[Nfbmo] [Chapter-presidents] Fw: [Missouri-l] Infant is returned toblind couple after state placesher in protective custody
Gary Wunder
gwunder at earthlink.net
Thu Jul 22 10:48:28 UTC 2010
We can't give Erika and Mikaela back the bonding which comes from
nursing. The separation put an end to that. You are right - we
are relieved and happy, but we still feel terrible about what has
happened and our inability to make it shorter.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael D. Barber" <michael.nfbi at gmail.com
To: "'NFB Chapter Presidents discussion list'"
<chapter-presidents at nfbnet.org>,<nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>,"'NFB of
Missouri Mailing List'" <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>,<Blindad at babel-fish.us
Date sent: Wed, 21 Jul 2010 10:52:38 -0500
Subject: Re: [Chapter-presidents] Fw: [Missouri-l] Infant is
returned toblind couple after state placesher in protective
custody
This is indeed heart-wrenching, sickening, and delightful, all at
the same time. I dare anyone to now say we donât need an
organized blind movement like the NFB. Advocacy and support are
two of our strongest services we can provide.
I hope we sue these people and win. Trouble is, any monitary
reward wonât give them back the 57 precious days of parenting
theyâve lost with their little bambino. Social Services should
be made to pay dearly for what theyâve done.
Michael Barber
From: chapter-presidents-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:chapter-presidents-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Fred
Olver
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 7:57 AM
To: NFB Chapter Presidents discussion list;
nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org; NFB of Missouri Mailing List;
Blindad at babel-fish.us
Subject: [Chapter-presidents] Fw: [Missouri-l] Infant is returned
to blind couple after state placesher in protective custody
----- Original Message -----
From: Chip Hailey <mailto:chip at gatewayfortheblind.com
To: MCB Listserve <mailto:missouri-l at moblind.org
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 7:47 AM
Subject: [Missouri-l] Infant is returned to blind couple after
state placesher in protective custody
Posted on Wed, Jul. 21, 2010 12:15 AM
Email
Infant is returned to blind couple after state places her in
protective custody
By LEE HILL KAVANAUGH
The Kansas City Star
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.
DAVID EULITT | The Kansas City Sta
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.
A folding cane used by Blake Sinnett rested in the baby carrier
used to carry home his daughter.
On Tuesday, Blake Sinnett, guided by his mother, Jenne Sinnett,
carried his 2-month-old daughter, Mikaela Sinnett. Behind them
was Mikaelaâs mother, Erika Johnson.
Erika Johnson will never be able to see her baby, Mikaela.
But for 57 days she couldnât keep her newborn close, smell her
babyâs breath, feel
her downy hair.
The state took away her 2-day-old infant into protective custody
â because Johnson
and Mikaelaâs father are both blind.
No allegations of abuse, just a fear that the new parents would
be unable to care
for the child.
On Tuesday, Johnson still couldnât stop crying, although
Mikaela was back in her
arms.
âWe never got the chance to be parents,â she said. âWe had
to prove that we could.â
Tuesday, she and Blake Sinnett knew their baby was finally coming
home to their Independence
apartment, but an adjudication hearing was scheduled for the
afternoon on whether
the state would stay involved in the rearing of the baby. Then
from a morning phone
call to their attorney, they learned that the state was
dismissing their case.
âEvery minute that has passed that this family wasnât
together is a tragedy. A legal
tragedy and a moral one, too,â said Amy Coopman, their
attorney. âHow do you get
57 days back?â
Arleasha Mays, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of
Social Services, said
privacy laws prohibited her from speaking about specific cases.
But she added, âThe
only time we recommend a child be removed is if itâs in
imminent danger.â
Johnson said she knew the system eventually would realize its
horrible mistake, but
she often was consumed with sadness. Sinnett tried his best to
keep Johnson hopeful.
For almost two months she and Sinnett could visit their baby only
two or three times
a week, for just an hour at a time, with a foster parent
monitoring.
âIâm a forgiving person,â Johnson said, but sheâs
resentful that people assumed she
was incapable.
âDisability does not equal inability,â she said
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