I was angry at the world when CPS took my daughters Melanie, 8 months, and Amaya, 1 week old. I’d always wanted to avoid my kids going into foster care because my brother and I were raised in care.
But it was a struggle being 21 with two kids and no support. My relationship with their father was abusive and I was broke and homeless, sleeping in the streets. I robbed stores to buy pampers, milk and clothes.
It … Read More
When my oldest daughter went into foster care five years ago, I was 20 and struggling. I’d signed myself out of foster care two years earlier and had been bouncing between youth shelters and my mom’s place.
I went into a shelter after my daughter was born, but a few months later my mother asked me to move in with her. It felt good. My mom had always been emotionally cut off from me. She placed … Read More
For parents trying to reunify with their children, completing the service plan within the 15 months allowed by federal law can feel like an uphill battle, filled with demands, court dates, conferences and impossible expectations.
For parents struggling with trauma, mental illness, addiction, incarceration, poverty, shame and even anger at the system, it can take years to fully comply and reunify with their children.
Here David Meyers, an attorney and Chief Operating Officer at Dependency Legal Services … Read More
