A Child Welfare Emergency!

This is to all of the people that care about our family or the basic rights of a child;

It has been explained to me that Monday, there are people from Virginia coming here to Portland. Tuesday morning, some representatives from the state of Virginia and possibly law enforcement will be coming to our home to forcefully take Tavvi and Connor back to Virginia. This is after years of living with us here in Oregon. This is against Connor and Tavvi's direct wishes stated in court, and against the recommendation of several DHS workers here in Oregon, therapists, evaluators, and doctors. This is a horrible situation.

Their plan is to take Tavvi (age 9) and Connor (age 12) back to Virginia to be placed in two separate foster homes (with people they do not know) for an undetermined amount of time until one of their biological parents completes drug, alcohol, and abusive action rehabilitation and shows a stable home and income. Their biological parents have not yet done any of this work, and there is no projection on how long it could take. Their has not been contact between them and our children, and it is Connor and Tavvi's wish (communicated by them in court) to remain in no contact. None the less, and to the astonishment to all of the people involved (DHS locally, the children's legal representatives, etc) they are going to try to take Connor and Tavvi from their family, split them up from their siblings and each other, and move them across country away from their lives and support network.

I cannot begin to explain what we are going through right now. The fear, the panic, the anger, and the terror. Connor and Tavvi wish to refuse to leave with any and all effort that they can. What we are reaching out for is support.

Please, any families and individuals that care about our family and are available, I am reaching out. We want to surround ourselves in our home with our community and those we love, and hopefully gain strength. We are going to keep this mellow, low drama, and very simple; Tavvi and Connor are NOT leaving. This is going to be a 100% peaceful and collected situation, or at least that is the only way we think that we can succeed in the face of such injustice. The energy behind this will be there so Connor and Tavvi can advocate for themselves in the face of a scary situation and know that they are supported, loved, and taken seriously. The message that we will send is that there is a whole community that loves and values these two children and our family. I am really scared that we just cannot do this on our own.

What I am asking for is ideas.... and also action. We would love to be around people over the weekend and Monday while we clean and organize our home (putting grounding "we belong here" energy into our house) and collect and reflect. Then, we want to have a house party of such on Tuesday. Starting as early as 5am and lasting all day and evening, we want people here. We want to cook together, play together, make music and have conversation.

If you can think of any resources that will help in this situation, please let us know.

Also, letters... If anyone wishes to write letters, all voices of support are encouraged with high gratitude.

Monday:
I will not be going into work Monday or Tuesday. Monday, we will go to school (Village Free School) during the day. I will be there all day. They kids want to go to school because they love their community so much and in this time of fear the most comforting idea is that of being with their friends and in that environment. If anyone would like to connect with us after school, we really want the connection and support right now. Monday is going to be a scary day for us...


The We Love Connor and Tavvi Party

• When: Tuesday morning at 5am and all day
• Where: 14894 SE Hemmen Ave, Clackamas Oregon
• CALL: 503-658-6362

Come, bring the family, bring food and games and musical instruments! We are going to come together in play, music, and support. Our home is very accommodating for children of all ages.

PLEASE pass this on. Word-of-mouth... friends of friends and distant acquaintances are still our COMMUNITY.

MORE INFORMATION:
Connor, Tavvi, and Wes are my biological siblings. I have been their primary care provider for a long time with interruption early on (I co-slept with Wes and Connor as babies, was their primary provider, but was also young and moved out when I was 14. I have been on my own since and my only guiding focus was keeping my life in a way where I could have the kids with me if it ever came to that).

We live very happily; our family includes Wes (age 14), Connor (age 12), Tavvi (age 9), my biological son Zion (age 5), and Michael, our other foster son (age 16). The children all have a remarkably strong siblingship and family continuum. Our support network is huge. The kids all go to a private therapeutic school in which they can thrive with support and personal focus. The kids have friends, participate in activities and in the community, and are very stabilized in their lives.

The children have been with me for years now uninterrupted. Initially it was under the agreement with their mother that we were going to be adopting them privately directly from their mother (also my mother, but the level of detachment is very large and from a very young age). She then vanished for a very long time.

There was no ICPC originally. There SHOULD have been. The children were released out of foster care in Virginia under the express understanding that they would come directly to me. There should have been an ICPC in place to protect the children, and to keep record. They were with us over a year before we got DHS back involved for their own protection (after a year of their biological parents not contacting them).

There were many court hearings in Virginia associated with drug selling, battery, and one count of attempted murder or something (not clear). The children, before being removed this last time (years ago) had experienced horrific abuse and neglect. They went into a foster home in Virginia for about a month and then we flew there and brought them back home to us.

I got DHS Oregon involved over a year ago. We are a registered foster home through the state and have always been in great standing. We have a wonderful relationship with our DHS worker here in Oregon. Jurisdiction has bounced back and forth a few times, because of the issue of custody coming up in divorce hearings in Virginia, where both biological parents live.

The legal system behind this turn of event is baffling. We have always participated to the full extent of the law in both states (for instance, homeschooling in Oregon while providing foster care is fine, but it is illegal in Virginia, so we got the kids into a private school - VFS - this year after this came up in court).

We have sought out services (Tavvi now has an intensive service array of therapists with Catholic Community Services that support by coming into the home and in the community as well), have gotten evaluations, I personally went though full evaluations, etc. DHS Virginia has flown out here (last year) to see our lives in person and have put their support with us, as have the children's legal representative (GAL) in Virginia.

The biological parents have not made any efforts towards their service plan for reunification. They are no closer now than they were a year ago. But, none the less, the judge has moved to take JUST Tavvi and Connor (not Wes, age 14) and bring them back to Virginia into separate foster homes and force them to do visitation (though both children have advocated clearly and beautifully that they want NO contact via phone, email, or in person from their biological parents and that they want to continue here in our family and home).

We have had no warning, just a notice that come Monday and/or Tuesday, they will be removed and forced to leave.

There are no allegations against me or our family. There is nothing that puts us in bad standing with anyone. This situation truly is how it is being presented. What we are reaching out for is support.

I know that no matter what we do, it may be seen as thumbing our nose at the system. But we are going to keep everything legal. We are not holding the kids here, we are simply loving, supporting, and taking them seriously as they advocate for themselves and refuse to leave - against a force that is very disproportionate to them. Any ideas or independent efforts in support of this from the greater community or the media would be appreciated. We are a remarkably strong family, but we may not be strong enough to do this alone.

We all know that, contrary to what others are suggesting, if we support or assist or allow the process of them being taken from us, we will likely never see them again in their childhood. They will likely be bounced between foster homes and exposed to trauma. Right now, the children are so stable. They have a support network, a school with friends which they love, a great home, etc.

Respectfully,

Stephanie Johnston
503-658-6362
organicinternet@gmail.com