The Judge Said He Knew I Loved My Kids, Then Sent Them Away

<p>Katie's daughter made her outcry on an ordinary evening, in the living room, while they folded laundry. Within two weeks the man responsible was arrested. Within a year, all three of Katie's kids had been removed from her home, and she was the one who packed their suitcases.</p><p>This conversation with Justin Smith walks the whole road. The fear that comes from not knowing what a hearing is even for. The behaviors that showed up at home after the outcry and had nowhere to go. The family based safety services case. The psych eval where a doctor asked her a question nobody had asked before. And the hearing where a judge told her he knew she loved her kids, then sent them somewhere else anyway. Katie now runs a support group for birth parents in San Angelo and works with families moving through the same system she moved through.</p><p>What she came back with is not a tidy ending. It is a working one. The kinship placements that taught her how to be consistent. The friend who would not force her son to talk to her. The staggered return that let one kid come home at a time. And the shift from asking what happened to her to asking what it happened for. If you foster, if you are thinking about it, or if you have ever wondered what the parent on the other side of the case is carrying, this is that side of it.</p><p>CHAPTERS</p><p>00:00 Packing For Removal<br>01:03 Podcast Welcome<br>02:26 Katie's Mission<br>05:28 Life Before CPS<br>08:10 The Outcry Night<br>10:15 Children's Advocacy Center Interviews<br>15:09 Keeping It Normal<br>18:03 Behaviors After Trauma<br>20:24 CPS Called On Katie<br>22:58 Family Based Safety Services<br>24:08 The Psych Eval Wake Up<br>26:43 Removal Recommended<br>29:11 The First Court Hearing<br>32:38 The Quiet House<br>35:04 Faith On The Drive<br>36:45 Placements And Support<br>39:11 A New PTSD Diagnosis<br>39:49 Food Triggers And Medication<br>40:41 Consistency During Visits<br>41:41 Schedules And Scripture<br>44:01 The Breakthrough With Her Son<br>47:26 Reunified And Rebuilding<br>48:15 Meeting Her Future Husband<br>52:15 Biker Church And Reframing<br>55:59 Staggered Reunification Plan<br>59:27 Blended Family Growing Pains<br>1:01:40 The Kids Today<br>1:04:47 Advice For Foster Parents<br>1:10:50 Choices Communication And Hope<br>1:15:12 The Call To Show Up</p>