Tulsa World: Lawsuit alleges kids endangered by DHS

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Lawsuit alleges kids endangered by DHS

By DAVID HARPER World Staff Writer
Published: 2/14/2008 1:15 AM
Last Modified: 2/14/2008 1:15 AM

Oklahoma's Department of Human Services routinely places children in state custody in unsafe situations where many suffer further abuse and even death, a lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges.

The lawsuit, filed in Tulsa federal court, seeks class-action status on behalf of more than 10,000 children who have been removed from their homes. It names various DHS officials and Gov. Brad Henry as defendants.

Through gubernatorial spokesman Paul Sund, Henry declined to comment Wednesday. However, DHS issued a lengthy statement, saying that while "all systems can be improved," federal court intervention is not necessary to make those improvements.

"The Department hopes the federal court will realize that every case involving a child in the custody of the state of Oklahoma is unique and is judicially supervised by a State Court judge," with attorneys representing each child and each parent, the DHS statement says.

The lawsuit lists only by initials nine children as plaintiffs who would represent the class if the court allows the case to proceed as a class action.

They range in age from 4 months to 16 years, and the complaint says they have all suffered in DHS placements.

The lawsuit was filed by the national child advocacy group Children's Rights, four Oklahoma law firms and the international firm Kaye Scholer.

Children's Rights issued a press release in which it says the case seeks top-to-bottom reform of Oklahoma's child welfare system.

The group claims that there has been a "decade-long slide into disrepair and across-the-board failure to protect children in state custody from often extreme abuse and neglect."

The lawsuit seeks to keep the state from subjecting children to practices that violate their rights and to solve a host of systemwide problems.

In its statement, DHS says Oklahoma has one of the best foster-care monitoring systems in the nation. It notes that a federal review of 2003 data shows that Oklahoma was one of only five states which could document that at least 90 percent of their foster children received monthly caseworker visits.

Also, DHS claims that Oklahoma was first in the nation to achieve federally approved Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System compliance and is now one of only six states in compliance.

The system improves Oklahoma's ability to monitor children's well-being, according to the department.

DHS's response to the lawsuit concludes with the statement: "All states are at different places in their respective strengths and challenges, and all can be improved. The Department looks forward to showing the strengths of Oklahoma's system and improving it where appropriate."

However, Marcia Robinson Lowry, executive director of Children's Rights, has a decidedly different view.

"Oklahoma has long maintained one of the most dangerous and badly mismanaged child welfare systems in the nation, and thousands of children have suffered under nightmarish conditions for years as a result," Lowry said in her statement.

She added: "It is disgraceful that we have to seek a federal court order to force the state to begin fixing problems that it should have addressed many years ago. But it is clear that this is the only way to protect Oklahoma's abused and neglected children -- and that is what this lawsuit is about."

R. Thomas Seymour, attorney with Seymour & Graham of Tulsa, added, "DHS has subjected all too many foster children to appalling treatment, even though advocates throughout the state have been calling for reform for years."

Seymour said, "With this lawsuit, we are asking the federal courts to correct the constitutional injustices meted out to our most sacred assets, which are this state's children."

Seymour & Graham and Children's Rights are joined in representing the plaintiffs by the Oklahoma firms of Frederic Dorwart, Lawyers; Doerner, Saunders, Daniel & Anderson; Day, Edwards, Propester & Christensen; and the international law firm Kaye Scholer.

David Harper 581-8359
david.harper@tulsaworld.com

Some plaintiff complaints listed

The lawsuit lists nine children as plaintiffs. According to the complaint, they include:

A 10-month-old girl who has been moved more than 16 times through grossly inappropriate placements, including one in which her skull was fractured through physical abuse and another where neglect led to her suffering life-threatening dehydration and seizures.

A 5-year-old boy who, in 18 months in state custody, was moved through four different emergency shelters in four different counties.

A 13-year-old girl who entered foster care after she was sexually abused, suffered further sexual assaults in a DHS facility and has been denied treatment for the psychological trauma she continues to experience.

Among the lawsuit’s allegations

Children are abused and neglected in DHS custody at a very high rate.

DHS places children in unsafe homes and overcrowded, understaffed emergency shelters.

DHS bounces children from one unstable foster placement to another.

Alleged contributing factors

Excessive caseloads and turnover among DHS workers.

Dangerous monitoring and oversight practices.

Insufficient efforts to develop and maintain an adequate pool of foster care placements.

By DAVID HARPER World Staff Writer

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	Report Comment PAN, Grove Vicinity (2/14/2008 1:38:46 AM) Documenting that a visit has been made is no proof. Anyone can, at any time, 'document' that they did something that they didn't actually do. It happens all the time. As for DHS in OK having one of the best monitoring systems in the country, I do NOT believe that for one minute! There are not enough GOOD caseworkers and not enough caseworkers in general. Caseworkers are terribly overloaded and extremely underpaid. They burn out just as any counselor of any type burns out. I honestly believe things are overlooked just to keep a child in the system. I'm not and never have been involved with DHS and I don't know anyone who works there now, but these are MY views on what I have observed and heard about over the last 5 to 10 years. Children should NOT be subjected to some of the things that I have heard of. DHS daycare - well, I wouldn't want MY child in any of them except for ONE in the whole city of Tulsa and THAT one I know for a fact is the best as my granddaughter went to it several years ago. If it takes getting the feds involved to protect the precious children in this country, then get the feds involved! Something has to be done about all of this.
	Report Comment cville , collinsville (2/14/2008 5:31:44 AM) I believe that ok. dhs needs inprovement bad . A few weeks ago my stepdaughter feel of a balkoney will at her mom's and dhs came to her mom's and did nothing. You best believe I have now hired a lawyer to fight for her she is only 2 1/2 and if going to fed . is what I have to do I well.
	Report Comment Marie, Claremore (2/14/2008 5:35:54 AM) Well I'm glad to see DHS Child Welfare getting some attention. I am a foster parent. It is not just the placing of Oklahoma Children in foster care that needs fixed. It is the whole system that needs revamping. DHS sends children back into homes were a parent or grandparent has strong history of drug abuse. There are so many stories. Ask any foster parent we all could tell you how to fix the system or tell you stories of how the system really works or doesn't. It is ashame to have a child one year and have 6 caseworkers in that one year. You go to court correcting the worker because you know more about the case than she does. Children in DHS care for 2 to 3 years being released to parents that have given up 4 other kids. Hello.... what kind of parent is that.... Grandmother given her 15 month old grandchild when she has all 4 of her children in federal prison and lives is a small apartment on welfare with a history of drug abuse. HELLO...... DHS tell's us that ....UNIFICATION WITH THE PARENTS IS THEN NUMBER ONE GOAL.... should not the number one goal be to take children out of danger and place them in a strong caring home to grow up safe. TO BREAK THE CYCLE OF ABUSE. Giving birth is not a sign of a good parent. If you want to fix the system change the laws to make DHS term rights quickly and place children in loving homes. There are so many people that adopt out of country because we don't make it easy to adopt our own children. PLEASE.... fix the whole system....
	Report Comment Jail DHS, Tulsa (2/14/2008 6:34:25 AM) This fraudulent agency wouldn't think twice about making your life miserable over "claims" made my a female. The male is guilty until proven otherwise. If you are a male your life is now a living hell. I hope they jail the entire bunch of uneducated hypocrites.
	Report Comment momof5, inola (2/14/2008 7:02:08 AM) Twenty four years ago, I was one of these kids and nothing has changed. You have good foster homes and you have bad ones. DHS claims they have to use all of them because there are not enough to go around. They are quick to turn their head when the foster parent is doing something that is against rules but let the kid do something and you are in all kinds of trouble. Kids are placed in homes and moved around like a piece of furniture, it is no wander why so many turn the wrong direction, they have no one. You have no family and they make it known that you are only temporary. My case worker even told me I would never make anything of myself! I sent DHS a graduation announcement just to let them know that I made it! They claimed I was unstable, I am retiring soon, (23 years) at the same place, unstable? Some one needs to listen to the kids. It is not always their fault. The same DHS workers are still around as I have heard them reporting on the news about cases and I am sure they have not changed! Yes, this is my soap box and I could go on! Kids, keep your head up. You make the choice to do good. No matter what you are told, you can make something of yourself. You do no have to be labeled because you were a product of the so called system.
	Report Comment a, tulsa (2/14/2008 7:05:09 AM) This sounds so typical of DHS. Apparently Howard Hendricks has rose colored glasses on all the time. This man is incompetent and should be removed immediately; the entire system scrapped and started over. Shame on us for allowing such incompetence endanger the lives of our children, disabled, and elderly.
	Report Comment Michael, Ft Smith (2/14/2008 8:17:49 AM) I have been fighting with the DHS machine for 6 years. When you have 3 police reports stating Abuse in the home, and nothing is done, what else can you do? The case workers treat you as the criminal, when it's you trying to get them to open there eyes and do something. I hope and pray they don't stop there, These Court Appointed Judges need investigated too, they are some of the most corrupt, because they don't have to worry about being elected into office.
	Report Comment Rage Against the Machine, Tulsa (2/14/2008 9:41:33 AM) Oh it's not only men, I know a lady who left an abusive situtation, and they awarded custody to the father. The only reason she didn't take the kids, is she didn't know where she would be sleeping, let alone subject her kids to. Long story short, father quit working for about 7 years, filled Medicade and the state (DHS) was after her. They went back to the day they got divorced and started calculating to the present. Her oldest turn 18 and moved out of her fathers about 4 years ago. Did DHS take this into account? NO they didn't care. And further, the youngest was kicked out about 2 years ago. NO matter they calculated for two kids all the way back. A fat, lazy, poor health, drug addict gets all this support money for kids he didn't even support. Payments did not start going through DHS until about 4 years ago, so before then they (DHS) has no records. And because of that, in their eye, no payments were made. So now she owes over $26,000. It's ludicris. Then she had to go to Administrative Court where she was strong armed by a DHS attorney who looked like his attorney, because she could not afford legal counsel. DHS the perfect bureau-cratic machine. The bigger they get, the more money they gobble. The more money they gobble, the bigger they get.
	Report Comment Arthur, (2/14/2008 9:51:13 AM) Agreed on nearly all accounts. The DHS system is in disarray everywhere across this country. Whatever the feelings might be on immigration, it seems we are at least getting this right. DHS needs to reassess its goals and how it recruits foster parents. My parents were foster parents and they quit. They were great for these kids. They went to all activities and encouraged the kids to get into activities at school, told the kids they loved them, hugged them, fed them, etc. However, my parents ran into problems with the last couple of foster kids becaus the parents that had abused the children didn't feel that soccer was an acceptable sport for a boy and thus wouldn't let my parents get the kid involved in the sport. My parents tried other activities but these were not acceptable to the parents either. Furthermore, the last one (6 years old) hit my mom in a fit (I won't detail all of the problems the child was having but suffice to say he was upset about not being loved enough by his own parents). My mom told the case worker about it and wasn't upset just letting the caseworker know that the child had been so upset and all of the difficulties because of the child's previous situation. The caseworker then pulled the child from the home despite the fact that my mom fought to keep the kid. To my knowledge to kid went to a shelter. HOW IS THAT LOGICAL? The kid was having a hard time adjusting. So, we should pull him out of a stable environment and then it will be more stable. He was an upset six year old because his mom got high and beat him and now he's in a stranger's home that is completely different from anything he's known. I might throw some fits too, but according to DHS I wouldn't be fit for placement. I'm now a candidate for a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. I credit my parents for much of this success. They pushed me academically and supported me in school in every way. Had this kid been left in the home he probably would have had many more opportunities like I've had. He only needed time to adjust. This is what made my parents quit being foster parents and makes many parents that would love to do this quit. The system is screwed up and if it takes suing the pants off of DHS to get them, then let's do everything we can. I don't care how good Oklahoma has it. That is irrelevant. We should never look around and say "well we're crappy but look they're worse than us. So, we must be ok". Our services are only sufficient when foster care dramatically improves the quality of life for these children.
	Report Comment L, Tulsa (2/14/2008 10:03:51 AM) I used to be a DHS child welfare worker for several years and I can tell you that I think this lawsuit is well founded. Something needs to be done. There are good and bad workers and good and bad foster parents, but overall, I'd say the majority of kids end up in just as bad circumstances as the homes they came out of when it just comes down to it. Little kids go through multiple placements because the foster parents or shelters decide they just don't want that particular kid, even knowing that the kids who come into custody are going to have problems because of the abuse they've already endured. Caseloads are terrible and the paperwork so overwhelming that even the best workers can't keep an eye on everything. No one really listens to the kids when they say things are bad in a foster home or shelter, because frequently there's no place better to put them. And even parents who ARE trying to get their act together (and there are some) have so many roadblocks from DHS and the courts and so many pointless hoops to jump through that kids stay much longer in foster care than they need to sometimes. Which is why I don't work there anymore. While I feel like there were some successes, most of the time I was not proud of the job that DHS was doing or my part in it.
	Report Comment Graychin, Eucha (2/14/2008 10:16:16 AM) From the charges made in the lawsuit and the thoughtful comments above, it's clear that the DHS system is broken. Oklahoma has been poor-boying this important program for a long time. Will our legislature step forward and make the needed changes? I doubt it. It's an election year, and they think that tax cuts are more important than caring for our children.
	Report Comment Bill Strader, (2/14/2008 11:14:30 AM) There is so much wrong with the whole dhs system especially the tulsa office, they are arrogant, unknowledgable, rude and evil people that take the law into their own hands and do what they want to. I agree that Howard Hendricks hasn't a clue of what is going on and does not know how to correct it even if he did take off his rose colored glasses. They take children from families that deserve a second chance and inflect harsh punishment on them and other cases they turn their back on and get away with it. I hope this law suite comes to fruit and stops the whole system including pending adoptions and makes a fresh start with leader ship and new employees that are compentent and got out for spite.
	Report Comment EdK, Tulsa (2/14/2008 12:49:37 PM) DHS sounds like a typical governemnt program. Anybody gullible/stupid enough to believe the government will do any better managing your healthcare?
	Report Comment EdK, Tulsa (2/14/2008 12:54:11 PM) #11: Oh, so all they need is more money and all the imcompetence and waste will disappear. Gotcha.
	Report Comment Amanda, Broken arrow (2/14/2008 2:05:46 PM) I know that the entire DHS and DFPS from across the nation needs to be upgraded. This is pityful and sad the way it is designed. We are talking about human beings little children. What is wrong with the government that they cant invest a little money to educate and revamp the system to save these children.
	Report Comment teddi, Tulsa (2/14/2008 3:03:09 PM) There are many good & dedicated DHS workers, but I feel sorry for them having to go to work knowing they are not appreciated. The bad ones seem to do enough damage and p.o. enough people to dirty the image of the whole. This must make it more difficult for concerned DHS managers to hire good people. The low pay is one thing, the abusive working conditions -- having to talk to and determine truth out of a situation involving con artists, criminals and general incompetent parents, -- and the bad public perception of their efforts must make it almost impossible to attract people who would do their best to protect children!
	Report Comment S, Tulsa (2/14/2008 3:51:33 PM) #14, as a former DHS employee (family support, not child welfare), yes, more money would help. You're talking about a job that pays 24.000 a year, less health insurance costs, that requires a BA and involves paperwork, stress, death threats on your voice mail, and the occasional risk to life and limb. Only the naive or those who can't do any better wind up working for DHS. I quickly learned what the real situation is (I can ditto all the comments from other dhs employees above), and got out as soon as the economy picked back up and I got my Master's. I was a competent, accurate and timely caseworker who genuinely wanted to make a difference, and there was no way to motivate me to stay because I could make another 10-15K anywhere else without even breaking a sweat, and I saw that federal regulations actually prevented me from improving people's situations. family support is designed to give just enough to keep people from starting bread riots in the streets, and benefits are cut off if you do something irresponsible like go to college (you get a raise if you have a kid, of course). And while I never worked on the child welfare side of the agency, i knw folks who do and I've heard tales that would curl your hair. I just hope the good caseworkers don't get punished by this lawsuit, and that this brings some attention to just how desperately broken and underfunded the situation is. I'm not holding my breath, though.
	Report Comment ginny b., sapulpa (2/14/2008 9:05:26 PM) Until the State puts an end to people having all the illegitimate children who have to be supported by DHS,has programs that will work to bring those addicted to drugs, are abusive in their relationships, and ensure that the support paid by spouses who do not have custody of their children goes to the children, then there is going to be problems forever in this department...No one,no matter what their own ideas about changing the system, will help here unless there is some kind of real attention paid to bring about change. WE all stand guilty when we rant and rave but do nothing to help change things.Attend these hearings,call the Representatives, Senators, and Judges, do something besides wail and groan, these could very well be your children some day, or those of your family members,and if you know any workers that are employed by DHS not doing their job, then make it known, the ones who are doing their jobs may just be grateful someone is trying to make things right..Do something to protect the children!!!
	Report Comment Aaron Morgan, McAlester (2/15/2008 1:26:50 AM) As a single father raising my 2 girls for over 10 years, I was an easy target. I had a false allegation brought on me, because, while my oldest daughter was in a juvenile psychiatric hospital in Tulsa, she said something to the LPC, that is required by state law, to be reported to OK-DHS. Law requires them to report what was said, regardless of whether the LPC believes it or not. I talked to the LPC, and she told me this as I outprocessed my daughter. However, I was clueless about how OK-DHS actually worked, at that time. This allegation had nothing to do with my girls whatsoever. It was a comment made by my daughter, during a counseling session, of a girlfriend I had years ago. She was well over the legal age of consent and I was much younger. Next thing I know, I'm "cooperating" with DHS by going to sex offender classes, because if I don't, my girls will be put into foster homes. This was told to me, by the DHS investigator, while she had a sheriff with her, the first time I met DHS, I went to the sheriffs office and explained, to both of them, together and seperately, that this was a fluke. DHS ran with it, and,I honestly hate to say, the sheriffs department helped with it. The DHS worker told me that they were a team in "these " matters, but I had no idea just how close knit this team was. She was a former police officer, fired/resigned, because of an issue with falsifying documents. I learned this from a local Atty. Her father has many years in the local PD. My Atty., told me, after his first meeting with the sheriff, that he didn't have a good feeling with him. Criminal charges were brought up against me for second degree rape, which was and is just outrageous. 10 months go by, while I try to cooperate with DHS, and my girls were split apart. The day before my trial by jury, because I refused to plea bargain on something that I was not guilty of, the state drops cherges. My oldest daughter was relocated 11 times, to include 2 youth shelters, because DHS needed the beds for their kids. I kept DHS informed the whole time, because all I wanted was for my girls to come back home and for us to be a family again. The caseworker stops answering my calls. I get assigned a new caseworker. I talk to the supervisor and decide that I have had enough. By the way, at the second youth shelter, my oldest daughter was raped by 2 boys. I take her to the sheriffs department, a different county, to file the complaint, and they already have me pegged as charged and drill me with questions like, why am I here with my daughter alone. This ordeal has had a traumatic effect on my family, especially my oldest daughter. She has learned just what DHS wants them to learn. And that is... Keep fighting and turning on your parent's. Otherwise, we won't have a job. I stand by my oldest daughter, as she fights me. In one year, she's had to meet a judge 4 times. It is hard to stand up for those who want you to fail, but when they are children, you have to. "Food For Thought" I'm trying to get this going in McAlester,Ok. A ralley in Washington, DC only makes headlines for those who are interested. I believe that any town or city can light the fuze. We need to bring this attention to our community, our town, our city, our country. If we're gonna have A DHS, let's have a DHS that lives/or works for what it was origanally intended for.
	Report Comment EdK, Tulsa (2/15/2008 1:02:07 PM) #17: As with all things run by the government, it's not a money problem, it's a money-MANAGEMENT problem. The DHS budget is 1.6 billion. This, for a state that has only 900K kids under 18, only a fraction of which DHS deals with. And it didn't even spend all that was budgeted last year (by $20M). Oh, but wait. DHS does other things. That's where the problem lies. There is not an infinite supply of money and whenever you add entitlements to this group or that group, some other group (in this case, foster kids) suffers. Go to their website and look at all the services they offer and alot (Sooner Care and adult daycare for example) are available to everyone, even the wealthiest. Why? I think caseworkers should make more than 24K as well (if that's what they really make) and if the government would stop passing handouts to everyone and focus on its priorities, they could -- without spending more money. It's a money-management problem.
	Report Comment S, Tulsa (2/15/2008 4:13:09 PM) #20--go to ok.gov or more specifically to the DHS job board to verify the 24K number (it might have gone up a tad, i left in 2005)--all state employees' salaries are public record. I administered soonercare benefits in my caseload--soonercare is NOT "available to everyone", there's an income test for everyone except pregnant mothers and children under (i think)2. Children under 18 have a more stringent income test, and it's essentially closed to any non-pregnant or non-disabled adult under 55. To even be eligible to apply for adult day care, you first have to be unable to care for yourself, and you have to spend down (or shelter) your assets to less than $2000. This number has likely changed since I worked for the agency, but i heard a statistic that DHS touches the lives of something like 75% of the kids in Oklahoma, if we count things like inspecting daycares and tracking down deadbeat parents to make them pay child support. DHS does a lot more than hand out "entitlements", many of which are FEDERAL mandates. I worked in the sausage factory long enough that I am well aware of the loopholes, and i can tell plenty of stories of both families who desperately needed help but couldn't qualify on some technicality, and of people who had gamed the system for so long that they could always squeak in just on the side of eligibility. DHS could and should manage its money better--but it is hemmed in on nearly all sides by federal requirements, and it lacks the money to hire people smart enough to think creatively and resolve the current morrass. Apparently this group has spearheaded lawsuits of DHSes in several states, and I hope that these suits have the cummulative effect of making changes in DC. The current welfare system is a joke, barely better than what it replaced. It does a fine job of preventing the peasants from revolting, but actually prevents families becoming more stable or lifting themselves out of poverty. One last thought--if I had not had my husband's income, and had a child at the time I worked for DHS--we would have been eligible for soonercare (child only), child care assistance and food stamps.
	Report Comment S, Tulsa (2/15/2008 4:36:03 PM) I checked the current salaries at ok.gov. A Social Services Specialist I (where i started at DHS) makes $1,879.83 a month (that's allegedly the bottom of the payband,but I never met a soul who made any more than the bottom of the pay band for their position). that was the same as the position paid when i left the agency in 2005 (I had been promoted by then to the aforementioned lofty heights of $24,000 a year). I couldn't find any open child welfare specialist positions (hiring freeze?), but back in the day they made about $150 more a month than the equivalent family support worker. THAT demonstrates how much Oklahoma cares about having intelligent, capable caseworkers looking after its most vulnerable citizens. If you look at it like joining the peace corps, it's a great way to serve your fellow man. it's a terrible way to make a career if you have lofty goals like buying a house or having a child without going on the very benefits you help administer. Again, is it any wonder the system's a mess? the people who are able or willing to do better leave because the bureaucracy makes it impossible to effect change. those who are left are either saints or can't do any better. out of curiosity, i checked a few people's salaries at OK.Gov's open books website: Bob Stoops makes 16 times as much as Howard Hendrick (not counting stoops' christmas bonus). Great priorities our state legislature has there...
	Report Comment theangrypatient, . (2/15/2008 10:02:05 PM) The Department of Human Disservice, er.....Department of Inhuman Service....er.... DHS - they like to pick on old people and take over custody of them and make them wards of the State for their SS money. Or should we say $$ money.
	Report Comment Ex- CWS, Tulsa (2/19/2008 8:57:33 PM) Another former worker/ supervisor here. I loved that job. I really did. Unfortunately, everyday you can only give so much until there is nothing left. Until it gets too hard to continue the fight. Close to 10 years before I jumped ship. Handed over the baton and took a break to heal. My job change kept me in Social Work but brought me an $11,000 raise to work the cushy hours of 8-5. Not 5:05, but 5pm sharp. Hey, I get lunch too! EVERYDAY! Of course I could do without the extra 15 pounds I put on but apparently that is the price you pay when you aren't swimming upstream any longer. Stopping in the middle of the day for more than a Soup at Hand or a Hot Pocket was laughable. When you're figuring out a Child Welfare worker's salary, don't forget to consider the fact that they are on call 24/7 365 days a year. That eats up that extra $150 pretty quick. They are duty bound to respond anytime anywhere. I actually spoke to a child (you know who you are KC) on my honeymoon because she didn't want to stay at the shelter. Who would? She finally did stay by the way. She said it was a wedding present to me. ;) I actually read the entire affidavit. It is well written and to the point. I would love to see the changes called for in the document. It isn't rocket science, it was best practices backed up by peer reviewed research. If half of those changes were implimented, I would jump at the chance to get back into the field. It would be worth the cut in pay to know I finally had a real chance to make a difference in the life of a child.
	Report Comment zoony, ponca city area (2/21/2008 10:53:58 PM) I am a foster parent currently. I work closely through a private agency with fourteen other foster parent families and while I can't say that we are all perfect, there is really only one family in the group that I have a real problem with. EVeryone else is loving and caring, maintaining long term placements of children in our homes. We, personally, have someone in our home from either DHS or our agency every single week. The DHS workers we've had, most spend at least a half hour with each child talking to them about school and looking in their rooms. One of our workers is so good. She even plays games with the kids when she comes ... gets down on the living carpet and drives toy cars around, plays checkers with them, etc ... We have huge amounts of documentation that we have to maintain every single day. All that said, there are problems. One of our DHS workers spends five minutes with the child and is gone again. One of our kids, who's been in the system for a long while, came to our house with no toys of any kind, no pictures of himself or his family, and few clothes. He didn't come out of his abusive bio home but from another foster home ... with nothing. It made us sick to think they were in the same system we are. And the shelter system is horrid. Some changes do need made, but we live in a society that is so quick to sue each other instead of finding a way to make things work for the best, everyone ends up mad at each and no one will talk to each other because of the law suits and in the end nothing really gets done except to upset a bunch of people and to waste a bunch of time and money for no purpose.

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