Conversation With Paul Glassen

I had a really good conversation with Paul, part of which I think Wenatchee CPS would like. He gave me some excellent advice: that my objective is to get my son back, not to reform CPS.

I got some good advice about where to go for a good attorney, too. There are some lawyers who are already familiar with Wenatchee. And, he said what my lawyer had done (just hearing a part of it) was absolutely improper and could be considered breach of confidentiality or whatever because he spoke to Wenatchee PD before talking to me about it, or asking if it was okay. I'm not going to write a complaint. I just want this Judge to acknowledge I should have a continuance.

Paul is very smart, very articulate. I was surprised to hear him talk. He speaks quickly and coherently--a quick thinker (not that one can't be quick and mull things over too). He said he didn't get his degree until he was 37 and then his Master's a year later, and encouraged me to finish my degree.

He also brought up police records, like database searches. When he spoke about how he found out there was all this stuff in his file, in the federal NCIC, he was surprised to find he had been labled 30 years earlier as a peace activist and they still kept that record on him. "The federal government has a long memory," he said. He had been an activist against Vietnam. He was also in the Peace Corp.

He worked at Wenatchee CPS as a mental health counselor. And then when he relocated, as a refugee from Wenatchee, to Canada, he worked in mental health. He's been doing it for decades. And he told me, without my asking his opinion, "Don't tell, but you are NOT mentally ill," and then he said, "If I would assign you with anything, I'd say you're suffering from an Adjustment Disorder. Adjustment Disorder is a short term disorder that is based on real and traumatic events and psychosocial stressors. You had your son taken away, your lawyer isn't working out, your family is..." and he listed some things and said, "You are responding normally to extreme and severe stress, and I might add, you're holding up very well. You are stronger than most people in your position would be. Yes, you have reactions but they are consistent and normal for the type of trauma. I would say you WOULD be mentally ill if you didn't react." So I got an evaluation from a licensed counselor, without asking for one. He just offered it after we'd been talking for over an hour and after reading my emails. He's worked with mentally ill for decades, on a daily basis.

He said it was strange that the ER staff in Wenatchee had 2 different mental health people try to "admit you" (both of them said I wasn't admissable but that they were getting heavy pressure from the ER). He said he worked in that position in Wenatchee, and that they don't admit, they can only make recommendations. He also said a doctor is free to admit of his own accord (I'm guessing he probably didn't because he knew he could be sued by me later).

He agrees I need change of venue and that it shouldn't be that difficult, especially since I've established myself in Blaine/Birch Bay and have contacts, connections, and a job over here. The lawyers he recommended are competent enough to get change of venue. That is first on my list!

He gave some information about his case and things he'd seen. One thing I want to write about is something he heard and knows about Wenatchee mental health evaluations. I'll add to this post tomorrow or later.

Oh, and Paul is Jewish. At this point in my life, if I went to any church, of my own choosing, I'd go to a synogogue, or a black full-gospel church with a swinging choir. I couldn't be Jewish, because I do believe in Jesus, but I like and feel more comfortable with the culture than with some of the other stuff I've been around.