Taken away

If Dakota Greyhawk doesn't get his son back soon, the boy will probably begin to think he was abandoned.  He will be allowed to think it as no one will tell him his father is struggling to clear things up and get him back.  A newly created foster child, with a possible adoption in his future... for what?

http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=5952567&nav=0RZF

Biological parents: Kentucky's adoption system rife with problems

Jan 17, 2007 05:13 PM EST

(FRANKFORT, Ky.) -- Dakota Greyhawk lost custody of his son last summer after state child welfare workers accused him of neglect and placed the boy in foster care.

The Louisville landscaper thought he would be able to clear the matter up and get 5-year-old Dakota Seth back home. Instead, Greyhawk said he has hit legal roadblocks at every turn, and he fears the state may put his son up for adoption.

"I feel like the system is nothing but a legalized black market for kids," Greyhawk said. "I want my kid back."

Greyhawk was among about 75 people who gathered in Frankfort on Wednesday for a public hearing that was intended to gather suggestions for improving the state's welfare system. Most of those who attended were biological parents or grandparents, who told horror stories about children being "snatched" away by state workers.

The public hearing came just a week after the inspector general in the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services released a report detailing numerous problems in the state's foster care program in the Elizabethtown area.

Investigators planned to turn some evidence over to prosecutors to possible criminal conduct.

The report said some regional managers for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services abused their power in removing children from their biological parents, failed to follow standard operating procedures, and retaliated against staffers who complained about the problems.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)