Deceased/Not Found NH - Harmony Montgomery, 7, Manchester, Oct 2019 *reported missing Dec 2021* *REWARD* *Arrest* #2

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Psychic Sleuth said:
To add: this child's parent also had an active warrant, pending criminal charges and a significant other who was a convicted child abuser. And still the child was returned home.

If you find this shocking, you shouldn't. It is common and children are returned to parents that are much worse. Read Oakley Carlson's story. It's very similar to Harmony's. She's been missing since Feb 2019 and after repeated calls to DCYF/CPS by concerned family and former foster parents, nobody checked on this child. She was in foster care most of her life (2.5 years) and her foster parents wanted to adopt her and begged them not to return her. So, to say that the community needs to take responsibility and it's a "societal failure", often times they try, and nothing is done. This is NOT ok and laws need to change.
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It's crazy. Imagine how bad the mom had to have been for them to give Harmony to her dad.
 
The videos and pics of Harmony when is CS custody show a child who looks happy, well fed and loved. My guess is MA has a strict 3 dirty UAs or such and you're out approach. The opioid epidemic is raging and we need to figure out how to treat parents who are addicted NOW. I don't see that we can build enough foster homes and/or have ennough $ to just cross off every parent who is addicted from productive society. Somehow, we need a better way to measure which parents are able to be rehabbed and those that are too far gone. It should be a case by case assessment vs. all addicted parents must.lose.their.children. JMO
 
PommyMommy said:
JAN 11, 2022
Legal pressure applied against father & stepmom in Harmony Montgomery investigation – Boston 25 News
[...]

NH prosecutors are dropping Kayla’s existing welfare fraud charge and are replacing it with another felony: theft by deception.

They are also adding eight misdemeanors on top of it.

It’s more legal pressure for a mother of three, perhaps to convince her to talk.

“It sounds as if it’s crucial, that without any evidence at this time, that they find somebody that is willing to tell them what is going on. And that is why they obviously want to put whatever pressure they can on people to talk,” Boston attorney Peter Elikann said.

[...]
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She needs to talk. There is absolutely no way she can explain receiving the monthly check for Harmony every month.
 
Lulu'smom said:
I understand what you are saying but where would we be if MA had successfully rehabbed CS? and she never went to AM? Also, I disagree with the substance abuse treatment community that you have to want to get clean. You'll typically never want to get clean while your brain is on drugs. I have family members who are long term clean but initially were pretty much strongarmed into rehab. Once the brain is off drugs for a while, there's better inclination toward getting and staying clean. And I also believe many of the parents who are addicted do love their kids.
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CS was in rehab but she admitted that she chose drugs and terminated her parental rights. She admitted this was her fault but you don't seem to agree with her, the actual user. When addicts go to jail they forcibly get clean but many return to their old lifestyles as soon as they are released. We saw that happen with AM in this very case. Just like you suggest, they were strong-armed by the state into treatment programs but they chose to leave once they are not being forced by the state.

Unfortunately the state cannot follow people around their whole lives making their decisions for them. There is some personal responsibility here. And I say that as someone who is a decade sober. I blame no one except myself for my choices that almost ruined my life. You can only help someone so much and then they must do the steps and tasks and whatever they need to get and stay sober. Do I wish I could go out with friends and have a casual drink? Do I wish I didn't have to say "no thanks" at every event when someone tries to hand me a cocktail? Of course I wish my brain was different but I know every choice is up to me. And every day for the rest of my life I will have to make the right choice or everything I worked for could be taken away from me.

I don't think infantilizing addicts helps the conversation, IMO. These are difficult issues but there is a foolproof way to stay clean and that's to not use the first time and every time. It seems simple but it is difficult even with support.
 
lonetraveler said:
Or we had a Child Protection Agency person who just wanted to speed things up and did it without any background checks of the father.
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But it still has to be approved by a Judge.
ETA: Mother's parental rights were terminated. This case was deep in Dependency. There were likely many people involved in her case (parents lawyers, CASA or GAL, child lawyer, Judge, Social Worker, Counselors etc). There is no way JUST the Social Worker was able to make a decision about her going to her Father. All cases go through hearings in front of a Judge with many others involved. Social workers do not have the power to make decisions like this alone.
 
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Alethea said:
You can only help someone so much and then they must do the steps and tasks and whatever they need to get and stay sober.
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I agree with much of what you are saying. But I have seen people who are addicted change their thought process and work their recovery once drugs are removed from their systems. As in, strongarm, detox, provide maintenance medication and counselling. Clearly people cannot be followed around forever - but the aftercare IS where things fall apart. Better to follow for a little longer, and prevent relapse. The other major issue is the former addict needs all new friends, and in many cases, new family members as well. Tough subject for sure, but what we are doing is not working and opioid addiction is raging and causing DCF cases to spike all over our country.
 
I just want to chime into this debate about laws protecting children and say it is a very important conversation. Taking children away from parents when it is unwarranted is very damaging to the children. But the system in place right now does not work for many children. The social supports are just not there to help parents who are behaving irresponsibly because of drug addiction. It takes a tremendous amount of will to overcome an addiction.

We really need a national conversation about what to do to make sure this kind of a situation with Harmony does not happen again.
 
Psychic Sleuth said:
Social Workers last less than 2 years on average. I honestly cannot imagine a more difficult job. They are way over worked and it's unbelievable what is expected of them. IMHO it's the laws that need to change. Harmony never should have been turned over to her Father. Whose fault is it that she was? It's hard to say without knowing all the details of the dependency case. But I know from experience with Foster Care, the goal is always reunification with a bio parent no matter what. Violent criminal history or not. Addiction or not. REUNIFICATION REUNIFICATION REUNIFICATION. That's all you hear. They put the parent in a class and deem them "fixed" and return the kids. It happens every day. Most people just don't know and think it's all on DCYF/CPS. The Judge always makes the final decision.
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I don't know specifically about the states involved here but in other cases I've followed--it generally takes about two years for a parent to lose their parental rights to their child, and where they become eligible for adoption.

I think Harmony and her brother were most likely removed from CS and placed in foster care for a good two years (multiple chances for clean/sobriety, etc.), before July 2018 when she lost both of them -- one to adoption and HM eventually to AM. I think CS probably had knowledge of the counseling and /or playdates during those two years and perhaps the six additional months before AM became HM's legal guardian in Feb 2019.

IMO, I think CS was probably on the outside of HM's life not for only two but the last four years which might account for why her calls were not given any priority or actively pursued. (Recalling AR court records of a recently murdered mother seeking visitation and the court acknowledging the mother's life change for the better as too little too late).
 
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Reward in Harmony Montgomery case climbs to $112K
WMUR - Manchester, NH -- 1/13/22

Reward in Harmony Montgomery case climbs to $112K; internal review requested at DCYF

At the bottom of the article, there are numerous previous articles you can click on!

Previous coverage:

 
Bodhi said:
Another 5-year-old is missing from Manchester in an apparent custody dispute. According to the police information officer, the child is believed to be with his mother. He was last seen on January 5th.

“We have been working with DCYF and we have reason to believe the mother left the state with the child prior to DCYF obtaining custody. . . ."​

Police seek information on missing Manchester boy, 5, believed to have been taken out of state by mom | Manchester Ink Link
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Yep. :(

Here's his thread.

NH - NH - Trey Nichols, 5, Manchester, 5 Jan 2022 *possible custody dispute* (websleuths.com)
 
Alethea said:
This is going to be controversial but I think the balancing tests for child protection need to be recalibrated. In so many other areas of law the state acts like a monster, destroying people's privacy over the most minor of alleged infractions. And yet in child protection, everyone is walking on eggshells over the often drug-addicted neglectful parents' rights.

It's time to burden shift. Change the law to say DCYF and individual case workers are not liable for wrongdoing if children are removed from a parent's care and later the abuse charges are found to be unsubstantiated or alleviated. Act first and let the parents sue later. How many children will you save because drug addicted people will not bother to get clean and hire a lawyer to get their children back? Those children will be better off in safe loving homes than being neglected and abused.

It's time the state treats the lives of children as seriously as they take collecting penalties for minor violations and seizing money and alleged "proceeds of crime" from ordinary criminals.
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Way too much power for a social worker to have. Especially with their history of taking kids out of the frying pan and throwing them into the fire
 
distracted said:
Yes, they do. And some of them simply rubber stamp their recommendations. I understand the system is overburdened but it's discouraging to see a case like this one. One adult after the other failed this baby girl.
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Honestly, the system can be such a joke. As a community health nurse making a well check on a child, I made a report to CPS for a 4 year old who was living with his 8 year old sister and their mentally ill, hard-to-tell if sober, father. The home was completely filthy, where no human should be living. Father was not in his right mind. Child was non-verbal and autistic. Sister at school, but probably was the only semblance of a parent to the 4 year old. The kitchen was too filthy for me to enter to check if there was food. I made the CPS report straight away. It was later closed as unfounded. Seriously? My guess was because there were no signs of abuse. Forget clean living quarters. Forget the right to be raised by someone not gorked out of their mind. You cannot win in these situations. Sad truth. There's no test to pass to procreate.
 
Lulu'smom said:
The videos and pics of Harmony when is CS custody show a child who looks happy, well fed and loved. My guess is MA has a strict 3 dirty UAs or such and you're out approach. The opioid epidemic is raging and we need to figure out how to treat parents who are addicted NOW. I don't see that we can build enough foster homes and/or have ennough $ to just cross off every parent who is addicted from productive society. Somehow, we need a better way to measure which parents are able to be rehabbed and those that are too far gone. It should be a case by case assessment vs. all addicted parents must.lose.their.children. JMO
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Most Foster parents DO send pictures, and one may take pictures during supervised visitation.
 
About 12 years ago my lifelong BFF called me to tell me two days after the birth of her grandson that the hospital had done a drug test on his mom and then him and he tested positive for oxycontin. The state told her she had 48 hours to make arrangements for him or he would be placed in foster care. Her son the boy’s biological father was incarcerated due to addiction and subsequent criminal activity. Within a short period of time a social worker contacted her and informed her she would need to make a home visit and as I was to be his caretaker for 40 plus hours a week while grandparents were working, she would likely conduct a home visit with my family too. My friend keeps an immaculate house but on the day of the scheduled visit she left work early to clean more and make banana bread. She at the time lived off the beaten path and somewhat well into the country. The Social Worker never showed up after two hours my friend called to make sure the social worker was ok. She replied that she couldn’t find the place and she too had a family to get home to and hung up. Fortunately I kept the little guy for days during his first three years and his grandparents adopted him a few years ago because the dad was still in and out of jail and the mom never wanted him anyway. Both parents sadly have gone on to have multiple other children that I don’t believe for a second are adequately having their needs met.
I know people are overworked but if not for my BFF and my family this kiddo could have been left to any circumstance and no one may have ever known. We must do better because there is no other choice. IMO At least our circumstances afforded us the knowledge to know what was going on and an opportunity to make it work to benefit him. I have no doubt that this goes on more than we will ever know. It’s time for some serious changes IMO
 
Lulu'smom said:
The videos and pics of Harmony when is CS custody show a child who looks happy, well fed and loved. My guess is MA has a strict 3 dirty UAs or such and you're out approach. The opioid epidemic is raging and we need to figure out how to treat parents who are addicted NOW. I don't see that we can build enough foster homes and/or have ennough $ to just cross off every parent who is addicted from productive society. Somehow, we need a better way to measure which parents are able to be rehabbed and those that are too far gone. It should be a case by case assessment vs. all addicted parents must.lose.their.children. JMO
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If only they also had a strict “you intentionally shoot someone in the head and you’re out” approach.
 
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