Star Chamber in America - Part 2

Mom and Dad are getting ready to return to the Star Chamber for the next phase of the case. After coming home from the last appearance, they immediately sat down at the table to figure out what this was all about. As they read, they became increasingly alarmed.

Their daughter, Amber, age 12, turned in her father for touching her inappropriately. The molest happened on a Saturday night a month before she was placed in foster care, according to Amber. Dad told her not to say anything about it. The night that she was picked up, she had left home against parental orders and gone to her best friend’s house where she revealed the molest to the friend’s mother who made the call, as Amber knew she would.

Dad remembers very well the night that his world turned upside down because there had been a showdown over Amber’s skipping school and hanging out with older boys. Dad couldn’t be sure but he suspected Amber was having sex. After finding a roach in her room, he knew she was smoking pot. For a couple of weeks, Amber steadfastly refused to do any chores or participate in family activities. She spewed hate at both parents when they tried to communicate with her. That night, Dad took away her I-pod, access to the internet, and banned her from going out for two weeks hoping her behavior would improve. These restrictions scuttled Amber’s plans to hang out. She was especially irked because Dad rescinded his OK for her to go with her best friend’s family on a weekend ski trip to Tahoe. Amber was enraged.

Mom and Dad haven’t seen Amber since she was placed in custody. That was the day before the social worker and cops stormed the house to grab the two boys.

They haven't missed a single weekly supervised visit with the boys who are five and eight. They sit around a table in a small sterile room at the Department of Social Services. While parents and children are happy to see each other, the setting is stressful and unnatural. It's even harder for them when the visit ends.

A stern lady with glasses and hair in a bun writes down everything they say and do. There are rules to follow or the visit will be terminated, she warns them. No talking about the case. No talking about when, if ever, the boys will come home. No words to lend hope to them that this nightmare will end. No crying in front of the children. The children are not to cry either. No whispering. The boys are not allowed to talk about their foster home or the new school they attend. This information might give the parents clues about where they are. Any item given to the boys must be inspected by the lady with glasses and hair in a bun. Notes or cards from the parents must be read before delivery. Any violation of these rules will be reported to the social worker who will pass it on to the Star Chamber with the social worker’s conclusion that the parents are uncooperative, sneaky and clearly not to be trusted.

The visits last one hour, usually on Tuesdays but occasionally they are abruptly canceled to serve the convenience of the Department. Sometimes the missed visits are made up and sometimes not. It’s all up to the social worker. The Star Chamber has granted the social worker discretion to set the terms. The children sometimes don’t get to the visits on time because the foster parents have to drive 80 miles each way. Although the parents have not violated any rules, the social worker refuses to expand visits, citing the Department’s scarce resources.

Even thought there’s no allegation that the boys have been neglected or abused, they were taken under the rule of the Star Chamber that if you take one child, you take them all.

Mom and Dad are very scared. They tried to make appointments with their court-appointed lawyers. They left message after message in voice mail but the lawyers never returned their calls. They’re not really sure what’s supposed to happen in court today because no one has explained the process to them. What they don’t know is that today is the day set for the hearing to decide whether the allegations made against them are true and to decide where the children will live.

The petition says that Dad molested Amber and Mom failed to protect Amber from Dad. A small sentence in the petition says the boys are at risk in the custody of their parents. Mom is characterized as mentally unstable and under Dad's control to such a degree that the children are not safe in the home.

The social worker has interviewed all of the collaterals in the case including the children’s doctors, teachers and daycare workers. The worker has also interviewed the estranged maternal grandmother who has held a long term grudge against Dad. She's sure he's a good for nothing. He certainly isn’t right for her daughter. Grandma says she’s not a bit surprised that Dad would molest Amber. Grandma is upset that the parents won’t let her have contact with the children more than once a year. The parents admit this. She's toxic, they say. The grandmother would love to have custody and the social worker has arranged to visit the grandmother's house as the first step in placing the children with her.

The social worker interviewed Amber about the details of the molest. Initially she confirmed that it happened. But after a while Amber started to crack. Eventually, she recanted her story completely. The recantation doesn’t make it into the narrative of the social worker’s report for today’s hearing because the social worker doesn't believe Amber's recantation. Recantations happen, she reasons, because children want to be with their parents, even ones who mistreat them.

The social worker has also interviewed Mom and Dad. She tells them in no uncertain terms that they need to take responsibility for their actions. She says children don’t lie about these things. If you want your children to come home, you will tell me what happened. Mom is in tears throughout the interview. The loss of her children and the cruel allegations against the father have nearly driven her over the edge. The social worker notes that Mom is so emotionally unstable and fixed in denial, that she is not capable of taking care of the children at this time. Clearly, she needs a psych evaluation with follow up treatment and possibly drugs to control her moods. She advocates for this in her report to the Star Chamber.

The social worker has talked to the boys over and over again to get them to make statements damaging to their parents. She tells them that no parent is perfect and that if they want to go home, they will have to disclose everything that is bad about their Mom and Dad.
She accuses them of lying when they stand by their story that they are well treated.
The social worker asks about the grandmother. The older boy says she’s weird and he’s not comfortable around her. She scares him. She makes everyone uncomfortable. The social worker writes this up in her report, informing the Star Chamber that the parents have caused the children emotional harm by alienating them from the grandmother who the social worker has interviewed and found to be warm, nourishing and good for the kids.

The social worker recommends that the children be declared dependents and remain in foster care for the time being while she investigates the grandmother as a suitable placement.