Child Protective Services, CPS, has devastated and destroyed hundreds of thousands of families in America during the last thirty years leaving a trail of broken hearts, broken dreams, and shattered childhoods.
Rather than helping families, government agents have used unconstitutional laws in Juvenile Court to rip children away from their loving parents, break asunder God-given, natural, parent-child bonds, and adopt the children of the grieving out to others who profit financially with large monthly adoption subsidy payments.
Child Protective Services must be stopped! The law that started this, CAPTA, must be repealed. We must work tirelessly to inform the public of this very dangerous travesty of justice. We must keep faith knowing that if there is a God, there is an answer and a way to end this heartache.
Child Protective Services Agents - please come to your senses! Family destruction on false or trivial grounds is wrong, reprehensible, and inhumane.
Fosterers - be aware that for the money you get you are holding much-loved children away from their grieving families while the parents are forced to perform a service plan that is anything but a service to them. I call this hostage holding for the government. This is not kindness - to help misguided government agents destroy family relationships and break loving bonds.
CPS workers and fosterers - I ask that you now give up these unworthy professions and find something more dignified to do with your lives. Let the children of the innocent return to their homes where they are truly valued, adored, and loved by the parents God gave them.
Family rights are God-given rights. And they should not be ignored or postponed. Every moment these loving parents and children spend separated from one another is a torment beyond what anyone should ever have to bear.
It is unworthy of human dignity to allow this terrorism and torture of families to go on without saying something, speaking out, and trying to make a change.
Site mission: To provide information and support for families attacked by Child Protective Services and child welfare agents, especially those families facing false or trivial accusations of child abuse or neglect; and for researchers working to protect natural family rights.
American Family Rights Association, in conjunction with it's members, declares hostilities against the entities commonly called Child Protective Services (CPS), and all colluding actors, agencies, bureaucracies and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO).
The "Declaration of Hostilities against CPS" is a formal enumeration of the CRIMES that the "child protection industry" is DELIBERATELY committing against America's families.
The CHILDREN are being DESTROYED by this corrupt system under the guise of "best interest of the child". Parents are victimized by deliberate CPS character assassination.
We have been FALSELY ACCUSED, and PROSECUTED for PRETENDED offenses- as a DIRECT RESULT of our politeness, civility, respect for "authority", our naive innocence and NOT KNOWING our CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.
American Family Rights Association is educating the public of their CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS and Miranda Rights to STAND UP to those who are ABUSING their government authority under the Color of Law to "invite themselves in" to the family.
Governor Roy Barnes has been named among several others in a class action lawsuit that charges the state of Georgia and the Family and Children's Services departments (DFCS) for Fulton and DeKalb counties with mismanaged agencies, over-burdened staff and dangerous conditions for an estimated 3,000 children in foster care statewide.
The Georgia Department of Human Resources is also named in the Kenny vs. Barnes lawsuit filed June 6 in Fulton County Superior Court. The suit was filed by Children's Rights, a national advocacy group and Keenan's Kids Law Center in Atlanta.
YES! More foster children are telling the TRUTH about the inhumane government child kidnapping system. I'm just waiting for it to fall as I know it will. God will not allow this injustice to continue!
Governor Barnes' pathetic response:
"No one would deny that Georgia's child protective service system has had some problems in the past-and there are no acceptable excuses," Barnes said in a prepared statement. "The fact is our children have to be our utmost priority, and we are working hard to make much needed improvements."
What this probably means is that he has no intention of ending the inhumane tyranny of child abductions in his state unless FORCED to do it by process of law. The usual outcome is that they change some little thing about the system and then say "all better" but the truth is it isn't all better - it is the same old travesty of justice and heartaches inflicted on families because all the states are after that lucrative CAPTA money.
The document also contends that many foster care children languish for months in emergency shelters without needed treatment or services, exposed to sexual assault, prostitution, gang activity, and illicit drug activity.
Government child "protection" is a sick joke.
Black foster care children in particular have to wait longer and or denied placement because of their race, according to the lawsuit.
Prejudice and persecution of black children by the government - is much, much worse than a sick joke.
"Given the state's long-standing knowledge of the harm being inflicted on children in its care, there is simply no excuse for continuing to operate a child welfare system so damaging to vulnerable children," said Marcia Robinson Lowry, executive director/president of Children's Rights. "It is time for the court to act, since state officials have failed to protect these children."
I would love to see the entire child welfare travesty ruled unconstitutional.
The lawsuit is mandating the court permanently stop defendants from subjecting children in the plaintiff class to harm and from threatening their safety through practices that violate their rights. Plaintiffs are also asking the court to order remedial relief to ensure that defendants comply with the law and provide children with legally mandated services.
I could do without the "legally mandated services". What this country needs is people able to survive without running to the nanny-state government for help with every little problem they have. I am in favor of forcing the government money grabbers OUT of family life entirely.
More from the ever-willing to meddle with families Governor Barnes:
"We have been able to hire additional caseworkers and raise their salaries," he said. "We've been able to give extra assistance to foster families, and we have created an action group that is charged with identifying how we can improve the entire system to make sure our children receive the best care possible."
THAT'S NOT WHAT WE WANT, GOVERNOR BARNES! WE DON'T WANT OR NEED ANY MORE OF YOUR SICK "SERVICES".
You see his "solution" - to give more money to caseworkers and fosterers... but how about helping to strengthen the families children were born into and leaving them with the parents GOD placed them with? Is that in the cards for Georgia, Governor?...... of course not..... if you have your way..... there's no MONEY in it for you.
Here's why we must do everything we can to investigate the backgrounds of those who persecute us. For more information, see my page on Surveillance and Background Checks.
June 18, 2002
A state child welfare worker once criminally charged with kicking and grabbing his wife will leave his job as a family counselor in less than two weeks, Department of Children and Families officials said Monday.
Eric Newsome, 36, of Boca Raton submitted his resignation last week as The Palm Beach Post reviewed reports of his past legal and personal troubles and those of two other employees responsible for making sure children in state care are safe from harm.
He was in charge of counseling children!
As if that weren't enough...
Two other employees named in the article remain with DCF, spokeswoman Laura Botting said Monday. One, Barbara Black, 52, of Royal Palm Beach, was indicted in 1993 on an extortion charge as part of the investigation of a child's death. Black, then a DCF investigator, allegedly had threatened a neighbor of the child who had complained the boy was abused before he died. The charge against Black was dropped when she entered a pretrial intervention program. She later became a DCF counselor.
Stephanie M. Fulton, 36, of Lake Worth had admitted in court to defrauding the state welfare system, yet she was hired by the department this year. Under a pretrial intervention agreement, prosecutors will drop fraud charges in November if she meets several conditions, court records show. She also was charged with misdemeanor battery and disorderly conduct in 1994, according to court records.
Do we see a double standard here? We parents are expected to be squeaky clean perfect but the people hired to JUDGE us and KIDNAP OUR KIDS are often found to have ugly skeletons in their closets. We parents, when confronted and persecuted, can do a lot of good for a lot of people (including our kids) by discovering their pathetic secrets and exposing them to the world.
Why should they get away with meddling in our lives and investigating us and suing us? If that's the way they think human beings deserve to be treated, then GIVE IT BACK TO THEM IN SPADES.
...a girl abused while in the foster care system has filed a lawsuit against eight current and former Department of Children and Families employees who handled her case.
The suit, filed Tuesday in Hillsborough Circuit Court, alleges that with "reckless disregard and deliberate indifference," the defendants violated Ashley Rhodes-Courter's constitutionally protected right to be safe and free from harm while in the system.
The suit contends that the defendants knowingly placed Ashley into dangerous homes, including with adults who had a history of abuse and alcoholism; stopped scheduling the mandated six-month judicial reviews of her case; failed to visit Ashley to see if she was okay; and ignored violations of state laws.
There were also "gaps" in the record of where Ashley was staying at various times in the 1990s, the suit stated.
Ashley, now 16, has pending civil suits against the state and two of her foster parents.
This is great - another child speaks up to tell the world what bad decisions socialist caseworkers are making every day - harming and abusing children in state custody. The system is a sham. This child was taken from her mother who was "abusing drugs" ... note the article doesn't say the girl was being abused, only drugs were being abused. And are we even told what drugs were used or the amounts? That's left to the imagination. I've heard of children abducted by the government because a mother smoked one joint - and I've known long-term heroin users who never lost their kids even though they were well known to local police. Where's the justice? The truth is - there isn't any. The "rules" are all made up by socialist workers on a case by case basis - with cute adoptable children getting the brunt of government child exploitation and abuse.
This is a link to a CASA fluff-propaganda piece to recruit more self-righteous do-gooders who think they might want to meddle in the family life of others. One cool thing about this article is that you can respond to it.
Edward S. (Zed) McLarnon has filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court in Boston against several judges, court clerks and other court officials, claiming they have violated his due process rights as guaranteed under the U. S. Constitution.
McLarnon's attorney, Gregory Hession of Mass Outrage said:
"The United States Constitution guarantees that each state will provide its inhabitants with due process of law, meaning an honest court system, a fair and accurate record and an opportunity to be heard. The Massachusetts Courts have miserably failed to give Mr. McLarnon his rights, and politically connected insiders have deliberately conspired to kidnap his son using this crooked and corrupt system. They must be held accountable for the harm they have done to this family."
Associated Press
WENATCHEE -- A family caught up in the 1994-95 Wenatchee child sexual abuse investigations has filed claims totaling $100 million against Chelan County.
Carol and Mark Doggett, whose convictions on charges of first-degree child rape and complicity to commit first-degree child molestation were overturned on appeal, filed claims of $20 million each against the county.
Three of their five children, Amber, Jonathan and Elizabeth, also filed claims of $20 million each.
The claims allege negligence and civil rights violations. The Doggetts contend the allegations of child abuse were improperly investigated, that improper and coercive child-interviewing techniques were used and that Chelan County was negligent in the way in which it contracted with a public defender.
I just love this editorial dated June 18, 2002... finally someone in the media is noticing a problem with CPS agents whining about their privacy rules to keep their crimes against the people from exposure:
It's getting harder to get a straight answer out of the Florida Department of Children & Families. This isn't the time to withhold information, but that message isn't getting through to the bureaucracy.
Right now, DCF is on damage control -- pure and simple. Information like caseload data, which used to be on the department's Web site, has disappeared. The media, child advocates, legislative staff and even state lawmakers are finding it difficult to get answers to routine questions. Delay seems to be the watchword as DCF's district officials seek clearances from the Tallahassee office before making public comment or releasing statistics.
Circling the wagons might work in a rerun of a TV western, but it's not an effective strategy -- or very good public policy -- for the embattled agency.
Sadly, the corruption of CPS agents abusing American people then hiding behind poorly-planned confidentiality laws has been going on in every state for twenty-two years now, since the passing of the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980. This is nothing new and isn't limited to Florida.
Will the country come to its senses and stop destroying families?... or will it be defeated by terrorists and the thousands of citizens harmed by evil American laws...... either way, child welfare tyranny must end.
Watch the VIDEO to see how much kids like the police and CPS screwing around with their lives.
One of the best things you can do if your children are being threatened by CPS agents is to pick up a VIDEO camera and film the abuse and trauma they inflict on the kids. I thank Heartland Ministries for putting this on the web.
I'm so glad to hear that Tricia McLinden is getting her day in court... suing CPS. EVERY parent should do this! PLEASE someone in Sacramento - go get a copy of this complaint and post it to the internet!
Please note that her case is seeking an injuction to protect other families from unjust California CPS detentions.
A woman whose son was erroneously removed by Child Protective Services has filed a civil lawsuit against Sacramento County demanding social workers be barred from taking children from their parents unless they have proof the children are in imminent danger.
Repercussions from the family's case, which was the subject of a separate appeals court decision last year, have prompted the county to re-examine its definition of child abuse and have fanned the debate over a parent's right to spank.
Tricia McLinden's 12-year-old son was placed in protective custody in September 1999, and spent nearly two years living in a series of foster and group homes before a state appellate court threw out the case and ordered the boy returned home.
McLinden's civil lawsuit, filed in Sacramento Superior Court last month, alleges CPS violated her constitutional rights to be free from governmental interference and the unreasonable seizure of her child. It seeks unspecified monetary damages.
The boy was returned home in May 2001, after the state's 3rd District appellate court ruled his mother's attempts to discipline him by spanking him with a belt and confining him to his room did not constitute abuse.
At the time, social workers were asking that McLinden's parental rights be severed permanently.
"We don't sue social workers for making mistakes," said McLinden's attorney, Donnie R. Cox of Oceanside. "What this case is about is making a mistake and then continuing the process when (social workers) knew they should send the kid home."
CPS officials acknowledged that a heavy volume of new cases in 1999, coupled with a critical shortage of social workers, may have hastened the decision to remove the boy and could have resulted in a cursory investigation.
Even so, the director of the county's Department of Health and Human Services, Jim Hunt, said the agency's actions had withstood review by a juvenile court referee and later by a juvenile court judge.
"We're not operating in isolation here," said Hunt, who oversees CPS.
He said the appellate ruling helps clarify how far parents can go in disciplining their children. Using it as a guideline, CPS will reconsider its spanking policy, said Hunt, who first became aware of the unpublished ruling last week.
Until now, Hunt said, CPS considered a permissible spanking one in which a parent struck a child's bottom with an open hand. Using a belt or a switch or producing visible injuries was considered abuse worthy of CPS intervention, though not necessarily removal.
"This court decision says that's not valid," he said. "It says that it's OK to whip your child with a belt and to leave bruises on a child's buttocks. That's different from the way we have viewed it."
The boy was placed in foster care after telling school officials that his mother beat him, and showing his principal a faded 1-by-3-inch purple bruise on his lower back, according to court records. School officials, required by law to report suspected abuse, called CPS.
McLinden's son told the social worker that his mother often hit him with a belt and locked him in his bedroom for hours at a time. The social worker decided the boy was at imminent risk of harm and placed him in protective custody, in his case, foster care.
Though some of her son's claims are in dispute, McLinden readily acknowledged she had spanked him with a belt and locked him in his room to control his behavior. She described her son as an angry, aggressive child who hurt other children, assaulted a teacher, stole her money, forged her checks to buy junk food and forged school progress reports. She said he had been in counseling, but that it had not helped him control his aggressiveness.
School officials verified the boy's behavior, and the boy told social workers he had not gone longer than four days without hitting another child.
McLinden's civil suit claims social workers denied her federal right to due process by supporting their case with deliberately fabricated charges, namely that her son could not leave his room to use the bathroom and was not allowed to have friends.
McLinden declined to comment, but allowed her attorney, Cox, to speak for her.
Cox said that because child welfare cases are held to a lesser standard of proof than criminal cases, social workers often don't do as thorough a job investigating cases as their counterparts in law enforcement.
"This is not an isolated incident," Cox said.
McLinden's suit also claims the county deliberately excluded information from her case that would have provided context for the discipline, specifically that she had sought advice from school officials and tried other methods before resorting to corporal punishment. Those methods, cited by the appellate court, included timeouts and withholding privileges.
McLinden testified she had been advised not to spank with her hands because "hands are to be for loving."
Her case in many ways illustrates the conflicting views in America's ongoing debate over corporal punishment. As evidenced by various court rulings in her case, the issue is far from settled at the judicial level, leaving parents and social workers without clear guidelines.
In McLinden's case, a juvenile court referee initially decided her son's removal was just, finding it unreasonable to spank a 12-year-old child and noting that the bruise was evidence of abuse. A judge upheld the ruling, saying "to strike a child with a belt so hard as to leave a bruise is the infliction of serious physical harm. In fact, it is a crime."
But the appellate court overturned both decisions, quoting state law that specifies "reasonable, age-appropriate spanking ... in the absence of serious physical injury" is not abuse. The court also quoted a dictionary definition of spanking: a "slap on the buttocks" with a "flat object" or open hand.
"(McLinden's) corporal punishment was not gratuitous violence inflicted to satisfy some perverse personal need," wrote the three-judge panel. "The record explains her desperate efforts to impose restraints on a son whose life seemed perilously close to spinning out of control."
Armed with the ruling, McLinden filed a claim against Sacramento County in October, a required step before filing a lawsuit. The claim was denied.
Now, McLinden is seeking a court injunction against CPS removals of children in similar cases. Her claim alleges county authorities routinely act "with deliberate indifference to their duties and obligations" to fully investigate child abuse claims.
County officials say that isn't true.
"The requested injunctive relief doesn't sound much different from what the law is," said Hunt. "And we follow the law."
Copyright Notice: According to US Copyright law, copyright vests initially in the author(s) of the work. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have an interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: Title 17, Sec.107. If you are the copyright holder and choose to have your work removed from this website, email the webmaster and it will be done. However we here at fightcps.com hope you prefer that our researchers continue to benefit from access to your work.
Broken Links: Because many old news articles are taken offline you will find broken links in the archives of this weblog. There's nothing we can do to prevent this problem.
I have used Barrie Konicov's recordings to stop smoking, write better, gain confidence, and much more. They are very effective and affordable and I recommend them highly. - Linda Jo Martin of FightCPS.Com
