California Protective Parents Association Sets the Stage for Annihilating Child Sexual Abuse

Protective Parents Survey

Geraldine Butts Stahly, Ph.D.

There appears to be an increase in contentious custody disputes between divorcing parents. Some mental health professionals have suggested that this has created an "epidemic" of false abuse reports as a strategy of accusing parents. Other professionals report evidence of an increase in the labeling of parents who report child abuse or domestic violence during custody disputes such that parents who attempt to protect their children from abuse may actually lose custody as a result.

Several high profile cases have led to increased public attention, and fractious public debates have erupted between groups supporting the alleged perpetrators of abuse as victims of malicious accusations on one hand, and groups supporting the reporting parent as the victim of malicious psychiatric labeling on the other.Empirical studies have established the increase in child abuse in families in which there is domestic violence, and the increase in custody challenges by fathers who have a history of battering.

There is increasing recognition that custody disputes are an extension of the power and control tactics of domestic violence, and battered women's problems of child custody are now well-established and have been addressed in many states by changes in family law statutes. A few studies document the custody problems of battered women, who make up a subset of "protective parents."

However, there have been no studies to date on the extent of the overall phenomenon of "protective parents," the psychiatric labeling of protective behavior, or the extent to which protective behavior appears to be justified by the circumstances and evidence in custody cases.The current study is the pilot results of a national survey undertaken to study the issue of protective parents.

Sixty-seven self-identified "protective parents," male and female, completed a 101-item questionnaire describing aspects of their custody disputes. The pilot data to be presented includes the systematic documentation of the phenomenon of protective parents by including demographic factors, economic impact, and the full variety of protection issues including the range of allegations by both parents and others, the variety of expert examinations, diagnosis and testimony, family court response, and outcomes for children.

The following information is preliminary data from a national survey sponsored by California Protective Parents Association and Our Children Our Future Charitable Foundation. Self-identified "protective parents" completed a 101-item questionnaire describing aspects of their custody dispute. The following information is pilot data from the first 67 participants, as of May 2003.

Participants: 66 mothers; 1 father

105 children involved (59 girls, 46 boys)

253 attorneys involved (average of 4 per participant)T

otal spent on cases: $4,618,150.00:

Average per case: $74,000.00

90% of mothers were primary caretakers and had custody at separation

87% of mothers reported domestic violence

58% of mothers continued to experience violence after separation

76% of fathers threatened to take custody of the children

89% of protective parents reported allegations of abuse in court:
76% reported allegations of child sexual abuse were raised in court
67% reported allegations of child physical abuse were raised in court
58% reported medical/physical evidence of the abuse
76% reported other corroboration of the abuse
23% of children received Victims of Crime funds for related therapy 65% of protective parents were advised not to report abuse (due to the risk of losing custody)

This advice was given by:
attorneys - 55%
mediators - 10%
court personnel - 7%
advocates - 7%
others - 23% (AFDC worker, police, psychologist, judge, family court advisor, shelter staff and 11 other protective parents)

88% had psychological evaluations:

The average cost of the evaluation was $6,541.00
61% were not permitted to see the evaluation/recommendation
96% believed court personnel ignored or minimized allegations of abuse
48% of mothers were labeled with "PAS" (Parental Alienation Syndrome)
36% were labeled as "alienators"
69% lost custody as a result of the psychological evaluation

84% reported they were denied adequate presentation of information or witnesses

98% believed they were discredited for trying to protect their children

67% lost custody in ex parte proceedings

59% lost custody in proceedings with no court reporter present

67% were threatened with sanctions if they "talked publicly" about the case

OUTCOMES

(Some participants reported more than one outcome)

Father has custody; mother has unsupervised visitation -

48%Mother has custody; father has unsupervised visitation -

17%Father has custody; mother has supervised visitation -

29%Mother has custody; father has supervised visitation -

3%Father has custody; mother has no contact with the children -

29%Mother has custody; father has no contact with the children -

0%Mother and father have joint custody -

91% of mothers believe their children are still being abused

67% have stopped reporting abuse for fear that contact with their children will be terminated

75% of the children continue to report abuse

81% of mothers no longer believe they can protect their children

This survey project is ongoing. Please contact us at cppa001@aol.com if you would like to receive a survey form by mail, or get the survey form online at the Mothers of Lost Children site.
Research Summaries
December, 2002, Int J Eat Disord 32(4):441-8

Familial Correlates of Extreme Weight Control Behaviors Among Adolescents

By Fonseca H, Ireland M, Resnick MDBoys' risk factors [associated with extreme weight control] included high parental supervision/monitoring and sexual abuse history. . . . The only significant risk factor for girls was sexual abuse history.

OBJECTIVE:

To identify familial factors associated with extreme weight control among adolescents.

METHOD:

Analysis of a comprehensive 1996 health survey of Connecticut students. Familial factors among extreme dieters who deliberately vomited, took diet pills, laxatives, or diuretics were compared with youth reporting none of these behaviors, using logistic regression controlling for age and body mass index.

RESULTS:

Nearly 7% of adolescents reported engaging in extreme weight control behaviors. Boys' risk factors included high parental supervision/monitoring and sexual abuse history. Protective factors included high parental expectations, maternal presence, and connectedness with friends and other adults. The only significant risk factor for girls was sexual abuse history. Protective factors included family connectedness, positive family communication, parental supervision/monitoring, and maternal presence.

CONCLUSIONS:

Extreme dieting appears to be less an expression of body composition than of psychosocial issues. That connectedness to family, other adults, and friends is protective further demonstrates interrelationships of extreme weight control behaviors with family/social issues.

From: Adolescent Health Outpatient Clinic, Pediatric Division, Hospital de Santa Maria, Lisboa, Portugal.
February 1992, Pediatrics, Vol. 89, No. 2Genital Injuries Resulting from Sexual Abuse:A Longitudinal Study

By John McCann, MD; Joan Voris, MD; and Mary Simon, MD

Abstract: Three children who incurred genital injuries as a result of sexual assaults were followed up on a longitudinal basis to document the anatomical changes which ensued. The subjects, who were 4 months, 4 years 5 months, and 9 years of age, were followed up for periods ranging from 14 months to 3 years. A multi-method examination approach and a 35-mm camera mounted on a colposcope were used to examine and record their injuries. Signs of the acute damage disappeared rapidly, and the wounds healed without complications.Following the resolution of the acute injuries, the changes created by the trauma remained relatively stable throughout the prepubertal years. The most persistent findings were irregular hymenal edges and narrow rims at the point of the injury. Over time the jagged, angular margins smoothed off. Disruption of the hymen exposed underlying longitudinal intravaginal ridges whose hymenal attachments created mounds or projections. There was little apparent scar formation. Even the injuries to the posterior fourchettes healed with minimal scar tissue and left only the slightest evidence of the trauma.

With the onset of puberty, the hymenal changes in the oldest subject were obscured by the hypertrophy of this membrane. An examination technique which used a Q-tip to separate the redundant tissues demonstrated that the signs of trauma had survived.

Pediatrics 1992;89:307-317; child sexual abuse, hymen, sexual abuse, prepubertal genital injuries, healing process.

Economic Costs Attributed to Child Sexual Abuse in Canada 1998

WTF?

Someone please tell my why we have a Department of Justice, Health, and Education?

What do these people actually do to prevent child sexual abuse?

"Okay, we know your child has been sexually abused, but we can't prove it. So, here, take some medication, it's free, the government will pay for it, as well as for your counselling...and then when your child is free of that environment, we'll hand them some drugs and free counselling so that they can cope with the devastating after-effects. But don't expect us to do anything to prevent the abuse, because then the entire industry of creating crime, criminal minds and perpetuating the cycle would crumble and the old farts wouldn't have money."

Beautiful, fantastic. This is how the world turns....problem, reaction, solution.

The giants create the problem by preying on our children...

We react...they punish us and use our children to keep us under control...

The same people who created the problem provide a solution, and so we continue to enrich the pharmaceutical giants...

"Abstract:
This paper describes a study of the economic costs attributed to child sexual abuse in Canada for the 1997-1998 fiscal year. The preliminary cost estimate of child sexual abuse in Canada exceeds $3.6 billion annually. This includes both public and private costs across four policy areas: health, social/public services, justice, and education/research and employment. These estimates have important policy implications in the area of child sexual abuse. The effectiveness of remedies, and options for new initiatives, policies and programs can be further evaluated using these economic calculations.
Journal Title:
Journal of Health & Social Policy Volume: 17 Issue: 2 ISSN: 0897-7186 Pub Date: 12/22/2003
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Byron Prior Speaks Out on YouTube About Injustice in Canada

Need to know more? Just go to www.youtube.com and type in "Byron Prior" - then if you're feeling moved, which is a sign that you still have a conscience, contact our Justice Minister, and let him know that he needs to take action.

MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA

105 East Block, House of Commons

Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
K1A 0A6
Telephone:
(613) 992-4621
Fax:
(613) 990-7255

If There Wasn't Any Child Abuse...

Abuse a child and you create a victim or a perpretator.
Abuse a child and you create a lifelong customer for the pharmaceutical companies
Abuse a child and you guarantee the prison warden a full quota of prisoners each year
Abuse a child and a psychologist or psychiatrist somewhere gains another patient
Abuse a child and another family ends in divorce...
Abuse a child and a corrupt lawyer profits from the disintegration of the family....

So, who has to gain when children are abused? Government? Big Industry?

Is that why it is still allowed to go on, year after year after year?

Children in Nova Scotia Being Abused by Child Protection System?

Did their baby really need to be protected?
Some say an inquiry is the only way to know if child welfare workers acted appropriately
By MICHAEL LIGHTSTONE / Staff Reporter
Examining the actions of child welfare authorities during last year's armed standoff on Shirley Street would conceivably be the purpose of a public inquiry into the incident.
But is an inquiry absolutely necessary?
Supporters of the parents at the centre of the controversy say an investigation is not only warranted, it's needed to probe what they consider to be a dysfunctional system harming families.
Others say they're not convinced public hearings, sure to cost taxpayers plenty, will solve anything.
Justice Michael Baker has said he won't authorize an inquiry unless new information comes to light.
Critics who say they've been ill-served by the child welfare system, and have had their children taken from their care, are not happy with the government's position.
"The children in Nova Scotia are being abused by this (child-protection) system," Marilyn Dey, a Halifax supporter of standoff couple Larry Finck and Carline VandenElsen, said in a recent interview.
The couple had their infant daughter removed from their household at the end of the May 2004 siege. In a court ruling Thursday, Mr. Finck and Ms. VandenElsen lost custody of her permanently, though the decision can be appealed.
Ms. Dey acknowledged that backers of the pair, who face a sentencing hearing that begins today for their role in the 67-hour standoff, want a public probe to stretch beyond the Shirley Street event.
"This is the way Larry and Carline feel, too, that the whole child protection business, or industry, needs to be inquired into," Ms. Dey said.
Ms. VandenElsen has been on a jailhouse hunger strike to back demands for a wide-reaching inquiry; Mr. Finck has also been behind bars awaiting sentencing.
They were convicted May 12 of several charges after a jury trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court.
Halifax police are doing an internal review of how the department handled the standoff, but that report is not expected to be made public.
The provincial Public Inquiries Act says one commissioner or more would be appointed by the government to look into a public matter. Witnesses would testify under oath and relevant documents filed with the commission during open hearings.
Once an inquiry's report is released, the government of the day usually provides an official response.
Recent inquiries called by the province have been linked to the separate deaths of three people: James Guy Bailey, Donald LeBlanc and Theresa McEvoy.
Nova Scotia has had other probes that weren't held under the Public Inquiries Act, including one, called a "review," that examined the province's youth detention compensation program.
The high-profile review was headed by a retired Quebec judge hired by the Nova Scotia government. In 2002, he released a 632-page report with 105 recommendations.
The Halifax standoff case, which made headlines when it happened 13 months ago and later during the trial stage, has prompted letters to the editor and other public commentary.
"Children are not apprehended on a whim; they are apprehended based upon fact," a former child welfare worker said in a letter last month to The Chronicle Herald.
She said an inquiry is unnecessary, adding, a child's "right of privacy far exceeds . . . anyone else's 'need to know' " what happened in the Finck / VandenElsen case.
"Histrionic demands for information by people who don't know the facts accomplishes nothing except to stir up public sentiment with half-truths," the letter writer said.
The apprehension order regarding Mr. Finck's and Ms. VandenElsen's baby was issued after child welfare officials in Ontario alerted colleagues in Nova Scotia. Officials here wanted the couple to agree to home visits to check on their child and undergo mental health assessments, and they wanted the baby to remain in Halifax.
They wouldn't comply.
Ms. VandenElsen's sister, Maureen Davidson, is hoping the government will change its tune and launch a public probe.
"That would be, for me, a miracle," the Mannheim, Ont., woman said, of an independent inquiry.
"I would love for people to see how this really all transpired."
If anything, the Shirley Street standoff has drawn attention to child protection services and prompted those who work in the field to try to explain why the province's 20 child welfare agencies do what they do.
Earlier this month, the Hamm government, along with the Nova Scotia Association of Social Workers, published a pamphlet on child welfare.
It says in 2004, there were about 11,500 child welfare cases in Nova Scotia. Some 840 of those involved court proceedings; less than one per cent of all cases involved taking a child from home.
Graeme Fraser, the association's co-ordinator, said his group has not formally discussed the inquiry issue. Speaking in general terms as someone who knows as much about the case as the public, he said: "I'm not aware of any factors that would warrant a public inquiry."
Mr. Fraser said apprehension orders are executed as "a last resort" in child protection cases, and "only after very thoughtful consideration."
He conceded "no system is perfect." But, Mr. Fraser said, the child welfare system is better at ensuring trustworthiness than most.
"There are a lot of safeguards and checks and balances in this particular system," he said. "Part of the reason for that is because of the kind of authority that the children's services agencies have."
Mr. Fraser added that in his experience, it's "fairly common" for police to accompany social workers removing kids from their homes. "It's such a highly-charged situation," he said, of the reason officers attend.
Halifax lawyer Burnley (Rocky) Jones, who has represented Ms. VandenElsen in the past, said her case opened his eyes "to such an extent, that I never want to see another (family law) case like this."
Asked about a public inquiry, he didn't hesitate before answering yes.
"There needs to be clarification of the role of Children's Aid, which we believe to be a private organization, which on the other hand works as a complete government agency," Mr. Jones said.
"They have it two ways."

Yeah, what's that about 'absolute power'?

B.C.Government Scraps Children's Commission...

‘I miss her so much’
Grieving dad hopes daughter’s death will save another child Louise Dickson, Times Colonist
Published: Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Eric Bringsli hopes his daughter’s murder will save another innocent child one day.

“There’s really nothing left but this little hope,” says the devastated father. “I miss her so much. It’s not going to make me feel better. But I don’t want anyone else to be in Eveleigh’s position, or my position of having to miss their child forever.”

Bringsli is at home today, unable to work. He’s overwhelmed by the loss of his four-year-old daughter who was murdered on Sept. 1, 2003, the day before she was going to begin kindergarten. Eveleigh Rain’s mother, Astrid Literski, fed her sleeping pills then smothered her. Literski is now serving a life sentence for second-degree murder.

Bringsli’s loss is more acute because it’s been revealed that the government shipped the unfinished reviews of 713 child deaths to a Victoria warehouse after scrapping the children’s commission in 2002.

“I’m appalled. How could that happen?” he asks. “Just like Eveleigh’s case, there are lessons to be learned from those. There might have been information in those files that might have helped Eveleigh. There’s got to be something in there. There’s got to be.”

Bringsli has printed out the missions, goals and objectives of the B.C. Coroners Service Child Death Review. It sits with letters and legal papers on the coffee table in his living room. He’s put asterisks beside the 13 points he considers important such as reviewing deaths in a timely manner, and preventing future deaths.

The B.C. Coroners Service says it has reviewed the cases of 546 children who died after Jan. 1, 2003, but has released a report on only one child’s death since then, compared to more than 700 released by the Children’s Commission in the previous six years.

And two years and three months after Eveleigh’s death, Bringsli is still waiting for the coroner’s report. He phoned coroner Rose Stanton months ago after the criminal case against Literski was concluded.

“She sounded like she was picking up the file anew,” says Bringsli. “I know Rose is working on it but it was supposed to be out more than a month ago and it’s still a couple of weeks away. Maybe she’s going that much deeper. But I feel I had to jump-start the process by contacting her in the first place.”

The coroner’s report and the child death review is important, says Bringsli who is looking for recommendations that relate to Eveleigh’s situation.

“I’m hoping something will be learned from this. . . . It’s long past due to have learned something. But nothing’s been learned yet from Eveleigh’s case that will protect a child in future.”

Although the ministry says information about their services to families must be withheld to protect the family’s privacy, Bringsli has no objection to recommendations about Eveleigh’s death being made public. “It’s got to be out there.”

In a recent interview, Colin Harris, manager of child-death review, said the B.C. Coroners Service will not make public reviews or recommendations on individual cases. Recommendations will be contained in aggregate reports or periodic reports that don’t identify specific cases.

Bringsli says it’s wrong that recommendations won’t be linked to Eveleigh, and wrong that he will probably never know what recommendations were made in her name.

“My hope is that one day these recommendations will be read by the right people and someone will say, ‘You know. I know about this case and it sounds like Eveleigh Rain’s case. Because I know about Eveleigh Rain, I’m going to make that call because I don’t want to see this child get hurt.’”

© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2005

You know, I agree with Mr. Bringsli...the Government of British Columbia has an obligation to investigate the death of these precious children, precisely in a real attempt to prevent future incidents.

Not doing so indicates a tendency toward gross negligence.

In Eveleigh's case, I believe that the right professionals could have monitered and supported her mother in order to give her options other than the desperate and criminal action of smothering her own child.

If the government will not be accountable, we, the people must hold our government responsible.

Advisory Committee Should Review Children and Family Services Act

Standoff case and politics in N.S.: the need for a fix
By RALPH SURETTE
NDP MLA Graham Steele went to court this week to force the Hamm government to obey its own law and set up an advisory committee to review the Children's and Family Services Act. There's a statute that requires the province to do that every year, but there hasn't been such a committee since 1999.
In other words, there's a problem here even before we evoke the dramatic Carline VandenElsen/Larry Finck case, in which the Halifax couple's child was taken away last year after a heavily armed, dead-of-the-night police raid followed by a 67-hour standoff. Now the two have been jailed for three-and-a-half and four-and-a-half years respectively, amid public and media concern about whether officialdom's hostility to the spectacularly antagonistic pair is partly to blame for the debacle. There are demands for a public inquiry.

As far as Justice Minister Michael Baker is concerned, the courts have duly judged and there's nothing more to be said, and no reason for a public inquiry. As for the advisory committee, Community Services Minister David Morse has responded, absurdly, by saying that if Steele knows anybody who wants to sit on such a committee, he should send them to see the appropriate government officials.
In both cases, then, the response is no: no transparency, no openness, no explanations.
Let's do a little review that may, in part, explain why the VandenElsen case and such a reaction from government make many Nova Scotians queasy.

In Nova Scotia, we're just barely out of a 20-year nightmare where everything was going wrong in a big way precisely because of secrecy and political darkness where things festered. The Marshall inquiry that exposed a justice system embarrassingly rank with prejudice, the Westray mine disaster that revealed an inspection system that covered up deadly infractions, and the Shelburne boys' school abuse scandal that resulted in perhaps $100 million in avoidable expenses and a horrible miscarriage of justice for many employees of the institution who were falsely accused - these were just the biggest scandals in a long string of them.
Although things have settled down since, it's easy to trigger the question: Have the lessons of all that really been learned? Specifically, things have settled down since Premier John Hamm's Tories came to power. The method employed to bring this about has been that whenever the Tories were backsliding or overboard, they'd get broadsided by the NDP, even a few times by the Liberals, and they'd back off. In this way, ironically, Premier Hamm finds himself riding high in the polls.
In order to keep looking good, the premier will, I'm sure, do his number and call Baker and Morse in for a little chat, if he hasn't done it already. With regard to Morse, it should be a quick shuffle - before the embarrassment of a court order.

After all, the law - Section 88(1), Children and Family Services Act - is clear: "the minister shall establish an advisory committee . . . etc." Steele and two others are looking for a Writ of Mandamus - a legal order designed to force a public official to do his duty.
Whether an advisory committee is enough to do the job in this case is another question. However, Steele says the advisory committee was designed for precisely these situations, where parent, Legal Aid and minority group representatives can get answers, and make sure the law is working right. Parents whose children have been taken by the Children's Aid Society (CAS) often complain to their MLAs, "but we have neither time nor resources to follow up," says Steele. Plus, the complainants are often paranoid and into conspiracy theories, he says (as are VandenElsen and Finck), "but after all that is stripped away, they usually have legitimate questions." Indeed.
As for the embattled CAS, it says it has good reasons for acting as it did in the VandenElsen case, but can't reveal them because of confidentiality. Social workers are always in this bind. I fully assume that the social workers at CAS are trying to do the right thing. But the point is that without regular review and open give-and-take, even the right thing can become the wrong thing. And in terms of public perception, if everything is on the up and up, CAS would benefit from such a review, as would the cause of good government.
Ralph Surette is a veteran Nova Scotia journalist living in Yarmouth County.

Something smells fishy in this case, and it ain't the fish in NS.