Family Stories
	The following families have all experienced wrongful accusations. All have grievously had their children wrongfully taken from them. Some of the families are fortunate and have had their children returned. Others are still separated from their children. Could you please access the below web sites and write government officials on behalf of the families.

Children still separated from their parents:
(By no means is this a comprehensive list. The families listed here have contacted ProtectOurFamilies.com for help and support.)

For further family stories, please see the OI Family Stories on the OI Child Advocacy web site.

ARIZONA:

• Jeannie Hornsby
  
  Click here to view Jeannie's Story
  The family needs the help of the media to try to get their daughter back home. Please contact the family if you can help in any way.

MISOURRI:

• Brothers, Elijah and Elisha Copeland
  
  Elijah has been diagnosed with TBBD, a variant of OI. There is family history for DI, a collagen disorder that involves the teeth. The investigation began when Elijah was an infant. His brother, Elisha, was born during the investigation and sadly was also taken from his parents at the hospital. The boy's parents, Suzy and Clifton Copeland, were never charged criminally yet DCFS was still able to terminate their parental rights. The Judge refused to allow their son's bone specialist reports to be entered as evidence. The family was denied the right to appeal the TPR determination.
  
  Click here to view theAP article about the family's plight.
  
  
  
• Sisters, Alexis and Shelby
  
  Alexis has a form of brittle bone disease. She even had a fracture while in protective custody yet DCFS refused to acknowledge this and pursued TPR and criminal charges against the family. Alexis has a baby sister, Shelby, who was born during the investigation. The parents took drastic action to have their newborn daughter adopted by family members but she too was placed in foster care. Please pray for the girls and their mother, Juanita Barnes. Juanita was found guilty of child abuse and was recently released from jail. Please pray that they will be able to appeal and overturn this wrongful conviction and that Juanita may be reunited with her children soon.
  
  Click here to view Alexis's Story
  The family desperately needs the help of the media.
  
  

Children who were finally reunited with their parents:

• Baby Wyatt Hines
  
  Wyatt Hines was clinically diagnosed with mild osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), Type I by many doctors. The CPS investigation began when he was six weeks old. Within three weeks, Wyatt had a new fracture while in protective custody and a radiology report for mild osteopenia (lower bone density). The family was forced to accept a stay of adjudication based on the legal wording that Wyatt "had a medical condition which was injurious to himself". Wyatt was away from his parents for three months and was finally returned home when he was four and a half months old. Wyatt's parents, Wally and Debby Hines, agreed to be monitored for an additional six months which would have led to the case being dismissed. Wally and Debby's custody of Wyatt had also been reinstated by the Judge. Then a few months later, Wyatt refractured his leg at the exact same location and CPS tried to remove Wyatt from his parents again even though the doctors who casted his leg did not report it to CPS as they had treated him as a patient with OI. Wally and Debby fled the country in order to protect their son from an overzealous CPS caseworker. Thankfully, the Associated Press printed their story and The Rutherford Institute and the news show, ABC 20/20, got involved. Due to this national exposure, Dakota County CPS in Minnesota agreed for the family to return and stay together. Thankfully the Judge dismissed the case in May 2000 and the criminal charges for depriving the county of custody were dropped in October 2000. ABC 20/20 also aired a follow-up story on the Hines case on February 8, 2001.
  
  
• Click here to view Baby Justin's story
  This Wisconsin family fought to find the medical answers for their baby boy's fractures.
  
  
  

Books about families that have been victimized by Social Services:

• "Out of Control - Who's Watching Our Child Protection Agencies" by Brenda Scott
• "Profane Justice" by Suzanne Shell
  
• "Families at Risk" by Jodee Kulp
  
• "No Law Against Mercy" by Lapp and Lapp
  
• "In Parents We Trust" by Karrol M. Karlin
  
• "The Shredding of Families" by Richard Dunsmore
  
• "The Child Abuse Industry" by Mary Pride