Texas Judge: CPS Still Unconstitutional – Foster Care Sexual and Physical Abuse Still the Norm

Two years ago (January 2016) Health Impact News reported that U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack had ruled against the State of Texas stating that the foster care system, named in a class action lawsuit on behalf of Texas foster children, was unconstitutional. In her 255 page ruling, Judge Jack wrote: "Texas’ PMC (Permanent Managing Conservatorship) children have been shuttled throughout a system where rape, abuse, psychotropic medication, and instability are the norm." The judge was very clear that the existing Texas "Child Protection Services" and foster care system needed to be abolished, and a new one formed with real reforms. We also reported how the State of Texas, rather than comply with the judge's order and make changes to protect Texas children, instead fought back to keep the status quo, as Governor Greg Abbott's Attorney General, Ken Paxton, chose to fight the decision rather than implement the reforms the court was requiring. Today, more than 2 years later, it appears that almost nothing has changed in Texas in terms of protecting abused children (even though the State legislature has passed some very nominal reforms), and Judge Jack has ruled again, and ordered Texas officials to adopt almost 100 changes in the Texas foster care system. Once again, the State of Texas, through State Attorney General Ken Paxton, is resisting these changes.

Texas Mom Blamed for Baby’s Accidental Gardasil Vaccine Injuries Fights to Get Medically Kidnapped Daughter Back

The Gardasil vaccine is not intended to be given to children under 9 years of age and has not been studied in babies. It is a vaccine developed for sexually active young women to prevent the humanpapilloma virus and cervical cancer. In recent years, it has been given to teen-age boys as well. It is perhaps the most controversial vaccine in America and around the world today. Yet when a 4 month old baby in Texas was mistakenly given the shot intended for her teenage brother, her mother has been blamed for causing the symptoms that followed. Everywhere Anita Vasquez turned for answers for little Aniya's condition, it seemed that no one she talked to was willing to make the obvious connection between the vaccine and her illness. In the effort to cover-up or deny any effects of the medical error, a family is being sacrificed. In a cruel twist of irony, the fact that Anita refuses to give up her quest for answers and the fact that she has medical knowledge (because she is a nurse by trade) is being viewed as "evidence" that she has Munchausen syndrome by proxy (or "factitious disorder") - a rare mental disorder by which someone, usually a parent, intentionally makes a child sick in order to gain attention. Baby Aniya was seized by Child Protective Services on May 2, 2017, and placed into foster care with strangers. Her big brother has struggled with blaming himself ever since. He loves his baby sister very much. In the latest development in their story, CPS social workers have cut off all of 14 year old Alfred's visits with Aniya. The Vasquez family just wants to be a family again, but CPS appears to be blaming everyone except the most likely culprit - the vaccine that she never should have received, the vaccine that she was mistakenly given right before her symptoms started.

Father Convicted of Shaken Baby Syndrome 16 Years Ago for Daughter’s Death has All Charges Dropped

A father accused of shaking his baby to death has been exonerated, but not until after he spent 16 years of his life in prison for a crime that didn't happen. Zavion Johnson of Sacramento, California, was just 18 years old and the oldest of 7 children at the time that a tragic accident happened. He and his wife were parents of 4 month old Nadia. While he was bathing her in the shower, he dropped his baby and she hit her head on the bathtub. Doctors and investigators testified that the short fall could not have caused her death. They argued that the only explanation was that she had been violently abused. Shaken Baby Syndrome was their verdict. Zavion Johnson's devastated family testified in court on his behalf, describing him as loving, gentle, and patient, with plenty of experience in caring for children. They couldn't believe that he would have intentionally harmed his baby. After years of fighting as his own attorney (pro se) for his freedom, the Northern California Innocence Project got involved. Evidence was presented showing that there are other scientific explanations for the symptoms of Shaken Baby Syndrome. The conviction was vacated on December 18, 2017, and Zavion Johnson was released from prison. On January 19, 2018, the prosecution dismissed all of the charges against him. Zavion Johnson is now a free man, exonerated from a crime that he didn't commit, a crime that didn't actually happen. Not only did he lose his baby girl, he lost his freedom based on a medical theory that is now considered by many to be "junk science." How many more innocent fathers, mothers, and caregivers will be sentenced to prison, or lose their children to Child Protective Services, based on the medical myth of Shaken Baby Syndrome?

“Broken Brain” FREE Replay Weekend: Online Series on Holistic Mental Health

NY Times Bestselling author Dr. Mark Hyman's online docuseries called "Broken Brain" just completed, and was a HUGE success! Many people emailed us to thank us for offering this docuseries on holistic mental health. Due to overwhelming demand, Dr. Hyman's team has decided to present a FULL encore screening of Broken Brain for FREE this weekend. For the next two days, starting at 6:00 AM ET Sharp on Saturday, January 27th ALL the episodes are available for you to watch. You can see them all, 100% FREE, until the bell tolls Midnight ET on Sunday, the 28th of January.

California Parents Lose Custody of 2-Year Old Daughter When Asking for a Second Opinion Before Removing Child’s Kidney

They thought they had the right to get a second opinion. They thought they had the right as parents to have proof of a diagnosis before agreeing to a treatment plan. When California parents Leah Beabout and Christopher Vega asked for medical evidence before doctors remove their 2 year old daughter's kidney, the hospital called Child Protective Services and seized custody of their child. It is the kind of thing that they, like most parents, thought "couldn't happen in America." But as we at Health Impact News have seen and documented, medical kidnappings like this happen regularly all over the United States of America. According to Leah: "I brought my daughter Grace Alleluia to the ER on vacation. Two weeks later, she has NO MOTHER, NO diagnosis, NO symptoms other than having lost 2 lbs, a large incision in her belly and a PORT hole in her chest for chemo she might not even need, a catheter in urinary tract, a breathing tube!??" A child who has never even had a baby-sitter before has been separated from her parents at what may be the most frightening time in her life, the very time that she needs her mommy and daddy the most. Leah says: "The hospital just didn't want us interfering with what they wanted to do and we were asking too many questions." As Grace's parents who love her and want the best for her, Leah and Chris simply wanted: 1. a valid second opinion, 2. the ability to make an informed decision as to treatment plan, including the right to choose the facility to treat her and the course of action to take, and 3. the right to have evidence of a diagnosis before agreeing to treatment. Do parents no longer have this right? If doctors don't want to provide these answers to the parents responsible for their child's care, is the new normal to call Child Protective Services and do the procedures they want to do anyway?

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.