[nfbmi-talk] Fw: [Missouri-l] National Federation of the Blind Successful inReturning Infant to Her Parents

[Fred Olver]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Chip Hailey 
To: MCB Listserve 
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2010 10:15 AM
Subject: [Missouri-l] National Federation of the Blind Successful inReturning Infant to Her Parents


National Federation of the Blind Successful in Returning Infant to Her Parents
By National Federation of the Blind
Published: Thursday, Jul. 22, 2010 - 6:24 am
INDEPENDENCE, Mo., July 22 -- Family Reunited After Wrongful Seizure of Child
INDEPENDENCE, Mo., July 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The
National Federation of the Blind
 (
NFB
) and its
Missouri
 affiliate announced today that they have succeeded in a legal fight to bring a two-month-old
infant,
Mikaela Sinnett,
 home to her parents,
Blake Sinnett
 and
Erika Johnson
 of Independence.  The
NFB
 of
Missouri
 hired an attorney to assist the couple after
Mikaela
 was taken from them at
Centerpoint Hospital
 almost immediately after she was born.  For fifty-seven days the couple, both of
whom are blind, were allowed to visit their child in foster care but were not allowed
to bring her home.  The sole reason given by
Missouri's
 Department of
Social Services
 was that the couple was blind and could not properly care for
Mikaela
 without the assistance of a sighted person twenty-four hours a day and seven days
a week.  An evidentiary hearing was scheduled for July 20, but at the last minute
the state of
Missouri
 dismissed the case against the couple.
Dr.
Marc Maurer,
 President of the
National Federation of the Blind,
 said: "The
National Federation of the Blind
 is pleased that the state of
Missouri
 has dismissed its case against
Blake Sinnett
 and
Erika Johnson
 and returned baby
Mikaela
 to their care.  Despite the fact that blind parents are successfully raising children
across the nation, blind Americans continue to find that misconceptions and stereotypes
about the capabilities of blind people too often result in hasty and unwarranted
decisions to remove children from the custody of blind parents.  The worst nightmare
of parents everywhere-having a child taken away-is sadly part of the lives of too
many blind parents.  The
National Federation of the Blind
 stands ready and willing to help state officials across the country understand how
blind people use alternative techniques to care for their children.  But the blind
of America will not tolerate our children being taken from us."
"We were and are outraged at the action of
Centerpoint Hospital
 and the state of
Missouri,
" said
Gary Wunder,
 president of the
National Federation of the Blind
 of
Missouri.
  "Children's services have the job of protecting children from abuse and we have
nothing but admiration for that work.  Taking a child away because her parents are
blind is an entirely different matter which violates state and federal law.  We have
gotten
Mikaela
 back home, but we must fundamentally change a system that presumes the incompetence
of blind parents and operates on a principle of guilty until proven innocent rather
than the reverse.  We cannot help but think that new parents who are blind in
Missouri
 will avoid seeking medical and social services that they may need for fear that
they will experience a similar ordeal.  We can never give back the two months this
family has lost, nor can we restore to Erika the joy of nursing her child that this
separation has made impossible.  What we can do is use their adversity to change
the system that allowed this atrocity and educate the people who have mistakenly
equated blindness with a lack of perception, intellect, and judgment."
On May 21, 2010, Erika and Blake went to
Centerpoint Hospital,
 where Erika delivered
Mikaela.
  When trying to nurse the baby for the first time, Erika asked for assistance from
a nurse when she thought something was wrong.  The nurse said that the baby was turning
blue and helped reposition the baby, who then began to take nourishment.  The nurse
assured Erika that it was common for new mothers to need some instruction and that
she was doing fine.  Blake and Erika were therefore surprised when, some four hours
later, they were met by a children's services worker who made inquiries about their
vision; asked how they would feed, diaper, and supervise their child; and eventually
decreed that Baby
Mikaela
 would not be allowed to be discharged with her mother unless the social worker could
be assured there would be constant supervision by someone with sight.  On the recommendation
of
Missouri's
 Children's Protective Services,
Mikaela
 was placed in foster care and one-hour visits were arranged for several times each
week.  When the
National Federation of the Blind
 of
Missouri
 determined that blindness was the only reason the child was taken by the state,
the organization hired attorney
Amy Coopman
 to handle the case.  The
National Federation of the Blind
 now has the option to file complaints with the
Missouri
 Human Rights Commission and/or the federal
Office for Civil Rights,
 as well as at least three options that can be pursued in the state's courts.
About the
National Federation of the Blind
With more than 50,000 members, the
National Federation of the Blind
 is the largest and most influential membership organization of blind people in the
United States.  The
NFB
 improves blind people's lives through advocacy, education, research, technology,
and programs encouraging independence and self-confidence.  It is the leading force
in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation's blind.  In January 2004
the
NFB
 opened the
National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute,
 the first research and training center in the United States for the blind led by
the blind.
SOURCE
National Federation of the Blind



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