Help us so the system dose not destroy a child’s creativity and mask it with sadness.

• Poor parents are frequently targeted by the system and lose their children because they lack the resources to hire lawyers and fight. Poverty does not equate to being a bad parent; it doesn't mean they don't love their child or that the child should be removed and placed with strangers.

• All parents are capable of making mistakes; making a mistake doesn't mean their children should be removed from the home. Even if the home isn't perfect, it's still home and the safest place for a child to be — with family.

• The system demands that parents attend parenting classes, anger management classes, counseling, and therapy without considering that they may be working or separated from their children. These programs can take months or years to complete, causing emotional devastation for both children and parents. Parents are victimized by a system that profits from keeping children longer and receives bonuses for not returning children to their parents.

• Caseworkers and social workers often commit fraud by withholding, destroying, and fabricating evidence. They seek to terminate parental rights unnecessarily and charges against Child Protective Services are ignored.

• The separation of families and "snatching" of children has grown into a business because local governments depend on taxpayer dollars from these programs to balance their budgets.

• Child Protective Services and Juvenile Court hide behind confidentiality clauses to protect their decisions and maintain funding. There should be open records and court watches to hold them accountable. State employees, lawyers, court investigators, guardian ad items, court personnel, judges, psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, caseworkers, therapists, foster parents, and adoptive parents all rely on children in state custody for job security. Parents don't realize that social workers are the glue that holds the system together.

• The Adoption and Safe Families Act, initiated in 1974 and expanded in 1997, offered cash bonuses to states for every child adopted out of foster care. To receive these bonuses, local child protective services need more children. Some counties are known to give bonuses of $4,000 to $6,000 for each child adopted out and an additional $2,000 for special needs children. Employees work to keep the federal dollars flowing.

• State Departments of Human Resources and affiliates are given adoption goals based on population. For every child adopted out, there is a bonus, and states and local communities strive to increase adoptions to reach their goals and receive more funding.

• There is double-dipping in funding as it continues as long as the child is out of the home. There's funding for foster care, adoption bonuses, and additional funds when a child is placed in a mental health facility and on Medicaid.

• This program is run by Health and Human Resources, which explains why victims of CPS don't get help from their legislators and why bills aimed at reform fail. Legislators and Governors are reliant on the funding from this system.

• There are no resources or real drive to unite and help families stay together or provide effective care. The incentive for social workers to quickly return children to their parents has disappeared. No one in protective services will speak out because they are all part of the system, and a system without leadership and clear policies will always fail the children.

• The Policy Manual for CPS/DFCS is too long, confusing, poorly written, and doesn't consider the law.

• Removing children from their homes has not improved their lives; they are not safer. Children have been raped and impregnated in foster care and are in much more danger in foster care than in their own homes, even if their homes are not perfect.

• Some parents are told they must divorce their spouse to see their children or grandchildren. Many parents, feeling they have no other option, will divorce and continue to live together. This is an anti-family policy, but parents will do anything to get their children home. When parents cooperate with Child Protective Services, their behavior is interpreted as guilt.

• Non-custodial parents, often fathers, are treated as criminals and denied access to their children while being burdened with child support payments.

• The Foster Parents Bill of Rights doesn't stress that foster care is temporary until the child can be returned home. Many foster parents use it to hire lawyers and seek to adopt the child in their care, preventing the real parents from getting their child back.

• Tax dollars fund this system, yet parents, grandparents, guardians, and children are charged for its services.

• Grandparents have tried to get custody of their grandchildren, but CPS doesn't always contact relatives. Grandparents who lose their grandchildren to strangers lose their family heritage and connection to their heirs.

• The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect reported in 1998 that children in foster care were six times more likely to die than in the general public and were far more likely to suffer abuse, including sexual molestation. The number is likely higher today.

• According to a California Little Hoover Commission Report in 2003, 30% to 70% of children in California group homes should not have been removed from their homes.