Part 1

For once Mabel Simmons and I were in near-agreement. Normally I had to give her a sidelong glance and try to imagine her underlying motive, except for when she was angry. And here she was full of righteous indignation. There was only one thing that should happen in a case where an adoptive parent or parents relinquishes a former foster child back to the state according to Mabel Simmons: They should be punished with a finding of Abandonment. This finding would ensure they would never foster again, never adopt again, and most likely never work with children in any capacity again.

I merely thought we should treat people with some semblance of regularity and consistency—as is required by due process. That meant no targeting people for pain, and no preferential treatment. We should engage with people in a similar fashion without regard to any kind of status or lack thereof. The concepts of dignity and respect are, after all, explicitly spelled out in the policies and practice models of most of our state-run mandated Child Welfare systems. I’m sad to say that due process is a pipe dream inside South Carolina’s threadbare Department of Social Services. Just ask Liza. (See Liza’s Story)

This was the issue at hand because in early 2020 Candidate A sought to relinquish Liza back to the state. The adoption had failed in just 4 months.