Child Welfare

Does a viral video document ICE agents seizing undocumented children from foster care to deport them? No, that's not true: It's a montage of unrelated clips about alleged juvenile crimes, disorderly behavior at school and other situations with no apparent connection to immigration roundups. The video's narrator provides no dates, places, case numbers or other information to permit independent corroboration…

Does Project 2025 say, "The only valid family is a working father married to a stay-at-home mother and their children"? No, that's not true: Nowhere in Project 2025's book "Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise" does it say that. Instead, it states, "Families comprised of a married mother, father, and their children are the foundation of a well-ordered nation and…

Did a drop in vaccine uptake in Japan cause a drastic drop in infant mortality, as a post on Instagram suggested? No, that's not true: While there was a policy change in 1994 that removed government requirements for childhood vaccines, Japanese health authorities and experts still recommend a routine vaccine schedule similar to those implemented in the U.S. Japan has…

Did "dozens of Ukrainians" apply to Russia's mission to the United Nations for help getting their children back from welfare agencies in the European Union? No, that's not true: Parents of such children, Russian officials and European Union governments have not said anything that substantiates this claim. The office of Ukraine's Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, which handles requests for…

Did Yale scientists say that a new form of "airborne mRNA" is being developed specifically for non-consensual mass vaccination? No, that's not true: The study conducted on rodents did not discuss that. The fact that an experiment appears to have worked when tested on mice never automatically translates into expedited application on people "without their knowledge," an NYU professor of…

Will California legislative bill AB 957 require parents to affirm "gender transition" of any child or "lose custody"? No, that's not true: the bill would require judges in custody cases to consider a parent's affirmation of a child's gender identity as one of several components of "health, safety and welfare" determination already established in state law. The bill does not…

Did a truck driver in New Mexico rescue "Approximately 15 Children Trapped in Padlocked Cages in the Back of a Pickup Truck" during a kidnapping incident? No, that's not true: The New Mexico State Police told Lead Stories, "This story is not correct, this was a mother and her four kids, not a human trafficking incident." The claim appeared in…

Does a photo in a social media post accurately portray an "8-year-old coal miner in Utah or Colorado, USA, in the early 1900s"? No, that's not true: A representative of the Helper's Mining and Railroad Museum, where the photo originated, confirmed for Lead Stories that the boy in the image was not a child coal mine worker but was posing…

Is California considering a bill that will send children "as young as 12" to be sent "to group homes without the parents permission," potentially allowing minors to receive gender-affirming medical or surgical care? No, that's not true: AB665 is a proposed bill to align two existing state laws that define the circumstances under which a minor 12 and older may…

Does a bill passed by the Washington State Legislature allow the "government to take minor children away" from their parents if "they refuse to agree to gender transition surgery"? No, that's not true: The legislation has no provision for removing children from their parents if they don't agree to gender affirmation surgery. The statute deals specifically with children who have…