It doesn’t look like the local government authorities in Buffalo mean to put right what they have done wrong.
Either that, or we’re just not getting all the story.
The Erie County Family Court this week has refused to return her two small children to the custody of a homeschooling mother in Buffalo ( http://www.wkbw.com/news/family-court-judge-denies-homeschool-moms-custody-request ). Instead, the court will allow her to “visit” her children, under supervision, for two hours a week.
To us on the outside it seems glaringly obvious that this single mother, in seeking to homeschool her children, did absolutely nothing wrong and is the victim of a bureaucratic foul-up in City Hall and an overzealous response by the school board and Child Protective Services, who took action against her without bothering to discover the facts of the case. To us it seems the whole problem arose because someone at City Hall never got around to passing on the homeschooling paperwork to school officials.
Why is this small family being punished?
We do not know why there is no father or husband in the picture. We really don’t know why the authorities are treating this woman like a public enemy. We suspect that what’s going on here is an effort to cover up sloppy government by trying to turn the victim into the villain.
Someone who has the power to get answers ought to be demanding answers.
Because from where we sit, Buffalo is not looking good.
This needs to be taken care of. If there is more to the story, the authorities need to be more forthcoming, If it is what it appears to be, an immense injustice, then it needs to be corrected. ALREADY . . . these children are going to be dealing with traumatic memories for the rest of their life.
Lee, in light of the article I submitted to you this morning regarding New York City engaging in similar behavior, I’m more inclined to think this immoral, illegal and outrageous behavior on the part of these officials is a concerted joint effort to separate families by removing children from their homes. Remember ‘it takes a village. That dangerous mentality still exists. Furthermore, the children being removed are not the truly neglected, of which I’m sure there are many, but instead, those children whose parents are attempting with diligence to raise good children.
I think that if such truly were the motivation, we’d see a lot more of this. I’m waiting for the Home School Legal Defense Assn. to get involved, although that won’t happen unless the other requests it.
On the whole, I tend to favor laziness, stupidity, sloppiness, carelessness, and negligence, on the part of certain officials, as the more likely explanation here.
I do hope you’re right, Lee. And I will admit to being more than a little cynical when it comes to all things government.
It’s terrifying to see. When children are taken from their parents, there’s no guaranty that they will end up in better circumstances. Some people take in foster children, strictly for the money they get from Social Services. I’ve heard horror stories of rape, bullying and intimidation taking place in these group environments.
There are some truly dreadful parents out there, but like so many other aspects of government, there is now a business model in existence, so there exists a motive to expand these services and, tragically, there are plenty of people in the system whose ethics are shaky at best and may be influenced to make decisions that favor their job security over the welfare of the children involved.