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February 17th, 2011
11:45 PM ET
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It happens every single day, hundreds of times a week.
The ONLY reason the Caplans had their children returned was because they could afford the battle.
CPS and CASA are a baby stealing business. Nothing more, nothing less.
This is the exact story that I am going through right now. I am out of the house until the therapy is finished even though there was no sufficient proof. I think when it comes down to it you are guilty until proven innoccent without a doubt and something should change.
Several years ago this same thing happened to a couple in Nashville with their baby at Vanderbilt Hospital. It took quite some time and a dedicated effort by the parents to prove their child had not been abused and that the child had some other kind of unusual condition, and regain custody of their child.
I certainly understand that protecting the children needs to come first if there is any suspected abuse. However, medical professionals are far to quick to assume the worst these days. After my daughter was born I suffered post partum depression. I went to my dr. 6 weeks after my daughter was born and asked for help with my depression. My daughter was a vision of perfect health at this visit and there was NEVER any neglect or abuse. I told them how I was feeling and asked for medication to help me through it. They immediately called the police and CPS who then came to my house (police from 2 seperate cities lined the streets in my neighborhood and decended on my home!) I would never hurt my daughter and had never hurt my daughter, but they came anyway and threatened to take her away. We were under the microscope of CPS for over a month with constatant threat of my daughter being removed from our home. All this took place while that woman in Texas was on trial for killing her kids so it was all fresh and active in the news. Ulitmately the case was dismissed and closed with CPS, but I have never recovered from it and never will. I have no confidence or trust in medical professionals now. I really feel for this woman. I am sure, like me, she is suffering from PTS. I still cannot even drive to the side of town where my dr.s office was that all this took place without shaking and feeling like I am going to vomit.
This is not the first time something like this has happened. When we adopted our daughters from Korea 25yrs ago, we were warned by the Denver based adoption agency. Asian children often have dark/deep blue marks on their bodies resembling bruises (especially on the back and buttocks areas). They fade with time, The agency had experienced several instances where newly adoptive parents were investigated for potential child abuse because teachers or baby sitters had reported what they thought might be abuse because of the dark markings. Fortunately it never happened to us, largely because the agency had gone to special efforts in the local area to educate the police about the "common" occurrence.
The system NEEDS to be reformed. We are going through the same experience right now. Case works say they are protecting the children- but they are really just out for blood. They look at every parent as being guilty rather than analyzing the facts in order to make a fair judgment. The Department of Child and Family welfare needs to wake up and hire people who are competent. The Department has no standards or checks and balances. They make the decisions to take children away for LONG periods of time, based on case workers who have no medical training and based on the egocentric lies of the police. Doctors who were trained 30 years ago need to be brought up to date with the current research and findings of Shaken Baby Syndrome. It is a travesty that this situation is happening all over the United States. Parental rights are a joke they are being trampled on.
It is preposterous that the city's Peter Nickles admitted no remorse on the way this was handled. His effort on trying to save face just cements the evidence on the heartless way this was handled. It is also quite ironic, in fact, that as a former attorney general he didn't commit to the "innocent until PROVEN guilty" way of justice.
Cheers to the CNN crew for bringing this chilling injustice to light.
Unfortunately, this is an all too common occurrence and the stock answer from all HHS and other various authorities is that we are doing what is in the best interests of the children. Nothing could be further from the truth. HHS has no problem moving children from one foster family to another, HHS officials lie in court under oath, coerce families to accept please to make themselves look good. In court, you have to prove that you did NOT do whatever it is, which is against everything that our founding fathers established.
This is nothing new in the District of Columbia. The only thing that makes this story unique is that it happened to a White family. A number of years ago my family participated in a student exchange program. We hosted a student from Ghana. He was pissed that he was placed with a Black family and called CFSA thinking it would get him removed from our household. We had to undergo an investigation. My wife and I and all of our children were interviewed separately. My daughters were completely traumatized by the experience. They now do not trust the police. The investigator lied saying there was proof of abuse, when there in fact was none, trying to get us to turn on each other. Every day, families in DC are subjected to unwarranted and unjustified intrusions into their lives. Dig deeper, there is more to this story.
Our family knows all to well how the Social Services System can get out of hand and not only accuse a family member of such a crime as endangering your child but it is twice as HARMFUL when they convict you of the most heinous crime out there and that is Sexual abuse!
For the last 9 years our family has fought the Social Services System after removing 2 children in our family for one thing and turning it into another thing, that being sexual abuse! After repeated interviewing of 2 small little girls, over a period of 18 months the Social Services System had their story to convict a family member of sexual abuse! I am tired of these Departments of Human Services destroying families all at the expense of either making a name for themselves or thinking they are saving the children from horrible families!
I understand there are brutal families that do horrible things to children and they need to be protected but when there is no abuse and the Social Service System sets out to destroy you and your family and there is no one to protect the family they are destroying!
Here it is 9 years later and we still do not have our children back and we are still fighting for the truth and the System continues to destroy these once little girls who are now reaching the age of 18! Only then when these woman be able to tell their story after the death grip of the Social Services System and Foster Care system has put them through and our family still has no rights to gain custody of them!! Even when the now teenage girls have asked to come back to their family they ripped from 9 years ago! The system failed these children and no one is listening! I am tired of it!
This situation occurs more frequently than is publicized. The medical profession and Child Protective Services are zealots. My son and his partner experienced a similar scenario when one of their 20 mo. old twins fell and fractured his femur. As grandparents we immediately stepped in and obtained legal counsel who assisted the family and after four days the child was released to his home with the notice, 'the doctor will make the final determination if this injury is a result of child abuse and then one or both parents will be charged with child abuse." Please investigate this type of overzealous 'abuse' of parents and false accusations of unfounded child abuse.
I am a board certified pediatricianin the ER with 15 years of experience. Retinal hemmoraghes are pathonemonic (absolute evidence) of abuse. To suggest otherwise is absolutely scientificaly and legally incorrect. The issue of concern is not the "sadness" of parents, but rather justice for the innocent children who have been unmercifully tortured and killed.
As someone who was abused and who truly cares about children I find the Kaplan parents disgusting. Sue for the 75k to pay the attorney fees, but 1million, that will likely change policy is truly ill conceived. Parents that truly care about their kids and the protection of kids in general would gladly accept the risk of this type of situation happening if it means even a single child is saved from a dangerous situation. With child abuse I think as a society it is best that we err on the side of protecting the child first and foremost. We hear so many cases of abusers being investigated and nothing done and then a child being killed or horribly tortured. To me, a few parents wrongly accused is far better than any child ever being abused.
I just was curious to know if this reporter checked to ensure that the human services worker was indeed a social worker. Many times the workers that remove children are not social workers, but investigators. A social worker must obtain a bachelor's/or a master's degree in social work. There is a big difference in someone who just works in social services and a social worker.