Father threatened to blow up Chester council offices after social services 'took away his children'

Gary McCormick, 42, of Blacon Avenue, told a supervisor at Altcourse Prison that he intended to bomb Cheshire West and Chester Council’s offices when he was released.

He pleaded guilty to threatening to destroy or damage property and was sentenced to a two-year community order.

More >> Father threatened to blow up Chester council offices after social services 'took away his children'

Records allege children are punished in ‘tight, dark’ rooms at Charleston-area group home

The S.C. Department of Social Services has continued to assign dozens of children in state custody to a Summerville group home in recent months, even after agency officials were made aware that Pinelands Group Homes allegedly punishes children by boarding them up in small, dark rooms for long stretches of time, new federal court records show.

Pinelands CEO Joette Kizer denied the use of solitary confinement for children under the facility’s care. She said she didn’t know why court-appointed experts made such claims.

More >> Records allege children are punished in ‘tight, dark’ rooms at Charleston-area group home

An understudied form of child abuse and 'intimate terrorism': Parental alienation

The scene: a bitter divorce, and a custody battle over the couple's 7-year-old son. Awarded full custody, the mother -- perhaps seeking revenge? -- sets out to destroy the son's relationship with his father. The mother tells the son lies about the father's behavior, plants seeds of doubt about his fitness as a parent, and sabotages the father's efforts to see his son. The son begins to believe the lies; as he grows up, his relationship with his father becomes strained.

More >> An understudied form of child abuse and 'intimate terrorism': Parental alienation

When schools use child protective services as a weapon against parents

Many school employees are legally obligated to report any suspicion of child abuse and neglect, but sometimes that authority is misused

More >> When schools use child protective services as a weapon against parents

Murphy says it's 'too early to tell' how N.J. will deal with facility where 11 children died

Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday his administration hasn't yet determined how it will hold a Passaic County health facility accountable for the 11 children that have died in recent months from a viral outbreak.

"It's too early to tell," Murphy said during an unrelated news conference in Paterson.

More >> Murphy says it's 'too early to tell' how N.J. will deal with facility where 11 children died

Police reports detail fights, sex crimes at Iowa academy for troubled youth

In February, a Lincoln, Nebraska, mother of a 15-year-old student at Iowa's Clarinda Academy told police that a staff member assaulted her daughter.

The girl fell and hit her face on the floor, causing bruising, after the facility's director, Brad Honnald, tried to restrain her, according to a police report. 

The next month, eight teens attempted an escape that resulted in a 32-year-old staff worker Nathanial Bennett suffering broken bones and falling unconscious and left another staffer injured.

More >> Police reports detail fights, sex crimes at Iowa academy for troubled youth

Kids' data used to deport sponsors

Earlier this year, the federal agency tasked with caring for asylum-seeking children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexican border officially took on a new, little heralded role: helping to deport relatives of the young migrants.

In a Wednesday letter to the heads of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security, 112 civil-liberties and migrant-rights groups, child-welfare advocates and privacy activists are crying foul, demanding an immediate halt to what they call an illegal practice.

More >> Kids' data used to deport sponsors

State pays $1.25 million for death of 15-year-old foster child

The state of Oregon has agreed to pay $1.25 million to the family of a 15-year-old Albany girl who died under the watch of child welfare workers.

Gloria Joya died while in foster care in 2016 from untreated gastrointestinal problems, a health condition that a 2017 lawsuit claimed was made worse because of the girl’s tumultuous life.

More >> State pays $1.25 million for death of 15-year-old foster child

The state hides how children die on Oregon’s watch

Trevor Secord nearly died at 14. He drank so much liquor that his blood alcohol rose to a level that would have killed many adults. Emergency responders rushed him from Warrenton to a Portland hospital. Friends were so convinced he was going to die that they told his family about the adult who provided him alcohol.

More >> The state hides how children die on Oregon’s watch

Groups demand end to info-sharing on asylum-seeking children

Earlier this year, the federal agency tasked with caring for asylum-seeking children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexican border officially took on a new, little heralded role: helping to deport relatives of the young migrants.

In a Wednesday letter to the heads of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security, 112 civil-liberties and immigrant-rights groups, child-welfare advocates and privacy activists are crying foul, demanding an immediate halt to what they call an illegal practice.

More >> Groups demand end to info-sharing on asylum-seeking children

Statesman sues Texas Department of Family and Protective Services over day care death records

The Texas attorney general’s office has ruled that the Department of Family and Protective Services violated the state’s freedom-of-information law in its handling of a records request related to child deaths in day cares.

The ruling comes after the American-Statesman in May requested the agency’s reports on deaths that occurred in Texas day cares over the past five years. The agency has maintained that state law requires it to keep the documents confidential.

More >> Statesman sues Texas Department of Family and Protective Services over day care death records

Agencies will meet with all children in foster homes managed by Winnipeg company after abuse allegations

The Manitoba government is promising to speak with every foster child in the care of a for-profit agency under fire for allegations of sexual abuse at a foster home it was responsible for.

The province ordered a review of B & L Resources for Children and Youth last weekend, following a CBC investigation in which a secret recording revealed a manager from B & L admitted the company did not act quickly enough after sex abuse allegations involving a minor arose in a foster home overseen by B & L.

More >> Agencies will meet with all children in foster homes managed by Winnipeg company after abuse allegations

Glitch Takes Down Colorado Child Welfare System for 16 Hours

Colorado's new case management system, in the middle of a multi-phase upgrade, is riddled with problems. Its latest reboot left social workers with corrupted data, missing referrals and inaccurate child welfare reports.

More >> Glitch Takes Down Colorado Child Welfare System for 16 Hours

Why Fewer Families Are Bringing Home Babies Through Adoption

Adoption advocates have spent the past month working to raise awareness about adoption as a way to grow a family. But whether they are done privately or internationally, adoptions are happening less frequently.

We meet a local family that has found a way to adopt not once, but twice.

More >> Why Fewer Families Are Bringing Home Babies Through Adoption

Trump Approach to Separating Kids Has Much in Common With Foster System

If there’s one thing that really, really upsets America’s child welfare establishment, it’s pointing out the close resemblance between the Trump administration’s so-called “zero tolerance” policy that separated children from their parents at the Mexican border and the American foster care system.

So, every few weeks, it seems, there is another desperate attempt at hair-splitting to try to convince us that when American child protective services agencies tear apart families nearly 270,000 times every year, it’s nothing like those roughly 2,600 cases that occurred on the border.

More >> Trump Approach to Separating Kids Has Much in Common With Foster System

Migrant Families Still Being Separated at the Border

Border agents say they have “no obligation” to report new cases of family separation because they didn’t take place under the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy.

More >> Migrant Families Still Being Separated at the Border

• Families still being separated at border — months after Trump’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy reversed

Christians should stop using God to sanctify adoption

Ashley MacInnis is an adult adoptee who lives in Halifax and grew up in a church-going family. As a child, it never struck her as odd when people made comments like, "God had a plan for you!" or "You were God's gift to your parents. " Now, however, she feels differently.

"I think statements linking God and adoption are actually quite insulting," MacInnis writes in an email. "It minimizes the emotional upheaval everyone goes through. It's not like an immaculate conception and everything is just so; there can be months of waiting, paperwork, raw emotion, legalities. Society's take on adoption is so simple when it's actually so complex."

More >> Christians should stop using God to sanctify adoption

The tragic state of Washington’s foster children

The article concerning the lack of foster homes, group homes and poor managing of foster kids is very sad.

Why aren’t we, as a society, taking better care of these kids, who so badly need stability, hugs, healthy meals and encouragement?

More >> The tragic state of Washington’s foster children

Mother Whose Child Died After ICE Detention Sues for $60 Million

Mariee Juárez seemed to be in perfect health when she and her mother were detained after they illegally crossed the United States border in March.

But when they were released from custody three weeks later, the child had a severe infection that would lead to her death less than two months later. She was 20 months old.

More >> Mother Whose Child Died After ICE Detention Sues for $60 Million

Fake CPS worker tried tricking cops into helping her kidnap an infant, Nevada police say

It’s not uncommon for Child Protective Services workers to ask police for help removing a child from a home, according to a Las Vegas police spokeswoman.

But during an incident on Monday, a self-proclaimed social worker who called police for backup was a fraud — and officers realized it in time, police said.

More >> Fake CPS worker tried tricking cops into helping her kidnap an infant, Nevada police say

Police: Woman accused of posing as CPS worker in attempt to kidnap 3-week-old baby

Las Vegas police are investigating the attempted kidnapping of a 3-week-old baby by a woman who posed as a Child Protective Services worker.

On Monday around 12:30 p.m., a woman named Joanna Boyd, 39, called police, claiming to be a CPS worker and requesting officers assist with the emergency pickup of a baby. Officers responded to the location in the 4300 block of North Las Vegas Boulevard, near Craig Road.

More >> Police: Woman accused of posing as CPS worker in attempt to kidnap 3-week-old baby

Grandmother claims children were unjustly removed, and deputies used excessive force

A local grandmother is making some serious allegations against a group of Bexar County Sheriff's deputies, and Child Protective Services.

Andria Williams says CPS workers removed her grand children without investigating claims of child abuse, and deputies used excessive force.

More >> Grandmother claims children were unjustly removed, and deputies used excessive force

LOST CHILDREN Heartbreaking stories of British children living in care – from the girl whose carer put washing-up liquid in her mouth to the boy who had adults around him placing bets on the winner as he fought other kids

AFTER her mum suffered a fatal overdose and her father passed away, Stacey, who is now 15, found herself orphaned and separated from her brother and sister.

She was moved from home to home and abused by her carers - with one forcing her to drink half a bottle of fairy liquid and keep it in her mouth for 10 minutes as punishment.

More >> LOST CHILDREN Heartbreaking stories of British children living in care – from the girl whose carer put washing-up liquid in her mouth to the boy who had adults around him placing bets on the winner as he fought other kids

Lawsuit: Foster Children in Kansas Forced to Sleep in Office Conference Rooms, Hospitals

An extraordinarily damning class-action lawsuit that has just been filed in Kansas alleges that the state’s foster care system is so broken that children are functionally homeless and in near-constant mental health crises.

The grim state of Kansas’ system received statewide attention recently when a 13-year-old girl was reportedly raped while she was staying overnight in one of the state’s child welfare agency offices. According to the lawsuit, this is not uncommon. Children in foster care in Kansas are routinely housed in office conference rooms, hospitals, and other nonstandard housing situations because Kansas lacks adequate housing resources for the foster care population. Partly because of that, children are moved from one place to another, sometimes as often as every night. This extreme transience doesn’t just destabilize the home life of these children. It also destabilizes their mental health.

More >> Lawsuit: Foster Children in Kansas Forced to Sleep in Office Conference Rooms, Hospitals

US nixed FBI checks on staff at migrant teen detention camp

The Trump administration announced in June it would open a temporary shelter for up to 360 migrant children in this isolated corner of the Texas desert. Less than six months later, the facility has expanded into a detention camp holding thousands of teenagers — and it shows every sign of becoming more permanent.

More >> US nixed FBI checks on staff at migrant teen detention camp

Lawmakers Introduce Bipartisan Resolution Recognizing 40th Anniversary Of Indian Child Welfare Act

 U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.), vice chairman and chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, respectively, along with U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and U.S. Representatives Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and Tom Cole (R-Okla.), led 46 members of Congress Tuesday in introducing a bipartisan resolution commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), and recognizing its importance to promoting the stability and security of Tribal communities and families.

ICWA sets best-practice standards for child welfare and adoption proceedings involving children who are members of a federally-recognized Tribe or are eligible for membership in a federally-recognized Tribe.

More >> Lawmakers Introduce Bipartisan Resolution Recognizing 40th Anniversary Of Indian Child Welfare Act

Groups demand end to info-sharing on asylum-seeking children

Earlier this year, the federal agency tasked with caring for asylum-seeking children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexican border officially took on a new, little heralded role: helping to deport relatives of the young migrants.

In a Wednesday letter to the heads of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security, 112 civil-liberties and immigrant-rights groups, child-welfare advocates and privacy activists are crying foul, demanding an immediate halt to what they call an illegal practice.

More >> Groups demand end to info-sharing on asylum-seeking children

How does foster care impact a child’s wellbeing?

The number of children in foster care in the United States is on the rise and shows no sign of slowing.

A government report at the end of 2017 showed an increase in the number of foster care cases for the fourth year in a row. The total number of children in the system climbed to over 430,000.

More >> How does foster care impact a child’s wellbeing?

Birth Moms Sometimes Face Adoption Fraud Charges

But defense attorneys question why lawyers involved in the deals that go sour never face scrutiny.

More >> Birth Moms Sometimes Face Adoption Fraud Charges

Father Refuses to Allow 6-Year-Old Son to Dress Like a Girl – Now He's Been Charged with 'Child Abuse'

A Texas father is in the middle of a high stakes legal battle that could end in him losing his son.

Jeffrey Younger has been charged with child abuse for not affirming his ex-wife's decision to raise their son James as a girl.

More >> Father Refuses to Allow 6-Year-Old Son to Dress Like a Girl – Now He's Been Charged with 'Child Abuse'

• Mom Threatens Child Abuse Charge Against Dad for Not Affirming Son as Transgender

With shortage of foster parents, Washington has almost tenfold increase in hotel stays for foster kids

One hundred foster kids in King County have stayed in hotels over the past year because the state had no place to put them, a situation that Washington’s child-welfare secretary called “disastrous for children.”

Washington, which for years has been dealing with a severe shortage of foster parents and intensive therapeutic homes, has resorted to temporary hotel stays more often —  there has been nearly a tenfold increase in such stays since 2015. The problem is especially acute in King County and counties to the north, where the overall number of nights in hotels was more than 1,000 between September 2017 and August 2018.

More >> With shortage of foster parents, Washington has almost tenfold increase in hotel stays for foster kids

Grandma says Collin County judge improperly allowed the adoption of her granddaughter

Isabella Byrd is a beautiful little girl who loves ballet.

For the first few years of her life, she lived with her mother, Alexandra, and her grandmother, Isolina. "She has always had her place, her life, her residence, her comfort for two and a half years at my home,” said Isolina Byrd.

More >> Grandma says Collin County judge improperly allowed the adoption of her granddaughter

Foster dad charged with sexual assault of 2 boys in his care over 5 years

A 66-year-old Winnipeg man has been charged with multiple sex crimes spanning more than five years against two boys he was fostering with his wife.

He was charged with sexual assault, sexual interference and assault. Police allege in court documents he showed the boys pornography, assaulted one of them with a hammer and uttered threats. The alleged abuse occurred between 2009 and 2015.

More >> Foster dad charged with sexual assault of 2 boys in his care over 5 years

CPS insists agency’s actions ‘appropriate’ even after slapped with $127k sanction

Weeks after announcing a $127,000 sanction against Child Protective Services, a Harris County juvenile judge released a scathing order finding that the agency lied in court while wrongfully removing a Tomball couple’s children.

In a filing signed last week, Judge Mike Schneider wrote that the state agency “abused the legal process” and wasted the court’s time and taxpayer money by purposely filing pleadings that included “misstatements of fact” and “material omissions.”

More >> CPS insists agency’s actions ‘appropriate’ even after slapped with $127k sanction

Phila. Public Defenders, Lancaster Co. Foster Parents Hit With $4.5M Judgment in Child Abuse Case

The Defender Association of Philadelphia, a foster care agency and two Lancaster County foster parents have been found liable for the abuse of a twin brother and sister, a case resulting in a $4.5 million jury verdict in favor of the children.

More >> Phila. Public Defenders, Lancaster Co. Foster Parents Hit With $4.5M Judgment in Child Abuse Case

Fury as jailed rapist who fathered a child with his 15-year-old grooming-gang victim is invited by social workers to be involved in the boy's upbringing – leaving the girl 'angry and scared'

A traumatised woman who was raped by a member of a grooming gang and became pregnant with his child was left 'extremely distressed' after social workers tried to help him get in contact with her son.

In the 'perverse' decision by the unnamed local authority, staff approached a jailed sex attacker and offered him help to be involved in his son's upbringing, without notifying his mother.

More >> Fury as jailed rapist who fathered a child with his 15-year-old grooming-gang victim is invited by social workers to be involved in the boy's upbringing – leaving the girl 'angry and scared'

Parent advocates call for wholesale reform of child protective system

A new report from a nonprofit that advocates for parents argues that Vermont’s child protective system is fundamentally broken and too often removes children from families capable of parenting.

In “Bending the Curve to Improve Our Child Protection System,” a report out from the Vermont Parent Representation Center, the nonprofit uses an analysis of more than 70 cases it has worked on over the course of eight years and state data to make the case that the state reflexively removes children instead of supporting parents in need. The nonprofit does not serve parents in cases where child sexual abuse is alleged.

More >> Parent advocates call for wholesale reform of child protective system

One Woman’s Campaign to End Indigenous Child Apprehensions

For a decade, Patricia Delisle has been helping Indigenous women in British Columbia’s Cowichan Valley at risk of having their children apprehended by the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

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Now she wants to go farther and turn the valley into a “no-apprehension zone.”


More >> One Woman’s Campaign to End Indigenous Child Apprehensions

City of Seattle settles lawsuit by ex-mayor Ed Murray’s former foster son for $75,000

Ed Murray has repeatedly denied the sex-abuse allegations. Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes said in a statement Monday the negotiated settlement with Jeff Simpson allows the city to avoid the uncertainty and expense of a trial.

More >> City of Seattle settles lawsuit by ex-mayor Ed Murray’s former foster son for $75,000

A new court ruling could help Susan Cox Powell’s family in a lawsuit against Washington’s child welfare system

A new ruling by the Washington Supreme Court could help Susan Cox Powell’s family in their lawsuit against that state’s child welfare system over the deaths of her children.

Susan’s parents, Judy and Chuck Cox, are suing Washington state over the 2012 deaths of Charlie and Braden Powell. The boys were killed by their father, Josh Powell, who was also suspected in the disappearance and death of his wife, Susan. The boys were in state protective custody while police investigated voyeurism accusations about Josh’s father, Steven Powell. (He ultimately was convicted, served prison time and died in July.)

More >> A new court ruling could help Susan Cox Powell’s family in a lawsuit against Washington’s child welfare system

Lawsuit: Foster Children in Kansas Forced to Sleep in Office Conference Rooms, Hospitals

An extraordinarily damning class-action lawsuit that has just been filed in Kansas alleges that the state’s foster care system is so broken that children are functionally homeless and in near-constant mental health crises.

More >> Lawsuit: Foster Children in Kansas Forced to Sleep in Office Conference Rooms, Hospitals

Young mother abducts 4-year-old girl from foster care in Washington state

A young mother recently abducted a four-year-old girl from foster care after a bathroom break and has since disappeared with her from a shopping mall in the U.S. state of Washington, court documents show.

Twenty-one-year-old Esmerelda Lopez-Lopez abducted her daughter Aranza Ochoa Lopez on Oct. 25 following a bathroom break during a court-ordered visit, the Oregonian, a local news outlet, reported on Sunday, quoting a search warrant affidavit.

More >> Young mother abducts 4-year-old girl from foster care in Washington state

Trump attacks ‘Fake 60 Minutes’ for ‘phony story’ on family separations at the border

Just hours after migrant families at the southern border were tear-gassed by U.S. authorities and tensions escalated between Russia and Ukraine, President Trump took to Twitter on Sunday night armed with harsh words. But his ire wasn’t directed at the caravan of thousands of Central Americans seeking asylum or at foreign leaders. Instead, the president was focused on a “60 Minutes” segment about family separations at the border, accusing “Fake 60 Minutes” of running a “phony story.”

The “60 Minutes” investigation into the Trump administration’s controversial “zero tolerance” policy, which aired Sunday evening, found that family separations had been going on for much longer than previously reported. Citing a 2017 “pilot program” that was rolled out months before then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s April announcement of the policy’s official implementation, the report concluded that “there may never be an accurate count of how many children were taken from their parents.”

More >> Trump attacks ‘Fake 60 Minutes’ for ‘phony story’ on family separations at the border

Plymouth social worker struck off for not protecting vulnerable children

A Plymouth social worker has been struck off the register after she was "dishonest" about visiting vulnerable children who were on her books.

Julie Newton was also given chances to prove that her practise was no longer impaired, but it was found that she had "continued total failure to engage in any meaningful way" with the conduct and competence panel.

More >> Plymouth social worker struck off for not protecting vulnerable children

Foster carer ‘Jenny’ speaks out about a system that just isn’t coping

A desperate foster carer has spoken out about a system that simply isn’t working.

Alan Jones spoke with ‘Jenny’, who cannot be named due to laws preventing the identification of foster carers.

More >> Foster carer ‘Jenny’ speaks out about a system that just isn’t coping

Next Kansas governor faces troubled foster care system

The incoming Kansas governor will face a large task dealing with a struggling child welfare system recently hit with a class-action lawsuit alleging conditions were so poor that children suffered mentally or ran away from foster homes.

The lawsuit filed in federal court this month alleges that children have been trafficked for sex, sexually abused inside adoptive homes or raped inside a child welfare office, The Wichita Eagle reported .

More >> Next Kansas governor faces troubled foster care system

HUD Funding Helps Foster Children Reunite With Families

New Hampshire is getting nearly $600,000 in federal funding that will go toward helping reunite children in foster care with their families.

The $544,968 from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development was awarded to the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority. They will spend the funding on 64 vouchers for families whose housing problems contributed to them being separated from their children. The funding's offered through HUD's Family Unification Program. Among those targeted are young people found to be at risk of homelessness.

More >> HUD Funding Helps Foster Children Reunite With Families

'We were given one choice: Surrender your baby'

More than a million American women who got pregnant out of wedlock were forced into maternity homes where they ‘surrendered’ their babies who were later put up for adoption, it has been reported.

Before the landmark Roe v Wade case legalized abortion in America, many young, middle-class white women were sent to places like the Florence Crittendon Home in Washington, D.C.

More >> 'We were given one choice: Surrender your baby': Women recall the horrors of maternity homes where they were subject to 'mind control' and kept in a 'shame-filled prison' for conceiving out of wedlock

Out-of-control kindergarten students plague Orange elementary school, parents allege

Tales of kindergarten and first-grade students who stab each other with pencils, trash classrooms, and threaten teachers were shared at a Nov. 19 meeting of the Orange School Committee.

Parents and teachers lined up to express their concerns about Fisher Hill Elementary School, where a principal and other staffers remain on leave while the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families conducts an investigation, reports the Athol Daily News.

More >> Out-of-control kindergarten students plague Orange elementary school, parents allege

Note: Some parents are stuck between a rock and a hard place.  If they try to deal with their unruly children, the schools will probably call CPS on them. 

Province orders probe into foster agency following CBC investigation on handling of sex abuse

Manitoba's Minister of Families has ordered a review of a foster care company following a CBC investigation that revealed children were left in the same home as a minor who was sexually abusing them.

"I'm happy about it because finally it's being listened to," said the biological parent of the children who were victimized.

More >> Province orders probe into foster agency following CBC investigation on handling of sex abuse

Nearly 150 Separated Migrant Children Remain in U.S. Custody

One-hundred and forty-seven undocumented migrant children separated from their parents because of President Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance border security policy remained in government custody as of Nov. 6, a new government report said.

Thirty of the children are currently ineligible for reuniting because their parents were deemed unfit for posing a threat to the child or having a criminal record, said the report to Congress by the Health and Human Services Department.

More >> Nearly 150 Separated Migrant Children Remain in U.S. Custody

Texas may be under judge’s scrutiny for years on CPS workers’ caseloads, policing of foster-care providers

For years to come, it appears the state of Texas will have to show a federal district judge it's making several substantial improvements to foster care.

Unless further scaled back on appeal, U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack soon will roll out a far-reaching order that would force the state to back up with data its contentions that it has adequate staffing levels in three categories of state employees that touch foster kids' lives — caseworkers, abuse investigators and licensing inspectors.

More >> Texas may be under judge’s scrutiny for years on CPS workers’ caseloads, policing of foster-care providers

Investigation into foster home sexual abuse up to Metis CFS, says Pallister

Brian Pallister says it is up to Metis Child and Family Services officials to review what happened in a Manitoba foster home, following revelations staff at the agency overseeing the home admitted they "dragged their heels" when sexual abuse allegations arose.

"The legislation requires us to respect the agency [Metis CFS] and that's exactly what we plan on doing as far as further actions," the Manitoba premier said Friday.

More >> Investigation into foster home sexual abuse up to Metis CFS, says Pallister

Foster care or take them in? Grandparents raise kids with little help

For two weeks, Faye and Jihad Saleh sat with their newborn grandson in the infant intensive care unit at Norton Children's Hospital in Louisville, cuddling, feeding and rocking him as he underwent withdrawal from drugs in his tiny body.

Then they were confronted with an unexpected and life-changing decision: either take  their grandson home or stand aside as state social service officials placed him in foster care.

More >> Foster care or take them in? Grandparents raise kids with little help

14,000 immigrant children spent Thanksgiving in US government detention shelters

A record-setting 14,030 immigrant children live in US detention camps and shelters across the country as of November 15, according to federal and state statistics cited by Houston Chronicle.

More >> 14,000 immigrant children spent Thanksgiving in US government detention shelters

Battle continues over proposed Motherisk class-action suit

Were Motherisk’s hair tests reliable? Did the lab meet forensic standards?

These questions, answered nearly three years ago in a government-commissioned review that exposed a litany of failings at the Hospital for Sick Children’s former drug-testing tab, were revived Wednesday in Toronto Divisional Court, where the ongoing battle over a proposed national class-action lawsuit highlighted a hard truth for thousands of alleged Motherisk victims: When it comes to the fight for compensation in any given case, the damning conclusions reached by retired judge Susan Lang remain up for debate.

More >> Battle continues over proposed Motherisk class-action suit

How pregnant women are scamming desperate couples out of up to £50,000 by lying about giving up their babies

IT'S a heart-wrenching scene: a young boy being reunited with his birth mother in an airport after she gave him up for adoption ten years earlier.

"I'm excited to meet my birth mum," says Isaiah. "I've been waiting for 10 years. Some birthdays I'd cry because she wasn't there."

More >> How pregnant women are scamming desperate couples out of up to £50,000 by lying about giving up their babies

Native Americans March For Their Children Placed With Foster Families

Members of the Native American community journeyed on foot through Sioux City on Wednesday to memorialize Native children who have been removed from their homes and placed in foster care.

To Michael Wanbdigdeski O’Connor, the march is medicine, prayer and healing. He says when he marches, he thinks about the children in the child welfare system who have suffered and others that are suffering.

More >> Native Americans March For Their Children Placed With Foster Families

DCFS investigates report that girl, 9, was choked at Chicago psychiatric hospital; teenage boy also missing

More troubling reports emerged this week concerning the safety of young patients at an Uptown psychiatric facility even as child welfare officials scramble to find new placements for children in state care who remain hospitalized there.

On Monday, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services launched its 19th hotline investigation this year involving Chicago Lakeshore Hospital — and its third in recent days — after a 9-year-old child reported that a staff member had choked her.

More >> DCFS investigates report that girl, 9, was choked at Chicago psychiatric hospital; teenage boy also missing

'We dragged our heels' after sexual abuse allegations, foster care service director says in secret recording

A director with a for-profit Manitoba foster care company said he failed to act quickly enough after allegations of sexual abuse emerged in a home it oversees, according to a secret recording obtained by CBC News.

"We dragged our heels big time," the director of foster care services for B & L Resources for Children, Youth and Families says in the 2017 recording.

More >> 'We dragged our heels' after sexual abuse allegations, foster care service director says in secret recording

Legal Centres Level the Playing Field for Parents Fighting to Keep Their Children

Where do you turn for help if you’re fighting the Ministry of Children and Family Development over the future of your child?

The courts are complicated, costly and slow, lawyers are expensive and legal aid limited, as noted in the first part of this series. Navigating the system is a challenge for parents in British Columbia, many already struggling with poverty and other issues. For Indigenous families, whose children are eight times more likely to be apprehended, the challenges can be even greater.

More >> Legal Centres Level the Playing Field for Parents Fighting to Keep Their Children

Kansas DCF disputes FosterAdopt numbers on missing children

The Kansas Department for Children and Families disputes the way an organization represents statistics on the outcome of children who have been removed from their homes, but the organization’s leader said she stands by the interpretation.

The discrepancy arose after FosterAdopt Connect’s Journey Home tour, which gave policymakers and philanthropists the opportunity to understand the trauma youths face when they are removed from their parents. Each participant was given a card that told a true story about a child.

More >> Kansas DCF disputes FosterAdopt numbers on missing children

Adoption without parental consent legalised in NSW

New laws enabling the adoption of thousands of children from the state’s foster care system without parental consent were passed in the New South Wales parliament on Thursday night, despite fierce opposition from community organisations to the “regressive” changes they say will have a heavy impact on Aboriginal families.

More >> Adoption without parental consent legalised in NSW

To force Texas to improve its foster care system, judge exerts her authority in an aggressive plan

U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack, partially rebuked by appellate judges last month, has detailed her plans to force Texas to improve long-term foster care.

She's exerting her authority to the fullest.

More >> To force Texas to improve its foster care system, judge exerts her authority in an aggressive plan

Teen wounded in police-involved shooting at foster home in South Miami-Dade

Rescue crews rushed a teenage boy to the hospital after he was injured in a Thanksgiving Day police-involved shooting.

Miami-Dade Police responded to a domestic dispute at a foster home in the area of Southwest 301st Terrace and 146th Avenue, just before 12 p.m., Thursday.

More >> Teen wounded in police-involved shooting at foster home in South Miami-Dade

Feds Won’t Disclose Which States Might Delay on Family First Act

The Children’s Bureau (CB) might have some idea how many states are thinking about seeking a delay on implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act. But it’s not telling.

Mum’s the word, for whatever reason, about what news came in by the November 9 deadline the agency imposed on states to notify CB about whether they intended to seek a delay on implementing the law. Family First passed this year and will increase federal resources for preventing the use of foster care while limiting federal funds for group homes and other “congregate care” settings. CB is the agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that will most directly deal with its implementation.

More >> Feds Won’t Disclose Which States Might Delay on Family First Act

Iowa DHS Director Says State Is Embracing Child Welfare System Changes To Keep Families Together

Iowa’s Department of Human Services says the state’s foster care system has come a long way in helping children in unsafe home situations, but there’s more that needs to be done. The state is embracing a federal law passed earlier this year that supports keeping families together.

The Family First Prevention Services Act passed in February aims to provide services like mental health and substance abuse treatment to families before their child is pushed into the foster care system.

More >> Iowa DHS Director Says State Is Embracing Child Welfare System Changes To Keep Families Together

Lawsuits allege B.C. government social worker stole from foster children

Lawsuits have been filed on behalf of two youth in British Columbia Supreme Court alleging a provincial social worker siphoned off thousands of dollars in financial benefits from children in care.

Both actions name social worker Robert Riley Saunders, the Ministry of Children and Family Development and Interior Savings Financial Services Ltd., alleging the Indigenous children were removed from a stable environment to an unstable living arrangement so that their benefits could be stolen from them.

More >> Lawsuits allege B.C. government social worker stole from foster children

‘Twitter Mom’ may sue province that took her children

The woman behind the ‘Twitter Mom’ handle is considering suing the Manitoba government, her lawyer says.

Katherine Hensel, who helped Tamara Malcolm get her children out of foster care, says it’s the next step.

“We’re examining that option,” Hensel says from Toronto.

More >> ‘Twitter Mom’ may sue province that took her children

If parents get deported, who gets their children?

One in 5 children being raised by extended family members live in an immigrant household, more than half a million children, a new report shows.

More >> If parents get deported, who gets their children?

9-Year-Old Alleges Staff Member at Chicago Psychiatric Hospital Choked and Restrained Her

As Illinois’ child welfare agency works to clear out its remaining patients at a Chicago psychiatric hospital beset by allegations of sexual abuse and assault, problems continue to emerge.

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services on Monday opened an investigation into a 9-year-old girl’s allegation that a staff member at Aurora Chicago Lakeshore Hospital choked and restrained her.

More >> 9-Year-Old Alleges Staff Member at Chicago Psychiatric Hospital Choked and Restrained Her

Emails from Hart family computer indicate marital issues

New documents were released Tuesday from Clark County investigators related to the deaths of a Washington family whose disappearance gripped the country this spring.

Jennifer and Sarah Hart, and their six adopted children, disappeared from their Woodland home in late March – shortly after a Washington Child Protective Services caseworker tried to contact the women at home. Neighbors had called CPS, concerned that the children were being abused and neglected. 

More >> Emails from Hart family computer indicate marital issues

Foster caregivers named in wrongful death suit

A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in Bernalillo County District Court in the death of 4-month-old Savanna Smith.

Savanna was in foster care under the supervision of the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department at the time of her death on June 2, 2017.

More >> Foster caregivers named in wrongful death suit

The Price Tag of Migrant Family Separation: $80 Million and Rising

The federal government has spent $80 million to care for and reunite migrant children who were separated from their parents by immigration authorities, a figure that continues to grow months after the policy ended because more than 140 children are still in custody.

The first official price tag on family separations — which ended abruptly in June in the face of widespread public opposition — comes to about $30,000 per child. That data, along with new details on the children who remain mired in the policy’s lingering effects, were handed over last week by the Health and Human Services Department to members of Congress, who shared the report with The New York Times.

More >> The Price Tag of Migrant Family Separation: $80 Million and Rising

Why conservatives are attacking a law meant to protect Native American families

My grandmother Inez was a striking beauty, and quiet. Seen but not heard. She was the youngest of 11 siblings in a family that lived in Albuquerque. Through circumstances that remain hazy today, she was adopted by a white couple in the 1930s. For the rest of her life, Inez suffered from depression and anxiety, which she medicated with alcohol. My father was raised enveloped by her pain. At age 16, just before Thanksgiving, he found her body on the living room couch; she died of liver cirrhosis.

More >> Why conservatives are attacking a law meant to protect Native American families

Adoption deception suspect gives birth to baby likely addicted to drugs, attorney says

A woman recently accused of adoption deception was released from jail and had her baby the next day.

Adoption attorney Brian Kelly said he represents one of the families who was trying to adopt 33-year-old Christina Bay's baby.

More >> Adoption deception suspect gives birth to baby likely addicted to drugs, attorney says

DCF report says call to 911 delayed in fatal foster baby mauling case

A newly-released DCF report on the fatal dog mauling of foster baby Khloe Williams did not reveal a system breakdown in her Pinellas foster care but does raise questions about a delayed call for help to 911.

The baby died shortly after the dog attack.

More >> DCF report says call to 911 delayed in fatal foster baby mauling case

Number of juveniles in detention for minor offenses has dropped since 2015

The number of youth incarcerated in the state’s juvenile detention centers for minor offenses dropped significantly between 2015 and 2017, pulling Connecticut from its number two ranking in a national study tracking juvenile confinement.

That study, released last month by Pew Charitable Trust, found there were 51 juveniles detained in Connecticut for technical offenses, such as violating probation orders or failing to show up for treatment, on a single day — Oct. 28 — in 2015.

More >> Number of juveniles in detention for minor offenses has dropped since 2015

Volunteer with Child and Family Services Winnipeg charged with sex assault

A Winnipeg man who worked with agencies dealing with children is facing sex-related charges involving two young boys.

Police say the man was with Child and Family Services Winnipeg and was acting as a mentor for a seven-year-old for a one-year period that ended in April.

More >> Volunteer with Child and Family Services Winnipeg charged with sex assault

Ontario’s child advocate has 27 on-going investigations into foster homes as province shuts him down

After first dealing with the shock of learning through the media that his office was being axed by the Ford government, Ontario’s child advocate’s focus shifted and it was not about his future.

Irwin Elman began thinking of the children his office is trying to help.

More >> Ontario’s child advocate has 27 on-going investigations into foster homes as province shuts him down

Former CPS worker sentenced for sex assault of teen

A former Child Protective Services worker will spend a year in jail after sexually assaulting a teenage girl.

A plea deal Daniel Hulings, 34, made with prosecutors capped the amount of time he would spend in jail at one year, Clinton County Prosecutor Chuck Sherman said. After he finishes his jail time, Hulings will serve four years of probation.

More >> Former CPS worker sentenced for sex assault of teen

18 MISSING FOSTER CHILDREN FOUND IN MULTI-AGENCY OPERATION

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation reports that a joint operation was conducted last week to recover children missing from the foster care system in Kansas.

More than 100 federal, state, and low law enforcement officers participated in the operation to find the missing children.  The operations were conducted in Sedgwick and Johnson Counties, but spread to Wyandotte and several other counties across the state.

More >> 18 MISSING FOSTER CHILDREN FOUND IN MULTI-AGENCY OPERATION

Why is Arizona's child welfare agency stumped by simple questions?

Opinion: If we don't have the right information, there's no way to know whether the Department of Child Safety is finally starting to get child welfare right.

More >> Why is Arizona's child welfare agency stumped by simple questions?

LA deputy arrested on suspicion of raping girl in case he was investigating

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s child sex crimes detective has been arrested on suspicion of raping a 14-year-old girl in a case he was investigating.

Neil Kimball was taken into custody Friday evening after a monthslong inquiry into the allegations by the sheriff’s criminal internal investigation bureau. He was booked on suspicion of rape by force and preventing or dissuading a victim from testifying.

More >> LA deputy arrested on suspicion of raping girl in case he was investigating

Chicago Foster Children Allege Multiple Sexual Assaults at Chicago Lakeshore Hospital

A Chicago psychiatric hospital responsible for treating children in state custody with the most serious psych conditions is facing serious allegations of sexual assault from its patients.

Chicago Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital, located in the city’s Uptown neighborhood, has served as a lifeline for Illinois’ Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), taking foster children with psychiatric issues that other hospitals just wouldn’t treat. Since at least 2008 DCFS has been aware of incidents of loose supervision of its young patients, resulting in sexual abuse and assault by fellow residents and even staff. A government agency created to protect the safety and welfare of our children not only knows about these cases of abuse and neglect, but for at least 10 years have allowed these problems to persist, continuing to send children entrusted to their care to the hospital.

More >> Chicago Foster Children Allege Multiple Sexual Assaults at Chicago Lakeshore Hospital

• ACLU of Illinois demands removal of children in DCFS care from troubled Chicago hospital

Woman found guilty of abusing foster child

A jury found a metro woman guilty of child and sexual abuse in court on Monday.

Kim Carrera was found guilty of three felony charges. They included tampering with physical evidence, intentional child abuse with no injuries and sexual abuse of a protected person.

Bellevue Police arrested Carrera in 2015 when it was suspected she was having inappropriate sexual contact with a 17-year-old foster child who had been placed in her care.

More >> Woman found guilty of abusing foster child

Government could hold migrant families indefinitely in unlicensed detention centers under new plan

Migrant families could be held indefinitely in unlicensed detention centers under a new federal plan that also would end critical court protections for immigrant children, according to new court records.

Under the so-called Flores agreement, created in 1997, the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement “shall release a minor from its custody without unnecessary delay” to a parent, relative, legal guardian or adult designated by a parent.

More >> Government could hold migrant families indefinitely in unlicensed detention centers under new plan

Former Tarrant County CPS employee admitted to sex, messaging with underage girls, feds say

A former Child Protective Services caseworker in Tarrant County was indicted on a federal charge of enticement of a child last week after authorities say he arranged to meet a 14-year-old girl for sex who was actually an undercover officer.

More >> Former Tarrant County CPS employee admitted to sex, messaging with underage girls, feds say

‘This little girl was tortured’: Kansas to pay father after girl died of abuse

An 18-month-old girl who lived in an El Dorado meth house died after the Kansas agency that investigates child abuse did nothing, a 2014 lawsuit said. Her brain had swelled, her teeth had been forcibly removed and she had tested positive for meth.

The 2012 death of Jayla Michelle Haag Watters was horrific, Kansas officials said Monday as they approved a $75,000 settlement with her father, Steven Watters.

More >> ‘This little girl was tortured’: Kansas to pay father after girl died of abuse

The maternity homes where ‘mind control’ was used on teen moms to give up their babies

Karen Wilson Buterbaugh was 16 in the fall of 1965 when she got pregnant by her steady boyfriend. Terrified and in denial, she hid her growing body under an oversized sweater for five months. When she could no longer hide the pregnancy, she finally told her parents.

They shipped her off to a maternity home without telling her where she was going.

More >> The maternity homes where ‘mind control’ was used on teen moms to give up their babies

Report: PA Places Foster Children In Group Homes At Higher Rate Than Rest Of Country

Research released this week shows that, compared to the rest of the country, Pennsylvania is more likely to place foster youth in group homes and institutional care.

According to a new Annie E. Casey Foundation report, 47 percent of the state’s foster children aged 14 to 21 live in these facilities. The national rate for foster children of the same age is 34 percent.

More >> Report: PA Places Foster Children In Group Homes At Higher Rate Than Rest Of Country

Aboriginal groups beg NSW to back down on adoption changes

Aboriginal organisations, legal groups and thousands of community members are pleading with the New South Wales government to abandon its controversial changes to child protection, which are due to be passed into law on Tuesday.

The Berejiklian government says the amendments will ensure a permanent home for all children within two years, so they are not bounced around the out-of-home care system for years on end.

More >> Aboriginal groups beg NSW to back down on adoption changes

Report: Ohio foster care teens entering adulthood lag in education, employment

A first-of-its-kind report on the transition from foster care to adulthood shows Ohio teens and young adults lagging the nation in employment and education.

By age 21, just 43 percent of former foster youths in Ohio had a high school diploma or equivalent, according to data released last week by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. That compares with 76 percent of the overall U.S. foster-care population and about 92 percent of Ohio’s general population.

More >> Report: Ohio foster care teens entering adulthood lag in education, employment

‘Stripped bare’: Next Kansas governor will inherit troubled child welfare system

Missing children, too few beds, outdated technology: Kansas Gov-elect Laura Kelly will inherit a struggling child welfare system that officials have been trying to fix for years.

A class action lawsuit filed in federal court on Friday alleges that children have been treated so poorly that they have suffered mentally or run away from foster homes. They have been trafficked for sex, sexually abused inside adoptive homes or, in one instance, reportedly raped inside a child welfare office.

More >> ‘Stripped bare’: Next Kansas governor will inherit troubled child welfare system

President Donald J. Trump Proclaims November 18 Through November 24, 2018, as National Family Week

During National Family Week, we celebrate the immeasurable contributions, influence, and virtues of one of the greatest institutions — the family.  Whether related by biology, marriage, or donald trump official photoadoption, the family is a primary source of unconditional love and steadfast support.  Strong families multiply joy, share challenges, and provide firm foundations for each member’s growth and success in life.  Families are central to learning values, and they enrich our neighborhoods, communities, and Nation.

More >> President Donald J. Trump Proclaims November 18 Through November 24, 2018, as National Family Week

Dehcho grand chief pens letter about 'deplorable situation' in N.W.T. child and family services

'This deplorable situation needs to be immediately rectified,' writes the grand chief in a letter dated Nov. 8

More >> Dehcho grand chief pens letter about 'deplorable situation' in N.W.T. child and family services

Is there gender bias against men in Mississippi child custody cases? These dads say yes.

Former Hinds County Constable Jon Lewis leaned forward in his chair, tears welling in his eyes, as he discussed not having seen his two teenage children over the last two years.

“I love my kids and I want to see them,” Lewis said in an interview last week.

More >> Is there gender bias against men in Mississippi child custody cases? These dads say yes.

Ashley Goodrich pleads not guilty to trafficking a minor who lived in Saugus group home

A 27-year-old Lynn woman accused of using her position at a Saugus group home to recruit a child to perform sex acts for money in Boston and Worcester last year, pleaded not guilty to charges in Suffolk Superior Court Monday.

Ashley Goodrich was indicted by a statewide grand jury Sept. 27 on four counts of trafficking a minor for sexual servitude; one count of deriving support from prostitution of a minor; and four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to the office of Attorney General Maura Healey.

More >> Ashley Goodrich pleads not guilty to trafficking a minor who lived in Saugus group home

Child welfare officials took 1,900 kids in 4 months, but that's not the whole picture

Over the last four months, child-welfare workers removed more than 1,900 Arizona children from their family homes with a judge's OK, according to data obtained by The Arizona Republic.

But that doesn't give the full picture of child removals that lawmakers wanted when they adopted a new warrant process as a check on the Department of Child Safety's power to remove a child from her parents.

Most notably, the agency doesn't reveal how many Arizona children were taken without judicial approval, which the law allows in dire circumstances. That's because DCS isn't tracking emergency removals even though the intent of the new warrant law was to provide more transparency on what is arguably one of the most intrusive actions a government can take on its citizens.

More >> Child welfare officials took 1,900 kids in 4 months, but that's not the whole picture

Class action lawsuit challenges state foster care system

A class action lawsuit filed against Gov. Jeff Colyer, Department of Children and Families Secretary Gina Meier-Hummel and the leaders of two other state agencies says foster children are moved so often that they can be considered homeless, even though they are wards of the state.

The Kansas City Star says the lawsuit alleges children have been treated poorly enough so they run away from foster homes or suffer mentally. The suit also says foster children have been victims of sex trafficking, sexually abused in foster homes or -- in one documented case -- reportedly raped in a child welfare office.

More >> Class action lawsuit challenges state foster care system

DCF: No mistakes in leaving 4-year-old with mother who later drowned her

Florida’s child welfare department says a previous investigation of a mother charged with drowning her 4-year-old autistic daughter in a river was handled correctly.

More >> DCF: No mistakes in leaving 4-year-old with mother who later drowned her

ACLU demands removal of children in DCFS care from troubled Chicago hospital

The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois on Friday took the state’s child welfare agency to federal court to attempt to force the removal of all children in its care from a troubled Chicago psychiatric hospital after additional claims of sexual abuse there.

A sexual assault allegation involving a 19-year-old patient, cited in the ACLU’s emergency court filing, comes as Aurora Chicago Lakeshore Hospital faces intense scrutiny following a string of disturbing accusations of sexual and physical abuse. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services sends hundreds of children to the hospital each year, relying on Lakeshore to treat those with severe mental illness who are sometimes turned away by other hospitals.

More >> ACLU demands removal of children in DCFS care from troubled Chicago hospital

Lawsuit: Kansas hurts foster children emotionally, psychologically

Kansas is emotionally, psychologically, developmentally and neurologically hurting children in the foster care system, a new class-action lawsuit says.

The suit, filed Friday, on behalf of 10 children who have been in the foster-care system is against Governor Jeff Colyer, DCF Secretary Gina Meier-Hummel, KDHE Secretary Jeff Anderson and KDADS Secretary Tim Keck.

More >> Lawsuit: Kansas hurts foster children emotionally, psychologically

‘How did that happen?’ Kansas picks embattled Florida nonprofit to help neglected kids

If the problems sound familiar, it’s because Kansas’ child welfare system has been dealing with them for over a year.

Foster children sleeping in offices, roaming unsupervised while skipping school. Youth staying in different homes night after night. Kids either in foster care or known to social workers dying of abuse and neglect.

More >> ‘How did that happen?’ Kansas picks embattled Florida nonprofit to help neglected kids

Ignored for being 'MIDDLE CLASS': Social services dismissed child victims of UK's largest Asian grooming gang because they lived in homes with 'nice kitchens and conservatories', claims charity

Middle class victims of Britain's largest Asian child sex ring were ignored for 'not being poor enough' when social workers visited their 'nice' homes, claims charity chief.

Parents Against Child Explotation (Pace) have revealed that they believe the children were let down by social workers who thought that the children from wealthier families were 'rebelling', reports the Express.

More >> Ignored for being 'MIDDLE CLASS': Social services dismissed child victims of UK's largest Asian grooming gang because they lived in homes with 'nice kitchens and conservatories', claims charity

The Guardian’s investigation on children’s homes (Vulnerable children ‘auctioned online’ in care-home system, experts warn, 10 November) is hugely disturbing and grimly highlights why we must do better for our children. It is unacceptable for children to be treated in a way that deprives them of their dignity or fails to make their best interests paramount.

More >> Facing the problems with children’s homes

Report: PA Places Foster Children In Group Homes At Higher Rate Than Rest Of Country

Research released this week shows that, compared to the rest of the country, Pennsylvania is more likely to place foster youth in group homes and institutional care.

According to a new Annie E. Casey Foundation report, 47 percent of the state’s foster children aged 14 to 21 live in these facilities. The national rate for foster children of the same age is 34 percent.

More >> Report: PA Places Foster Children In Group Homes At Higher Rate Than Rest Of Country

‘We don’t bully children.’ — Watch Sen. Maggie Hassan grill Trump’s ICE nominee about detaining children

‘We don’t bully children.’ — Watch Sen. Maggie Hassan grill Trump’s ICE nominee about detaining children pic.twitter.com/taIpwf5r1c

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) November 17, 2018

At Cato Unbound: How Best To Reform Child Protective Services?

This month I’m participating in a Cato Unbound symposium on Child Protective Services and family rights. In its lead essay, attorney Diane Redleaf details some of the ways in which CPS agencies can arm-twist parents into so-called interim placements and safety plans that separate families with little or no judicial review.  Participant James G. Dwyer, in a response essay, takes a relatively positive view of the agencies’s work. My essay, by contrast, generally backs up Redleaf’s critique of CPS as a species of government enforcement agency gone wild: far too often, these agencies seize children from parents based on flimsy evidence, second-guess everyday parental behavior and decisions, or act on misguided Drug War zeal. 

More >> At Cato Unbound: How Best To Reform Child Protective Services?

HAULED TO COURT Mum accused of child abuse by social services over marks on baby’s face that were an allergic reaction to MILK

A MUM has been accused of child abuse over marks on her baby's face that were an allergic reaction to MILK.

Ashleigh Barden, 20, and her partner Jai Coates, 19, endured a "living nightmare" after a GP suspected marks on her daughter were bruising.


More >> HAULED TO COURT Mum accused of child abuse by social services over marks on baby’s face that were an allergic reaction to MILK

More than 14,000 immigrant children are in U.S. custody, an all-time high

The number of undocumented immigrant children in government custody has topped 14,000 for the first time, a rise that shows no signs of slowing as the Trump administration enforces policies that are keeping them in government facilities longer.

There were 14,056 unaccompanied immigrant minors in Department of Health and Human Services custody on Friday, according to a government source familiar with the number. A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed that the total had reached approximately 14,000.

More >> More than 14,000 immigrant children are in U.S. custody, an all-time high

When schools use child protective services as a weapon against parents

Tiffany Banks sat in her living room, a ruby-red wall decorated with family photographs behind her, listing all the ways her life had unraveled over the past year. Her 6-year-old son had been removed from her care for more than a month. She was forced to close an in-home child care business, and she’d been temporarily displaced from her preschool teaching job, which she’d held for 17 years. Her teenage daughter refused to talk to the 6-year-old, blaming him for the family’s troubles.

More >> When schools use child protective services as a weapon against parents

Review places no blame on child welfare system in fatal dog attack on Clearwater infant

An internal review places no blame on investigators or case managers in a fatal dog attack on a 7-month-old girl while she was in foster care.

The Florida Department of Children and Families report also provides new details in the death Khloe Williams last month: the infant was in her car seat on a couch at the time of the attack and her foster grandmother called family members afterward before calling 911.

More >> Review places no blame on child welfare system in fatal dog attack on Clearwater infant

‘Twitter Mom’ gets her children back and declares victory over child and family services

A mother who went public on Twitter about trying to get her children back from foster care has reunited her family.

The woman, who cannot be named to protect the identity of her children, announced Friday the 11-year saga was over.

“All permanent wardship status are removed,” she said. “The supervision order which was in place has expired as of November 15, 2018.”

More >> ‘Twitter Mom’ gets her children back and declares victory over child and family services

Migrant Kids Survive Hardship To Reunite With Parents. Then What?

For nearly a month, the two sisters — then ages 17 and 12 — traveled by road from their home in El Salvador to the southern border of the United States. They had no parent or relatives with them on that difficult journey in the fall of 2016 — just a group of strangers and their smugglers.

Ericka and her younger sister Angeles started out in multiple cars, Ericka remembers. "In Mexico, it was buses. And we changed buses very often." (NPR is using only the sisters' middle names to protect their identity as they await a decision on their application for asylum in the U.S.)

More >> Migrant Kids Survive Hardship To Reunite With Parents. Then What?

Can Parents Lose Custody Over Legal Marijuana Use? Absolutely.

Scientific research confirms that most people who smoke marijuana before they have kids still occasionally get high after they become parents, and anecdotal research confirms that THC can make pushing a stroller through the park chill as hell. It is also a relatively safe stimulant in that if parents don’t hide it effectively — it’s really not that hard, get a kid-proof container — marijuana poses no serious medical risk to children.

But for parents in the throesw of a divorce, moderate, responsible, and even legal pot use represents a very real hazard. Despite shifting cultural and legal norms, marijuana consumption can and does come up in custody negotiations.

More >> Can Parents Lose Custody Over Legal Marijuana Use? Absolutely.

‘We are making these children homeless’: Kansas is harming foster kids, lawsuit says

Foster children in Kansas are shuffled between homes and facilities so much — in one boy’s case, more than 130 placements in six years — that youth can be rendered “homeless while in state custody,” a lawsuit filed Friday alleges.

More >> ‘We are making these children homeless’: Kansas is harming foster kids, lawsuit says

DCFS steps up monitoring, discharges at psychiatric hospital after ACLU threatens court battle

Facing legal pressure, the state’s beleaguered child welfare agency said Friday that it will station staff around the clock inside an Uptown psychiatric hospital to monitor young patients until they can be safely removed in the wake of rising hotline complaints alleging physical and sexual abuse.

More >> DCFS steps up monitoring, discharges at psychiatric hospital after ACLU threatens court battle

Poverty Isn’t Neglect, But the State Took My Children Anyway

As I write this, I’m sitting in a small, humid room in Plantation, Florida. I’m from Seattle, and I know almost nobody in this area, but I can’t leave. That’s because my three- and four-year-old daughters were taken from me by the state last April. Until that case is overturned, or my parental rights are restored, this is where I’ll stay.

More >> Poverty Isn’t Neglect, But the State Took My Children Anyway

North Dakota prepares for overhaul of federal foster care funding

The North Dakota foster care system is set to undergo some major changes.

The Family First Prevention Services Act, included in the Bipartisan Budget Act that President Donald Trump signed into law in February, aims to keep children with parents or relatives rather than in the foster care system and provides additional funding for prevention services.

More >> North Dakota prepares for overhaul of federal foster care funding

In Kashmir, child abuse in orphanages is rampant

Six children’s schools-cum-orphanages have been closed in the Kashmir valley in the last few months owing to a lack of proper facilities. In Kashmir, these orphanages and seminaries are mostly run by religious people. The Juvenile Justice Act lays down some of the rules for the functioning of these orphanages and their inmates include juvenile delinquents, while some children come from single-parent families who send them to these homes for the free meals and education.

More >> In Kashmir, child abuse in orphanages is rampant

Clark County OKs settlement with mother of raped foster child

Ashley’s son celebrated his 12th birthday last month, but to his mother it sometimes seems like he is so much older.

The boy, once outgoing, is now quiet and reserved to the point that his teachers bring it up to his mother, Ashley.

More >> Clark County OKs settlement with mother of raped foster child

Kansas Is Sued Over Foster Care That’s Bounced Several Children Between 100 Homes

A lawsuit filed Friday contends Kansas violates foster children’s civil rights by moving them too often, adding to their trauma and restricting their access to necessary mental health treatment.

The National Center for Youth Law, Children’s Rights and Kansas Appleseed filed the suit against Gov. Jeff Colyer and the heads of the Department for Children and Families, the Department for Aging and Disability Services and the Department of Health and Environment.

More >> Kansas Is Sued Over Foster Care That’s Bounced Several Children Between 100 Homes

Report Finds Foster Kids Shortchanged

Too many foster youth in Michigan struggle in their transitions to adulthood, trying to go to school, get a job, and find a place to live, according to a new report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Bobby Dorigo Jones, with the nonprofit Michigan’s Children, says that many young people, especially children of color, get bounced around in foster homes. He tells us that disrupts their relationships with family, friends, and counselors, and can make it harder to graduate from high school.

More >> Report Finds Foster Kids Shortchanged