Sunday, April 10, 2011

UPDATE ON JOSIAH'S CONDITION / 498

Josiah has been discharged from hospital on Saturday.
On Friday evening Zabeth and Paul were permitted to see Josiah in hospital from 5:00 – 7:00 PM.
It was arranged as a supervised visit. First the Baynes met the regular supervisor of their children's visit at a hospital coffee shop and together they proceeded to the baby's room. They found Josiah extremely pale and he slept in Zabeth's arms during the entire time they were there. She stroked his face and spoke softly to him as she longs to do. She fed him and found him congested and experiencing difficulty in breathing as he nursed. He has a very bad cold. It was hard for them to see their baby so ill.

Yesterday (Saturday) they had another wonderful several hour visitation with their other three children from 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Each of the children is getting over a cold but otherwise were well and happy to see mommy and daddy. Josiah was discharged from hospital on Saturday. The Baynes will not be allowed to see Josiah until he fully recovers nor will he be taken out of doors. No provision has been arranged for any visit to the Foster home.

This long ordeal takes its toll on the extended family. Zabeth's parents have suffered considerably through the agonies of their grandchildren's time in care, the infrequent opportunities to see their grandchildren and the uncertainties of the children's future. Zabeth and Paul themselves push on through the fatigue and strain, both working on their evening hours custodial business contracts, and seeking to establish some normalcy to their lives.

Paul and Zabeth have agreed to participate in the Parental Capacity Assessment by the Ministry's recommended psychologist,  Dr. Bowden and have requested an initial meeting with him to discuss his methodology. They have also signed agreement papers to participate in the Project Parent program.

24 comments:

  1. I think it would be wise of the Baynes to voice record all their meetings with this psychologist. In event that something is put on paper that is not true, that way they have proof. Especially if this is a Ministry recommended psychologist. Personally I would have a voice recorder on me at all times when dealing with the Ministry. Trust no one!

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  2. God Bless the Baynes and their extended family. The trauma alone of all this is enough to make one lose themselves. That the Baynes have fought so long and hard and maintained themselves throughout is a testimony to the kind of people and more importantly the kind of parents they are. How many parents can go through enormous shock and loss of more than three and a half years and stay loving, peaceful and nurturing? Many parents can't handle the stress of a day at work and are short with their kids as a result. These people have endured literal torture for all this time and yet have been a model of parenting all along? The ministry really needs to ask themselves how this can be. Where is the dysfunction and instability normal seen in the battering personality? Surely, they would have cracked by now if they were of the nature to behave as they have been alleged to by those accusing them of beating their baby. The extreme emotions a parent goes through when their child is hurt, compiled with the removal of that child AND her siblings AND their newborn infant would make a healthy and stable parent lose their mind yet the Baynes have held up, maintained their dignity, continued to reach out to others in support and education, been there for their children as much as allowed, changed their ENTIRE lives, career, homes, EVERTHING. This behavior does not even remotely resemble the mentality required to hurt a baby. It's OBVIOUS and the social workers at the ministry absolutely MUST know this. ANYONE in the child protection business knows the psychology necessary to abuse a child and you cannot hide it for more than three years while under the worst stress a person can face. It's shameful that the ministry knows this yet feigns ignorance and sadder still that the government seeks to protect itself starting with the individuals and culminating with an entire with an entire Ministry all at the expense of these 6 people. I pray for forgiveness for all those who have participate in this travesty. May God open the hearts and minds of those who have participated in this injustice and saturate them in courage and a conviction of Truth!

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  3. I looked at the link provided for psychologist Dr. Bowden, which is a paper about parenting capacity assessments for a 2009 child protection conference. The following passage from the introduction stood out for me:

    "MCFD social workers and others make operating assumptions about their clients that may be erroneous. The psychologist’s job is to increase understanding of the client so as to make it more likely that a constructive working relationship can be formed between social worker and client leading to a return of the child or children."

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  4. I know Alison. It was an interesting preface to be sure. Encouraging. You should file that document for future reference as you seek to be the best you can be in your chosen SW career. You will be one of the very good ones.

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  5. If MCFD continues to deny the Baynes their children because they are afraid of a lawsuit, they should consider the fact that all they are really doing is adding to the damages that will be awarded should there be a lawsuit (and I have no idea if there will be - there certainly should be).

    And Kim Dragotta (above) is entirely correct in stating that this has been torture for the parents, and that the fact that they have stood up so well, with such grace and dignity, should speak volumes with respect to their capacity of parents. Once again, however, I must say that I do not believe that MCFD - or whomever at MCFD is responsible for this abominiation - cares one iota about how capable or incapable parents are. They just want to create, justify and continue their jobs for themselves. And in order to do that, they have to lie and deceive. This whole case against the Baynes is one gigantic lie, and it just keeps getting bigger all the time.

    The injustice and suffering MCFD has caused, just for this one family, is enormous, too great to even fathom.

    Imagine this poor little child, coming into the world only to be subject to the tyranny and cruelty of a bully government ministry, when he should have been at home with his brothers and sisters and mother and father, being loved and nourished. It is evil what MCFD has done here. Just evil.

    e·vil/ˈēvəl/
    Adjective: Profoundly immoral and malevolent.
    Noun: Profound immorality, wickedness, and depravity, esp. when regarded as a supernatural force

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  6. If MCFD doesn't like Dr. Bowden's report, they may withhold it - it wouldn't be the first time. They would then get another assessment, and if that was to their liking, use that one.

    There is no professional anywhere who should object - in such circumstances - the the tape recordings of meetings. And readers should know that all that is required in BC, Canada and in Canada, as far as tape recording laws go, is one party consent. YOU, the parent are that party. So tape record everything. And don't let anyone tell you it is illegal or not permitted. Because they - especially MCFD - will try to tell you this.

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  7. What is a parental capacity assessment? It is information about peoples past behaviour and achievements and it helps us to predict future behaviour. Human behaviour is consistent and predictble. Just as we find that the behaviour of people with addictions have predicatable behaviour and achievements, we rely on our nurses, doctors, bus drivers and airline pilots to have reliable and predictable behaviours. So when the judge notes that the Baynes have been steadfadst in their determination to see their children and they have made many sacrifices to do it he is providing an important component of a parental capacity assessment. He is almost giving them a reference. Unfortunately he seems to be blind to that sort of thing and seems to think that a parental assessment is some mysterious thing that can only be done by a psychologist.
    If Dr. Bowden gets the same references that I did, he will find that many of them are actually very convincing miniature parental capacity assessments.They are very positive to the parents and occasionally critical of the ministry. Would he dare quote them for fear of being told he is biased? Interesting that our favourite social worker ignored all the letters of reference as meaningless. "Any one can write a letter." The judge gave them no weight, because they were not sworn testimony. Funnily enough if you get letters of reference as an adoption applicant, or a job applicant or for any other purpose we use a different standard and find it reliable. We do not automatically assume that if a person is not sworn that they are bound to lie. Social worker affidavits were submitted under sworn affidavit and accepted by the court, even though what they wrote sometimes defied belief. So we can use reference letters and include them in a professional report and the court will take them seriously.
    When I was a youth, I served an apprenticeship as a machinist and a machine fitter--it seems like a hundred years ago and another world. My first chargehand was a man called Harry Atkins, but he also answered to the name of "Arry". A chargehand is a sort of under-foreman and the name of the foreman was Cyril Shuffle and he was far too lofty to talk with mere apprentices.Anyway teenage apprentices are quite prone to doing stupid things and I was no exception. Whenever I did something stupid,poor Arry had to sort it out and he would look at me with a long-suffering look and say in pained tones "Use your loaf mate, use your loaf." (head)
    Now whenever I see another inane action by the director (he is the one who calls all the shots) I feel like saying in pained tones "use your loaf mate, use your loaf." Unfortunately just as the bus drivers have predictable behaviour, so does the director. We can guarantee he will be adversarial to the last day.

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  8. I was mandated to have a PCA. My lawyer said she would only consent if it was Dr. Bowden doing the PCA. It was because out of all the psychologists who do this kind of work for MCFD he is the best. He was the first person who listened to me in 2 years. We had our true story and we told it right away. MCFD ignored everything we said and kept badgering us with their 'evidence'. I was at the point that I considered it was no point even telling anything positive about myself or about how I am innocent because I was ignored over and over again. MCFD would not take into account any positive letters or reports about me and kept going on as if I were a monster.
    I sat down with Dr. Bowden and he listened to me for the first time. I think it is interesting that MCFD states he is in their camp. Dr. Bowden is an independent assessor and absolutely does not work for the side of MCFD.
    He puts the most emphasis on the direct interviews, then the next step is all the people who MCFD wants interviewed. That is tricky as they try to give the people who hate the parents the most to get the worst impression in first. The next thing he wants is only 3 or 4 positive references on the parent's side. So, choose your very best people and do give him all the letters of support you have and it will help.
    By this point, it is almost like a formality. In my case, I already had my kids back by the time Dr. B. had time in his schedule to see me. He is scheduled months in advance and he spends 3 months doing the report. MCFD could not hold back the timing of me getting my kids returned nor could they keep up reasons to keep me under a supervision order by the time Dr. B. was able to see me. In that case, it was voluntary on my part. I did it anyway, however as I have had horrible things written about me by MCFD and I felt it could not get any worse. It did improve my case. My SW was sniffing around and asking Dr. Bowden what was going on as they are so nosey for bad information, but he did not reveal and it gave me a period of protection.
    Believe me, they are only choosing him because your lawyer advised it, or they have no other choice. He is more on your side than MCFD's. I am sure they are covering themselves form liability by getting this done. Take it as a good sign.
    THat being said, be very careful what you say as it can all be used against you and Dr. Bowden is skilled in appearing friendly much like an interrogator for the RCMP, so you are not obliged to tell him anything and you can just say you don't feel like talking about certain things. MCFD was trying to puseh the idea that I was abused as a child and therefore would not be a good parent. I left out about 10 years from my life story and that is my right and yours too. MCFD does get the information in the end and you know they will twist anything good said about you to the bad!!!! I learned that from experience. Good luck!

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  9. By the way, by interrogation techniques I mean that he tries to get you to relax and he appears as your friend. He is independent and not on their side or yours, but do not overly trust him either. Imagine your social worker taking in all the information you give him and be careful what you say. Do not mention any bad experiences growing up as it all goes against you.

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  10. MCFD has no power to oblige you to have a second PCA done. Also, be careful as Dr. Bowden will try to put you at ease so you will trust him and open up, but so not go out of your way to give him too much detail as it all goes to MCFD in the end and they will look over it with a fine tooth comb and try to use it against you. IF you have had any bad experiences growing up, do not mention it. IT will be used against you and not compassionately. Eat a good breakfast before you go, take breaks if you need to and do not get over tired to the point that you feel not your best. It will take about 30 hours of your time to do this, divided into separate sessions done mostly in his Vancouver office and in your home.

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  11. Anon 2:09 PM said:

    "And readers should know that all that is required in BC, Canada and in Canada, as far as tape recording laws go, is one party consent. YOU, the parent are that party. So tape record everything. And don't let anyone tell you it is illegal or not permitted. Because they - especially MCFD - will try to tell you this."

    I was interested to read this. Can you (or someone) give more information as to where I can verify this? Thanks.

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  12. To Anons 2:09 and 9:02
    Yes I also would like that validation reference, please send us a link for the law that supports the position that only one party's permission is required for tap recording of conversations

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  13. Anon at 7:17 and 7:25 and 7:29
    You sent three interesting pieces concerning Mr. Bowden and these are appreciated.

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  14. The issue with Dr. Bowden is not that he may be perceived a Ministry cheerleader, it is the waiting list and turnaround is long (3-6 mo).

    I rejected him when he was far too strongly imposed on me, and I saw all the testimony's in the Canlii.org judgments database were in MCFD's favour. However, I have been told by others his credentials are impeccable. Psychologist impartiality is a given.

    For MCFD, delay and dragging things out is the primary objective. Crabtree may also be considered impartial as well, but we see how information has been weighted. Psychologists also weight information in the same fashion.

    MCFD has already decided to return the children to the Baynes, but it uses tricks like overbooked psychologists to delay the return.

    Dr. Posthuma also works out of the same building as Dr. Bowden and his turnaround is much faster, perhaps a month from commission to completion, but he is more expensive. MCFD does not like to pay more than it has to.

    Once MCFD has milked a case for all it is worth and finally decides to return children, there is little reason for them to impose a "bad" psychologist on parents. Rest assured though, MCFD does have a list of such individuals in its arsenal.

    Parents are free to get a reply psychologist if they do not like their assessment. But, they have to pay for it themselves.

    Also, if the matter goes to court, they have to pay the MCFD psychologist very high expert fees because they are contesting the report. Likewise if MCFD does not like the report they have to pay the expert. MCFD is cheap though, they generally don't want to fork out for a second report.

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  15. By the way, I am seeing Dr. Bowden tomorrow as he is completing my assessment tomorrow. I will write how it goes. He is quite good and I read his papers online and he supports parents being with their kids and does not support kids in foster care unless there is absolutely no way for them to go home. I think that he makes agreements with MCFD and parents that are for what is considered the best options for care of the children. I don't know why MCFD is expecting Paul and Zabeth to have a PCA. In my own case it has been a way of backing out since they could not get anymore reasons to make me go to court. However, I won't know until tomorrow and then I will see if there is supposed to be further MCFD involvement for me. All the best!!!!!

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  16. And to you 11:565 PM
    May today's visit with Dr. Bowden prove to be helpful and encouraging to you.

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  17. Anon at 7:17 and 7:25 and 7:29 wrote:

    "IF you have had any bad experiences growing up, do not mention it. IT will be used against you and not compassionately."

    I would think that if you'd had bad experiences as a child, and you were able to talk about them and about how you've grown/changed/learned from, or come to terms with the experiences, that would reflect well upon you.

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  18. The webpage below covers the legal issues with respect to tape recording telephone calls. Note that all that is required in the case of a telephone call between you, the parent, and MCFD or whomever, is one party consent (and that party, of course, can be you, the parent).

    Also note that depending on the jurisdiction involved, recording telehone calls may or may not be legal. So, if you are in another country or calling or receiving a call from another jurisdiction, you should be sure what the law is before you record the call (although there may be a difference, legally, between recording the call, and what you do with that recording).

    http://www.legaltree.ca/node/908

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  19. ^Note "telephone" call. Someone may wish to clarify if this applies to "in-person" conversations.

    @Allison - You'd think.

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  20. You may be right Alison. I am not really sure what MCFD wants.
    I did see Dr. Bowden today and he wrote quite a positive report. Nothing huge was mentioned and it seems that no one thinks I am mentally ill. However, I was given low marks since I did not want to go into much about my early life. When I was there I tried to get into it a bit.
    But, I have had my words twisted around in earlier interviews with SWs. In the past when I thought I was having a nice conversation with a SW and it was written that I talk non-stop. These comments hurt and I do not know why it is not considered bad to write such insults.
    I came home a little sadder as it is quite a heavy thing to have a PCA. It is not easy as it takes hours and months and in the end, there will always be a nod to MCFD there. It is hard to explain how a person can be very well liked and considered a good parent in the community but have such a big file(me). I do have positive beliefs and optimism but it was stated that I am in self -denial as things are actually worse than I am seeing them.
    I am still glad I did not spill out my life story even if it is written that my PCA is not valid. I am glad because of my own feelings. It is not normal to meet someone for the first time (the psychologist)and tell them about all kinds of things a person has gone through. I have worked in many jobs and it in not appropriate to tell complete strangers all kinds of stuff. As usual, MCFD has me completely second guessing myself. But, my friends see me in a good way and I guess it is up to MCFD to explain themselves about their treatment of me. TO have your kids taken and be criticized non-stop and in court is tough to go through and I would say, you do not need to give away your soul to the PCA report. I have to come home at the end of the day and still manage my life and I am managing.

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  21. Alison said, at April 11, 2011 9:50:


    "I would think that if you'd had bad experiences as a child, and you were able to talk about them and about how you've grown/changed/learned from, or come to terms with the experiences, that would reflect well upon you."

    It would be nice to think so, but it would be erroneous thinking, and very unwise.

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  22. Regarding the comment about whether it is legal to record conversations which take place in person. Again, yes, it is 100% legal to record these, as long as one of the persons present consents, and that one person, again, can be the Parent:

    ------------------
    "Consent to interception of a conversation involving many people

    If many people are involved in a single conversation, it can lawfully be recorded so long as any one of the parties to the conversation consents to it being recorded. That rule is set out in s. 183.1 of the Criminal Code:

    Where a private communication is originated by more than one person or is intended by the originator thereof to be received by more than one person, a consent to the interception thereof by any one of those persons is sufficient consent for the purposes of any provision of this Part."

    http://www.legaltree.ca/node/908

    -----------------------------

    Everything I have ever read or heard about child protective services leads me to believe that one of the greatest weapons Parents have against misrepresentations of child protective services is a tape recording. So, be sure to acquire a tape recording device and have it on you all the time. Get a digital recorder if possible. Upload the recordings to the Internet, or keep copies in a safe place, because the recording may be all that saves you and your child from a lifetime of hell.

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  23. It is legal to get your preferred psychologist to do your PCA. I think it is a lot like the risk assessment process. I knew MCFD would write a risk assessment of me, so it was done a bit differently with the PCA. The psychologist makes big money from it and gives a nod to MCFD so he can get his next contract.

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  24. I had a psychiatric evaluation done by a psychiatrist that my GP recommended. My GP thinks I am an excellent mom and the psychiatrist did not have my MCFD file. The psych eval. was completely in my favour. It annoyed my SW completely. She had me do a PCA and gave my file. My file is very negative and it did influence the PCA. ALso, MCFD is paying for it. That changes everthing. THey want a certain result.

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