Politics & Government
Report: Mass. DCF 'Actively Working' to Return Justina Pelletier to Her Parents
The news comes as hundreds prepare to attend a vigil Saturday at Wayside in Framingham, where 15-year-old West Hartford resident "is being held.
Written by Gary Jeanfaivre
A year-long custody battle between a West Hartford family and the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) could be coming to a close with the ending that the family has sought all along — for their 15-year-old daughter Justina Pelletier to come home.
The Massachusetts DCF is "actively working" to return Justina to her parents, in Connecticut, under the care of their preferred health provider, Tufts Medical Center, according to a report published Friday evening by WCVB in Boston.
The news was bittersweet for the family, as it came the same day that their weekly visit with Justina was cancelled by the DCF because a media outlet was present, WCVB reports. It also comes just days after a judge in the controversial case had expressed an openness to Justina returning home to her parents.
Pelletier, who has been diagnosed and treated by Tufts Medical Center doctors for mitochondrial disorder, a rare genetic disease, was sent to Boston Children’s Hospital for a bout with the flu in February 2013.
Doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital reportedly disagreed with the diagnosis and instead diagnosed Pelletier with somatoform disorder, a mental illness characterized by pain and gastrointestinal symptoms that have no identifiable physical cause.
The Massachusetts DCF then took custody of Justina when the Pelletiers disagreed with the treatment. That was a year ago.
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Justina is now at Wayside Youth and Family Support in Framingham. And in a show of support and solidarity with her family, hundreds are planning to hold a vigil outside the facilitySaturday, March 1, from noon to 1:30 p.m.
"We are inviting people of faith and good will to stand in solidarity with the Pelletier family and join us at a prayer vigil and public witness at the facility where their daughter Justina is being held," an event description on Facebook states.
"It is critical that we be a loud and passionate voice for this 15 year old girl who was ripped from her home by the government against the wishes of her family. We cannot be silent when we see the rights of families and parents trampled by public officials and courts," it continues.
"We want to stress this is NOT a protest or demonstration and we are there to peacefully prayer and call for Justina to be returned to the loving arms of her family. Also, where the vigil is being held, the residents of the facility will not be able to see us.
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