Breaking the cycle of child abuse | Poland mom

Here is a sugar coating of how Maine's CPS is supposed to help families.  My experience with these Alternative Response workers was radically different. FMI: Click Here


The latest statistics from Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services show that reports of child abuse are decreasing year to year.

Abuse will never end completely – but there are programs to prevent it from starting in the first place, through the Community Partnership for Protecting Children.

More >> Breaking the cycle of child abuse | Poland mom

Maine Supreme Court to decide whether to kick prosecutors off Carrillo case

Maine’s highest court will decide whether to remove state prosecutors from the case of a Stockton Springs mother who claims they illegally collected evidence in their efforts to prove she killed her daughter.

Sharon Carrillo’s attorney, Chris MacLean, filed a motion to disqualify prosecutors, saying they illegally used subpoenas to obtain confidential records, but a Superior Court judge in April denied the motion.

More >> Maine Supreme Court to decide whether to kick prosecutors off Carrillo case

Maine man learns truth of his past: Nuns stole him as a baby from his mother in Ireland

Kevin Battle was a baby when church officials raided his family home in Ireland and plucked him from the arms of his mother, an unmarried 24-year-old who had run away from the convent where she and hundreds of other Irish girls were sent to give birth to secret children.

After raising the boy she named William for more than a year, his mother couldn’t bear to give him up, so she grabbed her chubby-cheeked boy and escaped home to her family in County Limerick. But the nuns had plans for the boy, so they tracked down the mother and child and forcefully reclaimed him.

More >> Maine man learns truth of his past: Nuns stole him as a baby from his mother in Ireland

LK's personal complaint against (Patricia) PJ Miles from KidsPeace Maine - Alternative Response Worker

KidsPeace

https://www.kidspeace.org/maine/



Phone: (207) 771-5700

49 Atlantic Place
South Portland, Maine
04106

5/15/2018


To John Beaman or to whom it may concern

On Wednesday May 9th I received a phone call from one PJ Miles (Patricia J. Miles).  This was due to a false accusation of child abuse or neglect that was made on May 7th and was referred to your agency for Alternative Response Services.

I found PJ Miles to be rude and disrespectful.  She seemed to have her mind made up that I was guilty before she even called.  Within 30 seconds of the two-minute conversation she was already accusing me of verbal aggression and all I said was that I wasn’t interested in any of her services.  By the end of the conversation she had accused me of bullying her and threatened to get Child Protective Services involved and decided that she didn’t want to work with me even quicker than that.  So finally, I said, I’m sorry I can’t work with you and hung up.  It was obvious that if one did not kiss this woman’s butt right after her introduction then accusations were gonna fly.  Fortunately, she did tell me she represented your agency KidsPeace Maine.

Shortly after, I contacted her supervisor Stephanie Cater at 207-877-5029 and complained.  I was really upset over this as the situation is already scary enough.  Ms. Cater took my complaint about PJ Miles over the phone although I doubt she did anything, and I agreed to talk to another worker named Ryan Weaver.  After speaking with Mr. Weaver, I set up a meeting with him, agreed to work with him to resolve this issue.  Unfortunately, before this could even be set up, PJ Miles had already sent it back to CPS, so I ended up having to work with a real CPS worker, who was also much more professional, respectful and much nicer than PJ Miles.

PJ Miles and her dog

First of all, I find it difficult to believe that anybody would be happy to hear from an any CPS or Alternative Response worker to discuss a false allegation of child abuse or neglect.  It was a shock to me to have the accusation made in the first place, but to have somebody who was unprofessional and throwing around even more unwarranted accusations left and right so quickly and without even knowing me is simply intensifying an already stressful situation.  I’m not a bad person and I’m working with several professionals already regarding the same special needs child who the report was made about, and who all respect me and enjoy working with me.  I didn’t even have a problem with the CPS worker in all honesty, so far anyway.  I guess an unproven accusation is all PJ Miles needs to pass judgement.  She’s certainly not objective.  Perhaps your agency should offer better training to your workers.  Just a thought.

Because of this incident and my faith that PJ Miles will probably get away with it with no repercussions and be left to attack other parents who find themselves in this situation and who live in my own community, like she attacked me during a 2 minute phone conversation, I have decided to focus my attention on your agency, KidsPeace Maine, on my blogs.  I am a popular blogger who runs a blog on Parental Rights and Child Welfare Issues called Legally Kidnapped which can be found at www.LegallyKidnapped.com  Your agency, and PJ Miles will be blogged about for the whole world to see for as long as this case drags out.  PJ Miles will also now have a special featured post on Legally Kidnapped, because I think it’s important to warn other parents that workers like her are allowed to attack parents like this, so I will post a copy of this grievance on there as well as on all of my social media accounts that are associated with my blog.  And it will be there forever.

It’s really quite sad and pathetic that I have to do this considering that some families may even benefit from the services your agency offers.

Thanks to her supervisor, Ms. Cater, giving me her real first name (Patricia), I was able to find her on Facebook just by typing her name and get her picture for my blog but I will never contact her in any way again.  So honestly, I don’t care what you do with this grievance.  I would like a written apology from PJ Miles for my blog as well, but I won’t hold my breath.

Sincerely
Patrick Rafferty

LK
www.LegallyKidnapped.com

Letter to the editor: It’s hard for Maine parents to find good help for a troubled child

s a parent who struggled to find help for a now-grown child, let me make it clear: The stigma and shame came as the result of seeking help, both from professionals and other community resources.

More >> Letter to the editor: It’s hard for Maine parents to find good help for a troubled child

Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Garrett Mason Suggests Schools Shouldn’t Feed Students

Westbrook, MAINE – As the Maine Republican primary for governor heats up, one candidate – Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason - is running further to the right than most. During a Republican gubernatorial forum in Palmyra this past Saturday, Mason launched into an ideological tirade against the government, going so far as to take aim at a program that helps feed tens of thousands of Maine kids through free or reduced-price lunches at schools.

“You know who believes that the government should control society? Karl Marx. Karl Marx and communism - they thought the government could control society. It’s failed everywhere it's been tried,” Mason said. “The way you fix society is not by providing breakfast, lunch, and dinner at school; it’s not by providing every social program under the sun through the government.”

Maine Democratic Party Chairman Phil Bartlett issued the following statement in response:

“As a direct result of Governor Paul LePage’s policies, more children in Maine are poorer and hungrier – and now Garrett Mason wants to make it worse by attacking a successful program that helps feed kids at school.

More >> Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Garrett Mason Suggests Schools Shouldn’t Feed Students

'Now we have threats to kill students, to kill teachers': Maine schools seeing rise in violent threats

Maine police said they have seen an increase in threats made to local schools since the Parkland, Florida, school shooting in February.

The shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School left 17 people dead.

More >> 'Now we have threats to kill students, to kill teachers': Maine schools seeing rise in violent threats