I’ve spent the last several hours reading the saga of Maryanne Godboldo, the Detroit mother who had her 13 year old daughter removed from her care and was taken into custody by police after a long stand-off between her and the police. She wasn’t being pursued because she was a criminal or was abusing her child. She was reported to Child Protective Services by a child psychiatrist who reported her for weaning her daughter off of the anti-psychotic medication, Risperdal, and the 12 hour stand-off occurred when she refused to let a CPS worker and police officer into her home to take custody of her daughter.

Ms. Godboldo’s daughter, Ariana, was born with a foot deformation that required her leg be amputated when she was very young. Ms. Godboldo homeschooled her daughter until she reached middle school age, when Ariana wanted to attend school with other children. Vaccinations are required for admission to school, so Ms. Godboldo had her daughter receive a round of the usual childhood immunizations. She observed that, not long afterwards, Ariana started exhibiting facial tics, increased irritability, and other mood symptoms. She took her daughter to a medical clinic, where doctors diagnosed her with psychosis NOS and prescribed Risperdal. 

Ms. Godboldo reported that Ariana’s symptoms worsened on the medication, and decided to wean her daughter off the psychiatric medication and take a diet and holistic approach to treating her daughter. She didn’t do this in a vacuum. She consulted other doctors who reported that Ariana was improving without Risperdal. But the prescribing doctor wasn’t happy. He reported to CPS that taking Ariana off of the med was reckless and endangered her. And on that word alone, Detroit CPS got a warrant to remove Ariana from Ms. Godboldo’s custody. But she wasn’t having it. She barricaded herself and her daughter in her home, and refused to open to them. There is some debate as to whether Ms. Godboldo fired a gun at police during the confrontation. She finally agreed to let them in when they promised Ariana would be taken to the care of a relative. She wasn’t, and Ms. Godboldo was arrested. 

That was nearly three months ago. Since then, Ms. Godboldo has been embroiled in an intense court battle against CPS to regain custody of her daughter. Ironically, CPS never gave Ariana Risperdal while in their care, and a medical expert told the court there was no need to medicate the girl as she is not in any type of psychiatric emergency. Earlier this month, Ariana was released from a CPS facility into the custody of her aunt, under stern orders from a judge. But Ms. Godboldo still fights to regain custody of her daughter. 

We’ve all heard reports of parents losing custody of children for withholding treatment for life-threatening conditions and diseases. But that is not this case. A doctor, who couldn’t even come up with a definitive diagnosis, took it upon himself to prescribe a psychotropic medication to a child and didn’t listen when that child’s mother – her primary care giver, with her day and night – reported that her symptoms worsened on the medication. Having a doctor who isn’t collaborative with us – we’ve all experienced that to one degree or another – is bad enough. But in a time when many doctors won’t acknowledge mental health conditions in children, hearing of this case makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Ms. Godboldo wasn’t withholding treatment from her daughter – quite the opposite. She had reservations about the diagnosis and treatment prescribed and sought out other professionals and alternative treatments to assist her daughter. Ms. Godboldo is the kind of mother we all try to be. She shouldn’t be punished for it, and neither should Ariana.  

What would you have done, if you were Ms. Godboldo? Do you think treatment/medication should always be the parent's choice, or is there any situation in which it's ok for Child Protective Services to step in?