Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "juvenile"

Juvenile Seeks to Rein in CPS Abuses through Legislation

2012-02-01T20:13:24Z

Now that Eric Smith, (not real name) a 17-year-old foster child, has been declared a dependent of the court, he is on a mission to change the laws that regulate CPS. “No one should have to go through what I did,” he said, citing his nine months in CPS custody last year. “They treated me like I was a villain, instead of a victim. Why? Because they can.” Eric wants to see that stop.

Just shy of 18, Eric is not yet able to fully tell his story. But that is not stopping him from writing letters to political officials and child welfare groups, recounting his experiences and proposing legislative changes. And what he can tell of his story, he does.

On April 1 2011, an emergency CPS social worker was dispatched to Eric’s high school to meet with him. CPS had received a phone call citing concern of emotional abuse in his home.

It was not the first call to CPS as court records would later show. But it was the first call to claim concern that Eric, who had attempted suicide before, might again attempt to take his life. A little-known provision in Welfare and Institution Code 300(c) allows the court to take jurisdiction if a child is suffering serious emotional damage.

The social worker who interviewed Eric that Friday afternoon promised him he would not need to return home. “She said she had a safety plan for me. But first she wanted to meet me at my house to talk with my mom.”

The social worker got to the house first. Eric arrived minutes later but retreated into a hallway at the sound of laughter. The social worker had discovered what Eric knew she would. It was what had kept him from confiding in others for 16 years. Eric’s mother was herself a former CPS social worker. Eric knew he wouldn’t stand a chance of getting the help he needed.

The two women gossiped like school chums, about coworkers, about supervisors, but mostly about Eric. “I knew he was lying,” he heard the social worker say to his mother.

Not less than an hour after arriving at the house, the social worker packed up her bags and closed the case. Before leaving, she placed a phone call. “Is Eric Smith at your house?” she said after identifying herself. “If he is, you need to return him immediately. There is no abuse in this home.”

Eric, crouching in the hallway, bolted.

It would be nine months before Eric would hear the words he’d doubted ever hearing, delivered at the final court hearing: “There is clear and convincing evidence of severe emotional abuse in this home.”

Eric’s story takes twists and turns to outrage even the most cynical. It’s a story he plans to tell in full one day. What he can reveal now is that the initial emergency social worker was removed from his case, a second was assigned and removed, and then a third and a fourth.

“All four social workers assigned to me over the past eight months put me through hours of crude and offensive questioning, consistently siding with my mother,” Eric said.

The second social worker was assigned after Eric bolted from his house. He had sought shelter with a friend until CPS could be notified. Unwilling to relinquish control to CPS, Eric’s mother allowed the second social worker to “voluntarily” place Eric in the Sacramento Children’s Receiving Home. On his second day in the home, his mother cut off all contact with his friends, his therapist, and his adult brother, claiming they had “brainwashed” her son. It was nine months before CPS would allow him contact with them again.

“CPS did not listen to me or believe me. They tried to put words in my mouth. They twisted facts. They tried to convince me of things that were not true and persuade me out of things that were true.”

Mike Johnson (not real name) was one of those social workers. Johnson reviewed the case and questioned Eric repeatedly. “He sat me down and said, ‘I am telling you, you never heard the words “there is no abuse in this home’ that afternoon. Do you understand?’”

“He wanted to cover for the social worker. He tried to tell me that I did not witness what I had seen with my own eyes and heard with my own ears.”

Johnson further told Eric that no court had ever taken jurisdiction under Welfare and Institution Code 300(c) and to expect to be sent back home. Emotional abuse could not be proved. It was his word against his mother’s. He was a teenage boy. She was a former CPS social worker and foster mother.

Thus began weeks of relentless interrogation. Johnson, as well as each new social worker, continued to side with his mother, accusing him of fabricating his story. When Eric asked them to interview his friends and other family members to corroborate his story, the social workers refused, saying juvenile cases are confidential to protect the privacy of the minor. Anyway, CPS added, they are not parties to the case.

“They told me I was lying,” Eric said. “They told me I was having a sexual affair with my friend’s mother. That she was having an affair with my therapist. They told me that my therapist was a quack. That I was not suicidal. If I was being abused, where were the scars? They believed everything my mother said. And they refused to talk to anyone else.”

Eric was put on 24/7 suicide watch for six months and told that “if I tried to run away or contact my therapist or friends, I would be placed in another city in a group home.” Johnson threatened the friend’s family with restraining orders if they so much as tried to contact Eric.

Meanwhile, the boy’s mother was being investigated on a separate matter. Her two-year-old foster child was removed, and she was charged with felony abuse of an adult dependent—her severely disabled adoptive daughter. Still, CPS hammered Eric with accusations. They recommended to the juvenile court that the case be closed and Eric be sent home.

Eric considered appealing to the State Foster Care Ombudsman until he learned that the ombudsman would go directly to the offending social worker to disclose the nature of the complaint as well as the identity of the child. It was a case of the fox guarding the hen house.

After six months in temporary placement—chosen by his mother—Eric finally received court permission to his petition to be placed in a foster home. Eric had been through dozens of hearings and still his case hung in the balance. Still CPS insisted there was no abuse in his home.

In early October, Eric’s foster father received a panicked phone call from the high school principal, followed by several calls from CPS. The police were looking for him. Eric’s French teacher had assigned a ten-minute free writing exercise and become alarmed at what she’d read:

The system has failed me. I have been denied the love, influence, and support from those who mean the most to me. Why? The simple answer is because they can. I am being punished by the very institutions put in place to help me....They say I am in ‘Protective Custody’ (that’s a laugh). I am the only one fighting for me.... No doubt in anyone’s minds why CPS will go to every length to protect one of their own.... I am going to escape. Come and watch the fireworks.

In November, the Juvenile Court declared Eric’s home unsafe to return to, bringing the CPS ordeal to an end.

“I felt trapped in a system meant to help me. Not only was I harassed, disbelieved, and mistreated by CPS, but I was denied access to the people I loved and needed the most. The laws meant to protect me, protected CPS.”

According to the attorney who worked on Eric’s case, “CPS works within a cloak of governmental immunity. Without a change in legislation, what’s hidden in the dark will stay in the dark.”

“Social workers need special training to recognize emotional abuse under WIC 300(c),” Eric said. “CPS put me through hell, and there was nothing I could do.”

With a rueful smile, he added, “I am nameless and faceless now. But in nine months, I will be 18. I will have a face. And I will be able to tell the whole story.”

Ask the County Law Librarian - When does a minor have to get parental consent for medical care?

2011-11-10T17:40:21Z

Q. I’m currently working on a project for my ethics class. In this project I play the role of a risk manager who provides information to a 15 year old patient asking for medical emancipation. Do you know of any good resources where I can find more information on medical emancipation because I haven't been successful in my research? Thank you so much for your time, I appreciate it very much.

Best Regards,
Maria

In most cases, parental consent is required for a minor’s medical treatment. There are, however, exceptions, known as “medical emancipation” statutes. These statutes, which allow minors to consent to medical treatment without parental knowledge, approval, or consent, fall into two categories: “general” medical emancipation statutes, which are based on a minor’s status, and “limited” medical emancipation statutes, which apply to specific, designated medical conditions. Academy of Pediatrics v. Lungren, 16 Cal. 4th 307 (1997).

Examples of general medical emancipation statutes are California Family Code § 7002, which provides that a minor who has become emancipated by reason of a court order, marriage, or active duty in the United States armed forces is considered an adult for purposes of consenting to health care services; and California Family Code § 6922, which provides that minors who are 15 years of age or older, living away from home, and managing their own financial affairs, regardless of the source of their income, may consent to their own medical care.

Limited medical emancipation statutes cover certain circumstances where the state’s interest in protecting the health of minors is considered to outweigh a parent’s right to make medical decisions on behalf of their children. Minors may be reluctant, because of embarrassment or fear, to tell their parents about medical conditions resulting from specific conduct. Consequently, minors may postpone or avoid seeking needed medical care if they are required to obtain parental consent prior to receiving treatment for those conditions. California’s limited medical emancipation statutes include:

Family Code § 6924(b) A minor 12 years of age or older may consent to mental health treatment, counseling, or residential shelter services if (1) the minor is mature enough to participate intelligently, in the opinion of the health care provider, and (2) the minor is either a danger to himself or herself or others without the treatment, or is the alleged victim of incest or child abuse.

Family Code § 6925: A minor of any age may consent to care related to the prevention or treatment of pregnancy.

Family Code § 6926: A minor 12 years of age or older may consent to treatment of an infectious, contagious, communicable, or sexually-transmitted disease.

AB 499 (2011): Beginning in January 2012, minors 12 years of age and older may consent for medical care related to the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.

Family Code § 6927: A minor 12 years of age or older may consent to treatment of care related to the diagnosis or treatment of rape.

Family Code § 6928: A minor of any age may consent to care related to the diagnosis or treatment of sexual assault.

Family Code § 6929 A minor 12 years of age or older may consent to care related to the diagnosis or treatment of drug- or alcohol-related problems.

Health & Safety Code § 121020: A minor 12 years of age or older may consent to HIV testing.

For more information on medical emancipation, see www.teenhealthlaw.org. For information on this and many more subjects, visit the Sacramento County Public Law Library, “Providing Free Public Access to Legal Information for over 100 years.”

Do you have a question for the County Law Librarian? Just email sacpress@saclaw.org. If your question is selected your answer will appear in next Thursday's column. Even if your question isn't selected, though, I will still respond within two weeks.

Coral Henning, Director
@coralh & @saclawlibrarian

www.saclaw.org

Juveniles In Custody Taught Parenting Skills

2011-02-28T20:54:36Z

The Sacramento County Probation Department recently passed the one-year anniversary of its participation in “Baby Elmo” classes for its juvenile residents. The program, designed in part by Georgetown University, teaches parenting skills to incarcerated juveniles with children.

Naomi McCormack, who works with residents at the Youth Detention Facility, praised the first year’s results.

“One of the least recognized groups in our society is the children of incarcerated parents,” McCormack said. “This program does not reward the resident. It really rewards the child. They shouldn’t be punished by not getting to see their parents.”

McCormack oversees the 10-week course, which focuses on bonding and building good parenting skills. Every week, dependent on good behavior, incarcerated juveniles under the county’s authority are encouraged to spend an hour of physical contact with their child. They also watch “Sesame Street” videos that contain exercises meant to strengthen the parent-child relationship. While these skills may come natural to people who grew up in the “typical” American family, it is sometimes a foreign practice to this program’s alumni.

“A lot of these kids don’t even know how to talk to their baby,” McCormack said. “Many of the male residents have trouble giving praise to their babies. They were always treated like a man. The praise session is the hardest. They were not praised as a child. They have to learn how to give it.”

These struggles were reaffirmed by a 17-year-old female resident who has been incarcerated for nearly a year, who also has a 13-month-old son. (Because of the juvenile’s age, her name will not be disclosed in this article.)

“This program has drawn me closer to my son and taught me activities that I wouldn’t have thought were important,” the young woman said with a beaming smile. “I feel like now I’ll be able to support him better, love him better, and teach him better than what I was taught.”

The young woman opened up about her upbringing, describing a home where her father was absent and she had to help raise two younger brothers and a 5-year-old sister. Her mother struggled with problems from addiction but is now enjoying sobriety. She said the lessons she has learned have even improved her mother’s parenting skills as well.

“Other residents who don’t get to use this program are missing out on bonding with their child, and that bonding is really big,” she said. “It has made me realize my love for my son. He knows I’m his mother, and I love him.”

She also emphasized the importance of good behavior while participating in Baby Elmo.

“Being good is the most important thing in here, so I can earn the chance to see my son,” she said. “My attitude has gotten a lot better. I do everything I should. I signed a contract to become better so I can see him. Being good is a must.”

Dr. Rachel Barr, associate professor at Georgetown University, helped develop the Baby Elmo project. Working with her colleagues to consistently evaluate the effectiveness of the project through examining the recordings of project sessions, Barr has noted measurable results so far.

“Predominantly it is fathers who have participated,” she said. “Studies have shown profound effects on children when fathers are absent. We have found that emotional responsiveness increases across time. This is very exciting because emotional responsiveness is related to positive outcomes for babies.”

Talking to past participant Joseph McDowell reaffirmed Barr’s point. He was only 16 years old when he was arrested. His son was only one month old at the time. He freely admitted the effectiveness of the program on him.

“I’ll be honest with you, I’d be back in jail now without my son and the skills I learned,” he said.

McDowell said he had only seen his father twice in his whole life.

“I don’t have a relationship with him, I don’t know him,” he said, adding that his own son, Joseph McDowell, Jr., now calls him Dad. “I’m not going to act like a fool. Now, I just want to be the best father in the world.”

While originally designed with the babies well-being in mind, the Baby Elmo program has also had the unintended outcome of improving juvenile residents’ behavior as well.

“It ended up being an added bonus,” Sacramento County Chief Probation Officer Don Meyer said. “No resident has ever been expelled from the program due to behavior problems.”

“I did a lot of ‘Tail ‘em, Jail ’em’ in my career, but the first time I saw this program, I could not believe that the same kid we had in the unit who was causing trouble could be taught parenting skills,” Meyer said. “But it works. And it spills over. They start to see the advantages of making the connection with their own baby, and it shows in their behavior.”

Meyer is no stranger when it comes to finding creative ways to pay for projects like these in the current economic climate. Out of the $9,000 it takes annually to keep the Baby Elmo project running in Sacramento County, not one cent comes out of the general fund. Instead, the project is fully funded from revenue pooled from the Juvenile Hall’s “Collect Call” service. McCormack carefully tracks her hours spent on the project and endeavors to make sure that her wages during these efforts are allocated separately.

“When you look at the cost benefits, a $15,000 average to prosecute an adult in this county, another $50,000 to send them to prison if you have to — if we can reduce reoffending by 10 to 20 percent, you can save a lot on the back end.”

Judging by the popularity of the Baby Elmo project, Meyer’s calculations could be correct. Currently San Bernardino, Yolo, Santa Barbara, Fresno and Orange counties all participate in Baby Elmo. Washington, D.C. has plans to start their own program very soon. In some counties, more than one department has adopted the program.

Foreseeing consistent positive effects, Barr and the Sacramento Probation Department hope to continue teaching parenting skills to juveniles into the future.

Juveniles now wanted felons after fireworks theft

2009-07-03T21:51:22Z

Three juveniles, ages 14 to 15, cased then robbed the fireworks stand on the corner of 47th Ave & 44th St. in South Sacramento Friday just after noon.

A Sheriff helicopter orbited the area around the school where the juveniles were last seen breaking apart the large package of fireworks they had just stolen from the fireworks stand hosted by Parkway Swim and Tennis. Public address announcements were made from the helicopter stating to people in the neighborhood: "we are looking for three felons who just stole a large red package of fireworks…" This was the largest package of fireworks offered and is considered a "block party" set that sells for $600. The helicopter spotted the torn apart red packaging in the middle of the school field where ground officers retrieved it.

Kids present from Parkway Swim and Tennis turned and saw the juvenile thieves fleeing with the large package that took all three of them to carry away. They alerted volunteer mom Jessica Rodriguez-Veneroni who ran after the subjects.

The three juvenile wanted felons remain at large. If you live in the area and have information that may lead to the apprehension of the suspects and return of the items, please contact the Sacramento Sheriffs department right away.

More juvenile burglars strike the south area

2009-07-02T08:53:31Z

Sacramento, CA- Two juvenile burglars remain at large Wednesday night. Witnesses approached a friends house in the 7900 block of Deer Creek Drive Wednesday evening, near 11 p.m. When they noticed that the people they could see in the house were not their friends, they called police.

Sacramento police arrived rapidly, however the black, male juveniles had already fled. Police set up a perimeter and found several subjects in the area that matched the description of the subjects. Police drove witnesses by the detained subjects in a "field show up" (the equivalent of a line-up in the field) to identify the burglars; however none of the detained individuals were positively identified.

Public address announcements were made in the area as K-9 units went to work in an attempt to track the seventeen and eighteen year old burglars. Air support was not available to assist with heat imaging of the area.

Any one with information should contact the Sacramento Police Department.

Juvenile burglar apprehended by police K9

2009-07-01T00:02:13Z

Sacramento, CA -- Police K-9 "takes a bite out of crime" today and apprehends a juvenile after a brief man hunt.

Two juveniles were seen trying to break into a Freeport home in the Belleau Wood Lane area, late Tuesday morning. When police arrived in the area, the would-be burglars ran.

One subject was apprehended immediately while the other led police on a neighborhood foot pursuit. When the subject evaded officers, a tight neighborhood perimeter was established by inbound officers.

After officers verified and had evidence that a crime had been committed, public address announcements were made warning neighbors that the police dog was going to be deployed and to give the evading juvenile a chance to give up.

When the police dog was deployed, he quickly picked up the sent and led officers to the location of the hiding youth in the area of Atherton Street and McLaren Avenue. After the youth was given a chance to surrender, the dog was sent in to do his job. Seconds later the subject was in custody.

Neighbors who witnessed the capture recognized the youth as a local neighbor who lives in the area with his family, and grandparents also reside in the neighborhood.