UNDER THE GUISE OF GOODNESS

by Ron Unruh ©


“It’s pernicious” is what I said.
There seems no better term for what they do,
these snatchers guised as guardians.
A pretext it has become, this protection of a child
when the youngster safe and happy is detached
by strangers.

“It’s insidious” I say to portray the taking of a child
without the knowledge of her parents
frenzied and fuming at the abuse of their child
and their own liberties.
Authorized to squash parental rights with impunity
when due diligence and fairness are derelict
and justice seems a stranger on a democratic soil.

“It’s sinister” I proclaim to parents of all children
because their own fears mount with the mention
of the protectors’ names.
This is not the only child to be taken
for her best interests is the claim.
Free she was and alert although unpredictable.
She seems a stranger now, deeply drugged but controlled.

Pernicious, insidious, sinister do you now agree
are the appropriate descriptors for her abductors.
She is not at home because she wandered, oh but
she is a precious girl, precocious and autistic
and therefore apt to wander.
This is punishment not protection and perhaps she thinks
that she did something terrible. Why not, since the captors
have never inquired about the health of the family.
Strangers to justice they are – these takers.

DEREK'S NOVEMBER UPDATES

November 13 (Derek's Birthday)

Want to know what hurts the most about today? Ayn knows when my birthday is, Ayn knows when anyone's birthday she has ever heard is, she remembers them all... She knows the date... but she wasn't invited to a party and certainly did not get to host one for me. I love you Ayn. She used to listen to this version of the gummy bear song just because it mentions my birthday and she would pause it right after it says it, and look at me and laugh. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=astISOttCQ0

Admin Note: Ayn's 10th birthday is in 27 more days. What a gift it would be for the family to celebrate this day together with Ayn living at home again. MCFD could easily make this happen, so we have to hope they will see the light, have the empathy needed and do the right thing very, very soon.

November 10

Had an incredibly difficult evening, Wyatt and me decided to tidy up the garage and began to stumble across memory after memory. Over the years I have kept so many of Ayn's precious things; from notes, cards and artwork, to hair, baby teeth and tiny articles clothing. Was unbelievably painful, we spent the evening together, and in many ways Ayn was there too. Eventually along with Lyric we passed out in the living room. This morning has been very hard as well, though no tears have been shed yet. It feels like a death, her beautiful sing song voice echoes in my head.... "Daddy I want a treat!", "Tickle mee Daddy!"....."It's ok Daddy, everything is going to be ok.". So much for no tears. Going to spend a couple hours hugging my son and trying to explain to him how it is that the world is not just a scary place. That though pocked with pain and sadness it is full of joy and triumph as well. I'll be back soon.


Nov. 4

My daughter Ayn was removed from her school by the Ministry of Children and Family Development of B.C. on June 16, 2011. I was told it was to ease my burden of responsibility but this action has had an opposite affect. It has been more than four and a half months since she was apprehended.

On December 14th ten years ago when I laid eyes on her for the first time in the delivery room, my heart was hers. I have given my all for her. I would never harm her, nor have I been accused of such. I have dedicated my life to nurture and understand her.

She has been torn from her family for no apparent reason other than a perception that she was an unmanageable, deteriorating child and that far from the truth. Ayn is a wonderful caring child. It is true that she is autistic and that she has a difficulty explaining what she wants but she has an astute understanding of body language and she has a very strong will. Although Ayn is verbal and possesses a large vocabulary, she still struggles to share with others her desires, fears, and thoughts. Presently, she continues to ask for me and she continues to assert that I am coming. She knows I would not abandon her. Yet the Ministry of Children and Family Development continues to keep her from my care and custody.

On Oct 18 the government sought court approval for temporary custody for 90 days. I refused to consent to this and since this is my continued stance, an effort will be made to determine if trial is necessary or whether mutual consent can be achieved between the parties. This step is called the Case Conference and has been scheduled over 90 days away.... on Jan 23rd. If this is the case, why ask for 90 days? Why even pretend to ask? My reasons for refusal will not be heard. I continue to wait for hearing after hearing, never being given the opportunity to even speak. At the conclusion of each meeting, another one is scheduled and in effect we are shuffled to the back of the line struggling to merge schedules to obtain the next suitable date.

While in care of the Ministry, Ayn has escaped twice in four months. At the second escape she was naked, drugged, wet and wandering as far as the "main street." Police were called and she was located and returned her to caregivers. Information is not provided to me, or, I receive what the MCFD chooses to tell me. I am frequently told, "It is under investigation." However, considering that the first escape incident was months ago one should assume that something is known by now? How difficult can the investigation be about whether in her drugged condition Ayn was being watched under the care of a 15 year old fellow foster child? How much more investigation is required to determine why the window of the bathroom in which Ayn was bathing was not locked?

When the MCFD is purportedly educated to identify emotional abuse, why can abuse be ignored when MCFD is the actual source of that abuse? At home Ayn was in no greater danger than her disability naturally initiates. I am asking that she be returned to my care immediately. If MCFD is obliged to investigate then expedite that inquiry rather than separating us for over four months already with no social worker as yet asking me how Ayn was when she was in the family home, the very place from which she is being withheld. She has been returned to the school where the "deterioration" was observed. She has been returned to the foster care home from which she has twice escaped.

MCFD has offered to me unsupervised access effective immediately and yet MCFD will not return Ayn to me. This is a nightmarish power struggle for our family with an institution whose stated function is family development and whose guiding principles are: "a family is the preferred environment for the care and upbringing of children and the responsibility for the protection of children rests primarily with the parents" (CFCSA 2b) and "decisions relating to children should be made and implemented in a timely manner" (CFCSA 2g).

I have devoted my life to my children and I continue to care for my sons, one of whom is also autistic. I do this cheerfully and have never once complained about the complexities and problems I face raising two severely autistic kids. All three children and most certainly the two autistic children are happy and thriving children and there is nothing to suggest otherwise.

I am angry. I am in pain. I suffer and yet the truth is that this does not matter – Rather, my daughter Ayn is all that matters. This young girl does not deserve this traumatic interruption. Instead, she should be viewed as a citizen in the same sense as you or I, and as the social workers involved in her case and as the different judges who are giving oversight to this process. However, she is being treated like property. The sadness she experiences because of my absence from her is used against me as is my advocacy for her to get proper services. During all this time she sits in a basement wondering where her family has gone and not understanding what has happened or why. She may wonder whether she did something wrong, or whether we don’t want her anymore. She has no capacity to comprehend the Ministry's legal squabble. She knows only that she has been forcefully removed from those whom she loved and who love her and with whom she has be every day of her life before this horror. Is the horror to be regarded as acceptable because Ayn has been placed with various caregivers who are nice people? It is still not commendable that good people do the wrong things. Even caregivers are uninformed as is the public and as am I. So now we wait, past her December 14th birthday, past Christmas and New Year, for a “Case Conference” in which I will still not have opportunity to argue for her return. Instead I will receive a scheduled date when that will happen, a date which in all probability will be a year or more away. Of course this cannot be what our community expected when we created this child welfare institution.

Please help to tell Ayn’s story and thereby help her to come home. She is very special. She is a sweetheart. She needs to be with me her daddy, with her mommy and with her brothers. We love her so dearly. I will never concede, or all of this will have been for nothing and the net result will be a little disabled girl who will never know why or when she could be snatched again.

Derek Hoare
778-240-6373
iconoclast_ensues@yahoo.com
justiceforayn.com

AYN GIVES MY PICTURE A BIG KISS WHILE IN CARE

It's Time To Do What Is Right

“The time is always right to do what is right.” ...... Dr Martin Luther King

Today is October 31. It has been 138 days since Ayn van Dyk, a 9 year old girl with autism, was abducted from school by CPS/MCFD in British Columbia, Canada. This was done to "lighten her father's load" ~ by taking Ayn he would only have 2 children to care for, one who has autism as well. It is impossible to imagine one person, let alone a team of social workers, thinking they would be doing anyone in this family any favors by kidnapping their only sister and daughter. How horrific this must have been for this little girl, strangers stealing her away to a strange house and  people; then to a psychiatric hospital unit where she was heavily drugged.

IF YOU ARE NOT OUTRAGED keep reading and you will be. If your are one of thousands enraged by this story, keep reading through posts on this blog and be ready to learn how wide spread this practice is. Be aware, be prepared so this does not happen to you or someone you love.

What has happened in 4 months? Time has past but not much has changed.

Derek has yet to be heard in court and no date has been set for this to happen. He meets regularly with MCFD staff and he has been told that they will be sending Ayn home but not for 4 more months and with conditions, all of which he will have great difficulty agreeing to. They had no "just cause" to abduct Ayn in the first place and they certainly have found, quite to the contrary, that there is no "just cause" for keeping her. Why are they still keeping her in custody? This a question everyone is asking for which no answer has been given.

What are your thoughts? Please leave us a comment.

“Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.”...........Henry Van Dyk

Here is Derek Hoare's plea written 4 months ago.........................

My name is Derek I am a single father of three wonderful young children, aged 9, 10 and 11; my youngest two have both been diagnosed with severe autism. Though a constant and challenging struggle, I have done my best to protect and nurture them, as I love them so much and have dedicated my life to their achievement of happiness. My youngest child is a bright and beautiful little spitfire named Ayn. She has and is blossoming so well here at home and has come so far to overcome her obvious disability, she does however continue to struggle and outburst when in other environments, particularly at school.

Ayn is naive and unaware of the dangers that exist in the world at large, so when on Sunday June 12th she escaped the backyard we were very worried for her safety. With each passing moment the likelihood that something terrible had happened increased, as Ayn should stand out from other children easily and should have been quickly spotted. Fortunately Ayn was discovered two doors down playing in a neighbours backyard, the neighbour had taken an afternoon nap which provided Ayn with the ability to play undisturbed. The challenges I have faced in caring for my daughter have been encompassing and life altering, these challenges are very dynamic and new challenges arise as fast as the old one depart. Now with her discovery of the neighbours nearby trampoline and pool, she will undoubtedly seek to return there, vigilance will be required to face this new found challenge, but it is one which I must now face just as I have with each prior challenge and as i would have to with our future challenges as well. As it stands today I may never get that opportunity.

On the morning of June 16th two workers from CPS arrived at my home to request that I "voluntarily" give Ayn over to them (she was at school at the time), if I refused they would simply coercively remove her. There should be no illusions here when someone approaches you and says "give me your child or i'm taking her" you should not pretend that any such choice would be done "voluntarily".

Within hours of her removal Ayn had hospitalized and drugged with powerful neuroleptics, one of which at double the maximum daily dose. Her whereabouts has been concealed from me, due to me refusing to sign the voluntary agreement. And I will not be given the opportunity to argue before an impartial court as per why this was a wrongful removal for months. After twelve days of hospitalization, in which the hospital noted "no bruises or evidence of physical abuse and her body status showed no evidence of neglect" , and "Initially there was some suspicion of ADHD along with autistic aggression, but this dissipated as Ayn improved...".

The hospital insisted on discharging her (june 28th), she is now in foster care awaiting further hospitalization as the Ministry has waitlisted Ayn for a longer term residential based psychiatric assessment. My little girl is autistic, she does not require a psychiatric assessment, I am aware that she does not understand the dangers that lurk, I love her and I protect her, when Ayn has a tantrum at school it is me they either call in to calm her or send her home to, when she is injured it is to me whom she turns because she "needs a bandage". The greatest successes this little girl has had were nurtured in the home, she loves it here, she loves her brothers and she loves her Dad, It is my firm belief that if our system of child protection has reached a point where a happy thriving child who was not abused and in no need of medicating, can be coercively removed from their family, forcibly medicated within hours, denied access to that family punitively, and the family is given no redress for months potentially years; then we are indeed facing a serious systemic problem. A problem which unfortunately is not confined to my city or province, nor even my country, for these acts are playing out around the world. Please help me get my little girl back and to address this issue in such a way that it never affects another family again.

I would be forever in your debt,

Derek (July28th, 2011)

A Child's Request For Freedom

This little boy signs his letter to the government “Love Musclecast” .  He is begging the government of British Columbia, Canada to “not keep this poor nine year old girl named Ayn” and he is asking this with “love”.  The innocence of a child will never cease to amaze!

Interesting that he begins his letter with the question “Do you know what you need to do Government?” and then says, “That’s right!!” Does this not imply that even this young boy assumes that the government knows what they need to do? Yes, surely they know what they have done is wrong and they can’t fool a child either.

After telling them “......you should know better....” he even gives them the solution to the problem “Now change!”

Many of us have been trying to tell those responsible that we realize what they have done, abducting Ayn, is wrong and they need to take her home. I wonder, will they listen to this young man begging for Ayn? Will he amaze them? He is only asking that Ayn be granted what is rightfully hers,  her freedom. And he is asking with "Love".

DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR CHILD IS RIGHT NOW?

You may have read the title above and answered "no" to the question, if so I am sorry for any pain you endure not knowing where your child is. Fortunately the majority of parents know where their child is. They know how they are doing and if they are ill or injured they are able to be of comfort and care for their child. They are able to laugh and play with their child, read to them, hug them and tuck them in safely at night. Most parents and children enjoy the freedom to live their lives together, enjoying the good times and managing in the tough times. They are free to be able to love and care for each other.

Derek Hoare enjoyed the freedom to be able to do this with his two sons and daughter until June 16, 2011. On that day this freedom was stolen from them all by the Ministry of Child and Family Development in British Columbia, Canada. On this day Derek's 9 year old daughter, who is autistic, was abducted from school by a social worker who thought Derek was overwhelmed as a parent of 3 children (2 being autistic). So they took Ayn into custody, having never observed her at home. In custody she was heavily medicated, with a cocktail of drugs most of us would never condone giving to any child; certainly against her father's will.

If you have not already done so, please read the story of what happened on June 16th and since, now 84 days. Derek does not know where his daughter Ayn is living. He does not know how she is other than by report and some pictures. He has not hugged her or even spoken to her. Read the story at https://www.facebook.com/groups/justiceforayn/doc/164987920241370/.

I would like to invite you to join the facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/justiceforayn/ that is trying to help any way they can. Perhaps you could help too. We must figure out how to make justice prevail and see that this little one is granted her rights and freedom to be home with her daddy and brothers.