Our family’s Christmas wish is to be back together and
corruption in Kansas be stopped. The corruption is in Department for Children
and Families, Foster Care agencies, and County Juvenile/Family Courts. There
are investigations going on at this time.
Holiday time is to talk about positive
solutions. In my investigations, I
uncovered areas in our communities which need help. I decided to find a way to
start a community project. David (my husband), family, friends, and supporters
have given me ideas of what our community needs. Our niece came to visit and
brought a friend who was pregnant. Out of curiosity, I asked what classes she
has taken getting ready for the baby. She told me that no classes are free.
There are low cost classes. I even added up the classes David and I took when
preparing for our daughters. We would have spent over $300 if we were not in
the military. I could not find any free classes. New parents cannot afford to
pay for classes and buy what is needed for the baby to come home.
Here is the details of the community project:
- Free classes for parents-to-be
- Free birthing class- I would like to get nurses or
midwives to volunteer their services or just accept a small amount of
money for their service.
- Free class and support for parents who just found out
they have a child or children with special needs.
- Reopen ROCKO- respite group for families who have
children with special needs. ROCKO is 3-4 hours long, children with
special needs and siblings have a fun time while parents go on a date
night or whatever they need to do without the children around. The volunteers
are paras, physical therapists, occupational therapists, special education
teachers, nurses, and high school students. Some of the high school
students decide to become a nurse, therapist, teacher, or a career where
you work with children with special needs. ROCKO was mainly in Sedgwick
and Butler County. I would love to see it expand to all of the state. I
would love to find a way that ROCKO would not need state funding. Money
for ROCKO is for supplies- food, plates, cups, napkins, crafts, games,
music, decorations, medical, paper, etc.
- Support for families who had their children wrongfully
removed from their home.
- Free parenting classes
- Music and drama for children with special needs, home
schooled children, and children who attend a school which has cut music
and drama or music teachers only want the best singers in the chorus or
choir (the teacher makes the other students hate singing or music).
Lobbying
Some of the money will
go for lobbying in Kansas and US Congress to make and pass bills which will
protect children better than the children are protected right now. In Kansas,
pets are better protected than the children are. I have asked US Congress
members from Kansas why American children are second to children in other
countries. US Congress should have a bill which would allow the US Congress to
step in when the states are harming the children to receive money from the
federal government.
There is a big
election in 2014. I want the ability to have people running for office to
answer how they would stop the corruption, make sure it never happens again,
what you are willing to do for Kansas children and families harmed by the
corruption. I also want to know how they plan to make Kansas more family
friendly and help bring in the jobs.
Newsletter
I want to do a
quarterly newsletter to keep parents and families informed on what is happening
in the Kansas and US Congress on family issues and protecting children issues.
My goal is to have the community come together
and work together to protect the children of Kansas and of the United States.
To make this community project a reality, I
have started an online fundraiser. Below is what the money will go for:
We need $20,000 or
more. My husband, David, and I have been fighting almost three years to bring
our daughters home. We have been trying to save up the money to hire an
attorney. The prices have been from $3,000 to $20,000. Our daughters were
wrongfully removed and kept out of our home. Our family’s Constitutional Rights
are being violated. States are violating a federal program called Child Abuse
Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA). CAPTA gives money to states for foster
care. States found ways to violate CAPTA to gain the most funding from the
federal government not caring how this will harm the children. The children who
are being removed from their homes were not being abused. The children who were
victims of life threatening abuse will either be rescued by law enforcement or
killed by their abusers. CAPTA money is for children in foster care who are
victims of life threatening abuse. The state must send home about 85% of the
children. In Kansas, less than 25% of the children go home. Our county is less
than 5%. Our daughters are victims of Kansas violating CAPTA.
We need money for
legal help. We want to pay it forward by using left over funds, additional
funds we get from a book I am writing, and 40% of the money David and I receive
for damages from filing law suit against social workers, foster care agency,
county, and state.
I have started the process
of taking our case to the Kansas Court of Appeals. I found an article
about a mother taking her case to the Kansas Court of Appeals. She did it Pro
Se (without an attorney). I am trying it Pro Se. The forms are fairly easy. I
have supporters and the mother helping me with getting our case to The Kansas
Court of Appeals. Sedgwick County DA and Sedgwick County judge have been
admonished by the judges on the Kansas Court of Appeals for violating people’s
Constitutional Rights and violating laws. David and I have hope this will help
us to bring our daughters home. All of the money from the fundraiser can go
straight to starting the community project.
Another benefit, from starting this community
project, is making the state family friendly and hopefully Constitutional
Rights not violated as much so then our community’s economy can finally recover
and jobs will be available. Economist have stated the economy cannot rebound
until Constitutional Rights are not violated by the state and federal governments.
Please help me get the story out about the
fundraiser to help improve our community.
Teresa A. Owen
316-295-3386
Website for the
fundraiser is igg.me/at/taoprotectchildreninkansasandintheUS-now/x/5605737
PS. Sierra Scott did a story about ROCKO which was
aired on KPTS 8. I was one of the parents she interviewed. Ms. Scott knows how important ROCKO is to many
families who have children with special needs. ROCKO allows high school and college students to
volunteer. Many of these students decide to become a special education teacher, physical therapist,
occupational therapist, doctor, and other occupations which work with children who have special needs.
ROCKO allows parents to have a date night, bubble bath, and complete college assignments, run
errands, house work, and other activities they need to complete without their children home. Many parents are
unable to find someone qualified to care for their child or children who have special needs. We cannot find a person to care for our
oldest daughter because of
all the health issues and being autistic. I am angry with myself for not
keeping up with what was happening
to ROCKO. This is a program Kansas families need.
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