Help Josh's Journey to Full Time Fatherhood

My name is Josh Hamilton. I am the father to three children, Sarah, 14; Joseph, 13; and Julia, 8. I’d like to share my story of how the system failed me and failed to protect my children in every way possible. The Department of Human Services (DHS), the very system that was put into place to service and protect the innocent, especially the lives of children. A system whose primary goal is to do what is in the best interest of the children. Through the system, I went from co-parenting with my ex-wife to supervised visits to now a full-time dad overnight.

My story, no let’s call it my journey began in 2015. My ex-wife was called into (DHS) on an unrelated child to myself for failure to thrive of an infant. As a result of the original report on a child not related to me, but because there were two other children in her home (my two kids) DHS lumped all three children together in a year-long investigation. I would find out years later, that this was not the first nor the last DHS intake to be called in on my ex-wife. Throughout the year-long investigation, I began losing parental privileges put in place by DHS. Our caseworker was an inexperienced intern who formed a rather unprofessional personal connection with my ex-wife and was being easily manipulated by her. As the investigation raged on, every little incident that happened on my watch was being documented and scrutinized by all the active members of our case. First, I lost my overnight visits. Within a few more months I lost weekend visits. Eventually, I was down to a few hours to visit with my children in my home, a couple of times per week.

By the time our court hearing rolled around in August 2016, I was feeling completely defeated. I would show up to court with my so-called court-appointed attorney, who did nothing short of letting the court know he was there to represent me. My ex-wife would show up, coddled with her appointed attorney, the GAL, the DHS-appointed caseworker, and the intern. In court, I had no one on my side. I felt like I was being ganged upon by everyone supporting my ex-wife. By my own admission, I began shutting down and became non-compliant. I had lost my fight; I went from 50/50 custody of my two children to all parental rights to my children stripped away. The judge adopted the DHS-recommended parenting plan into the court order, giving me supervised visits only.

Although I was angry and did not like the ruling, I accepted that my children were in better care with my ex-wife. Better care than what I was able to provide at that time in my life, I was living in a one-bedroom apartment, working a job that barely kept a roof over my head and driving an unreliable car. I started with the supervised visits, however, my ex-wife moved to another city, and quickly it became increasingly more difficult for me to keep up with my visitations. However, eventually, my ex-wife started allowing me other opportunities to see and spend time with my children. Birthdays, special occasions, no occasions, when my mother or my father was going to be having the children, I would take every opportunity to see them. But with the court order hanging over my head, my ex-wife would hang me with it whenever she felt like it. So, over the next seven years, I was at the mercy of my ex-wife as to when and where I was allowed to see my kiddos, this also applied to whenever I wanted to talk to them via phone or video. When she was holding the court order over my head, she was in control, there were many times I went months, sometimes a year or more without visits. During all this time I would take in everything and anything my ex-wife would tell me regarding the children and not say a word back at her or how I felt about a situation because she had so much control that if I crossed her at all she would use her famous phrase “You’ll Never See Your Kids Again”, so I would just keep my mouth shut.

Sometime in 2017 my ex-wife and her family moved to Ft. Hood, TX as her now husband was in the Army and was reassigned there. Thereabouts in 2019 my ex-wife informed me of an incident involving my oldest daughter and sexual allegations against her stepfather. As I inquired about the investigation, my ex-wife told me that the Texas Department of Protective Services was no longer handling the incident and was being turned over to the Ft. Hood military authorities. After a few more months, I asked what was the status of the investigation, she played it down as if it was unimportant telling me that the investigation had been dropped due to inconclusive evidence and that our daughter had lied about the whole thing. However, coincidentally her husband was discharged from the Army and they immediately moved back to Colorado in 2020.

In 2020, amid a worldwide pandemic, I myself was undergoing multiple personal turmoils and tribulations. As I emerged from the aftermath, I found my fight again and my focus and I started turning my life around, all I could think about was getting my kids back. I decided to make it my mission to regain my parental rights and regain a presence in my children's lives. I steadily started rebuilding myself, rebuilding my self-esteem, and my self-worth. I started a better-paying job and upgraded my vehicle. I improved my living situation and invested in my mental health and well-being.

It had been two and half years my children had lived in Ft. Hood, although I had gone to visit them twice I was excited to have them back in Colorado. Upon their return, everything started off great. I spent unsupervised visits with the kids every weekend in July and August. However, it all came to a screeching halt in September when my ex-wife went back to her old shenanigans telling me I could only have supervised visits. Over the next three years it was on again off again visits with my kids, my ex-wife always in control of when, where or how I was allowed to see them.

Another sexual allegation against her stepfather was reported to DHS by my oldest daughter in 2022. I found out a report was made with DHS and Fremont County Sheriff’s Department. My ex-wife told me there was an active investigation and that a no-contact order was put in place against her husband and that he was not allowed in the house. Within three or four months, my ex-wife once again told me the investigation was dropped, no charges were filed and that her husband was back in the house.

My ex-wife’s living situation seemed to be escalating out of control by January of 2023. I had received messages from other family members of my ex-wife that fights were breaking out and the Sheriff’s department had been to the house several times. Around January 20th I contacted DHS to make a welfare check. I never heard back from the department so I believe nothing was done by DHS. Two days later, I called the Fremont County Sheriff’s Department requesting a welfare check and was told by the deputy that they were not going to go out to the house because they had already been there two days before and the children seemed fine. That same day I found out my ex-wife fled the state of Colorado with my children and with the rest of her family. She fled because she feared her mother or sister had called DHS on her and she was afraid they were going to come to the house and take the children away from her. A couple of days later I received a text message from my oldest daughter confirming they were indeed in Texas.

For a few weeks, I tried contacting authorities to report my ex-wife had fled the state with my children but was dismissed because apparently she was within her legal right to move away with my children without any notification and with no whereabouts. My daughter’s cell phone was turned off so I had no way of contacting her, and my ex-wife ignored all my attempts to contact her. For months I had no idea where my ex-wife or my children were except somewhere in Texas and the authorities were no help.

Finally, in May, I was financially able to retain a lawyer to begin the modification process of our current parenting plan. My attorney was unable to serve my ex-wife as I had no whereabouts as to where she was living. Then in July, she contacted me, I convinced her to give me her address and she was served soon after. Over the next seven months, I requested visitations with my children, but she would deny me. I requested to talk to or video chat with them, but she would deny me. By August my attorney had a modification court hearing date set for May 2024. At this time my attorney advised me to stop requesting to see the children as my ex-wife had established she was not going to comply with any visitations. Eventually, I was able to text and sometimes chat with my oldest daughter and the other kids through her cell phone, however, her mother would always monitor everything.

Everything seemed to be going quietly and smoothly until February of 2024. An abuse and neglect report was turned in to the Texas Department of Protective Services. I was contacted by a DPS caseworker and questioned extensively. Approximately two days later my children along with their other siblings were picked up from their schools and placed in protective services. Thus began the hardest battle I have ever been through.

It took quite some time before I was served with the court documents, and by the time I was served, I had 48 hours until court to find and obtain a lawyer in Texas. With help from my mother, she was able to find me an available lawyer on such short notice who would accept the case. Going through the court documents I was for the first time being presented with shocking details being revealed. Texas DPS had requested all abuse and neglect intakes from the Colorado Department of Human Services. Since 2010, there have been 35 referrals to DHS for the Hamilton/Moltzan children. Additionally, between January 2010 to present there have been at least 16 CPS/DHS investigations between Colorado and Texas. There have been at least 44 intakes to CPS/DHS. It was also disclosed during the first hearing, that there were possibly 10 to 12 additional intakes that had been digitally removed. Of the 44 intakes 34 of them were denied and no action was ever taken by DPS.

As I mentioned earlier I was made aware of the two sexual allegations my oldest daughter made against her stepfather. What I didn’t know was that the Army placed a no-contact order against the stepfather. My ex-wife ignored and went completely against this order moving her husband and the entire family from Texas back to Colorado. Then repeated this offense again when Colorado placed a no-contact order on the stepfather and they all moved back to Texas in 2023. The court documents also revealed that Texas obtained a taped confession from the stepfather for the sexual abuse of my daughter. Additionally, Colorado DHS was provided with a transcript of the taped confession as well. Yet my daughter remained in her mother’s care after both incidences. Please explain that to me.

We have been in a placement battle since February. I have had to prove myself innocent against false allegations and prove my worthiness as a man and a father to DPS and the courts. However, as of Tuesday, April 23rd the courts awarded me custody of my three children. I left for Texas the next day and finally brought my kids home. Now for really the first time in my life, I am finding myself a full-time parent. Mentally I am prepared, but physically not really. The kids came with not much more than the clothes on their backs and are in need of everything. I have been struggling for months financially due to the amount of money I have been shelling out for not one, but two attorneys.

Since the Texas placement hearing, I have had my Colorado modification hearing, which of course changed from a modification of parenting time to parental custody of the children. The Colorado Judge placed the children in my custody temporarily ordering a court-appointed attorney be granted for the children to complete a six-month investigation before permanent custody is ordered.

My goal in contacting you is to hopefully get someone’s attention that the Colorado Department of Human Services is failing miserably. My daughter was neglected by the system and left in a situation of abuse for over five years after it was brought to their attention. How is this “What is best for the children”? I lost ten years of time with my children, missed birthdays and holidays, and missed them growing up due to someone’s incompetency. How does an agency that is put into place to protect against abuse and neglect allow 44 intakes on a single individual/family and not even bat an eye when another report is made and jokingly says “Oh yes we know that family”. How long does the abuse have to go on before DHS will do something? Is this right? Is this fair? How many others are there that have lost their fight? Who is FINALLY going to step up against this and say something? I am, I must in order to help someone else. I was lucky to have support from my mother and friends, now I have to pay it forward to hopefully help someone else.

I am a Veteran; I served my country for ten years and two deployments. As a Veteran, I set up my own independent contractor business to try and establish a source of work to provide for my family before the company I am currently employed with contacted me for the job. A Go-Fund-Me has been set up at https://gofund.me/a8789b1e to help raise money so that I can adequately provide what I am required to provide for my children due to the nature of their situation. Last July my mother offered me a room to rent in her home as she was looking for a roommate to help offset her living expenses. I graciously accepted the offer as I looked at it as I was helping her and it would offer a place for my children if I did get them. Although her house has adequate square footage, it is only a three-bedroom with an unfinished basement. Currently, my teenage daughter and my eight-year-old daughter are rooming together in one bedroom, my mother is in the master bedroom and my girlfriend, and I are in the third bedroom. My 13-year-old son has decided he likes it in the basement where we have made a makeshift living room area and his bed is set up down there. There is only one outlet for the entire basement, and we are running extension cords all over the place. We desperately need work done in the basement like adequate wiring and outlets installed, however, I know nothing about electrical and am not comfortable attempting to do a project like that. Ideally, we would like to put two more bedrooms and another full bath finished in the basement but financially I don't see us being able to accomplish this anytime in the near future.

On top of all that has happened, my mother lost her job three months ago, and despite all her efforts to find employment, she is still unemployed, and her unemployment benefits have not kicked in yet. The whole responsibility of keeping the household afloat has fallen on my shoulders. Almost like overnight, I was given three more people to care for and provide for without additional financial assistance. The donations are to help me out with this new beginning with my children while I navigate how to manage expenses. I’ve reached out to the community for resources like food banks, clothing closets, and many others, but I am still struggling with the required day-to-day expenses to keep my new family and household afloat. I am not one to ask for help and am certainly not looking for handouts. I’m looking for a little compassion and human kindness. It’s not easy to become a single father of three overnight. I’m not asking for much, whatever you can contribute until I can get back on my feet to provide for my family on my own. Thank you for all that you are doing, from the bottom of my heart I am forever grateful, and God bless.

Josh Hamilton