Call For Help
I live in Indiana and am trying to get my fourteen-year-old daughter out of residential treatment care. There are daily fights and I fear for my daughters health and safety. She was getting out of control and needed a wake up call, but she's had more than that.
My daughter has been in the custody of the state for about 4 weeks and my story is one that I have yet to see. My daughter and I have had some serious issues for about a year and a half. I've raised my daughter (and two older kids) by myself for the last seven years.
I am on disability due to degenerative back disease, Fibromyalgia, several autoimmune disorders and so on. Needless to say, it is painful. I am an intractable pain patient and take prescriptions accurately. I take medication prescribed by my doctor, which means that I do not get high or silly. It's like any other medication - the side effects go away.
I had worked my way up to a financial controller position prior to becoming ill. I have been a good mother; there is no one that could love my children more.
My youngest has been acting up for about a year and a half. I found drugs on her about a month ago, which is when everything blew up. I called her father who had rarely been in her life, because she became physical with me.
He took her to his house. I begged, my mother to allow him to keep her until I could get insurance (which he was court ordered to pay) and counseling set up. It had reached the point of no control.
Well, he brought her back two days later, I was panicking trying to get everything done and it didn't happen fast enough. She snuck out of the house one night and I couldn't find her. I called her father again, big mistake, he called the police and they told him to call CPS. Well, he told them about my illness, etc., and then they showed up at my door.
Not understanding, I let them in. They took her that day and now she is being told that she will be living with her father since he's married, etc. This is a man I would call on her birthdays to remind him and he still wouldn't call to wish her happy birthday.
I'm finding that they believe that I have a drug problem. Nothing about this was brought up in the first hearing but I guess the found nothing else to hold against me. I don't have a drug problem, I am in constant pain. I've taken my medicine as prescribed. It doesn't affect my judgment. Believe me, I am not an addict nor do I try to get high. It's the same as someone taking a heart pill.Meanwhile, my daughter who has never been in trouble with the law is living in a state residential program. She cries to me every night wanting to come home. My heart is torn so badly.
My doctor is going to get the foundation for pain's lawyer involved.
I just want my daughter home, receiving family counseling. Have you heard of this happening before?
My lawyer is even treating me different since she heard from CPS. I'm looking forward to at least four more wonderful years with my daughter and I'm afraid that time will be stolen from me. I would give the medicine up in a heartbeat, if I would be able to get out of bed without it.
Our case plan was suppose to be today at 8:30 pm. They held it this morning with only my daughter there. She was told that I was a drug addict and that what I was taking would kill me. She called crying and worrying. She said they were saying terrible things about me.
Do you have any advice? Any answers would be greatly appreciated! Anyone that talks to me can tell that I'm not "out of it" or anything like that.
Sincerely,
Jaded
Labels: CPS, drugs, Indiana, medication
posted by Annette M. Hall @ 10/28/2006 01:29:00 AM
2 Comments:
There are good judges out there. The social worker blatently omitted facts, did not investigate any of the charges and had written the lies my ex family had told her as the truth in the fact finding report without ever talking to me though I called daily, I didn't recieve a phone call until the day before the first hearing. I wanted her to get to know me as a mother.
Her father had not seen her for over a year and that was par for the course yet she believe everything he said. How can anyone that was at our house at most once a year have a clue to what was happening? I left him because he used illegal drugs and was afraid I would lose my children because he kept them in our house. The CPS worker left that out of the report and I have never taken illegal drugs.
When the social worker told me that she wanted to keep my daughter in the state residential treatment center for a year, I told her I was hiring an attorney. Her comment to that was that she would have me jumping through hoops to get my child back. I was in the process of getting her in intensive family counseling when my ex called CPS.
She tried to turn my daughter against me - she told her I was a drug addict and that she would not be able to return to me until I went through rehab. How can a patient that takes medication prescribed by a doctor be forced to stop taking medicine that would take away what quality of life I have. My doctor sent her a letter stating that I've taken the same medication for three years, exactly as prescribed and I have never had problems with addiction. I hate taking medication of any kind.
She did and said so much more it would so long. At the hearing my lawyer advised me to say my child was in need of care though it went against all of my instincts. I asked if my name would be in a registry and was told no. I found out that was a lie. I have proof of all of this and I would like to make sure she could never hurt another family like she did ours.
The judge saw though the lies and I was given my daughter back though since I took my lawyers advice and said she was a child in need of care, CPS is still involved. I live in a different county now and though the old social worker won't transfer the case, I am visited by a social worker in our county. She is a true caring person and puts the needs of the child first.
She said that we shouldn't have ever been in the system. I want to stop the old one from ever hurting a family again. In Indiana, what recourse do we have? She broke the law in so many ways and I have proof. She hurt my daughter terribly. We are in counseling now and are working out the teenager/mother issues. My daughter had never been in trouble in the past and was put in a lock down facility for what ended up as two months - if the social worker had her way it would have been a year and that would have broken her spirit! She feels different than normal teenagers now and this will affect her for a long time. Can I file charges or a complaint? Something needs to be done! This shouldn't happen in our country - I don't feel safe knowing that at any point in time my child could be taken by a person that should never have that much power! Thank you for any help!
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