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

'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

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

Neighbors slam plan to open a foster care group home near Haysville

Residents of rural Sedgwick County are trying to stop a for-profit boys home from opening in their neighborhood.

The boys would be foster children between the ages of 12 and 18 with and without criminal pasts who have a pattern of “antisocial, oppositional, defiant, aggressive, abusive, impulsive or high risk” behavior, according to the Kansas Department for Children and Families criteria for admission.

More >> Neighbors slam plan to open a foster care group home near Haysville

Judge denies request to halt new group home oversight contracts

A federal judge on Tuesday denied three not-for-profit organizations the right to temporarily stop a new oversight system set to begin Monday for the care of Illinoisans with developmental disabilities.

The groups, including Central Illinois Service Access in Lincoln, immediately appealed the decision by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Mills to the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in hopes of getting Mills’ ruling overturned by the end of this week.

More >> Judge denies request to halt new group home oversight contracts

Teen population spikes over 200 percent at troubled foster care center

The number of kids in a scandal-plagued foster care center has ballooned by over 200 percent as the city’s jail population has decreased, officials revealed at a hearing Tuesday.

“There’s a small group of young people that have very high needs and part of that is related to the incredible success we’ve had on the juvenile justice and criminal justice side,” said Administration for Children’s Services Deputy Commissioner Julie Farber at a City Council hearing.

More >> Teen population spikes over 200 percent at troubled foster care center

Violence, often instigated by staff, has become common at Red Rock Canyon School in St. George for troubled children

Months before dozens of police cars raced to a St. George school for troubled youths, one of its teachers had emailed managers with a warning: The staff was losing control, and something bad would happen if things weren’t fixed.

Red Rock Canyon School didn’t have enough staff to calm disputes and teachers were quitting. Brawls among students were becoming more frequent, more than Dane Camp had ever seen during his five years working there.

More >> Violence, often instigated by staff, has become common at Red Rock Canyon School in St. George for troubled children

Boy ‘given alcohol and raped’ at Scottish children’s home

A teenager was given alcohol and raped at a children’s home run by a religious order, the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI) has heard.

The witness, who is now in his 60s, said he thought he had been drugged as he recounted separate incidents of abuse at St Ninian’s in the 1970s.

More >> Boy ‘given alcohol and raped’ at Scottish children’s home

Lawsuit: Texas ranch didn't protect 2 boys from sexual abuse

A young man and a teenage boy filed a lawsuit last week accusing the staff at a Texas ranch for at-risk youth of not protecting them from sexual abuse by older residents, an advocate for child abuse victims said Wednesday.

In recent years, an increasing number of former residents have come forward to say they suffered physical and sexual abuse at Cal Farley's Boys Ranch near Amarillo decades ago. But too many years had passed for legal recourse.

More >> Lawsuit: Texas ranch didn't protect 2 boys from sexual abuse

Senators concerned about abuse allegations at shelters

The Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Finance Committee are questioning whether the Trump administration is neglecting its duty to protect unaccompanied immigrant children in its care amid allegations of misconduct at federally funded shelters.

Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon asked for data from U.S. Health and Human Services on occupancy, incident reporting, sexual abuse prevention and federal and state regulation of children’s shelters. Their request on Thursday follows a report that thousands of allegations of sexual abuse and harassment were logged over the past four years and as the number of migrant children crossing the border is rising dramatically.

More >> Senators concerned about abuse allegations at shelters

Group Home Supervisor Sentenced to 10 Years for Sex Trafficking Minor

A supervisor at Blackstone Valley Youth and Family Collaborative group home contracted by the Rhode Island Department of Children Youth and Families (RI DCYF) who repeatedly sex-trafficked a missing 17-year-old girl has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

More >> Group Home Supervisor Sentenced to 10 Years for Sex Trafficking Minor

Ex-Group Home Worker Gets 10 Years for Sex Trafficking Teen

A former supervisor at a Rhode Island group home that contracted with the state child welfare agency has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for sex trafficking a 17-year-old girl.

The U.S. attorney says 29-year-old Reysean Williams was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty in November to sex trafficking a child.

More >> Ex-Group Home Worker Gets 10 Years for Sex Trafficking Teen

Rape. Sex trafficking. Is Detroit youth home endangering girls?

They're among metro Detroit's most vulnerable children: teenage girls who have been abused, neglected or suffer from mental health issues.

But the place that's supposed to protect them is putting many in harm's way, police and court records allege.

More >> Rape. Sex trafficking. Is Detroit youth home endangering girls?

Woman charged with sex assault of minors worked at male CAS group-home at time of alleged offences

The Belleville Ont., woman who was charged with several sex-related crimes involving minors worked at a Children’s Aid Society youth group home at the time of her alleged offences.

On Thursday, Belleville police charged 48-year-old Sandra Forcier of Belleville with two counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual exploitation of a youth under the age of 18 and one count of sexual interference.

More >> Woman charged with sex assault of minors worked at male CAS group-home at time of alleged offences

Foster home on Jacksonville's Westside closes amidst DCF investigation

The i.K.A.R.E. Youth and Family Services facility has been under investigation since its director was accused of covering up a suspected act of child molestation.

More >> Foster home on Jacksonville's Westside closes amidst DCF investigation

Child abuse at care home not properly investigated, council admits

A council has admitted failings at a care home where a worker sexually abused young boys.

Victims of Brian Newman came forward following the Jimmy Saville scandal and a report has revealed numerous problems at the Woodhead Road children’s unit, where the abuse took place between 1990 and 1996.

More >> Child abuse at care home not properly investigated, council admits

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Former group home worker charged in teen's July drowning

A former group home worker who investigators say dropped Shaud Howell and two other teens off at Edgewater Beach the night Howell drowned has been indicted for involuntary manslaughter and two counts of endangering children.

According to investigators, 36-year-old Christina Coleman dropped the teens off at the beach, then left them there unsupervised. Lifeguards had already gone home for the night and the water was so rough that investigators say swimming was banned at the beach that day.

More >> Former group home worker charged in teen's July drowning