I have a question

[jb7c]

I was reading through some of the post on here, and I was just wondering, if CPS is doing an investigation on someone and they ask to see the childs medical records, do you have to let them have access to the medical records? I always thought that medical records were confidential.

Another question, if a couple is going through marriage counseling on their own and if cps gets involved with them, can cps gain access to their marriage counseling records? even if you sign a paper with the counselor "not" being allowed to discus with anyone else?

The reason I am asking about the medical records is because my cousin got raped 6 years ago and when she went to court, the other attoney supeoned her medical records and the Judge would not allow him to use them, because he said that the medical records were confidential.

Just curious. Thanks.

[Bob_Lynn]

CPS is not the law nor are they above the law. You don't have to do anything unless you are court ordered to and even then, you have the right to appeal any court order.

CPS cannot gain access to any confidential records without your consent or without a warrant specifically granting them access.

CPS also cannot legally coerce you to sign anything under threat of any kind.

[Dan Sullivan]

I was reading through some of the post on here, and I was just wondering, if CPS is doing an investigation on someone and they ask to see the childs medical records, do you have to let them have access to the medical records? I always thought that medical records were confidential.

CPS can get a Judge to order the medical providers to turn over copies of the medical records.

Another question, if a couple is going through marriage counseling on their own and if cps gets involved with them, can cps gain access to their marriage counseling records? even if you sign a paper with the counselor "not" being allowed to discus with anyone else?

I haven't once seen a therapist withhold counseling information from CPS.

The reason I am asking about the medical records is because my cousin got raped 6 years ago and when she went to court, the other attoney supeoned her medical records and the Judge would not allow him to use them, because he said that the medical records were confidential.

Medical records of a rape/assault from six years prior?

The Judge can allow or disallow evidence at his discretion.

I believe the Judge didn't see what the records of a rape had to do with the issues before him.

Best, Dan

[DontBiteMyNose]

This is one of those rare times I disagree with Bob. CPS is indeed above the law. The judges, who are in bed with CPS can rubberstamp anything at CPS request, including medical records, that is, if it will secure CAPTA funds easily.

[Dan Sullivan]

This is one of those rare times I disagree with Bob. CPS is indeed above the law. The judges, who are in bed with CPS can rubberstamp anything at CPS request, including medical records, that is, if it will secure CAPTA funds easily.

It's not that CPS is above the law.

Family Court Judges view CPS workers as members of their courtroom staff.

Rarely will a Judge disagree with what his own staff wants to do.

Best, Dan

[Bob_Lynn]

Just because they act like they're above the law and the family courts allow them to behave as if they're above the law doesn't mean they are in fact above the law.

[Frustrated]

Often times, CPS Workers will hand the Families in question the Medical Release Form for them to sign, so they can get access to your entire Medical Records from your Doctor.

It happens very often and the Medical Release Forms are brought up frequently when the Families has the Case with the CPS Agency. That is why it is important for the Families not to sign the Medical Release Form so it will prevent the CPS to get complete access to your Medical Records.

CPS has shown two Medical Release forms to me in a 5 years period. And they can gain access of your Medical Records anywhere from current to one year. That is how long the Form is good for. They will gain access specified in the Medical Release Form, such as your Doctor name and Address, and your name and your date of birth, and for the Doctor to share information with CPS about your Medical Records and vice versa. If they want to gain access of Counselling Records, they will simply put the Counsellor's name on the Medical Record, and their address and your name and date of birth and if you sign the Medical Records, and BINGO! they have complete access to your Counselling records.

That is why it is VERY important not to allow them to force you to sign the Medical records under any circumstances. They usually force you into it, under duress (they will say you have no choice, blah, blah, I will force to take your kids, blah, blah...unless you sign the Medical records, blah blah) kind of situations. These Medical Records if any thing wrong with you or the Kids, they can use the records against you to prove their point/reason for their Founded Case. It is EVIDENCE to prove their point why they founded you. If they don't have the Medical Records, they cannot find you with a founded case. If they don't have any other Evidences, then it is time to call the Case "Now closed" unfounded. Get it?

That is why my Case is long and prolonging so long, because I signed a Medical Records that gives them all the Evidence and they are forcing me with a Service Plan because of the same Medical Records that they are using against me. It would be wise not to sign anything. So the Case can be closed faster because they had no Evidence. That is why if they question your case, they will court order such these things. That is why people say it is better to give up your Medical Records to them, so they won't court order everything, but it is NOT TRUE! Your Medical Records are SUPPOSED to be Confidential!!! No matter how people or CPS look at it. IT IS CONFIDENTIAL!

[gideonmacleish]

Just because they act like they're above the law and the family courts allow them to behave as if they're above the law doesn't mean they are in fact above the law.

Right on this count. We cannot/should not act as if CPS is "above the law" when in fact, they most certainly are not.

[Marina]

Article: Group home death related to lack of medical records

Lack of medical records can be deadly if a child has a condition that care-givers need to be aware of, such as allergies.

The case I am familiar with had this problem, also. The teenager had a long history of health care, and it appeared that treatment after being taken into foster care was totally ignorant of his condition, history and needs.


http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Sa ... 7833815664

(I am copying this, because it is recent and free, whereas archived articles cost money.

Group home faulted in autistic boy's death
He choked on his own vomit while being held; CEO disputes the report

BY MICHAEL MARTZ
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Feb 2, 2006


RELATED: Police Beat

On Dec. 23, 2004, a 13-year-old boy choked to death on his own vomit while being held face down on the floor of a Winchester group home by as many as six members of the staff paid to care for him.

The boy, who was autistic and mentally retarded, had arrived the day before at the group home operated at 920 Frederick Ave. by Grafton School Inc., one of Virginia's biggest providers of care for youths with behavioral problems and disabilities. He was placed in the Grafton facility, about five hours from his home in Southwest Virginia, because of aggressive behavior that had caused him to be committed to two state institutions earlier that year.

A state investigation of the death has concluded that the group home's staff was uninformed and ill-prepared to handle the boy, who was 6 feet tall, weighed 241 pounds and had limited ability to express himself. The investigation, completed last month, also found that the staff used an inappropriate form of restraint on the boy and did not relent until he began to turn blue.

"There is evidence to support that staff continued to hold [the boy] in a lying-down restraint when he began vomiting," the report states in respect to one of 12 alleged violations of Virginia interdepartmental regulations for group homes. "Vomiting is a sign of distress. Staff ignored vomiting as a sign of distress."

The home's staff also failed to respond quickly enough to the boy's dis- tress with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, partly because the necessary safety equipment couldn't be found, the report states.

Grafton, a nonprofit organization that has operated in Virginia since 1958, was to deliver a required plan to state officials today to correct the problems identified by the investigation.

However, Grafton Chief Executive Officer James G. Gaynor II took strong exception to the state report. "We're certainly very much in disagreement with many of the findings," he said Tuesday.

Group homes are a hot topic in this year's General Assembly session because of concerns about the care they provide, as well as their relationships with their surrounding communities. Most of the care is publicly funded by state and local governments, or the federal Medicaid program.

The homes are licensed by different agencies responsible for children and adolescents, using a common set of interdepartmental regulations. In Grafton's case, the Virginia Department of Education is the state agency that licensed the home and led the investigation.

However, the education department was assisted by the Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation, and Substance Abuse Services, and its Office of Human Rights.

The Winchester Department of Social Services also participated in the investigation but issued a separate report based on child protective service regulations. The report found that the group home was not guilty of abuse and neglect under those rules in the boy's death.

In addition to violations of interdepartmental regulations for group homes, the state investigation cites Grafton for eight alleged violations of state mental-health standards and eight alleged violations of human-rights standards for people in therapeutic programs. The most serious was the alleged lack of information about the boy's behavior and medical condition when he was admitted to the home.

"The information collected at the point of admission is significantly inadequate, especially medical information," the mental health department states.

Virginia already has issued Grafton a six-month provisional license for the group home at 920 Frederick Ave., according to the education department. The provisional license is a temporary measure to allow the owner to make changes in the way it operates the home and cares for its residents to bring it into compliance with state regulations.

Grafton, based in Winchester, operates 23 group homes across Virginia, including 12 in the Richmond area, and a large residential facility in Berryville. Each home is licensed separately, so the investigation's findings apply only to the home in which the boy died.

The nonprofit organization has been a linchpin for care of people with behavioral problems related to developmental disabilities, especially autism. The Virginia Autism Resource Center, with offices in Midlothian and Winchester, is a division of Grafton.

Mount Rogers Community Services Board, the Marion-based agency that referred the boy to Grafton, would not comment on the case or the report.

However, Executive Director Lisa Moore said Grafton is an important option for communities that cannot find the special care these children need closer to their homes. "Grafton is a resource that we use once we've explored everything else," she said.

Moore added that her agency also tries to find help for children outside of state institutions. "I don't think being in an institution for a long time is a good alternative either," she said.

The boy, whose name was blacked out of a report provided to The Times-Dispatch by the Department of Education under the Freedom of Information Act, had been admitted to the Southwestern Virginia Training Center in Hillsville twice in 2004 to give his family respite from behavior that had become increasingly aggressive at home and school, the report said.

In November 2004, he was admitted to the Southwestern Mental Health Institute in Marion, where he remained until he was admitted to Grafton on Dec. 22, 2004, the day before he died. The state investigation found that the group home had not collected information about his stay at the training center and partial information from the mental hospital.

"This is particularly troublesome," the report states, "when it is understood, that prior to admission to Grafton, the student spent considerable time at these two facilities."


Contact staff writer Michael Martz at [email protected] or (804) 649-6964.

[kdddav]

Marina,

This is about Adults who have their medical records coerced with a medical release, or get court ordered to be seen, for the sake of mud slinging the Parent(s).

It is also terrible that an autistic and mentally retarded child get treated that way, regardless of size. (Soto Syndrome can be responsible for even adult sized 10 year olds, by example, so that is possible.) The kid was vomitting, and he was held down by six of the staff? That is negligence on the State, for releasing such a child outside of a State Nursing Facility, and manslaughter of those who held him down. Vomit has a smell, and isn't pretty when dribbling out of the corner of the mouth.

In 1996 I was trained as an Emergency Room Technician. So I know from first hand experience, a vomiting person, even if unconscious, is easy to see pulmonary distress from a pooling of vomit in the mouth.

But I digress, this is about Adults having their medical records pilfered for the very reason to invent false charges or develop artifical pretenses on the parents to make them look bad to a judge.

CPS should never be allowed medical records on Parents. Never. It's another reason to line pockets of those professionals who work with CPS to lock down parents in unnecessary programs to make them look evil, so they can eventually do a TPR and get those funds.

[racer_amx]

Family Court Judges view CPS workers as members of their courtroom staff.

Rarely will a Judge disagree with what his own staff wants to do.

When I went to the first trial the judge, cps workers, and the cps attorneys were all having a nice conversation about how they were all going to thankgiving dinner together at the judges home.

[Dazeemay]

When I went to the first trial the judge, cps workers, and the cps attorneys were all having a nice conversation about how they were all going to thankgiving dinner together at the judges home.

That is so disgusting; I feel it is so twisted and evil.

I feel for you racer_amx.

[Dan Sullivan]

Family Court Judges view CPS workers as members of their courtroom staff.

Rarely will a Judge disagree with what his own staff wants to do.

When I went to the first trial the judge, cps workers, and the cps attorneys were all having a nice conversation about how they were all going to thankgiving dinner together at the judges home.

In Suffolk County NY CPS has a meeting once a month or so with the Family Court Judges to fill them in on their latest agenda.

Ya think the DA meets with the Criminal Court Judges?

Best, Dan

[Frustrated]

Of course! They do!

I have seen D.A. eating Dinner with the Judges at a bevolvent Restaurant and my jaw dropped when I showed up for my dinner with my hubby, and there they were...eating and drinking wine and laughing. And when the CPS Worker went by, this woman just stopped and said hi to them around the table and talking and laughing.

I hate their laughing, and their schemes. They have money in their pockets to buy their lovely steaks while the poor Children are at the Foster care eating mac and cheese or balogna.

I have seen CPS Workers meet with the Judges several times. In the Court room, at the Restaurants, Coffee shops. IT is not NEWS! In fact they do much more conversations over the phone.

they are crooked! next to the mafia gangs. Guess what, they are more afraid of the Hell's Angels and Mafia than the Poor Families, because the Poor Families ARE EASY PREY! They knew that those Families cannot afford a Lawyer, or cannot strike back to protect themselves, they never had a fat chance at all and no justice were served. The Judges just took care of it in an instant. Children gone. Money in their pockets, checks in the mail for CPS Workers from the State. That is the end of it. NEXT!>> potential poor family a target. They are kidnappers and theives. Pure and Simple. I just wish some one will take care of them, I am sure they will on Judgement Day one day with their Maker or Creator or God. Whatever comes. They will have a recokening and a wake up call, that's for sure. I am so glad I won't be there cos we know us Families are Good. They are Evil. What happens to Evil? They get dissapiated. Gone like that. Always does anyways. Good ALWAYS win over the Bad. ALWAYS!