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

Mother blames CPS for Daughter's death

Video of a grieving mother is making its way around social media.

That mother said her six-year-old daughter died while in the care of Kentucky Child Protective Services.

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West Louisville mother blames CPS after 6-year-old daughter dies in foster care

A west Louisville woman is blaming Kentucky Child Protective Services for the death of her 6-year-old daughter.

The Cabinet for Health and Family Services admits the child died, but it won't reveal much else. The girl's mother, however, took to Facebook to tell her side of the story in a video.

More >> West Louisville mother blames CPS after 6-year-old daughter dies in foster care

Kentucky Hopes New Policy Will Retain Social Workers

Social workers often deal with people in the worst moments of their lives and face intense scrutiny for their work.

The stress of the job means the retention rate among state social workers is extremely low. The Department for Community Based Services is working to address the retention problem within their department by adopting what is called a “Culture of Safety Model”.  Safety science is used in jobs that deal with safety risks on a daily basis, jobs like aviation, health care, and so on.

More >> Kentucky Hopes New Policy Will Retain Social Workers

Privatization would only worsen Kentucky’s ailing foster care system, report finds

Kentucky should focus on strengthening its foster care system, which was brimming last year with a record number of children and teens, instead of seeking to outsource the job to private companies, according to a study commissioned under a 2018 law aimed at overhauling child welfare services.

The “more urgent priority” should be ironing out the system’s current kinks, namely leveling the dramatic discrepancy between services available and the number of children in need of those resources.

More >> Privatization would only worsen Kentucky’s ailing foster care system, report finds

Kentucky Schools Ask Feds To Pay For Treating Youth With Medicaid

Kentucky schools could soon get assistance from the federal government to help pay for school counselors and other health providers.

Cabinet for Health and Family Services Deputy Secretary Kristi Putnam told legislators Monday that the state is asking the federal government for permission to allow Kentucky schools to bill Medicaid when a school counselor or other health provider treats a Medicaid-enrolled student.

More >> Kentucky Schools Ask Feds To Pay For Treating Youth With Medicaid

Shadow removals: How safety plans allow CPS to avoid judicial oversight

An investigative report by WDRB in Louisville, Kentucky recently exposed a particularly innovative — although likely illegal — method that the state’s child protective services caseworkers came up with to remove children from their families without court approval.

According to the report, Cabinet for Health and Family Services workers kept stacks of blank emergency removal orders that were pre-signed by local district court judges. This allowed caseworkers to take custody of children without having a judge properly review the allegations or evidence beforehand. Attorneys and judges interviewed for the report compared the practice to a police officer creating their own search warrant without a judge’s approval.

More >> Shadow removals: How safety plans allow CPS to avoid judicial oversight

Cop, CPS Strip-Search Six Kids, 4-Year-Old after Mom's 10-Minute Muffin Errand

A Kentucky mother's nightmare began after she left her six children — ages 5, 4, 2 (twins) and 10 months (also twins) — inside of her 10-seater van to get them a quick snack.

Holly Curry parked in front of the Cobbler's Cafe, a place police officers frequent because it's close to the courts, and dashed inside to grab some muffins thinking it would be the last place a kidnapper would nab a child.

More >> Cop, CPS Strip-Search Six Kids, 4-Year-Old after Mom's 10-Minute Muffin Errand

Kentucky Will Use New Federal Law to Keep More Kids Out of Foster Care

Child advocates in Kentucky say a new federal law aims to help at-risk families and prevent youth from entering the foster care system.

While it doesn't provide any new funding, the Family First Prevention Services Act signed by President Donald Trump last year gives states more flexibility in how they spend federal money on child welfare.

More >> Kentucky Will Use New Federal Law to Keep More Kids Out of Foster Care

Foster father not guilty of child’s death

Five hours after a jury began deliberating the fate of Billy Embry-Martin’s life inside the Hardin County Justice Center, he heard the words he’s proclaimed in his case for nearly 18 months from Hardin Circuit Judge Ken Howard: “Not guilty.”

More >> Foster father not guilty of child’s death

• Jury finds foster dad not guilty in case of 4-year-old foster child's death

Kentucky man acquitted in 4-year-old foster son’s death

A jury has acquitted a Kentucky man who was accused of killing his 4-year-old foster son.

News outlets report the Elizabethtown jury returned the verdict Wednesday for 34-year-old Billy Embry-Martin after deliberating for about five hours.

More >> Kentucky man acquitted in 4-year-old foster son’s death

'He was Mama's boy': Murder trial underway for foster dad accused of killing 4-year-old

Hunter Payton, his grandmothers say, was a loving, playful child adored by his large, extended family.

"He was an angel," said Linda Payton, his paternal grandmother, from Caneyville.

More >> 'He was Mama's boy': Murder trial underway for foster dad accused of killing 4-year-old

Kentucky policy allowed social workers to take kids using judges' pre-signed signatures on blank documents

Kentucky's Cabinet for Health and Family Services has come under scrutiny for allowing social workers to take children from homes using blank emergency custody orders pre-signed by judges. The agency reportedly scrapped the policy after numerous complaints, but critics say the practice was illegal from the get-go and "a gross miscarriage of justice."

More >> Kentucky policy allowed social workers to take kids using judges' pre-signed signatures on blank documents

Report: Kentucky Lags Many Other States In Placing Foster Kids With Families

Kentucky ranks 9th nationwide in the rate of foster kids living in group homes or institutions. And while the percentage of foster kids in group homes increased between 2007 and 2017, the rate of these kids in family settings grew more slowly. That’s according to a new report out Tuesday from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

In 2017, 81 percent of foster children under age 18 lived with families, whether that was with actual relatives or non-relatives. That’s the seventh-lowest rate in the nation.

More >> Report: Kentucky Lags Many Other States In Placing Foster Kids With Families

Former child services employee pleads guilty to sexual abuse

A Morehead man and former Sunrise Children Services employee has pleaded guilty to two counts of first degree sexual abuse after police say he inappropriately touched a 16-year-old female residing at the residential facility for teen girls.

Taylor Ward, 25, of Pikeville, was arrested for the charge on July 14, 2017, and pleaded not guilty during his arraignment the next week.

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Soul crushing. PTSD symptoms showing up in more than half of Children's Services workers

A recent study shows that 53 percent of Ohio's children's services caseworkers have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. That compares with national incidences that range from 35 percent to 75 percent of child-welfare staff.

Campana is not among them. But the burden she carries is indicative of the job that is taking considerable toll on those who work to keep children safe.

More >> Soul crushing. PTSD symptoms showing up in more than half of Children's Services workers

Note: This is karma.  I also have PTSD from dealing with them.  Especially the first one, she was a sadistic bitch who got off on the power trip.

Proposed bill would give Kentucky children in foster care a right to see their siblings

The bill would allow siblings in state custody, removed from their home and not jointly placed the right to visit one another as long as there is no safety concern.

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Home is where the heart is, for missing foster kids, too

According to data compiled by the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, there were 121 foster children statewide listed as AWOL, Absent Without Leave in November.

More >> Home is where the heart is, for missing foster kids, too

WAVE 3 News Investigation: Missing children in Kentucky's foster care system

According to data compiled by the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, there were 121 foster children statewide listed as AWOL, Absent Without Leave in November. Nearly half of them were in Jefferson County.

More >> WAVE 3 News Investigation: Missing children in Kentucky's foster care system

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