CPS sued for kidnaping children

December 22, 2014

child abductionA lawsuit filed Dec. 12 says Riverside County Child Protective Services staff have made a habit of kidnapping children.

Attorney Shawn McMillan, who specializes in civil rights cases against child protection agencies, said he uncovered an alarming trend about a year ago during discovery for other cases. The suit, currently focused on one case, is slated to become one of many class action lawsuits filed against U.S. child protection agencies after legislation increased funding for adopting foster children.

“County child welfare agencies regularly subvert the constitutional rights of parents and children by seizing children from their parents when there is no danger to the child, and in fact no need to seize the child at all,” McMillan told Courthouse News. “The class action is designed to address a procedural problem. They (Riverside County social workers) as a matter of course don’t get warrants before seizing kids.”

The suit focuses on a newborn baby who Riverside County took from its mother allegedly “without reason or warrant.” McMillan said the county had illegally taken the woman’s other four children months before.

Because there had been an earlier dependency case, a social worker took the three day old breast feeding baby from her mother while still in the hospital. Though the child was returned to her mother approximately a week later, many children spend more than a year in foster care while others are adopted out through county social services agencies.

According to the lawsuit, county social workers know or should know that taking children from their families without a warrant is illegal and violates their civil rights.

In San Luis Obispo County, where a large sign noting adoptions here adorns the child welfare agency, social workers rarely apply for a warrant before taking a child from its family. McMillan said , if successful, his suit could have state wide ramifications.

Meanwhile, studies show children in state custody are up to 600 percent more likely to be neglected, abused and murdered then those left in the custody of their parents.


Loading...
20 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

See Parentalrights.org


Well, here we are again….CPS, a bureaucratic band-aid at best characterized as an OXYMORON.

There must be a way, without government oversight (theoretically) to deal with children in need.

Are these people there for a paycheck, or to genuinely care for those children who need governmental intervention?


Well, you know…dad’s in the corner with a crack pipe and mom is passed out on the couch because she has been working the streets all night….but didn’t make much…so dad starts railing on her face. It is well past noon now….there is no food in the house….the youngest hasn’t had their diaper changed since the day before (nor eaten). And you know what? Get them the hell out of there-NOW-that is what. It beats coming back the next day to find them dead.


And that is the reality of it. These people are the only hope for saving a child’s life on the front line of despair and abuse sometimes. Sue them???? Give them a f****king award!!!! No one else seems to care what is happening!!!!


You take an exceptionally rare case for the sake of hyperbole! In that case of course we all want someone to step and take care of the kids. But in most cases CPS is coming in with little information and they are removing kids from their parents without due process. We all want an agency like CPS, but we want them to be more diligent in their duties. Most children taken away from their families by CPS do much worse after being separated from family.


i can only imagine the iq and waterfall chart detailing increasing brainwashing of a cps employee….


The suit stems from a case in Riverside where the baby was taken away from the mother; a breast fed baby. I am familiar with this case. She tested positive for meth–her breast milk. Most people in this town are so naive–they have no idea what goes on in an urban metropolis. My husband had a good friend who was a homicide detective: went to a case in LA where the boyfriend was babysitting a two year old while mom was working. Beat him and then wrote a letter to the mom with the child’s body with blood. Saw that stuff on a regular basis too. Trust me, when kids need to be removed stat—better to get them out. The problem lies within the crappy foster homes–I know this from my own childhood.


Indiglo1955 – You don’t know anything about the case above. The parent had NO

drugs in her system, would never take drugs!!! but since she’s suing the screwed up county, she has made some enemies. Nice try troll.


Look up fallacy ad hominem. It is what people do when they have not reviewed a case or study, and are basically clueless….so they attack and start calling names like a 4 year old that cannot cope with their emotions or intellectually reply in a way that stimulates an in depth debate.


Go to your room.


indigo1955 says:

12/23/2014 at 3:13 pm


Look up fallacy ad hominem.


It is NOT fallacious nor are most of the comments here hominem attacks


The scenario you base on Cps is the ideal model for their power, existence, and revenue but the majority of cases initiated by LE and the schools are procedural or erroring on the side of caution. They and the justice system are exploiting our tax dollars and ruining people’s lives.


Indigo, I don’t know if you truly have personal information surrounding this case or not. My impression after reading this article is that the mother had a history of “dependance” and the baby was removed based on the mothers history rather than her current condition. Yes of course there are cases where children need to be removed from their homes ASAP, but I have to say that I was floored after reading your initial response.


Indigo, CPS is absolutely removing children from loving parents who are not a danger, never were a danger, never used drugs and always put their children first. I’ve seen this occur more than once and I’m convinced that it’s about the funding (ie: gov money grows bigger agencies and salaries) especially the funds they garner from adoptions of foster children.


Research what happened to Karen Velie’s grandchildren (just google it). I was there that day when they were taken by CPS and without a warrant by the way. I know those children and their mother and grand mother. Those children were so traumatized by what CPS did to them and without any legal reason to stand on. That’s right, it happens, you bet. I know what I witnessed and I have first hand knowledge where it happened in another case as well.


Children are not safe from CPS kidnappings and won’t be until there is CPS REFORM and cash incentives are eliminated. You can never convince me otherwise.


The problem with government beaurocracies is that when they make mistakes, and they often do, it becomes a costly and time consuming nightmare for those victimized by the agency to unwind the mistake.


Giving one social worker the power to separate children from their families without a hearing or a warrant is fraught with potential for abuse.


This child is my niece and you are speaking about things you have no idea of the facts. Are there some cases that children need help? Absolutely, but too often the children who really need help are left in the situation and CPS goes after those who they think they can get away with because they don’t have the means to fight back.


Thank you FAM:) they truly underestimated the power of love and the fight in me! Almost 21 months is a long time to be torn apart because of someone else’s dislike of you.


Indigo1955 how are you familiar with my case? Because I know that my baby was kidnapped because of retaliation for fighting the dependency of my 4 older girls…FYI that case was reversed and dismissed upon appeal…they never had a reason besides the dislike of a mother standing up to bullies!


Cindy the history of dependency was based on the wrongful removal of my four older girls…I was promised removal at birth of my baby if I went to trial…but like I said the case was reversed on them…they were wrong! Cps only has power because ppl are willing to believe stupid lies in order to be at peace with corruption.


Do they use the evil childcatcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to lure kids away from their parents?


I can see some government puke dressed up in that black outfit dancing around the streets chanting “Lollipops, I’ve got Lollipops”!


Gives me chills to this day, but the reality is far more horrifying.


Good! I hope CPS loses the suit big time and is forced to dismantle and reorganize in a manner more appropriate with helping families having a hard time.


It is bad enough that the family courts use children as collateral, then to have social services perform unwarranted child abductions is outrageous. I beleive that any individual that unilaterally takes a child from their mother should be personally accountable, not the tax payer. No one should be able to use bad law as an excuse for bad behavior or the obvious, job security.


Follow the Money…

CPS isn’t about the kids, it’s about the Cashola the agency gets for stealing and selling a kid to an adoptive parent.


employees who would be indigent if it werent their monopoly on destruction….