CPS Reform/ Fight CPS

Nationwide, there are State run agencies who are supposed to be protecting abused children in dangerous situations. Each State has many different titles for them. All of them are main stapled as CPS (Child Protective Services). For example, in Texas they're known as DFPS. (Department of Family and Protective Services)

While there is an important need to find abused children and to protect them, the current system is only finding a small percentage of those truly abused children. The rest of their statistics that guarantee a high departmental income are from families who never abused their children. Where they get this income and the sources of information will be posted after the next paragraph.

I am not calling for an abolishment of CPS. What I am petitioning for is an overhaul and restructure to bring them in line with lawful investigation practices, to maintain Constitutional Rights and proper training for Agents who never had children, and psychological evaluations to find and replace the Agents who were themselves abused as Children and see abuse in every home regardless of the situation. This is not, I repeat, not a rare occurrence. I will supply statistics to support this and how this has escalated. I will also supply the sources.

Departmental income has become more important to CPS and their offices than actually finding abused children and protecting them. Each and every time they remove a child from the home, they get paid from the Federal Government. Here they are:

1. Public Law 93-247 known as the Mondale Act of 1974.

2. Public Law 96-272 known as the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980

3. Social Security Title IV-E funds.

The ASFA- Public Law 105-89 known as American Safe Families Act of 1997 is one of the most horrific laws on the books today. While it sounds nice in the title, when you get through the legal jargon, what this means is so wrong. If you ever had a child removed from your house by CPS, even UNFOUNDED and you are innocent, they will take that child in minutes after the child is born! Babies are highly adoptable and the Federal Government pays out $6,000 to the CPS office who conducts the legal kidnapping and gets them adopted quickly without regards to the biological Mother and her family. Since she was investigated once, they do this in the "best interests of the child" as she is a "potential" abuser.

The largest targeted type of families are folks with low incomes, children on SSI and are minorities. If you even have one of those three issues, you are a target for CPS to illegally investigate you. While these things are a surefire magnet, they have been known to do illegal investigations against families if they were reported falsely with malicious intent. Example is an ex-wife wants to get even with her ex-husband and his new family, she could report them and put them through Hell.

Why are the reasons CPS Agents actually find so little true abuse?

1. Agents who never had children and don't understand that a few toys in the corner of the room is not a hazardous mess.

2. Agents are not trained in real evidence recognition. In fact, no Agent in CPS has any training in evidence, the Constitution or criminal justice. They are given anywhere from 3 to 6 months of training, being taught that it is ok to break into a Home without probable cause or exigent circumstances.

3. Agents are trained to use subjective speculation and not objective factual reporting.

4. The Agents do not get psychological evaluations. A number of Agents who were abused as a child themselves see abuse in every home they go into, even if it's not there.

5. Most States do not require Agents to have a degree in Social Sciences. Any degree will do, doesn't even have to be related to the field.

6. The Agency has no checks and balances. A field Agent can lie to a judge or police officer with absolutely no proof and have it entered as factual evidence in a court of law!

7. Agents are trained to believe they are immune from the authority of the First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, Fifth Amendment, Sixth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment. They violate this in every investigation done nationwide.

Here are the statistics and sources to support these facts:

Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the United States. These numbers come from The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN) in Washington.

CPS- Physical Abuse (160) Sexual Abuse (112) Neglect (410) Medical Neglect (14) Fatalities (6.4)

Parents- Physical Abuse (59) Sexual Abuse (13) Neglect (241) Medical Neglect (12) Fatalities (1.5)

As you can see, children are abused far more in care than at home. The calculated average is for every 1 abused child removed from an abusive home, there are 17 unabused children removed from loving non-offending homes nationwide.

Constitutional Violations and Court Rulings that CPS Ignores to this very day!

1. It's unconstitutional for CPS to conduct an investigation and interview a child on private property without exigent circumstances or probable cause. - Doe et al, v. Heck et al (No. 01-3648, 2003 US App. Lexis 7144)

2. All CPS workers in the United States are subject to the 4th and 14th Amendment - Walsh v. Erie County Dept. of Job and Family Services, 3:01-cv-7588

3. Police officers and social workers are not immune for coercing or forcing entry into a person's home without a search warrant. Calabretta v. Floyd (9th Cir. 1999)

4. The mere possibility of danger does not constitute an emergency or exigent circumstance that would justify a forced warrantless entry and a warrantless seizure of a child. Hurlman v. Rice (2nd Cir. 1991)

5. Police officer and social worker may not conduct a warrantless search or seizure in a suspected child abuse case absent exigent circumstances. Defendants must have reason to believe that life or limb is in immediate jeopardy and that the intrusion is reasonable necessary to alleviate the threat. Searches and seizures in investigation of a child neglect or child abuse case at a home are governed by the same principles as other searches and seizures at a home. Goodv. Dauphin County Social Services (3rd Cir. 1989)

6. The Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures extends beyond criminal investigations and includes conduct by social workers in the context of a child neglect/abuse investigation. Lenz v. Winburn (11th Cir. 1995)

7. Making false statements made to obtain a warrant, when the false statements were necessary to the finding of probable cause on which the warrant was based, violates the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement. Aponte Matos v. Toledo Davilla (1st Cir. 1998)

What can be done to change this for a better, more healthy Child Protection System?

I. Child Abuse is a Crime, not a touchy feely civil complaint and should be investigated as a crime.

II. Have the abuse allegations investigated by a Detective or Police Officer, who are trained for this as a career, whereas CPS workers are not. All investigations are joint ones with said Officers of the Law and with warrants properly issues under probable cause.

III. Re-train Agents to respect and obey the laws of the Constitution of the United States. If a family is guilty of abuse, a legal investigation will find it.

IV. Repeal the Mondale Act, Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act, Title IV-E rewards to CPS from Social Security and the American Safe Families Act. Remember, they are not what the title sounds like and has been the root core of many loving homes losing their children to a system that will abuse them.

V. Make CPS legally investigate those who sign up to be foster parents. They do not do this today, and many foster parent who want the money for fostering them are actually child abusers who never get caught!

VI. All interviews to be audio and video recorded just like it happens with the police!

VII. Hold CPS Agents and foster parents and the records keeper responsible for every child who vanishes or dies in their care for their location.

VIII. Also investigate the person or persons reporting the abuse, and if done maliciously with intent to disrupt a family, prosecute the reporter to the fullest extent of the Law regarding making false claims to Government Agencies to affect an unnecessary and costly investigation.

IX. Abuse is a Crime, guarantee the accused retain their right to face their accusers in a court of law. As the system currently is, this is not done.

X. The Children are to be tracked on a weekly basis, so no more children vanish in the system.

XI. If a disabled, mentally retarded or sick Child is put into Foster Care, the Child's current Physician will need to provide a copy of the diagnosis and treatment, and medications, if any, will be provided as prescribed by the Physician. All appointments must be kept while in Foster Care. Any violations without a very good reason will result in the Foster Parents losing their certification for Foster Care.

XII. If a Foster Child dies while in Foster Care, there will be an Investigation by the FBI and all parties responsible for the Death of a Child will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

XIII. There will be a National Database where all known abusers are recorded and can be accessed by Law Enforcement. Everyone who is found not guilty won't have their Convictions and Abuse Reports listed. It will be illegal to keep records of any sort on innocent individuals or families. If they are convicted in a court of law by a jury of their peers, then the report of abuse they are guilty of will be the only report listed.

Currently, none of this is done, and innocent families who are not guilty of anything are losing their Children based on the word of others where there is no burden of proof for Prosecution, for the sake of getting Federal Funds for tens of thousands of dollars. The few truly abused children are ending up in a system where they are worse off than where they came from, even to the extent of being killed. Also, the innocent children who are never abused are also killed.

Injustice against one American is injustice against all Americans. Help us put the Justice back into Child Protective Services and get them focused on finding and saving abused children. It's time we removed them from the profitable business of tearing loving non-offending families apart.

 

http://fight-cps.rallycongress.com/1448/go/

 

 

Child-Snatching to Reap Federal Funds: The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 | OpenMarket.org

Child-Snatching to Reap Federal Funds: The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 | OpenMarket.org

An article called “The 7 Most Horrifying Cost-Cutting Measures of All Time” decries the role of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 in children being snatched from loving families by state officials and then put into foster homes by Child Protective Services (CPS). According to the 1997 law, “for each child adopted into a foster family, the responsible state receives $4,000 to $6,000, with an additional $20 million bonus if it exceeds the average number of adoptions from previous years.” The article says that that incentive “encourages CPS to make an increasingly liberal interpretation of the term ‘rescue.’ Consider that, a few years ago, CPS employee Pat Moore was fired for refusing to put a child in a foster home simply because everyone in the foster family had a felony conviction, and the family occasionally hired a convicted sex offender to babysit. “ Similarly, the article alleges that “when Vanessa Shanks’ child was taken away and she fought the decision in court, CPS responded . . . by taking away children of her relatives, and after Shanks finally won in court, they took away her attorney’s children.”
The problem of government officials seizing children and adopting them out to receive bonuses is even more severe in England, as I explained a few years ago at Point of Law. But improper seizures of children from loving parents is also a problem in the United States, as I previously chronicled.
English children have been taken from their parents based on mere speculation that they may abuse them in the future, even if the government concedes the child has never actually been abused.
Most newspapers and legal commentators don’t cover this sort of thing, assuming that such actions are either non-existent, or isolated aberrations, and that CPS officials are omniscient and wise when they seize children from their parents. A few exceptions are the Washington Examiner, and Walter Olson, the dean of law bloggers. Olson has discussed the subject, and the devastating effects when parents are not in fact abusive or dangerous yet are put through investigations, or worse yet see their children taken away, at his web site Overlawyered, the world’s oldest law blog, which has been cited by federal court rulings on other subjects.
Children seized by CPS often experience devastating harm. In Doe v. Lebbos, 348 F.3d 820 (9th Cir. 2003), Judge Andrew Kleinfeld’s dissent described the tragedy that befell a little girl who was seized from her father as a result of false abuse accusations:
After being bounced around in the agency and foster parent bureaucracy for over a year, Lacey . . . was ‘diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, hearing voices, and suicidal ideation.’ She was put on anti-psychotic medication. She had taken to smearing feces and to other abnormal and highly disruptive behavior. . . what the county did to her to ‘protect’ her apparently destroyed her. Something in this experience, perhaps being ripped away from her father for whom she consistently expressed love during the whole miserable period, perhaps having strangers strip her and search her heretofore private parts, perhaps being put with caretakers instead of her father, amounted to a trauma that was too much for her.
Ironically, after CPS seizes your kid and places him or her with a foster family, it will sometimes argue that the child should not be returned to you even if you prove you did nothing wrong and that the allegations were false. Why? They’ll argue that the kid has bonded with the foster family and thus would suffer emotional harm from being returned to you. Yet the emotional harm that kids experience being taken away from their parents in the first place seems to be given little weight.

“Twas The Night Before Christmas”

“Twas The Night Before Christmas”

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,
Not a child was laughing, not a present in the house,
The stocking’s weren’t hung by the chimney this year,
Because of DCYF, the children wouldn’t be here,

We begged and we pleaded for the children’s return,
But the DCYF Gestapo love to see Mom squirm,
They claim we’re emotional when we fight for our right’s,
But we’ll never give up this horrible fight,

They’ve made us aware of their corruption this year,
They want all family’s to live in fear,
They’ve taken away what we hold most dear,
They’ve taken away our  Right’s,
We need to stand up and Fight, Fight, Fight,

So the stocking’s are packed away for this year,
I’m sure DCYF won’t shed a tear,
As long as they get their incentive, which they hold so dear,
My Children mean everything, but what does DCYF care?

“A  home for a child”

Webster defines home as “the place where somebody was born or raised in and feels that he or she belongs”   When this is not the case, as for an adoptee who was placed with people who have no concept  of the meaning, unless it pertains to their wants and needs, the word  “home”  has  a completely  different definition. 

A  home is much more than 4 walls and a roof  to live in.  It is but not limited to...

1.       A  soft place to land when you’ve had a rotten day.

2.       A  place that is full of people who love each other and protect each other.

3.       A  place where you are respected and your feelings and needs are met by people who are eager and willing to put their own  needs and wants aside to meet yours if the situation calls for it.

4.       It is a place where a  person is not afraid to go to sleep at night, Where locking the bedroom door is never crosses your mind because the other family members respect you privacy and will not enter unless invited.

5.       A  home is where you can feel  free to just be yourself because no matter what you know your family will never stop loving you.

Just because someone wants to be a parent does not give them the “right” to have one.  Just because they have the means to support one, does not make them good parent material. Just because they go to church every time the doors are open does not make them good Christians, Jew or whatever their faith is.  

Why can’t people  accept the fact that sometimes it only takes a little bit of scratching to unearth the true nature under the façade these “good people” are showing.

It’s a sad fact but so true that until changes are made abuse of adopted and foster children, as well as bio-children will continue because of this ignorance.

"Touched by Adoption, With a Blowtorch!!!" http://shelby-girl-walker.virtual-memorials.com/

California Court of Appeal Affirms Mom's $4.9 Million Award Against Social Services Agency

RE: Fogarty-Hardwick v. County of Orange, et al. Superior Court of California, County of Orange Case No. 01CC02379 (Trial before Hon. Ronald L. Bauer, Dept. CX103) In 2007 an Orange County jury returned a $4.9 million verdict in favor of Deanna Fogarty-Hardwick finding that county social workers had lied to the juvenile court in order to cause the removal of Fogarty-Hardwick's young children - 6 and 9 years old at the time. In a unanimous scathing opinion issued Monday, June 14, 2010, Division Three of the Fourth District Court of Appeal noted that the evidence presented at trial led both the judge and jury to conclude that "something seriously wrong had been done to Fogarty-Hardwick" and that the conduct of the social workers was not "an isolated incident." The Court of Appeal went on to chastise the County saying "This conclusion is something that should be taken very seriously.

San Diego, CA (PRWEB) June 18, 2010

A California Appellate Court found this week against Orange County and its Social Services Agency, and Affirmed what is called a “Substantial” damages award arising from a Civil Rights Verdict obtained in May 2007.
After in depth review of extensive briefs and a complex record, Division Three of the Fourth District Court of Appeal for the State of California issues its opinion today affirming an Orange County jury’s verdict awarding Deanna Fogarty-Hardwick approximately $4.9 million against the County of Orange, and two of its social workers.
In its opinion, the Court of Appeal voiced its concerns over what happened to Ms. Fogarty-Hardwick: “Stated plainly, the outcome of this case cannot be dismissed as merely the unfortunate product of a runaway jury. The evidence adduced at trial obviously caused both the jury and the judge to conclude not only that something seriously wrong was done to Fogarty-Hardwick in this case, but also that the wrongful conduct was not an isolated incident. That conclusion is something the County should be taking very seriously.”
The underlying case was filed by Deanna Fogarty-Hardwick against the County of Orange in February 2001. The suit alleged that Orange County, social worker Marcia Vreeken and her supervisor Helen Dwojak violated Ms. Fogarty-Hardwick’s constitutional rights to raise and associate with her children free from governmental interference.
On March 23,2007 an Orange County Jury found against Orange County, social worker Marcia Vreeken, and social worker supervisor Helen Dwojak and awarded monetary damages of $4.9 million. A third social worker, Elaine Wilkins was found not liable.
Lead attorney Shawn A. McMillan states: “Ms. Fogarty is very pleased with the Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold the verdict. This case encompasses extremely important issues for the people of Orange County, and the People of the State of California. Allegations of social worker misconduct of the type proven in this case is "ubiquitous" as admitted in an Amicus Brief filed by the California Association of Counties. Hopefully, the 52 counties that belong to the association will take note of the outcome of this case and promulgate policies to prevent their social workers from engaging in this type of conduct in the future.”
    San Diego Lawyer Shawn A. McMillan, of the Law Offices of Shawn A.
    McMillan, was lead trial counsel in the case, and the lead
    appellate attorney. Attorney Sondra Sutherland was co-counsel at trial and assisted on the appeal.
RE: Fogarty-Hardwick v. County of Orange, et al.
Superior Court of California, County of Orange
Case No. 01CC02379 (Trial before Hon. Ronald L. Bauer, Dept. CX103)
###

In this case, the jury specifically concluded that Vreeken and Dwojak lied, falsified evidence, and suppressed exculpatory evidence...There was no error in rejecting qualified immunity in this case.

Kisses in the Wind

i hold you in my heart

& touch you in my dreams

you are here each day with me

at least that's how it seems

i know you wonder where we are

what's taking us so long

but remember child, i love you so

& God will keep you strong

now go outside & feel the breeze

& let it touch your skin

because tonight, just as always

i blow you kisses in the wind

may God hold you in His hand

until i can be with you

i promise you, my darling

i'm doing all that i can do

very soon, you'll have a family

for real & not pretend

but for tonight, just as always

i blow you kisses in the wind

may God wrap you in His arms

& hold you very tight

& let the angels bring the kisses

that I send to you each night

Perspective

I hear a mother complain about her child 'talking back to her' & think...

I wish my child could talk.

`

I see two brothers playing tag at the park & think...

I wish my child could do that.

`

I hear a mother complain about her daughter's choice of wardrobe & think...

I wish my child could choose & dress himself.

`

I see my son line up his legos & think...

I wish he would build something with them.

`

I complain about my child's picky eating...

& think about all the children who have to be fed through tubes.

`

I see my child climbing on the table...

& think of the children who can't walk or climb.

`

I see a child with leukemia & think...

at least my child's physically healthy.

`

I receive from & give hugs to my son...

& think of the mothers who've never received a hug from their child.

`

I hear my son say "Mama" for the first time...

& I thank God.

`

I look at my son & am in awe at the beautiful gift God's given me. God only gives us as much as we can handle. Sometimes it seems as though we cannot cope with all the struggles, but we must remember we're CHOSEN as strong parents of VERY Special children.

BBQ Rules

we're certainly into the BBQ season - therefore it's important to refresh our memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking activity - when a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion:

`

Routine...

(1) the woman buys the food

(2) the woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables & makes dessert

(3) the woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils & sauces & takes it to the man who's lounging beside the grill

(4) the woman remains outside the compulsory three metre exclusion zone where the exuberance of testosterone & other manly bonding activities can take place without the interference of the woman

(5) the man places the meat on the grill

(6) the woman goes inside to organize the plates & cutlery

(7) the woman comes out to tell the man that the meat's looking great

(8) the man takes the meat off the grill & hands it to the woman

(9) the woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauce & brings them to the table

(10) after eating, the woman clears the table & does the dishes

(11) everyone praises the man & thanks him for his cooking efforts

(12) the man asks the woman how she enjoyed her 'night off' & upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing some women

If you give mom a muffin

If you give a mom a muffin,

she'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.

So she'll pour herself some.

The coffee will get spilled by her three year old.

She'll wipe it up.

Wiping the floor,

she'll find some dirty socks.

She'll remember she has to do some laundry.

When she puts the laundry in the washer,

She'll trip over some snow boots & bump into the freezer.

Bumping into the freezer will remind her

she has to plan supper for tonight

She'll get out a pound of hamburger.

She'll look for her cookbook

(101 Things To Make With a Pound of Hamburger).

The cookbook's sitting under a pile of mail

She'll see the phone bill which's due tomorrow

She'll look for the checkbook.

The checkbook's in her purse

that's being dumped out by her two year old.

Bending down to scoop up the contents already on the floor,

she'll smell something funny.

She'll change the two year old.

While she's changing the two year old

the phone will ring. (Of course!)

Her five year old will answer it & hang up.

She remembers that she wants to phone a friend

to come over for coffee on Friday.

Thinking of coffee will remind her

that she was going to have a cup.

She'll pour herself some,

& chances are, if she has a cup of coffee,

her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

Scars

Some years ago, on a hot summer day in South Florida , a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks & shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward the shore. His father, working in the yard, saw the two as they got closer & closer together. In utter fear, he ran toward the water, yelling to his son as loudly as he could. Hearing his voice, the little boy became alarmed & made a U-turn to swim to his father. It was too late. Just as he reached his father, the alligator reached him. From the dock, the father grabbed his little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the father, but the father was much too passionate to let go. A farmer happened to drive by, heard his screams, raced from his truck, took aim & shot the alligator. Remarkably, after weeks & weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. On his arms, were deep scratches where his father's fingernails dug into his flesh in his effort to hang on to the son he loved. The newspaper reporter, who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. Then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, 'But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my Dad wouldn't let go.'

The note my oldest, Michelle, wrote. She gave it to me the last time I saw them.

Somebody

Somebody is very proud of you.
Somebody is thinking of you.
Somebody misses you.
Somebody wants to be with you.Somebody is thankful for you.
Somebody wants to hold your hand.
Somebody hopes everything turns out all right.
Somebody wants you to be happy.
Somebody wants to give you a gift.
Somebody thinks you ARE a gift.
Somebody wants to hug you.
Somebody wants to protect you.
Somebody can't wait to see you.
Somebody loves you for who you are.
Somebody treasures your spirit.
Somebody wants you to know they never forgot you..
Somebody would do anything for you.
Somebody wants to share their dreams with you.
Somebody believes in you.
Somebody will cry when they read this.
Somebody needs you to have faith in them.
Somebody hears a song that reminds them of you.
Somebody hopes you understand.
Somebody wonders if you will love them.
Somebody is your birth mom out there...

Title 5-E adoption assistance requirements.

http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_subsid.cfm

provides an overview of the Title IV-E federal foster care program funding

The Federal foster care program pays a portion of States’ costs to

provide care for children removed from welfare-eligible homes

because of maltreatment. Authorized under Title IV-E of the

Social Security Act, the program’s funding (approximately $5

billion per year) is structured as an uncapped entitlement, so any

qualifying State expenditure will be partially reimbursed, or

“matched,” without limit. This paper provides an overview of the

program’s funding structure and documents several key weaknesses.

It concludes with a discussion of the Administration’s legislative

proposal to establish a more flexible financing system.

The program’s documentation requirements are

burdensome.

States may claim Federal funds, each matched at a different rate.

In addition, there are several statutory eligibility rules that must be

met in order to justify the Title IV-E claims made on a child’s

behalf. Some of these apply at the time a child enters foster care,

while others must be documented on an ongoing basis. The time

and costs involved in documenting and justifying claims is

significant.

There are four categories of expenditures for which

Differing claiming practices result in wide variations in

funding among States.

foster care funds received by States ranges from $4,155 to $33,091

per eligible child, based on three year average claims from FY2001

through FY2003. It is unlikely these disparities are the result of

actual differences in the cost of operating foster care programs or

reflect differential needs among foster children.

http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/05/fc-financing-ib/ib.pdf links you to the rest of the brief.... Utah ranked #4 on the list for recieving funds.The average annual amount of Federal

Family Photo 2010

Our Family Christmas Photo 2010....
The only thing that would have made it perfect, my other three daughters in it. I can't wait they are back with me.


.... PRIVACY NOTICE:
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Creed to Live By

Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself for others.
It is because we are different that each of us is special.
Don't set your goals by what other people deem important.
Only you know what is best for you.
Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart.
Cling to them as they would your life, for without them, life is meaningless.
Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future.
By living your life one day at a time, you live ALL the days of your life.
Don't give up when you still have something to give.
Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.
Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect.
It is this fragile thread that binds us each together.
Don't be afraid to encounter risks.
It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.
Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find time.
The quickest way to receive love is to give;
the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly;
and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.
Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been,
but also where you are going.
Don't forget, a person's greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.
Don't be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless,
a treasure you can always carry easily.
Don't use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved.
Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.
Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery and Today is a gift:
that's why we call it The Present.

I Asked

I asked God to take away my pride.
God said "No.
It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up."
I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.
God said "No.
Her spirit is whole, her body was only temporary."
I asked God to grant me patience.
God said "No.
Patience is a by-product of tribulations;
it isn’t granted, it is earned."
I asked God to give me happiness.
God said "No.
I give you blessings, happiness is up to you."
I asked God to spare me pain.
God said "No.
Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares
and brings you closer to me."
I asked God to make my spirit grow.
God said "No.
You must grow on your own,
but I will prune you to make you fruitful."
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.
God said "No.
I will give you life so that you may enjoy all things."
I ask God to help me LOVE others, as much as he loves me.
God said..."Ahhhh....finally you have the idea!"

Exiled Mothers

Exiled mothers

Things that are NOT to be said to Exiled Mothers

1. Forget about it (your baby) and get on with your life. (My response is always, they are my life.)
2. Leave well enough alone, s/he has another family now.
3. You did the right thing.
4. You will destroy/disrupt her/his life if you make contact.
5. You would have been unable to provide for your child.
6. It was better for the baby to have two parents.
7. Let sleeping dogs lie.
8. S/he has her own family now.
9. But you’ve had other children and you should be happy now.
10. Why don’t you just let it go?
11. S/he was better off.
12. It’s water over the bridge now.
13. If s/he needs you s/he’ll come searching for you. You should’nt search for her/him!
14. You made the decision and you can’t change your mind.
15. But you’re not really herhis mother.
16. That was a long time ago. What’s the matter with you?
17. S/he’s turned out to be a nice person, so you should be grateful.
18. I don’t know how you could do it... I could never give up my child.
19. If you really love her/him you will give her up, otherwise you are selfish.
20. No one will ever want to marry you with someone else’s child.
21. There is no way you can work and care for your child properly. S/he will have to spend most of the day with a babysitter!!
22. Don’t get too attached to the baby.
23. You’re so lucky they send you pictures.
24. That’s so nice of them to let you see her/him.
25. Aren’t they afraid you’re going to take her/him back?
26. How could you give away such a beautiful child?
27. You’re confusing them by staying in their life.
28. What a wonderful gift you gave them (the adoptive parents).
29. Tell people to say that their child died.
30. You are not the father you are just the sperm donor. .
31. You have no right to be in his/her life anymore you have relinquished all rights as a parent, no wonder his/her family feels so threatened.
32. I know how you feel.
33. It’s not like you can’t have other children.
34. At least s/he will be loved now.
35. "Thank you for giving me your daughter." (Children are NOT gifts!!!!)Your joy was based upon my pain. Don’t thank me for that!
36. You should be grateful he/she even speaks to you.
37. When she’s crying on his birthday:"This is the price you pay for sin."
38. Get over it!

Adoptees

Adoptees

Things that are NOT to be said to Adoptees:

1. You’re special because you’re adopted.
2. You were chosen.
3. Your mother loved you so much that she gave you up.
4. You’re lucky.
5. It doesn’t matter.
6. You shouldn’t be angry.
7. You shouldn’t be sad.
8. You should be careful what you ask for -- you might get it.
9. By finding her, you’re invading her life.
10. Why are you interested in someone who didn’t want you ?
11. Why do you want to find someone you didn’t ever know?
12. Ever since you started searching you have become obsessed.
13. ...but your adoptive parents love(d) you so much.
14. ...but you’re hurting your adoptive parents
15. Babies don’t remember anything.
16. You’re being ungrateful!
17. You have no respect for your adoptive parents.
18. Get over it!
19. If she loved you, she wouldn’t have given you away.
20. You’re being over sensititve
21. Forget it and get on with your life.
22. Why would you want to find her?
23. It’s the past, you can’t change it.
24. You have no right to disturb her life.
25. ...but your adoptive parents really wanted you.
26. What’s wrong? Weren’t your adoptive parents good enough?
27. You’re being selfish and disrespectful!
28. Didn’t your parents do a good enough job?
29. How many mothers do you need?
30. Oh...you’re one of them?
31. You adopted children should respect her privacy.
32. ...but you look like you come from such a good family.
33. ...but you don’t look adopted.
34. Well, maybe that’s the way it was meant to be.
35. If she didn’t want you then, why would she want you now. You’ll get rejected.
36. You might be opening Pandora’s Box
37. You don’t need to know
38. Your grandmother (grandfather, aunt, uncle, other family member, etc.) doesn’t consider you "family" because you’re not blood-related.
39. Ohh, your so lucky you could be someones love child.
40. What’s it like being adopted?
41. You don’t look like your family, are you adopted or something?
42. Get over it!

Is this Child not mine?

 Is This Child Not Mine?   

       By T. A. Mennie      February 16,1997

 If you can tell me at which point in time my child became not mine, tell me?

 If you can tell me that the child that grew inside my body, born form love, became not mine, tell me.

 When did his genetics his DNA become not mine, tell me?

 When does he not become a part of my heart, soul, my very being, tell me?

 No judge, no law, can now or ever make my child not mine.

 He may have been raised by another Mother, but he will always be mine.

 I shall always exist within him.

 Whether or not he knows it, believes it, or acknowledges it.

 I am a part of my son, he lives and breathes because I loved him.

 I wanted him. I have missed all of his growing up.  I miss him now.

I am his Mother, I am just "Not" the Mother that raised him.

 My son may never call me Mother, but that does not change who or what I am to him.

To be called Mom is a gift, only he can give.

Yes, I know we do not own our children.  But I don’t know one Mother, biological or adoptive, that does not refer to the child she raises, as MY CHILD.

My Name is "Meth"

My Name: "Is Meth"

I destroy homes, I tear families apart,
I take your children, and that’s just the start.

I’m more costly than diamonds, more precious than gold,
The sorrow I bring is a sight to behold.

If you need me, remember I’m easily found,
I live all around you - in schools and in town.

I live with the rich; I live with the poor,
I live down the street, and maybe next door.

I’m made in a lab, but not like you think,
I can be made under the kitchen sink.

In your child’s closet, and even in the woods,
If this scares you to death, well it certainly should.

I have many names, but there’s one you know best,
I’m sure you’ve heard of me, my name is crystal meth.

My power is awesome; try me you’ll see,
But if you do, you may never break free.

Just try me once and I might let you go,
But try me twice, and I’ll own your soul.

When I possess you, you’ll steal and you’ll lie,
You do what you have to -- just to get high.

The crimes you’ll commit for my narcotic charms,
Will be worth the pleasure you’ll feel in your arms, your lungs your nose.

You’ll lie to your mother; you’ll steal from your dad,
When you see their tears, you should feel sad.

But you’ll forget your morals and how you were raised,
I’ll be your conscience, I’ll teach you my ways.

I take kids from parents, and parents from kids,
I turn people from God, and separate friends.

I’ll take everything from you, your looks and your pride,
I’ll be with you always -- right by your side.

You’ll give up everything - your family, your home,
Your friends, your money, then you’ll be alone.

I’ll take and take, till you have nothing more to give,
When I’m finished with you, you’ll be lucky to live.

If you try me be warned - this is no game,
If given the chance, I’ll drive you insane.

I’ll ravish your body, I’ll control your mind,
I’ll own you completely! , your soul will be mine.

The nightmares I’ll give you while lying in bed,
The voices you’ll hear, from inside your head.

The sweats, the shakes, the visions you’ll see,
I want you to know, these are all gifts from me.

But then it’s too late, and you’ll know in your heart,
That you are mine, and we shall not part.

You’ll regret that you tried me, they always do,
But you came to me, not I to you.

You knew this would happen, many times you were told,
But you challenged my power, and chose to be bold.

You could have said no, and just walked away,
If you could live that day over, now what would you say?

I’ll be your master, you will be my slave,
I’ll even go with you, when you go to your grave.

Now that you have met me, what will you do?
Will you try me or not? It’s all up to you.

I can bring you more misery than words can tell,
Come take my hand, let me lead you to hell.

If you care enough, please copy, paste and send this profound poem to all your friends; and share the deadly outcome of this drug that is killing our young people & even our old.

Why?

Why?

I heard I should forgive you even though you took me from my mom;

You knew my Mommy loved me, and was never mean or bad.

Some people also say I should tell you that I love you,

Even after all the pain you made me suffer through,

By the lies in which you told made it so I couldn’t see my mom.

But through my tears I wonder,’ why should I even bother?"

You took away important years meant for mom and me-

I missed out on so very much, this wasn’t meant to be!

I didn’t get to do the things Moms and their children do,

I was denied my Mommy, and all because of you!

I didn’t get to feel her warm hugs whenever I was sad;

She wasn’t there to sit with me at night when I was scarred.

She couldn’t chase away the monsters hiding under my bed;

Because of you, there are times I wished I was dead!

"Where’s my Mommy?" I would cry, "why did she have to go?

I need and want my Mommy! Oh, I love and miss her so!"

Yet, even though my Mom’s not here, I feel her in my heart….

As we love eat other so very much, our spirits will never part.

I’ll say I love and forgive you now, because I know

My Mommy’s always with me, even though you made her go!

Sincerely, Me

That'll Do

A kind and steady heart

Can make a grey sky blue

And a task that seems impossible

Is quite possible for you

A kind and steady heart

Is sure to see you through

It might not seem like very much right now

But it’ll do, it’ll do

When you find yourself in the middle of a storm

And your tired cold and wet

And your looking for a place that’s cozy and warm

You’ll make it if you never forget

A kind and steady heart

Can conquer doubt and fear

A little courage goes a long way

Gets you a little further down the road each day

And before you know it

You’ll hear someone say

That’ll do babe, that’ll do.

Your Heart Will Lead You Home......

Sunny days and starry nights and lazy afternoons

You’re countin’ castles in the clouds and hummin’ little tunes

But somehow, right before your eyes the summer fades away

And everything is different, everything has changed

If you feel lost and on your own

Far from home

Your never alone, you know

The ones who care

They all will be waiting there

With love to share

And your heart will lead you home

Funny how a photograph can take you back in time

To faces and embraces that you’d thought you left behind

They’re trying to remind you that your not the only one

No one is an island when all is said and done

There’ll come a day when your losing your way

And you don’t know where you belong they say that

"Home is where the heart is"

So follow your heart

And know that you can’t go wrong

Walk with me

Walk in my shoes for one single day.

Then you’ll see why I need to pray.
Come live in my home for a week or two
And then remember I am just like you.
I didn’t ask for the things I was given
I didn’t choose this road I have taken
Walk a mile with me hand in hand
Then perhaps you will understand.
I’m not really complaining about the stress in my life,
I know that we all have some toil and some strife.
But walk with me, when you think
I am wrong, walk with me and you’ll start to belong.
Embrace my sorrows, like they are your own,
And then you will know me and see I have grown.
The journey I take is different from yours,
My life took one of those unexpected detours.
But this road that I travel is not really so long,
If the people who watch me will join in my song.
Listen to my footsteps and watch how I dance
And then you will know me and give me a chance.
Take heart and remember it can happen to you,
who knows where my pathway will cross over to you?
So speak to me softly if you can’t understand
Remember I once stood right there where you stand.
And walk with me gently when the day is at end.
And then I will know
I can call you my
Friend.

Please just let me cry

Please, don’t ask if I’m over it yet.

I will never be over it.

Please, don’t tell me he’s in a better place.

He isn’t here with me.

Please, don’t tell me he isn’t suffering,

I haven’t come to terms with

Why he had to suffer at all.

Please, don’t tell me that you know how I feel,

Unless you’ve lost a child, too.

Please, don’t ask me if I feel better.

Bereavement isn’t a condition that clears up.

Please, don’t tell me at least you

Had him for sometime…

When would you chose for your child to die?

Please, don’t tell me God never gives

Us more than we can bear.

Please, just say your sorry.

Please, just say you remember my child,

If you do.

Please, just mention their name.

Please, just let me cry.

For

"Baby J"

23 July 2005

"Children learn what they live"

If a child lives with criticism- he learns to condemn.

If a child lives with security- he learns to have faith.

If a child lives with hostility- he learns to fight.

If a child lives with fairness- he learns justice.

If a child lives with ridicule- he learns to be shy.

If a child lives with praise- he learns to appreciate.

If a child lives with shame- he learns to feel ashamed.

If a child lives with encouragement- he learns confidence.

If a child lives with tolerance- he learns to be patient.

If a child lives with approval- he learns to like himself.

If a child lives with acceptance and friendship-

He learns to find love in the world

.

Family & Friends

Family & Friends

The two things we’re most grateful for

Are our family and our friends-

The care they have provided,

The love so strong and true,

the thoughtfulness that’s spoken

In words and actions, too.

Our grandmas and our grandpas,

Our mothers and our fathers,

Our brothers and our sisters

Are there through good and bad.

They’re special friends to share with,

Our smiles, our hopes, our fears.

When counting all Gods blessings,

-Gifts of love that never end-

We can count on friends and family

And our family as true friends

.

Observations

Observations…*I used to eat a lot of natural foods, until I learned that most people die of natural causes.
*The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.
*Never take life seriously, nobody gets out alive anyway.
*There are two kinds of pedestrians, the quick and the dead.
*Life is sexually transmitted.
*An unbreakable toy is useful for breaking other toys.
*If quitters never win, and winners never quit, who’s the fool who said "quit while your ahead."
*Healthy is merely the slowest rate at which one can die.
*The only difference between a rut and a grave, is the depth. Dr Phil says that a rut is just a grave
that is open on both ends.
*Always get the last word in: apologize.
*Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.
*When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is
to pull it out. If it comes out easily, it’s a valuable plant.
*Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach that person to use the internet and they
wont bother you for weeks.
*Some people are like slinkies, not really good for anything, but you still cant help but smile
when you see one tumble down the stairs.
*Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.
*Have you noticed that since everyone has a camcorder these days, no one talks about seeing
UFO’s like they used to?
*All of us could take a lesson from the weather, it pays no attention to critics.
*Why does a slight tax increase cost you two hundred dollars and a substantial tax cut saves you
thirty cents?
*In the 60’s, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take
Prozac to make it normal.
*Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a
very close resemblance to the first.
*How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?
*You read about all these terrorists, most of them here legally, but hung around on these expired
visas, some for as long as 10-15 years. Now, compare that to blockbusters; you are two days
late with a video and those are all over you. Lets put blockbuster in charge of immigration.

Government rewards tear families apart!

My daughters were taken and placed in an adoptive placement before my rights were every terminated. They were even snatched from their grandparents with the sole purpose of making money.......

DSS and affiliates rewarded for breaking up families
By Nev Moore
Massachusetts News

Child "protection" is one of the biggest businesses in the country. We spend $12 billion a year on it.
The money goes to tens of thousands of a) state employees, b) collateral professionals, such as lawyers, court personnel, court investigators, evaluators and guardians, judges, and c) DSS contracted vendors such as counselors, therapists, more "evaluators", junk psychologists, residential facilities, foster parents, adoptive parents, MSPCC, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, YMCA, etc. This newspaper is not big enough to list all of the people in this state who have a job, draw a paycheck, or make their profits off the kids in DSS custody. In this article I explain the financial infrastructure that provides the motivation for DSS to take people’s children – and not give them back.
In 1974 Walter Mondale promoted the Child Abuse and Prevention Act which began feeding massive amounts of federal funding to states to set up programs to combat child abuse and neglect. From that came Child "Protective" Services, as we know it today. After the bill passed, Mondale himself expressed concerns that it could be misused. He worried that it could lead states to create a "business" in dealing with children.
Then in 1997 President Clinton passed the "Adoption and Safe Families Act." The public relations campaign promoted it as a way to help abused and neglected children who languished in foster care for years, often being shuffled among dozens of foster homes, never having a real home and family. In a press release from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services dated November 24, 1999, it refers to "President Clinton’s initiative to double by 2002 the number of children in foster care who are adopted or otherwise permanently placed.
"It all sounded so heartwarming. We, the American public, are so easily led. We love to buy stereotypes; we just eat them up, no questions asked. But, my mother, bless her heart, taught me from the time I was young to "consider the source." In the stereotype that we’ve been sold about kids in foster care, we picture a forlorn, hollow-eyed child, thin and pale, looking up at us beseechingly through a dirt streaked face. Unconsciously, we pull up old pictures from Life magazine of children in Appalachia in the 1930s. We think of orphans and children abandoned by parents who look like Manson family members. We play a nostalgic movie in our heads of the little fellow shyly walking across an emerald green, manicured lawn to meet Ward and June Cleaver, his new adoptive parents, who lead him into their lovely suburban home. We imagine the little tyke’s eyes growing as big as saucers as the Cleavers show him his very own room, full of toys and sports gear. And we just feel so gosh darn good about ourselves.
Now it’s time to wake up to the reality of the adoption business.
Very few children who are being used to supply the adoption market are hollow-eyed tykes from Appalachia. Very few are crack babies from the projects. [Oh… you thought those were the children they were saving? Think again]. When you are marketing a product you have to provide a desirable product that sells. In the adoption business that would be nice kids with reasonably good genetics who clean up good. An interesting point is that the Cape Cod & Islands office leads the state in terms of processing kids into the system and having them adopted out. More than the inner city areas, the projects, Mission Hill, Brockton, Lynn, etc.

Interesting…With the implementation of the Adoption and Safe Families Act, President Clinton tried to make himself look like a humanitarian who is responsible for saving the abused and neglected children. The drive of this initiative is to offer cash "bonuses" to states for every child they have adopted out of foster care, with the goal of doubling their adoptions by 2002, and sustaining that for each subsequent year. They actually call them "adoption incentive bonuses," to promote the adoption of children.

Where to Find the ChildrenA whole new industry was put into motion. A sweet marketing scheme that even Bill Gates could envy.
Now, if you have a basket of apples, and people start giving you $100 per apple, what are you going to do? Make sure that you have an unlimited supply of apples, right?
The United States Department of Health & Human Services administers Child Protective Services. To accompany the ASF Act, the President requested, by executive memorandum, an initiative entitled Adoption 2002, to be implemented and managed by Health & Human Services. The initiative not only gives the cash adoption bonuses to the states, it also provides cash adoption subsidies to adoptive parents until the children turn eighteen.
Everybody makes money. If anyone really believes that these people are doing this out of the goodness of their hearts, then I’ve got some bad news for you. The fact that this program is run by HHS, ordered from the very top, explains why the citizens who are victims of DSS get no response from their legislators. It explains why no one in the Administration cares about the abuse and fatalities of children in the "care" of DSS, and no one wants to hear about the broken arms, verbal abuse, or rapes. They are just business casualties. It explains why the legislators I’ve talked to for the past three years look at me with pity. Because I’m preaching to the already damned.
The legislators have forgotten who funds their paychecks and who they need to account to, as has the Governor. Because it isn’t the President. It’s us.

How DSS Is HelpedThe way that the adoption bonuses work is that each state is given a baseline number of expected adoptions based on population.
For every child that DSS can get adopted, there is a bonus of $4,000 to $6,000.
But that is just the starting figure in a complex mathematical formula in which each bonus is multiplied by the percentage that the state has managed to exceed its baseline adoption number. The states must maintain this increase in each successive year. [Like compound interest.] The bill reads: "$4,000 to $6,000 will be multiplied by the amount (if any) by which the number of foster child adoptions in the State exceeds the base number of foster child adoptions for the State for the fiscal year." In the "technical assistance" section of the bill it states that, "the Secretary [of HHS] may, directly or through grants or contracts, provide technical assistance to assist states and local communities to reach their targets for increased numbers of adoptions for children in foster care." The technical assistance is to support "the goal of encouraging more adoptions out of the foster care system; the development of best practice guidelines for expediting the termination of parental rights; the development of special units and expertise in moving children toward adoption as a permanent goal; models to encourage the fast tracking of children who have not attained 1 year of age into pre-adoptive placements; and the development of programs that place children into pre-adoptive placements without waiting for termination of parental rights."In the November press release from HHS it continues, " HHS awarded the first ever adoption bonuses to States for increases in the adoption of children from the public foster care system." Some of the other incentives offered are "innovative grants" to reduce barriers to adoption [i.e., parents], more State support for adoptive families, making adoption affordable for families by providing cash subsides and tax credits.
A report from a private think tank, the National Center for Policy Analysis, reads: "The way the federal government reimburses States rewards a growth in the size of the program instead of the effective care of children." Another incentive being promoted is the use of the Internet to make adoption easier. Clinton directed HHS to develop an Internet site to "link children in foster care with adoptive families." So we will be able to window shop for children on a government web site. If you don’t find anything you like there, you can surf on over to the "Adopt Shoppe.
"If you prefer to actually be able to kick tires instead of just looking at pictures you could attend one of DSS’s quaint "Adoption Fairs," where live children are put on display and you can walk around and browse. Like a flea market to sell kids. If one of them begs you to take him home you can always say, "Sorry. Just looking." The incentives for government child snatching are so good that I’m surprised we don’t have government agents breaking down people’s doors and just shooting the parents in the heads and grabbing the kids. But then, if you need more apples you don’t chop down your apple trees.

Benefits for Foster ParentsThat covers the goodies the State gets. Now let’s have a look at how the Cleavers make out financially after the adoption is finalized.
After the adoption is finalized, the State and federal subsidies continue. The adoptive parents may collect cash subsidies until the child is 18. If the child stays in school, subsidies continue to the age of 22. There are State funded subsidies as well as federal funds through the Title IV-E section of the Social Security Act. The daily rate for State funds is the same as the foster care payments, which range from $410-$486 per month per child. Unless the child can be designated "special needs," which of course, they all can.
According to the NAATRIN State Subsidy profile from DSS, "special needs" may be defined as: "Physical disability, mental disability, emotional disturbance; a significant emotional tie with the foster parents where the child has resided with the foster parents for one or more years and separation would adversely affect the child’s development if not adopted by them." [But their significant emotional ties with their parents, since birth, never enter the equation.
Additional "special needs" designations are: a child twelve years of age or older; racial or ethnic factors; child having siblings or half-siblings. In their report on the State of the Children, Boston’s Institute for Children says: "In part because the States can garner extra federal funds for special needs children the designation has been broadened so far as to become meaningless." "Special needs" children may also get an additional Social Security check.
The adoptive parents also receive Medicaid for the child, a clothing allowance and reimbursement for adoption costs such as adoption fees, court and attorney fees, cost of adoption home study, and "reasonable costs of food and lodging for the child and adoptive parents when necessary to complete the adoption process." Under Title XX of the Social Security Act adoptive parents are also entitled to post adoption services "that may be helpful in keeping the family intact," including "daycare, specialized daycare, respite care, in-house support services such as housekeeping, and personal care, counseling, and other child welfare services".
[Wow! Everything short of being knighted by the Queen!]
The subsidy profile actually states that it does not include money to remodel the home to accommodate the child. But, as subsidies can be negotiated, remodeling could possibly be accomplished under the "innovative incentives to remove barriers to adoption" section. The subsidy regulations read that "adoption assistance is based solely on the needs of the child without regard to the income of the family." What an interesting government policy when compared to the welfare program that the same child’s mother may have been .. losing her children, and in which she may not own anything, must prove that she has no money in the bank; no boats, real estate, stocks or bonds; and cannot even own a car that is safe to drive worth over $1000. This is all so she can collect $539 per month for herself and two children. The foster parent who gets her children gets $820 plus. We spit on the mother on welfare as a parasite who is bleeding the taxpayers, yet we hold the foster and adoptive parents [who are bleeding ten times as much from the taxpayers] up as saints. The adoptive and foster parents aren’t subjected to psychological evaluations, ink blot tests, MMPI’s, drug & alcohol evaluations, or urine screens as the parents are.
Adoption subsidies may be negotiated on a case by case basis. [Anyone ever tried to "negotiate" with the Welfare Department?] There are many e-mail lists and books published to teach adoptive parents how to negotiate to maximize their subsidies. As one pro writes on an e-mail list: "We receive a subsidy for our kids of $1,900 per month plus another $500 from the State of Florida. We are trying to adopt three more teens and we will get subsidies for them, too. It sure helps out with the bills.
"I can’t help but wonder why we don’t give this same level of support to the children’s parents in the first place? According to Cornell University, about 68% of all child protective cases "do not involve child maltreatment." The largest percentage of CPS/DSS cases are for "deprivation of necessities" due to poverty. So, if the natural parents were given the incredible incentives and services listed above that are provided to the adoptive parents, wouldn’t it stand to reason that the causes for removing children in the first place would be eliminated? How many less children would enter foster care in the first place? The child protective budget would be reduced from $12 billion to around $4 billion. Granted, tens of thousands of social workers, administrators, lawyers, juvenile court personnel, therapists, and foster parents would be out of business, but we would have safe, healthy, intact families, which are the foundation of any society.
That’s just a fantasy, of course. The reality is that maybe we will see Kathleen Crowley’s children on the government home-shopping-for-children web site and some one out there can buy them.