Pelletiers: Mass. DCF Release Proposal 'Another Slap in the Face'

Justina Pelletier's parents did not mince words in their rejection of an offer Monday from the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families that would have sent their 15-year-old daughter to a rehabilitation facility in their homestate of Connecticut.

The Boston Herald reports that Lou Pelletier called the offer "another slap in the face, kick in the stomach," while speaking outside the Massachusetts State House Monday afternoon.

The conditional offer would have sent the West Hartford teen, who has been in DCF custody since February 2013, to the JRI Susan Wayne Center for Excellence in Thompson, Conn. The planned move was announced Monday morning in a letter by Massachusetts Health and Human Services Secretary John Polanowicz, MyFoxBoston reports.

In publicly rejecting the plan, the Pelletiers, through a family spokesman, also criticized the timing that Planowicz' letter was released — before they had an opportunity to review and consider it, according to the Boston Herald.

The family maintains that the DCF does not have the right to custody of their daughter, who has been diagnosed by Tufts Medical Center doctors with mitochondrial disorder, a rare genetic disease. The DCF took custody of Justina last year after doctors at Boston Children's Hospital disagreed with that diagnosis, and instead diagnosed her with somatoform disorder, a mental disorder, and reported their suspicions of medical child abuse.

Justina's story has captured the attention of a national audience, as thousands of people from around the country have joined in the fight to bring her back home.

She is currently staying at Wayside Youth and Family Support in Framingham, Mass., where she was moved in January after spending 11 months in Boston Children's.

Wayside is a behavior facility and the Pelletiers contend that she is being traumatized by the exposure to children with severe psychological disorders, according to the Boston Herald report. The family is only allowed to see her once a week.

Justina will turn 16 on May 24. The Herald reports that her family wants her back with them, "in their loving arms," by then.

In a video posted to YouTube Monday, Justina says "I wanna go home now..."