Tag: child protective services

Payback: Montana DPHHS Kidnaps Grandkids of Republican DPHHS Critic

Child advocates across the country recognize Montana Department of Health and Human Services as among the worst in the nation for confiscating children, often without court orders or probable cause. Entire rallies have been held through the state for several years, with citizens protesting the heavy-handed actions of DPHHS for illegally taking parents from their children. One of those advocates demanding DPHHS child-confiscation reform is running for Montana House District 82. Her campaign’s tagline is, “Treasuring Family and Community” and she is an outspoken critic of DPHHS for stealing children from their parents without just cause.

Debbie Westlake isn’t alone in her concerns. Many Montana lawmakers have noted the epidemic of childhood confiscation that happens in far higher numbers here than in other surrounding states like Wyoming, Idaho, North Dakota, and South Dakota. In fact, Montana ranks per capita as the state with the second highest number of children being stolen from their parents, only behind West Virginia. More than 16 children out of 100 are stolen and never returned.

Westlake, in particular, has focused much of her campaign on ending the child-stealing tendencies of DPHHS and announced her candidacy while advocating against their human rights abuses. Rep. Randy Garcia warned in that very episode on Excellence in Voting Radio that DPHHS goes out of their way to punish their political opponents. And for Westlake, today was payback by DPHHS for criticizing their kidnapping policy.

Westlake’s sad saga, which includes DPHHS wrongfully stealing her child, landed the story at the prominent news network The Blaze, just last year. The story was surreal; Westlake was admitted and then released from the hospital when hospital workers notified DPHHS that there was something amiss. The state then stole Westlake’s 4-year-old son for no apparent reason. According to DPHHS later, they just wanted to make sure that Westlake had a backup plan for the child’s care in case she got sick again (so they stole him from a childcare facility while Westlake was recovering at home).

Westlake did nothing wrong. The health problems that landed her in the hospital was a routine and ordinary illness that many Americans face, not substance abuse or suicidal thoughts. It was a physical ailment. And yet, the judge terminated her parental rights and gave the child out for adoption to another set of parents. The miscarriage of justice made national news.

Now that Westlake is running for office to curb the draconian powers of Montana’s DPHHS, they have struck back, confiscating her grandchildren.

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No Qualified Immunity for Kentucky Cops Who Strip-Searched a 4-Year-Old and Threatened Mom

In Kentucky, it’s a crime to leave children under the age of eight in a car under circumstances that “manifest an extreme indifference” to human life and create a grave risk of death. But the cops didn’t say she’d done that. The kids all looked fine, and they the officers left without charging Curry with a crime. Nevertheless, they felt obligated to call the state’s child protection hotline, thus opening a neglect investigation which automatically required a visit to the Curry home to check on the kids.

When the caseworker arrived at the home, Holly refused to let her in without a warrant. The worker returned with a sheriff’s deputy, but still no warrant. When Holly insisted that they still couldn’t enter, they threatened to “come back and put your kids into foster care.” Holly begged for time to call her husband. They refused. Finally, crying and terrified, Holly let them in.

Labeling that decision “voluntary consent,” the authorities entered the home. Unsurprisingly, the house and kids all looked fine. Even so, the caseworker insisted on strip searching each kid, removing their underwear and examining their genitals for signs of abuse.

A few months later, the caseworker closed the investigation as “unsubstantiated,” saying that what Holly had done was a “one-time ‘oopsy-daisy.'” But she telephoned Curry later and said, “If we ever get a call against your family again, bad things will happen to you, and we’ll take your children.”

At that point, Curry had had enough. She turned around and filed suit against the caseworker and cop, claiming violation of her constitutional rights.

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Your child’s a no-show at virtual school? You may get a call from the state’s foster care agency

Massachusetts school officials have reported dozens of families to state social workers for possible neglect charges because of issues related to their children’s participation in remote learning classes during the pandemic shutdown in the spring, according to interviews with parents, advocates, and reviews of documents.

In most cases, lawyers and family advocates said, the referrals were made solely because students failed to log into class repeatedly. Most of the parents reported were mothers, and several did not have any previous involvement with social services.

The trend was most common in high-poverty, predominantly Black and Latino school districts in Worcester, Springfield, Haverhill, and Lynn; advocates and lawyers reported few, if any, cases from wealthier communities.

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Arizona child welfare workers fired after posing in ‘Professional Kidnapper’ shirts

On Tuesday, The Daily Beast reported that multiple employees with the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) were terminated last month after posing for a photo wearing shirts that said “Professional Kidnapper” on the front.

The shirts also said “Do you know where your children are?” on the back, reported Blake Montgomery.

“When children are taken into state custody, parents and critics of the agency have been known to accuse Child Safety personnel of being ‘kidnappers,’” said the report. “The staffers are said to have worn the shirts during work hours. Christina Sanders, a former DCS unit supervisor, saw a picture of staffers in the parking lot of the Prescott, Arizona DCS bureau wearing the shirt and emailed the branch’s supervisor.”

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