Who are they?
Child Protective Services (CPS) is a name of a governmental agency in many states of the United States and are responsible for providing child protection, such as responding to reports of child abuse or neglect and more. (Google)
Sadly, Recent report has the opposite as being the reality today.
The child welfare investigations by the these Child protection services have become constant and their presence become terrifying in the lives of poor parents. Sometimes, allegations are not based on abuse or neglect, but those which are often driven by the stressors of poverty, not ideally the character of the parent.
Just as the criminal fair justice system affects minorities, these child welfare has become a system known for it's inappropriate surveillance and separation of families. This is very bad.
Some weeks ago. My pet cat put to birth about 4 cute kitten. Two out of them were becoming overly stubborn and fierce. I decided to sell them out leaving the other two behind. After all, my parent doesn't even like the idea of our house being filled with cat...so reducing their number didn't sound like a bad idea.
Nobody could try to snatch the two baby cat without the mother interfering I was told when I returned from school.
I felt pity for the mother cat, after all who would love the idea of being separated from her children. Regardless, I was able to take away the two kitten for sale. When the mother realized her babies were missing, she has always had these look in her eyes when she see me... Maybe trying to say to me
'I trusted you'.... And of course I felt so guilty each time I saw her.
Let me give you another instance of separation.
Have you ever watched a mother hen protecting her chicks? Have you ever tried playing with it without the mother jumping up to try to defend her chick? If mere animals have such love and affection for their own children and can't watch them being taken away, can you now imagine the lost parents feel when separated from the own children due to one silly reason or the other?
I read about Rebecca Style(name has been changed) lost her children for a year and six month after her elder daughter of 6 yrs told a social worker in her school about her Dad. Rebecca had been a victim of domestic violence and abuse by her husband. She was faced with neglect charges in Family Court for “failure to protect,” her children even when they had never been physically harmed or even spanked by neither her or her husband. In her case, poor legal representation contributed to her separation from her children.
The first day the child welfare system came into my life was the beginning of her confusion she said. I became afraid even to ask for help and was alone with no one to guide or support me.
I got a call from the CPS in Detroit, asking me to come to a Team Decision Making meeting and to bring my children with with. At the meeting, i was told that my husband had been accused of child abuse for abusing me. This meeting was to determine whether I’d failed to protect my children because their father had harmed me and they had witnessed some domestic violence.
She was interviewed for two straight long hours about her life history, her marriage and then finally her kids.
I felt like I was on trial. She said.She thought that the meeting was to help her with the abuse she faced from her husband and openly told them, everything about her life and marriage. She was honest and hoped her honesty would her bring her husband behind bars. But NO, it made the situation worse for she was charged for 'Failure to protect her children' and the were all taken from her and headed over to foster care.
I Lost Everything!Honesty made her lose everything. I remember the words of @eco-alex I read some some days about Don't call the CPS.
She pointed out that sometimes even trying to defend yourself of even playing along with them by giving out more information may make the situation worse. Don't volunteer information for any reason.
You can read the main post in the link below.
https://steemit.com/familyprotection/@eco-alex/don-t-call-cps
During the period Rebecca was separated from her children, she said she lost her job and friends too. How sad! She moved out of the area to some place new where no one knew her and started a new life. Got a new Job and as soon as she was able to save enough, she fought hard to get her children and succeeded.
Today. Rebecca is now an advocate for parent at an innovative services provider.
Together they help parents identify their needs, find support in their communities and other legal support and resources while creating awareness about what they should know about the CPS.
Today, she has gotten back everything she lost which I'm glad...CPS are really black sheeps in disguise.
Thanks for reading my blog. Do well to drop your comment.
Image source; Google
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