What Service Plan really mean to us?

[Frustrated]

I got this off the other Website, and found out what Service Plan really meant if some one signed into this.

"you need to understand that CPS funding is closely tied in with "service providers". It is likely that the social worker will offer some kind of deal, saying you can keep your kid if you agree to "services" like psch. testing, drug testing, therapy, etc...What this offer really means is that they don't have enough evidence to take your child into their custody, but if you will just go to their "service providers" they may get the "evidence" they need through these "service providers" reports.

[Frustrated]

So it is VERY important, if you already signed into the Service Plan, and if you are feeling forced or coecred into this, YOU CAN sign your Name and write in UNDER DURESS OR FORCED INTO it. You can at anytime, to change their wordings, at the beginning, before you sign the Service Plan. I already changed the wording twice.

It is also important if the monthly visits that CPS will be making, you can tape record it, or video tape it, buy a tape recorder, and a blank tape, sprial bound notebook, to write down everything. Have the File Folder LABELLED "Child Welare Agents", so they can see it plain in sight in the Living Room or the Front Room. Don't share the information with them, and don't talk too much, as that can be used to twist their own words against you, and keep it low profile, and don't mention any contacts that they can call to gather "evidence", such as doctors, schools, relatives, friends, and such. That can be used as "evidence" at the later future. Tell them that you know all about the Laws, and you have the evidence that you are the best parent to that child, not an abuser and wave the paper in front of her face, but put it back into the Folder "Child Welfare Agents". That will make them nervous, if you document EVERYTHING at EVERY MEETING!!! write down what was being said, what questions were asked, and what answers were.

Also, to remember, after you signed the Service Plan, write a letter return receipt, of all the conversations you had at that meeting, and have her confirm this is what she said, or denied the facts. If she did not respond to your Letter, this is automatically YOUR letter proof of such conversations that took place. THIS letter can be used in Court in the future, and since they did not respond to the letter, the Judge will go by what your Letter states, that in fact CPS said such things at that day in question at the meeting.

I am learning everything as it goes. I know the Service Plan is MUCH WORSE OFF< because one thing, they will get to interfere into your Lives for every month, on a monthly basis, with visits to your home, questions to your children, gather "evidence" to prove their Case. That is why they say "Case is still Open".

[AllForThisSite]

I never understood the service plan when it was given to us. It was about 10 pages where the caseworker checks YES or NO about certain needs or situations and then on the last page -- the part you sign -- it has a space for any additional comments or services. The CW checked NO on everything but the part where it says "Children are at risk of harm". I brought that up and she said, "That is checked because of the nature of the report. Your husband tried to kill himself and our report states that this was done in front of the children." I said, "Well, I'm not putting my John Henry on that because that is not true. I won't sign off on hearsay." She got angry and told me that by signing it it did not mean that I agreed that it happened or that I agreed that they were at risk, it meant that I was agreeing to follow the service plan which stated we'd send him to counseling. I said, "If I agree to send him to counseling based on what you checked, that means that I am sending him because what you checked is true." She said that was not the case at all. I refused to sign her service plan and she came back 4 hours later and got my husband to sign it. She intimidated him into signing it saying that by not signing it it would make things worse....that even though we knew what was said was not true, that by not signing the service plan and agreeing to proove them wrong by going to counseling made us look like we were hiding something. He repeats what she says to me in front of her and I said, "Well in my opinion, you were guilty before she ever got here because she did not fill that service plan out when she got here, she had it filled out before she got here. Most case workers fill out their service plans in front of you, not before they ever meet you." She said, "You have trust issues Mrs. Red." I said, "Damn right I do and I also have observance issues, too. I can spend 5 minutes around somebody just observing and tell what kind of person they are and you strike me as the type of person who likes to throw her weight around. Only difference is, I don't intimidate easily and I've never run with my tail between my legs either." I still never signed her service plan and they never put it in my face again the whole time they were involved here.

[Frustrated]

All for this Site:

How do they keep coming into your Home if you did not sign the Service Plan? How long were they in your Home for visits? Is it because your husband signed the Plan, so they came anyways? If both of you never signed the Service Plan, they would not have come at all. All she needs was one parent and here she came.

All Service Plans are very tricky, and worded in the way they wanted, and in codes...which means something else. I signed the Service Plan, because I was under duress, and she said if I don't sign this, it will make things look guilty, and that she can make things worse, and take away my Kids. Intimidation is what she did to me. I only signed the Service Plan, JUST TO GET the COUNSELLING that my Son really needed in the first place, it is not for me, it is for my Son.

Should I add to the Comments? I got the same thing as you have, they have comments and disagreements to the Service at the far back, and they have 6 signatures, which is like 6 month visits, and they have checks like you mentioned, date accomplished, date abandoned, date cancelled, or whatever. They have comments beside the Comments they wrote, any improvements, any accomplishements, or not successful, or whatever. They wrote in codes, like C2, C3, FSW, CFI, which is very tricky, and means something else to them, and the problem is that most parents has no clue what the Codes really meant. I should add the comments at the far back, saying that I signed the Service Plan, just to get the Counselling that my Son really needs. Should I do that? I don't like the Service Plan, but she said I accomplished most of it, I already got counselling for my Son, ON MY OWN, not her, and she said I finished that duty, and I need to do other things, like monthly visits, counselling for us (parenting skills), that I have to ensure and allow them to talk to my Children indivually and on monthly basis. My Children, the two oldest told me they don't want to answer Questions, what should I do? That will give her probable cause that we are hiding something. It is just that my Children are TIRED of answering their repetitive questions over and over, and they want to LIVE as normally as they can. I don't blame them for one darn bit. I don't like the interference or intrustions more than anybody does. If it happened to a Rich Family, they would tell them to bug off, and they have lots of money to sue them. That is why CPS are more scared of them, than the poor families like the rest of us here.

[AllForThisSite]

I told our worker I wanted a copy of the service plan and she kept forgetting (yeah right) to give me one the first month she was out here and then finally I told her in order to continue her visits she needed to give me a service plan and she did. She gave me the back part which is the part my husband signed and I told her, "No, when I said copy I meant the whole thing." So she gave me all 10 pages of it. She said, "I don't know why you'd want all those extra pages because none of them are checked or have anything to do with your case. You really only need page one and the back page which is the part your husband signed." I said, "I know the rest aren't checked, but I want copies of them so that in the event they were to wind up checked, I have a copy where those items were not checked." She looked at me like I had stolen her wallet.....but I got my plan.....all 10 pages. I told her anytime she were to make any changes to the service plan that I wanted a fresh copy of that, too and she signed my copy saying that if the SP were to be changed that she is to provide me with a copy highlighting those changes. But my husband signed the service plan, I was left out of it.

After I refused to sign, she finally came back and said, "Well the case is not about you so I didn't really need your signature." No the case was not about me, but she damn sure spent 120 days up in my house making the case about me and my ex and our son rather than about my son and my husband which is what the initial call was about and not one time, not even at the closing, did she ever ask my husband, "Are you depressed?" "Do you want to kill yourself?" "What are your plans in the future if you should ever feel depressed?" "What actions would you take if you thought you might do harm to yourself?" "Do you have a support system?" "Would you like for me to bring you a list of support groups?" "Are you going to continue counseling? Or would you like to?" Those are questions we used to ask our patients that were on the suicide ward.

The case was about one thing, but it turned totally into my ex and I. And to me, that is no case at all. That woman did nothing out here except get in between me and my ex and do a round of "he said, she said".....that is ALL she did. As far as that goes, I spent an hour on the phone with my ex after the closing and you know what he had to say to me??? "Since this shit started our son has been shitty with everybody, cannot handle authority, and has shown his ass with everybody. You just have no idea what we've been through with him." Well, all I can say is, maybe he'll think about that the next time he picks up the phone. If I wasn't allowed to see my mother because my dad was wearing his ass on his neck, I think I'd show my ass too!

[Frustrated]

Yeah, same here, the Service Plan is not about me, it is about my Partner, but yet, I signed the Plan, I was under duress, and forced into it. Because my doctor report hangs in balance, saying we must get counselling from them. So I had no choice.

I DID THE SERVICE PLAN, JUST SO THAT MY SON CAN RECEIVE COUNSELLING, IT IS NOT ACT OF GUILT, WE ARE NOT GUILTY, WE DID NOT DO ANYTHING WRONG.

But yet, when you signed into the Service Plan, it is an admission of Guilt. I know this and that is telling them that we are abusers of emotional harm to our Son. Discipline and abusing, are two different areas. They tend to conflict with Discipline into the Service Plan! They ADDED into the Service Plan, that we are not to yell at our Son. Everybody I know of, every parents out there, do yell at their Kids. It is nothing new. They must call out their Names, to get their attention, to save their Lives, and so on.

The Other day, I had to yell at my 5 yrs old daughter to get off the Streets, because the Snow Plower, is coming to plow the Snow on that Street, and she was playing in the Snow Pile. The Snow plower almost got to the Snow Pile and almost got her under the Truck. Of course I YELLED, to SAVE her LIFE!!! She got off the streets, and played in the designated yard. She broke the Rule for leaving the yard, and she followed the other Kids from the Neighbour hood, and these friends happened to be playing in the Snow Pile. She is a follower, so I told her she broke the rule for leaving the yard, so she had to stay in the House all day, to learn her lesson. And I took away her Priviledges such as TV Cartoons. I had to save her Life, calling out her name, to get back into the designated yard. She didn't listen, so what are you going to do? I had to go get her, and put her back in the desginated yard, and she disobeyed the rule, so she had to stay inside.

I thought since the Worker put the Service Plan is not to yell at the Children. What other boundaries apply? How do we get their attention to save their lives? Or just calling their names from upstairs to come downstairs. Everybody does this. I have seen One Mother in my Neighbourhood, she constantly Yells at her Three Sons, who are out of control, all of the Sons, are very disrespectful, going around the neighbourhood, and steals things from other neighbour's property. One day, I saw the Mother yelling at her one son, the youngest for playing with a LIVE WIRE that was hanging down from the Hydro Post, and that has 10,000 Volts, which would have killed her son instanteously. She has every right to protect her Child, by yelling to tell him not to touch the Live Wires. I thought within the boundareis, she did the right thing to save the Life of her Son.

These Case workers are not familiar that often times we have to do this to save their Lives, or calling their Names, to get their attention. It is not Emotional Harm. I think it is time for the Case Workers to learn all the Cultures, Values, Morals of every Families. Because every Families are different. Just like every Muslim Families, their Cultures, Morals, Values are different than ours. Yet, the Case Workers RESPECT their Religion, but not Ours, because we are "normal" Families, and they need to put us as "Targets" to fill in their Service Plan, so they can get the Money going, and THAT is WHY they need our signatures, as Proof to get the Fundings going. IF the signatures are not there, the fundings won't come.

[AllForThisSite]

My mother's child protection book given to her by the police dept. has different definitions in it concerning abuse and neglect and after all these years of school, yes we did dig it out and look up a few things. There is a difference between "raising your voice", "yelling/screaming" and using "harsh tones". Raising your voice is to summon the attention of another by raising your voice above the noise level in the room. Yelling/Screaming is an unpleasant tone used to gain the attention of a crowd/group/or individual in situations where there is need to be heard above the noise level in the room or to provide warning. Harsh tones are spoken between adults regardless of the noise level in the room; normally used in conflicts, altercations, arguments, and in hostile situations.

There is also definitions of abuse. A spanking by a parent/adult where a red mark remains on the child after a period of 15-20 minutes is not considered abuse but considered "striking the child with blunt force". A disciplinary spanking mark should appear and disappear for the length of 10 or less minutes. A disciplinary mark that bruises, welts, cuts, or injures the child is considered abuse. To restrain a bigger child (or smaller child) with tape, rope, your leg, your arm, your hand, use of another adult or other material item using for tying or holding for the means of disciplinary action is to abuse a child. The list goes on.

But the thing that strikes me is that very little is discussed on the issue of neglect. Neglect is a failure to do something/failure to follow through/failure to not do/failure to comply/failure to abide or obey......but it does state that in order to "neglect" to do something would mean neglect by law. So if you choose to operate a motor vehicle without a license knowing that you must have one for operation, you neglect to follow the law that you should obtain and hold a motor vehicle license to operate the vehicle.

But I could debate neglect all day. If you were raised in a home where it was cluttered and you then develop your own home where it is cluttered, are you following the way you were raised? Or are you neglecting to go opposite from how you were raised? Does that make any sense somebody? LOL! There is no law against a cluttered home or a dirty home....so how could you be neglecting anything if there is no law saying you must have a clean home and that if you fail to follow it, you are guilty of neglect.

[Frustrated]

All for this Site:

That is exactly what I am doing, I am just calling out his attention, and giving him warnings for disobeying rules or disobeying my directions. We never used harsh tones or belittling tones on him, I thought in fact, it was the opposite, where my Son would speak in profane language, that he learned from School, and his friends would swear all the time. Of course, he goes to his Room for the remainder of the time, for filthy propane language. His Priviledges are taken away. Period. What do you do, if your own Son strikes you? I have had my Son punched me in the face, kicked me all over my body, and you say restraining him, and put him to his Room is abuse? What happens if he threaten you? Would that be different if you are defending yourself? Self Defence? That would be interesting thing to debate! LOL

Anyways, they try to pin emotional harm on me and my hubby just because we were yelling at him, for disobeying rules or disobeying directions to go to his Room. PERIOD>. Why should we suffer this? We did not do anything wrong, and they had us to sign a Service Plan as AN ADMISSION OF GUILT! I did the plan just so that my Son can receive Counselling for his outbursts, misbehaviours, etc...My ex husband was very abusive, hits me all the time, and my Son witnessed the whole thing, and he does the same thing to me. I am even afraid of my own Son. and CPS are doing everything in their power to use these against me and my hubby???? Unfair justice. How do you make things right? CPS WON'T listen to me or my hubby, they say we ARE WRONG. They are RIGHT!

Hopeless to get across to them. I feel like I am wasting my breath explaining myself to them. I don't have to explain myself to them every time, they see something WRONG with us, like one time, they thought my Deaf Culture, like banging the Floor to get some one's attention, because I am DEAF, they thought banging the floor to get someone's attention is abusive. Even flickering the Lights to get someone's attention, is abusive. Heck, I cannot even do anything. How can I get someone's attention?!! You see, they don't respect my Deaf Culture, and that is sure 100% Discrimination. I think Human Rights Case is calling me....I am considering filing a Case against them for Discrimination, because One, that most Deaf People do in fact Yell out to get attention of other People. Banging floors, flickering lights, even banging the walls, to get someone's attention, etc...What are we supposed to do? Throw a Rock at them? Absurd! They are very rude about Deaf People and I AM NOT the only Deaf Person they are looking into, I have at least FIVE Deaf Parents going through the same thing with CPS!! One Deaf Friend of mine, they lost their Daughter to CPS, because they are crippled, one of them has Cerebal Palsy and Deaf, and the other Mother is in a Wheelchair because of her Disability. They lost their Daugther based on their Disability?

[AllForThisSite]

I would definitely look into these organizations that support the deaf and explain to them what you are going through. You should not be made to explain your disability nor should you be made to feel bad about it. Everyone has the right to create life, bring it into this world, and love it, feed it, nuture it, and do all the things to guide it and help it grow. No one deserves to be made to feel bad for the decision they made to have children because of the disability they have. CPS tried to make my husband feel bad about his disability and try to put us all in counseling for it and I told them, "This is not new to us. This is not something that he was just diagnosed with last week. We've been dealing with my husband's disability for 15 years. I'm sure I'd get more out of holding my own counseling group to help others than I'd get out of sitting in one supposedly out to help me."

When CPS finds out there is an obstacle with parenting, such as a disability, they will harp on that. Anything they can come up with to put you through more services and more counseling. To be honest, we all go through counseling everyday. Some of us have the best counselors in the world and it's Mom or Dad, an Aunt or Uncle, or a best friend....people who truly know about our situation and people who love us; not some guy behind an oak desk who wants us to paint a picture of our life so he can compare it to his and say to himself, "Man..I thought MY life was bad."

But best of all, the counseling we get from our families and friends is free, it involves love, and we aren't being doped up on medicine to ignore our lives or think our lives is grand. If I were you I would contact some human rights councils and find out what I could do. Somebody has an answer for you and if they don't.....go public.....somebody will crawl out of the woodwork.

[Frustrated]

All for this site: That is exactly how I feel about parents, friends, relatives, they are the best friends that you can have. They LOVE for who you are. These CPS does not LOVE for who you are. They just think there is something wrong with you, because we are Strangers to them.

I thought the CPS, according to the Manual, that they are to learn:

About People's Culture
About People's Religion (very sensitive topic for them)
About People's Disability
About People's Morals, Values, how they raise their Children, etc.
How they were brought up by their Ancestors.
People's Languages

All of these CPS ignored too many times, and does not respect People's Religion, Creed, and Martial Status. They are the MAJOR Discriminators of the World, a Violation to the Human Rights, I bet you on that one.

I read about 2 yrs ago, in Ontario, there was an Amish People, two Parents that had 7 Children, and some one called CPS, because they believe in Corporal Punishement, spanking their Kids, etc....They TOOK ALL 7 Children away and put them in Foster Care. The Amish Parents, who are very religious, contacted the Amish People, and the Elder, came and told CPS that they are violating their Religion Right to exercise Corporal Punishment. They later dropped the Case, and dismissed it, and returned ALL 7 Children back to the Amish Parents. Because the Amish Parents got the Human Rights Case filed against them for the infringing of their Religion Right. The Children who were put in Foster Care, were violated, and was not respected to their Religion, as the Foster Care Parents, did not make them say their Prayers, or whatever. They are not supposed to eat the Worldly food, but eat Bread, and stuff, free of Worldly things. They must drink Goat Milk, and stuff. Foster Care Parents did not respect the Children's Wishes to practice their Religion but instead, the Children's Behaviour were ruined, and they acted up, and got emotional Abuse because they were put in a Home full of electrical things, and worldly possessions, and that alone shocked them.
The Amish People lives in a Wooden Home, has Horses for a Car, or whatever, and they get up early in the morning, at 5 AM, and stuff...they were also homeschooled. CPS has violated every rights that the Children had, what they were taught by their Amish Parents.

That is what the CPS must do, is to respect every People's Cultures and stuff. They do NOT Respect them, that is the MAJOR Problem we are having in the Land of the Free, in our Country and we get violated on an every day basis. Everyone goes through interferences of their beliefs. We all have Family Traditions to carry on, and the CPS often disrupts that, just because they don't like our Traditions, and instead, doing that, they brainwash the Children to do something different, that goes against their Beliefs. That is what a Cult does, pushing theology on People. And that is all messed up, and so Wrong. Something has to be done, to protect People's Rights.