Originally published November 18, 2018 at No Longer Quivering. Written by Suzanne Titkemeyer

Back last year (2017) Nicole Naugler contacted NLQ on Facebook challenging us to really investigate and write a ‘true’ story about their family. You remember the Nauglers? They were in the national media for losing custody of their ten children in Kentucky and claiming it was about homeschooling. This was nearly three years ago, and it came out that the reason CPS in Kentucky picked up the children had less to do with homeschooling and more to do with the fact that the family was living in filthy, unhealthy, squalor.

Media reported that the Naugler family lived on a piece of property with broken glass, trash, animal feces, a water source polluted with feces and other contaminates. No running water, no access to clean water for cooking, bathing or washing clothing.

But the worst was the ‘house’ they were raising the ten children in. It was not much more than a shanty you might see in third world countries, plywood and scrap lumber, missing a wall. Did I also mention that this particular part of Kentucky had experienced record low temperatures the winter they lived in the structure?

Nicole has claimed a number of false things through the years since trying to claim this was about homeschooling. She’s claimed it’s persecution because of the fact that they are doing the entire off the grid homesteading thing. Which it is not. Plenty of people live off the grid nicely, and even homeschool, without CPS landing on their doorstep.

Yesterday one our regular commenters, SAO, mentioned the Nauglers and I thought, hmm, been awhile since we’ve mentioned or thought about them at NLQ and decided to check in.

On the plus side photos that Nicole has been recently posting show a household in better order than anything else we’ve seen of the Nauglers. But a little further back and we can see that Nicole is still refusing to take any personal responsibility for actions that led to the temporary removal of her ten children. She’s blaming the local sheriff, CPS, the children’s Guardian Ad Litum, and a host of official others.

She’s written a post where she disputes that anyone involved in the removal of her children from their unsafe unsanitary environment did not have the best interests of the children at heart. No, they absolutely did!

The sheer comedy of her ranting online is that she listed the reasons why children can be seized by CPS and claims none of these apply in their case:

Number three applies as well as number one by sheer virtue of the condition of the property. No matter what Nicole Naugler claims there is copious photographic and video evidence that the children were being raised in an unsafe environment.

She’s also upset that she was not allowed to have a friend or relative take custody of the children until this was straightened out. Nicole quotes the statute but neglects to realize that portion reads ‘May’ not ‘Must’.

Then Nicole rambles on about some fictional sweet, sweet monies she thinks that the government grants those that take in children removed from their homes. In truth the funding to support children removed from neglectful or abusive parents is not adequate to maintain anyone. People involved are not taking children to get rich. Much of the time people are out of pocket with the things they have to buy for the good of the child.

Back last year Nicole Naugler contacted NLQ on Facebook challenging us to really investigate and write a ‘true’ story about their family. You remember the Nauglers? They were in the national media for losing custody of their ten children in Kentucky and claiming it was about homeschooling. This was nearly three years ago, and it came out that the reason CPS in Kentucky picked up the children had less to do with homeschooling and more to do with the fact that the family was living in filthy, unhealthy, squalor.

Media reported that the Naugler family lived on a piece of property with broken glass, trash, animal feces, a water source polluted with feces and other contaminates. No running water, no access to clean water for cooking, bathing or washing clothing.

But the worst was the ‘house’ they were raising the ten children in. It was not much more than a shanty you might see in third world countries, plywood and scrap lumber, missing a wall. Did I also mention that this particular part of Kentucky had experienced record low temperatures the winter they lived in the structure?

Nicole has claimed a number of false things through the years since trying to claim this was about homeschooling. She’s claimed it’s persecution because of the fact that they are doing the entire off the grid homesteading thing. Which it is not. Plenty of people live off the grid nicely, and even homeschool, without CPS landing on their doorstep.

Yesterday one our regular commenters, SAO, mentioned the Nauglers and I thought, hmm, been awhile since we’ve mentioned or thought about them at NLQ and decided to check in.

On the plus side photos that Nicole has been recently posting show a household in better order than anything else we’ve seen of the Nauglers. But a little further back and we can see that Nicole is still refusing to take any personal responsibility for actions that led to the temporary removal of her ten children. She’s blaming the local sheriff, CPS, the children’s Guardian Ad Litum, and a host of official others.

She’s written a post where she disputes that anyone involved in the removal of her children from their unsafe unsanitary environment did not have the best interests of the children at heart. No, they absolutely did!

The sheer comedy of her ranting online is that she listed the reasons why children can be seized by CPS and claims none of these apply in their case:

Number three applies as well as number one by sheer virtue of the condition of the property. No matter what Nicole Naugler claims that is photographic and video evidence that the children were being raised in an unsafe environment.

She’s also upset that she was not allowed to have a friend or relative take custody of the children until this was straightened out. Nicole quotes the statute but neglects to realize that portion reads ‘May’ not ‘Must’.

Then Nicole rambles on about some fictional sweet, sweet monies she thinks that the government grants. In truth the funding to support children removed from neglectful or abusive parents is not adequate to maintain anyone. People involved are not taking children to get rich.

It is true that any removal of a child from their home is traumatic to the child. But do you know what’s more traumatic? Death, or injury, or abuse as experienced by the child in their family of origin.

From my experiences working at a children’s residential treatment facility it looks like to me that all those people listed by Ms. Naugler as at fault above did put the best interests of the child above the possibly crazy rantings of the likely neglectful parents. Nicole is upset that no attorney in the state of Kentucky will help her sue those involved with this case, but she cannot prove any of them acted in anything but the best interests of her children.

If she and Joe had been making meth or any other number of things we would not even be having this discussion. The children would have been permanently removed. But because they claimed it was harassment over homeschooling the Nauglers kicked up enough media to get their children back without much effort or real change on their part.

Which leads one to question why? Why is it so impossible in Quiverfull for parents to admit they are less than perfect? Everyone, and I mean everyone, makes mistakes in their parenting. I know I have. But most of us can at least admit it, try to be better parents and learn. In Quiverfull the locked in reaction is always that the parents are right, even when raising the kids on a virtual trash heap.

You’re a lot better off cooperating with CPS, admitting fault and doing what you must do to remedy your situation. Don’t act like you might be a deluded lunatic!