Photo Credit: U.S. FDA.
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENTOF JUSTICE
Working Together to Help Drug Endangered Children
It is estimated that over 9 million children live in homes where a parent or other adult use illegal drugs. Children growing up in such a challenging environment are 3 times more likely to be verbally, physically, or sexually abused and 4 times more likely to be neglected.
This week, Deputy Attorney General James Cole, Community Oriented Policing Services Office Director Bernard Melekian, U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas Barry Grissom, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa, Nicholas Klinefeldt, and interim U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa Sean Berry attended the National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children Conference in Des Moines, Iowa to support the efforts to find and help children growing up in dangerous drug environments.
Dputy Attorney General James Cole
spoke with urgency about the importance and responsibility we have to ensure the justice, health and safety of these vulnerable young members of our communities:
This work is difficult and gut-wrenching. We cannot simply arrest and prosecute our way out of the growing epidemic of drug abuse, trafficking, and addiction by parents and childcare providers. Saving these children requires a multi-disciplinary approach involving coordinated teams comprised of law enforcement, child protective services, healthcare professionals, educators, victim service specialists, child advocates, courts, and the community. It requires all of us.
As Chairman of the Federal Interagency Task Force on Drug Endangered Children, Deputy Attorney General Cole has led the efforts to raise awareness; increase coordination at the federal, state, tribal and local levels; and provide assistance to the field.
The DEC Task Force recently developed a combined resource CD for law enforcement and child welfare agencies; new training courses at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center; and developed a drug endangered children resource website.
The National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children (National DEC) is one of the DEC Task Force’s best allies. This year they received a $1.2 million in grants from the department. With this funding, they’ve transformed from an informal association of state leaders to a national voice for training, technical assistance, and advocacy on behalf of abused and neglected children.
COPS Director Melekian:
The better the availability of training opportunities focused on identifying and helping drug endangered children, the better chance we have of making this a central part of law enforcement’s mission to serve and protect. And it needs to be clear that there is an alternative to the violence and fear that is part of the daily lives of these children…With the right tools and information, we can reduce the incidences of children’s exposure to violence and intervene more effectively.
In addition to the national organization, state-level DEC groups are finding innovative solutions to share with their state and federal partners.
For example, the COPS Office awarded the Colorado Alliance for Drug Endangered Children funding to expand their Drug Endangered Children Tracking System (DECSYS). DECSYS is an easy-to-use, web-based system that allows law enforcement and child protection agencies an automated process for identifying children at risk.
This can expedite the identification of children in danger and bring them the assistance they need. In the last two years, DECSYS has been credited with a 150 percent increase in the number of drug endangered children identified for child protective services. It will soon launch in Nevada and Wisconsin.
U.S. Attorney Grissom spoke about coordination and collaboration:
Our coordination and collaboration with the Southern District of Iowa and the National DEC Alliance serves as an example of the power of partnerships; this training will encourage partnerships, and provide tools for law enforcement, victim service providers, medical personnel, welfare workers, educators and other professionals to protect our most valuable resource, our children.
While investigation and prosecution will be discussed at this conference, the conference will focus on the importance of partnerships to assure the safety of children, enforce state and federal laws, and identify alternatives to incarceration that are designed to maintain, or reunite families.
By bringing together federal, state and local resources with advocates, experts and community leaders, we can raise awareness of the plight of drug endangered children nationwide. We can increase coordination and intervene early to stop the cycle of violence and ensure these vulnerable citizens have the bright future full of promise they deserve.
Map Credit: CIA World Factbook.
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENTOF JUSTICE
Friday, September 21, 2012
Alcatel-lucent Subsidiary Agrees to Pay U.S. $4.2 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations
Related to $250 Million Contract for 911 Emergency Response System in Iraq
WASHINGTON – An Alcatel-Lucent subsidiary, Lucent Technologies World Services Inc. (LTWSI), has agreed to pay the United States $4.2 million to settle False Claims Act allegations that it submitted misleading testing certifications to the Army in connection with the design, construction and modernization of Iraq’s emergency communications system, the Department of Justice announced today. Alcatel-Lucent is a global telecommunications provider.
In March 2004, the U.S. Army awarded LTWSI a $250 million contract to build the Advanced First Responder Network (AFRN), a 911 emergency response and first responder communications system designed to enable Iraqis to summon police, fire and medical assistance in emergencies. Today’s settlement resolves allegations that LTWSI submitted claims for payment for equipment, services and contract performance award fees under the AFRN contract based upon inaccurate certifications that LTWSI, between January and July 2005, had performed and successfully completed certain testing of AFRN radio transmission sites, as well as validation of the network as a whole, to ensure the network’s proper operation prior to acceptance by the United States and transfer to the Iraqi government.
"The integrity of our public contracting system is a matter of paramount concern to the Department of Justice, especially where contractors have been engaged to supply critical support for the work of stabilizing Iraq and Afghanistan," said Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. "The department will seek to recover losses to the American taxpayer when a contractor has claimed money to which it was not entitled."
"The United States must be able to count upon government contractors to seek payment only for services performed in conformance with their contractual obligations. That is particularly true of contractors performing work for the United States in ‘hot spots’ around the globe where verification of invoiced work can be both difficult and dangerous," said Jenny Durkan, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington. "LTWSI’s internal procedures on the AFRN project clearly should have been more robust in this instance."
The settlement resolves a whistleblower suit filed under the False Claims Act in December 2008, by Geoffrey Willson, LTWSI's former contract manager for the project. The False Claims Act permits private parties to sue on behalf of the United States for submission of false claims to the government and to share in any recovery. Willson will receive $758,000 as his statutory share of today’s settlement.
This matter was handled jointly by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington and the Department of Justice Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch in Washington, D.C. Investigative support was provided by the Department of Defense Inspector General’s Seattle Resident Agency of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. The Defense Contract Audit Agency and Army Criminal Investigation Command also provided investigative support.
The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only and do not constitute a determination of liability.
Photo Credit: U.S. FDA.
