I read that the other day. There are just so many things wrong with this it isn't funny. A tank... really!!!????? And, oh, btw, we were wrong... she doesn't need those meds after all. And the only "evidence" they have in regard to her shooting a gun at police is that plaster sprayed near them. That's it. No gun. No bullet. Just some plaster sprayed at them so they assumed she shot at them. (At least that's the only evidence any news outlets are reporting) But they're charging her with shooting at them, anyhow.
This is so.. wrong. Just so wrong. I don't know if the mom shot at police, and I won't even comment on that. Because truthfully- if they came for your child, what lengths would you go to to protect her? I've never held a gun, I don't like them. We don't have one. But what if they were coming for MY children? I just don't know what I would do. It makes me sick to my stomach. Is this mother, then, not allowed to make decisions for her own children? My hope is that there is more to this story than reported.
I hesitate to respond to this, but I just have to point out there are 2 sides to every story. The police have to protect themselves if they believe they are being shot at....as far as the police being there they are doing what they are told to do. The police are not horrible people who delight in taking kids away from their parents.
WOW! I can't believe this happened.. Actually, I can. Seems that the Gov't thinks they own everyone and can do with them what they please. VERY SCARY!
This is what I was thinking, too... The police don't know the whole story. They're just seeing *kids*, *gun in the house*, *uncooperative adult*. If there is blame to be laid, I'd put it at the feet of whichever social worker started this whole ball rolling. Did the Child Protective Service not need a judge's order to have the child removed? Was the social worker able to act on her own in ordering this raid? Is there any legal oversight for the social agencies in that state? After reading a number of news stories on this, I also wonder about the mother's level of education, financial situation, and ability to negotiate rationally with people who have authority and power. Starting with the doctor who prescribed the drugs (why couldn't she change doctors??), moving on to the social workers whose help she sought in the first place (generally I think it's bad to get social agencies involved in your home life, but I recognize it's sometimes unavoidable), and finally the police. I have a suspicion she had a role in escalating this situation, herself. (Which is NOT the same thing as saying she's to blame for it, not by a long shot!) I don't know much about the situation in the United States. In my town, the Children's Aid Society can act unilaterally - up to and including refusing to return a child to a home, in direct defiance of a judicial order! They're literally above the law, and there have been some shocking abuses of the system. I'd like to see the agency's powers and procedures reformed. They should have to get a judge to sign off on an emergency removal (which should be rare, and only used in cases of extreme, immediate danger!), and then the parents should have the right to appeal the removal in court. But, it's important to remember that, however flawed they are as an agency, the CAS really does try to act in the best interests of the children. They don't tear families apart for giggles. And we're far better off with them, then without them. No one wants to see a return to the days when we had to turn to the Humane Society to rescue children from the kind of abuse and neglect we wouldn't tolerate even with animals. The CAS do far more good in children's lives, then they do harm.
Meg- Couple of things: I saw an interview with her second doctor... the one with which she was working on natural remedies. So she did switch doctors. Social workers here are above the law. They don't need a judges order to do anything in the beginning. It's a "shoot first, ask questions later" situation. Parents need a judges order to have their children returned, but CPSA does not need a judges order to remove. They only have to have a police escort. The police didn't just send an escort, they sent a SWAT team! With a tank! And the police they interviewed did not say anything about seeing a gun or guns in the home. Only that they thought because of the plaster spray that she shot at them (but, again, that was AFTER the SWAT team arrived). In our area, there are many social workers that are very jaded to biological parents. When I was a foster parent, I had one tell me point blank that if parents hadn't trained to be foster parents (meaning taken state-run courses), they had no right to be parents. She was not shy about admitting that she looked for every reason she could to remove kiddos from homes that had not been state-approved. And she was not alone. Consider the blind parents in KC who had their newborn taken away in the hospital because the social worker didn't think blind people could care for a child.... It took those parents 6+ months to bring their little girl home and she's still not legally theirs! It is a power trip for many social workers. Too many, if you ask me.
Amie, I agree with you completely, and that's coming from experience. I have personally had to deal with Social Workers and honestly in some cases the foster homes they place the children in are worse than the home they were taken from! I personally would NEVER go to social services for help, as in my experience they are anything but helpful. In our family's case I know what they did was wrong, and they also know that what they did was wrong as they never officially filed the paperwork, yes we saw a judge, but when I had a background check, including FBI AND Child Abuse/Neglect clearance none of it even showed up! The system failed my child, and my family and I have no trust for it whatsoever! We were not the only family in that area to suffer at the hands of an all too powerful agency, nor were we the last sadly. The abuse of the system in that state continues unto this day, one reason why we will never again go back there to visit or otherwise.
Thank you for the clarifications! I've had friends who have had brushes with the CAS locally, and no harm came from it. But then again... the mom's a lawyer. Meanwhile, I have another friend who spend time as a child in the foster care system, and SHE had a plan in place to smuggle her kids over the back fence and have them spirited away by a neighbour if the CAS ever knocked on her front door for any reason. She had a bad experience in the system and was determined they'd never get their hands on her kids. On the other hand, two of my best friend's siblings were fostered in a wonderful loving home... and then returned to their bio parents who abused them horribly. It's a real mixed bag. Me, I'd just like to see some kind of neutral oversight. Sort of like an Internal Affairs department for the Children's Aid Society.
