When a mother signed up to fight for her country she didn’t realize that she’d also have to fight for her children.
In hopes of being able to provide for her family, Amanda Hurst joined the military in 2009. At the time, according to the Daily Mail, she was married to the father of her two children. The family of four moved from Florida to Fort Drum, New York where she attended training before being deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
While she was serving overseas, Hurst left her two children in the care of her then husband. Unfortunately, shortly after her deployment, she was told that she needed to make alternate living arrangements for her children because her husband had had several stints in jail.
She returned home briefly and granted her stepmother guardianship over the kids. But shortly before her honorable discharge in 2013, her stepmother became estranged from the rest of the family and moved the children from Florida to New Jersey.
There the children developed emotional problems which, according to Department of Children and Families, warranted their removal from the stepmother’s home and placement in foster care.
All the while, Hurst was overseas doing her best to provide for her family.
“I chose to stay in the military because as a single mom, it was a way for me to provide for them,” she said.
Now back from deployment, Hurst is battling to get her children back.
Image Credit: Screen Shot News 13
According to ABC 7, court documents indicate that so long as Florida can provide the same protections and services as New Jersey can/has been providing, then the children belong in their mother’s custody.
“The judge has previously said, and restated today, that the best place for these children is with their mother,” said Hurst’s attorney.
“All we’re waiting for now is the two departments in New Jersey and Florida to start talking to one another, and then we can get these children home.”
While the Department of Children and Families has the authority to investigate any allegations of abuse that occurred in Florida, court documents show that there have been no reported incidents of abuse or neglect.
“I’m not an unfit mother,” Hurst told News 13. “Before I joined the military, my only crime was [being] poor… I was uneducated.”
She adds that she’s already missed so much of her children growing up, and she refuses to miss out on anything else.
Image Credit: Screen Shot News 13
Though interstate compacts on the placement of children — like the one here between Florida and New Jersey — can take eight to nine months, Hurst is hoping that her children will be returned to Florida within the next thirty days.
And on the day that she is finally able to see her children again, it will be a heartfelt reunion for Hurst.
“I hope that one day when they are older, they understand that mom didn’t give up,” she said.
Another hearing has been set up by judges in both Florida and New Jersey for September 22, 2015. At that time an update will be given as to if and when the children will be returned to Hurst.
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http://www.ijreview.com/2015/08/398464-vet-left-kids-with-stepmom-while-she-fought-for-her-nation-she-returned-to-learn-a-disturbing-truth/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=header-mobile&utm_campaign=Sharing
Posted By: Jeni Fa
Saturday, August 29th 2015 at 3:46PM
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