Father of 2 is in losing battle with cps

[Tomak6944]

I am the father of 2 wonderful children, 9 and 5. I have recently had my kids stolen by cps in the state of MI. In June there was a hearing that I wasn't given any notice of during which there were stipulations that were put on me and a petition done. I was served at the beginning of July with papers which wasn't enough time to comply leading to the removal of the my kids from me. At the next hearing a week later my ex plead guilty to one or more of the charges thus throwing all of us under the jurisdiction of the court. The thing is that now I have to have a psycological evaulation, drug and alcohol assessment, and submit to random drug screens for at least six months and the entire time I am only allowed supervised visits. Do I have to comply with this or do I have a choice? All the things in the petition that involved me were dropped when my ex pled. She doesnt live with me so how is my household considered unfit when I have been the childrens care taker for their entire life? At the hearing the caseworker even said that the kids appeared happy healthy and well behaved. I am outraged that this is even possible and feel utterly hopeless. I feel like I am being railroaded by the so-called system and the f**king process that I am an unwitting participant in to begin with. Do I have any options? I only want my children home where they belong, they must be devastated as they have never been away from me. All I am guilty of is being a father trying to raise his children not pay someone else to and they treat me like I am scum of the earth and just as guilty as my ex. I am ready to just say to hell with it and go and get my kids back. Please help!!

[monkette31]

I'm afraid this is how the fu*c#d up system works. I don't know how you got in this position except for probably having very bad lawyer, most likely court appointed. I was the mother who lost custody and the father refused to do anything the first time, end result is that I got the kids back and he got visiting 1x per mos. Your lawyer should have said something but these court appointed ones never say crap. They will not give you the kids back until you complete the caseplan now.

[treytrey1]

Sometimes not even then, Im sorry to say.

[brookeycookie]

Its criminal what they do. I am a mother in your same position. I never did anything. My home was not the issue. Nobody even called me in for anything. My ex was investigated for sexual abuse and we have not even lived together forever. They took my daughter and we all got thrown into the CPS mess because of allegations on my ex.

I can tell you that if you signed a service plan, with the psych evals and drug tests on there, you will not get your kids unless you complete it. A good PRIVATE custody lawyer is a MUST! It is thousands upon thousands, the cases they have where they have no abuse on a parent but use anything they can to make a buck and a quota off our kids.

Do not trust even the nicest case worker. They know you didn't abuse your kids, and now need to find something to tag you with. Anything at all can be twisted and reported falsely now. Not appearing cooperative will be written ( and backed up in court) as anything from combative, to adjustment disorder, to harrasing, thus casting a bad light on your parenting skills. Missing court, even if they held it without telling you, will be reported as absent and not concerned of your kids life.

My advise is to be super polite, (fake it), study this site and your state juvenile laws, hire a private custody lawyer, ( even if you have to beg and borrow money), start writing every single thing down with dates, do not let them in your house unless its spit shined or they have a court order, stop signing things and politely tell them you need to run it by your lawyer first, check your states recording laws and record all conversations if its legal,( some states it is NOT legal), call everyone all the time to politely check on your case status and check on your kids. Ask about your kids a lot. Read up on MMIP2 and other psych evaluations, make sure a case worker never handles your Urin drops, and type up a declaration of facts, ( you can find that on this sites home page).

So to answer, if you have signed a case plan/ service plan, yes you have to do those requirements. If you have not signed, don't. But I would guess your lawyer will advise you to do it anyway.

A couple things that seem to slow them up and throw a wrench in their scam: a parent who is smart, can afford a good lawyer, knows the laws and CPS regulations, never misses a single requirement, completes requirements early, has a spotless house 100% of the time, asks repeatedly about their children, knows what questions to ask to call them on mistakes and lies, and causes more work than they are used to.

A couple things that seem to piss them off, and make them lie more to get you : a parent that shows emotion like any good parent would. Appears angry at them for stealing your babies, files grievances, refuses to sign things, refuses to let them in your house, and calls supervisors.

A couple things that seem to make it easy to take your kids forever: a parent who misses court or any parenting class or any meeting or appointment,( no matter the reason), a parent who signs anything because they believe the lying scum case worker, a parent who is desperate to get your kids back and will do whatever they suggest, a dirty house, a criminal history, a depression Meds history, uneducated, poor, no lawyer or a court appointed scum called a lawyer, a parent that assumes they will investigate and see the truth.

Prepare yourself for many months of this. They get federal funding for every child taken and time frame they keep them.

I wish I had better news, but even if you win, it will be a long road to get there. I am going on 6 months and 20 grand.

[family_man]

What you're guilty of in their eyes is your failure to protect your children from your ex. This is why you now get only supervised visits, etc.

It took me 3+ years to get all of my children back and over 100 grand. I hope your case isn't as prolonged as mine was!

[monkette31]

Or you could do your own thing, modify this to your case and go file it in court. It will document your case, Let me tell you something how evil dcfs is...they now know they got your ex by the balls and they will use YOU against her, they will and might side with you after meeting you and just decide the kids belong with you....they will torture your ex with this info....but go ahead and let them, get the kids!!!!

Look at this, your lawyer probably won't do it, but you can:

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/blynnoc/motion/http://pages.sbcglobal.net/blynnoc/motion/

modify it to your liking. The author wants to help and was successful when she filed this. She put it there for us to use and wants us to use it....

[Tomak6944]

I would like to thank everyone for their replies, I find it absurd that any of this is happening. I have never signed any "case plan", the first hearing that was held (the one I wasn't given enough notice to even attend) was when the court 'ordered' that I comply with certain stipulations, but by the time I actually received the paperwork from the hearing containing the stipulations the next hearing was just days from taking place and that is where they took my kids for failing to comply. And to the idea that I cannot protect my children from my ex, I have done just that for their entire life, and only now and only in the eyes of one sick, twisted bitch am I failing. She even said they were well taken care of, well behaved, doing amazing in school, and the house was fine. But my ex-wife was in conversation with them telling them I was everything from a drug dealer, to an arsonist, to a rapist, to a child molester because she has no custody of any of her 7 kids, and she would rather the state have custody than us fathers. So even though absolutely none of this is true, the bitch case-worker took the word of a raving, adle-brained lunatic and all the while told them that she was addicted to drugs, unable to care for the kids, etc., so they offered her a shot at pleading to the petition and she did. The thing is that when she did they totally dropped the bullshit they were trying to say about me, but yet somehow the kids and I fell under the jurisdiction of the state because of it. I don't have thousands of dollars to spend, and truly I don't even know how long I can go on without my kids before this all becomes something that all of you will end up reading about. I can't take it, the thought of what those fucking people are telling my children about me is killing me and the fact that my son has never spent more than 3 days away from me in five years and the way he just LOVES me and would rather be with me every second of the day doing nothing but being with his father, knowing how this MUST be affecting him is FUCKING killing me from the inside out.

[brookeycookie]

Im so sorry you have to deal with this, and its got to be even scarier for kids. I know the feeling of complete anger and confusion, awe and sadness, fear and OUTRAGE you are talking about. I never realized how messed up they are, because I never dealt with them until my ex decided to go crazy. The sad thing is, they will willingly ruin children in exchange for exerting their power. Please, get the thousands. I know, it seems not fair and it ISN'T! I didn't have thousands either. Im a normal single mom, with 4kids, living middle class. I paid my bills and provided well for my kids in a typical middle class fusion, but there was no extra at all. To come up with lawyer retainers I had to beg family, take out loans, even stoop to ask friends. It will be worth it in the end, no matter how unfair it is. I hope you don't wait til later. Take a deep breath and borrow every penny you can for a good private custody lawyer. And get ready for the fight of your life.

[sethcroy]

I'm a father trying to get my daughter back and its so hard for me also. What can I do besides going to jail for standing up and fighting for my daughter. my daughter is my world, my life and I'm scared to loose my daughter.