IQ costs Oregon parents their kids, but is that fair?

[Dashinka 25,897]

By Samantha Swindler

sswindler@oregonian.com

The Oregonian/OregonLive

The nursery in Amy Fabbrini and Eric Ziegler's home is filled with unread children's books and unworn baby clothes. A Winnie the Pooh blanket lies untouched inside a crib where a child has never slept.

For nearly four years, the Redmond couple has been fighting to prove to the state of Oregon that they are intellectually capable of raising their children. The Department of Human Services has removed both of their boys, saying the parents are too mentally limited to be good parents.

 

Fabbrini, 31, and Ziegler, 38, lost custody of their older son, Christopher, shortly after he was born. Five months ago, the state took their second child, newborn Hunter, directly from the hospital. Both are now in foster care. 

"I love kids, I was raised around kids, my mom was a preschool teacher for 20-plus years, and so I've always been around kids," Fabbrini said. "That's my passion. I love to do things with kids, and that's what I want to do in the future, something that has to do with kids."

 

No abuse or neglect has been found, but each parent has a degree of limited cognitive abilities. Rather than build a network of support around them, the state child welfare agency has moved to terminate the couple's parental rights and make the boys available for adoption.

 

It's impossible to know the full story when child welfare officials are unable to comment, but the case has left the couple and their advocates heartbroken.

 

The case lays bare fundamental questions about what makes a good parent and who, ultimately, gets to decide when someone's not good enough. And it strikes at the heart of the stark choices child welfare workers face daily: should a child be removed or is there some middle ground?

 

For now, the divide is clear. Fabbrini's father lines up against the couple. A state legislator is advocating for them. The parents themselves are struggling against a system that feels impersonal, unyielding and inscrutable.

 

"They are saying they are intellectually incapable without any guidelines to go by," said Sherrene Hagenbach, a former volunteer with the state agency who oversaw visits with the couple and Christopher from last June through August.

 

Hagenbach is a professional mediator and a board member of Healthy Families of the High Desert. After she told state caseworkers she thought the couple was capable of raising Christopher, she recalls, she was told her volunteer services were no longer needed.

 

She's spent the past year advocating for Fabbrini and Ziegler.

 

"They're saying that this foster care provider is better for the child because she can provide more financially, provide better education, things like that," Hagenbach said. "If we're going to get on that train, Bill Gates should take my children. There's always somebody better than us, so it's a very dangerous position to be in."

 

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2017/07/parents_with_intellectual_disa.html

[IAMX 3,055]

Stupid government. Should fire all those people for their low IQ.

Edited July 21, 2017 by IAMX

[OriZ 3,165]

That's just terrible...let the hunger games begin.

[Unidentified 2,930]

Sounds like what Sweden did in 1930 when they were sterilizing men and women with intellectual disabilities. Insane. 

[Dashinka 25,897]

1 minute ago, Unidentified said:

Sounds like what Sweden did in 1930 when they were sterilizing men and women with intellectual disabilities. Insane. 

Yes, Eugenics is/was a truly idiotic belief system.

[Unidentified 2,930]

Yes, truly horrible. 

[bcking 3,157]

That is a very sad story.

 

I will say in my experience CPS has always focused on the parents first and foremost. I've never had a bad experience with them where they "try" to take a child away. If anything, it is more often where I am more concerned than they are.

 

As the article mentions, we can't have the "full" story since CPS obivously can't comment. I'm not saying the parents are lying or misleading the media, I'm just saying I have never seen a kid put into foster care without a good reason. The article doesn't mention what family the parents have, but in many cases if they do have concerns the child will go to a close family member so that the parents are still involved (Grandparent etc...).

 

Not saying CPS is doing the right thing here, because from what information we have it seems harsh. I've just never had a bad experience with them so I am wondering if something else might be going on.

[Unidentified 2,930]

3 minutes ago, bcking said:

That is a very sad story.

 

I will say in my experience CPS has always focused on the parents first and foremost. I've never had a bad experience with them where they "try" to take a child away. If anything, it is more often where I am more concerned than they are.

 

As the article mentions, we can't have the "full" story since CPS obivously can't comment. I'm not saying the parents are lying or misleading the media, I'm just saying I have never seen a kid put into foster care without a good reason. The article doesn't mention what family the parents have, but in many cases if they do have concerns the child will go to a close family member so that the parents are still involved (Grandparent etc...).

 

Not saying CPS is doing the right thing here, because from what information we have it seems harsh. I've just never had a bad experience with them so I am wondering if something else might be going on.

I hope that is the case otherwise this is extremely cruel. 

[bcking 3,157]

1 minute ago, Unidentified said:

I hope that is the case otherwise this is extremely cruel. 

A similar, very very common case, is when the mother is a minor. Obviously it isn't the same, but questions of her "capability" to care for the child come up when she is herself a child.

 

In those cases though they almost always go home with the mother but with close supervision by CPS and with another care taker in the home (mother's mother usually) helping to provide care. 

 

CPS case workers can be incredible resources for families and I always tell families when I'm calling them that we are doing so to make sure that they have everything they need to properly care for their child. Case workers will visit their home, will go with them to the store to help them pick up cribs/supplies etc...