Custody Review: Is CPS Dragging Out Reunification? 

Wow I really loved hearing Dad speak up for his wife and daughters that way. He was calm and made absolute sense. I hope they stay on track and create a beautiful life for their daughters. ❤❤❤

So this mother is safe to take care of an infant, but not an older child. That doesn't make sense at all.

The fact that the grandparents have been pushing for a conservatorship,which are devastatingly hard to get out of, while sabatoging mom's visits and overstepping foster's authority is a huge red flag. The caseworker lying on the stand and lawyers repeatingly misstating facts is highly concerning! It flies in the face of logic that they have custody of their other kids while cps refuses them one. I'm scared to ask if anyonr has seen a follow up?

I battled CPS the entire time through court. They bucked every attempt to move towards reunification despite never missing a visit or having a positive drug test for 2 years. I attended every class and if it wasn't for my judge and a foster mom unwilling to adopt for my sake I wouldn't have gotten my son back. They had no incentive for reunification and they fight it at all costs.

"Arial, shut up". That is a great lawyer who KNOWS his client well and is going to fight for her.

It made no sense to me that CPS only had the one child? And they've kept her for so long? Did I miss something?

They need to return the child ! This is insane

OMG the “Ariel shut up!” made me laugh so hard. Although I don’t think it was very professional of her attorney

BARKOW WAS NOT HAPPY WITH THE JUDGE. TOO BAD FOR HER. TIME TO GET THIS FAMILY TOGETHER

It's sad that even though some parents do everything that's asked of them and then some these people still feel the need to keep their children from them and cause un necessary damage to these families

Dad made a lot of good points.

The foster sytem in the Grand Rapids area is so hit and miss. My 3 siblings were fostered and adopted through us. Their parents loved them but were not mentally fit to take care of 3 children, or the 4th, or the 5th. But they still tend to put their feelings ahead of reunification. If they have a foster family willing to adopt, they seem to lean toward that. Its devastating

Ms Barkow needs to cool it with the faces and silent attitude. Private agencies do not have the correct incentives!!! It's crazy to have private, for profit corporations involved with things like this. Everyone should look into 2ingage who committed perjury in another county, live on youtube at the beginning of the pandemic. Forging signatures. That case worker is still working today, I saw her on a stream a few weeks ago. I have the case numbers and the name of that case worker. Edit: Wow, I just looked it up and that case worker is now a supervisor. Perjury leads to a promotion I guess.

Ms.Barkow was big mad 😆😆 So happy for these parents and Luna ♥️

I love Michael Paige. He sees through everyones BS including CPS.

I have seen this before, you ask for help and they hold it against you. get more hours at work and they hold it against you. get sick and they hold it against you. they are playing a game with a child and a family. I was hoping this was a stand up judge and ordered the return now. All I can say to Ariel is keep up the good work.

WTF is wrong with Ms. Barrow. She is awful and in the wrong field.

I'd expect the mother to state her bond is different with a child whoms been kept from her and can't be corrected until the child is reunited. This is INSANE. Damn.

The reason why there is no to little bond between the mother and daughter, is CPS and the attorney's are wanting to keep it that way and they are dragging their feet on this.

The sad thing is this is all about funding. They get more money for that baby than the older kids and they can get a lot of money to adopt that baby out. It is gross

I have not seen a single resolution from Referee Paige that I disagree with. This one is no different. CPS wanted perfection. No parent is perfect but they've been doing damn well for at LEAST a year.

I was pleasantly surprised by the incarcerated father. Made me feel a little bad that I had pre-judged him. I see fight in him. The good kind of fight.

These cps people need to be investigated and that Barklow lady is a problem and shouldn’t be involved with children. It’s absolutely ridiculous that they have all the other children but not one child that sounds like it was taken at birth so was never abused.

if my mother had tried this hard to get me back I would be furious watching my caseworker drag it out like this. My caseworker never reunified me on very valid reasons but this is absolutely obnoxious.

Interesting!!! As always… thanks for the great content! 🤘🖤

I have no personal experience with CPS, but growing up in a very poor community we knew a lot of people who did, and once CPS is involved, it seems like they refuse to ever be not involved, even if they never really have anything.

Praise God!!!!! I'm so thankful for this family! They need their baby home!!!!

So the lady says they bring her back early so they can go to work and she’s concerned because that’s a part of life…… YEA it is but when the child is back in their care she can take her to a sitter of her choice when she needs to go to work, while the child is in foster care she can ONLY return the child to the foster parent or cps worker so what else is she supposed to do. They want them to keep jobs but god forbid they have to bring her back a little early to work or it’ll look bad on them.

CPS is crooked. What an absolute mess. Have always liked Michael Paige, he sees through bullshit. This should never have been allowed to go so far.

I'm glad her lawyer went after the case worker about "current barriers". Those are supposed to be things that are actively and CURRENTLY happening. Domestic violence *in the past* isn't a "current" barrier. Meth use with almost a year clean isn't a "current" barrier. I'm not saying there aren't current barriers, but she'll never get her kids back if they don't drop things that aren't happening from being a "current barrier". Yes, relapse is possible. Yes, DV is possible. But they aren't CURRENTLY happening. I'm also glad he's direct with her: "Ariel, shut up." 😂 Edit: I LOVE Referee Paige so much. He said exactly what I was thinking about this.

Give them their child back.

It amazes me that the mother proven clean she did all her classes poses no risk or threat to the 1 child had that length of time removed from her child. Doesn’t make sense. She can care for all the others except 1?? And then the cps worker canceled visits not the parents but they said it was the parents?? Somethings not right in the dept

Hopefully the services don’t lie on the parents to mess them up on parenting anymore. Those services sure love to take babies away.

Its been 9 months every months its something different and they put the wrong allegation on the court papers

Sometimes CPS seems to be looking for perfection. That won't happen. I appreciated the judge jumping in with him not being shown why Luna shouldn't be returned. Are CPS people sometimes trying too hard to justify their jobs? Maybe it is time to follow the agency money.

Wow! I think the Judge made a great decision. These are young and strong parents who deserve a second chance. My position that the children will remain safe is bc in spite of being awarded that child back, they will still be under a microscope when it comes to CPS. That will still give these parents that push for a better life for themselves and their kids. Well done

Private companies can't make money unless they have children in their custody. I see a future court case where the grandparents will want visitations....

Are you telling me CPS leaves these babies in foster care for multiple YEARS????

I think the judge needs to give this couple a break already, I mean they have their other children.

DCS here where I live get good $ when parents lose custody and more if they adopt em out, its a sick agency, they cause more harm

Once a week or “fairly regular” visits and/ or video calls is not going to keep mom bonded like she should be. I haven’t finished yet but I already know the grandparents want to keep her. That’s been said behind closed doors. I very much dislike when it gets to the point of kinship care givers and foster parents feelings being taken in to consideration over parent/parents who are working their plan. Edit to say it has to be hard to keep all visits when you’re working with so many people to get free schedules but it makes me livid when a parent is faulted for work. Getting and keeping a job is basically a requirement with a plan of service but then hold it against a parent for missing a visit because of work. 😮 There it is!!! She is doing great and BONDED with the placement! This one is a little different considering it’s her grandparents! Why has it been 18 months so already 6 months past the usual 1 year? If someone is still in court at 18 month mark, it’s because parents aren’t doing services and about to lose their parental rights. Grandparents better not try to deter this return or it’s going to prove they weren’t really concerned about the bonding issue. They need to be doing everything they can to make the baby as comfortable as possible and keep their opinions to themselves. I would think they would want to see her after she goes home. 😢

How can one child be safe with you but not the other?

I wanna shake this dad's HAND!!!!!¡

I can't speak for all states of course, but sometimes workers keep cases which don't require a lot of real work, which should have been closed, or even never opened. Supervisors are promoting this, and I have friends and former professional associates who have left the agency over this. It is not the same system it was 15 years ago. Many workers now have to choose whether playing the game or finding a new career because what they signed up for...integrity and helping families/doing best for kids, is not the focused on goal of every office today. Some workers also get caught up in 'winning', forgetting that winning is not us vs them but rather, helping families and giving kids the most stability for a great foundation.

Did her mom name her Ariel because she looks like The Little Mermaid? 🧜‍♀️

Cps is the reason there is a lack of bonding. They need to return that child and just make sure the parents have any and all support they need to be successful as parents.

Its looks like they got her back

why is the guy in the jail sitting in the dark?

Does anyone know why the CPS worker who spoke last said Luna was in daycare? Wouldn't she be in school if she's 7 years old? Just curious if I misunderstood.

Why is CPS asking the Da d what services theMom should use? They are messing with them

I really don't understand how a person can have custody of one child but unfit for another? Dad has some points but makes me laugh that he's doing it from jail. No, you can't be a good parent from behind bars.

Horrible Many cases where the kids are in bad conditions and yet CPS says non. We have this couple who don't need anymore of anything. It's sad to see courts like this continuing to make the wrong decisions.

Wow mom’s attorney finally started fighting for his client, what took him so long ?

"Ariel! Shut up!" 😄

it never ceases to amaze me when parents who have been fortunate enough to family step up to foster literally attack the very people who are saving their kid(s) from being separated or living w strangers …

I’ve dealt with newaygo cps and the social worker 100% lied in court and told me something different. Not only that but went a month where I couldn’t get ahold of her for almost a month until I showed up at her office.

On one hand, they do seem like they're dragging out. But on the other hand, how many cases do we see that we wish they would have dragged out?

Geez that’s a lot of children. I hope they are successful.

The foster parents are the parents of the father.

maybe I'm just cynical but I feel Ariel is shoving her baby in front of the camera to say 'look at what a good mum I am' - feels a bit forced and showy

Y'all know nothing about CPS or foster care. She literally couldn't pay her heat and water bill. The dept had to pay it for her. Also she's only had 2 out of 6 visits. Reliability is very important. Parents have to be parents even with illnesses and work. I'm happy she canceled and didn't get the baby sick but what would happen if the child was back in her custody and she had to work? Why isn't she getting a babysitter? The judge was not pushing for cps to be recommending returning the child, he's asking a required questions since the recommendations weren't changed. Had the mother participated earlier, she'd probably have her child back but she didn't. She's been dragging her feet and now is doing the right thing. Remember it's not CPS that decides if the child goes back or not, they only make recommendations. The judge makes the decision!

I dont like barkow something is wrong with her

Lindsay oissed ne off ...

So they have FOUR children and ONLY custody of ONE? WHY?

I have a hard time believing a parent sitting in jail saying he is a good parent.

Anyone in Chicago??? That can help get the baby back????

Looking at Legal...You need to blur the faces of any minor children. SMH

Mr. Paige is the GOAT 🐐 ❤

another great one Thanks

This was the right decision. There is no reason to keep their daughter away any longer.

26:00 isn't this line of questioning leading?

Wait the dad being in jail isn't a concern

Mom needs to SHHHHHH

Sounds like dad is the issue here. Hard to argue you are a good dad while wearing Orange.

Any updates?

Red head lady acts like she is at the club lol what’s wrong with her

Great video, but be careful with having a minor not blurred out -- it can lead to a strike!

Yooooo why is the baby not in a playpen? Another tactic to manipulate the courts and her family! Try to prove that she can take care of her kid🤷🏾‍♀️🙄 it’s also an insult to the other child who saw her supposed to be mom holding another child, while she doesn’t visit or get her to spend time with her siblings🙄

Feel bad for the child who has to grow up with this nonsense from her parents. Mom making bad choices and dad in prison. Why does this mom have another baby?

It sounds like the grandparents are providing a better life than the junkie parents.