Relatives

The Sacramento Bee
October 6, 1998
Section: METRO
Edition: METRO FINAL
Page: B1

YUBA, SUTTER POLICIES PROBED; RELATIVES CHALLENGE FOSTER PLACEMENTS

Anne Gonzales Bee Correspondent

          Complaints that grandparents and other relatives are being passed over as potential foster parents have led to an unprecedented state investigation into the Children's Protective Services in both Yuba and Sutter counties. Child protective officials in both counties say grandparents and relatives are sought out as foster caregivers - but that keeping children in a family is a decision that must be made by objective third parties.

          The probe stems from the case of Pat and Chuck Miller, a Yuba City couple, who are fighting to become the permanent guardians of three granddaughters. The Millers say the girls' parents - their own son and his wife - have a long history of drug abuse, which is what prompted CPS to put the children into foster care.

          But the grandparents haven't seen or heard from the girls since their mother took them out of state in February.

          The Millers accuse social workers in both counties of abusing their powers and then trying to cover up - allegations that led the Sutter County administrator to ask the state to investigate.

          "We have a situation where we can't refer a case back to the county, because the Millers don't believe there's anyone in the county that can give them a fair shake," said Sidonie Squier, a representative of the state Department of Social Services. "This has never happened before."

          The debate brings into focus the problem social workers face statewide - trying to keep families together but not to the point of endangering children. Until recent years, the emphasis had been on reunifying families, but a series of child-abuse deaths began an ongoing policy shift in many California counties in recent years.

          "I don't know where we stand on family reunification," said Ed Smith, director of Sutter County Human Services Agency. "It's a moving target. It's always a judgment call, it's always a debate and we almost always have questions after the fact."

          For the Millers and other families, the debate is taking too long. Their three granddaughters, now ages 6, 8 and 9, were first put in foster care in May 1994 shortly after a sister was born with major health problems. The fourth girl's condition was linked to the use of drugs during pregnancy, said Jane Thomas of Sutter, who with her husband later adopted that little girl after the parents voluntarily relinquished custody.

          Alerted by the hospital, CPS stepped in and took the older girls out of their parents' home.

          Yuba County CPS initially oversaw the older girls' situation, which became more and more complicated as the Millers and maternal relatives wrestled over guardianship, visitation rights and charges of abuse. Ultimately, the rancorous case was shifted to Sutter County, where all the parties lived. The Millers said that just as they were about to get guardianship of their grandchildren in February, the mother took the girls to live out of state. Smith couldn't comment on any details of the Miller case, but said "natural parents of children get preference over grandparents, as I understand the law."

          "We love those children," Chuck Miller said. "We were a family, and we feel very strongly about having the kids ripped away from us."

          They continue to fight to get their granddaughters back. An Anchorage, Alaska, probation check turned up signs the girls were being neglected, according to the Millers, and a probation officer recommended the children be returned to them. A Yuba County family court judge agreed Sept. 28 to consider the case.

          Meanwhile, about 30 other families in Yuba and Sutter counties have contacted the Millers since the couple went public with their story. The families, who have coalesced into a loose-knit group called Save Our Children, charge CPS and the juvenile courts with trying to separate children from their relatives, using confidentiality laws to cover up their actions and having other families adopt the children.

          "They operate under the cloak of confidentiality," Chuck Miller said of CPS and the courts. "They have no accountability and they have complete immunity from lawsuits."

          The families have publicly asked the Board of Supervisors in both counties for help, and while no action has been taken by supervisors, the appeals led to a preliminary investigation by Sutter County Administrator Larry Combs.

          Afterward, Combs referred the case to state officials. "I have asked them to look at CPS operations in Sutter County," Combs said. "That's not to say anything negative is going on, but it's prudent sometimes to have an outside perspective on operations within the county and I'm using this opportunity to do that."

          Mike Noda, director of Yuba County's Human Services Agency, said the state's investigation had not uncovered any wrongdoing by CPS workers so far. He also said grandparents and other relatives of children placed in the CPS system are actively pursued as candidates for foster and adoptive care.

          "Absolutely, we look at grandparents for placement," Noda said. "Current law requires we look at relative placement and there are clear circumstances where it provides for that."

          Noda said relatives must want the child, and CPS social workers must determine which relative would give the best home to the child. They must be able to provide physically, financially and emotionally for the child. Alma Lund, however, says Yuba County purposely shut her and other relatives out when they wanted to gain custody of her three grandchildren after a problem arose. The family hasn't seen the children for two years. CPS workers denied repeated requests to place the children with any relatives, even though Lund said she has a decent home and never run afoul of the law.

          "I'm so squeaky clean, it's pitiful," she said. Her other children each attempted to get their nieces and nephews placed with them, but each was turned down, even though they all have good jobs, families and homes, she said.

          Lund and the Millers accuse Yuba County CPS of having a "hidden agenda" to have other families adopt their grandchildren. They point out that a new state law gives counties economic incentives for getting children out of foster care and into permanent homes.

          The Millers and Lund also accuse CPS workers of lying on court documents to make family members look bad and to legally justify placing youngsters in foster care.

          Noda said relatives often are too emotional to judge whether they can provide a good home for kids.

          "There are certainly subjective feelings on the part of the family," he said. "Sometimes, it's just different perspectives."

          Squier said the state investigation is expected to be completed shortly.