Not an unfit mama!

by Olivia Colt/Race, Poverty and Media Justice Intern

Soft-spoken and determined, Lisa Washington is a loving mother of two and a devout follower of her faith. Like almost all mothers, her eyes brighten with the mention of her two sons, Franshat and Daylan, but the light goes out quickly and a dark cloud covers her eyes. Her expressive face crumbles with grief when she talks about losing her children.

Lisa is a victim of Child Protective Services (C.P.S.). She is just one of so many whose families have been torn apart by the C.P.S. system. Lisa hasn’t seen her eldest child, Franshat, in four years and is only allowed bi-weekend visits with her younger son, Daylan.

“I lost my children and was refused legal council because of my religious beliefs,” Lisa stated clearly and unapologetically in POOR Magazine’s Community Newsroom, where she had come to share her five year struggle with C.P.S. Lisa is a Jehovah’s Witness and has experienced severe religious discrimination firsthand in a country that claims to give all people the freedom to practice and exercise their own religious beliefs, as well as denounces and makes illegal discrimination of any kind based on religious beliefs.

As I sat listening to her painful story, I thought about my three cousins, Shaleena, Joseph, and Diamond. They are my Uncle Jackie’s children and live near Tacoma, Washington with their mother Ingrid. I saw them this past Easter holiday when I went to visit family in San Diego. Unlike the rest of my very Catholic family, these three cousins are Jehovah Witnesses, and like Lisa have struggled with discrimination and persecution for their religious beliefs.

Lisa’s personal struggle with discrimination and C.P.S. began on March 11, 2002 when Alameda County took custody of Franshat, placing him in foster care, due to a disciplinary action by Lisa: she pulled his ear. My parents have disciplined me very similarly while growing up—spanking, ear pulling, wooden spoons, and one of the most memorable: my mom took off her shoe and threw it at my head. I look back on these instances in my life and cannot imagine being separated from my mother for these occurrences; I misbehaved, therefore I was punished. Lisa acted in a way no different than most parents do. This does not make her a bad parent, an ill-fit parent, or any of the other labels widely overused by C.P.S. to rope in more children, more money, and break more homes.

Ripping a family apart detracts from the mission and stated goals of C.P.S., which are to “provide specialized welfare services that seek to prevent dependency, abuse and neglect of children.” They also seek to provide services that will stabilize families in crisis and preserve the family unit. Inherently, the original purpose of C.P.S. was respectable, pulling children out of homes where there is extensive physical, emotional, and mental abuse. However, as C.P.S. has grown, greedy and self-serving people have found a very lucrative and easy way to access a tremendous amount of money. FightCPS.com stated that in 2003 alone, bounty payments for adoption in 44 states and territories amounted to $17,896,000.00.

Lisa is not an unfit parent. She is a hard working woman who loves her children. He ex-husband even testified to that extent during a custody hearing in 2003 regarding the fate of her younger son’s custody. In fact Claiborne Sibley defended his ex-wife, until the council representing their children shushed him. Lisa has also willing undergone psychological and psychiatric evaluations and examinations to prove her sound mental and emotional health.

Over the last 4 years of her case, Lisa has had turn over in her legal council several times by her court appointed public defenders. Many of which had been advised to not take her case because of faith base—because she is a Jehovah Witness. In fact, one of her attorneys, Ernest Anderson, a long time friend of the family, was asked by Commissioner Sue Alexander if he was comfortable representing Lisa. In open court, he said yes. Several months later, Mr. Anderson removed himself from the case due to extensive harassment from associates and colleagues for representing Ms. Washington.

“My trails of injustice have driven me to this conclusion—that my defeat is solely based on a religious prejudice that resides in our judicial system within Alameda County,” Lisa stated adamantly. The C.P.S. has once again employed blatant intimidation tactics and persecution of mothers for something as simple as a tugging of the ear.

Eventually the case was settled. The court granted Claiborne Sibley full custody of their youngest child Daylan. Franshat is still in the clutches of the system moving from foster home to foster home, as Lisa desperately tries to piece her family back together. Living without her two children, Lisa’s life is filled with pain and sadness.

I couldn’t imagine not living with my mother because she tugged on my ear when I was bad or my cousins being torn away from their parents- caught somewhere in the claws of the system- just because of their family’s doctrine of faith. Religion and discipline are both personal choices and have nothing to do with how we love our families.

On Easter I sat with my cousins, we broke bread together and shared a meal. It didn’t matter that they didn’t celebrate this holiday the same way we did because we are a family that loves and cares for each other in spite of everything else. The same way Lisa loves and wants to care for her two children, but can’t because of a system that wants to separate, not support families.

For more information about COURTWATCH – you can call POOR at (415) 863-6306. or go on-line to www.poormagazine.org. To get in contact with Lisa Washington you can call her at 510- 300 7014