9th Circuit Court Upholds Parents’ Constitutional Rights: Rules Against Arizona Social Workers Removing Children without a Warrant

In what is seen as a victory for parental rights, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of Arizona parents who had their 3 children removed from their home simply because they had taken photos of them after a bath when they were laying on a towel naked. They went to develop the photos at a Walmart, and an employee reported them to the police who were called in to investigate. The police investigation was extensive, including medical and forensic exams of the children looking for sexual abuse, as well as obtaining a warrant to search the family's home, where police "seized all the evidence that might be relevant to a child pornography investigation: computers, printers, photographs, cell phones, undeveloped film, floppy discs, DVDs, CDs, VHS tapes, and cameras." Police found no evidence of wrongdoing, so no charges were filed against the parents, and the children were returned home. However, Arizona social workers with a participating police detective decided to remove the young children from the home anyway, even without a court issued warrant. The children ended up in foster homes, but then later placed with their grandparents, and eventually returned home. The family sued the police detective and settled out of court, but Arizona courts ruled against the family suing the social workers citing state "Qualified Immunity" laws for social workers. The 9th Circuit disagreed, ruling that social workers are not above the law, and cannot violate the 4th and 14th Amendments, and that the courts have consistently ruled that families have a “well-elaborated constitutional right to live together without governmental interference.”

Newborn Kidnapped from Hospital at Birth in Alabama Returned to Parents After 2 Years

Baby Avyonna was a newborn nursing at her mother's breast when Alabama social workers seized her from the hospital and placed her into foster care almost 2 years ago. Now, finally, she is home with her parents Haly Boothe and Anthony Lett. She was taken by Shelby County Department of Human Resources (DHR) just 3 days after she was born. There were no allegations of abuse or neglect. Avyonna was taken because DHR said they had a pick-up order. Social workers believed they had the right to take the new baby since the department already had Haly's other 2 children Haydn and Ka'Myia in custody. During the course of the family's involvement with DHR, it became clear that the department had been planning all along to adopt Avyonna out. It was never about anything that Haly or Anthony did or didn't do. It was a foregone conclusion that the people who were adopting her siblings would adopt Avyonna as well. It was not until media attention from Health Impact News began to shine the light on what was happening with Shelby County DHR that there was any progress toward getting Avyonna home.

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Tennessee Kidnaps 3 Boys from Mentally Disabled Mom – Refuses Grandmother Custody in Favor of Adoption to Strangers

A grandmother is fighting to save 2 generations of her family from abuse by the state of Tennessee. Through no fault of her own, her family is being ripped apart, in a terrifying sequence of events that could happen to anyone. She is afraid for 3 of her grandsons who were seized by Tennessee Department of Children's Services (DCS) from their mentally disabled mother. They have suffered horrific abuse in foster care. Now the state is attempting to sever all family ties so that they can adopt them out to strangers. She is also fearful for the life of her 33 year old daughter Tara, the boys' mother, whose mental illness became much worse after the boys were taken. When they learned of the abuse of the boys in foster care, the sense of utter helplessness to protect them pushed her daughter over the edge. The law provides for families to do what families do - for those members who are capable to step in and help other family members who are incapacitated in some way. However, in this family's case, the state seems determined to keep that from happening. The State of Tennessee has cut off all contact between the boys and their family, accusing the grandmother of not being "objective" because she believes that Tara would get better if she had a relationship with her children, and because she does not trust DCS and has repeatedly said that DCS "stole" her grandsons. In addition, the State wants to remove her as her daughter's conservator (guardian) and place her custody under the custody of a mental health doctor instead, thereby opening the door to remove all of her parental rights so they can adopt out her children.

After Public Outcry Oregon Judge Orders Children Returned to Parents with “IQ Too Low to Parent”

In a dramatic turn of events, an Oregon judge has ruled that the children of Amy Fabbrini and Eric Zeigler must be returned home. They were taken by Child Protective Services on the grounds that their parents' IQ was too low to parent. There was no abuse. No neglect. There were only allegations by social workers that they were not clever enough to be parents of their own children. The boys, ages 4 and 10 months, were each seized within days of their births. The state had every intention of terminating their parents' parental rights and adopting them out. Health Impact News was the first to investigate and report their story. The public was rightfully outraged that the state had such unrestrained power, and word of their story spread into the mainstream press.

Arizona Court Refuses to Return Children Kidnapped from Nevada by Arizona Social Workers Back to Their Parents

Parents living in Nevada want their children back home. The children who were taken out of Nevada by Arizona social workers claim they have been abused in Arizona foster care, and want to go back to their parents. They even filed their own lawsuit, the first ever in Arizona, but an Arizona court has ruled against them. An Arizona appeals court has denied the parental rights of Nevada residents Jeff and Tabitha Shoars. Almost 17 months ago, Child Protective Services from Arizona crossed state lines and seized 6 of their children from Las Vegas, Nevada. All along, they have hoped and prayed for the justice which they felt would surely occur if only judges looked at the actual evidence instead of the hearsay and lies from social workers from Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS). Instead, like so many other parents who have fought Arizona DCS, they were devastated to hear yet another court deny them their parental rights to the children they brought into the world. Tabitha and Jeff want their children to know that they love them and they are not giving up. If the children are able to access this article, their parents want to send them a message: "We are not giving up on you, no matter what. We are always going to fight for you. We are going to fight as long as there is breath within us. Mommy and Daddy love you so much, more than anything in the world. We will go to the moon and back, to the ends of the universe, to get you back. Don't ever give up on hope or faith. Keep believing."

Arizona Girl Raped and Burned in Foster Care Still Represented by Same Attorney – Kept Away from Family

An Arizona court decided this week that a woman accused of scalding a little girl alive and burning over 80% of her body will go to trial in October 2018. Meanwhile, Samantha Osteraas is out on bail, and the little girl's biological mother is still trying to get justice for her daughter, whose life was destroyed by Child Protective Services and the adults the agency placed her with. While Samantha Osteraas is free to walk the streets as she awaits trial, little Devani's real family has no idea where she is or who the agency has placed her with this time. The court-appointed attorney chosen to represent little Devani and allowed her to remain in foster homes where she was allegedly raped, sexually trafficked, and burned, is the same attorney still representing her today. The foster parents who committed such atrocities are now answering for their criminal acts in the legal system, but the government agencies that placed her there and kept her there until today, are apparently not being held responsible for their parts in these heinous crimes. Where is the justice?

Medical Murder? Massachusetts Woman Medically Kidnapped from Her Home Dies After Being Denied Medical Intervention

The fight to get court-appointed guardians and attorneys to allow 69 year old Beverley Finnegan to receive life-saving medical treatment has ended with her death just before noon on Friday, January 5, 2018. Her tragic death follows the one day that her sister and advocate Janet Pidge were not able to be by her side at Framington Union Hospital due to a brutal snowstorm. Beverley's condition was largely unchanged during the last several weeks, so the Friday morning phone call came as a shock. Family attorney Lisa Belanger calls it "euthanasia" - the hastening of Beverley Finnegan's death. Belanger attempted to file a criminal complaint on Saturday, since euthanasia is illegal in Massachusetts. However, the police denied her request, telling her to file medical malpractice instead. This woman who was functional, in full control of her mind, and able to walk and care for herself on her own just a few months ago is gone - another victim of guardianship, which allowed police to physically break down the door to her condo and admit her to a psych ward against her wishes and the wishes of her family. What really happened to Beverley Finnegan - both in the nursing home before her hospitalization and in the hospital during the snowstorm, during the time that her sister could not watch over her and try to protect her? Is there a cover-up happening of medical malpractice? What kind of benefit is there to those parties networked together? Why are there so many entities and individuals working to take away the basic human rights of senior citizens? How can citizens protect themselves from the tyrannical overreach of people operating under the color of law to take all their worldly goods as well as their very liberty? Is anyone safe? Beverley Finnegan's voice has been silenced. Will her death go unnoticed, or will it mean something? Who will speak out for justice for her and for countless others whose lives are being stolen?

Child Seized for Medical Marijuana in Oregon Returned Home After Public Outcry

Last weekend, the New Year rang in with smiles and tears of joy for an Oregon couple accused of child neglect over a legal medical marijuana harvest and a mother’s mental health. Kitrina’s daughter, Kaylynn, was returned home by Oregon Child Protective Services, the day before the Holiday weekend. The only reason Kaylynn was returned home was because Kitrina Nelson fired her court appointed public defender, Cole Sahleen. Like hundreds of other families who have told their stories to Health Impact News, Kitrina found that the court appointed attorney wanted her to play along while he made a pretense of advocating for her. Regardless of her limited knowledge of the law and court proceedings, and with a little guidance from the judge, who expressed surprise at the crowd of people that showed up to view the court proceedings, Kitrina successfully represented herself and cross examined her own case. After more than 3 hours of testimony and evidence, Judge Hung ruled that the state had no case against her, and that Kaylynn was to be returned home. Russ Belville documented the exuberance of emotion from the family upon hearing the ruling: "The sight of an average American family collapsing in each other’s arms weeping tears of joy for the return of their one-year-old daughter/cousin/granddaughter after 10 weeks of state captivity was the greatest holiday miracle I’ve ever experienced." Serra Frank reports: "Once again, I personally witnessed that an educated parent is the most powerful person in a courtroom!! Mama Bear roared and CPS ran around in circles! Justice and logic won the day...." Billy Fisher from the Fight for Lilly Foundation concluded: "Once a parent can see past the intimidation of the unknown in the court system, they can do anything. But it matters how you stand! I am so proud of Kitrina. She stood. She fought. She won. They have to Bring Kaylynn Home!"

Why are so Many Inexperienced and Poorly Trained Social Workers Given Authority to Remove Children from their Homes?

Child Protective Services (CPS) is an agency of government that has been charged with protecting children. Public perception of the role of CPS is that the social workers involved are highly trained professionals who have a lot of education and experience about child welfare. Unfortunately, as we have discovered in our extensive investigation at Health Impact News, those involved in the system frequently are not even parents, and often have little or no experience or training to understand child welfare and safety. Angelia Borths is a mom and an advocate who has been involved with helping families for many years. She recently shared her perspective on the lack of professionalism in child social workers in a Facebook post on New Years Eve 2017. Angelia is a researcher, blogger, and former foster child, whose own children were medically kidnapped from her in 2015 because a doctor said that her 6 year old daughter was "too short."