This is My Story

My son, Zachary, was killed October 8, 1996. At that time I went to jail for a minor probation violation and depended on my sister who offered to take care of my children while I paid my debt to society. I was so relieved to have a family member care for them - if you can't trust your own family then who can you trust?

Now I refer to my sister as NG. After Zachary was murdered by his aunt and her boyfriend, I can no longer bear to think of her as my sister.

When I spoke with a worker at the Department of Social Services, they agreed the children remaining with NG was a good idea. Knowing my children were safe and well cared for would reduce my worry while I was away. Little did I know my children were not going to be okay.

I had no indication there was any problem with the care my children were receiving until the middle of July. Suddenly, NG had her telephone number changed and she refused to answer any of my letters. I was immediately alarmed, I could not speak with my children and verify how they were or if they needed anything, and in the facility where I was placed phone calls were limited in many ways.

Jessica, my oldest daughter, would have her birthday on August 1st. I took a chance that NG would let her visit her dad. I called my ex husband's house hoping Jessica would be there and indeed she was visiting with her dad when I called. When I started speaking with Jessica she told me some horrible things. She told me that NG and her boyfriend were abusing my 4 year old twins. When she told me this I almost went crazy. Jessica wanted me to promise her that I wouldn't tell anybody about the abuse - she was afraid NG would hurt her for telling.

I was not immediately sure what to do so I placed a call to the
Rockingham County Department of Social Services and talked with the Child Protection Services Unit. I will now refer to them as CP$ (the $ sign reflects the money they make from having children in Foster Care). Despite taking a whole day, I finally managed to get in touch with a CP$ worker named Martha Woodleif. I disclosed the details of abuse as Jessica had earlier told me. I pleaded with her to go to NG's house and remove my children from their care - I even suggested she place them in foster care - anything - so my children would be safe.

I want everyone to know when NG started watching my children I
never signed any papers giving her custody. I still had legal custody of my
children. The CP$ worker, Martha Woodleif, told me, "Who do you think you are? You can't run a household from prison." I told her, "I am a mother who is concerned my children are being harmed. I have firsthand information detailing my children are being abused." I finally convinced her to go to NG's house to check on my children. I told her I would call her on Monday to get her report as our conversation took place on a Friday afternoon. The hell of incarceration was nothing compared to the hell of worrying about the safety of my children - I didn't sleep or eat, I could not escape the torturous thoughts of my children being hurt.

When I returned from my work assignment Monday afternoon I Immediately called Martha Woodlief to get a report of her visit. She told me she had gone to see my children and they were okay. I specifically asked her if she had talked to them alone and she said, "Yes." I asked her if she had looked
under their clothes for bruises and she again said, "Yes." She also said she had talked with neighbors to determine if they had seen or heard anything unusual. I later found out everything she reported to me was a complete and utter lie.

October 7, 1996 I was lying in my bed at the prison when I was called over the intercom to the control office. When I arrived I knew something was wrong. The officers were looking at me with the strangest look on their faces.The Sergeant was on the phone with someone. She motioned for me to sit down. When she hung up she informed me my son was in Baptist Hospital in critical condition. She said that he had been severely beaten and it didn't look like he was going to make it. I don't remember what I did - it was all a blur. Someone later told me that I screamed and the Sergeant grabbed me telling me to calm down or she would have to send me to Mental Health which would keep me from going to see my son. I am still grateful and owe her the deepest debt of gratitude for her help that day.

Two officers took me to the hospital that was over 3 hours away. When I arrived I saw something I will never be able to forget - my beautiful, blonde haired, blue eyed, little boy was lying on a bed covered in bruises. I ran to him and tried to talk to him but he didn't respond. I asked the nurse would he be okay, she told me, "No, he's not going to make it." I fainted. One of the officers caught me and helped me into a chair. She told the nurse that I had just arrived and I was Zachary's mother. The nurse apologized saying she thought I knew Zachary was terminal. I stayed beside Zachary all that day and night. The next day the doctors came and informed me they had done all the appropriate tests;Zachary was not going to make it - they told me my child was brain dead.

Many people have asked how I made it through this interval of
my life; how I came through this ordeal and still remained sane.
My only answer: "God."

God was there as I held my child, then as they unhooked the respirator, Zachary died in my arms.

At that moment I committed myself to fighting CP$. They should have intervened for Zachary. They should have interceded when I called them in August, two months previous. After Zachary's death, and in their infinite wisdom, they placed Zachary's twin, Heather, in foster-care. She was placed in custody of the same county CP$ division which had failed to properly investigate and accurately report their findings, and had further failed in their fiduciary duty of saving a little boy.

To this day, four years later, I have been fighting this agency
to regain custody of my daughter and have her return home to her mother and
sisters. I have been found, by a judge in a court of law, to be a "fit" parent. I have done everything and more which CP$ suggested I do in order to have Heather come home - they still refuse to return my daughter to her family.

Despite paying my debt to society, being happily remarried and living in a nice home, Heather remains in foster care. The latest excuse offered for keeping Heather from her home and family is that Heather has bonded to the
foster care givers and it wouldn't be in her best interest to be taken from them. This, from the same group of people who earlier lied to me and failed to carry out their primary function of rescuing a child in harm's way.

Heather lived happily with her sister's, brother and I until she was four. I
maintain regular visits with her. Heather, now 9, knows I am her mama and knows her sisters. In fact, for a time, she even came home for visits. By the way,despite themselves, CP$ returned her older sisters to our home. Heather calls her foster care givers by their first names. She calls me mama or mommy.

Now CP$ wants to terminate my parental rights. How can this be in Heather's best interest? Losing a twin is especially tragic, but compounding
the loss by completely removing Heather from her natural family assails all
compassion, decency and humanity. I am fighting CP$ not just because I love and miss my daughter, but for her emotional well-being and all the other Zacharys' who may have their voices go unheard.

My struggle is not limited to NC, but everywhere in the United States where children are unreasonably kept from their parents. There are children being removed from their homes on a daily basis.

Some excuses for family division include:Spanking.Having a level of cleanliness of the home or the child that does not meet the standard of the "social-wrecker" on that day. Using alternative health such as herbs and acupuncture (even though it is overseen by MD's).

The unjust and arbitrary division of families by overzealous and poorly trained social workers' utterly needs to stop.