Apartment Life and D.Y.F.S.

The New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services has partnered with New Jersey apartment managers to house emotionally and behaviorally disturbed children, adolescents, and adults. The dysfunctional children display uncontrollable aggression, and are not only a nuisance, but worse, are capable of inflicting physical harm on anyone.

THE D.Y.F.S. CONNECTION - Over the past several years D.Y.F.S. (N.J. Division of Youth and Family Services - rated the worst state run agency in the country and currently under Federal Court oversight) has been clandestinely placing emotionally and behaviorally disturbed children and adolescents with individuals and families in New Jersey apartments. D.Y.F.S. has been under attack for many years because of inept leadership and management (An October 2005 Legislative report states that, "D.Y.F.S. is disorganized, ...and in chaos."), and the placement of mentally disturbed children and adolescents in apartments is just another example of their ongoing incompetence. Apartment living is the worst possible setting for these young people, since it only exacerbates their condition (constant exposure to people and noise creates a highly toxic environment), they should be housed in detached homes or group facilities. To make matters worse D.Y.F.S., in its' frenzied quest to meet a federally mandated deadline, is allowing these disturbed young people to be placed with some very undesirable guardians (Example: a 2006 court-ordered disclosure shows foster children being placed with homeless people and sex offenders.).

The Asbury Park Press reported on July 5, 2008: "A Parlin man who is a licensed foster parent (caregiver) with the state has been charged with sexually assaulting four girls under his care." So much for the highly touted Foster Parent Licensing Act of 2002 that was supposed to screen-out potential abusers and other undesirables. (More on caregivers further down.)

In 2004, the year my difficulties began, DYFS contracted with Youth Consultation Service (Y.C.S.), and other private agencies, to do the work it is incapable of performing (placing emotionally and behaviorally disturbed children in homes), and the results are reflected in the growing mess that has been created in New Jersey apartments.

My daughter is an ardent advocate for children and adolescents with Neurodevelopmental Disorders. She is a degreed special education teacher who cherishes her stressful career, and loves many of her students as if they were her own. Even though the kids have kicked, punched, bitten and struck her with objects, and frustrated parents have been verbally abusive and threatening, she continues to defend the special education system. When I asked her about D.Y.F.S. she readily admitted she had heard stories about the organization that distressed her, but chose not to elaborate. I lovingly admire her for her devotion to these young people, but find it very difficult to have any sympathy when my quality of life is being severely compromised.

After explaining to my daughter the problem her mother and I were having, she reluctantly investigated our concerns and discovered some disturbing information:

-There are children and adolescents living in apartments who have a Neurobehavioral Disorder ("...a life-long developmental disability that manifests itself by problems with learning, social, emotional, or behavioral disorders due to a brain malfunction.", National Mental Health Association.). Unable to communicate and form social relationships, they develop antisocial behavior which they cunningly direct at unsuspecting tenants; once they develop an unhealthy fixation on someone they will relentlessly torment and stalk them.

- When agitated, or overstimulated, they are prone to uncontrollable behavior that can lead to physical violence, destruction of property, and fire setting. They have no conception of right from wrong, and do not understand the harmful consequences of their wildly aggressive behavior. Once adults, they are at high risk of engaging in violent and/or criminal activity.

-Some of the young people go to special education schools, or classes, while the rest are warehoused in apartments 24 hours a day.

-They are agitated by the sounds of footsteps, voices, doors closing, phones ringing, vacuum cleaners, running water, hair dryers, fans, children playing, lawnmowers, leaf blowers, workmen in adjacent apartments - you get the picture. No matter where the noise originates they will incessantly follow you from room-to-room banging on the walls and ceilings, slamming doors, stomping, dropping heavy objects, loudly playing the radio, and trying to distort the flow of hot and cold water when your showering; other times they just follow you around for no apparent reason and tap or bang on the floor or ceiling 24/7. Their disturbances are usually most intense when a caregiver is present, although some will come after you while alone. If, however, you are very quiet and there are no other bothersome noises, they may just follow you around without incident; but be assured, they will never leave you alone. (More on this under the heading Tenant Alert.)

If you complain to management about the harassment, your charges will most likely be ignored or downplayed. On the other hand, if the caregiver or caseworker decide you are upsetting these mentally dysfunctional people (just about anything you do will), be prepared for a dirty fight; lies and deceit will be the name of the game and everyone from the apartment manager to D.Y.F.S. will get down and dirty. Remember, you are not supposed to know these dysfunctional people exist, and the organizations involved will do everything in their power to control your life while discrediting your grievances. If you reach this juncture you will probably be faced with four choices: accept their one-sided demands and acquiesce to the abuse, move out, ignore their demands and be evicted, or get a lawyer and dig in.

How is it these mentally disturbed children and adolescents, 95% of whom will never become self-reliant, are allowed to victimize the taxpayer? It's very difficult to have any compassion when you are on the receiving end of their dysfunctional behavior.

I truly believe there are caregivers and caseworkers out there who work hard to help these mentally disturbed people without destroying the quality of life of others around them. Its just unfortunate that my wife and I have been victims of the darker side of the child welfare program.

-Some have sleep disorders that keep them from resting for more than an hour or two in a 24 hour period, while others sleep periodically during the day and torment all night. The caregivers allow these young people to use the bedroom directly under/over yours for their all day and night harassment which includes loud TVs and radios, stomping, banging on walls and ceilings, and squealing like wild pigs; these sick puppies seem to calm down only after they have thoroughly tormented someone. The caregivers, who are well schooled in the art of deception, move to another area of their apartment to sleep or just get away.

The caseworkers, and especially case aides, act as if tenants should just grin and bare the abuse; there seems to be a predisposition among child welfare workers that the rights of the mentally disturbed are paramount. Has anyone bothered to tell these fools who it is that ultimately foots the bill for them and their organizations? (NJ-D.Y.F.S. 2005-06 operating budget: 1.1 billion tax dollars.)

Tenant profiling is used by DYFS, and foster care agencies, in collaboration with most apartment management; that is, these organizations determine which victims will be chosen to live above or below the mentally disturbed. Some new renters are unknowingly steered to designated apartments, while other long-time tenants are targeted to live side-by-side with these disturbed people when their neighbors move out; God help those who wind up in a nest of them. Apartment selection depends on the perceived needs of the mentally ill, regardless of the tenants' rights.

- Identifying the children and adolescents warehoused 24/7 can be difficult, since they quietly scurry around like rats with the assistance of their caregivers and others in the child welfare program; these youths are the most troublesome. Those enrolled in special education are more visible, socially integrated, and somewhat less antagonistic and harassing. Also, be aware that your movements will be monitored; the caregivers want to prevent you from seeing or crossing paths with these people (The National Institute of Mental Health states, "Because the child is so disruptive, inflexible, and manipulative caregivers frequently allow themselves to get sucked into helping them with their dirty deeds".). For some of these young people survival instincts kick in and they become devious and shrewd. They quickly learn to manipulate their caregivers in order to act on their twisted compulsions.

The foster caregivers lack of genuine concern for the young people only adds to the problem and becomes glaringly obvious when the disturbed youths are left alone for several hours at a time, are allowed to harass tenants (better you than the caregiver), or are used to exact revenge on neighbors the caregivers don't like.

My difficulties with foster caregivers have convinced me they are not being held accountable for their actions; as a matter of fact, I believe they have been allowed to use the position of foster caregiver to their advantage. They seem to do pretty much what they want at the apartment complexes, regardless of the rules, and get away with it. They also work hard at trying to control their neighbors behavior and movements, rather than properly supervising those in their care. There is no question in my mind there are too many in the program who are unfit to be caregivers, and an alarming amount of caseworkers who are clueless about their job responsibilities. There seems to be a huge disconnect between the caregiver and the caseworker, and the caseworker and the child welfare program. With the screening process for caregivers broken, a lack of accountability and transparency in the community, and ineffective caseworkers in the field, is it any wonder the mentally disturbed are running the asylum? This is one seriously flawed state program that is costing the taxpayer a bundle.

The Star-Ledger reported on December 9, 2007: "Members of the N.J. Assembly Human Services Committee recently demanded that child welfare officials raise the bar for who can be a foster caregiver. Recent reports strongly indicate there is a lack of proper care being given by foster caregivers in resource homes".

PERSONAL EXAMPLE: One of these adolescents lived with a family, and their behaviorally disturbed child, below me for two years; then, the caregivers packed up and abandoned the boy. One of the maintenance workers was supposed to take him in, but instead, took checks from D.Y.F.S. while allowing the boy to remain in the empty apartment between August and November of 2004; the worker has since moved on. The only time the boy left was in the morning hours between 6am and 7am, and returned about 1 hour later. While he could only be heard moving around during the day, his 12am to 6ambarrage of noise was extremely loud. When tenants reported him crawling in and out of windows, management's response was that of indifference. When I reported the boy to management they claimed he was not down there, and then suggested that it was my imagination. Finally, when I reported the boy to D.Y.F.S. I was given the ultimate runaround, a caseworker even had the audacity to speak in defence of the apartment manager before I was even questioned about the matter. It wasn't until much later that I discovered that D.Y.F.S., Y.C.S. and the apartment manager were actually working together, and Y.C.S. created the problem (Is unscrupulous behavior part of the caseworker, and case aide, training curriculum?). The teen is still downstairs, but now, with another D.Y.F.S./Y.C.S. sponsored family, and a mentally disturbed boy they brought with them. Both boys continuously follow my wife and I from room to room, flying into a rage at the slightest sound we make.

A couple of years before my weird encounters began I occasionally heard distraught tenants complaining of peculiar sounds emanating from vacant apartments, or loud noises coming from their neighbors 24/7. According to these tenants, some of the situations became very suspect when the apartment manager insisted the noise was coming from outside and refused to take action; most of these people moved out of the complex shortly after expressing their frustrations. During this period in time I had not yet experienced anything out of the ordinary, so I would just listen curiously to my neighbors tales of shadowy figures and strange nocturnal sounds, never imagining that one day the same thing would happen to me - but it did. Then on March 8, 2008 I learned from a retired property manager that DYFS, and agencies under contract with it, regularly lease apartments for mentally disturbed individuals and then bring in a caregiver. When the caregiver fulfills their contract and leaves, the mentally disturbed person remains alone in the empty apartment while local caregivers bring food. It is not unusual for this individual to live in the vacant apartment for months-on-end while awaiting another caregiver.

- The Specialized Treatment Home Family program, a Y.C.S. foster-care undertaking for children and adolescents with developmental disorders, has become very lucrative for many of the economically disadvantaged caregivers; however, they are the only ones benefiting. Their lack of life skills considerably hinders any potential improvement that could be realized in the young persons maladaptive behavior, which makes these so-called caregivers nothing more than pricey babysitters. Even though some of these guardians look and act as if they can scarcely take care of themselves, D.Y.F.S. has entrusted them with the task of caring for mentally disturbed young people while paying them as much as $1,500.00 a month per youth, plus clothing allowance, plus medical coverage.

It has also been discovered that rental agents and/or property managers are receiving some form of remuneration for their cooperation and help; while, in addition, some are also receiving finders fees and others are foster caregivers.

Many of these children and adolescents have been released from mental treatment facilities, detention centers, and psychiatric hospitals. Special interest groups have lobbied furiously for these special needs people to be placed in the mainstream community, but without first researching the consequences of any social intervention.

Governor Corzine's administration has recently indicated that it is concerned about the flood of mentally disturbed citizens entering our communities. His administration would like to see ..."some of these individuals returned to the institutions they came from, where they can receive more meaningful help and care".

"Curiouser and Curiouser!", cried Alice.

In typical New Jersey government fashion, they are trying hard to keep this hidden from the public - but awareness is growing.

The Record reported on January 12, 2003: D.Y.F.S. is..."an agency that has hidden far too long behind a bureaucratic curtain of silence that seems designed more for covering up its mistakes than protecting its clients."

Any attempt to seek help from the Trenton offices of the Department of Children and Families, or Division of Youth and Family Services, will only meet with extreme frustration. There is a survival mechanism in place to wear-down anyone pursuing answers, expressing criticism, or requesting action.

Tenants have the right to full disclosure of all foster caregivers in their apartment complex; the veil of secrecy must be lifted! Renters are also entitled to an ombudsman who would be responsible for investigating complaints against caregivers, their wards, and D.Y.F.S. personnel.

Why does D.Y.F.S. hide these dysfunctional people while their harassment of apartment tenants goes unabated?

1. Is it because it's very difficult to physically control the mentally disturbed, and the caregivers have limited authority and influence over their behavior?

2. Is it because these dysfunctional people could pose a threat to life and property?

3. Is it because many of the foster caregivers have dubious backgrounds, abuse their position, and view their wards as nothing more than cash cows?

4. Is it because the caseworkers are poorly trained, incompetent, and do not effectively monitor and supervise the caregivers?

5. Is it because the supervisors are not managing and leading - resulting in anxiety, poor morale, and negativity among caseworkers?

6. Is it because DYFS has a bunker mentality, and it's them against the world?

I believe all of the above accurately describes the current situation in New Jersey. This program is badly managed, and foster caregivers are taking advantage. The result, the emotionally and behaviorally disturbed are running the Asylum!

If you are having problems with D.Y.F.S. you can contact the Department of The Public Advocate, Office of Citizen Relations, 240 West State St., P.O. Box 851, Trenton NJ. 08625-0851, Phone: 609-826-5070, Fax: 609-984-4770, Web: nj.gov/publicadvocate. You can also contact Assemblyman Joseph Cryan, Chairman of the N.J. Assembly Human Services Committee, 985 Styvesant Ave, Union NJ. 07083, Phone: 908-624-0880. Both parties are currently monitoring D.Y.F.S. for future action!

Does the state of New Jersey require any accountability from D.Y.F.S.? Is the Department of Human Services that corrupt, incompetent, and mismanaged that it allows D.Y.F.S. to hire inferior candidates to fill the positions of front-line supervisor, caseworker, and case aide? Will there ever be an end to the litany of New Jersey Government corruption and incompetence?

Unless you haven't lived in Jersey long, or you have been in a coma for the past seven years, you must have read or heard about the ongoing fiasco at D.Y.F.S. This agency is a comedy of horrors, that the New Jersey Child Advocates Office characterizes as being .."riddled with people who lack an understanding of what their job responsibilities are".

The Star-Ledger reported on December 7, 2003: "D.Y.F.S. failed 13 of 14 federal tests of how well it protects children and monitors their welfare, posting the worst performance among 48 states so far."

One example of this organization's poor management record is the absence of sound hiring practices: According to the Star-Ledger, an employee of D.Y.F.S. was arrested January 11, 2006 for walking through building security with a loaded handgun; worse yet, a criminal background check revealed that this individual was hired despite an outstanding warrant for her arrest on an assault charge. Four days after this incident a friend of one of the caseworkers was arrested for trying to go through the same security entrance with a loaded handgun; whats going on here? Who are these people that work for the Department of Youth and Family Services? This is scary stuff!

The Star-ledger has also reported on the recent resignations of the Division of Youth and Family Services Director, and the Department of Human Services Commissioner. In the case of the Commissioner, he left with a serious ethics violation looming over his head. It seems that during his final days in office he told county officials he would get them special funding for their human services departments, and then strongly suggested they hire him as a consultant to administer the grants. Is it any wonder the child services workers are allowing the taxpayer to be abused and the children to be neglected - the whole organization is a corrupt and mismanaged mess. March 2008 Update: the Department of Human Services (n.k.a. the Department of Children and Families) most recent Commissioner has resigned, along with the Chief of Staff and the Director for Policy and Planning. Rumors have it the Director of D.Y.F.S. will be next.

New Jersey is currently spending 4.5 billion tax dollars a year on intervention treatment for these young people, most of whom will never realize any improvement in their condition. With a growing national price tag of 100 billion dollars annually, the enormous cost for treatment is only benefiting the mental health professionals, government employees, private foster-care agencies, and special interest groups - not the children and adolescents. Mind you, these young people will one day age-out of the child welfare system (age 18 to 21), and become low-functioning adults who will continue to drain tax dollars from local, state and federal sources.

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You may have already known that finding a decent apartment community in New Jersey can be a real crap shoot, but were you aware of the added dimension of stalking and harassment by emotionally and behaviorally disturbed young people? I hope I have been successful in conveying to you some of the ramifications of removing mentally disturbed children and adolescents from New Jersey mental institutions and placing them in apartment complexes (25% of the states mentally dysfunctional population is housed in Essex County; there are 21 counties in New Jersey.). Apartment life is tough enough without having to also contend with mentally disturbed teens and adults, but it is a reality you should prepare to confront.

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According to an October 19, 2006 statement made by Governor Corzine in Mental Hope News, New Jersey currently has over 2 million severely mentally ill out of a population of approximately 8.5 million. That translates into almost 1 out of every 4 people living in the state who are receiving professional help for an acute mental illness. It should be noted that no person with a severe mental disorder can be legally forced to seek treatment or take medication in New Jersey (only 5 states have this law), so it is unknown how many more actually need professional intervention.

TENANT ALERT - Your Neighbors May Know More About You Than You Realize!

It has come to my attention that adolescent apartment dwellers have discovered a rather disturbing recreational use for portable/hand-held listening amplifiers, motion sensors, and even thermal imaging cameras.They have used these gadgets to track people in neighboring apartments and listen-in on their conversations and personal/intimate moments. While some of the motion sensors, (used for home security and sports training) can pick up movement through walls, ceilings, and floors up to 100 feet, the usefulness of a sound amplifier is usually limited to floors and ceilings. The better connected are using hand-held thermal imaging instruments that are used by plumbers, home inspectors, firefighters, security, and even pest control companies; these gadgets are capable of capturing, monitoring, and recording images based on heat emissions. There are also some very sophisticated through-the-wall radar gadgets being used by the military and law enforcement (one was used on an episode of NCIS) that could one-day turn apartments into fish bowls.

A source told me that many of the dysfunctional children living in New Jersey apartments have been issued one or both of the cheaper devices; it keeps them occupied while being warehoused 24 hours a day.

If you live in an apartment guard yourself against potential privacy-invasion by your neighbors, or your personal conversations and intimate moments could become the talk of the complex (Example: voices and sounds can be partially masked with white noise or fans.). Remember, these devices are also in the hands of mentally disturbed children who have nothing better to do than follow you around and violate your privacy 24/7.

Use of these instruments in the above situation is in violation of privacy laws.