2022-07-16
21 分钟This is in conversation from Apple News.
I'm Shemitah Basu.
Today reimagining a child welfare system that supports families instead of separating them.
If you're a parent or if you've even just watched kids for an afternoon, you've almost definitely been in a situation like this.
You're out with the kids, you've got your back turned for just a few seconds and before you know it, a kid is missing.
Your stomach drops mild to medium.
Panic, you search around and sure enough, they didn't get too far.
You're reunited, you breathe a sigh of relief, and that's the end of it.
That's what happened to a woman named Vanessa Peoples.
But for her, it wasn't the end of a story.
It was just the beginning.
In 2017, she was at a family picnic in a park in Aurora, Colorado with her two sons, a two year old and a four year old.
The two year old wandered away and Vanessa went running after him.
But by the time she got there, a passerby had grabbed her toddler.
Vanessa told the woman, that's my son.
But the woman had already called the police and refused to give him back until the officers arrived.
And the police officer initially didn't believe it was Vanessa's son.
Vanessa's family vouched for her and she got her son back.
But the officer didn't let her go right away.
The police officer gave her a ticket for child abuse because of that minute long lapse in her care for her son when he strayed away.