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Seeing With New Eyes
We encounter many things while we are growing up. In my case there were some pretty difficult times before I finally landed in a family that taught me how to see the world with new eyes.
One of the first things I learned was: "the true voyage of discovery is not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes". It sounded a bit mixed up until I realized we all see things from a different perspective.
For those of us who are survivors of "the system" each day is one of discovery. We have come through with our lives at least mostly intact, some more so than others. The Web is a powerful tool for us, a means our voices can be heard. The only way we will ever change "the system" is to pull the cloak off the secret machinations and inner workings of what can only be described as children's disservices.
I can only speak clearly of my own experiences while I was involved with children's disservices, however, mine is not the only voice in the wilderness. Thousands upon thousands of us have been irrepairably damaged through the machinations of children's disservices.
In cases of severe abuse or neglect there is a need for the public to become involved, however that involvement must be limited to the minimum necessary to correct the situation. My case crept through the system for two years while I was left uninformed as to the intent or direction of Children's Services. The unfortunate thing is, my case went swiftly, in comparison to others who have languished in the system the better part of their childhood.
Had it not been for some extrordinary circumstances which propelled my case through the system, its highly possible I would still be waiting for some social worker to make up their mind what "my best interest" entailed. I know many kids who have spent years in the system, never knowing from day to day where they were going to sleep that night, or if they would suddenly be uprooted to start again in yet another foster home. I know others who literally went from the "frying pan into the fire" when they were placed in a foster home more abusive than what they left. The frightening thing is nobody seems to care that the system is broken; that lives are being destroyed solely for the convenience of the courts, or public assistance agencies entrusted with the proper care and maintenance of children.
The biggest problem in correcting the deficiencies of the current system is getting it drug out into the light of day, where the public can see the kind of self-serving machinations, rife, in what is euphemistically described as 'child protection'. A system that generates the majority of its operating budget from ill defined federal funding programs, looses sight of the fact they are dealing with a living, breathing, hurting child - not a manila folder containing 'the case'. From day one, the 'agency' is more concerned with protecting its own ass, than the protection of the children unfortunate enough to have become involved with the system. Families are decimated, scattered to the four winds, so the agencies can deal with the case piecemeal, instead of a unit. God forbid siblings should be together where they could compare notes, or draw mutual support from one another.
Being an only child, I wasn't faced with the breakup of a sibling relationship, I was only removed from my home and kept away from the only parent I had ever known. I was suddently thrust into a world where my concerns, wishes, or desires, meant absolutely nothing. My case was no different than thousands of cases, where children are routinely stripped of their human rights, along with the few Constitutional rights we are grudgingly afforded. (which is another, entirely different, rant)
Although I am not yet in a position to change the system, I can certainly point out what I feel to be its major failings, short-comings and immediate needs. As survivors of the system, or even as current victims of the system, we need to raise our voices, drag the system into the light of day and put an end to the "sanctioned" abuse of our most precious national resource, American Youth.
The body of law, encompassing Child Protective Services, needs a major overhaul from top to bottom, left to right. In many cases, the enabling legislation is so vague in its wording, it can be manipulated to mean anything a social worker, or the "system" wants it to cover. The Courts systematically trample the Constitutional Rights of the children and adults subjected to the wiles of Child Protective Services.
Under the guise of 'due process', defendants were allowed to attend hearings with their lawyer present, however, were not allowed to present evidence contridictory to information provided by "professionals". Child Protective Services routinely manufactured or manipulated "facts" to support its predetermined outcome, distorting or dismissing anything favorable to the defendant. Only 'professionals' favorable to the Court were consulted, while any evidence favorable to the defendant was either deleted from their reports, or presented in such a way as to negate favorable consideraton by the Courts.
Until recent enactment of legislation demanding Courts admit evidence from the defendant(s), hearings were conducted under the principle of "Guilty until proven innocent beyond a reasonable doubt". Sub rosa communication from CPS to the Court was treated as "fact" with neither substantiation, nor right of cross-examination afforded the defendant(s). Re-unification plans were unilaterally altered by CPS, without consulting the Court nor informing the defendant(s). Scheduled "review hearings" were often deferred, for the convienience of CPS, without informing either the child(ren) nor defendant(s) prior to the scheduled hearing date.
Children are routinely moved from foster placement to foster placement without warning, nor explaination. The agency, charged by law to protect children's "rights and best interests", systematically fails to provide information relevant to the status of the case. In those rare instances where a child is given the opportunity to express his/her desires, CPS either discounts or ignores the child's inate ability to determine what is, or is not, important in their lives. In the unfortunate situation of a child disagreeing with the position CPS has taken, it is reported to the Court, the child is either too young to know his/her own mind, or is "deeply disturbed".
Rarely can you pick up a newspaper and not find some report of CPS failing in their responsibilites to the children they are mandated to serve and protect. Children are merely an encumbrance to the routine machinations of politically appointed departments of Human Services.
The time has come for the citizens of this nation to demand the ever-present cloak of secrecy be pulled away. All of us must take notice; put an end to the systematic 'official' abuse of children and their families under the principle of parens patria. As a nation we should demand, every child dependant upon the Court have an adult advocate, independant of the Court or CPS, to speak strictly for that child, to present the 'best interest' of the child, regardless. As a nation we should demand the establishment of review committiees independant of the 'system' as a watchdog to insure the "system" does not fail our most precious national resource, its children. It is time the "system" be overhauled from top to bottom, left to right, front to rear and made responsible to the citizens it is sworn to serve and protect!
I am a survivor, one of thousands upon thousands of children abused by "the system". I am that wee small voice in the wilderness, crying out to those who can, must, change a system that routinely sanctions and purpetrates child abuse under the guise of Child Protective Services. I can only pray other survivors step forward, let their voices be heard. I can only ask for the nation to take heed, listen to the children. The children we fail today are the leaders of tomorrow. What legacy do you want to pass to the next generation?Si vis paceam, Para bellum!
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