Coalition pushes adoption over reunion

The coalition will pitch permanent guardianship or adoption over "slavish" attempts at reunification, in a new bid to protect children in broken homes.

David Gillespie, the Assistant Minister for Children and Families, will meet ministerial colleagues from the states and territories to encourage a focus on permanency as a solution to increasing numbers of children in out-of-home care.

More >> Coalition pushes adoption over reunion

DOCUMENTS SHOW SYSTEMATIC ABUSE OF CHILD IMMIGRANTS IN U.S. CUSTODY

Documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), featured in a new report released on May 22, show the pervasive abuse and neglect of unaccompanied immigrant children detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

More >> DOCUMENTS SHOW SYSTEMATIC ABUSE OF CHILD IMMIGRANTS IN U.S. CUSTODY

• Surge in migrant children at government shelters as Trump admin pushes 'zero tolerance'
• The 1,500 ‘Missing’ Kids Are the Lucky Ones
• ‘Lost’ migrant children? Statistics show the government is keeping more of them far longer.

W.Va. DHHR, others brace for federal lawsuit over foster care

Not only is the head of West Virginia's Department of Health and Human Resources bracing for a federal lawsuit over the state's handling of its foster care system, so are private agencies that help identify foster families and place children with them.

Those agencies are contracted by the DHHR to help place children and receive regular funding for their work, said Gwendolyn Davis, director of West Virginia's Office of Blueprints, one of these nonprofit agencies.

More >> W.Va. DHHR, others brace for federal lawsuit over foster care

'Suddenly when they divorce, Dad isn't good enough'

MK Yifat Shasha-Biton (Kulanu), who chairs the Knesset's Special Committee for the Rights of the Child, spoke about Israel's policies regarding child support and custody.

More >> 'Suddenly when they divorce, Dad isn't good enough'

New child adoption scandal engulfs Ireland

The birth certificates of 126 children adopted in Ireland between 1946 and 1969 were doctored to show their new families as their biological parents, the government admitted on Wednesday (May 30).

More >> New child adoption scandal engulfs Ireland 

• Woman illegally given up for adoption believes latest scandal is just tip of the iceberg
• Adoption campaigners urge immediate probe
• Full trawl of adoption records needed, says Clare Daly
• Emerging adoption scandal could extend to Tuam home – Corless
• Irish Leader Apologizes for Adoptions That ‘Robbed Children’ of Their Identity
• 'Another dark chapter' says Varadkar on adoption scandal
• Adoption: 'We got her, but not in the legal way'

Kansas sees dozens of births by jailed women in past 4 years

Kansas jails are facing a rising likelihood of births behind bars amid a nationwide increase in women's incarceration.

The Hutchinson News reports that the Kansas Department of Corrections saw more than 45 babies delivered by women in its custody in the past four years. That comes as the Bureau of Justice Statistics reports the number of incarcerated women in the U.S. has been increasing at a rate 50 percent higher than men since 1980.

More >> Kansas sees dozens of births by jailed women in past 4 years

Was a thriving teen made homeless by Hillsborough's foster care system?

Travis Bailey, a star student at Armwood High School, was thriving in his home life when Hillsborough County's foster care system sent him back to live with his father in Maine under a judge's order, essentially making him homeless, his brother claims.

Adam Watson is Travis' half brother. They share the same mother, but have different fathers.

More >> Was a thriving teen made homeless by Hillsborough's foster care system?

Gun-toting Santa suing Michigan over loss of state job

A man who says his career suffered after he posted a photo of himself wearing a Santa Claus costume and holding a semi-automatic rifle has cleared a key hurdle in a lawsuit against the state of Michigan.

Calvin Congden's lawsuit can proceed on his First Amendment claim and other arguments. Federal Judge Mark Goldsmith released a decision Tuesday.

More >> Gun-toting Santa suing Michigan over loss of state job

Media Circus of the Week: Separating families at the border

In an effort to crack down on illegal immigration by minors, the Trump administration will soon require fingerprints from parents coming to claim their migrant children from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to senior administration officials.

Previously, parents had been exempt from inputting their fingerprints into a system that would determine whether they have a criminal record.

More >> Trump admin: Parents must be fingerprinted to get back migrant kids

• The Trump administration has been under fire for 'losing' 1,500 migrant children, but they may not want to be found
• The facts behind the #WhereAreTheChildren campaign
• Trump lashes out as Obama-era photos of immigrant children in steel cages linked to current administration
• How To Help Immigrant Kids Who Are Taken From Their Parents At The Border
• Trump's 'zero tolerance' at the border is causing child shelters to near capacity
• This Is Why Trump’s Forced Separation Policy Doesn’t Work
• U.S. government lost 1,475 immigrant children: What you need to know to understand what happened
• Trump says Dems trying to make him 'look bad' sharing dated images of immigrant children
• Tension grows as hundreds of children are separated from parents at the border
• Trump attempts jujutsu on child separation

Locked away: Iowa is holding troubled children in isolation to punish them even as it pays out huge settlements

For nearly 2½ years, JaQuan Bradford — a boy with emotional and mental disabilities — was held in isolation by the Iowa Department of Human Services for most of each day.

More >> Locked away: Iowa is holding troubled children in isolation to punish them even as it pays out huge settlements

'Many thousands' of Irish people may not know they're adopted, says campaign group

The Adoption Rights Alliance has called for an investigation into what they believe to be illegal adoptions.

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Dr Katherine Zappone, has announced findings of 126 adoption cases run by St Patrick's Guild in Mount Merrion, Dublin, in which biological details were deliberately incorrectly registered.

The cases in question relate to adoptions that occurred in Ireland between 1946 and 1969.

More >> 'Many thousands' of Irish people may not know they're adopted, says campaign group

Father Sues Child Protective Services for ‘Kidnapping’ His Kids As Black Children Are Disproportionately Placed In Foster Care

Black children are placed in foster care and separated from their parents far more often than white children, reflecting a racial disparity in the system that some Black parents are attempting to remedy. A civil rights case recently filed in Minnesota by a Black father who alleges the state kidnapped his children and placed them in foster care shines a light on the scope of what has emerged as a national problem.

More >> Father Sues Child Protective Services for ‘Kidnapping’ His Kids As Black Children Are Disproportionately Placed In Foster Care

1,700 Texas foster children ran away last year, 245 currently missing

Texas had 245 foster children listed as runaways as of Tuesday, and they are at high risk of falling prey to sex traffickers, according to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

More >> 1,700 Texas foster children ran away last year, 245 currently missing

Black Children and Foster Care: On Surviving the Trauma of a System That Doesn’t Care About Keeping Families Together

According to national data, there were approximately 428,000 children in the U.S. foster care system in 2015. Over half the children placed into foster care (pdf) that year were children of color; black children made up 23 percent of those children. In 2015, more than 20,000 foster children of color aged out of the foster care system without reuniting with their families or finding permanent homes.

More >> Black Children and Foster Care: On Surviving the Trauma of a System That Doesn’t Care About Keeping Families Together

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley to apologize to Sixties Scoop survivors

Premier Rachel Notley will apologize to Sixties Scoop survivors on behalf of the Alberta government Monday afternoon.

Thousands of First Nations and Métis children were taken from their families by provincial child welfare authorities and placed in the care of non-Indigenous people during the Sixties Scoop, which started in the 1950s.

More >> Alberta Premier Rachel Notley to apologize to Sixties Scoop survivors

• Notley’s Sixties Scoop apology provides chance for emotional release and further action on Indigenous issues
• 'Emotional day' for '60s Scoop survivors as Alberta offers apology

B.C.'s child welfare system has failed youth who age out and must change: coroner

The B.C. Coroners Service has investigated the deaths of 200 youth who died over a six-year period, just before or after aging out of the government’s foster care system into an uncertain future with little emotional or financial support.

“These young people leaving government care died at five times the rate of the general population of young people in British Columbia,” said the report, released Monday by Michael Egilson, chair of the coroner’s child death review unit.

More >> B.C.'s child welfare system has failed youth who age out and must change: coroner

Teen mothers in foster care have high risk of losing custody of babies

Teen mothers who are in foster care may be more likely to lose custody of their babies than adolescent mothers in different living circumstances, a Canadian study suggests.

Researchers examined data on 576 teen mothers who were in foster care and 5,366 adolescent mothers who were not. Overall, the mothers in foster care were more than seven times more likely to lose custody of their babies by the time children were two years old, researchers report in Pediatrics.

More >> Teen mothers in foster care have high risk of losing custody of babies

• Babies born to teen mothers in Manitoba’s child-welfare system more likely to be placed in care, study shows
• Understanding the Intergenerational Cycle of Child Protective Service Involvement

Judge quits after suspension for sexual acts at courthouse

A Massachusetts judge who engaged in sexual acts with a social worker in his courthouse chambers announced his resignation Friday, one day after being suspended indefinitely by the state's highest court.

Judge Thomas Estes said in a letter submitted to the chief justice of the state's district court system that he would leave the bench at the close of business on June 15.

More >> Judge quits after suspension for sexual acts at courthouse

Ivanka Trump slammed for posting family snap amid lost immigrant children scandal

THIS cute family snap should be totally uncontroversial. But instead, a photo of the US President’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, with her son has sparked rage online.

The problem with the softly lit photo, posted to Twitter and Instagram on Sunday with the caption “My ♥! #SundayMorning”, was all about timing. It appeared right when outrage was peaking over President Donald Trump’s policy to separate the children of undocumented migrants from their parents.

More >> Ivanka Trump slammed for posting family snap amid lost immigrant children scandal

Trump Administration Using Contractors Accused of Abuse to Detain Undocumented Children

The U.S. government has paid at least four private companies that have been accused of physical or sexual abuse, or discrimination, to help transport or house undocumented children from Central and South America, federal contracts show. One case was fatal.

More >> Trump Administration Using Contractors Accused of Abuse to Detain Undocumented Children

• Trump whips up immigration storm over children
• Trump says Dems trying to making him 'look bad' sharing dated images of immigrant children
• The problem with the narrative about 1,500 children “lost” by US immigration authorities
• The U.S. lost track of 1,475 immigrant children last year. Here’s why people are outraged now.
• 'National Shame': US Immigration Activist Calls out ICE's Losing Track of 1,500 Migrant Children
• RICK SANTORUM ON MISSING IMMIGRANT CHILDREN: 'WE LOSE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME' IN GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS
• US government admits to losing track of nearly 1,500 immigrant children in sponsor homes

Texas Foster Kids Continue To Sleep In State Offices

It appears that the Texas foster care system still needs a good deal of work, despite a federal order to overhaul the system.

As The Austin American-Statesman reports, last month 50 foster children were forced to sleep in Child Protective Services offices for at least two consecutive nights as they awaited placement.

More >> Texas Foster Kids Continue To Sleep In State Offices

Lessons from Care: ‘The Only Flaw in This System Is that Some of Us Survived’

Jaye Simpson doesn’t want to fix the foster care system. They know from experience the system can’t be fixed, because it’s not broken.

“It’s never been broken, it’s doing exactly what it’s been designed [to do] — this is the grandchild of residential school. We need to look at that,” said Simpson, who was born and raised in B.C. but is a member of the Sapotaweyak Cree Nation in Manitoba.

More >> Lessons from Care: ‘The Only Flaw in This System Is that Some of Us Survived’

Is This a Picture of ICE’s ‘Special Prison Bus for Babies’?

A transport vehicle outfitted for children held at an immigrant detention facility has been described as a "prison bus for babies" by some.

More >> Is This a Picture of ICE’s ‘Special Prison Bus for Babies’?

Sixties Scoop survivors shed tears, share sense of hope after apology by Rachel Notley

Indigenous Albertans who were snatched from their families as children reflected on their own resilience Monday as the Alberta government issued a long-awaited apology.

“Every time we tell our stories, parts of our hearts, souls and spirits mend back together,” said Suzanne Wilkinson, 47.

More >> Sixties Scoop survivors shed tears, share sense of hope after apology by Rachel Notley

B.C.'s child welfare system has failed youth who age out and must change: coroner

The B.C. Coroner's death-review report of youth who age out of government care at age 19 confirmed the grim statistics these teens face, and recommendations more help be offered into their early adulthood years.

More >> B.C.'s child welfare system has failed youth who age out and must change: coroner

Greenfield father accused of threatening to kill and eat CASA volunteer in custody

A man accused of threatening to cook and eat a CASA volunteer and threatening other DCS workers who tried to take his kids away is in custody.

The Greenfield Police Department says Ryan Luker, 43, turned himself in to authorities on May 23, and he is being held in the Hancock County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

More >> Greenfield father accused of threatening to kill and eat CASA volunteer in custody

Long-lost siblings: Sisters meet for first time after adoption records search

When Edinburgh resident Maryann Gallagher-Little pulls out her phone to FaceTime with her sister, Cindy Allison, they communicate with the familiarity of siblings who have known each other their whole lives.

Until last November, however, the two had never spoken.

More >> Long-lost siblings: Sisters meet for first time after adoption records search

REPORTS: 1,500 IMMIGRANT CHILDREN MISSING, FEDS SAY THEY’RE NOT RESPONSIBLE

The Office of Refugee Resettlement took in some 40,000 immigrant children in 2017 and when the agency reached out to check on more than 7,000 of them between October and December of 2017, 1,475 were unaccounted for at the end of the year, CNN reported.

More >> REPORTS: 1,500 IMMIGRANT CHILDREN MISSING, FEDS SAY THEY’RE NOT RESPONSIBLE

WHAT IS THE FOSTER CARE-TO-PRISON PIPELINE?

The latest article in Teen Vogue's series, Fostered or Forgotten, examines yet another pipeline which pushes young people into prison, in this case from the child welfare system into the juvenile and adult justice systems.

Decades of research and advocacy have pushed concepts like the “school-to-prison” pipeline into the public’s consciousness. Advocates continue to reveal still more ways youth are funneled into the prison industrial complex, such as the “abuse-to-prison” pipeline described in a 2016 report from The Center for Children’s Law and Policy. The foster care-to-prison pipeline is the latest iteration in a decades-long national trend which criminalizes adolescence and worsens existing disparities and discrimination.

More >> WHAT IS THE FOSTER CARE-TO-PRISON PIPELINE?

Cindy Palmer tells 60 Minutes why Tiahleigh was given up to the foster system

CINDY Palmer has told how she gave her daughter up during a “severe domestic ­violence situation” because she thought it was the safest option for a then seven-year-old Tiahleigh.

But instead, five years later, Tiahleigh would die at the hands of her foster father after being molested by her 18-year-old foster brother.

More >> Cindy Palmer tells 60 Minutes why Tiahleigh was given up to the foster system

• 'He danced, hugged me and wept': Tiahleigh Palmer's mum reveals how her daughter's rapist foster brother cried crocodile tears at her funeral after Rick Thorburn murdered her in vile family cover-up
• Fresh details from Tiahleigh Palmer police statement
• Wife watched as Tia’s body was loaded into a car boot by her husband, murderer Rick Thorburn

Valdez: DCS removes the most kids from high poverty ZIP codes. That's no coincidence

If Arizona wants to keep children out of the child welfare system, it should make alleviating poverty a public policy priority.

The evidence is in the areas of Maricopa County with the highest number of children being removed from their homes.

More >> Valdez: DCS removes the most kids from high poverty ZIP codes. That's no coincidence

Not because there are more abused or neglected kids in these areas, but because the poor are less able to afford the lawyers to fight back.

What the legal process looks like for an immigrant child taken away from his parents

There’s been an avalanche of grim news centered on young immigrants apprehended at the border with Mexico. On Wednesday, the ACLU published a report documenting abusive encounters between young people and border agents during the administration of President Barack Obama. Last month, the government admitted that it had lost track of more than a thousand children who had been placed with sponsors after being caught crossing the border alone.

In recent days, though, attention has been focused on a new crisis for immigrant children. Earlier this month, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a new policy in which families arriving at the border would be forcibly broken up, with children and parents separated from one another and detained separately. MSNBC’s Chris Hayes explored the practical ramifications of the policy: Kids as young as a year-and-a-half, too young to form complete sentences, much less care for themselves, torn away from their parents and sent to government detention facilities.

More >> What the legal process looks like for an immigrant child taken away from his parents

Trump Draws Distance From Administration Migrant Policy That Has Separated Families

Note: FYI this is a Trump policy.

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump suggested Saturday that Democrats were responsible for the separation of migrant children from their parents at the border, a policy set by his administration.

More >> Trump Draws Distance From Administration Migrant Policy That Has Separated Families

• UN Human Rights Complaint Against Trump For Confiscation of Migrant Kids (In Depth)
• Star Opinion: Trump's attack on children
• ‘It’s Inhumane': Hollywood Protests Separation of Children From Parents at U.S. Border
• We've become normalized to Trump's tweets. Not this one.
• Trump Blames Democrats for His Most Horrifying Immigration Policy
• Trump suggests he’ll end “horrible law” separating immigrant families if he gets border wall funding
• Trump fabricates law requiring separation of migrant children and parents, a lie to hide his policy

50 Texas foster children slept in state offices, hotels in April

Texas children sleeping in state offices and other temporary living situations continue to plague the state’s child welfare agency as the number of specialized foster care homes diminishes.

The number of children who were forced to sleep in Child Protective Services offices, hotels and shelters for at least two consecutive nights as they awaited foster placement climbed to 50 over the course of April, according to new data by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

More >> 50 Texas foster children slept in state offices, hotels in April

Lawyers for abused girls to get 40 percent $6.75M settlement

Lawyers for two young sisters who were sexually abused by their parents while in foster care deserve 40 percent of the $6.75 million settlement they reached with New Hampshire's child protection agency, a judge ruled Friday.

That amounts to $2.7 million for attorney Rus Rilee and two colleagues who have spent four years representing the girls and their grandparents, forgoing other clients and earning no income for several years. Judge Gillian Abramson said the lawyers deserve more than the usual 25 percent fee because their work led to greater public accountability in such cases and because the grandparents strongly agreed with the higher amount.

More >> Lawyers for abused girls to get 40 percent $6.75M settlement

State monitors foster-care contractor

The Kansas Department of Children and Families is monitoring a foster care contractor that has kept children in offices overnight due to a shortage of beds.

More >> State monitors foster-care contractor

Missing Children's Day renews attention on 1,475 migrant children unaccounted for

Friday was National Missing Children’s Day, which put renewed attention on revelations from last month that the government had lost track of almost 1,500 migrant children placed with sponsor caretakers.

More >> Missing Children's Day renews attention on 1,475 migrant children unaccounted for

Kansas steps up scrutiny of foster care contractor keeping kids in offices overnight

Kansas' child welfare agency says it is keeping a close watch on a contractor in the Kansas City area that has kept kids in offices overnight because of a shortage of foster care beds.

The Kansas Department for Children and Families said in an email Wednesday that the agency has heard multiple concerns that led to the added oversight of KVC Health Systems. The agency said it could not detail what those concerns were.

More >> Kansas steps up scrutiny of foster care contractor keeping kids in offices overnight

Missing and Forgotten: Thousands of foster kids kicked out of the system

Child welfare workers across the country have kicked thousands of missing foster care children out of the system – including one child as young as 9-years-old, a review by 25 Investigates uncovered.

Since 2000, federal records show child welfare agencies across the country closed the cases of more than 53,000 foster kids listed as “runaway” and at least another 61,000 children listed as “missing.”

More >> Missing and Forgotten: Thousands of foster kids kicked out of the system

Tiahleigh Palmer: The 12-year-old murdered by her foster father

Australian schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer was 12 years old when she came home from dance class and was murdered by her foster father.

Hours earlier, Rick Thorburn had learned that his teenage son, Trent, had sexually assaulted her. They feared she might be pregnant.

More >> Tiahleigh Palmer: The 12-year-old murdered by her foster father

• Tiahleigh Palmer's foster father Rick Thorburn gets life sentence for 'callous' murder

Teen says DHS failed her after surviving nightmarish abuse in adoptive home

It's a story of abuse and neglect that happened in a crowded home in Delaware County.

Investigators say adoptive parents Deidre and Jerry Matthews had nine children in their home. The couple was once recognized as Northeast Oklahoma's Adoptive Parents of The Year.

More >> Teen says DHS failed her after surviving nightmarish abuse in adoptive home

Foster mother accused of beating 12-year-old boy with belt

A 26-year-old foster mother was arrested Wednesday in Miami, months after she beat a 12-year-old boy with a belt, authorities said.

According to an arrest report, the victim was seen by a child protection team Feb. 8  and disclosed during a forensic interview that his foster mother, Quanisha Brown, had beaten him with a belt on the buttocks without clothing several times. He said she also "accidentally" struck him in the face with the belt, causing bruising to his face.

More >> Foster mother accused of beating 12-year-old boy with belt

Utah couple charged with sexually, physically abusing foster daughter

A Saratoga Springs couple was charged Wednesday with numerous felonies after police say their teenage foster daughter was sexually and physically abused for years.

Starting in 2013 when the girl was 14, prosecutors say she was placed with the foster parents and was subjected to being "repeatedly molested and physically harmed … over this five-year time period" by the husband and was physically harmed by the wife, according to charging documents.

More >> Utah couple charged with sexually, physically abusing foster daughter

ACLU Report: Detained Immigrant Children Subjected To Widespread Abuse By Officials

Immigrant children in the custody of U.S. border authorities allegedly suffered pervasive abuse ranging from insults and threats to physical assaults, according to documents reviewed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

A report released this week by the ACLU is based on more than 30,000 pages of documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. The documents, it says, "expose of culture of impunity" within U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security.

More >> ACLU Report: Detained Immigrant Children Subjected To Widespread Abuse By Officials

Hundreds of migrant children are being separated from parents — and U.S. officials can't keep track

Attorney General Jeff Sessions escalated criminal prosecutions for people crossing the border illegally, including enacting a zero tolerance policy that will see even more parents jailed and separated from their children, NBC News reported this week.

The new prosecution strategy went into effect this month, the report found, reversing precedent that families would remain together in shelters while undergoing asylum or deportation proceedings. Sessions' policy extends to misdemeanor charges for first-time improper entry, according to the report.

More >> Hundreds of migrant children are being separated from parents — and U.S. officials can't keep track

Lib MP reveals sister's foster care horror

Liberal MP Steve Irons only recently discovered the unmarked grave of his sister Jennifer who died while under the care of an institution and after being physically and sexually abused in care.

More >> Lib MP reveals sister's foster care horror

Texas Child Protection leader slams foster care pregnancy report

The leader of Texas child protection is slamming a recent report that found high rates of teen pregnancy in foster care, calling the data "more sensational than factual."

In a sharply worded letter, Department of Family and Protective Services Commissioner Henry "Hank" Whitman Jr. accused the report of potentially making it harder for the agency to find homes for older foster teens by implying the girls are more likely to get pregnant.

More >> Texas Child Protection leader slams foster care pregnancy report

Judges pulled from criminal cases to work Family Court backlog

Lawyers working in both fields said they were sympathetic to Judge Jan-Marie Doogue's predicament, and there simply were not enough District Court judges.

As of March there were 8000 defended cases in the Family Court, a 30 percent jump in two years.

More >> Judges pulled from criminal cases to work Family Court backlog

Sudden Closure Of Adoption Agency Leaves Dozens Of Families In Limbo

Julie and Gary Key were among those families.

More >> Sudden Closure Of Adoption Agency Leaves Dozens Of Families In Limbo

Note: Boo hoo.   

Mom Charged With Kidnapping Infant Daughter From Foster Care

A 24-year-old woman has been charged with kidnapping, after abducting her 3-month-old daughter from foster care last week.

Authorities said Mikequera Randolph lost custody of her infant daughter, Royalty Wolf, in April.

More >> Mom Charged With Kidnapping Infant Daughter From Foster Care

After Aging Out Of Child Welfare, Foster Youth Face Homelessness And Other Challenges

There are kids in the foster care system who are never adopted, or placed back with their families and relatives. When they start aging out at 17, they're often alone in the world: No home, no family, little support. Over the last five years, more than 1,500 people between the ages of 17 and 21 aged out of the Colorado foster care system, and often ended up homeless or incarcerated.

More >> After Aging Out Of Child Welfare, Foster Youth Face Homelessness And Other Challenges

Most Colorado foster kids change schools at least once a year, and performance falls with each move

Of the 6,500 children in Colorado’s foster system last year, 55 percent changed schools at least once during the school year.

More >> Most Colorado foster kids change schools at least once a year, and performance falls with each move

• Moved from school to school, fewer than 1 in 4 foster kids graduate. That’s worse than homeless kids.

WV DHHR, others brace for federal lawsuit over foster care

Not only is the head of West Virginia’s Department of Health and Human Resources bracing for a federal lawsuit over the state’s handling of its foster care system, so are private agencies that help identify foster families and place children with them.

Those agencies are contracted by the DHHR to help place children and receive regular funding for their work, said Gwendolyn Davis, director of West Virginia’s Office of Blueprints, one of these nonprofit agencies.

More >> WV DHHR, others brace for federal lawsuit over foster care

DHHS Report: 'Poor job performance and inadequate supervision' contributed to child deaths

Maine's DHHS will use this case as a growth opportunity as the Legislature throws money at them to fix the problems, excluding the fact that these people couldn't tell the difference between Child Abuse and a hole in the ground.  Social Workers simply aren't smart enough to do a job like this.

Maine’s Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS) “failed to follow policies and procedures” in one of two horrific child abuse cases, according to a report released Thursday by the Office of Program Evaluation and Accountability. 

The report does not identify whether this happened in the case of Marissa Kennedy or Kendall Chick. It says in one of the cases, OCFS failed to stay “engaged with the child and family to ensure needed services and supports were provided.” 

More >> DHHS Report: 'Poor job performance and inadequate supervision' contributed to child deaths

They'll provide more training, try to hire more child snatchers, there will be increased efforts to get more suckers to sign up to recruit potential foster parents to open their hearts and their homes.

You should all know this by now.

Ultimately, Maine is going to start snatching more kids.

How Foster Care Can Split Up Siblings — And Result In Very Different Lives For Them

In the middle of the night, next to garbage cans overflowing with liquor and beer bottles, my sister and I sat alone in “time-out.” I was five; Ashley, whose name has been changed for this story, was eight. It wasn’t our first time being left alone, so I trusted Ashley to protect me like she always did, and fell asleep. But my big sister couldn’t remove the fear that struck when I was told they were taking us away from our home. Flashing cop lights illuminated the room as our clothes and toys were stuffed into garbage bags. We entered the foster care system.


More >> How Foster Care Can Split Up Siblings — And Result In Very Different Lives For Them

DHHR chief says feds talking about suing West Virginia over foster care crisis

The federal government may soon file a lawsuit against West Virginia over its foster care crisis brought on by the opioid epidemic, according to state Department of Heath and Human Resources Secretary Bill Crouch.

Crouch told state lawmakers during a Monday meeting that he heard from the Department of Justice as recently as last Thursday.

More >> DHHR chief says feds talking about suing West Virginia over foster care crisis

Here’s What Happened After Liberal Activists Shut Down Catholic Adoption Providers in Illinois

At least 2,000 children were disrupted and thousands more foster parents lost from the system after activists forced Catholic Charities to close adoption and foster care services in Illinois, executive Steve Roach says.

For the past decade, liberal activists have targeted faith-based adoption agencies if they do not assist same-sex couples who wish to adopt. Through lawsuits and legislation, these activists gave faith-based agencies an ultimatum: Comply with politically correct views on sexuality and marriage and place children with same-sex couples, or shut down.

More >> Here’s What Happened After Liberal Activists Shut Down Catholic Adoption Providers in Illinois

Oklahoma DHS Accused Of Firing Employee For Voicing Concerns

An Oklahoma DHS worker says the agency is placing children in unsafe foster homes. But after raising those concerns in a letter to her supervisors, she says she was fired.

Dahn Gregg has been with DHS for 13 years. She has her master’s in social work. She said on Friday she wrote the letter to her supervisors about her concerns with some foster homes, that included a specific example and specific numbers. Monday morning, she was fired.

More >> Oklahoma DHS Accused Of Firing Employee For Voicing Concerns

ARCHDIOCESE SUES PHILADELPHIA FOR RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION

The archdiocese of Philadelphia along with several foster parents are suing the City of Philadelphia for blocking a Catholic organization over the issue of homosexuality.

In March, the city government announced a dire need for more foster parents. Despite this, Philadelphia suspended foster care referrals to Catholic Social Services (CSS) — operated by the archdiocese — and has threatened to revoke referrals permanently because CSS won't adopt out children to gay couples.

More >> ARCHDIOCESE SUES PHILADELPHIA FOR RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION

Northern Ireland: Inquiry call over 'illegal' forced adoptions at mother and baby home

‘We are calling on the Northern Ireland authorities to establish an independent investigation into the allegations of systemic human rights abuses at these institutions, including the alleged theft and trafficking of new-born babies’ – Patrick Corrigan

More >> Northern Ireland: Inquiry call over 'illegal' forced adoptions at mother and baby home

Parents sue over child protections laws in Minnesota

A group of parents has accused state and county child protection agencies in Minnesota of illegally removing children from their homes.

The civil rights lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis alleges the state’s child protection laws are overly broad and that children are being taken from their homes and placed in foster care for parental discipline, such as spanking.

More >> Parents sue over child protections laws in Minnesota

Dealing with RI DCYF “Hell” Says Grandmother of Rescuing Grandchildren from Drug-Addicted Son

A grandmother in Rhode Island is calling out the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) after saying she “went through hell” to get her grandchildren from her drug-addicted son and partner — and wants to help other grandparents throughout New England who are going through similar situations.

“I lost everything in Colorado. My whole life was there,” said Coventry resident Sharon Cabral, who returned home to Rhode Island in 2015 to rescue two of her grandchildren from what she said was her son and partner’s “drug squalor” — and said she became so worn out by the DCYF process that she all but gave up trying to adopt a third grandchild.

More >> Dealing with RI DCYF “Hell” Says Grandmother of Rescuing Grandchildren from Drug-Addicted Son

DOZENS OF GA FOSTER CHILDREN DROPPED FROM STATE CUSTODY AFTER THEY DISAPPEARED

Dozens of Georgia foster children were dropped from state custody while they were missing from care, even after the state eliminated a policy allowing the practice, a Channel 2 Action News investigation uncovered.

The previous policy, which was eliminated in December of 2016, allowed the division to ask a judge to remove DFCS as the guardian of a child in temporary foster care when the minor was missing for more than six months.

More >> DOZENS OF GA FOSTER CHILDREN DROPPED FROM STATE CUSTODY AFTER THEY DISAPPEARED

Nuns in Northern Ireland accused of arranging adoptions without mothers’ consent

A Catholic home for mothers and babies in Northern Ireland has been accused of carrying out illegal adoptions.

The Marianvale mother and baby home in Newry, run by the Good Shepherd sisters, allegedly moved children outside the UK for adoption without the permission of their mothers, according to the BBC’s File on 4 programme.

More >> Nuns in Northern Ireland accused of arranging adoptions without mothers’ consent

Michigan Kids Dying in Foster Care; Renk's Interview with the Reporter Who Uncovered It

I read an article in the Lansing Sate Journal written by Justin Hinkley titled More Michigan Kids Are Dying From Abuse or Neglect a Decade After A Lawsuit Forced the State to Spend Millions of Dollars on Improvements.

In that article I learned that those deaths increased despite the doubling Michigan’s child welfare budget and nearly doubling Michigan’s child welfare staff.

More >> Michigan Kids Dying in Foster Care; Renk's Interview with the Reporter Who Uncovered It

25 Investigates: Cops say sex traffickers sell foster kids on the weekends

Sex traffickers are selling foster kids on the weekends, 25 Investigates has uncovered.

Investigative Reporter Eric Rasmussen found cases of kids in foster care pimped out on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then returned to their taxpayer-funded group homes on Monday.

More >> 25 Investigates: Cops say sex traffickers sell foster kids on the weekends

How Foster Care Has Stripped Native American Children of Their Own Cultures

For Natives, foster care is a sensitive subject, and with good reason.

Removing Native children from their families and tribes of origin was once federal government policy in the United States. As the Indian Wars drew to a close in the late 1800s, punctuated by massacres and the establishment of the prisoner-of-war camps that would become known as reservations, the assimilation era began.

More >> How Foster Care Has Stripped Native American Children of Their Own Cultures

West Virginia High Court Says Kids Can’t Inherit After Parents Lose Rights

In a decision that appears to further punish children who have already been abused, the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled that a child cannot inherit from a parent whose rights have been terminated.

“Because this disturbing decision piles even more hardship on this child whose life was already severely damaged by parental abuse and neglect, I vehemently dissent,” said Chief Justice Margaret Workman, writing in dissent of the decision along with one other judge.

More >> West Virginia High Court Says Kids Can’t Inherit After Parents Lose Rights

Missing Baby: Every Foster Parent's Worst Nightmare

Note: I post this article for educational purposes.  Not because I sympathize with foster caregivers.

When children in foster care go missing, especially at the hands of their biological family, there isn't necessarily a village out there fighting for their safe return. I invite you to become part of Royalty's village. One week is too long, and we have no idea if she's still safe. Please pray for her safe return and do all you can to spread the media coverage of this case. Sadly no Amber Alert has been issued, causing the public to doubt the validity of this story. I assure you, this child is in danger, and she needs to be found.

More >> Missing Baby: Every Foster Parent's Worst Nightmare

While Kids Wait For Homes, Philadelphia Bars Catholic Social Services From Serving Foster Children

Ever since the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015, we’ve been seeing myriad broader implications from the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell. From wedding cake bakers to event planners, if you dissented from the new regime you could have your livelihood taken from you. Now, the inexorable logic of Obergefell is bearing down on religious organizations that do social welfare work, as conservatives predicted.

Last week, a group of foster families in Philadelphia asked a federal court to end a new municipal policy that prevents Catholic Social Services from placing children in foster homes. Catholic Social Services is one of the largest and highest-rated foster agencies in Philadelphia, but because it adheres to Catholic teaching on homosexuality and does not place foster children in same-sex households, the City of Philadelphia is cutting them off.

More >> While Kids Wait For Homes, Philadelphia Bars Catholic Social Services From Serving Foster Children

1 in 4 aged-out foster kids in S.C. become homeless or teen moms, despite taxpayers' millions

When she was 5 or 6, her first foster mother beat her and locked her in a closet. Then she moved to a nice foster mom’s house. Then back to her biological mother, back to the nice foster mom, back to her biological mom, then back to foster care, this time a group home.

Five group homes, three foster homes. One childhood.

More >> 1 in 4 aged-out foster kids in S.C. become homeless or teen moms, despite taxpayers' millions

How Prevention Services Could Help Youth Avoid the Foster Care System

When I look back now on my family’s experiences, I realize that the child welfare system only saw our family’s trauma and hurt, our dysfunction and abnormalities. They didn’t see parents who raised me for fourteen years, who taught me the values of honesty, education, humor, and compassion. They didn’t see that my family had lost our two biggest supporters within the prior three years; including my grandmother, who died from Leukemia mere months before I was taken into the system. The system only saw a missed appointment, or a positive drug test, and seemed to assume the worst about our lives. The system removed me first, and provided services second — after the trust was broken and the damage was done.

More >> How Prevention Services Could Help Youth Avoid the Foster Care System

Dark Secrets: Children Are Being Deliberately Drugged Into Foster Care

Here is a fact that may be unbeknownst to you–all across America, on a daily basis, thousands of children are being drugged in foster care. Not only is it legal, but it is also hugely profitable to the bigwigs.

More >> Dark Secrets: Children Are Being Deliberately Drugged Into Foster Care

Is the mother right?

I know this is an older video, but it's still good.

Relatives say they don't get the foster care money Kentucky owes them

Accusing state officials of "a brazen violation of federal law," a group of grandparents and other relatives raising children removed from homes because of abuse or neglect have filed a lawsuit seeking foster payments they say they are entitled to under a court ruling last year.

"They're not in it for the money, but they need help," said Lexington lawyer Richard Dawahare, who filed the lawsuit Thursday on behalf of 14 adults and 21 children.  "They need help raising these kids."

More >> Relatives say they don't get the foster care money Kentucky owes them

Kansas governor signs adoption law

Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer signed legislation Friday granting legal protections to faith-based adoption agencies that cite their religious beliefs for not placing children in lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender homes, an action that quickly became an issue as he runs this year to keep his office.

The Republican governor signed the measure during a ceremony at a Christian boys’ home outside Wichita, surrounded by supporters who view it as a religious-freedom measure. But the Democratic Party and one of Colyer’s opponents in the GOP primary immediately criticized him as supporting discrimination.

More >> Kansas governor signs adoption law

Law allows punishment of bad parents without new proof

She acknowledges that as a teenager she failed at making smart choices. While living in fear of an abusive boyfriend, she endured the violence until it turned to her seven-month-old son.

More >> Law allows punishment of bad parents without new proof

Treatment facility for girls raided following abuse allegations

Authorities used a search warrant to raid a girls home in Texas after almost 100 instances of abuse were reported.

Those allegations included reports of girls aged six to 17 being hog-tied and sexually assaulted.

More >> Treatment facility for girls raided following abuse allegations

Every bishop in Chile just resigned over the child sex abuse scandal

Thirty-four Chilean bishops have resigned together over the Catholic child sex abuse scandals.

The unprecedented move — which saw the entire Chilean church leadership offer to step down — came shortly after a meeting with Pope Francis over the scale of sexual abuse and its cover-up in Chile. It is to date the most significant formal acceptance of responsibility for abuse by members of the church hierarchy anywhere in the world.

More >> Every bishop in Chile just resigned over the child sex abuse scandal

"Insufficient Evidence" To Suggest Sherin's Adoptive Parents Abused Her: Report

HOUSTON:  In a new twist in the Sherin Mathews' case, US child protection authorities say they have found "insufficient evidence" if the deceased Indian toddler was physically abused by her adoptive mother and blamed "an unknown perpetrator" for her injuries, prior to her adoption.

Ms Sherin, 3, was found dead in mysterious circumstances in a culvert in Richardson, in suburban Dallas, Texas, on October 22, two weeks after her Indian-American foster parents reported her missing.

More >> "Insufficient Evidence" To Suggest Sherin's Adoptive Parents Abused Her: Report

Court orders Irish social workers to inform parents of UK applications

Irish social workers must "stop immediately" the practice of acting in conjunction with their UK counterparts in seeking the return to Britain of children at the centre of care proceedings without the parents' knowledge of that application, the Court of Appeal has said.

If it does not stop, social workers could face contempt of court proceedings, Mr Justice Gerard Hogan said. He also expressed the "deepest misgivings" about the conduct of Irish and English social workers in one such case.


More >> Court orders Irish social workers to inform parents of UK applications

Auditor general: $90M needed to fix broken child welfare system

The unveiling of Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale’s plan Wednesday is the third time in recent years he has drawn attention to the state’s beleaguered child welfare system .

Pennsylvania’s auditor general has a 28-point plan that he believes can start fixing what he calls a broken child welfare system and provide front-line workers with the resources, training and time necessary for safeguarding children in danger of abuse and neglect.

More >> Auditor general: $90M needed to fix broken child welfare system

One Colorado foster child moved 46 times. Toughest cases get more attention, but resources are stretched

The list of Colorado foster kids predicted to have the toughest time getting adopted has 81 names.

More >> One Colorado foster child moved 46 times. Toughest cases get more attention, but resources are stretched

Students with special needs in B.C. still face seclusion, physical restraint in schools

A new report from the advocacy group, Inclusion B.C., claims routine restraint and seclusion of children with special needs in schools hasn't improved much since its previous report in 2013 led to new guidelines — prompting the provincial education minister to promise new guidelines for schools by the end of the calendar year.

It says the impact of the practice in schools includes "profound, lasting emotional and/or physical trauma" for students.

More >> Students with special needs in B.C. still face seclusion, physical restraint in schools

Japan on U.S. list of nations noncompliant with Hague Treaty

WASHINGTON (Jiji Press) — The U.S. State Department on Wednesday listed Japan as one of countries showing a pattern of noncompliance with the so-called Hague Treaty that sets procedures to settle cross-border parental child abduction cases.

Japan joined the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction in 2014, and it is the first time since then that the nation has been put on the list in the department’s annual report on the issue of children taken by one parent following the breakup of international marriages.

More >> Japan on U.S. list of nations noncompliant with Hague Treaty

Jury finds Christian missionary from Oregon guilty of abusing Cambodian orphans

PORTLAND, Ore. — A U.S. jury found a Christian missionary from Oregon guilty Wednesday of multiple sex abuse charges for molesting children living at an unlicensed Cambodian orphanage that he operated in Phnom Penh over a period of years.

Daniel Stephen Johnson, 40, was convicted of six counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place and one count each of travel with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and aggravated sexual assault with children. He faces a minimum of 30 years in prison when sentenced in August in Eugene, Oregon.

More >> Jury finds Christian missionary from Oregon guilty of abusing Cambodian orphans

JOSHUA TREE COUPLE CHARGED WITH CHILD ABUSE AWARDED CUSTODY

The Joshua Tree couple charged with felony child abuse has a victory Thursday. After a long day in family court in San Bernardino Daniel Panico and Mona Kirk got their children back.

The pair was arrested in late February after police say they found their three children under the age of 15 found living in a makeshift shelter near their mobile home on their property.

More >> JOSHUA TREE COUPLE CHARGED WITH CHILD ABUSE AWARDED CUSTODY

Man on trial over Family Court bombings

A former firefighter accused of a string of Sydney bombings and murders in the 1980s allegedly told his ex-wife a Family Court judge "won't be there much longer" weeks before he was shot dead.

Opening the crown case on Tuesday, prosecutor Ken McKay said when the ex-wife asked if the judge was going on holidays, Leonard John Warwick replied: "No, he won't be there at all."

More >> Man on trial over Family Court bombings

Trump HHS considers using military bases to house immigrant children

Officials from the Department of Health and Human Services are visiting four U.S. military bases in Texas and Arkansas that could be used as additional facilities to house immigrant children forcibly separated from their mothers and fathers - as the parents face prosecution for illegally entering the United States.

HHS has not made a formal request of the Department of Defense for use of the facilities, but the informal visits show that federal agencies are preparing for the Trump administration's plans to prosecute all immigrant adults who enter the country illegally.

More >> Trump HHS considers using military bases to house immigrant children

• Separating children from parents at the border isn’t just cruel. It’s torture.
• Homeland Security boss defends separating immigrant families

Oklahoma child welfare director resigns, citing stress

Oklahoma’s director of child services says she’s resigning because of the stress of her job and the pressure of implementing a 2012 legal agreement.

The Oklahoman reports that Jami Ledoux announced her resignation Tuesday as the director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services’ child welfare division. Her resignation is effective May 31.

More >> Oklahoma child welfare director resigns, citing stress

Child welfare agents investigate claims abused and neglected kids are being held like prisoners

Child welfare administrators are investigating a report that adolescents in a Miami Gardens shelter for abused and neglected children are being treated like virtual prisoners in a compound with a fence and a locked gate.

The allegations were made by a court-ordered guardian for children in the child welfare system, Evin Daly, who said he reported his concerns to Florida’s child abuse hotline. They involve the His House Children’s Home, which houses foster kids who haven’t been able to find a more traditional home. Currently, 76 children and adolescents live at the shelter.

More >> Child welfare agents investigate claims abused and neglected kids are being held like prisoners

CPS report details prior alleged abuse investigation in Sherin Mathews case

Mathews had suffered fractures in her shoulders, arm and leg, but officials "found insufficient evidence" that her adoptive parents abused her.

More >> CPS report details prior alleged abuse investigation in Sherin Mathews case

Oklahoma bishops praise new protections for Catholic adoption agencies

With the signing of a bill preserving the religious freedom of adoption agencies in Oklahoma, Gov. Mary Fallin drew praise from the state’s Catholic bishops on Friday.

More >> Oklahoma bishops praise new protections for Catholic adoption agencies

The Maine Child Protective Service Handbook

This is the literature that a child snatcher gives to the parents when they are doing a child abuse investigation in Maine.

I know it's all bullshit, but I'm posting it anyway.

LK vs CPS

Here is the audio from my meeting a CPS worker with who was assigned to investigate a bullshit report by a dumbass social worker at my daughters school. 

I am posting this for educational purposes so that you can learn how to deal with CPS. Right from the start.  Don't give them anything to work with.  This case was closed with no finding of abuse after 8 days from the initial report.

I was going to wait to post this, but I guess it doesn't really matter, right?




Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Part 5



No matter how good I do, these assholes just won't stop. 

I will have lots more to say on Legally Kidnapped about this.

To follow the story...
http://legallykidnapped.blogspot.com/search/label/My%20Case

My beautiful wife had to spend Mothers Day with CPS up her ass but now they're gone.

I just got a call from the CPS worker who was assigned to my case.  She informed me that they are closing my case with no finding of abuse.  Today is May 15th, the initial report was made on May 7th.  That's 8 days people.

I honestly have nothing bad to say about the CPS worker.  I'm not going to lie.  She treated me fairly and we were able to come to a resolution that I am satisfied with quickly.  I appreciate that because it was all bullshit to begin with.  Of course I can't speak for other families on her caseload so I won't, but I'm not going to bash her in any way because I personally have no reason to.

That doesn't mean I'm going to let it go at that.  I will take a quick sigh of relief, then get right back to fighting.

PJ Miles

First of all, I did have a 2 minute phone conversation with a psycho bitch from KidsPeace Maine alternative response by the name of PJ Miles, who accused me of verbal aggression and trying to bully her over the phone.  That pissed me off and I have filed a complaint against her and will file one against her professional license as well as with the state of Maine DHHS.  I'm sure that had I bowed down and kissed her ass from the start, she might have liked me.  I'm also sure had I not refused to work with her, we'd be fighting it out for 35 days, which is how long Maine CPS has to complete an investigation, or she'd try to impose services on my family or who knows.  KidsPeace is a private agency that makes it's money by contracting with CPS so of course they're going to milk it.

I did fill out a form on the KidsPeace website which is apparently their main office in Pennsylvania.  I wanted to make sure they saw my earlier blog post.

And I even got a canned response that does not address my issue.  I do not expect my issue to be addressed.  They will try to sweep it under the rug, but it's there forever anyway.

Now I just have to deal with a rat problem at the school.  Then there is the issue of dealing with the school so that this doesn't continue to happen.  Perhaps I just have to work on rebuilding my relationship and my trust with the school.  Perhaps I should demand that they have better training so that they know the difference between what and what not to report.  This is much harder done than said.  I trusted the person who made the report.  We are supposed to be a part of a team.  We are supposed to be all working together for the common good.  And they know damn well what my kid is like.  I feel like I'm the one who is supposed to take it for the team.  I feel like they stabbed me in the back.

I also need to say...

CPS did not enter my home.  I clearly stated that she would need a warrant.

CPS did not speak to or interact with my children.  Although the worker did "have to lay eyes on them," we came up with a way for her to do that without interacting with my kids.

What I did do was this.  After I refused services with the Alternative Response worker, the case was kicked back to CPS.  The CPS worker called the next day wanting to meet with myself and my wife.  I had assumed it would be a different ARS worker, but now it was a real CPS worker.  So I invited her to a meeting that I already had set up with my daughters case manager and invited her JCCO.  Both professionals who I have been working with for months.  Both who have been in my home.  Both who are helping me to deal with the special needs.  So this CPS worker got to hear a bit about our struggles with my special needs 15 year old, and all the POSITIVE THINGS we had been doing for the last several months.

That was all she needed.

The meeting took place on Friday and she notified me that she was closing the case today.


For earlier posts regarding this case, CLICK HERE