Chris and Michelle Ballard with Jasmine (3) and Derrik (1)
Michelle Ballard wants to hold her grandchildren again, and she wants to care for them. On July 9, 2009 her daughter Tasha was shot and killed by her son-in-law, John Norris. Although Norris is in jail for involuntary manslaughter, Social Services of San Luis Obispo County insists on placing the children with strangers instead of with the children’s grandparents. The Ballards, who have always been loving and loyal grandparents, are at their wits’ end—Social Services refuses to place the children with them even temporarily while Norris is in jail on a charge of manslaughter and facing a possible murder investigation.
Custody of Jasmine Norris (3) and Derrik (1) have been given to a friend of Norris, Amanda Carter. “When I picked the children up for a visitation, Jasmine was calling the caregiver ‘Mommy’,”
Tasha was employed by Rome Research Corp. as a member of the Satellite Communications team at Camp Roberts, California. Specialist John Aaron Norris, who prefers to be called “Damien”, is also an active duty soldier in The United States Army.
Warned to Avoid the Media
Both the military and San Luis Obispo (SLO) social workers have warned the Ballards repeatedly not to go to the media. “But we’re at the end of our rope; we’re just about ready to give up,” said Chris Ballard, with tears in his eyes. “No one is listening to us—we don’t where to turn.”
According to the Ballards, after months of grief, frustration and thwarted efforts to gain even temporary custody, they contacted the Sacramento head office of Social Services, where child welfare representatives expressed shock that the children had not been placed with them. Still, each county is allowed to make its own determination in such cases, and the Ballards were told only that “SLO County does things differently”
Cases of grandparental custody are influenced by the Troxel vs. Granville decision of 2000, which diluted grandparental rights in favor of parental rights. However, in this case John “Damien” Norris is in jail for manslaughter, facing a probable murder investigation, and he has asked to have his children placed with a friend in the military only to make it easier for him to reunite with the children later. “Jasmine is not even his daughter,” says Michelle. “The only child he ever asks about is his son Derrik.” Jasmine is Tasha’s daughter by a former relationship.
A Child’s Best Interest?
Michelle Ballard is concerned about Jasmine’s mental and physical health and wants Jasmine to see a child therapist to help her deal with her confusion and grief. “But Social Services simply says they are working it. And yet Amanda Carter was able to enroll her in a gymnastics class.”
According to the Ballards, Norris is concerned that his son will start calling Chris, who is the children’s step-grandparent, “Daddy” before he can be reunited with his infant son—and so he refuses to give the Ballards power of attorney, guardianship, or physical custody of either child. Apparently Norris has no objection to the Ballards other than his own fear of the immediate and long-term future, and fear of damage to the relationship with his infant son.
In the meantime, SLO County’s interpretation of Troxel vs. Granville has come under criticism by friends and neighbors of the Ballards. “I read the California Code,” says a neighbor who wishes to remain anonymous, “and their interpretation is not only dead wrong, it’s obnoxiously wrong. Obviously, there has been the death of one parent, and I would say that having the father in jail for manslaughter constitutes ‘dire circumstances’
The situation is particularly questionable as Amanda Carter and her husband will be restationed out of state in February.
Michelle Ballard pleads, “I want my grandchildren in my care. I want to be able to hold them whenever I want, I want them to know how special their mother was. I want them to grow up knowing where they came from and what their heritage is. I am not a grandparent who was not involved in their lives. I was there for them as soon as possible after they were born, and my husband and I made countless trips from our home in Kansas to their homes both in Arizona and California. I have thousands of pictures and many delightful stories. I have opened my home, my heart, my life to everyone during this tragedy. I want to provide a stable and loving home environment for my grandchildren. As the maternal grandmother of Jasmine and Derrik, I am in despair and quite frankly at my wits’ end. I don’t know what to do next.”
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
