| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
< BACK TO ARCHIVE |
| Date: From: Subject: | 2/22/2011 4:35:14 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Mississippi: Calls Needed to Pass Social Worker Training Bill |
|
====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== Mississippi -- Calls Needed to Pass Social Worker Training Bill Dear HSLDA Members and Friends: Your calls and emails are needed to pass Mississippi House Bill 985, legislation intended to protect children and their parents during social services investigations. This bill would require that social workers be trained in their legal duties to protect the constitutional and statutory rights of children and families from the initial time of contact in an investigation through any intervention with the family. House Bill 985 has already passed the House of Representatives but is now being held by the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee. It is in danger of dying in this committee unless members of the committee are prompted to move it forward. Members of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee need to hear from you today! ACTION REQUESTED: 1. Please call and/or email as many members of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee as possible with this message or something similar in your own words: "Please vote for House Bill 985, which would require social workers to be trained in their legal duties to protect the constitutional and statutory rights of children and families during social services investigations. Twenty-three states have already passed this type of legislation." When calling members of the Committee, do not identify yourself as a homeschooler. This law will benefit all families in Mississippi. The members of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee are as follows: Last names beginning with A-M please contact: Sen. Hob Bryan (Chair) (D) (SD 07-Itawamba) Sen. W. Briggs Hopson III (Vice-Chair) (R) (SD 23-Issaquena) Sen. Terry C. Burton (R) (SD 31-Lauderdale) Sen. Eugene S. Clarke (R) (SD 22-Bolivar) Sen. Bob M. Dearing (D) (SD 37-Adams) Sen. Joey Fillingane (R) (SD 41-Covington) Sen. Merle Flowers (R) (SD 19-DeSoto) Sen. Hillman Terome Frazier (D) (SD 27-Hinds) Sen. Billy Hewes (R) (SD 49-Harrison) Sen. John Horhn (D) (SD 26-Hinds) Last names beginning with N-Z please contact: Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) (SD 39-Lawrence) Sen. Gary Jackson (R) (SD 15-Attala) Sen. Kenneth Wayne Jones (D) (SD 21-Attala) Sen. Tom King (R) (SD 44-Forrest) Sen. Chris McDaniel (R) (SD 42-Jones) Sen. Nolan Mettetal (R) (SD 10-Panola) Sen. Willie Simmons (D) (SD 13-Bolivar) Sen. Bennie L. Turner (D) (SD 16-Clay) Sen. Lee Yancey (R) (SD 20-Madison) To find the contact information for senators, go to http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=10419 . 2. Please forward this email to every family you know who is not a member of HSLDA and urge them to contact members of the committee. BACKGROUND: This Mississippi bill is an effort to comply with the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) which requires states to adopt and implement measures protecting families during social services investigations. Specifically, states must adopt provisions and procedures to (1) require child protective services personnel at the initial time of contact to advise individuals subject to a child abuse and neglect investigation of the complaint or allegation made against them and (2) require child protective services workers to be trained in their duty to protect the statutory and constitutional rights of those they are investigating. The Mississippi legislature previously complied with the first of these two requirements by passing a bill during its 2007 session. Why is CAPTA important to homeschooling families? Home educators are not the only families who encounter threatening investigations by social workers. But the fact that parents have chosen this educational option for their children places these families in a suspect class in the mind of many social workers. More often than not, when HSLDA families are being investigated, some aspect of homeschooling is part of the case. And the danger to the family is that the vast majority of social workers have no knowledge of the limits placed on them by the United States Constitution, particularly the search and seizure protections in the Fourth Amendment. Most social workers wrongly believe that they are not subject to the same constitutional limitations as police officers, including those related to the interview and removal of children. In all, 23 states have complied with federal law to some extent by enacting one or both of the CAPTA protections. With the legislatures in all 50 states having sessions during 2011, this provides an opportunity for states with partial or no compliance to enact this important safeguard for families. To view the text of this bill, please go to http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=10420 Please call or email today! Sincerely, Dewitt T. Black, III HSLDA Senior Counsel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Will your children's inheritance retain its value? If you pass on a legacy of freedom, your children and their children's children will thank you. But freedom is never secure; it must always be guarded. Membership with HSLDA is an investment in the future that can be passed on to future generations of families wanting to teach their children at home. More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1944 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== 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 Email: 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 email with name and complete mailing address to: subscribe@hslda.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscription Information: - You subscribed to the HSLDA E-lert Service as: ##ToAddress## - To unsubscribe from the HSLDA E-lert Service send an email from the email address you want to unsubscribe to: unsubscribe@hslda.org - To change your email 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 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. ====================================================================== | |
