Arizona: Battleground for State-sponsored Child Kidnappings – Highest in the Nation

A fight is raging across Arizona – parents, foster parents, activists, lawyers and even the Arizona Republic are refusing to back down against the state’s apathetic resistance to real, meaningful solutions for its outrageous record as the top state in the nation for child removals. Arizona has taken children out of their homes at a rate far higher than any other state in the country. And Phoenix (Maricopa county) ranks as the city with the highest rate of child removals by CPS – higher than New York, L.A., or any other major U.S. city. The state’s shameful record goes back a decade or more, and frequently opposition has been disconnected or silenced. More and more families have been destroyed, children lost, and lives broken. But no more – activists, legislators and local media are gaining strength and momentum.

California Attorney Shawn McMillan on Why He Fights CPS: “They’re Stealing Kids”

California civil rights attorney Shawn McMillan recently sat down and spoke with Tammi Stefano of the National Safe Child show regarding his work in litigating against corruption within Child Protection Services (CPS). McMillan gained national headlines at the end of 2016 in a case against Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) when a jury awarded his client, Rafaelina Duval, $3.1 million in damages for wrongfully seizing her child. In this interview with Tammi Stefano, McMillan explains how he makes his living by exclusively suing county and state agencies that are involved in child abuse investigations, and violate parents' and children's Constitutional rights by misrepresenting facts to the court, either when they remove the children from the home, or afterwards. When Stefano asks McMillan why he does this, why he is so passionate about it, McMillan states: "They're stealing kids."

Los Angeles County Sued for Millions in Medical Kidnapping Case

After a six-year court battle, a mother in Los Angeles who lost custody of her 15-month-old baby through false abuse charges won a major battle for parental rights last week. When Rafaelina Duval’s son Ryan was seized by L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) in 2010, she was falsely accused of intentionally starving him. He had been diagnosed by a pediatrician with “failure to thrive,” but the doctor at the time also noted that the child was in no immediate danger, according to Duval’s attorney, Shawn McMillan. In a stunning blow to Los Angeles County, the jury found that its DCFS social workers “intentionally and willfully” seized her child without a warrant, and did so “with malice.” Additionally, the jury found that the county DCFS had “an official custom and/or practice of seizing children from their parents without a warrant” and failed “to enact an official policy or procedure when it should have done so.” The jury awarded Duval $2.94 million in compensatory damages, plus $165,000 after finding in a separate verdict that she was the victim of discrimination.

California Orange County CPS Sued for Kidnapping More than 5,000 Children

Attorney Shawn McMillan is continuing his fight against the corrupt Child and Protective Services in California, and has now filed a class action lawsuit against Orange County California for allegedly seizing more 5000 children in State-sponsored kidnappings. This follows his December 2014 class action lawsuit against CPS in Riverside County in California, which is also accused of kidnapping "thousands" of children without cause.

“Street Fighter” Attorney Takes On Riverside California CPS with Class Action Lawsuit

Attorney Shawn McMillan of California specializes in civil rights cases against child protection agencies. He has been awarded the "Street Fighter of the Year" award for defending family rights and taking on the abuses of social service agencies in California. Courthouse News Service is reporting that Attorney McMillan is representing a federal class action lawsuit against "Riverside County, Juvenile Dependency Investigator Karla Torres, Torres's supervisor Felicia M. Butler, and all similarly situated county social workers and investigators" for taking "a newborn baby from her mother without a reason or a warrant," and for making "a habit of it." The suit claims that the Southern California County takes "thousands of babies" without cause.