https://www.emmettsstory.com

On June 17, 2015 DCS Investigator Lydia Caniff came to my home and stated That I, Vashti Williams had to not only let her into my home but that I had no choice but to sign this form Titled " Notice of Duty to Inform". That document stated" "The following allegation concerning your child (or children) is currently being investigated by DCS." Just below that, she wrote one word: "NEGLECT". 

The first week of March of, 2015 I contacted a Phx Detective who was assigned to my case due to a report that I FILED TO ADHERE TO THE LAW to inform the state of a traumatic situation that occurred in my home along with filing my own report with AZ DCS. On June 16th, 2015 after being absolutely frustrated with no services being provided to my children to help them cope with the situation that I reported, I sent multiple emails to this Detective asking why nothing was being done. On June 16, 2015 I contacted this detective again via email informing him that the DCS caseworkers information he had given me had not only come back void, as after 7 phonecalls and 7 left messages, not a single one was returned. But that when I physically chose to go to the DCS office located on 99th ave and Peoria in phoenix AZ that the supervisor there stated that they had chosen not to open a case for me and my children becuase they were already satisfied that I had separated my children followed by making the report to DCS and the Phx police Dept therefore there was no need for them to investigate and because of that, they were unable to provide any services to my children. I asked what it would take for them to open a case so that my family could get help and she told me that I would have to move my children back into the same home.

That evening I contacted the Detective and informed him that I was going to search for a 4 bedroom house so that I could not only move my children back together, but so that I could move my parents in as well to help with the monitoring of my children and to also have a stronger in home support system. I asked him to contact DCS and inform them of my decision so that they would be forced to open a case. The following day 6/17/15 Lydia Caniff accused me of neglect even though I hadn't even moved into the house yet, and I also informed her of the reason she had a report to come to my home and investigate. 

July 15th I moved into the house with both children and my parents. On July 22nd, 2015 Lydia Caniff had agreed to the safety plan that I had set in place and had me sign a document agreeing to In-Home Services from the Family Preservation Team to counsel both of my children and my family in my home. On July 22nd later that afternoon, I was contacted by a Juvenile Probation Officer informing me that my 10 year old son was being charged with 3 class 2 felonies for acts that he was way too young to understand and that he had to appear in court 2 days later. 

On July 24th my son was removed from my care from Judge Mulleneaux and placed in foster care. 

While in foster Care my son has: 

1) Recieved a broken wrist that the group home failed to report and the DCS caseworker only learned of the broken wrist 3 days after it occurred because I informed her of it. I requested my son be removed from that group home for their negligence in reporting it and was told that it wasn't a good enough reason to remove him from that placement. 

2) He has been prescribed the antidepressant Escitalopram which is not approved by the FDA for use in children under the age of 12 for increased risk in suicidal thoughts and since taking that medication he has started to feel as if his life has no value. Instead of DCS recognizing the antidepressants don't work for depression that stems from temporary situations, and focus more on providing my son with therapy and allowing me to engage with him, they rushed to medicate him with a medication that has done no good, only harm, and against my will. 

3) DCS has ignored the Judge Welty's orders to ensure I not only have 2 visits per week but phonecalls from my son as well, but they have disregarded multiple orders from him and the delinquency Judge Mulleneaux, and then turn around and blatantly lie in the courtroom. Because of that, I have not only maintained my timeline of events, but I have kept documentation for every single event that has occurred, I have only contacted with DCS via email so that I could use that documentation as proof, and or by text message so that when my voice is finally heard, DCS will  not have the ability to say that I have been dishonest in any single claim that I have complained about against them or accused them of. 

On August 7th, 2015 at 2:05 pm just one hour after my dependency hearing with Judge Welty in which I asked if I could place my daughter with my Godmother who lives very close to me so that my son could be taken out of foster care and returned home that of which the Judge agreed to. Lydia Caniff came to my home and infront of my 5 yr old daughter stated that If I did not sign the In Home dependency which stated that I agreed to being Neglectful to my daughter that the police were on their way to remove her from my home. This put a level of fear in my daughter that I had never seen before. Her wails and tears were absolutely unbearable to me. As I had my parents there, my Godmother on speaker phone so that she could be a witness to what was taking place I continued to ask on what grounds had I been neglectful to my daughter, and her only statement was that I failed to have services started for my daughter which was  not true and I stood there trying to provide her with the documentation to prove it. Lydia Caniff then said that she was "sick of arguing with me" that "she didn't feel like giving me any more time" and that "the police were on their way to pick up my daughter." I frantically pleaded with her to just give me the document and I signed it not knowing that I was giving guardianship of my daughter to DCS which would prevent me from placing her with my Godmother so that I would have full access to both of my children. 

To date 12/28/15 every individual outside of a direct employee of DCS who is ordered to visit my home to check on my daughter has stated that they don't understand why there is a dependency order for my daughter as they don't see any signs whatsoever of my daughter being neglected in anyway. And to be clear, I did not fail to have services started for her. And when I recieved the official documentation in the mail listing 3 claims of how I had been neglectful, I immediately sent in my dispute letter to Rosalie Gutierrez Regional Review Specialist along with documentation to once again disprove each allegation, I was told that because the dependency order against my daughter was identical to the one against my son that the only way it would be dismissed which would prevent my name from being placed in a registry that would prevent me from from being able to pass a finger print clearance card, or work with children for 25 years, would be if the dependency Judge Welty dismissed the dependency case. 

Despite all of my evidence, despite all of my witnesses, despite all of my please for help, DCS has continued to victimize and traumatize my children unjustly. In fact, I have been threatened with a gag order and a felony charge should I continue to publicly reach out for help. As you can see, I AM STILL PUBLICLY REACHING OUT FOR HELP because my love for my children outweighs the fear that DCS has attempted to put in me to cause me to keep quite while they just victimize and traumatize my children. 

It is their abuse of power that puts so much fear in parents that they feel helpless and DCS is able to continue to fail so many families. Please stand with me. Please sign my petition. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, and as long as their is life in my flesh, I will continue to fight for my children, and I will continue to fight to expose DCS for the corrupt entity that they are!