Newborn to be taken from Mom

[zookeeper]

http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story-108275-101-.htm#108275

Does this news story not bother posters as much as it bothers me?

We live in a society where we idolize celebrities, those who have both talent and money, many of whom fail in their duties and responsibilities as parents.

We live in a society where well educated and wealthy parents produce off spring who commit the most atrocious of crimes, ones where "affluenza" have now become a defense and an excuse for their disgusting behaviour.

I have a learning disabled family member. She is an amazing mother, what she can not do or is unsure of, she has family support to guide and assist her, as does this young couple. The grandparents clearly have parental skills as it is not easy raising a disabled child. Those who give birth to healthy children are often not aware of the struggles it takes to raise a child with issues.

It is my opinion that if the system will not allow a family with a handicap a chance to prove themselves, perhaps then they should follow suit in the way society is progressing and start to question the parenting skills of everyone.

[Bsuds]

I am disturbed by this as well. Are they not even given a chance to prove they can do it?

[Captain Awesome]

... and start to question the parenting skills of everyone.

Already being done by like everybody on Castanet.

[flamingfingers]

Seems to me that it would be of greater benefit to all concerned if a qualified home support person - or a team of able volunteers supervised by home support people were able to come into their home on a daily basis to help with newborn care, bonding, breast feeding, nutrition advice and general homemaker support than to remove this newborn and place it in a foster home. AND it probably would be much cheaper seeing as we are determined to 'keep costs down'....

[Beerhunter341]

It should be about the rights of the child not the ability of the parents. The child belongs with it's parents not the ministry. The ministry should monitor and provide assistance if required. The ministry should be trying to help this family and not destroy it.

[Anonymous123]

From the news article:

Amber claims she has seen this first hand. She already has a five and half year old son that was taken away and put in foster care.

The father, Sydney Freeman, already has a 10-year-old daughter, which the couple says he will be getting custody of soon.

There might be more to the story than we know.

[Tero]

she already has a child in care that has not been returned to her.

There's far more to this story than what is being reported. Children are not removed because their parents have learning disablities. They are removed as a last resort when parents have proven they are unable to provide basic needs.

[Bubalouie]

That was a past relationship........this is a new partner and the grandparents live with them....so not right. Guess the ministry doesn't believe in second chances.

[Tero]

That was a past relationship........this is a new partner and the grandparents live with them....so not right. Guess the ministry doesn't believe in second chances.

and they don't have custody of their previous children because....... ? If it's a good new realtionship with support why are the previous kids still in care? Again, there's so much more to this story than has been reported.

I am a foster parent. I have seen the MCFD give chances to parents over. and over. and over. and over. and over. and over. for years and years and years and years and years. Guess who gets hurt in the end? The CHILD who is waiting for their parents to get their sh*t together, as opposed to being given the chance to have a forever family who will raise them right.

[Fancy]

I'm assuming there is a lot more to this story than let on in the news.

The young couple says they've been told the reasons behind the decision will be explained in full.

Maybe the rest of the story will be released after the meeting on Friday.

[zookeeper]

There might be more to the story than we know.

she already has a child in care that has not been returned to her.

Fair enough, but then whose responsibility is it to follow the upbringing of a child in care?

“My son was neglected so bad in foster care that now he is going to be receiving counselling and expensive orthopaedics, because of how he was brought up,” claims Amber.

The governments record of harm coming to children in care is not faultless either, yet they continue to have chance after chance to remove children from their homes.

[Mtn Biker]

This story is so outrageous it borderlines on criminal. Since when do our ministries have this kind of power to disallow someone the right to parent their own children before they are even given a chance? It really shows how far right the pendulum has swung and the only way to bring things back to normal is by voting out the type of politicians who would allow this to happen. Where the hell is superstar Christy in this matter? Right, she doesn't live in West Kelowna. Where can we go to have a say? What can we do to stop this? How can conscious thinking citizens allow their government to do this?

[Mtn Biker]

I'm assuming there is a lot more to this story than let on in the news.

Maybe the rest of the story will be released after the meeting on Friday.

That's a fair question and assumption, but if you have had to deal with government agency such as this one, you would know these agencies are full of overpaid, under worked, self important do nothings who couldn't get a job flipping pucks at MacD's, but they are in charge of such dealings in our society. Every government employee I have had to deal with from ICBC, IHA and similar are useless. They are a clueless bunch and meet the mediocre requirements of uselessness. They don't care, pencil pushing, brain dead, heartless, what's my pension look like waste of time. I know, I have to deal with them way too often. They suck. This is a perfect example of why.

[Fancy]

I've not had to deal with that - I'm sorry anyone else has to.

[Joe Public]

Obviously, we all understand that there is more to this story than any of us understand, but you have to understand that the real information required to properly assess the situation will never be released to the public. We will never see the entire story.

My daughter is a social worker with child protection. The anonymous stories that she has told me are so horrendous, so despicable, so absolutely shocking, that I will not even hint at them, but they happen every day, to every social class, in every BC town and city. Most days after work, she sits down and cries.

I do not want to suggest that these horrendous events are in any way related to this story, but I do want to point out that there are hundreds of professional social workers at work every day, doing what they dedicate themselves to do, protecting the most vulnerable children that we could ever imagine, in fact, from things we can not imagine. They are supported by a thousand more specialists, lawyers, police, doctors, physiologists and experts who also dedicate their personal mental well-being in such selfless pursuits. We as a society, must hold to the belief that we have empowered these experts to do what has to be done, from initial contact, to assessment, to treatment and outcome as many of these children are in the system from before they are born, to well after they achieve adulthood.

I urge all of you to resist the urge to be outraged or any other similar emotional outburst, by a case in which none of us know the facts, and to trust that the case will be dealt with in as kind and as compassionate method required to achieve the desired outcome of saving our children from as much harm as possible. Inflaming the situation with needless outbursts benefits no one.