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FAMILIES UNDER ATTACK cont.

1-4-2000

LITTLE NOAH
By Cosmo Franklin and Dee Gray

Cosmo is a member of the Media inAction group: "POOR Parents Speak," a media organizing project of POOR Magazine. Dee is the co-editor of POOR Magazine and founder of the parents' advocacy group; COURTWATCH

Remember when life was young- little Suzy had so much fun- hoppin and boppin to the crocodile rock..

Little Noah's tiny diapered hips, emitting the light scent of powder and baby-ness swayed to the Oldies music as he held on to my legs - it was near bed-time and I was dancing my son, Noah, to bed after his night-time bath and gourmet meal of Gerbers© chicken and rice... suddenly; two large black boots lumbered toward us, shaking the earth as they came closer, a cold steel badge was pushed in my face "Police, Hand me the child, we're taking him in to custody"

"What are you doing? I screamed "Why are you taking my baby?
"What's going on here?" my wife shrieked.
"We're taking your child because you are unfit parents, you are being charged with neglect and emotional abuse, Mr Franklin. I am a worker from Child Protective Services." She handed me her card, grabbed Noah and walked out of the room with the police. The last sound I heard was Noah's screams.

I stood there motionless as my wife started crying. I looked over at my father who was standing on the other side of the room. It all came together. I am poor, I wasn't very good at holding down a job, I was living with my father, it was not a good situation. We did not get along, he wanted me out of his house.

That was three weeks ago - Noah was permanently removed from my care - the reasons were fuzzy- it was never determined what my wife or I really did wrong - they said we swore in front of the child, that I swung him around too fast, that maybe there was drug abuse, ( there was not) but the real reason was my wife and I were poor - my father was not, we didn't have a chance in the court- our extreme love and meticulous care of our very healthy seven month old was never considered, and when the court hearing convened, we watched them terminate our parental guardianship. (top of article)

The decision to take our baby was part of an ever increasing trend to terminate the rights of parents solely based on the income, financial stability or joblessness of the parent. The implications are terrifying. Case in point; In New York Mayor Giuliani said last week that if you aren't working you won't be allowed to get shelter and if you don't have shelter in New York, you automatically have your children put in foster care.

In California a father was arrested for yelling at his 14 year old daughter when she refused to go to school.(go to story)

In Wisconsin they are deciding whether or not to incarcerate mothers who are on crack s they can control the conditions of the fetus.

Will orphan trains for poor children be next, or baby factories run by the state only allowing certain people to actually "raise children" The frightening thing is many people would agree with these civil rights abuses because they are theoretically done "in the best interests of the child."

Unfortunately the public is unaware how increasingly arbitrary the basis of "abuse" determined by Child Protective Services has become, and how equally impossible it is to meet their requirements for reunification, reminding me of the ancient fairytale of Rumplestiltskin who threatened to take the first born child of the princess unless she spun a roomful of straw into gold.

Two weeks later I was able to visit my little Noah - He was hoarse from crying for days on end, his body now reeked of adult male sweat ( his foster father's) his bright blue eyes were blood shot - He will eventually go to his grandfather's house and I will not see him again, he is my son and I loved him, cared for him and danced with him...

Remember when life was young, little suzy had so much fun...
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"Every Poor family comes with a state worker who wants to take your kids away" - Malcolm X
(next story)

FAMILIES UNDER ATTACK cont.

1-4-2000

DIFFICULT or DISTRAUGHT
By Peanut Fernandez and Josephine Mctigue

Peanut and Josephine are working with the POOR magazine, "POOR MOTHERS SPEAK" series, a writer's workshop for low-income mothers and children. Both Mothers are also co-founders of COURTWATCH, an advocacy group for parents (click on COURTWATCH for more information)

I never did like the algae green color of my shag carpet, but somehow today it seemed strangely comforting as the dusty acrylic fibers captured my over-flowing tears. I had just hung up the phone with a unit supervisor in Child Protective Services, (CPS) a branch of the juvenile dependency court, my fourth in a series of countless calls to get some information about my daughter...after several minutes of desperate pleading he hung up on me, accusing me of being "difficult..."

It was several weeks since my 14-year-old daughter came home at 4:30 am, I told her she couldn't go out again at night for the whole rest of the week. The next day after school she didn't come home at all- she stayed away for a 5 days, I found out that she ran away with a thirty two year old man - I resolved then and there that she wouldn't be able to go out at night at all...

For this decision, I was under investigation for "emotional abuse" from Child Protective Services, and today, six weeks later, my daughter is warehoused in a foster home where she is "AWOL" i.e., she stayed out all night, six or eight times, "they're not sure". CPS believes that the "care" my daughter receives in this foster home is preferable to the care she receives at home, and in fact they characterize her runaway status as "just being a normal teenager".

I called the worker to protest this situation and once again they terminated the call because I objected to their definition of "normal" I was told by my attorney once again that I was considered "difficult," which in CPS-speak is a very serious label. The two worst things you can be in this eerie Kafka-esque branch of bureaucracy are "difficult" or "threatening." The "Difficult" label can be attained by merely calling the CPS workers too many times, or leaving too many voice mail messages" in other words being upset, persistent, or proactive.

To achieve the "threatening" label one must have the wrong tone to one's voice, when calling and/or leaving voice mail, as well as calling too many times or leaving too many messages, In other words, being extremely upset or frustrated that you're getting the runaround when you're calling to find out what's happening with your child. They used all of this against me in the final court proceedings (as they do with all the parents who question their position).....

The last jurisdictional hearing;

"Your honor - the CPS workers on this case have found the parent to be difficult and often times threatening - she has left countless voice mail messages and sent an endless stream of letters to the department, due to these threatening actions we believe she is mentally unstable and paranoid, It is our recommendation that she undergo two psychiatric evaluations before she is allowed to receive reunification services, It is also our belief that her overly strict parenting style has put the child in conflict, forcing her to rebel even further, when in fact she was only trying to be a normal teenager, establishing her independence..."
(top of article)

In Los Angeles county, an extremely high percentage of children are in foster care, higher than any other county in the state. As well, low income families and families of color are the targets of most CPS investigations nationwide. Existent parental rights laws were recently changed, decreasing the amount of time Juvenile dependency workers must wait before terminating parental rights for children under five years old, it has changed from an 18 month waiting period to a mere six months, to enable a speedy and biased court trial, with irrevocable consequences for the parents.

There is an upcoming legislation "AB 804 which considers home schooling, "educational abuse." Finally, CPS and its workers have full immunity, this last fact feels very much like another branch of government's ability to stop and search due to "probable cause."

Our society's commitment to independence and individualism leads to the rampant separation of families, in pursuit of the so-called "normal" teen experience. Eager mental health professionals and/or unlicensed child welfare workers have been given the power by the juvenile court system to make pseudo-psychiatric diagnoses and permanently sever parental ties.

POOR magazine in collaboration with Family Rights and Dignity, Families with a Future and several other organizations locally and nationally are investigating the county foster care system, juvenile dependency court and Child Protective Services. We at POOR, also believe in the concept of the community helping to heal the "dysfunctional" family rather than throwing it away, such as some of the revolutionary ideas being tried in Minnesota with the Community support/ community policing programs.

As I held in my breath, my eyes focused on the now-tear stained carpet while I made one more call to my "worker" after the final Jurisdiction trial;

"Where is my daughter? Is she in school? Has she seen her therapist?" I asked in a broken whisper.

"Well, she is staying with a friend... Sometimes"

Who is the friend?

She's a 17-year-old girl - we don't know her or her phone number, but your daughter does call in to check once in a while.

"Then she's a runaway - why don't you have the police pick her up and take her back to the foster home?"

"Because she doesn't want to be in foster care - and there's nothing we can do...(click) "
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THERAPY COSTS TOO MUCH!!!!
Dee Gray, M.S.W., M.F.C.   Licensed Therapist specializing in advocacy and crisis counseling. Mother, daughter and family counseling. Adoption and juvenile dependency. Literary and creative art counseling. Individual and group therapy. Sliding scale fee. (415) 541-5629.