Los Angeles DCFS Changes Counseling Mandate Midstream for Jeffrey Henderson pb

WHAT ELSE ARE THEY GOING TO DEMAND?

by Sharon Rondeau

(Mar. 28, 2013) — Earlier on Thursday, The Post & Email provided an update on a three-day overnight visit which reunited seven children with their mother on Sunday, through Tuesday of this week, the first of its kind since the children were placed in foster homes 22 months ago.  The father, Jeffrey, was not allowed by the Department of Children and Families (DCFS) to stay overnight but visited with his children during the day, making numerous video clips of the children’s activities.

Both Henderson parents have attended counseling and state that they have followed all orders issued by DCFS in the hope that their children will be returned to them.  However, DCFS recently changed its order regarding the counseling Jeffrey has been attending, even though his counselor was on the department’s recommended list.  Jeffrey has been paying for the counseling sessions, although he is unemployed and awaiting a disposition on his Law School Admission Test (LSAT).

DCFS has now mandated that Jeffrey see a counselor possessing a Ph.D. instead of a Master’s Degree.  Eric Lorber is a DCFS social worker who has been named as a defendant in a civil rights lawsuit filed by the Hendersons in December but which they had stated they wished to amend after the judge did not allow them to proceed in forma pauperis.  Lorber has been replaced by Godwin Milner.

Mrs. Henderson responded to the department’s new requirement on the Facebook support page established for the family:

Prayer warriors alert! DCFS told me on friday last week that J’s counseling that he has been going to for months is all of the sudden not acceptable, even though the agency was specifically recommended for J by Eric Lorber. DCFS is now saying that the counselor must have a doctorate degree not just a masters. This is a big problem because a PSYD costs at least $50 a week as opposed to $15 a week for the masters degree level. It took J 3 months for J to get the counselor he has now. Of course this is all a part of DCFS’s plan to separate our family and blame J for not following the court orders. For those of you that are new to the group J and I have followed every court order to the letter but still our children are being held hostage.

Today I have good news for you, J just got off the phone with a counseling agency that might have an opening for him and there would be no cost for him to see a PYSD. It would be a miracle for J to get this available slot, simply because we have called every counseling agency in LA. Not only are there only a few counselors available that have a PYSD, they are very expensive. Please pray that J is accepted into this program.

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Update, March 29, 2013:  A video made by Jeffrey on the family’s Passover preparations and summary of their meeting with DCFS at which liberalized visitation was discussed and established is here.  A dance party video from the family’s reunification is here.