Hello, my name is Samantha and my children are Aletheia and Sylvanas, the money I am asking for is so I can work on getting out of the family court system and into a real court. My children have not been home in 283 days, November 21, 2017 is when they were taken from their home. Today on August 31, 2018 a judge found myself and my husband guilty of neglect on my two children, this decision was made by the preponderance of the evidence (that means it is based on the more convincing evidence and its probable truth or accuracy, and not on the amount of evidence). I should back up and start from the beginning though so you have a better understanding.
My youngest daughter, Sylvanas, was dealing with weight gain issues, so like any parent I talked to her main doctor about a referral to a specialist to try and find out what was wrong. I want to mention that Sylvanas is or at least was a breastfed baby, she was my first to be fully breastfed as Aletheia was formula fed. The Specialist did not explain to me why there could be a difference in breastmilk vrs formula or why it would be important to add formula to Sylvanas diet or even the simple fact that breastmilk might be lacking nutrients. The only instructions I was given was to continue giving the breastmilk and to hold solids. I made the mistake of not following these instructions till a later date at her insistence. To a parent who is given no explanation withholding solids from a baby who's problem is weight gain seemed counter intuitive. We continued to see her for two more visits, three total, before I felt the need for a new specialist as I was under the idea she was trying to starve my child. When I told her I would be getting a referral for a new specialist she threatened me with calling DCF (Department of Children and Families, otherwise known as Child Protective Services). This was November 16, 2017, DCF made contact with me the next day but I was unable to get into contact with them until that Monday, because I was unaware that they are one of the few government offices open on the weekend.
Once contact was made with DCF it was a very hostile experience, not once did I deny them the ability to see my children I only denied them the ability to enter my home. I even went to the extent due to the fact I am a working mother, of scheduling an appointment that Wednesday for them to see the two children. Unbeknownst to me this was not good enough so that Tuesday they got a "TICO" emergency order to take my two children into their custody. I have a recording of that day as allegations have been made against me that I screamed at my children and caused them to cry when DCF showed up. I was never made aware of any rights to an attorney they only snatched and ran with my children, they never came back to do any sort of follow up work with me either.
This entire case has been one nightmare after another, to the point where my oldest daughter suffers psychological damage because of the actions of DCF and their failure to follow their own procedures or to even make a basic attempt to reach out and try and give me resources before they turned to the traumatic ordeal of taking a six year old and her sister by police force. She was not seen by a psychiatrist for several months after she was removed from my care. Over the next few months other things were done to my oldest daughter with out my consent or knowledge, this includes two invasive root canals as well as at least one pulled tooth. My youngest was immediately hospitalized and forced onto formula, when I made several attempts to give them her breastmilk or the current formula she was using I was never answered back. The lack of communication in this entire ordeal is unsettling, these are the people who are suppose to be there for families and children instead they have only cause damage to my children that never would have happened if they followed their own procedures.
The entire reason I am raising this money is because I want to appeal the decision the court made today, they targeted a family that lacks money and made a few bad judgement calls, if I was a smarter parent I would have gotten the referral for a new specialist after the very first appointment but I wanted to give the one we were seeing the benefit of the doubt.
If even 8,000 people saw this and donated just one dollar then I would be able to have enough money for the retainer fee required so I can work on getting my children's case out of family court and into a real court system. It is past time they were returned home, why is it that the children suffer for a grudge that one doctor and one DCF worker have held against two parents who were upholding their constitutional rights? If you can not donate then please share on any social media platform you can!
