Bonnie Macri
(testifying on behalf of the Bierly family)
JEDI for Women
Salt Lake City, UT
“The children were plain and simply wrongly taken and are being held to protect the States immunity with fraudulent explanations, paperwork and no due process of law”
My testimony today is about a family that has been irreparably damaged by the Child Welfare System in our nation and specifically the State of Utah, which is supposed to be "The Family State".
The Bierly family with four children, Tim 18 yrs old, Peter 15 yrs old, Jordan 7 yrs old and a Juvenile Diabetic and Leigh 2 yrs old, and the only girl. In the year 2000, this family was preparing to go home to Lisa's father's house in Pennsylvania, their home state, due to her father's illness
Their 7 year old was removed September 28th, 2000. Leigh the 2 year old was removed Oct. 3rd 2000 as sibling ay risk.
It has been six years since the DCFS Division of Child and Family Services of Utah came and removed Jordan Bierly on the premise that Lisa was not managing his Juvenile Diabetes. The new clinic Doctor (Dana Hardin) whom the family had never met, nor had she ever examined Jordan, accused Lisa of "Medical Neglect" just by reading the medical records. Jordan was removed for "Immediate need of medical care" from her custody when he was running around playing outside with his friends. The DCFS caseworker threatened her and her friend with jail time if she did not hand him over. Tim, his older brother who was extremely close to Jordan, along with his mother Lisa promised Jordan they would get him back, it has been six years and they are still trying to get him back along with Leigh. Leigh was taken five days later as a "sibling at risk for Medical Neglect -even though she did not have Juvenile Diabetes. Leigh had been healthy since birth and Jordan had never been to the hospital nor had he ever gone into insulin shock in the care of his mother.
When Jordan was taken from his mother, he was not taken to the hospital, clinic, not even to the doctor who had alleged the Medical Neglect -he was taken to a shelter facility for sexually and physically abused children, where he stayed for two days with out his insulin. Leigh was taken from her father and brother, Tim- on October 3rd, 2000 she was so traumatized by the removal DCFS said that she couldn't bond with anyone in the foster home where she resided.
The caseworker lied to the Midvale Utah police in order to take Leigh and countless other crimes ( all documented) have been committed by the state employees and members of the government. The Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has been in meetings with Lisa Bierly and continues to obstruct Justice in this case.
Lisa Bierly and her family finally found out the truth in 2004, by an employee close to Dr. Hardin at the Primary Children's Medical Center that Jordan was used by Dr. Hardin who had a 5 million dollar research grant. Dr, Harden was the doctor who asked for his removal and ultimately adopted Jordan and removed him from the State of Utah and took him to Texas. With in 6 months she had returned him to the State of Utah because he didn't assimilate into her home. In 2001 Sibling at Risk was eliminated by the Legislature because of lobbing done by Lisa Bierly under the auspices of JEDI Women.
Lisa Bierly and I have since gone to the Governor, the Lt. Governor, Members of the House and Senate, she has testified before the "Child Welfare Oversight Panel" regarding misconduct in the Attorney General's Office, There has been no accountability by the State of Utah and they have tried to discredit Ms Bierly. This woman has documented every day for the last six years that is why I have chosen to tell you her story. The children were plain and simply wrongly taken and are being held to protect the States immunity with fraudulent explanations, paperwork and no due process of law.
Since Jordan, now 13 years old, has been taken he has been in 3 failed adoptive placements and has gone into insulin shock and the hospital in emergency situations too many times, to count and gone into the hospital, Leigh now 8 years old has "RAD" Reactive Attachment Disorder which is due to the 13 times she has been placed in different homes in foster care.
As a mother who has always taken care of her children-can you imagine the heartache and intolerable suffering her and her family have experienced. Her two older boys now 24 and 21 are adults and despite the tragedy they have been through, are successful, well adjusted, contributing members of the community who everyday long to see their brother and sister. This family has not given up and is still seeking help and remedies to this situation.
Since the Child Welfare Laws became more punitive during the Welfare Reform era in 1996 there has been a network of people trying to assist families but with out a voice and the funds to hire good family lawyers our work is going very slowly.