| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
< BACK TO ARCHIVE |
| Date: From: Subject: | 4/23/2003 4:57:34 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Texas--CPS Reform Bill in Danger, Need Calls Immediately |
|
---------------------------------------------------------------------- From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- April 23, 2003 Dear HSLDA Members and Friends, Thank you for your calls for the public hearing on House Bill 1752. Much shocking and powerful testimony documenting CPS abuse was presented. If the vote was taken that day, no doubt it would have passed 8 to 1! But now, some of the representatives on the committee have been worn down by the social worker lobby and are having second thoughts. Our tremendous opportunity to pass legislation to curb the abusive power of Child Protective Services (CPS) in Texas is in danger. We need your calls immediately! The Vice chairman, Toby Goodman met with HSLDA's legislative counsel, Tom Sanders yesterday and confidently predicted House Bill 1752 will die in committee. He completely opposes our common sense reforms and wants no changes to the child welfare code. (See descripion of reforms below.) A staff person in Goodman's office stated that Goodman is not concerned with parent's rights but with "the best interest of the child." Are we going to allow Representative Goodman to kill these due process reforms and leave innocent Texas families exposed to the current abuse by CPS? H.B. 1752 is tentatively scheduled to be voted on by the Juvenile Justice & Family Issues Committee sometime tomorrow afternoon (April 24, 2003). We need your calls immediately to this committee to ensure passage. Your calls really do make the difference. ACTION REQUESTED Please call as many members of the Juvenile Justice & Family Issues Committee as possible (listed below) and urge them to vote in favor of H.B. 1752. Especially inform Representative Goodman of your concerns. Give them this message: "Please vote for H.B. 1752. This bill will restore due process protections for families subjected to investigations by child protection workers. It will protect the innocent and help keep children from being wrongly removed from their families." You do not need to identify yourself as a homeschooler but simply as a concerned parent. Call today (April 23) and all day tomorrow (April 24). Juvenile Justice & Family Issues Committee: Chair: Rep. Harold V. Dutton, Jr.,(leaning in support) (512) 463-0510 Vice Chair: Rep. Toby Goodman, (completely opposed)(512) 463-0562 Rep. Todd Baxter, (512) 463-0631 Rep. Joaquin Castro, (512) 463-0669 Rep. Jim Dunnam, (512) 463-0508 Rep. Joe E. Moreno,(leaning in support) (512) 463-0614 Representatives Hodge, Morrison, and Reyna are members of the committee who have all promised to vote for H.B. 1752. No further calls are needed to their offices. You can also send an email to the committee members by going to: http://www.house.state.tx.us/committees/340.htm. Click on the committee member and select "Send Email." BACKGROUND HSLDA has been working on H.B. 1752 since last Fall. Texas Legislative Counsel, Tom Sanders has lobbied the chairman and committee and worked with the sponsor. We at HSLDA believe that abuse by the Child Protective Services is the single greatest threat to homeschoolers in Texas. We handle member investigations, based on false allegations, by CPS workers on a regular basis. At this time, H.B. 1752 will: 1) Removes all discretion from the CPS workers to conduct medical, psychological, or psychiatric evaluations. This bill will require either consent of the parent or a court order. This will protect many innocent children from unnecessary trauma and hold back the aggressive social workers. 2) Requires videotaping of all children interviewed by the CPS and a copy made available to the parents. This will help prevent CPS workers from twisting the words of children. 3) Gives parents, who are threatened with having their children temporarily removed during an investigation, the right to choose who the child will stay with during that time. This will protect children from being traumatized at juvenile homes and by foster care providers. For more information on this bill and the national reforms HSLDA is advocating for child protective services, visit our website at: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=782 Thank you for your calls! And thank you for standing with us for freedom. Sincerely, Chris Klicka HSLDA Senior Counsel {{JoinAd}} ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. Box 3000 Purcellville, Virginia 20134 Phone: (540) 338-5600 Fax: (540) 338-2733 E-mail: info@hslda.org Web: http://www.hslda.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- How To Subscribe: - Subscribe to the HSLDA E-lert Service at our website: https://secure.hslda.org/hslda/elert/account.asp?Process=Subscribe - Or send an e-mail with name and complete mailing address to: subscribe@hslda.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscription Information: - You subscribed to the HSLDA E-lert Service as: {{Email}} - To unsubscribe from the HSLDA E-lert Service send an e-mail from the e-mail address you want to unsubscribe to: unsubscribe@hslda.org - To change your e-mail address or make other changes to your subscription, visit the HSLDA E-lert Service account web page at: https://secure.hslda.org/hslda/elert/account.asp ---------------------------------------------------------------------- POSTMASTERS: This message is being sent to the most recent address we have for our subscribers. If this is an invalid e-mail address or you have other problems, please reply to webmaster@hslda.org. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER: This is considered a private and confidential message from HSLDA to its bonafide HSLDA E-lert Service subscribers. HSLDA cannot attest to the authenticity of copies posted, forwarded, or sent by any party other than HSLDA. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: Please do not reply or otherwise use this e-mail address; hslda@hslda.org is for broadcast purposes only and is not intended to receive incoming messages. We cannot reply to any e-mail sent to this address. If you have comments or questions, please send e-mail to info@hslda.org or call HSLDA at 540-338-5600. HSLDA members can also e-mail staff directly through the Members website at http://members.hslda.org/contact.asp. Thank you for your cooperation. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
