Cps personnell all need to have psychologicals done before they are hired. Majority of the social workers are operating "under the color of the law". That's why they get by with so much incompetence.The children in fostercare are being bred for failure to keep the system working with young people who will become problematic adults in society.It is a steady paycheck. My grandchildren,ages 13,14,have been in fostercare for two years. I was denied my rights under the 'Title Iv-E Social Security Act'.I was on trial for eight days I guess for Child abuse/neglect,but I was never officially charged. I thought I was going to court because I got sick and needed respite for myself and my grandsons.No one seems to hear my plead for help because everyone saids it is too complicated.Because of my volunteer background, my education and my advocacy role in the community and other cities I was laughed at. I told the truth.It is now in the appeal stage. The appeal lawyer's briefing has vindicated me because I and my grands were denied our rights.Cps has defamed, libeled and messed up my reputation here in seattle. The school system is deeply involved with this case also some social service organizations that very well-known.I am on the verge of becoming homeless. I have to move because of this situation, so I just want to get out of here.Several of the State Legislatures knew about my situation from day one, but has ignored my plea. I have been many places telling my story to no avail.All i did was get sick and CPS said my grands were in serious danger to live with me.They got one disabled grandchild to say after he was in fostercare for four weeks that I abused him.Four weeks later. I am denied the right to see my grands even though the courts gave me unlimited rights to visit. Cps,then goes back to court continously and say I don't want to visit with them.They are so far away I can't get to them and the fosterparents say they have no papers for me to visit. I have a granddaughter age 15, who despises me now. She left the home in December and told CPS that I put her out. I was not at home when she left. CPS believed her. She has never been right ever since she was put into fostercare,also two years ago. The CPS worker, went to her school without a court order and removed her. she had been with me since she was five.CPS told me I had no rights to her,even though her mom and I did our own written,notarized agreement when she was five years old.Something has happen to my granddaughter while she was in fostercare and she's super angry with me.Her personality has completely changed. The courts denied her rights to stay with me in 2005, saying I had parentifyd her becaused she liked to cook.The damaged that CPS has done to me and my family, I am afraid to accept them back in the state of mind they are in now.I was ridiculed because of being low income and not being able to afford to take care of them. Again the appeal briefings has said I have done everyting right according to the law when putting the children first. I would like to talk with this lawyer for my case. My life has been turned upset down.I would like to talk to the world about this senseless irresponsible abuse from Cps. Those three young girls needed instant intervention due to that pedophile, and nothing was done, but they have wasted thousands of taxpayers dollars on me and my family and I had been begging for a rest break and help for my grands since the boys came tome at the ages 8 and 9 years old unattended on the airplane on 12/19/01, at 11:30pm at noct. The Interstate Compact Unit did not know they were coming to Washington, nor,did the State of Georgia notify them. There was no CPS chapperone. I informed the State of Washington. The State of Georgia did not know my grandsons had been in fostercare for over a year until I told them last fall. Who legally has custody of my grandsons? CAn the State of Washington take total control of my granddaughterby whom I had raised for over ten years? I brought her mother here from off the streets of Georgia where she was doing drugs to sign her child legally over to me. She told them what her issues were upfront. She thought she was signing custody court papers to give her child to me,but instead they tricked her to sign her child to become a ward of the State of Washington. She signed,but the courts said I had to the CPS requirements as the grandmother.How can an Incompetent person sign for a competent person if you are not a part of the case in court, being represented by a lawyer? I would like a comparison money wise, as to,how much money was expended for the three young girls safety versus the amount that was paid out for my families so-called serious safety issue. mines started back on May 3rd/05 til present.The only thing we have in common is Cps never investigated to validate their claims on me. I had over 61 character witnesses, 12 or 13 character letters.Many documents to refute their claims.None of my supported evidences was presented in court. The school did no follow thru on their alleged accusations of neglect and abuse. first time I heard of their claims was when I was on trial, never before.Everything CPS didnot do for these three young girls, they did the opposite to me.these folks diligently stayed in my face on a weekly or almost daily basis for almost two years.I was accused of being Paranoid, histrionic without a Doctors diagnosis.My ADA rights were also blatantly denied. I have cried and cried over these young girls begging for intervention, while at the same time my grandsons lawyers' were begging the courts to return my grandsons back to me and it still has not happen.I was sick needing a restbreak, and not abusing or neglecting my grands.Something or someone has messed up my granddaughter as a result of being in fostercare.
I am 62 years young and I have been damage emotionally by this horrible ordeal with the courts and CPS. Some of my court hearings were never recorded.I was held in default on 7/19/2005, but their is no record, nor did I know about it until 1/2006. I had dismissed my Pd lawyers before this court date,so I did not know who was representing me.This too is weird case, because I refused to let CPS force me to go along with their game, whatever the game is.They were sending people into my home to try to service me to teach me how to play their game.Their words, not mines.I would like my situation to be told so everyone will know that CPS can do an excellent job in protecting the most vulnerable. My grands did not need protection against me.How much abuse can a disabled,single,elderly,sick grandparent do to two boys,ages 13 and 14. The girl is 15? With all kinds of in-home counseling in the home, that was initiated voluntarily by me to assure their well-being and sufficient growth and development. I was featured in the in PI,back in 8/19/01,or pretty close to that date,and several other articles in the Seattle Times, when I had facilitated the grandparent support group at Atlantic Street Center for about three years.I got no support from them when I asked also. Why would CPS ignore the young white girls cries for help,and my black african-american boys crys to come home because no abuse or neglect took place? Is the goal again for the three young girls to grow up to become meth users and prostitutes, my grands to become the future drug kingpins or live in the penal institutions, or get whacked out on legal prescription drugs while in fostercare to keep them stoned.Fosterparents can make up to $15,000 a month being a therapeutic foster parent.Bigger business with problem children.I have other grands besides the ones here. I need to start focusing on them and to start a new life elsewhere.I will not let this brokedown CPS system put me in my grave. I am only person.They are many.These grands here in fostercare have lost hope in coming home because the fosterparents have soop their heads up that I am the bad guy and they are willing to adopt them. how can any fosterparent treat my grands so good,when all three of them have disrespected me in the reunification process by not cooperating in the visitation ruling and preparing the return to home as the court said? Everyone appears to shy away from my case, because it too is highly political. I know my grands also fall within the compliance of the "Braam Settlement Agreement".

When my sister was 11 and I was 17, a compaint was logged with DCFS by a woman who wanted my dad to herself. They came to my sister's school cause they were told my sister was being sexually abused.. they never notified my parents and really told school facility what was going on.

We were told to be ready at 3:30 pm for a family interview. We were all so nervous and spent 2 days cleaning house. I remember running late from school and driving in the driveway.. my grandmother was there as well as my six uncles. My parents were happy to see me walk in but there was a nervous edge to the group. We waiting for 45 mins after the meeting and someone decided to turn on the TV.. they had a breaking news story running on Channel 7 there Lombard, IL... a DCFS worker had walked into her boss's office at 3:15 and shot him.. my sister was screaming because it was the same woman who drilled her and was supposed to be at our house... we never got a call from DFCS that day and a month later got a letter saying case was not founded.

My sister woke up for months after thinking that woman was going to shoot our family. It took a long time for her to feel safe again.. and sad thing was there never should have been an investigation.. no one had ever touched my sister.

I know DCFS and CPS are good programs but I hear way too many problems of their staff. Paperwork being lost, kids left in abusive homes after many complaints... I think these programs need oversight to ensure they are following procedures..

I was a foster parent for Monica when she was 2-1/2 years old. Fabregas was obsessed with her at that time and I reported time and time again to Monica's social workers that he was inappropriate in his behavior with her during visits. He tried to control her as she was living in foster care. He brought clothing he asked us to have her dressed in at the next visit, he often kissed her with his tongue in her mouth, he touched her as if she was his girlfriend, even when she was just a toddler/preschooler. One social worker informed him of a regular appointment I would take Monica to each week and he started stalking us in the parking lot at that place and would attempt to hug and kiss both Monica and me in the parking lot. He tried several times to talk me out of taking Monica into the appointment because he would not accept that Monica had any developmental problems. He would stand there and tell Monica that only "Papa" loved her and no one else understood her or cared about her. In my opinion, Fabregas was creepy and I reported these incidents to the social workers time and time again. The response was always that it is his Italian "culture" to be friendly and touch people in a way that is not typlcal in the U.S., that is was okay for him to give Monica gifts, and that I was overreacting. One social worker told me she agreed that he was creepy but there was nothing she could do about keeping him away from Monica. They would ask him not to attempt to see Monica outside scheduled visits but he just ignored them. Eventually the social worker started allowing him to attend the appointments with us because, I was told, it was just easier than putting up with his phone calls and personal visits at her office everyday. I reported my suspicions many times that Monica had been molested by Fabregas prior to going into foster care at the age of 2 and that my gut feeling was that he was interested in more than a father-daughter relationship with her. He gave me a video he asked me to show Monica everyday so she would know he was thinking of her. This is the tape referred to in the King 5 report. It showed one strange or dangerous situation after another he purposely put Monica into in an attempt to make a funny video. He told me he sent a copy to America's Funniest Home Videos and hoped to win some money. After I watched the video (without Monica) I gave it to her social worker and asked her to watch it, explaining to her what was on the video. The social worker said she didn't have a right to view it or keep it and told me later she gave it back to him. Monica was developmentally delayed and had some serious issues even at 2 years old. I never understood why DSHS allowed Fabregas to have a relationship with her at all since he was not a blood relative and Monica's mother was no longer involved with him (or Monica) at that time. One social worker told me they were encouraging the relationship because Monica had no family who was interested in her and Fabregas was the closest thing she had to family. I was also told that because of her developmental issues it would be hard to find an adoptive home for Monica and Fabregas was, basically, better than nothing. Because of my constant complaints about Fabregas and the view that I was not "cooperative" in DSHS's attempts to "reunify" this family, and due to the impact the situation was having on my family, Monica was moved to another foster home after 6 months in our home. I kept in contact with that foster family periodically and was appalled when I learned that custody of Monica had been given to Fabregas after only a few months with them and DSHS was going forward with allowing him to adopt her. I'd like to blame the judge for signing the adoption papers but, having adopted foster children myself, I know that the judge rubber stamps based on the home study done by DSHS. So the blame there is back on DSHS. When Monica ended up back in foster care at the age of 12 with a friend of mine who is also a foster parent, and then I saw the reports of the Tamas girls and of Febregas' arrest on the news and in the newspapers, I first of all was appalled that DSHS had given him a foster care license to take in more girls, and then I cried when I thought of what Monica must have been through despite my own repeated warnings and suspicions reported to DSHS. I've been a foster parent for 12 years and have seen what I consider to be some totally irresponsible decisions made by some (not all) social workers, putting kids into terrible situations, and I've seen some kids come back into foster care in worse shape because of those decisions (at least they came back alive). But Monica has always haunted me even though I lost all contact with her after she was returned to Fabregas. There was something very wrong with the relationship between Fabregas and Monica, even when she was 2 years old. The social workers involved ignored my suspicions, warnings and reports, and ignored what they saw for themselves (chalking it up to cultural differences). It appears Monica's best interests, and the best interests of the Tamas girls, were repeatedly ignored or downplayed. Having dealt with Fabregas for 6 months I know from personal experience that he is arrogant and extremely manipulative. It has become increasingly more difficult to become and remain licensed as a foster home over the past 10 years. Some of the safety provisions we are required to maintain in our home to prevent children from getting physically hurt are beyond what any "normal" family is expected to maintain. The amount of training foster parents are expected to participate in and the level of accountability foster parents are required to maintain is far beyond what any natural parent is required to go through to have a child returned to him/her after being in foster care. If the reports of falsified information given by Fabreges to DSHS foster care licensors and adoption workers is true, I am appalled to learn that the information was not verified by DSHS prior to Monica or the Tamas girls being placed with him. The message that sends to me is that the hours we spend and the burdens we endure to meet the expectations of DSHS and keep the high level of integrity we hope to maintain, is really just a joke. Someone like Fabreges can come in, falsify information, smile, charm and lie to a DSHS licensor or investigator and no one will bother to check anything out nor take repeated reports seriously enough to do anything about them. The reports indicate that the police found about 1,500 video tapes in Fabregas' home. I think that the fact that Fabregas kept those tapes in his home, knowing that he was under suspicion, just shows how arrogant he is, apparently believing that he could manipulate, charm and outwit the police detectives just like he did DSHS investigators, social workers and licensors. I hope that Monica and the Tamas girls will be able to recover from the abuse inflicted upon them by Fabregas and DSHS, but it will be a long, slow process and the abuse will never be forgotten. They deserve every penny of whatever monetary award a judge or jury decides will compensate them for their years of abuse. As for Fabregas...well, what can I say? My hope for him is that he doesn't get off on a legal technicality and that his punishment will sufficiently give Monica and the Tamas girls some peace. As Monica's former foster mother, I thank Ester Tamas for doing what no on else was able to do - getting Monica away from Fabregas and getting Fabregas behind bars.

As a young girl my son was taken by the state & I worked for 4 1/2 yrs to get him back, 3 days before i was to regain full custody of him the state called an emergency hearing & revoked the order because they claimed my son was being sexually abused in my care. Several yrs later the state took my twins away & used the former placement as the basis for taking the twins. My eldest son was in fact being sexually assaulted, fed alcohol & drugs on an almost daily basis by the foster father. Those foster parents moved out of state to avoid losing thier license & to avoid proscecution. In the meantime my twins were placed in a foster home where they were both being sexually assaulted by the foster father & some of his friends. The state knew about the abuse going on in the second foster home, plus the numerous complaints made by the agency that I did my visits through, my children would come to the visits with fat lips black eyes bruising & the state worker Anne Solomon would say I was "over-reacting" & just trying to cause trouble for the one family that would actually take my children in. As a young girl I was forced into an abortion by a CPS worker that told me I would never regain custody of my eldest son if I had this child, so yes I murdered one child to keep another & lost him anyway. I am native & they would NEVER allow me to go through Indian Welfare services. THe second set of foster parents were for a long time allowed to keep thier foster license, then finally they made the father move out then I have no idea what happened. THe King County Proscecutor's office contacted me & asked for my children's statements I at first refused bewcause I told them that the second that I said anything to him that CPS would be on my doorstep the next day trying to take them away again, finally I relented & I was wrong.... it took 2 days for them to end up on my doorstep, I have moved, I am in hiding, & I now home-school my kids, just to stay off the radar, I would love to be able to let my children bring suit against the state but I don't want the state to come & try to take them again. My daughter & son's have so many different problems, 2 have been in & out of fairfax, been in serious counseling for years but, this is something that will never just go away, ever. This is now a part of who they are, forever & ever. Pam you are a very brave woman for speaking out about this but you know that this will bring some type of problem to your doorstep, & you seem like one of the few foster parents that are actually helping children, just please tread very carefully

This case haunts me. As the foster parent of the two older girls when they left Fabragas home, I'm the one that wrote letters, made phone calls, even lodged my complaints all the way up to the govenor's office; yet it took us 4 months to get the oldest foster daughter removed, and the youngest remained in his home. Knowing that the adopted daughter had to endure 2 more years of this mans abuse haunts me.

I almost quit foster care over this case, but I care about kids and so I'm still here, caring for them, trying to help them have brighter futures, loving them, even when they can't love me back. I was in foster care as a teen, so I know how hard the battle is to overcome, but it is so sweet to see them do so.

If this we're, as Mr. Turnquist put it only "rare, but grievous" that would be one thing, but it is not. For some reason the Dept. does not fire workers who don't do their jobs properly; they move them, promote them, or "special project" them. The two workers in this case, who we're horribley rude to me, and refused to look at this cse objectively, are now supervisors in the Dept.

I see wonderful caseworkers leave the Dept. because they can't deal with the politcal games that are played within it.

This work is supposed to be about kids lives, their saftey, and their futures, but we (the tax payers/voters of Washington State)have set up a beauracratic giant, where the abused and neglected children that it serves, are at the bottom of the pyramid, with the foster parents just one step above them.

The reality is that their are many wonderful state workers, yet it's the few who are not so wonderful, but vocal and sometimes down right nasty, that seem to continue to get moved up the chain of command. Sometimes they try to take down, or drag down, the best workers only out of spite.

CA of DSHS is a human machine, and it has human relationship problems. It needs to be run like a real business instead of a dysfunctional family unit, that keeps it's dark family secrets bottled up tight.

Regardless we desperatly need more good foster parents. Those of you who are good with children, these little ones need homes, being a foster parent is not easy, sometimes the children don't even like you (after all they want to be with their Mom's and Dad's, and they see you as the one keeping them from them) but they need you, and they learn, and they grow. It is the most meaningful, heart breaking, and wonderful work I've ever felt so much passion for. Consider opening your homes to a foster child.

If fostering is not for you become an advocate to help us change the system, to assure that all children have safe homes to grow up in. Check out FPAWS (Foster Parent Association of Washington) they are making great strides in changing the future of foster care.

My prayers are with all the little ones in our state that are still enduring pain and suffering, may they find comfort and peace and someone to rescue them.

Blessings,
MJ

something with the CPS agency isn't working. I had my first interaction with CPS last summer and I highly recommend to anyone who has a "file" with them to request it and read it. You are allowed your own file and CPS will send it to you blacking out the confidential information. The information in my file was incorrect and made up. I have written 2 letters to CPS asking for a clarification and why all the mistakes and to this day they have not responded. My next step is to contact my attorney. Dealing with CPS is not fun and sometimes scarey because of the authority they have but you need to make sure CPS is being truthful because from what I've seen they are not. They are attacking innocent people and allowing the criminals to raise our children. Something needs to be done so the children are not placed in harms way any longer.

I find it interesting that an additional major story in Washington concerns the fact that the most highly compensated employees in Washington are DSHS (medical ?) personnel.

It is curious, too, that DSHS does not even appear to value the judgement of their own fosters.

Unfortunately, CPS has an abysmal reputation throughout the US.

It appears that the only way to make CPS accountable is to sue them. NJ has had to pay out close to 20 MILLION for negligence within foster/adoptive care within the past 2 years, in only 2 cases.

Can the taxpayers of Washington continue to support this deeply flawed, troubled, and highly secret agency while it bumbles through guaranteeing *safety* for its removed children?

I would like to share my story and let you know I
would like to help in reforming social services in
every state.Down below is my nightmare....and still
goes on even today. If you can offer any help I am
willing to work with any one to make this right for
my
children.

I had help writing this by my therapist. Bess Green
will tell you that she feels I was wronged by South
Carolina.

My name is Sherry Lassiter and I am the mother of
five
children whom I dearly love. I am writing this to
help
illuminate grievous problems within a system that is
supposed to help preserve and strengthen families. I
think you will see that my case, which could have
been
very straightforward, a success story, has turned
into
a nightmare for my children and myself.

My first two children were born in Indiana where
both
my adoptive and birth families live. Despite a
difficult early life, I was able to finish school
and
train as an EMT. In fact up until 1994, I was like
most single moms, working hard, but with the support
of my family, making sure that my children Heather
and
Katelyn, had what they needed. I include this
information to let you know that I was a productive
member of the community, paying my bills and stable.

This is a very different picture than the one that
DSS
has painted.

My third child, Katelyn was born in 1996. A year
later, I married Melvin Mikels, a man I had known
for
one year. At first things went well. We fixed up a
trailer and moved it to some family land. I thought
that this would finally be the family I had hoped
for.
I did not know that my husband was involved in a
variety of illegal activities. He asked to move to
Florida to be near family. The request seemed
reasonable. I now know that he was fleeing from some
type of legal trouble.

On our way to Florida, we decided to “see the
sights.”
DSS later attributed this relatively short time
period
to be evidence of a chronic nomadic lifestyle. In
reality I had lived in only in 4 homes during this
first 10 years of my oldest child’s life and had
been
working a majority of the time. I had even begun to
buy a house on contract at 1400 Parrot Street in
Evansville Indiana.

On the way down to Florida, Mr. Mikels began
drinking
and abusing me. By the time we reached Pensacola, he
had beaten me badly enough that I lost a baby. This
was in early 1998. By the end of the year, after
numerous other incidents of violence, I gathered the
courage to leave Mr. Mikels and got a protective
order. As is the case for most women who leave
violent
relationships, the violence escalated, with
stalking, breaking into my home, threats, etc. At the end of
1998, in an incident in which I was thrown from my
car
and two police were injured, Mr. Mikels was finally
held accountable for his violence and sent to
prison.
Due to a clerical error he served only 10 months of
the 10 years he was supposed to serve. I was
notified
three days before he was to be released. He had my
address. He had been sending me a barrage of letters
that clearly document an obsession with continuing
to
control me. Florida Crime Victims Compensation fund
considered the threat great enough that they gave me
money to relocate. So in 2000, I fled to South
Carolina. I got my own apartment. I had begun a
relationship with a man while Mr. Mikels was in
prison, Robert Crowe but did not move in with him
immediately. I had a lot going on trying to flee Mr.
Mikels. In fact, Mr. Mikels did find my phone number
in South Carolina only 2 weeks after I moved there.
I
changed my number. He continued to call friends and
family members in Indiana trying to track me down.
(I
have been told that he called asking about me as
recently as May 2005.)

Mr. Crowe and I bought a trailer and began to
rehabilitate it. I still hoped for a family and home
just like other people have. During this time we
lived
with Mr. Crowe’s mother across the street from the
trailer. The situation was tense. Despite using
contraceptives, I became pregnant with twins. The
pregnancy was difficult and I was put on bed rest.
My
post partum was also complicated with ruptured
incisions. I found Mr. Crowe’s mother taking
advantage
of the situation and she made it clear that she
wanted
the twins. As I recuperated, Mr. Crowe and I began
to
intensify our efforts to fix the trailer and create
some distance for our family. By early summer of
2002,
Mr. Crowe’s mother, Ruth Burrell began threatening
to
turn me in to DSS if I didn’t give her custody of
the
twins. The tension was corrosive to my relationship
with Mr. Crowe although we continued to try and make
it work. In June we moved out to the trailer that
did
have water, septic and electric but still needed
carpentry finishing. Financially I was still
struggling. Ms. Burrell took me to court to take
possession of the twins. Mr. Crowe refused to fight
his mother on the issue and threatened to leave if I
didn’t sign the papers. It is still hard to see how
things could have gone so wrong so quickly. I went
to
DSS seeking to quickly retake control. To do this I
needed housing, food, and medical assistance for my
children and myself quickly. After a two-hour
interview, Ms. Summer Grant convinced me to sign a
temporary order placing my then four-year-old
daughter
Katelyn in protective custody. I thought, she will
be
safe, I can get organized and this nightmare will
end.
My older daughter continued to live with Ms. Burrell
across the street but by the end of the summer she
was
placed with Katelyn. I continued to have health
problems including a surgery. I was also quite
shaken
by the way my family was dissolving. Adding to the
chaos, I was in a severe accident in September 2002.
A
month later, I began having seizures. I do not
believe
that DSS ever took any of this into consideration in
my treatment plans. Instead, I was accused of being
chronically unstable and neglectful and lazy. DSS
did
not help me to stabilize my home but continued to
add
to the stress. Still, somehow, by December 2002 I
had
completed enough of my treatment plan to have
overnight visits with my children. The trailer was
rehabilitated. I was still struggling with medical
bills to stabilize financially. I was reported for
not
having electricity. (I had a generator.) Suddenly,
everything was back to square one with my treatment
plan. I hung on until March of 2003 but my
relationship with Mr. Crowe was over. His family was
still harassing me. My daughter, Heather, told me
that
when she asked her caseworker to help she was told,
“I
don’t have to help. Other single parents do it.” I
felt defeated and needed to regroup. I had an offer
of
a place to stay free of charge in Seattle while a
friend was on a tour with the Coast Guard. I took
the
chance.

In Seattle, I asked that South Carolina DSS sign a
pact that would allow me to transfer my case to
Seattle where I could get a fresh start. I was
denied.
I flew back to visit my children but the tone with
DSS
was very harsh. I decided to relocate to Florida
where
I could be closer and try to restart my treatment
plan.
I would like to be given the chance I was NEVER given in the first place to raise my children in peace.

It is extremely hard to admit that Susannah's story is really quite common in the Child Protection Industry. I point you To Asst. Dean Paul Chill's Abstract entitled: BURDEN OF PROOF BEGONE. The Pernicious Effect of Emergency Removal in Child Protective Proceedings. In his piece, Dean Chill explains how social workers are more inclined to do "defensive social work" rather than take the time to determine whether probable cause exists before removing a child.

This type of social work leads to huge increases in removals and overcrowding of enrollees into foster care. Many look the other way at the home's licensed capacity requirements just to have a place to put the child.

We also see how social worker's supervisors have their eye on the bottom line. In other words, paying for in home services to help a family is not as financially rewarding as taking the child and placing that child into foster care.

After a while, any person who will take these children is considered good and little effort goes into carefully screening potential foster parents. Many many children have complained that their social worker won't listen to their pleas about being abused. There just wasn't anywhere else to put them. If the social worker did listen, they merely removed them and placed them in another foster home and allowed the abusive foster parent to stay in business.
As I stated earlier, this problem is not unique to your state. If you start to see child protection as an industry instead of a safety net for protecting those that truly need protecting, then you will understand that the states set up their child protection agencies to first and foremost exist. Saving children is secondary to the confirming and strengthing, of their bureacuracy.

This past legislative session I spent most of my time advocating for cps/child welfare/foster care reform. I come from the perspective of someone who has lived in a foster home and as many of the previous posters, a mom who has lost their child to CPS. Along the way I have met a good many wonderful foster parents, and many have advocated on my behalf and on the behalf of many parents. So, my comments here are not to be misconstrued, I am not speaking about these foster parents. I find myself very suspicious of a foster parent unwilling to work with the child's family. The law allows it, but the system and established way of doing things does not allow it. We see good caring foster parents loose their license because they started advocating for the family, others keep their licenses because they "played the game". What we have is a whole lot of children with tattered and torn childhoods.

Too often it seems that foster parents can literally get away with murder while natural family so much as looks at the child wrong loses them forever. Once a caseworker makes a decision about where the children's future, they tend to stick to it at all cost. For this reason, children are left with their families and are abused and neglected to death or are placed in foster homes to be adopted out into abusive and neglectful homes. "Frying pan into the Fire".

No one stops to think of the children, or the children's perspective. "The best interest of the child" phrase is tossed around in order to justify anything that the department wants.

However, CPS does very little to keep kids in their families, or return them when they should go home. Funding is not made available for court ordered services, and like myself, parents lose their kids. Children are removed from DV shelters only to be given to the abusive parent. Children are placed with other abusive relatives. Caseworkers are quick to remove children, not always because of "safety" issues, but because of petty power struggles. The system has severe problems.

The system is full of foster kids who could go home, but they cannot because families do not get the help they need. There is only funding for foster care and adoption, and very little to keep families safe. Perhaps, if there homes were not over full, caseworkers would not be so quick to overlook and dismiss complaints that foster parents are abusing kids.

What allows the state to get away with such egregiousness is lack of involvement by those who are affected most by the system. I testified at nearly a dozen legislative meetings this session. Too often, I was the only biological parent testifying. Parents, grandparents, foster parents, and everyone should be heard. Foster children should be heard also. Families, no matter how you define them, need to speak out more. What the department presents to the legislature is very different than what actually happens to families. Families should not hesitate to call their state Representatives and Senator. Everyone's input is critical to making a difference.

I also fault the media for not taking up the issue in a more comprehensive manner. There have been open courts for several years now, there are so many families willing to tell their story. From the looks of this blog, it is high time they did that. The media could do a lot more to fix the system. I have a suggestion, actually take a few cases and investigate them, fact check what the department says. In Kentucky, an audit found statewide falsification of documents, "quick trigger" termination of parental rights in order to adopt out children, and just blatant disrespect for families. We hear many of the same complaints, and CPS is designing their reforms on Kentucky's. Please take a look at how the most profitable foster to adopt agencies operate and treat families. There are so many things that the media could look at, but doesn't.

We live in a democracy, which means citizen participation. We cannot continue to let this happen.

Thanks for reading this, and I am always willing to network with other families.

Stella

After reading all of these comments all I can say is DITTO! We have our own horror story of children services in Ohio KIDNAPPING my grandkids. This happened ten years ago and we're still trying to get my grandson back from a drug addicted foster woman who is constantly over-medicating my grandson.....and NO ONE CARES. We have contacted everyone all the way up to the Governor....and NO ONE CARES!!! We spent four years in courts and spent every penny we had......and NO ONE CARES!!!!!!

Well, just look at Wenatchee Washington, Rabin County Ga. Cosa Contra County CA, Costa Mesa Ca and the grand jury report on L.A County CA. its every where people. Children ripped from loving homes or in extremely rare instances left with or placed with monsters like Enrique Fabregas. Too much money flows through the system with little accountability. First do no harm should be the watch word. It is the childs Constitutional right to be left with their own family unless there is eveidence their life is in danger. Given the original accusations from the beginning this man should have NEVER been a foster parent let alone allowed to adopt.

I would like to comment on Pams posting. I am Monicas maternal Aunt. The statement that Monica did not have any family that wanted her is not correct and I hope she never reads that. My sister, Monicas mother, has a severe alcohol problem. I tried so many times to be supportive of my sister and help her and her children until finally I had to cut all ties with my sister to protect my own children. When my sister was temporarily staying at my house when she was 7 months pregnant and homeless she decided to cook at two in the morning (drunk of course) I woke up to my smoke detectors going off and my kitchen on fire. My sister was so drunk she was cooking on the stove with tupperware plastic products. My own daughter was only 13months old at the time. When the aid unit got to my house my sister refused to go to the hospital. I pleaded with the paramedics to please take her for her unborn childs sake and lock her up so she can't drink. They told me they couldn't force her...that she had rights. What about the babies rights I asked them....they said the baby doesn't have any rights until it is born. So SAD....two months later she delivered and I was in the labor room with her. The alcohol fumes were toxic and they still let her take the baby home. I couldn't believe it. She had two more children after that. Monica being the last (?) All were born with fetal alcohol problems. How did the State let her take those babies out of the hospital still amazes me to this day. Monicas life story is very complicated. I moved to California in 1997 to get away from Monicas Mom....the constant phone calls in the middle of the night, the showing up at my house drunk, scaring my children because her behavior was uncontrolable, stealing my car and crashing it ( hit and run )...I could go on and on and on. You see taking Monica would have meant continued contact with my sister which puts my own children in danger. I could not risk my own childrens safty. I have not seen my sister for the last ten years because of her lifestyle. I would gladly take Monica as I tried to do before when she was one but my sister wouldn't let me unless I turned Monica over to Enrique which I refuesed to do so....Monica ended up spending her first Christmas and her first birthday in fostercare while her mother sat in jail. How sad is that? If my sister was locked up and I could be guarenteed no harrasment from my sister I would more than happily take on the care of Monica. I have 3 children, 2 are grown and gone but I still have my 12 year old son at home still who is Monicas cousin. I have pictures of them together when they were little....it's sad to say but I knew back then Monica didn't stand a chance. The State seems to protect the mothers rights not the childs. The alcoholic mother chose Enrique to raise her daughter and the State let her make that decision so she could have continued contact with Monica. I wanted Monica to have no contact with my sister for Monicas own well being. Ah but the Mother has rights, let's not forget. This sad sad story could have been prevented from the start.

Celeste,

I appreciate all the support and patience you have given your sister, Monica's mother. However, I take issue with the notion that Mothers have rights in this state. When it comes to children's issues, the only party with rights is the state.

It is very unfortunate that Mom fell through the cracks on so many occasions. The system is not fair, balanced and anything but just. The system arbitrarily chooses which children it wants to protect and which children should be left alone. Often they over protect the kids that do not need it and under protect the kids that do.

In my own personal case, my son was given to my brother and his wife (who has a violent criminal record). They are supposed to be adopting him. My parental rights are terminated and they have a protective order against me. My appeal is progressing, and I am hoping for a reversal so I can get my son out of the precarious conditions the state has placed him in. My son ended up in foster care over a spanking I gave him (no bruises, no marks, no pictures, no police report, no arrest, no charges, nothing). We were also had little money for adequate housing, let alone his birthday. I proceeded through all the services, and had to pay for them myself, even though I was unemployable at the time. I owe a lot back in loans to do this.

The department took my rights the moment they took my son. We had no visitation, except a few phone calls, in two years. Received no school records, sparse medical records, and was prevented from making inquiries into his wellbeing. For his 12th birthday he cried to me on the phone, to the case worker, to his CASA, and everyone for a visit with me. Now how sad is that, to hear your little boy crying because he misses you, and absolutely nothing you can do about it.

They system is arbitrary.

I Was Monica's foster mom in 1998 and I had to turn her over to Rico, That was very hard to do but I was told he passed all the tests and did all the classes he was supposed to do. Monica was a sweet little girl and very loving. If I could have I would have kept her but that was not possible under the circumstances. I pray she gets some counseling and goes on to a very happy life.

I am Monica's mother. I have been trying to write a response to this article, since I read it, but everything seems to come out wrong in writing. I am going to do the best I can.

First of all, I would give anything for none of this to have happened. My poor choices in life have caused harm to so many people, most of all my children; Monica being hurt the worst. She is a beautiful, sweet girl with a heart as big as the Universe. The last time I saw her was on her 12th birthday, six weeks after that she was taken from Enrico. She is 13 now. To say I miss her is an understatement, I love her, I miss her, I miss the special times we shared. It brings me to tears just thinking about them

I have been an an practicing alcoholic for alot of Monica's young life. That I am not going to deny. I would like to say I have been sober for almost 2 years. It will be two years the end of July. I am employed full time, trying to take it one day at a time. It seems every time I turn on the news or read a newspaper in the last 15 months, I am constantly reminded of the awful choices I have made and what I have put my kids through. Monica has to live with it every day of her young life, I wish I could take away all the pain and hurt she has gone through. Some of what has been written and reported about Monica, and myself is true, alot of it is not,or highly exaggerated. Celeste for example, what I read hurts me, more than words can say, I am not going to even acknowledge what you had to say except to say I thought you left to be closer to the guy you were going to marry, you have never been in the delivery room with me, your statement 'the delivery room smelled so strong of alcohol' no Doctor or hospital in their right mind would have allowed me to take my baby home if that were the case. How come you never mentioned any of these feelings to me? It has been over 10 years now You did call me about a month ago and did not mention any of this.

I had Monica tested at the U of W, when she was 2, by a world renowned doctor that specializes in FAS and FAE. I have read every book on the subject that I could get my hands on. She was diagnosed with some gross motor skill delays and some fine motor skill delays, she does not have FAS, for that I am so grateful, she more than likely has some Fetal Alcohol effects. she has never had to repeat a grade in school, she did have to have help in reading and math I did not drink through my whole pregnancy with Monica. I was in a inpatient Treatment center for several months of my pregnancy of which time I did not drink at all. My kids were all born alcohol and drug free, that is all on record. Monica has a 16 year old brother that has a 3.1 GPA, is active in school sports and I would like to add loves her and misses her very much. CPS will not let me or anyone in my family have any contact, they say I am not her mother because I have no parental rights. For reasons I highly regret, I relinquished my rights 10 years ago, at that time I thought I had no other options and it was my only way to stay in Monica's life. However, I was able to write letters via email through her old CPS caseworker, to Monica when she was taken into CPS custody in February 2006, I received one letter in that time from her around Christmas of this year, I know it was from her because she signed it "Poochie" which was my nickname for her, only she would know. She told me how she misses me sooo much(her exact words) I sent her Christmas and Birthday gifts through CPS, she now has a new caseworker so I have never heard back from her. I don't even know if she received her gifts, I can't get her new caseworker to return my emails or phone calls.

The guilt and shame never goes away, I live with this everyday, I just hope and pray Monica is doing OK and she know how much I love her.

why is a minor childs name posted in this paper??????? does she not have any rights to privacy??????? :( what a sick and sorry situation.

Monicas mother..........Just shows how alchohol has affected you. I did not move to California to marry some guy...how rediculous, I was married when we moved to California and had been for five years. Also, how can you say I wasn't in the labor room with you with your first born, while his father was standing outside the room and couldn't bring himself to come in. I was very much there........you'd probably remember such an important event had you not been drunk. I will not argue with you....you know what your drinking has done to yourself and to everyone that has ever been around you. Don't kid yourself. Your writing here is not impressive.....nobody is fooled by it. Your actions through out Monicas life speak louder than anything you could possibly say. I didn't even touch on the whole picture. If you are sober now than congradulations.......unfortunately I have fallen for that one to many times from you.

Angel and Celeste, please stop this. Your children are reading this and they are ashamed of you. Is there really nothing better that you could be doing with your time then airing our family’s dirty laundry on a public forum? Is the chance to have strangers listen to you worth the pain and shame of your own children?

I have just read this article and all the commments. I am in total disagreement with what Celeste has wrote about her sister. I have known M's Mom for nearly two decades. She is a wonderful person who has made her mistakes, But let me tell you she loves her children. Celeste look at yourself first, before you judge and slander your sister as you did.

my daughter, age 18 had a baby girl which she emotionally has neglected since birth. She leaves the baby in soaked diapers for hours, refuses to give her a bottle when she is hungry, and today she shoved me out of the way when I tried to change the baby's diaper.

She played "innocent" when her boyfriend's mother called my house, and so she took the car and drove over there for the weekend.

My husband is a narcissist (diagnosed by our marriage therapist), and he just keeps saying "everyone just needs to let her raise her own baby!" he's an idiot, to put it mildly.

My 14 year old is taking the side of the 18 yr old daughter against me, of course. This entire family is full of mental derangement and I sometimes just want OUT.

I have reported my daughter's behavior to CPS, DCFS, her doctor's nurse, Healthy Family organization, and nothing is being done, because they told me there has to be evidence of abuse or neglect.

I am beside myself with concern sometimes for this poor little baby girl. When I talk to her she looks so happy, yet I have not been allowed to really bond with her. This 18 year old hates me and uses the baby as a weapon to punish me.

I'm believing now for the Lord and the Law to step in somehow. I've done all I know to do.

~yahssis