AIDS Victim Kin Sues Over Foster Care

A Garden Grove woman, contending that Orange County officials removed two foster daughters from her home after learning that her mother had died of AIDS, filed suit Thursday in Los Angeles federal court against the county Social Services Agency, seeking reinstatement of her foster care license and $10 million in damages.

“I want my kids back and my life back together,” Cynthia Chinchilla said at a press conference in Los Angeles.

Her mother, Ruth, died last February after contracting acquired immune deficiency syndrome from a blood transfusion six years ago, according to the lawsuit.

The two foster daughters, ages 2 and 4, were sent to other homes in February, after Chinchilla’s mother died, and the county sent letters in April and May saying they would not be returned, according to the complaint.

Before those letters were sent, the suit says, the county demanded that Chinchilla take a test to determine whether she had been exposed to the AIDS virus. That test in March and a second in June were negative, but Chinchilla’s attorney, Marjorie Rushforth, said the county wants her to have another test in a few months.

‘Frozen by Hysteria’

“This appears to be a case of social workers frozen by hysteria, unable to see beyond the word AIDS ,” the Santa Ana attorney told reporters.

The lawyer called the county’s decision a “case of a perceived handicap: Because her mother died from AIDS, she is not fit to have foster children.”

Rushforth is working with the American Civil Liberties Foundation of Southern California on the case.

Chinchilla has received state disability benefits, stemming from “emotional problems,” since she was 18, Rushforth said. But she added that the county was aware of that when her foster care license was issued in April, 1986.

Moreover, Rushforth said, Chinchilla received excellent evaluations from the county before telling caseworkers that her mother had the fatal disease.

Lawrence Leaman, director of the Social Services Agency, said the lawsuit “unfolded suddenly--it blind-sided us.” He said he had not seen the suit and could not comment on specific allegations.

“We have been developing policies for dealing with foster children with AIDS, but we have not been dealing particularly with AIDS as it shows up among foster parents,” Leaman said.

Medical Tests Allowed

The agency has the authority to order certain medical tests to determine if the health of a foster child is at risk, he said.

In addition to the two girls who had lived with her, Chinchilla had provided day care for three small boys who are brothers; the county removed them from her care last month. In all, she had been receiving $1,700 a month from the county for caring for the five children.

At Chinchilla’s blue-and-white mobile home on Clinton Street, a pile of children’s toys stood unused in a corner Thursday afternoon. In an interview, she said that, because she has no children of her own and wanted to adopt a child someday, she decided to apply for county day care and foster care licenses last year. She has not had a foster child since Feb. 9.

“It’s very, very quiet now,” said Chinchilla, 40, fighting back tears. “I was usually up with the kids at 5:30 a.m. Now I sleep until 9:30 a.m.”

In November, 1986, Chinchilla’s mother became seriously ill and moved into the mobile home for about a month before returning to her own home in December, she said.

It was also in December that Chinchilla’s husband left her, Chinchilla said. “The only thing we knew about it (AIDS) was that she wasn’t contagious and we had nothing to fear, but he didn’t understand that,” she said of her husband’s departure. As a result, Chinchilla said, she was forced to file for bankruptcy in February.

“What hurts really is they take these kids out of their (real) homes because of some sort of abuse, and then they take them away and abuse me,” Chinchilla said.