100 signatures reached
To: The Ohio State House, The Ohio State Senate, Governor Mike DeWine, The United States House of Representatives, The United States Senate, and President Donald Trump
A Serious Change: All Involved With CPS Cases Are To Be Held Accountable For Their Actions. Mand...
Case Workers, Guardians Ad Litem, Supervisors, ALL involved with CPS cases, need to be held more accountable and maybe even more so since they're working with children & families. Anyone who is put down on the case plan, such as partnering agencies, are to be held more accountable for their actions or non-action.
All are to be asked to share information with each other, keep records and share information with other and the parent to the fullest extent of the law (I understand information about the child sometimes cannot be disclosed).
To be truthful with the parent/parents, judges, etc. Not to win CPS cases for personal or professional gain. Don't lie to the judge because the parent made you mad one day or favor one parent over the other because of personal preference.
All meetings, case plan drafts, writings, changes in case plan, visitation, any changes having to do with child/children placement, any contact with any CPS official, GAL or Anyone else that is important to the case or has bearing on what the outcome could be will be video or audio recorded with at least one witness whom the person is comfortable with unless waiving their right to having a witness present. Also if there is a signing of any documentation, if the documentation is not understood or agreed upon with all parties there will be no "punishment" for failure to sign. If the document is not understood, the parent has the right to have it explained to them by an attorney outside of the CPS system, either by their own attorney or an attorney with no bearing on the case.
Parents being able to talk to an advocate or attorney before signing or saying anything to CPS.
Parents having in writing why their children are being taken and why.
Big & Drastic changes need to be made. If children are our future then let's look out for all of them, not just the ones who are better off. Some of these kids escape foster care, get adopted or straighten out, but why can't we do something profound and positive to change the way things have been done too long in this CPS and family court system and too often overlooked or with people not listened to.
Parents who have been through CPS and not gotten their child/children back are not listened to. One reason I believe is that people want to think that they just didn't try hard enough or didn't do what the court asked of them, couldn't stay off drugs. I mean, what other possibilities could there be, right? Sometimes it's true. The parent/parents didn't do what they needed or didn't stay off drugs but then those are those of us who got chewed up and spit back out by a system that I thought I would never have had to tangle with. What purpose does it serve for CPS caseworkers or GAL's, etc., to lie??
I don't know the answer to that, but they do and it's not just an isolated incident. I used to think the same way. I'm ashamed for it cause it happened to me too.
HERE IS MY STORY: (Most of it)
I take full responsibility for what I did, for why I lost my children in the first place. Should I have not gotten them back? I can't answer that but I think I do have the American right to be treated fairly and to have at least been given a chance.
I'll start with the caseworker.
In my case, my caseworker told me to sign the case plan. I looked at what she had written about me and my husband and why the children were taken away. I told her that I didn't agree with what she had written down and I wasn't comfortable signing it. She told me just to sign it, that it was only a draft and we would write a second draft that we were comfortable with and sign it. I, of course, wanted to do what she said and cooperate I didn't want to make waves this early on. I mean, she said it was only a draft and we would rewrite it. WHY WOULD SHE LIE? I don't know, but the second draft never got written, so on paper, it was me agreeing to everything she had written about me even though I didn't agree or feel comfortable signing. Why would she lie?
The caseworker kept no documentation and also lied to the judge months into the case and told him I hadn't accomplished a single thing in my case plan (which I had been with no hiccups to that point). I hadn't thought of keeping my own records and documentation. She was my caseworker, I trusted her. What reason does she have to lie about me??
Caseworker would not listen to me about how badly my daughter's father treated her: Parental alienation, verbal abuse. Instead, insisted that I alienated her against her father and gave him all rights (just in a group home, for the time) whether or not she could see me (even though she was very well supervised in a group home, father refused to let me spend any time with her). She was the only child that a parent got to make the decision if the child could be seen or not by a parent.
Guardian Ad Litem:
Met her for the first time four months into the case. Her first time seeing us or meeting children as well.
Watched me with children for the first thirty...
All are to be asked to share information with each other, keep records and share information with other and the parent to the fullest extent of the law (I understand information about the child sometimes cannot be disclosed).
To be truthful with the parent/parents, judges, etc. Not to win CPS cases for personal or professional gain. Don't lie to the judge because the parent made you mad one day or favor one parent over the other because of personal preference.
All meetings, case plan drafts, writings, changes in case plan, visitation, any changes having to do with child/children placement, any contact with any CPS official, GAL or Anyone else that is important to the case or has bearing on what the outcome could be will be video or audio recorded with at least one witness whom the person is comfortable with unless waiving their right to having a witness present. Also if there is a signing of any documentation, if the documentation is not understood or agreed upon with all parties there will be no "punishment" for failure to sign. If the document is not understood, the parent has the right to have it explained to them by an attorney outside of the CPS system, either by their own attorney or an attorney with no bearing on the case.
Parents being able to talk to an advocate or attorney before signing or saying anything to CPS.
Parents having in writing why their children are being taken and why.
Big & Drastic changes need to be made. If children are our future then let's look out for all of them, not just the ones who are better off. Some of these kids escape foster care, get adopted or straighten out, but why can't we do something profound and positive to change the way things have been done too long in this CPS and family court system and too often overlooked or with people not listened to.
Parents who have been through CPS and not gotten their child/children back are not listened to. One reason I believe is that people want to think that they just didn't try hard enough or didn't do what the court asked of them, couldn't stay off drugs. I mean, what other possibilities could there be, right? Sometimes it's true. The parent/parents didn't do what they needed or didn't stay off drugs but then those are those of us who got chewed up and spit back out by a system that I thought I would never have had to tangle with. What purpose does it serve for CPS caseworkers or GAL's, etc., to lie??
I don't know the answer to that, but they do and it's not just an isolated incident. I used to think the same way. I'm ashamed for it cause it happened to me too.
HERE IS MY STORY: (Most of it)
I take full responsibility for what I did, for why I lost my children in the first place. Should I have not gotten them back? I can't answer that but I think I do have the American right to be treated fairly and to have at least been given a chance.
I'll start with the caseworker.
In my case, my caseworker told me to sign the case plan. I looked at what she had written about me and my husband and why the children were taken away. I told her that I didn't agree with what she had written down and I wasn't comfortable signing it. She told me just to sign it, that it was only a draft and we would write a second draft that we were comfortable with and sign it. I, of course, wanted to do what she said and cooperate I didn't want to make waves this early on. I mean, she said it was only a draft and we would rewrite it. WHY WOULD SHE LIE? I don't know, but the second draft never got written, so on paper, it was me agreeing to everything she had written about me even though I didn't agree or feel comfortable signing. Why would she lie?
The caseworker kept no documentation and also lied to the judge months into the case and told him I hadn't accomplished a single thing in my case plan (which I had been with no hiccups to that point). I hadn't thought of keeping my own records and documentation. She was my caseworker, I trusted her. What reason does she have to lie about me??
Caseworker would not listen to me about how badly my daughter's father treated her: Parental alienation, verbal abuse. Instead, insisted that I alienated her against her father and gave him all rights (just in a group home, for the time) whether or not she could see me (even though she was very well supervised in a group home, father refused to let me spend any time with her). She was the only child that a parent got to make the decision if the child could be seen or not by a parent.
Guardian Ad Litem:
Met her for the first time four months into the case. Her first time seeing us or meeting children as well.
Watched me with children for the first thirty...
Why is this important?
Big and Drastic changes need to be made. If children are our future then let's look out for all of them, not just the ones who are better off. Some of these kids escape foster care, get adopted or straighten out, but why can't we do something profound and positive to change the way things are done? Things have been done the same for way too long in this CPS and family court system and too often overlooked, ignored or people are not listened to.
People who have been through CPS and not gotten their child/children back are not listened to. One reason I believe is that people want to think that they just didn't try hard enough, didn't do what the court asked of them, couldn't stay off drugs. I mean what other possibilities could there be, right? What purpose does it serve for CPS to lie? People who haven't been through it don't believe that CPS could be keeping good parents away from their kids, so they don't believe it and the cycle continues until someone decent somewhere with the power to help make this system more regulated steps in. It's happening way too often and without anyone getting hurt except children and families, our most important asset.
Sign & Share, Share, Share.
People who have been through CPS and not gotten their child/children back are not listened to. One reason I believe is that people want to think that they just didn't try hard enough, didn't do what the court asked of them, couldn't stay off drugs. I mean what other possibilities could there be, right? What purpose does it serve for CPS to lie? People who haven't been through it don't believe that CPS could be keeping good parents away from their kids, so they don't believe it and the cycle continues until someone decent somewhere with the power to help make this system more regulated steps in. It's happening way too often and without anyone getting hurt except children and families, our most important asset.
Sign & Share, Share, Share.