A family came to us in a panic. The family consisted of the child's parents and paternal grandparents. The father of the child was recently discharged from the military. They were stationed in Virginia.
The state of Virginia took the children from them alleging the mother was negligent and abusive. When we were contacted the parents of the child had moved back to their home in California. The state of Virginia had scheduled one last hearing before they put the child up for adoption.
After extensively interviewing the couple we realized the problem was the mother panicked every time she came into contact with the social workers. Her actions were being misread as being violent when she was only having panic attacks. We counseled her on how she was to act and talk with these people.
John Diamond went to Virginia for the final hearing. Though he was not licensed in Virginia we talked with the Virginia Department of Family Services and determined this was not a regular court and they allowed John to be present at the hearing and represent the parents and the grandparents. The social workers were amazed at the difference in the mother's attitude and behavior. They were also impressed that the whole family including the grandparents came to the hearing all the way across the country.
After a long hearing and interviewing all of the parties the Virginia Department of Family Services released the child to the care of the grandparents and notified the California Department of Children's Services they were transferring the case to California. The case was eventually settled and California allowed the parents to have full custody rights.
