Topic : 01/23 Behind the Headlines

I am writing in regards to the Adam Herrman case.  I am sure, as this case is explosive and definately disgusting you will revisit this case, I want to straighten out some things.  Please feel free to consult a legal consultant in the state of Kansas to verify what I am stating.

The biological mother had eight children that the state of Kansas removed.  She stated that it was all because there were black and blue marks on her daughter.  The reason that eight would be removed over one child is that in the state of Kansas, if your parental rights are terminated to one child, that is grounds to terminate rights to any and all future children.  They can take the child from the hospital and you never are able to see them.  That is how Kansas child in need of care laws are written.  She may have never harmed the other children in her home.  That is why her Kansas children were taken, but she has two that reside with her in Colorado.

Additionally, I am not sure at what age the children were removed initially, however, in Kansas, once the state removes a child from a parent's custody, the case is turned over to a private subcontractor.  When the state of Kansas released child custody cases to a private contractor, the system became irrevocably (in my humble opinion) broken.  If you want to know who failed this child, the focus needs to go from the top on down.

NOW, I will be open and honest in this letter so that you know why I am so very familiar with the laws of Kansas and how they work.  In 1997 I moved to the state of Kansas with my former husband and two daughters (we were from Nebraska).  My oldest daughter (who is now 14, but at the time was 2 1/2) is ADHD to the extreme.  I suspected something was different with her from about the time she was one, because she was constantly into everything (and I have three children, this was definately not normal behavior).  We would put her down at 1am in the HOPES that she would sleep until 5 or 6am.  She would raid our food, eat to gorging, throw what she didn't on the floors, counters, what have you.  In Nebraska, we had a great support system, as my family was there, and my mother and I spent a lot of time together, so it wasn't so bad.  We moved to Kansas, and that wasn't the case.  We were alone.  We were low income family, two high school graduates, but not educated enough to get employment that was enough to support a small family.  We applied for day care benefits, but as we were both working, we were determined to make too much.  Not enough to live, but too much to pay for child care or any of the extras in life, barely enough to feed our small family.  Well, since we were declined for day care benefits, we were forced to sleep on staggered sleep schedules to make sure someone was always awake because we couldn't find a lock to keep our oldest daughter in the house.  Well, even as much as we tried, our oldest daughter snuck out, unattended, and improperly clothed, and the authorities became involved.  I can't tell you the number of times it occured, but it was more than once.  The state took custody of our children (both, even though there was no abuse to my youngest daughter (who was about 9 months old at the time/12 years old now).  We jumped through EVERY hoop there was.  We went to parenting classes, nutrition classes, individual and family therapy, you name it.  But it wasn't enough.  We had a two story home.  Initially, the girls room was on the ground floor, because we didn't want to worry about either of them falling down the stairs.  So, after the state became involved, we moved their room to the second upstairs bedroom.  Then, they stated that the girls could fall down the stairs (even though we installed a screw in the wall gate).  There was a window air conditioner in the girls bedroom (it was an old home, approx 100 years old, with only window air conditioning).  We were ordered to remove the air conditioner, as it could "fall on the girls if they pulled on the cord".  But then they stated to the courts that we lived in a home that didn't have appropriate air conditioning to cool the girls.  In the end, we were forced to move to a home we couldn't afford, but was a ranch style home to get them home.  Then they changed it and stated because I was so difficult (stating we didn't want to move because we couldn't afford a different place) I was ordered anger management because I was "resistant to change".  A year passed, and the state began termination proceedings against my former husband and I, because the "case was languishing in the system", even though we jumped through all hoops there were and then some.  Long story short, I finally, out of desperation, took my case to the Lawrence Journal World reporter who handled monitoring the broken system in Kansas.  We provided him with all court documents and treatment plans, he wrote an article documenting our case, and less than 16 days later, our girls were returned to our home.  Bear in mind, that in this case, there was ZERO abuse to our girls.  They were height/weight appropriate for their ages, our house clean, and we both held full time jobs.  Neither of us drank or did drugs, and I smoked, but never at home, only at work.  If you search the Lawrence Journal World's website (ljworld.com) and search for my name at the time, Jennifer Butcher, you can still find the story he broke on our case.

Now, I will also be honest and state, I lost my middle girl again just over a month later.  Why?  Because apparently, my ex spanked my daughter.  He admitted it to the Lenexa Kansas police.  He spanked her on her diaper line.  This is the reason I divorced him.  The babysitter found a small bruise just above her diaper line.  HOWEVER, if you looked at the court documents, you would be led to believe that she was beaten within an inch of her life.  I feel very bad, in some respects, because I left my husband over this.  It wasn't until I saw the photographs of my daughter that I realized she wasn't actually "beaten".  On the photo, a very small bruise is seen just above her diaper area.  What it looks like is he tried to swat her hard enough to get her to notice it and she moved.  Bear in mind, that at this time, I was working 60-70 hours a week to support us, and he took care of the kids more because at the time I had a better paying job.  The day care center reported the bruise, and I think that my daughter was more taken because of the previous contact with the state than the bruise.  BUT, the judge who presided over the case stated that unfortunately, in the state of Kansas, child abuse is subjective, and there is no set guideline that specifies exactly what constitutes child abuse.  A tiny finger print was sufficient to take custody of her.  How did I resolve the issue?  I divorced my ex.  I moved to a small town with a great support system.  I had letters of recommendation from my other two kids (my oldest daughter, and my last child, a son who at the time was 1, now is 10) day care provider, my oldest daughter's school, physicians, nurses, etc.  They all stated the kids were always happy, healthy, were meeting all age appropriate milestones, never came to school dressed inapproprately, etc.  We attended visitation with my daughter twice a week, one hour (each way) from where we lived to participate in visitation with my daughter.  The state still attempted to terminate my parental rights to my daughter.  It took me great effort, and a lot of legal research for me to regain custody.  I ended up representing myself in court, as I couldn't afford an attorney and because I lived in a different county I wasn't eligible for legal aid.  I was able to have the private contractor found in contempt four times for failing to comply with the case plan that THEY wrote up.

Now, before you think I am some kind of crack pot writing in, let me tell you this.  The last contact I have had with Kansas SRS was in 2000.  I have all three of my kids.  I divorced my former husband, remarried, and my current husband adopted the children in 2004.  I fought long and hard with our public schools district to get my oldest daughter into special education services (and even did a stint of homeschooling with all three children when the school system failed my daughter).  My oldest has been in counseling since 2000 and she has been diagnosed with ADHD (combined type) and dysthymic disorder (I am probably butchering the spelling, but hopefully you can get what I am saying).  She is treated and is beginning to finally get a grip on her issues.  She is also very low IQ and only functions at about a 5-6 year old level (she is 14).  We also have two other children, our middle daughter (who at 12 is normally either honor roll or honorable mention in addition to a multiple sport athlete) and our son (who is 10, involved in every sport on the face of the planet, a Cub Scout, and also a straight A student and the kid who is the first to hug his parents in public).  I am the soccer association president.  I was young and made mistakes.  Mistakes that had the state of Kansas had their way, I would be paying for until the day I died, because had that second time my rights to my daughter been terminated, I would have lost custody to my other children as well and they would have been terminated.

So, I believe the father when he says that he was pressured to drop the fight.  I was pressured as well.  Before you hammer these two other people again, please review the state of Kansas' laws.  I honestly feel from what I have read over the past month or so that this boy was a child that was failed from the top on down.  Very many red flags were raised.  But the state of Kansas has so many flaws in their foster care laws that it is easy to slip through.  When I fought my case, attorneys for us, and outside ones who reviewed the case stated that because we were low income with limited resources we had less of a chance to regain custody than a couple who were abusing drugs or alcohol, because there were no obvious flaws to "correct".  If there were flaws to correct, the adoptive parents would get their kids back.  I spoke to many foster parents while I was in parenting classes (they were the peer therapists to guide me in learn how to properly parent) who said they hadn't even met their social worker and it was a year after having kids placed with them.  Some had social workers change so much that by the time they learned the social worker's name, the case would be reassigned.  This case goes far beyond the family.  It goes to a broken system.

BUT, let's not go into my anger at the aunt in this case.  How the hell she could go to bed at night in good conscience knowing her nephew was locked in the bathroom I will never know.  I know Nancy Grace said they couldn't be charged because there is no law stating you have to be a good sameritan...I wonder if the prosecutors thought hard enough if something could be charged.  Obstruction, or perhaps even accessory before the fact since they were aware of the crime.  I am sure a creative prosecutor could persue charges against the negligence of this family.

This is similar to a case that just broke in rural Cass County Missouri.  This just broke today.  A man "allegedly" raped his oldest daughter (who is now 19) for six years, and during that time fathered four children with her in two states.  Two of the children were stillborn, and one died of pneumonia.  The fouth child is three years old.  The mother stood by for six years, watching her daughter pregnant four times, and apparently never decided to do anything about it.  They interviewed the mother of the suspect on the news tonight and she said they lived in trailers on her property and he wouldn't let her see the kids or near their trailers.  She hates him and admits he never should have had children, but doesn't accept blame for the fact that she did nothing about it when she was prohibited access.  Here is another great story for you to do a "in the headlines" show.  This one is again particular gruesome and horrifying.

But seriously, please find someone on your staff to look more into the laws of Kansas before you do your next show on this developing story.  I think you would be surprised to find how wierd the laws of Kansas are.  And how disturbing the failures are in the social services system.  This system is as much to blame as the family members for this child's disappearance/potential death.  And again, please visit the Lawrence, Kansas Capital Journal website to review articles written on the subcontracting of child protective services.  Articles by a reporter named Mike Shields will be particularly enlightening.  He covered that beat for a long time, and he was one of the first to call the state on the carpet.

There are some people that, if given an ounce of decision-making power, will take it to extremes and abuse that power.  Who they think they are is beyond me but the bottom line is that each state has to take responsibility for who they hire and if there is any type of a power struggle, they should be instantly removed from their positions.  People talk and people file complaints.  When this happens, the state should not turn a blind eye and should take action.  LET'S FACE IT, CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES AND THEIR EMPLOYEES DO AS THEY PLEASE, WHETHER THERE IS GROUND TO DO SO OR NOT... THAT'S THE WAY IT IS IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.  TOO BAD!!!!

being a resident of kansas and listening and learniong about this poor boy's life it just makes me sad and mad that it took ten years before he was noticed gone. what ever happened to him is just wrong, not only did his adoptive parents let him down but the state of kansas did also. look it up, kansas is one of the worst states for child neglect cases getting either put on the back burner or not enough case workers to handle the cases. but you know there were enough red flags before he dissapeared for something to be done to protect him. whether he had issues with running away or not you DO NOT DO ANYTHING WHEN YOU SEE A CHILD CHAINED TO A BATHTUB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT IS SO WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.I really hope that maybe he is alive and just to afraid to come in, but if not i hope who ever is responsible gets what they have coming to them.

Dr. Phil...I am not someone who tends to write on TV show message boards. But in the last week you have allowed not only Ann Coulter run her mouth on your show (quite unchecked and I'm sure you looked a tad smug at some of her comments), you introduce Nancy Grace as one of the top legal commentators. EVERYONE knows Nancy Grace is a joke! You are turning your show into the equivalent of a tabloid. These people are not experts on anything. Such a dreadful and horrific story about that poor child was tainted with Nancy Grace's quavering voice (do NOT try and convince me that was sincere) and her over the top affectations made the importance of the story drift - and become more about what NANCY GRACE felt about it. Typical Nancy Grace. Just as with Ann Coulter, the show became about Ann Coulter and her extremist views. Any more of these kind of 'experts' and I'm going to think the real ones won't go on your show. And if they won't...why should I watch?

My children were in states custody out here in Kansas also. Thankfully I got my kids back. But trust me when I say that they find some funky reasons to take kids away. My kids got taken because my Mom had to take my daughter to the ER cause she fell off her bike and broke her arm and they took them because I didn't have them in a licensed daycare. So out here you cant have family watch your kids. I know people who have had their rights terminated also for outlandish reasons. But to get back to my point. When I got my kids back my oldest, who had ADHD, came home with a broken leg. Not only was it broken it was a spiral break in her femur. And supposedly Toni and Kent Edmonds, foster parents, were charged and convicted. I was told that they would do jail time. But they never have. I have searched the Kansas Offeneders website and they were never incarserated for abusing my daughter. And they still got to keep custody of their own child. My sister's boys were molested in there foster home too. So my question is what is Kansas going to do to keep our children safe? These kids are getting taken for whatever reasons and then put into foster homes that are just as bad or worse then the origional "situation."
I also know someone who was adopted  and she was taken from her mother because her mom was mentally retarted and had a lot of kids and couldn't take care of them, And her adopted father is abusive and on drugs. How was he even able to become a foster parent let alone an adopted one?
I just hope that they find Adam alive and that Kansas will finally fix their part in this horrible situation.
Also you would think that after the death of Brian Edgar they would of tried to turn there system around and screen these adults better.
Well I just pray that the bad policity will get the ball rolling on what is really going on behind the doors of KVC (Kaw Valley Center) and SRS (Social Rehabilitation Services).
KVC is contacted by the state and SRS to provide foster and adoptive services.

This is one of my points in my personal post. Thankfully you seem like a dedicated foster parent. But being on the other side of you I wonder what all screening did you have to go through to get to be a foster parent? And what else do you think they should do with choosing foster/adoptive parents? And from what I understand Kansas does the three strike thing. You get three terminations and then they automatically take the next child. I am not sure about that and hope to never find out. And you had mentioned the flaming hoops...lol
I had
Couples therapy on Mon.
individual therapy on Tues.
anger management on Wed.
visits on Thus.
parenting classes on Fri.
And I worked.... I had to have a job it was a court order. Even know my husband was working full time and was able to pay the bill alone I still had to work. I was young and I never had a night out because I was always busy.
And they give other court orders too that are just ridiculous... my hubby had to some offenders class that wanted him to admit to abuse or you don't pass. Well my kid wasn't abused. And isn't that a violation of the 5th amendment if that would of been the case? Because this class wasn't confidential. Thankfully our lawyer squashed that court order before it even got started.
And another thing a lot of these families that are dealing with this don't have the money for a real lawyer. They are stuck with the public defenders that don't really care that much. So then these people get stuck with these outlandish orders that are impossible to complete, which warrants termination. I should know. I barely got my kids back. If it wasn't for my Mom passing away they probably wouldn't of given them back.
Please read my post above before you reply to this one. Thank you.

An opened hand spank on the butt is not abuse! And it is like that in most states. My brother works for Wyandot Center for Mental Health with the children and that is one of the first things that they learned in training. Most of the kids have serious mental problems which result in them lying and overexagarating. He was told that if a kid tells him that they are being beat, to ask for details. And that if the child says that it is open hand on the butt that its okay. They are allowed to do that. And to be honest I have to agree. Until you have a child with a disorder that causes them to act out constantly even with meds and nothing else works as disapline you need to resort to physcial disapline. As long as it is controled and not out of anger I don't see what the problem is.
So yes if you see a child getting abused call the police. Just make sure it is abuse. Because spanking is not abuse!!!!

go onto google and put in his address and look at the map. they have this new thing where you can see a street view as long as its in a larger city.
Print the pics and take them to the judge. Also you could hire a PI to take pics of the house. Or if you could see pics that he is giving the judge you could use that address and google search the owners on a reverse look up and then call them and ask them if they know your ex.  If you can get a resess during the procedings to do this you could get him on pergery. Also you can have his ex testify for you.