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This is the story of the night Doc was removed from my care simply because his county worker wanted him moved. I am now trying to get him back through fighting CPS in court. Doc is pre adoptive and his mother asked me to adopt him.
The night Doc was taken I had to drive him to a strangers house and drop him off. On that night it was raining very hard. As we made the 30 min drive I reached into the back seat and held his little hand the entire drive. He was silent. That afternoon as I was frantically calling everyone and anyone who could stop the removal of Doc I was stoic in my voice, or tried to be at least with the FFA people. I feared they would think I was a lunatic. In between calls I would wail in my little apartment and Doc would track me with his eyes. At times he would begin to cry simply because I was crying. (Thank god for the neighbor girls coming over to distract him after I bum rushed the three of them and herded them into my living room so they could distract Doc.) As I made phone call after phone call I was torn because I was knew I was missing the last few moments of time with Doc.
At 3:45pm I was supposed to have been at the FFA office to hand him over. At 3:45pm I called back to the FFA and said I will not being bringing him in. I had forwarded legal documentation to them showing them that I was entitled to a 7 day written notice of the removal of any child if they were not in danger. Doc was clearly not in any form of danger. He was loved, thriving, and safe. With a single phone call my life was redirected. I went from a very typical foster mother to someone who needed to fight for this baby.
At 4:30pm I met with a lawyer at her home office. Doc was asleep in his car seat when we arrived but woke up once we got inside and her dog began to lick his little feet. Doc was wearing a Carters elephant onsies which said I love MommyӔ which was always weird to dress him in. While sitting in the lawyers office, feeding him a bottle, I got a very angry phone call from the CPS social workers supervisor. At that point I had no intention of handing him over to anyone that night because I knew what was taking place was based on retaliation from CPS for having started looking into how to take legal action and get what is called a Do Not RemoveӔ order so that I could fight them and not risk Doc being taken. The CPS social worker had been tipped off to this by the home health nurse who just weeks before had told me she thought that I should fight for him to be kept in my home. As the supervisor threatened to remove my foster license and call the police on me I remained very flat in my tone of voice. Repeating over and over Sir, what you are intending to do is illegal.Ӕ I understand that you may try to take my foster care license but I am also very aware that I am capable of getting another one in a different county.Ӕ I have done nothing to harm this child.Ӕ And he heard the exact same thing from the lawyer who I handed the phone to after he decided to cycle back into the same bull**** for the third time.
I left the lawyers office with legal paper work to serve on everyone involved on Monday. CPS used the exact same tactic they always use when making illegal removals of children. They removed Doc on a Friday and late enough into the day that the county courthouse would be closing. My mom had come to my house by this point to take my dog to her house in case I was going to be arrested.
By the time I got into the car Doc was asleep again and it was 7:00pm. I pulled to the side of the street under a freeway over pass because it was raining again. Getting out of the car so that I would not wake Doc up I got on the phone with NyD and other FFA workers. While talking to NyD the director of the FFA was on the phone with a very mad CPS supervisor. As far as I know at this time he was threatening to have be arrested for kidnapping. (The very first phone call to my FFA from the CPS social worker at 2:45pm she was threatening to call the police to have them come and take Doc from my house. The ***** knew she was breaking the law.) As it became more and more real that if I did not take Doc to his THIRD foster home I would be arrested. If the police came Doc would have been taken from my house by a stranger and it did not want to put him through this. He needed to be handed over to the newest foster parents by me and not police.
I stood under the over pass and agreed to put Doc into what was going to technically be labeled Respite Care.Ӕ From my understanding this was agreed upon by the CPS supervisor and I would go to court on Monday to start to get him back.
I stopped crying for that time. I drove home to pack up enough things to get Doc through what I had hoped to be a 72 hour respite placement. My mother was still at my house and I asked her to leave so I could be with Doc alone.
By the time we got into the car it was around 7:45pm. I reached into the back seat to hold Docs little chubby hand. I talked to him the entire drive to L&RҒs. Telling him that I am really sorry that I failed him. I was sorry her was going to have to go sleep at someone elses house. That I loved him and would try my ****edest to get him back home. I remember making a continuous effort to drive way under the speed limit to stretch out the moments that I still had him. He was sleep when I unloaded him from the car. I stopped to look at him half way up the driveway. I knocked on L&RҒs front door and was greeted by an older lady who was very cold to me. I felt like she was expecting me to hand him to her at the doorstep. I was sobbing by this time again.
Standing in her entry way I could see her husband sitting on the couch next to a blonde headed little boy. I wanted her to invite me in and ask me to sit on her couch. But she did not. She did not speak to me. I had gotten Doc out of his brand new car seat Id bought for him two days before. He was awake and staring into my eyes the exact way he did the his first foster mother then day I was sent to take him from her. (Friday night at 4:45pm. Exact same MO.) He was still as I held him to my chest and tears streamed down my cheeks and onto his hair. I think I stood in the entry way for about 5 minutes with L not saying a word to me and R sat on their couch watching TV, not bothering to look at me.
I ran down Doc facts. Telling her he had not had a bath yet tonight and please give him one. ғDoc likes water. He only cries if he needs to be fed. He eats 4 oz every 3 hours. Allergic to dairy based formula. Will only sleep on his stomach. Wakes up at 1am, 3am, and ready for the day to start by 6am. I kissed him on his lips and told him I am so sorry and loved him.
His hair was wet when I handed him over to L from my tears landing on his head.
I said thank you to L. Turned around and left. Forgetting the car seat I had just bought I turned around and he was sitting on LԒs lap starring at me.
I dont know how to do this and I hate my county! It is not getting any easier emotionally.
Big meeting tomorrow with the supervisor of the CSW who removed Doc and my lawyer. It should be interesting as I have to idea how it will go.[/QUOTE]
Good Luck with that! You probably can't share specifics, from the big meeting, but perhaps you can say if the meeting goes the way you think it will go.
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OhioFosterMom
I can hardly keep reading this thread. Not to be dramatic, but if she truly said this, it is absolutely DISGUSTING. It's child abuse, really----to repeatedly unnecessarily move a child like that. Uh, Power trip, ya think?
MissingDoc, I am curious , why would you say your county "ranks one of the top 5 worst CPS agencies in the USA" ? That is a huge statement and what document even measures such a thing? I only ask because I want to protect you from making unsubstantiated statements about a county unless they are at least somewhat true.....
Here they can't move a baby without going in front of the judge and requesting a move and having a good reason to move them...
I wish it was set up like that here also bigmomma5. Here everything is in the hands of the CSW who does what ever he/she wants and the supervisors will back up their workers 100%.
agency director was a question for big momma, based on her
"you'll NEVER adopt if you go to the media" comment.:evilgrin: Trying to have your back. Sorry if sarcastic, but in my experience FPs who advocate are sometimes squashed by agency supervisors.
MissingDoc: When you say "the feds", do you mean someone at the level of state governor or state attorney general has taken notice?
BTW: Don't be surprised if they give you a "pacifier placement" of a newborn in the next few weeks or so.....
OhioFosterMom
BTW: Don't be surprised if they give you a "pacifier placement" of a newborn in the next few weeks or so.....
That is an interesting possibility! Most people assumed they would try to come up with some seemingly valid reason for moving Doc so abruptly. She has a lawyer to contest that now. If Doc was returned now, they would be admitting that someone made a mistake in moving him. It makes sense that she might be offered a placement that would be too hard to pass up.
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rainee
That is an interesting possibility! Most people assumed they would try to come up with some seemingly valid reason for moving Doc so abruptly. She has a lawyer to contest that now. If Doc was returned now, they would be admitting that someone made a mistake in moving him. It makes sense that she might be offered a placement that would be too hard to pass up.
from the school of been there, seen that.... (not identical situation, though....)
The idea of an infant placed with me to get me to back off from the appeal and to get me to stop contacting EVERYONE and their mother who could possibly play a part in getting Doc back is a very real likelihood. And I honestly didnt even think about it, all they have called with is a 17 year old male placement. That would make myself and the 17 year old male less then 10 years younger then me!!! I clearly did not take that placement due to age reasons...and unless the 17 year old was cool with crashing in an IKEA crib it simply would not work. :-)
I recently moved from a 1 bedroom apt that was working perfectly when Doc was sharing a room with me into a much larger 2 bedroom town house so I would be more then happy and able to take a placement while fighting for Doc. Which is the reason I made the move in addition to the desire be open for multiple children. Right now I have told my FFA that I will take a single child placement and I am looking for a matching crib on Craigslist as we speak so that housing and beds is not a tactic CPS can use in court to deny my ability to take Doc back in if the judge agrees with my lawyer and I.
I filed the appeal papers today so CPS and all appointed legal teams will be notified of the appeal shortly. The meeting with the CSW supervisor had to be cancelled today because of my attorney being called into an emergency hearing. The supervisor has been calling my FFA trying to get the director to talk to me about how this is never going to work and that she needs to make me stop. (This will not happen and the director is 100% on my side though she has to remain neutral in any official sense to maintain working relations with CPS for the sake of our FFA and the children who are within the agency!)
So I am just keeping up with all my school work, applying to local group homes to find a part time job, researching family law, researching how to best help Doc transition back to my care in case this does in fact take place, and networking with many amazing foster parents! I am going to the CPS adoptions orientation next month when the next one is offered. If I do not get to have Doc back and get to adopt him this battle will not be in vain! I have learned many valuable facts, lessons, and have a new direction I hope to go in my schooling and career. My FFA has started a new program where my lawyer come in every few months to train foster parents how to navigate the family court system and how to actively advocate for their foster children. We have began the works of creating a foster parents support group that will be goal oriented and focused on solutions and meeting each others needs.
TPR will be happening in March and Doc is now receiving services for moderate/severe delays he has exhibited since his 1 month evaluation with the home health nurse.
I greatly look forward to my next placement and getting the appeal hearing date!
By "the feds" I am meaning an agency called MEPA. Here is the link to their site.
[url]http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/civilrights/resources/specialtopics/adoption/mepatraingppt.pdf[/url]
MissingDoc
By "the feds" I am meaning an agency called MEPA. Here is the link to their site.
[url]http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/civilrights/resources/specialtopics/adoption/mepatraingppt.pdf[/url]
That is Health and Human Services. MEPA is a regulation concerning the placement of children with foster families that are a different race or ethnicity than they are. There is no MEPA agency (except Mass. Environmental Protection Agency but I don't think that would apply here).
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[url=http://encyclopedia.adoption.com/entry/Multiethnic-Placement-Act-MEPA/233/1.html]Multiethnic Placement Act (MEPA) - Adoption Encyclopedia[/url]
MEPA (not mass environment) directed me to another agency through an email today that I have yet to get to.
MissingDoc
[url=http://encyclopedia.adoption.com/entry/Multiethnic-Placement-Act-MEPA/233/1.html]Multiethnic Placement Act (MEPA) - Adoption Encyclopedia[/url]
MEPA (mass environment) directed me to another agency through an email today that I have yet to get to.
I'm familiar. I believe all FPs are required to get MEPA training during pre-service. The decision to remove will be scrutinized strictly. Best to you. Be sure to have some fun and not let the case consume you. Blessings! :cheer:
MEPA is for the agency, not the fps. i do not recall ever having MEPA training--i don't place kids, i accept them--and i've been a fp for 6 years.
greenrobin
MEPA is for the agency, not the fps. i do not recall ever having MEPA training--i don't place kids, i accept them--and i've been a fp for 6 years.
The law protects FP and AP rights. It prohibits an agency from denying FPs the opportunity to be a an FP to a child based on ethnicity. Wow. Ohio's on the ball. It's covered by privates and counties in preservice training. The FPs and APs are the ones who file the complaints. Perhaps the law does not require that foster and adoptive parents be presented with a "fact sheet" or training describing the law??
Did your training cover ethnic and cultural sensitivity and care issues, but not your rights under MEPA?
Foster parent complaints can go to: "US Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights". MissingDoc mentions that "the feds" are involved and perhaps she filed her complaint at that level.
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Thank you for advocating for your foster child. Too many just roll over and get the "well I can't change anything because I am only 1 person" mentality. One person can make a difference. Thank You!