Family Picked Apart

October 12, 2005 permalink

An extended family is being dismantled piece by piece by a Children's Aid Society somewhere in Ontario. The case seems to be one that can only be helped by exposure. We show here two emails from the family, and some other correspondence. To protect the family from CAS retaliation, the names are fictionalized, and identifying facts, such as the day of the week or any exact numbers, have been altered without changing the substance of the story.

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We lost one of our three children to CAS at the age of 10 and her 4 children have been in care for two years.

We have not attended court re: these children but have repeatedly requested access through the various workers.

After promising our granddaughter we would try again, they will be contacting us after May 13th to set up a meeting to discuss access.

There will be our daughter's worker, the children's worker and a supervisor present and to be perfectly honest we are very reluctant to attend.

Would you have any suggestions on how to handle this meeting?

Our daughter has given custody of one child to his aunt and another father is seeking custody of our 6 year old granddaughter.

The little girl does not want to live with this man and CAS is fully aware of that yet they continue to push her into this unsuitable home and have asked her mother to give him custody.

Does this child have any say or can this be fought in any way?

CAS has informed our daughter that they will be seeking crown wardship for the remaining 2 children in court come October and have suggested that since the children will not be going home she should just sign them over.

Can you explain Crown Wardship and is there any way to fight it?

We apologize for taking up your time but would appreciate any bit of information you may be able to offer.

Sincerely,

Bill and Sally
Metropolis, Ontario

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Bill and Sally:

Once CAS gets a child, they lay claim to the next generation as well. In their psychological reports they cite the abuse of the parent in foster care as one of the reasons s/he is emotionally unequipped to be a parent.

Any kid placed with a true father is better off than living in foster care, and that action should not be opposed, aside from the exceptional homicidal father.

You will get nowhere pleading for mercy with social workers. The only way you can influence the outcome is through the judge. A good case presented in court could convince a the judge to award custody to you instead of some CAS selected contractor. But to get that to happen, you need a good lawyer. The fees start at $10,000 and go up. There are only five lawyers in all of Ontario that I would suggest -- they are all posted on the help page of my website.

Crown wardship does not mean that the queen will be making lunches for the kid. It means that the local Children's Aid Society takes the rights and privileges of the parents, and the mom and dad who gave birth to the child are no longer legal relatives. They have no rights at all, so for example, if the child dies, mom and dad are not entitled to notification.

I wish you well, but from what you say, it looks like a bad case where CAS will get most of what it is asking for. Good Luck.

Robert T McQuaid

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In a later email, not quoted verbatim, the grandparents describe their legal situation, with two grandchildren in CAS custody and threatened with crown wardship. They point to CAS efforts already under way to get the children adopted, by posting them on an internet adoption website, and are aghast that it is legal for CAS to do so while the children have not been legally severed from their mother.

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Hello Robert

You have helped us out with information in the past and we are about to ask your advice again on another urgent matter.

Our previous inquiries were in regard to our daughter and 4 grandchildren, two of which that are about to become crown wards and are being prepared for adoption.

Their mother is on the verge of giving up and letting it happen.

This past week our youngest daughter has been sought out and questioned by CAS, they seemed to have stumbled upon her while she was visiting a friend and was present while they were investigating an accusation.

During this visit they asked our daughter her name, birthdate etc., what her relationship was with her friend and if she was involved with CAS.

She was also present during a follow up visit but not questioned.

Our 2 year old grandson had a sore on his wrist during both of these encounters but nothing was mentioned in that regard.

Our guess is, the worker recognized the name, returned to her office and dug around a little until she realized the relationship between our two daughters.

Yesterday a worker who did not identify herself called our daughter and left a message wondering if the sore had been seen by a doctor.

Before our daughter could call back they appeared at her door asking the same question.

She explained that she had taken her son to emergency on Tuesday and was directed to the walk in clinic on Main Street in Metropolis.

At this point they were closed but she was taken first thing on Wednesday.

She was seen by a doctor there and given a prescription that was filled the same day.

Our daughter also made an appointment for this Monday morning with her family doctor.

The worker assured our daughter that they would be verifying this information.

Our daughter also has a 7 year old daughter and we are afraid she may be confronted at school.

Unfortunately, she is very outspoken and won't have a problem telling them what she thinks ... that in light of her sisters case they are useless and to get out.

Is there anything at all we can do to rid ourselves of this agency before we lose two more grandchildren to CAS.

Thanks so much for your time.

Bill and Sally
Metropolis Ontario