by Terri LaPoint, Health Impact News,

with Guest Writer Angelia Borths

Child Protective Services (CPS) is an agency of government that has been charged with protecting children. Public perception of the role of CPS is that the social workers involved are highly trained professionals who have a lot of education and experience about child welfare.

Unfortunately, as we have discovered in our extensive investigation at Health Impact News, those involved in the system frequently are not even parents, and often have little or no experience or training to understand child welfare and safety.

Angelia Borths is a mom and an advocate who has been involved with helping families for many years. She recently shared her perspective on the lack of professionalism in child social workers in a Facebook post on New Years Eve 2017. Angelia is a researcher, blogger, and former foster child, whose own children were medically kidnapped from her in 2015 because a doctor said that her 6 year old daughter was “too short.”

See her story:

The case was dismissed later that year, but Angelia has remained active in the battle against CPS abuse ever since. She is known online as “Mad Angel.”

See:

We are sharing Angelia Borth’s post here, edited with permission, adding examples of Medical Kidnap stories that we have covered which illustrate her points.

The Lack of Life Experience with CPS Caseworkers

by Angelia Borth

At my age and with my experiences, I have seen a lot and been through a lot. As a parent I haven’t even come close to seeing it all (every kid is different.) So when I walk into a room and see a child with bruises on their knees, arms, etc., my first thought is… wow, that kid plays hard.

I’ve also had my share of experiences with rare medical conditions, so when I see a child with bruises that seem to ripple in color from the main bruise, my first thought is… is that child possibly anemic?

I’ve seen children who are amazing (intelligent and creative), yet seem to be failing in school, and I wonder: could this child have Aspergers, autism perhaps?

Because of my experiences, I’ve learn to recognize the real underlying possibilities before jumping to the conclusion that a child is being abused.

Child protective services has admitted to their ever-revolving door of inexperienced workers. So we know honestly that even with their best intentions, they lack the true experiences to decipher between true child abuse and normal life conditions.

I have also lived in certain areas that some would have considered uninhabitable (perhaps). In my younger parenting years (when I was a complete clean freak), I lived in an apartment complex that was riddled with roaches (ugh. I hate those things.) No matter how clean my home was or how many times we bombed the one apartment, they still returned within weeks.

So why am I pointing out these things?

Because when I walk into certain environments, I bring my experiences with me and that’s what helps mold my perception of the situation. When caseworkers walk into an environment where they lack any true experience, the perception is more of a bias or a prejudice.

This always causes me great concern when I hear of how parents are railroaded and intimidated by this agency with omnipotent power to kidnap kids. (And don’t give me the…. “it’s up to the courts.” The courts are easily manipulated into siding with the agency above the parent.)

Another type of manipulation is from the other agencies working with or backing the child protection worker. I think my kids’ pediatrician said it best:

I had felt you were a great mom until I read the caseworkers report, and now I am greatly concerned.

So in the many years I had taken my kids to the same pediatrician, now our relationship is tainted because of a private report sent from an inexperienced caseworker to the Doctor. (Ouch)

During the whole ordeal with cps and seeing their so-called professional service providers, I experienced the same repeated problem. Their perception of me was based on a report sent by the caseworker (in private so I never got a chance to see or object to the accusations. I was slandered as guilty), and the service provider’s attitude and judgement of me is founded on the caseworker’s OPINION.

Now let’s put this into another perspective. What if a car mechanic sent a bicycle repairman to look at a car and come back and tell them what the problem is? What if an architect sent a carpenter to take measurements for the building he is suppose to be constructing (blue printing)? What if a surgical doctor sent a veterinarian to asses all his future patients?

FYI – we would have lawsuits (seriously). Yet what if they have been given immunity so they do not have to suffer the repercussions of their errors and poor judgement? We’d have a lot of broken cars, f-ed up buildings and dead people (thank goodness for professional accountability).

So why is it when children are involved/removed, the standards of care and consideration/the bar is so low? I mean I feel my child is more important then any material object, so why isn’t my child treated with a higher standard of professionalism and regard? Why isn’t my family treated with true professionals with real life experiences rather than people with past job experiences ranging from prison guards to past jobs at the sunglass hut in the mall?

Child protection workers lack experiences of basic medical conditions, basic family environments in poverty, basic special education training – BASICALLY LIFE.

Note: Health Impact News has covered many stories of parents who were accused of abuse, whose children actually had medical conditions causing the symptoms. A number of medical conditions can result in bruising and broken bones, such as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, osteogenesis imperfecta, or infantile rickets, as well as vaccine injury.

Here are just a few of such stories:

The symptoms of Shaken Baby Syndrome – brain swelling, retinal hemorrhage, and brain bleeding – can be caused by other medical conditions as well, such as a stroke, vaccine damage, prematurity, pitocin-induced labor, or even normal birth.

Sometimes parents of children who have complex medical conditions are accused of medical abuse, medical neglect, or Munchausen by Proxy – simply because they were persistent in continuing to seek out answers for their children when doctors dismissed their children’s symptoms or gave up on them.