Hope4KidZ
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 Children of the Underground
http://americanchildrenunderground.blogspot.com/
Children should not have to run away from America in order to escape child abuse.
The Courts get it Wrong!
Back in the US after 15 years of hiding with her mother, Jennifer Collins is relieved and grateful.
Her mother took her and her brother into hiding in the Netherlands 15 years ago when Jennifer and her brother showed up to their mother with bruises that were inflicted by their father.
Several doctors and psychologists agreed that it was unsafe for Jennifer to be at her father’s home, but the courts ordered her to be placed there anyway. Desparate to save her children from the crimes they were reporting to her, to social workers and their doctors, Jennifer’s mother Holly fled with her children. Holly hoped they could find a place that would not send the children back to be re-abused.
The Netherlands provided them with Human Rights Asylum for the last 15 years after an international court found it would be too dangerous for the children to return.
The FBI located them in 2006 and wanted to pursue federal kidnapping charges against her mother. The Netherlands would not extradite Holly who retains human right refugee status there. Those charges were later dropped.
Jennifer’s goal is to teach the public the dangers of not believing children who allege abuse, and the system failures of family court that order children like Jennifer to live in unsafe environments. She is in San Diego to present her story at the Institute on Violence Abuse and Trauma International Conference, along with psychologist Joyanna Silberg, Ph. D of the Leadership Council on Child Abuse & Interpersonal Violence., who will point out how her case is typical of system failures throughout the country.
Jennifer states, “I don’t’ want other children to have to suffer the way I have, and want people working in the courts to understand what abuse looks like in children."
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Jennifer Collins' mother Holly was forced to take her children to the Netherlands to escape their abusive father. Holly took Jennifer and her brother into hiding in 1994 after the children reported abuse by their father. Declarations from doctors, social workers and psychologists confirmed the children’s claims and recommended against the children being in their father’s care, but the family court judge ordered the children be placed in the father’s custody. Desperate to protect her children, Holly fled with them to the Netherlands, where they were provided with asylum after an international court found it would be too dangerous for the children to return, and Holly was declared a human rights refugee. When the FBI located the Collins in 2008 to pursue federal kidnapping charges against Holly, the Netherlands would not extradite, and the charges were later dropped.
Jennifer, now a 23-year-old psychology student, hopes to teach the public the dangers of not believing children who report abuse, and describe the failures of family courts to properly protect abused children. She says: “Children should not have to run away from America in order to escape child abuse.”
She was in San Diego on September 14 to present her story at the Institute on Violence, Abuse, and Trauma’s (IVAT) 13th International Conference. Collins was awarded a Medal of Courage by the California Protective Parents Association for her bravery in speaking out about her ordeal in order to help other abused children.
Eric Hickey, PhD, IVAT Board Chair of the Board and Director of the Center for Forensic Studies at Alliant International University, comments, “Jennifer’s story and that of her family illustrates the power of surviving domestic abuse. We welcome her to the IVAT Conference.”
Psychologist Joyanna Silberg, Ph. D, of the Leadership Council on Child Abuse & Interpersonal Violence, also presented at the conference, pointing out how the Collins family’s case is typical of system failures throughout the country.
Joyanna Silberg, Ph. D.Executive Vice-PresidentLeadership Council on Child Abuse & Interpersonal Violence
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9/18/2008, 8:21 am
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