Is the State Seizing Kids for Profit?

This past Wednesday I dropped by the office of Parents for Children in Dearborn. We had a nice chat regarding their mission -- fighting Michigan's Children's Protective Services tooth and nail, in order to stop CPS from destroying families. It seems that Mike Cox, being the Big Government advocate he is, doesn't limit his activities to chasing unemployed Moms and Dads who owe child support, so he can collect the cash bounties the Federal government offers for those activities. He also takes advantage of the opportunity to seize children from their parents, because the Feds offer even richer bounties for seizing kids, placing them in foster care, and making sure they stay there. In fact, Mike Cox and CPS are so good at this, that Michigan is far ahead of most of the nation in seizing children, and terminating their rights to live with Mom and Dad. Melanie John of Parents for Children reports the national average for the termination of parental rights for alleged child abuse/neglect is 26%. She says statistics show that in Michigan, if CPS removes your child from your home, you have a 79% chance you've lost your child for good. Now, I find it hard to believe that Michigan has a monopoly on child abuse and neglect. I find it much easier to believe that when Mike Cox uses the overwhelming power of government to destroy families -- mostly the poor who cannot defend themselves, that the parents of Michigan find themselves with fewer rights to preserve their families than in the rest of the country. Once again, Mike Cox is fostering the perception he is helping the children, when he is actually hurting them. And funneling millions of taxpayer dollars into his budget, effectively increasing his personal political power.