Re: Re: CPS is coming! & GPS Wrist Locator Information

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the link. I will definitely check it out. I may also ask the

police about providing him with a " house arrest " ankle bracelet.

Bev

bobs1012@... wrote:

> Our son ( 7 DS) has wandered several times early in the morning

> while

> we slept and without our knowledge (even though doors were initially

> locked

> etc). He was returned by neighbors on two of the occasions. Local child

> protection policies are similar here as in other places, including

> removal

> of children during investigation, and potential filing of neglect and

> endangerment charges. Luckily we have not had the local police or CPS

> involved yet and continue to teach not to wander.

>

> There is a new product on the market based on GPS and wireless computer

> technology, which is a child's wrist locator, that can precisely locate,

> track, etc, both indoors and outdoors, with map display and communication

> features via satellite tracking and subsequent data access via your home

> computer.

>

> I have not tried this product, but it sounds interesting and won a 2002

> Innovators Best of Show Recognition at the Consumer Electronics Show last

> month. It is still a bit pricey (currently ~$399.), but maybe there are

> grant or philanthropic sources of funding?

>

> Info sources;

> http://www.wirelessdevnet.com/news/2001/360/news3.html

> http://www.wherify.com/corp_home.htm

>

> Bob Siegel

> Dad to 7 DS

> http://www.dsresearch.org/

>

>

[Guest guest]

> Local child protection policies are similar here as in other places,

including removal

of children during investigation, and potential filing of neglect and

endangerment charges. <

That is not the policy here. Children can not be removed unless their life is

in eminent danger. CPS also prioritizes the calls that come in. Sexual abuse

allegations and physical abuse with injuries come first. If we had a lack of

supervision call and made a home visit and found the children not being attended

to and there were other signs of neglect (usually found in parents with

substance abuse issues), then major red flags are raised. I once investigated a

mom who was a professional. Each time her husband went out of town, she could

not handle it and went on a drinking binge. When I went back to the home with

the intentions of removing the kids (dad was out of the country and could not be

found), two of moms coworkers were there because she had not shown up for work.

We worked out a plan that they would stay with the family until the father could

be located and return home. That prevented removal. Suppose when the father

came home and did not cooperate with developing a plan for when he was out of

town, we would have sought a protecive order through the court. In this case,

the father was going to make sure his wife would get treatment and his parents

would stay with the family during his business trips. The police can file

seperate charges. In cases such as ours, I doubt they would.

>There is a new product on the market based on GPS and wireless computer

technology, which is a child's wrist locator, that can precisely locate, track,

etc, both indoors and outdoors, with map display and communication

features via satellite tracking and subsequent data access via your home

computer. <

This sounds great!! Bev...if you can't afford such a device, ask CPS if they

can fund that.

Bob..it's scary. We keep our doors locked at all times with chain locks.

Staying with my father presents problems because there is one door can

get out of. I sleep on the couch at Pop's house so I can listen for

when he gets up. One morning the neighbor brought him back. went

inside their house and turned on cartoons at 5:00 am. Scared the crap out of

them! 8 years ago, that same neighbor was married to my best friend and

's god mother. He knows 's issues well. I had lost our portable

alarm..but I did go out and get another one after that incident.

[Guest guest]

This is what is so wonderful about this group. I would have never known that

some DS kids have a problem with wandering. I have read alot on the subject

of downs but never seen anything written about this problem. It's the

parents who know what they are talking about they live it every day. Now I

know to watch out for this before (hopefully) my little guy ever wanders off.

(He has to walk first.) Forwarned is forarmed. Thanks youy guys!!

Loree

[Guest guest]

This is what is so wonderful about this group. I would have never known that

some DS kids have a problem with wandering. I have read alot on the subject of

downs but never seen anything written about this problem. It's the

parents who know what they are talking about they live it every day. Now I know

to watch out for this before (hopefully) my little guy ever wanders off.

(He has to walk first.) Forwarned is forarmed. Thanks youy guys!!

Forewarned is right! Not all kids with DS will be wanderers. 's first

escapade happened at age 2 1/2. We stayed at a hotel with one of those locks

that if you open the door many times, it can spring open. He went to the bar

where a band was playing. He (from what I was told) started to dance and had a

blast. They brought him back to our room at 2:00 am. The next day, they sent a

gift basket full of goodies for him. They also alerted all staff To this

day, I tell every hotel we stay in about .

[Guest guest]

A little girl, 23 months old, was beaten to death in her home this

past week in Kansas City. A man who moved in with her mother a month ago has

been arrested. Neighbors said they heard hitting, crying and even screaming,

and one person said she had called DFS, I think they call it here, but no one

did anything. The baby, is, was covered with bruises, old and new. The

neighbor said she had called DFS 5 times but they only admitted to one call.

They say they can't do anything if it's only HEARD, but not SEEN. But if

someone had called the police they could have gone in and found the evidence.

This is what is being said on the news. No one called the police until it

was too late. The mother found is not breathing and called for help.

She was brain dead but was kept on life support for 36 hours. There seems

something wrong here to me. And it is so sad.

There was another case here 2or 3 years ago where 2 little boys, part

of triplets, were starved and burned by their mother, over a long period.

Neighbors didn't even know they existed. There were other children but these

were not seen. Teachers and a doctor had called DFS but when they went to

investigate the mother told them the boys were not at home and that was as

far as it went. When finally found one boy was dead, the other almost. He

had gangrene in his stomach!! Both boys had severe untreated burns on their

legs and feet where the mother had scalded them in a bath tub. They both

died. The mother is in jail, I think for life, and her live in boy friend is

in jail for letting her do it, more or less. It seems to me there is

something wrong with a system that lets these things happen. What do you

think, ?

Jessie

[Guest guest]

Some type of evidence is needed to make a complaint valid. Hearing a baby cry

alot won't do it. CPS really is limited in what they can do and what they

can't. I'd have people call to say that a child was being beaten. I'd ask them

how they know that and their response would be " I just know " . Unless they saw

the child being beat, or the child told them they were being beat, or someone

told them they saw or heard, or they saw the child with bruises, then legally

CPS's hands are tied. I'd try to pull anything out of them to make a complaint

valid...often unable to do so. Calling the police is the right thing to do.

I'd have people call me about small children being left alone...hours or days

after they saw that. Then they get mad because we can't do anything. In

situations such as that, it's always best to call the police.

You hear horror stories about CPS all the time..doesn't matter what state you

are in. When something hits the media, CPS is not allowed due to

confidentiality laws to discuss the matter (and give their side). Most

jurisdictions have too few social workers. On my last job, I counted 25

investigations during a 6 week period (have to interview the parent/caregiver,

school, neighbors, child, siblings, etc. on each one) in addition to having 5

foster care cases (going to court, making sure services were being provided,

supervising visitation, trying to locate absent parent, acting in lieu of

parents, etc) and several prevention (or ongoing CPS) cases..and those are the

hardest ones to do...very time consuming! In addition, I had to seek funding,

due tons of paperwork and data entry in the computer. I was coming home late,

working way more hours than I should have and not being able to be with my

family at times when they needed me. The agency I am with now is really good

about keeping the caseload size down (and the pay is so much better). I am not

doing CPS, foster care or prevention anymore. I do the fun stuff Our foster

care workers have a caseload that maxes at 15. Other jurisdictions have

caseloads in the 30's up to 80+. That is probably one of the biggest problems

with the system.

BTW, I would never close out a case without seeing the child. That is

ridiculous! One could get a court order if need be to enter a home. Having a

doctor make a statement is the best thing to hold up in court.

I was lucky that I didn't have any really bad cases. I had some sex abuse

cases, but the worse physical case was severe butt beating and a teenage girl

beaten by her father. I had one child fatality investigation..but the cause of

death was from one of the parents rolling over on their baby as they slept.

[Guest guest]

In this same vein, does anyone know of a product that would help

you notice a child slipping away at the playground? Seems to

me that several years ago, a shopping mall was advertising free

use of a device that you attached to both you and your child. If

the child got too far away, your alarm would beep. Now that

is older (and faster), it's harder to keep track of her on

the play equipment. Even watching her closely, she can slip out

of the other side of play equipment and be running (laughing all

the way) across the grass (her favorite place to run). It makes

going to the park miserable, and I don't know how to stop this

(if it's at possible at all). At best, at least if I could notice quickly

when she took off, she could get such a running start!

Thanks,

, mom to (6), (4 DS), and (2)

[Guest guest]

I think someone has written about this in the past week in response to

our family's wandering episode. You may be able to find exact details in

the archives.

I remember seeing it a few years ago when it was first being marketed.

It wouldn't have helped us because, at least back then, it was attached

to the child with velcro. My son could have it off in two seconds.

Bev

Kerrigan wrote:

> In this same vein, does anyone know of a product that would help

> you notice a child slipping away at the playground? Seems to

> me that several years ago, a shopping mall was advertising free

> use of a device that you attached to both you and your child. If

> the child got too far away, your alarm would beep. Now that

> is older (and faster), it's harder to keep track of her on

> the play equipment. Even watching her closely, she can slip out

> of the other side of play equipment and be running (laughing all

> the way) across the grass (her favorite place to run). It makes

> going to the park miserable, and I don't know how to stop this

> (if it's at possible at all). At best, at least if I could notice

> quickly

> when she took off, she could get such a running start!

>

> Thanks,

> , mom to (6), (4 DS), and (2)

>

>

>

>