Lack of oversight made it easy for staff to label personal expenditures a group home expense

Genesis juror dismissed
Man critical of prosecutors let go for financial reasons
Lopez, Pablo. Fresno Bee, March 13, 2007.

Mar. 13--Lawyers decided Monday to dismiss a juror who had criticized the prosecution in the trial of two sisters accused of embezzling $500,000 from the Genesis group home and foster care agency.

Judge William Kent Hamlin agreed with the lawyers' stipulation that the juror will suffer financial hardship if he continued in the trial of Elaine Bernard, chief executive officer of Genesis, and Carol Dela Torre, the nonprofit's clinical director. The male juror was replaced with a female alternate, whom Hamlin chose at random.

There are now eight men and four women on the panel and three alternates as the trial enters its eighth week of testimony in Fresno County Superior Court. Bernard, 47, and Dela Torre, 46, are accused of using business checks and American Express corporate credit cards to skim $500,000 from Genesis between 1996 and 2001, and squandering the taxpayer money on vacations and shopping sprees.

The sisters have pleaded not guilty to a 17-count indictment on charges of theft, embezzlement and tax evasion. The dismissed juror sent a letter to the judge last week, saying the prosecution "has wasted a huge amount of my time and taxpayers' money on insignificant details, repetitive examination and allegations of wrongdoing by someone that is not on trial." He also told Hamlin that he needed to travel to Mississippi to take care of hurricane damage that destroyed his former home there and that he has paid in advance for a cruise with his wife in May.

Hamlin initially ruled that the juror had not given an adequate reason as to why he could not wait until after the trial to take care of his personal affairs. The judge also said it was "a close call" to keep the juror because of his strong feelings toward the prosecution.

Monday morning, Bernard's lawyer, Roger Nuttall, made a motion to dismiss the juror because he appeared visibly upset when the judge decided to keep him on the panel. Dela Torre's lawyer, W. Scott Quinlan, as well as prosecutors Regina Leary and Michael Elder, agreed to dismiss the juror.

Afterward, Gwendolyn Rogers-Lee, director of security for American Express, testified that Bernard opened a corporate credit card account for Genesis in May 1991. As the primary account holder, Bernard received monthly credit card statements, was responsible for paying the credit card bill, and determined which employees could use corporate credit cards, Rogers-Lee said.

Over the years, Rogers-Lee said, American Express contacted Genesis about its high volume of use of the corporate credit cards and because the nonprofit had many credit cards replaced. For example, by 1996, Bernard's ex-husband, Rene Bernard, a former handyman for Genesis, had possessed nine different American Express credit cards, Rogers-Lee said. Genesis employees seemed annoyed by the American Express inquiries, Rogers-Lee said.

Stuart H. Harden, a certified public accountant and certified fraud examiner, testified that Genesis could easily be victimized because "there was very little oversight of Ms. Bernard by the board." Harden testified that he viewed thousands of Genesis business documents including American Express statements, store receipts and bank statements.

Using a slide show, he showed jurors how Bernard made personal purchases with an American Express corporate credit card and used Genesis money to pay the credit card bill. Bernard then marked her personal expenditures in Genesis accounting documents as a group home or business expense, Harden said. His testimony will continue today.

No, Elaine, an 'abuse of power' is when you embezzle money from a foster care agency and use it to buy designer clothing

Judge refuses to dismiss jurors:
Genesis panel sees a video of a search of Bernard's belongings.
Lopez, Pablo. Fresno Bee, March 29, 2007.

Mar. 9--A judge on Thursday denied the requests of two jurors to be dismissed from the trial of two women accused of embezzling $500,000 from the Genesis group home and foster care agency.

Fresno County Superior Court Judge William Kent Hamlin also ruled that the jury could watch a video of investigators searching an apartment and storage locker filled with designer clothes, furniture and other items belonging to defendant Elaine Bernard, Genesis' chief executive officer. Bernard said she fought back tears as the 30-minute video was shown in court.

"I felt raped, violated, seeing men with gloves pawing through my things," she said during a break. "It was wrong, wrong, wrong. An abuse of power."

Prosecutors say that Bernard and her sister, Carol Dela Torre, the nonprofit organization's clinical director, used business checks and corporate credit cards to skim $500,000 between 1996 and 2001, and that they squandered taxpayer money on vacations and shopping sprees.

Defense lawyers say that Bernard and Dela Torre have admitted using the corporate credit cards for personal purchases and have repaid Genesis. The Genesis board of directors investigated and found that the sisters were allowed to use the credit cards and did not intend to steal, the defense contends.

The sisters have pleaded not guilty to a 17-count indictment on charges of theft, embezzlement and tax evasion.

The trial is taking longer than expected, with witnesses scattered all over the country, and with dozens of boxes of business documents entered as evidence. The case had been expected to conclude in mid-March, but Hamlin said this week it likely will last well into April.

In a letter Wednesday, one juror had slammed the district attorney's case, saying the prosecution "has wasted a huge amount of my time and taxpayers money (court cost) on insignificant details, repetitive examination and allegations of wrongdoing by someone that is not on trial." That juror also told the judge he needed to travel to take care of hurricane damage that destroyed his former home in Mississippi, and that he has paid in advance for a cruise with his wife in May.

Hamlin ruled Thursday that the juror had not shown why he could not wait until after the trial to take care of his personal affairs. Hamlin said keeping the juror was "a close call" because of his strong feelings toward the prosecution, but the juror told Hamlin he would be able to set aside his opinions and make a fair decision based on the facts of the case.

The other juror had told the judge Wednesday that her participation in the trial had become an emotional hardship. She said she doesn't get paid when she misses work for the trial, so she has been working before testimony begins and after it finishes. She also said she cares for her mother and daughter and had planned to work extra while her business partner cares for his wife, who has a surgery pending in early April -- the main reason she declared hardship.

On Thursday, Hamlin asked the juror to approach her business partner about appearing in court or sending a letter to discuss whether the surgery could be done later. The juror agreed.

The entire jury then watched the video that investigators made five years ago when the District Attorney's Office launched the Genesis investigation. The defense team had tried to block the video, but Hamlin ruled it to be "highly probative circumstantial evidence."

The video shows that Bernard is "approaching an obsession" with designer labels, Hamlin said, even if prosecutors can't prove that each item in her home and storage locker was purchased with Genesis money. Regina Leary, a chief deputy district attorney, said the video is a key piece of evidence, because it shows Bernard's penchant to purchase expensive clothing with Genesis money.

Hamlin ruled that prosecutors could not show video of a search of Dela Torre's home, however. Hamlin said there has been no firm evidence to show that the small collection of clothing, shoes and other items inside the residence was purchased with Genesis money. Bernard said the video shown to jurors was an unfair depiction of her home.

At the time, she was living in an apartment because she and her husband, Rene Bernard, had divorced. The divorce was finalized Sept. 10, 2001, court records show. "When I saw my daughter's Mickey Mouse pillow on the ground, I almost lost it," she said. "They didn't need to invade my family's personal life."

Foster care alumna, full-time Senate fellow helps current foster children succeed

Photo of September Hargrove from Sacramento Bee

UC grad's life inspires her to excel, aid others
The former foster child backs reform, counsels at-risk teens.
Sanchez, Edgar, Sacramento Bee, March 29, 2007.


Mar. 22--If September Hargrove had her way, all foster youths would be guaranteed housing and a good job or admission to college when they leave foster care at 18.

"It's scary to know that when you turn 18, you will be forced out and be on your own," the 24-year-old Oak Park resident said last week. "I think we don't do enough to prepare foster youth to make this transition."

A former foster child, Hargrove overcame obstacles to graduate from Grant High School and the University of California, Berkeley, with a bachelor's degree in ethnic studies.

Today she is a part-time counselor for at-risk girls -- some of them foster children -- in the Sacramento Children's Home.

As a full-time Senate fellow, she's also an aide to Sen. Elaine Alquist, D-Santa Clara, at the state Capitol, a job that allows Hargrove to see firsthand how laws are drafted.

She has indeed come a long way.

Born in San Jose to a drug-addicted mother, Hargrove lived in Fresno, Stockton and other Central Valley cities as she and her five younger brothers were growing up.

"My father and mother were only together for a few months," Hargrove said. "My father and I don't really have a relationship. He has never lived with me."

In 1997, after the family relocated to Sacramento, Hargrove, then 13, moved out of her mother's house to live with a classmate's family that adopted her as a foster daughter.

For the first time, Hargrove said, she went to school daily without being absent for weeks at a time, as when she had to care for her mother "while she dealt with the challenges of her addiction."

"In the beginning, life in foster care was great," Hargrove said. "For once I had stability and was excelling in school."

After graduating from Sutter Middle School in 1998, Hargrove and her foster sister attended Grant High School, where Hargrove became a leader in student government.

According to Hargrove, her foster sister was interested in sports, not academics -- a dynamic her foster parents resented.

"My foster parents would give me a hard time about their daughter not being involved academically," Hargrove said. "The foster care situation didn't work out. I ended up moving out the middle of my senior year."

Taken in by an aunt in south Sacramento, Hargrove found it challenging to travel to the Del Paso Heights campus.

"Every morning I would leave the house around 6 a.m. to make a two-hour commute by bus to Grant High School," said Hargrove, who by then was the school's student body president.

During her previous three years at Grant, Hargrove had taken on a new title each year: freshman class president, sophomore class president, junior class president.

While at Grant, Hargrove also worked part time at the Mutual Assistance Network, a program funded in part by United Way's Foster Youth Flourish Signature Project. In the program, she was a lead mentor for Operation Graduation, which encourages tutoring to keep children in school.

Hargrove found a mentor of her own in Shirley Roberts, her leadership teacher at Grant.

"September was a very hard worker," said Roberts, now a substitute teacher in the Grant district. "She was determined to go to high school and to college, no matter what was happening with her home life. I'm extremely proud of her."

Hargrove graduated in June 2002, with the seventh-highest grade-point average in Grant's 380-student class.

With the help of several scholarships -- including one for $1,500 from The Bee's Woman's Day conference -- Hargrove went on to UC Berkeley, graduating in May 2006.

Last summer, she returned to Sacramento and rejoined the Mutual Assistance Network as a volunteer. She is still with the program, assisting foster youth part-time as they prepare to "emancipate," or leave the foster system at 18.

At the Capitol, Hargrove is six months into her yearlong stint as a Senate fellow, learning how the Legislature works and helping to draft some bills. As part of her fellowship, she is taking government classes at California State University, Sacramento.

A firm believer in foster care reform, Hargrove plans to dedicate her life to helping foster children. Whether that will be as an attorney or as an elected official, only time will tell.

In January, Hargrove told her story to United Way's Women in Philanthropy, a group of businesswomen who help area foster youth programs through financial and volunteer commitments.

"September spoke about her experience when she was a foster youth ... and how she was so motivated," said group co-chairwoman Tamar Matzkevich. "She is so bright and positive. I was just so impressed with her."

Hargrove lives with an uncle and her 21-year-old brother. Another brother attends Merced Community College and still another is in foster care in Merced.

Her two youngest brothers are with their mother in Turlock.

$2 million allocated for transitional housing program

Funds boost foster kids' chances of succeeding
Geyer, Katherine. The Signal, March 27, 2007.

A new county-wide program will ensure that foster children won't be abandoned when they turn 18 and leave the foster care system.

At the request of Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, the state recently allocated $2 million to the county to start the Transitional Housing Program Plus for 18- to 24-year-olds emancipated from foster care.

The program will provide them with housing to help ease the transition out of foster care and help them to become self-sufficient.

"Allowing young people to emancipate without the necessary support is another form of abuse," Antonovich said in a statement.

There are currently 1,500 youths who emancipate from foster care within Los Angeles County each year.

"Too often, youth emancipate without the basics: a place to live, a job, a high school diploma or the support of a caring adult," he said.

"Many will become uninsured, unemployed, incarcerated and/or homeless."

Since 1998, the number of youths emancipating annually in California has grown by 38 percent.

In other counties throughout the state, participants in the program have shown to be three times less likely to eventually become incarcerated and four times less likely to become homeless.

Participants in the program live alone or with roommates in apartments and single-family homes and can participate in the program for up to 24 cumulative months.

"It's a place for them to live and have services, to work, to go to school, to take care of their children, whatever they need for them to graduate into successful adulthood," said Helen Berberian, Antonovich's children and family services deputy.

She said there is going to be a solicitation process so that successful bidders are awarded contracts to provide the services.

The only services provided to emancipated youths in the county are job training services, said Tony Bell, spokesman for Antonovich.

He said Antonovich is working with lawmakers in Sacramento to get legislation that would make supportive housing services mandatory for 18- to 21-year-olds who have aged out of the foster care system.

Glamour Gowns for teens in foster care

Help teen girls in foster care feel special
Sevanian, Dianna. The Signal, March 24, 2007.

Certainly in this valley there are homes with new or gently worn prom dresses or bridesmaid gowns collecting dust in the closets.

Surely in this town there are teenage girls and women with more evening handbags, wraps and fancy costume jewelry than they actually require.

Undoubtedly, there are generous people here who are willing to donate some of these items to high school girls who need them - girls in the Los Angeles County foster care system who want to attend their proms but lack the proper essentials to do so.

Kids in foster care - generally there due to their parent's severe abuse, neglect or abandonment - miss out on much in early life that many of our more "fortunate" adolescents may take for granted, like having responsible parents there to love and protect you. Or having a "family roof" over your head at night when you go to sleep.

Or, if a girl, having the luxury of shopping for a prom dress aside a caring, functional mother.

If you would like to help those hurting girls, a superb opportunity awaits you...

"Glamour Gowns," an annual event for girls in foster care, will be held April 21 and 22 at the Convention Center in Los Angeles. There, more than 600 high school girls currently in L.A. County's foster system will receive free prom gowns, along with many pretty accessories to complete their look.

All of this is done thanks to donations from big-hearted individuals and companies that wish to uplift the girls' spirits and grant them prom memories to cherish. Big thanks also go to celebrity participants, Kappa Alpha Theta, and other event volunteers who will help the girls with their clothing selections.

In its sixth year, Glamour Gowns is sponsored by CASA of Los Angeles, a nonprofit organization that provides advocacy, hope and better futures for kids who find themselves in our heavily overburdened, overworked and overly bureaucratic child welfare system.

While the acronym CASA stands for "Court Appointed Special Advocate," the term "casa" - Spanish for "home" - is certainly appropriate as the safe haven its name implies.

Each month, about 800 frightened and worried children are plucked from their perilous homes and brought into the LA. County's Dependency Court (the foster care system). These youngsters are of all ages, races and ethnicities.

Often, the most stable presence in their lives is their CASA volunteer - each advocate appointed by judges to better help the magistrates make crucial decisions about that child's life, including where they'll live, attend school, whom they may see, and what health care, therapy and educational services should be availed.

CASA volunteers maintain regular visits with the children, getting to know them as individuals, not just cases. Among volunteer duties: investigating and reporting the child's circumstances to the court; facilitating delivery of court-ordered services for the child; monitoring compliance with other orders of the court; and advocating in court and the community for the best interests of the child.

Screened, unpaid and dedicated CASA volunteers make a huge difference in these young lives, one child at a time, helping approximately 500 in L.A. County per year. Typically, CASA volunteers are assigned to kids with the greatest challenges, such as those with learning or physical disabilities, or severe emotional or mental problems.

It was in 1977 that Judge David Soukup of Seattle saw an alarming rise in the number of child abuse and neglect cases appearing before his court, and felt he was not getting adequate information for determining the best placement for every child's circumstances. From that concern, CASA began. There are now more than 900 programs in all 50 states with more than 52,000 volunteers serving more than 206,000 children.

Presently, CASA of Los Angeles is actively recruiting, screening and training volunteers to become advocates on behalf of foster children. Perhaps you can become part of that mission. Should fundraising be your forte, maybe you'll want to join Friends of CASA, volunteers who strive to expand resources for CASA support.


For Santa Clarita Valley resident Peggy Edwards, a Friends of CASA supporter, helping children in foster care rates high among her humanistic passions. (Her interests also include Zonta, homeless health care and emergency management planning.)

Through her CASA efforts, Edwards tries to lessen the damaging effects of foster care placement.

"Taking a child out of a toxic home environment is not the end of the line for the child's tribulations, as many serious problems can come into play following that separation," she explained.

This is true, for unfortunately, many foster kids are marched from one foster home to the other - sometimes channeling their increasing anger, depression and frustration along the way into unhealthy behaviors (and sometimes, unlawful actions).

They desperately need a wise, guiding adult to help them.

"For those kids lucky enough to have a CASA, that highly trained volunteer takes the time to get to know the child and to find out what the best placement would be," Edwards said.

Studies show that by giving foster kids caring advocates and getting them secure home placements, they stand better chances at realizing more positive futures, with less chance for delinquency and running afoul with the law.

Foster-related problems don't end with adulthood, however.

"Quite often an emancipated youth loses his or her home on their 18th birthday, and foster care payments run out. That's a whole other issue," she added.

A "whole other issue" - yes. Of those children who emancipate from foster care without realizing a stable, permanent family: 60 percent of the girls have babies within four years; 50 percent do not complete high school; 45 percent are unemployed; 30 percent go on welfare between the ages of 18 and 34; 26 percent spend time in jail or prison; and 25 percent become homeless.

Studies also show that annual costs of abuse and neglect to our society are overwhelming: about $25 billion in direct costs (hospitalization, mental health and police services), compounded by $95 billion for indirect costs such as juvenile delinquency, adult criminality and lost productivity to society.

Amid these disturbing facts, Edwards has an encouraging message: Several few ago there were 50,000 children in L.A.'s foster care. That number, she said, has decreased to about 30,000, "thanks to the efforts of people in all parts of the system, including Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)."

Edwards said she is looking forward to being a "personal shopper" at Glamour Gowns, assisting girls in gown selections.

It's a volunteer role she treasures, and for two important reasons.

"This is about helping teenage girls having a special prom night, a wonderful experience, and feeling absolutely beautiful in their gorgeous gowns," she said. "It's also about being lucky enough to have been born into a terrific family with parents who loved and nurtured us and made sure that we had self-confidence and self-esteem - and, who modeled that it is expected that if you can, you give back and help others."

If you'd like to "give back" and become a candle in the dark for youngsters in foster care, check out CASA at casala.org

While you're at it, why not check out what's inside your closets and drawers? My guess is, you may find a fantastic prom ensemble waiting there, ready to be donated to a young lady in need.

Donations for Glamour Gowns are due by April 9. All items should be clean and in excellent condition. For information about donation pickups contact Peggy Edwards at pegwards28@yahoo.com. Diana Sevanian lives in Stevenson Ranch. Her column reflects her own views, and not necessarily those of The Signal.

Juvenile detention center supervisor has sex with 15 year-old former ward

Supervisor accused of sex with ward, 15
Coté, John. San Francisco Chronicle, March 10, 2007, pg. B3.

REDWOOD CITY- A supervisor at San Mateo County's juvenile detention center has been arrested for allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old girl who used to be a ward there, authorities said Friday.

South San Francisco police arrested Carlos Alberto Ordonez, 23, of Daly City, on Feb. 24 after officers found him and the girl having sex in a car at Oyster Point, police Sgt. Joni Lee said.

Ordonez was booked into the county jail on suspicion of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, a felony, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor, sheriff's officials said.

Prosecutors are reviewing the case to determine whether criminal charges will be filed. Ordonez is free after posting $25,000 bail, sheriff's Lt. Lisa Williams said.

Ordonez was fired last week from his position as a group supervisor at the girls camp, said Christy Morrill, deputy director for administration at the Probation Department.

Trauma of foster care should not be medicated with psychotropic drugs

Bill orders tracking use of psychiatric drugs on foster kids
Yi, Matthew. San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 24, 2007, pg. B2.

SACRAMENTO - A Bay Area lawmaker introduced a bill on Friday that would require the state to collect personal and medical data on foster children as a first step to determine if they are being overmedicated because they are misdiagnosed with mental illnesses.

In many instances, foster children are given medications such as antidepressants when they're simply withdrawn because they are coping with the trauma of leaving their families to live with strangers, said Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa.

"What we've heard anecdotally is that for a lot of foster kids, rather than getting counseling for them ... they're given a drug," she said.

The bill, AB1330, would require the state Department of Social Services to collect information about a youth's sex, age and race; number of years in the foster care system; the type of drug prescribed; and whether the child lives with a foster family or a group home or resides in the juvenile justice system.

There are about 80,000 children in the state's foster care system.

The legislation would also require the agency to ensure that foster children who are prescribed psychotropic medication receive appropriate medical care in accordance with the recommendations of the federal Food and Drug Administration.

Evans said the state agency said last year that it has started collecting such data. The lawmaker decided to go ahead with her bill to ensure that the department follows through with its promise of gathering the information.

This is not the first legislative attempt to collect data on foster youth and psychotropic medication. In 2004, a similar bill by then-Sen. Dick Mountjoy, R-Monrovia (Los Angeles County), stalled in the Legislature partly because of objections by the California Psychiatric Association. - WHO MAKES $ FROM DRUGGING CHILDREN

Randall Hagar, the association's director of governmental affairs, said Friday that he has at least two concerns about Evans' bill.

"I think it'll be helpful to know how many (foster youths) are getting (psychotropic drugs)," he said. "But if you stop there, that's just a reflection about the nervousness about psychotropic medications and the feeling that psychotropic medications are bad."

Hagar said such a database would be more useful if it includes the diagnosis of each foster youth and figures out if they're getting the right medication.

The bill's insistence that foster children who receive psychotropic drugs be given medical care that's consistent with the FDA's recommendations is problematic because there's a lack of FDA standards for pediatric psychotropic medications, Hagar said.

That's because as a result of little research on such drugs for minors, there are very few medications that the FDA is recommending specifically for pediatric use. Currently, individual doctors and psychiatrists use their own discretion to prescribe a wide variety of psychotropic medications, he said.

"If we limit to only FDA-approved medications (specifically for children), we're denying children the vast majority of medications out there, and that's simply denying access," Hagar said.

But that's part of her concern, Evans said.

"Some of these psychotropic drugs are very heavy drugs, and there are anecdotal cases that the children are not being given right medications," she said.

One advocate of foster youths said she applauds Evans' efforts but fears every day spent simply gathering information is another day lost for children who are given these medications.

"We feel there is an urgency to this problem," said Jennifer Rodriguez, legislative and policy manager for California Youth Connection.

Even while the information is being gathered, there are other things that can help, such as asking public health nurses to visit individual group homes and educate the foster youths about these medications and that they have the right to refuse the drugs, Rodriguez said.

"There are about 7,000 youths in group homes in California. You can do a pilot project in certain counties first, if you want. But it seems like that's something that's doable," she said.

Evans also introduced AB1331, which would require counties to assess foster youths when they turn 16 1/2 years old to see if they qualify for federal disability money. If they do, the bill would allow counties to hold on to the last three checks, up to a total of $2,000, before the youths turn 18 and give them the lump sum to start their lives as adults.

A third bill, AB1332, would require private adoption agencies to have the same requirements as county adoption agencies in doing checks on adopting families. Lastly, the legislation would allow adopted foster youths with special needs who receive funds from the state's Adoption Assistance Program to continue receiving the benefit without interruption if the new parents die.

72 children transferred out of youth shelter after allegations of sexual abuse

Abuse alleged in youth shelter for border crossers
Bustillo, Miguel. Los Angeles Times, March 22, 2007.

HOUSTON -- Federal officials have moved everyone out of a Texas shelter for children caught crossing the U.S. border on their own amid allegations that youngsters were being sexually abused.

The decision to transfer 72 children from the Texas Sheltered Care facility this week followed an investigation launched last month by the FBI and local authorities into allegations that the staff had abused numerous children.

The shelter in Nixon -- a south Texas town of about 2,000 people an hour east of San Antonio -- is one of 36 such facilities overseen by the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement.

About 8,000 children, mainly teenagers from Central America who trekked thousands of miles to cross into America, are held at the shelters every year while authorities figure out whether to place them in foster care, hand them over to relatives in the U.S. or return them to their home countries. Most are deported. The average stay at Texas Sheltered Care is 18 days.

"These are unaccompanied minors, and I don't think there was much awareness" of their situation in the U.S., said David R. Walding, a legal aid worker for the Bernardo Kohler Center, a group that represents three allegedly abused children.

Unlike the T. Don Hutto Residential Facility -- a former jail in central Texas where children and their parents caught in the country illegally are held together -- the youth shelters do not resemble prisons, Walding said.

A female staff member who was suspected of sexually abusing children has been fired, officials said. They decided to move the children out of the shelter until they determine whether other steps need to be taken, including permanently closing the facility.

"It's unfortunate to have an allegation like this, because we pride ourselves on the care we give these children," said Josh Trent, the office's associate director in Washington. "There were some questions regarding management, and we wanted to err on the side of caution and make sure no children at the facility were at risk."

The U.S. attorney's office announced Thursday that it had decided not to prosecute anyone as a result of the FBI probe. That surprised some of the children's lawyers, who noted that they are considered wards of the federal government.

"Our office worked closely with agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation looking into allegations of criminal activity," Johnny Sutton, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, said in a statement.

"After a thorough review of the evidence and applicable federal law, this office concluded that the alleged activity ... could likely be more effectively addressed by state of Texas prosecutorial authorities," he added.

Erik Vasys, a spokesman for the FBI's San Antonio office, said investigators believed the alleged abuse had taken place.

Criminal charges against the state-licensed facility and its workers still might be pursued by the Gonzales County district attorney. It initially had concluded that the local sheriff did not have jurisdiction and brought in the FBI.

Some lawyers said they are worried that the children would be deported before they get the chance to testify against their alleged abusers.

"These kids need justice to be served, and that means criminal action," said Kevin Lashus, who represents five of the teens, who are scattered at shelters throughout Texas. "My kids should get to stay so that they can see this case to its conclusion."

Time to break cycle of learned helpnessness and seek outside assistance

Letter to the editor: A child left behind
San Francisco Chronicle, March 21, 2007, pg. B8.

Editor -- I'm 57, a third-generation San Franciscan. I grew up in public housing in Sunnydale, Hunters Point and Double Rock until we were evicted, then in various ghetto neighborhoods. I never graduated from high school, I dropped out in the 10th-grade.

When I was around 10 years old, an unknown man broke into our house and raped me while my mother was asleep. He continued to rape me for several years. He was never caught, and I stopped telling my mother or the police each time he raped me after the man warned me that he was watching and would kill everyone in the house.

Subsequently, my school grades suffered tremendously. I kept failing class after class and was put into courses for incorrigible students. Not one teacher asked me if anything was wrong, or offered me any extra help, except for Ms. Holmlund. She was my eighth-grade home-economics teacher.

She saved my life. She believed in me. Nevertheless, I didn't graduate even though I was accepted at Lowell. My nerves were too shot and I had no support. I felt totally alienated and afraid.

Today, I have an adopted daughter who is 17 years old. Her fragile and precious life has been an emotional whirlwind. Both of her biological parents are crack addicts. My daughter has attempted suicide several times, as has her sister in foster care.

These girls will probably not graduate from high school either. It's ironic, because so many years have passed between my helpless situation and theirs. One would think that here, in progressive San Francisco, we should be doing a little better by our children. It seems as though, if you're not exceptionally bright, gifted, into sports, or whatever, you'll be left behind, just like I was, more than 40 years ago.

CARNELLA GORDON-BROWN
San Francisco

Parents deported, children trapped in U.S. foster care system

Letter to the Editor: Kids are victims of raids
Padilla, Anthony. San Francisco Chronicle, March 16,2007, pg. B10.

Editor -- I am writing in response to the March 8 article, "Immigration raids leaves detainees' children stranded'': I do not condone illegal immigration, however, the way the government is conducting these raids is reprehensible because it is irresponsible. Although the government is working with social services to assist with the care of abandoned children, these children are still on the losing end of the system.

Many of the children will be put into the foster-care system. Because of laws limiting the time allowed for reunification, a large number may never be able to reunify with their families, if their parents are deported.

The government must work with social services and foreign consulates to ensure that methods are enacted to assure families the ability to be reunited when parents are deported. Otherwise, the government is causing a huge burden to the social-services system and encouraging parents to re-enter the country at any cost.

ANTONIO PADILLA
San Francisco

Parents with disabilities face discrimination; fear losing children

An able ally for parents
Riccardi, Nicholas. Los Angeles Times, March 12, 2007.

DENVER -- Carrie Ann Lucas is confined to a wheelchair. She breathes with the aid of a ventilator. She cannot hear and can see only at close range.

She begins most days about 4 a.m. with newspapers and e-mails. About 5:30, she wakes her three disabled daughters. She and an aide dress the two who use wheelchairs. The girls cannot feed themselves, so Lucas and the aide plug feeding tubes into their bellies. She pours cereal for the one daughter who can eat on her own. She puts the girls on their school buses, the last leaving by 7:10.

Lucas cherishes these mornings, tough as they are, because she knows how hard it is to keep a family together.

She is one of a handful of attorneys in the country whose specialty is representing disabled parents like herself. Her mission: making sure they get the same chance as everyone else to be moms and dads.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 15 percent of all parents with children in the household have some disability. These parents are far more likely to have the government try to take their children away. Even Lucas lives in fear that social services may seize her children. She knows the sorrow of losing a child -- a 7-year-old girl whom she wanted to adopt was taken from her after a difficult court fight.

"I love my kids so much and I love being a parent so much, and I know my (clients) do too," said Lucas, 35, a wisecracking woman who once wrote an essay titled "one of the many joys of crip parenting."

"My clients have fought and fought and fought" to raise their children, she said. Her brassy voice wobbled as her eyes watered behind her tinted glasses. "It's just discrimination."

Lucas works her cases out of a seventh-floor office at the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition in central Denver. The walls are papered with magazine articles about disabled parents. A bumper sticker in the shape of a shark that reads "Lawyer" is prominently displayed. More disabled people seek help from the coalition than Lucas, who carries about a dozen cases at a time, can handle.

Among those she has worked with was a deaf woman in suburban Denver, whose two toddlers were taken away and put up for adoption after social workers deemed her an unfit mother because she could not hear her children's cries for attention. Lucas could identify with her -- she sleeps with a sound-activated pager that vibrates when one of her daughters calls for her.

She advised attorneys for a wheelchair-bound mother in Montana who fended off requirements from social services that someone who could walk be in the house 24 hours a day if her kids were to live there.

Another client, a blind woman in Denver, was refused treatment at a fertility clinic because the staff there did not think she could be a proper mother. She was asked: "How are you going to drive your kid to soccer practice?" The woman lost: A jury ruled that the clinic had no obligation to treat her.

"It's really indicative of how people view parents with disabilities," Lucas said.

Still, Lucas readily acknowledges that some disabled people should not be parents. She herself admits that she's not a perfect parent. "I'm sure there are people who can do a better job than I can," Lucas said. A wealthier mother could afford to stay home with the children, but that wouldn't be a legitimate reason to take them, she said.

"We shouldn't be social-engineering families," Lucas said, "on the basis of things like poverty and disabilities."

The Lucas family lives in a middle-class neighborhood in south Denver, with a huge honey locust tree in the front yard and a short ramp to the front door. With ample space to turn wheelchairs, all Lucas had to do to make the house accessible was widen doorways to accommodate wheelchairs and lower kitchen and bathroom sinks and counters.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, Lucas wheeled into the living room, where bookshelves overflowed with law books. Propped on a shelf was a stuffed figure of Timmy, a character in a wheelchair from the cartoon "South Park." Heather, the oldest child, lay on the floor. She suffers from a rare condition that has left her deaf, unable to walk or fully sign, and looking far younger than her 16 years. Lucas pivoted Heather to face a box of toys and games, but the teen seemed uninterested. "She's mad about something," Lucas guessed.

In the middle of the room, transfixed by images on the flat-screen television, were Lucas' two other children, Adrianne, 8, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, and Asiza, 11, who has a mild developmental disability. Asiza was bouncing as she watched a singsong segment showing children how to communicate in sign language.

Lucas turned to Adrianne and asked, "Can you sign 'imagination'?" Lucas tickled her daughter, who smiled and turned back to the show.

At the kitchen table, Lucas' younger sister, Courtney Lucas, 32, was making cookies. Courtney was working as Lucas' aide that Sunday. (Lucas gets assistance at home every day from helpers paid by Medicaid, and an assistant drives her to court appearances.) Courtney proudly talked about her sister: "She has, as long as I can remember, been the most stubborn person I've ever met. She's never been one to let anyone tell her she can't do something."

Carrie Ann Lucas grew up in a small town 57 miles northeast of Denver. She was healthy in her youth, playing basketball and running track. She went to college in Washington state and studied sports medicine. There she began developing unexplained bone tumors and excruciating muscle pain.

After graduation in 1993, Lucas moved to Saipan, where she taught at a beachfront school and scuba-dived regularly. Her illness advanced, and she had to go to Guam and Hawaii for medical treatment. She returned to Colorado after two years, and was eventually diagnosed with a rare degenerative disease called central core disorder that she knew would impose limits on her. She began using a wheelchair and lost her hearing.

She enrolled in seminary, but found that a pastor's life was not for her. "I'm just not that much of a touchy-feely person," she said.

Then, in 2000, Heather entered her world.

Social workers had taken Heather from Lucas' half-brother in Tennessee and placed her in foster care. When Lucas heard this, she made a snap decision. "I wasn't about to let my niece stay in foster care," she said.

Tennessee was skeptical Lucas would be a good parent. The caseworker made Lucas demonstrate repeatedly that she could care for the girl and required that she prove she could lift Heather's wheelchair into her rented van. She visited her niece several times and filled out form after form for almost a year -- while the child was in a Tennessee foster home -- before Tennessee let her adopt Heather.

Back in Colorado, Lucas ran into trouble. The straps on Heather's wheelchair clearly made her uncomfortable,so Lucas got rid of the restraints. One of Heather's teachers reported Lucas to social services for modifying the chair. Another reported Lucas for failing to cut her daughter's hair, saying she had unrealistically high expectations for the child's social life by letting her hair grow out. - WTF?

The complaints, though resolved in her favor, were an indication of the scrutiny that disabled parents face.

But that did not stop her from wanting to adopt Ariana, a 7-year-old in a wheelchair whose biological parents were giving her up. In Lucas' home with its lowered sink, Ariana was able to get herself a glass of water for the first time. "It was a level of mobility and access she'd never experienced," Lucas said.

Then Ariana's aunt and uncle decided they wanted to adopt the child. As biological relatives, they had priority. After 10 months, Lucas lost custody.

"Losing my kid was one of the worst things I've been through," Lucas said. It took three years before she was emotionally ready to adopt her other two children.

At the time, Lucas was working as a legal assistant at the Cross-Disability Coalition, where disabled parents sought help to hold on to their children. Even some of the group's disabled executives and board members found themselves fighting for their rights as parents.

"We realized if that's happening to us, who're really connected, who know our stuff, are professionals with advanced degrees, what's happening to other people?" Lucas said.

Lee Dancer, 39, feels lucky that he found Lucas. The airport concession worker has an IQ of 73, and social services took his newborn daughter more than two years ago. After years of court battles, Dancer went online and searched for attorneys who could help. "Even though she's got all these disabilities," Dancer said of Lucas, "she doesn't let anyone walk over her."

It was just in time -- the state had moved toterminate his parental rights, which could prevent him from seeing his daughter again.

"This is a very heartbreaking case," Donna Schmalberger, an assistant Arapahoe County attorney, told a judge last month as the trial opened in a suburban courthouse. Dancer and the girl's mother, who has a mild developmental disability, "desperately want to be able to parent (the child) but simply are not able to."

The case is ongoing, and Lucas sees it as another example of the government being too critical of disabled parents. She noted that Dancer had no problems helping to raise a 13-year-old son from another relationship. "Every parent can improve," she said, "but his skills are adequate."

Dancer's daughter is developmentally disabled, and one of Lucas' arguments for disabled parents is that they can serve as strong role models. It's why Lucas has gone out of her way to adopt disabled children.

Back in the Lucas home on that Sunday afternoon, Lucas and her sister split feeding duties. Courtney inserted a syringe of high-protein fluid into the tube that plugs into a shunt in Adrianne's belly while Lucas did the same with Heather. Asiza and Courtney's son Gavin frolicked around the living room.

Talk turned to past family camping trips in wheelchair-accessible cabins and an upcoming vacation to Florida. Then Asiza dashed up to Lucas and said, out of the blue: "Can I be a cowboy?"

Lucas turned in her wheelchair, fixed her glasses at Asiza, and reassured her child with words mothers have used for ages. "You," Lucas said firmly, "can be whatever you want to be."

A foster care success story

Placer Kids honors single foster mom
Auburn Journal, March 17, 2007.




Jeanne Baine's family includes adopted daughter Barbara and the family dog Cookie.

Placer Kids is proud to present its "Family of the Month" for March, Jeanne Baine. Jeanne resides in Placer county and is a single woman who is committed to motherhood and made a decision to become a mom by adopting a child out of foster care.

Barbara is a wonderful 13-year-old girl who needed a permanent home. Jeanne recognized the opportunity to make a real difference in the life of another and took on the commitment of adopting a pre-teen girl and has not doubted her decision since.

"I had been considering the option of foster care and adoption for some time and decided to call Placer Kids which was the first step, it was a very good experience and the classes provided me with many valuable resources," said Jeanne.

Jeanne and Barbara have become a fun family who like to go shopping, do beading, and try other craft activities together. Since Barbara has moved into Jeanne's home Barbara has been getting to participate in fun "kid" activities and gaining in her self-confidence. Barbara is a delightful young lady and Jeanne has enjoyed adding Barbara to her family.

Placer Kids has children who need homes today. Families can choose to provide temporary care for children who will return to their birth families, long-term foster care or permanent homes either through adoption or guardianship.

Currently Placer Kids is seeking homes for approximately 50 children who deserve a safe and loving home.

"It's been a wonderful experience for the department and the courts to see the increase in permanent placements for children," said Honorable Colleen Nichols of the Superior Court. "The Placer Kids partnership has made all the difference."

For more information call the Placer Kids toll free number 888-387-9982 or call Debbie Lind at Placer County Children's System of Care at (530) 889-6718.

You are invited to attend the once a month orientation meeting held the third of every month from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Placer Kids location at 11990 Heritage Oaks Plaza, Suite3, Auburn. Child care is provided, free of charge upon reservation. Please call Marilyn at (530) 886-2893 to reserve a space.

California Ombudsman for Foster Care

The Office of the Foster Care Ombudsman was established by legislation, California Senate Bill 933, and has been mandated to do the following:

* Ensure the voice of foster children and youth is heard, and act on their behalf.

* Create an avenue for foster children and youth to file complaints regarding their placement, care and services without fear of retribution from those who provide their care and services.

* Act as an independent forum for the investigation and resolution of complaints made by or on behalf of children placed in foster care and make appropriate referrals.

* Provide children and youth with information on their rights when placed in foster care.

* Maintain a toll-free telephone number which foster children and youth may call from anywhere in California to express their concerns and complaints.

Their toll-free number is: 1-877-846-1602
Their e-mail address is: fosteryouthhelp@dss.ca.gov
Their website is: www.fosteryouthhelp.ca.gov
To file a complaint visit: http://www.fosteryouthhelp.ca.gov/complaints.html

Federal funding should offer more support for kinship care

Guest Commentary"
Foster care rules must change
Butts, Donna. Contra Costa Times, March 10, 2007.

The Times' story of the Hyland family (From foster care to forever family, Feb. 28) shows how important it is for foster children to stay connected with family. In Contra Costa County, 37 percent of children in foster care are living in the homes of grandparents and other relatives.

Many foster children find a permanent, loving home with relatives through legal guardianship. Families may seek this arrangement, for example, when a disabled parent who cannot care for her children still wants to remain connected to them. Other children may want to avoid the potential confusion of an adoption whereby grandma becomes mom, and mom becomes sister.

Yet, federal foster care funds cannot currently be used to support foster children living with relatives who choose to become legal guardians of children for whom reunification with their parents or adoption is not an option. If Congress provided support for these families by subsidizing legal guardianships, an estimated 20,000 children in foster care could leave the system for safe and stable homes rather than languishing in an already overloaded foster care system.

If there were greater flexibility in federal foster care funding regulations, more children like Jamie could look to a future with "No more visits from social workers."

- Donna Butts is executive director of Generations United in Washington, D.C.

Definitely the psychotropic drugging of foster children should be better regulated

Bill orders tracking use of psychiatric drugs on foster kids
Yi, Matthew. San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 24, 2007, pg. B2.

SACRAMENTO - A Bay Area lawmaker introduced a bill on Friday that would require the state to collect personal and medical data on foster children as a first step to determine if they are being overmedicated because they are misdiagnosed with mental illnesses.

In many instances, foster children are given medications such as antidepressants when they're simply withdrawn because they are coping with the trauma of leaving their families to live with strangers, said Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa.

"What we've heard anecdotally is that for a lot of foster kids, rather than getting counseling for them ... they're given a drug," she said.

The bill, AB1330, would require the state Department of Social Services to collect information about a youth's sex, age and race; number of years in the foster care system; the type of drug prescribed; and whether the child lives with a foster family or a group home or resides in the juvenile justice system. There are about 80,000 children in the state's foster care system.

The legislation would also require the agency to ensure that foster children who are prescribed psychotropic medication receive appropriate medical care in accordance with the recommendations of the federal Food and Drug Administration.

Evans said the state agency said last year that it has started collecting such data. The lawmaker decided to go ahead with her bill to ensure that the department follows through with its promise of gathering the information.

This is not the first legislative attempt to collect data on foster youth and psychotropic medication. In 2004, a similar bill by then-Sen. Dick Mountjoy, R-Monrovia (Los Angeles County), stalled in the Legislature partly because of objections by the California Psychiatric Association.

Randall Hagar, the association's director of governmental affairs, said Friday that he has at least two concerns about Evans' bill.

"I think it'll be helpful to know how many (foster youths) are getting (psychotropic drugs)," he said. "But if you stop there, that's just a reflection about the nervousness about psychotropic medications and the feeling that psychotropic medications are bad."

Hagar said such a database would be more useful if it includes the diagnosis of each foster youth and figures out if they're getting the right medication.

The bill's insistence that foster children who receive psychotropic drugs be given medical care that's consistent with the FDA's recommendations is problematic because there's a lack of FDA standards for pediatric psychotropic medications, Hagar said. - THAT SHOULD BE A RED LIGHT, BECAUSE THESE MEDS AREN'T INTENDED FOR CHILDREN

That's because as a result of little research on such drugs for minors, there are very few medications that the FDA is recommending specifically for pediatric use. Currently, individual doctors and psychiatrists use their own discretion to prescribe a wide variety of psychotropic medications, he said.

"If we limit to only FDA-approved medications (specifically for children), we're denying children the vast majority of medications out there, and that's simply denying access," Hagar said.

But that's part of her concern, Evans said.

"Some of these psychotropic drugs are very heavy drugs, and there are anecdotal cases that the children are not being given right medications," she said.

One advocate of foster youths said she applauds Evans' efforts but fears every day spent simply gathering information is another day lost for children who are given these medications.

"We feel there is an urgency to this problem," said Jennifer Rodriguez, legislative and policy manager for California Youth Connection.

Even while the information is being gathered, there are other things that can help, such as asking public health nurses to visit individual group homes and educate the foster youths about these medications and that they have the right to refuse the drugs, Rodriguez said.

"There are about 7,000 youths in group homes in California. You can do a pilot project in certain counties first, if you want. But it seems like that's something that's doable," she said.

Evans also introduced AB1331, which would require counties to assess foster youths when they turn 16 1/2 years old to see if they qualify for federal disability money. If they do, the bill would allow counties to hold on to the last three checks, up to a total of $2,000, before the youths turn 18 and give them the lump sum to start their lives as adults.

A third bill, AB1332, would require private adoption agencies to have the same requirements as county adoption agencies in doing checks on adopting families. Lastly, the legislation would allow adopted foster youths with special needs who receive funds from the state's Adoption Assistance Program to continue receiving the benefit without interruption if the new parents die.

Revision of bill seems more realistic, if perhaps redundant

Sacramento-lawmaker revises spanking proposal
Her bill now targets shaking, kicking and other acts instead
Yi, Matthew. San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 23, 2007, pg. B1.

A state lawmaker who stirred up a national debate over child-rearing with a proposal to outlaw the spanking of young children has abandoned her plan, saying Thursday that she didn't have the support among Democratic lawmakers to ensure passage in the Assembly.

"The votes are simply not there to ban spanking or related injuries to children," said Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View.

While Lieber formally introduced a bill that she said would protect children from abuse, the measure allows using an open hand to hit a child's bottom. Her bill, AB755, would outlaw vigorous shaking and hitting the face or head of a child under 3 years old.

The legislation also addresses child abuse for all minors by seeking to ban anyone from hitting a child with an implement such as a stick, rod, switch, electrical cord, extension cord, belt, broom or shoe. Throwing, kicking, burning or cutting a minor also would not be allowed. Striking a child with a closed fist would also be illegal, as would choking.

"The fundamental change is that it will be a much broader bill," Lieber said.

The spanking proposal caused a whirlwind of national media coverage, including a skit on "Saturday Night Live" where an actor playing a short-tempered, chain-smoking nanny weighed in on the issue by talking about her book, "I Will Beat Yo Ass."

Lieber said she still believes that children under 3 years old should not be spanked at all but decided to make the changes after a barrage of feedback from judges, district attorneys, law enforcement officials and child experts.

Her effort ultimately boils down to addressing a serious issue of child abuse and crafting a bill that's more palatable for her colleagues, including Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, she said.

Núñez had been noncommittal about a bill to outlaw spanking. Steve Maviglio, a spokesman for Núñez, said the speaker is "pleased that the legislation is more focused and workable."

The bill incorporates new language for existing laws on child abuse and follows the same guidelines for punishment that includes time in jail for up to one year, or in state prison for up to six years.

If a judge grants probation, the probationary time would be at least 48 months, and the defendant must attend either counseling or a nonviolent parental education class. The court can also issue a protective order requiring the perpetrator to stay away from the victim or even remove the child from the home and into foster care if the defendant is a single parent.

But critics argued Thursday that while Lieber's efforts are admirable, current child abuse laws are adequate.

"All of the things that she seeks to ban are already prohibited if they cause serious harm to a child. If you slap a 3-year-old on the face and you cause serious injury, there are already statutes that cover this," said Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, a nonprofit group in Alexandria, Va.

Dr. Carol Miller, clinical professor of pediatrics at UCSF, said the bill sounds redundant.

"Currently, if we see that a child has been abused in any way, we are mandated to report that to police," she said. "I'm not seeing how this helps that mandate."

Miller argued that rather than approaching the problem in a punitive way, a better method would be making more resources available, such as parenting classes and programs to help victims of child abuse recuperate physically and psychologically.

But the new bill is getting a more positive response from at least one lawmaker who opposed the initial idea.

"I applaud Ms. Lieber's effort to narrow the scope and make this bill more of a law-enforcement type of bill," said Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine.

Still, DeVore said he will reserve final judgment until he's had feedback from investigators and prosecutors who deal with child abuse cases.

Assemblywoman Sally Lieber said she changed her plans to introduce a bill banning spanking because it lacked Democratic support.

If there is no reunification plan, why aren't these children up for adoption?

Rancho Damacitas: A quarter century of care
Hunneman, John. North County Times, March 3, 2007.

WINE COUNTRY ---- Simply put, Rancho Damacitas is a residential treatment center that works with the county Department of Public Social Services and Child Protective Services.

But there is rarely anything simple about the circumstances that bring youngsters ages 6-18 ---- most of them from Southwest County ---- to live at the nonprofit groups' 12 1/2-acre campus east of Temecula.

"We've heard every kind of story imaginable," said Clifford Nunn, the group's director of development. "And we've seen some of the worst of what humanity can do to humanity."

The nonprofit treatment center, which has served children in this area for about 25 years, kicks off their annual "Kids First" fund-raising drive Friday with a concert featuring the popular Christian music trio Phillips, Craig and Dean. The concert begins at 7 p.m. at Rancho Community Church, 31300 Rancho Community Way, Temecula.

"About 80 percent of our funding comes from the county," said Nunn, who has been with the organization for 10 years. "That keeps the doors open. The rest of it comes from grants, donations and fundraisers."

The donated money helps children at Rancho Damacitas participate in community sports programs, school bands and choirs, go to summer camps, take field trips and do other activities most kids take for granted.

"We're a nonprofit community organization taking care of community kids," Nunn said.

Money will also go to expand the program. The group has purchased a 20-acre parcel in rural Sage and hopes to "start moving dirt," Nunn said, later this year to build another campus. The need, as the region has grown, is greater than ever.

Abuse on the rise
Like almost everything else in Riverside County, child abuse has increased, fueled by the region's explosive growth and, some say, the rise of methamphetamine use, particularly in some rural areas.

"It's absolutely on the rise," said Ruth Kantorowicz, executive director of the Child Abuse Prevention Center, a nonprofit group serving most of Riverside County with offices in Riverside and Hemet. "People coming to live from Los Angeles and other areas already have these problems and they're bringing them with them."

Drugs are a major contributor.

"There's a lot of methamphetamine being made here," Kantorowicz said. "And that translates directly into child abuse."

By the numbers
In 2005, there were 3,092 families in the southwest region of Riverside County ---- which covers the area from Temecula to Hemet, including the mountain community of Idyllwild ---- referred for investigation of child abuse to the county's DPSS. Those families included 6,435 children.

"A referral means there is enough evidence for us to do an investigation," said Barry Dewing, deputy director of the agency's children's services division.

In most instances, there was not enough evidence to warrant removing a child from their home.

However, that same year more than 386 children in the southwest region ---- 311 of them from the Hemet and San Jacinto areas ---- were removed from their homes because of abuse or neglect. About 40 percent of those children went to live with relatives or close family friends. Within a year most, about nine out of 10, were back with their families.

Children who arrive at Rancho Damacitas after being removed by authorities from their homes will likely not be going back to live with their parents, Nunn said.

The reasons vary, but often include drug and sexual abuse use by parents. In some cases, the parents are incarcerated.

"Most of our kids don't have a unification plan," Nunn said. "We're a long-term facility. Kids come here as young as 6 years old and stay with us until they emancipate out at 18. We have kids stay with us five, six, seven years and more."

The center's goal is to prepare the children to enter a foster-care program, or once they turn 18, get them ready to be on their own.

"While they're here they can put down roots, graduate from school, get plugged into a church," Nunn said. "Developing that kind of relationship is a huge component of the healing process."

A growing need
Rancho Damacitas was founded 24 years ago in Temecula by Randy and Donna Denham.

The nonprofit group bought a single home in Temecula that provided residential care, treatment and services for six young girls.

"At the time, there were not a lot of social services available here in the valley," Nunn said.

The origins of the word "Damacitas" are a mystery.

"You're guess is as good as mine," Nunn said. "It looks like it should mean 'home of young girls,' but I'm told that's not a good translation."

As the area's population swelled in the mid-1980s, so did the need for more social services, including assistance for victims of child abuse. With the help of donations and community fundraisers, the group bought property in Temecula Wine Country and expanded their services to include more children, including boys.

Randy Denham stepped down as head of the organization in 1993 to pursue other interests, he said at the time. Those interests included an unsuccessful run for a Temecula school board seat that same year.

In 1997, after a visit to Haiti as Christian missionaries, the Denhams committed to return to the island to help that impoverished nation.

However in February 1998, Donna Denham stopped on Interstate 15 near Escondido to help the victims of a traffic accident. Another car skidded out of control on the rain-slick freeway and struck and killed her.

Randy Denham returned to Haiti soon after and as far as Nunn knows, he's still there doing missionary work.

The organization the Denhams founded continues to enjoy strong support from many supporters in Southwest County, Nunn said.

"I think because of the longevity of our program, we get a lot of support both from community groups and individuals," Nunn said.

Trying to blend in
They look like many homes in the rural area just east of Temecula ---- single level, good sized yard, two-car garage, a living room with a stone fireplace, family room and several bedrooms.

The four houses of the Wine Country campus of Rancho Damacitas were all built from the same floor plan. Each is home to six children, all of the same gender and, as best as possible, similar cognitive ability.

The houses ---- the preferred term is cottages ---- were designed to foster a home-like atmosphere.

"We don't want this to feel like an institution," Nunn said. "We want it to feel safe and warm."

Each home is supervised by a case manager therapist. In addition, a married couple lives in each house ---- with their own private living area ---- providing adult supervision 24 hours a day.

Two other homes, both within the city of Temecula's borders, are similarly occupied.

The children are generally assigned two to a room and are responsible for cooking, cleaning, laundry and other household chores.

The campus in Wine Country is also home to the center's administration building. In total, Rancho Damacitas has a staff of 50-55 people, Nunn said.

A recent addition to the campus is a softball diamond and backstop. A volleyball court and soccer field gets a lot of use and there are other recreational areas on the property.

"Some of our kids can't go out in the community to do things because of emotional issues," Nunn said.

Others, however, are able to venture out on trips to the mall, parks, ballgames, etc. all under the supervision of a staffer.

Capacity at Rancho Damacitas is 36 children.

"We're always at capacity," said Nunn. "There's a waiting list."

Currently, all but one of the children is a teenager. Most of them attend regular public schools in Southwest County, although nearly all are enrolled in special education programs.

"As you can imagine with some of the things they've been through, they've fallen behind their peers," Nunn said.

A few kids are enrolled in private schools that are better suited to meet their needs.

'Whoever welcomes a child'
Rancho Damacitas makes up one-third of an umbrella organization known as Thessalonika Family Services. The two other components are Rancho Jireh, a foster-care program, and Transitional Living, which provides help for children who once they turn 18 are "emancipated out" of most government supported services.

"That typically starts a downward spiral for many of these kids," Nunn said. "So we continue to provide them with care, help them find a place to live and maybe get them enrolled in a junior college."

On occasion, children who spent years at Rancho Damacitas return for a visit.

"They come in with their wives or husband and sometimes their own children," he said. "It's the best part of the job."

There is no street sign to mark the entrance to the Rancho Damacitas campus.

"We try to blend in the best we can," Nunn said. "We have to protect the anonymity of our kids."

However, halfway up the driveway is a sign ---- citing a verse from Matthew in the New Testament ---- which sums up the underlying philosophy of Rancho Damacitas and its service to the region for nearly 25 years: "Whoever welcomes a child in my name, welcomes me."

More information about Rancho Damacitas is available at: www.thessalonika.org

Foster care alumna creates play to challenge the stigma and misconceptions

Listen to the stories we could tell
Former foster child puts her experiences on paper, then on stage to debunk stereotypes about kids in the system.
Phua, Chelsea. Sacramento Bee, March 3, 2007, Metro pg. B1.

Kamika Whetstone, right, who entered foster care when she was only a few months old, has written a play about her experiences, including being taunted at school. "In by Chance, Out by Choice" is being performed at Celebration Arts Theater. The cast includes five current or former foster care children. - Renée C. Byer

Bridjette Clayborn, 20, takes direction while rehearsing a play about life in the foster care system. "It's not sugarcoated," says one young actress, 17, who was removed from an unsafe home and has lived in 24 foster homes. -Renée C. Byer

When her mother went to prison, Mya became a foster child. Shuffled from one foster home to the next before she goes to live with her aunt, Mya compares a foster home to hell and dreads returning to it.

As a young boy, Jamal started dealing drugs. The day he learns his girlfriend is pregnant, a friend tells him his mother died from a drug overdose. He enters the foster care system, which saves him from the street life.

Mya and Jamal are fictional foster youths whose lifelike stories are told in "In by Chance, Out by Choice," a play at the Celebration Arts theater by Kamika Whetstone.

A youth specialist with the San Juan Unified School District, Whetstone, 22, based the play on her experience as a foster youth and that of foster youths she has encountered.

Whetstone, who entered the foster system when she was only a few months old, hopes the play debunks some of the misconceptions about foster youths.

People think foster kids are in the system because they're bad kids, she said. "A lot of times kids end up in the system because of a death in the family or lack of parenting in their family."

Theresa Thurmond, a Sacramento County Independent Living Program coordinator, who helped with the costumes, said she was moved by every rehearsal she saw. "I know they are real stories," she said.

"It's not sugar-coated," said one actress, 17, who was removed from an unsafe and neglectful home and has lived in 24 foster homes since she entered the system in March 2005. "This is what is going on,"she said.

(The Bee does not disclose the identities of youths who are in the foster care system.)

Another 17-year-old involved with the play said Jamal's story resonated with him. He moved to a Sacramento-area group home about a year and a half ago to escape street life in Los Angeles, where a friend who had once saved his life died from a gang shooting. It marked a turning point in his life.

"I decided to stay out of gangs," he said. "I decided that was no good."

Participating in Whetstone's play allows him to do what he likes -- acting. He also said the cast members have grown close. "We're tight," he said.

They helped one another bring real-life emotions to the stage.

At one rehearsal, young actresses struggled to control giggles that interrupted a scene in which one girl has to tell her boyfriend she's pregnant. Drawing on her experience, Tiffani Hagler, 24, said: "When you find out you have a baby, you ain't going to be smiling."

Hagler recalled that she had been confused and lost, and most of all, afraid to tell her mother about her own teen pregnancy.

"I've made some dumb choices," said Hagler, who is now a case manager for Lutheran Social Services. "But life is full of choices. If you choose to do right, it'll happen, but people can't do it without people who care."

It's a sentiment Whetstone shares. She credits her success to a supportive foster family and to Felicia Billoups, who counseled Whetstone when she was a social worker at the Independent Living Program, which helps foster youths transition out of the system.

Billoups, who plays a counselor and grandmother in the production, became a mentor and friend to Whetstone.

In school, Whetstone said, other children would taunt her about being a foster child. She said she fought a lot and had to attend anger-management class.

When Billoups was assigned to oversee her case, the pair got off to a rough start, but Billoups' support, understanding, sincerity and patience helped Whetstone see the possibility of success.

Among her successes was the top grade she received in a playwriting course at Sacramento City College. For "In by Chance," Whetstone envisioned a cast made up of former or current foster care youths, Billoups said. Of the cast, five are current or former foster youths.

Beyond the typical challenges facing an artistic endeavor, the production faced foster-system complications such as precarious and volatile family situations and frequent placement changes that interfered with rehearsals, explained Billoups.

The cast rehearsed most Saturdays for three months. Several original cast members dropped out, and organizers had to recast actors or assign them dual roles.

Whetstone found a generous donor in Casey Family Programs, a national nonprofit that helps foster youths. Whetstone worked for the foundation between 2003 and 2006. Support also came from the Independent Living Program, the San Juan and Sacramento City unified school districts and Celebration Arts.

Billoups said Whetstone's determination and her willingness to listen to advice and use the resources and social services available to foster youths played a major role in her success.

"I look at the challenges that God gives me not as obstacles," Whetstone said, "but as something that would make me stronger."

Grandmother and uncle adopt five children

From foster care to family forever
Steffens, Sara. Contra Costa Times, Feb. 28, 2007 .

Clean white shirts, combed hair and a stern timeout conspired to keep the five brothers from their usual roughhousing.

So as they waited for their adoption hearing Tuesday, John, 13, identical twins Joel and Jeramy, 10, and fraternal twins Justin and Jordan, 9, burned off energy by exploring the courthouse lobby together, marveling at the marble and high ceilings.

"It's pretty cool," said Justin. "It's kind of like a castle."

Their older sister, Jamie, 15, perched nervously on a bench, checking her hair in a pocket mirror. It was her first trip to Contra County Superior Court, too.

"It's going to be better when we get adopted," said Jamie, a high school freshman. "No more visits from social workers or anything."

The eldest in the family, Jamie decided to keep her original last name, Bodal. It just sounds right, she said.

But her brothers chose a new identity: Hyland, the name shared by their maternal grandmother, Jo, and their uncle, Patrick.

Five years ago, the siblings were living in three separate foster homes in San Bernardino County. When Patrick got a letter from his sister explaining the situation, he immediately called the children's social workers and arranged to fly down and visit.

"We took it from there," he said. "It was a slow process at the beginning. We didn't know what was going to happen, but it didn't take us that long to figure out what we had to do."

Social workers strive to keep siblings together, preferably in the home of relatives.

But with six children to house, the Hylands had to get creative.

Jamie, John and Jordan moved in nearly four years ago with Jo, whom they affectionately call Nana, in Discovery Bay.

"Boy, do they keep me running," said Jo, 70, a widow who lives on Social Security.

Patrick and his wife, Ann, who live in San Jose, took in Justin, Jeramy and Joel.

Although Patrick has a grown daughter from his first marriage, the couple never imagined raising a houseful of children themselves.

"All the way till they go to bed, it never ends," said Patrick, 48.

"Before we had kids, my hobby was the house," he said. "It's taken me awhile to understand they're going to tear it apart."

At both homes, the energy level is unflagging, with Jo shuttling her children to basketball, baseball and choir, and Patrick helping his three boys improve their grades and learn baseball.

"They didn't really even know how to play the game ... they could hardly catch the ball," Patrick said. "Now, one of them is on the all-star team."

All they really needed, Patrick says, was a chance.

Despite living in separate homes, the children see one another often. They even visit their birth mother, who for a variety of reasons will not be able to regain custody.

"In a lot of ways, everybody was blessed," Patrick said. "She realizes that this is the best thing, due to health issues and other circumstances."

Nessa Wilk, an adoption worker for Contra Costa's Children and Family Services, spent the past year working with both families, getting the children settled and guiding the parents through a seemingly never-ending pile of paperwork.

"The children themselves were wanting this, to know this is where they were going to be and not moved around," she said.

Stability is important, but being adopted has a much broader meaning for children, Wilk said.

"It's like unconditional love," she said. "The parent is saying, 'We want you no matter what; it's not just going to be until you're 18 ... I'm going to be there for you when you graduate high school, when you have a baby, when you get married. If you fall down, I'm there to help you get up ... for life.'"

"I think that kids really feel that this is forever," she said. "We call it a forever home."

When their case was finally called, the Hylands filed into the courtroom en masse, trailed by a lawyer and three beaming social workers, none of whom could resist the chance to share the happy ending.

Too many foster children lose track of their siblings, they know. Too many never find permanent families.

The Hylands have made the best of a bad situation, said Joy Metoyer, who completed the required studies for both homes. "It's family, and this is what family do. They get by the obstacles and help each other."

Lined up, the children filled half the seats in the jury box.

"I think you're the handsomest jurors I've ever had in my court," Judge Lois Haight told them, smiling broadly.

She introduced herself, took a few moments to learn the children's names, and pleasantly prohibited spinning in the chairs.

From there, the formal proceedings went surprisingly quickly. Ann, Patrick and Jo sat elbow to elbow as they answered Haight's questions:

Do you agree to treat the children in all respects as your own natural children?

Do you understand that you will be responsible for their education and medical care, and that you will be responsible for their teenage years?

And finally: Do you have any doubts about the step you're taking today?

"No," said Jo, emphatic.

"Nah, there's no doubts," Patrick agreed.

After the ceremony, the children took turns climbing into Haight's chair.

The bailiff patiently took Polaroid after Polaroid as each child posed hoisting the gavel, flanked by the judge and their new parents.

When the film ran out, a clerk fetched more from another courtroom so the whole family could pose for a few last frames, crowded in together.

Haight told them: "You'll like this picture later."

By the numbers
--When children must be removed from their home, social workers strive first to place them with relatives, which can mean grandparents, aunts and uncles, and even second cousins.

--Of the 1,580 youths in Contra Costa County's foster system this month, 37 percent were being cared for by a relative.

--Of the 383 children adopted out of foster care in Contra Costa in 2005 and 2006, 39 percent were adopted by a relative.

--About 41 percent of youths in foster care live with all their siblings, and 60 percent live with at least one sibling.

How to help
Contra Costa Children and Family Services needs foster and adoptive parents willing to take in two or more siblings. To find out more, call 866-313-7788.