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Welcome to the EPPiC Broadcast: Empowering Parents and Protecting Children. Featuring personal stories, breaking news, and insightful commentary, we’ll encourage and inform you on the issue of family and parental rights as you guide and protect that child who is your world.

The views and opinions expressed by our podcast guests are not necessarily those of the EPPiC Broadcast or the Parental Rights Foundation. In the interest of furthering our nonpartisan mission of educating the public about parental rights, we seek to feature a broad diversity of views and opinions relating to parental rights. If you have thoughts about our podcast or a particular podcast guest, we welcome your feedback at foundation@parentalrights.org.

Recent Episodes

All Episodes

Star Wars and CPS, with Josh Gupta-Kagan

By Sheila Roberts | October 15, 2024

What does the recent Star Wars show The Acolyte have to do with the flaws in our real-world child welfare system? As it turns out, more than you might think!  This week, our guest is Josh Gupta-Kagan, a clinical professor of law and director of the Family Defense Clinic at Columbia University’s School of Law.…

Narrowing the Front Door, with Angela Burton

By Sheila Roberts | October 8, 2024

Our guest this week is Angela Burton, founder and co-chair of the New York City Narrowing the Front Door workgroup. Angela is also the founder of the Repeal CAPTA workgroup. Previously, Angela has worked within the New York State child welfare system and she currently works closely with families navigating the system.  Today, Angela tells…

Parental Rights & Appreciation Month, with Jackie Rosario and Patti Sullivan

By Sheila Roberts | October 1, 2024

This week, we talk with Jackie Rosario, board member at the Indian River Public School Board in Florida, and Patti Sullivan, Parental Rights Foundation State Coordinator in Florida. The Indian River Public School Board recently passed a proclamation declaring October “Parental Rights and Appreciation Month.” Jackie and Patti tell us about how they passed the…

Working Toward Systemic Child Welfare Reform, with Chris Gottlieb

By Sheila Roberts | September 3, 2024

Welcome back to the EPPiC Broadcast! We’re kicking off season 9 with returning guest Christine Gottlieb. Chris has been newly appointed the Director of the New York University School of Law’s Family Defense Clinic. Today she tells us about the work the Clinic does to defend individual families in child welfare cases and to advocate for…

Listening to Lived Experience with Sixto Cancel

By Sheila Roberts | May 7, 2024

This week, we’re joined by Sixto Cancel. Sixto is the founder and CEO of Think of Us, a non-profit advocacy organization that seeks to reform and transform the child welfare system, led and guided by people who have been directly impacted by this system. Sixto tells us about the work that Think of Us is doing,…

Recapping the National Conference on Parent Representation with Kathleen Creamer

By Sheila Roberts | April 30, 2024

This week, Kathleen Creamer is returning to the EPPiC Broadcast. Kathleen is the managing attorney of the Family Advocacy Unit at Community Legal Services in Philadelphia. This week, Kathleen gives us an overview of many topics under discussions at the ABA Center on Children and the Law’s recent National Conference on Parent Representation, which featured…

Progress for Parental Rights in Texas with Andrew Brown

By Sheila Roberts | April 16, 2024

What effects would legislation proposed in various states have on families and the states’ child welfare systems? To answer that, we looked to Texas, where the same measures have already become law. This week, we talked with Andrew Brown, vice president of Policy with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, about some of the laws Texas…

New Parental Rights Legislation, with Patti Sullivan

By Sheila Roberts | April 9, 2024

This week, we’re talking with Patti Sullivan, the Parental Rights Foundation’s Florida State Coordinator. Patti and Michael were in DC to bring attention to two national bills aimed at protecting parental rights: the Families’ Rights and Responsibilities Act and the Parental Rights Amendment. They discuss those bills and their efforts in this episode. The EPPiC Broadcast is…

The Child Welfare System and Homeschooling with James Mason

By Sheila Roberts | April 2, 2024

This week, we’re talking with James Mason, president and senior counsel at the Homeschool Legal Defense Association. Previously, James has served as the president of the Parental Rights Foundation and the host of the EPPiC Broadcast. This week, James tells us about a case in Texas that HSLDA has recently litigated on behalf of a homeschooling…

Addressing Child Welfare Disproportionality in Minnesota, with Joanna Woolman

By Sheila Roberts | March 26, 2024

This week, Joanna Woolman returns to the podcast! Joanna is an associate professor of law at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law and the executive director of the Institute to Transform Child Protection. Today, Joanna tells us about a civil rights complaint brought forward to address the disproportionality of African American children in Minnesota’s child welfare…

Do Parental Rights Come from the Government? with Will Estrada

By Sheila Roberts | March 19, 2024

This week we talk with Will Estrada, senior counsel at the Homeschool Legal Defense Association and former president of the Parental Rights Foundation, as well as the former host of the EPPiC Broadcast. Will has also served as attorney with the Federal Department of Health and Human Services.  In this episode, Will tells us about…

Diagnosing a Verdict with Michelle Weidner

By Sheila Roberts | March 12, 2024

This week, we’re talking with Michelle Weidner, executive director of the Family Justice Resource Center in Illinois, which represents families in CPS cases across the country. Michelle is also a parent with lived experience dealing with the child protective system. In this episode, she tells about her experience being falsely accused by a child abuse pediatrician over…