TEAR's for Family Continuity

WOW! Who knew that my blog post about what I called "CPS Industrial Complex" was already a term used within the CPS Reform Community. It is also referred to as "Foster Care Industrial Complex" by Richard Wexler (NCCPR) and "Child Abuse Industrial Complex" by AFRA (American Family Rights Association). My apologies, I have actually never heard anyone else refer to it as that but at least now I know I'm not alone in my thinking! Below is the link to "Foster Care Industrial Complex" as referenced by Richard Wexler from NCCPR (National Coalition for Child Protection Reform).

You know there is a problem with Child Protection Services (CPS) system when a law is passed in order to allow some (and I use that word lightly) transparency to evaluate CPS when child deaths occur. Strict confidentiality laws that protect the rights of children actually "shield CPS agencies from evaluation by legislators, the press, and the public who need to know the facts behind these deaths in order to prevent such tragedies in the future." You'll find the case they refer to in this article was a child death that occured here in Sacramento. Many child deaths have occured here in Sacramento simply because Sacramento County can't seem to complete the most basic and the most important of their tasks...an investigation. May I also remind you of the Amariana Crenshaw case that I have been posting about recently!

More news on Amariana and records reveal many more injuries than are reported in the documents provided by Sacramento County CPS! No matter what the risk to the child is, Sacramento County has proved over and over that they will place a child in a possible lethal environment to protect themselves and reduce any financial risk/loss resulting in accurate reporting of injuries and statistics to children in abusive foster care families and homes. It makes me sick and I've seen this happen over and over. Until 2008 when Senate Bill 39 (2007) went into effect, CPS could protect themselves because records were closed off from review even upon a child's death. Little Amariana Crenshaw sadly passed away in January 2008 and I'm certain that the social workers never thought that the records they were keeping would see the light of day if something tragic actually did happen to Amariana. Actually, I'm certain they thought they were almost in the clear since her parent's parental rights were already terminated. If only they could hurry through the quick adoption process Sacramento County has for foster children, it really wouldn't matter because she'd be out of the system and not their responsibility. 

Amariana's dad tried numerous times to discuss her injuries with social workers and attorneys and they dismissed his concerns on every occasion. One might say they "minimized" his concerns which is a term CPS loves to use! Other than the County of Sacramento's gross negligence and all-out obstruction of justice for Amariana, there are still other's to blame. Judge Dean Peterson who was the presiding judge at the William R. Ridgeway Family Courthouse in Sacramento and all the "referees" as they are called, underneath him! Even more responsible than the blind retired Judge Peterson, is SCA, the group of attorney's that represent the children in Sacramento County juvenile dependency matters...better known as SACRAMENTO CHILD ADVOCATES. Some beautiful advocating they really did for Amariana Crenshaw! In fact, they do such a wonderful job of advocating on behalf of the children in Sacramento County, that the federal government brought a lawsuit against them in 2009 for failure to protect the children and provide effective assistance of counsel! Hmmm, that'll make you think twice before you move to Sacramento with your most treasured assets; your family!

Clinic records reveal more injuries - Sacbee.com

MILITARY INDUSTRY COMPLEX  - What is it and HOW DOES IT RELATE TO CPS? 

President D. Eisenhower used this phrase in his farewell speech. It is referring to the "iron triangle" of relationships between the government, armed forces, and the commercial industry providing military support (research, development, production, use and support of weapons, facilities, etc.). If combat is stopped, then the need for the commercial industry's services cease, which in turn creates problems within the economy.

"It is sometimes used more broadly to include the entire network of contracts and flows of money and resources among individuals as well as institutions of the defense contractors, The Pentagon, and the Congress and executive branch. This sector is intrinsically prone to principal-agent problem, moral hazard, and rent seeking. Cases of political corruption have also surfaced with regularity."

How does this relate to CPS?

I guess you could call it the CPS Industry Complex! A government agency developed to help kids in danger has turned into an actual industry. Kids are removed from safe homes, the county contracts to lawyers, doctors, and other professionals in order to get a report in their favor to terminate rights. Then the judges are given payoffs to ignore fundamental rights and grant termination of parental rights. The child goes up for adoption and the state gets a HUGE bonus. A cycle that never stops because in order to obtain those HUGE BONUSES from the Fed gov't, the number of adoptions have to increase from the number the previous year.

What we have here, in my opinion, is officially a CPS INDUSTRY COMPLEX

(This is the most recent letter sent to the Cherokee Nation.  It is regarding a phone call to address their blatant disregard for justice in this case. During that phone call Ms. Lou Stretch told me they were aware Sacramento County had a problem with ICWA compliance but they simply didn’t have the time or money to deal with it.)

Dear Ms. Stretch,

I just wanted to follow-up with you regarding the telephone conversation on Thursday November 12, 2009 with you, Howard Paden, Ronald Dawson, and myself.  I have a few things I'd like to say as well as clarify some issues I was unable to address.

My purpose for contacting you and Mr. Paden was to seek help and assistance from the Cherokee Nation for the return of my children.  I requested to schedule a meeting with you at your offices in Oklahoma to address the gross negligence and mishandling of this case by the County of Sacramento. I wanted to provide you with all of the documentation in this case. More specifically the exculpatory evidence and documentation that was purposely with-held from you by the County of Sacramento. Only selective information was provided to you which directly affected the outcome of this case.  Violations have occurred at every level of this case and the violations of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) are only a few of many.

Not too long into our conversation I realized that the help I was seeking from the Cherokee Nation was not going to come from you or Howard Paden. I was hoping to have open dialogue with you, but that never occurred. Some of the statements you made to me were shocking to say the least. You made an assumption regarding the help I was seeking from you. The only thing I was asking you for at that point was an opportunity to sit down with you, speak openly about this case, address your concerns as well as mine, and provide you with documentation I know that you do not have. I wanted to show you the proof of Sacramento County's deception in this case and come to a consensus on how it "will" be dealt with. The fact that you were unwilling to hear me out and the fact that you assumed that you knew what I was requesting, caused you to make statements that were blatant, bold, and shocking.

First of all I'd like to ask you a question. How do you assign a monetary value to a child? In my opinion children are priceless and you can't possibly assign a monetary value to them. However, that is exactly what you did. You explained to me that you were aware Sacramento has a problem regarding compliance with the ICWA. You told me that you were aware violations have occurred. You also explained to me that the relationship between the Cherokee Nation and the County of Sacramento is not a good one because of their inability to comply with the ICWA. Then you proceeded to tell me that the Cherokee Nation does not have the time or the money to deal with this. I couldn't believe you were saying that! How could you possibly tell me that my children are not worth your time or money?  Why do you even bother to intervene in these cases? It appears that you have no oversight or ability to ensure that if a child is removed from their home, their family, their friends, their school, and their identities, it is for a legitimate reason that has been proven by investigation. In your letter of intervention you assert your rights on paper, however you failed at every level to ensure that Sacramento County was compliant with the ICWA.  Now that I have made you aware of the violations specific to my case, along with your admitted knowledge of Sacramento County's incompetence, you refuse to help me remedy this situation.  Your reasoning...all because of money! It is clear to me that my children are now collateral damage because they are a financial burden to you. So again I ask, how do you place a monetary value on a child?

I am not asking for you to provide me with an attorney.  I am my own legal counsel. I spend everyday at the law library or the courthouse. I have studied the legal issues with this case for nearly 4 years now. I have taken a family law course and I am very well educated about the Indian Child Welfare Act. I am not asking you to provide my children with an attorney either as one is already appointed to them. My specific plan is to file a 388 petition and make a motion to invalidate all court orders in the case and request the immediate return of my children. In section 1914, ICWA provides the remedy for a failure to comply with sections 1911, 1912, and 1913 and also specifies who may invoke that remedy. Below is the specific provision that allows me the right to request invalidation:

    25 USC § 1914. Petition to court of competent jurisdiction to invalidate action upon showing of certain violations.

Any Indian child who is the subject of any action for foster care placement or termination of parental rights under State law, any parent or Indian custodian from whose custody such child was removed, and Indian child's tribe may petition any court of competent jurisdiction to invalidate such action upon showing that such action violated any provisions of section 1911, 1912, and 1913 of this title.

Another issue I had tried to address with you was the fact that my children were detained on January 2, 2006.  A detention hearing did not occur until January 31, 2006. By law within 72 hours of the emergency removal of a child a detention hearing is to be held. This is a violation of the CA Welfare & Institutions Code and a violation of the CA Department of Social Services Division 31 Policies and Procedures. My intention is to file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus proceeding. "Use of habeas corpus because of a violation of the Act results in the minor being illegally detained."  When my children were removed, there was no court order or warrant for their removal.

Contrary to what you believe and what is stated in the reports, the first time I had ever seen social worker Faye Radford was when she knocked on my door at approximately 6 PM on January 2, 2006.  I explained to her that I was more than willing to drug test. I also explained to her that I had been randomly drug testing at Bi-Valley Medical Clinic for a year and a half and I would gladly allow her to review those UA results. I also signed a release of liability so that she could obtain those records as well as speak with my counselor. She directed me to drug test the following day at Bi-Valley by 12 PM. I agreed because I had nothing to hide. She did not speak to my children and then she left. At approximately 8 PM (just 2 short hours later) she knocked on my door. My oldest daughter answered the door and she walked into my home with 2 officers and said she was detaining my children and placing them into protective custody because of methamphetamine abuse. She had not provided me an opportunity to test, she did not call Bi-Valley (which is in direct contradiction to the contract that the County of Sacramento CPS has with Bi-Valley Medical Clinic), and she didn't even speak to my children prior to their removal.

Prior to this my children were never placed into protective custody nor been the subject of an investigation by CPS. I realize it says different in the reports, but that is a blatant lie. I will say that one time in May 1996 I was living in Morro Bay, CA and the San Luis Obispo County CPS received a report that I was not feeding my daughter Rian. I welcomed them into my home, they wanted to see if I had food for her. I showed them and they left. In fact they specifically told me they thought it was probably a retaliatory call.  It had nothing to do with drugs or domestic violence contrary to what is stated in the Sacramento County reports for this case.

I have lived a family oriented life since my kids were born. In 2000 I began working for the State of CA Dept of Corrections. When my kids were in school I was a girl scout leader for their troop, I volunteered at their school on a consistent basis, I ran the reading program at their school, I babysat for one of their teachers, and was really good friends with another one of their teachers, Ms. Nola Turner. We frequently spent time and visited with Nola having BBQ's and swimming.  I enjoyed being with my kids and helping at their school that I decided to take a leave of absence from the State and work from home. I opened up a travel agency at that time and removed my kids from their afterschool daycare program. I loved being able to pick them up when school got out instead of picking them up at daycare every night. I loved to help out at their school which I was able to do more often. I also began working with pregnant teenagers at a local high school which I enjoyed very much. I love my kids and rarely spent a day without them. Only a few short times had I ever been away from them overnight until their removal. I have always provided a stable environment for my kids as well as been financially able to take care of their needs. Every year we would take our annual Disneyland vacation. We would fly to Los Angeles and stay for 5 nights. We enjoyed this tradition every year since 1998 until my children were removed in 2006.  My family is my life and this is why I was asking for your help!

I don't want to be at odds with the Cherokee Nation, but your unwillingness to address this serious issue leaves me without a choice. During our conversation the other day, you were basically implicating the Cherokee Nation (by way of you acting as a representative of the Cherokee Nation) as being complicit with Sacramento County in the violation of the ICWA, violations of the CA Department of Social Services Div. 31 Policies and Procedures, CA Welfare & Institutions Code, civil rights violations of amendments 4, 5, 6, and 14 of the U.S. Constitution, participation of a passive cover-up by non-action and implicit knowledge of an active cover-up by Sacramento County to conceal evidence of wrong-doing, error, and incompetence. Thus making the Cherokee Nation a participant in a tacit conspiracy. A tacit conspiracy is defined as an unspoken "agreement between two or more persons to engage jointly in an unlawful or criminal act, or an act that is innocent in itself but becomes unlawful when done by the combination of [the parties] actors/actions".

I do hope you will reconsider and meet with me as I requested. The actions of which I speak occur everyday here in Sacramento. Now that I have started TEAR's which is my non-profit organization, I meet families on a daily basis that are ripped apart because of the actions of Sacramento County. While I do believe that children need to be protected, I don't believe it should be done by lying, with-holding evidence, ineffective assistance of counsel for parents and children, or any other action that is illegal or lawfully unethical. I have a saying "take the child, take the parent". I believe if a parent does something that warrants the removal of their child from their home, they should be charged with a crime and afforded a trial by jury of their peers if they so choose. In addition, the victim (the child) also receives justice. As it is now, parents commonly are not charged with a crime. I would have been more than willing to go in front of a jury of my peers. I am certain if I did my children would have been back in my care immediately.

If you do change your mind and would like to speak with me, I am happy to do so at any time. I'll leave my contact info below.

Heather Dawson Hoover

http://www.tears4familycontinuity.blogspot.com

From the moment you give birth to your child

And hold them in your arms

A circle forms around the family

And produces the strongest of bonds

The invisible ties that bind you,

Are stronger than any steel

When one of you is being ripped away

That bond becomes stronger still

If your like me,

And you understand these bonds

Than the child thieves

Don’t have free will

The invisible chains that link our hearts,

Our bodies, our memories, our souls,

Don’t simply dissolve because you believe

You have the right to seize and control

Our family is not broken…

Or it wasn’t until YOU came

And just let me state for the record

There’s nothing here for you to gain

So you can continue to throw stones at our castle

But we will never refrain!

Written by: Heather Hoover (10*25*2009)

CORRUPTION OF CALIFORNIA COURTS CONTINUES
 Sturgeon v County of Los Angeles
Judges paid by LA County for illegal rulings to steal children, property and assets.

County of Los Angeles - who was paying Ca. judges an extra and illegal $46,000 a year on top of their state salary of $178,000., when the payments by California counties were ruled unconstitutional in the Sturgeon v County of Los Angeles case in October last year, Chief Justice George hired a lobbyist at $9,000 a month - from taxpayers no less - to bludgeon the state legislature to pass a bill in February of this year in the dead of night, to allow counties to continue those payments and to grant retroactive immunity to all those who had been receiving those payments for the last 20 years. Just in Los Angeles County alone, that amount is estimated to be about $300 hundred million out of the pockets of taxpayers. In the rest of California, that amount could well be in the $1 billion range.

What I call the "cloak of confidentiality" that Sacramento County CPS hides under has been directly addressed in Finding #2 of the Grand Jury investigation into Sac County CPS.  Although this has been addressed by the Grand Jury, it remains to be seen how it is addressed by CPS.  In finding #1 the Grand Jury addressed CPS "absence to accept responsibility and accountability". The Grand Jury recommended that CPS provide a "public report" of the progress that has been made.  Perhaps they'll address the fact that they hide under "confidentiality" that leads to questionable practices for which the public should be well aware of.  I seriously doubt the issue will ever be addressed by CPS. I also question whether another 10 years will go by w/o change until more children are hurt and more families are torn apart.  When it's in their best interest, they commonly say "its confidential" which to me is code for "uh-oh, I can't answer that, I don't have an explanation or justification for that". Just as quickly as they say it, they revoke when they have the need to publicly humiliate you with allegations that are mostly false. 

Below is finding #2 taken directly from the Grand Jury report:

Finding 2: A shield of privacy and secrecy that surrounds much of the operations of CPS is unwarranted. This lack of transparency serves to raise questions and leads to inaccurate conclusions being made regarding what takes place in CPS. The acknowledged need to protect the confidentiality of case information can be accomplished without adopting a “closed door” attitude.


Recommendation 2: Greater transparency of CPS operations must be exhibited on the part of CPS management. They should do more to aggressively open the doors of CPS activities to the eyes of the public, the County Board of Supervisors, non-profit organizations, K – 12 schools and universities, the Legislature, the medical community, and the media. Transparency does not prevent possible negative publicity, but does mean that questions can be asked and answered in an atmosphere of openness and honesty.

COMMON PRACTICE WITH NO PURPOSE

In the "Best interest of the child" or a "Take the Child & Run" policy implemented by Sacramento County, Dept. of Health & Human Services (DHHS), Child Protective Services (CPS)...REALLY???

**You decide**

It is my never ending pursuit to educate myself about Family Law, Welfare and Institution Codes, federal ICWA regulations, and anything else that will assist me in in my almost 4 year legal battle for the return of my children. I now feel I am more knowledgeable about specific laws, rules, guidelines, and even opinion related directly to my situation than "court-appointed" attorneys that are provided in the County of Sacramento. Let me say that I "live" this unorganized, and mostly UNACCOUNTABLE nightmare everyday of my life. Not by choice, but by necessity I have become my own advocate. I learned quickly that there are protections within "the system" to protect and preserve families. However, NOBODY seems to enforce the laws, rules, and codes, etc.

One court-appointed attorneys (2nd but not the last) for my CPS case - assigned to me sometime in the 3rd quarter of 2006 - was ADMITTED TO THE State Bar of CA in DECEMBER 2005* I wonder now what I should have asked then; How much experience did she have in family law? Specifically CPS cases where families are endangered and there is a high probability that ineffective assistance of counsel will dramatically affect the outcome of the case (i.e. a parent may lose the right FOREVER to contest the removal of a child simply because they are unaware, unprepared, and/or ill-advised in regard to the detention hearing)* Hindsight is 20/20 and the knowledge I have now, which is the rights and information withheld from me then, is of little value to me after the fact. With that said, I am luckier than most! Why? I should place a lot of emphasis on “little value” I referred to above. My luck is that I fall under Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) guidelines.  I have the privilege to bring my case back to court at any time, and am able to request the court to invalidate orders. I can go back and challenge the Detention hearing. That alone is my “little value”, while other parents who don’t fall under ICWA guidelines are NEVER allowed to challenge any of the previous orders…EVER!

In the beginning, before I knew my rights and what the ICWA was, I was unaware that if I did not address the improper removal of my children at the detention hearing THAT DAY AND THAT DAY ONLY, I would NEVER be allowed to address it EVER AGAIN! I would not be allowed to appeal it and EVERYTHING contained in the report from the SW became proof against me. Regardless if it is true, hearsay, or even if you have proof their allegations are untrue, you will NEVER be allowed to address the issue or argue the validity of the allegations made against you.

*In my situation, I simply tried to comply with their request believing I would have an opportunity to address the issue and it would be cleared up. I met my attorney 5 minutes before court began. I barely had an opportunity to introduce myself, let alone discuss the allegations, before we were called in to court by the "referee" (that is THEIR term...not mine). I had no time to read the report which was well over 50 pages. When in front of the referee I thought court was being postponed to allow time to go over everything with my "new" court-appointed attorney. A new court date was set...but not a continuance...the date was actually for the juris/dispo hearing. Having no idea that by agreeing to the "new" court date (juris/dispo hearing date) I was saying YES, YOU HAD A RIGHT TO TAKE MY CHILDREN, AND I'M NOT GONNA CONTEST THEIR REMOVAL, PLEASE SET A JURIS/DISPO HEARING DATE SO WE CAN GET ON WITH THE BLACKMAIL AND CORRUPTION YOU ARE GOING TO INFLICT UPON MY CHILDREN, MY FAMILY, AND MYSELF.

http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=239819
http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=239819
http://snipurl.com/72q0v

*The foster care statistics referenced in this post are located at the end of this post. They are from various sources that are cited alongside each statistic*

Over the past few days I have done nothing but research statistics, over, and over, and over again! My brain hurts and considering the fact that I don't do math all that well, it’s been a challenge to say the least. Most required calculating in order to provide the statistics in numbers people could really understand.  Initially I started researching statistics for a civil lawsuit that I will be filing against Sacramento County, DHHS, CPS, William R. Ridgeway Family Court, judges, social workers, and numerous others. The list of defendants is far too long to list right now. I also needed the statistics for my Non-Profit Organization. 

Relating to that, there have been many articles in the Sacramento Bee about the fact that CPS is losing all of their funding, the State of CA is not giving them money, and terrifying people by telling them children will be in more danger because there won't be enough people to ensure child safety! AMAZING!!!! However, since I was lucky enough to be researching statistics, it became clear to me that Sacramento County DHHS/CPS is crying wolf just so they have another excuse for their incompetency!  A way out so they still don't have to be accountable for the issues that have come up through the many investigations into Sacramento County CPS.

The Child Welfare League of America provided the following numbers for the most recent studies:

California received $1,795,256,381 (nearly 1.8 BILLION) in federal funds divided into the following categories:

70.8% was from Title IV-E Foster Care and Adoption Assistance
13.9% was from TANF (a.k.a. WELFARE-food stamps, cash aid)
9.9% was from the Social Services Block Grant
4.2% was from Title IV-B CWS Promoting Safe & Stable Families
1.8% was from Medicaid
1% was from other federal services

That means that the State of CA received $1,271,041,517 (nearly 1.3 BILLION) in federal dollars from Title IV-E Foster Care and Adoption assistance.  To fully understand the problematic issues with this, you would need to understand how States qualify for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance funds.  A bill was passed in 1997, which provides this money to the Department of Social Services in the amount of $4000- $6000 for each child they get adopted out! But wait...there’s more!  In the book WARNING The Truth about CPS, Don Lyons explains that it’s “just a starting figure in a complex mathematical formula in which each bonus is multiplied by the percentage that the state has managed to exceed its baseline adoption number. The states must maintain this increase in each successive year. [Like compound interest.]”. Basically it means that each year the state has to exceed the number of adoptions from the previous year in order to receive these funds. WHAT?

When I first began to understand how it worked, I had to sit back and let it settle with me.  I had such a hopeless feeling and the only thing flashing in my mind was the old quote "MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL".  Well yes, of course it is!  Then I realized our government is not immune to greed...especially during tough economic times when funding for programs is dramatically cut!  Another quote came to mind soon after that.  "THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS".  I have no doubt that this bill was passed with good intentions.  The need to get children adopted into permanent families is very important for a child instead of rotating them from numerous foster homes, group homes, etc.  For children that were removed from their homes because legitimate allegations, finding them a permanent home and family is an amazing thing.  However, in my opinion, nobody really looked at the huge holes in this bill. The simple fact that they need to exceed their baseline adoptions for the fiscal year, creates a child mill in which more and more children must enter the system each year in order to increase the number of adoptions out of foster care.

The bill that was passed includes a technical support assistance section "to assist State and local communities to reach their targets for increased numbers of adoptions”. It goes on to say the support is for “the development of best practice guidelines for expending the termination of parental rights…the development of special units and expertise in moving children toward adoption as a permanent goal; [and] models to encourage the fast tracking of children who have not attained one year of age into pre-adoptive placements without waiting for termination of parental rights.” By implementing these policies they are putting a bounty on the heads of American children…your children! CPS and DHHS are denying parents rights and setting parents up for failure before they walk out of your home with your child in hand. Without knowledge of their rights, parents have no chance to protect themselves AND their children until it’s too late.

The Nation Center for Policy Analysis says it best: “The way the federal government reimburses States [actually] rewards a growth in the size of the program instead of the effective care of children.”

I often hear people upset about “lazy parents” that don’t take care of their kids and live off the “system” with taxpayers’ dollars. However, it is clear by the funding figures I provide above, that only 13% of funding is from TANF (aka Welfare). It is also amazing that 70.8% is for foster care and adoption assistance, but only 4.2% is to promote safe and stable families. Perhaps if our government promoted family preservation instead of family destruction it would make crime rates go down, decrease inmate population, decrease the homeless population, decrease unemployment rates, and decrease the amount of welfare recipients, it would probably decrease the amount of children that are abused and/or neglected. I’m just saying that if you look at the statistics in the previous blog post, my theory may very well be a real possibility.

*I’ve included the foster care statistics below.

Foster Care Statistics

· 80% of the US prison inmate population was in the foster care system (US Dept. of Justice, 2005)

· 70% of California's inmates have been in the foster care system (Sacramento Bee article by John Burton [chairman of the CA Democratic Party and chairs the John Burton Foundation for Children Without Homes)

· Children are 11 times more likely to be abused in State care that they are in their own homes. (National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect [NCCAN])

· 90% increase of children and youth in the US foster care system since 1987. (Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Support *CASEY FOUNDATION*)

· 3 out of 10 of the nations homeless are former foster children. (Casey Foundation*)

· Children in foster care are 3 to 6 times more likely to have emotional, behavioral, and developmental problems including:

· Conduct disorders

· Depression

· Difficulties in school

· Impaired social relationships

(Casey Foundation*)

· Approximately 30% of foster children have marked or severe emotional problems. (Casey Foundation*)

· Children and youth in foster care tend to have limited education and job skills and perform poorly in school compared to children NOT in care. (Casey Foundation*)

· Children in foster care lag behind their education by at LEAST one year and have lower educational attainment than the general population. (Casey Foundation*)

· Children in foster care are 5.25 times more like to die as a result of abuse than children in the general population. (CPS Watch Inc.)

· 2.1 % of ALL CHILD FATALITIES took place in foster care.

**Since "state care is supposed to be a 'safe-haven', the number of fatalities should have been less than the child fatalities of the general population (less than 0.4%). However, child fatalities that occurred while in foster care were 5.25 times greater than that amount." (CPS Watch Inc.)

Easy to understand FAMILY LAW definitions

An amazing tool to use while involved in the family law system (dependency court, juvenile court, family court, divorces, probate relating to child custody, adoptions, etc.)

The website address is

http://www.nolo.com/dictionary/family-law-divorce/index.html

For other law definitions here is another link to all law terms

http://www.nolo.com/dictionary/home.html