Legally Kidnapped

Thursday, October 12, 2017

The Mystery of the Missing Foster Kids of Kansas and Texas - LK Report for 10/12/17

The Mystery of the Missing Foster Kids of Kansas

More than 70 children are missing from the state foster care system, the contractors that operate the system said Tuesday.

More >> 3 sisters missing from Tonganoxie foster home raise concerns about state oversight

Foster Care $600 bucks a night!!!

It was close to 1:30 a.m., and two children who’d been taken from their homes by Washington Child Protective Services were still waiting in a Pierce County child welfare office for someone — anyone — to agree to take them in for a night. A worker posted a desperate plea on a Facebook page for foster parents that morning last June: “Insomnia anyone? Still up? The boys in Tacoma still need placement.”

Workers’ earlier posts had offered an “exceptional cost placement” for the teens. That’s code for payments that can top $600 a night — more than the base rate foster parents get for a whole month of care — as an incentive for foster parents to take a child.

More >> Short-term foster care costs taxpayers millions

THE $600-A-NIGHT FOSTER CARE BED

Who says they don't do it for the money?

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Families in both Oregon and Kentucky are seeking to adopt a 4-year-old girl from southern Oregon, causing the states to dispute which has jurisdiction over her.

More >> Oregon, Kentucky disputing adoption of 4-year-old girl in court

The 60's Scoop

Eric Stewart's Nisga'a life was not just uprooted by the Sixties Scoop, it was nearly destroyed.

"I would lie to family and friends that I was okay," Stewart said.

More >> Sixties Scoop continues: Advocates say B.C.'s child welfare system plagued by racial inequity

Tiahleigh Palmer's mother has welcomed a court's refusal to cut the sentence of the foster brother who sexually abused the slain schoolgirl, saying he needs to take responsibility for what he has done.

More >> Tiahleigh Palmer's foster brother denied appeal on incest and perjury offences

A 10-week-old baby is on life support and Oklahoma City police are investigating possible child abuse or neglect. The baby was at a foster home when EMSA was called.

More >> Baby On Life Support, Foster Family Under Investigation

The Mystery of the Missing Foster Kid from Texas

A three-year-old Indian girl with developmental issues has been missing in the US state of Texas after her foster father allegedly told her to stand outside alone late in the night as punishment for not finishing her milk, media reports said.

More >> Adopted Indian girl goes missing after late night punishment for not finishing milk

SANDUSKY, Michigan -- A judge who granted a convicted rapist joint custody rights to a child born after his sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl on Tuesday issued a stay on his ruling, reports say.

More >> Michigan judge stays order giving rapist joint custody of child

Late last month, the department of Health and Human Services published its 2018-2022 draft strategic plan, opening it up for comment through the end of October.

More >> The Trump Administration Just Officially Endorsed Anti-Contraception Junk Science

Minutes after Andrew Sucher allegedly pummeled and kicked a state child welfare investigator outside his parents' western Illinois home, his mother telephoned 911 and said he had beaten the worker because he felt the agency was harassing him.

More >> 911 calls add to details about attack on DCFS investigator

DEVINE, Texas - A Medina County foster parent was arrested Wednesday on charges of sexually assaulting multiple children in his care.

Miguel Briseno, 58, faces three counts of sexual assault of a child.

More >> Foster parent accused of sexually assaulting children in Bexar, Medina counties

DOMESTIC worker Anna Mahlangu, 62, cried bitterly in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, after she was found guilty of murdering her 13-year-old foster child by setting her alight.

More >> Foster mom convicted of killing girl, 13

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Tuesday, October 10, 2017

CPS Gives Kids To Pedophiles - LK Report for 10/10/2017

Top Stories

A PROTEST has been held in Blackburn by a couple who claim social workers are trying to push through adoptions to meet government targets.

Kerry Duval, 25, and Adam Chelton, 26, are part of a national campaign Families Against Forced Adoption.

More >> Couple stage protest over 'forced adoptions'

LUZERNE COUNTY - (WBRE/WYOU) Some lawmakers in Harrisburg are pushing for tougher laws when it comes to protecting first responders, including Child Protective Service caseworkers.

The effort was prompted, in part, by a firebombing at the offices of Luzerne County Children and Youth Services offices earlier this year.

More >> Harrisburg to increase protection for CPS caseworkers

A judge has ordered that a convicted sex offender in Michigan receive joint custody of an 8-year-old child he fathered after raping the child’s mother when she was only 12-years-old.

More >> CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER AWARDED JOINT CUSTODY OF VICTIM’S CHILD

Michigan Judge Gives Convicted Rapist Parental Rights for Victim’s Son

Child welfare workers have removed Shantell’s three children from her care at various times, beginning in July 2016, following reports from hospital staff and social workers that her “developmental delays” and “mental delays” could hinder her ability to parent. With the help of lawyers, Shantell’s children were returned to her by November 2016, but the ordeal spurred her to join a class-action lawsuit filed last week against New York City for violating the rights of parents who have intellectual disabilities.

More >> Disabled Parents Sue New York City Over Child Removals

A federal lawsuit has said that York County’s child services agency “disregarded a substantial risk of serious harm” when it placed a young boy in the care of a "known" and convicted pedophile who had the "right to adopt".

More >> Child Protection Services Gave Boy to Known Pedophile Who ‘Had Right to Adopt'

More >> Shocking! 3 year old India born girl missing in US after late night punishment by foster father for not finishing milk

A two-year-old girl who police believe was mistreated by her foster mother died in hospital in Plzeň on Monday, the Czech News Agency reported. The woman, who is 25, has been in custody since Saturday and could face up to 12 years in prison if found guilty of grievous bodily harm.

More >> INFANT ALLEGEDLY MISTREATED BY FOSTER MOTHER DIES

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Three sisters, all under age 16, have been missing from a Tonganoxie, Kan., foster home for 45 days.

More >> ‘We just want them to come home.’ Three young Kansas sisters missing from foster home

A Khayelitsha mother and her husband, who has been charged with sodomising, raping and sexually abusing his now 16-year-old foster daughter between 2007 and 2013, will remain in Pollsmoor Prison before his next bail hearing.

The parents of two daughters, as well as their foster child, who is the victim, have applied for bail at Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court citing chronic medical conditions.

More >> Couple charged over rape, abuse of foster daughter apply for bail

A Seminole, Oklahoma, couple was found guilty of killing their 9-year-old foster son—despite the fact that his body was never found.

More >> Foster parents beat 9-year-old son to death; boy’s body remains missing a DECADE later

Monday, October 09, 2017

Paying for the 60's Scoop - LK Report for 10/9/17

Top Stories

Canada has described a deal to compensate thousands of indigenous victims of forced adoptions as a step forward. But some have criticized the move, saying the amount is "disappointing" after decades of forced removals.

More >> 'Sixties Scoop': Canada agrees to compensate forcibly-adopted indigenous people

Dr. Lanre Falusi knows firsthand the anxiety families face when the future of their child’s health insurance is in jeopardy. A pediatrician at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Dr. Falusi recently had a routine visit from a seven-year-old patient with asthma. For the last few months this little girl has been fairly stable thanks to her daily controller and rescue medication covered through D.C.’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). But she often has tough winters and her mother was trying to plan ahead having heard CHIP’s future funding was uncertain. “That was her question: ‘If I don’t know if she’s going to have insurance, can I get a prescription for extra medication and save it just in case?’ . . . She was in crisis planning mode for her daughter’s health and she wanted to stockpile the medication. It was really disconcerting to me that that’s what we’re asking parents to start doing. States are dealing with an incredible amount of uncertainty about their funding – and maybe they are used to doing that – but the fact that we’re asking families now to do that around their children’s health is inappropriate and unconscionable to me.”

More >> Congress Is Holding CHIP And Children Hostage

Trump rolls back access to free birth control

A five year old Christian girl who was removed from her Muslim foster family was in “warm and appropriate care”, a court heard on Monday.

Known as AB in court, the child was placed into the care of a Muslim family, attracting media attention amid allegations that she was made to speak Arabic and remove her crucifix.

More >> Christian foster child “misses” foster carers, new report claims

The Board of Supervisors voted this week to formally appoint a new director to run Los Angeles County’s child welfare agency.

Bobby Cagle, the director of the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, will take office Dec. 1.

More >> Shakeup at County DCFS

PETALING JAYA: When Nizha (not her real name) was assigned to live with foster parents after spending most of her 18 years at welfare department homes, she thought that her life would change for the better.

However, she found it had become worse as she spent two years being abused and treated like a slave by the couple, who were both medical doctors.

“Living with my foster family after coming out of the welfare home turned out to be more painful than being thrown out by my original family when I was young,” she said.

More >> Former welfare child recalls slave-like abuse at foster home

Rochester, N.Y. — We are now hearing from a former Monroe County Child Protective Services worker who said she resigned in part because of the death of Brook Stagles.

More >> CPS worker says she resigned in light of Brook Stagles' death

The union representing social workers in Nova Scotia says employees are being overworked and facing burnout on the job.

According to the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU), child protection social workers are dealing with unmanageable workloads.

More >> N.S. child protection social workers overworked, facing burnout: union

GRAFTON—One woman is behind bars, following an investigation the past week.

Jaymi McIe, 34, of Grafton, has been charged with felony concealment of a minor child from a custodian, following an investigation and search on October 3.

More >> Woman arrested after concealing minor in state’s care

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — A employee with the Department of Children and Families is facing charges of falsifying records in a child abuse investigation.

More >> DCF worker accused of falsifying records in child abuse probe

Authorities are investigating after a child died in hospital after drowning at a Jay foster care nonprofit's property.

Four-year-old Isabella Lee Gamez died Oct. 1, three days after she was found at the bottom of the pool at My Father's Arrows.

More >> DCF investigating after child drowns at Jay foster care nonprofit

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Friday, October 06, 2017

Don't beat the CPS Agent - LK Report for 10/6/17

Top Stories

Illinois child welfare officials are reacting with shock and anguish to the severe beating of a veteran investigator who was assaulted while taking protective custody of a 2-year-old child near Sterling, about 120 miles west of Chicago.

More >> DCFS investigator is assaulted while trying to aid a child in Sterling, Ill.

"CHIP has a proven track record of success, stemming from its adherence to the fundamental principles of state administrative flexibility, personal responsibility, and innovation aimed at enhancing health outcomes for beneficiaries". "If the lawmakers can't act in support of a program that was enacted in a spirit of bipartisanship and serves the most truly defenseless members of society, there's no hope for them".

More >> Alabama will dismantle All Kids health insurance if federal aid not extended

Lapse In Federal Funding Imperils Children's Health Coverage

A Pittsburgh newspaper is reporting that an anti-abortion congressman asked a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair to have an abortion when he thought she might be pregnant.

More >> Report: Anti-abortion US rep asked girlfriend to get one

A 33-year-old Bowie woman has been arrested for allegedly causing injury to a one-year-old child in her care as a foster parent.

More >> Foster mother jailed, accused of injury to a child

Ohio’s child support system is riddled with problems, including billions in unpaid support and an outdated formula that some believe contributes to non-custodial parents moving to the underground economy to avoid wage garnishments.

More >> Ohio’s child support system rife with fraud, poor collection rates

OAKLAND, Calif. — An attorney for the family of a foster child who died two years ago after allegedly ingesting methamphetamine has sued Alameda County, saying the girl should have been removed from a Stockton home after she swallowed the drug for the first time.

More >> Foster girl should have been removed after ingesting meth first time: suit

ABC7 News has learned that Alameda County Social Services Agency is being sued for allegedly putting a 3-year-old foster child at risk after she died from methamphetamine poisoning. It was the second time the child had allegedly ingested meth, at the same foster home. It's a story you'll see only on ABC7 News.

More >> County sued over 3-year-old's alleged meth death; 'I should have protected her,' brother says

JAY — A former foster parent and award-winning adoptive mother who was convicted of child abuse was sentenced Wednesday and will serve about three years in prison, a prosecutor said.

More >> Former DHS Adoptive Parent of the Year gets prison time in Delaware County child-abuse case

Oklahoma woman formerly named DHS Adoptive Parent of the Year gets prison time in child abuse case

The federal government is preparing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to settle multiple class-action lawsuits filed on behalf of First Nations people who were removed from their homes when they were children and adopted into non-Indigenous families.

More >> Ottawa to settle Sixties Scoop suits for hundreds of millions of dollars

PALAKKAD: Only Pratheesh and Sharmila knew the sort of pain they felt while sending their five children to orphanage, but when they got back home after public intervention, mostly through social media, the poverty-stricken parents must have found the joy equally inexplicable.The parents, from Kannadi panchayat, had put the children, all under 11 years and three of them girls, in an orphanage at Edathanattukara on September 21 with the help of ward (No.14) member Vineesh.

More >> Poor parents put 5 kids in orphanage

BOONE COUNTY, Ind. – Authorities say a 9-month-old boy suffered a fractured rib and bruising while under the care of his Indianapolis foster mother and her Whitestown boyfriend.

More >> Foster mom, boyfriend charged with neglect after baby suffers fractured rib

Wednesday, October 04, 2017

CPS is keeping me busy today - LK Report for 10/24/2017

A lawsuit that seeks improvements in Arizona's foster-care system will apply to all Arizona children in the system, now as well as in the future, a federal judge has ruled.

More >> Judge: All children in DCS care are now part of class-action lawsuit

Federal funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which provides health coverage for almost nine million children, ran out on Saturday night. Everyone in Congress knew the deadline was approaching. By all accounts, an overwhelming bipartisan majority of lawmakers even wanted to renew it. Yet it didn't happen.

More >> Republican incompetence has now put 9 million children in danger

TORONTO – The Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies has apologized for harm done to Indigenous children and families in the province.

More >> Ontario Children’s Aid Societies apologizes for harm done to Indigenous Peoples

OAKLAND — Attorneys for the family of a foster child who died after ingesting methamphetamine sued Alameda County on Monday, alleging that social workers should have removed the girl from the home two weeks earlier — after she swallowed the narcotic for the first time.

More >> Lawsuit: Foster child died after ingesting meth for second time

FLINT, MI -- Testimony from a former state epidemiologist is expected to continue Wednesday, Oct. 4, in the preliminary examination of Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon.

More >> Michigan DHHS director back in court for manslaughter exam in Flint water case

The men, aged between 33 and 38 and mostly from Rotherham, are accused of offences including rape and indecent assault and bring the number charged under Operation Stovewood to 21.

More >> CHILD ABUSE CHARGESRotherham child abuse investigators charge 12 MORE men in connection with sexual exploitation of kids

Finding a home in Kelowna's tight rental market can be nearly impossible and for some families that lack of suitable housing means losing custody of their children.

More >> Children put in foster care after mother struggles to find rental home

A Christian girl removed from her Muslim foster parents has apparently said that she misses them, a court was told on Monday.

The five-year-old, who is now living with her grandmother, was placed into the family's care by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

More >> Christian girl 'misses' Muslim foster parents, court told

Five-year-old girl 'misses' Muslim fosterers, court hears

Kerri M. Raissian, an assistant professor of public policy in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, conducts research focused on child and family policy, with an emphasis on understanding how polices affect fertility, family formation, and family violence. She previously spent 10 years working with children and families in the public and nonprofit sectors. Earlier this year, she and her colleague Lindsey Rose Bullinger of Indiana University, published their study, “Money matters: Does the minimum wage affect children maltreatment rates?” in Children and Youth Services Review. They found that a $1 increase in the minimum wage can result in a statistically significant 9.6 percent decline in child neglect reports. She spoke with UConn Today about the study.

More >> Adding $1 to Minimum Wage = Less Child Neglect

A Tusla social worker has told the Disclosures Tribunal that she did not apologise to Garda Keith Harrison and his partner Marissa Simms for her dealings with their family.

More >> Tusla social worker denies claim she made apology to garda and partner

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ill. - At 5:45 p.m. on Friday, September 29th, 09/29/17, the Carroll County 911 Center received a request for medical assistance at 309 Hagar Ave. in Milledgeville, IL.

Police and ambulance were dispatched to the location.

Investigators found a 59-year-old female Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) investigator who had been at the location to check on the welfare of a child and had been assaulted by the child's father.

More >> DCFS worker beaten while checking on child

Note: Bummer.

CUMBERLAND, Ind. – A Cumberland man was arrested Saturday after he reportedly choked and hit his 12-year-old foster son.

Francis Bunten, 57, is now being charged with domestic battery resulting in bodily injury, a level 5 felony.

More >> Man charged with battery after allegedly choking, hitting foster son in Cumberland

Cumblerland man charged with battery after allegedly choking, hitting foster son

Canada's Ontario province has passed legislation that allows the government to seize children from families that refuse to accept their child's chosen "gender identity" or "gender expression."

More >> New Ontario law allows removing children from foster parents who oppose gender switch

A mum whose son was taken from her into care says she wouldn't know him if she ran into him in the street.

Rachel is one of three mothers to share their heartbreaking stories as part of a new BBC programme.

More >> 'I wouldn't know my son if I saw him in the street': Mums speak of moment kids were taken off them into foster care

A Lee County woman was released on bond Monday afternoon, shortly after going before a judge for the first time in connection to the death of her foster son.

More >> Lee Co. foster mom charged in child death investigation out on bond

When Ofsted rated Gloucestershire’s children’s services as “inadequate” in June, the report was phrased in such blistering terms that councillors in the Conservative-led local authority reacted with shock, bewilderment, and fury.

More >> The Tory council that failed its children

The York County Office of Children, Youth and Families allegedly placed a boy in foster care with a convicted pedophile, according to a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, Oct. 3.

More >> Lawsuit: York CYF placed boy in foster care with known pedophile

Lawsuit against York County after boy was sexually abused

In a rare move, a 19-year-old abused in an Urbandale foster home for years has sued the state for negligence, saying she suffered physically and emotionally because the child welfare case was mishandled.

More >> A teen who was locked up and beaten sues Iowa for bungling her child-welfare case

A study has found a high number of women, who repeatedly appear before the family courts and lose many children into public care or adoption because of child protection concerns, have been in care themselves.

More >> Link between childhood in care and mums who have babies removed by the courts

Monday, October 02, 2017

Out of the system, onto the street - LK Report for 10/2/2017

The grandmother of a 10-month-old boy who died after being brought to a Winnipeg hospital with a head injury is speaking out about the child’s death.

More >> 'He loved him': Grandmother defends Manitoba man charged in baby's death

A woman with a “very significant” learning disability has lost the latest round of a legal fight over the care of her two children.

More >> Woman with learning disability loses legal fight to keep children

Woman loses latest court fight to stop her children going into care

Cracked windows, holes in walls and celery so old that it had turned brown and begun to liquefy were among dozens of health and safety violations federal inspectors found when they visited Oklahoma's group homes for foster children.

More >> Federal inspectors criticize Oklahoma's oversight of group foster care homes

Report shows inspectors found health, safety violations at 17 of 22 foster homes in Oklahoma

Scott Dukes says he’ll never forget the day he met his adoptive daughter Erica. She wore a black-and-white striped jacket with a big yellow flower on the lapel and a pair of bright pink pants.

More >> Out Of The Closet, Onto the Street: Foster System a 'Pathway to Homelessness' For LGBT Youth

A senior social care worker employed by Orkney Islands Council has been struck off the register after being found guilty of allowing a teenager access to the drug ecstasy.

More >> Social care worker struck off over ecstasy incident in Orkney

An experienced social worker has been struck off from the register after misleading fellow professionals who became involved in her personal life when her ex-partner was investigated for child sex offences.

More >> Social worker struck off after withholding information about ex-partner accused of sex offences

A FIVE-year-old Christian girl fostered by a Muslim family may be returned to her carers.

The white English-speaking child was sent to live with a foster family by Tower Hamlets council in East London.

More >> FOSTER FIASCO Christian girl, 5, fostered by a Muslim family ‘who wore a niqab face veil and told her to learn Arabic misses her carers and wants to return’

Girl had 'warm relationship' with Muslim foster carers, court told

Sunday, October 01, 2017

A decrease in child maltreatment leads to more foster kids - LK Report for 10/1/2017

Leshia Green, of Lee County, has been charged with two felony counts of first degree cruelty to a child in the death of her 4-year-old foster child on Wednesday.

More >> Lee County foster mother arrested in 4-year-old child’s death

Foster mother arrested in child death investigation

PEORIA — In April, she left the courtroom frustrated. The hearing had been delayed because a caseworker wasn’t prepared.

In May, she left the fourth-floor Peoria County juvenile courtroom crying. Social workers, a bevy of attorneys and a judge had spent a good hour dissecting her progress toward learning to be a better mother. But she heard only one word of Judge Kate Gorman’s decision. “Unfit.”

More >> Racial disparities evident in child welfare system

Social workers described as inexperienced and naive will face investigation after a high-risk schoolgirl in their care was found hanged in her wardrobe.

More >> 'Inexperienced and naive' social workers will face investigation after a 'high-risk' schoolgirl, 14, was found hanged in her wardrobe

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) - A county commissioner is accused of diverting donations as Contact 13 Chief Investigator Darcy Spears exposes what some are calling "Backpackgate."

More >> Charity says county commissioner 'raided' donations to foster kids

A Winnipeg man charged in the death of his foster son has been released on bail.

The 22-year-old man has been charged with criminal negligence causing death after his 10-month-old foster child died in hospital on Tuesday.

More >> Winnipeg foster dad charged with death of baby boy released on bail

Winnipeg foster father charged after baby suffers fatal head injury

Milledgeville, Ill. (KWQC) - The Carroll County Sheriff's Department says one man has been arrested after assaulting a child services worker in Milledgeville, Illinois.

It happened Friday night as the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services investigator was checking on the welfare of a child. Police say the child's father, 25-year-old Andrew Sucher, assaulted her. Officials say Sucher fled the scene but was later arrested in Dixon, Illinois. He is charged with aggravated battery and has a $200,000 bond.

More >> Illinois DCFS worker assaulted during child welfare check

The main suspect in the Parsons Green bombing was only arrested because he was wearing a Chelsea football top as he prepared to flee the country, it has been claimed.

More >> Parsons Green bombing suspect 'was arrested after a police officer spotted him wearing the same Chelsea football top that featured in a secret CCTV image sent to detectives'

OGDEN, Utah (AP) — A Utah judge says two married foster parents lacked “just basic human decency” when they abused boys in their care by locking them up and using duct tape and zip-ties to restrain them.

More >> Judge sentences foster parents who used duct tape, zip ties

Utah foster parents who zip-tied, duct-taped their children give tearful apologies before sentencing

A new requirement that state workers get a judge's permission before taking children away from their parents could be a landmark shift in Arizona's child-welfare system — or not, depending on how a new system is set up.

More >> Arizona courts craft rule on when DCS can remove children from homes

Increasing the minimum wage reduces instances of child abuse in the home, finds new research from the Children and Youth Services Review. By examining how increases in minimum wage decrease rates of child maltreatment, researchers and policy makers alike can work together to enhance family and child welfare.

More >> Study Finds Increasing Minimum Wage can Decrease Child Maltreatment

WASHINGTON — Nearly 700,000 American kids were found to be victims of abuse or neglect in fiscal 2015, and the public ought to be just as worried that kids who haven’t been abused are being victimized by a heavy-handed bureaucracy, a veteran child rights advocate says.

More >> U.S. Child Maltreatment Statistics Show Slight Decline From Year to Year

Barnevernet, the Norwegian Child Welfare Services (CWS), do not remove children from their parents for no reason, or do they? I have to admit that I myself have been among those who thought that there must be a very good reason behind their taking children into care. The first thing you think of is that probably, the parents have subjected their children to violence, or to neglect, there are drug or alcohol problems in the family or they have in some other way exposed the children to serious neglect. In the course of my political life I have obtained thorough insight into Barnevernet and close contact with many of the families who are affected by the agency. I will go as far as to say they have been struck by disaster.

More >> Norway’s child-confiscation policies are disastrous, unjust