Several weeks ago, I received a letter in the mail from Senator Joni Ernst. I missed a couple of attempts by her office to reach me via email to follow up on the information I submitted on her website. I had made a few small changes to personalize it for her before sending essentially the same content I had included in My Message to Governor Reynolds.
The letter from Senator Ernst, accompanied by a release of information form, reassured me that once completed and received, “an inquiry will be initiated immediately on my behalf.”
I discovered last weekend that on July 19, 2022, I received an brief email from Senator Ernst’s office, encouraging me to review the attached letter they had received from the Legislative Liaison, Maddie Wilcox. Upon receiving the inquiry regarding my case, Ms. Wilcox asked the Cedar Rapids Services Area Administration to review and report back. This is the information they compiled.
Below, I will share the 6-page document I prepared in response. I expected stronger arguments from the department to counter the bold truths I had shared about them in my plea for help to Senator Ernst. Before I offer a brief synopsis regarding the cases listed in the letter, I would like to clarify the difference between unconfirmed, unfounded, confirmed, and founded reports:
“Unconfirmed” means that upon completion of a child protection assessment, the department has determined, based upon a preponderance of the evidence, that a child does not meet the definition of an abused or neglected child.
“Unfounded” refers to a report where the local children and youth agencies determine that allegations of child abuse are not substantiated
“Confirmed” reports are when child abuse/neglect occurred but it was minor, isolated, and not likely to reoccur, and the perpetrator was not placed on the child abuse registry.
“Founded” reports indicate that child abuse/neglect occurred, and the perpetrator is listed on the child abuse registry.
I will provide greater detail below, but here is a quick recap of the cases they listed:
- Case #1- September 2006 to May 2007 was UNCONFIRMED, UNFOUNDED
- Case #2- September 2007 to March 2008 was CONFIRMED, UNFOUNDED
- Noah was born December 2008
- Case #3- May 2011 to December 2011 was UNCONFIRMED, UNFOUNDED
- Case #4- March 2013 to February 2014 was FOUNDED
- Elijah was born December 2013
- Case #5- February and July 2018- this assertion was stated in such a way that it is misleading, and although the reports were FOUNDED against me, this determination was based on untrue statements and cognitive bias, rather than the facts.
- the multiple infractions in violation of my contract with the Iowa Board of Nursing came as the direct result of their failure to return contact with the INAP Director.
- The decision I made to self-suspend my nursing license was presented to me as the best option due to their negligence.
- Self-suspension of my Registered Nursing license does not automatically strip me of the knowledge, skill set, or critically thinking or decision making skills I developed as a professional skilled nurse
- Self-suspension of my nursing license does not diminish my capacity to make medical or mental health decisions for my child in cooperation with my children’s medical care team.
- The drug testing I completed for the Department of Human Services and my probation officer showed the last positive test result obtained 1/4/2019 by my PO indicated marijuana use.
- Two patch test results showed trace positive results in October and November for methamphethamine- my objections to the validity of those results were ignored.
- Despite providing significant documentation from my doctor as to the severe adhesive allergy symptoms I exhibited with the sweat patch adhesive, and the prescription antihistamines I had to take to keep those symptoms at bay while wearing the patch, my case worker continued to order them.
- I was unlawfully charged with the possession of marijuana and paraphernalia, despite the owner claiming full responsibility and pleading guilty to both counts. I refused to plead guilty to the same possession charges, so court was continued several times until I finally accepted the plea agreement in February 2020.
- I was sentenced to complete the program at the Waterloo Women’s Center for Change over 1.5 grams of marijuana and a pot pipe that was not mine.
- A hair test taken in July 2019 following the removal of my children after the bogus possession charges came back clean for all substances, strong evidence in my favor that I had not been using.
- A timeline of events in my case would provide a clear visual to outline the sluggish progression and questionable decision making process of the team under the leadership and direction of the DHS caseworker.
Tell Me What You Think
I earnestly want to hear your opinion. I want to understand all sides. The only way we will be able to move forward as a society is if we take all sides into consideration as we work to figure out how to fix this.
Before I was able to finish this post, I began to write a second letter to Senator Ernst. I had some profound revelations that lead me to understand a better way of addressing all of the huge hurdles we face. Instead of pointing fingers and placing blame, we need to look to the future. In order to overcome all the challenging aspects, we need to have a complete understanding from all aspects.
No name calling or hurtful comments directed at a specific person please… Let’s have an honest discussion in the comments.
Sign My Petition
I am grateful that Senator Ernst is paying attention, but if we want our elected leaders to take this issue seriously, we need to stand together. I have put together a petition asking for a complete overhaul of the system in Iowa, and I need your help!
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4 responses to “DHS Offers Justifications to Senator Ernst”
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