I'm Gonna Take Their Kingdom Down!

by Lani Kent/PoorNewsNetwork

It was October 5, before the trial, and the large courthouse windows let the morning sun and all its fresh light build yellow bars of dust down the long hallway. The little girl's court-appointed lawyer joked around with the little girl's court-appointed therapist. "I've worked with worse," she said of the little girl's mother, "At least this one didn't take a knife to me or jump me." She laughed in a superior sort of way and looked down at her freshly painted toenails.

Five minutes later, the little girl's mother filled the hall, interrupting the golden bars of sunlight with her powerful stride. Sandra Brown's sudden presence silenced the painted ladies, for it's no fun to get caught being unprofessional.

Sandra Brown's familiarity with this hallway started almost three years ago, right after her daughter was taken from her. Sandra had yet to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and lived in a shelter with her small child. After contracting a contagious disease, and with great love and sorrow, she decided to leave her daughter in a children's shelter for five days. "I put my daughter in this situation because I caught scabies and it was contagious, and I gave her to them so she wouldn't get it."

With no family to turn to, and no home of her own, this decision was the best Sandra could make for her little girl. Within days CPS attained possession of the child, took her out of the shelter, and sentenced her to foster care. To date, she has been detained in four different foster homes. Sandra still does not know why they offered help, only to betray her and claim to know what's best for her own little girl.

"When financial difficulties, physical or mental handicaps, or status in society threaten independence, the Department of Social Services is there to help," reads a banner on the CPS home page. This vague and all-encompassing statement somehow qualifies their actions against Sandra and her daughter back in 1998. She is currently fighting this "helpful" system that imposes its services on people who THEY decide need THEM. Sandra's battle has most recently led her to Room 406 at the Superior Court of California, where I met her and all of her dynamic energy.

We walked into a windowless room where court commissioner Abby Abinanti sat behind an enormous desk and played God to CPS-induced cases. Fancy toenails filtered in with talk and giggles and folders holding recommendations for Sandra's daughter's fate. Sandra sat there as her own lawyer exchanged sarcastic glances with the opposition, breeding more mistrust of the system that is supposed to "help." After kicking out PNN's Courtwatch advocates, who were there to support Sandra, the meeting began. I was allowed to stay as a personal support and friend of Sandra.

"I am firing my lawyer as of today," said Sandra, opening up the meeting with her own words and wishes. "Now, when do I get to see my daughter?" Prior to entering Room 406, Sandra had explained to me the situation with her lawyer. "She is one of them," she said, pointing to her lawyer and to her daughter's therapist; the very ladies who hadn't the courtesy to keep their unprofessional gossip private.

After firing her lawyer, Sandra was asked if she knew how to hire her own lawyer. "They talk to me like I am stupid," she later confided to me. Sandra was also asked to be quiet numerous times, told that her issues would not be addressed until they decided to address them, and slapped with a restraining order.

How anything that happened in that courtroom constitutes "help" for Sandra is beyond me. Sandra is financially strained, she is bipolar, and her independence has been threatened. CPS has not helped like they promised they would. Instead, they have ensured the continued presence of these suffocating issues; they have brightened the spotlight on Sandra Brown's imperfections and decided she cannot raise her own child, despite her love and will, despite her full-time employment and permanent residency, despite the medication she faithfully takes to control her disorder.

The next hearing will be in two weeks.

Sandra's daughter currently resides at The Edgewood Center for Children and Families. This institution opened 150 years ago to house orphans who lost their parents for various reasons, usually death. Its purpose then changed and it was transformed into a residential treatment center for severely emotionally disturbed children. It has been three years and four families, and Crittenden claims that she cannot find a suitable family for Sandra's little girl. Unwilling to deliver the child back to her natural home with her mother, the court has approved to house Sandra's daughter in this large sterile institution.

Edgewood, since then, has hosted several joint therapy sessions for Sandra and her daughter, and issues such as foster care-related sexual and emotional abuse have plagued their meetings. Sandra believes there has been sexual misconduct in one or more of her daughter's foster care situations. Edgewood has not entertained Sandra's accusations, nor do they appear concerned with Sandra's right to address her daughter's needs.

Sandra has taken these concerns to the Attorney General of California in the form of a letter: "DHS staff has subjected my 8-year-old daughter to sexual, mental and physical abuse since she has been in foster care. My daughter has suffered trauma physically and mentally." Sandra is also working with several community organizations to bring awareness to the public concerning CPS's unfair treatment of the poor. She believes her and her daughter's State and Constitutional Rights have been violated on twelve different counts.

Sandra Brown has remained vocal and determined throughout this entire process, her concern stretching to all children ripped out of their mother's arms due to poverty and homelessness. Unafraid of the thick walls surrounding the government institutions she faces, Sandra explains: "I'm gonna tear their kingdom down."