Information Please for my daughter ..I am trying to get her

[tommyfromhyde1]

floridatresure, who's PAYING for the program? If it's you try not sending them money and pleading poverty. She might then "graduate from the program" so fast it'd make your head spin.

An individual who should survive his physical death is beyond my comprehension, nor do I wish it; such notions are for the fears or absurd egoism of feeble souls.

--Albert Einstein

[Anonymous]

She just said it was money from the state.

[The Liger]

I don't know where in FL you are, but it looks like the UF Levin College of Law has some advocacy programs that you may want to contact.

Call ALL of these, even if it looks like they can't help you on their pages.  Trust me when I say that law students and professors are the most passionate about what they do.  They won't be so jaded and tell you that there's nothing they can do to help.  It says at the website that they can represent people in different circuits.  Also, if they can't help you, ask them who can.

http://www.law.ufl.edu/centers/childlaw/
http://www.law.ufl.edu/centers/hawkins/
http://www.law.ufl.edu/centers/welfare/
http://www.law.ufl.edu/centers/juvenile/

You also should contact your local ACLU.

http://www.aclufl.org/

Good luck.  It's great to see a parent who is this concerned.

[Anonymous]

Also consider contacting Rep. Gus Barreiro, R-Miami Beach, who is calling for the closure of all  Boot Camps following the death of Martin Lee Anderson. He?s also spoken out against other issues that negatively affect youth.
Even if he can?t help you immediately, he needs to know what?s happened to kids and parents in other Florida programs.
Good luck.
Gus Barreiro [email protected]

[Helena Handbasket]

Floridatreasure, I've read your story.  I would think your next call is to the court.  Get a copy of the court order.

This is how I would do it: bring a copy of the court order with you when you pick up your daughter... like TOMORROW, wave it in their faces, and point out the line you will have HIGHLIGHTED that reads:  THIRTY DAYS, and tell them that if they don't release her, you will come back with law enforcement.

And that should not be an idle threat.  If that court order specifically STATES 30 days, then they are violating a law by keeping her, and the Sheriff's Department must abide the law.  If they don't release her, call the cops.

What county are you in, BTW?

Disclaimer, I am not a lawyer, but my ex-husband's attorney (who lost) will vouch for the fact that ya don't wanna mess with me in a courtroom. :grin:

Under the benign influence of our republican institutions, and the maintenance of peace with all nations whilst so many of them were engaged in bloody and wasteful wars, the fruits of a just policy were enjoyed in an unrivaled growth of our faculties and resources.
http://www.angelfire.com/pa/sergeman/foundingdocs/inaugural/madison1stinaug.html' target='_new'>James Madison

[ This Message was edited by: Helena Handbasket on 2006-02-24 16:03 ]

[Anonymous]

Law and common sense aren't the same thing.  

You have to save the money to pay a lawyer.  If legal aid won't help you, and the ACLU won't help you, you've got to pay a lawyer.

How you usually make a prison or someplace release a prisoner they can't legally hold is you file a habeas corpus petition.  This is a private facility, not a prison, and so I'm not sure of the legal issues.  I'm not a lawyer, you need a lawyer.

If you're dirt poor, legal aid should be willing to file the petition for you or file asking for a hearing before a family court judge to revisit your daughter's status, since the initial order was for 30 days.

Point is, someone is going to have to into court and file the proper motions or the facility is just going to do whatever the hell they want as long as the state keeps paying them.

If you're poor, get legal aid.  If you're not *that* poor, save the money.

Julie

[Anonymous]

You might also contact Cathy Corry at
Justice 4 Kids

http://www.justice4kids.org./

Our children need your voice! If you have information regarding abuse, neglect, harassment, intimidation or discrimination of children in any state or local governmental institution, please contact justice4kids.org at
727-799-9762, or click Contact Us

If you wish to provide written testimony on "issues related to the care and treatment of youth by the Department of Juvenile Justice", contact Rep. Gus Barreiro's staff director, Jim DeBeaugrine 850-488-6204.

Click Justice Appropriations Committee 10/20/05 - Gus Barreiro, Chair to see video archive of Schembri testimony.


T Shirt Quote:
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be misquoted and used against you!"

OR "will be labeled manipulation and used against you."

[floridatreasure]

The state is paying for this..I would NOT pay them a dime

[floridatreasure]

Thank you for this information, I will call enyone and everyone that I can to help get my daughter out of there.I worry what this is going to do to her for years to come. She is a precious daughter and I was a Fool to trust in them!!

[floridatreasure]

Thank you for your response,The court parpers does not state 30 days this is what I said I would agree to, then they said it was for 4 to 6 mos. I begged, cried, pleaded for them not to send her to this program for 4 months. When we went back to court a time limit was never stated.They court papers states "This child is hereby committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice for placement in moderate risk program. It states Conditional Release. The placement is for an indeterminate period but no longer that the child's 19th birthday, the maximum sentence allowed by law, Or until otherwise released and discharged, wich ever comes first"... there is a lot more wording in this paper , it also states "The court retains jurisdiction over discharge from commitment"  "Participate in and complete counseling programs deemed appropriate"
"Child was committed to a moderate risk program with conditional release"
It was the Department of Juvenile Justice that we talked to mostly, to be honest we did not really know who all we was talking to until After we got all of the paper work After she went to court. I think I had stated before that not even the judge had said a time or date, everything is left up to the wilderness program When she will be released!They had told us she could be locked up for 7 years!! Or she could go to this Great program that is all about Helping her! But All along we was being told it would Only be for a short time! It wasn't untill after they (wilderness program)
had her there for over a Month that we found out that they was a long term program and she would be there for a while, But they was still saying my daughter would Not be there that long!!Then when I started questioning them and telling them that we was Lied to about her time being in there, her time kept getting longer!! They say that the girls have to complete a "Master Treatment Plan" before they can go to transions which is another 6 mos.. Well my daughter Has completed her Master Treatment Plan, and they just told her last week "Stop asking when you will be transfered, you will be here a least 13 to 14 mos. before we will even talk about you going to transions" I Truly thought she would have been out after a few months, and I didn't even want her in anyplace over 30 days! This has been a nightmare that Just won't end!! and I am so Very worried about my daughter. Each letter she writes me she just don't think she can hold on much longer. She has been getting sick a lot and they told her it was because she is so stressed!!I asked them didn't they worry about if a gril was pushed to far and had a complete breakdown, their reply to me was "Well this is the best place for this to happen" They Are the Reason she is falling apart!!

[floridatreasure]

To Helena Handbasket ...I wish you was here, You are the type of person my daughter and I need right now.I used to be able to use my brain and no one had more fight in them than I did, but with all of the stress and with FMS my brain just doesn't work like it used to. I have prayed for God to just give me the strenth and to Please give me a clear head and to stop the "brain fog" (that is what people with FMS calls it when we just can't think clear)  to be able to help my daughter, but the more stress I get under the worse it gets.Everytime I have tried anything by talking to anyone in the Juvenile justice system, my daughters time gets longer. I am to the point now where I don't trust anyone in the "system" and I did not want to get this way. I have always taught my daughter to do the right thing, beleive in our "system", I even encourged her to be totaly honest and to open up to the people at the wilderness camp and let them "Help" her...that was in the beginning.

[floridatreasure]

Julie, Why I was asking about finding a lawyer that would take payments is because it will take longer to save up the money ...I then retain a lawyer, go through the courts, then get her released...I am not *dirt poor* I just don't have thousands of dollars...I want my precious baby girl home "8 months ago" she has been in there for 8 1/2 months!! I just thought there may be some one who knew how I could go about doing this on my own considering I don't have tousands of dollars & I am sure I am not the only parent out there that is in the same shape I am in.I think that is how a lot of these places keep these kids for so long...they are getting paid by the state and they know the parents can not afford to get a lawyer, and the legal aid has about a 8 month waiting list.

[floridatreasure]

Thank You for this information I will contact justice 4 kids and Gus Barrelo, this place is called a "wilderness camp" they said not a boot camp, but what they do to these kids is the Same thing to me!
I love this;
T Shirt Quote:
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be misquoted and used against you!"

OR "will be labeled manipulation and used against you."
 This is SO true!

[Helena Handbasket]

On 2006-02-26 08:30:00, floridatreasure wrote:

...They court papers states "This child is hereby committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice for placement in moderate risk program. It states Conditional Release. The placement is for an indeterminate period but no longer that the child's 19th birthday, the maximum sentence allowed by law, Or until otherwise released and discharged, wich ever comes first"... there is a lot more wording in this paper , it also states "The court retains jurisdiction over discharge from commitment"  "Participate in and complete counseling programs deemed appropriate"

"Child was committed to a moderate risk program with conditional release"

FT, I think contacting Cathy Corry would be a good idea. Because, based on what you said the court document stated, they legally have the right to keep her until the program deems her worthy of discharge, and even then, the court is retaining jurisdiction over her until she is nineteen - meaning, that even if she graduates the program tomorrow, the county court still holds jurisdiction, and is legally able to make you two dance until her nineteenth birthday.


And I'm a little busy to quote piece by piece, but let me tell you about Juvenile Justice... I've worked with them, and I know that their decision basis is a computerized "expert system" (very rudimentary, imho), where they plug in vital statistics.... age, how many offenses... are the parents married, etc.  This is literally akin to consulting an 8-ball!

It's sickening, and the stuff of B Movies, but it's true.  

Still, if you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.
--Winston Churchill

[floridatreasure]

Thank You again, I have sent emails out to I think 4 different people or places today from information I have gotten from here. I am praying that someone contacts me back.
My daughter had no other offenses before all this happened. Her Dad and myself Was married until all of this happened, I have not heard from him since she was put in the camp.I am sure he is scared to try and contact me, as well as he should be. He knew that everything he did to her would come out! He is the one that should be locked up Not my Daughter!! When I pushed about him being arrested for what he did to her their response was "Well She is safe from him now" Excuse me but that is No reason Not to go after him, she wouldn't be in this nightmare if it wasn't for him.
Thank You again, for your help.