Posts by Sheila Roberts
Parental Rights Progress Pauses in Two States
I am so grateful for the support of readers like you, and the tireless efforts of state lawmakers and volunteers who push to build solid parental rights law at the state level. This year has seen several such efforts across the country, including two that have come to a “pause”: Alabama and Illinois. Alabama In…
Read MoreListening to Lived Experience with Sixto Cancel
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,…
Read MoreFoundation Joins Briefs, Submits Briefs in Michigan TPR Cases
Is it constitutionally acceptable to terminate a parent’s rights if their child can be protected and provided for by a less restrictive means? This is the legal question behind the appeals in two cases currently before the Michigan Supreme Court, and the Parental Rights Foundation has weighed in with a resounding “No!” In fact, we…
Read MoreRecapping the National Conference on Parent Representation with Kathleen Creamer
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…
Read MoreProgress for Parental Rights in Texas with Andrew Brown
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…
Read MoreOur Mission to Capitol Hill April 2-3
Michael Ramey, Patti Sullivan, and Sophia Ramey at the US Capitol April 3, 2024. On April 2 and 3, I went to Capitol Hill with Parental Rights Foundation board member and Florida state coordinator Patti Sullivan to present the Parental Rights Amendment and the Families’ Rights and Responsibilities Act to a focused group of congressional…
Read MoreNew Parental Rights Legislation, with Patti Sullivan
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…
Read MoreThe Child Welfare System and Homeschooling with James Mason
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…
Read MoreAddressing Child Welfare Disproportionality in Minnesota, with Joanna Woolman
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…
Read MoreTennessee Parental Rights Bill Advances
The Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville This week, a bill in Tennessee to protect parental rights faced a highly contested subcommittee vote…and passed! House Bill 2936, the Family Rights and Responsibilities Act, was scheduled for a vote in the Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee of the Tennessee House on Tuesday, March 19. Opposing the bill…
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