TN TN - Summer Moon-Utah Wells Missing from Rogersville, June 2021 #34

[Seni]

Sorry I didn't elaborate. I meant, when some of the Turpin kids were placed into foster care away from their abusive home life, they were placed into equally, hideously abusive foster care situations.

Absolutely! How could that happen ever in anyone's lifetime?

 

[GeorgiaRai]

Thanks for your opinion. That could be the case...or, the Wells may have said things in communication with the kids that was unacceptable. Or, the boys could be not interested in communicating with them. It is MO, based on the pattern and history of the Wells' words and behavior, that the Wells are not telling the public everything. The Wells have the advantage, because CPS can't come out publicly and say what's really going on.

I don't see anything about the Wells' situation as advantageous but agree that we don't know the details of the dependency case. I understand basing an opinion on what's been publicized about the parents; mine is based on the pattern and history I've seen of the DFCS in my area. Either way, it's a heartbreaking situation for their sons.

 

[Caylee Advocate]

New post on the Well's website:

Our Boys, Our Family

1. We are so grateful that we are being told that our boys are being well cared for by a helpful family. 2. We do not understand how we are different than other American Families in that we cannot talk to our Boys, or send them letters, and other types of communication. 3. We have no charges...

www.findsummerwells.com

They lost SW and now all communication with the boys.

I wish they had a good attorney to find out the "WHY" behind them not being allowed to at least be able to tell these boys that they love them, as I'm sure they do.

Plenty of mistakes were made by these parents, but hopefully they woke up and realized just how bad they messed up. I can only hope and pray these kids aren't feeling abandoned by Don and Candus. They are the innocents. Prayers for Summer.

 

[katydid23]

Exactly! I'm not sure how reunification works in TN but where I live you are given a specific time frame with specific actions that must be completed to show you are fit to regain custody.

And if they had been taking and completing those specific steps, they wouldn't be publicly trashing their CPS workers on their family website.

My opinion is that it's hard to think of a reason any parent would be denied supervised visits and phone calls. There are plenty of safe options: visitation center overseen by social workers, a therapeutic setting with a counselor, an outing in the community with a trusted friend or the foster parent(s), monitored phone calls and video chats.

The Wells may not be doing what they need to do to get the boys back, but I haven't read that that parental rights have been terminated. In my state, TPR is a huge deal; unless the parents consent, it involves witness testimony at a hearing before a judge. To implement a sort of de facto termination by not facilitating communication and visits - well, it happens, but it's not right IMO. I have no way of knowing if the Wells are telling the truth, but my experience has been that case workers and attorneys can definitely go radio-silent for long periods of time, regardless of what's best for a child or a family.

I know of a few reasons where CPS may terminate phone calls or suspend them for awhile.

My next door neighbor and close friend was a foster parent and often had several children in their home at a time. [Besides the 3 they adopted after their bio children grew up.]

Many of her foster kids were 'emergency placements' ---she'd literally get a call sometimes and a child or some siblings would be dropped off that same night. She didn't do long term placements after they adopted---she did emergency and short term placements, so the home life of those kids were often disruptive or dysfunctional, for them to be suddenly taken from their homes.

Often, after a phone call from home, the kids would cry after hanging up---mostly because they missed their family and were sad when the call ended. My friend was all in favour of those calls---even when they made the children cry because it was keeping them in touch with their loved ones and it helped in the big picture of things. So she comforted the kids and told them how nice it was that they had spoken to mom before bed, etc.



But there were other calls from home that agitated and upset the children. Sometimes one of the parents would be drunk or high and angry, and yell at them, warning them not to talk to the social workers, or the foster family, and even suggesting they run away, etc. Also, they sometimes got yelled at for ' making CPS take them from the home.' Parents would accuse the kids of saying the wrong things at school, and blame them for the family being broken up.

THOSE^^^ kinds of calls get reported by the fosterers to the social workers, to protect the children.

It would not surprise me if the boys had some of the agitating or disruptive calls in the past, which could suspend the parent's ability to contact until things were more settled.

 

[ReadySet]

I don't see anything about the Wells' situation as advantageous but agree that we don't know the details of the dependency case. I understand basing an opinion on what's been publicized about the parents; mine is based on the pattern and history I've seen of the DFCS in my area. Either way, it's a heartbreaking situation for their sons

By "the Wells have the advantage," I meant that they can publicly criticize CPS and CPS cannot respond because of confidentiality. It's like the public criticizing teachers, law enforcement, health care workers, etc. Those entities cannot engage in a candid discussion publicly, because of confidentiality, among other reasons.

 

[GeorgiaRai]

I know of a few reasons where CPS may terminate phone calls or suspend them for awhile.

Even in those cases, monitored calls could at least be attempted in order to retain some form of familial connection if the plan is still reunification.

As I said initially, I don't know if the Wells are telling the truth in their latest posts. Maybe CPS has been helpful and responsive, and their attempts have been rebuffed. Maybe the court-appointed attorneys have been actively involved, only to have their guidance ignored. Maybe the Wells have done everything wrong while every other party involved has done everything right. My admittedly limited experience tells me it's not as clear cut as that. I see them as a struggling family already living on the edge of catastrophe when they were dealt a devastating blow that proved unsurvivable. I'll view them that way until evidence shows they don't deserve it. It's a personal choice and I fully understand not everyone will agree.

 

[GeorgiaRai]

By "the Wells have the advantage," I meant that they can publicly criticize CPS and CPS cannot respond because of confidentiality. It's like the public criticizing teachers, law enforcement, health care workers, etc. Those entities cannot engage in a candid discussion publicly, because of confidentiality, among other reasons.

I understood - I just don't agree that the ability to publicly criticize gives them any kind of advantage at all. JMO.

 

[rosesfromangels]

I understood - I just don't agree that the ability to publicly criticize gives them any kind of advantage at all. JMO.

Very true. Further, I’m sure CPS is reticent to send the children home when there is still an active investigation in to the disappearance of their sister. There are many questions still unanswered as to what transpired that day.

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[ReadySet]

Even in those cases, monitored calls could at least be attempted in order to retain some form of familial connection if the plan is still reunification.

As I said initially, I don't know if the Wells are telling the truth in their latest posts. Maybe CPS has been helpful and responsive, and their attempts have been rebuffed. Maybe the court-appointed attorneys have been actively involved, only to have their guidance ignored. Maybe the Wells have done everything wrong while every other party involved has done everything right. My admittedly limited experience tells me it's not as clear cut as that. I see them as a struggling family already living on the edge of catastrophe when they were dealt a devastating blow that proved unsurvivable. I'll view them that way until evidence shows they don't deserve it. It's a personal choice and I fully understand not everyone will agree.

I agree that they were a struggling family living on the edge of catastophe. But where we disagree is IMO they dealt themselves the devastating blow, they are responsible for what happened. I do understand your point of view.

 

[GeorgiaRai]

I agree that they were a struggling family living on the edge of catastophe. But where we disagree is IMO they dealt themselves the devastating blow, they are responsible for what happened. I do understand your point of view.

Time and evidence may very well prove you right. I'm not there yet, but heaven knows I've been wrong before (example: even when there was literally no other possible explanation, I'd hoped Orrin & Orson Wests' foster-to-adoptive parents hadn't done something horrible to them). I want the Wells to be innocent, for their sons' sakes, so I'll hold out hope that they didn't harm little Summer and weren't abusive to any of the children.

 

[newsreader25]

And if they had been taking and completing those specific steps, they wouldn't be publicly trashing their CPS workers on their family website.

I know of a few reasons where CPS may terminate phone calls or suspend them for awhile.

My next door neighbor and close friend was a foster parent and often had several children in their home at a time. [Besides the 3 they adopted after their bio children grew up.]

Many of her foster kids were 'emergency placements' ---she'd literally get a call sometimes and a child or some siblings would be dropped off that same night. She didn't do long term placements after they adopted---she did emergency and short term placements, so the home life of those kids were often disruptive or dysfunctional, for them to be suddenly taken from their homes.

Often, after a phone call from home, the kids would cry after hanging up---mostly because they missed their family and were sad when the call ended. My friend was all in favour of those calls---even when they made the children cry because it was keeping them in touch with their loved ones and it helped in the big picture of things. So she comforted the kids and told them how nice it was that they had spoken to mom before bed, etc.



But there were other calls from home that agitated and upset the children. Sometimes one of the parents would be drunk or high and angry, and yell at them, warning them not to talk to the social workers, or the foster family, and even suggesting they run away, etc. Also, they sometimes got yelled at for ' making CPS take them from the home.' Parents would accuse the kids of saying the wrong things at school, and blame them for the family being broken up.

THOSE^^^ kinds of calls get reported by the fosterers to the social workers, to protect the children.

It would not surprise me if the boys had some of the agitating or disruptive calls in the past, which could suspend the parent's ability to contact until things were more settled.

This is what I’m thinking. Parents just don’t lose access to their children for no reason. i’m hoping that the boys are in a healthy happy environment now.

 

[ReadySet]

ITime and evidence may very well prove you right. I'm not there yet, but heaven knows I've been wrong before (example: even when there was literally no other possible explanation, I'd hoped Orrin & Orson Wests' foster-to-adoptive parents hadn't done something horrible to them). I want the Wells to be innocent, for their sons' sakes, so I'll hold out hope that they didn't harm little Summer and weren't abusive to any of the children.

I used to feel the same when I first started following crime cases. However, I came to believe that hoping, while still my primary feeling in the beginning of the case, was not enough as time moved on and more information was revealed; that the victim (in this case the primary victim is Summer) needed more than hope to be found and get justice. I started taking a more fact based, evidence based, realistic approach. For me, hope can obscure the truth. For me, there is a boundary there somewhere between hope and denial. In my own life, I've had many hard lessons on choosing what I thought was hope when it was really denial.

 

[AgeofAquaruis]

This is what I’m thinking. Parents just don’t lose access to their children for no reason. i’m hoping that the boys are in a healthy happy environment now.

The violation of the gag order twice is off the charts. Maybe one should think about if they really want to go there,or not. It was not violated by DCS. Jmo

 

[CSIDreamer]

Interesting article

DCS Needs a Major Overhaul - The Tennessee Tribune

For several years running, the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services placed more children in foster care than kids it returned to their families. In 2014-15, 3,078 children of 8093, in 2015-16, 2895 of 8,001, and in 2016-17, 1365 of 14,421 children returned home. We asked for more recent...

www.google.com

 

[GeorgiaRai]

I used to feel the same when I first started following crime cases. However, I came to believe that hoping, while still my primary feeling in the beginning of the case, was not enough as time moved on and more information was revealed; that the victim (in this case the primary victim is Summer) needed more than hope to be found and get justice. I started taking a more fact based, evidence based, realistic approach. For me, hope can obscure the truth. For me, there is a boundary there somewhere between hope and denial. In my own life, I've had many hard lessons on choosing what I thought was hope when it was really denial.

Understood. For me, acknowledging a lack of publicly known details and hard evidence isn't denial, so until these parents are named as POIs or otherwise credibly accused, I'll keep an open mind. My personal opinion has zero effect on the case or Summer herself, so I'm comfortable holding off the condemnation until I'm convinced it's deserved. (Unpopular opinion, I know!)

 

[GeorgiaRai]

Interesting article

DCS Needs a Major Overhaul - The Tennessee Tribune

For several years running, the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services placed more children in foster care than kids it returned to their families. In 2014-15, 3,078 children of 8093, in 2015-16, 2895 of 8,001, and in 2016-17, 1365 of 14,421 children returned home. We asked for more recent...

www.google.com

That is devastating. It also reflects much of what I saw in my years as a CASA in my own state.

 

[katydid23]

Even in those cases, monitored calls could at least be attempted in order to retain some form of familial connection if the plan is still reunification.

As I said initially, I don't know if the Wells are telling the truth in their latest posts. Maybe CPS has been helpful and responsive, and their attempts have been rebuffed. Maybe the court-appointed attorneys have been actively involved, only to have their guidance ignored. Maybe the Wells have done everything wrong while every other party involved has done everything right. My admittedly limited experience tells me it's not as clear cut as that. I see them as a struggling family already living on the edge of catastrophe when they were dealt a devastating blow that proved unsurvivable. I'll view them that way until evidence shows they don't deserve it. It's a personal choice and I fully understand not everyone will agree.

Have you been following this case from early on? There is a long back story that many of us followed from the beginning, which might answer some of your questions about the current situation.

As you said above, the calls could be monitored if the plan is still reunification. So that begs the question---is that still the plan?

 

[GeorgiaRai]

Have you been following this case from early on? There is a long back story that many of us followed from the beginning, which might answer some of your questions about the current situation.

As you said above, the calls could be monitored if the plan is still reunification. So that begs the question---is that still the plan?

I've followed Summer's case from pretty early on but intentionally do not follow any threads about DW, if that's what you're referring to. The questions I have are the same ones we all have, I assume: where is Summer and how did she get there? I don't think those answers are found anywhere in these threads.

As for their current DCS case, I don't think we have any way of knowing if it's a reunification plan. But my experience has been that what the Wells claimed in their recent post is a very common scenario; I see it as just as likely to be true as untrue based on available information.

 

[Caylee Advocate]

Understood. For me, acknowledging a lack of publicly known details and hard evidence isn't denial, so until these parents are named as POIs or otherwise credibly accused, I'll keep an open mind. My personal opinion has zero effect on the case or Summer herself, so I'm comfortable holding off the condemnation until I'm convinced it's deserved. (Unpopular opinion, I know!)

I don't see it as unpopular, but I normally try to see some good in people UNLESS they prove I'm totally wrong. I just wonder who is really behind this public outcry?

 

[Erutan]

Those poor boys should never ever have to go back to the hell that was their life before CPS finally did their job and took them away from those people and that place. They are fortunate to be alive and living in a safe place with sane adults. MOO

Trying to read back through many of these threads (Lol, I am never going to catch up !) and there's much that's concerning ?
Generally speaking, DCFS' priority is reuniting families.
Is there something we don't know about ?
Imo.