On December 3, 2019, Child Protective Services (CPS) dismissed all charges and the legal case against Ashley and Daniel Pardo. They were innocent.
However, CPS then placed the Pardos on the Child Abuse Registry (CAR) anyway.
After another year-long battle, Ashley and Daniel received official notice last week that they have finally been removed from the CAR, despite having won their case in court a year before.
The 2019 story of how Drake Pardo was illegally removed from his home by CPS drew international attention.
The video story of Drake’s case went viral on social media, drawing more than 2.5 million views.
The family suffered six months of horrific trauma as they battled CPS for the return of their son.
After THSC launched a campaign to defend the family, lawmakers, opinion leaders, advocacy organizations, and tens of thousands of families flocked to their defense.
The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) intervened in October 2019 and ordered that Drake be immediately returned home.
Under enormous pressure from the public and a rebuke from the SCOTX, CPS dropped all charges against the Pardo family, dismissed the case, and walked away.
The Pardo family was left to pick up the pieces from the relational and emotional destruction wrought by this high-stakes battle.
However, the battle wasn’t over yet.
After dismissing all charges and walking away from the case last year, CPS then placed Ashley and Daniel Pardo on the Child Abuse Registry (CAR) anyway.
The CAR is a central database where CPS stores the names and information for families who are alleged to have committed abuse or neglect.
Once on the registry, a family’s designation as a “child abuser” stays on their
record, shows up on background checks, and can prevent the family from obtaining
employment or even volunteering at their child’s school and church activities.
Regardless of whether a family was ever found guilty of abuse or neglect, CPS has the sole authority to place a family on the registry.
As with the Pardos, parents who are completely innocent can be dubbed “child abusers” at the will of CPS and placed on the registry.
In April 2020, legal counsel for the Pardo family filed an official administrative appeal to CPS’s decision to place the family on the registry.
The family’s request to be removed from the registry was denied.
Following this denial, the family filed a second appeal to the Office of Consumer Relations, an office tasked with reviewing complaints of this nature.
THSC President Tim Lambert sent a letter to Texas Department of Family Protective Services Commissioner Jamie Masters, urging her to intervene on behalf of the Pardo family and have them removed from the CAR.
The letter was co-signed by a bipartisan coalition of 26 lawmakers and policy leaders.
A months-long battle ensued to have the family removed from the CAR.
Last week, Commissioner Jamie Masters, (who was appointed by Governor Greg Abbott the day before the Pardo case was dismissed on December 3, 2019), sent an official notice to the Pardo family that their appeal had been granted and they were being removed from the CAR.
After a year and a half of legal battles with the agency, Ashley, Daniel, Drake, and the whole Pardo family are finally free from CPS.
However, the scars and the trauma generated by those battles could last forever.
During this year’s holiday season, let’s give thanks to God for His mercy on this innocent family.
Many families don’t survive what they went through.
At the same time, let’s not forget that these victories come at a sobering cost.
CPS may be able to walk away, but for the Pardo family, it won’t be that easy. They will live with the consequences of CPS’s mistakes for the rest of their lives.
Let’s pray that God will help to heal those wounds as well.
On December 3, 2019, Child Protective Services (CPS) dismissed all charges and the legal case against Ashley and Daniel Pardo. They were innocent.
However, CPS then placed the Pardos on the Child Abuse Registry (CAR) anyway.
After another year-long battle, Ashley and Daniel received official notice last week that they have finally been removed from the CAR, despite having won their case in court a year before.
The 2019 story of how Drake Pardo was illegally removed from his home by CPS drew international attention.
The video story of Drake’s case went viral on social media, drawing more than 2.5 million views.
The family suffered six months of horrific trauma as they battled CPS for the return of their son.
After THSC launched a campaign to defend the family, lawmakers, opinion leaders, advocacy organizations, and tens of thousands of families flocked to their defense.
The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) intervened in October 2019 and ordered that Drake be immediately returned home.
Under enormous pressure from the public and a rebuke from the SCOTX, CPS dropped all charges against the Pardo family, dismissed the case, and walked away.
The Pardo family was left to pick up the pieces from the relational and emotional destruction wrought by this high-stakes battle.
However, the battle wasn’t over yet.
After dismissing all charges and walking away from the case last year, CPS then placed Ashley and Daniel Pardo on the Child Abuse Registry (CAR) anyway.
The CAR is a central database where CPS stores the names and information for families who are alleged to have committed abuse or neglect.
Once on the registry, a family’s designation as a “child abuser” stays on their
record, shows up on background checks, and can prevent the family from obtaining
employment or even volunteering at their child’s school and church activities.
Regardless of whether a family was ever found guilty of abuse or neglect, CPS has the sole authority to place a family on the registry.
As with the Pardos, parents who are completely innocent can be dubbed “child abusers” at the will of CPS and placed on the registry.
In April 2020, legal counsel for the Pardo family filed an official administrative appeal to CPS’s decision to place the family on the registry.
The family’s request to be removed from the registry was denied.
Following this denial, the family filed a second appeal to the Office of Consumer Relations, an office tasked with reviewing complaints of this nature.
THSC President Tim Lambert sent a letter to Texas Department of Family Protective Services Commissioner Jamie Masters, urging her to intervene on behalf of the Pardo family and have them removed from the CAR.
The letter was co-signed by a bipartisan coalition of 26 lawmakers and policy leaders.
A months-long battle ensued to have the family removed from the CAR.
Last week, Commissioner Jamie Masters, (who was appointed by Governor Greg Abbott the day before the Pardo case was dismissed on December 3, 2019), sent an official notice to the Pardo family that their appeal had been granted and they were being removed from the CAR.
After a year and a half of legal battles with the agency, Ashley, Daniel, Drake, and the whole Pardo family are finally free from CPS.
However, the scars and the trauma generated by those battles could last forever.
During this year’s holiday season, let’s give thanks to God for His mercy on this innocent family.
Many families don’t survive what they went through.
At the same time, let’s not forget that these victories come at a sobering cost.
CPS may be able to walk away, but for the Pardo family, it won’t be that easy. They will live with the consequences of CPS’s mistakes for the rest of their lives.
Let’s pray that God will help to heal those wounds as well.
