Comments on: Virginia: Kit and Nancy Hey are Still Actively Seeking the Return of Their Daughter, Sabrina Hey

By: Nancy Hey

Nancy Hey — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 20:31:17 +0000

http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/columns/BarbaraHollingsworth/Another-legal-kidnapping-in-Arlington-39287927.html#comments

Another legal kidnapping in Arlington

By Barbara Hollingsworth
Examiner Columnist | 2/8/09 5:13 PM

On January 4, WRC-TV’s Barbara Harrison featured Arlington social worker Jenna Duffy and one of her young charges, 11-year-old foster child Moses Washington, on the station’s long-running “Wednesday’s Child” feature. Moses said his “big hope” was to find a permanent home.

Viewers had no idea that Moses had been taken away from his mother on unsubstantiated charges of medical neglect. Or that the same cast of characters who snatched Sabrina Slytor from her parents – even though they had previously been cleared of wrongdoing – were involved in Moses’ case as well.

In February 2005, Banita Washington was forced out of her Arlington apartment without being told why. In a court affadavit, Duffy claimed the then full-time Lockheed Martin employee was “evicted from her Section 8 apartment for failure to pay.”

But a rent history obtained by The Washington Examiner showed regular payments and no outstanding balance when the family vacated the unit. After staying with friends and relatives and exhausting her savings at a Quality Inn near her two youngest children’s schools, Washington finally moved into an Arlington homeless shelter to regroup.

She was still scrambling to find a new place to live when Evelyn Fernandez, assistant principal at Key Elementary School, called her at work on Oct. 25, 2005 with more bad news. Eight-year-old Moses, who suffered from respiratory problems since he was two, was having difficulty breathing. She would have to pick him up and take him home.

After questioning Fernandez, Washington says she concluded that Moses’ symptoms were serious enough to call an ambulance, and said she would meet him at the hospital instead.

Her sister, Vanessa, confirms that Banita called her asking for a ride. But Vanessa had a meeting that morning and could not leave work. She also described Washington as an indulgent parent who was “overly protective of Moses – he was spoiled rotten.”

Donna, a former co-worker, sat two cubicles down from Washington – who would often brag about her kids when the two women ate lunch together. She had no idea the family was living in a homeless shelter. “I was really surprised,” she told me. “I didn’t know she was going through all this stuff.”

That morning, she overheard Washington saying to somebody on the phone: “No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m coming to get my son.” and “Did you try his nebulizer?” Washington asked to borrow cab fare, but Donna didn’t have much cash.

She left immediately after another co-worker gave her some money. “She was rushing to get there. She seemed concerned and stressed.” A patient advocate at Georgetown Hospital later refused to accept Washington’s apology for being curt with the staff when Moses was admitted.

But by the time Moses was discharged on Nov. 3, 2005, Tammee Gaymon of Arlington Child Protective Services had convinced Judge Esther Wiggins Lyles that Moses would be “subjected to an imminent threat to life or health” if he was released to his mother. So he was discharged in her custody and Duffy, a foster care/adoption worker, was assigned to his case.

Like Sabrina’s mom, Washington was forced to undergo a psychological evaluation at the Multicultural Center and jump through numerous legal hoops in the hopes that she would get to see her son.

Sharon Gustafson, the same guardian-ad-litem who was supposed to look out for Sabrina’s best interests, was assigned to do the same for Moses. But she didn’t intervene when Duffy informed his mother that although he had been “distraught” during his first year in foster care, he was now in a “place of relative calm” – so any further contact would not be permitted.

The federal Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 requires states to document reasonable efforts to place a child with a relative or guardian, but Washington’s cousin – a psychotherapist who works with children – told me she never received a reply to her offer to take in Moses and his sister Te’Ayra until Washington could get back on her feet.

On June 26, 2007 – less than a month after Judge James Almand terminated the parental rights of Sabrina’s parents – he did the same to Moses’ mother as well. She still keeps a room for him decorated in a Nationals theme just in case a miracle happens.

Barbara F. Hollingsworth is The Washington Examiner’s local opinion editor. She can be reached by email at: bhollingsworth@dcexaminer.com.

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By: Fern

Fern — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:27:37 +0000

Suggest that folks in VA review the following youtube video clips.

This is truly serious, folks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP4M71k_yWI

Check out the related videos, also, including the 1 done by Chris Slitor. Devastating.

Please jon the VA group.

By: Nancy Hey

Nancy Hey — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:08:56 +0000

By: Fern

Fern — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:44:05 +0000

FW: New group for victims of VA CPS:

I have just created a new group on YahooGroups.com just for people
like us who are victims of Arlington CPS.
This is a group where we can share our experiences, and hopefully
discuss proceeding with a class action lawsuit.

Group name: Arlington_VA_CPS_victims

To join the group please go to the Group home page:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Arlington_VA_CPS_victims

To post to the group, please send an e-mail to Group email:
Arlington_VA_CPS_victims@yahoogroups.com

This group is for people who have been victims of Arlington’s
over-zealous Child Protective Services’ abuse of families.

Peacefully Yours, Nancy A. Hey

By: Nancy Hey

Nancy Hey — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:28:02 +0000

Filing a Class Action lawsuit

I am in the process of building a case for a class action lawsuit in Federal Court against Arlington County CPS on behalf of myself and at least four other families who have been harrassed by them for false allegations of child abuse or neglect. Since none of us have very much money, we would like to find a lawyer who will take this for us pro bono, or at least at very reduced cost. This should preferably be some one from a large organization, such as the ACLU who can afford to work for us pro bono. The problem is the National ACLU has been absolutely useless to us in the past, refusing to even submit an amicus brief on our behalf in the Court of Appeals. Does anybody have any suggestions?

By: Nancy Hey

Nancy Hey — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:20:25 +0000

You are right, of COURSE a baby is going to be stressed during visits when they are under the microscope in a baby-unfriendly office room with a one-way observation mirror, and the parents are stressed out too! They shouldn’t blame the parents, but they do. In my case, they alleged that Sabrina associated our smell with having “unmet needs”!

By: a good mom, no matter what they say

a good mom, no matter what they say — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:11:01 +0000

Thank you both for your responses, Linda and Nancy. Nancy, how can they expect such a young child being thrown into such a traumatic situation not to be stressed? It’s unbelievable that they would hold against us what is not our fault! I know the visits are stressing for my husband and I and we are both old enough to understand. Our children are both under 3… how do they expect them to react?

We’re almost 9 months into our children being in care. Usually, our children do wonderfully at the visits (and we haven’t been told that they are reacting afterwards, either). Over the last 4-5 visits, though, our daughter has been worn out. She’s been telling us that she’s scared and showing signs of being very wary of strangers (not normal for her). She looks and sounds emotionally wiped out.

How do they expect small children to react to all this turmoil, when we, as grown-ups, are torn to shreds?

By: Nancy Hey

Nancy Hey — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 16:14:35 +0000

I agree with Linda, Good Mom, keep pushing for more frequent visits. In our case, in the very beginning, we had two visits a week, each an hour long, but as time went on CPS kept reducing the time. Eventually, they cut off visits all together, because they claimed they were too stressful for Sabrina. Sabrina did show increasing signs of distress at visits, but that was to be expected, because CPS had made us virtual strangers to Sabrina.

It wasn’t until we hired our OWN social workers to implement a reunification plan that we got the visits restored, and eventually increased.

By: Linda

Linda — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 06:19:13 +0000

Hi good mom... I got an hour a week too, but I kept asking for more. In fact, I was a total pest about it. Also I brought up increased visitation at a state administrative hearing. My court order didn't specify timing of visits, and also didn't say they should be supervised. Check to see exactly what your court order says! I managed to get them to increase the time I spent with my child, and got unsupervised visits, and eventually overnight visits... then finally my daughter came home. I believe visitation is an indication of whether or not a child will eventually be returned. Caseworkers will rip a child from its natural parents in a flash, but then say there must be a transition to take the child from foster parents. Just another game social workers play to make parents miserable and wreck lives. So keep pushing for increased visits, unsupervised visits (unless the court order specifies supervision) and keep reminding the child-takers that you love your children immensely and want them home. I also highly recommend letting the state department of social services in on the scenario by filing for a state administrative hearing on any issues you have. Read your state's CPS REGULATIONS... you should be able to find them online, and/or at your local law library.

By: a good mom, no matter what they say

a good mom, no matter what they say — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 03:45:17 +0000

I read over their site and I have a curiosity question. They had visits twice a week at one point, but were upset that there weren’t more.

What is a normal visitation schedule for parents who are in the process of completing services? We get one hour a week, supervised. This is the way it’s been since the beginning. Is this normal? Is there a normal?

(Cause, to be honest, I’m a bit jealous of their two visits a week. We’ve been trying to get a two hour visit once a week, and no one wants to budge!)