04/20/2026
Today is one of those days where I am proud to do what I do.
On January 23rd my client’s baby boy was wrongfully removed from her custody by a local Children Services Agency one day after she gave birth.
Background:
The removal was based on the fact that she called the police to intervene in a potential domestic violence incident with the child’s father 5 months earlier, refused to file a report (she was not harmed, she just wanted to peacefully retrieve her property and remove herself from the premises with a police es**rt), and then allowed the father to visit the child in the hospital after she gave birth.
My client has previous history with Children Services 4 years earlier, in which case she refused to leave her violent partner and was also going through a mental health crisis. She has since been through intense therapy and has learned about the effects of domestic violence on one’s mental health.
On the date her child was removed, Children Services approached her at 1 pm on a Friday afternoon, gave her the ultimatum between signing a BLANK safety plan or having them obtain a court order to remove her baby from her custody. My client refused to sign the safety plan until she could speak to an attorney. The caseworker then reported to the court the my client refused to cooperate, and used her history with the agency as a basis to claim her child was dependent…
This case has been giving me nightmares for many reasons, including my own underlying trauma.
Today, at my client’s adjudication hearing, I was able to prove, despite testimony of an “expert witness,” that Children Services had no evidence to prove that my client was at risk of harming her baby. The court ordered her baby immediately be returned to her custody.
It is very rare to have a court disagree with testimony from expert witnesses offered by Children Services agencies and it is rare to find that Children Services had no evidence to remove a child during initial adjudication within 90 days after a child is removed from a parent’s custody, particularly when the parent has previous history with the Agency.
I’m so proud and honored to have been able to advocate for my client not to stipulate to findings made by children services and to have her reunited with her precious baby boy.
I will sleep better tonight knowing a wrong has been righted. My client will be able to kiss her baby boy goodnight tonight.
