Blogs by Deborah K. Frontiera
Fighting CPS
2/4/2016 10:40:41 AM
The purpose of this blog has been 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
From the Houston Chronicle, Sat. Nov. 14, 2015 Second Part of a Two-part Story reported last month.
CPS case mother ‘one in a million’
Former addict recovers, now works for agency
By Gabrielle Banks
By the time Michelle Hansford checked out of rehab for a crack addiction in 2007, the state was already taking steps to terminate her rights to her infant son. The plan was for the child’s foster family to adopt him. A psychological assessment found Hansford had a 95 percent chance of reusing, which, combined with her conviction for a fatal stabbing, made her unfit to be a mom, according to a case supervisor.
But despite the long odds against success, Hansford eventually got sober and won custody of her son.
Hansford, now 48, is the kind of parent the child welfare system in Harris County has begun engaging with more aggressively in recent years. After facing off with Child Protective Services over custody of her child nine years ago, she now works for the agency, applying lessons learned the hard way. Hansford is employed part time as a family navigator for CPS in Harris County, helping families stay plugged in during the custody process. . . .
When she’s not on the front lines for CPS, she’s working part time at the rehab center where she got sober, making sure other addicted mothers show up for mandatory urinalysis tests, recovery meetings and therapy appointments.
Hansford traveled their path in a different era, when the system was less forgiving. In the eyes of state case workers at that time, she did not look like a good mother. . . .
Hansford . . . served 10 years in state prisons . . . Her children were 10, 11 and 13 when they finally celebrated Christmas with their mother in December 2000. . . .
Hansford smoked her last rock of crack in a dilapidated motel before going into labor with her fourth child. That baby went from the maternity ward at Memorial City Hospital directly into foster care. . . . A couple of months later the case supervisor, Nicole Newsome, stoically informed Hansford that _____ was headed for adoption. She [Hansford] was a crack addict, a convict and an unfit mom.
Newsome gave her a long list of tasks she had to fulfill daily, weekly and monthly to have a shot at being _____ mom. . . . The state was pushing for an adoption unless Hansford proved them wrong. . . .
She dutifully tackled each task put before her by Newsome. She took parenting classes. She urinated in a cup once a week for CPS and every other week at the program for addicted moms at Santa Maria Hostel. Not long out of rehab, she ran Twelve Step meetings at a men’s recovery center. She spoke about hitting rock bottom after the stabbing death during therapy sessions with her new boyfriend. Hansford was pregnant by him with her fifth child and the court soon would be making a custody decision about whether they were suitable parents for the child in utero. . . .
She was eight months pregnant when she went to a juvenile court mediation for the baby on the way. The parties passed around a settlement agreement that everyone, even Newsome from CPS, signed stating Hansford could keep the new baby. . . .
The new child, _____, was 3 weeks old when Hansford returned to juvenile court for the last time as a CPS parent. Judge Schneider reviewed the case and decided it made no sense to rule Hansford was fit to parent _____ but not _____. Hansford was in the hallway when her social worker came out of a meeting room and said she would get custody of 13-month-old _____, too. She cried and broke into a huge smile.
Nearly a decade later, Hansford now attends work meetings and trainings at the CPS office where she used to visit _____. . . .
The child welfare system for Hansford works in has changed much since she was on the other side. It now intervenes sooner and takes a more holistic approach to helping families who have had a child removed for abuse or neglect find a home for that child.
DF comment: It’s great to read a success story once in a while!
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