Families deserve second chance and need support when reuniting with children

I do apologize for the misleading headline of this article. I did not write it. But I do have some bullshit to expose.

Here is what I call the Exorcist tactic. The name deriving from a quote from the movie The Exorcist (1973) (Father Merrin): "He's a liar. The demon is a liar. He will lie to confuse us. But, he will also mix lies with the truth to attack us. The attack is psychological, Damien, and powerful. So don't listen. Remember that, do not listen."

Here's what I mean.

Families deserve second chance and need support when reuniting with children

Now who, besides a system suck, could have a problem with a headline like that? Thus we have a truth.

The people of Pima County always stand firmly on the side of protecting children who experience abuse and neglect. Everyone's preference is to reunify children with their parents. It can happen, and it often does.

And there we have a truth with a lie thrown in. The Child Protective Industry does not like to reunify children with their parents as it cuts off the federal funding.

Child Protective Services removes children and places them in out-of-home care only in certain extreme situations. While there are many reasons for this separation - most commonly allegations of neglect - everyone's goal is to reunify families in a safe and healthy environment.

And there we have another lie. Children are not always removed from extreme situations. They are more often removed because the parents are broke and the kids are cute little blue eyed blonds who would fetch a fair price on the adoption block. We all know this.

Children are returned once parents can successfully address the concerns that brought about the family's separation. Three decades of research indicates that family reunification promises the best prognosis for children who experienced the trauma of removal. Without family contact, children languish. They love their parents and siblings no matter how difficult things were in the past. If they are separated, children worry about their family and constantly wonder when - or if - they will ever see them again.

The first sentence in this paragraph is a flat out lie that leads to truth. Sure, the children are sometimes reunited, but that's just for show and PR and nothing to do with the childs best interest. If the child protective industry and half of these Loony Tune foster parents had their way, they'd get to keep all of the kids.

State and federal laws require child welfare agencies to work toward family reunification.

Which doesn't matter in the least, because caseworkers make up the rules as they go along and routinely go outside of the law. Not only that, they will lie about a parents progress just to keep their hooks into the kids for that much longer.

Now the rest of this article should be pretty self evident. The problem is that the chronically stupid (which is the targeted audience, which includes those who are blissfully ignorant and fortunate enough to have never have had a social worker crawling up their ass, or rather normal people) will believe it.

Now the article goes on to glorify CASA Puppets and promote National Reunification Day, where they talk about celebrating successful parents, by inviting them to an exploitative photo-opportunity which will probably be used to create even more propaganda aimed at the support of the child protective industry. Because I highly doubt they will not include a screening process where the parents will get up on a stage and say that all of this was bullshit. Instead, they'll have it all scripted out for them, basically explaining how they kissed the workers asses and got their kids back by doing so. "I was lost but CPS helped me to find my way and now my families back together, and they continue to help us. Thank you CPS."

On June 18, Pima County Juvenile Court, Child Protective Services, Court Appointed Special Advocates of Pima County, Community Partnership of Southern Arizona and Aviva Children's Services will be celebrating this success by commending parents who successfully finished the journey to reunification. We will gather in the Juvenile Court lobby, 2225 E. Ajo Way, at noon.

Our Reunification Day will be an opportunity to evaluate attitudes that stymied families who reunify, or hinder those who are moving in that direction. Recent cuts in state funding are challenging the social safety nets that help struggling parents. Their efforts to maintain a healthy family life - coupled with the inevitable shame of having their children removed - cast too many parents into isolation.

Which brings us to this line.

It is time for the community to help these parents to come out of the shadows by lighting the pathway to reunification.

Now although I would like to agree with that metaphore, I would be more inclined to shine the light on some of these babystealers and system sucks for their crimes against families. "help these parents come out of the shaddows by lighting the pathway to reunification," my ass. Parents have been demonized by the same people who publish these articles. Abuser = Monster. Remember? Oh yeah, like the poor misguided souls who suffer from normality are ever going to be supportive of somebody who has been accused of abuse or neglect with all the fluffed numbers and exaggerated, sensationalized and emotionally charged bullshit that goes along with with the media's portrayal of the child abuse issue.

The point to all of this is that there is often good and bad all mixed into a neat little package that is designed to confuse the issue, and society is misled on the issue of child abuse and neglect.

So although I would like to thank the author of this article for their kind words and trying to hammer out the point that reunification is often in the best interest of the children, I would ask that you educate yourself on the facts and truth of the issue before you try doing us any more favors.

Peace, Love and Flowers

LK