About 12 yr`s ago we found out that our that our son Robert had type 1 diabetes, we were taking him to Shasta County Health Care to see one of the Doctors.  We had been having trouble with his blood sugar as he is a "Brittle Diabetic," we had to take him into Mercy Hospital quite a bit.  Well the Doctor he was seeing called CPS, and when we went up to see him CPS was there. They put a protective hold on him, saying that the Doctor said we were not taking proper care of him at home, that we didn`t know how to control his diabetes. 

Well CPS put him in a foster home and they could not control his diabetes either, so they put him in another and another and so on.  We went to Court many times over this, and for two long year`s we did not even have any VISITATION with him, because they said it was DETRAMENTAL to his HEALTH. 

We were accused of everything you can imagine, but all of it was unfounded.  W had to go to Parenting classes, which has nothing to do with his diabetes.  Mr . Johnson as a "Public Pretender" and we finally fired him, and I hired another Attorney who wasn`t much better, and after almost two years of her not getting anything done.  I decided that they had to be taking him to the some Doctors and Hospitals as we did, so I started gathering Medical Records of where they took him and BINGO. 

Well we went to court again and I asked the Judge to do a Marsden on our Attorney, and after that was done I presented all the Records I had obtained to the Judge, and after her looking at them she had him releasted.  Channel 7 News was there, but was not allowed into court as we requested as we had been in touch with them during this ordeal.  When we got Robert our son back, they had us take him to Kids Kingdom, and for over an hour and a half they interviewed him.  He told them all the lies that Richard Bay told him about us in the two years they had him, and all the abuse he went through with some of the foster care families, they still have the tapes too.

After all this was over and we got him home, we found out that there was no Doctor that would see him, and we finally had to take him to Seeley Medical in Red Bluff.  It has been very hard to find anyone in Redding who wants to see him, he is now 20 years old and is still having trouble with the Hospitals as they will not listen to him.  Some of the Doctors still bring up the CPS case saying we are not taking care of him, and the most recent is in the last three months, he got and infection on his foot which caused high blood sugars, so we had to send him to Shasta Regional Medical Center.  So after him getting to hospital he told them about his infection on his foot, any infection on his foot or anywhere will cause high blood sugars.  Well they ignored it and got his blood sugar down and sent him home. 

Well a week later we went through the same thing , his blood sugar went up and we could not get it down and he went in for the same thing.  Again he told them, and again they ignored it, they got his sugar down and sent him home. So after about another week he went into Shasta Regional for same thing, the foot was getting worse.  After one of the Doctors finally looked at it they gave him a prescription, so after releasing him again we took the prescription to WalGreens.  They said that Medical would not cover it as it was $1,300.00 and they would have to do a tar on it. 

Well, a week later Robert goes into Shasta Regional again, and sees the same Doctor, so Robert asks why the tar was not done on the Meds.  The Doctor had the nerve to tell him to get off his ASS, and go pay for it.  I was pissed, anyway they got his sugar down again and about a week later he got really sick, and his foot got as big as a football. So we sent him to Mercy Hospital, and they said that if we had not got him in there when we did, that he could have died as he had a staf-infection in his foot.  That they might have to take his foot off, they took a large portion of it off, and said that because Shasta Regional not properly taken care of his foot is why he lost most of his foot.  He is still in Mercy Hospital as of this day 8-7-06, (has since been released. and has been there for over two and one half MONTHS 

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Well last night our son went back into the Hospital again for the same thing , he keeps passing out and they keep saying that they cannot find anything wrong , i talked to the Pharmacist last night for about an hour , he went over everything with me and he cannot see anything that would cause him to pass out except that maybe the Meds are to strong for his frail body and his body might not be able to handle it , Robert is 6 ft 140 pounds , he is weak from being in Hospital for over 2 1/2 months with not being able to get up and move around , when they discharged him they were suppose to start some therapy for him , it was never done  and we keep getting the blame for everything , thats the only thing that this County can do good is put the blame on someone else ! 

Some 50 children died last year in the state's protective care, say the advocates tracking numbers.
By Clea Benson - Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, September 17, 2006

Almost 50 abused or neglected California children died last year in foster care after the state took them away from their parents for their own protection, according to child advocates who started counting because the state does not keep track.

The tally by the Children's Advocacy Institute is the first measurement of how many of California's most vulnerable children die while under the state's guardianship.

The institute, based at the University of San Diego School of Law, also found that more than 60 children in foster care died in 2004. California has about 75,000 foster children, one-fourth of the nation's foster-care population.

Some of the children died accidentally or of natural causes. But others were neglected or abused by caregivers. The causes of death were not included in the study.

The death count includes children such as Dylan James George, 2, whose foster parents have been charged with fatally beating him in their Fremont home in 2004. Anthony Cortez, 15, was choked to death by another child in a Stockton group home in 2003. Four-month-old Christopher Battie died of sudden infant death syndrome in a Fresno foster home in 2003.

Data comparing the death rate for children in foster care to the death rate for children overall were not available because the state has not compiled updated mortality statistics for the general population.

The California Department of Social Services collects data on how many children in foster care statewide are injured, but not on how many die.

Advocates said a failure to monitor deaths in foster care could hamper efforts to improve the system. The state failed a federal review three years ago in part because children were not being kept safe enough after being removed from their homes.

"It just makes common sense that the state should be tracking and aware of how and when their children are dying, and if there's anything they can do to stop that," said Christina Riehl, an attorney at the Children's Advocacy Institute.

Riehl said the institute started its count after a state law went into effect requiring counties to release the name and date of death of each child who dies while in foster care. The group compiled the data by submitting requests to each of California's 58 counties.

Mary Ault, California's deputy director of children and family services, said the state reviews individual death reports and has monitored fatality trends through the Child Death Review Council.

"I believe the more facts we have, the more information we have, the better we're able to manage for better outcomes," Ault said.

The review council, composed of representatives from different state agencies, looks at records of all child deaths in the state and issues periodic reports. But there is a lag time of several years before each report is released, and the council does not specify how many of the children who died were in foster care.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services determined last year that the state was violating federal law by failing to publicly disclose information about deaths and near-deaths of children due to abuse or neglect.

Threatened with the loss of federal child-welfare funds, the state this summer started requiring counties to file reports on such incidents. The reports are supposed to be filed on all children, not just those in foster care.

Ault said the state would be able to use those reports as a tool for improving the system.

So far, one report has been filed. It describes the drowning death of a 2-year-old girl found in a hot tub in Orange County in July.

The report said Orange County social workers had investigated several reports that the girl's parents had neglected her and had placed her with her grandparents for several months while both parents were incarcerated. When the girl died, she was back in her parents' custody.

Meanwhile, the state is continuing efforts to reduce the number of children in foster care, which has dropped since a high of 100,000 in 2000.

In a couple of weeks, the Bush administration will begin allowing California to spend federal foster-care funds on programs that aim to keep children at home with their parents.

The rate at which California removes children from their homes is close to the nationwide average, said Richard Wexler, director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform. But Wexler believes the rate should still be lower.

"What you have in foster care is a system where, of course, the majority of foster parents want to do the best that they can for the children in their care," Wexler said. "But the abusive minority is significant, and there are a number of foster children abusing each other. The system is overloaded with children who don't need to be there."
 

FAST FACTS

California has about 75,000 foster children, one-fourth of the nation's foster-care population. The study by the Children's Advocacy Institute found that:

• Almost 50 California children died last year in foster care.

• More than 60 such children died in 2004.

• The state Department of Social Services collects data on how many children in foster care are injured, but not on how many die.

About the writer:
The Bee's Clea Benson can be reached at (916) 326-5533 or c benson@sacbee.com .