Child Protective Services is supposed to serve a public good. However, as Kathy Stratton relates, CPS saw Dollar signs when they took away 8 of her children.<\/p>\n
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Jack and Kathy Stratton were a bi-racial couple who bore 10 children during their marriage. Their life seems anachronistic by modern standards, with Jack handling the breadwinner responsibilities while his wife home-schooled their children. Together they raised most of the food they ate from their garden. <\/p>\n
In 2000, a theft of Jack’s earth mover forced him to shut down his contracting business, causing immediate financial hardship for the family. During this time period, CPS officials took advantage of Jack’s temporary absence from their home to seize custody of 8 children, acting under the pretense that because they were being home-schooled that they were not being given proper parental care. <\/p>\n
In hindsight, it seems apparent that CPS was motivated by financial incentives. Under the CPS program, state agencies receive a larger share of federal money if they are able to place mixed-race children, and the Stratton household represented an ideal opportunity to seize 8 children simultaneously.<\/p>\n
Jack Stratton passed away recently, and his widowed wife continues to fight for the right to overturn this unjust action and regain custody of her children.<\/p>\n