Dismantling Our Families For Profit
There has been an outcry all over the nation regarding the corruption in our court system. Many are experiencing misguided justice in Pennsylvania including here in Berks County. On May 4, 2015 Cynthia Cruz, a Berks County social worker plead guilty to fraud for stealing $97,000 over a four year period by way of Medicaid Claims. In February of 2008 the "Kids for Cash" scandal began to explode as two judges, Mark Ciaverella and Michael Conahan from Luzerne County, were caught taking $2.6 million in kickbacks from Robert Mericle, a juvenile facility builder, in return for sending children to his for-profit facilities. These cases are just a peak into the window of the potential for fraud and misuse of money provided to states and counties in Public Welfare, family courts and Children and Youth Services. Each state has cash incentives for this process through government funding. Your tax dollars. There is no set dollar amount. If any of the 67 counties do not have enough funds they can access more funds at any time and have the necessary reimbursements made to the state. Information on Title IV-E and other funding in the United States as well as the chart below can be reviewed through research done by Child Welfare: An Overview of Federal Programs and Their Current Funding:
Title 1V-E Program
|
FY20 12
|
FY2013
|
FY2014
|
FY20 15
|
Foster Care
|
$4,288,000,000
|
$4,285,540000
|
$4,279,000,000
|
$4,289,000,000
|
Adoption Assistance
|
$2,495,000,000
|
$2,368,6805,000
|
$2,463,000,000
|
$2,504,000,000
|
Kinship Guardianship Assistance
|
$80,000,000
|
$123,000,000
|
$124,000,000
|
$99,000,000
|
There are also incentives for adoption which are outlined on the American Adoptions site quoting dollar amounts as high as $13,190 per child in tax credits. There is an open checkbook which is leading to the destruction of Americas core, the family.
These funds are used when Berks County Children and Youth Services (BCCYS)remove a child from their home and file a dependency petition to hold that child in their custody. Parents Tony and Danielle are experiencing the various ways that monies provided for the protection of children can be distorted. Instead of helping families this money is dismantling them in a tangled mismanaged system.
In a minute your life can drastically change. That is exactly what happened to Tony, Danielle and their daughter, Breanna. In December of 2013 they were involved in a serious car accident close to their Exeter home. Danielle suffered a broken neck and was taken to University of PA in Philadelphia. Tony experienced head trauma with a broken sternum and ribs. Their daughter, Breanna, who was nine years old had only minor seat belt burns. A downhill spiral left them with no transportation, the loss of their home, most of their belongings, financial issues and coping with recovery from their injuries. They temporarily rented a motel room in Douglassville and started searching for a home in the city. An accident can be tragic for any family but it became a living nightmare in March of 2014 when two Amity police officers appeared at their motel room. The parents were taken into custody for what the officer told them was for an outstanding parking ticket and a truancy fine. Tony found it suspicious that Officer Ken Moyer had not only showed up at their motel room for a traffic ticket but had called Nicole Robinson from BCCYS to come to the motel room as well. It was at this time BCCYS took custody of Breanna without a warrant or a court order. The caseworker did not let Tony or Danielle call any family or friends to come and get Breanna. Danielle, still suffering with a broken neck was shackled and her and Tony were held in jail cells. They were released after 3 hours when there was proof Tony was making payments on the parking fine and the truancy fine had been paid. When they returned home reality hit. Their daughter was gone.
The reason for the removal of their child was not abuse, was not abandonment, was not drugs or criminal activity. BCCYS documents state the child was removed from her family because she was without proper care or control. Breanna was completely healthy and unharmed and in no "imminent danger." Recent school absences were due to the injuries her parents suffered in the accident and the location of where they were residing in Douglassville. Their car was totaled in the accident and there were no funds to purchase another one. They were not living in Breanna's school district and there was no bus service or means of transportation for them to use at the time.
Determined to get their lives back on track and reclaim their daughter they moved into a home in the city so they had access to cabs and busses. At this point BCCYS had already set up a safety plan listing things they had to do in order to reunite with their child. These demands included evaluations, drug testing, parent coaching, therapists, and court dates. Documents show Tony and Danielle have completed what was asked of them but the county has extended the procedures long enough to approach the 15 month time line when they can proceed to terminate the rights of the parents and adopt their child out to a foster family.
The court date to terminate their parental rights is scheduled for July 7, 2015 at 9:30am. Tony and Danielle have been through 8 months of forced urine tests at a cost of $20 each all of which were drug free and are still ongoing. Other parents forced to give samples are given vouchers by the agency but when asked to provide the same to Tony said the agency refused. They participate in parenting classes and therapy appointments which are all part of the safety plan requirements. During Tony's testimony at one of the court hearings he said that Juvenile Court Master, Narcy Hughes, told him she didn't want to hear about the accident, which is the root of reason behind their case.
During my investigation I spoke to Amity Officer Ken Moyer about the night Breanna was taken from her parents. He responded to my questions vaguely and said he did not remember the incident or any of the names involved. Just 2 hours after my communication with Officer Moyer, caseworker Rachael Drobnick sent Tony an email stating that BCCYS had received a report of physical abuse and that both Tony and Danielle were cited as predators.
Tony and Danielle swear no abuse of any kind was ever inflicted on their children. BCCYS has no proof of those claims and the parents feel it is just a tactic to reach the 15 month goal of termination of parental rights. The parents have reviewed documents that show those accusations involve the step son and his biological father, not Tony. Tony did ask that the mistakes be corrected but the social worker responded that they were just typos and not to worry about them. He states that BCCYS decided to up the ante and create false accusations or not clarify the information they have which is promoting the adoption of their child over reunification.
This can happen to any family once involved with Children and Youth Services. BCCYS may keep adding accusations and changing the direction of a case which can begin to wear parents down. Tony says the process takes its toll emotionally, mentally and when possible, financially . Often parents feel they have nobody to turn too. They don't trust the lawyers, judges, social workers, therapists or anyone because even though they are doing everything they are asked to do to get their child back they learn they are being overpowered. The Judge may refuse to listen to testimony from parents and appear to be deciding the case solely on the testimony and paperwork submitted by the social workers and all the court contracted lawyers, therapists and doctors to reach the final goal of dismantling the family. Social workers are granted immunity allowing them the ability to be less than truthful and not be held accountable for misinformation. Before parents actually grasp what is happening they learn their parental rights are being terminated and their child is being adopted out. Few families have been able to stop this abuse of power by BCCYS. There is no transparency. Nobody is overseeing this corruption.
I contacted President Judge Paul Yatron with my concerns and he informed me that he has no control over the actions of BCCYS. He clarified that the commissioners run the agency and are in charge of complaints. I left several messages for the commissioners not one of the three in office returned my calls. I left a message with the district attorney's office and with Berks County detectives no calls were returned as of printing.
I did receive a call from interim Executive Director of BCCYS, Carl Geffken. I explained my concerns in this case. There was no court order or warrant when the child was taken. The child was healthy and not in imminent danger. There is proof that an acting court appointed attorney in this case took money from the parents. There is also proof that US mail sent to Breanna was intercepted by the caseworker. I gave details as to the caseworker entering the parents residence when they were not there and rummaged through their belongings giving their things away and destroying family heirlooms by throwing them in a dumpster. I also told him of my conversation with Officer Moyer and that within two hours BCCYS informed the parents they received a complaint of abuse against them. I made it clear that all of my concerns are criminal and the parents deserve justice. At press time he had still not called me back with his findings.
The other aspect of this is the child. She was placed with strangers miles away from her school, friends and family. All the letters and cards sent by her family and friends were seized by the county worker or the foster family leaving the child to feel abandoned and unloved. The child was forced into counseling where Tony feels she has been groomed to believe her parents are bad people and have forgotten about her. She is likely hearing this over and over from a counselor until she believes it. The parents feel this is mental abuse inflicted by the county and the foster family in their joint efforts to make the child angry toward them and not want to return home. They feel this group of contracted agencies force parent alienation to strengthen the path to adoption. 
Any child can be taken as long as the county has "findings" for removal and these are very vague as described in the Child Welfare Information Gateway and the PA Code to Child Protective Services . Tony and Danielle's case began as truancy issues according to documents but the appointed and or contracted judges, lawyers, therapists, doctors and social workers involved in the case have prolonged reunification by keeping the child in placement. This allows the county to continue to receive funding for her and all the contracted workers on her case to get paid and retain job security. The more children in the "system" the more money.
Tony and Danielle feel the courts have not only abused their civil rights but they have more than overstepped in intruding on their parental rights. They have had two court appointed attorneys, Susan Scullin acting as guardian ad litem for Breanna, and Gregory Ghenn as their attorney. Documents show Attorney Ghenn asked them for and accepted money from them while he was being paid by the county. Ghenn returned the money when Tony questioned Ghenn's motives. Tony states that BCCYS social worker, Rachel Drobnick, is often late to their appointments sometimes as long as 45 minutes. He says she then has an appalling attitude towards them. "She has never shown any compassion or interest in seeing to it that we would get our daughter back." At one visit to their home Tony claims she even gloated by calling them bad parents and making it clear they would never get their daughter back. I spoke to the parent coach Shaundia Tabb and she told me that the paperwork she was given by BCCYS has errors that need to be fixed and she was going to talk to Rachel and have those corrections made. We discussed how the abuse details did not involve Tony and Danielle but the step son and his bio dad.
Tony has paid Alan Zeigler, Esquire to take over their case. After meeting with him he told them that the county was compiling unpleasant paperwork against them and he wanted an "outside" evaluation. I spoke to Ziegler and he told me that social worker, Rachael, was also nasty with him when he reached out to her for information. The lawyer also confirmed that all the letters and cards the parents had sent to Breanna were intercepted by the social worker and he actually saw them in the file and questioned why they were intercepted. He asked if she had even read them to Breanna. Rachael told him that she did not read them to the child because of references regarding BCCYS. He has filed discovery to get copies of those letters and other evidence in the case. Zeigler has fought battles with BCCYS before and is well aware of how far they will go in some cases. He has gone outside of the contracted therapists to get the parents a fair evaluation. The parents have already completed an evaluation with Dr. Small which I have reviewed and there is nothing in the report that would suggest these parents should not have their child. A Concern therapist, single handedly decided that Tony and Danielle would no longer be permitted visitation with their daughter because the visits she claims are detrimental to the child. The money wheel keeps turning. The clock is ticking.
Meanwhile, Breanna remains in a foster home in Hereford Township and is being denied visits with her parents. Tony and Danielle wonder about the county handling the delicate mental care and counseling of their child. They are concerned about the longtime scars she may suffer that could have a lifetime effect as she struggles to figure out why she can no longer see her parents and thinking they have stopped trying to get her home. Tony and Danielle are fighting a stressful battle of their own without their daughter. They were grief-stricken when they had to miss Christmas with her. They also never missed a birthday until this year when Breanna turned 11 years old. Danielle is devastated that she was denied spending Mother's Day with her daughter and through her tears knows that Breanna was heartbroken as well.
While Tony and Danielle wait for the next hearing date they are facing an uphill fight to get their daughter home where she belongs. Will Attorney Ziegler be the answer and end this nightmare by stopping BCCYS from giving their child away? Will Gregory Ghenn be held accountable for taking money from desperate parents who want their child back while also being paid as an appointed attorney. Will Narcy Hughes have to explain why she would not acknowledge testimony from the parents in her courtroom choosing instead to side with BCCYS when testimony may prove the child should be returned? Will Nicole Robison and Rachel Drobnick be fired or convicted for their roles in removing the child unlawfully? For intercepting US Mail? For destruction of personal property? For using misguided false accusations to retain her, and holding her hostage in the system? Will the therapists and doctors involved lose their right to practice because they played a part in conspiring to force adoption of this child with no merit? Will all the players be found guilty of racketeering which is defined as "a service that is offered to solve a problem that really does not exist?" Simply put it is when an agency like BCCYS proclaims to solve the problems of neglected and abused children when in fact they are the bigger cause of the problem. This information is sealed and often gag orders put in place to support their agenda and keep collecting money for the cause. While their threats and claims of protection are supported by their government shield, Tony and Danielle consider it to be extortion.
With more and more information being uncovered and shared by the media on the deception within the court system parents like Tony and Danielle are hoping for more transparency and oversight when it comes to children and families. Nobody is immune or protected from this happening to them and quickly can be facing just how cruel and unforgiving the justice system can be. They have since realized these agencies have no boundaries. There are few attorneys who will risk retaliation from their peers by confronting the corruption in government funded child trafficking via children and youth agencies and our court system.
Update a hearing on the Discovery was held June 22, 2015 and the case folder and cards/letters intercepted illegally by Racheal Drobnick were turned over to Atty Ziegler. Zeigler refused to turn the folder and cards over to Tony and Danille. Attorney Konrad Jazyna will be taking over the case. Racheal Drobnick sent the parents an email that she is scheduling a hearing to have Breanna moved to yet another foster home instead of letting her come home to her parents.
Part II
Part II
Being in a car accident can be a traumatizing experience that most of us are able to recover from and move on. For one Berks County couple that is far from what has happened. Although they are recovering from their injuries they found themselves in a twisted government web that has caused more damage than the accident did. Tony and Danielle have been fighting for 15 months to regain custody of their daughter after she was taken without a warrant or court order on March 14, 2014.
Tony and Danielle feel the courts have not only abused their civil rights but they have more than overstepped in intruding on their parental rights. They have had two court appointed attorneys, Susan Scullin acting as guardian ad litem for their daughter, and Gregory Ghenn as their attorney. Documents show Attorney Ghenn asked them for and accepted money from them while he was being paid by the county. Ghenn returned the money when Tony questioned Ghenn's motives. Tony states that BCCYS social worker, Rachel Drobnick, is often late to their appointments sometimes as long as 45 minutes. He says she then has an appalling attitude towards them. "She has never shown any compassion or interest in seeing to it that we would get our daughter back." At one visit to their home Tony claims she even gloated by calling them bad parents and making it clear they would never get their daughter back.
Tony had paid Alan Zeigler, Esquire to take over their case. After meeting with him he told them that the county was compiling unpleasant paperwork against them and he wanted an "outside" psychological evaluation. I spoke to Ziegler and he told me that social worker, Rachael, was also nasty with him when he reached out to her for information. The lawyer also confirmed that all the letters and cards the parents had sent to their daughter were intercepted by the social worker and he actually saw them in the file and questioned why they were intercepted. He asked if she had even read them to the child. Rachael told him that she did not read them to the child because of references regarding BCCYS. He filed discovery to get copies of those letters and other evidence in the case. That hearing was held June 22nd before Judge Ullman. Attorney Zeigler was given the requested discovery items but has refused to turn them over to Tony and Danielle. Zeigler has fought battles with BCCYS before and is well aware of how far they will go in some cases. He prefers to go outside of the contracted therapists to get the parents a fair evaluation. Tony and Danielle have already completed an evaluation with Dr. Small which I have reviewed and there is nothing in the report that would suggest these parents should not have their child. A Concern therapist, Gwen Albert may have single handedly decided that Tony and Danielle would no longer be permitted visitation with their daughter because the visits she claims are detrimental to the child. The money wheel keeps turning. The clock is ticking.
Meanwhile, their daughter remains in a foster home in Hereford Township and is being denied visits with her parents. Tony and Danielle wonder about the county's matter of handling the delicate mental care and counseling of their child. They are concerned about the longtime scars she may suffer that could have a lifetime effect as she struggles to figure out why she can no longer see her parents and thinking they have stopped trying to get her home. Tony and Danielle are fighting a stressful battle of their own without their daughter. They were grief-stricken when they had to miss Christmas with her. They also never missed a birthday until this year when Breanna turned 11 years old. Danielle is devastated that she was denied spending Mother's Day with her daughter and through her tears knows that her daughter was heartbroken as well. And just last month Tony faced father's day without his daughter by his side.
During the investigation into this case many questions have been raised about accountability. I have read court documents proving that Attorney Greg Ghenn invoiced Tony and Danielle for $2500.00 while acting as their court appointed attorney and collecting from the county for his services. On May 7th I spoke to Amity police officer, Ken Moyer, about the night he arrested Tony and Danielle for parking tickets and the phone call he made to social worker, Nicole Robinson, and had her come and take their child into BCCYS custody. He claims he has no memory of the incident. Yet he hand cuffed and shackled the parents in front of their daughter and started a nightmare for this family. Just 3 hours later Judge Keller released Tony and Danielle because the parking tickets were either paid or payments were being made. Due to the fact that there was no warrant or court order to pick the couple up in the first place the parents feel that the only motive was to take their daughter.
I spoke with Tony and Danielle's court ordered parent coach, Shaundia Tee, of Signature Family Services. She also backed up Tony and Danielle's claim that there are many mistakes in the BCCYS paperwork they requested to be changed but social worker, Rachel Drobnick refused to make those changes. As in many cases the social workers use these mistakes to further allegations against parents to keep children in custody. All my calls to the three Berks County Commissioners went unreturned. I even reached out to Commissioner Christian Leinbach on his facebook page with questions about illegal activity within BCCYS and he refused to talk to me about it and never used my phone number to reach out and discuss my concerns. In over 70% of the cases I have worked on the parents involved complained to the commissioners about how they were treated by BCCYS staff and all complaints fell on deaf ears. I did have a lengthy conversation with Don Vymazal. He is running for the commissioner seat against Kevin Barnhardt. It is hard to say how much he knows about the corruption within BCCYS. I did give him a lengthy description of how families are being ripped apart for no reason. I explained that the incentive for this keeps going back to the monies the county is receiving from the federal government for wrap around services provided to children in their custody. I also gave examples of the cases where mail fraud, breaking and entering homes without warrants or court orders, forced sterilization and how newborns are taken from local hospitals by the agency before the mother is even released. He claims to believe the county is not profiting from trafficking the children into foster care but said he would look into the finances and try and gather more information into how the agency is run. I have not heard back from him. At this point if any change will happen we need new blood in the commissioners seats. They control the agency and continue knowingly to allow the abuse of power to continue.
On May 8th I received a call from the interim executive director of BCCYS, Carl Geffken. I explained to him my concerns and specific details on the illegal activity taking place within his agency. He listened, made very few comments mostly to privacy issues and told me he would get back to me. That call has not been returned.
On July 7th I attended a review hearing with the couple and their new attorney Konrad Jazyna. Many family members also attended in support of Tony and Danielle and getting their daughter returned. Tony's sister, who has applied for kinship was also in attendance. When attorney Jazyna joined us he had the review paperwork which again was riddled with numerous errors. Because the county is moving their daughter to another foster home her parents want to intercept the move and bring her home. At this point Jazyna decided the best step was to request a hearing before Judge Ullman.
So questions remain. Will Gregory Ghenn be held accountable for taking money from desperate parents who want their child back while also being paid as an appointed attorney. Will Narcy Hughes, the hearing master have to explain why she would not acknowledge testimony from the parents in her courtroom choosing instead to side with BCCYS when testimony may prove the child should be returned? Will Nicole Robison and Rachel Drobnick be fired or convicted for their roles in removing the child unlawfully? For intercepting US Mail? For destruction of personal property? For using misguided false accusations to retain the child, and holding her hostage in the system? Will the therapists and doctors involved lose their right to practice because they played a part in conspiring to force adoption of this child with no merit? Will all the players be found guilty of racketeering which is defined as "a service that is offered to solve a problem that really does not exist?" Simply put it is when an agency like BCCYS proclaims to solve the problems of neglected and abused children when in fact they are the bigger cause of the problem. This information is sealed and often gag orders put in place to support their agenda and keep collecting money for the cause. While their threats and claims of protection are supported by their government shield, Tony and Danielle consider it to be extortion.
With more and more information being uncovered and shared by the media on the deception within the court system parents like Tony and Danielle are hoping for more transparency and oversight when it comes to children and families. Nobody is immune or protected from this happening to them and quickly can be facing just how cruel and unforgiving the justice system can be. They have since realized these agencies have no boundaries. There are few attorneys who will risk retaliation from their peers by confronting the corruption in government funded child trafficking via children and youth agencies and our court system. We need to find ways to help families stay together instead of investing millions of dollars to keep them apart.
Part III
Not really sure what to make of an Attorney who is hired and paid to defend parents caught in the web of lies and corruption at CYS who bails out?? Was he threatened with retaliation? Was he never going to help them from day one? More often than not the CYS agency will threaten disbarrment if an attorney does not back off. Now said atty wants to return money to client and run the other way? Hearing has been canceled. Drobnick has sent out papers for parents to sign if they want contact with their daughter when she is adopted. That's like signing a paper saying your ok with these monsters giving your child away. Drobnick has made so many claims regarding the reason that their daughter was taken yet documents clearly state trauncy. No reason for adoption right? Think again. The devious devils in social services scam, lie, change documents, make up false abuse claims....whatever they need to do to keep your child. Last hearing Drobnick went back 10 years to find something on Tony. Really?? 10 years?? These people are borderline psycotic in their behavior and determination to hoard children. Time for the BIG GUN attorneys to step up. Look out CYS we are coming...
