FightCPS does not advocate or condone violence or illiegal activities of any kind.
FightCPS is intended to help people learn enough about the law to be able to successfully defend themselves and their families against false accusations using legal documents and strategies that put parents in a stronger position when they go back to court.
For more information, see the FAQ.
Child Protective Services, CPS, has devastated and destroyed hundreds of thousands of families in America during the last thirty years leaving a trail of broken hearts, broken dreams, and shattered childhoods.
Rather than helping families, government agents have used unconstitutional laws in Juvenile Court to rip children away from their loving parents, break asunder God-given, natural, parent-child bonds, and adopt the children of the grieving out to others who profit financially with large monthly adoption subsidy payments.
Child Protective Services must be stopped! The law that started this, CAPTA, must be repealed. We must work tirelessly to inform the public of this very dangerous travesty of justice. We must keep faith knowing that if there is a God, there is an answer and a way to end this heartache.
Child Protective Services Agents - please come to your senses! Family destruction on false or trivial grounds is wrong, reprehensible, and inhumane.
Fosterers - be aware that for the money you get you are holding much-loved children away from their grieving families while the parents are forced to perform a service plan that is anything but a service to them. I call this hostage holding for the government. This is not kindness - to help misguided government agents destroy family relationships and break loving bonds.
CPS workers and fosterers - I ask that you now let the children of the innocent return to their homes where they are truly valued, adored, and loved by the parents God gave them.
Family rights are God-given rights. And they should not be ignored or postponed. Every moment these loving parents and children spend separated from one another is a torment beyond what anyone should ever have to bear.
It is unworthy of human dignity to allow this terrorism and torture of families to go on without saying something, speaking out, and trying to make a change.
Site mission: To provide information and support for families attacked by Child Protective Services and child welfare agents, especially those families facing false or trivial accusations of child abuse or neglect; and for researchers working to protect natural family rights.
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Fighting Child Protective Services False Accusations
August 13, 2007
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This is an important message from Charlie Wittman of Advocates For Children and Families:
All:
I am talking to an attorney who may be interested in filing a class action suit re: pre-jurisdictional psychological evaluations and cps ordered psychological evaluations. In CA it is illegal to do a psy eval before the court obtains jurisdiction and the psy evals are to be used only to determine services for the family.
In most all cases in which i have talked to parents in CA and nationwide, the psy evals have been used as a evil tool to say that parents are incapable of parenting due to a mental disorder and then they lose their children. In most cases, the psychologists are from a court appointed pool of psychologists who are totally influenced by social services and are by no means impartial or scientific. Even when the “psychologists???” do their evaluations after jurisdiction, their reports are rarely true as they are filled with lies from social workers.
I am looking for persons who have had pre-jurisdictional psy evals, psy evals and psy evals which have been used to take your children. I need your name, address, email and a very very brief description of what happened in your case. I will keep these confidential and when and if the class action moves forward, I will contact you. We are going to start in CA and then move nationwide in a federal court action.
Send to theacf - at - hotmail.com and make sure in the title you put “My Psy Eval Problem”. Thanks much and I hope this stops this illegal activity and saves our children.
Charlie Wittman, Director, Advocates for Children and Families, TheACF, on
BOD of AFRA, CCHR Board of Advisors, theacf - at - hotmail.com ,
PO Box 10, Los Gatos, CA 95031, 408 395 6999 ACF Hotline
Main ACF WWW site: http://www.theacf.org
CRIN: http://www.crin.org/organisations/viewOrg.asp?ID=1774
AFRA: http://familyrightsassociation.com/
CCHR: www.cchr.org
(Posted with permission from Mr. Wittman.)
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ME! ME! ME! I’m gonna email them! Thank you!
Comment by Susan — August 14, 2007 @ 7:26 am
Last dec my grandaughter was taken to the hospital and per my request I asked the baby be drug tested because I was concerned that my daughters friends may have used drugs arround the baby. Baby Rian tested neg - daughter Cyndee tested positive. Over the last few months my daughter has taken parenting classes. Completed CRC and all of the hoops.
Still no over night visits.
The problem seems to be me… when CPS visited my home the case worker Joy Swing was yelling and it was making the baby cry and I asked her to use her inside not outside voice — her responce I would know when she was using her outside voice.
Based on this she stated that I concern her and the next day Rian was taken and put in fostercare. All most a year later case plan complete she has not been returned - she has a family that only gets a few hours a week with her. She has great grandparents.
Joy reqsted I have an evaluation - I went and so did Cyndee both of our reports are incorrect has us living in wrong states even has me with an extra marriage.
I in the past had been seeing someone for counciling and he sent a letter with dates showing I was in therapy coping with a teen ager and a new baby and being unemployed.
Now they are saying Im unfit … its crazy and pulls on the heart strings this is my daughter and grand daughter.
I have never been arrested, done anything wrong I always try my best to be a good person. I even got help when I was overwhelmed by situations and now this is being held against me and keeping my 17 almost 18 year old duaghter from enjoying and being a Mom. I feel this has devistate my family nothing like this has ever happened to us. I just don’t know what to do in FEAR of what CPS will do to us. Please HELP
Lorrie Gorman
513 248 0197
logowins@yahoo.com
Comment by Lorrie Gorman — August 15, 2007 @ 9:18 am
Lorrie, I am very sorry for what you and your family are going through.
Comment by K. — August 15, 2007 @ 7:41 pm
I pain in unbearable. My 3 grandchildren were taken by Yolo County CPS. I live in the Bay Area, 90 miles from Yolo County, where the children are in foster care. My son’s girlfriend tested positive when she gave birth to the youngest child. Thank God he’s ok…
She completed all the prograns that were inposed on her. Then later my son and his girlfriend ’s parental rights were terminated. From the very begining, I had asked for custody. I was denied. I was told I live too far!
90 miles , same state. 2 hour drive. T
I kept asking, and asking. Calling and calling, leaving numerous messages to the Social Worker, of course my many calls were unanswered. I wanted to make it clear, of my interest in the welfare of my grandchildren. Then the foster parents got a wild idea and wanted to adopt the children. That’s when our worst nighmare began. I was denied again. Apparently I was discriminated for not having money. So I grandchildren were sold to the highest bidder.
The Social Worker never presented the court of my involvement and interest in the children. Our last court date it’s as if I had never existed. She delibertly left me out. Now I know why, MONEY!!!! That’s why they didn’t want to place the kids in a different county. I was ignorant in believing in a corupt system. Now the children are paying the alterment price. Not returning to the family who loves, cares, and have been involved in their upbringing. Rayna is 11yrs now, Athena 9 yrs 7mos. and the baby is 2yrs 2 mos. now. The torment is more than any can bear. It only gets worse each day. My family was ripped apart, I want my famlly. Let us all unite together. Keep fighting…I want my family, I want to feel their warmth when I hug them. God help us all!!
Teresa
Comment by teresa shaw — August 15, 2007 @ 10:15 pm
When we started on attacking CPS we started by slamming them with their own rules and regulations..
http://ag.ca.gov/consumers/pdf/disabled.pdf
CHAPTER 6
PARENTAL RIGHTS
I. PARENTAL FITNESS
Persons with disabilities have the same right as anyone else to bear and raise children. A parent’s or child’s disability does not by itself indicate a need for intervention by child protective services. A parent’s physical disability cannot be used as a basis to deny him or her child custody, unless the disability prevents the parent from exercising care and control. (Welf. & Inst. Code, ” 300, subd. (b) and 16509.2.)
For example, one California appellate court has held that termination of the parental rights of an individual with a developmental disability required a showing by clear and convincing evidence that services designed especially for her needs had been tried without success, and that despite such services it could be shown that the child’s best interests required that she be declared free for adoption. (In re Victoria
M. (1989) 207 Cal.App.3d 1317.)
II. CHILD CUSTODY
In California, child custody decisions are made according to the best interests of the child. A person cannot be denied custody solely because he or she has a physical disability. A parent’s health or physical condition may be considered in the custody decision, but cannot be presumed to affect the child negatively or to make the parent unfit to have custody. The special contributions a parent with a disability may give to the child’s development must be considered. A court may deny custody to a parent with a disability only if the parent’s condition will have a substantial and lasting negative effect on the child. (In re Marriage of Carney (1979) 24 Cal.3d 725.) A parent with a mental disability may be denied child custody only if suffering from a mental incapacity or disorder which renders him or her unable to care for and control the child adequately. (Fam. Code, ‘ 7827.)
III. ADOPTION
Persons with disabilities can adopt children. All adoptions are based on the best interests of the child. Although the health of a prospective parent is one of many factors in an adoption decision, a parent’s disability cannot be the sole reason for denial. (Adoption of Richardson (1967) 251 Cal.App.2d 222; Fam. Code, ‘ 8612.)
The Adoption Assistance Program provides assistance and financial aid to prospective adoptive parents of “hard-to-place” children. A hard-to-place child includes a child with physical, mental, emotional, or medical disabilities. (Welf. & Inst. Code, ‘ 16120; Cal. Code Regs., tit. 22, ‘ 35325 et seq.) An adopted child with a disability who requires medical treatment may be eligible for care at no cost through the California Children’s Services Program, regardless of the income of the adoptive family. (Health & Saf. Code, ‘ 123965.) Expenses related to the adoption of a child with special needs may also be tax-deductible.
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Comment by PJ — August 17, 2007 @ 1:09 am
My two grandchildren were taken away from my son and his wife almost 1 1/2yr. ago. They are facing felony charges: PC273 (A)(A) & PC 273 (D)(A). CPS has blown this way out of porportion. There parental rights have been ripped from them and they have not been convicted. There are too many lies and accusations that the Riverside Co. CPS are saying about my son & daughter in law. We need someone who will help us fight Riverside Co. CPS. In Dec. 2007 my grandchildren will be adoptable. We need to stop this. Please, I am begging for help! I dont know where else to turn.
Lisa Wallace
Comment by Lisa Wallace — August 17, 2007 @ 12:34 pm
what law is that.is that just for california or is that for everywhere. if anyone knows please let me know i am from nj.
Comment by kwanie — August 26, 2007 @ 9:00 am
Is this only for California?
Comment by Sabena — September 1, 2007 @ 11:00 pm
As I understand it, they plan to start in California, but they want to do it in every state after that.
Comment by Linda — September 1, 2007 @ 11:23 pm
i need lots of help with my cps office in washington state. we have gotten the run around by them. my case worker is not returning our calls, and the office manager has told my husband that he needs to leave their building before they call the police and all we were trying to get was bus tickets so we can do what we need to do and they refused to give us any. i really need to get some help with the office that i go though. PLEASE!!!!!!
Comment by Andrea Young — September 5, 2007 @ 2:19 pm
Andrea you must be in the same county as me or they must just give the run around in all of Washington. I need some advice as to what to do when cps wants to trerminate the rights of one child out of three. email christycur at hotmail.com
Comment by Christy — September 5, 2007 @ 4:36 pm
am fighting like hell for my daugther back cps took my child with lies am not giving up contact the news radio news paper in your state fight like hell iam a mom who loves her child we have to stand together……..
Comment by takisha — March 4, 2008 @ 6:08 pm
MY HUSBAND HAVE BEEN GOING THROUGH A LOT AND SO WE HAVE BEEN TAKING IT OUT ON EACH OTHER. WE ARGUED AND I THREW A FORK AT HIM. IT STUCK TO HIS FOOT (I REGRET IT AS SOON AS IT HAPPENED, I HONESTLY DID NOT MEAN TO HARM HIM) SO THE POLICE WAS CALLED. THE FOLLOWING DAY THE CPS TOOK MY 3 CHILDREN AWAY. I KNOW WE’RE WRONG FOR FIGHTING BUT THEY WERE UPSTAIRS AND WE WOULD NEVER EVER HARM THEM IN ANY WAY. I’M A STAY HOME MOM BECAUSE WE BOTH FELT THAT WE CAN’T TRUST ANYONE WITH BABYSITTING THEM. I NEED HELP AND INFORMATION ON WHAT TO DO. NO ONE SEEMS TO KNOW ANY ANSWERS AND I’VE BEEN CALLING THE CPS SINCE 6AM AND FINALLY WERE ABLE TO CONTACT HER; ONLY THING SHE SAID WAS SHE HAD NO ANSWERS AT THIS TIME. SO I HAVE CONTACTED HER SUPERVISOR BUT NO CALL BACK FROM THEM. I HAVE FAMILY MEMBERS WHICH MY CHILDREN ARE ABLE TO RESIDE WHILE THE COURT MAKES THEIR DECISIONS. BUT NOTHING WAS DONE ABOUT THAT UNTIL I KEPT CALLING MAKING SURE THEY ARE DOING BACK GROUND CHECK ON THEM. PLEASE I NEED SOME DIRECTIONS ON WHAT TO DO. I LIVE IN SAN DIEGO CA. I’VE BEEN ONLINE TRYING TO GET INFO BUT I JUST DON’T KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR. ANY ADVICE PLEASE CONTACT ME AT IRIZARRY2004 YAHOO…
ALSO I’VE HAD SOME HEALTH ISSUES LAST YEAR, THEY SAID I MAY DIE IF I DIDN’T GET THE TREATMENTS; EVERYTHING SEEMS FIND W/MY HEART NOW. I THOUGHT HEARING DEATH AND MY CHILDREN LIVING WITHOUT A MOM WAS BAD. BUT BEING ALIVE AND BEING AWAY FROM MY CHILDREN IS WORST FEELING BY FAR. GOD BLESSED ME WITH THEM; I HOPE HE ANSWERS MY PRAYERS THIS TIME AGAIN.
Comment by MINERVA — April 30, 2008 @ 6:25 pm
my children’s father is a medical marijuana patient and he also has been providing it for seriously ill patients in my town .the city i live in distributes cards through there health department..it has been legal since 1995 but federally it is still a crime.but in march my house was raided by saber unit .my 16 year old was in the home my 13 year old was in the rest room .i had left to go out of town on an emergency .i received a call from one of the officers at my house telling me to pick up my children or send some one to pick up them up .i sent my sister who was there in 2 min from phone call .officers were mad because they know they just blew it but raiding .they took my children any way to pc .and tested them for marijuana all were neg.when i came back to town there excuse was they didn’t know where i was .lie.then it said he was smoking in the same room .but in disclosure the girls were in bathroom and the kitchen as they stated .as they came in my house .with guns out they were singing mary janne the song .it has been 4 months .and i have complied with every test they ask of me i don’t do any drugs at all but im having to do a drug class also an alcoholics class.a waist of money i will have to pay back
Comment by darla — June 12, 2008 @ 2:24 pm
It has been since April of 2002 Since My Grandchildren were taken from their Mother & their father is and abusive person
who has nothing better to with his time than to make peoples lives miserable.
He has made sveral attems at getting the for him & his girl friend to raise ; So one day when she & her children were visiting her Premiee at Loma Linda he moved himself into her home … cps showed up and took her Children stating that it was obivious she wanted him more than she wanted them… even tho the worker told me & My Sister that it was That My Daughter was terrified of him…. now over the past 6 yrs she has taken and completed their classes more than once They have had Her psyic evaluted more than once Reunified the Children with their abusive father more than once they never gave them Back to Mom even tho her back ground checks come back clean & her drug tests come back clean well duh since she never has used drugs & the Children spacifilly said they wanted mama not daddy they still never gave them back ..
now her Oldest is in a group home and her 3rd child is God Knows where & she hasn’t seen them in a good little while We Are Still Fighting…
Comment by Cindy Downing — June 15, 2008 @ 11:55 pm
I am a mother of 4 and my children were taken away because of lies and here say, I lots my yougest daughter when she was only 4 months old and still breastfeeding. I have had 3 positive psychiatric evaluations and one negative (place refered by children services). I told the lady we already had all the required classes done and she didnt listen. I was labled “bipolar” without a diagnosis. My family is being dragged through hell because of this. Kaiser has given me 2 positive letters and I have forwarded them to CPS and they said they are NOT good enough. We have do anger management, individual therapy (for a mental disorder I dont have), couples therapy, drug and alcohol counseling, parenting and many others, Now they are saying we have to do it all over again! I need advice please help us.
Comment by Keionia — June 21, 2008 @ 2:21 am
the lady at thwe shield assessment didnt lable me bipolar. She said I had NO signs of it. But my husbands family who took them from us labled me bipolar. I have been evaluated 3 times and have shown NO signs of any mental disorder.
Comment by Keionia — June 21, 2008 @ 2:23 am
my cell nimber is 562-899-8391 you can call me at anytime. And any day during the week. They are talking about taking my son away based on my assessment results. he is only 3 months old. I couldnt take another baby taken from me because of things im not doing. Please call me ASAP.
Comment by Keionia — June 21, 2008 @ 3:40 am
I have an assessment on Monday (psych) What if I don’t go?
Comment by Louisa — July 25, 2008 @ 6:09 pm
PS I live in the state of CA, Alameda County by the bay area
Comment by Louisa — July 25, 2008 @ 6:10 pm
Dont trust any one at the redwood city or the East palo Alto california CPS expressly
1. Nancy Morssion (F.C.S)
2. Beverly Johnson (C.P.S)
3. Renee Smiley (C.P.S)
4. Gray Beasley (C.P.S)
5. Eugene Ketchen (C.P.S)
6. Debbie Crandall (C.P.S)
7. Nicole Hayes (C.P.S)
8. Edith Rodriguez(C.P.S)
9. Dorothy Torres(C.P.S)
10. John Martin (counselor)
12 Martin Cortez (C.P.S)
They will stab you in your back, and smile at you while they twist the blade make you fell that was the right thing to do.Then they will try to tell you it was your falt
Comment by AaronShinabery — August 4, 2008 @ 8:03 pm
I am a Maternal Grandmother who had cared for my only Granddaughter for two an half years when she went to stay as she always did every other week at her Paternal Grandmother and they kept her from coming home. I have been fighting for four years in pro per and accused of every false allegation you could think although unfounded
The court continues to not recognize that is a severe PAS there are so many Reasons that make this allegation clear. The Grandmother at the age of seven still has Hannah Marie sleeping with her, the estrangement of all my Family members their is so much more to tell books worth. I need to find a lawyer or my daughter needs one but neither of our families could afford to hire one. Is not there someone we could turn to for help in this matter? Please let me know if you need more information my # 951-454-0777 my home email is pipherjohn316@cs.com
Comment by Daryllynne Pipher — August 7, 2008 @ 8:40 am
I AM INVITING EVERYONE TO ADD ME AS A FRIEND ON THEIR MYSPACE PAGE! JUST LET ME KNOW YOU SAW THE POST ON THIS SITE! I AM A VICTIM OF CPS AND I AM JOINING TOGETHER WITH OTHER VICTIMS AND A LAWYER TO WRITE A PROPOSAL TO REFORM THE SYSTEM! ANY QUESTIONS YOU CAN EMAIL ME AT UP2MISCHEIF@YAHOO.COM! UNITED TOGETHER ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!
Comment by MICHELLE — August 7, 2008 @ 12:12 pm
Please see my articles published by The Salem-News.com.
I am the founder of the IHNCC. We are “the revenge section” in this war.
Jenny
Comment by Jenifer Saroian — August 7, 2008 @ 2:23 pm
Do yourself a favor. Go to the AFRA’s legal pages, sift through them all and find the applicable laws that apply to your case. It will take time, but you have to do this yourself. No one else will care, not a high priced attorney, nor low level paralegal will caren nearly as much as you do. Have your rights been violated? You bet they they have. You have to see it through though. Do not stand for it. Some of the best family case law has been established by those who had to go “pro se” and handle their own cases for whatever reason. Here is what I do know. If you can get all the case law to prove your side with better supported legal arguments than theirs, you will usually win or have grounds for appeal.
This however is not a battle, it is a war, metaphorically speaking, and the family is at stake, so you have to be able to weather the long term nature of it. It is not for the faint of heart as you may lose everything, but I ask, what good is to gain the world and lose yourself in the bargain?
If you are serious, and want to fight back, and be your own best advisor…Contact me at hotfastguitar@yahoo.com. I am the California Chapter President of the IHNCC, a private organization of individuals championing human constitutional rights nationwide. I am not a lawyer, and cannot give legal advice, but I can show you where to look, and what to do, and after you have had a chance to prepare yourself you can scan and send your documents to Jenifer , who will help you in all the preparation you need to mount a campaign. We are here to help. We have had it. We are fighting back with their own rules. The constitutional protections being violated each day warrant an injunction putting a dead halt to this sham, but class action style pressure needs to be mounted. A rules template has been provided already by AFRA, and you should go there first, and pore over each library, here at fightcps.com, as well as AFRA’s VAST library. It is where I got the majority of my info as well as inspiration. Jenifer and Leonard make the difference.
Comment by Tim Taylor — August 24, 2008 @ 10:56 am
If people leave thier name ,state and phone number, it may be a little more easier to help them or contact them on thier case, or leave your state and city where you are from and your email, how can people ban together if no one is willing to leave contact info.
Comment by kashia — November 4, 2008 @ 9:09 am
I am an alcoholic. I am also a mother. Six years ago I was a food addict and had a gastric bypass. Not understanding anything about addiction I switched to alcohol after I could no longer physically satisfy my food addiction (called cross-addiction). The whole thing hit me rather quickly and it didn’t take long for me to realize I had a problem. I began seeking treatment for alcoholism in early 2005. I have done rehab,in-patient, out-patient, aftercare, twelve step, and see my psychiatrist once monthly.
My husband and I have been married for 15 years and have a solid relationship. He has been very supportive, however is in the military and has deployed at times.
Now for our children. Our oldest son is 14. He is such a remarkable child. He has been in the gifted/ talented program since 4th grade. He loves to read, enjoys school, video games, playing football, has lots of friends, is 5′11″ and over 200lbs. He’s that kind of golden boy all of us knew in high school, liked by everyone and never in any trouble. He’s a freshman in high school, in a magnate program here in El Paso, in AP courses and has a GPA of 94.
Our daughter is 11. She is bright but has to work a little harder at school but does well. She is a secret fan of Hannah Montana because it’s not cool in junior high to like her anymore. She’s a sweet girl but starting with the teenage attitude already. She constantly tests our boundaries, nothing out of the ordinary. She is absolutely beautiful and her father watches over her very protectively.
Our youngest is 4. He’s the baby of the family if ever there was one. The little character is always the center of attention if he has anything to say about it. A very happy child, with a huge imagination, he’s always making up stories.
Our ordeal began in March ‘08. My husband had come back in February after a year-long deployment. My whole family had a tough time with this seperation and reunion but especially our daughter. Soon after he came home she didn’t want to go to school and was always complaining of a stomach ache. I think she had just missed her dad and wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. We took her to doctors anyway and all the tests could find nothing wrong with her. In early March she didn’t want to go to school one morning and started complaining of hearing voices telling her to harm herself. My own healthcare was neglected by my parents growing up so I take these things seriously. I didn’t know if it was true or not but she seemed to believe it. After many phone calls to my doctor, our health insurance, MHMR, and the psych unit at William Beaumont AMC, we decided to take her to Mesilla Valley Hospital in Las Cruses NM to be evaluated. I had spent 5 weeks there myself for alcohol rehab the year before and know it to have an adolescent unit and to be the best hospital in the area. They talked to my daughter for almost an hour by herself then questioned me. I admitted to being an alcoholic and having a recent relapse. They actually asked me if I wanted to be admitted. They had no questions for my husband, didn’t even speak to him though he was there. They did not admit my daughter, recomended family counseling and sent us on our way.
A week after this I got a phone call from CPS. They wanted to interview my entire family. We went. I told my children to be open and honest and allowed them to be interviewed alone. You think when you’re good parents and something like this happens you can just tell the truth and clear up this misunderstanding. We were being investigated for negligent supervision because I admitted to being a blackout drinker. That when I had a relapse I didn’t remember much.
I was so stupid. I never should have admitted to anything. I had been actively seeking recovery for myself and my family. It was a choice I made to better my life, not because someone told me I had to. I was a sick person, not a bad one.
I volunteered to go back into outpatient. I just wanted this cleared up. The week after I began out-patient, my husband was cleaning out the garage on a Sunday and had swept some cans out into the yard. There were a few old beer cans along with soda cans. The next day this social worker who had been so nice to us in her office called me SCREAMING over the phone that she knew I had been drinking over the weekend. She said she had gotten a report that I was sitting on the back porch drinking and that there were beer bottles in the back yard. Now I’m freaking out. What is she talking about? Who is saying these things?
A few weeks later after this sort of harassment I was in such a state and consumed with guilt and shame I attempted to take my life. I wasn’t even drinking that day.
After a few days in ICU, I went back to in-patient care and did another 5 weeks. I was told while I was in hospital that I had to accept “services” through CPS. I was in-patient, what else were they going to do for me? After I got out with a new attitude and a lot less self-pity, I did three weeks of out-patient while attending AA every day. I found a sponsor, and began doing step work.
In September I had a relapse but got back on the horse and went to three meetings the next day. The caseworker had changed during all this and we hadn’t heard much from her. Then we got a letter saying that we had to meet with her to discuss court- ordered services. Now what?
I called her and she was extremely antagonistic towards me, she told me if I loved my children and wanted to keep my family together I would comply. Love my children? Is she crazy? Keep my family together? Is this a threat? She said I had refused her access to my home and my children because we have a big dog in the yard. What?!?
Now here she comes with her supervisor. Thank God, someone I can reason with. Right. All I have to do is explain myself, let someone talk to my kids to see how great they are, that I’m not doing a bad job.
Now I have a chemical dependency counselor come to my house once a week and still go to AA. This should be over in another month. The social worker says “if things continue as they are”. I’m telling you, she doesn’t like me because I am not intimidated by her and just tries to get a rise out of me. It’s hard sometimes but I maintain my composure.
I used to think that CPS was a saintly organization saving suffering children. That anyone who lost thier children must be the scum of the earth. How wrong I was. I know I have been lucky so far. I still have my kids. After this is over I will join the fight against these corrupt baby snatchers. It’s sad that I am too afraid of thier power to do anything but submit and give up my constitutional rights while they are still involved with my family.
Comment by Rachel Reed — November 4, 2008 @ 12:59 pm
Rachel, you’re doing the best you can. Thanks for posting and thanks for anything you can do to spread the word about CPS and help others.
Comment by Linda — November 5, 2008 @ 6:47 am
Almost done with this crap. Caseworker came by yesterday, didn’t let her in but allowed her to take a picture of my kids. My case is about to be closed “if we don’t get another report”. I’m still holding my breath though, can’t wait for that sigh of relief.
Comment by Rachel Reed — December 3, 2008 @ 9:37 am
We’re in Tulare County, California .
My grandson has suffered greatly because of the “psych” evaluations performed by an intern (I never knew what she was supposedly interning for but I assumed she was a wannabe social worker) for a private company contracted by our county to provide “youth services”. This amateur seemed to have full control over everything that happened to Iain from the time he was removed from his mother’s home and I placed him in their “care” on orders of the county. He was not seen by an actual certified psychologist until I had taken him to a different agency where he actually did meet with a certified psychologist who said that he did not meet the criteria for an ADHD diagnosis and therefore didn’t not need drugs. Since addicting children to uppers seems to be a major part of their operation, they finally found a “real” doctor for him.
Up until then, his “treatment” consisted of fifty minutes a week with this intern who, to say the least, had some “different ideas” about parenting than the normal run of our own peers. She actually once scolded my daughter for allowing Iain to be “too clingy” and for showing too much affection in the one hour a week they got to spend together. In retrospect, a significant clue as to her actual motives.
Anyway, even when they managed to dig up a “doctor” to keep me from taking Iain somewhere else again, it was not a certified child psychologist, because they “didn’t have one on staff” at the time. This psychologist met with Iain and I for a total of roughly ten minutes the first time, hardly time for a proper evaluation even by someone qualified. he did not say a single WORD to Iain during this period, only asking me a few questions and lecturing me in regard to the “therapy” Iain was going to be getting in the form of drugs.
He already had a prescription made out for Concerta when we came into the room, apparently based solely upon the reports of the weekly “therapy” sessions with this intern. Eventually, they did get a “child psychologist” on staff and his initial meeting with Iain was again about 10-15 minutes long and again the prescription for a different dosage of Concerta was already lying on the desk when we arrived. The visits I was involved in with this person were never more than 15-20 minutes long either and consisted mainly of the doctor doing this little “test of wills” thing with Iain for a few minutes and then changing his prescription.
The addiction of the child to behavioral control drugs seems to be the primary reason they even bother to have them seen by someone actually certified to diagnose and prescribe. They had Iain on an up and down roller coaster ride of different dosages of Concerta for weeks afterward, changing his prescription every few weeks with every change producing a whole new Iain to deal with. When I started insisting that Iain be evaluated by the other doctor at the outside agency, the one that had seen him before and who said he didn’t NEED the drugs in the first place, they removed him from my care and placed him in foster care, and severely limited my access to him.
For a while, my daughter had unsupervised visit privileges but shortly after he went to Foster care we started finding signs of injury, bruises, scratches, etc. and complained to CPS. Their answer was to take away the unsupervised visits claiming that the injuries, which they admitted were inflicted by someone living at the foster home were somehow my daughter’s fault because she didn’t report them properly or soon enough. Chcking you child’s welfare is not exactly the easiest thing in the world, considering the massive restrictions they place on what you can or can’t say to or ask the child.
She is now allowed to see him once a week and I am now allowed to see him only once a month, both of us under close supervision by a CPS worker. I am not allowed to ask Iain any questions about his treatment or his well being, nor am I allowed to say anything to him that might get his hopes up about coming home… we can’t do or say anything that might make him want to be home with his family and they’re teaching him to call his foster mother “Mom”.
Someone needs to look into these contractual relationships between counties and these private organizations for who profit, not family reunification or the good of the child becomes the prime motivating factor. I would be especially interested in learning how all of these little companies that seem to be purpose founded to profit from taking children into the system, immediately turning them into little drug addicts, and then refusing to reunify them with their families even when every possible and practical criterion for rehabilitation on the part of the birth parent(s) has been met.
On the surface, the entire operation looks like nothing more than a white slavery ring wherein phony “evaluations” and drugs are being used to maintain children in the system for as long as possible while dangling the carrot of reunification in front of the birth parent(s) to keep them docile and full of false hope, with the ultimate goal actually being to farm them out to strangers, also sought out and “certified” by these same private companies, for pay, either through long term foster care or adoption.
My daughter, at this time, is scared to death of these people. Every time she has attempted to stand up for her rights after meeting yet another of the many “just one more thing” conditions they keep slapping on her, they have either taken away an already hard won privilege such as unsupervised visits, or threatened her with a total cessation or parental rights and having to see Iain vanish into the system forever.
Their latest demand is that she… a former addict and convicted felon, not the best baggage to be toting to job interviews during the best of times… at a time when a half million people a month without that kind of baggage are LOSING their jobs and we’re in the middle of the worst financial meltdown since at least 1929… is that she be employed full time and be entirely self supporting. They know full well this is going to be an impooible demand for her to meet. Not only that, but the prospects for poor families such a ruling presents should be chilling even to the most casual observer of these types of proceedings. Is failure to have full time employment during a depression is going to be a criterion for these slavers to take and keep children now? When does the roundup begin? Will the requirement be applied to heretofore comfortable midle class families or will this simply continue to be a war waged by private enterprise with the open connivance of federal, state and local government against the poor?
And as if that weren’t enough to indicate that they have no intention to reunite Iain and his family… at least one of the agencies involved, CASA, is saying that they’re going to recommend against reunification because based on their evaluation of his mother’s mental state… even though she has been fully certified by their own mental health department as no longer needing any further counseling and even though she serves as a volunteer counselor and coordinator for other young women in various functions of the system… “they doubt her ability to handle both Iain and a full time job at the same time”. This classical Catch-22 is definitely a lose-lose situation for the family now and they aren’t even trying to hide it anymore.
You tell ME what their ultimate goal is.
Comment by Tom Bales — December 26, 2008 @ 11:22 am
My apologies for my atrocious typing and all the typos in the above post. I’m a stroke victim and my typing is one of the motor skills that suffered and I obviously didn’t proofread that post well enough before entering it.
Comment by Tom Bales — December 26, 2008 @ 11:27 am
They want me too take one what should i do i don’t want to lose my childeren is there another opp. that i can do i really don’t want to take the pys evl if there covered in the same blanket as cps
Comment by Yesenia Redman — March 26, 2009 @ 10:36 am
me and my husband has had our civil rights violated.
Comment by jasmaine a. jeffery,johnson — March 26, 2009 @ 11:12 am
Yesenia, if you are court ordered to take a psychological evaluation, you must do it or the judge will most likely rule against you. If you are not court ordered to do this, that is another matter. You might want to refuse, but then what? The caseworker may take your children. If you haven’t gone to court yet you can plead innocent to the charges and ask for a full trial though most court appointed attorneys try to get their clients to plead guilty as it is easier (for the lawyers) than proceeding to a full trial. If you want more feedback on your case please register at our FightCPS Message Board Forum.
Comment by LindaJoMartin — March 26, 2009 @ 7:38 pm