Joey needs to come home to his family
This is an open letter to our friends and neighbors in Bonner County, to enlist your support to help right a terrible injustice inflicted on a local family and their two year-old foster child.
We have come to know Lacey and Anna Blackford over the past three years. In July 2007, their child, Cody, was benefited by Jacey’s Race, after Cody’s pediatrician brought him to our attention. Cody has Prune-Belly syndrome and needs frequent medical attention and meticulous care.
We were impressed by how well Anna managed his needs, as well as those of her family. The Blackfords have always loved children and frequently fostered additional children when asked to do so over the past several years. It came as no surprise that Anna agreed to bring a newborn into her house two years ago on very short notice.
Joey, (not his real name) was born Nov. 27, 2007, to a drug-addicted mother. There was cocaine, hydrocodone and marijuana detected in Joey’s system at birth. Anna and Lacey met Joey when he was one day old, and have been his only parents for two years.
They have provided a safe and loving environment. Anna and several members of her family have volunteered their time with Jacey’s Race 2008 and 2009, and Anna is a board member. Joey came to the meetings and we were able to see first hand a happy baby who was progressing normally, unaware of what may lay in store for him.
More recently, the rights of the birth mom were taken away legally, leaving Joey finally available to be formally adopted. Anna and Lacey have been vocal in their desire to adopt Joey, and told Judge Heise just that at the recent hearing where the rights of the birth mother were terminated.
The Adoption Selection Committee held a closed-door adoption selection meeting last Wednesday, and to everyone’s surprise, elected to place Joey with a new family that Joey had not even met.
Most of those present at the meeting had not observed Joey at home, or knew the Blackfords. Anna and Lacey’s world was shattered. They spoke to an attorney, their pediatrician, and state representatives in hopes of finding someone to provide them due process, as they were told that the decision was final with no right for appeal.
Their lawyer petitioned the court and Judge Heise agreed to hear the case within 14 days; hopefully justice will prevail. Health and Welfare workers responded to this challenge by demanding Joey be turned over to the new family with three-hours notice. You can only imagine how distraught you might be if your 2-year-old child was forcibly taken from your family with a few hours notice and no formal appeal process.
Does our child welfare system care about the welfare of Joey? We sincerely hope so. Our brother-in-law, Michael Orlans, is a child psychologist in Evergreen, Colo., and specializes in detachment disorders — serious problems of sociopathic behavior that develop predictably in children that don’t bond with an adult as an infant. Traumatic events such as disruption of family structure and loss of a loving maternal relationship may trigger life-long severe consequences to the emotional health of the child.
It would appear to us that removing Joey from his birth home at this point cannot have good consequences regardless of the status of the new foster parents, who also want to adopt Joey. As far as we can tell, they are unaware of who Joey is, what he likes, what time he goes to bed, what he likes to eat. How sad is that?
We are encouraged that Judge Heise has agreed to hear the case. We know her to be a fair and honest judge. If there are reasons unknown to us that would mandate removal of a 2-year-old from his birth home, she will rule accordingly. If there are no valid reasons for removing this child from his home, we trust she will find a way to right this wrong.
We ask those of you who know Anna and Lacey to write a letter on their behalf. If you believe they have the ability to parent this child, please take 10 minutes to write a letter to the court.
Joey will be 2 years old on the Nov. 27. If you believe a 2-year-old will be adversely affected by moving him to a new family, speak up now. We know Lacey and Anna as decent loving parents and community members. We can only hope they would be there for us if the roles were reversed. Thank you for your support of this family and most importantly Joey who needs you.
Please write to: Jeremy Featherston, Featherston Law Office, 113 S. Second Ave., Sandpoint, ID (208) 263-6866, fax: (208) 263-0400, e-mail: jpf@featherstonlaw.com; and Phil Robinson, 127 S. First Ave., Sandpoint, ID 83864.
RON and NANCY JENKINS
Sandpoint