by Cameron Knight , [email protected] –
A second lawsuit was filed in federal court Friday alleging the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services drags out cases against parents to collect additional federal money.
The first case was filed in May by Holly Schulkers against Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services workers and St. Elizabeth Healthcare after she falsely tested positive for heroin while delivering her daughter.
Schulkers said tests proved she wasn’t on heroin before she even left the hospital, days after giving birth, but that didn’t stop state social workers and hospital staff from threatening to take her children and putting her through a two-month “nightmare” by keeping her family on a prevention plan.
Now, Nikkie Holliday, a 30-year-old social work student, U.S. Army veteran and Florence resident, is claiming in another lawsuit that cabinet workers violated her rights by keeping her on a prevention plan for two months due to an unfounded accusation of abuse.
“The whole time I was under investigation, it was like living on ice,” Holliday said. “I wasn’t allowed to be really a parent at that time. It was constantly like I was living in fear.”
In October, Holliday learned her 3-year-old daughter had been bitten on the behind by another child in daycare. According to the suit, the bite mark was discovered by Holliday’s mother during a bath.
When Holliday’s mother dropped the girl off at daycare the following day, she reported the bite to the workers and asked for an incident report per Holliday’s request.
That afternoon, Holliday was met at the daycare by a cabinet social worker and told she would be placed on “prevention plan” that meant she would have to be supervised around her child among other restrictions.
When Holliday balked at signing the plan, she was told the cabinet would take her daughter away if she didn’t.
That night, Holliday, under direction of the order, took her daughter to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
“My exam was consistent with bite marks on both butt cheeks,” the doctors reported. “The marks were simply minor bruises and no puncture marks. There were no other injuries noted. [She] otherwise appears to be a healthy and happy child.”
Holliday argues that this evidence should have been enough to close the case. However, it remained open two more months.
“I was so paranoid about losing my child because she’s the most important thing to me,” she said.
Holliday said she the plan forced her to move in with a cousin for two weeks until the prevention plan was revised. Then, the cabinet appeared to reverse its restrictions allowing the 3-year-old to only be alone with her mother or during daycare. This meant Holliday could not use a babysitter and was forced to bring her daughter to after-hours work functions.
Holliday said she was told her investigation was dragged out because one of her case workers was new and Holliday could have coached her 3-year-old to say she was bitten by another child.
Holliday laughed at thought saying: “I can’t even get this 3-year-old to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ for anything. I have to remind her every day.”
Both lawsuits from Holliday and Schulkers allege that language used on the prevention plans exactly matches the language required for the cabinet to receive federal funding for investigations.
“If the investigation is terminated, they quit receiving the funding. In our mind, that explains why the cabinet may have kept this open for two months,” said attorney Paul Hill when Schulkers’ suit was filed. “If that was done to this family for money from the federal government, it’s pure evil.”
Cabinet officials have said they will comment on ongoing litigation, but in a motion to dismiss Schulkers’ case they state no charges were filed against Schulkers and reiterated that she consented to the investigation by signing the plan.
“Not to downplay the fears or anxiety of a parent investigated for abuse or neglect, the CPS workers here were simply doing their jobs,” the motion states. “If CPS workers are constrained from investigating reports of possible child abuse…even more children in Kentucky will die or nearly die in the future.”
However, Hill argues if his lawsuit isn’t at least allowed to continue there is “literally no accountability to the Cabinet workers.”
“It would mean that the Cabinet has carte blanch to investigate anyone and continue the investigation well past the point where innocence is proven,” Paul said. “They could do it out of spite or jealousy or if someone rubbed them the wrong way. They could even do it to defraud the Federal Government..”
