We are Kathleen and Robert Raskin of Las Vegas, and today we are pleased to announce that a program right here in our city that provides foster children with attorneys so their interests will be protected has received important funding. Foster children are often involved in civil cases due to neglect, abuse, and the termination of parental rights. Clark County officials have voted to increase the funding for a program that allows these kids to have legal representation by $1.4M.

The Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada Children’s Attorneys Project
It was a recent increase in the fees associated with court cases that prompted the need for more funding, because the Clark County Commissioners have passed a bill that requires the courts to appoint attorneys to the children in these cases. According to Barbara Buckley, Executive Director of the Legal Aid Center, “Having an attorney means your case isn’t forgotten, that you are not forgotten. If anyone deserves that, it’s these kids.” There are approximately 3,000 children of all ages in the foster care system in Clark County today. While the majority of these children will only be in foster care temporarily, there are others who will end up in long-term care and in the courts, so you can really see why there is a need for this kind of assistance.

We, Kathleen and Robert Raskin, wholeheartedly agree, and we are always pleased when we see others who are also working to help protect children’s and families’ rights.

We are Robert and Kathleen Raskin of Las Vegas, and at our website StopDHR Corruption, our focus is on bringing cases of injustice in the organizations that are charged with protecting children to light. Today we are happy to report that one corrupt worker in Colorado has received a 22-count indictment against her for charges related to falsifying information. Although this worker has now been stopped, it is too late to undo the damage she has caused to families.

The Case Against Richelle Schultz
Richelle Schultz is a former Jefferson County child welfare case worker who claimed she had conducted interviews in a dozen cases in which it was later discovered no such interviews had taken place. The disgraced caseworker entered the falsified information into a database that contained information that was used to resolve cases, leaving families vulnerable as a result of her blatant lies. Schultz was formally charged with 10 counts of forgery and 12 counts of attempting to influence a public servant. Schultz was employed with the organization in a role that required her to investigate complaints of abuse and neglect between December of 2015 and July of 2016. The incidents happened between April and June of 2016.

Schultz has turned herself into the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, and her next court date will be October 2. We, Robert and Kathleen Raskin, are eager to learn what her sentence will be, but whatever it is it will not be long enough to make up for the harm she has caused.

After recent tragedies involving foster care parents in both Perry and West Des Moines resulted in the deaths of two teenage girls who had been adopted, Iowa Department of Human Services director Jerry Foxhoven is ready to implement stricter screening processes that will write accountability into the contracts for the organizations that have been charged with screening foster families in Iowa. We, Kathleen and Robert Raskin, think it’s about time.

Making Sure They Get Good People
Democrat Senator Matt McCoy of Des Moines is concerned that agencies such as Lutheran Social Services are winning contracts and taking money to screen potential foster parents and to conduct initial home visits, and this represents a conflict of interests that could be leading to the acceptance of foster parents who should never have been admitted into the program. The fact that foster parents receive state subsidies can also lead to profit-based motives, leading people to become foster parents for a check rather than because they are truly concerned about the welfare of the children in their charge.

Senator McCoy said, “We need more transparency and we need to ensure they are the type of people we want to entrust these already damaged and abused children with,” and we, Kathleen and Robert Raskin, couldn’t agree more. Join us in our fight to hold these groups accountable and to finally put watchdog organizations into place that will help restore the rights of children and families who have been harmed by these corrupt organizations.

We are Robert and Kathleen Raskin, and today we’d like to discuss a system that is helping to prevent young adults who have aged out of the foster care system from falling through the cracks. In the state of Kentucky, foster children who have reached the age of 18, which is the age of majority, have the option of recommitting to the state until they reach the age of 21. Approximately $3M per year is spent on services for foster kids between the ages of 18 and 21, and this includes many benefits like the waiving of college fees, free housing, life-skills training, one-on-one counseling, and grocery stipends. Despite this innovative program, the vast majority of foster children who age out of the system choose to go it on their own.

Family or Freedom
Why don’t more of these at-risk young adults accept the help that is offered to them? When you consider what many children go through in the foster care system, it’s not surprising that these kids are choosing to leave it despite the possibility of extended benefits. In one interview a foster mother in the state said, “You can put everything on a golden platter and hand it to them, but if it’s not family or freedom, they won’t take it.”

These individuals are seeking families and the freedom to finally not be controlled by the system, and it is clear that improvements to the system need to be made if they want to make any headway with the former foster children of the state. We hope you join us, Robert and Kathleen Raskin, in our quest to hold child protection organizations accountable. Once these issues are addressed, perhaps more of these Kansas kids will be willing to accept help.

The family of murdered child Adrian Jones has filed a lawsuit against the State of Kansas and the State of Missouri alleging that authorities knew the boy was being abused by his father and stepmother, but they did nothing to help him. We, Robert Raskin and Kathleen Raskin of Las Vegas, are deeply saddened that it is too late to help this child, but we are hopeful that the rise in suits filed against state child protection agencies is a step in the right direction as far as holding these agencies responsible for their criminal failings against families and children.

The Case Against the State

Adrian Jones was murdered in 2015. His father then fed his body to the pigs, an act so shocking and horrifying that it made national headlines. Adrian’s biological mother, his maternal grandmother, and his oldest sister have each filed lawsuits in both states. According to the lawsuit, the agency had a long and carefully documented record of numerous injuries against the child, including kicking and punching. Despite this, the boy remained in the home until his father and his stepmother beat and starved him to death. Unbelievably, at one point the agency had the child killers sign an agreement in which they stipulated they would no longer beat the child, which they took at face value. This proved to be a fatal mistake.

We, Robert Raskin and Kathleen Raskin, hope justice is served for this poor child and his grieving family. Nothing can bring little Adrian back, but a victory in court may help to prevent tragedies like this from happening to other families in the future.

Hello, this is Kathleen and Robert Raskin, and today we’re bringing you a bit of disappointing news. The Indianapolis Supreme Court is once again refusing to get involved or to set any limits on the power of their Department of Child Services. In 2015 the ACLU of Indiana sued the department on behalf of a case manager, and instead of stepping in to do what was right for children, the courts instead chose to continue to take a hands-off approach.

Children at Risk

Family case manager Mary Price claimed that she was just one of many case workers whose workloads were so heavy that children were being put at risk. As we all know, many of these cases aren’t cases at all and are instead merely abuses of the system. The case workers are being spread too thin because there is no watchdog group in place to prevent them from taking every report to the extreme, and the result is that children who are actually in danger are being harmed, while children who were never really in danger are being placed in harm’s way.

The Verdict

This past Monday, the court ruled that this isn’t an issue they can resolve, but if they can’t step in, who will? We are Kathleen and Robert Raskin, and we demand justice for children and families. The system needs a complete overhaul, but corrupt officials refuse to take even the smallest step in the right direction. With too many children to oversee, the danger to the kids who need protection the most is increased exponentially, and this is a risk that is morally unacceptable. It’s time to demand change.

This is Robert and Kathleen Raskin of Las Vegas, and once again we are angered and saddened to report that another child has been ripped from a loving family only to suffer permanent injuries in foster care, thanks to the agency that was supposed to protect her. When a neighbor heard three-year-old Devani’s parents fighting, they called the authorities. Devani was not present at the time, and despite the fact no abuse of the child was observed, proven, or even alleged, Arizona’s DCS removed her from her parents’ care and placed her into not one, but two, horrific situations, one of which will leave the girl badly scarred for life.

A Foster Care Nightmare

After the girl was taken for no reason, she was placed in a home in which she immediately began showing signs of abuse, which included everything from bite marks to the frequent UTIs that are hallmarks of sexual abuse. Devani’s parents reported this abuse to police and social workers, but they were ignored, and the girl’s mother was accused of disrupting the foster care system. It was eventually revealed that the foster father, David Frodsham, had been using the girl and other foster children in his child pedophilia ring. He is now serving a sentence of 17 years, but that is not anything compared to the sentence Devani is serving since her next foster parent—Samantha Osteraas—submerged the child in a scalding bath, resulting in the loss of all ten of her toes, organ failure, and burns over 80% of her body. Mrs. Osteraas is facing felony charges, but this is yet another case of too little, too late.

How are these monsters continually approved as foster parents, and when are these agencies going to learn that foster care is a risky option for many children? We, Robert and Kathleen Raskin, demand answers, so please join us in demanding change.

We are Kathleen and Robert Raskin, and today we’d like to bring to light the tragic case of a baby who was killed by his own grandfather after being placed in his care took a unique turn when several of the deceased child’s family members filed a lawsuit. One-year-old Kody Smart’s parents, his paternal grandmother and her husband, and his maternal grandmother are seeking compensation of $150K each for the loss of guidance, care, and companionship that led to the child’s death. The toddler’s killer, Brian Matthews, had been convicted of abusing Kody’s father when he was an infant, but caseworkers from CAS decided to put the baby in his care anyway despite his past. It was a fatal mistake, and now Matthews is on trial for manslaughter.

How Could This Happen?

Despite repeated warnings, Family and Children’s Services placed the baby, who was then 11 months old, into Matthew’s care. Having been abused by him in the past, Kody’s father knew his grandfather was a danger to children. The agencies own files contained documentation that future killer was using drugs and was verbally abusive to a female partner in 1998. Allegations of abuse against children surfaced twice more between 2007 and 2012, and yet the agency handed the boy over to his grandfather anyway. Despite further evidence the boy was not well-cared for, he remained in his grandfather’s care until he died from head injuries.

We, Kathleen and Robert Raskin, demand to know how this could have ever been allowed to happen. The sad truth is, until watchdog organizations are put in place, these tragedies will continue to take place.