September 25th, 2008, 9:21pm | General |

On September 18th, 2008, the local children & youth agency (CPS) secured a court order based on false allegations, fabrications and lies, and removed my brothers from my mother’s care.

On September 19th, 2008, despite being presented with evidence directly contradicting what was said in the court order, CYS refused to drop the court petition, and moved forward with moving my brothers to an emergency shelter for children.

Since then, my mother and I have been busy gathering paperwork and evidence, contacting a lawyer, and speaking with the various state and local mental health, therapy and educational agencies that have been working side by side with my mother and brothers for months, even years.

In addition to gathering paperwork and evidence, meeting with a lawyer, telling our story to everyone who knows my mother and brothers and securing their assistance and agreement to speak to CYS and go to the next court hearing (scheduled for October 22nd) and testify on her behalf, we are also reaching out to the media and to the internet.

Please, even if you cannot provide any advice or assistance, visit Save My Boys. Blog about it. Link it in your sidebar. Post it on a message board. Promote it on social networks and bookmarking sites.

The one thing child protective agencies hate most is publicity. We are determined to get the word out to as many people as possible, and to exert pressure on them from all sides. Please help us in doing this, and visit Save My Boys.

Currently, my mother and I were allowed to see my brothers at the emergency shelter on Sunday for an hour and a half. We spoke to them on the phone on Saturday evening. We saw my thirteen year old brother on Monday morning, when he was transported from the emergency shelter to a special residential school for admission (this was something planned by my mother before this happened). He is out of their clutches, since he is now in the care and under the control of the school, who has nothing to do with CYS and is simply focused on working with my brother and the family.

But my ten year old brother is still in the emergency shelter. We haven’t talked to him since Tuesday, and we cannot see him again until Sunday. He’ll continue to remain there, or possibly be transferred to a foster home, unless this can be resolved.

Or I can have custody of them — known as kinship care. The two CYS workers responsible for this, T and her supervisor J, promised me to my face on three different occasions (Thursday night, when they took my brothers; Friday morning, at the court hearing; Monday morning, at the school for my thirteen year old brother’s admission) that as long as I did the paperwork (child abuse clearance, criminal background check, FBI fingerprinting) and passed the home inspection, I would be approved for kinship care and could have my ten year old brother within a matter of weeks.

A call came from them Tuesday morning, coincidentally the day after my mom and I presented CYS with a written statement denying them the right to question either of my brothers without the presence of my mother, myself or my lawyer. I was informed that due to me not following a “safety plan” last February (my thirteen year old brother was placed with me for two weeks last February; I took him home after CYS verbally gave my mother and I permission to), I was being denied kinship care.
Needless to say, we have informed the lawyer, the various agencies and individuals my mom and I have been speaking to, and now you, the internet. I also plan on immediately appealing the decision, as nine times of ten CYS and the head of the department of welfare has no interest in hiring a lawyer and going through a trial to go over the denial and appeal.

But until then… and until this is resolved… we are going public about this, and will continue to update the media and the internet as things continue to unfold.