CATHY WURZER: Our next story is about an exciting custody battle. Over two children in western Minnesota’s Kandiyohi County have left the boys in limbo. Minnesota state law requires relatives to have priority in foster care and adoption, but as of 2020, the two children at the center of this story live in four foster homes in Minnesota, even as their aunts fight to adopt them.
Sara Tiano reported this story for The Imprint, a nonprofit child welfare news site in collaboration with the locally based Sahan Journal. Sara is on the phone. Thanks for being there.
SARA TIANO: Hello Cathy. Thank you very much for allowing me to be there today.
CATHY WURZER: Let’s see if I understand the story correctly. Now these two boys need a caregiver. You need a living relative to step in. Tell us a little about your aunt, who she is and what’s going on in general.
SARA TIANO: Right. This case was really interesting to us for several reasons. It’s not uncommon for people to contact our publication with stories about the challenges they face and the child welfare system, but in this case, Tulsa resident Aunt Ashley Boone has the most qualifications would assume , that she would be a prime candidate for adoption.
She is a child protective services social worker, meaning she is the person in Tulsa who cares for and finds homes for children in foster care, and she is also a licensed foster parent herself. The other article about this case that piqued our interest was that after Ashley fought for years to get custody of her nephews, state officials actually intervened and canceled an adoption agreement with the foster parent because they felt that the case had been mishandled and that Ashley had not been treated fairly.
That doesn’t happen often. So she had support from state officials and people like the local chapter of the NAACP, and yet she still can’t have the children. As you mentioned Cathy has been trying to take in these two boys since 2020. When she found out they had been taken away from their parents, she contacted social services and told them she wanted to take care of them. However, he has been denied this in many ways so far, which is why he initiated quite intensive custody proceedings this year.
CATHY WURZER: As far as I know, as you reported, the court has so far sided with the current foster parents who want to adopt the boys. What is the court’s reasoning for this?
SARA TIANO: Right. So that has shifted a little bit over time. Initially, the responsible social workers wanted to keep the children on site. As I mentioned, Ashley lives in Tulsa. But they wanted to keep the children local to give their parents a chance to get the help they needed, receive some services and hopefully be able to reunite with the children.
When it became clear that this would not happen and their parental rights were terminated, the argument shifted to the idea that the children had become too attached to their foster parents and that this would therefore harm them and lead to a regression in their lives would growth if they were moved, even if they were placed with a relative like Ashley.
CATHY WURZER: Attachment theory. Can you explain? Is this legitimate in psychological studies?
SARA TIANO: That’s a great question. I would like to preface this by saying that there are many people who study attachment theory professionally. I’m not one of those people. But fundamentally it’s a concept that dates back to the 1930s. It focuses on the importance of a child’s relationship with their primary caregiver and the idea that separation from that caregiver has negative effects on the child’s development.
It is a theory that has attracted a number of critics, particularly in the context of child welfare, since, as in this case, it is often used in child welfare proceedings. And a number of psychologists, social workers and child welfare professionals are questioning the legitimacy of the theory’s scientific basis and the way it has been used to guide interventions that often resulted in family separation.
CATHY WURZER: By the way, Sara, what role does race play in all of this? I know the children are black and the foster mother is white. What about it?
SARA TIANO: So yes, the children are biracial – they have one black parent and one white parent. The aunt is black, the foster parent is white. You know how that affects this particular case, you’re going to get a different answer depending on who you ask, right? The people who support Ashley believe she faces bias and systemic racism. And as I mentioned, the NAACP found it so concerning that they stood up for them.
And of course people on the foster parent side disagree. They think this isn’t about race. They think this is about what’s best for the children. The reality of child welfare, as many of your listeners may not be surprised, is that Black children and families fare worse at every stage in the system. They have a higher investigation rate, their children are more likely to be placed in foster care, children stay in foster care longer, and there are much lower reunification rates for black families than for white families.
CATHY WURZER: My goodness, what does that say about the field of child welfare?
SARA TIANO: I’m glad you asked that. I think a lot could be said about this case and its significance. It is important to know that most children who are separated from their parents’ care have family members who can and want to care for them so that they remain in the family.
It’s not uncommon for relatives to fight over this, but it’s often a quieter fight. Not everyone has the resources to hire a private attorney and the know-how of the system to navigate the way Ashley does. And the fact that she still can’t bring her nephews home sheds light on perhaps some cracks in the way the system works.
This case also honestly shows how the odds can increase against black women, especially in family courts. As I mentioned, Ashley has excellent qualifications and skills, and it often appears that these skills, these material things, have been overlooked by those in charge of the case, and instead they have been judged based on things like her body language in the courtroom and other superficial perceptions . But to be fair, family courts have to make really difficult decisions every day about where children should live in the face of imminent danger.
And we know less about how children will fare in the long term. So making these decisions is not an easy task. People need to weigh the concept of moving a child who is doing pretty well, like these kids, and wiping them out again in the hopes that they will do better in the long run. And that’s proof that children ultimately do better when they can stay with relatives, as a wealth of research shows
CATHY WURZER: Sara, last story. Can you tell us where this court case is now?
SARA TIANO: Yes. The court case is currently being appealed. As I mentioned, despite this custody case, Ashley still hasn’t been able to bring her nephews home. That’s why she’s appealing the judge’s decision to ban her from adopting. As it stands, the children are staying with the foster parent. And once again: The foster parents do a great job in every respect and the children are well looked after. But in the meantime, Ashley and her family are still fighting for her.
CATHY WURZER: All right. You’ve told quite a story here, Sara. Thank you.
SARA TIANO: Thank you.
CATHY WURZER: Sara Tiano is a reporter at The Imprint. She reported this story in association with Sahan Journal. You can read the series at sahanjournal.com.
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