Why do you need Child Protect Service…?

In counseling today, a woman shared her story with me, full of anger. The Child Protection Service, which believed a report of abuse of a child in the past, took the child into their care without any evidence of abuse and did not return the child to the parents, although they allowed them to visit the child.

She had recently given birth at a university hospital, but the doctor at the hospital had close ties to the Child Protection Service and relied on the judgment of the CPS that the child was likely to be abused. He did not listen to her arguments at all and informed her that the baby would be protected in a facility after discharge. She also told me that she was not allowed to nurse or hold her child for about a month after birth to prevent her from becoming attached to her baby.

She had been taking counseling from me often, had been getting support from me when she was anxious or struggling, and had been working for the past few years without any problems. From my point of view, there is nothing wrong with her.

No matter how you look at it, the university hospital and CPS decision was wrong. It is more than inappropriate, it is a severe violation of human rights. After she was discharged from the hospital, she consulted with various people and approached the hospital through proper channels, and was able to be transferred to another hospital. Her regular visits to the hospital and the child’s treatment are now at a new hospital. She was able to get that hospital to work with her previous hospital and CPS, and we are relieved to know that there is almost no chance of CPS taking the baby.

Yesterday, she went to her previous hospital for her last errand and the doctors, nurses, midwives, etc. threw horrible words that could be considered swearing at her. She shared her hurt and anger with me in the counseling session.

Of course, I don’t think that the doctors and nurses at the hospital are bad people, but if their interests are aligned with those of the CPS, they will support the CPS’s decision and use that story to prejudice and control the individuals. They may even have good intentions, assuming that they are right and that parents who don’t follow their guidance must be abusive.

What I advised her was that when talking to such stupid experts, it would be better to be calm and gentle, listen to what they say with a smile on your face and never get emotional, and then reply that you will make a decision after consulting with various people. If you argue too much or say yes, you may end up being used as a reason to get your child taken away.

In fact, once when she was hurt and in tears by the doctor’s unkind words, the doctor told her that she had not yet recovered from her manic depression. It is easy to distort, fabricate, and pathologize any words or actions. It is impossible for the individual to remove the label.

Parents who are easy to be labeled and easy to take their children from… unstable, divorced, with no relatives to rely on, unable to keep a job, isolated from the people around them… such parents are seen as high-risk cases and as potential abusers.

If there is a report from the neighbors, CPS will intervene and take the child away under the guise of protecting the child for some reason. I think it is natural for parents who have their children taken away to be angry, sad, and noisy.

I don’t know why this is happening… Really. The same thing is happening in domestic violence and psychiatry, but in the end, it is all about money and the defense of interests in the name of support.

The public is manipulated by the media and is rarely informed about the facts. The media will not report anything that goes against the wishes of the pharmaceutical industry or the government. It’s only when you become a victim that you realize the absurdity of the situation, but the media won’t cover the voices of those people, and even if you try to argue on your own, you’ll just be treated as an abnormal person making a noise.

And…the black darkness is swirling again with the story of the Meguro case where a child was killed. Don’t be misled, everyone.

Abuse has been decreasing for the last half century and has not increased in the last decade or so. And yet, because of the effects of the campaign, the number of reports and consultations has increased dramatically… This may be considered a trick.

What is needed to prevent abuse is not reporting, but warm and casual support from the neighborhood. The best way to prevent abuse is not to isolate parents who have lost their time and energy in raising their children.