Oregon Human Services: Today's Gestapo?

Is it in a child's best interests to always be placed in a family that is more affluent?

(SALEM, Ore.) - No wonder Gestapo CPS continues to get away with the attacks on families that it constantly perpetrates. There is clearly a very vocal contingent in this country to whom the concept of family and blood relations are meaningless.

This is the "Best Interests of the Child" crowd ... but of course what is REALLY in a given child's best interests are entirely up for debate.

Is it in a child's best interests to always be placed in a family that is more affluent? If so then all children of families on welfare or in the lower income brackets are up for grabs to any parents who want to adopt them if these adoptive parents are more affluent than the family the child is currently with. That would be an extremely perilous road to start down.

The current case celeb in the news is that of 2-year old Gabriel Allred, born in Oregon to a drug addict mother and sexual predator father. DHS in this case rightly terminated the parental rights in one of the rare cases that the parents were actually abusive and harmful to the child. And again in one of the rare instances DHS is uniting the child with its blood family, in this case a grandmother in Mexico.

But the foster parents, Steve and Angela Brandt of Toledo, Oregon, southwest of Salem near the coastal town of Newport, who have admitted they became foster parents for Gabriel in the hopes of adopting him, are fighting this every step of the way, and they have no small number of supporters.

To put no dull point on it these are kidnappers. They are holding this child hostage to their needs and wants. They could not care less what is 'in the best interests of the child'.

Far too many people become foster parents not to provide safe temporary homes for the kids placed in their charge but in a deranged form of meat market as they seek kids to steal for themselves.

Such fosters routinely undermine reunification and drag separation out as long as they can so that they can claim to have 'bonded' with the kids and to put forth this claim as justification to terminate the rights of the real parents so that the fosters can then adopt.

This is why I favor a law barring any foster parent from ever adopting a child that was placed in their care. It would eliminate the meat market aspect entirely.

If a kid's parents lose custody and the kid goes up for adoption so be it... to anyone but those they were in foster care with. It is far too great a temptation for fosters who wish to adopt their charges to undermine reunification to their own benefit. And this happens with far more regularity than most would comfortably like to believe.

They argue that they are the only family he knows. In the case of little Gabriel, it is quite true since he is only 2-years old and they have gone to great lengths to make sure this was the case. But just because some kidnapper snatches an infant and holds them for a couple years we do not let them keep the kid 'because they have bonded'. Gabriel is 2-years old. He will bond to the grandmother too.

Supporters of the Brandts have accused the grandmother of only wanting the $375 per month taxpayer provided stipend, but it is interesting to note that the grandmother was entirely unaware of this stipend when she sought custody of the boy the moment she learned of his situation. And yes he was several months old when she finally learned of it because she is not a mindreader and to my knowledge has never claimed to be. And why are the Brandts not accused of 'just being in it for the check'? It seems quite the one sided argument.

But as the saying goes... those who refuse to learn from the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them.

He, too, had blood relatives, in this case his Cuban father wanted his son back. and after years of orchestrated BS on the part of the would be kidnappers of Elian he was, eventually, at gunpoint, returned to his father.

And we have Senator Gordon Smith and Governor Ted Kulongoski, proving that neither political party respects the concept of family rights, trying to force DHS to do that which its own rules preclude it doing - placing the child in a family other than blood relations if an acceptable blood relation is willing to take in the child.

Government officials doing their able best to interfere in private family matters and in the process trampling their entire concept of family rights.

Does the name Terri Schiavo not still ring in peoples' ears? Another case where government officials, and others, sought to step into personal private family matters where they had no legitimate business doing so. That case was in Florida. This case is in Oregon.

Gabriel is a US citizen by birth, with dual citizenship (he is also a Mexican citizen) If placed with the grandmother when he is an adult he will have every right, if he so chooses to exercise it, to re-enter the US.

But as a 2-year old child he belongs with his family. And in this case his family is his grandmother in Mexico. It most certainly is not the babysnatching Toledo couple Steve and Angela Brandt.

In one of the rare instances Gestapo CPS actually has it right and should be allowed to do what its own rules state it must do without politically postured interference from outsiders who seek only to turn this case into another media circus.

If Steve and Angela Brandt want a kid why don't they have one the old fashioned way instead of trying to steal a child from another family?

Much is made of the mother and father of Gabriel supporting the Brandts. Hmmmm... a crack whore and a predatory sexual deviant deemed unfit to be parents and stripped of all rights regarding Gabriel. Why should anyone care a whit what they think? If they had even half a clue the entire situation would not exist.

Send Gabriel to the grandmother. If she has any sense she will get a restraining order against the Brandts keeping them from having any contact with Gabriel ever again. In 2 years Gabriel will have entirely forgotten them as he bonds with his real family.

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Jane October 14, 2012 4:17 pm (Pacific time)

You make some valid points, however, you are also not considering what is in the best interests of the child. I am one of those evil foster parents who adopted children who had been my foster kids first. The state worked with mom for three years to reunite this family. We opened our home to her for six months. The call was put out for bio relatives, only one responded and he had a history of child sex abuse. But, that is not the point of this letter. My kids lived with me for three years while their bio mom tried to get her life straightened out. They were 3, 2, and newborn when they came to me. So you are saying that it would have been better for these kids to leave the only home that two of them can even remember, leave people who loved them, leave the ones they have bonded with, leave a home supportive of continued contact with bio family members, leave a extended support system just because you think foster parents shouldn't be allowed to adopt? These kids had already lost so much and you want to take the one thing they still have? A stable and loving home. I asked my (now) eight year old daughter what she thought of your plan. She said, "That is a bad idea. I don't think he ever had to go to a stranger's house and take a bath. I don't think he ever cried for his mom. I don't think he ever had to go away from people he loved. You should call him, Mom." What a cruel thing, to refuse a child the only stability they know just because you are an angry and bitter man.

Maternal Aunt January 1, 2010 8:19 pm (Pacific time)

You don’t have to be a parent to shudder at the word kidnapping. You don’t have to be a parent to feel the pain of the loss of a child. All you need is to have a relationship with a child to know the forever ache of the mere thought of them to be taken from you. I am a parent, a proud mother of two. I am currently experiencing and grieving a kidnapping in my family today but not of my own biological children a kidnapping of my blood related nephew. This kidnapping did not initiate the Amber Alert, the police are not searching for a criminal, there will be no court date to see the person responsible for taking my nephew be found guilty. This may sound like a bad lifetime movie plot but this unfortunately is my reality. But the kidnappers in my lifetime story are hidden and protected under the guise of “foster parent”.
My nephew was taking from his biological parents and placed into foster care in November 2007. Since that date my sister and I have made it very clear that we love our nephew and both sought to have him placed with us. Our family’s hearts are right, we love Baby R. and we want him to remain where God intended for him to be, with our family, with HIS family.
Baby R.’s proud Maternal Aunt Lisa Turner
UPDATE: The Judge DID decide to leave my nephew WITH the foster parents. An APPEAL was WON and published on 11-30-09, NOW the court and agencies STILL fight to keep my nephew from coming home!!! They frustrate our visits with him TOO! WE MISS you BABY R and we will ALWAYS LOVE YOU!!! Both AUNTIES have changed career paths and are going to LAW SCHOOL to get legislation changed AND FIGHT the LIES!

AJ Clark October 11, 2009 7:51 am (Pacific time)

On June 23, 2008 I sent an article in regards to Adamas Clark. Taken on July 17, 2006 by his mother Kristine Small, to Placencia Belize Central America. This occured through the Hague Convention. Belize did not sign on to the 1996 new rules. Papers have been filed twice for access, Belize does not acknowledge getting the paper work even though someone signed for the papers. 3 years and no contact with a child that was 4 years old when removed. Adamas is a USA Citizen born in Belize. The US State Department can not make any contact, the mother is refusing any contact. Threatens the father Jeffery Clark with arresst if he returns to Belize. any information would be greatly apperciated. Belize now has several American children in their country that should be in the USA going to school. The wealthy of Belize send their children to the USA to be educated but retain USA Citizen children that are forced to grow up in poverty, with out medical care, poor diets. NO contact with their America parent. Jeffery Clark has been trying for over three years now to make contact with his now 7 year old son. It appears that a Childs life is not important in the US Federal Court or the country of Belize. The country that has more crime and corruption than most third world countries. send any info to ajclark13073@msn.com or kingofthewoodchucks@yahoo.com The US a is willing to take these Hague cases without any follow up of what happens to the children they deprive of a loving parent and a decent life.

Andy June 24, 2009 5:01 pm (Pacific time)

I have been a volunteer child advocate in court for eight years. Yes, drug convictions are usually backed by criminal charges. However, a grey area exists of allegations made against parents, without the burden of proof in child depency cases. Let me tell you, children suffer from emotional turmoil when torn from parents and bounced through foster homes. I would rest easier if the better safe than sorry approach was backed by solid evidence. I love these children, and it is in their best interst if the parents proven innocent or guilty. The CPS/foster parent/ natural parent wars aren't productive. They cause anger and more adversity. These are children's lives being considered, not a matter of pride.

Veronica August 24, 2008 8:36 pm (Pacific time)

I was a foster parent for a while 15 years ago. I also worked with the county as a nurse within a CPS and later within a county nursing service I wrote a grant and parenting program. Personally I had 4 bio kids, and several foster children, of which only two went into the special needs adoption system. Later I became a special needs adoptive parent of 4 children, after my birth children had almost grown. I had the best intentions. Until we became involved with the dark side of CPS, I thought the social workers had a hard job. Since then, I have seen CPS lie, bribe, and destroy families. They got involved with our family when we asked to have one of the adoptive girls who was out of control moved to a residential center. This was after many years of enduring horrendous living conditions. I was terrified in my own home. Social services had told us she was unameable to therapy. They were responsible to pay a share of that cost of residential and didn't want to. It got dirty, and they came after us. We hired a lawyer and things got somewhat better. Always hire a lawyer. Never fight CPS without an attorney, and expect that CPS can and will do anything to win. My husband who is in a law enforcement field is mortified of them. They are the Darth Vaders of the legal system. They never have to prove a thing. It is like anything that emanates from their mouth is scientific proof. I now question why I ever got into foster parenting to begin with. Adopting special needs kids cost me my home and my health. My husband and I are both professionals that have seen what child abuse can wreak, however, the CPS system is sick. It is sicker than the abusers. It needs a total overhaul. The social workers are drunk with power and angry as hell they don't get paid more. The foster parents we encountered along the way, all seemed to think they new better. We got to betting on how long it would go before they took the fall from this kid. Usually 6 to 3 months. Unless the judge is interested, and most times he/she isn't, the child is lost to the system. And then, when the kid starts to grow up ...yes, foster and adoptive families...YOU may not be GOOD enough for these kids who end up wanting their REAL families! Many of these kids grow up savy as to how the system works....you tell a social worker something and they jump into action and suddenly you are sitting in a new home with a Wii, a great new bedroom and a mom who cooks whatever you want for dinner....for a while, until you clock their kid on the head and you are off to some new home.... Two of our girls have reconnected with us in adulthood after less than 18 months of being on 'their own' as adults. There real family wasn't what they expected and life without a loving family is devoid of meaning. That doesn't hit them until after they cause YOU all kinds of legal issues, which cost you self esteem, health and money and potentially more if you get investigated because the kid knows how the CPS system works and wants to cause you some aggravation. These two truly did have an inadequate bio family. One of our girls is sitting in residential, now deemed incompetent because of mental illness, by the state, (now that THEY can't handle her). When we had her we were incompetent! Despite the fact that this kid came to us at age 7 diagnosed with mental illness and from an institution and we were given NO support. We asked for her to live in residential and we would remain in contact and provide what parenting and support we could. It was time to take the locked door knobs off, the alarms down and let the pets out of locked bedrooms and take our neighbors off high alert. She and CPS, who bribed her with toys, (she has aspergers among her dozen's of diagnoses including sociopathy) said the most awful things about our family. Yet, the kid wanted back in repeatedly after wanting out. Ironically, now they can't understand why after five years of battling to get this child the care she needed in a residential center, while CPS trashed us in court, after CPS could not keep her happy in foster home after foster home, even with bribes....these CPS wizards can't understand why we don't want contact with the grown child. CPS doesn't just destroy biological families, they destroy adoptive ones too. After our interaction with CPS, we, especially me, the mom, are devastated. The kid isn't better off either. I have one more to raise, and 3 years until she turns 18, if I live that long. I am sick now and fragile, and this kid is violent. She is mild to moderate DD, never got over her foster mother giving her up at age 6 after 5 years of care. When placed with us, she just could not bond. My husband says he can't go thru another battle with CPS to get her appropriately placed, which means, I may not make it. My only chance at survival is to leave him, but right now, I am hooked to IVs, need insurance, and am too sick to work! Not to mention I love my husband, it is the kid we can't handle. He can't take the fear and stress of going thru a TPR...anything less is not an option with this county....not that we care anymore. We are both on survival mode...we both want to live thru this fiasco. After this child was placed with us and I got the stuff from her foster mother, I found a newspaper article on how the kid's mother had tried to smother her newest infant! I should never have finalized this adoption and stuck to my guns! But, I was criticized for being insensitive. How could I throw her away back into the foster care system? The state social worker, never told us that there was an option called, 'sustaining care agreement' in which we could parent the child with all the rights but if she became too much, to violent, she could have been more appropriately placed back with the state, in a residential care center. The child has grown to be her birth mother, and I am stuck, again with no help. I have learned that blood IS thicker than water. Kudos to any one who has the guts to tell it like it is. I raised 4 kids, some of them have stellar careers and are starting families. Two adoptees are on their own and want contact with us, and appear despite all the delinquency issues over the years, to be growing up and consider us mom and dad....not withstanding the incident with the police station when the 17 year old went to be 'emaciated' (emancipated) from our family....If you think a 6 year old it tough....just wait. That gives me a count of 6 kids to successful adulthood. That doesn't count foster kids....foster kids are like try outs, temporary kids...I hate to say that but our experience with the child that CPS put in the foster system...she was disposed of by them in 6 to 12 weeks. Foster parenting is not adoption...not that adoption is heroic either. Children belong with their birth families unless things are permanently dire, and there is no relative in sight. To those 'heroic' foster parents, and even adoptive parents, you may find yourself someday, on the wrong side of CPS as you advocate for your child. You see, they control money and legalities that may affect you if your child suddenly manifests the same or similar pathology that the birth parents had. More and more mental illness is being found to have genetic causes. It happens. It happened to us. Plus you may not be able to plug that black hole of emptiness that even the most well adjusted adoptee will tell you plagues them. There are many well adjusted adoptees, solid parent child bonds thru adoption, however, the adoptees will tell you, something is missing....and you can not provide that something. I have spoken to may parents of adoptee with problems similar to ours and have found that adoption disruption statistics are very hard to get, but up to 40% of children placed after the ages of 7-10 end up some where else. Parents may find that all the love, consistency, parenting training, books, special methods, EMDR, therapy, whatever, won't change the fact that the child you brought into your life has issues....may have had the same issues the natural parent has, may become addicted, may become voilent....or simply wants their natural parent...or wants whatever they want when they want it, and is a tyrant. Several stupid social workers told me 'Now that the child is in a stable home, she will be fine'. If only that was all it took! Why in the hell did I do this to begin with? I had the best intentions, instead I became part of what I now perceive to be an evil, vindictive system. I found out I wasn't the parent I thought I was, and I never viewed myself the hero that many of these foster parents view themselves as. Caring for kids in residential cottages, with homes and house parents, where the bonds are kept with birth parents or birth parents even live in these cottages, is the way to fix this mess. Not taking kids away forever! And birth family members should always have rights over non-family. In most reasonable societies, grandparents are almost akin to parents, and siblings of parents as well. No child should ever be separated from bio family that is able to adequately care for them, regardless of national borders.

Linda August 23, 2008 12:04 am (Pacific time)

In the summer of 2001, about 9 out of 14 babies born in an Astoria, Oregon hospital were taken from their parents. I won't go into the details of my daughter's case. I would have been happy to take my granddaughter home, but after promises of liberal visitation, they put her in a special foster home, where she would stay for a few months until my daughters step parents, who lived in the same town could take her. First off, my daughter did take drugs while she was pregnant, so I am not disputing that she was fit at the time she gave birth. Also, I lived very close to a facility that cared for newborns such as my granddaughter. It would have been easy enough for Oregon to transfer the case to Washington, where I lived, so I could have provided a safe and non-hostile environment for my daughter to see her child. Liberal visitation never came. I kept my daughter from leaving the hospital with her daughter. Every time I went for a visit with my granddaugher, I was treated like a criminal, forced to meet at a local burger king for an hour with her, after driving the 4 hours to see her. My daughter begged to go into a treatment center that would allow her to take her daughter. She decided to wait till one opened up, but due to red tape from Social services there, it never did. The nurses lied to my daughter about needing the baby's first diaper to make sure she was wetting enough. Without disclosure, they did a drug test on the diaper. I sat in the courtroom, while my daughter wasn't allowed to tell the judge that the drugs were prescribed for a condition with her teeth. She was never allowed to defend herself, and neither did her court appointed attorney. Despondent, heart broken, and alone, she turned to drugs, this time to try to numb the pain of not having her child. She became a full blown addict. She was lucky to find a place to sleep, let alone have an alarm clock to set. Social Services expected her to jump through all sorts of hoops. If she was even 5 minutes late for visitations, she was labeled as not caring enough about her child to show up. Her step parents bought into this as well. If she stopped using before a visit, she would suffer from withdrawals and was accused of coming to visitation while using. If she fell asleep with her baby in her arms, she was accused of being a danger. How many of us have fallen asleep with our children. When she was late for evaluation, they said it was because she cared more about drugs than her child. And on and on it went. When it came time that Social Services decided to take her parental rights from her, they coerced her into signing them away. They told her if she didn't sign giving her parental rights away, they would send her daughter to strangers and she would never see her again. I still have yet to be in the same room alone with my granddaughter. I don't do drugs and don't drink. I am a fully functioning, holding a steady job, non-partying grandmother. My daughter is doing much better now, but without her first born child. It is beyond my comprehension, that a known addiction, a medical condition, can cause a service that is supposed to help families to separate them. What next? Will we start taking children away from parents with other medical condition? I had hoped that things would have changed these past years, but I see it continues. Social Services knows full well the debilitating mental conditions that come from separating a mother from her child, and that it has been proven to be detrimental to the mental health of a mother to have her parental rights terminated, yet they are not required to disclose this fact. It is also known for a fact that Social Services posts pictures of children up for adoption all over public places, well before a parents rights are ever terminated. They are a monster. Their system doesn't work. They need to be stopped. If more children are taken from a hospital than are left with a birth mom, by Social services, it seems to me Social Services isn't doing their job in the first place of trying their best to make sure the issues that cause these, don't come up in the first place. They have failed these young mothers, and they have failed their children.

Patricia July 30, 2008 1:32 pm (Pacific time)

This is ridiculous! DHS always has the right agenda behind putting a child into foster care. Although the parents might not always see it as so, this is because they are biased to the situation because of what is going on in their lives. I grew up in the system. I am now a grown woman of 23 years old with children of my own and make sure everyday that I show them the love I felt from my foster mother and father. Although there are some bad apples within the foster parents, the majority of them are good hearted. I do not think that Gabriel should be deported to Mexico where his grandmother lives. That is just complete insanity! This woman has raised the parent of Gabriel who hurt him from the beginning, whose to say she would not raise this little boy the same way and in 20 years we won't be right back here going, "What happened?" That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. DHS does a great thing for those children who are in trouble and getting abused, no matter how the abuse is taken. They place them in homes where they are shown love and nurturing, where these people try their best to undo all of the heartache and hurt these children have had to feel their whole lives. If there was nothing done wrong, then the child would not have been taken in the first place. There is something, and the parents know what it is, that is wrong in the household and needs to be fixed before these parents could even possibly think about getting their child back. You call them "kidnappers", but they open their homes and hearts to children of misfortune, they raise other's children as their own (which is the only way to show true love to a child) and show them that all people are not bad!! NO, Gabriel should not be sent back to Mexico, this child has no clue who this woman is! You say that the child can get to know the grandmother. What about the people the child knows now? He is just supposed to forget them and never know them again? You obviously do not have children of your own, or you have done some bad thngs to your own children and lost them within DHS for those things. Whatever the case is, you just simply do not understand the concept of a child's mind. When a child lives with somebody for over a year, and this is all the child knows, you can't just take them out of there with no more said! That is why there are rules now within the law where if a parent loses custody of their child to the state, the parent is given one year from the date they were taken to get their child back! Anything over a year, is just causing more problems for the child than they already had!!

AJ Clark 6/22/08 June 23, 2008 5:16 pm (Pacific time)

Federal Court Judges are no different than Family Court Judges. Under the Hague Convention, Federal Court Judges in the USA make sole decisions in regards to the destiny of a minor child, (no Jury for these decisions) even though the child is a USA Citizen within the USA. The parent (father)was denied any rights under the US Constitution 14th Amendment to raise his US Citizen child as he wanted to within the USA. The 5th Judical Court in the State of Florida, Judge Hodges sent a 4 year old child to the country Of Belize and the father has had no contact with his child in nearly 2 years. No considerations are taken that a 4 year old child cannot contact his parent. He can not call and say he was left home alone last night! That his mother had him out late at night, she was drinking in a bar, the child became upset and cried, the mother beat him in public because he wanted to go home to his Daddy. The Federal Court made no known contact with the Family and Childrens Court in the Country of Belize to determine if the mother had any legal rights to the child. other than she is the childs mother. Under the Hague Convention the father in return has access rights to his child, The papers have been filed for a year in the Country of Belize, with no response. The Country of Belize, even though it is part of the Hague Convention, simply has ignored the request for access. The father ownes property in the Coutry of Belize and the childs mother has removed and abscounded with any removable property owned by the father, gave it to her family and sold the rest. The mother (behind the scenes) threatens the father with death should he return to the Country of Belize. She has called the USA and ask that the property be turned over to the minor child so she would have full control. Contact has been made with a few local persons in the Country of Belize that the child is being abused and neglected by a drug addicted and alcholic mother. The child is now 6 yers old and there is no contact in regards to medical record, school records, nothing. This is my grandson, I'm referring to. We would like to make contact with other known parents that this has happened to. How many parents out there has lost contact with their very young child or children because a USA Federal Court Judge sent a US Citizen out of the USA to never be seen or heard from again. If the Hague Convention does not allow this to happen within the USA then why is allowed outside the USA. Is there a higher Court in The World that can over-ride a decision made by a Federal Courts use of the Hague Convention in regards to these minor children? The mother used a well known Pro-Bono Attorney, Hollen and Knight(World Wide with known contacts in Belize) to achieve this. Keep in mind that at no time was CPS of either country ever contaced or involved. This has been a very stressful two years, an attorney in the Country of Belize has been contacted for over a year with no results as of this date. An International Attorney, Micheal Berry of Tampa Florida was used by the Childs father to represent the case in Florida 5th Judical Court. At the cost of $25,000.00. The Judge put a gag order on the Attorney to stop him from telling the parent his child would be taken by the US Marshalls without any chance of an Appeal. Mr. Barry was conviently out of the Country when this happened. My e-mail is ajclark13073@msn.com father kingofthewoodchucks@yahoo.com Please anyone that may read this and have any knowledge of what procedures might be taken to correct the now situation of having lost all contact with a 6 year old child in the Country of Belize, Central America. PLEASE CONTACT WITH ANY SUGGESTION OF HOW TO HELP. THANK YOU

craig January 26, 2008 11:55 pm (Pacific time)

im very disturbed that how dhs has the lisence to breck up a family, i love my other half my child that is 11 mounths old and that my rights are violated im so sad of what has come uppound this disision that my other half was convienced thru the case worker to get a restraining oreder that was i believe was put in place to destroy our relationship you wonder why people blow up things and get made when people out there is sppose to help the family they brecck it up if anyone can help me with this heart brecking case im very disturbed about this my other half has multi-personality disorder and instead of helping her they put more on her making her go off thje deep end

William Boyer 1-7-2008 January 7, 2008 7:13 am (Pacific time)

Since I have experienced the situation with having a child that come live with me at the age of 2-1/2. The boy had been in a hispanic foster home in the states that only spoke spanish. I Do not have a problem with hispanic foster homes, What I did have a problem with is: This child in question was taken from the original mother at the age of 5wks, he stayed in the same foster home until he was 18-19 months. He remained with his bio-moter until he was 2-1/2, She did not speak spanish. When this child came to live with me, he only knew 2 words, aque (here in spanish,spelling may not be correct) and the F... word. He had many problems and was 2 yrs behind do the fact that he was taught nothing but spanish and understood nothing of english. IF you send this young boy Gabriel back to Mexico, not that it would or would not be a good home, you will destroy a young child and set him back 2 yrs at the time he is to be learning. We are here to help children not stifel them. This is done by to many would be parents now legally. I prayer that Gabriel will be allowed to stay in the inviroment he is currenty in. Also, you mentioned there is a $375 per month payment. Way would the grandmother recieve this if this child is deported? He would not be living in the USA and we should not send the money to another country when we deport people to continue to supporting them. How are you going to monitor that the funds are being spent on this child. YOU CAN NOT. Do not set this child back 2 yrs and yes this will effect him for years to come. I have personnelly seen the effects.

Penny Stone December 24, 2007 9:09 pm (Pacific time)

Our Grandaughter has beenn in PROTECTIVE CUSTODY since 4-1-06, just 12 days before her 1st b-day. She has had over 5 different case workers and placements. My Husband and I have been trying to bring her home since day1. They have tried to diagnose her as autistic, and now foster Caregivers want to keep her! We travel form Ca. to Or. once a month to see her for a transtion period. We/I have made several trips to Or. since SHe was taken into custody. Oregon can get a Granmother from mexico, but offer NO HELP to Us. We had to move because the cost is too much for Us to survive. Thank God for our Family. We will be in Oregon later in January.I have more details of the horror reguarding this case.Penny Stone, 661-575-7177

Cindy December 15, 2007 5:50 pm (Pacific time)

December 15,2007 Iam a grandmother of two kids who were put up for adoption through DHS. My husband and I were trying to get the kids in case my daugher was unable to. In December of 05 2 months after they were plaed in Foster care we were told by the case worker that she full intented on putting out grandchildren up for adoption. We gave them names of other family members who would be willing to take them but DHS contacted none of them. My Daughter was talked into signing over her rights by her attorney her attorney and DHS had told my daughter that if she signed over her rights then she would have a mediated adoption in which the new adopted parents and my daughter agreed that she would see the kids in 6 monhs and that they would e-mail her and send her pictures of the kids every month, they decided after the papaers were signed that Jennifer could not see the kids and they stopped all contact with my daughter. DHSdoes not have the best interest of the child in mind all they have in mind is money. My grandkids were never in any danger when they were with my husband and i. I have a civil suit pending since DHS gave uot my personel information with out my consent. I hope DHSgets al the bad publicity they can get the are kidnappers they take kids out of a perfectly good home for no reason except they listen to other peoples stories and listen to them and not go to the source.

Suncana December 9, 2007 11:31 pm (Pacific time)

Is it really in the best interest for Gabriel Allred ? 1. Deporting an American citizen? 2. Sending him to a country he has never known? 3. Sending him to a culture he does not fully understand? 4. Sending him to a person he has very little knowledge about? 5. Sending him to a person that may be older and not be able to be there for him when he is a teenager and in critical need of a supportive family? 6. Sending him to people who have already raised one rapist and drug addicted person? 7. Taking him away from the only "real" family he has ever known? No I don't belive this is in his best interest . http://suncanaa.com/

Caring in Colorado December 8, 2007 10:41 pm (Pacific time)

The Oregon Foster Parents should get the little boy!!! No choice. Get Real! The Grandmother in Mexico already raised 1 child rapist of a 12 year old. The birthmother even knows what is best for the child- the foster parents. Keep fighting for the little boy! Those that critize no little of the challenges you face. Trust God! Do not give up. You know it is best not to pull that little boy from loving arms into the getto in Mexico where the boy does not even know spanish. A visit down the road when the child is grown is another story. The grandmother raised ONE RAPIST OF A CHILD WHO IS IMPRISON...KEEP THAT WOMAN AWAY FROM THE pressious child. The child and the mother are US citizens. Do not allow the child to grow up pulled away from the arms of love. Those that critize the foster parents should rott in H... You know little of what it is like to try and protect a child. Not all foster parents are bad. Most are good. These parents love this little boy and it is the best opportunity for him to have a good life. Get real and get off your high horses you people who want to pull this boy from the love that he has!! You want to what put him in a getto where the little boy does not speed the language under the care of a grandmother who already raised one child rapist. For who does this benefit, the relations of Mexico and the US. For certain, it is not the child!!!!

Child Advocate December 8, 2007 10:37 am (Pacific time)

"Kidnappers," you call those who step to the plate and watch others' children "Kidnappers?" I am appalled by your ending comments! As an advocate for children in my state and licensed Foster and Adoption Resource Parent who takes great pride in the work I do for children, you have not one clue what it takes to keep these children in a positive light and nurtured, especially those who are caught up in there misfortunes of their parents and taken from them in such a horrible way for their best interest. These children are scarred greatly. It takes a lot of work to soothe and get them in a place of peace and happiness. For those children who come to us as an infant, perhaps they have been spared the horror of being separated from their biological parents had they been older during this time. But we have other issues that we might face down the road like the ailments that come with children born drug addicted or CINA, as "Children In Need of Assistance." You don't have a clue! We are not "kidnappers," and until you have walked a mile in our shoes, I suggest you get really involved from start to finish before you spew ugly comments like this... What should happen... While I agree with reunification, it has to happen within a year and not 2 - 6 years later, especially for children who don't know their biological parents or their relatives. I have to ask, where was Gabriel's grandmother during all this time? I am sure her son wrote to her and shared his good news of fathering a child while imprisoned. Then, I question the grandmother's motives as well. I just saw the condition of her home vs. the Brandt's home. We are talking about the best interest of Gabriel here not some after thought to uproot him after 2 years of his life with the only parents he knows. Reunification should have happened before Gabriel was a year old -- immediately! I am not sure what people expect when you place children with licensed Resource Parents. We are not robots without feelings. A child knows real love from cold love. We have to love and nurture these children back to a level of trust in people, even for their own birth parents, and even when they are placed back with them, thinking their birth parents are rehabilitated, and then they whine up back in the system. Then what? What does the Oregon COMAR Laws state on reunification vs. adoption? If there are laws on the book for the Foster Parents to keep Gabriel after being in their home for 12 months and longer, then they need to abide in the laws, as does the courts... My situation is similar to the Brandt. I have a child which has been in my care since 1 month old. The child is 3 years of age now. I plan on adopting this child, and will fight to insure his best interest. But I want this child's relatives to be involved. So the best I can do is offer an open adoption where the father and relatives will know this child, and I have done so. I just went to court and the judge saw first hand that this child had bonded with me, and to move the child would be emotionally and mentally scarring. The judge ruled for TPR The father, still incarcerated, is appealing. What a waste of time. I have offered an open door for him to be apart of the child's life, provided he has positive growth in his life once he is out. I offer the same thing to the child's relatives. So the bottom line is that something different has to happen for these children like Gabriel and my child and others...I don't think anyone should deny children in the system to not know their relatives, especially in a situation like this. I say do something different and inclusive. I say allow the Brandt to adopt Gabriel and include the grandmother. In closing, I betcha if granted custody to the grandmother, Gabriel will whine up right back in the system because. Grandmother will allow the child's father access, you can take that to the bank and cash it! Leave Gabriel with Angela and Steve Brandt! Include Grandma and any other relative who desires to be apart of the child's life!

a Mother November 25, 2007 6:14 am (Pacific time)

By the way, As this is an Oregon paper - there is a mother that seriously needs help in the Madras area. This mother is NOT a tribal member, but her little girl was forcefully taken from her by the tribe in April of 2006 and she hasn't been allowed visitation since. They claim it is a CPS issue, but the mother says she never did anything wrong. She says that the tribal court simply wanted to give the baby to the birth father and made up unproven accusations. They didn't have to prove them. They claim they have a right to any enrollable child. Whether or not any of the accusations are true, the fact is that this mother has never had her day in court. She has never been allowed a defense. She has been denied the right and opportunity to fight for her child. She wasn't even given an option to go through steps to have the child returned to her. She was asked to come to tribal court for a paternity test, and the the little girl was then simply taken from her. She is low income and hasn't been able to find a lawyer. many attorneys do not want to get involved with tribal courts. Whatever anyone feels about tribal government, one has to admit that this is just plain wrong. The fact is, this isn't an isolated case. Many authorities look the other way when tribal governments do things like this because it is too complicated and noone likes to rock the boat with tribal governments. Gordon Smith's office wasn't interested in helping at all. for more info - look at their story at http://www.caicw.org/familystories.html#nbirthmomm and from the Madras Pioneer - http://www.caicw.org/familystoriesarticle.html

Bill Bowen November 24, 2007 2:11 pm (Pacific time)

To Peaceful. I think you are right about the majority of DHS caseworkers being or trying to be and do the right things. Sadly, when the upper management is corrupt and this one certain is, you either bend and give in with your own ethics and become one of them or you quit or get fired. That is so many leave. When a DHS worker thinks her right to make a house payment is greater than the right of a child to not be abused that DHS worker became a criminal and is not likely to come back. I like the tick of asking people to go out and see the abuse that we all know exists and it is highly unconfrontable. Likewise, I ask you to spend a day with me talking to Biological parents who had their child taken away when they were only 18 and years later to find out that the lady with the contract at the visitation center with DHS is the one who wound up with the child. Upon learning that you were not crazy because when you used to go for your visitation the woman in charge would tell you you were two hours later AGAIN and there nust be something wrong with your head and remember you would have been just barely 18 years old. Oh ust to worsen things let's say you find out the sister of the lasy who wants your child and who has the contract to run the visitation center has a sister who is one of the top people at the local DHS office. Nice huh? Then suddenly when you refuse to sign away your parental rights one day you are arrested for trespassing in a Fred Myers while looking through a magazine and then you find you're sent through seven mental facilities in two weeks, being drugged but receiving no treatment and not knowing why or what is happening. Then your girlfriend says you and she are being offered thousands of dollars to sign over your child to someone. You refuse and fight to keep yur child and then one day a youth worker gives you a pill to help relax you and takes you to where your court appointed attorney tells you that unless you sign the document that gives up your parental rights, that in the future that means DHS will find you an unfit parent and they will take away every child you ever have as you get older and get married. So you sign, never knowing it was a person with a big wig DHS boss who took your kid. Now imagine you are not only 18 but a native American 100 indian but 25% of the local tribe and yet your child was ruled to be only 11% local tribe and is therefor not a member of the tribe and bingo the child is gone. Wow, I never knew half of 25 was 11, did you? 12% keeps the child's membership, BTW. Don't worry, there is probably no funny business here. Additionally, on the story of the of little Mexican boy and the fact that someone at DHS wants the kid to go home to the grandmother and of course let's not forget the father now deported to Mexico, who tried to rape a 12 year old girl. Who is kidding whom? You people talk about blood as if no matter what the biological parent does to a child there should be no reason to take the child away. I know there are abuses, big time, but for God's sakes stop the abuses by those at DHS instead of condemning those providing foster care.

Bill Bowen November 24, 2007 1:47 pm (Pacific time)

There seems to be a lot of venom spewed here at the foster parents of Oregon and the "Riches" they earn taking care of Oregon's foster children. My wife and I proudly fostered to adopt three little ones whose father was heading to prison for his sixth felony conviction and their mother was deemed unstable to the point where she could not clean a bathroom. We received $364 a month to raise, feed, clothe, provide recreation to and all of the other things parents seem to forget that are associated with raising kids. We tried to return the first three checks to DHS for the children because we didn't need the money and we were told we had to spent it on them. Fine, we spent it on clothes. Bikes, wagons, winter clothes, baby dools, footbals, baseballs oh yeah, $364 is a fortune and it is obvious foster parents have tons to pay for the big screen TV as one low IQ individual wrote on this site. We did not want to foster we wanted to adopt three to six kids who desperately needed a home and stable parents and that were siblings because almost nobody else wanted them. I love the way DHS has the bio parents attacking the foster parents instead of the REAL culpurtr in all of this and that is DHS Oregon. DHS keeps you fighting over petty issues with those who provide a home for your kids when you have either demonstrated you can't or at least when DHS says you haven't and you fight with the foster parents intead of those who force you undergo psychological evaluation after psychologial evaluation until they get one of their contracted psychologists to finally give you an eval that is bad enough. If you can't afford an attorney you get an indigent defender who knows you are ignorant and desperate and will trust them and they do not deserve your trust. Up to 400 clients for each lawyer? That's less than 40 minutes per month for each defendant. Those lawyers don't depose the caseworkers, psychologists and others who DHS will use against you in court and THAT is supposed to be legal representation? Those lawyers don't call the witnesses you provide to them. Have you noticed how friendly the attorneys are with the DHS caseworks and supervisors. The head attorney in Klmath County calls the DHS female caseworkers his possey. There is usually one attorney who formed a LLC to hire the other attprneys that work under contract for the courts DA's office and DHS, Was that potential conflict of interest ever revealed to you by your so-called lawyer? It wasn't was it, but you'd rather spend your time attacking the foster parents getting rich on $365 a month for taking care of and loving your child. Most foster parents I know want your child to go home to you and if DHS is forbidding you from talking to the foster parents in your case you had better find out what DHS is hidding from you.

Oh yeah you get to go before the judge so it will all be fair, right? Well, one judge in Klamath has never ruled against DHS in any TPR case for over ten years, but maybe your case and you will be treated fairly. We have another judge in Klamath County who now has her three neices working as caseworkers for DHS, the last one recently hired just after graduating with her Batchlor's dregree while those with Master's Degrees and beyond somehow never received the announcement that there was a new opening. There are some interesting cases coming out of Klamath Falls and you might want to keep up with them. These cases concern people who have had their civil rights violated by DHS, in their opinion, and some of those people are filing civil rights cases against DHS, including cases for discriminating aginst people for being Christian. One former caseworker and a current casework both testified to the fact that the local program director stated children would not be placed with certain peole because those certified foster parents were Christians. Have you seen the DHS handout that admits caseworkers will sometimes withhold the fact that children they are placing in foster homes are known sexual abusers of other children, especially those that are youngewr and then keeping that fact hidden from the foster parents, whose own biological child are put at risk, while your smaller children can be abused because the foster parents were never notified as required? And you complain about the fost parents instead of the real responsible parties, those with DHS?

Do you have hope the the "new interm" head of DHS is going to make substanial changes? Are you aware he is the same interm head of DHS when Ramona Foley was brought in to clean things up nine years ago and the new guy is mainly there to protect DHS not straighten out anything or to work for justice, at least in those who know him since he took office recently think after talking to him. Hadn't you better realize that if you are serious about affecting any real change at DHS that you stop listening to what DHS tells you about the very people who are taking care of your kids today and telling them God knows what about you in a successful effort to keep you and the foster parents from ever getting together and comparing notes. Want to know about family members of DHS employees getting contracts with DHS, like operating the visitation center? Want to know about relatives of big wigs at DHS getting to adopt the exact children they want and having those foster kids taken away for the families who have raised them for years sometime and the kids wind up with a realtive say a Project Manager. It's happened you know! Maybe you are more interested in just complaing about foster parents or allowing somebody to keep your eye off the ball when it comes to your children's future? I don't care how poorly organized DHS is, any poorly organized and incompetent organization will always win out over any individual and thus our only chance is a well organized group. One is starting and it maybe be motivated by doing the right thing for our children but it also knows thatn the way wrong doing is measured in today's system is by the amount of the monetary award awarded against the guilty party and that is DHS and our legislature for allowing DHS to continue unchecked for so long.

I hate to say it but I think it is time to wake up and stop being led around by the nose by those at DHS. After all it is your children we are talking about. If you want to know more email me or leave a message here. bbowenkids@hotmail.com

Bill Bowen

Lisa November 24, 2007 6:24 am (Pacific time)

I am the birth mother of five children and legal custodian of four relative children. I don't believe in big-brother government and am very conservative politically. Some of my best friends, (as they say) are in fact members of the Constitution Party. We are not wealthy, but were fortunate to have had only minimal contact with Social services during the process of receiving custody of the relative children. I say this is fortunate because I do believe that getting involved with the system can many times be more trouble than help. It's better to just stay away from them. That said, I do not like the tone Neal has had toward foster parents, or even many social workers. On the one hand, he tells someone in the comments that "not all foster" parents are the subject of his venom. Yet, it certainly seems that way in his writing. I believe many, if not most, foster parents are involved due to love of children. To refer to them as looking for a "meat market" is very offensive. I wouldn't even call all "95%" of case workers "evil". After all, he mentions that many later quit their jobs and become out-spoke critics. That would be evidence that a certain number do have hearts and minds. This throwing around of percentages by Neal reminds me of my young son, who comes up with all sorts of percentages to justify his arguments with siblings. I challenge him to be sure to have the documented research available if he's going to be throwing around numbers. Neal also guarantees that he would be able to find 90% of removals unjustified if given the chance. That's quite a guarantee. I would hope that Neal isn't exagerating numbers to fit his arguments and justify his agenda in the same way as my child; or in the same way as social workers who have lied to so many. Honestly, if one is to fight for truth and justice, one needs to hold to a higher standard than those one is fighting against. While it's true that the world-view that Social Workers are taught in their training is abhorrent, many are doing it because they believe they are doing the right thing. What needs to be changed is the things they are being taught. This is a major thing to addressed - the world-view taught in their training. You need to look at it to understand what these people are really believing. Remember, the Apostle Paul thought he was doing the right thing most of his life, right up until he met Jesus on the road to Damascus and learned the truth. As far as Elian is concerned, this child was not an American citizen, his father was alive, capable, wanted him, and made that clear from the get-go. The people that took Elian were strangers to him, even if relatives, and appeared to have taken him for the sake of a political agenda more than anything. they certainly encouraged the circus to the point that they only way to get Elian back to his father was through force. I very much wanted to see Elian returned to his father. The child in Oregon, however, isn't the same thing as with Elian. This is apples and oranges, and one can't make one rule fit all. The idea of denying foster parents the right to adopt is also abhorrent. How can you make a law like that, without regard to what is best for the children? You do that, and you are just as bad as the people you are fighting against. There are cases where children have been with a foster parent for a long time and WANT to be adopted by them. Sometimes this IS the only home and extended family that they know. Why force them to stay in the system waiting for another family to come along and want them? What if no other family does? What if they have to languish in foster care for a few years without the security of a family to call their own? You can't just label all foster situations as "meat Market" and force all children to submit to that. Again, this makes you just as bad as the people you are fighting against. I, in fact, will be adopting a 19-year-old boy this next month that I had had legal custody of since he was 6 years old. He wanted to be adopted a long time ago. Due to ICWA, we couldn't adopt earlier. Now, he chooses to be adopted. Children who don't have to fight ICWA should have the right to be adopted by people that love and want them. No, I don't agree with Neal's article.

Deb November 23, 2007 7:18 am (Pacific time)

The mother was addicted to drugs but she still is his mother. Her desire is for him to stay with the family that has loved him for the past two years. Separation from them right now is most probably going to hurt him for the rest of his life. It would be a very rare case indeed if a move like this at 2 did not really hurt him. Let the parents who love him and whom he knows as mom and dad keep him and let him have contact with his grandmother just like the parents have promised.

Neal Feldman November 23, 2007 4:40 am (Pacific time)

Peaceful - I do not doubt that actual abuse exists however at least 95% of Gestapo CPS caseworkers are in fact either pure evil or so inept at their job they might as well be. Like the caseworker who was supposed to continually supervise a visit who was reading the paper in their car as the mother drowned her baby, a possibility that was clearly anticipated. Or the majority of cases where kids are removed not for anything the parents have actually DONE but for what, in the minds of anti-parent paranoids, they MIGHT do. Or the caseworker who had a fried who wanted a kid, so she took the friend to the local park, had her pick out the kid she wanted, made up a BS case against the parents, took the kid placed the kid with her friend (of course) then made sure parental rights were terminated so the friend could adopt the kid. The cases of kids removed not for rat infested homes but simply because the house had not been vacuumed that day or there were a few dishes in the sink. Judge Pallmeyer researched and found in fact over 80% of removals were wholly unjustified. You willing to open the case files to me and allow me free access to interview all involved? I guarantee you that in Oregon I will find 90% or more cases where there should never have been removals or where even if removed for cause the place the kuds were put into was worse, etc. But of course Gestapo CPS will never allow their veil of secrecy to be pierced because then their corruption and crimes will be obvious for all to see. In all my dealings with caseworkers I found only ONE who was competent and not corrupt. Just one. But you see, Peaceful, the rights of the accused should be in play at all times. The worst mass murderer has his rights protected far more than the rights o parents accused by Gestapo CPS are protected and the abuses committed daily by Gestapo CPS are proof why those legal protections are needed. The harm caused bt wrongful actions by Gestapo CPS goes far deeper than a mere 'oops, sorry' will ever cure, and Gestapo CPS almost never says sorry even when their BS is exposed for the fraud that it is. So you can cry about the poor maligned caseworkers and fosters all you like. The truth and facts speak for themselves and the harshest critics of Gestapo CPS (even harsher than I am) are ex caseworkers, ex fosters and kids who were put through the Gestapo CPS meatgrinder. THAT fact, more than almost any other, speaks volumes indeed. But it is clear no amount of evidence will ever alter your position. DSM-IV has a term for that. Ah well...

Peaceful November 22, 2007 8:00 pm (Pacific time)

I challenge every critic to spend a day shadowing a CPS worker. Stand along side them as they enter homes and see children living in filth or playing with the rat feces on the floor. LISTEN to the words of the crack-addicted mother that has been through treatment 10 times, never lost her child to CPS, engaged in every service, and is once again abandoning her child in the apartment so she can get high. HEAR the child with the black eye say, "My mom only punches me sometimes." SEE the child whose stomach is DISTENDED like that of an African child from lack of food. READ the 10th referral on a family who swears up and down that they are wonderful, non-abusive caretakers. EXPERIENCE the pain of listening to a 10 year-old talk about her step father like he is her boyfriend. SPEAK with the aunts, uncles, brothers, and sisters who want these children placed with them, but have no home or income. KNOW what it feels like to tell an uncle who wants to take in his neices, "Sorry... You can't be considered for placement because of your sexual offender status." The system is flawed, but its workers are not evil. There is PAIN in this world and there is difficult work that must be done along side it. There are no easy choices or simple solutions.

Fern November 22, 2007 8:39 am (Pacific time)

One of the basic, underlying faults with CPS is the naivete of the American public. Many of us believed the propaganda from the 1970's and have failed to confirm the assertions CPS blithely offers up. Even Walter Mondale rued the day that CAPTA was added to our Federal code. Can we as a society continue to believe that good enough families deserve to have their kin taken away? The science behind custody evals has been under scrutiny now--why should anyone assume that a cw---in some states w/o even an undergrad degree is qualified to address the court with only opinions and conjecture? Americans have been on cruise control too long. Or we will become a society where only MARKETING AND PROPAGANDA matter. Just like Orwell's 1984.

Greegor November 22, 2007 6:51 am (Pacific time)

What Foster parent really wants to find out the kids they are heroically caring for were actually ripped off? Human nature has them tending to believe the lies they are given along with the kids. Of the Fosters who found out that indeed they are being LIED to, most came to this realization the HARD WAY. Very few have tried to investigate or second guess the system. Most Americans naively think that CPS only removes kids for good reasons. Most Americans with no actual court experience think that the Bill Of Rights applies in Family or Juvenile Courts. The rationale the system uses for NOT giving you those sacred Constitutional Protections is that you are not facing jail or prison therefore you don't need those protections. What they overlook is that no, you're not at risk of incarceration, just the removal of your kids! Removal of children, even for one day is a BIGGER and more sacred LIBERTY INTEREST than the concern about mere incarceration. Most parents would rather "merely" go to prison than have their kids removed. US Santosky v Kramer is controlling caselaw and is reflected in state caselaw in basically every state of the USA. It points out the meaning and sanctity of the LIBERTY INTEREST to be a family. It's about a termination proceeding but it has broader application for EVERY single aspect of the Family Court process. Many states make "exceptions" to enable incompetent caseworkers to "make cases" but this also allows them to make cases even when they SHOULD NOT. These exceptions basically rip off the constitutional rights of families. The hearsay exception and other exceptions to the rules of evidence, combined with the ""Preponderance"" burden of proof in many states are a dangerous cocktail for families. The fact that Foster contractors go through rigorous government testing and evaluation and PASS yet still abuse children at a very high rate reveals that the testing is basically a hoax. The ability of caseworkers to predict future abuse is a bunch of BS. If they can't even screen effectively among Fosters, who willingly undergo rigorous testing and evals, what makes you think the same stuff would work when they are IMPOSING it on unwilling targets? They tried to force us into services that were blatantly rigged, threatening that if we didn't bend over and do them that they would terminate parental rights. We beat them at a 3 day Termination of Parental Rights hearing. TPR is basically a simple decision about whether the child can go home or if the parent has FAILED to satisfy the service plan. But we had a service plan that was rigged against us, had baseless and even an impossible service. We had complained many times and asked for the service plan to be repaired, but as a tape recording revealed, the caseworker refused to REPAIR a bad service plan when asked and simultaneously threatened TPR if we didn't submit. It was truly extortive. Some other agency misdeeds were exposed as well. We beat the TPR, which normally means they either terminate or send the kid home. They came up with a third alternative which is long term placement until the kid's 18. APLA Another Planned Living Arrangement they call it. It's basically unconstitutional since the TPR decision is a YES/NO about whether the state met their burden of proof. They didn't meet their burden of proof, so the child should have been sent home, but instead they did this APLA garbage and changed the goal so they could refuse to set up anything for reunification of the family. Since then I personally cross examined caseworkers and caught them at several big lies. One worker had referred to us making "underlying threats" and I asked her about that on the witness stand. She said that I had sent her an e-mail threatening that if she showed up at my door I was going to roll her up in a rug. Do you have a copy of this e-mail? No Did you file a Police Report? No Is it written up in any of your quarterly reports on the case? No Even the Judge who hated us was rolling his eyes. Note also that her malicious perjury describes a direct threat NOT an underlying threat. The prosecutor would of course use their descretion to decide NOT to prosecute her for her perjury. Another worker, an MSW, more educated than most caseworkers, testified that INPUT into a psych eval would taint it and make it useless, whether the input is a one inch stack of documents or a short "laundry list" of issues. He didn't realize until it was too late that he had destroyed the position of his less educated fellow caseworkers. They tried various legal sophistries to avoid handing over the transcript to those days. It's only a matter of time.

Neal Feldman November 20, 2007 12:39 pm (Pacific time)

Dorothy - Which of the many Hague Conventions do you refer to? I will assume the 1996 one on the 'rights of the child'. They have a few needed and good ideas in it but I do not support the entire document as it does not give sufficient value to blood and family rights and it is far too supportive of the likes of Gestapo CPS and their abusive and corrupt practices which ultimately cause great harm to children, families and society as a whole. If you wish to narrow your question I can try and give a more targeted answer. Ah well...

Jean November 20, 2007 8:18 am (Pacific time)

Sad thing is that all these comments are true. I am a grandmother who lost her grandchild to strangers. I tried to visit weekly, they wouldn't allow it. Said it was not in his best interests. Mind you he was an infant. I was a foster parent for over 30 years with an excellent record. Caseworkers have too much power. If this grandmother wants her grandchild, that is where he belongs with family. I did adopt children, but the agency told me that they had no family that wanted them, I found out later this was not true. I ended up adopted a child molester. I had him arrested, the agency then accused me of abandoning him. This agency is out of control. It is scary to note that from all prospectives all the comments are true, because the agency makes up the rules as it goes. There is never any consistancy. Good article.

Henry Ruark November 20, 2007 6:56 am (Pacific time)

To all: For me, major impact here is the extremely obvious and deep personal interest demonstrated by Comments-in-string. That proves up, for me at least, the solid contribution made by S-N in publishing precisely this deep, detailed dissertation on an issue long avoided in print-side dailies. The continued desperate descent of the once-strong daily press, now heavily and widely corporate-controlled, continues, locally, too. What parallel coverage have you seen therein ?? !! SO "go it, Neal !" and your strong stand in some parts is precisely what's needed to motivate and manage real and solid public examination of an essentially, unavoidable important public problem here.

Dorothy Kernaghan-Baez November 20, 2007 6:21 am (Pacific time)

To Skipper Osborne, who wrote, "AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP TRUMPS ALL!" Hmmm. What if the situation were reversed and the child were detained in a Mexican foster home and had an American grandmother? How would you feel about a Mexican saying "MEXICAN CITIZENSHIP TRUMPS ALL?" As the mother of two children, one adopted and one biological, I am well aware that blood is not the only thing that matters. But how dare anyone ASSUME that relatively well to do Americans have the RIGHT to adopt a child with dual citizenship who has a relative willing to take care of him? Mr. Feldman, do you know if the Hague Convention addresses issues like this one?

Marilyn Harrison November 20, 2007 5:53 am (Pacific time)

Neal please contact me...Maybe we can help each other in assisting anyone who needs our help. We occasionally help biological parents also, as you pointed out the children that are used as pawns in a huge chess game not in the "Best Interest of the Child" but in lining the coffers of CPS is the goal. It is time for Americans to stand up to what my group has dubbed GOLIATH and bring it to it's feet. The destruction of the American family through kidnapping our children has got to stop. Our children are not a commodity to be sold over and over again for money but our most precious GIFT from a God that has been thrown out of our country. Let's bring HIM back and throw CPS out. Enough is Enough. Your servant and friend to all foster parents across this country. marilyn fpls

isuggest November 19, 2007 11:41 pm (Pacific time)

I would also like to add that I know a teriffic foster parent. She performs a great and difficult service with no expectation of adoption. She is also tortured by bureaucratic nonsense where she is damned if she does and damned if she doesn't. I also don't always find myself agreeing with Neal - but in this case - right on.

Neal Feldman November 19, 2007 10:22 pm (Pacific time)

Marilyn Harrison - You seem to misunderstand. I say Gestapo CPS is what is wrong, not all fosters. I merely point out that there are fosters who are only fosters for the meat market... to jump the line, as it were, in their hopes of adopting even if doing so requires stealing someone else's child(ren). I know for fact that Gestapo CPS also screws over many fosters. Gestapo CPS is one of the most corrupt, destructive, disgusting unaccountable agency monstrosities ever created. For any mote of good they ever do the commit a mountain of evil. I can only assume you misinterpreted something in my statements. Hopefully I have corrected any such mistaken assumption on your part in that regard. And no, I am not now nor have I ever been a foster parent. I help people in my own way on my own terms and I operate within the confines of the law and the constitution in doing so. Unlike Gestapo CPS and their related cottage industry. Ah well...

Marilyn Harrison November 19, 2007 8:42 pm (Pacific time)

Neal; I agree with most of what you stated in your article with one exception. Have you ever been a foster parent? Have you ever stood in the shoes that you are so criticle of in your article? I have a challenge for you pick up the telephone and call our National toll free number, I have thousands of stories to share with you of the foster parents that CPS is destroying. These people become foster parents, at least most of them, not for the money but to help a child who desperately needs their love. These people open their lives, their hearts and their homes to children they know nothing about, you see social workers hide behind the privacy act so they do not have to tell foster parents that they are taking in a sexual predator, or someone who raped their six year old daughter.....They have lost thier homes to a fire starter who burned it down to the group and of course the agency is not responsible, the insurance company denies the claim because the foster parent KNOWINGLY brought a fire starter into their home. The point being is was not knowingly, they weren't told about this three pages of arrests this boy had, the boy who raped their little girl in the other story also had a wrap sheet a mile long. Were these children punished, no they were not.

So if you want the other side of the coin for a story I will gladly supply you with the ammunition necessary for a bomb shell of a story.
We offer support for foster parents across this nation, I am the owner of Foster Parents Legal Solutions.
Marilyn Harrison
National Administrator
Director for AZ Chapter of NFPCAR Nat'l Foster Parents Coalition for Allegation Reform. My number is 1-877-FPA-CHILD office number 928-427-0088

GodsofChaos November 19, 2007 7:29 pm (Pacific time)

Wow for once I find myself agreeing with Neal Feldman. Is doomsday coming? "He, too, had blood relatives, in this case his Cuban father wanted his son back. and after years of orchestrated BS on the part of the would be kidnappers of Elian he was, eventually, at gunpoint, returned to his father." Neal Feldman What made me angry is they kidnapped a child who was technically an American.

Linda S. November 19, 2007 6:37 pm (Pacific time)

What a great commentary Neil. And why everyone doesn't see it this way is beyond me. The negative comments I see here seem to be coming from frantic flag wavers who have confused love of country with love of government. I wish they would stop and think that it is a patriot's duty to keep government agencies in check...for the good of our country and everyone in it. I would like to ask 'Sue' to enlighten me as to why DHS is "damned if they do and damned if they don't". What does this mean exactly? CPS has a horrible track record for keeping children safe, in fact children are way more likely to be abused and neglected in state care...but I don't see CPS shaking in their boots over it, after all...they immunity out the ying yang and answer mainly to themselves. I do agree that this is "the last job I would want"...only because I would be ashamed to be associated with such an unconstitutional, corrupt agency which buys and sells and shuffles around children for profit. It's high time American woke up to the fact this country doesn't do well running on cruise control and 'we the people' had best take notice before 'the land of the free' is gone forever. Government sponsored child abduction/abuse can not be a good sign.

isuggest November 19, 2007 5:29 pm (Pacific time)

I agree Fern - Because newspapers no longer investigate and expose wrongdoing (except for this online version), these agencies keep behaving in more and more despicable ways. If people were aware of what was happening, then something would be done because people would get the sense that it could happen to them and they would demand change. Greegor - in my case, I demanded a formal hearing and, when I exposed wrongful acts on the part of the caseworker (she inadvertently confessed), the upper level bureaucrat who ran the meeting stopped the testimony and ended the meeting. When I requested a copy of the tapes made at the meeting, they stalled for about a month. When I received my copy, the incriminating parts had been removed.

Fern November 19, 2007 3:28 pm (Pacific time)

Folks who think this story is simply an Oregon misstep might be interested to know that KY TV station received responses from hundreds of viewers when they exposed CPS on their 2 Investigative reports.
http://www.wlky.com/target32/14596226/detail.html
Even caseworkers are winning suits v CPS for their illegal and immoral conduct relating to children and even their own employees.
This is a story with legs. Every family in the US is a potential subject of a CPS investigation.

WILLIAM GLEASON November 19, 2007 2:31 pm (Pacific time)

MY PARENTAL RIGHTS WERE TERMINATED ON NOV 2 2006 I AM WAINTING ON APPEAL WE HAD OUR TWO YEAR OLD SON TAKEN BECAUSE MY WIFES 7 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER WHO WAS STAYING WITH US TOLD HER MOTHER SHE WAS HAVING SEX WITH HER FATHER WE TOOK HER TO THE COUNTY USC IN LOS ANGELES WHERE SHE WAS MET BY DETECTIVE STEVE GARCIA OF WHITTIER POLICE DEPARTMENT THEN DETECTIVE RALPH KREMLIN INTERVIEWED THE FATHER ARTHUR A WHERE HE ADMITTED MOLESTING THE DAUGHTER FOR THE LAST 8 MONTHS WHO WORKED WITH THE GANG UNITS WHERE ALL WAS PUSHED UNDER THE CARPET AND BROUGHT US INTO THE SYSTEM OVER A FIGHT WE HAD TWO YEARS BEFORE MY SON WAS BORN IN THE YEAR 2000 PLEASE TELL ME HOW CAN THIS BE HAPPENING THAT JUDGE DAVID DOI OF CHILDREN COURT IN MONTERAY PARK CAN SUSTAIN A COUNT OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE US NEVER ALLOWING US TO CONFRONT THE PEOPLE WHO WROTE THE REPORTS EASY BECAUSE WE WERE USING THERE ATTORNEYS TO MAKE IT WORSE IS THEY GAVE MY WIFES DAUGHTER TO THE MOLESTOR HE FINNISHED HIS CLASSES

Greegor November 19, 2007 12:35 pm (Pacific time)

I noticed a comment here where "anonymous" stated that the sexual predator father is now living in Mexico with his mother. But I also saw a news report that said that Mexican Child Protection has assured that the child will not be exposed to the Father. The child's father has one rape conviction, but what was the age of his victim? If it was "date rape" or even statutory rape of a teen ager ("jail bait") does that truly justify marking him as a sexual predator and blocking him from his own child? Why did the TPR cut the mother off since she cured her non existant drug habit? Taking street drugs to assist in childbirth was monumentally stupid but then so was the doctor who sent her home bleeding. Caseworkers commonly LIE to Fosters. Many of them KNOW this. It seems like many Fosters actually CHOOSE to believe the lies because the lies tell them what they want to hear. In many states if a parent with much WORSE drug addiction will not be TPR'd because the agency needs addict bodies in their drug treatment program and if they just TPR they lose the funding such treatment would bring the agency. "Moms on Meth" is one such program run by the same agency as Child Protection. Was the problem with the Mother in this case that she was NOT an addict and so not a good candidate to bring the agency this funding? Has Oregon passed laws removing prosecutors "descretion" when it comes to CPS caseworkers committing outright PERJURY? Prosecutors are reluctant to prosecute caseworkers who commit PERJURY because they see them as ALLIES. When prosecuting a Police Officer measures are taken to overcome this conflict of interest, but these measures are not applied to caseworkers who deliberately LIE in court.

Carly's mamaw November 19, 2007 12:20 pm (Pacific time)

Great story, wish more would be printed in every town and state.

Dawn November 19, 2007 11:00 am (Pacific time)

If foster parents really want to ADOPT a child, let them go through a regular adoption process, where they actually have to pay for the privilege instead of receiving huge financial gains for taking a child in. The fact that people who adopt children usually pay out of pocket as much or more than foster parents put into their own pockets from state and federal governments is rather telling.

Yes, the state and federal governments have set up this system. They dangle a carrot in front of foster parents, and keep that same carrot dangling in front of biological parents, and use that carrot to plow their fields from both sides until they've made as much money as they can. Perhaps I sound cynical. I suppose I am.

But the fact remains, it's a horrible system, and it's wrong, on both sides. It should be illegal, and it needs to be stopped.

This system is failing, they continue to fail. They place children with foster families who end up killing them. They place children back with parents who kill them. They place children in group homes where they’re exploited and abused.

The reality is: the system itself is failing.

And yet, Child Protective Services (CPS) keeps asking for more state and federal money. "Help us save the children!" they cry. It's the same story, over and over, they insist: "If the system doesn't work, we need more money to fix it." And what do we do? We keep throwing more and more of our tax money at them because “it’s for the children,” and they become a bloating, bureaucratic machine that eats children by the truckloads and spits out their remains.

The evidence shows the system doesn't work. We've all seen it, on both sides. We all agree it isn't working, and something needs to be done. Yet we keep throwing more money at a system that we all agree is failing...

What's the definition of insanity again?

It's about time we stop doing the same thing, over and over, expecting different results... don't you think?

Sally November 19, 2007 9:51 am (Pacific time)

Neal, what a great, truthful article. Thank you so much. You have pinpointed some facts that have happened to my family. Our little boy is being held hostage for bonding purposes, told increduble lies about his real family and is being uneccessarily drugged by a non-relative custodian for her own personal greed. I am constantly writing to our newspaper in Massillon Ohio (www.indeonline.com) and they just bury their heads in the sand. A sad comment indeed on how much a newspaper cares about it's readers. You can interview me any time you please. We need more personal stories printed to wake up the country to the atrocities of child services. This agency is getting rich from our social security money, SS Title IV.

isuggest November 19, 2007 9:27 am (Pacific time)

I recall that during the initial stages of our ordeal, the caseworker threatened that: "if we could not provide an appropriate crib, the child would be taken from us".

Neal Feldman November 19, 2007 7:45 am (Pacific time)

Fern - and they have expanded definitions so much that they are meaningless. It used to be you needed proof og actual abuse (beatubgs and the like) before they ciould intervene. Today they can snaych kids based on 'risk factors'. No neglect or abuse need ever have occurred but if some tinfoil hat wearing anti-family paranoid thinks the kid MIGHT be abused they can snatch the kids! It is insane! Constitutional, due process, family, parental, civil and legal rights are all thrown out the window in so-called 'fanily court'. Such quaint concepts as innocent until proven guilty, guilt proven beyond a reasonable doubt, etcm are alient concepts in so-called 'family court'. Ah well...

lostsheep1997 November 19, 2007 7:29 am (Pacific time)

I am amazed at the utter lack of following a story peope seem to have here.How does not one grasp the distance between Mexico and where and when ever this child has been. As for tactics and mindsets of workers..etc. Again the lack of US history prevaisl and is demonstrated by some of the comments here..CPS has Rules,and they do not follow them.Period. This whole concept of poverty being the complete issue of one being deemed fit or not to be a parent is shelved,so that the presumed american dream is invoked. Any one here hear of the Eugenics Project..? Jukes /Kallikaks..? Didn't think so....

Fern November 19, 2007 7:04 am (Pacific time)

Unfortunately, child protection has devolved into an industry where the children's rights are held hostage to a Goverment Burecracy.

Neal Feldman November 18, 2007 9:18 pm (Pacific time)

Zack - If the parents had not been TPR'ed then yes they could have signed adoption papers to the Brandts... but they were TPR'ed which means they have as much say regarding Gabriel as you or I do which is none. And it is one thing to hold foster expenses against parents of the kids if they are returned. I do not like it unless there was legitimacy to the removal which i over 85% of cases there is not. If there was no legitimacy in removal then charging parents for it is offensive and just adds insult to injury, especially since most kids are taken for simple issues of poverty... such 'fines' would merely make such situations worse. As someone commented they take kids because parents lack the finances for sucgh minimal thigs as a child gate or fan instead of simply providing the missing items which would be more financially efficient and less disruptive and harmful to the child(ren), parent(s) and family but then the child abuse cottage industry would lose all that income and Gestapo CPS would lose all those federal funds. But the grandmother is not a parent and did nothing wrong so there is no basis on any level to charge her for state services she neither needs, asked for nor wants. The 15 month time limits were ruled unconstitution because as you point out the Gestapo CPS system are masters at delay tactics and the parents are held responsible for timelines completely out of their control. And I have seen fosters intent on adoption who undermine reunification, cancel visits at the last minute continually effectivey denying visitation then in court faulting the parents for not having contact with their kids... Gestapo CPS caseworkers who write up 'reunification plans' that are nothing but recipes for failure as quite often they include incompatible aspects such as having X amouny of time with the kids while requiring work and parenting classes and all manner of other requirements... when are they expected to sleep? On my website in the politics area under children's services are many links... one of special note in this context is the Lifting the Veil site... very well documented and researched which amongst other things highlights the facts about these 'reunification plans'. The truth is the most devout and outspoken critics of Gestapo CPS are ex-caseworkers who gave up the career after being disgusted by what they saw and were pressured to do and kids who were put through the system. If the system worked and was a good thing you would expect that those who worked in it or who were 'saved by it' would support it, would you not? Ah well...

Neal Feldman November 18, 2007 9:01 pm (Pacific time)

The grandmother is i Mexico anf anchor baby status does not apply in adoption. As for the other (maternal) grandparents they are apparently not in the picture being either dead, disinterested or unsuitable. The only thing that is being presented against the grandmother is that she is in mexico... and that is hardly a legitimate complaint. Those opposing DHS actually following their own rules (which they seem to so rarely do as it is) are the ones entirely in the wrong. and the only way they feel they can get away with pressuring the rules to not be followed is by turning it into a Elian Gonzalez/Terri Schiavo media circus. Family rights be damned is their apparent motto which means "Children are Commodities" is their apparent motto. And I suggest, thank you for relating the case you mentioned. As horrific as it was there are many even far worse I assure you. Over 85% of removals are never justified by legitimate facts, once kids are removed parents are treated as if guilty even though never convicted or even charged with a crime, etc. So much for America, land of the free (unless you are a parent) huh? Ah well...

Neal Feldman November 18, 2007 8:52 pm (Pacific time)

Skipper - He would not be treated as an illegal as he is a US citizen. And what possible reason would the family have to hide this fact from him? The fact is the rules hold that blood and family will out. If you throw out that concept then it is nothing but a meat market and anyone's kids can be snatched from them and given to parents who will give the kids the newest sneakers and PS3 system. If you remove blood and family from the equation kids become nothing but a commodity in this society. Period. Ah well...

Zack November 18, 2007 6:05 pm (Pacific time)

Grandmother in Mexico? Is the state not responsible to transport the child for visits? Or would that only be visits with the parents. They are responsible to transport here where I live. Also, are there any siblings?

I have also seen where case workers do not do their job. I remember one worker who told me the parents of children in my care “did not deserve their children back because they would not learn to speak English.” Well, I worked hard and a team came together and all 4 children went home. That was 2 years ago. I still visit with this family and have an active part in those children’s life.

“Why should the family have to pay the state for keeping the child from them?” In every case plan for bio parents and in every judicial review in the courts that I have received on foster children, it ask “Are the parents paying child support?” and it is always answered “NO”. Maybe if parents were made to pay for some or all of the cost of their children in foster care, they would get on the stick and do what they have to do in order to get their children back. Children are stuck in the foster system for years because their parents or family will not do what is asked of them. Some until they turn 18 then are booted out. How can we expect them to be successful when no one cares?

Federal law states that children taken into foster care should be worked through the system within 12 months. However, DHS or the child welfare legal system seems to know all the ways to delay or extend the stay of the children in foster care. One would think that they were fearful that they would run out of children to care for.

My knowledge of the child welfare system comes from years as a foster parent. I am the one foster parent who has been to every court date for every child in my care. (Over 3-dozen children) I guess years of living in the system means nothing to those who would not take a child into their home no matter what! How many foster children have you had??????? Live in their house, and then you can comment on how they live or what they know.

If the bio parents have chosen for the child to stay with the foster parents, then they could sign consent to adopt and allow the foster parents to adopt the child. I have several adopted children and the ones who are old enough understand how much their bio parents loved them and wanted the best for them. One child recently explained this to me.

In my house, adoption is an honor!

Vic November 18, 2007 5:29 pm (Pacific time)

Good article...I agree 100% !

Legally Kidnapped November 18, 2007 4:46 pm (Pacific time)

Too true. LK

Anonymous November 18, 2007 3:47 pm (Pacific time)

Just an FYI, the sexual predator father is out of jail and back in Mexico living with the grandmother.

Deb November 18, 2007 12:52 am (Pacific time)

When I first heard the story I wondered if little Gabriel would become an anchor baby for Grandmother and the whole extended family. What about the other set of grandparents? Did anyone ask them if they wanted to fight over the child?

isuggest November 18, 2007 1:23 pm (Pacific time)

One more thing - the mother had a very difficult pregnancy which required that she be confined to bed (through no fault of her own). Near the end of her pregnancy, she started to bleed heavily and I took her to the hospital. After examining her (and insulting her) the doctor decided to send her home even though she was still bleeding. The nurse and I both looked at each other in amazement and we wondered if the doctor had gone crazy. Nevertheless, I was forced to comply. Within an hour of arriving home, the mother hemorhaged and I was barely able to get her to the hospital before she died. After a short stay, she was released. After a couple days of suffering and being terrified of returning to the care of the homicidal doctor, she followed the bad advice of a friend of hers to take some speed to accelerate the delivery. When speed was found in her system after the delivery of the healthy baby, DHS was able to become involved.

isuggest November 18, 2007 12:35 pm (Pacific time)

Sorry - one more comment - that is more relevant to the article. The foster parents were never told that the baby would be returned to the mother. They believed, even while in the hospital with the brain dead baby, that the baby would become theirs. The mother completed residential treatment and used no drugs (in fact, had no desire to use drugs) for months after successful completion of the program. It was only after being told that DHS was going to keep the baby anyway that she relapsed (really an attempt at suicide) and DHS had the rationale to continue the kidnapping which ultimately resulted in the child's death.

isuggest November 18, 2007 12:24 pm (Pacific time)

Oh and another thing is that I recently spoke to a Salem cop and he explained that most other decent cops (like himself) do everthing they can to keep kids out of the system. He has been a cop for some time and he knows that the kids, almost without exception, are better off with their parents because, once they get swallowed up in the system, they are screwed.

isuggest November 18, 2007 12:19 pm (Pacific time)

DHS kidnapped and murdered a child whose upbringing I was to be a part of. A friend had her baby taken, after successfully completing a drug program, because she did not have enough money to pay for a specialized piece of equipment that the baby never even needed. They gave the baby to an (apparently) alcoholic couple who let the baby drown while they watched the Olympics on their (state financed) big screen TV. DHS congratulated them on their exemplary service to the State.

Skipper Osborne November 18, 2007 11:59 am (Pacific time)

"Wow!" PERHAPS, the Brandt's have $ signs as they motive for keeping little Gabriel. I do not liken this case to Elian Gongzalez; Elian was taken by boat to America by his mother, the father was not a convicted rapist, his rights as a Cuban father was trashed by political jockeying by the Bush Administration to get the Hispanic/Mexican/Cuban votes. Since the parents of little Gabriel want him to stay in the United States, and little Gabriel being an "AMERICAN CITZEN;" Irregardless of what his parents have done/is doing, their requests that he stay in with the Brandt's should be strongly listened to. How does one know that little Garbriel's relatives in Mexico will inform him of his rights to come to America because he holds dual citizenship? The possibility is high for little Gabriel, by now grown, will do what many illegal immigrants are doing, "illegally coming into the United States, but he would be legal." Now once caught, Gabriel would end up in some INS jail trying to prove that he is an American citizen. Little Gabriel should remain with the Brandt's: to me, little Gabriel's "AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP TRUMPS ALL!"

Christopher Alexander November 18, 2007 11:23 am (Pacific time)

This individual obviously has no idea about the realities of the child welfare system. Thus, any comment on his part is naive, useless, and uncalled for. Sad.

Neal Feldman November 18, 2007 9:43 am (Pacific time)

Read the details. Where was the grandmother? IN MEXICO. Why did she not magically appear as the kid was put in foster care? Because NO ONE BOTHERED TO NOTIFY HER as they were supposed to do. Why does she not come up for weekly visits? BECAUSE SHE IS IN MEXICO AND NOT WEALTHY. (not poor either by their standards but not wealthy) How would she afford it? Why should the family have to pay the state for keeping the child from them? That is a moronic suggestion at best. Family is family and the rules and laws rightly give family precedence over strangers. And the Brandts are child-stealing strangers, nothing less, nothing more. Why should fosters be rewarded for latching their talons into kids and delaying reunification? The fact is that if the Brandts did what they should have done and allowed reunification with the family instead of just pursuing their OWN self interests (best interests of the child my butt!) Gabriel would have been with his family about a YEAR AGO. But you do not care about these facts. You clearly see no value to the concepts of blood or family. Do your own family members know to what level of contempt you clearly hold such bonds? Hmmm? Ah well...

Sue November 18, 2007 9:32 am (Pacific time)

This is being tried in the media. We do not know any of the facts except the ones that family in Toledo wants us to know. If I were his grandmother, I would be doing everything I could to raise this child too. The DHS is damned if they do and damned if they don't. We never know what they know. Give them a break on both sides of the issue. That is the last job I would want. Deciding what is best for the child, and if you are wrong? Too heavy for my shoulders, so I will not be judging. I don't know the facts and neither do any of you. So Zach, if she can't afford to come up here every week to visit from Mexico, does that make her unfit?

Zack November 18, 2007 5:12 am (Pacific time)

What a crock. Where has the Grandmother been for 2 years now? Has she been visiting with the child every week as most state laws mandate? If so, she would have the bond. Where is she now? Has she made the trip for visits? I have seen this over and over, no one want the child except the foster parents, then years later when the courts decide to finally give this child some type of permanency, some family member comes out of the woodwork and states that they want the child. Let the family member pay the state(taxpayers) back for all the cost of care during this time, then let's talk family!

Neal Feldman November 18, 2007 12:32 am (Pacific time)

Thanks for the formatting... lol. And the support is appreciated as well. Ah well...

Linda Martin November 17, 2007 9:09 pm (Pacific time)

Great commentary, Neal - good to see your name in print again. You've managed to tell it like it is.

Neal Feldman November 17, 2007 7:49 pm (Pacific time)

Now I'm pretty sure I had paragraphs in there all the way through. LOL Ah well...

mira November 17, 2007 6:23 pm (Pacific time)

OUTSTANDING!

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