One of my pet peeves as regards "Child Protective Services" (called by various names in various states) is that they operate above the law. Illegal search and seizure? Well within their jurisdiction and common practice. Miranda rights? Forget about them; there are none as regards a CPS case worker. Innocent until proven guilty? Try the other way around.
And so it was no surprise to me that, in a real life case I am chronicling, the judge's order to restore the children removed from a family to that family has, to this point, been ignored. Over a month has passed and the mother has yet to hold her babies again, despite a decree from the judge.
It has been 18 long months since these parents have seen their children without a social worker present. 18 traumatic months from which, statistics show, the children will likely never recover.
If it were you or I who were violating a judge's order, we'd be sitting in the clink for contempt. Not so these CPS workers. And worst yet is the fact that this is not uncommon. There are numerous documented cases in every state in the union of CPS workers failing to comply with the court ordered return of children to their parents.
Too many in this country remain complacent. The fact that these articles sink like a stone shows that, even among my readers, the majority just DO NOT CARE. They simply think that it can't happen to them, or that only "guilty" parents end up in the system in the first place. With over 500,000 children nationwide in the system at any given time, I can assure you that, not only are many parents innocent, but many parents who ARE guilty of the actions CPS investigates have never had their children removed due to the backlog of innocent parents who have lost their children to the system. And that is a crime on both levels, as children ARE deserving of protection.
Consider that, in Brillion Wisconsin some years back, it was not until an 8 year old boy walked barefoot a mile to the police station in the snow that his parents had their children removed, despite numerous complaints from neighbors and family members who were well aware that the parents were housing the younger, six year old daughter in an animal cage living among her own feces. This case ignored scrutiny until it could be ignored no more; the ragged, bloody feet of an 8 year old standing before a police sargeant is pretty hard evidence in any world.
Statistics show that in areas where CPS oversight is more strict, child abuse deaths INCREASE. The state of Illinois can be taken as a case in point. The increase is due to the persecution of innocent parents (for reasons as petty as homeschooling and similar "offenses") to justify CPS funding, while true abuse cases go ignored.
The abuses and illegal actions of the CPS should not be ignored any longer. We need to act, on behalf of the children, and of the innocent parents caught up in thie borrible system.