The Horrors of Minnesota's Child Protection Court
Given that I work in child protection court, I'm always on the lookout for articles about this field. Skelly over at Arbitrary and Capricious was kind enough to send me a link to this article from citypages.com:LITTLE COURT OF HORRORS
In Anoka county juvenile court, meth and red tape are playing hell with the fate of children
By Beth Hawkins
It's pushing 1:00 when Judge Stephen Askew puts off taking a lunch break for the third time. The hall outside Courtroom 10, one of two wood-paneled rooms in the far corner of the Anoka County Courthouse where juvenile cases are heard, is still packed with people. Askew is hearing child protection matters, cases that typically require the presence of upward of a dozen people. There are family members, social workers, prosecutors, court-appointed child guardians, and a sea of attorneys. Each parent gets his or her own lawyer, as do older children; add stepparents, custodial grandparents, foster parents, or any other interested party, and the number of people mushrooms. It's easier to postpone lunch than it is to reassemble everyone.
Today is one of two days a week when the four judges presiding over juvenile cases in Anoka take turns hearing the sundry check-ins and updates that punctuate each family's trek through the system. The tenor of the proceedings is half Grapes of Wrath, half Jerry Springer. And Askew, a short man with wire-rimmed glasses, a neatly trimmed fringe of gray hair, and a perpetual half-scowl, looks wrung out...
A word of warning, this is a long article so make sure you have plenty of time. I think the judge quoted in the article sums it up the best:
"We're doing social engineering with limited information and resources," [Judge Stephen Askew] complains to no one in particular. "And we're doing it with parents who aren't functioning very well."
It's alarming to see that there is actually a child protection court that is more screwed up than the one in which I practice. The scariest thing I learned from this article is that Minnesota doesn't always pay for the social services (drug addiction treatment, psychological assessments) that the parents need in order to regain custody of their children. It sounds as though parents who have any source of income or insurance are required to pay for these things themselves.
This leads to problems a.) because even though a parent may have a minimum wage income, that doesn't mean she can afford to support herself and pay for social services and b.) this system leads to confusion about whether the state will or won't pay and therefore delays the implementation of services. The latter is especially important in light of recently passed state laws that are meant to expedite the court's process of either reunifying the family or terminating the parents' legal rights so the child can be adopted. These laws limit the amount of time a parent has to regain custody of their children. If a parent doesn't get his act together quickly, she faces losing her child permanently.
In the system in which I practice, the state pays. Period. There are still often delays in the implementation of services, but they don't sound nearly as bad as in the article. The only circumstance in which the state will not pay is when the parents' have taken too long to get their children back. In those situations, the "goal" changes from reunification to termination of parental rights and the state no longer pays for social services.
It just seems morally abhorrent for a state to make the judgment that a parent is not fit to care for their children, remove the children, and then refuse to provide the parent with the services necessary to become a fit parent and reunite the family. As the article states, poverty is the single largest predictor of child removals. Poor people can't pay for their own social services. That's not child protection, that's state-sanctioned kidnapping directed at the poor.
posted by Public Defense @ 12/21/2005
19 Comments:
I am one of the parents who lost their children to this court(Anoka County) being poor and white with beautiful children cost me my kids. I love palably unfit as a reason to take children. I was palably unfit do to my parents history and the fact that I was poor. Justice will never be served against this state for what they have done and what they do everyday.
4 years later nothing has changed in anoka county...it's possibly worse.
Anoka county child protection is ajoke! They don't even try for the truth! Nothing has changed in 2009!!!!!
I agree with you all about anoka county however I plan to take action beause I have proof my daughter's social worker lied on me. They also took her away from me and never did anything to help us reunite. Her current social woker said that's no longer a goal for them. That's sad these people don't want to help they only want to get paid!
I have prrof that my grandaughter was placed in a abusive home, both the gaurdian ad litem and social worker knew but chose to "save face" and hid it.....no one cares,....if your able to take action...i'd like to know
my granddaughter is 18 months old now, and several people have contacted anoka county CPS because of severe neglect, mental and emotional and physical abuse to her by her 18 year alcoholism, drug abusing mom, 2 of these reports came from emergency physicians, 1 from the babies father when he found out from mutual friends of theirs what was happening, 1 from myself and 2 from other people close to the situation. This system dont care and they need to fire their ridiculous intake worker. It only cares when there is a spot light precedent to be made!
I would like to hear from those who posted here where you are with your cases. Maybe we can work together for the common goal.
Renee
I also lost my 3 children (to anoka county). in 2002 and they were legally adopted in 2003, after I did all off the things they wanted me to do but my chrildren's father didn't and tried to terminate his rights at the first hearing judge denied his petition pending my rights being terminated he agreed to testify against me I'm my termination trial and I was told that I was going to lose my children so my only option was to voluntarily sign my rights away, my familyily was neverr even an option in. my case in. cps eyes.. they never even contacted the father of my youngest knowing she had a different father,
lawlessamerica.com
if you have documents to back up what you are saying contact this site, they are video taping these stories, name names.....
I won my trial and still lost my kids! I want justice they need to be held accountable!
okay, this is scaring me, I am a victim of wrongfully child protection Case.
my story as follows: that I want everyone to know about.
I had been in a relationship for 15yrs the relationship was not marriage, with the father of two of my children. it was a very ugly relationship with verbal, mental and some physical abuse I wanted out but there was a lot of threats on me by him. I finally was able to end the relationship with me having the custody of the children and he was granted every other weekend. but, he did not like that. . . he was upset and he became very vengeful turning my life into a living hell! it started out with harassing text to me as follows: he was going to kill himself, he was going to kill me and a very graphic way and horrible, rude text about my deceased mother. I printed out all the texts and gave him to the police, which they turned around and send them off to the county attorney office. and nothing happened about it! so now, instead of him harassing me personally by him he started harassing me to other agencies, made fake police report just so he can get my current boyfriends name on the report as another individual residing at that address which my current boyfriend does not live with me. but, he used those police reports to send it to section 8 housing program and reporting that I have someone living with me and in result of that I was terminated the section 8 housing program, which made me and my children become homeless and effort of trying to get into a shelter, my 11-year-old had miss some school days. but we finally got into a shelter and my son started school. . . now knowing that the children are safe, the father cannot get custody of the children so instead he came up with a different plan which he use the children involved in. a horrible vengeance plan. he is accusing my current boyfriend of choking my 3 year old outside of the shelter that I was staying at. HE DID NOT CHOKE HIM! I understand that my 11 year old did not want to be in the shelter, traveling to church is at night to sleep once you are there you can't go anywhere, so there was no extra fun time for him being able to play with his normal school friend after school like he would when we lived in her apartment, are not being able to play his video games having the luxury of being able to go to Burger King or McDonalds, the normal kid life! but, the boys still had your every other weekend visit with her dad. safety plan per child protection that I was threatened into signing before all of this goes to court was that the two boys to remain with their father on a temporary basis. because I don't know how to protect my children. let me mention, that I have a child with my current boyfriend who is 1 years old and was able to remain in my care. the case plan that I was threatened into signing: 1) 2 boys to remain with the father on a temporary basis.
2) I did a random U.A. that day
3) my current boyfriend did a UA that day.
4) and not allowing my current boyfriend to be around his son.
if I did not sign the safety plan they threatened to take my one year old that day and put him into foster care!
so right now, I have to have supervised visitations with my children, my current boyfriend has to have supervised visitations with his son who is still in my care. results of the UA test for me, clean and I knew that because I don't use drugs! results for my current boyfriend, clean as well because he don't use drugs! eventually they did have the other father do a random U.A. that I forced upon them to do, because he is a marijuana user. his results, DIRTY, for marijuana! and yet, he still has the two boys!?!? don't make sense to me! now we been through the court hearings and the court trial. and now the ruling from the judges, there needs to be a C.H.I.P.S. case. REALLY? WHY? Anoka Co is screwed up! Child protection is a dirty joke, and blind to the fact of this case. Once again I'm being harassed by the father through a 3Rd party!
This happens here too...every day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7uVavOhc0w
Now im scared im trying to get my granddaughter from another state. Mom is methed out and dad went to prision facing 5-10. They are looking for permanent placement.
All states are different Tammy, but steer clear of Anoka county if possible.
I don't even know how to reply to this blog and all of the comments. Here I am, in 2016, having horrible problems with Anoka country, and their failure to address a very dangerous situation. How can we change the system and provide REAL help for the children involved? I am so frustrated!
Go on Google
Plus there is a coalition and a bunch of lawyers seeking child protection reform and going families wronged to use child protection services and the counties violating your rights and that of your children's che k out Howard Taft's page.. Speak to Google pluses editor both can point you in the right direction Lso Joseph Gangelhoff( not sure of spelling) with Delta law firm in the cities takes on low income clients on a regular basis. And there is national family solutions who can help provide legal answers and direction. Things can't change used we all stand up and demand it with our state a d federal government. Demand justice!!!!!!!!
Go on Google
Plus there is a coalition and a bunch of lawyers seeking child protection reform and going families wronged to use child protection services and the counties violating your rights and that of your children's che k out Howard Taft's page.. Speak to Google pluses editor both can point you in the right direction Lso Joseph Gangelhoff( not sure of spelling) with Delta law firm in the cities takes on low income clients on a regular basis. And there is national family solutions who can help provide legal answers and direction. Things can't change used we all stand up and demand it with our state a d federal government. Demand justice!!!!!!!!
I was kicked out of my house in Washington county , I am a single male with no children, I was forced to support my ex girlfriend and her new 21 year old boyfriend in a 265,000 house. The boyfriend was a Liberian refugee..I'm 51, the system doesn't want to change, they feed on fear...and anxiety and intimidation, despite your moral or religious beliefs, "best interest of the child? I didn't have children. The reason I was arrested, was because I had a abscessed tooth and " looked angry" none of these people suggested, maybe you should get that tooth pulled for 50.00, instead life the author said, a sea of lawyer's, advocates, law enforcement. The state has no problem wasting people hard earn money, who cant afford it. This is a given. Someone has to pay for those expensive government complexes.
My kids were taken by police at 9 pm. (2014) by emergency removal for educational neglect. Took 6 months of damage n loss and scare to get them back and I used a couple times.(I know stupid n wrong) I had a positive UA and they took them back immediately, after promising me if I volunteered to place them while I went to treatment they would give them back. And visits would be very liberal. ALL LIES!! I went to treatment, halfway (social worker) lied to halfway house and ended back in treatment then back to halfway again. I was getting kiddos back and I was hurt n overwhelmed n I relapsed on two tall bud Rita's and again ripped them immediately!! I was pregnant and they said that baby is not part of case she will stay with us. Well she was born and taken from hospital. No drugs or alcohol or problems with baby or in our systems. And still was following the case plan and probation and parenting classes all that. Her entire 1.5 year of life I have had all clean UAs, housing, programming and only one two hour visit a week, until a month ago they finally gave me a sleepover with her once a week. so A year a Nd a half later here I am in supportive housing for 9 months and had another slip (couple lines) and let kids dad be here with us so he could get into treatment and start helping and being a dad. and was honest and went for help to my program and bam kids taken the next day. NEVER have them been in harm's way or unsafe or neglected. I was involved in the schools and activities and I was struggling and I was honest. All these times and nothing but punishment has come of it. I NEED HELP PUBLIC DEFEBDER NOT DEFENDING AT ALL!!!
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