(www.JoseesVoice.com) – If you read the website for CASA – Court Appointed Special Advocates – you could easily get teary eyed thinking that they are working hard to help children who have parents who have been accused of child neglect or abuse. But, Josee is living proof that CASA fails children!
CASA always words is “abuse and neglect” to use the element of fear to entice people to give. Abuse sounds horrible and I for one won’t stand for it, especially against a child. But the fact is that nearly 90% of all child welfare cases filed in the United States (and especially New York City) in the past three years have been about poverty related neglect. Many parents can’t afford child care and despite the billions of dollars CPS is giving annual to provide preventative services including housing support, child care vouchers, transportation vouchers, etc., few parents ever see any help.
That’s why CASA has been assigned in my case more than once. Each time, though, CASA keeps my attorney and me out of the loop. All of its communication is done to cater to the child welfare agency in New York City called Administration of Children’s Services (ACS) which has a $3 billion budget – bigger than the secret service. Nearly every child advocacy agency in New York is some how funded by ACS. How fair is that to the kids that CASA is supposed to be helping?
CASA FAILED JOSEE #1
CASA was first assigned to my case to do an ICPC (Interstate Compact Placement Contract) that allows the court to know if the home where the child is going to be placed is clean, safe and stable. The court ordered the ICPC for my apartment as my child and I didn’t live in New York at the time. CASA was also supposed to do an ICPC for my child’s godfather’s home where we stayed following the hurricane before finding our own apartment. CASA neglected to do an ICPC for either apartment. My child’s godfather lived in the same condo for nearly twenty years, held an actively top secret security clearance and worked as a valued government contractor. CASA reported to the court that they thought he was moving and didn’t do the ICPC. They made no explanation for not doing the ICPC on my apartment although they were given the address in open court.
CASA FAILED JOSEE #2
CASA was assigned for the second time to my case to do an ICPC for an out-of-state placement but took nearly 7 months to do an expedited PRIORITY ICPC which is supposed to be done in about a month but no more than sixty days. During that time, my child was not given any financial support, didn’t have medical insurance, food, clothing other support from NYC ACS. CASA didn’t bother to advocate on behalf of my child despite my repeated requests. My child is a special needs child who was receiving SSI and had Medicaid at the time of leaving New York but was forced to miss appointments with specialists, dentists, etc. because CASA and NYC ACS ignored my requests. During what I’ve dubbed the “ICPC #2 Fiasco,” CASA sat back while NYC ACS submitted the ICPC for out of town placement for the WRONG child. They also stated that my child was a Native American protected under the Native American Act. My child is not Native American. CASA waited until a few days before the court hearing to write a court report to state that Edwin Gould – the foster care agency in charge – actually spelled my child’s name wrong FIVE separate times.
CASA FAILED JOSEE #3
CASA was assigned for the third and current time to my case to do an ICPC for an out-of-state placement on an apartment I rented to be near my child. Despite working in New York, I decided to get an apartment about six blocks from where my child was placed. I compute back and forth to New York for work (that’s not a typo but it’s definately an expensive headache). My home was approved by the ICPC for being clean, appropriate and stable. Ironically, the original reason for my child being removed was due to false allegations of a “messy house.” Having local CPS workers approve the apartment should have caused the case to drop, right? Nope. CASA wasn’t done messing things up for us.
The judge ruled that since NYC ACS refused to transfer the case to the state where my child and I are, New York City taxpayers must pay for me to travel to court, pay for my hotel, ground transportation, etc. It’s very, very upsetting to me because taxpayers do not even realize the fraud that they are forced to finance. I really believe that if taxpayers knew that NYC ACS was being so fiscally irresponsible (like waiting until three days before my trip to buy the plane ticket at $990 instead of $220 with weeks notice) taxpayers would start a hashtag #OurMoneyMatters and demand Mayor Bill de Blasio actually keep his January 2014 promise to reform NYC ACS, investigate 3,200 CPS cases where ACS has supervision and end the family court corruption that allows New York City foster kids to spend FIFTY FOUR MONTHS on average in foster care. That’s 4.5 years and TWICE the national average.
I repeatedly asked for ACS to provide me with PREVENTATIVE SERVICES (which are automatic upon a child going into foster care and needing to reunite) housing support, relocation assistance (as I’m entitled to get) and furniture allowance. ACS kept stalling the application and the attorney assigned to me did nothing. I would later find out that Center for Family Representation which was my attorney gets 66% of its funding from NYC ACS. I literally just picked up and left to be near my child but no support from NYC ACS or CASA. I ate on the floor for a month before I could afford furniture and a dining room table. I waited in my apartment for EIGHT MONTHS for the home study to occur. It was scheduled expedited in October 2013 and didn’t happen until February 2014! NYC ACS pretended not to get it so it took another month of waiting to find out my apartment was approved.
CASA FAILED JOSEE #4
Josee’s final step to come home is for the ICPC to be approved for my apartment but guess what? Thanks to CASA’s failing and fudicary neglect, the ICPC on my apartment expired before the court hearing. CASA didn’t say a word. I found out later its quite customary for an extension to be requested and is almost always granted. CASA neglected to request it or alert anyone that it was needed.
I moved to be closer to my child’s new school and gave the new address to NYC ACS and CASA. The request was sat on for so long but finally I reached out to an advocate and got the ball rolling. On December 18, 2014, the local worker came to my apartment (two bedroom 1050 square feet) and deemed it appropriate, clean and stable for my child to grow up in. She looked in my refrigerator, cabinets, checked out my child’s unslept in bed, saw clothes hanging in the closet waiting for Josee to wear them, saw my bedroom, looked on the balcony, etc. She wrote to the court that the apartment was “beautiful” and she approved it. She took so long to get the final written report to New York, Josee and I missed the opportunity to be together for New Year’s Eve 2015!
During the second week of January 2015, the local worker later asked me for financial records to prove I could afford to raise my child and medical insurance. I set up two separate meetings with the local worker to provide a copy of my lease, proof of income, insurance information, etc. but guess what? The local workerstood me up at my apartment on January 13, 2015 and at the local library on January 15,2 015. I do not have a car in the tiny town where my child’s place so I have to walk to the library. It rained that day and was cold but I walked, waited and got stood up by the local worker – AGAIN! She then sent me a letter saying she needed the documents and made it sound that I was not complying. My friend is a social worker and took me to the local CPS office where I was able to fax the documents to the local worker. Thinking that the case was finally over, I felt such relief. But, it was premature.
I found out in mid February 2015 that the local worker suppressed evidence, didn’t include the lease, medical insurance proof or proof of my income. She denied the ICPC placement saying she couldn’t verify that I could support myself or my child and because she said I was uninsured for medical insurance! Can you believe that? Neither could I, but that’s what happened.
I started calling local attorneys to get some help. I found out that I could also use third year law students to assist in my case. Guess what we just discovered on March 17, 2015? The local worker’s ICPS is INVALID. NYC ACS submitted the ICPC for the wrong address! Not the wrong apartment number but for the ENTIRE wrong street! How does this happen? CASA has once again proven that it is not advocating for my child. CASA is failing my child and costing taxpayers millions of dollars a year!
If you’re reading this, please complain to CASA ‘s Board of Directors or CASA NYC’s Executive Peggy Grauwiler, LCSW-R, PhD, Executive Director here! Here’s a list. I’ve spoken to Rachel Schimmel, LMSW, the NYC supervisor many times and she’s dismissive and rude and could really care less. I’m not sure how she still has a job! Here’s the contact information for the New York City office:
New York City CASA
48 Wall Street, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10005
212-334-4010
Website: http://www.casa-nyc.org/
Email: info@casa-nyc.org
DO NOT SUPPORT CASA
If you’re a CASA Volunteer, consider volunterring some where else. If you’re a CASA donor, consider giving your money to FalselyAccusedMoms.com to help rescue children like Josee who are wrongly placed in foster care. CASA has a Wall Street address. Who’s paying for that? They employ lobbyists? Why? You can donate at http://www.GoFundMe.com/JoseesVoice. I personally started FalselyAccusedMoms.com when this whole nightmare began to tell our story. Now it’s available to moms – and even dads – all around the United States!
Contact CASA’s NATIONAL BOARD at http://www.casaforchildren.org/site/c.mtJSJ7MPIsE/b.5406017/k.B22D/Board_of_Trustees.htm
Please sign the Petition to force CASA to advocate for my child! Please help me #BringJoseeHome! She deserves to move on with her life and be made whole!
Thank you,
Josee’s Mommy
Be Josee's Voice - Help Rescue Josee 