Parental Rights Foundation

10/13/2026

This week, Michael interviewed Peter Gray about the importance of play in childhood development. They discussed the parental revolution in the US that has arisen since the early 1950s, and the timeline of events in US parenting that has contributed to where we are today.

http://www.parentalrightsfoundation.org/restoring-childhood-with-peter-gray

10/12/2026

New Mexico saw a sharp increase in the number of children entering foster care during the first half of 2026, according to newly released data from the state’s Children, Youth and Families Department.

The number of children removed from their homes increased 40% compared with the first half of 2025, with removals in the second quarter nearly 80% higher than the same period last year. The increase has raised concerns about the growing reliance on foster care and the impact of family separation on children and families.

Read more here:

The number of children torn from their families so far in 2026 soars 40% over 2025. In the second quarter, the increase is nearly 80% Co...

10/09/2026

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has added two new peer-support programs to the federal Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse, a program that identifies evidence-based services designed to help prevent children from entering foster care. States can now seek federal reimbursement for these services.

The programs are designed to help parents and families affected by addiction access treatment and peer support while keeping children safely with their families. One provides intensive, in-home treatment for parents of young children, while the other uses facilitated peer groups to support recovery.

Expanding services that help parents overcome challenges while keeping children safely at home can strengthen families and reduce the need for foster care.

Read more here:

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services added new peer support programs to the Title-IV Prevention Services Clearinghouse

10/07/2026

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a lower court wrongly terminated a mother’s parental rights after she was unable to find affordable housing in Maine.
The mother had completed the other requirements of her reunification plan, including substance screenings, treatment, counseling, parenting classes, and maintaining safe housing in New Mexico. The court found that her inability to relocate to Maine did not demonstrate parental unfitness and vacated the termination of her parental rights.

The decision highlights the importance of distinguishing between a parent’s inability to meet an unrealistic requirement and an unwillingness to safely care for a child.

Read more here:

The Maine Supreme Judicial court ruled this week that the inability to find housing in Maine on a fixed income has no bearing on the mother's parental fitness.

10/05/2026

More than 1,000 new mothers in Idaho have been placed on a child-abuse registry after their newborns tested positive for THC, according to a new investigation by CBS News and The Marshall Project.

In some cases, mothers said the positive tests resulted from accidental exposure, legal products, or ma*****na use in states where it is legal. The investigation also found that a positive THC test can trigger a child welfare investigation even when there is no evidence that a child has been harmed.

The findings raise important questions about how child welfare systems respond to substance exposure and the consequences for families when a positive test is treated as evidence of child abuse.

Read more here:

In Idaho, new mothers have ended up on a child abuse registry after testing positive for THC – a chemical found in ma*****na. An investigation raises hard questions about who gets punished, and who doesn't.

10/01/2026

A new report finds that Mississippi’s foster care system met just 22 of 107 applicable safety standards during most of 2025.

The court monitor found that children in state care experienced abuse or neglect at more than twice the acceptable rate, while some children were placed in unlicensed facilities and many went without required visits from caseworkers.

The findings raise serious concerns about whether Mississippi’s child welfare system is providing the safety and oversight children in its care deserve.

Read more here:

The measures are agreed upon by the department and plaintiff lawyers in the Olivia Y. v. Barbour federal lawsuit, a decades-old case that alleged Mississippi frequently endangers those in the state’s child welfare system.

09/23/2026

The University of Baltimore School of Law’s Center for Families, Children, and the Courts recently held a symposium on “Hidden Foster Care,” bringing together leaders in the field to discuss family separations that occur outside the formal foster care system.

PRF President Michael Ramey attended the symposium, which explored how parents can be pressured to place their children with relatives or friends through safety plans or other informal arrangements, often without the due process and court oversight that accompany formal foster care.

The event also provided an opportunity to strengthen PRF’s relationships with advocates, attorneys, and researchers working to address hidden foster care and promote family preservation and due process.

Read more here: https://www.parentalrightsfoundation.org/hidden-foster-care-symposium-strengthens-ties

09/16/2026

California is expanding “wraparound” services designed to help families stay together when children face serious behavioral or mental health challenges.

Rather than requiring parents to relinquish custody to access intensive care, wraparound services bring together parents, children, siblings, therapists, counselors and other supports to develop individualized plans around a family’s needs. A new California law will require all counties to offer high-quality wraparound programs by 2029.

The approach reflects the importance of providing families with the support they need to keep children safely at home and in their communities whenever possible.

Read more here:

California is investing in wraparound services for families to try to keep parents from relinquishing kids to foster care.

09/09/2026

The U.S. Department of Education is reminding schools of their obligations to protect parents’ rights under federal law.

The department’s guidance emphasizes parents’ rights under FERPA, which gives parents access to their children’s education records, and PPRA, which provides parents with certain rights regarding student surveys and the collection of personal information.

These protections recognize the important role parents play in their children’s education and help ensure that parents have access to information about their children and a voice in important decisions affecting them.

Read more here:

Today, as students begin a new school year, the U.S. Department of Education’s Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) issued a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) reminding state and local education agencies receiving federal funding of their obligations.

09/09/2026

Listen to the full conversation on the EPPiC Broadcast: https://www.parentalrightsfoundation.org/anonymous-cps-reporting-and-the-buttigieg-investigation-with-dale-margolin-cecka

In this episode, Albany Law School Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Family Violence Litigation Clinic Dale Margolin Cecka joins us to discuss anonymous reporting to Child Protective Services and the investigation involving former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and his family.....