Reports
Rewind: Why Reasonable Childhood Independence Matters, with Diane Redleaf
This week, we’re rewinding to a conversation with Diane Redleaf from February 2024. Diane is the legal consultant at Let Grow, an organization that promotes reasonable childhood independence. She’s also the author of They Took the Kids Last Night. In this episode, Diane tells us what reasonable childhood independence is and why it matters for…
Read MoreVictories! Yet Danger Looms
This week has seen parental rights victories in three states. But we’re also watching closely as a battle in Illinois threatens parental rights across the country. First, the good news. On Monday, Indiana’s Senate Bill 143 (SB143) passed the House Committee on Judiciary by a vote of 9 to 3. The measure, which will recognize…
Read MoreElection Report: Parental Rights Edition
Yesterday, America went to the polls to decide who will be President and Vice President, who will serve in the 435 seats of the U.S. House of Representatives, and who will fill roughly one-third of the U.S. Senate (called “Class I”). While many weigh winning or losing by how well one major party did versus…
Read MoreNational Conference on Child Abuse Takes a Surprising Turn
When I entered the National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect on April 24, I felt like a spy. I was properly registered and wore my name tag proudly, yet I feared I might be grossly out of place. After all, here I was representing the rights of parents among agencies and organizations who routinely…
Read MoreFoundation Brief Featured on SCOTUS Blog
SCOTUS Blog, a highly respected U.S. Supreme Court-watching resource, this week featured petitions, including one from the Parental Right Foundation, related to whether the High Court should take up the case I.B. v. Woodard. Woodard is the case in which the Parental Rights Foundation filed an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief to the…
Read MoreFoundation Files Brief to US Supreme Court
WASHINGTON — The Parental Rights Foundation today filed a brief with the United States Supreme Court in the case of I.B. and Jane Doe v. April Woodard. The aim of the brief is to urge the Supreme Court to halt unnecessary, traumatic strip-searches in child-welfare investigations. “It’s a tragedy,” said Parental Rights Foundation President Jim…
Read MoreReview: They Took the Kids Last Night by Diane Redleaf
Looking for More on the Supreme Court amicus brief? It’s here (and we apologize for the extra click). —Michael T. Ramey, Executive Director Published in late 2018, Diane Redleaf’s They Took the Kids Last Night: How the Child Protection System Puts Families at Risk is an excellent read. Redleaf, who works with our lobbying arm in…
Read MoreTroubling Trends in Foster Care
The Parental Rights Foundation this week reviewed the five latest AFCARS reports and uncovered some disturbing trends. According to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) summary of 2016 data released in October of last year and the four previous reports, the number of children in foster care nationwide has been trending…
Read MoreDisproportionality of Minority Children in Child Welfare Cases
New Report Highlights Disproportionality in Child Welfare April 25, 2018 The Parental Rights Foundation has released a new report on disproportionality in the child welfare system. The report highlights data from 2016 (the most recent available) showing that nationally the rate of African American children in cases “substantiated” for abuse or neglect is 1.51 times…
Read MoreState of Parental Rights in America 2017
The Supreme Court once declared, “This primary role of parents in the upbringing of their children is now established beyond debate as an enduring American tradition.” Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972) at 232. So, how are we doing with that “enduring American tradition” today? Unfortunately, not so well. Even with advances in some…
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