Couple raises questions following adoption
10 November 2009
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Posted: Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009 - 11:27:28 am PST By MARLISA KEYES Staff writer
SANDPOINT — Joey Blackford’s beloved brown doggie nap pillow is still on a bright red coverlet on one of two spare twin beds in his room. His favorite black mud boots sit amidst two neat rows of little shoes lining the top of a bookcase that store Joey’s things. The shelf also includes a basket with his disposable diapers inside.A pair of red plastic chairs, suitable for a 2-year-old, surround a rocker toy on Joey’s bedroom floor. “Sweet dreams buddy,” written by a foster brother graces the chalkboard wall surrounding his closet.
Even though Anna Blackford and her husband, Lacey, were seeking to adopt him, on Friday, Oct. 30, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare ordered the couple, who were his foster parents, to relinquish the 23-month-old to potential adoptive parents who live in Kootenai County. The decision was made two days after an adoption selection committee met to review his case. “I don’t know why they (Health and Welfare) would do this to our family,” Anna Blackford said. “I don’t know why they would do this to Joey.” A month earlier, during a hearing before Judge Debra Heise when the parental rights of Joey’s biological mother’s were terminated, the Blackfords testified that they wanted to adopt him. Joey was born on Nov. 27, 2007, the sixth child of a woman who abused drugs and had also lost parental rights to her previous five children. He was addicted to cocaine and had hydrocodone and marijuana in his system. Unlike a methamphetamine-addicted baby the Blackfords cared for who suffered for several months from his addiction, Joey recovered quickly. The couple began visiting him daily in the hospital to feed him when he was two days old. They drew comfort from a friend who is a nurse who sat with him at night. The Blackfords brought Joey home when he was nine days old. He has become a friendly, independent child who loved the couple’s large, extended family and their vast network of friends, the couple said. He fit in well with their active blended family of five, which includes Lacey’s two sons and a daughter and Anna’s son and daughter. When the couple became foster parents in 2007, they planned on taking children the same ages as their own — ages 6 and up. After hearing about Joey’s impending birth and the possibility that H&W wanted to place him with them, Anna decided whatever happened was God’s will. With active children who participate in cross country, club volleyball and baseball, the family took him everywhere and he became part of the community, she said. They continued to serve as hosts at Garfield Bay Campground, staying in a travel trailer during the summer. But the Blackfords were not the only people interested in adopting Joey. After the termination hearing, H&W requested a picture of Joey to post on Wednesday’s Child, a Web site that lists children eligible for adoption. When an adoption selection committee met to discuss Joey’s adoption on Oct. 28, four families, including theirs, were considered, Anna Blackford said. They did not anticipate the outcome would not favor them or that they would not be told why they were not selected, she said. The Blackfords were given a month to prepare Joey for his new home. Without rights or due process, the Blackfords called their Sandpoint attorney, Jeremy Featherston. Somehow H&W found out they called an attorney and the couple allege that is when the agency departed from following its own protocol outlined in the PRIDE literature. Two days after the hearing and upset by its outcome, Anna had stayed at home from her job at Sandpoint High School, where is employed as paraprofessional, working with special services students. While home, she received a telephone call and was told they had three hours to bring Joey and his favorite things to meet the couple in Coeur d’Alene. They were not allowed to wait so their children could say goodbye, they said. Anna packed a week’s work of clothing for him, his Halloween costume, a fire truck given to him by his biological mother, his Cabbage Patch doll and his favorite blanket. She briefly considered keeping the blanket to remember him by, but knew he would need its comfort. They called Featherston back and he filed paperwork with Judge Heise, requesting to have the new time frame stopped, although they knew the attempt was a longshot. The judge did not see the paperwork until after the couple took Joey to Coeur d’Alene. It also is highly unlikely that she would have ruled on the request without additional information, Anna Blackford said. Featherston did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment. The Blackfords were told by Health and Welfare if they did not comply with the order, the department would have law enforcement intervene, Anna said. “It’s the most horrible thing I’ve ever had to do in my life,” Lacey said, adding that he wonders what Joey was thinking when he was given to the other couple. Anna Blackford said they know the other couple, also foster parents, whom they met during the PRIDE training. They do not believe the couple knew the Blackfords wanted to adopt Joey, adding that the family had no idea until Friday that he had been with them since shortly after his birth. “I pray that he’s finding comfort from these people,” Anna Blackford said as she stood in the middle of his room and cried, taking a tissue from her husband before they hugged one another. She said she still hears the click of the seatbelt when she buckled Joey into safety seat in their car. “He kept saying, ‘Out, out,’ ” Anna Blackford said as she put Joey’s things in the back of the couple’s car. “He’s just screaming,” she said. “We had no choice, we couldn’t do anything else.” The Blackfords were told Monday by a caseworker that until the complaint is settled, they will not be allowed to say their goodbyes. But Anna said she is not aware of any complaint related to Joey. The couple has been granted a request for adoption hearing before Judge Heise on Nov. 16. They hope they will have enough time during the brief hearing to explain why best meet Joey’s needs. They do not have a problem with the family Joey is now with, their concern is their qualifications and relationship with him were not considered, Anna Blackford said. “This is not what is best for Joey and Health and Welfare won’t respect that,” she said. The Blackfords feel betrayed by an agency that touts foster care as a team effort between its employees and the foster parents. All along, they were reassured that they had nothing to worry about, Lacey said. They submitted support letters from Dr. Joyce Gilbert, Joey’s pediatrician, Anna’s co-workers and family acquaintances. Gilbert, who has known Anna for 13 years, wrote: “Both of these adults are exemplary parents and would go to the ends of the earth for their children.” They also were reassured that the committee would consider the potential for Joey to develop reactive attachment disorder. MayoClinic.com defines the condition as one that develops when “infants and young children don’t establish healthy bonds with parents or caregivers.”According to the clinic’s Web site, the disorder occurs in children who are “typically neglected, abused, or moved multiple times from one caregiver to another.” Although Emily Simnitt, H&W public information officer, said she could not speak specifically to Joey’s case, she agreed “in general” to discuss the state’s adoption process. When more than one couple is interested in state adoption, a committee convenes that includes social workers, Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteers familiar with the child and those not familiar with the case, she said. “Each case is taken at its merits,” she said. “Again, the real goal is to find the best fit for the child.” The couple wonders if the committee bypassed them because they have five other children. They have accepted three and four foster children into their home at one time and find it difficult to believe having a large family would have counted against them. Or is it because Anna’s son, Cody Walker, has special medical needs because he was born with Prune belly syndrome or because her 13-year-old daughter Alicia was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. Perhaps it is because neither Anna or Lacey, who owns a dump truck business, make much money. Lacey also wonders if it is because his oldest daughter has had behavior problems. They believe the problem may stem from young, inexperienced caseworkers assigned to Joey’s case. After his birth, an intake worker was assigned to his case for 30 days, followed by an additional three caseworkers. The CASA volunteers assigned to him also changed several times. The Blackfords suspect the caseworkers may not have included enough information about how they have addressed his daughter’s problems through counseling or that Anna’s children’s health issues are manageable and under control. They wonder if the committee knows that Anna is the board of Jacey’s Race, a local organization that raises money to help chronically ill children? “We are great parents,” Anna Blackford said. “We are a great family.” She said the couple has two reasons for wanting to share their story with the public. First, they want Health and Welfare to do what is best for their son, which they believe is keeping him in the only home he has known since his birth. The second reason is to call the public to action, she said. “This process is not OK,” Anna said. “This isn’t OK for foster families.” Idaho Health and Welfare operates without oversight, the Blackfords contend, adding that it is not surprising that the agency does not have enough foster families given how they were treated, the couple said. The Blackfords will never foster another child and have asked to have their names removed from H&W’s foster list. They have fostered 12 children and provided weekend respite care for many others. Anna said she wonders if they have made the right decision in filing a petition for adoption. She also worries that she forgot to tell Joey’s new family that he likes his feet massaged after his bath. Lacey feels terrible that when asked by the couple about what Joey liked to do with him, he was numb and could not respond. On Halloween, the family spent the evening in Sandpoint with friends who offered them comfort and helped them pass out candy. They cancelled plans for a taking a family photograph on Sunday. “I have never cried so much in my life,” Lacey Blackford said. |
