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Showing posts with label DCF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DCF. Show all posts

Friday, January 15, 2016

HARTFORD COURANT REPORTS CT COUPLE CHALLENGES DCF DECISION TO REMOVE THEIR CHILDREN AT BIRTH!

According to Josh Kovner, reporter at The Hartford Courant:
"NEW YORK — The state child protection agency trampled on the rights of a Connecticut couple by removing two children at birth based on "perceptions and stereotypes" of the parents' mental health, a lawyer told a federal appeals court Thursday.
Lawyer Andrew O'Toole of Hartford was arguing on behalf of Joseph Watley, 61, and Karin Hasemann, 47, who claim that their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act were violated when the state Department of Children and Families terminated their parental rights.
O'Toole and the couple, along with several supporters, were at the U.S. 2nd Circut Court of Appeals to challenge a dismissal of the couple's case by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny..."
For more on this article, see below:


Monday, October 19, 2015

FOX NEWS IN NORTH CAROLINA EXPLAINS WHY DCF IN MANY STATES WON'T PLACE CHILDREN WITH FAMILY MEMBERS!

[We are guessing the same situation is affecting us here in CT.]

Brian Shilhavy of "Health Impact News" reports as follows:

"We are very pleased to see local media investigate the corrupt practices of child service agencies kidnapping children. While we disagree with the News Anchor at N.C. Fox 8 who started this report by stating that removal of children by the State is “almost always” in the best interest of the child (we have been covering this issue probably longer and have looked into probably more cases than they have, and we have found that it is almost NEVER in the best interest of the child to remove them from the home), we do applaud their investigation into why children removed from supposed “abusive homes” are almost never placed with family members, but instead go into the foster care system to strangers.

Fox 8 points out in their investigation that North Carolina rejects funding that would put children permanently with relatives instead of in foster homes. Grandparents who are able and willing to care for their grandchildren, for example, are routinely rejected by the State.

Why?

Melissa Painter of Fox 8 points out that in North Carolina more than 10,000 children are in foster care under the care of the State. This brings in more than $198 million of funding to take care of these children.

Federal laws actually require states to give preference to placing children with relatives. There is even federal funding available to place the children with relatives in “permanent legal guardianships.” But North Carolina (and many other states) do not follow this practice, because children put up for adoption bring in more federal funding. Instead of giving federal funds that can be designated for relatives in guardianships, they keep the funds for themselves to administer the foster care and adoption system.

In short, a child put into the foster care system on the path to adoption, brings in more money to the State and employs more people to “administer” these children. They are simply unwilling to give these funds to relatives to take care of the children, because their job security is at stake."

- See more at:

http://medicalkidnap.com/2015/05/06/report-exposes-why-corrupt-cps-agencies-seldom-place-foster-children-with-family-members/#sthash.gic8tfNs.RARdHXVQ.dpuf

Friday, July 31, 2015

THE HARTFORD COURANT REPORTS ON FINANCIAL SHENANIGANS GOING ON AT CT DCF!

JACQUELINE RABE THOMAS  REPORTS AS FOLLOWS:


HARTFORD — A number of state employees at the Department of Children and Families routinely show up late for work and are still paid for a full day, state auditors reported Thursday.

The audit examined a sampling of 88 employees at four regional DCF offices and found that nearly a quarter were more than 10 minutes late 75 percent of the time.

"There is a serious lack of accountability over employee starting times. Employees appear to be compensated for time not worked," auditors John Geragosian and Robert Ward reported..."


READ MORE:

Friday, July 24, 2015

CT NEWS JUNKIE REPORTS THAT SENATOR LEN FASANO IS CALLING ON DCF COMMISSIONER JOETTE KATZ TO RESIGN!

Christine Stuart of "CT News Junkie" states as follows:
"Citing recent reports highlighting problems at DCF’s two locked facilities, Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano is calling on Department of Children and Families Commissioner Joette Katz to resign. 
“Commissioner Katz’s autocratic leadership and misplaced priorities have undermined the effectiveness of her agency, put children at risk, and eroded public trust,” Fasano said. “Recent reports, including the Child Advocate’s report released yesterday, highlight the disturbing reality of persistent issues within DCF including the abuse of children at DCF’s locked facilities, the agency’s failure to investigate many of these cases, and a continuous struggle to embrace transparency.”
Katz was one of Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s first appointments. Malloy plucked Katz from the Supreme Court bench and said her work experience — first as a public defender and then as a judge — leaves her well-prepared to lead a bureaucracy that has “too often failed our children.”
DCF’s chronic problems have bedeviled governors for decades..."
Read More:


Monday, June 29, 2015

HUFF POST'S MALIKA SAADA SAAR REPORTS ON THE FOSTER CHILD TO SEX TRAFFICKING PIPELINE!

 of The Huffington Post reports as follows: 
The crisis of child trafficking and exploitation in the U.S. is finally capturing our attention. But a critical part of the story has not been told. Most of the children who are being bought and sold for sex in our nation are foster care children. In the states that are tracking these children the following, devastating numbers reveal that:
• In 2013, 60 percent of the child sex trafficking victims recovered as part of a FBI nationwide raid from over 70 cities were children from foster care or group homes.
• In 2012, Connecticut reported 88 child victims of sex trafficking. Eighty-six were child welfare involved, and most reported abuse while in foster care or residential placement.
• In 2012, Los Angeles County, California reported that of the 72 commercially sexually exploited girls in their Succeed Through Achievement and Resilience (STAR) Court Program, 56 were child-welfare involved.
• In 2007, New York City identified 2,250 child victims of trafficking. Seventy-five percent of those experienced some contact with the child welfare system, mostly in the context of abuse and neglect proceedings.
Read More:

Saturday, June 20, 2015

OP-ED LINKS DCF, BILLION DOLLAR LAW FIRM, AND PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES IN A CONSPIRACY TO EXPAND THE USE OF PSYCHIATRIC MEDICATIONS AMONG CT'S FOSTER CHILDREN!

According to an Op-Ed by Robert Fiddaman in 2011, 

"For some time now, Sheila Matthews has been suspicious about her home state of Connecticut's treatment of its most vulnerable children. As a mother of two children and co-founder of Ablechild, her instincts led her to scrutinize the dubious relationships among Connecticut's Department of Children and Family Services [DCF], the pharmaceutical industry, and a billion dollar law firm that has defended the likes of Pfizer Inc and Merck & Co., among others.

Sheila's investigation has led her on a journey that links a non-profit children's advocacy group, with assets over $15 million [2009], with nationally-renowned mass tort and class action defense law firms, to the Connecticut DCF - an $865 million bureaucracy, as described by the Connecticut Mirror..."


For more on this interesting subject, please click on the link below*:

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Billion-Dollar-Drug-Compan-by-ROBERT-FIDDAMAN-110310-185.html

*I am not familiar with the subject matter of this article and so I cannot guarantee its accuracy, however I do think it is important to be informed and if more substantive information comes forward to support these allegations, I will certainly share it with you all.

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

CORRUPTCT REPORTS CT DCF MEDICALLY KIDNAPPING CHILDREN!

Corruptct reports as follows:
"Connecticut department of children and families has been removing children from loving homes for sometime. As if that wasn’t bad enough, children with disabilities being are now being medically kidnapped from loving homes. Children that may have minor learning disabilities to children who have severe medical conditions, medically kidnapped from their homes they know to foster homes with strangers that care for children with disabilities.
This seems to be a growing concern in Connecticut, children that are vulnerable are being torn away from the love and comfort they are used to. Some children are being removed because parents refuse to medicate, only to be placed where the medication is then given. Medication is not the answer to everything and parents should not have their children removed, or kidnapped by Ct DCF because they choose not to medicate..."
For more information, please click on the link below:

Thursday, April 30, 2015

HUFF POST: 92% OF KIDS POOR OR IN FOSTER CARE TAKE ANTI-PSYCHOTIC DRUGS FOR OFF LABEL REASONS!

According to Huffington Post,
"The release in late March of an alarming new report by federal investigators has confirmed in shocking new detail what has been known for years: Poor and foster care kids covered by Medicaid are being prescribed too many dangerous antipsychotic drugs at young ages for far too long -- mostly without any medical justification at all. The report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General examined in depth nearly 700 claims filed in 2011 in five of the biggest prescribing states -- California, Florida, Illinois, Texas and New York -- and discovered that two thirds of all the prescribing with these popular and costly "second generation antipsychotics" (SGAs) raised high-risk "quality of care" concerns..."
For more on this subject, please click on the link below:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/art-levine/feds-pay-for-drug-fraud-9_b_6966454.html

Direct Link to Study:

http://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-07-12-00320.asp


Primary takeaway:  Poor kids and Foster kids are dying.

Monday, April 27, 2015

REPORTING FOR THE CT LAW TRIBUNE, ISAAC AVILUCEA PROVIDES AN UPDATE ON THE FOY CASE!

Isaac Avilucea reports as follows:

"On March 20, 2014, state child welfare officials took three young children from the Simsbury home of two attorneys who were in the midst of a bitter divorce.

The Department of Children and Families had obtained an order of temporary custody even though there was no conclusive evidence that either parent had abused the youngsters, according to court documents. Now, more than a year later, the children remain in foster care.

That's the bare-bones outline of an unusual case working its way through the state's court system. It would, like most custody battles, be playing out in private but for a document erroneously placed on a public portion of the state Judicial Branch website last October..."



Read more: 


Wednesday, April 1, 2015

WTNH NEWS 8 REPORTS CASSANDRA REQUIRED TO STAY IN HOSPITAL, NO CONTACT WITH MOM ALLOWED!

Alex Ceneviva of WTNH News 8 reports as follows:


WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH)– A judge has ruled that West Hartford teen Cassandra C. must continue chemotherapy at the hospital.


Cassandra told News 8 that the judge ruled in favor of the Department of Children and Families. She said she cannot come home early or see her mom at this time.


Cassandra also said that she is “disappointed but not surprised.”


The assumed date she she can be released is April 27th but she says there wasn’t an exact date set in the ruling.


Cassandra went on to say that she planned on having her mother visit for Easter and start regular weekly visits but now she is not sure if that will happen after this ruling.


For more information on this issue, please click on the link below:


http://wtnh.com/2015/04/01/judge-ruled-cassandra-c-must-continue-chemo-at-hospital/

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

CORRUPTCT REPORTS DCF IS ABUSING BABY JAXON UNDER COLOR OF LAW!

Corruptct reports abuse of baby Jaxon as follows:

Several articles have surfaced with concerns with Jaxon in Connecticut DCF care, the Color of Law was brought up regarding this issue with Jaxon and the medical neglect while in the care of Ct DCF. As it should be, people are outraged with what they saw in the video. How is medical neglect from Connecticut DCF acceptable, yet they are taking children for no reason at all.

Under the color of law, it states that any public official, local, state or federal that it is a crime for one or more persons using power given to him or her by a governmental agency, to willfully deprive or conspire to deprive another person of any right protected by the Constitution or laws under the United States.

What was seen on the video, a baby, suffering and while there is a doctors order in place, it is ignored. This has occurred on more than one occasion, this child was neglected medical treatment, as ordered by his doctor.

For more on this matter, please click on the link below:

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

CORRUPTCT ASKS WHETHER DCF HAS BEEN BULLYING PARENTS INTO SILENCE!

Corruptct issues commentary regarding DCF as follows:


"Connecticut DCF has been strong arming parent’s to silence regarding their cases. Connecticut DCF has been an area of interest for courruptct for a long time, due to their heavy handed ways. Parent’s who have had their children removed  by Ct DCF have concerns as well, as children are being taken from loving homes, legally kidnapping them. As parent’s speak out, as they have the right to do so under the first amendment, these parent’s are being threatened, their families threatened. Parent’s have the right to speak out about the injustice being done to their family, they are going to continue to speak out..."


For more on this subject, please click on the link below:


http://www.corruptct.com/corrupt/connecticut-dcf-has-been-strong-arming-parents-to-silence/

Sunday, March 8, 2015

MICHAEL NOWACKI CONFRONTS COMMISSIONER KATZ ON HER REFUSAL TO DISCLOSE AS A PUBLIC OFFICIAL!

From: Michael Nowacki < mnowacki@aol.com>
To: jk.dcf < jk.dcf@ct.gov>; barbara.claire < barbara.claire@ct.gov>
Cc: david.sheldon < david.sheldon@usdoj.gov>; leonard.boyl < leonard.boyl@jud.ct.gov>; tj.jones < tj.jones@ct.gov>; colleen.murphy < colleen.murphy@ct.gov>; clifton.leonhardt < clifton.leonhardt@ct.gov>; diana.urban < diana.urban@cga.ct.gov>; dante.bartolomeo < dante.bartolomeo@cga.ct.gov>; claire.janowski < claire.janowski@cga.ct.gov>; bob.duff < bob.duff@cga.ct.gov>; mnowacki < mnowacki@aol.com>; minnie.gonzalez < minnie.gonzalez@cga.ct.gov>; corruptct < corruptct@gmail.com>
Sent: Sun, Mar 8, 2015 11:25 am
Subject: Request to inspect certain public records in the offices of Department of Children and Families as outlined herein
Commissioner Katz:                       

 

As a lawyer and former Supreme Court Justice, your appointment and confirmation to the highest court in the State, provided you a unique seat on the bench to have observed discussions in the legislature concerning the withholding of the release in 2006 of a decision by Supreme Court Chief Justice William Sullivan to what many believed  was withheld from "timely disclosure" of a court decision as a public record, to "improperly" influence the outcome of the confirmation hearings were being conducted in the fall of 2006 on the floor of the General Assembly for Supreme Court Justice Peter Zarella, who aspired to be SC Justice Sullivan's successor.  You concurred with a dissenting view of the case placed in the link below:
 
 
To "refresh your recollection" the failure of you and others to have timely released a "public record" as a court decision by majority of members of the "en banc" members of the Supreme Court on the above case resulted in a sanctioning of Chief Justice William Sullivan and the withdrawal by Governor Rell of the nomination of your fellow Justice of the Supreme Court at that point in time, Justice Peter Zarella. See the attached legal action filed naming Chief Justice Zarella, and the defendants as Senator Andrew Mcdonald and Representative Michael Lawlor:
 
 
In communications with Attorney Claire this week, you were asked to reflect on the "scandal" as described in the Hartford Courant in 2006..  Both  concurrence and dissenting opinions ), and to impact on the vote and nomination of Justice Peter Zarella's nomination to become Chief Justice Sullivan's  successor, I attach the link to the Judicial Review Council's findings:
 
 
Therefore, in light of your experiences as a former Supreme Court Justice, and presuming that you still maintain a unique level of well established legal acumen acquired over your years as a Justice of the Supreme Court, I find it "shocking beyond a reasonable doubt" and rising to the level of "wanton", "reckless" or "malicious" conduct as defined in C.G.S. 4-165 as an appointed public official as the Commissioner of DCF AND  as a licensed attorney in the State of Connecticut, that you would withhold the "timely" disclosure of the "clear and unambiguous" language of the Freedom of Information Act and its "open disclosure" public records compliance requirement, to have "knowingly and willfully" withheld the delivery of your in state and out of state expense reports in order to influence the vote on your scheduled re-appointment vote on the floor of the General Assembly to be conducted on Monday, March 9, 2015.
 
Haven't we seen this horror movie on the abuse of discretion by public officials in "Corrupticut" before, Commissioner Katz?
 
This communication is being delivered to both State of Connecticut and one federal official in the New Haven office of the U.S. Attorney Office, seeking federal intervention or State of Connecticut supervisory authority to seek an injunction to prevent the vote on the floor of the General Assembly, until which point in time, that there is complete compliance with the requests associated with the Freedom of Information requests sent to your attention via email or fax and email or to the email box of Attorney Barbara Claire.
 
Many who serve in the legislature are not aware that once your re-confirmation vote is conducted tomorrow, there is no authority which can command an appointed public official to "resign" from office while a matter of alleged public corruption is properly investigated.
 
Many in the legislature who sit in public office today in Connecticut were not even elected or sitting in public office since 2006, when you concurred on the dissenting 2006 Supreme Court opinion issued in the above link.
 
As having ruled on matters concerning what constitutes a "public record" and "public inspection" requirements of the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act, you certainly cannot deny that you are "reasonably aware of these laws,".  Neither the Freedom of Information Commission (as defined in the Freedom of Information Act) and the Office of State Ethics have no authority to "compel" you to disclose requested public records such as your in state or out of state expense reports be delivered for "public inspection",  before the re-appointment vote tomorrow.
 
I was refused a meeting by Attorney Claire to meet with her at the DCF offices which was requested on Friday, February 27, 2015 at your offices at 505 Hudson Street to discuss a defined "priority" to certain document disclosures on expense accounts which were not filed with the Office of State Ethics.
 
Commissioner Katz, It is my assertion in this email and in emails sent to Attorney Claire as your designated FOI compliance officer at your directive, that your refusal to provide public records, solely in your possession or in the possession of "our financial folks"  (this was the exact term used by Attorney Claire sent to me via email to me on the morning of Friday, February 27 ostensibly because on that date they were at the LOB on that date.
 
Despite a clearly articulated timetable provided to you on or about Monday, March 2, 2015 for the delivery of these expense reports of yours, for all in state and out of state expenses from the date of your administration of an oath of Office as DCF Commissioner until the date of compliance, sent to Attorney Claire via email on Thursday, February 26, which Attorney Claire acknowledged that she had "misunderstood" that this was a "new request" for compliance which initiated a new "good faith" delivery timetable from 30 days from February 26, 2015, there has not been ONE single expense reports provided to me via email or made available for "in person inspection" for scanning of those documents.
 
The purpose of this email is to archive and distribute  this email and my communications with Attorney Claire on your behalf since February 24, 2015 to ensure that it is the respondent to an FOI request who is responsible for the "in person" "public records" inspection in records which are in your possession.  This emails capture that Commissioner Katz is being alleged of misconduct as a public official. 
 
 Only you, and you alone, know what is in the expense reports which you have refused to release in any manner, including any partial compliance since my orginal letter was sent to you by fax at 11:59am on February 24 2015 .. 
 
What is only known as fact at this point in time, is that you have filed only one expense report with the Office of State Ethics, as required by law, while serving in your current capacity as DCF Chair.
 
Tomorrow morning, it is my intent to file electronically, with the Freedom of Information Commission, a detailed complaint seeking an emergency hearing be posted for a public hearing--as is my right defined in the First Amendment right "to petition the Government for redress of grievances.  This FOI complaint will be distributed along with this communications to members of the House of Representatives and Senate, whose chairs of cognizance are copied on this email.
 
There is little question that I could be tried and convicted in the court of public opinion  as a "vigilant citizen" on the "transparent operation" of government agencies through the application of the complaint process detailed in the language and decisional law cases to enforce the Freedom of Information Act, even applied to a former member of the Supreme Court, who is identified as Joette Katz, as the Commissioner of DCF.
 
Attorney Claire on February 25, 2015, sent me an email in which I was accused of engaging in "blackmail" of a public official whose resignation I sought for "undisclosed" conflicts of interest between your defined responsibilities as DCF Commissioner and your position as Chair of the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune.  In not turning over the vendor contracts
 
When you elected to "refuse" (as is your prerogative) to resign from your position as the Chair of the Connecticut Law Tribune a copy of the attached letter was sent to the editors of the Connecticut Law Tribune, Jay Stapleton and Paul Sussman, to test the theory espoused in the email by Attorney Claire dated February 25, 2015 that there is no "business relationship" between the Connecticut Law Tribune's Chair and the "editors" of the Connecticut Law Tribune's Chair.  The CLT had the opportunity to print that letter on line, but chose not to do so.
 
Here is the link for the members of the Connecticut Law Tribune's Editorial Board:
 
 
There doesn't appear anyone who is on this list who I could readily identify who could be requested to provide documents requested between February 24, 2015 and the present.
 
Attorney Claire only sent the Microsoft Outlook calendars of Commissioner Katz from the first year of her appointment as DCF Commissioner in 2011, rather than the 2014-2015 calendars, is another example of an attempt to not disclose more recent Microsoft calendars which would capture how much time DCF Commissioner Katz was spending during "normal business hours" to her responsibilities as Chair of the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune.
 
Judges meetings involving Commissioner Katz were conducted in 2011 with federal court Judge Droney with Plaintiffs (unnamed and highly unusual for a federal judge to meet with just one party, not both unless by agreement by both parties), Judges Keller (multiple meetings), Judge Knieren (multiple meetings), Judge Emons (at a Brueggers), Judge Borden (by then a trial judge referee), Judge Devlin (sp?) during a one year period.  I am aware of no statutory authority for a judge to order a DCF Commissioner to meet on any matter, but especially in a matter of legal dispute.
 
Noted on the Microsoft Outlook calendars at various times, a "quarterly meeting" to be conducted in Judge Keller's offices.  I such a meeting was governed by provisions of the "open meeting" provisions of the FOI Act, then there may be a claimed violation of the FOI Act if a public notice was not posted, minutes taken at such a meeting and publicly posted on the website.  Perhaps Attorney Claire can identify what "judiciary committee" Commissioner Katz served upon chaired by Judge Keller (who is now an Appellate Court judge)
 
Travel noted in 2011, included a trip to the American Bar Association meeting in July 2015.  It is this conference which was reported to the Office of State Ethics which contained no expenses declared or paid by any source in the report filed (attached).
 
Dinners and banquets attended in 2011 captured on the Microsoft Outlook Calendars sent by email to me capture planned attendance by Commissioner Katz, with the Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers at the Quinnipiac Club, a May 10 Bridgeport Bar Association banquet/dinner, a May 19, Norwalk/Stamford Bar Association meeting, and an April 6, Hartford County Bar Association meeting.  Since the expense reports of Commissioner Katz have not been produced as of the composition of this detailed email, there may or may not be "probable cause" established for OSE Attorney Thomas Jones to conduct a "probable cause" investigation for potential violations of the guidelines of OSE as to the necessity to have filed reports with the Office of State Ethics.
 
If dinners were paid for by any of these organizations, a "gift" declaration would have to have been filed.  DCF Commissioner Katz has not filed a single "gift" declaration form since she took her oath of office.
 
There was a mysterious redaction on the date of May 28, a Saturday of the start of Memorial Day weekend which has no definition of what was redacted.
 
There was also an attendance at a "New Canaan Task Force" meeting conducted on June 9, from 8:30-10am, which has no defined purpose for the attendance of Attorney Katz.  I have no information which can be gleaned.  I have not yet determined what New Canaan based Task Force which was to meet, unless it was a Board of Education related "committee meeting" which would be governed by "minutes" to be taken as an "open" meeting governed by the FOI Act.
 
There was also an unidentified meeting conducted by Commissioner Katz with the Peruvian Embassy, which contained no specific details.
 
Based upon just one year's (2011) cursory review of matters involving issues under the governance of the Freedom of Information Commission and alleged non-compliance when combined with the lack of disclosures of expense reports or gift forms with the Office of State Ethics, it is appropriate that the current Chairs of the Committees of cognizance (the Committee on Children as of January 7, 2015) and the Co-Chairs of the Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee and other representatives of public agencies of cognizance be copied on this detailed email based upon documents provided to me as of Friday, March 6 at 5pm.
 
In light of the "stonewalling" of certain documents by Attorney Claire of "requested timely compliance" of expense report documents which have been obstructed from delivery by DCF Commissioner Katz who had the responsibilities to have filed such expenses reimbursed to any budget funded by taxpayer funding, whether federal or state, I am seeking the Chairs of the Executive and Legislative Nomination Committee remove the name of Commissioner Joette Katz from the calendar for the General Assembly vote scheduled for Monday, March 9, until all relevant compliance has been delivered by Attorney Claire and Commissioner Katz.
 
Commissioner Katz has had no contact with me at any point in time in regards her "intent" to comply with the "timely document delivery requirements of the FOI Act.
 
As to whether the OSE has initiated or will initiate a "probable cause" investigation which can be initiated by OSE will not be known until all of the documents requested can be reviewed.
 
Therefore, for the above stated, well reasoned and appropriate review of these matters, the Chairs of the executive and legislative nominations committee have a fiduciary responsibility to protect the public from "alleged acts of public corruption" in the misuse of federal and state funding, and to appropriately consider my proposal to "postpone" or "table" the vote scheduled for DCF Commissioner Katz for "good cause shown.
 
To ensure that the co-chairs do not obstruct the delivery of these documents attached to this email, I will make every effort to distribute this email and its contents to members of the free press and members of the legislature of my choosing, unless the co-chairs of the executive and legislative management committee send me a copy of an email to verify the distribution of this message to all members of the General Assembly, Governor Malloy and other prosecutorial authorities who may have an unknown authority to seek "injunctive" relief from the Superior Court in Connecticut, as noted in the actions taken in 2006 naming Chief Justice William Sullivan.
 
The amount of time and effort being spent on these posted emails indicates the vigilance of citizens to report matters of public corruption.
 
It should be noted that all that was known on Tuesday, March 3, 2015 of the matters of public corruption concerning the "stonewalling" of public records by Commissioner Katz and Attorney Claire were captured in a 30 minute "intake report" call to the hotline set up for such citizen complaints, 1-800-CALL-FBI.
 
Early tomorrow morning I expect to read this email into the hotline intake line to create a "public record" of the report of public corruption was also made to the individuals on this email.
 
Any of those on this email list, also can call the hotline, 1-800-CALL FBI to report receipt of this email.
 
Cordially,
 
Michael Nowacki
319 Lost District Drive
New Canaan, CT  06840
(203) 273-4296 or (203) 449-6916

COMMISSIONER JOETTE KATZ EXPENSE REPORT!

MICHAEL NOWACKI SENDS A FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST TO DCF COMMISSIONER JOETTE KATZ!


The Honorable Joyette Katz

Commissioner

Department of Children and Families

505 Hudson Street

Hartford, CT

 

Freedom of Information Request

                                                                                                February 24, 2015

 

Dear Commissioner Katz:

Recent publicly televised re-appointment hearings conducted in the Connecticut legislature failed to note that you are currently serving in the capacity as Chair, of the editorial board of Connecticut Law Tribune.

Recent editorial coverage in the Connecticut Law Tribune concerning an article authored by Attorney Norm Pattis, in an opinion piece, published on-line on Wednesday February 11, 2015, entitled: “Despite Allegations, Family Courts not Corrupt” recently was challenged for a lack of authenticity of certain comments authored by Attorney Pattis.

Such “materially false and misleading” publication of information would be potentially a matter of discussion at meetings conducted by the editorial board of the Connecticut Law Tribune.

As Chair of the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune, and as an appointed public official as the Commissioner of DCF with substantial responsibilities relating to family court, probate court and juvenile court proceedings, there is substantial public interest in the matters involving your personal use of computers and servers, owned by the State of Connecticut, in your role as the Chair of the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune.

If you have used your state provided email address or any personal email address which was accessed through servers owned by the State of Connecticut, the content of the communications contained in such emails are considered “public communications” and subject to the applications of the Freedom of Information Act. 

Decisional cases issued by the FOI Commission are available for your review which have verified that the use of personal email addresses to conduct “business” relevant to your responsibilities as DCF Commissioner are also to be considered “public documents” subject to the application and legislative intent of the Freedom of Information Act. 

Unfortunately, defining potential “conflicts of interest” between your responsibilities as Commissioner of DCF and your role as a Chair, Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune, can only be determined by inspecting “public records” pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.

Your have massive responsibilities as Commissioner of DCF and this request for access to “public records” for “inspection” should not be considered onerous or impinging on your job responsibilities inasmuch as members of your staff and IT departments can be utilized to easily retrieve documents through search codes for key words.

Based upon the above observations, you are herewith required within four business days to acknowledge the receipt of this request to produce “public records” for public inspection and to indicate your personal intent to comply with this FOI request.

  Within thirty days of the acknowledgment of this Freedom of Information request you are required to produce for “public inspection” at your offices at 505 Hudson Street relevant “documents/public records” requested, subject to “redactions” as permissible and defined in the Freedom of Information Act and decisions issued by the Commission.

For the purposes of clarification, “documents/public records” are defined in the Freedom of Information Act and should be considered as the “base line” for providing the “public records” to be provided for inspection in this request.

For the purposes of all of the documents requested, the date span for the production of all “public records” (including personal emails sent or received regarding DCF business matter referenced in any “public record” of communications with fellow Editorial Board members or members of the staff of the CLT), should be considered from the date of your sworn oath as DCF Commissioner to the date of compliance with this request dated February 24, 2015.

The “public records” to be made available for “public inspection” should include” for the date span indicated in the above paragraph should include:

 

  1.  Any “public records” in your possession sent or received from your State of Connecticut provided email address, state owned fax machine, received at your offices at 505 Hudson Street or your home address authored by you in your capacity as DC Commisioner or sent or received “public records” sent to you by any past or present member of the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune, including but not limited to the following individuals:
     
     
    Atty Dwight Merriam    Robert Farr         Elizabeth Gordon    
    Joyce Chen                 Eugene Fidell      Rachel Goldberg
    Prolog K. Das              Mary Galvin         Robert Holzberg
    Wesley Horton             Alan Neigher       Steven Wizner
    Jocelyn Kennedy         Lemis Pepe          Paul Sussman
    David King                   Thomas Scheffer Jay Stapleton
    James Lyon                 Mark Soboslar      Kevin Michielsen
    Eugene Marconi          James F. Sullivan
    Sean McElligot             Cecil Thomas
    Robert Mitchell             Thomas Ullman
    Dennis C. Murphy         Diane Whitney 
  2.  Any “public record” in any communication sent to any of the above individuals issued on DCF Stationery or sent on your personal stationery which references the words “DCF” in any portion of such communication including how you signed such letters using DCF Commissioner.
     
  3. Any “public record” sent or received in your possession confirming the date of your acceptance to become the Chair of the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune or to which established a date in which you became a member of the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune.
     
  4. A properly redacted copy of your required disclosure of all statements of financial interests (SFI’s) required by law to be filed with the Office of State Ethics from 2010-2015.  A copy of all expense reports filed by you as the Commissioner of DCF filed with the Office of State Ethics required to be filed with the Office of State Ethics filed from 2010 through the date of compliance with this request.  A copy of all gifts received by you in your capacity as Commissioner of DCF required to be filed with the Office of State Ethics from 2010 to the date of compliance with this request.
     
     
  5. Any “public records” in your possession of honorariums or other public speaking engagements which you have made, including appearances you may have made to any law association groups as DCF Commissioner.
     
  6. Any “public records” in your possession which you have sent or received at the DCF offices at 505 Hudson Street from member of the judicial branch of government, including any Superior Court judges, probate court judges, family court judges or any CSSD employee or Court operations personnel which are permissible for release pursuant to the FOI Act.
     
  7. Any “public records” in your possession sent or received from any present or past Editorial Board member of the Connecticut Law Tribune to any personal email account or home address you have maintained during your tenure as DCF Commissioner which embed the words “DCF,” “family court docket numbers or family court litigant names”, “juvenile court docket numbers or juvenile court litigant names” or “probate court docket numbers or juvenile court litigant names”
     
  8. Any “public records” in your possession as DCF Commissioner and as Chair or member of the Connecticut Law Tribune Editorial Board which contain minutes to any meeting convened or attended by you at the Connecticut Law Tribune which would capture any content in such minutes of the meetings of the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune concerning discussion of any DCF, family court, juvenile court or probate court legal proceeding in which an employee of DCF would be involved.
     
  9. Any “opinion pieces”, “letters to the editor” which you may have authored and were published in the on line or print editions of the Connecticut Law Tribune as Chair of the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune while you have served as DCF Commissioner.
     
  10. A copy of your letter of resignation as a Supreme Court Justice.
     
  11. A copy of any “public records” in your possession which may contain information regarding the proposed consolidation by Governor Malloy of the operations of Court Support Services Division and DCF.
     
  12. A copy of any “public records” in your possession sent or received, whether retrieved from your State of Connecticut provided email address or any personal email address in which the recent publication of the article “Despite Allegations, Family Courts are Not Corrupt” was discussed by you in your role as DCF Commissioner and Chair of the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune
     
  13. A copy of any “public records” in your possession, sent or received, whether retrieved from your State of Connecticut provided email address or any personal email address which contains the name Michael Nowacki.
     
  14. A copy of any “public records” in your possession, sent or received whether retrieved from your State of Connecticut provided email address or any personal email address which contains of the name of Peter Szymonik.
     
  15. A copy of any “public records” in your possession, sent or received, whether retrieved from your State of Connecticut provided email address or any personal email address which contains references embedded in any “public records” referencing the words “Task Force To Study Legal Disputes Involving the Care and Custody of Minor Children, CT-N coverage of the public hearings of January 9, 2014 or March 31, 2014, SB 494 or Public Act 14-3” while you were serving in the capacity as DCF Commissioner and the Chair or member of the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune.
     
  16. A copy of any resignation letter you might issue as DCF Commissioner to withdraw as the Chair of the Connecticut Law Tribune’s Editorial Board which may ensue from the date of the receipt of this letter by fax and registered mail and the date of compliance with the production of these requested “public records for public inspection.”

 

If you would like me to speak to any member of your staff who is assigned the responsibilities to compile these requested “public records”, please do not hesitate to have that person contact me via email, phone, or letter based upon the information contained below.

When the public records are prepared for inspection, please know it is my intent to be joined by a group of people who will accompany me to scan public records in the most efficient manner possible so as to not occupy your staff’s valuable time.

I would like to “inspect in person” any partial compliance with any of these “public record’s which can be provided to me from this list requested in this letter no later than Thursday, March 5.

As you may know, the United States Attorney Office has recently announced the creation of a Task Force hotline number to allow citizens to report matters of “public corruption” to a special phone number in which complaints can be made.

Therefore, I am copying Deputy Chief State Attorney Leonard Boyle and the U.S. Attorney Deidre Daly on these communications to alert them to the importance of compliance with evidence acquired by citizens pursuant to the application of the Freedom of Information Act.

     Cordially,

 

     Michael Nowacki

     319 Lost District Drive

     New Canaan, CT  06840


     (203) 273-4296

 

     cc:  Deputy Chief State Attorney Leonard Boyle

             U.S. Attorney Deidre Daly