Goofy_Disney_Dad
Can go Grumpy on occasion too...
- Joined
- May 26, 2010
Foster child adoption rules
- Thread starter PaulaSB12
- Start date
I found this story to be so horrible that these two little girls who had been failed by their biological parents, now their adoptive parents failed them and they have had to suffer such a horrific crime
http://m.arktimes.com/arkansas/a-child-left-unprotected/Content?oid=3691164
On April 4, 2014, a 38-year-old resident of Bella Vista named Eric Cameron Francis was arrested by the Arkansas State Police for the rape of a 6-year-old girl in what the police said was his temporary care. Sexual crimes against children always attract a certain horrified attention, but this particular case earned additional scrutiny because Francis had recently worked as head teacher at a Christian preschool in West Fork owned by state Rep. Justin Harris (R-West Fork) and his wife, Marsha.
Harris, who said he was "devastated and sickened" by news of the abuse, told theArkansas Times in April 2014 that Francis had been in his employ only about three months, from November 2013 to January 2014, before being fired for poor work attendance.
"He came with a pristine record," Harris said at the time, noting that Francis was also a youth pastor at a church and had worked previously in early childhood education for the Bentonville School District and with a Head Start program. Harris added that he was confident nothing had happened to any of the children at Growing God's Kingdom Preschool, because of strict security protocols (the classroom contains a continuously operating camera that generates a permanent record). Indeed, no further charges against Francis resulted from subsequent State Police interviews of families at the preschool, although investigators uncovered at least two other incidents of sexual abuse of children in the community outside of the school. In November, he was sentenced to 40 years in prison on a negotiated plea.
What Harris did not publicly disclose last spring, however, is how Francis came into contact with the 6-year-old victim. In prosecutor documents recently obtained by the Arkansas Times, state police investigators and multiple witnesses concur that the child was in fact the legally adopted daughter of Justin and Marsha Harris.
The Harrises had adopted the girl and her 3-year-old sister through the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS). The couple also has three biological sons who are older than the girls. Pictures of the girls appeared on Justin Harris' social media accounts in early 2013 (the images have since been deleted), and Harris announced on Twitter and Facebook on March 6, 2013, that the couple had officially adopted the girls. Because DHS adoptions require an in-home trial period of at least six months prior to papers being signed, the girls likely entered the home no later than September 2012.
And then, something evidently went amiss in the household. For unknown reasons, about six months after the adoption was finalized, the Harrises sent the two girls to live with Eric Francis and his family in Bella Vista.
According to an Arkansas State Police investigative report prepared by Sgt. Kimberly A. Warren dated April 3, 2014, she contacted Crimes Against Children Division Supervisor Terri Ward who advised that "Mr. and Mrs. Harris placed the girls into the care of Eric Francis and his wife Stacy [sic] Francis in October 2013." The report further states that "It was later reported to the Department of Human Services that Mr. and Mrs. Harris had left the children with another family and had basically abandoned them. This incident was reported to the child abuse hotline and the children were interviewed."
After her husband's arrest, Stacey Francis told a state police investigator that she and Eric "met [the girls] through friends of theirs, Justin and Marsha Harris, who were looking for a new adoption plan for themselves ... Stacey Francis reported that she and Eric Francis brought [the girls] into their home with the hopes of being able to adopt them." The Francises already had three older children — two girls and a boy — who were adopted internationally. Stacey Francis said the Harris girls stayed with her and Eric "until February or March of 2014." That means the Harrises left the girls with Eric Francis and his wife even after firing him.
The sexual abuse of the 6-year-old girl came to light only because of a call placed to the state's child maltreatment hotline on Friday, March 28, from an unidentified caller who said the Harrises "gave their adoptive children to a family" and "that family in turn gave the children to another family" and that they had "continued to accept adoption subsidy money even after giving the children away." Investigators evidently determined that this third home was a safe place for the girls because they remain there today.
Arkansas's child maltreatment hotline is operated by the Crimes Against Children Division (CACD), a semiautonomous arm of the State Police tasked with performing the sensitive and highly confidential work involved in cases of child abuse and neglect. When the CACD needs additional resources, however, it can also draw upon the assistance of the State Police's Criminal Investigation Division (CID).
"On the afternoon of March 28, 2014, the CID was asked by the commander of the Crimes Against Children Division to assist in determining where two minor age children might be, who had been adopted," said Bill Sadler, spokesman for the State Police. "By sometime late in the afternoon, CID had told CACD that the girls were accounted for — at the home of a family who appeared not to be the custodial parents of the girls." By the morning of Monday, March 31, the prosecutor documents indicate, the girls were interviewed by a CACD agent. During this interview, the 6-year-old disclosed the abuse by Francis, which Francis later told police occurred sometime in January 2014, while his wife was out of state.
Although the hotline caller alleged that Justin and Marsha Harris had given away their adopted children, no criminal charges were brought against them, according to Sadler.
If some readers are startled to learn that it's legal for adoptive parents to give their children to another family, they're in good company. As the State Police investigation unfolded last spring, one person kept apprised of its progress was then-Gov. Mike Beebe. Matt DeCample, Beebe's former spokesperson, said the governor was surprised as anyone to hear about the practice of "rehoming," as it's called in the adoption world. (DeCample said it was common practice for the State Police to alert the governor's office whenever it discovered a state elected official had an ancillary connection to a criminal investigation.)
"As we were briefed on the State Police investigation into Mr. Francis and the circumstances around that case, none of us in the office, including the governor, had ever dealt with the rehousing of children who had been adopted through DHS," DeCample recalled. "It's not something that had ever come up before, and, frankly, we didn't know that it was something that could happen, or why it would ever happen.
"The governor asked some of our legal folks to look at how that was legally possible in the state — or at least why there wasn't anything preventing it from happening. And everything we got back said there was not anything definitive in Arkansas Code prohibiting such an activity."
In February, the Arkansas Times asked Rep. Harris to comment on the case and explain what became of the girls he and his wife had adopted. He refused, and stated that the Times was attempting to "smear" him. "It's evil," he said, becoming visibly upset.
When asked whether he rehomed his adoptive children with another family, he replied, "I'm not confirming that." When asked about the statements made in the State Police report in the Francis case, Harris said he hadn't read the file because of the disturbing descriptions of sexual abuse that they contain.
Harris then quoted Isaiah 54:17: "No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you."
"You don't know what we've been through this past year. You have no idea what my family has been through," he said emphatically. "I don't care what the people of Arkansas think about me. I don't care if I lose my position. I care what my wife thinks about me, and I care what my three sons think about me."
Overcome with emotion, he then turned and walked away. Harris has not responded to repeated requests for further comment, even again this week when advised this story would be published.
http://m.arktimes.com/arkansas/a-child-left-unprotected/Content?oid=3691164
On April 4, 2014, a 38-year-old resident of Bella Vista named Eric Cameron Francis was arrested by the Arkansas State Police for the rape of a 6-year-old girl in what the police said was his temporary care. Sexual crimes against children always attract a certain horrified attention, but this particular case earned additional scrutiny because Francis had recently worked as head teacher at a Christian preschool in West Fork owned by state Rep. Justin Harris (R-West Fork) and his wife, Marsha.
Harris, who said he was "devastated and sickened" by news of the abuse, told theArkansas Times in April 2014 that Francis had been in his employ only about three months, from November 2013 to January 2014, before being fired for poor work attendance.
"He came with a pristine record," Harris said at the time, noting that Francis was also a youth pastor at a church and had worked previously in early childhood education for the Bentonville School District and with a Head Start program. Harris added that he was confident nothing had happened to any of the children at Growing God's Kingdom Preschool, because of strict security protocols (the classroom contains a continuously operating camera that generates a permanent record). Indeed, no further charges against Francis resulted from subsequent State Police interviews of families at the preschool, although investigators uncovered at least two other incidents of sexual abuse of children in the community outside of the school. In November, he was sentenced to 40 years in prison on a negotiated plea.
What Harris did not publicly disclose last spring, however, is how Francis came into contact with the 6-year-old victim. In prosecutor documents recently obtained by the Arkansas Times, state police investigators and multiple witnesses concur that the child was in fact the legally adopted daughter of Justin and Marsha Harris.
The Harrises had adopted the girl and her 3-year-old sister through the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS). The couple also has three biological sons who are older than the girls. Pictures of the girls appeared on Justin Harris' social media accounts in early 2013 (the images have since been deleted), and Harris announced on Twitter and Facebook on March 6, 2013, that the couple had officially adopted the girls. Because DHS adoptions require an in-home trial period of at least six months prior to papers being signed, the girls likely entered the home no later than September 2012.
And then, something evidently went amiss in the household. For unknown reasons, about six months after the adoption was finalized, the Harrises sent the two girls to live with Eric Francis and his family in Bella Vista.
According to an Arkansas State Police investigative report prepared by Sgt. Kimberly A. Warren dated April 3, 2014, she contacted Crimes Against Children Division Supervisor Terri Ward who advised that "Mr. and Mrs. Harris placed the girls into the care of Eric Francis and his wife Stacy [sic] Francis in October 2013." The report further states that "It was later reported to the Department of Human Services that Mr. and Mrs. Harris had left the children with another family and had basically abandoned them. This incident was reported to the child abuse hotline and the children were interviewed."
After her husband's arrest, Stacey Francis told a state police investigator that she and Eric "met [the girls] through friends of theirs, Justin and Marsha Harris, who were looking for a new adoption plan for themselves ... Stacey Francis reported that she and Eric Francis brought [the girls] into their home with the hopes of being able to adopt them." The Francises already had three older children — two girls and a boy — who were adopted internationally. Stacey Francis said the Harris girls stayed with her and Eric "until February or March of 2014." That means the Harrises left the girls with Eric Francis and his wife even after firing him.
The sexual abuse of the 6-year-old girl came to light only because of a call placed to the state's child maltreatment hotline on Friday, March 28, from an unidentified caller who said the Harrises "gave their adoptive children to a family" and "that family in turn gave the children to another family" and that they had "continued to accept adoption subsidy money even after giving the children away." Investigators evidently determined that this third home was a safe place for the girls because they remain there today.
Arkansas's child maltreatment hotline is operated by the Crimes Against Children Division (CACD), a semiautonomous arm of the State Police tasked with performing the sensitive and highly confidential work involved in cases of child abuse and neglect. When the CACD needs additional resources, however, it can also draw upon the assistance of the State Police's Criminal Investigation Division (CID).
"On the afternoon of March 28, 2014, the CID was asked by the commander of the Crimes Against Children Division to assist in determining where two minor age children might be, who had been adopted," said Bill Sadler, spokesman for the State Police. "By sometime late in the afternoon, CID had told CACD that the girls were accounted for — at the home of a family who appeared not to be the custodial parents of the girls." By the morning of Monday, March 31, the prosecutor documents indicate, the girls were interviewed by a CACD agent. During this interview, the 6-year-old disclosed the abuse by Francis, which Francis later told police occurred sometime in January 2014, while his wife was out of state.
Although the hotline caller alleged that Justin and Marsha Harris had given away their adopted children, no criminal charges were brought against them, according to Sadler.
If some readers are startled to learn that it's legal for adoptive parents to give their children to another family, they're in good company. As the State Police investigation unfolded last spring, one person kept apprised of its progress was then-Gov. Mike Beebe. Matt DeCample, Beebe's former spokesperson, said the governor was surprised as anyone to hear about the practice of "rehoming," as it's called in the adoption world. (DeCample said it was common practice for the State Police to alert the governor's office whenever it discovered a state elected official had an ancillary connection to a criminal investigation.)
"As we were briefed on the State Police investigation into Mr. Francis and the circumstances around that case, none of us in the office, including the governor, had ever dealt with the rehousing of children who had been adopted through DHS," DeCample recalled. "It's not something that had ever come up before, and, frankly, we didn't know that it was something that could happen, or why it would ever happen.
"The governor asked some of our legal folks to look at how that was legally possible in the state — or at least why there wasn't anything preventing it from happening. And everything we got back said there was not anything definitive in Arkansas Code prohibiting such an activity."
In February, the Arkansas Times asked Rep. Harris to comment on the case and explain what became of the girls he and his wife had adopted. He refused, and stated that the Times was attempting to "smear" him. "It's evil," he said, becoming visibly upset.
When asked whether he rehomed his adoptive children with another family, he replied, "I'm not confirming that." When asked about the statements made in the State Police report in the Francis case, Harris said he hadn't read the file because of the disturbing descriptions of sexual abuse that they contain.
Harris then quoted Isaiah 54:17: "No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you."
"You don't know what we've been through this past year. You have no idea what my family has been through," he said emphatically. "I don't care what the people of Arkansas think about me. I don't care if I lose my position. I care what my wife thinks about me, and I care what my three sons think about me."
Overcome with emotion, he then turned and walked away. Harris has not responded to repeated requests for further comment, even again this week when advised this story would be published.
indimom
Are We There Yet?
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2008
I agree.
And for the record I know birth parents who have allowed others to raise their children/rehomed their children with no legal agreements involved.
The kids I know thrived in their new home. But...
It is, in my opinion, an unsafe practice and should be 100% illegal.
Chernabog#1fan
DVCOwner
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2007
Until a person has gone through the process of adopting or raising a birth child that has significant challenges, you can not judge the decision to allow another family to raise the child. In this case, it went horrifically wrong and it should always be done through proper channels, but I can understand the feeling of not being able to help your child.
I adopted through foster care and know several people who did as well. My children will be with us for 4 years this month. For 3 years, I was not able to help my youngest. For the most part, he is an amazing, wonderful, intelligent child with the heart of gold. On other days though, he was like Satan. He would beat me up literally, with a few times that I had to call the police. This was when he was only 8, but had been through such trauma in his life that he did not know how to cope with it any other way. I tried several psychiatrists, several therapists, to no avail. Finally, I found a psychiatrist who was able to properly diagnose him and put him on the right medication. I would cry myself to sleep and pray for strength to keep going. It was not easy. Another family I know may not be able to make it through because the child is a safety concern at this point for them and their other child.
You always pick the worst adoption cases to display due to your known hatred of adoption. Well mine is a happy story in the end. My son just turned 12, doing great, and while there are struggles, they are your typical family struggles. He tells me on a daily basis that I am the best mom he has ever had, and I can not say I am the only mom so that means a lot to me. Adoption is a wonderful and rewarding experience most of the time. But I will not sit in judgment of those that have to make the hard decision to relinquish parental rights.
I adopted through foster care and know several people who did as well. My children will be with us for 4 years this month. For 3 years, I was not able to help my youngest. For the most part, he is an amazing, wonderful, intelligent child with the heart of gold. On other days though, he was like Satan. He would beat me up literally, with a few times that I had to call the police. This was when he was only 8, but had been through such trauma in his life that he did not know how to cope with it any other way. I tried several psychiatrists, several therapists, to no avail. Finally, I found a psychiatrist who was able to properly diagnose him and put him on the right medication. I would cry myself to sleep and pray for strength to keep going. It was not easy. Another family I know may not be able to make it through because the child is a safety concern at this point for them and their other child.
You always pick the worst adoption cases to display due to your known hatred of adoption. Well mine is a happy story in the end. My son just turned 12, doing great, and while there are struggles, they are your typical family struggles. He tells me on a daily basis that I am the best mom he has ever had, and I can not say I am the only mom so that means a lot to me. Adoption is a wonderful and rewarding experience most of the time. But I will not sit in judgment of those that have to make the hard decision to relinquish parental rights.
Having having adopted from foster care myself, I normally would agree, but this family did not appear to seek any assistance when things went wrong. The state workers workers knew nothing about the children having problems. He gave them to a man who he recently fired for being unreliable. They kept the adoption subsidy they received after they sent the girls away. Adopting kids with psychological issues is hard, very hard. But what they did is unconscionable. If they needed to disrupt the adoption there are ways to do that. Ways that protect the children.
The OP's obsessive hatred for adoption is well known on the board, along with a preoccupation about adoptive fathers raping their daughters. And God knows, NO biological parents ever do that. She can cloak it as "concern" but it's really all about her own issues with her background. Why not just consult a geneticist if you are not sure your parents were your biological parents? Once you have an answer, you can focus all your energy on the person you believe has most directly wronged you.
Her belief that her father is not her bio father could be right, but what does that mean? Was her mother raped? Did her mother have an affair? Was the OP switched at birth? Did her parents use a sperm donor? Was she adopted? Who knows? The better question is, "Did her parents love and care for her?" But that doesn't seem to matter to her at all. She turns all her negative energy toward adoptive parents for some reason.
Her belief that her father is not her bio father could be right, but what does that mean? Was her mother raped? Did her mother have an affair? Was the OP switched at birth? Did her parents use a sperm donor? Was she adopted? Who knows? The better question is, "Did her parents love and care for her?" But that doesn't seem to matter to her at all. She turns all her negative energy toward adoptive parents for some reason.
Wishing on a star
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2002
I can not imagine why, in a hundred million years, anyone would have an overtly negative view on adoptions?
If that statement is true, regarding this poster, then I imagine that there might have been a very negative personal experience?
But, to answer the question, these laws vary State by State.
At least I do not think that this is something covered by overriding Federal laws.
I would imagine that in many cases, where the adoption was a foster adoption within the State, where the State severed the parents rights (State Custody), and it were considered to be in the child's best interests, the State would take on the responsibility for finding a more appropriate placement for a child that they had taken custody of.
In most States, yes, it would be highly illegal to just abandon a child, or to basically abandon them to other parent(s).
This is the idea of the Safe-Dropoffs for infants, and is the one only other legal way to abandon a child.
If that statement is true, regarding this poster, then I imagine that there might have been a very negative personal experience?
But, to answer the question, these laws vary State by State.
At least I do not think that this is something covered by overriding Federal laws.
I would imagine that in many cases, where the adoption was a foster adoption within the State, where the State severed the parents rights (State Custody), and it were considered to be in the child's best interests, the State would take on the responsibility for finding a more appropriate placement for a child that they had taken custody of.
In most States, yes, it would be highly illegal to just abandon a child, or to basically abandon them to other parent(s).
This is the idea of the Safe-Dropoffs for infants, and is the one only other legal way to abandon a child.
Look up the OP's old posts. There was something about finding out her late father's blood type only stood a very small chance of producing someone with her blood type. She found his blood type on an old blood donation card, so who knows if it was even correct. She confronted her mother, and if I remember correctly, mom wouldn't engage with her on the subject. She has somehow lumped together that her father may not have been her bio dad, with an intense hatred for adoption and scours the internet for adoptions gone wrong stories. She then shares them here, under the pretense of concern for adoptees. If you can find the blood type thread, it is a doozy.
Wishing on a star
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2002
I see the references here, but I did miss that one. Even though I am interested in adoption issues!
I guess I still would not understand how one unique experience could make somebody so negative about the subject as a whole.
I know of many wonderful and positive adoptions!
(Yes, adoptions and adopted children can come with unique issues.... but do all children and families.)
I guess I still would not understand how one unique experience could make somebody so negative about the subject as a whole.
I know of many wonderful and positive adoptions!
(Yes, adoptions and adopted children can come with unique issues.... but do all children and families.)
Chernabog#1fan
DVCOwner
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2007
I completely agree that this one was unacceptable, I am referring to the general idea of the thread. This couple should have gone about it through the right channels.
The Reuters investigation reported that a high proportion of these re homing cases were putting children in danger. It's not adoption that is the danger but it's the motive of these doing the adopting. From what I hshe seen of these people here they go into the adoption with their eyes open. Especially these on this board that adopt from foster care the danger cases are these who go into to save the children. These who have unrealistic expectations of the children. Example one couple who adopted a child who came from a country with famine the adopted child had food issues, now if I had spent the first few years never knowing when I would eat again I would have food issues.
http://www.reuters.com/investigates/adoption/#article/part1
Read that again a couple put up a chinese girl up for rehoming an 8 year old from an orphanage they put up for re homing after FIVE days, now think if you went from an orphanage in one country to a new home, in a new country with different food culture and language don't you think it would take more than five days to acclimate. I have seen parent on this board talk about the hardness of looking after a disabled child they would do anything for these children. Now thus adopted kids don't they deserve the same from their adoptive parents?
http://www.reuters.com/investigates/adoption/#article/part1
Read that again a couple put up a chinese girl up for rehoming an 8 year old from an orphanage they put up for re homing after FIVE days, now think if you went from an orphanage in one country to a new home, in a new country with different food culture and language don't you think it would take more than five days to acclimate. I have seen parent on this board talk about the hardness of looking after a disabled child they would do anything for these children. Now thus adopted kids don't they deserve the same from their adoptive parents?
Amen.
Please do.
You pull these stories as proof that all adoption is bad and although sad they are not representative of the vast majority of adoptions anymore than the horrible cases of child abuse and neglect by biological parents are representative of how the vast majority of non-adoptive families.
The news on the Harris's abandoning these three girls has got worse, they were warned not to adopt them, they were warned that they were not a good match for the children because they were aggressive due abuse, that the GAL didn't want them to be adopted but the senator had used influence to get the girls.
http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlo...mily-disputes-key-staments-from-justin-harris
"And at the hearing, the ad litem attorney — you know, the one who is representing only the interests of the children — said, 'When we met less than a couple of days ago, everyone's recommendation was for these kids to not go to this home. Now, what has happened in the last 24 hours that everyone's recommendation has changed?'"
"Harris' face was getting all red," Cheryl said. "And the ad litem asked him, 'Did you make calls?' And he finally said, 'I did what I had to do to get these girls.' I expected the judge would [stop the adoption] but she gave them the oldest girl." The younger two soon followed.
Ethical adoption can be good, ethical with both mother and father making the choice. What is sad is unethical adoption were the father is considered to be an inconvience to these wanting the baby. The adoptions were fathers who fight for years to get their children like Terry Achane a man who was deceived by his wife.
http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlo...mily-disputes-key-staments-from-justin-harris
"And at the hearing, the ad litem attorney — you know, the one who is representing only the interests of the children — said, 'When we met less than a couple of days ago, everyone's recommendation was for these kids to not go to this home. Now, what has happened in the last 24 hours that everyone's recommendation has changed?'"
"Harris' face was getting all red," Cheryl said. "And the ad litem asked him, 'Did you make calls?' And he finally said, 'I did what I had to do to get these girls.' I expected the judge would [stop the adoption] but she gave them the oldest girl." The younger two soon followed.
Ethical adoption can be good, ethical with both mother and father making the choice. What is sad is unethical adoption were the father is considered to be an inconvience to these wanting the baby. The adoptions were fathers who fight for years to get their children like Terry Achane a man who was deceived by his wife.
So?
This is sad story. Nothing more - and certainly not a common scenario.
NHdisneylover
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2007
I have two questions for you OP:
First, what on earth does the bolded have to do with this story? I cannot find any mention anywhere of the biological father of these children wanting to raise them at all. This is not a case of a mother choosing to give a child up for adoption and doing so against the wishes of the father (or without his knowledge).
In fact, some articles on this specific case do say that the children were in the care of DHS because at least two of the sisters suffered sexual abuse in their biological home. Are you actually arguing that in such cases, if the abusive mother or father do not want to "make the choice" to have their children removed and adopted, that the adoption is not ethical and the children should remain with biological parents????? I can't imagine that you are, but given your bolded comments above in relation to THIS case (which is the sole subject of the thread thus far, a thread you started and continue to bump) I really cannot see any other conclusion to draw. Please, please explain.
Secondly, is there a reason that you are linking almost exclusively to the highly editorialized Arkansas Times articles, and worse their "blogs" than to more balanced and legitimate news articles? This story is pretty bad--it still shows the senator and his family is a bad light even when presented with journalistic integrity, why cast a shadow on ts believably by only linking to obviously over dramatized "reporting" of the issu?
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