DCF isn’t Always Going to do What’s Right

DCF isn’t Always Going to do What’s Right

Recently, an 18-month-old baby died in the state of Kansas. She was tortured by her mother while living in a meth-house. According to The Wichita Eagle from November 19th, 2018, the child’s “brain had swelled, her teeth had been forcibly removed and she had tested positive for meth”. During such tragic cases, it’s essential to understand your rights during a DCF investigation and the DCF appeal process.

Days before the child’s passing, a neighbor heard her crying and then heard the mother strangle the baby, who then suffered from seizures. Kansas DCF did not take necessary action may have prevent the abuse the child suffered, despite reports of abuse leading up to Jayla’s death. In November of 2018, nearly five years after Jayla’s death, Jayla’s father settled a lawsuit against the Kansas DCF. It was  filed in Sedgwick County District Court where the father received $75,000 in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit was won on the grounds that “DCF was informed that Jayla was being abused and did nothing to protect her”(Wichita Eagle). Randy Rathbun, the father’s attorney, stated that the amount of money was “not nearly enough considering her suffering” and added that the DCF is very difficult to successfully sue. In a recent study conducted regarding the Kansas Department of Children and Families, the Department’s systematic errors and shortcomings were detailed.

According to the Kansas City Star, an investigation of the Kansas DCF unearthed that the DCF failed to meet sixteen federally regulated standards. The average amount of cases each worker was assigned in Kansas was about thirty-eight, whereas the appropriate limit is about fifteen at a time. Not to mention that the workers are often poorly trained before beginning their delicate work.

It’s disturbing and shocking to see these numbers and all the other numbers coming out recently,” said Benet Magnuson, executive director of Kansas Appleseed, a nonprofit justice center serving vulnerable and excluded Kansans to the Kansas City Star. How is the Kansas DCF supposed to run properly and efficiently when they are not trained properly or even given a proper case load?

In foster homes, children have reportedly run away or suffered from mental and physical and sexual abuse. According to The Wichita Eagle, one child was reportedly “raped inside a child welfare office”. The disturbing part of this system, however, is not only the horrors that happen to children that are involved with the DCF, but also the fact that a system and department so broken was ignored for years. DCF was created to protect children, however, it seems rather than protect them, DCF has at times created more danger.Parents Rights Against DCF

If you or a family member is involved with the DCF, Call Attorney Seaver or Request Online A Consultation

 

DISCLAIMER

You find yourself in this situation, it’s advisable to seek legal representation from a qualified attorney, like those at the Law Office of Kevin Seaver, who can advocate for your rights and guide you through the complex process of a DCF investigation.

Remember that the ultimate goal of DCF is to ensure the safety and well-being of children while supporting families in crisis.

Please note that this article does not create an Attorney-Client relationship between our law firm and the reader and is provided for informational purposes only. Information in this article does not apply to all readers.

Readers should not rely on this information as legal advice and should seek specific counsel from the attorney based on personal circumstances. Thank you.

Kevin Patrick Seaver is a Massachusetts DCF Defense Lawyer who represents parents against false child abuse allegations.

 

Massachusetts DCF Defense Lawyer Kevin Seaver has been successfully fighting false child abuse allegations since 1991.

15 thoughts on “DCF isn’t Always Going to do What’s Right

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    Angel says:

    My son and daughter in law need help fast. They haven’t money for a lawyer, but they are being railroaded by DCF. Is there any one out there willing to help, the Herington cops pulled the boys out on charges of neglect, etc. it is a long story with extenuating curcumstances.. We are so tired of financially challenged families being torn apart simple because they cant afford a lawyer for 250.00 an hour bills. We lose our children and our rights, . Please, we need help. email is [email protected] a Kansas Lawyer.

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    Melody says:

    Once Kansas DCF gets u in their money hungry grip u r screwed for life!!! They waste time tearing families apart that should have been left alone and they ignore the true abuse cases for two reasons! 1) MONEY! The more children in custody the more money the state receives, but they choose the highest payout option… Minority children and children who’s parent’s work, so child support can be received by the state from the parents they took children from! 2) PAPERWORK VS MONETARY COMPENSATION! If the family is at or below poverty there’s too much paperwork and man hours needed to get involved with state intervention they will disregard any necessary actions and make excuses later on if their neglect results in a childs suffering or death! Despite lawyers claims of being able or willing to help, no lawyer will do anything to help make it right for the children vistimized by the Kansas DCF failing system!!!

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    deidre c charboneau says:

    DCF forces themselves into your life promising they will help and can even pay some of your bills that your behind in and so you “volunteer” to take their services. BEFORE you sign the contract with them, I suggest you do as their procedure manual says and put it in writing that you have changed your mind and their services aren’t needed and mail it to their office. They cant take your children if they aren’t in real danger and must close your case. If you don’t volunteer to be in their program they cant take your kids. and don’t allow them to make you feel like you have to take their services. And DONT believe what they say. EVERYTHING you say to them WILL be used against you. Something as simple as being 2 months behind on shots for your kid will turn into medical neglect, Or your kid jipping school turns into The parent not providing supervision. BUT the kid is at the school-just not where they need to be. How about parents start turning the school in for lack of supervision – because if they were then the kid would be where they need to be. I have 2 neices in DCF custody and my mom cant get them because they lied in the paperwork saying she has an old CINC case from 2005 with my sister for jipping. BUT shes not even on the registry. What can we do about it? NOTHING!! no attorney will even look at the case. so what motion do we file? NO ONE will help us. we just need to know what forms need to be filled out to motion the court. They are keeping children in foster homes because thats how they get paid. If everyone was willing to take care of their own children or family members then DCF and ST. Francis Ministries wouldnt get paid. Think about it. If they could get free money from the government with paying at least $17 per kid per day to foster parents then only $3 a pay per kid in Kinship care which funds would you want? the lateral. They will loose their funding if they dont steal children. DO NOT AGREE TO TAKE THEIR SERVICES. you dont have to.

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    Jennifer Trempe says:

    I found out in the past few years what real physical love emotional pain feels like. It’s real and it is hands down the worst physical pain any human can experience in there life timeI found out in the past few years what real physical love emotional pain feels like. It’s real and it is hands down the worst physical pain any human can experience in there life timeI asked for help with my case 3 years ago. I asked my social worker to help my family. I did nothing wrong No one would help. I go before the Judge on 6/15/21 to learn if I will have life or death. I must choose if I want to see my children 1 time a year, a few phone calls, and I can send letters or risk a trial and if I lose then I will never be able to see my children. Life or death. From the very 1st day when they stole my children, cps has been doing everything they can to make my husband of 17 years look as bad as possible, and saying the most untrue and horrible******. I am living with so much pain real physical heartache, it’s the most painful experience in the whole world. CPS has destroyed my whole world, I have lost EVERYTHING ever had. (my home and everything in my home all I could take was a bag of clothes, I had no choice I had to leave it all because I had no help and no place to go. I lived in my car for the first 2 years and last year I lived in a tent in the woods alone. The pain and guilt and the cps telling us it all your fault, you will never be able to get the kids back, …… My husband just could not take the pain and the only way he could numb it was through drugs. That was the whole reason I asked cps for help in the first place. I found out he relapsed. I told cps everything. Instead of helping they just took my baby’s and left me behind. I asked to find a safe place for me and the kids to go while their dad got the help he needed. No one would help. I tried so hard to get my husband help, but it was just too much for him. Last year I found my husband of 17 years dead and he was set on fire by the people he was with, he overdosed and they panicked and burned the tent with everything we had left that was in it and my husband. I have 17 years of memory with him but all I can see is what the fire did to him. Now here I am still fighting for my family. Now it’s all about my children, I want what is best for them. I want the Judge to hear from the state and then hear the truth from me. I only want to read my statement and all I need to say once so I will have it all on record. Then I will leave it in the Judge’s hands. I trust that the Judge will do whatever is best for my children even if I will not be able to see, hear, or hold my children if the Judge thinks that is what’s best. I want my case heard, I want my case to be an example of what happened to a good family, who has done nothing wrong, to a loving loving mother who asked for help to strengthen her family, a mother who the system failed her, her whole life. I need everyone to see what happens when social workers lie and make false allegations so they can destroy the lives of so many families just so the state can get money. It was not right what cps is being able to do. Who gives them the right to do this. I already missed out on 3 years of my baby’s lives. I was breastfeeding my baby when they took her and was not allowed to even pump my milk and freeze it so my baby gets what she needed. I miss her first word, step, x- mass, birthdays, etc…… I was not allowed to be with my children when they were told about their Daddy. I can go on and on about all the things that I lost… Cps need to be stopped. No family should have to go through and feel the pain. The pain never goes away, and it never will. And no one will help me. I am so scared about what will happen when cps wins. My girls are the last I have left I will be alone. I don’t know what I have done that was so wrong that my right to be a Mommy is taken from me. I can never have more children and I still have no clue why. I have never gotten a clear reason as to why this is happening. I informed my work that I was going to talk with an attorney from Kevin Seaver and once they heard that, they came to me with an offer, before I told them that I was told they were not going to offer anything they wanted a closed adoption. I will not make deals or offers back and forth like I was selling a car. These are my baby’s, my very breathe of life. If they win then why am I here? Why is there no help for parents like me? Whatever does happen in the future I hope people will see my side and what it looks and feels like. I tell myself that the pain I’m living with every single day would have been worth it as long as it makes it so this never can

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    La’Mya says:

    I really need help hopefully before it’s to late! I had to stay 3 years in fostercare and also age out before I could even begin to ask for help where someone would actually listen. I was placed in fostercare for truancy and my mother never enrolled me into school. Someone else’s mother and step dad did. Chanute Highschool put them down as my guardians knowing they weren’t. They filed a truancy report with my mothers name but to the other person’s address. My mom was never once contacted. I was abruptly taken out of my house at 15 by police not knowing what was happening only to never to be able to go back home. I was never neglected I always had what I needed and even more, I was neglected in fostercare. I have proof of dcf, tfi, & kvc. The evil heartless workers I had ever listened or even tried to help my mother. Never once did they contact my father and when he finally found me he had got all the paperwork done needed then the organization switched and they said that the proof of him succeeding his tasks where lost and that was why I couldn’t live with him. There is so much more! SO MUCH! Please I want and I NEED justice. They took so much away from me. I am now 18 they cannot shut me up any longer!

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    Christine Rodriguez says:

    I am in desperate need of help I have been fighting KVC for 3 years now and have done everything they have asked I went to court a few weeks ago and they are setting my case for trial I am so lost and don’t know what to do. This is in Kansas Johnson County

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    Delilah M Holmes says:

    My child was placed in foster care even when allegations we’re unsubstantiated by DCF. Kvc took over, I’ve completed my case plan & when it came to my child being returned, they placed her with a family that abused her. Her therapist stated she shows significant signs of abuse. The kvc director that chose to place her with the other foster parent no longer works for kvc. I want justice for my daughter.

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        Jamie kahrs says:

        I am going thru the same thing and my case goes to trial in 2 weeks it’s been three yrs since I’ve seen my son nd he was taken bc my ex’s mom wascjealouse and my family got him to make up allegations and even after go8n everything I’m still bout to lose him nd my attorneys no help

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    Lacresia franklin says:

    I was a victim of dcf bullshit I was in the foster system in they took my kids not only that I had the same court service officer from when I was a kid in the system to my own kids tell me is that conflict of interest or what in also they used shit I did when I was in the system as a kid against me to get my children let me tell I didn’t have so much as a record as in adult at the time I was 24 years old in had been out the system since 17 turning 18 only because right before I was becoming the age to age out that sent me to jja custody can u guys tell me what I should do to get justice on this

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    Miranda parman says:

    I need a lawyer to help me. my children’s father took my boys fishing and never brought them back instead he took them 3 hrs away without permission and somehow DCF removed all the 5 children 2 of them mine from the home. I was never contacted by anybody to be made aware of the situation. I actually found out almost 6 weeks after the state removed them it has happened and it took another 2 weeks to find out where the office that took them was to track down the case workers to find out what was happening. it’s now going on 8 months and I am doing everything they ask me to do with no prevail. they have made me move 2 times now I’m being told I have to move again. I’m getting my visits taken away the day they r supposed to be if I forget to call the day prior to visit. I can’t get a straight answer on wen they can come back home. I need help please I’m poverty level income single mother on SSI. I don’t understand how this even happened to begin with the father kidnapped them it’s an abuser violating his victims again and the state doesn’t seem to hear me why wasn’t I contacted wen my boys got removed from his home

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