Supporting Parents Instead of Punishing Them, with Nora McCarthy

Our latest episode features Nora McCarthy, director of the NYC Family Policy Project and founder and former director of Rise, a NYC parent advocacy organization. Nora discusses her recently released article about the harm CPS investigations cause to families. Over a third of all US children will experience a CPS investigation by age 18, and over half of Black children. This, paired with the statistic that only 7% of families take advantage of resources offered by the child welfare system, shows that changes are needed for parents to feel safe in asking for help.

You can read Nora’s article here: https://imprintnews.org/opinion/child-welfare-reckons-with-the-harm-of-investigations/258536.

Parental Rights and Blindness, with Mark Riccobono

Our latest episode features Mark Riccobono, the President of the National Federation of the Blind. Mark has been a lifelong advocate for those with blindness and low-vision, and today he discusses how important parental rights are for families affected by blindness, sharing stories of how unjustly the child welfare system treats parents who are blind.

For more information about the National Federation of the Blind, check out their website here: http://nfb.org/.

Arrested for Valuing Her Son’s Independence, with Brittany Patterson and David DeLugas

Our latest episode features Brittany Patterson, a Georgia mother who made headlines when she was arrested after her 10-year-old walked to the store solo; and David DeLugas, executive director of ParentsUSA and Brittany’s attorney. Brittany tells her story and gives us a closer look at what happened on the day she was arrested. She and David both discuss the injustice of the event, and what it signifies for parental rights and childhood independence for any family.

The Common Ground of Parental Rights, with Vivek Sankaran and Michael Farris

This week, we welcome Vivek Sankaran and Michael Farris to the podcast. Vivek is a professor of law at the Michigan University School of Law and Director of their Child Advocacy Law Clinic. Michael is a constitutional law scholar, founding president of ParentalRights.org, and the former CEO and president of Alliance Defending Freedom.

Although they come from different sides of the political spectrum, Vivek and Michael both submitted amicus briefs arguing against termination of parental rights in a recent case that went before the Michigan Supreme Court Today, these two experts explain why they both weighed in on this case in favor of family preservation.

Parental Rights & Appreciation Month, with Jackie Rosario and Patti Sullivan

This week, we talk with Jackie Rosario, board member at the Indian River Public School Board in Florida, and Patti Sullivan, Parental Rights Foundation State Coordinator in Florida. The Indian River Public School Board recently passed a proclamation declaring October “Parental Rights and Appreciation Month.” Jackie and Patti tell us about how they passed the proclamation, why it’s important, and other work they’re doing for parental rights in Florida.

Considering All Options with Vivek Sankaran

This week’s guest is Vivek Sankaran, a professor of law at the Michigan University School of Law and Director of their Child Advocacy Law Clinic. Vivek recently argued two cases in front of the Michigan Supreme Court, which highlight the harms of permanently terminating parental rights without considering other ways to preserve the parent-child relationship. Vivek argues that if a child is in a secure situation, and is benefitting from their parental and familial relationships, courts should not immediately assume that taking away the parent’s right to be in the child’s life is in the child’s best interest.

Recapping the National Conference on Parent Representation with Kathleen Creamer

This week, Kathleen Creamer is returning to the EPPiC Broadcast. Kathleen is the managing attorney of the Family Advocacy Unit at Community Legal Services in Philadelphia. This week, Kathleen gives us an overview of many topics under discussions at the ABA Center on Children and the Law’s recent National Conference on Parent Representation, which featured panels from many of the top scholars, lawyers, and authors in the world of child welfare reform.

Progress for Parental Rights in Texas with Andrew Brown

What effects would legislation proposed in various states have on families and the states’ child welfare systems? To answer that, we looked to Texas, where the same measures have already become law. This week, we talked with Andrew Brown, vice president of Policy with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, about some of the laws Texas passed in recent years, including a new law guarenteeing a right to a second opinion for parents who have been accused of abuse by a child abuse pediatrician, a law that requires parents to be told their legal rights during a child welfare investigation, and a law that differentiates between poverty and neglect.

New Parental Rights Legislation, with Patti Sullivan

This week, we’re talking with Patti Sullivan, the Parental Rights Foundation’s Florida State Coordinator. Patti and Michael were in DC to bring attention to two national bills aimed at protecting parental rights: the Families’ Rights and Responsibilities Act and the Parental Rights Amendment. They discuss those bills and their efforts in this episode.

Do Parental Rights Come from the Government? with Will Estrada

This week we talk with Will Estrada, senior counsel at the Homeschool Legal Defense Association and former president of the Parental Rights Foundation, as well as the former host of the EPPiC Broadcast. Will has also served as attorney with the Federal Department of Health and Human Services.

In this episode, Will tells us about his upcoming law review article, in which he argues that parental rights are a pre-political right, and that the family is a basic building block of society.

Diagnosing a Verdict with Michelle Weidner

This week, we’re talking with Michelle Weidner, executive director of the Family Justice Resource Center in Illinois, which represents families in CPS cases across the country. Michelle is also a parent with lived experience dealing with the child protective system. In this episode, she tells about her experience being falsely accused by a child abuse pediatrician over a blur on her infant son’s medical scan.

Michelle also tells about how the Family Justice Resource Center works to reunite parents and children who have been separated by the system, and legislation that the Center is championing in Illinois to protect families from false allegations of abuse.

The EPPiC Broadcast is hosted by Michael Ramey, president of the Parental Rights Foundation. You can sign up for email alerts to keep yourself informed on parental rights news at https://parentalrightsfoundation.org/get-involved/.

Rewind: A History of Child Welfare, with Martin Guggenheim

This week, we’re rewinding to a a conversation with Martin Guggenheim from February 2021.

In this episode, we talk with Martin Guggenheim, who has taught at the NYU School of Law for over 25 years, and is one of the foremost experts on family law and family rights today. Marty tells us about his lengthy career in the family law field, including how the current child welfare system came to be, and why it’s vitally important that parents receive legal representation in court.

Marty also explains how the Adoption and Safe Families Act, a cornerstone of the modern child welfare system, provides states with an incentive to permanently remove children from their birth families over the smallest parenting shortcomings, and what a better alternative would look like.

Motherhood and CPS Surveillance with Kelly Fong

This week, we’re talking with Kelly Fong, author of Investigating Families: Motherhood in the Shadow of Child Protective Services, published in 2023. Kelly is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of California Irvine.

In this episode, Kelly explains how child protective services exert an inescapable surveillance over many parents, especially low income and minority mothers. During her research, Kelly embedded herself in the child protective system to gain an inside perspective on how the system affects families.

The Families Rights and Responsibilities Act, with Matt Sharp

This week, we’re talking with Matt Sharp, senior legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom. Matt tells us about the Families Rights and Responsibilities Act, recently introduced into the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives that aims to safeguard parental rights and provide parents with strong legal protections at the national level. Matt explains what’s in the bill, why it was created, and what you can do to help support it.

Why Reasonable Childhood Independence Matters, with Diane Redleaf

Welcome back to the EPPiC Broadcast! We’re kicking off season 8 with a returning appearance of Diane Redleaf. Diane is the legal consultant at Let Grow, an organization that promotes reasonable childhood independence. She’s also the author of They Took the Kids Last Night.

In this episode, Diane tells us what reasonable childhood independence is and why it matters for protecting parental and family rights. Plus hear about her work advocating for families caught up in the child welfare system.

This episode is dedicated to the memory of Diane Redleaf’s mother, Rhoda Redleaf, herself an iconic national leader in child advocacy for six decades who was instrumental as a strategic partner of our speaker in her own career as a child and family advocate. Rhoda passed away on Feb. 3, 2024.

A Conversation with Will Estrada

Today, Will explains some of the parental rights-focused work that HSLDA is currently doing. Plus, hear about what he accomplished during his tenure as president of the Parental Rights Foundation and his perspective on where the parental rights movement is headed in the future.

This episode marks the end of Season 7. Thank you for listening, and we will see you again in February 2024 for Season 8!