TX - Newborn left at fire station, CPS still not happy

[deanws]

The reason to wish she'd handed the child over in person is because the infant almost died. It was a very close thing. A little luck someone walked a different way, and paid attention to a faint cry. Without that luck, the infant would have died from the cold. A morning routine walk is not going to do it - an infant can't survive that long in the cold before dying.


I'm of two minds on this - it's a great thing she tried to hand her child over, but she did almost kill it.

I live here in Harris county...and it wasn't that cold here. In fact...we are all still wearing shorts.

 

[froggierintexas]

Right, Froggier, couldn't agree with you more. The track record for Harris County CPS (and Fort Bend County) is/are nothing to brag about, and yet they are saying they wish the mother had handed the child over in person.

Why? Because that would make it so much easier for the paperwork issues?

Froggier, do you recall the other horrific child abuse case in Fort Bend County/Sugar Land a couple of years ago or last year? The six month old infant wasn't expected to live, the trauma was so severe. She had suffered a nightmare of abuse, I think she even had a lacerated tongue that was almost severed--poor baby!

The older toddler sibling had been returned to the mother even though there was clear evidence of abuse caused by the father. The mother went back to the boyfriend/father and the grandparents looked the other way. Eventually the parents lost custody and the grandparents were denied visitation, and the two girls were adopted to a loving family. But oh, the trauma that infant suffered for life--it was shocking.

A morning routine of "walk the perimeter of the building" or even a couple of times a day is not that hard for the firemen and much more realistic than expecting the birth mother to get the baby in just the right place.

I am shocked at the headlines here, "Investigators would like to talk to the mother." What a terrifying thing that might be to a mother who has hidden her pregnancy!

Like you said, better than leaving her child in a plastic box to wash ashore somewhere. :banghead:

I do remember that. I also remember that one of my first jobs was at a daycare caring for a teenage boy who had the mentality of a 5 year old when it came to normal functions. Who was scared of everyone and reacted with rage to any and all situations, esp. going to the bathroom. The reason: His parents kept him tied like a dog to a toilet for years. Beat him, sexually assaulted him. His brother and sister were killed in front of him. And all this after CPS returned him and his siblings to their parents after neighbors reported screams. Family members reported bruises and horrible living conditions. CPS let them keep their children. Now the mother and father are in prison and the uncle was left to pick up the pieces of the boys life.

I also volunteered to babysit for a neighbor's grandchildren years ago. A few hours a day so the mother could work and provide for them. She left the children with me on a Thursday and didn't return. 8 hours turned into 9 then ten. When I went to the grandparents and asked them if she was kept at work as I would need to go and buy more diapers if they were staying longer I was told they couldn't care less. So I went to the store and purchased more diapers. I got them down for the evening and lay down myself. The mother didn't come for them that evening. The next morning I went to the neighbors again and asked about the mother. That is when the grandfather told me, at least they weren't the ones stuck with kids this time. He handed me a bag of clothes and twenty bucks and shut the door. I was flabbergasted.

It being Friday, I had a date so I called to cancel. I was lucky because the young man I was dating was a minister so he came over and we played with the kids and took care of them. He even brought over two brand new car seats and suggested we go look for the mom. So kids in tow we went looking, then we went to dinner.

After much deliberation and prayer, I decided to notify the police. Maybe she was laying in a ditch somewhere. The police told us to take the children home and they would send someone from CPS to talk to us. That was Friday night. Monday, still no word from the mother or CPS. So here I am with these children who are not mine. Wondering where on earth the mother is. Knocking on the door and leaving notes the whole weekend for the grandparents with no response. So I phoned the police officer I had spoken with on Friday. He informs me that after a discussion with CPS he feels the children are fine just take care of them until the mother returns.

So, I called CPS. They take a report over the phone and promise to come out. It took 3 weeks and a dozen phone calls to get someone to come. The grandparents refused to keep them so CPS returned to me asking me to take care of the children until they could find someone else (Keep in mind I was a single 18 year old college student with no kids). I did. Luckily at the time I was on holiday from school and could. All the while, I prayed that the mother was okay. At this point I could not fathom what would keep a mother from her children. And these were beautiful kids. I can still see the smiles on their faces when we played.


Well, long story short, they found the mother in a crack house eventually. Then they gave her a week to get a place and gave her the kids back. :banghead: So I really wonder about CPS. I sit and wonder what they are thinking. It appears that parent/child reunification trumps everything. Esp. the children's best interest. Years later when I became a bondsman, I actually ran into the mother in jail. She was arrested for POCS- cocaine. Surprise, surprise. And still CPS let her keep her kids even after they were informed of this arrest. They gave her time to clean up her home and get the men that were living there, out.

 

[kgeaux]

I find this rather infuriating: A newborn baby was left at a far west Houston fire station--although not in the most common spot, still left according to the Baby Moses law in Texas, which says that a mother can leave a child up to 60 days old at a fire station or hospital without repercussions.

The authorities want to question the mother now. CPS says that the child should have been handed over in person.

I think these are ridiculous critical remarks to someone who obviously is in physical and emotional trauma after giving birth, who follows the law by putting the child at the fire station, to then suggest that the bio mother hand off the child in person.

Let's see how hard we can make it for people who feel they can't raise a child, to give up that child.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=local&id=5753249

And they wonder why women don't take advantage of the Moses law.....honestly, the harder and more invasive they make it for women to leave their newborns in a safe place, the more stories we'll read in the newspaper of dead babies found in garbage cans.

What is WRONG with these officials? Couldn't they do a little victory dance that one baby is safe?

 

[kgeaux]

The reason to wish she'd handed the child over in person is because the infant almost died. It was a very close thing. A little luck someone walked a different way, and paid attention to a faint cry. Without that luck, the infant would have died from the cold. A morning routine walk is not going to do it - an infant can't survive that long in the cold before dying.


I'm of two minds on this - it's a great thing she tried to hand her child over, but she did almost kill it.

Maybe since the law says that babies can be left at firestations, someone should alert the fire fighters to pay attention to little cries? Or a baby box could be provided that would afford the mother the privacy she feels she needs while still alerting the men inside that a baby has been dropped off?

Whatever solution is decided upon, it cannot be to persecute the woman who left the child.....it is clear that her intent was to obey the Baby Mose Law, and that her intent was that her child be safe and cared for.

 

[angelmom]

Next time, a mother will probably think twice and just abandon the baby or worse. Sometimes i really think DHS workers do more harm than good, they are akin to nazis sometimes.

This is the understatement of the century!!!

 

[believe09]

Looks like CPS has changed their tune-

http://www.click2houston.com/news/14565126/detail.html

There is no request to find her or speak to her-just that she probably needs some kind of medical attention.

 

[Details]

I live here in Harris county...and it wasn't that cold here. In fact...we are all still wearing shorts.

The child's core temp was down to 94 degrees. And from the dampness of the cord or blanket or some such, they were pretty sure the child was dropped off a very short time before it was found - so in that little time, the core temp went down quite a bit.

What is warm enough for you to be outside is not warm enough for a newborn.

 

[Texana]

Absolutely it's not good for a baby to be left on the side of a building.

And the mother absolutely needs medical attention to make sure she's healthy as well.

But if you want to encourage women to leave babies at fire stations and hospitals instead of dumpsters, this doesn't seem to be the way to go about doing it.

CPS has decided that this does not fall under the Baby Moses law, so yes, she can be prosecuted.

 

[CaliKid]

But at least she left him in what she thought was a safe location. She tried to do the right thing. I'm glad CPS isn't pursuing the case which would only end up scaring her and other new moms.

 

[kgeaux]

The child's core temp was down to 94 degrees. And from the dampness of the cord or blanket or some such, they were pretty sure the child was dropped off a very short time before it was found - so in that little time, the core temp went down quite a bit.

What is warm enough for you to be outside is not warm enough for a newborn.

Doesn't a newborns core temp drop anyway right after birth?

The REAL issue here, and this is of course just my opinion, is that if you are going to pass a law like the Baby Moses Law, then you'd better come up with a plan to "receive" those babies. There should be a clearly marked area at EVERY single place it is legal to drop these little ones at, with some sort of box or container to keep the child out of the elements and a big old bell the mom can ring to alert those inside. Heck, even third world countries know this!

If I think this through, and put myself in the mom's place, I think I know WHY she put the child on the less used side of the building. She was probably in a very, very precarious emotional and physical state and wanted to avoid being seen at all costs. (She was right, too, that if she was seen it wouldn't have been so easy to just walk away: that wonderful fireman whose thoughts went right to her would surely have wanted to be sure she was ok......)

The whole premise of Baby Moses is to have ANONYMITY. You can't do that if you've got to walk the baby in and hand him over to another person.

My opinion: they passed this law (and I love and support the law) and were left with egg on their faces because as usual they thought not one whit further than "they can drop the babies off!" They had no plan, no marked areas, no alerting system and they wanted to blame the mom instead of admitting they'd failed to take the necessary steps to insure the safety of the (to them) theoretical babies who might get dropped off.

 

[SewingDeb]

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

kgeaux...you are so right that they need a designated place and a bell. It would not be hard to install a box and a bell. Insuring anonomity is the most important part of making the safe haven laws work.

 

[shdbepaintin]

classic case of "damned if you do and damned if you don't"
of course it would have been best for the baby to have been
placed in the arms of a firefighter, absolutely, no doubt, but
this mother tried to do the right thing, sure beats a toilet or
trash bag, trash can, closet, so many things we have read about.

I pray the mother is well and that the child will be put
in a loving home, where someone wants the baby more than
life its' self.

I also pray that more and more awareness is made for woman
to leave these babies in safe appropriate places without the fear
of being questioned.

The strength it takes for a scared mom to do the right thing is amazing.
When you think of the other choices woman make.

 

[TGIRecovered]

I get the feeling that someone other than the mother left the baby in the bushes.

Susan

 

[Amraann]

I get the feeling that someone other than the mother left the baby in the bushes.

Susan

TGIR I am curious ...Why do you think that?

 

[TGIRecovered]

I have no concrete reason for it. It is just the way the baby was so exposed to the ants and the weather I guess.

I think that if the mom cared enough to go to the fire station with the child so shortly after the trauma of giving birth, she would treat the baby with more care than that. If she didn't care, she might have taken her time getting the child to the station, or could have let the baby die or kill the child and dispose of the body.

So, that leaves me with a general feeling that she trusted another person to take the baby immediately to the station so it would be okay, but she did not realize that the person she trusted would be so careless, like they were more worried about getting caught than for the welfare of the child.

Having said all that, I really felt that way before I ever thought it thru.

Susan

 

[angelmom]

I have no concrete reason for it. It is just the way the baby was so exposed to the ants and the weather I guess.

I think that if the mom cared enough to go to the fire station with the child so shortly after the trauma of giving birth, she would treat the baby with more care than that. If she didn't care, she might have taken her time getting the child to the station, or could have let the baby die or kill the child and dispose of the body.

So, that leaves me with a general feeling that she trusted another person to take the baby immediately to the station so it would be okay, but she did not realize that the person she trusted would be so careless, like they were more worried about getting caught than for the welfare of the child.

Having said all that, I really felt that way before I ever thought it thru.

Susan

That's really thought provoking. If the mom was not physically able to make it to the fire station, then she may have trusted someone else to do this.

I wonder if that would still be covered under Safe Haven/Baby Moses or whatever the heck they are calling the law here.

 

[bakerprune64]

Okay so first off, yes the baby is alive and thank god that the mother or whoever it was had the sense to leave the baby there.

It's good that the authorities are leaving the mother alone, however their concern may have been for her own safety as clearly she could not be prosecuted for leaving the baby at a designated palce.

And yes, sometimes CPS/DHS makes choices in the detention, reunification of children, following whatever guidelines they are given...

But for the love of god people, do you understand the magnitude of their daily decissions? Have you physically sat there and listened to the police describe to a social worker how a young girl was disfigured in her genital area from abuse... or seen the young mother who needed help learning to parent her children properly, bc she was never given any guidance as a teenager from her own mother????? It's easy to say they should have done this...or they shouldn't have done that, but until you can stand in their shoes, please don't sit there and condemn them. Sometimes reunification of a child with their Bio parents is a much better choice than putting them in Foster Care...I think I just read a post today about a girl twice raped and impregnated in Foster care.

 

[heavenlydaze]

Okay so first off, yes the baby is alive and thank god that the mother or whoever it was had the sense to leave the baby there.

It's good that the authorities are leaving the mother alone, however their concern may have been for her own safety as clearly she could not be prosecuted for leaving the baby at a designated palce.

And yes, sometimes CPS/DHS makes choices in the detention, reunification of children, following whatever guidelines they are given...

But for the love of god people, do you understand the magnitude of their daily decissions? Have you physically sat there and listened to the police describe to a social worker how a young girl was disfigured in her genital area from abuse... or seen the young mother who needed help learning to parent her children properly, bc she was never given any guidance as a teenager from her own mother????? It's easy to say they should have done this...or they shouldn't have done that, but until you can stand in their shoes, please don't sit there and condemn them. Sometimes reunification of a child with their Bio parents is a much better choice than putting them in Foster Care...I think I just read a post today about a girl twice raped and impregnated in Foster care.

Easy there bakerprune64,
I don't think anyone here honestly thinks that most CPS workers are incompetent. If anything, their jobs are heartbreaking and it must be disheartening to WANT to do something about a situation and not be able to because your hands are tied with mounds of government BS...

Here's the thing...this gal left her baby (or had it left), in a place she thought was safe. She didn't smother it and dump it in the trash or wrap the little one in a garbage bag & bury it somewhere.

The 'Save-Haven' laws are a start... but if we really expect people to take advantage of them, there CAN'T BE STRINGS ATTACHED! Girls who have just given birth under secret circumstances aren't going to wait until tomorrow to research the regulations. It HAS to be simple and plain with no question about secrecy. Yes, her health could be in danger, yes, she could die, but if that's the mind-set of everyone, then we're right back to where we started. There IS NO safe-haven, and if that's the case...now what? Let's find a solution.

 

[Texana]

Agreed, easy there Bakersprune. :truce:

I think they have a very difficult job. The constant turnover due to low pay and high stress means that there is not much chance for "tribal wisdom" as I call it--the wisdom that comes from being at a job for a long time--there is more chance for burned out cynicism.

So instead of seeing the bigger picture, that this was a woman who had just given birth traumatically, unassisted by medical personnel, probably scared and even terrified, who took her child to a fire station because she remembered that was legal, they focus on the fact that she did not put the baby on the front step.

Maybe someone came out the door just then. Maybe a car drove by. Maybe she was a little delirious and the place behind the a/c seemed good. Perhaps she is even mentally slow or handicapped, and lacks the capacity to have that common sense we take for granted.

Whatever, I think CPS lost a golden opportunity to praise just leaving the child alive, and instead the news is emphasizing in Houston, "Authorities want to talk to the woman who...." "Just talk to" is code to many people for You are In Trouble.

I'm sad about that. I really do believe it would be far better to build a routine for the firemen to check the perimeter of the building, than to emphasize that a woman who leaves a newborn at a fire station has to be sure and do it "right." As one person said, "I don't think Baby Moses actually had his parents stick around to hand him over in person." (paraphrased.)

 

[Details]

They have a difficult job - but some truely enourmous and horrendeous mistakes are being made, and frequently. I think there's just way, way, way too much emphasis being placed on reunification - and I understand it - every parent's nightmare is CPS taking their children away because there was a fall, and a bruise, and an overzealous idiot.


I'd like a box and a bell - but I don't think it's practical to have firemen check the perimeter. An infant shouldn't be left unattended outside for really any length of time. A walk every 15 minutes would not be sufficient (but might be sufficient to scare some away). A bell - that works. And still - I'm thinking of an infant, so small, so fragile, just put in the bushes, out of the way - can't see searching for the mother - but that was not right.