In Calais, Maine, 11-year-old twin sisters Baylee and Brynlee Cushing have become local wrestling stars, winning medals with the support of their devoted mom, enthusiastic stepdad, and a loving community.
Tragedy struck first when the girls’ beloved stepdad passed away suddenly, right after they returned from an out-of-state wrestling tournament.
The family was still reeling from that loss when, in September 2024, everything else fell apart.
An anonymous phone call to Child Protective Services was all it took.
Despite perfect school attendance, glowing reports from teachers and doctors, active participation in soccer, cross-country, and wrestling, and even the girls’ own father stating on record that he had zero safety concerns, Maine CPS swooped in.
They removed Baylee and Brynlee from the only home they’ve ever known.
Faster Than Anyone Thought Possible
On September 19, a caseworker visited Jillian’s home. Jillian says she was cooperative and kind. Ten days later, the tone changed completely.
CPS declared there was a “risk” to the children and demanded that the twins be placed with their biological father under a safety plan.
Jillian begged them to consider alternatives; she even offered to move the entire family into her in-laws’ home for 24/7 supervision.
The girls’ father supported that idea and told CPS he felt the children were safe with their mom.
None of it mattered.
Late at night, armed with a preliminary protection order signed by a judge, caseworkers arrived and took the girls while they slept.
Jillian had to wake her daughters and watch them leave in tears. She wrote-:
“They watched me fight for them that night,Screaming, crying, begging, and pleading.”
Via Facebook
She wrote in a gut-wrenching Facebook post that has since been shared hundreds of times
Here’s what makes Maine different, and what terrifies parents across the state.
In most states, CPS cannot remove children without evidence of actual abuse or neglect, and many have explicit “poverty laws” that prevent removal when families need resources.
Maine, however, allows removal based solely on the agency’s belief that there is a “likelihood” or “mild risk” of future harm, even when no harm has occurred, and even though every outside professional says the children are thriving.
That’s precisely what happened here. The judge agreed with CPS that the extremely low threshold of “mild risk” was met, despite zero signs of abuse or neglect.
Since November 4, Jillian has been allowed to see her daughters only twice. She is required to complete four reunification services, yet she says she has not received a single call to begin three of them.
When she asked for a Thanksgiving visit, caseworkers told her the girls could not come to her home (despite earlier promises of holiday exceptions), and that she would need to arrange her own transportation, 40 miles each way, plus an approved supervisor on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
When no one was available to drive her 80 miles round-trip, CPS labeled her “difficult” and accused her of refusing visitation.
She’s permitted to attend the twins’ basketball games, but under the current order, she cannot speak to them, hug them, or even wave; she has to sit silently in a gym full of parents who are allowed to cheer for their own kids.
When Jillian raised concerns about the girls’ current living situation, a supervisor reportedly replied, “Well, if you want, we can put them in foster care instead.”
Many have shown support on social media, sharing similar experiences in Maine
One woman wrote about fighting the state 23 years ago after taking her daughter to the ER for a suspicious bruise, only to have the child ripped away because medical photos were deemed “traumatizing.”
Another recounted the horrific 1995 case of Logan Marr, a five-year-old taken from her mother over a false report and later killed by her CPS-worker foster mother, who duct-taped the child’s mouth and left her strapped in a high chair in the basement.
“Something needs to be stopped,” one commenter pleaded. “This needs to be stopped!”
Jillian is crystal clear: she has never abused or neglected her children, not even during her darkest days of past addiction.
Every person who actually knows this family, teachers, coaches, doctors, and even the girls’ dad, has said the twins were happy, healthy, and safe at home.
Now Jillian is desperately trying to hire a private attorney because she says her court-appointed lawyer has ignored evidence that the caseworker committed perjury on the stand.
She says-:
“This system isn’t protecting children, It’s protecting jobs and paychecks. The longer they keep families in the system, the more money flows.”
Via Facebook
Baylee and Brynlee want to come home to the mom who has never missed a practice, a meet, or a tournament, the mom who was in the stands every single time they looked up.
As one commenter put it:
“These poor girls… they’ve already lost their stepdad. Now they’ve been ripped out of their house for no good reason.”
Via Facebook
This is the story growing right now in Maine, where two little wrestling champions have been caught in a system that many parents say is broken beyond repair.
If you’ve fought Maine CPS and won your children back, Jillian is asking for advice, resources, attorney recommendations, anything that might help bring her daughters home.
Because every day without them feels like a match, she’s forced to wrestle with both arms tied behind her back.
That is totally ridiculous! The system in maine is broken they should br concentrating on the children that actually need there help!