WASHINGTON—Advocates fighting radical gender ideology are pushing the White House to target child welfare programs, The Daily Wire has learned, pointing to national examples of the state removing children from loving parents who refuse to support gender ideology.
Many of the advocates involved in this effort played pivotal roles fighting gender extremism over the past decade. These individuals are intimately acquainted with the stories of parents who lost custody of their children for refusing to call their daughter a son or refusing to put their child through life altering transgender procedures.
The Daily Wire reviewed the copy of a draft executive order that these advocates plan to present to President Donald Trump, an executive order that proposes the president tie child welfare programs&#8217; federal funding to a rejection of gender ideology. The advocates plan to follow up on this proposed order with legislation in Congress.
The order redefines child abuse and neglect, since, under the current language, leftist organizations claim that child abuse includes refusing to affirm a child&#8217;s gender identity. It would also tie federal funding for foster care to state plans that don&#8217;t refuse foster parents for their religious or political beliefs, as well as programs that don&#8217;t house foster children according to gender identity.
The proposed language of the executive order paints a stark picture of the parents facing Child Protective Services investigations, threats of losing custody, and denials of custody because they will not affirm child gender transitions. It describes how many child welfare services and family court personnel have been trained to remove children from parents who refuse to agree to sex-rejecting interventions.
And it notes that family courts in custody cases often award custody of children to the parent who affirms that child&#8217;s gender identity confusion. Ted Hudacko, for example, <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/02/26/dad-lost-custody-after-questioning-sons-transgender-identity/">lost custody of one of his sons</a> to his ex-wife for questioning the impacts of gender transition attempts on children.
Advocates explained to The Daily Wire that their goal is for Trump to consider withholding federal funds from agencies that are investigating parents for &#8220;child abuse&#8221; for refusing to transition their kids, and to protect families that refuse to comply with ideological foster care principles.
&#8220;My team and I have been pulling on every level to get this proposed executive order in front of the President, contacting every contact we have in the administration, including agency leaders,&#8221; shared Erin Friday, president of Our Duty-USA, a non-partisan parent advocacy group. Friday, one of the advocates spearheading the effort, was investigated for refusing to affirm her daughter&#8217;s supposed gender identity.
&#8220;This administration is dedicated to protecting children and families from gender ideology,&#8221; she explained, &#8220;and if we could meet with President Trump or get the proposed order in his hands, parents would be able to stop living in fear that if they refuse to treat their child as the opposite sex, they will be adjudicated abusive.&#8221;
Though the president <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/11/fostering-the-future-for-american-children-and-families/">extensively reformed the foster care system</a> with a November executive order, there is concern that the recent order does not address the complete issue: notably, the enticement aspect, where pro-transgender activists coach children on how to circumvent their parents who refuse to consent to transgender procedures, and get themselves into the foster care system where they can begin transgender treatments.
The Daily Wire obtained a copy of a letter from a West Coast Child Welfare Agency sent to a parent who refused to support or affirm their child&#8217;s new gender identity. The parent asked to remain anonymous pending trial, and the child has been placed in an &#8220;affirming&#8221; residence during the interim period.
The letter informs the parent that &#8220;our office received a report of abuse,&#8221; accusing the parent of being &#8220;responsible for the mental injury&#8221; of the child.
&#8220;Your actions and statements towards [the child] have caused significant mental injury,&#8221; the letter states. &#8220;The severe harm perpetrated showed serious disregard for [child&#8217;s] social and emotional well-being. Your adverse reactions to [child] expressing their gender identity have caused serious harm to [child&#8217;s] psychological functioning.&#8221;
Friday argues that there are many more such cases, often kept from the public eye due to legal constraints on the parents.
&#8220;The public is unaware that children are being kidnapped by child protective services and family judges because these cases are usually sealed or there are confidentiality laws that prevent parents from going public,&#8221; she explained.
In many states, foster care laws grant children a right to begin transgender interventions and to be housed with families or institutions that will validate and promote transgenderism. This opens up a whole other can of worms: in California, for example, foster care <a href="https://www.cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/foster-care/extended-foster-care-ab-12">can extend</a> up to the age of 25 in some circumstances, meaning that a grown man who says he identifies as a woman could be sharing living quarters with an already at-risk young girl.
Erin Lee is a mother who was investigated by CPS for refusing to &#8220;affirm&#8221; her 12-year-old daughter when she said that she was a transgender boy. Lee, who sued the school with her husband, told The Daily Wire that school employees &#8220;secretly groomed and transitioned&#8221; her daughter and sent a &#8220;mandated reporter to my home for a &#8216;well-child check'&#8221; when she refused to comply.
&#8220;We managed to evade losing our children that day, but I’ve met many parents who weren’t so lucky,&#8221; Lee shared. &#8220;I also had a six-year-old and infant at the time, and I shudder to think that I could have lost all three of my kids for being a good parent, for being unwilling to lie to my daughter and send her down a path of self-hatred and destruction. I was labeled abusive for not affirming my child’s mental health distress.&#8221;
The Lee&#8217;s case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which ultimately refused to take up the case. But Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch said in a statement that they were concerned about federal courts avoiding the “particularly contentious” question of whether schools are violating parents&#8217; fundamental rights when they &#8220;without parental knowledge or consent&#8221; encourage or assist &#8220;a student to transition to a new gender.&#8221;
Since Lee has gone public, she has met hundreds of families who have come into contact with Child Protective Services for not affirming their child&#8217;s gender confusion. This is particularly common in Colorado, she shared, where children are influenced by school officials or teachers who then use the &#8220;broken and rotten family court system to gain custody of the minor child.&#8221;
Colorado&#8217;s HB 24-1039 mandates that schools affirm a student&#8217;s social gender transition, meaning use the name of a student&#8217;s choice during school and extracurricular activities, declaring it &#8220;discriminatory to knowingly or intentionally use a name other than the student&#8217;s chosen name.&#8221; Students can file a report with the school, or a federal civil rights complaint, if they are &#8220;discriminated&#8221; against by a teacher who calls them a different name.
The state&#8217;s HB 24-1017 establishes a bill of rights for foster kids in Colorado, mandating that all foster families must affirm their foster child&#8217;s gender identity, essentially mandating that families who will not affirm a child&#8217;s gender identity cannot foster.
&#8220;In court, all these kids and their groomers have to say is that parents are not using the new name and pronouns, and 100% of the time, that’s enough to warrant parents losing custody of their children,&#8221; Lee insisted. &#8220;It feels like the twilight zone. How could this be happening, and why is no one doing anything about it?&#8221;
Advocates have long argued that the first step on the conveyor belt toward child gender transition is often public school, where leftwing teachers and counselors encourage children to explore their gender identity or identify as transgender.
Lee saw this firsthand: her young daughter came home confused about her sex, and within days, her family had CPS knocking on the door.
&#8220;They abused our child, yet we were the ones being labeled abusive,&#8221; she said.

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Inside The Push For Trump To Keep Radical Gender Ideology Out Of Child Welfare Programs

Child Protective Services

Donald Trump

Foster Care

Transgender

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/california" target="_blank" rel="noopener">California</a> residents fear mental health professionals are one step closer to giving custody of minors 12 and older to the state after lawmakers advanced a bill on Tuesday that aligns with existing laws for children to receive certain services without parental consent.
On Tuesday, lawmakers in the state&#8217;s Senate Judiciary Committee advanced <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB665">Assembly Bill 665</a>, which gives minors over the targeted age group authority to receive mental health services from counselors and therapists who could allegedly sign off on children checking into state-run youth shelters as long they provide evidence of serious physical or mental harm to themselves or others, or if they&#8217;re a victim of incest or child abuse.
Although the bill&#8217;s text does not explicitly contain language that changes the state&#8217;s child welfare system or removal processes, some Californians allege the law — authored by Democrats Assembly Member Wendy Carrillo and State Senator Scott Wiener — indicates &#8220;parental separation and emancipation of minors.&#8221;
&#8220;The authors want to change the law to let a 12-year-old opt out of their home on a whim, invoking parental separation and emancipation of minors without any claim of danger or parental consent,&#8221; Nicole Pearson, an attorney, said in her testimony against the bill, according to <a href="https://freebeacon.com/california/california-assembly-bill-665/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Free Beacon</a>. &#8220;This is child emancipation.&#8221;
Wiener, however, argues the bill &#8220;protects children.&#8221;
&#8220;It makes children safer,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It makes children healthier. It&#8217;s unfortunate that this bill, like so many, has been caught up in this right-wing outrage machine.&#8221;
Carrillo claimed the state would &#8220;never&#8221; pass a law that strips parental discretion or remove access to their children.
&#8220;There&#8217;s been a lot of misinformation and lies about this bill to the point that it has national and international attention as to how we treat mental health services for young people in the United States and California,&#8221; she said.
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According to the <a href="https://youthlaw.org/resources/californias-ab-665-equitable-access-mental-health-services#:~:text=AB%20665%20would%20grant%20youth,require%20consent%20from%20a%20guardian." target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Center for Youth Law</a>, minors of the targeted age group can receive healthcare through private health insurance plans and have the authorization to consent to outpatient care on their behalf when considered mature enough to participate. The new bill would give youth over 12 the ability to consent to mental health counseling regardless of insurance type.
&#8220;Youth relying on the state&#8217;s Medi-Cal program — offered to families with lower incomes — cannot access mental health care on their own without approval from a parent or guardian, unless they meet a much higher need level,&#8221; the center&#8217;s website reads. &#8220;This added barrier to support prevents many tweens and teens from getting the care they need and threatens their well-being.&#8221;
Weiner also noted the bill only applies to low-income children in Medi-Cal, the state&#8217;s Medicaid program.
Pearson said in her testimony that if lawmakers wanted to remove the parental consent requirement for minors to receive mental health services through Medi-Cal, they could change California&#8217;s welfare code and keep state-run shelters&#8217; admittance rules the same.
However, the National Center for Youth Law&#8217;s attorney Taylor Chambers said that changing the code would convolute billing for doctors and counselors.
California Democrats have launched a campaign to strip parental authority over their children, specifically in the name of &#8220;gender affirmation.&#8221; Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-state-senator-warns-parents-to-flee-state-after-gender-affirmation-bill-advances" target="_blank" rel="noopener">advanced</a> separate legislation to accuse parents of child abuse if they refuse to affirm their children&#8217;s gender identity.
Last year, Weiner <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-senate-passes-transgender-refuge-bill-eroding-parental-rights" target="_blank" rel="noopener">authored</a> a bill that passed, making California a haven for children who wish to go through transgender surgeries and parents who support them in the procedures while making it more difficult for those who do not want their child to go through such treatments.

Child holding adult’s hand

California Residents Fear New Bill Gives Mental Health Professionals Authority To ‘Emancipate’ 12 Year Olds From Parents

California Residents Fear New State Bill Gives Mental Health Professionals Authority To 'Emancipate' 12 Year Olds From Parents

California

Child Abuse

LGBTQ

Politics

Scott Wiener

Social Issues

A California mom whose 19-year-old daughter had “transitioned” to the identity of a male in high school and then later committed suicide blasted California Child Protective Services to the California Judiciary Senate, <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12221449/California-mom-claims-19-year-old-daughter-murdered-gender-ideology.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a> her daughter was “murdered by gender ideology.”
Abigail Martinez, whose daughter Yaeli had suffered from depression as a young teenager and later identified as “Andrew,” told <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10612285/California-mom-claims-LA-school-encouraged-daughter-transition-blame-suicide.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Mail</a> in 2022 that Yaeli’s school encouraged her to take hormones, undergo gender reassignment surgery, secretly join an LGBT group, and not to speak to her mother.
Martinez had stated that Yaeli showed signs of depression by 8th grade after being bullied and started questioning her sexuality at around 15 years old, adding:
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Once she moved to high school, by the beginning of sophomore year things changed drastically. &#8230; She talked to her sister about how she liked girls. She was questioning her sexuality. It was a shock, but she was trying to find out her identity. It&#8217;s normal, what children don&#8217;t go through that at that age? &#8230; But I never imagined what the school would do. &#8230; The school was telling her to go to these LGBT groups behind my back. She went from questioning her sexuality to her gender. &#8230; 
She had these peers at school two years older than her. They were the ones who brought these ideas – “Maybe you&#8217;re depressed because don&#8217;t you feel like you&#8217;re a boy?” – and the school was supportive of that. &#8230; The school told her these groups were the place to go, and I didn&#8217;t need to know about it. &#8230; I asked her what was going on, and she tried to deny it, because she was told that if she talked about it at home, I would not support it.
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Martinez claimed Yaeli was urged by the school and her LGBT support group to ingest hormones and look into gender reassignment surgery, leaving her mother out of her decision-making. The girl was allegedly informed by her peers that the only way California would pay for the surgery would be to move into foster care. Martinez said a friend of her daughter’s and her parents “coached” Yaeli, convincing her to leave home and tell Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) that Martinez had slapped her face.
“My daughter was murdered by a gender ideology,” Martinez told the California Judiciary Senate. “CPS took my daughter when she was 16 years old. It was helped by her public school counselor and LGBTQ group and another trans-identified girl. My daughter was taken from her loving home because the state of California claims I was abusive for not affirming her trans identity. I lost my daughter over a name and pronouns.”
CPS helped Yaeli move to a group home, only permitting Martinez to visit her once a week for an hour.
“Why are there so many transgender in foster care?” Martinez rhetorically asked the Senate. “Because this state take them from their families, tell them to run, then steals them. Parents are given one option to treat their distressed child: Affirm drugs and remove their healthy body part or else lose your child.”
“The abuse claim against me was finally dropped, but it was too late,” she recalled. “The damage was done. By then, my daughter was in horrible mental and physical pain. My daughter knelt down in front of a train. She was murdered by gender ideology.”

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‘Murdered By Gender Ideology’: Mother Whose Daughter Committed Suicide Blasts Child Protective Services

Children

In a 7-2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/21-376_7l48.pdf">upheld</a> a federal statute that forces states to place Native American children with Native families, even if it’s not in the child’s best interest.
The Court rejected several families’ challenge to the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), which was created to maintain Native American culture by prioritizing Native families in the adoption of Native children. 
The “issues are complicated” Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the majority in Haaland v. Brackeen, but the “bottom line is that we reject all of petitioners’ challenges to the statute.”
Justice Barrett was joined in the majority by the Court’s three Democrat-appointed justices, along with Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Neil Gorsuch, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.
However, the law prioritizes placing the child in a Native family even if it is not in the child’s best interest and if the Native family is not of the same tribe. The law gives tribal leaders the ability to strip children from non-Native foster families and even to supersede the wishes of the child’s biological parents.
For instance, under the law, a Native child in Minnesota was ripped from a loving non-Native family who wanted to adopt her and given to her grandmother, who had lost her foster license due to a criminal conviction. 
The lead plaintiffs in the case, Chad and Jennifer Brackeen, fostered a 10-month-old child and sought to adopt him after a year, with his parents’ support. However, because his parents were members of the Navajo and Cherokee tribes, and both those tribes opposed the adoption, the child was ordered to be removed from the family and placed in New Mexico under the ICWA.
Several families challenged the law on a few main points. First, they argued that the ICWA was unconstitutional under the 10th Amendment because it violated states’ rights to regulate family matters. Second, they argued that the law creates race classifications and makes race-based decisions, which are unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment.
The Court rejected the federalism claim but did not decide the equal protection claim, leaving it for lower courts to decide.
Barrett argued that because the ICWA applies to both private and public parties equally, the states have no claim that the federal government targeted their rights. She also argued that the federal government has supremacy and that it is normal for state laws to be superseded by federal law.
Justice Thomas wrote a dissent, arguing that the ICWA unconstitutionally encroached on states’ police powers and that the Indian Commerce Clause does not apply to children. Thomas accused the Court of using “loose language” and that the Court’s broad definition of the clause had no basis in the Constitutional text. He also pointed out how many of the children affected would have never stepped foot on a reservation. 
Justice Alito’s dissent attacked the majority opinion on its consequences and argued the Court “loses sight” of what is important in the case — the best interests of the child. Alito walked through the specific cases, showing how under the ICWA, the children would be ripped from loving non-Indian families despite the harms that would occur by doing so — simply because the tribe’s government desired it. 
Justice Kavanaugh wrote a concurring opinion that emphasized the equal protection claim was not addressed, stating the issue is “serious” and challenges “bedrock equal protection principles.”
“Under the Act, a child in foster care or adoption proceedings may in some cases be denied a particular placement because of the child’s race — even if the placement is otherwise determined to be in the child’s best interests,” Kavanaugh wrote. He went on to state the same for prospective foster and adoptive parents — that they could be denied because of their race. 
Justice Gorsuch wrote a concurring opinion, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, that emphasized the horrific treatment of Native Americans throughout American history and the resulting importance of the ICWA. 
The decision was met with praise from the Biden Administration and tribal sovereignty advocates. “Our Nation’s painful history looms large over today’s decision. In the not-so-distant past, Native children were stolen from the arms of the people who loved them,” Biden <a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-native-american-children-adoption-8eee3db1e97cee84a7fdcd98d43df795">said</a> in a statement.
The Cherokee Nation, Morongo Band of Mission Indians, Oneida Nation, and Quinault Indian Nation said in a joint statement, “We hope this decision will lay to rest the political attacks aimed at diminishing tribal sovereignty and creating instability throughout Indian law that have persisted for too long.”
“We are glad to see the Supreme Court recognized the important benefits of ICWA and allowed the law to stand,” the Choctaw Nation <a href="https://www.choctawnation.com/news/news-releases/choctaw-nation-statement-regarding-decision-in-brackeen-v-haaland/">said</a>.

Washington, D.C. landmarks

Supreme Court Upholds Law Enabling Tribes To Bar Non-Native Families From Adopting Native Children

Adoption

Native Americans

Supreme Court

U.S.

A Minnesota mother whose 6-year-old son was returned to her after a year in foster care despite protestations from the boy’s father was convicted of murdering the boy with a shotgun.
Julissa Thaler, 29, who reportedly had a history of mental illness, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/julissa-thaler-convicted-killing-6-year-old-son-eli-hart-minnesota/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a> a store clerk for ammunition that would “blow the biggest hole” before murdering her son Eli Hart in May 2022, shooting nine shots into him before putting his body in the trunk of her vehicle. According to authorities, Thaler bought the shotgun soon after Eli&#8217;s father Tory filed papers asking the court for full custody. Eli had been placed in foster care in January 2021 with his foster mother Nikita Kronberg.
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Eli Hart was 6. His mother is on trial for his murder. Eli’s father told the jury in Hennepin County “..he was everything to me..he completed my life.” Eli’s dad add that he liked bubbles, playing with toy cars, and fishing. <a href="https://twitter.com/KSTP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kstp</a> <a href="https://t.co/GrSekOUSZ0">pic.twitter.com/GrSekOUSZ0</a>
&mdash; Eric Chaloux (@EricChalouxKSTP) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricChalouxKSTP/status/1621544837244764160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 3, 2023</a></blockquote>
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An exhausting day of testimony is over in the Julissa Thaler trial. This image may stick with me forever. Little 6-year-old Eli Hart&#39;s backpack was thrown in the trash, his homework still inside. His dad testified that Eli loved going to school. Loved being social. Senseless. <a href="https://t.co/O0DQs4JOxh">pic.twitter.com/O0DQs4JOxh</a>
&mdash; Lou Raguse (@LouRaguse) <a href="https://twitter.com/LouRaguse/status/1621643047422332929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 3, 2023</a></blockquote>
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“During that time, Eli and Tory were able to start a relationship, and their bond was powerful from the start,” Kronberg wrote on a <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/nkgn4c-funeral-and-headstone" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GoFundMe page</a> dedicated to paying for the funeral costs. “Eli fell in love with his father and loved spending time with him. Tory was excited to make up for all the lost years and was thrilled to start teaching his son how to fish and ride a bike with no training wheels.”
“At the end of December 2021, Eli returned to his mother&#8217;s house for a home trial,” Kronberg continued. “Due to many red flags, Eli&#8217;s mother was showing, Tory tried extremely hard to get custody of Eli. Unfortunately, more false Orders of Protection were filed, which postponed custody hearings. Numerous parties made many statements to CPS, fearing that mom would harm Eli if full custody were returned. Sadly full custody was returned on May 10, 2022.”
“Eli&#8217;s brutal murder is one of the most horrific cases I have encountered in 30 years working in the criminal legal system,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty stated. “Nothing will ever fill the emptiness Eli&#8217;s father and other loved ones now live with every day, but I&#8217;m hopeful this verdict will make it just a bit easier to remember Eli as the toothless, happy, smiling little boy we have seen in photos.”
The trial was so disturbing that jurors were offered crisis counseling. Prosecutor Dan Allard <a href="https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/prosecutors-to-self-edit-in-julissa-thaler-trial-for-murder-of-6-year-old-eli-hart/89-16e58f00-8d69-477b-a776-1a2a48cdbb44" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told jurors</a> they would not see the graphic photos of Eli, who was strapped into his seat in the car when he was repeatedly shot. Allard told the judge, “We are self-editing because I don&#8217;t want to see them again. They are horrid. The jury doesn&#8217;t want to see them. They are as bad as I&#8217;ve seen in any case.”
Thaler&#8217;s former boyfriend, Robert Pikkarainen, said that the night before the murder, Eli didn&#8217;t want to go to bed. He told the court, “We started playing with the kitties and Eli was getting rowdy and Mom didn&#8217;t like it. She was hitting him. Then Eli was hitting her — they were fighting. So she put the shotgun in the car and she came back up. I was lying in her bed. She grabbed Eli and went downstairs.”
Insurance broker Mathias Martin testified that Thaler wanted a $400,000 policy for her son. He recalled that when he informed her policies for children only go up to roughly $50,000, “she was very adamant about $400,000, no less.”
Tory Hart’s fiancée Josie Josephson, told <a href="https://www.fox9.com/news/eli-hart-mother-arrested-in-case-of-boys-body-found-in-trunk-mound-orono" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox 9</a>, “Not only did we express concerns to multiple people, multiple times…every time the response was, ‘This is something for family courts.’ (CPS) said laws do not allow us to address this, unless (they) see physical abuse, (they) have no grounds to remove him from her home.”
Eli Hart’s father Tory Hart <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/eli-hart-lawsuit-father-dakota-county-murder/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filed</a> a wrongful death lawsuit against Dakota County in August 2022.

Thaler

Child Welfare Workers Returned 6-Year-Old To His Mom. She’s Convicted Of Murdering Him With 9 Shots From A Shotgun.

Crime

Minnesota

Murder

Single mother and Virginia state Senate candidate <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/journalist-calls-child-protective-services-on-senate-candidate-and-single-mom-over-columbus-day-tweet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tina Ramirez</a> (R) made it clear that she was ready to fight back after self-described journalist David Leavitt apparently reported her to Child Protective Services over a tweet.
The offending tweet was a simple statement from Ramirez wishing her followers a happy <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/elizabeth-warren-celebrates-indigenous-peoples-day-social-media-happy-columbus-day-chief/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Columbus Day</a> — and Leavitt, who had previously expressed his own views eschewing the holiday, accused her of promoting rape and racism, among other things.
The spat escalated quickly throughout the day on Monday, and after Ramirez made it clear that she intended to teach her child history without interference from left-wing activists, Leavitt first entreated his 330,000+ followers to call CPS and report her for &#8220;abuse&#8221; because he claimed she was teaching her child to be racist.
Leavitt eventually opted to make the call himself — all the while complaining that he had to sit on hold for more than an hour to file his report with the state.
Ramirez pushed back, accusing Leavitt of wasting state resources in his pursuit of what amounted to political persecution — and Christina Pushaw, rapid response director for Governor <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/does-it-say-that-in-the-bill-ron-desantis-rebukes-reporter-for-pushing-dont-say-gay-narrative/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ron DeSantis</a> (R-FL), was among a number of people who suggested that might actually be a crime in the state of Virginia.
&#8220;Isn’t this a crime in VA? It’s like making a false 911 call or Swatting. Report him to the state police and AG’s office. Get him arrested. If he doesn’t face consequences he will do it again,&#8221; Pushaw said.
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Isn’t this a crime in VA? It’s like making a false 911 call or Swatting. Report him to the state police and AG’s office. Get him arrested. If he doesn’t face consequences he will do it again.
&mdash; Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChristinaPushaw/status/1579796301486886913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 11, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Ramirez apparently did just that, announcing on Tuesday that she had followed her words with actions — or, at least, with a phone call to Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) to report the issue.
&#8220;I spoke with AG @JasonMiyaresVA&#8217;s office this morning about being falsely reported to CPS. He stands behind parent&#8217;s rights &amp; I&#8217;m confident that the AG will fight for individual parent&#8217;s decisions to raise their kids &amp; guard against efforts to weaponize our schools and CPS,&#8221; she tweeted.
https://twitter.com/TinaRamirezVA/status/1579830867513708550
&#8220;On a personal note, Abigail and I are doing great and we appreciate all the support as the left continues to bully our family,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;The real tragedy in all of this is the time wasted by @David_Leavitt, which consumed valuable CPS resources, putting children in harm&#8217;s way.&#8221;

Tina Ramirez

Tina Ramirez Fights Back After Activist Calls CPS To ‘Report’ Her Columbus Day Tweet

Tina Ramirez Fights Back After Activist Calls CPS To 'Report' Her Columbus Day Tweet

Christopher Columbus

Columbus Day

Virginia

Self-described &#8220;Award-winning multi-media journalist&#8221; David Leavitt called Child Protective Services on Virginia State Senate candidate Tina Ramirez, reporting her for &#8220;child abuse&#8221; because her opinion of <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/columbus-day-what-really-killed-so-many-natives-robert-kraychik/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Columbus Day</a> differed from his.
The spat began with an apparent non-sequitur, when Leavitt replied to a tweet from Ramirez over reports that <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/new-paypal-policy-lets-company-pull-2500-from-users-accounts-if-they-promote-misinformation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PayPal planned to fine</a> people for spreading &#8220;misinformation&#8221; — a story broken by Daily Wire reporter Ben Zeisloft.
&#8220;Only women can be pregnant. Do I owe PayPal $2500 now?&#8221; Ramirez asked, to which Leavitt replied, &#8220;Why are you celebrating torture, rape, murder, and enslavement?&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Why are you celebrating torture, rape, murder, and enslavement?
&mdash; David Leavitt 🎲🎮🧙‍♂️🌈 (@David_Leavitt) <a href="https://twitter.com/David_Leavitt/status/1579547835078692864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Leavitt appeared to be referencing another tweet in which Ramirez wished her followers a happy Columbus Day, and Ramirez responded with a simple explanation: &#8220;I teach my daughter real American history. I refuse to join the radical left&#8217;s campaign to erase history.&#8221;
https://twitter.com/TinaRamirezVA/status/1579576278721916928
Leavitt responded by attempting to get some of his 330,000+ followers to harass Ramirez by reporting her to Child Protective Services.
&#8220;Can someone please call child care services on Tina Ramirez who&#8217;s teaching her child to be a racist?&#8221; he asked.
He then apparently decided to make the call himself — and complained about the long wait time to speak to someone at the hotline.
&#8220;The Virginia State hotline for child abuse has a 10+ minute hold and is experiencing &#8216;high call volumes&#8217; with 14 callers ahead of me. This is absolutely unacceptable. How many people try to report child abuse and hang up? How many children will continue to be abused?&#8221; he asked.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The Virginia State hotline for child abuse has a 10+ minute hold and is experiencing “high call volumes” with 14 callers ahead of me.
This is absolutely unacceptable. How many people try to report child abuse and hang up? How many children will continue to be abused? <a href="https://t.co/yZOKEqTAcn">pic.twitter.com/yZOKEqTAcn</a>
&mdash; David Leavitt 🎲🎮🧙‍♂️🌈 (@David_Leavitt) <a href="https://twitter.com/David_Leavitt/status/1579581164922482688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2022</a></blockquote>
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While Leavitt continued to hold — and continued to complain about the wait time — Ramirez responded: &#8220;Mighty bold and liberal of you to lecture a Hispanic mother with a black daughter on racism. What’s next? Are you going to lecture me on women’s rights?&#8221;
Leavitt responded by wondering whether she knew he was waiting to report her — and then informed her that &#8220;having a black child doesn&#8217;t make you any less racist.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Having a black child doesn&#39;t make you any less racist<a href="https://t.co/QnrkB39TTq">https://t.co/QnrkB39TTq</a>
&mdash; David Leavitt 🎲🎮🧙‍♂️🌈 (@David_Leavitt) <a href="https://twitter.com/David_Leavitt/status/1579589942766104577?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Leavitt <a href="https://twitter.com/David_Leavitt/status/1579593293780094976" target="_blank" rel="noopener">continued to complain</a> about the wait time, posting updates showing that he had been on hold for over an hour. As he waited on the line to report Ramirez for abusing her child —by celebrating Columbus Day — he lamented the amount of abuse that must be taking place in Virginia for wait times to be so long.
Ramirez responded to the entire situation in a Twitter thread of her own, saying, &#8220;Tonight, @David_Leavitt called Child Protective Services to report &#8216;child abuse&#8217; because I teach my daughter about Christopher Columbus and real American history. As a single mother, I am my daughter&#8217;s only support. This is appalling for a number of reasons.&#8221;
https://twitter.com/TinaRamirezVA/status/1579644309959512065
&#8220;Radical leftist @David_Leavitt didn&#8217;t just call CPS to level accusations against me,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;He waited an hour on hold, tying up the lines of our CPS professionals trying to help Virginia&#8217;s children. The radical left is willing to put our children at risk to cancel conservatives.&#8221;
&#8220;It’s no surprise that a member of the radical left is willing to go so far as to call CPS on a single mother &#8211; simply because they want to erase history. The radical left doesn’t want parents making decisions for their own families,&#8221; Ramirez added.
https://twitter.com/TinaRamirezVA/status/1579644313755348992
&#8220;This goes back to what Virginians fought for in 2021 when they elected @GlennYoungkin: parent’s rights,&#8221; Ramirez concluded. &#8220;The radical left is willing to sit on hold with CPS for a full hour to level accusations of child abuse — all because we don’t agree with their out-of-touch worldview.&#8221;

Journalist Calls Child Protective Services On Senate Candidate And Single Mom Over Columbus Day Tweet

David Leavitt Calls Child Protective Services On Senate Candidate Tina Ramirez Over Columbus Day Tweet

PayPal

An author of the leading <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/transgender" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transgender</a> health association’s new guidelines for adolescents revealed that they have called Child Protective Services on uncooperative parents who did not affirm their child’s newly chosen transgender identity. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) held a session on the “Adolescent” chapter during their annual conference on Monday that was livestreamed online.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨BREAKING: Ren Massey, an author of WPATH&#39;s new Guidelines, says &quot;there are at least some Child Protective Service workers who are willing to enforce the need for affirmation by parents,&quot; which can be used to threaten hesitant parents into affirming their child&#39;s trans identity. <a href="https://t.co/388IxSoFjq">pic.twitter.com/388IxSoFjq</a>
&mdash; Colin Wright (@SwipeWright) <a href="https://twitter.com/SwipeWright/status/1572375023008055296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 20, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Dr. Ren Massey, a trans-identified female Clinical Child Psychologist from Atlanta, Georgia, revealed during a Q&amp;A session that calling Child Protective Services is a “resource” for clinicians to “enforce the need for affirmation by parents.” Massey goes as far as to suggest that merely informing parents that a call to CPS can be made might be enough to pressure them to cooperate.
The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/leading-transgender-health-association-releases-new-guidelines">previously reported</a> that the 8th edition guidelines released last week indicated that the state may be enabled to intervene in order to assist with the child’s transition if parents do not affirm their child’s newly chosen identity.
“I had to make a call to Child Protective Services on a case and the Child Protective Services worker asked me about if some of the issues I was calling about were about the parents not being supportive or being emotionally abusive around gender identity issues,” said Massey.
Massey appeared pleasantly surprised to learn that CPS workers in Georgia had intervened in instances where parents were hesitant to accept their child’s new transgender identity. “And that was educative for me to learn that in my conservative state there are at least some Child Protective Service workers who are willing to enforce the need for affirmation by parents at least with social transition needs, names, pronouns et cetera,” said Massey. “So that may be a resource in states, provinces, regions, countries around the world.”
Massey suggests that threatening to call Child Protective Services on a parent who doesn&#8217;t affirm their child’s transgender identity may be all that is needed for the parent to cooperate with socially transitioning their child. “Even before making that call, letting parents know that if that’s true where you are practicing that might get their attention a little bit,” said Massey.
WPATH’s <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26895269.2022.2100644">new guidance</a> also suggests that parental consent for minors to obtain medical treatments are recommended, but not required, and that the state may intervene when a parent refuses to affirm their child’s transgender identity.
“6.11- We recommend when gender-affirming medical or surgical treatments are indicated for adolescents, health care professionals working with transgender and gender diverse adolescents involve parent(s)/guardian(s) in the assessment and treatment process, unless their involvement is determined to be harmful to the adolescent or not feasible.” (emphasis added).
Statement 6.11 in Chapter 6 on adolescents further elaborates: “Helping youth and parent(s)/caregiver(s) work together on important gender care decisions is a primary goal. However, in some cases, parent(s)/caregiver(s) may be too rejecting of their adolescent child and their child’s gender needs to be part of the clinical evaluation process. In these situations, youth may require the engagement of larger systems of advocacy and support to move forward with the necessary support and care (Dubin et al., 2020).” (emphasis added).
The Appendix contains a “Summary Criteria for Adolescents” that further demonstrates that parents should be involved unless their involvement is deemed “harmful” or “not feasible” to their child’s medical transition. “Involvement of parent(s)/guardian(s) in the assessment process, unless their involvement is determined to be harmful to the adolescent or not feasible.”

Trans

Author Of New WPATH Guidelines Recommends Threatening Parents With Call To Child Protective Services

Gender Pronouns

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/child-protective-services" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Child Protective Services</a> (CPS) fired an employee last week after cell phone footage surfaced of the worker telling a hungry 14-year-old-girl in foster care to become a prostitute in order to feed herself.
&#8220;If you gonna be a ho — be a real ho,&#8221; the unidentified CPS employee said in the video recorded by the teenage girl.
Keisha Bazley, the teenager&#8217;s mother, told <a href="https://www.fox26houston.com/news/cps-failed-to-alert-court-about-video-of-state-employee-telling-14-year-old-girl-to-become-a-prostitute">Fox 26</a> that the CPS employee encouraged her daughter to prostitute herself to make money because she used to &#8220;do the same thing&#8221; to make ends meet.
&#8220;When I saw the video with the lady,&#8221; Bazley said. &#8220;It&#8217;s like — like my soul left my body.&#8221;
Bazley, who has eight other children, said her daughter had displayed behavioral problems, prompting her to turn to Child Protective Services.
However, after discovering how one of its employees advised her daughter, the family brought the case to a judge.
Mike Schneider, the family&#8217;s attorney, told Fox 26 that the CPS employee said the child, who lived in a hotel before moving into a foster home, could &#8220;basically&#8221; make $1,500 a day if she sold her body for sex.
The family law attorney said that CPS had hoped to dismiss the case and get the teenager out of the state&#8217;s care. Still, when speaking to the judge, the agency said nothing about the video&#8217;s existence during a recent court hearing.
&#8220;I think they&#8217;re threatened by the fact that this video even exists,&#8221; Schneider said. &#8220;They know about it.&#8221;
&#8220;The fact that they didn&#8217;t think it was relevant that their own agency is trying to prostitute a child, that&#8217;s incredibly disingenuous, to have a hearing and not bring that to the court&#8217;s attention,&#8221; he added.
Officials from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) apologized to Bazley&#8217;s family and issued a statement to Fox 26 regarding the employee and the video.
&#8220;DFPS is aware of the video and has taken action,&#8221; Melissa Landford told Fox 26. &#8220;The person in the video – who was employed as CPS support staff — was dismissed from her position August 10.&#8221;
&#8220;The safety and appropriateness with which children in care must be treated is our paramount concern,&#8221; she added. &#8220;Nothing less will be tolerated.&#8221;
Texas family <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PE/htm/PE.43.htm#43.03" target="_blank" rel="noopener">law</a> labels compelling or encouraging children to engage in sexual conduct through trafficking and prostitution as a felony in the third degree.
According to the agency&#8217;s website, DFPS employs more than 12,000 workers and trains more than 4,200 volunteers in 328 local offices in 11 regions and a state headquarters in Austin.

Girl texting at window

‘Be A Real Ho’: Child Protective Services Employee Fired After Telling Hungry Teenage Girl To Prostitute Herself

Child Protective Services Employee Fired After Telling Hungry Teenage Girl To Prostitute Herself

Prostitution

Texas

A kidnapped 12-year-old girl who fled captivity by chewing through her restraints at a mobile home in Alabama on Monday morning led authorities back to the residence, where police discovered two decomposing bodies.
Tallapoosa County Sheriff Jimmy Abbett confirmed at a <a href="https://www.wsfa.com/2022/08/02/child-discovery-leads-alabama-police-2-bodies-arrest/">press conference</a> Tuesday that court documents revealed the girl had been assaulted, drugged with alcohol, and tied to a bed post for nearly a week before escaping.
&#8220;It&#8217;s horrendous to have a crime scene of this nature and also a 12-year-old juvenile to deal with this horrendous situation,&#8221; Abbett said.
Sheriff Abbett said just before 8:30 a.m., police responded to a call from a driver who found the girl walking alone alongside a road in Dadeville, Alabama.
From there, the girl helped authorities launch a 24-hour investigation that led to the arrest of 37-year-old José Paulino Pascual-Reyes in Auburn, Alabama — about 25 miles from the mobile home where he resided since February, police estimated.
Authorities charged Pascual-Reyes with first-degree kidnapping, three counts of capital murder, and two counts of abuse of a corpse. He&#8217;s currently being held in Tallapoosa County Jail pending a bond hearing.
It&#8217;s unclear when Pascual-Reyes kidnapped the girl and if he had any relationship or prior contact with her.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a fluid investigation,&#8221; Abbett said. &#8220;Things are changing, and I don&#8217;t want to jeopardize the identification of our juvenile.&#8221;
Authorities declined to offer information regarding the two bodies found in the Dadeville mobile home, but said the remains were sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.
Jacqueline Burgess, executive director of the Tri-County Children&#8217;s Advocacy Center, told <a href="https://www.wsfa.com/video/2022/08/03/tri-county-children-advocacy-center-helping-year-old-girl-kidnapping-case/">WSFA</a> that the girl showed bravery and courage in ways she had never seen before.
Burgess said the girl remains safe and protected while the investigation continues.
“Our role in that is to interview the child in a way that&#8217;s not scary,&#8221; Burgess said. &#8220;That is developmentally appropriate so that they&#8217;re not questioned by 50 different people on what is probably the most traumatic thing that&#8217;s ever happened to them.&#8221;
&#8220;We don&#8217;t ever want their life to be defined by these events,&#8221; she added. &#8220;We want to teach them how to be resilient and how to heal from this trauma.&#8221;
Authorities have also hailed the girl as a hero for helping them in the investigation and arrest of Pascual-Reyes.
According to the <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/programs/missing-and-exploited-children#:~:text=In%202020%2C%20there%20were%20365%2C348,as%20of%20December%2031%2C%202020." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention</a>, over 365,000 reported missing persons, including youth, were filed into the FBI&#8217;s National Crime Information Center. Of those, nearly 90,000 records remained active by the end of 2020. About one-third of those cases were under 18 years old.
Sheriff Abbett also expressed appreciation for the driver who called for help.
&#8220;We always say &#8216;see something, say something,’” he said. &#8220;And it&#8217;s one of those things that you really don&#8217;t know what you&#8217;re actually doing, but you&#8217;re helping that young child when you&#8217;re stopping there and volunteering your services to do that.&#8221;
&#8220;And so we&#8217;re very appreciative to the people that actually came forward and identified and notified us,&#8221; he added.

Abducted 12-Year-Old Girl Escapes, Helps Police Discover 2 Dead Bodies

Alabama

kidnapping

A 6-year-old Kentucky boy who ran in a Cincinnati marathon was visited by Child Protective Services, his parents said this week.
Kami and Ben Crawford, whose son, Rainier, ran in the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati with his entire family, was visited by CPS at the family&#8217;s home in Bellevue, Kentucky, according to an <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CdWCrFer_7o/">Instagram</a> post made by the family on Monday.
&#8220;On Friday, social workers came to our house and interviewed our children because leaders in the running community are calling running with children wrong,” the post says. It then shows a picture of Rainier seated at a table outside the family&#8217;s home supposedly speaking with one of the CPS workers.
&#8220;This needs to stop,&#8221; the Crawfords wrote in the caption to their Instagram post. &#8220;Our children are having emotional breakdowns, NOT from running, but from a mob that has been weaponized by [running&#8217;s] most accomplished and celebrated individuals. They are stating that children running is abusive and not providing any data or facts. The reports and stance are false. Hundreds of witnesses including police officers and hours of video footage corroborate. When will you apologize and retract?&#8221;
The family also noted that Rainier &#8220;adamantly decided that he wanted to run a marathon.&#8221;
As controversy erupted around the family, Olympic long-distance runner <a href="https://twitter.com/karagoucher/status/1521883265828675585">Kara Goucher</a> seemingly condemned the parents for allowing Rainier to run in the 26.2 mile race.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t know who needs to hear this but a six year old cannot fathom what a marathon will do to them physically,&#8221; Goucher wrote on May 4. &#8220;A six year old does not understand what embracing misery is. A six year who is ‘struggling physically’ does not realize they have the right to stop and should.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;m not questioning motivation or saying it is bad parenting. But as an Olympic athlete, I promise you this is not good for the child. Children are children. Let them run around, but as the parent you need to protect their growing bodies and their young minds,&#8221; she <a href="https://twitter.com/karagoucher/status/1521883267393146880">added</a>.
The Crawfords <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CdHoeSlsO3R/">responded</a> to the controversy in another Instagram post last week. &#8220;On May 1 our family of 8 finished an entire 26.2 mile marathon,&#8221; the family wrote in the caption of the post, which showed Ben Crawford, Kami Crawford, and their 6 children crossing the finish line together.
&#8220;This is the first marathon our entire family has run together. Our 5 older kids waited for over an hour at mile 25 and after 8 hours and 35 minutes we all crossed the finish line together. After 2 days celebrating with friends, how we spent our day has got a lot of attention from some who are accusing us of being irresponsible and even abusive,&#8221; the post noted.
The Crawfords wrote that they &#8220;have never forced any of [their] children to run a marathon&#8221; and &#8220;cannot even imagine that as feasible practically or emotionally.&#8221;
The parents added that they give all their children the option to run before every race, and that in 2021, two of the children ran the marathon without the rest of the family.
&#8220;This year after begging to join us we allowed our 6 year old to train and attempt it,&#8221; the family added, but said they &#8220;were ready to pull the plug at any moment if he requested it or if we viewed his safety at risk.&#8221; They further noted that they &#8220;asked him numerous times if he wanted to stop and he was VERY clear that his preference was to continue.&#8221;

Marathon

6-Year-Old Who Ran Marathon With His Family Visited By CPS, Family Says

Six-Year-Old Who Ran Marathon With His Family Visited By CPS, Family Says

Kentucky

A Texas family is fighting to be removed from the Child Abuse Registry even after a judge dismissed a case from Child Protective Services (CPS) alleging that they had medically abused their young son.
Legal counsel for <a href="https://bringdrakehome.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ashley and Daniel Pardo</a> of Kaufman County, Texas, sent a letter late last month to Texas Department of Family Protective Services Commissioner Jaime Masters, urging her to remove them from the registry. The letter was endorsed by 26 signatories, including organizations and lawmakers.
A copy of the letter, written by Texas Home School Coalition (THSC) President Tim Lambert and provided to The Daily Wire, read in part:
<blockquote>Even though CPS dropped all accusations against the Pardo family and dismissed the case, CPS has placed the Pardo family on the Child Abuse Registry.
As you know, being on the registry stays on a family’s record, shows up on background checks, and can prevent the family from obtaining employment or even volunteering at their child’s school or church activities.
Being on the Child Abuse Registry also carries a naturally damaging cultural stigma because, as the average Texan would reasonably presume, such a registry is home to individuals who commit horrible crimes against their children, such as starving, beating, torturing, or killing them.
The fact that an entirely innocent family against whom CPS dropped all charges could be placed on such a registry and have their lives and professional futures forever marred by this stigma shocks even the most rudimentary sense of justice.</blockquote>
A <a href="https://thsc.org/child-abuse-registry/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">recent article</a> from THSC explaining the latest wrinkle in the case alleges that the Pardos&#8217; placement on the registry was an act of &#8220;vindictive punishment,&#8221; after both the Texas Supreme Court and county judge found the CPS case against them lacking.
In December 2019, the Pardos reached the end of a long legal battle fraught with red tape when Judge Tracy Gray signed a dismissal agreement between them and CPS. The agreement came after the Texas Supreme Court ordered the Pardo&#8217;s 4-year-old son, Drake, to be reunited with family in October, who had first been taken away from them on June 20, 2019.
According to <a href="https://thetexan.news/pardo-family-cps-hearing-scheduled-for-tomorrow-heres-what-we-know/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Texan</a>, which followed the complex case closely, the Pardos were alleged to be engaging in medical child abuse or Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, which &#8220;occurs when caretakers exaggerate or contrive medical conditions of the child under his or her care.&#8221; Drake, who has suffered from developmental issues, also struggled with feeding problems.
As The Texan <a href="https://thetexan.news/pardo-family-wins-dismissal-by-kaufman-county-court-controversial-cps-case-effectively-ended/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a>:
<blockquote>They were told one potential solution was a G-tube, a surgically placed feeding tube.
During their consideration of the surgery, Drake’s doctor allegedly refused to visit him while he was in the hospital. After his refusal, the Pardos fired him and chose to see another doctor in the same hospital.
The doctor who was fired brought a concern to the hospital’s child abuse pediatrician that the Pardos were doctor-shopping to find someone who would approve of the G-tube surgery.
Subsequently, the child abuse pediatrician brought the complaints to CPS and said that she wanted Drake to be admitted to the hospital on Monday, June 10 to be evaluated so that they could determine if the parents were seeking unnecessary help or not.</blockquote>
Jeremy Newman, director of public policy for THSC, referenced court testimony to explain to The Daily Wire how the Pardos were never informed about the scheduled meeting with CPS, which he said first led to their problems.
&#8220;CPS used their failure to attend that meeting, which they didn&#8217;t know about, as a justification for declaring an emergency and running in and taking the child from the home,&#8221; Newman said. &#8220;So, if I can insert my perception, it seems to me that the place it went wrong was that nobody involved in the case ever spoke to any of the doctors who had actually treated Drake at the time that all of this happened. They kind of came in and did a theoretical assessment and never spoke to the family, never spoke to any of the doctors.&#8221;
Explaining how, according to court testimony, the doctor who originally notified CPS did not intend for Drake to be removed from his family, Newman speculated that what began as government incompetence snowballed. &#8220;It seems to me like it&#8217;s a face-saving issue; that by the time they realized they&#8217;d made a big mistake, they couldn&#8217;t reverse course without admitting liability.&#8221;
The Texas Department of Family Protective Services did not respond to The Daily Wire&#8217;s request for comment in time for publication.
In a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TexasHomeSchoolCoalition/videos/740390303133487" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">video</a> with the Pardos that he posted to Facebook immediately after their initial case was dismissed in December, Newman said, &#8220;This is the end of the Pardo case, officially. But it&#8217;s not the end of it for the families.&#8221; Noting that the CPS bureaucracy gets to walk away from such legal battles relatively unscathed, he said, &#8220;For the families in these situations, the trauma and the effect of that lasts. I know that Ashley and Daniel would tell you that, and every family that I&#8217;ve ever talked to would tell you that.&#8221;
&#8220;And so, as much as we&#8217;re celebrating the victory, you also have to kind of stop and pause and consider the cost, and realize that the team of advocates and the whole state kind of responded to support Ashley and Daniel in this. Not every family has that. You kind of have to wonder, &#8216;What about all the families you never hear from? The families whose stories don’t make the news?&#8217; You don’t hear from them and you kind of have to wonder: &#8216;Do they just get eaten by the system?'&#8221;
The Pardo case is not an isolated one, according to a series of <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/do-no-harm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">in-depth investigative reports</a> done by NBC and The Houston Chronicle in 2019. Reporters spent nine months looking into 40 cases that explored how the &#8220;legal and medical system that sometimes struggles to differentiate accidental injuries from abuse.&#8221;
One <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/devastating-diagnosis-doctors-trained-spot-child-abuse-can-save-lives-n1055746" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">report</a> concluded, &#8220;Physicians intent on protecting the most vulnerable in some instances have overstated the reliability of their findings, using terms such as ‘100 percent’ and ‘certain’ to describe conclusions that usually cannot be proven with absolute confidence. Child welfare workers, overworked and untrained in complex medical issues, are not always sure how to proceed when the primary evidence against a caregiver comes in the form of a doctor’s note.”

Gavel and scales

‘Vindictive Punishment’: Texas Parents Fight To Be Removed From Child Abuse Registry After Judge Dismisses CPS Case Against Them

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