Responding to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals recent decision in the Gates case, Texas CPS today issued an “urgent legal advisory” to all CPS personnel warning them of dire consequences for failure to conform to so-called “new standards” in removing children from their homes.
Ordinary Americans have traditionally thought of these “new” standards as something closer to “due process,” a standard that has been with us since Magna Carta, in 1215, but CPS has heretofore been too self-important to bother with it. The world watches in stunned silence as CPS personnel contemplate the very idea of personal consequences for their own misbehavior. What a concept!
I haven’t had time to analyze the advisory in detail, but this introductory wording is both interesting and potentially significant:
The Gates case is significant for two key reasons. First, it sets out a new standard that will require DFPS to obtain a court order prior to removal in a much larger proportion of our cases and affects whether we can transport or enter a home. Second, it is significant because it clarifies that if the standard is not followed, staff could be sued as individuals and lose qualified immunity, i.e., be responsible for monetary damages.
What we’re talking about here, I believe, are simple 4th and 5th Amendment concepts. But for CPS, it’s a sea change. I look forward to reader comments on the advisory.
ht: an AAL
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It will be more than a half dozen underage marriages. We’re up to what …10 indictments, and there will be more. Yes, of course it’s worth the cost, and I think the impact will be far-reaching by the time the feds level charges and Arizona and Utah get their hands on the evidence. FLDS has only been in Texas for a short time, so naturally the crimes committed in this jurisdiction will be limited. It’s a mistake to believe that the evidence cant be used to support charges and convictions in other jurisdictions. This has only just begun. Hopefully it will be enough of a reality check that the FLDS will bring their practices in compliance with the law going forward. If not, they’ll continue to have problems. I think Warren actually welcomed the legal conflict and that is why he pushed the envelope with more and more egregious and shocking offenses — he was actually trying to hsaten the conflict because the instability and uncertainty and perceived “persecution” validates his authority and makes his followers that much more dependent and beholden to him and to the religion as an organism of unity. Think about it.
We may be up to ten indictments, but two of them are about the two men who were arrested at the ranch during the raids, one is for misdemeanors of failing to report suspected child abuse, and one is for a guy who was already in jail. The rest are against four men.
A Grand Jury met inthe same county not too long and issued 18 indictments by the close of the day. This GJ has met, what, 3 times? And they are recycling the same handful of men and indicting a guy who is already in jail. Impressive.
Make that 12 indictments and/or charges. Forgot about the first two.
” Most of them come from abusive homes and they are on a mission to save kids like them. ”
i’m not sure what kind of factual information a statement like this is coming from. it sounds more like you are spouting off on something you know very little about.
in fact, it sounds as if most of the posters in this thread know very little about CPS and the texas family code. first of all, “CPS should be part of DPS, not the IRS”?!?!?! i sincerely hope this was some kind of failed sarcasm. CPS is a part of the texas department of family and protective services, which is connected with neither DPS or the IRS. furthermore, someone stated, “LE should be involved with removals.” oftentimes, LE is involved with decisions to remove. also, CPS workers actually are required to have more education than most LE officers and definately have more social work and less punitive training. so that statement makes no sense. someone else stated the court should always approve removals. THE COURT ALWAYS DOES APPROVE REMOVALS. cps must have a removal approved by a judge within 24 hours. then within 2 weeks the parents have an opportunity to come to court and contest the removal. in many cases, they are given court-appointed attorneys. they have representation. if they were truly doing nothing wrong, their children will be returned. CPS then provides and pays for services to help give the children back to their parents. contrary to what was also posted, there is no individual caseworker who can remove a child without approval. the supervisor and program director approve every single removal
finally, it has always been a rule that CPS is required to have permission to enter an individual’s home. all this information would be easy for you to find out, since CPS policy is posted on the public website. sometimes indivuals break rules; that doesn’t mean the entire agency is bad. i think it takes very small-minded people to assume so.
i would advise that, before you sit from your position and judge CPS , you obtain a bachelor’s degree. from there, get a job that requires 45+ hours a week of very emotionally, physically, and mentally demanding work. make sure you work nights and weekends in a dangerous environment with no way to defend yourself. add in a beurocracy where your indivual voice is not heard, where your days are determined by a state legislature who has never done your job. then turn on the news every night and hear yourself being criticized daily by the media and others who have no idea what they are talking about. make sure your workload is very high and growing every day. make sure you absolutely do not have enough time to get your job done, and no one is helping you. finally, make sure you do this for only 30,000 dollars a year.
then you can complain about how bad CPS is.
1 agree that you have tough job. It does not justify what has been done in the FLDS Case. This has given you a tremendous black eye. You traumatized 0ver 400 children by removing them from their homes at gun point and threw them into the Fort Concho concentration camp. Have you read the reports by the mental health about cruel you were to these children and their mothers. You conspired with Judge Walther to fix the custody hearing against Merriane and Barbara Jessop by suspending the right of discovery. Finally normal people are shocked by the inhumanity displayed the case workers who took custody of poor Merrianne.
I can’t drum up much sympathy for you. Your job is one you worked to get. You studied to obtain the qualifications for the position. You applied for the job. You planned to get where you are. You’re hardly a victim of circumstances. If you think your job is too stressful, start looking around for other work.
Hi Mr. Schulzke, I’m still curious about the lawsuits against state workers vs their department. How do we properly sue the TDFPS, and under what Constitutional right, if a CPS worker knowingly disposes relative home studies and kinship options and lies on their investigation reports. Do we sue that person, the company CPS, or does the TDFPS need suit brought through a federal level? Thanks for publishing your articles. This is helping bring family community together.
LOL
You got bad training and then teamed up with the wrong agency. There are plenty other jobs in more ethical social services agencies.
What CPS needs is thousands of Super Nanny’s. She’s turned some pretty horrific situations around, which included physical and emotional abuse, in two weeks.
Far more effective, respectful, and no one risks loosing their kids. Although, I’ve often wondered if CPS goons watch that program and make calls to the family’s homes after they air.
I don’t know of any CPS stories with happy endings.
Bail, and find more a more ethical employer.
But, as long as you’re here, perhaps you could address a question. Based on the following definition and the fact that CPS/ Judge consider her to be “married”, how can CPS incarcerate her?
From the CPS Employee Handbook:
Law
Child or Minor — A person under 18 years of age who is not and has not been married or who has not had his disabilities of minority removed for general purposes.
Texas Family Code §101.003
This is my favorite off the list of Brenda Scotts call for reform:
7. Child protective agencies should be stripped of their police powers. If an initial screening of a complaint indicates that further investigation is warranted, then the case should be turned over to police officers trained in objective investigation. At all times, the rights of the accused, as well as the alleged victim, should be respected.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_Protective_Services
Implication: CPS workers aren’t trained in “objective investigation.” They go by their “feelings.”
SKK,
I assume, with the comment mentioning that “it’s worth the cost”, it was directed at me.
The number I used of 9, the count which fit the description TBM gave, did not include what I believe are misdemeanors Dr. Barlow faces.
The cost, at best, will provide a few convictions which will not change a great deal. You can’t expect 10,000 to abandon their beliefs just because of any convictions.
The church has not married anyone in 2 years and stated they would observe the laws regulating age in future marriages.
Add in any charges in Utah, Arizona or federal courts, should any evidence obtained at the ranch not be suppressed, and the end result does not change much. The most it will do is add cost to the church. I anticipate Texas will help to pay for that after civil complaints are filed.
The practice of polygany will never die out. It is legal every place if the parties involved do not purport to be married. The FLDS should have had “live with” ceremonies and records that reflect such.
There are no complaining victims, none beyond the ex-member whiners selling books and movie rights. The “victims” identified in charges will either wait for their men or possibly be assigned to others (however that works), as the government can pay through entitlement programs to keep them going if needed.
The “egregious and more shocking offenses” amount to a continuation of practices that were not violations a few years ago and the added marriages to those younger Warren attributed to an urgency when he wrote “while it is possible before the enemy could stop this marriage”
I do not read that as an attempt to “hasten the conflict” for the reasons you noted.
Another interesting thing will be how the trust is dissolved or closed out when all the property is settled. At this point the effort is to put some rather unrealistic restrictions on property if and when church members get it from that trust. To allow ownership while telling those owners who they cannot sell or give their property to looks like a takings case to me.
The balance of the moves by various governing entities being made against the “church” appear to be efforts in the direction of chasing the funds and leadership of that “church”. I do not believe that will accomplish what anyone may be hoping for.
A rough summary of what I anticipate a few years from now is that less that less than 1/10th of 1% of the FLDS population will be convicted, none will abandon their beliefs, plural marriage will continue, they will be less receptive to governing authorities, the costs will be difficult at times and the church will appreciate the big fat check Texas will have to pay them someday.
If $uch result$ ju$tifiy the action in the mind$ of Texan$, $o be it.
first of all, i never claimed to be a CPS employee. by assuming that, several of you demonstrated your ability to make up facts based around very limited information. i assume this is a habit that is also led you to making up facts about CPS based on what is reported by the media. i truly question the intellect of anyone who will form such passionate opinions as yours based on the media. call me pompous if you would like. i personally think anyone who is going to, from a position of complete ignorance, judge 1000′s of state employees is rather pompous. (or perhaps some of you just have a bone to pick with CPS, having had CPS involvement in your own lives?)
“I would advise if the conditions of your job are so horrible and you are so under-paid for your years of schooling, that you find other employment.” again, i didn’t say i work for CPS. however, this would not be the best advice to give anyone who works for the agency, because it is a job that has to be done. currently, the conditions are high-stress and the level of stress can lead to dire consequences. if that doesn’t change, mistakes will continue to be made.
“you KNOW the courts will back you up whether you are right, wrong or indifferent. ” if you believe judges are siding with CPS wrongly, this is an issue you may want to consider taking up with your local county court judges. after all, they are elected officials. i don’t think it is CPS’s fault if judges are siding with CPS whether they are “right, wrong, or indifferent.”
“My symathy lies with children and parents who run into you when you’re PMSing and “just feeling like” having a removal that day.” interesting that you assume i am a woman and again, assume i work for CPS. i don’t think a CPS worker ever wants to remove a child. from what i understand, it is a rather lengthy, stressful process that involves a lot more paperwork. i think extreme comments such as yours have no place in an intelligent conversation.
“What CPS needs is thousands of Super Nanny’s. She’s turned some pretty horrific situations around, which included physical and emotional abuse, in two weeks.” apparently you haven’t done enough research to know that there is an entire branch of CPS dedicated to keeping parents in their homes and training them in a system similar to what Super Nanny does. many investigations are referred to this program. children are removed only in situations where they are in imminent danger. yes, i’m sure there are caseworkers who make mistakes, just like in any other job. unfortunately, human beings aren’t perfect.
edit to last paragraph…dedicated to keeping kids in their homes and training parents….
CC0508 –
One of the purposes of this blog is to invite input from a variety of sources. People are justifiably tired of meddlesome government organizations inserting themselves where they don’t belong. That they do is a fact, not uneducated speculation. It is also a fact — notwithstanding the indictments against a few FLDS men — that in the FLDS case, hundreds of children were unjustifiably uprooted from their homes and families. This is not just simply human imperfection. It was a long-planned, deliberately-perpetrated atrocity that should elicit just as much outrage as many of the atrocities perpetrated by King George III.
This isn’t a simple case of a few caseworkers making mistakes. It is an entire system rotten to the core. And it deserves, as a system, to be raked over the coals.
Yes, there are undoubtedly many good people in the bad system, just as there were in Nazi Germany. But they are good people who apparently are not good enough to stand up and scream when official mayhem is going on under their noses.
K
no, i am not a caseworker for CPS. and no, my feelings have not been hurt. i am capable of interacting in a public forum and sharing my opinions without becoming offended that not everyone agrees. mr. schulzke, if you truly do invite input from a variety of sources, i would suggest that, as the webmaster, you brefrain from spreading misinformation about posters in your blog.
surely you all also realize that there are many people who disagree with you who do not work for CPS. i think that every state’s child welfare agency has issues, just as every government agency does. these are very complicated problems that definately need to be addressed. the way to address the problems with CPS is not to condemn all CPS workers and spread misinformation. it also does not address the problem to assume that everything CPS does is wrong.
“that in the FLDS case, hundreds of children were unjustifiably uprooted from their homes and families.” i believe you are making an assumption here. all the allegations have not been released, so it would be difficult for anyone to know exactly what happens. now if any of you would care to debate whether or not children should be removed from parents who are allowing their 13 year olds to have sex with grown men, that is a different debate all together.
CPS? There are no more substantial allegations left. If there were, they would have been leaked to the media by now. No one has proven that Warren Jeffs had sex with Merrianne Jessop. You are hypocrite. You dont like people making wild accusations, but you dont hesitate to do the same.
i didn’t make any wild accusations. i stated that no one has all of the information.
so, mr. forguson, you are saying that grown men should be able to have sex with 13 year olds? am i translating your comments correctly?
CC wants to debate about some other case evidently.
As for classifying the CPS with a broad brush, it is easier than listing ALL by name at the CPS we’ve seen in action that fit that description.
Maybe in this case if we knew of the CPS employees that do not fit that category, we could add an ‘exception list’ for them. It can’t be too long of a list.
Do you care to share that information?
CC: Clear the air. Tell us exactly what position you hold. Then we will be more likely to believe you when you insist or insinuate you’re not a caseworker.
i believe you are making an assumption here. all the allegations have not been released, so it would be difficult for anyone to know exactly what happens.
BS. Nearly 200 and counting of the children of YFZ have been non-suited. CPS has admitted that nearly 200 of the children they forced into their orphanages were never abused. Get real.
“CC0508 { 08.25.08 at 1:59 pm } i didn’t make any wild accusations. i stated that no one has all of the information.
so, mr. forguson, you are saying that grown men should be able to have sex with 13 year olds? am i translating your comments correctly?”
No. You’re putting words in his mouth.
Probably something you’ve become quite skilled at doing as someone in your (dis)honorable profession.
Best,
Jeny
Here….this press release might help:
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/1998pres/19981124b.html
For Immediate Release November 24, 1998
PRESIDENT CLINTON ANNOUNCES EXPANSION OF THE INTERNET TO INCREASE ADOPTIONS
November 24, 1998
Today, the President will issue a new directive to the Department of Health and Human Services to expand the use of the Internet as a tool to find homes for children waiting to be adopted from foster care. The President will make the announcement with the First Lady at a White House ceremony marking National Adoption Month and celebrating new adoptions in the District of Columbia.
Creating an Internet Registry to Meet the President’s Goals for Adoption. *****In 1996, President Clinton set a goal of doubling, by the year 2002, adoptions and other permanent placements from the public child welfare system. Since then, adoptions have increased; from 1996 to 1997 alone, adoptions increased by over 10 percent, from 28,000 to 31,000. Today, the President is directing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop a plan to expand internet use to share information about children who are legally free for adoption in order to shorten the time needed to find them adoptive families. HHS estimates that approximately 100,000 children in our nation’s foster care system cannot return to their birth families and need families to adopt them. An effective national registry will help break down geographic barriers to adoption and assist in meeting the President’s adoption goal. HHS Secretary Donna Shalala will report to the President within 60 days on a plan to work with the states and other leaders to carry out this effort. *****
Building on a Strong Record. Today’s announcement builds on a deep commitment by the President, the First Lady, and the Administration to facilitate adoptions and improve the child welfare system. Since taking office, President Clinton has championed efforts to make foster care work better for the children it serves, to find and assist adoptive families, and to break down barriers, including high adoption costs and complex regulations:
Look up THIS piece of legislation and read it….VERY eye opening:
=====================
Achieving Landmark Legislative Reform. On November 19, 1997, the President signed the Adoption and Safe Families Act,
=====================
reforming our nation’s child welfare system and making it clear that the health and safety of children must be the paramount concerns of state child welfare services. This landmark legislation was based in large part on the recommendations of the Clinton Administration’s Adoption 2002 report, which the President requested by executive memorandum on December 14, 1996, to meet his goals of doubling adoptions and permanent placements by the year 2002 and moving children more quickly from foster care to permanent homes. The Act tightened time frames for making permanent placement decisions for children and ensured health insurance coverage for all special needs children in subsidized adoptions. Also, it created new financial incentives for states to increase adoptions, and continued funding for services to keep families together when it is appropriate and safe.
Making Adoption Affordable for Families. In 1996, President Clinton signed into law the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996, which provides a $5,000 tax credit to families adopting children, and a $6,000 tax credit for families adopting children with special needs. This provision has alleviated a significant barrier to adoption, helping middle class families for whom adoption may be prohibitively expensive and making it easier for families to adopt children with special needs. Since President Clinton took office, the number of children with special needs who were adopted with federal adoption assistance has risen by over 60 percent. In the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, President Clinton ensured more support for families who adopt children with the $500 per-child tax credit.
Giving States Flexibility and Support. To test innovative strategies to improve state child welfare systems, the Clinton Administration has granted waivers to 18 states, giving them more flexibility in tailoring services to meet the needs of children and families. In addition, the Administration has provided states with enhanced technical support and helped improve court operations. The President secured $10 million in FY 1999 in new funds to support state efforts to implement the new adoption law, and has, through the Adoption Opportunities program, supported state and local innovative demonstration projects to promote adoption, provide post-adoptive services, and build new public-private partnerships. To prevent children from entering foster care in the first place, in 1993 the Clinton Administration enacted and secured federal funding for the Family Preservation and Support Program to help states, local governments, and service providers develop effective programs to serve children and families at risk.
Breaking Down Racial and Ethnic Barriers to Adoption. New inter-ethnic adoption provisions, passed as a part of the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996, ensure that the adoption process is free from discrimination and delays on the basis of race, culture and ethnicity by strengthening the Multi-Ethnic Placement Act which the President signed in 1994.
Providing Supports for Child Protection and Adoption. In 1993, President Clinton signed into law the Family and Medical Leave Act, enabling parents to take time off to adopt a child without losing their jobs or health insurance. In addition, the welfare reform legislation signed by the President maintained the guarantee of child protection and adoption, and did not reduce funds for child welfare, child abuse, and foster care and adoption services.
###
The legislation was called “The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997″
Linky:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/laws_policies/cblaws/public_law/pl105_89/pl105_89.htm
Read these sections:
Linky: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/laws_policies/cblaws/public_law/pl105_89/pl105_89a2.htm
TITLE II — INCENTIVES FOR PROVIDING PERMANENT FAMILIES
FOR CHILDREN
Sec. 201. Adoption incentive payments.
Sec. 202. Adoptions across State and county jurisdictions.
Sec. 203. Performance of States in protecting children.
I understand that there is legislative intent to do this. But what I am looking for is hard evidence that the money is flowing and to whom in exchange for children who have been removed from their families.
The legislation was *****PASSED AND SIGNED INTO LAW ****
by William Jefferson Clinton in 1997, Kurt.
Please READ the LAW that I have posted for you. If that isn’t good enough, I don’t know what is.
I don’t have access to the GSA’s books.
Maybe you do?
Beyond that, do you have proof that the money is NOT flowing?
CC058; While I don’t know much about the Texas family code, I do have some familiarity with CPS and social workers. My dad was a supervising social worker contracted with the state of California. This was a second job for him- he spent 25 years doing something else, and then decided to change. He said he only ever met one social worker who had any common sense at all. I always thought it was pretty odd that Dad was a social worker since he’d been such an abusive parent, but it is true he handled other people’s kids better than he did his own.
My parents were also foster parents for several kids when I was growing up, and they took in a teenaged boy after we were grown and gone, and he’s a married father with a child now, and is still part of the family.
I am a homeschooler, as well, and anonymous hotline calls are the method of choice for disgruntled educators, neighbors, and relatives to voice their displeasure with homeschooling. Homeschool publications are rife with accounts of false accusations made through the hotline.
I am an adoptive mother- we adopted a sibling group of two, older children, one of them with multiple disabilities. Our caseworker was very kind, but she, too, had a shortage of common sense. Our birthmother’s caseworker, likewise, kind, but didn’t think it important to tell us that there were people with court orders against that birthmother because of her violence, and did not abide with our request not to tell this unstable, disturbed person where we lived.
This is why I go anonymous on the internet and have an unlisted number.
Oh- I also lived in Washington state toward the tail end of the Wenatchee Witch Hunts- children removed from families and placed for adoption on the basis of lies and false accusations and a climate of ethics that makes Mike Nifong look like a boy scout.
I have read several books on the Child Abuse industry, including Brenda Scott’s, mentioned above, and it is, in fact, a fact that a disproportionate number of CPS workers do indeed come from an abusive background themselves and their goal in choosing social work is to save others. This is generally true of mental health professionals as well. I didn’t make it up, I didn’t read it on the internet somewhere- it’s documented by the research.
And what this means is that a disproportionate number of CPS workers have no reference for normal family life.
One of the most disturbing accounts I have read was by a social worker herself, who, when she had no children, judged those parents who screamed, cussed, and cried and chased after the car driving away with their children as ‘unstable’ and troubled.
She considered those cooly detached parents who nodded and agreed with the caseworker that they did have problems, who never cried and who thanked the caseworker for her intervention to be good, sound parents on the fast track to return.
And then she had a child. And she realized there was actually something very, very wrong with parents who did not react emotionally to having their children removed, that what she saw as stability was a dangerous level of detachment, and she was horrified at what she’d done in her career.
Worse still was the fact that she could not convince any of her co-workers of this.
Are there good people there who mean well? Of course. Even some of the worst probably mean well. But it’s a poisonous system founded on flawed premises and it must go.
Its function isn’t even to actually protect children- it’s just to make people like you and other d0-gooders feel good about yourselves. The fact that a child in foster care is THREE TIMES more likely to be abused there than at home proves that beyond a shadow of a doubt. If you really cared about children, that stat would make you expend some energy towards rescuing those children from the system that not only abused them, but charges their parents for the privilege of having their kids kidnapped and abused.
It is really so sad. CPS damned if they do damned if they don’t. Too bad we never hear about the many good things that CPS does. There are many. Like any profession, there are some that don’t take the job as serious. I assure you the pay that is received by CPS workers is a disgrace for the long hours, frustrations, disgruntled clients, and system that is set up to not protect kids. And by the way the laws that govern what CPS workers can do or not do to protect children is written by the legislatures that we vote into office. So if someone wants to put some blame somewhere lets start with the public that vote the legislative members into office who sit in Austin making decisions about children and families. Yes CPS should get a court order and as soon as a few children are killed and of course CPS will ultimately be blamed, the law will change once again. We as a society should always aire on the side of caution when it comes to ensuring the safety of children. People spend more time in jail for cheating on their taxes or smoking a joint than having sex with a child or losing with a child that one feels the need to throw a baby against the wall to shut them up and the baby dies. So remember in time that it took you to read my post a child has died from being abused or neglected. Short period of time to read this. How many children do you think will die in the time it takes for the CPS worker to obtain a court order to remove a child. Food for you thought.
Benjamin Franklin said “Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.” I don’t think it’s wise to throw out our Constitutional rights in order to “save the children.” The Bill of Rights is very specific on what CPS & law enforcement have to do & I don’t think it’s asking too much for them to respect & follow those guidelines.
And as for the histrionics about children dying before CPS would be able to do anything, I often read in the paper about children dying of abuse & of neighbors & family members who called CPS to no avail. Of course, in those cases, CPS says that caseworkers were sent to investigate, but they can never find the records of those visits. Hmmmm.
kbp #60
Much of your comment I actually agree with. When all is said and done, a very very small percentage of the FLDS population will be charged or convicted. Likely none will lose their children permanently. Life will go on. The only thing I think that has a potential of really disrupting the group is either running out of money or widespread federal charges with some conspiracy thrown in , but that’s not likely.
Perhaps they will stop the underage marriages for a while, and perhaps not. Perhaps they will curb the practice of reassigning families, and perhaps not. Perhaps they will abolish the practice of casting out teenage boys who do not observe strict compliance of rules, and perhaps not. Perhaps they will comply with child labor laws, and perhaps not. Perhaps they will have all children complete a high school education or equivalent, and perhaps not. Perhaps they will rethink One Man Rule, and perhaps not. Perhaps they will allow private property ownership, but probably not. Perhaps they will allow young men and women to choose their own careers, but probably not. Perhaps they will take measures to reduce the pressure on young women to acquiesce to arranged marriages contrary to their own choosing, but probably not.
I really don’t see things changing much any time soon. Eventually, when you consider the numbers, something’s got to give. The community is inherently self-limiting because of the restricted gene pool.
Social Worker,
Welcome. Perhaps you can help some of us understand why CPS is still seen as the better option when kids are four times more
likely to be killed or injured in their custody.
Why is TDFPS so stubborn? What they’re doing isn’t working. Claiming to protect kids is a fraudulent statement. Wraparound, at the least would ensure kids stay in their homes, except under dire circumstances.
We as a society should always aire [sic] on the side of caution when it comes to ensuring the safety of children.
What makes you think that means “airing” on the side of CPS?
You are absolutely right. You can read in the paper or turn on the news and see where children are abused or neglected and CPS wa involved with the family and did nothing to protect the children. For the most part CPS caseworker do respect the Bill of Rights and 4th Amendment Rights. And that is why we read in the paper about children abused or neglected when CPS was involved. The law is very specific about what CPS can and Can not do. Example….It is not enough for a parent to be using Methamphetamines for CPS to remove the children. CPS caseworkers must show how a parent using Meth is a danger to a child. I do not believe that foster care is always a better option for children and in many cases it is not. However, most oftern it is the safest option for the child at the time the child is placed. I would like to know where you get your stats about children being four times more likely to be injured or killed in custody of CPS? Children in Texas are left in homes with drug addicted aprents, domestic violence, parents with mental health issues, sex offenders and so on. You see it is quite simple. The law even before this fuling states that a woman can move a sex offender in her home and live with her children and it is not until the sex offender has abused or neglected her children that CPS can step in and do anything at all to include leaving the children in the home and educting the mother about signs to look for should her children be sexually abused. Now it makes it even more difficult. With the Gates Ruling, CPS can remove a child that has been sexually abused without a court order but if other children in the home do not make an outcry, those children must be left with the offender until a court order is obtained to remove them from the home. CPS position is if one child has been abused the other children are at risk. I guess that dire circumstances in matter of opinon and what one sees as danger to children someone else does not. I know that as a mother I would not want to take a chance that my children could be hurt from being exposed to being around sex offender.
There is a problem with the above post. CPS has sought to “protect” FLDS children from men accused of being involved in underage marriages. Since the men have not forced themselves on anyone, The “danger” that CPS says that they are protecting the children from is false. There is absolutely no reason for Dr Barlow to be restricted from seeing his children. CPS should protect children from real child abuse. CPS should use common sense when enforcing laws and regulations.
That another child is at risk if another is abused is not always the case. Think for once.
Social Worker in Texas: Those incovenient civil liberites! They are meant to protect innocent parents. If you hurt the parent you will hurt the child. As for having a registered sex in the house, it depends on the nature of the actual offense. Evaluate the situation. Dont just blindly folllow rules. Finally, the fallout of the raid on the FLDS is that you have lost the public trust. People who blog here are angry and may not listen to what you have to say.
The same civil liberties that protect innocent parents also protect guilty parents and caregivers. You statement about hurting the parents hurts the child is not always true. Following the rules or laws of the Texas Family Code is what CPS workers must do. That is what guides them in doing their job. I understand people who blog here are angry and there is more information about the raid on the FLDS that the public is not aware of. Keep in mind that all the public knows is what is reported by the media and lets face it, they dont always get it right and when people dont know what is going on it is easy to speculate. I dont believe that the raid on the FLDS was handled the best way it could have been. But I do know that there was some abuse and neglect going on there. As far as your comment that another child is not always at risk, well, if I put 2 children in a locked room with a rattlesnake and remove one child once he has been bitten, it would be irresponsible to not remove the other child and consider that child at risk. And as far as your comment, “Think for once” while I am all for good debate and respecting others differences, I make it a habit not to get into a battle of wits with an unharmed person.
Your analogy is misleading. Iask you to think and you refuse. What neglect? The parents of the FLDS have been revealed to be exceptional parents. Of course,the media doesnt always get it right.Most of them uncritcally accepted every lie told by CPS. The raid on the XYZ ranch never should have occured. It was based on a hoax.
However, most oftern it is the safest option for the child at the time the child is placed. I would like to know where you get your stats about children being four times more likely to be injured or killed in custody of CPS?
Strayhorn’s report. It’s been cited numerous times here.
http://www.window.state.tx.us/news/60623statement.html
You see it is quite simple. The law even before this fuling states that a woman can move a sex offender in her home and live with her children and it is not until the sex offender has abused or neglected her children that CPS can step in and do anything at all to include leaving the children in the home and educting the mother about signs to look for should her children be sexually abused.
Link for the law that supports that?
Quiet contrary to what I’ve observed. One case that refutes that, and was publicized, is Jackie Reynolds. Charged with sexual assault of a child. Cleared of charges. CPS kept him in their system as a perpetrator and forbide his fiance to allow him around her kids.
I think the court opinion opens up the doors for kids to be in more danger than ever before. I think that the jobs that CPS staff does are not recognized like they are supposed to be. What I would like to know is: since DFPS staff works around the clock 24 hours a day 7 days a week, does that mean there will be a judge available for staff at all time, since they do not have authority to remove without a warrant? This is one of the questions that staff must deal with now. When a worker removes it’s because they believe the child is at great risk not because they want to take legal action. I would like to thank all the DFPS staff for the good work that they have provided to the communities across Texas. Keep up the good work!
A concerned Texan Citizen
We are here blogging here today becuase CPS overreached itself in removing 400+ children from the XYZ Ranch without any of them being in emminent danger of abuse. Angie Voss and her ilk were so caught up in the idea that they were rescuing children from polygamy that the legal nicities were ignored. The claim that the ranch were large household and the current “concern” for underage marriages are desperate attempts at catch-up. Yes, CPS has a tough job to do. It is absolutely vital that they make the right decision. No child should be left in a dangerous situation. Because of the child’s need to be left with someone a natural incentive to care for the child,care must be taken not to unecessarily remove children. Bloggers have been commenting about a foster mother in Georgia who left a foster child in a hot car to die. She removed the two children she had adopted and left the foster child in the car. I am taking the time to point out that she removed the two children with whom she had established a connection and she left the child behind to die with whom she had no connection.
I would personally like to thank the Gates Ruling in helping us fail to protect our children in Texas!!! Think about it….Could you leave a child in a home that is dirty, nasty and has animal feces all over it? Could you leave a child in the care of parents who physically abused their child? Looking at a child who is black and blue and scared and CPS cannot do anything because they have both their limbs!!!! NO, you probably wouldn’t, but CPS has no choice now. The Gates Ruling has now placed thousands of kids at risk. The Gates Ruling will be the reason that Texas children get even more injured or even worse they may end up dead, because CPS could do nothing becuase they still have all their limbs and court was scheduled for two weeks later….Thank you Gates Case for helping child abusers!
This needs to be changed!! We are now failing our Texas Children…They are no longer being fully protected!!!
Nice try, “Concerned CPS Worker”, but this ruling does not prohibit removing children at all.
Concerned CPS worker,
Millions of children will now be saved from the destruction of the CPS monster and the foster care system. The next thing to do is to get rid of CPS entirely, and leave that perceived problem of everyone being an abuser until proven innocent with law enforcement where it belongs, not with child salesmen.
//Millions of children will now be saved from the destruction of the CPS monster and the foster care system. //
Hundreds of thousands, to be more accurate.
To the concerned CPS Worker, Get your head out of your *ss. I have personally seen how the police and CPS work together to remove children. I have friend who works as an LA police officer and he told me that CPS routinely gives envelopes full of cash to the detective he works for in return for taking children from their home. There is big money in taking children and your high and lofty perch disgust me.
The police officer has agreed to testify for me, but he is in fear of his life and for his family’s lives, so it may not happen.
My children were taken by the police and social worker without a court order or exigent circumstance. The problem is that CPS and the police often take children without sufficient justification just like they did in Texas.
I had a 5 year old son with Soto’s Syndrome who managed to escape from our home early on a Sunday Morning December 11, 2005. My step-daughter who was 7 at the time used a pair of pliers to open her bedroom window and help him get out of the home. Yes I had the windows locked from the inside to prevent my son from getting out. He always wanted to be outside even at midnight. The children used a rock to knock a board out of our backyard fence. My son and step-daughter went through a 6″ opening, and then went across the street to a neighbor’s yard. The neighbor had a swimming pool, but the gate did not meet city or state building codes. He drowned. My wife and I were both arrested, and our two remaining children were taken. My wife has been in jail for two years. I am out on an OR, and I lost my family, my job and all of my possessions as a result of this. Yes I am angry.
Interestingly, my wife and I are Christians and we don’t drink, we don’t smoke, we don’t do drugs, there were no unsecured weapons in our home but the home was messy. My wife and I had never been in any trouble with the law or CPS before and we fully co-0perated with the police. They took our children anyway.
No reunification services were provide, and we were railroaded through the juvenile court system. My so called public defender has admitted in an affidavit that she performed no investigation and we were never able to face our accusers or cross examine anyone. When we tried to assert our constitutional rights were told it was too late that we should have raised the issue sooner. We had tried to raise the issues earlier and the attorney’s appointed to us refused to raise due process issues and in fact told us they could not be raised in juvenile court.
My wife and I never intentionally harmed our children. We were dealing with two special needs children. One with Soto’s Syndrome and one who had been in a house fire in Indonesia and burned on 28% of her body. The house was messy and we were exhausted. The bottom line is that we loved our children and we were doing the best we could with the resources we had.
My then four year old son has since been adopted in spite of the corrupt and unlawful actions of the State of California. The police and social workers have lied on the stand and I was forced to file a lawsuit in pro per against the police, social workers and even the doctor involved in the case. I also filed against the police department and the DPSS. The Federal judge has allowed the suit to proceed so far. I am a victim whose civil rights have been violated. Unfortunately when you go to a civil rights attorney with such a complicated case they want a $50,000 retainer.
So here I am a broken man, who has been abused by the system, my family decimated and scattered.
My case is too complicated to detail in this type of forum but I will say that you can take your lofty attitude and shove it, you don’t know about any family from a two hour snap shot of their lives. The cavalier attitude taken by the police and social workers is galling. The attitude taken by the police and social workers that they are above the law is destructive.
The law was written the way it is now for a reason, but the States CPS and police officers don’t get it. This used to be America, but I am not sure what it is anymore. Our rights are being eroded little by little and soon we won’t have any.
Comments on the Gates Ruling
Many areas within the Courts ruling have produced chilling effects…
1). Not obtaining a court order prior to removal of a child from the home
2). Not obtaining a court order prior to removal of a child from the school, no public standard for expectations set by law
3). DFPS\Law Enforcement not informing parents of interviewing their children, no public standard for expectations set by law
4). No investigation into as to why CPS Caseworkers avoid obtaining a court order on a regular basis, no public standard for expectations set by law
5). No investigation into the “practice of avoiding” obtaining a court order on a regular basis, no public standard for expectations set by law
6). A conscious decision by Circuit Court Judges to not provide a solution to the known issues in the Gates case before the Gates case occured eventhough the information was available in the public, but not researched by said Courts, no public standard for expectations set by law
7). DFPS not held to an “Emergency Standard” as many other state agencies are, no public standard for expectations set by law
8). Special needs children making the “Report of Abuse” must be considered when assigning a “Priority” number to a case
9). No independant investigative body responsible for complaints lodged against DFPS, since the Attorney General is responsible for representing DFPS, conflict of interest from the memo
DFPS motive, Pride in their accomplishment. FYI, seen the web site info on “Why not me”. The cash cow.
“http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/about/council/2007/2007-04-05_Minutes.asp “.
The Laws are written without “equal application” consideration. Such as when children are “Interviewed” , no Child Advocate, Parent, Legal Guardian or Legal Council is provided to ensure their rights regardless of age. What are the Parents rights against home invasions?
I currently complete my bachelor’s of social work degree in texas and currently work at an emergency shelter where children’s are taken care of while CPS conducts investigations.
There is the knowledge that at times CPS removes children without much information or on the other extreme does not remove children in time. The restrictions placed now due to the Gates case complicates both scenarios.
Also, as every resident of the state of texas, you are required by law to report any SUSPECTED abuse of any kind. This does not mean you need to have hard, concrete proof. If there is any suspicion, you are required to report it, and can be in legal trouble if it is found out you suspected but did not report. That being said, when a worker removed a child or their siblings, it was due out of a suspicion/allegation many times. This was done out of precaution. Yes, there are cases where some reports are made malisciously or were not substantial. CPS is also working towards family reunifications and providing support. Many times, families state they were exhausted from all the caretaking responsibilities or financial situations. CPS is now assisting families meet up different resources so they may better take care of their children.
People need to realize there is no right or wrong way to care for our children. As citizens of this society, we care and protect our children but as there are different opinions, there will never be a unanimous opinion on how things need to be done. Rather than focus on one side of the issue, we must focus on the children, CHILDREN.
With regards to corruption and payments being received. I have not met an officer or caseworker that have exchanged monetary payments when children where removed. You should not allow the poor actions of a few corrupt individuals completely destroy the image of workers invested in the protection of our children. Yes, they exists and that is why when you witness such actions you must report official complaints. STanding back and not taking action leads to apathy which only creates more problems.
I leave you with the following potential situation that will be compromised due to the Gates case: If there is one child abused/neglected, that one child can be removed. If there are siblings in the home, they are not removed only the one that has suffered abuse or neglect. How long will they need to wait until the other siblings are in danger or acted upon? This is what we are looking at now. One child can be removed but not the others since there were no allegations concerning the other children, even if there is proven abuse/neglect on the first child.
This system will be forever changing and need constant revision but only working together will it change. Sitting by and complaining about this or that will not help. Rather than sitting by and complaining about “what CPS did to me or my friend”, we should collaborate.
In the specific case of the Removal of the FLDS children, MHMR made very specific complaints concerning what CPS was doing to those children.
According to Marleigh Meisner, they would “Investigate” those complaints.
That was the last we ever heard of it. You can’t very well “Collaborate’ when there’s nobody to collaborate with.
465 children were taken and brutalized by CPS for NOTHING.
The ONLY way CPS will change is by suing them into extinction.
Read the 184 page DATA Report just released by CPS for this past fiscal year. You’ve joined a group that does far more harm to children and parents than good. That is the reality of this situation.
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