the worker
worker walks up to another rez shack
to fill her apprehension quota
a baby cries inside
mother comes to the door
years of caring for others caught up to her
worker came for someone else
however
takes one look at the children
fed
unwashed
one soiled diaper
the living room is messy
mother tries to reason with the worker
no help
a cyst on her spine
doctor’s orders
the woman who has relentlessly tried to separate this family
conveniently there to take the older three
calls herself family
has assaulted her niece multiple times
children are ushered into the caravan
mother looks on
anonymity is never truly anonymous
the difference the initial contact could have made
asking
acknowledging the mother’s daily struggle
let the boys play
clean the mess long into the early hours of the morning
sleep
wake up to more mess
deepest fears realized
fears of losing children
no child care
lack of training
lack of validation
cannot trust
overnight “relief”
turns into two
continues onto three
now four
This poem was written in under one hour as required by one of my classes. This is 100% true and an issue that is ongoing. I type this as I have been awake for almost 24 hours, traveling to be with my family. So much isn’t adding up. When I called the worker, she stated that she apprehended by siblings because of the reasons stated above - the house was “messy”, and my siblings were “messy”. The original “anonymous” call wasn’t even about my mom, it was about my sister who was not there. While my mom was under instruction from a doctor to not do any strenuous.
The worker came by yesterday and changed the conditions of which my mom had to comply with to bring my brothers home, and has been asking her questions such as if she is depressed, inquiring about my brothers’ developmental milestones, etc., anything that would require children’s aid to open a case file.
My mom has seven boys - a 13-year old (my cousin), and the other boys are under the age of eight. Anyone who has any experience with children will tell you that kids make a mess - especially my brothers. I was home not even two weeks ago and the whole house was scrubbed top to bottom (I know because I scrubbed it). Unfortunately, because the worker showed up late in the evening, my mom hadn’t yet given them their nightly bath, and now they are separated with no contact with each other or us.
This could have such a drastically different outcome, one that did not include retraumatizing kids who have already had to deal with so much, one that did not include separation and isolation of children who have not been separated from their mother for four days and counting (something they have never experienced before). Placements with family should have been established first. Their father should have been contacted first, not 12 hours after the fact. Apprehension should be a last resort unless it is truly required in which this case it was absolutely not.
As someone who is studying social work, who moved 12 hours away from home to do so, the treatment of my family in this situation is appalling. And yes, you can be assured that I am damn well going to do everything in my power to fight this.
