A very interesting article on fellow blogger Claudine Dombrowski's site. Although the writers and staff at this website do not condone all of the actions of the AMPP, the organization run by Claudine, there is some excellent information in this article which should be shared. In addition, comparisons to the situation in Berks using real examples are included.
You can see the full article at http://americanmotherspoliticalparty.org/ampp-article-library-family-court-custody-abuse-dv/3-federal-fatherhood-initiatives-dept-health-and-human-services/91-congressional-report-on-fatherhood-funding-used-in-family-courts-child-support-agencies-engaged-in-financial-fraud-senate-finance-committee-hearing-june-2012#sthash.eQlhOROF.dpuf
According to this article,
"TANF Fraud Diverts Billions To Dangerous Unfit Fathers. Healthy Families Initiatives, Responsible Fatherhood Initiatives, Access and Visitation Initiatives"
This is very interesting as we have seen Judge Lash in particular give custody to men who have not only abused their ex wives, but their children as well. In one case, the father bragged about how he was going to get SSI money for his handicapped kids as well as child support and quit work.
In yet another case, the father broke the mother's back and she was comatose and in the hospital. CYS swooped in and the man received total custody while the woman was lying in the hospital unconscious after a domestic violence incidence!!! Charges against the man have never been pressed, even though the DA's office claims to have a domestic violence bureau now.
Justice Works, an agency that works closely with BCCYS has assisted fathers in getting SSI for their children by lying and falsifying documents. In fact, a young lady that we interviewed was so upset that she ran out of the SSI interview. She called to complain to the Social Security administration and was treated rudely by staff at the Reading office. A 20 year old woman told our staff how she had been beaten by her aunt and the staff used the scratch marks her aunt had given to her during the altercation as proof that she was "cutting herself" and was severely mentally disturbed.
The article further continues. Billions in TANF to programs for childless fathers that are not needs based, created redundant “to work” programs via HHS which were already funded via the Department of Labor and the Department of Education, but then excluded women and children from participation by labeling them Responsible Fatherhood programs, the HHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG)[1]and the Government Accountability Office[2]determined that the programs lacked oversight and are riddled with fraud, and State welfare programs adjusted their environment to have a greater need by casting a wider, less transparent net. - See more at: http://americanmotherspoliticalparty.org/ampp-article-library-family-court-custody-abuse-dv/3-federal-fatherhood-initiatives-dept-health-and-human-services/91-congressional-report-on-fatherhood-funding-used-in-family-courts-child-support-agencies-engaged-in-financial-fraud-senate-finance-committee-hearing-june-2012#sthash.eQlhOROF.dpuf
III. TANF PROGRAMS FOR CHILDLESS FATHERS ARE NOT NEEDS BASED. If the goal of some Fatherhood programs is so child support benefits “trickle down” to the child during tough economic times, why does Commissioner Turesky’s department make TANF available to the 1% of child support debtors making more than $50,000-who are unfit or unwilling to have kids live in their homes?[13] Unlike the welfare programs for women and children which had restrictive income eligibility requirements, TANF diverts billions of dollars through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) to non-needs based programs exclusively available to unfit and unwilling fathers, such as Healthy Families Initiatives, Responsible Fatherhood Initiatives, and Access and Visitation Initiatives. Benefits from Responsible Fatherhood programs to childless abusers include:[14][15] Child support obligations are suspended Free attorney representation in the family courts to fight for custody Free housing Direct cash incentives Free groceries Free car maintenance, gas, and other transportation costs Free healthcare and dental care - See more at: http://americanmotherspoliticalparty.org/ampp-article-library-family-court-custody-abuse-dv/3-federal-fatherhood-initiatives-dept-health-and-human-services/91-congressional-report-on-fatherhood-funding-used-in-family-courts-child-support-agencies-engaged-in-financial-fraud-senate-finance-committee-hearing-june-2012#sthash.eQlhOROF.dpuf
We have heard over and over again about women in Berks County who are being told to NOT apply for child support lest they lose custody of their children. Yet the same does not seem to hold true for ALL men.
In one case, a woman was forced to pay her entire salary to her ex husband who had abused her and who had received custody of the children even though he was abusing and neglecting them. Justice Works staff then asked her to provide toiletries for her children and to buy them winter coats on top of paying child support! We interviewed now adult children who told us about the fact that their father received school supplies from BCCYS, and hundreds of dollars from Justice Works to buy his children clothing on a regular basis. He also received food from the food bank and countless hundreds of dollars from his church although he was working full time, collecting child support, and making tens of thousands of dollars more than his ex wife.
From what we hear, he has a free attorney and is receiving free dental and healthcare for the children even though he has a health plan available where he works. The adult children described how caseworkers took the children to doctor and dental appointments, to school dances and to school functions. In addition, caseworkers even took the children to parties and other social events. Caseworkers picked up medication and also dropped by the house to give the children their medication as the father could not be trusted to do so. When the children missed the bus in the morning, the caseworkers would arrive to take them to school too. How many other taxpayers in Berks County receive this special attention?
One woman who we interviewed was told that she was behind in child support payments although she was not. All of her assets were frozen until she paid up and she was threatened with jail. When she complained and complained, she found out that she actually had overpaid on her child support obligations. However, she was not entitled to the over-payment and had to continue paying even though she was actually ahead. The irony was that the mother was capable of parenting her children, yet Judge Lash insisted that the father be given custody as he was "ready and able to parent". This same judge is in charge of the child support division and signed the order to freeze this mother's assets when she was not even behind on child support. Why?
We've interviewed several women who have been in Judge Lash's courtroom. In each case, the children were placed with violent men(or put into foster care) who had been to jail or had mental health records. In each case, the mother was forced to undergo extensive psychiatric examinations to prove that she was capable of parenting. Meanwhile, the children were forced to live in abusive and neglectful environments.
In one case, the judge ordered a mother to pay 14 THOUSAND dollars for a psych eval. In several other cases, he sent the children to foster care even though there was a parent ready, willing and able to care for her children. Why? Judge Campbell's courtroom, a woman who had been seriously injured by her significant other was denied a PFA although that incident put her in the hospital. Further more, her significant other received custody of their child although he had a criminal record. WHY?
Follow the money trail.
These TANF benefits are not intended to directly reach children, their purpose is to reward the unfit and unwilling childless fathers who lost custody of them. The incentives are structured so that the State will only benefit if children are removed from loving homes, then arbitrarily placed with male offenders who previously lost custody. If the programs do not successfully increase in the percentage of noncustodial fathers who file for and win custody, they will not get paid.
HHS reports show that 80% of Fatherhood program participants are court ordered to attend, [16]and many are recruited directly from prison.[17]In 2000, Commissioner Turesky authored a paper for the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) that concluded:[18]
"Many women trying to leave an abusive home rely on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, financial assistance to women in poverty may lessen their risk of violence… about 20 percent of women receiving cash assistance are current victims of domestic violence, while about 50 to 60 percent have experienced domestic violence during their adulthood."
Considering that Commissioner Turesky also claimed in a 2006 CLASP policy brief that 70% of all child support arrears are owed to the government to pay back TANF costs,[19]doesn’t this mean that the overwhelming majority of fathers enrolled in compromise of arrears programs are violent, unfit fathers? This may explain why recent studies found children fare far worse when support is court ordered.[20]
The programs also punish the majority of responsible fathers who willingly provide love and support to their children. Using the virtually unregulated child support system as a vehicle and the father's will to evade prison time as collateral,[21]the fathers are told they can risk their liberty and property attempting to pay down arrears, or alternatively, sue the mother for custody using a variety of federally funded "supports." Children in safe homes do not need rehabilitation, so often times a “need” is created by the State by placing children deliberately in an unsafe home.
The effect of these Fatherhood and welfare reform policies is to place the middle class on welfare by “leaving no family member undiagnosed” when they come into contact with the family courts.[22] At the beginning of a custody case, only the offender is sick, but if one violent offender gets custody, the whole family needs treatment. Consequently for courts and social services agencies to appoint dozens of federally funded family court mental health and legal professionals onto the case to sustain the deadly custody rights of a single violent father.[23]
- See more at: http://americanmotherspoliticalparty.org/ampp-article-library-family-court-custody-abuse-dv/3-federal-fatherhood-initiatives-dept-health-and-human-services/91-congressional-report-on-fatherhood-funding-used-in-family-courts-child-support-agencies-engaged-in-financial-fraud-senate-finance-committee-hearing-june-2012#sthash.eQlhOROF.dpuf
Yet still more:
Although violence is a voluntary act, HHS now invested our tax dollars into rehabilitating the incurable who choose to assault the most vulnerable members of society. Some Studies[34]of male DV perpetrators show that 50% of them are sociopaths and another 25% have sociopathic tendancies. Psychopaths are people who feel no emotional connections to others and have zero regard for the rules and regulations of society, they do not respond to therapy, and cannot be rehabilitated. Dr. Robert Hare reports that psychopaths make up 1% of the general population, but 25% of the prison population: - See more at: http://americanmotherspoliticalparty.org/ampp-article-library-family-court-custody-abuse-dv/3-federal-fatherhood-initiatives-dept-health-and-human-services/91-congressional-report-on-fatherhood-funding-used-in-family-courts-child-support-agencies-engaged-in-financial-fraud-senate-finance-committee-hearing-june-2012#sthash.eQlhOROF.dpuf
The conclusion:
We believe the majority of men are genetically programmed to be good fathers, and we do not agree with HHS’s assessment that all men are incompetent and need federally funded parenting lessons. Dangerous offenders have no business raising children. We are a nation of strong single mothers who raised Presidents like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, both of whom were rescued from the clutches of fathers who were irresponsible, violent addicts. These Fatherhood programs now undermine and punish mothers who try and rescue their children and stay off public assistance, while punishing good fathers and abetting the irresponsible, no matter how rich or poor.
- See more at: http://americanmotherspoliticalparty.org/ampp-article-library-family-court-custody-abuse-dv/3-federal-fatherhood-initiatives-dept-health-and-human-services/91-congressional-report-on-fatherhood-funding-used-in-family-courts-child-support-agencies-engaged-in-financial-fraud-senate-finance-committee-hearing-june-2012#sthash.eQlhOROF.dpuf
We have seen and interviewed a number of excellent fathers in Berks County. In each and every one of these cases, the county went out of its way to keep these good father separated from their children. In one case, a father--perfectly capable--was told that he had "too many children to parent effectively." His children were put in foster care. Why did this father not have a personal staff like the other father to pick up his children, take care of medications, etc?
Violent and neglectful fathers are being coddled and enabled in Berks. The state is picking up the pieces including driving children to activities and picking up medication etc to enable these individuals. Taxpayers are footing the bill for this. Why?
Even more interesting:
The more federal dollars were receive the less States collected in support. States refuse to distribute child support to "families first," and are instead keeping the money for themselves-without accounting for it. When the OIG identified the embezzled funds, they did not help “struggling agencies” find the children it was intended to benefit, the OIG instructed States to properly report…So the feds could have their 66%. This policy entirely lacks accountability or consequences for this fraud. Subsequent reports demonstrated that the problem has continued to worsen, and there are [still] no protocols and procedures in place to define, identify, and track these monies.
The [unlawful] programs are supposed to be ADMINISTRATIVE, but they used quasi judicial power to create, amend, and enforce court orders without judicial authorization. The agency does not provide due process, nor do they have to show you their files. Judges have to look the other way because if they object, they will lose their HHS funding, and at the same time the judge has to accept responsibility for the agency’s badly managed and even crooked interference when litigants are hurt.
Instead of fixing these programs, Obama's proposed budget includes billions more in incentives to disburse and collect support to the programs with no oversight. If the core mission of the child support program is to collect and disburse support to needy children, this is an administrative function which in 2012 should be handled electronically through the treasury. There is no need to create billion in incentives to involve the support agency in taking over the judicial branch’s functions in custody cases.
- See more at: http://americanmotherspoliticalparty.org/ampp-article-library-family-court-custody-abuse-dv/3-federal-fatherhood-initiatives-dept-health-and-human-services/91-congressional-report-on-fatherhood-funding-used-in-family-courts-child-support-agencies-engaged-in-financial-fraud-senate-finance-committee-hearing-june-2012#sthash.eQlhOROF.dpuf
CYS and family court all seem to be Cash Cows for the county. By using society's most vulnerable population, children, as a commodity to be traded for cash to fill up the county coffers. This is basically child trafficking. The question is, what are those in authority in Berks County going to do to correct the situation? Or will they continue to look the other way and line their pockets with "the green stuff"?
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