Desperate Housewives Chicago style

Now that Annie has convinced Roy to move in with her, what will happen with her plan to get guardianship of her orphaned niece? Will Stella's grandchildren learn that she has been deleting the emails their father sends them from prison? Where will Collette's little boy sleep tonight?

Annie was thrilled the day Roy finally agreed to move into her cozy one-bedroom bungalow on Misteria Lane. But then her aunt suddenly died, leaving behind a 12-year-old adopted daughter. Annie wants guardianship of the child, but does Roy? Right now, the girl is living with her 30-year-old adopted brother, Fred, a notorious abuser. Fred was jailed, more than once, for violating Orders of Protections obtained by his mother and various other people. Fred has always denied any anger issues, claiming that other people are simply out to get him. Fred says he will fight Annie for custody of his sister. He says Annie's boyfriend, Roy, is a drug dealer and he can prove it in court.

While Annie tries to figure out what to do, her neighbor across the street, Stella, is worried about keeping her grandchildren away from their father. She took guardianship of the kids when Bill went to prison. It seems he'd been chatting on-line with an undercover police officer who went by the screen name, "Hot Young Thang." Bill was charged with and ultimately convicted of child porn-the police had found thousands of illegal images of children on his personal laptop. Yesterday, Bill showed up at Stella's front door. He'd been released early thanks to prison overcrowding and wanted to collect his kids and move to Elgin. Stella didn't want to let the kids go and they didn't want to move away from Misteria Lane. Now they were sobbing hysterically, while Bill was demanding his rights as a father. What could Stella do?

Down the street, Collette had her own problems. Five years ago, she'd left her baby boy with her stepmother, Francine, while she went away to college. Upon graduating with a B.S. in nursing, she'd rented a condo on Misteria Lane and was ready to bring her son home with her. Francine had other ideas. Although the child spent last winter with his mother while Francine wintered in Vegas, now Francine has enrolled him in a private kindergarten on the other side of town and is refusing all contact. Collette, devastated, turned to her police officer boyfriend for help. He ran a check on Francine's plates and discovered a three-year-old DUI conviction. He told Collette she should call Francine and threaten to report her to child welfare authorities unless she turned her son back over to her immediately. Collette didn't really want to threaten Francine, who had really helped her out over the years, but what other choice did she have?

Will Collette turn in Francine? Will Roy allow Annie to take care of her niece? Will Stella have to let Bill see his children?

Do you think these people are all nuts and someone needs to watch out for the kids?

Maybe that someone is you. You don't need to tune into this newsletter next month to find out what happens. The continuing saga of the fascinating world of Misteria Lane is played out every day in the Probate Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County. There, attorneys just like you, who want to help kids, volunteer for Chicago Volunteer Legal Services ("CVLS") to serve as guardians ad litem. CVLS investigates the parties and the allegations, submit a written report to the court with a recommendation as to the child's best interests and represent the child in court.

This is a great program for attorneys who want to help kids-CVLS provides intensive, one-to-one training and support, leaving volunteers free to advocate for their young clients. If you want a first-hand look at the daily intrigue on Misteria Lane, contact Michael Bergmann, 312.332.1916 or at mbergmann@cvls.org.

__________

Ms. Benson is the Executive Director of the CVLS.