Battered Woman Signs Away Rights To Parent

Going to write more about this later.

Met a woman who had her kids taken by CPS when she was being abused by her boyfriend and father of her children. Her older child was affected and she agrees she didn't know how to get out of the situation. She wasn't on drugs before, but AFTER CPS took her children, which were keeping her partially sane, she says she THEN used drugs and CPS used it against her. They then pressured her to sign her rights away, telling her she had no chance of getting them back anyway, and so she did. She was a battered woman with police reports and proof of the battering. Like many abused and battered women, she didn't know how to escape the cycle. It took time. Now she's clean and has been away from the guy for years. But she doesn't have her kids. She also says the PD person she had quit on her mid-case for maternity leave and she got someone brand new to dependency. I told her maybe she has a chance to appeal, given her condition and the pressure and possibly, ineffective counsel.

I'm going to check it out for her.

I think abused and battered woman's syndrome should be a mental diagnosis. Too many women are affected and then victimized twice. She was a victim, and then punished for being a victim, by the state. She should have had more time to heal and not been pressured to sign away her rights.