In Yreka California a foster child, Craig Britton, is dead. He was almost two years old. He had visitation with his family the day before and seemed fine then. His elderly foster parent didn’t check on him for eleven hours after putting him to bed at 9pm. When she went in to see him in the morning, he was dead. His stomach was empty except for some unidentified leaves.

Did he wake up in the middle of the night hungry, and eat a house plant? Nobody seems to know at this point.

Community members are distressed and confused. Why did this child die? Why was he taken from a loving mother? Why were the grandparents refused kinship care of their beloved grandson? Why are some people blaming the young parents because their non-abused child was in foster care?

Would you like to tell them how you feel about this? Go to: Mother, foster mother want answers in death of toddler by Mike Slizewski, published on September 17, 2009 in the Siskiyou Daily News.

Recently a grandparent contacted me and recommended this Yahoo group: Virginia Grands. I know there are other groups and websites I’ve seen over the years, intended for grandparents of children in CPS cases. You’re welcome to post links to them in the comment section of this post.

Virginia Grands seems to be getting several hundred messages per month and has over fifty members. I wonder if they allow members from other states to participate. (They probably do.)

On Friday, December 19, Arkansas legislators listened to the grievances of grandparents seeking visitation with children whose parents lost parental rights in TPR hearings. State employees attended the meeting to inform relatives they can file a petition requesting visitation.

The article doesn’t explain how this is done; it sounds like they were advised to take the matter back to court. I hope this works and would like to hear from any relative that has gone to court for visitation of a child after TPR – especially if the petition was granted!

Source: Grandparents Seek Visitation with Grandkids by Pete Thompson, published with VIDEO on December 19, 2008, at the KARK 4 News website.
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I’d like to thank Marina, one of the moderators on our message board forum, for posting about this article in the “In The News” section of the message board. She’s done a wonderful job, keeping us informed about CPS news and much more. I found this article on the message board earlier today. Thank you so much, Marina!

Washington grandparents Doug and AnneMarie Stuth have every right and reason to be caretakers of their three-year-old granddaughter, yet caseworkers at Child Protective Services are making up unreasonable justifications to keep the cute little blonde girl in foster care. They say the Stuth’s aren’t making an effort to support the child’s reunification with her teen mother, the Stuth’s daughter. Yet a KING5 news video report proves they have done everything in their power to help the mother have access to her child.

The Stuths made their case high-profile through going to their state legislators including Senator Pamela Roach, and to the news media. They are fighting the case in court. They are a good example for the many thousands of other grandparents who want custody of their grandchildren who have been placed in foster homes. The denial of kinship care rights to grandparents is one of the worst aspects of current child protective services corruption. CPS agencies want to adopt children out to strangers so they can qualify for federal subsidy bonuses.

Source: Investigators: Grandparents passed over in favor of foster care by Susannah Frame on December 11, 2008, for KING5 News. Be sure to read through all the related content on this article! This is a major exposé!

A word to CPS workers: The word is out… everyone knows how corrupt the CPS agencies are. Come out of your dark offices and admit to the world and to yourselves that you’ve done wrong. Good always triumphs over evil. The love of family overcomes the evil of family destruction. In time you will see this is true.

Lynn Paddock, 47, and her husband, Johnny, adopted six children from foster care. For people who adopt so many, I use the term “child collectors”. Now Johnny has divorced Lynn and she is on trial for suffocating four-year-old Sean.

Lynn Paddock is accused of suffocating Sean by wrapping him in blankets so tightly that he couldn’t breathe. She allegedly did this to keep him from wandering around in the hallways. She is also accused of using tape to bind another adopted child. She may stand trial for first-degree murder and child abuse at the same time.

Sean’s grandparents are suing the Paddocks and the social services agencies who placed him with her. Although my source article didn’t state it, I wonder if this is one of those cases where the social services agency refused to place the child with his grandparents. He was originally placed with an aunt and uncle, but was taken from them and sent to foster care. The article states, “The case has revealed flaws in the state’s child welfare system.”

Source: Adoptive mother to stand trial in son’s suffocation – AP article published in The Fayetteville Observer on May 19, 2008.

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Written by Linda Martin for Fight CPS.