.bmp)
.bmp)
A New Jersey family battling the state over the physical custody of their 8-month-old son is rejoicing after he was released to them following a four-hour meeting with social services officials and agency interviews with their children. "God is awesome! He has released our son Gabriel!" Doug Stansfield notified friends in an e-mail alert."Gabriel is home safe and sound, and we're very pleased that we got him back. We had a long meeting with DYFS (the state Department of Youth and Family Services), about four hours," he told WND yesterday.As WND reported earlier, Gabriel Stansfield was born to Doug and Sally Stansfield eight months ago with spina bifida. He was evaluated by several experts at his birth, including Dr. Catherine Mazzola at Morristown Memorial, and has had numerous maintenance visits to the family's pediatrician with no complications, his parents told WND. But when they recently took him to Morristown Memorial Hospital for a problem diagnosed by doctors after five days as a bowel obstruction, they found he was being held prisoner there on orders of the state Division of Youth and Family Services.Mike Donnelly, a lawyer with the Home School Legal Defense Association, said the family's only guilt appeared to be standing up to "the heavy handed approach" of the Sussex County office of the state agency.[[[[The circumstances showed an allegation of child neglect or abuse had been filed against the family while Gabriel was in the hospital because his parents followed their own pediatrician's instructions for doctors' visits for Gabriel, rather than a more stringent set of visits outlined earlier by Mazzola.]]]]Kevin Ryan, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Children and Families, which runs the Division of Youth and Family Services.Social workers for the state agency run by Commissioner Kevin Ryan had appeared, accompanied by police, on the family's doorstep demanding admittance to interview Gabriel's six siblings, outside the presence of their parents, regarding Gabriel.The family refused, pointing out that Gabriel was, after treatment for the obstruction, in good health and ready to be discharged from the hospital.Doug Stansfield told WND that the meeting went well, although times were "contentious," and that he suspected the state's intervention in the family's life might not yet be over."For those of you who were willing to attend my court case and you know who you are and I don't, please know that I am truly grateful for your willingness to stand up to evil," he notified friends in his e-mail alert.He later told WND the process was "infuriating," but he and his wife agreed to allow their children to be interviewed, but not with a social worker alone.They demanded their lawyer be present and he have the authority to stop the interview any time the questions by social workers strayed outside the family's boundaries.He said he hopes the ultimate conclusion will be that agency officials close the case.Earlier, with a social worker and police just having left their home, the family talked to hospital officials, who said not only had they been told "of the DYFS situation," but they warned the state agency was planning to stop the parents from taking their son, even though medically he was being discharged.The parents immediately directed the hospital to prevent the physician they suspected of generating the complaint, Mazzola, from being involved in their son's treatment in any fashion.Instead of following those instructions, hospital workers also informed the parents their parental rights had been terminated, which in New Jersey requires a court order.Rob Seman, a spokesman for the hospital, declined to comment on the situation, and WND telephone calls to the state agency went unanswered. Knowing that for a termination of parental rights a court order is required, the parents went to the hospital, accompanied by their lawyer. The asked for Gabriel to be discharged, and when the hospital officials refused, demanded to see the authorizing paperwork. The hospital had no court order, but did have a state social services form that allows children to be evaluated for three days.Doug Stansfield said he believes Mazzola was miffed at the family for not following her exact requirements, which included multiple visits with her, and instead following the recommendations of their own pediatrician, who thought fewer visits to fewer specialists was within reason.Donnelly told WND in addition to being advocates for homeschooling nationally and helping members with disputes with local education authorities, the HSLDA is committed to helping members defend 4th and 5th amendment rights in the context of social services investigations.While non-homeschooling matters are not automatically addressed by the organization, "in circumstances where there is a clear violation … HSLDA may, as we have done in the past, choose to take the case in an effort to establish a legal precedent," he said."Most social services agencies apply a one size fits all approach to investigating allegations regardless of what the allegations are. Even if the allegations have nothing to do with abuse, they often insist on interviewing children. Even if allegations have nothing to do with the safety of the home, these workers demand to come in. Why? In some cases because they blindly follow the policy protocol established by the agency, regardless of the circumstances. These 'fishing expeditions' are used by case workers to see if there is 'anything else going on' that they 'should be concerned with'," Donnelly said."In the case of the Stansfields, members of HSLDA, it appears that a conflict between the hospital specialist and the family has resulted in a heavy handed approach which may violate the family's civil rights," he said. "In Doe v. Heck, the 7th circuit court of appeals held that parents have a fundamental right to familial relations including a liberty interest in the care custody and control of their children."Donnelly also noted the hospital continued to allow the "offending specialist" to treat Gabriel, even though the parents specifically withdrew that permission.[[[[["For one doctor to have the power to unleash this fury on my family and cause the emotional trauma of having state troopers at my doorstep and to wonder whether or not the state was going to take them away!!!" Doug Stansfield said. "A doctor that doesn't know my family at all and has never met them or been to my house can make one phone call which will cause this much harassment is outrageous and shouldn't be allowed to happen."]]]]]As in the days of Noah...
