Today’s blacklisted American: Parents threatened by Child Protective Services for protecting their kids from COVID
Today’s blacklist story illustrates that no one is safe from the oppressive thumb of government, not even those who are clearly liberal and generally support Democrats. In this case we have the parents of two children, Eli and Kavitha Kasargod-Staub, who decided to keep the kids from their Washington, D.C., school because of their continuing concerns about COVID. As a result they were threatened with losing custody of those children by child protective services.
Kavitha Kasargod-Staub was looking forward to sending her two kids back to elementary school this fall. After a year of remote learning in Washington, D.C., her kids spent the summer attending day camp. “I’m certainly not in the group of people who avoid all Covid risk,” she said, adding that camp activities were outdoors and there was testing for children if someone was exposed to the virus.
But by August, Kasargod-Staub and her husband were watching Delta variant cases rise across the region. When her husband went to the school to review its safety protocols, he left alarmed, having learned that the HVAC system was broken and there was no plan for outdoor eating. Kasaragod-Staub, who had served as PTA president the year before, called up the principal to discuss. “The policies were vague, everyone was scrambling, so we decided to keep [our kids] home for the first week of school in the hopes that [D.C. Public Schools] would realize they made a mistake and catch up with things like testing and outdoor eating,” she told The Intercept. “It feels a little dumb now, but I genuinely thought things would change and they’d figure safety stuff out.”
Things didn’t change, and the children stayed home. Pretty soon, Kasargod-Staub was notified that her family was being referred to D.C.’s Child and Family Services Agency due to her kids’ unexcused absences. “I have a lot of privilege, I know the system, and it was still terrifying,” she said. “My mind immediately goes to, ‘Where will this lead? Are they going to take away my kids?’”
Kasargod-Staub was soon contacted by a government social worker for an intake call. “The person I spoke to said, ‘We don’t know what’s going to happen, we don’t have any sense of where this will go,’” she recalled. About a week and a half later, things escalated, and child protective services called to schedule a home visit. [emphasis mine]
Though the parents began teaching the kids using a variety of home-school programs, they had not officially removed their kids from the school, which would allow them to claim they were home-schooling them. Nor had they qualified for remote learning, because “D.C. Public Schools … requires a doctor to certify that virtual school is necessary.” Thus, the arrival of child protective services, which became increasingly threatening, step-by-step, first by asking the questions that were more and more invasive and inappropriate. Then,
Kasargod-Staub was asked to show a social worker where her children sleep and documented proof that there was food in her kitchen. “We don’t have undocumented status, we don’t have incarceration, we’re not unsheltered,” she said. “If we’re enduring this, I cannot even imagine how terrifying it is for many of our less fortunate neighbors who also have Covid concerns right now.” Her case is still not closed out.
The article at the link then goes on to note that in DC there are 90 such families, so concerned about the school system’s COVID policies they are keeping their children home, and are thus under investigation and could lose custody of their kids. The article also notes the same strict policies are being enforced harshly in New York City.
In other words, in cities controlled by Democrats, your children really belong to the government. Do as the government commands, no matter how questionable it is, or it will take your children from you.
I must make it clear that the overall data about COVID and children strongly says that the Kasargod-Staubs are over-reacting, and that their children are under no danger should they attend school. This however does not matter. Such decisions involving their children should be made solely by them.
Their decision also suggests that the Kasargod-Staubs have accepted the Democratic Party’s fear-mongering about COVID, and are thus more fearful of COVID that most conservatives. Based on my read of the article I am also willing to bet that the Kasargod-Staub’s are loyal Democrats who have supported that party for years.
No matter. The Democratic Party wants power and control, and it now eagerly misuses the government bureaucracies it created — such as child protective services — for that purpose.
You will obey, serfs! The government owns you and your offspring, and don’t you forget it!
One final point: This story underlines another stark reality we must not forget about yesterday’s elections. Just because the Democrats lost big in state and local elections, as well as at school boards nationwide, does not mean anything has really changed. Parents need to be aggressively vigilant or else the new power-brokers they have elected could very easily decide to drop the ball and let things stay as they are.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
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You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Today’s blacklist story illustrates that no one is safe from the oppressive thumb of government, not even those who are clearly liberal and generally support Democrats. In this case we have the parents of two children, Eli and Kavitha Kasargod-Staub, who decided to keep the kids from their Washington, D.C., school because of their continuing concerns about COVID. As a result they were threatened with losing custody of those children by child protective services.
Kavitha Kasargod-Staub was looking forward to sending her two kids back to elementary school this fall. After a year of remote learning in Washington, D.C., her kids spent the summer attending day camp. “I’m certainly not in the group of people who avoid all Covid risk,” she said, adding that camp activities were outdoors and there was testing for children if someone was exposed to the virus.
But by August, Kasargod-Staub and her husband were watching Delta variant cases rise across the region. When her husband went to the school to review its safety protocols, he left alarmed, having learned that the HVAC system was broken and there was no plan for outdoor eating. Kasaragod-Staub, who had served as PTA president the year before, called up the principal to discuss. “The policies were vague, everyone was scrambling, so we decided to keep [our kids] home for the first week of school in the hopes that [D.C. Public Schools] would realize they made a mistake and catch up with things like testing and outdoor eating,” she told The Intercept. “It feels a little dumb now, but I genuinely thought things would change and they’d figure safety stuff out.”
Things didn’t change, and the children stayed home. Pretty soon, Kasargod-Staub was notified that her family was being referred to D.C.’s Child and Family Services Agency due to her kids’ unexcused absences. “I have a lot of privilege, I know the system, and it was still terrifying,” she said. “My mind immediately goes to, ‘Where will this lead? Are they going to take away my kids?’”
Kasargod-Staub was soon contacted by a government social worker for an intake call. “The person I spoke to said, ‘We don’t know what’s going to happen, we don’t have any sense of where this will go,’” she recalled. About a week and a half later, things escalated, and child protective services called to schedule a home visit. [emphasis mine]
Though the parents began teaching the kids using a variety of home-school programs, they had not officially removed their kids from the school, which would allow them to claim they were home-schooling them. Nor had they qualified for remote learning, because “D.C. Public Schools … requires a doctor to certify that virtual school is necessary.” Thus, the arrival of child protective services, which became increasingly threatening, step-by-step, first by asking the questions that were more and more invasive and inappropriate. Then,
Kasargod-Staub was asked to show a social worker where her children sleep and documented proof that there was food in her kitchen. “We don’t have undocumented status, we don’t have incarceration, we’re not unsheltered,” she said. “If we’re enduring this, I cannot even imagine how terrifying it is for many of our less fortunate neighbors who also have Covid concerns right now.” Her case is still not closed out.
The article at the link then goes on to note that in DC there are 90 such families, so concerned about the school system’s COVID policies they are keeping their children home, and are thus under investigation and could lose custody of their kids. The article also notes the same strict policies are being enforced harshly in New York City.
In other words, in cities controlled by Democrats, your children really belong to the government. Do as the government commands, no matter how questionable it is, or it will take your children from you.
I must make it clear that the overall data about COVID and children strongly says that the Kasargod-Staubs are over-reacting, and that their children are under no danger should they attend school. This however does not matter. Such decisions involving their children should be made solely by them.
Their decision also suggests that the Kasargod-Staubs have accepted the Democratic Party’s fear-mongering about COVID, and are thus more fearful of COVID that most conservatives. Based on my read of the article I am also willing to bet that the Kasargod-Staub’s are loyal Democrats who have supported that party for years.
No matter. The Democratic Party wants power and control, and it now eagerly misuses the government bureaucracies it created — such as child protective services — for that purpose.
You will obey, serfs! The government owns you and your offspring, and don’t you forget it!
One final point: This story underlines another stark reality we must not forget about yesterday’s elections. Just because the Democrats lost big in state and local elections, as well as at school boards nationwide, does not mean anything has really changed. Parents need to be aggressively vigilant or else the new power-brokers they have elected could very easily decide to drop the ball and let things stay as they are.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Yeah, ban the parents. Let the children grow up in state schools. That’s how I brought up, and I am notmissing anything” That’s why I am so happy with this system today…
Donald Trump, meanwhile, is at his esse. As in the last minute of his latest interview with Judge Jeanine of Fox News. Their talking about Hunter Biden getting $2 million for selling his own paintings (no corruption there either):
“- I didn’t think he had painted before, I thought he is just starting.
In fact, I think about opening my own gallery.”
“- (WOW what a scoop!) What would you paint?”
“- I’ll paint what the Hell I have to paint to get $2 million!!!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5InzccRssnE&t=1336s
This is sorta my bailiwick, although I only lasted 6 weeks doing child-protection. Everyone hates your guts ‘cuz the only time you show up is to take their children away. Trust me on this, you don’t want child-protection involved in your life, in any way shape or form.
(These folks need to lawyer up immediately and go on the offensive, you want every email in existence, including off-system Gmail & Outlook. Once the report is generated the argument turns to the content of the report, and you want it all killed before that happens..)
“The person I spoke to said, ‘We don’t know what’s going to happen, we don’t have any sense of where this will go,’”
—That is a disingenuous statement but lets unpack it a little— front line child-protection workers do not open or close cases on their own accord, a supervisor has to make an initial determination to start an investigation.
(one anonymous call to the 800 number is enough, or an email from your boss) And once a case is opened it requires a supervisor to close the case. (Their metrics involve opened and resolved cases.) The front-line worker ‘may not know what’s going to happen,’ but they have a pretty good idea—it depends heavily on the report that is generated, which they themselves write and is signed-off on by at least 1 other person.
“Kasaragod-Staub, who had served as PTA president the year before…..”
“….in DC there are 90 such families,…”
Ok, suddenly they ‘identify 90 families’– that took some real [Brandon] effort, and definitely involved scores of emails, and a *minimum*of 3 FT child-protection workers. They had to have expended a lot of resources on this, so now we’re at least 3 levels up in administration.
Unless they magically uncover physical abuse, (which is not impossible, but highly improbable) they are going to say the “home environment is not optimally conducive to normal maturation,” or some such psycho-babble, and frame it all as psychological-abuse. At some point, a credentialed person will generate a psych-profile of the kids, which will not be flattering to the parents, and eventually some but not all of these kids will be put on a variety of psych meds. (and if you object, that will be used as evidence of your non-cooperation.)
when they get nowhere arguing with the adults they will go after the children which is the real target to insure the future for them
and what will happen when the children get ill or die when the vax is wrongly administered or does not do what they claim. I dont think they want to face angry parents…
Again, not the reaction you’re looking for: Good. It couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of folks. Get what you voted for, nice and hard.
It’s sad for the children, but omelets and eggs.
I hope this shows more parents to turn to homeschooling.
When they pull their kids, the numbers of students drop. Less money in their budgets.
And children are neither eggs, nor omelettes. That kind of dehumanizing comes from the Marxists/Socialist.
Now this is a woman who understands without question Strategy Over Morality in application:
https://youtu.be/hnVaSTyJkYI 4 min.
Christien Anderson MEP / EU representative. A short and powerful, insightful speech about freedom and choice and government overreach and undisclosed agendas.
One of my coworkers moved from NY to NC because of home schooling and vaccine mandates.
4 YEARS AGO.
Same sort of scenario, child protective services was dispatched because the kids were home schooled and did not have school vaccines.
This is not a new tactic or ramp up to some insidious conspiracy, this is how we’ve been squeezing the law abiding citizen to gain compliance FOR YEARS.
And as an employee at a homeless shelter for 6 years, I can confirm the sentiments of the earlier poster: You do not want CPS in your life in any capacity. They are very good at making whatever they need to, stick. They are experts in that arena.