It's Time to Bring Evelyn Bennett Home

The agency is A Child's Waiting. I prefer to think of them as "Laying in Wait for a Child." Their tactics are predatory and unfathomable: Stephanie Bennett deserves to be noticed. She deserves to be heard. Her story is heartbreaking, but sadly, no one feels obligated to right this wrong. Not the professionals at A Child's Waiting, not the adoptive parents who continue to fight to finalize the adoption of her stolen child, not law enforcement, not the judicial system; this tragedy must stop.

Baby Evelyn turns one on Tuesday, April 17th. Since last September she's been hidden by A Child's Waiting. Hidden from her mother and grandparents; sheltered by an agency that holds no claim to her.

Imagine for one moment, what you would do if your teenage daughter told you she was pregnant. Then imagine she gives birth to a daughter and the two return to your home for over five months. Then imagine how you would feel when your daughter and granddaughter disappear. Judy and Ranza Bennett have been living a scenario from this nightmare for the past seven months. Stephanie was eventually found. Baby Evelyn is still missing.

Now, compound the heartbreak you're feeling for these grandparents for a moment with the outrage that Baby Evelyn was literally coerced from Stephanie's fingertips by an adoption agency so desperate for her baby they were willing to deceive Stephanie, lie to her in order to steal her child, counseled her to run away from home ~ actions all condoned and organized by her high school guidance counselor, Thomas Saltsman of Glen Oak High School in Canton, Ohio.

Your minor child now has a child of her own and has spoken to a guidance counselor about options regarding adoption. He immediately hands her a brochure, schedules a meeting with an agency and finally signs his name to adoption documents on her behalf. Legally, your daughter can't smoke. She can't drink. She can't enlist in the military without your consent. She's barely old enough to drive. The state still considers her a child; she's protected by child labor laws. But she can have a baby, talk to an adoption agency, sign paperwork for her own daughter's behalf and a guidance counselor can wave a magic wand, and, *poof* your parental rights are thrown out the window. Because a school guidance counselor thought it was okay to let your daughter research adoption on her own.

Now, any ethical agency would have immediately raised the red flag. A true professional would have asked Stephanie Bennett the important questions that were there begging to be answered. She was being threatened by her baby's father. Her safety, as well as Evelyn's, was at risk. She, with her child's mind, was trying to solve an unsolvable situation the only way she knew how, by not involving her parents, which is a typical and expected behavior from a teenager. Especially one in crisis.

I don't know everything I need to know about this case. But I'm attaching a time line for you to read for yourself. Make your own opinion. Where does Evelyn belong? In my mind, which is the mind of an adoptive parent, I believe with all my heart she belongs with Stephanie. Period.

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November 2005 – Stephanie Bennett hides her pregnancy from her parents until three weeks prior to delivery.

4/17/06 – Stephanie delivers Baby Evelyn Joann Bennett and names her for her great-grandmother, her grandmother and her mother. Her plan is to raise the baby with her family's support. Both Stephanie and Evelyn are enrolled in Medicaid.


April 2006 - Believing she is protecting her family from threats of violence made by Evelyn's biological father, Stephanie deceives her parents regarding the paternity of her child. She leads them to believe the father is a school friend, someone with whom she has never had sex.

9/07/06 – After enduring five months of repeated and serious threats to her family’s health and safety, as well as emotional abuse from the putative father of her child; Stephanie approaches Thomas Saltsman, a guidance ounselor at Glenoak High School. Stephanie's original intent for the meeting is to discuss a schedule change, but during that time she mentions adoption. When Stephanie mentions adoption, Mr. Saltsman hands her a brochure from his desk for A Child’s Waiting Adoption Agency and arranges a meeting for the next day in his office.

9/8/06 – Stephanie signs initial paperwork that begins the adoption process during the meeting scheduled the previous day by Mr. Saltsman, who then documents the paperwork as a witness. This meeting, in Thomas Saltsman's office at the high school, is the only meeting between Stephanie Bennett and A Child's Waiting Adoption Agency until an agency employee arrives to take custody of Evelyn on 9/12/06. Stephanie is offered no counseling regarding the placement or relinquishment of her daughter, is not educated on the implications of the termination of parental rights, is not scheduled for any type of follow-up counseling regarding said relinquishment, nor is she offered solutions to find physical protection from Evelyn's biological father. During this one meeting at the high school guidance office an attorney was present as Stephanie’s “independent counsel” but Stephanie is not introduced to her as such.

9/12/07 - Per policy, Medicaid demands the name of Evelyn's father or a DNA test on any possible fathers. The young man that Stephanie claims as Evelyn's father in order to protect her family’s safety has his DNA tested. Stephanie is directed to bring Evelyn for DNA testing but does not comply. Directed by A Child's Waiting
Adoption Agency during the meeting in the school guidance counselor’s office, Stephanie is told not to undertake the DNA testing. They explain the involvement of a father in the proceedings will complicate things for the agency. Proven fathers have rights that require protection. DNA evidence is proof of paternity. Without definitive proof of paternity, the agency is not required by law to consult or notify a putative father.

9/12/06 – Stephanie runs away with Evelyn, as suggested by A Child's Waiting in the guidance counselor’s office, to Carroll County where Stephanie’s parents can not interfere in the surrender of Evelyn for adoption. A representative from A Child's Wating arrives to take custody of Evelyn Bennett.

10/2/06 – Judy and Ranza Bennett are awarded temporary custody of Baby Evelyn. They arrive at A Child's Waiting Adoption Agency in Copley Township in Summit County accompanied by the Copley Police. The agency tells the police they have spoken to a 17-year-old regarding adoption of a child, but that they could not do business with her while she was a minor. They explain neither child is at the agency.

10/16/06 - Judy and Ranza are notified by Canton police to appear in court on 10/17/06. They are not given a reason for their attendance.

10/17/06 – Judy and Ranza Bennett attend a court proceeding where Stephanie appears accompanied by A Child’s Waiting. Court places Stephanie into a Respite Home due to allegations of abuse made against Judy and Ranza Bennett. These allegations have been made by Evelyn's biological father, who has been threatening Stephanie and her family since Evelyn's birth. A case worker investigates the Bennett home for possible abuse of Stephanie and Evelyn.

10/18/06 – Stephanie runs away from the Respite Home and calls a friend. The friend contacts A Child's Waiting, whose representative advises him to take Stephanie to Family Court. While in court, Stephanie tells the judge that she wants to return home to her parents and her sister. The CPS lawyer confirms that no signs of neglect or abuse are present in the Bennett home. Evelyn’s pediatrician also testifies that he has no concern about Evelyn being in the home.

10/18/06 - Stephanie reveals the true father of Evelyn to her parents, who then attempt to find an attorney who will take the case.

12/31/06– Rick Armon’s article appears in the Akron Beacon Journal.

January 2007-. Paul Reiners is hired to represent Stephanie. He agrees to work on a pro bono basis, unless they win the case, as which time they will owe him standard fees.

1/19/07 - Stephanie arrives for a court proceeding in Summit County with Mr. Reiners and is not allowed into the court room. Paul Reiners advises her the Magistrate, Diana Stevenson, has issued a gag order for all parties involved in the case.

2/2/07 – A judge in Stark County rules that the custody order of Ranza and Judy Bennett is no longer in effect as another court ha precedence over the matter.

2/21/07 - Stephanie returns to court in Summit County for a determination hearing regarding the legality of Evelyn's surrender. The judge sets a ruling on this matter for March 27, 2007. Briefs for this hearing are given a deadline of March 23. Paul Reiners confirms he will have several witnesses subpoenaed including the putative father. He also had indicates he will depose Joe Soll to testify regarding the effects of the coercion, the loss of a daughter, and the psychological impact of the threats and the emotional abuse Stephanie has suffered. He does not follow through with any of his promises.

March 2007 – Paul Reiners is fired as legal counsel for Stephanie Bennett.

March 2007 - Attorney Jennifer Lowry is retained, who then obtains a continuance on the ruling by the judge as well as all previous court transcripts. She can find no evidence of any gag order on any party to the case. She still prefers to have Stephanie remain silent, as a matter of choice, and to protect her, but her parents and the attorney are not so bound.

April 2007 – The Bennetts obtain copies of the complaint filed against A Child's Waiting Adoption Agency in the matter of Stephanie Bennett. The agency is found to be non-complianct in numerous areas. A copy of the findings is attached. So far, no actions have been taken against the agency by the state of Ohio, despite their non-compliance.

4/8/07– Meeting with Jennifer Lowry. She is excited about the Bennetts having a copy of the complaint. Also has started to plan a reunification.

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Can you say T - R - A - V - E - S - T - Y?