Octuplets: Dr Phil, Part 6: Foster care, legal sign off, thanks

Here is the last segment of Dr Phil. It’s the legal disclaimer section. Dr Phil makes sure to document her passed Nadya off and he’s done. Linda Pate Wallace is on again (she was on the previous show as well)

(4-21) Updated list of octuplet posts
(3-25) Octuplets: Dr Phil Part 1: Nadya; *Angels in Waiting* firing
(3-25) Octuplets: Dr Phil Part 2: Jeff Czech: “Hogging the media”
(3-25) Octuplets: Dr Phil, Part 3: No more Nadya for him
(3-26) Octuplets: Dr Phil, Part 4: Tuberculosis, nannies
(3-26) Octuplets: Dr Phil, Part 5: Allred vs Czech
(3-26) Octuplets: Dr Phil, Part 6: Foster care, legal sign off, thanks
============================================
March 26, 2009

Dr Phil’s website (pix, too)

Dr Phil starts out with his legal disclaimer.

When I got involved in this story, it was because Robin and I have spent a long, long time with The Dr. Phil Foundation and other efforts to work with foster and disadvantaged children, and those children who are at high-risk, and these were certainly children at high risk. I said, ‘I’m going to step into this and see if I can figure out what’s going on and get some kind of way for these kids to have a chance, to have a chance at some kind of reasonable treatment.’

Of course, everybody in America was yelling, ‘Take those children away and put them in foster care.’

The truth is that A) that’s not a good option and B) you just can’t do that.

Public policy in America is that the biological parents really have powerful rights and big responsibilities with regard to kids. You just can’t step in and say, ‘Well, I don’t like this woman’s decisions. I think we should take those children and give them away.’ Fortunately, it’s not that easy. You can’t do that.

Then Dr Phil introduces attorney and child advocate LINDA WALLACE PATE. She was on the previous show as well, chronicling the horrors of foster care. This time she talks about the procedures involved in removing a child from her/his parents. Note the criteria includes: “immediate threat to the children’s health and safety”, which is why Angels in Waiting made their reports. There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that the night she brought home the first two octuplets was extremely dangerous and showed a monumental lack of maternal judgment. Even Kaiser threatened not to send any more of the preemies home.

Then there were the intruders in the yard and at the door and ther resistance to hiring security. Nadya didn’t do anything about security until after the car seat that was on her porch was thrown through the back window of her vehicle. They could have just as easily broken into the house and, yes, abducted the babies. And then the health risk of Tuberculosis.

All three were reports were not only justified, by law, AIW had to act.

LINDA WALLACE PATE:

In order to remove children from their parents, the children have to be in immediate danger of physical abuse or sexual abuse, or the environment is an immediate threat to the children’s health and safety. That’s to remove the child without a court order. You’re essentially arresting a child. Social workers have the police power to come into your home, if the child is in immediate danger.

In this case, although Tuesday night when the first babies came home, I don’t think we got to that point of immediate danger, but I do believe that it was very toxic to the children. I believe that when you over-stimulate premature babies like that, that that can have a long-term effect on their development. They have a problem with sensory integration as adults. These are very serious issues.

The preemies went from the womb to the neonatal ICU to that mob scene. An adult who had just emerged from a coma wouldn’t have tolerated it.

DR PHIL:

I did speak to L.A. County Department of Child and Family and Services. I did talk to Kaiser Permanente, and I talked with Dr. Reilly from Orange County. He’s the chief deputy director of social services there.

Basically, what I said to all of these people is, ‘My involvement was to get into this story to help facilitate the best situation for these children. We’re now in the second chapter of that, and it seems to be running more smoothly, so we are going to step out of this story,’ because I don’t want to be a part of any [media] frenzy.’

He washed his hands of all liability by talking to these folks directly. He made known his concerns - made sure they documented them and then told them he was done. Bye bye Nadya. Then he goes back into the transparency issue to make his concerns known to the audience and general public.

Dr Phil relates the conversation he had with DR REILLY regarding Nadya and her new babies.

DR PHIL:

[Reilly] said, ‘Our approach is that we have all of these wonderful community centers throughout Orange County, lots of them, that offer everything from parent training to stress-relaxation sort of things, fun things for the family to do on a budget, all of these different things they can do to help the parents rise up to the occasion and not take the kids away.’

[To Pate] That is only as a last resort that they [remove children from the home]. It’s very difficult to do, and that is not the prime directive of Child Protective Services or social services, correct?

LINDA WALLACE PATE:

That’s correct. The paradigm shift for the last 10 or 15 years has been to keep the family intact. The outcomes are so poor in foster care. Children are, as we talked about before, four times more likely to be abused and neglected in foster care than with their biological parents or their relatives. Every effort must be made. We need to circle the wagons, we need to take all the resources that we have, we need to let all the drama subside. We need to get very Zen in this environment and give this family some privacy.

I’m all for transparency, but families have to have privacy too.

DR PHIL:

Private transparency, but nonetheless, a transparency to the agency. That’s all I’m saying in this situation. Having a mandated reporter inside the house helps a lot, because they are taken much more seriously, because they are informed reporters.

DR PHIL to Czech - more legal disclaimer to make sure she is not at risk t her self or others.

I don’t think there’s a mean bone in Nadya’s body. When I say that the children are at risk, I don’t think she would do anything ugly with children. What I mean is just getting overwhelmed and things falling through the cracks if there isn’t enough support. That’s your concern, right? Just making sure she has enough support.

JEFF CZECH: Absolutely.

GLORIA ALLRED:

Dr. Phil, let’s face it: Kaiser Permanente is not going to be in that home 24/7. That’s what we’re concerned about. What we’re concerned about is the record of Nadya in the next week, which should be a good indicator for what may happen in the future.

I want to make sure that everybody understands that Angels in Waiting wanted nothing more than for Nadya to succeed. They made every effort to help her, to support her, to train her, to educate her.

If she felt like a stranger, it’s because she didn’t come in to be with her babies except very little, a lot of the time only when the media was filming, and these babies need bonding, they need to be held by their mommy. They need to be fed by their mommy. They need to be changed and bathed by their mommy. They need to be loved and hear the sound of their mommy’s voice. That is how we create bonding, that is how we create trust in babies, and on that score, Dr. Phil, she failed miserably, and the record supports that.

We hope the future will be different for the sake of these babies.

DR PHIL:

I think she says, clearly, she was made to feel uncomfortable, she was made to feel like she was doing something wrong, that she wasn’t being helped, that she was being criticized and judged. That is no way to feel in your own home with your own babies.

LINDA WEST-CONFORTI:

We reached out to help this woman. We tried to show her the proper bonding. Dr. Phil, she wasn’t at home.

We would ask, ‘Where’s Nadya?’ Nobody knew where she was. She would come home at midnight with Gap bags in her hands. She wasn’t available to us for teaching. She wasn’t available to us to tell, ‘Nadya, come on, let’s do a feeding on one of your babies,’ or ‘It’s bath time.’”

Now this next question is plain crazy. Why does a woman with 14 children - only eight of whom are new need to be told what to do? To be told not to go shopping? To be told her baby needs a bath or a feeding? And how are they going to “sit down with her if she isn’t there and doesn’t trust them?

DR PHIL:

Did you sit down with her and say, ‘You seem to be absent. We need more time’?

LINDA WEST-CONFORTI:

Yes. I sat down with her. Annie Young sat down with her. We sat and we had a conference. She was supposed to give [her octuplet son] Elijah a bath, and it took four days. We ended up giving the child a bath.

If true, that is obscene. Nadya’s first publicist, Joann Killeen, said that her duties ended up including bathing and babysitting the old children.[3-27]

DR PHIL to Allred:

You’re concerned she’s going to be under-involved going forward?

GLORIA ALLRED:

My concern is, she wasn’t involved the first week. Where is she going to be the second, third, fourth and fifth? Everyone in this room is concerned about these children, but we are not there yet. You don’t have to be the best parent to keep your children. You just have to be good enough.

You just have to be in the room.

LINDA WALLACE PATE:

She has to be good enough. She’s got to get better, because she is going to be at risk of losing these children. This cannot continue, because these children will become failure to thrive. They have to be bonded with their mother. It’s important that she understands that this is the end of the road for her.

The government and Child Protective Services are not going to wait until these children slump into a failure to thrive. We need to make sure that they’re on the right track now.

Nadya’s lawyer wakes up and decides to earn his money. Look at his picture - he barely survived.

JEFF CZECH:

This is just reinforcing what I’ve seen in Nadya’s decision. The best step she could have made is to move on. This is a situation that was going nowhere. Clearly, constant judgment is not going to help the situation. Nadya does not have to be under a microscope 24 hours a day. That’s not going to help her. I guarantee you, she’s spending a lot more time now with those babies.

He just admitted she wasn’t spending much to begin with. Nadya admits she’s dealing with it by denial.

GLORIA ALLRED:

She doesn’t want the privacy. She wants only one side to come out, Dr. Phil, because every day she’s blogging to the public about what she’s doing.

JEFF CZECH shows once again he’s a minnow in a shark’s den:

Trust me, she doesn’t want you in her kitchen anymore.

GLORIA ALLRED:

You will only now hear one side of the story: the spin placed on Nadya, the spin placed by Jeff. That’s all fine and good, but we care about protecting the babies.

Dr Phil now gets on record AIW’s and Allred’s statements that they are officially finished too.

DR PHIL ask AIW:

At this point, you guys are out?

LINDA WEST-CONFORTI: Correct.

DR PHIL:

At this point, I’m saying I’m going to take a respectful step back and allow this to go forward.

DR PHIL to Allred;

Is that your plan, at this point? Do you step back and let Kaiser do their job?

GLORIA ALLRED:

We really have no choice. We couldn’t let this situation continue, so yes, we will be stepping back. We will be praying and hoping for the best for these little babies, and for their six siblings, and for Nadya, but we’re not really optimistic about their future.

DR PHIL Back to AIW (and Kaiser)

I want to say, and go on record saying, that I have sat with Linda, I have sat with Jackie. I have talked about your childcare philosophies, your intervention strategies, the systems you put in place, the things that you do, and I could not be more impressed with what y’all do. The dynamic here didn’t work.

Y’all clearly are cutting edge professionals and know what you’re doing. I say the same thing about Kaiser Permanente, having been over there, and met with those folks, and visited with them, and been in the NICU [Neonatal Intensive Care Unit], and talked to the nurses there and gotten a feeling and a vibe for everything. Those are dedicated, caring professionals.

And then the poor folks who went out of their way to donate time, material and labor to get the house set up and there’s not oing to be any more mentions of them. That isn’t fair. They got flat out ripped off and the next needy family won’t get it because of Nadya.

They don’t look too happy, do they?

Left - Shalena Smith, Ga Ga Designs provided the nursery, which Nadya didn’t make a point of thanking on air during her radaronline videos. All it would have taken was a few shots of the nursery to thank Smith.

Right - Amy Phillips, Uptown Flooring and Design provided the carpets and flooring in Nadya’s house.

Dr Phil was pist too because he was the one who arranged it. Hopefully he’ll make good with them. He covers their disclaimer.

DR PHIL:

I know you did it for the babies more than the mom. That doesn’t mean you support her decisions to have gone and gotten pregnant again. But you had the ability to look past the situation and keep your eye only on the babies. That’s so compassionate, and I really thank you guys for doing that.

He thanks Stan Whitaker, Whitaker General Contracting, who oversaw the general contracting of her home.

Young America, who donated furniture for Nadya’s older children.

Million Dollar Baby outfitted the nursery.

Higher America donated a brand-new convertible bottom drawer refrigerator for the octuplets.

Octuplets: Dr Phil, Part 5 Allred vs Czech

Updated list of octuplet posts (4-22)

Trying to empty out some of the drafts.

This is Part 5 (second day) of Dr Phil Show discussing the firing of Angels in Waiting. On set are the lawyers: Allred & Jeff Czech; AIW: Linda West-Conforti & Jackie Peebles and Dr Phil. It’s rather embarrassing to see/hear them go at it like sniping middle schoolers. Czech was like a lamb to the slaughter and he knew it. Dr Phil gave Allred a lot of latitude but had to rescue Czech. Dr Phil knew enough to avoid “shrill” - he uses “strident”.

(3-25) Octuplets: Dr Phil Part 1: Nadya; *Angels in Waiting* firing
(3-25) Octuplets: Dr Phil Part 2: Jeff Czech: “Hogging the media”
(3-25) Octuplets: Dr Phil, Part 3: No more Nadya for him
(3-26) Octuplets: Dr Phil, Part 4: Tuberculosis, nannies
(3-26) Octuplets: Dr Phil, Part 5: Allred vs Czech
============================================

March 26, 2009

From Dr Phil’s wesite [emphasis added]

GLORIA ALLRED:

One of the reasons that we care about transparency is so that not only can we tell Child Protective Services, which must be done for the protection of these little, innocent, precious babies, but in addition, so the public knows. The fact is that bringing in Kaiser means that, yes, some of them are mandated reporters, and we hope that they will report to Child Protective Services, but the public now is shutdown, is shutout.

That is what Jeff and Nadya want, for the public only to hear their side, which is going to be, ‘Aw, how wonderful everything is,’ and not to know the truth about what’s really going on inside the house, whether or not these babies are in danger, and that is wrong.

The whole point of Angels in Waiting USA, besides providing such high-quality care from these wonderful pediatric nurses and educational consultants, was not to put the burden on the taxpayer, but this is what Nadya and Jeff are doing; shut everybody up, put the burden on the taxpayer. That’s wrong, and I want to know what they’re hiding and why.

JEFF CZECH:

It is certainly not my intention, I know it’s not Nadya’s intention, to hide from the public. Nadya wants her own life. I think any mother who has 50 kids doesn’t necessarily want to be public with the private issues in her life.

That comment is so ludicrous it isn’t even funny. Nadya sits everyday and chats to radaronline about her life. Nobody’s forcing her and she knows the videos go online uncensored. He knew he shouldnt have said it and Allred pounced.

ALLRED:

She’s public every day, Jeff. That’s why the paparazzi were there the first night. She went on the media and announced that the babies were coming home.

CZECH:

It was pretty calm until you showed up with your briefcase in hand, held a press conference and then refused to leave the premises.

First he complains about her “hogging the media” and then wants to know where Nadya’s money is.

CZECH:

I have repeatedly asked Gloria for an accounting. Nadya needs to plan. I didn’t get that transparency.

He’s all about transparency when it comes to cash.

ALLRED holds up a stack of printed out emails.

You got numerous e-mails, Jeff. Saying, ‘Jeff, can we have a meeting with the nurses, and Nadya, and Dr. Phil, and you and me?’

CZECH:

I’m very busy. It’s hard to have a meeting every five minutes.

He’s reacting like a child who doesn’t know what excuse to use and she’s got him in her sights.

ALLRED:

We asked for one meeting. We had to discuss the catastrophe that occurred Tuesday night, because you and Nadya failed to plan and provide adequate security, and because you dared to tell the media when the babies were coming home. If it had been done quietly, these babies would not have been placed at risk.

And as to the accounting, as Dr. Phil knows from all of these e-mails, we said we’d be very happy to tell you about the funds. Let’s have a meeting, either in person or have a conference call on the phone. You refused to do either for almost a week.

DR PHIL realizes it’s his show and addresses Allred:.

Are you being too strident [aka shrill] in this situation? It seems like there’s constant criticism, and I wonder if she did feel threatened by this Angels in Waiting USA contingent? And she felt like, ‘I’m being constantly judged, and they’re not helping me if they see a problem; they’re reporting me. They’re not assisting, and it seems to be adversarial.’

What gave it away Dr Phil? He asks Czech if Nadya’s on welfare and he pretends he doesn’t know. Where’s that transparency?

DR PHIL:

You say that this may fall back to Medi-Cal, or [Nadya] is on Medi-Cal right now, true?

CZECH:

If Medi-Cal took care of the initial birth, etc., then what’s going on now is probably a continuation of that. I’ve not verified that with Nadya. But let me stress, Nadya doesn’t want this anymore. She wants to be on her own.

Yeah and she just wanted one more child when she couldn’t support the 6 she already had. And her oldest daughter didn’t want the octuplets to come home. Words mean nothing.

DR PHIL:

Here’s what gets people upset. I am told that while all of this is going on, and she’s trying to situate the kids, and get the nursery right, and get people flowing and all of that sort of thing, she’s taking money and installing a big hot tub in the master suite at this house. When people hear that — if it’s true, and I don’t know if it’s true. If it’s not, tell me it’s not — people wonder why would we be A) making donations, and B) letting this fall on taxpayers, when here’s somebody who’s doing that kind of thing of thing.

Is that true or false?

CZECH explains that the plumbing is bad, and the bathtub leaks into the kitchen.

She had to replace the tub. Nadya’s using her own sources. She has made some money. She has to. She’s in a situation where she’s never going to be looked at very favorably.

And she’s doing nothing to improve matters. And the story of the tub continues to evolve. First her friends gave it to her, then it was donated, then she bought it herself. In one of her RadarOnline videos she takes the cameraman into the bathron

JACKIE PEEBLES (AIW):

When Gloria came, and I was asked by one of the people from the media, ‘Why is Gloria here? Please ask her to leave,’ I said, ‘I don’t understand the confusion. I really don’t’. Gloria came, said, ‘I don’t want a press conference. I don’t want my face on the media.’ She sat down at the kitchen table … This was a happy day for the union, for all of us coming together and bringing the babies home. It was quiet. Gloria was sitting there at the kitchen table, no conference, nothing going on.

DR PHIL to Czech:

Did you want Gloria out of there that night, and did you get in her face and attack her, yelling and pointing your finger in her face to get her out?

CZECH:

Nadya and I were locked up with the Kaiser people for, I don’t how long, four or five hours, and during this time, apparently the ruckus was building at Nadya’s home, and we did not even know. Information was filtering in to me that there were a lot of unnecessary people at that house, and so I started asking my staffers to politely ask all unnecessary people, and Gloria Allred was one of them — she didn’t have to be there — I asked everybody to leave, and they did.

[He says he spoke with Gloria, and she went into the backyard.]

It was complete mayhem.

And who caused it to be that way? Who told the paparazzi exactly when she would be bringing them home? Who didn’t have any type of security in place?

ALLRED, chomping to cross examine him and trap him in lies:

This is just so much nonsense. What happened was, yes, Jeff asked the press, and there were numerous representatives of the media — cameras, audio equipment, video equipment, wires, cords, lights — by the way, a lot of which was set up in this very small nursery later in the night when these little preemies came home, exposing these little babies to high risk of infection and danger — but in any event, yes, he asked them to clear out.

But guess what? Before Nadya came home with the babies, he let everybody back in.

[She explains that she was at the house to protect the nurses.]

They were going into a high-risk situation, because Nadya had announced all these media people were there. I wanted to make sure that they could do their job and not be bullied, and not be prevented from caring for these little babies.

She pushed him enough to make him speak the truth even though he wasn’t aware of it. He basically admits he was pist she got the media questions and interviews that night not him.

CZECH:

Gloria, I think you can care about the nurses and about the babies in the confines of your own home. You were part of the ruckus, because you’re a well-known attorney, and a lot of people want to see you, so that was part of it. That was the reason I asked you to leave, along with everyone else. I did not ask them to come back in.

He just admitted that he did not have control of the situation. And Allred says he lost control of himself as well.

ALLRED:

Well, they did come back in, so somebody gave them permission. Maybe it was your wife.

When you arrived with Nadya, you didn’t ask them to leave. Instead, what you did in the presence of the nurses and everyone else there, you came in like Raging Bull 2. You came in, you went within one inch of one of our nannies’ noses … and you stood there, and you put your finger like this, and you jabbed your finger at her, and you were yelling at this poor little nanny, ‘Who are you? Get the [expletive] out of here!’

She says that Jeff then came up to her, pointed a finger in her face and yelled.

The worst was you yelled, and you punched your fist right to the wall of nursery. Those little babies were inside. How scary for these little babies.

She’s good at always coming back to the babies. He and Nadya talk about them as commoditites. He of course denies doing any of the sort.

LINDA WEST-CONFORTI:

You did too, Jeff. That’s when I said, ‘I will take you out.’

Reads like the Godfather doesn’t it?

Octuplets: Gloria Allred interview by radaronline

April 5, 2009

(4-5) Octuplets: Updated list of posts

Radaronline interview with Gloria Allred, lawyer for Angels in Waiting. Not strictly about her experience with Nadya Suleman. Allred and AIW stressed over and over the importance of security and Nadya didn't listen. Her car was then vandalized - the back window was smashed with a car seat that was on her front porch. They could have just as easily broken in or done anything else as no one stopped them or actually saw them. The report AIW made was well-founded and still Nadya did nothing. Allegedly she hired security after the car was vadalized. Octuplet #7 Josiah was brought home later the same day.

RadarOnline.com: Octo-Mom - what do you think is the best-case scenario for her?

Gloria Allred: There is none unless she decides to take an active and meaningful role in parenting all of her children

RO: Do you think she'll have her kids taken away?

GA: Only if they are neglected or abused. At this point I do think they would be better off in foster care where they can receive individualized attention and care.

RO: Do you think she's competent to raise these kids?

GA: If she continues to behave the way that she did when Angels in Waiting USA.org was in her home, I am not optimistic about her children's future. For the sake of her 14 children I hope that she gets the help that she clearly needs and readjusts her priorities. She needs to demonstrate through actions not just words that her children are more
important to her than shopping and money making schemes. Her children need their mother not more toys and photo-ops.

==== That's the end of her comments on Nadya. ====

RO: What is the No. 1 issue you are concerned with right now?

GA: Our current case before the California Supreme Court challenging Prop 8, a constitutional amendment which would deny gay and lesbian couples the right to marry in California.

RO: What case are you most proud of?

GA: All of them. Currently our victory last year before the California Supreme Court in which we won the right to marry for gay and lesbian couples.

RO: Who are the people you admire the most?

GA: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Susan B. Anthony, Senator Barbara Mikulski, Sojourner Truth and Benazir Bhutto.

RO: In general, do you think celebrities get a break from the justice system or are treated unfairly?

GA: There is definitely a double standard. Celebrities definitely have an advantage in the legal system.

RO: We're going to name a celebrity and you write the first thing you think of. O.J. Simpson...

GA: Double killer. One day his children will know the truth about their father.

RO: Robert Blake

GA: One lucky guy, one unlucky wife.

RO: Michael Jackson

GA: I would advise parents not to leave their children alone with him.

RO: Who has had the biggest impact on your life?

GA: My parents, my cousin Dr. Rachel Ash, my law partners Nathan Goldberg and Michael Maroko.

RO: What's the biggest regret of your career?

GA: None.

RO: Would you ever consider running for public office?

GA: No.

RO: If you could have dinner with one person who would it be and why?

GA: President Obama. I would like to discuss specifics re how the system needs to be changed so that women and minorities can truly be afforded equal protection under the law and to suggest names for him to consider for his future Supreme Court appointments, when vacancies exist on the court. I would also ask him to vigorously advocate the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Postscript: Allred will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Steinhardt College of New York University on May 11. The award will be presented at the university's commencement at Radio City Music Hall. She will be giving the commencement address.

Octuplets: Gloria Allred & Angels in Waiting Press Conference (3-25)

March 26, 2009

(3-24) Updated list of octuplet posts
(3-26) Octuplets: Gloria Allred & *Angels in Waiting* Press Conference
(3-26) Octuplets: Nadya’s response to Allred/AIW press conference

Linda West-Conforti and Jackie Peebles of Angels in Waiting and their attorney Gloria Allred held a press conference Wednesday (25th) to address their “firing” by Nadya Suleman.

***

Nadya played both Angels in Waiting and Kaiser Permanente nurses.

She used AIW to play Dr Phil, who then arranged for her to get free stuff - that prior to her agreement with AIW no one had offered. Once she determined she was never going to get money from AIW and that Kaiser would take over with taxpayer dollars - she fired AIW.

Well that and those pesky reports to CPS.

Three reports to CPS:

Loud unsafe conditions the night the first two octuplets came home (17th) - paparazzi gone wild outdoors - lawyer(s) gone wild indoors.

Three intruders - risk of abduction - nanny entered home unchallenged - no ID - lack of security - no response from Nadya’s lawyer, Jeff Czech.

Nannies invited into her home with positive skin tests (ppds) for TUBERCULOSIS - one with a productive cough not cleared by chest xray to rule out active disease.

No word if the hospital has looked into this further.

Camera crew allowed in close proximity to the preemies and other children. I’m sure they have used the facilities there as well. What infectious disease screening have they had?

NOTE: Gloria Allred’s initial filing had nothing to do with AIW. She did it 2 days prior to AIW contacting her.

Octuplets: Gloria Allred & Angels in Waiting Press Conference (3-25)

March 26, 2009

Linda West-Conforti and Jackie Peebles of Angels in Waiting and their attorney Gloria Allred held a press conference Wednesday (25th) to address their “firing” by Nadya Suleman.

Octuplets: Text of initial Gloria Allred-*Angels in Waiting* press conference

March 25, 2009

Updated list of octuplet posts (3-24) - including video of this press conference and their appearances on The Early Show and Dr Phil.

Since some of you are still unclear as to the initial deal and the credentials of Angels in Waiting, and don't seem to have watched the video of this press conference, here is the text. Frankly, I find it despicable that some folks are questioning AIW's motives. Read this, and then see what you think as a fully informed bystander. Later today both sides of the story will be revealed. I don't know if they can make public the reason for the three complaints lodged against Nadya and filed with DCFS.

Text of the February 19th Press conference by Gloria Allred and Angel in Waiting’s (AIW) Linda West-Conforti and Jackie Peebles, discussing their offer to Nadya, which she initially rejected. However, when the hospital told her they were holding off sending the first octuplets home, she decided to accept AIW's offer - clearly not willingly. It's no surprise she fired them.

The video of the press conference and other posts concerning Gloria Allred and AIW in the link above.

GLORIA ALLRED, LAWYER REPRESENTING AIW

We are here today to urge Nadya Suleman to accept a proposal to provide for the medical and emotional needs of her 14 children once her octuplets are released from the hospital, which may occur in approximately 5 weeks.

While public debate has focused on other questions such as whether or not Ms. Suleman and her doctor should or should not have taken the risk of multiple births under her particular economic and emotional circumstances, and whether she has been candid about these circumstances, we are focused only on what will happen to the 14 children who are in existence and how they can and must be protected now that they are here.

Allred initially got involved because she made an independent complaint. Anyone can make file a report of possible child abuse or neglect without fear of prosecution - in an effort to catch abuse when the child is unable to voice it themselves. Of course, if it turns out to be malicious, the police can be involved. Also, if a healthcare worker has suspicions - like a daycare worker or ER nurse/physician - and does not report it, they can in some cases be held liable.

Allred quotes the initial interview of the grandmother, where she said in no uncertain terms that Nadya was not equipped to take care of the children and that she had been raising and providing for the children. She also said she had had enough. Follow link above for posts. Grandmother later retracted the statement.

ALLRED: Last Thursday (Feb.12 2009) I quietly filed a complaint with the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services and requested an investigation into whether or not Nadya’s 14 children might be endangered if left in her care and custody, and asked for removal from her care temporarily if after an investigation there was cause to believe that they are endangered. In my letter, I cited numerous concerns including, the fact that the octuplets may soon be released from the hospital, and that it was unclear where they will live, who will care for them or how they will be supported. Some of them may be special needs babies, since they were delivered prematurely and some of them are below normal weight.

In addition, I cited among other reasons for my concern the conclusion of the grandmother of these children, Angela Suleman, that “The truth is Nadya’s not capable of raising 14 children”, and “I’m really tired of taking care of the six children” and “She really has no idea what she’s doing to her children and me.”

Coincidentally, on the same day that I filed my complaint a charitable organization called “Angels in Waiting” founded by a pediatric nurse with 25 years experience in neo-natal intensive care sent an e-mail to Nadya offering services to her children, because of their concern about the health , welfare and safety of the octuplets and their siblings after the octuplets are released from the hospital.

Next - how Allred became directly involved. I don't think AIW had initially been aware of Allred's complaint after she filed it - investigations are supposed to be confidential - but I am not positive.

ALLRED: Last weekend, the organization contacted me for assistance because they received no response from Nadya. At that time, we decided to wait until today to see if Nadya would respond before making their proposal to provide greatly needed services to Nadya’s children public.

Since I have not received a response from Children’s Services (which has a policy of not disclosing if they are investigating) and since Angels in Waiting has received no response from Nadya or her representatives, we decided that we must make our concerns public and let Nadya know that there are angels in waiting for her little angels and that all she has to do is contact us so that we may share our concerns for the health, safety and welfare of her children and how we can help meet those critical needs.

The clock is ticking and we need to convey to her the magnitude of the needs of these premature infants and their siblings a.s.a.p.

Angels in Waiting, and myself as their legal support are concerned that Nadya does not appear to have a concrete plan for the future to meet the urgent and complicated needs of these medically fragile and premature infants.

Why AIW needed to get involved and not simply nannies, non-neonatal nurses or volunteers.

ALLRED: Time is of the essence.

This plan must be made now. It cannot be made at the last minute, because it does not just involve securing a piece of property in which to place the infants and other children. Further, securing a nanny is simply not sufficient to meet the needs of these children. These infants were born 2 ½ months premature, and some are drastically below normal weight. Based on documented research Angels in Waiting (AIW) in concerned that this means that they are at high risk of developmental delay.

Without adequate medical and developmental support by trained early interventionist experienced professionals in the field, AIW is concerned that these infants could suffer serious consequences which could have long lasting effects for their future as well as the future of their siblings. AIW is therefore proposing a plan for the well being of these children which Linda West Conforti who is an R.N. and the founder of AIW will explain in a few minutes.

The offer - including the stipulation that all of the donations would go toward the care of the children and absolutely nothing to Nadya or her family. Clearly something else Nadya was not pleased with.

ALLRED: Angels in Waiting is a wonderful organization and Linda as its founder has won an award from Kaiser for founding it. They have helped many at risk medically fragile infants in the past, and are offering to do so again.

If Nadya accepts their offer and if the public supports them through donations then her babies would receive the around the clock care they will need without having to rely on taxpayer funds.

Also all donations would be used to secure experienced and trained professionals who would provide much needed care, and not one cent would go to Nadya or anyone else in her family.

Another advantage of this plan is that all the children would be kept together, and Nadya will be able to live with her children, which will be important for their future emotional needs.

Why Nadya was suspicious from the start - as if her paranoia needs an external stimulus. AIW works with foster children.

ALLRED: If Nadya does not accept their proposal, the alternative in our opinion will most likely be that the children will be taken by DCFS, and placed in foster care in order to protect them and meet their special needs. That will mean that the enormous burden will be placed on the taxpayers and neither the public nor AIW, nor myself believes that that is an acceptable alternative, particularly because AIW offers a plan that is better for these children who are the focus of our concern.

Further, delays caused by the involvement of public agencies as they seek to meet the infant’s needs will not be beneficial to the children.

Instead, we offer a plan for these children where they can thrive in a supportive environment without the necessary intervention by the DCFS and removal to foster care, and without burdening the taxpayer.

We hope that Nadya will contact us about our proposal and the time to contact us is now. She cannot wait until the last minute to accept the plan. It will take weeks to put it into effect once she does accept.

These babies urgently need Angels in Waiting and the time for action to keep this family together to protect the best interests of these babies and accept this intervention is now!

LINDA WEST-CONFORTI, FOUNDER OF *ANGELS IN WAITING*

I am Linda West Conforti. I am a Registered Nurse with 25 years in neonatal intensive care and pediatric intensive care units. I’ve cared for thousands of medically fragile infants and children. In 2005, I established a foundation known as Angels in Waiting (AIW).

AIW is a non profit tax exempt 501(c)(3) public charity.

AIW is dedicated to recruiting qualified nurses to provide loving homes, nursing care, and other needed services for medically fragile preemies, infants, and children. To my knowledge, we are the only organization of its kind in California.

AIW understands the proper course of treatments needed to improve and strengthen the physical, emotional, cognitive and psychological outcomes of premature infants. We also understand that even when these babies are released from the hospital, they are not “out of the woods” for potential set backs and complications.

AIW will provide “wrap around services”, using a blend of professional programs for Nadya’s infants and their siblings. The services will include, but not limited to, nursing care, occupational therapy, physical therapy and early intervention educational specialists. We have seen first hand how the prospects for their future improve with more individualized care and attention in a nurturing and supportive home environment.

We look forward to opening a dialogue with Nadya about the importance of providing appropriate care for her premature infants, whom we believe are at risk.

JACKIE PEEBLES

I am Jackie Peebles. I am the Early Intervention Specialist working with Angels in Waiting. I have been a credentialed teacher for 31 years, and Early Intervention Specialist for the past 19 years serving over 450 children. I hold a Master’s Degree in Special Education and have been an advocate for children with special needs for the past seven years.

In 2005, I started working with Angels in Waiting with their medically fragile infants.

My job is to provide the necessary brain, vision, cognitive, language, sensory and motor development for these children.

Recall that as recently as yesterday Nadya said her octuplets are not medically fragile - even though their potential deficits, unless catastrophic, cannot be known at this time - especially cognitive and neurological impairments. Half of her older children have neurological conditions along the autism spectrum, which was not enough for this woman to stop birthing. \

Her selfishness truly knows no bounds. What mother would do that to her other children? Intentionally taking time away from them. Anyone who has a child or worked with a child with autism and ADHS knows how much attention and energy they take.

PEEBLES: In a situation like this with 8 medically fragile premature infants, if a plan is not implemented it is unlikely that these little ones will get the individual attention that they need. Each of these infants will have their own challenges depending on the medical outcomes they are facing. Many of these possible delays are preventable if they are addressed from the beginning. Providing nurturing individual interactions will help build healthy brain structures that provide for a stronger learning foundation.

This is what is necessary for these 8 premature medically fragile infants. Angels in Waiting understands the fundamental building blocks necessary for the sound development of preemies and will implement the skills necessary to mitigate and or prevent developmental delays brought on by prematurity and negative bonding issues which could occur if there are too many inexperienced care givers.

It will be my goal to set up an individual development plan for all of these medically fragile infants who are at risk. Helping these babies come home to a good healthy start is my desire.

*******

So those of you who insist they are "frauds" and "just out for themselves" and "looking for money" you are dead wrong and, in my opinion, it is quite disgusting to suggest it. Today we can all judge for ourselves when the two sides of the story are revealed.

Allred/AIW press conference 1 pm PST and Dr Phil whenever it airs in your time zone.

Websites: Gloria Allred, Allred You Tube, Angels in Waiting & Dr Phil.

Octuplets: Allred: Three complaints made to DCFS

March 25, 2009

Again the freshest source is a celebrity site - this time E!Online.

It appears the Nadya will be/was on Dr Phil as well as Gloria Allred and Angels in Waiting's Linda West-Conforti and Jackie Peebles to be aired on Wednesday/Thursday. Funny she didn't say anything about it on her radaronline video.

According to NATALIE FINN at E!Online, Nadya told Dr Phil, by phone:

NADYA: The primary issue was that myself and my nannies felt extremely uncomfortable. I personally felt like a stranger in my own home. The goal was to empower me as a mother, help me, train me. I'm open to that, I want that, I want to do the very best for these...premature babies.

I wanted [Angels] to use their training and knowledge to help guide me. I felt that was never accomplished. I felt as though every time I tried to hold the babies, feed the babies, they would be observing and they were waiting for me to make a mistake.

Paranoia strikes deep...

GLORIA ALLRED countered:

Our major concern has always been the best interest of the babies, and of course, I happen to disagree with quite a bit of what Nadya said in terms of what has happened. I think the real reason that Nadya has not been able to continue with Angels in Waiting may be the fact that not one, but three reports had to be filed with Child Protective Service by Angels in Waiting.

Whoa. Three? Recently or is she counting the initial one she made as an independent person not yet hired to represent AIW? I read somewhere that AIW was concerned about the number of people living at her house. Not sure what that means although Nadya had said that the grandparents were not going to live with her.

Guess we'll find out at her 1 pm press conference today (Wednesday) when she preempts Dr Phil (at least in this time zone) and gives her press conference at her office. I wonder if someone will be televising it live?

The "Jeff" Allred refers to is Jeff Czech Nadya's lawyer/spokesman. Her second publicist, Victor Munoz quit saying her could not as a matter of conscience continue to be associated with her. He said she was greedy and Nuts! See links below.

ALLRED: The whole point of Angels in Waiting, besides providing such high-quality care…was not to put the burden on the taxpayer, but that's what Nadya and Jeff are doing, [They want] to shut everybody up…that's wrong. I want to know what they are hiding and why.

They are hiding a reality show in the works. I would like her to acept the repacement porno nannies because then it would be rather simple for DCFS.

Her lawyer in reference to Nadya taking the first two octuplets home - the same day her nanny called 911 to remove Gloria Allred from Nadya's house.

JEFF CZECH: I don't think anyone really foresaw the extent of what would happen the first time around.

Now Kaiser nurses will provide the training of the nannies courtesy of California taxpayers. How much is the hospital bill so far? Nadya's hospitalization included. Kaiser said the rest of the babies will be sent home according to their plan.

Kaiser spokesman Jim Anderson:

That is between [Angels] and Nadya Suleman. The AIW is a whole separate thing. Our decision to discharge the babies previously and now, never had anything to do with AIW.

I find that very hard to believe. Two days before the babies were to go home Nadya had not had her nannies lined up and she was still interviewing them.

Another hospital employee who has been to Suleman's house says that two pediatric nurses visit the home each day to help out the existing nannies.

Another charge to the taxpayers.