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Governor candidate wants to abolish CPS, start over

April 9, 2014
Tom Donnelly

Tim Donnelly

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly said Tuesday that he would abolish California’s Child Protective Services system because social workers often remove children from families without sufficient reason. He would then start over from the “ground up.” [SacramentoBee]

“If I were in charge of the entire state, I can tell you right now I would abolish CPS,” Donnelly said at a news conference,” because CPS has become the greatest threat to the very kids it was designed to protect.”

Donnelly has proposed legislation that would require social workers to conduct video or audio recordings of their interactions with children and parents. He said the recordings would protect both families and social workers in disputes.

The California Welfare Directors Association opposes Assembly Bill 1828 because “time is of the essence” in child abuse investigations and that “it is imperative that our CPS social workers be able to conduct interviews with children and their parents with unfettered access,” according to a letter included in a legislative analysis.

Nevertheless, a state auditor report released Tuesday says that social workers frequently include inaccurate information in their assessments and fail to do proper follow ups on cases.

Donnelly said CPS workers get involved too often in cases where their intervention isn’t warranted, while not becoming involved in incidents of serious child abuse and neglect.

“They are literally becoming the dust bunny and dirty dish police,” Donnelly said.

 


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I don’t believe the issue are the laws in place re: the protection of children.


Aren’t the Judges who are authorizing removal of children for dust bunny violations part of the problem? CPS isn’t in this alone.


While the Judges are worried about their PERS Retirement, they are supporting the dysfunctional implementation of a functional system, when applied correctly.


Let there be no doubt that CPS in this County does not recognize child endangerment when they see it.


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I love this guy. He’s not afraid to make a change and to call a spade a spade. CPS has screwed up TWO families that I know personally and for no good reason. Just the knee jerk reaction to any contact.


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From what I read in the news-it is not that children are “removed with insufficient reason”. What I read is that they are found in an old ice chest after the family has moved and have been dead about 3 years, that the family watched them starve to death, or they were beat to death, or-have been missing for years and were not even worth a phone call to report them missing. THAT is what I read about!


I am frankly shocked this man does not seem to live in the real world. The world where people prey on children daily in a disturbed and sick society-and need MORE protection-not less.


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Reread the second to the last paragraph. He isn’t saying that serious problems don’t exist, just that CWS too often prioritizes non-serious ones.


I don’t know how often that is true — even “honest” politicians tend to spin the facts and distort the truth when it suits their cause. But, whether you believe that the case involving Velie’s grandkids was accurately presented here or not, there are too numerous incidences statewide of CWS missing big problems while focusing on trivial ones to say that such problems don’t exist.


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Yup, more government will save us all. Look how well it’s working already. Maybe child watching drones are the answer…


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Another press release…in the Sacramento Bee…from a gubernatorial CANDIDATE?! Are you starving for content?


An even bigger question: will you also be posting the press releases from his competitors who are in opposition to Mr. Donnelly? Or do we only get to hear his occasional opinion on what is obviously a pet issue at CCN?


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Miles you must be new around here? The abuse of CPS that Donnelly is talking about, happened to Karen Velie of CCN. What happened to Karen and her daughter and grandchildren is EXACTLY what Mr. Donnelly is getting at.


I would assume that, that is the reason why Karen has posted this article. Stop your whining about partisanship. We live in a blue state and most all the candidates are talked about everywhere. Do you complain when a liberal rag like the L.A. times favors? I bet the answer is no.


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It is not isolated to just Karen

It has been shockingly, more unwarranted than warranted cases.

I am told that Social Services gets $1800 for each kid that take, and the parents are charged $500 for each day (including the weekends) they hold them till they realized it was not necessary then they are released.

I am sure Tim Donnelly knows this.

Furthermore, the parents ends up having to shell out thousands of dollars for an attorney for nothing.


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Yes willie I understand it is all over. If you follow the thread miles was asking a question and my response was that while in addition to what Rep Donnelly pointed out, it probably hit close to home for Karen. Thought most readers would get that without me having to point that out.


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You missed my point…it’s about balance. It’s about reporting versus pandering.


First of all…I don’t care what did (or did not) take place in regards to Ms. Velie…that’s her personal business and should be respected everyone as a private matter. And as a journalist of some integrity, I would think that she would not let private matters skew her ability to report the news in a fair and balanced manner.


Next…his press release in the Bee is not news. It’s a candidate promoting his agenda for an upcoming election. In all fairness, where are the opinions of his competitors? Donnelly gets printed her regularly…for free…there should be some equal time alloted to his competition.


Next, you’re incorrect, this isn’t about partisanship, it’s about balance in your journalism. The “liberal rag” you speak of frequently posts op-eds from neo-cons, progs, libertarians, etc….it runs the gamut.


Donnelly is obviously CCN-friendly, that’s fine. But he’s not the only candidate with an opinion…if you want to be regarded as a resource of balanced journalism, then at least ONCE in awhile offer an alternative opinion.


Hell, even Hannity/O’Reilly have libs, progs, etc periodically on their shows.


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I don’t believe the issue are the laws in place re: the protection of children.


Aren’t the Judges who are authorizing removal of children for dust bunny violations part of the problem? CPS isn’t in this alone.


While the Judges are worried about their PERS Retirement, they are supporting the dysfunctional implementation of a functional system, when applied correctly.


Let there be no doubt that CPS in this County does not recognize child endangerment when they see it.


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From the article: “They are literally becoming the dust bunny and dirty dish police,” Donnelly said.


A million dollar quote, solid gold. Thank You CCN for including it.


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Can he abolish our BOARD of Supervisors and start over?


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He is right…CPS needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. It is a much needed program but governmental power needs to be checked from time to time and this agency is over due for a review….parents need a CPS bill of rights with the way things are today. Unfortunately we in California have way too many low information voters in our state and they will view this as an attack on kids and our corrupted news media will bolster that view.


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“Donnelly said CPS workers get involved too often in cases where their intervention isn’t warranted, while not becoming involved in incidents of serious child abuse and neglect.”


They also seem to ignore the tough cases where their intervention could save lives:


http://www.sacbee.com/cps


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Man-oh-man-oh-man! Does any of this sound familiar? Lee Collins?


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