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“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” - Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

“‘Tis strange – but true; for truth is always strange; Stranger than fiction.” - British poet Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron)

A lot of evidence concerning abuse and corruption connected with Children's Aid/Children Services/CPS and the various related government departments and non-government organizations (NGOs) has surfaced in both the U.S. and Canada - yet, over the years, nothing changed.

This indicated that there was a larger more powerful connection at play. It did not take long to find this bigger connection. However, in the early years, there were few people who would accept the reality of these larger global connections.

Most people do not want to believe that corruption and abuse against innocent families and children exists in Canada and the U.S.. They need to feel a sense of security in the society they live in, and that need is so great that most people will prefer to believe a lie rather than face the truth. They want to believe that such things only exist in third world countries !

Understanding that even the basics of the wickedness in Nova Scotia, Canada was hard for most people to accept, we originally limited the information we posted to local concerns. This way, at least, we hoped that we could begin educating Nova Scotians about the reality of abuse and corruption connected with Children's Aid/Children Services/CPS.

However, it broke our hearts to find testimonies from parent groups throughout North America and beyond who had worked years to inform the public and had attemped to change the system, as we had, with no success. They were frustrated and did not understand why, despite all the evidence that had come forward, nothing was done, nothing changed.

We felt they were owed an explanation, so, hopefully, now is the time for people to hear and accept the "Bigger Global Picture".

The powerful connections that are responsible for abusing our innocent families and children go to the highest levels that hides behind secrecy and secret organizations.
Countless people will hate the New World Order and will die protesting against it. When we attempt to evaluate its promise, we have to bear in mind the distress of a generation or so of malcontents, many of them quite gallant and graceful-looking people." ~ H. G. Wells (1939)

Finally alternate media, first hand testimonies from people coming out of these evil organizations, and countless politicians began now declaring openly the plan for a New World Order and a one world government. Because of this, it is hoped that people will accept the evidence we are now posting concerning this evil global connection. Please view topics under "Bigger Picture" , "Agenda 21" , "Democracy Destroyed" etc .

Because of the push to form a One World Government, we are all connected in our struggle. What is being done elsewhere is being, or will be, done to us because it is the same global power which is working towards the destruction of our families and our children worldwide - And the corruption in Children's Aid/Children Services/CPS is is just one of the instruments they use to achieve this goal.

Thus far there are at least 8 powers that are struggling for this one world domination: the Illuminati, Communism, the Vatican, the Masons, the Islam extremists (understand these Islam extremists are killing fellow Islamic people who do not agree with their extreme views) and India, China, and Russia. They all use and manipulate each other but, ultimately, each wants ultimate control.

In the Christian Bible, it is prophesied that an evil Anti-Christ will set up a one World government utilizing a one world religion where all the people of the world will eventually be forced to worship him alone. It is difficult, at this time, to determine, for certain, if this Anti-Christ raises up from any of the 8 powers mentioned above or elsewhere. Please link here if you are interested in learning more about the Anti- Christ.

Over the years, we have seen the voice of the people shut down: Newspapers, and Radio stations, that were willing to write and broadcast critical articles and interviews against Children Services/CPS and government folded. And radio/media personalities, who allowed people to speak out against Children Services/CPS and the government, lost their jobs or were heavily curtailed.

Both the US and Canada have passed laws to remove our right and freedoms, including free speech: the Patriot Act, numerous Executive Orders nullifying the US Constitution. The latest US government grab for power is the NSAA that would allow the US government to put any US citizen in indefinate detention without charges or a trial.

Oath Keepers (military police and sheriffs loyal to the US Constitution - ready to defend the people against enemies "foreign or domestic" ) and some congress people, senators and US States have also taken a stand. Even concerned individuals have gone to the courts to fight the NSAA.

We believe the internet, as we know it, soon will be limited. Eventually internet use will be removed completely from the hands of the people. The time is short. The time to get this information out is now. No one is immune from the abuse of Children Services /New World Order/Agenda 21 etc. The victims can be your family, your children, your grandchildren, your nieces and nephews etc.

You cannot move away from this threat - It is global !You must not put your head in the sand! - There is a global plan to destroy the family unit and physical, sexual and mental abuse is an essential part of Trauma-Based Mind Control, one of the many mind control programs used by this global system to destroy our children. They are also using the more insidious Neuro Linquistic Programing (NLP) to alter people's value system. But the current and planned use of Electronic, Psychotronic Mind Control which can be used on people in mass is the most alarming of all ! Please view the many topics on this site under the title MIND CONTROL.

They want our children to rebel against us. They want the new generation to view the "state" as their parent.

But worse than all this, they want to kill off most of the people on this planet, and all under the guise of environmentally saving the planet. We have been declared the enemy - They openly state that we, and our children must be sacrificed for the greater good.

If this sounds extreme to you then it is because you have not been paying attention to the world events that are unfolding before your very eyes. You have been lulled into ignorance and apathy. The expansion of sports and sports arenas, the addiction to various social networks, the focus on celebraties on so called "news" shows. This has all been designed to placate the masses and to get your focus off politics and the changes that are being done to you and your family. Your attention has also been diverted to worrying about the economy and an "enemy" that shifts and changes to suit the political manipulating whims of a small powerful elite. - and this spell has been caste over you "by design". The people in the highest realm of this global power call us "stupid sheep", and we are being lead to the slaughter !

You must wake up NOW! Time is VERY short ! I suggest you start with the several topics listed under "Agenda 21" :

1. AGENDA 21/ Sustainable Development Explained: North America - US - Canada - Nova Scotia (It is recommended that you read this 1st)

2. AGENDA 21/ SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: Population Cut/ Cull (kill) Part 1
(They want to kill us, You should question, Vaccines, Fluoride, Water, GMOs, Chemtrails, Morgellons - GMO/Chemtrail desease.

3. AGENDA 21/ SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: Population Cut/ Cull (kill) Part 2
(Morgellons, Meat, Aspartame, No home gardens, Planned vitamin, mineral and organic food ban, Smart meters, Cancer cures, Pollution free energy and cars, Abortion, After birth abortion, Denying medical care, Killing our own troops, Gun control)

4. AGENDA 21/ SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: Pushback - People are waking up Part 1
(States, Governors, Sheriffs, )

5. AGENDA 21/ SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: Pushback - People are waking up Part 2
(Militia, Military, Whistleblowers)

6. Agenda 21/Sustainable Development: The Bigger picture

7. AGENDA 21/ SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: Political Takeover

8. AGENDA 21/ SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: Canada - New World Order (NWO)

If we do not WAKE UP, fight back, and win then you need to seriously prepare yourself and your family for, incarceration without trial, torture, persecution, and even death.

Did you know that Obama has declared Christians to be "potential domestic terrorists"? - Especially those who believe in the promised Second Coming of Jesus Christ, who, as it happens, according to the Bible, comes to put a stop to an evil one world government. http://youtu.be/c0kiSGKbljs

Maybe some of these Christians and Messianic Jews know something that is very important for these times and perhaps we should pay attention to what their holy books have to say about the "End Times" "End of the Age" etc. (the 3 1/2 to 7 years just before the return of Yeshua Ha Mashiach/ Jesus the Messiah or Anointed One.

For those who want to check this out, please LINK HERE (scroll down to topic list on the right) . Beautiful pictures, fab songs, great testimonies from ex- satanists, ex-witches, ex-illuminati, ex-islamists, Christ believing Jews, etc, archeological evidence for Biblical events and most important scriptures to help you, encourage you and guide you.

May you find the path to the Creator of the heaven and earth. He foresaw these days (view topics on the "End Times" in the link above) we are living in right now and He has instructed us clearly on what we must do and what we are NOT to do. ( "The Mark of the Beast" View all scriptures on this subject HERE Revelation 13: 11-17, 14: 9-11, 16: 2, 19:20, 20:4 . Acceptance of the mark is not a matter to be taken lightly. The Bible states that anyone who accepts the mark, that one must have to buy or sell, denies Christ in favor of a false god. This decision, once made, is irrevocable, and the consequences are everlasting. - ( LINK HERE to read in context with fab pictures and music)

Get yourselves educated. Get familiar with the law and the illegal and unconstituional actions of your government . Educate yourselves about the New World Order and Agenda 21. Get vocal with the government to protect your family and children. Get into the family court and bear witness to what is going on in the name of "justice".
Above written by - Reverend Niemoeller, a German Lutheran pastor who was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to the concentration camp Dachau in 1938.

Friday, May 26, 2006

13. Postings from other Provinces

  • If you are new to this site select 1.INTRODUCTION and then work upward
  • If you have accessed a single posting click on "home" at the bottom of the page first

    Postings from other Provinces

Ontario:

The Kingston Children's Aid Society http://www.fixcas.com/oppose/kingston/intern.htm

What is shocking about this recent discovery of the financial abuses going on in Ontario is that NOT ONE PEEP was in our local paper! Why? Government control of our papers? They didn't want us to get any ideas?

We need an audit here in Nova Scotia as well!


Editorial: Shocking failures in children's aid
Dec. 6, 2006. 01:00 AM
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1165359014346Toronto The Toronto Star

When young children are abused or neglected, Ontario's children's aid societies are supposed to act quickly to protect them. In far too many instances in this province, though, that is not the case.

In a damning report released yesterday, Ontario Auditor General Jim McCarter has for the first time shone a spotlight on the children's aid societies. What he found was disturbing evidence that vulnerable children are being left in harm's way because of lackadaisical care, abysmal recordkeeping, weak oversight and questionable spending on cars and holidays.

McCarter's report is groundbreaking because it is the first time that a provincial auditor general has investigated this vital children's service.

To his credit, Premier Dalton McGuinty has responded quickly to the report, which documents unacceptable lengthy delays in assessing children who are at risk and putting plans in place to keep them safe.

In an audit of four children's aid societies in Toronto, York, Peel and Thunder Bay, McCarter found that in one-third of cases where a child should have been assessed by a caseworker within seven days, such visits were on average 21 days late. In one case, nearly six months late.

Just as troubling, in 90 per cent of cases where children required protection, the societies could not prove children were getting the proper care because there were no plans in place by deadlines mandated by the province. In some cases, plans were almost a year late.

Clearly, such shameful findings leave no doubt the societies have fallen down on the job of protecting children for whom they are responsible.

An earlier leak of the report highlighted scandalous spending by society staff, including expenditures on luxury cars, questionable trips and health-club memberships. But such extravagance at taxpayers' expense is only symptomatic of a larger, more important problem, which is that the societies are failing the very children they are supposed to protect.

In light of these findings, McGuinty announced the province will create a new accountability office to ensure societies live up to their responsibilities under the law to protect and care for children at risk. The office will have enforcement powers, as well as the authority to take corrective action when societies fail to do their job.

These changes should prompt the independent boards of directors that oversee the province's 53 children's aid societies to regain control of the organizations under their charge. And in light of the auditor's findings, administrators who have shirked their duties should be sacked.

McCarter also suggested this was one case where too little money was not the reason that problems arose. As he points out, "total society expenditures ... more than doubled between 1998/99 and 2004/05 fiscal years ... while key service volumes, including the number of families served increased by only about 40 per cent over the same period."

Too often, sensational reports from auditors general generate big headlines, only to be forgotten or shelved in a matter of weeks. That's why McGuinty's immediate response is most encouraging. At the same time, Children and Youth Services Minister Mary Anne Chambers has rightly directed both her ministry and all children's aid societies in the province to implement all of McCarter's recommendations.

But the moves to clean up the children's aid societies should not end there. McGuinty should ask McCarter to conduct another audit of children's aid societies next year to see if corrective measures are being taken.

Such steps are warranted because this isn't just about taxpayers' money. It's about protecting our most vulnerable children from harm.


McGuinty to rein in spending
New office to control cash after report shows taxpayers funded SUVs, trips

Dec. 6, 2006. 01:00 AM
Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1165359015162
ROBERT BENZIE, ROB FERGUSON, AND KERRY GILLESPIE
QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU

The province has slapped strict controls on Ontario's free-spending children's aid societies in the wake of a scathing report yesterday from the auditor general.

Responding quickly to criticism in Auditor General Jim McCarter's annual review, Premier Dalton McGuinty said a new accountability office would oversee the $1.24 billion distributed to provincial agencies that look after vulnerable children.

"We have not been getting good value for our dollars in terms of the money we've been sending to the children's aid society," McGuinty told reporters. "That ... $1 billion is there to support services for children. It's not to ensure that people who are employed through the children's aid society enjoy a comfortable ride to and from the workplace."

Along with the excesses revealed at the Toronto Children's Aid Society — including a $59,000 luxury SUV for an executive, $150 for car detailing, and questionable Caribbean trips — McCarter's exposé found the province is so lax in its monitoring that there is no way to know if children are actually getting the services they need.

Beyond flaws in the child welfare system, McCarter uncovered massive problems in the health-care system and spending abuses at Hydro One and Ontario Power Generation.
On the medical side, he warned that some children getting CT scans have been exposed to adult doses of radiation, a possible cancer risk.

McCarter dubbed the government's much-touted listings of wait times for key treatments "misleading." His advice to patients? Take the advertised wait times "with a grain of salt."
He also pointed out huge potential for OHIP fraud, with 300,000 more health cards in circulation than there are citizens — which could be costing taxpayers as much as $150 million a year. Health Minister George Smitherman said the excess cards problem has been fixed, although this was not detailed in the report.

In the auditor general's first-ever examination of the broader public service, including hospitals, school boards, and other outside agencies like children's aid societies, his 413-page report found a litany of wasteful use of taxpayers' money — much of it on company credit cards.
With the notable exception of school boards and community colleges, McCarter told a packed Queen's Park news conference that every outside agency his auditors examined had more problems than he's used to finding within government.

"It was worse than we would typically find."

McCarter, whose office was probing the leak of part of his report to CBC Radio last week, emphasized he did not want to name names in his report or blame individuals or their agencies because there are "systemic issues" that must be addressed.

For example, the auditor general discovered the province is so lax in its monitoring that there is no way to know if children are actually getting the services they need.

In most cases, the Ministry of Children and Youth Services has approved daily funding rates for children varying from $26 for the cheapest foster home to $739 for the most expensive specialized group home with little or no supporting documents about why a child should be in one placement over another.

The ministry doesn't regularly monitor facilities so officials don't know if the negotiated services, such as counselling for troubled children, are actually being provided.

McCarter found that children in danger are not being seen quickly enough by children's aid societies — in one-third of the cases he reviewed, children were seen an average of three weeks late — and, once they are in care, rules to protect them aren't being followed.

Any serious injury, assault or physical abuse of children in care must be reported to the ministry within 24 hours, but in almost half of the files McCarter reviewed, he found, on average, these reports were filed 10 working days late.

"The ministry must be more diligent in overseeing the work of the societies if it is to be assured that children in need are being adequately protected," he said.

McCarter conducted an in-depth value-for-money review on the agencies in Toronto, York, Peel and Thunder Bay, but warned similar problems are likely in many of the province's 53 children's aid societies, which deal with almost 300,000 children in total.

He found executives driving high-end SUVs worth up to $59,000, costly car-detailing charges, a gym membership worth $2,000 plus an additional $2,600 a year for a personal trainer for a top CAS executive.

As well, the auditor general disclosed instances like a CAS caseworker of "questionable competency" being paid 800 hours in overtime — or $21,000 — just to get caught up on paperwork.

With the money earmarked for children's aid societies having doubled over the past five years despite a caseload increase of 40 per cent, McCarter said it was clear taxpayers were not getting good value for money.

Children and Youth Services Minister Mary Anne Chambers said aside from the new accountability office to monitor children's aid societies, assess their performance, impose public-service standards on expenses, the government plans to make the province's Child Advocate an independent officer of the Legislature.

"With the will of this Legislature, the Child Advocate will never again be muzzled by the government of the day, but will be a truly independent advocate giving our most vulnerable children and youth the strong voice that they deserve," said Chambers, adding the party is over for children's aid societies, which were not previously subject to scrutiny.

"In an era when there were no rules, they weren't breaking any rules," she said of those involved, none of whom the government plans to have fired.

The Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies' executive director Jeanette Lewis said the 53 agencies would be "acting swiftly" upon McCarter's findings.
At the provincially owned Hydro One and Ontario Power Generation, also open to McCarter's microscope for the first time, he found problems at both the electricity system's transmitter and generator.

Hydro One's use of "blanket purchase orders" for the procurement of goods and services could allow expenditures to balloon under the radar of accountants. One two-year $120,000 contract was revised 39 times and rose to $6.7 million.

A top Hydro One executive's secretary also charged more than $50,000 to her credit card for goods and services — much of which was for her boss, who approved the purchases.
At OPG, $6.5 million in purchases on corporate credit cards were approved without receipts.
Energy Minister Dwight Duncan met with the chairs of both Hydro One and OPG late yesterday to discuss the findings.

Meanwhile, McCarter — recently asked to review all government ads and approve them before their release — said his office would be especially vigilant to "the heightened risk" of partisan messages in the run-up to next October's election.

McGuinty said he was taking seriously McCarter's diagnosis of what ails his government.
"Maybe it's a little bit like a visit to the doctor — sometimes you don't want to know," he said.
But Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory wasn't buying the government's excuses.
"What we have here is an all-you-can-eat McGuinty Liberal spending buffet," he said.

CAS failing at-risk kids: Auditor
Children's Aid assessments for vulnerable not timely in 73% of cases
Dec. 6, 2006. 07:33 AM
MOIRA WELSH
STAFF REPORTER
Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1165359015179&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home
A risk-assessment system that was supposed to save children's lives is not being used properly by the children's aid societies that claimed it would protect them from abuse.

In a report laden with allegations of children's aid society executives overspending on cars, business trips and dinners, Ontario Auditor General Jim McCarter also slammed the agencies for not properly conducting risk-assessment checks.

As a result, children under 16 who are living in homes where they are being neglected or abused, or are living with families with a history of drug and alcohol abuse, are not being seen within the proper time frame.

In 73 per cent of cases, comprehensive risk assessments were not completed on time — every 180 days. At one society, the last full assessment was done almost two years prior to the auditor's visit.

In one-third of the files reviewed, children were not seen within the required 12 hours or seven days — the time limits for children deemed at greatest risk of abuse. Caseworker visits were an average of three weeks late, with one being 165 days late.
The requirement to visit a child in care every 90 days was not met in 60 per cent of the cases reviewed.

McCarter looked at children's aid societies in Toronto, York, Peel and Thunder Bay. He said he did not want to name names in his report because the problems are "systemic." This is the first time that the agencies have been scrutinized.

McCarter recommended the province put strict controls on the 53 children's aid societies, noting that monitoring of the agencies is so lax there is no way to know if children are actually getting the services they need.

In response, the provincial government yesterday moved to impose strict controls on spending by the CAS, including a new accountability office to monitor performance.

Premier Dalton McGuinty said the auditor's report showed that "we have not been getting good value for our dollars in terms of the money we've been sending the Children's Aid Society."
A new risk-assessment system was introduced in 1998, giving children's aid societies a standardized means of collecting information to assess the risk to children and a basis to select services available under the child welfare system.

Deputy Coroner Jim Cairns, who a decade ago led the charge against a series of child deaths and abuse in Ontario, said he was shocked to learn that risk-assessment tools were cited by the auditor for misuse.

"I am concerned particularly after all the work we've done," Cairns said. "I am concerned about the delay in doing risk assessments on children. I would have thought that, after everything that has gone on over the last years, that this would have improved."

The auditor cites specific cases in which agencies failed to comply with the requirements of the intake/investigation process, including:
A child was not seen until his aunt and school principal called 12 days after the seven-day requirement period had passed and informed the society the child had been beaten by his mother.
Another child, whose case was rated above the threshold for intervention, was never seen because the caseworker was unable to reach the family during several attempts over five months. When contact was finally made, the mother said everything was fine and the case was closed.
One visit was never made because when the worker called 19 days after the referral, the family had moved away. (The society in the child's new city of residence was notified.)

The auditor's report made several recommendations around the use of the checklists, including the need for societies to conduct their assessments, and provide families with services during the required time frames.

"This is a resource issue, and these are documentation gaps rather than service gaps in our view," the societies said in response to the report.

Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies executive director Jeanette Lewis said the agencies would be "acting swiftly" on McCarter's findings.

The auditor's report found that funding to the Ontario societies has doubled but caseloads have gone up by 40 per cent.

"I had always heard `Oh, we're underfunded,' so I was quite surprised with the auditor's comments that their funding is disproportionate to their increase. You can't use funding as your argument for not being able to do things," Cairns said.

Cairns, who heads the Ontario pediatric death review committee, led a series of inquests in the late 1990s into deaths of children who were being watched by society social workers, often in the homes of abusive or neglectful parents.

During the same period, the Toronto Star published an investigation into child abuse in Ontario and societies repeatedly said that children would be saved from neglect, abuse and even death if they had detailed risk-assessment tools.

SASKATCHEWAN:

News release from Saskatchewan Party Caucus April 12, 2000

Department of Social Services - Do you Know Where Your Children Are?

Saskatchewan Party MLA Don Toth today said the NDP government is failing foster children in Saskatchewan.

Responding to the release of Children and Youth in Care Review: Listen to Their Voices, http://www.saskcao.ca/adult/media/Report2000/Report.pdf , Toth expressed dismay at the level of mismanagement within the Department of Social Services as described in the report.

“[These] statistics are alarming,” Toth said, “When you hear that in 74% of the case files, the standards for worker contact with foster children were not met or unknown, you have to wonder what the Department is doing.”


“This report indicates that in a lot of cases there is no record keeping done, the kids aren’t kept track of, and foster families aren’t receiving support.”


“Who is minding this Department?” Toth asked. “Obviously not the Minister.”

“The report also demonstrates there have NOT been many changes made by the Department since the death of Karen Quill and that is a huge concern.”

Toth said the report highlights many deep and disturbing problems facing the child protection system in the province.

“The caseload is incredible and there are questions raised within this report as to why so many children are ending up in the system,” Toth said.

Toth called on the Minister of Social Services to immediately act on the recommendations outlined in the review.

“This is a very comprehensive and through look at the system and the Minister needs to act immediately to clean up his department,” Toth said. “Foster children, families, communities and social workers should not have to wait one more day for a sign of positive action from the Minister.


QUEBEC:


Maverick Ruffo resigns from bench

KAZI STASTNA; KEVIN DOUGHERTY of The Gazette Quebec Bureau contributed to this report, The Montreal Gazette
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=f970ee9c-00e6-4019-b032-0b2a0c684815&k=74532&p=2

Published: Friday, May 19, 2006

Almost 20 years after she took her first shot from the bench at what she sees as Quebec's grossly inadequate child welfare system, Judge Andree Ruffo's prolonged and very public battle with the province's youth protection services ended yesterday where it began: in the courts.

After Canada's top court decided not to hear her appeal of a Quebec Court of Appeal ruling recommending she be removed from the bench, she will lead her crusade for children's rights from outside the justice system.

Rather than wait to be dismissed from Youth Court by Quebec's justice minister, the only one with authority to remove a judge, Ruffo, 63, resigned yesterday morning.

"It's finished for me in the sense that I am no longer a judge," she said. "But what I want to make sure everybody understands is that I am going to continue - with more energy and certainly more freedom."

Ruffo has long been known for her strident public criticisms, uncompromising judgments and unorthodox courtroom manner.

The Supreme Court decision reflects a reluctance to challenge child protection authorities, Ruffo said. "They obviously want to protect the institution. There is nothing I can do about that," she said.

Even if the high court had agreed to hear her case and ruled in her favour, she would not have returned to the bench, Ruffo said from her home yesterday.

"I don't believe that at Youth Court judges can any longer be independent and render judgments according to children's rights and interests," she said. "I think the department of youth protection is so powerful, it has come to almost dictate the judgments."

Ruffo, who worked in youth courts in St. Jerome and Longueuil, has spent more than
$1 million in taxpayers' funds fighting the sanctions brought against her over the years.
These include a forced transfer from her jurisdiction and more than 100 complaints from youth protection workers and judges lodged with the Quebec Judicial Council, which reprimanded Ruffo 12 times.

Only seven charges of breach of judicial ethics made it before the five-judge panel, which in 2005 found Ruffo's laudable commitment to child advocacy did not justify her behaviour in court.

That panel criticized Ruffo for overstepping her bounds by aggressively pursuing certain youth centres and employees, publicly commenting on cases, accepting paid speaking engagements, appearing in a Via Rail commercial, and calling into question her impartiality by meeting and not disclosing a personal relationship with a witness.

In one high-profile incident in 1988, Ruffo ordered two teenagers for whom there was no place in foster care to be brought to the office of the health and social services minister.

Ruffo said yesterday she did not regret any of her tactics. She said many of the alleged incidents of improper behaviour were misportrayed by youth protection workers angry over her exposure of their mistakes.

The majority of Youth Court judges have got used to blindly following the recommendations of the youth protection department and making judgments based on what resources exist in the system rather than children's well-being, Ruffo said.

The Association des centres jeunesse du Quebec, which represents the province's youth protection services, refused to comment yesterday.

Ruffo remained adamant that the vocal defence of children in and outside the courtroom was part of her professional duty.

"Judges are not to be silent - for me, that's very clear."

It's not about judges being mute, she added. "It's about speaking about the rights of the children who are in front of them. When you're silent, you're always on the side of the power."

Her approach might have polarized her colleagues and made her an enemy of youth protection officials, but Ruffo said she's confident the public and parents - and the lawyers, psychologists, social workers and others working with children - are on her side.

The former judge said she is convinced her 20 years on the bench have raised public awareness and indignation about the failings of the child protection system that will soon force much-needed institutional reform.

Ruffo said she is not sure what form her activism will take now, but she will continue working with Magicians Without Borders, a Vermont-based organization that performs magic shows for kids in troubled parts of the world, and work on her ninth book. She has also given the nod to a Quebec production company that wants to make a film about her career.

One thing she will not do is enter politics - even though she has been solicited to run for office at various levels of government, she said. She noted she's been urged to campaign for office by her critics, who see it as a vocation more suited to her activism.

"It's another way (to effect change), but it's not my place. It's not home," she said.

In Quebec City, Justice Minister Yvon Marcoux declined to comment on Ruffo's decision.
But Mario Dumont, leader of Action democratique du Quebec, said he learned of her resignation "with great sadness."

Dumont said he spoke to Ruffo by telephone yesterday, calling her a symbol in the battle to correct the flaws in Quebec's youth protection system. "I think kids lost an important ally," he added.

He suggested someone had amassed a file on her because of her outspoken views.

kstastna@thegazette.canwest.com

© The Gazette (Montreal) 2006

Home schooling dispute leads to foster care

WILLIAM MARSDEN, The Gazette (Montreal)
Published: Saturday, May 13, 2006

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=a2b583c8-acc0-41fa-9edc-112bae7fce9e&k=37676&p=1

Their bunk beds are empty, their toys idle, their books shelved, and their musical instruments - two violins, an electric piano and an antique accordion - tucked away in their cases.

Signs of a past life that their parents keep undisturbed, waiting for the nightmare to end; waiting for their two boys to return and for life to get back to normal.

On Feb. 15, a judge in youth protection court ordered their two boys, age 9 and 10, into foster care. The reason given was that the parents were negligent of their children's health and schooling.

But as subsequent events have proved, the reason the boys were taken away was not that the parents weren't loving and caring. If anything, it's because they cared too much. They refused to allow the government to impede their children's progress.

At the end of the day, the unyielding parents collided with a rigid bureaucracy and their relatively peaceful life collapsed around them.

Youth protection laws forbid public disclosure of the children's identities. So their names, as well as those of the parents, cannot be made public.

Furthermore, social workers, lawyers and doctors are forbidden to disclose details of their files. For this reason, The Gazette had to rely on interviews with the family and people who know the family, and on supporting medical and school documents.

Tragic stories occasionally surface about youth protection workers failing to protect children from abusive parents or relatives.

This story is different. This is a story of how a system designed to protect children resulted in two pre-teen boys being taken away from parents who had sacrificed their own careers to assure their children's well-being.

It's also about home schooling and children who need special care and what control parents have over education and health care.

"If they can take our children away, they can take anybody's children away," the boys' mother said.

"This whole thing began (in 2004) simply because we asked the school to supply us with textbooks."

- - -
Actually, it began much earlier than that.

It began when the youngest boy, who we will call Timothy, was 3 and diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

Timothy's pancreas had shut down and could no longer produce insulin. Insulin helps the body distribute glucose (sugar) for use as energy. When the pancreas breaks down, sugar stays in the blood where it can damage other organs. Untreated, diabetes is a killer.

Type 1 diabetes is the most severe and, for Timothy, it means that for the rest of his life he will have to inject himself with daily doses of insulin as well as take extreme care in regulating his diet, exercise regime and mental health.

As his parents would soon learn through their research, tight control and careful monitoring are vital.

"It's huge, huge," said Zaheer Molu, spokesperson for the Canadian Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. "Tight control is extremely important in assuring that the child doesn't develop complications in their 20s.

"If you don't manage it properly, you are looking at loss of eyesight, loss of limbs, kidney disease, amputation and all these complications that can start at a very early age. At the prime of your life, you can start experiencing some very, very bad things."

Timothy's parents were determined not to let that happen to their son. But their first experience with the disease taught them that if they wanted to ensure Timothy's long-term well-being, they would have to do it themselves.

"We found out he was diabetic when we went to wake him up one morning and he wouldn't wake up," his father said. "We rushed him to the hospital. He was in a coma for three days."

The reason he fell into a diabetic coma was that Timothy's doctor had misdiagnosed him, his parents said.

Excessive urination is a main symptom of diabetes. Timothy was peeing all the time.
"At 3 he was still wetting his bed every night," his mother said. "He'd be on the street and just pee his pants."

The family doctor said he was just taking longer than other children for potty training. She suggested he not drink water before he went to bed.

That was the worst advice the doctor could have given. Without water to flush out his system, the sugar built up in his body and he went into a diabetic shock.

"He almost died," his mother said.

To the parents, the lesson was clear: Don't trust doctors.

Both parents are academics who were preparing for careers as university professors. They are both strong-minded - some might say headstrong - people. Social and community activism are part of their fabric.

His mother wrote her master's thesis on sexual harassment in the university. In 1991, she won a governor-general's medal for academic excellence. She was active in university and community politics and at one point tried to run as an independent candidate in a provincial election. She also has a degree in music.

His father, who had published a philosophical reflection on John Lennon's song Imagine, was writing his master's thesis in philosophy.

But when diabetes struck Timothy, they put their careers on hold.

"I'm a republican and a conservative," the mother said. "I believe in self-determination and the sovereignty of the person. I think it makes the word 'responsibility' truly meaningful."

When institutions don't live up to their responsibilities, she and her husband don't hesitate to point that out.

Around the time Timothy was diagnosed with diabetes, his parents had a third child, who we'll call Susan. She was born with nasal stenosis, a narrowing of the nasal passage that can cause severe breathing problems in newborns. The child was sent home with an oxygen tank and the parents were forced to give her 24-hour-a-day care.

As they took on the added task of caring for Timothy, they eventually found themselves also taking on an education system that they felt was not fulfilling its mandate. Neither parent could have had any idea of the storm to come.

- - -
"You have a disease that really almost needs to be monitored by your friends and family at all times," Molu said. "Everyone really needs to have a good idea of what to do if you have some kind of low blood sugar emergency. It's almost like a community disease."

Timothy's parents set out to make sure their child was on the best regimen possible. Together with Timothy's doctor, they developed one over time that has kept him in good heath and out of hospital.

"He has never fainted or had a hypoglycemia (low blood level) or a hyperglycemia (high blood level) event," his father said.

They wanted to instill in him the discipline he would need for the rest of his life to manage his illness and recognize danger signals. But they also recognized that he was too young to be completely responsible for himself.

"I put one of those little alarm clocks in his pocket that would ring and tell him it was time to eat," his mother said. "When he's involved in something, it completely consumes him. I would watch him when the alarm was ringing and he was involved in art and he would just not pay any attention to it. That's how children are."

By 2002, he was old enough to go to school. But his parents worried that no school was equipped to watch over him carefully enough to ensure his regimen was followed.

"We went to see the principal of the school and told him what was required in terms of diabetes care," the mother said. "He told us that this was beyond their abilities and suggested home schooling."

Timothy's doctor also felt that home schooling was the safest route and wrote out a prescription to that effect.

"We decided that if Timothy was going to be home schooled we should home school his brother too," who had completed kindergarten at the time, the father said. "We made the decision to treat them equally."

The parents signed the appropriate registration forms with the Lester B. Pearson School Board and got the necessary approvals for their curriculum.

For the next two years they created a program that met the Education Department's requirements. Plus they taught the boys music, art and French.

Molu said most juvenile diabetics go to a regular school, but home schooling is becoming increasingly common.

"Teachers are very, very reluctant to (agree to give medical care to diabetics) and some of them refuse flat out to provide that kind of care because it goes against the school policies, and then there are insurance issues.

"So that is where the parents really have a struggle. Some mothers have actually had to quit their jobs, go on welfare and all sorts of things just so they can be close to their child if any kind of emergency happens. ...

"All parents need to have the assurance that their child is going to live through the day."

After spending their savings and maxing out their credit, Timothy's parents joined the ranks of those with diabetic children who go on welfare.

"We did not start out wanting to home school our children," the father said. "But when the school and the doctor suggested that it might be the best way for the first few years, we agreed.

"It was our intention to make sure that Timothy was on the right regimen and to teach him the necessary disciplines in regulating his diet, exercise and insulin. Then we began to realize that home schooling was better than sending them to a school. We could teach the curriculum in a couple of hours that was supposed to take a week at the school."

In 1979, only 2,000 children in Canada were home schooled. By 2000, this figure had grown to more than 80,000. In Quebec, schools did not used to receive money for these students; that changed this year, however, with the government paying $750 per home-schooled child to finance year-end evaluations.

For the next two years, the parents taught the boys at home. At the end of the first school year, the school tested the older boy, who we'll call Jeffrey, to ensure he was keeping up with the provincial curriculum. (It didn't test Timothy because he was in kindergarten.)

The results were excellent. Margaret Mitchell, who was in charge of home schooling at the Pearson board but now is retired, noted in her report that Jeffrey "displayed fluency and was very articulate in his reading with an excellent vocabulary." She said "he was performing above grade level."

He also performed well in mathematics; and his French conversation was "confident ... and demonstrated good expression" while his French reading "showed excellent accuracy."

Clearly the parents were doing a good job. They renewed the boy's home schooling registration and on June 16, 2003, received confirmation from Mitchell that the school had received the "required documents for Home Schooling with the Lester B. Pearson School Board."

The trouble started at the end of the second year.

"When we hadn't heard from the school board about testing the boys, I called up to make an appointment," the father said.

Much to the parents' surprise, they received a letter from the school stating that "your file is incomplete, consequently your child(ren) (sic) will not be assessed."

The parents phoned up and demanded the children be assessed. They also put their demand in writing.

But the board refused.

And that's when the battle started.

The school claimed the parents had not filed a proper curriculum. To make sure there would be no future problems, the parents wrote out a lengthy curriculum and asked the school to lend them textbooks, which they would return at the end of the year. They also asked for a tutor to be made available to evaluate the boys' progress at regular intervals.

The school board refused both requests, claiming it had no obligation to supply books. Finally, the parents went and got free books from the Kateri School in Kahnawake. But the school board refused to accept the curriculum based on these texts.

"We didn't see why we had to pay (for textbooks) and we didn't have any money anyway," the father said.

The parents filed a complaint with the Quebec Human Rights Commission, claiming the school was discriminating against home schoolers. The complaint is still being investigated.

When the parents persisted in their demands, the school in turn demanded that they send the boys to school.

"We told them fine, we'll send the boys to school but they have to guarantee that they can look after (Timothy)," the mother said. "They refused that and even asked us to sign a waiver saying they were not responsible if anything happened to him. That was unacceptable."

So the parents refused to send the boys to school, and the board refused to test them.

The argument between the family and the school board went on for almost a year. Then the school board called in youth protection authorities.

- - -
Every spring, English school boards dump a pile of truancy files onto the Batshaw Youth and Family Centre, the English youth protection agency, according to assistant director Susan Adams.

"We do end up with a lot of reports around this time of year because schools are basically cleaning their desks," she said.

Recently, Adams said, Batshaw complained to the school boards that they were basically dumping their attendance problems onto Batshaw's lap and that many of these files were not cases of parental neglect.

"We have tried to get the school boards to assume more responsibility for what really is a truancy issue," she said.

Pearson school board lawyer France Goyette, who is responsible for the truancy files, denies dumping files on Batshaw. She said the board is obliged by law to hand them over throughout the year as they become a problem.

Did the Timothy and Jeffrey file end up in this year-end house cleaning? Goyette would say only that the file was a "very complex situation." What's clear is that, in March 2005, a child-care worker showed up at their house.

It wasn't an urgent case. The worker gave it a "Code 3," which means there was no urgency and no need to take the children out of the home.

"Youth protection told us they would decide if the children should go to school," the mother said. "I thought, 'Great, they can ensure that (Timothy) will have the health care he needs.' "

But it didn't turn out that way.

Between March and June 2005, a social worker from Batshaw tried to straighten things out between the school and the parents. The parents, who were also hoping to get back into the workforce, agreed to register their children at the local school. But when the school could not guarantee that Timothy would get proper care, they refused to follow through.

Letters between the school and the parents indicate that the school was doing its best to try to assuage the parents' fears. The school committed itself to "provide necessary medication to the said student." However, the school wanted the parents to sign a waiver absolving the staff of "any action or inaction ... associated with the administering of medication to the said student."

The parents refused to sign because it gave them no guarantees that the school's reassurances were real
.

After three months, when there was no resolution to what was essentially an alleged truancy issue, Batshaw transferred the file to the French youth protection branch, the Direction de la Protection de la Jeunesse, claiming this was at the parents' request.

"We never requested this," the father said. "We're English."

Adams would not comment on this specific case, but she said Batshaw never transfers files to the French sector without the parents' request. And even then, it would not transfer a file unless the parents and children are bilingual. Timothy's parents have only a working knowledge of French.

In any case, the parents soon found themselves in the hands of a francophone youth protection worker.

© The Gazette (Montreal) 2006


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Saturday, May 20, 2006

12. Assessments/ Psychologists/Dr Tana Dineen & Dr Margaret Hagen

  • If you are new to this site please scroll to the bottom of this page to read 1.INTRODUCTION and then work upward
  • If you have accessed a single posting click on "home" at the bottom of the page first )

    Assessments/psychologists/Dr Tana Dineen and Dr Margaret Hagen

    I do not expect to finish writing all I have to say today so please check for updates and editing for this specific posting. There is just so much that the people of Nova Scotia need to know and it is hard to know what to write next.

    We ask those who have been victimized by the system to come forward.
    You are not alone.
    We do not care how long ago you were abused - this abuse by our government has been generational.
    If you are going through the courts right now, get hold of us immediately!
    We want to hear from you.
    Contact us at truth4_@hotmail.com

    And don’t forget to get this blog address out to as many people as possible!

    There are major problems with the assessments that are being done for Children’s Aid/Family and Children Services/Community Services (CA/FCS/CS) and others in the family court system . I direct you to information posted by 2 PHD psychologists who have both written books against the psychologists who have infiltrated into the family court system with their lucrative contracts :

    1. Dr. Tana Dineen - CanadianManufacturing Victims: What the Psychology Industry is Doing to Peoplehttp://tanadineen.com/
    http://tanadineen.com/COLUMNIST/Writings/FamilyLaw.html
    http://tanadineen.com/MEDIA/ReportMagazineReview.html

    We also recommend 2 links she has on her site:Lifting the Veil http://www.liftingtheveil.org/ and
    Ottawa Citizen's Dave Brown's five-part series: Taking a critical look at Canada's family court system http://tanadineen.com/TOPICS/ChildProtection-Dave%20Brown.htm

    2. Dr Margaret Hagen -Professor Boston University - American
    Whores of the Court: The Fraud of Psychiatric Testimony and the Rape of American Justicehttp://www.familyrightsassociation.com/books/whores/of_the_court.htm
    http://www.villagelife.org/news/archives/11-4-97_psychsnoexperts.html

    ( I will elaborate on these doctors in a future editing of this posting - just get on their sites and look around - what you see there will astound you)

    These assessments are usually done by psychologists - In the Halifax Metro area, one particularly lethal organization that does these assessments is the IWK Assessment Services. Under oath, a social worker working for this establishment, testified most of their work comes from CA/FCS/CS. A PHD psychologist informed us that this alone was unethical - to have most of your income from one client makes it impossible for such an organization to be impartial and unbiased.
    It is rare that these assessments are being done to help or assist the children or families - Instead, they are used to gather information to use against families to justify apprehending children. But what is astounding is that test have been deliberately misused and client data and answers to interview questions have been deliberately twisted to present a very different person. We are aware of people who requested strenuously , for their own protection, that these interviews be taped but were denied - this is a right that a PHD psychologist informed us should be there for the protection of not only the person being interviewed but for the protection of the interviewer as well - Guess the system is so corrupt, they don’t have to worry about that side of the coin!



    In one case, a family member filed court orders to have all original handwritten notes which were made over many days of assessment interviews with a number of different people. This person explained that she could reasonably understand a misunderstandings here and there but when everything, 100%, that this person had said in response to specific questions, had been turned around in meaning, then she could only come to the conclusion that she had been deliberately misrepresented. In addition, others who had contributed information were seriously concerned that they had been misrepresented as well and had attempted, on their own, to no avail, to get copies of their interview notes.

    These documents were ordered to be before the court in 10 working days. This was the proof that was needed to prove that this person and the other contributors to the assessment had been totally misrepresented. For months, this assessment team, in writing, made all kinds of excuses for the delay in bringing forth these documents - including the copier breaking down ! Imagine that - not being able to get documents photocopied - I assure you IWK has more than one photocopier!

    As time ticked away, this assessment team even had the gall to fraudulently produce elaborate handwritten notes claiming them to be the documents requested!
    However, when the person requesting these documents was able to describe in detail the forms used to make these notes, also explaining in detail that when the lines on the forms were filled, the interviewer would write in the margins, and even flip over the paper and write on the back, this assessment team, finally relented - BUT NOT by presenting the documents requested.



    Instead, they wrote a signed letter explaining that these files had been shredded!

    They had picked the lesser of 2 evils - They decided to shred the evidence and risk taking any lumps for that instead of being found out for deliberately tampering with data!
    I now add to this story 2 letters that were submitted to Commission Nunn to the Nunn Committee by the two brave ladies, Linda Youngson and Marilyn Dey, who dared to take the Minister of Community Services to court to force him to establish the Advisory Committee that was suppose to be established on an annual basis , but , in fact, had not been established since 1996. - They won the court case - BUT - Soon enough, we will be posting a explanation about the events surrounding this event and explain to the people of Nova Scotia, the sham and the farce that the government has made of this committee.




    Dear Commissioner Nunn:

    Again in today's paper I have read information about testimony before this commission that I find astonishing. It is stated that troubled youth are unable to be assessed because there is no means to do these assessments and no way to put these assessments in place.

    This is not acceptable or reliable information. IWK has its own assessment team located in a government building on Young Street across from the Superstore. It is run by Ruth Carter, Lowell Blood , Dr. Ahmed and several others who are there full time and have been part of the Assessment Team for years. Before moving to Young Street it was located on Tower Road with the same people in charge. All of us who have had our children snatched by child protection have been subjected to the tactics of The Assessment Team which resulted in assessments the likes of which were never seen before and were so bizarre that, in some cases, the individuals could not recognize themselves as being the persons who had been assessed. The information in the reports had been turned completely around so that the meaning was completely opposite to what was said by the parent!

    Unbelievable as this is, we have the documents to confirm this.

    Furthermore, as parents, we were forced to go to these assessments. If we objected or refused, the assessments were court ordered . These assessments cost thousands of dollars and involved numerous collateral contacts who gave input that was invariably used as evidence against the parent in the court proceedings to justify the snatching of the children. Incidentally, there was never any follow-up for the parents, although we were all diagnosed as" mentally ill" to the point of being unable to take care of our children. Our children were also assessed and given diagnoses designed to classify them as "special needs" simply because this meant that they could generate more money from the system.

    While accompanying Carline VandenElsen to meet the CEO of IWK (Ann MacGuire) we were told that, up until that point, she was unaware of the Assessment Team. This makes me wonder if this is again some "secret body" designed strictly for the operation of the benefit of child protection.

    It has come out in various court documents that the business of this team is 100% related to child protection matters. I believe it is important for the Commission to be made aware of this and several of us can be available to produce documentary evidence.

    Yours truly,

    Marilyn Dey

    I would appreciate acknowledgment of this e-mail.

    Mr Commissioner Nunn:

    I would like to add that 2 women had these assessments which were done on parents, grandparents and children reviewed by 2 different well known and respected PHD psychologists, one in Nova Scotia, Dr Carol Pye, and another outside of Nova Scotia, Dr Marlies Suderman, who was then Director of Violence Prevention Services in Research at the London, Ontario Court Clinic. Both psychologists were shocked and appalled at the incorrectly and unethically done assessments - Neither found anything good about the assessment or the way they were conducted and both spoke strongly against these assessments in court.

    But it seems such testimony does not matter. The family court justices seem intent on giving the Children's Aid/Children and Family Services/Community Services Department just exactly what they want.

    When these 2 women made complaint to the N.S. Board of Examiners in Psychology (NSBEP), they were denied answer to basic questions concerning the process, who was on the investigation team, etc. This sham went on for exactly 1 year when they were finally told that their complaint was denied.

    They then, appealed the decision and were given answer in writing that they had no right of appeal and that they were not to ask any more questions because the NSBEP would not give answer to any!

    When these women went to the Ombudsman's office , they were told that the Ombudsman's Office did not have jurisdiction over this concern.

    Bringing the matter of having no right of appeal, to various MLAs has brought no action whatsoever. This a weakness in the act - it allows psychologist to appeal but does not allow people who bring complaint the same right. And this IS the jusisdiction of the MLAs!

    All communications, documents, etc, concerning these cases have been faithfully saved and are available for inspection.

    In addition, Dr Pye made a very candid public presentation June 11, 2004 where she spoke of the serious concerns with assessments conducted for CAS/CS/DCS here in Nova Scotia. I attach a copy of the schedule for these meetings (2 formats). People who attended that meeting are ready, willing and able to speak of the content of information given that day.
    Commissioner Nunn - I have been researching concerns connected with CAS/CS/DCS for many years now and, I, as a citizen of Nova Scotia, am embarrassed by what I have learned. What I have learned, I thought only existed in Third Word Countries - I did not expect to find such goings-on here in Canada!




    I also ask for confirmation of receipt of this e-mail. Thank you

    Linda D Youngson, B.A., B.Ed, M.Ed.



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    Commission Nunn - we the families of Nova Scotia beg you to do the right thing by our children and families!
    One of the 2 women mentioned in the letter below who made complaint to the NS Board of examiners in Psychology was the person who had her evidence conveniently shredded by the assessment service.

Thursday, May 18, 2006

11. System Can't Deal with Teens: Many Sent out of Province


  • If you are new to this site please select 1.INTRODUCTION and then work upward -If you have accessed a single posting click on "home" at the bottom of the page first
  • For more concerns with Children's AidSociety/Family and Children's Services/the Agency in Nova Scotia visit our sister sites What's Wrong with Nova Scotia's Children and Family Service Act: Comments & Recommendations http://revealingtruthinnovascotia2.blogspot.com/ and Former Reviews: They can do it Again! - We want a General Inquiry! http://revealingtruthinnovascotia3.blogspot.com/ LINKS are also to the left

System can’t deal with teens:(response to newspaper article below)
Many sent out of province for treatment, crash inquiry hears

Yes Brian Hayes - you got it right! BUT I encourage the local media to keep on digging - There's lots of dirt to go around!


See the blog we posted May 14th, 2006 Their Shipping Our Children to Utah .


So how many children over how many years have been sent out of province? How long were they gone? We know some that were gone at least 2 years. Did they all indeed come back? Should we trust what these officials tell us?


Mr Savory states that there are 2,000 children in the care of Community Services - While, for those who have been reading this site, we know there is a difference between Children's Aid/Family and Children Services and Community Services and you will soon learn Foster Care as well. So, we ask, what are the full stats for all children who have been apprehended in Nova Scotia? - (Watch this site - We will be talking stats soon enough)


Also, Mr Savory states that "in many cases the kids parents have given up on them." But we have learned from experience, that you need to listen very carefully to what these officials are saying- they are smooth.


For instance we ask, what exactly does "many" mean ? What percentage of children were taken from their parents after a struggle in court? - How many are still struggling in court? How many parents felt forced to give up their children to get the services the Children and Family Services Act 1990 states they are suppose to get in their own family setting because the system stated they could only give these services if the children were in "care" - ( finally, the public is starting to see what a sham this has been.) And how many parents signed their children over for temporary care only to find that their children were taken into permanent care.


And Linda Smith - Give your head a shake and get with the program!


Smith states “a community approach would be unsuccessful” - Well look up -way - way up . . . . . . well just four paragraphs up - “the new law emphases dealing with troubled teens in the community


This is law Ms Smith - we suggest you get with the program and follow it!


And Mr. Savory’s excuse? “the department failed to expand its services and programs


No, Mr. Savory, the Children and Services Act lists a number of services that should be given to children and parents to prevent these children going into care to begin with and the only 2 Advisory Committees that reviewed this act and its implementation met in 1993 and 1996 and both included in their report a letter from Justice Deborah Gass that asked the question - where are the services that the Children and Family Services Act is suppose to be based on?


And Alyson Muzzerall you bemoan that "we’re not miracle workers." - Well, let us tell you this - If the system is going to criticize the parents of these children and then rip the children away without providing healing services - YOU HAD BETTER BE MIRACLE WORKERS! - And stop shipping our children out of province!


We have also heard the inside scoop from some of the youth who have been aprehended. They inform us the the Wood Street facility in Truro is used as a threat to get them to tow the line in trivial matters or even matters concerning their basic rights. And they have already figured out how to play the game to get themselves out as soon as possible.


Lastly - Words of Wisdom about staying at home with your own family, from J, the boy featured on the CBC National presentation Finding Normal who was was in the system for 15 months in Ontario (see previous posting):


"You can learn a lot more … where people actually want to teach you and where you have friends to encourage you and stuff to play with you have a stronger urge to learn,"



System can’t deal with teens
Many sent out of province for treatment, crash inquiry hears
By BRIAN HAYES Court Reporter
May17, 2006, Halifax Herald

Nova Scotia is sending many of its troubled teens out of province for long-term treatment for mental illness and behavioural problems.


George Savoury, senior director of family and community supports with the Community Services Department, said Tuesday there are now about 25 young people being treated in other jurisdictions, including some as far as away Utah.


Mr. Savoury told a Halifax inquiry that Nova Scotia had only one secure treatment facility — the Wood Street facility in Truro — which since opening in December 2003, has provided short-term treatment for about 160 children.


He said about 2,000 children are in the care of Community Services, and about one-third of them are in conflict with the law. About 15 per cent of that group are in foster care, and 140 of them live in residential centres.


Mr. Savoury said in many cases, the kids’ parents have given up on them.


He acknowledged the department failed to expand its programs and services with the introduction of the Youth Criminal Justice Act in April 2003. The new law emphasized dealing with troubled teens in the community rather than jailing them.


"We were not of aware of any requirement . . . to expand services in response to the act," Mr. Savoury said of the shortage of long-term treatment facilities.


He said plans are afoot to change the concept of group homes, which provide housing for kids who have no place else to stay. "Too many group homes are providing the same level of service," he said of the need of more facilities providing a higher level of care for teens who require intensive treatment.


Linda Smith, executive director of mental health, child health and addiction treatment for the Health Department, testified that in the absence of long-term facilities, "there was little likelihood of success in treating repeat offenders."


She said a community approach would be unsuccessful because some kids need to be held in custody or in a secure treatment centre.


Ms. Smith said mental health problems are more acute among homeless teens because of a host of other difficulties they face.


While the Youth Criminal Justice Act has many positive provisions, reducing the number of teens in custody means more unmanageable kids are being put out on the street, she said.


Alyson Muzzerall, senior superintendent at the Nova Scotia Youth Centre in Waterville, noted that about two months before the act took effect, her facility and a similar one in Shelburne housed 168 young offenders; 10 months later, Shelburne was closed, and the number of kids at the Waterville institution had dropped to 68.


There are 71 young people in Waterville, seven of them girls. They range in age from 12 to 18, but most are 16 or 17.


Ms. Muzzerall spoke of the many programs available at the youth facility but said, "we’re not miracle workers."


She said it took 17 years for some kids to get the way they are, and "we just have three months of programming."


The inquiry, headed by retired Nova Scotia Supreme Court justice Merlin Nunn, is looking into the events leading to the death of Teresa McEvoy of Halifax in October 2004 She was killed when her car was broadsided by a stolen vehicle driven by a teen.
( bhayes@herald.ca)


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Wednesday, May 17, 2006

10. UPDATE ! Halifax Children's Aid Workers Arrested on Gun and Drug Charges

UPDATE ! Halifax Children's Aid Workers Arrested on Gun and Drug Charges
Come see what goes on in court!

Melody Husbands and Shannon Johnson
Two drivers for the
Halifax Children’s Aid
Arrested on gun and drug charges!
Scheduled to appear before the
Halifax Provincial Court
Spring Garden Rd?
Monday, June 19, 1:30

-These drivers, drive children who have been apprehended
-They oversee supervised visitations
-They write up reports used in court
- They give testimony in court
Sorry it has taken so long to post these articles

Children’s Aid Society drivers suspended
Society bars two workers after drug, gun arrests
By DAN ARSENAULT Crime Reporter
Halifax Chronicle Herald , MAY 5, 2006
http://www.canadacourtwatch.com/CAS%20Files/2006May05-ChildrensAidSocietyDriversSuspended.pdf

Two women have been suspended from working with the Children’s Aid Society of Halifax after being arrested on gun and drug charges Monday.

Shannon Johnson, 28, and Melody Husbands, 25, were arrested with two men at an Ardwell Avenue address in Spryfield early Monday morning and were told Tuesday they won’t be working for Children’s Aid at least until their legal issue is resolved.

"We heard about it late Monday and responded immediately in terms of letting the service providers know that they were off our list," Barbara Williams, the acting co-ordinator of family and adolescent services with the society, said Thursday.

She wouldn’t say how long the two independent contractors had been doing work for the society. Their duties involved ferrying children who had been removed from their parents’ home to and from visits with them.

According to a society release issued Thursday, service contractors are screened annually through a police check, a scan of the child abuse registry, references and other steps.

At their arraignment in Halifax provincial court Monday, Ms. Johnson and Ms. Husbands told the court of their work and were granted an amendment to their release conditions to allow them out of their houses to do occasional work between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. [ WHAT? !] As well, they were given permission for the same reason to have incidental contact with each other.

The women were arrested at about 2 a.m. at an address Ms. Johnson shares with co-accused Trevor Miller, 26, court records show. Ms. Husbands’ address is listed as Tamarack Drive in Cowie Hill. Harold Patton, 27, of Connor Lane in Halifax was also arrested. All four were charged with possessing a weapon and drugs.

Halifax Regional Police say they seized a sawed-off shotgun, a large amount of marijuana, smaller quantities of morphine and cocaine, hundreds of ecstasy pills and thousands of dollars in cash.

Mr. Miller was remanded and the other three are free with conditions until all four return to court May 15 to plead to the charges.



Former Children's Aid worker pleads guilty
RICHARD CUTHBERTSON
Halifax Chronicle Herald, 09/04/07

A former independent contractor with the Children's Aid Society in Halifax pleaded guilty last month to one count of possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.
Shannon Johnson was arrested after a police drug search in May 2006.
At the time, Johnson was employed as a driver for the agency. The now 29-year-old ferried children who'd been taken from their homes to appointments with their parents.
She was suspended after being charged.
Earlier, another man arrested in relation to the bust was sentenced to four years in prison. Trevor Miller pleaded guilty to a number of drug and weapons charges.
Speaking of the Miller case, Crown attorney Tim MacLaughlin said a variety of drugs were seized, along with a sawed-off shotgun. The drugs included: 420 tablets of ecstasy, 14 kilograms of marijuana, 300 grams of magic mushrooms and an ounce of cocaine. Also seized was more than $6,500, two scales and two nightsticks. [The article above states that Shannon Johnson lived with Trevor Miller]
Johnson is due to be sentenced on May 28. Charges against Melody Husbands and Harold Patton were dropped earlier this year.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

9. Exposing Durham Children's Aid -CBC National News

(If you are new to this site please scroll to the bottom of this page to read 1.INTRODUCTION and then work upward -If you have accessed a single posting click on "home" at the bottom of the page first )

Wake up folks!

Thank you Michelle Cheung for a wonderful expose of the Durham Children's Aid Society, titled Finding Normal, on the CBC National News. Go to the following website, then click on the hyperlink in the top right hand corner, and you can watch the original 24 minute news story that was aired on May 15, 2006.
See additional responses by the government and viewers to J's story on this website http://www.cbc.ca/newsatsixtoronto/

Our hearts go out to the grandparents of this child who fought hard and long, draining their savings, and more, we imagine, to rescue their grandson from this system. Our hearts also go out to J and his sister - Keep strong and know that there are people who do love and care about you! And J: thank you for sharing your many words of wisdom with us - You are truley wise beyond your years - What you have shared with us, I believe, will help many children in the future!

Meanwhile, people of Nova Scotia wake up! The events revealed in this news story are not exclusive to Ontario! Many parents and grandparents here in Nova Scotia are struggling to rescue their beloved children from similar situations. See the earlier posting on this blog site - The Cry for Help that Went Unheard

Keep watching this site . Soon enough, we will be posting information of our concerns with the numerous psychologists and their associates who are making lots of money from lucrative contracts with Children's Aid/Family and Children Services/Community Services right here in Nova Scotia.

Finding Normal
Reporter: Michelle Cheung
Producer: Kamala Rao
From The National, May 15, 2006

Children rely on the adults for care and support.

When that support sometimes breaks down, other grownups are entrusted with special responsibilities —organizations like the Children's Aid Society and people like doctors, are brought in to make things better.

This is a story about a boy who was heavily medicated over a period of time. He'd been diagnosed with several psychiatric conditions, and his medications were steadily increased after reports of more and more difficult behaviour.

That's when the boy's grandparents step in, concerned about their grandson and the effects the medications were having on him.

Now out of the group home, the boy is off all of the drugs he was prescribed there. The boy in this story is referred to as "J" throughout in order to protect his identity.

"How would you describe yourself to someone who doesn't know you?" J is asked.

"Nice. Not very calm at times. Very good at biking. Not too good at skate boarding but still like to sit on it and zip down hills!"

As long as he's moving, the boy we call J is free, free from his memories.

"I didn't really think about much. I was always tired — my arms and stuff. I couldn't get out of bed often," he says.

Two years on, J is transformed. A relief to his grandparents. "He just loves to laugh … he's just a completely different kid from, from those times before," his grandfather says.

The 15 months he spent as a ward of the Durham Children's Aid Society on sometimes, crippling doses of medication … "I couldn't stand up I hardly could climb the stairs I pretty much had to crawl the stairs," J says.

"It was like the life in his body was being drained out of him," J's grandmother says.
Early family photos reveal a happy, healthy child. But his young parents struggle with a variety of mental health problems; problems they see reflected in their son … complaining he's aggressive and inattentive.

Three months shy of his sixth birthday, J's pediatrician diagnosed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD. The doctor prescribes the stimulant Ritalin. But his parents aren't satisfied with the diagnosis. Over the next two years, they take the boy to several psychiatrists: one adds Tourette Syndrome, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder to the boy's expanding diagnoses. Another doctor suspects the boy has a form of autism called Aspergers. Yet another adds bipolar disorder, or manic depression, to the list.
While most kids his age are learning to tell time, J is learning to keep a pill schedule of anti-depressants, anti-convulsants, stimulants and tranquilizers. But his parents still can't cope with his disruptive behaviour.

Eventually, the Durham Childrens Aid Society steps in and seizes the eight-year-old. The CAS places J in a group home an hour northeast of Toronto. Youth Connections is a privately-run residence for troubled boys; children diagnosed with severe emotional and behavioral disorders. In seizing J, the Children's Aid Society should be taking the boy out of a bad situation and putting him into a better one. But his 15-month stay at the group home only makes things worse.

By the time his grandparents get J out, there will be another psychiatrist, more medication and more anguish.

"You know how you feel when you have a headache," J says. "Like make that headache outside your head and around you and that's sort of like the way to describe how the atmosphere at the group home felt like — not very happy.”

J shares a room with another boy, and stays out of trouble, at first. But soon, group home workers complain about J's escalating bad behaviour to the group home psychiatrist, Dr. Albert Massabki. A report from Feb 6, 2003 described J: "quite unfocused" … "when upset (he) becomes very unstable" "make(s) comments such as 'I want to die'."

Dr. Massabki responds by introducing J to yet another drug: an anti-psychotic drug called Seroquel.

By now, J's maternal grandparents have become actively interested in raising him. But they're frustrated by the limited access imposed by the Durham CAS.

"They really didn't want to give him over to us, but we weren't about to stop fighting for him," his grandmother says.

Initially Durham CAS allows his grandparents to see J twice a week for a couple of hours. Sometimes they venture no further than a parking lot. But it's a welcome escape, and a chance to observe J's behaviour. His grandparents love those visits. And hate them.

"I would sit in the back of the van and he would just lay on me," his grandmother says, "Hold me, he would say, you know … you could feel his body sinking after taking the medications. It made me very very angry to give him these pills."

As his legal guardian, J's CAS case worker has signed a medical consent form allowing the psychiatrist to increase the boy's medication. With continued reports of J acting out, the doctor increases the boy's medications six times in less than a year.

The grandparents tell the CAS they want the pills to stop. But they have no legal rights. The Children's Aid Society won't even tell them what the pills are. So his grandmother decides to find out: A pharmacist checked the pills and told her that he was on Aeroquel, an anti-psychotic drug used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in adults. It also acts as a sedative. A 25 mg dose can knock out some grownups. Seroquel has not been proven safe or effective in children.
"You always feel tired," J say. "When you wake up you can't get out of bed. But then you have to and you go to school. The highest grade level I got when I was nine years old in the group home was about kindergarten."

"We could see the steady progression of him going downhill getting skinnier and skinnier," his grandmother says.

The grandparent's apply to become J's legal guardians. After 10 months, the Durham CAS calls in clinical psychologist Marty McKay to assess whether the grandparents would make fit guardians of the boy.

"Before I met the child I conducted a review of all the file materials [at] the Children's Aid Society, over 1,000 pages," McKay says. "I thought I was going to be dealing with a very dysfunctional child."

Over several months, McKay observes J while he's visiting with his family. She finds him happy and enthusiastic with his grandparents. She too notices, that after J takes his medication, he changes. "Approximately 15 minutes later, he was not reasonable anymore. He couldn't process information. He would be acting in a random fashion and sometimes go into a rage."

McKay voices her alarm in her final report to the Durham Children's Aid Society: "I am quite concerned that J is receiving dangerously high levels of medication and that this regime has no actual treatment value but is primarily, if not wholly, designed to suppress symptoms."
McKay recommends the child live with his grandparents. The court agrees.

As J settles in with his grandparents, they look for help to take him off the medications prescribed at the group home. They find Dr. Wendy Roberts at the Hospital for Sick Children. She is a pediatrician who helps untangle multiple diagnoses in kids.

When she meets the nine year old, he's consuming a combination of: 50 mg of Ritalin, 500 mg of Divalproex, 500 mg of Seroquel. Every day.

"On the whole, all the classes of drugs were at the higher level of what you would typically expect to be seen used in children," Roberts says.

Under Doctor Roberts' direction, his grandparents carefully wean the boy off his drugs bit by agonizing bit.

"He would pour sweat. He had fevers he would see bugs where there were no bugs. He was delirious." His detox takes 10 months.

"We were able, as we came down, to get him off them all and we felt he was more connected with us, happier and had less anxiety when he was drug-free. That doesn't happen with every child," Roberts says, "I think he continues to have an attention problem; I think he functions best in a stable, supportive, environment. We've no suggestion at this time that he would meet criteria for bipolar disorder and he's still young for that and he would not meet criteria for Tourette Syndrome at this point. He's not, he does not have Asperger disorder. He does not meet criteria for an obsessive-compulsive disorder at this time."

The boy thrives on his grandparents' farm. He gains weight, going from 29 to 45 kilograms in just three and a half months.

"I think in eight months he grew four inches. We were told by his pediatrician that it was the drugs that was stunting his growth," his grandmother says.

While his grandparents are delighted he's doing so much better, four months into his detox, they were still troubled by some disturbing behaviour. At night, he refuses to go up to his room on his own. He wakes up crying. He wets the bed. His grandparents learn the scars from the group home run deeper than they feared.

While being interviewed by an advocacy group, J asks to be left alone with the camera. He says: "It never happens in the day. The group home staff never checked up on us, because they are always down watching TV."

He then describes having been sexually assaulted repeatedly by another resident at the group home.

"This is the truth. I did not tell it to my grandma before. I was too embarrassed to even tell it to her. And this is what happened most of the times."

He gets up and walks away, leaving an empty chair. While J's revelation is new to his grandparents, it appears the Durham Children's Aid Society knew something was wrong early on. A month after J moved into the Youth Connections group home, his CAS caseworker wrote this note in her file: "J has experienced inappropriate sexual behaviour."

In hindsight, his grandparents believe that J suffered from a disturbing sequence of events. The more he acted out, the more he got drugged.

"We saw that more and more drugging came after he had been sexually abused," his grandmother says.

Only after J settles in with his grandparents is his former roommate at the group home convicted of sexually assaulting the boy.

J's long nightmare is over. He's been out of the group home for more than two years, off his medications for one — medications he doesn't need, for conditions he doesn't have.

J's dancing to his own tune, trying to put the past behind him. But he still has questions about the drugs he was prescribed: "Why would you put a kid on that when you see how nice and kind he is now that he's off of it. Why would you do it in the first place?" J asks.

To begin to understand what happened to J, you need to look at conditions in the group home — an environment with kids in crisis, staff and a doctor under pressure. If J was ever going to get off his medications, this group home was not the place to be.

Dr. Wendy Roberts says, "Once children are in a group home situation, if they're getting a relatively brief assessment from a clinician who may well be overworked and has a very short period of time, there's a tendency just to have the medication increased rather than to go through a systematic kind of withdrawal and careful look."

With each diagnosis came more medication and the possiblity of drug side effects.

"This boy had been diagnosed with ADHD and was prescribed Ritalin at quite high dosages, and it's a well-known fact that Ritalin — especially at high dosages — can cause tics," McKay says. "So, when he started demonstrating this side effect, he was then diagnosed as having Tourette syndrome."

"If a drug makes you feel dizzy or miserable or unwell, then you might act more irritable, more upset, you might be more explosive, you might look aggressive. So there are ways, because behavior is just an end product, there are ways of acting that would make you think: OK maybe its this disorder, maybe its that disorder," Roberts says.

In their reports to the psychiatrist, group home workers often did describe J as irritable, upset, and aggressive. They also noted J was at times incontinent, and slow with routines. But they never made a connection between J's behavior and possible drug side effects.

With one exception. About five weeks after J was started on Seroquel, the group home supervisor suggested that some of J's behaviour might be related to the boy's new medication. Stating that J "has appeared to be more defiant towards staff since the med began."

Still, it seems the staff's ability to identify possible side effects was uneven, at best. "One worker laughed and said he did a face plant in his food. They gave him his medication at suppertime during the week and he just fell forward into his food," his grandfather says.

In a letter defending his treatment of J, the psychiatrist, Dr. Massabki acknowledges he relied in large part on the group home workers to tell him if the boy showed any adverse reactions. Massabki wrote: "… There was no report of any side effects."

"Some of the workers are wonderful at coming in and telling us what goes on," Roberts says. "Others are very inexperienced and don't necessarily know what you need to hear."

But clinical psychologist Marty McKay says that, in some cases, the dynamic can involve more than inexperience. "The labelling is often done by people who have a vested interest in the children being compliant, such as group home workers who may fill out a checklist and check off things that make a child appear ADHD or Tourette Syndrome or bipolar, and the psychiatrist simply writes out prescriptions."

Dr. Roberts says she has seen many cases where children's behaviour worsens in care. Still, J's case shook her: "This is one of the most, I think, severe situations that I have come across. It's not unique. There are lots of children, particularly in the child-welfare system, who have a lot of behaviours that have really been exaggerated by very unfortunate interactions between their own relatives, other caregivers and clinicians who are often feeling very uncomfortable with dealing with the complexity of what they're being asked to consult to."

And that, McKay says, is also what happened to J. As his conditions worsened, his behavior deteriorated. "He was angry! He was often angry that he was in this group home. Later on I found out that he had more reason to be angry than I knew at the time I was doing the assessment. That was later — he began to disclose he had been repeatedly sexually abused while in the group home."

"If you get a call from some home every day saying: behavior's out of control, behavior's out of control, you know staff are threatened, things are not feeling good — the natural inclination is to increase the dose of medication," Roberts says.

The grandparents, along with McKay lodged a complaint with the College of Physicians and Surgeons — a self-regulating professional body.

They accused Dr. Massabki of failing to adequately diagnose and treat J. Last spring, the college cleared the psychiatrist; concluding "the medications and dosages prescribed by Dr. Massabki … are standard, and are medications commonly prescribed for young patients in similar situations with good effect."

McKay and the grandparents have appealed the decision. Massabki refused to comment on this story. Youth Connections would not talk to us.

The Durham CAS declined our request for an on-camera interview. It would only provide a written statement: It says its policy on giving children the types of drugs given to J is "in compliance with Ministry regulations."

In fact, the law in Ontario requires the risks and side effects of each drug be set out on medical consent forms, before medications are administered to children like J. The consent form signed by J's CAS guardian and the group home psychiatrist did not.

The same law gives the government the green light to set up an independent board to investigate and review cases like J's. That board could recommend medications be adjusted, reduced and even stopped. The thing is, that board has never been set up. That decision rests with the minister of children and youth services.

After being assessed by more than 70 doctors in 11 years, J is now focused on making up lost ground.

"You can learn a lot more … where people actually want to teach you and where you have friends to encourage you and stuff to play with you have a stronger urge to learn," J says.
J no longer wakes during the night crying, but he still won't go up to bed on his own.

"It could be a normal thing and something will remind him of an event that took place within the group home and we have to deal with that and comfort him and help him through it and tell him he'll never go back there again," his grandmother says

But going forward is going to be a challenge for his grandparents: Their fight for J has drained their savings.

Now they're making room for another. Their granddaughter is also a ward of the Durham Children's Aid Society. Since moving in with her grandparents, she's completed a drug- reduction program similar to that of her older brother.

"One of my greatest compassions now is for people out there who are going through the same thing we are. When you're in the middle of it you feel like you have no hope. And when you get out of it you are thankful its over and you pick up the pieces and keep going," J's grandmother says.



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