Rethinking Foster Care

A Revolution of Values I grew up in a small town in Northern New Jersey, one of two sons of Indian immigrants.   My parents spoiled me at every instance, pushed me to do well in school and supported me in every way imaginable.   My success in life was built on their unconditional support of my endeavors. But of course, my childhood was not conflict-free.   Having a brother three years older than me, we occasionally (perhaps frequently) quarreled.   We fought while playing basketball, during epic games of Monopoly, and in the car on long road trips.   When this happened – as one can imagine – our parents were displeased. One particular fight stands out in my mind.   It was a warm afternoon, when I was eight, and my mother was busy cooking in the kitchen, while my brother and I were playing.   Soon that playing transformed into a fight.   As our trivial argument escalated, I could sense that my mother’s level of frustration with us was increasing.   Then sudden

The Legal Fiction of Permanency Every day on the fourth floor of the Genesee County Circuit Court, judges – elected by the people of Michigan – issue orders permanently terminating the rights of parents to their children.   Upon the issuance of such an order, families are destroyed.   Children no longer have a right to see their parents.   Their birth certificates are changed to remove their parents’ names.   Their uncles and aunts no longer have a legal relation to them.   In fact, even their siblings become legal strangers.   Their family from birth disappears.   But today is a different day.   Running down the corridor is Shirley Jenkins*, a thirty-eight year old woman, formerly the legal mother of four boys.   Fifteen years ago, a judge terminated her rights to her boys because she was using drugs.   The judge entered an order declaring her permanently unfit to care for her children.   Never again should she be a mother to her children.   Relatives quickly

I never seriously considered buying a self-help book until my son was born.   After a month of motherhood I found myself looking online for any book, or blanket, or device that would get him to sleep for more than a short stretch. So I listened with interest when NPR recently aired two stories about babies and sleep.   Apparently, allowing your baby to sleep in your bed is an ancient practice accepted in many cultures and also something that many American mothers feel compelled to lie to their pediatricians about. In those early days, I too slept with my son in my bed and lied to his pediatrician about it. I would have slept under a rock if that meant more than two hours of sleep at a time.  The judgment we heap on all parents is an important topic of discussion. But when I heard those stories on the radio, it also called to mind my time as a family defense attorney in Brooklyn.   In family court, ACS (the child welfare administration) would often acknowledge that a baby could

When We Terminate Parental Rights, Must We Also Terminate Parental Relationships? When we terminate parental rights, must we also terminate parental relationships?    A few weeks back, a brave grandmother raised that profound question in a hearing in which I was serving as her grandchild’s lawyer. The issue arose during a court hearing just a few days after the trial court had terminated the rights of the child’s parents.   Both parents suffered from a long-term addiction to drugs, and neither had engaged in treatment for several years.   Despite these barriers, throughout the case, they regularly visited the child.   Reports from those visits were very positive, with the child “doing well” during them, and appearing to be “bonded” with her parents.   According to the grandmother, with whom the child was living, she looked forward to seeing her parents every week.   They just weren’t capable of caring for their daughter. Yet, when the grandmother raised t

Over a month ago, the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services took David Brill – a fifteen-year old boy – from his parents and placed him in a group home – a form of foster care run by strangers to the child.  Why did the Division proceed with such a drastic step?  It did so because David’s parents made a medical decision to allow him to use marijuana to help stop life-threatening seizures.   The Brills wanted David to have a normal life, and conventional medicines were not reducing his seizures.  So they turned to medical marijuana, which recent evidence suggests might be an effective treatment for children with seizures.  A 2017 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found a 40% drop in seizures for children who used marijuana.  The principal investigator of the study concluded that “the study clearly establishes cannabidiol as an effective anti-seizure drug for this disorder.”  In fact, just this past April, an advisory panel recommen