Despite never having an allegation proven, CPS and Juvenile court can rule that they think the best interest of the child is to live in a family member's custody, not with the parents they were wrongfully taken from without clear convincing evidence.  This is the opposite of Ohio Revised Code 3109.401 which states " (1) That the parent and child relationship is of fundamental importance to the welfare of a child, and that the relationship between a child and each parent should be fostered unless inconsistent with the child's best interests;" so why is it suddenly in the best interest of the child to give custody to a relative or a foster parent over a parent falsely accused or with no evidence the parent has done anything wrong. A law needs to be put in place to protect the best interest of preserving the family unit when possible. Meaning that even if a child is found a dependent, or if a family member files in court for custody with no evidence that there is any reason the child should be removed from the custody of the parent, that the juvenile courts can not just give custody of a child to another person without good reason. In hundreds of CPS cases in Ohio, parents are pressured to plead dependent through no fault of their own, but for these same parents, the court has given custody of their children away to other family members permanently without any attempt at reunification.  To plead dependence Ohio Revised Code states: Section 2151.04 "

As used in this chapter, "dependent child" means any child:

(A) Who is homeless or destitute or without adequate parental care, through no fault of the child's parents, guardian, or custodian;

(B) Who lacks adequate parental care by reason of the mental or physical condition of the child's parents, guardian, or custodian;

(C) Whose condition or environment is such as to warrant the state, in the interests of the child, in assuming the child's guardianship;

(D) To whom both of the following apply:

(1) The child is residing in a household in which a parent, guardian, custodian, or other members of the household committed an act that was the basis for an adjudication that a sibling of the child or any other child who resides in the household is an abused, neglected, or dependent child.

(2) Because of the circumstances surrounding the abuse, neglect, or dependency of the sibling or other child and the other conditions in the household of the child, the child is in danger of being abused or neglected by that parent, guardian, custodian, or member of the household"

If the dependency is at no fault of the parent, guardian, child, or siblings, why is there not always a court-ordered reunification plan set up? I am proposing that since good parents are the fundamental building blocks of raising a good child, and that parental rights and responsibilities should be fostered whenever possible as stated in Ohio Revised Code 3109.401, that Ohio Law Makers create a Reunification Law that states whenever a juvenile case brought to the court is for dependency only, that there MUST be a reunification plan put in place by law with the original guardian; That ONLY if the original guardian of the child can not complete a court-ordered reunification plan, that parental rights, responsibilities, and custody may be switched to a family member or other court designated person. 

CPS every day makes parents plead dependency based upon coercion and then never works with the parents to get their kids back. Better citizens stem largely from good parenting from the child's biological parents. Thousands of studies have shown that children become worse when taken from their parents and are more likely to not only suffer behavioral issues but either end up with mental health issues or turn into criminals later in life. A court-ordered reunification plan would help preserve innocent families and parent-child relationships. It would also help reunite parents with their children who were taken by child protective services and decrease children who are unnecessarily overflowing foster homes. Children should be with their parents and have their parents involved in their lives positively whenever possible. Child protective services and the juvenile court system has become more corrupt. Forcing parents to either give up on their children or win them back through appeals or the supreme court. Safety plans, removals, and alienation of parents by child protective services are traumatizing our children. Our children do not understand how nothing was anyone's fault but that they cant go home and go back to living their normal lives with the help of counseling, parenting classes, and other family reunification services. Please sign this petition and convince Ohio lawmakers that we need more laws for family reunification, prevention of legal kidnapping, and prevention of parental alienation by child protective services and juvenile judges. Children deserve to be with their parents and be able to reunite with their parents. Parents deserve a right to be reunified with their children. Reunification should be a civil right and we need a law that demands reunification whenever possible with original custodial parents.