Are "Representatives from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services" actually trumping a state administration to protect civil rights by "certifying" claims for civil litigation?
Are the feds finally getting off their arses by enacting mechanisms for this area of state government where "equal protection of the law" does not apply?
Will there be coordination with legal firms and foundations to help parents get access to legal representation?
Stay tuned becuase I will be watching.
This needs to take place in all the States and Territories.
UPDATE: More Kansas parents want to sue DCF
WICHITA, Kan. --- Dozens of Kansas parents are hoping to take legal action against the state of Kansas.
KAKE News reported Thursday that concerned community members want to file a class action lawsuit against the Department for Children and Families. They're accusing the agency of taking kids from their homes without cause and placing them in abusive foster homes.
Now other parents are joining the cause and sharing their experiences.
This August marks one year since Vincent Brown lost custody of his 3-year-old son and 18-month-old daughter.
"It's a nightmare I live over and over again," Brown said.
The 36-year-old father says the kids' mentally unstable maternal grandmother falsely accused him of abusing his boy.
"Without doing any further follow up in terms of the accusations... the police and DCF deemed it necessary to place my kids in protective custody and transported them to the Wichita Children's Home," Brown said.
Brown says St. Francis Community Center, which works for DCF, told him to take parenting, anger management, domestic violence, and drug and alcohol treatment classes in order to get his kids back.
"Despite me completing all of the classes recommended by St. Francis, their goal had changed following my completion of the courses and classes to adoption," Brown said.
Rose Flores is also fighting to be with her four kids. The 45-year-old single mother says DCF took them away two weeks ago, after Flores herself had called the police and contacted social workers numerous times to report her adult son's friends picking fights with her teenagers.
"I was being very open with them, I wasn't hiding anything I was divulging a lot of information, and then to twist everything the way they did, it's wrong," Flores said.
Since being placed in foster care, Flores says her 8-year-old daughter has been sexually abused by her foster father.
"She showed me he was touching her in her inner thigh and her private area," Flores said.
Both Flores and Brown have complained to DCF officials. They say they've been ignored, told to calm down, and even threatened. Suing the state, they say is the only way they believe they might be able to protect their families and future families in similar situations.
"These officials [need to] be held accountable for their actions," Brown said.
"I think if we all stand together, we have a voice," Flores said.
The state has refused to comment on individual cases. Now, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will investigate each parents' complaint, and then let the group know whether they have a case against the state. If investigators believe they do, the group plans on filing a class action lawsuit.
If you want more information, please contact the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights at 816-426-2157.
Kansas parents whose children have been taken from them are slamming the state.
They're accusing the Department for Children and Families of abusing its power and putting their kids in dangerous homes.
After months of trying to find someone who would listen to their cries for help and calls for change, parents, grandparents and concerned community members gathered for a special meeting on the Wichita State campus Thursday night.
"It has been an emotional travesty what has happened to my family," said Jarus and Lara Pore.
The state took away the Pores' three kids in May, when a neighbor found their 2-year-old wandering alone outside. They say trying to regain custody has been a nightmare.
"The entire time, we've been lied to. There's no communication or advocate for the parents to know or expect what's coming up," Lara said.
In 2010, Theresa Owen lost her two daughters, who suffer from a form of Muscular Dystrophy, because the state said the family's religious beliefs were hurting the girls' education and health.
"[One of my daughter's] life is at risk the longer she stays out of the home because she's developed seizures in a new part of the brain," Owen said.
Latisa Micheaux says social workers deemed her unfit to care for her grandchildren because of a misdemeanor on her record from 1981. She says she hasn't been told where they are and worries they're being abused.
"All I know, is the last time I seen my grandson, he had bruises all around his lower back from the foster parents," Micheaux said.
Not only do these families want to be whole again, they say they want DCF officials to be held accountable for the mishandling of their cases.
"DCF, all of the foster care agencies, and the courts need to be investigated thoroughly because families are being torn apart," Owen said.
"They're suffering now, more than they ever have in their whole life because of the damage," Micheaux said.
The state has refused to comment on individual cases. Now, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will investigate each parents' complaint, and then let the group know whether they have a case against the state. If investigators believe they do, the group plans on filing a class action lawsuit.
If you want more information, please contact the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights at 816-426-2157.
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