Judge throws out lawsuit by parents of transgender teen held at Children's Hospital

Kevin Grasha | Cincinnati Enquirer

Hamilton County social workers acted appropriately when they supported Children’s Hospital’s decision to hold a transgender teen for a month without the consent of the teen’s parents, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Black's Nov. 15 order dismisses a lawsuit filed by the teen’s parents, who said Job and Family Services had violated their due process rights as well as state and federal conspiracy laws.

JFS “clearly has a strong interest in protecting children who are at risk,” Black said.

He said it is undisputed that the teen told JFS that he was being abused, that he suffered from depression and suicidal thoughts – and that doctors at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center determined he was not medically cleared to be discharged.

Black’s ruling comes nine months after a judge in Hamilton County Juvenile Court ruled against the parents, paving the way for the teen to begin hormone therapy.

The parents had sought to stop Children’s Hospital from beginning hormone therapy for the 17-year-old that would help him transition in gender. The teen’s attorney said the parents disputed his gender and his self-identity, and had made “reprogramming attempts.”

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That reprogramming, according to documents, included forcing the teen to sit in a room and listen to Bible scriptures for more than six hours at a time.

Despite the ruling in juvenile court, the parents continued to pursue the federal lawsuit, saying both the hospital and the county had denied their “liberty interest in family integrity.”

Black, in August, dismissed the hospital from the suit, which was filed in federal court in Cincinnati.

In November 2016, the teen was admitted to Children's Hospital's psychiatric unit after emailing a crisis hotline. He said he was experiencing transgender thoughts and that his parents “were unsupportive and abusive,” court documents say.

Based on what he told doctors, the hospital refused to return him to the custody of his parents and contacted JFS.

The hospital had given the parents a "welcome packet," that Black said included a guide that stated "Children's could tell parents that they were not to take their child home if Children's found it unsafe for the child."

The parents repeatedly tried to have the teen discharged, but documents say JFS had given clear recommendations to doctors "to not allow patient to be discharged to parents." The teen was released in December 2016 to his grandparents.

Black noted that the parents did not lose custody. Children's Hospital, he said, allowed them to visit if he consented.

In dismissing the suit, Black said he considered "the difficult choices that social workers face, and the government's strong interest in the safety of (the teen)."