ARIZONA CHILD By Leo Alvarez Dec 2003 The year 2003 has been a horrific year for the State of Arizona. Governor Janet Napolitano began the year calling for reform in Child Protective Services before the newspaper, Arizona Republic, began a series of stories that brought to the fore the apparent lack of concern by CPS for the children they were supposedly created to protect. As in every such scenario fingers are pointed, quick solutions are touted, and little gains are made. There is a long and sad litany of stories brought forth in the series, from a dead drug addicted baby (November 2001), to battered children, to a starving child locked in a closet (9 referrals from January 1999 to June 2003) and living in his own waste, a baby’s body found in a canal, and many more lurid stories. Indeed these are not unimaginable stories, they were cases that CPS was called upon to investigate but failed to act upon. Could these children have been saved? Of course. But the true tragedy here is that history is repeating itself over and over again. My oldest adopted child, as well as his two younger siblings, were systematically abused, mistreated, and starved. At the age of five one son only weighed 18.5 pounds. That is called a clue. Periodically he would be tightly wrapped in a blanket and thrown into and locked in a closet. CPS was not only called, they visited. And despite the calls by me to the police, calls from school teachers, 29 referrals in all, nothing was done. That was thirteen years ago and one would hope that someone had studied the history of child abuse so the same mistakes would not be repeated in other areas. It led me to write my first book, Blinders. Apparently history is not a required study for those majoring in Social Studies. In Arizona, Anndreah R. lived 10 days after birth and died weighing only 4 pounds. The official cause of death was stated as being severe dehydration and exposure to cocaine. It was said that she died from exposure to second hand smoke (cocaine) and obvious lack of care. Second hand smoke is a misnomer since it does not account for unadulterated smoke that comes directly from the source. Anndreah was not there to be exposed by choice. No, she was as helpless as any newborn, totally dependant on others for every need. Her body was not found in a dumpster, or on some doorstep, nor was she abandoned. She was being slowly killed. The Court will decide who is at fault, and following tradition, the guilty party will be lightly sentenced for the death of a helpless, totally defenseless human being. There is no equity in sentencing in this Nation. Judges don’t want it because they feel that each case has its own circumstances, and, merits. Defense Attorneys oppose it because their Clients are misguided, suffer from post traumatic symptoms caused by only they know what. It will not be until every abuser or murderer realizes that the sentence for the crime befits what the victim suffered that an impact may be made. And that sentence should be consistent from State to State. About 3 weeks prior to Anndreah’s birth the Police responded to the home of her soon to be mother, then aged 23. The Police referred the case to Phoenix Child Protective Services. Later, the State Division of Children, Youth and Families stated that “…We cannot take children away based on parents using crack cocaine or any drug. We have to have evidence that the parent is not feeding the child, not keeping the child clean or not supervising the child,” this after CPS learned that the mother and her mother were smoking crack cocaine almost daily. A study of the history of drug addicts shows that drug addiction is for life and no different that alcoholism in that regard. Common sense should dictate a family with a even one drug addict in it is a family in turmoil, distress, and anguish. The problem worsens if that person is a parent with the responsibility of a child to raise. Addicts are the most selfish people on earth and to them the most important aspect of their lives is where is the next “fix”? A seven year old boy should weigh about 55 pounds. A 36 pound seven year old is in danger of death from starvation. Isaac, in yet another case referred to Arizona CPS, was being systematically starved of the essentials all human beings require, food and love. A denial of either can be a death sentence. People wandering in the desert dying have been known to drink their own urine. This child drank from a toilet bowl. Yet his existence in a dark, locked closet, living in his own bodily waste was not a secret.. Others besides those who placed him there were aware of his existence. As a matter fact, this is another case where CPS had been notified by concerned citizens. Not once, but 9 nines. There is a clue here. Only one call was substantiated. When the parents missed voluntary counseling meetings and then terminated them altogether, that was yet another clue. This child should ;have been removed from their “care”. Unfortunately for abused or neglected children there is no follow up by the concerned citizen who calls CPS. We humans believe that one call will somehow solve the problem and in a perfect world it would. But CPS is infamous for being over worked, under funded and quick to use two terms: Unsubstantiated and Closed. The truth of the matter is that CPS workers are also under educated; at least their training does not teach them the interviewing skills necessary to help them find the truth nor the warning signs of impending death. If you have a child abuser questioned separately by a police officer and CPS worker not only will the questions not be the same but the results and conclusions will differ. And the key here is that child abuse and neglect is a crime, not a case waiting to be closed by a visit and counseling. Child abuse or neglect cases are criminal matters and should be handled by law enforcement first with CPS personnel present and acting as support personnel. And that statement begs the question “why?” And the reason is that once CPS steps in nearly every facet of the case comes under the cloak of Confidentiality. Which means that the Public will be left locked out of any subsequent inquiries, meetings, and decisions. And this cloak of Confidentiality will also serve to protect the abuser from public knowledge or disclosure of his crimes and, of course, there will be no punishment. Confidentiality should extend only to the child’s name, the names of all other parties involved, including the attorneys, the Judge, Social worker, CASA representative, and, of course, the care givers should be a matter of Public record as well as all case records. Ask yourself, what is there to hide? Confidentiality was created by Title 42 USC. The Arizona Legislature in passing ARS 8807, paragraph L only added another layer of beauracracy and insanity to a situation already mired in too many laws, regulations, policy, and red tape that leaves CPS workers inundated with forms to fill and file. ARS 8807 is redundant, but it shows an effort by the Legislature to show the voters that they are doing something. If Arizona is drinking from Title 42’s deep trough of federal subsidies for welfare (and all States do) than they must abide by and accept Title 42 as the law of the State and therein lies a Pandora’s Box best left unopened at this time. Broken bones, starvation, fracture of the spine, beatings, children’s bodies dumped in sewers, canals, and the litany goes on. And in so many instances investigations are promised, Commissions and Committees are formed, and recommendations and changes are promised or made all in the effort to improve CPS. CPS workers, armed only with their college degrees, in every County and State. are given an incredibly complex and difficult task, (1) Protect the child and, (2) also work toward keeping its family intact. What person in his or her right mind would define “family” as a one or two person entity that subjects its children to beatings, starvation, deprivation of care and love ? Should anyone consider keeping such a unit intact? Yet these under trained, under staffed, under paid and overworked people are left to make that life and death decision every day. In July 2003 a Commission formed by Governor Napolitano presented its recommendations. The politicians made their statements, and some recommendations were prosaic, but some of the recommendations, if followed, will bring a breath of fresh air and change to CPS. CPS now has a checklist, so to speak, to follow in making a determination on whether a child should be removed from a “family”. There is a recommendation to redefine abuse and neglect. Hopefully these recommendations will turn to action. There is hope. The above mentioned politicians should return to the Legislative floor and either re-fund CPS, and, re-distribute the enormous amount of federal funds received for social welfare where it will most benefit children. They should enact laws that will punish child abusers first and then attempt to teach them parenting skills while they are out of jail and on probation so that if they fail to complete the required courses or training they will have to answer to a Judge. These laws should also specify that failure to comply with directed training will lead to automatically being denied, other than supervised visits, any right to the child. And the Legislators responsibility should not end there. They are Politicians and belong to political parties, the same parties to which their Federal counterparts belong. Together they should work toward changing the federal law that has led to secret proceedings, ensured that child abusers will not be punished, and gives Judges the discretion to returned abused children to their abusers. Arizona, nor any other State, should leave the job half done. Facts: 74 Arizona children dead since 1998 38% of whom had prior contact with CPS. Nationally, 15% of dead children have prior contact with CPS (The Arizona Republic, June 22, 2003). In the first 3 months of 2003 20.9% more children were removed from their homes despite no increase in abuse reports (The Arizona Republic, June 22, 2003). In Maricopa County, Arizona, CPS investigates about 16,000 cases of neglect and abuse yearly The Arizona Republic, June 24, 2003). From 1993 to 1997 deaths attributed to child abuse rose by 50% because of caseworkers were “so overloaded” (The Arizona Republic, July 5, 2003). A CPS caseworker starts at $26, 526.00 even with a Masters Degree. It costs $1,200.00 per month to place a child in Foster care but over twice that $2,897.00 to 0lace him in a group home (The Arizona Republic, Jul6 5, 2003)

Leo Alvarez