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

Children mistakenly taken from their mother because of drug-test mix-up: Tories

Nova Scotia’s community services minister has been asked to apologize to a young woman who was apparently left traumatized after two of her children were allegedly taken away mistakenly by Child Protective Services for four weeks.

The woman’s case was raised in the provincial legislature Friday by Progressive Conservative critic Barbara Adams, who did not name the woman or her children.

More >> Children mistakenly taken from their mother because of drug-test mix-up: Tories

Social workers say report on brutal workload in child-welfare system rings true in Nova Scotia

The head of the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers says a national report is shining a light on the gruelling conditions faced by professionals working in child welfare in this province.

The report released Thursday by the Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW) reveals that 75 per cent of social workers nationwide describe unmanageable workloads as a critical issue in their practice. In addition, 72 per cent said administrative responsibilities prevented them from spending adequate time with clients.

More >> Social workers say report on brutal workload in child-welfare system rings true in Nova Scotia

Black children in Nova Scotia's foster care system face challenges, say advocates

Robinah Kakembo has seen first-hand the problems that can arise when African immigrant and refugee families in Nova Scotia come into contact with the province's foster care system.

Kakembo and her husband, Patrick, have been foster parents for the past 17 years. They take in black and African children.

More >> Black children in Nova Scotia's foster care system face challenges, say advocates

Child protection cases pile up in Halifax court, straining lawyers and legal system

Lola Gilmer's work is never done.

No matter how hard she works or how efficient she is, the legal aid lawyer's caseload only grows. She's stretched to the limit and says she isn't alone.

More >> Child protection cases pile up in Halifax court, straining lawyers and legal system

Nova Scotia mother with mild intellectual disability denied custody of son

SYDNEY, N.S. — A mother with a mild intellectual disability has lost custody of her 18-month-old son after a Nova Scotia judge found she does not have the capacity to parent the child.

More >> Nova Scotia mother with mild intellectual disability denied custody of son

LK Report For 9/6/17 - Killing Canadian Foster Kids

Here are today's headlines.  

Check back later.  You never know when I might update this post.

http://www.LegallyKidnapped.com

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The Missouri Supreme Court will hear arguments Thursday on whether the state can determine that a mother is unfit because a court has previously terminated her right to parent other children.

More >> Missouri Supreme Court to consider how losing parental rights in the past should impact the future

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At least Hillary didn't win.
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Larimer County is asking the Colorado Department of Human Services to reconsider how it pays counties for child welfare efforts.

More >> Larimer County to state: You're funding child welfare wrong

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The government today took control of a local council's child protection services after a damning report found youngsters at risk of "significant harm".

Ofsted inspectors found "widespread and serious failures" in children's services at Croydon, south London.

Ofsted blamed poor practice, weak management and a high staff turnover for a series of failings.

More >> Croydon Council's child protection services put under government control over 'serious failures'

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There is nothing so heinous as a government failing to support its most vulnerable citizens: young children. Yet due to government neglect and chronic underfunding of critical social services, the number of deaths and critical injuries of children in foster care in Canada has steadily risen in recent years.

More >> Deaths of children in government care skyrocket in Canada

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The heartbroken biological father of a toddler murdered by her mother who stamped on her chest until her heart ripped blames social services for not saving his 'beautiful' daughter.

More >> 'I'll always remember her as the perfect little girl': Birth father of toddler who was stamped to death by her mother blames social services for not saving her

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MADISON (WKOW) -- A Madison woman who admitted slamming a foster child's head against a bathroom floor nearly a half dozen times before the 3-year old boy became unresponsive was sentenced to twelve months in jail Tuesday as part of an eight year probation sentence.

More >> Woman sentenced in foster child case
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The moment Greg regained custody of his 16-year-old daughter last summer, he immediately asked a social worker: "Where is she?"

That's when he learned she was missing — again — from the Nova Scotia group home where she'd been living. No one had seen her for weeks.

More >> The staggering number of children reported missing from Nova Scotia group homes
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SANTA FE – A Valencia County foster parent who says she was beaten by her ward has sued the state claiming she was not given enough information before she agreed to take in the 17-year-old.

More >> Foster parent sues state over beating by ward

Children ‘unnecessarily being put into group homes’ as N.S. foster parent numbers dwindle

As the foster parent population in Nova Scotia continues to dwindle, some advocates say there is a crisis on the horizon.According to community services Minister Joanne Bernard, there are currently 570 foster families in Nova Scotia and over 1,000 children in care.“We have to understand that the North American trend right now is that foster parents are ageing,” said Bernard, adding many of the children in need of care are unnecessarily being put into group homes.

More >> Children ‘unnecessarily being put into group homes’ as N.S. foster parent numbers dwindle

Note: Of course stealing too many kids has nothing to do with it...

Nova Scotia court denies intellectually disabled parents custody of their children

Nova Scotia’s highest court has denied an intellectually disabled couple custody of their children, saying a lower court was wrong to prioritize the parents’ rights over their sons.

More >> Nova Scotia court denies intellectually disabled parents custody of their children

Nova Scotia to tell 86-year-old former foster child who his father is

An 86-year-old Nova Scotia man is getting his wish and will be provided his father's name by the provincial Department of Community Services.

More >> Nova Scotia to tell 86-year-old former foster child who his father is

Police warn of fake child protection workers in Dartmouth and Kentville

Police in Halifax and Kentville, N.S., have issued a warning about people masquerading as child protection workers following two separate incidents in recent days.

More >>Police warn of fake child protection workers in Dartmouth and Kentville

Note: Beware of the real ones too.

Nova Scotia suspends use of hair tests in child protection cases

Nova Scotia has suspended the use of all hair-strand drug and alcohol testing in child protection cases, following a CBC News investigation.

More >> Nova Scotia suspends use of hair tests in child protection cases

Discredited drug testing used in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick

As many as 2,300 people in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick had their hair tested for drugs and alcohol at a discredited Toronto lab, a CBC News investigation has found.

More >> Discredited drug testing used in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick

Weapons cases on the rise in N.S. youth group homes

Weapons cases on the rise in N.S. youth group homes

Government records show weapons incidents ranging from possession of pellet guns to threats with knives have been rising in Nova Scotia's youth group homes, prompting childrens' advocates to urge improved access to mental health care and increased staffing.

First Nation children in child welfare system a 'systemic problem'

First Nation children in child welfare system a 'systemic problem'

A Mi'kmaq health official in Nova Scotia says there's still a troubling pattern of placing First Nations children in government-supervised care, years after the last residential school shut down.

Motherisk hair drug tests should be reviewed in Nova Scotia, says lawyer

Motherisk hair drug tests should be reviewed in Nova Scotia, says lawyer

Hair samples used as evidence of drug and alcohol abuse in dozens of open child protection cases in Nova Scotia should be re-examined, a lawyer says, because the Toronto lab that tested the samples is under review for using questionable methods.

N.S. to formally apologize to former Home for Colored Children residents

N.S. to formally apologize to former Home for Colored Children residents

CTV News has learned the province of Nova Scotia will offer a formal apology to former residents of the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children.

Key deadline nears in class-action settlement for former orphanage residents

Key deadline nears in class-action settlement for former orphanage residents

Fifteen years after going public with his story of child abuse, Tony Smith says he can’t believe the day has come when a multi-million-dollar settlement involving a Halifax-area orphanage stands on the verge of being finalized.

Halifax foster dad, longtime NSCAD staffer charged in child porn case

Halifax foster dad, longtime NSCAD staffer charged in child porn case

A foster parent in Halifax and longtime employee of NSCAD University is facing multiple child pornography charges after a NSCAD student stumbled across a USB thumb drive in a campus computer lab, allegedly containing dozens of images and videos of child porn.

Sisters separated by foster care reunited after 47 years

Sisters separated by foster care reunited after 47 years

It was a reunion 47 years in the making.

Two sisters that were placed in separate foster homes in Nova Scotia nearly five decades ago were reunited this weekend.