CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES (CPS) A System Where Corruption Runs Rampant

          Child Protective Services (CPS) – Now if there was ever an oxymoron this so called agency would have to be at the top of the list.  CPS was originally established in 1974 and its main purpose was to study and investigate possible incidents of reported child abuse.  After conducting a thorough and complete investigation, the agency was to determine whether or not the abuse was actual or unsubstantiated.  If the abuse was actual then the agency was to report same to the appropriate legal authorities and then aid the legal authorities in providing recommendations for resolving the incidents such as providing counseling, follow-up reviews and, in the most severe cases, removal of the child from their home and placing them either with other relatives as a first line of protection or, as a last resort, into foster care.  Over the past few decades, however, CPS has transformed itself into being the biggest and deadliest perpetrator of child abuse this nation has ever encountered.  How do they get away with it?  Simply put – the agency has virtually no accountability for any of its actions whatsoever.

          I do not believe there is anyone who actually believes that child abuse does not exist in our society.  Clearly it does and the most egregious cases of abuse have made the headline news.  The brutality, gruesomeness, ungodly atrocities that innocent children have had to endure under the hands of caregivers goes beyond what any normal human’s mind can grasp.  It is appalling and heart-wrenching and our collective anger that such horrors have been able to occur has, in part, played into the hands of CPS.  We, as a society, naively placed our trust into CPS believing that they would “protect” the innocent.  We told them to “do what you have to” to stop the abuse.  What we didn’t do, however, was to provide them with specific guidelines of what is to be considered as actual abuse.  In essence, we gave them a blank check because we didn’t want to deal with the problem directly and CPS was all too happy to comply with our wishes.

CPS’s Standard for Classification of Substantiated Abuse

          I find it rather interesting that just a few decades ago child abuse almost didn’t exist at all.  No one even heard of it or, at the very least, no one certainly knew of anyone who was abused or who was being abused and no one considered themselves as being abused.  Why then is it that over the past 20 to 30 years the number of supposed abuse cases reported in our nation has skyrocketed into the millions per year?  In fact, in 1993 CPS reported that “there are 60 million survivors of childhood abuse in America.”  Really?  60 million?  How can that be?  To answer that question we have to look at what CPS classifies as “abuse”.

          Elementary, Middle and High Schools across our land have been, and are continuing to be, visited by agents of CPS.  These agents attend classes and instruct our children on what abuse is.  For the most part, parents are never notified of these visits.  CPS’s justification for this is that they want the “children to feel safe in discussing any issue that goes on in their home without fear of ‘retaliation’ from their parents.”  This mindset instills in our children that there should be a “wedge” between them and their parents, that they must keep secrets from their parents and that all parents are perpetrators – I mean, don’t all parents “retaliate” against their children?  According to CPS – the answer is a resounding “yes”.  And what does the CPS agent tell our children what is defined as being abuse?  CPS’s guideline for what constitutes abuse is “anything anyone says or does that makes you feel uncomfortable is a form of abuse.”  That’s it – that’s the whole guideline – ANYTHING that makes you feel uncomfortable.  In addition, the agent instructs the children to report anything that makes them feel uncomfortable to their teachers, their school counselors, the police or call and report it to CPS but do not let your parents know you are reporting them.  So, what does that mean to you and me?  If you ask your child to take out the trash and that act makes him or her feel “uncomfortable” then they are to consider your action as being abusive to them and they, in turn, can report you to either their teachers, school counselors, the police or CPS and, believe me, you WILL be investigated for it and your name will go on a report as a possible child abuser.  You should also know that the child does NOT have to prove anything and if and when the supposed abuse incident is deemed unsubstantiated, there is no accountability to the child for making the report.  Again, you should be aware of the fact that the “accused” in a child abuse matter is always deemed “guilty” until he or she can prove that they are innocent.

          In studying up on this issue, I came across several ridiculous stories of supposed child abuse but I decided to list here the two that most affected me.  The first took place just a few years ago in Florida when a 9 year old boy reported to his teacher at school that his parents refused to buy him a TV for his bedroom.  This was very upsetting to him.  The teacher reported it to his school counselor who in turn reported it to CPS.  Two CPS agents, along with two police officers, showed up at the boy’s house on a claim of “emotional abuse”.  The parents were stunned.  They advised the CPS agents that they had made the determination not to let any of their children have a TV in their bedrooms as it distracted them from doing their homework and sleeping at night.  The CPS agents told the parents that they “needed parental counseling” and if they did not buy a TV for their son that he would be “removed” from the home and placed in foster care.  It was their determination that this was a substantiated case of child abuse and if the parents did not comply, not only would the boy be removed from the home but so would the other children.  One of the agents then announced that if the parents did not consent to purchasing the TV at that very moment, then the police officers with them would remove their son right then.  Frightened, the parents verbally consented and a week later the CPS agents and police officers returned to the home and visually inspected the boy’s room to witness that the boy now had a TV.

          In the second incident, a 7 year old girl was sitting in her classroom and her teacher noticed she had gum stuck in her hair.  The teacher asked the girl about the gum and was told that her mother had given her a piece of gum after dinner the night before and, after chewing it for a while, she had placed it under her pillow.  She claimed it must have gotten stuck in her hair during the night and she didn’t want to tell her mother about it because her mother would get mad at her.  The teacher then sent the child to her school counselor to report the incident.  Later that very afternoon two CPS agents and police officers showed up at the girl’s home.  The CPS agents stated they were there to investigate the mother because the daughter was “fearful” of her and what her mother would “do to her”.  The mother, at that point, naturally had no idea what was going on.  She was questioned, however, on why her daughter was so fearful of her.  The little girl was present for this questioning and after watching her mother being hounded by the CPS agents, looked at her mother and said, “Mommy’s a bad person.”  One of the agents pulled the little girl into her arms and told her, “Don’t worry.  We’re here to protect you.”  At some point the father came home during the interrogation and the CPS agents ended with giving him an ultimatum between either having them take the child into protective care or having the mother leave the home until she could be fully investigated.  Bewildered, the mother left the home.  It took 30 days for the investigation report to come back stating that the mother could now return to the home but that CPS would be keeping an eye on her.  At no point was the gum issue ever brought up by the CPS agents.

          Both of these incidents seem totally unbelievable.  Certainly these didn’t really happen – but they did – and countless others like them.  In fact, the numbers are staggering.  Now you can see why today the reported cases of supposed child abuse runs into the millions.  But what is equally if not more frightening in all of this is the fact that CPS is never, never, never held accountable for any of it.  They just swoop in, breaking all kinds of legal laws – which I will not go into detail in this posting but will do so in another – destroying families, individual lives, careers, – the list goes on and on – just because their standard is that “anything” constitutes as abuse.

 

What’s in it for CPS?

          We can no longer feign ignorance when it comes to CPS.  And, although even I believe there are agents in the system who truly do desire to help the helpless victims of “real” abuse, even they are thwarted by the whole CPS establishment because, in truth, CPS has turned from an agency of protection to a business of big bucks and, since it’s a governmental body – that should be no surprise to anyone.  So what’s in it for CPS?

          For every child that CPS removes from the home and places them into foster care, the federal government pays that local agency $30,000.00.  In addition, the parents are charged for the financial care of the child.  If the child is handicapped, depending on the kind of handicap, the amount increases to between $40,000.00 and $150,000.00 per child.  If the child is then “adopted” by a new family, an additional $4,000.00 bonus is given - $6,000.00 for adoption of a special needs child.  The CPS agent who physically removes the child is given a commission from the government’s fund.  The more kids removed – the more commission – the bigger the personal financial gain.  On the other hand, if a child is allowed to remain in the home or is returned to the parental home, the CPS agency and agent receives nothing.  Agents are, therefore, encouraged to remove children to help generate more funding for the agency.

CPS is a corrupt agency.

          In November 2007, Georgia’s State Senator Nancy Schaefer published a report on CPS.  Entitled, “The Corrupt Business of Child Protective Services,” Senator Shaefer’s report found, among other things, that CPS “issued unfair judgment on families without compassion and imposed unreasonable and impossible demands on the families that separated families and greatly stressed parents; law enforcement agencies routinely ignore complaints made against CPS; CPS receives extra funding for removing children from the home; fraud, fabrication, withholding and destroying of evidence, unnecessary termination of parental rights and then citing confidentiality clause to protect themselves; CPS gives kick backs to employees, lawyers, court investigators, guardian ad litems, judges, psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, case workers, foster parents and others; CPS often interprets parental cooperation as an admittance of guilt; parents are treated as criminals; and children are in more danger in CPS care than in their own homes.”  In fact, case studies revealed that children in the care of CPS are 600% more likely to die a violent death.  So you tell me – who is the real abuser?

Senator Nancy Schaefer's Follow-Up on the Corruption in 2008

          In 2008 Georgia Senator Nancy Schaefer did a follow-up on her report on the corruption in CPS and detailed how deep it went.  Below is a video of Senator Schaefer's report.  Just a few months after this video was made, Senator Schaefer and her husband were murdered.  Although the media initially called Ms. Schaefer's death a murder/suicide, ongoing investigations have revealed more.  It is now believed by many that Ms. Schaefer was actually "silenced" as her exposure could have cost CPS millions upon millions of dollars if counteraction was taken against them.  The case remains open.

Parents Unite!

          With the unchecked accountability that CPS has awarded itself, I foresee the future as even more bleak then it is today - most certainly so if we collectively stand by and allow it to continue.  Many people turn a blind eye on the situation because they have not been a personal “victim” of CPS but I warn you – you’re time is coming.  It’s time now for parents and grandparents to unite and start holding CPS accountable.  Acquaint yourselves with the legal laws that, in reality, are there to protect you but for which far too many of us do not invoke.  Understand that, legally, CPS has NO power – they are NOT a legal agency.  That’s why they often show up with police officers – not that the police will do anything but they try to give you the illusion that they can.  Beware that CPS agents will try to incite you to take an action that the police can then get involved.  Don’t let them incite you – no matter how many false accusations they themselves will most likely make against you.  The truth is, they cannot legally take a child from your home without a court order.  In fact, if CPS agents show up on your doorstep, you can ask them to leave your premises and if they have anything to say, they are to contact your lawyer.  You do not have to have any direct dealings with them.  You actually have the power but thy use intimidation and blindsiding tactics to make you think you are helpless and that they have all the power.  THEY DON’T.

          In order to make a real change, however, we need to do more.  Yes, an agency should exist to help those who are truly being brutally abused but we need to enforce strict guidelines of what constitutes abuse.  We need to make certain that every single report is thoroughly investigated first before anyone is classified as a “possible abuser”.  Before such classification is made, the allegation must be proven to be accurate without question.  We need to make those investigations “open” so that both accuser and accused can be fully apprised of what the issues are and what is happening.  We need to create checks and balances of the investigations so no biases are imposed by individual agents.  We need the accuser to have to provide evidence of their allegations.  And, finally, we need to outline consequences to be inflicted upon those who make false allegations and agents who abuse their role.  This type of system and accountability is fair to all sides.  Oh, and one other thing, we as parents need to pressure schools to stop hiding their tactics of alienating parents and children.  If CPS agents are to come to the schools – then parents MUST be notified and ALLOWED to attend the classroom.  No one or no agency has the right to ignore parental rights.

          Will this change happen?  It can if we unite.  Already cases are making their way through the courts who are ruling against CPS agencies but these are few and far in-between.  If we put repeated and unintimidating pressure on them, however, then they, in order to survive on any level, will have to change.  We better act fast though because if something doesn’t change soon – we will lose all of our children and they, in turn, will never really know what it is like to be a parent because there will no longer be any such thing as parental rights.

UPDATE:  10/17/2012:  Check out my blog post on fighting back against CPS at: http://findingtruthinadeceptiveworld.blogspot.com/2012/10/how-to-fight-back-against-cps.html

Chris Broome

Politically Incorrect!