ListenVIRGINIA
Foster care program, associated agencies and courts “are a joke”
Richland County Children Services has always been the talk of the town. It is an agency that no one wants to fight with.
It has been a year since Judge Spon granted custody of Haylee Donathan to Richland County Children Services. We attempted to get custody of Haylee, but it was already set in stone that Children Services wanted control of her. I received a letter from Judge Spon a few months ago stating that Haylee's adoption has been finalized months ago. Within six months, Richland County Children Services went from custody to adoption, which adoption never happens that quickly.
We have been doing specialized foster care for the past year, and nothing with county agencies work fast at all, unless you're in the good old boys club. Let me express this, "the foster care system is not what you think it is." It is truly about money and jobs. We honestly look out for our kids and we expect the kids to lie, but we have been lied to and used by the agencies over and over. As foster parents we can only press the agency so much until they will pull the child from your home. Yes, it is sick to see what happens in the system.
With Haylee Donathan, she does have family that loves her. She has a great-grandmother who has never done anything wrong and is forbidden to see her. Haylee has requested to see her and talk to her, but that request was denied. This is a violation of Haylee's rights, which no one seems to care about. We started taking foster care classes to see what it was about. And yes, they are a joke. Home inspections are a joke; the attorneys and Court Appointed Children Advocates are also a joke. There are foster homes that we have seen that I would not allow my dog to stay at.
If you're going to protect children, then protect them. The system is now about money and jobs. The only way the system will get fixed is if the people come together and support each other when it comes to our children.
Stephen Janoski
8 January 2012
http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20120108/OPINION03/201080314
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