Youth court recognizes National Reunification Month

The Forrest County Youth Court celebrated National Reunification Month with a picnic at Town Square Park in Hattiesburg Tuesday.

According to the American Bar Association, National Reunification Month recognizes the people and efforts around the country that help families to stay together.

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Hancock County celebrates families reunited after foster care

June is Foster Reunification Month, a time to recognize families that have changed their lives to get their children out of the foster care system.

For the first time, Hancock County Youth Court, CASA Hancock County and Child Protective Services Hancock County hosted an event Thursday evening to recognize those families.

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POOR FOSTER CARE

One troubling aspect of the Mississippi Legislature is the Republican majority’s willingness to reduce funding for social services.

Despite a years-long lawsuit over the state’s foster care system, the Department of Child Protective Services (CPS), which provides care for nearly 5,000 foster children, is meeting only 37 of 113 goals set down in a court decree.

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Mississippi foster care system fails many measures

The stage is set for a long-delayed showdown over whether a federal judge should appoint an outsider to run Mississippi's Department of Child Protective Services, after a report Tuesday showed the state's foster care system still isn't meeting standards outlined in a court decree.

At stake is the welfare of nearly 5,000 children who have been taken into state custody because they're believed to be in danger at home.

Marcia Lowry, the lawyer who has been suing the state for 15 years on behalf of a girl known only as Olivia Y, said she intends to ask Senior U.S. District Judge Tom Lee to find the state in contempt of a previous settlement order.

More >> Mississippi foster care system fails many measures

3 CPS employees on leave pending conclusions of deadly Natchez child abuse investigation

New developments in a deadly child abuse case in Natchez, where three employees with the Adams County office of the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services have been placed on administrative leave.

Four-year-old Armani Hill died from severe abuse and her younger sister, Lailah Hill, who was also severely beaten, is out of the intensive care unit and is responding to treatment. Armani will be laid to rest Sunday, June 16.

More >> 3 CPS employees on leave pending conclusions of deadly Natchez child abuse investigation

• 2 state workers suspended in wake of deadly child abuse case

Mississippi's foster care system could face a Federal takeover

The organization that makes sure Mississippi’s children are properly taken care of could soon be taken over

A report finds the Department of Child Protective Services is failing to meet standards in a court order.

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'Action taken' against Mississippi social workers in fatal child abuse case

A caseworker and a supervisor who failed to twice meet the state's 24-hour mandate investigating abuse claims involving two children — one of whom died last week following a severe beating — were placed on administrative leave Tuesday.

"We have taken personnel action against the frontline worker and the supervisor," Lea Anne Brandon, Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services director of communication, said Tuesday afternoon.

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Report: Mississippi foster care children still abused, neglected. Feds may take over

The court monitor in the long-running federal lawsuit against Mississippi over its foster care system released a report Tuesday saying children in state custody are still abused and neglected.

According to the report, 95 children in the custody of Child Protection Services were victims of abuse or neglect by their caregivers last year, which is more than the three times the agreed-upon standard.

More >> Report: Mississippi foster care children still abused, neglected. Feds may take over

Foster parent jailed for alleged abuse of girl

A Pass Christian foster mother was arrested Thursday for allegedly physically abusing a six-year-old girl in her care.

Harrison County deputies arrested Charlene Hilliard, 56, Sheriff Troy Peterson told reporters Thursday.

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Mississippi woman accused of physically abusing her foster child

The Harrison County Sheriff's office arrested 56-year-old Charlene Hilliard on Thursday, April 26 after reports of child abuse.

According to Sheriff Troy Peterson, a child abuse complaint was reported to his office on April 10 by officials at Delisle Elementary School. Peterson said a school nurse reported that a six-year-old female student at the school exhibited signs of physical abuse.

More >> Mississippi woman accused of physically abusing her foster child

Is there gender bias against men in Mississippi child custody cases? These dads say yes.

Former Hinds County Constable Jon Lewis leaned forward in his chair, tears welling in his eyes, as he discussed not having seen his two teenage children over the last two years.

“I love my kids and I want to see them,” Lewis said in an interview last week.

More >> Is there gender bias against men in Mississippi child custody cases? These dads say yes.

MS foster care system ranks last in nation

Earlier this year, lawyers asked a federal judge to remove Mississippi’s control from the state’s foster care system. The state has been extended multiple deadlines regarding changes that need to be made to the system. Each time the state has failed to make those changes.

Currently Mississippi’s foster care system is ranked last in the United States. This could be partially due to the fact that the state has the highest percent of children in homes that earn poverty level income. As a whole, Mississippi has the highest poverty rate with a total of 20.8 percent falling below the poverty line. Mississippi also has the second highest number of children in single parent families, the second highest child food insecurity rate and the second highest infant mortality rate.

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Report: Man found in cemetery with 5 underage girls he allegedly took from foster care

A 20-year-old man has been arrested after five foster children from Alabama were found in Mississippi.

The Sun Herald reported that Jordan Lamar McClain faces felony child abuse charges.

Police said McClain made contact with a 16-year-old girl in foster care in Mobile, Alabama, and the two planned to hang out. When McClain drove from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to pick her up, he also took four other girls, ages 11-14, from the foster home.

More >> Report: Man found in cemetery with 5 underage girls he allegedly took from foster care

Mississippi man charged in incident with Mobile girls in foster care

Authorities say a Mississippi man picked up five girls ages 11-16 from foster care in Mobile last weekend and drove them to Ocean Springs, where police found them under the influence of drugs.

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Governor Vows to Fight Foster Care Takeover

Gov. Phil Bryant seemed prepared to fight to keep control over Mississippi's foster-care system last week after attorneys representing the children asked U.S. District Judge Tom Lee to hold the State in contempt of court and to turn over the system to a court-appointed receiver.

"You've got to remember that these plaintiffs' attorneys make a lot of money keeping this case going," the governor told reporters at the Capitol last week.

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Child welfare advocates: Strip foster care system from state

A children’s rights group is asking a federal judge to appoint an independent party to oversee Mississippi’s troubled child welfare system, saying the state has failed to adequately protect children in its care for the past decade.

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Child Abuse Report Bill Vetoed Over 'Unintended Consequence'

Senate Bill 2460 would have required a person reporting abuse to provide his or her own name, address and telephone number. It said that information would be redacted at the end of an investigation.

However, Bryant says in his veto message Monday that people might stop reporting abuse or neglect if they have to provide their own information. He says it was "a well-intentioned bill with an unintended consequence."

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Can state child welfare services talk to kids without your consent? Depends on who you ask.

James Luster of Gulfport said he will never forget the events of Monday, Jan. 29. That was the day he learned he was being investigated by Mississippi Child Protective Services.

Luster denies the allegations and said they were “not true.”

More >> Can state child welfare services talk to kids without your consent? Depends on who you ask.

TEENAGER WITH MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES JAILED NEARLY 4 YEARS WITHOUT TRIAL, TREATMENT

The Mississippi criminal justice system has come under fire after BBC News and ProPublica published an account of a 16-year-old boy with serious mental health issues who was denied a trial, treatment, and health issues while behind bars.

More >> TEENAGER WITH MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES JAILED NEARLY 4 YEARS WITHOUT TRIAL, TREATMENT

Mississippi Judge’s Youth Court Shut Down After Mother Kept from Baby for Year Over Fines

Malia* and her friend were driving in Pearl, Mississippi, one day in August last year, out looking for jobs. Malia, who is in her 20s, was in the passenger seat, and her 4-month-old baby rode in a car seat in the back. Suddenly, a Pearl police officer pulled the vehicle over for a traffic violation involving using a phone while driving. The officer ran Malia and her friend’s names and found they both had outstanding warrants for routine misdemeanor offenses, meaning that Malia had not paid Pearl Municipal Court fines she owed.

The officer arrested both women and called the Mississippi Department of Human Services to report that the baby was “abandoned” after her mother’s arrest. Even though the baby’s grandmother, Malia’s mother, showed up to take the baby, the officer took the child before Judge John Shirley, who presided over Pearl Municipal Youth Court.

More >> Mississippi Judge’s Youth Court Shut Down After Mother Kept from Baby for Year Over Fines