Follow-up letter to Mr. Howard Paden (Cherokee Nation Rep.) updating him on the case!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Dear Mr. Paden,
First I'd like to say Happy New Year and I hope you had a wonderful time during the holidays. I haven't heard from you lately and wasn't sure how you felt about the case and what your level of involvement will be for the upcoming trial. Over the past 6 weeks or so I have educated myself as much as I could in regards to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and how it related to my case. I feel confident in the knowledge I have and the next step I will be taking. Which is one of the main reasons I wanted to email you.
Since I spoke with you in November, I have been feeling confident because up until last week, everything seemed to be going well. As far as transfer of attorneys and setting pre-trial and trial, all went as planned. However, when I was finally able to meet with my new attorney last Tuesday (12/30/08) it turned out to be a disaster. As I said before, I have spent every moment I have educating myself so I can fight for the return of my children. When I arrived to meet with my attorney, she had not looked over my case file at all. In her file, she had one report and that was it. The most recent report from the social worker Yong Ueda. Not much information can be obtained from that report aside from the fact it is inaccurate and outdated. I explained to my attorney I would be arguing that ICWA violations occured from the beginning. Specifically notification requirements and active effort requirements. I've provided you with a detailed list below. She refused to represent me on ICWA violations even though they are valid reasons for which I have proof. She said she would wait to speak with you and ICWA could not be argued unless you took jurisdiction of the case. I was fortunate to have my father with me during the meeting. I explained to her that I would be pursuing the ICWA violations whether the Cherokee Nation would be pursing them or not. I let her know this was my plan and if she was unwilling to represent me to please notify me so I could make other arrangements. Again she said she'd let me know after she spoke with you. She never contacted me and failed to return my call when I attempted to contact her again.
I arrived at court with my father at 8AM Monday morning. While I was there I was very fortunate to meet with a Native American Child and Family advocate by the name of Jolene. She took an interest in my case and although she had other cases for which she was there, she waited with me through the day gathering info from me in-between her other 2 cases. When my case was finally called, she came into the courtroom and sat with my father. When my case was finally called, I was very concerned because I had not spoken with my attorney and did not have a clue in regards to the status. After all we were there for pre-trial which usually means any type of discovery and/or list of witnesses is to be provided to the court. Apparently most aspects of the case where discussed before I was called in. I was in the courtroom for no more than 2 minutes. The trial date of January 13, 2009 was confirmed and I was present when they asked if you were missing any documents. I attempted to let my attorney know I was not comfortable with the confirmation of the trial date because I didn't know if she would be representing me and what the plan of action was. I asked my attorney to please come and speak with me. She spoke with me in the lobby and my father and Jolene were with us also. Again, she said she refused to represent me on ICWA and continued to say that ICWA did not apply to this case. Jolene expressed to my attorney that she must represent me, that ICWA applied, and Jolene also asked that we set an appointment to organize the petitions and paperwork before trial on 1/13/09. Again, my attorney refused to represent me regarding anything other than accepting guardianship and this time refused to make an appointment with me unless it was ONLY me. My attorney argued with me that you (or a Cherokee Nation representative) were on the phone for each and every hearing from April 2006-April 2008. I addressed the fact that in April 2008 (I'll have to check the dates but I believe approx. at that time) we were having trial and on the 3rd day of trial, after already declaring one mistrial by Referee Horton, a second mistrial was declared by Judge Petersen. When we reconvined on that third day, Judge Petersen called you and appologized repeatedly for not following up on the tribes request to intervene. The judge along with the department (CPS) took responsibility for losing the paperwork and not following procedures and timelines. I remember you asked him if all active efforts had been made to prevent the break-up of the Indian family, and he said yes. However, that is not true. What he did not tell you was that we already had one trial, we just concluded another trial, and he did not tell you that since the removal of my children I was participating in services, each and everyday. Doing every single service that they requested I do and more. Also, that I had been doing it at the time my children were removed, that there was never a break in my treatment program, and that my children had been removed from my care improperly from the beginning. It became very apparent to me and the attorney I had at that time, (privately retained Michael Borkowski) that Judge Petersen was not willing to allowing very important documentation into discovery. This is when I realized I would need to educate myself because nobody was willing to really take a good look at the case. I knew it was up to me to fight for the return of my children. Since that time, I have learned I will need to address the ICWA violations by filing a "388 petition or a petition to invalidate".
Aside from the fact that information was concealed, misrepresented, and/or withheld; my son was removed for a different reason entirely than my first 3 children (9 months apart to be specific) and a seperate "investigation" was said to be conducted for his removal. However, if a complete and thorough investigation was done, it would have been clear that they had no reason to place my son in protective custody and that he needed to be returned to my care. At some point in time, the cases were combined to look as if they were 1 case with the same core issues. I have included some information about methadone below that was written by John McCarthy, M.D. Executive/Medical Director, Bi-Valley Medical Clinic, Inc. (he also heads the pregnancy program at Bi-Valley [BVMC]). The first three articles are most important, especially the article on Quantitative Urine Drug Monitoring (a type of urinalysis testing much more effective than the testing provided by Valley Toxicollogy [the contracted lab for Sacramento County]). Also, I have faxed the most important documents which detail the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Sacramento County Dept. of Health and Human Services (DHHS)/Child Protective Services (CPS) and BVMC.
The reason I am sending you these documents is to show you that BVMC is in fact a treatment facility that also provides medication management. BVMC is well respected in the community and have the only pregnancy program for opiate-dependent patients in Sacramento County.
Below are 3 articles from Dr. McCarthy/Bi-Valley regarding MMT (Methadone Maintenance Treatment)
http://www.bi-valley.com/Articles/HighDoseMethadoneMaintenancePG.htm
http://www.bi-valley.com/Articles/QuantitativeUrineDrugMonitoringInMethadonePgs.pdf
http://www.bi-valley.com/Articles/CPS_Drug_Use_Dilemma2.htm
Opiates and the Brain presentation provided by Dr. McCarthy/Bi-Valley Medical Clinic (the following 2 links)
http://www.bi-valley.com/Files/BV_PostOpiatesBrain2005v2.pdf
http://www.bi-valley.com/Files/BV_PostOpiatesBrain2005.mht
First I'd like to say Happy New Year and I hope you had a wonderful time during the holidays. I haven't heard from you lately and wasn't sure how you felt about the case and what your level of involvement will be for the upcoming trial. Over the past 6 weeks or so I have educated myself as much as I could in regards to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and how it related to my case. I feel confident in the knowledge I have and the next step I will be taking. Which is one of the main reasons I wanted to email you.
Since I spoke with you in November, I have been feeling confident because up until last week, everything seemed to be going well. As far as transfer of attorneys and setting pre-trial and trial, all went as planned. However, when I was finally able to meet with my new attorney last Tuesday (12/30/08) it turned out to be a disaster. As I said before, I have spent every moment I have educating myself so I can fight for the return of my children. When I arrived to meet with my attorney, she had not looked over my case file at all. In her file, she had one report and that was it. The most recent report from the social worker Yong Ueda. Not much information can be obtained from that report aside from the fact it is inaccurate and outdated. I explained to my attorney I would be arguing that ICWA violations occured from the beginning. Specifically notification requirements and active effort requirements. I've provided you with a detailed list below. She refused to represent me on ICWA violations even though they are valid reasons for which I have proof. She said she would wait to speak with you and ICWA could not be argued unless you took jurisdiction of the case. I was fortunate to have my father with me during the meeting. I explained to her that I would be pursuing the ICWA violations whether the Cherokee Nation would be pursing them or not. I let her know this was my plan and if she was unwilling to represent me to please notify me so I could make other arrangements. Again she said she'd let me know after she spoke with you. She never contacted me and failed to return my call when I attempted to contact her again.
I arrived at court with my father at 8AM Monday morning. While I was there I was very fortunate to meet with a Native American Child and Family advocate by the name of Jolene. She took an interest in my case and although she had other cases for which she was there, she waited with me through the day gathering info from me in-between her other 2 cases. When my case was finally called, she came into the courtroom and sat with my father. When my case was finally called, I was very concerned because I had not spoken with my attorney and did not have a clue in regards to the status. After all we were there for pre-trial which usually means any type of discovery and/or list of witnesses is to be provided to the court. Apparently most aspects of the case where discussed before I was called in. I was in the courtroom for no more than 2 minutes. The trial date of January 13, 2009 was confirmed and I was present when they asked if you were missing any documents. I attempted to let my attorney know I was not comfortable with the confirmation of the trial date because I didn't know if she would be representing me and what the plan of action was. I asked my attorney to please come and speak with me. She spoke with me in the lobby and my father and Jolene were with us also. Again, she said she refused to represent me on ICWA and continued to say that ICWA did not apply to this case. Jolene expressed to my attorney that she must represent me, that ICWA applied, and Jolene also asked that we set an appointment to organize the petitions and paperwork before trial on 1/13/09. Again, my attorney refused to represent me regarding anything other than accepting guardianship and this time refused to make an appointment with me unless it was ONLY me. My attorney argued with me that you (or a Cherokee Nation representative) were on the phone for each and every hearing from April 2006-April 2008. I addressed the fact that in April 2008 (I'll have to check the dates but I believe approx. at that time) we were having trial and on the 3rd day of trial, after already declaring one mistrial by Referee Horton, a second mistrial was declared by Judge Petersen. When we reconvined on that third day, Judge Petersen called you and appologized repeatedly for not following up on the tribes request to intervene. The judge along with the department (CPS) took responsibility for losing the paperwork and not following procedures and timelines. I remember you asked him if all active efforts had been made to prevent the break-up of the Indian family, and he said yes. However, that is not true. What he did not tell you was that we already had one trial, we just concluded another trial, and he did not tell you that since the removal of my children I was participating in services, each and everyday. Doing every single service that they requested I do and more. Also, that I had been doing it at the time my children were removed, that there was never a break in my treatment program, and that my children had been removed from my care improperly from the beginning. It became very apparent to me and the attorney I had at that time, (privately retained Michael Borkowski) that Judge Petersen was not willing to allowing very important documentation into discovery. This is when I realized I would need to educate myself because nobody was willing to really take a good look at the case. I knew it was up to me to fight for the return of my children. Since that time, I have learned I will need to address the ICWA violations by filing a "388 petition or a petition to invalidate".
Aside from the fact that information was concealed, misrepresented, and/or withheld; my son was removed for a different reason entirely than my first 3 children (9 months apart to be specific) and a seperate "investigation" was said to be conducted for his removal. However, if a complete and thorough investigation was done, it would have been clear that they had no reason to place my son in protective custody and that he needed to be returned to my care. At some point in time, the cases were combined to look as if they were 1 case with the same core issues. I have included some information about methadone below that was written by John McCarthy, M.D. Executive/Medical Director, Bi-Valley Medical Clinic, Inc. (he also heads the pregnancy program at Bi-Valley [BVMC]). The first three articles are most important, especially the article on Quantitative Urine Drug Monitoring (a type of urinalysis testing much more effective than the testing provided by Valley Toxicollogy [the contracted lab for Sacramento County]). Also, I have faxed the most important documents which detail the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Sacramento County Dept. of Health and Human Services (DHHS)/Child Protective Services (CPS) and BVMC.
The reason I am sending you these documents is to show you that BVMC is in fact a treatment facility that also provides medication management. BVMC is well respected in the community and have the only pregnancy program for opiate-dependent patients in Sacramento County.
Below are 3 articles from Dr. McCarthy/Bi-Valley regarding MMT (Methadone Maintenance Treatment)
http://www.bi-valley.com/Articles/HighDoseMethadoneMaintenancePG.htm
http://www.bi-valley.com/Articles/QuantitativeUrineDrugMonitoringInMethadonePgs.pdf
http://www.bi-valley.com/Articles/CPS_Drug_Use_Dilemma2.htm
Opiates and the Brain presentation provided by Dr. McCarthy/Bi-Valley Medical Clinic (the following 2 links)
http://www.bi-valley.com/Files/BV_PostOpiatesBrain2005v2.pdf
http://www.bi-valley.com/Files/BV_PostOpiatesBrain2005.mht
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