Red tape snarls Mexican child cases Consul hopes DCFS deal will protect rights of parents

Four years ago, Mexican consular officials began pushing the statefor mandatory notification when custody cases involved Mexican-bornminors.

They wanted to be able to more quickly help Mexican families whosecases fall through the cracks because they don't speak English ordon't know the complex workings of the child welfare system.

A month ago, the Illinois Department of Children and FamilyServices and the Mexican Consulate in Chicago signed an agreementunder which DCFS will inform consular officials in writing within 10working days of taking custody of Mexican-born minors and minors withMexican-born parents. The agreement complies with the protectionsafforded to foreign nationals by the Vienna Convention on ConsularRelations.

Today, there are 42 unresolved custody cases in which there was nonotification by DCFS, or the agency took up to two years to tellconsular officials. Those cases precede the new agreement, which wassigned July 16.

"The process gets long and complicated when our Mexicancompatriots don't get our type of advice in their own language,"Mexican consul of protection Joaquin Pastrana said. "They don't knowthe legal system in this country, they don't understand theobligations that they have with the court and the DCFS, and theydon't communicate well with their lawyers."

In turn, those factors often delay the return of their children,Pastrana said, explaining the importance of the consulate gettinginvolved quickly.

The plight of 26-year-old Jose Z., a Mexican national who has beenbattling with DCFS to regain custody of his two small daughters since1998, provides a vivid example of the difficulties some face.

DCFS took custody of the two girls because of their mother'ssubstance abuse problems, but it didn't inform Mexican consularofficials until more than a year later.

Jose Z. was declared mentally retarded based on the results of apsychological examination he took in English, when his only languageis Spanish. He has spent up to seven hours a day driving to therapysessions that were required as part of the process to regain custody.

Also, his youngest daughter was said to have a disability thatwould make Jose Z. unfit to care for her, but that medical conditionnow is being questioned.

"For a long period of time Jose's rights were pretty muchignored," said his attorney, Diane Redleaf, who asked to omit herclient's last name. "The intervention of the Mexican Consulate inthis case has been critically important, particularly to get a newassessment of the youngest child's disabilities, which indicates thechild's diagnosis is in dispute."

His daughters were also "illegally" placed in a non-Spanish-speaking foster home from the start of the case, violating the 1978Burgos consent decree giving rights for Spanish-speaking families,Redleaf said.

DCFS Guardian Jean Ortega-Piron said she couldn't comment onspecific cases, but she acknowledged that improvements are needed.

"Certainly our department recognizes a need to get help for thesefamilies, and that is one of the reasons why we entered thememorandum of understanding with the Mexican Consulate," Ortega-Piron said. "There will be a change in rules and procedures to betterhelp these Mexican families. We are also redesigning our wholecomputer system so we can capture the specific lineage of thechildren."

About 6 percent of the 26,000 children in DCFS custody areHispanic, said Ortega-Piron, although she doesn't know how many areMexican-born or children of Mexican-born parents. DCFS has referredsome cases to the Mexican Consulate since the agreement was signedJuly 16, Ortega-Piron said.

Pastrana said he believes this consular notification agreementbetween DCFS and the Mexican Consulate is a pioneering deal. DCFS andconsular officials will meet three times a year to review theimprovements coming from the agreement.