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This article was published in partnership with the Houston Chronicle.
AUSTIN, Texas – Ann Marie Timmerman is still choking when she talks about when a Child Protective Services investigator showed up to take custody of her baby, but she tried to stay calm on Tuesday as she ‘she approached a desk and described her ordeal. legislators.
In 2016, she transported her lethargic 4-month-old son to a hospital in Houston, where she learned he suffered from a small bleed around his brain. A pediatrician responsible for child abuse told Child Protective Services, or CPS, that the injury could only be the result of child abuse.
Based on that opinion alone – and disregarding a report by a pediatric neurosurgeon who disagreed that the injury was likely the result of childbirth – the CPS took emergency custody of the baby. , according to records.
“I stand before you, a mother who has gone through the great trauma of having her medically fragile baby torn from her arms, all because of the advice of one doctor,” Timmerman told committee members. the Texas House of Representatives which oversees the state. child protection system.
She was among several parents who traveled from all over Texas to share similar stories and urge lawmakers to pass a bill, introduced by State Representative Stephanie Klick, a Republican, that would force CPS investigators to state to consider additional medical advice before taking children to their parents. .
The legislation, which was drafted following a 2019 NBC News and Houston Chronicle investigation into the plight of parents who had been accused of abuse based on false reports from doctors, is one of 17 plans for law at least working through the Legislature and seeking to revise. the state child welfare system with the aim of protecting innocent families.
NBC News and Chronicle reporting mainly focused on the work of pediatric paediatricians, a small but growing subspecialty of physicians who work closely with public child welfare agencies. They provide expert reports and testimony in court in thousands of cases each year, protecting countless numbers of abused children from further harm. But when the evidence is unclear, the investigation found that a misdiagnosed or exaggerated diagnosis of child abuse can devastate a family.
One of the Texas bills inspired in part by the report, introduced by Republican Senator Lois Kolkhorst, would require a state commission to study the work of state-funded pediatricians and propose improvements to the process followed by CPS when relying on their medical care. reports. Another bill, introduced by Republican James Frank, would change the definition of physical and medical neglect to prevent the CPS from separating families in cases where there is no evidence that children are in “immediate danger” .
Most of the proposals have been brought forward by members of the Republican majority in the Legislature, but several have the backing of Democrats, who are part of a growing bipartisan movement to prevent traumatic and unnecessary family separations like those put in place. evidence in the NBC News and Chronicle survey.
“One thing we have talked about a lot is’ Are we doing more harm to the child through withdrawal? Said State Representative Gene Wu, a Houston Democrat who signed on as Frank’s Bill co-sponsor. is this trauma worth it? “
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott showed his support for reforming the child welfare system during this legislative session, but his office has not publicly weighed in on specific legislation. While some of the bills being drafted in committees may eventually be consolidated, key lawmakers have said there is strong momentum to enact significant changes this year.
Child welfare advocacy groups in Texas have broadly endorsed the goal of preventing unnecessary returns of children, but have also expressed concerns about the potential unintended consequences of leaving vulnerable children in homes that have failed. prove dangerous. Will Francis, who heads the Texas chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, said any change in the functions of the CPS should be accompanied by funding to support families in need of help.
“If you want families to do the best possible job raising their children, you have to give them tools,” Francis said. “You can’t just look the other way and say we’re not going to look at this abuse and neglect anymore.”
Patrick Crimmins, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, which oversees the CPS, said the agency does not comment on the bill or its handling of individual cases.
San Antonio child abuse pediatrician Dr. Natalie Kissoon and Texas Children’s Hospital Association president Stacy Wilson raised concerns at Tuesday’s hearing that the Klick’s law to allow parents to seek a second medical opinion, as currently drafted, could lead to delays in removing children from unsafe homes. They argued that pediatricians dealing with child maltreatment already consult specialists before drawing conclusions about the correlation between a child’s injuries and child abuse. And they said that no doctor can take a child from its parents; this power rests with the CPS and the courts.
But Wilson acknowledged that some of the stories parents shared during the hearing were concerning and she agreed that some changes might be warranted.
“Obviously, what you’ve heard here today, the process has broken down and it needs to be improved,” Wilson said. “And we are in favor of that.”
Klick said the purpose of the legislation is to add “checks and balances” to PSC decision-making. The NBC News and Chronicle investigation uncovered several cases, including that of Timmerman, in which the CPS took children based on reports from pediatric pediatricians, despite conflicting evidence and differing opinions from other doctors. specialists.
Klick’s bill would allow parents who have been accused of abuse based on reports from pediatric pediatricians to seek a second medical opinion from qualified specialists and require the CPS to review the second opinions. Klick said the legislation was a step towards recognizing a reality affecting all areas of medicine: Doctors can be wrong.
“Second opinions are standard practice in medicine and this bill introduces the same practice in this specific area,” Klick said.
Timmerman, who plans to return to Austin in the coming weeks to advocate for other bills to make changes to the CPS, told the committee that Klick’s legislation would have made all the difference in his case.
Months after the CPS took custody of his baby, Tristan, three external medical experts reviewed his medical records and, like the neurosurgeon who initially treated him, saw no reason to conclude that he had been. mistreated. They found the baby was suffering from an underlying medical condition that likely led to bleeding around his brain. It took seven months and cost the Timmermans $ 200,000 in legal fees to regain custody and clear their names.
“Families deserve due process and a second opinion,” said Timmerman. “Had all of Tristan’s medical diagnoses been considered under the terms of this bill, due process would have been given to our family by allowing impartial second opinions that would ultimately have prevented his dismissal.”
Ajshay James lost custody of her 2-year-old daughter after doctors at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston accused her of giving the child unnecessary medical treatment in 2017. The NBC News and Chronicle investigation has revealed that doctors had repeatedly exaggerated the evidence against her, although the hospital defended its handling of the case.
James, who has taken over custody of his daughter, cried as he described his long legal battle. She told lawmakers that when it comes to CPS, the opinion of the child abuse pediatrician is all that matters.
James asked the committee to protect “those of us who had done the right thing, those of us who trusted the medical professionals, those of us who were forced upon us by the Scarlet Letter. Do the right thing, please, and allow us to have due process. “
Sharde Butler has come from Houston to speak in favor of the bill. She attended the hearing with her two young children, who were separated from her for almost two years after a child abuse specialist at Texas Children’s told CPS in 2017 that the back injuries and her toddler son’s head looked like abuse and could not be the result of her husband accidentally dropping him. Texas Children’s defended the treatment of the case by its doctors, stressing that Butler’s child had been seriously injured and that “mandatory reporting to the CPS was required”.
Follow-up exams at another hospital revealed discrepancies in the medical reports provided to the CPS, raising questions about the diagnosis of abuse, but Butler told lawmakers the agency and the judge presiding over his case had refused to refer children.
“We were going to court and our judge would tell us it didn’t matter what we said, that he only listened to the child abuse doctors,” said Butler, whose ordeal has been recounted. in the 2020 NBC News and Wondery podcast “Do No Evil.”
Butler and her husband only regained custody of their children after a new judge took over the case and agreed to consider all medical evidence. She said her family was still struggling to recover from the trauma, but she hoped her story could inspire change.
“I missed my son’s first birthday, I missed his first Christmas, I missed his first Thanksgiving,” she said. “I can never get this back.”
Keri Blakinger and Cayla Harris reported from Austin; Mike Hixenbaugh reported from Houston.
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