Here is a letter from a family that I have been following. PRR Readers are like all true Americans...we want our government telling the truth in court and we think people in agencies (CPS or CASAs) who lie in court should lose their jobs and be punished through perjury laws. Right now, in CPS, agents are not being held accountable and, therefore, they continue the lying. I have been told by the highest levels at DSHS that people who lie will not be tolerated. I took that to mean that they would be held accountable. I have yet to see that that has been the case. The lies continue.
Dear Senator,
I get so frustrated reading on your blog because more
horrible things are being brought to the forefront about cps. It makes my
husband
and I want so much more for things to change with cps. I am hoping for some
help to try for a bill to stop the perjury, which I am seeing mentioned more
and more. With us and others that was our main problem. No matter what the
state said in court, it was believed without any facts having been
presented. If they had to present any evidence of anything said in our case,
Ariel
would never have been taken in the first place. I am so grateful she is coming
home but other families will suffer if it continues to be allowed. We had a
lot of people backing us on our case and because of that, no matter how
many times we felt like giving up someone was always there to remind us what we
were fighting for. Please let me know if you can help us to become a part
of stopping the evil system tearing the families apart. I can still picture
the day Ariel was taken and that caseworker walking away with her and smiling
an evil smile at us. I think rather than going after the state in general,
it would be a good thing to be able to hold individuals accountable for the
emotional abuse they themselves are causing for these tiny children.
19 comments:
We are so happy Ariel is going home! It is yet another return. I always thought you were innocent till PROVEN guilty, when did that change and who changed it?
No one can tell me you don't work for your constituents. Here you are blogging in preparation for your day at 3:25AM.
And BAM, a reply at 4:07. This CPS stuff is so stressful none of us can sleep.
I want to add that in a whole system of people, I believe there are very few that cause upsets in a family but that is all it takes. In our case, part of what changed for us was communtication between us and the dept. which is Region 3. We wanted that all along. Maybe things wouldn`t have changed if they wouldn`t have taken the time they did to actually ask questions and listen to the answers. The adoption home study specialist spent a lot of time with us and didn`t come into our case with a biased opinion from the start. I`m not sure if I can repeat names so I won`t but the caseworker and supervisor were also in contact with us over the past couple months. There was more communication in those few months than the whole 8 months prior. If these people had been on our case last March, I don`t think we would`ve gone through what we have. If one person does wrong and is let go from their position, there would probably be 5 others waiting to fill that position who may be like the people we`ve been working with recently. That would be a good thing. Nobody should be allowed to go into a court of law and lie. Because of the good people in our region, our nightmare is coming to an end. It`s the next family this may happen to that I am worried about.
So glad you got her home. I had sent a fax to President Obama and emailed a copy of it to DSHS and now the worker will not call me back and by law they have to return your calls within 24 hours. In my letter I asked President Obama to get involved in this issue since the children are the future of this country and this is happening all over the US. Guess I must have ticked them off!
Absolutely CPS/CASA lies and more to the point they take pure enjoyment in taking you down. If you tick them off and that can mean you are fighting for your child they will make it personal and lie, cheat anything to win. What do they win. Absolutely nothing. What harm do they do? They are harming the very beings they are supposed to protect. My own family will never be whole again because of these two agencies. What did we do wrong? we loved our grandkids and kids but...we were accused of horrible things. We could not fight in court because we have no standing. Mom is totally destroyed so she cannot fight. The end is: these children are lost to us. Nothing absolutely nothing could be more painful. Nothing could be more wrong.
So when are the people who lies about the Willards going to be prosecuted? They lied in your office yesterday... You could always make it impossible for them to continue to lie by cutting off all the funds to the agency until they begin prosecution.
This woman is absolutly right and CPS and Casa and Attorneys for the child do lie. I am so happy for these people that they got their Ariel back. But in our case CASA did lie and we have proof of some of her lies, which have not been brought forward yet. Will anything be done to these people for lying? How is it that they can take the oath to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth and then proceed to lie almost their whole testimony. We take this seriously and why are we even asked to take the oath if it is okay for some like CASA,CPS, and DSHS to not be in trouble for perjury? If it was us we would be in trouble for perjury. So why is this allowed to happen in our court system and especially when there is proof? Why are there double standards? We as taxpayers need to unite together. What can be done?
A special thank you to Senator Roach for all that you do and also to your right hand person Brian Lohr for all his contribution.
Grandmother in Vancouver
I do think that it should be allowed to go after the individual as this person has said, as in alot of these cases that I have read about either the social worker or the supervisor has a vendetta against the individual and wants to make them pay no matter what, even at the childs expense. And if the individuals thereselves maybe it would cut on these vendettas.
CPS changed it. With them you are guilty until proven innocent.
GRRRRRRRRRRMPH! HB 2680 has me furious! (a bill in response to guardianships with relatives) The Federal Government partially designed the safe families act to provide more opportunities for extended family to obtain paid guardianships after six months of fostering blood family. What this bill does, is gives foster parents standing in a dependency action (non-blood as well) and hence gives them first dibs at the children. As you already know, the "bonding" argument carries a great deal of weight even though it is usually bogus. The foster placement means the extended family is estranged and on the outside usually fighting and losing both custody and party to the case standing. The state has broadened the Federal intentions to again compete with extended family by including all fosters. I am going to oppose this bill due to the wording.
Jan Smith
I just finished watching a commercial advertising children in foster care waiting to be adopted. I know those children will not understand but I am a biological aunt who lost a niece and nephew to "foster care" over twenty years ago (they are now adults); they were both taken directly out of a hospital room AT BIRTH. Neither were neglected or abused. No drugs or alcohol was involved. I was never considered and I was treated as if I didn't exist.
I started studying perjury. Its pretty easy to prove in general but the courts in their determination to protect people's right to perjure are making all kinds of bizarre decisions pertaining to perjury. As I studied various cases across the country one thing became abundantly clear - they don't want us (the people) to be able to litigate perjury. In order to protect their interests, they let all kinds of people using the craziest of logic, get away with lies in court.
So, Senator, there is only one solution and that is to call perjury something else then develop legislation regarding it. An expansion on the legal term entrapment comes to mind.
Jan Smith
Foster parents having standing will assist in strengthing the baby snatching business. Foster parents should remain as they were intended. To care for a child temporarily when there is no whre else to send them. Like until grandma or auntie gets home! When they lie they need to go to prison because it is really kidnapping with a different name.
The Governor should refuse all federal Funding until these people can be prosectued. Wouldn't it be great if this State set an example and told the Feds we will not tolerate the destruction of families for the love of money. We need to put the value of childrens lives and futures before the all mighty dollar. Too many cowards in government though.
foster parents better get equal rights..
I think its a horrible choice to give relatives preference..biofamilies have plenty of opportunity to help before the kids get in the system..far too often the parent's problems are shared or caused by these extended family members.
To the reader above you assume a lot. Often times relatives do not live in the same town! When an accusation involves a medical allegation; how are relatives supposed to know this would happen even if a medical evaluation is passed and they accuse the mother of "faking" a test. Wouldn't you like the RIGHT to a second opinion? You foster parent's receive all kinds of benefits relatives aren't even told about! You foster parents have friends and the state on your side; relatives start off with only enemies!
To the reader above who stated that extended family members either share or cause the problem what I will agree with is the fact that certain relatives would prepare better or diferently for the birth of a baby than other relatives. However, this could be due to cultural differences or financial differences or just differences in general. My mother raised six kids; she probably would do what she has been doing for years when her grandchild was born which is simply based on her experience rather than what a social worker wants to see. If you wanted to debate her; she would love to! She is up for the challenge!
Parents already have rights; relatives do not have any rights to their family. Parents are given court-appointed attorneys, relatives are not. Parents are permitted to change their ways. Relatives cannot be heard, or defend any allegations against them. My daughter started using drugs when her father died. We lived next door to the city park. I worked. She was in school, I thought. I talked to her, went to counseling, did all the right things. I worked with legistation to get a bill signed into law to protect her as well as other children. Attended town-hall meetings; talked to Mayors to set them up. Took her personally to several treatment centers. I think I did a lot to help her while I had to work and support the rest of family. Relatives have no rights at all. They are not told, "good job" and instead, get the brunt of the problems. That is the bottom line. Whether the court honors parental rights is another question, which I am sure will happen with relatives as well, if we should gain any rights at all. At least we are experienced enough to distinquish between lies and influences where parents are usually too young and ignorant to know the difference, and lose their children.
RE:GRRRRRRRRRRMPH! HB 2680 has me furious! (a bill in response to guardianships with relatives) What this bill does, is gives foster parents standing in a dependency action (non-blood as well) and hence gives them first dibs at the children.....
???so if the bill passes, then "WHO" will pay$ the attorney fees for these foster parents during the court hearings? the reasoning?...when Terry's daughter was stolen, the casa stated to the judge during the court termination proceedings that 'because of the filthy living conditions and odors within the foster care house', the department would repaint and re-carpet for the foster care provider. hummm
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