In case you missed it: here’s all you need to know about yesterday morning’s federal court hearing on CFSA: In CFSA Case, Nickles Plays Defense; Judge Hogan Critical Of CFSA Director Selection Process.

Dee Does the District decides to not open up about getting terminated by DCPS. But this doesn’t stop her from opening up about getting terminated by DCPS:

“I’ve decided to forego a big post in regards to my termination due to pending legal action and for my own personal privacy. Although I am deeply disappointed and incensed by the sweeping terminations, I feel relieved in a sense to be out of this broken system. I already have a number of upcoming interviews lined up at charters and in Northern Virginia and I’m looking forward to moving on to a school to values me and treats me like a human being.”

Read More “Our Morning Roundup: Goodbye Used Car Lots” »

This morning, D.C.’s Child and Family Services Agency was once again the subject of a U.S. District Court hearing. The issue before Judge Thomas F. Hogan: Whether to hold the city in contempt for violating his court order and failing to meet stipulated benchmarks.

The plaintiff’s, Children’s Rights, a New York-based advocacy law firm which specializes in exposing troubled child welfare agencies and turning them around, was in its element. The District’s lawyers were no match for Children’s Rights founder and executive director Marcia Lowry. While both sides disputed whether or not the agency met those benchmarks—with the city attorney lamely complaining that some of the benchmarks were too difficult to meet—Hogan seemed most annoyed with point No. 4 of his stipulated order. It stated that the city must consult with the assigned court monitor as well as Lowry’s group during the selection of a new CFSA director.

Lowry had contended that Children’s Rights was not consulted. Hogan stated from the bench that the city had “blatantly” failed to comply with this aspect of his court order.

This evening, Loose Lips (aka Mike DeBonis) reached AG Peter Nickles and asked him to comment on Hogan’s statements. Let’s just say Nickles argument was less than legalistic. His response was all about feelings.

Read More “In CFSA Case, Nickles Plays Defense” »

This morning in U.S. District Court, Judge Thomas F. Hogan took up the on-going legal battle over the District’s Child and Family Services Agency. At issue was whether or not the agency could be held in contempt. Hogan devoted much of his consternation on the how the District went about picking Dr. Roque Gerald (pictured) to head up CFSA.

At the time of Dr. Gerald’s selection, City Desk questioned whether the District violated Hogan’s order. We wrote:

Read More “Judge Hogan Critical Of CFSA Director Selection Process” »

The City Council finally approved Dr. Roque Gerald so that he can now drop the “acting” from his title as director of the Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA). Gerald took over last summer at a time when the agency was reeling from the Banita Jacks case. It also had to deal with problems that predated the Jacks case such as increasing quality investigations, providing timely investigations of neglect/abuse cases, and attending to a backlog. The backlog had only ballooned in the aftermath of Jacks.

Read More “Dr. Roque Gerald Is No Longer Just Acting” »

On Friday, I attended Positive Nature’s organized conference on vulnerable children and families. The event, held among several conference rooms at the convention center, was also put together with the Department of Mental Health and the DC Children & Youth Investment Trust Corporation. The bigwigs from CFSA, DMH, DYRS and DCPS showed up and gave upbeat speeches.

The speeches may constitute wishful thinking considering that these agencies are under the microscope either by Colbert King or the courts. The court monitor’s report issued last week on CFSA was not pretty. Judging from the breakout sessions, social workers and advocates have a lot to learn from the children they are paid to protect and nurture.

Read More “Children Speak Out On CFSA, DCPS” »

In case you missed it: the latest court hearing in the CFSA case is going on in U.S. District Court this morning. Here’s a preview from youth advocates…

We’re Not In New Hampshire Anymore questions these new neighborhood names popping up on Craigslist and elsewhere: “Scanning Craigslist for an apartment today, I ran into this listing.  SOFLO, for south of Florida Ave?  After NoMa and Tivoli Heights and the Atlas District and Borderstan and the whole shebang?  Please.”

The 42 has pictures from last Saturday’s farmer’s market in Mount P—the first of the season. We hear that the market was oddly heavy on meats and potted plants/herbs and light on produce.

The New Teacher on the Block has a great rant titled “DCPS Bus Attendants Need To Get Their S**t Together.”

And Now, Anacostia praises some demolition of a vacant apartment building on Galen Street.

Pop Cesspool says black Play-Doh will make you feel really alone. Picture is priceless.

An independent monitor, the Center for the Study of Social Policy, has just released its reporting on the state of D.C.’s Child and Family Services Agency. The monitor notes up front that the agency has stabilized since the Banita Jacks fallout and credited Acting Director Roque Gerald with boosting morale. But it notes:

“There are many areas of practice where the District continues to fall far short of the standards required in the LaShawn Amended Implementation Plan (AIP). Additionally, as is documented
in this report, there are multiple examples of inconsistent performance over time, suggesting that long-term sustainability of progress has not been achieved. The Quality Service Reviews
(QSRs), which assess the quality of case practice, continue to show inconsistent results.”

The problems that the report highlights are significant.

Read More “Indie Monitor: CFSA Still Struggling” »

Yesterday, more than a year after Banita Jacks was arrested for murdering her girls, the D.C. Inspector General has issued its comprehensive report. The full report is available online and is a must read for anyone who actually thinks CFSA needs less oversight, less court involvement.

The IG’s office provides a timeline of events. Here’s what caught my eye:

• May 1, 2007: A CFSA “Investigations Worker” and a D.C. cop visit the Jacks house. No one answers the door. But old junk mail is observed—the same junk mail from a previous visit—in front of the door. Also still at the door: a letter previously left by the CFSA worker.
• May 2, 2007: The CFSA worker goes to the house. Again, no one answers the door.
• May 16, 2007: Investigations Worker erroneously believes that the family has relocated to Charles County, Maryland. This came from another government worker. “Therefore recommends to his supervisor that the investigation be closed,” the report states. “CFSA closes the case, and the Investigations Worker then sends a fax to Charles County Child Protective Services…”

Read More “Banita Jacks Case: Breakdowns, Lies, And Laziness” »

This afternoon I called Mindy Good. She is the Child and Family Services Agency’s press person. I had put in a request to interview the director of the troubled agency. When I hadn’t heard back, I thought this merited a phone call to Good’s cellphone.

I asked her about my request.

Good replied that all calls must go through the mayor’s press office. I asked why.

Good replied: “Mafara Hobson.” Like a robot, she repeated the words “Mafara Hobson” a few more times.

“They do the speaking for this agency,” she said of the mayor’s office.

I replied: But aren’t you the agency’s press person. Good is listed as the agency’s Public Information Officer. Then again the agency doesn’t have much in the way of press releases.

“I am the director of communications,” Good said.

“Why don’t you get to do that?” I asked. You know communicate for the agency.

Good then hung up. Great press strategy CFSA!

Mafara Hobson, Mayor Adrian Fenty’s spokesperson, confirms that the victims in yesterday’s triple homicide in Northeast had contact with social services. A statement is being prepared which could take some more time. The victims–Erika Peters and two of her children–were stabbed and found by D.C. Police yesterday afternoon inside their Carver Terrace Apartments.

Last night, Joseph Randolph Mays–Peters’ live-in boyfriend–was arrested for the murders.

City Desk will update when we get the statement from the Mayor’s office.

Update 6:18 p.m. Attorney General Peter Nickles released this statement:

“After receiving a hotline tip [in] 2006, the Department of Child and Family Services took appropriate steps to resolve issues. In 2007, after the necessary measures were taken, the case was closed, with no subsequent reports.”

The teacher’s lounge has turned into a showroom. Everything wears a Post-It with a price in blue ink. The conference table is selling for $150. The fridge is going for $50. The microwave is a steal at $5. Today is the last day for the City Lights Public Charter School.

Everything must go. Including that microwave.

“This stuff needs a home,” explains operations manager Nick Battle. “Everything is at a good deal.”

In late January, City Lights, a school for at-risk youth, announced it was closing. There were problems with enrollment and with funding. Now, all the kids have moved on to other schools. All that’s left are a few teachers, Battle, the school’s principal, and the beloved cook to sort through what’s trash, what should be donated to other schools, and what can be sold.

In the hallway by the entrance, there is a box of locks. In the main office, there are more boxes. One box contains extension cords and a modem. In a nearby classroom, empty binders are stacked in threes. Principal Brenda Richards arrived at 9:30 a.m.

There were donuts.

“There’s no money for a goodbye party,” Richards says, sitting in the main office (she doesn’t seem to have an office anymore). It’s close to 11 a.m. “That was it—donuts.”

Read More “The Last Morning At City Lights Public Charter School” »

In July, Children’s Rights, the New York-based group behind a long-standing lawsuit against the District over its handling of children filed a contempt motion in U.S. District Court over the pre-and-post-Banita Jacks troubles at CFSA.  The court battle over CFSA continues to be hot.

Last fall, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas F. Hogan issued an order stipulating a series of directives. One of those stipulations involved the future selection of a permanent director at CFSA. On Tuesday, Fenty announced his selection of interim director Roque Gerald to take over in a permanent capacity. Hogan had stipulated that “the Court Monitor and Plaintiffs will be included in the selection process for the permanent Director.”

It is that order that is now being seriously questioned. When appointing top posts, Fenty isn’t known as a big outreach guy. His appointment of Chief Cathy Lanier is exhibit A. Now his selection of Gerald is coming under scrutiny.

The Plaintiffs–Children’s Rights–say they were never consulted during the selection process. “We were not included in the process and I think given the problems the agency has had over the last several years the choice of the director was critically important,” says Children’s Rights Executive Director Marcia Robinson Lowry. She adds that this violated the court order.

Read More “Did CFSA Director Search Violate Court Order?” »

Yesterday, Mayor Adrian Fenty announced his nomination of Roque Gerald to become the permanent director of Child and Family Services at a press conference. Gerald had served as the agency’s interim director since this past July. Fenty called his nomination a “shot in the arm” and touted Gerald as an old-hand within the troubled agency which apparently is a net plus.

What may be troubling is the possibility that Fenty’s people did not interview anyone else for the position. Even before the Banita Jacks case, the agency faced serious questions about its case management and the thoroughness of its investigative work. The agency is currently in the midst of a huge court battle. And its problems are vast.

Charles Allen, Councilmember Tommy Wells‘ chief of staff, says his office is not aware of any other candidates being vetted for CFSA’s top job. I asked him if anyone else was interviewed. “We’re not aware of one,” Allen says. Calls to the mayor’s office have not yet been returned.

Read More “The One And Only Roque Gerald” »

Attorney General Peter Nickles today told a federal judge that Mayor Adrian M. Fenty expects to name a new director for the Child and Family Services Agency “within a week.”

CFSA has been without a permanent director since Sharlynn Bobo resigned in July. She was replaced on an interim basis by deputy Roque Gerald, who appeared alongside Nickles in Judge Thomas F. Hogan’s courtroom this afternoon.

In remarks to the judge, Nickles cited hopes that the agency, thrown into great turmoil after the Banita Jacks tragedy a year ago, could emerge from 20 years of court intervention within a year. The District filed a motion this morning essentially proposing such an outcome.

Needless to say, the other side in the longstanding litigation were intensely skeptical of that outcome. “Based on our assessment of where we are, I think that is a highly unrealistic expectation,” said Judith Meltzer, the agency’s court-appointed monitor—particularly so, she points out, because there is no permanent director yet and several senior positions are unfilled.

Marcia Robinson Lowry, who argued against Nickles today on behalf of nonprofit Children’s Rights says very little in the District’s performance has shown it’s ready to assume full responsibility for the agency again. “I can’t believe some of the arguments they make,” she told LL after the hearing. “Hopefully a contempt order will put them more in touch with reality.”

UPDATE, 5:35 P.M.: The hearing today was supposed to be on a contempt motion filed last month over the operations of the Child and Family Services Agency. Hogan, however, declined to hear arguments on that motion, and instead sought to have the parties “speak in somewhat broader terms about the issues.”

Read More “Nickles: CFSA Director to Be Named Within Week” »

On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas F. Hogan did what no one else in the city seemed to be able to do: He ordered CFSA to come up with a plan to fix itself. He gave the troubled child welfare agency a two-week deadline.

Hogan’s directive spells certain trouble for the already troubled agency! CFSA has definitely heard the words “plan” and “deadline” before Wednesday. It’s understanding those words that’s given the agency fits, according to Marcia Robinson Lowry, the executive director of Children’s Rights, the national advocacy group that has watchdogged the agency for decades. Children’s Rights spurred this latest round in U.S. District Court after filing a contempt order in late July.

It is the concept of deadlines and plans that caused Children’s Rights to take action in U.S. District Court.

“We had certainly been concerned for at least the last four or five months,” Lowry told me in early August. “CFSA was supposed to have agreed to an acceptable 12-month plan in January. It became clear they were not going to be able to do that…They couldn’t come up with a satisfactory plan. Finally, we withdraw our objections to [a] six month [stabilization] plan. It was March already and they did not have a plan that we thought was adequate. Since the period was half over, we decided to do a 12-month plan starting on July 1. We expected to have an adequate plan by the end of June. We did not get an acceptable plan by the end of June.”

Lowry’s group met CFSA officials several times to express its dissatisfaction. Those meetings, Lowry says, were disappointing and failed to address the agency’s lack of progress on righting the agency. The meetings sometimes included D.C.’s top lawyer Peter Nickles.

Nickles did confirm to City Desk that Children’s Rights’ main beef with CFSA concerned the agency’s failure to address its issues in a systematic way. The agency just never could get specific enough to satisfy Children’s Rights, Nickles says.

[Nickles told the Post in July: "I had looked to Marcia and the plaintiffs as partners to improve the agency," Nickles said. "This has sort of taken my invitation and said we'll hold you in contempt."]

Lowry says that given the agency’s bad marks in a November ‘07 review and the handling of the Banita Jacks case, the agency should have been more aggressive.