Next Step program may do more harm than good

Reports of Siskiyou County's Next Step drug rehabilitation (perinatal) program running amok have led The Corruption Report to investigate it.

When most parents are in the throes of court proceedings with the Department of Children and Family Services, they tend to make the mistake of jumping through whatever proverbial hoops are presented to them by the Department of Children and Family Services.

Next Step is of the most common proverbial hoops in Siskiyou County.

Complaints of the two women running the program not having enough proper education to run such a program leaked to The Corruption Report several months ago. Video footage of one of the women in charge terrorizing a mother in the program for asking what coloring in coloring books had to do with drug rehabilitation was soon to follow.

There has been no reasoning given as to why Juvenile Dependency Court judges are requiring such a high percentage of the mothers accused of child abuse or neglect to go through this program, but one thing is for sure: the sheer volume of mothers forced to attend the program who have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are not drug addicts has gained The Corruption Report's attention.

Two years ago, when Serenah's Angels did a study on 87 random judges dealing with DCFS cases, the results shocked the country. Only two judges did not have clear and convincing ties to DCFS contracted agencies, such as Next Step.

The results of judges ordering innocent parents to be tied up in the system when they should have their children at home with them is merely one aspect of what is haunting The System today.

Sources claim these programs do irreparable damage to the parents and families due to not having the proper education to run such a program is far more reaching in the lives of the children and families caught in The System than simply being separated from one another.

Reportedly, in addition to breaking the parent-child bonds of family in deciding to unnecessarily separate children from their natural parents, judges' orders sending parents to abusive and inefficient programs like Next Step may be placing families at further risk, sources say.

Serenah's Angels has made two distinctions in who to report DCFS judges who are tied to DCFS contracted agencies to in one way or another:

If the program is getting Federal monies, gather up all evidence against the judge, what damage the judge has caused by making the biased decision and turn them into your local Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) office. Physically visit them with the evidence, don't just call it in.

If the program is only getting County/State monies, gather up all evidence against the judge, what damage the judge has caused by making the biased decision and turn them into your state's Attorney General's office. Be sure not to alert your local District Attorney. Go straight to your state A.G.'s office, unless you are certain the District Attorney will be inclined to prosecute a local judge they have to face in court on a regular basis.