A permanent fixture of injustice: Child Protective Services
http://www.sfbayview.com/News/Display_this_week/A_permanent_fixture_of_injustice_Child_Protective_Services.html
by Amanda Smiles, Poor News Network
Wednesday, 21 May 2008
Young mother’s attempt to help a friend leads to invasion by CPS
Single mama Alicia has had all three of her children taken by CPS.
Three years ago single mama Alicia (whose name has been changed) never
would have thought her desire to help a friend in the wake of tragedy
would lead to a tragedy all her own, when Child Protective Services
would enter her life and become a permanent fixture.
It began when Alicia was 23 and, with her young daughter, decided it was
time to leave home in Union City to be on her own. She moved into
Elizabeth House, a transitional residence for single women with children
in Oakland, enrolled in school and found a job.
At Elizabeth House she met Karen, a single mama of four. Over time the
two formed a friend****p and in order to help Karen, Alicia often babysat
her youngest son. One morning, Alicia awoke to discover Karen’s youngest
had died from bacterial meningitis. Karen, shocked and distraught from
the sudden loss of her child, threatened to leave Elizabeth House and go
back to the streets and back to using drugs.
Alicia, in a desperate attempt to help her friend, called her family
asking for help with her own daughter but to no avail. As a last resort
she put an ad on Craigslist seeking a government agency to help with her
child. Someone did contact Alicia through the housing director, but it
wasn’t a child care agency; it was a case worker.
The case worker assigned to Alicia came to Elizabeth House to evaluate
her, after which she decided Alicia wasn’t “fit to mother her
child.” In
order to keep her child, Alicia was told by the housing director that
she needed to quit school and work and “move into the house mentally.”
In addition to quitting school and work, Alicia was also told she needed
to be back at Elizabeth House by 2 p.m., despite the fact that Elizabeth
House has no curfew. Alicia abided and for a while things went well.
That was until her daughter got sick.
One day Alicia attended her friend’s book signing with her daughter and
afterwards they went to her friend’s house to rest. When Alicia woke
from her nap she picked up her daughter and almost dropped her because
she was so hot. Alicia rushed her daughter to the Emergency Room in
Hayward. Although the doctor did not call Elizabeth House, he told
Alicia he would confirm her whereabouts if needed.
When Alicia called Elizabeth House herself, the director demanded that
she return to the home immediately. She abided and returned home. Twenty
minutes later her case worker arrived to take her daughter. The reason?
Alicia didn’t return to Elizabeth House before 2 p.m. The do***ents
Alicia brought from the ER had little effect.
Seven months later Alicia regained custody of her daughter with
restrictions. At this point Alicia had found her own place and, with her
job at a school in Oakland, was able to pay for rent and groceries.
Alicia was also pregnant with her second child.
In order to maintain a job while still finding time to bond with her
daughter, Alicia would bring her daughter to the school she worked at
and have her in the classroom. Her caseworker deemed this inappropriate
and Alicia stopped. On her Christmas break, Alicia planned and paid for
a trip to Disneyland for herself and her daughter. When her caseworker
found out she accused Alicia of “too much bonding” and forced her to
cancel the trip.
Several months later, Alicia’s water broke while she was at home and she
took herself to the hospital where she had a cesarean birth. When Alicia
was released she went to a friend’s house in order to rest and receive
assistance with her daughter. After a few days, Alicia decided to return
home with her two children.
When she arrived her caseworker called to tell her she was coming to see
her. Immediately afterwards, the father of Alicia’s newborn baby, who
had wanted her to terminate the pregnancy, called threatening to kill
her and her family because he heard she’d had the baby.
Alicia, fearing for her life and her children, went to the notary and
got a notarized letter, which she made a copy of, giving tem****ary
custody of her children to her neighbor, who was a foster mom and
regular churchgoer. Alicia’s plan was to hide her children with her
neighbor until she could sort out the threats from her ex, but when
Alicia returned home the police and her caseworker were waiting for her.
The caseworker took her baby and the letters and demanded to see the
house. Alicia agreed and the police and the caseworker searched the
house for some type of “immediate danger” that would allow the police
to
take her kids. When the caseworker said her house was “too messy,”
Alicia explained that her water had broken at home and this was her
first time home since the birth.
The police, unable to find any reason to take the kids, left. The
caseworker, who informed Alicia that a hold had been placed on her
daughter so that Alicia would be unable to pick her up from school,
called an ER worker to examine the newborn, who had deep brown spots all
over her body. These spots, which the caseworker accused Alicia of being
bruises, were actually Mongolian Spots, which are dark brown, purple or
blue birthmarks that are common in newborns. When the ER worker arrived
and examined the marks, she confirmed that they were not bruises. It
seemed Alicia was going to be able to keep her baby.
Minutes later the caseworker asked to speak to the ER worker alone. As
Alicia waited she realized her kids were going to be taken again. When
they emerged from their private meeting, the ER worker consented to
taking the kids away. The reason? Alicia’s custody letter, meant to
protect her children, was considered a ploy to “give her children
away.”
Once again Alicia’s children were taken into foster care and she was
only allowed to see them at visitation. One foster mother passed on
words of advice that forever changed Alicia’s attitude from abiding to
fighting.
“She told me, ‘Some mothers don’t deserve to have their kids and
some
mothers deserve to have the right to fight for their kids.’ She told me
never to give up my right to fight,” says Alicia, “So, I started to
ask
questions.”
Alicia became pregnant for a third time and started to see a doctor at a
clinic. When she went into labor, Alicia went to a different hospital,
one that was closer to where she was, simply because she was so close to
giving birth when her contractions started.
While Alicia was preparing to go home, the nurse informed her that the
caseworker had been in the room earlier without Alicia knowing. When
preparing for discharge from the hospital, the charge nurse told Alicia
that she would be leaving there without her daugher. The reason? The
caseworker accused Alicia of going to another hospital to “avoid her”.
After her third child was taken, Alicia sought legal aid to get her
children back. Her lawyer got her a court date but on her court date she
was ill and was admitted to the ER. While she was not present, her
rights as a parent were terminated in court, which is illegal, and
Alicia’s lawyer refuses to file an appeal.
Now Alicia has supervised visitation once a week with her baby, but she
does not have visitation rights with her other two daughters. However,
she volunteers at her oldest daughter’s school and her aunt is the
foster mother to her two oldest children and Alicia is able to see them
often.
Several months ago one of her daughters had intestinal surgery and
Alicia asked her caseworker if she could be with her daughter for the
surgery. The worker’s supervisor responded, “It is my professional
opinion the baby should see who’s loving and caring for her.”
“I feel like there is racism, ageism and ***ism in the CPS system,”
said
Alicia. “I know what mistakes I made but I told them I’ll never stop
fighting for my kids. A mother’s divine right is to mother her kids and
I will never stop doing that.”
Alicia is seeking legal aid. Please call Poor News Network at (415)
863-6306 if you can help. Read more about issues of poverty and race
written by the people who face them daily at www.poormagazine.org.
An Inconvenient Truth about Child Protective Services, Foster care, and
the Child Protection "INDUSTRY"
Child Protective Services Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of CPS.
every parent should read the free handbook from
connecticut dcf watch...
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com
Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Wa****ngton. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS
Perpetrators of Maltreatment
Physical Abuse CPS/Foster care 160, biological Parents 59
***ual Abuse CPS/Foster care 112, biological Parents 13
Neglect CPS/Foster care 410, biological Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS/Foster care 14 biological Parents 12
Fatalities CPS/Foster care 6.4, biological Parents 1.5
Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and ***ual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.
THIS IS AMERICA'S HIDDEN HOLOCAUST
Currently Child Protective Services violates more constitutionally
guaranteed liberties & civil rights on a daily basis then all other
agencies combined, Including the National Security agency/Central
intelligence agency wiretaping programs…
THE CORRUPT BUSINESS OF CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES
BY: Nancy Schaefer Senator, 50th District of Georgia
http://www.senatornancyschaefer.com/articles.php?filter=6
This is Child Protection?
By Gregory A. Hession, J.D.
http://www.jbs.org/node/4632
Mercenary Motherhood: "Memoirs of a Babystealer."
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-callahan16oct16,0,5019944.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail
FOSTER CARE IS A 80 PERCENT FAILURE:. A Brief Analysis of the Casey
Family Programs. Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study. By Richard Wexler
http://www.nccpr.org/re****ts/cfpanalysis.doc
HOW THE WAR AGAINST CHILD ABUSE BECAME A WAR AGAINST CHILDREN
http://www.nccpr.org/issues/1.html
Adoption Bonuses: The Money Behind the Madness
DSS and affiliates rewarded for breaking up families
By Nev Moore Massachusetts News
http://www.massnews.com/past_issues/2000/5_May/mayds4.htm
A recent study has found that 12-18 months after leaving foster care:
30% of the nation’s homeless are former foster children.
27% of the males and 10% of the females had been incarcerated
33% were receiving public assistance
37% had not finished high school
2% receive a college degree
50% were unemployed
Children in foster care are three to six times more likely than children
not in care to have emotional, behavioral and developmental problems,
including conduct disorders, depression, difficulties in school and
impaired social relation****ps. Some experts estimate that about 30% of
the children in care have marked or severe emotional problems. Various
studies have indicated that children and young people in foster care
tend to have limited education and job skills, perform poorly in school
compared to children who are not in foster care, lag behind in their
education by at least one year, and have lower educational attainment
than the general population.
*Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Sup****t
80 percent of prison inmates have been through the foster care system.
The highest ranking federal official in charge of foster care, Wade Horn
of the Department of Health and Human Services, is a former child
psychologist who says the foster care system is a giant mess and should
just be blown up.
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=2017991
Four rigorous studies have found that at least 30 percent of America’s
foster children could be home right now if their parents had decent
housing.
This study found thousands of children already in foster care who would
have done better had child protection agencies not taken them away in
the first place.
Front-page story in USA Today.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-07-02-foster-study_N.htm?csp=34#Close
Read the studies online.
Casey "alumni" study: "Improving Family Foster Care: Findings from the
Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study,"
www.casey.org/Resources/Publications/NorthwestAlumniStudy.htm
MIT study: "Child Protection and Child Outcomes: Measuring the Effects
of Foster Care,"
www.mit.edu/~jjdoyle/doyle_fosterlt_march07_aer.pdf
Texas comptroller's "Forgotten Children" re****ts:
www.window.state.tx.us/forgottenchildren
The bottom line? - Child Protective Services and the Foster Care system
for the most part turns out young adults that are nothing more than
walking wreckage...
CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CONSTITUTIONALLY
GUARANTEED LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS ON A DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER
AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL
INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAMS....
CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...
BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLI****NG CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...
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