For almost a year now, Margaret Jean Hatch or Jenny, a 29-year old Virginia woman with Down Syndrome, continues to fight for her right to live with her friends, Jim Talbert and Kelly Morris, who owns the thrift shop she is working for.
The couple, Talbert and Morris, hired Jenny to work at their Thrift Shop five years ago and took her to their home in Hampton in March 2012 after a bicycle accident which gave her a back injury.
Two months later, they permitted a caseworker with the Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board to get Jenny to a group home with the belief that it’s the only way for her to get a Medicaid waiver, which will allow her to a lot of in home and community-based services.
On Aug. 6, after the approval of the said Medicaid waiver, Jenny returned to stay with Talbert and Morris.
Two days after, Julia Ross and Richard Ross, Jenny’s mother and stepfather, filed for guardianship against her wishes.
In their request, they asked for the right to decide where she lives, who she can see, and what medical treatment she gets. They think that the group home setting is the best place and setting for Jenny.
On Friday, Newport News Circuit Court Judge Pugh ruled that Hatch with an IQ of about 50, is incapable of being independent and needs a legal guardian to care for her. But he had taken into account her interest. He then appointed Talbert and Morris her temporary guardians for a year, with a goal of ultimately helping her gain more independence.
After the court proceedings, a very thrilled Jenny called Talbert and Morris her “family” and stated it was great to be going “home” with them.
As Jenny walked out of the trial room, she saw her father standing there and went to hug him.
She asked, “Are you mad at me?”
Her father replied, “I’m not mad at all. I love you.” And they hugged.
In his closing remarks, Martinis, the legal director of Quality Trust for Individuals with Disabilities, affirmed that the case was not about who should get Jenny Hatch.
“Justice for Jenny is Jenny gets Jenny.”
