TAMPA, Fla. _ A 4-year-old boy has been officially reunited with his parents, three months after a judge ordered their temporary separation over concerns that his mother and father were neglecting his cancer treatment.
Hillsborough County, Fla., Judge Thomas Palermo ordered that Noah McAdams can return to the care of his father and mother, Joshua McAdams and Taylor Bland-Ball.
The parents sat smiling beside their lawyer, Brooke Elvington, during the brief court hearing Monday morning. Noah, bald from chemotherapy, sat in his mother's lap, playing with a large stuffed dog. He elicited laughter from the judge as he mimicked a dog's bark.
"This case has come a very long way in a very short amount of time," Palermo said.
It began in April, when authorities raised concerns that the parents were resisting chemotherapy for treatment of their son's leukemia. That month, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office issued an endangered child alert for Noah. They said his mother and father couldn't be located after missing medical appointments.
The parents said they wanted to treat him with alternative remedies like cannabis, oxygen therapy, an alkaline diet and herbal remedies, instead of chemotherapy.
They were later found in Kentucky. Child protective investigators obtained a court order to take custody of the boy. He was placed with his grandparents and resumed chemotherapy.
After numerous court hearings, Palermo ruled that Noah should remain temporarily in the custody of his grandparents because there would be "imminent risk of neglect" if he stayed with his parents.
"All parents have a constitutional, and even sacred, right to parent their child," the judge wrote. "But with that right comes equally powerful duties and responsibilities."
The judge also ordered both parents to undergo a psychological evaluation. They have both done so, their attorney told reporters Monday. The results revealed no concerns about their ability to care for the child.
Attorneys for the state and a guardian ad litem voiced no objection to Noah's reunification with his parents. The family was reunited a week ago, Elvington said.
"We were able to establish to all the parties that there was no endangerment," she said.
In the months since their separation, Noah has completed his first phase of chemotherapy, the lawyer said. The boy will continue to receive medical treatment.
