By
Jennifer
Brice
First Coast News
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- There will be a hearing Tuesday to try and figure out the
best way to make the transition for a toddler who's been at the center of a
high-profile custody battle.
Evan Scott's curiosity overflows just like his blonde curls. Curiosity his
adoptive parents both love and fear.
We first met Dawn and Gene Scott during an interview last year. "He is
not going to understand what's happening to him," Dawn told First Coast
News. "We are worried about him." Because the couple is still
fighting to keep Evan, they're advised not to talk with the media today. They
still say their fears are the same. "We don't know how to prepare
him," Dawn told us last year. "We don't know what to do and no one
can tell us."
Three-year old Evan Scott will soon be back with his biological mother. She
gave him up for adoption when Evan was an infant. Evan's biological father
said he was never told Evan was given up for adoption and fought to get
custody of the child from his adoptive parents in Jacksonville.
The question many are asking, how do you prepare Evan for a new mommy and
daddy? Jacksonville Psychologist Stephen Bloomfield says ideally all parties
involved would have the same therapist. "You need counselors."
Debbie Grabarkiewicz of "Hear My Voice", a child advocate for Evan,
says help hasn't been easy to come by. She says the courts have suggested the
help of counselors, but doesn't think they've been offered. "At this
point there has been no evaluation done, or offered, to help Evan process that
kind of information."
Dr. Bloomfield says how a child in this situation fairs, will depend on the
adults. "A situation like this depends on how the adults are handling
it."
Parents, like the Scott's still worry the way a mother and father would.
"This is devastating," says Dawn Scott. "We can get through
anything, but we are worried about him."
First Coast News has contacted Evan's biological mother, Amanda Hopkins. She
did not want to comment. Her attorney did not return our phone calls.
