If other states are looking to Alabama's Department of Human Resources (DHR) for how they run their own family and children's services divisions, advocates and self-advocates need to be seriously concerned..
Having been involved on the fringes of one particular and very recent case of theirs, I witnessed them take a child away when the case ultimately boiled down to that the child did not like the parents' choice in britches.. The child exhibited physical violence towards family members, and, for such, received (state paid for..???) trips to highend department stores for punishment..
With respect to family counseling, lessons in clothes folding were offered or at least mentioned at some point, but not once, not once, NOT ONCE was there indepth follow-through with respect to mental health counseling..
The even deeper history to the case..? Physical violence witnessed by the child as a youngster that was never addressed.. Would take a glimpse at the case history to see if they would even allow it to be admitted for consideration towards the child's current history of behavior..
Also of interest to these fingertips was the one office's bias regarding the freedom of religious choice provided by our country.. The child's papers physical reflect..? Unwitnessed by these fingertips, but verbally stated as a written recorded statement of:
"claims to be Christian"
The statement of "claims to be Christian"
was reported to have been placed on file after a member or members of the family were repeatedly asked about their religious convictions.. For what it's worth in rumorable materials, these fingertips have been personally privy to that this is not the only case of religious bias shown by Alabama DHR, either..
WHOOPS..... Forgot to include the link that started this rant:
Now.. Why should this be of any immediate interest to a blog expressing personal opinions concerning disability self-advocacy rights..?
Because these fingertips are also privy to what remains at best a rumor that a grandmother was put through an absolute ringer over custody of her grandchildren because of her weight.. Reportedly, hear me again, reportedly, as in Rumor has it, the grandmother went through invasive operational procedures for weight removal only to continue to have custody rights to her grandchildren still be denied afterwards.. Granted, I know nothing, nothing of the specifics of this case, but it is not an isolated reported instance of this type.. Surely, surely, surely there is a creative press-type reporter out there who can dig deep down into the nitty gritty of the same..
Yup, jim dandy to know other states will be leaning on Alabama's DHR for the how-tos of getting involved in guiding our family units.. Can't wait to see it reflected in the overall health of our local communities as a whole as Time goes on..
Cyber hugs..