Kansas CPS Abuse Brings Lawsuits

Message to Kansas Senators, Do Not Confirm Phyllis Gilmore

2012-02-12T07:54:00.000-08:00

Phyllis Gilmore was the Executive Director of the KSBSRB, Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board for the past 11 years. The board was established in 1980 to license and regulate psychologists, social workers, professional counselors, master level psychologists, marriage and family therapists and addiction counselors.

If the KSBSRB receives a report of alleged violation of one of their licensed workers, the board makes a jurisdictional determination on whether or not to investigate which must meet two criteria.

1. "The complaint pertains to a profession or scope of practice regulated by the board".
2. "The complaint alleges facts constituting noncompliance with, or violations of the rules, regulations, and/or Statutes, and/or Board ordered conditions governing the practice or conduct of the professional on whom the report is being filed".

See the link here for the Investigation Policies and Procedures, KSBSRB March 2006
http://www.scribd.com/doc/80433902/Phyllis-Gilmore-Exec-Dir-KSBSRB-Investigation-Policies-and-Procedures-March-13-2006

The December 11, 2006, Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board Complaint Review Committee Minutes show that there were several cases where the committee determined "lack of jurisdiction". One of the cases included a child in SRS custody and the complaint was dismissed due to "lack of jurisdiction". There was also a complaint that a licensed social worker violated the confidentiality of adoptive parents.

NOTE, Several complaints have been made against Social Workers and those have been

DISMISSED DUE TO LACK OF JURISDICTION under Gilmore's watch.

See this link for the Dec. 11, 2006 KSBSRB Committee Minutes
http://www.scribd.com/doc/80434272/Phyllis-Gilmore-KSBSRB-Complaint-Review-Committee-Dec-11-2006-Minutes

On March 18, 2008, in a closed meeting Phyllis Gilmore and Roger Skurlock were questioned about these cases that they refused to investigate which were noted on the Dec 11, 2006 meeting notes. During the meeting Gilmore and Skurlock claimed they investigate ALL allegations, but that isn't the case.
Here is a clip from that meeting. Turn up your speakers, parts of the conversation are transcribed and you can read it. I would start at 1:00 minute into the video and at 1:35 you can read and hear the questioning of these cases:

No Surprise Here: "Her (Gilmore's) private sector experience is primarily within the areas of adoption and health care." http://www.srs.ks.gov/Pages/Secretary/NewSecretaryGilmore.aspx
The Senate Confirmation Oversight Committee will debate whether to recommend the appointment to the full Senate, which will probably vote on Gilmore’s appointment within about a month. Contact every Senator in Kansas ASAP to recommend that Gilmore NOT be approved for this position.

HERE is a list of all Kansas Senators

Steve.Abrams@senate.ks.gov ; Pat.Apple@senate.ks.gov ; Terry.Bruce@senate.ks.gov ; Pete.Brungardt@senate.ks.gov ; Les.Donovan@senate.ks.gov ; Jay.Emler@senate.ks.gov ; Oletha.Faust-Goudeau@senate.ks.gov ; Marci.Francisco@senate.ks.gov ; David.Haley@senate.ks.gov ; Anthony.Hensley@senate.ks.gov ; Tom.Holland@senate.ks.gov ; Terrie.Huntington@senate.ks.gov ; Laura.Kelly@senate.ks.gov ; Dick.Kelsey@senate.ks.gov ; Jeff.King@senate.ks.gov ; Kelly.Kultala@senate.ks.gov ; Jeff.Longbine@senate.ks.gov ; Garrett.Love@senate.ks.gov ; Julia.Lynn@senate.ks.gov ; Bob.Marshall@senate.ks.gov ; Ty.Masterson@senate.ks.gov ; Carolyn.Mcginn@senate.ks.gov ; Ray.Merrick@senate.ks.gov ; Steve.Morris@senate.ks.gov ; Robert.Olson@senate.ks.gov ; Ralph.Ostmeyer@senate.ks.gov ; Tim.Owens@senate.ks.gov ; Mike.Petersen@senate.ks.gov ; Mary.PilcherCook@senate.ks.gov ; Dennis.Pyle@senate.ks.gov ; Roger.Reitz@senate.ks.gov ; Allen.Schmidt@senate.ks.gov ; Vicki.Schmidt@senate.ks.gov ; Jean.Schodorf@senate.ks.gov ; Chris.Steineger@senate.ks.gov ; Mark.Taddiken@senate.ks.gov ; Ruth.Teichman@senate.ks.gov ; Dwayne.Umbarger@senate.ks.gov ; John.Vratil@senate.ks.gov ; Susan.Wagle@senate.ks.gov ;

Jan 3, 2012, Family and Advocates Spoke Before the South Central Legislative Delegation

2012-01-22T13:33:00.000-08:00

Marlene Jones, Penn State Sandusky Scandal Has Nothing On Sedgwick County

Jan. 3, 2012, Marlene Jones spoke before the South Central Legislative Delegation. Marlene has been coming to the legislative forums for several years and speaking on the wrongful removal and failure to reunify the children with the parent.Last year the citizens were told there was going to be a new committee to address these issues and that didn't happen. Marlene requested that the legislators support and cosponser the protective parent act that will be reintroduced this year as protective parents are losing custody of their children after reporting abuse.

Donna Roberts, The Shameful Secret In Our Own Backyard, Sexual Abuse Of Children In Sedgwick

Jan. 3, 2012, Donna Roberts, ACRA, A Childs Rights Association, spoke before the South Central Legislative Delegation. Donna Roberts' concern is regarding the sexual abuse of children in Sedgwick County and the coverup by professionals, law enforcement, SRS, therapists, and how the Judges are failing these children. Donna said that Kansas needs a major investigation by the feds and the people who have covered up the abuse of these children need to be prosecuted. The bottom line is that sexual abuse is a crime and it is being covered up in Sedgwick County.

Glen Burdue, "Even one child needlessly traumatized or abused while in the SRS system is too many"

Jan. 3, 2012, Glen Burdue spoke before the South Central Legislative Delegation. Glen asked the legislators for their support to provide new legislation to provide statistics and identify problems with child protective services. Glen Burdue, "Even one child needlessly traumatized or abused while in the SRS system is too many".

Grandfather Wendell Turner had to make a lot of noise with Youthville to protect his grandchildren from Pendland

Jan 3, 2012, Grandfather Wendell Turner spoke before the South Central Legislative Delegation. Rick Pendland who worked for Youthville was also a sponsored foster parent, former school teacher and he worked at the Wichita Children's Home. Pendland, who now sits in the Cowley County Jail for allegedly raping multiple children, wanted to be the foster placement for Wendell Turner's grandchildren.

Kansas Child poverty meetings scheduled this week

2011-11-13T14:30:00.001-08:00

"The meetings are titled “Rising to the Challenge: Reducing Childhood Poverty and Improving Childhood Outcomes in Kansas” and will feature national and state experts on childhood poverty, including the Heritage Foundation’s Robert Rector and Ron Haskins..."

Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/11/10/2097958/child-poverty-meetings-scheduled.html#ixzz1dP4xBSFD

This is a public meeting and even though anyone can attend, the State is requiring citizens to register for this event.

Here is the link: http://www.srs.ks.gov/Pages/TownHallMeetings.aspx

The meetings will be:
1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Nov. 14 at the Jack Reardon Convention Center, 500 Minnesota Ave., KC, KS
1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Nov. 16 at the Drury Plaza Broadview Hotel, 400 W. Douglas, Wichita
1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Nov. 17 at the Dennis Perryman Athletic Complex at.Garden City Community College
From The Heritage Foundation, Foster Care: Safety Net or Trap Door? by Thomas Atwood,
March 25, 2011.
"States tend to overuse foster care because they receive federal matching funds
for every qualifying child in care. "
"Abstract: For tens of thousands of endangered children, foster care has become a trap door rather than the safety net they need to help them succeed. In particular, federal financing policies have favored foster care over other child welfare approaches, leading states to overuse foster care to the detriment of children who could be adopted or whose families could be rehabilitated."
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/03/foster-care-safety-net-or-trap-door

According to the New Secretary of SRS, Rob Siedlecki, Regarding Adoptions, IT'S ALL FREE MONEY!!!

2011-11-13T14:29:00.000-08:00

According to the new Secretary of SRS, it's all FREE MONEY!
Free money to adopt Kansas children.
Free money to have medical coverage for those children.
Free money to send adopted children to college.
What about all the FREE MONTHLY SUBSIDIES AND TAX BREAKS those adopters receive?

And then there is the FREE $300,000 to Promote Adoptions of Kansas children.

It's NOT FREE MONEY, it is tax payers dollars funded by the private sector.
That would include, Secretary of SRS Rob Siedlecki's income. The private sector pays for his home, his life style and income.

Here's the story: http://cjonline.com/news/2011-11-07/srs-offers-300000-spur-adoption#comment-462415

By Tim Carpenter November 7, 2011 - 06:11pm
SRS offers $300,000 to spur adoption
THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL
Jonathan and Allison Schumm's family is big enough to conduct a regulation basketball game.That wouldn't be possible without five siblings adopted by the Topeka couple to complement their three biological children.The team was present at the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center for the announcement Monday of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services' offer of $300,000 from a federal grant to the company proposing the most imaginative one-year marketing campaign to recruit adoptive families."This is a heartfelt cause," said SRS Secretary Robert Siedlecki. "This campaign is directed towards our children who are typically hardest to place in adoptive families — the kids of sibling groups, with mental or physical disabilities or teenagers."He said the state had 5,200 children in foster care. Five hundred of 900 in the adoption queue are awaiting completion of the adoption process, but 420 haven’t yet been linked with a prospective adoptive family."Those 400 children really are alone," Siedlecki said.Jonathan Schumm said he could attest to the compelling force for good generated by adoption of children. His roster: Nicole, 16, Alisa, 13, Emmanuel, 11, Jaquale, 6, Angel, 5, Mercy, 5, Isaiah, 3, and Kyrsten, 1."I'm not here to tell you foster care and adoption are easy," he said while the children played in the center's kid-friendly facility. "It's been worth every smile and every tear."He said information on children available for adoption in Kansas could be found at www.adoptkskids.org. Some children still on the list were there six years ago when Schumm and his wife initially became involved in foster care and adoption."So many kids are still waiting," he said.Gov. Sam Brownback decreed November as Kansas Adoption Month. On Nov. 19, several court jurisdictions in Kansas will finalize at least 100 adoptions to mark the declaration.Brownback and his wife, Mary, adopted two children from overseas. A son, Mark, celebrated his 14th birthday Monday."Adoption is fabulous," the governor said at the Statehouse. "It just brings a smile to my face every time I think about it. My hope is more families will step up."He said his family's decision to not adopt in Kansas reflected his trips while in Congress to orphanages in other countries, many of which didn't have a strong cultural tradition of adoption.In addition, the governor said he was aware of a U.S. family that struggled for six years to complete an adoption.Siedlecki, the top administrator at SRS, said adoptions through the state of Kansas were completed at little or no cost and were legally secure because parental rights had been severed.Kansas families who adopt children may be eligible for state or federal financial subsidies, he said. Funding is available for health care of adopted children through Medicaid and for college tuition for children adopted from state care after age 16.Siedlecki said the goal of SRS was to complete more than 800 adoptions in the current fiscal year ending in July. In the last fiscal year, the state finalized 761 adoptions. In the first three months of the year, 178 children have been adopted from state care in Kansas.Tim Carpenter can be reached at (785) 295-1158 or timothy.carpenter@cjonline.com.

100,277 Kansas Children "Served" In Out Of Home Placement Since 1997

2011-11-13T14:28:00.000-08:00

The Kansas SRS website shows that there has been a total of 100,277 Kansas Children "Served" in Out Of Home Placement since 1997
The State Labels these seizures as "Foster Care Service Frequency"
Here is the link to that information:
http://www.srs.ks.gov/agency/cfs/Pages/ProgramData.aspx#Federal%20Fiscal%20Year%20Adoptions%20Finalized

FY2011 shows that the Kansas Child Population under the age of 18 years old is 695,712
http://www.cwla.org/advocacy/statefactsheets/2011/kansas.pdf

Kansas Grandmother Fighting For Ella Jo

2011-10-09T16:21:00.000-07:00

3 year old, Ella Jo is in the Kansas Foster Care System

While in the care of the State, on Oct 4th, Ella Jo went into respitory failure and the family was called to be at her side. Ella Jo is still fighting but she needs to go back to her home to be with her family.

""Ella Jo’s history of accidental & pathological fractures started when she was one year old. Ella is not able to assimilate the nutrients in her food, therefore has a weaken bone structure. The seizure medicine that Ella Jo had been on for half her life also deteriorates bone mass! The doctors failed to suggest Ella Jo needing Vitamin D & Calcium supplements to prevent this! One of many tragic complications that comes with Retts Syndrome. At one year of age her Paternal Grandmother slipped and fell with her and that broke Ella’s femur. A sibling at home, jumped over Ella lying in bed and accidentally landed on her shoulder, breaking the shoulder, and collar-bone. On another unfortunate occasion, a Home Physical Therapist was doing weight-bearing on her arm and accidentally broke the upper part of the arm. Yet another accident that took place at Ella Jo’s school that possibly injured her neck. During a bath, Ella Jo slipped out of loving hands and that placed her in the hospital with a Halo …… as a result of that….. into the hands of the State and a foster home.""

Read more here: http://ellajoandgrandmapattibear.wordpress.com/?blogsub=confirming#subscribe-blog

Kansas Lt Gov Colyer Said The State Will Cut Medicaid $720 Million Over The Next Several Years

2011-09-19T18:56:00.000-07:00

KANSAS NEEDS TO STOP DRUGGING LITTLE CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE AND THAT WILL NOT ONLY SAVE CHILDREN'S LIVES BUT SAVE THE STATE
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS!

Colyer: State must reform Medicaid

Posted on Mon, Sep. 19, 2011

TOPEKA — Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer today described a bleak future for the state's Medicaid program — unless reforms drive down costs and people begin making healthier lifestyle choices.
Without changes, rapidly growing costs will overwhelm the state and affect funding for things such as K-12 education.
Colyer said Medicaid, the health program for low-income residents, should do what some insurance companies do and reward patients who quit smoking, work their way out of obesity and take their medicine. And the 40-year-old program should work to transition users to private health insurance, he added.
"This (Medicaid) is the most complex thing I've seen in government," he said. "And we aren't going to fix it in one year."
Colyer's call for reform and improved services comes when federal funding is expected to decrease. Some say Colyer's descriptions of cutting costs and improving services are too rosy.
"I don't see how it can possibly work in any way, shape or form," said Sen. Roger Reitz, R-Manhattan.
He said he works with patients who need a lot of care. If they don't have adequate finances for proper care, they'll be in emergency rooms, which is part of the disaster the state is trying to avoid.
"You're never going to cut medical costs down, you know that," Reitz, who is a doctor, said to Colyer, who is also a doctor.
Colyer said that federal cuts to Medicaid announced today translate to roughly $720 million in reductions to Kansas over several years.
He said ideas gathered from more than 1,200 people in four public forums on Medicaid reform this summer — plus concepts used in other states — show Kansas needs to create a safety net for its neediest, a system that links outcomes to price, provides employers with incentives to hire people with disabilities and provides people to coordinate patients' care.
Reitz said there's no way the state can improve while drastically cutting funds without embellishing services.
"It won't happen; it can't happen," he said. "If it does, you're going to have people marching on the Statehouse, tearing the place apart, saying, 'We can't go on this way. Try something else.' "
Colyer disagreed.
"I believe economic forces do work and do force us into better patient care," he said. He cited laptop computers as an example, saying they were once thousands of dollars and now are cheaper and have better technology.
Colyer said the state can save money by having someone coordinate health care for patients with serious problems.
"If we can navigate them through, you can save money on not institutionalizing them," he said.
Reitz said he and other doctors already help their patients manage their care.

Reach Brent D. Wistrom at 785-296-3006 or bwistrom@wichitaeagle.com

Nola Foulston to retire as district attorney

2011-09-18T13:16:00.001-07:00

Posted on Fri, Sep. 16, 2011

District Attorney Nola Foulston, who prosecuted Sedgwick County's most notorious criminals for nearly a quarter-century, has decided to retire."At some point in time, you have to say it's time to give someone else a chance," she told the Eagle in explaining her decision to leave office.In a letter she plans to share today with her staff, friends and colleagues, Foulston said she will enter private practice when her current term expires."After over 30 years in public service, I have made the decision to 'retire' at the end of my term as district attorney in January of 2013 and plan to return to the private practice of law at that time," she said in the letter. "I have had a wonderful experience as district attorney, and feel that it's time now for me to step down from this position and become a private citizen."Foulston said in an interview at her home that she had been thinking for some time about returning to private life. "It's kind of like being a football player," she said. "I don't want to play until my legs are broken or I can't work any more."Foulston, 60, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999, but she said the disease is in remission and her health had nothing to do with her decision. She said she had no specific plans other than to resume the practice of law as a private citizen.She was first elected in 1988, and was never seriously challenged in her five bids for re-election.Foulston said she seriously considered not entering the 2008 race, but decided she had to run after Republican Mark Schoenhofer entered the contest. She said she was concerned about changes Schoenhofer might make in the office, which now has an $8 million annual budget and 130 employees, 55 of whom are lawyers. "I felt an obligation to keep the staff intact," she said.She won the election with about 55 percent of the vote.Foulston said a half-dozen of her top assistants were qualified to run the office, but to date only Deputy District Attorney Marc Bennett has expressed an interest in the job. Bennett, a Republican, is the only announced candidate in the race."Any of them could handle the reins of that office without a hitch, and that includes Marc," she said.Foulston said she has no plans to endorse any candidate, and said voters should have the only say in deciding who occupies the office during the upcoming term."You and I both know that hand-picked successors never go anywhere," she said.Before her first race in 1988, Foulston switched parties to become a Democrat, then criticized incumbent Republican District Attorney Clark Owens for his handling of two high-profile murder cases.The cases — the Dec. 30, 1987, slayings of Wichita accountant Phillip Fager and his two daughters, and the New Year's night murder that same week of Wichita State University student Alice Mayfield — both ended in not-guilty jury verdicts. Foulston campaigned on a promise to take high-profile cases into the courtroom herself. She won the election with 60 percent of the vote.In the 1992 election, Foulston defeated Republican challenger Clarence Holeman — a member of Owens' staff who had been fired by Foulston — by a ratio of more than 2-1. She ran unopposed in 1996, 2000 and 2004.Foulston said she has been approached by Democratic Party officials several times over the years about running for another office. She said she was asked often about running for the 4th District seat in Congress, which has been in Republican hands since 1994. She said she never had an interest in that job."I'm not a politician; I'm a prosecutor," she said.During her six terms in office, Foulston has twice appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court. Both cases ended with the Court upholding 1994 Kansas laws by 5-4 votes. In June 2006, the Court upheld the state's death penalty. A year later, the Court upheld the state's Sexual Predator law, which allows for the indefinite confinement of some sex offenders for mental health treatment after they have served their criminal sentences.Both cases originated in Sedgwick County District Court.Foulston gained national attention in 2005 for her role in the prosecution of Dennis Rader, who pleaded guilty to 10 counts of first-degree murder as he confessed to being the BTK serial killer. She also was in the national spotlight in the fall of 2002 as she prosecuted Reginald and Jonathan Carr, who were convicted and sentenced to death after a crime spree that left five dead.Nearly a decade earlier, in 1994, Foulston was the prosecutor in an equally troubling murder case — the July 30, 1990, abduction, rape and strangulation of 9-year-old Nancy Shoemaker.In those pre-capital punishment days, Doil Lane was convicted of Nancy's murder and given a Hard 40 prison sentence — a sentence of a minimum of 40 years without parole — which at the time was the maximum allowed under Kansas law.Foulston and her husband, Wichita lawyer Steve Foulston, have been married for about 29 years and have a son, Andrew, who is a senior at the University of Kansas. He is majoring in finance with a minor in Chinese, Foulston said, and has expressed no interest in becoming a lawyer.

Reach Hurst Laviana at 316-268-6499 or hlaviana@wichitaeagle.com.

Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/09/16/2018836/foulston-to-retire-as-da.html#ixzz1YKpyey9O

Kansas is placing toddlers in foster care for "truancy"

2011-07-31T07:43:00.000-07:00

FY2011 Child between the age of 1 and 3 in foster care for "truancy"

FY2010 Child between the age of 1 and 3 in foster care for "truancy"

FY2011, Sedgwick County remained a leader for removing children from their families
Sedgwick County 479 children
Shawnee County 390 children
Johnson County 386 children
Wyandotte County 243 children
http://www.srs.ks.gov/agency/cfs/Documents/FY2011DataReports/ServedinSRScustody/RemovalReasonByCountyFY2011.pdf

FY2011 Average Length of Stay and Number of Children Reunified
Kansas reunified 1,874 children, and the average length of stay in care for all children is 19.6 months
Sedgwick County, Region 5/Wichita reunified 247 children and the average length of stay in care for all children is 27.4 months
http://www.srs.ks.gov/agency/cfs/Documents/FY2011DataReports/ServedinSRScustody/LengthofstayFY2011.pdf

FY2011 Percent Reunified
Kansas served 8,264 children, reunified 1,874 children, 22% were reunified
Sedgwick County served 1,453 children, reunified 247, 16% were reunified
http://www.srs.ks.gov/agency/cfs/Documents/FY2011DataReports/ServedinSRScustody/OOHPChildrenServedSFY2011.pdf
http://www.srs.ks.gov/agency/cfs/Documents/FY2011DataReports/ServedinSRScustody/LengthofstayFY2011.pdf

Program has foster teens, sex offenders in same spot

2011-07-31T07:42:00.001-07:00

Posted on Sun, Jul. 31, 2011

BY TIM POTTER

The Wichita Eagle

A state-funded residential program designed to teach young adults how to live safe, productive lives mixes 16-year old-girls in foster care with sex offenders in their 20s.

The program groups juvenile offenders — including registered sex offenders — with foster teens. Each person in the program lives alone in one of 15 apartments in a building on West University, near Kellogg and Seneca.

Dorothy Loyd, vice president for transitional living services at Ozanam Pathways, the nonprofit provider that operates the program, said Ozanam isn't the only provider that commingles offenders and foster teens. It occurs at programs across the state, Loyd said. Ozanam is following state policies, she said.

"If the program is guilty of anything," Loyd said, "it's for taking kids that nobody wants to work with."

The state says it is beginning to move to a system that separates juvenile offenders and foster teens at facilities.

Wichita police Deputy Chief Tom Stolz said he is concerned about the practice of grouping young people who have committed serious crimes with "extremely impressionable" young people in the state's care.

Stolz said that considering some of the youths face a "myriad of social problems" from being victims of child abuse and neglect, putting them into an environment with convicted "gang members, sex offenders and drug dealers" doesn't make sense.

"I just don't think that's good policy," he said.

Investigation

The Ozanam program came under scrutiny earlier this month after a former employee raised allegations that sex offenders living at the apartments have too much contact with foster teens at the property, that clients sometimes lack food and that some incidents aren't properly reported.

The allegations led to investigations by Wichita police and the state's Juvenile Justice Authority and Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.

No crimes or serious violations were found.

Loyd, the Ozanam vice president, said that "everybody and their brother has been down investigating... and we come back as clean as a whistle."

There have been reports of trouble at the property.

Police records show that from January 2008 to July 21 of this year, Wichita police recorded 142 incidents at the West University apartments — including reports of battery, assault, runaways, drug crimes and three alleged incidents of rape.

Between December 2009 and October 2010, police investigated three reports of rape there.

In the most recent rape case, in October 2010, the alleged victim was a 17-year-old girl, and the suspect was a 17-year-old boy. In a July 2010 case, the alleged victim was a 17-year-old foster girl, and the suspect was an 18-year-old male offender. And in a December 2009 case, the alleged victim was a 16-year-old foster girl, and the suspect was a 19-year-old man.

Charges weren't filed in the three cases, partly because the alleged victims weren't cooperative, police said.

Change will separate groups

The Juvenile Justice Authority, which has custody of offenders placed at the apartments, is moving toward a system where offenders and nonoffenders won't be grouped together.

In a July 1 e-mail, a JJA official told other officials that the new direction is "based on sound, evidence-based practices and research that supports the separation of juvenile offenders from the non-offending population."

In a statement to The Eagle on Thursday, JJA Commissioner Curtis Whitten said: "There has been an ongoing concern about the mingling of these populations, but the impetus of the new administration is enabling the Juvenile Justice Authority to move at a quicker pace toward resolving the situation."

SRS, which has custody of foster teens, says it supports the change.

For now, the change does not encompass the Wichita program on West University.

SRS says Ozanam Pathways, which is based in Kansas City, Mo., has served 98 youths in SRS custody at three Wichita locations since 2008.

Ozanam takes clients 16 to 23 years old.

JJA and SRS pay the nonprofit program $100 per day, per client to cover expenses including staffing, rent, food, clothing, furniture and linens, said Loyd, the Ozanam vice president.

Based on the former employee's complaints, a joint investigation by Wichita police and SRS began July 22. Police found no crimes that could be prosecuted and no lack of food at the University apartments, said Stolz, the deputy police chief.

Another investigation, conducted earlier this month by JJA, found that although registered sex offenders were living at the apartments, "there was no evidence... that these offenders were harming other youth placed there," a JJA report says.

The former employee asked The Eagle not to use his name, saying he fears being blacklisted within the social-service industry. He was recently laid off from his job as a life-skills coach and said it was because he raised concerns.

His allegations were echoed by a second former Ozanam employee who spoke to The Eagle. The second employee also asked that her name not be used, saying she feared being blacklisted.

Loyd, the Ozanam vice president, said she investigated the former employee's complaints and found them to be unfounded and found that policies were being followed.

She reiterated that Ozanam works with young people who have a variety of problems and who are difficult to place.

"For many of the foster care kids, our program is really their last option. There is really no other placement opportunity for them."

Some of the foster teens have been in more than 50 placements before they arrive at the Ozanam apartments, she said.

"It's hard for them to attach."

Loyd said it's up to the state agencies — JJA and SRS — to decide who gets referred to a transitional living program, which teaches youths how to live independently.

Juvenile sex offenders who receive proper treatment have a lower chance of committing a new sex crime than adult offenders, she said.

Concerns

In December 2009, while still working for Ozanam, the former employee sent an e-mail to a supervisor expressing concern that vulnerable teens were being housed around sex offenders.

"Here we have multiple S.O.' s (sex offenders) living in close proximity to underage girls, some of whom are not even in the system but are here because they come from a troubled background."

The supervisor responded with this e-mail: "Right now, the only plan is that they are not to be in each other's apartments or signing out together. Beyond that, I'm not sure what we can do. I too am definitely concerned and just try to be extra attentive to what is going on over there."

At the time, Ozanam was operating two transitional housing programs — the one on West University and one near First and Ridge Road. It was about to launch a third program at apartments on South Mission.

Since then, Ozanam has closed two of the three programs, leaving the University property as the only remaining transitional living facility it operates in Wichita.

The other two were closed because government finances led to fewer referrals, Loyd said.

According to the state offender registry, three sex offenders — all in their early 20s — are listed as living at the University apartments. The three were in their teens when they committed their crimes.

Ozanam doesn't tell foster teens living at the apartments that some of the people living in the other units are sex offenders, the former employee said.

Although each client lives alone in an apartment, they share a common lounge and hang out together outside, he said.

The clients have curfews as early as 6 p.m. Staff are supposed to monitor them around the clock with the help of video cameras. Rules forbid physical contact between clients.

"They're not supposed to be in each other's apartments, but it's a daily occurrence," the former employee said.

He said that "in theory, we can watch them, but in reality... they get past us all the time."

SRS said that it has "no evidence to support the allegations (of) widespread sex between youth."

Reach Tim Potter at 316-268-6684 or tpotter@wichitaeagle.com.

Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/07/31/1955545/program-has-foster-teens-sex-offenders.html#ixzz1Th4iylRc

Program has foster teens, sex offenders in same spot

2011-07-31T07:42:00.000-07:00

SRS/CPS Lacks Integrity, Shut Them All Down

2011-07-10T19:34:00.000-07:00

About 150 attend meeting on SRS closure
By Scott Rothschild — Lawrence Journal-World
July 9, 2011
If Gov. Sam Brownback's plan to shut down the Lawrence office of the
Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services goes into effect, it will harm many vulnerable Kansans, social workers and law enforcement officials said Saturday.
For example, Douglas County District Attorney Charles Branson said police must have a social worker accompany them if they go into a school to interview an alleged victim of sexual abuse.
The decision by SRS Secretary Robert Siedlecki Jr. to shut down the Lawrence office will make it more difficult to get a social worker in these instances, Branson said.
"I'm just very fearful that we are going to miss a lot of people who are in need of care," Branson said. "We have children going through horrific instances in their lives, and we have small windows to go in and make a difference, and the governor and secretary have closed that window on us," he said.
He said without the timely availability of an SRS social worker, the child could face having to return to his or her abuser at the end of the school day before police could intervene.
Branson's comments were made during a meeting at the Lawrence Public Library that was attended by a packed crowd of about 150 people, many of whom had to stand or sit in adjacent rooms.
Those in attendance expressed anger and shock at the Brownback administration's decision announced July 1 to close nine SRS offices, with Lawrence being the largest one by far. The closures would take effect within three months. Siedlecki has said the 87 employees will be able to get jobs at other SRS offices.
Brownback and Siedlecki have said the closures are needed to save money during tight budget times, and that those receiving SRS services in Lawrence can continue to get assistance by accessing them online or traveling to offices in Topeka, Overland Park or Ottawa. Brownback has noted that Lawrence is served by several four-lane roads.
Many at the meeting said that was unrealistic.
Gayle Sigurdson of Lawrence said she thought the closure of SRS offices was intended to cut state spending by making it more difficult for people to get help.
She also said the way Siedlecki announced the closures without any public meetings to gain input was a "suspension of the Democratic process."
"These closures were made without public comment, or participation of our local legislators and without any formal appeals process," she said.
She said she feared Brownback's statement on Friday when he said he may consider options to the closures was "lip service."
The meeting was held by the Douglas County Democratic Party. Former SRS Secretary Robert Harder had been scheduled to speak several weeks ago prior to the announced closures.
Harder, who has held the position of SRS secretary the longest in state history, said the prevailing political climate at the Statehouse represented a departure from decades of bi-partisan support for social services.
Of the past legislative session, which produced massive cuts to social services, he said, "I would have to say, without question, it was absolutely the meanest, toughest session that I have observed in my 50 years," of being around Kansas politics.
He said the assertion that people could receive SRS services online was not plausible. Applications for medical assistance are not available online, and the application for cash assistance is 16 pages long, he said.
Harder added that social service advocates are not opposed to change but they want change in a careful, thought out way.
Steve Ruttinger of Lawrence said he was dismayed by the Brownback administration's layoffs of experienced staff at SRS and replacing them with those lacking experienced. "They profess this connection to God but there is nothing Christian about it," he said.
The Democratic members of the Douglas County legislative delegation urged the crowd to continue to contact Brownback's office to voice their disapproval and attend Monday's meeting at 7 p.m. at Plymouth Congregational Church to discuss ways to try to reverse the closure decision.
"People in government make mistakes from time to time and they need to be called on it, and this is a classic example," said House Minority Leader Paul Davis, D-Lawrence.
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/jul/09/about-150-attend-meeting-srs-closure/

Kansas Foster Child, Girl was staying at shelter before she died

2011-07-09T07:11:00.000-07:00

Mother reports that her daughter, of Garden City, ran away from girls
home.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

By Darcy Gray -
The Hutchinson News - dgray@hutchnews.com
GREAT BEND - A 15-year-old girl whose body
was found Monday at a Great Bend home had recently been reported missing from a
local shelter for girls, police have confirmed.

The Barton County Youth
Care Home, 2212 Forest Ave. in Great Bend, reported the girl missing July 1,
Great Bend Police Chief Dean Akings said Thursday.
http://www.hutchnews.com/Localregional/Great-Bend-death-follow--2
Although
Akings declined to release the girl's name, citing an ongoing investigation into
the suspicious death, The Garden City Telegram identified the girl as Jessica
Cheyanne Shearer of Garden City.

Shearer's mother, Alida Potter of
Garden City, told The Telegram her daughter had been staying at the girls home
for a couple of months before running away.
Joseph J. Rykiel, 30, was
arrested Tuesday on suspicion of second-degree murder and aggravated indecent
liberties with a child. Akings said investigators are focusing on the suspected
aggravated indecent liberties, and formal charges against Rykiel were being
prepared late Thursday.
Jackie McHolland, 39, and his fiancee, Mary Coker,
27, told The News on Wednesday they have been renting a room in their basement
at 2509 Walnut to Rykiel since Feb. 23. They came home from out of town on the
Fourth of July to find police at their house and learn the girl had been found
dead in their basement.
Police were called to the home at 5:10 p.m. Monday on
the report of a female with respiratory problems, but when officers arrived,
they found the 15-year-old girl had died from "unknown medical causes,"
according to Akings.
McHolland said his prescription medication was found on
Rykiel, and the locked box he kept his prescription medications in, including
morphine, had been "pried open."
"She ran away, and somehow she met up with
this guy," Alida Potter, Shearer's mother, told The Telegram.
When contacted
by phone Thursday, an employee at Barton County Youth Care Inc. in Great Bend
declined to comment. The shelter offers level IV care to girls for the state of
Kansas, according to a 2009 annual report filed by the nonprofit organization.
Barton County Youth Care is licensed for in-home foster care, said Gary Brooks,
a former board member.
Kansas Department of Corrections records show Rykiel,
30, previously served time in prison for multiple convictions, including
aggravated robbery in 2002 in Labette County. He was previously paroled to Reno
County in 2007, violated parole and then was paroled out of state to Tennessee
in 2009 before his sentence expired Feb. 13.
Rykiel had been working for a
Great Bend concrete company.

http://www.hutchnews.com/Localregional/Great-Bend-death-follow--2

Wichita, Kansas Judge rules for social worker in child's death

2011-07-09T05:32:00.000-07:00

Posted on Fri, Jul. 08, 2011
The Associated Press WICHITA, Kan. - A federal judge in Wichita has ruled in favor of a Kansas social worker accused of failing to protect a toddler who was beaten to death by her father's girlfriend.U.S. District Judge Monti Belot ruled Thursday that the civil lawsuit filed by the child's grandparents, Larry and Mary Crosetto, failed to show that social worker Linda Gillen was negligent in not protecting the child despite complaints about abuse.The Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services argued that Gillen had "no duty to intervene" after she investigated a report claiming abuse and neglect of the 23-month-old Coffeyville girl, who died in 2008. The civil lawsuit did not name SRS as a defendant.The child's father's girlfriend, Melissa Wells, has been sentenced to life in prison in the child's death.Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/07/08/1925678/judge-rules-for-social-worker.html#ixzz1Rbn7bBsa

Leroy Stockemer, Kansas Judicial System Is Corrupt

2011-06-04T08:43:00.001-07:00

Joan Jordan talks about parental rights at Blue Ribbon Commission meeting

2011-06-04T08:42:00.003-07:00

“I’m here to tell the State of Kansas that if the masses only knew how corrupt SRS is, we would see a revolution"

2011-06-04T08:41:00.000-07:00

Bambi Hazen, CPS Fraud Upon The Court

2011-05-30T08:34:00.000-07:00

Bambi Hazen spoke before the Blue Ribbon Commission May 26th, 2011, CPS Wrongful Removal, Fraud Upon The Court

Marlene Jones Says CPS Wrongful Removal Costs Tax Payers

2011-05-29T08:08:00.000-07:00

Marlene Jones spoke before the Blue Ribbon Commission,
Thur May 26th, 2011, CPS Wrongful Removal Costs Tax Payers

Kansas Tax Payers Fund Child Trafficking

2011-04-01T14:36:00.001-07:00

KS Asst Dir CFS Sue McKenna Misleads Public

2011-03-13T08:13:00.000-07:00

Kansas Assistant Director of Children and Family Services, Roberta Sue McKenna, participated in a panel discussion which included Kansas Attorney/Guardian Ad Litems, and Judges. This was titled "KTWU's Abused, Neglected, Protected: When Children Go to Court" which was produced by nonprofit Washburn University.
The discussion aired on KPTS Channel 8 on Tuesday Feb 22, 2011

Roberta Sue McKenna works directly under Tanya Keys who is the Director of Children and Family Services.
Why is McKenna misleading the public on time spent in care and making foster care look like a walk in the park?

McKenna said, "64% go home within 12 months.. another substantial percentage go home in less than two years. So most of the children who are removed from their parents custody return to their parents custody.....
(Regarding time spent in care)...less than 12 months.. Just think, if we could all remember how long it took to get to Christmas. How much time there was between birthdays..."

FACTS: The number of Kansas children served in Out of Home Placement in FY2010 was 8,275
The number of Kansas children reunified in FY2010 was 1,720
The total percentage of children reunified in FY2010 was 20%...NOT 64% as McKenna said.

FACTS: Kansas children average length of time in care FY2010 was 19.4 months
Sedgwick County children average length of time in care FY2010 was 30.7 months

Kansas A.G. inquiry: 'ill will' led SRS worker to ignore abuse

2011-02-13T08:36:00.000-08:00

Posted on Sun, Feb. 13, 2011
BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle
A Kansas attorney general's investigation found that a state social worker disliked a Coffeyville couple and chose to do "nothing to protect" their 23-month-old granddaughter before she was murdered in 2008.
The investigation concluded that veteran SRS social worker Linda Gillen treated abuse reports involving the couple's grandchildren very differently from others and failed to take steps that her agency required in child abuse cases.
The investigation is coming to light now as part of a lawsuit brought by the couple, Larry and Mary Crosetto.
Last year the Crosettos filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming that Gillen held a decades-old grudge against them and that it cost them their granddaughter's life.
They say Gillen refused to act on repeated reports of abuse in the months before their granddaughter, Brooklyn Coons, died.
The lawsuit — which offers a rare look at inner workings of the child protection system — says Gillen had a "personal animus, bordering on hatred" toward the couple.
The Crosettos say that the "animus led to the tragic and totally preventable death" of the toddler.
In January 2008 — more than two months after the Crosettos began pressing Gillen to have the children removed from their home — Brooklyn died.
Authorities said the toddler suffered brain injuries after being beaten or violently shaken. Her father's meth-addicted girlfriend, Melissa Wells, was later convicted of first-degree murder.
Last month, an SRS attorney filed a legal argument denying that Gillen is liable. Bill Miskell, spokesman for the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS), said he can't comment on the investigation but that the agency will be filing a response in court. No one from SRS, including Gillen, can comment on pending litigation, Miskell said.
Gillen has been with SRS since 1974. At the time of Brooklyn's death, she was the only licensed social worker in the Coffeyville SRS office investigating child abuse and neglect cases, documents say.
Gillen remains in that role, Miskell said.
Another tragedy
The Crosettos had been the main caregivers for Brooklyn and her 5-year-old brother when their mother, Angela Coons, the Crosettos' daughter, was attending college. She became separated from the children's father, Randy Coons.
In June 2007, the children and their mother moved to Wichita after she got a job. About two months later, Angela Coons suddenly became ill and died.
Around September 2007, the children went to the Coffeyville home of their father and Wells, his girlfriend.
As a child, Wells had been in SRS custody, and Gillen was a social worker assigned to her case, the lawsuit says.
The Crosettos' lawyer is Randy Rathbun, a former U.S. attorney.
A striking difference
In an affidavit signed Jan. 24, Camie Russell, former director of the attorney general's Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation Unit, said that as director she reviewed about a dozen child abuse cases handled by Gillen in Montgomery County. Russell said she found a clear difference in the way Gillen treated Brooklyn's case.
In the other cases, Gillen was "very hands on," Russell said. "She undertook actions without court order based upon suggestions made by the county attorney or the district judge."
But, Russell said, "As to the Coons children she was very hands off."
Russell's investigation concluded that Gillen held "some animus or ill will toward the Crosettos," according to her affidavit.
The affidavit, based on a 2009 investigative report by Russell, said Gillen denied "that anyone blocked her from taking action."
The investigation found that Gillen "elected to do nothing to protect" the Crosettos' grandchildren.
The Crosettos say Gillen became unhappy with them in 1982 when they adopted their daughter — Brooklyn's mother — when she was an infant.
The Crosettos said they excluded Gillen, the social worker, from their efforts to adopt their daughter. They said they reported Gillen's failure to complete a home study, which led a judge to rebuke her. As a result, the Crosettos said, she became angry at them.
The couple "totally circumvented" Gillen from another adoption in 1985, "which further angered Gillen," court documents say.
"This hatred was so immense that Gillen could not hide it — so much so that a Coffeyville police officer noted it while the Crosettos' granddaughter lay in a Tulsa hospital bed fighting for her life," the Crosettos' attorney said in the recent filings.
Russell's affidavit says that when Gillen met with police and the Crosettos the day after Brooklyn went to the hospital, "Gillen's animosity toward Larry Crosetto was so obvious that Detective George indicated that she wishes that she would have recorded the interaction."
Repeated concerns
The lawsuit claims that before Brooklyn's death, "Gillen stonewalled the Crosettos' attempts to protect their grandchildren, arguing that it was her duty to do whatever she could to 'keep the family together.' The 'family' in this case consisted of Brook, her brother .. , their natural father, Randy Coons, who at the time was living in squalor with his meth-addicted girlfriend, Melissa Wells, and her two children," one of whom had been the subject of a call to the SRS reporting center.
The Crosettos argue that Gillen had a number of reasons to have Brooklyn and her brother removed from Wells' home:
* An August 2006 report to the SRS Protection Report Center or hotline alleging Wells abused her own son.
That boy's grandfather reported that the child had two nickel-size, black-and-blue bruises above the diaper line and a fading bruise under his right eye. Wells said the bruises came from falls, but her son's grandfather said he didn't believe her. He also reported that she smoked marijuana a lot, possibly with the child present.
* A September 2007 report from Brooklyn's day care provider to the SRS report center that Brooklyn was being abused.
In an affidavit, the former day care provider, Allison Horner, said that when she saw Brooklyn that September, "I was shocked by her condition. She had a black eye, a busted lip with stitches and random bruising all over her body. She was not the same little girl I had cared for just a few months earlier. ... It was very plain to me she was being abused."
Horner called the SRS reporting center and gave details about Brooklyn's injuries and other information that would allow SRS to follow up.
The report to the SRS hotline should have gone to Gillen "but is now nowhere to be found," the lawsuit says.
* A November 2007 report from a school to the SRS center that Wells was suspected of abusing Brooklyn's brother.
Gillen noted in a report that the boy came to school with a 2-inch-by-2-inch red mark on his face.
"Wells confessed to Gillen that she had struck CSC (Brooklyn's brother) in anger leaving bruising that required icing at school later that day. Predictably, Gillen found the complaint 'unsubstantiated,' " the lawsuit says.
* Repeated calls from Larry Crosetto to Gillen "detailing the abuse of his grandchildren."
* "Deplorable living conditions in Wells' home that Gillen refused to investigate. She then lied to Crosetto about having visited there to get him to stop bothering her about it," the lawsuit says.
* Evidence of drug use by Wells from two sources.
* A Dec. 24, 2007, letter from a doctor to the local SRS office — which Gillen says she didn't get — reporting that Brooklyn had bruises that should be investigated.
* On Dec. 28, 2007, Crosetto offered photos of bruises on the children.
That same day, Crosetto told Gillen "that her refusal to do her job was going to end up causing the death of one of his grandchildren. ... Three weeks later, Brook was dead," the lawsuit says.
SRS worker defended
In a document filed early last month, SRS staff attorney Maureen Redeker defended Gillen, saying:
* "There is no evidence of Ms. Gillen's intent towards Crosettos."
* Gillen "is not liable for private violence."
* There is no evidence that Gillen's conduct "created or increased the danger" to Brooklyn.
* The risk to Brooklyn "was not obvious and known" to Gillen.
* Gillen "did not act in conscious disregard of a known risk" to Brooklyn.
* Gillen's "conduct was not conscience shocking."
A list of 'failures'
Regardless of whether Gillen is liable, she failed on the Coons case in multiple ways, court documents say.
Russell, the former attorney general's official, said in an affidavit that Gillen failed to take actions required by her agency. Russell cited five areas:
* "Failure to note prior SRS involvement with Wells ... ."
* "Failure to take photos of the child to document the injury."
* "Failure to complete a home visit; the site where the maltreatment occurred."
* "Failure to report Wells' confession of intentionally hitting CSC (Brooklyn's brother, in the face) to law enforcement."
* "Failure to interview additional significant caretakers of the children."
Russell's investigation noted a lingering question: What happened to the letter the doctor wrote addressing bruises and other marks on Brooklyn about three weeks before she died?
The doctor sent the letter to the Coffeyville SRS office. The doctor's letter "noted concern of abuse, listed marks and bruising, referenced records of past injury... and requested SRS look into child's environment and provide a report back to him," Russell's review said.
Gillen should have received it, but there is no record of it being received, Russell's affidavit says.
Gillen's role crucial
Russell found that the role of SRS and Gillen was crucial.
"Law enforcement, the school, the doctor, a daycare provider, and others interviewed indicated that they were under the impression that SRS/Gillen was investigating and addressing the Coons abuse and neglect concerns."
Larry Crosetto tried other routes besides Gillen and the doctor.
On Nov. 5, 2007, he called Fire Chief Greg Allen to voice concerns about living conditions at Wells' home. Allen inspected the home's exterior and left a note asking permission to check inside but never heard back from Wells or Randy Coons.
On Dec. 12, 2007, when Crosetto sought help from school district officials, he was told "that the school could do no more as the matter was in the hands of the SRS."
Crosetto feared that if his grandchildren were removed from their father, he probably would not see them again. But after his grandson was struck in the face, he decided his "fears were insignificant compared to the welfare of the children," and from then on "he really started to push Gillen to protect the children," the lawsuit says.
Crosetto called Gillen on Nov. 6, 14, 15 and 16. "She refused to return my calls," his recently filed affidavit says.
On Nov. 20, Gillen "finally accepted a call from me. ... I tried to discuss my concerns about bruising on Brooklyn and the suspected drug use of Melissa Wells. Gillen said those were police matters and refused to discuss them."
Reach Tim Potter at 316-268-6684 or tpotter@wichitaeagle.com.
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/02/13/1718592/ag-inquiry-ill-will-led-srs-worker.html#ixzz1Dr1lWUsj

KS Grandparents Senate Bill 52 Inadequate

2011-02-13T08:34:00.000-08:00

Judge won't dismiss grandparent's lawsuit against Social Worker

2010-05-29T22:03:00.000-07:00

5/29/10

http://www.ksn.com/news/local/story/Judge-wont-dismiss-grandparents-lawsuit/ID6KIbvztU-OzgVy28DcKA.cspx

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by grandparents accusing a social worker of failing to protect a toddler who was beaten to death by her father's girlfriend.
U.S. District Judge Monti Belot ruled Friday that maternal grandparents Larry and Mary Crosetto had enough facts to overcome the state's claim of qualified immunity for social worker Linda Gillen.
The Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services argued that Gillen had "no duty to intervene" after she investigated a report claiming abuse and neglect of the 23-month-old Coffeyville girl, who died in 2008 as a result of head injuries.
The Crosettos sued Gillen in January, accusing her of gross negligence for not protecting their granddaughter despite repeated complaints alleging abuse. The suit does not name the agency as a defendant.

2010-05-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

SRS: Social worker had no duty to protect child who later died

Posted on Sun, May. 16, 2010

BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle

An attorney for SRS also contends that because the girl was not in the agency's custody, the state owed no duty to protect her.
The arguments revolve around the case of 23-month-old Brooklyn Coons. Her father's meth-addicted girlfriend was convicted of murder after the girl died from brain injuries caused by her being violently shaken. Melissa Wells Coons is serving a life sentence.
Brooklyn's grandparents, Larry and Mary Crosetto, say they met with Linda Gillen, a veteran SRS social worker based in Coffeyville, and told her they thought Brooklyn was being abused and could be killed if she wasn't removed from the home of her father and his girlfriend. The Crosettos say they offered Gillen evidence but that she refused to act because of a grudge against them.
The legal argument that the social worker had no duty to protect Brooklyn doesn't sit well with her grandfather.
"I thought this was her job," said Larry Crosetto, who is suing Gillen in federal court.
The SRS arguments are in response to the lawsuit the grandparents filed in January. The lawsuit seeks more than $75,000 in damages.
"What we hope to do is get SRS to act in these situations ... and prevent it from happening to another family," Crosetto said.
Brooklyn's death is one of several across the state where families have accused the state Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) of failing to protect children who were killed.
Child abuse or neglect has taken a heavy toll in Wichita, where police investigated eight child homicides in 2008. Seven of the eight deaths occurred from abuse or neglect by caregivers, police said.
In the past six months, several more suspicious child deaths have occurred in the Wichita area, raising more questions about the SRS role in protecting children.
SRS answers suit
In federal court documents defending Gillen, the social worker, SRS staff attorney Danny Baumgartner cites a U.S. Supreme Court case finding no constitutional duty of government to protect a child from violence committed by an individual.
Baumgartner also argues that Brooklyn was not in SRS custody, so SRS owed no duty to protect her.
The SRS defense is based partly on the idea that while government has a duty to the public at large, it can't be held liable for protecting one person from another individual unless special circumstances exist.
The situation limits government's exposure to liability.
But Larry Crosetto said the argument that government has no duty to the individual doesn't seem right to him.
"If it is the responsibility of government to protect the public, who protects the individual?"
The Crosettos' attorney, Randy Rathbun, argues in court documents that Gillen held a years-old grudge against the Crosettos that caused her to ignore reports of abuse from them and not follow her duty to protect the girl from her father's meth-addicted girlfriend, Melissa Wells Coons.
Brooklyn's mother, Angela Coons, died at age 24 in 2007 after a sudden illness. Brooklyn's death was the Crosettos' second loss.
The grandparents' lawsuit says that Gillen refused to accept photographs showing bruises on the girl a month before her death, which Gillen denies in court documents.
Court documents say, without elaboration, that the Crosettos believe Gillen held a grudge over their adoption of their daughter Angela years earlier.
SRS says Gillen has been employed with the agency since 1974.
The SRS response says Gillen denies having a grudge.
The SRS defense
In a court filing responding to the lawsuit, SRS attorney Baumgartner said (referring to the child, Brooklyn, as "B.I.C."):
* "Even assuming the imminence of danger, and even assuming Ms. Gillen knew about this danger (which Defendant denies), Ms. Gillen was under no duty to protect B.I.C. from a danger Ms. Gillen did not create."
* "Even assuming the 'animus' (which Defendant denies) Plaintiffs claim Ms. Gillen had against them, Ms. Gillen was under no duty to protect B.I.C. from third parties."
The SRS response says that the Crosettos seem to contend that once they met with Gillen about their concerns over Brooklyn, "their hands (and the Police's hands) were tied. This is far from the situation."
The document adds: "Ms. Gillen feels for Plaintiffs' loss, but with all due respect to Plaintiffs there is no Constitutional remedy for them here."
As a state employee, Gillen is entitled to "qualified immunity," SRS says.
Grandparents' case
In the court papers representing the Crosettos, their attorney Rathbun says, "This is not just another case of ... an overworked SRS employee and a report that fell through the cracks. Linda Gillen knew and hated Mr. Crosetto."
Rathbun also said that Gillen "carried a powerful animus that resulted in her refusal to follow her duty and protect" the girl from her father's girlfriend.
The Crosettos' filings provide this timeline:
* On Jan. 17, 2008, Coffeyville police responding to a 911 call found Brooklyn unresponsive and in the care of the girlfriend. Police saw head injuries and bruises on the girl.
* The next day, police placed three other children from the home of Melissa Wells Coons and Randy Coons, Brooklyn's father, into protective custody because of "deplorable" living conditions and the injuries to Brooklyn.
* Three days after the 911 call, Brooklyn died in a hospital.
Before the 911 call, Coffeyville police did not take steps to protect Brooklyn because they "reasonably believed that the defendant (Gillen) was undertaking her statutory obligations to safeguard" Brooklyn and her brother, a court document says.
The Crosettos contend that Gillen took it upon herself to monitor Brooklyn's situation — causing other agencies that could have protected the girl to defer to SRS.
Recently, Brooklyn's father pleaded no contest to aggravated endangerment of a child. He faces sentencing July 1.
Gillen remains a social worker with SRS, the agency says.
Reach Tim Potter at 316-268-6684 or tpotter@wichitaeagle.com.
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/05/16/1315895/srs-social-worker-had-no-duty.html#storylink=omni_popular#ixzz0o6qG4W3M

***********************************************

More on this story to be found on the following links:
Coffeyville couple sues SRS worker after granddaughter's beating death
January 24, 2010
BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/01/24/1150653/coffeyville-couple-sues-srs-worker.html#ixzz0o6qcPbzV

SRS seeks dismissal of lawsuit filed by grandparents
March 11, 2010
BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/03/11/1219764/srs-seeks-dismissal-of-lawsuit.html#ixzz0o6qs79ez

2010-05-11T17:07:00.000-07:00

**** May 5, 2010 **** "In The Best Interest Of The Child"**** A Wichita, Kansas Mother Was Attacked By The Foster Placement And Suffered Injuries Requiring Surgery

Another Lawsuit In The Making!

2010-03-23T17:26:00.000-07:00

DA Declines to File Charges Against Camelot Nurse
Posted: Feb 26, 2010 11:37 AM CST
Updated: Mar 02, 2010 3:52 PM CST
http://www.kwch.com/Global/story.asp?S=12051021

No charges related to reported sexual abuse will be filed against a Camelot nurse.Latest Update

The Sedgwick County District Attorney's office declined to file charges against a nurse at the Camelot Center. The nurse was suspected of having sex with a 17-year-old staying at the treatment center.

A spokesperson says there was "no evidence to prove anything criminal was committed."

Police don't plan to investigate the case further. The nurse will still be charged in municipal court for Batter of a Law Enforcement Officer.

------------------

Original Coverage (2/26)

By Megahn Snyder (WICHITA, Kan.)

A nurse at a treatment center for teens could face charges for having sex with a 17-year-old client.

Wichita police tell us someone saw the woman leave the Camelot Center in Riverside with the boy early Thursday morning. The witness called 911. Police later responded to the woman's southeast Wichita apartment where they found the teen and the woman.

She was booked on one count of unlawful sexual relations for allegedly having sex with the teen who was locked up at the facility. She could also face battery charges for fighting the officers who arrested her.

2010-03-09T20:29:00.000-08:00

9 former employees sue Topeka juvenile facility
http://www.kansas.com/2010/03/09/1216705/9-former-employees-sue-topeka.html

The Associated Press
· http://www.cjonline.com
TOPEKA, Kan. - A closed juvenile center in Topeka has been sued for discrimination by nine former employees.
In the federal lawsuit, the former employees of Forbes Juvenile Attention Center allege that they were subjected to racially insensitive jokes, intimidation and disparities in job evaluations.
The nine employees are seeking $500,000 in damages.
Scott Henricks, an official with center's parent company said the company wouldn't comment because it didn't know about the lawsuit.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reported last year that a 12-year-old resident alleged he was repeatedly raped because of insufficient staffing and room checks at the center. The company settled that lawsuit out of court in late November.
The center closed a few weeks after the story was reported.
Information from: The Topeka Capital-Journal, http://www.cjonline.com

****************************************************************

Youth detention center in 'chaos'
http://cjonline.com/news/local/2009-10-17/youth_detention_center_in_chaos

Created October 17, 2009 at 9:30pm
Updated October 18, 2009 at 1:15am
Insufficient staff numbers and inadequate room checks by a Topeka juvenile residential center opened the door for a 12-year-old boy to be repeatedly raped by his roommate over three days in January 2008, a civil lawsuit claims.
"The rape, sodomy, sexual assault and sexual battery could not have happened if the boys or men were properly supervised," reads the suit.
The suit, filed last year in Shawnee County District Court against the owners of Forbes Juvenile Attention Facility, isn't the only place to find concerns about the welfare of residents of the facility.
Other issues related to the treatment of residents have been raised in inspection reports, internal memos and the words of former FJAC workers. Allegations of racial discrimination and questions about how FJAC administrators notify authorities of alleged abuse also have been raised.
The problems, former staffers say, allowed sexual misconduct to go unnoticed.
"The last couple months before I left, it was chaos," said Clarence Tyson, a shift supervisor who resigned in late 2008 after seven years at FJAC.
The allegations are just that -- allegations, the FJAC administration said. Terry Campbell, executive vice president for Clarence M. Kelley Juvenile Justice Resources, which owns FJAC, said a handful of unhappy workers have already made similar claims to other governmental agencies.
"I'm sure SRS has received them, KDHE has received them, JJA has received them, the governor has probably received them," Campbell said. "It's because we've got disgruntled staff, former employees. They're not the majority of the professional staff that we have."
Campbell said there have been only six reports of sexual misconduct at FJAC since 2007, and only two were sexual assaults.
FJAC, located at Forbes Field at 6700 S.W. Topeka Blvd., is a privately run youth residential center, a nonsecure group home for male juvenile offenders that houses up to 56 youths ages 12 to 17. The offenders sent to FJAC aren't the most dangerous in the juvenile system, thus one reason why it isn't a locked facility.
Since a new administration took over at FJAC in late 2007, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment has investigated 20 complaints there. That is more than any of the 29 similar facilities contracting with the state except for one -- Camelot Lakeside in Goddard, which has had 26 such complaints. Many of the complaints against FJAC allege insufficient staffing led to the incidents.
And at least six workers -- five former and one current -- have filed state or federal discrimination suits in 2009. In addition to alleging black workers were treated differently, some of the suits say employees feared retaliation for reporting alleged abuse to authorities as required by regulations and law.
Campbell points out most allegations by the former employees and allegations investigated by KDHE couldn't be substantiated.
Ward Loyd, chairman of the Kansas Advisory Group on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, said he hadn't heard of the allegations but said "where's there's smoke, there's usually fire."
"It's certainly unfortunate to hear that we've got these types of allegations with any Kansas facility," he said. "The whole issue with having them placed in these kinds of facilities is to provide for their needs, not to complicate them."
Civil suit
The 12-year-old plaintiff in the current civil suit against FJAC was referred to the facility in late 2007 or early 2008 by case manager Kenyetta Byrd. Soon after, an FJAC worker contacted Byrd concerned about the boy's small size. According to a February 2008 report by the Juvenile Justice Authority's inspector general on the incident, the caller told Byrd the boy would be "eaten alive."
"They didn't even have clothes small enough to fit him," said Toni Wash, a drug and alcohol counselor who worked at FJAC from late 2007 to late 2008. "Everyone was asking why he was there."
Campbell said he wouldn't comment on any incident under litigation. In addition to the civil case against Kelley Juvenile Detention Services, the roommate suspected of raping the 12-year-old is facing criminal sodomy charges in juvenile court.
Immediately after Byrd got the alarming call from the FJAC worker, another case coordinator called and told her to disregard the previous caller. The boy was then placed at FJAC.
The alleged rape and sodomy occurred from Jan. 22 to Jan. 24, 2008, and as soon as FJAC learned about it, officials there contacted authorities. The lawsuit claims FJAC workers didn't conduct room checks every 15 minutes as their policy mandated. The inspector general's report says room-check logs contained blanket statements about the whole floor without specific mention of individual room checks.
In an e-mail to Campbell on Feb. 14, 2008, Kelley administrator Scott Henricks conceded some fault.
"The cause of the alleged incident can partially be attributed to staff error," he wrote.
In its court response, however, FJAC flatly denied the allegations of improper staff work.
JJA commissioner Russ Jennings said:, "Is there a concern that staff aren't checking rooms regularly? Yes, there certainly is."
Mona Brown, a floor staffer for more than a year until she was fired in January, said she wasn't surprised something happened.
"The staff ratio just wasn't there," she said. "That is the thing that sets it up for things to happen."
Runaway
The alleged rape isn't the only incident in which inadequate supervision has been an issue at FJAC.
A KDHE investigatory report from March 19, 2009, chronicled how a resident stole a worker's cell phone and her car after FJAC staff members left him in a visitation room alone with instructions to stay put.
After meeting for 30 minutes and then going to their offices for another 20 minutes, staff members returned to the room to find the boy gone.
A security video would later show him walking up and down the halls on both floors. The report stated the boy roamed the halls for "approximately one hour and was able to steal a teacher's cell phone and car keys and then exit the building and steal a car without being noticed or missed."
"There was not adequate staff to supervise youth at all times," the report said.
The incident was reported to Metropolitan Topeka Airport Authority police, but it wasn't immediately reported to KDHE, as required by FJAC's own policies. It was two weeks before KDHE was notified.
Campbell said it was important to remember residents aren't locked up at FJAC.
"One takes off, one steals a car, and the issue we have is why didn't we tell KDHE about that at the time?" he asked. "Well, we should have (notified KDHE), but I think our primary concern is getting the police notified, making sure the kid is all right and make sure no one gets hurt."
It wasn't the first time KDHE, which shares oversight responsibilities with the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, heard of a such problem.
KDHE has received five complaints ranging from sexual activity between the boys to runaway youths, all of them blamed on a lack of staffing. Three of the complaints were unfounded, KDHE said.
But a Jan. 14, 2009, investigative report found evidence of inadequate staffing. The visit to FJAC was prompted by allegations another 12-year-old -- not the boy in the lawsuit -- was sodomized by his roommate. The KDHE report stated staff ratios were in compliance at the time of the incident, but a review of the previous year's records by the agency showed 14 shifts weren't staffed properly.
The report said FJAC administrator Jeff Sampson stated he had hired six to seven new employees and was at that time fully staffed.
KDHE's findings were conservative, said Sue Mayhan, who was the second-shift supervisor from October 2008 through May 2009.
"In the eight months I was there, we might have had adequate staffing three months," she said.
Clarence Tyson, a first-shift supervisor who left in late 2008 after seven years at FJAC, said employees were "always asking about staffing."
"Sometimes they'd have 14 or 15 kids on a unit and only one staff," he said.
KDHE requires facilities like FJAC to have at least one staff member for every seven residents during waking hours and one employee for every 10 at night.
In a Nov. 2, 2008, memo, floor staffer Alan Barr wrote to Sampson, "I continue to be on the wing constantly by myself, and I feel my safety is in question."
Campbell wouldn't comment on specific incidents but said KDHE's lack of findings on most of the claims was vindication. He said any problems with staffing were most likely the cause of employees calling in sick, and any issues were immediately addressed.
He said maintaining a consistent staff can be difficult in a facility with juvenile offenders. Since 2007, the facility, which ranges from 40 to 60 workers, has employed 111 people.
Jennings said in his experience running a juvenile detention center in western Kansas, "There's a multitude of issues in terms of recruitment, retention and trainability of employees."
How the facility responded when things did happen is the source of former employees' complaints to KDHE and the Kansas Human Rights Commission.
'Tom, Dick and Harry'
Former employees' statements, complaints to KDHE and claims in discrimination filings allege staff members were routinely discouraged by Sampson from reporting alleged abuse or misconduct to authorities.
Mayhan said Sampson questioned her in November 2008 when she heard an allegation of sodomy and called the MTAA police and other authorities.
"He said it was stuff like that that can get a facility closed down," she said. "He told me I call MTAA too much and that KDHE keeps getting the reports on us and that it's not good for us."
Mayhan said Sampson later told her and other staff members he was tired of having SRS and KDHE investigating "for every Tom, Dick and Harry thing."
Campbell said he wouldn't comment on any personnel matters. He said allegations of employees being discouraged from reporting incidents have appeared in at least some of the discrimination cases filed with KHRC.
Sexual misconduct
Wash said she experienced the same roadblock when she reported a possible case of sexual misconduct involving a resident in November 2008. After pushing the incident up the chain of command and getting nowhere for weeks, she said, she got a meeting with Sampson.
Wash said Sampson told her he hadn't heard anything about the incident. Soon after, she said, she began to get written up on a weekly basis.
She believed it was an effort to build a case for firing her, which happened in December 2008.
Campbell said he wouldn't go into specifics but said Wash wasn't fired for pushing to report the incident. He also said there was an investigation by SRS and MTAA police and that Wash was involved in it.
Wash said she was never contacted by anyone investigating the incident.
The Kansas Department of Labor, in determining whether Wash should get unemployment benefits, said there wasn't enough evidence to show her "alleged actions were a violation of a duty."
Months later, in an investigative document dated March 19, KDHE asked about allegations that staff members didn't do anything about an alleged sexual misconduct between two residents. Sampson told the agency: "He had checked into the incident and was not able to verify that the incident did occur. He did separate the boys at the time."
'That's my call'
In another incident in April 2008, Tyson heard allegations a floor staff member was crawling into bed with residents in the morning. He told the staff and residents to write memos.
"Resident (unnamed) said that Mr. K comes into their room and lays in the bed with them to wake them up," reads one of the memos dated April 9, 2008. "Resident said that he grabbed his toes while he was in the bed."
Tyson said he placed the documents in the mailboxes of the case worker, building supervisor and Sampson.
A few days later, Sampson came to the floor and asked the kids what happened, said floor staffer Brown. She said the residents told Sampson they didn't want the staffer fired. Brown said Sampson told the floor's staff and residents he wouldn't fire the employee and that no one was to call SRS.
"He said, 'That's my call,' " she said.
In addition to the requirement in JJA's provider handbook and in FJAC's own operations manual to report such incidents, it also says the administration should never "interfere or otherwise attempt to alter the report of an abuse/neglect claim made by an employee of the facility."
Interference in reporting such an incident is also a class B misdemeanor under Kansas statutes.
That is why Campbell said FJAC never discouraged reporting.
Tyson said a few weeks went by after the memos were sent to Sampson and the staffer was still on the floor.
"I thought something should happen, maybe a suspension with pay until the veracity was checked out," he said. "It struck everyone as odd that he was still around."
Tyson said the staffer eventually was made an intern case worker for a few weeks before he left the facility.
The policy
Campbell said FJAC takes very seriously its obligation to report abuse. He said he was sure any staff member who felt a youth was being harmed would report it to the authorities, "and if they don't, they're negligent." But he also laid out the company's multilayered policy for reporting incidents.
"Staff should be reporting it, first of all, to their supervisor and the administrator, and if they don't feel it's being addressed then they should report it to our corporate compliance officer," Campbell said. "If they're not satisfied then, then they can always go to outside agencies."
He said employees would only face possible reprimand for reporting out of turn.
Rep. Pat Colloton, R-Leawood, chairwoman of the House Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee, said that isn't how the law reads.
"It sounds like they've got a horrible policy in place that goes against the SRS intent," she said.
JJA commissioner Jennings said it isn't unreasonable for a facility to have a policy that requires the staff to report alleged abuse to superiors first so they can try to address the problem immediately. But that policy shouldn't be used as "a process of screening of what is reported or not."
"Really an employer shouldn't do anything that dissuades an employee from doing their statutory requirement to report alleged abuse," he said.
That being said, Jenning said, FJAC and other contractors "are in a position that they are able to ensure the environment is healthy and safe."
Campbell reiterated that most of the allegations haven't been substantiated by any state agency.
"Allegations can be made by people that maybe aren't the happiest with their employers," he said. "We're very concerned by every allegation. That's why we want to look into them."
James Carlson can be reached at (785) 295-1186 or james.carlson@cjonline.com.

Kansas "The Best Interest Of The Child"

2010-01-26T18:42:00.000-08:00

Another Kansas Lawsuit Against Social Workers, Judge, County Attorney ETC... Woodward et al v. DCCCA Inc. et al

2010-01-26T08:00:00.001-08:00

Judge Rebecca Lindamood on left is listed on this lawsuit.

Woodward et al v. DCCCA Inc. et al

Plaintiffs:James W. Woodward and Destiny Brown

Defendants:DCCCA Inc., CASA, Randy Kauffman, Rebecca Lindamood, Charles Hart, Cheryl M. Pierce, Darrin C. Devinney, Kathleen Sebelius, Don Jordon, Deb Maaeir, Jennifer Wiebe, Loresa Lewis, Phyllis K. Webster, Janet Jacobs, Marry Lee Armstrong, Leslie Jensby, David McElhiney, Kelly Elliott, Tanya Lynn, Kristine Wilscam, Carmel Poor, Tom McDowell and Joshua AndrewsCase

Number:6:2009cv01410

Filed:December 24, 2009

Court:Kansas

District CourtOffice:Wichita Office [ Court Info ]County:XX US, Outside State

Presiding Judge:District Judge J. Thomas Marten

Referring Judge:Magistrate Judge Karen M. Humphreys

Nature of Suit:Civil Rights - Other Civil Rights

Cause:42:1983 Civil Rights Act

Jurisdiction:Federal Question

Jury Demanded By:Plaintiff

Amount Demanded:$5,100,000.00

Magistrate Judge: Rebecca Lindamood

Greenwood County Magistrate Court

311 N. MainEureka, KS 67045

Ph: 620-583-8155

Also listed in this lawsuit is the Secretary of SRS Don Jordan
and former Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius

What about Judge Lindamood?
She has a history of kicking kids out of school and forcing them to get a GED.
Article from 2005:
http://www.kake.com/news/features/2/1948522.html

Kansas Judge Is Ordering Teens To Drop Out Of School

KAKE On Your Side InvestigationReporter: Jeff Golimowski

Judge Orders Teens To Drop Out Of School

Thursday, Nov. 3, 2005

A judge stands in the way of a hardworking, earnest girl trying to finish school. She’s not alone.Graduation Day: It’s supposed to be one of the proudest days of a person’s life, a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment for hard work. Jessica won’t have one.Jessica is a foster kid, who wished to remain unidentified. She should be a high school senior, but a judge told her to drop out.A lot of Kansas kids can’t wait to get out of school. The girl we met fought to stay in. But, she lost in court, now her future is in doubt. A system dedicated to making kids’ lives better failed to help her.Harold and Pam Walker have taken in more than 40 foster kids. The Walkers treat their charges like their own.“They want you to create good memories and stand up for your kids and get them to do what’s right,” said Pam Walker.Jessica’s been with the Walkers for almost a year after being removed from her parents by SRS. She had been having problems at El Dorado High. But, as soon as she got to the Walker’s and enrolled at Goddard High, things started turning around.Jessica will turn 18 Nov. 4. At 18, a ward of the state can be released from SRS custody. Judge Rebecca Lindamood, a magistrate judge in Butler County who’s in charge of Jessica’s case, sees a problem.Apparently, if a child hasn’t graduated by the time they’re 18, they’re going to lose them. The solution, according to Lindamood, is to force her out of school and into a GED.“Most people that hear GED hear you’re a quitter,” said Harold Walker.Jessica is not a quitter. She even found a way to graduate six months ahead of schedule. Not good enough.“The judge said if I didn’t get my GED, she would pull me out of this home,” said Jessica.For the Walkers, this is too familiar.“I really didn’t make an effort,” said Johnathan Alvord, a former foster kid. “So, instead of trying to keep me in, they made me go take a GED.”Alvord had truancy issues at 16. Lindamood’s decision, again, was to let him out of class.Alvord said, looking back, he agrees. Though he said he could’ve graduated had he been forced to stay in. He spent the next two years looking for work. His GED was nearly useless.We went to SRS headquarters in Topeka for answers. It’s against SRS policy for the agency to talk about specific cases. But we asked program manager Deanne Dinkel how the system is supposed to work.“We always encourage our youth to be very involved with their educational goals,” said Dinkel.So someone in Jessica’s position, who desperately wants to graduate, should be helped to succeed, according to the SRS. But, it’s not up to SRS. The ultimate decision for kids like Jessica is left in the hands of judges.Lindamood made helping kids in SRS get an education part of her campaign. Yet state law seals every SRS case. Her constituents have no way of knowing the decisions she’s making. We tried to talk to Lindamood. The Kansas state court system responded, saying Lindamood was unable to respond because it involves a child in need of care case. They said Lindamood, as with other judges presiding over children in need of care, put education of the child as the highest priority.Jessica has taken the tests for her GED and is now awaiting her results.Friday is Jessica’s 18th birthday. Another court hearing is her present. She’ll be back in front of Lindamood, possibly for the final time.

Coffeyville couple sues SRS worker after granddaughter's beating death

2010-01-26T07:00:00.000-08:00

Grandparents Sue SRS Social Worker Over Granddaugher's Beating Death

http://media.kansas.com/smedia/2010/01/22/15/child001.source.prod_affiliate.80.pdf

http://www.kansas.com/news/story/1150653.html#ixzz0dYHeOTX8
Coffeyville couple sues SRS worker after granddaughter's beating death
BY TIM POTTER

The Wichita Eagle

A family's lawsuit accuses a state social worker of gross negligence, saying she failed to protect a 23-month-old Coffeyville girl beaten to death by herfather's meth-addicted girlfriend.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court Tuesday, accuses SRS social worker LindaGillen of not taking steps to remove Brooklyn Coons and her brother from adangerous household after the maternal grandparents repeatedly raised concernsabout injuries to Brooklyn.

The lawsuit — brought by Brooklyn's maternal grandparents, Larry and MaryCrosetto — contends Gillen "failed to act to protect their grandchildren becauseof a pre-existing grudge." The grudge involved actions the Crosettos took yearsearlier in their adoption of Brooklyn's mother, Angela Crosetto Coons, thelawsuit says.

Brooklyn's death is a case of a social worker who remained determined to keepchildren with a parent even when it put the children at serious risk, thelawsuit contends. Other agencies that could have protected Brooklyn deferred toSRS because they thought the social worker was taking steps to monitor the girl,it says.

In an interview, Larry Crosetto said Gillen, a licensed social worker withthe Coffeyville office of the Kansas Department of Social and RehabilitationServices (SRS), "was aware there was a situation in that home. She didn'tinvestigate and find out what the situation was.

"What we hope to do is get SRS to act in these situations ... and prevent itfrom happening to another family," Crosetto said.

SRS won't comment because of the pending litigation, spokeswoman MichellePonce said Friday.

Gillen remains employed as an SRS social worker, Ponce said.

Gillen could not be reached for comment.

The litigation is filed in federal court because of the argument thatBrooklyn and her survivors were denied their constitutional rights by the state,said Randy Rathbun, a Wichita lawyer and former U.S. attorney for Kansas who isrepresenting the Crosettos in their lawsuit.

The Kansas Attorney General's Office prosecuted the girlfriend in Brooklyn'sdeath, which occurred on Jan. 20, 2008. The girlfriend later married Brooklyn'sfather. On Dec. 30, 2009, a judge sentenced Melissa Wells Coons to life inprison for the murder of Brooklyn.

The same day the judge sentenced Melissa Coons, Brooklyn's father, RandyCoons, was charged with aggravated child endangerment, said Ashley Anstaett,spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office.

The lawsuit against Gillen seeks more than $75,000 in damages.

The first loss

The Crosettos had dealt with a tragic loss less than six months before theirgranddaughter's murder. On Aug. 9, 2007, Brooklyn's mother, Angela Coons, diedof a sudden illness at a Wichita hospital. She was 24.

Angela Coons had moved her small children — Brooklyn and son Christian, now 7— to be with her in Wichita just weeks before she died, Larry Crosetto said.Angela Coons was working in Wichita as a Comcare caseworker.

After their daughter became ill, the Crosettos rushed to Wichita. After shedied, they brought their grandchildren back to their Coffeyville home, Crosettosaid.

Before Angela Coons moved to Wichita, she had left Randy Coons and moved inwith her parents. Because Angela was busy completing her degree at PittsburgState University, the Crosettos had "practically raised" their grandchildren,Larry Crosetto said.

The weekend after they buried their daughter, their son-in-law, Randy Coons,showed up on their front porch with two Coffeyville police officers and demandedto take the children, Crosetto said. The son-in-law moved the children in withhim and his girlfriend, Melissa Wells.

"Within a week of the kids being put into that home, Brooklyn showed up on aweekend with her lip stitched together," Crosetto said.

A narrative, timeline

The lawsuit provides this timeline:

In the fall of 2007, the Crosettos started seeing bruises on Brooklyn, andtheir granddaughter received medical treatment twice for suspiciousinjuries.

"The Crosettos began to get more and more concerned about the bruises ontheir grandchildren," the lawsuit says.

On Nov. 5, 2007, school officials told Gillen, the SRS social worker, thatChristian had bruising that looked suspicious, the lawsuit says.

According to the lawsuit narrative: The next day, Larry Crosetto tried toreach Gillen about the bruising, but got no return call, so he tried to contacther again on Nov. 14, 15 and 16, eventually reaching her on Nov. 20. Gillen saidshe had interviewed a school official, the children's father, his girlfriend andChristian. Gillen indicated she had been at the girlfriend's home, the lawsuitsays.

Gillen said a case had been opened and she would make a recommendation inabout 30 days. "She refused to discuss the suspected drug situation in thehome," the lawsuit says.

Crosetto said the grandchildren remained with the girlfriend during the week;the grandparents got the children on weekends. They would exchange the childrenin the front yard of the girlfriend's home. He said he wasn't allowedinside.

He became concerned about the conditions in the house, noticing that thechildren had rashes that appeared to be from fleas and that they looked "filthydirty" every Friday night when he or his wife picked them up.

"Sometimes it was hard to tell if it was bruises or dirt," he said.

"I tried everything to find out what was going on inside that house," saidCrosetto, a 62-year-old accountant.

He said he began taking pictures to document injuries he saw.

Escalating situation

The situation got worse.

On Dec. 10, 2007, the lawsuit says, Crosetto called Gillen again because the"bruising and marks were beginning to escalate. She told Crosetto to call thepolice as it was her duty to try to protect the family and keep it together.Larry asked for an appointment to visit about her duty to protect thechildren."

On Dec. 12, 2007, Crosetto sought help from school officials. "Their positionwas that SRS had taken control of the situation and it was out of their hands,"the lawsuit says.

On Sunday Dec. 23, the Crosettos' doctor noticed bruises on Brooklyn's facewhile she was at church, and he thought SRS should be notified. The doctorrecommended that Larry Crosetto have another doctor examine Brooklyn the nextday. On Dec. 24, the second doctor saw the girl, called police and sent a letterto the Coffeyville SRS office asking that "they investigate the situation andget back to him."

Gillen did not respond to the letter, the lawsuit says. But that same day thedoctor called police, a Coffeyville police officer took a report from Crosettoin the doctor's office and said he would contact the prosecutor's office when itopened after the holiday, Crosetto said.

"I was under the understanding that the Police Department was trying ... tointervene, that the roadblock was SRS," Crosetto said.

The Crosettos believed Brooklyn was in danger.

"I was scared to death," Crosetto said.

The grandparents met with Gillen at her office on Dec. 28, and Larry Crosettooffered a CD showing Brooklyn's injuries. Gillen refused to accept it, saying itwould be a police matter, the lawsuit said.

"The meeting became heated when it became apparent to the Crosettos that thedefendant had some animus against them and was not going to do anything toprotect the children. Mr. Crosetto made it clear that he was afraid she was notgoing to do anything until one of his grandchildren was killed."

And then the worst happened. On Jan. 17, 2008 — 20 days after the Crosettosexpressed their fears to Gillen — Coffeyville police responded to a 911 callabout Brooklyn. She was unresponsive, and she was in the care of Wells. Policesaw head trauma and bruises.

Doctors found that Brooklyn's brain was bleeding as a result of her beingstruck on the head, and she had brain damage from being shaken, the lawsuitsays.

The day after the 911 call, it says, police put three other children from thehome of Wells and Randy Coons into protective custody because of "deplorable"living conditions and because of the fatal injuries to Brooklyn.

The lawsuit says that the Police Department didn't take more steps to protectBrooklyn and the other children before Jan. 18, 2008, "as it reasonably believedthat the defendant was undertaking her statutory obligations to safeguard" thechildren.

The lawsuit argues that Gillen's "conduct increased the danger to (Brooklyn)from the meth addicted girlfriend."

Reach Tim Potter at 316-268-6684 ortpotter@wichitaeagle.com.

2009-12-01T16:02:00.000-08:00

LAWSUIT AGAINST Trego County Juvenile Center, KVC Behavioral Healthcare, Inc., Barry Mayfield, Don Jordan, Jane Doe(s) and John Doe(s)

17-year old Topeka teen had taken off from Trego County Secure Care Center; believed to be with 42-year guard from facility

Plaintiff: India Engle

Defendant: Trego County Juvenile Center, KVC Behavioral Healthcare, Inc., Barry Mayfield, Don Jordan, Jane Doe(s) and John Doe(s)

Case Number: 2:2009cv02459
Filed: August 31, 2009

Court: Kansas District Court
Office: Kansas City Office [ Court Info ]
County: Shawnee
Presiding Judge: District Judge Carlos Murguia
Referring Judge: Magistrate Judge Gerald L. Rushfelt

Nature of Suit: Civil Rights - Other Civil Rights
Cause: 42:1983 Civil Rights Act
Jurisdiction: Federal Question
Jury Demanded By: Plaintiff
Amount Demanded: $1,500,000.00

2009-12-01T15:59:00.000-08:00

P.S. AND C.S. CHILDREN WERE RAPED IN FOSTER CARE AND ATTEMPTED MURDER OF ONE OF THE CHILDREN

SETTLEMENT OCTOBER 2009 WITH THE FARM

•Nelson et al v. The Farm, Inc
•Plaintiffs:Linda Nelson and Randall NelsonDefendants:The Farm, Inc Case Number:2:2007cv02210
•Filed:May 14, 2007
•SETTLED OCT. 2009 FOR UNDISCLOSED AMOUNT OF MONEY TO P.S AND C.S.

Kansas Juvenile Facility Investigated

2009-11-27T16:54:00.000-08:00

On the heels of a settlement in Kansas where a child was repeatedly raped, another facility has been reported by a Social Worker for inhumane and immoral living conditions.
http://cjonline.com/news/local/2009-11-26/juvenile_facility_investigated

By James Carlson
Created November 26, 2009 at 10:40pm
Updated November 26, 2009 at 11:27pm
The Kansas Attorney General's Office and Juvenile Justice Authority are investigating allegations of shoddy conditions at a juvenile correctional facility in North Topeka.
In an anonymous letter sent earlier this month to numerous governmental agencies and to The Topeka Capital-Journal, a person self-identified as a social worker at the Kansas Juvenile Correctional Complex, 1430 N.W. 25th St., alleged the facility housed boys in "utterly inhumane and immoral" conditions in the segregation unit. Some of the issues raised include inadequate sleeping provisions, insufficient hygiene materials, a lack of medical treatment and placement of juveniles in isolation for long periods.
JJA spokesman Bill Miskell said it isn't out of the ordinary for his agency to receive allegations, and officials are following their protocol.
"Not all investigations are made public, but we investigate any allegation of wrongdoing that we receive," he said. "When we receive info that gives us cause for concern that requires attention of an outside agency -- the attorney general, for example -- we bring them into the process."
The governor's office, Kansas Human Rights Commission, attorney general's office, JJA and The Capital-Journal received copies of the letter.
Attorney general spokeswoman Ashley Anstaett said her office can't comment on whether it is investigating the facility, but JJA and the governor's office confirmed separate investigations by both agencies.
"We support their investigative process," said Beth Martino, spokeswoman for the governor.
Miskell wasn't sure when its investigation would be complete and wasn't sure what, if any part of it, would be open to the public.
In the letter, the writer names five juveniles housed at KJCC who the writer says are experiencing the poor conditions.
This comes on the heels of JJA commissioner Russ Jennings' announcement late last month that he was implementing three changes to the state's juvenile justice system.
Under those policy shifts, JJA will now subject juvenile group homes and detention centers to twice-a-year outside reviews; reclassify its facilities to be rated as low, medium and high risk; and implement a statewide test to assess juveniles' risk of reoffending and the services best suited for their problems.
The Capital-Journal published a story Oct. 17 detailing issues at the Forbes Juvenile Attention Center, 6700 S.W. Topeka Blvd. Central to that story was a lawsuit against FJAC alleging a 12-year-old boy was raped repeatedly by his 15-year-old roommate.
Miskell said he couldn't off the top of his head quantify how many investigations happen each year but said they happen "frequently."

Mills v. Sedgwick County Kansas et al

2009-11-21T06:02:00.001-08:00

Another Settlement For A Child From Sedgwick County That Was Raped While In The Care Of The State

County settles rape lawsuit

2009-11-20T19:45:00.000-08:00

The costs of defending the case, in which a resident at Riddel Boys Ranch said he was raped, were considered in the county's decision.

BY HURST LAVIANA

Posted on Thu, Nov. 19, 2009
The Wichita Eagle
Sedgwick County commissioners agreed Wednesday to spend $85,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a former Judge James Riddel Boys Ranch resident who said he was raped while being held at the home for troubled teens.
Assistant County Counselor Michael North said the county admitted no wrongdoing in settling the lawsuit. He said the costs of defending the case were taken into consideration when deciding to settle the case.
The plaintiff, who is now 19, said in his lawsuit that he was assaulted at the ranch six or seven times while being held there in September and October 2004 before leaving the facility without permission.
The boy ended up at the home of his mother, who convinced him to return to the ranch, the lawsuit said. The boy and his mother told ranch officials about the assaults, the lawsuit said, but no corrective action was taken.
On Nov. 2, 2004, the lawsuit said, the plaintiff was raped by the inmate responsible for the earlier assaults.
The younger boy received hospital treatment and was assigned to another juvenile facility, the lawsuit said.
The resident accused of the assaults was convicted of attempted aggravated criminal sodomy, and is now a registered sex offender living in Wichita.
The Boys Ranch, which is operated by Sedgwick County, is at Lake Afton in western Sedgwick County.
Reach Hurst Laviana at 316-268-6499 or hlaviana@wichitaeagle.com.

Former Boys Ranch resident sues Sedgwick County

2009-11-20T19:35:00.000-08:00

By Tim Potter The Wichita Eagle, Kan.Publication: The Wichita Eagle (Kansas)Date: Wednesday, September 23 2009

Sep. 23--A former Boys Ranch resident has sued Sedgwick County, alleging it failed to protect him from being raped while he lived at the home for troubled teens in late 2004.
The plaintiff -- who is 19 now and was 14 at the time he says he was raped -- filed a lawsuit in June in state district court that has been moved to federal court in Wichita.
The lawsuit seeks the standard "in excess of $75,000" in damages, and lists as defendants the county, Judge Riddel Boys Ranch and the county Department of Corrections, including its director, Mark Masterson, and a number of his current and former employees.
The county has denied the lawsuit's claims. The attorney defending the county in the lawsuit, Assistant County Counselor Michael North, said Tuesday that he can't comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit says that the plaintiff had been confined to the Boys Ranch at Lake Afton in September 2004, and that an older teen had assaulted him six or seven times that September and October.
The older teen was 15 at the time.
The assaults caused the 14-year-old to leave the Boys Ranch without permission in October 2004 and go to his mother's house, where he reported he had been assaulted by the other teen, the lawsuit said. His mother persuaded him to return to the Boys Ranch, and she contacted the facility, the lawsuit said.

Both plaintiff and his mother advised personnel at the Boys Ranch that he feared another inmate-resident who was assaulting him," the petition said. "No corrective action was taken by Boys Ranch personnel."
Then, in November 2004, the same teen who had assaulted the 14-year-old raped him, the lawsuit said.
The younger boy received hospital treatment and was assigned to another juvenile facility.
The lawsuit contends that corrections employees were "deliberately indifferent to the safety" of the younger boy and failed to "properly classify, separate and supervise other inmates, leading to serious injuries sustained by the plaintiff."
In the county's answer to the lawsuit's claims, North denied any unlawful actions by county employees.
North also denied that the defendants knew of allegations that the plaintiff had been sexually assaulted six or seven times by the other teen.
The former Boys Ranch resident accused of the assaults is now listed on the state's sex offender registry.
The registry says he has a conviction for attempted aggravated criminal sodomy, for an incident that occurred on the same day the other former Boys Ranch resident alleges he was raped.
William Townsley, the Wichita lawyer representing the young man in his lawsuit against the county, said the litigation remains in early stages.
Reach Tim Potter at 316-268-6684 or tpotter@wichitaeagle.com

Justia Federal Court Filings & Dockets

2009-11-20T19:29:00.001-08:00

Mills v. Sedgwick County Kansas et al
Defendant:
Sedgwick County Kansas, Sedgwick County Department of Corrections, Judge James V Riddel Boys' Ranch, Mark Masterson, Betty Alley Hodnett, Lamont C Emery, Joe T Kaminsky, June F Fair-Harris, Robert J Brassfield, Floyd Johnson, David D Lathrom, Kathleen Suzanne Triebel-Crow, Louis V Goins, David R Patterson, Robin Ann Runyan, Dennis T Domen, Sandra K Duffield, Bobby Damon Etheridge, Cary Toby Knopf, Rodney L Pelly, Pedro E Juarez, Antonio M Ortega, Jr., Enoch I Saisi, Lanna Sue Simpson, Marlon C Green, Molly Diane Audley, Gary A. Sutton, Shannon R Silva, Stacy L Cotton, John William Martin, John C Ayres, Lorenzo Ramon Woods, II, John D Haag, Ryan W Young, Kenneth W Cox, Julie Ann Leonard, Gerald V Murphy, Kevin Gary Hansen, Kevin R Crane, Kristi Lynn Winter, Jimmy E Santiago, IV, Willie Gerome Davis, Richard L Drakeford, Crystal Jean Whiting, Tessa A Ehlers, Shaun A Johnson, Charles M Deitchler and Kami K Thatcher

Case Number: 6:2009cv01192
Filed: June 22, 2009

Court: Kansas District Court
Office: Wichita Office [ Court Info ]

County: Sedgwick
Presiding Judge: District Judge Eric F. Melgren
Referring Judge: Magistrate Judge Karen M. Humphreys

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