[Nfbofnc] fyi

[Tim Jones]

-- 
Tim Jones
North Carolina Food Service
Fort Bragg, NC
Office:  910-396-2297
Cell:  704-491-1486
cdanielsen at nfb.org

National Federation of the Blind Successful
 in Returning Infant to Her Parents

Family Reunited After Wrongful Seizure of Child

Independence, Missouri (July 22, 2010): 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.