unfairly treated by the system. I feel in too many cases the system we have built is at fault and desperately needs reform.

I would like to clarify a few points. The court never substantiated charges of abuse and/or neglect in my case. In fact there was never any admission on my part or a legal finding in the case. My attorney assured me of this. "Parent's interest in custody of her children is a liberty interest which has received considerable constitutional protection; a parent who is deprived of custody of his or her child even thought temporarily, suffers thereby grievous loss and such loss deserves extensive due process protection." In the Interest of Cooper, 621 P 2d 437; 5 Kansas App Div 2d 584, (1980).

The cause of court intervention in my case was the uncontrollable behavior of my daughter; behavior that was dangerous to her well being. I asked a local policeman for advice and he suggested the PINS program. He explained that many teens with the help of this system will respond by a positive improvement in their behavior. Originally I enrolled her in PINS Diversion. When that did not work and her bad behavior escalated the court placed her in PINS. I agreed to my daughter being placed out of my home to improve her behavior for six months originally, that was two and a half years ago. I did deliberate long on the decision to place my daughter in the court's authority and with much discussion and advice from the local county attorney. I trusted the court to help me keep my daughter safe from her destructive behavior. I had no idea and I was not made aware that the court would turn her over to DSS/Family Placement Services. If I had known this my decision would have been different.

At the hearing to continue placement of my daughter, the caseworker testified to her fears and suspicions of the future placement of my daughter back in my home. I was assumed guilty without being proven innocent. The assumption of guilt on the grounds of fears and suspicions. The court never addressed my questions about my constitutional rights during the proceedings and did exactly what DSS wanted to the letter. A blatent lie by the caseworker was not noted and inconsistencies in the county's case were overlooked; inconsistencies involving whether or not family preservation in the form of family counseling was performed. The county's written statement claimed no family counseling was performed and the social worker testified that it was done so many times she couldn't remember how many times. I was told by a social services lawyer that there was no question that I loved my daughter but now it was up to the court to decide what was best for her. At that time, I was asking the court to place her back in my custody based on the findings of a prominent psychiatrist who diagnosed my daughter with a conduct disorder and recommended that she not be placed in foster care but be returned to my custody to pursue intensive psychotherapy and family counseling as well as counseling to help me as a parent deal with her conduct disorder.

There was never any visitation schedule. The parent child relationship was severely impeded when my daughter entered St. Joseph's Villa group home and was under the supervision of a social worker there. We were having weekly visits which were going moderately well. In fact my daughter wanted to come home and we discussed her coming home and the steps toward this event. She was frantic and quite agitated about staying at the group home. On one occasion she was in tears because she was not allowed to come home for an over-night visit. She had been on a previous over-night visit two weeks prior. The next week I was cut off from visiting her except under supervision. The times for the visit were restricted from 3pm to 5pm Monday-Friday. My son could not visit his sister at all during this time (8 months) because of these restrictions. My son's relationship with his sister severely suffered.

No family preservation was ever attempted. When I repeatedly asked for family counseling, I was told by DSS workers and Villa employees in a close door meeting that if I admitted to neglect charges I would be allowed to pursue family counseling. I told them I would not admit to something that was not true.

My daughter's placement plan included family counseling, and eventual placement back in my home. With no apparent reason and when visits were going well and my daughter was interacting on a regular basis again with her family, the social worker at St. Joseph's Villa changed her permanency plan to Independent Living/foster care and dropped the plan to return her to my home. This was noted by my daughter's law guardian who seriously questioned this move.

The regional Office of Children and Family Services is or was reviewing the case since last November 2001. The reason I am not sure is because I have received no response to a letter I wrote the investigative person questioning their findings dated in June 2002 which were incomplete. The issue of 'Family Placement Services provided to my family' was not included in the findings and I had specifically asked for investigation in this area.

What are the balances in the Famiily Court and Social Services Law? The check provided by a jury is not present in Family Court. To what agency are the social workers for the county accountable? My case is being investigated by another social services department. Please excuse my scepticism but I work in an FDA regulated industry. If another division of my employer was allowed to investigate complaints against my employer, I can assure you the scrutiny the FDA brings would not be applied and natural bias would prevail.

I and a few others are asking for a meeting to discuss the problems we have encountered. We would like to see congressional hearings with the hope that this will facilitate reform. Thank you for your interest and time.