If your CPS social workers are lying, violating court orders, or just being unreasonable, you might get some relief from their tyranny by contacting your state legislator. I’ve done this many times when dealing with unscrupulous agencies, and each time had a pleasant resolution to my situation.

Let’s go back to how I discovered how effective this could be. Back in the 80’s I was a welfare eligibility worker for the Department of Social Services. Occasionally unhappy clients would contact their legislators, and whenever that happened we’d see the supervisor scrambling to get the case file to take it into the program manager’s office. We knew that these people hated to have anyone call their legislators because then the head of the entire Department of Social Services would get a call from Sacramento where our State Department of Social Services is. In other words, a lot of pressure was applied from the top management because they didn’t like getting these calls! What was even more frustrating to the supervisor was that every time there was a call to a legislator, the client got what she wanted.

A few years back a local Department of Social Services caseworker was harassing me after learning about this site. He came out here four or five times with totally facetious or trivial complaints, such as the accusation that I was homeschooling - something that is legal in all fifty states. After the last time, I decided to take action before he got the bright idea of detaining my children on the basis of the number of complaints he’d either manufactured or followed up on. What I did was to write a letter to this caseworker detailing each of his visits to my family, telling what his reasons were each time and what my response was. I sent him a copy of the letter, and sent a copy to his Program Manager, my county supervisor, a few legislators, and a few newspapers. Maybe a few other people, but I honestly don’t remember who at this point. There was a list of these people at the bottom of the letter, so he knew who was getting it. The state legislator wrote to me telling me he had contacted the head of the Department of Social Services for California. Talk about applying pressure from the top! Then the pressure no doubt reached the local office and I didn’t hear from the guy again for years.

I’ve done similar things regarding other agencies. My experiences with writing to state legislators for help have all been good, and so I’m telling you about it in case anyone wants to try it. If you do, here’s some pointers.

1) Write the legislator a formal letter. Handwriting is OK - it looks authentic. Second best is a typed letter. Worst, and probably useless, is email. I’ve heard that legislators in Washington DC have to delete a lot of email unread because they have no way of processing it. I don’t know if a state legislator would do that, but I wouldn’t trust email. In this case, paper is better.

2) Be sure you use proper spelling and grammar. I know that’s a problem for many people who use this site, but if you know you have a problem then you can ask the local high school English teacher or some other expert for help making the letter look good.

3) Tell the legislator in the first line that you are his constituent. And by the way, you should be sure you’re writing only to legislators that preside over your section of the state. As a constituent you are a person who can vote or not vote for him next time he runs for office.

4) Keep it short! One page is sufficient. Three paragraphs, better. When I wrote the letter I mentioned above, I sent the entire three page letter I’d sent to the social worker, but the cover letter to the legislator was only three very short paragraphs. The letter will probably be read by a staff member who doesn’t have a lot of time to wade through many pages of case information. They want to know your specific complaint and needs, and will be able to process it and act on it quickly. It wouldn’t hurt to attach any evidence you may have on hand.

You will probably get a letter back from the legislator’s office telling you whether or not they took action on your complaint. They are there to watch out for their constituents, so in most cases they’ll try to do something to help. They need to know when the laws they make aren’t being followed properly. They can’t change a court order, but if a CPS social worker is violating a court order or in any way breaking social service regulations, they can probably do something to create change. After getting your letter, you might want to write back and thank them for helping.

Today I’m opening this space for you to tell us about some of your favorite places on the web where you’ve found information about Fighting CPS.

Or you can tell us about your page, mailing list, petition, MySpace, or whatever else you’ve got that is on-topic.

I know there are dozens of new sites out there since I last spent a lot of time looking at other people’s sites, so I’m looking forward to looking at the sites you tell us about.

This will be a permanent ongoing resource of links for people to explore.

If you don’t know how to make a link, that’s okay - I will edit postings and create hot links where they are missing.

A 78-year-old foster parent, Louise T. Andolina, apparently abandoned two foster children, ages 9 and 11, in the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. She was arrested at 2:40 am on two counts of leaving a child unattended in a place of public accommodation.

This brings up all kinds of questions. At 78, why does she have a foster care license? Why would she think she can leave them unattended at a casino in the middle of the night? Is she sane and clear-thinking enough to take care of foster children? Should the caseworkers who approved this placement be arrested?

Source: Police Say Foster Parent Left 2 Kids Unattended At Casino published on September 3, 2007 on TheDay.Com in Connecticut.

We have two months before the next election. Do you know who’s running for public office in your state?

The only way to get bad child welfare laws changed is to get better legislators in Washington DC. We need to know how our legislators voted on child welfare issues in the past, and to either contact them for clarification of their opinions on our issues, or use their voting record to show that they’re either for or against families.

After we verify their stance on child welfare issues, we need to take this information to the public. There are thousands of people in your area who have been harmed by CPS agencies, who would like to know who not to vote for. It is up to us, each individually, to campaign for or against the people we want in office.

Find out who is running for office, and tell them what you need as a commitment for family preservation in order to vote for them. Attend meetings, town halls, and campaign functions where you can speak out about the dangers of child welfare. Write letters to editors of papers in your state telling people who to vote for if they are tired of worrying about CPS showing up at their doors and snatching their children.

It is really up to us to do this. I’m hoping that people with other ideas along these lines will brainstorm with me in the comment area. What can we do to get the right people into public office?

The following article was written by a dear friend of mine in 1995. She told me then I could circulate this, but asked that I don’t use her name. I know the file is online elsewhere with her name, but I’ll exclude it because she asked me not to use it, at the time. I met her when she started using computer bulletin board systems to get information helpful to her CPS case. I owned a computer bulletin board system (using FidoNet) at the time. She lived only a few miles from me and we got together and became friends before I left the Bay Area. She worked mainly with VOCAL and some attorneys to get her step-child home from foster care, so you’ll see references to NASVO and VOCAL in the following article. I don’t know if the NASVO contact phone number is still useful as this is now a twelve year old article! However it contains some good information, and I’d like to know what you think of the suggestions she gives. - LJM

Don’ts and Dos when Falsely Accused of Child Abuse or Neglect

Don’t Invite Law Enforcement or Social Services Into Your Home Without a Warrant

This action waives your right under illegal search and seizure under the Constitution. This will allow them to come into your home at ANY TIME and search and seize your children or belongings.

Don’t Speak To Anyone About Your Case Without First Consulting A Lawyer. Everything You Say Can and Will Be Used Against You

If you cannot afford a lawyer one will be appointed to you if you are arrested. No attorney will be appointed to you if this is a civil case (family law). In some states, attorneys are appointed to parents in juvenile dependency court. You should call the local Bar Association or legal information service nearest you for this information.

Don’t Contact the Alleged Victim, Their Family, or Prosecution Witnesses

Any and all such contact will be construed as an attempt to bribe or threaten the alleged victim into silence or recantation. Such contact must be done through a PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR who will work through or with your attorney.

Don’t Turn To Drugs or Alcohol

Such substances are habit forming and are depressants. They can cause you to jeopardize your case.

Do Go Attorney Shopping

Seek out an attorney who is EXPERIENCED IN CHILD ABUSE CASES (specifically false cases). For assistance, contact your local VOCAL or call NASVO at (916) 863-7470. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you in criminal court. If you are in civil court (family), you must pay for your own attorney. Depending on the state, you may or may not be appointed an attorney in juvenile dependency court.

Do Hire A Private Investigator

Some attorneys have their own in house investigators. Some do not, and IT IS CRUCIAL THAT AN INVESTIGATOR BE IMMEDIATELY ASSIGNED TO YOUR CASE. If your attorney does not provide one, call NASVO for references.

Do Keep A Daily Journal

Such a journal should document everything you do or where you go and people who see you or are with you. Keep receipts of purchases to keep evidence of activities. Back date a journal by going through canceled checks, photos, letters and holiday experiences. Try to remember and reconstruct everything you did and where you were at the time of the allegation. Give this information to your investigator (and attorney). This can provide evidence.

Do Strip Search the Child’s Room, if the Accusing Child Lived in Your Home

This can provide proof as to your child’s activities and sexual and social habits. Look for notes, letters, diaries, photos, telephone numbers, drug or sexual paraphernalia. Provide findings to your investigator (and your attorney).

Do Keep Active

Physical and social activity are healthy and will assist in keeping depression at bay.

Do Pay Your Attorney or Investigator

The people you hire for your defense are professionals and will work toward finding a solid defense. It is advisable to ALWAYS ENTER INTO A CONTRACT AGREEMENT FOR FEES. This sets the boundaries of your agreement and protects both you and your defense professional from failure. If you have problems about your proposed contract, call NASVO.

I received notification of this in email today (Thanks Charlie Wittman!)

YOUR URGENT ACTION IS NEEDED on a bill quickly moving through Congress called “The Mother’s Act” (H.R. 20) that calls for pregnant women to be screened for mental disorders and new mothers to be screened for “postpartum depression,” resulting in their being prescribed dangerous antidepressants or other psychiatric drugs. A Senate Bill and a House Bill were introduced this year. The House Bill is right now in the Energy and Commerce Committee and a vote is expected within days, whereupon it will go to the House floor next week. The bill provides more appropriations for NIH to conduct research into “postpartum depression” and biological treatments (drugs).

To protest this bill, write to your legislator.
You can do so easily here: The Mother’s Act

I see this as a way to implement The New Freedom Act, forcing psychological testing on all women who become mothers in the USA. CPS workers will probably have access to these screening results and children will most likely be taken from parents either on the basis of screening results, or because mothers decide not to take medications prescribed as a result of these tests. This act opens the way to massive abuse of child-bearing women in the United States, and their children. Please urge your federal legislators to vote against this bill.

Frustrating, how everyone knows that child predators seek out jobs where they can have access to young children, but still the foster care system gives unlimited access to people like this. Foster parent agencies are so desperate for new homes, they constantly advertise: “Foster Parents Needed”. I read it all the time in my news feeds, so I know the drive to recruit people is fierce.

Unfortunately there’s no totally effective way of screening out all perverts. That’s an important reason why CPS needs to cut way back on the number of children detained each year. If they detained only the children truly being physically abused in their homes, those with no extended family members to take them in, then the number of foster children would be much smaller, and the truly good foster homes could take them in.

But no… they just don’t see the light. They keep taking in kids until full to bursting. In Texas this year multiple news stories addressed the problem of excess foster children that foster homes rejected; they were sleeping in CPS offices and motel rooms! How quick would these pressured social workers be to unwittingly place those children with child predators quickly recruited to fill foster parent positions?

There are dozens of news stories about these perverts being caught. The ones that worry me more right now are the ones not being caught.

Mark D. Vogl was a foster parent in Jasper County, Missouri, from November 7, 2002 through August 31, 2004. That gave him almost two years to abuse children. A few days ago he was given two fifteen year prison sentences (to run concurrently) for two counts of first-degree statutory sodomy. The victim is an eleven-year-old boy placed in his foster home by CPS agents. Sorry to say, the CPS agents will probably never receive sentences or prison time for their negligence in placing the boy with Mark Vogl.

Investigators believe there are other victims in this case, but they agreed not to pursue those crimes because Mark Vogl pled guilty.

…
Source: Ex-foster parent sentenced to prison in child-sex case

I went through it and I’m sure most of you have been through it too. When you’re down and out, your children taken by social service workers, depressed, frightened, traumatized, lonely, and in need of support - do your friends and family turn on you, saying hurtful and accusing things to make you feel ten times worse?

That’s apparently what happened in Bremerton, Washington a few days ago. A traumatized father looking for much-needed support from a friend admitted his children were taken by CPS social workers. His friend responded by saying the line Americans have been brainwashed to believe: “Most people deserve to have their children taken away.”

Most people don’t want to admit to themselves that a government agency, CPS, could be wrong. They still have blinders on, believing (as brainwashed in government schools by forced daily reciting of the Pledge) that America provides “liberty and justice for all” and that government agents can do no wrong.

…
Source: Friends Get in Fight Over Child Protective Services by Kitsap Sun staff, published August 30, 2007.
(You can use this link to leave your opinion at the Kitsap Sun website.)

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Has this happened to you? Did you get support and understanding from family members and friends, or were you given the cold shoulder like I was? Did your closest family members refuse to listen to your side of they story? Did they say, “CPS doesn’t make mistakes?” If so - what did you do about it?

This is the guestbook for September 2007.

If you want feedback on your case, register at the Fight CPS Message Forum where there are advocates and activists waiting to hear from you. Please note it may take 10 to 48 hours to get your message board account approved. We need to approve them all individually.

Note: This thread is closed to new comments. Please refer to the most recent guestbook thread to leave your message.

This is the place for prayer requests during September 2007.

Please refer to the most recent prayer requests page to leave your request.

People who need CPS defense lawyers.

Note: This thread is closed to new comments. Please refer to the most recent lawyer request thread.