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Texas Foster Care: “Rape, Abuse, Psychotropic Medication, and Instability” Still the Norm as State Fights Against Reform

The battle continues between the State of Texas and attorneys who represent more than 12,000 children in the state's foster care system. A panel of three judges in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans heard arguments Monday, April 30, about the constitutionality of the state's troubled foster care system. This is the latest chapter in a fight to change the system in which, according to U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack, "... children have been shuttled throughout a system where rape, abuse, psychotropic medication, and instability are the norm." After Judge Jack ruled in December 2015 that the system as it stood was unconstitutional, Texas Attorney General Kenneth Paxton appealed the decision, defending the state's foster care system. Many of the original plaintiffs in the lawsuit, who were formerly foster care children, have now become adults and aged out of the system and are missing. The San Antonio Express ran a story looking into what has happened to these Texas foster children who aged out of the system, and they found that most of them suffer unemployment, homelessness, and sex trafficking as adults.

Mom Who Lost 2.5 Years of Her Children’s Lives While They Were in Foster Care Seeks Attorney to Fight Corruption in Arizona

The Coumpy children are finally back home. Their mother, Aprilli Coumpy, has lost over 2 years of her children's lives, time that can never be replaced. And like most children who are taken away from their families, the Coumpy children are still suffering today, even though they are back home. They were seized by Arizona's Child Protective Services back in 2015, after an accidental injury when the children woke up early and decided to cook breakfast for their still-sleeping mother. It was something that could have happened in any home. After a hard-fought battle against the State of Arizona, where the state even tried to get Health Impact News to remove their stories on this case published on MedicalKidnap.com, the children were finally returned home shortly after the latest Health Impact News article on their family was published, which exposed wrong-doing by the Department and by social worker Lisa Millett. Like many families, the Coumpys decided to lay low and stay out of the media spotlight as they began their journey of healing. It has been 8 months since their case was closed on August 15, 2017, and the family is still suffering trauma from the overreach of Child Protective Services into their lives. The mother, who refused to give up fighting for her children when they were in state custody, is now determined to fight for justice, not only for her children, but for all children who are victims of social workers who abuse their power. Aprilli Coumpy seeks an attorney who will help her to file a lawsuit on behalf of her children, all the while she is working to help her family heal from the damage inflicted on them when they were taken.

Young Child Molested by Nurse in Foster Care Still not Returned to Mother More than a Year Later

After 3 years of fighting to get her daughter home from foster care, South Carolina mom, Kaya Thomas, has been given a new hoop to jump through. She was told in court on April 18, 2018, that she has to get a bigger vehicle by the beginning of June as a condition for Kaya to begin unsupervised visits with her daughter, Egypt. Kaya Thomas did not abuse her daughter. This fact is not even in dispute. Egypt was the victim of a crime perpetrated by her biological father when her mother was not present. For that, he is behind bars. Yet, three years later, an innocent mother is still fighting the system to get her daughter home. She is not financially in the position to be able to go out and get a bigger vehicle. She only has a month to get it. Social workers have told her that if she sets up a GoFundMe type of account to ask for help, that will be used against her. How do parents fight this kind of tyranny? All Kaya Thomas wants is for her little girl to be home where she can love her and take care of her. Will the lack of a larger vehicle really keep the state from returning a child to her mother?

Study: Shaken Baby Syndrome Diagnosis Lacks Scientific Evidence – Leads to False Accusations of Child Abuse

There has been an increase in recent years in the number of cases of Shaken Baby Syndrome and Abusive Head Trauma. Is this due to an increase in the number of child abusers, better recognition of the symptoms which leads to more accurate diagnoses, or is something else happening? Could it be that increased awareness of Shaken Baby Syndrome in the medical profession has led to overdiagnosis of abuse when there could be other explanations for the symptoms? If it is the latter, then there stands a good chance of innocent parents or caregivers being blamed, perhaps criminally, for something that they did not do. At Health Impact News we have covered many cases of parents who were arrested or lost their children to Child Protective Services after being accused of Shaken Baby Syndrome or abuse even though there are legitimate medical conditions accounting for the symptoms. In what is believed to be the first study of its kind, researchers in Sweden set out to examine this crucial question. They published their findings in the European Journal of Public Health on Tuesday, April 17, 2018: Infant abuse diagnosis associated with abusive head trauma criteria: incidence increase due to overdiagnosis? This study follows up Sweden's Council on Technology and Social Evaluation and their National Medical Ethics report in 2016 that concluded the science behind SBS is not credible.

“Mental Illness” Label Used to Medically Kidnap Mother and Try to Adopt Out Her Children

Tara Chapman, a 33 year old disabled mother, was handcuffed, drugged, and carted away to a facility that is 8 hours from her family. She is being held prisoner in Tennessee under the guise of mental illness, even though a mental hospital in Virginia recently said that she did not meet the criteria to commit her. The state of Tennessee wants Tara's three boys to stay in foster care, away from family. The family wants to know how far the state is willing to go to ensure that neither Tara nor her family gets her 3 children back? A fourth child, Tara's daughter, is being cared for by her mother Whitney, the children's grandmother, but the state refuses to allow the grandmother to care for the 3 boys. There was supposed to be a court hearing on Friday, April 13, 2018, but the juvenile court cancelled it without warning less than 24 hours before. Tara has suffered from mild mental illness for many years, but it was only after her children were seized by Child Protective Services and abused in foster care that her mental health deteriorated to the point where she qualified for disability. It would appear that the state of Tennessee is using her disability as an excuse to adopt out her children, even though her family is willing and able to care for the children.

Adults Medically Kidnapped: 3X More than Children in Foster Care – $50 BILLION in Assets Seized

Most of the stories that we cover at Medical Kidnap involve children who were taken from their families by Child Protective Services. However, medical kidnapping can happen to adults too. We have covered a number of stories of adults being taken by Adult Protective Services and being placed under the legal guardianship of strangers. Philly.com now reports that a woman who has been court-appointed as a guardian in at least 93 cases from 2015 to 2017 has a considerably criminal history of fraud, bad check writing, and forgery. Yet, Gloria Byars was the guardian recommended by the non-profit Philadelphia Corporation for Aging to oversee the lives and estates of many senior citizens in the Philadelphia area. Guardians in many states are not required to undergo background checks, and it is stunningly easy in some places for anyone to become a guardian. It is also stunningly easy for an unscrupulous person to allege that a person is "incapacitated" and in need of a guardian, even if it is not true. As reported by Philly.com: "Nationwide, guardians oversee an estimated 1.3 million adults and $50 billion of their assets, said Brenda Uekert, principal court research consultant at the National Center for State Courts." That means that [the] number of adults under guardianship care is roughly 3 times the number of children in foster care across the United States. According to the AFCARS report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there were 437,465 children in foster care in 2016.

Florida Mom Seeks 2nd Opinion on Dying Newborn After Car Accident – Loses Custody of All Three Children and Baby Dies in State Care

When an 8 month pregnant mother arrived at the hospital after a car accident, her baby was clearly in trouble. Doctors allegedly seemed to be more concerned about Johnna Furman's broken wrist than the emergency facing her unborn baby. Her baby needed to be born quickly, but the delay of a necessary c-section resulted in life threatening lack of oxygen to the baby in the womb. Baby Gabriel was born with brain damage and other serious medical conditions allegedly arising from this lack of oxygen. Throughout his first week and a half of life, doctors at the University of Florida Shands Hospital told Johnna that her baby would not survive. She refused to accept that answer. When she tried to transfer care of her baby to a local children's hospital for a second opinion, doctors from Shands Hospital reported her to Child Protective Services. While doctors blamed the mother, Johnna says that it was their medical malpractice that resulted in brain damage to her baby, ultimately leading to his death, and that the hospital is covering up what they did by blaming her. Child Protective Services seized her baby and her other 2 children 11 days after the car accident. Evidence that would have proven her innocence was not heard by the Florida judge, who is known for approving over 30,000 adoptions, and her parental rights were terminated less than a year later. She had another baby the following year, but Florida seized custody of that baby, too. In a video that Johnna recorded to talk about her case, she said: "My family's gone. I can never have another child. I don't understand how this is supposed to be the American dream, that justice doesn't matter. The truth doesn't matter."

Families Protest at Kansas State Capitol: “Our Children are not for Sale!”

The crowd of parents, advocates, and recently freed children say they have had enough. About 150 people braved freezing temperatures to march on the Kansas state capitol for the 3rd annual Fools No More rally on April 2, 2018. Event organizer Jennifer Winn, family advocate and former gubernatorial candidate, said: "This is about our children. All the aspects of this event are about issues that impact our children from DCF, parental rights, juvenile justice, medical cannabis; all these issues impact the lives of our children.... We are fighting for their future." Some of the most fervent marchers were children who were recently held captive in the Child Protective System, known as DCF in Kansas, and who are now reunited with their families. One such child, the 14 year old son of "Hunger Strike Dad" Raymond Schwab, was asked what he thought of what DCF did to him. There was no hint of hesitation on his part. He replied passionately: "Shut the system down!"

SC Family Reunited at Easter Almost 3 Years After Child Abuse Doctor Falsely Accused Mother

The Headleys were reunited this week, but it was a day they had begun to doubt would ever arrive. In July of 2015, Dr. Nancy Henderson-Hines of Greenville Memorial Hospital reportedly accused Danielle Headley of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. Based on her accusation, a family was kept apart for 2 years and 9 months. Children were placed into foster care where they suffered abuse, trauma, and even sodomy. A marriage was almost ripped apart. Reputations were destroyed. An innocent woman faced the possibility of spending 30 years in prison for a crime that didn't occur. It's over now. None of the doctors from Greenville Memorial Hospital, including Danielle's accuser Dr. Nancy Henderson-Hines, showed up at court on Monday, March 26, 2018. They were reportedly no longer willing to testify in Danielle Headley's criminal court case. Danielle told Health Impact News that her lawyer told her Monday that the prosecutor, known as a solicitor in South Carolina, said: "We are dropping everything. We don't have any evidence." Two years and nine months of trauma for Danielle, William, and their 4 sons, as well as grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends, is over. There was no evidence that she hurt her son. There never was.

Did Pennsylvania Mom Who Stood Up to Dental Bullying Uncover Massive Pediatric Dental Fraud Nationwide?

When a Pennsylvania mother posted a threatening letter on Facebook from her children's former dental practice, Smiles 4 Keeps, which threatened to report her to Child Protection Services if she did not keep a dental appointment for her child, a firestorm erupted. The Smiles 4 Keeps letter received by Trey Hoyumpa has ignited commentary from thousands of parents and patients across the nation telling their stories of dental abuse, bullying, and fraud at the hands of pediatric dentists. Health Impact News was the first to report the story in the media, and since then, mainstream media sources have also picked up on the story. Responses to the letter have been passionate and prolific, prompting coverage from local media in Pennsylvania to national media sources such as Yahoo News to national political commentator Michelle Malkin. Since publishing our original report, Health Impact News has done some more investigating into the practices of this particular Pennsylvania pediatric dental clinic, and its director Dr. Ross Wezmar, as well as pediatric dental practices nationwide. We have found that Department of Justice settlements for pediatric dental fraud cases are some of the largest fraud settlements in healthcare, especially in relation to billing medicaid for unnecessary child dental services. Dr. Wezmar seems to be a national leader in the Pediatric Dental field, and is actually listed as the "Dental consultant to Head Start, Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare," and "Chairperson AAPD Medicaid Committee," among other accolades tied into billions of dollars of federal funding. The bio on his Smiles 4 Keeps website also boasts that he is the: "Only east coast private practice chosen to participate in Harvard University Children’s Hospital Early Childhood Caries Program aimed at reducing early childhood decay." Harvard University Children's Hospital is better known as Boston Children's Hospital, infamous for its reputation for medically kidnapping children for medical research, as was exposed nationally with the Justina Pelletier medical kidnap case that gained national exposure. Could it be that the firestorm Pennsylvania mom Trey Hoyumpa unwittingly caused by publishing a letter received by Dr. Ross Wezmar's Smiles 4 Keeps pediatric dental clinic threatening to report her to Child Protection Services for failing to keep a dental appointment is the tip of the iceberg in nationwide pediatric dental fraud practices?

Child Protective Services in North Carolina using Blackmail to Illegally Seize Children from Families

Associated Press reporters recently exposed a story of illegal practices by Child Protective Services social workers in one North Carolina county. Social workers in Cherokee County have been reportedly coercing parents and taking their children illegally, bypassing the court system by threatening to adopt out their children or throw the parents in jail if they refused to sign paperwork known in NC as a CVA - Custody and Visitation Agreement. The same paperwork is known in other states as a "safety plan" or other such name. Richard Wexler of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform (NCCPR) has another name for it - blackmail. Wexler authored an article in response to the AP expose' entitled, "Child welfare, foster care and civil liberties: When CPS resorts to blackmail." Where the AP article leaves room to believe that the actions in Cherokee County are a problem of corruption unique to one area, Wexler's opening salvo leaves no room for that impression: "Reporters in North Carolina exposed the practice of child welfare agencies blackmailing families into giving up all their rights and letting them take away children with no court review at all. The only thing unusual about this is that, in North Carolina, it’s illegal. Elsewhere it’s standard operating procedure."

Mom Stands Up to Dental Bullying When Dentist Threatens to Call CPS Over Missed Dental Appointment

Is Medical Kidnapping now spreading to the dental profession? Parents all over social media are in an uproar over a letter posted by a Pennsylvania mother from her children's dentist office. Smiles4Keeps Pediatric Dentistry sent a letter to a mother threatening to call Child Protective Services if she did not schedule a dental appointment for her child. The dental office staff has responded to the post and comments with a post of their own, defending their actions as being their legal obligation. Instead of quieting public fears, the response appears even more disturbing to parents, who are accusing the dental office of "bullying," and "blackmail." Are dentists to become "mandated reporters" simply because a parent chooses not to bring their children in for regular dental checkups every six months, or because parents may choose a different dental practice that is not approved by the current dental practice? Is this really grounds for Child Protection Services to come in and remove children from their families and start an investigation?

Tennessee Family Seeks Lawsuit for Malpractice, Negligence, and Wrongful Death Over Down Syndrome Baby Taken Off of Life Support

A Tennessee family is crying out for justice. When doctors, social workers, and lawyers pushed last spring to have Baby Steffen taken off of life support, his family and their supporters pleaded for him to be given a chance to live. They could not understand why there was such a concerted effort to end Baby Steffen's life. It made no sense to them. Now, the results of a private autopsy are back, and the reasons seem crystal clear to the family. According to Baby Steffen's grandmother, Lisa Rivenburg: "It's open and shut malpractice, negligence, and wrongful death." They have suspected all along that somebody was covering something up. Now, they believe they have the evidence they need to pursue a lawsuit. They are in need of an attorney willing and able to take on the case.

Alabama Newborn Baby Kidnapped at Hospital with No Warrant, No Court Order, No Emergency Circumstances

It should have been one of the happiest times in the young couple's life. It started out that way. Two weeks ago, on Monday, February 26, 2018, Chelsea Thomas, 18, gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy in Birmingham, Alabama. Their first-born son was everything that she and her 19 year old fiance' Brian Stokes had hoped for. They immediately fell in love with their "sweet prince" who has daddy's nose and mommy's lips. Baby Kason was their whole world. Then, their world was shattered. At 3 pm the very next day, Chelsea had just breastfed her baby and he was asleep in her arms. A nurse came into the room and said she needed to take Baby Kason to the nursery "for an assessment." He never came back. Less than an hour after the nurse took their baby out of the room, Chelsea received a phone call from a lady with the Steps Ahead prenatal program telling her that she was required to notify the Department of Human Resources (DHR - Alabama's Child Protective Services) when the baby was born. She told them that DHR had taken custody of Baby Kason. He was in lockdown in the hospital nursery and the parents were not permitted to go near the nursery. There was no reason given. There was no warrant. No court order. No emergency circumstance. Nothing. Their baby had only been with them for little more than 24 hours. It turns out that, even though Chelsea is 18, Jefferson County DHR still legally has custody over her, because she is a former foster child. As such, it appears that they get to call the shots - up to and including taking her baby away from her.

Disabled Virginia Mom Arrested with No Warrant, No Charges Because Health Impact News Exposed her Story

Police have arrested a mother in Virginia. She was charged with no crime. There was no warrant. Tara Chapman, who has a mental health disability, was reportedly dragged out of the house, placed in handcuffs, and taken away in a police car yesterday, March 7, 2018. She was taken to a mental health facility where she was handcuffed to a hospital bed. Whitney Manning is her mother, and she has been fighting Tennessee's Child Protective Services for her daughter and grandchildren for several years. She is terrified for the very life of her daughter. Attorney Connie Reguli told Health Impact News that she believes that Tara's arrest was "all retaliation" for their story being exposed. She said that Tara was not a threat to herself or to anyone else. "She was TRULY medically kidnapped. They are treating her like a criminal. This is true abuse of the mentally ill." Tara Chapman had graduated with honors from college and had a teaching degree. The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) became involved during a time when Tara was being abused by her sons' father. She had struggled with depression and bipolar disorder to some degree before that, but her children being taken literally drove her crazy. Now, after exposing her story to the public, a court has removed her mother as her guardian and placed under the custody of the State, and her family does not even know where she is located.

Disabled Parents Losing Right to Parent their Own Children in America while Foster Parent Recruitment Seeks “Imperfect Parents”

Parents with disabilities face challenges in raising their children. One challenge that many may not have expected, however, is the right simply to BE a parent. A recent article by the Pacific Standard describes the "uphill battle" that parents with disabilities face to keep their own children. The statistics cited are alarming: "Research indicates that parents with disabilities and their families are overrepresented in the child welfare system. While parents with disabilities make up only 6.2 percent of all parents in the United States, a recent study found that 19 percent of children in foster care have a parent with a disability." According to data from the Child Maltreatment report for 2016 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, only about 25% of the children coming into the system are taken for reasons of physical or sexual abuse. Most children placed into the foster care system were not abused. Nationally, only 17.2% of the allegations against parents are even substantiated. Yet, disabled parents are losing their children at a higher rate than the general public. Sometimes, their disability is the sole reason for their children being taken from them. What is worse is that they are less likely to get their children back once the state takes them. All of this violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The Ad Council slogan, "You don't have to be perfect to be a perfect parent" is aimed at potential foster and adoptive parents, but it is a slap in the face to real parents who are told by the state that they cannot parent their children because they are less than perfect.

Healthy Boston Woman is Medically Kidnapped and Forced onto Pysch Drugs Resulting in her Death

Another Boston area woman's life has been cut short after elder "protective" services and guardians became involved. The story of Alice Julian's medical kidnapping is shocking and horrifying in that it shows the almost omnipotent power of the state to override the decisions made by a citizen in preparation for their latter years. Alice Julian had a strong will to live. She was described as an "exceptionally healthy" 89 year old woman before being seized and drugged against her will. Her daughter Pamela Julian fought valiantly to save her life, but the strength of a group of Guardians, lawyers, and Jewish Family and Children's Services proved to be too great a hurdle to overcome. She died on the morning of January 9, 2018.

2 Years After Isaiah Rider Medically Kidnapped: “They Destroyed Our Whole World”

It has been almost 2 years since Isaiah Rider was released from Illinois DCFS custody after being medically kidnapped. Like many families who are reunited after the trauma of dealing with Child Protective Services, Isaiah and his mother, warrior-advocate Michelle Rider, largely withdrew from social media and the public eye. The horrors they had experienced took a toll and they have needed time to heal. They recently shared their story with a reporter from KWIR, a publication whose audience is largely LGBT. Michelle Rider says that she wants their story to be told as a warning for parents. Reporter Gretchen Rachel Hammond writes: "Although not LGBT themselves, Michelle and Isaiah fear for both gay and straight couples who take a child to a hospital like Lurie for help and suddenly find themselves catapulted into a hell they could never have imagined." In the opening of the series, Hammond makes this statement: "As an increasing number of LGBT couples choose to adopt, the story of one of the most disturbing and bizarre cases of DCFS removing a child after hospital doctors claim Medical Child Abuse serves as a warning." The public may not be aware that the LGBT community contributes to the demand for children to adopt. The Rider article series by KWIR serves as a cautionary tale that the children offered up for adoption to LGBT couples, and to anyone else seeking to adopt, are not always "poor abused children in need of a forever home." Adoptive and foster parents are not always told the truth about the children who are placed with them. Far more often than not, the children were taken from families who love them, who never abused them, and who have been falsely accused of hurting their children. Social worker whistleblowers have told us that they are encouraged to seize children who are "adoptable." Adults wishing to adopt children increase the demand, whether they are LGBT couples unable to conceive on their own, infertile couples, couples with good intentions who want to help children, Christian and religious families seeking to care for "the needy and the orphan," or even pedophiles. No matter the motive, whether good or bad, each serves to create the demand for children. As that demand increases, more children are being taken from innocent families in order to supply the commodities (children) to meet the demand. It is simple economics.

Public Warning: Boston is a Cesspool of Adult Medical Kidnappings

Boston is home to one of the first notorious cases of medical kidnapping that garnered widespread public attention, that of Justina Pelletier, seized by Boston Children's Hospital and Child Protective Services, and confined against her will and the will of her family in a psych ward. It appears that the Boston area is a hub for medical kidnappings of adults as well as children. In at least 4 cases that we know of in the Boston, Massachusetts, area, there is a web of common players who are interconnected. Jewish Family and Children's Services is the common denominator for each of these senior citizens who were seized by Adult Protective Services. Instead of foster parents, "guardians" are court-appointed to take control of their lives, assets, and medical decisions, leaving elder adults victims of strangers they have never met, isolated from their family and friends who are the ones that truly care about them. They are accused of having "mental illness" and confined to psych wards against their will. Lonnie Brennan is the editor of a newspaper that has reported their stories, The Boston Broadside. He was recently threatened with arrest for trying to visit one medically kidnapped lady, Mary Frank, who was trying to reach out to him to get her story published. She was confined to a nursing home and psych ward against her will, and denied basic human rights. Her perpetrators did not want her story going public. Lonnie told a local radio talk show host: "Once they have you, you are better off going to the nearest liquor store and saying, 'Hey, I'm robbing you.' Because you'll get better health care and you'll get better freedom if you are in prison. I hate to say it. And you'll have more dignity in prison than you will have - than we have witnessed - in nursing homes."

California Christian Homeschool Family Torn Apart as Children are Medically Kidnapped, Forced into Public School, and Mother is Forced out of Family Home

When the Daugherty family decided to visit Seattle, Washington, for a 4 day whale watching trip to celebrate their son's 10th birthday, they had no idea that a trip to the emergency room would turn into a nightmare that would rip their family apart. They were more than a thousand miles from home and from their own doctors, when chronically ill Zachary began running a fever and showing signs of an infection. When his parents took him to the emergency room at Seattle Children's Hospital, they blindly walked into a web of controversy involving some of the most notorious Child Abuse Specialist doctors in the country, with connections to Medical Kidnap stories we have published spanning from Boston to Arizona, California, and Washington. California parents Kevin and Erin Daugherty learned that the conflict between Boston area doctors involved with the notorious Justina Pelletier case didn't stay in Boston. It has spread all the way from the East Coast to the West Coast of America. Their son Zachary has been caught in the crossfire of differing philosophies of different doctors. Orange County CPS in California has now seized custody of Zachary and his sister Zoe as well, and these formerly homeschooled children are now forced to attend public school. The children are only allowed to see their mother on supervised visits 4 hours per week, as the state has forced the mother to move out of the family home and separate from her husband against their will.