Child Protection System
The Machine
The Price of a Child: How Alabama DHR Turned Family Separation into a Business
There are moments in this fight when the truth no longer hides behind fine print. Last week, Baldwin County attorney and minister Yancey Burnett stood before the Baldwin County Commission and said what so...
Know Your Rights
When Poverty Becomes a Punishment: Families Losing Children Instead of Getting Help
All across this country, families are being punished for struggling. Instead of being met with help, they’re being met with handcuffs, court dates, and case plans.
When the rent is behind, the refrigerator is empty,...
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A Mother’s Story: Teenager Pregnant Under Houston County DHR’s Watch
By Families vs DHR StaffPublished September 2025
Dear Families vs. Houston County DHR,
I never thought disciplining my child would mean losing her to a system more dangerous than the streets. My soul is broken.
The Houston...
The Machine
Not a Van, a Nissan Maxima: The Lies and Failures Behind the Death of 3-Year-Old KJ Starkes
The family of 3-year-old Ke’Torrius “KJ” Starkes has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR), Covenant Services, and transport worker Kela Stanford. What is being revealed now is...
The Machine
What They Don’t Want You to Say: Inside the Silent War of Family Court Gag Orders
In courtrooms across America, parents fighting to get their children back are being told to stay silent. Not because they lied or posed a danger. But because speaking the truth would embarrass the very...
Sunday Spotlight
The Ones Still Waiting
Sunday Spotlight
There is a particular kind of silence that settles over a family when the system takes a child and then leaves nothing behind. No updates. No court date. No word. Just silence.
It is...
The Machine
When Blood Is Not Enough: The Silent Crisis of Kinship Being Bypassed
By Staff Writer | Families vs DHR
In a small Alabama town, a grandmother stood by her phone, waiting for a call that never came. Her daughter had just been taken into custody, and she...
The Machine
When Systems Pretend to Protect: Who’s Really Watching the Watchers?
In a world where oversight is promised and protection is preached, families are left picking up the pieces after the very system meant to help them causes harm. We’re told that agencies like DHR...