Thursday, December 11, 2008

Guardian Blocks Sibling Visitation

A family says that the Department of Children and Families made a mistake that could force a brother and sister to grow up in different homes even though there's a family who wants to take them both in.

4-year-old Ashley Hernandez, and 15-month-old Terrance Miller are brother and sister. They live in two separate homes and, just recently, Ashley's adopted mother, Darelys Hernandez found out DCF placed the brother in a foster home and never told her.

The family says DCF needs to fix the problem and place the child with them, but the adoption agency who works for DCF isn't sure what happened. Siblings are supposed to stay together, but workers didn't know the little boy had a sister so he was placed in foster care.

Hernandez: "They made a mistake. They screwed up."

Family Services of Metro Orlando subcontracts for DCF and, according to state law and DCF policy, the agency tries to keep siblings together.

CEO Greg Kurth: "If the agency had known Ashley existed, they most likely would have placed Terrance with his sister. We don't know why or what happened going back over a year. We don't know the answer."

Once DCF found out about Ashley they tried to coordinate visitation, but that's when Terrance's court-appointed guardian stepped in and stopped the meeting.

Kurth: "The guardian ad litem (a party appointed by a court to act in a lawsuit on behalf of another party) did make an emergency hearing to stop visitation, It was unprecedented to have a court order block sibling visitation."

Full Article and Source:
Family Says DCF Mistake Keeping Siblings Apart

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The almighty Power and authority of guardians over their wards is: out of control.

I am steaming, just steaming when I read the cruel treatment of wards of all ages.

I pray there is a special place in HELL for these people and that they get to that place post haste.