NOT AN ORDINARY MOTHER'S DAY IN BUNCOMBE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA:The Plight of Lisa Baldwin and her son Ryan.

[Marly Silverman]

NOT AN ORDINARY MOTHER'S DAY IN BUNCOMBE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA: The Plight of Lisa Baldwin and her son Ryan.
by Marly Silverman

While millions of mothers across the country will spend the day with their children on this Mother's Day, May 10, 2009, a member of our extended community Lisa Baldwin will not have her son Ryan, to embrace lovingly, nor will he be home (where he belongs), to honor her on this special Mother's Day.

You see, Ryan, who suffers with CFS-ME, was taken away this past January from the Baldwin family's home by the Buncombe County Department of Social Services (BCDSS). It was done after a shoddy and perhaps hasty investigation by the BCDSS , resulting in allegations of child abuse against the family, under Factitious Disorder by Proxy (FDP), formerly know as Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy.

An alliance of now 22 patient advocacy organizations and a large number of hard core patient advocates from our community sent a letter to Governor Bev Purdue and to the local commissioners' offices in Buncombe County regarding this matter. So far the response from the Governor's Office has been NONE. Not even a reply of acknowledgement or receipt of our letter has been forwarded to our alliance.

It is also our understanding that many patient advocates in our community have written to Gov Perdue and other officials and are spreading the word as well. Most recently, Pat Fero, a mother who has lost a child to CFS-ME and who is monitoring the situation for us, has asked our community at large to send Ryan comfort cards by mail. Many of you have answered our calls to action. We are grateful to you!

As the events develop, we have also become aware that the Baldwin family is now suffering serious financial hardship due to these legal issues. Their legal bills are mounting quickly - $8,000.00 and counting. We are looking into the possibility of creating a legal fund for the Baldwin Family so they can pay their attorney and get Ryan back to where he belongs with his parents. We hope you will participate in this effort as well. In the meantime you can visit the web site of the Baldwin family, and participate in any possible way you can.

Ryan remains now in a foster home in another county, (Ashe County) with a foster family whose primary caretaker (the foster mother) stated during the latest court proceedings that she has a physical disability that restrains her from being able to lift Ryan's wheel chair and yet this child remains in this foster care home living in a room located in the basement of a mountain home. Yes, he has to go up and down the stairs and his living quarters are located in the dampest location within a home in North Carolina. I know that this is the case because my family has a vacation home in the Smokey Mountains, in North Carolina, and basements there are extremely damp especially during the winter/fall months.

For a child with CFS who has respiratory issues this is not a healthy environment for him to live. In addition Ryan is not going to school nor is he receiving home schooling as required by state & federal laws.

As the news of this travesty travels across our worldwide community, it has resulted on an outpouring of outstanding support for the Baldwin Family from advocates including some from overseas. Because of this public and deserved outcry, BCDSS officials have now taken additional draconian steps: They have prohibited the supplier of the powered wheel chair to speak with the attorneys who represented his parents in the saga to get him the powered wheel chair. The BCDSS oficials are now using "strong-arm" tactics against the family.

It took months to get the powered wheel chair request accomplished. As of this Friday, we do not know whether this medically necessary equipment for Ryan was or has been delivered to him, nor an explanation has been given to the legal representatives of the Baldwin family. According to the local family advocate- Mr. Jerry Rice - it seems that Ryan, as a foster child, is not aware of his personal rights as it relates to his precarious situation: being taken from his loving home, under the custody of BC DSS and placed in a home with strangers.

But they will not silence us! We will continue to spread the word on behalf of the Baldwin Family to ensure that in 2010, Mother's Day will be a happy and joyous occasion, and that Ryan will be finally re-united with his family soon.

A quick update: Dr. Paul Cheney testified on behalf of the family attesting to the difficult case of CFS that Ryan has. (Thank you Dr. Cheney for your involvement!) Judge Cash ordered Lisa Baldwin to testify even though her attorney had not had the time to prepare her for such an event at the civil court hearing conducted last week. Ryan also did provide a video testimony that was damaging to BC County legal representatives as he shared the details of the deplorable foster care arrangements Buncombe County has provided for him.

We urge you to spread the word about this issue. We will update you on these events as they continue to unfold. The goal is to return Ryan to his family!

Happy Mother's Day.. These words will remain hollow today and they will not bring comfort to Lisa Baldwin, a mother in Buncombe County, North Carolina, USA.

[Michele Townsend]

Maybe we need to take this higher than the governor? Perhaps to the President? Someone higher and without an interest in the outcome needs to be alerted. This would not only help Ryan but perhaps bring some notice to CFS/ME. What about the media? Our senators? It seems that what has been done so far has not been enough. My prayers and thoughts are with the Baldwin family on this Mothers Day and every day after that.

[Marly Silverman]

Hi Michele,
We are looking for other "watch dog" agencies to come in the picture. We forwarded to the U.S. Senators too. Everyone is now aware, but passing the buck. The local media is now involved and is following the case closely. But you have to understand.. Buncombe County is where Asheville is located. The local politics and the folks there have different rules. Local officials wear double hats and with it they are involved in community affairs that would prevent them according to a code of ethics to participate as well as a myriad of conflict of interests. Add the issue of "saving face" i.e. local county officials do not want to admit that they are wrong in charging Ryan's parents, in this case his mother Lisa, with FDP.
There is a process that needs to be followed once it gets to family civil court. But Pat Fero and others are trying to cut through the red tape. It might well be that a letter to Michelle Obama or the president might be the one of the steps to be taken. Thank you for your great suggestion! And please spread the word.
Michele Townsend said:

Maybe we need to take this higher than the governor? Perhaps to the President? Someone higher and without an interest in the outcome needs to be alerted. This would not only help Ryan but perhaps bring some notice to CFS/ME. What about the media? Our senators? It seems that what has been done so far has not been enough. My prayers and thoughts are with the Baldwin family on this Mothers Day and every day after that.

[Mary Schweitzer]

Do they have a Facebook page for him? Would that possibly get young people interested in his cause?

Mary

[Marly Silverman]

I posted this on Facebook, but we havent' created a cause because we have to figure out how to raise money for their legal expenses. It might well be that we might have to create both at the same time: Re-unite Ryan with his parents and ask for a financial donation as well.
We asked for comfort cards for Ryan. I want to add an additional step to ask that folks place one dollar inside the cards as well but the problem is that the cards are going to the DSS and so we would have to ask folks to send the cards to a different address.
Marly

Mary Schweitzer said:

Do they have a Facebook page for him? Would that possibly get young people interested in his cause?

Mary

[Marly Silverman]

Mary,
I forgot to mention that another thing we can do on Facebook is to create a petition for Ryan. Don't want to help out with the writing of the petition if we go with it?Much appreciated since Pat Fero and I are swamped with so much to do on top of Ryan's issues.
Marly

Marly Silverman said:

I posted this on Facebook, but we havent' created a cause because we have to figure out how to raise money for their legal expenses. It might well be that we might have to create both at the same time: Re-unite Ryan with his parents and ask for a financial donation as well.
We asked for comfort cards for Ryan. I want to add an additional step to ask that folks place one dollar inside the cards as well but the problem is that the cards are going to the DSS and so we would have to ask folks to send the cards to a different address.
Marly

Mary Schweitzer said:

Do they have a Facebook page for him? Would that possibly get young people interested in his cause?

Mary

[Chris Wilson]

Wow, as a mother of a 17-year old daughter with CFS, this is beyond belief. Is there an update? How can we help?

[Marly Silverman]

Hi Mary,
We are working on a campaign and the name so far suggested is "Bring Ryan Home". Betty McConnell from the NJCFS Association suggested the name. The family is in the appeal process now. If we do a facebook cause, it would be wonderful to have other parents involved. We could make you and perhaps a couple of other individuals - Administrators of the cause page. We are still looking at how to create the set up for the donations account.
Marly

Marly Silverman said:

Mary,
I forgot to mention that another thing we can do on Facebook is to create a petition for Ryan. Don't want to help out with the writing of the petition if we go with it?Much appreciated since Pat Fero and I are swamped with so much to do on top of Ryan's issues.
Marly

Marly Silverman said:

I posted this on Facebook, but we havent' created a cause because we have to figure out how to raise money for their legal expenses. It might well be that we might have to create both at the same time: Re-unite Ryan with his parents and ask for a financial donation as well.
We asked for comfort cards for Ryan. I want to add an additional step to ask that folks place one dollar inside the cards as well but the problem is that the cards are going to the DSS and so we would have to ask folks to send the cards to a different address.
Marly

Mary Schweitzer said:

Do they have a Facebook page for him? Would that possibly get young people interested in his cause?

Mary

[Marly Silverman]

Hi Chris,
The update is that the parents were found to be guilty of medical neglect. It is now in the appeal process. Pat Fero is working with the family on going over every point made by the Judge in order to reach his findings. It really was a "save the face" issue as we feel that the Judge felt compelled to be on the side of the county. However, now it is the time to get advocates in place. We would love to have you involved. We need as many parents as possible. The experiences that are unique to parents with children with neuroendocrineimmune disorders are powerful and we want to give every parent dealing with these issues the power to Speak UP!
My regular e-mail is [e-mail]. We are looking into a Facebook/Cause page and we need helper/administrators to keep the page updated.
Marly

Chris Wilson said:

Wow, as a mother of a 17-year old daughter with CFS, this is beyond belief. Is there an update? How can we help?