Kansas Family Rights Coalition News Letters

Kansas Family Rights Coalition News Letter April 2012
http://www.scribd.com/doc/87901155/April-2012-Kansas-Family-Rights-Coalition-News-Letter

Kansas Family Rights Coalition News Letter March 2012
http://www.scribd.com/doc/82747741/Mar-2012-Kansas-Family-Rights-Coalition-News-Letter

Kansas Family Rights Coalition News Letter Feb 2012
http://www.scribd.com/doc/80043249/Feb-2012-Kansas-Family-Rights-Coalition-News-Letter

Kansas Family Rights Coalition News Letter Jan 2012
http://www.scribd.com/doc/80042764/Jan-2012-Kansas-Family-Rights-News-Letter

Message to Kansas Senators, Do Not Confirm Phyllis Gilmore

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



No Surprise Here: "Her (Gilmore's) private sector experience is primarily within the areas of adoption and health care." http://www.srs.ks.gov/Pages/Secretary/NewSecretaryGilmore.aspx

The Senate Confirmation Oversight Committee will debate whether to recommend the appointment to the full Senate, which will probably vote on Gilmore’s appointment within about a month. Contact every Senator in Kansas ASAP to recommend that Gilmore NOT be approved for this position.

HERE is a list of all Kansas Senators

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

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

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




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


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




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


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



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


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




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

Kansas Child poverty meetings scheduled this week

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

Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/11/10/2097958/child-poverty-meetings-scheduled.html#ixzz1dP4xBSFD
This is a public meeting and even though anyone can attend, the State is requiring citizens to register for this event.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Kansas SRS website shows that there has been a total of 100,277 Kansas Children "Served" in Out Of Home Placement since 1997
The State Labels these seizures as "Foster Care Service Frequency"

Here is the link to that information:
http://www.srs.ks.gov/agency/cfs/Pages/ProgramData.aspx#Federal%20Fiscal%20Year%20Adoptions%20Finalized

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

Saving Ella Jo ~ Foster Care Fraud

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

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

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

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

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

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

Colyer: State must reform Medicaid

Posted on Mon, Sep. 19, 2011

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

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

Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/09/19/2023944/colyer-state-must-reform-medicaid.html#ixzz1YS7yVIXW

Nola Foulston to retire as district attorney

Posted on Fri, Sep. 16, 2011

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

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

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

Kansas is placing toddlers in foster care for "truancy"

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











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


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


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

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