Hospitals Monitor New Mothers for DSS

By Ed Oliver
February 20, 2001

How the maternity wards in Massachusetts hospitals monitor new mothers for DSS was reported in the August 2000 edition of Massachusetts News.

The hospitals are used also as launching pads for the new “home visitor” programs which are state programs disguised as private agencies. As an example, we reported how Milford Hospital provides the names and addresses of new mothers to a state-run, home visitor program called “Healthy Families,” which enters information and observations about new parents gained from visits, into a computer database that is tied to the Department of Health. A home visitor must tell DSS if she thinks she sees a problem.

A former worker for Healthy Families told MassNews that her supervisor would regularly call Milford Hospital to obtain a list of new mothers. The hospital coordinator would also give an indication about who on the list she thought was “high risk.”

The Howards have become amateur sleuths since they became involved with DSS. They have compiled an enormous amount of documentation to support their case. Some of those documents are from Spaulding Rehab Center, where the Howard’s little daughter Faith stayed after she was born at Brigham and Women’s with severe health problems. The Howards learned that Spaulding has social workers that act as DSS liaisons.

The Howards feel they were targeted as prospects by DSS in a similar way by using information provided by Spaulding. They say they may have been set up when the visiting nurse came to call. Spaulding records note that the Howards were renovating their home, were under stress and having a tough time coping with their daughter’s special needs while taking care of their two sons — sitting ducks for social workers looking for an excuse to snatch kids.

Heidi was suffering from post partum depression according to the Howards and her attorney.. The Howards found a notation in Spaulding’s records on October 28, 1999 saying, “DSS home visit.” The Howards had previously assumed the visiting nurse was sent by Spaulding to their home, not by DSS, to help assess their needs for Faith.

On November 1, 1999, there is a notation in Spaulding’s records saying, “DSS placement.” This shows that DSS had already told Spaulding they were taking the children even before any investigation by DSS took place and just four days after the 51A complaint was filed by the visiting nurse. This was also evident because the father was not allowed to visit his baby girl the next day by security guards at Spaulding without any reason being given. The Howards say the visiting nurse, who was sent by DSS, telephoned Heidi out-of-the-blue and told her she was on the way and would be there in an hour and couldn’t change her schedule. The nurse agreed to just go over paperwork. When she got to the house, she commenced an inspection of the home without permission and did not want to do any paperwork.