Pubdate: Mon, 13 Sep 2010
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2010 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/letters.html
Website: http://www.calgaryherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66
Author: Daryl Slade

CALGARY MOM GIRDS FOR COURT FIGHT OVER FOSTER COSTS

A Calgary mother is poised to face off on Tuesday against the Oregon
government, which she says has sued her for two years of foster care
and medical expenses incurred after the state's child welfare
authorities apprehended her 10-year-old son while he was on a summer
vacation.

Lisa Kirkman, who finally had her son, now 12, returned to her on June
11, says she has had no help from the Canadian government and
anticipates Alberta government lawyers will fight her in provincial
court on behalf of the state of Oregon.

"They forced my family into their broken system. I am angry at not
only the state of Oregon, but at our own federal government. They
abandoned the whole process," a bitter Kirkman said of the state on
Sunday, as she and her lawyers prepared to plot their strategy for
what she expects to be a lengthy legal battle.

"Now, it's like I rescued my son from his kidnappers and now they're
suing me and asking me to pay the ransom."

Kirkman says she has no idea how much Oregon will bill her under the
Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act, which she says is an
unprecedented case, but believes it will be an expensive tab.

And, she added, it could have been avoided if the state had just
returned her son, diagnosed as special needs because of severe ADHD,
and let the Canadian medicare system handle it.

"It's not like I got a bill. I assume I'll find that out on Tuesday,"
she added. "I don't even have a dollar amount, which is scary. It's
like they say, if you have to ask, you can't afford it."

She requested that her son, who she says is no longer under the
auspices of child welfare authorities here, not be identified to
protect him.

The ordeal began when Kirkman's son was in the United States to visit
his stepfather in the summer of 2008.

Police seized him when they found him riding a bicycle without a
helmet and put him into foster care. They did not consider Kirkman's
husband of 10 years to be the boy's legal guardian, although he had
helped raise him.

Oregon's Department of Justice spokesman Tony Green said recently he
could not comment on a specific case, but confirmed the state does
have a policy allowing it to collect money from a parent if a child is
in foster care.

Kirkman said she was unable to enter the U.S. after the boy was
apprehended and believes it was because of an old conviction for
possession of medical marijuana, for which she received a sentence of
10 hours of community service.

"It's very strange the Americans would keep me out when I was going
back and forth for years," she said. "Besides, Oregon has some of the
most generous cannabis laws in the U.S.

"They were keeping me out for this? It was over a year before I got to
actually touch my son. I was allowed to speak to him every two weeks
for 15 minutes, but often that didn't happen. I didn't get to speak to
him on his birthday and on Mother's Day."

Kirkman said her son was quick to adjust back to normal after he
returned home and is doing well in a mainstream junior high school.

She said she wishes the ordeal was over, but now has to deal with the
legal "wrestling" and will not back down.

"I personally don't think it's enough to leave it," she insisted.
"It's so important to every parent who has been screwed over by the
system.

"They came after the wrong mom when they decided to scare me. I'm not
going to drop it. They kidnapped my son. It's important for me getting
justice, otherwise they can do it to anybody else."
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MAP posted-by: Matt