Couples say DCFS wrongfully took their newborns over false allegations
Two couples said they are still fighting to get their children back after they were taken from them just hours after their birth.
The reason they said was because of paperwork they didn't understand. Now, they're saying the problem needs to be fixed.
Hours after Lakeith and Mykel Ray welcomed their baby boy into the world on Jan. 3, the Department of Children and Family Services came to take him.
When they wouldn't hand him over, an officer from the Peru Police Department eventually took him from Mykel's arms.
"It was just ... heartbreaking," Mykel said. "I was not able to breastfeed. I wasn't able to bond."
The Rays said it all stemmed from a DCFS hotline call six years ago when their older children were removed from their home to investigate an allegation. They wanted a hearing, but their public defender told them they needed to agree to a "stipulation," meaning accept certain facts and findings as true without requiring the state to prove them or risk losing their children permanently.
"We didn't find out until years later that stipulating our rights meant pleading guilty, and we were never guilty of anything," Mykel said.
They said they never even saw a piece of paper with allegations spelled out.
"We wouldn't have been in this situation. Our kids would have been home. This case would have been over with ... years ago," Lakeith said.
It's hard to fathom this feeling, but another couple from Wisconsin doesn't have to imagine it.
"I haven't seen him since August," said Nita P.
Nita and Earl's newborn baby boy was also taken from them in a Harvey hospital in August. They were just traveling through Illinois when Nita went into labor.
The baby was taken due to allegations of possible drugs in the baby's system, an allegation that was later contradicted by further testing.
"It felt like, you know, like we was in another country, like, like, this couldn't possibly be America," Earl T said. "I just seen the front page and I'm thinking it's a regular court paper."
Both said that if they had not agreed to this, knowingly or unknowingly, they would have their son.
"Because we knew what they were saying was false from the beginning," Nita said.
"Parents are just kind of signing off on these allegations without fully realizing it," said Rep. Jed Davis (R-Yorkville).
Davis called this a "due process crisis."
"This isn't just a traffic ticket. This is a child and a parent," he said.
Davis introduced House Bill 5254 to overhaul it. The legislation would require each allegation be listed separately and individually acknowledged by the parent.
"Let's not skip things that can clearly help rectify situations that were wrongfully placed in the beginning," he said.
Meanwhile, both couples are still actively fighting for their kids, knowing it will be a long and complicated road.
"We have to bring the knowledge to what's wrong in the system," Lekeith said. "It's ripping families apart and taking kids from their families."
CBS News Chicago reached out to DCFS for the agency's input on the proposed changes to the stipulation process. A spokesperson said they're reviewing and monitoring the bill and do not have a position at this time. The bill was introduced this month and referred to the rules committee for further discussion.