Parents’ funeral claim dismissed

Panel says they ‘abandoned’ baby, waived rights to body

The parents of an 18-month-old girl who died in state custody had waived any right to the body under state law because they “abandoned” her, the Arkansas Claims Commission said in an order released Tuesday.


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The commission denied and dismissed a $2.5 million claim against the Department of Human Services, saying the “circumstances which led to the filing of this claim are indeed tragic” but that the parents of Emily Cheyenne Freeman had waived the right to her body under the Arkansas Final Disposition Rights Act of 2009.

The parents filed the claim in June, arguing that the department failed to follow its procedures for burials and caused emotional distress by not allowing them to bury their child themselves.

“The overwhelming evidence shows that … the claimants had forfeited their rights to the child’s disposition or to assume any responsibility for the funeral arrangements for their child,” the commission wrote.

In August 2009, before she was 9 months old, Emily was removed from her family’s home, where she had been living with her parents Thomas and Judy, and four older siblings. The Human Services Department said there had been “medical neglect and environmental neglect” and cited Emily’s “failure to thrive.” The state placed her in foster care.

Emily was later diagnosed with an “incurable lung disease,” and she died at a foster home on June 11, 2010, the commission wrote.

Robert Kelly, a Fort Smith attorney who represented the family, wrote in filings with the commission that the department denied the parents custody of Emily’s body and told them they would not be allowed to attend her funeral.

The parents, of Fort Smith, filed the claim June 7.

Department attorney Rich Rosen argued that the parents had waived their rights to the child’s body under the Final Disposition Rights Act, which states that a person who has the right of disposition forfeits that right if he is estranged from the person at the time of death or is “unwilling to assume the liability for the costs of such arrangements and disposition.”

Estranged is defined in the law as a “physical and emotional separation from the decedent at the time of death which has existed for a period of time that clearly demonstrates an absence of due affection, trust, and regard for the decedent.”

Rosen said the department set up a visitation for the family the day before the funeral and that Judy Freeman had testified in a deposition that she approved of how the department handled the visitation.

Thomas Freeman testified at a hearing Thursday that he did not have the money for a funeral but would haven gotten the money from family members.

In its order, the commission wrote that it was “not convinced” that the parents had the financial means to pay for the funeral.

The commission wrote that while the family claimed “outrageous conduct” by the department, Judy Freeman testified that she was satisfied with the way Emily looked in her casket and with the preparations the department made for the visitation.

Amy Webb, a spokesman for the department, said in a written statement that the agency appreciates the commission’s decision.

“We feel we handled this child’s funeral in a way that both honored her short life and was consistent with state law,” Webb said.

Kelly said it was too early to say whether the family would ask the commission to reconsider the decision, which will also be reviewed by the Legislature. He said his clients were “disappointed” by the commission’s ruling, but he declined to comment further.

Arkansas, Pages 9 on 04/16/2014

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