When Hell Came to Our Home Update October 18

[crabby_lioness]

Master Post

After many hours of wrangling our lawyer got a copy of the DHS's "Individual Service Plan" for myself and my husband.  It's a hoot.  Counselors we've shown this to have hit the roof.  It only has one signature attached to it, and that isn't anyone I've seen or talked to.  Each section has a different date, and a different due date.  Everything is out of compliance with the official state practices.  Some of it is against state law, other parts of itare against official insurance practices.  Some of it isn't even worded in complete sentences.

Part 1 says:

"...will correct her home deficiencies to corrrect but arenot(sp) limited to replaceing the dead bolt lock"

This is:

1) ungrammatical,

2) incorrectly spelled, and

3) the deadbolt lock they want me to remove is next to a front door window that's already been broken into before.  The insurance people would hit the roof over that!

Part 2 wants the children's medical/dental records BUT doesn't offer to pay for them.  I learned today that's not kosher.

Part 3 says:

"...will provide proof/confirmation that the children's educational needs are being met."

That's ILLEGAL in Mississippi.

Part 4:

"the dead bolt will be replaced with a safer type of lock..."

DHS, meet insurance people.  Insurance people, meet DHS.

There's no "client" signature.  There's no "social worker" signature.  There is an "ASWS" signature -- but no date.  I was told that the ASWS is the social worker supervisor.  BUT the person who signed in the "ASWS signature" slot is not a social worker supervisor.  She's not even a social worker.  Melody Hamilton, who has the only signature on the entire document that they faxed our lawyer, is a student intern working in their office.

How many ways can you say FAIL!  


From dh:
We need an easy to use video recorder.
It needs to get OK pictures in indoor light but have really good audio pickup for recording any of these "encounters" or "interviews."
Any recommendations?

Comments

[celestinenox]

Wow... I wonder how they coerced the student intern to sign as a "supervisor" and if she realizes the potential legal repercussions of doing such a thing.

[qara-isuke.livejournal.com]

No kidding. Does she realize she's pretty much kissed her career goodbye?

[celestinenox]

Apparently not, or she wouldn't have done it, I would hope.

[kickair8p.livejournal.com]

She probably didn't do it -- I'd bet that, when compared, this and Melody Hamilton's actual signature will not match.

~

[qara-isuke.livejournal.com]

Well, to be fair....if you're gonna forge a signature, wouldn't you forge the signature of an ACTUAL supervisor? (This may be giving them too much credit)

[kickair8p.livejournal.com]

Yep, I think you're giving them too much credit -- I'm guessing over-complication to confuse the trail. Something like: it didn't occur to them that CL would get a lawyer, so the never wrote up the report -- originally they thought that if you don't write it up then it didn't happen, therefor any questioning CL does about the "non-existent" visit makes her look paranoid. Problem with that was when the demand for info came down through official channels instead of through the hysterically panicked calls they expected, they panicked. They threw together something that included the basics of the complaints, maybe making it look incompetently prepared because they thought that would throw suspicion off of them. They used the student intern's name when they forged the signature because they consider her a soft target, likely because the actual ASWS is better able to defend herself. They probably think they've got the clues going in so many different directions that with everyone under suspicion the inevitable investigation won't be able to sort out the innocent from the guilty.

Something like that, anyway.

~

[britgeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

...they threw her under the bus

Indeed! Some folks are utterly contemptible - I mean, we knew that already in this case but JEEZE....

[raynedanser.livejournal.com]

They were probably counting on her NOT knowing any better.

[celestinenox]

That's absolutely awful, but then again, these people apparently don't know how to act like decent human beings anyway.

[raynedanser.livejournal.com]

these people apparently don't know how to act like decent human beings anyway.

Not even in the ballpark of decent human beings. :/

[tavella.livejournal.com]

Melody Hamilton isn't an intern; she's 49, works at the Department of Human Service for Chickasaw County (http://www.calhouncountyjournal.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2735:melody-hamilton&catid=44:recipes&Itemid=63), and is their primary contact (http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/trialcourts/youthcourt/youthcourt_generalinfo.pdf) with the court system.

[margotlefaye.livejournal.com]

I see that she's the contact for Abuse and Neglect, in which case her signature on the paperwork makes sense. I wonder why it was thought she was an intern.

[qara-isuke.livejournal.com]

What epic failure all around. I really hope you can sue the ever-living crap out of these people and soon.

[raynedanser.livejournal.com]

Wow. eventually, this is going to come back and bite someone in the ass. I feel bad for the intern, who was used presumably because she doesn't know any better.

[contrarywise]

Don't you just love it when your adversaries damn themselves so thoroughly and so entertainingly? Wow, that's quite a piece of work there!

May the passing of time shed more light on this farce so it comes to a just and fitting end soon!

[ineffable-raven.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear from you and glad there's some positive movement.

next moves

[(Anonymous)]

if the fbi and media can't help....if dshs is jerking you around....if some of the police are corrupt....if your family is in danger.... which it is if there is a meth lab next door.... then you have no real choice, truly, except to get our of Dodge. Escape. Move. Get your children away from these people who are trying to get them away from you. I have witnessed too much of this is my career. The only way out is to escape. Start a new life. Home is not a building, or land.... it is where you are safe. All it takes is one meth party at their place and down goes your entire life. Leave town, the state. Start over. Just one more opinion for what it's worth.

[bandgeek01.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear an update. I hope things are starting to move in a good direction for you.

[(Anonymous)]

What sort of Counselors did you show the report to?

[kryss-labryn.livejournal.com]

I know it'll take years, most likely; but I really am looking forward to the court case when you sue these bastards into oblivion, and they (and you, in the form of a hefty settlement!) get what's coming.

Don't compromise your case; but thanks for sharing what details you can! We're rooting for you! :D

[illiana-galean.livejournal.com]

I added you so I could follow your nightmare and possibly offer up some advise. Something finally hit me.

Scan all documents and save them to an offsite dedicated server. If you need assistance in that, I can offer up my own web hosting for that purpose.

Take pictures of everything imaginable.

The door, the door knobs, the house, yard, everything under the sun until the mere thought of operating a camera nauseates you. Do this in both digital format, and hard copies you have to have developed.

Load pictures to offsite hosting, make doubles of hard copy photos. Keep one set on you, and store the others at a safe place. Maybe safety box in another city entirely. Same with hard copies of documents.

Good luck and I hope this all works out. I agree with the whole alert the media thing, and keep jumping heads if you have to. Perhaps a letter to your govenor or senator is in order since the DA wants to be a bunch of professional asshat wearing douchecanoes.

[britgeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is beautiful. Go get 'em!!

[(Anonymous)]

Do you really think it's a good idea to post all this unlocked? I keep imagining a DHS worker printing out all of this to use in a CHIPS hearing against you.

[diskincluded.livejournal.com]

If it's locked then how are the public she's asking for help going to read it?

[(Anonymous)]

and how on EARTH is she going to scam more people out of money if the public can't read her STORY which is exactly what this is?!?! give me a break! where are the photos of the destroyed property? where are scanned copies of the form? "she" is taking yall for a ride, and this makes me sad how easily fooled the masses are

[swordznsorcery.livejournal.com]

Yes, she's made so many appeals for money so far, hasn't she. Perhaps you'd like to repeat your assertions without that nice "anonymous" blanket wrapped around you?

[kickair8p.livejournal.com]

I agree with this and your post below -- if, when CL went to the proper authorities they had done what their duties as required, it would have been completely inappropriate for her to post what happened until all the legal stuff was finished, and maybe not even then. But that's not what happened. Fear and intimidation are these people's weapons -- remaining silent would have only isolated her and made her and her family more vulnerable.

CL's been a calm and reasonable member of several online communities for years, and is respected by her business contacts. In the unlikely event that she's snowing everybody, that'll come out in time. Meanwhile if these meth-dealers (or whatever they are) do exist, they can't conduct their business under spotlights. So who benefits from these anonymous posts for silence and disbelief?

~

[(Anonymous)]

The problem is that the public can't help in any sort of real way. Posting all of this everywhere, unlocked, can only harm her case with DHS. crabbylioness and her husband need to be working with a good lawyer and working to address the issues DHS has brought up.

Posting freely about how there's a conspiracy in her county and the entire state of Mississippi only serves to make her and her husband look paranoid. This will NOT help their case. Nor is it helpful for her to post her full name and address on the internet.

[swordznsorcery.livejournal.com]

If this were a real, feasible case, I'd agree. The whole thing is a shambles, though. CL has made the reasoned decision to tell others what's going on, and in this instance, I think she's right to. She has evidence to back up her story, so she's not going to seem paranoid.

[(Anonymous)]

You're being incredibly naive.

Whether or not crabby_lioness's story is true, false, or somewhere inbetween, it's not a wise move for her to publicly post it online. Having worked with my state's version of DHS and family court for years, I can tell you that all of this is only going to hurt her case.

[(Anonymous)]

Really? Where is this magical evidence she has? There is NOTHING here that a law enforcement officer either federal or local would take as evidence.

There is however a metric crap tonne of evidence that child protective services can use to say she is batshit crazy and remove her children. Including the fact that she's posted her and her husbands names and address for the whole entire interwebz to see.

[(Anonymous)]

DA.

I also wanted to add that crabbylioness states over and over again that DHS has no right, under state law, to investigate the homeschooling of the children. That's wrong. While homeschooling is apparently not regulated in Mississippi, if DHS is investigating neglect of the children, they have every right to investigate whether or not said neglect includes educational neglect.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm just really glad its not just me that sees this

[(Anonymous)]

You're not alone! Very few people I know who have read this believe a word of it. You would think if this was real, she wouldn't be on LJ begging people to repost, but would be going to every damn news outlet. They would never turn down a story like this, so the fact that it hasn't made the news...

Makes a good scare tale for Halloween, I suppose.

[margotlefaye.livejournal.com]

I think it's pretty normal for someone who has been on LJ for four years to post about her personal trauma in her journal. I can think of several reasons why local media wouldn't take a story like this, such as local politics. Not living anywhere near the area, I have no clue if that's the case, here.

I'm not naive. I've seen, even helped investigate, online hoaxes perpetrated upon online communities. Enough to know that money isn't always the motivating factor in such cases. I'm just not seeing the same hallmarks here.

That said...I do believe there is some danger in making these posts public. What's to keep the people harassing her from finding them and using them to their advantage?

However, while the posts remain public, I'll be following the story with interest and offering what moral support I can.

[lizziey.livejournal.com]

Indeed. I have been on LJ since, I think, 03 or 04. I document EVERYTHING here. Even if it is in a private post, everything is documented and then backed up with ljbook at least once a month.

[margotlefaye.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure that's entirely accurate. There appear to be people who can verify that CL and her family were out of town on a night when her neighbor claims the children were in danger. There was also something technical, the details escape me, about something must've been shut down? The point is, the friend making that claim might be able to testify as an expert witness (if indeed he has the expertise claimed).

Her posts sound worried, but are coherent and well-organized. I would hardly call them "batshit crazy."

As another poster mentioned, CL is a well-respected member of several online fandoms, and has been so for some years. So, I'm going to continue to give her the benefit of the doubt, at least until evidence is presented to the contrary.

[margotlefaye.livejournal.com]

I found your blog through a post on my f-list, and have no advice on video recorders. Just wanted to offer some moral support.

I'm thrilled that you found a lawyer, as the earlier post I'd read indicated the lawyers you'd initially contacted didn't want to touch the case.

The best advice I can offer (which your lawyers have already probably offered, as well) is, document, document, document. In my work as a union leader, I've seen arbitrators decide cases in our favor because our people have been able to pull out their journals, etc, and document the day on which a given conversation happened with a record made very shortly after said conversation, and therefore given more weight than someone's memory of an event months or years in the past. I don't remember if you were able to take a picture of your baby's feet on the day of the first incident, but that's the kind of thing I'm talking about. Things that are time-stamped in some way are even better.

I hope your nightmare ends quickly, and that those responsible for harassing you suffer the consequences of recklessly endangering your family. Until then, I will keep you in thoughts and prayers.

[meghannibrooks.livejournal.com]

This all sounds so very very familiar. Escapedoes sound like a good idea. Get out before anything bad happens to you and especially your kids. They won't mind the moving as much as they would something bad happening to them or you, trust me on this. But I also don't advicate them getting away with this and doing the same to someone else.

The diference between your circumstance and mine however is that nothing overtly horrible has happened to you (and there'a a good chance this will get worse, a real good one) yet, even though what's already happened is pretty damn bad.

Our case is just getting underway after years of neglect and distain towards my mother (and forget the fact that she's smarter than all of them together, they thought just because she had no teeth - most of the were punched out of her mouth for fucks sake) and we're looking forward to going on holiday for the first time ever with the settlement that's heading our way. I mean, there's no way in hell that it's ever going to erase everything that's happened to us - even without the help of a corrupt system - but it's a sign that someones listened to us and realsied just how wrong it all was.

In an odd way it's comforting to know it's not just in Australia where this shit happens and yet very distressing that this is happening to you and your family.

I've leaned that DHS knows jackshit about anything. Did you know that I haven't seen three of my little brothers in almost three years? We're only just now getting closer to seeing them.

My mum got and still is being fucked around by ours. I think if an issue such as ours is getting better, there's hope for you.

Oh and fuck off unhelpful anons. What, you just come in here thinking you know everything? How long have you know about this woman? Have you spent years getting to know her? Have you ever done business with her? I'm betting not. At least this way there are others who have a knowledge that this is happening. Go troll somewhere else, you have no power here. And it's not paranoia, this shit happens, I should know. Anyway, are you (I'm guessing you're the same person) so nieve to believe that leaving children with the government is safe? it's not. There is a world full of sick people out there how can't wait to get their sick hand all over children for god knows what reason. The goverment either doesn't really care or there are people who care that aren't in a possition to help or is too snowed under and under staffed with under qualified people who don't know what the hell they're doing.