Question

[Heather Hines]

Jurisdiction

Tennessee

I had a dcs case open last year. The allegations were medical neglect, environmental neglect and drug exposure. My children were questioed at school and stated they had no knowledge of drugs. I did however fail a test and admitted that after putting my children to bed. My parents watched them and I went to a friend's and used, sobered up and went home. So the recommendation of outpatient rehab was recommended. My children are all chubby except one and last may my 4 yr old had a cold and we were going to a endocrine appt after asking his pediatrician for a referral to find out why my children were gaining so much weight. At the appointment his oxygen was very low and he was going into respiratory failure due to the rhino virus and his weight together. He was admitted into the ICU for 4 weeks n 2 more weeks in a reg room. His pediatrician had only diagnosed him with obesity in Feb of last year and by June of last yr he had 8 new diagnosis. The hospital tried to criminally charge me with severe child abuse but because he had been to his Dr 2 month prior they had no legal basis to criminally charge me. All my children had their shots well checkup and sick visit. My son went from having no Dr appointment to having 20-25 a month. At first it was hard but we got used to it. He was put on a strict diet and was losing weight good. But after Christmas he started gaining a lil I emailed the Dr and expressed concern and asked for support. But instead dcs held a meeting and the hospital said I wasn't properly caring for him. The filed an emergency removal petition and took my kids. My due process rights were violated, I'm on SSI. The emergency petition doesn't even have facts. I'm being treated like a criminal because my children are obese. I have thousands of pictures which prove familial bond and they had never been away from me. The other issues was environmental neglect but how could a dcs worker reasonable expect me to find housing in 3 months on SSI income. TN has state and federal funds allocated to assist families whom are at risk if their children entering custody. They did not provide me any nutritional education or support, or any support. They told me do this and this etc but offered no support or assistance. By law dcs is required to provide you with reasonable efforts to achieve the goals. Where do I go for help my probono won't argue anything he don't care. But my rights have been violated. Please help.

 

[Disabled Vet]

You were able to find this site right?? You can find nutritional information as well.... You can get your kids, yourself out playing to lose weight. I hate to say this..... I think if your kids are really over weight. They should be taken away from you. I had a great nephew that died from a blood clot between his lungs and heart. They tried to break it up at a really good children hospital. It did break free..... but it killed him at 14 years old.

 

[justblue]

I had a dcs case open last year. The allegations were medical neglect, environmental neglect and drug exposure. My children were questioed at school and stated they had no knowledge of drugs. I did however fail a test and admitted that after putting my children to bed. My parents watched them and I went to a friend's and used, sobered up and went home. So the recommendation of outpatient rehab was recommended. My children are all chubby except one and last may my 4 yr old had a cold and we were going to a endocrine appt after asking his pediatrician for a referral to find out why my children were gaining so much weight. At the appointment his oxygen was very low and he was going into respiratory failure due to the rhino virus and his weight together. He was admitted into the ICU for 4 weeks n 2 more weeks in a reg room. His pediatrician had only diagnosed him with obesity in Feb of last year and by June of last yr he had 8 new diagnosis. The hospital tried to criminally charge me with severe child abuse but because he had been to his Dr 2 month prior they had no legal basis to criminally charge me. All my children had their shots well checkup and sick visit. My son went from having no Dr appointment to having 20-25 a month. At first it was hard but we got used to it. He was put on a strict diet and was losing weight good. But after Christmas he started gaining a lil I emailed the Dr and expressed concern and asked for support. But instead dcs held a meeting and the hospital said I wasn't properly caring for him. The filed an emergency removal petition and took my kids. My due process rights were violated, I'm on SSI. The emergency petition doesn't even have facts. I'm being treated like a criminal because my children are obese. I have thousands of pictures which prove familial bond and they had never been away from me. The other issues was environmental neglect but how could a dcs worker reasonable expect me to find housing in 3 months on SSI income. TN has state and federal funds allocated to assist families whom are at risk if their children entering custody. They did not provide me any nutritional education or support, or any support. They told me do this and this etc but offered no support or assistance. By law dcs is required to provide you with reasonable efforts to achieve the goals. Where do I go for help my probono won't argue anything he don't care. But my rights have been violated. Please help.

You are being treated like a criminal because you are one. Per your posting you are using illegal drugs...that is a crime.

Your kids are grossly obese because you couldn't be bothered to feed them properly and as a result placed their lives in danger. Kids can not be healthy on a diet of soda, chicken fingers, Kraft crap and cheese and frozen pizza.

 

[army judge]

Where do I go for help my probono won't argue anything he don't care. But my rights have been violated. Please help.

=================================================================

Once a child is removed from his or her home in TN, this sets in motion a series of traumatic events for parent(s) and her/his/their child(ren).

DCS will attempt family reunification but as time passes, if the family does not respond to the changes or requests DCS has suggested, reunification with the family is replaced with the goal of finding a stable permanent placement outside the home.

Parents have rights during this period which may include, but are not limited to, visitation, access to social services, vocational assistance, other services aimed at reunification, and a state appointed attorney (each child also receives a state appointed guardian ad litem).

[A guardian ad litem (GAL) is an objective, impartial person whom the court appoints to act as a representative for the minor children in a contested custody proceeding. In cases of alleged child abuse or neglect, the court will as a matter, of course, appoint a guardian ad litem.]

In TN the court appoints an attorney for the child and possibly a guardian ad litem to act as a substitute for the parents.

The case may also be referred to the CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) program. CASA is a group of highly trained individuals who have only the child's interest in mind.

CASA will make a report and recommendation to the court after interviewing the child and the significant individuals in the child's life. Parent's need to take the role of the CASA worker very seriously as their findings are given significant weight by the court.

There are many timelines, mostly based on federal mandates, under which the court and DCS must operate in providing for a permanent solution to that will meet the child's needs.

Parents who feel they have been wrongly accused and are willing to do what it takes to prevent their children from being removed from their custody need to contact an attorney IMMEDIATELY after the REMOVAL process was initiated.

=====================================================

If you are dissatisfied with an action taken by DCS you should discuss the situation with your FSW, team leader, or supervisor.

If the action is one taken by DCS as it follows a court order or one which is the subject of pending judicial proceedings, DCS is obligated to follow the court's decision and cannot change the decision without going back to court. In such a situation, you should contact your attorney to discuss your concerns.

Grievances should first be addressed through the Child and Family Team Meeting process. If the issue cannot be resolved by through a CFTM, you can contact the DCS Customer Relations Hotline:

By e-mail: DCS.Custsrv@tn.gov

By phone: 1-800-861-1935

By mail:

Department of Children's Services
Customer Relations Unit
UBS Tower, 9th Floor
315 Deaderick Street
Nashville, TN 37243

A customer relations representative, who has not been involved in your case, can review your information and help work through grievances.


===========================================


You MUST read about YOUR rights when you are involved in any DCS case:

https://files.dcs.tn.gov/policies/chap31/ClientsRightsHandbook.pdf

 

[leslie82]

You were able to find this site right?? You can find nutritional information as well.... You can get your kids, yourself out playing to lose weight. I hate to say this..... I think if your kids are really over weight. They should be taken away from you. I had a great nephew that died from a blood clot between his lungs and heart. They tried to break it up at a really good children hospital. It did break free..... but it killed him at 14 years old.

"Overweight" is pretty subjective especially when the US still uses BMI - which is seriously antiquated and inaccurate.

This - A doctor diagnosing child abuse is missing a key thing: Her certification to do it

This woman ruined families and reported abuse where none existed. There are doctors like this who will accuse child abuse where none exists. So I'd be hesitant to say based on the medical aspect of her kids she needs to lose custody of them.

The drug part - that was stupid of the OP. yes.

 

[leslie82]

You are being treated like a criminal because you are one. Per your posting you are using illegal drugs...that is a crime.

Your kids are grossly obese because you couldn't be bothered to feed them properly and as a result placed their lives in danger. Kids can not be healthy on a diet of soda, chicken fingers, Kraft crap and cheese and frozen pizza.

Where did she say they were "grossly obese" or the diet she fed them?

 

[leslie82]

I had a dcs case open last year. The allegations were medical neglect, environmental neglect and drug exposure. My children were questioed at school and stated they had no knowledge of drugs. I did however fail a test and admitted that after putting my children to bed. My parents watched them and I went to a friend's and used, sobered up and went home. So the recommendation of outpatient rehab was recommended. My children are all chubby except one and last may my 4 yr old had a cold and we were going to a endocrine appt after asking his pediatrician for a referral to find out why my children were gaining so much weight. At the appointment his oxygen was very low and he was going into respiratory failure due to the rhino virus and his weight together. He was admitted into the ICU for 4 weeks n 2 more weeks in a reg room. His pediatrician had only diagnosed him with obesity in Feb of last year and by June of last yr he had 8 new diagnosis. The hospital tried to criminally charge me with severe child abuse but because he had been to his Dr 2 month prior they had no legal basis to criminally charge me. All my children had their shots well checkup and sick visit. My son went from having no Dr appointment to having 20-25 a month. At first it was hard but we got used to it. He was put on a strict diet and was losing weight good. But after Christmas he started gaining a lil I emailed the Dr and expressed concern and asked for support. But instead dcs held a meeting and the hospital said I wasn't properly caring for him. The filed an emergency removal petition and took my kids. My due process rights were violated, I'm on SSI. The emergency petition doesn't even have facts. I'm being treated like a criminal because my children are obese. I have thousands of pictures which prove familial bond and they had never been away from me. The other issues was environmental neglect but how could a dcs worker reasonable expect me to find housing in 3 months on SSI income. TN has state and federal funds allocated to assist families whom are at risk if their children entering custody. They did not provide me any nutritional education or support, or any support. They told me do this and this etc but offered no support or assistance. By law dcs is required to provide you with reasonable efforts to achieve the goals. Where do I go for help my probono won't argue anything he don't care. But my rights have been violated. Please help.

The drug part - that was stupid. That's on you. Stop doing drugs if you haven't. Wait til your kids are grown and out of the house...not that hard to do.

The medical stuff see the post below. There are doctors that do falsely accuse parents of neglect where none exists.

If you don't like the lawyer you have, find a new one. Look for ones who offer free consultations to start with.