-=> Quoting Bill Bauer to James Hallberg <=-
 BB> James, here in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, we have many cases(especially
 BB> Hispanics) who are getting picked on for child abuse and their
 BB> children taken away from them. One thing we need to know nationwide is
 BB> what is the percentage of groundless child abuse cases in each state.
 BB> Once these figures are made public, we will have a much better weapon
 BB> with which to fight. Here in Oklahoma, our DHS has run a pretty
 BB> constant 64 to 68% of all cases that were proven to be groundless. It
 BB> is therefore obvious that altogether too many cases are also going
 BB> forward in which parents just admit to guilt to get the whole thing
 BB> over with simply because they do not have the resources available with
 BB> which to fight. 
 
Dear Bill,  
I hope you don't mind me butting in like this, but I know where you can get
the most current information you are seeking. It took me a few weeks to get
it, but it just arrived at my home yesterday. Call the National Clearing 
House on Child Abuse and Neglect Information at 1-800-FYI-3366 and ask for
the Child Maltreatment 1992: Reports From The States to the National Center 
on Child Abuse and Neglect. It is a fairly comprehensive report (although
not as comprehensive as I would like) and it does show statistics nation-
wide (and broke down state by state) of various components of the Child Abuse
Industry. I think that information MAY help you. I can give you the stats on
Oklahoma right now, but it would be better to have an "official" report to 
wave in a courtroom, as I'm sure that my word wouldn't carry much weight.
But here goes ...
Oklahoma 1992 - 
   Estimated Population under 18 is 858,000
   Number of Children Subject to Reports: 24,092 
   Number of Reports By Source
      Social Services: 3,867
      Medical: 1,576
      Legal Justice: 2,929
      Education: 2,968
      Child Care Providers: 298
      Victims: 309
      Parents: 2,599
      Other Relatives: 3,112
      Friends/Neighbors: 5,450
      Other: 854
   Number of Investigation by Disposition
      Number Substantiated: 8,063
      Number Not Substantiated: 11,880
      Number Closed w/o Finding: 4,005
      Number Unknown Dispositions: 144
   Number of Children Subject of Investigation: 24,092
   Number of Families Subject of Investigation: 15,994
   Maltreatment Type:
      Physical Abuse: 3,158
      Neglect: 5,225
      Medical Neglect: 449
      Sexual Abuse: 1,186
      Emotional Maltreatment: 733
   Age of Victims
      Under 1: 348
      1: 349
      2: 568
      3: 549
      4: 550
      5: 550
      6: 550
      7: 474
      8: 475
      9: 475
      10: 475
      11: 475
      12: 317
      13: 318
      14: 318
      15: 318
      16: 318
      17: 318
      18: 318
      Over 18: 318
   Sex of the Victims:
      Male: 3,840
      Female: 4,218
      Unknown: 5
   Race/Ethnicity of Victims
      White: 5,391
      Black: 1,292
      Hispanic: 207
      Am. Ind/Alaskan: 1,094
      Other: 62
      Unknown: 17
   Victims Removed From Home: 2,569
   Court Action Initiated: 1,475
   Receiving Additional Services: 5,103
   Died From Abuse or Neglect: 20
   Relationsip of Perpetrator to Victim:
      Parents: 7,316
      Other Relatives: 390
      Foster Parents: 38
      Child Care: 40
      Non-Caretakers: 253
      Unknown or Missing Data: 26
      
      
Basically this is all the information that Oklahoma reported for 1992. I
don't know if any of this will help you or not, but if it looks like it 
might, then call for your copy of the report. You could also try calling
the State Department of Social Services - Statistical Department and asking
for the most current report on child abuse statistics. 
For 1992 the Nation-Wide Average for Not Substantiated Reports was 58%
(with 43 states reporting). Hmmm. This is weird. On the page showing the
pie chart of Substantiated and Not Substantiated Reporting it says that 
only 43 states reported that information....yet when I turned to the state
by state breakdown of Substantiated Reports I see that 47 DID report it.
So either the pie chart is in error, OR 4 states were left out for some
reason. Well, I don't have time to figure it all out right now, but there
will be an UN-BIASED statistical analysis of the statistics nation-wide done 
in probably a month or 6 weeks from now. If you are interested in obtaining
a copy, let me know and I can get one to you.
 BB> One very simple answer is that all parents should be advised that if
 BB> their children have any bruise or mark on their bodies or have any
 BB> headlice, they should not be allowed to go to school until such
 BB> conditions are taken care of or remedied. If this results in too many
 BB> days lost, then they need to take their kids out of school and start
 BB> homeschooling them. This is imperative and is about the only way to
 BB> keep from falling victim to this vicious monster we have called
 BB> "child abuse" and with this "rights of the child" thing, it could
 BB> well evolve into open warfare. (Seriously) But we simply cannot
 BB> fall victim to these vicious attacks upon our families and our
 BB> children and retain our families intact. This has got to stop and it
 BB> has got to stop now and let the chips fall where they may.
 
I COULD NOT AGREE WITH YOU MORE! I home-school two of my 7 children and will 
be going up to 3 as soon as Children's Protective Services (CPS) gives me
back my youngest child. (They only took ONE of them - so what does that
tell you? Obviously I must NOT be a bad parent or they would have taken 
them all.) Home-schooling gives your kids the education they can no longer
get in Public School and they tend to score higher on their SAT's and other
national tests. My oldest kids are in High School and not interested in 
home schooling, otherwise I would be doing it with all of them. 
By the way, James is a good friend, I'm glad the two of you have
touched bases. Let me know if you need more info!
Valery Frosty
... ...Just be thankful we don't get all the government we pay for.
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