About a year ago I made a Squidoo Lens (page) featuring this website. As of this time, my lens, Fighting Child Protective Services False Allegations, is getting about 125 visits per week. I also made a few other Squidoo lenses on other topics that interest me.

This month I got my first payment from Squidoo. It came as a surprise because I’d forgotten about the site, and wasn’t working on making any new lenses for almost a year. They paid me $55 through PayPal.

I went back to Squidoo this month intent on making a few more lenses. Anything that pays me of course gets my interest because I’m just like most of you - a working person barely making it from month to month. A little extra income helps a lot! Well, I noticed that a lot of people had signed up for Squidoo from my FightCPS page, yet not one of them had made any pages of their own.

So I’m here to ask you all to consider making some Squidoo pages about your feelings about CPS. If you write about fighting CPS, I will feature your Squidoo lens on the front page of this site where I get over 700 visitors daily. All you have to do is make that lens!

I’ve also created a Squidoo “group” for us: Family Rights Lenses. I will add your lenses to this group (or you can add them yourself.)

Let’s make Family Rights a better-known issue on the Squidoo website.

Start here: Fighting Child Protective Services False Allegations

As part of my outreach - my effort to help CPS victims find this site - I’ve joined a number of social media sites using either my own name, or the name of FightCPS.

I hope you’ll help me in supporting these efforts.

Do you have a MySpace profile? Fight CPS At MySpace wants you as a friend.	This is a blog promotion site. I’d very much appreciate your votes in getting FightCPS listed on the front page there so more people can find out about our issues with Child Protective Services false allegations.
Technorati is a site for finding blog postings that are on a topic you want to read about. If everyone who came here registered at Technorati and added this site to their favorites list, this blog might reach the top-100 list, and become an issue many thousands of Americans would notice.	Is anyone else here using Twitter? If so, feel free to follow me there: Linda at Twitter. This is my personal Twitter account and you’ll see I’m interested in numerous topics, not just fighting CPS - but that’s something I’m always willing to write about. If you want to get to know me better and find out where my head is REALLY at, this is the place.
Check out the Fight CPS Squidoo Lens for information about the history and goals of Fight CPS. You can make a Squidoo Lens web page to tell people about your CPS case and information. It is very easy to sign up and create a page, plus you may earn some money by doing it.	Fight CPS is on Hover Spot

Is anyone else here using Twitter?

If so, feel free to follow me there: Linda at Twitter.

You can leave your Twitter URLs in the comment section to this message.

I noticed recently that someone said her comments weren’t posted. I don’t know why that was, but I know sometimes comments are caught in my spam-trap, particularly if they have links in them.

In the last two days, this site collected over six hundred spam comments. Right now I’m going through 14 pages of spam comments in my spam-trap, looking for comments that might have been left by actual visitors to this site. After rescuing them, I’ll delete the spam. This is not a pleasant task, particularly because I’m on dial up and there’s a long wait to get each lengthy page loaded into my browser. Also having to look at all that spammy writing is not how I’d like to spend my evening.

I rarely will delete a comment. If it isn’t something that looks like it could have legal liability to me, I usually won’t delete. So missing comments - I cannot tell you why they didn’t get posted. I don’t intentionally delete links from particular people for any reason, though I’ve been tempted by comments like those recently left by a self-righteous “all-knowing” (or so she seems to think) social worker. I leave it to YOU, the website visitors with the painful CPS experiences, to set her straight…. hopefully as kindly as possible. Remember, you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

Back to my daily or almost-daily spam deleting responsibilities.

If you would like to contribute your writing to the front page here at FightCPS, please read the following instructions carefully.

Writers Guidelines for FightCPS

1. To write directly to this front page, you must send me an email using the webmaster link at the bottom of the page, explaining who you are and why you would like to write for FightCPS. Your account status cannot be increased to include writer’s privileges until this is done.

2. No cut-and-paste articles from other sites are allowed, unless of course, it is something you have written. If you want to write about someone else’s site or article, that’s fine, but don’t copy anything except perhaps a brief occasional quote. Then link to the site where you found the information.

3. You can write about your case however be aware that this might have negative consequences, so I don’t advise it if the case is still open. When you write, avoid naming the people involved, such as social workers, psychologists, judges, etc. if they are mentioned in a negative manner. This is because in the past I’ve had to delete articles for people who were mentioned, and it was a lot of extra work for me, which I don’t need.

4. Articles that will be helpful to others involved in the child welfare system are especially needed.

5. Articles from caseworkers, fosterers, and others working in the system are allowed, but be aware that they will not be posted if they are at all insulting to the people who come to this site for help. If you want to write an article that is helpful, with tips on how to get through the system successfully and get the kids back, that would be appreciated. If you are working within the system please tell people what you do within the first paragraph.

6. You do not need to use your real name for public postings. I understand why many would prefer not to let others know who they are. But I do expect that you’ll tell me who you really are in the email you send me.

7. Do not write with all caps. Use capital letters where needed. Use good grammar. I will correct some grammatical and spelling errors but if your article is full of them, it is likely it will never get posted because there’s a limit on how much work I can do on getting an article ready for publication.

8. I will notify you if I can’t use your article or if it needs more editing than I’m willing or able to do. If I reject an article, please revise it or write something new.

9. Articles should be between 300 and 2000 words. If you have a photo to submit, there’s a way to upload them in the writing window. Photos should be no larger than 300 pixels wide. If you need help with a photo, write your article first, then email me about it.

I’ve often found things I’ve written on this site posted on other websites and blogs. It bothers me when this is done without giving a link back or any mention of who the author is - and many would consider that plagiarism. As the author of these postings, I have a copyright on everything I write, and if I find my words reposted elsewhere, and it doesn’t say “Written by Linda Martin of Fight CPS“, I get upset.

Usually I wouldn’t be upset by that if the person copying things at least mentioned that I’m the author and gave a link to this site, but most people apparently don’t bother to do this, which is why I’m writing this now.

God knows I want this message to be spread far and wide. However there are some limits.

Limits on what can be copied:

Please do NOT under any circumstances copy/paste any of the comments left by people on this site. These comments are all copyright to the authors, and since you can’t email them for permission (I don’t post the email addresses) you cannot get their permission to move their personal information to another place. So don’t do it.

Please do NOT under any circumstances copy/paste anything found on the message board. The only exception is if you get the permission of the person who wrote what you want to copy. Generally this is possible because you can private-mail people on the message board. I will stay out of that issue, unless someone tells me things are being copied without permission. If this happens, the person copying postings will lose access to the forum permanently. No exceptions. This is a very important privacy issue.

Please do NOT copy anything from this site without my written permission. You can easily email me using the webmaster link at the foot of every page. (On the message board, the webmaster link is at the top.) Anything copied MUST have my name as author (if I’m the author, and I am author of almost everything here) and MUST have a link back to the page of this site where you found the information. If I indicate in a post that I’m not the author, you would need to contact the author to get permission to repost something elsewhere.

Printing: You are welcome to print one copy of anything I write, for your own use. If you want to print more than one copy, email me for permission. Use the webmaster email link at the bottom of this page.

Thank you for your cooperation with these rules. If you follow these rules, you’ll be making me very happy.

Today I worked on improving the new Fight CPS Squidoo Lens. I wrote more text and added a place where you can add links to your favorite family rights site, your MySpace, family rights Yahoo groups, or whatever else you have going on here on the web.

Fight CPS is also at MySpace.

If you need help with a CPS case, the best way to get feedback is to log onto the message board here at Fight CPS.

It always astounds me when people come onto this site, say I’m not doing the right thing, and suggest some other thing I should be doing to help change the CPS system.

For example, today I checked the comments for this site and found a comment from Darrin who thinks I should be tracking down a man I’ve never met, whose name I don’t know, to get more information before posting something about a news article.

Sorry, Darrin. I don’t have time. Do it yourself if you think it needs to be done.

Then I came across Carla’s message about creating a new child protection system. Great idea, but again, I don’t have time. I think Carla should do it because after all, it is her idea.

This reminds me that not long ago John told me I should focus my efforts on getting more funding for foster children. Yeah, right… like I would ever do that! Foster parents already get lots more than welfare recipients, and they keep complaining. Don’t get me started on that one! If John thinks that’s the answer to all CPS problems, then John should do something about it.

We all are led by our hearts, to do what we think is right.

Back in October 2000, my heart told me to start this site. I’ve been struggling with this site for almost seven years now, and with trying to help people going through one of the most emotionally devastating events of their lives. And every time I hear about CPS injustice tearing a family apart, it takes a toll on me. I’m constantly upset by things I read on this site - for example what RJ just wrote about his infant being taken by a CPS agent at the hospital because his fiancé mentioned that she’d been depressed when she was 13 or 14. What teenager hasn’t? Why does that mean a firstborn child should be taken from its loving mother? This stuff really haunts me and grabs at my heart.

Many times it isn’t easy for me to bear - which is why I’ve left the message board here in the loving hands of other advocates and activists who want to help counsel people going through CPS hell. That is what their hearts tell them to do, and I’m so grateful for anyone doing anything to help change this inhumane system of cruelty to families. I don’t need or want to be the center of attention here. I’m only doing what my heart led me to do seven years ago, and I know it isn’t right to stop doing it yet. So here I am, still, after all these years.

Which brings me to the point of this article, which is that we all should listen to our hearts and our consciences, and take whatever actions we feel appropriate for the highest good of all involved. If your heart tells you to advocate for families one-on-one, then do it. Don’t expect me to - as that’s not what my heart tells me to do. You do your thing and I’ll do my thing. And hopefully if we all work on doing our heart-inspired tasks, together we can make huge changes in the world.

One person can’t do it all. Don’t even try… this problem is way too big for that. But do your own small part, just as I’m doing my own small part. And don’t think that this site is the ultimate family rights site. If your heart is telling you to create another one, there’s a reason for that! Maybe it is the right thing to do! Don’t hold back. Everyone has talents and capacities that can be drawn upon to help fight CPS and make this world a safer, healthier place for families. Do your own small part and don’t worry about what others are doing, and don’t be like Darrin, Carla and John, and try to tell others what they should be doing. That’s not helpful at all.

If you’ve read this far, I thank you. And I want to tell you what I’ve been doing lately.

It may surprise some people like the three I just mentioned, but I don’t spend all my time working on this website. I hold down a part-time job in my community, and I own two small businesses that are barely profitable… but they keep me busy. I live in an extremely low-budget cabin in the Klamath National Forest, which I rent. I’m not a lawyer and currently don’t work in the legal profession at all. I have a boyfriend I dearly love who expects me to spend a huge part of my time with him. I’m a 55-year-old woman (boyfriend is 56) and I still have one child at home, plus four adult children. My youngest is almost 18 and so soon, for the first time in 35 years, I’ll have no minor children to take care of. Also I have no grandchildren which considering the work I do on this site, could be a divine blessing and protection.

For the last few days my home has been threatened by a forest fire. I live in far-northern California, in a small town called Happy Camp. I came home from my birthday trip to the coast on Saturday night to find that there was a forest fire blazing on the hill next to the forested hill I live on. One of my part-time small businesses is the Happy Camp News site which I’m grateful to say, is in the process of being sold so I won’t have to keep working on it. But this week I’ve been posting articles about the fire, doing interviews, etc. plus I had to remove all my valuables from my home and pack everything, because it seemed that evacuation was imminent. At this point the fire is less intense, however that could change again. So all this stuff is going on, plus I’m still going to work where our workload tripled because of the huge numbers of fire fighters present in our town at this time.

Then I came in here and saw messages from Darrin and Carla, and well, this article is the end result. I don’t need anyone telling me what to do with my time, or saying I’m not doing enough by providing this site, some simple legal information, and a message board for people to connect on. This is what my heart leads me to do, and I’m doing it.

I know that most of the people who come to this site appreciate what I’ve done here. I’m sorry I’m not able to do one-on-one counseling and legal help, but I really don’t have the time or stamina, and like I said, hearing the sad stories affects my heart, and it is nearly more than I can bear at times. I’m a very sensitive person and I love you all.

I don’t want you to stop writing about your heartaches here - because I want the people that matter to come here and read these things. I want CPS workers to stop by and read what we think of their tactics for destroying families. I want foster parents to know that many of the children they are hostage-holding for the government are taken unfairly from innocent parents. I want legislators to come here and realize the CPS system is horrible, unjust, and inhumane. I want them to know that they must be the ones to take the lead, by writing laws to end this system of cruelty in our country. I want lawyers to know that if they aren’t defending their CPS clients actively and aggressively, they are doing a disservice, and are (in my opinion) frauds to be taking on clients they can’t or won’t defend properly. I want them to have the heart to do what must be done in court to safeguard family rights.

Enough said. Thanks for reading, and I’ll post more sometime when I’ve got more time on my hands for publicizing the details of all the injustice CPS does to harm children and families. That seems to be my lifework, which my heart draws me to. I’m here for you as much as I can be, and wherever else I am, you know I’m totally on your side, hoping for all good things to happen in your lives.

I just finished installing the WordPress blogging interface on this site. The old blogger.com archives are still available. The links are on the lower-right side of this page.

There were 786 posts in the old blog which I’ve been using since 2001. Ideally I’d like to migrate them over to the WordPress blog, but I’m not sure I’ll ever have the time. Still, it is a project I’m working on. The new blog will make it much easier for people to find us when they’re looking for help with their CPS cases. I’m also about to start paying for advertising this site through Google Adwords, to reach more people seeking help.

Thanks to everyone who has put a link to this site on theirs. It helps people find us through the search engines.

Now that WordPress is installed, you can make comments on the posts here. I’m still working on a few issues, but for the most part the update is done.

One of my goals with this site is to enable people to find the help they need when fighting a CPS false accusation. Lots of my site visitors come from search engines, so for the last few years I’ve been working on making it easier for people to find Fight CPS. To do this, I use a software program for keyword research. It tells me what people are actually searching for, when they enter something into a search engine box, for example, at Google or Yahoo.I’ve never had this site show up on the first page for “CPS” at Google, mainly because there are so many other things the letters “CPS” can stand for, most of which have nothing to do with Child Protective Services. So I’m considering using an advertising program like Google Adwords to offer this site to people using CPS as a search term.

Today I got my keyword research software out and put in “CPS” as a search term, and got back all kinds of phrases people use when entering “CPS”. See the graphic below.

Click to see full-sized graphic

I was floored when I saw that in Overture searches, 39 people per month enter the search term, “CPS Evil Kidnapper”. And that means that three times that many are using the same search term at Google every month.

That’s a lot of people coming up with the phrase, “CPS Evil Kidnapper” every month! Wow. That many people feel about CPS the same way I do.

So I was curious. When they write “CPS Evil Kidnapper” in the search box at Google, what do they find? I Googled it. The first site that came up was one that encourages parents to stay together because children need both parents. The second site was a message board.

Naturally, I’m hoping that next time someone puts “CPS Evil Kidnapper” in the search box, this article will come up. Anyone who feels that desperately bad about CPS certainly deserves to find a community of like-minded friends such as the people who use the message forum here at Fight CPS.

If I can help more than 150 desperate CPS afflicted parents or grandparents find help every month because I wrote this article about the “CPS Evil Kidnapper” search term, I can go to bed happy tonight. May the families be reunited and the children and parents find joy and peaceful happiness in each others’ arms.