their homes, vehicles and life savings, and were forced into bankruptcy. Wilson said the emotional damage to families is devastating.
'I can't begin to tell you the pain and suffering I've seen from having the children ripped from their (parents) custody', he said. 'Taken out of the home for six months, that child is never the same'.
When supporters Laura Erpelding of Metamora and Joy Boots of Lapeer raised the issue at a county board meeting in January, Lapeer's FIA director Thomas Dillon said the social workers he knows do everything in their power to keep families together.
Dillion also said his agency doesn't remove children from the home. The courts do. Frederick told commissioners judges take the FIA's word '95% of the time'. She and Wilson offered to help get the FOC committee up and running.
Commissioners listened to their concerns and asked for details. But they made no commitments.
Vice Chairman Cheryl Clark said an FOC advisory board has nothing to do with the FIA taking children out of homes.
Wilson said sometimes it does.
When parents are bickering over custody and visitation rights, the FIA can step in and claim that's emotional abuse. She's handling a case like that in Saginaw now.
'The FIA can't go and look at Friend of the Court records', said Clark.
'Yes they can,' the attorney told her. 'All it takes is an allegation'. Clark asked for local statistics.
Joseph later said the FIA does not come in and look at FOC records. His caseworkers are required by law to refer clients to Protective Services, a division of the FIA, when they are aware of potential abuse or neglect.
Frederick said the state is bringing in caseworkers who don't understand a small community's traditions and values. An advisory could help educate them, she said. She also shared complaints of rude employees at the FOC office in Lapeer.
'My staff is human, too', Joseph said. 'I'm sure on any given day, to any given client, they may have been rude. I also think that's by and large the exception to the rule. It may be predicated on a client's behavior. Some of our clients can be very abusive. But we do try to stress professionalism here'.
Commissioners said it was their understanding most of the December protesters came from outside of the county. Wilson said that's not true. Lapeer area residents solicited his group.
Though he and Frederick are available for commissioners and residents, they would not be involved with the advisory committee. Frederick said volunteers who cared about the cause would be the most valuable.
'Your primary focus is going to be on the caseworker, not the agency', commissioner Dick Scrimger said.
Another commissioner, Ron Dahlke, asked Boots for a copy of the law that requires an advisory board. Wilson agreed when he said it's vague.
Clark said it's poorly written legislation. The Michigan Association of Counties' advice, she said, is not to appoint a committee until the problems are resolved.
Wilson said his dream is to see advisory boards active in all 83 counties. So far 26 are up and running, but 'not the way they should', he said, because funding and privacy are of statewide concern.
Chairman David Taylor said the issue could be debated all day, but it was time to move on to other business.
Joseph said Tuesday he has not had time yet to closely review the group's literature that a commissioner turned over to him. At first glance, some of the information appears erroneous, he said. He plans to address the issue 'in the near future' in a county board session. Meanwhile, he will refer commissioners to probate Judge Clayton Preisel, who deals with those cases.
The County Press - March 3, 1999
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