#SaveTheGirls
Donation protected
#SaveTheGirls
Please look at these little faces. They are the faces of our friends' precious twin 9-year-old granddaughters. Please look at their sweet smiles. Study those eyes, still so full of hope. Remember what it feels like to be 9. Please keep those images fixed in your mind as we tell you this family's incredible story. Our hope is that you will help us to reunite this family – so that these girls can live and grow in a healthy, loving environment.
For the past 5 years, the girls have been caught in the hellish nightmare that is the New York Child "Protective" System (“CPS”). For over half of their short lives, they have been abused and neglected by the very system set in place to ensure their welfare. This includes being juggled through a series of foster homes. It includes living in the basements of churches, and in homeless shelters, as well as on the streets of NYC. It includes hoping that the various soup kitchens that they have often frequented will have enough food for them to eat. This tragic lifestyle is "normal" to the girls. Even more amazingly, much of this non-traditional, unhealthy living has occurred during the time that CPS and the New York Family Court in Manhattan and other state agencies were ostensibly monitoring and supervising the girls’ well-being. Shocking, isn’t it?
The girls' mother, now 35, has suffered from diagnosed mental illness most of her life. Over the years, she, like so many others with severe and chronic mental illness(es) has often been non-compliant with prescribed medications and psychiatric treatment plans. We understand that the girls’ biological father looked at them briefly in the hospital when they were born and then deserted them. He is not a part of this story. He never wanted to be.
One would think that those entrusted with the welfare of traumatized children would do everything within their power to bring healing and stability to these children, and to restore them to a loving and stable home. Tragically, this has not been the case. The CPS system has spent the last 5 years trying to permanently reunite the twins and their very sick, uncooperative mother. After causing the girls to live in such deplorable, unstable conditions, for so many years, we think that enough is enough. We believe that the girls should be returned to Illinois to grow up with our friends, Kim and Mike.
How did this happen? This family's nightmare began the day after Christmas, 2011, when Kim discovered that her daughter (the girls' then 30 year old mother) had left her home in suburban Chicago and had taken the children with her to New York City. Her objective was simple: join the Occupy Wall Street movement!! She arrived in NYC on or about New Year's Eve that year. She had no money. Her only plan was to drag her young children with her around while she protested!
In mid January, 2012, the children were discovered living in the basement of a Manhattan church. They were then taken into ACS protective custody (Administration for Children's Services) in New York. They were only 4 years old. At that time, the girls told caseworkers that they were hungry and cold and that their feet hurt from marching. How sad is that?
Since that time, these girls have been bounced from foster home to foster home and shelter to shelter. Sadly, even the places that were intended to be safe spaces for the girls were not safe at all! They were removed from their first foster home after being beaten by their foster mother. Their offense was writing "happy birthday" to their foster mother on a wall with crayon. The girls can still remember the incident! Can you imagine?
Early on, Kim and Mike recognized that continuity is vital, especially for children in such an awful situation. Therefore, they traveled, without fail, every month from the Midwest to New York City to visit the children. Each month, they stayed at a hotel for several days at a stretch in order to have two three-hour supervised visits with their granddaughters (one such visit on a Monday and the visit next on a Wednesday). Incredibly, sometimes, the current foster mother would decide that she was “too busy” to take the girls for these visits and so, the visit would not occur!!!
In January, 2012, Kim (a retired college instructor) and her husband, Mike of 20 years (a retired Illinois attorney) hired a New York attorney. For nearly 2 years, from January, 2012- September, 2013, they tried without success to get "kinship custody" of the children. Not once during the judicial proceedings did the family court judge allow Kim or Mike to speak or testify in her courtroom. As is customary in these procedures, the judge appointed a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) to represent the interests of the girls. Over the course of 5 years, the girls do not recall ever meeting with or speaking to their GAL! We understand that Kim tried to speak with him at the courthouse on numerous occasions – and that he continually refused to talk with her. Sadly, in September, 2013, it became clear that the court was planning to return the girls to their very sick mother to once again live on the streets of New York. As a result, Kim and Mike reluctantly ceased their efforts to obtain legal custody of the girls.
Then, at the end of September 2016, it appeared that a miracle had occurred. Out of the blue, the girls' mother called her brother (Kim’s son) and said that she wanted to come home with the girls. Her brother dropped everything and made the long drive from Chicago to the shelter in Harlem and back. Within 36 hours, they were all home. Safe. And for 6 glorious weeks, the girls were back with their grandparents. They were just beginning to heal. Just beginning to believe that everything would be alright. They were learning simple lessons. Learning to sleep on sheets. Learning that unlimited food was just down the hall. Learning the love of having a dog under their roof. Learning that doors have locks on them – and that neighbors don’t all have keys that can open your front door. Learning that safe, healthy people don’t sleep with kitchen knives and box cutters next to their beds, Learning to become a part of a normal classroom (amazingly, at some point over the course of the years of CPS “care”, after the girls were removed from foster care and placed in the custody of their very ill mother, she decided to HOME SCHOOL the girls!!!). Although the girls are now in 4th grade, they have never taken a school picture!
Then the girls’ mother had another psychotic break. She stole Kim and Mike’s car and attempted to run away with the girls. The police were involved. The girls’ mother was involuntarily committed to the psychiatric unit of a local hospital. She was released 5 days later.
Once the police become involved, Kim and Mike discovered that the twins' mother did not actually have unfettered custody of her children. They found out that the girls’ mother had taken them to Illinois in direct violation of the judge's order to not leave New York State with the children. Kim and Mike also learned that for some bizarre reason, while the girls’ mother was still in control of the girls, she had been made aware that in December, 2016, she was going to lose custody of the girls and that they would be put up for adoption! That is undoubtedly why she left New York with the girls. In spite of the fact that CPS had cleared Kim and Mike to be guardians of the girls, they were never made aware of the fact that the girls would soon be available for adoption. Only their sick mother knew this. Their devoted, loving and interested grandparents were never contacted!!!
In late November, 2016, child services in IL and NY began a legal tug of war over the girls. Again, Kim and Mike did everything within their power to keep the girls home in Illinois. But New York “won” and the family lost again. The New York judge issued two arrest warrants: one for each 9-year-old child. Then, just two days before Thanksgiving, Kim and Mike were forced to surrender the children to two New York caseworkers at O'Hare Airport. The girls are now back in New York in foster care. Can you believe it? We certainly cannot.
The girls’ mother has “hit the road” and presumably is heading back to New York to once again continue to interfere with the care, custody and control of the girls.
In spite of following all of the rules and jumping through every blazing ring of fire set before them, Kim and Mike’s efforts to save the girls have been thwarted at every juncture. Over the past five years, they have spent their entire retirement savings in the quest to save the children. This had been emotionally, physically and psychologically draining, as well. But, with the support of their friends, they will not give up this fight. The very lives and futures of their grandchildren are at stake. Kim and Mike intend to keep fighting to bring these bright, articulate, incredible girls back to Illinois. Back to their family, back to their new friends at school and back to the only really healthy home that they have ever known.
Kim and Mike were just informed that there is a court date in New York on December 12, 2016 at 3:00 P.M. They do not yet know what matters will be heard that date.
How can you help? Certainly you can help with a monetary donation. Additionally, please help us to spread the story near and far via social media. Do you know of anyone in public relations? Do you know anyone with contacts in New York who can assist the family? Everyone possible should be made aware of the story of these adorable young girls and the systems that have so tragically failed them. Will you help them to keep going to save the girls? Please use the hashtag: #SaveTheGirls
Respectfully yours,
Kim & MIke's friends,
Barbara J. Dutton & Amy C. Homer
Please look at these little faces. They are the faces of our friends' precious twin 9-year-old granddaughters. Please look at their sweet smiles. Study those eyes, still so full of hope. Remember what it feels like to be 9. Please keep those images fixed in your mind as we tell you this family's incredible story. Our hope is that you will help us to reunite this family – so that these girls can live and grow in a healthy, loving environment.
For the past 5 years, the girls have been caught in the hellish nightmare that is the New York Child "Protective" System (“CPS”). For over half of their short lives, they have been abused and neglected by the very system set in place to ensure their welfare. This includes being juggled through a series of foster homes. It includes living in the basements of churches, and in homeless shelters, as well as on the streets of NYC. It includes hoping that the various soup kitchens that they have often frequented will have enough food for them to eat. This tragic lifestyle is "normal" to the girls. Even more amazingly, much of this non-traditional, unhealthy living has occurred during the time that CPS and the New York Family Court in Manhattan and other state agencies were ostensibly monitoring and supervising the girls’ well-being. Shocking, isn’t it?
The girls' mother, now 35, has suffered from diagnosed mental illness most of her life. Over the years, she, like so many others with severe and chronic mental illness(es) has often been non-compliant with prescribed medications and psychiatric treatment plans. We understand that the girls’ biological father looked at them briefly in the hospital when they were born and then deserted them. He is not a part of this story. He never wanted to be.
One would think that those entrusted with the welfare of traumatized children would do everything within their power to bring healing and stability to these children, and to restore them to a loving and stable home. Tragically, this has not been the case. The CPS system has spent the last 5 years trying to permanently reunite the twins and their very sick, uncooperative mother. After causing the girls to live in such deplorable, unstable conditions, for so many years, we think that enough is enough. We believe that the girls should be returned to Illinois to grow up with our friends, Kim and Mike.
How did this happen? This family's nightmare began the day after Christmas, 2011, when Kim discovered that her daughter (the girls' then 30 year old mother) had left her home in suburban Chicago and had taken the children with her to New York City. Her objective was simple: join the Occupy Wall Street movement!! She arrived in NYC on or about New Year's Eve that year. She had no money. Her only plan was to drag her young children with her around while she protested!
In mid January, 2012, the children were discovered living in the basement of a Manhattan church. They were then taken into ACS protective custody (Administration for Children's Services) in New York. They were only 4 years old. At that time, the girls told caseworkers that they were hungry and cold and that their feet hurt from marching. How sad is that?
Since that time, these girls have been bounced from foster home to foster home and shelter to shelter. Sadly, even the places that were intended to be safe spaces for the girls were not safe at all! They were removed from their first foster home after being beaten by their foster mother. Their offense was writing "happy birthday" to their foster mother on a wall with crayon. The girls can still remember the incident! Can you imagine?
Early on, Kim and Mike recognized that continuity is vital, especially for children in such an awful situation. Therefore, they traveled, without fail, every month from the Midwest to New York City to visit the children. Each month, they stayed at a hotel for several days at a stretch in order to have two three-hour supervised visits with their granddaughters (one such visit on a Monday and the visit next on a Wednesday). Incredibly, sometimes, the current foster mother would decide that she was “too busy” to take the girls for these visits and so, the visit would not occur!!!
In January, 2012, Kim (a retired college instructor) and her husband, Mike of 20 years (a retired Illinois attorney) hired a New York attorney. For nearly 2 years, from January, 2012- September, 2013, they tried without success to get "kinship custody" of the children. Not once during the judicial proceedings did the family court judge allow Kim or Mike to speak or testify in her courtroom. As is customary in these procedures, the judge appointed a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) to represent the interests of the girls. Over the course of 5 years, the girls do not recall ever meeting with or speaking to their GAL! We understand that Kim tried to speak with him at the courthouse on numerous occasions – and that he continually refused to talk with her. Sadly, in September, 2013, it became clear that the court was planning to return the girls to their very sick mother to once again live on the streets of New York. As a result, Kim and Mike reluctantly ceased their efforts to obtain legal custody of the girls.
Then, at the end of September 2016, it appeared that a miracle had occurred. Out of the blue, the girls' mother called her brother (Kim’s son) and said that she wanted to come home with the girls. Her brother dropped everything and made the long drive from Chicago to the shelter in Harlem and back. Within 36 hours, they were all home. Safe. And for 6 glorious weeks, the girls were back with their grandparents. They were just beginning to heal. Just beginning to believe that everything would be alright. They were learning simple lessons. Learning to sleep on sheets. Learning that unlimited food was just down the hall. Learning the love of having a dog under their roof. Learning that doors have locks on them – and that neighbors don’t all have keys that can open your front door. Learning that safe, healthy people don’t sleep with kitchen knives and box cutters next to their beds, Learning to become a part of a normal classroom (amazingly, at some point over the course of the years of CPS “care”, after the girls were removed from foster care and placed in the custody of their very ill mother, she decided to HOME SCHOOL the girls!!!). Although the girls are now in 4th grade, they have never taken a school picture!
Then the girls’ mother had another psychotic break. She stole Kim and Mike’s car and attempted to run away with the girls. The police were involved. The girls’ mother was involuntarily committed to the psychiatric unit of a local hospital. She was released 5 days later.
Once the police become involved, Kim and Mike discovered that the twins' mother did not actually have unfettered custody of her children. They found out that the girls’ mother had taken them to Illinois in direct violation of the judge's order to not leave New York State with the children. Kim and Mike also learned that for some bizarre reason, while the girls’ mother was still in control of the girls, she had been made aware that in December, 2016, she was going to lose custody of the girls and that they would be put up for adoption! That is undoubtedly why she left New York with the girls. In spite of the fact that CPS had cleared Kim and Mike to be guardians of the girls, they were never made aware of the fact that the girls would soon be available for adoption. Only their sick mother knew this. Their devoted, loving and interested grandparents were never contacted!!!
In late November, 2016, child services in IL and NY began a legal tug of war over the girls. Again, Kim and Mike did everything within their power to keep the girls home in Illinois. But New York “won” and the family lost again. The New York judge issued two arrest warrants: one for each 9-year-old child. Then, just two days before Thanksgiving, Kim and Mike were forced to surrender the children to two New York caseworkers at O'Hare Airport. The girls are now back in New York in foster care. Can you believe it? We certainly cannot.
The girls’ mother has “hit the road” and presumably is heading back to New York to once again continue to interfere with the care, custody and control of the girls.
In spite of following all of the rules and jumping through every blazing ring of fire set before them, Kim and Mike’s efforts to save the girls have been thwarted at every juncture. Over the past five years, they have spent their entire retirement savings in the quest to save the children. This had been emotionally, physically and psychologically draining, as well. But, with the support of their friends, they will not give up this fight. The very lives and futures of their grandchildren are at stake. Kim and Mike intend to keep fighting to bring these bright, articulate, incredible girls back to Illinois. Back to their family, back to their new friends at school and back to the only really healthy home that they have ever known.
Kim and Mike were just informed that there is a court date in New York on December 12, 2016 at 3:00 P.M. They do not yet know what matters will be heard that date.
How can you help? Certainly you can help with a monetary donation. Additionally, please help us to spread the story near and far via social media. Do you know of anyone in public relations? Do you know anyone with contacts in New York who can assist the family? Everyone possible should be made aware of the story of these adorable young girls and the systems that have so tragically failed them. Will you help them to keep going to save the girls? Please use the hashtag: #SaveTheGirls
Respectfully yours,
Kim & MIke's friends,
Barbara J. Dutton & Amy C. Homer
Organizer and beneficiary
Barbara Jacobson Dutton
Organizer
Frankfort, IL
Kim Jordan
Beneficiary