But the girls foster parents said they didnt experience those kinds of issues with the girls. I felt it was better. West Fork, Arkansas, is represented in state government by Republican Rep. Justin Harris. When DHS takes children from a home, its usually assumed to be temporary the eventual goal being reunification with the birth family but the agency will move to terminate parental rights if it determines the birth parents are unfit. Eric Francis is serving 40 years in prison on charges of raping the child the Harrises rehomed and sexually assaulting other children. Menu Log In Sign Up Stay up to date with our daily newsletter, Thousands Support Creation Of Child Abuse Registry In Michigan, Canada's Trudeau Denies Report That Liberals Told To Drop Candidate Over China Ties, After Italian Migrant Boat Wreck, Police Arrest Three Alleged Traffickers, 14 Chinese Military Aircraft Tracked Around Country, China's Annual Parliament To Implement Xi's Tightening Grip. It was also this agency which Harris required to approve his controversial adoptions. She called Justin and Marsha Harris to take her daughters. While some individuals from West Fork had nothing but harsh words for the Harrises, both Chelsey Goldsborough and the source close to the Harrises said they took no joy in speaking out against the couple. I'm appalled. Theres probably no greater trauma than thinking you have found a forever family and finding thats not the case, saidSandy Santana, interim executive directorof Childrens Rights, an advocacy organization based in New York. 100g carbs. He did not specify what kind of pet it was, nor whether the three-year-old or the six-year-old was responsible. The ones that are good, that is their life. Others, she said, dont care. ), DHS, Harris said, would not let him and Marsha adopt the girls privately that is, via the legal documents drafted by their attorney attempting to transfer custody from Young to their family. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe, who was aware of that fact that Rep. Harris had rehomed the girls when Francis was charged in 2014 but unable to speak out at the time as the case had not yet been made public said: 'I was shocked. 10g EAAs. Cheryl Hart also remembers Justin Harris often mentioning the name of DCFS director Blucker, the person ultimately in charge of adoption and foster care for the state of Arkansas. Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson has also instructed the state to review adoption procedures. One of the many people who contacted the Times after the original story broke was a therapist who works with children with reactive attachment disorder and who is familiar with DHS. The oldest daughter would be placed for a six-month trial period in the Harris home in June and the other sisters would be transitioned into the home in September in another six-month trial period. Unless he gave them guns, they werent dangerous., He felt especially offended at Harris statement in the press conference thatthey had to medicate the middle child to prevent her from hurting her sister. He said Mary displayed only affection and kindness toward her younger sister. If they were violent [in the Harris home], they were taught violence. We kept a loving Christian home for them to be a part of it. Justin Harris in Nevada. We [started fostering] because of our Christianity. DHS ultimately placed the child into a hospital after just a few months of living with the family, and the Harrises did not proceed with the planned adoption. But the source told the Times that Blucker was made aware that the girls had been rehomed days before the call was received by the hotline. 'They knew, suddenly knew, that this was their forever home, and they were no longer ever going back to Mom's house. I don't care if I lose my position. I knew how foster homes are some are good, some not. And then, she found the Harrises. Something somewhere along the line got them out of hand with their own children., The unnamed source close to the Harrises felt torn about speaking up. Although the Francises also already had three children, just as the Harrises did, if Justin Harris worried that the girls might harm the Francises . Among them: two foster families who cared for the girls prior to the Harris adoption, the girls biological mother, a former DHS employee familiar with the proceedings and a former babysitter at the Harrises West Fork home. Eric Francis was served a 40-year sentence for sexually abusing a young girl after she and her little sister were re-homed into his care. Justin Harris also reached out to the Hart family who was fostering the two youngest sisters at the time. Casting out #demons: why Justin Harris got rid of kids he applied pressure to adopt http://t.co/UuTjiG5FsI pic.twitter.com/WGCVUDi0l6. Marsha was showing me these really beautiful pictures of these rooms that they had supposedly set up for the girls, Young recalled. So it came as a great shock to Wallis when Marsha Harris called her, nearly a year later, for dinner. But parents cannot use normal parenting. That summer, the adoption case went before 4th Circuit Juvenile Court Judge Stacy Zimmerman in Washington County. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Justin Harris and could vary in the range between $556.5K - $1.6M. The reason: The Harrises believed the girls were possessed by demons and could communicate telepathically, Goldsborough said. There are far too few foster parents, and children often end up having to stay at the DHS overnight with a worker, sometimes for several days on end because there are no placement options. (Count 1: Malice Murder. Cheryl and Craig Hart, an experienced foster couple who housed Mary and Annie for a year and a half before their adoption by the Harrises, said they tried to talk the Harrises out of adopting the sisters. (Photo credit: Gonzales Photo - Tor Atle Kleven). What happened next led to months of what the couple said were "terrified, sleepless nights" and a dispute about whether they should have taken the little girls in the first place. Goldsborough said she would watch Mary on a monitor linked to a camera in her room, but usually only entered the room to provide food or water. Log In. See Photos. Young then became involved with a man who cooked and sold methamphetamine; a fire started by his meth lab provoked a police investigation that sent that man, too, to prison. They said the whole time in court they wanted all three, and thats why they were chosen [to adopt] They fell on their knees when they were told they could take her., As for the transfer itself, Craig Hart said, It was not the process normally followed when we had kids go into an adoption situation the court said there should be a transitioning period between us and them, and we saw them only once after they moved in [with the Harrises]. Arkansas state legislator Rep. Justin Harris gave his adopted daughters away because he and his wife thought they were possessed by demons, according to a report in the Arkansas Times. They kept up with the kids, he said, referring to the rehoming. Their biological mother, who had a history of drug abuse and had lived with a string of abusive men, was deemed unfit to care for them. The former DHS employee confirmed this account. Justin Harris is the owner of the customized training and performance nutrition company Troponin Nutrition. SCOTUS Nom He said they suffered from reactive attachment disorder, a condition sometimes occurring among children with unstable backgrounds that results in severe emotional and social problems. The Arkansas Timesrevealed the link between Harris and the rape victim in an expos this week, after learning that he had adopted the girls from prosecutor documents used in Francis' trial. Imperial Court of Buffalo, +6 more Alfred State. He saw it as, Im with God. Francis is now serving 40 years in prison for his crimes against the six-year-old. Here was a young, desperate mother pleading for help, seeking a home for her three little lost girls. He said one of the girls the implication was the middle sister had to be medicated to stop hurting her sister, and that he was advised by therapists to treat her RAD by removing toys and other belongings from her room. Justin Harris. Sign up and stay up to date with our daily newsletter. The oldest sister was also adopted by a new family and is reportedly doing well. For the most part, Harris peers in the legislature are keeping quiet about the controversy, but the public at large is paying attention to the story. Tweet. When I was a child, I was abandoned, then adopted, and then my adopted mom threw me back in the foster system because she didnt want me. An attorney for Harris . They got therapy every day play therapy, occupational therapy, anger management.. It really repulses us what he said. Rep. Harris also said in that interview with Arkansas Onlinethat Francis and his wife had three adopted children that they obtained internationally, and that he trusted them as they had passed those background checks. She said she was originally introduced to the Harrises by a former friend. *This story has been updated since it was originally published. It is her opinion the Harrises called Cecile Blucker to expedite things.. -- an often misunderstood psychological condition that can develop when a child's basic needs for comfort and affection are not met. "We met a bunch of different families, and we found the parents we absolutely loved," Justin, who came out as gay to his family before his junior . Another pet, which was a hamster, was hurt but not killed by another child. Because adoption proceedings are so closed, it is nearly impossible for Blucker or DHS as a whole to refute Harris statements that the agency (or individuals within it) provided insufficient support, threatened him and ultimately turned a blind eye to the rehoming. As she points out, these families are not vetted in the same way an agency would vet other potential parents. The Arkansas Times piece, written by Benjamin Hardy, also points out that in that state there is no law that prohibits parents from leaving their child in another individual's care. The Harrises categorically denied all of Goldsborough's claims. The Harts said that a local team working on the adoption including themselves, DHS caseworkers, adoption specialists, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) and therapists from Ozark Guidance, a mental health provider made the Harrises fully aware of the girls history of neglect and sexual abuse and cautioned them that they were unprepared to handle children from such a background, especially considering their home included young boys. Harris later suggested in the KARK interview that the agency was threatening him because of his political beliefs. Then, you have an elected leader who represents an antigovernment agenda; yet, he makes his living off of government funding. Speaking anonymously, she expressed frustration with both adoptive parents and DHS. West Fork, Arkansas, is represented in state government by Republican Rep. Justin Harris. Justin Harris. Working in association with. 'Rep. To both Young and the Harrises, it must have seemed like providence. We got the little one first; Im pretty sure it was the first weekend of March 2011, Cheryl Hart said. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Subscribe now or donate for as little as $1 and be a part of the Arkansas Times community. Instead, they wanted us to do it through the system. Even once the couple began the lengthy process of adopting through DHS, though, he said the agency fought us the whole way. They were thrown in with a lot of transient people in their lives before us. We dont want to identify exactly which child did what. We had a dog, a little Bichon, that they were around all the time and there was never once any issue with her abusing an animal. Despite her reservations about the Harris adoption, Wallis thought things were going well with the Harrises and the two young sisters. Rancher, 73, is charged with murder on his Arizona land after shooting dead Mexican, 48, who had history of illegal crossings into US and multiple deportations: Judge refuses to reduce $1M bail despite plea his wife is alone, Getting his Minnie's worth! Their biological mother, who had a history of drug abuse and had lived with a string of abusive men, was deemed unfit to care for them. See Photos. Sometimes you see kids put in a safe environment and all hell may break loose. Watch popular content from the following creators: Justine Harris(@_justinemariah), Justine Harris(@_justinemariah), Justine Harris(@_justinemariah), Justine Harris(@_justinemariah), Justin Harris(@tiktokfamousjustinharris) . If Harris account of the girls as violent and threatening holds little water, however, the other half of his narrative presents a more immediately sympathetic defense: DHS is not a friend to parents in need. 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