Too late we already called

www.facebook.com/helping homiesAs I delve deeper and deeper into the swirling sewer  which is the Department of Children and families, I can feel the wind being sucked from my very lungs, as I try to maneuver through all the swirling refuse. But, I am not alone. Pity the other poor bastards. forced to toil under that ruthless overseer. That Plantation style hierarchy that exits there does not hesitate for a moment to  sell another poor slave down the river. As enlightened as we are as a society, how do we continue to ignore all those injustices we allow our own society to perpetuate. Much less, to perpetuate on ourselves. The laws as written, allows a semi- private semi-governmental agency free reign to decide the fate of millions upon millions of American children and families.Initially there was great need for such an agency. With there being no oversight over the health and welfare of millions upon millions of children  suffering under poverty, there  was rampant abuse and exploitation of  children. With limited phones, roads and resources poor children in this country were at the mercy of sickos  and lunatics. Fast forward to the modern era. In no way am I saying that we as a people have evolved to the level of enlightenment that we no longer need agencies like  our modern day  DCF. That being said, it is also true that we have not evolved to the level of enlightenment that allows us to police ourselves and our children with a cadre of caring, kind and uncompromising individuals, totally dedicated to the pursuit of what is best for our families and our children.  As long as money is the incentive, there will always be individuals who will exploit and manipulate the taking of and the placing of our children. Money will be passed and the criteria for taking and selling of our young is bent and twisted for the advantage of the greedy and the well heeled. Hard to fathom? How long would there be such a groundswell of individuals and organizations receiving these confiscated if the financial incentive to do so was removed. I'm sure there are thousands of people who truly love there charges and would not even consider giving back a beloved family member if they were forced to totally foot the entire bill of having and raising  these placed children. On the other hand there are an equal amount of recipients who would drop their charges off at the nearest fire station or hospital if the financial incentive were eliminated. How many times does a friend of a friend who knows somebody who knows somebody who works for the Agency, who can put in a good word or special order for the child of their dreams. Ever since the explosion of children having children, Agency workers and people like them have had a  rich crop of prospective babies for sale. It seems that even in cases where there is borderline concern about a child's or families well being, the Agency swoops in and confiscates somebodies kid. To the dismay of frightened and confused parents and the sometimes detriment of a small child. Many of these children become permanently scarred. Was I abandoned? why didn't mommy and daddy love me? was this my fault? the questions sometimes go without an answer for their entire lives. I recently met a young mother who with her newborn son, made the journey to our great state from Florida. Court ordered to  residential treatment program there, she left that state, traveled to Springfield Massachusetts and moved in with her baby's father. After weeks of fighting her ex over his controlling nature, heroin use and striking her in front of their newborn, she left him, took her son and entered Friendly House's shelter program for families. This young woman, twenty three years old with a truly delightful personality, found out eight months ago that she was HIV positive. A month later she learned she had passed the virus to her son in her womb. She cared for her son from birth to seven months. Administering his medication cocktail, feeding him, nurturing him under quite possibly one of the most difficult times of his young life, newborn and ill. She did not falter. With criminal charges possibly pending in Florida an abusive possessive boyfriend scouring the city in search of her here and herself and her newborn both HIV positive she had quite a lot on her plate. Not once did she even consider handing her son over and going for broke. She got into an argument with the shelter director one morning. It seems the girl, who is quite attractive, was getting in the director's words too much attention from the male inhabitants of the shelter. They even smoked a blunt of marijuana with her.With nothing more serious than that to go on, this self righteous family shelter director accused the young mother with neglect. Her assertion was that her infant son was not being properly cared for because there was no infant formula in the room. Frantic the mother asked whoever she could to help her out with the eight dollar baby formula cost. All to no avail. By the time she had scraped together the money then went to make the purchase, the shelter director was on the phone calling DCF, the Agency. The mother returned to the shelter with formula in hand, only to be told that it was too late, DCF were on their way. Stunned the mother just stood there with the unopened box of baby formula in hand as they took from her the thing that mattered most to her. The one person she had cared for, nurtured and loved. After that, the young mother tried taking her own life. She now resides somewhere between hopelessness and defeat from the loss. Every now and again she will perk up when talk is made of fighting back and challenging the Agency.