The Nevada family court and child welfare systems are fundamentally broken, and children are paying for it with their lives.

As an abuse survivor, I know firsthand the terror of a system that fails to protect vulnerable youth. Right now, Clark County Department of Family Services (DFS) and Nevada family courts prioritize "family reunification" over a child’s survival. Abusive parents are given warning after warning, mandatory classes, and endless "second chances."

Meanwhile, the children are forced right back into the homes of the people who terrorized them.

The consequences of these second chances are catastrophic. We see it in the headlines constantly: children sent back to abusive parents, only to end up severely injured, dead, or driven to suicide. For those who do survive, being trapped in an abusive home inflicts severe, permanent trauma. They grow up carrying debilitating PTSD, depression, and major mental health issues because the system refused to protect them when they were helpless. 

If a parent abuses their child even one time, that should be it. No warnings. No second chances.

We need to completely shift the legal mandate of our courts. A child’s physical and psychological safety must legally outweigh an abuser’s parental rights. Parents must be held fully accountable, and the children trapped in foster care or abusive homes must be given a real chance at a safe life.

Our Demands for Nevada:

1. Enact "One Strike" Legislation: Implement strict state laws where any single substantiated incident of severe physical, sexual, or emotional child abuse results in the immediate, permanent termination of parental rights.
2. Prioritize Child Safety Over Reunification: Rewrite Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) governing child welfare to mandate that child protection and mental well-being take absolute priority over reunifying a child with an abusive biological parent.
3. Hold Nevada Officials Accountable: Pass legislation that allows Nevada family court judges, DFS workers, and case managers to be held civilly liable if they return a child to a home with documented prior abuse and that child is harmed again.Children do not get a second chance at childhood. Stop protecting abusers, and start protecting Nevada's kids.