Health Impact News
Tammi Stefano of the National Safe Child Show interviewed Melinda Murphy in late 2014 regarding the abuses of the LA County Department of Children and Family Services.
Melinda Murphy has worked in Child Welfare for over 20 years. She has a master’s degree in counseling and educational psychology. She is co-author of the book A Culture of Fear: An Inside Look at Los Angeles County’s Department of Children & Family Services by Sbpra Books.
She worked for DCFS (Department of Children and Family Services) in LA County for 10 years in various capacities, including: social worker, supervisor, investigator, and court officer. She was known for handling tough cases that other social workers could not handle, and when she left the agency, she left on good terms.
So why did she leave after working there for nearly 10 years?
Because I had a conscience. I wanted to be able to sleep at night. I wanted to be able to look at myself in the mirror.
When I went to work for them, I thought I’d be working for the children, I’d be working for the families, building on their strengths. I discovered no, what I am doing is I am working for the Department of Children and Family Services. I am a PR agent. I’m not protecting the children and the families. I am protecting the Department of Children and Family Services.
And I couldn’t live with that.
Tammi Stefano then asks: “Isn’t DCFS supposed to be working for the children?” Melinda replies:
No. The Department of Children and Family Services is a political organization. And you cannot be a political organization and do social work.
Tammi then asks: “So in your opinion, would it be fair to say that you don’t think that the department really is looking out for the best interests of the children?” Melinda replies:
No. Not at all. That’s just a mantra. That’s just something you hear, “in the best interest of the children.” But that’s not what’s practiced.
Programs to Preserve Families Defunded in Favor of Federal Funds for Adoption
One of the alarming trends Melinda revealed was that programs in place to preserve families were being defunded at an “alarming rate” in favor of receiving billions of dollars in federal aid for adoption services. She states that group foster homes get an average of $8000.00 per child per month (just in LA County.)
Melinda Murphy is now a “Social Work Investigator” for Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers:
Mission Statement
Care, custody and control of a child are fundamental parental liberty interests. Courts must provide a parent with fundamentally fair proceedings wherein the parent has a fair and reasonable opportunity to retain or regain care, custody and control of his/her child.
It is our mission to assure that parents receive their substantive and procedural rights and that they are provided legal representation at low or no cost affording them a fair and reasonable opportunity to parent their child. Too many children are lost to the foster care system, and it is our goal to provide legal assistance to our clients to preserve the family and, in those instances where required, reunify the family through the use of innovative, effective, affirmative, and ethical legal principles and skills.
Fraud Revealed at LA County DCFS
In her new role, she is called in by the parents’ attorneys to investigate cases where children have been removed from their homes. She will make in-home visits with the caseworker. Melinda reports that 80% of the time she sees something which is completely different than what the social worker is reporting. She will write up a report on what she sees, such as parents who really are trying hard to do what is best for their children, and children who have no desire to leave their parents. The caseworker, meanwhile, is reporting that the parents are not capable of taking care of their children, and that the children need to be removed from the home.
Unfortunately, her information seldom gets heard in court. Most parents have court-appointed attorneys who do everything they can to block her testimony, so the judge only hears what DCFS is reporting, which, according to Melinda, is erroneous information about 80% of time.
Melinda goes on to state that once a child is in the system, DCFS has no intention of returning the child to the parents. That is not the goal. She explains how often statements are made to her such as “those kids are never going home,” and that if a social worker objects, or disagrees, they are taken off the case.
Parents Have No One to Turn to Who Will Defend Their Rights
One of the most shocking and disturbing aspects of the show was when a caller called into the show to report her experience with DCFS, and explained how a supervisor in DCFS was able to basically “do whatever she wanted to do” and was accountable to no one, even after allegations of wrong-doing by DCFS were reported. Tammi Stefano asks Melinda Murphy about this, and she replies:
There are no checks and balances. So what you are saying I hear every single day. A social worker or supervisor can make or break a case.
The caller then asks where can they go to report DCFS abuse? If they call the police, the police just calls DCFS.
Tammi then asks Melinda: “Where does a parent turn? Is there anywhere (to turn)?” Melinda replies:
No. It’s doomsville… The system is not working. It’s a very sick system. It’s failed, it cannot heal itself.
This is what I always say to my parents, this is my advice: I always say don’t give up. Because you know deep in your heart that you are the person who loves your children the most… The social worker is not your friend, not by any stretch of the imagination.
If you want an insider perspective on what goes on inside CPS, please listen to this shocking interview, and share this video far and wide:
Comment on this show at MedicalKidnap.com
My jaw is dropping open. I suspected these things, but now I feel vindicated in my assessment of DCFS and the Court. We HAVE to stop this insanity!
I agree. My daughter came home from school with a black eye from her after school program. She said she fell but I knew she was lying. I called the school and left a voicemail for the principal telling her I had to be at work early the next day and that she had 1 school day to find out who did it and discipline them. I came home to CPS agents on my doorstep. The principal walked straight in when my daughter got off the bus and called them. Then set about finding out what happened and didn’t call CPS back when she took care of it. The Fresno Sheriff Dept had to escort the workers out of my house and tell them there was no wrong doing for them to report.
Hi Jennifer, Your story has a very great point for other parents to learn and face these kind of abuses. So far what I heard is, when the CPS is already there, then we can do nothing but to surrender, as they will snatch away the kid by whatever means they can.
So can you please give more info like how you got the help of the County Sheriff to get over this problem and what kind of things unfolded when the Sheriff and the CPS agents were there in your presence.
The great part is that you won the situation safeguarding your kids from the official kidnappers.
Looking forward to your reply.
Regards,
Deep.
They are nothing but child snatchers, we have the exact same child trafficking scandal with them here in the uk
We gave a one page synopsis of this book we put together for the powers at a political meeting in the Santa Monica Mountains last year. We placed in the hands of out going Congressman Waxman and into the hands of incoming Congressman Ted Lieu and over a 100 political figures from the state of California. We had Ted Lieu’s ear for 30 minutes…regarding the abuses of the Department of Child and Family Services in California. He listened and asked great questions. As court watchers and child advocates we are normally given 1…3 minutes max to give out point of view. Lieu gave us his undivided attention… he is in congress now and he KNOWS what is going on.
Julian J. Dominguez LMFT
A former DCFS employee (1996-2014) and co-author of with Melinda Murphy
A Culture of Fear: An Inside Look at Los Angeles County’s Department of Children & Family Services
The Los Angeles Department of Child & Family Services
The Story That Does Not Change
Regardless of how many Blue Ribbon commissions or comprehensive reviews and audits occur [1] there remains one immutable certainty: The Los Angeles Department of Child & Family Services (DCFS) will never change.
DCFS, given its historical and current culture of fear and rigid organizational structure, is designed and fortified with impenetrable internal political walls that resist any meaningful, permanent change.
The Department practices, and strictly enforces, spoken and unspoken systemic intransigence and has developed iron clad protections to ensure that the status quo will remain intact regardless of the impact on families or it’s own staff.
Case in point, the 2014 Blue Ribbon Commission report (BRCR) that criticizes the troubled Department of Children and Family Services.
Text Box:
The comprehensive one-year audit, costing almost one million dollars, was formed in response to the death of 8-year old Gabriel Fernandez in Palmdale. The BLCR found that many of the issues an earlier commission identified – “and which made specific recommendations on how to fix them” – remain today. [2]
The latest report neglected to identify or even mention one of the most fundamental examples of systemic failure: the tendency of DCFS to consistently provide Dependency courts with information based on erroneous or fabricated “facts” when assessing child safety and family stability. [3]
“Ghost Authoring”
“Ghost Authoring” is the practice that allows DCFS to provide false information to the Dependency courts regarding the status of families involved in Child Custody cases.
“Ghost Authoring” has been around for decades and is an integral part of the DCFS culture. “Ghost Authoring” is practiced, condoned and enforced by the DCFS leadership staff, Supervisors, Assistant Regional Administrators (ARA) and Regional Administrators (RA) — the Ghost Authors.
Clinical Social Workers (CSW) are told what they can and cannot include in a court report.
When their findings disagree with the opinion, position, point of view and implicit or explicit bias of the Ghost Author, the CSW is prevented from including their direct observations of the facts and the truth about the family. The CSW is ordered to sign the document and misrepresent the report as their own.
Should the CSW refuse to sign on ethical and moral grounds, they are told they would be considered “insubordinate,” and may be harshly disciplined or even terminated. The Ghost Author justifies this highly unethical practice because “DCFS speaks with one voice.”
CSWs have personally experienced or witnessed retaliation by Ghosts for years, who reinforce the “We speak with one voice” philosophy, through fear, bullying, and intimidation.
The “DCFS speaks with one voice” dictum is tightly woven into the cultural fabric of the agency and is designed to prevent any meaningful scrutiny or change in the organization.
The power structure in DCFS offices, backed up and enforced by its management structure and County Counsel, ensures that Ghost Authoring will keep this arbitrary and unethical practice from ever being challenged, reviewed or allowed into the discussion.
There are many other examples of serious systemic defects that prevent or significantly impede effective service delivery to the families, and at the same time crippling the will and spirit of the CSW and DCFS staff and unless there is a fundamental change to the system and structure of DCFS it will not and cannot change.
Let’s change the DCFS story.
Footnotes
[1] SB2030 Child Welfare Services Workload Study, Final Report,” is available on line at http://www.dss.cahwnet.gov/sb2030final/sb2030final.htm.
[2] Report: LA County must reform troubled DCFS; officials say the whole system needs reform (update) by Karen Foshay/KPCC.
[3] The report found that many of the issues an earlier commission identified – and which it also made specific recommendations on how to fix them – remain today. The report takes a critical look at the troubled agency. It found that social workers and the children they are charged of caring for have a dysfunctional relationship:
“Many youth reported to the Commission that they could not even reach or trust their social worker – the person that should be their most important safety resource. In eight months of hearing hundreds of hours of testimony, the Commission never heard a single person defend our current child safety system.”
Appendix A
The tools/laws/recommendations are in place to fix this… and need to be implemented and enforced.
In the April 16, 2012 A Confidential and Privileged Report commissioned by the LA Board of Supervisors and submitted to the board by the Children’s Special Investigative Unit, looking into the high numbers of child deaths in LA County under the scrutiny of DCFS found that the number one reason children die under the scrutiny of DCFS. Page 6 of this report speaks of 570 deaths in a recent 18 month period of time.
‘FRONT END INVESTIGATIVE FAILURES’…..
In short… supervisors who change the findings of social workers on the gound, in consultation with County Counsel (the real Ghost Writers, who never meet the children or the parents/caregivers) and lie in their reports to Superior Court Judges. Judges rely on these reports to make decisions regarding the fates of children. Two years later… Jerry Dominguez and Melinda Murphy released their book as the same culture of lying, warned about in the 2012 report to the BOS… continues unabated. Dominguez speaks of the boiler plate reports written to emphasize the “concerns/allegations” against parents and caretakers without requiring any actual evidence of abuse or neglect as the lies keep rolling over, compounding with each successive DCFS report and court hearing.
This culture of fear and false reporting within this organization is to devastating effect on children and in the extreme, causes inordinate numbers of child deaths in this county and beyond.
Court watchers delivered the Confidential and Privileged Report to Tim Donnelly in June of 2013 when he called for a joint session at the capitol. The legislature unanimously agreed that day, to initiate a state audit of DCFS.
Parents were lined up for hours to give testimony.
In support of Assembly Bill 1828, “Sammy’s Law”, which would have reformed how CPA operates. Assembly Bill 1828 would create a record that could be used in court to preserve the rights of parents, children, and social workers.
Sammy’s Law which would have required a video and audio recording of all interactions between CPS social workers and the families, including interviews and removal proceedings was never allowed to go to a vote.
I feelbdcfs needs further investigation. I have a dv case open and have complied with everything they have asked and my children and I are still getting treated as I am an abuser or neglecting them. It’s wrong! And if I speak up its wrong. If I fight, its wrong. I have to be quiet for the sake of my kids. IT’S NOT FAIR!