CPS

I have recently become aware that there are some misconceptions about CPS (Children's Protective Services) and I would like to hopefully clear two of these misconceptions up. The first is that some people seem to believe that CPS issues arrest warrants. CPS operates under the Texas Family Code. I am giving the link to the statues pertaining to CPS investigations for interested persons. http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/statutes/docs/FA/content/htm/fa.005.00.000261.00.htm
The Texas Family Code is a civil code. Therefore, CPS does not have the authority to make arrests or issue warrants. Local law enforcement do receive reports of abuse/neglect that are reported to CPS. Sometimes local law enforcement will investigate these reports for criminal liability and sometimes they do not. CPS, by law, investigates reports pursuant to the Family Code. To allege that CPS had someone arrested is totally lacking in factual basis.
The second point I would like to discuss is a statement made recently that CPS needs to be shut down. I could not believe that someone actually said that, but I guess there are people out there that do not see the need to protect our most vulnerable citizens. I have worked with children who witnessed their little brother being thrown across the room and killed. I have worked with children who were sexually abused and had to testify in court about the abuse. I have worked with children who showed the police where the meth was being manufactured in their home and told about having been accidentally stuck with a needle. I could go on, but the horror stories never end. Most parents are good parents and never have any dealings with CPS. Some parents are good parents and have had reports called in. If a false allegation is made, cooperate with the investigator and the facts will come out. The majority of CPS investigations are closed with no further action. CPS investigators aren't out to get your kids. When I did investigations, I perferred to investigate the ones that I could close with no further action. I knew those kids were safe. I know it can be a hassle to deal with a worker coming out to your home, but isn't it worth the hassle to know that CPS will investigate and protect the ones who are being abused/neglected? How many child deaths have been prevented because CPS removed children from an abusive parent before the parent lost their temper one last time? How many children have been protected from accidental needle pokes in their parent's meth lab?
I know that there are cases in which a worker abused their position. That happens in every profession. Those workers are hopefully weeded out. But, by and large, CPS workers perform an important job to the best of their ability. And we have many children who are safe today because of that.

Procrastination

I am the queen of procrastination. Part of my work entails that I see every one of the children on my case load in their placement at least once a month or call the ones that are not in this region. I saw the ten kids that are placed in the Amarillo area before the first week of January was over. I thought I was doing good. Why then, three days before the end of the month did I have eleven kids that I hadn't seen yet and four that I hadn't called. Needless to say, I am making up for lost time. I worked until after 7:00 tonight visiting children and I will get the rest seen the next two days. I hate having to rush at the end of the month. I would say that next month will be better, but I have two less days to see them all.

A Fun Trip

I had to go to Childress this afternoon for work. So I thought I would write a blog for my friends, Sisser and Brandy. They are living in snow country and would like to see some warm weather.

Sista, Brandy...don't you two snowbunnies be mad, but I had to turn on the A/C on my way to Childress today. It was that warm. But before you start envying me, let me tell you about the fun game I got to play on the way. First, I played "dodge the tumbleweed blowing across the road." Then, I played "dang, I hope there's not a car in front of me since all I can see is dirt." I played that little game right around Matador. Thank goodness it didn't last long. And the last game I played on my trip was "can I keep the car from blowing off the road so Enterprise won't be mad at me?" Needless to say, I was having a great time.In Childress, once I had finished the business I was there for, I had a wonderful meal with Iggy. That was great fun and I look forward to more. It was getting dark by the time I left Childress, so the wind had died down. That is good, because it gave me more of a chance to focus on the deer that live out in the scrub brush. It is amazing how those sweet little deer like to congregate on the side of the road and then time the speed of your car so that they can romp across the road right as you are getting close to them. I only almost hit one of them. Took a while for my heart to quit racing after that one. I guess that was my aerobic workout for the day. I'm almost ashamed to admit that I had a blonde moment in Matador. Did you know that there are two highway 70s in Matador. There is US 70, which I need to take to Floydada. And there is State 70, which I actually got on and headed north, thinking, "I shouldn't be going north. I should be going west." Thankfully, I was able to shake off the blonde moment before I ended up in Minnesota or somewhere. Had to turn around and get back on the right highway. So, how was your day?

Chat

I enjoy chatting with wonderful friends I have made on one of the boards. We have a chat room that has really been hopping lately with ten or more members in the last couple of nights. Unfortunately, with that many in the room and all of us talking and visiting I don't always get a chance to read everything everyone says or to respond to everything. It can get a bit confusing also. Once in a while a new chatter will come in and have a difficult time keeping up due to the speed of the chatting and the quick change of topics. I was discussing this tonight with one of my friends in the chat room. Her motto is, Just jump right in. Brandy, you are absolutely right. It's hard for new folks to get started. I went through that when I first started chatting. But, it is worth it to get your feet wet. All new chatters are welcome. I hope we regulars don't seem rude or unapproachable. I think we get caught up in our individual chats sometimes and forget that new chatters are in the room. I am going to work on being more cognizant of that. Of course, being me, I will probably have to be reminded time and again of this goal.

I wonder

I've been pondering (to borrow a phrase from my good friend, sisser) about how people can say mean and hateful things about other people and then turn it around to look like they are the victim. I've had my fair share of arguments and yes, people who don't like me, but none of this has overtaken my life. I have friends who are accused of many things that they are innocent of on forums and then the accuser twists their own words to make it look like my friends started the accusations. I think that some people must not have fullfilling lives. I would feel sorry for them if it wasn't so scary.

Difficult decisions

I am sitting here holding my seven month old grandbaby thinking about the call I just received from a hospital concerning a little boy on my caseload. You see, this little boy has so many health and developmental problems that we asked the judge to grant us the authority to get a DNR (do not resucitate) order. The hospital was calling to check on the order.
The reason that this is a difficult decision is that this little boy will never have any kind of quality of life. He is currently existing. He is the sweetest, cutest little boy you could imagine ever seeing. A team of doctors here and in Fort Worth have been trying to 1) find out why he has these medical problems and 2) trying to figure out how to if not heal him, at least get him to a state of being able to progress somewhat. All of this has been to no avail and he continues to worsen. I don't talk about him to others alot because until you've been through this you just don't understand. His foster mother has been talking to me about what we are going to do when he passes (funeral, who is considered family, etc.) His parental rights have been terminated, but it is doubtful we will ever find an adoptive family. He has siblings and I will be telling them that he will never get any better. That too will be extremely hard because these kids have come to mean so much to me. I've known them for almost four years now and have developed a close bond with them. Right now, I think he needs prayers, so if anyone is reading this, please send your prayers.

I'm blogging now

I decided to create a blog because some of my friends don't accept comments from non bloggers. I don't know how often I will blog because I am very busy and I was never a diary type person, but I'm going to give it a try.