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

Wife took husband's phone and loaded child abuse images - then shopped him to cops

A vengeful wife loaded her husband’s mobile phone with sickening images of child porn and then called police in an effort to frame him.

Cherie Renee Bolton, 34, of Siloam Springs pleaded guilty last week in Benton County Circuit Court in the US to possessing and distributing child abuse images and filing a false police report.

More >> Wife took husband's phone and loaded child abuse images - then shopped him to cops

Arkansas supreme court judge stresses importance of reuniting foster children with family

Right now there are 4,326 children in Arkansas foster care. Why are these children coming into the foster care system?

DHS said primarily neglect and parental substance abuse are to blame, but one of our state supreme court judges is getting involved. For Justice Rhonda Wood, it's now a passion.

More >> Arkansas supreme court judge stresses importance of reuniting foster children with family

Youth feel hopeless in Arkansas juvenile justice system

After 16-year-old Kristyn failed a drug test and ran away from home, the state jailed her for more than six months. Her expected sentence was three.

Teens like Kristyn are subject to a juvenile justice system that can extend their sentences for any rules infraction, or because necessary counseling isn't available or because they have to wait in county youth jails until a state bed opens.

More >> Youth feel hopeless in Arkansas juvenile justice system

Young adults struggle while ‘aging out’ of Arkansas foster care system

Foster care is difficult for children of all ages, but adolescents experience a unique set of issues. Older children are more likely to be placed in group homes and are more frequently moved from one placement to another. They’re often separated from their younger siblings, for whom they may feel responsible, and they are sometimes overprescribed psychiatric medications that impair their brain functions.

More >> Young adults struggle while ‘aging out’ of Arkansas foster care system

Young adults struggle while ‘aging out’ of Arkansas foster care system

Kendra Owens doesn’t remember a lot about the five months she spent in foster care before her 18th birthday. Her therapist says that it’s her brain trying to protect her, hiding away horrible memories that might trigger her depression or her post-traumatic stress disorder.

More >> Young adults struggle while ‘aging out’ of Arkansas foster care system

In Arkansas, foster youths who age out often alone

The girl Eric Gilmore saw waiting at the bus stop one day more than 10 years ago had just turned 18. She had one bag of clothes, a bus ticket to Fort Smith and enough bipolar medication to last one night.

And, suddenly, she was alone. After years in Arkansas' foster care system, she had aged out.

More >> In Arkansas, foster youths who age out often alone

How Julie got her daughter back, and her life

On Jan. 11, 2013, Julie Johnson’s daughter, Anna, didn’t come home from day care. At first, Julie didn’t know where Anna was, but at least she knew who had taken her: the state of Arkansas.

Before long, she began to appreciate why. She and her estranged husband were meth addicts, and their homes were no longer safe.

More >> How Julie got her daughter back, and her life

Were you adopted? You now have right to request adoption file

Individuals who have been adopted (adoptees), and who are at least 21 years of age, may now request their adoption file from the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH).

Forms are now available online for adoptees to fill out to request their files.

More >> Were you adopted? You now have right to request adoption file

Suit alleges rights violations in Arkansas Department of Human Services custody cases

Two state caseworkers routinely took children away from their parents and violated families' civil rights for years, a federal lawsuit says.

More >> Suit alleges rights violations in Arkansas Department of Human Services custody cases

DCFS: High caseloads hinder face-to-face visits with foster kids

Despite recent improvements in Arkansas’s overloaded foster care system, the state Department of Human Services’ Division of Children and Family Services is struggling to reduce the average caseload of its field staff, DCFS monthly data indicates.

More >> DCFS: High caseloads hinder face-to-face visits with foster kids

Lawsuit settled over jailing of Arkansas foster child without warrant

A civil-rights case centered around the 2016 jailing of an Arkansas foster child without a warrant was settled last week in federal court.

Details about the settlement, which was approved Dec. 5, could not be determined Wednesday.

The lawsuit, first filed in March, asserted that the 14-year-old was deprived of his civil rights through false arrest and imprisonment and that the deputy prosecuting attorney who ordered the jailing routinely detained others without cause.

More >> Lawsuit settled over jailing of Arkansas foster child without warrant

State ranked 1st in count of kids of jailed parents

Arkansas surpasses all other states in the percentage of its children who have had a parent or guardian locked up, according to a new report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

More >> State ranked 1st in count of kids of jailed parents

Lawsuit Names DHS Workers in Foster Parent Abuse Case

A lawsuit alleges that Arkansas Department of Human Services employees knowingly placed foster children into a home with a "known violent sexual predator."

More >> Lawsuit Names DHS Workers in Foster Parent Abuse Case

• Lawsuit Claims DHS Placed Children In Home Of Alleged Sex Offender

Sex abuse earns ex-foster father life in prison; judge criticizes Arkansas agency for placing youths in home

A federal judge sentenced a Van Buren man to life in prison Wednesday for sexually abusing children living in his foster or adoptive home over the past 18 years.

More >> Sex abuse earns ex-foster father life in prison; judge criticizes Arkansas agency for placing youths in home

Appeals Court reverses ruling terminating parent's rights

The Arkansas Court of Appeals reversed today a Washington County Circuit judge's decision to terminate the parental rights of a couple who divorced then moved out of state and remarried.

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Bentonville man accused of sexually assaulting foster child

A former Arkansas Department of Human Services employee faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of sexually assaulting a 4-year-old girl.

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Foster Kids in System Are Aging Out

As Arkansas's foster care crisis continues, the state is working to address problems like a shortage of foster homes and overloaded caseworkers. But one issue is often overlooked -- the number of kids who "age out of the system" without family support, direction, or knowing how to survive.

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FIRST STATE IN THE NATION VOTES ON FREE-RANGE BILL OF RIGHTS! Would Decriminalize Parents Who Let Their Kids Play Outside or Wait Briefly in Car

Oh, it wasn’t called that. Nonetheless, the proposed law would have ended “neglect” investigations of parents who simply let their children play outside, walk to school, wait in the car for under 15 minutes in temperate conditions, or come home as a latchkey kid. If the parents were otherwise neglectful or abusive, of course, the state was allowed to probe. But if the parents simply trusted their kids with a little independence, the worry that they could face charges would be lifted.

More >> FIRST STATE IN THE NATION VOTES ON FREE-RANGE BILL OF RIGHTS! Would Decriminalize Parents Who Let Their Kids Play Outside or Wait Briefly in Car

Ex-Arkansas DHS employee accused of sexually assaulting 4-year-old foster child

A former Arkansas Department of Human Services employee is accused of sexually assaulting a 4-year-old foster child he transported for supervised visits with her sibling.

More >> Ex-Arkansas DHS employee accused of sexually assaulting 4-year-old foster child