Flashback: Texas Foster Care Abuse Report

Source: Statement from Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn:

For Immediate Release: Friday, June 23, 2006

Contact: Will Holford or Dick Ellis 512-463-4070

Comptroller Strayhorn Statement

On Foster Care Abuse

Friday, June 23, 2006

(Austin)– “In April 2004 I said I would give our forgotten children in foster care something they need – a voice.

“I have been and I will continue to be their voice. This Governor’s Health and Human Services Commission continues to stonewall my investigation and this governor continues to hide the truth.

“In October 2004, I urged Gov. Perry to immediately create a Family and Protective Services Crisis Management Team by executive order to finally take serious steps to save children’s lives. Now it is June 2006.

“Gov. Perry’s failure to act is unconscionable.

“In November 2004, I launched an investigation into possible Medicaid prescription drug fraud and abuse in our state’s foster care system.

“I am here today to release disturbing information found during my investigation about the deaths, poisonings, rapes and pregnancies of children in our state’s foster care system.

“I found, from information provided by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, in Fiscal 2003, 30 foster children died in our state’s care; in Fiscal 2004, 38 foster children died; and in Fiscal 2005, 48 foster children died.

“Data shows that while the number of foster children in our state’s care increased 24 percent from 26,133 in Fiscal 2003 to 32,474 in Fiscal 2005, the number of deaths increased 60 percent.

“If you compare the number of deaths of children in our state’s population to the number of deaths in our state’s foster care system, a child is four times more likely to die in our state’s foster care system.

“Based on Fiscal 2004 data provided by the Health and Human Services Commission, about 100 children received treatment for poisoning from medications; 63 foster children received medical treatment for rape that occurred while in the foster care system; and 142 children gave birth while in the state foster care system.

“As alarming as these cases are, we can only imagine how much worse the Fiscal 2005 data is because Gov. Perry’s Health and Human Services Commission has refused to provide the data needed to complete my investigation.

“When I called on Gov. Perry in October 2004 to create a Crisis Management Team, I said the crisis was minute-by-minute and child-by-child.

“In Fiscal 2004, four-year old twin boys living in the same foster home received medical treatment in the hospital for rape.

“A five-year old boy in the same foster home received medical treatment in the hospital for rape two days later.

“A 15-year old girl who was not pregnant when she entered our state’s foster care system in May 2002 gave birth in February 2004.

“The state is supposed to be protecting our forgotten children, but in all too many cases these children are taken from one abusive situation and placed in another abusive situation. Many children are in more abusive situations now than they were before the state intervened. Children are being neglected and abused and are dying.

“As reported by the media, a 12-year-old boy died in December 2005, while in our state’s care at a facility that treats children with learning disabilities and emotional problems. The boy suffocated while being restrained from behind by an employee of the facility.

“Another boy in our state’s care at the same facility died May 30, after drowning in a creek during a May 6 bicycle outing.

“A three-year old was treated for poisoning from an atypical, mind-altering antipsychotic drug. These drugs are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for children under the age of 18 years old.

“Gov. Perry’s failure to create a Crisis Management Team is unconscionable. The crisis is minute-by-minute and child-by-child. I renew my call. He must act now to save children’s lives.

“I discovered the alarming number of deaths, poisonings, rapes and pregnancies while conducting my investigation into potential prescription drug fraud and abuse in the state’s foster care system.

“I launched my investigation in November 2004, after my report, Forgotten Children, uncovered the fact that large numbers of psychotropic drugs are being prescribed to children in the foster care system, even though, according to the FDA, many of these drugs are not approved for children and have serious side effects such as suicidal tendencies, diabetes, and cardiac arrhythmia.

“Since that time, repeated and continuing roadblocks and stonewalling have been encountered by me and my staff in attempting to secure basic and necessary data from the Health and Human Services Commission to complete my investigation.

“It has been 19 months and 25 letters, emails, meetings and phone calls since I first requested foster care and corresponding Medicaid data from HHSC.

“The Commission finally provided Fiscal 2004 data. But, 10 months into Fiscal 2006, we have yet to receive the Fiscal 2005 data, which we know has been available for months and months.

“In March 2006, I requested all of the same data for Fiscal 2005.

“The Governor’s commission has repeatedly thrown up roadblocks and stonewalled my investigation.

“We have had a signed Memorandum of Understanding, drafted by HHSC, at its offices since May 2005, agreeing in the Commission’s own language to the confidentiality of this information.

“Claiming confidentiality, HHSC to this day refuses to cooperate and provide the Fiscal 2005 data needed to complete my investigation, despite that the statute requires that they cooperate and the Court of Appeals ruled on June 16 that HHSC’s view about the confidentiality of its records is clearly wrong.

“What I have found from the information that was made available should be and is of grave concern, but the picture painted by Gov. Perry’s Health and Human Services Commission’s secret 2005 data must paint an even grimmer picture on all fronts.

“The people of Texas can handle the truth. What they will not tolerate is Gov. Perry’s callous indifference in hiding the truth and placing our forgotten children at high risk.

“On Thursday, June 29, my findings will be reported to the Medicaid and Public Assistance Fraud Oversight Task Force so there will be a public record of this neglect and abuse.

“With every breath of air in Carole Keeton Strayhorn’s lungs, I will continue to be the voice for these forgotten, neglected, abused, and dead children.

“There should have been a Crisis Management Team put into action in October 2004. It must be put in action now to prevent any more neglect, abuse and deaths of our more than 32,000 children in our state’s foster care system.

“Gov. Perry is hiding the truth. And in hiding the truth he is jeopardizing our forgotten children’s lives. That makes me one heartbroken Grandma.”

National “DNA warehouse” bill passes

Source: “News of the Day In Perspective”
Association of American Physicians and Surgeons:

Passing the House of Representatives on a voice vote, S. 1858 has been sent to President Bush for signature. The Newborn Genetic Screening bill was passed by the Senate last December. The bill violates the U.S. Constitution and the Nuremberg Code, writes Twila Brase, president of the Citizen’s Council on Health Care (CCHC). “The DNA taken at birth from every citizen is essentially owned by the government, and every citizen becomes a potential subject of government-sponsored genetic research,” she states. “It does not require consent and there are no requirements to inform parents about the warehousing of their child’s DNA for the purpose of genetic research. Already, in Minnesota, the state health department reports that 42,210 children of the 780,000 whose DNA is housed in the Minnesota ‘DNA warehouse’ have been subjected to genetic research without their parents’ knowledge or consent.”

The federal government lacks the Constitutional authority as well as the competence to develop a newborn screening program, states Rep. Ron Paul, M.D. (R-TX). He states that all hospitals will probably scrap their own newborn testing program and adopt the federal model, whatever its flaws, to avoid the loss of federal funding.

“Drafters of the legislation made no effort to ensure that these newborn screening programs do not violate the privacy rights of parents and children,” Dr. Paul noted.

Ms. Brase has called on President Bush to veto the bill.

Additional information:

• Read the complete text of Rep. Paul’s statement.
• Read the bill: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-1858
• AAPS Position Paper on Genetic Testing

DynCorp Manager Used Armored Car To Transport Hookers in Iraq

Source: Muckracked.com:

Some explosive testimony this afternoon from a panel of whistleblowers testifying before a Senate committee on contractor abuse in Iraq.

A contractor died when a DynCorp manager used an employee’s armored car to transport prostitutes, according to Barry Halley, a Worldwide Network Services employee working under a DynCorp subcontract.

“DynCorp’s site manager was involved in bringing prostitutes into hotels operated by DynCorp. A co-worker unrelated to the ring was killed when he was travelling in an unsecure car and shot performing a high-risk mission. I believe that my co-worker could have survived if he had been riding in an armored car. At the time, the armored car that he would otherwise have been riding in was being used by the contractor’s manager to transport prostitutes from Kuwait to Baghdad.“

Other revelations:

- Kellogg Brown & Root contractors used to destroy countless quantities of still-usable equipment that was difficult to transport in “massive burn pits” that were “burning 24 hours a day.”

- KBR’s ice foreman “was cheating the troops out of ice at the same time that he was trading the ice for DVDs, CDs, food and other items at the Iraqi shops across the street.”

- When KBR whistleblower Frank Cassaday reported weapons looting, he was placed in a jail tent by KBR security.

- KBR employees looted Iraqi palaces for treasure to sell on eBay.

INSIDE AMERICAN ROYALTY’S SECURITY BUBBLE

By Mike Ferner, AfterDowningStreet.org:

Washington, D.C. – The First Family Security Bubble was nearly pried open for a moment last Friday; but in the end Disneyland remained blessedly undisturbed.

On a particularly warm spring evening, Laura and Jenna Bush alighted from a squadron of black SUVs at the Borders book store in downtown Washington, D.C., right on schedule at 7:00 pm. Flanked by Secret Service agents, they went inside to an area set up for authors to sign books – yes, sign books. The two Bush women have co-authored a 32-page children’s book, “Read All About It,” the story of Tyrone, a youngster who is good at everything in school but reading.

In line to have her copy signed, and more importantly, to get a moment to deliver a letter to the authors, waited Gilda Carbonaro, the mother of a U.S. Marine Sergeant who died a quite terrible death in Iraq.

After nearly an hour wait, Gilda approached the table to proffer her book for a signature.

“So that they wouldn’t see me as threatening, I made sure to introduce myself as a grade school teacher, like Jenna,” she said.

The moment she got her signed book back, she took her letter out from within the pages of the book and extended it to Laura and Jenna. Not 500 words long, it was laminated so it would clearly not be in something as suspicious-looking as an envelope.

“At that moment, swooping down out of absolutely nowhere, a Secret Service agent grabbed it out of my hand,” Gilda explained. But before she was hustled away, she extracted a promise from the younger Bush to read it.

After her brief encounter with American royalty, the member of Gold Star Families Speak Out said, “If I had the chance, I would’ve liked to ask Laura Bush, ‘What would you consider enough of a real emergency to urge your kids to enlist? If New Jersey was invaded? Your husband constantly tells us that all hangs in the balance in this war. Just what would it take for your family to really risk something?”

You may be interested to read what Gilda Carbonaro wrote to Laura and Jenna Bush. Heaven knows they’re not likely to, inside the bubble.

Laura and Jenna Bush

c/o Borders Books

14th and F Streets NW

Washington, D.C.

April 25, 2008

Bethesda, Maryland

Dear Laura and Jenna Bush,

As you promote your new children’s book, “Read All About It,” and advocate for literacy tonight I hope you will take but a few moments to read these heartfelt lines.

I write to you as one of thousands of parents and family members whose loved ones have been killed in Iraq or Afghanistan; whose child, parent or spouse has returned blinded or deaf, armless or legless, or unable to ever move their limbs again; or perhaps have returned apparently unharmed, but with nightmares and a ticking timebomb in their minds.

You may think this a grim postscript to an evening’s chat about a book for children, but when someone you love has been taken from you forever, or returned so terribly damaged you barely know them, it becomes foremost in your thoughts every waking moment. You then begin to understand what is truly grim. And, I must add, there are those among us who still carry such unspeakable pain and anger they’ve become all but exhausted.

But many of us have felt exhaustion be replaced by an energy and a clarity of purpose we have never experienced before. One thing that has become clear to us is an answer to the question, “How could anyone send the youth of its nation to invade Iraq?” We see now how differently someone would answer that question if they suffered the anguish of a family member being killed as the result.

Your children, Mrs. Bush, are safe and I am glad for you. But I wonder, have you ever urged them to enlist in this heroic adventure? Your husband has told us many times how important this cause is. Your children appear well qualified, and as part of the First Family you’ve no doubt taught them the value of demonstrating leadership for the nation.

Why, then, has the price for this war been paid only by people like my son, Marine Corps Sgt. Alessandro Carbonaro, who died May 10, 2006, eight days after being horrifically burned in an IED blast in Al Anbar Province, Iraq?

Can you not see the simple, basic unfairness of asking others to do what you yourself are unwilling to do? Have you drifted so far from an understanding of fundamental justice that you cannot see the contradictions apparent to so many of us?

These are not rhetorical questions. They are as real as the knot in our stomachs and the ache in our hearts. It is time – and past time – that you face these questions without blinking or dodging and give us a satisfactory answer.

Most Sincerely,

Gilda Carbonaro

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Mike Ferner is a member of Veterans For Peace and works part-time for DemocracyRising.US