The New York Senate is considering a bill that will allow child welfare agencies to stop payments to parents who have adopted children only to stop caring for them, and we, Rob and Kathey Raskin of Las Vegas, couldn’t be happier to see one less way people can continue exploiting vulnerable children who are in state’s care for money. There have been cases in which parents have continued to receive subsidies of up to nearly $2K per month for children who were no longer in their custody. This takes money out of the system that could have gone to these children and instead puts it in the hands of adults who are no longer fulfilling their caretaker role. Once you consider the fact that the state provides subsidies for over 17K children, you’ll see that the money saved by cutting these payments would really add up. Since 2012 alone, New York has ended subsidies for 500 children for this very reason.

Children or Paychecks?

The vast majority of adoptive parents are very loving caregivers, but there are also those who take children they then do not care for, only to continue cashing the checks they receive, and some do not longer know where the children they are receiving payments for even are. Subsidies were meant to help adoptive parents, but as usual there are always going to be those who abuse the system. Some have done so deliberately, while others simply adopted children whose needs were too much for them to handle and then simply failed to follow-through. One concern is that this bill could penalize parents who are not currently in custody of their child through no fault of their own, for example in the case of a child who ran away but the family is still in contact. We, Rob and Kathey Raskin, are concerned that these decisions could be left in the very same hands that created the situation in the first place—the corrupt child protection agencies and court system that far too often fail to property vet caregivers in the first place.

Imagine knowing you had three siblings, but not knowing where they are or how to contact them. For too many families whose children are ripped away by the foster system, this nightmare is their reality. We are Kathey and Rob Raskin of Las Vegas, and we are happy that for one group of siblings that were separated by the system, there has finally been a happy ending.

A Sister’s Search

After 23 years of searching, Brandie Ramey of Albuquerque finally found her long-lost siblings. In 1994 when the children were separated, Brandie was just eight years old. Despite her young age, her sister, who was not much older, had been more of a mother than their actual mother was. The young girl even had to steal milk and bread for her younger siblings from a nearby gas station. The children’s mother was a substance abuser who lived with her children in extreme poverty. Sometimes it is necessary to take children into custody, but it is never acceptable to break the sibling group up. These children have the right to grow up with each other, and Brandie spent ten years trying to find her sister and brothers to right the wrongs that were committed by them when child protective services intervened.

Brandie never gave up hope, and thanks to years of online searching she has finally brought the sibling group back together. Though they can never make up for the lost years, at least the siblings have the future to look forward to. Child welfare organizations need to put the children’s needs first, and that clearly is not the case when siblings who are already traumatized and frightened are kept from each other and pushed out of each other’s lives. If we band together, we can demand justice and fair treatment for these and other children who have been victimized by this unfair and corrupt system.

Will more cash help foster kids to find safe homes faster? Officials with Michigan’s Department of Health & Human Services want to know, and they are willing to put their money where their mouths are. We, Robert and Kathleen Raskin of Las Vegas, are happy to see an organization that is willing to put the needs of foster kids before their desire to line their own pockets, and we hope this sets a trend that will result in more states reconsidering the resources they direct to this extremely vulnerable demographic.

In the Children’s Best Interests

Foster care groups are funded on a per-child basis, and once a child is returned to their family or adopted, they leave the system and the group loses the funding. What the Michigan officials are proposing is to form a system that will keep the remaining funds that are left over once a child exits the system to reinvest in the remaining foster children. If a child returns to the system within a year, they will get no money, so child protective services will no longer be able to profit from placing children. Taking away the financial incentive to repeatedly remove a child lowers children’s risk of being removed from their families for a paycheck. This is important in a place like Kent County, where the rate of removal of children from their families is higher than the state average.

We, Robert and Kathleen Raskin, are also happy to report that this state is taking steps to give parents additional help because an investigation determined that many parents have difficulty regaining their children because they don’t have the support they need. By parents, communities, and organizations working together in the best interests of children, their needs will finally be put first.

We are Kathey and Rob Raskin of Las Vegas, and we are staying strong in our fight to protect the rights of families and children. Foster children’s rights are a political issue, because much of the problem lies in the fact that warehousing children equals profits, and the organizations that are making money off of these children don’t want to see that income stream run dry. In North Carolina a bill was introduced that would push reforms in the system, however, as usual, a group home persuaded them to block the legislation so they can continue to earn their blood money. The foster child agency MENTOR has reported a shockingly high foster child death rate in this very same state. This will continue unless good people like us continue to push for change.

42% Higher Than the National Average

Roughly 1,600 children die each year due to abuse and neglect in the foster care system, and MENTOR, an organization that profits off of foster children, has reported a death rate for the children in their care that is an astonishing 42% higher than the national average. MENTOR claimed their fatality rate was not high and are, in fact, on a par with the norm. However, the numbers do not reflect this. This organization reported 94 deaths between 2005 and 2017, but they said 56 had medical problems that meant the child was expected to die, so therefore the deaths were out of their control. But how does this account for the other 38 children who died in their custody? There have been only 13 internal investigations into these foster child deaths, though MENTOR is disputing this fact.

How has this gone unchecked for so long? We, Kathey and Rob Raskin, would like answers, as would the other families who have been affected by this ongoing corruption. Won’t you join us in our fight for justice for these children?

A British social worker is to be fired for falsifying evidence that could have caused a mother to lose her two children. Although this is just one of many workers both in the US and in the UK who have committed the same offense and there is still a long way to go, we, Robert and Kathleen Raskin of Las Vegas, are always pleased to report cases in which corrupt child protective services workers are removed from their positions. If only more of these workers were held to higher standards, families and children would finally be protected from this grievous abuse of power.

A Disgrace to Her Profession

Bristol city council worker Linda Fraser will be terminated by the Health and care Professionals Council, which has determined that her fitness to practice has been irreparably impaired by her conduct.  Ms. Fraser was a senior social worker, so there is no telling how many other families’ lives were torn apart by her corruption. She admitted to editing her records on the case two times after the notes have been finalized to strengthen her case to have the children taken from their mother, this is most likely just the tip of the iceberg. A judge found her guilty, and she appeared before a disciplinary panel, and now we are demanding to know why she is not serving time as well.

The disgraced worker has filed an appeal in which she claims she could not remember changing the records, blaming mental health issues and stress for her actions. When children’s lives are at stake, however, it is the duty of these workers to not let issues like mental problems interfere with the child’s placement. If the duties of the job are so stressful that the workers cannot be trusted to do what is right for children and families, then we, Kathey and Rob Raskin, and the rest of you who are concerned about these issues need to continue to fight for reform in the child protective services system.

When you are dealing with pensioners who live on a fixed income, is it really fair that they should lose their grandchildren forever because they can’t afford a lawyer. We, Kathey and Rob Raskin of Las Vegas, think not, but that is exactly what is happening to one grandmother in Gloucester, England. A paternal grandmother of a child whose parents were unable to care for him has been forced to fight local child protective services for custody of her beloved grandchild after caseworkers recommended the child be put up for adoption.

An Unprecedented Ruling

Due to financial difficulties, this grandmother was forced to fight the courts without legal counsel. As increasing numbers of grandparents both in the US and in the US become caretakers of their grandchildren, the accessibility of legal help for these guardians has become more important than ever before, but no provisions have been made to provide free-of-charge family law help. In an unprecedented ruling that will hopefully set an example other court justices will follow, the judge who presided over the case not only ruled that the grandmother should be awarded custody of the child—he also ruled that the details of her experience be made public. Gloucester’s child protective system has been described as inadequate, and the thanks to their inadequacy the baby was unnecessarily put at risk by remaining in the system for far too long—seven months, in fact, in a system that has a maximum cap of 26 weeks. At last the baby is with his grandmother, and we, Kathey and Rob Raskin, hope to see more cases have outcomes like this one.

53-year-old New Mexico foster mother Hope Graciano has had a litany of charges leveled against her, and she is currently in booked into the San Juan County Adult Detention Center on charges of abuse of a child causing great bodily harm, two counts of abuse of a child, and intimidation of a witness. Once again we, Robert and Kathey Raskin, are left wondering what is the New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department thinking? How are these monsters slipping through the cracks and being approved as foster parents?

Abuse, Starvation, and Neglect

Graciano is accused of beating an 11-year-old foster child with a bed frame because he did do his homework problems correctly. After Graciano brought an 11-year-old foster child who was in her care to the hospital this past September 25^th, her story seemed suspicious to hospital staffers. The foster mother claimed the child fell while he was practicing soccer, but his injuries were not consistent with the woman’s report. The child’s injuries were serious enough that they had to be airlifted to Albuquerque to be treated at the University of New Mexico Children’s Hospital. At that time, the boy, who had black eyes and a skull fracture, mouthed, “Help me,” to hospital staff. Officers received search warrants to investigate the home, and an investigation was initiated, which turned up evidence of abuse, starvation, and neglect.

Graciano’s other foster children were interviewed and removed from the home, so now New Mexico’s CYFD will place the children in new homes. Graciano was hired by a contracted agency, and she has been a foster parent for two years. How many children she abused during this period remains to be seen. Hopefully they decide not to place the children they removed from this home with yet another abusive caregiver, but as far as we, Robert and Kathey Raskin can tell, CYFD doesn’t seem to be able to tell the difference.

This is Rob and Kathey Raskin of Las Vegas, and today we are bringing you another story of injustice in the foster care system, this time out of Oklahoma. Del City foster parent Melvalena Grant has been arrested on four counts each of child abuse and child neglect after being accused of beating and starving foster children who were in her care. According to court documents, the abuse of the four children was discovered during a doctor visit, when the pediatrician determined that two of the children had extreme low weight and height, with all four failing to thrive due to neglect and a lack of nutritional food. Two of the children are seven, one is four, and one is nine. The district attorney has not filed charges yet, but it is expected in the near future.

Unanswered Questions

The Del City woman, who has been a foster parent since 2013, is denying charges that she beat children with a wooden backscratcher until they bled and withheld food as punishment. Prior to becoming a foster parent, Ms. Grant passed all of her background checks, yet when police searched her home cocaine was found. Although DHS says they take allegations of abuse and neglect in foster homes seriously, we have to wonder how seriously, because these children did not become malnourished and underweight overnight. Grant has fostered a total of 23 children over the years, and this is the first time any accusations have been leveled against her. The children have since been removed from the home.

DHS has now opened an investigation into the allegations of abuse against the foster mother, it is, as we have to say far too often, too little, too late. The public is demanding to know how this level of abuse could have gone undetected if the allegations prove to be true. We, Rob and Kathey Raskin, would like to know the same.

Although it has been determined that the Nottinghamshire County Council was not negligent in choosing or supervising foster parents who abused a girl who was caught in the system 30 years ago, the Superme Court has determined that councils can be held legally liable for the abuse anyway. This is a huge victory for British foster children, and it’s an example that we, Kathleen and Robert Raskin of Las Vegas, hope the United States will follow.

Too Little, but Not Too Late

Natasha Armes of Nottingham, England was just a child when she was subjected to horrific physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her former foster parents. Ms. Armes was just seven years old when she was taken into the foster care system in 1985, a decision that was made by the Nottinghamshire County Council. Over the course of the next year, the girl was harshly and excessively disciplined by her former foster mother, and her former foster father molested her. While there is nothing that can undo the damage that was done by this abuse, after an eight-year court case, Ms. Armes now stands to at the very least gain some financial compensation that may help her to get the support she needs.

We are Kathleen and Robert Raskin, and we started our website StopDHR Corruption so we could share our story and bring abuses of the system to light. Are you interested in joining us? Tell us your story, and together we will fight the corruption that is placing children and families in harm’s way.

This is Robert and Kathleen Raskin of Las Vegas. While we are happy to report that the foster sisters who went missing from foster care in Kansas in late August have been located, we still have major concerns about the safety of the children in the custody of Kansas DCF. The three sisters, who went missing from a Tonganoxie foster home, range in age from 12 to 15. It was not discovered by authorities that they were missing until an earlier report came to light, which detailed the shocking number of children missing from the system in the state over the past year. Now that they have been located, it brings up many new questions about what the future holds for foster children who are at risk of running away.

How Can This Be Prevented?

While it is not yet fully known how the sisters escaped from the foster home, whether or not anyone picked them up, and how they ended up in Kansas City, Missouri, they were found in the company of Rigoberto “Rico” Rangel, a 48-year-old man who has since been detained and released by KCPD though they do have plans to charge him. What, specifically, he will be charged with is also unknown at this time. When the girls were found they were hiding in the basement of a home with Rangel, who said he did not know the girls were missing. Police were alerted by an anonymous tipster, and the girls were determined to be with the man—who has faced drug-related charges and a sexual battery charge in the past—willingly.

Authorities are how reporting that the three sisters are now safe, but we, Robert and Kathleen Raskin, disagree. The sisters are now back in the same foster care system they escaped from in the first place. They weren’t safe then, and until they improve the standard of care in the system the girls and others like them will remain unsafe.