I’m sorry that happened to you and your kid. Tell your story to the writers here. The stories reported here are just not clear cut. I believe you and stories like your need to be told. It’s just troubling that the stories they have feature so far are not convincing.   

I know I’m meant to be horrified by this government overreach, but sofar I haven’t read a story in which I would want the officials to act substantially differently. Could they be nicer? Sure. But do you really want an official investigating a baby with an unexplainable skull fracture to drop it? “Oh well! This 7…

The top story is the first one in this entire series that didn’t nauseate me and make me feel like we were supposed to sympathize with child abuse.

Agreed. In another comment, she says that the reason they don’t have a housekeeper is because the husband freaks out if anyone moves his stuff.

She also changed her story...first it was THE LITTER BOX IS CLEAN ALL THE TIME then it was IT’S NOT CLEAN CAUSE HUSBAND IS A SELFISH JACKASS. So... which is it?

I don’t want to pile on this lady, but I just gotta say: if asking her husband to clean the litter box while she’s freaking pregnant elicits anything other than “of course dear”, let alone a fight, then there are problems. She can’t do it, it needs to be done, he’s the only other person available. This does not bode…

Froggyfriendly, we are not hating on you- or at least most if us aren’t-but most of us are women and probably mothers and we know that if you think you can’t get on top of this cleaning situation now, it will be twice as bad when you’re taking care of a baby and cleaning up while trying to also keep it safe. Being…

Which calls were bullshit? The harassment calls that she doesn’t explain, or the one where a court-mandated reporter called CPS because she didn’t like the way her boyfriend reprimanded her child?

Yeah, nurses are mandated reporters. If they called CPS it was because there was evidence of abuse.

What’s worse is that she doesn’t seem to get that the scenario was likely more severe than she describes. To her, she’s just a victim.

When I read

Right. And there appears to be a lot of missing information in the story as well. SO I am going to guess there was other action before removal but mom conveniently forgot that bit. (like, as other posters have pointed out, no judge would ever tell someone to plead guilty, so there is a lot of side eye going on here)

Did you miss the part where there had already been several investigations BEFORE they took the children away? They didn’t just jump to removal.

“The cat pees in the bathroom sink a lot”

I remember that NYT story! And you’re exactly right: that bias does exist, I’ve seen it. But these are NOT the stories they should be choosing to showcase that bias.

Exactly. Messy is a pile of clothes on the floor or toys not put away. Dirty (weeks old) dishes, animal waste, and literal garbage everywhere...that’s beyond messy.

There is definitely a line between messy and hazardous. It’s not totally clear from the story how messy the house is... It says that cps came in and saw garbage and flies. Was the garbage stacks of old newspapers laying around or was it rotting food? Was it bagged up and contained properly or was it strewn about? Were…

The NYT had a fantastic story about CPS and their “Jane Crow” bias against poor minority mothers. That story did a good job of finding black women who had their kids taken away for things like having a little pot on them when they are with their kids or a little kid getting outside on their own-things that happen all…

No thanks, I’m good.

You know what? I’m perfectly fine with the fact that people who have been convicted of neglect can’t get jobs caring for children and the elderly.