After months of harassment and threats, Lancaster County's Children & Youth agency secured a court order based on false accusations, fabrications and outright lies, and took my brothers (ages thirteen and ten) from my mother on the evening of September 18th.
The two accusations listed as a reason for the emergency court order/physical custody of my brothers are:
Accusation: On September 11th, the boys were seen playing alone outside of my mother's house.
The truth: My mother's next door neighbor was babysitting my brothers, and when CYS pulled up at my mother's home for an unannounced visit, she was sitting in her front porch within eyesight of my brothers with her daughter, while her son played alongside my brothers.
Accusation: On September 17th, my ten year old brother was illegally absent from school.
The truth: My ten year old brother was absent from school because he was suspended due to an incident the week before. A written, signed letter from the school principal herself ordered my brother to stay out of school until a psychological evaluation was administered (ironically, this pysch. Eval was done on September 18th, the day the boys were removed from my mother's care).
Children & Youth never asked, never looked for paperwork, never sought out the benefit of the doubt. They assumed the worst, and promptly took action. When presented with rebuttals and evidence to the above accusations at a custody court hearing on the morning of September 19th, they replied with a half-hearted apology, but made no offer to drop the petition right then and there.
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