Hello! I'm Jenn, and this is my blog. I'm 25 years old, I'm a wife, lover, mother, friend, freelance writer, blogger, photographer, and so much 
On September 18th, 2008, the local children & youth agency (CPS) secured a court order based on false allegations, fabrications and lies, and removed my brothers from my mother’s care.
On September 19th, 2008, despite being presented with evidence directly contradicting what was said in the court order, CYS refused to drop the court petition, and moved forward with moving my brothers to an emergency shelter for children.
Since then, my mother and I have been busy gathering paperwork and evidence, contacting a lawyer, and speaking with the various state and local mental health, therapy and educational agencies that have been working side by side with my mother and brothers for months, even years.
In addition to gathering paperwork and evidence, meeting with a lawyer, telling our story to everyone who knows my mother and brothers and securing their assistance and agreement to speak to CYS and go to the next court hearing (scheduled for October 22nd) and testify on her behalf, we are also reaching out to the media and to the internet.
Please, even if you cannot provide any advice or assistance, visit Save My Boys. Blog about it. Link it in your sidebar. Post it on a message board. Promote it on social networks and bookmarking sites.
The one thing child protective agencies hate most is publicity. We are determined to get the word out to as many people as possible, and to exert pressure on them from all sides. Please help us in doing this, and visit Save My Boys.
Currently, my mother and I were allowed to see my brothers at the emergency shelter on Sunday for an hour and a half. We spoke to them on the phone on Saturday evening. We saw my thirteen year old brother on Monday morning, when he was transported from the emergency shelter to a special residential school for admission (this was something planned by my mother before this happened). He is out of their clutches, since he is now in the care and under the control of the school, who has nothing to do with CYS and is simply focused on working with my brother and the family.
But my ten year old brother is still in the emergency shelter. We haven’t talked to him since Tuesday, and we cannot see him again until Sunday. He’ll continue to remain there, or possibly be transferred to a foster home, unless this can be resolved.
Or I can have custody of them — known as kinship care. The two CYS workers responsible for this, T and her supervisor J, promised me to my face on three different occasions (Thursday night, when they took my brothers; Friday morning, at the court hearing; Monday morning, at the school for my thirteen year old brother’s admission) that as long as I did the paperwork (child abuse clearance, criminal background check, FBI fingerprinting) and passed the home inspection, I would be approved for kinship care and could have my ten year old brother within a matter of weeks.
A call came from them Tuesday morning, coincidentally the day after my mom and I presented CYS with a written statement denying them the right to question either of my brothers without the presence of my mother, myself or my lawyer. I was informed that due to me not following a “safety plan” last February (my thirteen year old brother was placed with me for two weeks last February; I took him home after CYS verbally gave my mother and I permission to), I was being denied kinship care.
Needless to say, we have informed the lawyer, the various agencies and individuals my mom and I have been speaking to, and now you, the internet. I also plan on immediately appealing the decision, as nine times of ten CYS and the head of the department of welfare has no interest in hiring a lawyer and going through a trial to go over the denial and appeal.
But until then… and until this is resolved… we are going public about this, and will continue to update the media and the internet as things continue to unfold.
No related posts.
Will do. I’ll see what I can’t come up with and look into sending some ‘mail’ toward the situation.
Dez’s last blog entry: Phones Are Invented For A Reason
I’ve read the previous entries about this. It’s horrible that they’re putting you through all of this. I hope everything works out for the best.
But may I ask, why they’re only letting YOU get custody of only ONE brother, and not BOTH?
I’ll be praying for you and the family, Jenn. It’s an awful thing how they keep making assumptions. They always chose to come and investigate at the “wrong” times, and make up their own little stories. So delusional and wrong.
We can all fight it!
CYS everywhere is a crock of crap. They do this kind of thing and then deny family members the ability to take the kids – usually giving some bogus reason. ALL state laws state that if evidence that an accusation is unfounded is provided that the agency MUST immediately drop all charges and return the kids to the home. Unfortunately, this usually doesn’t happen and then some other accusation that they know you cannot defend yourself against is brought up during the hearing. I know this because I’ve seen it with several of my friends. It’s a bogus system and I plan on helping you out by blogging it and linking it. It has to stop somewhere.
Charity’s last blog entry: Just Wondering
Jenn, I know we don’t know each other well and hopefully we can someday so believe me when I say that I will do whatever I can to help because this is one of the many times CPS, CYS, or whatever they want to be called has done things that have no standing and ruin lives. I’ll keep you in my thoughts and do what I can do plug this situation. Be strong and know you’ve got MANY people standing behind you and your family.
Oh Jenn! I haven’t read any of the previous entries about this so it’s all just absorbing. My first thought was why a shelter instead of a foster home? Then I was going to tell you that unless you were discredited somehow you should have a kinship placement. Looks like they found a way around that one as well.
My only advice is to ask if you have contacted a guardian ad litem in your area to see if they are working on the case? Demand that there be a CASA assigned to the case as well. Lastly, contact the Ombudsman/person for the state because that is where you go to “bitch” about social services and tell on people.
You’ll find that within the agency, even on up to the bigger agency that you’ll get a lot of run around and telling you that they are sure if person A did their job, and they know the person’s reputation and they are a good worker, that they trust what has happened.
When you talk to the OMBUDSPERSON they should come at you with an open mind almost like you are the one we believe before we discredit you in some way we assume that some shitty worker has done something to you. I went through so many offices and channels when I felt like I was getting the run around with Sydney. I got online, contacted everyone I could find a number for in every agency higher up that I could find because you’ll find that your county offices always report to the office in the state capitol.
Then I found the ombudsperson’s number and saw what the purpose was. When I first contacted them they were on my side from the get go. They checked right into it and came back with an answer to every question that I had, went in depth on why things happened the way they did, and amazingly I had my baby within a couple of weeks.
It’s common policy that a child is better off with family than in a foster home or god forbid a shelter. It should not take weeks. It should take the time of a police check and when the worker comes out they should go ahead and just look over your home.
When you contact the ombudsman ask them specifically what YOU need to do to get the boys/boy. YOU should not be denied this because of one mess up, it should be able to be fixed. If a person that has a record can explain it away or mental issues then I can’t see this being a problem. You are talking about a system that let Sydney’s grandmother get her brother back after she had him taken while caught shoplifting. She did enough classes and took enough drug tests to prove she was fit. Surely YOU get the chance to prove you are fit?
To me, it sounds like the works on this case have it in for you. Demand a different case worker be assigned to the case. In the meantime you sound like you have it all covered with what you are doing. I’ll slap the site up and blog about it tomorrow.
This makes me sick. You know where I’m at if you need to vent or ask any questions. For the hell of it I’d love to see you and Dan get a foster care license just so you could laugh in their faces and say now, why were denied my brother exactly? I guarantee you that you would be given certification!
Hi Jenn. I will try to help you out, but I’m not sure how I can do this from California. I will brainstorm and keep you, your mom and your brothers in my thoughts. It doesn’t sound like CPS has a very good case, so I’m sure your brothers will be back home soon (I hope!). Sending a huge internet hug your way!!!!
-Jessica
Wow Jenn I am so sorry that things didn’t work out with the court case. I was certain that you guys would win and they would drop charges because, well, you were in the right! It really makes me feel ill to hear stories like that, especially because we had some trouble with them regarding my little sister. My little sister has personality disorders and made false allegations about abuse to people about my parents. None of it was true but it was a long, long battle to convince everyone. I really hope that things start to work out for you and that you can get a good lawyer and fight this thing.
Ok I was thinking about this last night. For starters the goal is always REUNIFICATION. So, even if there is an immediate order for placement they have to work with your mother and you to get these kids back to you. They just have to, unless you are unwilling. It’s not a pick and choose type of thing where they can scold you or not like you, they have to work towards placing the child with the family. There needs to be a long term care plan in place here, have you guys seen it? They should have gone over that with you on like day 1.
Secondly, why don’t we all do a letter writing campaign sort of like what Dez mentioned. Send it to the head dude in PA in the foster care system and to the governor and/or mayor of your city? Trust me that type of thing works. We did this to get my friends kids out of Cambodia and you’d be surprised what a little attention does for a situation, just like you’re trying to so. You should draft a letter Jenn, add the website information on it and anything else you feel is important and we could all send it out to as many people as we can think of.
Hey, Jenn. I’ll get to work on getting some of my friends from my old social work classes involved. They used to love a good fight, so maybe this would be a good battle for them to get involved with. If anyone knows how to take on the system, it’s some of us who have been trained to work in it.
Oh my gosh, that’s terrible! To think officials can just take children away because they THINK they’re right..
Michelle’s last blog entry: My ego is swelling
This whole thing just makes me angry! I was thinking about it last night, and ack! Especially because they are wasting their time on this, when there are other kids out there that are really in an abusive situation.
I just hope and pray that you guys get everything worked out and that you and your mother get the boys back.
Oh dear God… that’s PA for you… or just any state department, really.
I’ll be bloging about this for you, I don’t get MUCH traffic but any publicity is good publicity.
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Wow. I am really sorry to hear this, Jenn. I will definitely spread the word.
Leslie’s last blog entry: Pullip Obsession.
I will also send positive vibes you guys’s way….and pray for the best!
Leslie’s last blog entry: Pullip Obsession.
hello, jenn. i’ve been a reader of your blog for a year or so now. this is my first comment, as you don’t know me and i didn’t want you to feel creeped out because of that fact. ;/
Anyway, I don’t know anything about CPS personally. I have known friends that dealt with them and according to them, they’re not the easiest people to deal with.
I will do what I can to spread that website around. I don’t know if I can get you responses, but putting in the effort is what counts.
I wish you the best of luck with it all, as I cannot imagine what you have been going through as of lately. You have been through so much with those boys, that I think you’re an awesome enough person/mother/sister/daughter to get them back home, as to where they should be.
This whole situation is just absolutely awful and I hope all the attention bring brought to CY does something. Your family doesn’t need to be going through this.
silvergirl0007’s last blog entry: Twitter Updates for 2008-09-26
Crys is right, the fact that CPS is wasting valuable time dragging your family through the mud rather than using that time to focus on the children who really need it is disgusting.
Your in my prayers Jenn, I hope that CPS figures out what absolute idiots they are and make things right.
This is a private comment, intended only for Jenn and the comment author to view.
Adding the banner to my site and spreading the word, hoping it’ll help!
god this is awful jenn.. i’m just now getting a chance to read all of this… i’m passing this link out to anyone who will take it.. i hope you guys can get some help and get this fixed…
I will be praying for you and your family.. and posting this up on my blogs. Take care. .Jenn. !
This is a really, really sad case, not for you and not for your mother, but for the boys. From what I have gathered it’s very rotten; broken homes, multiple divorces, psychological problems, and children who can not be controlled.
Your family needs to find an anchor. You need to visit with people who care, not about getting the kids back with your mom, but about healing the family and building real strength so that your mom is capable of taking care of the children and giving them the real support that they need.
Too many people just expect to feel good about things all the time, but maybe it’s time to accept that you and/or your mother have made mistakes and go about rectifying them. This sounds like a simmering problem for years and blog posts and pleas are not going to fix it.
What were the specific allegations and fabricated charges under which they were able to get a court order for the security of your brothers? Could you please also mention about the children before they were taken in custody?
If they say that you can get custody of children after completing paperwork then what is the problem?