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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=goodfolks@charter.net
href="mailto:goodfolks@charter.net">Fred Olver</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, July 21, 2010 8:57 AM</DIV>
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<DIV><B>Subject:</B> [Chapter-presidents] Fw: [Missouri-l] Infant is returned to
blindcouple after state placesher in protective custody</DIV></DIV></DIV>
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<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=chip@gatewayfortheblind.com href="mailto:chip@gatewayfortheblind.com">Chip
Hailey</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=missouri-l@moblind.org
href="mailto:missouri-l@moblind.org">MCB Listserve</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, July 21, 2010 7:47 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> [Missouri-l] Infant is returned to blind couple after state
placesher in protective custody</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Posted on Wed, Jul. 21, 2010 12:15
AM<BR>Email<BR>Infant is returned to blind couple after state places her in
protective custody<BR>By LEE HILL KAVANAUGH<BR>The Kansas City
Star<BR>Fifty-seven days after she was born, Mikaela Sinnett was home for the
first time Tuesday with her parents, Erika Johnson and Blake Sinnett of
Independence. State officials had worried they were unable to care for
her.<BR>DAVID EULITT | The Kansas City Sta<BR>Fifty-seven days after she was
born, Mikaela Sinnett was home for the first time<BR>Tuesday with her parents,
Erika Johnson and Blake Sinnett of Independence. State<BR>officials had worried
they were unable to care for her.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>A folding cane used by Blake Sinnett rested in the
baby carrier used to carry home his daughter.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>On Tuesday, Blake Sinnett, guided by his mother,
Jenne Sinnett, carried his 2-month-old daughter, Mikaela Sinnett. Behind them
was Mikaela’s mother, Erika Johnson.<BR>Erika Johnson will never be able to see
her baby, Mikaela.<BR>But for 57 days she couldn’t keep her newborn close, smell
her baby’s breath, feel<BR>her downy hair.<BR>The state took away her 2-day-old
infant into protective custody — because Johnson<BR>and Mikaela’s father are
both blind.<BR>No allegations of abuse, just a fear that the new parents would
be unable to care<BR>for the child.<BR>On Tuesday, Johnson still couldn’t stop
crying, although Mikaela was back in her<BR>arms.<BR>“We never got the chance to
be parents,” she said. “We had to prove that we could.”<BR>Tuesday, she and
Blake Sinnett knew their baby was finally coming home to their
Independence<BR>apartment, but an adjudication hearing was scheduled for the
afternoon on whether<BR>the state would stay involved in the rearing of the
baby. Then from a morning phone<BR>call to their attorney, they learned that the
state was dismissing their case.<BR>“Every minute that has passed that this
family wasn’t together is a tragedy. A legal<BR>tragedy and a moral one, too,”
said Amy Coopman, their attorney. “How do you get<BR>57 days back?”<BR>Arleasha
Mays, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Social Services,
said<BR>privacy laws prohibited her from speaking about specific cases. But she
added, “The<BR>only time we recommend a child be removed is if it’s in imminent
danger.”<BR>Johnson said she knew the system eventually would realize its
horrible mistake, but<BR>she often was consumed with sadness. Sinnett tried his
best to keep Johnson hopeful.<BR>For almost two months she and Sinnett could
visit their baby only two or three times<BR>a week, for just an hour at a time,
with a foster parent monitoring.<BR>“I’m a forgiving person,” Johnson said, but
she’s resentful that people assumed she<BR>was incapable.<BR>“Disability does
not equal inability,” she said.<BR>Representatives of the sightless community
agreed that people were well-meaning but<BR>blinded by ignorance.<BR>Mikaela was
born May 21 at Centerpoint Medical Center of Independence. The doctors<BR>let
Sinnett “see” her birth by feeling the crowning of her head.<BR>For Johnson,
hearing Mikaela’s whimpers was a thrill. The little human inside her<BR>all
these months, the one who hiccupped and burped, who kicked and moved,
especially<BR>at night, was now a real person whom she loved more than anything
else she’d ever<BR>imagined.<BR>In her overnight bag was Mikaela’s special
homecoming outfit, a green romper from<BR>Johnson’s mother, with matching
bottoms and a baby bow.<BR>Questions arose within hours of Mikaela’s birth,
after Johnson’s clumsy first attempts<BR>at breast-feeding — something many new
mothers experience.<BR>A lactation nurse noticed that Mikaela’s nostrils were
covered by Johnson’s breast.<BR>Johnson felt that something was wrong and
switched her baby to her other side, but<BR>not before Mikaela turned
blue.<BR>That’s when the concerned nurse wrote on a chart: “The child is without
proper custody,<BR>support or care due to both of parents being blind and they
do not have specialized<BR>training to assist them.”<BR>Her words set into
motion the state mechanisms intended to protect children from<BR>physical or
sexual abuse, unsanitary conditions, neglect or absence of basic needs<BR>being
met.<BR>Centerpoint said it could not comment because of patient privacy laws,
but spokeswoman<BR>Gene Hallinan said, “We put the welfare of our patients as
our top priority.”<BR>A social worker from the state came by Johnson’s hospital
room and asked her questions:<BR>How could she take her baby’s temperature?
Johnson answered: with our talking thermometer.<BR>How will you take her to a
doctor if she gets sick? Johnson’s reply: If it were an<BR>emergency, they’d
call an ambulance. For a regular doctor’s appointment, they’d call<BR>a cab or
ride a bus.<BR>But it wasn’t enough for the social worker, who told Johnson she
would need 24-hour<BR>care by a sighted person at their apartment.<BR>Johnson
said they couldn’t afford it, didn’t need it.<BR>“I needed help as a new parent,
but not as a blind parent,” Johnson said.<BR>She recalled the social worker
saying: “ ‘Look, because you guys are blind, I don’t<BR>feel like you can
adequately take care of her.’ And she left.”<BR>The day of Johnson’s discharge,
another social worker delivered the news to the couple<BR>that Mikaela was not
going home with them. The parents returned the next day to visit<BR>Mikaela
before she left the hospital, but they were barred from holding her.<BR>“All we
could do was touch her arm or leg,” Johnson said.<BR>The couple began making
calls. Gary Wunder, president of the National Federation<BR>of the Blind of
Missouri, had trouble believing it at first.<BR>“I needed to verify their whole
story,” he recalled. “We had to do due diligence.<BR>… I found the couple to be
intelligent and responsible.<BR>“We knew this was an outrage that had taken
place.”<BR>He notified Kansas City chapter president Shelia Wright, who visited
the 24-year-olds.<BR>Hearing about the empty crib, the baby clothes, Wright
recalled, “I felt as helpless<BR>as I’ve ever felt in my life.<BR>“I hurt so bad
for them. This is unforgivable.”<BR>They rallied other associations for the
blind nationwide. More than 100 people at<BR>a national convention in Dallas
volunteered to travel to Kansas City to protest and<BR>testify, both as blind
parents and as the sighted children of blind parents. (Mikaela<BR>has normal
sight.)<BR>They also hired Coopman, who watched the young couple with their baby
girl on Tuesday.<BR>“I’m sorry,” she said, wiping tears. “But this should not
have happened.”<BR>Johnson kept a journal that Coopman is keeping closed for
now. She indicates that<BR>legal action will be taken.<BR>“Whether a couple is
visually impaired or deaf or in a wheelchair, the state should<BR>not keep them
from their children,” she said.<BR>Now breast-feeding is a lost option. And the
beautiful newborn clothes hanging in<BR>the closet went unworn, because their
baby was growing bigger in the arms of someone<BR>else.<BR>The couple said they
had tried to prove themselves to the sighted community since<BR>their early
years. Sinnett rode his bicycle on the street with the help of a
safety<BR>gadget. Johnson graduated from high school with honors. But all the
challenges they’ve<BR>endured over the years shrink compared to the
responsibility of caring for 10 pounds<BR>of squirming baby girl.<BR>Johnson
cuddled Mikaela. Gave her a bottle. Patted her back until she burped.
Mikaela<BR>gave a tiny smile.<BR>In their 24 years, the couple said, they’ve
both endured prejudice from others. They<BR>don’t want any other blind parent to
suffer the same obstacle they did.<BR>Fifty-seven days are too precious to
lose.<BR>The Star’s Laura Bauer contributed to this report. To reach Lee Hill
Kavanaugh, call<BR>816-234-4420 or send e-mail to<BR><A
href="mailto:lkavanaugh@kcstar.com">lkavanaugh@kcstar.com</A><BR></FONT></DIV>
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