Thursday, January 29, 2009

Please Submit Your Story...Help Document The Abuses

Today a lobbyist came into my office and as sometimes happens I retold some of the absolutely unbelievable stories of CPS family abuse. (Yes, CPS spies...I am still thinking about the deaths and the wrongdoings...I would rather not...but you create some truly disturbing vignettes.)

(Let me first thank the many GOOD CPS workers who are doing their jobs well despite working in an undisciplined agency that frequently makes big mistakes. It is your management and a few unprincipled people who create the press....whose names are never associated with the story.)

Turns out my lobbyist friend and her husband are foster parents. And, they are among the very good ones.

A little toddler boy was brought to them who had been burned in a meth lab. They had him for several years. Thankfully, his face healed. He could smile now in this good home.

Then the state stepped in to reunite the drug abusing, felon mother with the boy. My friends kept the boy over the weekends... the story goes on, the foster parents spending $10,000 to try to protect this little one from his drug addict mother who didn't want the boy! Turns out the lobbyist is coming to the rally. The word is getting out.

I am assembling a packet for distribution to the press. If you have a "good" or "bad" story that can be condensed to one 8 1/2 by 11 piece of paper (you have to narrow the issue) and you are willing to put down your name and contact information, I would like you to email it to my office. Roach.Pam@leg.wa.gov . Remember one page only.

To protect yourself from CPS retaliation you may use the name of a friend or relative as the contact person. The idea is to give the press a place to go for stories. Without some verification of the story it will not be regarded as truth. That is any one's standard.

Please submit as soon as you can. Sounds like a mini book in the making.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

It truely could be a book! And all money made,could go to a few lawyer's not scared of CPS! Lots of families in need of help.
You are amazing Pam. You have taken on a demon that most walk (or run!) away from.Thank you for all you do and stand strong.

Anonymous said...

here's the sad, sad, truth. I have stories. But I am terrified of retribution. I should not be living in the United States and be so terrified to speak out.

I know you can't use this. But it needed to be said.

Anonymous said...

I would take my daughter and son-in-law to their viewed visitation then wait for the 15 minutes they allowed me once a week to see my grandson. This means I would be in the waiting room for a significant period of time. So what did I see in there? The question is, what didn't I see.
Some of the scariest parents in the world would come in to see their children. Some would be stoned, others in shackles and chains, a couple in such serious mental health episodes it makes you wonder how the children lived through it long enough to have a visitation.
Then there are all the stakeholders coming in and out like CASA, fosters, people applying for foster care licenses (some of them were pretty scary) and those who provide services meeting to discuss various cases.
Then there were the few parents who seemed half way normal and sat in stunned silence, waiting for a visit.
CASAs and Guardian Ad Litems came in and out. At least one needed to be on some kind of meds.
A foster parent was angrily talking about the parent (whom I knew)and how awful she was. I happened to know that she was doing really well and in full compliance.
Angry extended family came in and out. I would often get their name and phone number as they were told, just like me, that they had no rights.
A couple were waiting to get their nephew and complained it took three months. I was surprised as I looked at them. No teeth, raggedy, looked like they were chemically dependent, and it made me wonder how they got through the system when others were struggling like crazy just to get a visit.
I am telling you, it is a zoo. Nobody just coming out of college could do this job. There are too many twists and turns and I think case worker mental health gets affected along with perception. They need more specialties in the department. All chemically dependent with CD counselors, felons with those in criminal justice, etc etc. Severe mental health with clinicians. Taking people off the streets and making them case workers in just ridiculous.
Jan Smith

Anonymous said...

I too am afraid to give my story...
After years of fighting and doing everything they have ordered me to do. If I speak out now I am afraid they will stop the process and go immediately for termination and adoption.

Anonymous said...

Just wait until this is a little more circulated and you will be overwhelmed I am sure. I live in California where the adoption rate is so high that we are broke as far as the budget, and all this money went to greedy social workers, and their selfish needs, I dont know how else to get this point accross. I know because I am a victim and my whole family thinks I am nuts and a terrible mom, of course they are wrong but since I had needed help at one time and no one was there for me now they can judge. I am stable and my child is being molested by her adoptive parents, I find it hard to sleep at night. I will find a way to deal with it legally even if I have to become a legal professional, a system needs to be in place to help the victims. They will be flocking to it in epic numbers. Get ready! C.W. California

Anonymous said...

To comment on above...I fear the same and would never jeopardize our case by going public. Maybe when it's over and we don't live in fear of them anymore, I'll be able to tell our story. CPS uses horrible tactics resorting to spying on myspace, message boards, you name it. There's no information out there for the families fighting them, it's not allowed. In the name of protecting children, they fail miserably.

mgirl said...

I'm already losing my children, so why should I fear them any longer? I will speak up whenever I get the opportunity, and I will dare to speak the names of the workers of evil against my family.
These are MY children, given to me by God, the Creator of Life, and He has NEVER made provision for anyone to interfere in my family.

lilibit said...

there are folks thank cannot get thru your
\limk please readress it thank you

Anonymous said...

I will never be done fearing them until the last of my children turn 18. and then if this systme has not been fixed...watch out! my story is unique. those involved would know who i am and then my little ones would no longer be safe. I now live with panic attacks, fear every time one of my kids falls down and gets a bump, truly I was terrorized. you can't imagine the feeling of completely losing control. mass murderers get better treatment than parents who are wrongly accused.

Anonymous said...

Pam, These people need to speak out! We were told NOT to go public because it would damage our case. I'm sorry, I will not stand back and be quiet while they steal our family from under our nose. Right is right, wrong is wrong. And this is WRONG!!! Win or lose, you can atleast look yourself in the mirror and say, "at least I tried". So my friends, DO NOT go silently into the night. Because you will never be able to face the day if you do.

Anonymous said...

WELL THEY DID IT.....WE FOUGHT A GOOD BATTLE BUT THEY WON....AFTER MONTHS OF COUNTLESS CLASSES AND BEING TORMENTED BY DSHS MY DAUGHTER HAS LOST HER SON WHO DSHS HAS BEEN FIGHTING FOR THE FOSTER FAMILY...MADE LIES UP ABOUT US..THUS WE CANNOT ADOPT HIM AS HIS GRANDPARENTS....WE WILL LOSE HIM TO STRANGERS NEVER TO WATCH HIM GROW UP OR HOLD HIM EVER AGAIN...CONGRATS DSHS YOU WON...BUT BY DOING SO YOU DESTROYED MANY....WEAKENED MY FAITH IN THE COURT SYSTEM...BUT HEY THEY WERE TOLD MANY LIES TOO...WHO ELSE CAN THEY BELIEVE???

Auntie Lela said...

Has anyone ever had their relative adopted by their foster parent because of code 366.26 (n). This gives foster parents more rights if the child has been with them over 6 months, even before the biological parents rights are terminated. PLEASE give any info you may have on this.

http://auntielela.blogspot.com/


http://fostercarereformnow.blogspot.com/