New Placement gives DCF hostage Justina Pelletier more privileges

CONNECTICUT, May 14, 2014 —  Last Monday, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts moved 15-year old Justina Pelletier across state lines to her new placement at the JRI Susan Wayne Center for Excellence in Thompson, Connecticut. According to the Pelletier family, the move comes as a welcome, but not ideal, change of circumstances for their child, who was removed from their care under highly questionable circumstances last year by the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF). Yesterday, the family emerged hopeful from a meeting with the Wayne Center, after learning that their daughter would have more privileges, education time, and access to her family in the Connecticut facility.

“The people at Susan Wayne were very nice to us and have assured us that Justina will have more time with her family while we wait for her to come home,” says Justina’s older sister Jennifer, age 22. “But it’s still a three hour trip for us to see Justina at her new placement in Connecticut, which is just as far from our house in West Hartford as Justina’s last placement at the Wayside Center in Framingham, Massachusetts.”

At the time Justina was taken into State custody in February 2013, she was also a competitive figure skater. Currently, Justina is wheelchair bound and has lost much of her hair while in State care, going nearly a year without adequate medical treatment for her deadly metabolic disorder at Boston Children’s Hospital’s psychiatric lock down facility. Throughout the process, Jennifer, a West Hartford skating instructor, has been a staunch advocate for her little sister, regularly meeting with State officials and leaders on Justina’s behalf, and only missed one week of visitation.

“Our concerns for Justina’s medical care are still there,” says Jennifer, who questions whether a psychiatric facility is an appropriate placement for a child with such serious medical issues. She points out that the lack of medical specialists working for the Wayne Center means that Justina’s physical therapist will be an outside contractor who is brought in twice per week to work with her sister, which may not be enough.

Full Article & Source:
New Placement gives DCF hostage Justina Pelletier more privileges

See Also:
DCF refuses to let Justina Pelletier be with her Mother on Mother's Day

Shocking Note Apparently Penned by Justina Pelletier to Her Parents

Justina Pelletier's Parents File Emergency Petition With Supreme Court to Gain Custody

Boston Children's Hospital to be Investigated by the MA Department of Public Health Over the Justina Pelletier Case 

Major Update in Justina Pelletier Case; Lawmakers Get Involved, Teen Will Not be Transferred to Foster Care