I decorated disabled veteran. My, two autoimmune diseases, and fibromyalgia.

My wife and I have been

married for 24 years. She battled stage 2 rectal cancer for the past two years. We are victims of chemical
contamination on a military installation.

Our involvement with the Waukesha County court System started in July of 2017. We took in 2 of my
wife’s second cousins Adalyn (12) and Jazmine (10). They were severely abused and living in a drug
house. Our niece Geni had been sentenced to prison for 8 yrs. She is the victim of lifelong drug addiction
and their stepfather had just died. No one would take them in and the girls were in danger of going into
foster care. Adalyn had been mauled by a pit bull and was on antipsychotic medications for severe
emotional and physical outbursts. The girls were severely infested with lice. When we picked them up,
they were filthy, had rags for clothes, and had no shoes.

Waukesha County DCFS helped facilitate guardianship for the two oldest girls. Social worker Margaret
Johnson and the GAL Joseph Alioto for almost a whole year conducted extensive home visits and
interviews with the children. The GAL Joseph Alioto had every opportunity under Wisconsin State
Statute 54.40(4)(e) to request that the court order medical, psychological, and any other evaluations
deemed necessary. The GAL Joseph Alioto never deemed it necessary to request medical or
psychological evaluations for my wife and I. We were awarded temporary and permanent guardianship
by the Waukesha county courts. My wife and I were individually awarded guardianship of Adalyn and
Jazmine. It is important to point out that even if my wife and I divorced we both would be responsible
for emotionally, financially, and physically taking care of the children. Also, the court granted me equal
custody of all five children with all my disabilities. We also have two special needs children of our own
Dillon and Noah.

When the court granted us custody of the two girls, we were living in a two-bedroom apartment with
all 5 children. We had no vehicle and was surviving on 35,000 dollars per year. We received no help
except Medicaid for the children and us when they granted us guardianship of the girls. The point I am
making here is that DCF should have looked at the situation and realized that although we meant well
taking the girls, they had too many issues and were too much for our family to take on. It is important to
also note that the individuals that granted us the guardianship of the girls, are the same individuals that
are trying to take our children away from us (SW Margaret Johnson, GAL Joseph Alioto, Corporate
Counsel Christopher Morgan, Judge Lloyd V. Carter).

We moved to Alabama in March 2018, for six weeks. We were under a lot of stress. Our family was in a
lot of transitions. We were staying in an extended stay hotel. We had a house lined up. The girls were
severely acting out and my wife’s parents were very ill. Due to all the stress, my wife and I were having
marital problems. We had gotten into an argument and the police got called. DCF was alerted because
we had five special needs children and I was disabled. A social worker from Alabama CPS came out to
see and visit with our family DCF DCF forced us back to Wisconsin. They prevented my wife from being
around the children and me. They left me homeless with 5 children and between paydays. They also had
forced me to leave my electric wheelchair behind in Alabama, which was my mobility. I placed the girls
in temporary foster care. What has transpired since our children have entered foster care has been
devastating. Our children have suffered severe emotional trauma and physical abuse in broken foster
care system. There have been laws broken. Biases and prejudices taken.
Our experience with the foster care system began in May of 2017. It began with a court hearing to place
our three girls into a temporary foster care placement. At the hearing corporate council had us leave our
two boys out in the play area while the court hearing took place. They told us that the social workers
would keep a eye on them so we could concentrate on the hearing. They lied to us and snatched our
boys into protective custody without even letting us say goodbye to them. We were not allowed to brief
the foster parents of their disabilities. Both of our children are special needs. Our oldest boy wound up
being placed with the girls and our youngest boy was placed with a single mom with a eight year old
boy. We did not get to see our children for the first time for almost a month from when they entered
foster care. The American Bar Association has put policies and procedures in place to safe guard children
3 years old and younger entering into the foster care system. It was created to address the high levels of
trauma that children 3 years old and younger experience when entering the foster care system. The
polices and procedures outlined the need for frequent contact with the parents the first two weeks
entering into the system regardless of the situation, to reduce the catastrophic trauma on the child;
especially with children with speech disorders because they cannot express their feelings verbally. Our
oldest son slept in a crawl space for almost a month in foster care and had day terrors. He was also
physically assaulted by our oldest girl; the foster parents took her off her antipsychotic medication
against her doctor’s advice. She had hit our son so hard in the testicles that he had severe pain when
urinating and had difficulty walking. Our son Dillon is autistic. He was diagnosed with PDD-NOS
(Pervasive Developmental Disorder- Not Otherwise Specified) by WEAP (Wisconsin Early Autism Project)
in first grade and again in the last two years, the latest has diagnosed him with aspergers. He also has
ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and a severe short-term memory problem. Dillon also has fragile x
syndrome which is a disorder that is characterized by intellectual disabilities and developmental delays.
He also has loose ligament and joint syndrome and low muscle tone. Since entering the foster care
system and losing his whole family that he has ever known. He has severe depression, he has become a
cutter, and has anxiety problems.

Our son Noah has an expressive speech disorder due to hearing problems associated with inner ear
problems and his adenoids. He is also behind in his weight.

Results of Dillon’s initial screening entering foster care did not raise a concern for a developmental,
emotional, or mental health issue. Dillon has suffered physical and emotional abuse while in foster care.
Dillon suffered severe sunburn all over his body on several occasions along with excessive mosquito
bites all over his legs that were scabbed over. His pediatrician had reported Dillon was seen on multiple
occasions for excessive mosquito bites, Dillon has suffered day terrors on multiple occasions. His second
foster mom tried to give him her medication. While Dillon was under her care, he showed up at
visitations with his hair looking like it had not been washed in days, his clothes were dirty, he had
bleeding gums and his teeth were horrible. Dillon made statements that he was severely depressed and
could barely get dressed or out of bed. He also showed up at visitation with cuts all over his arm. He
stated he was cutting himself because he had uncontrollable anger. He threw his desk across the room
and slammed his head against a locker at school. He has never had any issues with anger. He also
reported that his foster mom and her family mocked and made fun of him. Dillon reported being
physically assaulted by his foster mom’s daughter. He stated that she scratched his back as she grabbed
him and slammed and mashed his face into the concrete ground. She was initially banned from the
residence, but a week later Dillon was forced to go to a movie alone with her after she apologized for
assaulting him. Dillon reported not going anywhere for months. During the six months he was at the
foster home he got to go somewhere only 5 times. He reported being given moldy bread on several
occasions and having to sneak food to eat. He reported there was never any milk and if there was, he
was told it was to only be used for cooking. We had to buy him all his clothes, shoes, fall and winter
jackets, underwear, socks, personal hygiene, and health care products. We also bought him food and
gave him money each week for personal wants. Dillon reported being struck in the head by his foster
mom regularly. The worst one he mentions to us was Donna had told him to bend over and proceeded
to beat him with a large hard cover book. The first blow he said was so hard it knocked him to the
ground. He reports everytime he sees a book he has flash Backs to the beating. The foster home he was
in was supposed to be a level 2 foster home- which means that the foster parent had specialized
training to handle special needs children. His foster mom was unable to clean her home or drive. His
foster mom was receiving 800 dollars a month for Dillon and received 1100 dollars a month on several
occasions. Although it was on court papers that the foster parents were supposed to arrange frequent
contact with his brother, Dillon has only gotten one skype phone call with his brother in the past year
and got to see him once per week for the other year in foster care. He was removed from the foster
home and placed 2 hours away from us and his brother. He had gone from having a mental health
therapist that he bonded with, seeing us and his brother once per week, family counseling once per
week, and psychotherapy once per week to having his therapist snatched from him, not getting to see
his brother, and only getting to have one 15 minute skype call with us in the past year. He reported to us
that his new foster parents threatened to put him and the other foster children he lived with in a
emergency shelter. He stated that the foster parents frisked him every time he would come home. He
also informed us that one of the foster children that he lived with smashed him in the face with a
basketball, drop kicked him, punched him in the face, and threatened him that if he told he would kill
him. He also reported that a foster child who lost both of his parents had had an episode and attacked
him. Dillon said his only defense was to bite him. Dillon has also reported that his current foster home
uses alarms on a frequent basis, including at night while he sleeps, which because of his autism the loud
noises of the alarm he is forced to urinate in a trash can and has to hold bowels movements for
unhealthy amounts of time. He reports that he get physically frisked all the time and the foster parents
and foster children will purposely mock him and touch him which because of his autism he does not like
to be touched by strangers. He reports that he only gets hand me down shoes and clothes. He also
reports in order to get to go out to eat and have any snacks he must work to get money to have them
while the foster parents bring over their grandchildren on a regular basis and give them whatever they
want and are given special treats and presents in front of the foster children. He reports that he has
been told that he will never get to go home and when he turns 18 he will be taken to court and found
incompetent and put him in a group home. DCF has refused to let Dillon have any of his personal
belongings from home. He has had to cut all ties from the only home and family he has ever known. We
have not been able to see Dillon in 12 months. Recent information from a family source close to the
oldest girl of my wife’s second cousins who had recently gotten to see Dillon, reported Dillon is
deteriorating rapidly in foster care. She reported Dillon looked really sick. She also stated that Dillon told
her he tried not to think about us because when he did, he would hurt himself. The department claims
1
investigations on the assaults on Dillon were conducted by the police department and were screened
1
out, we have proof that they did occur and Dillon reported the assaults to the police on several
occasions and they did nothing. We have been severely punished for requesting well child checks and
insisting on investigations to ensure Dillon’s safety. The last punishment on my wife and I was a
injunction for harassment for requesting a well child checks because of statements from Dillon that he
was being severely traumatized and abused. We had also given him a cell phone because his therapist
declared his mental health status was critical and he was deemed a flight risk to run away. He also
reports being put in a mental health hospital to deal with all this. We are currently not allowed to see
him till he is 18 yrs old. One of the worst things that has been done to Dillon is he says to deal with
everything, DCF has put him on medication that he says takes away all his emotion. He feels numb all
the time. He cant cry because he misses us and wants to go home. He can’t be happy. He just feels
numb.

Our son Noah’s initial screening entering the foster care system also showed no concerns for
developmental, emotional, or mental health issues. Noah has had a horrific time in foster care. He has
been placed in three different foster homes. He was snatched from his parents, snatched from his
brother and sisters, placed with strangers three different times, placed in three different schools, and
two different day cares. He did not gain a single pound in his first two years in foster care. He lost weight
several times. He has gained ten pounds in his current foster home but is still ten pounds under weight.
He has been sick constantly since entering into foster care. He had 2 surgeries while he has been in
foster care. Evaluations have reported that Noah has had severe emotional trauma. It was reported that
he would crawl up into a chair to sleep instead of his bed to feel the pressure from the back of the chair
to feel like someone was sleeping up against him like his brother would do when they slept together.
Noah and Dillon were bonded at the hip. They would go to bed in their beds and before the night was
through, they would be in the same bed together. It was also reported that Noah would grind his teeth
excessively when he slept. It is well known that grinding teeth when children sleep is a hallmark for
trauma and stress. Noah also would cry and scream and have to be pried from my wife and I’s arms at
the end of visits. He would act out physically the day after visits. With his first foster placement, he had
severe gouges on his elbows and knees. The department placed him with a single mother who was a
doctor who worked many hours per week trying to open her own practice. She had a eight year old son
of her own. He was removed from his first foster placement on emergency. It was never explained to us
why he was removed. His second foster care placement, Noah was placed in a family that had three
children of their own. The foster mom worked full time and went to school full time. The foster dad
worked full time. Noah was always dressed in clothes that were too small and old. He was always
covered in pet hair and dirty. All their children were of toddler age, so they required a lot of attention.
Noah had to compete for attention. Noah has been put in therapy for and diagnosed with an adjustment
disorder and an attachment injury due to all the foster placements he has had. He has episodes of
physical aggression towards others. He has had trouble managing his emotions. He is confused and
suffers mentally on who his mom and Dad is because DCF, foster parents, and his therapists have
allowed him to call all his foster parents mommy and daddy throughout his time in foster care. They
have also encouraged him and allowed him to call other foster members brother, sister, grand pa, and
grandma. Noah has had in foster care in 2 ½ years 4 different mommies, 3 different dads, 4 sets of
siblings, and 4 sets of grandparents. Which they now say along with the multiple placements, was the
cornerstone of the development of the disorder and they still are permitting it to occur. The department
has refused to allow family counseling throughout Noah’s foster care placements to address Noah’s
frequent questions like “why did we give him away” and “when can we be a family again” “why does he
have a new mommy and daddy, did we not take good care of him?”. Tactics such as forced parental
separation and parental alienation have been used to intentionally break the parental bond.

In the fall of 2017, a nightmare happened. I found out two things I was not on my son Dillon’s birth
certificate and the second I was not the biological father of either of my sons.

As it turns out Dillon’s birth mother was married at the time of Dillon’s birth. She has stated under oath
in court that she had not been with her husband for 10 years when Dillon was born, and she still insisted
that I was the father. She had told me she was divorced.

Although no father has stepped up in 16 years for Dillon and 5 years for Noah, the courts forced me to
take a DNA test.

The courts declared despite legal documents of custody and care for the children and legal paternity
acknowledgment forms signed, that my wife has no legal interest in either of our two boys and I am
Noah’s legal father and I have no legal interest in Dillon.

The courts and DCF have completely disregarded the extensive emotional bond with the children and
us. We took both of our sons home from the hospital and have had them since birth. We named both
children.

The courts and DCF have treated my wife horrifically. They have stated that she has no bond with our
children. Told her she is nothing to them. The foster parents and DCF have started making Noah call my
wife by her first name instead of momma and they have intentionally tried to keep the boys from having
a relationship with her

. They have also stated she is a drug addict and a baby stealer. They have forced her to attend court and
carry a lawyer; but she has not been allowed to say anything in her defense during court hearings-gag
order.

The courts have punished our children and us for the birth mothers’ actions. Both mothers declared me
as the father of their children and gave their children my last name. They both signed paternity
acknowledgement forms declaring me as their children’s father. They also enacted legal power of
attorneys giving custody and care powers to both my wife and me till the children turn 18. Noah’s birth
mother signed a legal Florida affidavit relinquishing her parental rights to my wife and freeing her of any
responsibility or liability to Noah. The courts have completely and intentionally and legally have
disregarded our legal paperwork. Dillon’s birth mother is flagged with Alachua County DCF. She had four
of her children taken from her and adopted out through DCF. She is not allowed to have any child in her
custody. My wife and I have had both children since birth, and we took both children home from the
hospital. It is a mothers’ civil liberty to have the decision on how she wants to have her child parented
and who she wants her child to be with. DCF in Wisconsin has forced the birth mothers into their
children’s lives despite their wishes. DCF has also attempted to bully and intimidate the birth mothers by
putting financial hardship on them and going against the birth mothers right to privacy. The courts also
ignored the fact that my wife and I fall underneath Wisconsin’s DEFACTO Parent law and Wisconsin’s
Third -Party Visitation Statute 767.245- step parent or person who has maintained a relationship like a
parent-child relationship. The court may grant reasonable visitation rights to that person if the court
determines that visitation is in the best interest of the child. Wisconsin Third -Party Custody Statute
767.24(3) is when both biological parents do not want to or are unable to care for the child. The court
may award custody to a non-parent. The courts should have made us first preference for guardianship if
they ruled against our legal papers due to the psychological bond that has been formed with Dillon over
16 years. I will argue that no child should be denied a father and mother. A father for entitlements to
inheritance, social security, and health care. A mother for a sense of security, love, affection, and
belonging. I should be Dillon’s legal father till a biological father comes forward, which one has not come
forward in 17 years. No one has not stepped forward for either of our children in 5 and 17 years. We
have been kept from making claims under these statutes because of allegations of simple neglect on my
wife and the questioning of my ability to parent withy my disabilities. Mind you I will state again less
than 3 months before our children got taken into custody the courts found us completely capable of
parenting 5 special needs children with one of us as having substantial disabilities. The courts have
violated the color of law- our civil right to due process- our right to trial. The courts have completely
disregarded our right to a trial to contest the allegations against us. My wife has been told that she has
no legal interest in either of our two sons, but she is on both power of attorneys for our children. It has
been stated by corporate council and the courts that our power of attorneys is not valid because the
witnesses were not disinterested. Laws vary from state-to-state regarding power of attorneys. Florida
state law states that for a power of attorney to be executed, two subscribing witnesses need to sign it
and a notary needs to notarize it. Corporate Council has also stated that none of our power of attorneys
were filed at the Florida Office of Vital Statistics. Florida law does not require power of attorneys do not
need to be filed anywhere. Also, the courts recognized the power of attorney for custody and care of my
wife’s youngest cousin Brittany. My wife had full parental rights of Brittany.

We have been given just one visit per week for two years. At one time we had five children competing
for parental attention in one and a half hour visit once per week which equals just 18 mins per child per
week. We have not had a meaningful experience with our children in 3 ½ years. With the gag order
injunction, we have seen our oldest son once in two years. We can’t get back all the missed holidays,
birthdays, and special events. We were told to walk away from both of our children.

My wife has been threatened to take a deal or be criminally prosecuted. One of her attorneys dropped
her the day of a court hearing to take the girls guardianships away and judge denied her legal
representation for the hearing.

During the 2 1/2 years our children have been in foster care, I have carried medical-dental-vision on
both of our boys. Through my military retirement, Dillon and Noah have their college paid for and they
h0ave the Montgomery GI Bill which will provide them money for living expenses while they are in
co0llege, they will also get to keep the full pell grant to cover living expenses as well. Both children get a
monthly living allowance, membership to a military credit union that will give them the best rates for
automobiles and mortgages, life and auto insurance, retirement, and special discounts only available to
credit union members. They also have full military installation privileges- BX and Commissary privileges,
recreational services, fitness gyms, youth and teen centers, bowling, movie theaters, vacation resorts,
water parks, playgrounds etc. Also if the boy’s disabilities prevent them from being able to provide
financially and take care of themselves, the military will take care of them for life. I also have 400,000
dollars in life insurance that will take care of the boys and my wife to set them up if anything happens to
me. The boys and my wife will receive 550 dollars per week from the military as well if anything should
happen to me. I have also recently secured a brand new 3 bedroom 2 ½ bath house in a military housing
program for my family for life, even if something happens to me. It gives my family a permanent home.

Nothing new has arose in the 2 ½ years since the children have been taken into custody. My wife and I
do not have a criminal record nor any previous CPS history. We also have had recent credit, criminal,
and Department of Defense background checks which we had to pass to get into military housing. We
have recently have recently went through a ICPC process to have our children come home, the process
for the ICPC is so extensive that it qualifies us to be foster parents in Mississippi. On 6/29/17 Alabama
DCF closed their case on us unsubstantiated/unfounded and the Dothan DA and police department did
not pick up the case or file charges. My wife has been called a drug addict because of physical features
she was showing, she wound up having stage 2 rectal cancer. She has taken multiple drug tests for the
Department and has not failed one. The tests were even sent chain of command to the lab. She also
made all her blood tests during her cancer treatment available to show that she used all the narcotics
she was on for her cancer responsibly, which no drug addict would be able to do. She also provided
proof that she was able to stop them when she no longer needed them twice. We made all our bank
statements for two years available to show we were responsible with our money and that we took care
of our children. We have been stable in the same residence for 3 years. It was found that my wife’s
cancer was caused by the same chemical contamination on the military installation that affected me. We
have taken 2 different state certified Triple P parenting classes for the age categories of our two boys.
My wife took a state of Wisconsin certified anger management class. We have set up an extensive
support network through my military retirement to help our family through any situations. My wife and I
have been attending couples counseling for 5 months to help us with support relationship wise due to all
the challenges we have had to face. I also see a therapist to help support me individually as well. We
have stated that we know we made some mistakes, and we have tried to meet conditions for the return
of our children for two years, while my wife has battled for her life, and I have faced the advancement of
my disease. We had one rough spot in our 24 years of marriage during one of the roughest times in our
marriage. Currently we are being threatened with criminal charges for our oldest son and family courts
are trying to terminate my rights to my youngest son. We are committed to helping families stay
together and to prevent all that has happened to us from happening to others. You are not alone! Our
organization is there for you and understands what you are going through. God bless you and your
families

Founders
Dennis Kowalczyk

P. Joanne Kowalczyk