Legally Kidnapped

Shattering Your Child Welfare Delusions Since 2007


Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Baby mix-up scandal women now planning legal action against adoption society

The women at the centre of the St Patrick's Guild baby mix-up scandal are seeking court approval to bring lawsuits against the former adoption society.

A joint application on behalf of Helen Maguire (71) and Christine Skipsey (52) was filed with the High Court by their solicitors last week, the Irish Independent has learned.

More >> Baby mix-up scandal women now planning legal action against adoption society

NYC lawmakers to ease off parents who use cannabis

New York City Council has signalled its intention to relax marijuana laws by pushing through a raft of new legislation focused around cannabis.

The authority gave the green light to two resolutions last week as part of a package of related changes to local legislation in anticipation of a global sea change in attitude toward cannabis.

More >> NYC lawmakers to ease off parents who use cannabis

Tampa Bay area lawmakers refile 'Jordan's Law' to protect children in Florida's child welfare system

Protecting children in the state of Florida. That's what several local lawmakers plan to do by refiling 'Jordan's Law' Monday. The law is named after Jordan Belliveau, who investigators say was murdered by his mother in September 2018.

Largo Police and five Tampa Bay area lawmakers announced the refiling of Jordan's Law on what would have been Belliveau's third birthday.

More >> Tampa Bay area lawmakers refile 'Jordan's Law' to protect children in Florida's child welfare system

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Child Abuse Inquiry to hear evidence against 7 Scottish boarding schools in 2020

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry has announced it will hold hearings into abuse allegations in boarding schools in summer next year.

Chairwoman Lady Smith urged anyone with evidence to get in touch with the inquiry, even if they have already spoken to police or been involved in other investigations.

More >> Child Abuse Inquiry to hear evidence against 7 Scottish boarding schools in 2020

Grandmother Says She Reported Abuse To Oklahoma DHS A Month Before Child's Death

The grandmother of a 3-year-old girl, who died last year after alleged abuse, said she notified DHS about the abuse, but the agency did nothing. 

On Thursday, July 25 Baylee Sowards, 23, was charged with child abuse, and Lola's mother Alexis Nicole Caplan, 25, was charged with enabling child abuse.

More >> Grandmother Says She Reported Abuse To Oklahoma DHS A Month Before Child's Death

Fugitive Family: Couple flees Georgia to keep their children after ruling by juvenile judge

The Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) shoulders the blame when a child is abused or dies. But there is only one authority that actually has the power to remove a child from their parents: a judge.

Yet, when families disagree with a court’s ruling, holding a judge accountable for that decision can seem almost impossible.

More >> Fugitive Family: Couple flees Georgia to keep their children after ruling by juvenile judge

Silent No More Against Maine's DHHS held a rally in Skowhegan



A group called Silent No More Against Maine's Department of Health and Human Services rallied outside of the DHHS office in Skowhegan Tuesday.

More >> Silent No More Against Maine's DHHS held a rally in Skowhegan

Amy Schumer, Andy Cohen and More Stars Speak Out About Reuniting Migrant Families Separated at Border

A star-studded roster of celebrities has teamed up with the organization Immigrant Families Together as part of a new campaign dedicated to reuniting every single migrant family that has been separated at the southern border.

To mark the launch of IFT’s Every. Last. One campaign, nearly 60 famous faces banded together for a video released Monday pushing their message forward.

More >> Amy Schumer, Andy Cohen and More Stars Speak Out About Reuniting Migrant Families Separated at Border

Foster dad pleads guilty to child sex crimes in Lauderdale County



One of the suspects in one of the worst child abuse cases ever for the Shoals has pleaded guilty.

More >> Foster dad pleads guilty to child sex crimes in Lauderdale County

Children in Need. Children Ignored. | John DeGarmo, Ed.D. | TEDxGeorgiaTech

Former foster family says state not meeting needs of foster children

Thousands of children in Tennessee are in foster care.

But a recent foster family says the Department of Children’s Services (DCS) does not give parents the support they need.

More >> Former foster family says state not meeting needs of foster children

Medicaid expansion may prevent child neglect, UW study shows

More than 4 million reports of child maltreatment involving about 7.5 million children were made in 2017 to Child Protective Services. While much work has been done to reduce these high rates of child abuse and neglect in the United States, few programs have been consistently effective.

Now, new research from the University of Washington suggests that expanding Medicaid may help prevent child neglect. After the expansion of Medicaid in 2014, mandated by the Affordable Care Act, there were 422 fewer cases of neglect per 100,000 children under the age of 6 reported each year in states that expanded Medicaid than in states that did not. The study was published June 14 in JAMA Network Open.

More >> Medicaid expansion may prevent child neglect, UW study shows

Russia rips adopted kids from gay dads using its anti-gay propaganda law

After a gay male couple brought their adopted children to a Moscow hospital for appendicitis, Russian authorities hunted the couple down and took their kids away because of the country’s law forbidding the exposure of minors to “gay propaganda.”

So much for Putin’s assertion that Russia has “no problem with LGBT persons.”

More >>  Russia rips adopted kids from gay dads using its anti-gay propaganda law

Northamptonshire children's services are INADEQUATE says Ofsted in damning report released today

Northamptonshire children’s services have been graded as inadequate by Ofsted which has found some looked-after children are living in unsafe accommodation and other care leavers have become homeless.

In a damning report the government watchdog has found after a full inspection last month that the service being provided by Northamptonshire is not fit for purpose and is failing vulnerable children in its care.

More >> Northamptonshire children's services are INADEQUATE says Ofsted in damning report released today

NJ SCHOOLS REQUIRED TO SHOW CHILD ABUSE HOTLINE FOR KIDS TO CALL

New Jersey has a new law that requires all schools to post information about the state child abuse hotline in their buildings starting this fall.

“It’s an additional tool for children if they’re suffering abuse and neglect at home or elsewhere. They will then have the information themselves and can make the phone call,” said Christine Norbut Beyer, commissioner of the state Department of Children and Families.

More >> NJ SCHOOLS REQUIRED TO SHOW CHILD ABUSE HOTLINE FOR KIDS TO CALL

Foster father, son accused of sexually abusing children, Contra Costa DA says

A foster parent and his son are accused of sexually abusing multiple children in Antioch, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office said Monday.

The foster father, identified by the district attorney as 64-year-old Simon Chavez, cared for young children for at least 18 years at his home in Antioch.

More >> Foster father, son accused of sexually abusing children, Contra Costa DA says

Monday, July 29, 2019

2 mothers unhappy about 'raid' at private treatment program

Reaction to the state's shutdown of a private adolescent treatment program in northwestern Montana over allegations of physical and psychological abuse range from relief to anger to defiance.

Some former participants and staff said they were glad the state removed more than two dozen children from the Ranch for Kids on July 23 and suspended its license.

More >> 2 mothers unhappy about 'raid' at private treatment program

Breaking: Murdered GOP AR State Senator Told Sources She Found Child Pornography From Foster Kids On Judge Ex-Husband’s Computer Days Before She Died

Multiple confirmed sources have informed CD Media that murdered Arkansas State Senator Linda Collins-Smith told them she found child pornography made with foster children in care of the Arkansas Department of Human Services on her ex-husband’s, former Judge Phillip Smith, government-provided laptop computer. She was concerned the videos had been made in his judicial chambers where allegedly all cameras had been removed.

More >> Breaking: Murdered GOP AR State Senator Told Sources She Found Child Pornography From Foster Kids On Judge Ex-Husband’s Computer Days Before She Died

Jury deliberations begin in trial of foster parents accused in death of toddler

Jury deliberations are expected to begin Monday in the controversial Rosenbaum trial, after three weeks of arguments from both sides.

Closing arguments wrapped up Friday with high emotions and raised voices as former foster parents Jennifer and Joseph Rosenbaum stand accused of killing their 2 year-old foster child Laila Daniel in 2015.

More >> Jury deliberations begin in trial of foster parents accused in death of toddler

Oregon officials ask judge to dismiss federal foster care lawsuit

Gov. Kate Brown and Oregon’s child welfare agency are asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit over the state’s foster care system, after settlement talks failed to produce a resolution earlier this summer.

In April, a national advocacy group and Disability Rights Oregon filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of 10 children in state foster care ranging in age from 18 months to 17 years old. They accused the state of violating the children’s rights guaranteed by federal laws and the U.S. Constitution.

More >> Oregon officials ask judge to dismiss federal foster care lawsuit

What you need to know about the Texas foster care system before a CPS case

If your child is involved in a CPS case in the state of Texas then you need to be aware that he or she could be removed from your home and placed into foster care. I hate to put it to you so bluntly, but that is the reality of the situation. That doesn’t mean that he or she is never going to come home to you. What it does mean is that you are going to have to work to get him or her returned home.

Part of that work is learning about the CPS process and the people and institutions that are involved. The foster care system is one that figures to weigh heavily on your case in the event that your child is removed from your home. Today’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan will seek to provide you with more information that we think is relevant to have as you begin your case.

More >> What you need to know about the Texas foster care system before a CPS case

Snatched! Government 'illegally' takes child from parents



The group contends the child was “illegally taken” from his family by Child Protective Services on June 20.

The family was given no explanation when the boy was seized, and CPS agents refused to answer their questions. The agents simply showed up at the family’s home, accompanied by armed officers, and demanded the child.

More >> Snatched! Government 'illegally' takes child from parents

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Mother says DCF may take child because she is seeking alternative treatment to child's cancer

Action News Jax is investigating parental rights following a call from a local woman who has a dying daughter.

She claims the Florida Department of Children and Families may try to take her daughter away because she wants to discontinue chemotherapy and use natural remedies for the child.

More >> Mother says DCF may take child because she is seeking alternative treatment to child's cancer

Ongoing staffing crisis crippling children’s trust improvement efforts

The “high and sometimes sudden turnover” of social work staff at a children’s services trust is continuing to cripple improvement efforts, an Ofsted monitoring visit has found.

The visit found that Brighter Futures for Children (BFfC), which took over services from Reading council in 2018, was continuing to experience staffing problems “at all levels of the organisation”.

More >> Ongoing staffing crisis crippling children’s trust improvement efforts

US migrant detention centres are overcrowded and families are still being separated

It has fake grass, a pop-up medical clinic and a soccer pitch. It sits at the end of a dry and dusty road in southwest Texas, near some old lodging that was once used by oil workers.

More >> US migrant detention centres are overcrowded and families are still being separated


School official loses job after letter threatening child custody over lunch debts

The fallout continues from a letter sent by a Pennsylvania school district to parents who owed lunch money debts.

More >> School official loses job after letter threatening child custody over lunch debts

Osceola Couple Accused of Neglecting Their Adopted Children Avoid Prison

An Osceola couple who admitted to keeping their two children in plastic-lined rooms and forcing them to use buckets as toilets has avoided prison time.

Kelly Fry and Kenny Fry were arrested last summer and charged with neglect or abandonment and child endangerment causing bodily injury.

More >> Osceola Couple Accused of Neglecting Their Adopted Children Avoid Prison

Wesley Mathews, foster dad of Sherin, starts life term over her death...



Houston: Wesley Mathews, sentenced to life in prison for the death of his foster child Sherin Mathew...


More >> Wesley Mathews, foster dad of Sherin, starts life term over her death...

Former CCPD Officer accused of impersonating a CPS worker may have violated bond

The former Corpus Christi police officer who's accused of impersonating a Child Protective Services case worker may have violated her bond.

Norma Deleon appeared in the 117th District Court this morning for a pretrial and plea deadline hearing. Deleon is facing a charge of impersonating a public servant.

More >> Former CCPD Officer accused of impersonating a CPS worker may have violated bond

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Oregon officials ask judge to dismiss federal foster care lawsuit

Gov. Kate Brown and Oregon’s child welfare agency are asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit over the state’s foster care system, after settlement talks failed to produce a resolution earlier this summer.

In April, a national advocacy group and Disability Rights Oregon filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of 10 children in state foster care ranging in age from 18 months to 17 years old. They accused the state of violating the children’s rights guaranteed by federal laws and the U.S. Constitution.

More >> Oregon officials ask judge to dismiss federal foster care lawsuit

Foster father accused of raping, assaulting children

A Chelsea man was arraigned Monday after he was accused of sexually assaulting his two foster children.

Michael Diaz, 33, was arrested July 19 on nine counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, six counts of aggravated rape of a child under 16 and one count of distribution matter harmful to a minor.

More >> Foster father accused of raping, assaulting children

Ex-youth center workers accused of rape; state investigates

New Hampshire's attorney general launched an investigation Thursday into the state youth detention center after two former counselors were charged with raping a teenage boy 82 times, at least once at gunpoint, in the late 1990s.

The "comprehensive, multi-faceted" investigation into the Sununu Youth Services Center will initially focus on the center's operations and employees from 1990 to 2000 and will address whether other children were physically or sexually abused, and whether other laws were broken, Attorney General Gordon MacDonald said in a news release.


More >> Ex-youth center workers accused of rape; state investigates

DCFS Proposes Stricter Rules for Illinois Foster Homes

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is proposing new rules for licensed foster homes that include vaccination of children and a no-smoking policy.

 DCFS spokesman Jassen Strokosch says the proposed rules are meant to comply with National Model Foster Family Home Licensing Standards adopted in February by the Children's Bureau of the Administration for Children and Families, a part of U.S. Department of Health and Human Service.

More >> DCFS Proposes Stricter Rules for Illinois Foster Homes

Expert says foster mom killed tot girl on accident. She was found with broken bones, ‘loop-shaped’ bruising & ruptured pancreas [Court]



A former GBI medical examiner testified Thursday morning that internal injuries that killed a Georgia toddler were caused by attempts by her foster mother to save the little girl’s life.

11Alive reports that Dr. Kris Sperry took the stand for the defense inside a Henry County courtroom, where foster parents Jennifer and Joseph Rosenbaum are currently on trial, facing murder charges in connection with the 2015 death of 2-year-old Laila Marie Daniel.

More >> Expert says foster mom killed tot girl on accident. She was found with broken bones, ‘loop-shaped’ bruising & ruptured pancreas [Court]

‘Foster dad begged for custody of girl, 7, he said was in danger then raped her’



Eric Schrecengost, 37, was arrested Tuesday in Keizer, Oregon for allegedly raping and sexually abusing the girl. The Oregon Department of Human Services and Child Welfare placed the girl in Schrecengost’s custody last year after he filed a motion for temporary custody due to immediate danger.

More >> ‘Foster dad begged for custody of girl, 7, he said was in danger then raped her’

Great-grandma allegedly banned from funeral of boy who had begged not to be reunited with parents

The great-grandmother of a California boy who suspiciously died under his birth parents's care was banned from attending his funeral on Thursday, KTTV reports.

This week, civil rights activist Najee Ali led a silent protest during a private viewing at the funeral of 4-year-old Noah Cuatro, after the boy's parents banned Eva Hernandez from attending. Hernandez's allegations of child abuse did not purportedly sit well with Noah's parents Jose and Ursula.

More >> Great-grandma allegedly banned from funeral of boy who had begged not to be reunited with parents

Raid removing 27 kids from Montana ranch 'may be the tip of the iceberg,' lawmaker says

The removal of 27 children at a private facility for adopted children in Montana this week was the culmination of years of efforts to effectively regulate private youth treatment programs — and it "may just be the tip of the iceberg," the lawmaker who spearheaded the reform effort said Thursday.

The children were removed Tuesday from the Ranch for Kids in Rexford, in Lincoln County along the Canadian border, in response to what state officials called frequent and severe allegations of physical and psychological abuse. Some have already been reunited with their parents, state officials said.

More >> Raid removing 27 kids from Montana ranch 'may be the tip of the iceberg,' lawmaker says

U.S., Guatemala Sign Treaty Denying U.S. Asylum to Migrants

Guatemala has signed a comprehensive migration reform deal which allows U.S. border officials to legally block asylum claims by migrants who pass through that country, President Donald Trump said Friday.

More >> U.S., Guatemala Sign Treaty Denying U.S. Asylum to Migrants

After CPS Removal of Four-Year-Old Upheld, Kaufman County Family Will Request Court Reconsideration

It’s been over a month since Child Protective Services (CPS) removed four-year-old Kaleb (Drake) Pardo from his home. Now, several weeks after a court ruling that favored CPS, his parents and their lawyers are preparing to challenge the court’s decision.

The ruling on July 2 granted CPS temporary managing conservatorship.

If the family does nothing, the case could last another year before the permanency hearing, according to CPS policy.


More >> After CPS Removal of Four-Year-Old Upheld, Kaufman County Family Will Request Court Reconsideration

Independent report finds shortcomings in DCYF

An independent report on Rhode Island's child welfare agency has found serious shortcomings.

More >> Independent report finds shortcomings in DCYF

Adoption system 'out of step with reality' in age of social media, review finds

Social media has changed the landscape in terms of adopted people tracing their birth relatives to such an extent that service providers here "are out of step with the reality".

That was one of the findings highlighted by participants in a Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) review and consultation on the potential introduction of open or semi-open adoption in Ireland.

More >> Adoption system 'out of step with reality' in age of social media, review finds

Huger couple accused of international adoption scheme to appear in Federal Court Thursday

Charleston, SC The couple accused of trying to smuggle a baby out of Japan is set to appear before a federal judge Thursday.

Stephanie Jean Locker and Gerald Vincent Locker, Jr. are set for arraignment  at 9:45 AM in Charleston Courtroom #5, U. S. Court House on Broad Street before Magistrate Judge Bristow Marchant.

More >> Huger couple accused of international adoption scheme to appear in Federal Court Thursday

Friday, July 26, 2019

Thousands of unaccompanied migrant children could be detained indefinitely

An unprecedented number of unaccompanied migrant children are at risk of spending the rest of their childhoods in federal custody, CBS News learned in an exclusive interview with the head of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), the agency that cares for these children.

The federal government is required to pursue "prompt and continuous efforts toward family reunification" of unaccompanied migrant children, according to a landmark court settlement, but for thousands of kids in ORR care, that reunion may never happen.

More >> Thousands of unaccompanied migrant children could be detained indefinitely

Pennsylvania district sorry it warned that lunch debt could lead to foster care, accepts $22K donation

A Pennsylvania school district is apologizing for threatening students’ parents with possible foster care over unpaid lunch debts and has accepted a donation that will cover the unpaid fees.

More >> Pennsylvania district sorry it warned that lunch debt could lead to foster care, accepts $22K donation

Stricter rules proposed for Illinois foster homes

Licensed foster homes in Illinois will likely have to comply with a host of new rules starting later this year, including strict vaccination and no-smoking policies, as well as rules governing kitchens, bathrooms, swimming pools and transportation.

The state Department of Children and Family Services announced the proposed rules July 12, when they were published in the Illinois Register, the official state document for public notices of rulemaking by state agencies.

More >> Stricter rules proposed for Illinois foster homes

Thursday, July 25, 2019

SC couple accused of falsifying overseas adoption documents to appear in court Thursday

The Huger couple accused of falsifying overseas adoption documents is expected to appear in court Thursday morning.

The U.S. Department of Justice says Stephanie Jean Locker and Gerald Vincent Locker Jr. tried to get around overseas adoption rules by telling immigration officials a baby they adopted in the Philippines was their biological child.

More >> SC couple accused of falsifying overseas adoption documents to appear in court Thursday

When ‘You’re Adopted’ Is Used as an Insult

I don’t remember exactly how old I was the first time I heard one of my classmates hurl “You’re adopted” at another as an insult. But I was old enough to know two things: First, that my parents’ process of adopting me was long, complicated, and emotionally exhausting—not to mention expensive; and second, that some kids’ parents euphemistically called them “surprises.” To my young mind, being adopted meant being desperately wanted and prayed for; some of my friends had little siblings who joined their families purely by accident, but I was a long-awaited miracle. So when I heard a kid my own age sneer at a classmate, “You’re adopted,” I was bewildered.

More >> When ‘You’re Adopted’ Is Used as an Insult

Bill protects parents with disabilities in custody cases

Parents with disabilities delivered emotional testimony to lawmakers, urging passage of a bill they said would protect them from discrimination in child custody cases.

Bills filed by Sen. Joan Lovely and Rep. Kay Khan (S 983, H 1487) would prohibit a parent's disability from being used as a negative factor in custody matters without a written, evidence-based finding from a court showing "the nexus between the parent's disability, or its manifestations, and harm to the child," and whether that harm could be prevented with adaptive equipment or supportive services.

More >> Bill protects parents with disabilities in custody cases

Pedophile convicted for inventing claims about child abuse by VIPs

A man who falsely alleged he had been a victim of a supposed child sex ring decades ago involving high-profile individuals including senior political and military figures was found guilty on Monday of perverting the course of justice.

Carl Beech, who was known by the pseudonym of “Nick,” told detectives he had been abused at military locations and at apartments close to parliament, and also said the pedophile gang had murdered three young boys.

More >> Pedophile convicted for inventing claims about child abuse by VIPs

Should siblings be kept together in foster care?

Should siblings be kept together in foster care?

That is the conversation Massachusetts lawmakers are having as they consider a bill that would require the state Department of Children and Families to prioritize sibling unity.

More >> Should siblings be kept together in foster care?


Pennsylvania County Says It Will Never Put Children in Foster Care for School Lunch Debt

People in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, were shocked last week when a local school district sent hundreds of letters telling parents who owed lunch money for their children to pay up or else the kids could go into foster care.

“Nobody’s coming to take your kids in the middle of the night,” County Manager David Pedri assured residents on Monday, July 22 on “CNN Newsroom.”

More >> Pennsylvania County Says It Will Never Put Children in Foster Care for School Lunch Debt

Foster father’s mother says she never saw injuries on Laila, Millie

The mother of a man accused in the death of his 2-year-old foster child testified Tuesday that she never saw injuries on the girl or her older sister.

“I never had any inkling at all that there were injuries to either one of them,” Mary Rosenbaum told the Henry County jury.

More >> Foster father’s mother says she never saw injuries on Laila, Millie

Gay couple from Georgia sues over US refusal to recognize kid as citizen

A same-sex couple in Georgia said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that the U.S. State Department is unconstitutionally refusing to recognize their daughter's rightful American citizenship.

The State Department's policy treats married same-sex couples as if their marriages do not exist and treats them differently from married straight couples in violation of the law and the Constitution, according to the suit filed in federal court in Atlanta. It was filed on behalf of Derek Mize and Jonathan Gregg, whose daughter Simone was born in England in July 2018 via surrogate.

More >> Gay couple from Georgia sues over US refusal to recognize kid as citizen

Social worker accused of sex crimes no longer with St. Louis County

The social worker charged with felony criminal sexual conduct with a victim to whom he’d been assigned no longer works for St. Louis County.

“Michael Bryant is no longer an employee of St. Louis County,” spokeswoman Dana Kazel said Tuesday. “We continue to work toward a timely resolution of the employment complaint.”

More >> Social worker accused of sex crimes no longer with St. Louis County

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Foster Mothers Challenge Philadelphia’s ‘Discriminatory’ Adoption Agenda

Two Philadelphia foster mothers are asking the Supreme Court to defend religious adoption agencies from a city policy that would declare them discriminatory and shut them down.

Sharonell Fulton, who has fostered more than 40 children through Catholic Social Services (CSS), and Toni Simms-Busch, a former social worker, want the Court to overturn a Philadelphia policy that targets religious groups for holding traditional views of marriage. Philadelphia currently has 6,000 children in foster care, but the regulation would shutter some of the longest-serving adoption agencies in the city.

More >> Foster Mothers Challenge Philadelphia’s ‘Discriminatory’ Adoption Agenda

'Hit, kicked ... spit on': Montana alleges abuse, removes kids from private youth program

In an unprecedented action, the state of Montana removed 27 children from the Ranch for Kids in Lincoln County on Tuesday morning after receiving multiple complaints of physical and psychological abuse and neglect at the private program for troubled youth.

Acting on an order from Lincoln County District Court Judge Matthew J. Cuffe, and with support of law enforcement, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services personnel took the children from the remote ranch outside Rexford, and suspended its license.

More >> 'Hit, kicked ... spit on': Montana alleges abuse, removes kids from private youth program

After DCFS Caseworker Killed on the Job, Her Husband Works for Change at the Troubled Agency

Recent child deaths in Illinois have shined a light on the Department of Children and Family Services, the agency charged with protecting vulnerable children in a home, often their own. One man is speaking out to honor his wife and is on a quest to change things at DCFS for her.

More >> After DCFS Caseworker Killed on the Job, Her Husband Works for Change at the Troubled Agency

What Happens When Parents Wait to Tell a Child He’s Adopted

A predictable sequence of events nearly always ensues after I mention to someone that I’m adopted. First, people blink, then quickly apologize for whatever assumption forced the clarification—that it must be my dad who’s tall, or that it must be my mom who passed down her olive skin to me … that some distinctive feature of mine must run in my family. Then come the questions: “Do you know your birth parents?” “How old were you when you were adopted?” And, almost without fail, “When did you find out you were adopted?” Whatever conversation was going on before the subject of adoption came up, I am always sorry to find, is now lost to history and forgotten.

More >> What Happens When Parents Wait to Tell a Child He’s Adopted

Evangelical foster care agency expands program to include Catholics amid lawsuit over state funding

An evangelical Christian nonprofit that is South Carolina's largest adoption agency and only places children with Christian families recently announced its decision to expand its foster program to include Catholics.

Earlier this month, Miracle Hill Ministries announced that it was officially clarifying that Roman Catholics who affirm the nonprofit’s statement of faith can serve as foster parents or employees.

More >> Evangelical foster care agency expands program to include Catholics amid lawsuit over state funding

Russian lawmakers back creation of child adopters blacklist

The State Duma passed a bill creating a special register of bad faith adoptive parents and guardians in the third and final reading on Tuesday.

The blacklist will help regulate the information exchange between authorized bodies to prevent adopters and guardians deprived of parental rights from repeated child adoption, the statement released on the website of the parliament’s lower house reads.

More >> Russian lawmakers back creation of child adopters blacklist

Man convicted for inventing false claims about child abuse by VIPs

A man who falsely alleged he had been a victim of a supposed child sex ring decades ago involving high-profile individuals including senior political and military figures was found guilty on Monday of perverting the course of justice.

Carl Beech, who was known by the pseudonym of “Nick”, told detectives he had been abused at military locations and at apartments close to parliament, and also said the paedophile gang had murdered three young boys.

More >> Man convicted for inventing false claims about child abuse by VIPs

I-Team Exclusive: Grandma calls out CPS after toddler killed



A 2-year-old child is dead, and according to a local grandmother, Child Protective Services could have protected her grandson.

“I just miss him,” said Shelby Mannino, grandmother. “I just miss him a lot.”

More >> I-Team Exclusive: Grandma calls out CPS after toddler killed

DHS official claims she was punished for reporting wrongdoing with state contracts

A compliance officer at the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) said she was the victim of retaliation after she raised alarms about the legality of contracts at the social services agency.

Faye K. Bernstein, a lead contract specialist at DHS, said she was verbally reprimanded and sidelined from her duties after she pointed out “serious non-compliance issues” with a group of contracts approved by leaders in the agency’s behavioral health division, which awards millions of dollars each year in contracts for mental health and substance use treatment and services.

More >> DHS official claims she was punished for reporting wrongdoing with state contracts

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Who First Reported Abuse At The McMartin Preschool? Judy Johnson’s Shocking Allegations

In the summer 1983, mother of two Judy Johnson made a complaint to the Manhattan Beach Police Department that would ignite one of the most infamous criminal investigations in U.S. history.

Speaking with an officer, Johnson said she was calling to “report a crime.”

More >> Who First Reported Abuse At The McMartin Preschool? Judy Johnson’s Shocking Allegations

Countless migrant children could soon be headed to Fort Worth. Here’s why

Fort Worth for years has been a temporary home to countless unaccompanied migrant children.

And it could soon house even more.

More >> Countless migrant children could soon be headed to Fort Worth. Here’s why

Under New Illinois Law, Parents Of Justice-Involved Children Don’t Have To Trade Custody For Treatment

A new Illinois law aims to ensure that parents of justice-involved youth who need costly mental health services don’t have to trade custody for treatment for their child.

Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert advocated for this change to the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Administrative Act.

More >> Under New Illinois Law, Parents Of Justice-Involved Children Don’t Have To Trade Custody For Treatment

Event highlights problems facing kids who age out of foster care system


Statistics show that many of the kids can either find themselves homeless or caught in human trafficking, Louis Barrios said.

More >> Event highlights problems facing kids who age out of foster care system

Insurer wins coverage dispute over foster child’s death

A foster care agency’s insurer has prevailed in coverage litigation over the murder of a 4-year old girl by her foster mother.

Foster care agency The Baby Fold, based in Normal, Illinois, placed Kianna Rudesill in the care of Joshua and Heather Lamie in 2010, according to Friday’s ruling by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago in Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Co. v. The Chicago Trust Co., as administrator of the Estate of Kianna Rudesill, and The Baby Fold.

More >> Insurer wins coverage dispute over foster child’s death

Judge halts Children Services strike for 60 days

A day after a state board determined a strike by Montgomery County’s child welfare workers presented a clear and present danger to children, a judge on Monday ruled to extend for 60 days a restraining order he issued last week that halted the strike and ordered the sides to three negotiating sessions, including two in public.

More >> Judge halts Children Services strike for 60 days

Bartow DFCS case manager awarded for reuniting 19 children with biological parents

“Surprised and excited” by the honor, Jamie Crews was recognized by the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services for reuniting 19 foster children with their parents. The Kennesaw resident has served as a social services case manager at Bartow County Department of Family and Children Services since 2017.

More >> Bartow DFCS case manager awarded for reuniting 19 children with biological parents

Protecting Children from Unnecessary Trauma

Responding to the evil of child abuse means rescuing children from the people who harm them and punishing their abusers. It also means avoiding unnecessary state intrusion into the lives of innocent families.

Every year, 3.5 million children undergo traumatic child abuse investigations or some other formal response from CPS. Yet only 18% of abuse reports are found to be substantiated. And every year, HSLDA assists families who have been wrongfully accused of child abuse and whose lives have been intruded upon by overzealous CPS investigators.

More >> Protecting Children from Unnecessary Trauma

Monday, July 22, 2019

850 Teddy Bear Vigil July 21 2019



A Teddy Bear Vigil was held at the Edmonton Alberta Legislative Building Steps. Each bear represented a fallen child due to the negligence of the Child and Family Services.  We are making changes and our children of tomorrow will be still here thanks to Keri and Velvet taking lead in starting a new cycle of methods that work for all families and would not tear apart, but provide all the supports necessary to achieve the level of parenting all want to see.  Taking children away from their homes in most of these cases as you will see will upset most of us and want to go home and give our babies hugs and kisses and remind them how important they are to us and our futures.  Love your family, Please click on the link to the Petition. Thank you for all who took part today and those who couldn't make it sent their prayers! Almost 7,000 Signatures! Let's make it to 10,000!

Thank you!  http://chng.it/9MxQKhRXtd

After Saying It Would Go Above and Beyond to Educate Its Foster Care Students, Indiana Unveils a Plan That Is Little More Than Bullet Points

hen Indiana released a bleak report this spring on the educational outcomes of students in foster care, it broke new ground in making public the state’s troubling statistics. Only 64 percent of its foster care students graduated from high school; only 9 percent passed the 10th-grade math test. For black students in the system, it was even worse: only 3 percent passed the 10th-grade math test.

Others were shocked, but not foster parents like Kristi Cundiff.

More >> After Saying It Would Go Above and Beyond to Educate Its Foster Care Students, Indiana Unveils a Plan That Is Little More Than Bullet Points

The Trump Administration Isn’t Providing Legal Aid To Migrant Children In Temporary Shelter

The Trump administration is not providing legal services to migrant children in a newly opened temporary facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, in what advocates say is a violation of law.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement, the government agency that operates all shelters for migrant children, has confirmed it has not yet contracted with any legal aid providers to give the kids access to counsel. The children face deportation proceedings and are already getting court dates, according to the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), which has stepped in to offer free legal counsel in the absence of a contract.

More >> The Trump Administration Isn’t Providing Legal Aid To Migrant Children In Temporary Shelter

Pennsylvania School Board Members Criticize Threatening Lunch Money Letter

Five of nine members of the Wyoming Valley West School Board tell FOX40 sister station WNEP the district should not have threatened to place kids in foster care if their parents fail to pay their lunch tabs.

But the district's solicitor has doubled down, claiming some parents need the threat of losing their kids to get them to pay up.

More >> Pennsylvania School Board Members Criticize Threatening Lunch Money Letter

Valley mom shares experience with foster parents in child molestation case

A Valley mom spoke with ABC15 about her experience with George and Leslie Little, the Gilbert foster parents at the center of a child molestation case.

The mom, who didn't want to use her name, says she placed her two daughters in foster care two years ago in order to keep them safe.

More >> Valley mom shares experience with foster parents in child molestation case

A Colorado war veteran lost parental rights to her children through a rarely-scrutinized legal process. Now she’s asking the state Supreme Court to intercede.

When Ashley checked herself into a homeless shelter for female veterans, she had the well being of her two young children in mind.

Her symptoms from post-traumatic stress disorder had become unmanageable. For years, she had been able to suppress the trauma from her 17-month deployment to Afghanistan with the U.S. Army, as well as the sexual assault she said she suffered at the hands of two men in her unit. But trauma, in time, always boils over.

More >> A Colorado war veteran lost parental rights to her children through a rarely-scrutinized legal process. Now she’s asking the state Supreme Court to intercede.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Moscow Officials Sued For Allowing Gay Couple to Adopt

Russia’s Investigative Committee has accused social welfare officials in Moscow of criminal negligence for allowing a gay couple to raise children they adopted nearly a decade ago.

Russia banned gay adoption, along with “homosexual propaganda among minorities,” in 2013.

More >> Moscow Officials Sued For Allowing Gay Couple to Adopt

‘High Number of Requests for Adoption of Children in Iran’

An Iranian official says there are currently 10 requests for adoption of per child in Iran, particularly after single women were recently authorized to apply for.

Montazer Shabar says the high number of requests has prolonged the process of adoption.

More >> ‘High Number of Requests for Adoption of Children in Iran’

Preventing Ky. family separation through Families First

MOREHEAD Preventing family separation and reducing the number of children entering the foster care system is the goal of a child welfare act explained in one of nine statewide forums held recently in Rowan County.

The Family First Preservation Services Act, passed in the 2019 regular legislative session and signed into law by Gov. Matt Bevin, implements child welfare reform by redirecting federal funds - Title IV-E funding- to evidence-based, preventative services for children, parents or caregivers.

More >> Preventing Ky. family separation through Families First

State board to rule on future of Children Services strike

Montgomery County’s Children Services division and the union representing its workers have been called to an emergency hearing on Sunday before the State Employment Relations Board.

More >> State board to rule on future of Children Services strike

One Family's Journey Through Guardianship Hell

The last time Patricia Femia saw her mother, Ada Vocino, was February 14,  2013 — Valentine’s Day. But this was anything but a heartfelt meeting. The two women were in the Morris County Courthouse in Morristown, N.J. and were there for war.

Patricia was Ada’s only child. Until a few months before that day in court, Ada’s life had revolved around Patricia and her family. They’d lived together in an apartment Patricia built into her home in 2007, as Ada — a wartime immigrant — wanted. Previously, Ada helped raise Patricia’s sons and daughter.

More >> One Family's Journey Through Guardianship Hell

Rosenbaum trial: Laila had bruising 'all over'

This week, Laila Marie Daniel would have turned 6 years old. Instead, a mound of stuffed animals and balloons mark her grave in a corner of Berea Cemetery as jurors heard testimony about breaks, bruises and her last excruciating moments on Earth.

Jennifer and Joseph Rosenbaum are on trial for murder, assault, battery and child cruelty in the death of Laila, their foster child. Jennifer Rosenbaum has said the child had choked on a piece of chicken the night she died.

More >> Rosenbaum trial: Laila had bruising 'all over'

Private Companies Are Cashing in on ICE's Detention Centers

When employees at Wayfair, a swanky furniture and interior decorating company, discovered earlier this month that they had unknowingly been responsible for providing bedding to immigrant detention centers run by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), they demanded that executives break off ties with the agency. When the higher-ups refused, the employees staged a walk-out in Boston.

It's a strange disconnect, that this company that sells accent chairs and floral-patterned credenzas was connected to the latest iteration of American concentration camps. But the truth is that there's a lot of money to make in the immigrant detention business, and plenty of the companies cashing in are household names.

More >> Private Companies Are Cashing in on ICE's Detention Centers

Project PA: Just uncovered documents give 'Kids for Cash' victim hope in getting kids back

There are late-breaking developments in our Project PA story we first brought you last week.

Joshua Fromel is one of the thousands of victims in the “Kids for Cash” scandal; it’s called one of the biggest cases of judicial misconduct in American history.

More >> Project PA: Just uncovered documents give 'Kids for Cash' victim hope in getting kids back

Baby H is in her fifth foster home and family services has stopped communicating with family says grandfather

Baby H, the B.C. infant who was seized from hospital after medical staff reported her mother was neglecting her 90 minutes after having a C-section is back in a stranger’s care after her aunt asked for a break.

The child, who is now five weeks old, hasn’t lived with her parents in that time and has been bounced from foster home to foster home to an aunt and now to another non-Indigenous foster home, says the grandfather.

More >> Baby H is in her fifth foster home and family services has stopped communicating with family says grandfather

‘This Cannot Be My Life’: The ‘Nightmare’ of Foster Care in Indian Country

Brian Melendez’s life was about to change forever. In the winter of 1987, a domestic dispute erupted in a house on the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony in Reno, Nevada. As law enforcement and social workers descended on the scene, an already bad situation turned into chaos.

“I didn’t understand what was happening. All I knew was that there was arguing and fighting, and that my mother was all bloody and people were in handcuffs,” says Melendez.

More >> ‘This Cannot Be My Life’: The ‘Nightmare’ of Foster Care in Indian Country

Saturday, July 20, 2019

RI woman had to adopt her own biological son; bill to change that failed

Sara Watson and Anna Ford decided on their son’s name four days after he was born. But when they went to fill out his birth certificate and name him “Eli,” they received some unexpected news.

“The hospital staff said, we’re really, really sorry but you can’t put your name on this birth certificate,” Watson recalled.

More >> RI woman had to adopt her own biological son; bill to change that failed

Will Texas Keep Fighting Foster Care Reform?

It’s been more than three years since a federal judge ruled that Texas dumps some of the state’s most vulnerable children into a foster care system “where rape, abuse, psychotropic medication and instability are the norm.”

Following a 2015 trial in a lawsuit brought by children’s advocacy groups, federal district judge Janis Jack of Corpus Christi also concluded that state leaders can’t be trusted to reform the system on their own. Her blistering, 260-page verdict delivered in December 2015 accused state officials of deep-sixing an internal review that revealed “staggering” failures in child abuse investigations. She scolded one state witness who attempted to manipulate department data, including lowering child fatality stats. The judge chastised another state expert who, in an attempt to debunk the plaintiffs’ claims, further traumatized a teenage girl who’d already been battered by the system.

More >> Will Texas Keep Fighting Foster Care Reform?

Women adopted from South Korea learn they're sisters and grew up 30 minutes apart

Two women who were born in South Korea have developed a close bond after learning they're actually sisters and share the same biological mother.

More >> Women adopted from South Korea learn they're sisters and grew up 30 minutes apart

Montgomery County Children Services workers on strike

Montgomery County Children Services workers’ strike began at 12:01 a.m. today.

More >> Montgomery County Children Services workers on strike

JUDGE: Killing The Indian Child Welfare Law Would Hurt People Like Me

Stories like mine do not get told. I was only in the fifth grade when I was removed from my classroom and taken from my family by a state social worker. A 10-year-old who is ripped apart from his family — never having the chance to say goodbye to his mother or grandmother — develops a scar that never goes away. But it is a scar that many bear because, like me, they are members of Native American tribes.

For decades, our own government did not agree with how Indian families like my own raised their children, and removed us from our loved ones to be raised in a culture that was entirely alien. I cycled through a total of six non-Native homes over the course of five years. I was forced to accept six different religions and six different cultures, impacting everything from my spiritual values to the food I ate. I was treated as unworthy of love, as an outsider, as though my background meant I was undeserving of the family that every child deserves. I waited countless nights alone in foster homes thinking my mother would come rescue me. She never did. In fact, it was recorded in my file that I was banned by the court from any contact with family members.

More >> JUDGE: Killing The Indian Child Welfare Law Would Hurt People Like Me

Friday, July 19, 2019

Safehouse no longer accepting children from Social Services

Operation Safehouse, a non-profit that helps runaways, homeless youths, and other youths in crisis, is placing a moratorium on accepting placements by the Department of Public and Social Services after an employee was attacked.

SafeHouse Executive Director Kathy McAdara said a child placed at the shelter by DPSS attacked the manager of the Riverside shelter without provocation last Saturday. The resident also destroyed Safehouse property, McAdara added. Law enforcement had to be brought in before the child was finally removed from the shelter.

More >> Safehouse no longer accepting children from Social Services

DCFS placed boy in foster home with sex offender, he was abused: lawsuit

A new allegation claims the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services placed a child in a home with a convicted sex offender, and he was sexually abused. That’s according to a pair of lawsuits filed by the Cook County public guardian against DCFS, the foster mother and the sex offender.

“DCFS is supposed to run a background check," public guardian Charles Golbert said. “They did not do that in this particular case so they ended up placing a 12-year-old boy with a convicted child sex molester.”

More >> DCFS placed boy in foster home with sex offender, he was abused: lawsuit

Change underway for Illinois DCFS after controversial children’s deaths

Changes are on the way for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services after recent deaths of children in their care.

Between July of 2017 and June of last year, there were 98 deaths of children in DCSF care, 34 were under the age of 3.

More >> Change underway for Illinois DCFS after controversial children’s deaths

Woman Separated From Siblings By Adoption Takes To Social Media To Find Brother




A Stockton woman is on a mission to find the last of her seven siblings who were separated by adoption.

She’s started a blog and created a Facebook page and is now asking for the community’s help in finding her long-lost brother.

More >> Woman Separated From Siblings By Adoption Takes To Social Media To Find Brother

How Child Protective Services Can Trap the Parents They’re Supposed to Help

I woke to the sound of my 3-year-old daughter crying. It was a hard, bitter cry. If you have young children, you know the one — it punches through the walls and triggers your heart into a frenzy. I sprang up, ready to run to her bedside. But as wakefulness returned, the sound faded. My daughter was not crying for me. She wasn’t even there. She and her 4-year-old sister were taken from my custody more than a year earlier by the state of Florida.

In the United States, 7 million children are reported to abuse hotlines each year. More than 3 million of those allegations trigger a child maltreatment investigation. But that’s just the beginning of the story: Once a finding of child neglect has been made, parents have to try to correct the issue or issues that led to child protective involvement. Typically, that involves mandates for parents to undergo addiction treatment, find stable housing, secure employment, begin therapy or psychiatric care, and so on.
More >> How Child Protective Services Can Trap the Parents They’re Supposed to Help

Second Utah facility for troubled teens to close in a month

A company that runs treatment centers for troubled youth is closing a second Utah facility as officials investigate claims of sexual abuse, violence and several other issues with staff at a different facility.

Mount Pleasant Academy in central Utah is one of several youth psychiatric treatment facilities run by Sequel Youth and Family Services. Sequel representatives said in a statement last week that the school will be shut down within the next month, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.

More >> Second Utah facility for troubled teens to close in a month

Illinois Lawmakers Demand Child Welfare Officials Better Serve Spanish-Speaking Families

Illinois lawmakers and advocates are calling on state child welfare officials to better comply with a federal court order to serve Spanish-speaking families, an issue they say has become more critical amid heightened fear among immigrants of interacting with government agencies.

The calls come in response to a ProPublica Illinois investigation last month that found that the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has, for decades, repeatedly violated a 1977 federal court order that mandates the agency provide services to Latino families in their primary language.

More >> Illinois Lawmakers Demand Child Welfare Officials Better Serve Spanish-Speaking Families

Mistakes made by DFCS workers are focus of Rosenbaum foster child murder trial



Two Department of Family and Children Services workers testified in Henry County Superior Court Monday morning in the murder trial of Jennifer and Joseph Rosenbaum.

The workers detailed how the department did not screen the Rosenbaums properly before they were given custody of 2-year-old Laila Daniel.

More >> Mistakes made by DFCS workers are focus of Rosenbaum foster child murder trial

Norwegian Nightmare: 'Barnevernet' Preys On Children and Parents

One of the first things you notice about Norway when you visit is how beautiful it is. But there is a very dark side of Norway that most of the world knows nothing about. It's called Barnevernet, and it can be as cold and brutal as the Norwegian winter.

Barnevernet means "child welfare." It's Norway's network of local child protection service offices. But to its victims, Barnevernet means anything but protecting children.

More >> Norwegian Nightmare: 'Barnevernet' Preys On Children and Parents 

Aboriginal woman wins battle to keep baby after six court appearances

An Aboriginal woman has been allowed to return home with her baby after child protection services in Victoria made six attempts to overturn a court ruling that she was able to properly care for her child.

Advocates for the 28-year-old woman, who has foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FasD), said child protection workers for the Department of Health and Human Services did not appropriately consider her disability in its initial assessment declaring her an unfit parent, and have suggested the decision to remove the child was informed by prejudice.

More >> Aboriginal woman wins battle to keep baby after six court appearances

Homelessness Still High Among Foster Youth Adopted, Reunited With Families, Report Finds

A surprising link between youth homelessness and foster care emerged today from a research project at the University of Chicago’s Chapin Hall.

Researchers already knew that a high proportion of homeless youth have been in the foster care system.


More >> Homelessness Still High Among Foster Youth Adopted, Reunited With Families, Report Finds

Police: Man accused of assaulting social worker during evaluation in Garden City

A Bethpage man is accused of attacking a social worker during an evaluation in Garden City.

Police say 63-year-old Richard Schipani was being evaluated at the Nassau County Social Services building around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, when he suddenly began to attack the female social worker.

More >> Police: Man accused of assaulting social worker during evaluation in Garden City

Parents are being ‘eradicated from the lives of their children for no good reason’

The recent decision by the World Health Organisation to recognise parental alienation puts the spotlight on a contentious concept that is little acknowledged in this country.

The condition, which arises almost exclusively in the context of a highly acrimonious break-up of a relationship between two parents who are in dispute over custody of children, has been included in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases, to come into effect at the beginning of 2022.

More >> Parents are being ‘eradicated from the lives of their children for no good reason’

Pay Your Lunch Money or Face Foster Care?

Parents in an area school district call a collection letter a bit heavy-handed. About 1,000 students in the Wyoming Valley West School district owe money on their student lunch accounts.

District administrators say efforts to collect the money have been frustrating. The school system fired off warning letters to parents that the district could take them to court, with one possible outcome of the children being placed in foster care.

More >> Pay Your Lunch Money or Face Foster Care?

Ofsted finds ‘optimism’ in council pushed to ‘breaking point’ by high social worker turnover

A council where children’s services were at “breaking point” last year has begun to show signs of improvement, Ofsted inspectors have said.

Inspectors found the situation at Wokingham had improved, six months on from a focused visit that assessed the council to be in a “fragile” state with high levels of social worker turnover.

More >> Ofsted finds ‘optimism’ in council pushed to ‘breaking point’ by high social worker turnover

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Foster parents needed for unaccompanied migrant children

Across the country, people are opening up their homes and becoming foster parents for migrant children who entered the United States unaccompanied by an adult and with no one willing to sponsor them.

And in many of those cases, a network of Catholic and other Christian social service agencies are working with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to place unaccompanied migrant children and refugee minors in safe home environments.

More >> Foster parents needed for unaccompanied migrant children

Missouri's Foster Kids Will No Longer Be Doped Up Thanks To A New Legal Settlement

Thousands of kids in Missouri's foster care system are likely to benefit from a first-of-its-kind legal settlement under which state officials have agreed to strict limits on how and when kids can be given psychotropic drugs.

The settlement resolves a class action lawsuit charging that Missouri foster care officials failed to safeguard the conditions under which the powerful medications are dispensed. U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey gave preliminary approval to the agreement on Monday.

More >> Missouri's Foster Kids Will No Longer Be Doped Up Thanks To A New Legal Settlement

Omaha-area child welfare contractor sues state over switch to Kansas nonprofit

The Omaha-based agency that manages Omaha-area child welfare cases is legally challenging the state’s decision to award a new contract to a different agency.


State officials signed the new contract with St. Francis Ministries, based in Salina, Kansas, on July 3. The five-year contract is for about $196 million and includes an option for two more years.
More >> Omaha-area child welfare contractor sues state over switch to Kansas nonprofit

'Doomsday prepper' accused of abusing adopted twins

A Florida couple described as "doomsday preppers" is accused of sexually and physically abusing adoptive twins who escaped and reported them.

Mirko and Regina Ceska were arrested Friday on charges including sexual assault and neglect.

More >> 'Doomsday prepper' accused of abusing adopted twins

Email hotline for child abuse claims went unchecked for five years

An email account set up for child abuse claims went unchecked for so long that some of the victims have grown up.

Colorado’s Department of Human Services told Denver’s CBS News an email address that had been set up went unchecked for nearly a half-decade. Once authorities finally noticed the oversight, they discovered more than 100 unread emails pertaining to "concerns of child abuse or neglect.”

More >> Email hotline for child abuse claims went unchecked for five years

Ofsted criticises council where some social workers have caseloads of over 50

An ‘inadequate’ children’s service where some social work caseloads exceed 50 children has been criticised by Ofsted for “insufficient progress” causing “delays in children in need and children in need of protection having their needs identified and addressed”.

Inspectors said while there was “some effective social work practice” happening in Bradford council’s children’s services, there was “weaknesses in management grip of social work practice at all levels”.

More >> Ofsted criticises council where some social workers have caseloads of over 50

House Report Reveals More Detailed, Disturbing Picture Of Family Separations Under ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policy

The House Oversight Committee’s investigation into the Trump administration’s 2018 policy shows that many children were kept in government custody far longer than previously known. At least 18 infants and toddlers under two years old were separated from their parents and "kept apart for 20 days to half a year." Meanwhile, the Trump administration agrees to allow a Stanford University pediatrician to conduct an independent investigation into health conditions for migrant children at the detention facilities.

More >> House Report Reveals More Detailed, Disturbing Picture Of Family Separations Under ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policy




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