Key Juvenile Court Hearing Abruptly Canceled, Rescheduled for January 23rd — All Five Children Suddenly Returned
Father Back in Fitchburg District Court With a Renewed Motion to Dismiss Kidnapping Charges January 8th, 2026
By Joan Quinn Eastman
Worcester, MA – January 6, 2026 – Government overreach and failure to make reasonable efforts for reunification of the Rivera family by the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) are at the core of a high-profile child welfare dispute currently in Worcester County Juvenile Court.
According to Ruth Encarnacion and Isael “Izzy” Rivera, a December 18th evidentiary hearing was canceled without explanation at the 11th hour, and the day before that, all the children were suddenly returned.
Did DCF grossly overstep their authority when they launched an interstate manhunt, pursued the Fitchburg family across state lines, jailed the parents, and took temporary custody of their young children for almost 10 months? Did the agency fail to make reasonable efforts to reunify the family? Or did they instead engage in what appears to be arbitrary actions leading to delays in reunification? These are among the pressing issues to be examined at an evidentiary hearing that was rescheduled until January 23, 2026, at Worcester County Court, 225 Main Street, Worcester, Massachusetts.
The five children, ranging in age from nine months to 10 years at the time they were taken in March 2025, were removed after DCF cited “medical neglect” over the lawful decision by the parents to decline a Vitamin K shot for their healthy infant. (There is no law in Massachusetts that requires the shot.) 
It is a Happy New Year for the Rivera family now that their five children are finally home. (Courtesy family photo).
The parents assert that initial custody orders were issued without proper notice, that the imminent danger risk required to take such drastic action never existed, and that the situation was unnecessarily escalated, harming their family in the process.
A nationwide search ended with the family seized at gunpoint in Whitney, Texas; foster placements for the children, who were transported by strangers back to Massachusetts; while mother and father were held on $5 million bond in a Texas jail for a month—for traveling out of state with their own children. Both parents were criminally charged with five counts of “Custodial Kidnapping of a Minor by a Relative”—a misdemeanor. Mother was acquitted; the father’s case is still pending, with a renewed motion to dismiss scheduled to be heard in Fitchburg District Court, January 8, 2026.
In addition, the parents report that an amended motion filed in Worcester Juvenile Court by all the attorneys representing both parents and their five children claims that DCF has shifted its rationales, without supporting evidence, from the initial medical concern to older, unsubstantiated allegations and vague interpersonal issues. DCF had also been restricting parental visits, which family and others involved in the case believe has caused documented emotional harm to the children by delaying genuine reunification steps.
According to the parents, new details added to the most recent Juvenile Court motion highlight a concerning DCF proposal that was issued around December 1, 2025. During the prior hearing, the DCF attorney agreed that the children need to be back with their parents, but the proposal made it clear that their return would be conditional. The children were to be returned on a staggered schedule, creating an additional level of separation anxiety between the siblings; they would be returned only to the mother, fully excluding the father from family life; and the agency would continue to impose extensive ongoing oversight. These measures are described by the parents as coercive, lacking any basis in safety concerns, and propose requirements reserved for families where there is obviously abuse and/or neglect, which they contend is absolutely not the case with their family of twelve years. Enforcing such restrictive and intrusive measures also essentially sets the mother up for failure while prolonging unwarranted state involvement in each of their lives, rather than DCF demonstrating reasonable efforts to restore family unity.
When the mother was informed that DCF was going to separate her children from one another as they were being returned, she asked, “They took all five of my children at once; why are they not returning them all at once?”
In a surprising turn of events, the mother reports that all five children were suddenly returned to her just before a critical evidentiary hearing was abruptly canceled at the end of the day just before the hearing. The attorneys were directed to appear instead via Zoom to select a new date, but were informed that the judge’s schedule was unavailable—requiring yet another hearing on January 5th—merely to reschedule.
While the case in Worcester Juvenile Court remains confidential, with no public statements from DCF or the court, the parents are free to disclose whatever details they choose. Although disappointed that evidence was left unheard due to the delay, the parents see the sequence of events as further evidence of the dysfunction in both the court and the Department of Children and Families (DCF). The protracted process shows little regard for the welfare of their children, has prolonged the family’s suffering, and interfered with their chance to fully reunite and recover from ten torturous months of separation.
The Riveras’ case has raised broader questions about child welfare practices and parental rights in Massachusetts that could impact legislation. Parents must have the option to make their Juvenile Court cases public, and DCF must be required to remove children as a last resort, rather than a first step.
To learn why this alarming story is significant, and how this American family was treated, from the swift removal of the Rivera children, to the severe punishment of their parents for protecting them, watch the free screening of American Made Foundation’s documentary TAKEN: State Sanctioned Kidnapping and support their important work!
NOTE OF THANKS: Ruth and Izzy are deeply grateful to all the concerned people from across the country who have sent supportive messages and information, as well as all who have so thoughtfully and generously contributed (see TAKEN trailer). And major gratitude to Julie Booras of Health Rights MA who over the holidays, tirelessly raised money for a family vehicle.
