My whole life - as long as I can remember - I've been afraid of CPS.

It was like the monster in the closet, the bogeyman waiting in the shadows to snatch me away if given the chance.

My parents had stepped a little outside the established System and therefore were at risk of being flagged by the ever-present menace. I knew this from a very young age and I was afraid.

As I grew up the fear lessened a little, especially once I was past the snatchable age of 18: but with the birth of my own children and the increase of CPS's overreach - and ability to gather information - that fear is back.

The only way I know to stop fearing this kind of enemy is to be aware of two things:

1.)The power of my allies (Ally, principally)

and

2.) The exact nature of the enemy

Here There Be Giants!

Goliath the giant was famously defeated by a young shepherd with a stone (and his own sword, but the stone put him down first). Most people know David the shepherd as a giant killer but overlook the reasons he succeeded. David didn't kill Goliath because he was a young Superman. He really was just a normal, slightly scrawny kid. But his Ally wasn't. David knew his Ally...and knew his enemy. He knew he didn't have to fight Goliath, but that God himself would defeat Goliath if anyone stepped forward with the faith that Goliath was God's enemy.

If we want to take out the CPS Goliath, we have to do the same. We need to know our enemy and we need to know what strength we have to overcome and defeat it.

As I've been reading Family Protection posts over the past few months, I've come to realize how little I actually know about the CPS Giant. I don't know how it was born, how it was raised or how it's fed. Like every monster, it has a weak point which could be used against it; but the only way you find that kind of weak point is to examine the beast carefully.

To regulate CPS (and other institutions like it worldwide), it's birth and maturity has to be understood. What philosophy underpins it's existence? What legislation brought it into being? What history went into it's acquisition of power? What funding holds it in place? What are the pillars keeping it from collapse? What alternatives are there to take over the legitimate work currently under it's oversight?

Whose Children Are They?

Richard Gelles, an American writer and socialist active on the college scene, wrote this in his revolting (and ironically-titled) "The Book of David: Preserving Families Can Cost Children's Lives":

"The essential first step in creating a safe world for children is to abandon the fantasy that child welfare agencies can balance the goals of protecting children and preserving families, adopting instead a child-centered policy of family services...The policy of family reunification and family preservation fails because it assumes all biological parents can become fit and acceptable parents if only appropriate and sufficient support is provided." (i.d. pg 148-50)

This kind of thinking is a nutshell of what families are up against in the fight to keep and raise their own children. It's the kind of thinking found in academia and seats of government across the world. It's the philosophical underpinning of the Child Protective System.

The Burning Question

How did people wanting to save children develop this destructive mindset?

That's what I want to find out. I believe the answer to that question holds the clue to how to stop this child-snatching monstrosity loose in our communities. It's the key to the weakness that could help us defend our families and save our children.

I want to assemble and present several posts detailing what I've discovered in my current research. It's just scratching the surface and I hope to learn more as I delve into different aspects, especially if others who have deeper knowledge chip in with experience and commentary. The strength of a Family Protection kind of community is to educate and strengthen each others' understanding.

Know the Enemy. Let's explore the history of the CPS giant and learn how to defeat it.