Lawsuit Filed Against Department Of Human Services

Brenda wrote:

I know of other forster parents that have NO business with children. One woman taped a two year olds thumb down with duck tape. to keep her from sucking it. dhs did nothing, the child was left with her. she belittles and mistreats the children in her care, yet she is still parenting.
we have made dhs aware of several people who need their foster care permit pulled and nothing has been done.
fingerprints, mug shots, and blood, hair, and urine for drug testing , back ground checks, are used by the casinos in neveda, before you can work for them.
Casinos have stricter codes for working, than what dhs and our school systems do for people in charge of our children.

These are the foster parents I have been talking about, the ones who do not do it for love or for God, but for money. Their pride comes in and they get puffed up like they are better than others. This are the people that are to blame for a bad system. Sometimes it comes down to the case worker as well, if the home shows no signs of abuse, then they do nothing. Sometimes they do not have another home to place the child in, a lot of this comes into play. But the foster parents should step up and do there job right, we are not above anyone else, and we are only here for a short time, to care for a child that needs a loving home for a short while. Bad foster parents are the ones to blame for a failing system.

roofgoof wrote:

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but they don't and the children suffer for it as a result.so something needs to be done, whatever it takes to get the job done. either the state does it or the federal judge presiding over the case will do it for them

Most of the complaints seem to be about CPS intervening when there was no real problem. In such a situation it would seem that focusing on the really serious problems is better.

Or are you saying you want them to intervene more often? Do you have children? Would you want them taken away on a whim?

donsingleton wrote:

<quoted text>
Most of the complaints seem to be about CPS intervening when there was no real problem. In such a situation it would seem that focusing on the really serious problems is better.
Or are you saying you want them to intervene more often? Do you have children? Would you want them taken away on a whim?

my kids cant be taken away from me by anyone as they both are of legal age so let DHS try to

roofgoof wrote:

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my kids cant be taken away from me by anyone as they both are of legal age so let DHS try to

Then how would you feel if DHS tried to take your grandchildren, based on a trumped up claim.

donsingleton wrote:

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Then how would you feel if DHS tried to take your grandchildren, based on a trumped up claim.

grand children arent in their picture and wont be for some time, as my oldest daughter is a law major, and my youngest is in navy ROTC so i dont have any worries about dhs

roofgoof wrote:

<quoted text>
grand children arent in their picture and wont be for some time, as my oldest daughter is a law major, and my youngest is in navy ROTC so i dont have any worries about dhs

So since your children are now adults, but not planning on having children of their own, it is OK for DHS to do anything they want?

If CPS is not a problem for you, do you have any sympathy for Vulnerable Adults, a category you may soon find yourself in, and what Adult Protective Services may do, and not do, to them?

donsingleton wrote:

<quoted text>
So since your children are now adults, but not planning on having children of their own, it is OK for DHS to do anything they want?
If CPS is not a problem for you, do you have any sympathy for Vulnerable Adults, a category you may soon find yourself in, and what Adult Protective Services may do, and not do, to them?

You sound like you have had a claim against you with out a good outcome.

donsingleton wrote:

<quoted text>
So since your children are now adults, but not planning on having children of their own, it is OK for DHS to do anything they want?
If CPS is not a problem for you, do you have any sympathy for Vulnerable Adults, a category you may soon find yourself in, and what Adult Protective Services may do, and not do, to them?

DHS is a problem, period. i never said that it was ok for them to do what they want. and until our elected officials, to include the governor, who should have taken action to deal with this a long time ago,and deal with this,this agency will continue to be a problem. and as far as my needing adult protective services, i dont plan on being in this state in my elderly years. and if you must know my kids do have long range plans for families of their own, and seeing my oldest is a law major with plans to be an attorney. my hopeis that she will turn out to be DHS's worst nightmare

Talk about false charges, read the Public Order in our case.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OK_DHS_Victims/...

jimahall wrote:

Talk about false charges, read the Public Order in our case.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OK_DHS_Victims/...

I added your group to http://donsingleton.blogspot.com/2008/04/okdh...

Again, the DHS system has failed a young child. A 4 year old child is dead after abuse being reported earlier and DHS not acting. If you call the DHS Office in Tulsa, the phone rings 15-20 times before anyone answers it. Any business that used these practices would be closed. what is wrong with the Stte of Oklahoma, Children and the Seniors of the community are a forgotten society. Shame on you DHS.

I feel cps dhs and foster care needs to all be invistigated over false accusations abus from orginizations mentioned above and feel that Children in cps custody needs reevaluated because some parents have not abused neglected deprived on and on with there children I feel that this is wrong for children to go thru this as well as parents in cps care i have experianced and seen how they drug the children abuse neglect exc I am a former parent of Okla that has been falsly acused and lost my parents rites do to false accusations and top it all off the judge didnt get us a attorney in apropriate time to do appeal in Bartlesville Okla it has totaly destroyd us and our children one of our children during time when he was in cps custody he was into bad things cps was told but did nothing now hes dead our other 2 kids is still in system this needs to be stoped

my wife and I have been involoved with DHS for the past two years. we have jumped through hoops to get our two beautiful little girls back. My wife was falsley accused of drinking in front of our 2 year old and set 88 days in Rogers county jail unitl (I) finally talked to the investigator and ask him to (re) foward his report to the DA. once this happened the Criminal case was dismissed....dismissed....dism issed. I had the girls and thougth that it was finally over(it had only began). since i let my wife see the girls they took them from me. since then we have completed many classes, assessments, etc. they are now trying to terminate our rights using the same DA who dismissed the charges. we have had 76 different case workers, 3 DA's, and my children have been in 7 different homes. they report to my wife and i that they have slept on the floor, been punched in the face, and they no know about sex. they are 4 and 6. they are named in the lawsuit against Rogers county DHS and i think they are covering something up. they have accused me of everything from molestation to manufacturing methanphnedines. I served 8 years in the Army(including Iraq) and have been at my job 11 years. we are good people who dont knwo the system. Judge Post hates me for talking back and our lawyers are on her side. DHS workers are scared to stand up to her and we are scheduled for termination hearing 5/14/08. we are terrified. please help!!!!!!!!!! 918 eght o six two zero five eight

Suggestion, get rid of the Rogers County juducial from your case.

Step one: Hire Don Haslam, Haslam Law Firm http://www.donhaslam.com/

Step two: Watch Haslam disqualify Judge Post!

He has successfully had all Rogers County judical disqualified TWICE! Both in a JD case. Both times the case was moved to a Mayes County judge.

Read more about our case at: http://www.donhaslam.com/cases/civ-2.html

Have to run. I have a five year old and a three a year old wanting a second helping of cherrios!

Oh, thank you Don Haslam for the great work you did. You were a God send!

I am a social worker with the agency and I know for a fact that DHS has made its fair share of mistakes. However, I want to point out that we as employees are not allowed to defend ourselves whenever a case comes to light and the public knows about it. Due to policy (which I also think parts of could use some updating) we have to sit back and take it. I believe that this mandated silence on our part is hurting us. I always hear nothing but negativity. Nobody ever showcases our successes, which is unfortunate because we actually have more successes than failures, believe it or not. I hear all of this talk about taxpayer money paying the workers and they should be doing their jobs and what have you. Do you know what it's like to have twenty plus cases with up to eighty children at times? To have to make sure you see those kids face to face every four weeks? We barely have time for our own families and I myself have put off having children so I can devote most of my time and attention to the kids on my cases. I won't make excuses for the agancy because, as I said before, mistakes have been made. Sometimes these mistakes have cost children their lives and if I could give my life for one child to have theirs back, I would do it in a heartbeat. Please don't think all workers don't do their jobs. Most of us do, but there are always a few "bad apples" that don't. It all comes down to a lack of resources. When we have over 11,000 children in DHS custody and only about 7,000 beds across the state, that leaves us in a really crappy position. We desperately need more qualified foster homes. We also need workers to understand when it's appropriate to take children out of a home and when it's not. If some of these unnecessary removals would cease, we would have more bed space for the kids that really need to be removed. All in all, it's a sad situation. I wish every single day that I could go into the office and be sent home because there was no longer a need for me. That there were actually no kids in custody, that DHS was officially out of business. Sadly, that is not the case and I am certain it never will be. I just want everyone to know that there are workers out there who care and there is a new generation of us coming up that truly want to change things. I know I am.

Anonymous wrote:

I am a social worker with the agency and I know for a fact that DHS has made its fair share of mistakes. However, I want to point out that we as employees are not allowed to defend ourselves whenever a case comes to light and the public knows about it. Due to policy (which I also think parts of could use some updating) we have to sit back and take it. I believe that this mandated silence on our part is hurting us. I always hear nothing but negativity. Nobody ever showcases our successes, which is unfortunate because we actually have more successes than failures, believe it or not. I hear all of this talk about taxpayer money paying the workers and they should be doing their jobs and what have you. Do you know what it's like to have twenty plus cases with up to eighty children at times? To have to make sure you see those kids face to face every four weeks? We barely have time for our own families and I myself have put off having children so I can devote most of my time and attention to the kids on my cases. I won't make excuses for the agancy because, as I said before, mistakes have been made. Sometimes these mistakes have cost children their lives and if I could give my life for one child to have theirs back, I would do it in a heartbeat. Please don't think all workers don't do their jobs. Most of us do, but there are always a few "bad apples" that don't. It all comes down to a lack of resources. When we have over 11,000 children in DHS custody and only about 7,000 beds across the state, that leaves us in a really crappy position. We desperately need more qualified foster homes. We also need workers to understand when it's appropriate to take children out of a home and when it's not. If some of these unnecessary removals would cease, we would have more bed space for the kids that really need to be removed. All in all, it's a sad situation. I wish every single day that I could go into the office and be sent home because there was no longer a need for me. That there were actually no kids in custody, that DHS was officially out of business. Sadly, that is not the case and I am certain it never will be. I just want everyone to know that there are workers out there who care and there is a new generation of us coming up that truly want to change things. I know I am.

Anonymous sounds like Howard Hendricks!

Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OK_DHS_Victims/... and learn more about the Hall children, alledged deprived case, where DHS ignored the findings of its own agency and wrongfully held five small children in custody for over two years!

Anonymous wrote:

I am a social worker with the agency and I know for a fact that DHS has made its fair share of mistakes. However, I want to point out that we as employees are not allowed to defend ourselves whenever a case comes to light and the public knows about it. Due to policy (which I also think parts of could use some updating) we have to sit back and take it. I believe that this mandated silence on our part is hurting us. I always hear nothing but negativity. Nobody ever showcases our successes, which is unfortunate because we actually have more successes than failures, believe it or not. I hear all of this talk about taxpayer money paying the workers and they should be doing their jobs and what have you. Do you know what it's like to have twenty plus cases with up to eighty children at times? To have to make sure you see those kids face to face every four weeks? We barely have time for our own families and I myself have put off having children so I can devote most of my time and attention to the kids on my cases. I won't make excuses for the agancy because, as I said before, mistakes have been made. Sometimes these mistakes have cost children their lives and if I could give my life for one child to have theirs back, I would do it in a heartbeat. Please don't think all workers don't do their jobs. Most of us do, but there are always a few "bad apples" that don't. It all comes down to a lack of resources. When we have over 11,000 children in DHS custody and only about 7,000 beds across the state, that leaves us in a really crappy position. We desperately need more qualified foster homes. We also need workers to understand when it's appropriate to take children out of a home and when it's not. If some of these unnecessary removals would cease, we would have more bed space for the kids that really need to be removed. All in all, it's a sad situation. I wish every single day that I could go into the office and be sent home because there was no longer a need for me. That there were actually no kids in custody, that DHS was officially out of business. Sadly, that is not the case and I am certain it never will be. I just want everyone to know that there are workers out there who care and there is a new generation of us coming up that truly want to change things. I know I am.

the majority of us know that the dept as a whole isnt all to blame for the mess its in. as you said its the few bad apples that have created this mess, and it didnt happen overnight, and it wont get fixed overnight either.what is basically being said is that those in power above the agency( ultimately the governor's office)saw this coming and like good ole'boys chose to ignore it. and now a federal judge has to fix it for them.all we as taxpayers can say it just keep doing the job as best you can.

Recently the Florida legislature approved a bill that will pay the $18.4 million jury award to a nine year old that was abused by child welfare. How much of tax payers money will be spent over the failures of DHS? I for one hope for millions! No amount of money can restore the damage that the Rogers County DHS caused my family.

But the jury award in our case will help.

Anonymous wrote:

I am a social worker with the agency and I know for a fact that DHS has made its fair share of mistakes. However, I want to point out that we as employees are not allowed to defend ourselves whenever a case comes to light and the public knows about it. Due to policy (which I also think parts of could use some updating) we have to sit back and take it. I believe that this mandated silence on our part is hurting us. I always hear nothing but negativity. Nobody ever showcases our successes, which is unfortunate because we actually have more successes than failures, believe it or not. I hear all of this talk about taxpayer money paying the workers and they should be doing their jobs and what have you. Do you know what it's like to have twenty plus cases with up to eighty children at times? To have to make sure you see those kids face to face every four weeks? We barely have time for our own families and I myself have put off having children so I can devote most of my time and attention to the kids on my cases. I won't make excuses for the agancy because, as I said before, mistakes have been made. Sometimes these mistakes have cost children their lives and if I could give my life for one child to have theirs back, I would do it in a heartbeat. Please don't think all workers don't do their jobs. Most of us do, but there are always a few "bad apples" that don't. It all comes down to a lack of resources. When we have over 11,000 children in DHS custody and only about 7,000 beds across the state, that leaves us in a really crappy position. We desperately need more qualified foster homes. We also need workers to understand when it's appropriate to take children out of a home and when it's not. If some of these unnecessary removals would cease, we would have more bed space for the kids that really need to be removed. All in all, it's a sad situation. I wish every single day that I could go into the office and be sent home because there was no longer a need for me. That there were actually no kids in custody, that DHS was officially out of business. Sadly, that is not the case and I am certain it never will be. I just want everyone to know that there are workers out there who care and there is a new generation of us coming up that truly want to change things. I know I am.

All of what you stated is true, there are good workers out there, and we never hear of the good cases, the cases when the parents get clean, stay clean and reunite with their kids, or the ones that get adopted into fine homes and have a chance at a great future. I have been a foster parent for Washington County, I have great workers I deal with, I have seen my worker go and try to fight for the kids she is helping, only to be let down by a judge in a hurry to get to lunch. I know there are good workers out there, they need to hire more help, and get rid of the bad ones. You have a thankless job, but a very imporant one protecting children. God Bless you in all you do, you will prosper in your work, and I know it will get better! Hang in there, the state needs workers like you. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO!

Mr. Hendricks,



The newson6.com states:

Through an Open Records Request, the News On 6 has learned how much it will cost you, the taxpayer, to defend DHS against the lawsuit. The Oklahoma Department of Human Services is paying the Tulsa law firm of Riggs, Abney, Neal, Turpen, Orbison & Lewis P.C.$200 an hour.

DHS has set aside a total of $330,000 out of its operating budget for those fees over the next year and a half. That is in spite of the fact that the Children's Rights group is not asking for any money in its lawsuit.



Question? Why are you spending $330,000 of the children's money on an outside attorney? You know that Rogers County wrongfully held my children in custody for over two years. You personally violated my children's Constitutional protected civil rights. Why?



Please have your attorney contact me ASAP. I will be available to discuss a settlement offer, PUBLICLY, while I am in Tulsa the week of June 2, 2008. During that week I will also be speaking with a large Tulsa law firm concerning this matter. They have already reviewed all the files of JD-2005-123/JFJ-2007-0030. The Haslam Law Firm has withdrawn due to your abusive foster parents in Claremore have sued both Haslam and myself for slander. My children are prepared to testify against their own uncle, the abusive foster parent. They will testify against DHS as well.



This offer to settle is limited. It last until I sign a contract with a Tulsa civil rights attorney. There will be no non-disclosure agreement. All media will be present at the agreement table.



FYI: the Tulsa law firm of Riggs, Abney, Neal, Turpen, Orbison & Lewis P.C. has a conflict of interest in representing you and DHS. They represented your foster parents, Jeffery and Melba Hall last summer in the early stages of the current Rogers County CJ-2008-185 hall v. Hall, Haslam. This conflict of interest should have been made known to you prior to your contract with them. Note the Oklahoma Attorney General can not advise or represent the DHS on this matter as they most definitely have a conflict of interest, namely the legal response to their agency's letter of May 8, 2007 to the Mayes County DHS office.



Here is my first and only offer without legal counsel: A public apology from you and Governor Brad Henry.$2,000,000 per child (5) and myself for the violations of our civil rights (a total of $12,000,000). A full scholarship to the university of the child's choice for each child (5). The termination of each DHS personal responsible, namely Maggie Box, Valerie Nagy, Kyla Bergdorf and Judy Wyatt, among others. The resignation of Howard Hendricks.



Otherwise, see you in Federal court. We will allow a jury to decide the award of damages.



Cordially,



Pro Se

Jim A. Hall

PO Box 273

Monticello, Arkansas 71657