March 20, 2025
  • Seeking Justice

    Family Court Shutdown due to Coronavirus Could Cause Termination of Parental Rights for Countless Families

    Federal laws require states to initiate termination of parental rights when a child has been in foster care for 15 of the last 22 months. With family courts shutting down across the country due to the Coronavirus outbreak, delaying reunification and adjudication hearings, could families face termination of their parental rights without due process?

    CPS must have a signed order by a judge in order to remove a child from their home, unless the agency feels a child is in imminent danger, at which time the agency can proceed with an “emergency removal.” The agency must then seek the approval of a judge on the following business day. At that time, the family is likely assigned an attorney or has already sought legal counsel to contest the removal and petition the court to return the child home. 

    With the potential spread of COVID-19, family courts have closed or reduced caseloads. According to the report by Kramer, regarding a statement from the New York State Office of Court Administration, judges are holding hearings by phone and video, only on “essential/emergency” matters. The administration did not respond to the author’s request for further comments on their story.

    Kramer states, according to attorneys who represent parents, judges are continuing to hear petitions from the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) seeking to remove children from their homes and place them in foster care, but they are not willing to hear motions by parents seeking to return children home.

    • coronavirus separation newborn

      Hospitals Separating Newborn Infants from Mothers due to Coronavirus Fears

      Expecting mothers can experience enormous amounts of worry and anxiety. With the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the world, expecting mothers have even more reasons to be worried when hospitals are separating newborns from their mothers within seconds of birth.

      “I saw her and felt her on my chest for like maybe three to five seconds.”

      This is what mother, Veronica Batton, told KSHB in a story by Lindsay Shively, March 24th. 

      Veronica Batton emailed her doctor with concerns about a cough. She agreed to be tested for the coronavirus, but the test results were not back by the time she went into labor.

      According to KSHB, Batton claimed, it took a full week for the results to come back, four days after she gave birth to her baby girl at St. Luke’s East Hospital in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.  

      While waiting for the test results, Veronica had no contact with her newborn daughter other than the 3-5 seconds directly after delivery, the story reports.

      Christopher Frizzelle, writing for The Stranger out of Seattle, reports that separating newborns from their mothers if the mother tested positive for COVID-19 is the recommendation of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which is based on CDC recommendations.

      “But if the mom is a PUI or is COVID-positive, the recommendation from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) is that medical staff should maintain social distancing of at least six feet between the mom and the baby. In other words, ‘Not to do skin-to-skin contact. And the mom goes through labor in a mask. Can you imagine going through natural childbirth, breathing, working, in an air mask the whole time? And then we deliver, and we try to keep them separate from each other.'”

      Gretchen Vogel with Science posed the question in a recent story:

      “Do newborn babies need to be separated from mothers infected with the new coronavirus?”

      Vogel reports,

      “The scant data available have led to apparently contradictory recommendations: Some health authorities, including in China and the United States, recommend isolation of newborns from their infected mothers; others, including the World Health Organization (WHO), strongly recommend breastfeeding and keeping mothers and babies together, while taking precautions such as the mother wearing a mask.”

      • Philippine-President-Rodrigo-Dutert

        Unprecedented Response to COVID-19 by Governments Prohibits Physical Contact and Cripples World Economy

        After officials at the World Health Organization (WHO) declared on Mar. 11, 2020 that outbreaks of a mutated coronavirus (COVID-19) had become a global pandemic and urged countries to take strong action to stop its spread, the governments of countries representing one-third of the world’s population closed borders, restricted or halted travel between and within countries and ordered healthy people to essentially eliminate physical contact with each other by staying in their homes.

        The president of the Philippines even gave authority to shoot down and kill anyone violating the country’s lockdown orders.

        The halt to travel and closure of schools, businesses, stores and shopping centers, restaurants, theaters, sports arenas, gyms, beaches, parks and recreation areas, churches, and other places, where children are educated and people conduct business, shop and engage in recreation, sent stock markets into a sudden nosedive and has crippled the world’s economy.

        • Portrait Of A Child With A Painted Flag Of Marshall Islands On H

          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.

          • medical-experts

            Stop the Fear-Mongering! 12 Medical Scientists Speak Out on COVID19 Responses

            Fear over the coronavirus is gripping the nation and world, as within a short period of time life around the globe has drastically changed very suddenly.

            The main question facing everyone in the U.S. today is: How serious is this? Is the response the government is making right now consistent with the threat this virus presents?

            Some are proposing that anyone in the media who dares to question the official narrative should be silenced for the sake of “public health.”

            Facebook, for example, took strong actions against Health Impact News by claiming we were publishing “fake news,” mainly by publishing the views of Dr. Andrew W. Saul, Editor of the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, who published news about successful intravenous Vitamin C therapy which had started in China.

            And yet this week, the New York Post reported that the same therapy had started at hospitals in New York City.

            With the Coronavirus situation affecting virtually every single person on the planet right now, suppressing alternative information that goes against the “mainstream” narrative is a very dangerous precedent, and is a clear violation of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment which protects freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

            It is especially concerning when one of my colleagues in the alternative media, without even contacting me directly, publicly demands that we retract one of our articles authored by a medical doctor, simply because this person believes his view of the current situation is the only correct view.

            I do not pretend to be an expert on medical science, which is why Health Impact News publishes alternative views by medical doctors and other scientists who are experts in their field.

            During difficult days like the ones currently facing us, I believe the public has a right to read all sides of the issue and make up their own minds. Caution is certainly prudent, but fear?

            Among all this fear, where is faith in God?

            The opposite of fear is “faith.”

            Have we lost our way as a nation? Does the phrase inscribed on our currency “In God we Trust” mean anything anymore?

            Faith in God does NOT mean we will not face difficult times. On the contrary, often those who are most faithful face the most difficult trials in life.

            Faith in God means we trust that there is a stronger power than ourselves controlling the affairs of humanity, and that if we trust in him, he will give us the strength to endure whatever trials come our way.

            • Katie Spencer with daughters

              Children Being Medically Kidnapped from Parents Due to Coronavirus Scare

              With the amount of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. rising every day, the majority of states have issued mandatory social isolation, but does this include isolation from your own children?  

              Two mothers have recently spoken out about how the Coronavirus pandemic has been used to take away their children against their will, and some judges are ordering the removal of children due to potential exposure to the Coronavirus with their parents.

              A mother in Oklahoma shared a post on Facebook on March 21, stating,

              “The police showed up on my doorstep at 10 PM and took my kids from me because I WORK IN A CLINIC.”

              According to the mother, and court documents shared on the social media site, a judge signed off on an ex parte hearing, approving the Emergency Motion to Modify Custody and for Pick-Up Order Due to Respondent Exposure to Coronavirus.

              The mother sent this warning to first responders, 

              “Just a heads up to nurses, doctors, firefighters, police officers, and other first responders who have children and sneaky exes… watch your backs!”

              • PREP-Act

                PREP Act Invoked Nationwide for the First Time in U.S. History - Will Martial Law Follow?

                What is this “PREP Act” that has entered our vocabulary this past week?

                Several terms that were foreign to most just a couple of months ago are now becoming mainstream. Social Distancing. Congregate Settings. Sustained Community Transmission. Flatten the Curve. Prep Act. And even proper personal hygiene for some.

                I have been discussing the need for many to read and understand the complexities and pitfalls of this federal law for a few years. The PREP Act or “Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act” was the product of President Bush 43 and his Health and Human Services (HHS) Agency.

                The PREP Act was passed in December of 2005. Most of the emphasis for this act was born upon the federal government’s response to the Anthrax scare immediately after 9/11.

                We are witnessing the PREP Act in action for the first time nationwide since its passage in 2005.

                No one really knows the extent of the law and how it will affect everyone in the United States, short term and long term. Most of the media has not even discussed the details of the PREP Act and how it will affect the general public.

                • nc_king_childabuse_part2_200228.focal-760x428

                  Rogue Washington Doctor Intent on Medically Kidnapping Child - Parents Forced to get Restraining Order Against Doctor

                  What can a family do when they become the target of a rogue physician who has no oversight and cannot be held accountable for their actions? You file for a restraining order.

                  This may seem like an extreme act, especially against a physician, the ones who are supposed to be dedicated to helping others.  Unfortunately, recent national media investigations and research have produced several stories involving hundreds of families who were targeted by physicians in a sub-specialty known as Child Abuse Pediatrics (CAP).

                  But this is exactly what one family in Washington State had to do, after a judge ruled against the doctor who tried to take custody of their child, and the doctor was found to have been lying and falsifying records.

                  The doctor continued to send CPS and law enforcement to the home to take custody of the child even after the judge ruled against her, and the family had to end up filing a restraining order against the doctor.

                  • Ed_setzler

                    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.

                    • Heather Scott

                      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.

                      • Dr. Barbara Knox FB

                        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.

                        • 3D Rendering Futuristic Robot Technology Development, Artificial

                          Florida's Top Child Abuse Doctor Exposed - Second Opinions by Other Doctors Not Allowed When Examining Child Injuries

                          With the recent, negative media attention focusing on the sub-specialty Child Abuse Pediatrics, Dr. Bruce McIntosh, the statewide medical director of nearly two dozen child protection teams in Florida, has broken his silence to speak out in defense of these Child Abuse Pediatricians (CAP’s).

                          According to a story by Katie LaGrone with WPTV in West Palm Beach, Dr. McIntosh is quoted as saying:

                          “We do not set out to diagnose abuse; we set out to find out what happened.”

                          Katie LaGrone reports,

                          “This is the first time Dr. McIntosh has responded, on the record, after their investigation found several families were wrongly accused of child abuse by child abuse pediatricians who work for the state as experts on abuse.”

                          The response was the result of questions posed by WPTV regarding a 2017 training video they found on the state child welfare website.

                          The video includes 62 minutes of Dr. McIntosh and state legal experts presenting common defenses in child abuse cases and why those defenses are false.

                          Dr. McIntosh claims these false defenses are often made by hired witnesses to offer alternative explanations for the child’s injuries.

                          What McIntosh and others fail to mention is the fact that child abuse pediatricians are paid by the prosecution to testify in these cases as well. They are paid because most of them are “hired” or contracted with the state to consult on suspected abuse cases and testify for the prosecution.

                          Often times, the Child Abuse Pediatrician is the primary and/or only expert witness for the prosecution. This is never told to families when they are being questioned by the Child Abuse Pediatrician in the hospital.

                          • Child-Drugging-Image-only

                            Six Year Olds Ripped from Schools, Involuntarily Committed and Forcibly Drugged

                            A 6-year-old girl was removed from a Florida school for being disruptive and committed to a behavioral health center for a psychiatric evaluation without her parent’s knowledge.  She was held for two days and allegedly injected with an antipsychotic. Citizens Commission on Human Rights International, a 50-year mental health industry watchdog, warns that the U.S. education system and parental rights are being usurped with psychiatric and psychological practices. Schools, they assert, are used as feeder lines into a mental health system, which profits from this.  CCHR was responding to an incident where a licensed counselor with the school determined that Nadia, aged 6, was a candidate for involuntary detention under Florida’s Baker Act.

                            The special needs child reportedly threw some chairs in a tantrum. But according to the Atlanta Black Star, a police body camera video, the girl behaved calmly as she was escorted from school by police. At one point, she asked officers if she was going to jail and was assured, no. The officer seemed skeptical of the school’s reason for calling 911. “She’s been actually very pleasant,” she noted. “I think it’s more of them not wanting to deal with it,” said another officer.

                            Martina Falk, Nadia’s mother, was alerted only after her daughter was committed and said the nearly two-day mandatory stay at the psychiatric facility did more harm than good.

                            • Cassidy Lavorini-Doyle charged with human trafficking and child porn possession

                              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.

                              • Stossel Forbidden Parenting

                                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.

                                • rob hoogland and daughter

                                  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.

                                  • Lyris Younge Judge

                                    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.

                                    • Candace Talley

                                      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.

                                      • Diane-protest-e1581455836744-1

                                        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.”

                                        • South Carolina Mother with son

                                          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.

                                          • Tara-van-Wormer-FB

                                            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.

                                            • Dr. John Cox and Dr. Sadie Dobrozsi

                                              Wisconsin Doctors Afraid to Bring Their Children to Their own Hospital Due to Fear of Medical Kidnapping

                                              In the days after an NBC News investigation revealed problems with a major hospital’s handling of a suspected child abuse case, members of the hospital’s medical staff criticized senior administrators and demanded changes, according to several people who attended a series of internal staff meetings.

                                              The article, published last week, detailed the case of Dr. John Cox, a former emergency room physician at Children’s Wisconsin, who was charged with abusing his 1-month-old daughter, based largely on medical reports from child abuse specialists at his own hospital. More than 15 other medical experts who treated the baby or later reviewed the case concluded that the hospital’s child abuse team made serious errors, but Child Protective Services took her anyway, NBC News reported.

                                              The reporting sparked public backlash aimed at Children’s Wisconsin and state child welfare authorities — including from within the hospital.

                                              Several physicians told administrators during a series of staff “listening sessions” held in response to the reporting that they had serious concerns about the work of the hospital’s child abuse specialists, and some asked for an external investigation of their practices, according to four Children’s Wisconsin doctors who attended the meetings and spoke to a reporter on the condition of anonymity.

                                              Numerous physicians from across the hospital have spoken out at the meetings, attendees said, including cardiologists, neonatologists and infectious disease specialists.

                                              At one internal meeting this week, some Children’s Wisconsin doctors told administrators from the Medical College of Wisconsin — which employs physicians who practice at the hospital — that without swift policy changes, they would hesitate to bring their own children to the hospital following accidental injuries, fearing that a medical mistake or overreaction could lead Child Protective Services to break their families apart.

                                              • rebecca-hernandez

                                                Alabama Mother Separated from Newborn Baby for Days Because of False Drug Test After Eating Poppy Seeds

                                                Another case where a false drug test was used as justification to medically kidnap a newborn baby and separate the infant from the mother, during one of the most crucial times when a baby needs to bond with their mother just after birth.

                                                WAFF 48 News in Huntsville, Alabama, picked up the story.

                                                “A Huntsville mom and her doctor fear poppy seed bread may be the reason she no longer has custody of her 2-day-old baby boy. Rebecca Hernandez was given a drug test after her delivery at Crestwood Medical Center Tuesday. According to her doctor, the screening showed traces of opiates in her system.

                                                ‘This is a nightmare for the whole family,’ said Hernandez. ‘Ya know, a newborn baby has to be close to mom. They have to be with the mom. That’s the most important time in their life to be close to the mom when they’re just born.’

                                                Through the help of her doctor, Hernandez learned the poppy seed bread she had eaten the day before may have caused a false positive.

                                                Dr. Yashica Robinson, Hernandez’s doctor, said same day drug screenings are a problem and wants hospitals to rely on laboratory confirmed tests.”

                                                When WAFF posted the story on social media, they say the story was exposed to tens of thousands of people who read it, and they received hundreds of comments from people saying they had experienced similar experiences with Child Protective Services.

                                                Why the hospital tested Ms. Hernandez for drugs, and whether or not Ms. Hernandez agreed to the drug testing, is not known. She spoke to reporters via a Spanish interpreter.

                                                • Foster-Care-every-two-minutes

                                                  Government Funded Study Confirms Kids do Worse in Foster Care than Those Who Have Never Been in Foster Care

                                                  Another major study confirms what many other studies have found, and what we have published here at Health Impact News over the past several years many times: The Foster Care System is a huge failure that harms children, and children who never enter the Foster Care System do much better.

                                                  The most recent study was funded by you, the American taxpayer, and conducted by the CDC:

                                                  “Demographic, Health Care, and Fertility-related Characteristics of Adults Aged 18–44 Who Have Ever Been in Foster Care: United States, 2011–2017.”

                                                  The study analyzed 6 years of interviews spanning September 2011 through September 2017, and included 11,527 male and 14,439 female respondents aged 18–44.

                                                  Some of the results of the study:

                                                  Among women who had been in foster care, one-half had given birth to a child by age 20; that compared with one-quarter of women who had never been in foster care.

                                                  Two-thirds of women who had been in foster care received some form of public assistance, compared with one-third of other women. Just over half of men who had been in foster care received public assistance, more than double the rate for other men.

                                                  About 25% of men and 21% of women who had been in foster care did not have a high school or GED diploma, more than double the figure for other adults.

                                                  Lower percentages of men and women who were ever in foster care had a bachelor’s degree or higher (4.8% for men and 9.1% for women) compared with those who had never been in foster care (31.1% and 36.2%, respectively).

                                                  • kimberly foster family Crop

                                                    Oregon Physician Who Had Children Medically Kidnapped Goes Public - Dedicates Practice to Helping Others Who Have Suffered from Medical Kidnapping

                                                    Dr. Kimberly Foster is a licensed physician in Oregon. She graduated with a Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University, one of the top universities in natural medicine in the world. She runs the Oregon Naturopathic Clinic in Eugene, Oregon.

                                                    I have known Dr. Foster for some time now, as she is a tremendous advocate for those victimized by medical kidnapping. While more and more media outlets are now starting to cover the terrible injustice of medical kidnapping, what few in the public understand is that if parents are successful in getting their children returned to them, the battle is not over.

                                                    In fact, it is just beginning.

                                                    The trauma that these families go through causes incredible stress and long-term emotional and psychological damage – both for the children as well as the parents.

                                                    Dr. Foster has experienced this first hand herself, and has not only gone through the healing process with her own family, but she has started treating other families that have experienced similar ordeals, using her training as a naturopathic physician.

                                                    Dr. Foster finally feels ready to go public with her own story, and we are publishing it in her own words.

                                                    • Open Hand Raised, Human Trafficking Sign Painted, Multi Purpose

                                                      Foster Care Continues to be Child Sex Trafficking Pipeline in 2020 - How Do We Stop It?

                                                      A survey of news stories regarding child sex trafficking at the beginning of 2020 shows that the Foster Care pipeline to child sex trafficking is continuing unabated.

                                                      How Do We Stop Child Sex Trafficking through Child Welfare?

                                                      A complex horrendous problem has a simple solution: Abolish the government-funded child welfare program, usually called “Child Protection Services” and “Foster Care.”

                                                      The late Georgia Senator Nancy Schaefer said that the system was too corrupt to reform, before she was murdered.

                                                      Molly McGrath Tierney, the former Director for the Baltimore City Department of Social Services, has stated that the foster care system is flawed and setup for failure.

                                                      Since hundreds of thousands of government employees would lose their jobs in the multi-billion dollar child trafficking business called “foster care,” it is highly unlikely that it will be abolished or defunded anytime soon.

                                                      But the system depends on foster parents, and that is the best avenue to reduce the child trafficking system currently in place: stop participating in it!

                                                      Too many people justify their participation in such an evil system claiming that while the system is corrupt, it needs good foster parents to truly care for needy children.

                                                      This logic is severely flawed and self-serving. Wherever the corrupt government child welfare system is actually helping a child, it can be done far more efficiently, far more effectively, and for much less cost, without government taxpayer funds.

                                                      • Lorina Troy Sons

                                                        False Child Abuse Charges Caused Couple to Lose their Home, Job, and two Children Before Being Cleared 2 Years Later

                                                        Lorina Troy is on a mission to make sure what happened to her doesn’t continue happening to others.

                                                        “My children were wrongfully taken from me for five months and placed into the foster care system,” Lorina Troy said.

                                                        Five years ago, in Austin, Texas, doctors found fluid inside the head of Troy’s second-born son, JJ. She says they automatically assumed it was Shaken Baby Syndrome.

                                                        Soon after, JJ, and the Troy’s four-year-old son were taken away by Child Protective Services.

                                                        It took five months for Troy and her husband, Jason, to get their kids back. And two more years passed before JJ was properly diagnosed with Benign External Hydrocephalus. It’s a rare condition where spinal fluid can build outside of the brain, leading to swelling.

                                                        To make matters even more complicated, The Troys also had to prove their innocence. They spent $80,000 dollars in attorney fees, had to sell their house and Jason lost his job. It took more than two years and the accurate diagnosis for the couple to finally be cleared of all charges. Troy says the whole ordeal led her to action, and taught her there are other families in the same situation.

                                                        • Florida Families ABC News Story Child Abuse Pediatrician

                                                          Florida ABC News Covers Widespread Medical Kidnappings Due to Child Abuse Pediatricians

                                                          As year 2020 gets underway, we are seeing more and more mainstream media sources covering medical kidnapping stories, especially when Child Abuse Pediatricians are involved.

                                                          One of the latest investigative reports comes from the Tampa ABC News I-Team Investigations.

                                                          Katie LaGrone, reporting with ABC Action News, writes:

                                                          “A Florida lawmaker believes the state’s medical experts on child abuse need more checks and balances after an I-team investigation revealed several pediatricians have made questionable calls against parents who appeared to have done everything right.

                                                          ‘Any position of authority that isn’t checked by something is concerning,’ said Florida Democratic Representative Anna Eskamani of Orlando.

                                                          Eskamani was responding to our investigation that found several cases where child abuse pediatricians, who were hired to be the state’s experts on abuse, wrongly accused Florida parents of child abuse.”

                                                          • twitter child raping

                                                            Twitter Openly Allowing Pedophiles to Discuss Raping Children

                                                            Previously, TFTP reported how a disturbing push was made to attempt to normalize pedophilia as a mainstream “sexual orientation.” The move involved pedophiles rebranding themselves as “Minor Attracted Persons” (MAP) with the hope that they will be accepted like the LGBTQ community.

                                                            Disgustingly enough, it was somewhat effective as multiple outlets reported it like it was totally acceptable to be sexually attracted to children. While this incident was extremely disturbing, even more worrisome is that this normalization appears to be spreading and as some recent activity on Twitter illustrates, it’s condoned by social media giants.

                                                            Since we reported on Minor Attracted Persons several years ago, the terminology became so popular that it morphed into multiple categories and abbreviations.

                                                            There are now NOMAPS, which apparently are the “best kind” of MAP because the “NO” means they don’t want to have sex with children. That’s where the pro-c MAPs come in. The “pro-c” denotes pro-contact as in the belief that children can consent into having physical contact and sex with an adult.

                                                            Children cannot consent to sex with an adult.

                                                            • Ken Lemon

                                                              North Carolina Man Records Call with Social Worker Asking Him to Date Her to Get His Kids Back

                                                              A man claims a Gaston County social worker offered to clear his case if he agreed to go on a date with her.

                                                              David Cole said he started recording their conversation because he was worried he would lose his children if he didn’t play along.

                                                              Officials said the social worker is no longer on the case after the recordings revealed conversations that had nothing to do with child welfare.

                                                              “Have this relationship with her or lose my kids,” Cole said. “It’s hard to deal with. I lost a lot of sleep behind that.”

                                                              “It’s very inappropriate, you know,” Cole said. “I’m scared for my life, scared for my children’s welfare, my welfare.”

                                                              • Kylee with mom FB

                                                                Young Oregon Girl with Cancer Medically Kidnapped from Mother and Sexually Abused in Foster Care

                                                                In February 2018, Kylee Dixon, then 11 years old, was rushed to the hospital in excruciating abdominal pain. Tests later confirmed she had a tumor in her liver known as Undifferentiated Embryonal Sarcoma.

                                                                After 6 months of Chemotherapy with no improvement in Kylee’s health, and the tumor in Kylee’s liver remaining the same size, the mother and daughter had enough.

                                                                Christine claims, even with medical evidence showing improvement with the treatments she was giving Kylee, DHS moved forward with their neglect allegations against her and Kylee was removed from her mother’s care.

                                                                Kylee was first placed into a juvenile detention facility where, according to Christine, Kylee was denied the naturopathic treatments and medications to control Kylee’s pain. This caused Kylee to suffer severe withdrawal.  

                                                                Christine also claims, while at this facility, Kylee was beaten by gang members, who were also being held in the facility, and Kylee’s life was threatened when the facility tried to give Kylee a medication she was severely allergic to.

                                                                Christine allegedly received a call from a case worker, December 23rd, confirming sexual abuse Kylee endured while in foster care, but DHS will not tell her where her daughter is.

                                                                Christine warns everyone:

                                                                “Our kids are being harmed in these cases and it’s not okay. They will continue to do this until we, as citizens, stand up and say Enough is Enough!”

                                                                • Massachusetts Foster House of Horrors

                                                                  Raped and Locked in Cages - Former Massachusetts Foster Children Sue for $40 Million

                                                                  Local media in Massachusetts is reporting that four former foster children have filed a $40 million lawsuit against foster parents Susan and Raymond Blouin in Oxford Massachusetts.

                                                                  The Telegram & Gazette report:

                                                                  “Four former foster children who say they were sexually and physically abused inside the Oxford foster home of Susan and Raymond Blouin are suing the couple and the state for millions.

                                                                  In a 73-page lawsuit that lists damages in excess of $40 million, the former children say the Blouin home at 7 Pleasant Court was a ‘house of horrors’ for more than a decade.”

                                                                  WCVB ABC 5 and reporter Kathy Curran out of Boston has been investigating the Blouins for the past two years, and they have interviewed several of the former foster and adoptive children who lived in the Blouin’s “house of horrors.”

                                                                  Curran reports that Susan Blouin, a registered nurse, and her husband Raymond, took in more than 40 foster children, adopting six of them.

                                                                  “The state didn’t believe these children,” said attorney Erica Brody, who is representing the children who filed the suit. “They didn’t look through the home to see if people were being kept in dog cages. They didn’t protect these children.”

                                                                  Child advocate Maureen Flatley was also interviewed by ABC 5, and stated:

                                                                  “One of the most troubling things today is that some of the caseworkers that worked on this case still work for DCF. So any suggestion that this could never happen again is absolutely laughable,” she said.

                                                                  • Adi Gino and Twins FB

                                                                    Rabbi Arrested for Trafficking Babies of Mentally Disabled Mothers Between Israel and the U.S.

                                                                    Earlier this month (December 2019) The Nazareth Magistrate’s Court in Israel lifted a gag order on a two-year investigation into a suspected baby trafficking ring.

                                                                    In February 2019 Israeli police arrested five people, including an American rabbi who heads a yeshiva, for allegedly running an international baby trafficking ring that targeted mentally disabled mothers.

                                                                    The Times of Israel reports:

                                                                    “Rabbi Shmuel Puretz 44, a businessman who divides his time between New York and Jerusalem, is suspected of brokering a deal under which a heavily pregnant Israeli woman was flown to New York and her baby removed from her allegedly against her will, then given for adoption to a childless ultra-Orthodox couple who live in Israel.”

                                                                    The Jewish Journal further reports:

                                                                    “Puretz, who denies the allegations, is accused of sending Israeli expectant mothers in need or suffering from a mental disability from within haredi Orthodox communities to the United States so they would give birth there. The babies would be given to childless foster parents who allegedly paid Puretz and others for the babies.

                                                                    Many details about the affair, including how much money the handlers allegedly charged, are still subject to a gag order.

                                                                    Yediot Aharanot reported in a 2017 expose about the affair that they charged a $100,000 to $150,000 ‘handling fee’ per child.”

                                                                    Marianne Azizi, writing for the publication Byline, has profiled the case of one of the alleged victims of this baby trafficking operation, Adi Gnio.

                                                                    “She has come forward to give her story in English to the NGO CFI – Children and Families International, of how her twin girls were taken from her several years ago.

                                                                    Currently raising her 3 sons, she has found the courage to tell the story of the network who coerced her into taking her twin girls and then selling them. She goes into details as to how she was manipulated by an experienced ring of traffickers.

                                                                    Here is the inside exclusive story of how she was pressured by a sophisticated ring of people to sell her children against her will. Her own country Israel – were waiting to take her babies at the moment of birth, and in the USA, an unscrupulous ring capitalised on her dilemma.”

                                                                    • Vitamin D Benefits And Sources. Useful Infographic With Lots Of

                                                                      Epidemic of Vitamin D Deficiency Contributes to False Child Abuse Charges by Child Abuse Doctors

                                                                      With the overwhelming prevalence of medical data supporting the positive effects of Vitamin D during pregnancy and decreasing the odds of adverse events associated with pregnancy and delivery, there is still no screening program for Vitamin D on pregnant women.

                                                                      Rickets is being misdiagnosed as abuse by Child Abuse Pediatricians due to their lack of knowledge and relying on x-rays only, and not laboratory tests, confirming a vitamin D deficiency.

                                                                      How many parents and children could be spared the devastation of a false child abuse accusation if the mother was screened for vitamin D deficiency and supplemented accordingly?

                                                                      How many individuals would not be suffering with diabetes, osteoporosis, cancer and other autoimmune disorders if they were not only aware they were deficient in vitamin D with proper and routine testing, but also given a recommended daily intake by their physician?

                                                                      • dr-michael-laposata-do-no-harm-solutions

                                                                        Texas Pathologist Criticizes Child Abuse Pediatricians - Wants Law Put in Place to Protect Parents

                                                                        NBC News along with the Houston Chronicle is continuing their series in exposing medical kidnapping.

                                                                        Mike Hixenbaugh and Keri Blakinger recently published an article featuring Dr. Michael Laposata, chief of pathology at University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, who has a history of helping parents wrongly convicted of child abuse by Child Abuse Pediatricians.

                                                                        Dr. Laposata, along with other Texas doctors and Texas lawmakers, want to see the law changed so that courts do not rely solely on the opinion of a single “Child Abuse” doctor as an expert. They want to require that courts always listen to testimony from other doctors as well.

                                                                        • Bill-Melinda-Gates-Foundation-300x161

                                                                          Bill Gates' Plan to Use Invisible Ink to Tattoo Vaccination Status into Children's Skin

                                                                          Karen Weintraub, writing for the Scientific American, a pro-Pharma and pro-vaccine publication, has just reported that a group of Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have just developed a method of embedding a person’s vaccination record directly into their skin using a special dye that is invisible to the naked eye.

                                                                          Not only does this technology embed medical information into a person’s skin, it will also make vaccine deliveries into the body much easier, so that medical professionals are not even needed to administer the vaccines.

                                                                          Bill Gates is reportedly the one who requested that this technology be developed, and his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded the project.

                                                                          Since this technology will allow anyone to embed medical information directly into a person’s skin that can be simply read with a cell phone and an app, privacy issues are certainly legitimate concerns, and the developers of this technology even acknowledge this.

                                                                          “Vaccine hesitancy” is now seen as one of the major threats to public health, and is even labeled as a “mental illness” that needs to be cured. In January of this year (2019) the World Health Organization (WHO)  ranked “vaccine hesitancy” as one of the top “Ten Threats to Global Health in 2019.”

                                                                          While the WHO is mainly funded by membership countries and purchases and delivers vaccines worldwide through member organizations such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation contributes more funding for vaccine research and distribution through the Vaccine Alliance GAVI than any single country or other entity, and may even exceed the funding provided by all of them put together.

                                                                          With funding from one of the richest men of the world, and his alliances with Big Pharma and world governments, is it really a “conspiracy theory” to state that they want to have worldwide dominance in forcing the world’s population to be vaccinated, even if it is against their will?

                                                                          Do we not already see this in progress here in the U.S. where State legislatures are trying to pass new laws to remove vaccine exemptions and force everyone, particularly children, to be injected with the vaccines that they choose?

                                                                          When does the “conspiracy theory” stop being a “theory” when the facts support the concerted effort to vaccinate everyone on the face of the earth as real, and is no longer a “theory”?

                                                                          • Roger and Steve Ham

                                                                            Arizona Foster Father Who Adopted 18 Kids with His Husband Will not Face Charges in Death of 4-Month-Old Baby Left in Hot Car

                                                                            This past August we covered the tragic story of 4-month-old Samora Lesley Cousin who died when one of her foster dads allegedly left her in a hot car for hours.

                                                                            Roger Ham, the foster parent who left the 4-month-old baby in his car, was not arrested at the time.

                                                                            ABC 12 News in Phoenix is reporting that the Maricopa County District Attorney’s Office will not move forward with criminal charges against Mr. Ham.

                                                                            The current, newly appointed Maricopa County DA is Allister Adel, the former general counsel for the Arizona Department of Child Safety (CPS), the agency responsible for putting children into foster care.

                                                                            The Arizona Republic has published multiple articles about foster dads Steve and Roger Ham over the past several years, portraying them as wonderful parents who have adopted 18 kids.

                                                                            Reporter Karina Bland even published an article just after 4-month-old Samora Lesley Cousin died, casting the foster parents in a positive light.

                                                                            The baby was taken away from her mother Jennifer Haley due to her mother allegedly testing positive for drugs, something that Jennifer Haley denies.

                                                                            “They take our kids because they say we’re unfit, and when they take our kids a lot of bad things happen,” Haley said. “I want CPS to look at this, remember my daughter, and realize nobody is perfect and bad things happen.”

                                                                            So while baby Samora’s mother and father had to mourn the loss of their baby girl twice, once when the State of Arizona took her away from them, and then again when she died a few months later, the Hams are allowed to continue as foster parents.

                                                                            • Male Medicine Therapeutist Doctor Hands Crossed On His Chest

                                                                              New Medical Kidnapping Book Published on Child Abuse Pediatricians

                                                                              Brian Shilhavy, editor of Health Impact News, has just published a new book:

                                                                              “The New Child Abuse Pediatrician: Doctors become Prosecutors”

                                                                              The book is a compilation of over 5 years of research and publishing on MedicalKidnap.com, part of the Health Impact News network, covering the topic of Child Abuse Pediatricians, and their role in medical kidnapping.

                                                                              • Michelle Voorhees and Sister in photo

                                                                                1 of 4 American Inmates Product of the Foster Care System According to Kansas City Star Investigation

                                                                                The Kansas City Star published a 6-part investigative report on the U.S. Foster Care system this week.

                                                                                Part One of the series is called: THROWAWAY KIDS: ‘We are sending more foster kids to prison than college.’

                                                                                They surveyed nearly 6,000 inmates in 12 states, and one of out four responded that they were products of the Foster Care system in the U.S.

                                                                                “We are sending more foster kids to prison than college,” said Brent Kent, who spent the past 3½ years helping Indiana foster children transition into adulthood. “And what do we lose as a result? Generations of young people.”

                                                                                One of the many stories highlighted in the series is the story of Michelle Voorhees, who is currently an inmate in the Topeka Correctional Facility.

                                                                                Sitting inside the Topeka Correctional Facility in her prison-issued navy blue shirt and olive pants, Voorhees said the state could have done more to keep her with her mother.

                                                                                She believes many former foster kids end up in worse condition than if they had been allowed to stay in their homes.

                                                                                “I was placed in 11 different state placements by the time I was 17,” she said. “I had two children during this time, developed a drug addiction, and sex trafficked. I spent a lot of my time in custody as a runaway. I did not graduate high school.”

                                                                                She often thinks of how life could have been different if she were able to stay with her mother for all of her childhood. To know that she was always safe and loved.

                                                                                “Had my mom just had a little bit of help, had she had enough money to buy her own vehicle, had she had enough money to relocate herself from an abusive situation, had she not had to have been dependent on men in the first place for any kind of financial stability, I don’t believe that she would have made some of the decisions that she made,” Voorhees says. “I don’t believe that she would have struggled as a mother, because my mom is a good mom.”

                                                                                • Pardo Family fb

                                                                                  Texas Medical Kidnapping Case Reaches Supreme Court Before Case is Dismissed

                                                                                  Earlier this month (December, 2019), Kaufman County Family Court Judge Tracy Gray signed a “dismissal agreement” between CPS and the Pardo family, after their case had reached the Texas Supreme Court.

                                                                                  This was the culmination of a 5-month high-profile battle between the Pardo family and CPS, who removed four-year-old Drake Pardo due to allegations of “medical child abuse” because the parents sought a second opinion from a different doctor for the medical needs of their young son.

                                                                                  The Pardo case received national attention, as the Texas Home School Coalition (THSC) and their attorney got involved in the case, bringing wide-spread public awareness.

                                                                                  One of the Pardo’s state representatives, State Senator Bob Hall, also got involved, and has written some very powerful criticisms of Texas CPS.

                                                                                  The Pardo case was appealed by filing a petition for a writ of mandamus, which was denied by the appellate court, and was waiting to be heard by the Texas Supreme Court.

                                                                                  But the family settled with CPS before the Supreme Court ruled. Senator Bob Hall lamented:

                                                                                  “The bad news, if there is any, is that the agreement of CPS to end this case means that the Texas Supreme Court will not likely issue a final ruling in the case pending before them,” Hall said. “This means that CPS will continue to be able to use the same underhanded and misguided tactics against other families without restraint or direction from the state’s highest court.”

                                                                                  • disabled-parents

                                                                                    40% to 80% of Parents in U.S. with Intellectual Disabilities Lose Custody of their Children

                                                                                    Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced an agreement with the state of Oregon to develop a system to ensure the state’s child welfare agency does not discriminate against parents with disabilities, a move that could benefit one in ten parents in the United States.

                                                                                    The agreement stems from a case involving Amy Fabbrini and Eric Ziegler. Fabbrini and Ziegler endured a five-year battle with the state of Oregon to regain custody of their two sons, who were both taken into foster care after their respective births.

                                                                                    No abuse was alleged against Fabbrini and Ziegler, who say their below-average scores on state-sanctioned IQ tests are why Oregon held the children in foster care until their court-ordered releases in late 2017 and early 2018.

                                                                                    Fabbrini and Ziegler’s case is not unique. At least 40 percent to 80 percent of parents in the United States with intellectual disabilities will lose custody of their children, according to a 2012 report from the National Council on Disability, on which I was the primary author.

                                                                                    This discrimination is not only harmful to families—it is also unlawful. Indeed, both Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibit child welfare agencies and courts from discriminating against disabled parents.

                                                                                    These federal laws also require child welfare agencies and courts to provide reasonable modifications in policies, programs, and procedures to ensure disabled parents are offered an equal opportunity. For example, Deaf parents must be provided sign language interpreters, and parents with intellectual disabilities should receive individualized services based on the family’s needs.

                                                                                    Yet, nearly 50 years since the Rehabilitation Act was passed and 30 years since the ADA became law, discrimination continues to persist. As a result, families are being torn apart.

                                                                                    Such discrimination is a long-standing issue in U.S. history, rooted in eugenics practices.

                                                                                    • Judge Ernestine Gray

                                                                                      How One Judge Almost Eliminated Foster Care Simply by Applying the Law - A National Model?

                                                                                      The Washington Post recently featured a judge out of Louisiana, Judge Ernestine S. Gray, who has reportedly “reduced foster care numbers to levels unmatched anywhere in the country” in Orleans Parish.

                                                                                      Richard A. Webster, writing for the Post, reports:

                                                                                      Between 2011 and 2017, the number of children in foster care here fell by 89 percent compared with an 8 percent increase nationally. New Orleans children who do enter the system don’t stay long. Seventy percent are discharged within a month; nationally, it’s only 5 percent.

                                                                                      Gray has effectively all but eliminated foster care except in extreme situations, quickly returning children flagged by social workers to their families or other relatives.

                                                                                      “We shouldn’t be taking kids away from their parents because they don’t have food or a refrigerator,” she said in explaining her philosophy. “I grew up in a poor family in South Carolina, and we didn’t have a lot. But what I had was people who cared about me.”

                                                                                      The greatest threat of harm for most of the children who appear before her, she stresses, is being unnecessarily removed from their families.

                                                                                      “Foster care is put up as this thing that is going to save kids, but kids die in foster care, kids get sick in foster care,” she said. “So we ought to be trying to figure out how to use that as little as possible. People have a right to raise their children.”

                                                                                      • Kushnir family FB

                                                                                        USA Today Exposes Florida Doctor Medically Kidnapping Children and Destroying Lives

                                                                                        USA Today reporter Daphne Chen has just published an article on Dr. Sally Smith, a pediatrician who is the head of the child protection team in Pinellas County, Florida.

                                                                                        Published in the “Torn Apart” section of GateHouseNews.com, this article is reportedly the first in a series investigating Florida’s child welfare system.

                                                                                        Chen refers to Dr. Sally Smith as:

                                                                                        “the 61-year-old pediatrician [who] is one of the most powerful figures in the child welfare system along Florida’s Gulf Coast.

                                                                                        As the head of the Pinellas County child protection team, Smith examines virtually every child funneled to All Children’s Hospital with suspicious injuries.

                                                                                        Among prosecutors, her word is like gold.”

                                                                                        The USA Today Network reportedly investigated hundreds of Dr. Smith’s cases, and:

                                                                                        “found more than a dozen instances where charges were dropped, parents were acquitted or caregivers had credible claims of innocence yet suffered irredeemable damage to their lives and reputations.”

                                                                                        Reporter Daphne Chen discusses several cases that involved Dr. Smith, including:

                                                                                        “Beata Kowalski, a 43-year-old mother of two, died by suicide in 2017 after Smith accused her of Munchausen syndrome by proxy — a rare disorder in which a parent fakes a child’s illness for sympathy or gain. Her family members are now suing Smith and All Children’s Hospital for what they said were trumped-up claims.

                                                                                        John Stewart, a Marine Corps veteran, spent 300 days in jail on Smith’s allegation that he killed his girlfriend’s son by throwing him repeatedly against a soft surface. Prosecutors dropped the charges after a neuropathologist contradicted Smith’s findings, according to internal memos.”

                                                                                        • Charlotte-Stenberg FB

                                                                                          North Carolina Military Family's Breastfed Infant Daughter Medically Kidnapped for 305 Days

                                                                                          When a family welcomes their firstborn, no matter how difficult the labor, how long the labor, whether instrumentation had to be used to get the baby out, or whether an emergency cesarean is done to finally welcome their new bundle of joy, all of this is a distant past with the arrival a new baby. 

                                                                                          With ten fingers and ten toes, doctors and nurses unconcerned about the events that took place during birth, you assume you are blessed and have happy, healthy baby.  

                                                                                          Families are starting to realize these events that occur during labor can result in underlying conditions that can lead to false allegations of child abuse and tear families apart.  

                                                                                          A military family from North Carolina tells us about their almost one-year long ordeal that threatened to take their daughter away from them forever. After taking their baby to the emergency room, they were transferred to the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Children’s Hospital, where the Beacon Team, with their Child Abuse Specialists, accused them of abusing their baby.

                                                                                          • Ziegler-parents-with-newborn-Hunter-e1495086593564 (2)

                                                                                            Federal Investigation Determines that Oregon CPS Violates Parental Rights of Disabled Parents - Too Low of IQ Not Reason Enough to Take Away Children

                                                                                            Back in 2017 Sherrene Hagenbach, an Oregon volunteer Social Service Agent (SSA), reached out to Health Impact News regarding a couple she was mentoring at the time, Eric and Amy Ziegler, who lost their two children when social workers determined that their IQs were too low to be parenting.

                                                                                            Sherrene was not happy with how their parental rights were being violated, and became a whistleblower. 

                                                                                            Both parents had highschool diplomas, and there was no history of abuse. But Oregon CPS took away their children as soon as they were born.

                                                                                            We published the Ziegler story, interviewing both Sherrene and the parents, and soon the story went viral, gaining national media attention.

                                                                                            An Oregon judge eventually returned custody of both children to the Zieglers last year (2018).

                                                                                            Due to all the media coverage of their story, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services began to investigate Oregon CPS and their practices of removing children from disabled parents.

                                                                                            They allegedly found out that Oregon’s practice of discriminating against parents with disabilities was not limited to the Ziegler case.

                                                                                            Today (December 4, 2019), it was announced that the OCR reached a “voluntary resolution agreement” with the Oregon Department of Human Services concerning the rights of parents with disabilities in Child Welfare Programs.

                                                                                            • Portrait Of A Child With A Painted Flag Of Marshall Islands On H

                                                                                              Will Paul Petersen and His Accomplices in Child Trafficking Ever See Justice?

                                                                                              Arizona Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen, who was indicted in three different states for illegally trafficking children through his adoption agency, has requested that his trial in Arkansas be delayed for almost a year. He is currently free on bond.

                                                                                              The hub of Petersen’s alleged illegal activities was Maricopa County, in Arizona, where he serves as the County Assessor, an elected official.

                                                                                              Authorities in Arizona have been unsuccessful in removing him from office so far, but they recently seized many of his assets.

                                                                                              So far, no one in the mainstream corporate-sponsored media seems to be doing any investigative work on their own to try to uncover this scandal further. It is hard to believe that Paul Petersen could have accomplished this operation on his own, especially since he served in a public office as County Assessor for Maricopa County.

                                                                                              Health Impact News has conducted its own investigation, and if federal law enforcement is serious about stopping child trafficking flowing through Arizona, Mr. Petersen’s connections should be investigated.

                                                                                              What about the judges who approved these adoptions? What connection does Paul Petersen’s case have to former Arkansas Senator Linda Collins-Smith’s murder?

                                                                                              Here is what our own investigations have uncovered so far.

                                                                                              • Skyline-New-York-Mandatory-Vaccines-300x187

                                                                                                New York Vaccine Police State: Proposed Mandatory Gardasil Vaccine to Target Homeschoolers?

                                                                                                Given recent legislative actions in New York, as well as proposed new ones, to remove any exemptions to vaccines and mandate that all children must be vaccinated, the idea of New York becoming a vaccine police state is no longer a theory or warning. It is happening in full public view, thanks to what one lawmaker refers to as “the corruption in Albany.”

                                                                                                A new proposed bill in New York would mandate the HPV Gardasil vaccine as a requirement for school attendance, both private and public, including daycare.

                                                                                                Parents who no longer can enroll their children in schools, whether public or private, due to the loss of religious and medical exemptions to vaccines, are apparently turning to homeschool education as their only option left to educate their children.

                                                                                                But a lawmaker from Warsaw, Assemblyman David DiPietro, has stated that lawmakers are planning on outlawing homeschooling, because they want to be able to vaccinate the children in the schools, without parental approval or knowledge.

                                                                                                • tristan-timmerman-FB

                                                                                                  Texas Mom Tells her Story of How a Child Abuse Pediatrician Used CPS to Medically Kidnap her Baby

                                                                                                  In the middle of the night on May 23rd, 2016, my husband, Tim was caring for our 4-month-old infant son, Tristan, our third of three boys, while I was trying to get some rest.

                                                                                                  Tim awoke to find our son completely unresponsive.

                                                                                                  He immediately woke me up and told me to go to the emergency room as fast as possible.

                                                                                                  I rushed him to the hospital without a moment’s hesitation; no wallet, no phone, no shoes.

                                                                                                  I will never forget the pure fear of those moments holding my unresponsive baby in my arms praying to God not to take my baby.

                                                                                                  When I got to the hospital, the ER doctor told us Tristan had a small subdural hematoma and at the time we had no idea what that was.

                                                                                                  After a day of testing, our prayers were finally answered when Dr. Sandberg, Tristan’s Neurosurgeon, came in with his diagnosis of a tiny subdural hematoma caused by birth injury.

                                                                                                  He let us know it would resolve itself in the next couple of days, that he was canceling the scheduled MRI, and that we could go home, as he said there was no reason to intubate and bathe our baby in that much radiation.

                                                                                                  This was the moment that our family had been praying for, and for the first time we felt relieved to know that Tristan was going to be ok and we would all be going home soon.

                                                                                                  But unbeknownst to us, our nightmare was just beginning. 

                                                                                                  While we were taking in the comfort in Dr. Sandberg’s diagnosis, the child abuse pediatrician (or CAP) was formulating her own diagnosis for Tristan’s medical emergency… Abusive Head Tramua. 

                                                                                                  She used CPS to medically kidnap our baby.

                                                                                                  • Trees of Shame Film

                                                                                                    Black-Listed Documentary Banned in Europe on History of Child Trafficking in Switzerland Premieres Online

                                                                                                    5 years in the making and black-listed in Europe, filmmaker Omar Agustoni along with co-producer Neal Sutz has just released the documentary, Trees of Shame, which premiered online November 24, 2019.

                                                                                                    The film documents the history of child trafficking in Switzerland through Child Protective Services and the Juvenile Court system, with riveting interviews of former and current victims.

                                                                                                    According to the history of the International Social Service (ISS), today’s “Child Protection” child welfare system which exists in most Western countries, originated in Switzerland just after WWI in 1920 in an effort to deal with “displaced” children, or “orphans.”

                                                                                                    The headquarters was established in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1924, and the U.S. branch was established in New York City in 1926.

                                                                                                    During the Great Depression, the Social Security Act established under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935 allocated funds to establish child welfare programs throughout the U.S., and is the birth of modern Child Protection Service agencies nationwide.

                                                                                                    While Simonetta Sommaruga, former President of Switzerland and the current Vice President, allegedly apologized for past crimes of child trafficking against the Swiss people by the Swiss government in April of 2013, where many of these children labeled “orphans” were trafficked as child laborers, much like the old “orphan trains” in the U.S. back in the mid 1800s, Trees of Shame documents how these crimes of child trafficking still happen today.

                                                                                                    This is similar to what is happening in the U.S. today, as we have documented for the past 5 years at Health Impact News on our MedicalKidnap.com website, where the modern day Foster Care system is a massive multi-billion dollar child trafficking system.

                                                                                                    Trees of Shame can be rented and viewed online at: http://www.treesofshame.is/

                                                                                                    • Murrieta School Board Meeting

                                                                                                      California Parents Flood School Board Meeting - Demand Parental Rights Sanctuary Regarding Vaccines and Sex Education

                                                                                                      This week the Murrieta Unified School District in Southern California saw hundreds of parents turn out for a school board meeting to protest the loss of parental rights when it comes to the issue of mandatory vaccines and the sexualization in sex education of their children without parental approval.

                                                                                                      They brought a proposal to make their community a “sanctuary city for parental rights,” claiming that if illegal immigration can be protected by a sanctuary status, then so can parental rights.

                                                                                                      Reporter Michelle Mears was present, and published a report at the California Globe.

                                                                                                      “Hundreds of residents in a Southern California community swarmed a school board meeting Thursday night to speak out about the loss of parental rights in schools. Anxious parents, many with children in tow, students, pastors and doctors demanded the Murrieta Unified School District become the first sanctuary city for parental rights in California.

                                                                                                      For two hours people waited to speak out on the action item titled, ‘To consider Proposal by Community Member to Become a Sanctuary School District.” Those in favor of the sanctuary status understood the trustees could not change the laws set by the state. However, their argument is, if illegal immigration can be protected by a sanctuary status then so can parental rights.’

                                                                                                      One of the highlights of the night was a reading of an affidavit by a nurse known on Facebook as “Sandra RN.” Police attempted to block her efforts and remove her from the room, but when she stood up for her rights as she was being filmed, police backed down and allowed her to speak.

                                                                                                      • Little African American Boy Holding Fathers Hand

                                                                                                        Why is NY Governor Cuomo Delaying to Sign 2 Bills with Overwhelming Bipartisan Support to Protect Families?

                                                                                                        The N.Y. State Central Register Reform Bill seeks to protect families by raising the state’s unusually low standard of evidence for listing parents on a state abuse and neglect registry, and reducing the economic impact of being listed. In 2018, more than 47,000 cases were added to the database, which is visible to potential employers.

                                                                                                        Parents are often listed even if no court action has been taken against them and remain on the registry—regardless of the severity of the accusation against them—until their child reaches age 28.

                                                                                                        The bill would require a “preponderance of evidence,” not “some credible evidence,” to list parents, a standard in line with most other states. It would seal parents’ records on the registry after eight years, in most cases, and make it easier for parents to challenge their records before that.

                                                                                                        The other bill, the Preserving Family Bonds Act, would allow children adopted from foster care to continue to have contact with their parents if a judge agrees that it’s in the child’s best interest.

                                                                                                        Termination of parental rights has been called a “civil death penalty,” but this bill would protect family bonds by ensuring open adoption, even when it’s not possible for a child to return home.

                                                                                                        Taken together, these bills represent an important effort to reduce the punitive effect of the child welfare system. Too often, the system punishes and permanently separates poor families—especially Black and Native families—as the U.S. has done through law and through economic inequity for its entire history.

                                                                                                        The federal Adoption and Safe Families Act, passed in 1997, remains especially damaging and reflects the time’s hysteria about Black families, when media images of “super-predators,” “welfare queens,” and “crack babies” demonized Black mothers and children. The law cut the length of time parents have to reunite with their children and provided financial incentives to states to prioritize adoption.

                                                                                                        The federal government also provides nearly unlimited funds for foster care but almost none for supports that enable families to keep children safe at home.

                                                                                                        • Doctor Holds Syringe To Vaccinate Sick Baby With Injection

                                                                                                          Recording Surfaces of Illinois Department of Health Planning to Medically Kidnap Newborns from Parents Who Refuse Vitamin K Shot at Birth

                                                                                                          Earlier this year (2019) the Chicago Tribune reported on a federal lawsuit where parents sued several doctors at three hospitals and DCFS for medically kidnapping their newborn infants simply for refusing the Vitamin K shot at birth.

                                                                                                          Megan Fox, writing for PJ Media, has published a recording from an April 12, 2018 meeting of the Perinatal Advisory Committee (PAC) that operates under the Illinois Department of Public Health.

                                                                                                          In the recording, health officials that apparently include doctors and possibly nurses who are authorized to give the Vitamin K shot to newborns, discuss how they can work together with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to take custody of newborn babies from parents who refuse the Vitamin K shot at birth.

                                                                                                          The members of the Health Department basically conclude that since it is DCFS policy to mandate the Vitamin K shot, that medical professionals have the authority to take custody of the child and administer the Vitamin K shot over the objections of the parents, even without DCFS involvement. Such “custody” can be as little as only “2 minutes,” the time it takes to give the shot.

                                                                                                          So basically Illinois Health Department officials decided in a meeting that they had authority to take a child away from the parents, without DCFS involvement, without parental approval, and with no court or judge’s order to take custody, and forcibly inject the newborn child with the Vitamin K shot.

                                                                                                          • Judge Gavel With Lawyers, Gavel On Wooden Table And Counselor Or

                                                                                                            Michigan Law School Professor: Parental Rights Attorneys Too Often Give Up Instead of Fighting

                                                                                                            For the past few weeks, I’ve been reading transcripts from child protective hearings. Hundreds of pages of transcripts. I’ve seen examples of clear legal errors. I’ve read many lines of parents’ lawyers grumbling and complaining. I’ve read even more of those lawyers simply agreeing to whatever the agency is proposing.

                                                                                                            I’m still waiting, though, to see one key phrase in the transcripts. I’m waiting for one lawyer to say it.

                                                                                                            “I object.”

                                                                                                            In fact, in the six years I’ve co-directed the Child Welfare Appellate Clinic at the University of Michigan Law School, I’ve rarely seen that phrase in a transcript. I’ve rarely seen motions filed by parents’ lawyers, even when confronted with obvious mistakes. I’ve rarely seen a hint of outrage about the process.

                                                                                                            Instead, I usually see very little advocacy. I’m typically struck by the acquiescence of the lawyers in the courtroom.

                                                                                                            • Portrait Of A Child With A Painted Flag Of Marshall Islands On H

                                                                                                              Is There an Arizona and Mormon Connection to Child Trafficking in Arkansas and Senator Linda Collins-Smith's Murder?

                                                                                                              Episode 6 of The Medical Kidnap Show aired on November 10, 2019, on KFNX Talk Radio 1100 out of Phoenix at 9 p.m. Sunday night. (11 p.m. EST)

                                                                                                              The guest interviewed on the show was Kathy Hall. Kathy is a grandmother who was living in Arkansas when her daughter was tragically killed by a hit-and-run vehicle being driven by an illegal alien.

                                                                                                              Her daughter left behind a young child, and Kathy has been fighting to get access to her granddaughter ever since. Getting no help from attorneys in Arkansas, Kathy turned to an Arkansas State Senator, Linda Collins-Smith, to help her get her granddaughter back.

                                                                                                              The two became close friends until Linda Collins-Smith was murdered in Arkansas, within hours after returning from a week-long trip to Arizona, where she was reportedly investigating child trafficking.

                                                                                                              Kathy then found out through a Social Media post that her granddaughter had already been adopted out to a Mormon family who then left the State of Arkansas and moved to Wisconsin.

                                                                                                              The attorney who allegedly arranged the adoption was Paul Petersen, an adoption attorney who was also the Maricopa County Assessor in Arizona, and who has since been indicted on federal charges in three states, including Arizona and Arkansas, for human trafficking.

                                                                                                              • Janis-Graham-Jack-FB

                                                                                                                Federal Judge in Texas Fines CPS $50K a Day for "Shameful" Foster Care: CPS has "Lied to me at almost Every Level"

                                                                                                                A federal judge in Texas appears to be getting fed up with Texas government officials who are delaying in abolishing the State’s foster care and child protective services agency and establishing a new one.

                                                                                                                This week she started fining the state $50,000.00 a day for not implementing the reforms she ordered back in 2015 when she ruled that the Texas foster care system was unconstitutional.

                                                                                                                In her original ruling, Judge Jack wrote:

                                                                                                                “Texas’s PMC (Permanent Managing Conservatorship) children have been shuttled throughout a system where rape, abuse, psychotropic medication, and instability are the norm.”

                                                                                                                Rather than comply with her ruling, however, the State of Texas wasted taxpayer funds in fighting against the injunction.

                                                                                                                Now, Judge Jack is apparently tired of waiting, and has announced fines of $50,000.00 a day which will double in the near future if the State does not comply with her orders.

                                                                                                                Earlier this week she said that she no longer finds the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services “credible” and that the state has “lied to me at almost every level.”

                                                                                                                During the hearing, Jack scolded officials with DFPS who testified because they could not answer questions concerning the conditions in placements for foster care children.

                                                                                                                • econo-lodge-1

                                                                                                                  $10M Lawsuit Filed in New York Against Motels that Allegedly Allowed Child Sex Trafficking of Foster Children

                                                                                                                  Andrew Denney and Gabrielle Fonrouge of the New York Post have reported on a $10 million lawsuit filed recently alleging that a 10-year-old foster girl was raped, tortured and beaten as she was sold for sex at two New York motels while staff turned a blind eye to what was happening.

                                                                                                                  The young girl was trafficked through motels, according to the lawsuit, with the full knowledge of the motel staff who did nothing to try and stop this kind of sex trafficking of children.

                                                                                                                  According to the NY Post article, 45% of all sexual exploitation in New York City happens in hotels.

                                                                                                                  To understand the scope and depth of this problem of foster care children being sexually trafficked, go to an Internet search engine and search for law firms that specialize in representing foster care children who are sexually trafficked.

                                                                                                                  You will have plenty to choose from. It is apparently a tragic booming business for attorneys.

                                                                                                                  Here are a few:

                                                                                                                  • Arizona Human Trafficking Council

                                                                                                                    Is the Arizona Human Trafficking Council Preventing Child Trafficking, or Facilitating it?

                                                                                                                    Episode 5 of The Medical Kidnap Show aired on KFNX Talk Radio 1100 out of Phoenix on Sunday night, November 3, 2019.

                                                                                                                    Our guest for this show was Lori Ford, the head of the DCS Oversight Group, which is a group of volunteers who attend meetings regarding Department of Children Services issues in Arizona.

                                                                                                                    The group also has “court watchers” who attend Dependency Court hearings as parent advocates and to observe how these parents are being treated in Dependency Court.

                                                                                                                    When asked why the members of the group provided their services to families and others free of charge, she replied:

                                                                                                                    “The reason that we do this, is it’s so important. This is the future of our country, the future of our nation. And family means everything to all of us.

                                                                                                                    So that’s why we do it. We see so many rights being violated in this dependency court system.”

                                                                                                                    This past week (Tuesday, October 29, 2019), the Arizona Human Trafficking Council conducted a meeting that was open to the public, and Lori Ford and other members of the DCS Oversight Group attended.

                                                                                                                    Lori addressed the Council, pointing out that while the Council had exposed websites that trafficked kids, such as BackPage.com, which was shut down by the FBI last year, that the Council had not addressed another website in Arizona that trafficks kids, the DCS .gov website: “Children’s Heart Gallery.”

                                                                                                                    “The children who are on this Heart Gallery, which is part of the DCS website, are children that are in DCS custody. They’re foster kids, they’re kids in group homes.

                                                                                                                    This is a forced adoption, a forced re-homing if you will, website, of children who are in DCS custody.

                                                                                                                    They’re pimping out kids online.”

                                                                                                                    • MK-Banner-Intro-Final

                                                                                                                      The Medical Kidnap Show on KFNX Talk Radio Phoenix is Now on Sunday Nights - Listen Online!

                                                                                                                      Starting Sunday, November 3, 2019, The Medical Kidnap Show will air on KFNX Talk Radio 1100 broadcast out of Phoenix at 9 p.m. local time (8 pm PST – 11 pm EST).

                                                                                                                      This Sunday’s show will look at the question:

                                                                                                                      “Does Doug Ducey’s and Cindy McCain’s Arizona Human Trafficking Council actually stop human trafficking in Arizona, or contribute to it?”

                                                                                                                      • Tampa Bay I-Team Medical Kidnapping Guardianships

                                                                                                                        Tampa Bay ABC Investigation Uncovers Medical Kidnapping of Seniors Throughout Florida with State Guardianships

                                                                                                                        The state of Florida, home to many seniors who have retired in that state, has had numerous investigations this year by local media outlets in the state’s guardianship program that takes away the civil rights of senior adult patients, allowing them to seize their estates, and in at least one high-profile case, even issue a “do not resuscitate” order without involving the patient’s family.

                                                                                                                        Now one local media outlet out of Tampa Bay, ABC Action News WFTS, has conducted a three-month investigation that uncovered numerous examples of hospitals in Orlando, Miami, West Palm Beach, Naples and other Florida cities paying private attorneys to file hundreds of court petitions to put patients into guardianship.

                                                                                                                        An I-Team review of state court records found:

                                                                                                                        Tampa Bay area hospitals, including those owned by Baycare, AdventHealth and HCA, went to court to put more than 100 patients into guardianship since 2017 alone.

                                                                                                                        Tampa General Hospital filed five nearly identical court documents seeking guardianship for patients, describing each as having “disorganized thinking and poor cognition.” A hospital spokeswoman said TGH spent $28,000 on guardianship cases so far in just 2019.

                                                                                                                        An attorney for Florida Hospital Altamonte requested guardianship for a patient because her “Kia Soul that was almost paid off… may be repossessed.”

                                                                                                                        Nationwide, government guardians oversee an estimated 1.3 million adults and $50 billion of their assets.

                                                                                                                        • Court-Appointed Special Advocates

                                                                                                                          Study: Children with Court-Appointed Special Advocates do WORSE Than Children Without Them

                                                                                                                          A new study has just been published in the journal Child Maltreatment: The Effect of CASA on Child Welfare Permanency Outcomes.

                                                                                                                          “The present study is the largest and most rigorous study to date on the effects of being appointed a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) on permanency outcomes of children in foster care.

                                                                                                                          Overall, children appointed a CASA have significantly lower odds than children without a CASA of achieving permanency. They have lower odds of being reunified, greater odds of being adopted (if not reunified), and lower odds of being placed in permanent kin guardianship (if not reunified or adopted) than children who are not appointed CASA.”

                                                                                                                          Richard Wexler of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform writes that this is the second large-scale study done on the effectiveness of CASAs, the first one being published back in 2004:

                                                                                                                          “Back in 2004, Youth Today revealed the results of the most comprehensive study done to that point concerning the most sacred cow in child welfare: Court-Appointed Special Advocates.

                                                                                                                          CASAs are overwhelmingly white overwhelmingly middle-class amateurs sent into the homes of people who are overwhelmingly poor and disproportionately of color.  The amateurs then tell judges what decisions to make and, to a frightening degree, the judges rubber-stamp the recommendations.  Though CASAs almost always mean well, their only real ‘qualification’ typically is their white, middle-class status.

                                                                                                                          What could possibly go wrong?

                                                                                                                          Plenty, according to that 2004 study.”

                                                                                                                          Wexler goes on to say that it is time to defund the CASA program.