Of the 903,000 children who were identified as victims of abuse in 1998, an estimated 409,000 received services and 144,000 were placed in foster care.

Baby Samuel - Stolen but Not Forgotten

Save The Children

Posted January 5, 2005

In 2003 Baby Samuel was taken from the hospital by a CPS worker, in Podunk, Texas.

The mother was informed that CPS had taken her baby from the hospital by a "notice" - with the appropriate data omitted - which was attached to her screen door that she found when she arrived back home with her oldest son from school.

The family was aghast that CPS could just remove a child from the hospital, without a court order, without notice, without anything but a whim or dislike for a parent, or shared hatred with an ex-spouse who is motivated only by pure malicious intent to cause detrimental harm to the other parent of their child, their flesh and blood.

Family Medical History

Baby Samuel was born premature at 36-weeks gestation. He has a brother who is 13-months older than him, who was born at 30-weeks, and a sister who was born early at 34-weeks. Premature birthing was part of the family history. All the children were born perfectly healthy, of appropriate size for their gestational age, with an APGAR score of 9 at 1-minute and 9 at 5-minutes. None of the children had any problems after birth what-so-ever, outside of their premature birth.

CPS refused to allow the mother to continue breastfeeding Samuel, placing him at an increased risk of infection, catching a cold and contracting the flu. By not allowing him to be breastfed he was also at a higher risk for becoming infected with RSV, a deadly virus for infants, especially those born prematurely.

It is a well-known fact that breast milk is a key factor in the early days of life, and for the first year. CPS not only put his health at risk but also his ability to bond and attach to others throughout his entire life.

Failure to Bond

Baby Samuel was subjected to 4-placements, an infant totally isolated from his mother, siblings, grandparents, and entire family for nearly a year. He was kept in a shelter for nearly 5-months.

The case records reveal an even more disturbing account of what this small little boy endured while in foster "care".

In late 2003, the shelter home demanded CPS remove him and find another placement. CPS caseworkers failed to do so, and kept him in a dangerous placement, one in which he had already nearly died in. Three-weeks after caseworkers took him from the hospital and placed him in the shelter home, he was hospitalized for "life threatening events". Baby Samuel had arrived at the hospital breathless, motionless and with very little life left inside. He would spend almost a month in the hospital from that traumatic event.

CPS finally moved him to another placement in March of 2004, however not in time to save him from another episode "life threatening event". He was hospitalized again on March 28, 2004, and stayed in the hospital for almost a month this time.

The new placement failed to pick him up when he was discharged, and his case manager would leave him there for nearly 3-weeks while she concentrated on other cases apparently. She never got around to finding him another placement according to the records. In fact, she lied to the hospital and the other parties involved stating that she thought the foster placement was taking him back into their home.

Tired of the wait and fed up with the lies from CPS, the hospital finally decided to transfer him to a crisis nursery.

The pediatric gastroenterologist, who had been called in for consultation, contacted the mother, and informed her of what was going on. He went so far as to submit his professional opinion and advice, stating in part that "the child should be discharged to his mother." The doctor also informed the CPS case manager that he had a prior history with the mother and was familiar with her children over the past year or more as he also treated her 18-month-old son and had never once had any reason to believe she anything less than a loving, caring and perfectly fit mother for all her children.

CPS ignored the advice of this trusted medical professional who knew the family and had nothing but good things to say about them.

Denied Family Placement

Baby Samuel was picked up by a family, whom it was later discovered to be a black family. Samuel and his family are white. The only reason this bothered the family was because the caseworker had refused to place baby Samuel with a family friend who had attended court hearings, submitted affidavits to the court and others, and was with him on the very day he was born.

The caseworker refused stating only this when I asked what the reason for her refusal was: "They are not white." That was it.

But now, she had placed Baby Samuel with a black family, they were certainly not white. By this time the family had learned the rules when dealing with CPS. They don't follow any rules. They don't have any reasons for their actions and they act solely upon their own prejudicial view of the parents and family.

There are no facts involved, they don't even come into the picture at all. Facts are only used to try and lead the parent off in the wrong direction and distract them from the entire CPS case that is ongoing, with plans to terminate parental rights being made behind their backs. The facade of the whole charade is just sickening.

Left Alone in the Heat

Samuel would be moved one more time. In June, he was left alone in a hot vehicle, his apnea monitor alarm sounded loudly, he was screaming so loud it could be heard by neighbors inside their home.

Baby Samuel' Great-Grandmother who is 84, 9-year-old sister, and his 4-year-old brother, all witnessed this event. Not that the family was considered credible witnesses when the detective investigated the case, but the family knew beforehand that nothing would come of the police report that was filed. No one would be charged. After all this involved CPS workers, not a parent.

The human service worker employed with the Family Service Agency, sat in her car, parked at least 30 ft in front of the state vehicle they left Baby Samuel alone in. The windows were all rolled up and the doors tightly sealed shut, their failed attempt to try and make sure it would be nearly impossible for his screaming to be heard around the neighborhood. They sat in the parent aide's car smoking and laughing, having a very good time.

This scene took place 25-minutes before a scheduled visit at the mother's home. They were parked 2 houses down the street, in front of a large bakery. They had never been 10-minutes early for any visits, much less 25-minutes early. They did not expect to see the family driving around, nor did they have any idea the family would be driving someone else's car with the entire clan (almost) in the car to witness this very disturbing and traumatizing event.

A taped confession was procured from the casaworker, who admitted that yes, Baby Samuel had been left alone in the vehicle by himself - for a short time (not more than 5-minutes or so). Even with that evidence, the Podunk Police Department decided not to press charges because Baby Samuel was not harmed.

I guess the mother should just be grateful he is even alive now; after all he certainly could have been added to the list of children killed in foster care. In the last 4-months there have been 7 children killed in foster care, in Podunk. These children died not at the hands of their natural parents, but at the hands and in the care of the foster care system - in the state's protection, under CPS. Some protection huh?

Developmentally Delayed

Baby Samuel was finally returned to his home and family in September of 2004. At that time he was 11-months-old. He was not able to sit up by himself, much less doing anything else, he should have been doing developmentally.

Today he is running around, laughing, and enjoying his family. He does have some severe injuries suffered at the hands of foster care and CPS, such as: severe lung disease, asthma, neurological problems, and severe speech delays.

Just this week he said "ma" for the first time. He is now 24-months-old. He can not jabber like other children his age. He is very unsteady when walking, and has some significant and serious problems that none of my other children ever had, who were also born premature.

Monetary Incentives

When Samuel was in foster care they were paid SSI allotments along with federal incentives which average about $8,000 a month for special needs children, under 1-year-old. These incentives are paid only when placement is out of home with strangers, not a cent is paid or reimbursed to CPS for keeping a child in their own home or with relatives or trusted friends. When he was returned, I submitted the change form to SSI/SSA and they told me all that would entail was a change of name and address so his checks would be sent to me now that he was living at home. It's now been 14 months since that change form was turned in and to this date he is still being evaluated for disabilities.

He has had a mental exam, a speech exam, and a developmental evaluation. What is very confusing is the fact that none of those things were on the SSI applications for which he was disabled from, which was his lung disease.

It is unclear whether or not the information submitted to SSA and the Office of the Inspector General about the fact that in just this case alone, CPS used 5 different social security numbers to seek reimbursement for foster care services and other payments. CPS routinely requests payment for each child placed out of the home with strangers. It has been verified by SSA, the none of the Social Security numbers, in which payments were sought under, actually belonged to Baby Samuel, but that they in fact belonged to various deceased individuals.

I hope they can figure out what to do about the payments made to this state for the care of Baby Samuel, which were billed inappropriately. It appears to be a clear case of fraud - but then again, I know the rules, they only apply to parents, not to CPS. The law is the same exact way.

Unsubstantiated Charges Dropped

The case was dismissed in September of 2004 - completely. The mother was removed from the Central Registry and the entire report was recorded as unsubstantiated. Good thing too, since the mother was really ticked off and upset that CPS had gone around town slandering her name, telling everyone that baby Samuel and the mother tested positive for drugs when he was born, which was never true at all. I have the lab reports from his Meconium Assays and testing done after that, as well as lab reports, which clearly shows negative results. These reports have been shown to everyone involved in this case; no one wanted to see the truth, much less know the truth.

Mother Speaks Out

The truth is that CPS was planning to take my baby; they plan to take most every child they can get their hands on. Why do I believe this to be true? I have proof in my own case especially. What proof you say? A letter dated way before CPS ever got involved in my life, way before they ever removed him from the hospital illegally. A letter written by the doctor CPS took my baby too after refusing to allow him to see his own doctors, when they stole him from the hospital; it is addressed to the first shelter home he was placed in. The letter was regarding his immunizations. It was dated nearly a month before they took him from the hospital.

You can draw your own conclusions. I wouldn't want to give anyone the impression that they are doing things illegally, although in my case, they did and continued. You can make your own decision about it. I think it's pretty clear though.

Public Awareness

The point of putting this out to the entire public is to warn parents of the way CPS operates: To raise awareness and educate the public so this doesn't continue happening. This must stop. The corruption and exploitation of our children must end. There is no way around it, we must stand up together and put an end to the destruction of American families and children now!

The other reason is to hopefully find a lawyer who will take this case and see that justice is served for Baby Samuel and his family. There must be at least one lawyer out there who truly cares about human beings and who will fight for their rights even when that means going against the state, CPS and others who have engaged in wrong-doing that is unlawful, unethical and immoral.

We need someone who will not back down. We will continue to search for this special person, and pray until we cross paths with the caring soul who has the best interest of children at heart, rather than money from damages children have suffered. For this family it is more important that the foundation for redress be based upon holding persons accountable so that others will not continue to act outside of lawful boundaries and children will not be harmed by such actions in the future.

Baby Samuel and his siblings should be compensated for the harm and severe damages inflicted upon them by CPS and colluding actors involved in the case.

Court Excuses

Here's some of the excuses used in court each time I tried to get the Judge to listen and return my son that were given by CPS workers and the Assistant Attorney General:

1. Your Honor, the mother might not get the child to the doctor on time. (Funny, when my son was returned, I found out they never took him to the specialists at all after he left the hospital!)
2. The other children in the home are sick. (No mention of the fact that there were 8 other foster children in the shelter home all sick-according to the medical records of the doctor that saw all of them as noted on my son's records when the foster mother took them to the doctor.) I had a letter from my children's pediatrician stating they were all healthy and well cared for. That did not make any difference either.
3. Your Honor, this child is just now starting to improve from his frail condition, caused by the mother during pregnancy, we need to give him some time to get even healthier.
4. The mother is not experienced or knowledgeable to care for this child, he has many special needs. (My EMT certificate and 16-years experience in medical field did not matter either.)
5. A classic statement was made by the Guardian Ad Litem, again preventing the return of my son to my care and home; he told the Judge, "Well Your Honor, the mother's plate is a little full right now-six children is a lot to take care of each day Your Honor." (Since when did the law state the level of your daily responsibility related to keeping your child in foster incarceration and a reason for not returning them home?)

My mom and her husband were pretty upset and very angry to hear the Judge tell me after I refused to give in and cooperate with unreasonable demands, that he would be drug testing and doing what cps wanted him to do if it was his child. I told him that was his own free choosing, and reminded him that this case involved MY children, not his.

He still did not order me to do anything, but got very upset, face all red and yelled, "Young lady, every person that steps foot in my courtroom, everyone who walks thru those doors into this courtroom is a drug abuser and drug addict until they prove otherwise, do you understand?" He can yell pretty loud for an average size man.

I wanted to ask him what the latest results showed as far as drug use for the Assistant Attorney General who was also in the room, and she too walked in the door the same way I did.

My mom and her husband were quite ticked off, and they still are that anyone would accuse them of using drugs! I asked the public pretender, if she thought that was very prejudicial and biased of the Judge to say that to me, she said, "Well a little bit maybe but it doesn't matter. I told you he doesn't like it when parents bring up their rights and stuff, you only make him less willing to return your child everytime you do that."

This from the defender of parents in juvenile court, who happens to be listed as the number one adoption attorney in this state. Quite a racket don't you think, pretend to represent me so you can steal my kid and adopt him out for a nice sum of cash. These people must have been really horrible in their former life, worse than cockroaches I would have to think. Disgusting.

Joelyn,
Podunk, Texas

The names have been changed to protect the victims from further harm at the hands of CPS agents.

"Asserting One's Rights is not an act of defiance!"

In Memory of and Dedication to:

Alan Phillips
Aleicia Putrow
Alex Ramirez
Angelita Durazo
Anndreah Robertson
Anthony Hayes
Anthony Nored
Baby Girl Knoles
Baby Girl Macias
Brandon Garcia
Brianna King
Cameron Whetstone
Cassandra Parker
Charles J. Young
Christine Minh
Deontae Moore
Devin Jennings
Donovan Hendrix
Dylan J. Greathouse
Elijah Alexander
Emily Smith
Gabriel Cordova
Jenicee D. Carter
Jerrad Neal
Jonas Robertson
Jordan Celestine
Jordan Crawford
Joseph Alva
Kataryna Bell
Kristen Salem
Krystal Souza
Liana Sandavol
Quentan Raban
Ralph Perea Yarid
Raymond Dauberman
Regina Tate
Reina Lopez
Sarah Stevens
Sophia Avianeda
Steven L. Greathouse
Stevon Bedwell
Timonth Garcia
Zachary J. Lyons

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