ruled out & havent closed case now they took my babies..HELP

[mkhewitt]

TEXAS. i have 3 children 13, 11 & 5. cps has been in my life since june 3,2011. 7+ months now. from day one they have said its a open & shut case,. everytime i spoke with them the case worker would say the supervisor had to sign off on case & for me to be looking for papers in the mail to clear my name from system. in sept 2011 i moved to a new county (still in texas) and cps from this county came to "check" my home the very next day. i asked what was going on & why i havent received the papers in the mail yet. i was told she just had to check the home & to look for papers in mail. 2 wks later she comes to my home & says i need to do "safety plan" i asked why & she never answered. as she was leaving out of my door she turned around & said "oh by the way i will be here Monday to remove the children from your home" WHAT?!!!?!??!?!?!? she said thats how cps does when u do "services" because its easier on everyone involved that way. So monday Oct 3rd, 2011@ 8am i hired a lawyer IT WAS NOT CHEAP!!! my attorney contacted them & NEVER GOT A REPLY. on DEC 5,2011 i received papers from a officer AT MY JOB telling me to be in court on dec 15 for me to be court ordered to do services...(i never refused in the first place so why court ordered?"). my lawyer "acted" mad. 15 minutes before court they tell us the judge is sick & its rescheduled for Jan 5th. i show up to court expecting to sign papers & leave. boy was i wrong!! cps stole my babies!!! im shocked! the only reason they gave my attorney was because of allegations back in june! really? 7+ months later u just take my kids? i was ruled out for the allegations. somene please help me understand whats happening & why? my attorney just says "if u go along with cps instead of fighting ur chances of getting ur kids back are better" what the hell! i think by getting a lawyer (this lawyer) i allowed cps to just walk away with my babies........ broken hearted & missing my reason for everything i do(my babies)

[Eljay]

i was ruled out for the allegations.

What does that mean?

It sounds like you moved from a marginally corrupt county to a severely corrupt county. Can you get your report from the former county, really fast? Your lawyer is an idiot... he should have fought for you. Tell him you'll either report him to the bar or he can work for you for free til this is fixed.

[dabrock61attnet]

I am so sorry to hear this. I also hire an Attorney $3000, she was referred to me by a friend, she was suppose to have experience in dealing with CPS, we belived her as she appeared to be knowledgable. One day in court and we were worse off than when we started. I mistakenly took an instant drug screen in court believing this would prove my innocence, however they claimed I failed for THC. NO WAY. I even went to a lab and have an observed test done right after court stating I am clae. This was 2 years ago and I have still been unable to find an Attorney to straighten up all the false accusations. Matter of fact one Attorney I visited with told me once they have it out for you they will make your life a living HELL! Good luck to you. I can't imagine losing all my children due to the very corrupt system. Do your research, knowledge now is better than latter. Keep a journal of every call, etc.

[mkhewitt]

about 3-4 weeks into the investigation when i got the first "waiting for supervisor to sign off so we can close the case" response she stated " you & ur husband were both ruled out on the allagations" in otherwords they found that we had done nothing wrong. the allegations were abuse & neglect. my two oldest did a audio & video recorded interview the day after i had first been contacted by cps. when they were done with the interview, the cps worker said im sorry you had to go thru this but this is going to be a open & shut case. their is nothing supporting the callers allagations". the caller is a miserable family member that calls on alot of family because they are not happy in their own life. i mean 11 yrs, 11 calls accusing the same thing every time & 10 times it has been ruled out, closed & dismissed. but not this time. i have read online the worst thing to do is fire ur attorney. is this true? i do not have the money for another retainer to hire a new one. im stuck. my case did not include drugs or alcohol at all in any way and me & my husband both had to do drug test( observed by the lab) and both passed. they sent us to a chemical dependancy eval & they found nothing. didnt recommend any thing. i go back to court in the morning to find out which "group home or foster home" my children will be "placed" in since we have no family whom is able to care for my children & to find out what 2 days a month for a hour i get to see my kids. is there anything i can ask the judge or is there any files or papers i can request from cps? and how?

[Eljay]

If you fire your atty, they may NOT have one available for you right away. Plus, supposedly, your atty has to go to court to "release you" if you are going to change attys. Either way, you need to get word to the judge and to the kids' attys that these charges are completely unfounded and that it was being closed as unsubstantiated by the previous county, that there are NO NEW ALLEGATIONS, and NO JURISDICTION. If there were no services in the last county, there is no reason for there to be services or detention in the new county! Your atty needs to argue that there is NO JURISDICTION (and if he/she doesn't know what that means, then he/she really does NOT know what they are doing.)

If your atty won't stand up in court and speak for you, then stand up and ask the judge for permission to speak. It's not like you have anything to lose at this point! You should also do a "corrections and objections to the report of the social worker" as detailed on the home page of fightcps.com

Best of luck. What a mess!

[family_man]

Which county are you in now?

You need a different attorney. You should be able to get the unused portion of your first attorney's retainer back. Changing attornies is no big deal. Your new attorney will handle the paperwork with the court. Make sure the new attorney has experience with CPS cases and has won some in the past. Don't get one that says, "just go along with the system." Your case is ridiculous! There is no need for services, and no need for an open case whatsoever!

[mkhewitt]

just left court & the judge placed my kids with a family member an hour away that i have not spoken to in over a year, this family member has no income is married to one man yet living with another & seriously needs cps called on them but somehow they placed my kids with her instead of the safe,secure home me & my attorney suggested, but cps's reason for not using that person was we live within 5 miles of each other! wth??? i have lost all respect for the system in this county! but i now have to go to my advasery hearing next week. anyone know what that is? i asked my attorney & the response i got was "just another hearing". this is outrageous!!!

[mkhewitt]

well its been almost 2 months now. not much has changed. well atleast not my chances of getting my kids back. i received my investigation report (FINALLY) & it states that there is "reason to believe" against my husband (not me) neglectful supervison on one of my kids. i was a stay at home mom & he worked 70 hours a week every week. so where they came up with the neg super against him puzzles me too. but to top it all off they suggested services for me....NOT HIM!! so i have to go to counseling & parents groups once a week....still waiting to go take my psych eval......all this to MAYBE get my kids back in a year. but thats not even the good part yet........the family member my kids are staying with is shaked up with her newist childs father while she is still married to other kids dad. neither one work, they live off the state. my question is how did they pass the cps "test" to get my kids. 2nd my 13 yr old daughter has cut & dyed her hair(which i have been very strict about NOT TILL UR 16!!!) but she can do it there. now i find out that she is going on dates with her 15 yr old boyfriend UNSUPERVISED!!!!! Once again....NO DATING TILL UR 16 IN MY HOUSE!!!! i am blown away!!!!! i did have supervised visits once a week for an hour at the cps office, but since they have no job or income they could no longer meet. So now i have to drive over a hour ONE WAY every other weekend to see my kids at MCDONALDS. and since its on the weekend, no one from cps is there. just me, my kids, this family member & her live in which constantly informs me he is "IN CHARGE" of my visits. none of this has been approved by the judge & i dont consider this CPS SUPERVISED! once again its their word against mine!!! the judge did not care to hear anything ive had to say in previous court hearings, i go back for a status hearing this thursday & hopefully i can get my two cents in there & get some answers! im just scared that when i bring up in court my evidence & want to know how they can remove my children from me on nothing, then to say well negt super by my husband that yes im still married to but we have been seperated since sept 2011, so we are taking ur kids...........someone please help me! i would ask why would they do this but i already know.....$3k-$4k a MONTH PER CHILD!!!!! thats how!!! the original post is so old i dont even know if anyone will see this but i didnt want to take up space and start a new post. i go to court thursday the 8th of march....any info would be greatly appreciated!

[Eljay]

Are you preparing a "declaration of facts" for the court? You won't likely get to speak... you need to do it in writing!

[mkhewitt]

yes. im working on that now. just found out about it on ur website! do i need to file this with the court before my court date or take it to court with me? and also i need to make copies for everyone involved in my case correct? judge, lawyers, kids attorney, C.A.S.A....etc?

[mkhewitt]

also in the last month i informed my attorney that i no longer needed her nor wanted her. she said she has to go to court to "release" me? any how. i also say on ur page an objections & corrections to the social workers report. should i do one of those to, to submit to the court?

[Eljay]

There is no point having an attorney who doesn't know what he/she is doing. Yes, she has to go to court with you to release from the case. If, at that point, you can get a public atty, then do it and make him/her fight for you, or at least do all they busy paperwork.

Yes, do 'declaration of facts' AND 'corrections/objections' forms. Yes, have the documents complete and filed with the court *before* your hearing... just like any evidence, you have to "register" it with the court first. The sooner the better as you want it IN the judges hands well before your case. You need copies for all parties, plus an extra (read details on the homepage). Worst case, you can hand it over at the time of your hearing IF you have the copy stamped as received by the court.

[mkhewitt]

wanted to give an update. I filed the declaration of facts & the objections & corrections with the county clerk today. I have a status hearing at 9am in the morning, i pray the judge atleast looks at the papers i filed. thanks for all ur help & ill post tomorrow the outcome of the hearing.

[monkette31]

good luck...sounds like the new county just saw you as a mark and nothing more, they took advantage.

[mkhewitt]

ok so heres what happend in court today. my lawyer withdrew from my case (finally) & the judge informed me that she through out my objections & corrections because it was made from the original afidavidt (i found out today at that moment that they had revised the org. because there was a statement saying "after repeated attemps by CPS, my lawyer never returned a call" & my lawyer wrote a letter telling them this was untrue & had documentation to prove so & needs to be removed. and they did, but i was unaware! ggggrrrrrrrrr!!!! anyway the judge said today was a STATUS HEARING and she had no reason to look at my declartion of facts i filed with the court. she said we were here today to order child support, update on children & review the services im ordered to do! i expressed that i was ruled out on ALL allegations there for there should be no services & my children need to be returned to me. she stated in order to do that i need to submit the right paper work. i asked what paper work is that? she replied " honey thats why u need a lawyer". i am livid!! does anyone know what kind of paper work shes talking about? ive searched the web trying to figure it out & cant find it........thanks again for all ur help.

[Eljay]

Habeus Corpus is what first comes to mind, but let me keep looking.

Did you ask for the restoration of a court-appointed lawyer?

[mkhewitt]

she told me there is paper work i can request and fill out to see if i can get a court appointed attorney. i asked very nicely if i could get one that was out of my county & she informed me very rudely NO!!! im just so scared that i have come this far & now able to present them the facts that prove the court had no right to take my children & i will fail because i have no idea what im doing! I am so greatful for finding this website & for all of u who have helped me & the other parents out there! if not for this message board i would be doing nothing as my lawyer suggested just so cps & the courts could have time to try & justify their actions! im hot on their heels now! the key now is to stay there & get my babies back home where they belong

[Eljay]

Here's a topic about it a "Writ of Habeus Corpus"
http://forum.fightcps.com/viewtopic.php?f=82&t=9033

You can include 14th Amendment rights & Supreme Court rulings: http://familyrights.us/bin/Constitutional_Rights_Parents.htm

Use this to your advantage: http://www.tdcaa.com/node/2496

Legal library (Tx): http://www.courts.state.tx.us/pubs/pubs-home.asp

Here's your legal definition of abuse & neglect, http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/handbooks/CPS/Files/CPS_pg_2400.jsp#CPS_2411 which you'll want to cite stating that your children do not fall under any said category, and therefore, the statute that says DFPS has jurisdiction does not apply (okay... I'm going to let you take it from here... you basically need to find the code/statute that says CPS has jurisdiction/authority to take custody of abused/neglected children so that you can have that negated in your case.... my eyes are tired).

*** IN MY OPINION... you should go as far as you can for research, find the forms you want to file, then call one of the CPS hating Texas attorneys (Stuckly or and ask them for a consult - either free or pay for 15-30 minutes on the phone with them (often $400-500/hour)- to make sure you're proceeding properly. Finish the form(s) as well as you can, then ask if they have a PARALEGAL ($100-150/hour) to review/edit your documents... if you can afford to have the lawyer do it, great, otherwise, a paralegal can help.

You should call the courthouse and tell them you need to speak with a court appointed lawyer, explaining that you had hired one who proved to be incompetent and now you want to use the court-appointed atty. Sometimes you have to "waive" that right and I don't know if you can undo it, but be persistent. When people represent themselves, lawyers & judges usually have one of two, polar reactions: (1) being one of sympathy and helpfulness, with an understanding that they may need to guide you along the process; (2) irritation and disgust, after all, they had to go to law school and get a DOCTORATE, do internships, pass the bar, etc. to get to practice law and they get very pissy when someone is trying to do what they worked so hard to earn the right to. I'm guessing your judge is of the latter opinion.

[mkhewitt]

thank you so much Eljay!!!! thank you for all the time, effort & research u have spent trying to help me! i will check into all this & use ur suggestions & go from there. thank you,thank you, thank you! i will keep u updated!

[Eljay]

Happy to help. I messed up on the lawyers... stopped half-way through... meant to say "Stuckle or Branson" which you can find on the fightcps homepage under lawyers: http://fightcps.com/2007/08/10/lawyers-who-take-cps-defense-cases/ (press "ctrl + F" to find the word 'texas' and you can see all of the recommended attorneys in TX.

Best of luck and PLEASE keep us posted! We need to hear victories on this website and I think you're headed for one!

[Daruma]

the judge informed me that she through out my objections & corrections because it was made from the original afidavidt (i found out today at that moment that they had revised the org. because there was a statement saying "after repeated attemps by CPS, my lawyer never returned a call" & my lawyer wrote a letter telling them this was untrue & had documentation to prove so & needs to be removed. and they did, but i was unaware!

So, what you're saying is, if we do an Objections and Corrections statement, CPS can essentially void the O&C by revising their affidavit? Sorry if I've misunderstood, but if they can do that, what a dirty trick that is.