I just wish to say that now it is the beginning of 2009 I am taking off to write up my book. Some of you know I am intending to write about my experiences witht the Department. I have a lot of documentation and research is pretty much done. I just need to compile it together. I will self publish, so I don't expect it to be a major seller but I wish to leave it as a legacy for my offspring.
Anyway the compiling bit will take time. I need to discipline myself around 2 hours per night after work and when child goes to bed to get it done. Otherwise I will continue to just talk about it.
Initially I was going to stop working but this project won't make me money so I have decided to actually reduce my hours and do this in the evenings.
So I do wish you, the viewers, all the best. I hope if you are up against this department that you now have many strategies on how to play the game.
And remember it ain't about child safety - that couldn't be more further from the truth.
cheers!
If you want some info for the book I'd be glad to help,
We've had over 10 years dealing with these morons. It started with the Ex-wife Then they gave us the children and then it was us we served her 2 year protection order.. The children it both started with are now 18 and 16 and sick to the stomach still hearing the words "DoCS, we have the child s interest at heart, foster carers, temporary care, ward of the state, child abuse, respite care".
My boy 18 is here now and telling me all this and says when he was removed things got worse. Even though he believes his mother wasn't the fittest mother, he tell me things got worse and at least his mother loved him but recognised she had problems showing it. He hated other foster children and had no personal items to call his own.
From the age of 8 all these words and more have been like a tape recorder on loop going over and over in his head and like us once DoCS had their claws into him their seems to be no escape. When the children were placed with me I went to one court case and tried to get the ex-wife to trust me and I promised to make it go away, however her solicitor turned her against me and my solicitor tried to do the same, after this case, I refused to battle in court and told them it had nothing to do with me. They kept trying to turn the removal of the children case into a custody battle. For 12 months I refused to go to court telling DoCS it was their fight.
As time went on the DoCS kept using the children as the pawn to get her to behave in a manner that suited their case, ex-wife began putting in notifications in on me and DoCS seemed obliged to add them into their new file they had been keeping under the table.
As a single mum and no one to trust the ex-wife suffered long term psychological trauma and we could tell that things were never going to go back to the way they were.
The children felt like they had an incurable a disease as who ever had care of them, had DoCS harassing their lives. Even foster parents would shun children because of the annoyance and interferences DoCs would present and had been moved in total 7 times in 6 years. 5 carers told they would be the ones who would take them in for long term.
To my boy it seemed strange as he would see all this new stuff arrive and rooms get built and sheds be converted into rooms and once the job was completed they were shifted on to the next place.
Out of the 10 coupled long term carers only one person seemed to be made of the right stuff, however her husband was a lazy bum that would sit and watch TV and abuse the children at will and take advantage of this ladies hard work and loyalty.
I tell no lies in this. one carer thought it was good as he now had children to fetch his beers every 15 minutes. Our xmas presents were hidden, one a TV we sent the boy was hidden in the shed and I was told not to send presents like this as this TV would ruin his life, OMG.
Another gift from me I sent was some money from an inheritance I received from my dear grandfather was not received by him until 3 weeks after. I can go on all day about the problems we faced in NSW alone and now in QLD the file has been transfered. Every thing we say either gets omitted of altered to suit the reasoning for DoCS need to hold the unquestionable power.
I be 2nd in line,,, care to view my resume?.
It's all the same... Only the name of the office changes.
The manipulation and slight of hand never changes and the children's best interest is nobody's interest but that of the biological parents.
To DoCS - it's just business.
Just to let you know I am on target with the writing. It just pours off my fingers. I will have to end up chopping it down to get it to 100,000 words.
It is easier than I thought so far.
yep I agree with kickemout
you go girl