Contemplation of Justice by James Earle Fraser in Washington, D.C.

“Borderline personality disorder — three-quarters of the people I see in front of me, including half the Bar, have borderline personality disorders. That doesn’t tell me anything. What I need to know from you is, does this lady have — at the time of the hearing, was she incapable of knowing the — the nature and the consequences of the proceeding and role of the adversaries involved therein?” Justice Joseph Field asked the Handlers’ attorneys.

Records were pointed out to Justice Field, which clearly stated that Ellie Handler had been admitted to hospitals because of serious mental disorders prior to and during the time Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) got involved in her life. So, at the time of the hearing in question, “it [medical records] clearly indicated that she was not able to function,” said attorney Joseph Baldacci.

The judge responded, “The mere fact that someone suffers from mental illness doesn’t tell me that this suddenly is a violation of somebody’s rights, nor that there should have been an appointment … If that had been so obvious, wouldn’t — what — how did she end up with the child?”

It is a great question. If Ellie’s first court appearance had been open to observers, they would have been able to see an emaciated woman with sunken eyes. At that time, Ellie was prescribed strong medications for cancer and for her mental collapse. She looked like a sedated drug adduct. Her mental records were available to the court, but with no public witnesses, the first court decided in favor of DHHS virtually without question.

If hearings in the Handler case had been open to the public and press, DHHS could have been exposed publicly for not following procedures according to state guidelines and laws. If the Handlers had been given a chance to have a trial with a jury, the torments that they were exposed to by losing their parental rights could have been prevented. As the system is, DHHS has become the judge and jury, because most courts tend to side with DHHS decisions. Without public transparency in DHHS cases, the truth all to often has been suppressed, and children along with their families have suffered.

“Wherever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government,” said President Thomas Jefferson. But if information is blocked and government operates behind closed doors, citizens often suffer.

“There can be no true child protection when a government agency is given virtually unchecked power, almost no accountability, and operates in secret. That is why enacting meaningful due-process protections for families is at least as important as improving the services they receive from child-welfare agencies,” stated the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform (NCCPR) Executive Director Richard Wexler in a report.

NCCPR believes the only way truly to protect children is to demand civil liberties, without exception. Since 2000 NCCPR has released reports on 13 state or local child-welfare systems. According to NCCPR, 14 states have opened child-protection proceeding to the press and the public.

“In every one of these states, the same fears were expressed. But a comprehensive nationwide examination by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette found that none of the problems materialized …. One-time critics became converts,” said Wexler.

Of all the states that have opened proceedings, not one has changed that policy.

“[Opening family courts] has been 100 percent positive with no negatives …. Our worst critics will say it was the best thing we ever did. Their fears were unfounded …. I wish other states would do it,” said Jonathan Lippman, chief administrative judge for the State of New York.

Those fears about what children have suffered becoming public are unfounded, because a guardian ad litem is there to protect a child, and so are the courts. If the child’s history could be seen as detrimental to be known publically the GAL could ask the court to blacken out that section of the documents. It is something any court on their own could do, too.

David Hanlder at home in Northport, Maine. Had DHHS procedures and the Americans with Disabilities Act been followed, it is likely that David would be living with his grandmother or his parents today, instead of being adopted by strangers.

For 28 years the state of Oregon’s hearings in abuse and neglect cases have been open.

“The appearance of being treated fairly is compromised when things are done in secret,” said Oregon Circuit Judge Daniel Murphy. “People are suspicious of anything done secretly.”

If child-protective services throughout America continue to be secretive and are not accountable to “we the people,” children and families will continue to be abused by the system. This abuse is widespread.

“While I found the majority of child-care agencies to be caring and trustworthy, there were enough instances of deceptive agency reports that I decided to order independent investigations of every agency adoption case that came before me. It’s a course of action that remains prudent today,” said a former family court judge on Staten Island, N.Y., in the Staten Island Advance, December 2, 2004.

Imagine yourself as a child, playing at home on a summer’s day. Suddenly, strangers pull up in a car, talk to your parents, and your mom begins to cry. She runs to you, hugs you, and tells you not to worry, but you have to go with the strangers. This basic story happens to thousands of children. It haunts and torments these children and their parents all their lives.

Russell will tell you of the nightmares he has of his son, David, pleading with him to come and find him, because he was terrified of the thought of being abandoned in foster care. David’s mother, Ellie, sees her son in every little boy she happens upon.

Tearing families apart is the worst possible outcome for any child-protective service, especially when reunification or kinship placement is probable. That kinship placement was extremely possible in the Handler case, but because of the lack of DHHS accountability and transparency, it didn’t happen. Every day they worry about David and want him to know of their endless love.