On a warm July day, Natasha sent her children outside to play at the park right next door.

She is a single mom of three active boys, ages 5, 9, and 11. 

Though Natasha was cleaning their apartment, she made sure to check on her children regularly – about every 10 minutes – from her apartment window. Her oldest 11-year-old son was placed in charge of the others.  They were outside at the park for about a half hour.

A preschool teacher who was at the park that day saw the boys and immediately called Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).

DCFS responded by investigating Natasha and found that there was credible evidence against her for child neglect.  

Convinced that she had not done anything wrong, Natasha sought help from Ascend Justice.

Due to the DCFS accusation, Natasha lost her job as a nurse.  That is because when someone is found by DCFS to be neglectful or abusive to a child, they are put on a 20 year list, placing the ability to have certain jobs, such as being a nurse, in great jeopardy.

The trauma of the situation caused Natasha to became fearful of even just letting her oldest son take the trash out without her.

After two years of working with Natasha, Ascend Justice was successful in having the neglect finding dropped and her name finally cleared.

Natasha and her family are now able to move on with their lives.