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If Your Child Tests Positive for COVID will They be Removed from your Home? Washington Hires More CPS Workers to Prepare

Introduced by Rep. Bobby Rush, Democrat, from the South Side of Chicago, it seems fitting that he introduced it on May 1, or May Day, the worldwide term for a distress call in a life-threatening emergency. Another bizarre and troubling detail, its number – 6666 – incorporates what is considered the number of the beast in the Book of Revelation. Omens such as these must surely give pause to even the agnostic among us. The bill is short – under five pages – but grants $100 BILLION to entities around the country “to trace and monitor the contacts of infected individuals, and to support the quarantine of such contacts.” The Centers for Disease Control Director would direct the funds to health clinics, schools, high schools, universities or basically any other entity the CDC Director chooses. $100 billion in funding would be for Fiscal Year 2020 and “such sums as may be necessary” for FY 2021 and any year thereafter when the emergency continues. The bill almost humorously notes that it must not contradict medical privacy laws. One hundred billion dollars is the size of New Jersey and Illinois’ entire state budgets, combined. The bill is wildly unconstitutional on myriad grounds. Yet, it now has 58 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives. If passed, this bill would surveil EVERYONE. But as bad as the bill would be for everyone, H.R. 6666 is especially ominous for children. If passed, it would lead to family separations—as promoted by the World Health Organization—despite the fact that children rely on their parents and guardians in every way — physically, emotionally and psychologically. And the threat of child separation is not far-fetched—an ad on a Washington State job board suggests that child separation for quarantine is already in the works.

Oregon Mother’s Children Investigated by CPS After She Defied Governor and Re-opened Her Business

Lindsey Graham opened her Salem salon last week, in defiance of state lockdown orders. In response, Democrat Governor Kate Brown arranged a $14,000 fine through Occupational Safety and Health (Oregon OSHA) and sent Child Protective Services (CPS) to visit her kids at home while Graham was at work. It’s obvious that Gov. Brown has decided to bully Graham and make an example of her and the contractors that work out of her salon.

As Businesses Close Due to Coronavirus, the Business of Child Sex Trafficking in Foster Care Flourishes

While many businesses have closed during the current COVID-19 lock downs in the U.S., there is one profitable business that has not closed down, and if anything, is probably flourishing more than ever: Child Sex Trafficking through Foster Care. We have established over the years since we have been reporting on this topic that foster care is the main pipeline for child sex trafficking. As we have previously reported, the response to COVID-19 has led to more children being separated from their parents and put into foster care, and many parents are no longer able to visit their children who are in foster care during the COVID-19 lock downs. Since child sex trafficking through the foster care system was already a widespread systemic problem prior to COVID-19, it is no surprise that this lucrative business is doing well and perhaps even flourishing more than ever during the current lock downs. Here are some examples that have been reported recently in local and national media.

“Educational Neglect” being used Against Poor Parents if Children do Not “Attend” Online Classes

Are you a parent who just can’t handle the demands of your own work, the stress of coronavirus and educating your child from home while schools are closed? If you’re middle-class you can get indulgence, sympathy and helpful hints. Your kids can “play Fortnite for the next eight hours.” If you’re poor you can get a caseworker at the door investigating you for “educational neglect.”

Healing Power of Light: Why Viruses Thrive in Winter but Not Summer

The COVID-19 situation has drawn the attention of the world to the subject of "viruses." What are viruses, how does one treat them, and other such questions are highly controversial with very many different viewpoints. One fact that seems to be agreed upon by everyone, is that viruses, at least the kind of "influenza" type of viruses that are seasonal, are a problem in the winter months, but not so much during the summer months. Since daylight hours are extended during the summer, most of the research on this topic has surrounded Vitamin D, a vitamin best obtained from the sun. But there is much more to this topic of "light," and its effect on human health, than just Vitamin D. Given how much attention has been given to the "coronavirus" topic, it is time to look at this issue more closely to see if there are factors during the shorter daylight winter times that can be studied and understood to improve our health during this time, without always looking for a drug or vaccine to cure everything. So I assigned this topic to Health Impact News independent researcher and writer Crystal Lauer. She took over a month to research the topic. During that time, President Trump and a team of researchers working with William Bryan in the Science and Technology division of the Department of Homeland Security, announced results of some their own studies within their laboratory looking at the effects of "solar radiation" and its effect on the Coronavirus, which seems to confirm that some of the research presented in this article may apply to COVID-19. Of course, since this is a preventive measure with no patented drugs involved, the studies were quickly condemned by the medical industry, and an off comment made about disinfectants was what the corporate-sponsored "mainstream" media decided to focus on instead. While Crystal was hesitant at first to spend so much time researching this topic, being a busy homeschool mother, in the end she reported that based on her research, her family made some big changes to their lifestyles to take better advantage of the healing power of natural light, and as a result she reported: "We found that we all are sleeping better, have much more mental energy and are overall feeling far more relaxed, even in the midst of this pandemic."

Kentucky Parents of 7 Children Investigated for Abuse Because They did not Practice “Social Distancing” at Bank Visit

Early in March, when a homeschooling family in Kentucky returned home from running errands in town, two officials—a Child Protective Services (CPS) investigator and a law enforcement officer—were waiting, demanding to interview their children and examine them for bruises. Why did this happen? Short version: That day, mom and dad had gone to the bank with five of their children. The bank staff criticized them for bringing so many people into the building in light of COVID-19 social distancing guidelines. So the dad stood aside with the children while the mom transacted their business. That’s it. The incident offers some important takeaways. First, with tensions heightened and stay-at-home orders generally in place during the current health crisis, some people may be more likely to report out-and-about children as possible victims of neglect or abuse. Second, this family’s experience confirms the need for CPS reform—something HSLDA has been advocating for years.

Harvard Law Professor Calls for Ban on Homeschooling While Everyone is Forced to do it

Harvard Family Law Professor Elizabeth Bartholet is at it again. At a time when schools all across the nation are closed, with many parents of school-aged children also out of work and families confined to their homes during a nationwide lock down that is undoubtedly causing much stress, and forcing families to homeschool even if they have never done it before, Elizabeth Bartholet has come out publicly and called for a ban on homeschooling. Her comments were published in the Arizona Law Review. Bartholet believes children are best educated in schools, where teachers are "mandated reporters" and can report suspected child abuse to local Child Protective Services (CPS). Bartholet's disdain for religious teaching, especially conservative Christian teaching, is also very obvious. Ironically, these same "conservative Christian" groups that she attacks have actually invited her to some of their conferences in the past. She was one of the main speakers at the 2014 Together for Adoption Conference in Greenville, South Carolina, for example. The theme of the 2014 conference was "Urgency & Complexity: Biblical & Ethical Approaches to the Orphan Crisis," and it was sponsored by such well-known groups as Focus on the Family and Lifeline Children's Services. This highlights a problem that I believe I have been the only one to address so far: the double standard Christian churches and organizations have when they object to someone like Bartholet's views on homeschooling and her dim views of conservative Christians, but her views are fair game if it involves Christians taking other people's children through adoption or foster care, all in the name of "Orphan Care," where they conveniently redefine the meaning of "orphan" to justify their own child trafficking. I get scathing responses from Christians every time I bring up this topic, but the fact remains that while teachers in public schools are one of the primary means of removing children from their parents into the custody of the State through CPS and then put into foster care, foster care could not survive today without the Christian Churches and organizations that make up the bulk of the agencies overseeing foster care. It is not surprising that Bartholet's views on banning homeschooling were published in the Arizona Law Review, as Arizona has one of the worst records of medical kidnapping and abusing parental rights of any other state in the U.S., and they have been caught licensing pedophiles as foster parents as part of the nation-wide epidemic of child sex trafficking.

Are Elected County Sheriffs America’s Last Hope to Fight Medical Tyranny? Some Sheriffs Refusing to Enforce Stay at Home Orders, Siding with Constitutional Rights

Every county in the U.S. elects a sheriff to oversee law enforcement within that county. As elected officials, County Sheriffs take an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America, and protect the constitutional rights of their constituents, even if it means standing up to Federal agents and others who would seek to violate the rights of their constituents within their counties. Most all other law enforcement departments and administrators in the U.S. are appointed, not elected. The County Sheriff is the exception. One of the largest Constitutional Sheriffs association is the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA). On their "Statements of Positions" page they define their duties to uphold the Constitution: America needs to make a strong turn around to get back on the freedom track laid for us by our Founders. We believe it can’t be done from the top down, due to many factors, not the least of which is corruption and entrenched bureaucracies in high places. We must, and we can, accomplish this turn- around starting locally at the county level, and lower. The office of county sheriff is the last hope of making this happen, and we are witnessing great deeds of protection, service, and interposition across America by courageous sheriffs who only want to serve the people who elected them. Some sheriffs across the U.S. are beginning to take a stand and oppose their State Governors' unconstitutional "Stay at Home" orders which have put millions of people out of work, and destroyed many thousands of businesses. Racine, Wisconsin County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling is one of those sheriffs, and he made waves this week when he took a public stand in favor of his constituents Constitutional Rights, and against Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers' "Safer at Home" order. As ABC local affiliate WISN 12 reports: On Friday, Schmaling released a statement that said he will not enforce the order because he believes it violates businesses' and citizens' constitutional rights. "The overreaching measures taken by State government will have dire lifetime consequences for businesses, homeowners, and families. I took an oath to uphold the constitutional rights of our citizens and I can not in good faith participate in the destruction of Racine County businesses or interfere in the freedoms granted to all of us by our Constitution," Schmaling's statement said.

Prostitution Camp in Marshall Islands Provided Teenage Mothers for Arizona Mormon Politician’s Child Trafficking Business

Last year (2019) Health Impact News reported on the arrest of Paul Petersen by federal agents in Arizona for illegally trafficking children from the Marshall Islands. Paul Petersen was the Maricopa County Assessor and a Mormon adoption attorney who was arrested and indicted in three states for trafficking children through an illegal adoption scheme.  Dillon Rosenblatt of the Arizona Capital Times reports that a prostitution camp in the Marshall Islands, where girls as young as 15 or 16 did sex work in exchange for food and housing, provided many of the birth mothers for the children that were trafficked through adoption to the U.S.

Georgia House Approves Legislation to Ban Foster Parents from Having Sex with Children in Their Care

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that a new proposed bill has just passed the Georgia State House of Representatives "that would make it illegal for foster parents to have sexual contact with children they are caring for." It is House Bill 911 sponsored by Republican state Representative Ed Setzler. Health Impact News supports Rep. Setzler's bill, but we disagree with his published statement that these situations are "rare instances where a foster parent has inappropriate sexual contact with those in his or her care." Statistics show that the U.S. Foster Care system is the main pipeline for child sex trafficking, and is not that rare at all.

Idaho Lawmaker Wants to Rein in Abuse of Power by Child Protection Services

Idaho Representative Heather Scott is apparently getting too many calls from her constituents regarding the abuses of Idaho Child Protection social workers in the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. She has proposed legislation that would require every social worker visiting someone's home to provide a print-out of parents Constitutional rights, which seem to be routinely violated by social workers and local law enforcement. As is to be expected, she experienced strong push back on her bill from those in Government profiting from the trafficking of children through Child Welfare and the Foster Care System. She took her case to the public recently via a video she posted on Facebook, as she is proposing other bills now as well, such as requiring that social workers receive training on parents' Constitutional rights. Representative Scott is also encouraging parents to visit IdahoCPS.org to learn more.

Wisconsin Child Abuse Pediatrician Loses Job After Complaints – Becomes Medical Director in Alaska for Child Abuse

Reporter Dee J. Hall has published an article in The Cap Times of Madison, Wisconsin, regarding Dr. Barbara Knox, formerly head of the Child Protection Program at American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison. According to Hall, Dr. Knox was considered "a national expert on child abuse who testifies as an expert for prosecutors around the country." The University of Wisconsin reportedly put Dr. Knox on paid leave in 2019 "after colleagues inside and outside of the hospital accused her of intimidation or retaliation." According to Hall,  "Knox now works as the medical director of Alaska CARES, a child abuse response and evaluation program based at the Children’s Hospital at Providence in Anchorage." Hall's article also documents cases where Dr. Knox allegedly falsely accused parents of child abuse.  It is good to see more and more local media sources exposing the practices of these Child Abuse Pediatricians, who have to find child abuse from injuries in order to justify their position.

Medical Kidnapping: When Doctors of Children Become Sex Abusers – How Well do You Know Your Child’s Doctor?

Since starting MedicalKidnap.com in 2014, we have documented frequently how doctors, especially Child Abuse Pediatricians, participate in medically kidnapping children. We have also frequently reported how the U.S. Foster Care system is known as the main pipeline for Child Sex Trafficking. Shockingly, two stories in the mainstream news today show that some doctors with access to children are sexually abusing those children. How common is this? Doctors are revered as trustworthy members of our society here in the U.S., but these two stories, one about a dentist and one about a pediatrician, highlight that our trust in doctors may often be misplaced.

Forbidden Parenting: Removing Children from Good Parents Based on Societal Norms – NOT Abuse

The government sometimes arrests parents for giving kids responsibility. In South Carolina, mom Deborah Harrell was jailed for letting her 9-year-old daughter play in a park for the day. A police interrogator lectured Harrell: "You can't leave a child who is nine years old in the park by herself. What would you do if some sex offender came by?" Yet despite media scare stories, kidnappings are extremely rare and are way down. But the state wasn't okay with Deborah's parenting. Not only was she arrested, but Regina was taken away from her for weeks Deborah was charged with "willful abandonment of a child," which carries up to a 10-year jail sentence. Fortunately, attorney Robert Phillips heard about her case and found it so outrageous he took it for free.

Father Defies Gag Order To Tell the World How His 14 Year Old Daughter’s Life is “Destroyed and Sterilized” Due to Court-ordered Testosterone Injections Against Parental Consent

For the past 11 months, Robert Hoogland, a father in Surrey, British Columbia, has been forced to watch as his 14 year-old daughter was “destroyed and sterilized” by court-ordered testosterone injections. After losing his legal appeal to stop the process in January, Rob is making a desperate attempt to bring his case into the courts of public opinion, even though it breaks a court order demanding his silence about the case. Rob felt that at the age of 14—when the courts judged his daughter competent to take testosterone without parental consent—she simply did not have the foresight necessary to understand such consequences. “Sometimes I just want to scream so that other parents and people will… jump in, understand what’s going on,” Rob said. “There’s a child—and not only mine, but in my case, my child out there having her life ruined,” and yet, Rob felt, “people don’t [even] know.” Rob’s efforts to raise awareness of his daughter’s plight have come at a high cost. The last time he granted an interview to The Federalist, he was convicted of “family violence” by the BC Supreme Court for his “expressions of rejection of [his daughter’s] gender identity.” He was also placed under threat of immediate arrest if he was caught referring to his daughter as a girl again.

Justice for Medical Kidnapping! Philadelphia Judge Confesses to Illegally Jailing Parents

In May of 2018 Health Impact News published the story of Philadelphia Family Court Judge Lyris Younge, who was accused of “judicially created parental alienation” by a Pennsylvania state appeals court. The Superior Court of Pennsylvania reversed the termination of parental rights that had been decreed under Judge Lyris Younge of Philadelphia Family Court. According to the ABA Journal, a child referred to as N.M. was taken from her parents after she was found to have two broken ribs. The appellate decision is public record, with the parents and children identified only by their initials.  The baby was taken to the doctor after signs of “increased fussiness.” The pediatrician had the family take the baby to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where they ran a series of x-rays. When two fractured ribs were found, the Child Abuse Team, including Dr. Natalie Stavas, decided that the only explanation was abuse. The Philadelphia Department of Human Services (DHS) was called on April 7, 2016, and the baby was seized from her parents. DHS refused to place the baby with her grandparents, and she was placed into foster care. The parents’ rights were terminated. It is apparent from the appeals document that there are other medical possibilities for the baby’s injuries that were not considered. The family was not permitted to have other medical experts testify as to other possible diagnoses. Because the parents did not have an explanation, the foregone conclusion at CHOPS was “abuse.” Judge Lyris Younge was later removed from the bench as her trial was pending. Today, (February 19, 2020), Philadelphia media is reporting that Judge Younge has admitted to the allegations to avoid trial.

Pennsylvania Social Worker Charged with Forcing Mother into Prostitution to Get Kids Back from Foster Care

A Sicklerville woman allegedly used her authority over child-welfare decisions to force a woman into prostitution, according to the district attorney's office in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Candace Talley, 27, who managed cases for the county's Office of Children and Youth Services, faces felony charges of human trafficking and prostitution... Talley is accused of exploiting a woman whose children were in foster care, the district attorney's office said. “It is truly horrible, and beyond imagination, that someone who is responsible for ensuring the welfare of children would pressure their mother into acts of prostitution for her own personal enrichment, and with the promise of a favorable custody recommendation, as this defendant is charged with doing," Stollsteimer stated.

California Parents Sue Riverside County $25 Million for Death of Disabled Daughter in Foster Care

Riverside County effectively signed a disabled girl’s death warrant by placing her in a foster home dogged by decades of complaints, charge the parents of “Princess” Diane Ramirez in a lawsuit seeking at least $25 million. Angel Cadena Ramirez and Alberto Ramirez filed suit on Monday, Feb. 10, against the county and foster home operators Michelle Morris and Larry Kerin. They allege wrongful death, breach of duty and violations of child abuse neglect reporting laws. “No parent should have to attend his or her child’s funeral,” the suit said. “Yet, due to the collective, systematic malfeasance and deliberate indifference of (the county and foster home) … plaintiffs will never again have the opportunity to experience the life and vibrancy of their daughter.”

The Hidden Trauma of “Short Stays” in Foster Care – New Mexico Ranks #1 in the Nation

When most Americans think of foster care, they think of children waiting years in homes or institutions to return to their families or to be placed for adoption. But every year, an average of nearly 17,000 children are removed from their families’ custody and placed in foster care only to be reunited within 10 days, according to a Marshall Project analysis of federal Department of Health and Human Services records dating back a decade. Every state allows certain officials—such as police officers, child-services workers or hospital staff—to take a child from her parents without a court order if they believe the child faces imminent danger of physical harm. But this analysis shows that thousands of children taken from their homes without court approval are quickly returned to their families after child-services officials review the evidence. The data was analyzed with assistance from the nonprofit organization Fostering Court Improvement, which maintains a database of federal child-welfare records. “Short stays,” as they are called by child-welfare experts, appear to happen most often in high-poverty areas where law enforcement officials are the only group authorized by state law to remove children without a court order. In 2018, the most recent year for which data is available, Bernalillo County, which includes Albuquerque, recorded a higher rate of short-term removals than any other major area in the country, followed by counties that include Santa Fe, Akron and New Orleans.

Wisconsin Lawmakers Push to Make it Easier to Terminate Parental Rights

Over the last three months, Wisconsin legislators have been debating bills to reshape state laws that have the power to break up some families and create new ones. There have been two public hearings and a contentious Assembly floor session over the measures. But stories of parents like Tara van Wormer and their children have been virtually absent from the debate. The bills, including measures that cover adoption and foster care, grew out of an Assembly task force on adoption commissioned last spring. They were introduced as a package to make Wisconsin “more adoption friendly” in the words of the lawmakers supporting them. In short order, Gov. Tony Evers signed the least-controversial bill after it sailed through the state Assembly and the state Senate: Act 92, which expands who is eligible for financial assistance for adopting children with special needs. Several other bills passed the Assembly Jan. 15 after extensive debate, some on divided roll-call votes. They have yet to be scheduled in the Senate. The proposals share a common goal: In order to make it easier for children to be adopted, they would make it easier to terminate the parental rights of mothers and fathers suspected of abuse or neglect.