Judge hears mom’s plea, orders DCYF to return newborn, reunite Woonsocket family (Finally, a fair Judge who see's DCYF for what they really are!)

Judge hears mom’s plea, orders DCYF to return newborn, reunite Woonsocket family

02:24 PM EST on Friday, December 11, 2009

By W. Zachary Malinowski

Journal Staff Writer

Netvilai Vixaisak feeds her daughter Isis her first bottle at their home in Woonsocket on Thursday after court personnel returned the infant, who had been in the custody of the Department of Children, Youth and Families.


The Providence Journal / Kathy Borchers
On Monday, Netvilai Vixaisak of Woonsocket made her way to the Garrahy Judicial Complex in Providence to hand deliver a note to Family Court Chief Judge Jeremiah S. Jeremiah Jr.

“Right now, I have so much pain in my heart and it is hurting a lot due to what [the state] is doing to me. I want to be with all of my kids all in the same place,” she wrote.

After reading the note, Jeremiah emerged from his chambers to speak with the young mother, who broke down and cried in his fifth-floor courtroom.

“Don’t worry,” he told her. “I’m on your side. I’m fighting for you.”

The judge was deeply moved to learn that Vixaisak, 28, gave birth to a daughter, Isis Diamond, on Dec. 2, at Women & Infants Hospital in Providence. Two days later, as she prepared to return home and breast-feed the baby, she learned that the state Department of Children, Youth and Families, which already had custody of her three other children, had placed a “hold” on the newborn. She said she “cried and cried until I couldn’t cry anymore.”

She visited the baby at the hospital on Sunday, Dec. 6. The next day, the infant was placed in DCYF custody, and Vixaisak reached out to Family Court for help.

Jeremiah scheduled an emergency hearing on Wednesday and summoned three DCYF officials into his courtroom: Jorge Garcia, DCYF’s deputy director; Martha Kelly, the agency’s legal counsel; and Mary Cameron, a social worker who has been assigned to Vixaisak and her family.

During the hearing, Jeremiah repeatedly interrupted Kelly, suggesting at one point that DCYF was going to extremes to keep the family apart. She said that the baby was taken away because the three other children are in DCYF custody. She also said that the three children had been removed because of “issues of domestic violence.”

Jeremiah shot back that DCYF removed the three children because they did not have any electricity in their apartment.

Kelly relented and said that “the department is willing to return the infant to her mother and father.” She said that the other three children could be returned by Christmas.

That wasn’t good enough for Jeremiah. He ordered that the baby be returned immediately and the other three children must be reunited with their parents no later than Friday.

Jeremiah said that he wanted to see the family reunited for the holidays.

The judge said he felt DCYF officials were heavy-handed in their decision to remove the children because they lacked electricity in their apartment. He knows that Vixaisak, who suffers from depression, and her husband, a convicted felon, are facing an uphill battle, so he assigned a home health aide to make daily checks on the family to make sure things are working out.

“We always have concerns,” he said. “We have to worry about the safety of the children.”

On Thursday, as Vixaisak waited for her baby’s arrival, she said she is thrilled at the thought of having all four children back. She is confident that she’s prepared for the challenges of raising four children.

“I’m ready to do this,” she said. “I’ll do anything DCYF wants me to do. I love my kids so much. I’ll do anything.”

Stephanie Terry, DCYF’s associate director of child welfare, refused to second-guess Jeremiah’s order or discuss the removal of the baby or three other children from the family. She said that confidentiality policies prohibit her from talking about the case.

“These cases are complicated, and there are lots of facets to it,” she said. “I can’t get into case specifics. We have worked with this family, and we will continue to work with this family. Our objective is always, foremost, to safely return kids home.”

There’s no question that Jeremiah is taking a chance.

According to an affidavit filed with the court, Cameron, the family’s social worker, said that the baby should not be allowed to return home with Vixaisak “due to information they have indicating a risk of physical harm to the child.” The sworn document also mentioned that the mother “has a history of mental health issues and she has been prescribed psychiatric medications.”

Cameron also wrote that the husband, Daothiam Phiensinh, 45, “has substance abuse and domestic violence issues.” She also pointed out that he’s on probation for 12 years for a past conviction of assault with a deadly weapon.

In late summer 2008, DCYF removed the three children from the couple’s home and placed them in separate foster homes across the state. The removal followed several run-ins that Vixaisak had with DCYF, the Woonsocket police and school officials.

On Sept. 5, 2008, DCYF reported in court documents that Vixaisak appeared at the elementary school in Woonsocket where two of her children were students and “made threats to bomb the school and DCYF.” That same day, she barricaded herself in her apartment with her children and refused to allow the Woonsocket police in.

At another unannounced visit, Cameron, the social worker, reported that the apartment had no gas or electricity.

Vixaisak’s lawyer, Frances K.R. Munro, managing attorney for Rhode Island Legal Services, said that her Laotian client is a very emotional woman, but she believes that DCYF may misinterpret her outbursts.

“I think there is a cultural issue,” she said. “It’s not wrong. It’s cultural.”

On Thursday, Vixaisak went out for two cans of baby formula and diapers so she would be ready for her week-old daughter. She’s looking forward to a beehive of activity in her living room as the holidays near.

About 2 p.m., Cameron, the social worker, delivered the baby and a bundle of new clothes.

“I feel happy,” Vixaisak said. “I have the energy to do things now. I’m so, so happy.”

bmalinow@projo.com