| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 5/13/2003 4:43:04 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Texas--Child Welfare Reform Bill Stalled, Your Calls Needed |
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- May 13, 2003 Dear HSLDA Members and Friends, The child welfare reform bill, H.B. 1752, has been stalled in the Juvenile Justice & Family Issues Committee due to heavy pressure from the social worker lobby on the Texas House Leadership. If these common sense reforms are to survive, we need your calls. We realize that many House Democrats are not available due to the Democrat's walk out. However, their staff and all of the Republican representatives are available to receive messages. H.B. 1752 would create crucial due process protections for homeschoolers and other families faced with child welfare investigations. If we flood the House with phone calls we could overcome the opposition to this bill. ACTION REQUESTED 1. Call your House Representative voice your support of H.B. 1752, using the message below. To get the name and telephone number of your Representative, use HSLDA's Legislative Toolbox at http://www.hslda.org/toolbox. 2. 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. 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. Juvenile Justice & Family Issues Committee: Chair: Rep. Harold V. Dutton, Jr., 512-463-0510 Vice Chair: Rep. Toby Goodman, 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, 512-463-0614 Rep. Terri Hodge, 512-463-0586 Rep. Geanie Morrison, 512-463-0456 Rep. Elvira Reyna, 512-463-0464 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) Remove 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) Require videotaping of all children interviewed by the CPS and mandates that a copy of the tape be made available to the parents. This will help prevent CPS workers from twisting the words of children. 3) Give 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 in juvenile homes and foster care. 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. 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