My name is Natalie Holguin and I stand as a living testament to a flawed system that has kept me separated from my three precious children since October 22, 2018. Today is August 22, 2024, and despite complying with the requirements set by the system, my children have not stepped foot in the home I have painstakingly prepared for them.

I have tirelessly completed every requirement, every program, every red tape rolled out before me with the single burning desire to bring my family back together. I reside in a 3-bedroom, 2-bath apartment which I have kept for the last three years, a home ready for my children, a home they haven't experienced.

Following a court order in July 2023, my hopes spiked. Home visits were allowed, stamped and sealed by the judicial system. One would imagine such an order would be diligently followed, yet Administrative Child Services (ACS) have consistently cancelled our scheduled reunions, effectively trampling over the very court order intend to service our reunion.

This experience is hardly singular or unique to my case. The current legislative structure across multiple states encourages division and unnecessarily prolongs family reunifications, a fact boldly represented by statistics. As per data from the Children’s Bureau, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as of 2020, over 423,000 children were in foster care in the United States, and a significant portion continues to grow each year due to bureaucratic and systemic delays.

My personal story represents belonging to this growing statistic, and it is high time we addressed this. Join me in urging New York and other states across the nation to overhaul this system. Let's champion for legislative amendments that prioritize family reunification and respect court orders. Let's demand transparency and accountability from agencies involved in these critical matters.

Please sign this petition, push for essential change, and contribute to reuniting families, like mine, who have been torn apart unjustly. Help us build a future where our children grow up in their homes, with their families where they truly belong.