Parenting_a_Gods_Given_Right

Running head: PARENTING Parenting: God’s Given Right Crystal M Ferguson DeVry University ENGL 112 August 24, 2009 Parenting: God’s Given Right Every day people engage in conversations about our government, specifically which programs seem to be working and which ones could use a good overhaul, with health care and welfare reform usually topping the charts. While both of these departments are in serious need of improvement, the one department that requires reform the most is Child Protective Services, otherwise known as CPS. Even though the programs and services provided by CPS were intended to protect children from abuse and neglect, it is near impossible, due to a corrupt and faulty system that is in desperate need of reconstruction. The ways in which the CPS caseworkers often treat the parents is horrendous. They threaten the parents with losing their children permanently should the parents fail to comply completely with CPS demands (Schaefer, N. 2007). The families that make up the prime targets of losing their kids are low-income families because they do not have the money available to them to hire an attorney that is willing to fight the system. Just because you do not have a lot of money, does not mean you do not have the love for your child (Schaefer, N. 2007). Parents also face an injustice of the denial to exercise their Fifth Amendment – the right to face your accuser and the Sixth Amendment – the right to a fair trial (Martin,L. 2009). Parents cannot speak in the courtroom unless it is directly to their attorney; otherwise they could face the charges of Contempt of Court. The corruption that takes place within the juvenile courthouse is also quite amazing and another reason why the CPS department needs to be rebuilt. An investigating caseworker can come out and remove your children from your home, often separating him from his or her siblings, just to be placed in a home with total strangers (Rafferty, P. 2008). So basically, anyone can call in an abuse referral, true or not, and you will soon have CPS at your door. The accusations made against you do not have to be proven or even substantiated, for that matter, before that worker can take your children. Workers have been known to fabricate and/or withhold evidence while seeking to terminate your parental rights. No matter how wrong these workers act towards innocent families, charges are often ignored when brought up against the departmental workers (Schaefer, N. 2007). As if the statements listed above were not enough, we come to the third and probably the most disturbing reason of all as to the need for reforming CPS. The Money! Parents are persecuted every day for a profit by a system who gets paid for delaying the return of a child to his home. If the child is placed outside of the home permanently, the bonus is astronomical.Under the Adoptions and Safe Families Act of 1997, any child under the age of 12 who is adopted out is worth a $4,000 bonus to the department. If the child has any special needs, the agency reccieves an additional $6,000 bonus. For children over the age of 12, that bonus rises to an outrageous amount of $10,000. It was reported back in 2006 that the foster parents recieve anywhere from $750 to $2,500 each month per child until the child turns 18 years old, 22 if the child is enrolled in school. This is their Adoption Assistance funds. These parents are also entitled to an equal amount of money as an incentive pay. On top of all that, in 2007 a law was passed allowing adoptive parents a $10,000 deduction per foster child on their Federal Income Tax Refunds (Anonymous, 2006). This is not to say that this department is out of control at all times though. Quite the contrary, actually. While the issues listed above do seem as though they would be the driving force behind CPS, we must also keep in mind the whole purpose of this agency and the reasons for which it was originally established. The California Department of Social Services began back in 1903 with a Board that consisted of six members. Their primary goal was to evaluate and report on hospitals and correctional facilities, including county and city jails. As time went on, the Board decided that they wanted to improve the welfare of children and adults. By 1908, improvments included removing children from orphanages to be placed into good homes, enforcing parents to pay child support, enforcing school attendance as a means of reducing juvenile crime, and enforcing child labor laws. Today, the mission of Social Services is to serve, aid, and protect needy, helpless children and adults who are at risk of being in danger(2007). The services provided by the Children and Family Services Department include the Safely Surrender Baby Campaign, Foster Care, Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program, Foster youth Help, Child Abuse Prevention, and Adoption services (2007). According to the Dynamic Report on Child Welfare Systems which is conducted by the University of California, Berkeley, between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2008, the number of confirmed abuse cases throughout California were overwhelming. Sexual abuse case referrals totalled 5,942 while children that were being physically abused totalled 8,840. As for neglect, 2,896 children were dealing with severe neglect and 46,183 children were having to deal with general neglect (Needell, B., Webster, D., Armijo, M., Lee, S., Dawson, W., Magruder, J., Exel, M., Glasser, T., Williams, D., Zimmerman, K., Simon, V., Putnam-Hornstein, E., Frerer, K., Cuccaro-Alamin, S., Winn, A., Lou, C., Peng, C. & Holmes, A.) (2009). I have found myself wondering just how many of these children would have undergone some extreme trauma or even death had it not been for CPS interventions' In conclusion to these facts, it is most obvious that the need for an agency such as CPS is high. They have really gone out of their way to make themselves a neccessary piece of the puzzle. I feel that this agency has been given the leadway to do as they please, and it has gotten to the point that it is no longer the children that are the top priority, but the money that everybody recieves as a result of taking these children away from the parents who bore them and love them. There are several petitions that can be signed on the internet. Please visit childprotectionreform@yahoogroups.com to see what you can do to help put an end to legal kidnapping as well as legal black markets. These children have families who miss them terribly. Let us talk to our government until they hear our voices. Save our children today! References Anonymous (December 1, 2006) Bet-cha-didn't-know-InterestingCPSstatistics. Retrieved August 3, 2009, from abolishcps Web site: http://www.abolishcps.blogspot.com/2006/12/bet-cha-didnt-know-interesting-cps.html Martin, L WhyIhelpvictimsoffalsechildabuseallegations. Retrieved July 31, 2009, from Squidoo Web Site:http://www.squidoo.com/fightcps Schaefer, N (2007, Nov 16). Corruptbusinessofchildprotectiveservices.pdf. Retrieved July 30, 2009, from http://fightcps.com site http://fightcps.com/2008/02/29/report-of-georgia-senator-nancy-schaefer-on-cps-corruption State of California (2007). History of CDSS: Changing perspectives. Retrieved August 24, 2009 from , Department of Social Services Web Site: http://www. dss.cahwnet.gov/cdssweb/PG190.htm#heading State of California (2007). Children and family services division: Services provided. Retrieved August 24, 2009 from Department of Social Services Web site: http://www.childsworld.ca.gov/ Needell, B., Webster, D., Armijo, M., Lee, S., Dawson, W., Magruder, J., Exel, M., Glasser, T., Williams, D., Zimmerman, K., Simon, V., Putnam-Hornstein, E., Frerer, K., Cuccaro-Alamin, S., Winn, A., Lou, C., Peng, C. & Holmes, A. (2009). Child Welfare Services Reports for California. Retrieved 8/24/2009, from University of California at Berkeley Center for Social Services Research website. URL: http://cssr.berkeley.edu/ucb_childwelfare