Mother shocked after carers shaved mixed race daughter’s head without consent for ‘hygiene purposes’
'I feel like my child was assaulted and violated'
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Your support makes all the difference.A mother was left outraged after caretakers shaved off her mixed race daughter’s curly hair without permission.
Denise Robinson’s seven-year-old daughter, Tru, lives part-time at Little Heroes Group Home in Dracut, Massachusetts.
The carers reportedly decided to shave Tru’s hair for hygiene reasons.
Robinson was furious when her daughter came home with a shaved head, insisting that nobody at Little Heroes had consulted her first.
She was told that a clinician gave consent for the haircut, which has left her daughter nearly bald.
"There was no hygenical reason for them to shave my child’s head,” Robinson told NECN, adding that Tru's hair was very long before.
"I am very upset. And I'm not going to stop being upset because I feel like my child was assaulted and violated," she continued.
She didn't understand why staff at Little Heroes would need to shave Tru’s head out of hygiene, given that her daughter had never shown any signs of head lice or bed bugs.
Robinson’s Lawyer, Richard Kendell, told CBS Boston that the incident was “appalling” and revealed that Tru was told that her hair would grow back straight after it was shaved.
Little Heroes is a co-education intensive group home for children between the ages of five and 11; Tru lives there for part of the week as she suffers from complex emotional issues.
They issued the following statement in response to Robinson, who intends to sue:
"The program employs a diverse staff that is attentive to the needs of all children.
“Decisions regarding grooming are based on a variety of factors, including hygiene."
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