Other states look to Alabama's DHR as role model to mirror

All the best for continued success in your foster programs and for the most heartfelt smiles for the kids, foster families, DHR associates and even teachers of these children.
May all other states learn & enact the way your state & counties have!
Stephanie Stokes Smyj
V.P. Never Quit Stunts Inc
New Jersey

I don't want to put a damper on things, but I live in Alabama and I am an interpretor for families and children. I interpret DHR policies for families and we are NOT the state that DHR wants you to believe we are. Services have been cut that keep children in their homes. Once the RC Decree ended, things spiraled down dramatically. ADAP is now appealing the ruling and hopefully we will have our DHR back under federal oversight. When DHR is allowed to operate under the "confidentiality" cover, you can be sure that children and families suffer. I have had social workers tell me that they do not have to work with families now because they are no longer the RC Decree. It all looks good on paper, but the reality is that DHR is still not doing what they are supposed to for children and families.

Looking to Alabama for guidance!!! I almost threw up! Beverly you are so informed. The States that are looking to Alabama would do well to look under the beds and in the closets. Our system is a horror. The welfare of families and children does not even appear on the radar. With each new admisitration, you hope against hope that someone with a new, not to mention "promised," vision will set the stage for change and simple JUSTICE. Unfortunately, that is not happening here in Alabama. Families continue to be torn apart, and continue to suffer at the hands of some of the most incompetent DHR staffers imaginable! Send your prayers to Alabama, and your admiration elsewhere ....

Recently I was threatened by the top DHR attorney, saying that I was giving erroneous information to families. I get my "erroneous" information from the DHR policy manual. I only quote what I read from their own policy. I didn't make this manual up, THEY DID. I guess they are also giving wrong info to people, if they ever give them any information. I'm tired of DHR trying to intimidate me into NOT advocating for families. I won't stop. I'm not acting as an attorney, as they claim. Never have, and never will. I'm JUST an advocate. DHR needs to straighten up their act and do what they are supposed to do and then I will go away. Gladly. Oh yeah, they said they were going to turn me into the feds for my "predatory actions" (telling people I will advocate for them), so I went ahead and turned myself in. Now maybe they will have some time to do their job for families.

dhr does not do there job

I have a qiuestion, i have a cousin that is 16 and she is not properly being cared for by hre dad and step mom, her mother(my aunt) passed away, and since she has been living with them. They dont take her to the dr , they dont provide for her as they shoud, she is supposed to be gerring a check form my aunts death and her father is lying and tellin her she isnt getting it, and she is, he just wont tell her that. Her step mother has put her hands on my cousin, among many mnay other things, I want to offer her a new more appropriate living situation , here with me, I have an emty room here, and better school system and non violent atmosphere, what are the chances that she could and would be placed here with me?
Thanks!!!

Beverly wrote:

Recently I was threatened by the top DHR attorney, saying that I was giving erroneous information to families. I get my "erroneous" information from the DHR policy manual. I only quote what I read from their own policy. I didn't make this manual up, THEY DID. I guess they are also giving wrong info to people, if they ever give them any information. I'm tired of DHR trying to intimidate me into NOT advocating for families. I won't stop. I'm not acting as an attorney, as they claim. Never have, and never will. I'm JUST an advocate. DHR needs to straighten up their act and do what they are supposed to do and then I will go away. Gladly. Oh yeah, they said they were going to turn me into the feds for my "predatory actions" (telling people I will advocate for them), so I went ahead and turned myself in. Now maybe they will have some time to do their job for families.

DHR is all about manipulaton. They manipulate children to say what they want them to say, no taped interviews because they don't want you to see how they manipulate. When they have the child groomed and well versed on how to answer their questions, then 3 days later, they will bring in a video camera. They are corrupt, they are all about power, they are the real abusers. Parents have no rights. Innocent parents and most of all the child is paying the price for their power trip.

Things have gone from bad to worse. Children's couseling is being cut, visits are being moved to DHR buildings instead of being able to be in a public place, ISP's are often not being held to put the changes in place or if they are being held they are not being adhered to in the proper way. Everything is being cut willy-nilly with the only consideration being saving money. Saving it for what? If you ask you are told that they are just being good stewards of funds. On top of the children not being served, the providers that were doing the services are having to lay off workers and/or go out of business.(And the government wonders whey there is a recession?) Why does the state have to be under a lawsuit to do things the right way? When all of this is over and there is another lawsuit and they need providers there may not be any.

Since the lifting of the RC Consent Decree, things have gone downhill FAST! Children are not receiving needed services, such as counseling, they are not having frequent contact with family members (even siblings when placed in different homes are not seeing each other regularly), ISP meetings are not being held and the good social workers are leaving because they can't stand to work in such an envionrment. I have been a foster parent for 4 years and the way things have spiraled downhill over the last 3 months is a shame for these children. Shame on DHR adminsitration! Where is your heart? If you are truly in this profession to help people you would not be hurting these children like this. If you're not going to provide them with needed services then don't put them in foster care! What good is DHR if you're not going to help the children when they need help? These kids are traumatized because of their histories of abuse, moves from one foster home to another, separation from family and you're doing NOTHING to help them get better, you're only making them worse.

Please read the Feb. 8th Birmingham News. The chief legal counsel for DHR in Montgomery violated the confidentiality of children in a letter to many people, including The Birmingham News. This is breaking the law. A county employee who did this same thing would be fired. Why was she not fired? She broke the law, this was not just a violation of policy. As an attorney, she should be the first to know that what she did broke the law.

As an attorney she should be held accountable and not only lose her job, but she should be disbarred. Also, this same attorney publically accused an individual of disclosing confidential information without proof, demoralizing this persons character. Then gave the child in question back to the mother, after having abuse charges including sexual abuse dropped??? Odd thing is that the child most affected by this abuse was not returned to the mother. I guess she now has a second chance to mess up another child's life or worse. I only hope Alabama DHR does the right thing and uses this attorney as an example for other attorneys who get away with disobeying the law. I wouldn't hold my breath though, they (attorneys/judges) stick together because they are all corrupt in one way or another. Thats how they win. Good Luck!

social worker wrote:

Please read the Feb. 8th Birmingham News. The chief legal counsel for DHR in Montgomery violated the confidentiality of children in a letter to many people, including The Birmingham News. This is breaking the law. A county employee who did this same thing would be fired. Why was she not fired? She broke the law, this was not just a violation of policy. As an attorney, she should be the first to know that what she did broke the law.

Greenville, AL

My situation is a little differant. I have a 14year old that is spoiled and want his way. We decided to discipline him. He went to school and told all type of lies against my husband. We later came to realize the lies was told to teachers and DHR ecause he hates my husband who is not his father.
DHR has ruled child abuse is not indicated however, want to put services in our home for the children to get counseling. The children have been in counseling for 6 months and the couseler became their friend and not confronting any of their behaviours. DHR want to waste time and money in our family when their are children out here being abuse sexually, physically, and emoitionally and mine hav e behav iour issues and tell a lie regarding physical abuse and supposely train professional can't see it. Alabama DHR is unprofessional and seek and go after cases that hav e no merit.

Don't model after Alabama. I am a retired DHR CPS socialworker. The staff they have now is terrible but the system is a farce. The system developed is all about good numbers and stats. It appears to be family focused but the pressures to make the number right is a very dangerous practice. Imagine a SW with 25 horrible serious cases that need lots of supervision and she is told 5 will have to be closed immediately becasue she has too many cases. The SW triages her cases and then someone dies. Well the case just re-opens and here we go again. Is that good practice.
I knew many workers who never removed children from seriously/dangerous situations becasue it was too much paperwork and they didn't want to go to court. Safe? I think not. I just had to leave because trying to fight the system for the innocents was just too stressful for me. I was told I was difficult.

PLEASE DON'T LOOK TO ALABAMA for DHR solutions. My 10yr old autistic step grandson fell off a bike. Bruises only on 1 side. School called DHR. He was NEVER hit by anything. He was swept away saying that my daughter in law hit him.(remember this was only on 1 side of his leg and arm) After 4 months they have admitted he probably was not abused but because a new baby came and there is a 3 year old and my daughter in law is not a good house keeper, Family services won't release the 2 older ones yet.(Does this smell of special needs money from the state?) There is NO recourse. The legal fees are beyond their purse and the appointed one has had a record himself. Hands are tied. This had gone on since last of Aug. 07. They wonder why there is suicide.....

The above coment is about my sons. In Alabama you are guilty untill you prove your innocents. The problem is they will not in any way allow you to defend yourself thereby you never prove your are innocent. DHR in Bama has a bogus review of cases by DHR employees...Do you really think DHR is gonna say DHR screwed up? The socialist workers contend autism is "irrelevant" to any situation. Oh and NEVER once is the family allowed any advocate, there are NEVER any recordings of the interrogations even though ALabama law provides for such, and there is NEVER a true unbiased investigation into the alleged abuse. Families in ALabama are guilty but not allowed to prove their innocense. AND to top it off..the person that reportedly called DHR about the alleged abuse, is also the person that was the foster family of the autistic child...can you say FRAUD!!!!

As a foster parent in Alabama I can tell you that I see DHR working closely with families here to get them back together reguardless of situation.Now that said I am a full believer that families need to be together,but have any of you people claiming the "tearing families apart" bit seen the news lately?Does a woman who pressure washes her child deserve that child back?What about the dad that spends years letting a toddler be used sexually by his friends when they all get high?
Everyone worries about the "family",but what I personally have seen is families get every form of help in the world financial,mental,rehabilitatio n, parenting and more and more time while children are thrown through a system that makes them seem like freaks to their friends,themselves,and others while the parents have fun living off an already financially suffering help system.Why throw a child from home to home for 5 years for a parent that hasn't made an effort in all that time to clean up their act?or 3 even?and we arent talking about one kid sometimes its 5 or 6.
It's amazing the number of people complaining here.DHR's job is to think of the childrens safety before worrying about the parents feelings.Its easy to say "DHR made a mistake and took my kid" be it true or not.But what if your husband or wife had custody of your kid drank alot and suddenly everytime you visited your kid was hiding,bruised up,or terrified?
Think before you berate the system.There are no 100% solutions,no quick fixes.DHR is run by humans there will be good ones and bad ones,but if there are mistakes made let us hope they remain in favor of children and their safety.

I am all about the safety of the Children. The
Child was safe, content and happy, doing well in
school, and not being abused. When the child explained what caused her injuries, she was not believed. She is six. She was told by school counselors and dhr what happened to her. Her Mother is completely innocent of the allegations being made against her. Both children (10 & 6) were taken out of the mother's home and placed with their father, who by the way is on probation in Florida for domestic violence against the Children's Mother. The Mother has had no court hearing, receives to information from DHR, other than she has to take drug test, substance abuse assessements, and attend parenting classes. All of this, for not harming her child. The children are allowed to visit her every other weekend. The six year old has completely changed personalities. She went from being a sweet loving little girl that wanted to hurt no one's feelings, doing well in school, with no conduct problems, to being angry, lashing out with rage and just wanting to hurt someone. She is a very angry little girl being told by her father that her Mother or maternal grandparents do not want her. The 10 year old, she just consumes herself with video games and dosen't open up and talk to anyone. These children are suffering from the mental and who knows what other kind of abuse from the father. DHR is the real abuser. They are not about protecting the children. They are about looking good and important at their job. I also believe the caseworker is on a personal mission to remove these two little girls permanantly from their Mother, because she stood up to her and would not say she had done the things they were accusing her of. Mistakes? No!

i see many lawsuits coming alabama's way.

If anyone is interested in a class action suit against Alabama DHR, let me know. We are all just "another case" to them. I am curious as to why they push so hard to take a child away and put them in foster care. The funny thing is, they prey on people who they "think" can't afford attorneys to fight back. I say we all band together and take on Alabama DHR. It only takes 5 people to file a class action suit. What a head turner it would be if 100 or 200 people were in court filing on the same suit. I would love to see them explain, or sweep that under the rug. They are not interested in getting to the truth, they are interested in placing children in foster care and getting money from the state. Something needs to be done, and we should take them on. These are all of our taxdollars at work. We should MAKE them do their jobs.
my email is: sweetheart27092002@yahoo.com
email me if you are interested in a class action suit.