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PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF PARENTS & CHILDREN.... The 11th amendment says, "Everyone charged with a penal offense has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to the law in a public trial". Currently this is not happening in CPS cases. Parents must have all the guarantees necessary for their defense and jury trials relating to severing parental-child relationships.
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Prevent Childhood Trauma

Prevent Childhood Trauma

LIMIT FOSTER CARE

Medical Experts Oppose Family Separation!

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Youth Civil Liberties

Youth Civil Liberties

CHILDREN'S RIGHTS

To Remain Safely with Biological Parents!

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Parental Rights

Parental Rights

FAMILIES TOGETHER

14th Amendment Fundamental Right!

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Keeping Families Intact

Keeping Families Intact

PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS

Defending Our Children!!

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Protected Liberty Interest

Protected Liberty Interest

FAMILIES ARE SACRED

Jury Trial Required For All Family Separations!

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American Heritage Act

American Heritage Act

EXTENDED FAMILY FIRST

Relative Placement Before Foster Care!

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OUR IMPACT
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Children's Rights, Parental Rights, Family Preservation, and Family First Issues. The ones dealing with constitutionality, civil liberties, racial disparity in child welfare / foster care system and government overreach. The ones nobody talks about at cocktail parties. The ones that people turn a blind eye to. We go looking for them in order to save the children of America, who are being unwarrantedly traumatized by unnecessary family separation. There is ample evidence, from leading doctors and professionals in their fields, that children are traumatized when they are forcibly separated from their parents. This forced separation will have long-lasting negative consequences for the safety, health, development, and well-being of children. Forced separation disrupts the parent-child relationship and puts children at increased risk for both physical and mental illness. There is overwhelming evidence that children need to be cared for by their parents to be safe and healthy, to grow and develop. Our goal is to insure children are with their biological parents or extended family whenever possible and safe to do so.

475+ 11,500+  100,000+ 
children rescued from child protection services, kept out of the failing foster care system and/or reunited with their families because of our efforts.  video education and guideline packets were given to parents to help them know their rights when dealing with child protection services people were educated on TV and social media concerning government overreach, the family court system and family preservation.

Foster Care Outcomes and Statistics


The current Foster Care/Child Welfare system is broken beyond repair and needs to be reengineered. This has been thoroughly documented in numerous independent reports over several decades. To reiterate the detailed findings in its entirety would be redundant. Instead, we decided to provide our findings in a graphical format and links to three top professor in the Child Welfare field below.   

Nearly one third of the children in foster care reported being abused by a foster parent or another adult in a foster home. That study didn’t even include cases of foster children abusing each other. What's even worse, statistics suggest bleak futures for children who grow up in foster care, therefore as a society, we are failing our countries children and we need to save the children now! 

An independent study on Child Welfare and Foster Care system was conducted by the management consulting firm of Mitchell & Associates. Because both systems are intertwined and federally funded state managed programs, the scope of the project was intended to review the intersection and requirements of federal funding and the total number of children affected nationally.

The scope of the project used current business model best practices, for project management, change management and business process reengineering, determine opportunities for business process optimization and efficiencies. In other words, “What work and changes need to be accomplished to deliver a product, service, or result with the specified features and functions desired”. The review which was conducted over the course of 14-months, included, but was not limited to, examining hundreds of documents relating to processes, procedures, policies, finances, laws and the judiciary.

After reviewing the study output, FPF determined that a paradigm shift was necessary in the Child Welfare and Foster Care services because it just doesn’t work constitutionally or fundamentally to protect the rights of children. In fact, it was having the opposite effect on children in long term foster care service, and most importantly, it was unnecessarily tearing families apart.

2019 AFCARS Report

- 24% of foster children are between the ages of 0 and 2

- 18% of foster children are between the ages of 3 and 5

- 28% of foster children are between the ages of 6 and 12

- 40% of foster children are between the ages of 13 and 21

- Average # of birthdays a child spends in foster care: 2 

- 22% of children had three or more placements during a length of 20 months in foster care

- 91% of foster children under the age of 2 are adopted.

Links to published Professors with books and numerous article who are considered experts in the field;

- Professor Daniel Hector: University of Baltimore, Author of "The Poverty Industry: The Exploitation of America's Most Vulnerable Citizens" Hatcher has testified before Congress, the Maryland General Assembly and in other governmental proceedings regarding several issues affecting children and low-income individuals and families. Hatcher's scholarship has addressed the conflicts between state agencies' revenue maximization strategies and the agencies' core missions to serve low-income children and families – including the practice of state foster care agencies converting foster children's Social Security benefits into state revenue, Medicaid maximization and diversion practices, welfare cost recovery policies in the TANF program, and foster care cost recovery through child support enforcement.

- Professor Vivek Sankaran: University of Michigan, Author of "Rethinking Foster Care: Why Our Current Approach to Child Welfare Has Failed" and "A Cure Worse Than the Disease? The Impact of Removal on Children and Their Families." Sankaran advocates for the rights of children and parents involved in child welfare proceedings. His work focuses on improving outcomes for children in foster care by empowering their parents and strengthening decision-making processes in juvenile courts.  In 2009, Professor Sankaran founded the Detroit Center for Family Advocacy, the first organization in the country to provide multidisciplinary legal assistance to families to prevent the unnecessary entry of children into foster care. In 2011, he was named Michigan's Parent Attorney of the Year.

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Professor Dorothy Roberts: University of Pennsylvania, Author of "Shattered Bonds: The Color Of Child Welfare" Roberts, an acclaimed scholar of race, gender and the law, joined the University of Pennsylvania as its 14th Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor with joint appointments in the Departments of Africana Studies and Sociology and the Law School where she holds the inaugural Raymond Pace and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander chair. She is also founding director of the Penn Program on Race, Science & Society in the Center for Africana Studies

To request more information on how we can save our children, or materials, please contact us: (866) 469-5777 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Charity Ratings & Nonprofit Associations

Nonprofit Ratings

 When people ask if Family Preservation Foundation is a good charity, we let our results and our nonprofit ratings speak for themselves.

It is our commitment to children and their families and our operating transparency that allows us to be ranked high among other nonprofit organizations. GuideStar, prestigious publishers, consumer advocates and others agree — Family Preservation Foundation is a top charity that you can trust. Below are a few of the ratings we’ve received: 


 GuideStar Platinum Seal of Transparency

Most Recent 2020 Rating for Family Preservation Foundation: Platinum. GuideStar is the most complete source of information about U.S. charities and other nonprofit organizations there is. Search our database of more than 1.8 million IRS-recognized organizations to find a charity to support, benchmark your own nonprofit's performance, research the sector, and more.  




Most Recently Awarded 2020 Top-Rated Nonprofit. The Great Nonprofits Top-Rated Awards is the one and only people’s choice award where volunteers, donors, and people served by nonprofits are asked to share stories of inspiration and express their appreciation. Based on a series of positive reviews, Family Preservation Foundation received a top-rated award.


Google Ad Grants is an in-kind program that gives non-profits free access to Google business tools, and $10,000 per month in free advertising on their Google Ads platform t promote themselves and advance their mission. The website must have a robust and clear description of the organization, mission, and activities. It must have substantial content, updated events and information, clear navigation, and clear calls to action for a high quality user experience. 





Organizations with recognized legal status equal to 501(c)(3) that operate on a not-for-profit basis and have a mission to benefit the local community that could include, but is not limited to: providing relief to the poor, advancing education, improving social welfare, preserving culture, preserving or restoring the environment, promoting human rights, establishment of civil society are eligible to be accepted into their program.




When you work at a nonprofit or civil society organization TechSoup takes care of the difficult work of confirming your eligibility on behalf of technology donors, and finding offers specific to your organization type and location. They also have articles and how-tos or watch one of our webinars to get more informed about the latest technology solutions and tips and tricks.




Network for Good is a hybrid organization—a nonprofit-owned for-profit. Network for Good's nonprofit donor-advised fund uses the Internet and mobile technology to securely and efficiently distribute thousands of donations from donors to their favorite charities each year.




Requirements for nonprofits based in the United States: Be a 501(c)(3) organization registered with the IRS. Have a tax ID number. Note that at this time, organizations with fiscal sponsorship do not qualify to use Facebook Payments to receive money from donations. Have a bank account registered with a licensed financial services institution. Bank account details, including the bank name, bank account holder's name (organization's name), and a legible and official bank letter or statement dated within the last 3 months. The date of birth and address of the charity's CEO or executive director.



PayPal empowers nonprofits to do good. They are committed to using the power of our technology and network to boost nonprofit fundraising. With tools for organizations of every size, they help you find the best way to connect with donors–anywhere, anytime. More than 950,000 nonprofits, schools, campaigns, and crowdfunders around the world trust PayPal to help fundraise.


Giving to Family Preservation Foundation is one America's best investments. So go ahead, feel great about giving. 

 

To request more information or materials, please contact us: (866) 469-5777 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Sign up

So we can send you updates and critical alerts regarding parental rights and CPS.

 

Federal Law Suit Timeline & Documents


PLAINTIFFS DEFENDANTS
 1. Stop CPS  Federal Complaint filed 4/24/2018
Document Link
 
2. Stop CPS file motion for partial summary judgement 6/4/2018
Document Link
 
  3.  Memorandum in Support of Motion to Dismiss County Defendants 6/26/2018
Document Link
  4.  Memorandum in Support of Motion to Dismiss State Defendants   6/26/2018
Document Link 
  5.  Opposition to Summary Judgement Defendants   6/26/2018
Document Link  
6.  Opposition to Defendants Motion to Dismiss 7/24/2018
Document Link   
 
  7.  Reply Response to Opposition to MTD County Defendants 7/31/2018
Document Link  
  8.  Reply Response to Opposition to MTD State Defendants 7/31/2018
Document Link
 9.  Letter to court in Judge Wright of Amanda Weber case win 7/31/2018
Document Link
 
   10.  Order with Opinion granting Defendants Motion to Dismiss 1/28/2019
Document Link 
11.  Notice of Appeal to the 8th Circuit 3/14/2019
Document Link  
 
 12.  Appellant Brief to 8th Circuit - Erick Kaardal 5/9/2019
Document Link  
 
  13.  Response Brief to 8th Circuit - County 6/10/2019
Document Link   
  14.  Response Brief to 8th Circuit - State 6/14/2019
Document Link   
15.  Reply Brief to 8th Circuit - Erick Kaardal 7/25/2019
Document Link   
 
 Oral Arguments were held on 3/10/2020
Audio Link 
 
Rally at the US District Court House on 3/10/2020
YouTube Link 
 
   16.  8th Circuit US District Court Opinion 5/19/2020
Document Link   
   17.  8th Circuit US District Court Judgement 5/19/2020
Document Link   
18.  Petition 8th Circuit for Rehearing En Banc 6/17/2020
Document Link  
 
  19.  Order 8th Circuit for Rehearing En Banc 7/16/2020
Document Link   
 20. Appeal Supreme Court of the United Stated
Due
December 16, 2020
 

 

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Why Family Preservation Foundation

Family Preservation Foundation is the first organization for children, boldly declaring that children have the fundamental right to be exempt from the traumatization of forced family separation when their is no physical harm to the child.

We believe children have the right to grow up healthy, educated and safe. - We believe that every child deserves a future. - We believe children have the right to live with their parents when it's safe to do so. - We believe every child should be protected from violence and mental traumatization. - We believe family separation by the government should be a last resort, and not the first, as it is currently to receive federal funding. - We believe children literally have a right to be heard in court, and represented by legal counsel, not affiliated with the government, because this creates a conflict of interest. - We believe children have the right to a jury trial for the severance of their parent/child relationship. - We believe children have the right to have the bulk of the Social Security Act Title IV-E Foster Care funding, reallocated to Title IV-B, Family Preservation and Support Services. - These beliefs are the heart of everything we do. - We know you share it, too.

Protecting children by providing pro bono, legal aid services to support them and their families in Child Welfare and Foster Care cases. Over 55% of the approximately 465,000 cases go through the entire legal proceedings unrepresented by legal counsel up to and including the severance of the parent/child relationship.

Our ultimate goal is to keep children safe and out of the Foster Care system.

SUPPORT OUR LEGAL DEFENSE TEAM
 


Key Reasons Children Need Legal Representation

Mitigate Trauma
In June of 2018, the Children's Defense League and 540 organizations from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico which have well-recognized expertise in the fields of child welfare, juvenile justice and child health, development and safety, reported that the separation of children from their parents will have significant and long-lasting consequences for the safety, health, development, and well-being of children.
 https://www.childrensdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/child-welfare-juvenile.pdf


Harvard Medical School conducted a study for Casey Family Programs of 659 former foster children and found they suffer "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" (PTSD) at twice the rate of U.S. War Veterans. Peter Pecora, director of research for Casey Family Programs, said "It is a dramatic finding," adding that national studies show that 12 percent to 13 percent of Iraq war veterans and 15 percent of Vietnam war veterans suffer from the disorder." Post-traumatic stress disorder occurs in some people who experience or witness life-threatening events, such as violent personal assaults, military combat or serious accidents. They often relive the trauma through nightmares and flashbacks, and feel detached or estranged. (Harvard Alumni Studies Report)

ASFA - Champion Reunification
In November of 1997 the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) was signed into law. ASFA was enacted in an attempt to correct problems inherent within the foster care system. ASFA marked a fundamental change to child welfare thinking, shifting the emphasis towards children's health and safety concerns and away from a policy of reuniting children with their birth parents without regard to prior abusiveness. As such, "Parental Rights" were no longer upheld and ASFA was considered the most sweeping change to the U.S. adoption and foster care system in some two decades. The biggest change to the law was how ASFA amended Title IV-E of the Social Security Act regarding funding. (ASFA Bill)

Among the new law’s provisions:
- Shortens the time-frame for a child’s first permanency hearing;
- Offers states financial incentives for increasing the number of adoptions;
- Sets new requirements for states to petition for termination of parental rights;

Title IV-E  Funding Reimbursement - Limit Time After Removal From Family Home
Title IV-E Foster Care Program, which provides funds to title IV-E agencies (states and Tribes) to assist with the costs of foster care maintenance for eligible children; administrative expenses to manage the program; and training for staff, foster parents, and certain private agency staff. Specifically, the program permits title IV-E agencies to claim reimbursement for a portion of foster care expenditures for children who are removed from home and placed in foster care for up to 15-months. To be eligible for federal reimbursement, at the first court hearing there must be a Judicial determinations regarding “reasonable efforts” and “contrary to the welfare”, responsibility for placement and care vested with the title IV-E agency and the child’s placement in a licensed foster family home or child care institution. This is the predominant reason children are immediately removed from the family home. If they are not removed at the first court hearing, the state must fund the entire out of home placement.  (Title IV-E Foster Care Eligibility)

Title IV-E  Adoption Incentive Payments - Negative Reunification Stimulant
The Secretary of HHS is required to make adoption incentive payments to states in which adoptions of foster children in FY 2020 in which adoptions of foster children are higher than in any previous fiscal year.

- Adoption incentive payments are $5,000 for each adoption of a foster child above the base number, plus an additional $4,000 for a total of $9,000 per special needs adoption.
- Adoption incentive payments are $7,500 for each adoption of a foster child above the base number, plus an additional $7,500 for a total of $11,500 per special needs adoption for children between 9 years of age but not 14 years of age.
- Adoption incentive payments are $10,000 for each adoption of a foster child above the base number, plus an additional $4,000 for a total of $14,000 per special needs adoption for children who have reached 14 years of age.

The key provision of paramount importance in the Act that I wish to draw your attention to, is that in order to obtain the annual adoption incentive payment, each State must exceed the prior year's maximum number of adoptions. $43,000,000 is authorized for 2020. 

1,640,368 children have been adopted out and $815,773,875 have been paid to States year ending 2019. (AFCARS Reports - Adoption Incentive Awards History)

That’s quite an incentive created for each State at the expense of the taxpayer. In fact, given the horror stories we have been involved with, and heard about concerning CPS and parents fighting in court to get their children back, it doesn’t look like the incentive is geared toward reuniting parents with their children but rather toward separating them permanently. The people getting the money for the children should not be the same people deciding to take the children. (SSA Adoption Incentive Payments Law)

Foster Care Outcomes

9,073,607 Children have been forcibly separated from their families and placed into Foster Care in the last 20 years. While the program might be consider a success for younger children because 97% under the age of 3 are adopted, the fact of the matter remains that for the remaining children, based upon federally reported statics and child welfare outcomes, the government has not done a great job at raising the remaining children.
(Foster Care Outcome Statistics)


Jury Trials - Terminating Parental Rights 
Only five of the 50 states require or permit jury trials for cases where the state is seeking to legally sever a parent-child relationship. The remaining states prohibit the practice, whether through statute, case law, or court rule. The fate of a family should not be exclusively placed in the hands of a single judge. Children and their families need experienced lawyers who specialize exclusively in the field of Child Welfare and Foster Care, who have the experience and knowledge to protect their rights. (NCJJ Jury Trial State Snapshot)

Your help for children in need will change a life.
The scale of crisis in the America has increased exponentially in recent years. There are many more children being affected than any time in the past 10-years. As always, children from low-income families are among the most vulnerable. But now they face the additional impact of COVID-19 on their futures. As the coronavirus pandemic has spread throughout America, the poorest and most disadvantaged families are hurt the hardest. Family Preservation Foundation is working hard to ensure that the health, well-being and rights of children are protected.

Giving to Family Preservation Foundation is one America's best investments. So go ahead, feel great about giving. 

 

To request more information or materials, please contact us: (866) 469-5777 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Sign up

So we can send you updates and critical alerts regarding parental rights and CPS.

 

Family Preservation Foundation Advice Disclaimer

The information contained in Family Preservation Foundation is not legal advice and is for informational and/or educational purposes only.


The information, templates, wizards, forms, tips, and tools provided in and through familypreservationfoundation.org is not legal advice. Family Preservation Foundation is not a law firm and the employees and contractors (including attorneys, if any) of Family Preservation Foundation are not acting as your attorneys, and none of them are a substitute for the advice of your own attorney or law firm licensed to practice law in your state. The employees or contractors of Family Preservation Foundation who wrote or modified any form, template, wizard, tip, or tool are NOT providing legal or any other kind of advice, are not creating or entering into an Attorney-Client relationship. Even though we take every reasonable effort to attempt to make sure our information / templates are accurate, up to date, and useful, we recommend that you consult a lawyer licensed to practice law in your state if you want professional assurance that our materials, and your interpretation of it or them, and the information and input that you provide, is appropriate to your particular situation. These templates, tools, and information are not guaranteed to be correct, complete or up-to-date. Family Preservation Foundation’s material is not a substitute for the advice of your own attorney.

Family Preservation Foundation’s tools and templates where you provide information or make choices, even if based upon suggestions or tips provided by Family Preservation Foundation, and resulting in a document where that information or the outcome of your choices, does not and is not intended to represent the advice of Family Preservation Foundation, or the practice of law. These completed or generated documents are no more than self-help forms and are for educational purposes only.
Family Preservation Foundation is not permitted to engage in the practice of law. Family Preservation Foundation is prohibited from providing any kind of advice, explanation, opinion, or recommendation to a consumer about possible legal rights, remedies, defenses, options, selection or completion of forms or strategies.

INFORMATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY OF ANY KIND INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NONINFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL FAMILY PRESERVATION FOUNDATION, OR ITS AGENTS, OFFICERS OR ATTORNEYS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF INFORMATION) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE INFORMATION, EVEN IF FAMILY PRESERVATION FOUNDATION HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Communications between you and Family Preservation Foundation are protected by our Privacy Policy but are NOT protected by the attorney-client privilege or work product doctrine since Family Preservation Foundation is not a law firm and is not providing legal advice. Please also note that your access to and use of Family Preservation Foundation is subject to additional terms of service.



Mission Statement

"Saving American children! The Family Preservation Foundation (FPF) is a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization whose mission is to save our children from unwarranted trauma, while defending and preserving the individual rights and civil liberties guaranteed to children, parents, and families in this country by the Constitution, and laws of the United States. Specifically, as it relates to Children's Rights, Parental Rights, Family Separation, Child Protection Services, and Foster Care. Nonpartisan, the FPF works through family education, litigation, public policy, publicity and media educational efforts on government overreach. FPF has over 12,000 members in its parent association. The FPF provides assistance and legal aid in Child Protective Services and Foster Care cases when it considers civil liberties to be at risk. Furthermore, FPF desires to ensure that no person is denied their right to equal justice because of their socioeconomic status or income. Families with children are the elemental unit of a society, the reproductive cell; without healthy families, the entire U.S. enterprise unravels." 

OUR NUMBER ONE GOAL IS KEEPING CHILDREN OUT OF THE FOSTER CARE SYSTEM WHENEVER POSSIBLE AND SAFE TO DO SO!


Dwight D. Mitchell - Founder and Executive Director

FAMILY PRESERVATION FOUNDATION HAS BEEN FEATURED ON:

             

Family Preservation Foundation believes every child deserves a happy, healthy and safe future with their family and loved ones. We are working to save the children of America. Since our founding, we’ve changed the lives of many children in in the United States. We give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes to save our children – every day and in times of family crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share. We are a top-rated charity.

PRIMARY CONTACT:

To send feedback, suggestions or to request information on Family Preservation Foundation, Inc. 
contact: info@familypreservationfoundation.org| Tel: +1 (866) 469-5777 or +1 (732) 377-2038