Child Protective Services
Know Your Rights
The CPS Policy Library Is Now Live
The CPS Policy Library is now live. For the first time, families can access the actual rules DHR and CPS are supposed to follow in every state. This is not opinion. These are the official policies, available, readable, and finally within reach.
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Know Your Rights #12: You Have the Right to Say No to a Safety Plan
You are not required to sign a safety plan. DHR’s own policy states that these plans are voluntary and do not change legal custody. This article explains what safety plans really mean, when to be cautious, and how to protect your rights.
The Machine
Opinion | Almost Twenty Years Later, Nothing Has Changed
*** Watch the full clip here ***
Seventeen years after Nancy Schaefer’s warning, families are still fighting to be heard. The system hasn’t changed. It has simply gotten better at hiding.
In 2007, State Senator Nancy...
The Machine
“Deserves to Be on That List”: A Chilling Glimpse into Alabama’s Abuse Registry
When Alabama Deputy Commissioner Karen Smith was asked if everyone on the state’s abuse registry deserved to be there, she answered without hesitation: “I do.” With no requirement for trial, no guarantee of notice, and no clear path for removal, Alabama’s registry functions as punishment by accusation. This investigation explores the real cost of that system and the chilling indifference of the official defending it.
The Machine
Child Trafficking in America: How Federal Funding Fuels Family Destruction
What if I told you the removal of children from loving homes is being incentivized by federal dollars?
This video expose how the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, passed under the Clinton administration,...
The Machine
Placed Despite Red Flags: When Foster Care Overload Costs a Child’s Life
A chilling tragedy in Philadelphia reveals how systemic overload and ignored warnings can lead to preventable loss.
On April 15, 19-month-old Sy’vir Hill was found unresponsive in a bathtub at his foster home in the...
The Machine
Something New Is Rising: The Stolen Children’s Movement Begins
Across the nation, families are rising up to expose a hidden crisis. June is being declared Stolen Children’s Month, a bold call to confront the injustice of family separation through the child welfare system. This movement is not just a campaign. It is a reckoning. And it starts now.
Testimonials
Why I Write: From Family Crisis to Fierce Advocacy
Journalist Kim Richards shares a powerful personal story of how Alabama’s DHR system devastated her family after a teenage mistake turned into a full-blown crisis. A call for truth, reform, and accountability.