Texas Parents May Lose Children for No Good Reason

• Christian families who homeschool face constant harassment.

By Dave Gahary —

A Texas Christian family is facing the nightmare that all 11 of their homeschooled children (16, 14, 12, 9, 8 [twins], 7, 6, 3, 2, and 12 weeks) will be forcibly removed from them at the end of the month. The only explanation for this is because they have been in the sights of that state’s child protective services division, as there has never been any history of abuse or neglect.

This terrifying scenario is not exclusive to Texas. Christian families across the country, who avoid public schools and instead choose to homeschool their children, are increasingly on the hit list of local authorities. Often times, they even face threats that police will take away their kids.

Besides the horrific possibility that they will be separated from their birth children for no good reason at the hands of an out-of-control state bureaucracy, what makes the matter more unnerving for William and Claire Rembis is the fact that the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) has an atrocious track record of children in their care.

From 2003 to 2005, 118 foster children died in their “care,” where “compared to the general population, a child is four times more likely to die in the Texas foster care system.” Incredibly, around that same time, 100 children were poisoned and 63 were raped while under state care, including four-year-old twin boys.

The Rembises’ saga began when an acquaintance who resides several miles away reported the family to DFPS when they stopped by the home to find the kids “alone.”

After Claire, 35, was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis following her gall bladder being removed, she had a flare-up and was briefly hospitalized from July 4 – 6, 2015, and visited by William and their newborn.

On July 5, DFPS showed up at the house, but the kids did as they were instructed and did not open the door for strangers. The social worker returned 30 minutes later, this time with police, banging on the door and yelling, finally leaving after the kids, who were all holed up in the master bathroom, refused to answer the knocking and pleas. They then called the parents to tell them what happened, who left the hospital and rushed home, emailed their attorney, and spent two uneventful days with the kids.

The following day they, their nightmare began.

“I’ll never forget the time,” said Claire during an August 11 interview with American Free Press. “It was at 5:44 p.m., we got a phone call from one of the attorneys, who said, ‘I’m sorry Claire, but they’re going to take the kids.’”

Claire handed the phone to William, 46, and rounded up the kids in the dining room where they prayed and discussed what was going to happen. As a member of the Texas Home School Coalition, Claire was more prepared than most, although the children were visibly shaken.

“As homeschoolers in a large family, we’re very well aware of what’s been happening a lot to Christian, homeschooling families, especially large families,” said Mrs. Rembis during an August 11 interview with AMERICAN FREE PRESS.

About an hour after the phone call from their attorney, around six police officers and five social workers were knocking on the door demanding the children for “physical neglect for a messy house,” based on one bedroom, and “neglectful supervision,” when the children were alone while Claire and William were in the hospital.

Four hours later, all the children were whisked away.

Although all 11 kids were eventually returned, DFPS makes weekly visits and is still gunning for the all of them, and a hearing has been scheduled for August 31, at 8:00 a.m. at the Collin County Courthouse.

“From my understanding, they are going to ask the judge for conservatorship of the kids, to put them back in foster care, and to sever our parental rights,” Claire explained.

[If you’d like to help out William and Claire, email [email protected], and we’ll pass along the message.]

Dave Gahary, a former submariner in the U.S. Navy, is the host of AFP’s ‘Underground Interview’ series.

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