and to keep my focus on why can't this child go home yet and what can we do to change that. >> joyce mcmillan says more must be done to help parents like her. >> the fact is utilized when from the time that courtney was removed, we wouldn't have the same issue with kayla. >> joyce's second child was put in foster care when she was three months old. >> your first child was put in foster care because you are were using drugs. you didn't stop. why not? >> it was a time i felt very alone. i wasn't supported. >> did foster scare help you to come clean? >> absolutely not, it didn't help me come clean. what it did was tore my family apart. i found the strength inside of me to do what i needed to do to fight them. >> by the time kayla returned she was nearly two and didn't recognize her mother. >> when i picked kayla up that night i can remember the gut-wrenching screams like it was yesterday. >> reporter: kayla still remembers. courtney finished college and is working in new york city. still, she feels her family was unnecessarily separated. >> ripping kids from their mother, from their home, it's a

. >> reporter: joyce mcmillan and her daughter have two sets of family memories memories from beforertney went into foster care when she was ag and after she came home two years later. >> that changed me a lot from that day just because you don't forget being taken from your mum. >> reporter: joyce admits she was using an illicit substance when the child welfare agency took courtney away but said her daughter was not in danger a legal standard for taking children from their homes. >> we had an apartment, we were doing well. >> reporter: what was it marijuana? >> it's not that i'm uncomfortable saying what it is but regardless, there was things they could have put in place, and none were gip as an option or opportunity to keep my family intact. >> reporter: joy things the si wouldn't have separated her family if she was white. what makes you think white parents don't face the same scrutiny? >> my daughter would fall and twist her arm. i'd take her to the emergency. a call would be placed asking questions of me as to how this happened. >> it's not just about one person. >> at the suppo