Adoptive parents of Harmony Montgomery's brother ask for better protection for foster children in Mass.
BOSTON - On Tuesday at the Massachusetts State House, the couple who adopted Harmony Montgomery's brother made an impassioned plea for the state to overhaul the system and better protect foster children after what happened to the little girl.
Blair Miller and Jonathan Bobbitt-Miller say their adopted son, Jamison, asks about his sister Harmony often. They say he has been asking since the siblings were split up. Jamison was placed up for adoption, and Harmony was put in the custody of her father. She was reported missing two years after she was last seen alive and is now presumed dead.
On Tuesday, before lawmakers, Jamison's parents said they wanted to adopt Harmony, too, and testified that the system failed Harmony in many ways, including not helping Jamison and Harmony stay in touch.
"Had there been something in place to support that relationship between Jamison and Harmony, there likely could have been communication between us and Harmony's father. There could have been FaceTime calls, maybe. There could have been in-person visits. There could have been opportunities to see how Harmony was doing, where she was living, hear her maybe describe what school was like. Of course, none of this was her reality. We could have seen Harmony was surrounded by trouble. Harmony didn't have her voice," said Blair Miller.
There is also a push to change a Massachusetts law that lets children decide where they want to stay instead of having an advocate with the child who can speak to what's best.
Harmony's father has been charged with her murder. He has pleaded not guilty.