A 1-year-old girl in court fight between foster parents, KY officials and mother in ICE custody

The Kentucky Court of Appeals has temporarily blocked child welfare officials from removing a one-year-old girl from foster parents and returning her to the mother who was accused of attempting to harm the girl as a newborn.

The order, issued late Friday by Judge Sara Walter Combs, followed a flurry of activity last week in which the foster parents sought to delay an order by Jefferson Family Court Judge Angela Johnson that the child be returned Sept. 7 to the mother.

The mother, 20, a native of Guatemala who is undocumented, is being held in a U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Louisiana and is to be deported, according to court records.

Parties in the case, including the judge and the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, are to submit pleadings to the appeals court by 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. Sept. 8.

The foster parents, who filed the emergency appeal and have cared for the child since her birth last year, are identified only by their initials in the case, C.Y. and L.L.

They have not publicly commented because proceedings in family court cases involving child abuse and neglect are confidential, according to  Jennifer Mortenson, a child advocate and former foster mother, who said she is working with the foster parents.

But Mortenson said based on her information, she questions the decision that the girl be returned to the mother who initially was charged with attempted murder of the infant born at home. The mother has since pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of wanton endangerment.

“A child shouldn’t ever be forced to bear the harmful consequences of adult decisions,” Mortenson said. “Unfortunately, this child has already done so. Our job is to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

‘Secrecy’ of family court

The foster parents were warned at a hearing Friday by the judge that parties spreading “false information” about the case could face jail time, Mortenson said.

Mortenson said the “level of secrecy” surrounding such cases allows for steps she believes led to the decision to return the child to the mother after 12 months in foster care.

The case also has attracted the attention of state Rep. Tina Bojanowski, D-Louisville, who serves on the House Families and Children Committee, and released a joint statement with Mortenson about the case.

While the temporary stay by the appeals court isn’t a “final victory,” it does stop the transfer of the child out of Kentucky before a court can fully review the circumstances, it said.

“The question remains the same—has Kentucky done enough to know the child is safe before sending her beyond the practical reach of Kentucky’s child protection system?” it said.

Mortenson said the foster parents had been directed to hand the child over to Kentucky child protection officials Monday, who would then transfer her to ICE for reunification with the mother, before the appeals court blocked the plan.

While the child is a U.S. citizen, she was to leave the country with her mother, Mortenson said

Bojanowski said she began looking into the case after learning the foster parents live in her eastern Jefferson County district.

Among her concerns: it appears that the child would be turned over to ICE with no further oversight from Kentucky.

“I can’t understand how we can just wash our hands of this child and not be sure the child is going to be safe,” Bojanowski said.

‘Several lacerations’

The case began more than a year ago when the child’s mother, Marlena Reynosa, brought a newborn girl to Norton Women and Children’s Hospital on Aug. 2, reporting she had given birth at home the same day, according to a police report.

It said the infant had “several lacerations” on multiple parts of the body. It wasn’t clear what caused the lacerations, but Reynosa reported she had used scissors to cut the infant’s umbilical cord, it said.

Norton’s Pediatric Protection Specialists found the injuries to be “indicative of child physical abuse,” it said.

Reynosa was initially charged with criminal child abuse and later indicted by a grand jury on charges of attempted murder, criminal abuse and assault, according to court records.

Meanwhile, the Health and Family Services Cabinet had taken custody of the child and opened an investigation while the child remained in foster care, according to court records.

In July of this year, Reynosa appeared in Jefferson Circuit Court and pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of wanton endangerment, according to court records. The charges of attempted murder, criminal abuse and assault were dismissed.

Reynosa, who had remained in jail during the case, was sentenced to time served and released from custody, according to court records, but was then detained by ICE.

The following month, Johnson, the family court judge, on August 18, agreed to proceed with reunification of the child with the mother, at the request of Reynosa’s attorney.

The lawyer who represents Reynosa in family court, said in an email she couldn’t immediately comment because of confidentiality of such cases in family court.

The cabinet, “vehemently objected” to the plan, Mortenson said, as did the foster parents who allege they weren’t given sufficient notice that the judge was going to rule on the matter.

A cabinet spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

What’s next?

It’s not clear what happens next.

The appeals court order didn’t set a timeline for a ruling on the case.

Meanwhile, the foster parents are asking the judge to allow them to intervene in the family court proceedings, arguing they haven’t been given an adequate chance to voice their concerns.

They also are seeking a new investigation into allegations of abuse and neglect of the child.

Mortenson said she thinks details of this case expose larger problems with the system for resolving child abuse and neglect cases in family court, where she believes cases are settled without full involvement of parties. And because records and hearings are confidential, the public gets little to no information about how decisions are made, she said.

“That’s the bigger question about what is happening in our family court system,” she said. 

Bojanowski said that because of the secrecy, it’s hard to evaluate decisions including the judge’s decision to return the child to the mother.

“Granted, the judge decided the mom should regain custody,” Bojanowski said. “How do we know what legal basis the judge made the decision on?”