- When Stephanie's daughter, Abby, is injured at home, Stephanie finds Abby taken away by the courts. With the help of her lawyer Mr. Lombardi, she does everything in her power to get Abby back.
- A young single mother has to work late one night. Her daughter begs her to allow her to stay alone instead of going to a babysitter. The mother finally agrees. When the girl falls and is injured, police are called and she is taken to a hospital, the courts decide that the mother is unfit and take her daughter away. She must fight to all ends to get her back.—sweetemotion279@aol.com
- Stephanie Monroe is a young single mother raising eight-year-old Abby amid very difficult circumstances. She works as a waitress during the day and goes to night school to obtain her G.E.D. Stephanie's childhood friend Brenda babysits Abby while Stephanie works and goes to school. But Brenda's husband complains that Abby is rude and disrespectful, hinting that maybe Stephanie needs to find another sitter. One rainy night, Abby begs her mother to let her stay home alone instead of going to Brenda's. Stephanie reluctantly agrees. She will only be gone a couple of hours and feels that Abby will be fine. After posting the number of the night school on the wall, she reminds Abby to call 911 if there is a emergency.
Abby decides to make a cake to surprise her mother. But when she turns on the blender to mix the batter, all the lights go off because the circuits are overloaded. Abby is frightened and stumbles in the dark, causing bruising to her face and a bloody nose. Unable to find the number of the school, she calls 911, intending to ask them to call her mother. But the dispatcher sends two police officers. Abby is crying for her mother and won't open the door, so the officers break in. They view a cold apartment with a broken window, no lights (they assume that the electric bill was not paid), and there are syringes in the bathroom. This leads the officers to assume that the child's mother is a drug user. Abby begs them to call her mother, but they tell her she is going to a hospital to get checked out. A note is left for Stephanie.
Stephanie's journey home, on public transportation, takes longer than usual due to the rain. She is startled to find the apartment dark and her daughter gone. After reading the note left by the officers, she tries to find Abby, assuming she can bring her home right away. But she learns that she is being charged with child neglect and endangering a minor, and that Abby is being removed from her custody until the hearing, which will be held in three days.
The next day, Stephanie obtains a lawyer, Mr. Lombardi, through Legal Aid. He is very rude to her and won't let her explain the circumstances. The syringes had belonged to her mother, who recently died of diabetes. Abby was only alone for a a couple of hours. The apartment "super" was supposed to repair the window and the electricity, but did not do so. Stephanie hadn't had time to do laundry or clean the apartment due to working and going to school. She is made to feel like an unfit mother.
After learning from Lombardi that Abby is likely at a place called Fair Hill, she disregards his warning not go to. But the matron will not allow her to see Abby without a court order, and Stephanie is so enraged that she attacks her. The security guards forcibly remove her from the premises and lock the front gates.
Stephanie does not make a good impression at the three day hearing. She interrupts the judge and although her explanations are reasonable and truthful, he decides she cannot take Abby home that day. Abby begins screaming and crying, and has to be forcibly separated from her mother. Lombardi is very angry that Stephanie disregarded his instructions not to go to Fair Hill. But he does get her a two-hour once a week supervised visit with Abby.
Stephanie's social worker, Mrs. Pierson, offers to make a deal with her. She wants Stephanie to take six months to pull herself together and get her life in order. The charges of neglect and endangerment will be dropped. During that time, Abby will be placed in foster care. Stephanie not only refuses to sign the agreement but wads up the paper.
In talking with Brenda, Stephanie is deeply hurt that her friend agrees with Mrs. Pierson. In tears, she walks out of Brenda's house. She feels very alone and is delighted when a man she has been seeing offers her emotional support. But Lombardi tells her to stop seeing him. The court will view a sexual relationship as detrimental to Abby's well-being.
During this time, Stephanie's boss fires her for missing too much time at work. She doesn't want to tell him what is going on. But in order to get Abby back, she must have a job and a suitable child care arrangement. All of the child care facilities and day cares cost too much, and in desperation Stephanie reconciles with Brenda. Her friend agrees to resume babysitting Abby. Stephanie also cleans the apartment, fixes the broken window, and demands that the "super" get the electricity fixed. Her ex-husband is located in Arizona and Lombardi intends to file for child support, telling Stephanie that her only problem is poverty.
At the next hearing, Mrs. Pierson is still doubtful that Stephanie can be a good mother. But Lombardi persuades the judge to return Abby to her mother, subject to weekly monitoring by Child Services.
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