By Families vs DHR Staff Published September 2025 For nearly three decades, Leslie Kelly has been embedded in the child welfare system. According to an article in the Dothan Eagle, she has held multiple positions within...

A former Hendricks County Department of Child Services employee is facing 16 felony charges, including falsifying child abuse or neglect information and official misconduct by a public servant. Brianna Spillman, who resigned her position in...

This week, our spotlight turns back to a truth too many have been forced to live with: DHR knows when it has done wrong and still refuses to make it right. It is not...

We were just parents until the system took everything. This is the beginning of our voice, our truth, and our refusal to be silent. We never meant to be here. But now that we are, we are not going anywhere.

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.

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.

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...

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...