Story is at www.thsc.org The website is loading VERY slowly though. Apparently 7 children were forcefully removed from their home in a town near Dallas,TX after one of the children was seen out walking and the police were alerted. Judge removed them with no reason. And during the trial the CPS attorney ridiculed the mother for not using state approved materials and for not reporting to the state with things such as state mandated testing. Both of which are impossible to do in Texas because it's not the law and there is nothing set up to be able to do these things. The article went on to say that CPS workers conducting an investigation said there is no evidence of abuse of any kind in the home and even so, they would not recommend the children be returned until they are placed in public school and never homeschooled again.
hmmmm I just seen the picture of the family...... Tx has some of the most lax homeschool laws in the country. Pic + Tx homeschool laws together.....looks like a racist judge to me! I know it's hard to believe in this day and age, but racism is still rampant, and my parents have multiracial adopted children, and just had a two year court battle that was souly based on the courts racism-against my parents black/haitian adopted children.
Oh no.. It's alive, I totally agree. it's sickening!! I pray that THSC gets involved and gets that judge thrown off the bench!!
Their appeal court date was yesterday and I have been anxiously awaiting any news on the case.. Has anyone heard anything?? I wonder if the date was pushed back :/ I seriously can't imagine what the family is going through. So very sad and wrong!
From Facebook: "The judge found no abuse or neglect and agreed the children should not have been removed. She did order public schooling WHILE the children are evaluated by an educational expert. At that point the judge will decide what happens next. She is open to them home schooling in the future, she just wants to make sure it is being done in a bona fide manner as required by State Home Schooling laws. The 3 children not returned were the 2 pending adoption and the oldest, a child from a previous marriage who is with his father. One of the children pending adoption has had their biological parents step up to the plate and they are working to be a family again. We applaud them for that. The custody of other two will be revisited. THSC will have more on this as things develop. As we are currently in litigation more details cannot be released. Please continue to pray for all the children and parents involved. There will be no further comments at this time." https://www.facebook.com/SupportTheTutts
Wow.. I'm not sure that I agree with the judge on the education evaluation.. So sad that the whole family has been messed up because of the first judge's biased decision..
I've been familiar with this story since THSC first reported on it. Did you know they still don't have one of the kids back?! This is crazy! She is one that was in the process of being adopted. The last update was on Feb. 28: "Another follow up hearing scheduled for 60 days from now. Thanks, everyone for your prayers. The Tutts will continue to work as hard as they can to reunite their family." 60 more days!!!
I like to take an objective look at whatever evidence is available...when I look at stuff like this....before I start making judgments about either the family, or the legal system. There are a few things that bother me about the case. I don't think this case has much to do with homeschooling at it's root. I think it's about local law enforcement being worried the kids are not being supervised, and possibly being in danger. This is what happened.... A four year old with autism went missing from these folk's house. A FOUR year old. An eight year old child was sent to find the four year old. The eight year old found the four year old, but was unable to get the child to come home...so he sent his little brother back to get their father. While he was waiting with his little autistic brother, the boy pooped his pants, and a police officer noticed them....a four and eight year old child....waiting on the side of the road....one of them with a load in his pants. The police officer took the children home....and was rightfully concerned about the incident. Frankly....I'm concerned about this incident. I would never put an eight year old in charge of a four year old...and certainly not a four year old with a disability! That seems astounding to me....and troubling. The article makes it sound as though the father was right behind these children....fully aware that the autistic child had gone missing...and was on his way. But I have to say I'm pretty skeptical of that. A cop would not have driven up and thrown kids in his car. He would have stopped and talked to them for several minutes before deciding to take them into custody. He would have to figure out how to transport the boy with the mess in his pants...it would have taken him a few minutes. And maybe it's just me....but if a cop can pick your kids up while you're not paying attention....that just really bothers me. That's really unsafe. Sending eight year olds after missing four year olds? That's messed up. Putting an eight year old in charge of supervising a special needs child? No way. That's just neglegent in my book. I think the bigger issue in regard to homeschooling... is that a couple of these kids had not been officially adopted yet. Where I live, you can homeschool your own kids pretty freely....BUT...you cannot homeschool foster children. If the adoptions were not final, the kids might not legally have been allowed to home school....which again brings into question the competence of the parents (and their ability to follow the rules). While I don't see anything conclusively damning about these parents...I DO understand why law enforcement got involved and why they had an investigation. I even understand why the kids were removed (if the parents were not following the law, and homeschooling kids before official adoptions were complete). There's more to this story....than home schoolers being picked on for no reason. Ultimately, I'm just relieved that nothing happened to the autistic boy or his small brothers. This could have ended very very badly. Maybe the parents needed a wake up call? I don't know. But yeah, if I'm honest, I think if I were a cop....I'd err on the side of caution with this situation, too.
I was friends with many foster kids when I was young. I met some of them at school and some came to our church youth programs. Most of them had encountered bad situations in foster homes. Enslavement, sexual abuse, and neglect. It seems that many people who become foster parents are either incompetent or worse. It is sad but many are in it for the income. It sounds like this family, regardless of any good intentions, took on more than they were competent to handle.
