Frivolous or Fruitless?:

July 2005 complaint

    This is a justifiably angry and bruised client.  After reading how the ODJFS did not handle their case (and the many other complaints received regarding BBAS), they have every right to be both angry and bruised – and more.

    According to the complaint itself, this client wishes to remain anonymous.  We do not know who they are nor have we had any contact with them. We stress that we do not expect to be contacted by every disgruntled Building Blocks client.  Yet we are glad to see this client paid attention – and did the right, albeit useless thing.

    This complaint is disturbing beyond usual levels. Besides BBAS’s typical malfeasance, it’s troubling that their baby seems to have been physically harmed while in Guatemala.  It begs the fact: are those famed Guatemalan foster care mothers being paid for their work?  If not, who is taking their salaries for the babies’ care?

    When will Building Blocks Adoption Service, Inc. learn the maltreatment of babies in their foreign adoption programs is morally reprehensible?  Will they need a Guatemalan Cyril to prove it?

    The following is taken directly from the ODJFS complaint, Report # 4-31-05.  Documents are referred to, but were not included with the information we received in February 2007.

    The complaint file begins with the following letter, written to Denise Hubbard, Executive Director of Building Blocks Adoption Service from this Guatemalan client.  It’s obvious from the letter the family was distraught.  But they managed to call Denise on her usual lies.

          April 28, 2005+

          Denise:

          Let us begin by telling you how happy we are to have XXXX as part of our family.  XXXX is a most wonderful child, and has blended in to our family as perfectly as we could have ever imagined. However, we have two requests. 

          First, when we were in Guatemala you told us that you record all phone conversations and that you would be happy to send us tapes. Please send us tapes of all conversations from March 8 through March 15 [2005].

          Next, and of a far more serious nature, we are requesting a full and honest accounting of XXXX broken arm.  Let me recap what we know.

          We went to Guatemala without any idea that XXXX had changed foster homes sometime shortly after her first birthday, at least three months after we had accepted her referral.

          Her second foster mother told us that she arrived with her arm in a cast.  When that cast was removed, the arm had not healed properly. When we met you on Easter Sunday, you expressed surprise at this information. 

          More than two weeks later, when I was with [redacted] told me that XXXX birth mom had fallen as she left a bus, with XXXX in her arms.  At the time, XXXX was seven months old. 

          The arm was never set.  Rather, it was bandaged and XXXX repeatedly pulled off the bandage.  Thus, the arm did not properly heal.

          On Monday, April 21 we took XXXX to see Dr. XX, a highly respected orthopedic surgeon.  We brought with us a series of photos.  The earliest ones were take some time in April [2004?] when XXXX was about nine months old.  In these photos, she was dressed only in a diaper, giving a full view of her arm.  According to [redacted’s] story XXXX’s arm had already been broken and improperly healed. We had photos of her at ten and twelve months as well.

          Dr. XX was completely certain that her arm showed no evidence of a break in any of those photos. In addition, his x-rays showed an improperly set bone, just above her elbow, but it was a break that had been in a cast. Without a cast, the bone would not have healed as it did.

          When XXXX was about 14 months old, we did not receive pictures. Rather, you told us that she had a cold, and thus the foster care mother did not bring her in to the city.  This is most likely the time when her arm would have been in a cast.

          Dr. XX also looked at photos of XXXX from later in the fall and winter.  In the photos where her arm is visible, he could see clear evidence that it was hanging improperly.

          We need to have these two stories rectified.  How is it that a child in the custody of your agency, who already had moved through a substantial portion of the adoption process could break an arm, and yet as his parents, we were not notified?

          We hope you can see that the fact that [redacted] felt compelled to create a story that simply cannot be true sets off alarm bells for us. We need to know if the break was in any way due to abuse, especially in light of the fact that XXXX was taken out of [redacted] original placement at precisely the same time.

          We were told that the children in the care of Building Blocks were taken to private healthy clinics where they received excellent care. 

          XXXX’s arm was set improperly. Dr. XX has some hope that the elbow will compensate and correct itself.  If that doesn’t happen, XXXX faces surgery because of a lack of proper care.

    We certainly hope that you can shed light on this matter and set the record straight.  Feel free to contact us if you need any additional information.

    Sincerely,

    Had their baby been caught up in the Hosanna Baby Home raid?  Is that why she was suddenly moved and not brought into the city by the foster mother?  Denise’s excuse of “she had a cold” was a tried and true one.  Just a little cold, just a little cough, just an arm bent at a wrong angle and no medical care given for the break.

    It appears there was no response from either Denise Hubbard or Rick Marco to this impassioned letter.  Not surprising behavior from morally bankrupt people. They’d received their cut of the fees, the child was safely home, so what if the baby had an arm issue?  Not their problem – the standard BBAS operating procedure of overpromising, lying, taping telephone calls and crapping on clients continued unabated. And why not? They were making good money (other people’s good money, at least) doing it.

    On June 2, 2005 the family mailed two letters. One was addressed to Denise Hubbard and cc’d to Rhonda Abbean, Section Chief, Adoption of the ODJFS.  The second letter was directly to Rhonda Abbean expressing their displeasure with Building Blocks.

    The letter to Denise is below.  Note address to “Ms. Hubbard” and not “Denise”, exactly as I had done when the agency turned their backs on us after Cyril.

          Dear Ms. Hubbard:

          On April 28, 2005 we sent you a letter requesting information.  The first matter dealt with your policy of taping phone conversations.  We spoke in Guatemala on March 30 about a mid-March conversation in which you told me that we would “definitely” get our [redacted] birth certificate on [redacted].

          You vehemently denied making that statement.  It was at that point that you told me that conversations were recorded.  Clearly, this was a conversation over which there was dispute.  Yet, you went ahead and deleted that tape.  You explained that you tape over conversations once they are no longer relevant.  Since there was disagreement over this conversation, your deletion of this phone call is suspicious at best.

          Our second request for information was far more serious.  I am enclosing a new copy of that letter so that you can refresh your memory about why   we need information on the circumstances surrounding XXXX’s broken arm. 

          I emailed you the week of [redacted] reminding you of this matter. You responded by telling me that you would be in Guatemala as of [redacted] and would give us a response shortly after that.

          Ten days have passed without any response.  We expect an immediate reply.

 

          Sincerely,

    Way to go Complainant.  All of Denise Hubbard’s tired excuses all piled up. Taped telephone conversations not taped, circumstances where a child was hurt — how could she continue to work with the same formula and expect different results (per a popular definition of insanity)?

    Below is the letter to Rhonda Abbaen, Section Chief, Adoption at the ODJFS in Columbus, sent on the same day as the above letter  to Denise .

                Dear Ms. Abbaen:

          I sent you a copy of a letter addressed to Denise Hubbard of Building Blocks Adoption Services on June 2.  We received a non-reply from her attorney, telling us that we will receive no further information about a serious injury that was sustained while a child was in the care of an agency regulated by your department. I am forwarding to you our final    reply to Denise. 

          I continue to hope that I can provide you with a full accounting of our  experience with Building Blocks in the hopes of keeping them from retaining their credentials. 

          Please feel free to contact us at [redacted]. My email address is [redacted]

    It was after this Denise got BBAS Corporate Attorney on the case (he has to do some work for those siphoned funds).  Instead of responding herself to the obvious issues, Denise let Scumbag Marco have a go.  We have a feeling they knew Scumbag Marco would be used instead of Arch Liar Denise.

    These people were justifiably pissed off at Marco’s response.  Unfortunately, the ODJFS (or the Complainant) did not supply a copy of Richard J. Marco Jr’s original letter.  Judging by the following letter to Frau Direktor Hubbard, Marco had way overstepped his bounds – professionally, ethically, emotionally.  What else is new in the land of Scumbag?

    But boy, did they nail Denise and Rick to a “T”.

          Denise,

          We received a letter from your attorney this well telling us that our desire to learn the medical history of our daughter was “frivolous”. The fact that you would allow someone to describe our goal as frivolous speaks volumes about you, demonstrating quite clearly that you run a business, rather than an organization dedicated to the well-being of children and their families.

          The one way that we can see that our request has been rather frivolous right along is based on your history of deceit.  Although we already had cause [to] question your competence before XXXX’s DNA test was lost, it was when you told us that the Guatemalan Consulate in Miami would not accept express mail that we knew you were also untruthful.  When that lie  was compounded by your statement that you record phone calls, but did not save a call that was being disputed, we had to realize that we could never truly trust your report about XXXX’s arm.

          I am enclosing two photos of XXXX taken soon after she came into the care of your organization. You have seen her recently and know that the arm cannot be straightened as it is in these pictures. Without any doubt, her arm was injured between the time we accepted her referral and the time we took custody of her.

          Please also consider the ramifications of your story being true. You knew that she had sustained a serious injury that will most likely require surgery to correct, but did not include that fact in the medical disclosure that you sent us.  Let us be clear.  We understand that there is no way for any organization to know everything about a child’s medical history, but a broken arm that was never set most certainly could have been observed and included in the medical history we received.

          We are done with our search for a truthful answer. All that we can do now is join an already extensive chorus of voices on the Internet helping other potential parents avoid the misfortune of dealing with such an unethical agency.

    This was cc’d to Rhonda Abbaen as well.

    Dang, that last paragraph was prose in true and accurate motion. The “already extensive chorus of voices on the Internet” Who could they be referring to?  FIGHT THE POWER UNKNOWN COMPLAINANT! Come on down – there’s plenty of room for more of you.  More than even us, the Horrible, Crazy, Wicked, Vindictive Cases even thought possible.

    But us, the Truth Telling, Hateful Case Couple can tell you one thing.  You may have noticed we named this Complaint “Frivolous or Fruitless?”  You can trust us when we write our spell checker did not change “fruitless” to “frivolous”.  Nor did it change “frivolous” to “fruitless”.  The ex Mr. Cynthia Marco knew full well what he was writing and the impact his cruel words would have.  To be such a cowardly, supposedly good Catholic suits him well.  When will he grow up and come clean he’s laying in the devil’s bed?

    The Complaint was sent on July 5, 2005 to Linda Saridakis from Rhonda Abbean in Columbus.

    On August 25, 2005 it was completed.  Linda Saridakis stated the following.  It appears Denise went nuclear towards their requests and made even more of her usual excuses (no express mail to Guatemala? Where had we heard that before?)

          This Specialist contacted the Complainant on July 5, 2005. The Complainant stated that she had an unpleasant experience with this agency.  She stated that the Executive Director of Building Blocks lied about express mail to Miami, about the child’s arm and that she did not get back to her in a timely manner and she yelled at the Complainant.

      This Specialist contacted the agency on July 8, 2005 who denied the allegations and explained the circumstances. This Specialist also spoke to the agency attorney regarding the word in question in his letter which was clarified in his response to the Complainant in a letter dated the following date.

      The contract and pictures were reviewed. The disposition was sent on July 26, 2005.

    My my my!!!  The stinking loads of manure by Denise and Rick continued to toss Linda’s way. Denise denied the allegations? And? She was guilty and knew it. We wonder how the Arch Liar and Scumbag felt seeing the photos of the baby’s arm. Knowing them, whose hearts are now grey, they felt nothing. After all, they didn’t even bother to bring up Cyril’s death and its likely ramifications for their agency at its very next board meeting.

    The best was yet to come in the following official report, filed by Linda Saridakis, signed by Linda and Mary Reasor, her “Licensing Supervisor”.  The date of this report is August 24, 2005

    We can’t BEGIN to express our indignation at Denise’s many LIES, twists and outright fabrications.  We have underlined them for you.  What well of moral bankruptcy does Sandi Harding’s daughter drink from?

    Before reading this, take an OTC med.  It is that bad. 

          A complaint was received by the Adoption Section Chief on June 30, 2005. The complaint was forwarded to this Specialist and received on July 5, 2005.  The Complainant voiced her concerns regarding Building Blocks Adoption Service’s (BBAS). 

          The Complainant stated that she had an unpleasant experience with the agency. She stated BBAS lost the DNA test, lied to her and informed her that the Miami Consulate would not accept express mail, did not tell her the child’s arm was broken when she changed foster homes, did not get back to her in a timely manner and that the Executive Director yelled at her in Guatemala and did not show up for [a] meeting.

          This Specialist contacted the Executive Director of the agency on July 8,    2005.  The Executive Director stated that they investigated whether or not the child’s arm was broken in foster care, with their contacts [in] Guatemala per the Complainant’s request. They were informed that this occurred prior to the child being placed in foster care and that this was the information that was provided to the Complainant.

          She stated that they could only inform the Complainant of the information that was available to them. Issues with medical and other information available are also referenced in the contracts that the Complainant signed.

          In respect to the Consulate in Miami, they had changed their procedures temporarily and were not accepting express mail due to security reasons.  They had previously returned express mail. They evidently had begun to accept express mail again at the time the Complainant telephoned the Consulate.

          The Executive Director did state that the child’s DNA test was lost and that they just requested another test, which did not cost the Complainant any money or delay the process, as she was still sending dossier documents at the time.

          In reference to the meeting in Guatemala, the Complainant had showed up at another meeting that the agency was having with an attorney and foster parent and started screaming. The  Executive Director stated that she did not yell at the Complainant but asked her to leave in a firm voice. It sounded as if the Complainant misunderstood when she was supposed to meet with the agency. They did meet with the Complainant [later that day].

          This Specialist also talked with the agency’s attorney on July 8, 2005 regarding the letter that the Complainant referenced in her written complaint.  The attorney stated that he intended to use the word “fruitless” and during the spell check accidentally changed the word to “frivolous”. He did send a letter of apology.

          The agency was very cooperative during this investigation.  The disposition letter was sent to Ms. McFarland, Administrator, Ms. Hubbard, Executive Director/Owner and the Board President on July 26, 2005. There were no rule violations verified.

    Obviously, Denise Hubbard went into psycho bitch mode in Guatemala.  She may not have “yelled” at the Complainant, but she probably spoke to her in a FOAD tone of voice.  We doubt the woman “misunderstood” when the meeting was to take place.  She may not have even had a meeting with Denise, but when she saw her chance, she got in Denise’s face – and she probably should have beaten her soundly.  But violence doesn’t solve problems (still the image of Denise Harding-Hubbard being thoroughly smacked down in Guatemala City is an amusing one).

    Rick Marco’s letter must have sparked some interest from Linda Saridakis.  The ODJFS file contains his insincere letter of contrition to the family.  How could he have drafted this crap and sent it to them knowing he meant full well “frivolous”? (Because ODJFS very strongly suggested he do that) It’s a classic Freudian slip. Just for the record, we tested our spell checker (on Microsoft Word, which we presume he was using as well) to see if it came up with “frivolous” for “fruitless” Unsurprisingly, it didn’t.

    Let’s have Richard J. Marco’s convoluted letter of contrition to the family end this section.  It is, after all, a small taste of the comeuppance this man will receive one day. 

             July 22, 2005

 

          Re: Building Blocks Adoption Service, Inc.

 

          Dear [redacted]

 

          I have recently returned from an extended vacation and received your letter of June 21, 2005.

 

          I very much apologize for the confusion with respect to my prior communication. Unfortunately, an incorrect word was placed in that letter.

 

          Obviously, you noticed that word, frivolous, was used.  If you will read this in the context of the letter you will see that the term is not used at that point.  The correct word that was intended to be used was fruitless.  The discussion concerned whether any additional investigation would be appropriate and we had thought that we had exhausted all of our avenues.

 

          I realize that there is some negative feelings towards Building Blocks Adoption Service, Inc. as a result of this letter.  I accept full responsibility for the issue and ask that you accept my apology.

 

          Very truly yours,

 

          Richard J. Marco, Jr.

 

          RJM/vl

          BCC: Linda Saridakis