Once Thriving Michigan Teenager Now Facing Death in CPS Custody

A Michigan social worker asked the mother of a 14 year old girl if she has life insurance on her daughter, Abbie Odonnell, after the 5' 9" teen went from 145 lbs to 92 lbs under CPS custody. Her twin sister Alexis is being housed in a maximum security juvenile detention facility, and her bunkmate has reportedly murdered 7 people. Their 17 year old sister Alyssa is being held in another lock-down facility. The girls' crime? The twins admitted to smoking pot on one occasion. Later the twins ran away from an abusive foster home. For the heinous crime of escaping that abuse, CPS is forcing the twins to serve a 12 month sentence in Wolverine Secure Treatment Center, and forbidding their older sister, who has done nothing wrong, to go home. Laura Dalton doesn't think that Abbie will survive that long. Apparently, her social worker doesn't either, but is not doing anything to fix the situation. Laura says that it has already been 17 months, and the girls have learned their lesson. They shouldn't have been smoking marijuana. They know that now. But is that infraction worth the state of Michigan endangering the very lives of these once healthy, thriving kids?

Arizona Child Traffick Racketeering via CPS and Doctors on Trial Before U.S. Supreme Court

Since the MedicalKidnap.com website was started in 2014 as part of the Health Impact News network, we have had more parents from Arizona contact us regarding medical kidnappings than any other state in the U.S. Arizona has the highest percentage of children taken away from their families and put into foster care of any other U.S. state. One of the most egregious cases we published from Arizona is the case of Leanna Smith, who had her two daughters taken away from her for alleged medical reasons, and adopted out. Sources who have followed this case closely have told us that pretty much everyone in Arizona in the political system knows that there was corruption involved in the Smith family case, as their 4 year old healthy daughter was taken away from them as an apparent retaliation against Leanna for exposing the corruption in the Arizona medical system that led to her losing her two daughters. But everyone was too afraid to take a stand on the truth in this case, as it exposes alleged conspiracy and racketeering between doctors, out-of-state psychiatrist Brenda Bursch from UCLA, CPS social workers and managers, and the foster parents who eventually adopted the 4-year old girl and changed her name. From State legislators to the Arizona Governor to the U.S. Department of Justice, no one seemed to want to touch this case. Even the Arizona Judge presiding over the initial case sealed much of the evidence, including over 1800 recordings by Leanna Smith that allegedly exposes the conspiracy and corruption. After the 9th U.S. Circuit Court ruled against them on a technicality due to the dates of their filing evidence, forcing them to try and re-file the case in Arizona, they have instead filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court. This 211 page document names the names of the "Racketeers" in Arizona and the conspiracy between the State, medical doctors, CPS caseworkers and supervisors, and foster parents in the kidnapping of children and the destruction of the Smith family. Will the Smith family finally get justice and a chance to have their case heard? Will these 1800 recordings finally be unsealed and revealed to the world? Now that the cover-up has been exposed to the world, how will the nation respond to this story of corruption, abuse of power, and racketeering in Arizona that is destroying families and injuring children?

Michigan Teen Medically Kidnapped and Placed in Juvenile Detention Facility as Her Health Deteriorates

Last year Leiani McMichael was an honor student, artist, and a varsity swimmer at her high school. She was a good kid with a great life. Now the Michigan teenager's family fears for her life. The 17 year old was seized from her family by Child Protective Services on November 4, 2015, after the University of Michigan Mott's Children's Hospital called CPS and accused her mother of Munchausen by Proxy. The family and supporters believe that Mott's is trying to cover up their poor care of Leiani. Doctors and social workers are blaming the teen for her debilitating illness, but her mother, Rebecca Campos-Santana, insists that there is no way this is all in her head - it's in her digestive system. Currently Leiani is being held in Children's Village, a juvenile detention center. Jennifer Torres is the foster care placement specialist, and she has allegedly told the family that Leiani is at the juvenile detention center because there is currently no "safe place" to send her that can provide medical care. She has allegedly told the teen that she is never coming home, and that she cannot get out of the facility unless she gets out of the wheelchair, because the "good" foster families aren't wheelchair accessible.

Christian Family Loses 5 Children to CPS for “Radicalizing and Indoctrinating” Children with Christianity

Child welfare services in Norway have reportedly removed five Christian children from their parents' home and placed them into foster care after the parents were accused of radicalizing and indoctrinating their children with Christianity. According to the British-based Christian Institute, Norway's child protection services, known as the Barnevernet, seized the three sons and two daughters of Ruth and Marius Bodnariu in mid-November. Although the family wasn't quite sure at the time why their children were being taken away from them, their lawyer discovered that the parents were being charged with Christian indoctrination. The Bodnariu's lawyer obtained a copy of the government document that lists the charges against Marius and Ruth, which includes being listed as "radical Christians who were indoctrinating their children."

Report: Illinois DCFS Needs Total Overhaul

Beset by failures in leadership and in treatment of the state's most vulnerable children, Illinois' Department of Children and Family Services is hammering out a reform plan after a panel of court-appointed experts determined the agency needs a top-to-bottom overhaul if it hopes to improve the safety and well-being of the thousands of youths in its care. The report concluded that too many children who are wards of the state are shuffled from placement to placement and forced to wait months for services. The result, the experts wrote, was an erosion of the children's "already pronounced distrust in the system." The beleaguered agency also suffers from an "absence of responsibility and accountability" when it comes to ensuring the children receive the help they need, according to the report.

Grandparents Come Forward Reporting CPS Kidnappings in Corrupt Alabama – Parents Gagged by Court

A gag order was placed on Tony and Sabrina Cartee by a Randolph County judge to prevent them from talking to media and the public about the medical kidnapping of their children by Child Protective Services. However, Sabrina's parents are not under the gag order, and contacted Health Impact News reporting that they can no longer sit back and watch the unjust destruction of their family by Child Protective Services, and one social worker in particular. Tommy and Winnie Crumbley, Sabrina's parents, had a great deal to say about what is happening in the lives of their grandchildren. They are frightened for their well-being and want them to come back home. As previously reported, the Cartee children were taken by Child Protective Services, known as DHR (Department of Human Resources) in Alabama, when their then 5 year old son began "eloping" - the term used when autistic children wander away from home. One of his older brothers had already been diagnosed as autistic, and the family suspected that he was as well. They just didn't have a diagnosis yet. When their newest baby was born in September 2014, DHR seized the breastfeeding baby from her mother's arms just 2 days after she was born. The violations of the family's moral, legal, and Constitutional rights are numerous and egregious, report the Crumbleys. They say that their grandchildren should never have been taken away from their parents, and they want to see them returned to Sabrina and Tony, "where they belong." The Cartee's 17 year old daughter has also emailed us, saying: "I want to go home, my parents have not done anything wrong and we don't deserve to be harrassed by Alecia [social worker] anymore!!"

Alabama Girl Medically Kidnapped and Forced on Drugs: Parents Facing Jail for Failure to Pay State Child Support

An Alabama girl has been medically kidnapped from her family because her mother refused to allow social workers to put her daughter on strong anti-depressant drugs. The mother had good reason to refuse these drugs, as both of her parents had been prescribed anti-depressants by the very same facility - her mother at the age of 22, and her father at age 54, one year prior to the social worker's demand. Both of her parents subsequently committed suicide after taking the medications. Now, the mother is facing a jail sentence for failing to pay child support to the state for the daughter they kidnapped, and her fiance has a warrant out for his arrest as well. Due to rumors of corruption and violence in DeKalb County jail, they are terrified for his well-being if he goes to jail, and they are calling on the public for support.

Native American Teen-age Girl Medically Kidnapped by State of Missouri

How does a teenager being held against her will by a man turn into her being taken from her parents by Child Protective Services and being held against her will in a group home? How can a system allegedly allow such a man to make false reports to the police about the parents, and he is the one who goes free, while her parents watch in horror as police and CPS kidnap their daughter from them hours after they rescue her from her assailant? The Daltons are members of the Children of the Four Winds Tribe, part of the federally recognized Six Nations, and they are fighting back legally in the courts. Leaders in the Six Nations have vowed to take this all the way to the Supreme Court if they have to. They claim injustice is happening to a Native American family, and their sovereign tribe is not happy. Their daughter just wants to come home, where she can feel safe again. She stated: "The best place for me right now is at home with my family, where they can protect me."

Couple Arrested and Children Taken by CPS When Trying to Leave Texas to Visit Dying Grandmother

They just wanted to honor a dying grandmother's deathbed wish to see her grandbabies one time before she leaves this earth. Now, thanks to the intervention of a Texas Ranger and CPS, that may never happen. Ahmed and Olubunmi Giwa were arrested last weekend and all of their children seized by Child Protective Services when they tried to fly out on an emergency trip to see Mr. Giwa's mother. Ahmed's mother is reportedly doing very poorly. The family was simply planning to visit her in Nigeria for a couple of days. They had return tickets for everyone, and their car was parked in the parking deck at the airport the whole time. Ali Giwa was medically kidnapped on April 14, 2015, by Harris County CPS - a county the family doesn't even live in - on allegations of "failure to thrive." It is still unclear how Harris County has jurisdiction in this case. Though Ali has some developmental delays, CPS never mentioned to the judge that he is in the 75th percentile with his height and weight. He was returned home on July 29, but the bizarre case remained open. Now, CPS has taken the 2 year old's twin sister and his 3 year old sister as well and placed them into foster care, accusing his parents of "interfering with child custody" and attempted international kidnapping, of their own children.

Medical Kidnapping in Kentucky: Mother Coerced to Give Up Daughter to Adoption in Order to Keep Son

When Brenda Maney of Richmond, KY, walked into her Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) hearing on May 7, 2015, she was not prepared for the impossible choice the Family Court would present to her. About 2.5 years earlier, in the winter of 2012, a series of unfortunate events in Brenda’s life led to a friend naïvely calling Kentucky's Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) for help. DCBS social workers showed up at Brenda’s door, and despite the children being well taken care of, removed her children after “diagnosing” her as having Postpartum depression and demanding that she check herself into a psychiatric hospital for treatment in order to get her two children back. Brenda would never get her baby daughter back, despite the fact that she did what DCBS required and checked into the hospital. At Brenda’s TPR hearing, the judge called a recess which lasted about 40 minutes. Brenda’s attorney came back and said that the court was offering Brenda a choice – to choose between having her 14-year-old son Aaron come home by giving up her 3-year-old daughter Tanaieah voluntarily to adoption, or lose both children. The attorney explained: “Your daughter does not know you, she has bonded to the foster family and she is happy. She thinks they are her family. DCBS is going to use her attachment as the ‘Best Interest of the Child’ and if you continue with the TPR hearing, you will lose. Your son wants to come home. He’s miserable in foster care. He’s not thriving in foster care. Every potential adoptive home he’s been placed in has fallen through. You should take this offer, for Aaron. If you go ahead with the TPR hearing, you will lose. You will lose both children.” Faced with an unbearable likelihood of losing both children, Brenda could not allow Aaron to suffer any longer. Brenda chose to get Aaron out of the foster care system that was destroying him, by relinquishing her rights to Tanaieah. Even though the Family Court required that Brenda sign her rights away “willingly,” she did so out of coercion and feeling that she had no other choice.

Canadian Boy Dies in Foster Care – Now His Mother Is Speaking Out About Medical Kidnappings in Canada

It was 7 years ago that Crystal Carifelle saw her son for the last time. It had been 3 years since she had seen him when she received a phone call that her little boy was dying. She and his daddy raced to the hospital where she was told that she had 5 minutes to say goodbye, but she wasn't permitted to touch him. When she reached out to touch him, security guards escorted her away. They told her shortly after that he was gone. According to APTN National News, she said she believes that if the foster family would’ve taken Ashton to hospital sooner, he may still be alive. Crystal was told that her son had diarrhea for the previous 12 days and started running a fever. He died from dehydration. The foster family reportedly knew the 4 year old was sick, but "not that sick," and they didn't take him to the hospital until it was too late. Ashton was taken by Child Protective Services when he was 9 months old. He was born premature and had some medical issues. After he had a severe seizure, social workers came to the hospital and seized him from his mother's custody, accusing her of endangering him. But it was in CPS' care that he died, arguably from medical neglect.

North Carolina Child Medically Kidnapped Starving to Death in Foster Care

A North Carolina grandmother is "horrified" at the condition of her 4 year old grandson Malakai. The deterioration in his health reportedly happened after Child Protective Services removed him from his family and placed him in foster care. She reports that he had previously been very healthy, with no medical problems. Now, the foster parents are collecting disability payments for him and he looks like he is starving. Kimberly Deese is fearful for her grandson's life. The family claims that no matter what hoops they jump through or what evidence they provide, Wake County CPS seems determined to sever all family connection to Malakai Deese and adopt him out. Heather's parental rights have just been terminated, and CPS has made it clear that they refuse to consider placement of Malakai with his maternal grandmother, without basis, and in violation of both state and federal law. The family hopes to appeal, but they have only until December 4 to do so. Ironically, grandmother Kimberly had just finalized her adoption of another grandchild only a month before Malakai was seized by CPS - in the same county. Yet, when it came to Malakai, the social worker refused to do a home study or consider placing the toddler with his grandmother.

Ohio Social Workers and Attorneys Criticize “Chaotic and Tyrannical” Judge for Abducting Children

A Cuyahoga County magistrate who removed a newborn from her parents last month after a mother drank marijuana-based tea for pregnancy pains chronically oversteps her legal authority in child custody cases, according to county children services workers and attorneys. County attorneys objected to Magistrate Eleanore Hilow's order to take Nova Sanford from her parents after her mother agreed to not use marijuana. Workers found the baby was in no danger living with her parents, Hollie and Daniel Sanford. Attorney Joseph Jacobs, who represents the family, has asked Hilow's boss, Juvenile Court Judge Thomas O'Malley, to overturn her order. Another hearing in the case is set for December. Jacobs called Hilow's courtroom "chaotic and tyrannical" and said her "unreasoned, ill-tempered and punitive decisions" were "wreaking havoc on families throughout Cuyahoga County."

Teenage Girl Speaks Out About Being Medically Kidnapped in Los Angeles

The week following Tammi Stefano's interview with Jewels Stein on the The National Safe Child show, she had Jewel's daughter Dakotah on the show to get her perspective on being medically kidnapped and alienated from her mother. This was the first time The National Safe Child show interviewed and published the perspective of a victim who is a minor, and Dakotah's mother Jewel gave her consent to allow Dakotah to appear on the show. Dakotah's inside perspective gives the public an incredible view of a corrupt system of doctors and social workers that destroys families, and she has a very powerful message she wants heard. Her story also gives hope to the hundreds of thousands other foster children currently trapped in such a corrupt system.

UCLA Medical Doctors and LA County Medically Kidnap Paramedic and Film Producer’s Daughter

Tammi Stefano of The National Safe Child Show recently interviewed Jewels Stein, a mother who had her daughter taken by Los Angeles County’s Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) following accusations of Munchausen by proxy by UCLA medical physicians. Jewels Stein is a paramedic with the Fire Department who has an extensive medical background. She works on movie sets, and she is currently producing a documentary. She raised four of her own children and two step children. On the day her 15 year old daughter was to be discharged from the hospital after a successful surgery that allowed her daughter to eat food again instead being fed by a tube inserted directly into her stomach, Jewels Stein watched in horror as they took her daughter away from her because she refused to let her be put on powerful psych drugs. She was escorted out of the hospital while still in her pajamas, and left on the street without even her car keys. This is her story that she wants the world to hear.

California Holds Medically Kidnapped Adult Daughter for 14 Years

Jeffrey and Elsie Golin have been fighting against the State of California and California’s San Andreas Regional Center (SARC) for nearly fifteen years to have their daughter returned to them. SARC is a community-based, private nonprofit corporation that is funded by the State of California to serve people with developmental disabilities and works with Stanford University. The Golins are fighting for their autistic daughter Nancy’s right to be able to return home to live with them, and fighting for the right to advocate for their daughter’s best interests. According to their main attorney, Dave Beauvais, there are two main issues that lie at the heart of this ongoing case. The first is the issue of the Golin’s losing all rights to act in their own daughter Nancy’s best interests and the second is the issue of whether a person who is disabled has the same protection under the U.S. Constitution as a non-disabled person does. The two issues the state brought as grounds for removing Nancy from their care were the fact that she wanders away and the fact that the Golins disagreed with the doctors at Stanford University about which medication was best to prevent Nancy’s seizures.

From Child Protection to State-sponsored Child Kidnapping: How Did we Get Here?

When most people today hear of a terrible child abuse case, their immediate reaction is to call on the government to protect the child and bring justice to bear on the situation. This reliance upon government to enforce child protection, rather than families, churches or non-profit groups, is a relatively new concept in history. As American government has grown ever larger in response to society’s expectations that it should be all children’s protector, Americans have discovered these good intentions have created a system that is becoming more and more intrusive, demanding and corrupt. Parents’ protests, state hearings and local media attention are gradually bringing the public’s attention to a Child Protective Services (CPS) system that has the power to rip children from their parents – and do it without any of the civil rights and protections ALL American citizens are guaranteed. How did a government service meant to protect children become something entirely different? How and when did CPS start – and why are Americans facing its growing power without even basic civil rights?

South Carolina Medically Kidnapped 4 Year Old Went Missing From Foster Care, Found After Police Search

The past few months have been a nightmare for the Headley family, but last Saturday night may have been the worst yet for the South Carolina family whose children were medically kidnapped this summer. While 4 year old Jack was under the care of the Child Protective System, he was reported missing by the foster mother. He was found in some bushes about 4 hours later, but the thought of what could have happened to their little boy has concerned family and friends asking for some answers. They don't understand how the state could take their child from them, and then allow him to go missing under their watch. An Amber alert was never issued, and family members question why. Failure to issue an Amber alert or to provide a description and photo when the child is a foster child unnecessarily put the lives of foster children in jeopardy. According to the FBI, in 76 percent of the murders of an abducted child, the child was murdered within 3 hours of the abduction. Time is of the essence in reporting missing children, and the first 3 hours are the most crucial. Do not children who have been taken into "protective" custody by the state deserve to have Amber alerts and accurate descriptions if they are missing? How does the state justify having less, not more, protection of those children in its care? Jack was removed from his own home and his own family out of alleged concerns for his safety, yet it was under the care of a state-provided foster family that he was lost.

Shocked Arizona Mother Finds GoFundMe Page for Medical Needs of Daughter Medically Kidnapped

We have previously covered the medical kidnapping story of Leanna Smith, who had her two daughters removed from her family and eventually adopted out due to allegations of "medical abuse" and Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. Leanna has been fighting in court for several years now to seek justice, and earlier this year her case was heard in the 9th Circuit Court. This week, Leanna found a GoFundMe page put up by the foster parents of her youngest child requesting funds for medical needs and to move out of their home which was infested with mold. Leanna wonders if CPS and the State of Arizona did any investigations with the foster parents as they have publicly admitted that her youngest daughter now has DRESS syndrome, severe rashes, and "serious damage to her liver." Leanna, who has had no contact with her daughter in several years, states: "I fear for my daughter's life. She may need a liver transplant. Every day now I read the obituaries looking for her name."

Accusations of Shaken Baby Syndrome in Tennessee Destroys Family – Lands Parents in Jail

On August 15, 2013, in Jonesborough, Tennessee, Joe Whitaker frantically spoke to 911 as he tried to save his seven month old son, Jaden. According to Joe, the ambulance raced into their driveway. A female Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) jumped out, grabbed Jaden from his arms, slammed the ambulance doors, and sped away. Joe stood in the driveway watching the ambulance pull away, confused with the events that just occurred. What happened? Where were they taking his son? Why did they leave without him? Seconds later, Charlotte Whitaker reached her house and saw Joe standing in the driveway; her heart jumped into her throat. Where was her son? Luckily, the second rescue truck was still in front of her house, and the driver told the terrified parents that their son was being taken to Johnson City Medical Center (JCMC) in Johnson City, Tennessee. Why would the ambulance leave the parents in the driveway? According to Charlotte, this is one of many incidences that would be twisted by CPS to aid them in falsely accusing the Whitakers of child abuse and taking their baby. This question became "Why didn’t Joe Whitaker get into the ambulance with his son?" rather than "Why did the rescue personnel leave the parents behind?" Later that day their other two children would be taken away from their school, never to return home again, while both parents would later be arrested and accused of "Shaken Baby Syndrome."