The series explores the challenges of interstate child protection cases through the lens of one person’s difficult, but ultimately successful, quest to get his daughter back home. Bailey takes a careful, respectful approach to Johnny Smith’s family in a challenging atmosphere, yet doesn’t downplay the criticisms of Smith’s home by New York child protective officials. He charts this case every step of the way, leaving no question unasked – or unanswered. In the wake of Bailey’s series, Johnny Smith was granted custody of his daughter, and in late May, Bailey wrote in a follow-up column that the South Carolina Department of Social Services has revamped how it will handle the federal law in the future.