The article fails to present appropriate solutions, such as the state complying with federal Medicaid law and offering Voluntary Placement agreements. Voluntary Placement agreements are used successfully in other states, allowing families to voluntarily place children into the system to access care without facing unwarranted charges, while allowing states to draw federal funds. Parent advocates are working with legislators on legislation which addresses psychiatric lockout to prevent unwarranted criminalization of child or parent. We are also working with members of Congress on federal mandates, which clarify adoptive children’s rights to treatment under the EPSDT provision of Medicaid.

We encourage DCFS to develop a new track that responds to lockouts, preventing the tragedy of “second-time foster children.” DCFS has ignored parent requests for joint problem-solving meetings. Post-adopt parents desire to be part of the solution. During one of our court cases, the judge scolded the attorneys, caseworkers and CASA, who spoke to us as abusive parents: “There is nobody bad here! There are no criminals. There is no crime. Do you all get it?” If they “got it,” we wouldn’t be sitting in the same seats as birth parents who abused our children prior to the adoption.

Toni Hoy is an adoptive parent and parent advocate and a member of the board of directors of the National Alliance on Mental Illness for the Barrington area.

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