In March 2023, my daughter Hannah Vaughn was taken from me by New Hampshire’s Division for Children, Youth & Families (DCYF). She was removed from a sober home over a quick dip drug test that was never confirmed, never verified, and later proven unreliable. That single unconfirmed test set off a chain reaction that has turned into one of the most disturbing cases of state overreach I have ever seen — and I’m living it. I was sober, stable, in treatment, following every rule, trying to rebuild my life after losing my own mother. I did everything they asked, before they even asked it. I trusted the system. I thought if I cooperated fully, my daughter would be safe and home quickly. Instead, this became a two-year nightmare. This is what has happened since:
A court order from November 30, 2023 instructed DCYF to begin transitioning Hannah home to me.
They refused to follow it.
My visits were restricted, cancelled, rescheduled, or taken away entirely.
Phone calls were blocked for months at a time.
I was painted as unstable despite proof of the opposite.
My child’s needs were ignored while reports were rewritten to protect the agency.
Important information was withheld from schools, doctors, and providers.
And through it all, Hannah kept asking for me — and suffered for it.
Then came the Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) trial.
The state tried to permanently take my child. But the judge denied their request. The evidence was clear:
There is no abuse, no danger, no unfitness, no justification for keeping Hannah from her mother.
The state lost. And yet… I still cannot see my daughter.
As of today, it has been 250 days since I have been allowed to hug her — even after the TPR was denied.
She has been moved from placement to placement.
She has been switched to a new school without notice.
Her mental health providers have watched her decline.
The trauma is visible, documented, and undeniable. My daughter is hurting.
My daughter is confused.
My daughter wants to come home.
And the state is standing in the way of a reunification that the court has already ordered. This is not child protection. This is harm.
This is what happens when an agency has too much power, too little oversight, and zero accountability.
Families are torn apart.
Children pay the price.
And when the truth finally breaks through, the system keeps digging in instead of fixing what it has broken. I have had five attorneys.
I have watched judges write frustrated notes to DCYF on the margins of paperwork, as if my child’s fate were a debate happening in pen scribbles.
I have sat in courtrooms where even the professionals didn’t seem to know who had what order, or why my daughter still wasn’t home. Through every delay, every lie, every cancelled visit, every sleepless night, I have fought.
No matter how exhausted I am, I will not stop until she is home.
Because Hannah deserves her life back — not another evaluation, not another placement, not another stranger, not another trauma. This petition is not just for my daughter.
It is for every child who has been kept from a loving parent because silence is more convenient for the system than admitting a mistake. I am calling on: Governor Kelly Ayotte
The DCYF Commissioner
The New Hampshire Legislature
And every official responsible for oversight and child welfare
to intervene immediately, enforce the reunification order, and reunite Hannah Vaughn with her mother — where she belongs. A child’s bond with their parent is not replaceable. All You Need Is Love separation harms Love heals BRING HANNAH HOME WHERE SHE BELONGS AND IS LOVED UNCONDIONALLY  Hannah, Mummy loves you bigger than the biggest big huge but even BIGGER!!! I pinky promise