Dear yrand,
I am so sorry to hear that there are so many of us out here in Colorado. I also wrote letters. I included a picture of the little boy with each letter so that they would realize we are not talking about a used car. I sent copies of my letters to Judge Toth (division 4), the county attorney the Gaurdian Adlideum, the mothers attorney, as well as all the DHS caseworkers and supervisors. Are your two little girls placed with a child placement agency or are they in DHS? Here in El Paso county DHS no longer has foster homes. All of the children here, over 1000, are placed into for profits like Kids Resource Network. I have an attorney,Tom Beltz, 719-473-4444. Tom is recognized across the state for his expertise in Colorado Adoption Law. In fact judges call Tom when they need help interpurting law. Tom is good but expensive, $175.00 an hour. When you are battling money hungry idiots the hours add up real quick. Two weeks ago he worked on my case ten hours. We go to court Tuesday morning to hopefully put an end to this once and for all. Recently Linda Ellegard, owner of Kids Resource Network, demanded an independent homestudy be done as well as an observational visit with me and the child. I agreed to this with El Paso county. Susan Ficsher came out and did a second home study left here and recommended immediate placement with me. The county still wanted the visit to go just to shut Linda Ellegard up. When Linda found out about yet another favorable homestudy she refused to allow the visit saying that there is no court order.
Some days I don't know how much more of this I can take. Linda Ellegard got me fired from my job citing a conflict of interest between me and the child. I am a nurse who took care of the little guy. She even went as far as calling the board of nursing to have my license pooled for the same reason. The board found her to be ludicrous and threw the complaint out.
The best thing to do though is to hang in there. These kids really need us. If we give up we will allow these greedy people to destroy all of these childrens hopes and dreams. I use to wonder how something like Columbine could happen. Going through this process has shown me why we have so many angry children. These children truly feel unloved and for the most part as long as they are left in foster care they are.
Also the Gaurdian Adlideum, Ted Radakiowicz, drop by my house the other day. Didn't know he even new where I lived. Said he came for a visit, then kicked my dog (I'm serious). I took him to the family room and asked him to have a seat and still offered him something to drink, he said no and wanted to see the boys room, so I showed him and took him on a tour of the house. All he would say is "thats nice" or "neat" and he liked all the toys and the furniture in the living room. His "visit' lasted less than five minutes. Do you have any idea what thats all about?
Best of luck and thanks for giving me someone to talk to.
Stan Wright
heirstan@yahoo.com