Every year, without a warrant, many thousands of children are needlessly removed from loving homes only to suffer abuse, neglect and even death in state subsidized foster care.
Healthy families are being destroyed while those children in desperate and legitimate need of protection are suffering and dying - exploited by the very system put in place to protect them.
Federal dollars allocated for the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect continue to be disbursed to the states according to the number of children requiring out of home placement. Every child taken from home and placed in foster care represents a steady stream of income to the states' social services agencies. There is an undeniably powerful financial incentive to keep childen in foster care instead of making reasonable efforts to return them home wherever possible.
Other federal financial incentives exist to encourage early termination of parental rights and adoption of these children to strangers (not family).
The child protection system, as it currently operates, is deadly and dangerous because it lacks meaningful oversight and control. When "errors" occur, case workers and others responsible are not held to account. Those whose decisions harm or kill children never face legal or civil consequences. They are protected by immunity statutes which allow their wrongful and negligent actions to go unpunished. Families need protection from this system.
Anonymous reporting of "suspected" child abuse or neglect encourages false allegations as
retaliatory behavior common in child custody battles and other community conflicts. Those who bring false accusations are never prosecuted or punished for the families whose lives they destroy.
Closed (secret) court "dependency" proceedings deprive citizens of their constitutional right to a trial by jury open to public scrutiny. These hearings hold only to "a preponderance of evidence" as the standard of proof - not "beyond a reasonable doubt." Parents or caregivers are rarely informed of their legal rights when children are removed from their home. The resultant costs of protracted legal battles leave families financially crippled for years and rarely result in positive outcomes for children.
To end this cycle of violence we are working to restore and protect the rights of American families against unwarranted intrusion.
Our annual conference provides education and resources for empowerment toward that goal.