Name: Stephanie
Allegation: Bone Fracture
Penalty Avoided: 5 Years on State Registry, Impact on Custody
Stephanie P. interned for a juvenile court judge while she was in law school and worked to improve policies related to domestic violence and child protection. As a lawyer applying for jobs in the area of child advocacy, Stephanie never thought she’d be the victim of a wrongful claim of child abuse.
Stephanie’s daughter, A., pictured here, was a happy, bubbly toddler. Her ordeal with the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) began when A. was sick with a cold. After Stephanie changed her diaper in January of 2011, A. didn’t sit up. Upon further inspection, Stephanie noticed that her arm seemed tender. She brought A. to a pediatrician, who believed that A. had a common condition called “nursemaid’s elbow,” sending the family to the emergency room as a precaution.
At the emergency room, Stephanie was shocked to learn that a fracture was found on A.’s elbow. The emergency room staff assured her that A.’s injury was very common among toddlers learning to walk, as children often fall on their hands. The doctors reported that they had no reason to suspect abuse or neglect, but the pediatrician who saw A. earlier was directed by his supervisor to call DCFS — though he told Stephanie and the DCFS hotline worker that he was not concerned.
One doctor after another told Stephanie “not to worry.” But a few days later, DCFS instructed Stephanie to take A. to Stroger Hospital for “evaluation.” There, A. was held at the hospital by doctors. One doctor, who specializes in “child abuse pediatrics,” concluded that A. had been abused when Stephanie suctioned her nose to treat her cold, but this conclusion was rejected as physically impossible by multiple orthopedists.
DCFS allowed A. to be released from Stroger Hospital the next day, but only on the condition that Stephanie move out of her own home and have supervised contact with A. Because Stephanie has no relatives in Chicago, her parents flew to Chicago each week from the San Francisco Bay Area to care for A. This exhausting ordeal continued for nearly four months.
During the investigation, DCFS blatantly ignored the opinions of the leading orthopedists and relied exclusively on the child abuse doctor’s opinion. In March, the State’s Attorney’s office filed a petition to take custody of A., initiating a court proceeding that lasted for two and a half months.
Finally, in mid-May, the State’s Attorney’s office concluded that it did not have enough evidence to proceed further, and it asked the juvenile court judge to dismiss the petition. Eventually, the “child abuse” doctor rescinded his conclusion that abuse had caused the fracture.
Thanks to The Family Defense Center’s advocacy, A. and Stephanie were able to resume their lives together.
Stephanie described what it was like to have A. back home with her on the very first night: “Words can’t express how grateful I am to you. To have this night – after 4 months – to have this night, it’s indescribable. To be her mom again – to have that identity back in this tangible way – you guys gave me that. And I can hold my head up and say that they didn’t break me, and they didn’t break my family. However it happened, you set it in motion — you gave us this. You gave us our lives back.”