Just a reminder… there’s a request by the owner of another family rights website for letters to be sent to President Obama and his wife. Here’s what I received in email:

This afternoon I looked at a Squidoo lens about Open Letters… and of course CPS came to mind. If I was to write and complain about anything, it would have to be about CPS!

So here’s a plan. We can all write these open letters…. then I’ll gladly publish them on the front page of this site so long as they are about CPS (on topic) and clean/non-abusive. I can’t publish anything that would bring bad vibes to this site in the form of angry public officials demanding retractions… but perhaps with names removed you could tell a few people off.

Anyhow, you’re welcome to write your open letter and send it to me at: webmaster -at- fightcps.com … and please let me know if you want me to make up a fake name, or publish your real name. Either way is fine with me but if you have an open CPS case I recommend anonymity.

I look forward to reading some great letters. Please everyone, participate! This could be fun and at the same time will be a good way to get some strong feelings off your chest.

If I get enough of these letters, I can put them together in an e-book we could give to all sorts of people needing CPS information … wouldn’t that be cool?

So who will you write to? Your social worker? The foster parent? The Juvenile Court Referee? The psychologist?

Be as creative as you like. Illustrations welcome!

California residents:

I received this in email this morning, and reviewed the letter. You may be able to help parents undergoing termination of parental rights hearings:

If you are a California resident, please email me at:
aleo966 at yahoo.com

A Petition for Review is being sent to the CA Supreme Court. This is part of a legal process and therefore they are required to read it. It is not an online petition. If they grant this review there could be new case law that will help anyone in dependency proceedings in California or anyone who enters it in the future.

You will be asked to sign a letter which I will email to you. You must provide your name and address below the signature. The letter will be mailed to the CA Supreme Court and 5 copies will go to: the Appeals court, the superior court, county counsel, and others.

This letter must be signed and mailed in the next 30 days or so. The sooner you respond to me the better. I cannot post this letter online because I don’t want just anyone to send it or rewrite it. That could cause more harm than good.

So please email me ASAP and I will forward you the letter.

Thanks,
aleo966 at yahoo.com

Thanks to an Obama supporter, we’ve got contact information:

Here is his Senate office address:

Obama, Barack- (D - IL) Class III
713 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2854
Web Form: http://obama.senate.gov/contact/

From http://www.senate.gov

And here is his campaign ‘contact us’ info:

http://answercenter.barackobama.com/cgi-bin/barackobama.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php

. . . . .

After you write your letter please post it here in comments.

Let’s keep our letters together, and keep them on the internet and see how much change we get.

Please remember that a handwritten letter on paper will probably get more attention than an email. Legislators often delete emails unread, or just scan the subject lines.

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.

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 found this press release online today and decided to share it with you. I live in a town dominated by and divided by a tribe. I’ve had people who had to deal with the tribal child welfare agents complain to me about the way they were treated. It used to be that we believed the Indian Child Welfare Act could help some families, but now it seems to be just another way for tribes to make money. I can tell you, the tribe here has been applying for grant money for years; recently receiving over 2 million dollars in grants. It is a huge money-grab, and child welfare money is certainly part of it.

I checked out the site mentioned at the end of the following article and read some heart-breaking stories. One story mentioned that a certain tribe had only 5,000 members, but they held over 1,000 children in foster homes. - LJM

Children’s Lives Destroyed by ICWA, Says CAICW

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Across America, children that have never been near a reservation nor involved in tribal customs are routinely being removed from homes they love and placed with strangers chosen by tribes.

Though proponents of the ICWA argue that the act has safeguards to prevent misuse, scores of multi-racial children are being negativelyaffected by application of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).

Over decades, numerous tribal members have married non-members and moved off the reservations. Many chose to leave because they didn’t want their children raised amid the dangers rampant in Indian Country.

However, ICWA authorizes tribal jurisdiction over any child who is a member of a tribe, or eligible for membership and the biological child of a member. Tribal governments determine their own membership and most require only 1/4 blood quantum, The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma goes further and claims jurisdiction over any child with ancestry tracing back to the Dawes Rolls no matter how minute the blood quantum. Making matters worse, some states have recently passed laws barring courts from considering whether a child or his family have any real connection to the tribe. As a result, the following occurs:

“… it was discovered she (the birthmother) is 1/128th Cherokee. That makes my son 1/256 or .0039% Native American and 99.9961% not…. His mother…was very adamant about the Cherokee Nation NOT raising her child and the court records show this. In April of 2006, we were notified of the Cherokee Nation’s intent to take us to court and remove our son from our home…. Since then, we have been in a constant state of panic….”

Any emotionally healthy child, no matter their heritage, is devastated when taken from home and forced to live with strangers. Even children of 100% tribal heritage are devastated if they’re taken from non-tribal families they love and placed with strangers they know nothing about.

The Christian Alliance for Indian Child Welfare (CAICW) is the only national organization advocating for families who have lost or are at risk of losing children due to misapplied and sometimes illegal application of the ICWA. The CAICW will be at the National Press Club at 12 noon, Tuesday, September 4, 2007, with affected families sharing about this growing problem.

Letters from birth parents, grandparents, foster families, pre-adoptive families, and tribal members themselves can be read at http://www.caicw.org/familystories.html.

icwa indian child welfare act child welfare children

Received in email today:

Please post to all groups and to your address books:

The tentative dates for DC RALLY 2008 is August 15-16-17

We are writing proposals for sponsorship for DC Rally 2008. We need a letter of intent outlining a collaboration from every organization that will participate in next years Family Preservation Festival to include in this proposal. The letters should include the involvement of your organization to educate your constituency on, Family Preservation, the repair and reunification of children under state care, ongoing assistance to disabled parents, gender equity and the importance of the relationships of children from divorce and separation, at DC Rally 2008. Each organization should outline its willingness to bring at least one bus load to DC next year. The letters of intent are done so that we can request the money for the buses and rooming to go to the organizations who are collaborating. We need all organizations included but those with a 501(c)(3) will be stronger because this will allow us to include the organizations in the work statement for the proposal. Those without a 501(c)(3) will be included and the dollars allotted will be paid directly to vendors from Three Sides to Every Story, Inc and Children Need Both Parents, Inc. but we need your letters of intent so that we can judge how much money to request.

Please contact me so that all organizations nationwide will be included and we can ask corporate America for the funds to provide transportation. This will be presented as an educational event.

The deadline for collaborating letters of intent is September 30, 2007. These letters should be on your organization letterhead and signed by an officer of the organization. There are no exceptions to the deadline they must be received by the close of the business day on September 30, 2007. Please email all letters of intent to childrenneedbothparents@msn.com

Minister Ronald E. Smith, CEO
Children Need Both Parents, Inc.
www.cnbpinc.org

Children Need Both Parents Online Store
www.cnbpinc.ispeedway.com
Check out our catalog

Note: Fight CPS will not be participating in the DC Rally / Family Preservation Festival though I support this effort and any other efforts aimed at bringing an end to child welfare family destruction. The reasons I won’t be participating: (1) Fight CPS isn’t an organization; it is a website only. (2) I live in California and don’t travel that far from home. (3) It isn’t something I can afford to attend. I wish all the best for all who are able to participate, and hope the events turn out better than expected.

Recently I introduced two site features: one, a place for people to post referrals to good CPS-fighting attorneys, and the other, a place for people to make a request for an attorney. Both posts have had good responses, yet I know without a doubt that most of the people asking for legal help will not find it by posting on this website. I’m sorry to say that, but it is true. There are few attorneys who are so hard-up for work to do that they’ll come here to pick and choose clients who are probably broke and looking for someone to work pro-bono (for free).

Get over the idea that you might find a good pro-bono attorney. It rarely happens. In the seven-plus years since I started this site I’ve seen it happen only once. An attorney represented a very high-profile case in Oregon AFTER the couple became so desperate they kidnapped their own children from state custody. That attorney lost the case and the couple has been imprisoned ever since.

The alternative to finding the dream-attorney is to take that court-appointed freebie do-nothing attorney the county provides, and make that person WORK for YOU.

The main problem with these court-appointed attorneys is that they are paid by the county; that same county that is your adversary in juvenile court. So how motivated can they be to go against the county and help you?

Turn the tables. Take charge of your case.

A way to control how your attorney handles your case is to decide, yourself, how you want it handled. Then sit down and write your attorney a comprehensive letter detailing exactly what you want to have done with your case.

A keyword to remember is proactive. YOU take the lead. Rather than REacting to what others are doing to you, start thinking ahead to what your next move should be. Keep your attorney informed with a series of letters.

Remind this person, your attorney, that you are the client and you need and demand request the attention your case deserves. If your attorney doesn’t do the things you request, that person is setting himself/herself up for a legal malpractice lawsuit. But if you don’t set forth your requests in writing, there’s no proof you asked for anything in particular to be done.

Let’s face it. These court-appointed attorneys are known for what they don’t do. They often meet a client at the door on the way into the courtroom. They look through the case file as if it were the first time they’ve seen it, trying to orient themselves to what’s going on. Of course there’s no time for them to do any type of adequate defense of the case. They don’t know you, your children, or your situation. They don’t know the truth and don’t know who’s lying. And it seems they just don’t care.

My apologies to all court-appointed attorneys who don’t fit this description, but I’m sure you know that these are the facts about many if not most court-appointed attorneys in juvenile law cases.

You have to do something to get a dead-beat court-appointed attorney’s attention. Writing letters is the way to go. It puts them on notice that (1) you have some legal knowledge, (2) you want your children back, (3) you want a better quality of representation than they are giving to most clients.

If I were to write a letter to an attorney in a new CPS case, it might go something like this:

You have been appointed to represent me as an attorney in the county juvenile court. Be on my side; I need your help. I am fighting for the release of my three children from state custody. I am innocent of any wrongdoing. The caseworker made assumptions about me that are false. My children need to be at home with me, for their well-being - mentally, emotionally, and physically.

While you are my attorney, please keep in mind that you are working for me, not for the county that pays you. As my attorney I expect you to give me the best legal representation available. I therefore request face-to-face meetings with you at least once monthly to make sure you are actively working on my case, and not letting it slide between the cracks.

I understand that many court-appointed attorneys tend to simply guide parents through the juvenile court system, advising them to plead guilty to charges to make things easier for everyone else in the courtroom. This is not the kind of representation I’m requesting. I’m asking you to be actively involved in proving my innocence.

I’m hereby asking that you take my case to trial and make the caseworker prove all charges. Since they are false charges, I think it would be in my best interest, and the best interest of my children, if I were to fight to prove my innocence with a full trial. Do not under any circumstances ask me to plead guilty to false charges against me.

As you know, parents involved in CPS cases have to complete a ’service plan’ yet many do so and still do not get their children returned. I would like to avoid doing any kind of ’services’ and request that you refuse all services, and/or force the caseworkers to prove the need for any services requested. I do not want to be in the position of many parents in these cases forced to have psychological evaluations when there is no evidence of mental illness, or forced to do drug testing when there’s no evidence of drug abuse. Please honor my request, protect my best interests, and see that my time is not wasted by unnecessary court-ordered ’services’. Of course they would also be a waste of taxpayer money. Do everything you can to resist these services in my case. As you are my attorney I’m trusting you to fight these issues individually and fiercely.

I expect you to be 100% aware of what is happening with my case at all times, and to inform me immediately of any changes.

I expect you to obtain and share with me a complete copy of the case file including all case narratives.

I expect you to help me compile substantial evidence to prove my innocence in this case by preponderance of the evidence.

I expect you to produce legal paperwork including a complete response to all caseworker reports, declarations supporting my side of the case, and other documents as needed, and to present those documents to the judge or juvenile court referee who hears our case.

I expect you to do everything you can to prevent my name from being included on the central index, blacklisting people from working with children. I am innocent and my name should not be included on that list.

Please respond to my requests in writing within ten days; I will need your written response for my records in this case.

Sincerely,

Name of Client

…

NOTE: Some of these suggestions are for people with NEW cases; if your case has gone beyond the initial phases your needs will be different. Don’t just copy what I wrote; put these ideas into your own words. TYPE your letters. MAKE COPIES FOR YOUR RECORDS and keep them in a safe place.

…

Comments? I would like to get other ideas from the people reading this on what could be included in letters to attorneys. What do you want from your attorney? Let’s brainstorm this and come up with some great ideas that people who come here in the future will be able to benefit from. Are there any phrases all letters should contain? Anything you think we shouldn’t ask the attorney?

An astute judge, Melba Marsh of the Common Pleas Court in Hamilton County, Ohio, discovered her orders were not being followed by CPS social workers. Last month she wrote a letter to three county commissioners about it. She wanted a child to live with relatives and to have supervised visits with parents, but her orders were ignored for more than four months.

Because of this incident, CPS social worker Angela Harrison was found negligent and fired. She lost a $35,900/yr. job. Her supervisor, Michael Battle, retired from his job which brought him $57,137 annually.

What To Do If Your CPS Social Worker Neglects To Follow Court Orders

In my years of running the Fight CPS website I’ve heard from many people who say their social workers were not following court orders. A common scenario is that a judge orders a list of services - such as counseling, psychological testing, and parenting classes. Many CPS social workers drag their feet in getting these services started. Then, when they go back to court after six months they can say, “The parent has not complied with services.” Though technically it is the caseworker’s fault for not getting services started, the parents are blamed for not having had enough services to earn the right to have their children home again.

If your caseworker is playing this game, be sure to keep good records of all contacts with the CPS social worker, write letters requesting that the services be started immediately, and phone the social worker every couple of days until you get what you need. By keeping good phone records and copies of your letters you may be able to use this documentation in court to show your judge that it is your caseworker’s error, not yours. Remember, good documentation is essential to fighting a CPS case in court.

If need be, you can file an Administrative Hearing Request with your state department of social services, telling them that your CPS social worker isn’t providing services ordered by the judge. You have the right to this “Fair Hearing” process any time you’re dealing with an agency in the USA. If you request a hearing, an Administrative Law Judge from the state offices will go to your county to meet with you and CPS employees to review the case and make a decision about your complaints. I have done this several times as a representative for parents, and found it to be an effective way to get a case back on track when the caseworkers are doing their own thing and making families suffer because of it.

The Importance of Child Protection

According to an article about the Ohio CPS social worker firing, posted at Enquirer.Com, a Hamilton County administrator, Patrick Thompson, said, “It is imperative we send a message that this county will not stand for neglect of duty and that child protection is of the utmost importance to our Job and Family Services Department.”

I too believe child protection is of the utmost importance. And I believe one thing we need to protect our children from is institutional child abuse perpetrated by the child welfare industry. Children forced into a life of suffering in foster homes when they yearn for their parents, grandparents, and siblings; children forced to take drugs to control their tantrums and traumatization brought on by the legal destruction of their families; children forced into mental hospitals because foster care providers can’t handle them; children abused in foster homes; - this is the kind of institutional child abuse that Fight CPS is concerned about.

In most cases, children are better off at home where they are loved and cared about. Leave foster homes for those few children with no relatives who can care for them, who have been severely physically abused. Every other case of family destruction is abusive.

Source: Caseworker, boss out of jobs; Actions follow judge’s criticism by Kimball Perry for the Enquirer.

The featured topic of the July 23, 2007 issue of The New American magazine is “Families Separated By The State.” Attorney Greg Hession has a feature article in this magazine, titled, “This Is Child Protection?”

The magazine is available for sale for only $2.95 - 2007 New American Back Issues - though you can read Hession’s article online: This Is Child Protection?.

Hession writes about the terror of a government child-snatching home invasion, the snitch network, the court process, statistical evidence, and what can be done about it. He concludes, “Change will likely come only when its cruelties have been exposed, and the public reaffirms that raising children is the responsibility of families, not the state.”

I have been working to expose CPS cruelty for eighteen years now. With the advent of the internet, the word is getting out much better than before. Every one of you who builds a website, or starts a new MySpace or Squidoo Lens, or other similar type of page explaining what CPS does to families, or who goes onto a parenting message board and tells people the truth about CPS, is helping to get the word out. Please keep up the good effort. Write letters to the editors of newspapers. Write to your state and federal legislators. Keep the heat on CPS and the cruel system of family abuse. That’s one of the best ways of seeking change.