Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. a woman from Alberta, Canada, marries a US citizen who’s still maintaining a residence in the US. She takes her kid down there for a vacation, between the three of them they decide the kid will stick around down there while his mother returns to Canada. The dude’s pretty much been the kid’s father, even though he never officially legally adopted him. Kid gets stopped by the cops for riding a bike without a helmet, has a background check run on him. In the course of that check, the police unearth a Canadian social services file on him, set up at his mother’s request to get her hands on the help he’ll need, what with him having ADHD and/or anxiety issues. Police refer the kid to the department of human services, who show up at the stepfather’s house. They take the kid, toss him in the system. The police, compassionate souls they are, charge his mother with abandonment on account of the kid was left with someone who wasn’t his legal guardian.
If it doesn’t sound familiar, don’t be too surprised–it didn’t catch my attention until recently either. This apparently happened in 2008, and according to the state of Oregon, is far from being over. The kid has since been returned to his mother, and you’d assume everyone lives happily ever after, right? Except not so much. Now, the state of Oregon has taken it upon itself to sue his mother for the costs related to fostering and medically caring for this kid while he was in their custody. So, escentially for the majority of the last two years.
Now, at the risk of coming off as someone who thinks he knows everything, does it really have to be specificly outlined exactly where and how many times common sense has kind of been left on the side of the road, here? I’m completely failing to grasp any sense of an understanding as to how in creation their complete screwing up of a child becomes the financial responsibility of the parents who the state just ran over. I mean, alright–so his stepfather didn’t *legally* adopt the kid as his own. He’s married to the kid’s mother. If she wasn’t present right at that moment she was before. They knew this. They also knew, or were subsequently legally informed, they screwed up huge when they stepped in–hence why the kid’s since been returned to where he belongs. So how does that translate into the mother owes the state of Oregon one red cent? I’m not sure I can find me a clue by four big enough for this mess. Way to make yourselves look like assholes, state officials. You just qualified for moron of the year.