Clayton oversight is welcome . . . to go back to the sorry hole it came from.

The sequence of facts that led to them being in Fayette was the number of poor decisions being made in this county.

Yes, I suppose you could say it was a “poor decision” to report Cylenthia Clark (Fayette resident, head of Fulton DFCS and Chicago crony of the head of DHR) for beating her child. And I guess you could say it was a “poor decision” for the Fayette director not to be bullied by the Chicago Mob into letting Clark get away with it. Of course, the only logical response to those “poor decisions” is to make the Fayette DFCS office subject to leadership from a county that has less educated parents, worse schools and more poor people.

It is amazing that no child has been hurt or injured as yet- numerous children are returned to families before they've addressed all the issues that put the children at risk to begin with. Worse still, many children are never removed from dangerous situations because it is just easier to send the child to live with incompetent relatives than actually be bothered by taking them into custody.

Well, if you recall, all of this started with a report that a Fayette child was made to sleep “on top of dad”, which – at the direction of Clayton staff – was not investigated. That child was not removed because Clayton staff couldn’t be bothered. So, yes, it is amazing that no child in Fayette has been hurt or injured on Clayton’s watch.

And, since you obviously know nothing about how the upper management of DFCS does business these days, you have no clue that they are actually telling local offices to put children with relatives rather than removing them. DFCS management is making local offices close cases and return kids in 30 days. (What bad parent ever gets their act together in 30 days??!) So, get your facts straight before you get it wrong.

And by the way, just how much is the Clayton director getting paid to be the ax man for the Chicago Mob?

What does Clayton County's population/ demographics have to do with DFCS oversight? The director at Clayton precedes all the non-sense attributed to modern Clayton by decades, and I assure you she is too smart to align herself with the "Chicago hit-mob" for the sake of expediency. No one except the prior state DFCS director sided with Ms.Clark anyway. Good riddance to that crowd.
It didn't "all start" with Cylenthia Clark or the referral you mention. Granted there was a time when the removal of children was done, as you say, to err on the side of caution, which is usually a better approach. But since the guard changed at the CPS intake level last summer with a retirement, the current supervisors have botched things up and don't know what it means to conduct investigations, let alone adequate criteria to remove.
As for the way upper management does things- true children are placed with relatives increasingly- as a state mandate from the incompetent head of DFCS and DHR- not by Clayton's choice. These standards are statewide, not just something Clayton is trying to push on Fayette. My point is that Fayette's poor decisions stretch back a few years and are only now being brought to the forefront. Children were being placed with incompetent relatives by Fayette before it was adopted as a statewide policy.

First you said, “Worse still, many children are never removed from dangerous situations because it is just easier to send the child to live with incompetent relatives than actually be bothered by taking them into custody.

Now, you say, “Granted there was a time when the removal of children was done, as you say, to err on the side of caution, which is usually a better approach.”

Which time were you wrong? When you said it was bad to remove children to the care of a relative or when you said it’s better to remove children? Isn't the child removed from the bad parent in either case?

You wrote, “ What does Clayton County's population/ demographics have to do with DFCS oversight?

Take a look at this report about Clayton’s population – the teen pregnancy, poverty and poor education. The report specifically says that Clayton’s DFCS investigations involve neglect more than abuse. Neglectful parents don’t care about their kids and that is what Clayton is used to working with. Fayette county cares about its children. That’s the difference the population/ demographics makes.

You wrote, “The director at Clayton precedes all the non-sense attributed to modern Clayton by decades, and I assure you she is too smart to align herself with the "Chicago hit-mob" for the sake of expediency.

Lots of people side with evil bosses to get a raise and a promotion. And who says Cylenthia Clark's supporters are all gone? She was recommended for her job by none other than the head of DHR, herself (though the woman swears she didn't order anyone to hire Clark). And, in case you haven't heard, Clark hasn't been fired; she still works for DFCS. Somebody in DHR is still taking good care of her.

As for the way upper management does things- true children are placed with relatives increasingly- as a state mandate from the incompetent head of DFCS and DHR- not by Clayton's choice. These standards are statewide, not just something Clayton is trying to push on Fayette. My point is that Fayette's poor decisions stretch back a few years and are only now being brought to the forefront. Children were being placed with incompetent relatives by Fayette before it was adopted as a statewide policy.

So, placing children with relatives was a bad policy when Fayette DFCS did it but it’s a better policy when the whole State was forced to do it and when Clayton DFCS was put in charge to make Fayette DFCS place children with relatives? Have I got that right?

One last thing, allgood. You said that all of the “poor decisions” by Fayette DFCS “stretch back a few years” but in the same blog, you state that the problems with intake started “last summer” when the guard changed with a retirement. Is “last summer” the same as stretching back “a few years” or are you just making it up as you go along? And, more important, what single Fayette DFCS employee was so fantastic that the entire Fayette DFCS office went to hell in a hand basket when they retired? Honestly, enquiring minds want to know.

Children placed with relatives without being taken into protective custody (two different things, fan, I'll give you time to catch up) is generally a bad idea, no matter whose policy it is, because the children lack the oversight of the juvenile court, generally speaking. As a result,there is no real incentive for the parents to comply. It's just DFCS "suggesting" that they do something or risk losing custody of their children. In far too many instances the relatives allow the parents unrestrained access to the kids. That's the weakness in the system. I think this statewide policy is a dangerous one.

As for the demographics issue, again I stand by my former statement. DFCS staff don't "specialize" in neglect as opposed to physical abuse, etc. So to say that because one county sees more of one type of deprivation than another doesn't mean they don't know policy. What I am referring to is the fundamental apathy that has been prevalent at Fayette DFCS for a while. Last summer was the tipping point. Suffice it to say that this sort of scrutiny was needed.

according to the state, was that they were taking too many kids....not that they are failing to protect kids. Virgil Fludd is also concerned that Fayette has taken too many children out of their homes. These folks in Fulton County and Clayton County want Fayette to screen OUT more cases, not screen in more cases. Fayette is over-protecting as opposed to leaving babies to be murdered like Amiya in Fulton. allgood, I have no clue where you get your facts, but Fayette does not close out too many cases.....if anything, they err on the side of taking kids out too often.

Fayette is being punished for trying to do the right thing for the kids in this county. As for Amiya in Fulton, there but for the grace of God goes Fayette -- as long as Clayton is allowed to strong arm Fayette DFCS.

Send Clayton packing before we have an Amiya in Fayette!

I believe you cast aspersions, not dispersions.

tc - great question and one that should be asked by more of our Fayette County citizens. There will be an open Fayette County DFACS Board Meeting next Tuesday June 10 at 9:30am at the DFACS office on South GA 85. I encourage as many citizens as possible to be there along with any mandated reporter serving in Fayette County. We need answers as to why Fayette County has specifically been targeted and Clayton County workers sent here to directly oversee our staff? Why is Clayton taking reports of abuse from our Fayette County staff and making the decision to not investigate the alleged abuse that prior to Clayton County walking in the door our staff would have investigated?

It is putting our children at great risk and these actions must be answered and discontinued before a child dies in Fayette County. Our Fayette County DFACS Board is taking a strong stance to protect our children but Clayton County is still here!!!