Georgia - Fulton County
We have permission from Kimber McDermott to post her story on this website.
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Are you a: Person with CPS case
When was your case finalized? Current (not finalized yet)
How long was your case open? Pending (still open)
County and State where case is/was located: Fulton County, GA
Give a brief description of your case, including the current status and/or outcome: A counselor accused my husband of sexually abusing our son because my son still had pee accidents at age 6. She testified that was the only cause of his problem. He had no other 'symptoms' of abuse, nor did he tell the counselor (even when she asked), the CPS investigator, the interviewer at the Georgia Center, or any of the other people that asked him the original charge. He, in fact, always told them nothing happened.
I had signed a 30 safety plan which gave my husband unlimited supervised visits, with me being the supervisor. Since the CPS worker couldn't seem to make the Georgia Center appointment within the 30 day limit, I called Office of the Child Advocate for help. I got an appointment that day, and two days later we went. My son was removed from our custody that day on charges of 'denial.' They did this without a court order, and against the law. 'Denial' isn't a reason to remove a child.
My son was in foster care for five months. He lived in a shelter, three foster homes, and he went to two different schools. He was beaten by one foster 'mom' for being white, and molested by another child. At our adjudication hearing five months after removal (which should be in 30 days), the judge returned our son to me, but made my husband move back out. We then had supervised visits for five more months as DFCS continually pushed for more and more things for us to do before they'd stop harassing us.
On April 6th, after almost a year of DFCS involvement, the judge ruled case closed with no deprivation. We still have an open case for 60 days, but DFCS has done nothing on their end to get these visits going. I fear this will go on forever.
Please give a list of your main criticisms: I was not told of the charges until after the removal. It was just a vague 'sexual abuse' charge. The non-investigation took 40 days, and only ended when I called OCA to complain. The DFCS investigator did nothing from the policy book. She did not talk to any witnesses, look at any records, or even talk to my husband. It took a complaint for her to make an appointment. My son was removed illegally, as in he was not in imminent danger (husband was already out) and without a court order. My first visit after removal took almost three weeks instead of one week. DFCS did everything they could to stop my visitation, even though I was not accused of abuse until DFCS made up charges (which were removed). It took DFCS two weeks to register my son in school. The foster 'mom' wouldn't allow my son any item from home even though it is in the manual to do so. DFCS fought discovery for the hearing. It took five months for the ajudication hearing. DFCS waited until the last minute to do any court ordered tasks, which then made the seperation of our family last yet another month. I never got a copy of our case file, even though it is my right to have one, and I've asked five times (once in writing).
I could go on and on.
What should be done to reform CPS? The first thing would be for them to actually follow their own policies and the state laws. If the investigator in our case had done that, she would've seen that my husband and I had spent two years working with doctors and Fulton county schools for my son, and none of them EVER saw indication of abuse.
That would be a huge first step.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Are you a: Person with CPS case
When was your case finalized? Current (not finalized yet)
How long was your case open? Pending (still open)
County and State where case is/was located: Fulton County, GA
Give a brief description of your case, including the current status and/or outcome: A counselor accused my husband of sexually abusing our son because my son still had pee accidents at age 6. She testified that was the only cause of his problem. He had no other 'symptoms' of abuse, nor did he tell the counselor (even when she asked), the CPS investigator, the interviewer at the Georgia Center, or any of the other people that asked him the original charge. He, in fact, always told them nothing happened.
I had signed a 30 safety plan which gave my husband unlimited supervised visits, with me being the supervisor. Since the CPS worker couldn't seem to make the Georgia Center appointment within the 30 day limit, I called Office of the Child Advocate for help. I got an appointment that day, and two days later we went. My son was removed from our custody that day on charges of 'denial.' They did this without a court order, and against the law. 'Denial' isn't a reason to remove a child.
My son was in foster care for five months. He lived in a shelter, three foster homes, and he went to two different schools. He was beaten by one foster 'mom' for being white, and molested by another child. At our adjudication hearing five months after removal (which should be in 30 days), the judge returned our son to me, but made my husband move back out. We then had supervised visits for five more months as DFCS continually pushed for more and more things for us to do before they'd stop harassing us.
On April 6th, after almost a year of DFCS involvement, the judge ruled case closed with no deprivation. We still have an open case for 60 days, but DFCS has done nothing on their end to get these visits going. I fear this will go on forever.
Please give a list of your main criticisms: I was not told of the charges until after the removal. It was just a vague 'sexual abuse' charge. The non-investigation took 40 days, and only ended when I called OCA to complain. The DFCS investigator did nothing from the policy book. She did not talk to any witnesses, look at any records, or even talk to my husband. It took a complaint for her to make an appointment. My son was removed illegally, as in he was not in imminent danger (husband was already out) and without a court order. My first visit after removal took almost three weeks instead of one week. DFCS did everything they could to stop my visitation, even though I was not accused of abuse until DFCS made up charges (which were removed). It took DFCS two weeks to register my son in school. The foster 'mom' wouldn't allow my son any item from home even though it is in the manual to do so. DFCS fought discovery for the hearing. It took five months for the ajudication hearing. DFCS waited until the last minute to do any court ordered tasks, which then made the seperation of our family last yet another month. I never got a copy of our case file, even though it is my right to have one, and I've asked five times (once in writing).
I could go on and on.
What should be done to reform CPS? The first thing would be for them to actually follow their own policies and the state laws. If the investigator in our case had done that, she would've seen that my husband and I had spent two years working with doctors and Fulton county schools for my son, and none of them EVER saw indication of abuse.
That would be a huge first step.
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