| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 2/17/2006 3:50:15 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Washington--More Calls Needed to Hold CPS Responsible |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== February 17, 2006 Dear HSLDA members and friends: We need you to continue to call in opposition to House Bill 3148. If this bill passes, it would prevent social workers and other state agents from being civilly liable during an investigation of abuse or neglect. HSLDA believes that all child abuse or neglect should be prosecuted to the fullest extent. However, over the years we have defended thousands of homeschool families who were falsely accused of child neglect. If this bill passes social workers would not be held accountable for their conduct during a child abuse or neglect investigation. We need your calls to keep social workers accountable. Please call and email your representative and urge them to oppose H.B. 3148 . Please forward this email to friends and family. ACTION REQUESTED: 1. Please call and email your representative in the House and give them this message in your own words: "Please oppose House Bill 3148. This bill removes the presumption that parents act in their child's best interest and removes necessary accountability for social workers. I believe that anyone who abuses or neglects a child should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I also believe that DSHS has a vital part to play in helping abused children. However, removing the possibility of civil liability for violating a family's rights during an investigation is not in the best interest of the citizens of this state. Please ensure that House Bill 3148 is defeated." Do not identify yourself as a homeschooler; instead you can identify yourself as a concerned parent and taxpayer. Representatives Darneille, Roberts, and Kagi are the original sponsors of H.B. 3148. To find the contact information for your representative in the House please go to HSLDA's legislative toolbox at http://www.hslda.org/toolbox and enter your ZIP code. BACKGROUND: While the bill has been amended to only provide immunity to "good faith" acts or omissions during the investigation, this is not sufficient. Instead, social workers should be held accountable for all acts or omissions while conducting their investigation. Additionally, H.B. 3148 limits the duty of a social worker to conduct a reasonable investigation of child abuse or neglect. A social worker would have no duty to the parents or other children to conduct a reasonable investigation. In recent years there has been an unprecedented rise in the number of homeschool families that have been investigated by social workers, many for completely false allegations anonymously phoned in from disgruntled relatives or neighbors. As a result of the abuses of the child welfare system, HSLDA is working to reform the child welfare laws in the states. We support legislation which would protect families by forcing social workers to abide by the same laws regular law enforcement officials must obey. HSLDA attorneys also work constantly to represent our member families who are undergoing social services investigations for exercising their right to homeschool. HSLDA believes child abuse is a terrible crime and that true abusers should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. However, about 60% of abuse and neglect reports are deemed unfounded upon investigation. If social workers are able to act without concern for potential civil liability our concern is that they will disregard the rights of parents and the importance of the family unit and even greater injustices will occur. For more information on social worker investigation and legislative reform, please go to http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=2843 . If you are not yet a member of HSLDA and would like to help us fight for greater homeschool freedom in Washington please visit http://www.hslda.org/join/apply.asp . From now until March 18th you can save an additional $15 to $30 if you join or renew online. If you would like to be put on our free e-mail list to receive vital e-lerts you may sign up at https://secure.hslda.org/hslda/elert/account.asp?Process=Subscribe . Thank you for your part in fighting for freedom in Washington. Sincerely, Thomas Schmidt HSLDA Staff Attorney ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> How many of your friends would pay your legal fees? As a member of HSLDA, you have 80,000 families standing with you to protect and advance homeschool freedoms in the United States and foreign countries. 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If this is an invalid email 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 email address; hslda@hslda.org is for broadcast purposes only and is not intended to receive incoming messages. We cannot reply to any email sent to this address. If you have comments or questions, please send email to info@hslda.org or call HSLDA at 540-338-5600. HSLDA members can also email staff directly through the Members website at http://members.hslda.org/contact.asp. Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
