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Reforming the Child Welfare System from the Inside, with Jerry Milner
This week, we talk with Jerry Milner, former Associate Commissioner of the Children’s Bureau in the US Department of Health and Human Services. Far too often, the US child welfare system creates incentives to unnecessarily separate families, harming the children it tries to protect. During his tenure with the Children’s Bureau, Jerry worked to create…
Read MoreThe World of Hidden Foster Care, with Josh Gupta-Kagan
This week, we talk with Dr. Josh Gupta-Kagan, Professor at Columbia University School of Law and author of “The Hidden Foster Care System.” Josh explains how many parents in child welfare investigations find their children placed with relatives, completely off the official record. While placing children with relatives, sometimes called kinship care, is not an…
Read MoreWhat Medical Child Abuse Is – and Isn’t, with Maxine Eichner
This week, we talk with Maxine Eichner. Maxine is a Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina, and she writes on legal issues surrounding families and social welfare law and policy. In this episode, Eichner explains the history of a concept called “medical child abuse” and how innocent parents of medically complex…
Read MoreReforming the Texas Foster Care System, with Andrew Brown
Welcome back to the EPPiC Broadcast! We’re kicking off season 7 with Andrew Brown, Associate Vice President of Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. As an attorney, Andrew has represented children in the child welfare system, advocated for the rights of parents, and helped build families through domestic and international adoption. Andrew breaks down…
Read MoreFoundation President Testifies before Colorado Study Committee
On July 18, I was honored to testify before the Colorado legislature’s Child Welfare System Interim Study Committee. The committee, made up of 7 representatives and 4 senators, was formed to gather information on the problems in the state’s child protection scheme and on the potential for reforms to improve outcomes. July 18 was the…
Read MoreFoundation Files Brief with Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Critical Parental Rights Case
On Tuesday, we submitted an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief in a critical parental rights case pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta, Georgia. This powerful federal court is just one step below the U.S. Supreme Court, so this critical case could determine the future of parental…
Read MoreMaine Parental Rights Amendment Headed to Committee
We are excited to let you know that L.D. 1953, a proposed parental rights amendment to the Maine Constitution, will be heard by the Committee on Judiciary tomorrow, May 24, at 10 AM in the State House, Room 438. This powerful amendment to the Maine Constitution will establish that “All parental rights are reserved to…
Read MoreAdoption and Foster Family Advocacy with Laura Adams
This week, we talk with Laura Adams, founder of FACTS4safefamilies.com, which provides education, support, and advocacy to improve understanding of adoptive and foster children and complex trauma. Laura explains how through her work with international adoption and parenting her own adopted children with special needs, she saw firsthand the challenges that exist in getting the proper…
Read MoreAdvocating for Parents with Erin Phillips
This week, we talk with Erin Phillips, president of Power2Parent, an organization uniting parents who want to advocate for their children’s education. Erin discusses her journey in advocating for her parental rights in her own children’s education and how Power2Parent was formed to give parents in her home state of Nevada and across the country…
Read MoreCall for Alabama House to Vote on Fundamental Parental Rights
Alabama State Representative Kenneth Paschal’s H.B. 6, The Parental Rights Protection Act, was POSTPONED when it was originally scheduled for a vote on the Alabama House Floor on May 2. (This powerful bill will make Alabama the 17th state in the nation to protect parental rights as fundamental in state code.) Due to that postponement,…
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