[tahiti]

"Police were called to the home in the 2400 block of 17th Avenue on Feb. 4, the day after the mother left."

I am sure that the person who made this call was "feeling" pretty good about themselves that they had done the "right" thing.

The fact that the children are no removed from their biological mother's care and are now in the "state" foster care program, this disruption in their lives is more harmful then being taken care of by your older sister while your mother is gone.

If the "dogooder" really wanted to help, why did they not spend an hour or two in the evening feeding and supervising the children to make sure they were safe and taken care of.

Oh, but that might take some effort.

Instead call the cold, sterile "state" to come in and make things worse.

Good call.

[AppyPappy]

If the "dogooder" really wanted to help, why did they not spend an hour or two in the evening feeding and supervising the children to make sure they were safe and taken care of.

Oh now there's a good idea. And if anything happens, the mother can SUE them.

[TontoKowalski]

Well, I don't generally act as advocate for the nanny-state, but sometimes action is called for. The children are being ripped from the loving arms of a mother who voluntarily zipped off on an Italian holiday with her boyfriend, leaving her 15 year old daughter solely responsible for herself and 5 preteens.

As has been said, this isn't like she went off for a date, or even an overnight trip. Two weeks. One 15-y-o girl totally responsible for the care and feeding of those children. Meals, bathtime, washing clothes, cleaning up, getting off to school, emergency medical care, on and on. Not to mention the dangers she left them open to.

That just isn't right, and if I had lived next door to this crap, I would have called it in, too.

[Tennessee_Bob]

Here's a better question - why didn't the mother make arrangements with neighbors for taking care of the kids - seems a responsible parent would do that.

[A. Pole]

I am sure that the person who made this call was "feeling" pretty good about themselves that they had done the "right" thing.

Such dogooders are in every society, no Hitler or Stalin could do without them.

[MEGoody]

"The fact that the children are no removed from their biological mother's care"

Uh, but they weren't IN her care. She was in Italy.

[MEGoody]

"If the "dogooder" really wanted to help, why did they not spend an hour or two in the evening feeding and supervising the children to make sure they were safe and taken care of."

And get sued for some stupid reason. Right.

[Publius6961]

Oh, but that might take some effort.

And what planet did you just arrive from?

Sure, that will work; insinuate yourself into a stranger's family because you have an IQ of 12, meant well, and are a terminal busybody-controlling twit!

[cpprfld]

I would have a very difficult time trusting a 15 year old to watch my children for two weeks. This an inrresponsible and selfish act by the mother. So yes, the government should step in and take the kids.

[and the horse you rode in on]

If the "dogooder" really wanted to help, why did they not spend an hour or two in the evening feeding and supervising the children to make sure they were safe and taken care of.

Because these days you can probably get arrested for doing that. You will certainly be sued by someone.

[GovernmentShrinker]

It's pretty tough to have the children "removed from their biological mother's care" when the mother has already removed herself to the other side of the Atlantic. And sending them to dad wasn't an option either, since he's already gotten himself under a restraining order regarding contact with them. And I can't help but wonder whether the 15 year old was actually caring for the younger kids, or leaving them to their own devices while she frolicked with her boyfriend.

I save my vitriolic tirades against CPS for cases where the parents are around to object to the removal. It sounds as if this "mother" still doesn't know that her kids have been split up and sent off to two different foster homes. If she cared, she'd know. I wonder how those promised daily e-mail communications between mom and eldest daughter are managing to skip over that little detail.