Help Before Heartbreak: Strengthen Support and Accountability for Louisiana’s Children

When a parent asks for help, a child should not have to reach a crisis before that request receives a meaningful response.

Behind a child’s dangerous behavior is a future still being written. There is still time for guidance, boundaries, treatment, and a different path.

I am Danielle Stockstill, a mother asking Louisiana leaders—beginning in St. Tammany Parish—to strengthen the response when serious warning signs continue and families need help.

We recognize that resources and legal protections already exist. These include Families in Need of Services (FINS), juvenile intervention and rehabilitation services, counseling, school supports, court supervision, consequences for proven misconduct, and procedures for requesting custody changes. We respect the professionals working to help children and families.

This petition asks leaders to build on that foundation: examine whether families can access appropriate help promptly, understand their options, and receive meaningful follow-through when concerns continue.

Children need love and understanding. They also need structure, supervision, and accountability. Parents need support—and clear expectations for their involvement.

We respectfully ask for:

Clear access to existing help. Make information about services, eligibility, referrals, and next steps easy for families to understand.
Timely responses and follow-through. Assess serious concerns promptly, coordinate appropriate services, and reassess the plan when harmful behavior continues.
Accountability with a way forward. Pair fair, age-appropriate consequences for proven misconduct with rehabilitation, counseling, education, and consistent supervision.
Meaningful consideration of home stability. When credible evidence raises safety or supervision concerns, provide a clear path through existing custody review procedures, improving those procedures where needed. Fairly hear both parents while preserving safety protections and the child’s best interests.
A child’s misconduct does not automatically mean a parent has failed. Police contact alone does not prove wrongdoing. Neither should automatically change custody.

But documented concerns deserve careful attention. That includes considering additional support for the current home and, when appropriate, whether another safe, willing, and capable parent could better meet the child’s needs.

A child should never be treated as a lost cause. A family seeking help should have a clear next step.

This petition seeks stronger policies and practices—not a particular outcome in an individual court case.

Please sign and share. Starting in Louisiana, we welcome support from anyone who believes children deserve timely help, meaningful accountability, and safe, stable homes.

The goal is to make existing help count—and close the gaps while there is still time to change a child’s story.

Danielle Stockstill
Concerned Mother and Advocate for Children and Families in Louisiana