Pam,
As I sit here tonight watching a movie, I am extremely distracted. I can not seem to focus.I have not seen my daughter in over a year and every time I look up I see all of her pictures, and school projects she made(like the little caterpillar she made me for mothers day) What do I do? Is there anything I can do? I ask myself that everyday. There is not anything more that I can do then I already am. I graduate next month. A program I did so I could be a better mother to my daughter. Wish she could be there, wish I could at least hear her voice. Wish my little "Lilly" was in my arms. Will I ever see her. I pray every night that I will soon.
Lillys broken mother
(This young mother was told if she signed the papers and terminated her parental rights that her parents, the Willards, would adopt her daughter. and why would she NOT believe this lie? The Willards had raised the girl since birth, were foster parents, and were processing the paperwork when the signing took place. And, why THIS girl? Answer: blond, blue eyes, non-drug affected, three-year old from a poor family. Someone put in an order and she was easy to harvest.)
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6 comments:
Just like my public pretender iterated "Like sheep to a slaughter."
CPS just loves public apathy and ignorance. Shame on them...
'LFF'
This is the sad truth that families all over the US are dealing with. If you get the chance everyone should attend one of the National Adoption Day mass adoption ceramonies. There seems to be herds of blond haired, blue eyed, three year olds being led into court houses. Rarely is there a child of color in these mass events. At least the ones I have gone to.
Then there are the kid fairs where kids are set up in booths for viewing by potential adopters. Kind of like a county fair without the amusement rides.
These are sick practices that we are allowing to happen.
Did anyone ever stop to think of how the children feel!
Then to top that off those people are commended for their participation. Real Heros as many headlines put it.
My 6 great nieces and nephews were the same, easy to harvest. As I sit here watching "Presidents" on the History channel I think about what our Founding Fathers might think about this. It is basically a form of Slavery. I called the Social worker last Thursday asking why they had not set up the meeting I requested. I got her answering machine. So, I reminded her that what she is doing is "ILLEGAL" when there is a more than capable family member who can care for thes children. What made me so sick when I last talked with this worker was how she kept praising the Foster Parents! It literally made me sick to my stomach.
Yes, the DCFS system is broke. As a foster parent I see this. BUT..breaking up a giant broken system for a bunch of little broken systems will be worse. Less accountability, more finger pointing. Have you ever worked with any of the private placement agencys? I have. I try not to though because they are worse. I believe the last stats showed that the abuse rate was the same in care as out of care. I hate to say it...but that makes sense to me. People are people everywhere and foster parents should be better than that, but they aren't. What's not helping at all right now is the social service cuts. My local office is suffering from burn out and that trickles down to me. Are we being set up for failure? That's what it feels like. I spend every dime I receive on my foster kids and now I'm facing an 8% cut in funds. DCFS already took clothing vouchers, sylvan, support staff and half of my children's counseling. Do you realize how many good foster parents have to quit because they simply can't afford to keep the child? There are abused children out there who count on grown ups to protect them. Not set them up for failure. Don't forget about them.
CPS still needs to be accountable for leaving children in foster homes with bad foster parents... Whether they break down the system or not.
My children WERE set up for failure,and it is not a shocker when CPS took my two small children on FALSE alligations and then put them in a home with an abusive child molestor.
Reports were made to CPS against the foster parents by neighbors across the street (AND OTHERS)from where my children were living at the time. CPS went in and what did they find ? My two small children outside,alone,one of my children with a quarter sized red mark above his eyebrow. FP in the home barely even able to be arroused and appeared "intoxicated". In the same visit,the SW noted that one of my children was acting out sexually. What did CPS do ??? They offered them a family preservation worker. Wow.
I am sorry that there are good foster parents out there who give a rip and their pockets are getting tapped into. That's an aweful thing. But imagine if CPS never took children from good parents like myself in the first place ? Nearly 3 yrs would have saved some big bucks to pay the good foster parents to care for the children who actually need FC.
Another statistic to consider...since there ARE NOT equivelantly good foster homes as opposed to the home children are born into...75% of foster children end up in prison. That says what ? Huge volumes. Keep in mind all CPS wants in an adoption incentive. I come from the other side of the tracks where I just got my children home. Abused and neglected. And worse. The same things that I was being wrongfully accused of.
As far as "Lilly" is concerned...story makes me sick. Go back and look at our Constitutional rights. Where does it say in there that you should always take children away from their birth parent/s when they jump through hoop after hoop to get their lives straightened out.
"Lilly's" Mother proved to be a fighter and has done what CPS least expected. And gets shot down by the system. So wrong.
A very broken,broken,system.
You are right... CPS screws up every day. BUT some CPS workers go above and beyond to return kids as soon as they can. My CPS team investigates and has returned numerous kids back home or with family within a week. When that isn't possible you enter the 'system'. That's when things get bogged down. You have caseworker changes and court dates that keep getting moved back. You have kids changing placements and unreturned phone calls. There are checks and balances in the system, it's just a matter of accessing them and lack of knowledge plays a huge part of getting screwed. The reason most people on the other side of the tracks have a higher placement rate is because they don't know how to access their rights. If you have a lousy PD ask the judge for a new one. When you're in front of the judge let him/her know that extended family is available and waiting for the kids. If you have workers that don't return your calls in 24 hours go to their supervisor. And theirs, and theirs. Eventually you get noticed. Ask for maximum visits. My fkids have 2 2 hour visits plus 3 phone visits every week. If I was abusing the kids the parents would find out quick :) Read ALL the paperwork that you get from the state...twice! You'll find things that you missed the first time, like how to lodge complaints that get results. Call your omsbudsman. They are terrific for getting results because they don't work for CPS and have more gov power than your local office. Be a squeeky wheel. Call every day to find out what it will take for the return of your kids. Most birth parents are in shock and don't do anything proactive. Call all your(appropriate) family and have them contact the office about having the kids placed with them while the investigation is going on. By law the state has to look at family first. Again, if they don't get a call back in 24 hours have them contact the supervisor and on up the chain. If I thought that I had a bad team for my kids or an uncertain outcome I would have my extended family at the front counter asking for background check papers the next day. I would ask that they go to their dr and do a drug test and turn in the results. The faster things get done on your end the better results for your kids and the better chance that things will happen quickly. This is how people get their kids out of the system. By being proactive.
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