Texas CPS is not an isolated cancer on the American body politic. Rather, it is one virulent tentacle of a rapidly growing nationwide tumor proving fatal to a growing number of families and individuals across the country. In some ways, it makes the banking crisis look like trivial pursuit.
In this two-part video interview, Dr. Stephen Baskerville discusses how the United States has created a bureaucracy composed of “huge numbers of people who have a vested interest in taking children away from their parents.” The video looks cheesey on the front end, but Baskerville is a very bright guy and makes a persuasive case. For readers wondering how to tackle the CPS beast — whether in Texas, California, Georgia, New Jersey or Oregon — this interview provides valuable background.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Mac the Knight 10.05.08 at 2:44 am
“Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” Baron Acton
In many States, CPS workers can not be named in a civil suits for their actions on the job, and can only be tried criminally if found to be grossly negligent (being wrong in removing your child is not considered gross negligence). CPS is their own oversight organization. So that gross negligence has to be declared by their own fellow CPS workers. Then you have to find a DA who will prosecute the case when most of the evidence will be protected under confidentiality laws because it involves a minor.
In conducting their job CPS workers need little or no evidence to remove your child; an anonymous phone call will do. Once your child has been removed you have to prove that you are innocent (in court). You are guilty until proven innocent. Your options are go to court or do exactly what the CPS workers want you to do (classes, counseling, therapy) in order to get your child back. Most people will do whatever it takes to get their kids back as soon as possible. The legal action route would take months with your child in foster care while you wait. (the abuse in the foster care system is a whole other story). You find yourself doing what CPS wants you to do. Once you’ve taken the class, counseling or therapy you lend credence to the CPS case that you must have problems otherwise you would never have had counseling to be a better parent. You’ve “admitted” you have a problem. Now you’ve helped to build their case against you. If they don’t get your child this time then the next time they come by to check on you (there will be months of home visits afterwards) they take your child again if the opportunity presents itself.
Now why would CPS be actively trying to remove your children if there wasn’t a problem?
Follow the money.
Money and the slow creation of a self sustaining monster of an organization that’s what has created the system we have today. CPS gets thousands of dollars from the federal government for each child in State custody; this is on top of State money that has been allocated for the funding of each child. This makes for one heck of an incentive to take children from homes that may otherwise be sound.
In 2006 CPS was a very profitable business with billions of dollars in annual revenue, a work force of close to 300,000 workers nationally. This workforce has a very positive outlook. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics it anticipates a 22% growth in this job market over the next decade. Now how ‘bout that for job security! It’s legalized kidnapping what a business.
Rudy Giuliani saw this going on in New York and turned it around on the CPS (CWA) system (read Leadership by Rudolph Giuliani). He started by giving the city agency funding for children that were successfully returned to their family. He drove a different behavior, resulting in a 40% drop in the number of children in foster care.
Why would good people go around taking our children?
Inspect what you expect, you’ll find what you look for.
One of the guiding principles in manufacturing quality assurance is to “look for good parts”. This typically runs counter to what people think. Which is there must be X percentage of bad parts in a lot of product. So you sample, find and remove X percent of bad parts during in-process inspection, then with that same philosophy you do your final inspection and again remove X percent of bad product. The customer at receiving inspection under the same principle removes another X percent of “bad” product because statistically there has to be bad product in the lot. On the line when the part is being used the person using this part understands that there must be “bad” parts so they too remove X percent. Think about it, by looking for “BAD” parts somewhere in this process, the quality inspectors start throwing away perfectly good product. CPS does the same thing. They look for “bad” homes and children that are in danger. They are paid by the State and the Feds for child that they remove.
The whole CPS system nationally is broken and needs a drastic overhaul. I am sure that many of the CPS workers are fantastically conscientious professionals who endeavor to do the best for the people they serve. The problem lies with the bureaucracy and supporting legal structure that they work for.
AbidingJoy 10.06.08 at 11:59 am
I was able to hear of a Father who has been impacted as Dr. Baskerville states. Wife left in adulterous affair. He signed the divorce papers as “I do not want this divorce. I love my wife more than I did when I married her.” Judge gave HER the children, home, belongings, and future wages. Mother then packed up the children and left the state..false address and phone number provided to the Father. Father did not pay the child support for the year and a half as his children were missing and he was looking for them. He hired a PI and he STILL could not find them. He tried to go to the courts, but without a true address to serve her court papers, they could do nothing. LEGAL KIDNAPPING. This father was not a criminal or anything but a torn father who LOVES his children. State caught the father for not paying his mandated child support and threw him in court to imprison him. Father stated why he stopped paying. He did not know where to send the payments. State said, we do. We know where your children are. Father asked “where are they?” State said, “Custody is not our issue. Child support is. If you did not have an attorney, you would be in jail right now (judge said this). If you are ever, here on out, even LATE on your payments, you will be put in jail.” Father found children later on, took mother to court to enforce visitation as she refused any calls, letters, packages, and attempts to see children. Court shuffled him around from case to case until he was bankrupt from attorney fees and he no longer has any money. Courts rebuked mother for her behavior but never punished or penalized her or enforced visitation. Mother continues to prevent any phone calls or visits and moved to the opposite end of the country. He still, almost a decade later has not heard or seen his children but is still required to pay child support and the state does not care. He is a father who weeps on his children’s birthdays and saves cards for them as he found out they never received the ones he sends. This is what America punishes and calls deadbeat. Now he is without his children and broke..so broke he cannot fight anymore and is torn to pieces about it and thinks himself a failure..all started when HIS wife left him for another man. He was a loyal man too. Sad thing is, this is not the only story I hear. I have heard similar stories from many other men (and a few women too).
K 10.30.08 at 10:58 am
CPS/DPSS CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT (RIVERSIDE, CA) FOR KIDNAPPING OUR CHILDREN WITHOUT CAUSE
We are organizing a class action lawsuit against the County of Riverside, the State of California, and all parties involved in unlawfully detaining and holding our children against our will, and without cause. We have documented the deep, imbedded corruption in the “social services” agencies in California. We have filed three lawsuits so far, and are looking for other families who have also been annihilated by this evil. Go to the link at http://www.Fightcps.com or email us at fightcpscalifornia@gmail.com to join the fight to save our children.
TRUTH
• CPS manufactures multiple nonexistent/fictitious abuse case scenarios to offset true statistical abuse case information.
• CPS concurrently processes these children from foster care to Adoption, in order to obtain perverse monetary incentives in the form of bonuses.
• CPS provides a market to neighboring agencies and the courts (Judges, psychologists, visitation monitors, court mandated behavioral class instructors, court appointed legal counsel, etc…), in order for them to financially benefit from the foster care/adoption system they themselves perpetuate.
• CPS victimizes innocent financially challenged families, and draws them into a corrupt system to utilize their children as pawns for this corrupt child commerce.
• CPS is utilized by family court officials and attorneys as an adverse tool to extricate children from one parent to the other, with reference to “parental alienation syndrome,” where in truth, the CPS caseworkers are the ones initiating the alienation of these children from their own birth parents. Caseworkers are never allowed to testify in court under the cloak of “CPS Authority” due to possible misuse or conflict of interest related to right to privacy laws (Very convenient)
• CPS utilizes unlawful & coercive measures to persuade vulnerable parents to submit to statements of nonexistent abuse, forcing desperate parents to “plea bargain” to a CPS fabricated crime, for the return of their children from foster care.
• CPS fabricates false allegations and most of their “investigations” to purposely mislead or misdirect a case.
• CPS intentionally fails to prosecute Parents accused of child abuse, since in the majority of cases, no initial crime has been committed. However, CPS continues to claim a crime has been committed, as THEY abuse/neglect the children.
• CPS knowingly abandons children into the foster care system, conscious that some individuals in these homes physically and/or sexually abuse those in their “protective” custody. CPS ignores crimes committed in foster care through failure to investigate.
• CPS fails to question these individuals for their abusive conduct, whereby, if it were a birth parent or not a foster care parent, these individuals would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law in criminal court.
• CPS represents themselves in positive personas by omitting, altering, and falsifying documents, so as to mislead the public and or government of their true actions as listed above. Thereby publicly grandstanding, displaying an inaccurate social martyrdom for the well being of children.
The Police should determine if children need protection from their own parents, since child abuse is a Criminal offense.
“THE CLUB” PLAYERS IN RIVERSIDE, CA
ALL THE FOLLOWING ARE GUILTY OF KNOWINGLY LYING IN THIS ABDUCTION OF OUR CHILD:
Dr. Shelley Susman = OB/GYN who knew mother had no drug history and confirmed her health, but allowed this abduction
WILLIAM MICHAEL BILES = NEWBORN BABY SNATCHER AT CPS - physically threatened mother and child with serious harm
Nurse Heather = DRMC Supervising Nurse, present at child abduction and backed up serious harm/threats to mother and child
Ms. Flores = DRMC records dept. supervisor, stated we have NO access to our child’s records or birth certificate [since CPS illegally abducted our newborn and adoptive parent's names are on birth certificate]
Valerie Bedore = Banning City CPS newborn baby abduction cohort, on 9/20/07admitted baby had negative meconium [no drugs in mother confirmed back to 16 weeks gestation pregnancy]
Karrene (Kay) Phillips = Banning City CPS baby abduction cohort, harassed parents repeatedly at visitations
Ben Brandon = next CPS caseworker, threatened to stop visitations when he brought child late to visits, demanded Parents sign a “case plan” in attempt to prove innocent Parents guilty, when parents refused “case plan” threatened to stop visitations
Shawnee English = Moreno Valley CPS assistant who ripped newborn out of mother’s arms at visitation when child was sick and parents were demanding medical attention; she refused medical treatment & parents had to call “911″ to get help
Judge Christopher J. Sheldon = Juvenile Judge on Oasis Street in Indio, made mistaken rulings, refused Due Process to parents, refused Evidence and Facts in this case, finally recanted his rulings back to Jurisdiction Hearing, case transferred to Murrietta
Indio Juvenile Court Clerk = refused all submissions and legal filings from parents, refused to take amendments to case, refused to take any Evidence of parent’s innocence to fight the wrongdoing by CPS, handed back all filings of Evidence by Parents
Modesto Rios = First attorney assigned to father by Judge Sheldon; Rios refused all calls and refused to communicate with father, refused all requests of father, failed to submit anything for defense of father, failed to state he had contact with father from the start of the case, admitted it finally in court as the transcripts prove = fired
David Weisen = First attorney assigned to mother by Judge Sheldon; Weisen refused all calls and refused to communicate with mother, failed to submit anything for defense of mother, failed to state he had contact with mother from the start of the case, admitted it finally in court as the transcripts prove = fired
Karen Cote = 2nd attorney assigned to father by Judge Sheldon; Cote stated that father could do nothing to help in this case, refused to submit anything for father, and stated father was to “do nothing”&”just wait” until Jurisdiction = fired [she refused to give father her email, refused to do her job, refused to work - last words to Father were "go F*** yourself and DIE!"]
Maria Soliz = 2nd attorney assigned to mother by Judge Sheldon; Soliz insisted on hair follicle test of mother, refused to give test, and then she refused to get hospital “sealed” records to disprove this misinterpretation
Riverside County and CPS adopted out our beautiful, healthy, infant daughter, completely AGAINST OUR WILL, and against the law when she was only EIGHT HOURS OLD. They already had it all set up with their KANGAROO COURTS AND THEIR TURN-KEY ADOPT-A-WHITE-BABY COMMERCE SYSTEM. Neither parent had any history nor usage of any illegal drugs, and our daughter was born with an APGAR score of 9.8, with absolutely NO DRUGS in her or her mother’s systems. The Palm Springs Desert Regional Medical Center staged a urine test that was tampered with and was wrong, and they refused to use the mother’s blood or re-test her at all. The one urine test was the ONLY basis for their illegal abduction of our newborn infant, and it has been an illegal “legal loophole” battering of our daughter and our Parental rights ever since. On August 8, 2007, our newborn daughter was illegally and forcefully taken by William Michael Biles of Banning CPS, with the help of eight others at Desert Regional Medical center, with no court order nor warrant, and no police present. He physically threatened mother and newborn with the statement “Give me that baby NOW, or you and her will be physically hurt!” and we have fought for our daughter since. CPS contrived multiple hearsay untruths and presented falsifications to the court, without our knowledge. Judge Christopher Sheldon approved the criminal ADOPTION, then granted us a “Contested Jurisdictional Hearing,” and then suddenly, the case was transferred to Southwest Adjudication Center, where Commissioner Fernandez declared he lacked the power to render a Judgment on another Judge’s decision to have the Contested Jurisdiction Hearing, then Fernandez took it off calendar, where it stands today……we have been denied our daughter in this illegal kidnapping, and we have located proof that the County of Riverside and DRMC routinely set new mothers up this way, very often to take newborn white, healthy, drug-free babies to sell them on their own twisted underground baby market. We have been violated entirely, and we will keep fighting for our daughter. CONTACT US AT fightcpscalifornia@gmail.com for more information about the lawsuit.