YOUR PARENTAL RIGHTS WITH CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES

by Mea Jones

The reason MCFD has so much power is that people have been led to believe that they really do care about the best interests of the child. If this were true, however, you would not see horrific cases of injustice such as what happened to the Bayne family (please Google: Paul and Zabeth Bayne and Fifth Estate), nor would you have such monumental injustice as what is occurring right now with a beautiful, sweet Autistic girl named Ayn, who was essentially stolen from her loving, caring and competent father, Derek Hoare.

Ayn has been in MCFD custody since June 2011, in the basement of a foster "parent" who gets paid very well. However, even though the foster parent gets paid very well, they still had another foster child administer drugs to Ayn and Ayn has escaped their custody, and once was found naked wandering on a main street. MCFD has acknowledged Derek is a good dad, and admitted there was no abuse or neglect.

We have blindly given MCFD so much power, yet they are completely unaccountable. Oh sure, the Representative for Children and Youth will get all up in arms when there is a freak murder or someone dues in foster custody. But MCFD doesn't really mind because the upshot of this uproar is always to get more money and power and sympathy for MCFD and those poor "overworked" social workers.

If parents knew how easy it is to lose their children, forever, and what the fate of the vast majority of children in MCFD custody really is (horrific, with a much greater chance of abuse/death than parental care), they would be shocked. The truth is, any nasty person, any social worker - for that matter - can call MCFD anonymously and make a false report and you could easily lose your child or baby forever. And this is an experience that is worse than a child's death.

So, the next time you read about how kids are getting taken away from their parents because they smoke or the kids are too fat or the parents aren't deemed intelligent enough, instead of cheering the "child protectors on, ask yourself this: if the government is such a great parent how come so many of the kids in their custody get murdered, abused in every way, grow up to be homeless, drug addicts, suicidal and incarcerated in such huge numbers?

Parental rights? You have none. Do some research and see what they've done to Derek Hoare and his daughter, Ayn. All in the best interests of the child. Right.

Blogger's note: I would suggest further reading on this subject and specifically “children’s rights” with this article by Ray Ferris who is a retired child-protection worker and the author of The Art of Child Protection

Ray Ferris: A British Columbia myth about the best interests of children http://www.straight.com/article-624596/vancouver/ray-ferris-british-columbia-myth-about-best-interests-children 

I AM TRYING TO UNDERSTAND

Every day I come to this blog to change the date and the day count for this unbelievable story. I keep thinking this can't go on much longer but it looks like MCFD plans will have me doing this until day 611. I am a very passionate advocate for those on the autism spectrum and this little girl has stolen my heart. Not a day goes by, likely many hours everyday, that I don't think about her and her family and pray that they will soon be reunited.

On June 16, 2011 Ayn, then 9 years old, was "legally kidnapped" from school. I say "legally" because that would be the claim of this Ministry of Children and Family Development, the Provincial Government of British Columbia, Canada. I say "kidnapped" because she was abducted from school by people she did not know, against her father's wishes; taken to a house she did not know and then to a hospital she did not know where she was heavily drugged to control her behavior. The hospital did release Ayn with a written report for a clean bill of health, no signs of neglect or abuse.

I am trying to think if I have ever known a 9 year old child who would not be very frightened in this situation and lash out at those they would perceive to be attackers. Would a child understand why this was happening, why school staff would let it happen, why their parent didn't stop this? I don't think so. And, this little girl is autistic and would have  greater difficulty and certainly not be able to communicate her fears any other way than behaviorally.

Months ago her abductors, MCFD, told her parents they would be sending her home. They have never stated just cause for the aprehension, just that they thought her dad might be overwhelmed having 3 children, 2 of them being autistic. However, they made this assumption without having ever observed Ayn in her home with her Dad and brothers. Had they done so, they would have seen a very happy home where all children were thriving with their very devoted, loving full time at home Dad. Of course if they have been listening the past 8 months, they would now know the latter facts to be true.

I am thinking it is safe to assume that their knowledge of autism was very limited as well. One would have hoped that by now, 8 months later, they would have consulted with specialists and had become very knowledgeable about autism and particularly how it affects Ayn's ability to communicate, to understand what is happening. But alas this must not have happened yet, otherwise they would not be still holding her in custody and they would not be punishing her for having meltdowns. Any punishment would be wrong, but in this case the punishment was to deprive her of a visit with her mother who she hadn't seen for months. This punishment has lasted a month, the length of time it took for them to reshedule a visit. Ayn's mom has been told she will be able to visit Ayn on March 6 unless of course she has a meltdown, then she will again receive the same punishment. The question is are they telling Ayn ahead of time about this visit? Those who are familiar with autism would be thinking that the meltdown would be a result of Ayn not being able to deal with the emotions she is feeling, unable to communicate, not understanding why she has to wait etc. MCFD staff have been told that it would be best to not tell Ayn ahead of time about the visit, just let her enjoy the happiness the visit will bring to her. We can only hope they will do this. Here is an excellent resource for those with questions about autism wanting to understand what autism is about and how they can be supportive https://sites.google.com/site/fragileworldonthespectrum/

Now, in the past 8 months, Ayn's parents have done all they were asked to do by MCFD. Dad work tirelessly on a porposal he was asked to prepare and submit. He received to recognition of receipt of this porposal. With every rare opportunity to meet with MCFD there is hope that a happy ending is near. On Day 222 Ayn's parents finally had an opportunity to speak at a case conference, a judge present. Not only did they still not hear a reason for Ayn's abduction but trial dates were set to begin next December for a duration of 69 days. Yes, and that will bring the length of Ayn's custody time to 611 days. To this date she has had several visits with her mom, none for months now and none from any other family member. her brothers miss her terribly. To understand her dad's reason please read http://freedomforayn.blogspot.com/2011/10/dereks-decision-re-visiting-ayn-in.html For those who understand autism and how it plays out in Ayn's life dad is doing the best thing he can do for his daughter.

This week Ayn's parents had opportunities to meet MCFD in mediation. It would seem that they will not be allowed to speak about these proceedings but we do know that it was a nightmare. This is very sad news indeed and brings me to continue to ask "HOW CAN THIS BE HAPPENING IN ABBOTSFORD, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA and WHY???"

Are you a parent and if so what would you do in this case?
Do you have a child with autism and if so what are your thoughts?
Are you a specialist in the field of autism; what would your advice be?
Are you family or friend to Ayn and her family, what are your observations?

Who Is Visiting This Blog?

If this is your first visit to our blog, WELCOME and we hope you will return often. If you have been here before, thanks for returning and please come back again.
To date we have had 1,138 visitors here from 6 continents, 23 countries and 413 cities.

For those of us who are following Ayn's story day by day (today is Day 101 of her captivity since being abducted from school) we continue to be astounded to find out that this horrific situation Ayn and her family are in is not specific to British Columbia, Canada. It is not specific to Canada and would seem to be an international concern. I am not referring to those many children who need Child Protection Services; who need to be rescued from environments of severe neglect and abuse. Ayn was not in need of protection and should never have been taken from her family. If any help was needed it was for the school Ayn attended.

It would appear that too many children are being abducted that don't need protection and Child Protective Services are not forthcoming with their reasons for taking these children captive and placing them in more danger. In Ayn's case she is in far more danger being heavily drugged, taking a cocktail of drugs that most parents would never consider. She is in danger by not having adequate supervision in the foster "care" environment. She is in danger because her caregivers are not knowledgeable about autism or Ayn's needs as a child with autism. She is in danger because she is back in the same school that she had to be forcibly removed from on June 16, 2011.

We are all desperately trying to understand. Because we don't know why this is happening to Ayn we are left guessing at reasons and coming up with some pretty plausible explanations. Some are guessing the motivation is related to financial gains - the big pharma companies? government officials and employees? foster parents? Do you have any thoughts as to why this is happening, who might be benefitting and how?

If this is the way governments are going to respond to the requirements for support for children with special needs then we need to be very concerned, very aware and very attentive to what is happening in our communities. We must make sure others are aware.

Would you consider leaving a comment here to share with others where you live and if you know of similar stories to Ayn happening in your community. This practice needs to stop, innocent children should not suffer like this, families should not be torn apart by government agencies claiming to "care" and "protect". We can all help increase awareness and stop this practice. Invite others to read this blog. Thank you.

How Can I Help Ayn Be Free?

I feel rather helpless as I wish there was something constructive I could do to help Ayn and her family. How in this wonderful country of ours, Canada, can so many smart, creative, caring and industrious people feel so helpless to save a little girl? How can our government continue to hold her captive, drugged into submission?

There is one thing we can all do and that is donate money so that Ayn's dad, Derek Hoare can hire the very best lawyer to help give Ayn back her freedom. For many of us this is easier said than done these days in rough economic times but hopefully we will find ways to raise some funds.

I have an invention that I created to support a little boy with autism and it has helped many children and families in the past 4 years. It is helping kids with autism and kids who are not autistic so that they will be eating a healthier diet ~ it is working too. You can read testimonials from parents, teachers, a child psychiatrist who specializes in autism, an OT, a psychologist and many more at http://www.theeatinggame.ca/testimonials/newsletter.asp?article=18 .

You can see pictures of The Eating Game components and read how they work at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150096883195390.307264.117743845389

For the month of September I will donate $15 to Ayn's Freedom Fund for every Make It Yourself (MIY) Kit that is ordered for shipment in Canada and the USA. You can order your kit at http://www.theeatinggame.ca/shopping_cart.htm .

Give your child, grandchild, niece, nephew, friend a gift that will keep on giving every day. Give them a game they say is fun and where they are winners every day.  Buy one for your community support group to loan to families to try before they get their own. Buy one for your local Children's Hospital feeding clinic or your favorite OT. Buy one for your local school.

At the same time you will be giving a second gift of $15 to Ayn's Freedom Fund. Only 25 days left to place your order.