This is how the system treated me, and overwhelmed single mother. I have been being harassed with Children’s Protective Services for years. When my ten-year-old daughter was a baby, I took a trip with her to Pennsylvania and was even visited by CPS there. That case was instantly closed when the claim was found to be not true. As a single mom with mental health issues, I struggle every day. People and the system seem to want to always compare me to a 2-parent household. The comparisons are too overwhelming on top of being overwhelmed. The system likes to say / treat me as a neglectful and abusive mom. A minor verbal argument with my teenager becomes me being abusive. Refusing to continue being treated like a maid to said teenager is me being neglectful. Asking said teenager to watch her sisters so I can have some time is also neglectful. It is also overwhelming while I am already overwhelmed but mental health. Woman’s Co-op started off as court order. In the end it became the place I learned things. A place to vent and ask for advise without judgement. A place that helped me to grow.
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