Petition 30: the Capen Petition

PETITION #30 grievance of Bethany Capen.  (Report Filed 7/31/12)

MAJORITY

Grievance Founded with Recommendations.

Committee Majority Findings:

The Redress of Grievances Committee heard testimony and reviewed documents supporting allegations of abuse by the Division for Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) toward the adoptive (foster care licensed) mother of a troubled child who (along with DCYF) understood might need expensive help in the future. The adoption was accompanied by DCYF assurances with the mother that such support would be forthcoming, if needed, from the agency. What the Committee finds is that when the child did indeed begin to show serious and expensive mental problems for which the normal sources of funding proved inadequate, and the only likely source of funding would be the federal government, a series of wrongful actions by DCYF took place including: 

1. Repeatedly pressuring the Petitioner to surrender the child into the custody of the state by threats that if she did not do so she would be accused of abuse and neglect;

2. Misrepresenting to a probate court judge the legal definition of child neglect for the purpose of gaining state custody of the child;

3. Withholding even to this day hearings officer ordered documents to which the mother had a right in making her case;

4. Initiating contact with Petitioner's place of employment to effectively terminate her employment;

5. Holding email conversations between employees looking for grounds to deny Petitioner her foster care license admitting they had none, and;

6. Withholding her license without cause, without notification, and by devious means and otherwise discriminatory treatment of a qualified foster care provider.  

The Committee also finds that the Petitioner's written requests for review to the ombudsman and later to the Commissioner of HHS from months ago and longer remain unanswered. 

Recommendations:

The Committee agrees that because of the injuries sustained by the mother to her reputation, her financial well being and her family relationship; and because the laws of the state on various levels have been abrogated, and may be so systemically as supported by previous petitions, an investigation into this case would be wise. The inability of the Redress of Grievances Committee to gain even the most general information from DCYF without resorting to the use of subpoena powers, coupled with the problems associated with the statutorily required provision of information in this case, unfortunately invites the question of the possibility that the Division is involved in activities it does not want to have reviewed. As in previous reports this Committee believes the time has come for a government oversight committee of the House so that questions like this can be quickly and effectively reviewed and that public trust in our agencies be maintained. Aside from that approach to oversight the Committee recommends legislation making any ombudsman's office operate out of the Legislature and not the agencies themselves. 

Vote 9-2.

Rep. Robert Willette for the Majority of the Committee.

MINORITY

Grievance Unfounded.

Committee Minority Findings:

The Minority regretfully finds Bethany Capen's petition to be unfounded.

The Petitioner was a longtime foster parent, who served on the board of the NH Foster and Adoptive Parent Association.  For almost a decade, the Petitioner taught FACES (Foster and Adoption Care Essentials) courses at Granite State College.

The Petitioner and her husband adopted a special needs child whom they had been fostering since he was three months old.  They divorced shortly after the adoption.  Her son's needs proved to be more than she could handle as a single mother, since he needed residential care. She gave up her parental rights after a legal battle with the Department of Health and Human Services.

One of her grievances is that Attorney Dennis May (who works for DHHS) misrepresented the law to a probate court judge.  The laws in question were those relating to abuse and neglect of children.  The Minority does not condone any lawyers misrepresenting the law to any judge, but it is unclear that Attorney May actually did so.  Even if he did misrepresent the law, a judge does not need to rely on either side's lawyers to know what the law is.  Moreover, this particular case was about an area of the law which probate courts deal with all the time.

It is worth noting that the Petitioner admitted to being physically and financially unable to care for her son.  She told the Committee that she feels it was improper for DHHS  to accuse her of neglect because she was neither disabled nor indigent.

Her two biggest grievances are that the Division for Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) stopped using her as a foster parent and as a FACES instructor.  The Minority believes that we should defer to the DCYF's judgment in both areas, even when these judgments are based in part on subjective impressions.  Children should be placed in the Petitioner's home only if the DCYF feels comfortable doing so.  Likewise, the Petitioner should be teaching the FACES course only if the DCYF and Granite State College feel comfortable with using her as the instructor.  The Petitioner produced some emails which show that one or more officials believed that she might not teach the course the way they wanted it to be taught.  Unfortunately for the Petitioner, that is a sufficient reason for hiring a different adjunct instructor. 

Rep. Timothy Horrigan for the Minority of the Committee.

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