Bring Jacob, Gunner, and Braxton Home

My name is Autumn Salmen; I am asking for your help bringing my boys home. In 2016, St. Joseph County MDHHS removed my five boys from my husband, Brock Salmen and me. We had issues with domestic violence, me abusing my pill prescriptions, and my husband using alcohol. We worked hard for two years participating in individual therapy, therapy with our boys, and marriage therapy. We also consistently had supervised visits, attended all court hearings, and completed weekly drug/alcohol screens. After two years, the Court was unwilling to keep our case open, arguing our boys needed permanency. The therapists felt that it was not in our boys' best interest to terminate our parental rights but also said that our boys had too much residual trauma from what they had experienced in our care to be returned at that time. Thus, the Judge placed our boys in two different Juvenile guardianships.

Our eldest child, Collin, and our youngest, Zabian, stayed with my Mother and her then-husband. The other three, Jacob, Gunner and Braxton, were moved to the home of my step-father's daughter and her husband. After the neglect case closed, we continued contact and visits with Collin and Zabian, but the Guardians who took placement of our other three denied us all connection with them. We begged them for even a phone call and did what we could to demonstrate we were not the same people we had been in 2016, but they continued to deny us.

Eventually, we saved enough money to retain an attorney to fight for visits, but that Attorney took our money and, a year and a half later, had not filed one thing with the courts. We went to a different attorney and had to pay another large retainer to fight for visitation. By that time, we had evidence that our boys were physically disciplined in the guardians' care, leaving large bruises from a hard plastic tube they were using. We have been stable and sober for almost seven years (some of that was while our neglect case was still open). Our Attorney has filed a petition to terminate the guardianship or in the alternative, to order visitation so we can hug our boys and tell them how much we miss them and love them. Collin and Zabian visit our home frequently, and Zabian even has his own bedroom at our home.

Here is the part where you come in. We just appeared in court, and our attorney argued for psychological evaluations to be completed for our three boys (Jacob, Gunner & Braxton). The Court ordered those but is requiring that we pay for them. Right now, the only expert involved is a single therapist who has worked closely with the guardians for the past few years and who we believe has personal ties with the Guardians.

We are glad to answer any questions anyone may have about our case; we are an open book and have nothing to hide. Since the Guardianships were created, we have maintained health insurance for all of our boys through my husband's employment. We have also paid the Guardians' child support (Brock and I). The Guardians receive significant financial support from my husband's Father/Step-Mother as his stepmother won the lottery several years ago and disowned my husband when he refused to divorce me (long story).

Please help us get these psychological evaluations, so we have some hope of seeing our boys again. If we cannot obtain independent psychological evaluations for our boys, our attorney feels we will undoubtedly lose this fight.

The psychological evaluations are $600.00 each, and for three boys, that is $1800.00, plus the psychologist's office indicated there could be additional fees for testing.

Here is just one of many letters we have received from our boys. This one is from Jacob:

Sincerely,

Autumn Salmen