Concerned Grandma

For those concerned about children and parents in CPS cases.

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dlrust1
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Concerned Grandma

Postby dlrust1 » Tue Feb 14, 2012 2:46 pm

Here is a bit of the story. My daughter was involved in an abusive situation. I tried for months to get her out but, everytime I tried her ex-boyfriend and his mother would take their infant son. The last incident she was trying to get help getting an order of protection and the ex-boyfriend sabotaged her car (removed radiator cap). She was unable to make it to the woman's shelter. I live in a different state but, decided to bring her and my grandson here and get the order. Her ex and his mother blocked her car in and she had to call the police for them to move. His mother told my daughter and placed a call to me stating that if my daughter did not give her my grandson she was going to call DCFS because her grandson was too good to be in a shelter. My daughter refused. Nothing about abuse was stated.
She called DCFS as my daughter was boarding the plane. Stating she had pictures of bruising and that my daughter was running with the baby to avoid the investigation. In the end DCFS indicated my daughter for abuse even though the bruising is actually Mongolian spots. We have appealed the case.

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Eljay
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Re: Concerned Grandma

Postby Eljay » Tue Feb 14, 2012 4:21 pm

Called DCFS while boarding the plane and then...?????
Advice & opinions provided are no substitute for genuine legal assistance. Laws & rules vary by state/jurisdiction so do your homework and get
an education in CPS laws, rules & practices so that you can FIGHT for your children's rights. I am not a lawyer. Your mileage may vary.

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dlrust1
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Re: Concerned Grandma

Postby dlrust1 » Tue Feb 14, 2012 5:51 pm

DCFS did their so-called investigation. "Indicating" my daughter had bruised her son. Even though we took him to the Doctor to show that he has Mongolian spots not bruising. This was all to gain leverage for an upcoming custody battle between my daughter and her son. Her son is a drug addict and has a drug conviction. The only way she could keep my grandson is to claim her unfit. She now has custody of him. My daughter is fighting the indicated finding but, can't afford an attorney. So, were not sure of who all to call for witnesses.
Plus, DCFS has barred her being able to get her son's medical records. How do you disprove abuse allegations when they keep you from the proof? How do you defend yourself from a bruise that didn't exist? It just seems so ridiculous. The allegation claims it was a 6 inch bruise on an infant that was only 26 inches long at the time. The picture is from a phone with poor quality and what DCFS sent us was black and white copies thumbnail size. Its insane!

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Eljay
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Re: Concerned Grandma

Postby Eljay » Tue Feb 14, 2012 11:04 pm

Unless they have terminated her parental rights, they can NOT prevent her from getting his medical records. DCFS has no authority over doctor's offices/records.

When you say, "She now has custody of him" who is "she"?
Advice & opinions provided are no substitute for genuine legal assistance. Laws & rules vary by state/jurisdiction so do your homework and get
an education in CPS laws, rules & practices so that you can FIGHT for your children's rights. I am not a lawyer. Your mileage may vary.

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dlrust1
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Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2012 12:57 pm

Re: Concerned Grandma

Postby dlrust1 » Wed Feb 15, 2012 6:35 am

"She" is my daughter's ex-boyfriends mother. And apparently, there is a a court order barring her from the medical records.

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Eljay
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Re: Concerned Grandma

Postby Eljay » Wed Feb 15, 2012 8:47 am

Does she have a copy of the court order? Not that I don't believe you, but just want to make sure that DCFS is actually telling the truth (they've been known to lie about all kinds of things).

Where (county & state) did this all start? Is your daughter still living there? When is her next hearing and what is it called? Does she have visitation at the moment? Does the father?

Did they actually stop the plane from taking off and keep her there?

Oh... and most importantly, what are their allegations and how much truth is there to them?
Advice & opinions provided are no substitute for genuine legal assistance. Laws & rules vary by state/jurisdiction so do your homework and get
an education in CPS laws, rules & practices so that you can FIGHT for your children's rights. I am not a lawyer. Your mileage may vary.

----<>----<>----<>---- BREED WITH CAUTION ----<>----<>----<>----

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Eljay
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Re: Concerned Grandma

Postby Eljay » Wed Feb 15, 2012 8:50 am

Access to records summarized here by state: http://deltabravo.net/custody/access.php
Advice & opinions provided are no substitute for genuine legal assistance. Laws & rules vary by state/jurisdiction so do your homework and get
an education in CPS laws, rules & practices so that you can FIGHT for your children's rights. I am not a lawyer. Your mileage may vary.

----<>----<>----<>---- BREED WITH CAUTION ----<>----<>----<>----

dlrust1
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Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2012 12:57 pm

Re: Concerned Grandma

Postby dlrust1 » Wed Feb 15, 2012 9:21 am

Eljay wrote:Does she have a copy of the court order? Not that I don't believe you, but just want to make sure that DCFS is actually telling the truth (they've been known to lie about all kinds of things).

She does not have a copy of this court order. This information came directly from the hospital.

Eljay wrote:Where (county & state) did this all start? Is your daughter still living there? When is her next hearing and what is it called? Does she have visitation at the moment? Does the father?


This all started in Kane County, IL. My daughter lives in KS now. Her next hearing is next month to try and get this expunged from her record. It is a part of DCFS appeal process. She does not have visitation at this time and yes the father does.

Eljay wrote:Did they actually stop the plane from taking off and keep her there?


They did not stop the plane. A court order overturning hers was issued and the police came to remove the child to his father. My daughter then went back to IL to fight him. They were living with his mom. Neither of them were working and my daughter could not take her son out of state. At the time she didn't know all the allegations made against her. So, when his mother kicked both parents out of the home they felt it was best for their son to stay there, not knowing where they were going to live. She filed in court granting her temporary guardianship.

Eljay wrote:Oh... and most importantly, what are their allegations and how much truth is there to them?


The allegations are for bruising. However, there is no truth to them. The marks she claims is bruising is Mongolian spots which have been documented by a doctor.

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Daruma
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Re: Concerned Grandma

Postby Daruma » Wed Feb 15, 2012 10:35 am

dlrust1 wrote:And apparently, there is a a court order barring her from the medical records.

"Apparently"? Do you know this for sure? Don't take anything for granted just because a caseworker says so. If you haven't noticed by now, they're not the most honest people you could deal with (nor necessarily the best informed).

If I were your daughter, I would personally go to the doctor's office, as well as the hospital where she delivered, and ask for copies of all the child's records. If there's really a court order, and the doctor is aware of it, they will say no. But if there is no such order, or if by chance the doctor's office is unaware of the order, then your daughter will have the records. (It goes without saying that your daughter should not even hint that there may be a court order; if there is one, and the doctor accidentally violates it, that's their mistake.)

If that doesn't work, then your daughter's public defender (does she have one yet?) needs to be hounded/cajoled into subpoenaing copies.

Please pardon my ignorance, but do Mongolian spots disappear on their own, as bruises do? Or are they still there?
These are my personal opinions only. They are not legal, medical, or financial advice.

dlrust1
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Re: Concerned Grandma

Postby dlrust1 » Wed Feb 15, 2012 11:32 am

The hospital is who informed her of the court order barring her from the medical records. She doesn't have a public defender because this isn't in the court system. Its an administrative hearing through DCFS.
Mongolian Spots are birthmarks. They resemble bruising and are often mistaken for them. They usually go away by the time is 9 years old. I have still have two and I am 38.

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Daruma
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Re: Concerned Grandma

Postby Daruma » Wed Feb 15, 2012 1:26 pm

But if there's a court order barring her from the records, then your daughter's case is in the court system. She's supposed to have a public defender unless she's too wealthy to qualify. How old is your case? If they only took the baby a few days ago, she may not have met her public defender yet. She will probably meet him about ten minutes before her first court hearing, which of course isn't enough time for him to get up to speed on her case.
These are my personal opinions only. They are not legal, medical, or financial advice.

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Eljay
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Re: Concerned Grandma

Postby Eljay » Wed Feb 15, 2012 3:33 pm

So... it sounds more like the paternal grandmother (PG) filed for guardianship in Family Court. That is different than DCFS. Maybe DCFS is "aiding" Family Court by doing an investigation wherein the results will be turned over to Family Court????

What "we" (folks on this forum) deal with here is CPS/DCFS so when you talk about court and what not, we're thinking "Children's Court" (also called "Dependency Court" and sometimes even "family court".... ever state/county names their own). Those courts deal with abused & neglected children and the way CPS works is to take legal custody of the children, put them in foster or kinship care, then try to drag the parents through their services and eventually either reunite them with their children or TPR (terminate parental rights). Family court handles divorce, custody, child support and things of that matter. It's a different process than 'children's court.'

Usually, for custody or temporary guardianship you have to either have permission from both parents to take custody or you have to serve them. Then they go to "family court" where your daughter would have to hire a lawyer or represent herself.

The CPS/DCFS route is when someone calls the child abuse hotline and reports that a child is abused, DCFS goes to the home and does an "investigation" (quotes because it's more of creation of fiction than scientific collection of evidence), then make a petition to Children's Court to take legal custody so that they can hold the child in legal custody (kidnap) and then make the parents take their services (ransom). The DCFS people are notorious for lying, exaggerating and twisting words to make their case. There are huge financial incentives for them to kidnap children and make the parents sign up for services.

So... with that information, can you maybe clear up where your daughter is? Also, does she not have one single picture of her own of the baby's Mongolian spots???? Seriously, if that is her ONLY allegation, *AND* the baby was living with her, the father and the PG, then how can they really assign blame to just the mother?
Advice & opinions provided are no substitute for genuine legal assistance. Laws & rules vary by state/jurisdiction so do your homework and get
an education in CPS laws, rules & practices so that you can FIGHT for your children's rights. I am not a lawyer. Your mileage may vary.

----<>----<>----<>---- BREED WITH CAUTION ----<>----<>----<>----

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Eljay
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Re: Concerned Grandma

Postby Eljay » Wed Feb 15, 2012 4:29 pm

dlrust1 wrote:She does not have a copy of this court order. This information came directly from the hospital.


How could she not have a copy of the court order? Was she not served? Was she not able to make it to the hearings? She needs to get copies of whatever judgments have occurred if she's going to have any hope of fixing things. When you say "hospital" I'm assuming hospital, not doctor's office... what about the pediatrician's office?

dlrust1 wrote:This all started in Kane County, IL. My daughter lives in KS now. Her next hearing is next month to try and get this expunged from her record. It is a part of DCFS appeal process. She does not have visitation at this time and yes the father does.


Get WHAT expunged? DCFS is not criminal court... there is no "record" to expunge (other than a child abuse index, but we're still trying to clarify what court she's in). Is there something more here? Was your daughter using/accused of using drugs? Something else? They usually don't terminate visitation altogether unless there is severe abuse or neglect, and even then they sometimes offer supervised visitation (like they did with Josh Powell, not that THAT worked out well in the end!).

dlrust1 wrote:They did not stop the plane. A court order overturning hers was issued and the police came to remove the child to his father.


A court order giving custody to the unemployed, drug-abusing, physically violent father????? So she already had a court ordered custody arrangement? Was her leaving the state a violation of the initial court order? And then the father got a court order? and then the PG filed for guardianship as well? This is getting more complicated by the minute. :/

dlrust1 wrote: My daughter then went back to IL to fight him. They were living with his mom. Neither of them were working and my daughter could not take her son out of state. At the time she didn't know all the allegations made against her. So, when his mother kicked both parents out of the home they felt it was best for their son to stay there, not knowing where they were going to live. She filed in court granting her temporary guardianship.


So it sounds like your daughter voluntarily gave temporary guardianship to the PG because she was homeless? Was it voluntary or not? Sorry to ask so many questions, but there *are* valid situations where someone might give temporary guardianship to a family member because of their situation (whether they are going to be homeless, or stationed overseas, or ill/in treatment) but it can be voluntary or involuntary. Either way, this woman sounds like a real piece of shyte. She may not realize that by getting DCFS involved, she is risking putting that baby in foster care and out of the family's reach for months, if not forever. All it takes is one slip up, old criminal record, one fainting spell and they'll take that baby away. Still, I'm not even sure who has legal custody... if DCFS is involved, they will take LEGAL custody and give a family member physical custody. Need to clarify.

dlrust1 wrote:The allegations are for bruising. However, there is no truth to them. The marks she claims is bruising is Mongolian spots which have been documented by a doctor.
[/quote]

How old is the baby? Can your daughter request that the child be brought to the next hearing? Then she can show the judge on the spot that the marks are not bruises.
Advice & opinions provided are no substitute for genuine legal assistance. Laws & rules vary by state/jurisdiction so do your homework and get
an education in CPS laws, rules & practices so that you can FIGHT for your children's rights. I am not a lawyer. Your mileage may vary.

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