If you are NEW to this battle, start here. If CPS comes knocking, do NOT voluntarily sign on for services, and random testing. Do NOT sign anything. DO get copies of all your records. You have a right to have copies of EVERYTHING! Unless you have been arrested and criminally charged, when CPS takes your children, the court hearings are about determining if your children have been abused or neglected. Let me repeat that, the hearings are about CPS finding evidence to support their claims that your children has been abused or neglected and to justify removing YOUR children!! Until you have a hearing in which the court finds that your children are abused or neglected, they have NO legal right to order you to submit to services. CPS will coerce you into voluntarily agreeing to services dangling your children out and saying that they will be returned faster if you cooperate. When you voluntarily agree to services, the court then uses this information to presume that CPSs allegations are FACT. If the social workers claims are held by the court to be FACTs, then you WILL be found GUILTY of their allegations. CPS will be working diligently to find that you are UNFIT. Make them PROVE their allegations. OBJECT to their lies, and get the truth on the record! Your FIRST hearing is your best chance to get your children back home. Your first hearing (temporary placement hearing), should address who, what, where, when, why and how, in detail by the social worker. You MUST be provided with a copy of the paperwork prepared by the social worker for the court that gives the details. 1. Identify specifically what reasonable efforts were made to maintain the child in the home. Where is the proof? 2. Identify specifically, IN DETAIL, the imminent danger that prevents the child/children from remaining in the home. Again, where is the proof? Do you have pictures, video, witnesses? Have them available now. If there is NO proof, if the social worker cannot clearly and specifically detail the abuse or neglect, motion the court to SEND YOUR CHILDREN HOME WITH YOU! 3. If there is still a belief at that time, that child/children should be removed, a judiciary finding that it is contrary to the welfare of the child/children to remain in the home, then.... 4. Determine where the child will be temporarily placed, what extended family members are available. 5. Are the parents pleading not guilty? Then schedule a trial ASAP. If you are NOT guilty, do NOT be talked into pleading no contest. A no contest plea will be assumed by the court that ALL of the social workers allegations are true. 6. Are the parents accepting the allegations? Move to disposition ASAP, and start working on a family plan. 7. Address visitation and contact. Supervised or unsupervised. 8. Address service options (if charges are uncontested). And Identify SPECIFIC deadlines/timelines for completion. 9. If children are to remain in alternative care (relatives or foster), there should be arrangements made to retrieve clothing and other personal items for the children. 10. If rehab is needed, that discussion should take place now. What facilities are available, and what needs to be accomplished in order to have children back (again, a timeline). This first hearing would require a hearing longer than 10 minutes, but we are discussing the best interest of the child/children. And that best interest is reunification if possible, ASAP, to lessen the trauma to the children, and maintain and preserve the parent/child bonds. familyrights.us/DIY_Law/ Some links to read and share with your attorney.... From the American Bar Association; Standards of Practice for Attorneys Representing Parents in Abuse and Neglect Cases .....To perform these functions, the parent’s attorney must know enough about all relevant laws to vigorously advocate for the parent’s interests. Additionally, the attorney must be able to use procedural, evidentiary and confidentiality laws and rules to protect the parent’s rights throughout court proceedings. americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/child_law/ParentStds.authcheckdam.pdf And: childwelfare.gov/pubs/usermanuals/courts/courts.pdf And: ncids.org/Defender%20Training/2009%20Parent%20Defender%20Training/MissionPossible.pdf A parent’s constitutional right to raise his or her child is one of the most venerated liberty interests safeguarded by the Constitution and the courts. The law presumes parents to be fit, and it establishes that they do not need to be model parents to retain custody of their children. If the state seeks to interfere with the parent-child relationship, the Constitution mandates: (1) that the state prove parental unfitness, a standard defined by state laws, and (2) that the state follow certain procedures protecting the parents’ due process rights. The constitutional framework for child protective proceedings is premised upon the belief that the welfare of children is best served when they are in their parents’ custody. For that reason, the state’s evidence of parental unfitness must satisfy a high burden of proof before the state may interfere with or permanently sever the parent-child relationship. Attorneys who represent parents in child protective proceedings play a crucial role in safeguarding these liberty interests. This role manifests itself in many ways. Similar to defense lawyers in criminal cases, parents’ attorneys prevent the state from overreaching to unjustly remove children from their homes. In situations where temporary removal may be warranted, advocacy by parents’ counsel can expedite the safe reunification of the family by ensuring the prompt delivery of appropriate services to the family and by counseling parents about the ramifications of the choices they must make... socialservicecompliance.files.wordpress/2010/01/parents-attorney-protocol-michigan-sankaran-and-vandervort.pdf The Constitution requires a finding of unfitness against the non-respondent parent before the custody deprivation can occur. Any attempt to strip the parent of his or her parental rights without such a finding of unfitness contravenes the Due Process Clause.23 Attorneys raising this argument should file a written motion and stand ready to appeal immediately if the trial court denies the parent’s right to an evidentiary hearing or refuses to return custody to the non-offending parent. See Stanley v Illinois, 405 US 645, 649; 92 S Ct 1208; 31 L Ed 2d 551 (1972) (“[A]s a matter of due process of law, Stanley was entitled to a hearing on his fitness as a parent before his children were taken from him.”). Get the TRUTH on the RECORD! See: familyrights.us/how_to/fight_cps.html You can also get the truth on the record through filing Objections and Corrections to the social workers report, or whatever they call it in your state. Lies that go un-objected to are accepted as fact in the court, and upon appeal. Get the truth on the record, and you can attach your evidence and a Sworn Affidavit to the Objections and Corrections as well. fightcps/2011/05/09/sample-statement-of-objections-and-corrections-to-the-report-of-the-social-worker/ REQUEST ALL OF YOUR RECORDS- To request ALL of your records, of which you ARE entitled to you can use this letter (found in the files on this page) or by going to this link: https://facebook/groups/CONTOLCENTER/405900559492102/ If they deny you your records, then your attorney, or yourself if you are Pro Se can motion the court for the records through discovery. Another good resource if you are Pro Se: federalpracticemanual.org/node/3
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 21:13:06 +0000
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