Calista snared by human mistakes

Overgrown Headache, I'm sorry for your situation, but I'm so glad that you finally got to live with your dad. You have an opportunity ahead of you with college and a chance at a successful, happy, life. Good luck to you.

Yes, it is sad that so many children suffer at the hands of people who are supposed to protect them, as well as the agencies that are supposed to be there for them.

Back on topic; In Calista's case, I don't care how much paperwork or followup was involved, DHS and CPS SHOULD HAVE done their job. I, also, don't care how overworked they are. With all the cutbacks, we are all overworked at times, but we still have to follow through and do the job correctly. They took the easy way out, not listening to complaints about this family, and the result was a life of h*e*l*l, and the eventual death of a child. It's inexcusable.

This is getting more sick every day. What happened is so sad and no dought could of been prevented if CPS ( not just the worker but the SUPERVISOR also would of done thier jobs like they should of done. Come on! " Obvious the parents where not gonna change their minds about restraints" " SUPERVISOR not sure why she allowed the case to be closed in the light of what ( was ) documented" " Only excuse she could offer was her son was in Iraq at the time and her mind was on him more than her work" We have these types of comments to the investagators? That should be enough to tell them that these workers need the same charges on them. It should be no excuse that they no longer work for DHS/ CPS... They need charges to. I am sure that if it would help to get a petition out there to make this happen there would be more than enough people willing to sign it. I think if charges was on these workers so everyone that handles these cases would see that they are accountable for there actions and decisions then things might improve but not until.

isn't this the second time some child has died because some social worker wasn't doing thier job remember the one in montcalm county.I know it won't happen but it's about time these goverment places step up or is that the reasons for thier neglect the case worker should be charged with neglect leading to a death! Son in iraq or not let me guess her son came home this girls life is over.God rest her soul she is at peace now!

All I have to say is if you want things to change, talk to your legislators. It is through them that change is made within state government.

ST Mason wrote:

All I have to say is if you want things to change, talk to your legislators. It is through them that change is made within state government.

This is only true to a certain extent. After the problems my dad had with the system and the blind eye they gave my mom regarding her neglect of me my dad made several attempts at getting changes made and actaully had 3 or 4 different bills written and sponsored by various senators and represenatives in Lansing since 2003, but every bill has been killed by the chairman (or chairwoman in the last few years) of the committee that deals with the child welfare system and Friend Of The Court. They consistantly refuse to allow the bills to be voted on because they know they have a fair chance at passing and they would expose many of the inconsistances and failures of the current system. The chairman & chairwomen on this particular committee have always been Democrats while the sponsors of my dad's bills have always been Republican although he has talked to and asked for help from members of both parties including our district representatives (who are both Democrats and have refused to address the issue every time). Legislation only works if it is well written to positively impact its goal and if it is given a fair chance in receiving a fair vote by all members of the House & Senate.

What people fail to realize (or care about) is that abuse and neglect is also happening to the elderly in Michigan nursing homes. Family members file complaints about the abuse and neglect with the State, and as usual, the abuse and neglect allegations are conveniently never substantiated. The State never talks to the family members who file the complaints, nor do they look at any of the evidence the family has collected. The State investigators just write down what the nursing home officials tell them to write. State and federal agencies that are supposed to protect the elderly in nursing homes also don't do anything, either. They just allow the abuse and neglect to continue until innocent lives are taken from us. Law enforcement agencies don't care about the elderly in nursing homes, either, which doesn't say much for them. The question our society as a whole needs to ask itself is why people care more about the rights and well-being of animals than they do about the rights and well-being of the elderly in nursing homes in this State and in this country.

It is so sad that lives have to be lost in order for Child Protective Services to do their job. We lost a young boy in our family due to these mistakes. There were 2 other children in the home and the were removed why were the rules any different for the other child?? Some kind of action needs to be taken against CPS on behalf of these children that have so sadly passed away....

My God! A child is dead because someone refused to take a stand and act on Calista's behalf. I hope these people listen to their conscience. Now they will have to live with their inaction!

DHS acts when it is convienent to them.
They can make life very miserable for people who don't deserve it and then wehn someone DOES deserve it, they turn a blind eye. But in both cases it is the children that suffer.

Shepherd Family wrote:

It is so sad that lives have to be lost in order for Child Protective Services to do their job. We lost a young boy in our family due to these mistakes. There were 2 other children in the home and the were removed why were the rules any different for the other child?? Some kind of action needs to be taken against CPS on behalf of these children that have so sadly passed away....

Is there any way to find out the name and/or address/location(s) of these folks who were too busy to care?
LC

Lamont Cranston wrote:

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Is there any way to find out the name and/or address/location(s) of these folks who were too busy to care?
LC

You probably can't get their addresses(they were allowed to retire - on your dime), but you can send emails to our state senators, reps, and the attorney general. Maybe if enough taxpayers demand that the cps workers are charged, the AG will do his job.

I have talked to rick schaffer and he has started some type of task force to better serve our kids. Three days before Calista died , the taskforce was holding a meeting at the Centrville court house, just across the street from Calista's house. He said it was ironic that he was literaly that close to what he was fighting against. I also sent a letter to Fred Upton in 2004. his office looked into my complaint but was reasured by Dhs that everything was fine. I am guilty of not righting Upton again because in my complaint I gave spacific detail on some of the abuse and marks left on Calista and the report that Dhs sent to Mr Upton only said that she sufferd from picca (which looks like was diagnosed by a teacher) because she ate nonfood items and she was adequitly taken care of. I would eat nonfood items too if I were being starved.

how could you sleep at night knowing that this is going on and not go abpve and beyond your supperviser

Alot of "can't remembers" by the Social Worker in this case; THUS, I encourage anyone who feels compelled to file a complaint with CPS about someone to do so in WRITING, with keeping a copy and proof of mailing or faxing; If Calista had the severe problems as claimed by her father & stepmother, shouldn't she have been institutionalized???

ST Mason wrote:

All I have to say is if you want things to change, talk to your legislators. It is through them that change is made within state government.

1st - change two main deterants: Stop offering incentative to return the child within the first 6 months, and Stop demeritting workers for every 6 months the child is out of the home. Let them do what is best for the child the right way, without any set deadlines.

2nd - Define neglect. Even thou everyone knows neglect when they see it, it has yet to be defined legally.

And side note: CPS workers protected by immunity by both state and federal laws.(criminal and civil) If they weren't, lawsuits we halt their operations completely, and there would be no child protected.
Keep in mind CPS workers are among the lowest paid positions in the DHS dept. Remarkable, aye?

A little "background" here; Article from March of 2008:

CENTREVILLE -- Anthony Springer was prone to fits of rage and violence, often throwing objects and punching walls and doors, according to a court document filed by his wife in 1999 seeking a personal-protection order.
Marsha Springer, then 29, told a St. Joseph County judge in a four-page letter that her husband threatened her at times and often took out his anger on their three young daughters.
"Tony never has a kind word to say to the girls and has never told them that he loves them," Marsha wrote in the letter attached to her request for the protection order.
"It's just constant yelling to shut up, get out of my way and get out of my sight."
The oldest of the daughters was Calista Springer, who was 16 when she died in a house fire last week while chained to her bed. Her funeral was Monday. Police have said they believe the fire was an accident but they are continuing to investigate, including the circumstances that led the Springers to confine Calista to her bed at night.
Judge Thomas Shumaker granted Marsha Springer the protection order on June 28, 1999, the day she filed her request. Shumaker terminated the order two months later at Marsha Springer's request.
Anthony Springer, reached by phone Monday night, declined to comment and referred questions to his attorney, Michael Mestelle, of Sturgis.
"I've been advised by our lawyers not to say anything to anybody," Springer said. "That's all I can say."
Mestelle could not be reached for comment.

The documents are the most recent public records the St. Joseph County Clerk's Office has on file related to Anthony Springer or his family.
A separate case, initiated in January 1997, shows that Calista's biological mother, Norma Swegles, sought custody although she had not been involved in the girl's life since Calista was an infant. Swegles alleged that Calista was malnourished and had been abused.
In a countersuit filed a month later, Anthony Springer denied the allegations and sought to have Swegles' parental rights terminated. In May 1997, Shumaker ruled in Anthony Springer's favor and legally placed Calista as an adoptee in the home of Anthony and Marsha Springer.
A third court case on file in St. Joseph County shows that Anthony Springer pleaded guilty to attempted embezzlement of $3,049 from a Three Rivers gas station where he worked in 1996. He was sentenced to three months in county jail.
In her request for a protection order filed nearly nine years ago, Marsha Springer described a dreary home life dominated by an "atmosphere of anger and rage." She depicted Anthony Springer as a self-possessed husband and father who bounced from job to job and spent what little money the family had on his collections of model airplanes and Civil War memorabilia.
Marsha Springer wrote in her attached letter that her husband suffered from bipolar disorder, attention-deficit disorder and "severe depression." She said Anthony Springer rarely took his Prozac and Ritalin prescriptions and "doesn't see any need for counseling for himself or our marriage."
On the standardized protection order, Marsha Springer checked a box asking the judge to prevent Anthony Springer from "threatening to kill or physically injure" her or their three daughters.
In the attached letter, Marsha Springer wrote, "My children and I need help getting out of this vicious cycle ... It is only a matter of time before the children and myself become the physical targets in these rages. The fact that I am blind, having very limited sight in one eye I feel without a protection order in place Tony will do great bodily harm to me or my children."
Marsha Springer described instances where her husband put his hand through a plate-glass window in 1997 and in 1998 when he ripped a phone from a wall following an argument over the placement of a Christmas tree in their house.
Marsha Springer also alleged Anthony Springer forced her to have sex with him when she refused. She wrote that he told her if she ever tried to leave him, "one of us would have to die."
In another section of the letter, Marsha Springer wrote that her husband collected roadkill, boiled the meat off the bones and reconstructed the animals' skeletons.
"This is not just a hobby, this has become an obsession with him," she wrote. " You can't have a conversation with him unless it has to do with this subject."
In seeking to terminate the protection order, Marsha Springer wrote: "There has been no problems. We are seeking counseling. The counselor feels that with the children we both need to be involved."
Shumaker granted her request on Aug. 20, 1999.

If you are going to write wrote:

<quoted text>And side note: CPS workers protected by immunity by both state and federal laws.(criminal and civil) If they weren't, lawsuits we halt their operations completely, and there would be no child protected.
Keep in mind CPS workers are among the lowest paid positions in the DHS dept. Remarkable, aye?

The mother of the young boy who died in murder/suicide with his father & stepmother who's brothers were abused with a cattle prodis suing who?

CPS workers might be the "lowest paid," but even with that, too many are over paid

buney wrote:

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The mother of the young boy who died in murder/suicide with his father & stepmother who's brothers were abused with a cattle prodis suing who?
CPS workers might be the "lowest paid," but even with that, too many are over paid

I give up. who is she suing? I don't recall reading about any lawsuit filed. Where do you get that information?

Sick wrote:

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I give up. who is she suing? I don't recall reading about any lawsuit filed. Where do you get that information?

Yes, I do believe she is suing, just can't remember what agency or if it the State; I'll look for info later after the State game