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Family Fractured

June 19, 2013 permalink

Blameless parents lose a child because of a bone disease. CAS ignores the evidence.

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Kara Leens

Good afternoon! I would like to share my story with you, in the hopes of getting some advice - please keep in mind that I am going to try and be concise, as I could write a novel about the nightmare the last 2 years has been :(

Our 6 week old daughter was apprehended by CAS in October 2011, after she was found to have 8 fractures throughout her body. My husband and I know we did not cause her any harm, and have believed from the beginning that there is a medical reason for it. However, we were seen as suspects and our daughter was placed in foster care (even though our parents were willing and able to take her in under kinship).

While in foster care, more fractures were found, which we thought would clear us, but then were told that they were "missed" during the initial xrays, and seemed to be dated back to when she was in our care. We asked for another set of xrays, but were denied.

After being in foster care for 3 months, she was placed with my in-laws from February 2012-October 2012, where we got supervised access at any time we wanted (supervision by anyone cleared - our parents, friends, etc.) and saw her at least 3 times a week and all days on weekends.

In October 2012, she was placed in the primary care and custody of my mom, in our home, where my mom made herself available to supervise all of our interactions with our daughter. She was enrolled in full-time day care with our son.

From September 2012 to March 2012, we had 1 day a week (Sundays) of unsupervised access (8am-6pm), and then in March 2012 got 2 days a week unsupervised access (Saturdays and Sundays, 8am-6pm), plus weekday unsupervised access (7-8am, 5-7pm, plus anytime daycare is closed). We have asked for at least 1 night unsupervised access to build up to more, but no word on that yet.

Our next court date is September 2013. I am going to ask our lawyer to file a motion for the immediate return of our daughter, based on Section 51.

Note: we have a 4 year old son, with no issues at all with him since birth (and they did a skeletal xray on him). For my husband and myself, we both have good jobs, own our home, and are stable; we have never been in any kind of trouble. Since our daughter has been apprehended, there have been absolutely no protection concerns - from the daycare provider, from our supervisors, from CAS (weekly unannounced visits plus around 30 visits from a Family Support Worker). We have done everything we have been asked in court - counselling, attachment assessment, monthly doctor's visits, planned activities, etc.

Based on everyone's experience, what else can we do to have our daughter returned to our care?????

We are desperate, as we had no idea this would drag on for 2 years, and we are now finding it difficult to get our supervisors to be available, as they have already put their lives on hold..


My husband and I did push for genetic testing, and were finally able to get a referral for the testing. CAS tried to cancel the appt because "they didnt' have a worker to supervise the visit" but we found out it was because they had a Christmas party that day :S We fought tooth and nail and were finally able to keep the appt, but the geneticist would only agree to test her for one strain of Osteogenesis Imperfecta (the most common one). The testing came back negative - we were glad she didnt' have any medical problems to deal with for life, but also sad that we still don't know what caused the fracture. From initially finding 8, they then said the number "doubled" after the second set of fractures, and then the number kept increasing (to make their case look good). I am still in shock that a doctor could miss at least 8 fractures in the initial xrays..

When I say "no protection concerns", they said they don't have any new ones, but because of the number of fractures found, they are still concerned about her safety. I just don't know what to do, and whether we have a case that teh judge will agree to have her returned to us in September, considering that other than the initial fractures, there have been NO other reasons for them to apprehend her

They are now asking us to do attachment therapy, even though she is living with us, and anyone with half a brain can see that she is thriving. In fact, even our workers and the supervisor have commented on how she's thriving and doing so well.. We know it's a political game, as the Director is the one calling the shots, and no one wants to be accountable for returning her.. If anyone has any similar experiences, please let me know!

Source: Facebook, Stop the CAS ...

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