My View of CPS and Fostering

in #fostercare6 years ago (edited)

I have seen heartbreaking post regarding Child Protective Services. I am certain that injustices have been done to families over and over again but I also have my own side of my stories.

We fostered for 10 years and we have very close friends within the foster community. They are good people who care about children.

Granted, I have observed questionable looking foster parents who appear to be fostering for income no doubt but there are very good families who take in children removed from very real - not lies- not made up - but very real dangerous situations and no one can tell me otherwise.

I made it my business to get to know the babies families. 90% of the infants in my care were brought to us from the hospital due to being addicted to drugs from birth or they were severely fractured all over their body from being thrown or yanked around and tossed violently .

I never had a baby in my care where the parent said they did not do it.

I had one case where one parent had no idea her spouse was losing his temper and slamming the 7 week old down until she came home and the baby had a skull fracture. She was entirely innocent. She was and is an amazing mom who had no idea the person she was married to was capable of losing his temper like that and he did it when she was not home and the baby wouldn't stop crying.

Her nightmare began when she discovered he had severely fractured many bones in the babies body and when CPS removed the baby.

Her spouse later admitted to doing it after he was already moved out as she would have nothing further to do with him. It did take a few months for her to get her baby back and we kept in very close contact - as close as allowed during the process. The reason she wasn't immediately reunited with her baby was because CPS was unsure if she was aware of the abuse and she had to go through the process that lasted 4 months of separation.
One thing I quickly realized is that with babies and fractures, it was never obvious. It usually took severe violence for it to be noticeable on babies. The reason is because bruising does not easily occur with fractures and babies aren't walking or moving in a way to alert one to their suffering. Usually a baby is found out to be being harmed when it's so severe they are rushed to the emergency room.

I personally never had a baby where the parent was screaming innocence but rather it was for the babies best interest to be removed to protect them from being exposed to drugs and to not be subjected to being thrown.
The parent could of fought to get their baby back but 75 % did not . 75% never showed up for visits or made any attempts.
The ones who did try usually were successful at getting their baby moved to a relative while they worked on getting off of drugs.
My side of the story sees the necessary side for CPS. I see the side that has been a life saver for infants. IMG_6991.JPG

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You are right, there are always two sides to a story. Thanks for sharing your experiences. I know that there are innocent parents out there and guilty parents having babies taken away. Either situation is very sad for me - even a guilty parent losing a child has to be really difficult even though they are doing something wrong. I can't imagine. That picture is so sad. Makes me want a baby. ;) Oh, that's everyday...

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