Earlier this year, I sat down with a mother, her case planner and her CPS investigator.
I was the supervisor on the case. The CPS worker began by stating that the mother was suffering from paranoia and because of that, wasn’t allowing her son to go to school.
The mother shook her head in disagreement but waited until the CPS worker had finished talking. Then I said that I had seen her shaking her head and asked … Read More
I was angry at the world when CPS took my daughters Melanie, 8 months, and Amaya, 1 week old. I’d always wanted to avoid my kids going into foster care because my brother and I were raised in care.
But it was a struggle being 21 with two kids and no support. My relationship with their father was abusive and I was broke and homeless, sleeping in the streets. I robbed stores to buy pampers, milk and clothes.
It … Read More
When my oldest daughter went into foster care five years ago, I was 20 and struggling. I’d signed myself out of foster care two years earlier and had been bouncing between youth shelters and my mom’s place.
I went into a shelter after my daughter was born, but a few months later my mother asked me to move in with her. It felt good. My mom had always been emotionally cut off from me. She placed … Read More
For parents trying to reunify with their children, completing the service plan within the 15 months allowed by federal law can feel like an uphill battle, filled with demands, court dates, conferences and impossible expectations.
For parents struggling with trauma, mental illness, addiction, incarceration, poverty, shame and even anger at the system, it can take years to fully comply and reunify with their children.
Here David Meyers, an attorney and Chief Operating Officer at Dependency Legal Services … Read More
After spending four years in foster care, my 7-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter were trial discharged to me in time for Christmas 2015.
The family shelter I was in with my 9-month-old baby wasn’t our idea of home, but my kids were happy just to be back with me and excited about their new brother.
It was the happiest day of our lives.
It was also the saddest, because a big part of our family was still missing—my oldest … Read More
