Tuesday, March 02, 1999
Concerns raised for Justin
Psychologist aids transition back to birth parents
BY SUSAN VELA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — The court-appointed guardian of a 2-year-old boy caught in an interstate custody battle will seek the advice of Covington psychologist Ed Connor before he draws up final visitation plans for the boy and his biological parents.
The guardian, attorney Tom Willenborg, said he wants to consult with Mr. Connor because he has more training when it comes to determining how to ease the child from his home of the past year in Girard, Ohio, into the custody of his biological parents in Covington.
“I don't feel qualified,” Mr. Willenborg told Kenton Circuit Judge Patricia Summe on Monday. She approved his request to consult with the psychologist, saying that the two couples fighting over 2-year-old Justin would split the cost of up to $500.
The biological parents are Regina Moore and Jerry Dorning, an unmarried Covington couple living in government-subsidized housing. He has a job in apartment maintenance; she works at a coin laundry.
Ms. Moore gave birth to Justin in February 1997 and began serious consideration of placing him for adoption in December of that year. The child went to live with Rich and Cheryl Asente, a college-educated, middle-class couple in Girard, in February 1998. The couple already had adopted Justin's older brother, Joey, now 3.
Ms. Moore and Mr. Dorn ing had signed consent-to-adopt forms that were irrevocable after 20 days. But they signed them under the incorrect impression that they would have until a special March 26 hearing to change their minds.
Ms. Moore had doubts two days after the Feb. 17 placement and, on the day of the hearing, made it clear that she didn't want to go ahead with the adoption. She called Mrs. Asente and said that she wanted Justin back.
The couple has refused. Last month, Judge Summe invalidated the consent-to-adopt forms, saying the Covington couple was misinformed when they signed them. She also ruled that Justin should be returned to his biological parents.
A final decision is expected on March 16.
Both parties have submitted visitation plans to ease Justin away from the home he has known for a year. Mr. Willenborg will present a final plan after he's consulted with the psychologist. Most likely, the child will have visits with his biological parents before moving in with them full time.
The Asentes are willing to do visits every other week.
“We would want to be there,” Mrs. Asente said. “We're not trying to compete for attention. At this point, he's not real comfortable with them.
“He doesn't really know them. I don't want to leave him screaming and crying, wondering where we are.”
Glenda Harrison, of the Northern Kentucky Legal Aid Society, is representing the Covington couple. She has submitted a plan for the transition that entails frequent short, unsupervised visits at the start — on territory familiar to the child — and eventually stays with Ms. Moore and Mr. Dorning.
Ms. Moore was not available for comment.
There was a 45-minute visit last week, after both couples appeared in Trumbull County Probate Court for an adoption hearing. The Asentes have been trying to adopt Justin since June. That case is pending.
Justin slept throughout last week's visit. Mrs. Asente held him.
“It was very difficult for Regina,” Ms. Harrison said. “She couldn't hold him or play with him.”
A court-appointed guardian for the Trumbull County proceedings already has said that separation is going to be traumatic for the 2-year-old boy and his brother and that it would be in Justin's best interest to remain with the Asentes.
“It is reasonable to believe that the separation of Justin and (Joey) will cause both children problems that they do not now experience,” Warren, Ohio, attorney Daniel B. Letson wrote in a December report. “It is clear that, even at his young age, Justin identifies himself as (Joey's) sibling and the Asentes' son.
“Justin's life and daily schedule are presently so intertwined with (Joey's) that there is little doubt that a separation at this point in Justin's development would more than offset any possible gain in reuniting Justin with Ms. Moore and Mr. Dorning.”
In the report, Mr. Letson also states that he sees no gain in returning Justin to his biological parents. He states that the Asentes can provide greater material and emotional stability and that separation from the Asentes would produce an “emotional deficit” in Justin's development.
Mr. Letson, who refused commenting Monday on the document, reached these conclusions after conferring with the biological parents and the Asentes. He noted that Ms. Moore and Mr. Dorning have been together about four years and that each has other children.
Ms. Moore has a daughter, who lives with a relative, and Mr. Moore has three other children. He remains married to another woman and has not mentioned any intention to divorce.
He credits Ms. Moore's sincere affection for Justin but said she appears to be using him as “an instrument to resolve her own relationship with the father.”
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