On Thursday, the Missouri Southern District Court of Appeals affirmed the decision by the Missouri Department of Social Services to remove the children from their home.
According to the opinion, Social Services removed the children from their home in December 2002 because of the father's "bizarre discipline" and the mother's not doing anything to stop it.
Social Services tried to keep the family together, the opinion indicated, having the father go through anger management classes, parenting classes, and counseling:
Mother was to attend programs on domestic violence, safety for children, alternatives to violence, parenting techniques, and stress management. Both parents cooperated and complied generally with their plans.
Next, the Division assigned a parent aide to supervise visits, assess parenting skills, provide suggestions, etc. -- a "hands-on teacher while the children are with the parents," as one witness put it. The aide noted Mother was strongly dependent on Father, and became very dependent on the aide too, frequently calling the aide about things not particularly difficult. Mother could not reach common sense answers to fairly basic questions.
Almost immediately after the family was reunited, the father committed another act of inappropriate discipline and the mother again did nothing. At that point, the children were removed from the home once more.
7 comments:
I wouldn't have tried to keep them together. I was have pulled the plug based on a the lying naked on the floor and beating with a dog leash stuff.
Sorry. I overlooked the duct tape. That too.
Randy,
A very big misconception in this article. Family Services, or Childrens Services as it is now called, does not have the power or authority to remove children or place them back in the home. Those decisions are made by the juvenile office and the courts. Childrens Services just provides the services. The big decisions are made by the courts.
It would be intresting to know if drug or alcohol abuse was a factor in this case. Any one involved in an anger management class our recovery class must be motivated to go. I guess his children being taken away was not enough motivation.
Shannon Munford
http://www.dayrbeakservices.com
Forbidden question: Which is more damaging to the child...being judicially orphaned (Loss of parents in childhood) or being reared in an abusive home by natural parents? Is it the "disease" (of substandard parenting) OR is it the "medicine" of parent(s) removal that destroys the child?
ftcs@telus.net
Forbidden question, you have to ask? Do you really think this merits nothing more than a designation of "substandard parenting"? Did your parents tie you to a bed or make you like naked on the floor or hit you with a dog leash? Mine certainly didn't.
And although I considered it similar to punishment, the only time I ever had to eat raw eggs was when my mother put them in with a bunch of milk, sugar and flavoring and called it eggnog.
Sine I have 2 children who have been judically orphaned as you call it I am interested to see how this damaged them. I will set aside the fact that they were sick, the baby addicted to meth, had never seen a Dr. for a single shot or exam, eaten real food that was not rotten, were covered in filth and bug bites, afraid to be left alone, afraid of the dark, not potty trained, never had their nails trimmed, never had a hair cut, your basic DFS kid. They are now thriving, growing, happy, loving, well adjusted kids. One remembers the past and will tell you in a heart beat she would never go back there and those people must not really love her anyway since they hurt her so badly. I could go on and on, but please don't tell me they were better off before.
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