Parental rights
California - AB 519 - Parental Rights
Under the conditions stipulated by AB 519, this bill allows a child to petition for reinstatement of parental rights in circumstances where the child would otherwise remain a legal orphan. In order to reinstate parental rights, the juvenile court is required under the bill to find that changed circumstances exist such that the child is no longer likely to be adopted and that reinstatement of parental rights is in the child's best interest.
Excuse me? Let me get this straight. The State of California has terminated a parents rights and then because the child has remained in foster care for a period of three-years and has not been adopted, [read: costing the state money] they are going to find that being reunited with the parents may well be in the best interest of the child?
Now, don't get me wrong, this could be a great thing for children and parents who are caught in never-never land but let's think about this a minute.
If after a period of three years, the state can find that it's in the best interest of the child to be reunited with his or her parents, perhaps that child should never have been removed from those very same parents in the first place.
Can you imagine how hard it will be for this family to come back together and have any meaningful kind of life together? A great deal can change in the space of three years.
While I commend the author (Assemblyman Leno) for trying to provide a remedy for a bad situation, I would encourage legislators to take another giant step in the right direction; by providing more family services, to keep the family unit together from the start and making it more difficult to terminate parental rights in the first place.
Today foster parents receive services and monies that are not available to the parents of these very same children. Why are foster parents eligible for respite care, when the parents of these very same children do not receive these services. It would be far less costly for the state to help a homeless family, find housing and employment than it is to remove the children and pay a foster care worker to feed, house and cloth them.
I am not a strong proponent of big government, but we all know big government is here and not going anywhere, anytime soon. A family deserves every opportunity, every chance we can give them to become a strong support system for each and every child.
I know too many parents personally who have lost everything, fight the state to keep or get their children back from the foster care system. The costs mount up quickly with attorney fees, court fees, mental assessments, therapy sessions and the like, that even if they do win the fight (and most don't) to reclaim their children, they often have little left to provide the necessities for their children. This is wrong folks and this much change.
I urge you to support this bill but let's not stop here. We must see changes in child welfare laws and they can't be passed soon enough.
For complete details See AB 519
Labels: court, parental rights
posted by Annette M. Hall @ 12:41 AM
6 Comments:
CPS will claim that they have done everything to keep the family together with their services. but for those of you that do not know the process. CPS will make mandated appointments for you when you are unable to go, ask you to pee in a cup to see if you are doing drugs, and my favorite, ask that you go to anger management classes and to top it all off make you pay child support for the children that they stole.
This bill gives parents a second chance to bring their kids home but parents should have the first chance.
-Heather Malone
I am not in California, but in Arkansas. What do you do when you are accused of neglecting your child? Since Thanksgiving my husband and I have been reported twice.
The reporter lied and said they were in our home. No one has been in our home in since last August.
My son is 6 years old, and is seldom sick. He is traumatized over Friday because the worker lied to the school and said she had my permission to interview him.
She forced her way into my home. She refused to show me identification, and I have no clue where to go since constitutional rights were violated.
While interviewing him at the school she had NO witnesses in the room with her. She raised his shirt up to take a picture of his back and stomach. He is feeling violated because he has been taught that you do not allow anyone to see under your clothes unless it is parents, Dr., or nurse. He is terrified to go anywhere. Afraid that the "bad lady" will follow him.
The only thing I know to do now is take my children to the Dr. in the morning to get documentation that they are healthy and not suffering from neglect. I called the national and state abuse hotline and was told she acted inappropriately and to call her supervisor Monday morning.
I am afraid this will make a bad situation worst. I am afraid to send my son to school because they never even called me to verify her story. My son loves school so if I take him out he will feel punished and will give fuel to the fire.
I am lost, afraid, and just furious. My children are always clean. They are always fed, and dressed nice. I am always complimented by strangers about how well mannered they are, their appearance but yet a social worker forced her way into my home and claims mud on the floor is dog feces and that my son has too many toys.
If anyone has any help to offer please email me.
-Jennifer Shelby
Do you have any idea who is making these false reports? Is it possible someone at the school is making these allegations?
You are correct that you should take your son to the Docter as soon as possible to document that your son is in good health.
I am not familiar with the law in Arkansas but you need to find out, if you can put a letter on file with the school that "no one" is to have access to your child, without prior "written" appoval. They may or may not abide by it. Unfortunately, so long as your son is attending the public school, this is a risk you take. This is one of the liberties the public schools take, in the name of protecting children from the boogie man. Many school officials honestly believe their is a child abuser behind every door.
You are right to be furious and feel violated. Your child was assaulted and the law refuses to protect him.
Seek out those in your state who are already fighting abuses by CPS workers. Get your story out there for the world to read and contact your legislator. Make a formal written complaint.
You can attempt to file a complaint formally with the Child Protection Supervisor but you are correct that it is a risk. There is nothing to prevent them from retaliating. However, they have been known to back down from well-informed, strong parents, who know their rights and are willing to stand up to them. Don't make the mistake of playing the victim.
You might consider filing a police report and if you can afford a "good" attorney, do so as soon as possible.
What concerns me most is that this is not the first contact you have had with CPS in your area. If you can not afford to fight, you might want to consider moving.
I know this sounds drastic but I've known too many parents who have lost their children repeatedly, who ended up fighting for their children (and win or lose), the parents often end up losing their home and their savings. They are bled dry by a state with an endless stream of cash to back them.
While you might not be prepared to move at this time, it could save you the loss of your children, a protracted legal battle and a tremendous amount of stress and a bucket full of money.
Above all else, I recommend a great deal of prayer. I'm sorry their simply is no magic bullet.
Give your son a hug from me. Talk to him about his feelings and give him a chance to discuss his anger with you.
Best of luck to your family our prayers are with you!
I took both kids to the dr. and he could not believe that anyone would say that our kids are neglected. The dr talked with him about his feelings so he hasn't expressed anymore fear.
I am going to talk to the superintendent of the school in the morning. We had planned on homeschooling this year, but I was having so many complications with my pregnancy at the time we decided against it. I am afraid to do that will just cause more problems since DHS seems to pick on homeschoolers.
According to the dr. today no one has contacted his office for medical records on our son or daughter. He said that he would being willing to testify that our children are not neglected. He said both were the picture of health. He said it is common for people to file false reports.
Praying is all I really know to do. I am researching constitutional rights and seeing how to proceed from there.
Thanks for the prayers.
-Jennifer Shelby
Thanks for listening!
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