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  • #91
    Re: Toddler thrown onto freeway

    Every two years the State Department of Human Services is required by the feds to do an audit of its Child and Family Services procedures. The next audit is due this year. Director Koller was extremely proud of the fact that in that last audit, her department met and in some cases exceeded most of the key criteria. I do give her credit for helping to change the law so that information about certain cases (like Cyrus Belt) are now made available to the public very quickly.

    Unfortunately, as is the case with most "standards", just because you meet them doesn't mean that compliance is adequate. And the standards are "baseline" as in, they are the absolute minimum.

    As with the case of Cyrus Belt, Shari Rodriguez, Peter Boy Kema and others whose sad stories have been documented by the local press (as well as the countless others who still are part of the system), shouldn't we demand that CPS EXCEED all minimum federal standards, rather than just meet them?

    Check out the last audit results and the areas that the department needed to improve on: http://hawaii.gov/dhs/quicklinks/pip/
    "Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain

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    • #92
      Re: Toddler thrown onto freeway

      Originally posted by Miulang View Post
      [...]As with the case of Cyrus Belt, Shari Rodriguez,[...]
      Cheryl posted about Cyrus in Shari's thread. I've redirected her to this thread as I think she can add valuable insight...as long as it's not too painful for her.

      There is now more than one public hotline available to those who are having a difficult time dealing with this tragedy. Cyrus' story is gripping Hawaii.

      HTer, Gene Park, also has a story here.

      Comment


      • #93
        Re: Toddler thrown onto freeway

        Originally posted by tutusue View Post
        HTer, Gene Park, also has a story here.
        This story and KHON2’s report have me convinced that all this could have been prevented if Shane Mizusawa had locked the door. 20-20 hindsight, but c’mon. Makiki is a crime-riddled neighborhood, and there’s no reason to take a chance.

        We can’t be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans.

        — U.S. President Bill Clinton
        USA TODAY, page 2A
        11 March 1993

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        • #94
          Re: Toddler thrown onto freeway

          This story and KHON2’s report have me convinced that all this could have been prevented if Shane Mizusawa had locked the door. 20-20 hindsight, but c’mon. Makiki is a crime-riddled neighborhood, and there’s no reason to take a chance.
          I would humbly note that all this could have been prevented if Matthew Higa had not thrown Cyrus from a freeway overpass.

          Does the state have any records on Mr. Higa, and if so, why aren't these being made public also?

          The current smear campaign against the toddler's family smells more of CYA-bureaucratic politics than any genuine attempt at prevention or healing.

          Ms. Chanco may not have been the perfect parent. Mr. Mizusawa could have been much more careful. Whatever their faults, however, it wasn't as if Cyrus wandered out and was tragically struck by a car. Mr. Higa murdered him.

          It is as reprehensible to murder the child of flawed or careless parents as it is to murder any other child.

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          • #95
            Re: Toddler thrown onto freeway

            Originally posted by tutusue View Post
            Cheryl posted about Cyrus in Shari's thread. I've redirected her to this thread as I think she can add valuable insight...as long as it's not too painful for her.
            This is part of what Cheryl has to say in that other thread.

            That officer notified CPS of the incident. Apparently after that he was left with his sleeping Grandfather and somehow the "ice head" neighbor got a hold of him.

            Through this almost two year journey since Shari's near death I have been around many medical professionals and many educational professionals. They all say the same thing. Reports of abuse are made...the child is taken for a short period and then placed right back in the abusive home.

            For a long time I thought what needed to change was the reporting method between authorities. Now, with Cyrus' death, it is completely apparent that reporting abuse to CPS has little to no consequences for most parents. What the CPS records do show is the child neglect and abuse on their part by throwing these innocent and defenceless children right back in the "lion's cage" while they glance every so often into that cage and take notes!
            It is easy, I suppose, for me to say that this is an unfair assessment, because my child was never horribly abused. But as I've mentioned, I've worked closely with CPS social workers and the children they've served. From the perspective of a parent whose child was failed by the system, it must certainly appear this way; however, I have worked with many children who were either successfully placed back in homes after extensive counseling and education for the families or were permanently assigned custody to other family members and foster parents.

            CPS could use some fixing, but as Ryan suggests above, we should not be blaming the people who are trying to do something. There's enough blame for us all; let us save our ire for those working actively against the success of children, and not use it up on those who are trying to be part of the solution. God bless the social workers.
            But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
            GrouchyTeacher.com

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            • #96
              Re: Update on Shari Rodriguez

              Originally posted by cherla42
              Without change there will be no change. We will continue to read horrific stories like Shari's and Cyrus'. If our elected officials refuse to make that change then it is up to us, as citizens of Hawaii, to demand change.
              On this we can totally agree. May I ask you who are the state legislators you've identified as having consistently been supportive or proactive in advocating for the needs of children? Which would you say have been most harmful? I often don't really know where to start in monitoring the voting records of my lawmakers: Are there any telling votes in recent memory that you'd say sorta spell out the actual (and not just lip-serviced) inclinations of our elected officials?
              But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
              GrouchyTeacher.com

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              • #97
                Re: Toddler thrown onto freeway

                I am the "paternal" Grandmother (now joyfully adpotive mother) of Shari Rodrigues who was nearly beaten to death by her mothers boyfriend in March of 2006. She was left with extensive brain damage, 1/2 a pancreas, no spleen, paralysis to her right side and a multitude of medical issues from her final beating.

                Here is a letter I just e-mailed to the Maui News..lets see if it gets printed!



                The senseless death of little Cyrus Belt hit real close to home for my family and I. Yesterday Lillian Koller, head of Hawaii DHS released, 180+ pages of documents reguarding his mothers involment with CPS, complete with calls of neglect and abuse. Alot of what I read was very close to what had happened in my granddaughter, Shari's, case. Hours before Cyrus died a police officer found him unattended outside and returned him to mothers boyfriend. That officer notified CPS of the incident. Apparently after that he was left with his sleeping Grandfather and somehow the "ice head" neighbor got a hold of him and threw him to his death.

                Through this almost two year journey since Shari's near death beating I have been around many medical and educational professionals. They all say the same thing. Reports of abuse are made...the child is taken for a short period and then placed right back in the abusive home. An example of this happened the day after a very frail Shari and I returned from a two month hospital stay after two major surgeries to save her life after her final beating. The first thing on Shari's social workers agenda was setting up a visitation schedule with Shari's biological mother. I informed her that would happen over "my dead body". In stating that fact I was being non-compliant with CPS and risked having Shari taken from my care. I franticly scrambled to her doctor who informed CPS that there should be No visitation with anyone in the household where Shari was abused. Had I not asserted myself in this matter the cycle of Shari's abuse would have been allowed to continue with visitation without concern of the emotional trauma it could cause her because of course it would be "supervised".

                For a long time I thought what needed to change was the reporting method between authorities. Now, with Cyrus' death, it is completely apparent that reporting abuse to CPS has little to no consequences for most parents and offers little to no saftey for the children. What the CPS records do show is the child neglect and abuse on their part by throwing these innocent and defenceless children right back in the "lion's cage" while they glance every so often into that cage and take notes! Who soley holds the key to those cages? CPS!

                Like Shari,though she survived her horrific beating, little Cyrus will never be able to live the life he would have had an intervention taken place sooner. Shari's case did not serve as a "wake up" call to make change in in a very flawed system that is suppose to first and foremost protect children. Instead Ms. Koller used Shari's case to boast about Federal Reviews from 2002 and 2006 meeting or exceeding national standards. It was a slap in the face to a family who are still in a very delicate process of healing.

                Without change there will be no change. We will continue to read horrific stories like Shari's and Cyrus'. If our elected officials refuse to make that change then it is up to us, as citizens of Hawaii, to demand change.

                Comment


                • #98
                  Re: Toddler thrown onto freeway

                  Originally posted by cherla42 View Post
                  [...]
                  Here is a letter I just e-mailed to the Maui News..lets see if it gets printed!
                  [...]
                  Cheryl, how about submitting your letter to Honolulu newspapers, too?

                  Comment


                  • #99
                    Re: Toddler thrown onto freeway

                    Originally posted by scrivener View Post
                    This is part of what Cheryl has to say in that other thread.


                    It is easy, I suppose, for me to say that this is an unfair assessment, because my child was never horribly abused. But as I've mentioned, I've worked closely with CPS social workers and the children they've served. From the perspective of a parent whose child was failed by the system, it must certainly appear this way; however, I have worked with many children who were either successfully placed back in homes after extensive counseling and education for the families or were permanently assigned custody to other family members and foster parents.

                    CPS could use some fixing, but as Ryan suggests above, we should not be blaming the people who are trying to do something. There's enough blame for us all; let us save our ire for those working actively against the success of children, and not use it up on those who are trying to be part of the solution. God bless the social workers.
                    Please don't get me wrong. There are wonderful social workers out there! Those are the one's who know extensively where changes need to be made. But will they risk losing their jobs as a result of speaking out?

                    Comment


                    • Re: Toddler thrown onto freeway

                      Originally posted by cherla42 View Post
                      Please don't get me wrong. There are wonderful social workers out there! Those are the one's who know extensively where changes need to be made. But will they risk losing their jobs as a result of speaking out?
                      Now is the time for the citizens of Hawaii to speak out about this issue. The feds will be auditing the progress of the Department of Health via their PIP process. This happens every 2 years, and is supposed to be done again this year.

                      Cheryl: It is now very apparent why Director Koller wrote that Letter to the Maui News when she did (the one where she used Shari as her "shining example" of how well CPS on Maui was protecting children in their care).

                      She knew the feds would be checking on the department's progress this year. There's something kind of screwy about the federal audit, too. Once a criterium has been met or exceeded, it drops off the list to be monitored! So then, what is the incentive for the agency to continue to exceed the minimum requirements if they are exempt once they have passed them a first time?
                      "Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain

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                      • Re: Toddler thrown onto freeway

                        Last night I called my friend Dick to ask him what he was up to. He said he wanted to visit the Cyrus' memorial site and leave something for the toddler. I asked if I could go with him, because I wanted to leave something for Cyrus too...

                        We got there a little after 10pm. It was very touching to see all the offerings, prayers, and loving messages left by people. There were tons of mostly little stuffed animals ( under 6").

                        Just as we were about to leave, a large truck pulls up to the entrance, it was Cyrus' Uncle who said he had brought all the mostly stuffed animals home that were there earlier, but his sister said to bring them back. (I would've never known, because even before the Uncle showed up there was tons of stuffed animals already)

                        My two friends and I helped the Uncle to put the stuffed animals back. It took us about 20 minutes, because there was literally hundreds of them.

                        After we finished, the Uncle said, "Thanks guys," and left. My friend took pictures last night, but was unable to send them to me through email. Here are two pictures I took about 20 minutes ago.



                        Here's the front of the memorial

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                        • Re: Toddler thrown onto freeway

                          I just watched Sabrina Hall's (KGMB 9) interview with the mother and she admits that she has only been off ice since Cyrus' death. This was the first interview with Chanco where I got the impression she was really starting to understand what happened and she actually stated that she shares some of the responsibility for his death.

                          Comment


                          • Re: Toddler thrown onto freeway

                            The effect this tragedy has had on this city is remarkable. The first time I drove past the Miller St. pedestrian bridge on Saturday with my family, I almost couldn't breathe. My wife was distraught. Returning to town today, she actually asked me to avoid that stretch of freeway, so we got off at Pali Highway only to get back on at the end of Vineyard.

                            I'm generally a cynical guy with an inappropriately dark sense of humor. But when my wife asked if we could pay our respects as well, I didn't hesitate. This despite having contrary feelings about roadside memorials in general. We parked on Miller Street, right at the corner, looking down onto a massive collection of flowers, balloons, and stuffed animals. There was a constant stream of people. Teenagers. Bikers. Families. You could see how the previous day's offerings had been moved off the bridge itself, but that today's new influx of visitors had again grown the makeshift memorial over the H-1 below. Cars below slowed, some honked. Reading the messages and watching parents pray with their young kids was just heartbreaking.



                            The conversation has obviously turned to degrees of fault and assigning blame, which is of course natural. But for all the rage and frustration I suppose some people are feeling, it was incredibly cathartic to be surrounded completely by simple sorrow for the young victim in this tragedy. No matter what happens in the media and the courts and the halls of government, nothing is bringing that kid back.

                            Comment


                            • Re: Toddler thrown onto freeway

                              Originally posted by Miulang View Post
                              As with the case of Cyrus Belt, Shari Rodriguez, Peter Boy Kema and others whose sad stories have been documented by the local press (as well as the countless others who still are part of the system), shouldn't we demand that CPS EXCEED all minimum federal standards, rather than just meet them?
                              It's easy to point fingers and criticize CPS for all of the cases they handled where the ending was tragic.

                              When you demand that CPS EXCEED all minimum federal standards, how do you propose that this be done? Ultimately, it comes down to an unavoidable thing. MONEY. And where will that money be coming from? Every taxpayer in this state.

                              At the same time too, how many of those people are willing "to put their money where their mouth is" on election day? More often than not, it's the candidates that promise to cut, cut, cut your taxes that get the votes. Not those that are honest enough to come out and say that we need to raise taxes to improve public services.

                              I don't care how dedicated and skilled an assortment of social workers we have in Hawaii. Too many of them are overloaded with cases and can't provide the level of monitoring that is needed. And the only to remedy that is to hire MORE social workers. And that costs more money.

                              What happened to Cyrus Belt is a tragedy. And all the finger-pointing and second-guessing won't bring him back. The best thing we can hope for from this ordeal is that Cyrus will be inspiration for positive change and reform, not only in the way in which our state govt. handles social services, but in the attitudes of society in general.

                              Remember. It took the tragic rape and murder of Megan Kanka to enact what is now commonly known as Megan's Law.
                              This post may contain an opinion that may conflict with your opinion. Do not take it personal. Polite discussion of difference of opinion is welcome.

                              Comment


                              • Re: Toddler thrown onto freeway

                                40 years of psychotic liberalism has softened our penal system to the point where prisoners now have TV, Gyms, Hot Food, Mental Health Counseling, and better healthcare than the rest of the "free" nation. Threats of jailtime no longer carry any deterrent. There are many basic things that prisoners do NOT need.....Hot food, clothing, blankets, mattresses, TV, gyms, etc etc etc.

                                Blaming Ice for every problem is the classic Straw Man Argument. These types of positions are frequently held by people who carry lots of fear, and very little knowledge, in their lives. The entire War on Drugs is a total waste.

                                As far as the "adults" connected to the situation....they all suck. Their life of torment is not a worthy enough punishment.

                                Perhaps I am a "helicopter parent" (never heard that before) of a 6 year old. I come from a father who was on me like white on rice 24/7, back in the day when liberals had not yet villified a good ass whipping. Lord knows I deserved them all.

                                As for Cyrus, may he rest in peace
                                FutureNewsNetwork.com
                                Energy answers are already here.

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