The protest group formed several years ago after a mother named Tilly Ayala, frustrated by fruitless efforts to get her two children out of foster care, began weekly pickets outside DHS headquarters, at 15th and Arch streets. Her revolt was contagious, and before long, a crowd of supporters frequently joined her.
Volunteers from the Every Mother is a Working Mother Network embraced the effort, and now host weekly support-group meetings for other mothers similarly stymied by the system.
They also act as parent advocates, accompanying mothers to court hearings and meetings with caseworkers. And they lobby for reform, saying that more transparency and accountability are keys to improvement.
"Removing children should be the absolute last resort, when all other resources have been exhausted, when all other therapies have been tried, when a child is in immediate danger for his life," Kalyna said. "Instead, children get taken because there are roaches in the house. Or because their housing isn't adequate. Or because a parent has a drug addiction. Instead of giving those families help to handle those problems, DHS just removes the child."
Such claims annoy Anne Marie Ambrose. The DHS commissioner says that her agency does address those problems by providing in-home services and linking families with community services. DHS, she emphasized, removes children only when social workers identify a safety concern.
"I believe in advocacy, and I feel passionately about the welfare of children," Ambrose said. "So I respect that in others. But I've been called a 'babykiller' and a 'babysnatcher' [by DHS-Give Us Back Our Children pickets]. It hasn't been a productive relationship."
But Kalyna and her supporters are steadfastly unapologetic.
"I think DHS doesn't really care about children," Kalyna said.
