Shane Lawson and Summer Brown's lives have been turned upside down ever since a car jumped the curb and struck their baby's stroller in Charlotte, North Carolina back in July. Their baby, Noblely Lawson, was so severely injured that no one expected her to live, but she has. The parents were also injured although not as severely.But now to heap injury upon injury, the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services and Child Protective Services doesn't want Shane and Summer to take Noblely home. Why? Because Shane and Summer lived in a week-to-week motel prior to the crash. As of the end of August, Shane had leased a duplex, but the county is still not planning to release Noblely into his and Summer's custody.Shane and Summer are young, 19 and 16, and poor, but they have always provided Noblely with food, clothing and shelter. Shane works at a fast food job in order to take care of his family. Furthermore, they have given Noblely the most important thing parents can give a child--their love.As usual the Department of Social Services is refusing to answer questions about the case, hiding behind the curtain of privacy, which DSS always closes every time they are pressed about a foolish decision they have made.And apparently Mecklenburg County North Carolina Department of Social Services has made a lot of them lately. WCNC.com reported the following on July 28."A probe of misspending at a Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services Christmas charity has widened across the agency, and officials now say they are unable to say how much money may have disappeared over the years.The county’s second-largest agency, often a first stop for the community’s poor or neglected, has recently been reorganized. Director Mary Wilson, hired last summer, ordered audits following reports of suspicious spending.The audits looked at several spending programs and financial practices throughout the department.Among the findings:Mecklenburg County officials cannot account for $162,000 in donations meant to buy gifts for needy children. That includes a $10,000 check made out to an employee.Of the 840 receipts inspected for that program, 799 had problems, including receipts that were altered, whited out or omitted in photocopying."In spite of poor fiscal management Mecklenburg County DSS will not lack funds to fight the Lawsons and keep their child. They will take it from the seemingly bottomless pockets of the taxpayers.The Lawsons, however, need a tremendous amount of money to pay for their daughter's medical bills and to fight the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services in order to get their daughter back. You can help the Lawsons with a gift of money.Donations may be made to the "Noblely Yvonne Lawson Assistance Fund" at any branch of Wachovia bank or they can be mailed to:Wachovia Bank, NAAttn: Noblely Yvonne Lawson Assistance FundPO Box 26090Richmond, VA 23260-6090Please make checks payable to the Noblely Yvonne Lawson Assistance Fund c/o the fund's administrator, David B. Pevney, Attorney at Law, PLLC.
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