I don't mean give up. Did I *say* give up? I said try to find another relative who will look better to the court.
Obviously, if that's impossible, you just have to play the hand you've got with the Courts.
Kids running is one thing---it's understandable, and in many cases less bad than not running.
I can't see how a parent busting a kid out can do less trauma than staying there, because the parent *would* go to jail and the kid would always have horrible survivor guilt over the parent's jail time.
The overwhelming majority of kids *don't* die in facilities. That doesn't make the deaths right, it doesn't make what they do right. I am *not* advocating for those unscrupulous bastards.
Whatever situation you've got, there is *always* some way it could be worse.
A badly organized kidnapping to try to bust the kid out and live on the run would be one of those "worse" things. Kidnappings involve the FBI. As desperate as you are, what if you get shot by the cops trying to protect your kid after you run? How is your child going to live with that?
I'm not saying you shouldn't do anything. I'm just saying there's a "worse."
Talking to a reporter, if I were in your shoes what I would do is say up front, "Listen, I'm not going to lie to you. I've got a felony conviction on my record, and even though I've cleaned up my act and been clean for a long time, that kind of thing doesn't make family court judges like you."
By "up front" I mean I wouldn't let them get as far as having to ask you about skeletons in your closet.
If you put it right out there up front, it helps.
You can play the publicity game, it's just harder.
Timoclea
