Rescue The Fosters: TARGETED MINNESOTA MOM w/ Special Guest - Pepper Woodworth

Pepper Woodworth:
My case was 15 years ago. Someone made a false report saying my daughter fell into a pool because she was unattended. There was no pool. They couldn’t find anything to open a case, so they started with the whole “we can help with daycare and other resources” approach—resources I was never actually given.

What I didn’t realize was that this wasn’t how it would end.

She continued to be involved in my life. At the time, I was staying with my parents, who were alcoholics. When I went into labor with my daughter, I had to leave the hospital because they were intoxicated and I couldn’t leave my other children with them. I had no one to watch my kids while I gave birth.

She said she would place us all together in full family foster care. Instead, she showed up, took my children, and had my doctor put me on a 72-hour hold. I was transferred to the psychiatric unit. After my water broke, I was sent to labor and delivery, where I spent a couple of hours with my baby so they could make sure I didn’t bleed to death. Then I was sent back to the psychiatric unit for a couple of days—without my baby.

I was later picked up by the family who took my baby. A few days after that, they picked me up again, brought me my children, and dropped me off at a homeless shelter—with a six-year-old, a three-year-old, an almost two-year-old, and a newborn.