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If you don't know your Rights. You have none.
About
An instructional manual of preventative and protective
measures to help protect against and prepare for legal
actions against you as a Foster, Adoptive, or Biological
Parent. A road map, if you will, for the legal maneuverings
and allegations brought toward you as a Parent and/or those
children you have a protective/parenting obligation to.
To know and protect your rights and, if necessary, to
organize your own case in a professional manner should there
be a legal encounter for either you or the children.
Either to assist your
attorney or represent your self.
See What others
have said about "Standing in the
Shadow of Law"
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Contents
All Rights Reserved
Standing in the Shadow of the Law
June 2010
Excerpts
Chapter 1-Administrative Law
"...There
are vast differences between the Justice system you were taught
in school and Administrative Law. When you sign the Agreement
with whatever agency you have chosen; from that day forward, you
are subject to the Rules and Regulations that this agency has
put together for foster parents to follow. This is the “Shadow
of Law” called “Administrative
Law.”
In our justice system, most of us realize that when we sign any
contract we are entitled, BY LAW, to a copy of the Agreement or
contract we just signed. But, for some reason, most foster
parents do not associate becoming a foster parent with
negotiating a legal contract such as a mortgage or a purchase
agreement.
We, law-abiding citizens who most of the
time have never been involved in this legal system, wind up
depending on the agency to watch out for our rights involving
our family and future while scrutinizing and mistrusting every
move a used car salesman makes in selling us a mere piece of
transportation .
Rights—like
receiving a copy of the Agreement we have just signed, and
receiving a copy of the manual on Rules and Regulations. We
assume that they are aware of our rights, and so we move on,
thinking we will take care of all this later...
Wrong!.."
To Contents
Chapter 2-Our Rights are Being
Trampled
"..We the people have the
Bill of Rights
that was enacted by Congress and has been ratified by each
state. The people who were the object of this act were ordinary
people like you and me. They were farmers and craftsmen who that
without protections within our democracy would fall victim to a
government that would in a short time be altered to
benefit
only a few. The intention was to have these rights in place
for all men and women not for just a few.
We can now find literally millions of pages extending, changing,
altering and amending these basic rights given to all Americans.
This is why it is impossible for anyone to keep up with these
things. Even if your foster parents associations would furnish
you with the statutes and codes for your state, which they
don’t, you would still have to keep up with the revisions
because they are constantly changing, being amended and revised.
It is absolutely
essential that you keep the statues & codes for your
state
updated, even if just for your own knowledge..."
(Related Reading>>
State Summary Statutes by Topics)
To
Contents
Chapter3-Intimidation 101
1.
That anyone can pick up the phone and call in an allegation on
you and the agency is required to investigate each one?
2.
That many spouses are calling in
allegations on the other parent that they are in the process of
suing for or have received a divorce from? It’s called
getting even or winning custody.
3.
That when you ask for a child to be removed from your home, and
that this child can, even after
leaving, make an accusation against you to get even for your
rejection?
4. Your neighbor who thinks that having
a foster care facility in her neighborhood is bringing the
property values down. She picks up the phone and calls the
hotline to report an alleged crime and your home is closed. Does
the system prosecute those that call in fictitious allegations?
5. Answer: NO, they do not and accusers’
names and identities are protected. Does the fire department
prosecute those falsely reporting a fire? Of course they do. Yet
the people described above are protected?
Remember the
defense counsel’s cross-examination of the witness we used in
previous pages? What would happen to that witness if he were
proven to be lying on the stand? This is called
perjury
and is subject to prosecution in the criminal courts.
Why
does nothing happen to those who call in a false allegation?.."
To Contents
Chapter 4-The PRICE TAG That Lady Justice Wears
Our
experience has been that those who have good attorneys, right
from the beginning, tend to have their case determined, in
initial hearings or through the appeal process, as
unfounded, unsubstantiated
or unindicated. In
other words, not guilty.
We even have problems locating Attorneys
in our Provider Law firms to service our members under our legal
plan. Attorneys who are specialist or very competent in
Administrative Law. They are hard to find.
What we do, most of the time, is ask one
family law attorney to study up on Administrative Law to become
familiar with it. This way, he/she can represent our
members when they call for help. You can’t blame the
attorneys, after spending many years in law school accruing
student loans and even having a family to support, for not
wanting to specialize in a branch of law that is geared to
limited income individuals who have little or no assets to pay
them.
To
Contents
Chapter 5-Documentation. How Important Is it?
"Even if absolutely nothing
out-of-the-ordinary took place that day, make an entry to that
effect.
Anything and everything from
the first day of this placement in your home is significant.
Make a note of visitors that
day: their names, the time they arrived and when they left.
Were all your children in
school that day?
Was one child kept at home ill
that day?
What were you doing while the
visitor was present? Did you have a postal delivery that day?
Did you go to the bank or the
post office that day?
Were your children with you,
did you take them in with you?
Someday, one
of these entries may save you from a false allegation of child
abuse.
For instance:
Someone calls in an allegation
of child abuse saying that you left your foster baby in the car
while you ran into the post office to get your mail.
Your
journal will state otherwise on that specific day (taken from an
actual allegation case)."
To
Contents
Chapter 6-Creating Your Own Law Book
1-Reason for
Law Book
Please allow me explain the REASON for the law book.
As we have seen in the many examples of our fellow foster
parents
who have followed our methods of preparations in laying out their
cases
in what we describe on this group as our "LAW BOOKS" time and
time
again. We are to be ready to give an answer...that means that if we
are
asked a question in a courtroom setting we can simply _*turn to that
month,
that week, that day in our law books and *__*bingo we have the
answer to
the question that has just been asked of us*_. The organization is impressive to anyone who witnesses it, I myself have witnessed
this mouth dropping event in a court of law.
Don't know if any of them are willing to share their own
experiences with the LAW BOOK with us but I'm sure everyone would like to
hear their stories on how being prepared helped with their cases.
(Send
Comments)
No one expects a lowly, uneducated foster parent to be able to
defend themselves with such precise expertise and detail that any
attorney would envy. This method has been proven time and time again as
effective and impressive. If you follow it you will indeed be ready to
give
an answer as the Bible clearly tells us. You are in essence
learning
how to prepare not only your own case but to assist in helping other
foster parents prepare their own cases. Your attorney will appreciate
your intense organization and your work a great deal and the
preparation
that you do will one day come in handy, if not now in the future
you
will be happy you have already taken these steps.
Do it now while things are fresh in your memory.
The
first thing you do is purchase a 4" loose leaf notebook.
On
our NFPCAR Website, there are two webpages to start your search:
-
Directors and
References for your
State Index
-
Legislation and
Statute Index
State by State
-
To organize your main points, here is
download to a word processing file>>
5 Level Outline Template. Basic instructions on using an
outline are on the template.
Go to your state.
There you will find the
Foster Parent and Agency Policies & STATUTES for your state. You
can either Download them
to
your PC. Or just print off or save only the ones pertaining to foster parents, place them into your law book.
The second thing you want to place in your law book is a copy
of
the investigative report, after you have gone through it with a fine tooth comb. This of course is after
your
attorney has obtained it. Highlight each and every word that you disagree with, everything that is an
untruth, a
lie, a stretch of the truth.
Then go back and gather proof of each and everything that you have
highlighted
to prove what you are saying is truth and that what is being said in this report is lies.
The Third thing you need in your law book is copies of your
journal
and dividers for months. Get the kind that has
pockets in the front of them for receipts. Divide the receipts
into envelopes *one for each week in that month*. Paper clip each day together and place it into that weeks envelope. Make
a
list of each weeks receipts on separate sheet of paper and place them
behind the pocket. Put the dates that it covers on the envelope in the
pocket
and the sheet of paper so that you can turn to that month and at a glance see your
entire schedule for that week. Recreating your days at a glance through your receipts, check stubs, ATM receipts, etc.
I
know that this is a lot of work but trust me when I say that someday you will be glad that you have taken the time to
do
this, and so will your attorney. Who knows that little foster daughter or foster son may someday return to you and
want to
sue CPS for damages that they have endured throughout their life
and
you will have the evidence for them to do so, keep this law book
for them, tell your attorney you want this evidence back to keep for
them for future use.
-
Remember, what Social workers **say is **automatically
believed
while whatever we as foster parents say must be backed up with documentation, WE MUST PROVE what we say is
true.
-
You must be able to prove what you say is TRUTH without a
shadow of
a doubt. Doctors receipts, cash register receipts to re-create
your
day if need be. to offer proof of your whereabouts if need be. ie: a
receipt that shows you were at the dry cleaners at 4:47 pm on Jan.
14th,2007 another receipt proves that you were then at Domino's Pizza
picking
up the pizza for a pizza party at your home at 5:23pm on Jan.
14th,
2007 then home for the party by 6:00 pm and there until 9:00 pm
with
your husband and 17 other children and their parents. Not in the
parking
lot of CVS at Gateway Mall, in Sparks Nevada, spanking Johnny at
6pm as
was reported by an anonymous caller.
-
Think this allegation is going to go
away? You
get the idea? This is the importance of documentation and your "LAW BOOK". If you were in the courtroom and the
investigation reported this incident as founded do you think that your
receipts
would prove otherwise? Of course your Law book would save the day.
-
So in summary, Chapter 6 from Standing in
the Shadow of the Law for Creating your own Law Book.
2-Using
Your Law Book
Here are a few suggestions.
-
Start a support group....invite these people to join our
Foster Parent Allegations Group....we are here to support anyone who needs our help....
-
Set up a corner of your home as a resource center library
for
the use of this support group.
-
As in our Foster
Parent Allegations Yahoo group, it helps you put together your LAW BOOK;
and you can
share
it with others in your own little support group.
-
Take up a collection within your little group and order a
copy
of the National Foster Parents Legal Manual that they produced, it contains valuable information
that
all foster parents should be aware of. This could be made available in your support group resource
center corner too.
-
Consider
This
A. Allegations the Storm that no One tells
you is coming.
B. Documentation, Just How Important is it?
C. Administrative Law. Are you familiar with them in
Your State?
-
We will also send you FREE BROCHURES on our Foster Parents
Legal Program. *IT IS OUR program,* and are the National Administrators for the program. PPL Underwrites it for us. Write to me privately and I will answer
your questions. or Just call the office toll free at 1-877-FPA-CHILD
(372-2445)
To Other
eReferences
Chapter
7-News Article Collection
A Collection of some of the
articles that describe the many challenges we have when working
with the agency.
Here is a statement from the Author of this Publication, that
captures some of the concerns:
America’s
Children Are at Risk
Each and
every branch of government has
checks and balances
in place to ensure that our persons in charge have someone to
answer to. Someone to keep an eye on them, and keep them as
honest as possible. Why are there no such checks and
balances for CPS?
I was sitting in the viewing balcony
when I witnessed Arizona Legislator Ray Barnes stand up and say:
“We asked for a report on why D.E.S. (Department of Economic
Security which oversees Child Protective Services) needed an
additional appropriation of $27 million to get them out of the
red.”
To date the Legislators had not received
it. He went on to say: “I think it is about time you were made
accountable to someone. You are accountable to us. If we
do not have an explanation of how you got yourself into this
mess, then we say NO MORE MONEY until we have the explanation
in-hand.”
I applauded
this gutsy Arizona Legislator for having the courage to stand up
to this powerful enemy of We
the People. It is time
for this government created entity to be held accountable by
We the People.
If
you agree, then write to your Congressman, Legislators, Senators
and
let them know how you feel about this out-of-control bureaucracy
To
Contents
Chapter 8-Criminal
Law
Most of the
parents I have gotten to know over the years have had little if
any experience with this end of the justice system. Like I
said earlier, most have never been arrested, been in jail or
even in some cases have never had a traffic ticket. This
form of law is for criminals. Criminal persons who break
the law, by stealing, robbing, murdering and raping.
Criminal Law does not apply to honest good people who only want
to help children!
Please Understand
When an allegation
filed on you and
the impending
investigation is completed:
Criminal
Charges can be filed on you,
or someone
in your family
To
Contents
Please visit our website
http://www.foster-parents-legal-solutions.com/
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