Elections Coming – Time to Take the Child Welfare Issue to Candidates

Sign Nothing, Without An Attorney Present

Do You Still Think America Is The Best Nation In The World?

Radio Broadcast Online: Child Protective Services and Organized Criminal Enterprises

Is One Family Rights Site Enough?

Arizona: CPS Social Workers, Attorney, and Law Enforcement Agents Must Face a Jury Over Coerced Forced Entry

The Senator Nancy Schaefer Memorial Information Project

Who Should Have Access to the Information on This Site?

FightCPS Facebook Fan Page

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I just heard from an attorney who wrote this:

“The issue is this: by the time they call me, it’s too late, they signed the form. Once they sign the form, the case is over. If there was one thing I could tattoo onto every parent’s arm, it would be this: SIGN NOTHING WITHOUT AN ATTORNEY PRESENT.”

And to that, I’d add: Be sure the attorney is working in your best interest, and not for the county that seeks to oppress you.

If you sign a plea of any type in the juvenile court hearing, you’ll be giving up your right to a trial. Often the court appointed attorneys won’t tell you this. They don’t want a trial because it is a lot more work for the same amount of pay. The caseworkers don’t want a trial because they’d have to *prove* their case rather than just make allegations in their “social worker report” to the court.

If you’ve already made the mistake of signing a plea or stipulation in court, do everything you’re court ordered to do, plus write a declaration explaining your side of the case ***but, write nothing self-incriminatory*** and collect documentary evidence that you’ve completed the court-ordered services, and anything else that you can come up with that proves you’re a good parent. One single mother got ten children returned by the court after she showed the judge photographs of her home with beds ready for all the children. So, get busy on that evidence! You will need to share that with your attorney before court.

If you’ve just found out you’re being investigated by child protective services social workers, see What To Do If Child Protective Services Social Workers Are Investigating You and An Attorney’s Advice on Protecting Your Family by Gathering Data.

If you have any dealings at all with child protective services, see: Your Case Notebook: Is It Up To Date?

If you’re facing court dates and need to know how to put yourself in a better position when you get there, see Who Will Prepare Your Case? and the Legal Document Library.

If your child protective services caseworkers are asking you to do things that are not court ordered, or not following state social services regulations, or bending the laws, or not honoring Kinship Care rights, see: Filing for a State Administrative Hearing.

If you’ve got a court appointed attorney who is not helping you win your child protective services case, see How to Make Your Court Appointed Attorney Work for YOU.

If you’re looking for an attorney, sign in here: Lawyer Requests. Also see our list of attorneys: Lawyers Who Take Child Protective Services Defense Cases.

NETWORKING – get support and information, give support to others needing relief from the Child Protective Services system insanity: go to the Fight CPS Message Board Forum.

Also, our Guestbook for the month is always being used.

If you’re looking for help from a Higher Power, we have a section for Prayer Requests. If you’re in contact with a Higher Power, please go there to pray for people in need of divine intervention.

If your case is closed, please help us with the Senator Nancy Schaeffer Memorial Information Project.

Do you have a family rights website or social networking page you want to tell people about? You can post about it here: Your Favorites: Websites, Blogs, MySpace, Facebook, YouTubes, etc. – and there’s also a section of the message board for posting about your websites, or sites you recommend. I celebrate your creativity and want to support your online efforts to help others.

Do not send me email unless you are someone who wants me to remove information from the site, or someone needing help registering with the Fight CPS Message Board Forum. That said, my email link is at the bottom of this page, and at the top of the Forum.

Read the FAQ!!! And the Privacy Policy!!! And my Legal Disclaimer (I am NOT a lawyer!) And my Policy on Copying Things Found on This Site.

And… when you get tired of this site, head on over to the AFRA website for more information about how to fight a child protective services case, activism, and family rights: The American Family Rights Association.

This is the front page of this site, in tag-cloud form:

This morning I found a comment on this site from a future child protective services social worker, and was amused when this person got to the point of telling me my time would be better spent by trying to get more money for child welfare!

Sounds like good work for a socialist. (I’m not in favor of more funding for child welfare programs, especially if they are run by the government.)

Well, everyone has a calling. My calling is to help parents get through their child protective services (CPS) cases and hopefully get their children back. I’ve learned through twenty years of anti-CPS activism and advocacy that I cannot do everything. So I definitely believe that one site isn’t enough.

There are 1001 different things this site could do to focus on fixing the child welfare disaster, but I’ve found I can focus on only one thing, and that is to help parents prepare for court. The courts are heavily weighted against the parents. Constitutional rights aren’t honored. Parents usually have no experience or training with court cases. And worst of all, their court appointed attorneys aren’t doing an honest and motivated job of helping parents fight their child protective services cases.

Because I can’t do it all, I’m asking YOU, the victims of child protective services, to start your own family rights websites. You are welcome to link to them from this site. I have a special place for your links:

Your Favorites: Websites, Blogs, MySpace, Facebook, YouTubes, etc.

If you don’t know how to start a website, please check out my suggestions on this page I wrote for writers needing websites: Creating an Impressive Writing Website. I used to work as a web designer and put all my ideas for creating a professional-looking site on that page. (I’m also a writer/novelist in my spare time so that’s why the slant went to writing.)

I don’t want to have the ONLY site like this, or even the best. At this point in my life I’d take great joy in seeing dozens of such sites pop up to help people. A fact: I probably won’t always be here! We don’t want the family rights movement to disappear just because some old-timers die off. It really is up to you newbies to create your own activity in the family rights movement, to learn from those who were here before you, to choose your own specialty and to excel at it so you can help others.

I started FightCPS by providing links to helpful information all over the web. The site grew as I trained myself and learned more. I’d already had paralegal training and decided to provide sample legal documents. I have been totally blessed by the help of some outstanding advocates with a similar passion, who have filled the message board forum here with helpful legal information. I see this site as often the first place someone will find when looking for help with a CPS case. Hopefully these people will either join us here on the message board, or find links to other sites that will become their web-home while they’re dealing with CPS.

I diverted myself into collecting news stories that showed that children are not safe in foster homes. That need was later filled by Suncanaa’s stellar website: In Memory of Children Who Died in State Custody – a great example of a site that specializes in exposing ONE ASPECT of the child welfare nightmare…. and because it specializes in one aspect, the site owner can focus and do an expert presentation on that issue. Now instead of posting everytime I see that a child was injured or killed while in foster care, I can just link to Suncanaa’s site and there’s the information. Case closed! It is obvious that children are not safe in state custody foster homes.

Another site that focuses on just one thing is ParentalRights.Org – a site that is working toward the passage of a Constitutional amendment that will protect families. By focusing on that one aspect they are making great strides toward an end to the child welfare nightmare.

I hope by examining these two sites you’ll see what I mean by specializing. If you try to do it all, you’re less likely to do anything perfectly. But if you choose one aspect, you can create a real opportunity for change.