“CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'”
by Sharon Rondeau
(Mar. 17, 2013) — The Henderson parents have been making preparations for an unmonitored visit with their seven children, a friend and her children today, whose arrival is shown in a second video.
Mrs. Henderson is making apple-graPe juice and planning a big dinner for the children, who will have six hours to visit their parents today.
Mr. Henderson was first told by a DCFS worker on March 4 to move into the home his wife has rented, but on March 8, Judge Marguerite Downing told the parents to separate, suggesting that Erica might have the children returned to her if Jeffrey were not present. Jeffrey was therefore absent at a visit with the children on Wednesday.
On March 9, The Post & Email wrote a letter to Presiding Judge Michael Nash and sent an email to DCFS Public Affairs Director Armand Montiel, after which Mr. Henderson was told he could be present in the home while the children visited on Sunday.
Mrs. Henderson wanted her husband to obtain a written statement from DCFS allowing him to be present today, but whether the instruction was verbal or written is unclear at this time.
Montiel answered some of our questions promptly, but a response from Nash has not yet been received. In our communications, we asked why there was an inconsistency with regard to the statements of the social workers at the TDM meeting and the judge several days later.
Mrs. Henderson has even considered obtaining a divorce from her husband of 17 years if it means she can regain custody of the children, an option with which Mr. Henderson does not agree.
The children were placed in foster homes in May 2011 after their parents were falsely arrested and jailed. All criminal charges were dropped, but the children remained in foster care based on a statement from their daughter, who was seven at the time and interrogated without the parents’ knowledge as they sat in jail.
Downing has ordered the children to remain in their foster homes through July, although the court has noted that the children wish to return to their parents.
Pastor Wiley Drake, who hosts an internet radio show, has made a statement in favor of the reunification of children and families and held a “sidewalk prayer summit” in Orange, CA this morning. Jeffrey Henderson has been a guest on Drake’s show in the past.
A recent report from The Heritage Foundation states that children fare better when raised by “two biological parents.”
Update, 3:10 p.m. EDT: The youngest Henderson child is enjoying some of his mother’s homemade bread.
The children and grown-ups enjoyed a dance party.