1388 State Sanctioned Kidnapping

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**Ann Vandersteel** (2:20)
Imagine knowing that your child has been trafficked into foster care home. They don't want that in the public. They can't put that out there because that would run afoul to the whole idea of Child Protection Services, right? That's just, it doesn't compute for the public to know this information.

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Richard Syrett's Strange Planet. Following the truth wherever it leads. Exposing evil and corruption and the secret machinations of powerful elites. Revealing the highest strangeness beneath the surface of our supposed reality. Coming to you from the Great White North and his studio beneath the stairs.
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**Richard Syrett** (3:02)
Hey there and welcome to Strange Planet. For generations, parents have believed that losing a child to the state was something that happened only in the most extreme cases, abuse, abandonment or imminent danger. But what if there is another story unfolding beneath the surface? A story told by families who insist they entered a hospital seeking help, questioned a medical recommendation or found themselves caught in a family court dispute, only to discover they were suddenly fighting a government bureaucracy with the power to separate parents from their children.
Our guests believe these are not isolated tragedies, but signs of a much larger and deeply troubling system, one they describe as a pipeline linking hospitals, child protective services, family courts and guardianship programs in ways that deserve far greater public scrutiny. Is this the unintended consequences of a child welfare system under immense pressure, or evidence of something far more disturbing?
Joining us are Maureen Steele, a veteran paralegal investigator and co-founder of the American Made Foundation, and Ann Vandersteel, an award-winning investigative journalist, broadcaster and fellow co-founder of the American Made Foundation. And together, they've spent years interviewing families, examining court records, and investigating allegations of government overreach in child welfare and guardianship cases. Their new book, The CPS Pipeline, State Sanctioned Kidnapping, asks one of the most unsettling questions imaginable. When does a system designed to protect children become one that families themselves fear?
Ann and Maureen, welcome both to Strange Planet. How are you?

**Ann Vandersteel** (4:43)
Thank you. Good to be here.

**Richard Syrett** (4:46)
Great to have you. And again, most people assume child protective services only gets involved when a child is being beaten or severely neglected.
You're right, that's no longer the whole story. What has changed and when?

**Ann Vandersteel** (5:01)