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americantexasdad
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Hi, I'm new here

Postby americantexasdad » Fri Aug 05, 2005 11:15 pm

I never thought it would happen to me. My kid got hurt, I thought I was doing right to take him to the E.R., and then they are saying I must have done it although there is no evidence, and nobody has come to my house in 3 weeks to see.

The police/county sheriff said they are not interested in this case at all. It is only CPS.

I went on a letter and email writing spree, contacting many people about it who have written politicians and asked for a review of my case. The governor did call for a review of the case, but I don't know if that means anything.

Michael
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Location: East Central District

CPS Investigation

Postby Michael » Sat Aug 06, 2005 3:47 pm

From your name I assume that you are in Texas.

What was the injury and did CPS interview your child at the hospital?

americantexasdad
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Postby americantexasdad » Sun Aug 07, 2005 1:48 pm

His injuries consisted of scratches and scrapes, mostly to the surface of his skin, not a lot of deep bruising at all. A dog jumped on him, and seemed to be playing more than trying to maul or attack. We got him to the ER within an hour of it happening.

Because he is 2 years old, CPS, doctors, cops did not talk to him at all. They have virtually ignored my whole family since they placed them in emergency care. I have 3 kids, 1, 2 and a half, and 5..

They interviewed our oldest son in the ER for about 5 minutes, then they interviewed him again for 15 minutes the next Monday. There has been no contact since, but they want to interview him again on Tuesday.

The 2 year old has said many times that it was a dog, and he has had nightmares and talks about dogs in his sleep. When shown pictures of the dog and his torn up diaper on the ground next to the dog which we got on videotape with his reactions, he was saying 'scary dog', and 'that is where it happened, i got hurt'.

He has healed almost completely from it now with just a couple of scratches still healing. We thank God for his healing, but we are amazed that CPS or the cops had not been out here in 3 weeks.

Now that CPS does want to come out, I am very wary of letting them in at all.

inamess
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Postby inamess » Sun Aug 07, 2005 5:59 pm

I would be concerned about letting them interview your son again. I have read stories of them asking the same questions over and over to the point that the child finally starts playing into their hands and telling them what they want to hear.

I hope this is not the case for you, but check all your options before you let them interview him again. I would certainly question what it is they are looking for him to say that they didn't get from the first 2 interviews.

Have you looked over the temporary guardianship information here? This is something I would also take care of before tuesday.

I don't post too much b/c I would hate to give someone the wrong advice. I just try to help with stuff I am fairly certain about. Someone will respond to you with some more information, I'm sure.

I wish you the best.

americantexasdad
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Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2005 10:36 pm

Postby americantexasdad » Sun Aug 07, 2005 6:43 pm

inamess wrote:Have you looked over the temporary guardianship information here? This is something I would also take care of before tuesday.


Which part exactly?

Thank you for your concern.

Bob_Lynn
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Postby Bob_Lynn » Sun Aug 07, 2005 7:30 pm

I don't know the laws in Texas but that doesn't matter. Please see what we recommend in Pennsylvania, your civil rights are your most important rights and the 4th Amendment has no state boundaries.

http://forum.fightcps.com/viewtopic.php?t=1522

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good dad
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Postby good dad » Sun Aug 07, 2005 8:12 pm

also check out these sites:

http://www.fightcps.com/articles/whattodo.html

http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/cpscourtorder.htm

They have some helpful hints on how to answer the agencies questions and what to expect, what they can do
*********************
My advice is my opinion and not legal advice
*********************
A bad lawyer is worse then no lawyer and bad advice is worse then no advice....

americantexasdad
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Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2005 10:36 pm

Postby americantexasdad » Sun Aug 07, 2005 8:53 pm

Since they took the children, they have not been out to my house (neither cops nor cps). They have not done anything.

I have a meeting with law enforcement with a lawyer on Tuesday, tentatively, because the investigator in question says he is not sure it is even necessary to meet with me, and so it might have been cancelled or postponed. I have to call and find out tomorrow if it is still on.

They have no proof of anything against me. The CPS worker wants to come walk through my house to see the evidence. Is she going to try to use anything against me? Then I need to reserve it for my defense in court.

They want to interview the oldest who was not home at the time of the incident.
Under current laws, and their own pamphlet: CPS will make a reasonable effort to notify you of any interviews held with your child and the nature of the allegations within 24 hours after the interview has taken place. They already interviewed John when he was at my mom's house. They did not tell me they did this. My mom did.

The original plan, when they took the kids from my mom to my sister was a form with 3 sheets. My sister signed it accepting temporary guardianship of the kids. The CPS caseworker then took her copy of the form and left, telling my sister to have my wife and I sign the form and she would be back the next day to get it.

I NEVER signed this form. The CPS worker never came back to get it, but had it faxed to her from a doctor's office when my sister showed it as proof of her temporary guardianship. Is this even legal? A half-completed form not done correctly, and with missing information?

If my lawyer weren't such a twit, I think it would have been done. His advice was to go along with CPS and show them everything.

I am thinking of filing my own notarized form with the courts asking for recission of the Service Plan, and a form revoking temporary guardianship. I have copies of these forms that I can use. I just have to get a notary to sign them and send one to the caseworker, and file the other with the court. Not being an attorney sucks because I don't know what would happen after I did this.

Tuesday is only 2 days away and I feel highly stressed.
Last edited by americantexasdad on Mon Aug 08, 2005 5:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Gary Shaw
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Postby Gary Shaw » Mon Aug 08, 2005 2:03 am

americantexasdad,

1. Only the parents or a judge can grant temporary guardianship.

2. When CPS removes children from their home they must petition a Judge or their representative for the court to order the removal within twenty four hours. All states are mandated to have someone on call 24/7 representing the courts for this purpose.

3. In most states when children are removed from their home a 72 hour intake hearing must be held for a judge to formally order the removal. In all states Federal Law (Public Law 105-89 [Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997]) requires a hearing within ten days of the removal. The same law requires (not asks) that "Reasonable Efforts" be made to prevent the removal of the children from their home. You can find a lot of information in Texas Caseworker Manual or CPS policy/procedures manual and I believe Dan Sullivan posted a link to get that on the Texas forum. You can download or print copies of all Federal laws at:

http://www.loc.gov/law/guide/uscode.html

That is the Library of Congress website go to Thomas.

Good luck, tough fight.

Gary



4. When children are removed from their home

macaroni
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Postby macaroni » Mon Aug 08, 2005 4:45 pm

hi! my eyeballs fell out of my head when I read your story. The EXACT same thing happened to us 4 months ago here in San Diego and we still do not have our 2 babies. I too took my 1-year-old son into the Emergency Room for an arm injury. After 12 hours there, they turned the tables on my husband and I and accused us child abuse and took our babes away. They spent 6 weeks in foster care despite the overwhelming family support we had to take custody of our children. That's something I'll never understand. Please keep us updated of your case so I can learn a thing or two.

americantexasdad
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Postby americantexasdad » Mon Aug 08, 2005 5:32 pm

Our child saw the ER doctor, then he saw the regular family doctor, and then he saw another doctor to get 6 stitches out. He only needed stitches on one cut under his eye.

His regular doctor did not want to touch the stitches because did not want him associating the pain of removal of stitches from that clinic where he goes all the time so we got another doctor to do it.

Both his regular doctor and the doctor who removed stitches said that the marks did not resemble anything that a human would do, the markings being more closely associated to claw marks than any type of weapon, and said they will testify on our behalf if it goes to trial.

We also have former CPS caseworkers willing to testify as character witnesses, as well as others who work with us in professional capacity willing to testify on our behalf.

sedwards
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Postby sedwards » Mon Aug 08, 2005 9:11 pm

Do not and i stress do not trust them . Yes they will whatever they can find against you in court. The doctor that said he would testify in court get a signed notarized paper from him stating this was not done by a human or a weapon and file in the courts ... Have you files declaration of facts . You need to get your side in there the longer you wait the longer it is drawn out . These people will lie and threaten you in ways you dont even realize...I would be blunt them them when they come ok this is enough you have interviewed enough . they are trying to put a cse together and they will continue to ask the same question till you change to what they want to hear . As stated previous . they even have ways to reword it to get answers they want and children dont realize what they have done it is sad .. Be very careful

americantexasdad
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Postby americantexasdad » Mon Aug 08, 2005 10:47 pm

They are saying this is an investigation and they are not sure what steps they are taking yet, if any.

Because they claim it was voluntary placement in the safety plan (although I know they lied to get it, and so it was done under fraud and can be undone by a good lawyer), they are claiming they are not bound by hearings or any other of the normal court procedures.

It is sort of a legal limbo. I think that is why my lawyer is confused by it. It is not a normal investigation where they went to court and then got power over me. They have nothing except the voluntary safety plan, which I did not even sign myself.

There is no evidence I did anything, only a child that was hurt and taken to the emergency room. The evidence that exists is almost a month old. I don't think they can use anything except what they make up now, and that is what scares me the most.

sedwards
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Postby sedwards » Tue Aug 09, 2005 3:25 am

That is what you have to fear is there lies . If they told the truth none of us would be in this at all . Just be careful and be prepared and stand up for your rights. let them know that you know them and dont back down ....

americantexasdad
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Postby americantexasdad » Tue Aug 09, 2005 6:45 pm

We had the meeting today.

I advised the caseworker of my 4th amendment rights. There was no dispute about it, just an 'ok'. From the outset, we were told that we were not going to know the outcome for another 3 weeks. We sat on the porch and looked at the evidence together from pictures and video.

The caseworker asked to see the area where it happened and we showed where he got out, the locks that are on all the gates on the property, and etc.

Caseworker agreed that we have done a lot to secure our house, and ended by saying that we will know the results by tomorrow.

americantexasdad
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Postby americantexasdad » Tue Aug 09, 2005 6:46 pm

We had the meeting today.

I advised the caseworker of my 4th amendment rights. There was no dispute about it, just an 'ok'. From the outset, we were told that we were not going to know the outcome for another 3 weeks. We sat on the porch and looked at the evidence together from pictures and video.

The caseworker asked to see the area where it happened and we showed where he got out, the locks that are on all the gates on the property, and etc.

Caseworker agreed that we have done a lot to secure our house, and ended by saying that we will know the results by tomorrow.

Please pray for us on this. I have been told by quite a few people that they prayed for me without even knowing why today, just that they had this urge.

victim
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Postby victim » Sat Aug 13, 2005 10:00 pm

If my lawyer weren't such a twit, I think it would have been done. His advice was to go along with CPS and show them everything.


Do not go along with CPS. They will twist everything and straight out lie. It sounds like you have great character witnesses, but there is a great chance they will never have the opportunity to be heard. I am an RN, and have been a nurse in Texas since 1993. I have wonderful character witnesses, none of whom were ever contacted by CPS, nor were they given the opportunity to present themselves during the 3 court proceedings. My children were never taken from my custody, but not for lack of trying on CPS' part. My children were never abused or neglected, even by their own admission. We were taken to court to remedy the effects of "risk" of abuse or neglect. It's a long story, but the case was ultimately dismissed after 9 long months of CPS terrorism. We currently have a Civil action against them.
Our first attorney had the same mindset as yours. Just go along with them. This was a big mistake, which only caused us to be tangled deeper into their web.
Our second attorney was the one who got the case dismissed and is currently our attorney for the civil action. He also happens to be the president of the Texas ACLU.
I think you should find a new attorney. I am not sure what area of Texas you are in? Perhaps I could make a recommendation.
Right now you need to arm yourself because you're in for the fight of your life. I hope I am wrong, but be prepared. Read everything you can. Knowlege is power. You and yours will be in my thoghts and prayers. Good Luck![/quote]

LovePoet
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Ok.

Postby LovePoet » Sun Aug 14, 2005 4:22 am

Ok so what do you do if you hit your child in the face on accident? I know it sounds far fetched but after I explain what happened to several friends they can see how it could happen. Almost every one of them have said that they would have reacted in the same way.So how do I prove I am not a danger or a threat to my kids?

americantexasdad
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Postby americantexasdad » Thu Aug 18, 2005 5:51 pm

Followup:

CPS dropped their case. They came to the house today and told me to go pick up my kids. They saw what we had done to secure the area to keep it from ever happening again and said it was enough.

Case closed.

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Dazeemay
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Postby Dazeemay » Thu Aug 18, 2005 6:06 pm

Your case may be closed but your name is indelibly written on their records. That means that a new case worker can go through their files and try to dig up something else later on.

You need to protect your children always and keep up with this fourm to see what new has been added to temp guardianship.

Your children need to have legal protection without it costing you right now and it is a simple process of signing and notarizing your temp guardianship papers.

Note if you do not have the money right now to do the best form recommended or the guardians you pick are out of town do the least exspensive one until you have everything worked out.

You need these papers when you go to the emergency room, schools, wal-mart, drs. office etc. Everywhere you go because everyone is a mandated reporter.

They will be back in your life. Do not take the fact that you got your children back for granted. Even into their teens you can lose them.

http://forum.fightcps.com/viewtopic.php?t=1103

Now I want to say I am thrilled that you got your children back. Keep them safe by being knowledgeable.
**********************************
This is not legal advice;hopefully wisdom

To put it in simple terms…when the authorities ARE the perpetrators and the perpetrators ARE the authorities, there is no earthly justice or recourse, at the end of the day (unless the American people wake up).

Therefore, those who have achieved the highest levels of power seek to ‘enjoy’ the most grievous and extreme injustices. For many of those in the highest circles of power, the greatest statement of power is to perpetrate the greatest possible injustice…the savage, brutal traumatization and abuse of an innocent child.
http://themurkynews.blogspot.com/ MattTwoFour

"Ultimately, the law is only as good as the judge" --- D.X. Yue, 2005, in "law, reason and judicial fraud"
http://www.parentalrightsandjustice.com/index.cgi?ctype=Page;site_id=1;objid=45;curloc=Site:1

Michael
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Location: East Central District

Incorrect information again

Postby Michael » Thu Aug 18, 2005 6:27 pm

As I have said in the past you can have as many notarized power of attorney, guardianship, tem. custody statements as you want but when CPS comes the whole question is who actually has physical custody and care of the child.

If CPS comes to your house and learns that the child or children have been living with someone else for a veriable length of time then they are looked at not the parent.

Update on Texas CPS reorganization:

The Regional worker authorization has been received at the local offices. In my county it looks like there will be 15 new investigation workers. The foster care part of Texas CPS is in the process of being contracted out to other organizations and agencies.

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Dazeemay
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Postby Dazeemay » Thu Aug 18, 2005 7:12 pm

Michael,

Like I said it is the best thing we have going for us now.

So far it has thrawted off a judge and bad blood relatives.

When cps comes the parents can take them to the guardians because cps cannot take them with that document. That document keeps them from taking the children.

A judge in our case recognized our document and stopped the co worker relatives of cps from taking our one granddaughter.

Another judge when the woman was in court told him she already gave legal custody to the guardians. He got mad because he knew it was legal and could do nothing about it.

It doesn't matter if cps comes they cannot go against a legal document. A judge can't and neither can cps. You only have rules and not laws. And that document is a legal document.

You forget that cps only has rules, rules and more rules. You cannot take children on rules but you do. This document stops your rules and brings in the legality of protecting the child. If cps comes and the parents have custody they have the papers to show that they are granting guardianship to whomever and it begins the minute you walk in their lives.

It doesn't matter when they turn the guardianship over to someone else. This is no different than child custody guardianship. Both parents make the decisions although they both do not live with the child.

Parents make all of the decisions until cps steps in and then they have the guardians take over until such a time to be determined by the circumstances.

I do encourage however that anyone doing this find out all that they can for themselves.
**********************************
This is not legal advice;hopefully wisdom

To put it in simple terms…when the authorities ARE the perpetrators and the perpetrators ARE the authorities, there is no earthly justice or recourse, at the end of the day (unless the American people wake up).

Therefore, those who have achieved the highest levels of power seek to ‘enjoy’ the most grievous and extreme injustices. For many of those in the highest circles of power, the greatest statement of power is to perpetrate the greatest possible injustice…the savage, brutal traumatization and abuse of an innocent child.
http://themurkynews.blogspot.com/ MattTwoFour

"Ultimately, the law is only as good as the judge" --- D.X. Yue, 2005, in "law, reason and judicial fraud"
http://www.parentalrightsandjustice.com/index.cgi?ctype=Page;site_id=1;objid=45;curloc=Site:1

Momoffor
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Postby Momoffor » Thu Aug 18, 2005 10:01 pm

Dazee, while I commend you on what the guardianship has done for you and your family. Not everyones family is like that. I know for a fact would trun on me in a heartbeat and decide that they want to raise my children. I got out of the military for just this reason. I was required to give up a percentage of custody as a single parent, and then after we got married we were both to have signed a guardianship plan which would open up the doors to a whole new ball game and ended me up in court fighting for my kids against my parents. I can never compete with my parents income so guess who the loser in that scenario would be? Me.

I recently irritated my family so I am just waiting for the reprecussions (them calling CPS and trying to get custody) due to the fact that I didnt allow my children to go to my parents this year.

Be VERY VERY VERY careful when going guardianship. I know it did your family good dazee, but yours is really an exception. There are too many perverse families out there, and people can be stepping into even bigger doodoo than they would to just face CPS.

For those desperate, I am not saying its a bad idea. Just be very careful in your choices.

LovePoet
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Thank you...

Postby LovePoet » Fri Aug 19, 2005 12:20 am

However I have no family anymore. *sighs* She turned against me. For a while all I wanted to do was shoot myself but I'm better now. An she is with my ex friend now. I say Ex friend simply because he moved in on my family. An turned her against me. My life sucks but heh, I won't quit fighting.

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Dazeemay
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Postby Dazeemay » Fri Aug 19, 2005 5:58 am

MomofFor

Thank you for your concern. I realize that their are many relatives one cannot trust.

If you go in and read the temp guardianship you will see I have stressed these issues.

It almost did not work well with us because the relatives have tried to take the granddaughter that we entrusted to them not knowing both aunt and uncle were former cps workers.

Granted we had to go to court over it but the judge honored our legal document and our revocation. Will all judges do this? Who knows; many break the laws with cps.

It is a gamble as I stated in the temp post. Had we lost this granddaughter would she have been okay. As much as we do not like these relatives, now, (there was a time we trusted them and respected them) she would have been better off with them instead of being in the foster care system and we would have known where she was.

These same relatives are now trying to take our granddaughter who is in DHHS hands. We found out they were working hand in hand all along.
**********************************
This is not legal advice;hopefully wisdom

To put it in simple terms…when the authorities ARE the perpetrators and the perpetrators ARE the authorities, there is no earthly justice or recourse, at the end of the day (unless the American people wake up).

Therefore, those who have achieved the highest levels of power seek to ‘enjoy’ the most grievous and extreme injustices. For many of those in the highest circles of power, the greatest statement of power is to perpetrate the greatest possible injustice…the savage, brutal traumatization and abuse of an innocent child.
http://themurkynews.blogspot.com/ MattTwoFour

"Ultimately, the law is only as good as the judge" --- D.X. Yue, 2005, in "law, reason and judicial fraud"
http://www.parentalrightsandjustice.com/index.cgi?ctype=Page;site_id=1;objid=45;curloc=Site:1


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