As we move into the holiday season, a time when families gather and traditions take center stage, there are countless families across Alabama who will not get that chance. Their tables will have empty chairs. Their children will celebrate under someone else’s roof. And for too many, that separation was not because there was no family willing to step up, but because the system refused to let them.

When Blood Doesn’t Matter is our next campaign, launching soon under Families vs. DHR. This campaign will shine a light on what happens when kinship caregivers are bypassed, when grandparents, aunts, uncles, and siblings are ignored, and when DHR decides that connection no longer counts.

Across Alabama, we have seen DHR deny family placement even when relatives meet every requirement. They claim it is about safety. They call it policy. But what we have uncovered tells another story, one rooted in bias, convenience, and control.

Families have been silenced for too long while strangers are prioritized over blood. Children are being placed with people they have never met while relatives are left fighting a system that refuses to hear them.

This campaign will share real stories, policy violations, and the truth behind the phrase “in the best interest of the child.” We will also equip families with tools to file complaints, cite state law, and demand accountability when kinship placement is ignored.

As the world prepares to celebrate togetherness, we are preparing to expose what happens when family bonds are dismissed by those sworn to protect them.

When Blood Doesn’t Matter is not just a campaign. It is a declaration that the love of family is not optional and that every child deserves the right to be raised by those who share their name, their story, and their heart.

Coming Soon.
Because no system should have the power to erase blood.