Heather Marie Darwin, Newaygo County Community Mental Health (CMH)
Heather is a co-worker and a friend of Nicole's.
Heather is the therapist for Amber.
Nicole is licensed for foster care by Newaygo County CPS.
Heather does other case work for Newaygo County CPS.
Heather supplied a person reference for Nicole.
Heather was present during Nicole's Foster Care Review Board (FCRB) hearing.
Don't you think there is a conflict of interests?
Here are some parts of Heather's testimony during court proceedings on August 2, 2007.
Q) Now, that relationship with Nicole, has that in any way caused you to approach your services to Amber in any different fashion?
A) No, I still have an obligation to advocate for Amber as Amber.
Q) Have you afforded the situation any special consideration or favors as a result of your relationship with Nicole?
A) No, I have not.
Q) When you say you have an obligation to Amber, what is that
obligation?A) Legally of course, and then also ethically, as social workers we're all bound by a national standard of ethical behavior. And so I'm obligated to advocate for what's in the best interest of Amber.
Q)
And have you in fact done that in this matter?A) Yes.
Q)
Do you continue to do that?A) Yes.
Q
And has your relationship with Nicole in any way swayed your judgment in this matter?A) No.
'The children's therapist feels that their present placement has been beneficial and that returning to the grandparents would be detrimental to their mental health." -MCI Denial, January 2007
We started getting visitation with Alyssa and Amber at Newaygo County DHS March 12, 2007. At the end of the visit on March 27, 2007 Amber grabbed a hold of me and wouldn't let go. She threw a fit because she didn't want me to leave.
We started getting overnight visitations with Alyssa and Amber April 9, 2007. Here are a couple pictures from the overnight visits.
Amber is the one on the left. This is the same child Heather had been giving therapy to. This is the same child that would have detrimental mental health issues if returned to us. Does either of these pictures look like being with grandma and grandpa is detrimental to her mental health?
So, does Heather have a serious lack of judgment and insight as to Amber mental health if she is returned to her grandparents? Is Heather really looking out for Amber's "best interest" or is she looking out for the "best interest" of her friend and co-worker, Nicole?
"The strong support provided by the foster mother's co-workers and others in the local social services community smacks of cronyism and undermines the value of their opinions."
-court opinion, April 4, 2007.More testimony from the August 2, 2007 hearing.
Q)
And was there any progress?A)
Some, yes.Q)
What type of progress was there?A)
Amber stopped or decreased the amount of her whining and baby talk, she became more--would annunciate better, you could understand what she was saying better. She wasn't as clingy to me, for instance, she would cling around legs, and at that point she was starting to do a lot less of that. Kind of got more stable on her medications so she was acting less fidgety, less restless, could pay attention better.Q)
And did that change at any point moving forward?A)
Yes, in spring of this year.Q)
Well, what changed?A) It
was around the time that they started visitations with their grandparents.Q)
Okay, what did you observe?A) Amber would be very defiant even with me, didn't want to comply with what I asked her to do, and yet she was also quite clingy, she would just grasp onto my legs and my arms, and didn't want me to leave her sight. More arguing and bickering with her sister, and these are things that I actually witnessed.
Q) And this was around the time that the grandparenting visits occurred, well, I guess this spring?
A) Right.
Q) And since this spring how has that behavior--has that behavior continued to manifest itself?
A) It did for awhile, and within the past month it's starting to kind of level off. A little bit less, decreased maybe some of the baby talk, the stuttering, the separation anxiety was really, really prevalent for awhile, and I would say within the past two, three weeks it's gotten better, less of it.
Q) Do you have--do you have the ability to definitely assign a cause to the most recent regression?
A) I couldn't do that, I could guess.
Q) Okay, but you can't say for certain whether that's completely or absolutely the result of the grandparent'visitations, correct?
A) No.
Q) Okay, but you were aware that the grandparent visitations occurred?
A)
Yes.Q) And was it concurrent with, was the visitation concurrent with the regressive
behavior?A) Yes.
Q) And were you aware of anything else that was going on in their lives, a major event that might explain their regression?
A) No.
Q) Is it possible that, from your observation of Amber, is it possible that the regression was a result of not having contact with the grandparents?
A) No, because she did have contact with the grandparents.
Question time again.
If you were a child and you thought your grandparents were going to adopt you and you would be living with them forever then, all of a sudden you can't see them again, how would you react? Would you have regressed?
Really
Eager to
Get
Rid of and
Escape from the
Social
Service
Evil
Doers
Would it take you some time like 3 month's or so to get over this? Well, this is exactly what happened with Amber. Were Nicole's attorney and Heather trying to make Amber's regression the results of having contact with her grandparents or not being able to see her grandparents?
They were trying to make it look like the regression was because of having the contacts. Again look at the above pictures. Doesn't it look like she is happy there? Isn't it ironic, the following day Judge Thomas wanted to interview Alyssa and Amber. Apparently the girls wouldn't talk to the judge but after they left his chambers and while walking in the hall we heard Amber say, "I want to see grandma and grandpa."
Again I ask, does Heather have a serious lack of judgment and insight as to what really is in the "best interest" for Amber?