Yes, They Do Edit Public Comments

My open letter to the U.S. Committee on Ways and Means, that was edited.

The BIOCLAIM™ Solution

So far, the public awareness, or rather the public concern, in Medicaid fraud, let alone Medicaid fraud in child welfare has been dearth. Little or nothing comes up in the media acknowledging this issue even exists. The most I have come across is a policy position from the White House and a Wall Street Journal article.

Then there are state audits all over the nation identifying fraud.

It is such a simple task for one to stand and call out a problem, but such a grand endeavor to create a solution and present it.

Michigan Senators have sadly attempted to generate a solution to Medicaid fraud in child welfare. The policy offering was so embarrassingly pathetic, it has become a billboard announcement that the state is not doing what it receives federal funding for.

Then, I found logic in a viable solution that is feasible.

The U.S. patented devices and process is called BIOCLAIM™.

Without providing a lecture on biometric technology, I will cut to the chase and provide an except from the website:

The problem is healthcare fraud. Phantom billing, up-coding, card swapping and medical identity theft are the most pervasive types of fraud resulting in estimated losses between 60-220 billion dollars per year.

Other biometric and smartcard company products do not offer a complete solution to healthcare fraud. Most products rely on the front desk to stop a fraudulent transaction. BIOCLAIM™ removes the reliance on the people who are often part of the fraud and creates an auditable technological record.

BIOCLAIM™ is the solution to healthcare fraud.

BIOCLAIM™ is a comprehensive solution to healthcare fraud.

It was at this point I was brought to my knees in the brilliance of the the perfect solution to Medicaid fraud in Child Welfare.

Up until this point, there has been no possible way of conducting a proper audit or examination of the child welfare industry for the following, very simple reasons:

(1) Any matter dealing with a child is protected, or rather excluded and exempted, under Freedom of Information Act statutes. These matters extend from the actual child's identity to the administrative and fiscal operations of a child welfare agency.

BIOCLAIM™ SOLUTION: Each child is assigned an unique coded identifier as is each individual rendering service. Data can be aggregated in time intervals, geographically stratified, just to name a few quantitative methods, to examine the internal operations of a child welfare agency.

(2) Non-profits, 501(c)3's or "That which operates in the name of God" for example, even though they are regulated by the state through licensing, are not audited and are not subject to full disclosure in reporting on 990s nor are these organizations obligated to generate annual reports. In short, there is no Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) nor is there universal language or policy in operations.

BIOCLAIM™ SOLUTION: The reports could be automatically generate from data, automatically providing transparency, better allowing accountability.

(3) The privatization of child welfare has given birth to the infectious growth called Medicaid fraud. These are Quasi-Governmental-Organizaions (QGOs). Privatization has made it virtually impossible for states to contractually debar, sanction, or revoke licensing due to the inherent conflict of interest of executing the policy of the state. QGOs operate within the woven layers of immunity. This means it is difficult for the state to prosecute itself and this is why the States Medicaid Fraud Control Units do not go after, or even attempt to go after, Medicaid fraud in Child Welfare.

BIOCLAIM™ SOLUTION: Constructing and running specialized reports for States Attorney General to aggressively go after Medicaid fraud in Child Welfare would increase States Federal Funding Percentages, the recoveries could become beneficial to General Funds, and removes the inherent conflict of interest.

(4) Medicaid fraud is so perniciously pervasive that States, and Federal entities, lack the resources and sophistication to stop Medicaid fraud, let alone Medicaid fraud in child welfare.


BIOCLAIM™ SOLUTION: Fraud deterrence would pay for itself through an increase in effective and efficient services. Consumers, or to be more specific, children and guardians will have, for the first time in the history of the child welfare system, an opportunity to file a grievance and have it investigated.

BIOCLAIM™ may be be viewed as an empowering democratic tool as it allows the public, and the consumers of child welfare, to be watchdogs with a voice, furthering the end of Medicaid fraud in child welfare.

My fascination with the idea of biometrics being applied to aberrant billing in child welfare will lead me to investigate this cutting-edge technology as it is symbiotic with my work in AI, which I may present in my next post.

Justice Tartuffe and the Michigan Farce

At the beckoned request of Michigan, Michigan asked Michigan to do an analysis on how Michigan was doing.

If this sounds ridiculous, then you have just entered the Child Welfare System in Michigan. As this is extreme and emotionally harsh subject matter for most individuals, I shall attempt to keep it in the farcical manner in which it operates.

Justice Maura, "Tartuffe" Corrigan, according to her television campaign a few years back when she was seeking a second term as Chief Justice, designated herself as the one who should be thanked for all she had done for foster care and adoption in Michigan, (her words, not mine), has once again duped the general public in believing all is well in the judicial realms of the child welfare system.

The American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law for The Child Welfare Services Division of The Michigan State Court Administrative Offices published a report on the Legal Representation for Parents in Child Welfare Proceedings: A Performance Based Analysis of Michigan Practice, was requested by Justice Corrigan for the American Bar Association to partner with the State Court Administrative Office to generate the report, but how legitimate could it have been when there was a disclaimer on the first page that stated:

The views expressed herein have not been approved by the House of Delegates or the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association, and, accordingly should not be construed as representing the policy of the American Bar Association.

I shall assume the views were those who wish to keep their licenses to practice law in Michigan.

The report did have some positive recommendations to improve the system such has notifying the parents of the court date before the court date.

The report addressed the bias of low survey response rates, but who the hell wants to fill out a survey when your parental rights are about to be terminated?

The survey was constructed with Occar's razor, when it reached the point where it states, "if you have not had counsel, please stop here." It would not behoove the respondents to continue detailing Constitutional violations at this juncture. Interestingly enough, there were termination of parental rights where the parents had no legal representation. Perhaps, the persons who generated the analysis did not think anyone would pay attention to it because the report was never approved by the American Bar Association.

In Wayne County, how is it one can get competent counsel to aggressively advocate for the parents, when the state has brought forth fraudulent allegations of abuse and neglect? The state, represented by the Attorney General, prosecutes the case, and in the same breath, provides for the appointment of legal counsel for the parents, sometimes. Better yet, if a parent is successful in having the case dismissed after being maliciously prosecuted, how can that parent seek legal remedy when legal aid is funded by the state?

If the parents are affluent enough to retain legal counsel, then how would they qualify to have a child placed in foster care when it is an entitlement program where one must meet the poverty means test?

Or should we ask what Michigan licensed attorney in his/her right mind would jeopardize a legal career by prosecuting state funded actors who perpetually engage in Medicaid fraud in Michigan Child Welfare in a Michigan Court?

Maybe we could wonder why the State Court Administrative Office has never found recent junior college attendees to put together training to refer suspected cases of Medicaid fraud in Child Welfare to the Attorney General Medicaid Fraud Claims Unit that Attorney General Mike Cox wants to create.

Then again, we could consider the Auditor General reports to be just a farce.

Perhaps we should all ask Tartuffe, then sit back and wait to laugh.

Michigan Parent Representation Report

National Adoption Sends A Special Message

National Adoption Day was spearheaded by Michigan Supreme Court Justice Maura Corrigan. This was her brain child when she was sitting on the commission for the Pew Foster Care Commission on Children in Foster Care. She was the one who encouraged judges across the country to get involved with foster care and adoption agencies to bring greater awareness for the need to adopt more kids who linger for years in the system.

So, with that said, Justice Corrigan ran her re-election campaign of her peers for Chief Justice on the foster care and adoption platform. One of her commercials encouraged people, as it was not exclusive to Michigan, to call her and thank her for all she has done for foster care and adoption in Michigan. I am quite sure you are wondering, "What exactly has she done for foster care and adoption?" Allow me to tell you.

On a national level, Justice Corrigan has directed judges to violate their state constitutions and oaths of office in the conflict of interest of sitting on child welfare boards while hearing cases of parents challenging the termination of their parental rights and families who wish to adopt their, and juvenile justice cases, where the defendant is the child welfare agency of which the judges sit.

Justice Corrigan has given numerous national interviews promoting National Adoption Day by advocating for a defendant while the matter was before the court. That defendant would be the Superintendent of Michigan Children's Institute, William J. Johnson. He is the legal state guardian of over 7,000 children, who was never appointed, never elected. The Superintendent represents the State of Michigan and Justice Corrigan represents him in public, while she presides over the case.

Justice Corrigan, when she was Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, was the Chief Administrator of the state's Child Welfare Services Program; the same program that allowed the state to be granted SSA Title IV-E waivers as being in the top 5 of the worst systems in the state. When her colleague Justice Clifford Taylor, who historically was not re-elected, became Chief Justice, he allowed Justice Corrigan to improperly discharge his duties to oversee Child Welfare Services. The jobs they did were so poorly done, the state has just entered a ground-breaking settlement agreement to reform its system.

The settlement agreement sent out a national message to expedite the adoption of children in the foster care system, but this was not the special message...

The special message was: Adoption covers up fraud.

That's right, adoption covers up fraud in child welfare, quickly and cleanly, and Children's Rights gets paid handsomely for this scheme.

Justice Corrigan, along with Justice Taylor, averted the almost loss of 40 million dollars in federal funds, by covering up the double billing and false claims in Child Welfare Services. Then, with adoption, the documents of fraudulent billing will never see the light of day, not even by the feds.

National adoption is a national judicial scheme.

Poverty is not a crime, but fraud is. Happy National Adoption Day.

Wake Up Harvard and Expand Your Dataverse

Institutional corruption should be examined much further than financial interests, alone. Institutional corruption desperately needs to be investigated from the perspective of its research publications and databases.

It seems Harvard is attempting to participate in the emerging field of child welfare with a neotenous authority in its approach to the MCH Data Connect Dataverse. Research methodologies in child welfare have demonstrated itself to be suspect in the lack of inclusion, or even the acknowledgment, of systemic fraud, waste and abuse, well documented by the States and U.S. DHHS OIG audits. Until efforts are taken to analyze child welfare policies through the lenses of economics and law, Harvard, including the inferior child welfare research activites of the National Academy of Sciences, will continue to perpetuate the institutional corruption of biased research publications, funded by the corrupt policies of lobbying institutions.

The audits may be laughable, but you have to understand, they are conducted through sampling methods, only providing a snapshot of what is going on as a way of triggering either full scale investigations or"suggesting" internal improvements. Also, the tools operationalized to conduct these audits were developed under the guidelines of GAAP and/or GAGAS, so, as to the ability to provide a clearer picture into what is actually going on in a public system, little is to be expected. Couple this with a lack of resources and abilities to properly conduct a full scale public investigation, you are only left with a public Kodak moment.

This is why we have the qui tam, the people's audit. Let's dust it off and use it for what it was designed to do.

Can CMS Encourage States To End Medicaid Fraud?

There seems to be major possible implications here on how the nation views child abuse and neglect, but then again, this could just a cursory assessment.

With almost all states reporting most recent data,it shows 59% of child maltreatment cases are neglect.

Traditionally, poverty has been codified by the States as neglect, leading to a distorted perception in actual intentionally perpetrated harms. As poverty increases, there is a direct and parallel relationship in the increase of child neglect cases. David G. Gil, a pioneer in the constructing the relationship between poverty and child abuse, was the streamlining catalyst for the States to generate policies to qualify for the funding of Child Abuse Prevention Treatment Act(CAPTA) programs.

CAPTA, being an entitlement program, established eligibility criteria based on meeting the Social Security Title IV-A poverty means test. Simply put, one must be impoverished to qualify for child welfare programming.

In the wake of the nation's economic challenges, factors such as unemployment, have led to an increase demand in social assistance. Since social assistance program funding has been shifted to child welfare, the only opportunity for assistance in the realms of keeping children in the community, as opposed to removals, and providing human assistance to meet basic living requirements (i.e. affordable housing, transportation, education, medical) has been through entrance of foster care.

These new Medicaid guidelines and waivers present States with opportunities to shift social philosophies from the criminalization of poverty to the promotion and securing of the general welfare of the nation by the amelioration of fraud in child welfare.

Louisiana has launched an new approach to combating Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse. Perhaps the new CMS guidelines can accentuate the Louisiana initiatives. I will be monitoring this national pilot program to stop Medicaid fraud. It is my belief that Louisiana's initiatives may prove effective in the realms of improving child welfare Targeted Case Management compliance and reducing unnecessary state placements of children out of the home.

It will be most interesting to observe the activities of the Louisiana Attorney General Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Guidance Letter to States Medicaid Director

Federal Protective Services To End Abuse In Child Welfare

Unfortunately, the U.S. HB 5613 of 2008 bill was passed, but the DOJ and HHS H.E.A.T. partnership was subsequently created under the administration of Attorney General Mukasey.

Priority for the newly appointed DHHS Region Directors shall be to end state abusive relationships with the Federal Government in Medicaid, specifically, child welfare fraud.

If the public is educated to call child protective services when one is abusing a child, then I am here to educate the public to call federal protective services when a state is abusing Medicaid.

Abusers will be placed on the Central Registry.

The Central Registry of Child Welfare Fraud!

For many years the Congress of the United States has worked diligently to protect the health and welfare of the nation's elderly and poor by implementing legislation to prevent certain individuals and businesses from participating in Federally-funded health care programs. Legally Kidnapped has mandated that the health and welfare of the nation's children and families must  be protected by including Child Welfare Agencies in this exclusion database.  Foster Care and Adoption Agencies should be banned from entering contracts using federal funds if the bases for exclusion have been met. Bases for exclusion include for child welfare program-related fraud, child abuse, child deaths, licensing board actions, improper and questionable claims, false reports. The effect of not being able to participate in federally funded contracts is: No payment will be made by any Federal child welfare program for any items or services furnished, ordered, or prescribed by an excluded individual or entity. Federal foster care and adoption programs include Medicaid Targeted Case Management, and Social Security Title IV A, B, D, and E, Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant (Title V), Block Grants to States for Social Services (Title XX), State Children's Health Insurance (Title XXI) and all other plans and programs that provide health benefits for foster care and adoption funded directly or indirectly by the United States. Click Here To View The List - USA Canada

OMB Statement of Administrative Policy on State Medicaid Fraud

HHS Secretary Interuptus

Today, Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services made the announcement to appoint new Regional Directors.

Today, the Secretary took groundbreaking steps to demonstrate leadership by interrupting the status quo of the previous Regional Directors' commitments to maintaining the states breathtakingly blatant revenue-maximizing schemes in the arenas of Medicare and Medicaid.

Breaking up the coital partnerships of the previous Region Directors with the states will be a severely traumatic event as, we all shall hope, the newly appointed Regional Directors will adopt a more ethical position in the execution of their duties to assure the public that the states are meeting their federal mandates for grant funding, particularly Medicaid.

Fraud of any kind is a threat to our nation's economic security, now, and in the future. Ending fraud in child welfare is the onus of society.

Madame Secretary, I extend my deepest gratitude, with sincerity and serenity for listening to me.

* Cristal Thomas, Regional Director Region V (IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI)
* Marjorie McColl Petty, Regional Director Region VI, (AR, LA, NM, OK, TX)
* Judy Baker, Regional Director Region VII (IA, KS, MO, NE)
* Susan M.R. Johnson, Regional Director Region X (AK, ID, OR, WA)

My eyes are affixed. Women with skills.

New National Adoption Month Celebrations

Greetings Senators Grassley and Byrd, Representative James McDermott:

While the work in supporting this nation's efforts to protect our children with the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoption Act of 2008 is to be commended, I take this time to publicly address a pernicious issue: the lack of transparency, accountability and oversight in child welfare.

I would like to challenge you, sirs, by having you ask yourselves:

(1)"Why has there been no fundamental change with the adoption of transparency, accountability and oversight policies?" Time and time again, the U.S. DHHS OIG has documented billions and billions of dollars every year in child welfare fraud, yet the only actions on your parts are to further advocate the child welfare system in its current state;

(2)"Are children entering foster care because the guardians have failed them or are these children being placed in the custody of the states because we, as a nation, have failed the people?" There has been a dramatic shift in resources for children and guardians to the point where a child must be placed in foster care in order to receive medical and special needs addressed?

(3) "Why is poverty considered as abuse and neglect? As poverty increases, so shall the number of children entering the child welfare system, as the criteria for eligibility is poverty.

(4)"Foster care and adoption are an entitlement programs that never were designed with internal controls for fraud. This is why, throughout each state, there is waste, abuse and fraud that is reeking havoc upon our nation's economic security.

(5)"Is fraud not a matter for the Department of Homeland Security?" The largest funding portion to foster care is Medicaid Targeted Case Management, covering more than just administrative services but also training. There is no oversight in this area. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Justice have embarked on a joint venture to stop Medicare fraud. Unfortunately, the resources to stop Medicaid fraud are abysmally dearth and there seems to be very little interest on the parts of you and your fellow Congressional colleagues to do anything about it except continue to perpetuate the child welfare system's lack of regulation.

(6)"Lastly, why have not the issues of Medicaid fraud and federal false claims not been brought to the table for discussions?" Understanding that it would not be in your best interests to disappoint constituents and powerful financial supporters by advocating for the end of Medicaid fraud in child welfare, perhaps these prevailing issues could be addressed in resolution to acknowledge the lack of regulation of the child welfare industry.

It is no longer a shame for a woman who does not have a vow of matrimony to bring forth life into this world, nor is it mandatory for a woman to hide the pregnancy and place the child up for adoption, or should it be, for this is an example of the effects of the Optional Target Case Management population. Targeted populations are the poor and minorities, where the rates are disproportional to other counterparts of society.

Let us take this time to look at National Adoption Month from a new perspective by celebrating the national adoption of new policies to end fraud in child welfare.

Everyone Benefited In Pennsylvania, Except Danieal Kelly

To properly cover all facets of Pennsylvania's Department of Public Works Office of Children Youth and Families administrative failures, one must include the investigative findings of the Grand Jury Report on the woefully egregious actions and inactions of federal, state, county, city administrators and the parents of Danieal Kellly.

The failures of the State of Pennsylvania reach far beyond the ethical and legal obligation to protect a child. These failures reflect the lack of transparency, accountability and oversight of the child welfare system in the United States.

Look at it this way, everyone benefited from the child welfare system, except Danieal Kelly.

Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report of the Life and Death of Danieal Kelly

Child welfare, in its current form, does not and will not ever function for the common good and the general defense of the people.

Pennsylvania Frauduletnly Does It Again, And Again

And it just keeps getting better...

Pennsylvania just scooted through yet another U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Audit by the seat of their revenue-maximizing-scheme seat of their pants.

It was only last May, I so fondly remember the DHHS Office of Inspector General documenting $156,000,000 is "estimated" fraud in Philadelphia County, PA. Just think what the numbers would have been for the rest of the state.

Since the U.S. DHHS and OIG and I cannot provide the public with the exact amounts of perpetual fraud in child welfare, we will just share with the public another memorable moment in federal audits of Pennsylvania's Department of Public Welfare's financial fiasco. This particular 2007 audit documented over $44,000,000 in fraud, in one county, in one program, in one facility: Castille.

Yes, Castille is juvenile detention facility, which shares the name with the Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald Castille, who stated in the "Kids for Cash" scandal:

“Today’s order is not intended to be a quick fix,” Ronald D. Castille, the chief judge of Pennsylvania, said in a statement. “It’s going to take some time, but the Supreme Court is committed to righting whatever wrong was perpetrated on Luzerne’s juveniles and their families.”

So where is the Luzerne County federal audit? For that matter, where is the long-term fix in child welfare fraud in Pennsylvania? Well, it certainly is not in Pennsylvania.

Here are 1.6 million reasons, I mean another U.S. DHHS OIG audit report of $1,600,000 in Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare wrong doing to juveniles and their families in the state. Even though the audit only deals with a small sample population of children aging out of foster care (over 18 years of age), questions should be asked:

HOW MANY OF THESE CHILDREN WHO ARE AGING OUT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN IN FOSTER CARE?

or

HOW MANY OF THESE CHILDREN WHO ARE AGING OUT WERE FROM LUZERNE AND PHILADELPHIA COUNTIES?


Pennsylvania Title IV-E Audit 2009
The pinnacle of the Pennsylvania Department of Public Services's performance is their objection to the authority of the U.S. DHHS OIG to perform the audit, itself.

Just precious.

Chuck Norris the Pseudo Pundit

There comes a day when we, as a nation, must bow and shake our heads in dismay when self-declared policy pundits weigh in on constitutional implications of proposed, or as of now, House passed, legislation.

The government is not going to raid our homes, contrary to the scare tactics spouted by Chuck Norris and his cohorts.

The purpose behind the "voluntary/involuntary" intervention is to provide assistance.

As it stands, guardians of children are provided very few options to reach out and ask for assistance. Social resources have been drastically cut and face even more pending cuts in the spewed fear speeches of such as Norris.

Simply put, Norris does not support those who have been faced with the challenges of unemployment and poverty when it comes to raising our children. We need to provide more services like affordable housing and medical services for our children without the fear of having child protective services called in "involuntarily" to remove children.

Traditionally, from the social conservative position, child protective services has thrived under the guise that some people should not have children if they are poor.

Foster care eligibility funding is designed to target the poor, whether that be economically, spiritually or educationally poor. In general, only the poor, or those who meet the federal poverty means test, qualify for foster care.

Mr. Norris has put himself out there to perpetuate the pseudo drama that the government wants to raise your children. The government has possessed the authority to arbitrarily intervene in the matters of a child, without any transparency, accountability, or oversight for decades. This is the reason billions of dollars are abused and wasted through false claims of governmental contractual arms.

The government has been in the industry of raising children since the inception of CAPTA, and from the looks of the statistics, law suits, audits and the media, has miserably failed.

Instead of picking legislative snippets, perhaps it would behoove Chuck Norris to learn more about the historical background of the child welfare industry and stick with beating up the bad guys in 1970s movies.

For Noah

Noah Biorkman is a 5yr old boy who is in his last stages of neuroblastoma cancer after a 2 1/2 year battle. His family is celebrating Christmas NEXT WEEK (he is not expected to live much longer) and all he wants are Christmas cards. Lets try and see how many we can get to him from all over the world please.

His address is 1141 Fountain View Circle South Lyon MI 48178.

Of Parental Rights

After much waiting and much curiosity, I have finally come out with my first, in a series of publications, examining the child welfare industry, as an original source.


Of Parental Rights

The subject matter is exactly as the title would lead one to believe as it provides detailed definitions and explanations to the statutory understanding and powers of parental rights.

Child welfare is promoted and advertised in an artificial light. The system was structured based on well established systems of authority and not on public awareness campaigns.

Parental Rights are examined from a historical overview of legal and economic perspectives. This is the first in-depth analysis of parental rights and how it is applied to child welfare through legal theories of acquisition.

The book provides case examples of statutory models and legal remedies addressing parens patriae, transparency and accountability.

It has always been my understanding that if one is to refine and improve something, it would behoove that individual to at least have a basic understanding in how something functions.

I wrote this book to assist anyone who desires transparency, accountability and oversight as way to reform child welfare.

Then There Were Three

Just as I have honored the pending door closing of Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Clifford Taylor's former political career, so shall I do the same for Michigan Supreme Court Justices Maura Corrigan and Robert Young.

In memory of the loss of the first member of the infamous "Gang of Four" from the elected bench, I would like to share this political epitaph I wrote.

The Chief Justice’s Prayer

In the honor of Maternal, Paternal, and Infantile Rights of Michigan,
Amen.

Our Chief Justice, who art in Lansing,
Hallowed be thy name, Clifford Taylor.

Thy thiefdom come; thy will be done,
In Michigan, as it is not in the Constitution.

Give us our rights, of due process in the courts,
And condignly commiserate our unenumerated rights;
As we condignly commiserate thine breeches of fiduciary duties;
And lead us not into judicial totalitarianism,
But deliver us onto democracy.

For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory,
Now and for thine lifetime appointment.

Amen.

Written by Beverly Tran, in the year of our Honorable Supreme Court Chief Justice, two thousand and eight

This post is the official kick off of my campaign to not re-elect Maura Corrigan.

A Legally Kidnapped Christmas Special Preview

A new perspective on the "season to give."

National False Claims Database

The Interim Report to the Congress on the Feasibility of a National Child Abuse Registry published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, May 2009, should be called by another name if it ever makes it through Congress.

I would like to propose to call it the "National False Claims Database", a lawyers wet dream.

In order for an individual to be placed on the states central registry, one need only have a finger pointed in one's general direction, and, voila, you are on the central registry for abuse and neglect.

Now, the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Reauthorization Act of 2009 seems to have resurfaced in the wake of discussions to reauthorize CAPTA (Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act).

Well, a national database for child sex offenders is a popular and utilitarian endeavor but not for a child abuse national registry.

Using my favorite state as a working example, let's look at Michigan:

MCL 28.724 is an excerpt of the Sex Offenders Registration Act. The key word in said act is convicted. A person who is convicted in a court of law of an offense pursuant to the act is required to register with this central registry.

MCL 722.628d(4) states in relevant part: "If following a field investigation the department determines that there is a preponderance of evidence that an individual listed in subsection (3) was the perpetrator of child abuse or neglect, the department shall list the perpetrator of the child abuse or neglect on the central registry."

Simply put, a person is placed on the Central Registry of Abuse and Neglect of a child without due process of the courts. What may not be publicly known is that there are many individuals who were never notified that they are on the Central Registry and, even moreso, there are individuals who remain on this Central Registry when the case was dismissed.

As Michigan slowly departs from the institutionalized philosophy that poverty is abuse and neglect, the probability that many, many individuals have been listed on this eternal registry for being poor will be significant.

So, what happens is that the only way the state can provide services to needy children and parents is to create a "new and improved" federal funding-maximizing scheme. Removing a person from the central registry puts Michigan is a compromising situation: If the state removes a person from the central registry when there were no charges filed or evidence presented and the child had to remain in the foster care system, that would be a billboard announcement for ineligibility of funding (fraud) and due process violations, to name a few.

This is what is called the origin of child welfare federal false claims, or the National False Claims Database, a law firm's wet dream.

National Child Abuse Registry Feasibility Report 2009

Be Very Medicaid Fraudulently Quiet

In an editorial posted October 22, 2009, the Michigan Department of Community Health Director, Janet Olszweski, drastically failed to identify numerous key issues, outside of “efforts to leverage federal funding” as to why the state is challenged in meeting the needs of the people.

Ms. Olszweski has failed to identify herself as the State Medicaid Director. The role of the State Medicaid Director is to establish policy under the guidance and clarification from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Unfortunately, she has neglected to address Medicaid policy in dealing with fraud, waste and abuse.

Senator Kahn recently introduced SB 942 calling for the creation of a State Medicaid Inspector General to open discussions surrounding Auditor General reports documenting evidence of over $1 billion in Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse.

As it stands, the state is in a position of a future decrease in the Federal Funding Percentage, meaning it will loose even more federal dollars. The program’s funding levels have remained stagnant since 2000 because the state is not in compliance with federal funding mandates.

Olszewski may place the state in a precarious position if she were to raise the issue of Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse because the Michigan Medicaid Fraud Unit, housed in the Department of Attorney General and funded DHHS, does absolutely no activities in prosecution and recovery of Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse in child welfare, as it would be an inherent conflict of interest: the Attorney General cannot prosecute itself.

In essence, if the State Medicaid Director even whispered one word regarding the issue of Medicaid fraud, Michigan would be faced with even more substantial cuts in federal funding or possible federal receivership.

There is funding for program services and the opportunity for even more and efficient servicing will only come once the state takes a mea culpa stance for dropping the ball on accountability and transparency, because it never refers violations of federal and state law in Medicaid funded programs to the Attorney General.

Until the state implements policy for contractual debarment, revocation, sanctions and prosecution for recovery of funds in dealing with Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse, the only recourse for the existence of Medicaid funded programming will be through begging and taxing, at the expense of our most vulnerable populations.