Why is it that whenever the state intervenes in the care of your children
they make you look like the bad guy? They send out these reports to the
juvenile court system that state that the parents have said things that
really were not said and that they lack certain interests in their own
children that actually do exist. Even if those parents strive to
participate in their kids' lives by making the regularly scheduled visits
and going to their doctors' appointments and what-not, the social workers
who draw up these reports still make it look as though said parents are not
expressing interests in their children.
Why does the Division of Child Support make it so hard for parents to
survive, even those on low income status, despite the fact that they don't
even take enough money from those parents to provide for their childrens'
needs to begin with? To me it makes no sense whatsoever for the state to
make it impossible for those couples who have lost their children to survive
when they aren't making it much easier for the kids to survive themselves.
One monthly child support payment taken out of a person's payroll is equal
to about one week or less of one child's survival expenses. A normal,
healthy child needs a parent to spend about $2,000 a month on him or her for
food, clothes, medical expenses, and schooling. The state takes around $500
or less out for monthly child support, no matter how many children need the
support and how healthy the children are. This goes to show you how much
our state government cares for the welfare of its children.
Why does the state DHS's child welfare program promise one thing but deliver
something totally different? Every once in a while you will find case
workers that actually care enough to work toward keeping their promises,
like the case worker we had from April 2004 until this past February. But
many of them are a bunch of heartless liars who really don't care where the
children in their custody end up as long as it is away from their own
parents. In child welfare, case workers constantly tell the parents
involved that their number one goal is to reunite children with their
parents. But when we see these reports being sent out to juvenile court
judges that totally make the parents look like they would kill their own
kids if given the chance; when case workers are pushing to have these
children in foster care adopted out to other homes, regardless of the safety
of these kids and of the reunion that they had originally promised to the
parents; when we learn that we have been betrayed and deceived by the state
in regard to our children; that's when we realize just how dishonest these
people are. Why in the world does the state hire so many dishonest people
to work in its child welfare program? We may never know the answer to that
question, but the one thing we do know is that so many people are getting
extremely fed up with it.
And lastly, why does the state place so many displaced children in unsafe
environments after comandeering them from their own families with whom they
would have been much safer no matter what the circumstances? This goes to
show you that our government does not really care about its children. Many
children who are fostered or adopted turn to a life of crime, violence,
drugs, and, for females, prostitution when they get older. Many more will
end up dead either before or directly after high school. Just thinking
about this harsh and cruel reality makes me shudder with fear at the fate of
my own two daughters who are currently under the system, especially since
one of them is severely disabled. Currently we are fortunate enough to have
our girls in a foster home we know to be safe; it just so happens that the
foster parents are family friends, unbeknownst to DHS at the time of the
girls' placement there.
What we need are more people, more parents especially, who are willing to
step up to the plate and fight for the safety and protection of our
children. As spoken many a time before, children are the future of our
world. To break it down, today's youngsters are tomorrow's doctors,
lawyers, school teachers, politicians, and, most importantly, parents. All
parents out there, especially those fighting the state for your children,
listen up: PLEASE prevent your children from becoming yet another of these
cruel statistics. Our voices need to be heard loud and clear!
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503-458-7113
505 traub pl. midwest city ok,73110
As for the parents. Many had been violent toward their children, were using, selling or cooking meth. some parents beat their children horribly, including throwing babies against walls and burning babies. Some sexually abused their own children (including babies) while high on meth, then they sold their children to get money for meth. Some parents were just poor and overwhelmed. They lost their place to live and then the children were kept out of school for a long time. They lost their kids because they could not find a place to live. Case workers placed the kids in foster homes for a short time until a home could be found. Caseworkers helped the family find a place to live and help set up payments to pay for the housing, then helped the parents find a job.
As for children. Some children of women who have had more than one partner. They children in a family can have many different fathers. These children have experienced lots of loss. They act confused and angry at their treatment. They don't do well in school. They act either very aggressive or very shy and are picked on alot. They have had to move many times in their life while their mother tried to find resources for the family.
The children who are sexually, mentally, and physically abused are often put in theraputic foster homes. The therapy often includes a few trips to a counselor, then lots of "theraputic" drugs to control their behavior. Some have been know to try to harm others, try to start fires, cut on themselves, and find other ways to escape this world. Some are put in institutions for years because of the damage done to them.
As for the foster homes. Some are just good people. Some are in it for the money. They get about $500 a month per child. The more damaged a child is the more they get. Some will damage children to get more money. Some foster homes have as many as 8 children in their homes. There are few people over seeing foster homes in Oregon. Other states are much more stricter about who can be a foster parent. In other states, you are not allowed to displace your own children to place foster children and you can only have 2 children to a room. I have seen foster homes in Oregon with bunkbeds to the ceiling...6 children in a room. I have seen so-called rooms built in the middle of a garage (plywood walls, no windows, one door-in)with 2 or 3 children. many of the homes I saw were dirty. Some had high chairs all lined up along the wall, someone going from chair to chair to give the babies a bite of food. I was told there is a shortage of places to put children right now because of the meth epidemic. I was told that many of the children from meth homes are very damaged and so everyone is scrambling for find a place for the children to go. The DHS budget has not been increased to cover this increase of children being taken from homes. There are not enough case workers. The caseworkers have huge caseloads, the courts are overwhelmed, foster homes are not being properly monitored. It makes for a diaster waiting to happen.
And the disasters in Oregon are happening. Children are dying. Children are being damaged for life.
What is the answer. All adults involved need to act responsibly. Parents need to stop abusing their children. They need to get as stable as possible and be focused on the needs of their children. They need to stop using drugs and alcohol. People in Oregon need jobs and job training that gives parents a chance to adequately support their families.
DHS needs to hire people who are moral and ethical. They need to hire enough caseworkers and train them well. There needs to be good oversight.