desperate, broken and devestated and i need to act fast

[ayalacltx]

I am not new to dealing with texas cps, however, i refuse to stand idley by this time. On Friday CPS came to my home where my daughter and her 4 children live, and removed the children from the home. The reason he gave his supervisor was an outright lie, and there was nothing i could do. They refused to allow the children to remain here with me, and wont even consider allowing me to be a temporary conservative of my own grandchildren. Now yes there is a story to all of this so please do not judge before reading the entire story, The police conducted an illegal search of my home. CPS had already been contacted by the police prior to coming to my house. during the search they allegedly found empty baggies containing meth residue in my daughters purse and a meth pipe in her top dresser drawer. I dont condone this behavior, hope it never occured in my home, but non the less i dont dispute the fact that it appears she has a drug habit. I work nights, and sleep most of the day so am by fault not aware of everything that goes on, however this i would think i would notice going on in my house, i am no stranger to drug addiction. She went to jail for the pipe and for evading detention, my boyfriend claimed the baggies and was charged with possession of a cont subs. i was not charged with anything. When CPS arrived he stated to his supervisor that the baggies were in plain site and within reach of the children, well yes at that time the officers had it out on table. He used this as his justification for immediate removal of the kids, each child was interviewed and my daughter. Me or my boyfriend were not. When asked why they couldnt remain at the home with me, he refused to tell me matter of fact acted as if i was not even present all i was told that they would never be allowed back in my home as if i was the accused. This was a shock to me and the other officers present, they even quetioned the caseworker as to what he was doing, i reminded him i was not arrested and even offered a drug test, nope - matter of fact no one in the house was tested. All weekend he ignored my calls and did not return any of them. I contacted him on Tuesday armed with knowledge from this site and requested a re assessment of risk, he refused saying that my daughter would be here once released from jail. He apparently knew more than I. Anyway i assured him that my priorities and concerns were for the children, they are the only victims here and did not ask for this and that i was willing to do whatever he asked to prove sincerety. He said he had to talk to his supervisor then went to the home of where the children were placed and had papers of temp custody signed. WHAT??? Then notified my daughter of what he had done, i was never told by CPS. The other grandmother and the father of 2 of the children, once notified by me, went to the local office to do what they needed to get his 2 kids and was told no. No for no reason other than the caseworker did not want to do backgrounds, and checks when in his eyes where they were was approved. They are with a lifetime friend of mine who doesnt want the hassle of messing with CPS but was told that there were only two choices and that was she keep them or they become wards of the state. My tax dollars pay for you to do your job, and to also look out for the welfare of my grandchildren and your not wanting to deal with the paperwork and the fact that you have lied from the beginning does not lead me to believe that you are truley interested in the welfare of the children at all. Oh and i also reported to him that i could produce a multitude of character witnessess on my behalf if need be. He just is not interested on placing the children with family i guess i dont know but i see already where this is going and i am going to loose my grandbabies if i dont act fast, only i dont even know where to begin, please help before it is to late. That would be devastating to me since i have practicly raised each one their entire life.

[family_man]

First of all, are you or your family able to hire an attorney? That would be the best advice I could give you. As my disclaimer says, I am not an attorney and cannot give legal advice. I only do the best I can to help families in these very trying situations.

One of two things could have happened here:

1) CPS took your grandchildren into emergency custody without a court order. In this case, CPS must file a suite in court, requesting it to appoint a Guadian Ad-Litem (GAL) and an attorney Ad-Litem for the children and schedule an initial hearing to be held no later than the first working day after the child were taken in possession. At this hearing, CPS must convince the judge that:

(a) That there was an immediate danger to the physical health or safety of the children;
(b) There is no time consistent with the physical health or safety of the children for a full adversary hearing;
(c) Reasonable efforts consistent with the circumstances were made to prevent the need for the removal of the children; and
(d) Continuation in the home would be contrary to the children's welfare.

Unfortunately, this initial hearing can be conducted ex-parte, meaning without you or the parents being present, so your side of the story won't be heard UNLESS your attorney or you finds when and where the hearing takes place. (It may already be too late.) Fourteen days hence is when the full adversarial hearing must be held. During this hearing, the judge will determine by a preponderance of evidence whether the child should return home, should be placed with a relative, or should remain in substitute care while the case is pending, based on criteria (a)-(d) above. From what you have described, it would appear that the CPS case would be vulnerable on all four points to a competent legal defense.

2) CPS had already obtained an ex-parte order to assume temporary emergency custody of your children before they arrived. In this case your are still faced with the 14 day adversarial hearing.

I hope this helps in some small way.

[family_man]

One more thing I wanted to add: If you want your grandchildren to live with you in your house, you will probably have to have your daughter and your BF temporarily leave, while they undergo drug treatment programs. This is something you could propose to the judge, if CPS won't listen.

[ayalacltx]

Thank you for your response, has since gone from bad to worse and i am at a total loss now. Things are not being done properly at all. Apparently they have put in the paperwork to take parental rights from my daughter. They have not been in front of any judge, had the GAL (a friend of mine) sign kinship paperwork before my daughter filled out the list of 3 places the kids could go. The caseworker told the GAL that they are taking parental rights, not going to give her a plan of action ect ect ect. Also told the GAL that i have not spoke to them and apparently i was not interested in the childrens welfare. I talk to this caseworker and his answering machine at least 3 times a day. One time the GAL was standing right there. Having heard all this and getting nowhere i called Austin, after i asked them if i needed to go to the local news station, or my daughter lives right down from where beacause of the fire CNN Fox 7. We were asked to please not do that, were told that the supervisors supervisor would take over this case and find out what was going on. We were also informed that they were going to do their best to keep the kids within the state of texas, what was that suppose to mean? One other thing, numerous family members have volunteered to take the children and were told no, and here i thought that it is always in the best interest of the children to remain with family if possible, it is possible with these children but CPS wont allow it. None of this is making any sense, they also told my daughter that if she wasnt out of jail by tuesday, she would never see her children. Do you see why i am desperate for help, Oh yea, they still have not done drug tests on anyone, and she has no drug charges????? Sounds to me like theres more to this than anyone is telling, but for the life of me i cant figure it out. I do know i will not allow those babies to be spread out in foster care when there is no legitimate reason than cant be kept here with their own blood relatives who will never stop fighting this battle or shall i say war

[mysticmom]

One more thing I wanted to add: If you want your grandchildren to live with you in your house, you will probably have to have your daughter and your BF temporarily leave, while they undergo drug treatment programs. This is something you could propose to the judge, if CPS won't listen.

i was going to say this and get an order of protection against your daughter to show that she definatly will not be in the house.....they will want proof that will go a long way

[mysticmom]

Thank you for your response, has since gone from bad to worse and i am at a total loss now. Things are not being done properly at all. Apparently they have put in the paperwork to take parental rights from my daughter. They have not been in front of any judge, had the GAL (a friend of mine) sign kinship paperwork before my daughter filled out the list of 3 places the kids could go. The caseworker told the GAL that they are taking parental rights, not going to give her a plan of action ect ect ect. Also told the GAL that i have not spoke to them and apparently i was not interested in the childrens welfare. I talk to this caseworker and his answering machine at least 3 times a day. One time the GAL was standing right there. Having heard all this and getting nowhere i called Austin, after i asked them if i needed to go to the local news station, or my daughter lives right down from where beacause of the fire CNN Fox 7. We were asked to please not do that, were told that the supervisors supervisor would take over this case and find out what was going on. We were also informed that they were going to do their best to keep the kids within the state of texas, what was that suppose to mean? One other thing, numerous family members have volunteered to take the children and were told no, and here i thought that it is always in the best interest of the children to remain with family if possible, it is possible with these children but CPS wont allow it. None of this is making any sense, they also told my daughter that if she wasnt out of jail by tuesday, she would never see her children. Do you see why i am desperate for help, Oh yea, they still have not done drug tests on anyone, and she has no drug charges????? Sounds to me like theres more to this than anyone is telling, but for the life of me i cant figure it out. I do know i will not allow those babies to be spread out in foster care when there is no legitimate reason than cant be kept here with their own blood relatives who will never stop fighting this battle or shall i say war

you need to get a lawyer and you need to do it yesterday, as for drug testing if you let them do it you will come up positive of course because they lie..
i would go to your doctor and ask for a full drug test work up (blood and pee) to prove to the courts you are not abusing anything and do this asap as well, i did this i wasnt going to trust the state as they lie, lie , lie

the best thing is hire that laywer asap like the other guy said........he will help you try and stop them from doing illegal thing to your family but do wait because if you do it will be to late

[family_man]

Federal and state law require that "reasonable efforts" must be made to enable the child to return home unless certain "aggravating circumstances" are present. If any of these circumstances are found by a judge to be present, it leads to a "fast track" for termination of parental rights. It doesn't appear that any of these aggravating circumstances are present in your case, however. See the following link:

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/FA/htm/FA.262.htm#262.2015

So I don't see how they can fast track your case to a TPR. You definitely need an attorney FAST. What part of TX do you live in?

As far as getting a protection order is concerned, you might try asking your daughter and BF nicely to leave. If they refuse to comply or threaten or harrass you in any way, then THEN it's time for the PO. (You might not get it otherwise.)

[ayalacltx]

It is none of the aggrevated. And i have told the caseworker that if was my daughter, boyfriend, dog what or whomever or the kids, that the everyone would be out. No questions there, my interest is and always will be in the children. They have no real reasons, I have even gone so far as to offer to move in with the GAL if thats what it took. or at the least allow me to be a part of everything, taking them to school, doctors, anything to help out the GAL and they wont here of it. They told my daughter that they were told i was the one that was using the drugs, lie, lie, lie. Still they have done nothing to prove i am or i am not. I have an appt. with my doctor to have testing done to prove my case, however there has been NO judge involved to date, or if there has, noone has heard about it. CPS hadnt even informed the childrens school of what was going on, and the school was calling me looking for the parent on the older child to set up meetings. This is the craziest thing i have ever heard of. Now i am unable to even get anyone to call me back. As for an attorney, I cant afford one, I work a min. wage job and my daughter has no job at this time. I just dont know what to do. and it hurts me to my soul because i do not understand what or why. We live in Bryan, TX. Brazos Valley apparently the worse place to be. I want to just get the children and disappear, but i know at this time this is not an option, but they cant keep backing me into a corner.

[dabrock61attnet]

Be careful if you decide to hire an Attorney. Make sure they are from a different County and willing to fight for you. In my case it was very obvious that CPS gets what they want unless you have the right Attorney. The Judge takes their side. I do believe at the very least you should go ASAP to have a complete Drug Screen done, blood work & urine test. Don't wait until it is too late. I even have an instant drug screen done after court that shows I was clean. I've have found out after the fact, by talking to Lab Tech that an instant drug screen that shows your Positive has to be sent in for confirmation to be accountable. It's been 2 years since our grandson was taken away and I have yet to find an Attorney to contest the Drug Screen they say I failed in Court. Get all the ammo you can, because I've had Attorneys tell me that once CPS has it out for you they will make your life HELL! I am not trying to scare you, but I always thought they were for the best interest of the child. In my case the first 2 workers were, so there may be some good ones out there, but the lies they'
re able to get away with is unconceivable. At this time they will not even allow us to visit our grandson and have told him horrible things about us. I know he loves us and doesn't believe them, and at least they are allowing my daughter to visit. This I am very thankful for. He loves and wants to be with her and my hope is God's plan for her is she get her life together so that they can reunite. OH the paternal grandparents 2 sons had drug problems too. Good Luck and if you can't afford an Attorney try to get as much info from this site and stay one step ahead of them. God Bless, I will be praying for your siutation.

[mysticmom]

Be careful if you decide to hire an Attorney. Make sure they are from a different County and willing to fight for you. In my case it was very obvious that CPS gets what they want unless you have the right Attorney. The Judge takes their side. I do believe at the very least you should go ASAP to have a complete Drug Screen done, blood work & urine test. Don't wait until it is too late. I even have an instant drug screen done after court that shows I was clean. I've have found out after the fact, by talking to Lab Tech that an instant drug screen that shows your Positive has to be sent in for confirmation to be accountable. It's been 2 years since our grandson was taken away and I have yet to find an Attorney to contest the Drug Screen they say I failed in Court. Get all the ammo you can, because I've had Attorneys tell me that once CPS has it out for you they will make your life HELL! I am not trying to scare you, but I always thought they were for the best interest of the child. In my case the first 2 workers were, so there may be some good ones out there, but the lies they'
re able to get away with is unconceivable. At this time they will not even allow us to visit our grandson and have told him horrible things about us. I know he loves us and doesn't believe them, and at least they are allowing my daughter to visit. This I am very thankful for. He loves and wants to be with her and my hope is God's plan for her is she get her life together so that they can reunite. OH the paternal grandparents 2 sons had drug problems too. Good Luck and if you can't afford an Attorney try to get as much info from this site and stay one step ahead of them. God Bless, I will be praying for your siutation.

its true, once they made up there minds and have it out for you, you have a bulls eyes on your back....and life is HELL!!

If you cannot afford an attory even a court att is better then no att. they cannot proceed if you want an attorny i would go to court and ask for one. Also there are advocates who help with cases like this, there not att. but they help so you know what to do and such..
i heard somebody on here talk about it a few times but i forget exactly what it is..
i think child advocates??
someone jump in please...

[mysticmom]

you can also send your story to a few of the lawyers around you and see if they would do you on a sliding scale or probono??

some do this as well....

[ayalacltx]

First off let me say i am so grateful for this site. It is comforting to know i am not in this alone, because CP will make you feel as if you are. Thanks for all the wonderful advice and words of encouragement. And the lies that they tell. It is scary because they actually believe their own lies. Guess we now know where all the pathalogical liars go for a job! Today i spoke with the head of the local office hope i can post her name - Jennifer Smith - as Austin had instructed me to do, she was worse than the caseworker. I asked her why the GAL was informed that my daughters rights had been terminated and then told my daughter that if she was still in jail on Tuesday (i guess court day) her rights would be terminated. I was informed by Ms Smith that neither was told such a thing. I commented that the GAL nor my daughter have talked yet they both lied, i didnt understand why they would have lied the directors comment to me was, that first off i was not the parent and that only parents get visitations, and then asked me if i was present during theses conversation, which of course i was not, when i told her no i was not her response was and i quote " then i guess you don't know what was said do you" Yea didnt see that coming, of course i in turn asked if she was so how could she be any surer than i was? And quickly ended the conversation with "So its like that okay i see where this is going and i will now hire an attorney, thank you for your time and insight and have a wonerful day" I really wanted to curse her but I have learned the hard way where that gets you with these people. I did call a couple of attorneys before heading to work, $5000.00 for CPS cases OUCH, yea that is totally out of the question unless i run out of options because i would sell my home to pay this without hesitation if thats what it took to protect my grandchildren from the system. I will find out when court is and God willing will have a lawyer, but if not i will be prepared, thanks to all of yall and this site. On a lighter note, i found this site before i spoke to the caseworker for the very first time and could tell that i threw him aback with my knowledge of my rights because prior to reading it on this site i had no idea i had the right to ask that i be re-assessed for risk on eligibility to keep the kids. I did have a felony 22 years ago, he tried to say that one could not have a felony in their life or a misdemeanor for the past 10 years, and i believed it, but they lied. The nature of my offense was not on the permanent list and they can only go back 10 years on a felony. Yes he was surprised, that is when he said i was high risk because she would live here when bonded out and when i told him he was wrong and they had no legitimate ground to stand on our conversation was over. After that the only answer i would ever get was i need to speak to my supervisor and not here from him til next time i called. I did inform all of them that i will not stop fighting for my grandkids and i have to believe that there will be someone in my area willing to help. Again thanks for all the support and i will keep yall informed of the good the bad and of course the ugly.

[mysticmom]

your welcome and keep us updated...

write your story out and google family attornies in your area and send your story to them...

you never know you may catch a fish willing to do you case...

but do go to court and ask for an att, there terrible but better then nothing....

best of luck to you