Ex West Virginia caseworker calls for system reform.

Hello, I use to be a CPS worker and then Supervisor in the northern panhandle of West Virginia. Since leaving the West Virginia Department of Health & Human Resources (WVDHHR) in September 2004, I have had a couple experiences with them that I am currently suing them over.

My point of this e-mail concerns the circumstances concerning my adult son (27) and his on again, off again, girlfriend and their child who will be one-year-old on July 19th. The baby was born with drugs in her system. The mom and maternal grandmother hid this information from my son. During the initial investigation by CPS, they failed to contact my son even though they knew who he was. The mom continued to do drugs (heroin) while living with her mother (an active alcoholic) and this was the reason for the unstable relationship with my son, as he does not use heroin nor did he condone her use of the drug.

In November, after the girlfriend was admitted to the hospital for her drug use, her mother involved CPS. When the girlfriend was released from the hospital, her mother would not let her back into the house or near the baby. Against my better judgment and without knowing all the details, I let her and my son stay here.

Over the next two-weeks I babysat the baby while the girlfriend and her sister (also a heroin addict) attended NA/AA meetings. On the weekend in question, I was informed that the maternal grandmother had left for Atlantic city and left the baby with the heroin addict sister and her boyfriend who she met in rehab.

Seeking Temporary Custody

After lengthy discussion, my son and his girlfriend signed a paper granting me temporary custody of the baby. We went to the house to get the baby. The police were called, who in turn called the prosecuting attorney. I spoke on the phone to the prosecutor whom I had worked with for years. He said that I could take the baby.

CPS workers freaked out and told the police they had filed a petition on the Friday, it was awaiting the signature of a judge. They stated that I could not be near the baby as they had at one time opened a case against me. We were ordered to take the baby to the sheriff's office and wait for the maternal grandmother who was on her way from Atlantic City.

Note on previous case: (The case they referred to took place when I was in England and they opened the case without my knowledge. The person my almost 18-year-old son was living with, kicked him out. Instead of then going to the place I setup for him, he went to stay with his older brother which CPS didn't like...another issue altogether. Although I might add here that the person who kicked him out on the street was my best friend and the director of our local CASA)

We waited hours for the maternal grandmother to come staggering in completely intoxicated. She was given a breathalyzer and told she could not take the child due to her being drunk. She then became belligerent to the officers and left.

The girlfriend was told she could take the baby to her great grandmother's house but due to the age of her great grandmother, the girlfriend had to stay with her.

Foster Care Placement

The next evening, CPS appeared with a custody order and took the baby in to custody, placing her with a foster family. My son was not considered for placement because they said there was no proof he was the father. None of us were allowed to see the baby until after the initial hearing — more than two weeks later.

Since that hearing, they first gave physical custody to the maternal, drunken grandmother while the state kept legal custody. The girlfriend was not allowed to be alone with the baby. My son was permitted one-hour of supervised visitation at the local DHHR each week, and I was told I would have to petition for grandparents rights.

Inadequate Representation

Subsequent hearings led to my son becoming very frustrated with his public defender who would not return his calls and thought proper council was seeing him for five minutes prior to the hearing. The DHHR wanted my son to have a DNA test and would not accept a paternity affidavit from him. They also wanted him to submit to drug testing and other such strictures, normally placed on parents alleged of abuse in these situations.

They alleged he "knowingly allowed" the baby to be abused by not stopping the mother's drug use. The age old catch all CPS likes to use when they have nothing else to charge the absent father with.

My son had to reschedule the first DNA test. He went to the second one which proved him to be the father. He missed a court hearing due to his ride canceling at the last minute. He left voice mails for both his attorney and the social worker. Then he missed the next hearing as he received no notice from the court or his attorney. He has continued to see the baby at the girlfriend's house rather than at the DHHR (against my advice).

After finally tracking down his lawyer last week, he received in today's mail a proposed court order from the prosecutor charging him with abandonment. The hearing is scheduled for June.

Would you consider this 'good practice'?

• Not conducting a thorough investigation with collateral contacts (ie father);
• Removing a child for 'imminent danger' that did not exist;
• Being permitted to place a child in foster care when relative placement is available and more than adequate given kinship placement guidelines;
• Being granted continued custody in foster care without testimony or an evidentiary hearing in court.

The court process is not due process. The guidelines and rules of procedure are not followed. CPS policy is not followed. My son has yet to receive notice of any MDT meetings or the reports that those meetings are meant to generate.

After years working inside this system I would highly recommend never speaking to a CPS worker without an attorney present and a tape recorder running. I have worked with the do gooders who see a cute little baby that deserves a 'nice' family, and the power trippers who take custody for their own warped sense of ego feeding....the list goes on.

Someone needs to revamp this system. The damage done to the family is not reversible and even the youngest of children experiencing the foster care system can act out on this 'memory' in years to come.

I realize this is a rather lengthy and tangential ramble. My apologies. It just send my mind racing with outrage at a system that is supposed to keep children safe and consider the well being of the child first and foremost.

Labels: CPS, due process, foster care, public defender, West Virginia

Have you been following the Eldorado, Texas case, in which CPS agents removed 437 children from their parents care? The entire circus of events is simply shocking!

The entire case was based on an anonymous report of abuse. An arrest warrant was issued for the arrest of Rozita Estraletta Swinton (Dana Anderson) on April 18, 2008, the alleged anonymous caller. She is being charged with "False Reporting to Authorities," a class three misdemeanor.

Despite an arrest warrant having been issued, the children are still being held in custody at various locations around the state of Texas. It is clear officials believe the woman lied, so why haven’t the children been released to their mothers?

This case is one that makes absolutely no sense to me. They believe these children have been abused. Where is the proof? Some of the girls were married off to much older men at a very young age, some as young as 14. Is this really so shocking? Heck, back in Kentucky and in many other states, young girls were married off at the tender age of 12 or 13. It was quite common in the last century.

My biggest concern is the charge of polygamy, which to my knowledge is against the law in Texas and charges still have not been brought against the men. It simply doesn't make any sense that the women and children were rounded up and the men were left free, when the men are the ones who broke the law. What crime did these mothers and children commit?

After reading through the "Emergency Motion for Stay Pending Review of Petition for Writ of Mandamus," it is clear to me that this entire case was mishandled from the very beginning. The state of Texas has a lot of questions to answer for violating the rights of hundreds of people. If CPS and the courts get away with the way they have treated these families, no family will be safe in the state of Texas. It will be open season.

Related Articles

• Arrest Warrant [pdf document]
• Emergency Motion for Stay Pending Review of Petition for Writ of Mandamus [pdf document]
• Sweep of Polygamist Sect Kids Raises Legal Questions
• FLDS Raid - A Dangerous Legal Precedent
• Raid on FLDS should raise alarms
• What Did The FLDS Kids Do To Deserve This?
• Captive FLDS Children - Free the children of YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas

Speak Out on Behalf of the Children

• Texas Governor Rick Perry
  Office of the Governor
  P.O. Box 12428
  Austin, Texas 78711-2428
  Citizen's Opinion Hotline: (800) 252-9600 [for Texas callers]
  Opinion Hotline: (512) 463-1782 [for out-of-state callers]
  Governor's Fax Line: (512) 463-1849
• Judge Barbara Walther
  51st District Court,
  Schleicher County, Texas
  2 S. Divide Street,
  Eldorado, TX
  Phone: (325) 853-2766

Labels: arrest warrant, child abuse, parental rights, polygamy, Texas, Writ of Mandamus

How interesting. I was just having a look at the list where the highest percentage of children who are taken away from their parents and I see that all of these states are states which are mentioned often enough during "Election Season."

I moved away from the USA 10-years ago. I knew as a kid that there was something wrong. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. It seemed that the neighborhood used to be a great place to live. I flew home to see my parents about four years ago. It felt different. It isn't home anymore.

The homes are falling apart. The people dress like one might expect a homeless person to dress. They are hopeless and unhappy. The steel mill in Cleveland shut down. There is crime and homelessness. The mortgage crisis doesn't help. I wouldn't move back for anything in the world. I used to think the USA was a great land.

Desegregation, mistrust and all the laws, which regulate so much, causes much tension in poor neighborhoods. What will it be like in 20-years when our children grow up? I do not like the technocratical childbirth norm in the USA. I had all three of my children at home. The experience was empowering.

I hope the problems in America will be worked out. Every member of my immediate family holds a GED certificate. I was the only graduate and the only one to make something of myself. I feel so sorry for their weaknesses. I wish that people like them had taken schooling more serious. You have to play by the game rules in America. If you don't play by the rules you will be imprisoned. That's my opinion. Honest people hardly have a chance. I wonder what life is like in rural areas and if the children are also frequently taken away?

What of the Amish people; the ones who live naturally or homeschoolers and mothers who choose home birthing? Who fits the profile? What has to happen in order for them to get involved? Seems like Russia or East Germany. You know, they ratted each other out. They were so poor, they would actually call up on their neighbor and get them in trouble with the law if they were doing something out of line. Those people would be promptly arrested and interrogated! I've seen many documentaries. Psychological wars!

Well, my heart goes out to you; all of the people who have to fight to keep their children. Giving birth isn't enough...you have to fight daily for custody of your flesh and blood offspring. They expect women to work (we cannot be only a Mother) and they take the kids early on for "educating" them in their system. Pre-school!

When does it end?

~Sabrina

Labels: Cleveland, CPS, natural childbirth, Ohio, parental rights, poverty