June 8, 2018, marks the one-year anniversary of Baby Steffen’s death. Photo source – Reunite the Rivenburgs Facebook page.
by Health Impact News/MedicalKidnap.com Staff
Friday, June 8, 2018, marks the 1-year anniversary of the tragic death of medically kidnapped Baby Steffen Rivenburg at Vanderbilt Hospital, under the care of Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS). His big sister, Annalise, remains in foster care and DCS is, again, trying to terminate parental rights.
There will be a march and candlelight vigil in Baby Steffen’s honor on Friday, June 8th, at the Nashville State Capitol building, followed by a Saturday afternoon event with several speakers discussing judicial accountability, family integrity, and other issues important to families. The public is invited to attend.
Baby Steffen’s story was one of the most heart-wrenching stories that we have covered at Health Impact News, and there still remains no justice for the family.
At times, over the past year, it appeared that Annalise might be coming home.
The family is still fighting to bring Annalise home. Photo source – Reunite the Rivenburgs Facebook page.
However, about 2 weeks ago, the family received a letter in the mail telling them to be in court on Monday, June 11, because DCS intends to file to terminate parental rights and accuse parents Steffen Rivenburg Sr. and Patricia Thornberg of “dependency and neglect.”
See their original story:
Medically Kidnapped Baby Scheduled for Execution TODAY!
The grounds to TPR remain the same as they were in the beginning. As we reported in the first article:
His parents missed 3 doctors appointments due to car troubles. Each one was rescheduled. One of these was for a voluntary visit with a Down Syndrome clinic.
Annalise missed some school in the meantime. Patricia and Steffen Sr. were in the process of searching for an “umbrella school” – a homeschool cover school that they could use in order to legally homeschool in the state of Tennessee. They recognized that the baby’s heart condition and upcoming surgeries created conditions under which homeschooling would work better for their family.
We spoke with grandmother, Lisa Rivenburg, who is the unofficial spokesperson for the family. She said that, though the parents have done everything that has been asked of them by DCS, Annalise is still not home. The family is devastated by the letter.
Annalise crying with her mother at Baby Steffen’s funeral. Photo source – Reunite the Rivenburgs Facebook page.
They currently have no attorney. They have talked with many possible attorneys, but without money, no one will take the case. Most lawyers told them that they “don’t handle” DCS cases.
They recently found one attorney who sounded very confident that he could get Annalise back, until they discussed money. He needs $4,500 to represent them. They don’t have it. Lisa tearfully told us:
There’s nothing else to sell.
The Rivenburg family is facing what many families face when their children are taken by the system – they do not have the money to fight the system, a system that has unlimited funding at its disposal, paid for by tax dollars.
This is a major reason that the poor are disproportionately represented in the numbers of families whose children are taken away from them to be placed in foster care and/or adopted out to strangers. They simply don’t have the money to fight back.
They want to file a malpractice lawsuit based on the results of Baby Steffen’s private autopsy, but they cannot find an attorney willing to go pro bono against Vanderbilt and DCS.
Court on Monday, June 11th, will be before the same judge who ruled that Baby Steffen could be taken off of life support over the wishes of his parents, Judge Wayne Shelton of the Montgomery County Juvenile Court in Clarksville, Tennessee.
It will take a miracle to bring justice to this heartbroken family and bring Annalise home.
March and Candlelight Vigil on Friday, June 8th, in Nashville at 2 p.m.
From the Tennessee JAM (Judicial Accountability Movement) for Families Facebook event page:
Baby Steffen Rivenburg was killed while in DCS custody June 8, 2017. This event has been scheduled to coincide with the anniversary of his tragic death. His story was covered extensively by Terri LaPoint on MedicalKidnap.com –
We are planning to meet up [in] downtown Nashville at 2:00 p.m. Friday, June 8, and march on the sidewalk on Charlotte Pike from the Supreme Court Bldg. 401 7th Ave. N, Nashville, to the Capitol, to the Historic Courthouse then across the Woodland Street Bridge to the Juvenile Justice Center 100 Woodland St., Nashville, 37213.
At 8:00 p.m. June 8, we will be having a candlelight vigil in remembrance of Baby Steffen and all the people who have died or who live in constant pain because of judicial corruption. We can reconvene at the sidewalk between Legislative Plaza and the Capitol Building.
I want this to not only be a remembrance of a tragic death, but also a celebration of family.
Photo source – Reunite the Rivenburgs Facebook page.
According to the organizers of the event:
What happened to Baby Steffen was the most horrible abuse by court order I have ever heard of. People need to understand what happened and that we have to rein in the judges.
Lisa Rivenburg requested that supporters wear blue and yellow, in honor of Down Syndrome.
More information about Friday’s events can be found at the Facebook event page – Nashville March on the TN Capitol and Candlelight Vigil here.
Saturday Educational Event
Tennessee JAM (Judicial Accountability Movement) will be hosting a free event the following day, which will bring together speakers involved in various aspects of the family rights movement. The public is invited to attend.
One of the speakers is Lisa Belanger, a Massachusetts attorney and contributor to Health Impact News on the topic of the medical kidnapping of senior citizens and guardianship abuse.
She began her fight against this corruption when her own father was medically kidnapped. While she still fights for him, she now fights for other families and has become a leading voice on the topic of adult medical kidnapping.
Attorney Lisa Belanger. Photo source.
See:
Massachusetts Senior Citizen and Attorney Medically Kidnapped – Estate Plundered – Represents National Epidemic
Adults Medically Kidnapped: 3X More than Children in Foster Care – $50 BILLION in Assets Seized
Tennessee JAM For Families has issued a press release about the event:
Date- June 9, 2018
Time–12:30-4:30
Location-Nashville Public Library, Goodlettsville Branch,
2025 Rivergate Pkwy, Goodlettsville, TN 37072
The purpose of the event is to support family integrity and strong communities by identifying and exposing problems in our judicial system and other areas of government, and by developing and implementing solutions to those problems. We encourage citizens of all ages to join us in our efforts to effectively address these issues that, either directly or indirectly, affect us all. Our collaborative efforts echo the timeless lessons by Dr. Martin Luther King,
“Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war.”
This event is “family friendly” and there will be childcare and activities available for young children and light refreshments will be served.
Presenters:
-Terri LaPoint, from Alabama, is a passionate advocate for families and for pro-life issues. She writes for Medical Kidnap, a division of Health Impact News, working to reunite families and expose injustice that is destroying families all across America. She is a contributing author to the book, Medical Kidnapping: A Threat to Every Family in America. http://www.MedicalKidnap.com
-Lisa Belanger, Attorney-at-Law from Massachusetts, addressing court interference in the relationships between adult children and their elderly parents, or the “medical kidnapping” of adults. http://www.FreeMarvin.com
-Victoria Onorato From Chicago, IL., Victoria Onorato will be speaking on judicial corruption that is destroying our families and our country; how we need to work together to protect our children and stop the judicial abuse; and how to encourage reunification and healing. http://www.FamilyLegalActionFoundation.com
-Connie Reguli, Attorney-at-Law, LawCare Family Law Center in Brentwood, TN, http://TennFamilyFaw.com/ and founder of the Family Forward Foundation, which is a national organization dedicated to the rights of familial integrity, and the rights of parents and children to be free from unreasonable intrusion of the government, as protected by the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Connie will be speaking on “How Federal Funding Corupts the Child Welfare System” and “Advocacy In Child Welfare and Family Courts” https://FamilyForwardFoundation.com
-Tammy Bennett-Daughtry, MMFT, is the Founder and CEO of Co-parenting International, Nashville, TN, launched in January 2004 as a resource to address the critical impact of co-parenting on children of divorce. Since 2004, co-parenting seminars, evening classes, newsletters and one-on-one sessions have helped change thousands of lives.
Co-Parenting Works! Working Together to Help Your Children Thrive is Tammy’s newest book on the critical topic of co-parenting.
https://CoParentingInternational.com/
-Jay Daughtry, MMFT (Center for Modern Family Dynamics) from Nashville–will be speaking on GRIEF AND LOSS
The Center for Modern Family Dynamics is a counseling-based organization committed to the restoration, support and edification of individuals and families. We offer mental health services, products and seminars to adults, children, and families; we also focus on pre-marital therapy, single parent support, remarriage and stepfamily, divorce adjustment, and co-parenting between mom’s house and dad’s house. http://ModernFamilyDynamics.com/
-Brian Kinter (JAM Judicial Accountability Movement) from Ohio. The Judicial Accountability Movement (hereafter, “J.A.M.”) Is a professional, politically neutral, national activist organization headquartered in Springfield, Ohio. The J.A.M. work towards accountability of and from our judiciary, in a concerted effort educating everyone on equal gender rights and a system of fairness that benefits all, by ensuring a fair, unbiased, competent and responsible judicial system. https://www.facebook.com/groups/jam2016/about/
-Mattie Shay Mitchell, Nashville, TN, with Liam Changed the World, Their Mission: To fund medical bills for sick children in hospitals, and provide basic hospital needs. They will also fund funerals, flowers, and headstones for children who pass away. http://www.LiamChangedTheWorld.com
-Lydia A Hubbell, Nashville, TN, Facilitator. Working to help bring people of all ages together to restore and maintain the integrity of the legal system and to support the right of families to be free from unwarranted government interference. Tennessee JAM (Judicial Accountability Movement) TennJAM.com and CCLJA (Children Campaigning for Liberty and Justice in America) CCLJA.org
Musical Guest
Joyce the Voice, a singer/songwriter from CT, writes a mixed genre of songs to Live, Love, Laugh and Protest by. She has dedicated about 1/3 of her songs to be for the promotion of the Family Rights movement and for healing of herself and for others. She is co-administrator of the Facebook group, with Lydia A. Hubbell, called “Music and Arts for Parental Rights and Alienated/Foster Care Children”.
For more information, see the Facebook event page here.
Join the Discussion