Letters to the Editors
An uncaring system, a senseless death
Re: Mother's fears, welfare's limits collide, Jan. 23.
Sarah MacLeod's senseless death is a very sad, permanent
Elaine Fulton-Jones, spokeswoman for the Department of
This statement is shallow, classically political and
Where was the so-called list of guidelines provided by
Ask yourself -- did Sarah MacLeod know of her appeal
There is no acceptable reason/excuse for any other
Sharron D. Bader, St. Petersburg
Re: Mother's fears, welfare's limits collide, Jan. 23.
I am very saddened to see Sarah MacLeod dead as a result
I am terminally ill with cancer and yet the Social Security
It seems that this sick woman just could not fight the
The welfare bums need to go to work, but you would
Glenda Beard, Seffner
Re: Mother's fears, welfare's limits collide.
I wonder what would happen if I, as a counselor in
James Noyes, Ed.D., Pinellas Park
"Too troubled for foster care, kids grow up in institutions"
From the New York Times, May 13, 2001
Adoption Murder In Bayfield, Colorado
Department of Children and Families
Department of Children and Families
result of an uncaring and dehumanized system that was
supposed to help some of the people it is destroying.
Children and Families said: "Our staff who determine
eligibility do occasionally make mistakes. That's exactly
why they have an appeal process."
well-written by DCF's public relations personnel. They
obviously did not comfort or help an already
desperate-feeling Sarah MacLeod.
DCF to its staff when the employee in this case made
the expected "occasional mistake"? Every one of us is
human and makes mistakes. However, as evidenced by the
suicide of Sarah MacLeod, some mistakes result in the
harm, and even death, of another human being, not to
mention the deep sorrow and permanent feelings of loss
of the surviving family members and friends.
-process rights and did she understand them, if she
was even aware of them? Did the DCF employee who made
a "mistake" explain or advise MacLeod of this process?
Did anybody at DCF even bother to offer alternatives
for feeding her daughter and herself during this process?
What plans does DCF have to re-educate its personnel
so nobody else takes her own life?
family to suffer the permanent despair, desperation
and sadness the MacLeod family must now live with.
Where is compassion?
of yet another error on the part of the Department of
Children and Families. It seems MacLeod was chronically
ill and unable to fight the system any longer. Social
Security had denied her claim to benefits, which is its
normal policy even for people who are dying.
representative, knowing that I have metastasized cancer
-- a condition that Social Security does not even
challenge -- said to me, "Just because the doctors say
that you are disabled and terminally ill does not
necessarily mean that Social Security will determine
that you are unable to work." Given that this is the
way the terminally ill are treated, the chronically ill
often must fight for years to get their benefits.
system any longer in her condition. The last straw was
an attempt on the part of the system to harm her child,
which drove her over the edge. Now the system says that
this was just an "oops" on their part, that she was
entitled to food stamps, and that had she just continued
to fight when she had no strength left to fight with,
she could have gotten the food stamps and they would
not have harmed her daughter by counting her student
loan as income for the family.
think that there might be some compassion for those
who are disabled!
What would happen?
private practice, had a client kill herself because
I gave her the wrong information?
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 30, 2000
(If anyone has current information on
Child Protection laws in any state,
or on any current systemic abuse cases,
please e-mail me!)
Count Brass
Broward County Sun-Sentinel published an excellent series
beginning with:
Adoption Scandal At Hale House
The St. Petersburg Times has published an article
on a family tragedy caused by the system entitled:
Mothers' fears, welfare's limits collide"
Discussion Groups and On-Line Clubs
Strike Back Children's Services
Broward County, Florida
Why is little Ashleigh in State care?