In Defense of My Daughter: Based on Actual Events

By James DeBarros

Another day in the Sacramento County Juvenile Hall health clinic. Michelle walked in, eyes wide open, long dirty-blonde hair pulled back, and county-issued white T-shirt with blue pants two sizes too large. At 15, she was a veteran of the foster care system and determined to get out.

Like many kids in trouble, Michelle didn't really understand how serious her problems were. Over six years of being moved from one foster home to the next, she'd developed dangerous coping behaviors sexual activity, alcohol and drug use, and running away. With her self- esteem virtually nonexistent, she was desperately alone in the world and oblivious to risk. She was ready to do almost anything to avoid being placed in yet another group home. Could she be saved from herself until she became mature enough to understand and think responsibly about her life?

This is the story of what happened when the author, the registered nurse who saw Michelle in the clinic that day-a happily married man with two children of his own-stepped in to try to help. He and his wife hoped to become the last in Michelle's string of foster parents. In the three-way tug of war that ensued, the author contended for months with Child Protective Services, encountering numerous delays, bureaucratic hurdles, outright incompetence, and even a cover-up at juvenile hall. At the same time he had to try to protect Michelle from herself as she engaged in her own misguided struggle for "freedom" from CPS.

What started out as the author's desire to help a teen in trouble eventually progressed to fighting for his job, his integrity, his ethics, and his reputation. Was the system more concerned with self-preservation, procedures, and protecting its own than with the children it was supposed to care for?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Feb 19, 2007
• ISBN: 9781425196738

James DeBarros

James, a Registered Nurse and father of two shares his experiences with the Foster Care system and a 15-year-old girl. James has over 20 years experience in the Health Care field and holds a Bachelor's degree in Clinical Psychology from Florida State University, as well as a Nursing degree from Hillsborough Community College. This is James' first book to be published.

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© Copyright 2006 James DeBarros.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

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Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Epilogue

Appendixes

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

Appendix D

Appendix E

Appendix F

Dedication

To my biological son and daughter whom I cherish and to all those children who have touched my heart with their spirit and courage. You are all very special and beautiful. Walk tall and be proud; don’t let them bring you down.

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank my wife of 22 years, Barbara, for loving me, having trust in me, and having the compassion and understanding required to stand by my side throughout this ordeal. Special thanks to my daughter Stephanie, for her wonderful creative genius in helping design this book. Truly a special person, she never felt jealous and realized that my love for her was not diminished in any way by my desire to help a teen in crisis.

Foreword

When I first saw Michelle in the clinic it was obvious to me that we clicked or connected in some way, but I had no idea how meeting her would affect my life.

In the past year and a half since I met Michelle, I was forced to undergo a lot of soul searching and had to reevaluate what was important in my life. I had to decide how important it was to me to do the right thing in the face of adversity. What started out as a desire to help a teen in trouble quickly progressed to fighting for my job, my integrity, my ethics, and my reputation. My struggle eventually encompassed not only a 15-year-old girl’s life but the daunting and unasked-for role of potentially protecting hundreds of teens at great risk to myself, my livelihood, my family, and to an extent even my health.

Michelle and I came close to becoming part of a happy, stable, and healthy family. Unfortunately we did not have the chance to fulfill that possibility. The cold hard reality of the foster care system and the unethical, uncaring, and dishonest people that give CPS a bad name throughout the United States came crashing down on us. The stereotypical picture of incompetence and corruption so often seen throughout the nation is very clear and present in California.

I am sure some readers of this book have had good experiences and good outcomes in dealing with CPS, and I am very happy for them and relieved that such cases exist. But one only has to run an Internet search for foster care to see numerous sites established by caring and well-intentioned Americans unhappy with CPS in almost every state. Many sites were even founded by former foster kids who as adults have decided to not turn their backs on today’s children in the system.

In Sacramento, the capital city of the most populous state in the nation, the Juvenile Hall’s medical resources are under the Department of Health and Human Services with the following mission statement:

We deliver health, social and mental health services to the Sacramento community. We direct resources toward creative strategies and programs, which prevent problems, improve well being, and increase access to services for individuals and families.

To further our mission, we seek close working relationships among staff, with other government offices, and within the community. (www.sacdhhs.com)

Yet those responsible for fulfilling this mission can condone and turn a blind eye to unethical and unforgivable behaviors on the part of an employee and subsequent cover-up by other county employees and supervisors.

It’s something that I hide

Behind these broken eyes

Lays the truth for these bastard malefactors

Who broke my will and left me to die

I cried every time

I watched these paths go by

Which one will lead me home

For the shredded papers that held these ties

To the only family I’ve ever known

Someone please fight for me

Please give me a room to call my own

Hold the hands of one left behind

I plead for a life for my soul

Thrown from door to door

Somewhere they were lost

What it was I was searching for

Abandoned in this child’s prison

Bars branded in trials of lies

The six-year tribulation scars my life

Obliterate the watermarked lines

One more cry just becomes a memory

This isn’t how it’s supposed to be

This wasn’t supposed to be for me

Chapter 1

Another day working as a registered nurse in Sacramento County Juvenile Hall, October 20, 2003. Michelle walked in, eyes wide open, long dirty blonde hair pulled back, and county-issued white T-shirt with blue pants two sizes too large. Speaking noticeably fast and with the expected hyperactivity of a kid still on the effects of crank, she said, I’m freaking out, man, I think I’m pregnant. I have to be tested. Can you test me?

Sure, I said, but first tell me why you think you’re pregnant.

I’ve been on the run for seven months and having sex with my boyfriend. He’s here too, do you know Justin Hall?

Shaking her head and pulling at her hair, she eagerly waited for a reply. No, I don’t, I said, knowing full well that I had just medicated him an hour before for a STD (sexually transmitted disease).

I know that mother-fucker’s here, he gave me a disease. Why did I ever sleep with him? He screwed around and gave me some damn disease and now I’m probably pregnant too.

As I was preparing the consent form I told Michelle how precious she really was and that if she knew and believed that, she wouldn’t be doing those hurtful things to