Dallas, Texas Child Protective Services Laziness, apathy, numbness and saving money is putting the lives of two young kids at risk. Dallas Texas

My sister and brother-in-law decided to pursue adoption after many attempts at natural pregnancy. They began working with CPS when they received two little angels (same mom, different dads) last year in OCT/NOV. The girl was 5 at the time, the boy 2. In their young lives they had already been in the "system" and had been through 4 previous foster families.

The girl was already traumatized. She had nightmares, bed-wetting issues and had a violent sense of humor. Both her and her little brother had experienced starvation because of the mom's dependance on drugs resulting in sever neglect. Neither father showed an interest in their kids. The boy's father served time in prison for drugs and lives in North Carolina. The mother is in prison.

In the short time the kids lived with my sister and her husband, they blossomed like little trees. They are both doing very well in school, both have learned rules and boundries, both are active in gymnastics, tumbling and soccer. They no longer have the lost, faraway look in their eyes. They laugh, love to be hugged and love to play jokes. They've learned how to love and be loved. They've never been apart.

Over the past several months, my sister and her husband have made all arrangements required to pass the "home study". CPS has been very slow, very late in returning inquires my sister has had. My experience, watching all this from my sister's house, leads me to believe CPS doesn't have the most reliable, professional people representing the state. How do you NOT return a phone call or email for several days? How do you NOT be open and honest about what the real situation is for the kids? CPS had told my sister and her husband from the very beginning that in no way whatsoever, would the kids be separated because it would cause trauma in both of them since they are all they've had.

Well, guess what? CPS isn't about "what's best for the children". CPS is about, "how can we close this case and move on"? The kid's mother made a deal with the boys father (through her attorney since she's in jail) that he should take the boy with him to North Carolina. The kid's grandparents failed their home-study (they also live in NC) so the mom decided to get the boy in the hands of his biological father. The boy's father has not applied for a home study because NC doesn't require it...or someother wierd reason, and CPS won't require it because CPS will have to pay. CPS also won't fight to keep the kids in a secure, safe, loving home despite the fact that the father has a history of drugs and is a convicted felon because CPS would have to pay the legal fees.

In short, the boy leaves tomorrow on a 16 hour drive to NC with his so-called father. He is being separated from his only steady strength he's known his entire life-his sister, along with the first real mom and dad he's ever knows including the entire extended families. My sister asked if the boy could at least stay until the weekend so he could have one last weekend with his sister, the judge said "No, because Mr. has to drive to NC." So, again, it's NOT about the kids' well-being. So, this man is going on a 16-20 hour road trip with a 3 year old precotious, precious boy and taking him to one of the worst cities for drugs and crime in the U.S, with no home-study required. His sister's fate? We don't know yet. The judge can decide to put her up for adoption.

I want this story on the record because when I see the news about a 3-4 year old boy gone "missing" or found dead somewhere in NC from abuse and/or neglect and it turns out to be my nephew? I'm taking CPS as high as I can go. If this precious little girl is taken out of this home and put out for adoption like a commodity, and her depression, anxiety, fear, and all the other character quirks that develop from trauma such as she has already experienced, all go untreated or worse ignored? I'm taking this as high as I can go.

CPS is NOT about what's best for the children. They throw up their hands in symbolic defeat rather than roll up their sleeves and fight for the right thing on behalf of these kids. My niece and nephew are not unique, but they are unique to me. CPS sees these types of cases daily, and I am convinced CPS is the reason so many of these cases become cliche and turn into episodes of Law and Order-Special Vicitms Units. Dallas CPS, you know who you are and you know who's lives you're ruining. How can you in good conscience, do NOTHING for my nephew? How can you let the "system" return him to the man that didn't want him, preferred drugs to him, no home study, no background check, no references, nothing! We may get more integrity if we outsource the people at CPS that clearly have lost touch.

Time will tell, but I suspect my nephew is well on his way down a long, sordid road to NC tomorrow morning. Live with that.

Save kierra and deonte
Harker Heights, Texas
U.S.A.

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