Posted on 11/29/2011 5:49:42 AM PST by Libloather
Case of 200-pound 8-year-old in Ohio renews question: Should parents of obese lose custody?
Article by: THOMAS J. SHEERAN, Associated Press
Updated: November 29, 2011 - 7:16 AM
CLEVELAND - The case of an 8-year-old Cleveland Heights boy taken from his family because he weighs more than 200 pounds has renewed a debate on whether parents should lose custody if a child is severely obese.
The boy was removed from his family and was placed in foster care in October after county case workers said his mother wasn't doing enough to control his weight. The boy, at his weight, is considered at risk for developing such diseases as diabetes and high blood pressure. Government growth charts say most boys his age weigh about 60 pounds.
Roughly 2 million U.S. children are extremely obese weighing significantly more than what's considered healthy.
Cuyahoga County removed the boy because case workers considered the mother's inability to get his weight down a form of medical neglect. The county's Children and Family Services agency said Monday it stood by its custody move, which was approved by a judge.
"We have worked very hard with this family for 20 months before it got to this point," agency Administrator Patricia Rideout said.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Tear him from his mothers arms!Call in professional law enforcement officer if need be.
The mother has been in treatment with the child for two years...so I am not sure this is completely neglect. I believe also that the hospital reported them to services two years ago and the state has been monitoring the situation ever since.
the kid started dropping weight
Then piled it back on real fast- Mom said she “tried” to stop the other kids from feeding junk food to fattie
She “tried”- and failed. She can't control her own home environment.
This child is gonna die young if the state doesn't get him into treatment
The implicatoions are dire. What, we are going to have some government agency (Local, state, or federal) now checking each child’s weight and body fat content against some chart and then have a government mandated weight and body fat allowance?
Who decides what those numbers are?
Who is in charge of checking and enforcement?
This is simply unconstitutional. There is no power granted the states or the federal government for these powers. The people where this occurred need to wake up.
All of need to beware against moves of this nature by the progressives and liberal so-called “do gooders” who are really only interested in these children to the extent they can be used to control all of us.
America at the Crossroads
http://www.jeffhead.com/crossroads.htm
yep any parent who fails to immediately fix problems should lose custody, yep thats the American way.
Do you not think that over the past 20 months social services has not tried all of that?
Taking the child is not the first resort it is definitely the last resort
and the social workers have a complete case file documenting 20 months of their efforts at intervention and her neglect, because they always expect parents to hire a money grubbing lawyer and take them to court
Unfortunately due to confidentiality they generally cannot tell their side of the story to the press like mama’s lawyer
“and the social workers have a complete case file documenting 20 months of their efforts at intervention and her neglect, because they always expect parents to hire a money grubbing lawyer and take them to court”
Such a shame that parents should be allowed to have legal representation. The horror!
social workers here in Florida have lost hundreds of kids, some of who end up dead. Guess that documentation wasn’t quite so complete.
What did Shaq O’Neil weigh at age 8 ?
Is the kid also 6’ tall ?
He sounds like the dude from the movie “The Blind Side”.
If she was starving him into a life-threatening health condition for the past 20 months, and it was getting worse not better, despite home visits and home observations and other family support and interventions, would you decide it wasn't anyone else’s business?
Should parents of children who receive food stamps, and then the children come to school on Monday morning telling the teachers that they did not eat all weekend, lose custody? Since the schools now feed them at least 2-3 times a day....
We went through a phase just like this in the 1930’s.
Overly zealous social workers bent on reform, breaking up families for whatever whims suited them.
That resulted in a generation of lost brothers and sisters who spent the rest of their lives searching for one another.
Strange that no one has asked the real questions.
Is he getting breakfast at school?
Is he getting lunch at school?
Is he getting dinner at school?
If the answer to any one of the above is yes, then why isn’t the school system being prosecuted?
Well, Planned Parenthood is the proper name of a well known entity regardless of what we think about them. It should be capitalized when referring to the legal corporation. That is just standard English grammar. You don’t change the rules of grammar just because you don’t think their legal name accurately describes them.
Yes “transgenderism” is best described as a cult or a religion, albeit one without a charismatic leader. The fervency of it’s adherents in believing that the best treatment for a psychological disorder is physical alteration of the body, is almost religious in nature.
Knowing that there are such criminal laws; what purpose does CPS serve ... in ANY case?
It should be reported to social services as negect and yes, if it continues the kids should be taken
But usually that doesnt happen because the stupid, selfish, drug addicted or sociopath parents coach the kids not to tell anyone
and kids love and are loyal to their parents, even evil bad parents who neglect and abuse them, even unto death
Ever read this book?
http://www.amazon.com/Child-Called-Childs-Courage-Survive/dp/1558743669
All good questions and we all know that once a foot is in the door it isn’t long before it swings wide open. Do you know if the parents can sue? If so, they should and keep it up. Has to be some way to stop this nonsense.
There has to be something between ignoring the kid and ripping him from his family. Can you imagine how completely neurotic this kid is going to be?
“No, you can’t see your Mommy. You are too fat.”
How about the child welfare people offer the family some nice outdoor activities like golf, baseball, hiking. Make it a mandatory class thing like Driver’s Safety courses.
Government seriously can not be trusted to make a rational decision on anything!
Too much knee-jerk “the government is wrong” here. Usually they are but I doubt it in this case. If the parents were starving the kid to death, would you let them? I think they are killing him just as surely by piling the lard on him.
No, no, NO!
Where does a government get this power to seize children as a REGULATORY/BUREAUCRATIC measure? Without benefit of trial, jury, evidence, proof, and conviction?
If you're saying that a child should be temporarily taken from parental custody WHILE a trial is pending; then that is reasonable. But to suggest that the power to take children from their parents lies with unaccountable administrative employees of the government without benefit of trial; then, NO! NEVER.
No
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