The mystery of the bail

I was looking at the bail rates in our county and noticed a discrepancy between the parents' charge and their bail.

On Oct. 12, 2010, Andrew's parents were picked up by law enforcement, and the next day were charged in our county's Superior Court with willful cruelty to a child. The child cruelty in question had to do with an incident in which the father had poked Andrew's older half-brother in the chest, and the boy had fallen into a table. Child Protective Services and the police had dismissed the report of this until Andrew's baby sister died of SIDS three months after the incident, on July 12. The next day, CPS placed the older boy with his biological father and Andrew in foster care.

The parents had to keep going to Juvenile Dependency Court, where they heard CPS' reports about the case. CPS claimed that the incident had been on purpose. They contradicted themselves as to whether it had been ongoing or one time. No one seemed to pick up on this and other flaws in their reports. They used a doctor and a detective they had picked to investigate. They used quotes from interviews that didn't sound the way that the interviewees talked. CPS doesn't record interviews, and they don't allow you to do it, either. None of their information was backed up by outside sources. The police saw the older boy after his accident and did not find it serious. They investigated the house after the baby died and found nothing. The month after the death, they held the parents for a few days but let them go on lack of evidence.

I don't know why the arrest was made. The basis for it was CPS' reports. The last one had been presented in Dependency Court on Sept. 14. In between that and the arrest, there was no new evidence. The parents weren't interviewed by anyone. At their arraignment, no extra findings were presented. What were the police and CPS doing in that that time?

My nephew's father had bail set at $200,000. According to the bail schedule of our county's Superior Court, this was too high. He was charged with willful cruelty to a child. The bail for that is $100,000. His bail was the same as for armed robbery and a sex conviction with two previous convictions. It's more than one would get for assault with a deadly weapon ($50,000) and causing a train wreck ($100,000).

My sister was initially also given a bail of $200,000, even though she was accused only of doing nothing to stop the alleged abuse. Her bail was reduced to $2500.

From our case, I think there's too much willingness in our local law enforcement to go along with CPS. The parents were charged even though no one not connected to CPS found anything. I wonder why the bail was so high. The charges only had to do with the older boy, but they may have had the baby on their minds. The father's lawyer said the police wanted something with which to charge them in order to give them leverage in case they pursued a murder charge in the death of the baby. She had been diagnosed with SIDS by the hospital. My mother overheard an officer at the arraignment say that they would get them for murder. The autopsy that came out the following May appeared to clear them by saying that no cause of death was found. 

I also wonder at the discrepancy in our county between the number of overall children and the number in foster care. We have the fifth highest number of children in the state, but have the second highest number in foster care. I don't think we're any more prone to abuse than anywhere else. We are, however, one of the poorest counties. Parents don't have many resources to fight accusations. Andrew's parents had to hire their own attorneys because the public defender was too busy.

Sammy's Law defeated

Assembly bill 1828, aka Sammy's Law, was to require Child Protective Services in California to record its interviews. These interviews are used as evidence to take away children. Law enforcement must record their interrogations, but CPS does not have to. When deciding whether to take a child, the court relies on CPS' testimony, not police reports. A committee killed this bill under pressure from the social workers' union, without a vote. The money issue was one objection. Hey, almost everyone has at least a tape recorder. Why not just bring one from home? Or why not at least allow the interviewees the option of taping it themselves? Since these interviews are used to prove child abuse, I don't know why they aren't required to be better documented.

Child Protective Services news in California

There has been a lot of CPS news here lately. Some bad, some maaaaaybe good.

The bad: CPS is at it again. A 5-year-old girl named Stevie Rolick was recently taken from her home in Ventura when a relative who lived there was allegedly caught with drugs. Even though the parents weren't suspected, the girl was taken by CPS and put in a foster home where she was picked on by older kids. The caseworker incorrectly said in her report that the parents had been arrested. The father was required to take parenting and drug  classes and to attend AA meetings. This has gotten a little attention because the father secretly recorder an interview with CPS. He also filmed the poor conditions in the foster home. CPS wanted to get the tapes. Ventura County Superior Court issued a gag order which required the Rolicks to remove the videos from the internet.  

The maaaaaybe good: There is a bill in the state Assembly that would require CPS to record its interviews. It was put forth by our Assemblyman, Tim Donnelly. It's called Sammy's Law, after the case of Sammy Nikolayev, who was taken last year after his parents sought a second opinion. The seizure got a lot of attention because the mother had filmed it. I hope the bill passes. It would massively help to determine whether someone is guilty or innocent. There would be fewer mistakes. Police stations across the country have started to require recording of interrogations. Why not CPS? The Welfare Directors Association opposes the bill because, according to them, it would hinder their efforts to move quickly on cases. I don't see how that would happen. It might even save time, since someone would just be able to copy the interview down in the report, instead of trying to piece it together later. 

My nephew's parents objected to the things CPS attributed to them in the report of their first interview. The second time they were to be interviewed, they borrowed our tape recorder. CPS cancelled the interview.

Here's another thing: an audit of CPS was just completed. It found many inconsistencies in the reports, as well as slowness in making risk assessments. More supervision has been recommended.

This is greatly needed. What happens is that CPS investigates a call, they decide if the child should be taken, they present their report at the Juvenile Dependency Court, and then the parents are told what they need to do to get their child back. The parents don't need to be charged with a crime to lose a child. My nephew's parents weren't. Their only charge came three months after their son had been taken. They were never charged after the second time, and that was the time he disappeared. Due process is being ignored. I hope that the system will be reformed.  

Taken again

Andrew's little brother died during a nap on Dec. 17, 2012, at the age of 14 months. Andrew was about three and a half. The parents called 911. A policeman drove them and Andrew to a meeting point with the grandmother, and she drove them the rest of the way to the hospital. On the way, she heard Andrew asking for reassurance that they would all be going home together.

The EMTs claimed that the boy was malnourished. He was never seen by a doctor. The coroner reported that the boy was healthy and that there was no evidence of wrongdoing. Rather than being malnourished, he was just small, like his mother. The autopsy found no circumstances for the death. We thought it must be SIDS. Like his sister, who had died of it, the boy was a month premature. Premature babies are at a higher risk of SIDS. 

The were taken to the sheriff's station and were questioned all night. The police, meanwhile, searched the house. They impounded the three dogs and the couple had to pay $279 to get them back. They also took many possessions, including all of the blankets. They found no evidence of foul play.

Andrew had been picked up by one of his aunts. CPS took him from her home. A social worker called another relative around 2 or 3 am, asking if she wanted to take him. She said no. She didn't feel up to it, both because of her age and because she was looking after someone who needed full-time care. She didn't know that she would be the only possible placement. The social worker said that she would call again in the morning, but she never did.

They did not okay anyone else. One relative was told that her house was too small, and that she couldn't have him because he would have to share a room with girls. Another relative put in the paperwork to adopt him, but was refused. Except for the parents, none of us have criminal records. We don't know why we were rejected. 

Four days after their little boy died, the parents were back in Juvenile Dependency Court. This time, they were never charged with anything. This did not stop CPS from taking Andrew, anyway. They said the parents could see him in a month. Later, CPS said that they couldn't see him at all because it would be too hard for him. CPS also had them pay about $350 a month in child support for his foster care. They had to go to court several times to settle it.

They never did get to see him. Neither did anyone else in the family. Family members kept calling CPS, but nothing happened. Once, when his grandma called, her call was not returned until two weeks later. The caller said that he was getting age-appropriate therapy. We weren't even allowed to see him on his fourth birthday.

Eventually, the parents learned that he had been put into an adoptive home. And on December 9, 2013, they were told that their parental rights had been taken away. CPS reported that Andrew was calling his caregivers Mom and Dad.

The parents have now moved. Their CPS tried to find Andrew's whereabouts, but ours refused to tell them. 



 Please sign our petition to find him: http://www.change.org/petitions/state-rep-tim-donnelly-help-find-andrew-dube

Getting Andrew back

When the parents got out of jail, they had to completely start over. They had lost not only their children but their jobs, their home, and many of their belongings. The police had not returned some of them, even though none were used as evidence. They had to redo their parenting classes, and the father also had to take anger management classes and 52 parole classes. Their reunification date, originally in late January of 2011, kept getting pushed further and further away. 

After the father got a job, they started meeting Andrew at Burger King. In the spring of 2011, they got a nice social worker who gave them gas cards that helped with transportation. Eventually, they were allowed to apply to the foster parents to take him on outings by themselves. They took him for his first haircut.

In April, they held a party for Andrew two days after his second birthday. It was at a local park, with a social worker off to the side. It was a very nice day. They had two hours. Many friends and family attended. Andrew enjoyed playing with the other children. Most were older than him, so while they played with one pinata, he got his own. 

In October, 2011, their new son was born. Like his sister, he was a month premature, weighed 4 lb 9 oz., and had underdeveloped lungs. When he came home, he had to wear an oxygen monitor. It was very sensitive, and would go off quite a lot. 

After the new baby's birth, the parents moved in with us. Andrew was able to come to our house a few times a week for three hours. He loved to play with trains. He got to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with us, and helped hand out Christmas presents. His grandmother got him his own train set. 

Andrew came home in March of 2012, at almost three years old. He had been in foster care for about 20 months. In February, his parents had moved into a nice house with a big yard. He had a little car that he liked to ride around in it. 

CPS case workers sometimes came to check on things. He was so traumatized by his time in foster care that whenever he saw a case worker, he would get upset and plead not to be taken away. His parents still had to go to court once in a while. Their last visit was in September.

Convicted

Imagine your baby has just died of SIDS. Your other children are taken away. One of them is with strangers. You won't be able to see him until the following week. You have to go to court and listen to people claim you've been treating your children horribly, and everyone believes them. They ignore the fact that the police found no evidence against you. You're told all the things you must do in order to get the kids back. You're not allowed to speak for yourself.


Andrew was almost 15 months old when he was put into foster care. Various people in the family signed up to take him in. CPS came to inspect our house. My parents childproofed it per their instructions. We all had to have background checks and get fingerprinted. Even I had to do it- someone who couldn't talk or move. I had to go twice, since the fingerprints didn't show up the first time. The second time, my other sister dropped me while getting me out of the car, but that's not important. My suffering was in vain. CPS found fault with all of us. One couple was too far away. Another was told that too many people lived in their house. CPS claimed that another relative was so forgetful that she wouldn't know he was around. Sometimes she can't find her purse, but, hey, that would mean none of us should be raising children.

The parents got their instructions at the Juvenile Dependency Court four days after the baby's death. They were told what they had to do to get Andrew back. They had to take therapy and parenting classes, but there was a delay in the latter. My sister tried to get into some herself, but CPS wouldn't okay it. They finally were able to start them in September. They had to finish the classes before they could get Andrew, so they were eager to complete them by the earliest reunification date, in January. The father also had to take anger management classes.

They were to see Andrew at the CPS office for an hour twice a week. Later, the court gave permission to other relatives to visit for an hour once a month. This didn't happen until September, although my mother got to hold him briefly before then. She said that he looked lost. Before, he had been a normal baby, determinedly crawling around and trying to break my fingers. She and one of my brothers went to the September visit. He was just starting to walk. They read books and played with toys while a CPS employee took notes. There was a large playhouse in the room. Andrew liked receiving the paper that his grandma would slide through the mail slot.


Andrew's parents were prevented twice from seeing him. The police were waiting for them at the office and took them to the station to interrogate them. The second time, they impounded their truck. The impoundment place charged them $300 to get it back.

They had to go to court every month and get reports about what they were and weren't doing, and hear the latest findings. I read four of CPS' court reports. There was quite a lot of misinformation. The parents were quoted for things that they had never said. Dude, if they had actually said some of those things, they would have been locked up right away! One relative's treatment is testament to the risk of speaking one's mind to CPS. When explaining why they eliminated her for consideration as a placement for Andrew, they said it was because she denied that the children had been badly treated. They also used this argument against the parents.

In August, as they were about to go in to a court visit, a detective called them and said that they had to turn themselves in. They did so, and were held a few days and interrogated. My sister is allergic to nuts, but they only offered her peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They got out on lack of evidence. After that, they started looking for lawyers. They had to get their own because they couldn't get hold of the public defender. The father's new lawyer said that the police had wanted something with which to charge them in order to give them leverage in case they went after a murder charge for the baby.

By October, things were settling down. They were taking parenting classes The father was just about to sign up for his anger management classes. They both had good job prospects. The afternoon of Columbus Day, they went out to look at used cars.

At around five o'clock, law enforcement showed up at their door to take them to the station. Because of the timing, it was too late for them to call their lawyers. They were arraigned the next day and charged with willful child cruelty, in regard to the incident with Andrew's half-brother. They were held in a detention center. Their pre-trial hearing was a couple weeks later. The father was charged with a felony and the mother with a misdemeanor. After the hearing, my mother heard a detective say, "Yeah, we'll get them for murder."  The bail was $200,000 each. The judge reduced the mother's bail and she got out on $2500.

Because he had gotten out on a plea bargain, he was on probation. They both had to start their parenting classes over. He started his anger management classes and took parole classes, the latter of which lasted a year and cost $200 a month. He had to go every week. For his probation, he had to pay $175 a month, which was later changed to $250, with no explanation.

The father was held for two months. He was afraid for his life and made a plea bargain in order to get out. Otherwise, he had been told, he would be in jail for two years. Thus, he was a convicted felon without having been on trial. He and my sister were never allowed to speak on their own behalf. 

The baby's autopsy wasn't finalized until the following May. The coroner found no signs of foul play. This had no effect on their case.

This is not as an accusation against CPS, but to tell others that CPS does make mistakes. Not all parents who have dealings with them are guilty. It must be a stressful job to have, with a large case load. It's very important to get every decision right. People's futures are riding on this. I can understand how even well-intended caseworkers might be tempted to be creative with the facts, just to be safe. They must see many abused children, and want to prevent it in others. However, I don't think that they always consider the consequences to a child who is taken from a loving family and put with strangers. 

Please sign the petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/state-rep-tim-donnelly-help-find-andrew-dube

The accusation

Here is the story of how Andrew came to be taken away the first time. It was after the second time that we lost touch with him.

Andrew's sister was born on May 30, 2010. She weighed 4 lbs 9 oz and was a month premature. Her lungs were not fully developed. Her big brothers had different reactions to their new sister. Cody, who was almost four, thought she was pretty. Andrew, still a baby himself, was not impressed. 

Cody is my sister's son from a previous relationship. I was bed-bound, and he was always bringing in toys for us to play with. One time, I was watching a 1940s movie, Caesar and Cleopatra, starring Claude Raines and Vivien Leigh. Cody loved it. When Caesar was getting decked out in his armor, he said, "It's a knight!" He kept yelling for his grandma to come see. The next time he came over, he wanted to see it again. When he talked, he would say t instead of hard c or k. He could not have had a worse name for that.   

His parents shared custody. In April, the father of his other siblings had poked him in the chest and accidentally caused him to fall backwards into a glass coffee table, which gave him a bump on the head and a cut. The other father and my sister put ice on the bump and washed and examined the cut. They kept Cody up playing video games to make sure the bump wasn't a problem. Eventually, it went away and the cut healed. Cody's paternal grandmother, who often looked after him, reported this to CPS two months later, in June. CPS did not think her concern was warranted. Neither did the police. Cody's father had taken him there to report the bump, and they didn't think it was serious.

The baby girl died on July 12, of what Desert Valley Hospital diagnosed as SIDS. A CPS social worker looked them up and found the complaint. While they were still at the hospital, CPS told them that they had to go to their offices just to sign something. When they got there, they were questioned, and then Cody and Andrew were taken. This was despite the fact that when they called 911, police automatically investigated their home and found no signs of foul play. Cody's father got custody of him, and Andrew was put into foster care.