I am a single father, I have my youngest with me and 2 older children from another relationship living with their mother in Portland. I hadn't heard anything from my oldest children in years until the summer of 2012. Their mother decided to move them out of state (Washington) without telling me 8 years prior. Well after seeing my kids for the first time in so many years I was saddened and appalled at what I had seen my oldest child wearing; clothes that were obviously dirty, old , and too small for him to be wearing. My second child was a bit better kept but still had uncombed hair and both of them didn't seem to know what to do when it came to personal hygiene. My parents and myself spent nearly $600 on them just so they would have clean clothing that actually fit and looked good on them in one day. Fast forward 4 months later, they seemed happier the second time I saw them, but still their was always a bad vibe when I got around them, a sadness if you will. After getting them a phone so they could keep in contact with me, a few months go by and everything is fine. I hear from them on a regular basis now. all of a sudden 4 months into the new year the calls start to fall off so when I do ask my kids why they haven't called they tell me it's because their mother took away their phone. Now I understand kids need discipline and all that but this phone was given to them with one purpose only, to keep in contact with me. I specifically told them if anything bad happens call me right away. I finally hear from them again during the summer 2013, their mother is having another bitch fit in the background yelling and screaming like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum. I ask my daughter to go outside so i can hear her better and she tells me her mom has been at this for awhile now, she's even torn up all the books grandpa had sent her. The mother had called me earlier in the week yelling and screaming that the kids ruined her life and the I need to take them so they can ruin my life. Ironically I had asked on two separate occasions to bring the kids up to my place for the summer and she would either refuse, back out at the last minute, or try to do it without giving written consent - an obvious trap so she could get me jailed for kidnapping- I also find out my son is now staying anywhere but home. I give it a few days hoping he'll come back home. I try calling again and get absolutely no answers. I go a few more months without hearing anything from either of them except a random message or two on Facebook. Then on the last day Of January 2014, I receive the worst call a father could get. CPS from Portland OR calls and tells me my children are being put into protective custody and that many people have been calling them about their behavior. The CPS worker goes on to tell me they went to talk with my kids and asked them why they weren't living at home, my kids tell them that the living conditions in the house are deplorable. From there they do an in home inspection of the house and I quote " We did an in home inspection and the place was filthy, rotten food, dirty clothes, feces on the floor,and the youngest child's diaper was so full it was sagging past his knees. As well as dental neglect"; now mind you I had just called them a few days prior to this to report my oldest child being abandoned by the mother because I had even spoke to her about it and the tome of her voice when I asked about him was "I don't care" what the CPS worker in Portland told me when I called to make the report was that there wasn't enough information to launch an investigation. Now I have to drive 3 hours to get to Portland for court for my children and even then I can only hope that they will release my kids to me then and their. Yes I finally get my kids back, but at what cost to their mental and emotional well being? Why does the system never take allegations of abandonment, neglect and fraud from a father seriously, why does someone have to get hurt in some way shape or form for them to look int it first? If they keep this up so many children will be harmed by such a biased system. There are and always have been men like myself who truly care about their children in this world, we just keep getting ignored until it's damn near too late. The sytem needs to be changed immediately. And any woman who is getting child support from a man and has ever yelled or even mumbled the phrase "where's my money" to that man, well that man should be able to put her as a dependent on his income taxes.