Blogs by Deborah K. Frontiera
Fighting CPS
1/27/2013 12:05:07 PM
The purpose of this blog is to provide updates on some of the cases I reported in my book (Fighting CPS: Guilty Until Proven Innocent of Child Protective Services Charges ISBN 9-780-9800061-6-2) that had not been resolved when the book went to press, and to report other cases where CPS is not working up to par. I’d also like to hear about cases in which Child Protective Services did the right thing so those cases can serve as examples of what should be done. Occasionally, I will report helpful tips and web sites with advice on fighting CPS. To comment on this blog, or to tell your story, email Deborah Frontiera at frontiera.fightingcps.deborah.gmail.com
The next post will be on Feb. 11, 2013
From a Nurse’s Point of View:
Cheryl Carlson has provided much valuable information to this blog. (July 9, 2012, and by forwarding me info from “Tex Protects”, featured from time to time) Today I’m putting together several fairly recent emails in which she has expressed her opinions:
“I have seen so much in 35 years of nursing. . . . I saw the causes of prematurity, the fragility of babies, the vital bond of parents. I learned the resilient nature of love. I learned the processes of medical and social service systems. Now I see the full tragic cost of lack: lack of medical care, lack of family support, lack of therapy, lack of education. It is terrifying to see.”
Cheryl continues: “The sequence happens like this:
1. Poor nutrition in a mother, whose lack of insurance or access keeps her from prenatal care, results in the birth of a child whose needs overwhelm. (The crack is formed.)
2. The child is premature or requires medial care and is separated from mom. (The crack widens.)
3. Parents feel alienated, not understanding care or condition but try to meet needs. (The child is balanced on the edge of the crack.)
4. Parent loses job, the country goes into recession, the marriage falls apart, the child's need seem too big, parents self medicate. (The child falls silently over the edge.)
5. Something happens, abuse, abandonment, neglect, severe illness. (The child falls faster down the abyss.)
6. Social services become involved, pointing fingers, severing ties, moving the child across all boundaries losing all connections. Parents lose hope and have no advocate. (The child bounces in darkness losing abilities with each move.)”
She states the sad result as: “At the bottom of the abyss I stand. These people enjoy their meals, count the people who rarely if ever see them as family. Their good days and bad days pass on the periphery of social consciousness. During budget review, social services are reviewed for cuts and these people at the bottom of the abyss are counted and ‘dispositioned’. The numbers of people thrown into the cracks by other funding cuts or bad practice grows and grows. People at the bottom of the abyss deserve respectful care and deserve to be heard. Their history is testimony for need to change the processes that brought them here. They have labels of learning disabled, emotional or mental illness yet can teach us much.”
Cheryl also offered these insights and solutions: “I propose that the best solution would be: acknowledge that the family is the best place for a child, period. Respect each family no matter what they are facing: divorce, financial downturn, deployment, illness or death, support the FAMILY. When a crisis arises that overwhelms normal coping, a ‘crisis nursery’ offers support in immediate needs, networking for longer term needs and education to strengthen the FAMILY. There are woefully few ‘Crisis Nurseries’ in Texas and many other states, leaving families to struggle with finding help when asking for help is so very difficult to do in the first place. High rates of uninsured, preponderance of low-paying jobs and uneven access to health care all contribute to this. CPS grows out of such bad policy like dung beetles moving things around, appearing busy, but in fact just burying dung. Every profession adheres to best practices based on evidence, theory and scholarly input. CPS exists outside the professional realm, employing only a token of easily controlled, licensed people. . . . The Texas Department of Health Services will tell you that CPS is a child placing agency; this is how they got a bonus for adopting kids out from the federal government. Nothing done in CPS is done to strengthen or respect the family. . . I say strengthen the family, cut the funding to CPS until it has only licensed professional standing in accountable ways to intercede in those very few places where interventions such as ‘Crisis Nursery’ does not work.”
Cheryl helped to establish a “Crisis Nursery” in Champaign, IL in 1983 and another in Milwaukee in 1989. Both are still going strong.
Take action: find out more about Crisis Nurseries in your area and if there isn’t one, see how to start one.
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