Help Us Reunite Major With Her Dad

Two-year old-Major has been in the custody of Utah’s Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) for over a year. Shortly after the juvenile court decided in December of 2015 that it was not in Major's best interest to be reunited with her mother, her father Jose Vargas petitioned the court to establish his paternal rights and requested custody. Now, more than seven months later - and four months after the court ruled that Jose was Major's father - the state is still not allowing him to even see his daughter.

If you are unfamiliar with how hostile the State of Utah is to unmarried biological fathers, you might think the state would be interested in placing a child with a fit father who expresses an interest in taking custody of his child.  In the least, you might think the state would attempt to reunify the child with a natural father before shipping them out of state to relatives.

In reality, numerous unreasonable hurdles face unmarried biological fathers in Utah. This has to change!

Despite the fact that Jose has attended more court hearings than Major's mother; despite the fact that he was regularly involved in his daughter's life before she was taken into state custody; and despite the fact that he missed no deadline imposed by law to establish his rights as a father, the state continues to argue that Major should be adopted by out-of-state relatives. So far the juvenile court has agreed, and has pointed to Jose's "delay" in seeking paternity as a reason to disallow him any actual rights or access to his daughter.

Jose and Major prior to removal from Mother's care.


Even though nobody disputes that Jose is Major’s biological father, the state and the child’s attorney tried to get his petition for custody and paternity dismissed. In March 2016 the juvenile court ruled that Jose was Major’s father and declined to dismiss Jose's petition. In response, the state has appealed the order establishing Jose to be Major's father. The fight to get this order overturned is now in its fifth month and will likely take another several more months before this single issue is resolved.

Before Major was removed from her mother’s care in the summer of 2015, Jose had always been there for her. Jose moved back to Utah in the weeks before she was born so he could be involved in her life. Jose provided Major with her first blankets, onesies, diapers, wipes, bathtub, carrier, and toys. When Major and her mother lived with Jose, he fed her, bathed her, and cared for her. After Major's mother moved out, Jose continued to have his daughter most weekends like many non-custodial parents in Utah. 

Jose even tried to establish his paternity with the mother’s cooperation. Within a week of the first court hearing, Jose drove Major's mother to a state office so the two could sign a voluntary declaration of paternity establishing Jose's paternity and his legal rights to his daughter, but Major’s mother forgot to bring her ID. Without an ID, the state office will not accept a voluntary declaration of paternity. Shortly after this, the mother became unreachable and Jose was unable to count on her cooperation to establish his paternity.

Jose holding Major as an infant.


Jose’s legal bills are mounting as he fights to defend and enforce his parental rights in court. Even if the Court of Appeals upholds the ruling that Jose is Major's father, he still faces an effort to terminate his rights: after establishing Jose's paternity, the juvenile court ordered the Attorney General's office to file a petition to terminate his rights. The state has put off filing the termination petition, instead choosing to attack the court’s order of paternity on a technicality. This delaying tactic is likely due to the fact that the state knows they do not have the evidence to prove that Jose is unfit. Instead, they have gambled that Jose will give up or run out of money to get his own daughter back!

Even worse than the delaying tactics, the state has refused to allow Jose to see his daughter even after he was declared to be her father. Claiming that the order establishing Jose's paternity is void, Utah DCFS has gone to extra lengths to make sure Jose has no contact with his daughter. The state has canceled all the child and family meetings that are usually held in these cases; these meetings are the main opportunity for parents to receive news about their children. The state is consciously preventing Jose from rekindling the relationship he had with his daughter so that the expected adoption will be easier.

The state has stacked the deck against him, and Jose is preparing to take his fight to federal court. But his means are close to exhaustion. Do not let the State price this girl and her father out of their right to have a relationship!!

Jose’s legal bills are approaching 10,000 dollars. Without your help, Jose’s fight might have to come to an end.

Please donate! Not only will you help a father and a daughter, you may help Jose and his lawyer establish stronger father's rights in Utah.

All proceeds will go towards legal fees and any costs associated with maintaining and promoting this crowdfunding effort.

Media Referrals: Caleb Proulx, [email redacted].
Jose and his attorney are committed to giving supporters updates on his case within the confines of the law and propriety; some information may not be disclosed due to legal or privacy considerations.

Thank you and God bless.