By accessing this site, you agree to our terms
Recommended links:
American Family Advocacy Center Blog
Sage Wisdom Press - books and more for anyone seeking information about child welfare
Legal Resources - for attorneys only, parents not allowed
Family Advocate Consumer Advisory - exposing harmful advocates
Recommended links:
American Family Advocacy Center Blog
Sage Wisdom Press - books and more for anyone seeking information about child welfare
Legal Resources - for attorneys only, parents not allowed
Family Advocate Consumer Advisory - exposing harmful advocates
The Mighty Pen
If you don't know your rights, you have no rights.
If you know your rights and the court won't enforce your rights, you have no rights.
The Pen is Mightier Than the Gavel blog.
If you know your rights and the court won't enforce your rights, you have no rights.
The Pen is Mightier Than the Gavel blog.
FRAI Project
Click to join FamilyRightsAdvocacy IMPROVEMENT Project
discussion of the practice of Family Advocacy.Archives are open to the public.
Amazon search
Donate
Maintaining the free flow of information costs money. Please support AFAC with your generous donation.
Website Design
Includes hosting, design and updates. Pricing varies according to your individual needs. More Information contact.
Website Hosting
Website hosting, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited storage as low as $2.95/month.
Payloadz
Support Us
Thank you for visiting American Family Advocacy Center. We would like to make our information available at little or no cost to families, and we need your help to do that. Please show your support for our work with your generous donation or by using our links for your online shopping.
We take our copyright very seriously.
Internet Archive v. Shell Settlement Announced
Denver, CO April 25, 2007. . .More
Shell v. AFRA, CPS Watch, et al
Copyright Infringement blog
Internet Archive v. Shell Settlement Announced
Denver, CO April 25, 2007. . .More
Shell v. AFRA, CPS Watch, et al
Copyright Infringement blog
Petition for Investigation into Child Welfare Agency
Visitation Guidelines for Parents with Children in Foster Care
General Guidelines of the CPS Process in Dependency Court
Establishing a Baseline of Your Child's Condition Before He is Seized by the State
An Analysis of Actual Practice in Child Dependency Cases
A Comparative Analysis of the Nazi Lebensborn Programs and Contemporary American Child Welfare
Companion Chart to Comparative Analysis of Nazi Lebensborn Program
Protecting Your Family's Privacy in General and in the Public School Setting
Objection to Closed Court Hearing
What happens when the court orders you to leave a child welfare hearing? You have the right to object to that order. This document provides the arguments.
Objection to Closed Hearing
Objection to Closed Hearing
Audio/Video Recording in CPS Case
Arguments that stopped Termination of Parental Rights
First Amendment and some Fifth Amendment arguments that stopped the petition for Termination of Parental rights dead in its tracks. The judge read this document and told the mother ‘you choose between your husband and your son. Because if you choose your husband, you’ll never seen your son again.’ Four weeks later the boy was back home and the case was closed - no comments given by DHHS or the court. Strange? Not really, the judge absolutely could not rule on the questions in the motion, so he capitulated and ordered the department (behind closed doors) to make sure he didn’t have to respond to the motion. No official ruling, but if you have your child, you win. This document is several years old, and the law may have changed.
Comments: there are some analytical errors in this document, some arguments that are not on target. We do not recommend using this in your case as presented here. However, we feel it is a valuable sample of how to present targeted arguments to the court without being antagonistic or uncooperative.
Challenge to Case Plan That Resulted in Reunification
Comments: there are some analytical errors in this document, some arguments that are not on target. We do not recommend using this in your case as presented here. However, we feel it is a valuable sample of how to present targeted arguments to the court without being antagonistic or uncooperative.
Challenge to Case Plan That Resulted in Reunification
Objection to Court Appointed Counsel for conflict of interest
Objection to Court Appointed counsel paid under contract where contract fees are far below reasonable and customary fees. Colorado lawyers are only paid $750 for 2 years of representation for a respondent parent.
Under the existing scheme in Colorado, court appointed counsel must also refund part of the fee if the case is resolved prior to the adjudication phase. If they can extend the adjudication beyond the statutory sixty days, they get to keep the entire fee. This often results in the attorney seeking or agreeing to continuances, especially if the parent demands a contested adjudicatory hearing. Court appointed counsel are not paid enough to properly prepare and vigorously represent the parent's legal interests at the adjudicatory hearing, and will pressure the parent to admit to the petition, thereby eliminating the need for the trial. Then, if court-appointed counsel can delay the resolution of the case until the permanency planning phase, and the agency files a petition for termination of parental rights, court-appointed counsel receives another $700+ to represent the parent during the termination phase.
This scheme provides significant financial disincentives to properly represent the legal interest of the parents vigorously or effectively. Oh, the Guardians ad litem operate under similar financial disincentives. Is it any wonder less that one tenth of one percent of these cases ever go to adjudicatory hearings?
Objection to Court-Appointed Attorney Under Contract Scheme
Under the existing scheme in Colorado, court appointed counsel must also refund part of the fee if the case is resolved prior to the adjudication phase. If they can extend the adjudication beyond the statutory sixty days, they get to keep the entire fee. This often results in the attorney seeking or agreeing to continuances, especially if the parent demands a contested adjudicatory hearing. Court appointed counsel are not paid enough to properly prepare and vigorously represent the parent's legal interests at the adjudicatory hearing, and will pressure the parent to admit to the petition, thereby eliminating the need for the trial. Then, if court-appointed counsel can delay the resolution of the case until the permanency planning phase, and the agency files a petition for termination of parental rights, court-appointed counsel receives another $700+ to represent the parent during the termination phase.
This scheme provides significant financial disincentives to properly represent the legal interest of the parents vigorously or effectively. Oh, the Guardians ad litem operate under similar financial disincentives. Is it any wonder less that one tenth of one percent of these cases ever go to adjudicatory hearings?
Objection to Court-Appointed Attorney Under Contract Scheme
AFAC Director's statement before Arizona legislative committee
Important Notice about using this site
EMAIL THE AMERICAN FAMILY ADVOCACY CENTER *** Our client lists are confidential. Please do not ask who disclosed certain information to AFAC. This information is not available to the public and will be vigorously guarded from disclosure to protect those clients whose children remain at risk of state-sanctioned kidnaping of their children.
Information included on these pages is not legal advice, we are not attorneys. You are advised to consult with an attorney on any legal matters.
Any legal documents on this site were prepared and/or drafted by attorneys or under the supervision of an attorney, or by pro se respondent parents and/or subject children and are published here with their permission. Any phone calls or other oral communications with our staff may be recorded at our discretion. Any person engaging in conversation with any of our staff is presumed to have given express consent to be recorded. ALL MATERIAL ON THESE PAGES IS COPYRIGHT 1996-2011 SUZANNE SHELL reproduction without written permission is prohibited.
Information included on these pages is not legal advice, we are not attorneys. You are advised to consult with an attorney on any legal matters.
Any legal documents on this site were prepared and/or drafted by attorneys or under the supervision of an attorney, or by pro se respondent parents and/or subject children and are published here with their permission. Any phone calls or other oral communications with our staff may be recorded at our discretion. Any person engaging in conversation with any of our staff is presumed to have given express consent to be recorded. ALL MATERIAL ON THESE PAGES IS COPYRIGHT 1996-2011 SUZANNE SHELL reproduction without written permission is prohibited.
If you copy, you are entering into a contract
IF YOU COPY OR DISTRIBUTE ANYTHING ON THIS WEB SITE, YOU ARE ENTERING INTO A CONTRACT. You agree that the act of copying, as defined in the terms, whether you prepay any fees or not, constitutes your express intent to enter into a contract with the copyright owner as defined in COPYRIGHT NOTICE & TERMS (READ BEFORE ACCESSING THIS WEB SITE) - Copyright 1996- 2011, Suzanne Shell and individual contributors where appropriate. The content if this web site is intended to generate income, it is not free if you intend to archive, copy, print, distribute or create a derivative work of anything electronically fixed herein. Simply put, read, browse, learn freely. Copy, print, save, or distribute - get permission first or pay.
Reproduction and distribution prohibited without permission. This web site is licensed to be viewed on a computer device only while connected on the Internet connected to this web site. This license expressly does not include off-line viewing of content. Permission and limited, non-exclusive license to reproduce this web site, by any method including but not limited to magnetically, digitally, electronically or hard copy, may be purchased for $5,000 (five thousand dollars) per printed hard copy page per copy, in advance of printing. We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, check, money order or cash. WE DO NOT ACCEPT GOVERNMENT PO’S - this fee schedule applies to the general public and particularly to any state agency, employee, contractor, GAL, attorney or CPS service provider or any person listed on the Consumer Advisory. CPS agencies and associates and our competitors have found this site to be extremely valuable, preferring the contents of this site to any other site. Hence, the premium price. Family Rights activists or advocates may obtain reduction or waiver of license fees upon request. License and permission s expressly denied for any use in a court case or official proceeding without express written permission and prepayment of posted fees or fee waiver.
Reproduction and distribution prohibited without permission. This web site is licensed to be viewed on a computer device only while connected on the Internet connected to this web site. This license expressly does not include off-line viewing of content. Permission and limited, non-exclusive license to reproduce this web site, by any method including but not limited to magnetically, digitally, electronically or hard copy, may be purchased for $5,000 (five thousand dollars) per printed hard copy page per copy, in advance of printing. We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, check, money order or cash. WE DO NOT ACCEPT GOVERNMENT PO’S - this fee schedule applies to the general public and particularly to any state agency, employee, contractor, GAL, attorney or CPS service provider or any person listed on the Consumer Advisory. CPS agencies and associates and our competitors have found this site to be extremely valuable, preferring the contents of this site to any other site. Hence, the premium price. Family Rights activists or advocates may obtain reduction or waiver of license fees upon request. License and permission s expressly denied for any use in a court case or official proceeding without express written permission and prepayment of posted fees or fee waiver.
Purchases through Payloadz, Scribd, etc.
All online purchases through Payloadz (tm) or Scribd or any other resource are nonrefundable. In the case of a dispute involving a purchase, the purchaser agrees that the record of electronic delivery generated by the online document delivery service shall constitute incontrovertible proof that the item charged was delivered to an authorized user of the credit card or online payment service account. If the card owner contests the charge and the document was delivered and we are charged fees for a charge back, cardholder agrees to pay to us the amount of the purchase plus $50 or double the purchase price, whichever is greater, upon demand.
Forum selection clause
Anyone visiting this site or copying any content belonging to the copyright owner consents to jurisdiction and venue remaining in El Paso County, Colorado, or the United States District Court, District of Colorado, at the sole discretion of the copyright owner. This web site is registered with the United States Copyright Office.