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LAYTON, Utah (AP) -- Connie Roska believes her lawsuit against the state Division of Child and Family Services and caseworkers who took away her son has helped to change DCFS.
On May 28, 1999, caseworkers took then 12-year-old Rusty from Connie and James Roska. They believed he suffered from Munchausen syndrome by proxy. The syndrome is a disorder in which parents, usually the mother, fabricate symptoms for their children and put them through unnecessary medical tests and sometimes medical procedures, to get attention.
"We wanted someone to acknowledge they did something wrong and make sure no other family went through what we went through," Roska said of the lawsuit.
Roska said that before her son's removal, she had taken him to the University of California Los Angeles Pain Clinic and to Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City. Rusty suffered from unexplained pain, she said. Doctors eventually decided he suffered months of debilitating pain from a leaking gall bladder.
Rusty was returned to his family a week after his removal. He is now 19 and works a full-time job, although there are times he has health problems.
On Feb. 9, the 10th U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that three caseworkers in Rusty's case can be held personally liable for his removal from his home.
Appeals Judge Michael R. Murphy said caseworkers should have done more to help the couple keep their son, and neglecting to do so, especially after the boy's doctor warned removal would be harmful, violated Utah law.
"Because of my lawsuit, they have to have a warrant before they take a child out of a home and they have to go through due process -- in other words, go to court first -- unless there is an emergency situation," Roska said.
Carol Sisco, spokeswoman for the Department of Human Services, said the changes were in the process of being made when the Roska case occurred.
She said DCFS does things differently from seven years ago.
"There are far more warrants used than we used to do. It is a different system in place than then," Sisco said.
The Utah attorney general has filed a petition asking that all 15 judges of the 10th Circuit rehear the Roska case. Steven Russell, the Roskas' attorney, said that could take some time because there is no deadline.
The Roskas are hoping a jury eventually will hear their case.
As for how long the Roskas plan to hang on, "Oh, at least 30 to 40 years," Russell said.
Roska helped organize the Utah Families Association, a volunteer group that helps people who believe they have been frivolously or falsely accused of child abuse.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
