DHR Accountability
The Machine
When One Voice Becomes an Army: The Power of Us
There is a moment in every story when silence breaks. It does not happen in a courtroom or a press release. It happens in the quiet decision of one person who finally says, “I...
The Machine
The Cost Is Too Great: Alabama’s Silent Crisis Inside the DHR System
There is a quiet kind of breaking that happens when a child is taken from home. It does not make headlines or courtroom transcripts, but it leaves echoes in every room that family once...
Sunday Spotlight
Sunday Spotlight | After the Storm: What Alabama DHR Still Refuses to Learn
It has been months since Alabama DHR came under fire following the death of three-year-old KJ Starks, who died in a hot van while under the state’s care. Since then, there have been statements,...
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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
Alabama’s Houston County DHR: Building on Broken Families
They say the walls are too old. The layout too outdated. Two stories no longer work. So now Houston County DHR wants a new building, a bigger, shinier one story fortress to house their...
The Machine
The False Face of Protection: Why Alabama DHR Cannot Escape Reform
The Alabama Department of Human Resources defines its mission in reassuring terms: “To provide for the protection, well-being and self-sufficiency of children and adults.” Yet across the state, stories continue to surface that show an agency...
The Machine
Placed to Be Protected, Left to Be Tortured: The Columbia County “House of Horrors”
Nine children were supposed to be safe. Instead, they were delivered straight into a nightmare.
Authorities in Columbia County, Florida, say nine children were rescued from what deputies described as a “house of horrors,” where...
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...