Family battles DCF over custody, gender care dispute
By Tim Nazzaro, Peter Eliopoulos
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NORTHBOROUGH, Massachusetts (WCVB) — A local family is locked in a legal battle with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families over custody of their 15-year-old daughter in a story that is making national headlines.
The back-and-forth involves allegations of physical abuse and the child’s gender.
Joseph and Arlene Kutzko claim that DCF has for nearly two years assisted in the gender transition of their biological daughter against their will.
“We cry a lot, we pray a lot, we keep our faith strong,” said Arlene Kutzko.
The Kutzkos claim that in January 2025, the Northborough-Southborough schools were counseling their daughter privately and filed a report against them to DCF.
“[She] went into school and Arlene got a call [from the school]… the call [was] that ‘[She] is scared to go home,'” the Kutzkos told NewsCenter 5.
Court documents show that Joseph was arrested and charged with assault and accused of punching the child with a closed fist in the shoulder and pulling hair. He denies the allegations, and the charges are set to be dropped in December so long as he follows certain conditions including completing an anger management course, and staying away & having no contact with his child.
The Kutzkos’ daughter went to a counselor at Algonquin High School the day after and reported feeling unsafe, according to Joseph and Arlene Kutzko.
DCF stepped in and removed the child from the home.
“The state can retain custody pending a hearing on whether there’s unfitness, but they have long overshot the deadline for having a hearing; this case is going way over time,” said Vernadette Broyles, president and general counsel of the Child and Parental Rights Campaign and attorney for the Kutzko parents.
Over the last two years, Broyles said the state has been facilitating the gender transition of the Kutzkos’ daughter since she was 15, while the custody battle drags on.
Joseph and Arlene Kutzko are devout Catholics, who said this violates not only their religious beliefs, but their constitutional rights.
“It’s devastating, it’s absolutely devastating,” said Joseph Kutzko. He claimed that his daughter never expressed a desire to change her gender to him or Arlene.
“DCF, for whatever reason, has taken the position that they have total authority over this child even while the parents’ rights have not been terminated,” Broyles said. “There has never been a finding of unfitness against these parents.”
The couple is going public because they said the state sought to provide gender-affirming care for their now 17-year-old, but a juvenile court, however, ordered DCF to stop.
“The court is not going to allow giving testosterone, because DCF took the position that giving testosterone at high doses to a female is ‘ordinary care,'” Broyles said.
When asked Tuesday about the ongoing legal battle, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey only addressed the child’s removal from the parents, not what’s happened since.
“This child was not removed for a gender-affirming care issue; the child was removed by DCF following the presentation of criminal charges against the parents,” Healey said.
Joseph Kutzko said the parent/child relationship between him and his daughter has been “deeply damaged” and that his family has suffered greatly. Their child turns 18 in April.
The case has garnered national headlines.
In a statement, Superintendent of The Public Schools of Northborough and Southborough Gregory L. Martineau said the safety and security of the students remains his highest priority.
“We are aware of the claims being circulated by two individuals whose child formerly attended one of our schools in 2023. The district unequivocally denies the claims made about the school district in a recent national media podcast as not merely baseless but grossly insensitive, intrusive and dangerous toward the child who was named in the media report.”
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