TESTIMONY OF ERIKA LAWS BEFORE

THE CFSA PERFORMANCE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE,

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COUNCIL
MARCH 17, 2011
Good morning, Chairman Graham, members of the City Council and guests, my name i
s Erika Laws. Thank you for allowing me to testify about the continual gross mi
streatment of William A. Van Croft, IV by CFSA and vigorously encourage an immed
iate investigation into the Van Croft case and CFSA personnel.
Against his will, Mr. Van Croft, IV is in CFSA custody. William, who will be 2
0 years old in a few weeks, was living independently in Pennsylvania, had establ
ished residency in another state, and was attending school. He has no criminal
history, no children, and he bothers no one. He was preparing for college. Yet
, on the word of his non-custodial parent, her attorney Patrick Merkle, and atto
rney Yvonne Davis Smith, all who falsely claimed William was incapacitated and a
danger to society, CFSA staff traveled to Philadelphia twice last fall and plac
ed him back in CFSA custody.
William was raised by his father - William A. Van Croft, III- since 2000. His bi
ological mother had lost custody in Montgomery County, Maryland to her ex-husban
d for overt abuse and neglect. In 2007, the courts ordered she could ONLY have
supervised visitation - which she never exercised. Since losing custody,between
2000 and 2006, she has made over 30 false calls of abuse to the CFSA hotline -
abusing the system to antagonize her ex-husband. Each time CFSA investigated,
they found no evidence of abuse. She continued making false calls to CFSA into
2007.
On January 31, 2008, William’s father was killed. Smelling money from his father’s d
eath, his mother - having just completed probation two weeks prior for making fa
lse statements to the D.C. police - along with his father’s family -contacted CFSA
claiming William was abandoned and abused. CFSA social workers Kina Cypress Ho
lmes and Lilly Quashie - without any notice and without reviewing this woman’s his
tory, removed William from his private school in Maryland and placed him in a fo
ster home with the goal of “reunifying” him with a birth parent who was court ordere
d not to have unsupervised contact with him.
Since being in CFSA’s care, the following has happened to William: a member of t
he foster home pull a gun on him; he has found his belongings urinated on; he ha
s had his belongings stolen and destroyed by his foster mother; a drug dealing b
oyfriend of the foster family has threatened to kill him. Let’s not forget that Wi
lliam’s GAL Yvonne Davis Smith aided his mother in diverting his father’s Social Sec
urity death benefits - which were to go to William - into his mother’s account. I
told CFSA social workers this theft was occurring, and they did nothing.
When William attempted to tell the police about the activities in the licensed f
oster home of Maxine Oliver of Washington, DC- CFSA staff intercepted him and de
tained him. Ms. Oliver, in danger of losing her license and the 2300.00 per mon
th she received for having William in her home, made vile claims regarding Willi
am’s behavior - behavior never witnessed before his placement within CFSA, nor wit
nessed at school.
Unwisely, the court placed him in his mother’s home - which included his sister -
who had stabbed him and has a history of mental illness. CFSA did not give her
custody. William, nearly 18, told his social worker to place him back in a fost
er home or he was leaving. The social worker brushed off this plea.
On January 31, 2009, William left. His family, including Keith Van Croft - a ci
ty employee at the Department of Housing, along with Yvonne Davis Smith - began
a hoax claiming he was kidnapped, and ultimately murdered. They used this stor
y to attempt to claim William’s inheritance from his father’s death.
Of course, none of this could have happened without the assistance of Magistrat
e Lori Parker, a former City Council employee, who routinely ignored facts, and
a standing court order barring unsupervised contact between William and his biol
ogical mother, and refused to allow William’s retained attorney - Jeanett P. Henry
- to participate in the case. Judge Parker suddenly recused herself from the V
an Croft case late last fall after repeated inquiries into the case and her ruli
ngs.

What is this agency doing? They are allowing children to die, and detaining adu
lts - who neither want nor need their services. They are holding hostage a youn
g man, after having him taken from his apartment out of state, denying him his
right to an education, and using tax payer dollars to do so.
Since being back in CFSA custody, William has not been allowed to attend school
- even though he told social workers and his GAL that he wants to return. His n
ew GAL has not brought him to court hearings, nor has his social worker Nikita W
inestock. The agency falsely identifies him as “autistic” when he is not. William i
s not allowed to go anywhere, not allowed to receive calls (except from his atto
rney and individuals assigned to the case), not even allowed to use the computer
. He sits in a foster home and wastes away, and D.C. residents pay 2300.00 each
month for this.
As his family’s hopes for acquiring William’s inheritance disappear, they are sudden
ly not interested in him. No one in the family bothered to give him a card or a
gift or a call during the Christmas holidays.
Clearly, CFSA is grossly dysfunctional. I have informed Agency Director Roque Ge
rald and his staff of the issues surrounding the Van Croft case and provided per
tinent documentation. Neither Mr. Gerald nor his staff have moved to do anythin
g. I strongly encourage the committee to open an investigation into this matter
- and investigate the employees involved - particularly Lilly Quashie and Kina
Cypress Holmes. I ask that the investigation include Seraajj Social Services -
the subcontractor handling William Van Croft’s case.
I ask that CFSA let William go. It has been 3 years since they first detained Wi
lliam. Stop destroying this young man’s life. He does not want nor need your so-
called “services”.
Finally, I urge the council to remove Roque Gerald for his gross mismanagement o
f the agency and this case in particular, and to replace him with competent lead
ership. THe District’s residents deserve better than what Mr. Gerald has to offer
.
Thank you