DHS: Give Us Back Our Children!
Mothers are being unjustly denied custody & visitation of their children by Dept of Human Services (DHS) for the "crime" of being poor, being women of color, being activists, and not having good legal help. See below for their cases.
* Fact - Out of every 1000 impoverished children in their jurisdiction, Chicago removes 6 children from their homes, NY removes 11, LA removes 14. Phila removes 40! (Nat'l Coalition for Child Protection Reform)
* Fact - Black children are more likely to be taken from their homes, to stay in protective custody longer and never to return to their parents. (Cincinnati Post)
* Fact - A Children's Hospital of Phila study found that when toddlers have similar injuries, they were 3 times more likely to be reported to DHS if the family was African-American or Latino. (Children's Hospital press release, Oct. 1. 03)
* Fact - 30% of foster children could be home right now if their parents had decent housing (Nat'l Coalition for Child Protection Reform)
Support the following demands of a weekly picket outside of DHS in Philadelphia (Thursdays, 3-5pm, 1515 Arch St.)
WE THE UNDERSIGNED SUPPORT THE MOTHERS' DEMANDS FOR:
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Immediate equal custody rights, for now
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Access to good and accountable legal representation
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Investigation of how these and other cases are handled
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Opening up courtrooms for reporters and others to see the proceedings first hand.
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DHS to prioritize protection and reunification of families
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Providing mothers with financial, housing, childcare day or night, family centered drug treatment on demand, legal and other help
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End the run-around and prolonging of cases while at the same time giving mothers the time they need to meet DHS goals
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End discrimination on the basis of race, poverty, age, disability, immigration status, sexual preference and other blatant discrimination
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Mothers must have the right to speak before the blue ribbon panel that reviews DHS policies and procedures
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Mothers must not be forced to choose between homelessness or staying with an abusive partner - either way they lose custody & the child is hurt
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When childcare arrangements fall through or when children are sick, mothers must not be forced to choose between staying home and getting fired, or leaving their children alone or with inadequate care
Issued by Families for Justice 215-806-7593 justice1peace@yahoo.com
Every Mother is a Working Mother Network 215-848-1120 Fax 215-848-1130 philly@crossroadswomen.net
Mothers are being unjustly denied custody & visitation of their children by Dept of Human Services (DHS) for the "crime" of being poor, being women of color, being activists, and not having good legal help. See below for their cases.
* Fact - Out of every 1000 impoverished children in their jurisdiction, Chicago removes 6 children from their homes, NY removes 11, LA removes 14. Phila removes 40! (Nat'l Coalition for Child Protection Reform)
* Fact - Black children are more likely to be taken from their homes, to stay in protective custody longer and never to return to their parents. (Cincinnati Post)
* Fact - A Children's Hospital of Phila study found that when toddlers have similar injuries, they were 3 times more likely to be reported to DHS if the family was African-American or Latino. (Children's Hospital press release, Oct. 1. 03)
* Fact - 30% of foster children could be home right now if their parents had decent housing (Nat'l Coalition for Child Protection Reform)
Support the following demands of a weekly picket outside of DHS in Philadelphia (Thursdays, 3-5pm, 1515 Arch St.)
WE THE UNDERSIGNED SUPPORT THE MOTHERS' DEMANDS FOR:
-
Immediate equal custody rights, for now
-
Access to good and accountable legal representation
-
Investigation of how these and other cases are handled
-
Opening up courtrooms for reporters and others to see the proceedings first hand.
-
DHS to prioritize protection and reunification of families
-
Providing mothers with financial, housing, childcare day or night, family centered drug treatment on demand, legal and other help
-
End the run-around and prolonging of cases while at the same time giving mothers the time they need to meet DHS goals
-
End discrimination on the basis of race, poverty, age, disability, immigration status, sexual preference and other blatant discrimination
-
Mothers must have the right to speak before the blue ribbon panel that reviews DHS policies and procedures
-
Mothers must not be forced to choose between homelessness or staying with an abusive partner - either way they lose custody & the child is hurt
-
When childcare arrangements fall through or when children are sick, mothers must not be forced to choose between staying home and getting fired, or leaving their children alone or with inadequate care
Issued by Families for Justice 215-806-7593 justice1peace@yahoo.com
Every Mother is a Working Mother Network 215-848-1120 Fax 215-848-1130 philly@crossroadswomen.net
Ms Tilli Ayala, Native American & Latina, had her 4- month-old son whom she was breastfeeding & her daughter taken away because of actions by an abusive father whose sister & husband now have the boy. She sees her son, now 3, only four hours a week while the father has unlimited access - her daughter she doesn't see at all. She has met every DHS goal re housing, jobs & parenting courses, yet her parental rights are permanently threatened because of an inexperienced social worker, the higher income of the white relatives who want to adopt the child, and lack of good legal help. She began the picket outside DHS in May 05.
Ms Denise Smith, African-American, lost custody of her 4 children as a result of a childcare provider who was found to be negligent, and as a result lost custody of subsequent children. The children have been split up, some taken to California and put in the care of a father who had not had contact in 3 years. Here in Phila, the father of her other children has unlimited access while she has limited visits. She has met every goal that DHS gave, has never been involved in drugs or abused her children and has also fought to get her children back.
Both cases are being heard by Judge Flora Barth-Wolf in Courtroom "M".
WE THE UNDERSIGNED SUPPORT THE MOTHERS' DEMANDS FOR:
-
Immediate equal custody rights, for now
-
Access to good and accountable legal representation
-
Investigation of how these and other cases are handled
-
Opening up courtrooms for reporters and others to see the proceedings first hand.
-
DHS to prioritize protection and reunification of families
-
Providing mothers with financial, housing, childcare day or night, family centered drug treatment on demand, legal and other help
-
End the run-around and prolonging of cases while at the same time giving mothers the time they need to meet DHS goals
-
End discrimination on the basis of race, poverty, age, disability, immigration status, sexual preference and other blatant discrimination
-
Mothers must have the right to speak before the blue ribbon panel that reviews DHS policies and procedures
-
Mothers must not be forced to choose between homelessness or staying with an abusive partner - either way they lose custody & the child is hurt
-
When childcare arrangements fall through or when children are sick, mothers must not be forced to choose between staying home and getting fired, or leaving their children alone or with inadequate care
Poverty is not a crime!!!! Poverty does not equal neglect!!! Every Mother is a Working Mother!!! Poverty is the state's neglect of children and the lack of value for women's caring work!!!
WHERE TO WRITE!!
Arthur C. Evans, Jr. Acting Commissioner
Department of Human Services
1515 Arch Street
Phila, PA 19102
Issued by Families for Justice 215-806-7593 justice1peace@yahoo.com
Every Mother is a Working Mother Network 215-848-1120 Fax 215-848-1130 philly@crossroadswomen.net
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Report abuse I am a father of 3 children, 1 of which has had her children taken from her. It is bad enough that she is not able to care for and raise her kids, but the really bad thing is DHS has worked against her. It is sad that government has taken away the rights of parents and then punish those same parents for trying to raise their children to respect that same govenrment. Give the rights back to parents to raise and correct children. Government has overstepped their bounds and taken MY Grandchildren away from THEIR family for no reason.
Report abuse I' am a mother of four and my children was slowly but surely tooken from me. it all started in 2001. my first born was tooken b/c of a hot ua. i did everything i was told to do. then 4 years later im on my third child in the hospital with no runs ins with the law or social services and b/c of my past history social services shows up at the hospital. i wonder why. i havent did no drugs or anything with a job and 3 bedroom home and i still somehow lose my kids. what did i do wrong they have been in my life for 7 years and finally b/c cause they finally got the picture. still i don't have two of my kids b/c they didnt want to believe i was really doing right. they make me sick. im still fightin to get rights to my two middle kids.
Report abuse my kids were taken from me once cause of an abusive exboyfriend.. i did evrything on their list to get my kids back. i got my kids bak 6 wks after they took them. only to have them taken again 9 mths later. i have lived my life right & yet they have accused me of lying to them. my kids are now separated. one living with his father, one living in a shelter (to be placed in fostercare), and another in a behavioral center. i know im not perfect but im a good mom with only her childrens best interests at hand. i need some help to get my kids back. if anyone has any info or advice. pls help me.. i cant lose them to the system. thanks so much...
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6:06 am PDT, Oct 2,
Kat Mosi Yazzie, Kansas
Report abuse This is not right! |
Report abuse my son is in the hospital he is 6 years old and would slip out of the house early in the morning and run they put him in the same hospital I tried to put him in and they turned me away. he ran also from the hospital and the case worker and arent blaming me for it anymore but still wont give him back . they say he is going to a therapeutic foster home for 3 months .could someone please tell me if there is any way i can fight this I have done everything they say and they still wont give him back. help please
Report abuse There is something us parents who have had our children taken on facts based on lies can do to get our children back. we as parents need to research every option possible and never give up. we will have our babies back. keep faith
Report abuse I just want to say DHS really needs to make some changes in order to consider themselves and The Department of HUMAN SERVICES instead of taking peoples children away and making the situation worse and more stressful for the child, parents and the family they should try to help the family and assist them with becoming self sufficient or with any other services that will help them overcome their difficulties. I just had to fight to keep my children I had for nine years when there was no neglect or abuse whatsoever. I just wanted to adopt and they fought me tooth and nail to try to avoid finalization.
Report abuse I worked with DHS for the State of Oregon for 5.5 years. One of the most striking things I heard from a very seasoned woman caseworker for Child Welfare was that she believed that on average all the children she had removed in her career would be better off if she had left them in their home. That is a powerful statement. Another thing is that in Oregon our caseworkers are not subject to drug testing. We have had caseworkers who were parents and using drugs and alcohol in their own lives while removing children from parents in the community that were doing the same as the caseworker. The third problem here is that young graduates with no children are being hired over and over again. They usually still have the ideal, glorified mother fantasy as a 22 year old and are making decisions about what true abuse is when they have not walked in the shoes of a parent. It is a scary system.
Report abuse Hi I know what mothers are going through because i am going through the same thing. I have to girls 9 and 13 i have not seen them in 5 years and i still have my rights, i been fighting to get them back and they are just bring me down so much that they thing they could get my girls. The only thing i did wrong is married a person that i thought i knew for 12 years. And my oldest one at the time she was 7 stated that daddy did something to her. my daughter never told me and i worked at night and i never knew. so i been condemn because of that. I never been in trouble with the law in my life time never did drugs don't drink i am a Christian woman and yes i am Hispanic. I did everything they ask me to do twice and i have not seen them at all for 5 years so my girls don't know who i am. My heart and soul has been ripped and my life feels like is so empty without my babies. And they are telling me because the girls has been in there care for so long that i need to give up all rights. and my little one does not want to have nothing to do with me at all because she does not know me. and the foster parents want to adopt my girls. I need help to and i have spent money on two different lawyers. I did divorce my husband and i do work and have a roof over my head and i have my girls rooms ready for them but they way they are playing with me. I feel that they will drag this forever. I love my two girls with all my heart and i miss them so so much I cry for them everyday and wonder how they are doing and if they wonder about me. And for all the mothers out there that is going though what i am going through please and i mean please if you love your children's don't give up on them because there you children that GOD gave you and he did not give them to anybody else. Please fight the fight. because i am and never will stop fighting. maia
Report abuse What...WOULD you do? * Sugar and spice and everything nice. * This is suppose to every little girls life. * What happens when life is not like that? * What if your life is filled with constant abuse by the people who suppose to protect you? * For little Katelynn of Indiana, her life is filled with this from a father, stepmother and father's family; everyone but her the relatives that love her have been deined the ability to see her. * What happens when the police will not stop this? * Than try Child Protection Service, but they will not stop this either. * The next thing to do is go to the court. * What would you do if the Child Protection Services and the court helped the abusers hurt her? * The media might work but they ignore majority of average people. * In this search for help, several politicians ignored or said stop bothering them. * If these people will not help little katelynn of Indiana than who will? * Will this little girl have to pay the ultimate price for these adults mistakes? * Now..., what WILL you do?! * This is Indiana's Shame and these words are Teardrops for Katelynn * referral sources: * www.courageouskids.net * Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation :: Breaking the Silence: Children's Stories Aired on PBS http://www.mkacf.org/BreakTheSilence.html Breaking the Silence * http://sev.prnewswire.com/entertainment/20051019/CLW50819102005-1.html * http://www.tatgelasseur.com/pages/bts.html Battered Women, Abused Children, and Child Custody: A NATIONAL CRISIS * http://www.batteredmotherscustodyconference.org/ * Petition for Justice for Katelynn: http://www.gopetition.com/online/5918.html * Don't let these little abused children be abused in silence anymore, please. * Tell someone! * Demand answers! * Demand the children's truth! * Above all break through this silence for theses abused childrens sake! * No adults rights is greater than the right of the child to be safe!
Report abuse Please tell me what to do. My exhusband has a Harvard divorce attorney and I am penniless. My kids have been taken away from me and I have to pay a guard to see them. Please tell me what can I do?
Report abuse need the record for the little rock ark foster care record that happy to him in little rock ark
Report abuse I am the mother of a child that has been in protective custody for over five years. She will be back with me. I had been treated in a horrible manner by DHS. They were after me for every little thing to do. I was humiliated and demeaned, and lies and exagerations were made about me.
Report abuse good afternoon, with all this contervesies surrounding DHS- I need your help in helping my nice obtaining her son back from DHS- he was removed from her home almost a year and a half ago- for flse accusations that did not have any thing to do with her personally-she has completed parenting classes and workshops and all the requirements to get hr son back- and it has all been unsucessful and I would like this further investigated- she is 18 years old and works full time to support herself, has her own home and does not receive any support from the public welfare or any agencies such as that- its nothing wrong with rceiving help - but what more does she have 2 prove her worthiness to get her son back - and tax dollar are be wasted on paying for his foster parents care- when my niece is willng and able to care for her son with her earned wages-pls assist me or foward this to someone that can assist me Thank you in advance NC
Report abuse I believe children must be protected above all else.The system that protects them is not up to par, we must put new laws and actions into place to secure the future of our children and send a message abuse will not be accepted in any form. Mothers with lower income struggle for all they get as a nation we must provide help to others, lift them up and give them the tools they need to have a productive life for themselves and their children, ease thier stress and give them hope and oppurtunity.If we can do this you will see a difference in the quality of life everywhere...
Report abuse My nephew was at my home until his mom found out that he was getting a lump sum of cash then she took him away, abused him,bought him back when she thought the marks were healed. He was taken to the hospital, then the state came in and took him away. I have no idea of his whereabouts. He is missed so much and I know he misses me. Please help me find him and bring him home. His parents have lost their rights.
Report abuse DHS has a stance where most of the time they believe that there single opinion (or worse the single opinion of 1 social worker) is the right answer and nothing else matters. They twist facts and words to further their belief and make themselves look better on paper. They do not try to keep a child in its home over all other options they yank them out of loving environments without pause and give parents no chance to change even the slightest wrong doing (in my case not going to regular therapy for my bipolar and for not leaving my husband who was never before physically violent or abusive and until the night of removal in which case I left and haven't looked back but that doesn't matter to them) They cause extreme psychological damage to children all the while telling themselves that there doing good. Well I can say yes the are doing good in about lets say 40% of their cases but what about the other 60%. What about the child like mine who spent every hour of every day with her mother and was then yanked away from her and the fact is if I have such a hard time dealing with this you can only imagine how a 2yr old girl is doing. To be honest that is only the tip of the iceberg another sad fact of life I guess.
Report abuse In this case the mother does not deserve to have these children and they should be awarded to the father which has already porvrn he can give them the best care
Report abuse In most cases children are taken away from a mother who loves their child and yet the children who are actually being beat are the ones left in the home. You must find a way to change this. My cousin lost her child because she fell and got hurt. They treated her like a horrible mother when in fact she was a wonderful mother. She was unable to be with her baby, a little girl he needed her mother the most and yet you have children growing up like from the true story a child called it where they are treated like a servent and a dog. Help these mothers and open your eyes and see
Report abuse I think it's about time we reinstate the constitution. It is a violation of our constitutional rights when children are removed from their homes. It is brutal mental anguish inflicted upon kids by the agencies who claim to have children's best interests at heart.I think it's legalized kidnapping and black baby market.
Report abuse My son was abused by his father who lived outside of our home. I brought him to the doctor for direction for his volitile behaviors. DHHS removed my son for 27 days and then was forced to return my son to my home. My sons father regained custody of his 2 year old son and newborn son not even 2 1/2 months after abusing our now 3 year old son. DHHS definetly needs reform and stop splitting up families, it only hurts the matter not helps.
Report abuse DHS really needs to leave the people alone who are being good the their kids and start cracking down on the abused children in the world!
Report abuse Please let's stop this corrupt system from stealing anymore children!
Report abuse This is so important I can't describe it!!
Report abuse I am a 65 year old mother of three children and two step children, and though adult, still come to me for advice and practical and emotional support. my eldest son has long-term schizophrenia and so care is ongoing.
Report abuse Unification / Re-unification should definitely be the top priority / goal at ALL times, for the TRUE best interests of the child(ren); however, most often the top priority is to reach each child being adopted so as to collect unneccessary large amounts of monies. In this system, money has become more valuable than the lives of the children in our country; needless to say, THIS IS PITIFUL! Another point to ponder: it could be YOUR child(ren), YOUR family, affected by this next. Do not foolishly think it cannot happen to you & yours because you're a good parent, for COUNTLESS numbers of GREAT parents are having their children yanked from their lives, into another life that is much often worse!
Report abuse This kidnapping of children is violence and child abuse masquerading as protection. If the authorities really wanted to protect children they would stop awarding unsupervised child contact to violent men.
Report abuse It is time to respect the right and need of parents to care for their children. Instead of removing children from the home, please offer parenting education and support for the parents.