Bay City News Wire, via CBS5.com, USA
Apr. 20, 2006
cbs5.com

---

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 14391 • Posted: Thursday April 20, 2006  

---

The Santa Clara County Department of Family and Children’s Services has been slapped with a $400 million lawsuit by the Church of Scientology, which alleges that the agency bilked millions of dollars from state and federal social security funds by filing false claims.

The church alleges that the department charged both state and federal social security programs for taking care of children that never existed and for conducting therapy sessions that never took place.

The state Department of Justice and California Attorney General Bill Lockyer reviewed evidence provided by the parties and declined to intervene in the litigation earlier this month.

“The agency has never fabricated any children or cases,” Greta Helm, director of government relations and planning, said on behalf of the Department of Family and Children’s Services Wednesday.

She declined, however, to comment on the specific charges, citing the pending litigation.

“We have been receiving complaints against DFCS for several years,” Karl Hoffower, president of the scientology-established South Bay Chapter of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, said in a statement last week. “Parents have brought evidence of improper conduct on the part of social workers that never made sense until now. By this suit, it appears that DFCS social workers have a monetary motivation behind their actions.”

The Department of Family and Children’s Services received 17,000 reports of children abuse and neglect in Santa Clara County in 2005. About 900 children were removed from their homes and a total of about 2,000 children were living in out-of-home care in 2005, according to Helm.

The number of cases filed by the department with state and federal social security programs could not be disclosed because of the pending litigation, Helm said.

---

What You Can Do From Here

---

Read More Articles On These Topics Categories: Scientology Share, Blog About, Bookmark, or Email This Article Subscribe Religion News Blog RSS feed [What is this?] RSS by topic: Scientology Read Another Article Previous entry: Branch Davidians caught in yet another power struggle Next entry: Poisonings at Church Are Termed Retaliation RNB Homepage with latest headlines Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults Find Related Books Scientology Most Popular Today Tokyo marks 15th anniversary of subway sarin attack Cult survivor relives history of servitude in the Brisbane Christian Fellowship Cults should be given nowhere to hide FLDS sect member Merril Leroy Jessop sentenced to 75 years in prison

---

Share This Article

---

To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:

• Post a link on your blog or website:
  
• Send in an email or IM:
  
• Post on a forum:
  

Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- CounterCultSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.

Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- ApologeticsSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.