County bullies in full revenge mode

December 24, 2013

Dan 2OPINION: By DANIEL BLACKBURN

It was a casual get-together of professional women, mostly from the South County and Santa Maria, and the tone was cordial until one of the ladies happened to mention that she had read an article on CalCoastNews.

“The mood of the gathering changed instantly,” she later recalled. “The contempt was palpable.” The room went to ice, and the subject was dropped.

CalCoastNews has been loathed by a segment of county readers since its inception five years ago. That goes with the territory; every newspaper for which I have worked was roundly reviled by the local population. Competent investigative reporting has a way of upsetting fat cats and moral midgets intent on exploiting the status quo.

But my friend wanted to emphasize: What she heard expressed at that gathering was deep, raw, visceral… pure hatred.

News outlets don’t often become the target of anonymous, ongoing, compensated character assassination, and see its reporters probed by private dicks in the hire of public officials.

Nevertheless, it’s all still just part of the job, I guess.

But there’s nothing in the job description about placing one’s family in jeopardy of governmental kidnapping.

That’s the simplest and most accurate way of describing what has happened to the grandchildren of CalCoastNews co-founder and publisher Karen Velie.

(For those of you familiar with social media terminology, the linked article already has been “shared” by 1,536 readers, and is probably CalCoastNews’ most widely read article, ever.)

Velie has been prohibited by order of the court to discuss her family situation, so those of us who haven’t yet been silenced will continue the conversation.

That’s the right thing to do, for Velie, her family, and all of the families now afflicted by these kinds of punitive child welfare services. And it’s the right thing for society.

Those who have followed the grandkids’ plight know that they were taken by San Luis Obispo County’s Child Welfare Services (CWS) last summer on the thinnest of premise after declaring the home of their mother, Velie’s daughter, “dirty.” Since then, child welfare case workers have tried to  justify shuttling the children from foster home to foster home, admonishing Velie to change her attitude and her profession if she wanted to see the children again.

In other words, some CWS people apparently did not like what CalCoastNews has been reporting about CWS’s conjoined agency, the  Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo (CAPSLO).

These are not empty assertions. CWS case workers have been oh-so-willing to make these comments with witnesses present or listening.

Check the law: None of these arbitrary “reasons” justify splitting up a family, nor does Velie’s bogus DUI, pasted on her in the immediate aftermath of the CWS abduction.

As the family separation wore on, it became clear from their own comments that CWS employees had every intention of putting Velie’s grandchildren up for adoption.

Did you get that? Up. For. Adoption.

That’s when CalCoastNews published its first mention of the Velie family plight.

The article provided a perception of the county’s CWS policies that generally remain hidden from public view by confidentiality laws and loosely interpreted regulation. But the veil of secrecy surrounding child welfare activities in general is intended to protect the kids, not provide impenetrable cover for inept welfare workers and their unprofessional retaliatory actions.

People need to know about this. Don’t count on most of the local media to bother looking into this situation with open eyes, though, partly because there are too many sacred cows grazing on county largesse, and partly because there is a distinct lack of journalistic huevos hereabouts. This is doubly troubling because I believe an informed, bold, inquisitive, and politically insulated media guards against unwarranted governmental intrusion into our lives.

There seem to be plenty of people in this county who would not agree with that opinion.

They are the folks who are content to sit mute and watch as the sticky fingers of government pluck apart families without sound reason. They are satisfied to look the other way even when confronted with overwhelming evidence of official misconduct.

They are the folks who believe this will never happen to them, or theirs.

Lastly, I should note that this news site’s publisher doesn’t allow reporters to write commentaries. So, figuring that apologizing later will be simpler than getting her approval now, I’m just going to go ahead and post this.

Happy holidays.

CalCoastNews’ senior correspondent says unprintably hateful correspondence may be directed to blackburn.danielj@gmail.com


Loading...
98 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

File Complaint:


State Bar of California

http://www.calbar.org


Against an attorney

800-843-9053

(toll free in California)

Filing a Complaint


Against the State Bar

Claim Form


Against a judge

415-557-1200

Filing a Complaint


A VICTORY to celebrate..

‘kids for cash’ scandal

Late yesterday, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania granted plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment against former Luzerne County Juvenile Court Judge Mark Ciavarella, the judge at the center of the now infamous ‘kids for cash’ scandal. Specifically, U.S. District Court Judge A. Richard Caputo found that Ciavarella violated the constitutional rights of the children who appeared before him to an impartial tribunal, as guaranteed by the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. Ciavarella is currently serving a 28-year federal prison sentence following his criminal conviction in February 2011 on charges arising out of the scandal.


What a shame that a county can be so corrupt! Not just the LE angencies, but the whole government. Some years ago I knew a horrible woman who had no problem stating that she hated her children. She neglected them so bad, and actually threw their plate of food in front of them. CWS came out to the home numerous times, but instead of doing their job, the case worker could be seen chatting friendly with this woman, all the while this womans youngest son was fooling around in her closet and ended up hanging himself. He survived all because someone was there, but it just goes to show someone was not doing their job.


I have known for years how corrupt SLO county is. I and my family experienced it first hand, and it is very ugly.


Has CWS and courts place a “gag” order on everyone???


I have deleted a number of mostly repeat comments broken links to tangentialy related topics across related threads. slow down ! we don’t want to read only heaven all the way down :-)

??? or!! email thanks


Support the Amendment by visiting http://www.parentalrights.org and signing the

online petition. Then call your congressman and tell him to join as a cosponsor of

the Parental Rights Amendment. (To find the phone number, click on your state at

http://www.parentalrights.org/States, then click on your congressman’s name. Or call the

Capitol Switchboard at (202)-224-3121.)

Together, we can ensure that all American moms and dads receive the respect they

deserve, taking a great step forward in protecting their relationships with the

children they love.


http://youtu.be/jlgKN-UP1zk


Kidnapper Adam Hill and his girlfriends, Dee, Tracy, Heather, and Linda are under investigation by the Knights Templar. YouTube search “Adam Hill slo” to see the first of 100 YT videos, articles, a documentary, fliers and posters all over California, and the making of a 1000 person protest in SLO. Time to return the children, Adam.


AWESOME!!!!


I found a face book page. Rather amusing especially the captions:


https://www.facebook.com/pages/Citizens-Protecting-Children/188485664679817


I guess Longarm wasn’t kidding, somebody is going for it.


If I were a betting sort, I would have to say this is just the beginning….


CPS met their match!!!


And how is it not a “Conflict of Interest” the nature of Adam Hill and Dee Torres’s relationship???


My wife was talking about the likes of someone like Dee Torres as compared to Christin Powers. Mrs Powers got married and had three beautiful children with her husband. Things didn’t work after 10 years and she left, she got a job, tried to get the court to force her husband to pay child support and did her best in the mean time. This woman lost her children because her roommates let the house get dirty while she was away for a week.


Dee Torres got married many times but not to the fathers of her three children and none of her children have the same father. Yeah she got a job that she wasn’t qualified for and who knows how many men she did favors for. She stole gift cards from children who were without Christmas presents and showered her own children with those gifts and yet, she gets to keep her ill raised children while she vindictively calls her friends at CWS.


Go figure, when is the investigation coming?


Interesting!!! The more information that is revealed, it sounds like Dee

and Adam are a perfect match. Just a matter of time before their

DISHONEST egos are bound to collide….


“Go figure, when is the investigation coming?”


It will happen. patience, it will all come to light.


I have waited eight years….. it will happen!


When is the 1000+ plus person protest going to be?


Services such as..

Family Group Decision-Making

Family group decision-making is a generic term that includes a number of approaches in which family members are brought together to make decisions about how to care for their children and develop a plan for services. Different names used for this type of intervention include family team conferencing, family team meetings, family group conferencing, family team decision-making, family unity meetings, and team decision-making. Approaches differ in various aspects, but most consist of several phases and employ a trained facilitator or coordinator.

The key is a TRAINED facilitator/coordinator.


What services is CWS offering to this family to support reunification???


This is what they claim to do… offer services, so what and were are they?


Apart from assisting Christin Powers with getting her child support, this family doesn’t need any help from the government. The best thing the government can do for them is to BUGGER OFF. The government (CPS) has done enough damage. Just get the mother her child support that her x-husband who is the father of those 3 children should be paying them. Some food stamps wouldn’t hurt either. That’s right, the government gives this mother and children not one single dime but has no problem giving them plenty of grief.


I have to sign off before I tell CPS where to stick their services. HELP HER GET HER CHILD SUPPORT.


San Luis Obispo County Child Support Services

http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/css


Welcome to the official web site of the County of San Luis Obispo, … CA State DCSS … The mission of the California Child Support Services Program is to enhance …


Complaint Form – State Bar of California


calbar.ca.gov/Attorneys/LawyerRegulation/ComplaintForm.aspx


California Attorney Complaints. In order to evaluate and process your complaint, please complete the California Attorney Complaint Form below and provide as many of …