Boy, 7, taken away because she left him alone to go to workBY DORIAN BLOCK DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Lillian Lucas-Dixon stares at the Christmas stockings for each of her mostly grown children still hanging on the wall and their portraits on a table in her Co-op City apartment - and she cries for her youngest son, 7-year-old Juan.
Her oldest eight have graduated or are in college or the military. The ninth is in high school.
But Juan was taken away by the city's Administration for Children's Services in mid-December.
Her story is one of a well-intentioned but desperate mother who left her son home alone while trying to keep in good standing for a job promotion.
It's a dilemma many single parents in or near poverty face.
Lucas-Dixon, 52, is scheduled to appear for a fourth hearing in Bronx Family Court later this month in hopes of getting Juan back.
Her predicament is also the story of a city agency with 50,000 cases a year, responsible for keeping children from danger, but also limited by ability and time to help parents like Lucas-Dixon find affordable child care or change work schedules.
Her oldest eight have graduated or are in college or the military. The ninth is in high school.
But Juan was taken away by the city's Administration for Children's Services in mid-December.
Her story is one of a well-intentioned but desperate mother who left her son home alone while trying to keep in good standing for a job promotion.
It's a dilemma many single parents in or near poverty face.
Lucas-Dixon, 52, is scheduled to appear for a fourth hearing in Bronx Family Court later this month in hopes of getting Juan back.
Her predicament is also the story of a city agency with 50,000 cases a year, responsible for keeping children from danger, but also limited by ability and time to help parents like Lucas-Dixon find affordable child care or change work schedules.
"My choice was, do I lose my job or stay home with my son?" said Lucas-Dixon, an Metropolitan Transit Authority subway station attendant.
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