Arkansas Blog: DHS at work

It's tiresome, I know, to keep hearing about child welfare issues. But it's important. So another serving of spinach:

Here it's a state Court of Appeals decision reversing the termination of a father's parental rights. He'd been trying to establish a relationship with his child for years, but ran into state roadblocks. It's another child welfare case mishandled by the state Department of Human Services. Wrote the court:

Here, for reasons we cannot fathom, DHS did not make appellant a defendant for almost two years despite knowing of his putative fatherhood. And, to compound this grievous error, appellant’s parental rights were terminated without his ever being the subject of a case plan or receiving family services.

The state argued that it was "harmless error" that the father never was contacted. Judicially denied parenthood is a harmless error? It's all too reminiscent of the tut-tutting we heard about the state's airy dismissal of a petition to be a foster parent. The petitioner made the mistake of telling the state's foster parent recruiting partner that she wouldn't sign their anti-gay sexual practices oath. A mere coincidence that the state didn't respond to her interest, said state apologists.

Here, the state tried to blame the father for insufficient diligence, just as it tried to blame our potential foster parent for failing to follow up when the state DID NOT RESPOND TO HER WRITTEN REQUEST TO BE A FOSTER PARENT. Wrote the court:

Put bluntly, it is fundamentally unfair for a parent or putative parent to be denied legal participation in a proceeding that involves his child. The only thing more unfair would be to terminate parental rights without such notice and opportunity to participate, as occurred in this case.

Comments

Beebe needs to get on top of this before it gets on top of him.

Posted by: Republicans for Obama | October 8, 2008 01:46 PM

Gov Beebe is doing a thorough review bordering on an investigation now.

His biggest challenge is purging the department of Huckfaithful incompetents.

Lord's Ranch comes to mind.

Posted by: eLwood | October 8, 2008 01:54 PM

I would have hoped a thorough review would have kept his administration from claiming it was but a harmless error to deny a father parenthood.

I mean, who was the genius who let this suit move forward rather than concede what is right?

Posted by: Republicans for Obama | October 8, 2008 02:05 PM

It's ALREADY on top of Beebe. This case, others like it, the four childrens' deaths, Beebe's relative silence and isolation, his unwillingness to rock the dysfunctional boat at DHS, his avoidance of confronting the anti-gay adoption initiative . . . I used to think I liked Beebe and Ginger.

No longer.

And yes, I know them.

Opportunists, smilers, placaters, enablers, conformists above all, I've zero respect for either of them, for so many reasons by now.

Not leaders. Followers. Poll-suckers. They cheapen rather than enhance our lives and our state.

If the Huckabees and Beebes are the best we can do, we DESERVE last place among the states in everything.

3,500 children are hurting because of Beebe's ineptitude.

If he CARED, he'd have acted decisively long ago.

He didn't.

He and Ginger hope we won't notice or call them to account.

We do and we are.

Actions speak louder than words. In this case, non-action exposes Beebe's ugliness and weakness.

SURELY we have better people for Governor.

What utter disappointments they are. To me personally and to the state.

Posted by: NormaBates | October 8, 2008 02:09 PM

It's a whole bunch of people who were unwilling to rock the boat that got DHS in this mess.

Posted by: Melissa | October 8, 2008 02:59 PM

Norma, all 3,500 of those children would not want to be in a home with people who are deviates... Like one blogger on here said, not long ago, that if he'd been raised by homosexuals he would have grown up to be a parent killer... lets keep down crime.
I'll be glad when this election is over.

Posted by: chasv | October 9, 2008 10:28 PM

Arkansas Blog

DHS at work

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