Law - World-of-Newave.info http://answers.world-of-newave.info/law.htm Latest news and articles about Law en-us Copyright (c)2004-2008. All rights reserved. webmaster@world-of-newave.com (Webmaster) Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:16:18 GMT Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:16:18 GMT Newave Lisa XML Engine v1.0 - http://www.world-of-newave.info/about.htm 60 http://www.world-of-newave.info/images/wi8831.gif World-of-Newave.info - Knowledge and Informational Database http://www.world-of-newave.info/ 88 31 {ENVIRONMENT > NEWS} - ARGENTINA: Frustration Over Veto of Glacier Protection Law http://articles.world-of-newave.info/science/environment/news/argentina-frustration-over-veto-of-glacier-protection-2008123636.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/science/environment/news/argentina-frustration-over-veto-of-glacier-protection-2008123636.htm Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:13:00 GMT BUENOS AIRES, Nov 28 (Tierramérica) - The decision by the administration of Cristina Fernández to veto a law to protect Argentina's glaciers -- important reserves of freshwater -- has caused deep concern among scientists and environmentalists who participated in writing the legislation. Ipsnews.Net ARGENTINA: Frustration Over Veto of Glacier Protection Law {new window}   Www.Ipsnews.Net - BUENOS AIRES, Nov 28 (Tierramérica) - The decision by the administration of Cristina Fernández to veto a law to protect Argentina's glaciers -- important reserves of freshwater -- has caused deep concern among scientists and environmentalists who participated in writing the legislation.
The decision by the administration of Cristina Fernández to veto a law to protect Argentina's glaciers -- important reserves of freshwater -- has caused deep concern among scientists and environmentalists who participated in writing the legislation. {...}
Indexed: December 1, 2008, 9:13 am - Page Size: 66KB
Category: Science > Environment > News

]]> Science > Environment > News {ISSUES > THE SOUTH} - The Burlington Declaration http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/territorial-disputes/united-states/the-south/the-burlington-declaration-2008122411.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/territorial-disputes/united-states/the-south/the-burlington-declaration-2008122411.htm Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:03:26 GMT FIRST-EVER NORTH AMERICAN SECESSIONIST CONVENTION A SUCCESS MEETING BRINGS MORE THAN 40 SECESSIONISTS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY TO BURLINGTON, VERMONT November 8, 2006 The first North American Secessionist Convention was held in Vermont last week-end [November 3-5, 2006] and attracted more than three dozen people from groups actively working for secession from the United States.The gathering, sponsored by the Middlebury Institute (http://www.middleburyinstitute.net - "for the study of separatism, secession, and self-determination"), drew 43 people, with delegatesfrom 16 secessionist organizations in 18 states, including Hawaii, Alaska, Cascadia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, andNew Hampshire.The convention issued a document outlining its basic points of agreement at the end of the meeting. The Burlington Declaration stated: We, the participants in the First North American Secessionist Convention, though representing many different and diverse groups and constituencies, agree on the following principles as representing the truths of natural law and historical experience:1. Any political entity has the right to separate itself from a larger body of which it is a part and peaceably to establish its independence as a free and legitimate state in the eyes of the world.2. Governments are instituted among peoples, deriving their just powers from the consent of their citizens, and whenever any form of government becomes destructive of the legitimate goals of life, liberty, prosperity, and self-determination, it is the right of the people in democratic fashion to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.3. Any government formed by and dependent upon a constitution to regulate its actions and affairs has certain legitimate powers delegated to it, but any powers not so delegated are reserved to the people of that state and their democratically chosen political bodies.4. Nations once independent should engage in peace, commerce, good will, and honest friendship with all nations, and observe good faith, justice, and harmony toward all, but establish entangling relationships with none, nor engage in colonial dominance, political or economic, over any.5. Direct democracy, with one vote for each and every citizen (as the polity shall designate citizenship), has proven to be a desirable form of governance among people, but it can operate with justice and equality only when at a small enough scale that each person may be known to every other person; when representative forms of government are undertaken, they should likewise best be established at a scale small enough so that each representative can be informed of the opinions and beliefs of the general run of the people in the constituency or community which that person is chosen to represent.It is within this body of principles that we ask all governments to operate and it is by them that we ourselves, individually and the organizations we represent, intend to be guided.Burlington, Vermont November 4, 2006 Blogger.Com The Burlington Declaration {new window}   Www.Blogger.Com - FIRST-EVER NORTH AMERICAN SECESSIONIST CONVENTION A SUCCESS MEETING BRINGS MORE THAN 40 SECESSIONISTS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY TO BURLINGTON, VERMONT November 8, 2006 The first North American Secessionist Convention was held in Vermont last week-end [November 3-5, 2006] and attracted more than three dozen people from groups actively working for secession from the United States.The gathering, sponsored by the Middlebury Institute (http://www.middleburyinstitute.net - "for the study of separatism, secession, and self-determination"), drew 43 people, with delegatesfrom 16 secessionist organizations in 18 states, including Hawaii, Alaska, Cascadia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, andNew Hampshire.The convention issued a document outlining its basic points of agreement at the end of the meeting. The Burlington Declaration stated: We, the participants in the First North American Secessionist Convention, though representing many different and diverse groups and constituencies, agree on the following principles as representing the truths of natural law and historical experience:1. Any political entity has the right to separate itself from a larger body of which it is a part and peaceably to establish its independence as a free and legitimate state in the eyes of the world.2. Governments are instituted among peoples, deriving their just powers from the consent of their citizens, and whenever any form of government becomes destructive of the legitimate goals of life, liberty, prosperity, and self-determination, it is the right of the people in democratic fashion to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.3. Any government formed by and dependent upon a constitution to regulate its actions and affairs has certain legitimate powers delegated to it, but any powers not so delegated are reserved to the people of that state and their democratically chosen political bodies.4. Nations once independent should engage in peace, commerce, good will, and honest friendship with all nations, and observe good faith, justice, and harmony toward all, but establish entangling relationships with none, nor engage in colonial dominance, political or economic, over any.5. Direct democracy, with one vote for each and every citizen (as the polity shall designate citizenship), has proven to be a desirable form of governance among people, but it can operate with justice and equality only when at a small enough scale that each person may be known to every other person; when representative forms of government are undertaken, they should likewise best be established at a scale small enough so that each representative can be informed of the opinions and beliefs of the general run of the people in the constituency or community which that person is chosen to represent.It is within this body of principles that we ask all governments to operate and it is by them that we ourselves, individually and the organizations we represent, intend to be guided.Burlington, Vermont November 4, 2006
Indexed: December 1, 2008, 9:03 am - Page Size: 4KB
Category: Society > Issues > Territorial Disputes > United States > The South

]]> Society > Issues > Territorial Disputes > United States > The South {NORTH AMERICA > RENTALS} - Fully remodeled In Law unit in a quite neighborhood (san mateo) $1350 1bd http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/north-america/united-states/california/metro-areas/san-francisco-bay-area/business-and-economy/real-estate/rentals/fully-remodeled-in-law-unit-in-a-quite-neighborhood-2008121511.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/north-america/united-states/california/metro-areas/san-francisco-bay-area/business-and-economy/real-estate/rentals/fully-remodeled-in-law-unit-in-a-quite-neighborhood-2008121511.htm Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:40:02 GMT Located in the heart of Shore view community, just step away from your local transportation and restaurant and local shopping center, easy access to freeway. Lots of privacy with a private entrance in a quite neighborhood. Move will require 1350$ deposit and first month 1350$ application 30$ Utilities included, shared patio area. Driveway parking and street. Please no section 8 and please no pets. Please contact JJ at 925-989-9667 for any information. Sfbay.Craigslist.Org Fully remodeled In Law unit in a quite neighborhood (san mateo) $1350 1bd {new window}   Sfbay.Craigslist.Org - Located in the heart of Shore view community, just step away from your local transportation and restaurant and local shopping center, easy access to freeway. Lots of privacy with a private entrance in a quite neighborhood. Move will require 1350$ deposit and first month 1350$ application 30$ Utilities included, shared patio area. Driveway parking and street. Please no section 8 and please no pets. Please contact JJ at 925-989-9667 for any information.
Fully remodeled In Law unit in a quite neighborhood {...}
Published: December 1, 2008, 7:40 am - Indexed: December 1, 2008, 8:16 am - Page Size: 5KB
Category: Regional > North America > United States > California > Metro Areas > San Francisco Bay Area > Business and Economy > Real Estate > Rentals

]]> Regional > North America > United States > California > Metro Areas > San Francisco Bay Area > Business and Economy > Real Estate > Rentals {NORTH AMERICA > RENTALS} - nu 1b w/own entry in shared remodeled central house available now! (excel. location in s.bay) $680 http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/north-america/united-states/california/metro-areas/san-francisco-bay-area/business-and-economy/real-estate/rentals/nu-1b-w-own-entry-in-shared-remodeled-central-house-2008121701.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/north-america/united-states/california/metro-areas/san-francisco-bay-area/business-and-economy/real-estate/rentals/nu-1b-w-own-entry-in-shared-remodeled-central-house-2008121701.htm Mon, 01 Dec 2008 06:57:30 GMT This is an elegant lightly furnished large bright room (in in-law unit) with own entry(you can host) kitchen area to it of a single house residence. It features : * Approximately 13x13 or 170 Square feet living space. * New Kitchen cabinet. * New carpet. * Remodeled Kitchen. * Remodeled bathroom. * Swimming pool. .. and much more. Excellent Central Cupertino nice quiet location, border to sunnyvale, mt.view,santa clara,los altos, saratoga. san jose, etc. around high quality resident neighborhood(big pier 39 setting is being built next block about 200 acres, santana row is five minutes away,tennis court, stadium, track, soccer baseball field, is within 100ft,etc). ideal for busy mature active professional with current active single neat professional shared house with min. $850 value If you take whole essentially furnished in law unit (two bedrooms one bath with own light kitchen),would be preferred. Testimony from latest Engineer--typical American in 20, 30s from Apple,(prefer male professional this time): close to work, nice place, own entry, share with great roommate, etc., which is exactly what I want Only serious one would be considered, prefer one person, who could take the unit later after take this room now and please leave contact tel. no. Sfbay.Craigslist.Org nu 1b w/own entry in shared remodeled central house available now! (excel. location in s.bay) $680 {new window}   Sfbay.Craigslist.Org - This is an elegant lightly furnished large bright room (in in-law unit) with own entry(you can host) kitchen area to it of a single house residence. It features : * Approximately 13x13 or 170 Square feet living space. * New Kitchen cabinet. * New carpet. * Remodeled Kitchen. * Remodeled bathroom. * Swimming pool. .. and much more. Excellent Central Cupertino nice quiet location, border to sunnyvale, mt.view,santa clara,los altos, saratoga. san jose, etc. around high quality resident neighborhood(big pier 39 setting is being built next block about 200 acres, santana row is five minutes away,tennis court, stadium, track, soccer baseball field, is within 100ft,etc). ideal for busy mature active professional with current active single neat professional shared house with min. $850 value If you take whole essentially furnished in law unit (two bedrooms one bath with own light kitchen),would be preferred. Testimony from latest Engineer--typical American in 20, 30s from Apple,(prefer male professional this time): close to work, nice place, own entry, share with great roommate, etc., which is exactly what I want Only serious one would be considered, prefer one person, who could take the unit later after take this room now and please leave contact tel. no.
nu 1b w/own entry in shared remodeled central house available now! {...}
Published: December 1, 2008, 6:57 am - Indexed: December 1, 2008, 8:17 am - Page Size: 6KB
Category: Regional > North America > United States > California > Metro Areas > San Francisco Bay Area > Business and Economy > Real Estate > Rentals

]]> Regional > North America > United States > California > Metro Areas > San Francisco Bay Area > Business and Economy > Real Estate > Rentals {NORTH AMERICA > RENTALS} - Cottage in Beautiful Setting (berkeley) $1600 1bd http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/north-america/united-states/california/metro-areas/san-francisco-bay-area/business-and-economy/real-estate/rentals/cottage-in-beautiful-setting-berkeley-1600-1bd-2008124081.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/north-america/united-states/california/metro-areas/san-francisco-bay-area/business-and-economy/real-estate/rentals/cottage-in-beautiful-setting-berkeley-1600-1bd-2008124081.htm Mon, 01 Dec 2008 06:43:12 GMT A secluded in-law unit in a hidden ravine in the middle of Berkeley! Located behind main house but with complete privacy, it has a combined living-kitchen area (approx. 15'x22') and one small bedroom which fits a queen-size bed and dresser. Good closets. Unit is situated in lovely, safe, wooded area in Claremont District. Walk past waterfall on way to front door. Private patio surrounded by trees. Walk to shopping, buses, and BART. Easy street parking. Rent includes all utilities plus washer-dryer. Best for one person. Showing now for January 1, 2009 occupancy. If interested, please e-mail and briefly say something about yourself. Give phone number and times when I may reach you. Year lease and references required. Sfbay.Craigslist.Org Cottage in Beautiful Setting (berkeley) $1600 1bd {new window}   Sfbay.Craigslist.Org - A secluded in-law unit in a hidden ravine in the middle of Berkeley! Located behind main house but with complete privacy, it has a combined living-kitchen area (approx. 15'x22') and one small bedroom which fits a queen-size bed and dresser. Good closets. Unit is situated in lovely, safe, wooded area in Claremont District. Walk past waterfall on way to front door. Private patio surrounded by trees. Walk to shopping, buses, and BART. Easy street parking. Rent includes all utilities plus washer-dryer. Best for one person. Showing now for January 1, 2009 occupancy. If interested, please e-mail and briefly say something about yourself. Give phone number and times when I may reach you. Year lease and references required.
Cottage in Beautiful Setting {...}
Published: December 1, 2008, 6:43 am - Indexed: December 1, 2008, 8:15 am - Page Size: 5KB
Category: Regional > North America > United States > California > Metro Areas > San Francisco Bay Area > Business and Economy > Real Estate > Rentals

]]> Regional > North America > United States > California > Metro Areas > San Francisco Bay Area > Business and Economy > Real Estate > Rentals {NORTH AMERICA > RENTALS} - Fairy Tale Cottage Sublet - includes parking and utilities (russian hill) $3800 2bd http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/north-america/united-states/california/metro-areas/san-francisco-bay-area/business-and-economy/real-estate/rentals/fairy-tale-cottage-sublet-includes-parking-and-2008123662.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/north-america/united-states/california/metro-areas/san-francisco-bay-area/business-and-economy/real-estate/rentals/fairy-tale-cottage-sublet-includes-parking-and-2008123662.htm Mon, 01 Dec 2008 06:38:54 GMT We're going to be on sabbatical from May 30, 2009, to the end of August, 2010 -- 15 months. Our home is an ideal for a sabbatical, for law or accounting interns, or for use as corporate housing. It's a thoroughly updated Victorian cottage with bay windows in front. . . painted purple . . . with a red door. A vibrant bouganvillea drapes one corner. Abundant windows throughout and a huge skylight and French doors that open onto a spacious deck make the inside remarkably bright and open. The flower-laden deck is a wonderful outside eating area. The house is compact but very livable. Kitchen, dining and living area as well as one bedroom and full bath upstairs; downstairs are a bedroom/office, office, and full bath. The downstairs also has a private entrance and its own little shaded patio. Perfect for housemates or for a family with one child. The home is ideal for work-at-home, with the downstairs set up for work, the upstairs for LIFE. Full-size washer dryer; dishwasher; tv/stereo; cable TV; broadband access. PARKING is included, though you do NOT need to rent a car to enjoy our location in San Francisco. You just can't find a better location in San Francisco -- 1/2 block from the Hyde Street cable car line, easy access to public transportation; easy, easy strolling distance to shopping, wonderful restaurants, a multitude of coffee shops, theatres, North Beach, Chinatown, the Bay. . . the house is on a charming alley, so the location is quiet despite being in the heart of things. There's no private tennis court, but a few blocks away are two lovely public courts. We have sweet next-door neighbors, too, who will be happy to guide you and answer questions. We keep a key in a lockbox, so you won't have any access problems. We have an extensive library of books, maps, etc., of San Francisco. We have an extensive set of instructions on how the house operates (it's really not that complicated, though.) We do not smoke and prefer that you do so outside. Our very pleasant deck is a hospitable place for smokers. We will consider pets with references. Please have a look at the site we normally use for exchanges: http://homeexchange.com/show.php?id=13986. You will find photos here and a full description of the house and our wonderful Polk Street neighborhood. Note that the kitchen and upstairs bathroom have been remodeled, so everything is even newer and nicer than the pictures show. Oh, yes... we'll provide references for YOU as well as asking them of you! Visit http://www.rentors.org/guestbook.cfm?pid=61464 Sfbay.Craigslist.Org Fairy Tale Cottage Sublet - includes parking and utilities (russian hill) $3800 2bd {new window}   Sfbay.Craigslist.Org - We're going to be on sabbatical from May 30, 2009, to the end of August, 2010 -- 15 months. Our home is an ideal for a sabbatical, for law or accounting interns, or for use as corporate housing. It's a thoroughly updated Victorian cottage with bay windows in front. . . painted purple . . . with a red door. A vibrant bouganvillea drapes one corner. Abundant windows throughout and a huge skylight and French doors that open onto a spacious deck make the inside remarkably bright and open. The flower-laden deck is a wonderful outside eating area. The house is compact but very livable. Kitchen, dining and living area as well as one bedroom and full bath upstairs; downstairs are a bedroom/office, office, and full bath. The downstairs also has a private entrance and its own little shaded patio. Perfect for housemates or for a family with one child. The home is ideal for work-at-home, with the downstairs set up for work, the upstairs for LIFE. Full-size washer dryer; dishwasher; tv/stereo; cable TV; broadband access. PARKING is included, though you do NOT need to rent a car to enjoy our location in San Francisco. You just can't find a better location in San Francisco -- 1/2 block from the Hyde Street cable car line, easy access to public transportation; easy, easy strolling distance to shopping, wonderful restaurants, a multitude of coffee shops, theatres, North Beach, Chinatown, the Bay. . . the house is on a charming alley, so the location is quiet despite being in the heart of things. There's no private tennis court, but a few blocks away are two lovely public courts. We have sweet next-door neighbors, too, who will be happy to guide you and answer questions. We keep a key in a lockbox, so you won't have any access problems. We have an extensive library of books, maps, etc., of San Francisco. We have an extensive set of instructions on how the house operates (it's really not that complicated, though.) We do not smoke and prefer that you do so outside. Our very pleasant deck is a hospitable place for smokers. We will consider pets with references. Please have a look at the site we normally use for exchanges: http://homeexchange.com/show.php?id=13986. You will find photos here and a full description of the house and our wonderful Polk Street neighborhood. Note that the kitchen and upstairs bathroom have been remodeled, so everything is even newer and nicer than the pictures show. Oh, yes... we'll provide references for YOU as well as asking them of you! Visit http://www.rentors.org/guestbook.cfm?pid=61464
Fairy Tale Cottage Sublet - includes parking and utilities {...}
Published: December 1, 2008, 6:38 am - Indexed: December 1, 2008, 8:32 am - Page Size: 7KB
Category: Regional > North America > United States > California > Metro Areas > San Francisco Bay Area > Business and Economy > Real Estate > Rentals

]]> Regional > North America > United States > California > Metro Areas > San Francisco Bay Area > Business and Economy > Real Estate > Rentals {NORTH AMERICA > RENTALS} - Newly Remodeled 3 Br/3 Ba Split Level Westlake Home (daly city) $2700 3bd http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/north-america/united-states/california/metro-areas/san-francisco-bay-area/business-and-economy/real-estate/rentals/newly-remodeled-3-br-3-ba-split-level-westlake-home-2008129601.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/north-america/united-states/california/metro-areas/san-francisco-bay-area/business-and-economy/real-estate/rentals/newly-remodeled-3-br-3-ba-split-level-westlake-home-2008129601.htm Mon, 01 Dec 2008 06:27:59 GMT Beautiful completely remodeled split level, 3br/3ba home in the highly desirable Westlake Area of Daly City. The 3rd bedroom and bathroom are in the in-law studio, which is newly added with a permit. Everthing is new in the in-law studio. This home will be ready to move in by mid to late December. Will provide pictures at a later date. Come and check out the location and lay out of this home even before it is ready. Please contact Susan at 650-307-7338 to make an appointment. Features: * New paint inside and outside of house * Brand new cherry cabinets, granite countertop, faucets, stainless steel double sink and tiles in kitchen * All three bathrooms are newly done with new tubs, faucets, light fixtures and tiles * Brand new double paned windows and new window coverings throughout the house * Whole house has brand new 6 panel doors and new handles * Brand new hardwood floor throughout the house * Spacious living room * Bright dinning room * One car garage, drive way and plenty of street parking * Washer and Dryer included Convenient Location: * Walking distance to Westlake Shopping Center and schools * Approximately 7 minutes drive to SFSU * Very close to Sam Tran Bus Lines, Muni Bus Stops and Bart Station * Easy access to Highways 280 and 35 (Skyline Blvd.) Terms: * One year lease minimum * Move in cost: One month rent ($2700) plus security deposit ($2700) * Utilities not included Special Request: * No smoking and no pets * Landlord does not accept section 8 * Be ready to fill out application that provides work and credit history when visit property * Potential tenant is charged $25.00 for credit check ** Landlord seeking tenants with good references, good credit report, who would appreciate and are willing to take good care of this property. Sfbay.Craigslist.Org Newly Remodeled 3 Br/3 Ba Split Level Westlake Home (daly city) $2700 3bd {new window}   Sfbay.Craigslist.Org - Beautiful completely remodeled split level, 3br/3ba home in the highly desirable Westlake Area of Daly City. The 3rd bedroom and bathroom are in the in-law studio, which is newly added with a permit. Everthing is new in the in-law studio. This home will be ready to move in by mid to late December. Will provide pictures at a later date. Come and check out the location and lay out of this home even before it is ready. Please contact Susan at 650-307-7338 to make an appointment. Features: * New paint inside and outside of house * Brand new cherry cabinets, granite countertop, faucets, stainless steel double sink and tiles in kitchen * All three bathrooms are newly done with new tubs, faucets, light fixtures and tiles * Brand new double paned windows and new window coverings throughout the house * Whole house has brand new 6 panel doors and new handles * Brand new hardwood floor throughout the house * Spacious living room * Bright dinning room * One car garage, drive way and plenty of street parking * Washer and Dryer included Convenient Location: * Walking distance to Westlake Shopping Center and schools * Approximately 7 minutes drive to SFSU * Very close to Sam Tran Bus Lines, Muni Bus Stops and Bart Station * Easy access to Highways 280 and 35 (Skyline Blvd.) Terms: * One year lease minimum * Move in cost: One month rent ($2700) plus security deposit ($2700) * Utilities not included Special Request: * No smoking and no pets * Landlord does not accept section 8 * Be ready to fill out application that provides work and credit history when visit property * Potential tenant is charged $25.00 for credit check ** Landlord seeking tenants with good references, good credit report, who would appreciate and are willing to take good care of this property.
Newly Remodeled 3 Br/3 Ba Split Level Westlake Home {...}
Published: December 1, 2008, 6:27 am - Indexed: December 1, 2008, 8:14 am - Page Size: 6KB
Category: Regional > North America > United States > California > Metro Areas > San Francisco Bay Area > Business and Economy > Real Estate > Rentals

]]> Regional > North America > United States > California > Metro Areas > San Francisco Bay Area > Business and Economy > Real Estate > Rentals {NORTH AMERICA > RENTALS} - Amazing IN-LAW for rent from december 1 to December 13. (twin peaks / diamond hts) $439 http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/north-america/united-states/california/metro-areas/san-francisco-bay-area/business-and-economy/real-estate/rentals/amazing-in-law-for-rent-from-december-1-to-december-2008124601.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/north-america/united-states/california/metro-areas/san-francisco-bay-area/business-and-economy/real-estate/rentals/amazing-in-law-for-rent-from-december-1-to-december-2008124601.htm Mon, 01 Dec 2008 05:04:27 GMT Amazing IN-LAW with a luxurious marble bathroom for rent from December 1 to December 13.Close to Golden Gate Park. Sfbay.Craigslist.Org Amazing IN-LAW for rent from december 1 to December 13. (twin peaks / diamond hts) $439 {new window}   Sfbay.Craigslist.Org - Amazing IN-LAW with a luxurious marble bathroom for rent from December 1 to December 13.Close to Golden Gate Park.
Amazing IN-LAW for rent from december 1 to December 13. {...}
Published: December 1, 2008, 5:04 am - Indexed: December 1, 2008, 8:31 am - Page Size: 4KB
Category: Regional > North America > United States > California > Metro Areas > San Francisco Bay Area > Business and Economy > Real Estate > Rentals

]]> Regional > North America > United States > California > Metro Areas > San Francisco Bay Area > Business and Economy > Real Estate > Rentals {NORTH AMERICA > REAL ESTATE} - Boutique Professional Office Space on The Alameda (san jose downtown) $795 431sqft http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/north-america/united-states/california/metro-areas/san-francisco-bay-area/business-and-economy/real-estate/boutique-professional-office-space-on-the-alameda-2008123954.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/north-america/united-states/california/metro-areas/san-francisco-bay-area/business-and-economy/real-estate/boutique-professional-office-space-on-the-alameda-2008123954.htm Mon, 01 Dec 2008 03:00:12 GMT Boutique office space is available on a month to month basis, located on the second floor of a converted mission-style building on the prestigious The Alameda. The space (offices E & H) is ideal for attorneys, psychotherapists, insurance, real estate professionals, select nonprofit organizations, etc. One office has wall-to-wall carpeting, window and storage space. The second office, also with carpeting, can be used as either an office or conference room. The bathroom is located on the same floor. In addition to offices E & H, we have office C also listed on craigslist. The building has central heat and air, has been upgraded for computer needs and receives weekly bonded janitorial services as part of rent. The bottom floor is leased to an established law practice, that shares the common entry way and on-site parking. Plenty of non-metered street parking is also available. All offices are available on a gross lease basis. This is a NON-SMOKING, NO PET and non-elevator building. If you value an ideal location and a respectful, friendly, professional environment, this space is for you. Serious applicants will be required to submit references and credit information. If interested, please reply with information about your office needs, name and nature of your business, number of occupants/cars, and a day time phone number. Sfbay.Craigslist.Org Boutique Professional Office Space on The Alameda (san jose downtown) $795 431sqft {new window}   Sfbay.Craigslist.Org - Boutique office space is available on a month to month basis, located on the second floor of a converted mission-style building on the prestigious The Alameda. The space (offices E & H) is ideal for attorneys, psychotherapists, insurance, real estate professionals, select nonprofit organizations, etc. One office has wall-to-wall carpeting, window and storage space. The second office, also with carpeting, can be used as either an office or conference room. The bathroom is located on the same floor. In addition to offices E & H, we have office C also listed on craigslist. The building has central heat and air, has been upgraded for computer needs and receives weekly bonded janitorial services as part of rent. The bottom floor is leased to an established law practice, that shares the common entry way and on-site parking. Plenty of non-metered street parking is also available. All offices are available on a gross lease basis. This is a NON-SMOKING, NO PET and non-elevator building. If you value an ideal location and a respectful, friendly, professional environment, this space is for you. Serious applicants will be required to submit references and credit information. If interested, please reply with information about your office needs, name and nature of your business, number of occupants/cars, and a day time phone number.
Boutique Professional Office Space on The Alameda {...}
Published: December 1, 2008, 3:00 am - Indexed: December 1, 2008, 9:54 am - Page Size: 5KB
Category: Regional > North America > United States > California > Metro Areas > San Francisco Bay Area > Business and Economy > Real Estate

]]> Regional > North America > United States > California > Metro Areas > San Francisco Bay Area > Business and Economy > Real Estate {EUROPE > NEWS AND MEDIA} - After Savanna: The child protection case that rocked the Netherlands http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/news-and-media/after-savanna-the-child-protection-case-that-rocked-2008121252.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/news-and-media/after-savanna-the-child-protection-case-that-rocked-2008121252.htm Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:06:48 GMT In the very early morning of Tuesday September 21 2004, a police car on patrol through the wooded outskirts of Holten, in eastern Holland, noticed a vehicle travelling down a road closed to traffic and pulled it over. A search of the boot revealed not the contraband that might have been expected - drugs or smuggled cigarettes, perhaps - but the body of a small child, and a shovel.Savanna was three years old, but weighed only 10kg, as a one-year-old might. She was severely undernourished, and covered in bruises. It was later established that she had probably died the day before, when her mother, Sonja de J, then 32, stuffed her mouth with a washcloth and taped it over. Savanna had a cold and couldn't breathe through her nose. She suffocated. The lines that the case then followed will, post-Victoria Climbié, post-Baby P, be familiar. Stories began to appear in the Dutch papers about a little girl from Alphen aan den Rijn, a small city near The Hague. Neighbours, friends and family spoke of ongoing abuse. The girl got hardly any food, they said. She was tied to a bed, she was hit, she was forced to have cold showers. Everyone was worried. So worried that they asked social services to intervene.In fact, the family had been in close contact with social services for a long time. It emerged that Sonja de J's two older children (born in 1992 and 1993) were already in care. A younger baby was taken away after Savanna was found. Savanna herself was put on the child protection register when she was 11 months old. A family guardian - a specialist social worker - was appointed and visited the family regularly. In April 2002 the then one-year-old Savanna was taken away from her mother and placed into temporary care. According to the Dutch newspaper Trouw, which went through the child protection reports, she was malnourished and neglected, and the mother was refusing to accept the advice of youth welfare services. But in July, Savanna was returned to her mother. Why, exactly, remains unclear. Then the guardian fell ill, so in November 2002 another guardian, Mieke A, was appointed. According to her lawyer, Simeon Burmeister, she visited every two weeks, and reviewed the case more often than that. Sometimes she visited in her spare time, "because she felt that the family was a real problem. But not as bad as they turned out to be".Then, in May 2004, the new baby was born. In the Netherlands, a maternity nurse, or kraamverzorgster, is assigned to a family and helps out all day, for the first eight days. The nurse who went to see Sonja de J was alarmed by the way she was treating Savanna. The child seemed to be kept in her room all the time, and wasn't eating properly. She seemed bruised and cowed. So the kraamverzorgster raised the alarm. In fact, several professionals involved with the children raised their concerns and reported suspected abuse. They were not, however, aware that there was a family guardian because she had never been in touch.Information obtained by the public prosecutor indicates that legal measures were immediately put in place, on May 14 2004, to take Savanna into care. However, Mieke A (who was 46 at the time, so not a novice), decided that this wasn't necessary and overruled them; a paediatrician who visited in July concurred. Two months later Savanna was dead. On October 4, 350 people marched silently through Alphen aan den Rijn in her memory. For the first time in the history of Dutch law, a guardian was charged in criminal court. Initially, says her lawyer, the charge was accessory to murder; at the last minute this was changed to negligence leading to grievous bodily harm. She should have listened to others more, said the prosecution; she should have picked up the signs that things were going horribly wrong. They did not ask for a prison sentence but for a suspended sentence of 150 hours of "work punishment". "The prosecutor tried to argue that there was a deal between mother and guardian to kill the child," says Burmeister. "The guardian did her work, but actions like this can always happen. She could not have known - she only had two hours every second week to visit the family. In these two hours they have to see everything. Maybe she didn't do her work very well but in Holland that's not a criminal offence."During the trial, a picture emerged of a care worker who was too ready to listen to the mother. Sonja de J was known to have a borderline personality disorder - and although the guardian knew this, she seems not to have taken sufficient notice of it. But under such circumstances it would have been difficult to extrapolate a norm from brief meetings; Sonja de J could, presumably, often be quite charming.Mieke A was interrogated by the police for six days. She was charged on March 18 2005, and was finally brought to what would become an enormously high-profile trial on May 31 2007. She was acquitted on November 16, 2007, three years after Savanna died. The court decided the death was not the guardian's fault and that she did work hard for the family. However, the judge censured her for believing her own findings to be more important than anyone else's. Sonja de J was sentenced to six years in prison for manslaughter, while her boyfriend, Mario B, got two years for GBH. When they finish their sentences, they will be transferred to a secure psychiatric unit on an order that lasts until the doctors say the inmate can be released back into society. It can be indefinite. Childcare services in the Netherlands now recognise two periods: before Savanna, and after Savanna. As with Victoria Climbié, as will be with Baby P, the aftermath is rarely as simple as imprisonment for the perpetrators. It reverberates through systems, through countries, through professions, and through the lives of vulnerable children all over the country.In the Netherlands the first evidence of a Savanna effect was a spike in the numbers of children being put on to child protection registers, or into care. As there are 15 different regional jurisdictions, there are no reliable national figures. Estimates based on anecdotal evidence veer from 5% to 40%, but Arne Theunissen, who began his career as a guardian, and is now a researcher in the department of clinical child studies at the Free University of Amsterdam, also points to the figures for Amsterdam, the largest agency in Holland. In 2004, 1,620 children were taken into care; in 2005, after Savanna, there were 2,891, an almost 75% increase. (There is also a growing demand for foster parents. According to a spokesperson for the Dutch Organisation for Foster Parents, there were 14,000 Dutch foster children in 2002 and 20,000 in 2007 - a 30% increase. "Many people say it's because of the Savanna effect," said the spokesperson, who declined to be named. "It could be. But it's more complicated than that, it has to do with the difficulties of being foster parents.")In Britain, says Kieron Hatton, head of the Centre for Social Work at the University of Portsmouth, the trend was already going that way. The Climbié case simply "reinforced a trend towards risk-aversion in social work caused by inquiries over previous years. Social work in the UK is quite risk-averse - in fact, it's too risk-averse." As for Baby P, the Observer reported last week that there had been as much as a three-fold increase in applications for child protection orders in the previous fortnight. Where the Inner London Court would normally expect to receive between two and three applications a day for children to be placed in care, staff said they were receiving between eight and 10 applications a day. According to the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), there was a 26.4% increase in applications for all forms of child protection orders made between November 10 and November 20 across England this year, compared with the same period in 2007. Usually a case like this has a mostly local effect, says Anthony Douglas, chief executive of Cafcass. This time,"There is some sign of a genuine national effect, and all local authorities are reviewing their cases, and putting in early applications when they hadn't before."Jos Aalders is a volunteer ombudsman for children in the Netherlands. He can be controversial (rather like members of Fathers4Justice, he has been known to dress up as Zorro) but he is nevertheless trusted by countless families, who contact him with complaints about children and the social services. He says that these have risen by about 30%. "The trend has become that it is better to place a child into care then to take any risk whatsoever. And since complaints about abuse can be anonymous and come from anyone, children are taken away too soon in some cases. There is a case at the moment of a baby that was taken from his parents the day after the birth. The parents have very low IQs but they take care of themselves, work, have friends and family to help them. They did not even get a chance to do it right, the child was taken away immediately. I think that's typical of what is going on in child services."Mirjam, 36, who worked as a family guardian in a city near Amsterdam for 10 years before resigning a couple of months ago, agrees. (She wouldn't give her last name or place of work; she was unusual, however, in that she is willing to talk.) "I felt there was a lot of fear in how people acted in the months afterwards. Everyone was so afraid it could happen on their watch. Cases proceeded faster; children would be put on the child protection register sooner. And for a while there would be a request every Friday to go and get a child that needed to be taken away from their parents before the weekend." It wasn't just the guardians. Everyone was being more careful, starting with the person reporting abuse, through to the agency registering the complaints and the guardian's employers. "Better safe than sorry is the trend now," says Ton Moolenaar, a social worker for 30 years who now chairs a group for youth welfare workers. "And children aren't placed back with their parents as easily as before." He points out that the large spike in numbers seems to be over. But other "Savanna effects" have endured. "For one thing, the emphasis on the safety of the child is more than it was before. We used to work with a threefold principle: try to intervene as little as possible, try to get children back home as soon as possible and try to let them stay near their homes when they are temporarily taken into care. Only after all of that would we start actually taking a kid away from home and really placing them into care." (Because state care is not necessarily the best solution; in fact, Hatton says bluntly, of the UK, "our care system isn't that great. The outcomes in other countries, such as Denmark and Germany, are much better." )"Because of this," continues Moolenaar, "there are more safety precautions. We have to fill in long lists about the parents, the children, the interaction between the parents and between the parents and the children, which are then reviewed by behavioural scientists. It is very formal and has lead to a bigger workload. The underlying principle is fine though, it is all about the safety of the child."But, as happened with the Climbié case, where new computer systems meant social workers spent more time staring at a screen than visiting clients, and were progressively being robbed of independent judgment, these new requirements have unintended consequences. According to the spokeswoman for the Dutch Organisation for Foster Parents, welfare workers now "check and double-check everything, have to put it past the team, can't confirm anything. And even though being careful is good, this means the children who are already in a very difficult situation have even more insecurity. They don't know what will happen to them and because social services don't dare to decide, they are left in limbo for longer."The second major factor was the chilling effect the criminal trial had on guardians, who could not believe that things could come to that. "I, and many colleagues, protested in Utrecht," says Piet Bleeker, 34, who has worked as a family guardian for five years in Friesland, in the north of the Netherlands."It was a horrendous incident, but criminal prosecution for mistakes made in your job is quite disturbing. We did not want to be seen as criminals. I sat in the court during the case and it was horrible. The guardian got the blame for everything, while so many others were involved. I do understand it; she was the one responsible for placing Savanna in care or not in the end. But it was still hard to watch. Afterwards I ran through all my own cases in my mind. What child could be at risk, where did I have even the remotest doubt?"It was already difficult to find people willing to work as family guardians, but the prosecution, and vituperative media coverage of it, made it much harder. Sarah, 25, a social worker from Zwolle, was in training during the case. "The negative attention did get to us at school. You read about a case like this in the paper and it's about life and death. Plus the fact that the social worker was brought to court. As a 22-year-old you don't easily choose to go into that field. We discussed it often and me and my friends were just more reluctant to specialise as family guardians."A similar thing has happened here in the UK over the past few weeks. "We've had to do quite a lot of work with students to talk them through it," says Hatton, who blames the singling-out of social workers in media reports in particular. "We try to help the students understand that once they go into practice they'll be encouraged to enhance their training, that really people who are newly qualified shouldn't be working on very complex child protection cases." The problem is though, as he well knows, that there are so many vacancies, and such large caseloads, that this is often inevitable - which, of course, increases the chances of naive or bad decisions, and the cycle starting again.Since Savanna, the Netherlands has put various safeguards in place, many of which could be instructive here too. According to Jos Andriessen of the MOgroep, an umbrella agency for the 15 separate youth welfare agencies, there are to be fewer children assigned to each guardian; 15-17 by halfway through next year, down from 25. Decisions must be made by a team, rather by individuals. Risk-analysis is now a priority. There is now a 24-hour crisis number that people can ring. By 2010 there should be disciplinary board for social workers, so incidents can be referred there, instead of to the criminal courts. Agencies are cooperating more effectively and are clearer about each other's responsibilities.However, Theunissen believes they could go further. At the moment, the decision to remove a child from its family is overseen by a judge. He believes that the same rigour should be applied to the decision not to remove a child because "the decision to do nothing is as important as the decision to do something". In the UK, Douglas believes that in the most serious cases, where social workers are concerned but unable to prove anything, it should be possible to turn to methods used by the police - hidden cameras, for example. "It's a high-risk decision, because lots of organisations would cite human rights issues. But without identifying real dangerousness you won't get anywhere."But in the end, as Theunissen puts it, "however professional you are, you can never be sure what's going on in the night, behind the doors". It does not help to demonise those whose job it is to find out - rather, there should be collective investigations, collective decisions, and an earned trust, in the idealism of those who work with the most vulnerable children in society. "I never doubted my job," says Bleeker. "I never wanted to quit. I don't know many people who did. There is a lot of bad publicity; I still get it sometimes, people being almost aggressive when you say where you work. Then I take a deep breath and I sit down to explain my work to them. There is so much good in it, but we can't talk about cases, everything is confidential, so it's hard to explain. People in this field can't let it go easily. You can't just quit and leave your 15 cases".Child protectionNetherlandsBaby Pguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Guardian.Co.Uk After Savanna: The child protection case that rocked the Netherlands {new window}   Www.Guardian.Co.Uk - In the very early morning of Tuesday September 21 2004, a police car on patrol through the wooded outskirts of Holten, in eastern Holland, noticed a vehicle travelling down a road closed to traffic and pulled it over. A search of the boot revealed not the contraband that might have been expected - drugs or smuggled cigarettes, perhaps - but the body of a small child, and a shovel.Savanna was three years old, but weighed only 10kg, as a one-year-old might. She was severely undernourished, and covered in bruises. It was later established that she had probably died the day before, when her mother, Sonja de J, then 32, stuffed her mouth with a washcloth and taped it over. Savanna had a cold and couldn't breathe through her nose. She suffocated. The lines that the case then followed will, post-Victoria Climbié, post-Baby P, be familiar. Stories began to appear in the Dutch papers about a little girl from Alphen aan den Rijn, a small city near The Hague. Neighbours, friends and family spoke of ongoing abuse. The girl got hardly any food, they said. She was tied to a bed, she was hit, she was forced to have cold showers. Everyone was worried. So worried that they asked social services to intervene.In fact, the family had been in close contact with social services for a long time. It emerged that Sonja de J's two older children (born in 1992 and 1993) were already in care. A younger baby was taken away after Savanna was found. Savanna herself was put on the child protection register when she was 11 months old. A family guardian - a specialist social worker - was appointed and visited the family regularly. In April 2002 the then one-year-old Savanna was taken away from her mother and placed into temporary care. According to the Dutch newspaper Trouw, which went through the child protection reports, she was malnourished and neglected, and the mother was refusing to accept the advice of youth welfare services. But in July, Savanna was returned to her mother. Why, exactly, remains unclear. Then the guardian fell ill, so in November 2002 another guardian, Mieke A, was appointed. According to her lawyer, Simeon Burmeister, she visited every two weeks, and reviewed the case more often than that. Sometimes she visited in her spare time, "because she felt that the family was a real problem. But not as bad as they turned out to be".Then, in May 2004, the new baby was born. In the Netherlands, a maternity nurse, or kraamverzorgster, is assigned to a family and helps out all day, for the first eight days. The nurse who went to see Sonja de J was alarmed by the way she was treating Savanna. The child seemed to be kept in her room all the time, and wasn't eating properly. She seemed bruised and cowed. So the kraamverzorgster raised the alarm. In fact, several professionals involved with the children raised their concerns and reported suspected abuse. They were not, however, aware that there was a family guardian because she had never been in touch.Information obtained by the public prosecutor indicates that legal measures were immediately put in place, on May 14 2004, to take Savanna into care. However, Mieke A (who was 46 at the time, so not a novice), decided that this wasn't necessary and overruled them; a paediatrician who visited in July concurred. Two months later Savanna was dead. On October 4, 350 people marched silently through Alphen aan den Rijn in her memory. For the first time in the history of Dutch law, a guardian was charged in criminal court. Initially, says her lawyer, the charge was accessory to murder; at the last minute this was changed to negligence leading to grievous bodily harm. She should have listened to others more, said the prosecution; she should have picked up the signs that things were going horribly wrong. They did not ask for a prison sentence but for a suspended sentence of 150 hours of "work punishment". "The prosecutor tried to argue that there was a deal between mother and guardian to kill the child," says Burmeister. "The guardian did her work, but actions like this can always happen. She could not have known - she only had two hours every second week to visit the family. In these two hours they have to see everything. Maybe she didn't do her work very well but in Holland that's not a criminal offence."During the trial, a picture emerged of a care worker who was too ready to listen to the mother. Sonja de J was known to have a borderline personality disorder - and although the guardian knew this, she seems not to have taken sufficient notice of it. But under such circumstances it would have been difficult to extrapolate a norm from brief meetings; Sonja de J could, presumably, often be quite charming.Mieke A was interrogated by the police for six days. She was charged on March 18 2005, and was finally brought to what would become an enormously high-profile trial on May 31 2007. She was acquitted on November 16, 2007, three years after Savanna died. The court decided the death was not the guardian's fault and that she did work hard for the family. However, the judge censured her for believing her own findings to be more important than anyone else's. Sonja de J was sentenced to six years in prison for manslaughter, while her boyfriend, Mario B, got two years for GBH. When they finish their sentences, they will be transferred to a secure psychiatric unit on an order that lasts until the doctors say the inmate can be released back into society. It can be indefinite. Childcare services in the Netherlands now recognise two periods: before Savanna, and after Savanna. As with Victoria Climbié, as will be with Baby P, the aftermath is rarely as simple as imprisonment for the perpetrators. It reverberates through systems, through countries, through professions, and through the lives of vulnerable children all over the country.In the Netherlands the first evidence of a Savanna effect was a spike in the numbers of children being put on to child protection registers, or into care. As there are 15 different regional jurisdictions, there are no reliable national figures. Estimates based on anecdotal evidence veer from 5% to 40%, but Arne Theunissen, who began his career as a guardian, and is now a researcher in the department of clinical child studies at the Free University of Amsterdam, also points to the figures for Amsterdam, the largest agency in Holland. In 2004, 1,620 children were taken into care; in 2005, after Savanna, there were 2,891, an almost 75% increase. (There is also a growing demand for foster parents. According to a spokesperson for the Dutch Organisation for Foster Parents, there were 14,000 Dutch foster children in 2002 and 20,000 in 2007 - a 30% increase. "Many people say it's because of the Savanna effect," said the spokesperson, who declined to be named. "It could be. But it's more complicated than that, it has to do with the difficulties of being foster parents.")In Britain, says Kieron Hatton, head of the Centre for Social Work at the University of Portsmouth, the trend was already going that way. The Climbié case simply "reinforced a trend towards risk-aversion in social work caused by inquiries over previous years. Social work in the UK is quite risk-averse - in fact, it's too risk-averse." As for Baby P, the Observer reported last week that there had been as much as a three-fold increase in applications for child protection orders in the previous fortnight. Where the Inner London Court would normally expect to receive between two and three applications a day for children to be placed in care, staff said they were receiving between eight and 10 applications a day. According to the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), there was a 26.4% increase in applications for all forms of child protection orders made between November 10 and November 20 across England this year, compared with the same period in 2007. Usually a case like this has a mostly local effect, says Anthony Douglas, chief executive of Cafcass. This time,"There is some sign of a genuine national effect, and all local authorities are reviewing their cases, and putting in early applications when they hadn't before."Jos Aalders is a volunteer ombudsman for children in the Netherlands. He can be controversial (rather like members of Fathers4Justice, he has been known to dress up as Zorro) but he is nevertheless trusted by countless families, who contact him with complaints about children and the social services. He says that these have risen by about 30%. "The trend has become that it is better to place a child into care then to take any risk whatsoever. And since complaints about abuse can be anonymous and come from anyone, children are taken away too soon in some cases. There is a case at the moment of a baby that was taken from his parents the day after the birth. The parents have very low IQs but they take care of themselves, work, have friends and family to help them. They did not even get a chance to do it right, the child was taken away immediately. I think that's typical of what is going on in child services."Mirjam, 36, who worked as a family guardian in a city near Amsterdam for 10 years before resigning a couple of months ago, agrees. (She wouldn't give her last name or place of work; she was unusual, however, in that she is willing to talk.) "I felt there was a lot of fear in how people acted in the months afterwards. Everyone was so afraid it could happen on their watch. Cases proceeded faster; children would be put on the child protection register sooner. And for a while there would be a request every Friday to go and get a child that needed to be taken away from their parents before the weekend." It wasn't just the guardians. Everyone was being more careful, starting with the person reporting abuse, through to the agency registering the complaints and the guardian's employers. "Better safe than sorry is the trend now," says Ton Moolenaar, a social worker for 30 years who now chairs a group for youth welfare workers. "And children aren't placed back with their parents as easily as before." He points out that the large spike in numbers seems to be over. But other "Savanna effects" have endured. "For one thing, the emphasis on the safety of the child is more than it was before. We used to work with a threefold principle: try to intervene as little as possible, try to get children back home as soon as possible and try to let them stay near their homes when they are temporarily taken into care. Only after all of that would we start actually taking a kid away from home and really placing them into care." (Because state care is not necessarily the best solution; in fact, Hatton says bluntly, of the UK, "our care system isn't that great. The outcomes in other countries, such as Denmark and Germany, are much better." )"Because of this," continues Moolenaar, "there are more safety precautions. We have to fill in long lists about the parents, the children, the interaction between the parents and between the parents and the children, which are then reviewed by behavioural scientists. It is very formal and has lead to a bigger workload. The underlying principle is fine though, it is all about the safety of the child."But, as happened with the Climbié case, where new computer systems meant social workers spent more time staring at a screen than visiting clients, and were progressively being robbed of independent judgment, these new requirements have unintended consequences. According to the spokeswoman for the Dutch Organisation for Foster Parents, welfare workers now "check and double-check everything, have to put it past the team, can't confirm anything. And even though being careful is good, this means the children who are already in a very difficult situation have even more insecurity. They don't know what will happen to them and because social services don't dare to decide, they are left in limbo for longer."The second major factor was the chilling effect the criminal trial had on guardians, who could not believe that things could come to that. "I, and many colleagues, protested in Utrecht," says Piet Bleeker, 34, who has worked as a family guardian for five years in Friesland, in the north of the Netherlands."It was a horrendous incident, but criminal prosecution for mistakes made in your job is quite disturbing. We did not want to be seen as criminals. I sat in the court during the case and it was horrible. The guardian got the blame for everything, while so many others were involved. I do understand it; she was the one responsible for placing Savanna in care or not in the end. But it was still hard to watch. Afterwards I ran through all my own cases in my mind. What child could be at risk, where did I have even the remotest doubt?"It was already difficult to find people willing to work as family guardians, but the prosecution, and vituperative media coverage of it, made it much harder. Sarah, 25, a social worker from Zwolle, was in training during the case. "The negative attention did get to us at school. You read about a case like this in the paper and it's about life and death. Plus the fact that the social worker was brought to court. As a 22-year-old you don't easily choose to go into that field. We discussed it often and me and my friends were just more reluctant to specialise as family guardians."A similar thing has happened here in the UK over the past few weeks. "We've had to do quite a lot of work with students to talk them through it," says Hatton, who blames the singling-out of social workers in media reports in particular. "We try to help the students understand that once they go into practice they'll be encouraged to enhance their training, that really people who are newly qualified shouldn't be working on very complex child protection cases." The problem is though, as he well knows, that there are so many vacancies, and such large caseloads, that this is often inevitable - which, of course, increases the chances of naive or bad decisions, and the cycle starting again.Since Savanna, the Netherlands has put various safeguards in place, many of which could be instructive here too. According to Jos Andriessen of the MOgroep, an umbrella agency for the 15 separate youth welfare agencies, there are to be fewer children assigned to each guardian; 15-17 by halfway through next year, down from 25. Decisions must be made by a team, rather by individuals. Risk-analysis is now a priority. There is now a 24-hour crisis number that people can ring. By 2010 there should be disciplinary board for social workers, so incidents can be referred there, instead of to the criminal courts. Agencies are cooperating more effectively and are clearer about each other's responsibilities.However, Theunissen believes they could go further. At the moment, the decision to remove a child from its family is overseen by a judge. He believes that the same rigour should be applied to the decision not to remove a child because "the decision to do nothing is as important as the decision to do something". In the UK, Douglas believes that in the most serious cases, where social workers are concerned but unable to prove anything, it should be possible to turn to methods used by the police - hidden cameras, for example. "It's a high-risk decision, because lots of organisations would cite human rights issues. But without identifying real dangerousness you won't get anywhere."But in the end, as Theunissen puts it, "however professional you are, you can never be sure what's going on in the night, behind the doors". It does not help to demonise those whose job it is to find out - rather, there should be collective investigations, collective decisions, and an earned trust, in the idealism of those who work with the most vulnerable children in society. "I never doubted my job," says Bleeker. "I never wanted to quit. I don't know many people who did. There is a lot of bad publicity; I still get it sometimes, people being almost aggressive when you say where you work. Then I take a deep breath and I sit down to explain my work to them. There is so much good in it, but we can't talk about cases, everything is confidential, so it's hard to explain. People in this field can't let it go easily. You can't just quit and leave your 15 cases".Child protectionNetherlandsBaby Pguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
After Savanna: The child protection case that rocked the Netherlands | Society | The Guardian {...} Four years ago, social workers knew a three-year-old Dutch girl was at risk of abuse, but failed to prevent her death. Aida Edemariam and Sanne Rooseboom report {...}
Published: December 1, 2008, 12:06 am - Indexed: December 1, 2008, 9:33 am - Page Size: 89KB
Category: Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > News and Media

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