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A brand new state regulation is giving households extra of an opportunity to show their innocence in some little one abuse circumstances.
State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst authored Senate Bill 1578, and Gov. Greg Abbott signed it into regulation final week. The brand new regulation focuses on conditions the place the kid’s damage would possibly really be a medical sickness.
5 years in the past, Timothy Lee Timmerman Jr. woke as much as discover his 4-month-old son Tristan having a seizure. He and his spouse, Ann Marie, rushed their little one to the hospital.
“He had a CAT scan, and he had a subdural hematoma. We all know now that behind the scenes, they must make a name to CPS about this,” Timmerman mentioned.
Youngster Protecting Serves contracts particular medical specialists throughout the state to have a look at circumstances that will have been brought on by abuse or neglect. The staff used within the San Antonio space is named the Middle for Miracles.
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In Timmerman’s case, in Houston, these specialists concluded Tristan’s damage was brought on by abuse.
“I didn’t do something to my little one. It’s like I misplaced the flexibility to talk. I couldn’t even fathom what they have been saying,” Timmerman mentioned.
The state took custody of the newborn whereas court docket hearings continued. He was positioned with Timmerman’s in-laws.
Throughout that point, Timmerman sought second medical opinions that finally revealed why his son had a seizure.
“He had benign hydrocephalus, and he had this blood situation, and people issues have been by no means investigated,” Timmerman mentioned.
Timmerman mentioned the second opinions have been by no means really submitted. The case was merely dismissed. Though he received his son again, it took years for him to clear his report.
Nonetheless scarred by the expertise, Timmerman and his spouse testified this session on behalf of state Senate Invoice 1578, now signed into regulation.
“It now permits for these dad and mom to hunt a second medical opinion, and people medical people don’t should be specialists of abuse and neglect,” mentioned Carrie Wilcoxson, a former Youngster Protecting Companies investigator turned reform advocate.
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Wilcoxson now works as a non-public CPS case guide for households and attorneys. Her purchasers have these kind of circumstances the place underlying medical situations falsely level to abuse. For instance, vitamin D deficiencies can result in elevated bruising, or blood problems can extra simply trigger extreme bleeding.
“At present, all of the proceedings hooked up to the investigations are restricted to these medical consultants’ assessments. In some situations, I’ve these circumstances — they’re not even seeing the kid. They’re offering evaluation off of a screenshot of an image that doesn’t have measurements,” Wilcoxson mentioned.
SB 1578 not solely permits dad and mom to submit second opinions but in addition prohibits removals primarily based solely on the contracted medical staff’s evaluation.
Wilcoxson mentioned the brand new regulation provides a greater and broader evaluation of circumstances just like the Timmermans’, by which a toddler’s underlying well being situations can mimic abuse and result in misdiagnosis and pointless little one removals.
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