WHT HAPPENED TO JOEY?

Once Social Services became involved the "system" took hold. Joey and his sister were removed from their home and unwillingly, placed in foster care.

There were no extended family members availabe to the the children so placing the children in foster care was the only option. Unfortunately, there were no foster families availabe to take both children so Joey was placed with one foster family and his sister was placed with another foster family.

"Contact" arrangements were ordered so that Joey and his sister could see each other not less than once, every two weeks, for a period of time of not less than two hours.

So now we have a 4 year old boy and a 6 year old girl; a brother and a sister (whose parents put lit cigarettes out on their backs to discipline them) ripped away from their parents, their perceived life-lines, by total strangers and then, in a matter of hours, each child was deposited into two separate households filled with total strangers, with the guarantee that the children would see each other every two weeks for two hours.

The trauma the children must have experienced can only be imagined. It must have been horrific. From the behaviors of the children it was obvious that if they could choose, they would pick to be with their parents, in their home, with each other and their toys and try and figure out ways to avoid being burn with lit cigarettes.

The State filed Child Abuse and Dependancy and Neglect charges against the parents. The Court ordered therapy for both parents and children. The parents were required to take classes and were allowed supervised visitations with the children every two weeks. Four years (and seven foster homes) later, Joey and his sister were returned to their parents and each other.

Joey was 8 and his sister was 10. They had been separated for four years. The "family" was reunited with monthly caseworker involved to make certain everything was going "OK".

Hopefully, the parents learned that it was not OK to discipline chldren by putting-out lit cigarettes on their backs. Hopefully, whatever experiences Joey and his sister had in their multiple foster homes were OK. Hopefully, once the parents and their children were reunited everything was OK.

But the truth of it is, two innocent children were given birth, then burned with cigarettes, then ripped apart by numerous traumas and they survived. Are they OK?

Maybe "OK" is not enough.

Next Post: What is "OK" anyway?
Patti @ Divorce, Family Law, Child Support, Visitation, Parental Rights