Now Playing: Soaring Angels and Battle Cries
DYFS Takes Child At Birth in Hospital
At the end are these suggestions from Barnes, the father:
His experiences with DYFS have given him strength, Barnes says, as well as many ideas for reform.
His first suggestion, had it been implemented in time, may very well have prevented his case from spanning the years that it did. Barnes believes that every parent whose child enters the system should be given a copy of the DYFS policy manual. It was only by accident that he learned what his rights were as an individual fighting the bureaucracy; it angers him that other parents will be subject to the same ignorant fate.
Another point Barnes has raised is the lack of accountability on DYFS' part. He believes that all conversations between case workers and family members should be tape recorded to prevent workers from making promises they have no intentions of keeping.
Barnes also questions the ability of a court-appointed attorney to provide adequate representation for a parent coping with DYFS allegations. He says that in our current social climate, with adoption incentives encouraging the state to terminate parents' rights, it would be difficult at best for a state lawyer to whole-heartedly do battle on behalf of his clients.
Also disappointed with the state's apparent decision to penalize both Doe and himself for a treatable illness, Barnes says, "They allow convicted child molesters to move into neighborhoods inhabited by children, saying that they have served their time and can safely be released. Yet a mother who has never harmed anyone, who has also been evaluated as well enough to be released into society, is condemned."
At every meeting, Barnes assures me, "I am not going to walk away. DYFS picked on the wrong father this time."
Unplanned Pregnancy, Crisis Pregnancy, Adoptee Insights, Adoption and Parenting information
Birthmother's Day Celebration, Entrustment Ceremonies
Iowa Support Group Adoptees and Natural "Birth" Mothers Adoptin Adoption Search
Adoption Baby Boom More American Babies for Adoption
Posted by warriorwoman9
at 1:19 PM EST
