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.

The WCF Courier reported:

Marie Mahler, 39, of Cedar Falls, filed three reports between Aug. 27, 2004, and Oct. 7, 2004, used in a juvenile court case that she “knew or reasonably should have known were false” and that the reports would be used by a judge to make a decision in the case, according to court records obtained by the Courier.

Mahler repeatedly included misrepresentations of conversations, events and relationships of the people involved with the case, according to court records.

Court records say she claimed that Jesup police officers were called to the mother’s home for a drug investigation in August 2004. Records indicate an officer was called to the home not for drugs, but to prevent an altercation between two siblings. No signs of drugs were found.

Mahler, who has been a Buchanan County social worker since 1998, pleaded ‘not guilty’.

Roger Munns, a spokesman for her employer, the Iowa Department of Human Services, said “This is really quite unusual.”

Yes, we know that caseworkers lie in court documents and get away with it, and that having one criminally charged is unusual. However we hope that this will become common practice to stop lying CPS social workers everywhere.

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Would you like to see your caseworker charged criminally for lying about you? If so, keep this in mind:

While the offenses occurred in 2004, Bernau said Mahler is exempt from Iowa’s statute of limitations law because she is still a state employee. In most felony cases, charges have to be filed within three years of the offense. However, that three-year period begins for state employees only after they are no longer working for the state.

Perjury is a Class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

(This is per Iowa state law. Your state laws may be different - do the research.)

Source: Social worker charged with perjury, by Josh Nelson, Courier Staff Writer, June 12, 2007

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If you have ever had a caseworker lie about you in a court document, please leave a comment to this post, and tell us about it.

I’ve seen way too many lies in social worker reports to the courts.

It’s time for this criminal practice to result in prison sentences. Every perjury conviction will be a victory!