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Child Protective Services laws and agencies are abusive to families and children. This site provides support and information to parents falsely accused of child abuse by Child Protective Services.
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 The law that started this, CAPTA, must be repealed.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
October 14, 2009
 We’ve known for a long time that children are being overly medicated in foster care. State lawmakers seem very resistant to making laws to prevent this, probably because of pressure from the pharmaceutical industry.
Meanwhile thousands of children are mentally injured by psychotropic drugs after being placed in “chemical restraints” to control and subdue them.
Recently – just last April – a drugged seven-year-old foster child in Florida took his own life, and once again the spotlight is on this issue. Florida legislators, feeling the heat, are making the motions to do something about this. I looked through the FightCPS archives and found the same issue discussed in the news in 2001 and 2004, in Florida. They didn’t do anything about it then. What makes anyone think they’ll do it now?
I’ve had this issue bubbling under the surface of my usually calm demeanor for many months. Make that years. Well.. today I let it out. I compiled my research, found numerous YouTube videos exposing the matter, and put it all on one page, which you’re now welcome to visit: Drugging Foster Children. I look forward to getting some feedback on that page!
Filed under: CPS — Linda Martin @ 11:37 pm
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CPS doesn’r prescribe drugs. Physicians do. Nice attempt though!
Comment by Mike — October 16, 2009 @ 12:21 pm
Mike, you seem to have missed the point! It is the financial bonuses of federal child welfare laws that motivate foster parents, doctors, and yes, even some CPS employees to have foster children placed on psychiatric drugs. Check out the lens, educate yourself: Drugging Foster Children.
Financial bonuses: (1) more money for foster parents for special needs children; (2) adoption subsidy payments for special needs children adopted out of foster care, and (3) ASFA bonuses for increasing adoptions give more $ per special needs child to the state.
Did I ever say that you, as a CPS minion, are guilty of setting this up? No, no, no, no, no. The evil stems from federal laws that have been put in place by enemies of the American people who want to ruin the stability of the nation by destroying children and families.
Like I said… educate yourself. There’s a lot to learn; don’t think you know it all.
Comment by LindaJoMartin — October 17, 2009 @ 7:37 pm
Mike points out that doctors prescribe medicine not social workers. I would suggest to Mike that he track the money those doctors get paid with. It comes from the bonuses CPS gets to take children. And doctors make a lot of money for their consultations. Even an agency like UC Davis will regurgitate the lies of CPS. They get paid $2,500 for 4 hours of observation and 10 pages of BS submitted to the court. They call these psychological evaluations even though psych evals require 6 to 18 months of observation to be acurate. Instead these are personality tests that aren’t even accepted by the academic community of psychology.
Then lets look at the medications these doctors prescribe. Up front I will mention that I have 1 child in CPS’s “care”. I have 3 children still with me. This child was removed from my care because a psychiatrist in acute care that had never met my daughter or myself until 7 days before he made the call disagreed with me on what medications my child should be on. (Not if she needs meds, but if she should stay on the ones she was having a reaction to). This medication is Risperdal. Do the research. Tell me if you want your child on that. I was deemed a risk to her because I think they should have tried a different med, and her main treating psychiatrist agreed with me so CPS changed her psychiatrist.
And for the record, she has been in 12 placements in 3 years, had the police called on her 3 times and been arrested for arson AFTER CPS got involved and took over. Before she was hospitalized to have her meds adjusted and changed I had managed to keep her in the home for 9 years.
All of this because her doctor and I agreed that Risperdal was not right for her and the hospital wanted to drug her up and send her home.
Currently she is in a level 12 group home because no foster parent wants a child who has been arrested and confessed to arson resulting in the damage to 75% of her grandmother’s home because she was grounded and got angry.
These people get all kinds of funding to experiment on our children. They also get money and discounts from drug makers to use the meds they want tested on children. No sane parent would want their child used as a lab test animal, so they market these studies to our vulnerable foster children. Suppossedly no one cares about these kids so they are free game.
In the meantime, my daughter’s bladder is suffering possible permanent damage because the risperdal inflames the urinary tract and causes her to have a UTI that she has been on a long term antibiotic for.
Comment by Char — October 19, 2009 @ 11:36 pm
Are you implying physicians, who have no financial gain by way of “federal child welfare laws” are drugging foster children so foster parents and states can make more money? That they are placing all ethics and morals on the side to false diagnose children for no benefit of their own?
Do you really beleive this? Do you hang out with the Bubble Boy family as well and believe reptilian aliens rule the world?
Conspiracy theorists. Always a fun read..
Comment by Mike — October 20, 2009 @ 5:03 am
Mike, in CPS custody children are ,,warehoused,, not cared for.
If the spirit of the laws were followed,if the agents of the CPS loved the children ,their own or any others , which is pretty much the same thing , none of this would be happening , it would not be possible. It doesn’t matter who puts unintelligable signiture on a scrap of paper if the system is all that matters and uncompling individual professional will be simply ignored and replaced with a ’suitable” one.Even if you work for the agency I don’t think that you have much understanding of the enormity of the impact of CPS intrusion and the ripple effects it creates. It is not noted in any documents,assesments ,reports ,it is richly and sadly noticeable in souls/hearts of those speared by the ”gooddoers” who mistake power for understanding .And often their own unanswered doubts and shortcomings ,cause them to externelise their own problems and project them on others. And the catastrophy follows. Are you aware of Duplessies orphans horror story?
Comment by Milos Leubner — October 20, 2009 @ 11:49 am
Mike, as Char pointed out – the doctors get reimbursement money from the Social Security Fund. Plus they often get kickbacks from drug companies, as I understand it.
Comment by LindaJoMartin — October 21, 2009 @ 6:38 am
Mike, no conspiracy theory needed. If I could show you the “sealed” documents, you would see written evidence that not only do doctors with CPS contracts make sure they keep those contracts, but they will even go so far as to rig the report to try and remove other children from the same family.
The psychologist in my case specifically asked in e-mail what the social worker wanted the report to say, then made sure when I confronted her with that ‘diagnosis’ that she reworded it to get the same result. She also faked the evidence and mislead the court on the true medical condition of my son who was not in state care.
The goal was to have him removed to a tune of $6,000 because of his epilepsy. Keep him in care for 6 months at $6,000 a month, then turn him over to the father who hadn’t seen him in 4 years to the tune of $6,000 plus $5,000 for family member placement. (For the record, his father committed suicide 4 months ago, his second and successful attempt, but CPS felt he was the safe, reliable parent until the first attempt… right after he dropped our daughter off from an unsupervised visit.)
This psychologist made $2,500 for 3 hours of interview, a scantron personality tests and 10 pages of paper. At no time did she bother to contact my son’s neurologist although she did claim to have ‘verified’ that my son had never had a seizure. This evaluation cost me a days pay, $50 in gas, and $50 for the hotel room because it was 5 hours from my home.
Based on that CPS tried to say I had factious disorder, another name for Munchausen’s by Proxy. They said I used my children for sympathy and medicated my children because it got me attention. My son’s neurologist, who is honest and won’t work with CPS, threatened them with a lawsuit for accusing him of malpractice. CPS was then told by my SON that if they thought he didn’t need the meds, then he would quit taking them and they could clean up mess. He was 8 at the time. CPS has never looked at him again.
In my son’s case they were trying to use his meds against me. His meds are well tested and APPROVED for use in children, with over 30 years of pediatric use for both medications he takes.
In my daughter’s case they succeeded in putting her on medications that are detremental to her body’s health, are NOT approved for use in children and have lead to suicide in young children.
Why does CPS refuse to let parents sit in on doctor’s appointments? Why do they refuse the input from parents on their child’s mental health? Why do they use THEIR doctors and not the existing doctors?
My daughter’s meds were stamped off by a judge who wasn’t even presiding on my daughter’s case. How much of the case did he read before his secretary stamped his name to a case he’s not suppossed to see because of confidentiality?
If you remove a child from a positive enviornment, they will be depressed. Here is the vicious circular arguement they use: If the child is depressed they must be abused. Not if you remove a healthy child from a good home they will become depressed. Depression must be treated…… Instead of returning the child to the home, they drug them up.
In my daughter’s psych eval the UC Davis doctor says my daughter’s diagnosis is depression because CPS substaniated their claims. Not once did he actually talk to me because my phone (the number was given to them by CPS) never answered. Somehow my answering machine never picked up and they could never get ahold of me at home, on my cell phone, voicemail or at work. They also never spoke to the police officer or the DA’s office who felt that their was no case to prosecute so how could she have depression from it?
Comment by Char — October 22, 2009 @ 6:51 pm
Char:
1. I hope you are intimately familiar with the section of this site called:
Attorneys who take CPS cases.
More attys from Calif have posted here than from any other state.
2. Join the Message Boards here. Must register and be approved.
3. California litigants have won massive settlements v DCFS since, as I understand it, Calif has funded an insurance pool for foster abuse.
4. Federal law provides that family must be given consideration in placement of children.
5. You need to import this document to the LAWYERS section of this site.
Make sure you indicate state upfront. Lawyers and their paralegals have enough to read!
I am not an atty, but I feel the only way to tame CPS, and curb rampant abuses will probably be through litigation.
Also know that Calif has the Center for Youth Law around SF.
I believe SD may have a dependent child law clinic, too.
Linda has an area of the site devoted to LAW CLINICS and sites mentioned by the ABA.
6. California has a large DCFS population, but has some good resources. Parents and families, and kin have attorneys who have WON IN CALIFORNIA.
7. Please implement the suggestions. You sound like a poster child for DSS abuses.
Best wishes toward helping your family and others.
Comment by Fern — October 23, 2009 @ 4:42 am
I grew up in foster care in Florida. I spent my whole life moving from foster home back to my real mother and into foster care again. I turned 18 a year ago. I was “diagnosed ” with several mental disorders. I was put on so much medication that I slept for 18 hours a day. Every day. Many times while I was in foster care I was homeless. Not because I ran away like they said I did, but because I was dropped off on the street on friday and was told to call the office on monday. Everyone knew this was happening because it happens to every kid in foster care over the age of 13 who doesn’t have a weekend placement.
Physicians do get paid to prescribe medications. Not only to do they get paid for every script they write by medicaid they get paid by DCF and CPC (CBC) Community Partnership for Children. (what cps is called in Florida) The only Doctors I saw while in foster care where the doctors on staff with CPC.
When I turned 18 I was left at an intersection in the worst part of town just 15 min. after midnight on my birthday. No money. No where to go. but finally off medication. The first two weeks before all the drugs were out of my system I slept until woken up by the police. After all the medication was out and I could think clearly again I started making phone calls only to be told that I was 18 and no longer their problem. I couldn’t get a job because I had no ID, Birth Certificate, or social security card. I was told they were lost be my case worker.
How am I suppose to even have a chance at having a functional life. The only reason I am no longer homeless, jobless, or dead is because of a very kind stranger who took me in and got me on my feet.
I have a little brother who turned 18 last month. He was just as drugged up as I was. He was living in a group home. At midnight they came into his room, woke him up, and told him to leave. Didn’t even give him a phone call. He walked 63 miles to my apartment.
Drugging kids isn’t the only issue in foster care. And to all the people who keep making comments about how this isn’t true and how doctors wouldn’t do that. I invite you since you are so trusting of Florida’s foster care system to put your own kids in their care. Maybe then you will understand how devastating it is to be abuse by the people who are suppose to be protecting you.
Comment by Axe Ccident — October 23, 2009 @ 1:58 pm
I was forced by CPS to put my son on ADHD medication. He has Sensory Integration Dysfunction. CPS made me take him to a doctor of their choosing and he misdiagnosed him with ADHD. His hyperactivity was just a symptom of the real problem. SID is in the Autism spectrum. Because of this misdiagnosis and being prescribed the wrong medication his behavior became much worse. So much so that he ended up in foster care and I ended up severely depressed and I was forced to give him up. As part of the safety plan I had to sign over my rights to him or I wouldn’t get my 2 year old daughter back. They made me believe it was best because I had no family support.
Comment by LIsa McCann — October 24, 2009 @ 12:31 pm
I am replying to Mike and this message
“Are you implying physicians, who have no financial gain by way of “federal child welfare laws” are drugging foster children so foster parents and states can make more money? That they are placing all ethics and morals on the side to false diagnose children for no benefit of their own?”
I don’t believe they are doing it to make more money. I think they are drugging the poor little guys to keep them from crying to go home! And I do believe that they are clickish. I live in a small town. Where everyone knows everyone and most Lawyers, Judges, definately all DHS workers, doctors, and therapist are either in the “IN” crowd with these guys or they are afraid to go up against them. So when CPS says this child needs to be medicated, the Doctors medicate, If you are threatened with having your child removed forever you agree to it. I have proof. I have lived it
Comment by LIsa McCann — October 24, 2009 @ 12:43 pm
Axe, thanks so much for telling us what happened to you and your brother. I am shocked – and I think I’ve heard everything – until you came here and told us how you and your brother were both abandoned on the streets in the middle of the night on your eighteenth birthdays, and left on the streets on the weekends since you were 13. I am appalled… and heart broken for both of you and all other foster children this happens to.
I made the lens about drugging foster children payable to a charity, Covenant House, that helps teenagers who have aged out of the foster care system. I don’t know if there is a Covenant House chapter in your area, but I hope that those who can will support this charity and that teenagers who are homeless will find out about it.
Something is very wrong in Florida if there’s no effort to help teenagers aging out of the system.
Comment by LindaJoMartin — October 25, 2009 @ 5:04 am
IF YOU WANT YOUR CHILDREN BACK —–
——-THIS BOOK WILL SHOW YOU HOW BY SOMEONE THAT SUED THE SYSTEM AND WON
Early Departures for the Sun, is a riveting book that chronicles the prevailing violence, which permeates our lives and homes. America has become so obsessed with violence that little children are learning to kill before they understand the English alphabet. Many people search for a spiritual answer, only to hope that their faiths would lead them to see their love ones who were violently removed from their lives. Violence also reared its ugly head in today’s foster care and adopted homes. In which the children that reside there are the victims of a terrible procedure that terminates parent’s parental rights by the thousands from data collected by corrupt Child Protective Service workers. America judicial system has failed our children and America cannot survive by giving its children an option of life in prison or death from gun violence. Early Departures for the Sun, gives honest reflections of how violence destroys the hearts and souls of people in marriages and relationships. The court dockets are replete with court dates from women and men who have filed personal protection orders against people who they once loved but now need protection from due to their violent and threatening behavior.
The tragic events of today have impelled the author Raymond Sturgis to include poems that our hearts want to ask but our lifestyles actuate. Like the poems, “Where Is God? His Face, His Eyes, His Rage and Bullets In the Morning, that familiarize with unforgettable painful experiences. The author conveys the sadness and despair of over 400 parents that have lost children to gun violence, robbing toddlers and infants of a chance of living a fulfilled life. The senseless act of violence is mainly from ex boyfriends, ex husbands or teenage cowards that found answers to their problems by shooting in homes and schools without remorse. Early Departures for the Sun gives a realistic view of how violent our world has become, but a more kinder and spiritual view of love ones taking the Early Departure to the Sun right outside heaven’s door. The author Raymond Sturgis understand that his book may intensify people anger towards the people that have killed their parents, brothers, sisters, friends or children. However, he reminds them in his chapter, “Is Violence All we Know?” that violence may lead to death, but death shall not be studied as a means to solve conflicts and misunderstandings. Early Departures for the Sun is a CALL OUT book, so that everyone can enlist in the war against violence, as well as an encouragement so we all can stand with those whom may have lost someone to violence. The book, Early Departures for the Sun is available through Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, http://www.buybooksontheweb.com, Borders, Walden Books, and hundreds of media outlets around the world.
Paperback: 390 pages
Publisher: Infinity Publishing
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0741453177
ISBN-13: 978-0741453174
GO GET YOURS TODAY AND START DOWN A ROAD OF GETTING YOUR CHILDREN BACK
Comment by Love Works — October 26, 2009 @ 11:01 am
At this point, home placement is no longer an option. My daughter is one of the very few foster children who is actually mentally ill. CWS was aware when they removed her from a psychiatric facility that she was not normal. County mental health warned them. They took her off her meds, got her to tell an unbelievable lie which CWS “substaniated”. Law enforcement and the DA dropped the investigation and charges were never filed.
They convinced my mom that my daughter was abused and sent my daugther from CA to MI. That lasted one year. My mom, believing that my daughter was abused and not mentally ill, took my daughter off her medication. Six weeks later my daughter was grounded for back talking and disrespecting her.
In retaliation, my daughter set her bed on fire. This caused damage to 75% of the internal structure of my mom’s house. My mom then petitioned the court to terminate her guardianship because my mom found herself homeless and in fear for her life.
I am thinking about finding an attorney to sue the county on my mom’s and my behalf. My daughter is currently in a level 12 group home and the county is trying to convince the state to adopt my daughter out to get her out of the system because she is now COSTING the county lots of money.
I truly hope my daughter doesn’t end up on the street with $20 in her pocket the day she turns 18. That is currently CA policy. I also pray she doesn’t kill anyone as she is currently threatening.
Comment by Char — October 26, 2009 @ 3:48 pm
i know for a fact this happends cause my two children are in cps care right now and they are on a lot of meds here is the list…risperedal..concerta…guanfacine…and the worst of all of them…PROZAC..my children are only 5 and 9 they should not be on these meds thats the only way CPS and the FOSTER homes can deal with the kids while they are in their care and its a bunch of bs
Comment by misty — October 27, 2009 @ 10:50 pm
Dear Char:
Get a hold of your DSHS website and study the DSHS policies and laws that the department has to follow. I’m not sure where you are in the U.S. but each state has a website that the social services follows or doesn’t follow depending who you talk to. If you have to ask the CA office yourself what the website is and while you are at it when CA comes to a decision file a Fair Hearing with the Office of Administrative Hearings. The WA state offices are know as the Office of Administrative Hearings.
Comment by Debra Braxton — October 28, 2009 @ 5:15 pm
THE SOCIAL WORKER WE ARE DEALING WITH IS AN ALL OUT IDIOT. OUR DAUGHTER IS IN FOSTER CARE. AND ON ALL KINDS OF DRUGS SHE DOESNT NEED. INCLUDING ANTI DEPRESSANTS WHICH CAUSE SUICIDAL THOUGHTS. AND MY WIFE CONFRONTED THE SOCIAL WORKER AND SAID THESE DRUGS HAVE BAD SIDE AFFECTS. AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IDIOTS RESPONSE WAS. SHE SAID TO MY WIFE OH I AM SURE YOU HAVE BEEN ON MEDS. WITH SIDE AFFECTS. YEAH BUT NOT WHERE YOU WANT TO COMMIT SUICIDE WHAT AN IDIOT!!!LETS HOLD THESE FREAKS DOWN AND POUR A BUNCH OF DRUGS WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT DOWN THERE F-ING THROATS AND INJECT THEM WITH ALL KINDS OF CRAP AND THEN WHILE THEY ARE DIEING JUST STAND THERE AND LAUGH AND SAY OH ITS JUST A SIDE AFFECT. IDIOTS!!!
Comment by SCOTT — October 29, 2009 @ 11:32 am
Comment for MIKE – Plus a Question,
Exactly what do you know about being in foster care or losing a child because a social worker “made a judgement call”. It might help me give credence to your sniping and uninformed (apparently) statements.
Comment by Lori — October 31, 2009 @ 9:23 am
Virginia Election News–Media Fails to Report on Misprision of a Felony by Bob McDonnell, Government Attorneys, and Judges Obstructing the Rights of Parents.
The evidence is that there is on going violations of Va. Code §§ 18.2-22, 25, 26, 481(5), 482, and, 499, by a criminal conspiracy to deprive Virginia parents of the right of access to an impartial court and jury trial to hold government attorneys and judges accountable for malfeasance by obstructing statutory rights (See, criminal complaints filed with the Virginia FBI/AUSA (http://home.earthlink.net/~treason; and http://home.earthlink.net/~malfeasance). However, to date the media in Virginia refuses repeatedly to conduct an investigation of the record of malfeasance (See, http://www.liamsdad.org/others/isidoro.shtml; and, http://home.earthlink.net/~isidoror).
As explained previously (see, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAkEfjcA5sQ), this conspiracy to deny citizens of Virginia of the right to access to an impartial court and civil jury trial was exposed in 2007 during my litigation against a business conspiracy by government attorneys and judges targeting me in retaliation for seeking an investigation of their criminal obstruction of my statutory rights as a father and Virginia civil litigator. Thus, I am preparing a federal RICO suit under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-1968, against Bob McDonnell for”conducting the affairs of” an “enterprise” engaged in or affecting interstate and foreign commerce by means of a “pattern” of “racketeering activity,” and for conspiring to accomplish these goals.
Our Republic and Commonwealth can not long survive the unbridled tyranny of government attorneys and a judiciary that have surreally placed themselves above and beyond the law. We must recall the sorry behavior of German judges, lawyers, and law schools use of cronyism to aid Hitler and the NAZI’s to power. “By the time the gas vans came and the human slaughter factories were built in Auschwitz and the other death camps, the murder of the six million Jews and other persecuted minorities was done completely within the framework of German law.” Yad Vshem, The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes Remembrance Authority, 2004.
Sincerely,
Isidoro Rodriguez, Esq., Member in Good Standing of the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court
Comment by Isidoro Rodriguez, Esq. — November 1, 2009 @ 5:43 am
my son is 21and my daughter is 17 my evil exinlaws are still keeping my son from me and when my daughter turns 18 next spring again my exinlaws will keep her from me they go and put a 5 year no contact order on me against my own children they even tried to stop me from going to my own son graduation now when my daughter graduates next spring my exinlaws will stop me from going to her graduation and county attorney and attorney general will help them once again they will again pay the Judge off to do that these Judges in Des Moines Iowa takes bribes all the time.
Comment by Terri Rote — November 3, 2009 @ 1:38 pm
I am a former foster youth and I am twenty years old. I will make this as short and painless as possible. I was physicaly abused in foster care and when I tried to report the abuse they shoved pills down my throat to get me to “shut up and quit complaining”, their words exactly. My brothers were seperated from me because they were trying to report the abuse also. CPS are trying to say my brothers were trying to parent me. I think my brothers had every right to interfere when I’m leteraly pissed on while asleep. Thrown around by the throat across rooms. and then medicated to get me to shut up about it. I’v even tried telling the police. I missed out on 7 years of education because of this medication that I was forced to take to cope with abuses taking place.
I was slave labored 12 hours a day 6 days a week. I ran away when I was fifteen. The most recent drug I was on was paxil. I must have collected at least 20,000 dollars in medical bills while sleeping in ally ways ending up in hospitals every few weeks from alcohol poisoning. Suicide attempts almost succeeding. Waking up in jail every week about not knowing how I got their. For three years after leaving foster care. They would tell me services don’t exist I can’t get voluntary services. no such funding exist to help me get into school.
Finaly about a year ago, the last time I was in jail for blacking out and getting into trouble. My court appointed attorney had to threaten Child welfare so that I could get services. They even tried turning him down untill he threatend them.
When I initialy tried requesting my records they gave me a very small portion of my records and said they could not find the rest. I recently just sent a FOIA request, but we’ll see how well that goes.
I was deprived of my Life, Liberty, equal protection of laws. I was tortured and will have to live the rest of my life knowing that its a neverending Political War in my head between those that are fortunate and those that arn’t such as myself.
I’ve tried just about everything I can and I have an obsession with building a case and It won’t go away. no matter how many times I box my work up and lock it away in a closit It keeps haunting me and I just pull it out the next week. I have a strong argument with Primary scources, Secondary scources,
Statute of limitations gives me up to 6 years after the age of 18 to file a caset. I should not have to have the word Victim written on my forehead in perminant marker anymore. I would like it to instead say free atlast.
If there is an attorney out there who will help me get money for college or anything please contact me
Comment by Justin Snegirev — November 19, 2009 @ 9:57 pm
I’m a new foster parent and I have a 9 year old in my care. Since in our care, she has disclosed some past abuse from prior foster and biological family members. My husband and I are caring, loving foster parents and would never lay a finger on this child. But believe it or not, it is backfiring. This child is used to being controled by being hit. This child is BEGGING us to hit her. It breaks my heart to hear it. We are not only mandated by law to not use that type of punishment, but we don’t agree with physical abuse regardless. We have tried everything from consequences to positive reinforcement to behavior management and charts, etc. But in response we have a child that has no anger management skills, no coping skills, and has extreme repressed anger which is now being taken out on us. When in a normal state of mind, she is polite, sweet, loving, and caring. But often out of nowhere, she will become abusive toward us and is now violent. She has thrown heavy objects at us, has punched us, slapped us, kicked us, and head butted us. So while I can understand how many of you are anti-CPS and anti-meds, we’re not sure what to do because we’re some of the “nice” foster parents that are trying to do right by our child, but nothing is working. And right now this child is not on meds…and our workers are all against meds…but at this point, we’re tempted to force the issue because we’re afraid for our safety and the child’s safety.
Comment by jane — January 7, 2010 @ 9:07 pm
You have my total sympathy, Jane. Your foster child seems to be traumatized and unable to cope with anger. My heart goes out to you.
Comment by LindaJoMartin — January 8, 2010 @ 12:00 am
Hi, I read some of this and am a foster parent. I can tell you many of the complaints the bio parents have are TRUE. I also used to not believe they were, but have come to find they are as the social workers will say any lie about you. If you can catch them at it, and I have, the agency still does not want to change the worker. However, they eventually did and I think I hurt his career by complaining and making it known at very high levels with CPS (I live in CA.) how this caseworker keeps lying. It was not really because I got his 3rd or 4th level supervisor up the chain to work with me but because I made the court aware. They don’t like this because they will have to come before the same judge many, many times in their career.
I have found there are many, many tools the social workers have to discredit a parent. However, I have a list of many tools too, and have found them to be pretty effective against a caseworkers’ lies. But I should tell you, there were 2 more after him who also lied. Therefore, changing the caseworker will not change the supervisor (at maybe a 2 to 4th levels up) from telling the current caseworker to lie. Also, as far as I’m aware, it is not a crime for the caseworker to lie because it is within their scope of employment. They may say “sorry” after being caught, but unless they stick a gun in your face, or threaten to rape your wife, they can do it because their doing so is still within the scope of employment. Besides, they have access to attorneys and a lot of professional liability insurance.
The real way to stop the abuse may be to make complaints against their professions license. Their professional standards are subject to the mental health agency t(Board of Behavioral Sciences in CA) that licensed them which allows them to make more money than they would otherwise. However, be VERY careful in doing this BEFORE you get your kids back because my attorney advised NOT doing this during a current case. She didn’t say why but I think it is because they (the whole agency) will go after you even harder. As I say I have many tools so if you want to ask write a comment and I’ll likely respond. I say likely because I usually do not visit this site as my case is going well and my child cannot come home anyway currently due to his behavior.
I should explain I’m a licensed foster parent that has a child in the system. I have de facto parent status on my non-bio child.
Anyone comment if you’d like.
Bill Smith
Note: email address is not working. Only post here if you’d like.
Comment by Bill Smith — February 6, 2010 @ 8:50 am
Here’s a question someone may be able to help me with. My son takes Tenex (a.k.a. Guanfacine) for aggression. He’s been taking it for over a year now and it is not helping. Many people such as the Court Appointed Special Advocate, me and the child’s attorney and group home have tried to get the psychiatrist to change the medication to one that was more effective that he had used in the past, but the doctor is does not seem to listen. However, there is a special hearing coming up soon to discuss the problem. Does anyone have any ideas as to why the doctor seems to love this drug, or will not listen to everyone saying it needs to be changed? I don’t even think the judge knows, hence the special hearing coming soon.
Thank you,
Bill Smith
Comment by Bill Smith — February 6, 2010 @ 8:58 am
I made a yahoo email address so that anyone can write to me in case they don’t want to post a response for everyone. It is best to notifiy me via email if you’ve posted and then I’ll check to see what you’ve written for everyone. Thank you.
DedicatedDadinCA[@]yahoo.com
Bill Smith
Comment by Bill Smith — February 6, 2010 @ 9:43 am
To Jane,
You didn’t’ say how long you’ve had her. Here are some possible choices.
1.give notice on her because she needs a higher level of care.
2.Get the child’s attorney to agree with you that another move will not be best for her so the attorney can work with you and the caseworkers to get her on medication. You can take her to get medication anyway as she’s in your care. But be careful about doing this on your own because the caseworker has a lot of say in it. Note that if the relationship goes bad between you and the caseworker, they will lie about what you said. It it best to use email to back up what you’re saying.
3.Be very careful about giving notice and then changing your mind. The caseworker may tell the court you did this and are not interested in the child. Note that you do NOT have very much legal right to the child unless you’re a de facto parent. But even then you do not very few rights.
4.If you’re in it for the long haul, get de facto status. (valid in CA and maybe other states)
5.What state do you live in.
6.Keep the child’s attorney informed and build a relationship with him or her. This will be very useful when things go bad over a disagreement on the medication issue.
7.Know in advance that you’re a “resources” to the Agency, not part of a team as you might believe. The Agency can use and abuse you. They, not you, have most of the rights with the foster child. Even as a de facto parent you have very little rights and almost non if they want to build a case that she should not live with you. I say this from legal precedence.
8.It sounds like she has attachment disorder. There are therapies available, which may or may not work. But be careful if you use them because you will likely be very bonded to her as a bio parent but the Agency still retains almost all the rights as if you’re a foster parent. In other words if they move her you can cry all you want, the law is on the Agencies side.
9.As I said before, the child’s attorney can be a MAJOR help because they represent the child best interests. The child’s attorney may not want her moved. But the fact remains you can’t have her grow up thinking she can hit you. It won’t work out. I think you’d agree.
10.Keep in mind you might end up dealing with caseworkers that have psychological problems. You’ll not find out they’re against you for several months. That is why it is best to back up your communication via email. You’d say, “I wanted to be sure I understood your position and you’re clear on mine. You’re going to do such and such for her and I’m going to see where I can get more information on such and such.
11.Be sure your communication is positive, thanking them for their efforts.
12.Include your concerns and high level of commitment to this child (if that’s the case) because if push comes to shove, as it has with thousands of cases with foster and bio parents, the Agency WILL screw you over if they can. No joke here!! Be wise and safe!!
About medication. You child may need it. I know it may seem like everyone is against it, but it is necessary in some cases. If you’re a diabetic, for example, it is better to use medication than go blind. I’m sure you’d agree in that case.
Good luck and write back if you’d like more information. Hopefully, someone will comment on my problem listed above.
Comment by Bill Smith — February 6, 2010 @ 10:11 am
To Jane,
I just now noticed you’re a new foster parent. With a child like this you’re going to need support. Since you’re new, you need to start networking. I don’t know what area you’re in, but there are likely support groups in your area. I used to go to one and virtually EVERY time I learned about agencies that help and more resources. I can not stress enough how you NEED to get ideas, knowledge, and assistance from others and their organizations!
Are you parenting her alone?
Comment by Bill Smith — February 6, 2010 @ 10:16 am
Does anyone have any ideas as to why the psychiatrist keeps prescribing Tenex (guanfacine) for my foster son? The Court Appointed Special Advocate, group home, me, and child’s attorney all want him to try something different since we’ve had bad results from the current medication for over a year now. He simply won’t change it and no one knows why. There is a special court date coming up to discuss it and we might get it changed. The judge is also questioning why it has taken so long to try something else. Any ideas? I think the problem may be that CPS wants to show the court that the problem is my parenting and not the medicatation. However, he’s been doing terrible on it out of my care for over a year now. Any ideas as to why the Dr. won’t change it???
Comment by John Smith — February 6, 2010 @ 7:05 pm
To Jane,
I just now noticed you’re a new foster parent. With a child like this you’re going to need support. I am also a licensed foster parent. Since you’re new, you need to start networking. I don’t know what area you’re in, but there are likely support groups in your area. I used to go to one and virtually EVERY time I learned about agencies that help and more resources. I can not stress enough how you NEED to get ideas, knowledge, and assistance from others and their organizations!
Also, have you considered she may have attachment disorder? You might consider attachment therapy, but be careful as it can be dangerous in that you may bond with her but CPS still holds all the power to remove her in case they decide they don’t like you or for whatever reason. You will have bonded and all the pleading and crying you do will not stop them from taking her. You might think why would they take her. Trust me, they do what they want for reasons they are not obligated to explain. And the law is on their side. You’ll see after a while you are really a resource for CPS, not a member of a team. If you want to keep her and the CPS worker wants her elsewhere, you don’t have any legal rights under the law at least in CA. What state do you live in?
Good luck, hope this helps. Write back if you want more comments. I parented a kid just like the one you’re describing.
Comment by John Smith — February 6, 2010 @ 7:12 pm
John, sorry, but I don’t know anything about Tenex… but from what I’ve read it may be possible that the doctor is getting a kickback from the drug company for putting people on that particular medication. It isn’t even listed in my 2006 copy of The Pill Book so I’m guessing it is a new medication the drug company may be trying to promote.
Comment by LindaJoMartin — February 8, 2010 @ 9:08 pm
The Power of the Powerless
by Daniel Heimpel
Trafficked, raped and alone, one former foster youth stands for thousands.
The story of 19-year-old Suahmirs Rivera is one of extended powerlessness turned diamond-hard inner strength. A strength he is now using to defend 1,400 former foster youth who, like himself, fear being cast into the street because of one of Governor Schwarzenegger’s’ proposed budget cuts. .
When the then 16-year-old Rivera was thrown in a truck and stabbed with an IV in his native Honduras, he was powerless. When the drugs wore off and he realized he had been trafficked to a flophouse in San Diego, he was powerless.
He was kept in a small room, fed one meal a day and forced to sleep with both men and women. His captors told him that if he tried to contact his mother and his younger siblings back home they would be killed. Unable to lash out at his torturers, Rivera bit himself and tore the skin from his arms.
“I was afraid for my family,” he says. “I didn’t want nothing to happen to them, I was raped to keep them alive.”
When the house was raided and he finally saw two police officers, he thought they were angels.
The teenager was soon placed in the foster care system. Despite bouncing through two foster homes, three group homes and a spate of mental institutions during his two years in foster care, Rivera says the system was a salve, a respite from the horror he had lived. But not long after his 18th birthday, he, like most foster youth who reach maturity, was cast out, left to himself to navigate a country that was not his own, without family and carrying the burden of his nightmare.
Unfortunately, Rivera is not the only one. Within 18 months of leaving the system the stats are bleak for the 4,000-5,000 California foster youth who “age out” of care every year: one-fourth will have been incarcerated, one-fifth will have experienced homelessness, one-third will suffer major depression, and only 2 percent will ever graduate from college.
But Rivera was smart, and lucky. He enrolled in California’s THP-Plus program, which provides transitional housing and life skills training for 2,000 former foster youth ages 18-24 up and down the state.
When Rivera heard about the Governor’s recent proposal to eliminate the paltry $38.5 million THP-plus budget to combat the state’s $20-billion deficit, his first reaction was fear.
“I was afraid to become to be homeless,” he says. But then he had a daunting but attainable epiphany, “If I save this program I won’t be homeless.”
After years of keeping the details of his life hidden from everyone but foster care caseworkers and dependency attorneys, Rivera made the hard decision to talk. And at 19, having lived his nightmare, he may be better poised than anyone else to convince the Governor that casting 1,400 former wards of the state into the street will cost much more than the 0.18 percent of the budget shortfall cutting THP-Plus represents.
Rivera launched a website, http://www.savethp.com, to organize foster youth and advocates to save the transitional housing program. But more importantly, Rivera understands the power of his story coupled with media coverage. He first appealed to Channel 10 News in San Diego (http://www.10news.com/news/22384023/detail.html), which ran a story about him and THP-Plus at the end of January. Soon after he was contacted by Good Morning America. The GMA appearance was cut, likely to save airtime for a cooking segment or celebrity gossip.
“I want to scream to the world, hey we do exist,” Rivera says in frustration.
He knows that if he had made national TV, the Governor would have had to rethink the proposed cut. So let’s go a little grassroots and help Rivera save THP-Plus. Write to Good Morning America asking to let Rivera speak: (http://abcnews.go.com/Site/page?id=3271346&cat=Good%20Morning%20America). Maybe we can actually make it happen.
Then we will see the hidden power of a young man who has the bravery to face being more powerless than most would dare imagine. The power to make the leader of one of the world’s largest economies change his mind.
…
Daniel Heimpel is the director of the Congressional Coalition Adoption Institute’s Fostering Media Connections project. More information can be found at: http://www.fosteringmediaconnections.org.
Comment by Suamhirs Rivera — February 26, 2010 @ 12:53 pm
Suamhirs, thanks so much for posting your article! And thanks for all you do for aged-out foster children!
Comment by LindaJoMartin — February 28, 2010 @ 12:23 pm
i lost my parental rights and the public defenders office quit taking these cases, my public attorney mysteriously dropped my appeal and urged me to do it on my own. i have made complaints with the obudsman on cps and i have not heard back. i have written to the US senator. there is 1 % chance of me getting my child back does anyone give me advice ? i live in san diego ca
Comment by sharena guadiana — July 13, 2010 @ 5:12 pm
Sharena, if you’ve already lost a TPR hearing then I’m very sorry, but there’s probably no way to get your child back. Getting children back after TPR is very, very rare. My heart goes out to you…
San Diego activist Greg Smart… contact him at cpsvictim [@] gmail.com
Perhaps you can help the cause, help other families, and somehow change the world so that children like yours can be reunited with their parents.
Again, I’m so very, very sorry.
Comment by Linda Martin — July 14, 2010 @ 11:44 am