adopted through the foster-care system, alleged that the Bartons used food as punishment and that they used "bending back of the thumb" as punishment.
On June 5, 2017, the Bankses filed a petition to adopt P.S.
On August 11, 2017, DHS sent the Bartons a letter stating that while it appreciated the Bartons' many years of service as foster parents, their home would be officially closed on August 11, 2017, for the following reasons:
- Using food as punishment,
- Complexity of care of the adoptive child and the concerns you mentioned with the child during the child maltreatment investigation,
- The Department found the neighbor to be credible and the adoptive child was fearful,
- The Department does believe that the bending back of the thumb is taking place in the home,
- The Department does believe that the Bartons have spanked the foster child.
It is undisputed that the language of this letter neither referenced the adoption case nor mentioned the Bartons’ adoption petition or DHS’s denial of consent to that petition. The letter was sent from a DHS office in Little Rock, not the local county office with which the Bartons had been communicating regarding their adoption petition.
On August 18, 2017, the court-appointed special advocate (CASA) filed a CASA court report in which he stated that "This CASA respectfully recommends adoption [of P.S.] by the Barton family." The CASA report stressed that P.S. is only four years old and needs permanency. The CASA stated that he had concerns that the Bankses would allow P.S.'s biological parents, whose rights had been terminated, to have access to the child, emphasized that P.S. should not have any contact with her biological parents, noted that Mrs. Canerday-
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