“I DIDN’T WANT TO BE A LAWYER”
by Sharon Rondeau
(Oct. 3, 2013) — A father of seven children taken away from their parents nearly three years ago by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has been accepted to an American Bar Association-accredited law school for the spring 2014 semester.
The children were removed from their home after their parents, Jeffrey and Erica Henderson, were falsely jailed in May 2011. Jeffrey had refused a plea deal on a charge of resisting arrest from the year before, when he was roughed up by members of the Pasadena Police Department and hospitalized with a broken collarbone.
All criminal charges against the Hendersons were dropped the following month, when they embarked on the long journey toward becoming a family again.
The Post & Email began reporting on the story just after their five-week-old infant was taken by a social worker accompanied by police officers without the required documentation. The elder six children, who had already been placed in foster care but were visiting unsupervised with their mother, witnessed the seizing of their baby brother.
Over a period of more than two years, the Hendersons attended counseling, all court hearings of which they were informed, and all scheduled visits with the children, but reunification, which the Department states is its primary goal, was not carried out. There were numerous hearings scheduled without their knowledge and on occasion visitation canceled at the last minute.
A complaint against the child welfare agency covering the Sacramento area was covered on national news this past spring and resulted in the parents’ regaining of full custody of their child, Sammy.
In an interview on Thursday, Jeffrey Henderson told The Post & Email of his new career path, “I didn’t want to be a lawyer. I’m looking forward to learning how government agents have the authority to take my children based on simple hearsay, act outside the Constitution, and steal my children.”
Our last report related that Jeffrey and wife Erica had separated and that there had been an apparent setback in their ability to visit with the children. Prior to that, a “liberalization” of visitation had been put in place wherein the children and their parents had enjoyed two long weekends together over the Jewish holidays.
The Post & Email expects to have more news on the Henderson case next week.
Update, Oct. 4, 2013: Mr. Henderson learned later on Thursday that he was accepted to a second accredited law school.