Too-caring mother loses girl to ACS
BY JESS WISLOSKI
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Friday, September 28th 2007, 4:00 AM
http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/queens/2007/09/28/2007-09-28_toocaring_mother_loses_girl_to_acs.html
Mom Vanessa James holds photo of daughter Amber, 5, who was taken from
her and her husband and put in foster care.
Mom Vanessa James holds photo of daughter Amber, 5, who was taken from
her and her husband and put in foster care.
Queens mom Vanessa James has learned the hard way that you can indeed be
too concerned about your child's health.
The city took custody of James' daughter Amber last month, accusing the
5-year-old girl's parents of neglect.
"They appear to be suffering from an unknown mental illness which causes
them to act in a bizarre manner," according to papers filed in Queens
Family Court by the Administration for Children's Services.
But James, 40, and her husband, Marvin James, 48, contend that the
neglect that they have been accused of stems from concerns about their
daughter's health.
"They said we took her to the doctor too much," said Marvin James, who
said Amber suffered a stroke and seizures at birth and continues to have
chest pains and skin rashes.
The Jameses feel they are living every parent's nightmare. They are to
argue for Amber's return at a hearing today.
"I still don't know what I did wrong," said Vanessa James, whose actions
prompted a young pediatrician to call ACS.
The doctor feared James was "doctor shopping" and suffered from
Munchausen syndrome by proxy - a disorder in which someone becomes
convinced a loved one is sick or even makes them ill to get treatment or
attention - or some other mental illness that endangered Amber.
After tests at the Queens Medical Center on July 20 showed Amber was
healthy, both parents became "enraged, hostile and paranoid," the doctor
told ACS.
The couple told the Daily News they had been upset by a six-hour wait in
the clinic that day, and said other doctors refused to get to the bottom
of Amber's illness because she was uninsured.
"If I knew this would happen, I never would've taken my daughter to the
doctor," Vanessa James said between sobs.
"Vanessa was just being overconcerned," said Marvin James. In checkups
that followed the seizures, "she never got a real answer from the doctors."
When ACS caseworkers visited the family's Rockaway home, the mother
showed a suitcase full of Amber's medical records and said, "It's all a
conspiracy; they are all out to get me," the report stated. James denied
she said that.
On Aug. 24, Amber was ordered into foster care. Her parents are allowed
two weekly visits.
ACS spokeswoman Sheila Stainback said the agency cannot comment on the
case because of confidentiality rules.
But advocates questioned the agency's judgment.
"The trauma to this child is enormous," said Richard Wexler, a proponent
of children's welfare reform who advocates for mediation, not removal,
in most cases.
He said the city Department of Investigation issued a scathing report of
ACS in early August.
"This sounds like a classic case of defensive social work," Wexler said.
CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NSA / CIA
WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....
CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.
every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com
Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS
*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*
Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5
Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.
CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...
BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...
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