PSD Partner Peter Duffy Reunites Texas Family After DCF Took 17-Month Old Baby Based On Disagreement Over Use of Breast Milk
At 8:00 a.m. today, a JetBlue flight departed Logan International Airport for Houston Hobby Airport carrying a 17-month old baby who had been taken into DCF custody three months earlier based on a mother’s disagreement with recommendations by Children’s Hospital about the use of breast milk. During the three-month legal skirmish, DCF repeatedly changed its positions and took inconsistent positions, as it struggled to justify depriving the mother and child of their natural bond. DCF also sought to preclude the father from exercising his custodial rights even though he had remained in Texas while the mother sought assessment of their daughter at Children’s Hospital Boston. It is too early to tell the full extent of harm that DCF has caused the child and the family. During the child’s time in DCF custody, caretakers lacked medical knowledge that led to further complications. This case is the latest in a series in which DCF lacked sufficient and independent medical resources to test recommendations by Children’s Hospital. Fortunately, through arduous efforts of Attorney Duffy, this situation did not turn into a year-long ordeal like another DCF debacle resulting from healthcare providers calling it medical child abuse when a parent disagreed with one of multiple medical views. Attorney Duffy obtained an Order dated October 7, 2014, from Boston Juvenile Court requiring the return of the daughter to her parents in Texas.
