A three-year study concluded in 2001 found that 36% of Vermont prison inmates had once been in foster care.

A Plea for Jamie: Drugged and Helpless

Submitted by: Debbie Cox
Edited for clarity.

My name is Debbie, I am writing to you concerning, kids in foster care, my niece and 499,000 other kids.

Approximately 15-months ago, my sisters daughter was taken from her, and put into foster care, since that time the family has went thru hell. My niece Jamie, does have problems, no one is disbuting that at all, but if you had a few hours I could tell you the reasons for these problems. Since you don't have that much time, I will try to tell you a little bit, and I hope it is enough to get your attention.

Where are parents in this equation?

Children + Foster Homes = Funding

Child services needs 500,000 kids in foster care to get federal funding, also because of the children social services have removed from their homes, we have many working doctors, lawyers, judges, and of course social workers.

Jamie is 12-years-old and can not read, yet she has been passed in every grade, isn't that a farce? Teachers haven't even tried to help, they give work but no help she has been tossed around by child services for a long time, why? Well a big reason is that while in class, usable to read, the kids made fun of her, so she would lash out, and instead of the school handling it, as most others do, they called the police.

She was taken to Emerson North, hospital, for kids. Just in case you don't know anything about that place, let me tell you one thing, it was a place for suicidal, teens and troubled teens, where they are allowed to watch Psycho Mom, at least 4 times daily. It has since been shut down and reopened somewhere else, with another name.

Medicating Children

The supposed care givers, who say they want to help, put Jamie on 5 different medications, for A.D.D. which did not help.

Although social services did not agree, my sister had Jamie tested at CCDD Children's Hospital. They said Jamie does not have A.D.D., yet the medications continue. She was placed into a foster home, a single mom with kids, and from what we were told a live-in boyfriend, social services says no, but Jamie says yes.

When my sister went to visit her at a park, (they would not allow her visit at home) she noticed bruises on the inner thigh, and questioned social services about them, their remarks were that Jamie caused the marks to be there herself, which is impossible, we have pictures of the marks and she could not possibly have done them to herself.

When my sister got no where, trying to get her out of the foster mothers home, I called and said I would get the media, she was out within an hour, but that was several days later, and returned there 3 days later.

We also have a taped conversation with Jamie where she is telling her mom about the abusive way she is being treated, ways that didn't leave marks. You are welcome to hear it, Jamie didn't even know what to call some of what the woman was doing to her, she said when the foster mother got mad, she hit her head with her head, now you and I know that is called head bunting, but Jamie didn't, she just knew it hurt.

I went and got a police officer, reluctantly he went to talk to Jamie and she was gone, they had moved her, to a group home.

Arbitrary Laws

My sister has never had any charges brought against her, she just did not want to give the mind altering drugs to Jamie that they told her to, 5-medications in all, for something she does not have. My sister has never had to go to court about any charges, yet Jamie is still gone, she has been moved all over.

Her recent foster mother does not teach Jamie, anything. If anyone helps her, it's a daughter, hardly qualified since social services says she needs theraputic training.

Jamie is never well groomed.

Why can't Jamie see the family she knows and loves? I don't mean just mom and dad, if social services were really for the best interest of the child, you would think seeing family that love her, would be a good thing.

Social services, hasn't followed any rules here, the most important being when a child is taken out of a home, they are supposed to place that child with a family member before even considering foster care. In this case, even though there were family members wanting to care for Jamie, they put her in foster care, first, and that is where they have kept her.

Social services is also required to take certain steps, toward reunification of the family to get kids home where they belong. Social services has not taken any steps to bring the family back together again.

She has a doctor that works with social services to supply Jamie with drugs the foster care mother demands. The drugs being prescribed are at the foster mothers advice not that of the doctor. Now I ask you, is that scary, or what? I think so, at least doctors should go by the oath they take, to help people not give medication on demand, without need.

Also Jamie has been denied her God given right, to practice her religion, or any other for that matter, for 8-years Jamie, her mom and dad, have gone to church and Sunday school together. Now she has not been able to go since she was taken out of her home.

CPS Facts

Now to state a few facts for you, child abuse happens in 28% of foster homes that's one in four children, also 1111 children die in foster care each year, from abuse over half occur after CPS workers take custody, for every 20 abuse charges made, in biological parents homes, seventeen were wrongfully accused.

I think if CPS workers were put under close scrutiny every now and then, things might be different, did you know that CPS workers were twice as likely and as much as 6-times more likely, to label an innocent family?

National data finds that a child is twice as likely to die of abuse in foster care than in their so called "abusive" homes. The ratio for sexual abuse is 4 times higher in foster homes, I have much more data, and you are welcome to see it.

Let me say again my sister was never arrested nor charged with any crime, because there isn't one and CPS knows it, but they need that money, so because they found a child with problems, they add many more, and cover there butts, all under the protection of a so called umbrella, which partly is the best interest of the child, hogwash, there is no best interest, when you take a child out of a home where no abuse is happening and put them into a home where it does.

How ironic, I am not blaming CPS totally, yes they do the physical removing them part, but we allow them to take children out of the homes and we allow them to be abused, by not listening, or doing anything about it, so in a way the fault lies with us all.

Our Responsibility

"We the people" need to stop child abuse, in foster care. Do you know what really bothers me? The kids think of mom and dad, as a safe haven, there protectors, well when people are not stopped from hurting innocent children, they feel we let them down, and we have. Their safe haven is gone, and they feel they have no one left so alot of foster kids die, because they would rather commit suicide than live the awful way they are being forced to live. I hate to think how many real abused children die while CPS runs around tormenting non-abusive parents.

Now I know there are children in this world that are abused, and my heart goes out to them, and if I was able to, I would take them all. I know there are good social service workers, doing a hard job, and to them I say, thank you. But to the tyrants who say they are for the children, and they are just milking the industry for profit, well I say you are the criminal, and someone should see you are stopped from destroying innocent families. The state kidnappers, to you I say you should be arrested because you are the one committing the crime, abuse of a child by anyone is a crime, and there are many definitions of abuse.

In closing let me say, Children's Protective Services (and I say that loosely), has broken every constitutional and human right, not to mention the Bill of Rights. My sister and brother-in-law have lost their rights and that in itself is a crime. The judges and lawyers do not help by having parents signing things they don't understand, making them think if they go along with things they get their child back.

Childrens protective services, job is trying to reunite families, not destroy them, yet at no time do they try to help, just hurt.

Thank you.

A concerned citizen, who will not sit back and let this continue, unlike Child Protective Services I will act in the best interest of the child, and God have mercy on us all.

Debbie Cox
1007 Glenna Drive
Cincinnati, Ohio 45238
(513) 922-6759

Posted: May 25, 2004

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