Trainings Outline

Trainings outline

Allegations

Welcome to your on line training source. If you have taken one of the training workshops we have conducted across the United States then you are familiar with the backgrounds of those the individuals involved in the truthful exploration of the topics that of greatest importance to you. We have started with one of the three subjects that are most requested, allegations being the most requested topic in all of our workshops, both on line and conducted in public forums.

There are many different aspects in this topic, all of which you need to be aware of, fostering is not a choice you can or should take lightly. You are responsible for your actions; therefore, you need to be made aware of the consequences of those actions.

Section l.Standing accused of child abuse; this first part of the training we will give a scenario that we have seen thousands of times across the United States and many other countries now.

Questions to be explored;

a)The truth about what you and your family go through?

b)Is your anger normal?

c)Why is it important to know my rights from the very beginning?

d)Will the police be involved?

e)What about mine or my spouses employment, will that be involved?

f)Will this allegation remain on my record?

Section ll.The investigation;

Questions to be explored:

a). How will I know I am being investigated? b). who will the investigator talk to? c). Will they keep me informed on what they have discovered? d). How long will the investigation take? e).What if I am innocent? f). Can they file criminal charges on me or my spouse?

Section lll.Will I have to go court?

Questions to be explored;

a). you as a foster parent are under what is called “Administrative Law”. b). what is Ad Law?

c). Will I need an attorney to represent me? d). What if I cannot afford an attorney? e). Can I represent myself? How? f). what will I need to prepare for court? g). Will I be allowed to call witnesses? h). How long will all this take? i). Will I be allowed to foster during this time?

SectionlV. The aftermath.

Questions to be explored;

a). Will there be fall out from this allegation? b). what precautions do I need to take if I decide to continue fostering? c). what steps do I need to take if I decide not to continue fostering? d). How will this affect me personally? My family?

The outline you have just read is a truthful approach to fostering. Your questions will be answered completely and more importantly honestly.

We encourage you to continue in your studies, take all three courses offered. Your only protection from allegations is to comprehend the documentation process, something that your initial foster parent training does not teach you. That is like putting you into the pilot’s seat without teaching you how to fly. It is also critical that you have a basic understanding of Administrative Law. The other two classes that we offer are ESSENTIAL to your well being.

Prepare yourself, educate yourself on your rights as a foster parent, your State Statutes and be ready as the Bible say’s “be ready to give an answer”.

Online Training; Allegations

In this first discovery regarding allegations you will be told the truth about what you can expect.

If you are in the middle of an allegation it is absolutely imperative that you pay close attention during this training, the steps you take from this point on are vital to your family’s security.

If you have not had an allegation, let me assure you,

“It is not a matter of if; it is a matter of when”.

It is extremely wise of you to take the initiative to explore this and other issues facing foster parents in today’s world now, prior to an allegation being filed against you. I sincerely wish more foster parents would do so, the heartache and family devastation would lessen if they knew what do to do in the on slot of being accused of child abuse, or more importantly what not to do.

One thing you will quickly learn in this and other trainings created by Foster Parents Legal Solutions, and its founder/owner, is that we do not mince words. You will learn truth in our trainings, workshops, and articles on line. The PRIDE and MAPP trainings are totally inadequate, even antiquated in preparing you for today’s fostering.

Section l (a) the truth about what you and your family will go through?

If you are already facing allegations right now your head is spinning, you are wondering what to do and how to do it. You feel as if you are standing in a dark room with nowhere to turn, no one to turn to, and no one to talk to, alone. A foster parent being faced with an accusation of child abuse is life changing. What you and your family are going through and about to go through will change your life forever. Your attitude will change drastically towards America’s justice system and the horror that her children face while caught in the web of deceit called the Foster Care System.

You are a foster parent because you want to give back to your country, you want to try and save children from suffering of physical emotional abuse inflicted by the biological parents, or some other adult in their short lives. The stigmatism of being a foster child brings shame, degradation, and abuse of other older children who share their sexual prowess with other children. You as a foster parent have an opportunity to change that, or at least show this little child that not everyone in the world shares the philosophy regarding loving a child. Now, someone outside of your home, a neighbor, teacher or other mandated reporter, or even this child who was placed in your home previously or a current placement is accusing you of doing wrong. It could be anyone and you will not be told anything during this time.

If you are looking to become or continue functioning as a foster parent and your motive is to make a little extra money from that now empty bedroom within your home you will do more harm to these already damaged children. Children are not stupid, especially in today’s world they will see through you and your motives. Go find something else to do where you are not tearing a life further apart, teaching a child that love is connected to financial gain…and you are doing more damage by your lack of love for these children.

There are people who seek to become foster parents that find the money that foster parents earn from their agencies, that is wonderful that money is helpful to your financial situation, however, if it is your leading motive, I strongly suggest that you find something else to do.

If you are a brand new foster parent then we have a chance to prepare you for Reality Fostering101.

Section l (b) is your anger normal?

When an allegation is filed on you it is normal to be angry, after all you have just been accused of harming a child in your care, that’s outrageous. It could have been an accident or a total misunderstand….remember they do not know. All they know is they received a call saying that they believed a child was being mistreated, or the child’s biological parent believes this, or the child could have called themselves to report you. Anger on a foster child’s part is a dangerous thing now that they have knowledge of how to be removed immediately from a home that requires chores, or other rules they disagree with. There are any numbers of reasons why this is happening to you. It’s funny in my workshops I always hear this statement from someone in the audience; “allegations only happen to bad foster parents and I am such a good foster parent that it will never happen to me” or my favorite “my social worker is a friend of mine and she would never believe that of me”, true statements? Absolutely ludicrous statements. There is no such thing as friends who are social workers….if so they are extremely rare. No one is going to get fired from their job to save one foster parent from the flames of an allegation.

Section l c Why is it important to know my rights from the very beginning?

We are always telling our foster parents that they need to become familiar with their own State
Statutes, as well as the Agency rules and regulations, here are a few of the primary reason;

Did you know about mandated reporters? Foster parents are mandated reports also.

What are the guidelines in acting as guardian or caretaker for a foster child…what are your rights, what are the foster children’s rights?

Are you allowed to be in court when the child appears in front of the judge who is in charge of this “ward of the court?”

What do your State Statutes say regarding foster parents? Licensing issues? How long your agency has to investigate your allegation?

Agency rules;

What is the rule for visitors in your home? How many days can they remain without informing your agency?

Who can you select as a babysitter for the foster children when you are away from home?

How can you insure that your child is getting the medical services that he/she needs?

Now let me ask you a question; do you know any of these Statutes and/or rules?

Did you sign a contract with your agency to become a foster parent with their agency? Did you get a copy of the rules and regulations you agreed to follow? Did you even read them? How will you know if you violate rules you never read? Allegations are guided by the definition of child abuse; do you know what that definition is? Your Statutes define it for you.

After answering these two questions are you a prepared foster parent? Did MAPP or PRIDE prepare you? You must prepare yourself and you’re on the way with this first on line training session.

Section l (d) Will the police be involved?

Interesting question. The police are involved frequently in interviews if physical or sexual abuse is a question. Sometimes you will be asked to go to the police department for an interview.

Problem with this; if the police were in charge of the investigation in the first place we would have a lot less devastated foster parents. What I mean by that is that police are trained in gathering information, evidence that a crime of some kind was committed. Police take into consideration that is doing the accusing and the background of that individual. CPS does not do this and they always believe the child.

Most of the CPS investigators are absolutely untrained even unskilled in investigations.

Remember the police personnel who will interview you have been lead to believe that you have in fact committed child abuse of some sort because the report filled out by the CPS investigator indicates it is so. The fact that the child is an habitual liar, has lied about every foster parent that he has ever been placed with leaving a trail of devastation wherever he goes is immaterial and not even mentioned in the report. All the report says is that you are founded, indicated, or substantiated. Because of this lack of communication they are under the impression they are dealing with a child molester or at the very least a child abuser. You will be treated like a criminal….innocent until proven guilty?

When you are contacted by the police if you can afford it this is a good time to call the criminal attorney you have already selected.

Section l (e) what about mine or my spouses employment, will that be involved?

Yours (or spouse’s) employment could well be if it involved working with children. This is any job involving having children around; fire personnel, police, any school employees, doctors, nurses, swimming instructors….any employment working with/or around children. If you are found substantiated, founded, or indicated of child abuse your name will be placed on your states child abuse registry. This means that you will no longer be able to pass a background check that all employers are required to complete prior to your being hired. If you are a teacher most schools require this to be completed every two years. Expungement is the only remedy to this outrage and it takes hiring a qualified attorney to do attempt this, very expensive process. Once you’re on it is all but impossible to get your name removed. This is why it is extremely important that you know what your rights are prior to an allegation being filed.

Section l (f) Will this allegation remains on my record?

We have already discussed the “child abuse registry”; now let’s talk about the agency records.

You have had one allegation now, the agency will tell you that this case is closed and now you can get back to fostering. They rarely ever place the same children back in your foster home once the allegation is closed. Closed is an interesting word.

Adjective----closed (not comparable)

1. Sealed, made inaccessible or impassable; not open
2. (of a store or business) Not operating or conducting trade
3. Not public. closed source a closed committee

Source; Wikipedia

You see to most of us closed means that it is now a closed file, no more to be opened, forgotten….this is simply not true. The agency can and does reopen this file whenever they choose to. They now have a thing called “preponderance of evidence”, this means that when you have another allegation of a similar situation they can and do reopen the first one again. If you have one then two of the same nature you are guilty by way of preponderance of evidence. This simply means that even if they cannot prove it “where there is smoke there is fire”. So let’s say closed actually means “closed for now”. To the agency it means they can now put you back to work as a foster parent and your home is now off the red flag list and children can be placed in your home again.

ll. The Investigation.

Section ll (a) how will I know I am being investigated?

We have touched on this question in section l. There are signs which will indicate that you are probably under investigation, that you have had an allegation filed. An investigation can be underway without you being aware of it; a few of the signs are;

a)Your social worker seems to be going out of her/his way to avoid you. Not returning your calls. This goes double if this person has usually called you back as soon as possible.

b)You go into your agency and it just feels like something is not right, somethings up.

c)Other foster parents, friends, or the school has mentioned that they had a visitor asking questions about you and your foster child.

d)Removing foster children from your home. Although they don’t always remove the child (ren) when there is an allegation of any kind, if the allegation is of a physical or sexual connotation they must remove the child (ren) for their own safety.

The standard training offered to foster parents prior to obtaining their foster care license does not tell you; if the allegation is of a physical or sexual nature, although they do not do it often, they can remove your own biological children at the same time... If they do not remove the child (ren) then it is probably a minor infraction of the rules and a C.A.P. (Correction Action Plan) could be offered to you. I have seen this called many different things, disciplinary action, and just an action plan. Always remember whenever someone invites you to a meeting they have something in mind. If someone shoves a piece of paper under your nose do not sign anything until you have had the time to read it through carefully. Do not sign anything under pressure to do so. Take the time to read it. They will make it sound like a one-time offer, a carrot dangling in front of you, they will tell you that you are a valued foster parent and they want you to be able to put this allegation behind you and get on with what you do best, fostering. They will say just sign this and it will all be over…..yeah like a plea bargain it is an admission of guilt, a confession.

Section ll (b) who will the investigator talk to?

The allegation usually begins when your social worker does not return your calls, although this does happen, if you have a working relationship with your social worker and she usually does call you back. If that suddenly changes somethings up.

If the allegation is of a physical, sexual, or emotional nature they will automatically come to your home to remove the foster children immediately. Remember they do not know if this allegation is true or fictional and their job is to protect the child, even from you.

After they have removed the child they will interview the child whom they have removed from you home, they can and do interview all of the children who were in your home. Even if the child is a known habitual liar they must investigate each and every allegation no matter how bizarre they are. The investigation will begin a few days after the removal of the child, or can sometimes be delayed depending how back logged the agency becomes in the investigative end.