Parental Rights News

Sarah Katz, Clinical Professor of Law at Temple University Beasley School of Law, and April Lee, founder of Philly Voice for Change, join us to discuss a Pennsylvania proposal that would allow parental rights to be reinstated in certain circumstances after they have been terminated. Sarah brings her experience in family law and child welfare, while April brings lived experience as a parent involved in the child welfare system and her work advocating for families.  The conversation examines how parental rights are terminated, the impact of termination on children and families, and the circumstances under which rights could be reinstated under Pennsylvania House Bill 133. Sarah and April also discuss the potential benefits of the proposal for children who remain in the child welfare system, experiences that illustrate the need for reform, and what listeners can do to learn more about the legislation. The EPPiC Broadcast is hosted by Michael Ramey, President of the Parental Rights Foundation. Stay informed on parental rights news by signing up for email alerts at https://parentalrightsfoundation.org/get-involved/ .

What if you knew that a bill affecting parental rights was about to come up for a vote, but you only had 48 hours to make your voice heard? In January of 2025, parents in Indiana didn’t even have that long. A Senate vote on a key Parental Rights bill was announced with only one day’s notice, and by the time we learned of it, we could give concerned Hoosier parents only hours to weigh in before the hearing was convened. Forty-eight hours (the standard in many states) may sound like plenty of time. But for parents who are working, caring for their children, and managing everything else that comes with family life, an important alert can be easy to miss. Now imagine that the window closed before you even knew there was an opportunity to speak up. What if a bad bill passed, and you later learned that you could have contacted your representative, submitted a public comment, or encouraged other parents to do the same? When parental rights are at stake, timing matters. Parents cannot exercise their voice if they do not know what is happening until it is too late to do anything about it. That is why the Parental Rights Foundation has recently introduced text alerts. Our text alerts will not replace our regular emails. They will work alongside them, giving us another way to reach you when something important is happening and time is of the essence. In March of 2024, the Tennessee House Children & Family Affairs Subcommittee gave only two days’ notice before a hearing and vote on HB 2936, which stood to take Tennessee from having zero parental rights law to one of the best in the country. Once again, we sent a “Call TODAY” email alert, giving some parents only a few hours in which to make their voices heard. Thankfully, many stepped forward and the measure was passed. But what if time had run out? The goal is simple: We want you, the parent and the voter, to know what is happening when it is happening, so you have the opportunity to get involved and defend parental rights. You should not have to find out after the vote that there was an opportunity to make your voice heard. Legislative alerts are the biggest part of what you'll receive, but we'll also use text messages to let you know about breaking, significant parental rights news as well as other opportunities to make your voice heard. If you have not already signed up, we encourage you to join our text alerts today.

Last week I attended the policy summit of the American Legislative Exchange Council, an association of conservative policy organizations, private sector organizations, and state lawmakers, to present the need to take up reform legislation. Specifically, I presented the need to replace “anonymous reporting” with “confidential reporting” to child abuse hotlines.  The following is taken from… The post Why We Need “Confidential Reporting” Reform appeared first on Parental Rights Foundation.

Ideas that take root in the United Nations have an unsettling tendency to eventually make their way into America’s courtrooms. That’s why the Parental Rights Foundation submitted a comment to the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on Child Privacy last month, urging respect for the privacy of the child’s family and home, and not just the… The post Do Children Have a Right to Family Privacy? appeared first on Parental Rights Foundation.